Chapter 458: Infiltration
“Could it be partial renovations?” the Captain asked.
“Unlikely. Wright collected samples from a wide area, but the data is almost identical. Unless the entire colony was overhauled, this result wouldn’t make sense.”
“I see.” The Captain fell into contemplation.
The team member who had spoken earlier thought for a moment before continuing, “I’ve also discovered another issue. While the Rat Folk’s construction materials are average, the wear and tear on their colony floors is remarkably low. Particularly in the residential areas, which should see heavy foot traffic, the floors show almost the same level of wear as the sparsely used equipment zones. At first, I thought the residential areas had been refurbished, but testing revealed that the materials for all the floors came from the same batch.”
“So this means the colony is just for show? It’s barely been used?”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“If the Rat Folk don’t use it, then…”
“Isn’t it obvious? This colony must have originally belonged to the Swarm. For some reason—maybe their impending alliance with the Confederation, or perhaps due to the Riken incident—they foresaw certain events and constructed this colony. It was built specifically to appease us. Their evasiveness is just a ploy to lure us in.”
“Then why go to such lengths? To declare themselves as the true owners?”