Luna traveled from her original star system to the Supernova Technology Company headquarters.
Typically, interstellar corporations establish their headquarters within a star system, heavily fortifying its defenses and implementing strict network security to prevent unauthorized access.
However, Supernova Technology Company's headquarters was a mobile station wandering through deep space.
This offered virtually no advantages and jeopardized fuel supply.
"It's strange; how do they obtain energy here?" Giotto observed Luna's puzzled expression.
He was personally greeting Luna.
Because Luna was an exceptional talent.
He and Toma K had been running Supernova Technology Company, gradually expanding it, but their growth was built upon time and acquired technology.
He didn't want to admit his lack of business acumen, but it was true.
Supernova Technology Company had previously plateaued; its further growth was a significant challenge.
Then Luna arrived, and they finally achieved explosive growth.
While over 100 trillion credits wasn't considered a giant corporation in human civilization, it was only a first step.
However, context matters.
A planet is just a grain of sand in the universe, but to an ant, it's a vast world that could take a lifetime to traverse.
In the Rusty star nation's sector, there aren't many quadrillion-credit corporations. A hundred-trillion-credit company is already considered a super-corporation.
The change from 20 trillion to 110 trillion—a fivefold increase—might seem insignificant, but it represents a massive shift in status, including resource acquisition. Supernova Technology Company now surpasses the former Supernova Science and Technology Company by a factor of ten in all aspects; considering market expectations, it could be fifteen times greater.
A technology company and a weapons technology company, even with similar market values, have different perceived strengths.
He needed Luna to become Supernova Technology Company's CEO, managing its operations.
"Indeed, this doesn't look like a place with abundant fuel."
Luna nodded. The city was small, less than 10,000 square kilometers, a mere infant compared to cities starting at 100 million square kilometers.
"It doesn't need abundant energy because this isn't just a headquarters; it's a warship."
Giotto said with a smile, a hint of pride.
Few companies of their size possessed such a massive warship.
Its size approached that of a sub-planet-class warship.
Currently, within human civilization, the Federation possessed planetary-class warships, the ultimate weapon. Most sub-planet-class warships also belonged to the Federation.
However, this doesn't mean other star nations haven't developed sub-planet-class warships.
Consider that the New Federation has existed for almost 100,000 years, and the war between the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant and the Federation has lasted tens of thousands of years.
These star nations all stand on the shoulders of the Federation. The Federation, starting from scratch tens of thousands of years ago, could develop sub-planet-class warships; these other star nations certainly could as well.
Sub-planet-class warship technology has long been mastered. The Federation possesses 4290 sub-planet-class warships, while other star nations combined have 2779.
The Federation could have even more sub-planet-class warships. At the start of contact with the Flyer Civilization, their numbers exceeded 3500. The lack of increase over tens of thousands of years is due to the high maintenance costs, and there's currently little external pressure.
The Federation allocates its energy elsewhere and doesn't want to be burdened by excessive warship numbers.
The cost of sub-planet-class warships isn't actually high. Technological advancements have reduced the cost of older Federation models to around 40 billion energy credits—essentially mass-producible.
However, the latest models cost 2 to 10 trillion energy credits.
The biggest expense for interstellar warships is maintenance, including spare parts and upgrades.
A warship typically serves for several thousand years. Without equipment upgrades, it would be completely outmatched on the battlefield.
Therefore, sub-planet-class warships are expensive; a small 2-trillion-credit sub-planet-class warship would cost at least 100 trillion energy credits from commissioning to decommissioning—far beyond Supernova Technology Company's capabilities.
This surprised Luna.
"So, can this warship participate in combat?"
Giotto walked ahead, seemingly ignoring Luna.
It turned out to be an obsolete sub-planet-class warship. By foregoing military-grade maintenance, the cost would be approximately equal to the purchase price.
If they bought this model second-hand, the cost could fall below 1 trillion energy credits, perhaps even 200 or 300 billion.
However, Giotto managing to obtain this was a miracle.
Even used sub-planet-class warships were in high demand. Most owners preferred to trade them within their star nations.
Trading with fellow military forces was ideal.
Luna accessed the warship's main server and quickly found out why it was in Supernova Technology Company's possession.
It had been traded to Supernova Technology Company by the Rusty star nation.
Supernova Technology Company's initial rise was meteoric, quickly attracting the Rusty star nation's attention. The Rusty star nation initially intended to support Supernova Technology Company, but its growth was unexpectedly rapid, soon exceeding a hundred billion credits in market value.
Once Supernova Technology Company surpassed that threshold, the Rusty star nation found it difficult to control it.
Both parties then entered a tense period lasting several thousand years.
During this tension, Supernova Technology Company continued to grow, reaching the trillion-credit mark.
To maintain its influence, the Rusty star nation traded a sub-planet-class warship for 20% of Supernova Technology Company's shares, establishing a closer relationship.
Therefore, the Rusty star nation and Supernova Technology Company were effectively allies.
This is common; the Rusty star nation was small and needed to maintain all possible alliances. Supernova Technology Company could stimulate its economic growth, so it wouldn't abandon the company.
Luna understood this; it wasn't a secret, just something he hadn't thoroughly investigated before.
