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

After waiting for about three minutes, the door opposite opened and three people walked in.

Leading the way was a tall, humanoid creature, nearly 2.5 meters tall, with dark red skin.

His features were upright and dignified, his eyes were pale gold, and his pupils, like Sarah's, were spindle-shaped, but larger and brighter.

He was wearing a black uniform with a gold badge of the Cangxing Alliance Investment Department pinned to his left breast, with a line of small text embroidered below the badge.

Song Chen's Eye of Truth magnified the words, which read: Director of the Contract Management Office, Galaxy Branch of the Investment Department.

He was followed by two assistants, one of whom was a human woman wearing the same white uniform as Sarah.

Another one was the crystal-shelled multi-legged creature I'd seen in the corridor before. It walked on six legs, while its other two legs carried a large stack of transparent crystal plates, each plate covered with densely packed text.

"Welcome, everyone from the Blue Star civilization." The director's voice was deep and powerful.

"I am Arthas Lorenz, Director of the Contract Management Division of the Galaxy Branch of the Investment Department. Today, on behalf of the Investment Department of the Cangxing Alliance, I am signing the Subsidiary Civilization Treaty and Repayment Treaty with the Blue Star Civilization."

Gu Qianzhi stood up and bowed slightly, following the cramming he had done before departure, saying, "Gu Qianzhi, leader of the Blue Star Civilization delegation, thank you for taking the time to meet me, Director."

Arthas nodded, then gestured for everyone to sit down.

He sat on the opposite stone platform, with two assistants standing on his left and right.

The crystal creature neatly arranged the crystal tablets it carried on the stone platform. The text on each tablet was magnified into mid-air under the illumination of the holographic projection, making it easy for everyone to read.

"Before we officially begin, I need to confirm one thing."

Arthas flipped open the top crystal panel and his gaze fell on Song Chen.

"You are Song Chen, the first Star Core-level life form of the Blue Star Civilization. As the legitimate representative of the Blue Star Civilization, are you fully authorized to handle this signing?"

"Yes."

"Confirmation complete." Arthas tapped the panel, and a golden light streak swept across the surface of the crystal panel.

"So, the full text of the treaty has already been sent to your spaceship's main control system. I presume you have already read it. If you have any questions about the terms, you may ask them now."

Gu Qianzhi was the first to speak; his voice was steady and clear, showing no sign of nervousness.

"Director, we've had an internal discussion about several key clauses."

"The first clause concerns the repayment period. The agreement stipulates that interest will begin to accrue after a ten-thousand-year interest-free period, with an annual interest rate of one percent."

"We hope to negotiate the interest rate terms and see if the interest rate can be reduced to an acceptable level."

Arthas did not answer, but his female assistant behind him spoke up: "According to regulations, interest rates are not within the scope of negotiation and cannot be negotiated."

The signing room was silent for a few seconds. Gu Qianzhi looked at Arthas, then at Song Chen, and sighed.

"Humans, I understand your demands," Arthas said, his tone gentler than before.

"The core of the Subordinate Civilization Treaty lies in the confirmation of rights, confirming the alliance's ownership of the investment projects, confirming the subordinate civilization's repayment obligations, and confirming the alliance's right to intervene when necessary."

"This is the basic framework for the operation of the alliance, and any civilization at any level must accept it when signing the agreement."

"But within this framework, the specific repayment terms, interest rates, and resource conversion methods are indeed negotiable."

His gaze swept over the negotiation points laid out in front of Gu Qianzhi, then fell back on Song Chen.

"However, I can tell you all something first."

"The Alliance doesn't care at all about the internal affairs of its subordinate civilizations. Whether you are a democracy or an empire, a market or a planned economy, a believer in God or a believer in science, the Alliance doesn't care about any of these things."

"Even if you form alliances with other civilizations or do business with third parties, as long as it doesn't affect your ability to repay, the alliance won't interfere."

"You need to understand one thing: the league only cares about one thing, and that is whether you can repay on time."

"If you can pay it back, everything is fine; if you can't, nothing else matters."

The members of the delegation exchanged glances.

Gu Qianzhi silently noted down the key information in his mind: "If it can be repaid, everything is negotiable." This meant that the autonomy of the subordinate civilization was much greater than they had expected.

"Regarding the interest..." Arthas looked down at the crystal panel again.

Halfway through the conversation, the door to the signing room was suddenly pushed open from the outside in a very impolite manner.

The two doors sprang open simultaneously, slamming against the wall with a dull thud.

Everyone in the hall turned their heads at the same time, even the six legs of the crystal creature turned in the same direction.

A person walked in—no, Song Chen wasn't sure if she should use the word "person."

The creature that walked in through the door was indeed a living being of flesh and blood, with a head, face, hands, and feet, about three meters tall, with a slender build, and wearing a dark blue robe.

Her skin was light gray, and her hair was dark black, draped over her shoulders. Her hair was coarse and stiff, with each strand clearly visible.

Its facial features are quite similar to those of a human, with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but the pupils of its eyes are vertical and purplish-red in color, like two rubies set in its eye sockets.

The most striking feature is a mark on his forehead that extends from his hairline to the space between his eyebrows, shaped like a burning flame.

With each step he took, the air in the signing room grew heavier.

Arthas was the first to react. He practically sprang to his feet, so fast that he almost knocked over the chair behind him.

The two assistants behind him also stood up at the same time, and the crystal creature bent all six legs at the same time, making a gesture that resembled a bow.

"Lord Ral, why have you come in person? The Contract Management Office did not receive any notification that you would be attending." Arthas's voice held a deep sense of awe, the kind of respect a subordinate would show to a superior.

Lal waved his hand: "I sensed an interesting presence, so I came to take a look."

His gaze swept across the signing hall, passing over Gu Qianzhi, Zhou Wangyue, Chen Yuanzhou and the delegation members, before settling on Song Chen.

Song Chen was also looking at him.

The moment their eyes met, Song Chen felt something pierce through his body.

It was as if someone was examining every inch of his meridians, every acupoint, and every level of his combat skills with their gaze.

His Eye of Insight activated automatically, attempting to see the other party in reverse, but all he saw was a blurry, deep purple light, and he couldn't read anything.

Lal's purplish-red eyes lit up, and he took a step towards Song Chen: "This is really interesting..."

He took another step forward, circled halfway around Song Chen, and never took his eyes off Song Chen's body.

Song Chen felt like a rabbit being targeted by an eagle, but he suppressed the thought after only half a second.

He sat up straight and looked back at Ral.

"What's your name?" Lar asked Song Chen.

"Song Chen".

"Song Chen," Lar repeated, as if savoring the pronunciation of the name.

How old are you?

"nineteen."

"Nineteen years old, seventh-order Star Core Realm, 1.5 million Qi and Blood, 1.1 million Spiritual Power."

Lar accurately reported Song Chen's score.

"All four Star Core-level combat skills have reached the second level, one of which is a sword technique, and its power is not low."

"Eternal body, void travel, and a lightning-based domain ability—you've learned quite a lot, all of them are signature combat techniques of various civilizations."

"The problem is, Earth has only been in the psionic era for fifty-one years. Where did you, a nineteen-year-old, learn all this from?"