Luna quickly returned to Reddyham.
She hadn't paid attention to Reddyham's expansion for quite some time. This time, upon returning from Sheltondine, observing Reddyham from outside the star system, she perceived its scale to be several times larger than when she last returned from Cosmic Peak.
This growth wasn't limited to the factory sector; the size of other industries reflected similar massive expansion.
Although the market capitalization of the Supernova Technology Corporation had remained stagnant for an extended period, its operational scale had never ceased expanding.
More of the Energy Credits originally held in hand were now being systematically converted into these tangible physical industries.
However, Luna calculated the situation soberly.
It was still insufficient.
To sustain her plan, the scale here needed to increase by another two hundred percent (3x), and a factory needed to be established at the main headquarters as well.
Reddyham was situated over 50 light-years from the headquarters. Once a manufacturing plant was operational there, there would be no necessity to transport ships built here across thousands of light-years.
Despite how advanced super-symmetric matter displacement technology had become, it still couldn't entirely override physical limitations to achieve 100% integrity during transportation, and the transit itself caused costs to skyrocket.
"All of this must be achieved within 5000 years."
The Blink quickly navigated back to the factory complex.
Duston was already prepared to welcome her.
A contingent of personnel waited at the spaceport. After Luna disembarked, a welcoming banquet was laid out.
This was not a display of elaborate etiquette or formality.
Duston's presence here was also a crucial opportunity to report on the progress of its assigned work. After all, ship-to-ship communication couldn't convey detailed nuance. Reporting the work in person now would save significant time.
Luna had initially assumed Duston would present her with a stack of physical documentation.
She did not anticipate Duston's very first utterance to be:
"Madam, please transfer immediately to the Ghost warship."
"It is prepared there."
This truly treated her like an indispensable workhorse.
Immediately upon returning, she was expected to jump straight back into labor.
But who was to blame for her inherently demanding destiny?
Luna complied with Duston's arrangements and rode the hovercar toward the Ghost.
The massive warship appeared visually identical to how it looked from afar earlier.
If one scrutinized the nearly translucent warship closely, it resembled looking at a large piece of rock. Only upon physically touching its hull could one perceive a cold sensation, akin to making contact with a metallic plate.
Within that contact lay a subtle translucency.
Not visual transparency, but tactile permeability.
With just a fraction more pressure, it felt as though even a single finger could be pressed through the hull material.
This was not an illusion; it was demonstrable reality.
Luna approached the immense Ghost. It lacked any tall boarding ramps; there was simply a vast aperture situated near the warship's base. They needed only to fly into this large opening to access the vessel's interior.
Although Luna was intimately familiar with every system here, officially entering after its completion still imparted a distinct sensation.
This constituted a vast, level, floor space—flat because the warship itself maintained an extremely low profile.
The volume measured approximately 7 million square meters, allocated for storing small fighters and supplementary supplies.
The height here was only 90 meters, as the upper decks housed soldier living quarters and crucial activity zones.
The Ghost warship would not house an extensive complement of soldiers, since it was not designed for large-scale landing combat; its primary function leaned toward reconnaissance, suited for light engagement roles.
The entire warship's full authorized complement totaled 1200 personnel, fewer than some standard escort vessels.
They traversed directly from this lower deck level up to the upper living quarters. Modern warship design eschewed cumbersome systems like elevators; those were considered overly cumbersome. Elevators implied spatial restriction, hindering immediate deployment during emergencies.
The most common adage among soldiers echoed this sentiment: "If I spot an elevator on the battlefield, I might as well just accept my death!"
Only from the living quarters could one access the cockpit.
The cockpit and the bridge were fundamentally different structures. Bridges typically encompassed the cockpit, but the cockpit itself was not the bridge.
Bridges were generally reserved for large capital warships, as these vessels needed the capacity to function as flagships.
Smaller warships, conversely, had evolved into standardized, self-sufficient combat units.
Gazing outward from this cockpit, one could achieve a nearly 360-degree, unobstructed view, largely because this area was also constructed of transparent material.
However, it was not completely transparent at this specific moment.
