Chapter 275: Conference on the War Against Olive Branch Civilization

In a magnificent metallic hall, the space was vast, measuring over 400,000 meters in length and width, with a height approaching 10,000 meters.

Countless scholars were invited to discuss a critical issue: "The War Against Olive Branch Civilization."

Through the ongoing conflict with Silk Civilization, Yan Xia gradually realized that war was never just an individual matter but a collective one for the entire federation. Therefore, he continually increased the participation of scholars in wartime discussions, especially during this period when they were granted the power to deliberate on war strategies.

This power did not imply that simply discussing war at home would violate their authority; rather, it represented a form of advisory power. In other words, the content discussed could potentially be implemented in the war. If a proposal significantly influenced the war's direction positively, its proposer would be awarded the highest honor in the federation.

"Flandoniel, you've come too! Your star system must be hundreds of light-years away," said Gillismo with surprise as he spotted the aquatic being.

"Gillismo, if you're here, how could I not come?" replied Flandoniel.

"This war determines the fate of the federation; as one of the living beings at this moment, how could I avoid it?"

The aquatic race had worked for 30,000 years to integrate from their primitive civilization into the federation, making them fully part of humanity now.

After exchanging pleasantries, they embraced each other.

"How long has it been since we last met? 500 years?"

"602 years, my brother!"

Scholars in the federation generally had much longer lifespans than ordinary beings. With many scholars practicing mental powers, living 2,000 to 3,000 years was not uncommon.

They had been friends since their student days when they were only sixty or seventy years old—quite youthful by their standards.

After embracing, Flandoniel looked around and remarked, "It's really big."

The soft white light from the dome illuminated the hall as bright as day. Every seat was incredibly spacious; a small aquatic being felt like they were sitting in a plaza. For some beast-like races, however, the size of the seats was just right. The seating arrangements catered to all races; for those without hindquarters, there were areas to lie down, making it appear like a chaotic gathering.

Each step was high enough that no one's view would be obstructed by those in front. Additionally, each seat had corresponding viewing aids so that even from a distance, one could see both sides clearly.

There was no podium in this grand hall—just countless seats.

"Bobby Wu, Jiejie Xikelo, Landon Qianming, Dukan Xiong…"

Gillismo read out names of prominent figures on the scholars' ranking list. Compared to Flandoniel and himself, these individuals seemed like celestial beings. Gillismo had once aspired to become a student of one of these scholars but found his resume lost at sea.

Yet here they were at this war discussion conference together—figures who were previously elusive and only seen in lectures. Booking an appointment with them required at least 1 million source coins and an evaluation of one's qualifications; if deemed unqualified, that money would be refunded with no further recourse.

"They're all big shots! I rarely see them even during lectures," Flandoniel remarked as they chose a front-row seat.

At that moment, a member of the Lightwing race flew past and sat beside them. They were startled and quickly stood to exchange polite greetings.

Jin Bosina was one of the top scholars from the Lightwing race—a super scholar ranked 2,839th in military studies within the federation. He specialized in military logistics and minored in strategy.

Both felt tense sitting next to him; despite being several dozen meters apart, they dared not make a sound.

Though ranked 2,839th might seem lowly at first glance, it was essential to understand that each scholar's ranking within the federation involved competition among billions. Only those who excelled beyond measure made it onto such lists; their knowledge dwarfed that of 99.99999% of other scholars.

The entire entry process lasted 72 hours as the venue filled with densely packed life forms totaling over 10.27 million attendees.

These individuals were not obscure figures within the federation; even the weakest among them would be someone revered by countless ordinary citizens across any star city. To put it crudely in monetary terms, none here earned less than 1,000 source coins monthly.

While this may seem modest, considering that the median monthly salary for federation citizens is around 7 source coins—if we equate it to a median salary of 3,000 from the 21st century—then even those at this conference would have salaries exceeding 420 thousand source coins monthly; precisely speaking, it's about 428571 source coins—nearly three times that of an ordinary person's salary.

"All invited scholars have now entered; this marks the official commencement of the federation's first War Discussion Conference."

"This conference will last for 50 days with breaks every day lasting 48 hours. All scholars may speak freely; however, to ensure information remains organized and non-conflicting each session will feature only one speaker."

"The time consumed during these discussions will be deducted from your lifespan; all attendees will need to account for their lifespan spent traveling here."

Most life forms within the federation would choose to enter cryogenic sleep during transit since time spent sleeping slows lifespan consumption by a factor of fifty thousand. Thus rounding up means no one would expend more than one day's worth of lifespan for this conference—a measure designed to protect scholars contributing to the federation's efforts.

"Data has been sent to everyone; please familiarize yourselves with it for an overview of the war."

As opening remarks concluded, all scholars began reviewing materials.

They had seen similar data before but given its origins from various sectors and often circulated through multiple hands—it was incomplete and sometimes exaggerated or misleading.

This reading session rendered silence throughout the venue for thirty hours until finally one scholar broke it.

"The primary goal of this war is to obtain information regarding Olive Branch Civilization's weapons capable of destroying Silk Roads. However, we have yet to observe any strong motivations from any side; this plan seems chaotic and undefined after so long."

"After all, we previously knew too little about Olive Branch Civilization—we have no idea how to guide them or pressure them or deceive them. This is entirely reasonable."

"However," he continued emphatically, "I believe this is far from sufficient; it will affect our entire war situation and prevent us from achieving our objectives."

"Our clarity regarding this war remains incomplete—we are considering sacrificing lives for information which places us in a passive position. Even if we are technically on offense—we remain absolutely passive within this conflict."

"I feel we are rushing into this war too hastily; we should slow our pace and emphasize disguise. In fact just as we do not understand Olive Branch Civilization—they do not understand us either. The star cities have not shared our information with them so we remain shrouded in darkness as feral beasts—they do not know whether we are dangerous predators or gentle pets."

"By acting so hastily now," he warned loudly "we risk allowing our enemies to understand us more quickly enabling them to devise optimal strategies for our annihilation…"

His voice resonated throughout the hall; every scholar held unique perspectives shaped by thousands of years' worth of accumulated wisdom within the federation.