Chapter 117: The Elven Choice

“So, humanity intends to rule over us elves like this?”

After all, Violet had served as Patriarch for over a century—elves typically live around three hundred years and stay youthful until the end—so she wasn’t as easily swayed as someone as young as Selena.

“Once the elves join the Federation, your rights will be the same as the other twelve clans. In fact, in the future, you could even be elected as the leader of the Human Federation through regular elections.”

“So, you’re asking if the Federation would rule over the elves?”

“Yes, the Federation will rule, because it governs all of humanity!”

“But that ruler doesn’t have to be one of the original twelve clans. Someday, an elf from the thirteenth clan could very well lead the Federation.”

Violet was caught off guard.

What kind of system was this?

For elves, leadership had always been passed from mother to daughter.

Every Patriarch was raised from childhood by her predecessor.

But from what Lin Yu said, it seemed like the so-called Federation Leader was chosen through a regular election?

The idea left her utterly shocked.

Of course, Lin Yu wasn’t about to tell her that while the President was elected, the actual powers of the Presidential Office were limited.

True control of the Federation’s military lay with the three Leaders from before humanity unified.

Those three having once been the standing members of the old United Nations Security Council.

Right now Violet was deep in thought, and she began to realize—maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

After all, if the elves did nothing, their whole race could be wiped out by tomorrow.

So compared to extinction, becoming humanity’s thirteenth clan—was that so hard to accept?

“I can’t make this decision on my own. The other clans must have their say.”

“Of course. I can arrange a ship for you, Patriarch Violet, to visit every clan. Convince them to meet here for talks, but please hurry. Time isn’t on our side.”

Lin Yu nodded in agreement.

He also hinted that if the elves didn’t join, humanity wouldn’t intervene.

Violet picked up on that immediately and nodded as well.

“Then please prepare the ship right away. I’ll invite all the clan leaders myself.”

“No problem!”

——

With Violet taking the lead, things got much easier. As the Patriarch of the four great clans, the other three major clans and twenty-some minor clans were all willing to trust her.

Add in the speed of a human starship.

In just half a day, Violet circled the planet and invited all 27 clan leaders within the habitable zone onto the Zhulong.

Lin Yu also set up a larger conference room and quickly taught Violet how to play back videos and show images.

Then he left the conference room to them and exited, leaving them to their closed-door meeting.

An hour passed.

All 28 clan leaders—representing the four major clans and twenty-four minor ones—agreed to Lin Yu’s terms: they would join the Human Federation in exchange for his help dealing with the Xuanming Dragons and guarantees of the Federation’s protection.

Of course, Lin Yu just proposed the idea. The final decision would need the Federation government’s approval.

But he was pretty sure the Federation wouldn’t turn them down.

If President Friedrich even tried to refuse, the angry masses would storm the Presidential Office that very day.

Come to think of it, all this trouble was down to outdated communications.

At the moment, he couldn’t get through to Earth; well, not entirely—he could send a one-way message at least.

But the real problem was…

How long it would take that message to reach Earth…

It might actually be faster for him to spend 85 days crossing the Cosmic Current back home.

That’s the reality.

There was, however, a technology gleaned from the Alien Civilization Cube—a spatial communication tech.

With this, no matter where you were in the cosmos, you could have nearly instant point-to-point communication.

But unfortunately, spatial technology was still way beyond today’s human understanding.

Every scientist was practically scratching their heads raw, and no one knew how long until they figured it out.

So, once the elves’ decision was made, Lin Yu told them the fleet would immediately deal with the Xuanming Dragons, and all they needed to do was get their envoy team ready.

Once the dragon crisis was over,

that envoy team would return to the Solar System with the fleet.

Then, the details of the elves’ entry into the Human Federation would be handled in negotiations by the Federation government.

When Lin Yu said all this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The issue of the thirty thousand Xuanming Dragons had weighed on them like a massive stone, but now…

Afterward, Lin Yu took the 28 elven science group leaders to the bridge.

He wanted them to witness the entire battle firsthand.

Partly to honor his promise, and partly to showcase humanity’s strength.

He wanted the elves to know: even with the dragon threat gone, there’s no backing out now.

But the moment they entered the bridge, an unexpected turn occurred.

George ran up to them, a bit out of breath.

“Commander, we’ve got a problem!”

“What happened?”

“The Xuanming Dragons on the surface—because they’re starving—couldn’t wait for all of them to wake up before moving. They’ve already started advancing.”

“How many are there?”

“More than twenty-seven thousand. The closest group to the habitable zone is heading for Emeraldshade Forest. They’ll arrive in eighteen minutes.”

“Order the 101st Mech Regiment to head out now. Stop the dragons before they reach us and wipe them all out! Have their staff draw up a battle plan immediately—no warship firepower, only mechs and the Heavy Orbital Paratrooper Regiment are to be used.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Sure, orbital bombardment from the warships would be more efficient.

But to destroy all thirty thousand dragons with just orbital strikes would leave the surface in ruins.

Unless it was an absolute last resort, Lin Yu would never give that order.

Besides, the mechs and heavy infantry could easily handle the dragons.

So long as they didn’t make any major mistakes, they probably wouldn’t even suffer casualties.

After all, those dragons weren’t likely to even get close.

“Lord Lin Yu…”

Violet, having overheard the conversation between Lin Yu and George, looked absolutely anxious.

With nearly a thousand dragons charging at her defenseless clan, who wouldn’t be frantic?

“Don’t worry, Patriarch Violet. Our troops will head out right now and take care of those Xuanming Dragons before they reach Emeraldshade Forest.”

After a few reassuring words, Lin Yu opened a massive virtual screen.

The live feed showed the dragon horde on the ground—and their next target.

It was exactly where the Emeraldshade Forest clan lived.