265: Chapter 265 Dark Energy Crystal Core Charging System, Interstellar War is Coming!

On the holographic screen, that pale-purple skinned, pointed-eared humanoid paused for less than a second.

Then he smiled.

The smile was polite, and also very perfunctory.

"Respected Excellency, I am Erwin, Commander of the 13th Interstellar Trade Fleet of the Karel Syndicate in the Large Magellanic Cloud."

Erwin bowed slightly, his tone sounding like he was reciting a business template that had been in use for eight hundred years.

"Regarding the hundred-thousand-year jump and tributary vassalage you mentioned, we have no relevant historical archives available for verification."

"However, the Diplomatic Liaison Department of the Kairos Civilization provided us with intelligence stating that you possess technical data from the pinnacle of a Level 3 Civilization, and it is precisely for this that we have come."

Su Che's moment of posturing had been kicked over by someone.

In his conscious space, the system remained silent; that gray void seemed to be mocking him.

Su Che cursed inwardly, but his expression remained completely unmoved.

"Fine, I don't want to beat around the bush with you."

He leaned back against the chair, shifting into a more casual posture.

"Speak. What do you want, and what can you offer?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the communication cabin eased up.

Commander-in-Chief Wang Xueshan let out a long breath beside him, and Zhang Zhiyue unclenched his sweaty fist.

Erwin's expression, conversely, became serious.

"You are straightforward, Excellency. We need the technical data of a Level 3 Civilization at its peak. We will trade one Primordial Dark Energy Crystal Core for one set of data—a one-for-one equivalent exchange. We will trade for as much as you have."

Dark Energy Crystal Core? A one-for-one exchange?

Su Che had never heard of this thing; he subconsciously glanced at Kayla.

Kayla shook her head slightly, gesturing with her mouth to indicate that she wasn't very familiar with its value either.

Trading something of unknown value for Level 3 Civilization peak technology?

Are they trying to scam me?

Su Che's brows furrowed, and he was about to speak.

In his conscious space, golden light flared without warning.

[Primordial Dark Energy Crystal Core.]

[Only naturally forms in the dark matter enrichment zones surrounding supermassive black holes; a single unit takes a million years to form naturally.]

[Extraction loss rate exceeds ninety percent; a Level 3 late-stage civilization needs several hundred years to harvest a single intact finished product.]

[Top-tier scarce strategic energy resource of this level.]

[Can be used to directly charge this system.]

[Last time, the Gaia BH1 black hole charging only reached eighty-five percent progress, which was insufficient to fully unlock all one hundred sets of Level 3 peak technical data.]

[One Dark Energy Crystal Core, even if the eighty-five percent from the last charge has mostly depleted, is enough to fully charge this system in one go.]

Su Che's heart leaped.

He lowered his eyelids, suppressing the ecstasy that was about to burst out.

This wasn't a trade fleet; this was a gift-bearing messenger.

"I have a total of one hundred sets of technical data in my possession, but it is impossible to exchange them all at once. For this transaction, I can only provide ten sets in exchange for your ten crystal cores, plus the signing of a mutual defense alliance agreement by both parties."

Su Che's voice returned to that steady tone, the same one he used when buying scallions at the market.

"Furthermore, add one more clause: the copyright of the technical data is limited to your own use and may not be resold or disseminated. Otherwise, we will not engage in any further transactions with your side."

Erwin nodded. "Reasonable."

"Additionally," Su Che raised a finger, "the data does not support specified categories; you get what you get."

"Accepted."

Su Che stood up.

"Then it is settled. Have your fleet stop five million kilometers away; our radar will monitor the entire process."

"Naturally."

After the communication was cut, Su Che immediately dialed the internal communication for the radar cabin.

"Radar cabin, pull their fleet imaging onto the main screen in the communication cabin."

Within seconds, the image on the communication cabin's main screen changed.

Against the backdrop of pitch-black deep space, eighty-two light points arranged in three columns were moving rapidly toward Genesis.

The radar automatically labeled the parameters of each ship.

Flagship, 8.3 kilometers.

