Inside the ascent-descent module, everyone in the Human Trade Negotiation Team wore grim expressions.
That single phrase from Mr. Ga, "low-level humans," had undoubtedly encompassed all of them. Such blatant discrimination had never occurred before. People were unsure whether it had revealed his true nature upon seeing human Awakened Ones, but what they could be certain of was that this was absolutely not a slip of the tongue. This made humanity begin to question: trading with an alien merchant group that fundamentally looked down upon the vast majority of individuals in human civilization, was it right or wrong?
Some felt that in business, one should focus on business and not consider matters like "character." As long as the trade contract itself was sound, everything else could be ignored.
Others felt that character was the bottom line. Even if the trade terms were excellent, if the other party had despicable character, then cooperating with them would carry enormous risk.
This judgment was not something the negotiation team could make. They could only wait for the Higher-ups to deliberate and notify them.
Mr. Ga then invited Shi Jingyi to the table and produced a transparent bottle containing two finger-sized grotesque insects. The two insects were round and identical in appearance, their entire bodies gleaming with a metallic luster, somewhat resembling the "jade silkworms" seen in murals.
"This is a special creature from the Star Sea. Its original name is 'Balarganya Worm,' but the merchant group generally calls it the 'Contract Worm.'"
Mr. Ga opened the bottle. The two jade-silkworm-like creatures crawled onto the crystal-thread table and then became completely motionless.
"It is born as a pair, simultaneously living and simultaneously dying. No matter how far apart they are separated, this remains true."
As Mr. Ga spoke, he casually picked one up and tossed it into his open mouth. With a soft "puff," the insect was pierced through by his sharp teeth. This sudden display left everyone utterly shocked, but what was even more astonishing was that the other insect on the table also burst and died at that exact same moment.
"When one dies, the other dies simultaneously. Even across thousands of star systems, this entanglement trait does not change."
Mr. Ga licked his lips. Seeing everyone staring at it, he casually remarked, "Oh, this creature is quite delicious. It's considered a delicacy among Star Sea civilizations. Would you like to try some?"
Everyone shook their heads. They had no interest in eating a live insect, and besides, the trait of one dying causing the other to die simultaneously made humans feel rather uncomfortable.
"Its trait is used for contract signing?" Zhao Ming asked.
"This Contract Worm feeds on pulse information. It has a biological memory marrow inside its body that can store information. Send the contract content through a pulse for it to consume, and the contract will be stored inside it permanently, unable to be altered, persisting until its death."
Pulse information storage...
A technical expert on the human side exclaimed in surprise, "A pulse contract? It sounds somewhat like they're using pulsar timing technology."
Pulsars are a special type of celestial body in the universe. More precisely, they are highly magnetized rotating compact stars, most of which are neutron stars. They are called pulsars because these celestial bodies possess extremely powerful magnetic fields. Under high-speed rotation, the magnetic field acts like a giant "lighthouse," continuously emitting beams of electromagnetic radiation into the universe. Because a pulsar's rotation is extremely stable, the intervals between its emitted pulse signals are extraordinarily precise, with an error margin of less than one second over hundreds of millions of years. It could be said that in a contest of precision against it, even the most accurate atomic clock would play second fiddle.
This had led human scientists to speculate that if advanced civilizations existed in the universe, they might use such super-precise pulse signals for timekeeping. Now, the "Contract Worm" that Mr. Ga had produced seemed to possess a slight version of this trait.
"Correct," Mr. Ga said. "Pulses are the most precise. It is the universal contract-signing method for merchant groups of most civilizations. After injecting pulse information, both contracting parties each hold one Contract Worm. When the time comes, it will die automatically, and the contract will automatically dissolve."
After hearing this, the private-enterprise owner on the human negotiation team snorted. "All that hassle for nothing. Might as well just sign a few contracts and be done with it."
Mr. Ga said calmly, "Outdated signing methods like signatures and fingerprints can be forged at will. But the pulse information consumed by the Contract Worm cannot be retroactively falsified, not even by high-level civilizations."
After saying this, he looked at Shi Jingyi and asked, "What do you think, my kind?"
Shi Jingyi greatly disliked Mr. Ga calling her "my kind." With a blank expression, she said, "If the decision-making level agrees, I have no objection."
Mr. Ga smiled ambiguously. "The decision-making level... My kind, you should quickly realize that we are the ones who ought to be the decision-making individuals within a civilization."
Everyone present had odd expressions upon hearing this. It definitely couldn't be counted as sowing discord. From the series of behaviors Mr. Ga had displayed, he genuinely believed from the bottom of his heart that Awakened Ones serving as civilization representatives and leaders was only natural. It was just that humanity's current social structure did not apply to this logic.
