Chapter 244: 237 Box Star Territory
Bai Zhongqi could distinctly feel the unease in the heart of this Captain Xiao Tangjian from the Bupinga civilization. Being thrown to a group of "aliens" to toil and serve, even subject to their power of life and death, could never be a matter to take in stride.
The lifespan of the Bupinga was comparable to that of the Iridium Star people, generally living for over two hundred years. These "mercenaries" dispatched to serve other civilizations could, after fifty years of service, continue to serve the Bupinga for an additional hundred years.
Bai Zhongqi hesitated for a moment over this "kind offer," but he soon gladly accepted it.
Standing before Xiao Tangjian, Bai Zhongqi spoke confidently, "The Eagle Shield Civilization also hires technical personnel from other civilizations to serve us. All of you have experience in cosmic voyages, and our Universe Army of the Eagle Shield Civilization could certainly make use of your skills. We will employ you according to the standards of military treatment within our civilization, you will have a considerable income, reasonable holidays, and our respect. Of course, we can never fully trust any personnel who come to us, so the Eagle Shield Civilization will perform certain modifications to your bodies to monitor you. If any actions are taken that harm or threaten the interests and safety of our civilization, they will be immediately eradicated."
Xiao Tangjian bowed again to Bai Zhongqi and said, "Yes, sir. Since we are to serve your civilization, we will uphold the utmost professional ethics and accept any form of supervision."
Bai Zhongqi nodded, having briefly reviewed the credentials of these Bupinga mercenaries; most had over ten years of cosmic voyage experience, and some had even participated in cosmic battles. Although their systems were somewhat different from that of the Iridium Star Civilization, none of these experiences were things Bai Zhongqi could currently cultivate in Earthlings as members of the Universe Army.
A force of 1266 individuals was enough to man a main battle ship, or could be divided into crew groups for four or five medium and small vessels. For Bai Zhongqi at the moment, any operational warship could become a vital resource in the resistance against the invasion of the Teizene civilization.
After sending He Qiu and Xiao Tangjian away, Bai Zhongqi sat on the soft couch in the hotel suite, continuing to look at the intelligence pack about the Box Star Territory he had purchased earlier.
When buying the intelligence pack, Bai Zhongqi naturally did not overtly ask for information about the Teizene civilization; that would have been too conspicuous. He did not trust the Bupinga merchants, who might inform the Teizene as soon as he obtained their information. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire
Bai Zhongqi had purchased intelligence on three star regions surrounding the Ankui Star, all of which were adjacent areas, including the Box Star Territory. This made the transaction less suspicious.
The three star regions were the Giant's Chalice Star Region where Bupinga resided, the Strange Palace Star Region, and the Box Star Territory, the stronghold of the Teizene. Before coming to the Bupinga Star, Bai Zhongqi wondered if the Box Star Territory was truly as Teizene claimed, entirely conquered by them.
But the real situation was the Box Star Territory also had other civilizations, totaling over twenty. Undoubtedly, Teizene was the most powerful among these civilizations, but they hadn't managed to completely unify the Box Star Territory.
The levels of civilizations in the Box Star Territory ranged from 10 to 21. Civilizations below level 10 simply could not survive under the dominance of a powerful civilization like Teizene. Those civilizations with lower levels that managed to develop within the Box Star Territory mainly did so because they joined the Galactic Council or some military alliances.
The highest level civilization in the Box Star Territory was a level 21 civilization named Quifang. Their sphere of influence was not as large as Teizene's nor was their fleet as sizable, but their technological level was a notch higher. More importantly, Quifang was a vassal of a level 28 High Level Civilization. Quifang had migrated into the Box Star Territory later on, chiefly because the High Level Civilization wanted to contain Teizene's expansion.
Bai Zhongqi felt puzzled as he read this far. If this unnamed High Level Civilization was truly annoyed with Teizene, why not just wipe them out directly, rather than go to the trouble of placing a lesser civilization in the Box Star Territory just to restrain Teizene?
Quifang and Teizene had experienced numerous small-scale conflicts over the centuries, yet none escalated into a large-scale war, let alone a full-blown one. Both sides knew that a definitive defeat of the other would mean severe damage to themselves, so neither civilization was willing to take the risk.
The Quifang people were a bird-like species, with dark wings protruding from their backs, limbs and torso akin to humans, and exoskeleton skin of a dark red hue. Their heads bore long beaks, which gave them a somewhat frightening appearance. The intelligence pack stated that the Quifang were a race produced by bioengineering experiments of a High Level Civilization, bred as warriors. Quifang could fly and dive, and their race was characterized by a tranquil nature, valuing promises and honor. Particularly notable was that the Quifang had created a formidable flying squadron; their exceptional Universe Fighters, blanketing the skies, could inflict tremendous damage on enemy civilizations.
