No one in the known universe claid to have the ability to force a confession from an Outer Universe zealot. Yet, as Moth processed the claim, he recalled the weird phenona he had witnessed during Hye’s rise.
He made a ntal note to review every scrap of footage from the apocalypse twenty years ago. If Hye could dominate the minds of his enemies, adding them to his personal force, then reading their secrets was a logical next step.
Hye heaved a secret sigh of relief. He had successfully diverted Moth’s predatory curiosity away from the location of his hidden territory. Instead, he had baited the hook for a long-term, high-value trade deal with the Hescos.
"So, the part of the map looking like our universe is under our forces’ control?" Hye asked, shifting the focus back to the holographic display. He didn’t want to give Moth too much ti to dwell on his "mind-reading" capabilities.
"Does this an you, the Toranks, the Hectors, and other big races have permanent bases out there? Just how big is the Hescos territory?"
"You are mistaken," Moth replied with a swift, sharp denial. "This part looks like our universe only because it is a constant, shifting battlefield between the two sides. There isn’t a single permanent foothold for any race out there. The best anyone has managed is controlling a few star systems for a ti—not even an entire sector of a galaxy!"
"This..." Hye blinked in genuine surprise. "After all these years, there isn’t a single major base? That’s weird!!"
"Do you think the outer battlefield is easy?" Moth snapped. He was finally convinced: Hye was a complete novice. No veteran would ask such a naive question.
"Even if that part looks like our universe, it doesn’t function like it! The System’s power out there is severely limited. The entire battlefield is saturated with a dense, copious amount of that universe’s unique power..."
"Spirit power," Hye nodded. He knew the term, but he didn’t grasp the tactical weight of it yet. "But why does it matter? You can simply conquer a dozen systems, build fortified bases, keep the reinforcents flowing, and maintain a secure periter!"
"That... Sigh!" Moth looked defeated. "You really have never been there, have you?"
"Told you a million tis already!" Hye rolled his eyes. "So... what’s the catch? Why can’t you hold the ground?"
"Let try to simplify it for you..." Moth said, struggling to bridge the gap between his reality and Hye’s ignorance.
"When you are out there, your access to many of the System’s features is blocked. It’s like a dead zone. You can’t raise your stats through the usual thods. You can’t repair damaged weapons or hulls using System commands. You can’t even trade for supplies or gear from the Market! You are essentially cut off from the very things that make us powerful."
"This bad?" Hye asked, his voice echoing in the vastness of the negotiation room. "Is our system that weak out there?"
"That’s the bitter truth," Moth sighed, the light from the holographic map casting long, weary shadows across his features.
"That ans the mont you are sent off into that battlefield, it’s all on your own. You don’t have much support from the system. In many zones, there are different limitations and debuffs applied directly to our stats... It’s as if the universe itself is trying to eject us."
Moth continued to speak for several minutes, describing a situation that was best described as hell. Hye had known the war was difficult, but he never imagined the suppression was this severe.
It finally shed a light on the mystery that had plagued him for years: why the mighty races of the universe had failed to build permanent strongholds after aeons of fighting. More importantly, it explained why the other universe was winning all this ti.
Unlike the System, which seed to falter in the void, the spirit power of the other universe was rich and dense out there.
There wasn’t the sa negative environnt for the forces coming from the other battlefield. They were fighting in their natural habitat, while the System’s champions were like fish gasping for air on dry land.
"That... It’s indeed a miracle we still stand a chance out there," Hye honestly admitted, his cynical edge montarily softened by the gravity of the intel. "Going by logic, we should have lost this war a long ti ago!"
"That’s indeed true," Moth replied. He wanted to refute such a blatant, almost insulting remark, yet he knew this was the truth.
"Our only advantage is a desperate one: every single ti the other universe crushes our forces out there and gets closer to here, the system grows stronger and supports us, removing all debuffs and even allowing us to trade."
"It’s still not enough to win the war," Hye sighed, his mind already calculating the tactical nightmare of a "no-trade" zone. "It’s not even enough to let us push against the other universe at that battlefield!"
"That’s why we are placing high hopes on you," Moth said, his voice dropping its diplomatic facade. "I know you took the wrong impression about what my friends sent from back ho. But let tell you this: even winning a few battles out there is a massive achievent in itself!"
"It can’t be this bad, right?" Hye asked, leaning back. He found it hard to believe that the pinnacle of human and alien achievent was so agre.
"There is a famous record in the outer battlefield," Moth said, realising Hye still didn’t grasp the scale of the slaughter. "It’s like a board of fa, and it shows how many consecutive victories a race has had, or a general has achieved. Do you know what the best individual streak is?"
"You tell ," Hye said, growing curious. "A hundred?" He said it as a joke, but he didn’t believe what Moth said next.
"Twenty-three battles," Moth paused, letting the tiny number hang in the air like a death sentence.
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