He wasn't currently focused on this, because Giotto had brought him here to see something special.
Luna hadn't found this item in the data; it was kept strictly confidential.
Giotto led Luna into a signal-shielded room.
The room was vast, approximately 5,000,000 square meters, with a ceiling height of around 300 meters. It was filled with various weaponry.
"Establishing headquarters here avoids energy supply issues; hence, no research is conducted here."
"Only small-scale experiments are performed."
Giotto had his reasons. Headquarters concentrated experts but avoided research to facilitate escape.
The war between the Federation and the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant had expanded; star nations previously only experiencing minor friction were now engaged in conflict.
There had been minor skirmishes around the Rusty star nation, including conflicts with neighboring nations.
This place had once been peaceful, but not anymore.
"You can conduct some light research here. Every 100 years, an energy transport ship will arrive from a nearby star system to replenish the warship's energy, so you don't need to worry about fuel."
"For in-depth research, you can notify the transport ship to take you to our research and development Star City, where you can do anything you wish."
"Of course, that's for later. Right now, we're facing a problem, and we hope you can help us, help the company."
Giotto approached a cluttered area of weaponry, moving aside many items to reveal a half-square-meter table holding a small, square object.
Judging from the environment, this hadn't been touched in a long time.
Luna reached out to pick up the object, but unexpectedly, her hand passed right through it. It wasn't excessively heavy; her hand simply went through.
But she was certain it wasn't a 3D projection.
"Atomic spacing material, also called evasion material. It's our company's invention."
Giotto picked up a metal clamp and waved it back and forth; the clamp passed straight through the material as well.
Quite remarkable.
Luna's interest was instantly piqued.
The name itself suggested the mechanism: atoms have spaces between them. If a material could perfectly align with the atomic spacing of another, they could pass through each other without collision.
However, achieving this in practice was extremely difficult.
First, atomic arrangement is chaotic. Achieving this effect requires extremely orderly atomic arrangements in both materials.
Second, while spaces exist between atoms, the exchange of electrons and electrostatic forces keep atoms bonded. To pass through these spaces, one must disrupt the bonds between atoms in one material.
This essentially results in the material collapsing into countless individual atoms.
Luna remembered similar materials from the Federation, but they were short-lived due to their complexity and limited applications.
She didn't expect Supernova Technology Company to have refined this material.
This required top-tier technology.
If the anomalous liquid metal was a fluke, the existence of evasion material suggested something extraordinary.
"So, you want me to help apply this material and generate profits for the company?" Luna understood Giotto's intention.
"Ha ha, not bad."
"This has been in our company for a long time, but due to its unusual nature, it's remained valueless."
"If you succeed, you'll receive 5% of the net profit from this material."
Luna already owned 2% of Supernova Technology Company's stock, eligible for dividends.
However, dividend income would be significantly less than the net profit from a single product, especially a high-profit product like this.
This new material is inherently highly profitable with minimal cost, similar to the anomalous liquid metal with its 30x profit margin. With the right application, a 100x markup wouldn't be unreasonable.
"I accept."
Luna wouldn't agree merely for the money; she had a specific purpose and was genuinely interested in these new technologies.
While she wasn't an expert in this field, creating products and manufacturing materials were different. The applications for this type of material were limited; Luna had a few ideas.
Upon receiving Luna's affirmative response, Giotto held a celebratory banquet for the hundreds of thousands of headquarters personnel to welcome Luna as the new CEO.
Luna's appointment was finalized five days later, after which she eagerly began researching this new material.
She found the evasion material fascinating.
Its atoms weren't any known element; they were a new type of atom not recorded by the Federation.
Luna named them repelling atoms. Repelling atoms would fuse with normal atoms, generating a repulsive force.
This repulsive force is electromagnetic, causing mutual repulsion between atomic nuclei.
When a repelling atom penetrates between two ordinary atoms, it uses a powerful repulsive force to separate them, regardless of how tightly bonded they are—like a cat chasing a mouse.
Its mechanism of action is difficult to ascertain quickly.
The reason it allows both itself and the material it penetrates to remain intact, without atomic collapse, is simple:
The repelling atoms in this material are widely spaced.
Atoms pushed apart are quickly compressed by surrounding atoms, preventing prolonged separation.
"A remarkable material."
This is arguably one of the best materials Luna has encountered in tens of thousands of years, especially because it requires no external energy.
Many materials require energy input to function; this material's properties are inherent.
It's perfect, even more so than anomalous liquid metal.
However…
"Its applications."
That's the real challenge.
Where could this be applied?
Weapons?
Spaceships?
Warships?
It doesn't seem suitable.
It's perfect and remarkable, but it feels like a useless waste.
Luna researched for hundreds of years, to no avail. It can penetrate any substance, but most substances need to be impenetrable; this completely contradicts mainstream applications.
"Wait!"
"If it possesses inherent power, then it would be useful."
Luna conceived a solution.
However, this simplification requires more advanced research. She needs to alter the material's fundamental nature.
Modifying the properties of a perfect material is no small undertaking.
...
Luna quickly left Supernova Technology Company headquarters.
