Chapter 101: Walking Nuclear Weapons, Escalating Conflict

As Yan Xia and Chu converse, a loud explosion suddenly rocks the building they are in. The blast, powerful enough to penetrate thick walls, causes a burning sensation on their skin, and a layer of dead skin forms as if they had shed their old skin.

The dead skin is quickly decomposed by the quark robots, and Yan Xia, maintaining a blank expression, asks, "What happened outside?"

Chu points in a specific direction, and the wall quickly disassembles and reassembles into a screen over 300 meters wide, displaying a clear image.

The image shows a massive mushroom cloud, and as the camera zooms in, thousands of Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms are seen collecting energy from around the cloud.

"It seems the 'Changers' are responsible for this, and things have escalated beyond what I expected," Chu says, his voice heavy with concern.

The nature of the bombs has taken a turn for the worse.

Is the internal conflict about to escalate into a full-scale civil war?

However, Chu's performance at this moment suggests that this event was not entirely unexpected.

"Should we send our people to help?" Yan Xia offers.

Chu immediately refuses, understanding Yan Xia's true intentions. He knows that Yan Xia wants to expand the Civilized Federation's presence and influence, and he won't allow it.

Chu watches as a mouse dares to enter the tiger's den, and he finds it amusing.

"No, there won't be any casualties," Chu replies.

He extends a hand and touches two fingers together.

Instantly, Yan Xia feels a blinding flash of light, which damages his eyes, but the quark robots quickly repair the damage.

As the light fades, Yan Xia's expression turns grave.

Feedback from the internal quark robots indicates that the flash of light was the result of nuclear fission.

The Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms, with their incredibly fine physical structure, have somehow managed to control nuclear fission within their own bodies.

This not only requires atomic manipulation but also the ability to withstand the energy released during nuclear fission.

The mechanical structure of the Olive Branch Civilization is far more advanced than Yan Xia initially thought, and he estimates that it would take over 10 million tons of TNT to cause any significant damage to their bodies.

Walking nuclear bombs.

Yan Xia understands the source of the recent explosions.

It's not a matter of bombs being planted, but rather a conflict between the 'Changers' and the 'Conservatives' within the Olive Branch Civilization, which has escalated into physical violence.

It feels like a simple argument has now turned into an all-out brawl!

"I'm sorry, it seems I must leave to deal with this matter. /Star City hasn't seen the use of nuclear force within its borders in over 2000 years."

Chu transforms into a cloud of black mist and departs, taking the building blocks of the structure Yan Xia is in with him, leaving only a single block supporting Yan Xia's body in mid-air.

Yan Xia begins to wonder about the size of these building blocks.

Are they made up of centimeter-sized cubes, or are they even smaller, at the millimeter or micrometer level?

Perhaps they are structured on a microscopic level, similar to the Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms, which would mean that the entire /Star City could undergo nuclear fusion at any moment.

If they can achieve nuclear fusion, then what about nuclear fission?

Yan Xia returns to the designated area for the Civilized Federation.

Originally, he thought that having Chu's involvement would keep the 'Changers' in check, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In fact, the internal conflict within /Star City has only intensified over the past year, with explosions occurring every few days, and it seems that Chu has lost control of the situation.

Yan Xia sits in his office, collecting information from all over /Star City, half-lying in his boss chair, his eyes half-closed.

After a year of gathering information, Yan Xia has a clear understanding of the situation.

"Ella has been under Chu's control for some time now, and yet he still allowed the internal conflict to escalate. In fact, it seems he may have even encouraged it."

"Everything makes sense now."

However, Yan Xia still doesn't know why Chu allowed the internal conflict to happen in the first place.

The information he has access to is limited, and it was only recently that he learned about the Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms' ability to control nuclear fusion.

Yan Xia feels like he's caught in a trap.

But he doesn't regret entering /Star City.

If he had stayed outside /Star City, he likely wouldn't have received even this basic information, and he would only be able to observe the city from a distance, putting the Civilized Federation at a significant disadvantage.

At the same time, Yan Xia is glad he came, as he knows that sending anyone else would have resulted in them being devoured by Chu, leaving nothing behind.

Based on the current situation, it's clear that the Olive Branch Civilization harbors unknown hostility towards the Civilized Federation, just as Yan Xia had suspected. The universe is a dangerous place, and it's impossible for civilizations to truly coexist peacefully without knowing each other's intentions.

Yan Xia's initial assumption that the Olive Branch Civilization's friendly gestures were questionable has been proven correct, and now it's clear that they have hostile intentions towards the Silk Civilization.

"But since he's going along with my plan, he must have his own agenda. I'll just have to give him something extra to chew on and see if he can handle it."

Yan Xia opens his eyes wide.

He looks towards the door, and Ella enters the room.

"Yan Xia, Chu has given his response. He's willing to cooperate with us against the Silk Civilization, but he has a condition."

"What is it?" Yan Xia asks, sitting up straight and scrutinizing Ella. He wonders if it's Chu himself controlling Ella now, which would be quite interesting.

"The Silk Civilization's star domains and most of its remaining civilizations must be given to the Olive Branch Civilization, along with the faster-than-light communication technology we promised."

A lion's share.

Yan Xia pauses for a moment before speaking.

"That's not a problem, but we have a condition too. We get to choose which star domains of the Silk Civilization we want."

Yan Xia is tempted to accept the offer immediately, but he knows that would make him seem too eager, so he decides to negotiate further.

"Alright, I'll send the message."

Ella nods, but his personality has become increasingly robotic, especially since Yan Xia discovered that Ella was being controlled.

Yan Xia finds this change in Ella's behavior somewhat disconcerting, as he has become accustomed to having Ella by his side, providing assistance and lightening the mood.

He feels a deep hatred towards Chu for this development.

However, the information conveyed by Ella through Chu is crucial, and Yan Xia pays close attention to the timing of the response.

Chu's response comes within a year, which is much faster than Yan Xia expected, as it should have taken at least a hundred years. This proves that the plan is beneficial to the Olive Branch Civilization, and it's clear that they have had hostile intentions towards the Silk Civilization from the beginning.

Furthermore, the fact that Chu didn't even consult his leaders before making a decision is a clear indication that he has already made up his mind.

This is a loophole, and Yan Xia believes that Chu intentionally left it there, as it's too obvious to be a genuine mistake.

Regardless, now that the Olive Branch Civilization has revealed its true intentions, they have fallen into Yan Xia's trap.

"Now it's a game of who can catch the other in their net. Let's see who can do it faster."

Soon after Ella leaves, he receives a response.

Chu invites Yan Xia to witness the Olive Branch Civilization's determination.