Though Ves and the rest of the Golden Skull Alliance had already handled phasewater in the hundreds of kilograms in the past, that did not mean that this substance had become devalued in their eyes. There was never enough phasewater to go around! The special exotic material that dominated the Red Ocean during its entire existence was useful to every alien race as long as they possessed the ability to unlock even a fraction of its potential. Humans couldn't get enough of the stuff, let alone the many indigenous alien races that had long adapted their entire technology trees to better exploit the properties of phasewater! It made sense that the indigenous alien pirate groups would be eager to plunder as much phasewater as possible from the surrounding territories. What the delegates gathered in the ceremonial hall of the Twin Refuge didn't expect was that the aliens accumulated so much phasewater without using it all up to strengthen their own equipment and warships! Even if the aliens regarded phasewater as a holy material that needed to be revered as a gift from their gods, even they shouldn't be stupid enough to leave so much phasewater unused. In the Red Ocean of today, many alien empires had been wiped out in their entirety and entire races ceased to exist. Humanity was an existential threat to any native occupant of the dwarf galaxy. The only way the survivors of the initial sweeps could survive in this dark and desolate period was to convert as many resources as possible into strength. Phasewater could be used to build stronger warp drives that could help nomadic fleets stay out of the reach of their human pursuers. Phasewater could be used to augment the most important portions of the hulls of warships, enabling them to survive blows that would have crippled their vital components. Phasewater could also be used to amplify the penetration power of the enormous weapon systems of those very same warships, allowing them to pierce through the armor of the most indestructible opponents! Though humanity had already managed to develop a lot of powerful applications surrounding phasewater, the native aliens of the Red Ocean definitely mastered phasewater technology to a much more sophisticated degree! It was hard to believe that all of those aliens did not use up such an enormous stash already. Perhaps the coalition formed by the Gemini Family might expend a huge amount of effort into taking over the Palace of Shame, only to find that its entire stock of phasewater had already been drained! The two leaders of the Gemini Family understood the skepticism from the delegates. Patriarch Kobal Gemini moved to reassure the people his family might have to depend upon to attack the alien asteroid base. "If the Palace of Shame was wholly owned by a single strong pirate group, then it is unlikely that so much phasewater is left unused. That is not the case. We have told you earlier that this pirate base is occupied by many different groups, many of whom are small and must constantly be on guard against their rivals. Their warships are smaller and weaker and their infrastructure is nowhere comparable to that of the orvens." Matriarch Sena Gemini also chimed in. "What has happened in the last decade also contributed to this unusual situation. The alien pirates based in the Palace of Shame shouldn't have been able to gather so much phasewater in normal times, but the human invasion changed everything. Many alien organizations that used to be rooted in wealthy and developed planets had to evacuate in a hurry with the most valuable assets that they could carry. A large number of evacuation fleets left the star systems in the regions around us and tried their best to flee away from the advancing humans as possible." "The alien pirates based in the Palace of Shame took advantage of this frenzy and feasted upon the vulnerable." Sena's husband and brother seamlessly continued. "They not only plundered a large amount of phasewater, but also obtained a massive amount of valuable exotics, technological libraries, cultural artifacts, and a large amount of intact pieces of alien technology. The pirates frankly plundered more valuables than they could digest, hence why the Palace of Shame has turned into an expansive treasure house where every individual pirate group has built its own vault." That was highly plausible. Though years had already gone by since the frenzy had passed, the Palace of Shame did not appear to possess the industrial infrastructure required to convert so many raw materials into processed goods. Patriarch Kobal Gemini affirmed this guess. "The Palace of Shame may be many things, but it was never set up to function as an independent refuge or nation state. In the past, the pirate den actually functioned as a trading hub that crossed racial lines. It was one of the few hubs in the region where any alien individual from any race could come and trade with anyone without regard for laws, taboos, diplomatic relations and so on. While the asteroid den does possess a considerable amount of production facilities, most of them are biased towards the repair and to a limited extent production of warships up to a certain scale. The local industries are lacking in too many other areas." A huge variety of industrial processes were needed to sustain an entire civilization. There were factories that were set up to refine specific ores into specific alloys. There were fuel refineries that converted raw substances into powerful fuels needed to keep enormous power generators running. There were also pharmaceutical plants that produced all manner of essential medicines and bioproducts necessary to sustain the physiological needs of different alien races. The asteroid that hosted the Palace of Shame couldn't fit so many industrial complexes! Even if it did, without extensive support of alien civilizations, many of the more advanced factories and shipyards simply couldn't be built