The headquarters couldn't handle the research and development needed; she had to go to the research and development Star City, as Giotto had mentioned earlier.
The research and development Star city leveraged the entire star system's energy resources, enabling large-scale research and development.
Upon arrival, Luna noticed that the energy infrastructure was different.
The Federation had largely transitioned to Gravitational energy devices for energy collection in most star systems, phasing out large-scale Dyson Swarms.
Dyson Swarms had low energy collection efficiency, only 17% that of Gravitational energy devices, and a significant drawback: 100% energy collection from a star meant it wouldn't shine; all emitted photons would be captured. The Federation didn't need this level of energy; most collected energy was directly transferred to the Star cities, with some supplying the Boundary Gods.
The Federation controlled the photothermal conversion rate in each star system to below 30%, meaning at least 70% of the starlight was still released.
This had advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was an improved quality of life for Federation citizens. Constantly living in a simulated environment created a sense of oppression, similar to 21st-century humans perpetually living in concrete jungles. Occasional escapes to nature and exposure to natural wonders alleviated this.
Furthermore, starlight itself provides navigation; interstellar positioning relies on stellar light. Navigating dark interstellar regions can be challenging.
These are minor advantages. The most significant factor is cost savings.
Dyson Swarms have a vast surface area, resulting in extremely high annual maintenance costs. Gravitational energy devices are significantly cheaper to maintain.
The Federation's only remaining Dyson Swarm is the Alpha Eridani Ringworld because the Ringworld consumes a lot of energy, and most people live within it, and the Ringworld allows views of the star. Other Dyson Swarms are much further out.
The main disadvantage of dismantling Dyson Swarms is the reduction in energy output, approximately 5% to 6% of the Federation's total energy, gradually decreasing over time.
Supernova Technology Company doesn't use Dyson Swarms or Gravitational energy devices here.
Instead, it utilizes a massive stellar energy absorption device.
As the name suggests, it's like a bloodsucking parasite, frantically absorbing stellar energy from the star's surface. This absorption is exploitative.
This technology evolved from the initial star destruction plans. Many sub-planet-class warships now carry this equipment for rapid energy replenishment.
Its annual energy absorption capacity is 140 to 200 times the natural energy output of a standard star, depending on the size and power of the energy absorption device.
This is terrifying.
A single star could be used as 200, but this easily leads to stellar collapse.
A star's natural lifespan is about 1 billion years; under this kind of extraction, it only has 5 million years left. Because the energy is extracted from one side, its internal structure becomes extremely unstable; massive stellar winds occur, wasting even more energy.
Therefore, a 1-billion-year-old star typically collapses completely within 1 million years of this kind of extraction, never exceeding 2 million years.
This is still quite a long time, mainly due to advancements in stellar energy absorption technology, allowing for the direct extraction of high-temperature kinetic energy without destroying the star.
"No wonder they never seem to lack energy."
Looking at this star, Luna felt a pang of regret; it was like a rainforest being clear-cut, the star being a cosmic tree.
If the Federation adopted this method universally, wouldn't it reach Type 2.7?
Federation officials had similar ideas before, but Luna and Ayla rejected them.
The Federation prioritized its people, aiming for sustainable civilization, not a Cyberpunk-style one.
Exploiting stars for energy would destabilize the Federation, leading to a brain drain, difficulty in producing new talent, and a cascade of problems.
A societal structure like the Purple Thorns Civilization wouldn't face these issues.
However, nomadic civilizations have fundamental problems. The universe is largely unknown; you never know when you'll encounter a superior civilization and be annihilated.
This is especially true for civilizations that rely on growth and exploitation. When growth stalls, internal conflicts arise. If exploitation fails, the entire civilization collapses.
This is the crux of the issue.
Advanced civilizations often control resource-rich areas. For societal stability, nomadic civilizations must challenge more advanced ones.
Imagine a company worth hundreds of billions, but with annual profits of only one million—absurd! Could such a company survive?
Therefore, being a nomadic civilization is far more difficult than a conventionally developing one.
It must ensure that everything it obtains can be converted into profit to fund the next cycle of exploitation. This is virtually impossible. It's not like farming, where you plant and harvest. Even in farming, a drought can starve a farmer's entire family.
Luna wouldn't allow the Federation to take this path.
This is only feasible in a game, where resources gained directly translate into technological advancement at a 1:1 ratio. In games, superior combat strength guarantees victory; this isn't true in reality. However, a 1:1 development ratio would make any scientist ecstatic.
While a company might exist where a million-credit investment yields a hundred million, this doesn't translate to civilizations. The company's profits come from the civilization's resources. Earning a hundred million means many others lose that hundred million. Success always comes at the expense of countless failures; their losses accumulate to create the successful individual.
That's the reality.
This validates Luna's foresight.
She allowed the star nation to exist.
The star nation can do many things the Federation can't, its purpose being the exploration of the forbidden.
If human civilization maintains a stable, conservative path, there will be no explosive growth.
The star nation provides that explosive growth for human civilization.
A civilization with greater potential for explosive growth has a higher maximum limit.
Many of these star nations use stellar energy absorption devices, but on a smaller scale; these devices are expensive.
