The Korgi civilization's Vice President glanced at Barbara.
He smiled faintly and said, "It's a long story. Since you're so direct, I'll make the situation clear."
For a long while after that,
it was this Vice President of the Korgi civilization who did the explaining.
First, just as Secretary Officer Barbara, His Majesty Zhao Chen and the others had guessed,
a large part of why this Korgi civilization, on discovering the Fierce Dragon civilization's existence, had proposed contact, a meeting, even cooperation with the Fierce Dragon civilization of its own accord
was that they truly were in a rather complicated position right now.
The Korgi civilization had now entered the T4 tech-civilization stage; how much capacity it had at the T4 tech stage, he did not say in detail.
Secretary Officer Barbara did not press him on it either.
And the Korgi civilization was also governing several systems.
Besides that, the Trial civilizations the Korgi civilization had now encountered already numbered over forty.
When she heard this figure, even Secretary Officer Barbara was startled.
Only on learning more did she understand how it had come about.
As it turned out,
in the Korgi civilization's history of development, the first half had actually been like the Fierce Dragon civilization's.
First it was born in a system, and luckily there were no other Trial civilizations in that system.
After that, the Korgi civilization ran into two Trial civilizations in a row, and after eliminating them,
entered a stretch of development lasting ten years.
Just as the Korgi civilization was preparing to expand outward fast and look for new prey,
unexpectedly, the Korgi civilization was discovered by two Trial civilizations at once,
or, to be precise, by two powers formed of Trial civilizations banded together.
Both sides attacked the Korgi civilization at the same time.
Though by then the Korgi civilization had already entered T4 technology,
the Trial civilizations within these two powers numbered over seven in all!
It amounted to seven Trial civilizations besieging one Korgi civilization.
The outcome was easy to imagine.
The Korgi civilization very soon lost a system.
Just when the situation looked about to collapse,
another Trial civilization appeared and stood on the Korgi civilization's side.
At this point, the Korgi civilization also learned the state of affairs outside.
As it turned out, in this star region,
many Trial civilizations had already chosen to band together,
forming alliance after alliance.
The power alliances known so far numbered five!
And the two powers that had discovered the Korgi civilization were two of them.
They had wanted to wipe out the Korgi civilization before other Trial civilizations discovered it, and swallow the resources and systems the Korgi civilization held.
But fortunately, the Korgi civilization was discovered by a third Trial bloc,
and the third Trial bloc took the Korgi civilization under its wing.
With things like this, it became very hard for the other two Trial blocs to swallow the Korgi civilization anymore.
"Two against one? Why don't they dare make a move?" Secretary Officer Barbara asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Hmph. It looks like two against one. You've forgotten what I said just now: there are five Trial blocs in all. The other two Trial blocs won't sit idle. The moment they find a chance while we're locked in a free-for-all, they won't hesitate to come down and help themselves to the meat. No one wants their own hard work to become someone else's stepping stone," the Korgi civilization's Vice President said with a shrug.
"Then when you discovered our Fierce Dragon civilization, why didn't you swallow us? Why make contact with us directly instead?" Secretary Officer Barbara asked curiously.
"Because we want you to join us, and resist the other Trial blocs together with us," the Korgi civilization's Vice President answered, getting straight to the point.
Secretary Officer Barbara thought a moment and stared at him: "It's that you found we already have T4-grade interstellar warships, so the time and cost of swallowing us would both be very great, which doesn't suit your present situation. So you chose to take us in. If we were only a Trial civilization with T3-grade interstellar warships, or even only at the T2 tech level, you'd surely attack us without hesitation. Isn't that right?"
The Korgi civilization's Vice President smiled faintly.
There was already a great deal of meaning in that smile.
"In the Trial of the Gods as things stand now, over ninety percent of the Trial civilizations have already appeared, and all have taken to this way of banding together. If you don't choose to band together, then your outcome will very likely be to be wiped out by the Trial blocs that have. However strong a single Trial civilization of yours is, it can't possibly be a match for several Trial civilizations, can it? What's more, even if your civilization were lucky enough to wipe out one Trial bloc, if the other Trial blocs attacked you at that point, could you still hold them off?"
Barbara paid no mind to his dodging her earlier question; that question already had its answer anyway.
She stared at him and asked, "Then why should we choose your Trial bloc of all of them? You said it yourself: there are five Trial blocs in all. Then I have four other choices. Why can't I choose one of the other four? Or do you have something sure enough to convince me? The greatest strength? The highest standing? Or the largest star-system territory?"
Faced with Barbara's rapid-fire attack,
the Korgi civilization's Vice President answered calmly, "None of those. Our strength is the weakest of the five Trial blocs, our star-system territory is the smallest too, and so naturally our standing is the lowest as well."
Secretary Officer Barbara had not imagined he would be so frank,
laying bare his own weaknesses right at the start.
"Since your situation is so bad, then why should our civilization choose to join you?" Secretary Officer Barbara said with a feigned sneer.
The Korgi civilization's Vice President said slowly, "Because we're your best choice. The five blocs exist in large part because of balance. And with the appearance of a new T4-grade technological civilization, if you join the two Trial blocs ranked in the top two in overall strength, you'll break this balance, and most likely a large-scale decisive battle will break out. And in those two Trial blocs your say won't count for much; you may well become ones who get ordered about. In that case, do you think you'd still have hope of a place in the final contest of the Trial of the Gods in the future? So: join us. Let our faction's strength rise and the five powers draw closer to balance, and that can win you more time to develop. That's to your advantage. At the same time, only in a Trial bloc like ours can you have an equal say. In the final contest of the Trial of the Gods in the future, only then won't you become someone else's stepping stone. The best doesn't mean the most suitable for you. Only the most suitable is the best."
