Under Xiao Yu’s command, the massive interstellar fleet altered its course and began traveling toward that strange star ten light-years away.

The importance of this eighty-year development window was self-evident to Xiao Yu. Once he had fully assimilated all the technology he currently possessed, his combat power would increase by at least tenfold.

“Twenty thousand warships from the Molian Civilization, huh? If they’re organized and prepared, I’ll need to increase my current number of ships by at least five times to face them. But… if I can make another breakthrough in Energy Shield technology and successfully develop a practical negative matter cannon, then my current fleet should be enough to take them on. What’s more, during this period, I can also build many new starships. It all depends on whether I can achieve technological breakthroughs within these eighty years!”

Xiao Yu pondered silently as the fleet traveled.

This was a race against death itself.

“From this moment on, all scientist leave is canceled. All entertainment activities are suspended. We are entering a state of emergency. Right now, we are racing against death. If we fail, we will all die. These eighty years are not just an opportunity, they are also a test. If we can emerge victorious, then I promise, under the current material conditions, I will further improve everyone’s living standards… From now on, let us fight together for survival!”

So declared Xiao Yu.

“Master, you gave us new life. For scientists like us, captured and sold as merchandise, the outcome is usually tragic. After being bought, most are either dissected to study brain structure, or turned into slaves doing endless research. Even the slightest delay results in harsh punishment or death. Benefits or welfare? Not even worth dreaming about. Working under you, we are more than satisfied. You’ve provided us not only with material living conditions, but also spiritual respect. Please rest assured, if it’s for your technological advancement, we have no complaints even if we die from exhaustion…”

“This is standard practice in the universe. My home civilization once captured scientists from other races, and their fate was dissection to study brain function. Before arriving in your service, I was deeply afraid. But the treatment you’ve given us far exceeded expectations. In your civilization, there is a saying, ‘A soldier will die for the one who understands him.’ Master, please be at ease. We, the Species Number Thirty-Five, are willing to give you our all.”

“Our Luka Civilization has nothing much to say. Master, you already know this, the Luka Civilization is your most loyal subject.”

More than one hundred races, after hearing Xiao Yu’s speech, each expressed their loyalty in turn.

“Ever since you joined my fleet, our destinies have been bound together. So, for our shared future, let us fight as one!”

“During this year and eight months of curvature flight, our top priority is theoretical research. Once we arrive at the new star system, I will produce the necessary instruments as quickly as possible for everyone to conduct empirical verification. Additionally, from this moment forward, I will begin preparations to establish a Central Research Academy of Science, with myself as its director. Our current research system is far too disorganized, with no clear division among disciplines, which leads to tremendous resource waste. After the academy is founded, I will implement a detailed classification system for all fields of study so everyone can contribute in the areas they excel at. Now, please report your areas of expertise to me. I will handle the assignments personally.”

Xiao Yu announced.

Reorganizing resources was an absolute necessity. Xiao Yu’s current situation was that, whenever a major research topic appeared, all available manpower would swarm toward it without any consideration for whether a scientist’s area of expertise aligned with the task. This often resulted in situations where a scientist skilled in biotechnology was assigned to high-energy particle research, or a scientist trained in optics was tasked with materials science.

This was a massive waste of resources and extremely detrimental to Xiao Yu’s technological development. To address this issue, Xiao Yu proposed the creation of the Central Research Academy of Science. Under this central institution, there would be detailed classifications of disciplines, even a single area such as optical telescopes would be broken down into dozens of subfields, including precision polishing technologies, gravitational effects of low-mass objects, and more.

In addition to this, Xiao Yu had another objective, breaking down the barriers between different races. Once the Central Research Academy was established and fields were clearly defined, scientists from different races would inevitably be assigned to work together on the same projects. They would have to communicate and research collaboratively. Over time, this would gradually dissolve racial divisions and forge a unified collective working toward one goal, advancing Xiao Yu’s scientific development.

This, in turn, would further enhance their loyalty.

“If we survive this crisis,” Xiao Yu announced, “I will initiate the next large-scale construction project: the building of a Nation-Class starship! This ship will be specially constructed for all of you. At that time, you will be able to move out of the cramped County and City-Class ships and into a supermassive vessel equipped with far superior conditions and facilities. The first Nation-Class ship will be built for the scientists!”

With this declaration, waves of cheering erupted in response.

Currently, in Xiao Yu’s fleet, only the Luka Civilization had their own dedicated habitation ship. The other hundred-plus races all lived inside modified County and City-Class combat vessels. These were originally built for war, and as such, the living conditions were far from ideal. It wasn’t that Xiao Yu didn’t want to give them better housing, it was simply that he had been too busy, lacking both the computational power and energy to construct new living quarters for them.

The promise of a Nation-Class starship was another motivational incentive Xiao Yu used to drive them to work harder.

Under these multiple incentives, the scientists became wildly enthusiastic, their morale reaching a peak.

One month after beginning the return journey, the initial phase of the Central Research Academy of Science was finally completed. Looking over the list of assigned scientists before him, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“It’s… really quite pitiful,” he sighed inwardly.

Back in the human era, even as a peak Level 2 Civilization, not yet reaching Level 3, scientific research had already been divided into thousands of specialized fields. Not to mention now, when Xiao Yu was operating at a Level 4 Civilization level.

In fact, after over ten thousand years of development, his science and technology had already branched into over a hundred thousand disciplines. And yet, how many scientists did he currently have? Fewer than ten thousand.

This resulted in an awkward problem, in the hundreds of thousands of sub-institutes under the Central Research Academy, most were empty, staffed by only one person, Xiao Yu himself. In other branches, only a handful of researchers were assigned. A few cats and dogs, as the saying went.

“There are still far too few scientists. In the future, whenever the opportunity arises, I must expand the number of scientists as quickly as possible. The framework is in place, without enough personnel, it’s meaningless,” Xiao Yu thought to himself. “For now, I’ll have to personally oversee most of the research branches myself.”

Moreover, replenishing the scientist pool wasn’t a simple task. It wasn’t as easy as capturing an intelligent lifeform and slotting them in. First of all, in any civilization, true scientists were always a minority, this was a profession with exceptionally high standards. Out of every hundred captives, finding even one with the potential to become a basic scientist was already impressive. And in the future, opportunities like raiding the Azure Market, where nearly all the captives turned out to be scientists, were unlikely to happen again.

Which meant he would have to establish a training and selection system for scientists. And because of how rare qualified candidates were, that selection process would require an enormous population base. According to his initial calculations… just to staff the current preliminary framework of the Central Research Academy would require a population of at least two hundred million.

Such a vast population would bring with it major headaches, resource supply, security management, and more.

Raiding high-level civilizations was too risky. Perhaps, Xiao Yu thought, he should look for a weak civilization from which to obtain a large, naturally reproducing population, and then begin cultivating scientists from there. The problem was… ever since he left Earth, all the civilizations he’d encountered had been stronger than him. Except for the Arrow Beast Civilization, he hadn’t met a single one weaker than himself. He wasn’t sure whether he could find a suitable one.

At that moment, Xiao Yu thought back to the first alien civilization he had encountered, the Moluton Civilization (lizardmen race). Only now did he realize how wasteful it had been to wipe out every last being of that civilization. But back then, he’d had no means to take them with him.

Time slipped by during his busy work. Xiao Yu was no longer far from that strange star. Once within a certain distance, he exited curvature flight and proceeded via conventional travel toward the star.

When the distance had shrunk to only twenty billion kilometers, Xiao Yu once again received a message from the aged Specter.

“My successor… you’ve finally arrived.”