Hua'a was a man driven by profit.
Whether he intentionally cultivated this reputation or it was simply his nature, in this corner of the cosmos, there was no relationship that money couldn't pry open. If a final result wasn't achieved, it was invariably because the price wasn't high enough, rather than any other cause.
Greedy Hua'a.
For the right price, he would sell out anyone or anything. Men like him were ubiquitous across the star nations.
Fenton Games actually operated in several smaller nations, but most only permitted Fenton's growth out of a wary respect for the Glolo Star Nation.
In the shadows, they had always suppressed the company, preventing Fenton Games from becoming a true inter-sector hegemon.
This had long infuriated Fenton Games, but they were powerless. The company had reached its quadrillion valuation over 20,000 years ago, but in the two millennia since, its growth curve had slowed to a crawl, increasing by only a few percentage points every century.
Beyond their borders lay a "Blue Ocean" of potential, yet their hands held only a leaky bucket: watching the water slip away was agonizing for them.
With 120 trillion credits and a clear path for expansion on the table, Luna was certain Fenton Games would be tempted. Hua'a would take the bait.
All that remained was to wait. She would stay here until the entire affair reached its conclusion.
...
20 years later.
Luna found a Star City to reside in. It was here that she received the signal that Fenton Games had finally made its move.
The Fenton Games network had been "attacked": a nationwide blackout occurred.
For any citizen within the star nation, this was a catastrophe on par with a natural disaster. Imagine the 21st century if every entertainment app and piece of software suddenly became inaccessible. Games in this era carried a far heavier burden.
They were playgrounds, communication platforms, spiritual sanctuaries, and legal entertainment hubs all rolled into one. It wasn't the simple gaming of the 21st century: it was a total integration, a world of entertainment.
The entire populace consisted of digital addicts.
The collapse of Fenton Games' systems meant these addicts were suddenly without their "phones and computers," and not just for a day, but day after day.
"How ruthless," Luna thought.
This would undoubtedly take a toll on Fenton Games' market value, but as long as they could expand afterward, everything would be regained.
In this era, stocks were generally very stable. Luna glanced at the market: due to the system collapse, Fenton Games' stock price, which had risen steadily for 6,200 years, saw its first decline, dropping by four-thousandths of a point.
For a quadrillion-level corporation, even a tiny dip meant trillions of credits had evaporated.
As expected.
Because the outage lasted too long, the Glolo Star Nation dispatched investigators to look into the incident.
They discovered it was caused by a virus.
The Glolo officials took notice. A virus, especially one capable of infecting a massive corporation, wasn't something just anyone could develop. Was someone moving against them?
Who would be so bold?
This incident wasn't just the subject of official speculation: rumors were circulating in the streets as well.
Without access to games, more people flooded the public spaces, their faces etched with anxiety and gloom. This was all anyone talked about.
"There might be a war coming!"
This was the prevailing sentiment.
...
7 years later.
Communication with a star system was severed.
The Glolo Star Nation was outraged.
They dispatched a fleet to investigate.
But that star system had already been picked clean, plundered of everything. Every piece of infrastructure had been sabotaged, leaving no trace behind.
"Greedy Hua'a indeed," Luna thought.
"He seized the chance to squeeze out every drop, using any means necessary."
Even Luna felt this went too far.
Plundering a system down to the bone didn't just mean stripping assets: it also implied mass casualties. Hua'a's agents had killed over 2 billion people in that system.
Though human life was often treated as expendable in this era, major powers typically avoided such tactics.
Life was too fragile: if one star nation behaved that way, others would follow suit.
Once a war reached that point, there would be no people left, only machines piloting warships to blast each other into oblivion. Such losses were too great, and the cost of rebuilding a society from scratch was exorbitant.
Therefore, even when the Rusty Star Nation finally annihilated the Ynun Star Nation, and even when Ynun had occupied the M36 cluster, a true mass extermination had never occurred.
But such concerns didn't impact the ruthless.
Instead, they sent shockwaves of terror throughout the Glolo Star Nation.
The government's reputation plummeted, and the markets showed signs of instability.
Yet, at this critical juncture, the Glolo Star Nation had already deployed its Silver Fleet.
Glolo possessed three distinct fleets:
The Bronze Fleet, responsible for internal security.
The Silver Fleet, dedicated to conquest.
The Golden Fleet, which was Glolo's single elite unit composed entirely of warships, a requirement for a High-tier star nation.
In stark contrast, the Bronze Fleet was outfitted with obsolete, retired vessels and possessed very little combat capability.
The Silver Fleet was the backbone of Glolo's power.
