NOVEL WEB Chapter 704: Replacement
Federation Congress Hall. Fang Ranran had not received Lin Rui's reply for a long time, so she sent another message over, only to receive the response: "The recipient is in a virtual meeting, please contact later."
Fang Ranran immediately understood, thinking that the speed of the Longevity Association was astonishingly fast.
After she closed the communication window with Lin Rui, she noticed that a group of Congressmen around her had peculiar expressions as they looked at her.
Fang Ranran swept her gaze across them; some hurriedly avoided her eyes, while others smiled faintly and nodded to greet her.
Even the two high-ranking senior and deputy speakers of the Congress smiled amiably and raised their hands in greeting.
Although these two speakers were stern and unsmiling just a month ago, their attitudes toward her had dramatically shifted, and today, they were exceptionally friendly and approachable.
At this moment, a few Congressmen from the Bright Front shared screenshots from their work group chats with her.
They were discussing the sudden outbreak of war in the Seventh Base City, with all eyes focusing on Fang Ranran's boyfriend Lin Rui and his two sisters, the "Double Heavenly Maiden."
At this time, their work group chats were like boiling pots, producing hundreds of messages every second.
—— Seventh Realm and at the Congressman Level? Such talent is too outstanding. It's said that he's even at the advanced Congressman Level, capable of briefly confronting those at the Divine Envoy Level. If he advances to the Eighth Realm, what then?
—— It's said his 8SSS+ swordsmanship is incredibly powerful, seriously injuring a Quasi-Divine Envoy with one strike.
—— Even scarier are his two sisters—this battle saw the "Despair and Pain" Heavenly Maiden achieve sustained combat for 42 seconds, with a Concept Strength exceeding 90% for at least 5 seconds. They were the core force in allowing the Federation Fleet to defeat the Longevity Association.
—— Wasn't it previously said that the Twin Goddess' maximum combat duration over the past two months was 20 seconds, and anything longer would lead to disaster? The military's so-called "reliable information" sure sounded confident.
—— I don't know about that, but following this battle, the Twin Goddess will undoubtedly become the pillar of the Earth Federation.
—— The Federation has truly undergone a transformation. Starting now, the Forest Rui Fang Group is the Federation's top-tier financial conglomerate. Can you fathom it? Two Quasi-Abyss members, four Congressman Level figures, eight and a half Quasi-Members, a subdivisional fleet, and five Heavy Equipment Divisions—what's the value of all that?
—— Anyways, their family has solidified its position. Do you guys know? My boss is now panicking. He used to believe this group wouldn't last long, rejecting Fang Ranran's several proposals without even providing a reason. He's in big trouble now.
Some were also discussing the Longevity Association.
—— I never expected so many Quasi-Immortals within the Federation—are all of them Alien Immortals from Tianji Star? It's truly terrifying.
—— The major news channels are eerily quiet, with no reports. I checked all the political forums and couldn't find a single post detailing the battle.
—— Undoubtedly it's news control. Right now, we only know scraps of information.
—— Why? And an organization as cruel and bloodthirsty as the Longevity Association—why can't it be exposed and brought to public attention?
—— Are you an idiot? If matters involving the Longevity Association were widely spread, it would incite public panic. Besides, those few Immortal Level individuals are mortal enemies of the Abyss. Starting a war with them would bring no benefit to the Federation.
—— They must have struck covert deals, jointly controlling the media. Incredible. This incident is practically an internal war—over 22,000 warships were mobilized, and there's not a trace of it online. Damn, my boss is looking for me, asking me to sign an information confidentiality agreement.
Fang Ranran used her alternate account to browse through the chat records in these work groups. As she blissfully enjoyed herself, she heard crisp notification sounds—'ding-dong'—informing her of new incoming emails, marked as important.
When Fang Ranran opened the email, she discovered it was regarding the expansion plan for the Ninth Base City. Funding that had been stuck within the Federation was finally approved—a total of 52 trillion federal coins. The outrageous sum Fang Ranran had asked for was remarkably granted in full.
Fang Ranran let out a quiet sigh. She thought to herself that this money was simply the extraction of the lifeblood and sweat of civilians from various Federation colonial stars.
The current national policy of the Earth Federation was to mobilize the entire nation's resources to support the war front, specifically the 14 satellite bases of Tianji Star.
The highest levels of the Federation Government were resolute, believing that evasion was futile. They must swiftly decipher the Martial Arts secrets of Tianji Star, allowing humanity to achieve parity in power and fortify all 12 satellites of Tianji Star into indestructible fortresses—the first line of defense against the people of Tianji Star.
As a result, the major colonial stars of the Federation faced severe exploitation, causing many Federation citizens unable to survive to migrate to Tianji Star or smuggle themselves in.
Some colonial stars sought independence, aiming to overthrow the Earth Federation's rule, but were unable to contend with the overwhelming military might of the 14 Base Cities.
