The Nation-Class ships the China, the United States, and the Russia had already departed ahead, leading part of the fleet on their journey. The ships that had remained behind in the Molian Civilization’s capital star system, once fully regrouped, also set off in pursuit of the three Nation-Class ships.
Ever since Xiao Yu had been brought to the edge of the Milky Way by the half Four-Dimensional Taihao, his voyage had always maintained a general direction. Though there had been minor deviations along the way, the overall course remained unchanged, heading toward the center of the galaxy. Xiao Yu had no special reason for this; it was simply an instinctive choice. Perhaps, he thought, the galactic core would hold more unknown phenomena waiting for him to explore.
For this journey, Xiao Yu set the duration at fifty years. At this pace, by the end he would have traveled roughly 620 light-years.
Staying within the Molian Civilization’s sphere of influence could also have been a viable option. But ‘fire one shot and move to the next place’ had always been Xiao Yu’s guiding principle. That was why he had left so hastily, unwilling even to linger near Molian territory.
Though the two fleets had not yet merged, the distance between them continued to shrink. With fully developed tachyon communication modules, they did not need to worry about communication problems. Thus, after finishing a series of aftermath tasks, such as war summaries, memorials, and a period of rest, Xiao Yu once again led his scientists into busy work.
The genetic transformation of the Dwarf Race had been fully completed. Their physical abilities and brain development were now on par with the other races that had long been under Xiao Yu’s command. This meant they could now contribute to Xiao Yu’s scientific development. And given their immense population base, the Dwarf Race was destined to become the most numerous group of scientists under his banner.
This prospect caused concern among some, including Luka Two and several other scientists. After all, the rise of the Dwarves would inevitably affect their current status. But Xiao Yu paid no mind to their worries. He had always intended to unify the races under his command. Xiao Yu wanted them to forget their original racial identities. In the future, he envisioned no Luka, no Dwarf, only the Divine Ark Civilization.
“All of you are members of the Divine Ark Civilization. When you see a great number of scientists emerging from within our civilization, you should be glad. In fact, what is there to worry about? No matter how many outstanding talents appear, your status will not be threatened, and your people will not be harmed. What you deserve will not be less, and what you do not deserve will not suddenly be given to you.”
So Xiao Yu said during a meeting of all scientists. Of course, this ‘all’ did not include the scientists of the Dwarf Race. In recent times, troubling signs had already begun to emerge, for example, Dwarf scientists being excluded for no reason, or their research submissions being deliberately obstructed.
“In truth, in this war against the Molian Civilization, it was the Dwarves who contributed the most, and sacrificed the most. Of the 30,000 Special Operations troops, 30,000 were Dwarves. Among the 80 million fallen soldiers, 60 million were Dwarves. The Dwarves have given outstanding service to our Divine Ark Civilization. They should be the example for everyone here.”Xiao Yu did not expect such simple words to truly change the minds of the scientists before him. But still, he needed to make his stance clear.
For a long period of time, these scientists had made outstanding contributions to Xiao Yu and had received ample rewards. Under such circumstances, certain vested interest groups had formed. For the sake of their own races, it was inevitable that these groups would engage in both open and covert struggles. What they fought for was nothing more than better living environments, greater resource allocations, and so forth. Even if there were nothing tangible to compete over, they would still contend for something as intangible as rankings. Such conflicts would never cease, because this was the innate nature of intelligent beings.
Toward these struggles, Xiao Yu had always maintained an attitude of indifference, even tacit approval, because from beginning to end the ultimate power of judgment lay in his own hands. Under such circumstances, the balance of interests had formed and stabilized. The sudden rise of the Dwarf Race would undoubtedly disrupt this balance. Their enormous population base meant enormous potential. In this situation, it was no surprise that all the other races would unite to resist the Dwarves.
This situation could not be changed in the short term. But Xiao Yu had already made sufficient arrangements to eventually alter it. When a situation worked to his advantage, he would leave it alone, even secretly support it. But if, with the passage of time, it began to obstruct his technological progress, then Xiao Yu would not hesitate to change it.
