Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2248 Solutions

”...?”

The moment the Fifth Generation Note Family was mentioned, everyone present turned toward Zara with surprise and eager curiosity, with smiles and shiny eyes, hungry to hear more and immediately forgetting several of the previous discussions as their attention shifted toward a subject that had been shrouded in secrecy for an extraordinarily long time.

News related to the Fifth Generation experiments was extremely confidential. Anyone who was not part of the cities of Sky Opening City or among the numbered Shadow Swords usually knew almost nothing about it beyond a few scattered rumors, fragmented reports, and occasional speculation passed around by officers attempting to guess what Zaraʼs research teams had been doing all these years.

”The Fifth Generation Note Family is close to release?” Even Peon spread his arms in surprise. ”Thatʼs incredible. If itʼs released soon, itʼll solve every problem!”

By everyoneʼs testimony, the three Note vessels were already the strongest ships on the cosmic stage within their respective specialties, and their names alone had become enough to inspire fear in some hearts and greed in others, to the point where entire organizations had begun building strategies around the possibility of facing them one day.

It was said that the fleets of the Behemoth Interas were stronger and superior, but no one living had actually seen them fight.

Meanwhile, everyone had witnessed the Flood Note, the Destruction Note, and the Supremacy Note crushing opponents one after another, campaign after campaign, until their reputation had spread far beyond the territories that originally created them and become legendary among military circles throughout multiple sectors.

”Do you even know what the Fifth Generation modifications are supposed to be?” Caesar looked sideways at him with both surprise and a hint of mockery.

”I donʼt need to examine every detail.” Peon waved a hand dismissively. ”Weʼve already seen how enormous the leap from the Third Generation to the Fourth Generation was. Any additional improvement will add more power. No matter how small it seems, itʼll have an impact. Even a marginal increase in performance becomes terrifying when weʼre talking about vessels that are already monsters.”

”Sorry to ruin your excitement, everyone, but we still have a long road ahead of us.” Zara showed an embarrassed expression, clearly aware that expectations were running far ahead of reality.

”Why?!” Robin asked sharply. ”This has taken far longer than I expected!”

”Father, youʼre being unfair!” Zara looked genuinely aggrieved and turned toward Caesar and the others. ”Does this seem reasonable to you? He wants to turn the Note vessels into reactors powered entirely by space beast crystals instead of pearls and soldiersʼ energy, and he expects it to happen within a few years!”

”This...” Caesarʼs eyes widened as he turned toward his father. ”Space beast cores as fuel?”

Even for someone accustomed to Robinʼs absurd ideas, that sounded excessive.

In truth, the only person who remained composed was Theo.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he quietly observed the exchange, showing no surprise whatsoever.

Family gatherings like this did not happen every day.

And who knew when the four brothers would find themselves gathered in one place again?

Compared to the topic itself, simply sitting back and watching everyone react was entertaining enough.

”Whatʼs the problem with that?” Robin raised his voice slightly as well. ”When I reviewed the designs for the Sovereignty Note, they were underwhelming and unworthy of the name. At the time, I was searching for a method to convert space beast crystals into stabilizers for World Cataclysm breakthroughs, and I had already achieved a certain level of success. So I gave Zara the method and told her to follow that path. I assumed sheʼd be finished by now!”

”You did give me the array for converting a crystal into a stabilizer, but that process is designed for a very specific purpose. Using a crystal as a permanent energy source is something entirely different, and you never showed me how to do that. Second, we have to take that enormous amount of energy and distribute it throughout the entire vessel in order to power the defenses, cannons and arrays. How exactly am I supposed to do that? The technology we possess hasnʼt reached that level yet, and we donʼt even have that kind of conductor in the first place! We can barely manage portions of the process in isolated experiments, let alone build an entire military platform around it.”

”Zara.” Robin stared directly into his daughterʼs eyes. ”How much progress have you actually made? Donʼt tell me youʼre still standing at the starting line.”

”....”

Faced with such a fascinating discussion, Caesar, Peon, and the rest of Robinʼs children and grandchildren simply watched with their mouths hanging open, following the conversation back and forth as though they were listening to two people discuss a future that had not yet arrived.

They were still stuck on the revelation that Robin had been researching methods of using space beast crystals as stabilizers in the first place, and before they could even fully process that idea, the discussion had already moved on to powering entire fleets with those same crystals.

