Chapter 898. Stella, Star Bridging Lignified Space Hub.

Chapter 898: Chapter 898. Stella, Star Bridging Lignified Space Hub.

Liu Shu got to understand, once more, just how powerful it was that her domain moved at triple-time flow. For Liu Shu, this year would be the 40th year after the war ended. But for the outside world, only 13 years had passed.

In 13 years, the Covenant and Nexus had barely begun their war and had taken their positions. Not to mention, the war didn’t start immediately after the war with Liu Shu ended. Both sides used around a decade or so to stabilize from the strikes Liu Shu had inflicted on them.

So, they had effectively been at war for only 3 years.

Liu Shu blinked. ’Forty years of development against three years of war... Saying it that way, it’s really absurd.’

Her gaze moved toward the Covenant and Nexus territories. The Covenant territory had developed without much difficulty. After placing them under the same gradual adaptive measures to get her blessings as the Nexus, the population became docile and followed her laws.

Even if they didn’t want to, they adapted to the Golden Sap Empire’s style of life from routine alone. Since they had been slightly accustomed to World Trees, Liu Shu’s blessings were shock-worthy, but nothing that flipped their worlds upside down. On the contrary, Liu Shu’s superiority as a World Tree compared to Balaya made them more sure of their belief in World Trees.

Liu Shu’s Eternal Church struck like a spear and lodged itself deeply, causing a major religious movement among most people. Even those who praised Balaya and were left behind turned in large numbers.

As a World Tree, Liu Shu was vastly superior to Balaya. So, there were absolutely no problems in previous Covenant territory besides the initial time.

What surprised Liu Shu was the Nexus population. If she had to compare it to something, it was like a first-world country coming and doing free reforms in a third-world country. Forget Liu Shu having to move Eternal Church members; the locals were the first ones to create the churches of their own accord!

During the first 20 years or so, there were many stubborn people. Nevertheless, 20 years was enough for a child to grow into an adult. Seeing their children grow fully supported by Liu Shu’s blessings and become incredible individuals, the parents and older siblings were 100% won over.

That made a massive percentage shift in favor of Liu Shu, as if they were escaping a sinking boat. Next were the elderly and those in hospitals or with people who were deeply ill. Liu Shu’s second chosen blessing was focused on health, so in ten years, the blessing itself healed over 70% of those terminally ill.

Then Liu Shu moved Life Trees with <Recolocation>, creating new hospitals that absorbed both previous and new medical knowledge. Recoveries skyrocketed after that. Moreover, since Liu Shu took most of the expenses regarding most public services, including health and education, the costs were just laughable compared to before.

Where did Liu Shu get the capital for such expenses? Well, if you recall, Liu Shu’s mortgage system was not private. The government owned all houses, and Liu Shu regulated prices to keep them affordable. They were, in a way, a form of fixed tax. It was not a bad thing. You could take it as paying taxes to receive a house, a Lignified House.

With Liu Shu at the helm, she made sure most of that money was reinvested in infrastructure, government projects, healthcare, and, naturally, the military and similar industries. She also didn’t mistreat the politicians of her Golden Sap Empire.

What Liu Shu didn’t like about politics was corruption. However, politics done right was what pushed an Empire toward a golden age. It was, in a way, the most important sector of a society... and sadly, the most likely to be corrupted from within due to greed.

Either way, with Liu Shu-trained government officials settling in the Nexus worlds, the rusted machine became a well-oiled superstructure that transformed society in a matter of decades.

The people noticed the change.

’The most difficult thing to adapt is the remaining military.’

There were naturally many soldiers who either didn’t participate in the war or surrendered before the final purge that Liu Shu and the Golden Sap Empire carried out.

Since the grand majority of the army came from outside the two Solar Systems, the number of local soldiers who died at Liu Shu’s hands was a small percentage. So, it didn’t cause as much backlash as it could’ve.

Individuals who lost their loved ones tried to rise up. Sadly, Liu Shu was ruthless in that regard. Those who rose up and tried to disrupt the government as it began to function were silenced.

The number of deaths was not small. Liu Shu was not hypocritical enough to say that she was a saint who could convert everyone. There were sacrifices, and there would always be sacrifices among the stubborn and loyalists.

Despite all of that, the grand majority of the Nexus population showed zealousness comparable to even those living in Ceperet since they were young. Sometimes, because they were given the benefits instead of being born with them, they became much fiercer supporters than Ceperet locals.

"I am also slowly changing the architecture to full <Lignified Houses>."

Even if there were different environments depending on the world, Liu Shu’s final objective with all Solar Systems and worlds she conquered was transforming them into a lesser version of Ceperet. Lesser because Ceperet had her main body and her main structures. Those were non-replicable for the most part.

Aionthra, having awakened, also helped Liu Shu plenty while surveying the newly expanding Golden Sap empire. The Empress, much, much older than Liu Shu knew, having lived within the <Atemporal> environment for a long time, was wise far beyond the years Liu Shu had known her as her daughter.

