When it came to how the species under his command developed internally, Xiao Yu had always adopted a hands-off approach. In this area, he granted them a great deal of autonomy, intervening only in the most critical aspects, such as scientific education and loyalty. As for social structure and the like, Xiao Yu did not concern himself.
Under Xiao Yu’s leadership, and with Luka Two at the helm, there existed an organization known as the Social Committee. All species leaders, along with Luka Three, Luka Four, Jason, Senya, and several other outstanding figures, were members of this body. The organization was responsible for the comprehensive management of all intelligent beings. Thus far, it had functioned remarkably well. Indicators such as societal stability, loyalty levels, and scientific output among the intelligent species had all remained highly satisfactory in Xiao Yu’s view.
It was thanks to Luka Two’s exceptional leadership that Xiao Yu was spared much mental effort and could devote his freed-up computational capacity to scientific research.
Of course, regardless of whether these scientists were aware or not, Xiao Yu never relaxed his surveillance over the species under his command. Countless surveillance cameras and network monitoring programs continuously fed him vast amounts of data, ensuring his absolute control over his subordinates. Through these omnipresent systems, Xiao Yu had also witnessed the scene involving Senya just moments ago. Senya’s behavior made Xiao Yu chuckle silently.
“Truly still young.” Xiao Yu sighed softly. “To be young… what a wonderful thing.”
Over the course of more than ten thousand years of drifting through the universe, Xiao Yu’s heart had unknowingly grown old and weary, long having lost the passion and innocence of his early days. Yet it was precisely this change that had greatly enhanced his survivability in the universe. Gains and losses always went hand in hand, Xiao Yu’s transformation was not something easily labeled as simply good or bad.
“I do miss it sometimes…” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. “Back in the Earth era, I was just like Senya, young, accomplished. But, but… sigh, no point talking about it.”
When thoughts of Chen Mo surfaced, a wave of sorrow stirred in Xiao Yu’s heart.
Pushing aside these tangled emotions, Xiao Yu once again plunged into intense work. He had little time for sorrow or sentiment. The harshness of reality constantly reminded him to remain ever vigilant.
The modification of the space-based weapon didn’t require the involvement of other scientists, Xiao Yu could complete it entirely on his own. He had no intention of altering the Space One device already installed on the China ship. Instead, he planned to build a completely new space weapon from scratch.Thanks to his prior experience building the first space weapon, constructing the second one didn’t cost Xiao Yu much effort. Everything proceeded according to plan. In any case, Xiao Yu didn’t fully understand the core principles, he simply followed the instructions in the technical documentation, manufacturing each component step-by-step and then assembling them all together.
Energy supply module, energy compression module, target acquisition module, firing module, everything progressed smoothly. Ten days later, the new weapon was completed.
“We’re running low on Grade-1 metal.” Xiao Yu thought with some concern. “After we leave this small universe, we’ll need to gather more.”
Grade-1 metal was currently the best-performing material Xiao Yu could produce. It was made using an extremely rare compound found in the universe, refined through many complex steps. The successful production of Grade-1 metal marked a significant advancement in Xiao Yu’s materials science.
However, the raw material was incredibly difficult to obtain. It only existed near supermassive stars, and seemed to be the product of certain unknown stellar reactions occurring on those stars, reactions Xiao Yu had yet to fully understand. Once formed, it would be ejected by the star via stellar wind, propelled into space as high-energy particles. After its temperature was lowered by the vacuum of space, it would condense into fine particles, only then could it be harvested.
In short, this substance was extremely rare. Xiao Yu’s fleet possessed only a limited reserve. Furthermore, the technical documents acquired from the Trolor Civilization had clearly specified the minimum material requirements for constructing a space weapon. Among all the resources Xiao Yu had, only Grade-1 metal barely met those requirements.
Now standing at the edge of life and death, Xiao Yu naturally had no time to feel distressed over such matters. At present, Xiao Yu possessed a total of two space-based weapons, and their construction had consumed nearly half of all his remaining Grade-1 metal reserves.
Xiao Yu named the new weapon Space Two. Now, it was time to put Space Two to use in a scientific experiment, to verify his hypothesis.
