According to the regulations of the Interstellar Technological Confederation, new member civilizations are required to open a city to serve as a hub for tourism, exchanges, and fostering mutual understanding.
This city must also be equipped with quantum communication devices to facilitate real-time communication with other Confederation members.
After all, when foreign visitors arrive, differences in values and customs are inevitable, potentially leading to incidents of misconduct. Resolving such issues—whether through local laws or repatriation to their home civilization—requires extensive and instantaneous communication.
Although referred to as a “city,” it is often effectively equivalent to opening an entire planet. For the purposes of inter-civilization trade, a single city is simply too small.
The trade city must be located on an ecological planet so that visiting aliens only need basic protective gear, such as light suits and filtration masks, to operate comfortably.
Most emerging civilizations possess territories limited to a single star system. Unless they are extraordinarily fortunate, their home system generally contains only one ecological planet—their homeworld. Opening a trade city therefore often means granting access to a portion of their homeworld, which is typically the nucleus of their civilization, housing their ruling class, research institutions, and cutting-edge laboratories.
This openness poses significant security risks, as it exposes these critical assets and individuals to potential harm. In the past, nascent civilizations were allowed to designate trade cities on non-ecological colony planets.
However, a catastrophic incident changed this practice. Due to the lack of atmospheric protection, spacecraft could bypass orbital defenses and directly impact the planetary surface.
On one occasion, an unidentified vessel disguised as a foreign tourism ship managed to fool the identification systems of a trade city on a non-ecological colony. The ship then accelerated to a staggering speed and rammed into the city.
This trade city, located on an airless and radiation-exposed colony, lacked adequate external protection. The colliding vessel not only carried immense kinetic energy but was also loaded with massive amounts of explosives. The impact and subsequent explosion severely damaged the trade city. Although emergency systems were in place, they were overwhelmed by the scale of the attack.As a result, the city’s atmosphere, under intense pressure, was violently vented into space, dragging countless individuals and objects into the vacuum. While property losses were negligible, the unprepared individuals, lacking spacesuits, stood no chance of survival against the combined forces of extreme cold, oxygen deprivation, and cosmic radiation.
To this day, the perpetrating vessel’s origins, motivations, and purpose remain unknown. However, following this tragedy, the rules were amended: trade cities of emerging civilizations must be located on ecological planets.
This ensures that all incoming vessels must dock at orbital starports before smaller shuttles ferry visitors to the surface. Moreover, on an ecological planet, as long as filtration masks remain intact, the risk of natural fatalities is minimal.
The history of this policy, while harsh and unfriendly to emerging civilizations, leaves little room for negotiation. Without the power to resist, compliance becomes the only option.
For the Riken, the choice was straightforward—they had no option but to open a portion of their homeworld. In contrast, the Swarm, with its territorial range vastly exceeding that of typical nascent civilizations, had far more flexibility.
After careful deliberation, Luo Wen decided to locate the Swarm’s trade city in the Sandstorm System.
To its 12 to 1 o’clock position lies the Riken System.
To its 2 o’clock position is the Neighboring Star System.
To its 4 o’clock position is the Genesis System.
Between 5 and 6 o’clock is the Golden Horn System.
To its 10 o’clock position, one star system away, lies the territory of the Daqi civilization.
From 7 to 9 o’clock, it borders other Confederation members at a distance of one star system.
Overall, the Sandstorm System represents the Swarm’s outermost territory, situated closest to the Interstellar Technological Confederation. This location complies with Confederation rules while also maximizing the protection of the Swarm’s privacy.
The Sandstorm System, apart from its star, consists of nine major planets. The third planet lies in the habitable zone and is slightly larger than the Genesis Planet. However, its biological evolution is still at the unicellular stage, making it a very primitive world.
Luo Wen named this planet Storm God Planet, in honor of the aerial dominators that had greatly contributed to the Swarm’s development. The Storm God combat units had not been phased out despite advancements in other areas.
Due to the low density of Space Octopuses, their primary battlefield remained outer space. On the other hand, the repeatedly upgraded Storm God proved more effective in atmospheric environments and was significantly cheaper to produce. As a result, the Storm God remained an active part of the Swarm’s combat lineup.
Since the Swarm had little need for ecological planets and the primitive state of life on Storm God Planet offered no valuable biological insights, the planet had seen minimal development. Furthermore, the Swarm had no real experience constructing cities.
However, this posed no issue for Luo Wen. “Just dig a few interconnected burrows, and voilà, you have a city!” Luo Wen thought.
The Swarm’s outward image had always been somewhat primitive, so their city should reflect that aesthetic as well.
As for concerns about the city being crude, lacking high-tech amenities, providing a poor experience, and failing to attract merchants or tourists, Luo Wen couldn’t care less. The Swarm wasn’t particularly interested in trade, and fewer visitors would be preferable.
Meanwhile, due to the proximity of the Twin Star Defensive Zone to the Riken homeworld, the two Ji warships first traveled to the Riken homeworld. The Rikens designated a plot of land far from their capital and constructed a new city in accordance with Confederation requirements.
The Interstellar Technological Confederation currently boasts over 200 member factions, encompassing an incredible diversity of species. Some, such as the giant race, stand over ten meters tall. As a result, the Riken’s original architectural standards fell short of accommodating the needs of all potential visitors.
While it was unlikely the giants would visit within thousands or even tens of thousands of years, necessary facilities had to be prepared to avoid potential diplomatic disputes or accusations of racial discrimination.
Fortunately, while the Riken were considered newcomers to the Confederation, their technological level made constructing a city relatively straightforward. For a spacefaring civilization capable of interstellar colonization, rapidly building a city was standard practice.
Over a century ago, when the Riken invaded the Neighboring Star System, they established numerous outposts and bases in a short span. Building a city on their home turf was an even simpler task.
Massive alloy modules were deployed directly from orbit. On the ground, construction machinery was already in position, tasked with leveling the terrain and assembling the components.
Within six months, the city had taken shape. The process was only slightly delayed by changes in module specifications and the construction teams’ unfamiliarity with the revised parameters.
During this period, the two Ji warships remained stationed in orbit around the Riken homeworld, supervising the construction.
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