Chapter 205: Human civilization is a second‑level intermediate

Threat?

Unspoken rule?

Qin Hao's heart suddenly jolted.

So this was their true purpose for coming this time!

Those earlier goods were merely appetizers.

This final piece of information is the bait they've thrown out!

"Oh?"

Qin Hao's face remained calm, but his heart had already been stirred up.

"Sounds like your stuff is indeed very tempting."

"Then what about the price? What do you want?"

"Very simple."

A'ierwen finally stated his conditions.

"We are very interested in your civilization's shell-material technology, used in the last war, that can absorb almost any energy attack."

"We hope to exchange this technology for our chamber of commerce's goods and the information we hold."

"Of course, we know this technology is your civilization's core secret."

"We won't demand that you hand over all the technical data."

"We only need you to provide ten thousand tons of this material in finished form."

"In exchange, you may freely choose any three items from our product catalog."

"Furthermore, we will tell you all the information we know, holding nothing back."

"Qin Consultant, do you think this deal is worthwhile?"

A'ierwen's face bore a confident smile.

He believed no one could refuse such conditions.

Although the water‑droplet material is powerful, it is not an unsolvable technology; using it to trade for three high‑tech items and crucial information vital to the civilization's survival.

No matter how you calculate it, this deal is a huge profit.

Inside the command room, Zhang Xianzhong and Han Ge's breathing grew somewhat ragged.

This condition is too tempting!

However, Qin Hao merely looked at him quietly and slowly shook his head.

"No."

"I don't think it's worthwhile."

A single word caused A'ierwen's smile to freeze instantly.

"Why?"

A'ierwen's brows furrowed slightly.

He found it somewhat hard to understand.

In his view, the conditions he had offered were already sincere enough, even excessively generous.

The other side had no reason to refuse.

"The reason is simple."

Qin Hao looked at him, his tone calm.

"First, the technology you speak of—our core technology—is far more valuable than you imagine. It is not an ordinary material; it is something our civilization painstakingly researched, and its worth cannot be measured by a few commodities."

"Second, and most importantly:"

Qin Hao's gaze grew sharp.

"Your so‑called information is indeed important to us, but information is time‑sensitive and can be forged."

"How can I be sure that what you tell us is definitely genuine information?"

"To trade our civilization's foundation for information that might be false or concealed—this deal looks far too risky to me."

Qin Hao's words hit the nail on the head.

He directly pointed out the core imbalance in this deal.

That is, the value of goods and technology is relatively fixed.

Whereas the value of information is illusory, depending entirely on the other party's word.

A'ierwen fell silent.

He gave Qin Hao a deep glance, a flicker of surprise flashing in his green‑blue eyes.

He hadn't expected that this seemingly young leader of a nascent civilization would possess such keen insight and such a clear mind.

He was not swayed by the huge temptation he had thrown out.

"It seems I still underestimated you, and also underestimated the Human Federal."

After a moment, A'ierwen finally spoke, his tone gaining a touch of solemnity.

"You're right; such a deal is indeed not fair enough."

"Then, what kind of trade arrangement do you want?"

He threw the question back to Qin Hao.

"Very simple."

Qin Hao extended a single finger.

"On the technology front, we cannot discuss it; our material technology is not for sale."

"But we can trade using other things."

For example, we control some special mineral resources. I believe these things are also scarce in your civilization.

We can use resources to exchange for your goods and information.

As for the authenticity of the information, I also have a proposal.

Qin Hao looked at him, the corner of his mouth curling into an arc.

We can start with a small-scale goods trade. During the trade, you can first reveal a part that is trivial but that we can verify ourselves.

If we verify that the information you gave is true, then we can continue with larger-scale trade, and you can also reveal more core information.

Step by step, until we establish genuine trust between us.

This process might be lengthy. But I think, for a wise race like us with long lifespans, time should not be an issue.

Mr. Elwen, what do you think?

Qin Hao's proposal could be said to have pulled the initiative back into his own hands.

He turned a piece‑by‑piece transaction into a long‑term cooperation.

This way, it both avoids the risk of being deceived in one go and, through prolonged contact, gradually extracts all the information from the other side's belly.

Elwen again fell into a long silence.

His gaze at Qin Hao had completely changed.

From initially looking down, it became an equal dialogue.

He realized that the person before him was absolutely not a 'newbie village chief' who could be easily fooled.

But rather a true, courageous and wise leader of a civilization.

Good.

After a long while, Elwen finally nodded.

I agree with your plan.

Let's start with the most basic trade and slowly cultivate our friendship.

He waved his hand, and the projections of the hundreds of goods beside him vanished.

In their place appeared a new small list of goods.

It listed only a dozen or so basic materials and energy blocks.

These are the items we brought this time, usable for small‑scale trade.

Elwen said.

As a gesture of goodwill, I can first give you the most basic piece of public information that all known civilizations are aware of, free of charge.

That concerns the classification of civilization levels.

Here it comes!

Qin Hao, Zhang Xianzhong, and the others were all invigorated.

The main show is finally about to begin.

In our database, existing civilizations, based on their mastery of energy and cosmic rules, can roughly be divided into four levels.

Erwin's voice sounded slowly.

"First-level civilization, we call it planetary civilization. They can fully control the energy of their home planet, but they have not truly entered the sea of stars. It is obvious that you have long surpassed this stage."

"Second-level civilization, we call it stellar civilization. They can utilize the energy of stars within their home star system, and can conduct large-scale interstellar navigation.

Civilizations of this level are possibly the most common in the universe, and also the most numerous. The Mo Yun Empire belongs to the low tier of Second-level Civilization."

"And your Human Federal," Erwin glanced at Qin Hao, "although you have just started, relying on your powerful fleet and special technology, your strength has firmly stood at the middle tier of Second-level Civilization."