Communicating via spatial broadcast appeared to consume a significant amount of additional energy, so ever since arriving at the side of the aging Specter, Xiao Yu had been using faster-than-light radio wave communication with it.

Around the Yanjing, due to the ongoing shield strength tests, the ship itself couldn’t receive incoming messages. However, the other ships were unaffected, and it was they who received the message and relayed it to Xiao Yu’s mind using superluminal communication technology.

For some reason, likely due to a method employed by the aging Specter that Xiao Yu had yet to understand, the communication between him and the Specter wasn’t affected by the star’s radiation.

Xiao Yu hesitated briefly and didn’t immediately reply.

When he received this message, Xiao Yu simultaneously played it aloud within the Yanjing’s cabin, allowing Luka Two and the other scientists to hear it as well.

The scientists all looked up at Xiao Yu with somewhat tense expressions.

Xiao Yu steadied himself slightly and gave his response.

That response was first transmitted via superluminal communication to the outer ships, which then used faster-than-light radio wave technology to send it to the star.

“Elder, I’ve successfully decoded the message. It turns out it wasn’t caused by some natural or accidental artificial phenomenon, but rather by a certain civilization intentionally trying to send me a message using that method.”

“Oh? Is that so? And what did the message say? Tell me.”

The aging Specter’s tone was utterly casual, with no inflection, just as if it were making small talk with Xiao Yu and had happened to ask the question.

Compared to that, Xiao Yu’s tone was even more calm and indifferent, more natural, even.

Xiao Yu replied, “The actual content is a bit dull. The message came from that Level 5 Civilization fleet that’s been lingering twenty light-years away, unwilling to leave. It seems they’re afraid of your power and don’t dare come closer, yet also can’t communicate with me through conventional means, so they resorted to this. As for what they said, well, they claim I can’t stay under your protection forever, that eventually you’ll die. They want me to leave and surrender to them. They promise certain benefits, like sparing my life, and making my race a subordinate species instead of selling us on the market.”

After saying that, Xiao Yu began to wait, waiting for the aging Specter’s reaction.

For the first time in a long while, Xiao Yu felt a rare emotion creeping in, tension.

The Specter’s reply came swiftly.

“Then… what do you plan to do?”

“What else could I do?” Xiao Yu replied, pretending to be surprised. “They don’t even know my actual life form. Once they find out, how could they possibly keep their promise? Besides, why would I surrender? Under your protection, my technological advancement has been extremely rapid. I’m confident that in fifty years, I’ll be able to defeat them.”

“Excellent. Very good.” After a brief pause, the aging Specter responded. “I have the power to completely annihilate that fleet. The only reason I haven’t acted is that I intended to leave them there, as tools to temper you.”

“Mm, I understand your intent.” Xiao Yu’s brain was working rapidly as he layered in another lie. “But since they’ve sent this surrender message, I plan to take advantage of it. Specifically, I’ll send a probe into their fleet, use it to engage in communication, and string them along. During the exchange, I’ll gather as much information as I can about their social structure and combat strength. That intelligence will be critical for the war fifty years from now.”

“Very good, that’s a fine idea. It seems you’ve begun to learn how to wield lies and deception as weapons in this dark universe. Remember this, no matter what methods you use, victory is all that matters.” The aging Specter said.

Xiao Yu didn’t know whether the aging Specter’s words held some hidden meaning. He could only continue to act according to the established plan. “Thank you for your guidance.”

“Alright, I’m going to rest. If there are any unusual circumstances, remember to report to me immediately.”

After saying that, the connection between Xiao Yu and the Specter was severed.

Inside the Yanjing’s cabin, Xiao Yu looked at Luka Two and the other scientists waiting before him and said, “I’m certain it’s already suspicious of us. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that it suddenly remembered to contact us right when we initiated the shield strength test?”

“That implies, from another angle, that your methods truly did interfere with its surveillance. It also means that, in the past, it was indeed monitoring us. The likelihood of this is as high as seventy percent,” said the young Luka scientist, Jason.

