Major!

"Captain Boren has always been very kind to me."

"If I could, I would still like to stay on the A73 warship."

Without much thought, Lister blurted it out.

The fact that the Arcane Army Group offered him these positions shows their sincerity, and they have also made their intentions clear to him.

Since that's the case, Lister didn't want to keep it a secret.

It was Captain Boren who suggested that he form Civilization Army, so the Arcane Army Group naturally knew this and simply stated their position.

"Captain Lister, don't you need to reconsider?"

"Don't worry, you can make a different choice at any time before the conferment ceremony begins."

"No need, I choose to stay on Ship A73."

After reaffirming his stance, Lister sensed the two of them using Killing Intent Wave.

It was obvious that the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, and their attitude towards him became much warmer and more genuine.

It seems he made the right choice.

The final visit was still required.

Led by Lieutenant Colonel Kali and Major Falco, they toured several key departments of the army group headquarters.

I thought Major Falco was just being polite.

As a result, Lister himself became extremely famous at the Federal Headquarters.

Especially now that he has been promoted to Quasi-Hegemon and is about to be awarded the rank of major, some people really treat him like a fanatical idol.

Not to mention ordinary lieutenant-level officers, even two colonels I met treated Lister with great respect.

It's not entirely the fault of the members of the Arcane Army Group; after all, they weren't part of the Central Army.

There have never been any Hegemon hegemons or Quasi-Hegemon. Even if there were one or two a few hundreds of years ago, they would only stay for a year or two before leaving. Ordinary officers would never even see them.

For a living "Quasi-Hegemon" like Lister, even though his rank was only captain, his attitude and influence were clearly equivalent to those of a colonel.

This is evident from the attitudes of Lieutenant Colonel Kali and the other officers who transferred down the ranks.

Lister gained a lot from this visit; at least he gained some understanding of the combat capabilities of the officers in the headquarters military region.

The junior officers generally possess combat strength of B-level or higher, indicating a relatively high rank.

The ranks of officers are somewhat vague; there is no clear distinction in strength between majors and lieutenant colonels.

The colonel, however, was different. He couldn't detect any of the Listers he encountered; they were all at least at the 16th rank or higher.

In comparison, their situation was indeed much weaker than that of the Central Army.

The following day, the awarding ceremony was far more high-profile than Lister had imagined.

Held at the Arcane Council Center on the 1000th floor of the Tower of Truth!

This is the political center of the Arcane Civilization, and it is never used except for major decisions and meetings.

The last time the Federation Military District held a rank conferment ceremony here was for the promotion of its youngest officer, Morse, to major general.

Today, however, the officers actually awarded ranks are fewer than ten officers from their Ship A73 who have been promoted to the rank of colonel.

The conference room was packed with people when the ceremony began.

Their clothing was also very uniform; they either wore bright red robes with dark gold patterns or federal military uniforms.

Two distinct groups, one in black and one in red, represent the core power structure of the Arcane Civilization.

"Hiss~! Is that Major Lister?"

"Besides being younger, they don't seem to have anything special about them!"

Lister followed Captain Boren onto the ceremonial platform.

All eyes were on him, and discussions were incessant.

With his current senses, he can hear all the discussions.

Most of the discussion focuses on his youth; after Galactic Federation life form enters the second or even Third Advancement, its age cannot be determined from its appearance.

However, based on basic perception of breath, one can still judge a person's age from their vitality.

In the Third Advancement job advancement, Lister's life force is almost indistinguishable from that of a juvenile life form.

"Ah~! Major General Morse!? Major General York!? They're both here!?"

A new wave of cheers erupted from the crowd before them.

Wow! I didn't expect even Major General Nielsen to be here today!

As a major general who had already reached the Fourth Advancement, although he had already concealed his aura, it was still very powerful in Lister's perception.

"In the comparison of friend and foe..."

[Target: Nielsen (Major General, Federation Military District, Arcane Civilization)]

[Grade:???]

[Overall Rating: Grade A]

Lister witnessed the presence of the three highest-ranking leaders of the Federation Military District today.

In the Galactic Federation, the mainstream life forms are still Third Advancement life forms.

Breaking through to the Fourth Advancement rank is extremely difficult, and can be considered a kind of ceiling or limitation.

