Chapter 142 The Landlord

Hao Ren returned to the VIP lounge where his group was resting, carrying the data terminal. Lily and Vivian were relaxing on the living room sofa, while Izhaks was still staring out the window in a daze. The sound of Hao Ren's return drew their attention. He casually placed the data terminal on the table, "This place really isn't fit for living."

Lily was sprawled on the sofa, half-dead and sticking her tongue out in a mock death pose. Hearing this, she vaguely looked up and asked, "Are we changing rooms? This place is pretty good..."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm saying that these floating islands where the elves live are really uninhabitable," Hao Ren plopped down on the sofa. "Look at the situation. One of these could collapse at any time, and hundreds of millions of lives are tied to these seriously outdated old machines. Optimistically, they might last another three to five hundred years, but if they're really unlucky, they could be done for in three to five days—this place is definitely not safe… Speaking of which, what's wrong with you?"

Hao Ren noticed Lily's listless state, even her tail drooping weakly to the side. This was a rare sight for this husky, who was usually energetic to the point of being neurotic. "Did you eat something bad?"

"Helping with disaster relief… so tired," Lily grumbled, stretching her limbs out in front of her on the sofa. "Tired as a dog…"

It seemed like the girl was indeed exhausted, showing signs of near delirium.

Vivian also looked tired, apparently having just returned from helping with disaster relief in the city. However, she was much more composed than the husky and could still discuss serious matters with Hao Ren: "So you've decided how to help these elves?"

"Morally and rationally, we can't just leave them alone," Hao Ren nodded, pouring out all the thoughts he'd had since last night. "At first, I was thinking of giving them some technological blueprints, but high-level tech blueprints are contraband. But faster-than-light engines are everywhere in the greater universe—but now it seems they might not have time or be able to build spaceships. Then I thought about collecting some supplies for them, but that's not realistic. We're not just helping a couple of villages in the mountains. These elves still have a billion people. Where am I going to get that many supplies from…?"

"And even if you had those supplies, it wouldn't do much good," the data terminal said from the table. "How much is enough? A hundred years' worth, or a thousand years' worth? If you want to support them until they enter the starry sky, you'd have to drag another planet over here."

"So I think it's better for them to move," Hao Ren clapped his hands. "I thought about it for a long time before I suddenly figured it out. I was really constrained by my own perspective before. Moving an entire race sounds scary, but in the grand scheme of the greater universe, it's nothing at all."

Vivian opened her mouth, but this matter was a bit beyond her worldview, so the vampire girl decided to keep quiet and just listen.

"In the end, no matter how much resources or technology we give these elves, it's just a temporary fix. Their current predicament is ultimately due to the environment of this godforsaken place. If they had a resource-rich place to move to, that would be enough. And they can continue to develop their civilization in their new home, without having to force-feed them advanced technology that others have dumped on them. This is better for them in the long run…"

Hearing this, the data terminal couldn't help but flash approvingly: "Well said. You can now consider issues from this long-term perspective. The core of maintaining civilization diversity is to allow civilizations with potential to maintain their own development trajectory. Giving them an undeveloped, blank new home is much better than dumping a bunch of faster-than-light technology on them. Now there's just one question: where are you planning to move them?"

Hao Ren scratched his head: "The universe is so big… surely we can find a suitable place, right?"

"Scan slowly," the data terminal somersaulted in the air, a habit it used to express teasing. "First, it must have a suitable temperature and gravity. Second, it can't be in a place as deserted as this wandering star. Third, it should ideally have a carbon-based ecosystem to begin with, because the Aerym elves no longer have the resources to establish an ecosystem on a barren planet. With their technology, that would take at least several hundred years. Finally, and most importantly: this ecological planet cannot have a native civilization, not even a group of monkeys who can just write. The Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace does have scanning probes, but whether there's such a suitable place in this universe for you to scan is hard to say."

Hearing this, Hao Ren started tearing his hair out: "I know all that. I'm just making a plan first and then considering the details…"

"Then consider it quickly. This machine just scanned this island chain, and at least three floating islands have hidden dangers in their energy operation. When they explode is completely random. The elves themselves seem to know this too; those three floating islands have the smallest populations."

Hao Ren hugged his head and slumped in the chair, thinking hard. Just when he was about to give himself a stroke, a planet covered in oceans and dense forests, with a pleasant environment and no indigenous civilization, leapt into his mind.

"Beanie's Planet!"

Vivian and Lily were both dumbfounded: "What's Beanie's Planet?"

Hao Ren coughed twice: "Ahem, I mean the planet where we found Beanie. It seems like there's no one there, and it's very suitable for these elves to live on… well, the atmospheric environment might be a bit different from inside the dome, but it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt. Terminal, do you think this will work?"

The data terminal was silent for a while before reminding him: "Do you know that the Space-Time Administration has very strict management over this kind of thing? Unless a civilization develops cross-world navigation technology itself and immigrates to another world, or it's non-colonial 'travel', it's generally forbidden for an entire race to migrate to another universe with a developed civilization. Especially since you're an inspector, packaging an entire race from another universe and settling them in your own universe, and this race doesn't have any cross-world navigation capabilities, this is very sensitive… very sensitive."

Hao Ren was immediately dumbfounded.

But the data terminal had more to say: "Of course, I just said that this matter is strictly reviewed, sensitive in nature, and generally restricted. I didn't say that such events have never happened. After all, the Aerym elves are on the verge of extinction, and they deserve to be rescued. Many restrictive laws will lower their requirements in this situation. And even if the laws have requirements, they can be flexibly adapted. After the emergency expansion ten thousand years ago, the greater universe needs a more flexible management method to operate, so many regulations have lowered the alert threshold. So you can consider flexible understanding and grasp the spirit: what's the core of these regulations, do you know?"

Hao Ren thought for a moment: "Not harming other civilizations? You can't help one civilization at the expense of another, I remember that one."

"That's right. Under this major premise, as long as you have a reasonable explanation and process, no one will pursue you. If you do it beautifully, it might even be considered a merit."

"Just say it clearly, I can't stand the suspense."

The data terminal bumped Hao Ren's forehead: "What do you do?"

Hao Ren was taken aback: "Me? An inspector?"

"That's your side job. What's your main job?"

Hao Ren thought for a long time before he finally realized: "…Landlord?"

"And do you understand now?"

Hao Ren thought for a moment, then suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "Wait, is it okay to do this? That planet isn't mine…"

"Why can't it be yours? After Overseer Raven created that planet, she threw it into the natural universe, and no intelligent life has ever visited it. The only ones who passed over the planet were a bunch of goblin deliverymen, and they didn't even land at all. And you, you're the first intelligent being to land on the planet's surface and conduct a survey. Your survey has already been recorded in the database. Legally, this planet can't be considered your personal property, but until another intelligent race claims to have occupied the planet earlier and provides evidence, you are the planet's… first priority surveyor. As this surveyor, you have a series of permissions, including building outposts, placing your own bases, and exploiting resources. Of course, it's impossible for you to manage such a large amount of things alone, so…"

Hao Ren had a sudden epiphany: "So I need a billion Aerym tenants to help take care of the place…"

"A promising child."