Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 233: Invitation

Regarding the space merchants’ invitation, there were again two camps. Those that supported it said that the invitation was just a formality to cement mankind’s victory in the negotiations. Going through with it would nab mankind the space information and 5th revolution technologies.

Those who rejected it, although small in numbers, backed up their argument with Ren Tao’s warning. The space merchants already knew about mankind’s existence and this was a way to test their cosmic adaptability. The invitation was a trap in disguise.

After weighing both sides of the argument, Yao Yuan still decided to accept the invitation. After all, the contact had been initiated, so there was no reason for them to abandon it half-way. This opportunity was way too important for them, so the invitation had to be accepted.

The party accepting the invitation was separated into groups for them to learn the correct manners and ways when they dealt with the alien merchants. After all, this was to be mankind’s first contact with a space civilization, being prepared didn’t hurt.

While all this were happening, a European girl about 9 years old walked into the meeting room. The place was a hub of activity where people were bustling about with their work. For example, the programmers were adjusting and transmitting information and signals, the Black Star Troopers were checking their space armor, the business experts were discussing among themselves excitedly, and even Yao Yuan was relaying something to Ying.

The girl waltzed easily into the supposedly heavily guarded meeting room. She approached Ren Tao with a giant smile and said, "Big Brother, I have a present for you before you go on this journey." She then opened her palm.

In it was a baby Black Dragon. The exquisite creature was shining like white pearl. It was sleeping soundly, yawning occasionally.

The little girl’s words pulled Ren Tao out of his reverie. He didn’t ask for people to get her out but instead eyed the path she took. The guards were changing shifts, so no one was there to stop her entry. Furthermore, the rest of the room was so busy that no one managed to pay her any notice.

"I recognize you. You’re Eva, right? The granddaughter of that famous scientist…" Ren Tao tried searching his mind for a name but it just wouldn’t appear.

Eva smiled and didn’t explain. She passed the baby dragon over to Ren Tao and said, "Remember to have him close to you, it will be something that is crucial to the success of this mission." Before Ren Tao could even reply, Eva swiveled around and left. When she reached the door, the new rotation of guards arrived and they escorted her out.

Ren Tao was temporarily dazed. His mind was racing. After several minutes, he started laughing to himself and dropped the baby dragon gingerly into his space armor.

The Black Dragon had assimilated to life beside human beings, and their babies were especially familiar with the smell of mankind. There were no reported attack cases so far. The baby dragon was warmed by the inner space of the space armor and it fell back to sleep.

At the same time, the scientists finally returned to the bio lab after their lunch break, and within the baby dragon incubator, the originally 6 baby dragons were now 5. However, since it was not feeding time, no one had noticed the disappearance yet.

Eva, who left the meeting room, suddenly pulled a piece of high density fiber glass shard from her pocket and tossed it away. Then she walked away whistling her favorite tune.

Back at the meeting room, everything was ready. The party took the transport shuttle to the Observer, which would later send them over to the alien spaceship.

When they neared the alien spaceship, a 30-meter-long mini-spaceship exited from the space merchants’ mother ship. It headed towards the Hope, the first face-to-face contact was about to begin.

Almost everyone was gathered at the windows to witness this momentous moment. About 20 minutes later, the mini spaceship entered the Hope through one of its hangars. With Yao Yuan leading the way, a group of Defense Unit soldiers, Black Star Troopers, and governmental workers stood at the corridor outside of the hangar to welcome the merchants’ arrival.

Finally, 10 aliens of varying types descended from the mini spaceship.

The aliens were also in spacesuits, but their materials, colors, and appearances were totally different from each other. The 10 aliens standing before mankind could roughly be categorized into 4 races. One of them had a head about half the size of their bodies. They had a large head atop of a miniscule body, only about 1.4 meters in height, the typical image of an alien mankind had in mind.

Another race was about 3.5 meters tall and wide. They looked physically impressive, like a gorilla, but with 4 arms instead of 2.

Another race… didn’t fit Yao Yuan’s impression of an alien. It looked more like a scorpion-like insectoid. Their body was extremely long, at least 7 to 8 meters, and protruding out of their spacesuit was about 10 small appendages. They could stand upright, but when they moved, they still crawled like an insect.

The last race was the most curious of all. They were only a line. Yes, a 2 meter-long-line. The head part was slightly bigger than the rest. Otherwise, it looked exactly like an inconspicuous snake.

When the 10 aliens entered the Hope, basically everyone was startled by their appearances. Other than the first 2 types, the rest were simply too far away from how humanity envisioned what aliens looked like.

Thankfully, Yao Yuan quickly grabbed hold of himself. He went forward to greet them. His words were passed to a translator via his space armor, and the words were translated into a signal which was then sent to the aliens.

"We gladly welcome your visitation. It is with an intention to improve the overall relationship between space civilizations that…"

As Yao Yuan went through the speech that he had memorized, the alien with the largest brain interrupted him, "Let’s go straight to the negotiation, and please let us check the stock that you’re giving up for trade."

Even though Yao Yuan was already prepared, he was still shocked by the alien’s straight-forwardness. Perhaps it was because they had crossed paths with too many space civilizations that they wished to skip the formalities and get to the chase. Furthermore, mankind was the party with the lower technology, so the difference in attitude was understandable.

If that was the case, Yao Yuan too didn’t want to waste any more time with preamble. Escorted by the higher officials and business experts, 7 aliens were led to the meeting room, while 3 others followed another group of soldiers to the warehouse.

Everything appeared to be running smoothly…

On the other hand, Ying’s group was led into the space merchants’ spaceship.

Their first impression was not high-tech, futuristic, or anything like that, but dirty, deplorable, and chaotic!

Indeed, when they first stepped into the spaceship, the first thing that entered their eyes were repair patches and the electrical lines that were peeking out from the holes in the walls. Everything looked imperfect and lacking. In fact, the place looked more steampunk than futuristic.

It must be said that Ying’s group was disappointed by this view. However, it might be that the future looks this way? Who could really tell?

Ying’s group was led into a large hall, but the place didn’t look like a meeting room but an interrogation chamber. There was an enclave in the middle where Ying’s group was led to while the surrounding tiers of seats rose up towards the ceiling. Several thousand aliens were gathered in the room, and they were literally looking down on Ying’s group. Almost instantly, the humans felt shamed.

Ying tried to calm everyone’s feelings. He whispered, "Don’t get too worked up. This may be how they treat their honorable guests. Let’s just follow their rules for now."

Of course, his group wouldn’t act simply out of line, but the offense they felt in their hearts was hard to ignore. In any case, the negotiations continued with them being treated like convicts…