Asgard. The World Tree remains as magnificent and lush as ever, with thick steam rising from the spring below, and the distant snow-capped mountains shining gloriously under the morning light. Strange immersed himself in the slightly warm spring water, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Shiller was meticulously arranging the fruits on the platter, then starting from the left, eating them one by one; Loki took a cup of wine, drinking while gazing at the distant horizon; Nick finally returned from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, bending over at the poolside to test the water temperature with his hand.
"What are you dawdling for?" Strange said impatiently, "If you think it's too hot, go over there. Don't stir things up here."
"Our dear Councilman's temper is getting bigger and bigger." Nick chuckled as he walked into the pool, hissing at the heat and constantly splashing water on himself.
Loki half-squinted his eyes, opened the one closer to Nick and glanced at him, then said, "We've been busy in the cosmos, while you are enjoying leisure."
"My work comes later," Nick said, "You better show me some respect, my performance is crucial during negotiations."
"Who would have thought, we could actually receive money from the Three Great Empires." Loki said with some amazement, "Although we've snatched quite a bit before, this time they voluntarily gave it. It feels pretty nice, doesn't it?"
"Selling the land is only the first step," Shiller tossed a piece of melon into his mouth and said, "Our plan is to bring the political center to our own territory and control it; the Three Great Empires are surely thinking of infiltrating the Nine Major Kingdoms with this opportunity. There's a war to be fought."
"Have we decided on the location?" Strange asked.
"There are three options, but they probably won't choose the other two, so it's likely to be Cross Two of the Crux."
Strange paused and said, "Why there?"
"The dark matter concentration in the Milky Way is too high, if they don't choose a bright star, they'll have to make an artificial light source. The overall brightness of Crux is relatively high, and Cross Two is a binary star system with one hot star, two semi-hot stars, and one cold star, alongside three planets slightly larger than Earth with primitive life forms. With plenty of planets and large enough space, it's obviously the most cost-effective choice."
Strange thought for a moment and remembered. In fact, Crux is quite famous among European and American countries, mainly because when viewed from Earth, the Southern Cross looks like a cross, considered one of God's miracles, and many flags of European and American countries feature Crux, such as Australia's.
However, humans were previously not very familiar with this constellation, only knowing its brightness; but after interstellar colonization began, they flew ships to explore and surprisingly found life in Crux.
The cold star of Cross Two is about as warm as the Sun, with two planets at suitable distances and orbits. The level of life there is similar to Earth's Late Triassic period, but in the cosmos, it's considered an extremely good planetary environment.
This binary system's hot star, with its large mass and brightness, makes an excellent Venus. During cosmic voyages, lighthouses are necessary, and more massive, hotter planets are more easily detected by radar, so a bustling Star Zone is best navigated by a super-bright star.
And the two semi-hot stars? They are the best energy sources, unlike hot stars, not overly hot, with higher radiation than cold stars, making extraction less difficult and with ample energy. Most advanced civilizations would choose such stars to extract energy.
As for how hot a hot star is or how cold a cold star is, we can only say that the Sun is considered a cold star, relatively low in temperature among stars in the cosmos, and generally only such stars can nurture carbon-based life forms. With the higher concentration of dark matter in the Milky Way, the heat from stars dissipates more slowly, so the standards for nurturing life should be lower. Most civilizations possess stars even colder than the Sun.
The cold star of Cross Two is comparable to the Sun, and if things go well, those two planets should also evolve life forms similar to humans, albeit several million years from now.
Thinking of this, Strange frowned slightly and said, "What about the life on those two planets?"
"There aren't any anthropomorphic beings up there," Nick said, "There aren't even truly intelligent life forms, only some reptiles and theropods."
Loki could understand Strange's perspective. He wasn't genuinely worried about dinosaurs going extinct, but he had long considered the Milky Way the property of the human race—whatever is on the planets belongs to the subjects under human governance. Lack of a developed civilization now doesn't mean the future won't bring one; if we allow their extinction now, what about the future? These are potential strengths within the Star System, not to be casually left to outsiders to destroy.
"What do you think the establishment of the Environmental Protection Department is for?" Shiller yawned, tossing another cherry tomato into his mouth, chewing before saying, "The interstellar council has long passed a series of relevant environmental ethics codes, requiring them to pay us about 30 million Universal Coins yearly for environmental and biological protection, while council officials must ensure none of their activities harm any native flora and fauna of the Star System, or they'll face punishment."
"What about poachers?" Strange asked, "Previously they didn't come here due to the inaccessible routes and fear of Asgard discovering them, but now with everyone flooding in, what if they blend in?"
"This is indeed a problem," Shiller pondered, "Combating poachers should be the task of the Security Department."
