Super Mothership
"Long live! Long live! Long live..."
Deafening cheers erupted from within the independent ecological space established inside the Immortal.
Since the fall of Planet Kara, none of the Karans ever imagined that one day they might actually find a way to survive such desperate circumstances. Even though they hadn't yet completely escaped the threat posed by the Twin Stars, at the very least, in this moment of fleeing from Kara, it truly felt like they were seeing a glimmer of hope for the continuation of their race.
At that time, all the major squares were packed with people, with waves of cheers from the Karans rising higher and higher.
The ecological space designed for the Karans featured not only a vast network of interconnected passages and layer upon layer of massive public squares, but most notably, a dense and orderly pattern of tree-hole residences resembling an ant nest. These cave-like living structures, reminiscent of cliff dwellings, maximized living space while maintaining comfort.
Having long grown accustomed to building and living in treehouses on Kara Star, the Karans adapted to this new environment with ease.
On a high treehouse, Rose looked at the outer space projection from the external observation system, her heart filled with complex emotions.
She had once gambled the future of the entire Kara civilization on a risky mission—Nie Yun’s “Save the Great Tree” plan. If it had failed, the only way for the Karans to continue their lineage might have been through cloning. As the leader of the Karans, Rose had endured many sleepless nights, and her face had noticeably paled.
Now that the most critical step of the plan had succeeded, much of the heavy burden on the survival of their civilization had been lifted. For the first time in a long while, Rose was able to breathe a little easier. Even a youthful and innocent smile—something she hadn’t shown in ages—returned to her face.
At this moment, she was thrilled that the Kara civilization had managed to escape annihilation and evade the existential crisis hanging over them. Yet at the same time, she also felt anxious and lost about the uncertain future that lay ahead after abandoning their homeworld.
The Kara people had now become a displaced civilization—like refugees who had lost their homeland. Aside from the remaining 2 million Karans, they owned nothing. Even the Immortal, the spaceship they were escaping on, was technically only "rented."
Nie Yun wasn’t offering any charity. He charged a full 300,000 Infinite Coins per month in rent—and he made it clear he wouldn’t support idle freeloaders.
Given the circumstances, it was only natural for Rose to worry about the future of her people and civilization.
Still, compared to the past, even though the Twin Stars remained a looming threat and the crisis hadn’t fully passed, Rose now felt a bit more at ease.
The ship they now rode was property of the Unity of All Things organization. The reinforcements battling the Twin Stars outside the solar system also belonged to that same organization. In essence, Kara civilization had now hitched itself to the wagon of the Unity of All Things.
Though she found the situation somewhat awkward, Rose couldn’t deny the feeling of relief—of finally having found an organization to rely on. It felt like no matter what happened, someone would be there to bear the weight of the sky collapsing.
The Karans were inherently kind and peace-loving. Rose herself was a reluctant “newbie queen,” thrust into her position by circumstance and not particularly fond of power.
Now that the entire Kara race was aboard Nie Yun’s metaphorical pirate ship, and given the consistently strong and near-omnipotent impression Nie Yun had made on her, Rose had gradually come to accept his “acquisition” of the Kara civilization.
And the first thing Nie Yun did after “acquiring” them was to promote his Infinite Coin financial system.
The original social structure of Kara had been completely destroyed by the Twin Stars’ invasion. Their previous currency system collapsed along with it. So when presented with Infinite Coin—the Unity of All Things’ internally designated trading currency—Rose raised no objection.
After a period of shopping and spending, she had witnessed firsthand the incredible purchasing power of Infinite Coin. The long lists of items it could buy seemed to show her a world of limitless possibilities—provided you had the money, of course.
Tied to energy reserves, this currency didn’t suffer from devaluation, which gave Rose confidence in using it as a transitional currency. Introducing a stronger foreign currency was also a practical way to jump-start the Kara civilization’s trading system.
Rose opened the wristwatch-style personal terminal that had just recently been introduced to the Kara leadership.
These personal terminals—distributed as a basic welfare item—were the same models used on Earth’s Atlantis Island.
In terms of precision engineering, Nie Yun’s technological level was undeniably that of an advanced civilization compared to Kara. These sophisticated devices combined communication, commerce, entertainment, and social networking, and quickly became popular among the Karans.
Rose’s own terminal was a custom floral wreath model—lifelike and exquisitely crafted.
