CHAPTER 294: CHAPTER 187: RAPID CONSTRUCTION OF STAR SYSTEM FORTRESS_2

But when taken outside, it’s different.

The Human Civilization indeed stands united to a certain degree, but this is because the personal interests of the majority align with the collective interests of the entire civilization, not because everyone has become Sage Saints.

This is also why Shen Shi is reluctant to reveal his identity to his descendants—the most important lesson in interstellar society is never to challenge interests with emotions.

Indeed, he is revered by all in this era, but that is because he has brought colossal benefits to the entire Human Civilization.

Yes, that’s the reality, and this reality is the foundation for civilization’s continuous progression.

Fortunately, Zhou Sisi completely understands this, so there is no need for Shen Shi to further explain.

"I have discovered them, but it will still be at least four hundred years or so until their legion arrives," Shen Shi extended the timeline by a hundred years.

The reason he didn’t say it could be earlier is because three hundred years is already a very short time.

If it’s shorter, then there might not be a feasible solution.

As for the additional hundred years, Shen Shi isn’t too worried because he is sure that if it can be solved in four hundred years, then shaving off the last hundred years won’t be too difficult—the Future World can change continuously with this process.

"Four hundred years, still very short, extremely short," Zhou Sisi’s slightly furrowed brows did not smooth, and she finally shook her head, saying, "It’s still very difficult. Building a Star System Fortress means the entire clan has reached the level of a C-level Civilization, which requires an immensely vast industrial capability. Your industry, your population, are all too small. The population aspect is even more crucial because without a significant population scale, there is no real Star System Fortress."

Shen Shi understood what she meant.

Don’t be fooled by the sight of him trading one unmanned production line after another from the Future World; it looks as if he can directly trade for an entire large-scale industrial system.

In reality, this is not the mainstream production model.

These packaged unmanned production lines, though not requiring employees, are actually a high-cost product themselves, entailing a lot of waste.

This is akin to personal computers and enterprise computers.

Personal computers need to consider portability, sound, appearance, front-end control methods, and other areas convenient for ordinary people to handle.

Whereas enterprise computers, especially production computers, only need to consider professional users to reduce design costs and increase work efficiency.

A genuine industrial system cannot do without human debugging and management; full automation does not mean rapid development.

Moreover, the shortcomings of intelligent AI in the military field mean that the construction and use of a Star System Fortress cannot do without large populations.

However, Shen Shi already had some ideas on this matter.

"There are many other D-level Civilizations around here," Shen Shi squinted slightly, "What do you think, is it possible to muster a large number of these D-level Civilizations to complete the construction of the Star System Fortress within four hundred years?"

Zhou Sisi fell silent upon hearing this.

She was pondering.

This approach isn’t particularly novel, especially in this Future World that already has a "Subordinate Race" system.

But, she knew Shen Shi’s current situation.

The 2 billion newborns of humanity are the human resources he has, and time is against him.

"I feel the difficulty, honestly," Zhou Sisi exhaled slowly, with her face showing helplessness, "The Sage Saint, three thousand years ago, actually had it much easier than you."

"That may not be," Shen Shi laughed, "The Sage Saint didn’t have such good conditions as I do."

"True," Zhou Sisi nodded slightly, "If you want to adopt this method, you must meet two requirements: a large number of D-level industrial devices and absolute military superiority."

"I understand the need for military superiority, but do the industrial devices have to be D-level?" Shen Shi asked.

"You wouldn’t think that C-level industrial devices could be operated by people from D-level Civilizations, would you?" Zhou Sisi maintained a cool tone, "Even powerful spacecraft require strong captains and crew to make the most of them, let alone crude industrial devices. The development of industry is based on the understanding of technology, and every worker must be a competent technician, unless they are using foolproof packaged production lines."

Shen Shi understood.

The demands of industrial development on humanity are likely higher than he initially thought.

"Under normal circumstances, when we expand to new frontiers, we must bring a large number of industrial technicians," Zhou Sisi continued, "We can skip the fundamental industrial development and directly use the most advanced industrial devices, but you don’t have such conditions."

"The eight hundred years you mentioned earlier, is that based on these conditions?" Shen Shi furrowed his brows slightly.

"Yes, but the Star System Fortress I intend to build is at least at the C6 level, whereas you only need to construct a C1 level fortress, so if there is a large number of D-level industrial devices and a large number of laborers from D-level Civilizations, it’s actually possible to complete construction within four hundred years," Zhou Sisi had already calculated the result.

However, Shen Shi didn’t feel much elation.

Because he perceived Zhou Sisi’s emotions.

The feeling of trouble, that hadn’t diminished by much.

At this point, the reasons were already clear.

"Are D-level industrial devices hard to come by?" he asked.

"The devices used in the past have been dismantled and reused as resources after being retired," Zhou Sisi replied, "If you need them, we must reproduce them, but this is different from producing Primordial Energy Training Devices, where we already have production lines and just need expansion. The complexity and scale of these low-grade industrial devices will lead to a significant time and economic cost for reproduction. Economic cost is manageable if you’re willing to invest heavily, but the time cost is key because you only have four hundred years."

Shen Shi understood.

Thus, having such a development expert around can indeed save many troubles; she would provide solutions based on your needs and tell you where the problems lie.

"You could also find someone with a market terminal who is not located far away, have them engrave a Primordial Energy Steel Seal for secrecy, and cooperate with you to rapidly plunder the corresponding devices from other D-level Civilizations," Zhou Sisi suggested again.

This is indeed a feasible method.

However, Shen Shi had already made plans in his mind.

"I understand," he looked at Zhou Sisi, skipping this topic and continued asking, "Then, if the Star System Fortress of C1 level is built and intended for upgrades, any suggestions?"

"That would be much simpler; first upgrade and replace the most critical devices, for example, the Curvature Controller. If the personnel remains intact, the production line can start immediately," Zhou Sisi found it a little odd why Shen Shi would suddenly bring up this question.

In the current Human Civilization, where are there any C1 level Star System Fortresses?

Unless it’s similar to this situation with this Master.

Wait—

Could it be that there are actually others like this Master?

And the next question from Shen Shi seemed to confirm her guess.

"You should have such production lines, right?" Shen Shi asked.

"Yes..."

"Trade them to me."

"Certainly." Zhou Sisi knew she had no option to refuse.

Because the contract stipulated that as long as he needed, she had to provide the channel, and it had to be at cost price.

However, Zhou Sisi felt as if she was on the verge of being emptied out.

"If the quantities are not small, I’ll directly trade with antiques, is that okay?"

"Of course—!" Zhou Sisi suddenly raised her voice.

So what if the split is delayed for a few hundred more years, what does it matter?

Being emptied out in exchange for antiques is definitely not a loss!