Chapter 119: Elves Arrive: The Federation’s Next Big Decision

It’s been a year and eight months since Lin Yu set out. If everything went smoothly, he should be on his way back by now, right?

“Yeah, barring any accidents, he should be entering the Solar System any moment now.”

“Let’s hope he brings good news…”

Inside the conference room, hearing Mu Xingchen’s words, both Vladimir and Ryan nodded in agreement.

Just then—

The door burst open and Luo Ming appeared before the trio.

“Everyone, Lin Yu… he’s back!”

“Just moments ago, Headquarters received an urgent transmission from the Fourth Fleet—Lin Yu’s fleet has re-emerged in the Kuiper Belt!”

Luo Ming looked visibly excited.

Honestly, who wouldn’t be?

After all, this was humanity’s first interstellar exploration, and into a star system that might actually host a world with life.

For the entire human race, this was historic.

“Quick, get me connected to Zhulong—I want a report right now!”

Mu Xingchen shot to his feet.

“No need to rush. Give it a minute—he’ll call in on his own.”

Luo Ming chuckled, only to pause in the middle of his sentence.

A virtual interface suddenly popped up in front of him—a communication request directly from the Command Center.

“See? What did I say—he’s already here.”

With a few swift taps, a figure appeared via holographic projection in the conference room.

It was Lin Yu.

“Heads of Command, Chief of Staff!”

Seeing all four of the highest-ranking officers gathered, Lin Yu snapped to attention and saluted.

“Enough with the formalities. Just tell us—did Proxima II really have a life-supporting planet?”

“Well… the reality was pretty different from what we expected.”

“I see, so we were too optimistic after all. Guess it’s not that easy to find a planet with life. What a letdown…”

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, Mu Xingchen and the others let out a deep sigh.

“No, that’s not what I meant. The thing is—it wasn’t just one planet with life… it’s two!”

“What?!” the three exclaimed in unison.

All four stood up at once.

The news was just that shocking.

Lin Yu started explaining in detail.

“For centuries, we’ve only observed three planets orbiting Proxima Centauri. In reality, there are twelve. Besides Proxima II, there’s Proxima Centauri V—it’s even larger than Earth. The air, gravity, and the distribution of land and sea are all amazingly similar to Earth’s.”

“As for Proxima II, it’s also a life-supporting planet. But since Proxima Centauri—the star, which we call Proxima, is actually the star itself, and what we call Proxima I, II, and III are three different planets—is tidally locked, one side is always day, the other side is perpetual night.”

“Neither the side facing the star nor the one facing away is suitable for life—one’s scorching hot, the other’s freezing cold. So only the narrow band along the terminator—the line between night and day—is actually habitable.”

“And inside that habitable zone on Proxima II—there’s an advanced intelligent civilization!”

“What?!”

The three were stunned yet again.

Not just because there was so little livable land, but because—

An advanced civilization?

Having just survived an invasion from the Klein civilization, humanity was extremely sensitive about that term.

“Lin Yu, what’s their level of technology? Did you make contact with them? And—”

“Commander, please don’t worry! I actually brought back a delegation from their side. They’re here to discuss joining the Human Federation!”

“Wait, what? An alien civilization wants to join the Human Federation? Do they realize the word ‘human’ is in our name?”

Ryan stared in disbelief.

Sure, there’s nowhere in Federation law stating aliens can’t join.

But if another species joined, would it still be a ‘Human’ Federation?

“Commanders, this isn’t a simple matter. You should look over the basic information first…”

Lin Yu turned and nodded to his right.

Of course, he wasn’t signaling anyone in the room—he was nodding to his adjutant, George, standing at his right on the Zhulong.

Moments later, a stream of data was transmitted.

The conference room instantly filled with virtual windows.

Some displayed video records, others rapidly cycled through photos, and still more contained document reports.

They hadn’t even gone through everything yet.

Just seeing the images and footage of elves, the four were left speechless, mouths agape.

Only one word echoed in their minds.

Elves!

Then, as they read through the reports, their shock only deepened.

Now they understood why Lin Yu had brought the envoy back, and why they’d be negotiating their entry into the Human Federation.

Without another word, Mu Xingchen got to work.

Moments later, another figure appeared in the conference room—it was Federation President Friedrich.

“Friedrich, you’ve only got five years left in office, right?”

“Yes. Now, did you really drag me into a meeting just for this?”

Friedrich’s face showed how annoyed he was—after all, he’d just been meeting with his advisors about something important.

And yet, Mu Xingchen had summoned him with top priority.

He’d thought something big must have happened, like another alien invasion or the like.

But instead—

“Hm? Major General Lin Yu, you’re back?”

“Yes, President!”

After grumbling, Friedrich noticed Lin Yu.

He immediately realized this must be about the Proxima mission.

Could it be another groundbreaking discovery?

Otherwise, Mu Xingchen would have just sent the report to him later—not dragged him here with highest clearance.

“Friedrich, Lin Yu brought back an alien diplomatic team. They’re here to talk about joining the Federation as the 13th member race.”

“Nonsense! How could you make that kind of decision on your own?”

“Friedrich, don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re only in this position because we don’t have a way to communicate across four light-years. Besides, any talks would go through the Presidential Office in the end—and you have the final say.”

Mu Xingchen’s point was clear—they hadn’t overstepped their authority.

Lin Yu had only brought the delegation back. No decisions had been made yet.

The final negotiations would be up to the Presidential Office. The power to approve or deny was in the President’s hands.

Most importantly, there just wasn’t any other way to communicate.

That’s why, before Lin Yu set out, he was granted full authority to make decisions as needed. The Presidential Office agreed at the time.

Why not look over the info Lin Yu just sent first?

Once you see it, you might be too stunned to even react.

Also, if you really refuse to let the elves join, you’ll be lucky to finish your remaining five-year term.

Don’t get me wrong—the Federation Fleet won’t do anything to you.

But—

If the general public finds out you turned down the elves’ request to join the Federation—

You might have a mob storming the Presidential Office before you know it.