With its primary fighting force absent, the Golden Fleet alone couldn't possibly provide a comprehensive, multi-layered defense for all of the nation's territories.
This left Glolo paralyzed by indecision.
Should they abandon their offensive?
At that moment, the CEO of Fenton Games stood up during a council meeting.
"The Silver Fleet is our backbone, yet its offensive is currently stalled. Recalling it might be a wise move."
"I believe Fenton Games can spearhead the future of this offensive," the CEO of Fenton Games stated, standing tall during the council meeting.
"All we need is to open a breach in the Lican Sector and establish a foothold. Within a few hundred years, we can achieve total infiltration."
"After all, the entire Lican Sector lacks a single truly formidable gaming corporation."
The absence of a powerful gaming company meant there was no phenomenon-level title. Gaming required massive promotion and user cultivation: it wasn't as simple as releasing a fun game and expecting everyone to play it. In this regard, a giant like Fenton Games was the true specialist.
"Are you certain you can accomplish this?"
"The Rusty Star Nation won't exactly welcome us with open arms."
Hua'a offered a guarantee to the assembly.
"We will take it, without fail."
"With sufficient funding, prying open a crack in the Rusty Star Nation is a simple task, and now is the optimal window."
"The Rusty Star Nation has annexed three nations, but its grip on those Sectors has yet to stabilize. Our success rate for infiltration is significantly higher."
"I have a plan: establish multiple shell companies within the Rusty Star Nation and release various minor titles. Then, through version updates, we will merge these games into one, interlocking them to bypass initial scrutiny."
He opened his mouth wide, demanding 50 trillion from the Glolo Star Nation. It was a bold double-play, profiting from both sides.
When Luna received this news, she was stunned. There truly were people this greedy in the world. However, to the officials of the Glolo Star Nation, it was business as usual. Due to Fenton Games' monopolistic status, in-game items were exorbitantly expensive: a single official skin could cost 999 Energy Credits. In the real world, 999 Energy Credits could manufacture a million such outfits.
Luna paid no mind to these details. She sent another 20 trillion to Fenton Games to express her satisfaction.
Next, the focus shifted to her own star nation. Could they capitalize on this window of time to develop?
...
Rusty Star Nation.
Luna received word of the Glolo Star Nation's retreat.
As expected, Hua'a had not disappointed her.
She had been certain of this outcome because Hua'a was far from a simple man. The world knew his origin story as a space pirate, but they did not know the truth. Through her clearance, Luna knew the full story.
The number of tragic souls in this universe was beyond counting, and Hua'a was one of them. He was originally the scion of a massive corporation, born as Nandi.
However, during a war of national expansion, his family was annihilated. He survived by escaping his home star nation aboard a Subluminal Flight Vehicle.
True emotion was a rare commodity in this era. Genuine feelings, such as familial love, were considered precious relics of a bygone age.
While family strife was a common occurrence, Hua'a's family had not been chaotic.
Thanks to strict family management, his parents had only produced him as an only child, eliminating any possibility of succession wars. Hua'a had been the pampered prince, the sole focus of a thousand endearments.
But that war had incinerated his only connection to affection.
In the years that followed, he had lived in fear, struggled on the brink of death, and slowly evolved into a space pirate, a formidable figure.
However, as a former corporate scion and a groomed heir, his true strength remained his management capabilities. His previous company had also been a gaming firm, with a market value reaching a trillion credits. While not a titan, it was certainly no minor player.
By leveraging his skills, Hua'a had built his current commercial empire. Luna's intel revealed that since founding Fenton, Hua'a had been covertly nurturing various factions, using back-channel deals to continuously destabilize the star nation that had once annihilated his family.
To this day, he had not stopped.
That nation, however, was a High-tier star nation, even more powerful than the Glolo Star Nation. Even as the head of a quadrillion-market-cap corporation, he remained relatively weak against such a power. Thus, only these minor, covert tactics could offer him any solace.
This was also why Hua'a was chronically short of funds. Destabilizing a High-tier star nation required a staggering investment; Hua'a burned through trillions every year. Most of Fenton Games' profits were funneled directly into that cause.
"Could this be a disguise on his part?"
Due to the Glolo Star Nation's offensive, Giotto and Toma K had both returned to headquarters. Giotto felt they shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket.
Luna shook her head.
"If a person maintains a facade for a hundred years, it's a disguise. A thousand years, it might still be a disguise. But ten thousand years? Then it can only be considered their obsession."
"Whether he does this for revenge or personal satisfaction, he persists, and he desperately needs money. Moreover, he doesn't care what happens to the Glolo Star Nation in the long run."
"That is what matters most."
