Months later, the Human Federation’s counter-offensive was in full swing.
During these months, ‘Solar Star’ personally presided over the command department. A temporary communication system, established through his own transcendent sensory powers, provided powerful support for the military operation.
Lacking coordination, the enemy forces were like scattered sand. They were quickly carved into thousands of small-scale battlefields, while the Federation’s various divisions performed their duties with precision, successfully seizing the initiative.
“To be honest, I don’t quite understand why they would choose to attack under these circumstances,” Varianne said. “They must know this is suicide. Even setting aside your communication system, the sheer scale of space itself is enough to ensure they perish in a long, aimless drift.”
“Because they know that stalling is useless,” Lei Ting replied.
He stood up from his desk. Blue light filtered in from the porthole, tracing a cold, sharp silhouette beside him.
“Continue,” he said. “By persisting with our military operations, we will inevitably trigger a total war ahead of schedule. But before it truly begins, we must secure a local victory within the Orion Arm.”
“Understood,” Varianne, Susanna, and the others replied, bowing their heads in unison.
For a long time thereafter, the Human Federation remained at war.
In the first year, 4008 AD, Lei Ting was twenty-seven; the Federation’s external war began.
In the second year, 4009 AD, Lei Ting was twenty-eight; the war raged like a wildfire.
In the third year, 4010 AD, Lei Ting was twenty-nine; the Federation secured its initial path to victory...
The reason it progressed so slowly was that, over these three years, he had only displayed his strategic guidance and tactical command abilities. During this time, he almost never personally intervened in his capacity as ‘Solar Star.’ Even when he occasionally visited the front lines, he would adopt a different identity and appearance during lulls in his duties, inspecting his troops from the perspective of an ordinary soldier.
During this period of what could be called 'military tempering,' the galaxy descended into utter chaos.
By the fourth year, 4011 AD, a notification from the ‘Recorders’ informed almost everyone in the know...
“...The total war has begun, Your Excellency the Speaker,” Susanna said softly. She was calm now, her entire being radiating a sort of 'ethereal exhaustion' brought on by excessive overtime.
“It never truly ended.” Lei Ting, who had also endured three years of a '007' work schedule, rubbed his brow—an act made easier by the absence of his visor.
At this point, he no longer wasted energy trying to correct a title he hadn't been able to fix in years.
Strictly speaking, he was only the Federation’s ‘Acting Speaker’ rather than the actual ‘Speaker.’ However, these past few years had perfectly proven that just as people habitually omit the ‘Vice’ when the principal is absent, when an acting official is constantly in the public eye and bringing visible benefits, they become the true master of the position.
Though this master had not told anyone that in the distant reaches of the galaxy, a massive fungal entity was preparing to descend upon them all. After all... telling them would be useless.
Furthermore, he didn't actually care much about that 'Great Mushroom.' This time, he had specifically diverted a large amount of attention to monitor its movements. As it drew closer, he could sense that its body contained a vast amount of metallic elements.
Thus, given the current allowance of his energy reserves, he had no reason to worry about his ability to kill it.
Reason told him there was no need to rush; after all, it was an excellent pressure cooker. As long as it continued to approach the Milky Way, the AI converted by the ‘Star’ civilization would eventually be forced out of their hiding places.
Any movement could be countered; any appearance could be struck.
He needed the enemy to take the initiative to 'move.'
“Vice Speaker Yongdai’er’s workload over these past few years has been truly immense... the daily operations of the entire Federation rely on his presiding,” Varianne remarked. “Speaking of which, where is Angye?”
“No need to worry,” Lei Ting recalled the expression on that old fox Yongdai’er’s face the last few times they met. “Yongdai’er is working quite happily. He said he’s full of drive and might even postpone his retirement.”
“It seems power truly is the secret to eternal youth,” Varianne quipped. “He’s been shouting about retirement for ten years now.”
Everyone else in the room pretended not to hear her.
In recent years, internal pressure within the Federation had been mounting. All resources were being tilted toward the research and development of new technologies in two fields: ‘Hyperspace’ and ‘Gene Editing.’
People’s living standards were no longer as universally affluent as they had been years ago, when resources could be wasted at will. Common entertainment had drastically decreased due to the disappearance of the Starweb, leading to a significant rise in social conflict.
The meaning and quantity of works created by artists began to decline; visions of fantasy and progress grew scarce, replaced by increasing themes of pathos and pain.
Yet, simultaneously, the number of excellent works worthy of historical remembrance began to rise.
The economic recession, the ongoing war, the deaths of others, the breeding of pressure... starting from the moment everyone faced the sudden possibility of losing contact with distant friends and family, the crushing weight of the era over these brief yet long four years was so comprehensive that what was once thought to be a momentary sting became a lifelong scar for too many.
“Fight...” *Let them fight.*
A restless, melancholic atmosphere burned throughout Orion’s human society. Under the dual efforts of the propaganda and education departments, in a world no longer beautiful enough for most to close their eyes and enjoy, more and more people chose to enlist.
