Star Sea Alliance-Youth League

Three hours had passed since their return...

The Star Origin kept traveling through the dazzling Subspace.

The Star Origin's control room.

"I have to say, you can see the strength of the Star Sea Human Alliance in every little detail. Look, the new-generation gene serum is being made widely available again."

Feng Xiao browsed the news and clicked his tongue.

Ilde smiled. "I heard that countries only have to pay the base cost to import this batch of gene serum. They don't have to pay a markup.

Citizens under eighteen can use it for free. Afterward, their intelligence and physical potential improve considerably, and their lifespans increase to around eight hundred years."

"Lifespan is nothing. Immortality isn't difficult if you're willing to pay the price. The catch is that your consciousness must be strong enough to contain the ever-increasing influx of information from the outside world.

If I remember right, ordinary people's consciousness can bear at most two thousand years' worth of information before it becomes too jumbled and dissipates, right?"

Wang Hao felt as if he were listening to a myth. A thought suddenly struck him, and he asked, "The gene serum is free, but what about countries ruled by emperors or kings?"

Feng Xiao and Ilde chuckled. "Whether it's an empire, a kingdom, a federation, or a republic, they're all just interest groups with different systems of distribution.

They still have to abide by the Alliance Law. If they illegally exploit their citizens, the Alliance Council won't hesitate to make them understand that citizens are far more valuable to a civilization than its ruling class."

"The Alliance Council doesn't care about those interests?"

Wang Hao was even more confused.

"You'll understand someday. For the human government formed by the Alliance Council, only the continued strength of human civilization itself counts as an interest.

Wealth... lifespan... power... In the face of today's vast technological advances, those are nothing but low-level pursuits. That's why there are narrow-minded people at the bottom.

But the Alliance Council of human civilization, and the forces and figures who truly shape it, are all more rational than the last. Not one of them is useless."

Feng Xiao spoke calmly.

He couldn't help recalling some things his father had told him...

The Star Sea Human Alliance was surrounded by enemies on all sides and was waging full-scale civilizational wars against hundreds of civilizations at once. Even the weakest among them were Level Eight civilizations!

But those civilizations weren't the ones attacking humanity.

The Star Sea Human Alliance had launched the wars itself, and it had the advantage.

Even so, the Star Sea Human Alliance devoted only a fraction of its attention to those wars.

The resources it provided for them made up only a small part of its total resources...

It still spent the rest of its efforts developing humanity.

In other words, humanity treated all the nearby civilizations as training tools for its military. If the Alliance had really wanted to wipe them out, they would have been gone long ago.

"All right, let's stop bragging for now. We're about to reach Moss Starport." Feng Xiao checked the time, cutting off their conversation.

"Then we should prepare to leave Subspace..."

"Part of Moss Starport extends into Subspace, so there's no need to leave."

Ilde explained, "The Subspace starport is part of the ETC Channel. We can go straight through.

Most merchant ships and starships in the Morton Galaxy can't travel through Subspace. If we went through the Main Universe, we'd have to wait in line."

Wang Hao could only resign himself to it. He decided to keep cramming on the basics of the Star Sea Human Alliance.

He couldn't let himself become a country bumpkin!

Meanwhile... in the central region of the Star Sea Alliance.

A silver, diamond-shaped artificial structure, tens of thousands of times larger than a star, slowly rotated.

Thousands of nearby artificial celestial bodies, tens of thousands to over a million kilometers in diameter, surrounded it like stars around the moon.

Numerous artificial planets and starports connected to every transportation network. The light of civilization covered several light-years in every direction, filling the region with activity.

Brilliant radiance dispelled all darkness from the surrounding area.

There was no star; the structure shone with its own light.

Countless starships and conventional warships radiating powerful energy signatures came and went. Even transport ships the size of planets traveled between the artificial celestial bodies.

There were also quite a few sightseeing vessels.

This supreme creation, built entirely from a translucent, unknown alloy, was none other than the official headquarters of the Star Sea Human Alliance's Department of Education!

