Huo Sen said, "This is natural."
He looked at He Xingzhou and said, "If the Blue Star Civilization joins the Star Trading Group, we can offer you a three-hundred-year discount on interstellar logistics fees and provide corresponding navigation protection."
Within the Star Trading Group, not all civilizations have the ability for interstellar transport and logistics.
This business is mainly undertaken by the three major leading civilizations because they possess advanced warp speed ships and have sufficient military strength.
Ordinary civilizations have to pay the corresponding fees to conduct trade.
"Old friend, the Blue Star Civilization is a potential civilization even the Orion Royal Court wants to recruit. Isn’t this offer a bit lacking?" Bai Shizao said again.
Huo Sen smiled wryly and said, "This is already the maximum privilege I can offer. In the end, the Blue Star Civilization is only a Second-level Civilization, and even if it grows, it will take hundreds or thousands of years."
"Moreover, the situation across the Star Trading Group is very tense now, and we can’t provide more resources."
He Xingzhou was contemplating. Although the benefits offered by the Orion Royal Court were many, the price was making the Blue Star Civilization their vassal, which was a huge loss when calculated!
The benefits given by the Star Trading Group are not many, but there is more freedom.
He Xingzhou said, "If we want to join the Star Trading Group, at the very least, the Star Trading Group must also protect the safety of the Blue Star Civilization."
"We are located on the edge of the Maoshi Star Civilization, which is within the influence range of the Orion Royal Court. Once we join the Star Trading Group, we’ll inevitably be seen by them as enemies." He Xingzhou said to Huo Sen, "The Star Trading Group must be able to guarantee this!"
Huo Sen stood up, thinking while conversing with key figures of his civilization.
A moment later, he said, "The principle of the Star Trading Group is generally that each civilization protects itself. We only protect Affiliated Civilizations."
"However..." he changed his tone, "your situation is special, as the coordinates of the Blue Star Civilization are at the intersection of the Star Trading Group’s and the Orion Royal Court’s influence."
"If you join the Star Trading Group, we naturally have an obligation to ensure your safety."
"I can guarantee now that if you join and a civilization one level higher than your civilization level intervenes, the Star Trading Group will dispatch troops to assist!"
He Xingzhou was still not satisfied, fearing that if an advanced civilization were to intervene, the aid would not arrive in time before they were destroyed.
He continued negotiating with Huo Sen, yet he could not secure many benefits.
After a round of discussions, both sides agreed to talk again in a few days.
He Xingzhou consulted with Bai Shizao and others.
Bai Shizao said, "The Star Trading Group won’t offer more benefits unless you are willing to become their Affiliated Civilization or an alien colony."
"That’s impossible," He Xingzhou said.
"The best scenario is for the Star Trading Group to dispatch a patrol fleet in nearby Star Domains to deter the Orion Royal Court." Bai Shizao said, "This should have been done by our Black Sea Civilization."
At this point, he looked helpless, "Unfortunately, right now, we’re preoccupied with internal strife and can’t attend to these matters."
He Xingzhou said, "I fear joining the Star Trading Group will lead the Orion Royal Court to take action against us."
"That’s for sure," Bai Shizao said, "The Orion Royal Court has been frequently at war over the past century, obliterating those who do not submit." This text is hosted at noveⅼfire.net
"You have no choice."
He Xingzhou understood this reasoning too. Currently, both sides appear to be courteous to the Blue Star Civilization.
Once he joins one side, the other side will certainly strike.
Not joining and wavering will lead to being attacked by both sides.
He Xingzhou exited the Virtual Universe and continued to discuss with the Commanders.
"We have fought for so long in the Solar System, with so many sacrifices and bloodshed, absolutely not to submit to other civilizations! Otherwise, we would have directly become a vassal of the Black Sea Civilization at the start!" The opinions of the Commanders were remarkably consistent.
"Submitting to the Orion Royal Court is absolutely impossible!"
"Since that’s the case, we must think carefully about how to protect ourselves after rejecting the Orion Royal Court." He Xingzhou also agreed in his heart to join the Star Trading Group.
"If the Orion Royal Court dispatches an advanced civilization, we fear we won’t have a chance," said He Hongwei, "To be safe, we should establish survival bases in places far from the Solar System, so that even if the Solar System is destroyed, we can rise again."
"This is a contingency plan," Cui Weimin said, "In my view, if the Star Trading Group can guarantee resistance against Third-level and above civilizations, we still have some confidence against Second-level Civilizations."
He Xingzhou nodded and said, "At least our sub-light-speed battleships are powerful, and civilizations below 2.5 level are no match for us!"
He could confidently say this now, as everyone had battled in the Civilization Arena in the Virtual Universe and already roughly understood the average level of Second-level Civilizations in the universe.
In competitions against civilizations below 2.5 level, the Blue Star Civilization has yet to be defeated!
The power of the Dyson Beam is comparable to a Constant Star Level destructive weapon!
The reason they still can’t defeat civilizations above 2.5 level is because reaching 2.5 level has two important thresholds!
Those are the application of antimatter energy and the development of warp speed battleships.
When antimatter meets matter, annihilation occurs, and the mass of both matter and antimatter is entirely converted into energy, with energy conversion efficiency even higher than nuclear fusion!
Antimatter annihilation energy is ten billion times greater than hydrogen-oxygen chemical reactions and three hundred times that of the Sun’s core thermonuclear reactions!
This kind of energy utilization efficiency will cause the entire civilization to undergo a qualitative leap!
And the warp engine allows the warship to enter subspace, reaching speeds "beyond" the speed of light. Once the speed of light is exceeded, its strike power far surpasses sub-light-speed battleships.