A single device can cover 300 billion km², enough for dozens of Star cities; the investment is substantial.
Realistically, the Federation couldn't equip habitable star systems within 3 million years, let alone other stellar resources. It would likely take hundreds of millions of years to fully equip millions of stars.
...
Luna arrived at this star system, designated Supernova 4—a rather unremarkable name.
It contained only one star city: Unnamed.
The star city wasn't large, only 20 million km², and not structured like a typical star city.
From the outside, it resembled a hamburger, with seven layers.
Combined, this amounted to 140 million km², barely meeting the minimum standard for a typical star city.
Each layer had a specific function, acting as a zone.
This was similar to the structures Luna had studied at the Golden Pyramid on Alpha Eridani.
Before Luna even arrived, the highest-ranking director of the research and development star city came to greet her. The director was also the head of the department—this research star city was, in fact, the entire research division of Supernova Technology Company.
"Welcome, CEO Luna."
Her greeter was a Pineapple alien, which surprised Luna. She had almost forgotten this race existed, having only glanced at their data in the past.
Considering the timeframe, Pineapple aliens had already established themselves within human civilization; their presence in Rusty star nation wasn't unusual.
"Manager Nimiro, correct?"
Nimiro scratched his head. "That's right. CEO Luna remembering my name is truly an honor."
"Your name is legendary within our company; it appears in the list of top managers."
Manager Nimiro's position was only half a rank below Luna's; he could technically ignore her.
However, this fellow was likely a shrewd individual.
As a new race, Pineapple aliens likely faced challenges in the star nation. For Nimiro to reach this level, he must possess considerable talent.
"I'll introduce you to our research facility," Nimiro offered, but Luna declined.
"I'll review the data myself. Please prepare some relevant personnel for me, Manager Nimiro; I want to discuss some research and development projects."
Nimiro was relieved; he didn't want to waste Luna's time on a tour.
He made the arrangements efficiently, preparing everything for Luna in under an hour.
Luna was satisfied and immersed herself in the research, but only formulating ideas and proposals; she didn't directly participate.
It wasn't a matter of unwillingness; she simply lacked the expertise. Forcing herself to learn would be pointless; everyone is human; one can't be both ahead and behind. How could anyone work with her that way?
Luna's genes were undoubtedly among the Federation's best, but not exceptionally so.
Human civilization primarily relied on the resource theory of imagination. Giving Luna an intellectual monopoly would be counterproductive.
Therefore, the latest genetic technology was readily disseminated throughout the Federation by Ayla and then "borrowed" by other star nations.
Eleven hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.
Luna remained in the research star city, never visiting the headquarters.
It was essentially the same, as headquarters also received information from other locations and then deliberated on it. Luna could accomplish this here; she wasn't neglecting her CEO duties.
And this was too easy for her.
She had previously handled the affairs of the entire Federation. A small company's tasks were a relaxing break, not a burden.
Supernova Technology Company's total information volume was less than one hundred-thousandth of what she had handled previously.
Managing a civilization is incredibly tiring.
It's like many in the 21st century dream of traveling back to ancient times to be an emperor, but emperors had to review countless documents daily, convening officials for meetings before dawn.
In ancient feudal societies, governance was slow because the emperor was the sole decision-maker. To ensure the state's proper functioning, the emperor had to do a lot.
People in the 21st century, in the information and industrial age, might get up at 9 a.m., but emperors woke at 4 a.m., and princes at 3 a.m.
These emperors worked harder than office workers.
Of course, this excludes indolent emperors; it only applies to capable rulers.
After 1100 years, Luna finally completed her research.
This research took a long time. Many Federation research projects lasted this long, as each represents another step beyond existing cutting-edge science and technology. Improvements involve not only changes in production methods and alloy ratios but also entire physical theories.
Long durations have advantages.
This research isn't just a change from an integer of 1 to 2; it involves odd numbers, with each odd number representing corresponding advancements in scientific technology.
The 20th century produced numerous rockets and space exploration products; now, there are even more.
In this research, Luna discovered something even better than her original goal.
Her research focused on how to enhance the properties of evasion materials, requiring their transformation.
If evasion materials could be changed from evasion mode to normal mode, could they then be switched back?
Of course.
This led Luna to discover a new material: freely switchable evasion material.
It achieves controlled permeability by altering and manipulating the material's properties.
She could make the material penetrate other materials or prevent it from doing so at will.
Of course, the previous evasion material was placed on a special substrate that prevented penetration, but one couldn't replace everything with this substrate just to be able to touch the material.
That's impractical and displays limited intelligence.
After developing the freely switchable evasion material, Luna immediately envisioned its applications, far exceeding the uses of simple evasion bombs.
Luna's goal was clear: warships!
...
"Warships?"
"You mean warships built from our new material?"
Giotto contacted Luna via Tachyon communication.
Tachyon communication technology was now widespread; many star nations possessed Tachyon communication devices, even deployed on large corporations like Supernova Technology Company.
It's worth noting that the size and energy consumption of Tachyon communication devices are now only 1/50th of previous versions. Sub-planet-class warships are sufficient to power them.
"Correct, but it can't be a mainstream material. It can only be used to produce special warships."