”Of course weʼve made tremendous progress.” Zara replied quickly, almost as though she had been waiting for the opportunity to defend her work after years of effort, failed prototypes, and countless revisions. ”Weʼve developed a special alloy capable of acting as a conductor for that enormous amount of energy, and weʼve modified the cannons and arrays so they can withstand the new energy surges without collapsing under the strain. Weʼve also upgraded the safety and cooling systems multiple times to reduce the risk of the catastrophe weʼre all expecting once the vessels begin operating at their intended capacity, because nobody wants to discover a flaw only after an entire ship detonates during a combat test.”

”...Right now weʼre stuck on two issues. First, finding a way to modify the primary array so it can draw energy from the crystal and recharge itself rapidly and repeatedly without requiring lengthy preparation beforehand and without forcing the crystal to remain active all the time. Without that adjustment, weʼll never be able to use the vessels effectively in combat conditions, because activation and response times would be unacceptable, and every engagement would begin with the enemy already holding the initiative. However, weʼve already made considerable progress in that area, and several of the proposed solutions are showing promise.”

Then she continued with slightly furrowed brows, clearly moving to the problem that troubled her more.

”...And weʼre working on finding a superior alloy for constructing the vesselsʼ hulls instead of the materials used in Note-4. The Note-4 vessel alloy is extremely valuable and can be used to create epic-grade equipment even within a Mid Sector, but that also makes it difficult to produce on a large scale because every component involved is expensive, rare, and difficult to acquire consistently. Even if we possess the money to acquire the materials, there simply arenʼt enough stable sources supplying those components to sustain the level of production we would require if the Fifth Generation is to become the new standard.”

Then she continued.

”The old alloy also canʼt keep up with the new arrays and cannons, nor with the new speeds the Note-5 vessels are expected to achieve once all systems are functioning properly. The stress loads are simply too high, especially during extended campaigns. The hulls would gradually wear down and begin falling apart on their own after only a few years of combat operations, which is completely impractical for military vessels intended to serve for centuries while repeatedly crossing enormous distances and participating in major wars.”

”...” Robin rubbed the space between his eyes for several moments while thinking, mentally sorting through countless ideas before finally speaking. ”As for the first problem, increase the number of supporting crystals from four to six. That will make energy absorption and circulation significantly easier. Create a miniature array beneath each one as well, so that all seven crystals, the central crystal and the six supporting ones, simultaneously draw energy from one another while supplying energy to one another. That should dramatically increase the amount of extractable energy while also making the entire system far more stable and reducing the burden placed upon any individual crystal.”

”....?” Zaraʼs eyes widened to their limit as vast quantities of numbers, calculations, possibilities, and design alterations immediately began flooding through her mind.

The more she considered it, the more pathways began opening.

Several dead ends that had frustrated her teams for decades suddenly appeared far less impossible.

”As for the second problem...” Robin chuckled. ”What material could possibly withstand the power of those crystals better than the scales and bones of the beasts themselves?” Then he waved lightly. ”Use alloys created from beast hides and scales to construct the vessels, and use their bones as structural supports. That should make the ships several times stronger than anything built from Note-4 alloys. And if Iʼm not mistaken, weʼve accumulated quite a lot of those materials recently, far more than we know what to do with. With enough research and trial you will do it.”

14:14

”....” Zara nodded several times slowly while staring at her father with obvious surprise, already envisioning entirely new production lines and experimental projects. ”Understood. Iʼll begin testing and implementation immediately after I return. Soon youʼll see the Supremacy Note-5 operating on nascent space beast crystals.”

Those words alone caused everyone present to shiver.

The Supremacy Note already possessed enough prestige that its name alone could inspire terror or reassurance depending on which side one stood on.

Entire fleets had surrendered after hearing reports of its arrival.

Entire commanders had altered battle plans simply because there was a chance it might appear.

And now that very vessel would operate on nascent space beast cores?

Seven of them?

The image that formed in their minds was nothing short of terrifying.

There was little doubt that such a sight would leave a lasting impression on anyone fortunate—or unfortunate—enough to witness it, and many suspected that the balance of power across entire sectors could shift once such vessels entered service.

”What are you talking about?” Robin frowned. ”The Supremacy Note-5 will run on some damn nascent crystals?!”