Chapter 207: Various Arrangements

Li Wen and Lin Wan'er's youthful romance, like a small flower blooming quietly in the steel jungle of the New Era, added a soft touch of brightness to the tense and efficient scientific atmosphere. Qin Feng held a tolerant, watchful attitude toward it, not interfering in members' personal lives as long as it did not affect their duties.

His attention was soon seized by more urgent matters.

The three plans unveiled at the press conference acted like three powerful engines, drawing massive attention and resources to the New Era, but also bringing unprecedented complexity and immense execution pressure. Qin Feng knew that no matter how grand the blueprint, it required solid steps and firm control to turn it into reality.

He needed to make a series of precise "arrangements" to ensure that this massive vessel, already underway, could follow his designated course, break through all storms, and sail toward the distant deep space.

The first arrangement concerned the Deep Space Eye.

The upgrade and deep-space transformation of the Lingxiao platform was the most tangible and most costly component of the three plans. Qin Feng personally took command, establishing the Deep Space Plan Command Department, which included dozens of core subgroups: hull design, propulsion systems, life support, deep-space detection, and weapons defense (unpublicized).

He deployed all design theories and key technologies from Super Technology regarding large aerospace vehicles, combined with the New Era's existing industrial capacity, and completely redesigned Lingxiao. The new design eliminated many ornamental and impractical elements, placing greater emphasis on functionality, durability, and survival capability under extreme cosmic conditions.

For materials, he ordered at all costs to expand the production scale of Stardust Alloy and began testing several special coatings recorded in Super Technology, designed to shield against cosmic radiation and resist micrometeorite impacts.

The propulsion system was the core within the core. Beyond continuing to optimize Plasma Propulsion and Antigravity Field technologies, Qin Feng began having his team explore a more advanced, preliminary concept from Super Technology called Curvature Bubble Generation Theory. This was not a true warp drive, but a theoretical method of auxiliary propulsion using spatial tension—if realized, it would greatly enhance Lingxiao's range and speed.

The second arrangement concerned the Rule Probe.

This plan was the most abstract and the most dangerous. Qin Feng regarded it as a long-term investment and the key to breaking through his own limitations.

He elevated the permissions and resource allocation of the Rule Analysis team, allowing core members like Li Wen to access thirty percent of the New Era's quantum computing power. But he also drew clear red lines—all experiments involving consciousness-matter interaction or potential alterations to reality's rules required his personal approval and must be conducted in absolutely controlled isolation environments.

He did not wish to "analyze" himself and the entire city-state out of existence before understanding the rules.

Additionally, he began consciously guiding the team to direct some research efforts toward seemingly "useless" foundational theories. For example: re-examining whether the speed of light was truly the universe's ultimate speed limit? Was time's nature inherently unidirectional? These seemingly philosophical questions might conceal keys to breaking the chains of the rules.

The third arrangement concerned the Civilization Spark.

This was the most like "logistics support," yet the most profoundly significant plan. Qin Feng entrusted it entirely to Sun Zhe, known for his rigor and meticulousness.

The Civilization Ark's location was set deep beneath the New Era city-state, within the seabed rock layers. A massive artificial cave was being secretly excavated there, employing multi-layered isolation and independent power design, sufficient to withstand any known natural or man-made disaster.

The contents list of the Ark was staggering: from live cells and seeds of all known Earth species, to digital backups of all human civilization's texts, images, audio, and video records, to core technical data, industrial blueprints of the New Era and the Wind Rising System, and even selected, comprehensible foundational theories from Super Technology…

This was essentially creating a final "backup" for the entire Earth civilization.

The fourth arrangement addressed the external pressures and covetous designs that followed.

The announcement of the three plans made the New Era a coveted yet hated prize in the eyes of all major global powers and large capital entities. Overt cooperation, covert infiltration—every conceivable tactic emerged.

Gao Yuan's "Zhu Long" security force faced intensified pressure. They had to guard not only against sabotage by extremist groups like the Pure World Society, but also against relentless infiltration by elite agents from various nations.

Qin Feng granted Gao Yuan the authority to "act first, report later" in emergencies, further expanded Zhu Long's size, and began secretly recruiting third- and fourth-wave members from retired special forces and individuals with unique talents worldwide. Simultaneously, using Super Technology, he directed the development of more advanced individual gear and defense systems for Zhu Long.

The fifth arrangement—the most secretive of all—concerned Qin Feng himself.

He clearly felt that as the New Era's power rapidly expanded and his exploration of the rule layer deepened, that sense of "stagnation" and "rejection" from the world's origin was slowly but steadily intensifying.

He had to accelerate the pace of enhancing his own strength.

He used the Skill Key more frequently, experiencing various advanced skills, especially those involving Spiritual Force application and energy perception. He consistently allocated Attribute Points to Spirit, attempting to break through the seemingly invisible bottleneck. He even discovered, within the Self-Improvement option, a grayed-out passive ability named Primary Rule Affinity—its unlock condition unknown, but he vaguely sensed it might be the key to adapting to—or even mastering—the rules.

Every day, Qin Feng functioned like the most efficient CPU, simultaneously managing these five—and even more—lines of affairs: from macro strategy to technical details, from internal management to external rivalry, from civilization's survival to his own transcendence…

His mind operated under extreme overload, yet his gaze grew deeper and calmer.

Su Wenqian watched the light in his study burn late into the night, saw Qin Feng still vigorous but occasionally betraying a faint, almost imperceptible weariness in his brow, and felt both deep concern and profound admiration.

She could only tend more carefully to his daily life, ensuring he had no distractions.

That late night, Qin Feng finally completed the final risk assessment report on the preliminary validation experiment for Curvature Bubble Theory.

He stood up, walked to the large floor-to-ceiling window, and gazed down at the city below—a luminous, meticulously operating marine metropolis.

All arrangements had been placed like chess pieces. Upon the board, winds rose and clouds churned.

He knew the true challenge had only just begun.

But he feared nothing.

A cold, confident smile curved his lips.

"Come then. Let me see—ultimately… who will have the last laugh in this game."