Luna explained to Giotto.
Freely switchable evasion material can control its interaction with other matter, making it useful in specific scenarios.
For Luna, the best application was surprise attacks.
Warships could be hidden inside a planet, making them very difficult to detect within a star.
Furthermore, these warships could be deployed within other warships.
Sub-planet-class warships are large.
But only a few hundred kilometers, or a few hundred thousand meters.
Typical warships are over 10,000 meters long; most Federation warships are even over 100,000 meters. Deploying smaller warships within sub-planet-class ships is impractical; only planet-class warships could serve as transport vessels.
Even if sub-planet-class warships aren't ideal for carrying smaller warships, it's better than nothing.
Larger warships carrying smaller ones can also serve as a lure.
In short, these specialized warships have a niche market.
"But I suggest we start with ship construction. Our company lacks relevant warship technology; few would pay for something we can't reliably produce," Luna suggested.
Giotto was ecstatic.
"Not being able to produce warships is fine; ships are good enough."
Both warships and ships are currently the most important industry in human civilization.
This is far beyond the automotive industry of the 21st century because warships and ships can also be combat units.
Armed ships might not be famous in star nations—they're too small.
But they are highly sought after by explorers.
Since its inception, the Federation's largest organization has been the explorers, comprising a large portion of the population.
The number of explorers across human civilization has surpassed 3 quadrillion, nearly 1% of the total human population. Excluding clones, it's actually over 1%, perhaps nearing 2%.
It's like a country with a population of 100 million having 1 to 2 million people in the same industry—a substantial group.
These 3 quadrillion explorers have a combined spending power exceeding 10 quintillion. Such a vast market is irresistible.
"Ship construction is relatively easier, but it differs from warship construction."
"Ships tend to be multifunctional; theoretically, we must ensure that every component can fully penetrate other matter."
"We need not only evasion materials but also evasion energy sources. I've compiled a plan; you can submit it to the board."
Giotto received Luna's plan approximately four years later.
The plan alone contained over 100 million words; it was incredibly comprehensive.
Giotto directly scanned it into his auxiliary brain for rapid processing.
The more he read, the more shocked he became.
This wasn't simply a spaceship design; it was an entire industrial chain.
From the ship's hull and internal equipment to the onboard systems and server, everything was designed and manufactured using the new materials.
The energy source was paramount; they needed to redesign a new energy system compatible with existing ones.
Could this be real?
Giotto was stunned.
Just glancing at it was overwhelming.
If this were truly built, what would the scale of the industry be?
At least a quadrillion.
Most importantly, if this were merely a theoretical plan, Giotto would simply dismiss it.
But it wasn't; it was a practical plan. Every step, every manufacturing process, was detailed in the plan; one only needed to follow the instructions.
"A genius!"
"A true genius!"
For the first time, Giotto felt the gap between people could be so vast.
Compared to Luna, he felt like an imbecile.
"Is this plan truly feasible?" He still couldn't believe it, so he summoned all the company's shareholders for a meeting.
Each shareholder spent six days reading the plan.
The silence in the office was deafening.
Finally, the first shareholder spoke: "Honestly, this plan is perfect. It touches upon my area of expertise, and I can't find any flaws."
In star nations, without lifespan restrictions, most people have ample time for education.
Those who don't excel will inevitably fail in the fierce competition of human civilization, remaining at the bottom. Those at the top—while not 100%, but at least 95%—possess exceptional abilities, whether in research, management, or wealth creation.
"I agree. In physics, I initially believed there was a flaw, but after consulting relevant experts, I realized it was my own misunderstanding."
"So everyone feels this way? I thought I was the only one who found this plan too perfect. Not just technically, but the writing itself is flawless. I've never seen such elegant prose; every word feels like an injection of knowledge."
The elegance of the prose stemmed from its fluidity.
Given Luna's data processing abilities, she could effortlessly extract the essence from any text, unlike novelists who might stretch 100 words of content into 2000.
"In short, she's convinced me. I think we should test it."
"But the investment is enormous; the initial phase requires 40 trillion credits."
Completely new technology means extremely high costs.
Setting up the entire production line alone would consume at least 50% of the cost.
All the shareholders looked at the same person: a Shore Tribe member from Rusty star nation, royalty.
As Supernova Technology Company's wealthiest shareholder, Rusty star nation had significant influence; they wouldn't be absent from such a large investment.
During this period of research, Supernova Technology Company's market capitalization had grown from 113 trillion to 146 trillion, a rapid increase.
But their cash reserves weren't that high.
Human civilization's companies generally have high market capitalizations, but this doesn't always correspond to their profits.
For example, Supernova Technology Company's profits over the past 100 years were 15 trillion, with a net profit of 13 trillion. Averaged annually, the net profit is only 130 billion.
The market capitalization is over a thousand times the profit.
This would be impossible in the 21st century.
The profit-to-revenue ratio of these companies is frighteningly high. The typical payback period is thousands or tens of thousands of years. But because everyone is long-lived, they can accept this return rate; even a 0.1% increase in stock value over 100 years is acceptable.
