Osena and Wu Jiarong are quite familiar with each other.
We used to be quite familiar with each other.
That was back on the planet Ragehorn, when the Alliance was just starting out.
Osaina was always the head of the operations team, while Wu Jiarong was in charge of production technology.
Inevitably, the two will have a lot of work-related contact and will naturally become familiar with each other.
But as the decades have passed, Wu Jiarong has become increasingly unfamiliar to Ausena.
It's not that the two had less work-related contact.
Although they don't meet as often as they did in earlier years, they still frequently come into contact at work.
Wu Jiarong's 'sense of unfamiliarity' is a kind of... change that Osena finds hard to describe.
Moreover, this change happened right before her eyes, in every interaction between the two of them.
There are changes in both appearance and sound.
She still remembered that Wu Jiarong, even though her arms had been modified into mechanical shapes from the very beginning, one of her eyes had become a mechanical eye, and a tube was inserted into the back of her head, connecting to her waist and back, where a flexible auxiliary control machine stood upright, always ready to move with her, with many control levers on it...
However, despite the extent of the modifications being far beyond that of an ordinary person, she still retained an overall humanoid appearance. Osena remembered the unique beauty of Wu Jiarong's fair skin against the mechanical structure when her hair flowed freely; she also remembered her slightly chubby face when she smiled, which could be described as sweet.
That wasn't something Wu Jiarong did intentionally; she had grown up in an environment that didn't value appearance. That was her most natural self, the appearance she had at that stage of her life.
These appearances, however, disappeared rapidly over time, as Wu Jiarong's technical skills and professional status within the mechanical corner improved.
Osena felt that every time the two of them met, Wu Jiarong would lose something, gain something, or change something.
Her body is changing, her voice is changing, her emotions are changing...
Now, all that remains of her is a face exactly the same as before. Nourished by nutrient solution, that face can no longer display any expression. It's not that Wu Jiarong lacks the technology to do so, but rather that she chooses not to. For her, maintaining the same expression regardless of the situation is best. Even retaining a face is merely to preserve a biometric identifier, so that mortals can recognize who they are.
And what else besides this face?
All that remains are the original skull and brain.
Everything else was replaced with mechanical parts, and not even the exterior was preserved.
Wu Jiarong, draped in a long robe with only her face showing, had no emotion on her face, and her mechanically synthesized voice was also emotionless. The hormone secretion organs that easily affect emotional changes were all gone.
Of course, she is still a person.
At least according to the Empire's definition of 'human,' she is indeed human.
However, it's hard to say how much human emotion or feeling she still carries within her.
Osena felt a little emotional, but she didn't feel sad.
No one forced Wu Jiarong. Every part of her body was made and replaced by herself; it was all her own choice.
Osena had initially thought that she could exchange a few pleasantries before getting to the main topic, but once the connection was established, she opened her mouth and decided against it.
Judging from Wu Jiarong's calm demeanor, she didn't seem interested in exchanging pleasantries.
Let's save time and get straight to the point.
What Osena wanted to ask was about a 'secret project'.
The project was kept under extremely high secrecy; even Osena, as the Prime Minister of the Alliance and head of government, did not have sufficient authority to see all of its contents.
That's normal. Although she has one of the highest authority levels in the alliance besides Gu Hang, only Gu Hang himself has the right to access all intelligence within the alliance; no one else possesses all of that power.
Just as Wu Jiarong was unaware of many sensitive data from the Alliance's central government, Osena was also unaware of some confidential technologies and production projects.
She understands all of this and has always been very tactful, never asking questions she shouldn't.
But this time it's different.
This secret project has already had a significant impact on the Alliance government, so she had to ask about it.
The first phase of the plan had a budget of 60 billion yuan, and the project's finances, personnel organization, technology production, transportation, etc., were all kept secret.
A project worth 60 billion... that's already outrageous. That amount is enough to build a complete battleship.
But it's said that this is only the first phase.
As the person in charge of this project, Wu Jiarong is already urging the coalition government to prepare the second phase of the budget. It's due next year, and the amount has increased again, reaching a full 80 billion.
Two years, a total of 140 billion... In the early days, the Imperial tax for the Alliance was only 300 billion a year! This project is going to eat up half of the Imperial tax in just two years!
They were already struggling under the pressure of imperial taxes, and now they had to take on such a huge project.
It's too difficult.
Of course, this project was finalized by Governor Gu before his departure, and his orders to the Alliance government were to cooperate as much as possible. Osena couldn't possibly hold back. Not only was she following Governor Gu's orders, but she also understood that with such a high level of secrecy and such a large investment, what was being built must play a vital role in the Alliance's development.
But the financial pressure was still too great. This time, she wanted to discuss with Wu Jiarong whether they could change the plan.
The first phase of 60 billion has already been given out, you can use it for now; the second phase of 80 billion, could you reduce it a bit? That 60 billion is a huge sum of money, use it for now, to tide you over, it won't be so easy or so quick to use it all up, right?
Even if it's truly impossible to give even a fraction of the amount, could you please give it a little later?
