Far away on the Ring World, Xi Yan also realized that the United Nations of Earth Marshal he had never met was more approachable than he had imagined. What was more, his dad, who had died before Xi Yan ever got to meet him, had been an old friend of the man.
That made things easy!
We're who knows how far apart anyway. Watch me work my magic and get something good out of him without spending a penny!
Xi Yan blinked, forcing himself to look sad.
{Xi Yan: Uncle Bai, honestly, things have been pretty rough for us these past few years.}
Bai Fengfeng's eyes immediately filled with tears.
Ah, this poor kid. His only father was gone, and he had to shoulder the future of an entire nation at such a young age. Now he had no choice but to swallow his pride and come crying to me.
{Bai Fengfeng: It's all right, kid. If you need anything, just come to your Uncle Bai. I'll help as much as I can.}
An everything-is-going-to-plan expression immediately appeared on Xi Yan's face, and he typed a reply.
{Xi Yan: We're short on food, minerals, consumer goods-everything.}
{Xi Yan: Uncle Bai, do you have Fusion Reactor and Hydroponics Farming technology? I'll try to scrape together some energy credits to buy them.}
Quick, get some tech!
Fusion Reactor and Hydroponics Farming?
Those were already fairly low-level technologies for the United Nations of Earth. It seemed things really were dire on Xi Yan's end. Alongside his sympathy, Bai Fengfeng felt a little secret delight.
If they provided aid now, this nation might become a major asset to the United Nations of Earth in the future.
The United Nations of Earth led humanity in competing against alien species on the great galactic stage, but its xenophobic ethos severely limited the international support it could obtain. If it could help the Interstellar Human Military Junta rise, it would have someone to watch its back in the galaxy.
Although Bai Fengfeng was willing to support his old friend's son, he also had to consider his nation's interests.
[Fusion Reactor] and [Hydroponics Farming]?
Just low-end tech. We already have [Cold Fusion Reactors], and we're even researching [Antimatter Reactors]. We might as well give him those two basic technologies!
{Bai Fengfeng: No need to pay. They're just ordinary technologies anyway. Consider them a gift.}
Xi Yan jumped straight out of his seat, positively beaming.
Thanks for the tech donation, rich guy!
{Bai Fengfeng: But you have to promise your uncle one thing.}
{Bai Fengfeng: Preserve the purity of our human nations. Don't follow the United Nations of Earth's example and let aliens into the upper ranks of government.}
The United Nations of Earth already leaned toward xenophobia. Bai Fengfeng said this because he feared Xi Yan's government might eventually become full of aliens and turn around to isolate the United Nations of Earth.
The best approach was to use this opportunity to make the Interstellar Human Military Junta a xenophobic nation just like the United Nations of Earth.
Exporting one's ideology could, in fact, serve as a pretext for war. Bai Fengfeng knew his demand was excessive, but with the distant future in mind, he had no choice but to make it.
{Bai Fengfeng: I know that's asking a bit much. But if you're willing to adopt a xenophobic ethos, I can add the [Standardized Corvette Template], [Geothermal Hydraulic Fracturing], and [Powered Exoskeletons] technologies to the aid package.}
Xi Yan instinctively hunched forward, striking a [seriously, bro?] pose.
What did he say?
Keep my nation xenophobic?
Doesn't he know I'm a bit of a racial purist?
Oh, he really doesn't.
Hehehe, since he's handing me technology on a platter... I'll gladly take it!
Thanks for the tech donation, big brother UNE!
Xi Yan began replying with a broad grin.
Meanwhile, Bai Fengfeng sat pondering for a long time, still somewhat worried that Xi Yan would refuse. After all, forcing a nation to adhere to a particular ethos was no easy task.
But the point remained: for the future of the United Nations of Earth, Bai Fengfeng insisted on doing this.
{Xi Yan: In that case, it'll be a little difficult...}
{Xi Yan: The problem is that we don't have spare resources to promote a xenophobic ethos.}
Xi Yan typed with an evil, goofy grin on his face.
Sorry, old man!
Cough up some gold!
Seeing Xi Yan soften his stance, Bai Fengfeng finally relaxed.
It's just energy credits, isn't it?
Our United Nations of Earth is short on those too, but we have more advanced technology than Xi Yan does!
{Bai Fengfeng: How about [Field Modulation] technology?}
{Xi Yan: Sure, no problem! I guarantee that the next time we meet, the Interstellar Human Military Junta will be full of Fanatic Purifiers!}
{Bai Fengfeng: Uh, you don't have to become a Fanatic Purifier...}
Once they had settled the terms of their cooperation, Bai Fengfeng quickly bundled the six technologies into files and sent them over.
