Now, receiving news from the Federation isn't a good sign.

"Didn't you say the signal couldn't be received here temporarily?"

Mu Chen looked at the information from the Federation and recalled Gudrian's troubled expression from earlier, saying that he couldn't send out any signals.

The slap in the face came so quickly.

"This starship's communication system has been modified. There's a special channel for receiving messages specifically from the Federation. No matter where you are, even in places with the worst signal, this signal is guaranteed to be received.

It's very much like the style of the legions, but using it here for pirates is a bit like providing advance warning."

Gudrian's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke.

After all, this was practically a blatant statement that someone in the Federation was colluding with the pirates, so they could receive news in advance if there were any movements, such as the Federation sending troops to wipe out the pirates.

"Are you sure it's from the Federation?"

Gudrian immediately glared at Mu Chen upon hearing this, his tone serious, "What do you mean by that? Our Empire wouldn't do such a thing! You wait, I'll crack this signal right away, and you'll see for yourself that it must be some message from the Empire!"

Mu Chen knew that Gudrian had misunderstood when he saw him like this.

He was just confirming the source of the signal. He didn't say that if it wasn't the Federation, it had to be the Empire, did he?

It could also be the pirates.

Mu Chen wanted to laugh at Gudrian's serious appearance but didn't say much. He just looked at the signal and lowered his head, increasing the speed of the starship by another level, saying, "It's too far from Gu Lan Star to the Empire's border."

Looking at the three-dimensional star map, to reach the Empire's border, they still had to pass near the Federation. Given the relationship between the pirates on this starship and some people within the Federation, if they were discovered with different people on board, there was no way they could reach the Empire safely.

"Then why are you accelerating now?"

Gudrian looked at Mu Chen's flight path, which didn't involve any turns at all. Where did it look like he was afraid of the Federation?

But as soon as he thought that, his eyes widened as he watched Mu Chen's starship begin to make sharp turns!

"N-no, where are you flying to?!"

…

"I still feel like something's not right."

Ming媚, who had sold boxed lunches, was alone in her room, looking at the space outside the window. Bored, she had Gui Gui read her the history of Hua Lan Star, and Ming媚 frowned after hearing Gui Gui read the section about the remnants of Gu Lan Star at the beginning.

"Let me take another look myself." No longer letting Gui Gui read, Ming媚 began to carefully read the content on her own.

[Host, what's wrong?]

Gui Gui noticed Ming媚's expression and the way she was repeatedly reading that section of history, and Gui Gui also sensed that something was wrong.

"The location of Gu Lan Star is wrong." Ming媚 remembered the border issue of Gu Lan Star. Compared to the current Hua Lan Starfield, Gu Lan Star's location was not only outside the scope of interstellar human activity, but it was also separated from the Empire by the Federation.

Then why were they ultimately discovered by both the Empire and the Federation?

Why would the Empire's army be there?

"Why would the Empire come over?" Ming媚 couldn't understand. "Wait, the book doesn't say exactly where the Empire discovered them. Where exactly were we found?"

Ming媚 muttered to herself. Gui Gui naturally helped Ming媚 search after hearing her analysis. In the end, Gui Gui also surprisingly realized a problem—[Host, it really doesn't seem to be recorded. There's no record of where the remnants of Gu Lan Star were discovered with the starship. It only says that the pirates all died in resisting the Zerg.]

"Resisting the Zerg? Are the pirates really that stupid? They didn't run when they could have, and instead fought the Zerg? Do you think they're some kind of folk heroes?"

…

"Was it really just to catch bugs?"

After Gudrian and Mu Chen cracked the signal and saw the direction Mu Chen was changing to and the final destination marked, he felt that Mu Chen's prediction was absolutely amazing!

Mu Chen knew to turn around before he even cracked the signal!

"Yeah, by the way, remember to reply to the other end of this signal that we've discovered traces of the Zerg and ask them to send someone over." Mu Chen added after finishing, "Send them the address coordinates of Gu Lan Star."

"W-wait, didn't you say to have less contact with the Federation? Why are you reporting the address and going back?"

Gudrian was truly unable to figure out Mu Chen's thoughts now.

