Deep Space Wandering Fleet

Since the relevant document was issued, in the first minute, some people received the news. They soon could not suppress the astonishment in their hearts and gathered to discuss it.

"Can you believe we are forming a military alliance with a third-level civilization? Why? Weren't we supposed to look for the Tos Civilization? How did it turn into the Half-sphere Civilization? It's quite perplexing, really. If we actually encountered an enemy, what use would a third-level civilization have? We'd still have to rely on ourselves. Wouldn't the others just hold us back?"

"Have you read the related documents?"

"Not yet, I just glanced at the overview... It's too long, and all those words are so serious. I really can't be bothered to read it all."

One of the older middle-aged men laughed and said, "Little Xiang, opposing for the sake of opposition doesn't work! Without sufficient logic, there's no persuasiveness. Actually, there are many benefits to forming an alliance with this Half-sphere Civilization. You shouldn't always be thinking about fighting wars – development is the absolute key!"

This middle-aged man's name was Ma Mingtao, nicknamed "Key Governance Bureau Director," and he was chatting and shooting the breeze in a bar with a bunch of friends.

The group's professions varied greatly, and there was a wide range of ages, but they mysteriously gathered together because they shared a common hobby: keyboard politics!

Ma Mingtao's actual job was as an engineer in an Underground City on a planet. He was very busy with his work.

However, as a normal human, he still needed entertainment, but he didn't like gaming, basketball, card games, painting, and such. Participating in "public affairs discussions" with netizens was his greatest source of entertainment.

There were actually quite a few people like him in the world. Some used to love playing games and watching cartoons when they were young, but as they grew older, they found that watching the news was quite interesting...

This was not hard to understand, as there are always so many fresh things happening in the world, and critiquing various social phenomena through public opinion is fundamentally a symbol of discourse power. The love of power is a common trait of social creatures. In Cosmic Sociology, whether they are humans or aliens, as long as they are social creatures, they cannot avoid this. Even primitive animals such as monkeys and lions fight for dominance.

As time went by, Ma Mingtao also became quite an internet celebrity. Some of his views were very sharp, and he had many fans online, playfully referred to by the masses as the "Key Governance Bureau Director."

Of course, there was no actual "Key Governance Bureau" in government departments. "Keyboard politics" essentially meant the group of people online who thought about how the government should act and what policies should be implemented.

Naturally, as times have evolved, "keyboard politics" has become a neutral term. No civilization can be perfect; there inevitably needs to be some who point out the flaws. Public opinion is an important part of oversight, with many influencers lurking within, occasionally coming out to explain the underlying logic of various policies.

The government would also, when appropriate, take into account the opinions of netizens. Therefore, the existence of these civilian groups wasn't meaningless. As long as they didn't deliberately incite trouble, there was no need to deal with these "Key Governance Bureaus."

"I think the government did a good job this time. A very good job!"

Seeing everyone stunned, Ma Mingtao took a sip of his drink and leisurely added, "… Let me tell you, cooperating with a third-level civilization has many benefits, maybe even more so than cooperating with a fourth-level civilization.

"This decision is extremely wise!"

Since the document on this matter had just been released and the information was voluminous, the statements looked very boring to read, and everyone only glanced over it roughly. Honestly, it was a bit dull, so they only managed to look at some summaries.

However, relying on his ample life experience, Ma Mingtao still managed to blather on.

"Why's that?" a young person asked. "A third-level civilization won't be much use in a fight, right?"

"Think about it, in cooperation with a fourth-level civilization, who's the top dog and who's the underdog? This is very important! We've worked with the Tos Civilization before. Although those large fish have quite a serene temperament, would they be willing to play second fiddle? Definitely not."

"Now? This Half-sphere Civilization is just a third-level civilization without Curvature Technology, so we humans are definitely the ones in charge."

Seeing everyone looking thoughtful, he continued, "It seems you have a point..."

Ma Mingtao proceeded, "Has anyone here ever started a business? Although our current scientific development is slow and the entrepreneurial environment isn't great... But if a startup has two founders splitting ownership fifty-fifty, that's a dead end without even looking."

"Why? A leading sheep is very important!"

Saying this, he waved his hand and slapped it on the table.

"Equal shares mean one thing, death! If a startup has three founders, each with thirty-three percent of the shares, it's still a dead end. Banks won't even lend to a startup with equal shares. Because if something urgent comes up, who gets to call the shots? By the time those shareholders finish their discussions, the opportunity would have cooled off. So there must be a majority shareholder with decision-making authority; that's what makes a qualified startup. Even making the wrong choice is better than dawdling."

"The same principle applies to collaborations between civilizations."

The group considered this and understood.

Though the partner might be weaker, having the initiative was very important... extremely important!

If an alliance lacked a dominant civilization, it would just be a loose sand. Two level-equal fourth-level civilizations might even lose to a combination of a fourth-level and a third-level civilization.

So from this aspect, seeking the Half-sphere Civilization as an ally wasn't so bad. Now, the New Human Civilization would definitely be the leading force in the alliance. A third-level civilization was also decent; they could be useful as support, and they definitely wouldn't drag us down.

However, this reason was still somewhat insufficient. The number of third-level civilizations in the Milky Way wasn't small, so why did we specifically choose the Half-sphere Civilization?

Naturally, everyone had some xenophobic sentiments deep inside, to a greater or lesser extent. Even if the Half-sphere Civilization made certain sacrifices, what of it? It would definitely gain some advantages in the alliance, especially in terms of technology.

How precious Curvature Technology was... everyone was clear about that.

This question somewhat stumped Ma Mingtao: "That... We need to read the government's public documents thoroughly because they were just issued and I haven't had the chance to see them yet... There must be related information above, it can't be groundless."

Ma Mingtao unlocked his phone, and the screen transitioned to a government page where, indeed, many documents were published.

Ordinary citizens didn't really have the interest to delve into such lengthy notices, and only enthusiasts like them would have the fortitude to browse through them.

"There's a lot of solid info here!"

He became somewhat excited, involuntarily thinking of writing a lengthy article to interpret some of the content.

He believed that it would surely be a viral piece with millions of hits—perhaps even tens of millions!

He opened one of the documents, "Regarding the Socio-political Structure and Ideology of the Half-sphere Civilization," which detailed the social ecology and political system of the Half-sphere Civilization. The files released this time left almost nothing hidden.