When a person harbors an extraordinary emotional attachment to one specific thing, it implies they will view everything else with total indifference.
In essence, this is the psychological profile of a criminal. A murderer who values one single object above all else will become utterly cold toward human life.
"Yeah, I think so too."
"Hua'a will stand on our side for the money, but we can't rule out the possibility that he'll double-cross us, using his games for a real infiltration."
Toma K felt this was a strong possibility. The belief sustaining Hua'a was revenge, and on the path of vengeance, anything else is expendable.
"Don't worry, I won't fully integrate someone like him."
"To us, he is merely a tool."
"Our true objective remains development."
"Time is on our side now."
"Once the void-class fleet is fully constructed, we will reveal our secret to victory."
Since the initial Glolo Star Nation offensive, over 600 years had passed, and 1,300 years had elapsed since the last council.
Current production of void-class ships stood at 8,267 units per century, with 74,232 vessels already commissioned. Following adjustments, 60 void-class warships had been manufactured over those 1,300 years, and a steady pace of one vessel every 13 years was now guaranteed.
Including previous production, their void-class fleet now exceeded 80,000 ships.
However, the first millennium was not enough.
Luna required a second millennium. This next 1,000-year cycle would produce 120,000 void-class ships and 100 void-class warships, bringing the scale of their void-class fleet to over 200,000 vessels.
"We shall schedule our formal war with the Glolo Star Nation for 232801 A.D."
Exactly one thousand years from now.
The Rusty Star Nation needed time to recuperate and build strength.
Giotto then shared a piece of news that seemed unrelated to him, yet carried significant weight.
"Over 400 years ago, the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant launched an all-out offensive against the Federation. The Federation suffered a defeat, losing over 40 star systems."
Both Giotto and Toma K watched Luna's expression closely. They suspected she hailed from the Federation and would surely be concerned for its fate.
Unfortunately, they saw no emotion on Luna's face.
"A Federation defeat implies that they have diverted their combat power elsewhere. Perhaps another civilizational war: likely with the Flyer Civilization."
Calculating the timeline.
Although the Flyer Civilization wouldn't launch a war quite this soon, the Federation was vast; deploying forces in advance was always necessary.
Thus, this was quite normal.
However, Luna suspected that the early stages of a conflict with the Flyer Civilization wouldn't require Ayla to divert such massive forces. Perhaps variables had also emerged on the dimensional battlefield.
Luna didn't dwell on affairs over there: overthinking was a waste of energy and served no purpose.
She only hoped that Ayla could achieve a total victory.
Giotto and Toma K were disappointed not to find the information they sought, but they didn't lose heart. As long as they remained by Luna's side, a day would come when she would reveal something.
...
Thousands of light-years away.
On the other side of the dimensional gateway.
Four-dimensional space.
Ayla had established a colossal interstellar city outside the dimensional gateway. This Star City, spanning over 2 million kilometers in diameter, supported the lives of all soldiers stationed in the fourth dimension and served as the birthplace for children born there.
These children were better adapted to the fourth dimension. Though still three-dimensional organisms, their perception of four-dimensional space was far superior to humans originating from three-dimensional space.
They were the source of new military strength.
From birth, they were indoctrinated with a single purpose: to fight, to wage war, and to win!
At the heart of this city.
Ayla's gaze turned toward the unimaginably distant depths of the void.
"The war that will decide the outcome is about to begin!"
...
"Four-dimensional space."
Human Civilization was no longer the fledgling novice it had once been.
After managing four-dimensional space for over ten thousand years, Ayla had developed a specialized system tailored to a four-dimensional Civilization.
Humanity had to claim lordship over the fourth dimension. Without mastering it, they would never truly grasp what the fourth dimension was, what it could do, or how to resist it.
The facts proved that Ayla's path was correct.
As more and more four-dimensional infants were born, humanity's innate understanding of four-dimensional science deepened. Now, humanity could at least claim to have touched that dimension which existed beyond their abstract reasoning.
Even now, no one could use language to precisely articulate its existence.
But such is the nature of science.
Science never sought to "invent" or "create" knowledge out of thin air.
Science is the induction and synthesis of the great laws of the natural universe.
The difference between the two is a world apart.
Invention and creation exist based on one's own imagination. While the resource theory of imagination exists, it is built upon science, not independent of it.
Human minds are filled with fantasies at every moment: some things are ethereal and fleeting.
Like becoming the protagonist of a fantasy world, traversing through time, or being reborn!
These concepts are void, mirages of the mind that are nearly impossible to realize. If an individual or a Civilization followed such fantasies, what would happen?
The birth of theology!
Therefore, the invention and creation of "knowledge" is essentially theology.