The fully transparent state was also known as the evasion state, which allowed the ship to isolate itself from the influence of any of the four fundamental forces.
This was not hyperbole.
It meant any force!
Technology was advancing rapidly.
Ah! Although baseline human Civilization could not advance its material evasion capabilities further, with Giotto and the novel technologies he introduced, Luna realized this unknown being had separated what was originally a unified technology into two distinct components.
At that time, after Giotto produced the first half of the technology, Luna stared at him silently for a very long time.
This realization represented both a positive and a negative outcome.
It implied that the Civilization originating from Giotto was significantly more potent than previously estimated.
They had achieved mastery beyond the control of the four fundamental forces.
The Federation, however, remained constrained by those very four fundamental forces.
As human Civilization confronted them, nearly all of human Civilization's currently deployed weaponry would become obsolete.
Luna could even foresee a scenario where their Civilization would utterly crush human Civilization.
This type of absolute defeat promised to be even more despair-inducing than their previous encounter with the Olive Branch Civilization.
"Initiate."
Luna commanded.
The sole inherent drawback of an evasion-type warship or vessel was its inability to host or operate a primary central server.
A main server required the four fundamental forces.
In evasion state, the four fundamental forces were completely isolated, and the main server had no computational capabilities. Furthermore, in evasion state, the warship itself couldn't perform maneuvers like turning; it could only maintain motion through inertia.
Inertial force was initially classified within fictitious forces.
Later, with the development of Federation technology, inertial force, along with spatial force and gravitational force, had some intermingling.
And then later, inertial force became independent again.
Even in the absence of the four fundamental forces, inertial force and inertial systems still existed.
Therefore, the operating method for an evasion-type warship was to first achieve acceleration in its normal state, then switch to evasion state for long-distance travel. During the evasion process, it would briefly revert to its normal state to observe its surroundings, then make course adjustments and use offensive weapons.
And all of this had to be done manually. The evasion-type warship only had a DataNode installed for primary calculations and some plan assistance.
Duston manually initiated the Ghost warship.
The quantum field engine in the rear activated.
Propelling the quantum field, it generated countless sudden energy fluctuations behind it. Utilizing these quantum field disturbances to create chaotic forces resulted in a reaction force, and the warship began to accelerate.
The only drawback of the quantum engine was its slow acceleration.
Acceleration was only 71 kilometers per second.
To accelerate to its fastest state meant the warship would only reach its maximum speed after 29 minutes.
Slow startup time was not an issue for other warships or ships.
But for evasion-type warships and ships, which needed to frequently decelerate and stop in space for ambushes, it was quite a disadvantage.
Fortunately, its final speed was fast, compensating for the weak acceleration. Otherwise, Luna would not have chosen the quantum field engine.
As the Ghost warship departed the Star Nation, its hull also began to camouflage itself with the surrounding space, making it difficult to detect by light.
"Madam, we are about to attempt to enter evasion state." Duston reported.
Luna nodded slightly.
A force surged from beneath her feet into her body, dissolving her body's structure.
From the outside, Luna appeared to fade, just like the warship itself.
But unlike the ship,
as a human, with the new technology, she could only switch between non-evasion and evasion states, unable to remain in an intermediate state.
So, eventually, Luna's body completely vanished, leaving no trace.
Duston also disappeared, as did the other soldiers who followed Luna onto the ship.
Their bodies all disappeared.
Finally, the DataNode activated the warship's evasion system, and the warship also slowly vanished.
After the evasion-capable warship completely disappeared, everyone inside the warship could not move. Or perhaps, even if they moved, they themselves wouldn't know it, because they couldn't sense anything.
As three-dimensional beings, relying on the four fundamental forces to sense, they completely lost all ability to acquire external information after losing the four fundamental forces.
So how did it stop?
This brings up the evasion state mechanism.
Normally, evasion-capable materials are evasion-type materials. In the old materials, the evasion-type materials provided by Giotto's technology could still interact with gravity to a certain extent.
That is to say, they could use gravity to exit the original state at any time, and could also use gravity to carry some gravity-only equipment on the White Dragon, and could also convert acquired optical information into gravity to let those inside the ship know the surrounding situation.
