Chapter 474: The Great Academy!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of course, the blazing trail project couldn't just be initiated with a single command. After all, this was a space journey that spanned more than several hundred light years. Even though the human government had been preparing for this journey over the past three months, when they wanted to really initiate the project, they realized that there were many things that needed to be done, be it politics or military.
"According to the data and the star charts communicated by Zhang San, the AI fleet most possibly is at an empty space about 17 light years away from the New Solar System. It is close to three other solar systems, the closest one being less than five light years away. Therefore, it is predictable that the AI fleet will proceed to that solar system to recuperate…
"Using the controlled space warp, not involving the possible delays, the blazing trail special forces will return to the City of Light Moon in about five months. These five months will be the city's most fragile moments. Therefore, we have to ensure enough defensive power remains with the city."
In the blazing trail war meeting, Yao Yuan addressed everyone present, "For this battle, I will lead 120 Black Star Troopers or 12 Black Star Units. To ensure a victory, these 12 units will be all comprised of experienced soldiers. Therefore, I need your help, Ol' Wong. Gather all the newly awakened Homo Evolutis and have them complete their training as soon as possible, or else it'll just be a waste of the equipment. They need the complete training to master the equipment. At the same time, I will leave you with 20 experienced Black Star Troopers. And they will form the foundation of the new Black Star Troopers. You should be familiar with the rest, so I won't waste my time explaining.
"At the same time, I will bring along 16 main spaceships and 77 guardian spaceships, but this time I won't be taking any battleships. This is because battleships are more commonly used for landing battles. Even the transport shuttles are better than battleships in ferrying and keeping civilians safe. Of course, this is up for discussion, but for now, the battleships line-up of the fleet might be taken out…
"Along the trip will be 6,000 senior Defense Unit soldiers. This will weaken the City of Light Moon, so Ol' Wong, the expansion and training of the Defense Unit will be very important…"
Guang Zhen sat in the chair and nodded. "I understand, but the blazing trail project is more important than that. If anything, I'll be more worried if you don't take the experienced soldiers with you. Don't worry about the City of Light Moon. With another half a month of training, all the newly awakened Homo Evolutis will be able to pilot the Steel Balls. Then, they will be able to perform missions while piloting the Steel Balls. Honestly, after they finish this training, they might be even stronger than your blazing trail unit."
Yao Yuan smiled but didn't say anything. Even though there was a new wave of Homo Evolutis awakening, based on the statistics, there were only 130 plus Homo Evolutis in total, and more than 10 were children or females who selected the journey of motherhood. The rest was all enrolled in the Black Star Unit. If just based on quantity alone, this newly built group with 120 Homo Evolutis was indeed greater in number compared to the earlier Black Star Unit, but the quality was up for question. They would need at least half a year of training before they could reach the standard of an actual Black Star soldier.
Yao Yuan even started to suspect his Immortal power. According to Blue 6, he would be able to recycle the soul of dead Homo Evolutis, but the situation was, there were more new Homo Evolutis than those who passed away. This had violated the law of soul conservation, and Yao Yuan could only believe that this was a side effect of his Immortal power…
However, this was unable to be confirmed because human technology was still too backwards. Furthermore, the current focus was the blazing trail project. After forming the foundation of the blazing trail fleet, Yao Yuan started to manage those who remained.
"First, Guang Zhen will take my place as the new Chancellor. Other than the ultimate voting rights, he will enjoy all the power accorded to the Chancellor. At the same time, I have decided to set up a new sect of power. Other than the government, House of Representatives, the courts, and the foreign affair committee, I have decided to construct the Great Academy. From now on, the Great Academy will have the right to hire and fire new students or staff. At the same time, to facilitate new weapon testing and confidential clauses, the Great Academy will be given its own defensive system. To put it simply, the Great Academy will have its own army. Of course, the power of its army will be limited. Basically, it has the same power structure as the foreign affair soldiers."
