Upon arrival at Kangdanlum, Bai Zhongqi aboard the Blade Empress received a communication from the Kangdanlum Civilization. Kangdanlum was also a part of the Primate Clan; its members were somewhat shorter than those from Iridium Star, with dark skin and relatively longer fingers. Kangdanlum was under an absolute democratic system, meaning that their policies were entirely determined by the votes of every Kangdanlum individual, and the purpose of their authorities was to carry out the collective decisions made by the Kangdanlum electorate.
Agreeing to join the Iridium Star United Empire was the result of Kangdanlum's collective vote. More than seventy percent of the Kangdanlum people chose to join the Iridium Star United Empire, which was the main reason why Kangdanlum made the decision to accept the Iridium Star's terms so swiftly.
The moment the members of the Kangdanlum Executive Policy Committee met Bai Zhongqi, they didn't stop expressing their gratitude, "Great Iridium Star Chancellor, the Kangdanlum people hold a reverence for you that is deeper than the universe. We are immensely thankful that you are willing to save our humble nation and homeland. The Kangdanlum people are prepared to follow the United Empire's alliance constitution and contribute their part to the peace and stability of the universe."
Such courtesy was something anyone could express, and Bai Zhongqi didn't really believe that a level 16 civilization would truly make much of an impact on the Galaxy. Kangdanlum's brand of absolute democracy also limited, to some extent, the rapid development of their civilization. Although the civilization upheld rational and fair principles, they often hindered the development of certain technologies that could lead to ethical issues and potential dangers, causing their civilization to remain stagnant for a long period.
Bai Zhongqi said, "For understanding the greater good, as the Chancellor of the Iridium Star United Empire, I express my high appreciation. The Iridium Star United Empire will commit itself to uniting civilizations in the Galaxy that love peace and stability, aspire for order and development, and to jointly guard against natural disasters, truly establishing absolute order in the Galaxy."
"Your Excellency's vision and foresight deeply impress us..."
Bai Zhongqi had no interest in listening to the Kangdanlum Committee member's flattery continuously. He promptly excused himself, saying he needed to lead the fighting, so he left the video call and assigned a diplomat specifically to coordinate issues with Kangdanlum. Iridium Star's diplomat then took a small transport shuttle to Kangdanlum Star, where they were treated nearly like a king.
At least Iridium Star's presence had reached Kangdanlum, and with diplomats stationed and even embassies being prepared, it all showed that Iridium Star was indeed intent on helping Kangdanlum defend against the invasion of natural disasters.
Zero was quite unenthusiastic about the fervor of the Kangdanlum people. She remarked, "Having a conversation with the chancellor of a civilization on the same level as Iridium Star isn't something that happens every day for Mid- and Lower Civilizations. It's like a poor boy trying to find a rich girlfriend or a wealthy godfather—just about anything Iridium Star gives them would be an incomparable blessing to them."
Han Jiaxue also said, "The majority of Mid-level Civilizations actually still can't fulfill the material needs of their entire population. Many people don't have secure housing, and many can't even get enough to eat, while the right to higher education is limited in many civilizations. Only the High Level Civilizations have an easier life. We can produce enough materials for daily life and have mature social mechanisms to balance people's needs and supply. But such things are unimaginable in Mid- and Lower Civilizations."
Bai Zhongqi sighed. He did not sympathize with everyone in the universe who were living difficult lives, nor did he possibly want to become some kind of saint and make everyone live like those from Iridium Star. As a former president of the United States once said, allowing all citizens of country C to live like Americans would be a disaster for Earth. Even though Bai Zhongqi did not think making everyone in the galaxy adopt Iridium Star's living standards would upset some ecological balance of the galaxy, he did not consider such an endeavor to be reasonable, nor did he believe he needed to go out of his way to do it.
The Iridium Star United Empire's proposal to integrate the entire galaxy, absorbing various civilizations into the United Empire, only aimed to solve an order issue, ensuring the peace of the galaxy, and organizing the resources within the galaxy. Bai Zhongqi did not hope to solve all the problems in the world. At most, within the pan-galactic system of the Iridium Star United Empire, there would be significantly fewer wars ignited by the struggle for interests between civilizations and even fewer of those meaningless wars that simply erupted due to the aggressive martial nature of civilizations.
"One hour and seventeen minutes until the large-scale egg swarm arrives at Kangdanlum."
Upon hearing the ship's report, Zero became excited.
"The parasite eggs of the second swarm are formidable, but my swarm won't lose to them. Thanks to our reverse bionics advantage, I've engineered a new Enslaved Beast, specially designed to deal with large-scale swarms. I call these Enslaved Beasts 'Star Whales.' These creatures, ranging in size from 50 meters to several hundred meters, possess a big mouth with strong suction power, capable of swallowing the egg swarm whole. Inside their stomachs, I've installed a radiation source that causes biological dysfunction, achieving the same effect as a lethal radiation blast. I utilized reinforced materials to ensure the stomach lining of the Star Whales, where the radiation blasts occur, has an effective material structure to shield them from harm, yet it's sufficient to directly kill the swarm eggs that are ingested."
Bai Zhongqi nodded repeatedly after listening, "That's an impressive design, but can't the swarm eggs penetrate matter? Can those internal organs that block the radiation blasts stop them?"
"They are somewhat effective. The swarm eggs will have been killed before they can truly penetrate. Moreover, even if they do break through, the few that do will die in a fight with the cells of the Star Whale, unable to truly parasitize. I have given the Star Whales extremely strong regenerative abilities. The large quantity of swarm eggs that are killed inside them will then transform into new cells, growing and replenishing themselves. We can also keep the Star Whales replenished by providing them with food."
Zero said with a touch of pride, "The second swarm has been rampaging for so long mainly because the Empress has met opponents that are too weak. A true opponent who understands her knows how to defeat her. A few Star Whales are of no consequence, but I will create hundreds of thousands, even millions of them. Although these huge Enslaved Beasts that can travel through the universe cannot work like warships and can only deal with the swarm eggs temporarily, just releasing a few thousand Star Whales can block an offensive wave of the second swarm. In this respect, it is very cost-effective indeed."
Bai Zhongqi nodded in satisfaction, "Very well, if this is successful, we can dispatch the Star Whales and the Iridium Star Fleet to different planets. Moreover, many civilizations, upon learning that we also have a swarm, need to understand that our swarm is not like the other swarms that are inherently murderous."