Barbaro was highly tense when facing Bai Zhongqi. He had not expected that he would actually be able to meet a civilization leader, and moreover, an absolute authoritarian leader who oversaw all affairs of a civilization. From the strength of the Iridium Star Fleet he had just witnessed, Barbaro knew that the Steel Ancient Civilization, as well as most other civilizations in the Snow Dragon Galaxy, couldn't afford to provoke them. Even on Nuoye Star, the soldiers of Iridium Star seemed more like they were on vacation, which didn't mean they lacked a will to fight but proved that their confidence was brimming due to their formidable strength.
"Your Majesty, I represent the Steel Ancient Civilization and express our profound respect and honor to you and your Iridium Star United Empire. Welcome to the Snow Dragon Galaxy, and it is an honor for both me personally and the Steel Ancient Civilization to meet with you." This Steel Ancient's demeanor was very humble, but he had a solid foundation in diplomacy, so he did not come across as obsequious.
Bai Zhongqi was not in the mood for excessive pleasantries with Barbaro and simply, with a mild demeanor, went straight to the practical issues, "Diplomat, I'd like to ask, what actions has the Snow Dragon Galaxy taken now against the invasion of the Spiral Mosquito Civilization?"
Barbaro was delighted to hear Bai Zhongqi ask such a question, as it indicated that the other party was interested in joining forces against the Spiral Mosquito.
"To respond to Your Majesty, thirty-eight civilizations have already reached a preliminary consensus for cooperation and have established a temporary military alliance organization—the Snow Dragon Alliance. The purpose is to resist the brutal Spiral Mosquito Civilization's conquest and destruction of other civilizations. The Snow Dragon Alliance is currently contacting other civilizations to join our team, and we hope to unite all the forces of justice to restore tranquility to the Snow Dragon Galaxy."
This statement was lofty but also questionable upon scrutiny. Like the original Zhalan Civilization, which was equally aggressive and often waged wars, yet no one came forward to oppose them. However, now the emergence of the Spiral Mosquito Civilization was too dominant; they had all but destroyed all civilizations within the Geng Sector of the Snow Dragon Galaxy. Now they had come to another densely populated Great Star Zone, the Bing Sector, through the space-time tunnels and started by wiping out the Zhalan Civilization, naturally drawing attention from other civilizations in the Bing Sector.
Bai Zhongqi was not so easily swayed, even if he indeed had ideas of fighting against the Spiral Mosquito. He asked, "What is the military system of the Snow Dragon Alliance like? Have you already engaged in combat with the Spiral Mosquitoes? Do you have real-time control over the situation of the Spiral Mosquito armies?"
These three very important questions made Barbaro realize that getting the people of Iridium Star to join the Snow Dragon Alliance might not be so easy.
"Currently, the Snow Dragon Alliance is organizing a joint command center to coordinate the fleets of various civilizations. However, the fleets of each civilization also retain a certain degree of autonomy. The Snow Dragon Alliance has indeed engaged with the Spiral Mosquitoes; let me be completely honest with Your Majesty, two of our fleets have attempted to ambush small detachments of Spiral Mosquito fleets. Despite having a numerical advantage, both fleets ended up failing. Additionally, the Snow Dragon Alliance has set up a very powerful intelligence and reconnaissance system. Unless the Spiral Mosquitoes leave Bing Sector, we can track all their movements clearly within three days."
Three days might not seem immediate, but in reality, it's already quite a quick response time. Given the vastness of the universe, detecting enemy movement and providing a few days for response usually allows for timely action. Unless using a Stargate or warp method, warp speed travel requires quite some time to reach a destination.
Bai Zhongqi nodded, the Snow Dragon Alliance's intelligence and reconnaissance capability was stronger than he had expected. The biggest difficulty Bai Zhongqi faced now in dealing with the Spiral Mosquitoes was not knowing their full size, their whereabouts, or their plans.
Although he had already decided to strike against the Spiral Mosquitoes, Bai Zhongqi casually asked Barbaro another question, "You know, our base is not in the Snow Dragon Galaxy, so the Spiral Mosquitoes do not pose a threat to us. By coordinating with you in the Snow Dragon Galaxy for military operations, we would primarily be assisting. However, it is not worth it for the Empire's fleets to take huge risks just to do good deeds. So my question is, if Iridium Star provides assistance to the Snow Dragon Alliance, what benefits would Iridium Star receive?"
Barbaro muttered to himself, "As expected."
No one rises early for nothing, and the same goes for the interstellar civilizations. Like Bai Zhongqi deploying a massive fleet of over five thousand warships across four divisions, just the daily food and drink for the soldiers represented a significant investment, not to mention the astronomical numbers in energy consumption once the warp engines or other power facilities were activated. And should there be warship damage and personnel casualties, the price paid would be substantial. With Bai Zhongqi already making such a considerable commitment, what the Snow Dragon Alliance could offer in return was a significant dilemma.
"Your Majesty, the Snow Dragon Alliance has a charter that states after defeating the Spiral Mosquito Civilization, all spoils of war will be distributed reasonably based on contribution, which can include the technological achievements of the Spiral Mosquito Civilization, the planets they occupy, and all other things. It can be said that the greater the effort, the larger the share one receives."
Barbaro's statement was indeed skilful, but how to define contribution and how to assess distribution were all problematic, offering a lot of room for manoeuvre. And he was naturally going to paint a rosy picture to coax the Iridium Star United Empire into the battle.
Bai Zhongqi remembered that the Spiral Mosquitoes possessed a Universe Artifact, but he was not very concerned about other things. In fact, Bai Zhongqi had just mentioned that casually because if he truly wanted something, he would fetch it himself; the Snow Dragon Alliance, even if combined, would not be able to stop him.
"The Iridium Star United Empire will defeat the Spiral Mosquitoes who pose a significant threat to the Snow Dragon Galaxy. However, the armies of Iridium Star do not accept commands from anyone else, so I won't join the Snow Dragon Alliance. But my fleet will fight alongside the Snow Dragon Alliance, and after a brief rest, we will head to the frontline. Diplomat, you may inform the Snow Dragon Alliance of our participation in the battle right now."
Lastly, Bai Zhongqi added, "But I must declare that we dislike incompetent allies more than formidable enemies. If there are some foolish individuals in the Snow Dragon Alliance who intend to cause us trouble, I will not care about the overall situation and will directly deal with those offending fools."
Barbaro was initially elated to hear Bai Zhongqi agree to send troops, but the subsequent content made him hesitate. The Iridium Star United Empire planned to act independently, and it was clear that these people were troublemakers who might cause conflicts with other civilizations. Whether this would be a blessing or a curse was hard to say.