The sudden revelation of the Convention dealt the people of the entire world a tremendous blow to their understanding of the universe.
Only after finishing the document did people learn that civilization levels were divided into ten levels and four tiers, with a clear boundary between every level.
They also learned that the Star Sea Court truly did protect the rights of registered civilizations to a certain extent. At the very least, it did not allow registered civilizations to bully the weak or oppress the inferior through sheer strength.
In addition, people learned that civilization advancement came with clear requirements.
Unfortunately, those requirements were extremely demanding. At humanity’s current rate of development, unless another extraordinary opportunity like the previous Emergence Acceleration appeared, reaching Level Two within their lifetimes would already be a remarkable achievement.
To advance to Level Three, they would have to make complete use of stellar energy... in other words, completely control the sun. For humanity, that was practically nothing more than a fairy tale.
Moreover, the publication of the Convention proved one more thing: during the previous Rule Period, the Awakened One on Tianshui Star had ultimately used that Query Authority.
Everyone agreed that information like the Convention must have been obtained by the Awakened One from the Star Sea Court’s database.
For a time, this instead put Han Qiu on the grill.
Countless questioning voices rapidly appeared beneath his video account. Those who firmly believed that he was the Awakened One began demanding to know whether he was saying one thing and doing another.
He had claimed that everyone should vote, yet he had secretly used Query Authority to access the Star Sea Court’s database.
When a person stood at the center of public attention, enjoying favorable public opinion was certainly pleasant, but facing an unfavorable tide was equally miserable.
Han Qiu had enjoyed the praise of the masses while public opinion was on his side. Now that he was facing widespread doubt, the taste was probably far from pleasant.
However, to the public’s surprise, Han Qiu reacted to the matter extremely quickly.
Almost as soon as the public criticism appeared, before it had even developed into a storm, he uploaded a video to his account in order to stabilize his supporters and prove his innocence.
In the video, he stated that he had not used Query Authority, that he was not the Administrator of Ascendant Home, and that there was more than one Awakened One.
As a result, people’s attention once again focused on the Administrator of Ascendant Home, and another round of guessing games about the administrator’s identity began.
The result, however, was destined to be the same as before: nothing was discovered.
Ever since the website first appeared, governments and civilians from every country had never stopped trying to crack it and uncover the administrator’s true identity. Even today, many hackers continued their tireless efforts.
At that moment, aboard the Yinluo Civilization’s Spaceship, Mr. Ga’s conduct had already made the humans present highly vigilant.
Obviously, no one believed that Mr. Ga had genuinely “forgotten” to mention the Convention.
“Let us return to the matter of trade.”
Mr. Ga tapped the tabletop made from crystalline thread. A holographic projection appeared above it.
The humans present took a careful look. The projection displayed their entire star system. Tianshui Star was included, and the names of the star and several planets were all marked on it.
“Let us first discuss your star system,” Mr. Ga said. “According to our merchant group’s observations, the Tianshui Star civilization should have registered as a Level One civilization not long ago.
“You should understand that the difficulty of crossing from Level One to Level Two is enormous. To be honest, it took our Yinluo Civilization several hundred years to complete that advancement.”
At this point, someone on the human side asked, “Judging from what you said, is this trade proposal related to planets?”
“Yes.” Mr. Ga nodded, his slender arms moving nimbly beneath the projected images of several planets.
“Those planets are very far from their Mother Planet. The probability of your civilization reaching them within this century is practically zero. Therefore, the first trade proposal you have put forward is to lease or sell those planets to the Star Scar Merchant Group, allowing us to develop them on your behalf.”
After Mr. Ga presented the first trade proposal, the expressions of everyone on the human side instantly became extremely grave.
There was no doubt that, according to the Star Sea Court’s regulations, from the moment a native civilization registered, the entire star system in which that civilization was located would belong to it.
In other words, if Guan Tong’s homeworld, Earth’s civilization, had registered, then the planets of Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn within the Solar System would, in legal terms, all belong to Earth’s civilization.
Even if Earth’s people lacked the ability to reach those planets, establish bases there, or extract their resources, those planets would still belong to Earth’s civilization. That was the Star Sea Court’s rule.
The same applied to the Tianshui Star civilization.
Aside from their Mother Planet, the people of Tianshui Star had only landed on Terra within their star system. They had never landed on any of the others, yet those planets still belonged to the Tianshui Star civilization.
