The Stellar Federation moved quickly. Before long, Duanmu Huai received the proposal submitted by their side.
The entire plan was divided into three parts.
The first proposal was to pool the strength of the entire Stellar Federation and mold Zhen Jiling into a proper, orthodox-style star akin to a national goddess. Duanmu Huai rejected this outright after just one glance. This was basically equivalent to turning Zhen Jiling into the Stellar Federation's public image representative. The Inquisition was not benevolent enough to dress up someone of their own just to marry her off for someone else's benefit.
Moreover, Zhen Jiling simply was not suited to the "national goddess" route. Generally speaking, national goddesses were the gentle, refined, dignified, well-bred types—graceful, composed, smiling without showing teeth… In short, they were relatively serious and orthodox figures. This was completely incompatible with Zhen Jiling's "cute" path.
Just like how Duanmu Huai also didn't want to see the famous artistic masters of his own nation acting cute on stage—the sense of dissonance would be overwhelming.
The second plan proposed that Zhen Jiling participate in one of the Stellar Federation's extremely famous variety show talent competitions. The Federation would invest heavily in promoting the program. As long as Zhen Jiling had some ability, she would be able to debut smoothly, then rise to fame at top speed and become a wildly popular idol star.
Mm, this could be considered the most orthodox route. In the past, many idol celebrities had debuted this way.
Of course, in Duanmu Huai's era, many talent shows were of uneven quality, and even those idols who achieved massive success through such programs mostly faded into obscurity afterward…
But since the Stellar Federation was a galactic power, the quality of their talent shows should at least be passable, right?
As for the last plan…
"Livestreaming, huh…"
Looking at the document in his hands, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but recall his own failed streamer career from years ago. When he first started streaming, his appearance and physique did indeed attract quite a number of viewers. At the time, Duanmu Huai finally felt like his luck had turned, thinking that maybe he'd become X Network's breakout top streamer or something—
Then, after just three days, he opened his channel only to see: "Banned due to violation of national laws and regulations." (shrugs)
Duanmu Huai had been extremely unhappy back then.
What, does looking like this violate national laws now?
Later, after calling to ask, he learned that while someone was watching his stream, their grandfather happened to glance at the screen. The old man saw Duanmu Huai's face on the stream, rolled his eyes on the spot, fainted from fright, and nearly didn't make it back after emergency treatment.
Mm…
How should I put this…
Looking at his own face, Duanmu Huai couldn't really say they were completely making it up.
Sigh…
Thinking about it, Duanmu Huai let out a sigh. Back then, he had read plenty of web novels where the protagonist awakened a livestream system, rose to the peak of life, and married a rich, beautiful woman—so why didn't he have that kind of luck?
When thousands of viewers had shown up in his livestream room on the first day, Duanmu Huai had felt quite smug, thinking he was finally about to break free from his cocoon and transform…
Forget it. Thinking about it now just hurts.
Duanmu Huai silently wiped away a tear, then called Zhen Jiling over and placed the three proposals in front of her, letting her choose. After all, Duanmu Huai himself had no real experience in the entertainment industry—he had been cut from an extra role, banned as a streamer. If he had Zhen Jiling's conditions, he'd have gone viral long ago.
Too bad he didn't, right?
So he might as well stop embarrassing himself and let Zhen Jiling decide.
"Big brother, what is a streamer?"
After reading through the contents, Zhen Jiling asked curiously. Duanmu Huai shrugged.
"Simply put, it means broadcasting yourself live over the internet. You can perform whatever you want—singing, dancing, or just chatting. As long as you're attractive enough, lots and lots of people will come watch."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's explanation, Zhen Jiling's eyes lit up.
"So if everyone gets captivated by Karen's cuteness, then lots and lots of people will come watch?"
"Mm, that's right…"
"Then Karen chooses the third one!"
How should one put it… not surprising at all.
Duanmu Huai wasn't surprised by Zhen Jiling's choice. From his conversations with her, he had already realized that this horse girl was extremely serious and had strong opinions of her own—a perfectionist. She preferred to control things herself rather than being arranged by others. While debuting through a talent show was the easiest way to become famous, the flip side was that once you became a star, it was hard to stay grounded. Even posting online would probably be handled by agents sent by the management company. Every move would be under someone else's control—something Zhen Jiling clearly didn't want.
