Chapter 218: Each Has Their Own Schemes

At first, everything went extremely smoothly.

The superficial physical structure, the pathways of energy flow, the algorithms of spacetime curvature… this knowledge made Qin Hao admire it.

However, when his analysis delved into the underlying logic, attempting to touch the core that drives everything, a problem arose.

He encountered no form of backlash or mental trap.

The will of the 'universal truth' hidden deep in the data seemed to have completely subsided.

But Qin Hao furrowed his brow.

He discovered that, at the foundation of this technology, there is no such thing as a 'faith encoding module'.

Faith is its entirety.

Each of its basic formulas, each logical judgment, is not based on pure physical rules, but on a kind of… prayer.

It's as if the shield system works not because it conforms to the universe's physical laws, but because it performs a perfect 'prayer' to some unknown existence in an extremely efficient way.

And the so-called 'universal truth' is the power that responds to this prayer.

The two are mutually causal and inseparable.

Trying to strip away its faith component is tantamount to pulling out the entire foundation of this grand edifice.

The result would only be an instantaneous collapse.

Qin Hao attempted to reconstruct one of its simplest energy-stabilizing loops using his understanding of cosmic rules.

He attempted to replace that 'prayer text' with pure physical law.

The result was that, at the moment he completed the replacement, over ninety percent of the structure of the entire data model underwent a chain-reaction collapse!

It was as if he had not replaced a segment of code, but the very root of the entire system.

"So… that's how it is."

Qin Hao slowly opened his eyes, ceasing the consumption of his mental energy.

His expression grew grave for the first time.

This is no longer a mere technical trap.

This is a crushing of civilization's foundation.

The Star Sea Divine Church Civilization has already fused their faith into the marrow of their technology.

Their science is their theology.

With his current understanding of the rules, wanting to fully grasp and reconstruct this technology system from a third-level civilization within just three years, and transform it into something humanity can use…

Basically impossible.

Qin Hao clearly realized for the first time the almost unbridgeable chasm between individual strength and the deep foundation of a third-level civilization.

"Indeed, no third-level civilization should be underestimated."

Thinking this, Qin Hao immediately connected to Luo Rui Xiang's encrypted comms.

……

The emergency meeting was reconvened.

When Qin Hao calmly informed Luo Lao, Zhang Xianzhong, and Zhou Shaoqing of his findings and conclusions,

the air in the meeting room instantly dropped to freezing point.

"You mean… we've been played?"

Zhou Shaoqing slammed his fist on the table, his face full of anger and humiliation.

"These technologies are just a pie drawn on paper—we can see and touch them, but we can't eat them?!"

"This is not a trick."

Zhang Xianzhong's reaction was far calmer, but his tightly knit brows also showed his inner unrest.

"This is a stratagem: they gave us their best, but we lack the ability to use it. This makes our gap clearer than a outright refusal."

Luo Lao said nothing; he merely looked at Qin Hao, waiting for his continuation.

He knew that since Qin Hao had raised the issue, he must have his own idea.

"Direct copying and use is indeed impossible."

Qin Hao affirmed their judgment: "Forcibly cracking it would not only consume all our time, but also likely be detected by the other side."

"My earlier attempt already caused a slight fluctuation in that deep data."

"The emissary called Ka En Ti is probably somewhere, waiting to watch our joke."

Zhou Shaoqing's face grew even uglier:

"What do we do then? Are we just supposed to give up? With three years, we can't expect you alone to take on the entire civilization of the Silicon-based Union!"

"Who said we should give up?"

Qin Hao's mouth corner instead curled with a hint of amusement.

"If they don't give us the trigger, we can simply not build the gun."

He walked to the holographic star map, called up the design blueprints of the Gigantic Spirit,

and then placed the Star Sea Divine Church's 'Hall-class' shield blueprints beside it.

"Why must we build a ship according to their blueprints, copying their vessel?"

"We can treat their blueprints as a… reference book."

Qin Hao extended his finger and drew a connecting line between the two blueprints.