"We were wrong before. We suspected the source of this starship was related to the Federation, and we were worried that we would be discovered by the Federation first and then silenced. We were desperately trying to find the Empire. But thinking about it carefully, this signal channel and the pirates on this starship weren't just a one-time deal with those people."

Just like Gudrian said, the pirates on this starship had a long-term cooperative relationship with someone in the Federation.

"So?"

"So, the identity of this Zerg must be very special. The Federation has been investigating and even used the pirate's information network."

As Mu Chen spoke, his fingers tapped on the command screen, and he said, "So that's why the Empire would come from so far away. They are also looking for this Zerg."

"Are you saying that the Empire also came to snatch this Zerg? That's how they accidentally discovered the remnants of Gu Lan Star on the starship together with the Federation. Because both sides were present and neither wanted to be the bad guy, everyone was able to survive?!"

The more Gudrian thought about it, the colder he felt. So, all the near-death escapes were just the result of mutual games between two powerful forces, each taking a step back?

Without an "enlightened" planet's destiny, there was no difference from being an ant.

"What's so special about this Zerg?" Not wanting to think of the Empire and the Federation as too dark, Gudrian had to shift his attention away.

"I don't know, but at least one thing is certain: that Zerg must be very special, so special that the Empire is willing to take risks." Mu Chen also became curious about what kind of Zerg it was.

The history of Hua Lan Star also didn't record which Zerg destroyed Gu Lan Star, after all, they hadn't seen the Zerg at that time.

Just thinking about it, a dark glint flashed in Mu Chen's eyes.

Even if they couldn't recognize it at the time, what about afterwards?

According to the earliest recorded descriptions of the Zerg, hadn't anyone on Hua Lan Star traced the origins of the Zerg later?

Or—did no one know about this Zerg from beginning to end?

What about the Empire?

What about the Federation?

Didn't anyone know?

Or was it that no one was willing to reveal the true identity of that Zerg.

[Congratulations to the players for finding the correct path home. The game is about to end. Please prepare to leave the game.]

Mu Chen thought he would have a chance to peek into the truth of this history next, but he didn't expect the game to end here abruptly.

Mu Chen's final marker was the end point of their game journey.

"It's over just like that?"

Whether it was Gudrian and Mu Chen in the control room, Ming媚 who was aware of the problem with Hua Lan Star history and was looking for other information with Gui Gui, or the other players who had just finished eating roujiamo and were ready to go all out, they were all dumbfounded.

"What exactly happened?"

Ming媚 also left the room and saw many players heading towards the control room. No one would believe that no one had done anything if the game suddenly ended like this.

But when they heard Mu Chen's description, they all looked disbelieving, as if saying, "Are you kidding me?" Even Ming媚 thought the ending of this game was ridiculous, right?

The game just ended after finding the right location?

"Just like that? What kind of snake game is this?"

Some classmates said that the ending was too hasty. Everyone who played this game knew that there was a big problem with the Gu Lan Star incident back then.

They finally got here, and everyone was eager to eat big melons and reach the end, but the game just did this, are you toxic?!

Yan Hui had definitely practiced playing with the players' mentality. Outside the game, Yan Hui had already decided to rest well tonight. After all, it was his first night on this Qi Lan Star, he couldn't just become a wage slave right away, could he?

However, someone didn't want him to sleep!

"I just want to know, what exactly did the Empire discover back then?"

Hu Mingli was also gossiping about this!

His subordinates hadn't played it, and Duo Lun and Rui An had both told him about it. He had even asked his father about it, but for something that happened hundreds of years ago, let alone his dad, his great-grandfather was still peeing and playing with mud back then. Who would know?

Their Hu family wasn't a noble family for generations either. They only earned merits from his grandfather's generation, and his father and he had fought their way up.

They really weren't qualified to know about some of the previous events, or rather, the top levels of the Empire.

They couldn't find out even if they wanted to.

He just wanted to know how the person in front of him knew.

"Could it be that the main brain also knew about that back then?"

The topic turned to the main brain again, but Yan Hui just smiled and said, "The main brain hadn't even been 'born' at that time, had it?"