Someone in the negotiation team couldn't resist asking, "Does your entire Yinluo Civilization support you as leader? There are no opponents?"
Mr. Ga ignored that person. Shi Jingyi said nothing, and he said no more as well.
Before long, word came from the decision-making level: they decided to continue signing the trade contract with the Star Scar Merchant Group. Even if humanity detested his hypocritical, sanctimonious attitude, the demand for multiple advanced technologies was very real. Like the question earlier about whether stowaways could board, humanity is a pragmatic species; survival trumps all.
As long as they could obtain technology beneficial to the species' survival, what did a little verbal humiliation matter?
The two sides then entered the contract signing phase. Since humanity already possessed pulse technology, after learning how to use the Contract Worm, they were able to convert the contract content into binary and translate it into pulse information to "feed" it. This way, humanity and the Star Scar Merchant Group each held one Contract Worm. Before the trade contract ended, the worms would not die naturally. But if one died unnaturally, such as being eaten alive like Mr. Ga had just done, that would mean something had gone wrong with the contract. According to Mr. Ga, the Contract Worm lived in a bottle made of super-tough material, and it was very difficult for the outside world to harm it unless someone actively released it. If this occurred, it would mean that the contracting party's control over their own civilization had encountered problems. At that point, both sides would reconvene, and if one party had violated the contract, they would pay ten times the penalty for breach.
Mr. Ga also demanded that the human side's Contract Worm be personally safeguarded by the Awakened One, Shi Jingyi herself.
Shi Jingyi did not refuse. Since she had agreed to the officials' request to serve as representative, she would see the trade contract signing through to the very end.
After the pulse information was fully input, she received the super-tough bottle containing one Contract Worm, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. After such a prolonged tug-of-war, this trade negotiation was finally over. Everyone was eager for this moment to arrive, because over the past nearly two weeks, they had all grown thoroughly disgusted with Mr. Ga, who seemed courteous on the surface but was in reality arrogant and self-important. Moreover, his two assistants beside him were even stranger, sitting motionless like models, and having said almost nothing over the course of nearly two weeks. The entire negotiation had been conducted solely by Mr. Ga himself with the human side.
All of this made the Human Trade Negotiation Team want to end dealings with him as soon as possible. Once the trade contract was signed, future contacts would no longer be their responsibility.
"Since the trade contract is signed, what follows is implementation by both parties," said the leader of the Human Trade Negotiation Team. "We may leave now."
Mr. Ga ignored the negotiation team and instead tried to detain Shi Jingyi, who had risen to leave. "I have one more trade, one conducted solely with my kind. I wonder if you might be interested?"
The members of the Human Trade Negotiation Team who had not yet left were greatly surprised. Their leader paused, frowned, and asked, "What does Mr. Ga mean by this?"
"The Star Sea Court has never stipulated that interstellar trade can only occur between whole civilizations," Mr. Ga said calmly. "Moreover, the trade between myself and my kind has nothing to do with you. You may leave."
The group was momentarily at a loss. Mr. Ga's words seemed reasonable. Since he could conduct trade with an entire civilization, he also had the right to conduct trade with an individual human separately. It was just...
Before anyone could figure out how to handle this, an even more surprising response came from Shi Jingyi's mouth.
"I'm not interested," Shi Jingyi said.
Mr. Ga: "..."
Everyone on the human side: "..."
No one had expected Shi Jingyi to not even want to hear the details of the trade.
Only Guan Tong, who understood her, had anticipated this response. He knew that Shi Jingyi lived an extremely minimalist life and hated complications, so her refusal was only natural.
Though surprised, Mr. Ga was not willing to give up. "Why? If this trade is related to the Authority, related to the 'Tree,' are you still not interested?"
Shi Jingyi was unmoved. "No."
After saying that, she directly turned and walked away. This decisive choice had been anticipated by many.
Mr. Ga paused for a few seconds without speaking, then muttered something under his breath. Zhao Ming was closest to him and heard it seemed to be, "There will be ample time."
Guan Tong glanced at the computer screen and found that after the delay, this segment had not been broadcast at all. After the earlier contract signing was completed, the live streaming had ended.
"Xiao Tong, your judgment was correct."
The next moment, Shi Jingyi's wary voice sounded in his mind through the Mind Network.
"Mr. Ga's target is our human civilization's Awakened Ones. I perceived the mind power it used to probe us. And those crystalline threads inside the cabin... they all seem to be transformed from its mind power!"