The Supreme Wisdom was about to explode. The Minister of Development at most wanted to sell one planet, but you're going to sell the entire Star Zone???
"Don't look at me like that, we have no choice." The Minister of Armed Forces shook his head and said, "You have to admit that this place really isn't suitable for office work anymore. I was against creating our own star system from the start, and Your Majesty the Emperor wasn't too keen either, but we couldn't resist the lobbying of those elder ministers. They were completely in a warfare mindset, thinking everything should be easy to control. In the end, it's us young ones getting caught in the mess, isn't it?"
"We can find a naturally nicer star system, spend some money to buy it, and then sell off the Star Area. The geographical location of this place is actually quite good, and all this artificial equipment and that large reactor are worth something too. Although the money won't be enough to build a new planet, as long as the natural star system's environment is nice, we only need to renovate the planet, which is much easier. Plus, even if it's for their own enjoyment, they'll build it well. It's way more cost-effective than refurbishing this rundown place."
The Supreme Wisdom also understood that this group dared to be so greedy because they knew that although the Star Area was a bit dilapidated, it was still usable. They weren't in a hurry, so naturally, they wouldn't work hard.
But if we sell this place, forcing them to move to a new star system, then they must build the new star system well. Otherwise, when they go there, will they have to chew on dirt on some barren planet?
On the way back, the Supreme Wisdom calculated: Although this place is somewhat old, the technological level of the Three Great Empires is right here. Whether it's the Planet Warship or the Reactor, they are things those advanced civilizations dream of. Taking them back and dismantling them for parts could earn a large profit since these military supplies aren't usually available for purchase.
So, should it be sold piece by piece or as a package? Selling it piece by piece might be easier. The Supreme Wisdom already had a few buyers in mind, and he was confident that they'd place their orders immediately.
Selling it as a package could fetch a higher price. After all, those with the ability to buy a package probably wouldn't dismantle it for parts but might convert it into a capital of sorts. He had a few names in mind; they were basically people from native star systems with harsh environments, eager to move out. This place indeed suits their relocation.
But first, we need to make these people abandon the idea of refurbishment and agree to sell the Star Zone directly. If only I hadn't punched that minister. The Supreme Wisdom regretted it a bit; since it's a sale anyway, why not sell an entire Star Zone directly?
He arrived at Strange's office door and knocked. Strange looked up at him. The Supreme Wisdom walked over and said, "I plan to sell the Star Area."
"What??!!" Strange was shocked as well; he said, "What do you mean? What are you planning to sell?"
"Just the star system beneath our feet," the Supreme Wisdom said thoughtfully, "Do you think it should be sold separately or as a package?"
"Are you crazy? What kind of potion did Shiller give you?!"
"What's this got to do with Shiller?" the Supreme Wisdom said, "The refurbishment costs are too high, and even the combined strength of the Three Great Empires can't bear it. Plus, this star system indeed has its shortcomings. Fix it now, in another few thousand years it'll need fixing again. Why not find a naturally better star system to move to and be done with it?"
"It's over," Strange said. "Greed has blinded your eyes."
"I'm serious," the Supreme Wisdom replied, "The Three Great Empires almost never sell military supplies, and this entire star system is built using our military technology, so it should be quite popular. Maybe we could hold an auction to get a higher price. Besides, we do need to monitor corruption, so we should establish a new department..."
Strange was speechless. He sat back in his chair and attempted to give one last reminder, looking at the Supreme Wisdom, "Is there a possibility that everything that's changed since Self came to the interstellar council is because you didn't properly handle Greed?"
"I don't understand what you mean, Supreme Magician. In fact, most of what you say I can't comprehend. In human terms, this is too philosophical, something electronic life can't grasp. There's never been anything named Greed within my threads, so I don't know where to find it, and naturally, can't address it. If you're referring to that pile of program errors, if I had a way to change them, they wouldn't have appeared." The Supreme Wisdom stood up and said, "I have other matters to attend to, I'll be leaving now, goodbye."
Strange leaned back into his chair and sighed. It's not that he didn't want to speak directly, but at this point, whether he said it or not had no meaning. The entire interstellar council already had no choice.
Something that made the Supreme Wisdom a bit relieved was that the sale of the Star Area was progressing quite smoothly. Most departments had agreed, and there was no opposition to the Supreme Wisdom personally overseeing the entire sales process. After all, this money wasn't meant to be pocketed immediately; there would be plenty of time to maneuver later.
Most of the buyers were contacted, and it was ultimately decided to sell it piece by piece. To strengthen connections with his governing forces, they decided against holding an auction and instead reserved a few slots, engaging in a small-scale bidding process, exchanging money for goods directly.
With the selling problem resolved, the buying problem emerged: where should they move the new political center to?
