The Envoy stared at Max in shock at his words.
"You would really gift my people the technology to create new kinds of food from basic biomass and ask nothing in return?" She asked, much louder than she had intended.
"Of course. But it's not for free. What we ask in return is an agreement that they will not attack us, and we will not attack them. I think that both of our species have enough enemies in this region, and we don't need to add more of them without good reason.
So, we will give them a simple technology to eat well, one that they are likely to be able to recreate on their own and spread to all of their cities, and in exchange, they will not attack our ships as we travel the region.
It's a good deal, you see. Finally, we will have one set of alien ships that we can see without preparing for an attack." Max explained, making sure that the drone could hear him.