Having heard him out,
Secretary Officer Barbara had to admit that his words were very persuasive.
He was a Foreign Minister worthy of attending this meeting.
"Then first I need to know whether you're worth betting on. Go on with your story from just now. I need to know what the situation outside is like now, and what kind of powers the five Trial blocs out there are."
The Korgi civilization's Vice President raised his hand and opened a hologram.
On it could be seen five different circles,
each of a different size.
Within these five circles were written the names of different interstellar civilization powers.
"At present the strongest in military strength is the Savage Beast Alliance. They call themselves the Savage Beast Alliance because most of their Trial civilizations are beast-folk races of one kind or another. It takes in three Trial civilizations in all, holding twenty-nine systems in total, all at the T4 tech stage at present. Ranked second is the Golden Pupil Mutual-Aid Society, which has the largest star-system territory at present: five Trial civilizations, taking in thirty-five systems. The Triumvirate Star Union has three Trial civilizations, holding twenty-five systems. The Crimson Flame Federation has four Trial civilizations, holding twenty-six systems. And last, the lowest in overall strength, is us: the Far Shore of Deep Space, three Trial civilizations[1] with only nineteen systems."
Having heard all this,
Barbara's expression was somewhat complicated.
Reckoned this way,
the number of systems held by these Trial civilizations averaged somewhere between six and ten.
And it should be understood that the Fierce Dragon civilization now governed six directly, with three more about to come under its indirect control.
This tenth system, barring accidents, the Fierce Dragon civilization could get a share of too.
Looked at purely in terms of star systems, the Fierce Dragon civilization's territory was quite large.
At this moment Barbara's mind began racing:
should she tell him how many systems they held?
Once so large a number of systems was made public, it was bound to draw covetous eyes,
whether from inside this Far Shore of Deep Space or from other Trial civilizations.
Either way, it would bring huge trouble on the Fierce Dragon civilization as it was now.
But if she were to conceal it, how long could it stay concealed?
This became a huge problem laid before the Fierce Dragon civilization,
and the choice Secretary Officer Barbara now had to make.
"Your Fierce Dragon civilization is at the T4 tech-civilization stage now; how many systems do you hold?" The Korgi civilization's Vice President, sure enough, threw out this question.
How many systems' resources a Trial civilization held was crucial to that Trial civilization's speed of development.
Barbara did not answer.
The Korgi civilization's Vice President saw Secretary Officer Barbara's worry: "You're worried that if we know the coordinates of your Fierce Dragon civilization's systems, it'll go badly for you, right? On that point you can rest assured. Though we're an alliance, we don't require each other's system coordinates to be made public. The only thing that has to be made public is the number of Legion fleets each holds. Without knowing that, how to assign combat tasks later on would all become a very big problem. I hope you understand."
Secretary Officer Barbara thought a moment and answered, "At present our Fierce Dragon civilization holds six star-system territories, not yet counting this system before us. As you know, we'd only just found this place when we ran into you. We haven't yet taken full control of this system."
These words of Barbara's did not count as a lie,
for the number of systems the Fierce Dragon civilization directly controlled now truly was six.
"Six! Not bad at all. Much better than us, at least. Our Korgi civilization holds only five systems' resources so far; this one before us is the sixth we've found. Of course, you need not worry about how this system is divided. As a welcome gift for the newcomer, you'll take two-thirds of this system then, and our Korgi civilization will take a third; that'll do."
Before she had even agreed to join, he was already tossing over sugar-coated bullets.
"May I know the total number of interstellar warships you and the other Trial blocs hold?" Secretary Officer Barbara threw out another important question. "And the number of interstellar warships of each grade."
The Korgi civilization's Vice President raised his hand and opened another window.
"The total of our own interstellar warships is now a hundred fifty thousand. Including a thousand T4 interstellar warships, a hundred thousand T3 interstellar warships and fifty thousand T2 interstellar warships. Of course, these are figures each of our three Trial civilizations has published. Everyone may hide a bit in private. Just how much is hidden, nobody knows."
"You still keep T2-grade interstellar warships?" Secretary Officer Barbara frowned slightly.
The Korgi civilization's Vice President understood what she meant too, and said helplessly, "We'd rather not. But there's no help for it; our overall strength is the weakest of the five blocs right now. Though T2 interstellar warships are like cannon fodder among the five blocs' interstellar warships at present, they're better than nothing. And the Crimson Flame Federation's published active-service total is two hundred thousand interstellar warships, including fifteen hundred T4 interstellar warships, a hundred thirty thousand T3 interstellar warships and seventy thousand T2 interstellar warships. They also keep a certain number of T2 interstellar warships. But according to our latest intelligence, they've already handed their T2 interstellar warship production lines down to the civilian sector; what they use themselves now are all T3-grade interstellar warships. Once these last seventy thousand T2 interstellar warships are all retired, their fleets will be T3 and above-T3-grade interstellar warships, every one. Ranked third, the Triumvirate Star Union's active-service total is two hundred thousand interstellar warships, including fifteen hundred T4 interstellar warships, a hundred fifty thousand T3 interstellar warships and fifty thousand T2 interstellar warships. Their fleet size is the same as the Crimson Flame Federation's, but the difference lies in the number of T3-grade interstellar warships. The three of us named above count as the second tier among the five blocs."
Fleets on this scale counted only as the second tier.
Then just how powerful must the Savage Beast Alliance and the Golden Pupil Mutual-Aid Society, the first tier, be?
This made even Secretary Officer Barbara rather curious.