Chapter 147: Natives? Easy to manipulate at will!

It took a full five days for the mecha knights of the Broly family to reach the outskirts of the Ironwood Forest.

Captain Connor had already regained consciousness.

After listening to Big Mouth's retelling of events, Connor's mind was thrown into violent turmoil.

"That spider referred to another mutant as the Queen?"

"A giant plant mutant?"

"A human-like creature capable of controlling lava?"

It took Connor a long time to slowly digest all this information.

Connor, who had descended upon the Zombie Star with such supreme confidence, could now only offer a bitter smile.

"This Zombie Star has truly undergone unimaginable changes..."

Big Mouth nodded involuntarily and spoke up:

"Indeed. When the Zombie Star fell back then, we should have simply occupied it."

"Such a prime planet, yet the rulers of the Four Stars simply abandoned it. I truly have no idea what those pig-headed fools were thinking!"

"Even if the Four Stars had jointly carved up the Zombie Star, it would have been fine."

"At least everyone could have profited!"

Connor said with a helpless sigh:

"You simplify politics far too much."

"To those politicians, dividing a cake equally is the ultimate failure!"

"Either you take it all, or... no one gets anything!"

"The reason why none of the Four Stars have bothered with the Zombie Star for all these years..."

"I once heard Dr. Broly mention that it was because of a treaty."

"After the Great Plundering of the Zombie Star, the Sea Wolf Star once considered sparing no expense to dispatch an army and occupy the Zombie Star."

"However, none of the other Order Stars were pushovers, and they rushed to halt the Sea Wolf Star's military operations."

"In the end, the top brass of the various Order Stars had no choice but to sit down at the negotiating table."

"After months of endless talk, the Sea Wolf Star's plan fizzled out into nothingness..."

"And they signed an agreement called the 'Protection of Zombie Star Primitive Ecology Treaty'!"

Upon hearing the name of this treaty, Big Mouth felt completely nauseous.

What in the world... the Protection of Primitive Ecology Treaty.

When you were blasting the Zombie Star to pieces with warships, you didn't seem to care one bit about protecting the primitive ecology...

What a bunch of hypocritical politicians!

Seeing the expression on Big Mouth's face, Connor grinned widely and said:

"Absurd, isn't it?"

"Yet the consequences of violating this treaty are extremely severe!"

"Once anyone violates it, the other three planets will automatically form an alliance and launch an attack on the offending planet!"

Upon hearing this, Big Mouth spat fiercely to the side:

"The four Order Stars couldn't even manage to divide a single Zombie Star equally..."

"A three-party alliance?"

"Isn't that just a complete joke?"

Connor shook his head slightly and said:

"No, among this seemingly laughable agreement, only this single clause is no joke!"

"Once someone actually violates it, the other three will definitely throw their full military might into annihilating the violator!"

"Because in the eyes of politicians, the Zombie Star had already fallen, and if the four parties split it equally, no one would truly gain any substantial advantage..."

"In essence, the four-way balance of power wouldn't change at all!"

"However, obliterating a civilized planet..."

"Might allow them to acquire certain vital technologies during the plunder, thereby suppressing the other two factions."

"That is the real truth behind the Four Stars deploying forces for the Great Plundering of the Zombie Star!"

"It's just that the final outcome of the Great Plundering of the Zombie Star was that each of the Four Stars seized an antimatter mecha!"

"As for the zombie virus samples scattered all over the Zombie Star, all four factions took as many as they pleased."

"The two technologies from the Zombie Star that the Four Stars feared the most—antimatter mecha technology and genetic enhancement technology..."

"Each of the Four Stars obtained a share."

"That is what created the twenty years of silence across the Four Stars..."

"Yet behind that silence lies an exceptionally perilous arms race!"

"Whoever can achieve a major breakthrough in the antimatter mecha and genetic modification warrior projects will gain the power to shatter the balance of the Leviathan Galaxy!"

"The seeds of war were sown twenty years ago."

"It's just that back then, the Zombie Star, the most powerful among the five stars, suddenly perished..."

"During the plundering of the Zombie Star, almost none of the Four Stars managed to gain an absolute upper hand."

"That is what granted the entire galaxy another twenty years of peace!"

"However, as the Four Stars continue to break through technologically over the years and make steady progress, one day this balance will be shattered..."

"When that time comes, a terrifying war that will engulf the entire galaxy is bound to break out!"

"Either unification of the galaxy, or its utter destruction..."

Big Mouth stared at Connor in utter astonishment, dumbfounded that there were so many hidden stories behind the scenes.

Unlike Connor, Big Mouth was a pure soldier, completely ignorant of politics.

Connor, however, was a direct descendant of the Broly family.

Though stationed in military camps, he could still be considered half a politician, possessing a very clear judgment of the galaxy's overall situation.

After pondering for a moment, Big Mouth asked:

"Why does everyone assume that antimatter mecha technology and genetic enhancement technology are the absolute foundation of true power?"

Connor had nothing to hide from this comrade who had shared life and death with him.

"Because both of these technologies originate entirely from a higher-tier civilization!"

Big Mouth was instantly taken aback, asking in shock:

"An extragalactic civilization?"

"Those scientists believe these two technologies weren't invented by the Zombie Star?"

Connor nodded:

"I don't know the specific details, since I'm not a researcher myself!"

"But this is a fundamental consensus among the entire Leviathan scientific community!"

"Therefore, all Four Stars are frantically researching these two technologies..."

"Because everyone believes that the blow dealt by a superior civilization to an inferior civilization is practically devastating and crushing!"

"Alright, we've strayed far from the topic..."

"I see the reconnaissance team has returned."

Before long, a ten-man squad approached Connor and Big Mouth, jumping out of their mechs and reporting:

"Captain Connor, Vice-Captain Big Mouth..."

"According to our reconnaissance, the Ironwood Forest black market marked on the map is completely deserted..."

"However, twenty kilometers away, there is a large human settlement with a population of about 90,000!"

"And underground, about fifteen kilometers west of this gathering point, there is also a small camp of about 20,000 people!"

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Connor was slightly stunned and puzzled:

"Did the map have an error? Or has the black market relocated?"

"Did you find any traces of mutant clusters nearby?"

Hearing Connor's question, several scouts exchanged glances and replied with a hint of uncertainty:

"We scouted the surrounding area and found no traces of large numbers of mutants roaming within a radius of at least fifty kilometers!"

"However, after entering the Ironwood Forest region, our detectors seemed to be subjected to some kind of interference!"

"We cannot be certain whether the information is entirely accurate."

Connor nodded. According to the map, the nearest strong energy source was a volcanic group several hundred kilometers away.

There were no strong energy or radiation sources around the Ironwood Forest, so even if there were mutants, their levels shouldn't be too high.

The mecha knights under his command would be fully capable of handling them.

"Let's move out and head toward that large human settlement!"

"Eliminate their rulers and let us take their place!"

"A settlement of eighty thousand people must surely have enough supplies to sustain us through the entire winter..."

"We can't defeat those terrifying mutants on the Zombie Star..."

"But these natives, who are practically no different from primitive people... we can mold them however we please!"