Chapter 191: Beneath the Polar Ice: Secrets Unveiled

One hour later.

When Lin Yu finally said Ye Lingwei could take her prisoner, Toto was still completely confused.

Toto blinked in disbelief and spoke up…

“Wait, aren’t you going to interrogate me?”

“How is the interrogation over before it even began?”

“I haven’t even had a chance to show off my iron will! Don’t you want to try asking me a few things?”

It wasn’t until Ye Lingwei left with that certain someone, cutting off the comms, and vanished from the room that Lin Yu finally raised a hand and smacked his own forehead.

Headache…

“Parlo, are all people from the Salvador Empire like this?”

“Not quite. Actually, the three dukes of Salvador are all quite formidable. It’s just their kids… There are two others about as clueless as Toto, or so they say.”

“Alright, anyway, based on what we just learned, I’ve done some quick calculations…”

As Lin Yu spoke, he brought up the comprehensive star chart of the Wasteland Alliance, which also covered some of the other nearby powers.

“In the shortest case, ten years, and at most twelve, the Alliance army is going to reach Icalon. When that happens, your Empire’s front will be on the back foot. The Alliance will be able to mass nearly two hundred thousand troops here and can split them up at any time to strike any of the four key strongholds you hold.”

“And all you can do is spread your forces thin across all four to defend.”

“The only way to break this deadlock is to abandon those four strongholds and fall back to defend Sorenson and Snow further in the rear.”

“If you just have to defend two points, with the number of Seawolf-class ships you’ll have by then, you should be able to hold off nearly two hundred thousand Alliance troops.”

“So my one request to you is this: keep the Alliance army pinned down here for three years.”

“Can you manage that?”

Lin Yu pointed to the star chart and looked at Parlo.

“No problem!”

“Alright, now let’s talk about Tuoba and your situation…”

——

An hour later.

Parlo and Tuoba cut their comms and disappeared from the room.

Lin Yu stayed, still staring at the star chart in front of him, running simulations over and over in his mind.

After another half hour,

he finally leaned back in his chair and let out a slow breath.

Honestly, there were countless ways to deal with the Alliance. Even if it came down to a head-on clash, the Federation wouldn’t lose.

The reason he orchestrated something this complicated in the first place came down to one thing: casualties.

Lin Yu didn’t really care how many died in the Ziyang Empire or the Xitoris Kingdom.

But when it came to the Federation Fleet…

Sure, the whole plan was a hassle, but after crunching the numbers it would keep Federation losses to a minimum.

Maybe even next to zero.

He let his brain catch a break for a minute.

Lin Yu called up a control panel and tapped a couple times in the air.

A moment later, George’s figure appeared on the screen.

“George, move all fleets forward as planned. Take every star in the salient within a year and level out the front!”

“Understood!”

——

Meanwhile,

Earth, the birthplace of all humanity.

Antarctica.

Lin Yun, who should’ve been at the Far East First Research Institute working on vacuum zero-point energy, was here instead.

Over the years, she’d solved problem after problem, but unfortunately…

There was one critical hurdle she still hadn’t overcome.

Now the whole project was stalled, and while searching through all sorts of records and searching for a solution, Lin Yun stumbled on some very unusual materials.

What she found eventually led her here.

Even with the frigid temperatures, as one of the new humans and thanks to the gene enhancer,

she didn’t feel the cold at all despite her thin clothes.

“It’s gotta be here… but…”

“How am I supposed to get down there?”

Lin Yun frowned in frustration.

Honestly, with current tech, digging a hole eight hundred meters down right here would be no problem.

But if she made a big scene doing that, wouldn’t everyone instantly know?

At least? Not until she’d met Lin Shuying and gotten to the bottom of everything could she decide whether this should go public.

But that left her stuck.

Just as Lin Yun was lost in thought, a flash of white light swallowed her whole.

When it faded, Lin Yun was gone from the spot as if she’d never been there.

At the very same time, eight hundred meters underground, in total darkness, another white light flashed.

Lin Yun’s figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

A moment later, as if welcoming a guest, lights slowly brightened all around the room.

Only now could Lin Yun see how huge the place was.

There were all kinds of lab benches and equipment everywhere.

It was obviously a laboratory.

“Could this be Lin Shuying’s secret lab?”

“Still… how did I just get down here?”

Looking around, Lin Yun murmured to herself.

She really hadn’t understood what just happened.

While Lin Yun was pondering, a nearby machine started turning toward her, and then—

A beam of white light shot out, shining right on her head.

The beam slowly moved down, scanning her entire body.

After about ten seconds, the scan finished and the device powered down.

A moment later, a figure was projected into the air in front of Lin Yun.

“You’re… Lin Shuying!”

Over the years, Lin Yun had dug through every scrap of information she could find about Lin Shuying, including photos and video clips.

So of course, she recognized the woman in front of her the instant she saw her.

But Lin Shuying didn’t answer the question.

Instead—

“Interesting. Not perfect, but you really did inherit some of Lin Yu’s best genes. So…”

“Are you his daughter or granddaughter?”

Even though it was only a projection, Lin Shuying looked Lin Yun up and down with great interest.

“I’m his daughter!”

“What a shame… you didn’t inherit the most crucial part. So, you have a brother or sister, right?”

“How did you know that?”

“Simple. Even with twins, that core gene can only go to one. You don’t have it, do you?”

Lin Shuying spoke with a hint of regret.

Although Lin Yun didn’t know what the so-called ‘perfect gene’ really was, she was pretty sure of one thing.

Her father’s unusual body was definitely connected to this woman.

But before she could dig deeper, there was something else to settle first.

“How should I address you? Chief Lin? Or… grandmother?”

Staring at the woman’s projection, Lin Yun asked the question slowly.

“Hmm… that works. In a way, I suppose I am his mother. After all…”

“His perfect gene came from me in the first place.”