mtl008 Chapter 4191 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (31)
Chapter 4191 is about the Supreme Sorcerer (31)
Chapter 4191 is, The Supreme Mage (Chapter 31)
"We are gathered here today to discuss a serious issue." The Minister of Development stood in the center of the Interstellar Council's hall, looking around, and said, "Clearly, due to the recent overexpansion of the Council, our existing administrative areas can no longer meet our work needs. The twelve planets were only the size of satellites when they were built, not large enough. The distance between planets is also too small for spaceships to travel between, not to mention the aging dormitory environment, loose mechanical structures, slow fiber optic transmission speeds, and other problems. This has brought serious employee welfare issues to the entire Interstellar Council. I have already received more than 60 complaint letters, and I'm sure many of you colleagues have similar grievances."
"But actually, our working environment isn't the main concern. After all, we're not here for leisure, but to contribute to the safety and stability of interstellar society. However, due to the appalling working conditions, most employees are unable to concentrate on their work, leading to three strikes in the Ring Zone and an incident where an expatriate employee's mistake damaged a portal. These are basic errors that shouldn't have happened, but they could potentially trigger a massive cosmic disaster, something none of us want to see. Therefore, I propose a large-scale renovation project to improve the working conditions in the Ring Zone and enhance employee benefits..."
The Supreme Wisdom below was listening with a buzzing in its head.
As for whether the situations mentioned by the Minister of Development are true, they are indeed true. The Ring Star Sector has indeed existed for far too long. Even the three great empires did not anticipate that this entity would expand to such a vast scale, so they did not choose to establish an interstellar council within a natural star system, but instead simply created their own star system.
Almost all the planets in the ring sector are man-made. The central rotating star is not a star, but a star-level energy reactor provided by the Kree Empire. The gravitational orbits are artificially laid out. The planets orbiting the reactor are modified from the Kree Empire's first-generation planetary warships that were phased out.
Although they are decommissioned warships, they are not actually broken; they were simply retired due to significant technological breakthroughs. Some were even brand new—but that was when they were first put into service, and after operating for a long time, they have indeed become somewhat malfunctioning.
The original version of the planetary warship had some inherent flaws, and it was designed and manufactured during the Thousand-Year War. Even its inventors didn't intend for it to have a long service life. Everyone assumed it was a disposable weapon, likely to be destroyed as soon as it appeared, so the materials and technology used weren't intended to extend its lifespan. And after so much time, it's worn down even more.
As the planet's mass changes, its gravitational orbit must also be adjusted, even affecting the reactor's output; and once these orbits are adjusted, the spaceship's orbit must also be adjusted, or it will collide. Although these adjustments are made by the Supreme Intelligence itself, this situation is visible to the naked eye and cannot be concealed, so it did not deliberately try to hide it.
In reality, this system could have run for another thousand or eight hundred years without much problem if things had remained the same. However, the problem lies in the rapid expansion of the Interstellar Council. By the time of this conference, they already had 21 departments.
This isn't just about having 21 more ministers or secretaries; as a department, you need members. Previously, a department only had twenty or thirty members, including some interns who only did clerical work. However, since the establishment of many new departments, the number of members has skyrocketed, with some departments now having more than 200 people.
The reason behind this is that they only want to take advantage and don't want to suffer losses: If you, the electronic life form, can expand your recruitment and create so many departments, and then mix your own forces into them, then of course I have to put more people into the departments I manage, otherwise how can I counter you?
So they devised various ways to invent pretexts to squeeze their relatives and friends into the ranks. Although most of these people's relatives and friends were also elites, and it wouldn't be a problem for them to be ordinary members, they were also top performers in their own civilizations, and were basically used to being high-ranking leaders. Would they be happy to suddenly become ordinary members?
Fortunately, the Interstellar Council had a tradition of recruiting interns, so what else was there to say but to recruit as many as possible? As a result, there were more than 200 official members and 4000 interns—of course, not all of them actually took up their posts; if a small portion of them were actually there, that would be considered good, but even that was still quite outrageous.
The stars in the ring system aren't very large; the largest is only slightly larger than the moon, all on the scale of satellites. This is because these things weren't built to be used as ordinary planets. If the warships were built too large, the probability of them being destroyed in battle would be much higher. Therefore, they weren't built very large initially, making expansion outwards even more difficult. The buildings on them were already constructed long ago, and with so many people, it's naturally crowded. Internship staff have to share dorm rooms, two or three people a day, which has long been a source of complaints.
That's not all; the real problem is transportation. Public spaceships are too crowded, so they resort to private ships. But these private ships are all different kinds, from different civilizations, and their traffic rules vary slightly, leading to frequent collisions. After each collision, I have to find a tugboat to tow them. Once the tugboat is positioned sideways, the other ships can't fly either; they all get stuck in traffic.
In short, the inherent conditions of the ring-shaped star system are poor. Even the natural star systems created by God have all sorts of problems; how much better can the star systems created by mechanical civilizations be after only a few years of development?
