Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1350: A Powerful Opponent

Sein’s perception of the Gallant Federation had shifted even further.

Beyond its remarkable planetary terraforming technology and unique economic philosophy, its achievements in genetic research were just as impressive.

Within the federation, it was possible to reach a life level of Rank Four or higher simply by paying enough money.

As Sein himself had ascended to Rank Four, he had come to realize that with sufficient resources, one could indeed create Rank Four or higher lifeforms.

But the federation’s practice of openly listing such services with a price tag was still beyond his expectations.

A Rank Four genetic modification project cost one trillion Federal dollars!

Converted into Magus World’s currency, that was about ten million magicoins, roughly the cost of building a standard space fortress.

However, the Rank Four beings created through the federation’s program only possessed some of the traits of true Rank Fours, the most important being lifespan.

In every other respect, these genetically engineered creatures were clearly inferior and could not truly be called Rank Four lifeforms!

Even so, the fact that they could achieve this much was already remarkable.

And if this kind of genetic technology were applied to the federation’s military forces...

***

Sein had spent considerable time within the federation’s sphere of influence.

What he had seen so far, though, was mostly the aspects they chose to put on display.

Whether it was their life planet terraforming technology, or genetic modification programs, all of it was presented as openly priced “services”.

But beyond these services, Sein wondered if the federation had even more advanced technologies or weapons.

So far, he had only seen a fraction of the Federation’s weaponry and equipment through the Zeak Empire forces he had encountered. But still, it was a cultivation civilization.

Sein had yet to witness the true core of the Gallant Federation’s fleets and their actual combat power firsthand.

The federation’s vast fleets and endless robot armies formed its main strength in external warfare.

And the closer he was to the federation, the more he learned about this top-tier technological civilization.

Sein’s earlier underestimation of this opponent, and his once firm belief in the Magus Civilization’s inevitable victory, had already begun to waver.

The more he learned, the more he could sense the federation’s true strength!

Since the Magus Civilization had officially recognized it as a rival of equal standing, the Gallant Federation was certainly no pushover.

The outcome of this Clash of Civilizations was far from certain.

Sein’s earlier belief in the Magus Civilization’s guaranteed triumph had been shaped by the carefully crafted propaganda of the Magus Alliance.

At the very least, they could not allow their morale to falter.

As for the final result... Sein’s own strength was far too limited to tip the scales. All he could do was carry out his duties to the best of his ability.

***

The journey from the Zeak Empire to the Gallant Federation was no short trip.

Along the way, countless star domains, medium and small-sized planes had to be crossed.

This alone showed the vast reach of the Gallant Federation’s influence.

For a Rank One mage, 1 million or 1.5 million magicons were both unimaginable sums. Telling the exact difference between the two was no easy task.

Likewise, the gap in territory between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation was like the difference between one million and one and a half million.

Even for a Rank Four being like Sein, the sheer scale of both star domains was immeasurable.

Besides, the Zeak Empire was not the Gallant Federation’s only large-sized world.

Through deliberate support and knowledge transfers, several other large worlds with advanced technological civilizations had risen under the federation’s banner.

On his journey through the Federation’s territories, Sein would also have to pass through a small portion of the star domain ruled by a large-sized technological civilization known as Tris, in addition to the Zeak Empire.

The Tris Civilization had been one of the earliest to align itself with the federation, or more accurately, it had once been part of the Gallant Federation before splitting away.

The dominant elite at the top of Tris Civilization often carried the Gallant Federation’s human bloodlines, and some were even pure-blooded.

Meanwhile, most of the middle and lower classes of Tris society were made up of pure-blooded Tris—short, dwarf-like humanoids with pointed ears, gray skin, and an average height of about 1.5 meters.

In Tris society, the most obvious way to judge someone’s status or background was by height and skin color.

Those who stood at 1.6 meters or taller and had fair or yellowish skin usually came from wealthier families.

Technological civilizations liked to champion ideals of universal equality. On paper, every citizen had equal rights, even the chance to run for president or congress.

But in reality, true equality was a dream no civilization had ever achieved.

Even in technological societies, absolute equality was impossible.

Wealth alone was enough to shatter the illusion. Some were born into immense riches and sat at the very top from the start.

Others, no matter how hard they worked their entire lives, could not break free from the shackles of their social class and remained at the bottom.

Words like “equality” and “freedom” were often nothing more than propaganda, tools for rulers to safeguard their own interests.

This was not unique to the Gallant Federation; the Magus Civilization played the same game.

After all, all crows had black feathers.

***

As Sein traveled through the Gallant Federation, the dangers and challenges he faced were not immediately obvious.

The federation was a civilization that placed enormous emphasis on economic development.

Sein had roamed the Astral Realm for a long time and seen many worlds, but none could compare to the Gallant Federation in terms of interstellar trade and planetary travel.

Solo interstellar travel was common here.

In other civilizations, only beings of Rank Three, or Rank One at the very least, could take part in interstellar trade and travel.

But the Gallant Federation had extended this privilege to its ordinary citizens.

All it took was paying the Federal dollar fare to travel between planets.

Pay a little more, and one could even cross star domains.

In every world, most of the population consisted of lower lifeforms, and the pyramid structure was the same across all planes.

Even with the federation’s advanced genetic modification technology, the vast majority of its human population remained below Rank One, making up 99.99% of the total.

A universal Rank One population was unrealistic. Even the Magus World had not achieved it, and the Gallant Federation was nowhere close.

Genetic serums in the federation were an expensive luxury.

A middle-income family might not be able to afford even a Rank One genetic serum, even if they sold everything they owned.

Average incomes in the federation were not low, but daily living costs were just as high.

This was why every time the federation organized long-distance immigration to other star domains, it always went smoothly.

The government offered a host of welfare benefits, including tax exemptions, to citizens willing to resettle in distant star domains.

As a result, many middle and upper-income families chose to move to medium- and small-sized planes within the federation’s sphere of influence.

With their income and Federal dollar assets, they could live very comfortably in these vassal civilizations.

In terms of basic quality of life, the humans of the Gallant Federation were far better off than the lower classes of Magus World. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The average lifespan of a Gallant Federation human ranged from five hundred to eight hundred years, nearly on par with the elves.

On top of that, federal citizens generally had a clear understanding of the nature of the world they lived in, staying informed through countless channels about the greater trends and developments of civilization.

By contrast, the lower-class humans of the Magus Civilization had little understanding of the world around them.

In a way, the Gallant Federation had bound its people’s fate as one, giving them perhaps even greater cohesion!

In Magus World, the minimum requirement to access basic information about civilizational development was to be at least a ranked knight or full-fledged mage, or at the very least, a magic initiate.

The differences in structure and development between the two had made the Gallant Federation and the Magus Civilization entirely distinct world civilizations.

This also made it difficult to directly judge which of them was stronger or weaker.

As a technological civilization, the Federation humans were not as frail as Sein had once imagined.

In raw physique and strength, the humans of the Magus World were indeed superior, but the Gallant Federation had achieved remarkable feats in genetic drug research.

Even the free or low-cost serums distributed through its welfare system were enough to shield its citizens from most diseases.

Sein’s earlier belief that a lone Necromancer could throw a city in the Gallant Federation into chaos now seemed naive.

At the very least, to biologically attack the federation, one would need to conduct targeted genetic research first.

And on top of that, the federation’s genetic serums had to be reverse-engineered to create counter-serums.

Learning all this left Sein with a sense of pessimism about the coming Clash of Civilizations.

Perhaps it was the sheer gap between reality and his expectations.

The opponent was not nearly as weak as he had once imagined.