Chapter 402: Joining
Luo Wen carefully recalled the details. During negotiations, Bular had inadvertently disclosed a wealth of information—not only things Luo Wen was already aware of but also numerous bits of insider gossip, such as information about the Descendants faction.
And then, almost immediately, the Descendants sent representatives? No wonder the timing and location of the five-member Ji group’s appearance seemed so peculiar, and their acquisition of negotiation authority so inexplicable. Was it because there wasn’t enough time to set the stage properly?
Luo Wen furrowed his brow in thought. No, no, he was still making some assumptions. The opposing side didn’t know the Swarm’s methods, so theoretically, the Swarm shouldn’t have any knowledge about the five-member group’s true origins.
From that perspective, the Swarm should only know that the five-member group belonged to the Descendants faction. And, given Bular’s earlier “education session,” the arrogance and haughtiness of these Descendants would seem entirely expected.
Based on surface-level information, the Swarm might also deduce that the five-member group held extraordinary status. Thus, Troi’s shift in attitude under their pressure would appear reasonable.
Moreover, their apparent concept of time—where twenty years of negotiations felt like nothing—gave the Swarm the impression that their efficiency was abysmal. So, the protracted negotiations weren’t surprising at all.
In fact, if not for the Riken System campaign, these talks might have dragged on indefinitely.
With this in mind, the strategist’s goal became obvious. But this realization made Luo Wen doubt his conclusions. He went back to the start, retraced his reasoning, and still arrived at the same conclusion: the other side was buying time for the Swarm.
Indeed, reality was even more bizarre than imagined.