At present, even though the Yinluo Civilization, to which the Star Scar Merchant Group belonged, was far higher in civilization level than the Tianshui Star civilization, it could not bypass humanity and develop those planets without obtaining permission through a trade agreement.
Otherwise, it would violate the Convention and incur severe punishment from the Star Sea Court.
“In human terms, this trade is a typical win-win arrangement,” Mr. Ga continued.
“Allow me to explain. First, you lack the ability to develop these planets for a long time, or at least within the foreseeable future. As a result, no matter how abundant their resources are, they will remain ‘asleep.’ To you humans, that is equivalent to them not existing at all.
“If you lease or sell the development rights to our Star Scar Merchant Group, you will not only receive a substantial one-time fee, but also obtain an ongoing share of the development profits. We will give you ten percent of the subsequent development revenue.”
Mr. Ga lowered his head, and his compound eyes seemed to be looking at every human opposite him simultaneously.
“Dear neighbors of the Star Sea, please consider my proposal carefully. I repeat, no matter how abundant a resource is, if you lack the ability to develop it, then it is equivalent to zero.”
The members of the human trade delegation fell silent for a moment, each thinking things over without immediately beginning a discussion.
At the same time, the trade negotiations spread throughout the world through live streaming.
It was not only the people present and the Higher-ups participating in the joint video conference who had to think about the matter. Everyone watching the live stream could participate as well.
At that moment, as soon as Mr. Ga finished speaking in the various live-streaming rooms, people expressed their opinions through the Barrage of Comments.
“This really is a win-win situation, isn’t it? The mantis-person is right. Those planets are too far away for us humans. We have no way to develop them on our own.”
“I disagree! This is equivalent to ceding territory and giving away our land!”
“Who knows how many resources those planets actually contain? Maybe they are a blessed land left to humanity by our cosmic ancestors. If we let aliens develop them, what will happen to humanity’s future?”
“Is there really any need to consider the future? After the Doomsday Rules end, how many humans will even be left?”
“I also think humanity should be a little more ‘short-sighted’ this time. The pressure brought by the Doomsday Rules is so great. If we can obtain a massive one-time fee from the aliens, it might ease our situation considerably.”
“Don’t forget that this damn mantis-person just deceived humanity! I can tell that Mr. Ga is full of bad intentions. If humanity agrees, we will be cheated horribly!”
People discussed the matter heatedly in the live-streaming rooms. During the joint video conference, the governments of various countries did not rush to make a decision after discussing the issue. Instead, they allowed the trade delegation present to negotiate freely.
They had sent these people precisely because they were trade experts. Major trade agreements usually required repeated deliberation and negotiation. They could not be settled in just a few words.
A private-enterprise owner from the human side immediately launched into a devastating round of haggling. “Even if the profits are to be divided, your merchant group should receive ten percent, while we humans should receive ninety percent.
“Those planets belong to humanity. You are building houses on our land and selling them. Have you ever heard of a developer’s profit exceeding that of the party selling the land?”
Another trade department official asked more cautiously, “What are the specific details of the lease and sale? What exactly do you mean by a one-time fee? Also, how will the specific value of the resources on each planet be calculated? Are we simply supposed to accept whatever figure you provide?”
The others did not speak, but it was obvious that these two represented the delegation. One was asking about the details, while the other was waging a battle over the price.
Mr. Ga replied with a smile, “I will first answer the seventh gentleman’s question.
“First, throughout the Star Sea, planetary leases generally begin with a term of one hundred years. During the lease period, the lessee possesses the rights to develop the planet’s resources and reside on it. If the planet is sold, the purchaser will obtain either complete or partial ownership of that planet.
“Second, regarding the substantial fee offered by the Star Scar Merchant Group, we will provide two payment methods in accordance with the Star Sea Court’s universal standards. The first method is purified chaotic energy. The second method is payment in a sufficient quantity of Ascension Coins.
“Third, concerning the calculation of the value of a planet’s resources, if you do not trust us to perform the calculation, we can introduce an independent third-party auditing civilization. That civilization will calculate and verify the results before informing both parties.”
At this point, Mr. Ga said to the private-enterprise owner, “Developing a native planet requires an enormous initial investment. Legal channels for selling the extracted resources also require the payment of substantial commissions... Under equal conditions, these costs are tens of millions of times greater than those of constructing houses.
“Moreover, do not forget that you humans do not need to do anything. Simply by signing the agreement, you can regularly receive ten percent of the development profits for free. Is that not a typical win-win trade?”