Xiao Yu named the red dwarf star system where he first stopped, which was about five hundred light-years from the Pegasus Civilization’s capital star system, as Star System Number 1, and then named the star system where the Asia hid with more than five million ships as Star System Number 2.

In Star System Number 1, Xiao Yu had fewer than five million ships stationed. Within these fleets were part of the biological army, that Continent-Class ship seized from the Predator Civilization and modified so Xiao Yu could use it, and the rest were warships directly controlled by Xiao Yu. Overall, the strength of Star System Number 1 was inferior to that of Star System Number 2.

Because the Continent-Class ship the Asia was in Star System Number 2, and the Blood Blade Squad composed entirely of Guardian Civilization ships was also in Star System Number 2. These two star systems thus formed interlocking horns. If either star system was attacked, the forces of the other could arrive here within ten days to carry out rescue.

This time, the location from which the alert came was near Star System Number 1.

In both star systems, Xiao Yu had concealed his fleets. Only, due to differences in strategic tasks, the concealment of the Star System Number 2 fleet was more thorough, while relatively speaking, the Star System Number 1 fleet was only slightly hidden.

Although concealed, necessary vigilance still had to be maintained. Around these two star systems, a large number of covert unmanned probes were roaming about, searching for any suspicious targets approaching here. The alert came from one such unmanned probe beside Star System Number 1.

At this moment, that unmanned probe was quietly tailing a strangely shaped probe that looked like a piece of corn, following at a measured distance.

This peculiar probe was approaching the edge of Star System Number 1 using conventional navigation. After closing to a certain distance, it stopped there. On it, faint glimmers of light kept flashing, and at a glance it was clear that it was using some kind of instrument to observe the interior of the system.

“Hmm, the Pegasus Civilization has already discovered through this probe that I have hidden forces in Star System Number 1. But that is nothing. If it were me, for the safety of my own civilization I would also conduct such exploratory search activities. I imagine the Pegasus Civilization will not consider my hiding forces here as an expression of hostility toward them. After all, this place is fully five hundred light-years from their capital star system.” Xiao Yu thought to himself. “On the contrary, because they have perceived my hidden strength, their evaluation of my power will rise again, which can further deter them from harboring any ill intent toward my one million warships.”

The tedious negotiations were still ongoing, and there had been a bit of progress. The Pegasus Civilization had finally decided to use light science to exchange for Xiao Yu’s life science. However, there were still some differences over details. The Pegasus Civilization was adamant that Xiao Yu add two additional branch technologies from other domains, while Xiao Yu firmly refused. Thus the two sides fell back into a tug-of-war.

At such a negotiating pace, it would be impossible to complete all technological trades in less than fifty years. But Xiao Yu was already mentally prepared. Not to mention fifty years, even one hundred years would be acceptable to Xiao Yu. In Earth’s era, negotiations between two large companies often took one or two years, not to mention transactions between two advanced civilizations.

Technology acquired through negotiation was somewhat more cost-effective than launching a war at tremendous risk.

That was Xiao Yu’s thinking. Previously, through deduction, Xiao Yu had already reached the conclusion that no Level 5 Civilization wished other civilizations to advance to Level 6. That is to say, to ensure the advantage of their own civilization, any Level 5 Civilization tended to acquire the unique technologies of other civilizations and was unwilling to bring out its own unique technologies to share. This undoubtedly implied war.

Only the situation now was a little special. Xiao Yu had a faint suspicion that the reason the Milky Way could not produce a Level 7 Civilization for so long was possibly because Level 6 Civilizations were too rare. Therefore Xiao Yu was not particularly opposed to other civilizations advancing to Level 6. As for the Pegasus Civilization before him, under the shock of his powerful strength, they might not dare attack him and start a war.

Time continued to pass bit by bit. In the endless tug-of-war, the two sides calculated their gains to the last iota, striving to maximize their own income while minimizing their own output. Whether because they had discovered his powerful strength or for some other reason, in any case, after Xiao Yu confirmed that the powerful fleet he had hidden in Star System Number 1 had been discovered by the Pegasus Civilization, over the next few days dozens of intentions for exchanging small-scale technologies were reached and successfully carried out.

