Chapter 172: Internal Emergency Meeting
Is 200 years a long time?
Indeed it is.
What about 49 years?
Would it still feel long?
Fan Ren sat stunned in the cockpit in the command room. In that instant, his mind was a bit chaotic.
10% speed of light, moving 30,000 kilometers per second—this was already beyond what ordinary materials could withstand in terms of stress.
He was confident that within 200 years, he could breakthrough materials science to withstand the extreme stress of 3,000 kilometers per second.
But even so, it was still a 10-fold gap.
In that instant, Fan Ren couldn’t help but doubt himself.
With such a huge gap, how to respond?
49 years passed in a flash. In this short time, humanity simply couldn’t develop weapons that posed a threat to it.
In basic science, materials science, chemistry, and other disciplines, they were far too behind.
“Boss, based on the continuous X-band reflection results, this spaceship should be very small, about 20 meters in length. Currently, it can be confirmed that there is only one.”
A’dai’s voice briefly brought him back to his senses. No matter what, now was not the time to be discouraged.
Behind him were over a billion Great Xia citizens.
Fan Ren breathed a sigh of relief but still painfully rubbed his head.
“A’dai, try to calculate the Conqueror’s hull material. If scaled down to 20 meters long and 20 meters wide, can it withstand the stress at 0.1 times the speed of light?”
Uncharacteristically, A’dai didn’t reply immediately, clearly performing full computations.
Fan Ren didn’t interrupt, though he felt uneasy inside, he still held back.
After a long minute of waiting, A’dai’s voice rang out again.
“Boss, based on previous comparisons in the Jupiter environment and the Conqueror’s maximum stress allowance of 3,000 kilometers per second, the combined computation shows that if the hull is controlled at 20 meters in size, it can fully adapt to the stress conditions at 10% speed of light. It can even exceed that by quite a bit—I estimate up to 15%.”
After A’dai finished speaking, Fan Ren’s heart twisted.
He thought for a moment and followed up: “Up to now, still only one spaceship has been detected, right? Or rather, an unmanned probe!”
“Yes, only one.”
Fan Ren didn’t reply, closing his eyes slightly. His consciousness sank into the ever-glowing ‘Seed of Civilization’ panel in his mind.
Basic Science: Level 1 (479/1000)
Electronics: Level 1 (730/1000)
Mechanics: Level 1 (600/1000)
Materials Science: Level 1 (670/1000)
Space Science: Level 1 (269/1000)
Since unlocking the intermediate electronic optics technical data last time, it had fallen silent again.
Clearly, the next unlock would only happen at the 700 experience points threshold, and finally at level 2 for new technology unlocks.
Looking at the scant few hundred experience points, Fan Ren withdrew his consciousness from his mind.
When he opened his eyes again, A’dai clearly sensed that his state was no longer as anxious and restless as before.
The once calm and composed Fan Ren had returned.
“Contact Minister Li of the Ministry of Industry, Commander Liu of the military headquarters, Chief Zhang of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, and the chiefs of other departments, as well as Elder Ye. Ask Elder Ye if it’s possible to hold a small-scale, high-level meeting within three days.”
“Got it, Boss. I’ll contact them right away.”
Two days later, in the Imperial Palace of Kyoto.
The chiefs looked at Fan Ren sitting upright before them, and Ye Rongshan whose expression was also somewhat serious, and they all fell silent accordingly.
As Jin Qiaoying entered last with a dazed look on her face, the meeting room door slowly closed.
Seeing Jin Qiaoying’s uneasy expression, Fan Ren quickly beckoned with his hand, signaling her to sit beside him.
But Jin Qiaoying glanced at him, and upon seeing Ye Rongshan next to Fan Ren, she quickly shook her head slightly and walked with small steps to the end of the seats.
“Jin Family girl, come sit here. Back when you were General Manager of San Xin Great Xia region, we met—you forgot?”
The seriousness on Ye Rongshan’s face eased a bit, as if afraid of scaring her, he switched back to his usual kindly demeanor, like a harmless elderly person.
But anyone who truly thought that would be too naive.
Hearing this, Jin Qiaoying stopped, a flash of embarrassment crossing her fair face, then she glared at Fan Ren as if unintentionally.
He didn’t even see who was present today.
Her identity was from the South Island Country, yet she was called to this small-scale high-level meeting—wasn’t it just to make her look foolish?
But clearly, she was overthinking it.
“General Manager Jin, go sit. Don’t you remember when we met to discuss the contract—you didn’t yield an inch.”
Zhang Jing, now nearly 70, seemed to ease her embarrassment with a smiling tease.
Over there, as if joining in, Li Jiandong chimed in: “Last time General Manager Jin was at the Ministry of Industry meeting, she bit a huge chunk out of us for a solid-state battery production transfer qualification.”
“Chief Li, that’s unfair to our General Manager Jin. Now Xinghai Technology has handed over all the profitable businesses.”
Jin Qiaoying hurried over with her head down and sat beside Fan Ren, glancing sideways at this man three years younger than her, who was now fearlessly chatting and laughing with the Great Xia department chiefs in the meeting room. She couldn’t help but be slightly lost in thought.
Now that everyone was present, Fan Ren didn’t ask Elder Ye to preside this time. Sitting in the deputy chief seat of the meeting room, his expression gradually grew solemn.
As his demeanor shifted, the chiefs in the room quieted down accordingly.
Fan Ren turned first to Ye Rongshan: “Elder Ye, I’m overstepping today just a bit?”
Hearing this, Ye Rongshan nodded slightly, showing only encouragement toward Fan Ren’s demeanor.
The chiefs, seeing this, knew exactly what that look in Elder Ye’s eyes meant.
Immediately, they sat upright, adopting the attitude they used for major meetings.
Fan Ren didn’t delay further, cleared his throat, and said in a low voice: “Two days ago, the fixed-phase detector we deployed at the edge of the Solar System unfortunately captured information from an extraterrestrial civilization.
In the Alpha Centauri system 4.2 light years away, a 20-meter-long super high speed spaceship appeared.
After that, this spaceship sped toward the Solar System. After about a month of acceleration, its current speed has reached 30,000 kilometers per second, or 10% speed of light super high speed.
According to calculations, this spaceship will arrive at the Solar System in 49 years.”
Fan Ren dropped the bombshell right at the start, without pausing in between, recounting all the events detected by A’dai without omitting a single detail.
The meeting room fell into brief silence as his words ended.
Beside him, Jin Qiaoying’s face turned deathly pale.
After so many years at Xinghai Technology, even if she didn’t understand technology, she now knew what 10% speed meant.
Moreover, the originally estimated 200 years had now been shortened directly to 49 years.
All of this came too suddenly; her reaction even surpassed Fan Ren’s initial one.
