Chapter 26: Fifty Years

Fifty years had passed.

Fifty full years since Zeta had been sealed off from the outside world.

Fifty years since a curtain had been drawn over the planet, its borders closed to every external force.

At first...

The sealing of Zeta had seemed like a siege.

No one could enter.

No one could leave.

And no one knew what was happening inside this isolated world.

But as the years passed...

The meaning of that isolation changed.

Zeta was no longer a prison.

It had become a vast workshop.

A workshop that never stopped.

And throughout those fifty years...

Humanity had changed.

Slowly at first.

Then rapidly.

Then at an astonishing pace.

In the first year, the remnants of the past were still clearly visible.

Ancient cities.

Worn-out roads.

Abandoned mines.

Local forces that had not completely abandoned their old loyalties.

And millions of humans who had yet to grow accustomed to the idea of a single authority.

But by the tenth year...

The picture had begun to change.

By the twentieth...

The changes had become even more apparent.

By the thirtieth...

Humanity no longer resembled the civilization that had existed before Zeta was sealed.

And now...

After fifty years...

The difference was like the gap between two entirely different eras.

The cities of Zeta were the first to reveal the scale of the transformation.

The ancient cities were no longer the same.

The streets had been restored.

Residential districts had expanded.

And enormous towers had risen at the hearts of the cities.

They were not merely residential towers.

They served as energy centers, communication hubs, and administrative facilities.

Energy networks connected the cities to one another.

Information now traveled at speeds humanity could never have imagined only decades earlier.

Villages were no longer isolated from the cities.

Nor did remote regions have to rely entirely upon themselves.

A unified transportation system had emerged.

Energy grids.

Supply centers.

Strategic warehouses.

And production facilities were spread throughout human territory.

Even the regions that had once been controlled by the ancient families...

Had now become part of a single system.

That old feeling that every region was an independent world had disappeared.

Zeta was transforming into one enormous unified nation.

But the greatest transformation...

Was in industry.

Fifty years ago, humanity had relied heavily on craftsmen and small local workshops.

Now...

Vast industrial zones had emerged.

Hundreds of factories.

Then thousands.

Metal foundries.

Alloy plants.

Energy facilities.

Weapons factories.

And specialized shipyards dedicated to constructing warships.

A single warship no longer required years of work, as the first vessel had.

Manufacturing methods had evolved.

Experience had accumulated.

And ship components were now produced on a massive scale.

They were then assembled inside enormous shipyards.

And so...

The knowledge that had once existed within the memories of only a handful of people had been transformed into an entire industry.

And in the skies...

The transformation was even more obvious.

Fifty years ago, the first flying warship had taken to the sky above one of the shipyards.

It had been a sight that left everyone speechless.

Now...

Warships were no longer a rare sight.

The very skies had changed.

Transport ships flew between cities.

Supply ships carried resources.

Reconnaissance vessels surveyed distant regions.

And enormous warships traveled in organized formations.

In some areas...

Entire squadrons crossed the sky.

One ship after another.

Then dozens.

Then hundreds.

The skies no longer belonged to nature alone.

Humanity now possessed a genuine military presence above them.

The new ships were vastly different from the first generation.

Over fifty years, humanity had not merely replicated the designs it had received.

It had begun to understand them.

Then improve them.

Then refine them.

New models appeared.

Faster.

More durable.

More efficient in their energy consumption.

Weapon systems became more precise.

Defensive systems grew stronger.

Control systems became more efficient.

And the ships became capable of maneuvers that had been impossible during the early days of the project.

The fleet began to divide into clearly defined classes.

Combat fleets.

Reconnaissance fleets.

Transport fleets.

Supply fleets.

And command fleets.

It was no longer merely a collection of ships.

It had become a true fleet.

But the fleet was not the only thing that had evolved.

The army had also undergone an enormous transformation.

The soldiers who had begun their training fifty years ago had been nothing more than warriors gathered from different regions.

Now...

The Human Army had become a massive and highly organized military institution.

Training no longer consisted merely of the basics.

There were military academies.

Specialized training centers.

Vast battle-simulation grounds.

Command training facilities.

Schools dedicated to strategy.

Others devoted to formations.

And others specializing in the operation of warships and heavy weapons.

Even the lowest-ranking soldier now received more structured training than some of the greatest warriors of the past had ever received.

The very nature of warfare had changed as well.

A soldier was no longer taught merely how to wield his weapon.

He learned how to fight as part of a unit.

How to follow orders.

How to operate long-range weapons.

How to utilize formations.

How to fight in cities.

In mountains.

In forests.

And in the skies.

Even under conditions where communications were cut off or command was lost.

