The white-haired general raised his hand to stop the discussion, his gaze still sharply fixed on Jiang Chan: "Even if what you say is true, how can the Zerg guarantee that they will not start another war? How can we trust a... a queen who 'likes to keep pets'?" His tone was full of sarcasm.
Jiang Chan composed herself, then suddenly raised her voice, with a hint of deliberate ease:
“General, trust takes time. But we can start with… mutual benefit?” She paused, forcing a smile. “For example, Her Majesty the Queen is very fond of furry creatures. She’s also quite interested in some of humanity’s… well… harmless cultural products, like soap operas. The Zerg have many unique strengths in biotechnology, such as ecological restoration and biomedical technology…”
Alyssa seemed to have caught the keywords "furry" and "soap opera," and the lights in her compound eyes instantly lit up. She even leaned forward somewhat eagerly, her massive body almost squeezing into the range of the holographic image, one of her tentacles pointing at Jiang Chan, emitting a rapid buzzing sound towards the human side, as if echoing and emphasizing it.
The white-haired general frowned, clearly taken aback by the queen's sudden and somewhat "childish" reaction. A staff officer beside him whispered, "General, the Zerg's biomedical technology is indeed far superior to ours. If we could exchange..."
Jiang Chan seized the opportunity and immediately replied, "Yes! We can sign a treaty. The core principle is non-aggression and demarcation of the borders between the two sides. At the same time, limited cultural and technological exchanges will be permitted."
She emphasized, “In particular, allowing safe biological research exchanges under the supervision of both parties, such as giving Her Majesty the Queen the opportunity to come into contact with some safe, docile furry creatures in the human world, of course, on the premise that the other party is completely willing.”
Alyssa's compound eyes burst forth with tremendous light, instantly dispelling all her social anxiety and unease! Her massive head nodded vigorously, emitting a joyful, loud buzzing sound! The sound pierced through the holographic image, seemingly silencing the human command center for a moment.
The human officers' expressions turned completely blank. They stared at the enormous Zerg queen in the video, excitedly waving her tentacles, and then at Jiang Chan standing in front of them with a knowing look on her face. Their worldviews seemed to have been utterly shattered.
The white-haired general's lips twitched, as if he wanted to laugh but forcibly suppressed it. He rubbed his temples, and a crack finally appeared in the icy expression on his face: "...fuzzy?"
The lengthy negotiations began. The process was extremely difficult. Humanity demanded stringent security guarantees, territorial divisions, and technological compensation. Within the Zerg, some conservatives murmured discontent, questioning the necessity of abandoning the war.
Jiang Chan became the busiest translator and mediator, shuttling back and forth between the humans' distrust and the Zerg's stubbornness. She was parched and exhausted.
But whenever negotiations reached a stalemate, Alyssa's huge compound eyes would gaze longingly at Jiang Chan, filled with yearning for "fuzzy" and "peaceful research."
Jiang Chan could only grit her teeth and force a smile again, translating Alyssa's pure ideas about "protecting cosmic biodiversity" and "the importance of a peaceful research environment" into diplomatic terms such as "establishing research protection zones," "sharing ecological data," and "promoting cosmic harmony" in a way that humans could understand.
The clause allowing the Zerg to access and research safe, furry creatures under specific conditions became the key to breaking the deadlock. Appearing in the serious treaty annex, it carried a sense of absurd humor, yet miraculously eased the tension between the two sides.
The higher-ups in the human community even gave it a nickname in private—the "Cat Petting Clause".
Finally, beneath the massive, fleshy membrane dome of the Zerg hive's main hall, and witnessed by the silent gaze of countless high-ranking Zerg and the remote holographic projection of the Human Federation, two documents, shimmering with a faint light, floated in the air. One was written in human script, the other in the Zerg's unique spiritual imprint patterns.
Its official name is the "Treaty of Non-Aggression and Peaceful Cooperation between the Federation of Humans and the Zerg Empire".
Alyssa's enormous compound eyes carefully "examined" her own spiritual imprint document. She extended her most dexterous tentacle and cautiously touched a specific point of light beneath the imprint. The unique spiritual imprint representing the Queen's will instantly merged into the document, radiating brilliant light.
On the other side of the holographic image, the white-haired general also picked up the ancient electronic pen and signed his name on the human-owned document.
An invisible energy fluctuation swept across the entire Zerg hive. The war, at this moment, finally came to an end.
The Human Federation awarded Jiang Chan its highest peace medal. But Jiang Chan knew that in many people's eyes, her identity remained ambiguous.
"Hero" or "Zerg Queen's Pet"?
The Zerg Empire's approach was much simpler and more direct. Alyssa personally carved an exquisite badge from chitin. One half bore the star emblem of the Human Federation, the other an abstract pattern of Alyssa's compound eyes. She clumsily tried to pin the badge to Jiang Chan's chest with her tentacles, nearly poking her several times. Finally, Jiang Chan smiled and took it, putting it on herself.
"Chief Precious Biological Sample and Imperial Peace and Goodwill Ambassador," Alyssa announced, enunciating each word in her increasingly fluent, yet still Zerg-accented, human language. Then her compound eyes curved into a pleasant hum, "Jiang Chan... my... friend!"
On the edge of the rebuilt human colony, a bio-cultural exchange station jointly constructed by humans and the Zerg has just been completed. Beyond the transparent dome lies the vast starry sky.
Jiang Chan stood inside the exchange station, watching the wondrous scene unfold before her.
On a massive projection platform made of Zerg organisms, Alyssa's silhouette appeared somewhat blurry. Her enormous figure seemed a little cautious. In front of her, a docile golden retriever, brought by a human trainer, sat blankly, its tail unconsciously sweeping the ground.
Alyssa's phantom extended a semi-transparent tentacle, approaching the golden retriever's fluffy head with extreme caution and curiosity, little by little.
The golden retriever tilted its head in confusion, its wet nose twitching as if it had smelled something strange, but the trainer gently stroked it reassuringly. It ultimately didn't pull away.
Alyssa's illusory tentacles finally landed gently, very gently, on the golden retriever's golden fur.
In an instant, Alyssa's enormous compound eye phantom burst forth with unprecedented light, like two stars that had been lit up! The entire phantom trembled slightly with excitement! She even let out a short, sharp hum, audible to humans, filled with ultimate satisfaction!
“Furry… fluffy… good!” Her excited voice echoed throughout the communication station through the translator.
Jiang Chan couldn't help but laugh out loud. She looked down at the badge on her chest that was half human and half insectoid, her fingertips gently tracing the patterns of Alyssa's compound eyes.
In the distance, the starry sky remains deep and dark, and unknown challenges may still be lurking in some corner.
But at this moment, watching the Queen awkwardly immerse herself in her "first close encounter" with the golden retriever, and watching the human scientists and Zerg researchers in the exchange station begin their first careful exchange of biological samples, a warm feeling welled up in Jiang Chan's heart.
She was no longer a prisoner of war, nor an assassin.
She is Alyssa's human friend. She is a peace ambassador between two worlds.
She successfully navigated this absurd path.
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