Chapter 125: A New Era: Elves Join the Federation
by xennovel“Will this really work? Qingxue doesn’t have any experience in administration!”
Mu Xingchen was completely stunned.
Sure, if Mu Qingxue entered politics, odds were she’d eventually become the top official of an entire district.
But Friedrich…
He really wants to put her straight at the top right away?
“What’s the problem? She’s one of only two humans with an innate brain domain over 25%. Even if she learns on the job, she’ll surpass everyone else in no time.”
“Besides, look at who Mu Qingxue is. Putting her in this position—don’t you all trust her to handle it?”
“Also, if we want her to actually take the post, she should start training for it now. It’s best for her to transfer into the administrative system and start learning.”
“Mars would work. Petron has only three months left before retirement—why not set your granddaughter’s sights on the position now?”
Who’s Petron?
He’s the Deputy Governor of Mars, already over 120 years old, and he’s decided to step down.
The handover will happen in three months.
You have to know, this position is fiercely contested in the administrative system.
Once someone takes this seat, it’s almost certain they’ll become a governor in an extrasolar system someday—and build a foundation for a future run at Federation President.
Who wouldn’t be jealous?
“And how are you going to explain this to everyone else?”
“Explain what? I’ve only got a handful of years left anyway. Worst case, have your granddaughter give a speech to the entire Federation and let the people decide.”
Friedrich looked completely unfazed.
Honestly, you couldn’t really argue with him.
Mu Qingxue was known as the most beautiful woman in the Federation Navy—maybe even the whole human race.
If she appeared before the entire Federation…
Can you imagine what her approval ratings would be?
That’s right. Humans really are that superficial.
Plus, if you aired out the heroic deeds of her husband, Lin Yu, from the Three-Year War…
No one in the entire Federation could stand a chance against her.
——
One month later.
The Federation Presidential Office issued a statement saying that after Mars Deputy Governor Petron retires, Mu Qingxue will be taking over.
Everyone across the Federation was dumbfounded.
Who’s this Mu Qingxue?
None of the previous frontrunners seemed to have that name.
But it didn’t take long for someone to dig up that there was a Mu Qingxue in the Federation Fleet, and she had even served as the Fifth Fleet’s commander.
She was also one of the rare female fleet commanders in the Federation. The gender matched, too.
Still, this hardly caught anyone’s attention. With thirty billion humans, same names happen all the time.
But soon after, the Federation Fleet released an official statement confirming that Mu Qingxue was indeed the retired lieutenant general and former commander of the Fifth Fleet.
She’s now retired from the military and entered politics at only thirty-seven years old.
They even released a photo of Mu Qingxue in a Federation Navy uniform, sporting her lieutenant general insignia on her shoulders.
The internet exploded instantly.
No wonder. She was just too beautiful, too cool.
——
A year later.
Federation Year 206.
Today was monumental for the entire Federation.
Because…
After a full year of elven publicity, the Federation’s national referendum finally concluded.
As expected, it passed overwhelmingly with 92.8% approval. President Friedrich immediately made the announcement to the entire Federation.
The Elven Race…
Officially joined the Human Federation as the thirteenth group of humanity.
They also declared that Proxima II would be officially renamed Elphoria.
That’s the name the Elves chose themselves. It blends ‘Elf’ with ‘Euphoria,’ symbolizing an eternal land of happiness.
Of course, even though the Elves have joined the Federation, tourist access to Elphoria isn’t happening yet. For now…
The conditions just aren’t right.
At the very least, construction on Proxima Centauri V needs to reach initial completion first.
Right now, over a thousand ships are assembled outside Earth’s Orbital Ring Station.
They’re all civilian ships, most of them freighters—1,425 in total.
Besides hauling equipment for all walks of life, this fleet is also carrying a full million immigrants.
Ever since the Federation announced the expansion plan a year ago, things couldn’t have gotten any livelier.
Even if the destination was a totally barren planet.
Even with a journey taking over a year.
Even with no chance to return to the Solar System for many years.
The number of eager volunteers still almost hit ten billion.
It just shows how powerful humanity’s craving for the stars is.
In the end, the Federation spent ages selecting the most suitable million people out of those ten billion through rounds of filtering and interviews.
Every last one of them is a top talent in their field.
Of course, they’re not there for comfort—it’s all about building.
According to Federation plans, they’ll spend the next three years constructing a city on Proxima Centauri V that can house at least three million people.
They’ll also finish a space elevator, and then build a massive orbital spaceport connected to it.
All so they’re ready for even larger waves of future immigrants.
The Federation Fleet has also undergone major adjustments.
The First Fleet is now in charge of the Mars-Earth line and the Earth-Moon line.
With over three hundred warships, they’ve got enough firepower to handle both.
As for the Fifth Fleet, under acting commander Brigadier General Ye Lingwei, they’re heading out together with the Sixth Fleet.
However…
The Fifth Fleet isn’t going to Proxima. Their destination is…
Barnard’s Star, nearly 5.96 light-years away.
The Klein had traveled that route before and found no life-bearing worlds.
But just because there are no life planets doesn’t mean there’s nothing of value.
For humanity, expanding territory and finding resources not available in the Solar System to push technology forward…
That’s the top priority.
So since there aren’t any advanced civilizations in that direction anyway, might as well send the Fifth Fleet with a research team to have a look.
They’re hoping to dig up some resources or maybe find a planet suitable for terraforming.
After all, naturally habitable planets are incredibly rare.
You can’t just give up interstellar expansion because nothing nearby is earthlike.
Planets that can be terraformed are almost as important to humanity as naturally life-bearing ones.
Of course, Fleet Headquarters has another motive, too…
This mission is a test for Ye Lingwei. If she pulls it off, she’ll lose the ‘acting’ from her title and be promoted to major general when she gets back to the Solar System.
She’ll officially become the real commander of the Fifth Fleet.
——
“Violet, it’s been over a year! Congratulations.”
The Elven delegation, their mission complete, left a few representatives to stay in the Federation Congress while the rest boarded the Houyi, ready to return to Proxima with Lin Yu.
Earth may be prosperous, but to the elves, it’s just not home.
Besides, elves have always preferred running through the woods or leaping from tree to tree over city life.
“We should thank you for giving our people this chance!”
Violet was genuinely grateful.
After over a year among humans, she’d learned so much.
And she’d come to understand something else.
That is…
If it hadn’t been Lin Yu who went to Proxima, but some other human commander…
The Elves might have ended up with a completely different fate.
It might even have spelled the end for their entire race.
Among civilizations in the cosmos, justice never counts for much.
Thankfully, it was Lin Yu who went to Proxima, and it was thanks to his suggestion that the Elves chose to integrate into human society and join the Federation.
Now, they’re finally safe.