CHAPTER 407: CHAPTER 406: FROM OPPOSITION TO UNITY

During the conflict between the Wandering Alliance and the Dense Civilization.

The Metal Civilization and the Titan Civilization also broke out in war in another corner of space.

However, compared to the entirety of the Titan Civilization, the Metal Civilization was internally divided, a rather dire situation.

To resolve the current state of affairs, the incumbent government of the Metal Civilization could only dispatch the Metallic Battle Stars to fend off the Titan onslaught while trying to quickly eliminate internal strife. If internal strife isn’t resolved, external threats can hardly be addressed.

Therefore, the Metal Civilization used the Titan Civilization’s attacks as a pretext, requesting the Reform Faction to postpone their reform efforts until the Titan threat was repelled or eliminated before discussing long-term plans. However, this proposal was rejected by the Reform Faction as they regarded the government’s words as perfunctory. Consequently, the Reform Faction set forth their demands, agreeing to join forces against the Titan Civilization only if reforms were assured.

Moreover, the Reform Faction insisted that the reform details should be designed and directed by their team.

As expected, the current government of the Metal Civilization would certainly not agree to these terms. After all, if the Reform Faction took the reins, the future of the Metal Civilization was uncertain, and their power and interests would not be secured. Thus, they explicitly refused the Reform Faction’s terms. With neither side willing to compromise, they once again broke off negotiations at the table.

In light of this impasse, Wandering felt somewhat guilty.

After all, the Metal Civilization was retaliated against by the Titan Civilization purely because they aided the Wandering Alliance.

Although both parties had reached transactional terms, after Wandering’s arrival in the Metal Civilization, there were no hostile treatments; overall, the Metal Civilization hadn’t wronged him or the Wandering Alliance. Yet now they were facing reprisals from the Titan Civilization due to past actions, prompting Wandering to feel a sense of remorse.

To alleviate the current standoff, Wandering decided to step forward and mediate.

He once again convened negotiators from both factions and suggested that both sides make concessions: the Government Faction would agree to reforms, while the Reform Faction would temporarily relinquish control over the reforms, with detailed discussions to resume after the conclusion of the war.

The Reform Faction agreed to this proposal, but the Government Faction did not, leading the negotiations back into a stalemate.

For a moment, Wandering was at a loss, unable to see how to dissolve the deadlock between the two sides. As Wandering was lost in thought, he suddenly wondered what Lu Chen of the Constant Star or the Wandering Alliance would do in such a circumstance.

With these thoughts, Wandering suddenly conceived a better idea.

Wandering proposed to both the Government and Reform Factions that instead of endless debate, they should establish a reform experiment field. Should the outcomes be positive, they could proceed with comprehensive reforms; if adverse, they could halt or adjust reform strategies, demonstrating a more cautious approach.

Such a method would be more scientific and rational.

Wandering added that while the communal system had its merits, its efficacy on a civilization that had never encountered it was uncertain. Without localized experience, blindly enacting comprehensive reforms was unscientific and too risky. It would be wiser to create an experiment field, draw from localized experiences, identify unknown issues within the reform process, and once resolved and experienced, it would be the right time for encompassing reforms.

To thoroughly convince both the Government and Reform Factions, Wandering cited an example from Earth’s past.

During the 19th century, the Western world on Earth initiated the Industrial Revolution and modernization. Since only Western countries had successful industrialization and modernization models at the time, many countries globally blindly copied the Western template. But by the 21st century, it became evident that those who failed to adapt the Western model to their local context largely failed. Not only did industrialization and modernization falter, but it also caused significant divisions among nations, resulting in social turmoil. In contrast, the few success stories were limited to small countries with easier governance, resembling a national-scale experiment field.

So, given the vast scale of the Metal Civilization, comprehensive social system reforms were utterly unsuitable.

Otherwise, should any issues arise, the entire Metal Civilization would be impacted—an outcome neither the Government nor Reform Faction would wish to see.

Ultimately, through sensible and logical persuasion, Wandering swayed both factions and, for the first time, they came to a unanimous decision, forming a united front.

However, the considerations for agreement differed between the Reform Faction and Government Faction.

From the Reform Faction’s perspective, they realized their previous impulsiveness might have stemmed from their wartime urgency, wanting to swallow a big prize in one go and thus neglecting detailed considerations. After all, this wasn’t just any minor reform but one that could shake the foundations of civilization—a single misstep could lead to total defeat.

From the Government Faction’s viewpoint, the experiment field approach benefited them too, as it allowed careful observation of the experimental reform’s effectiveness and the possibility to find entry points for their interests. If no such entry could be found, they could sabotage the experiment to ensure its failure, thus rejecting the Reform Faction entirely and maintaining current systems and distribution of benefits.

Of course, regardless of the underlying intentions, both sides had reached a united opinion and could finally amass the full might of the Metal Civilization to confront the Titan Civilization’s offensive. Moreover, as a result of this incident, Wandering’s reputation soared; both the Reform and Government Factions respected and regarded him afresh, yet harbored a nascent sense of unsettling concern.

At this moment, Wandering was unaware of the thoughts harbored by the Reform and Government Factions.

Seeing how his efforts had bridged the gap between two opposing sides, he couldn’t help but swell with pride.

Had he not thought of the Wandering Alliance and Lu Chen of the Constant Star, it wouldn’t have been possible to draw on the experiences of the Wandering Alliance and the management practices of Lu Chen.

It could be said that his time with the Wandering Alliance was Wandering’s greatest wealth, bar none.

After all, even his life was given by Lu Chen. Despite the separation by the Metal Civilization’s information division technology—allowing his Celestial Consciousness to become independent and have its own consciousness field—without beginning, there would be neither present nor future. This causality couldn’t be changed.

Boom!

Just as unity was achieved, terrible news arrived from the external warfare!