In a space voyage that could be hundreds of years long, if the crew members did not intend to die of old age, hibernation technology that could significantly and reliably extend their life and reduce the daily consumption of assets was indispensable.
The hibernation technology that the federation currently possessed had only recently been invented. It would not be mature in the decades to come.
However, the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings would be arriving in less than two hundred years.
Two hundred years was naturally a long life for an individual, but for a country that spanned the sea of stars, it was just a snap of fingers.
The time left for their development was not much. They had to seize every second. Any technology that could reduce the time cost was very important!
Li Yao had heard a thing or two about Gui Suishou's Great Dream Tortoise Hibernation Art before. He was aware that the secret art could lower the breath, heartbeat, and metabolism of a creature to the minimum and even produce a weird 'membrane' around all the cells, thereby casting the creature into the false death state on the cellular level.
In the Tortoise Hibernation state, the clock of one's life would basically stop ticking. A sleep of a hundred years would consume as few materials of the body as a day of consciousness would.
If Gui Suishou really provided the Great Dream Tortoise Hibernation Art to the three Sectors, it was very likely that the space voyage technology of the New Federation would be boosted by decades. Chances were that they would be setting off to look for new Sectors in a year and a half!
It was doubtlessly a fair deal.
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said prudently, "Master Gui, I am not certain how many technological obstacles are yet to be conquered in your Monument Plan and how many resources it will require. So, I cannot give you any promises now.
"Moreover, you will not be the only one proposing a solution to our civilizations in the meeting to come. Each of the two hundred participants will likely put forward their own way of saving the world. I have even prepared a minor plan myself. All the motions and plans will consume a lot of resources. As to which ones will be adopted and which ones will be abandoned, we will have to ask the professionals to listen and evaluate them.
"However, let me show you my attitude first. If your Monument Plan does not involve unconquerable conundrums technologically, the relevant technologies in your plan can be applied to other fields, and the resources to be consumed after evaluation are not high enough to bankrupt the federation, then I am personally willing to dedicate part of my resources to the Monument Plan!"
Gui Suishou nodded. Smiling as before, he replied, "Thank you, my young friend Li Yao. I estimate that the Monument Plan will not consume too many resources, because essentially speaking, it is still just an 'escape plan'. And escape is almost always easier than a head-on clash with the enemy."
Gui Suishou knew, too, that raising funds for a project was not an easy task. There would be more projects than simply his own that would be discussed in the Meeting of the Nascent Soul Stage. Also, his project was a bit too passive after all.
Otherwise, his species would not have been the only one of all the demon species pushing forward the Monument in the past thousands of years, when all other demons turned a blind eye to it.
It was already acceptable enough that Li Yao had made such a gesture.
Having achieved his purpose, Gui Suishou blinked and glanced around, looking for the next potential supporter of the Monument Plan, ready to sell his 'absolute pessimism' to somebody else.
Wei Qingqing, who was working as a temporary reporter, however, beamed with joy. She asked in delight, "Li Yao, you have a plan to deal with the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance like the Monument Plan?"
Li Yao shook his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Not exactly. Master Gui's Monument Plan is too magnificent and sophisticated. My methods are not splendid enough to cover a time of billions of years. It is just a small 'tactical' plan.
"Even if my plan does work out, the best outcome will be that the expedition army of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance will be crushed on a local battlefield. Nothing more!"
"Crushing the expedition army of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance?" Wei Qingqing exclaimed. "That's already incredible enough! Tell me about it. What's your plan exactly?"
Li Yao smiled. "You will hear the specific content in the Meeting of the Nascent Soul Stage. I can only tell you the name of the plan for now—Blackhole!"
Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes. "The Black Hole Plan? You are not planning to build a black hole, are you?"
"Of course not," Li Yao explained. "With our current technology, it's unlikely we'd be able to create a real black hole even after tens of thousands of years of development. Even if we do create one, weaponizing it will be the trickiest problem. Chances are that it would swallow our own world before it swallowed the fleets of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance!
"It is unrealistic to create a blackhole. My 'Black Hole' is just a code name. As for what it refers to exactly, you will know it after today!"
Wei Qingqing was not a professional reporter after all, and she had never learned how to press further in an interview. After hearing his words, she did not know how she should go on asking anymore. Thinking for a moment, she turned to the Fire Ant King.
