Chapter 452: Ch
With those words, she raised her glass of wine high into the air.
Kallus chuckled and raised his own wine glass. "Our thoughts are mutual, Lady Alice."
"I, Kallus of the Celestial Void Empire and one of the founders of the Universal Stellar Federation, welcome you and your race with open arms into this Federation. And I, too, hope that together we build a space that fosters mutual growth."
Lady Alice of the Titan Clan was the first person to step forward and join the Universal Stellar Federation, becoming its second founding member. Wielding the authority of her clan, she right there chose to ally with Kallus’ proposal of federation.
One could tell by her confidence that, in doing this, she didn’t present any hesitation whatsoever and did it with conviction, just like how her race was known—direct, bold, and unflinching even against the odds. Such were the people of the Titan Race, one of the few major races in the galaxy.
Her forwardness made the others no longer hold themselves back, and they all, one by one, in a way similar to Lady Alice, stepped up and made their thoughts known to Kallus. The one who followed was Garrick, then Thark, and the other Tier 1 powers, followed by the Tier 2 powers, and finally the Tier 3 powers.
The magical thing was that, despite knowing Kallus’ warning, which made it clear that joining was easy but leaving wasn’t, not a single person hesitated!!
Why the hell would they not join? The benefits were there, after all. And as for the warning, well, it was about betrayal, which none of them had any intention towards as of yet. So that condition basically didn’t exist for anyone yet. Or it might for some, but for now everyone readily joined and swore by the heavens to be their witness.
Kallus happily welcomed everyone to join the Universal Stellar Federation.
"Going forward," he said, "now witness, in the presence of you all, the Universal Stellar Federation is formally in existence."
With that, he clapped his hands, and the others followed similarly.
"The relevant matters will proceed as we discussed ourselves today and yesterday itself. And now that we have a candidate for the Federation President post, I’ll let Lady Yan Shi of my empire know of her appointment and let her handle the rest of the procedures.
She will then get in contact with all of you, and you should prepare some bureaucratic talents for her to recruit and use in order to quickly raise the foundation and the building blocks of the Universal Stellar Federation.
After the basic structure is formed, I wish you all to then proceed as per the words of our discussion. Trade among each of us could start the moment the basic structure and facilities are in place, with the Federation acting as the middleman at that point, as well as the facilitator of the trade.
Is there any problem with this? If so, please let me know about it right now. Otherwise, it will be too late for it." Kallus asked as he looked at everyone.
Everyone shook their heads, indicating that they had no problem with what Kallus had said. After all, they had already discussed everything, and what he said was according to their own discussions and previous agreements.
"Good!! I know many of you are particularly interested in warships and other kinds of weapon systems. Don’t worry, we will still be providing them. Just like any other product of trade, you will be able to purchase them through your own defense companies. Whatever you need, you will get by placing an order, and it will be delivered to you.
And yes, this can only proceed once the structure for trade is in place. So I say it again—please prepare truly high-quality bureaucratic talents. And I mean talents. If they are anything other than that, then being kicked out will be the least of their concerns. Being blacklisted is the most likely outcome.
Not only that, but their families and the people behind them would face the same charges. So you all have been warned about it. Mediocrity won’t be given the green light here. Instead, it will be dealt with brutally!"
Kallus kept his position clear and appeared uncompromising on a few small yet, at the same time, crucial aspects of these matters. They were the important building blocks of the Federation, and such corrupt practices would make the Federation internally weak during crucial times going forward. Such things he wanted to avoid at any cost.
As for offending anyone, that was not for him to care. If they were offended, then they were offended. After all, this place wasn’t their father’s home, nor was it some backward place where people could walk sideways or do whatever they pleased. If they thought they were that important, then they were simply dreaming.
Indeed, a few had their expressions change, especially people from some Tier 3 powers and a few members from Tier 2 powers. As for the rest, they had no particular reaction that appeared to be against it or dislike it. Instead, they all nodded their heads in appreciation.
Alice was no different. She even commented, "Being hard-handed at the start is crucial, Lord Kallus. Your approach is something I support!"
Garrick, not far behind her, also commended him. "I agree as well. This is the approach we all should take in these things."
"Hmmm." Kallus nodded approvingly and continued. "As for-"
The talk between them continued as Kallus covered many aspects, from his unconditional and unmovable stance towards favoritism, the importance of talents, and making the punishments clear to everyone.
He received both appreciation as well as a few cold shoulders from some, but that remained to the minimal extent possible. No one in the room was short-sighted enough to cause a ruckus over such things and lose the benefits they might gain by remaining as straightforward and cooperative as possible.
The discussion then shifted towards territories, which became the major topic on the table. They debated it extensively and exchanged ideas on how they would unite everyone within the same territories instead of the current situation, where each member nation’s territories were scattered far away from one another.
They all understood that, as part of one Federation, having territories surrounded by powers that had either hostile or merely neutral relations with them was not a good thing.
The idea basically came down to two options. The first was to go to war. The second was to convince those neutral powers by demonstrating the strength of the Celestial Void Empire, as well as the benefits of joining the Universal Stellar Federation.
Ultimately, they settled on a two-pronged approach. They would first convince those neutral powers to join willingly, while at the same time attacking and bringing down those powers that were enemies of the Federation’s member nations.
But that would have to wait for now. There was no Federation Army yet to wage war, and the member nations alone didn’t want to go to war. Most of them didn’t have the confidence that they could take down their opposing enemies. The second problem was that there wasn’t just one enemy for many of them, but several, especially for the Tier 1 and Tier 2 powers that were located within the Inner Region. That was the biggest roadblock.
Knowing that, Kallus could only remain patient.
Fortunately, he had added a clause within the Federation. Any party wishing to join and have a stake in the Federation would need to provide a certain amount as a joining fee, determined by the party’s standing and tier of power.
For example, each Tier 1 power had to provide at least 1 billion Galactic Credits as a joining fee. Tier 2 powers would need to provide at least 10 billion Galactic Credits, while Tier 3 powers had to provide at least 100 billion Galactic Credits.
Yes, the joining fee was immense, but they were rewarded with several critical technologies in return. For example, a Tier 1 power would receive peak Tier 1 shield system technology.
The same principle applied to Tier 2 and Tier 3 powers, with each receiving technologies appropriate to their own technological tier. That alone was more than enough to make them willingly pay such an amount.
Kallus proposed using the money collected—which was quite substantial—to begin building the Federal Army and the other relevant structures of the Universal Stellar Federation.
As for how those funds would be allocated and enforced, he stated that the decision would rest with the Federation President and would be left entirely in their hands.
Something everyone agreed with, as these things needed further consideration and time to be properly formulated—something they didn’t have at the moment. Nor did they have the right to participate in them directly, fearing it would only slow down the Federation’s progress. Everyone had an invisible understanding regarding this matter, leaving no exceptions o.