Therefore, becoming a streamer was her best option.
"Then go contact them. You decide the specific details. If it involves matters between the Stellar Federation and the Inquisition, leave it to me."
"Okay! Big brother, don't worry! Karen will definitely let everyone in the Stellar Federation feel Karen's cuteness!"
"If you need anything, you can talk to the maids or Mia."
Duanmu Huai knew that livestreaming required equipment. He didn't know exactly what equipment livestreaming in the Stellar Federation required, but as far as he was concerned, any problem that could be solved wasn't really a problem at all.
"Then I'm going to prepare!"
After receiving Duanmu Huai's response, Zhen Jiling happily left the room, humming a tune as she went off to work hard.
"I wonder if this'll really work… It should be fine, right?"
Watching Zhen Jiling's departing figure, Duanmu Huai hesitated a little. But thinking it over, if this were a web novel, she'd at least be the protagonist of something like 'Horse Girl Goes Live and Becomes the Strongest Internet Celebrity.'
With Zhen Jiling's abilities, it should be fine.
He'd just let her mess around.
At this moment, Duanmu Huai still didn't know what kind of small shock Zhen Jiling would bring him…
Mm, that could wait until later.
Zhen Jiling was a hidden move aimed at the Asari. Next, what Duanmu Huai needed to focus on was another matter.
That was the further military cooperation between the Inquisition and the Stellar Federation.
Mm—speaking of livestreaming, Duanmu Huai was no good at that. But when it came to this, he was wide awake.
This was also a goal discussed jointly by Li Longcheng and Duanmu Huai—
The Terminus Systems.
The Terminus Systems lay at the current edge of Stellar Federation territory. Multiple species coexisted there, all vicious and lawless—it was basically the galaxy's no-man's-land. Even the Citadel couldn't do anything about it and didn't dare send troops rashly, fearing that any intervention would cause the chaotic factions within the Terminus Systems to put aside their grudges and unite against an external enemy.
So the Citadel didn't want to deal with it.
But the Stellar Federation couldn't ignore it.
As mentioned before, the Terminus Systems were essentially a lawless zone. Naturally, many criminals frequently came out to raid and plunder. The Stellar Federation colonies bordering the Terminus Systems suffered greatly, and once those criminals were done looting, they'd hide back in the Terminus Systems—impossible to track down, infuriating the Federation to no end.
During earlier negotiations, Li Longcheng had discussed the Terminus Systems issue with the Citadel representatives. Their attitude was clear: the Terminus Systems were just like that—no one could manage them. If you knew the place was dangerous and still insisted on building colonies there, then suffering losses was your own problem. The Citadel was powerless and could only offer superficial support.
Left with no choice, Li Longcheng turned to the Inquisition.
After hearing Li Longcheng's request, Duanmu Huai agreed. The Terminus Systems were indeed a festering mess—like the slums of the galaxy: poor, filthy, and harboring all kinds of filth. They truly needed a massive crackdown.
And since it was full of xenos, the Inquisition was more than happy to oblige.
Originally, Duanmu Huai had planned to dispatch a World Engine-class vessel and simply blow up the Terminus Systems' star—just like he had done to the Covenant—wiping everything out indiscriminately. But after listening to Li Longcheng, he immediately changed his mind. According to Li Longcheng, the Terminus Systems were rich in mineral resources, with many planets containing abundant deposits. If the Federation could obtain those resources, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai changed his mind again—because the Inquisition also needed minerals.
After cooperating with the Stellar Federation, Duanmu Huai's greatest looming threat was no longer the Chaos Gods, but the upcoming expansion pack: The Synthetic Crisis.
This brought things to the main enemy of The Synthetic Crisis—the Reapers.
The Reapers were created by a species in the galaxy known as the Leviathans. The Leviathans originally created the Reapers to deal with the Human Empire of that era. Unfortunately, before the Reapers could even be deployed to the battlefield, the Human Empire initiated the Black Hole Project, wiping out nearly all civilizations in the galaxy in one fell swoop.