Six cruisers, each a little over 3 kilometers.

The remaining seventy-five frigates and supply ships ranged in size from 500 meters to 2 kilometers.

The formation of the entire fleet was seamless and evenly spaced, like an opened folding fan.

No one spoke in the communication cabin.

Commander-in-Chief Wang Xueshan stared at the screen for a full ten seconds before squeezing a sentence through his teeth.

"If these guys really wanted to make a move, could our newly unlocked shield withstand a few rounds?"

No one answered.

Su Che didn't answer either.

He knew clearly that it couldn't withstand it, but business had to be done, and he couldn't show weakness.

"Stop standing around," Su Che patted the table. "Go to the conference room and wait for them to arrive."

Two hours later.

The radar cabin reported that the Karel fleet had arrived at the five-million-kilometer safety line on time, without any abnormal maneuvers throughout the journey.

A shuttle detached from the opposing flagship and flew toward Genesis.

Erwin, accompanied by four attendants, entered the Interstellar War Command conference room.

Su Che sat at the head of the table, with Commander-in-Chief Wang Xueshan and Zhang Zhiyue sitting on either side.

Kayla stood behind Su Che.

After Erwin took his seat, an attendant placed a metal box half a person tall on the table.

The box was matte black, with a thumb-sized transparent observation window embedded in the top.

The attendant operated the panel a few times, and an isolation chamber popped out from the box.

Erwin reached in, took out a palm-sized flat case, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

"This is one of them, for your inspection, Excellency."

Su Che didn't move; he tilted his head toward Kayla.

Kayla stepped forward, took the metal case, and walked to the testing station in the corner of the conference room.

She placed the case on it and activated the quantum imaging probe.

On the main screen, the image inside the case was magnified a hundred times.

A deep ink-blue crystal lay quietly in the center of the repulsion isolation layer.

Inside the crystal, countless tiny filaments of light, almost invisible to the naked eye, were swimming like fireflies trapped in amber.

Even more eerie was the space surrounding the crystal.

Su Che leaned closer to the screen to take a look.

The space around the edge of the crystal was slightly bent, as if pinched by an invisible hand.

"Spatial distortion effect." Erwin's voice came from across the table, carrying a cautionary tone.

"When the case is intact, the dark energy leakage is controlled within a safe threshold. Once the case is damaged, the dark energy leakage will trigger spatial tearing within a thousand-kilometer radius."

Su Che took note of this, merely nodding on the surface.

"Inspected, no problem."

He took out a pre-prepared data disk from his pocket and pushed it to the center of the table.

"Your side should inspect it as well."

Erwin took a portable terminal from his attendant and inserted the data disk.

Data streams rolled on the terminal screen for over ten seconds.

Erwin pulled out the data disk and closed the terminal.

"Level 3 Civilization peak technology, confirmed correct."

He stood up and extended his hand toward Su Che.

"Deal."

Su Che shook it and let go.

Erwin gestured, and the attendant operated the metal box again.

Nine independent isolation chambers popped open on the surface of the box, each containing an identical flat case.

Su Che also took out the remaining nine data disks from his pocket and pushed them over.

The attendants from both sides counted the quantities and collected them.

"Chief Excellency," Erwin took a silver metal plate from his attendant and handed it to Su Che.

"This is a quantum anchor communication relay of the Karel Syndicate. It can be connected to your mothership's communication system. The Large Magellanic Cloud is 158,000 light-years away from here; with this, we can achieve real-time cross-galactic communication."

Su Che took the metal plate; it felt cold to the touch.

"For the next transaction, wait for my notification." He tossed the metal plate onto the table. "At that time, I will send you new transaction coordinates and times."

"Understood." Erwin bowed.

Next was the signing of the mutual defense alliance agreement.

The draft prepared in advance by Zhang Zhiyue was brought up, and both sides went through it clause by clause.

Erwin had no objections to the terms, only adding a half-sentence note in the "Technical Data Copyright Restriction" section, confirming that the copyright was limited to internal use within the Karel Syndicate.