And this time, the reorganized military, whose combat power had reached maturity, perfectly accommodated these hot-blooded youths, transforming them into seasoned warriors with terrifying efficiency.
On April 1, 4011 AD, the Third Galactic Great War broke out—more than 50% of the interstellar civilizations in the galaxy were engaged in war, which was the criterion for ‘Total War.’
Because the war had reached this stage and the chaos had developed to this point, no one could stop it anymore.
Thereafter, for reasons such as forced marches, eliminating threats, or obtaining nearby supplies, a large number of non-combatant civilizations were attacked by participating ones and forced into the conflict.
It had only been four or five years; the old star maps were still useful. No one could remain completely isolated. Silent submission would only invite a heavier blow.
In 4012, the war continued. On a day when Lei Ting was simultaneously 'commanding the front-line battlefield' and 'directing the drone fleet to strike the Xenobeast Research Institute,' he quietly entered his thirtieth year—the age of 'standing firm.'
Of course, to the people of Orion, he was still just a young man.
By 4015, the flames of war had ignited four-fifths of the galaxy. Even the space pirates in the Barren Sectors began to feel trepidation—under such circumstances, whether they would suddenly be pummeled while disguised as merchant fleets passing near a civilization’s borders depended entirely on the other party’s moral bottom line.
The Ring World was still at war. Angye believed another force was stirring up a school of thought that opposed the Collective’s centuries-long ‘pig-farming’ behavior.
To this, Angye was dismissive: he could see that the Collective’s purpose truly was just to take care of everyone as much as possible and try to keep the situation peaceful, and it certainly wasn't because of so-called ‘pig-farming.’ Of course, such an act of simply doing good was, in his eyes, foolish to an extreme degree.
Lei Ting, meanwhile, showed no emotional fluctuation regarding this: he had no emotional fluctuations to begin with.
In 4018 AD, the Human Federation of the Orion Arm was forged into an iron fortress. The people were safe, but the continued diversion of resources and the decision to prioritize military strength meant that the quality of life could only be maintained at a limit that was not quite rock bottom.
The themes of artists' works had descended to the lowest depths, yet a large number of timeless classics were produced.
In terms of sensibility, Lei Ting did not think this was a good thing. In terms of rationality...
He didn't care.
...
In 4021 AD, thirteen years had passed.
Lei Ting was now thirty-nine years old.
With his assistance, a new network had successfully covered the entire territory of the Federation, though the issue of public network latency remained unresolved. Most people could only engage in normal communication and entertainment within a local area network spanning a single star system.
But it didn't matter; there were far fewer people thinking about entertainment these days than there had been thirteen years ago.
Furthermore, although there were always people opposing Lei Ting, in an interstellar society where the combat utility of an ordinary individual had been infinitely diminished, such opposition could not even form a meaningful wave.
Lei Ting had no intention of suppressing the dissenters, but he also had no intention of taking their opinions into consideration.
Three years ago, the Hyperspace Research Institute submitted its preliminary results report. Two years ago, the new gene-editing technology advanced to the clinical trial stage.
Having achieved local victory, the Human Federation seemed to be living in peace in its corner of the Orion Arm.
But Lei Ting knew that during this process, almost every year, large quantities of ‘Ascension’ and ‘Ebullition’ viruses were being dropped into Federation space through various channels. Even at this very moment, over twenty billion medical personnel were monitoring virus trends on various planets and eradicating them.
The communication between these people could not be perfectly managed by the Federation’s own network. Just like the military, which now numbered over sixty billion, all these communication links were still built upon Lei Ting’s psychic network.
Fortunately, he only needed to set the induction methods between different metal implements in batches; he didn't need to process every piece of information through his mind and deliver it personally. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have lasted this long...
There were over eight billion federal investigators tracing the delivery routes—a number that could have filled the entire Earth in the twenty-first century. Leading them was ‘He Yan,’ who had crossed paths with Lei Ting years ago.
She was now the Chief of the Federation’s Police Department, and her adopted daughter, Hana, served in the First Legion. She had grown into a...
...formidable powerhouse.
“You stupid [BEEP]! You [BEEP] messed up again!!” In a distant artillery battery of the First Legion, Hana’s voice fell clearly into Lei Ting’s perception—she was currently berating a dim-witted subordinate.
Lei Ting shook his head.
“What is it?” Susanna asked, alert.
“Nothing,” Lei Ting said. He stood up, his mental strength ‘watching’ something in the far reaches of deep space that was approaching the edge of the Federation. He clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s gaze to him—he, whose appearance had not changed at all in thirteen years. “I smell the scent of strife...
“Some suicidal fools have come knocking. Go and give them a head-on blow. Also, pay attention to clearing out the Abominations. If you lock onto the location of any Starry Sky Behemoths, don't forget to report it to me immediately.”
