The moment the ground delegation of the alien civilization jumped down from the small spacecraft, everyone in the reception team and the escort squad was stunned.
Especially when those three slender figures lightly landed on the ground and the people clearly saw their appearance, this shock intensified even further.
These three individuals from the alien civilization all stood over two meters tall, with slender builds, their bodies leaning slightly forward when standing.
The exterior of their bodies was an exoskeletal structure of milky white and light brown, with fine ridges covering the surface, glinting with a porcelain-like luster under the light.
The most striking feature was their bodily organs.
They possessed four limbs just like humans, but all of them were reverse-jointed, with the "legs" angled backward and the tibial segments protruding forward, making them look exactly like large birds from the human world when standing.
And their slender "arms," which exceeded one meter in length, possessed as many as four movable elbow joints, clearly capable of maintaining high stability while precisely controlling bend angles.
In stark contrast to this tall frame was their extremely small diamond-shaped head, almost only half the size of an adult human's.
With such a small head, the facial organs appeared enormous, and the two compound eyes composed of densely packed tiny lenses, along with the mouthparts split into upper and lower halves, were all extremely prominent.
"A mantis, mantis-person?"
Someone in the reception team muttered under their breath.
Indeed, these three alien individuals that had jumped down from the spacecraft looked at first glance like mantises from Earth transformed into humans.
But upon closer inspection, the various details of these alien individuals' bodies were vastly different from Earth mantises, merely resembling them at first glance.
The reception team members stepped forward to greet them, and at the same time, the live streaming equipment set up on site was broadcasting the scene synchronously to the internet.
When people saw the appearance of these alien individuals, they all felt it was very bizarre.
"Why do these alien individuals look like mantises that became spirits? Those compound eyes are kind of gross."
"I think their bodies seem superior to humans. That shell layer on them must be really tough."
"These arms are ridiculously long, and four elbows? We humans only have one elbow per arm. We must be way behind in flexibility."
People were discussing the alien individuals' appearance online, most with a sense of discomfort.
This was completely different from the feeling when encountering alien individuals before.
The ones encountered before, like the "nano-intelligence," were just a blob of black mud, with an appearance completely unrelated to humans.
The "Dialoguer" had an average human appearance. Although it gave off a heavy uncanny valley vibe, it was at least tolerable.
But now these "mantis-people" were caught somewhere in between. Their limbs and standing posture somewhat resembled humans, while their facial details resembled insects. This combination inevitably made humans feel uneasy.
At this moment, on site, the exchange between both sides had already begun.
The human reception team stepped forward and looked up, asking: "Welcome, everyone, to Tianshui Star. How should we address you?"
To this day, humanity still did not know the name of this alien merchant group's civilization.
Among the three alien individuals, the one standing in the middle bent its legs outward to both sides, lowering its height to eye level with the humans, and the two on either side followed suit.
This gesture immediately made everyone in the reception team feel goodwill, thinking this alien civilization was quite "savvy."
Then the middle alien individual's upper and lower mouthparts opened and closed, and a deep, heavy middle-aged female voice sounded.
"You are the Star Scar Merchant Group from the Yinluo Civilization. You are the leader of the merchant group. They cannot call you 'Mr. Ga.' Those two are your assistants."
Judging by its mouth structure, it was impossible for it to produce such perfectly articulated human speech, so it probably carried some kind of real-time language translator on its body.
After introducing itself as "Mr. Ga," the Yinluo Civilization individual let out a few friendly laughs and continued: "It is a great honor to be here. As fellow carbon-based biological civilizations, I believe trade between us will be very pleasant."
"We hope so too." After the reception team said this, seeing that none of the three Yinluo Civilization individuals wore equipment like space helmets, they asked a question.
"We wonder, are the three of you adapting well to Tianshui Star's environment?"
Even among carbon-based biological civilizations, civilizations from different planets certainly could not fully adapt to an alien climate.
Ga laughed twice: "Heh heh, we already surveyed the atmospheric environment before coming. For us, this planet's oxygen content is on the low side and the climate is somewhat dry, but not to the point of being life-threatening."
The exchange between both sides was synchronized to the analysis room at all times, and people from every department were recording, researching, and analyzing every detail of the Yinluo Civilization.
At this moment, based on Ga's words, the analysis team immediately recorded a piece of information: The Yinluo Civilization is a carbon-based biological civilization, adapted to high-oxygen environments, with a preference for humid climates.
"So then, Mr. Ga, shall we head to the meeting room now to discuss trade matters?" the human reception team proposed.