"The entire interstellar council has stopped working," Strange said, "That's thanks to you. If we count on them, there won't be a single animal left on those planets."
"I'll think of a way," Shiller said.
"Next we should discuss military deployment," Loki said, "Last night I talked with the Divine King and Queen of Gods, they've decided to dispatch a hundred-strong unit of the Royal Guard. What do you guys think?"
"A hundred people? Royal Guard no less?! Supreme Wisdom definitely won't be able to sleep now." Strange said with some schadenfreude.
"Supreme Wisdom doesn't need sleep," Loki chuckled, "but it's not just today that he's sleepless."
His words seemed to have a hidden meaning. Strange froze for a moment, then quickly reacted, saying, "It wouldn't be you again who tricked Supreme Wisdom, right?!"
Loki covered his mouth with a wine glass and said, "What do you mean by 'again'? This is the first time I've ever tricked Electronic Life."
"But it won't be the last time, will it?"
Loki smiled without saying a word. Nick seemed to have soaked enough and climbed out to start pacing around the pool, while wiping his face with a towel and gasping from the cold.
"When are they starting the project?" Nick asked again, "You must remember to sign the Local Labor Protection Agreement; I have a bunch of people waiting for work."
"What's that thing?" Strange asked.
"It's about hiring a certain percentage of locals for any construction project in an area. It's meant to provide local job opportunities. There wasn't this law in the Interstellar Council before; it came after the Interstellar Code update. We've tentatively set the ratio at 30%, because Humans have limited capabilities."
"How's that fair? Raise it to at least 50%," Nick said, "We can provide hundreds of Symbiote Agents, and special workers like Electro and Sandman, and Spider Man! Those energetic brats are causing trouble every day; they need some work to keep them occupied!"
"Alright, I can probably push for them to increase it to 40%," Shiller said, "And the constructions must follow the styles of the local main ethnic groups, shouldn't stand out too outrageously, nor ruin the city skyline—though those two planets don't have cities yet, they still need to follow Earth's style."
"Why not Asgard?" Loki asked.
"You know how expensive your own architecture is," Shiller sarcastically rolled his eyes and said, "Why use costly Magic Energy Metal and Magic Stone Slabs when we can use cheaper concrete? Most interstellar officials wouldn't crush a rooftop with a single heavy jump."
Loki was rendered speechless. He knew that the extravagant materials used in Asgard were mainly because of the God Clan's potent destructive power—without good materials, half the city would be wrecked in a fight.
"Of course, the pricing can be modeled after Asgardian constructions," Shiller shifted his tone and said, "Perfectly blending the styles of the two main civilizations reflects the Interstellar Council's respect for the Lord."
Now it was Loki's turn to roll his eyes.
"By the way, what's going on with Supreme Wisdom? Why is there no news?" Strange asked again, "He doesn't want to relocate to the Milky Way; I thought he'd have one last desperate struggle."
"Not sure," Shiller shrugged and said, "He asked for a week off without any explanation; then yesterday morning he extended it for another week. I think he's resigned to the fact that resistance is futile and is out of sight, out of mind."
"He will have to come to work eventually unless he doesn't want to be Secretary-General anymore." Strange thought of something cheerful and said, "Now that we're moving to the Milky Way, shouldn't our electronic office systems use local products like Jarvis?"
"Can't do that. The law specifies that the electronic office system can't be in the form of artificial intelligence; otherwise, Supreme Wisdom wouldn't need to be Secretary-General, he could just become the office system himself. Besides, Jarvis might not be willing to do it; his daughter was just born and he's busy."
"It's hard to believe Wanda already has three children," Loki said, extending his hand in contemplation, "while my little niece is still in the womb and will likely take decades to be born."
"Have they confirmed it's a girl?"
"Of course, it was known the moment she was conceived. Asgard is welcoming a new Queen," Loki said happily, "Helen doesn't like wearing jewelry; getting her to wear a necklace seems life-threatening—my jewelry will finally have a rightful heir!"
"Honestly, we should check out Crux," Nick said, "I'm worried someone might stir trouble before the construction units arrive. I have no doubt those Electronic Lives might seize the opportunity to act up."
"Alright, then send someone over."
"No, if S.H.I.E.L.D. employees are to be involved in the project, I must train them to prevent those Spider-kids from shouting and jumping around like ignorant villagers at the sight of large space construction machinery, embarrassing the Human race."
"Then I'll send someone," Loki said, "It's the perfect chance to find a good station spot for the personal guard..."
"No, if the God Clan goes, it'll surely scare those sneaky ones away. Better deploy a small troop to scout the area, catching them red-handed would be ideal."
Everyone turned their gaze to Shiller's face; Shiller reluctantly raised his hand and said, "Fine, I'll go find someone, okay?"