He had fixed upon the name ‘Divine Ark Civilization,’ banned all racial propaganda in the education of every race, and ensured that all were unified under the Divine Ark banner. He deliberately diluted the concept of race while strengthening the identity of the Divine Ark Civilization. At the same time, in the field of biotechnology, he continued genetic modifications on all intelligent beings to eliminate racial differences as much as possible. During this process, he nurtured a unified sense of aesthetics, worldview, and values among them. These were the measures Xiao Yu had put in place.
This effort had begun long ago and had recently borne results. A male from the Dwarf Race and a female from the former Species Number Seven crossed racial boundaries and fell in love. Such a sensational event sparked a prolonged debate within the Divine Ark Civilization. Intelligent beings argued fiercely for months over morality, worldview, and other issues. In the end, Xiao Yu personally intervened to settle the matter.
Xiao Yu published an article on the internal network of the Divine Ark Civilization, writing, “Why should we oppose this? Different races? Different traditions? Does that matter? I only know that we now have one common name, the Divine Ark Civilization. We possess equal technological levels, the same values, and after such long genetic optimization and modification, the genetic differences between races have been reduced to acceptable levels. They are fully capable of producing healthy offspring. In fact, according to the theory of genetic optimization, unions between different races have a higher probability of producing more gifted offspring. Moreover, I have always believed in one saying, true love is not a crime. Here, I give them my blessing.”
After this article was published, the supporting side immediately gained overwhelming momentum. With Xiao Yu’s deliberate guidance of public opinion, the opposition quickly disappeared. The couple eventually came together, and Xiao Yu himself presided over their wedding, personally giving them his blessing. For a time, many other cross-racial unions appeared, marking the first step in Xiao Yu’s efforts toward racial integration.
Yet it was clear that Xiao Yu’s efforts had not achieved their ultimate effect, not yet. At the very least, the elites of intelligent society, the scientists, still harbored strong suspicion toward other races.
“I don’t care what you think in your hearts. But if there is any further deliberate hostility or obstruction, I will not hesitate to punish it.” Xiao Yu said calmly. “Scientific research is a most noble endeavor. I do not wish for you to taint it with personal prejudice. Now then, I will announce several matters.”
“In the war against the Molian Civilization, we obtained a complete Level 5 Civilization technology tree. I will soon organize an analysis campaign. A complete technology tree covers everything, touching upon every discipline. Therefore, this analysis will be comprehensive, and all scientists must participate.”
“That is the first matter. The second is that the Central Research Academy of Science will be fully expanded. More than one hundred thousand scientists have passed my examinations and obtained qualifications. They will all be added to the Central Academy, filling disciplines that lack manpower and research strength. Among these hundred thousand scientists, more than ninety three thousand are from the Dwarf Race. Since this is their first time entering the Central Academy, they will not hold any positions of authority. They will start at the lowest level and earn promotions through their own abilities. Detailed personnel appointments for the expanded academy will be announced separately.”
“The third matter… concerns the construction of Continent-Class starships.” Xiao Yu said. “From the complete Level 5 Civilization technology tree acquired from the Molian Civilization, I discovered these records. I found that even within Level 5 Civilizations, there are divisions. The boundary between preliminary Level 5 and advanced Level 5 is whether or not a civilization has mastered starship-mounted negative matter cannons. We are, without doubt, an advanced Level 5 Civilization. And according to the Molian research results, advanced Level 5 Civilizations already possess the ability to construct Continent-Class starships.”
“I will establish a dedicated research group for this project, with myself as the leader, to study the construction of Continent-Class starships. During this fifty-year journey of curvature flight, I will guide the team to prepare all the necessary technologies and complete the blueprints for their construction.”
“All right, this meeting is adjourned. After this, everyone will have three days of rest. Work will begin three days from now…”