"Technology truly changes lives—it's indeed the primary productive force! That old man never lied to me, though his face always turned from red to green."
Liu Hai sighed as he watched the projection before him, then pulled up the progress chart for a look. After continuous optimization and adjustments by the Intelligent Nexus, Zhurong Star had now transformed into a massive factory. Factories stood tall across the planet, tirelessly stockpiling various high-performance alloys for Liu Hai.
"But should I really use these high-energy alloys?"
Originally, the plan was to maintain a façade of fourth-tier technology while hiding fifth-tier capabilities, with sixth-tier as the ultimate reserve. Yet, when faced with this decision, Liu Hai hesitated once more.
If neutron armor was already being manufactured, why bother with ordinary high-energy alloys? Why not jump straight to materials based on the four fundamental forces? After all, anything made now might soon become obsolete.
Indecision and hesitation—Liu Hai's old habits were flaring up again. With no one around to offer guidance, he remained stuck in deliberation for a long time. It wasn't until his fingers mindlessly swiped through a product catalog that he snapped out of it.
Slap!
He smacked himself across the face.
"Intelligent Nexus, commence production of the Angel-series warship armament."
The Angel-series was a synthesis of technologies from several fourth-tier and fifth-tier civilizations, integrated by the Intelligent Nexus. In truth, the Angel-series was based on fifth-tier warship technology stored in the database. The reason for choosing it? Its aesthetic appeal—its design resembled that of a true angel.
Unlike conventional elongated warships, the Angel-series stood vertically. As the warship's tier increased, its overall shape remained largely unchanged, only growing more visually harmonious. The only notable difference was the increasing number of wings—from a single pair on corvettes to five pairs on battleships, and even six pairs on fortress-class vessels.
These wings were the crystallization of this civilization's technology. Though shaped like wings, they were actually multifunctional devices capable of energy convergence, amplification, and containment. The gathered energy could also enhance onboard weaponry, energy shields, space warps, and other applications.
Without those wings, the Angel-series warships would lose half their combat effectiveness.
Beyond their beauty, Liu Hai's primary reason for choosing them was that they originated from a humanoid civilization—one whose aesthetics, physique, and lifestyle closely aligned with those of the Federal humans. This allowed for straightforward appropriation without the need for time-consuming adaptation or integration into their own technological framework.
Even if Federal Pioneers spotted these ships, it wouldn't matter. Given the ideological similarities, others would simply assume Liu Hai had developed a unique series himself, avoiding any concerns about alien origins.
Within fifth-tier civilizations, the Angel-series wasn't exceptional—its strength lay in its technological integration. Without the wing enhancements, its baseline performance would rank near the bottom among fifth-tier standards.
Thus, Liu Hai instructed the Intelligent Nexus to replace many components and construction materials, elevating the Angel-series to the pinnacle of fifth-tier technology.
However, since the Intelligent Nexus lacked true research capabilities, its optimizations were limited to computational matching—swapping in the most compatible existing equipment. As a result, the warships' overall coordination suffered slightly, somewhat diminishing their combat potential.
Currently, what's being manufactured isn't fifth-level warships, but scaled-down fourth-level versions intended for the Clone Legion. As for fifth-level ones, there simply aren't enough resources to build them yet—even these will take several years to complete. When we say production has begun, it's only for Corvettes to serve as stopgap measures.
Thinking of this, Liu Hai quickly reviewed his planned Biological Factory.
Previously, he'd allocated thirty thousand Clone Soldiers for crew training. After reviewing the data, he confirmed production had begun following the factory's upgrade, with all personnel still submerged in cultivation tanks, their minds immersed in virtual training. They'd require another two months before deployment.
Crew cultivation took several months longer than ground forces due to more extensive training requirements and stricter subconscious conditioning—this ensured they'd be combat-ready immediately upon deployment.
"Thirty thousand should meet a fleet's minimum requirements, but it's still insufficient. We'll need to cultivate more reserves."
Liu Hai carefully considered potential future combat scenarios. With the Hera Star System's deteriorating situation, friction between the Katon Civilization and the Federation would escalate, likely affecting the latter half of the Third Spiral Arm. Having sufficient military strength within a short timeframe was imperative.
"Construct three more Biological Factories. Cultivate fifty thousand ground force clones and fifty thousand crew members. Management teams and research personnel cultivation mustn't be neglected either."
"While cultivating crew, we'll incorporate administrators and researchers into the program—especially researchers. We'll need at least a hundred thousand baseline, otherwise assimilating all this technology into our own systems would take forever."
Liu Hai refined his plans meticulously, accounting for numerous risks. Admittedly, his biologically enhanced mind proved remarkably efficient—previously, he'd never have considered such granular details, at best vaguely recognizing the need for contingencies while leaving specifics to his staff.
With enhanced cognitive function and mental agility, Liu Hai's thoughts grew increasingly lucid, allowing him to psychologically prepare for potential developments within the next decade. While events remained uncontrollable, managing his own responses sufficed.
Upon completion, even Liu Hai marveled at his mind's newfound capabilities. Though wisdom hadn't increased significantly, his intellect had ascended an entire tier—from academic struggler to top performer. As for becoming a true prodigy, that required more than mere intelligence, making comparisons pointless.
Having addressed development issues, Liu Hai turned his attention to Li Yali's progress over the past six months.
Thanks to Seed Ship construction and factory establishment, Li Yali's team now possessed vast quantities of detection equipment, enabling comprehensive coverage of the Pisces Star Region—to the point where even a single meteoroid would trigger alerts from three detectors. However, personnel shortages meant relying solely on AI control created significant vulnerabilities despite the equipment surplus.
This issue could be resolved within a year—a minor concern. Another matter, however, troubled Liu Hai considerably.
At the Pisces Star Region's opposite edge, Li Yali had detected stellar emissions suggesting a system less than five hundred light-years away. She proposed an exploratory mission to assess potential opportunities.
It wasn't that Liu Hai didn't want her to go, but rather that he didn't dare let her go at this stage. Sending an exploration vessel would be one thing, but going in person would be far too dangerous.
Yet somehow, this girl was determined to go herself, insisting that she had a strong feeling there might be great rewards waiting there—an intuition so intense she couldn't ignore it.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!