The army trained for every possibility.

Because real war did not give an opponent a chance to try again.

And so...

The training was harsh.

Organized.

And continuous.

As the decades passed...

New generations of soldiers began to emerge.

Children born after the beginning of the age of unification.

They grew up knowing only one thing.

The Human Army.

They had never known the armies of the ancient families.

They had never lived through the era when cities were divided.

They did not know what it meant for every region to possess its own independent military force.

To them...

The Human Army was simply a natural part of life.

And the single banner of humanity was something they had grown up with.

That alone was one of the greatest victories of the new system.

For true change had not occurred only within the armies.

It had occurred within the minds of humanity itself.

Even the ancient families had begun to lose their former influence.

They had not disappeared completely.

Thousands of years of history could not be erased within a few decades.

But their military and political influence had diminished tremendously.

Their members had become citizens within the new system.

Some joined the army.

Some became officials.

Others entered the fields of industry, science, and trade.

And the idea of a family possessing its own private army...

Had become a relic of the past.

At the same time...

Cultivation had also advanced.

The new system did not concern itself with soldiers alone.

It was obvious that humanity's strength could not rest upon the military alone.

Thus, specialized institutes were established to study cultivation.

To develop techniques.

To improve methods of absorbing energy.

To study resources.

And to improve the pills and materials that aided cultivation.

After fifty years...

The results had begun to show clearly.

Reaching the early stages of cultivation had become easier for the younger generations.

Not because the laws of the world had changed...

But because humanity possessed better knowledge.

Better techniques.

More resources.

And more organized training.

Yet one thing remained unchanged.

The limit established by the council for ordinary military recruits.

Energy Sensing.

Foundation Establishment.

Energy Core.

Nascent Soul.

Divine Transformation.

Void Shattering.

Nirvana.

Tribulation.

Transcendence.

Bronze Immortal.

Silver Immortal.

The Silver Immortal realm remained the highest level within the classification of ordinary recruits.

Those who surpassed that level...

Belonged to an entirely different category.

The council did not include them among ordinary recruits.

Each of them was subject to special arrangements.

Their numbers were small.

But even their existence was enough to prove that humanity had begun reclaiming its ancient strength.

At one of the great training centers...

A different scene was unfolding.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stood across an enormous training ground.

But they were not practicing individual combat.

They were training for large-scale warfare.

In the sky...

Dozens of warships flew overhead.

On the ground...

Thousands of units moved.

Signals were issued.

Formations shifted.

Ground forces advanced.

Squadrons split into groups.

Then new simulated targets appeared on the horizon.

The ships moved to intercept them.

Cannons fired.

Barriers rose.

Ground units advanced.

The scene resembled a real war.

But this time...

It was not a test for newly recruited soldiers.

It was training for an entire army.

Inside the command center, Thorin stood before a massive display showing the progress of the exercise.

His appearance had changed slightly over the decades.

But his presence remained imposing.

Valour stood beside him.

Moving maps of the battlefield were displayed before them.

Thorin said:

"The eastern flank has begun advancing."

Valour replied:

"And the Third Fleet has changed course."

Another set of information appeared.

Thorin said:

"Their response is faster than last year."

Valour nodded.

"They've improved."

Silence fell for a moment.

Then Thorin said:

"Fifty years..."

He looked toward the training grounds.

"If you had told me fifty years ago that humanity would reach this point, I wouldn't have believed you."

Valour smiled faintly.

"Neither would I."

Then they returned their attention to the exercise.

As for Morgana...

She was overseeing another aspect of their development.

Production.

Over the decades, the military industry had become one of the largest sectors in Zeta.

Weapons factories operated continuously.

Cannons.

Armor.

Portable weapons.

Siege equipment.

Energy systems.

And ship components.

All were being produced on a massive scale.

But Morgana would not allow quality to decline.

Every weapon leaving a factory underwent a long series of tests.

The objective was not merely to produce as many as possible.

It was to produce weapons that could be relied upon in war.

Eleanor, meanwhile...

Focused on another aspect.

Logistics.

Humanity had learned over fifty years that a massive army could not survive through strength alone.

It needed food.

Energy.

Weapons.

Medicine.

Fuel.

Raw materials.

And everything had to reach the right place at the right time.

Thus, an enormous supply network was established.

Strategic warehouses.

Aerial routes.

Distribution centers.

And massive transport ships.

They were now capable of moving enormous quantities of resources between different regions of Zeta.

As a result...

The army was no longer tied to a single location.

It could move.

Deploy.

Fight.

And continue operating for extended periods.

Yet despite all of this...

No one forgot the greatest truth.

Zeta remained sealed.

