High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Over the next period of time, Song Chen asked a lot of questions.

He asked about the exchange rules for Cosmic Crystals. Ten thousand Cangxing Coins could be exchanged for one Cosmic Crystal, but since Cangxing Coins were essentially just a credit currency issued by the Alliance, the real hard currency was still the crystal cores and the Cosmic Crystals themselves.

The 1.2 million cosmic crystals that Blue Star owes are equivalent to 1.2 trillion Cangxing coins.

This number left Song Chen silent for a long time.

They also inquired about the neutron star itself, which is one of the administrative and trade hubs of the Milky Way during peacetime and an invincible war fortress during wartime.

Its surface is equipped with energy weapon systems, including graviton lasers, gamma-ray burst generators, and space warp projectors...

Any fleet would be nothing but paper in its presence, but these systems haven't been activated for tens of thousands of years, the last time being during the Galactic Heart Rebellion.

They also inquired about the rights and obligations of a Level 1 civilization within the alliance.

A Level 1 civilization is at the very bottom of the alliance system, possessing only a few basic rights and basic security guarantees.

The reason why Earth has not had any alien invaders for hundreds of millions of years is because Earth has been included in the Alliance's sphere of influence.

You can also apply for low-interest loans from the alliance and participate in cultural exchange activities organized by the alliance.

There are a lot of obligations: repay on time, accept the alliance's supervision, abide by the alliance's laws and regulations, and provide assistance to the best of our ability when the alliance needs it.

He also asked about the "hidden clauses" in the investment agreement.

The metal man gave him several real-life examples of civilizations that had been charged several times the interest for violating a hidden clause.

Some civilizations, due to a misunderstanding of the meaning of a certain clause, voluntarily relinquished their ownership of rare mineral veins within their star sectors.

Some civilizations failed to carefully check the resource conversion table in the appendix when signing the agreement, resulting in their planet's special products being converted to a price far below market value and given to the alliance.

Song Chen wrote down each item on the information board, and also memorized them.

Finally, the metal man checked the time and said it had to go.

Its liquid metal body has begun to show a slight weakening reaction due to prolonged exposure to the radiation environment of the neutron star, and it needs to go back for a restoration process.

Song Chen returned to the spaceship with a full load of information panels.

As he stepped into the cabin, the members of the mission all looked up.

Zhou Wangyue was the first to stand up. He looked him up and down to make sure he was unharmed and that there was nothing wrong before sitting down again.

"What did you gain?" Gu Qianzhi asked.

Song Chen placed the information board on the table and activated it with his mental power.

The silver-gray metal plate immediately projected a holographic light screen, on which various information and data were densely arranged.

The mission members immediately gathered around, and Chen Yuanzhou was the first to pick up his tablet and start recording simultaneously.

"The exchange rules for Cosmic Crystals, the alliance's economic system, the power distribution on Flowing Star, the basic situation of other civilizations, the hidden clauses of the investment treaty..."

Gu Qianzhi quickly browsed the catalog on the light screen.

"This information is crucial, especially the hidden clauses. I compared it with the publicly available version of the treaty text, and there are at least five clauses with subtle differences in wording. A few words can make all the difference."

"Can we talk?" Song Chen asked.

"Yes." Gu Qianzhi's eyes shone brighter than before.

"With this information, I feel more confident. They can't fool us like we're clueless newbies. At least we know which line of small print to look at."

The mission then immediately entered a state of high-intensity work.

Gu Qianzhi compared the list of hidden terms provided by the metal man with the publicly available treaty text, marking all the vaguely worded and easily misinterpreted parts.

Chen Yuanzhou was responsible for analyzing the economic terms, compiling the exchange rate between Cosmic Crystals and Cangxing Coins, the market buyback price of Crystal Cores, and the conversion standards for various resources into tables.

Others began preparing their negotiation strategies: which terms must be insisted on, which can be compromised appropriately, and which are the bottom lines that must never be crossed.

Song Chen leaned against the bulkhead and closed her eyes to rest.

Instead of the treaty terms, what was on his mind was the metal man's last words: "You can fight and make money at the same time."

The words "punisher" echoed repeatedly in the depths of his consciousness.

With my current abilities, I'm afraid I won't be able to achieve that, but I can strive towards that goal in the future.

After a long while, Song Chen opened her eyes and saw Gu Qianzhi walking over with a newly compiled negotiation outline.

"Congressman Song, we've finished our analysis."

"Okay, you guys take care of it. You do your thing at the negotiating table, I'll just stand by."

Looking at his expression, Gu Qianzhi felt that what he was thinking about might not be entirely about negotiation.

At this moment, the communication light on the main control panel lit up again.

The light screen popped up automatically, and the official logo of the Cangxing Alliance Investment Department reappeared, with concentric circles nested within regular hexagons, and three rings of text slowly rotating.

"Blue Star Civilization Mission, please prepare."

"The signing ceremony for the Investment Department will be held in three hours at the Liuguangxing Administrative Center."

"At that time, a special person will guide your spaceship to dock. The person in charge of the mission, Song Chen, the first star core-level life form of the CT-NB-3791 civilization, must be present in person. No delegation or substitution is allowed."

"Good luck to you."

Communication ended.

The air in the cabin suddenly tightened.

The mission members all sped up their work, checking clauses, organizing strategies, memorizing data, and practicing their presentations.

Gu Qianzhi checked the key points of the negotiation one last time, then took off his glasses, carefully wiped the lenses clean with his sleeve, and put them back on.

Zhou Wangyue walked up to Song Chen and asked, "Are you scared?"

"I'm a little scared, but I have to go."

Zhou Wangyue nodded and said nothing more.

Outside the window, the radiation rings of the Meteor Star slowly rotated above their heads, dazzling yet dangerous, like a door to an unknown world.

Outside the door lies the vast universe, inside lies a contract of servitude awaiting their signature.

Three hours passed quickly.

In the final moments, the mission members went over the key points of the negotiations three times, and Gu Qianzhi knew the list of hidden clauses better than his own name.

Chen Yuanzhou drew an economic model diagram on the tablet, creating a visual chart of the repayment pressure on Blue Star over the next 10,000 years under different interest rates.

The curve rises exponentially at 1% interest and remains a flat line at zero interest.

Zhou Wangyue stared at the picture for a long time, then silently pushed the tablet to Song Chen.

"If we can reach an agreement on interest-free financing, Blue Star will have a chance to survive."

Song Chen glanced at the picture and said, "I'm afraid it's difficult."

Time flies.

Not long after, the time was up.