Upon reaching that conclusion, Xiao Yu felt a bone-chilling sense of dread.

“We can confirm that even if it really did monitor us through some means, it doesn’t have the ability to read the data stored inside our computers. Because the actual contents of that decoded message stored in the system were not discovered by it. Fortunately, after I learned the true contents of that message, I never spoke of it to anyone without safeguards in place. Otherwise, through monitoring our communications, it would have known about the message long ago and already moved to threaten or coerce me…”

Luka Two said, “In a comprehensive analysis, yes, it did develop some suspicions. But the degree of suspicion is low, perhaps even minimal. So… to prevent further escalation of that suspicion, this shield strength test should end. How is your new dictionary progressing?”

“The new dictionary is complete. Interpreted with this new dictionary, our everyday language will take on completely different meanings. Its total length is around 500KB. How long will it take you to fully memorize and master it?”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu projected the data before them.

Luka Two glanced at it and replied, “To memorize and master it completely, I’ll need thirty minutes.”

“I need twenty-five minutes,” said Jason.

“I need thirty-two minutes.”

“I need twenty-eight minutes.”

The other scientists also gave their estimates.

‘If it were the younger Luka Two, it probably would have only needed twenty-two minutes to fully master it. It seems that aging has indeed started to affect its mental agility. If we manage to escape this crisis, our biological research needs to accelerate. Luka Two is one of my most capable assistants. Its decline will be a significant loss to me.’ Xiao Yu thought silently.

Based on the differences in required time, one could roughly gauge the relative aptitude of the scientists.

“Alright then, let’s get to it. Thirty-five minutes from now, I’ll terminate this shield strength test. At that point, you’ll all remain aboard the Yanjing, continue using the new dictionary to communicate with me, and stay for a period before returning.”

“Yes, Master.” After responding, the scientists focused all their attention and began absorbing the new information.

Thanks to various advanced biotechnological enhancements, these scientists under Xiao Yu’s command were far more mentally agile than humans of the Earth era. A 500KB dataset, roughly 200,000 words, could be completely absorbed by them in mere tens of minutes.

Meanwhile, outside the Yanjing, weapons testing continued. Torrents of negative matter quarks, gravity bombs, antimatter bombs, even hydrogen bombs and gravity warheads were launched in waves. Amid this overwhelming assault, the Yanjing’s shield system stood firm, revealing its tremendous defensive capability.

But Xiao Yu knew, no matter how powerful the Yanjing’s shields were, they were still worthless before the aging Specter.

Thirty-five minutes later, the barrage gradually ceased and finally faded entirely. Xiao Yu knew that from this moment onward, it was highly likely that all his communications were once again under surveillance. Every word he spoke might bring danger upon himself.

After calming himself slightly, Xiao Yu issued a new command.

“All test data from this shield strength evaluation has been transferred to your personal terminals. All relevant scientists are to begin analysis immediately. You must submit your reports on this test within three days.”

This message was sent in plaintext, without any encryption.

“Yes, Master. The Seventh Experimental Subdivision of the Defense Technology Institute guarantees completion of the task.”

“The Sixth Subdivision of the Weapons Technology Institute guarantees completion of the task.”

After receiving the responses, Xiao Yu offered some encouraging remarks, as usual, before cutting the connection.

Luka Two and the other scientists remained quietly inside the Yanjing’s cabin.

“Master, the psychological survey report for all intelligent species under your command has been completed. (Master, has the shield strength test ended?)”

“What were the results of the survey? (Yes, it has ended.)”

“The results show that the emotional state of all your subordinate intelligent species is generally stable. (We do have one point we’re unsure about.)”

“Very good. Submit the full data from this test. (What is it?)”

“Understood. The test data is as follows:… (The probe you proposed sending to the Molian fleet, is that solely to appease the aging Specter, or do you have some special intention behind it?)”