Many officers in the highest-ranking Civilization Army were likely only field officers.

Although the "advanced life form" of the Arcane Civilization no longer exists, the three major generals still demonstrate the Arcane Civilization's strong foundation and strength.

Despite the large number of attendees, high-ranking officials from both the military and political spheres were present.

However, the actual conferment ceremony was very simple; the conferment of ranks was carried out immediately upon the arrival of the person.

The crew of Ship A73 were excited, having benefited from Lister's fame, and were treating each other as if they had met their idol.

It was personally awarded by Major General Nielsen, the first person in the Arcane Civilization Army.

Of course, Major General Nielsen was much more casual about awarding the title to others.

He simply handed the general's badge to the other party in person, but when it came to Lister, his attitude was much more serious.

He personally changed his collar insignia and shoulder boards to those of a major, and no one objected to this preferential treatment.

In the Galactic Federation, many people and things are inherently of different levels of importance. As for Major General Nielsen's special attitude towards the new "Quasi-Hegemon," everyone just thought it was normal.

A few minutes later, the conferment ceremony officially concluded.

Everyone began to leave, while Lister Colonel Boren to a small meeting room next door.

All three major generals were present, along with three mages in red robes chatting idly nearby.

Lister recognized these people; they were high-ranking officials in the Arcane Civilization government.

It's impossible to determine his strength level, but a rough estimate suggests he's already at the Fourth Advancement.

"Major Lister, this is one of the chief archmages of our Arcane Civilization Council, and also a formal member of the Galactic Federation House of Representatives, Archmage Luolin."

Nielsen introduced Lister, and Lieutenant Boren Lister, who was responsible for leading the way, quietly retreated to the back of the room.

The government of the Arcane Civilization is composed of the Arcane Council, in which the three chief archmages hold true power.

The one with the highest status is this Archmage Luolin, who is also the only one to serve as a member of the Galactic Federation Senate.

Today, Lister had met with all the high-ranking members of the Arcane Civilization.

"Major Lister, on behalf of the Arcane Civilization, I welcome you to serve in the Arcane Civilization Army!"

"We also hope that our Arcane Civilization can establish friendship, or even an alliance, with your Merrick Civilization."

Grand Master Luolin was quite old, and among the bigwigs in both the military and political spheres, he was the oldest and most senior.

At this moment, he spoke frankly with Lister.

They came for the sake of both civilizations, even though the Arcane Civilization ranks in the middle to upper range among Tier 3 civilizations.

However, in terms of potential, it cannot compare to the Merrick Civilization, the home of Lister, this "Quasi-Hegemon".

Even at its peak, the Merrick Civilization might not be stronger than the Arcane Civilization.

But before the fall of Lister, this 'Quasi-Hegemon,' the future always belonged to the Merrick Civilization.

Even if the hope is slim, who can guarantee that the Merrick Civilization won't eventually become a Level 4 civilization?

"Grand Mage Luolin, I am willing to represent the Merrick Civilization in establishing a friendship and future alliance with the Arcane Civilization."

Upon hearing this, all six people present wore smiles on their faces.

Major General York, in particular, frequently received approving glances from the crowd.

Soon, as if sensing something, Archmage Luolin asked again.

"Major Lister, isn't your civilization planning to advance?"

"Grand Master... it may take some more time."

"The Merrick Civilization has been around for less than a century. Not only are there not enough Third Advancement Class Holder, but its political system has also never been established..."

"So..."

Lister wanted a promotion, but unfortunately, he didn't meet some of the requirements.

In the original second-level civilization, the requirements were not high, only the number of high-level combatants of second-tier Class Holder was required.

Currently, as a Level 3 civilization, it still needs to establish a political system, connect with the Galactic Federation Government, and so on...

These are not even considered conditions for other civilizations. What civilization has reached the level of a third-tier civilization without even having established its most basic structure?

It's just some basic standard terms and conditions.

Who knew that this would actually restrict the Merrick Civilization, which had only existed for a few years?

This left the high-ranking mages and several major generals looking at each other in bewilderment.

Even though they had some guesses, they never expected that the limitations on the advancement of Lister 'Lister would be these trivial conditions.