But the evasion state of the new evasion material could be said to be a timed state.
The evasion-type material was redesigned to be non-evasive in its normal state.
It would only become evasive after energy was input.
After the energy was used up, the evasion state would disappear, and then the warship and the people inside it would return.
It couldn't be said whether this new technology or the old technology was better or worse.
Because of the White Dragon's success, other star nations had long since designed detection technologies against it, so now the White Dragon's stealth was becoming increasingly difficult.
But the new void-class ship, and the current Ghost warship, utilizing new technology, could evade any observation methods. Its secrecy was higher.
The first experiment, the duration was less than half an hour.
Luna knew the warship's movement through its current position information.
This sensation was actually not intensely strong.
Duston seemed to sense that Luna was not entirely satisfied.
It spoke: "Madam, next we will traverse a star. The external monitoring equipment has been fully arranged. You will then be able to observe the warship's trajectory from the recorded footage transmitted by the monitoring equipment."
Isolating the four fundamental forces.
The most significant distinction between the new technology and the old technology was that the new technology didn't just need to penetrate small asteroids and planets; the new technology could allow warships and ships to directly penetrate the interior of stars.
Because when in evasion state, the warship could only move in a straight line, this particular capability was paramount.
Even if total stealth could be achieved, if the warship still arrived at its destination directly in front of the enemy, what practical use was that?
But the new void-class warship could penetrate stars, bypass the enemy's gravitational net, and arrive directly behind the enemy force for a surprise engagement.
Even if the enemy later became forewarned, this still effectively served to tie up a portion of their defensive forces. Void-class ships and warships could still achieve the effect of reducing the enemy's frontal combat capacity.
The most crucial and core function of an evasion-capable warship was precisely this.
It was not intended to be an invincible presence on the frontal battlefield.
Rather, it was meant to be a Ghost on the battlefield, making it profoundly difficult for the enemy to anticipate, plunging the enemy forces into fear, anxiety, and self-doubt.
These psychological factors were also deadly in actual combat; they could single-handedly determine the outcome of a war.
Similar to a standard competitive game—if your opponent activates an invisibility hack, how are you supposed to proceed?
"Commence."
Although Luna remained expressionless.
But this time, for her, it was still a completely novel experience.
Although a star was not the most terrifying entity in the cosmos, it was certainly a boss-level entity.
Human Civilization could destroy stars, and could utilize stars.
However, for Luna, genuinely traversing an entire star—treating a star as insignificant—was what truly constituted conquering such a celestial body.
Duston adjusted the warship's vector.
Once again, it entered evasion state.
At this precise moment,
in the distance,
the monitoring device was a cylindrical aircraft, 140 meters in length.
It was equivalent to a gigantic camera, capable of recording everything, not just optical information.
Therefore, monitoring devices were frequently deployed on battlefields.
However,
at this moment, after successfully recording the Ghost warship entering evasion state, the monitoring device completely lost all tracking of the Ghost warship.
"No fluctuations detected."
"No informational signature exists."
"Gravitational wave detection complete. No gravitational wave movement observed."
"It is too well concealed."
"Is this truly the Ghost?"
At this point, the operators inside the monitoring device exclaimed in awe.
This was still the only object they knew of that could successfully evade their specialized monitoring apparatus.
"Follow according to its predicted speed."
Although they could not visually observe the Ghost warship, they possessed the Ghost warship's telemetry data, allowing them to calculate its movement and thus anticipate the moment it would exit evasion state.
After approximately 7 days,
the Ghost warship finally reappeared.
On the opposite side of the star.
Luna, upon exiting the state, was unaware of the precise journey she had undertaken.
But she knew the maneuver had succeeded.
Her survival was the best proof.
Had it failed, the result would have been total ship destruction and loss of all crew.
"Madam, next we will test the weapon systems," Duston stated; being a machine, it possessed no emotions. It calmly continued its introduction.
The Ghost warship was equipped with weapon systems.
However, its weapon systems were not considered overwhelmingly powerful.
Due to stealth requirements, the Ghost warship needed to expend nearly all of its stored energy during its initial acceleration phase.