However, the technology of the people of Iridium Star was focused on Universe Fighters, and their level of warships and space travel wasn't too high. A bigger problem was that most of their technology was bestowed by a high-level civilization, and there had not been significant advancements in the hundreds of years since coming to the Box Star Territory. The Teizene people in the Box Star Territory had upgraded from a Level 16 to a Level 17 civilization.
"We can't win over this civilization," Bai Zhongqi felt some regret, as it was clear that the Iridium Star civilization was one that the Teizene were somewhat afraid of. However, the Iridium Star civilization did not favor external interactions and was completely subject to the high-level civilization, with no intention of striking out on their own. Controlling four galaxy systems, that is, a dozen or so planets, the people of Iridium Star had no further ambitions to expand their territory.
Within the Box Star Territory, there was another planet which was uncertain to qualify as an interstellar civilization. The Teizene dared not provoke it either. This planet was called Ankui. As Bai Zhongqi read through the description of this civilization, he couldn't help but sigh at the wonder of the universe's creations.
Ankui was a world of spores, inhabited by living beings where all life forms existed as spores. Eventually, these spores formed conglomerates and developed a certain level of intelligence. But ordinary carbon-based life forms of the Primate Clan and others couldn't comprehend these spore beings.
The people of Ankui did not have a fixed shape; they took the form of whatever shape the spores assembled into. Their existence seemed to revolve around reproduction, much like ordinary plants, with no other pursuits. Ankui was rich in resources, and the Teizene had once wanted to take over this planet to plunder its resources.
The arrogant Lizard People deployed a large number of Planetary Bombardment Weapons in an attempt to eradicate all life on Ankui, but a surprising thing happened—the spore beings fought back.
Many spores were blasted into space by the explosions, and these spores soon adhered to the Teizene warships. The miraculous spores corroded the warships, leading to the destruction of a large number of their ships. Any Teizene who came into contact with the Ankui spores was parasitized by them, eventually becoming nutrients for the spore beings.
An entire Teizene Fleet was annihilated, and the fleets that came afterward were also attacked and corroded by the spores drifting through space. What was even more terrifying came later: after the spore clusters overtook and corroded a Teizene warship, they actually assembled into a warship-shaped supergiant "mushroom."
What might sound funny, or even appetizing, was the "mushroom warship" that could accelerate its spore cannonballs to the level of Electromagnetic Cannons. The Teizene discovered, to their amazement, that although these spore cannonballs were not very powerful, they could withstand Energy Shields and absorb the energy of the shields, ultimately rendering them ineffective.
Upon contact with matter, these spore cannonballs could swiftly consume the material, regardless of whether it was metal or organic. The domineering Teizene suffered a setback in front of this Ankui civilization and even panicked for a time, fearing that these spore beings would spread to other planets. Fortunately, the spore beings from Ankui eventually returned to their home planet. Those terrifying mushroom warships ultimately split into countless spore lives, scattering across every corner of the planet.
As a result, the Teizene dared not approach the galaxy system where Ankui was located. Within this system was a very suitable main sequence star and several planets with developmental value, but all the Teizene could do was sigh in longing.
Bai Zhongqi was amazed by this story, but he had no intention of utilizing these spore beings from Ankui to deal with the Teizene. If the Teizene couldn't handle them, Bai Zhongqi didn't believe he was currently capable of mastering these spore lives. No one yet understood the operating mechanisms of these spore lives, their societal system, or their decision-making processes.
Apart from Iridium Star and Ankui, the other civilizations within the Box Star Territory posed no threat to the Teizene. Bai Zhongqi's aspiration to find allies within the Box Star Territory to counter the Teizene had come to naught.
Even in other Star Regions, although the Teizene had a bad reputation, no civilization was willing to confront them with an unheard-of entity like Earth civilization.
The intelligence package had little recent news, mostly information that the Bupinga had found through public channels. The information they had obtained indicated that half a month earlier, a massive Teizene Fleet had set out, its destination unknown.
This revelation caused a panic among some civilizations. Some even actively questioned the Teizene about the purpose of their dispatched fleet, to which the Teizene naturally didn't give them a friendly response. Various neighboring civilizations also prepared for possible stealth attacks. Civilizations with Warp Speed detection radars closely monitored their detectors so that if the Teizene Fleet really did come, they could know in advance.
While a group of civilizations big and small fretted over this, only Bai Zhongqi knew that the true destination of the Teizene was Earth, 1000 light-years away.