Chapter 6418 Simple Math

Chapter 6418 Simple Math

Ves had to admit that the layout presented by Admiral Chelsea Mieli sounded brilliant.

The more ardent reformists within the Red Fleet had to overcome the more strident resistance from the traditionalists within their ranks.

While the changes wrought by the Age of Dawn had forced the fleeters to embrace a certain degree of change, the traditionalists still wanted to stick to their old doctrines that had served them well for centuries.

Part of it was because of genuine belief in the superiority of their old tradition. The mentality of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' tended to prevail much more often in naval organizations.

This was rather understandable as mistakes concerning warships not only led to a huge amount of wasted resources, but also risked the lives of thousands of crew members.

However, red humanity no longer lived during the placid and stable days of the Age of Mechs.

External enemies in the form of the native aliens of the Red Ocean constantly pressed red humanity's frontlines.

The existing solutions still worked, but many people started to doubt whether sticking to tradition was enough to prevail over the foreign enemies.

The traditionalists did not necessarily object to technological development. The CFA and now the RF still needed to rely on stronger warships to keep up with the pace of their rivals and enemies.

However, what the traditionalists rejected was radical change to the point of turning the Red Fleet into a drastically different organization.

The fleeters took a lot of pride in their identity as the most rational protectors of the human race.

Unlike the mechers who invested all of their power into unfathomably intelligent Star Designers and mentally ill god pilots, the fleeters consisted entirely of 'ordinary' humans that represented the apex of the race that ascended from Old Earth and continued to bring the best out of their humble biological origins.

"The Red Fleet is filled with old traditionalists who believe in their mission to protect the safety and purity of the human race," Admiral Mieli said as she rose up from her seat and moved over to the window showing the expansive cityscape of the planet of La Reine. "They reject the foreign and the unknown. They abhor science and technology that does not fit into the conventional frameworks that our race has built up over millennia. They believe that humans can defeat any adversary by investing their strength in conventional technology alone. It has worked out for them in the past. They believe that they can repeat their success."

Ves furrowed his brows. "That sounds like a stupid approach from my perspective. The Age of Dawn has introduced us to the wonders of E energy radiation. Surely they aren't close-minded enough to ignore all of the benefits brought by hyper technology and E-technology?"

"Are those fleeters ignorant of the true history of our civilization? As far as I know, the Five Scrolls Compact controlled humanity behind the scenes. Those crazy cultivators must have used their strange powers to stack the deck in humankind's favor."

"I think that is the case as well, but the records of those historic periods are biased and incomplete. Nobody can determine how extensively humanity was able to conquer half of the Milky Way by relying on our cunning and rapid technological adaptations alone, or if the aid of powerful cultivators working in the shadow proved indispensable. That has led to different factions and ideologies choosing the answers that best fit their desires as opposed to the actual truth."

Ves scoffed when he heard that. This was a typical human habit.

"I think I understand better now why you want to divert so much naval-related R&D to the Red Collective. The Red Fleet may be changing, but it isn't doing so fast enough to accept the necessity of investing research into y. Only the Collective is open-minded enough to tolerate all of the uncertainty and danger surrounding y. I can accept that. The only issue is... why should the RC bear all of the risks and the consequences of failure, while your RF gets to keep its hands clean and reap all of the potential rewards?" The proposed cooperation sounded good, but Ves could recognize the trap inherent in

the scheme.

Letting the RC take point into this risky line of research meant that the latest superorganization would bear all of the blame if anything went wrong!

The RF on the other hand could pretend to be completely clueless and innocent of any guilt. This was despite the fact that the fleeters actively shared their knowledge base and loaned their scientists and naval engineers to the RC. The dynamic of the conversation had changed. Now that Ves explicitly started negotiations, the RF admiral had to follow suit and put herself on the opposite side.

"Might I remind you that the Red Collective does not have any strong armed forces of its own. It must rely entirely on the forces loaned by us and the mechers to protect and enforce its own interests. It is in your best interest to not only strengthen the warships protecting the RC, but also convert our more skeptical fleeters of the benefits of your more promising technologies."

Ves leaned back on his seat. "That may be true, but you stand to benefit a lot more than us. Any technological breakthrough will not only strengthen the warships seconded to us, but also the ones that remain in the command of your powerful warfleets. I will not accept an outcome where the RC is reduced to a special projects research division of the

RE"

"What do you propose then, professor?"

"If you want to muster the full enthusiasm of our cultivation scientists in your warship

projects, then give us the right to own and field our own creations. Only when we can build up our own fleets consisting of these newfangled 'artifact warships' will we be motivated to cooperate with your naval engineers with full sincerity. Also, I expect that we will need a lot of help from your RF. You must agree to send us lots of consultants that can help us set up our own naval organizations and organize our own warfleets. We may never be able to match the professionalism of the Red Fleet, but we should at least be competent enough to fight the native aliens without issue." "Training and consulting can be arranged, but our Red Fleet is short of qualified

manpower..."