Sprout Star!

Like the dwelling of a god of technology, Sprout Star housed the headquarters of countless academic institutions. New-generation captains on their days off and students with exceptional talents could be seen coming and going at all times.

They headed to cities in different districts to shop and have fun.

Of course, as Alliance elites who had earned the right to study here, they were all diligent and talented. There was no need to worry about them falling into depravity.

In Sprout Star's central district.

More than a dozen figures gathered in a vast conference room, discussing something.

"The higher-ups have allocated another sum of money, but the Alliance's entire education system is running well right now. Even the small countries in the frontier regions have received their full funding.

There's nowhere that needs the money."

The figure at the head of the table spoke calmly.

"But we can't just let it sit there. That money is meant to improve the next generation. Letting it go unused is a waste. Have any new academies been established?"

"Don't do that. The Department of Education can keep educational funds in reserve for a long time without any trouble, but if those academies receive funding and don't spend it for too long, they'll be audited."

A figure on the left hurriedly stopped the person across from him.

"Then what do we do? If we don't spend this allocation, the next one will just create a vicious cycle. Should we send some of it to the military academies?"

"Our military academies already have a surplus of funding. Don't even think about it."

"What about the research academies?"

"Same story."

"Come to think of it, why has there been so much funding lately?"

"The Star Sea Festival only comes once every hundred years. Military activity on the battlefront has dropped sharply, so for the past few years, they've been distributing the military budget among the other departments..."

As the discussion below drifted further and further off topic, the person at the head of the table grew exasperated. "Enough. I have an idea. Would you all like to hear it?"

"..."

"Since the Star Sea Festival is coming, the Department of Education should hold some kind of event. So why don't we organize a Star Sea Youth League?

Anyone under twenty-five can compete.

We can include more than ten major fields, such as research, special abilities, ancient martial arts, starships, and literature... The rules and systems must be comprehensive, and the event should also provide the academies with outstanding talent."

The others' eyes lit up. "Good idea. It'll also foster a more competitive atmosphere. Should the events be held in the real world or the Second World?"

Unlike the Star Net, which only starship captains or crew members could access, the Second World was a virtual world open to all of humanity.

It was far larger than the Star Net.

The figure at the head of the table spoke calmly. "The other competitions can take place in the Second World, but the starship league, special abilities, and other specialized disciplines need to be held in the real world.

The starship competition will be based on points. We'll use Star Weapons to cover a region of the Main Universe, where the competing starships can hunt for points.

They'll be ranked by the number of Star Points they earn. As for the targets, we could deploy large numbers of medium-sized swarms without Brain Bugs, along with the Machine Race."

"There's a good location for the venue, too. Isn't there a Level Eight civilization that keeps claiming its territory is the center of the universe?

We can have several advanced powers form a joint force and clear it out. Afterward, we'll pay them the standard rewards for clearing the area.

A territory of over a hundred million light-years should be enough for a Level Eight civilization."

"Special abilities, ancient martial arts, and other individual combat disciplines would be better suited to tournament matches."

"Agreed. The professors and masters in the relevant fields can work out the arrangements for the other competitions."

"We can't skimp on the prizes. Don't include any Star Weapons below orange grade."

"When should we hold it..."

"The Star Sea Festival is three and a half years away. Then let's schedule it for two Star Sea years from now. The event will be called the Star Sea Alliance—Youth League!"

Within a few dozen minutes, powerful intelligence systems had finalized all the arrangements for the league, and a flood of related information spread in every direction.

Fleets carrying countless mid- and high-level insect nests and Machine Race factories were already on standby, ready to deploy the swarms and Machine Race in advance.

That would give them time to expand.

But the first to set out were countless powerful expedition fleets and groups of starships. At times, weapons as powerful as Neutron War Stars could be seen among them.

Dimensional Weapons! Super Starships!

After all, the venue for the league was still 'undeveloped' and needed to be cleared out as soon as possible.