All the Earth Federation needed was a single subdivisional fleet and one Heavy Equipment Division to suppress these colonial stars.
Their Armored Warriors, while unable to freely manipulate various natural forces in other star domains, possessed physical qualities, strength, and speed far surpassing regular humans.
However, what puzzled Fang Ranran was that 220 years ago, when the Federation Government was still located on Earth, nearly one-third of the Federation's elite leaders advocated detachment from Tianji Star.
They believed the universe was vast and that the Federation, yet to fully explore even the Milky Way, could simply avoid Tianji Star. On the contrary, deeply engaging with Tianji Star's inhabitants, enabling this race to escape their planetary shackles, posed the real danger.
Yet, after the Federation relocated its government to the Capital Ship stationed at Tianji Star, this political viewpoint began to vanish, replaced by an outright inclination toward Tianji Star.
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After the war concluded, Lin Rui had no time to rest and had to continue working tirelessly.
First, he had to help Xu Mengran replace his Armament. Once finished, Li Xianglong followed closely behind, accompanied by Lin Tianchen.
Since both required a considerable amount of armament replacements—and needed the implantation of two new SSS+ Armaments on top of their existing ones—the surgeries took over 24 hours each. Lin Rui worked nonstop for two days without sleep, completing both transformations.
But with his Seventh Realm cultivation and extraordinary vitality, two sleepless nights hardly fazed him—far out of reach for ordinary people.
Once Li Xianglong's surgery was complete, the first thing he did upon waking was test his new Armaments.
The test results left him extremely satisfied. Perhaps owing to Li Xianglong's deeper cultivation, the overall efficiency of his new Armaments surpassed that of Lin Tianchen's significantly. The enhancements to various Bloodline Abilities reached an astounding 45%, and after the implantation of the two new SSS+ Armaments, Li Xianglong even had some residual spiritual power capacity.
The key point was that the two new SSS+ Armaments not only granted him greater spatiotemporal abilities but also boosted his Concept Strength by an additional 4%—enough to bridge the gap between Senior Divine Envoy and Super Divine Envoy levels.
The question remained: through what method had Lin Rui refined his body and soul, enabling him to adapt to new Armaments and reestablish the bond between spirit and body?
Li Xianglong privately messaged Lin Tianchen: "Old Lin, did you notice anything during your surgery?"
Lin Tianchen: "Nothing. Lin Rui's anesthetics are extraordinary. His mastery over the concepts of 'Paralysis' and 'Divine Poison' is at least 38%, and paired with his Heaven's Will armor, it's even harder to resist."
Lin Tianchen: "You have higher cultivation than me and were on guard—surely you retained some awareness during the surgery?"
Lin Tianchen, in truth, had little interest in probing Lin Rui's secrets.
Unlike Li Xianglong, Lin Tianchen considered himself deeply indebted to Lin Rui. Without Lin Rui, he would never have avenged those assassinated among his former associates.
Li Xianglong, upon hearing this, turned black-faced. He thought he'd be able to preserve some consciousness, but underestimated the potency of Lin Rui's medicine.
Li Xianglong shook his head in resignation: "Such a pity!"
The pity lay in the fact that the first to sixth-generation Alien Walkers were almost wiped out.
Among these Alien Walkers, there were numerous exceptionally gifted figures who met tragic ends due to defective Armaments.
Their Martial Arts foundations were profound. Should they escape the influence of the Armaments and cure their Armament Syndromes, they could soar high, exponentially augmenting the Federation's military reserves.
The East Asia side managed to preserve some grace when addressing veteran Alien Walkers afflicted by Armament Syndrome, so there were still survivors among those from before the sixth generation.
However, the North American Federation and the Atlantic Union were far too ruthless with their Darwinistic approach to Alien Walkers, resulting in the complete extinction of anyone beyond the third generation.
At this moment, Li Xianglong sensed powerful life force surging nearby, accompanied by waves of overwhelming Ether Spiritual Tide emanating from an adjacent laboratory.
"Ninth Realm Emperor Rank?" Li Xianglong glanced over in surprise, "Is it Xu Mengran?"
He instantly grasped the situation, turning his gaze toward Lin Rui through the observation glass: "Did you implant the Ninth Realm Main Armor, 'Divine Platform,' for him?"
Li Xianglong had not anticipated Xu Mengran's audacity in directly breaking through to the Ninth Realm before even adjusting to his new Armament.
Lin Rui also glanced in Xu Mengran's direction and nodded slightly: "It was Commander Xu's own request. With his cultivation and accumulation, it's actually sufficient."
Li Xianglong felt a mix of joy and concern.
Joy for the Earth Federation gaining another Senior Divine Envoy, and concern for the imminent shifts in the Federation's internal power dynamics.
After Xu Mengran's breakthrough, a wave of Alien Walkers from the East Asia Republic would undoubtedly follow suit in upgrading their Armaments, rapidly boosting East Asia's military prowess and disrupting the balance within the Federation.