Ga then said: "Why not come aboard my ascent-descent module to negotiate? The module has equipment that automatically regulates oxygen supply. It would be more comfortable to talk there."
"This..."
The reception team could not make this decision on their own and temporarily consulted the decision-making level for their opinion.
Ga said: "Dear star sea neighbors, forgive my bluntness, but why don't you directly have the individual with decision-making authority come to negotiate? That would be more commercially efficient, would it not?"
The reception team replied: "Our civilization's situation is different. Moreover, what you can represent is only the Star Scar Merchant Group, not the entire Yinluo Civilization, correct?"
Ga: "No. The Star Scar Merchant Group is the Yinluo Civilization's only interstellar trade merchant group. I am the leader of the merchant group, and also the leader of the Yinluo Civilization."
The moment these words were spoken, everyone in the reception team felt a jolt in their hearts, and the way they looked at Ga became more serious.
They had originally thought this "Mr. Ga" was merely the head of a merchant group, similar to a major entrepreneur among humans.
They had not expected it to also be the leader of an entire civilization. In human terms, it was like the planet chief of the entire Tianshui Star. Their statuses were completely on different levels.
At the thought that they were communicating with the planet chief of another planet, quite a few people in the reception team became slightly nervous inside.
At the same time, many also felt awkward.
The other party's planet chief had come in person. By rights, someone of equal status should have received it.
Just like in peacetime, when a leader of a major nation on Tianshui Star visited another country, that other country would generally have its leader welcome them to show respect.
However, the problem was that Tianshui Star currently did not have a "planet chief" of equal status. It was still in a stage of divided rule among several nations.
If forced to choose one, it was estimated that all nations would acknowledge the leader of Beixing as the representative to step forward for Tianshui Star.
Now only a reception team composed of official personnel and private enterprise bosses was receiving them. The level of treatment seemed much lower.
But in the joint video conference among the nations, the "master of the house" strategy was still being carried out, refusing to let the Yinluo Civilization lead them by the nose.
The reception team quickly received the decision-making opinion. The content was that they could go aboard the Yinluo Civilization's "ascent-descent module" for the meeting, but there was no need to swap people and have a national leader step forward.
This decision was also because the decision-makers wanted to observe the interior of the Yinluo Civilization's spacecraft, while also ensuring the leader's personal safety.
Just as everyone had judged earlier: no matter how friendly this alien civilization appeared, one must not forget that this was a Doomsday Rule!
The reception team conveyed the decision-making level's intent. Ga did not express any doubt, and gestured for everyone to follow it toward the underside of the ascent-descent ship.
Humans observed that these Yinluo Civilization individuals had extremely large strides when walking, each step landing precisely on a straight line.
Unlike the undulation in human walking, the gait of these Yinluo Civilization individuals gave a flowing sensation that was almost like floating.
The analysis team behind the scenes continued to record: The Yinluo Civilization individuals have excellent balance. Considering their jumping ability, their overall physical fitness is likely far superior to humans.
On the way over, a member of the reception team spoke up and asked: "May I ask, Mr. Ga, are you an Awakened One?"
Ga, while walking, slightly tilted its head at a small angle, as if it could directly see the questioner behind it through its compound eyes: "Yes, I am an Awakened One."
"Then may I ask, in the universe, do Awakened Ones act as representatives of a civilization in contacting other civilizations?"
"Yes." Ga said, "When an Awakened One is born in a native civilization, only then can that civilization register with the Star Sea Court. And this Awakened One will usually exist as the leader of that civilization. However, from what I can see so far, your Tianshui Star civilization does not seem to be this way."
Everyone in the reception team exchanged glances. Ga was right. The power structure of the Tianshui Star civilization was still nation-based, not controlled by an Awakened One.
Was this a good thing or a bad thing? Hard to say.
But from the meaning in Ga's words, this situation undoubtedly counted as somewhat bizarre in the universe.
"Then may I ask, Mr. Ga, how does one become an Awakened One?" Someone could not resist asking.
Ga's footsteps paused. It did not turn around, still slightly tilting its head, and let out a laugh: "Dear neighbor, some information is extremely expensive in interstellar trade, and we haven't even started trading yet."
The questioner immediately looked embarrassed upon hearing this, said sorry, and did not ask further.
"Alright."
After arriving directly beneath that small pupa-shaped spacecraft, Ga turned to face the human delegation.
"Please board our ascent-descent shuttle, everyone."