"Some factions might want to develop stealthily, building only a few small houses on the surface to fool satellites, pretending they haven't developed much, while going all out underground and madly constructing underground cities," Li Nan Nan said. "The military only knows that a large number of cargo ships stop by those few small houses every day, unloading from morning till night, but they don't know what's happening underground, so they can't determine the development level and can only classify it as unknown."
"There are also some factions that bring tens of thousands of people, but on the surface, there are only a few buildings like public restrooms. It's clearly a deception. Do all those people stand and sleep in those small houses? Even standing wouldn't fit, do they stick to the ceiling?"
"Then there are those who build camouflage structures. Low-tech ones blend in with the environment. For example, building within cliffs, with the building tops shaped like rocks. Not only can AI not identify them, but even manual inspection requires staring intently for a long time. High-tech ones build underwater structures, with optical camouflage on the building tops, making them appear completely natural, with no trace of artificiality."
"There are also smuggling ships, secretly transporting people to Bi Rong Star. We've caught four or five, but there are definitely more we haven't caught," Li Nan Nan sighed. "Everyone is very cunning and doesn't want to expose their true strength."
"How can there be smuggling?" Jiang Ye frowned. "Don't all ships entering and exiting the planet's orbit have their personnel information reported?"
"Mother-child ships. The large ship reports, and after passing the checkpoint, it suddenly drops a small ship, which instantly disappears," Li Nan Nan said. "Then the large ship turns back and claims the plan has changed, and they are not landing. This way, in terms of data, the people on the ship have returned to their home planet."
"Everyone is so insidious!" Jiang Ye was secretly astonished.
"You have the nerve to say that."
"Huh? What did I do?" Jiang Ye's tone was full of innocence. "I'm a law-abiding, good citizen!"
"Don't pretend with me. We've actually found traces of what you've been up to, and I suppressed them," Li Nan Nan said.
"I... I haven't done anything?" Jiang Ye continued to play innocent.
"You smuggled five thousand people in the past week, declaring them as mechanical soldiers but they were actually living people. A case of '狸猫换太子' (a classic Chinese tale of substituting a prince), isn't it?" Li Nan Nan snorted coldly. "I suspect you've already built a mechanical soldier factory underground on Bi Rong Star to deal with inspections."
Jiang Ye was startled.
Half of it was actually discovered?
"How did you find out?" Jiang Ye asked. "Could you give me some pointers so I can avoid it and save you trouble?"
"The air," Li Nan Nan said. "The air in a ship's cabin where living people have stayed for a long time is different from that in a cabin where a batch of mechanical soldiers have stayed. Every time a ship passes a space checkpoint, they actually secretly sample the cabin air. It's not to check for smuggling, but to check for dangerous goods."
"I understand, I was negligent," Jiang Ye rubbed the cold sweat on his forehead.
"Don't worry. The sovereignty of Bi Rong Star hasn't been demarcated yet. Your actions are at most considered undeclared, not smuggling. The higher-ups will at most impose a small fine, there's no big issue. Besides, they're too lazy to investigate now. In principle, they encourage you to compete on Bi Rong Star, to compete by any means, as long as you don't cross the bottom line."
"I understand now," Jiang Ye returned to his original question. "So, the reason they don't know the development level of those three hundred factions is because they're hiding it, and those factions that are known might not be real?"
"Yes, that's exactly it," Li Nan Nan said. "What are your plans for the next step?"
Jiang Ye pondered.
"Everyone is hiding their strength..." Jiang Ye said hesitantly, "I want to try the opposite approach."
"Oh?" Li Nan Nan's tone clearly became interested.
"How about I bluff?" Jiang Ye asked. "As long as I can fool the military's data, I can also fool most factions."
"What's the point of that? If it's exposed, won't it be a joke?" Li Nan Nan clearly didn't think highly of it.
"I just heard your explanation of the situation and suddenly came up with this idea," Jiang Ye showed a sly smile. "I'll think about it carefully."
"Alright, feel free to call me anytime to discuss. I'm quite free recently."
The call ended.
Jiang Ye fell into deep thought.
Everyone was dishonest. At such a time, whoever was honest would suffer.
However, if he hid his strength like other planets, Jiang Ye Star might not gain any advantage.
The reason was simple: many planetary factions had far greater financial resources than his own.
If both sides hid their strength, and on the surface they were both at a village level, but later when they clashed, the opponent had hidden fifty thousand people while Jiang Ye Star had only hidden ten thousand, it would be quite awkward.
By the time Bi Rong Star was developed to this point, Jiang Ye Star's resources were almost depleted, but the real competition hadn't even begun.
If he continued to develop in this manner, perhaps Jiang Ye Star's faction could survive until the later stages, but they would definitely lose when it came to the final showdown.
What if he changed his approach and did the opposite?
While everyone else was desperately hiding their strength, what if Jiang Ye Star desperately inflated its numbers and bluffed?
Jiang Ye gazed out the window, motionless, pondering for a long time.
This could work!
It would be troublesome to implement, but this was probably the only chance of winning!
He took out his phone and looked for contacts.
"Daughter Planet Governor Fu Qiuyan"
He tapped to dial.
After half a minute, there was still no answer.
Jiang Ye looked at his phone, bad signal?
He stood up and walked to the window, waving his phone around.
"Hello? Jiang Ye?" Fu Qiuyan's voice sounded, a little puzzled.
"When we last met, you said that Daughter Planet had a simulation humanoid company, and it was quite large?" Jiang Ye asked.
"That's right, sales are booming."
"Are you busy? I'd like to come over."
"When?"
"I haven't booked a ticket yet, I'll send you the time once I have."
"Don't you have your own interstellar spaceship?"
"No, they've all been sent to Bi Rong Star to haul cargo."
Fu Qiuyan was silent.
Jiang Ye felt a little awkward.
As the leader of a planet, not even having his own interstellar spaceship was truly pathetic.
I'm so poor!
"Don't buy a ticket, I'll send a special ship to pick you up," Fu Qiuyan said.
Jiang Ye considered, "Alright, I'll need to bring my wife and a few attendants."
"Don't bring your wife, I'll arrange some models or celebrities for you," Fu Qiuyan's tone was somewhere between serious and joking.
"Thank you for the kind offer, but I'm not into that."
The call ended.
Jiang Ye let out a long sigh.
He had finally taken this step.
...
Three days later.
Daughter Planet, Mud Spot Simulation Humanoid Company.
The special vehicle slowly landed. Fu Qiuyan jumped out first, then Jiang Ye, and finally Cen Yemeng.
Jiang Ye looked up. It was a relatively traditional glass skyscraper, but its height was incredible, with the top hidden in the clouds.
"Two kilometers high. Except on very clear days, you can't see the top," Fu Qiuyan smiled. "Please come in. I've arranged everything. Both old and new models are here, let's show you the goods."
"Why is it called Mud Spot Company?" Jiang Ye walked towards the entrance with her. "Is there a story behind it?"
"Nuwa created humans. At first, she used her hands to knead them. Later, she got tired and used a vine to dip into mud and flick it around. The mud spots that flew out all turned into people," Fu Qiuyan explained.
Jiang Ye suddenly understood.
To be fair, the name Mud Spot Company was indeed a bit rustic.
But when it came to company names, as long as they developed into a commercial empire, even the most rustic names would become fashionable.