Cactus Sister smiled and tossed a data sphere to Liu Hai, explaining, "This contains her image. You should have seen her before."
"Queen Mother of the West?!" After accessing the data, Liu Hai grew even more puzzled. Why would the Queen Mother of the West introduce Cactus Sister to him? Given his current limited combat strength, he was practically insignificant to the Katon Civilization and couldn't possibly offer them any meaningful help.
"We sought you out because she mentioned you possess a warship system superior to the Federation's standard models. We'd like to purchase a batch—roughly three Legions' worth."
"Sister, you're overestimating me!" Liu Hai nearly cried upon hearing this. Three Legions of Angel-series warships? Did they think he was some kind of magic cat that could just wave a replication gun and produce them out of thin air?
"It's true that I have warships slightly better than the Federation's active-duty models, but my production capacity can't even meet my own needs! How could I possibly supply three Legions for you?"
Cactus Sister's smile remained unchanged, her tone still gentle. "No need to rush. We're not asking you to deliver them immediately."
"A Civilization War will likely last at least a century. Ending it within five hundred years would already be fortunate."
"Within the Zhou Tian star system, the Federation and the Sangluo people fought for nearly a millennium. At its worst, they even nearly lost a Lord. Yet, the Federation remains prosperous and peaceful today."
"So we're merely placing an order. As for delivery timelines and quantities, they'll naturally be staggered in batches."
"Additionally, considering you likely lack the resources and manpower to scale up production right now, we plan to conquer the latter half of the Fourth Spiral Arm and gift it to you—partly to offset the financial gap."
"Huh? The latter half of the Fourth Spiral Arm? You're advancing into the Fourth Spiral Arm?"
Liu Hai sucked in a sharp breath.
The Fourth Spiral Arm was largely under the Katon Civilization's control. For them to offer it to him meant they intended to seize it first.
The woman standing slightly behind Cactus Sister proudly tapped the Exoskeleton Armor she was wearing and said, "They've held the Fourth Spiral Arm for far too long, and resource surveys are mostly complete. We can't intervene in the central warzone, but the Fourth Spiral Arm? That's nothing..."
Liu Hai understood her meaning, but he remained skeptical about launching an offensive on the Fourth Spiral Arm now.
After all, the enemy had entrenched themselves there for years. The central conflict had only just begun, and both sides were at peak strength. Starting a new front now didn't seem like an ideal strategic move.
Noticing Liu Hai's confusion, Cactus Sister didn't elaborate further. Instead, she sweetened the deal: "We'll provide you with 500,000 elite personnel from various industries, along with 5,000 medium-to-large transport ships. With these, I believe your production capacity will skyrocket in no time."
Hiss!
This was an absolutely massive investment!
Liu Hai finally grasped the situation—and was stunned by Cactus Sister's determination. With such vast human and logistical resources at his disposal, his production capacity could indeed surge to unprecedented levels in a short time.
Large shipyards could simultaneously initiate dozens of projects, with thousands of medium and large transport ships ensuring no shortage of production resources. Sufficient manpower also accelerated construction speed, eliminating the need to delegate most tasks entirely to the Intelligent Nexus. The reclaimed computational power further expedited the development of the Gemini Starfield.
With three Legion troop orders, if the specifications of the Angel Series were slightly downgraded and the production of Seed Ships minimized, it might indeed be possible to fulfill them within decades.
"You can take your time to consider this order. There's no rush—delivery can be made anytime within the next century," Cactus Sister said before ending the communication projection after a brief exchange.
Seated in the command chair of the Control Room, Liu Hai pondered for a long time before finally deciding to accept the order. However, he made no guarantees of full completion, only promising to supply as many warships as possible.
Cactus Sister agreed to Liu Hai's terms and mentioned that a fleet of transport ships would soon be delivered to him. She also reminded him that this was an opportunity to take control of the latter half of the Third Spiral Arm's star systems.
After signing the contract, Liu Hai adjusted the production plans for the Gemini Starfield, distributing his expansion blueprints. Over a hundred thousand Clone Soldiers immediately sprang into action.
Researchers, who had already made significant progress, surprised Liu Hai in no time: the schematics for a weakened Angel Frigate, with about 30% reduced capabilities, were successfully developed.
The downgraded equipment drastically lowered manufacturing difficulty, and parts that previously required Seed Ships for production could now be churned out in bulk within a single day.
With the success of the Angel Frigate, the difficulty of deriving subsequent Destroyers, Cruisers, and Battleships also decreased significantly. The upgraded Space Dock in the Brolly Star System could now attempt mass production of the downgraded frigates.
Moreover, whether through Cactus Sister's connections or not, the Third Logistics Company tripled its resource shipments to Liu Hai, causing the Brolly Star System's reserves to grow daily.
After three months of planning, a comprehensive industrial chain upgrade was finalized. Meanwhile, Li Yali led fleets to establish agricultural and industrial bases across the rear of the Third Spiral Arm. Factories rose in various star systems, and equipment manufacturing took off at full speed.
The backlog of over a decade's worth of production orders saw continuously shrinking delivery timelines under this development momentum. Informed Pioneers of the Third Spiral Arm even voluntarily intercepted Katon Fleet incursions into the rear sectors to prevent disruptions to Liu Hai's production.
Many Pioneers expressed hopes for Liu Hai to transform the Third Spiral Arm into an industrial hub, continuously supplying frontline armaments while they handled security themselves.
Numerous Pioneers also allocated portions of their transport capacity to Liu Hai without ever mentioning compensation.
Unnoticed, Liu Hai had transitioned from a uniquely gifted Pioneer to a rear-sector overseer. The majority of Pioneers explicitly stated they preferred him focused solely on production—they would handle everything else.
The changes among the Pioneers of the Third Spiral Arm could not be concealed. After encountering fierce resistance from any Katon Fleet attempting to bypass and enter the latter half of the sector, the Katon Fleet in the Third Spiral Arm grew increasingly eager to investigate what was happening in the rear. What were the Pioneers doing back there that required such a constant stream of transport ships shuttling back and forth?
The two sides, already locked in relentless conflict, reignited their battles in the Third Spiral Arm. Both spared no effort in pursuing what they believed to be the right course of action, yet no one ever stopped to ask the crucial question—whether Liu Hai truly needed things to be this way.
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