It won't be too long, just a few months. It will be delayed until the first two-year imperial tax is paid, and then the new sum of money will be allocated.
Wu Jiarong refused.
"This is the Governor's project, and it concerns the life and death of the Alliance."
Wu Jiarong emphasized this point first.
Are you trying to pressure me with the governorship?
Osena felt somewhat uncomfortable.
But she wouldn't react to that.
Perhaps this is how all machine enthusiasts are; you can't expect them to maintain exceptionally high emotional intelligence after having so many organs removed and dealing with machinery every day.
"This isn't a request," Osena explained patiently, "but a request, a discussion with you. The pressure from the government is immense, and I hope you can understand."
"I understand you, Prime Minister Osena," Wu Jiarong replied, maintaining a firm stance. "But there is no room for negotiation on this matter."
However, she wouldn't be so arrogant as to use the governor's demands to suppress Osena.
She offered a brief explanation: "The current costs are the optimal solution under extremely demanding conditions, calculated with meticulous precision. The number of workers, senior engineers, raw materials, and energy consumed in this secret project is simply too many. In addition, we need to place orders with various high-tech factories across the Alliance, and even with Alameta and Jindi Star. Some orders even require the personal leadership of the Sages to manufacture them."
"The costs are extremely high, and the current situation is indeed the most extreme scenario calculated. The current research and development and production are already being carried out on a dangerous bridge. If we remove it even slightly, the entire bridge could collapse."
Wu Jiarong had tried her best to speak properly, and even used some adjectives!
Osena could also sense it.
She sighed and accepted reality: "Okay, I'll figure something out."
At this point, the two fell silent for a moment.
Osena put aside her disappointment at not achieving her goal and brought up another matter.
The most important thing she wanted to discuss with Wu Jiarong this time was, of course, the secret project. The second thing was the technical support the alliance would provide for production recovery and enhancement in various regions.
This has little to do with the newly occupied territories in the Spiderweb Space.
It's not that there's none at all, but the primary task in those places is still to restore production. Either these planets already have a certain level of production capacity and industrial level before the war, in which case we can try to find equipment and workers from the original planets; if we can't find them, or the planets themselves don't have the production capacity, then we have to rely on the technology spillover from the core region of the alliance.
Relocating some of the low-end industries from core areas to these other areas would be sufficient.
But after relocating low-end industries, can't the workers in the core areas just stop working?
That's definitely not it.
There is a need for higher-value industries to accommodate experienced workers and engineers.
And for that, we'll need to see what kind of help Wu Jiarong can provide.
In this matter, Wu Jiarong gave Osena some good news.
There are indeed some quite good industries that could be transferred out.
Wrathful Star has now been transformed into the core technology base of the Alliance. Many more powerful industries have emerged to replace the industries that were relocated from Seven Horse Land.
Advanced heavy engineering machinery, star fortress construction facilities, more shipyards, more Titan factories, more advanced energy compression plants, more stellar energy stations...
We all need more people.
This is not something that low-skilled workers can handle; it requires people with rich experience and accumulated technical skills. Those who have been freed from lower-level industrial sectors are perfectly suited to do this.
This is also good for these individual workers and engineers. Higher-level, more important industries obviously offer them better opportunities for advancement.
Satisfied, Osena immediately sent the records and summaries of the conversation to Zhao Jiuzheng, the head of the production department, after the call ended.
He was also very excited and immediately began to arrange manpower to connect with the Angry Owl Star on these technologies, equipment, and technical guidance personnel, and then to plan where to build these new factories.
Osena herself then began her next task.
...
On Snowfox Star, the capital city of the Foxmoon Starfield, which is far from the core regions of Seven Horse Lands and Dragon Eagle Starfield, Jason Morgan is also holding a crucial meeting.
The situation in the Fox Moon Starfield is quite different from many other starfields in the Spiderweb Universe. This starfield is located east of the Princess Starfield and northeast of the Alfonso Starfield. Further east from the Fox Moon Starfield, one leaves the Imperial territory and enters the Dark Outer Realm.
In previous wars, whether on the northern, western, or southern fronts, they had no connection with the Fox Moon Star Region.
That means that this star region was not significantly affected by the war, at least the Fox Moon Star Region was not used as the main battlefield.
Of course, while the impact may be minor, pest infestation is still unavoidable. However, it's not severe and relatively easy to resolve.
For this reason, the alliance naturally does not deploy particularly strong military forces to control it.
There are too many places that need military suppression and takeover, so we should save as many troops as possible.
However, the Fox Moon Starfield was not severely devastated by the war, which had a positive aspect: it meant that its productivity remained relatively intact. But there was also a negative aspect: its native forces were not completely wiped out by the war, and a significant portion remained.
They all used to have close ties with the Ironclads and the Alfonzo cult.
Political work is not so easy to do.
At least it's not like those places that were cleared out and then the alliance took over and rebuilt, where it's so easy to control.
Against this backdrop, Jason Morgan and his wife arrived in the Fox Moon Starfield.
He himself is the highest administrative official of the Fox Moon Star Region.