Chapter 150: Crisis and Calculations in the Kingdom of Xitoris

This wasn’t Zuo Reis being a coward.

It’s just that—

They were over a hundred years’ journey from the Syndicate Collective.

Trying to fight a Tier-2 civilization with no backup, and on their home turf at that…

Only an idiot would try something that reckless, right?

And Zuo Reis considered himself no fool. He wasn’t about to make a boneheaded move or pick a fight with a civilization on par with the Syndicate Collective for no good reason.

Especially…

When he knew absolutely nothing about them.

So, while building a relationship with them might not be profitable right now, at least it wouldn’t hurt.

——

Things were tense over at Ross 248 for a while.

But in the end, the worst didn’t happen, and plenty of people breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the war on Tianyuan IV was drawing to its close.

There weren’t any surprises at all.

With nearly equal numbers of warships, overwhelming defensive advantages, and more advanced ships to boot—

Tuoba beat back the combined assault of the King’s Army’s four legions without breaking a sweat.

He’d only lost just over a thousand ships, but had destroyed more than nine thousand enemy vessels.

After this battle, the Third Legion was wiped out for good. The other three legions were left with only a thousand ships each, scattered across different defensive lines.

Even if you threw in the Capital Guard Fleet…

Right now, the most King Sadik could muster was five thousand warships.

Sure, the inner circle’s top families each had their own private forces.

And Sadik was convinced he could persuade them to march out together. After all…

If the frontier clans came out on top, not a single inner circle family would escape unscathed.

Sure, he could rally the eight great inner families, but Tuoba could just as easily unite all the border clans.

No matter how you did the math, his own forces were still on the losing side.

Never mind the fact that somehow, the other side had gotten their hands on warships that massively outclassed those of the King’s Army.

“Contact the Totran Kingdom!”

“Your Majesty, this…”

“Hmph, haven’t they always wanted Okka returned to them? Tell them—if they send their fleet to drive off Tuoba’s forces, Okka is theirs. We’ll sign the agreement under the framework of the Wasteland Alliance, so they don’t have to worry I’ll go back on my word later.”

“Understood, I’ll get on it right away, Your Majesty!”

“Wait!”

As the minister was turning to leave, Sadik called out again.

“Your Majesty?”

“Also get in touch with the Ziyang Empire. Tell them I want to borrow two of their legions, and I’ll cede Turan to them as payment. Go.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll contact them at once.”

With a nod, the minister withdrew.

Three legions with three thousand ships, two thousand from the guard fleet, and the eight families could scrape together at least five thousand more irregular ships.

Besides, Tuoba wouldn’t reach the capital overnight—even with no resistance, it’d take five or six years just to make the journey, and in that time, under emergency measures, he figured he could scrape together another two thousand ships.

That would bring the total up to twelve thousand on his side.

Sure, five thousand were irregulars, but so what?

This time, HE was the defender. The current swept in his favor. All defensive advantages were his—not Tuoba’s.

All they had to do was hold out until the Totran and Ziyang fleets arrived, and the tide would turn in an instant.

In the end, victory…

Would still be his.

As for those two star systems with habitable planets he’d promised away…

Hmph, eventually, he’d get them back.

——

After the fighting ended on Tianyuan IV, the whole Xitoris Kingdom was thrown into chaos.

First, over a dozen frontier clans declared they were siding with Tuoba, launching a so-called ‘Cleansing of the Royal Court’.

Some of these clans had a little over a hundred warships, others up to three or five hundred.

Count them all together, and they had more than five thousand ships. Not regular military vessels, but still nothing to sniff at.

Especially with the Fourth Fleet collapsing, and what was left retreating back to the capital.

As a result, these clans rampaged through the kingdom, splitting into a dozen strike forces.

They swept straight for the inner territories.

Of course, the deadliest force was Tuoba’s own.

Even after suffering losses last time, he still had over six thousand Seawolf-class warships under his command. With the three main legions pulling their battered remains back to base, their forces were no match for him—even if they hadn’t pulled back, they’d still have been flattened.

Not a single group could hold a candle to him.

Seventeen rebellious leaders surged forward with unstoppable momentum.

Meanwhile, what was the Human Federation’s highest-ranking officer in the area, Commander Lin, up to?

That’s right—he was having his brain development tested.

Anyone injected with a gene enhancer had to undergo the test.

They logged the brain development level both before and a month after injection.

“Hold on, Dad—your natural brain development is over 30%?”

Lin Yu stared at the report, eyes full of disbelief.

Even though she was his daughter, Lin Yu had never told her what his baseline brain power was.

After all, the Federation had made that the highest state secret—even Lin Yu’s own family wasn’t allowed to know.

That was why, when Lin Yu wanted Lin Yun to get the gene enhancer, he’d insisted more people had to get it first, and it had to be signed off by the higher-ups.

It’s not that the Federation was trying to hold him back—it’s just…

Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue were both incredibly important to the Federation.

To them, three rounds of testing wasn’t enough. At least a million people needed to get it without incident before they’d allow Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue to take part.

If something went wrong, nobody could bear the consequences.

So, at first, Lin Yu couldn’t figure out why they insisted he get approval for his father’s injection and demanded such ridiculous conditions.

They even required the brain scan to take place with only Lin Yun present.

But looking at the report now, she understood.

No wonder both she and Lin Feng showed over 30%—turns out…

They’d inherited it from their father.

But what was even more mind-blowing was that his acquired brain development had already reached 43%.

Seriously? How could her dad’s brain power keep rising after turning eighteen?

It was even higher than people on gene enhancers!

How is this even possible?!

Wait, if he’s already this strong without enhancers…

What’s going to happen when he actually gets the injection…”