That energy was fundamentally electromagnetic force, which would negatively impact the warship's evasion efficiency.
Therefore, the weapons on the warship were typically either instant-recharge energy weapons or external energy-gathering weapons. The former could be fully recharged within 24 hours of exiting evasion state, usually being dark energy weapons that could replenish from ambient space energy at any time.
However, the density of dark energy was not very high, so instant-recharge energy weapons were usually relegated to use as automated point-defense cannons, not primary or secondary cannons.
The latter was even simpler in mechanism.
It directly attracted external energy, condensed it within the muzzle, and then fired.
It gathered not only dark energy but also light energy and gravitational energy. External energy-gathering weapons could condense a secondary cannon shot within 30 hours and a main cannon shot within 170 hours.
External energy-gathering weapons would subsequently become the primary offensive method for the Ghost warship, and would also be installed on void-class ships.
This capability was extremely critical.
What use was an ambush force if it was only armed with swords and knives?
The enemy would all be equipped with projectile firearms and even armored vehicles.
Whether void-class ships and warships were truly effective depended entirely upon these new types of weapons.
At this moment, Duston had issued the firing command.
In the distance, less than 1 AU away, several massive space targets began to materialize.
...
The evasion mode provided no direct sensory feedback.
Luna herself did not know what specific conditions she had passed through.
But the resulting firepower test was far more tangible.
The external energy-gathering main cannon had now adjusted its firing vector, aiming at the distant target.
The target was a rock plate, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter.
Hitting a 20-kilometer object over 100 million kilometers distant—equivalent to striking a 1-meter-diameter target 7,500 kilometers away—was inherently difficult because a laser possesses no capacity for mid-flight course correction; once fired, it cannot turn.
Fortunately, there was a DataNode installed on the warship.
The purpose of installing a DataNode was now evident.
The DataNode could, immediately after the warship exited evasion state, utilize the warship's self-generated power for a quick startup, then assist the warship's weapon systems in precise targeting and firing.
The main server could not perform this function.
The main server consumed far too much energy.
This difference was actually analogous to the distinction between a modern mobile phone and a desktop computer.
Consider a mobile phone and a computer outdoors. When power runs out, whether it's the convenience of connecting a power bank or the speed of subsequent replenishment, the phone holds the advantage.
Moreover, the phone's processing capability was not negligible, and it could efficiently execute the necessary, singular tasks required.
Especially when the utility was relatively focused on a specific function.
Serving that functional aspect would ultimately lead to success.
The main server was fundamentally unsuitable for evasion-type ships and warships.
After Duston completed the auxiliary targeting calibration, it issued the energy gathering command.
Without warning, the unexpected occurred!
The main cannon's energy accumulation lasted only one minute, then, with the entire warship vibrating violently, the main cannon completely shattered. Some components detached from the hull, flying off into deep space.
The Ghost warship itself also suffered immediate malfunctions.
Duston hastily began troubleshooting the fault points.
It was extremely anxious at this moment.
The boasts it had made earlier were now broken promises. This particular Ghost warship wasn't well-constructed, so how could Luna trust it with the fabrication of other void-class ships?
It continuously cleared diagnostic information.
Then it discovered…
The problem wasn't a device malfunction, but rather an external force.
"Madam, a penetration line has appeared across the warship. I hope you can come and examine it."
Luna walked over to Duston and viewed the warship's informational display it had brought up.
This was a virtual schematic of the Ghost warship. Any structural issue appearing on the actual Ghost warship would be instantly indicated on this model. It functioned perfectly and was highly intuitive.
But at this moment,
besides the annihilated main cannon, the entire warship exhibited several hundred other points of damage.
These damages miraculously formed a continuous, unbroken line.
"I'll go take a look!"
Luna's expression became solemn. She exited the cockpit and headed directly toward the damaged location.
She opened a hatch and entered the maintenance passage.
Inside the entire maintenance passage, numerous robots were already at work, both large and small. The largest were about the size of a small dog, while the smallest were virtually invisible to the naked eye.
Luna noticed these robots urgently repairing a single spot.
