Chapter 138: Synthetic Breakthrough: Winds of Change

I’ve successfully synthesized the X Particle!

That single sentence hit Lu Bo like a thunderclap, rattling him to his core.

Success?

Lin Yun actually pulled it off?

“Let me have a look.”

“Alright, teacher.”

Lin Yun stepped aside after nodding, making room while Lu Bo studied every line of data with focused intensity.

The more he read, the more shock carved itself across his face.

Yet beneath that shock, excitement bubbled up.

Unbelievable…

Did she really manage artificial synthesis?

Lu Bo glanced over at Lin Yun, his expression suddenly turning complicated.

Lin Yun… she’s only ten years old!

But his complicated feelings faded quickly, replaced by unmistakable pride.

No matter how much of a prodigy Lin Yun is, at the end of the day—

—she’s still my student.

——

The artificial synthesis of the X Particle propelled the entire gene lab forward in leaps and bounds, officially kicking off research and development of the gene enhancer.

Based on all the theory from recent years, if the gene enhancer developed using X Particles was successful, it would be able to triple basic physical abilities—strength, speed, reflexes—and more. Plus…

It could even extend the human lifespan to around five hundred years.

And that was only the projected result for the first generation of the gene enhancer, since the X Particle had far greater potential. As research deepened, second, third, or even Nth generation enhancers would emerge.

Maybe, one day, humanity could truly become an immortal race.

Of course, that kind of thinking was getting way ahead of things.

After all, even the first generation of gene enhancers was still just a theory, not yet confirmed.

At the same time…

With the Federation driving expansion at a frenzied pace, using all of humanity’s strength, production capacity boomed.

Warship deliveries moved even faster than planned.

A year ago, the Federation delivered the first batch—120 warships—to Tuoba’s hands.

And just a year later, the remaining 380 warships had already been transported to Alpha Centauri, ready for handover.

Other items—specialized weapons, Bai Ze Mechs—would be delivered right alongside them this time.

Everything would be wrapped up in this round.

Inside the vast, bustling spaceport built for trade, Tuoba was grinning so hard his mouth could barely close.

Originally, when he’d placed the order, he’d been told it would take three years before gradual delivery even began, with everything handed over by year ten.

But how did things actually turn out?

Two and a half years in, he’d already received the first batch. By three and a half years—

—all 500 warships were delivered without missing a one!

Of course, Violet would never tell him the real reason. She just said these warships were originally slated for another civilization, but something came up, so they were redirected here first.

She even mentioned that if Tuoba wanted, there were still plenty of warships in stock—he could get more almost instantly.

As soon as he heard that, Tuoba’s eyes lit up and he immediately placed a massive order: 3,000 warships and 10,000 Bai Ze Mechs, along with a huge stock of replacement parts for daily maintenance.

Naturally, not all of this order was for him alone. About 2,000 of the warships would go to a handful of other border families.

Tuoba had planned to wait until his family’s order was fully delivered before handling the purchases for others.

But with everything arriving way ahead of schedule, there was no reason to wait any longer.

Once all these warships arrived, he and several of the border families pooled together would control 3,500 Federation Seawolf-class General-Purpose Warships. Counting their older vessels, their combined fleets would number well over 6,000.

That wasn’t enough to defeat the kingdom’s entire military, but it was more than enough to guarantee their own safety.

What’s more, thanks to controlling the Federation’s trade routes, their families could keep upgrading their arsenals indefinitely.

This time…

At the very least, they’d crush the inner-circle noble families flat!

Whether they’d go so far as to topple the king—well, that could wait.

Besides military orders, Tuoba placed another round of huge orders for civilian goods.

The stuff he’d brought back before had sold almost too well.

Especially the porcelains and teas. Once they reached prosperous districts deep within the kingdom, his family had been forced to auction them off at premium prices.

That’s right—forced to sell at a markup.

There just wasn’t enough supply to satisfy the endless demand, no matter who got the goods someone would wind up offended.

In the end…

They shrugged and held auctions for everything.

As a result, every item sold at a markup. Some went for five times their original value.

Consider this: when Tuoba first imported these products from the Federation, he’d already marked up the price more than tenfold selling to the kingdom’s heart. Then, some goods jumped another five times higher at auction…

So his family’s profit margin skyrocketed from a mere ten times up to fifty times their original investment.

They weren’t just making money—they were raking it in.

Of course, trouble tagged along too: recently, the number of ships arriving at Tianyuan IV had surged.

It was obvious these folks were snooping for intel, and most were from those high-ranking inner-circle families.

But Tuoba’s clan had come prepared—keeping a fleet on constant guard at the Alpha Centauri current’s mouth. Not even a mosquito could sneak through, so their operation stayed under wraps so far.

Maybe they’d only keep the secret for a little while longer, but for Tuoba and his clan, that was enough.

——

“The Solar System can supply us with 500 Seawolf-class warships a year now. But here in Proxima, the production line for warships can only turn out 80 per year—we’ll need time to ramp up. In eighteen months, the first expansion should finish, and the yearly capacity will rise to 320 warships.”

Mu Qingxue sat at the head of the conference table.

Lined up below her were a dozen senior officials from the Governor-General’s office.

They were delivering their work reports one after another.

The Alpha Centauri trade hub, managed by the Proxima Administrative District, and the ongoing Federation–Tuoba trade were naturally their top priorities.

“Right, we need to match production ramp-ups to actual conditions, otherwise things could go sideways.”

“But since Tuoba just bumped up his order by 3,000 warships all at once, we can probably push the pace a bit. The second phase over on Proxima VI was supposed to start in two years…”

“Move up the start date!”

After a brief moment’s thought, Mu Qingxue made her decision.

Like she said, the production ramp should never be reckless, but since a massive order just landed and they promised even more to come…

With that much riding on it, Mu Qingxue had every reason to accelerate the schedule.

“By the way, Patriarch Kulina, have you finalized your people?”

“Yes, Bilodis will lead a team of eighteen. All of them have run inter-clan communications before, and Bilodis herself comes from the Azurecloud Clan, one of the four great lineages—very capable.”

“Good, send them over when you’re ready. We’ll arrange for special training on modern Federation diplomatic practices.”

“Understood!”

Kulina, patriarch of the Dusklight Woods and representative of the Elven Race’s four great lineages, nodded in agreement.

Plans called for the elves to form a Federation diplomatic mission abroad.

Their first consulate would open right in Tuoba’s domain on Tianyuan IV.

Still, their true objective was gathering critical intel on the Xitoris Kingdom, preparing the way for Federation operations later.

After all, based on Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue’s analysis…

Civil war would likely erupt inside that kingdom within three to five years.

Which meant Proxima needed to be ready for anything.