In star nations, the typical net profit-to-market capitalization ratio over 100 years exceeds 5%; Supernova Technology Company has surpassed this.
This is thanks to Luna's contributions. Previously, Supernova Technology Company's profit margin was only around 3%, the reason Giotto hired Luna as CEO.
The Rusty star nation representative, Neolo, pondered, deciding to contact the star nation.
After some discussion, he gave his response.
"Agreed. The star nation will fully support this, but the prerequisite is that the plan doesn't fail."
Rusty star nation also desperately needed this investment.
Their influence in the star nation was waning; other star nations were capturing market share in many industries. Rusty star nation now relied solely on Supernova Technology Company.
They were effectively bound to Supernova Technology Company; they rise and fall together.
This was a high-risk investment, but Luna's past performance had instilled confidence in this new plan.
And in reality, their faith was justified.
Luna completed the research and development of the ship in just 2050 years.
This was a remarkably short timeframe.
After all, this wasn't just the development of a single object but a complete system.
This system encompassed tens or hundreds of thousands of components, each requiring a complete production line. Without Rusty star nation's support, this plan would have been impossible; it wasn't just a matter of money but also required significant industrial integration, something Supernova Technology Company lacked.
"The prototype warship is ready; it will be sent to headquarters."
Luna sent the message to the long-waiting Giotto. Over these years, she had enjoyed the research and development process.
Because she had split herself into millions, she no longer needed to worry about Federation affairs, making her more relaxed.
No matter how tired she got, it was nothing compared to before.
"I hope this is a pleasant surprise."
Giotto replied, his anticipation evident.
What had puzzled Luna was that she expected Giotto to cause some trouble, but she saw no signs of it.
Supernova Technology Company was progressing at a slow pace, and Giotto had devoted most of his energy to managing the company.
Perhaps someone from the Mortality Selection plan would understand this better; she would ask them later.
...
Fourteen years later.
Giotto gazed into the deep cosmos from headquarters.
He had waited a long time.
But the ship hadn't arrived.
It should have arrived long ago. He'd been here for almost a month, without food or drink, never leaving his post.
This was simply a crucial event for him.
He had waited too long.
Not for the ship's arrival, but for the fulfillment of a promise, or rather, an order, made to that advanced civilization long ago.
He had to complete it.
But they had overestimated his abilities. He and Toma K were ordinary humans, even less than ordinary. Therefore, over the years, their efforts for Supernova Technology Company consumed most of their time, leaving little for other plans.
Management.
Exhaustion.
Like many in the Federation, Giotto had once dreamed of controlling the Federation, of becoming someone powerful.
But upon actually taking a management position, he abandoned that thought. It was foolish.
A responsible manager is the most tired.
"Why hasn't it arrived?" Giotto pondered, accessing the main server to contact Luna.
But the server immediately informed him that the ship had already arrived.
He was shocked.
He had been standing here for nothing.
When he asked the server for the ship's location, it provided coordinates.
Twenty meters away.
Giotto was bewildered.
But he couldn't see any ship.
The server provided an explanation based on the data Luna had given it.
"The ship possesses light-evasion capabilities, allowing it to be completely invisible."
While described as completely invisible, it still interacts with light to some degree. Complete invisibility, in terms of physics, is impractical; it would mean zero energy exchange with other matter.
However, even a partial interaction is at the atomic level and imperceptible to the naked eye.
Giotto approached the location.
But he still sensed nothing. Of course, it was evasion material; if it could evade light, it could easily evade him.
"Can't it be made visible?" Giotto asked.
The server replied, "Yes."
Giotto's anger flared. Why hadn't they made it visible sooner? Why hadn't they informed him? He suspected the server had done it intentionally.
High artificial intelligence could also be a bad thing.
The computational power of a sub-planet-class warship's server was immense; it could simulate tens of thousands of different individuals using only one ten-millionth of its capacity, flawlessly and realistically.
However, it wouldn't normally do anything harmful to its owner.
The reason the server hadn't informed Giotto was that he had disabled server notifications himself; he found them too annoying.
This apparently happened millennia ago; Giotto had long forgotten.
The ship's cloaking function deactivated, and it quickly materialized.
It was a small ship, only 1702 meters long, primarily white. This was unusual; white is too conspicuous in space.
But it wasn't uncommon in sparsely populated sectors; otherwise, it would be like signaling space pirates: "Come and get me."
That's suicide.
The ship was shaped like a bullet, with sharp edges; it had a menacing appearance.
Luna named this ship the White Dragon.
Giotto found the name fitting.
"The white paintwork is excellent for display, quite eye-catching!"
If it were a prototype, it would naturally be as impressive as possible.
Giotto intended to pilot it himself to see how dazzling it truly was.
His biggest problem was figuring out how the cloaking worked.
The White Dragon was a true stealth warship. The moment Giotto boarded, he felt a stark difference from conventional warships.
A sense of lightness pervaded the vessel; he felt as if he were floating on clouds.
This was a characteristic of the evasion material when it wasn't in evasion mode.
He lacked the rigid feel of typical metallic structures.
Giotto wasn't entirely comfortable with this sensation as he sat in the pilot's seat.
Normal ships had designated pilot stations, but warships were different; all operations and control were handled by the main server.