That spot was a hole approximately the size of a thumb.
Looking through the hole,
along a straight line, many other components also displayed perforations.
These holes formed a perfect straight line, indicative of penetration.
"We were targeted by an attack?" At this moment, some other factory engineers and soldiers also arrived, looking incredibly surprised to see the precise hole.
In their experience, only high-energy lasers could achieve this level of clean damage.
Luna carefully examined the cross-section of the hole. It was incredibly smooth, even reflecting the pores on her cheek.
"No, lasers carry immense kinetic energy and would inevitably disrupt the stability of the particles in the target they strike."
"But this hole shows none of that. The smoothness, I estimate, is at an atomic level."
In layman's terms, a laser impact would leave scorch marks and evidence of melting. The massive energy it carried would stimulate particle vibration, generating intense heat.
The higher the energy level of the laser, the greater the temperature spike generated upon impact.
Therefore, no matter how powerful the laser, it could never cut a material with mirror-like smoothness.
"Perhaps it's another type of weapon!?"
After all, weaponry was not strictly limited to laser technology.
But Luna genuinely couldn't conceive of what, other than a laser-type mechanism, could create such a clean penetrating aperture through a warship hull.
To put it plainly,
the destructive force of any weapon depended on the kinetic energy it generated.
If this were a physical projectile, to cause such precise cutting and penetration, its kinetic energy would need to be terrifyingly high, almost infinitely close to the speed of light.
Duston at this moment requested communication with Luna.
Luna connected the channel.
"What is it?"
Duston reported: "Madam, I have checked the logs. Before we entered evasion mode, the warship had sustained absolutely no damage."
"The damage appeared immediately after exiting evasion mode."
"Theoretically, the warship damage occurred while it was in its evasion state."
Something struck the warship while it was evading, isolated from the influence of the four fundamental forces.
Theoretically, whatever struck the warship existed beyond the purview of the four fundamental forces.
Hearing this, everyone present became tense.
Had they encountered some truly terrifying Civilization?
Luna carefully examined the hole again, then breathed a measured sigh of relief.
"Let's return."
"This time, we were unlucky."
"We must have grazed a black hole."
That's right.
A black hole.
This was Luna's immediate judgment.
A black hole located deep within the star. When the Ghost warship passed by, it just happened to intersect this black hole.
Because this black hole itself was exceedingly small, it failed to capture the warship. Instead, due to the warship's immense velocity, much like a wooden plank struck by a bullet traveling near light speed, a clean, circular hole was etched onto the plank.
"Are you suggesting this star might be a Hawking star?"
"Yes. Did you conduct any prior scans of this star?"
A Hawking star is essentially a primordial black hole occupying the center of a star. Because the star's mass cannot destroy the central black hole, and the black hole is too small to absorb the star, a Hawking star manifests.
Another possibility is that a star naturally formed with a black hole at its core, rather than it being a result of a merger after stellar formation.
The concept of a Hawking star was first proposed by Stephen Hawking in the 20th century.
Furthermore, later observations indicated that at the very beginning of human Civilization, the Sun itself might have been a Hawking star.
Because primordial black holes are relatively common, the quantity of Hawking stars across the universe is certainly not negligible.
If one carefully examines the records of human Civilization now, one would find that Hawking stars account for one-seventh of all stars charted by humans.
This was not an insignificant fraction.
Even the former Olive Branch Civilization, when designing gravitational weaponry, had taken Hawking stars into consideration.
However, because the black hole of a Hawking star resides at the star's core, where temperatures reach tens of millions of degrees Celsius, sensors cannot accurately pinpoint and operate near the core, which led the Olive Branch Civilization to abandon that research path.
"There were scans, Madam, but they showed no indication of it being a Hawking star. My apologies, Madam, this is my oversight." Duston felt deeply apologetic.
If this black hole had penetrated a main structural support beam within the warship, they could have been trapped inside the star. Endless high temperatures and nuclear fusion would have consumed them entirely.
Luna truly did not blame Duston.
This black hole was simply too minute.
It was entirely normal that it was difficult to detect.
A thumb-sized hole did not imply the black hole's diameter was only 1-2 cm; it could have been even smaller.
