Chapter 215: Newcomers in the Shadows

One month later.

After delivering all the cargo, Sandik called in ten massive transport ships. He loaded up three hundred sets of jump engines, along with a bounty of military and civilian supplies, and set out on his way.

At that moment, not a single Tier-4 civilization in the Milky Way had any idea.

That somewhere tucked away in a forgotten corner, a civilization was quietly growing. One that would, someday, carve off a huge chunk of their pie right from under their noses.

Rapidly rising in power.

——

Inside the conference room.

Ryan, the Federation Fleet’s Deputy Commander, was in a pretty good mood.

“See? Whether it’s elves or the newly discovered angels, they’re both straight out of Western legends.”

“Now take a look at your Eastern myths.”

“Ha, all fake. Pure fantasy is all they are.”

Sure, Ryan admitted the idea was a bit much. After all, whether the elves from Proxima or these angels—they just happened to share the names and traits from the legends. It was only a coincidence; there wasn’t any real connection to the old stories from back home.

But that was fine as far as Ryan was concerned.

All the newly evolved humans with more than 25% of their innate brain region unlocked? They were all coming out of the East.

As for the elves and angels, whether they were tied to Western legends or not, at least…

Psychologically, it felt like a win for his side.

“Enough, Ryan. If you keep grinning like that, your face will freeze that way.”

“Mind your own business!”

“Fine, I’ll stop, but you might be missing something big here…”

Mu Xingchen’s lips curled ever so slightly.

That put Ryan instantly on edge. He knew his old partner’s next words could be explosive.

“W-what is it?”

“It’s been decades since the elves joined the Federation, right?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“No real reason. I just got a report recently. It breaks down intermarriage between elves and humans over the last few decades…”

“Elves marrying humans?”

Letting elves join humanity had always hinged on one key point: they could interbreed freely with humans. That was crucial.

So, in the original agreement where elves joined the Human Federation as the thirteenth tribe, there was a clause barring either side from interfering with free unions between humans and elves by any means.

Intermarriage was simply bound to happen.

And the Federation’s top brass had been pushing it hard from the start.

“What’s your point, Old Mu?”

“Forget it. Take a look for yourself…”

Mu Xingchen shook his head and tapped open a virtual display.

On the screen was the report.

A moment later, Ryan’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

The report detailed every case of marriage between elves and humans in the past few decades. The total: one hundred and thirty-two cases.

Of those, marriages with male partners from the Xia Tribe counted for one hundred and three, a staggering 78.52%.

“No way. Why would almost all the elf women pick men from the Xia Tribe?”

“Maybe it’s the appeal of something exotic?”

Mu Xingchen’s casual remark left Ryan completely speechless.

Ryan understood full well what that meant.

It’s simple. After seeing your own kind day after day, it’s easy to be drawn in by the unfamiliar look of someone from a different race.

“No, hold up. If it’s really about exotic looks, wouldn’t the Tropical Continent folks be even more outlandish?”

“Ahem, maybe it’s because their skin tone is a bit too much for most elves?”

Another jab from Mu Xingchen.

Ryan slumped in defeat, his mind reeling.

“Alright, let’s drop it. What are your thoughts on how to handle these eight angels?”

Mu Xingchen drummed his fingers and reeled the conversation back on track.

“According to Sandik, he stumbled across these eight angels by chance. There’s no record of their species anywhere in the Milky Way. They only caught his eye because they’re completely new to him and—since there are only eight—he figured he could sell them.”

“Yeah, I’ve read the report too. But they’re still not talking, are they?”

“It seems that because we look similar to them, they aren’t as hostile to humans as they were to Sandik. They’re willing to communicate with us, but as soon as we ask about their origins…”

“What about physical exams?”

Mu Xingchen followed up quickly.

“Sandik only did a basic check on them. We’ve run a full set of tests, and…”

Vladimir, in charge of intelligence, spoke while pulling up the examination reports.

“Just like the elves, angels share a striking genetic match with humans. Even more, the tests showed evidence of advanced gene modification.”

“Deep gene modification?”

Mu Xingchen jolted, pushing for details.

“Exactly. According to our research teams, all eight angels have undergone extensive gene enhancements—on a level that even surpasses our first-generation Gene Enhancer. Plus, their expected lifespan is no less than two thousand years.”

“This is confirmed?”

“Three different labs ran their tests—same results every time!”

“That’s…”

For a moment, both Mu Xingchen and Ryan fell silent.

They both knew full well what that report really meant.

Gene enhancement technology is the ultimate ace of any Tier-4 civilization in the Milky Way—it never gets leaked.

Even Sandik said he’d never heard of that kind of thing showing up on the black market.

And if it did, it’d be useless anyway. Gene tech is always tailored to each specific race, not something you can just use on anyone.

The Federation is the rare exception.

Nowhere else in the Milky Way would you find a pre-Tier-4 civilization that’s cracked gene evolution tech.

And what’s more, the labs confirmed: the gene work done on those angels was even more advanced than what the Federation had developed.

So what did that mean?

It meant these eight angels probably came from a Tier-4 civilization—maybe even higher.

Maybe something even more terrifying.

Yet, none of it added up.

If they really came from such a powerful civilization, how did they end up as slaves locked away on Sandik’s ship?

Maybe the only way to know was to get them to talk. Too bad…

So far, the angels refused to say a word about where they were from.

“Forget it. Let’s talk with the Presidential Office about setting up some housing for them. We’ll just take it slow and earn their trust—it’s the best we can do right now.”

Honestly, this wasn’t going to be easy.

You could say—just deal with them directly, get rid of them.

But, if they really were from a fearsome civilization, and word got out…

For now, the smartest move was to keep them well fed and comfortable, and just give it time. Build up trust, little by little.

Maybe, before long, they’d be ready to reveal their story on their own.

After all, it’s only eight girls—the Federation could definitely afford to support them.