Science, however, is: I see an object, I name it, I observe it, I summarize it, then I experiment on it, record the successes, and explore new possibilities over and over again. This is science.
In truth, this is contrary to human first instincts.
Most people believe that theology is what leans toward nature, while nature is inherently savage and backwards.
But in reality, it is not.
The development of science itself follows natural laws, using those laws as a foundation to either complicate or simplify.
Understanding the essence of all things in the universe is science; abandoning that essence is theology.
It is precisely because of this counter-intuitive nature that many people say, "The end of science is theology," because those people do not truly understand what science is, nor what theology is.
Theology is entirely a human creation, devoid of anything natural.
Science, however, is the result of human observation: it is entirely natural.
Because it adheres to nature, science is powerful and true.
"Our exploration of the fourth dimension is a process of adapting to nature. In truth, we haven't done much; we simply let people be born in the fourth dimension. This single act has achieved more than ten million years of efforts made in defiance of nature."
In the academy.
A teacher was lecturing.
He was teaching, explaining to this class of students exactly what science was.
"Khoa" is category, "học" is study.
To categorize all things, then to study them, is called science.
However, his lecture failed to spark any interest in the students below.
Because this was the fourth dimension.
This was the first Star City established by human Civilization.
The City of the Sword of Decapitation!
A somewhat flamboyant name, yet one that revealed the absolute determination of human Civilization. Every time that name was mentioned, everyone within the Star City knew exactly why they had come, what they had to do, and what awaited them.
"Professor, we are future recruits, what's the point of this?"
"I want to study combat!"
"Piloting fighters, commanding warships, becoming supreme gene pools: that's what we're here for."
The students below were only in their teens.
Even in the Federation, they were still considered children.
In a star nation, they would probably be called infants.
They were born into this grand era.
Yet they couldn't possibly absorb all of this era's information so quickly. After all, the scale was too vast; there was simply too much to learn.
If children this young didn't study, but were instead directly implanted with knowledge, how would they differ from computers?
They wouldn't be able to form a complete perception or value system. Implanting knowledge is like casting a mold; in the end, you only get human-shaped machines.
It was best for these children to retain their youthful spirit and their imperfections.
But for a teacher like Kapuyan, it was a challenge.
He addressed the students: "Humanity originated from a technological foundation; the core of mankind is science and technology. In fact, not just humanity, every Civilization in the universe is built upon science. Without studying it, you cannot defeat the true enemy."
A student asked, "True enemy? Is there such a thing as a false enemy, then?"
"The professor is just telling stories!"
The other students chuckled.
Though young, they weren't fools.
But Kapuyan spoke with total gravity: "The enemies you fight are indeed false enemies."
"And we, too, are the false enemies of our opponents."
"False doesn't mean unreal; it means insignificant."
"If you haven't mastered science, then the enemies you destroy on the battlefield are also enemies who lack science."
"The deaths of such enemies mean nothing to an entire Civilization, and the same goes for you. You won't be remembered. Only those who master the sharp blade of science will have their names recorded, for only they can strike that blade into the heart of the true enemy."
"Science is the greatest weapon in existence, the most powerful authority granted by the universe to life. To master science is to master everything."
He spoke with stirring passion.
Yet very few students actually took his words to heart.
Instead, one student quipped, "Professor, are you some kind of hardcore otaku who's been watching too much anime?"
Kapuyan shook his head.
He had been teaching here for over a hundred years and had seen every type of student imaginable. He knew that for some, the truth resonated instantly; for others, they might live their entire lives without ever grasping what he meant.
This Civilization needed authentic individuals, but it also needed these "false" people to go out and fight. Furthermore, human thought is one of the most difficult things in the universe to change, especially for these rebellious students.
As the class ended, most of the students rushed out of the room toward the simulation bays to practice piloting and combat. There, they could find the most immediate sense of gratification.
Just as Kapuyan was gathering his things to leave, a lone student walked up and asked tentatively, "Professor, I have a few questions about the La-style geometry you discussed today. Could you explain them to me?"
Kapuyan's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "Of course!"
"My next class isn't for another ten hours. You can study with me for eight; feel free to ask anything."
The student beamed and nodded vigorously.
Scenes like this were playing out in every corner of the Star City.
The City of the Sword of Decapitation housed as many as 2 trillion professional soldiers, alongside 400 billion civilians under the age of fifty.
At age forty, they were matched to marry and have children. By the time they reached fifty, they transitioned into professional military roles on the front lines.
Their offspring spent five years by their side before beginning their schooling, while the parents prepared for the battlefield.
This was the most scientifically efficient operational model currently explored by the Star City.