Such a minuscule black hole hidden within a star would exert a very minimal overall gravitational effect on the star's readings. Moreover, the star at Reddyham, their current location, was relatively massive.
"It's nothing. Just exercise more caution next time."
Although a black hole is generated by gravity, its resulting gravitational influence already extends beyond the normal scope of our current understanding. It can utilize its own gravity to directly pull space itself, creating a true void. Thus, a black hole is essentially like a puncture in a sheet of paper.
And they, as objects drawn upon that paper, could never truly conceal this hole; only the hole itself could envelop them.
In the face of such power, any evasion was fundamentally useless.
This was also the inherent drawback of evasion-capable warships.
But fortunately, in the currently known universe, nothing could entirely escape this limitation. Therefore, one could rationalize that it wasn't a true drawback after all.
"Return to the starting point for repairs!"
The first test ended with regret.
The subsequent repair of the warship was estimated to take several decades.
It felt like a brand new car had just been utterly totaled. Luna still felt a sharp pang of heartache.
But fortunately, the Ghost warship's capabilities were still commendable.
Next, it was up to the void-class ship.
...
The passage of time had long become a normalized metric.
Especially for beings within the Star Nation.
Even if their physical bodies couldn't achieve eternity, they could use capital to fabricate a clone and then upload their consciousness, thereby achieving immortality.
Immortality meant that time had long ceased to be a pressing concern; it was merely a common unit in their perception, much like distance. They didn't need to check the hour daily, nor did they need to chase fleeting pleasures within a short lifespan due to temporal scarcity. They could instead use expansive time to steadily accumulate their achievements.
This was the profound satisfaction derived from immortality.
Of course, there was an alternative saying here to describe this unending existence.
"If you still feel genuine joy in your life, then you definitely haven't lived long enough." This was not a criticism, but rather an expression of extreme, almost painful envy from the narrator's perspective.
Immortals found it difficult to experience joy, even when existing within the greatest happiness imaginable to those who were not eternal.
And for these immortals, though time held little immediate meaning for them, 3000 years was still sufficient to register the deep marks of loss.
The same applied to Luna.
3000 years had passed.
It was now 227061 A.D.
If she simply looked at the figures, Luna almost felt no time had elapsed, because the starting point she recalled was still '22' [referring to the 22nd century/year].
But every single year, she had truly lived through it.
As the CEO of Supernova Technology Corporation, apart from her previous trip to Sheltondine where she could secretly take time off, for the remainder of this span, she could not immerse herself in virtual worlds to pass the time.
Perhaps an hour or two each day was possible, but nothing more. For her, who basically never slept, every day was equivalent to 20 hours dedicated to commencing work.
3000 years was, in practical terms, truly equivalent to 5000 or even 6000 years for a 21st-century human.
During these 3000 years, Luna was preoccupied with numerous critical matters.
Most importantly, preparing for the Rusty Star Nation's external conflicts.
If the Rusty Star Nation intended to expand, it couldn't afford to wait for others to attack and then mount a counter-response.
Instead, it needed to adopt the role of the aggressor, proactively taking the offensive with a clear strike.
However, this offensive could not lack justification.
Otherwise, all other powers would perceive them as a threat.
They would be branded as brigands.
Then everyone would converge to surround and suppress them.
This was precisely what Luna had been busy managing.
She needed to ensure the Rusty Star Nation could justly initiate a war. Thus, the most suitable target would be one with a documented historical grievance against the Rusty Star Nation.
In the past few millennia, the most significant conflict appeared to have erupted during that incident on Sheltondine.
And the logical target, clearly, was Flaorse.
Luna had issued a formal declaration to Flaorse 1000 years ago, vehemently denouncing their disruption of peace within the Rusty Star Nation, and subsequently provoking several border skirmishes at the Star Nation's frontiers.
Later, deep in space, the two corporations engaged in a large-scale confrontation, resulting in damages to Flaorse's supplies exceeding 100 trillion Energy Credits.
This intensified the rivalry between the two entities over the millennium, and also led other surrounding star nations to anticipate an inevitable war between them at some point.