The appearance of Space Two was different from that of Space One. The most notable distinction was that Space One had a long, narrow form, while Space Two was spherical. Its spherical design was dictated by the requirements of the experiment. After all, to cut out a portion of a two-dimensional space, one would need to draw a circle on the two-dimensional plane. Likewise, to slice out a section of three-dimensional space, a sphere was naturally required.
With the construction of Space Two complete and the first scientific experiment imminent, Xiao Yu issued another order, summoning all the top scientists to gather once more in the high command meeting room. The first scientific trial would proceed under the collective observation of these experts.
After ten days of rest, all the scientists had regained their energy. Senya, in particular, wore a radiant smile, and treated the leader of Species Number Two with exceptional deference. It seemed that over the past ten days, things had progressed quite well between it and the girl named Feili.
Some of the scientists couldn’t resist teasing Senya. Luka Two grinned as he asked, “Senya, where did you and Feili go during your ten-day break?”
Senya’s face instantly turned red. Under the amused gazes of the other scientists, it stammered, “N-not anywhere special… j-just spent some time out on the grassland ranch at the edge of City 301…”
Senya’s nervousness provoked another round of hearty laughter. Smiling, Luka Three added, “I happened to visit the grassland ranch near City 301 these past few days too. I saw you there. So, how was the tent? Comfortable enough? How was the grilled fish?”
The grassland ranch at the edge of City 301 on the Home Six-One ship was one of the most beautiful scenic areas within the entire vessel. However, it was only open to scientists or their families; the general population did not have access.
Luka Three’s demeanor was completely normal, with no sign of hostility toward Senya. Now, Luka Three acted more like a kindly elder who occasionally teased the younger generation.
Indeed, Luka Three could now be considered a senior figure. Since the White Dwarf Alien Beast incident, much time had passed. Xiao Yu had personally watched Luka Three grow from a young and inexperienced scientist into the fleet’s Chief Scientist.
“This is the kind of character a great scientist should have. Very good.” Xiao Yu thought to himself. “If Luka Three had shown hostility toward Senya, that would have surprised me. Academic disputes are one thing, but those disagreements should not spill over into personal life. Likewise, emotions in private life should never affect scientific work. Science, after all, must remain serious.”
“Wait, you brought a tent?” Luka Three’s comment sparked suspicion in the leader of Species Number Two. He stared at Senya and questioned, “Didn’t you say you only went out during the day? Why would you need a tent for a daytime trip? That night, didn’t Feili say she was staying over at a friend’s house? Hm? Did you two sleep together? You little rascal, what exactly did you do?!”
As soon as that first question landed, Senya’s face turned as bitter as a gourd. Casting a slight look of reproach toward Luka Three, Senya hastily tried to explain, “Leader, it’s not what you think! It’s not like that! Even though we did stay in the same place, we didn’t… I mean, nothing happened! Please believe me…”
“Hahahahaha!” The meeting room once again erupted into raucous laughter. Another scientist chuckled and said, “Senya, seriously? You two stayed together and still didn’t… huh? That’s no good! Back in my day, I…”
Before he could finish, the leader of Species Number Two cut him off with a fierce glare, then slumped into his seat and let out a long, heavy sigh. “Sigh… it’s all my fault. I’ve been too busy and didn’t raise Feili properly. She’s a girl, how could she do something like this…?”
After lamenting for a while, he cast another fierce glare at Senya and looked to Xiao Yu for help. “Master, you’ve seen everything. This brat tricked my daughter. She’s my only child, my precious! If he refuses to take responsibility, I ask you to intervene on my behalf!”
“Alright, alright.” Xiao Yu said with a smile. “Rodel, don’t worry. I’ll take care of this. If Senya’s hypothesis proves correct, once we leave this small universe, I will personally preside over the wedding between Senya and your daughter. Will that put your mind at ease?”
Only after hearing Xiao Yu’s personal promise did Rodel finally calm down, though he still gave Senya a savage glare. Senya, on the other hand, was full of surprise and joy.
To have Xiao Yu personally officiate its wedding, this was no ordinary honor. Ever since the formation of Xiao Yu’s fleet, it would be the very first time.
“Alright, enough joking around.” Xiao Yu’s expression turned serious. “Space Two has been completed. Now, it’s time for the first experiment, and to verify whether our hypothesis is correct…”