After leaving the hotel, Tilan sat in the hover car, leaning against the window and reflecting on the woman she had just encountered.
Humans are complex and multifaceted beings. As a child from a remote and poor Star Domain, Mai Desang's ability to come to the Central Star Domain and sustain a living there owes much to both the support of her elders and her own diligence.
Looking at her career trajectory alone, she could probably be seen as a role model among commoners.
But she also has the limitations of an ordinary person. Even with her diligence, she harbors a mentality of wishful thinking. When the agency contacted her, she agreed immediately, revealing a side of greed normally hidden, showing only regret for her bad luck when caught, afraid of being punished and retaliated against.
Moreover, her account of the circumstances in the Ten Vertical Star Domain also highlights many issues.
The innate conditions of each Star Domain within the Federation vary greatly. The residents, molded by different environments and histories, have significant differences in their attitudes towards the Federation as well as their overall value systems.
Nowadays, many Elves within the Federation come from the very same idyllic planet that Isenisha once inhabited. Most Elves have not experienced the brutal struggles of the Fifth Epoch. Later, in the early days of the Federation, imbued with the will of Isenisha, they pioneered many new residential stars, which amassed considerable prestige and capital for the Elf Families, maintaining their relatively high status within the Federation for centuries.
On the human side, the situation is rather complex. There are descendants of the Fourth Era survivors from the same planet as Isenisha, the original human species who were liberated from the Black Sun's control and granted a new life, many humans who attempted to gain advantages through genetic editing in the fight against the Black Sun, and remnants of human civilization's fleet when order collapsed, along with wandering merchants traversing the Star River, among others.
Looking back on the early history of the Federation, people are often surprised by the difficult and complex circumstances of that time. However, Isenisha managed to unify these disparate forces scattered across the Milky Way, merged them together, established a unified consensus, and formed a whole new interstellar nation. This entire process is hardly believable even now, had it not been clearly documented in history.
After the founding of the Federation, through the guidance and teachings of Isenisha, over a century, a true sense of recognition and belonging was gradually formed. This is what prevented the Federation from falling apart shortly after Isenisha's death.
The successive Songstresses of the following generations never possessed the same level of prestige and power as Isenisha. All they could do was to stabilize the framework of the Federation; as for reforms, slowing down wealth disparity, and balancing economic development across the Star Domains—these difficult and thankless tasks were repeatedly postponed until 400 years ago, when they were addressed by Emuralin.
Emuralin resolved some of the problems of the Federation. Her reforms significantly weakened the influence of the Elf Families over the Federal Congress and considerably diminished the military power of the giant corporations, preventing them from overtly dominating the Federal Congress. Additionally, by dismembering some of the giant corporations and clearing out the losing parties from wars, she paved the way for the newly reborn Federation to develop, allowing its citizens to live almost a hundred years of vigorous and ascending life.
Even though there is still dissatisfaction with the Federation on the network today, objectively speaking, today's Federation is indeed much better than it was 400 years ago. At least, with the existence of the Court of Judgment, many politicians, giant corporations, and separatists have had the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, resulting in a significant constraint of their behavior.
After sorting out these matters, though Tilan felt the future was bleak, compared to the wandering hesitation of last night, she was much more at peace.
At least it's not entirely hopeless, is it?
The careers of the two Color Level Songstress predecessors, even if not so Perfect, truly changed the country and carried on its legacy.
As time flows, one generation after another replaces the last, and each epoch encounters fresh challenges.
In the past, to give the underground dwellers hope and spiritual solace, religions like 'Red God' developed—while somewhat ignorant and extreme, they were beneficial for the survival of the Species, and their doctrines were highly intertwined with the living conditions of the time.
However, as the wheel of the epochs rolls forward relentlessly, the things of the past cannot guide the people of today, and their existence becomes a kind of shackle.
The ideals of past eras are no longer suitable for this vast and complex Galactic Era. The form of the state also needs a brand-new order to establish a harmonious and egalitarian world, a world without oppression, filled with fairness.
As if through layers of fog, she seemed to catch a glimpse of the outline of a future order.
Perhaps she doesn't yet know how to realize this ideal, but at least she knows what kind of world that will be.
The hover car passed through towering buildings, and as Tilan opened the window, the fresh and fierce wind rushed in, tousling her neatly-arranged hair, with her blue and white hairbands fluttering in the breeze, and the bright Sunshine prompting the young girl to shield her eyes with her hand.
Even though the city at night can be somewhat oppressive, by day, it's quite beautiful as well.
Returning to school, Tilan changed out of the luxurious Phoenix silk gown, took a shower to cleanse her body, and then changed into a light-colored casual dress. She took several large White Kites to play by the school's riverbank.
Now that the birds have grown up, they can no longer float on the water as lightly as they did when they were younger, for the water here is too shallow. Watching the birds splash and flap in the river, Tilan laughed heartily and afterward picked some pebbles from the river that she liked to take back with her.