This was indeed a problem that urgently needed to be solved. However, when he heard that they planned to sell the entire Ring Sector, the Supreme Intelligence couldn't help but punch them. He swore he didn't mean it, but the Sorcerer Supreme caught him red-handed. Fortunately, humanity seemed particularly lenient in this regard; the Sorcerer Supreme merely gave him a casual reprimand and let him go.
The Supreme Intelligence knew it had been a bit impulsive, but it had made too many programming errors lately and sometimes couldn't control itself well. However, after calming down, it had a serious talk with the minister, and they ultimately changed the plan to repairs.
Although the entire conference lasted for more than seven hours, everyone had their own opinions on how to repair it, and the various factions were in a chaotic battle with spittle flying everywhere: the Shi'ar Empire elbowed the Skrull Empire, the Skrull Empire kicked the Kree Empire, and the Kree Empire punched the Shi'ar Empire. In any case, the whole scene was completely out of control.
They argued back and forth without reaching any conclusion. The Supreme Intelligence tried several times to interrupt them and offer its own opinion, but no one paid any attention to it. Everyone was busy attacking their opponent's views and showing off their own intelligence, so much so that they spent a full seven hours without coming up with anything.
Afterwards, the Supreme Intelligence decided to speak with the various ministers. After all, the sooner the repairs were completed, the better for everyone. What reason did they have not to support the repairs? It used public funds from the three great empires, they didn't have to pay for it themselves, and the finished product would certainly be better than before—wouldn't that be for them to enjoy as well?
When the Supreme Intelligence approached them, everyone agreed readily, but in the practical implementation phase, reality dealt them a harsh blow.
"You mean, this is the material cost budget given by the Ministry of Commerce?" The Supreme Intelligence stared at the computer screen, its expression one of utter astonishment. "Forty trillion? I'm not seeing things, am I?"
"No, Mr. Secretary-General, each quote above has a detailed description. I don't see anything wrong with it. What about you?"
The supreme intelligence has already gone through all the data in its mind, and the most damning thing is that there really isn't a problem.
If the renovations were done to the highest standards, that's certainly the amount of money required. But the problem is, they're just renovating an office building, not turning it into an impregnable permanent fortification—who in their right mind would use vibranium for the load-bearing columns of their office building?!
But Supreme Wisdom had learned from his mistake; he knew that if he questioned the Minister of Commerce, the minister would surely offer some excuse about high standards and strict requirements. So he went to the Minister of Armed Forces, who was somewhat on their side.
The Minister of Armed Forces was conducting drills at the training ground when he saw Supreme Intelligence. His booming voice couldn't hold back any longer. He exclaimed, "When will this be fixed?! Those two ships that crashed into us are still embedded in the wall next to the training ground, exploding on average every three minutes. If it weren't for my soldiers taking the brunt of the damage, we would have been wiped out long ago!"
"I came to see you precisely to discuss this matter. Take a look at this budget."
The Minister of Armed Forces clicked his tongue after taking it. The Supreme Intelligence expected him to burst into curses, but instead, he thought for a moment and said, "This is too expensive; we can't afford it."
Don't you think there's anything wrong with this?
"I told you, this is too expensive!"
“This is unreasonable,” the Supreme Intelligence said. “We don’t need to use such good materials. After all, we are just building a political sector, not the headquarters of the Empire.”
The Minister of Armed Forces waved his hand and said, "You guys don't understand machine brains. It will definitely cost this much money to fix it."
"What do you mean?"
“There are so many people in the parliament, and they all depend on this for their livelihood. Once the funds are allocated, everyone from top to bottom has to get a share. If you don’t allocate more, nothing will be built in the end. You have to feed everyone from top to bottom so that the work can be done effectively; otherwise, it’s just a waste of money.”
The Supreme Intelligence was troubled again. He said, "I control the entire financial system, and every piece of data is precisely recorded. Where do they get their money?"
What is the current market price of vibranium?
"Approximately 36,000 general currency units per Robb."
"They'll quote Wakanda 50,000, then team up with the Wakanda king to claim vibranium is scarce and demand a price increase, ultimately resulting in a budget figure of 100,000. How can you investigate that? You can't control everything, you can't control what kind of leopard is doing!"
"But we don't need vibranium at all!"
"How do you know we don't need it? After the design drawings are completed, we need to conduct a safety assessment. If you don't add enough vibranium, they won't approve it, because they also get a share of the vibranium fees. Now you understand what I mean?"
“I’ve had enough,” the Supreme Intelligence said. “I don’t think the current Interstellar Council is any longer necessary.”
The Minister of Armed Forces sneered and said, "Before the Supreme Mage arrives, you still have a choice. But now, do you think you can kill them all in front of him using your little tricks? I guarantee that if you dare to do that, he will send a portal straight to your face and punch your true form."
The Supreme Wisdom, who had just been radiating murderous intent, seemed to have been doused with cold water. After a long silence, it asked, "We really can't afford this money, and I don't think they would do a good job even if we did. So what should we do?"
"Sell the Ring Star District."