ording to the regtions of the Interster 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 quantummunication devices to facilitate real-timemunication 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 localws or repatriation to their home civilization—requires extensive and instantaneousmunication.


    Although referred to as a “city,” it is often effectively equivalent to opening an entire. For the purposes of inter-civilization trade, a single city is simply too small.


    The trade city must be located on an ecological so that visiting aliens only need basic protective gear, such as light suits and filtration masks, to operatefortably.


    Most emerging civilizations possess territories limited to a single star system. Unless they are extraordinarily fortunate, their home system generally contains only one ecological—their homeworld. Opening a trade city therefore often means granting ess to a portion of their homeworld, which is typically the nucleus of their civilization, housing their ruling ss, research institutions, and cutting-edgeboratories.


    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 colonys.


    However, a catastrophic incident changed this practice. Due to theck of atmospheric protection, spacecraft could bypass orbital defenses and directly impact theary surface.


    On one asion, 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 elerated to a staggering speed and rammed into the city.@@novelbin@@This trade city, located on an airless and radiation-exposed colony,cked adequate external protection. The colliding vessel not only carried immense kic 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 ce, 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,cking spacesuits, stood no chance of survival against thebined 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 ecologicals.


    This ensures that all iing vessels must dock at orbital starports before smaller shuttles ferry visitors to the surface. Moreover, on an ecological, 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,pliance bes 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 Interster Technological Confederation. This locationplies with Confederation rules while also maximizing the protection of the Swarm’s privacy.


    The Sandstorm System, apart from its star, consists of nine majors. The third lies in the habitable zone and is slightlyrger than the Genesis. However, its biological evolution is still at the unicellr stage, making it a very primitive world.


    Luo Wen named this Storm God, in honor of the aerial dominators that had greatly contributed to the Swarm’s development. The Storm Godbat 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’sbat lineup.


    Since the Swarm had little need for ecologicals and the primitive state of life on Storm God offered no valuable biological insights, the 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,cking high-tech amenities, providing a poor experience, and failing to attract merchants or tourists, Luo Wen couldn’t care less. The Swarm wasn’t particrly 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 ofnd far from their capital and constructed a new city in ordance with Confederation requirements.


    The Interster Technological Confederation currently boasts over 200 member factions, epassing 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 amodating 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 usations of racial discrimination.


    Fortunately, while the Riken were considered neers to the Confederation, their technological level made constructing a city rtively straightforward. For a spacefaring civilization capable of interster 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 theponents.


    Within six months, the city had taken shape. The process was only slightly dyed 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.