After a few taps, she checked the virtual account for the “Kara Branch.” Balance: 4.7 million Infinite Coins.
Nie Yun had initially provided a total of 10 million Infinite Coins as a “resettlement fund” upon their joining. In the time since, Rose had spent several million on various survival and development materials, and the remaining funds now represented all that was left of their civilization’s assets.
This “resettlement fund” wasn’t a free handout—at best, it was an interest-free loan, to be gradually repaid from the Kara civilization’s future income.
Nie Yun’s miserly and money-grubbing nature didn’t bother Rose. In fact, she appreciated the clear, equivalent-exchange nature of their partnership.
It wasn’t charity or a one-sided gift—it was more like a fair and paid employment relationship.
Compared to being treated as slaves or a subordinate civilization, this employment-style arrangement clearly preserved more dignity for the Kara civilization—and was much easier to accept. It prevented a situation where immense favors could turn into resentment.
At least on the surface, the Karans still appeared to be a complete and independent kingdom. Even the title of “Queen” had been retained. It was just that the kingdom’s current situation was quite pitiful—more like “performing for survival, not selling their soul.”
After closing her personal terminal, Rose turned to her trusted captain of the royal guards and asked, “How is the modification work on the Hunter coming along?”
Nie Yun hadn’t invested so much time, energy, and resources into preserving the spark of Kara civilization out of charity—of course he expected a return on his investment.
Using the Hunter as a prototype to develop a new kind of space-combat-specific bio-weapon was the first research project Nie Yun had assigned to the Kara civilization.
In the vast universe, if you didn’t have a dedicated biological combat unit, could you even call yourself a bio-civilization?
The Hunter itself had an excellent combat design and was currently the only viable modification target that Kara civilization could truly rely on.
With the nation in ruins and everything in need of rebuilding, Rose was eager to obtain more development funds from the Unity of All Things in order to arm her people. Naturally, she took this revenue-generating foreign exchange project very seriously.
So even while the Immortal was undergoing its own upgrades, Rose had already summoned all surviving Kara biologists, mobilizing the entire scientific capacity of her people to tackle the project.
The guard captain respectfully bowed and reported, “Your Majesty, the Hunter’s upgrade project is progressing smoothly. We’ve already resolved about 40% of the space adaptation issues. The current space environment is actually quite conducive to this research, and we believe the pace of progress will only increase!”
“Good,” Rose nodded in approval. Just then…
“Long live the Unity of All Things! Long live the Unity of All Things…”
A new chant suddenly erupted from the crowd below. At first, people looked around in slight confusion, but then quickly followed suit.
In no time, the chant “Long live the Unity of All Things!” echoed everywhere, swiftly becoming the new rallying cry.
Rose heard it and felt that something seemed slightly off, but didn’t think too much of it.
Emotionally speaking, the Unity of All Things had indeed saved the Kara civilization from destruction. The kind-hearted Karans were naturally full of gratitude, and it made sense that they would shout such slogans in their excitement.
However, the guard captain behind her showed a visible change in expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then hesitated, lips moving slightly before he ultimately said nothing.
With his age and experience, the captain keenly sensed that something wasn’t right.
Now that the Kara civilization had, in name, become the “Kara Branch” of the Unity of All Things, the more the organization’s prestige grew, the more the monarchy’s authority would diminish.
It was much like the theocratic states of the Middle Ages—where royal power and divine authority appeared unified, but in reality were locked in a constant internal struggle for dominance.
But saying such things aloud would only undermine unity. The Kara civilization was now living under another’s roof and badly needed the support of the Unity of All Things. So in the end, the guard captain could only let out a long sigh and bury the thought deep in his heart…
Meanwhile, Nie Yun ended his psychic communication skill, a sly grin playing at the corners of his mouth.
That’s right—the scene just now had been covertly orchestrated by him through his mental abilities.
He had only needed to target a few Karans and use his mind-link to telepathically suggest the phrase “Long live the Unity of All Things,” making them believe it was something they heard from someone else.
Sooner or later, someone would echo it aloud—and once that happened, the crowd psychology would do the rest.
With just a little push, Nie Yun had generated a wave of public sentiment to boost the organization’s reputation.
Captain Nie’s conquest of Kara civilization began by capturing their “bodies” with his pirate ship, and now… naturally, he was moving on to capturing their hearts through public opinion.
TL Note- Rule...
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