A major reason was that the warship's server learned and adapted, better able to evade enemy attacks and understand commands.
The difference extended beyond simple size.
"Initiate!"
Giotto directly started the warship.
He'd piloted ships for a long time; over hundreds of thousands of years, he'd spent at least several thousand years in the pilot's seat.
He was a true professional.
Even though the ship's operation mode differed slightly from the past, he was still arguably the best pilot in all of human civilization.
His hands activated the thrusters.
The entire ship shot forward.
The speed was astonishing.
So fast, it even surprised Giotto.
After all, this ship was redesigned from the ground up; it shouldn't be as efficient as a standard ship.
But that wasn't the case; its speed was remarkable, only slightly slower than the fastest ships.
Giotto checked the speed.
92,738 km/s
"It actually achieved this."
He was profoundly astonished.
But that wasn't the ship's only remarkable feature.
He steered the ship toward a small asteroid, slowing down to avoid problems.
He admitted to being cautious, but lives were at stake; a little fear was understandable.
Colliding at such high speed would result in complete destruction; even the atoms might shatter.
He approached the asteroid, watching the ship's bow enter its interior.
The sensation was surreal, like exploiting a game glitch.
Those unfamiliar with this sight would surely believe it to be a cosmic glitch, creating a sensation.
Giotto was tense.
He watched the asteroid's surface draw nearer.
Just as it was about to collide with him, a strange sensation occurred.
It felt like merging two droplets of water.
He'd passed right through the asteroid.
"How did it do that?"
Giotto was incredulous; such technology was actually achievable.
What was the technology behind it?
Inside the asteroid, despite the darkness, Giotto felt immense excitement.
"This technology… it's my future."
He'd finally taken this step.
He accelerated, and the ship quickly exited the asteroid. Giotto checked himself; nothing was missing.
"Incredible."
Truly miraculous.
He connected to the main server to inquire about the principles.
"Actually, the physical body doesn't need to be excessively refined; as long as it remains intact, there won't be major issues."
"Like a person whose arms are severed can be reattached; even if the body's atomic structure is shattered, it can be reassembled."
That was the principle.
To temporarily shatter the body, allowing it to pass through the spaces between atoms.
Atoms are still large and can't easily pass through; therefore, Luna's design also shattered the target material.
It sounds fantastical, but it's extremely difficult to accomplish.
This technology has limited applications; it can only penetrate lighter elements.
Lighter elements, unlike heavier ones, have lower density and are easier to shatter.
Of course, the "light" and "heavy" elements here refer to the current human classification; naturally occurring elements are generally considered light elements.
Therefore, Giotto could penetrate almost any man-made object.
"So there are still limitations?" For some reason, Giotto felt a touch of disappointment.
Perhaps his expectations were too high. This ship still had flaws; it wasn't perfect, and he didn't want to acknowledge that.
"Can it be mass-produced?" Giotto focused on this point.
Luna's work was always reliable.
"Absolutely." The server responded for Luna.
"Mass production can begin within ten years."
Ten years was incredibly short.
But it felt like an eternity to Giotto. He desperately wanted this to happen quickly and decided to enter cryosleep.
...
Luna was still at Research Star City.
She had no intention of returning to headquarters; it was stifling, yet it held things she cherished.
The White Dragon was undoubtedly successful, representing unparalleled technology.
Giotto thought Luna was incredibly smart, but in reality, it was the evasion material technology itself that possessed immense development potential.
"Supernova Technology Company couldn't have achieved this level of technology."
It was too advanced.
It was as if the Federation were at level 10, and suddenly, a level 100 entity appeared. How could one compete?
Giotto definitely had secrets.
She used her authority to enter the Mortality Selection space.
"Respected creator of this civilization, Hyper God A at your service."
Upon entering the Mortality Selection space, Luna saw a short-haired woman appear before her. She appeared mature and resembled a male butler in both dress and facial features, with sharp, defined angles.
Hyper God A could be understood as the Boundary God within the Mortality Selection space.
It controlled everything.
"How many participants are currently in the Mortality Selection plan?" Luna asked.
Hyper God A retrieved the data and replied, "A total of 2.7 trillion. This is a precise figure."
A series of numbers appeared before Luna, constantly fluctuating.
She saw the number of deaths per second displayed, approximately 310,000.
Overall, the death rate is naturally higher than in the Federation, but not excessively so.
Luna had modified the Mortality Selection plan's rules, making the early stages easier than in the old Federation.
But even with this, so many people died, most of them shortly after entering.
This group was both unfortunate and fortunate.
Unfortunate because they experienced death, fortunate because they received a chance at life.
Those who reach the Mortality Selection plan have essentially lived three lives.
"Excellent."
Luna hadn't paid much attention to the details of the Mortality Selection before. Now that she had time, she intended to examine it closely.
"World difficulty is ranked a to z. Character levels are simple numbers. Item levels are ranked by seven colors. Skills are ranked from one to twenty-four."
Because the overall worldview is expansive, the level system is far more complex than in 21st-century fiction.
Even so, it wasn't quite enough.
The top tier are called Divine.
Even among Divine, there are differences, ranked by godhood points.