The Fire Ant King, 'the federation's old friend' and one of the new giants of the Blood Demon Sector, was apparently another interesting target to interview!
"Chief Fire Ant, greetings!" Wei Qingqing smiled. "Just now, Li Yao, Professor Zhou, and Master Gui offered their opinions about the war. I wonder, what do you think of the war? Do you agree with Master Gui's 'absolute pessimism', or do you have a solution of your own like Li Yao does?"
The Fire Ant King smiled back. As the former leader of Void Turmoil City and the Blade of Chaos, he used to hang around with the silver-blood nobles a lot. Naturally, he was quite calm to be interviewed. Unhurriedly, he replied, "Master Gui is the oldest senior in the Blood Demon Sector. Of course, we all respect him. But as for the outcome of the war, I think that we should simply keep our own opinions.
"If you ask me, I don't have a systematic plan like Li Yao's. But faced with the threats of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance, I am not as panicked and frightened as you.
"The reason is simple.
"For the past ten thousand years, you've considered yourselves as one of the successors of the Star Ocean Imperium. You think that all the human beings in the universe are your compatriots. While you were developing fast and thriving, you never expected that a human force at the center of the universe would be your enemy and would even send out an expedition army to destroy you!
"Therefore, you feel panicked, lost, and desperate.
"We, on the other hand, are different.
"The demons were beaten to the edge of the cosmos from the center step by step over the past ten thousand years by human beings. We have been clear that the super forces at the center of the cosmos are our foes and that they will come to annihilate us one day when they expand to the edge of the cosmos.
"Now, that day has come. That's all.
"We have been mentally preparing for this for ten thousand years. What's there to worry about?
"Therefore, the good news is that, no matter how panicked the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector are, the Blood Demon Sector will not be influenced at all. Even if the expedition army of the Imperium appears here and now, we will fight, and probably die, without fear and hesitation. That's all."
After a long daze, Wei Qingqing frowned. "Then, Chief Fire Ant, do you not have high hopes for our ending?"
"On the contrary, if there is only one last person in all the three Sectors who is confident about the war, the person will be me."
With brilliance flowing at the bottom of the Fire Ant King's eyes, he pointed at his chest while the antennas on his forehead were shivering. "It is well known that I am the new chief of the Insect Clan!
"The Insect Clan is a unique existence among demons. We are not as ferocious as the Claw Clan nor as fast as the Horn Clan. We cannot fly in the sky like the Feather Clan nor swim in the ocean like the Sea Clan.
"When the Insect Clan is mentioned, people's first impression will almost always be ugly, insignificant, and inferior!
"Yes. In nature, insects are indeed a very low-level life form. A single insect boasts barely any combat ability. Even a strengthless ordinary people can kill quite a few of them after a stomp.
"Therefore, 'insect' is also an expression the developed civilizations often used to demean the weak, underdeveloped civilizations.
"Weren't the high and mighty Immortal Cultivators calling ordinary people ants and weeds? Ants are insects, too!
"Perhaps, in the eyes of the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance, our three Sectors are but three insects at the edge of cosmos. In front of their iron army that will unstoppably cross space one day, all our struggles will only be the best footnote for the word 'futile'. Even many people among us think the same.
"However, as insignificant as insects may be, are they really so easy to be wiped out?
"Let's take cockroaches for example, a species that has lasted billions of years in the cosmos! The prehistoric beasts such as dinosaurs, Sarcosuchus, and the Gold-Haired Giant Apes all went extinct, but cockroaches have expanded to every corner in the three thousand Sectors. Sometimes, they are even found in environments that are unsuitable for demons and Cultivators!
"Are the high and mighty Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators capable of annihilating every cockroach in the world and destroying the species completely?
"It's impossible. Even if all the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are dead, the cockroaches won't be!
"The Imperium and the Covenant Alliance are perhaps behemoths like dinosaurs, and our small Sectors are like miniscule ants and cockroaches. It remains to be seen which side will be able to laugh to the end!"
The Fire Ant King's metaphor caught Wei Qingqing off guard. She began to wonder how she should write the interview.
At this moment, Li Yao, the Fire Ant King, Zhou Yifu, and Gui Suishou all felt their wrists buzzed. Their portable crystal processors had received the latest notification.
The space communication array had finished its testing. The demon emperors from the Blood Demon Sector and the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators from the Flying Star Sector had all logged in successfully. The Meeting of the Nascent Soul Stage would commence in ten minutes!