160: Another routine meeting

The night in Tianqiong City was deep like water, the glow of the neon lights obscured by heavy clouds, and the entire city seemed to have fallen into a quiet sleep.

Tonight was a special day; according to the standard calendar of the Faleim Scientific Conglomerate, today was the Central Council's weekly routine meeting.

Lei Wen glanced at the atomic clock on the wall; he had plenty of time. He straightened his collar and stepped onto the circular platform located in the center of the command room.

"white flower, activate the High-Dimensional Quantum Entanglement Holographic Communication Device."

"Command confirmed. Establishing connection... Synchronization rate 100%."

As a soft, deep blue light curtain rose from his feet, the cold metal walls and flashing server indicator lights instantly vanished, replaced by the Faleim Central Council's top-floor conference hall, a place Lei Wen was intimately familiar with, filled with futuristic geometric aesthetics and solemnity.

A massive oval conference table floated in mid-air. Below lay the dazzling, prosperous night view of the Falem Homeworld, where countless streams of light formed by anti-gravity vehicles weaved between colossal buildings hundreds of kilometers tall, resembling a flowing galaxy.

Lei Wen realized he had arrived quite early.

Most of the twelve floating seats, which represented the highest authority in their respective domains, were still empty. Only the familiar figure in the principal seat to his right was already sitting ramrod straight.

Consul Price.

The leader who commanded the entire Faleim Civilization was looking down at the holographic data pad in front of him. Hearing the movement beside him, he immediately looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his deep blue eyes. He quickly stood up and performed an impeccable chest salute toward Lei Wen.

"Greetings to you, Great Guide." Price's voice was steady and respectful. "You are early today."

"Sit down, Price. It's not time for the meeting yet, no need to be so formal." Lei Wen waved his hand and comfortably leaned back in the principal seat, which symbolized supreme status.

Watching Price sit down again, Lei Wen did not remain silent waiting for the meeting to start, as he usually did. Instead, he slightly turned sideways, a faint smile on his face.

"Before the others arrive, I want to discuss something private with you." Lei Wen lowered his voice, speaking like he was chatting with an old friend. "It's about a scientist from Earth."

Price paused slightly, then reacted: "Are you referring to the human female named Ilya von Klein? You mentioned her to Zeral and me before. Zeral even praised her as a rare genius among primitive civilizations, believing her thought process is very close to that of the Faleim People."

"Exactly, her." Lei Wen nodded. "She recently overcame the final hurdle for the Warp Engine. As a reward, I promised to give her a ship—a Research and Exploration Vessel entirely designed by her, integrating Faleim technology and human concepts."

Lei Wen paused, asking tentatively, "I know your shipyards are heavily tasked right now. Would it be too much trouble to queue up the construction of such a non-standard, specialized spacecraft?"

Hearing Lei Wen's concerns, a slightly dismissive smile appeared on Price's serious face.

"The Guide, you worry too much." Price said dismissively. "For the current Faleim industrial system, building a research vessel, even one packed with technology based on that human genius's wildest ideas, is merely a trivial matter."

He extended a finger and swiped the air in front of him, bringing up the real-time status map of the homeworld system's giant shipyard.

"Our giant shipyards have two hundred Capital Ship Berths and one thousand Screen Ship Berths. As long as she can provide detailed performance specifications and design blueprints, no matter how fanciful her design is—as long as it adheres to basic physical laws—I can have the engineering department roll it off the assembly line within ten Standard Days."

"Ten days?" Lei Wen raised an eyebrow. "Including internal outfitting and system debugging?"

"Including that." Price nodded confidently. "If she doesn't require highly personalized artistic interiors, we can even compress it to seven days. Our nano-construction technology and modular assembly processes are sufficient to guarantee construction accuracy and speed at the atomic level. This is truly child's play for us."

Lei Wen couldn't help but laugh.

He had almost forgotten that the Faleim Civilization was a super-civilization capable of building Stellar Marvels like Dyson Spheres and Ringworlds. What would take Earthlings years and the entire strength of a nation to build—a super dreadnought—was probably just a slightly refined, oversized toy in the eyes of the Faleim People.

"That's good." Lei Wen patted the armrest contentedly. "I will send you Dr. Ilya's finalized blueprints later. Although it's a gift for humanity, I hope this ship represents the highest standard of Faleim shipbuilding craftsmanship."

"As you wish, it will be perfect." Price solemnly promised.

Just as the two of them finalized the details of this "small gift," the entrance to the conference hall flashed with light.

Councilor Talon, in charge of the military; Zeral, in charge of research; Cridel, in charge of industry; and councilors from other departments successively teleported into the room.

When they saw Lei Wen already seated in the principal chair, everyone looked anxious and hurried to their respective positions, uniformly saluting him in respect.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let's begin." Lei Wen shed the casualness of their earlier chat, his gaze turning authoritative. "Price, report on the progress made during this period."

"Yes."

Price stood up, lightly tapped the table, and a grand holographic Star Map slowly unfolded in the center of the hall.

"In the past quarter, our pioneering efforts have achieved substantial progress." Price's voice echoed in the spacious hall. "Our fleet of Engineering Vessels has completed the construction of Stellar Bases in three new star systems and extended our Resource Gathering Network across this region."

Following his gesture, several light points on the edge of the Star Map were magnified.

"Notably, during the expansion into the M-44 Star Sector, our scout ships made first contact with the effective control boundary of the Iofer Federation."

On the Star Map, the green Faleim territory and the dark red iofer territory gently touched near a remote nebula.

"However," a smile touched Price's lips, "the other side seems completely unaware of our presence. The garrison fleet in that border system had long been withdrawn, leaving only a few automated defense platforms. Clearly, the internal chaos within the Iofer Federation means they have no time to pay attention to such a minor change on the border."