For example, 0-100 is the first stage, 100-1000 the second, and 1000-10000 the third.
Each point requires completing an a-level difficulty world, completing a-level quests.
Currently, the highest-ranked individual has 139,283 godhood points—an absolute limit, surpassing even Lulian's previous score.
He was recruited by the Federation, but he didn't want to leave the Mortality Selection because he was comfortable there. Reality held no challenge for him.
Second place was a fragmented consciousness with 6283 godhood points—still incredibly powerful, but the disparity was frustrating.
"Show me Mingna's information."
Mingna, initially placed by Luna near Giotto and Toma K, likely hadn't completed her mission.
"Certainly."
[Name] Mingna
[Rank] Divine 3
[Godhood Points] 2830
[Godhood] Plunder, Hunt
[Ability Rating] Divine
Simple.
Ordinary participants in the Mortality Selection plan have strength 38, speed 28, constitution 18, etc., but for someone like Mingna, a single word suffices.
Divine.
The difference between Divine isn't in attributes but in experience.
A Divine with 1 godhood point could kill a god with 1000, but the probability is extremely low because their experience differs drastically.
It's not just experience; it's also about items.
Items in the Mortality Selection space are cumulative; the more spaces traversed, the more items accumulated, leading to increasingly bizarre tactics.
Mingna was powerful.
Even if Luna directly confronted her, she'd likely be instantly killed. Even using the [Supreme Being] gene pool wouldn't guarantee victory.
The Mortality Selection space has gene pool lifespans; thus, those at the Divine level typically possess supreme gene pools or those equivalent to Luna's tier 1 gene pools.
Individually, those who emerge from the Mortality Selection are truly invincible.
These are the Federation's reserve fighters.
Luna would deploy them to the dimensional warfare battlefield once the gateway was opened; that's where their true strength would be unleashed.
"Give her a mission. Tell her to return and report any information she gathers."
Mingna would return soon.
Mortality Selection participants lack physical bodies; they are entirely mechanized and digitized. Essentially, they are machines infused with living consciousness.
However, the machines remain their primary computational centers.
This is the Mortality Selection's drawback.
Why is it this way?
Because machine information can be transmitted rapidly, but consciousness isn't the same; it degrades during transmission.
Ayla devised this consciousness-plus-machine approach.
It's exceptionally efficient, especially after the Metacellular plan, making consciousness splitting easier and gradually perfecting cloned consciousness, allowing distant-mission Mortality Selection fighters to maintain clearer thinking.
Of course, ideally, their consciousness should remain intact.
That was within the Federation.
A portion were in Alpha Eridani.
That location is too distant, so Mingna primarily relies on machine processing.
Furthermore, there's no Boundary God there, so she mainly utilizes the computational power of the nearest server.
However, even for humans, current machine computational power is immense; only the flexibility is insufficient.
Mingna appeared before Luna; she didn't see Luna, as her location was her virtual room.
She went to take a bath. To Luna's surprise, she was human.
Her name was fairly common; with the diverse surnames and given names in current human civilization, someone named Mingna wasn't unusual.
However, Mingna wasn't actually human.
She merely chose to appear human.
Mortality Selection participants initially appeared as they did before death, but could later alter their genes and appearance—easily, at a cost.
The Mortality Selection uses a specific currency.
This currency is awarded for clearing worlds, and they can trade with it.
Although each Mortality Selection participant only has a separate space, a main world exists where everyone can freely move.
Initially, the main world prohibited mutual harm, but as the population increased, this rule was abandoned.
Those with sufficient power could do as they pleased in the main world.
It was a place rife with violence.
The pressure of life and death in the Mortality Selection plan led participants to seek outlets for their stress in any form, and the main space provided everything imaginable, including crime.
Luna allowed this.
Some "Divine" beings within the Mortality Selection plan were actually evil or wicked, but Luna still permitted their existence.
Their purpose wasn't to become fighters but to train those who could become candidates.
After bathing, Mingna went to a panel in her room and began her mission report.
"…"
"Regarding the observation of Giotto and Toma K, they displayed no unusual behavior and harmed no one. If I were to give a rating, I'd say they're good people."
This was Mingna's final assessment.
Good people!
Even she had many doubts. In her opinion, Giotto and Toma K had no issues; why would the higher-ups send her to monitor them?
It made no sense.
It made no sense to Luna either. Based on her authority and Mingna's report, Giotto and Toma K had no problems, yet they possessed technology incompatible with their apparent status.
"Perhaps I'm overthinking this. They did acquire technology, but that's all."
Luna suspected they were prisoners of a higher civilization.
This was a reasonable suspicion. Even if they acquired the technology, they couldn't have replicated it. Many technologies require supporting theories; to implement them, one must understand those theories.
Giotto and Toma K lacked that expertise.
"Perhaps they've been wrongly accused."
Suddenly, Luna considered something, her expression subtly changing.
"Perhaps we should observe them further and provide more resources. Let's see if they reveal more technology."
Luna instructed Hyper God A to give Mingna a new mission: continued observation.
The plan changed slightly.
The focus now was on extracting more technological information from Giotto and Toma K through Mingna.