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When Yao Yuan announced this, the room was shocked. Even Guang Zhen was surprised. Obviously, this was a decision that was made without discussing with him first. However, when he thought about it, this decision didn't come from nowhere. It was probably inspired by the incident involving Yang Yun Si and Xiu Yue Xuan…
After the war, Yue Xuan's identity was completely exposed. The mass production of the Steel Balls had tipped the public off to her identity. This caused a new wave of discussion among the public. If Yue Xuan hadn't kept her identity hidden, humanity would have produced plenty of Steel Balls already. If this was peace time, then nothing would have happened, but they had just survived the most disastrous war in human history. Perhaps the number of fatalities couldn't rival the number of deaths in, let's say, World War I or I, but in terms of percentage, the death toll was spine-chilling. Furthermore, the scale of the war was something humanity had not seen before. This was humanity's first actual space war!
While it was true that the Steel Balls wouldn't have existed without Yue Xuan, the losses suffered in this war had shattered the public's sanity. Many people turned their anger and grief towards Yun Si and Yue Xue, and Yun Si bore the brunt of the hatred. Some of the people even suggested hanging him for being a human traitor, the biggest offense possible among the human race.
The courts were an entity beyond the control of the House of Representatives and the government. Even though public opinion could sway the courts' decision, generally speaking, it was its own isolated party. After discussion and evidence-collecting, the two were ruled to be innocent and released. This ruling had caused another wave of discussion among the public. According to the word of the law, these two were indeed innocent, but according to some parts of the public, they were definitely not innocent. Sin by omission was still a sin. They overruled Yun Si's defense of self-preservation. According to these people, they were a collective, a space civilization, so there shouldn't be a need for self-preservation.
Another part of the public agreed with the courts. The war was too sudden, and they couldn't blame the result on the two innocent individuals. Furthermore, they hadn't actively harmed the civilization. If anything, Yun Si had fought greatly for humankind. Yue Xuan had contributed plenty after the war in the mass production of the Steel Ball, the mental power expansion device, and the psychokinetic floating cannons. They had done more than enough to make up for their mistake. They should be deemed innocent, at least according to the law.
After the ruling was passed, both Yun Si and Yue Xuan reacted to the result differently. Yun Si handed in his resignation letter and spent his days moping around, while Yue Xuan shared her many equipment ideas, weapon designs, and scientific theories openly. Her insight into the power of the mind excited many scientists because it not only filled a great void within the sciences, it was enough to create a new branch, just like electricity and electromagnetism.
As the public opinion against the pair turned to the worst, many great scientists stepped forward to show their support to Yue Xuan. This caused some of the public to turn against the Academy itself. They started to doubt the impartialness of the scientists and tried to undermine the validity of the sciences.
This had been allowed to go on for one and a half months already, and it wasn't slowing down. After all, the resentment from more than 100,000 deaths and disappearances couldn't be placated so easily. Many people had lost their sanity over this. At this juncture, Yao Yuan came up with this Great Academy bill. He was making a statement, not indirectly but openly and directly. The institute of science could not be violated no matter what!
No matter the era, science was the most important thing. Throughout human history, be it the prehistoric era, historic era, medieval, or modern, science had always been sacrificed for the sake of politics. Politics and religions had always made use of science as their tool, loved when beneficial, disposed of when they felt like it. This time, the people wanted to control science again because of human emotions? Understandable but unforgivable!
Ever since humanity entered space, they had survived so many wars all thanks to the Academy. The only yardstick of a civilization's power in space was not politics, economy, or culture, the key thing was science. Yao Yuan knew how instrumental science was to survival in space, or else Guang Zhen wouldn't have purposely mentioned that one great scientist when he was trying to push for the blazing trail project.
"From today onwards, the Great Academy bill will be in effect. This is the last bill I set before the blazing trail project, and if the House of Representatives refuses to pass it, then I will use my ultimate vote to pass it!
"Science, only by scientific advancement we'll be able to stand in space, and so the institute of science has to be off limits. If anyone dares to push their hands into the Great Academy, attempting to influence the progress of science or to use it for personal gain, no matter who that person is…
"…I will chop their hands off! This is the last warning!"