"Councilor Talon has ordered the deployment of Stealth Reconnaissance Buoys in that area and has suspended further expansion in that direction, so as not to cause unnecessary alarm before the time is right."

"Furthermore," Price continued, "regarding the Civilization Expansion Plan, the Central Council, after careful discussion, recommends temporarily halting the establishment of new colonies for the next fifty years and instead entering a phase of internal consolidation and stabilization."

"The reason?" Lei Wen asked.

"Population." Price uttered this word, which is incredibly heavy for any high-level civilization.

He brought up a set of demographic statistics charts.

"During these years of frantic expansion, we were fortunate enough to find eight habitable planets with varying environments in newly discovered star systems. This is tremendous good news, but it also brings the trouble of happiness."

"To populate these new worlds, we had to conduct large-scale migration from the homeworld system. Although the basic infrastructure on these eight colony planets is complete, the population density remains frighteningly low. Many cities only have the bare minimum population required to maintain basic operations."

"As long-lived species, the Faleim People naturally have extremely low birth rates." Price sighed. "And our social culture... as you know, although we are extreme materialists, when it comes to procreation, our populace has a deep-seated rejection of artificial wombs and mass cloning technology, viewing it as a desecration of self-consciousness and independence."

Lei Wen listened silently. This was the "affluent sickness" encountered by many high-level civilizations in the stellar universe.

Advanced technology, long lifespans, superior living standards—but a refusal to have children.

"Although our total population is currently growing slowly, it is far outpaced by the speed of territorial expansion." Price summarized. "If we continue to expand blindly, we will face severe administrative vacuums and technical labor shortages. We cannot rely entirely on AI and intelligent robots."

"Therefore, we have decided to suspend expansion and use these next few years to encourage childbirth and optimize automated production lines. For now, we will use robots to fill the labor gap, allowing human resources to concentrate on core areas like research and management."

"A very reasonable judgment." Lei Wen agreed. "Territory is not the goal; effective control is. Since you've overextended, take some time to consolidate. There's no need to rush."

In a universe without Hyperspace Lane restrictions, the Faleim People's expansion potential is virtually limitless, so there is indeed no need to frantically seize territory.

After resolving the internal development issues, the meeting agenda shifted to external affairs.

"Regarding our two neighbors," the councilor in charge of foreign intelligence stood up and brought up the latest real-time intelligence transmitted by the sentry surveillance array. "The situation is evolving exactly as we anticipated."

First up was the Iofer Federation.

That once unified dark red territory still looked immense, but its interior was now dotted with spots representing conflict and unrest.

"The Iofer Federation's civil war is ongoing, but the intensity has clearly decreased." The intelligence councilor analyzed. "Since Barlena established her new capital at the Eye of the Abyss, she has successfully crushed the three largest opposition warlords, relying on the main fleet she brought back from the Angel front and her iron fist methods."

On the screen, several iofer fleets were conducting brutal orbital bombardment on a rebellious planet, with fire raging across the surface.

"Currently, the situation in the federal core regions is largely under her control. Although there are still sporadic rebellions in the fringe systems, according to our supercomputer projections, Barlena's complete integration of the entire Federation is only a matter of time."

"This woman certainly has some tricks up her sleeve." Talon snorted. "To achieve this much after losing their homeworld and administrative center... if the Iofer Federation were comparable in size to us, she would be considered a serious opponent."

"But that's all she is." Zeral added. "Technologically, they are still stagnant. Although they are attempting to reverse-engineer the traces of destruction we left behind at the Gate of Hell, given their theoretical foundation, they won't discover anything except scaring themselves senseless."

Following this, the screen switched to the Angel Empire in the Perseus Arm.

Compared to the bloody consolidation in the Iofer Federation, the situation in the Angel Empire appeared more subtle and suppressed.

The golden territory seemed to be regaining vitality. Destroyed space lanes were reconnected, and trade vessels shuttled between star systems, as if they had already emerged from the shadow of war.

"With our assistance, the Angel Empire has restored basic order," the intelligence councilor stated. "Prime Minister Amira Radiance successfully suppressed separatist forces everywhere using our administrative AI and technical aid, re-establishing the authority of the central government."

"But this is only superficial."

He magnified a social structure analysis chart of Cradle Star.

"Although Losanda is dead and the new government has implemented New Doctrines, the deep-rooted idealist traditions and class conflicts within the Angel Empire have not vanished; they have merely been forcibly suppressed."

"While Amira has boldness, her foundation is too shallow, and she relies too heavily on our technology. Currently, intense internal conflicts are brewing between the empire's old nobility, the remaining fanatics, and the newly emerging technocrats."

"She wants to implement deeper reforms, such as completely abolishing aristocratic privilege and achieving total secularization... but every step has met with enormous resistance."

"Therefore," the intelligence councilor concluded, "the current Angel Empire is like a giant sitting on a powder keg. Although it appears to be standing, it could collapse again at any moment due to internal sparks. Amira is temporarily unable to carry out more drastic reforms. She needs time, and she needs more support from us to maintain this fragile balance."

"Then let's continue to maintain the status quo." Lei Wen said after a moment of thought.

"We don't need an overly powerful Angel Empire, nor do we want it to collapse completely. The current state is just right. A compliant but crisis-ridden proxy best serves our interests."

"Have Major General Trier continue monitoring the situation. Give Amira a little incentive when necessary to help her stabilize the situation, but don't help her solve all her problems."

"Yes, the guide."

The meeting drew to a close in an efficient and cold atmosphere.

The communication was cut, and the light curtain dissipated.

Lei Wen returned to the underground command room.

He sat in his chair, remaining silent for a long time, before a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Ten days..."

He thought of Ilya's small face, which would soon be contorted with excitement.

"I hope this ship can take you far enough."