Actually, there were natural star systems with good conditions, but since they had good conditions, it naturally made it easy for civilizations to arise, and those civilizations could easily develop further. Underdeveloped civilizations were difficult to communicate with, while advanced civilizations had exorbitant prices. After several days of reviewing dozens of departments, they still hadn't found a suitable option.
After finally finding a few seemingly suitable candidates and sending people for onsite inspections, various issues arose, such as insufficient star lifespans, excessively high dark matter energy levels, and wandering powerful Demon Gods.
After reviewing the central cosmos and finding no clues, the newly established Department of Cosmology suggested they should actually move to a more remote area.
It might be due to peculiar laws of nature or some special rules, but in any case, the closer you get to the center of the cosmos, the more prosperous the civilization; the farther from the central singularity, the fewer civilizations there are.
There is also a real estate industry within the cosmos. Land prices at the center of the cosmos are relatively high, while in remote areas, they tend to be cheaper. Because the Star Area was established early on and is in a pretty good location, quite close to the bustling areas of the Three Great Empires, that space has already sold for a lot of money. However, trying to use that money to buy something even more central would be impossible; it would be better to buy something a bit more remote and refurbish it nicely. At worst, just open a teleportation portal route.
The Supreme Wisdom thought this was also a solution. After all, these officials hardly ever go home, so it doesn't really matter where they live. By choosing a slightly more remote place, they could choose a place with a better natural environment.
So he set his sights on some remote star systems. After much selection, he really did find some pretty decent ones. However, his choice met with strong opposition from the council.
"Oh my God, I don't want to go to those backwater places!" complained the Minister of Security at the morning meeting. "I was born in the center of the cosmos and have never left the major singularity too far in my life, and now you want me to go to those Dark Star Systems? They're terrifying, no way I'm going!"
"I don't want to go either," sighed the Minister of Finance. "My child is only three years old, and I have to go home and be with her every day. I don't have that much money to pay for teleportation portal fees either."
"A colleague of mine was sent to work in a particularly remote star system, and when a meteor hit that planet, he couldn't even send out a distress signal; he just died there. I don't want to die!"
"Help me out here. Those robots, of course, can work anywhere; they don't need entertainment, but if we really move to such godforsaken places, am I supposed to travel across half the cosmos to go on vacation?"
But at that moment, the Minister of Commerce coughed a couple of times and started winking in Strange's direction. The crowd fell silent because they were all reminded of one thing – the Supreme Magician's hometown was also very remote.
No, it couldn't even be considered remote. Their idea of remote was a little farther from the center of the cosmos, like city dwellers whining about moving to the suburbs. But the Milky Way's geographical location in the cosmos is equivalent to the area from Miyun to Pinggu.
But just then, the Minister of Finance had a sudden inspiration and said, "I think the Milky Way is quite nice. What do you all think?"
The crowd was a bit stunned but quickly realized and started nodding frantically, "That's right, that's right, I think the Milky Way is particularly great."
"Yeah, the Milky Way is obviously a natural cosmos political center."
"The Milky Way is fantastic! I think we could totally move to the Milky Way!"
Hearing the familiar terms, Strange woke up with some confusion and said, "What? What Milky Way?"
Then he saw everyone staring at him with eyes lit up in green, and the Minister of Finance rubbed his hands together, saying, "We think the Milky Way is a good choice. What do you think, Supreme Magician?"
"What? What choice?" Strange still hadn't reacted.
"The next cosmos political center! Aren't we choosing where to move? We unanimously think the Milky Way is not bad, with beautiful scenery and an excellent geographic location. What do you think?"
"Uh, I... uh...are you guys crazy?"
Strange was completely baffled. He genuinely thought these people had lost it. He took a sip of water and said, "There are constellations that humans can observe you've probably never heard of. You find the Twin Giant Attractor too far away; the Milky Way must be way out in the sticks, right?"
"No, no, no," the ministers shook their heads like rattles, saying, "We unanimously think the Milky Way is a good choice. As long as you agree, we'll immediately send an investigation team for an on-the-ground assessment. If the data checks out, we'll prepare to start the purchase procedure..."
"Wait a minute," Strange raised One Hand, "Who are you buying it from? Does the Milky Way have an owner?"
"The Nine Major Kingdoms, of course. We'll contact Asgard. You don't need to worry about that. We guarantee a fair price and a reasonable transaction. Don't worry."
Strange was still a bit confused, not understanding why they were eyeing the Milky Way. Although he is a human supremacist and really loves Earth, objectively speaking, the Milky Way is very remote, and for a long time, the language of the God Clan wasn't even compatible. Why would they think of going to such a place?
There must be some political motive he doesn't know about here. But indeed, he was unaware of all political motives. No worries, isn't Shiller still around? As soon as the meeting was over, Strange went to find Shiller.