Who would ultimately prevail?
A betting handicap had been circulating in certain black markets 700 years ago, and rumors suggested the accumulated stake had reached 180 billion Energy Credits.
This was before the war had even erupted.
If the conflict were to commence, this handicap amount could skyrocket by at least 100 times.
No one knew who initiated this betting pool.
Except Luna.
In her office, Luna was still processing intelligence gathered from various sources.
Flaorse Corporation had been making consistent, subtle moves over the years, continually cultivating personnel within the Rusty Star Nation. Luna had already gained control over a portion of these internal assets, merely awaiting the final purge.
After reviewing the news regarding the handicap, Luna simply set the information aside.
"Consider it a financial influx. After all, war is exceedingly expensive."
This handicap was naturally orchestrated by Luna herself.
She had no intention of actually engaging in such direct speculation.
This money would ultimately flow directly into Supernova Technology Corporation to fund war efforts.
This served as a penalty for the reckless gamblers.
"Flaorse seems to have begun deploying forces at the border. Logically, they shouldn't know our intention to strike them."
"Then there is only one conclusion: they also desire to launch a war."
"Every corporation, every star nation desires ascent to greater strength!"
A corporation like Flaorse, having conflicts with numerous star nations, could not afford stagnation. They could only mitigate the threat they posed to others by continually expanding.
To command fear through military might.
And Flaorse had refrained from initiating overt war for a considerable time; they had been persistently seeking the optimal opportunity to do so.
The Rusty Star Nation wasn't weak, but it wasn't overwhelmingly powerful either.
If Flaorse could successfully annex Supernova Technology Corporation, they would gain not only virus technology but also vital warship production capabilities. Their overall strength would surge, causing other star nations to treat them with caution.
"From this perspective, it could be termed a convergence of strategic interests."
Luna held the exact same strategic goal.
She required the acquisition of virus technology to render the Rusty Star Nation comprehensive and free of exploitable vulnerabilities.
Although Luna herself could utilize her executive authority to secure this technology.
However, the deployment, construction, research and development, and ongoing advancement of any technology required specialized talent. She couldn't magically conjure these experts within the Rusty Star Nation, nor could she conjure the massive data repositories necessary for virus technology.
Flaorse's existing data repositories and talent pool were paramount; the Rusty Star Nation needed to acquire them whole.
"Duston, how many vessels do we currently possess?"
"26,673 ships, Madam."
According to the initial production projections, only about 500 ships could be manufactured every century. In reality, they encountered numerous setbacks, resulting in only 460 ships per hundred years.
But later, production increased quite smoothly, reaching 1620 ships per century.
Now, the headquarters' factory had commenced operation. In the initial phase, it was projected to produce only 50–70 ships per century, potentially increasing to 200 later.
Seemingly small output, but preferable to none.
The headquarters was not a primary combat zone. The vessels produced there were primarily intended for defense and reinforcing Sector combat strength, designed to prevent hostile incursions from disrupting the Star Nation's interior stability.
"Duston, do you think these vessels are sufficient?"
Warships within this Star Nation were scarce overall.
Flaorse itself commanded approximately 2,000 warships and 72,000 other vessels.
And the Star Nation where Flaorse was headquartered possessed 7,500 warships and 230,000 other ships. Combined, this totaled nearly 10,000 warships and 300,000 supporting vessels.
How many did the Rusty Star Nation command?
The entire Star Nation held 1,700 warships and 160,000 other ships.
Its overall combat capacity was clearly somewhat inferior.
Especially concerning warships.
Previously, the Rusty Star Nation did utilize traditional warships, but the White Dragon's evasion-type ship proved so overwhelmingly powerful that it effectively replaced the need for them entirely.
Now, among those 160,000 ships, excluding the void-class ships, the remainder were all White Dragons, or White Dragon-class vessels.
"I do not know, Madam."
Duston sounded hesitant.
It could easily perform calculations, but it was uncertain if its derived results matched the necessary variables.
And Luna's response to it was: "We will secure victory, Duston… Everyone only focuses on our evasion-capable ships, but we possess more than just evasion-capable ships."