Still, Aionthra was a being attuned to <Eternal> energy. So, the weight of time on her was limited. Moreover, with the amount of love Liu Shu had given her, Aionthra’s heart had long melted as she became an obedient daughter who loved being hugged and talking with Liu Shu.

All in all, the 10 Solar Systems under Liu Shu were developing at an incredible pace... And that pace was about to accelerate far beyond what they could all imagine.

[Congratulations! You’ve created <Level 1 Star Bridging Lignified Space Hub (S+ Rank)>!]

[Blessings trigger! <Tier Up>!]

[S+ Rank → SS- Rank!]

[<Interstellar Rune Array Lignified Arborarchy> gains a massive amount of proficiency.]

WHOOSH!

Blinding light flashed in the sky above Ceperet. The megastructure that had been orbiting Ceperet for almost a whole century came to life, its aura sinking deeply into the dimensional space around it. It was still Level 1. Even then, the potential it carried within caused most Level 100+ individuals to feel its presence from anywhere on the Moon or Ceperet.

Liu Shu’s main body couldn’t help but show an excited smile. How much trouble had she gone through to create this dear? She had used all types of S and SS Rank materials gathered from herself and her merchant fleet.

’The project I arrogantly thought would be finished in ten years is finally done!’

She was incredibly excited. For now, the little darling would be useless. Still, when she grew to Level 200, Liu Shu was sure that her new baby would manage to connect the Golden Sap Empire’s Solar Systems without a problem.

"Mommy?"

A sweet and milky voice reached Liu Shu, and she quickly reached out to hug the massive megastructure. "Baby~. How is our dearest little darling doing?"

"Mommy~! Hehehe."

Like Apothea, this structure showed incredible intelligence. She was, after all, done with materials even of higher quality than the ones Liu Shu used to complete Apothea. Not because of favoritism, but because Liu Shu was only A+ Tier back when she created her baby Apothea.

Seeing the large sphere come to life and move on its own, Liu Shu felt her maternal instincts surge as she hugged her dearly. "Ah... my baby. You don’t know how much trouble you’ve given Mommy. But now that you are here, it is all worth it."

"Mommy! Mommy! Hehehe. Mommy!"

"Yes. Yes. My precious baby. Let’s see... Your name will be Stella. I hope you become as bright as the myriad stars and, simultaneously, reach all of them. I love you, Stella."

Stella giggled happily, its internal structures wriggling joyfully. "Stella! Mommy! Stella!"

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

Liu Shu melted from love each time. She truly adored her babies. They were all the cutest little darlings in the world!

Aionthra, looking at that, felt a touch of longing. ’How good would it have been to be born as Mother’s daughter in Ceperet?’

Still, even if she was given the option, Aionthra would never give up her current state. Even if she had to go through those millennia of silence again, Aionthra would follow the exact same path she had.

’Soon. Once I gather more strength...’ Her amethyst-colored eyes, identical to Liu Shu’s but more dignified, flashed with determination. One day, Aionthra swore to sweep the battlefield for her Mother with her main body.

’Not yet. Gather more strength. Enough to crush everything when I am out.’

The Empress was biding her time. Once she did, though, the Galaxy would tremble at the sheer mention of Aionthra’s name.

Liu Shu glanced at her precious empress for a second, and seeing a serious look on her face, she extended her roots to squeeze her big baby’s body. "What is my dearest thinking so hard, eh? Baby should smile languidly like always and have fun helping mom!"

Aionthra’s expression immediately melted as she relaxed her body within Liu Shu’s embrace. "Yes, Mother. I was just thinking of the future. Nothing else."

"Oh~! That’s a good thing! My baby’s future will always be happy. I will make sure of it! Hehehe."

Aionthra thought she couldn’t love Liu Shu more, but her Mother always showed her that there seemed to be no limits in that regard.

Liu Shu went to visit all her other children slowly, while especially taking care of the newborn Stella. Her maternal instincts had been triggered by Stella’s birth, so now everyone was about to receive endless pampering and love from their World Tree mother!

Speaking of pampering her babies, Liu Shu glanced inside the <Lignified Vault> and smiled widely. "Baby, let’s take it out! My babies need to drink and become strong and powerful!"

One of Liu Shu’s children was working in her office, speaking with her coworkers. She was an Alraune child of direct descent. As she leaned and flirted with a handsome man who caught her eye, space rippled between them, and Liu Shu’s voice reached them.

"Baby! Mommy has become stronger, so I’ve prepared some breast milk for baby to drink. Hehe. I hope baby becomes stronger and healthier. I love you~!"

Both sides froze, while the Alraune, a species that was hard to embarrass, felt her whole body burn up and change color to a deep red. ’Argh! MOMMY!’

The handsome man glanced at the large bottle of milk and the Alraune, an amused light flashing in his eyes. "Lady Heavenly Willow truly loves her children."

The Alraune escaped, her roots moving quickly as she charged into the bathroom. Then, a shrill scream of embarrassment escaped not only from that bathroom, but from many other locations in the Golden Sap Empire.

"AARRGHHH!!!"