Signatures, seals, and each side kept a copy.

The entire process took less than twenty minutes.

Erwin put away the agreement and sat back down.

"Excellency, there is something I think you should know."

Su Che raised an eyebrow.

"Speak."

"2.9 million light-years away, in the Triangulum Galaxy." Erwin's speaking speed slowed down.

"The Zerg, a Level 3 Civilization at peak completion, are currently plundering resources on a large scale across various galaxies, preparing to break through to Level 4."

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop by a few degrees.

"The Karel Syndicate in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Kairos Federation in the Milky Way, and the Rosernia Empire of the Florin race in the Andromeda Galaxy are all on the Zerg's list of targets for plunder." Erwin spread his hands.

"Who the next target is, is currently impossible to determine."

Commander-in-Chief Wang Xueshan's hands rested on the edge of the table, his fingers tightening.

Su Che didn't reply, waiting for him to continue.

"I will sell the intelligence that you possess Level 3 peak technology to the Rosernia Empire." Erwin said quite frankly. "They will definitely come to trade with you."

Su Che's mouth twitched; these interstellar peddlers sold intelligence like they were selling cabbage.

"Rosernia is the strongest and closest to the peak among the three civilizations." Erwin added. "Their need for Level 3 peak technology is more urgent than both ours and Kairos'."

"So you mean..."

"You are already the Chief Advisor to Kairos and have signed an alliance with Karel." Erwin leaned forward half a body. "If you subsequently sign an alliance with Rosernia as well, the three civilizations can use you as a connection point to form a tripartite pact."

Su Che rolled his eyes inwardly.

Good grief, so I'm the screw, and you three are the boards; screw it all together, and it's a door.

But he didn't say it out loud, only nodding.

"I can consider it."

Erwin stood up and took his leave.

Su Che escorted him to the door of the conference room.

"Oh, right," Erwin paused at the door and turned back. "The one million tons of rare interstellar ore that the Kairos Star Speaker entrusted us to transport will arrive by cargo ship in ten minutes."

Su Che paused for a moment, then remembered that the Star Speaker had mentioned this before.

"Fine, I'll arrange for someone to receive it."

Ten minutes after Erwin left.

A Karel cargo ship arrived at Genesis and completed the handover of the million tons of rare ore.

The types of this batch of ore were much more miscellaneous than what Kairos had given last time, and the rarity was a notch lower, but it had the advantage of being large in quantity and satisfying, filling up a medium-sized storage area.

Su Che had Kayla send all ten Dark Energy Crystal Cores into the professional equipment storage area behind the thirty-seventh door for isolated storage.

Once everything was handled, Su Che sent everyone away.

He walked into the storage area alone and picked up one of the metal cases.

The deep ink-blue crystal lay in the center of the repulsion isolation layer, filaments of light swimming inside, and the surrounding space faintly wrinkling.

If this thing were taken out directly, let alone the mothership, the entire Solar System would suffer.

"System, charge."

The system transformed into the Star Core Terminal again and flew out of the conscious space. The light patterns on the surface of the thin sheet swirled a few times and flew toward the metal case on its own.

It attached to the observation window on top of the case, established spatial resonance with the crystal core, and the dark energy was directionally channeled into the terminal core through the isolation layer.

The numbers on the Star Core Terminal began to jump, soaring all the way up from thirty-something percent.

Su Che let out a long breath.

The Star Core Terminal flew back into the conscious space.

[Charging complete.]

The system's text floated out, paused for two seconds, and then a new line appeared.

[Timeline monitoring anomaly.]

Su Che's breathing hitched.

[In the original timeline, the Zerg were directly annihilated by the Noah Civilization on the eve of their breakthrough to Level 4, and never had the opportunity to invade the Milky Way.]

[In the current timeline, the Noah Civilization is silent, letting the Zerg plunder everywhere.]

[The new timeline has completely formed, deviating entirely from the original trajectory.]

Su Che gripped the empty metal case, standing in the empty storage area.

The cold white light shone on his face.

The last line of the system's text floated up.

[The real interstellar war is coming.]