due to lack of advanced technologies and expert knowledge! The two Gemini leaders elaborated a bit on how the criminal and marginalized nature of the Palace of Shame prevented it from becoming an industrial powerhouse. "We speculate that the alien empires that used to occupy the neighboring territories have tolerated the Palace of Shame to an extent." Matriarch Sena Gemini explained. "Their leaders may have known about it, but they did not gather their fleets to annihilate this scourge in its entirety. The reason for that is because it serves a useful purpose and does not pose a real threat against the ruling classes. The alien officials and the pirate outcasts may have even formed secret relationships to better control the situation. As long as the Palace of Shame does not seek to loosen the collar on its neck, it is not an existential threat." "These contracts no longer exist after the fall of all of the alien empires." Minister Shederin Purnesse pointed out. "The Palace of Shame is on its own now, and there should be no more oversight that could stop the local aliens from building more advanced industrial facilities." "You are correct, but even the aliens are not capable of building so much advanced infrastructure in a short amount of time. They are also lacking in too many other areas, most notably the large number of highly educated scientists and engineers that can design, build and run these facilities." The Geminis brought up numerous pieces of proof that ultimately convinced the delegates that the alien pirate groups likely didn't possess the ability to use up all of that phasewater so quickly. "There are many alien pirate gangs that are too small and weak to work with phasewater. However, they still managed to steal a few kilograms of phasewater here and there after raiding many of the evacuation fleets that fled this area of the new frontier. Right now, phasewater is more valuable as a form of hard currency that transcends racial differences. The more phasewater in their possession, the more goods and services they can exchange from other rivals and competitors." The Geminis painted a pirate stronghold that had not only become unmoored by humanity's invasion of the Red Ocean, but also a place that had become overcrowded to the point where a lot of internal contradictions took place. The high level of division among the alien races and pirate groups meant that all of the stakeholders of the Palace of Shame could not unify their efforts and spend all of their resources in the most efficient and effective manner possible! Instead, they wasted much of their manpower, combat assets and resources into beating each other up! The grudges between the different aliens ran too deep and the rapid changes in the Red Ocean only intensified the contradictions! "Does that mean that a concerted attack from humans such as us will cause the local aliens to fall apart and encourage them to go their separate ways?" A delegate from the Boojay Family asked. Patriarch Kobal Gemini gave an uncertain reply. "That may be possible. It is conceivable that the weaker and most desperate pirate groups will flee at the first possible opportunity. We should prevent them from doing so because they will likely take away all of their most valuable spoils such as their phasewater reserves. We can discuss our action plan later. For now, we are certain that the largest pirate groups such as the ones led by the orven race have too much of a stake in the Palace of Shame. They will put up serious resistance and will most definitely seek to hit back hard, especially because our forces are not as strong as that of the Big Two." Many people nodded in agreement. Many indigenous aliens developed a lot of respect and fear towards the warships and mechs of the Big Two. The human warfleets were too powerful and had access to all kinds of highly advanced technologies. The pioneers that came afterwards were nowhere near as strong! If the pirate groups based in the Palace of Shame found out that the attackers consisted of second-class pioneering fleets, then there was even less of a reason to shirk away from a fight! "Do the aliens recognize the threat of an ace mech?" Ves curiously asked. Matriarch Sena Gemini shook her head. "We cannot answer that question. It depends on how much contact the aliens still have with their other compatriots. We know that the alien pirates have curtailed most of their external activities in order to prevent humans from locating the Palace of Shame. The pirate groups may have even gone as far as cutting off all contact with the outside galaxy. If that is the case, then the information they should possess about our race should be limited." There were too many unknowns for Ves' liking. Though he was attracted by the prospect of plundering a lot of phasewater and a lot of valuable alien tech, was it truly worth it to confront a lot of strong and unfamiliar alien pirate forces? The Geminis still had a long way to go to convince all of the gathered pioneering forces to join the assault. "I have a question." A delegate from the Lehrer Foundation spoke up. "The vast majority of alien groups that used to reside in the Krakatoa Middle Zone and beyond have already fled this area years ago. As long as they have enough ships, they have almost always chosen to flee out of range of human pursuit. Why have these pirates chosen to stay behind?" The woman carried herself as an academic, so she had probably thought much deeper about this situation than anyone else. The matter she brought up was important. It was too suspicious for so many selfish and criminal alien outlaws to stay behind in hostile human territory! Ves also began to think about what was so important about the Palace of Shame to all of these aliens. He became more and more suspicious towards the Geminis. They likely knew at least some of the truth of what made this hidden asteroid base so attractive to everyone!