I know that it's just my current fixation, but I wonder how things would have down if the Alliance fleet arrived in the Sol system of Mare Ignis.

Makes sense. Why flood them with technology you already have when you can give them enough to keep their society stable and boost their standard of living, then wait a few years for them to make their own unique technological and cultural advancements. Either way, the alliance in this situation needs to do very little. As Zane said, whether humanity accepts the deal or not, the alliance will always come out of this scenario a winner.

President looks like he's interpreting this as hearing that Earth is the cosmic equivalent of a penny stock.

The unsaid part is that the Alliance might like to have a base in this system to protect both themselves and the Earth?

I dont think Zane managed to "sell it". Between panel 4 and 5 , there was the sound of a cricket.

There is no economic or political carrot in prospect but only the promise of upheaval. In reality such negotiations would take years and years and cannot be condensed down to something anyone would bother reading or even drawing for that matter. So I think Zane will unload a delegation (Gharr also?!) who will remain behind to do this on a sidetrack story which we will only have a gist of.

While the plot goes on with the 3 stooges, Nea , Ahshu etc.

So the basic trade is, Earth gets uplifted and the Alliance gets potential tech unlocks and culture points plus a trade partner?

Isn't the Sol system like, very far from Alliance space? I think uplifting Earth will be a bit more expensive for the Alliance than Zane makes it out to be.

(Does the Alliance FTL need more fuel per distance traveled or does it not work like that? Do they just need fuel to initiate the jump?)

Not sure how to read some of these expressions.

Part of me is still wondering if Zane and the Raharr simply don't understand that they're dealing with a species fractured into a multitude of nations who compete with each other for control and advantage.

In this sense, the representative asking what the Raharr/Alliance get out of Earth (or expect from us) is a logical question because a powerful nation on Earth would be unlikely to reach out to a far less advanced one and offer to uplift them in knowledge and provide resources for nothing but charity and their perspective on things.

At the same time, the representative should also take note that they call their group an alliance, have warships and well trained soldiers. Those things would suggest military opposition or a need for protection from adversaries. So if you're going to be joining an alliance you might want to know if it comes with enemies or opponents who will automatically target Earth. They might also consider that Earth would be a conveniently positioned port or stop for ships... Which they very well could be since traces of the Ghosts have been found which might make Earth a sort of forward base/stop for further exploration in this area or direction.

I don't know what Mr. President thinks exactly, but whatever it is, it's certainly hypocritical because he would have done the same thing in the same situation, or even worse.

And about the "infantilization" of this tutora... Good, humans are free to think it, and also free to proving they're worthy of going faster than expected, even skipping stages. Beside, we do the same thing in our schools, with regular assessments of student levels, and we set up this system because it's the most optimal for stimulating intelligence and infusing knowledge, so it's exactly the same, just... one scale higher.

The only ways 'Mr. President' would still be around (in charge) a third of a century from now, would be an immediate longevity crash-program, and political stability in Protagonistan during that time.

Bit hard to fathom.

... I can hear Mr. President thinking "how can I get the rest of humanity to reject joining the Alliance so that only we sign up??"

(As if the Alliance continuing to visit Protagonistan, with actual atmospheric re-entries, would stand a chance of going unnoticed by the other nations.)