Technology is different from other things. It is not the case that once traded away, one no longer has it. As a scientist in Earth’s era said, you have one idea and I have one idea. After exchanging, each person then has two ideas. This is a win-win situation.

These technologies had already been handed over to the relevant scientists for analysis, and these gains greatly excited Xiao Yu.

What Xiao Yu did not know was that yet another top-secret meeting had been convened in the Pegasus Civilization’s capital star system.

“At present it has been ascertained that within this star system, this Divine Ark Civilization has hidden at least five million powerful warships. Among these five million warships there exists a ship whose strength is not inferior to the enemy’s Number One ship, and there is another ship whose strength is about sixty percent that of the Number One ship. We have named them respectively the Number Two and Number Three warships. Among them, the Number Three warship clearly differs in construction style from the Number One and Number Two warships, and there are some differences in the technologies used. From the architectural style, the Number Three warship is more like the flagship of that Predator Civilization we encountered tens of thousands of years ago. It seems that unlucky Predator Civilization must have encountered the Divine Ark Civilization and was casually robbed by them.”

“Hmph, how foolish. In terms of field combat capability, the Divine Ark Civilization’s combat strength even exceeds ours. That Predator Civilization did not dare provoke us, yet dared to provoke the Divine Ark Civilization. Truly seeking death.”

The supreme leader of the Pegasus Civilization spoke calmly. “The five million warships hidden in the star system, plus the one million warships now negotiating with us, make a total of six million. Among these six million ships are three Continent-Class ships. Their number has already reached half of the number of combat ships in our standing forces. Therefore, what suggestions do you have?”

“Perhaps we can directly dispatch a ship cluster to first take these one million ships, or at least encircle them. Then those fleets of the Divine Ark Civilization hidden in the star system will certainly try to rescue these one million ships, and we can adopt the tactic of encircling points to strike at reinforcements, using positional warfare to completely eliminate the Divine Ark Civilization’s forces. After all, this is our territory. Positional warfare has more advantages than field warfare.” said a dignitary.

“This suggestion is inappropriate.” another dignitary retorted. “Encircling this one million ships is not a problem, but the consequences are truly hard to predict. What if those five million ships do not come to rescue these ships, but instead start moving out to harass other planets in our domain? You must know that our domain spans two hundred light-years, with dozens of life-bearing planets and hundreds of industrial planets, all scattered across the broad territory. A population of more than one hundred billion lives here. To guard such a broad domain, on average the defensive strength of each planet and each star system is insufficient to resist an attack by those five million ships. If a life-bearing planet were to fall, resulting in the subjugation or death of several billion citizens, could you bear that responsibility?”

“Given the current situation, I think it would be better to act first before the Divine Ark Civilization discovers our intentions, to carry out a massive military expansion. Using a vast fleet of at least seven million ships, we will launch a surprise attack on that star system. Even if we cannot eliminate those five million ships of the Divine Ark Civilization, we must at least scatter them. Once they are scattered, with the coordination of the defense systems in our various systems, no small enemy force will be able to threaten our life-bearing and industrial planets. In the days to come, we will have ample time to slowly wipe out these remnants.”

“Most importantly, by using this method, after obtaining a large number of Divine Ark Civilization ship samples, we can acquire a wealth of related technologies of the Divine Ark Civilization through analysis. It is certain that such a huge harvest will cause a leap in our technology. Given two hundred years, no, just one hundred years, our technology can undergo a great leap. In only one hundred years, the Divine Ark Civilization will be left far behind by us. The gap between them and us will grow ever wider, and they will never catch up again.”

“Hmm. I believe this plan is excellent. Then let it be so. Issue a notice. All retired and demobilized soldiers are to be recalled to service. All industrial planets are to be fully mobilized to manufacture all types of warships at full capacity. There are a total of twelve military districts. Each military district will draw out six hundred thousand ships. Among them, two hundred thousand ships will reinforce the defense of the capital planet, and the remaining seven million ships will depart for that star system to encircle and suppress the Divine Ark Civilization’s fleet.”

“At the same time, continue to use negotiations to lull the Divine Ark Civilization. Under no circumstances may they perceive our intentions. That is all. Adjourn.”