{Xi Yan: Thanks, Uncle Bai. I'll take these technologies to the Academy of Sciences now.}
{Bai Fengfeng: All right. If you run into any other problems, you can come to me too.}
{Bai Fengfeng: If you don't mind me asking, have those generals who served under the old Marshal been causing you any trouble?}
Bai Fengfeng considered the matter.
If those generals were holding Xi Yan back, he would not mind intervening directly in the Interstellar Human Military Junta's domestic affairs.
If necessary, he would even turn the nation into a subject of the United Nations of Earth.
He might treat Xi Yan well, but personal feelings and national interests still had to be kept separate.
{Xi Yan: Don't worry, I slaughtered all the troublemakers! Now my word is law throughout the entire nation!}
{[Communications disconnected]}
Huh?
Bai Fengfeng froze for a moment.
Then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He had not expected this seemingly innocent, immature child to be as ruthless and decisive as his father deep down.
In that case, barring unforeseen circumstances, the Interstellar Human Military Junta would surely develop into a powerful nation. When that happened, the United Nations of Earth would have an ally in the Sea of Stars.
Bai Fengfeng smiled, shook his head, and returned to his work.
{[Communications connected]}
{Xi Yan: Oh, right, Uncle Bai. The United Nations of Earth has energy problems too, doesn't it?}
{Xi Yan: Keep an eye on the universe. You might find an abandoned Dyson Sphere somewhere.}
{[Communications disconnected]}
At the end, Xi Yan suddenly sent two cryptic messages, then hurriedly went offline.
Bai Fengfeng raised his head, looking puzzled.
"A Dyson Sphere?"
He knew what that was: a theoretical megastructure, an enormous construction that enclosed a star and converted all the energy it radiated into a vast quantity of energy credits.
Could some civilization have built structures like that before?
Bai Fengfeng immediately thought of those powerful Fallen Empires.
"Their civilizations once enjoyed glorious heights too. Perhaps there really are ruined Dyson Spheres out there somewhere..."
"But how does that kid Xi Yan know about them?"
No matter how he thought about it, Bai Fengfeng could not figure it out.
Countless light-years away, on the Cybrex Ring World, Xi Yan downloaded the technical data Bai Fengfeng had sent, his heart racing and his hands trembling.
"Yeah! Fucking awesome! I'm the ultimate, unbeatable genius!"
"Six technologies! Holy shit, this feels amazing!"
A moment later, the Marshal's excited roars shook the entire administration building.
Secretary of State Ailiveer and the secretaries looked speechlessly toward the floor above.
"What's gotten into the Marshal this time...?"
Grinning foolishly, Xi Yan browsed back and forth through the six technologies.
[Fusion Reactor] technology was more stable than the existing [Fission Reactor] technology and produced more energy. Not only could it be installed on warships, but using it for power generation would also yield more energy credits!
[Hydroponics Farming] technology made truly soil-free cultivation possible.
Now the Ring World no longer needed agricultural districts or painstaking searches for soil suitable for farming. They could build soil-free hydroponic farms directly, each producing at least 20 units of food.
Combined with Amat Eiro II, which would soon be colonized, this meant they would not have to worry about food consumption for the next hundred years or more!
The [Standardized Corvette Template] provided a standard design that would significantly improve FTL Corvette production efficiency and reduce resource consumption. It was a fairly practical early-stage technology.
[Geothermal Hydraulic Fracturing] technology could significantly improve mining efficiency at planetary mining stations. According to its in-game effects, it directly increased mineral production from miners by 20% and from planetary mining stations by 10%. Now their mineral resource problem could be solved too!
[Powered Exoskeletons] technology had been mentioned before. Although its numerical effects were only a 5% increase in Army damage and a 5% increase in mineral output from maintenance jobs, it unlocked an extremely important technology-Robotic Workers!
With robots filling jobs and handling production, how could the nation's resource output fail to rise?
What a haul! Asking an advanced civilization for technology really does feel amazing!
Restricted by its code, the game only allowed players to research technologies themselves. In reality, however, Xi Yan could simply ask his big brother, the United Nations of Earth, for them.
He was a straight-up interstellar beggar.
Unable to stop grinning foolishly, Xi Yan casually contacted the Academy of Sciences.
"Old Ma, I've brought you something good!"
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