"Their shield-stabilizing algorithm, we cannot copy."

"But we can study its operating principle, then use that principle to optimize our own spatial stability model."

"Their spatial cutting array, we cannot manufacture. But we can analyze its high-dimensional fracture pattern,"

"and use these data to upgrade our own spatial cutting blade."

They provide a complete set of perfect answers. What we need to do is not copy the answers, but study their problem‑solving approach to improve our own problem‑solving ability!

This is called… reverse engineering, no, it should be called theoretical backtracking!

Qin Hao's words left the three Federal magnates present stunned.

They are all dragons among men and instantly understood Qin Hao's meaning.

Don't build new ships; upgrade the old ones!

Abandon the fantasy of leaping to the heavens and instead take a harder, yet wholly one's own path!

"Can this… work?"

Zhou Shaoqing hesitated, "If we do it this way, our technology‑advancement speed will probably be much slower."

"Slower, but safe, and with a solid foundation."

Zhang Xianzhong immediately retorted, "Every increment we make is our own! We won't be constrained by anyone!"

A flash of brilliance erupted in Luo Lao's eyes.

He sprang to his feet, paced back and forth in the conference room, his mind racing.

"We need to overhaul the whole plan! Qian Bowen's team can no longer aim for production; they must shift to pure theoretical research!

Disassemble the Star Sea Divine Cult's technology into the most basic theories and formulas, and feed them to our scientists!"

"Our industrial system will no longer wait for brand‑new blueprints; it will immediately launch Phase 2 of the Giant Spirit, even Phase 3 improvement plans!

According to the research team's progress, mature one item, upgrade one item!"

"We don't want those ten thousand so‑called Cathedral‑class battlecruisers!"

Luo Lao hammered the point home, "We need ten thousand brand‑new warships equipped with technology we have fully mastered!"

It is an exceedingly difficult yet undeniably correct decision.

It means the Human Federal rejected that poisonous gift and chose the most rugged path of self‑strengthening.

"That's the plan!"

Qin Hao nodded, "I will personally take charge of the Academy of Sciences, assisting them with theoretical backtracking to ensure every piece of knowledge we acquire is pure."

…

Meanwhile.

In a silent void not far from the Yanhuang Star System, a silver‑white wing‑shaped spacecraft hovered peacefully.

It seemed fused with space itself; no radar or detection device could spot it.

In the ship's bridge, Holy Messenger Kǎn Tí sat gracefully in a chair.

Before him, a massive holographic screen displayed, in real time, the bustling scenes across countless industrial planets within the Human Federal.

Countless shipyard lights blazed, and a massive fleet was gathering.

"They... refused."

On Kǎn Tí's face, the millennia‑unchanging gentle expression wavered for the first time.

It was a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

In his surveillance, he could clearly see a fundamental shift in humanity's research direction.

They abandoned direct replication of Cathedral‑class equipment and instead began frantically dissecting the most basic theories.

They were like a horde of starving students clutching a celestial tome; even if they couldn't read the whole text, they would tear every character apart to grasp its strokes and structure.

"Interesting."

"Indeed... very interesting."

"In my records, when presented with the gift of truth, ninety‑nine percent of Second-level Civilizations exuberantly accept it whole, and unwittingly become our most devout pasture."

"The remaining one percent will, out of fear and caution, refuse outright, then be trampled to dust by the Iron Hooves of the Silicon-based Union."

"Humans, using our Bible as a dictionary... are still the first."

His gaze pierced the endless void, as if landing in the Divine Dragon's isolated laboratory, settling on the violet‑eyed youth there.

"Did you do it? The individual who, by his own strength, can crush the Cleansers, an entity beyond the scope of Second-level Civilizations."

Kǎn Tí closed the surveillance feed.

He was silent for a moment, then a gentle command issued from his mouth.

"Continue monitoring."

"Downgrade the Human Federal's threat level to 'under observation' and raise its potential level to the highest."

"I want to see what surprise these civilizations attempting to steal technology from the gods will bring me."