CHAPTER 1488: CHAPTER 18: THE TRACKS OF WAR CHARIOTS

"In other words, Ores and Tilan are still alive."

In the vast hall, a blonde-haired woman sat straight on the throne, listening to the report from personnel in front of her. Behind her was a golden mural about a hundred meters high, with beautiful depictions of the Sun outlined in gilt thread, solemn and sacred in its entirety.

"Yes, Your Majesty Blanchi," the reporting personnel respectfully replied.

"Their being alive is also a good thing."

The current image of Blanchi was vastly different from the past. She wore a long dress of white gauze and golden thread, with a captivating sun mark in the center of her forehead. Her arms displayed visible golden vine patterns, with a subtle flow of light, signifying the vast gap between her and mortals.

Six years had passed since the internal conflict between the Federation’s Western and Central Regions. Though the Western Star Region now technically belonged to the Federation, it was, in reality, a nation within a nation, with clear borders and restrictions and checks on movements and trade similar to imports and exports with other regions within the Federation.

After the war, the Federal Center offered compensatory reparations to various levels of government within the Western Star Region and exempted them from significant patent usage fees for the next 50 years. The losses of giant enterprises with patents were offset by tax exemptions from the Federation.

Fifty years can change many things, especially with the current trajectory of the Federation; whether fifty years of stability are possible is uncertain.

After concluding her inquiries, Blanchi dismissed the few people in front of her, and the hall returned to quietness once more.

Over these six years, thanks to the efficient governance of the new government and a fair and transparent business environment, the economy of the Western Star Region developed rapidly. The living conditions of residents in each area improved to varying degrees, creating a scene of prosperity. These achievements made Blanchi’s position in the Western Star Region increasingly stable. The 27 star domains within the region became united as one, rekindling hope in many who actively engaged in various sectors.

In many people’s eyes, this would mark the beginning of a glorious era, with everything progressing steadily, and a beautiful future beckoning.

But the upper echelons of the Western Star Region knew that Lady Blanchi was not exactly happy, or rather, she had a faint sense of farewell and melancholy. It was not a mere illusion, but an unconscious feeling emitted by the Songstress, especially a powerful one, deeply influencing those around her.

For this reason, in the past two years, Blanchi gradually reduced her appearances in the public eye, spending more time listening to reports and discussions, occasionally making judgments.

A glorious era, but unfortunately, she didn’t have much time left.

Blanchi gently raised her wrist, looking at the faint golden patterns on her skin. She half-closed her eyes before opening them again. A golden seed sprouted out of thin air on the ground before her, then grew into a one-meter-tall branch, with one of the branches blossoming into a delicate flower, eventually bearing a light golden fruit. Finally, the golden apple fell and rested in Blanchi’s hand.

As a Songstress followed by billions of people, she was now somewhat akin to a Divine being, possessing unimaginable authority and power, capable of appearing on any planet within the Western Star Region at will, observing the local people and matters, while being able to easily mobilize countless armies to clean up any dark corners of the Western Star Region. As long as she sat on the throne, the entire Western Star Region held no secrets, and various laws and policies were implemented with the highest efficiency.

A Federation with a Sunshine-level Songstress in command and one without are entirely different entities. The former can methodically plow through the entire Milky Way from a position of extreme disadvantage, founding the Sixth Era, whereas the latter can only watch helplessly as the vast Galaxy Civilization stagnates and decays.

Managing such an immense territory and population is an enormously challenging task, requiring not only a wise and strong leader but also reliable and loyal executors at every level, educated citizens with fundamental qualities, a fair judicial system, and more. Generally speaking, excelling at even one of these aspects is considered an impressive historical benchmark, and as the nation’s scale grows larger, the demands only increase.

The ’Primordial Heart’ faction from the Twilight Era foresaw this outcome, believing that any system and policy would eventually reach a limit that would come quickly and be unresolvable. The exponentially growing population would someday burst this framework.

Entering the Star Sea Era, the primary challenge was how to instill a sense of unified recognition and belonging in the tens or hundreds of billions, trillions, and tens of trillions of citizens, especially across thousands or tens of thousands of light-years, among people who might not meet for hundreds of years, sharing common thoughts and ideas.

In the early Federation, the entire nation supported a population of only several tens of billions. Over a thousand years, the Federation’s population expanded nearly a hundredfold, even considering the wars and economic downturns that halted population growth. Had things proceeded along the initial trajectory, the Federation would presently have several trillion people for it to be considered reasonable.

With the expansion of population numbers, initial economic growth was rapid, but soon the imbalance in economic development would bring severe disparities in wealth, eventually causing internal cognitive dissonance.

Although nominally all are Federation citizens, the rich and the poor might become like two non-intersecting parallel lines, living entirely different lives. Moreover, once genetic editing technology becomes available, the rich would grow more exceptional until the two groups become distinct species separated by reproductive isolation.