No one had left.

And no one had entered.

Fifty full years.

And beyond its borders...

No one knew what had happened inside the planet.

Perhaps some believed humanity was still struggling to survive.

Others might have thought that sealing Zeta had caused its collapse.

And perhaps some had simply stopped caring about it altogether.

But the truth...

Was entirely different.

Inside, humanity was preparing.

Deep within the Sovereign Palace...

Fafnir stood before an enormous window overlooking the city.

The palace had not changed.

But the world beyond it had transformed completely.

A colossal city stretched before his eyes.

Towers rose toward the heavens.

Ships flew between the buildings.

Energy networks illuminated the streets.

And vehicles moved along the roads.

On the distant horizon...

Massive warships crossed the sky in perfect formation.

The scene was completely different from the Zeta he had known decades ago.

Quiet footsteps entered the hall.

The Four Pillars had arrived.

They stood behind him.

Valour spoke.

"My liege."

Fafnir did not turn.

"Speak."

Valour said:

"Fifty years have passed since Zeta was sealed."

Fafnir remained silent.

Valour continued:

"The army has reached a considerable level of readiness."

Thorin added:

"And the fleet has expanded beyond anything anyone could have expected."

Morgana said:

"Military production has become fully established."

Then Eleanor added:

"And the supply networks are capable of supporting large-scale operations."

Fafnir listened without comment.

Then he asked:

"And humanity?"

The four exchanged glances.

Valour answered:

"They have changed."

He paused.

"Drastically."

Then he continued:

"The new generation no longer knows the old world."

Fafnir continued looking at the city.

This was what he had wanted from the beginning.

He had not wanted merely an army.

He wanted to build a foundation.

A foundation capable of enduring.

A foundation capable of continuing even after he was gone.

That same day...

New information spread throughout the cities.

It was not news of war.

Nor recruitment.

Nor a crisis.

It was a single announcement.

A comprehensive census of humanity would begin.

Its purpose was to determine the population.

The number of soldiers.

The number of cultivators.

The number of people possessing special talents.

And the number of individuals at each cultivation realm.

For the first time since the beginning of the new system...

Humanity was ready to discover the true scale of its strength.

The census began.

City by city.

Region by region.

Village by village.

Numbers poured into the central offices.

At first...

The results seemed ordinary.

Population.

Soldiers.

Cultivators.

Talented individuals.

Then the numbers began to rise.

The number of Bronze Immortals.

The number of Silver Immortals.

And most importantly...

The emergence of exceptionally talented individuals from the new generation.

People who had never seen the old world.

But who had been born into a new era.

An era of unity.

An era of training.

An era of knowledge.

Inside one of the council chambers...

The reports came before the Four Pillars.

No one spoke for several moments.

Valour read the numbers again.

Then raised his head.

"These..."

He did not finish.

Thorin said:

"They're greater than I expected."

Morgana said:

"If this rate continues..."

Eleanor added:

"Then in the generations to come, humanity will become far stronger."

The four looked at one another.

But none of them smiled.

Because they were all thinking about the same thing.

Fifty years had been enough to transform Zeta.

So what would happen after a hundred years?

What about five hundred?

And what would happen when the planet was finally opened again?

That night...

The sky above one of the cities was illuminated.

Several warships flew above the towers.

Behind them came enormous transport vessels.

On the ground...

Military units carried out night exercises.

As for the civilians...

They looked toward the sky.

To the older generation, the sight was still astonishing.

But to the younger generation...

It was normal.

They had been born into a different world.

A world in which humanity knew neither the old divisions...

Nor family armies...

Nor the fear of living without a central authority.

They knew only one thing.

They were part of a single entity.

Humanity.

Fifty years.

Fifty years of silence.

Fifty years of construction.

Fifty years of training.

Fifty years of development.

And throughout that period...

Humanity had not merely prepared for war.

It had rebuilt itself.

Its cities.

Its industry.

Its army.

Its fleet.

Its knowledge.

And its generations.

But somewhere beyond everyone's sight...

Something else was changing.

Something no one had noticed.

Deep within the Sovereign Palace...

Fafnir opened his eyes.

He looked toward the sky.

Then toward the vast distance beyond it.

And although Zeta had remained sealed for fifty years...

He sensed something.

An extremely faint sensation.

Distant.

Very distant.

But it was there.

Something...

Was approaching Zeta.

For the first time in decades...

Fafnir's expression changed slightly.

He said nothing.

He simply remained standing before the window.

Behind him...

Humanity continued building its strength.

But beyond the planet...

The world may have begun to remember that Zeta still existed.

And fifty years of isolation...

Might be coming to an end.