Naturally, the Leviathans were unwilling to be taken down as well. In their final moments, they issued an order to the Reapers, demanding that they protect the Leviathans and their subordinate organic lifeforms at all costs.
However, artificial stupidity was still artificial stupidity. Much like that idiot Skynet that could only reload saves, after pondering for over half a year, the Reapers reached a conclusion.
If organic civilizations were allowed to develop without restriction, they would eventually destroy themselves. To prevent this, the best solution was to forcibly eliminate civilizations once they reached a certain level—like harvesting crops. Cut them down once, then wait for the next batch to grow, ensuring total extinction never occurred.
As for whether the Reapers got this inspiration from the Human Empire's Black Hole Project, only heaven knew. But afterward, the Reapers did take action, first turning their blades on their own creators, the Leviathans.
Thus, the unlucky Leviathans weren't exterminated by the Human Empire, but by their own creation.
Tragic as hell.
After that, the Reapers established a cycle of returning every few thousand or tens of thousands of years to harvest civilizations. Their second victim was the Protheans, who were basically screwed over by the Leviathans.
And The Synthetic Crisis expansion told the story of the Reapers' third return.
Of course, in the game, it ultimately ended in the players' victory. The reason was simple—no matter how many Reapers there were, there were more players. In the end, the Reapers were slaughtered to near extinction. Players would camp entire systems, several players waiting for a single Reaper fleet spawn—once it appeared, it was immediately killed. Absolutely miserable.
But as the first expansion pack, The Synthetic Crisis was indeed very difficult. If this were a game, Duanmu Huai wouldn't be afraid. The problem was—this was reality. There weren't countless players here. To fight Reapers numbering in the tens of billions or more, Duanmu Huai's only option was to build as many warships as possible in a short time and strengthen the Inquisition's combat power.
This was also one of the reasons he helped the Stellar Federation. The Inquisition's creed was one thing, but another was that if the Federation were merely a non-Citadel species joining the Council, its warship construction would be strictly capped—just like those old naval treaties or missile limitation agreements.
Now, however, the Stellar Federation's status within the Citadel was no lower than that of the three major species, so it wouldn't face restrictions on shipbuilding.
Additionally, Duanmu Huai had already warned Li Longcheng that the Reapers would return soon—if your fleet wasn't large enough, you'd just be waiting to die. So the Federation had no choice but to go all out building warships.
However, mass-producing fleets required a reason and a pretext. Otherwise, suddenly building ships on a massive scale would inevitably make other species suspicious and uneasy. Thus, human colonial expansion was a perfect excuse—
Humans had just stepped into the galaxy and needed vast colonies. Vast colonies required more warships for protection. So building more warships to protect these systems and colonies—what problem was there with that?
None at all. Perfect logic.
The Terminus Systems were precisely such a pretext.
They could not only provide enough minerals for both the Stellar Federation and the Inquisition to manufacture warships, but also give the Federation a legitimate reason to mass-produce fleets. Therefore, conquering the Terminus Systems became a top priority for both sides.
As such, the Stellar Federation would not only dispatch a fleet to act together with Duanmu Huai's Inquisition fleet to carry out the plan to subdue the Terminus Systems, but would also send an elite human squad to conduct ground operations alongside the Inquisition, learning their combat techniques and methods.
What Duanmu Huai was looking at now was the information on the leader of that elite squad.
Major Shepard, born into a naval military family and frequently redeployed along with their parents, joined the Stellar Federation military at eighteen. During the earlier incident where a Batarian warlord allied with slave traders and criminal syndicates to attack the colony Elysium, Major Shepard—who happened to be vacationing there—stepped forward, rallied the colonists, and led them in a desperate defense against the invaders until reinforcements arrived, successfully repelling the Batarian assault.
Mm… with an achievement like that, it was no wonder the Federation appointed this person as team leader. At least for now, this was someone with real ability. Otherwise, how could they have held off a xenos invasion?
But…
Duanmu Huai read the file again and again, flipping back and forth.
Why didn't it say whether this Major Shepard was male or female?
(End of Chapter)