Chapter 353: Ch The worm wholes

“That means soon we can expect another surge in population, right?” Kallus asked with a smile.

“Of course! That’s a given,” the Red Empress said, rolling her eyes. “After all, you are practically giving them money for it! Who wouldn’t want a bit more money? And what you’re giving is more than just a bit!”

Kallus chuckled as he remembered a policy he had implemented: for every child born, the family would be rewarded with 3,000 CVEC (Celestial Void Empire Coins). One shouldn’t think for a moment that this was a small amount—it wasn’t.

With that much credit, a person could lead a good life for at least two years. This was mostly because the population was still relatively low and resources were in abundance—be it food, land, or housing.

The only exception was mana-based resources, which were still a bit lacking. Because resources were so plentiful, the cost of living remained very low.

With these credits, a citizen could buy more than just daily necessities; they could also exchange them for rare resources from the Imperium Store.

Items such as Generation Two Gene Potions, mana stones, heavenly and earthly materials, and crucial medical treatments were all available. Even mechs and ships could be purchased, provided one had enough Merits.

The more children a family had, the more they received. For the first child, the reward was 3,000 coins; for the second, it doubled to 6,000; for the third, it doubled again to 12,000, and so on.

Because of this, it was a given that the population would surge. After all, Kallus was practically throwing money at them!

“Well, don’t laugh! Even though I don’t like the way you are throwing money around, this is something we have to do. After all, a population of fifty-plus billion is not enough! We also don’t have enough resources to expand the artificial womb facilities further,” the Red Empress said with a sigh.

“Moreover, artificial wombs can’t always be relied upon. While it is top-tier technological work, it still pales in comparison to the natural process. From natural births, we can expect a much higher rate of talented individuals—whereas the talent rate from artificial wombs is sixty to seventy percent lower!”

“Indeed. And we consume immense amounts of resources to supplement that deficiency, which is something we can’t sustain forever,” Kallus added with a nod, then a shake of his head.

“Well, that’s because of your stubbornness in wanting to give an equal starting point to everyone!” The Red Empress just rolled her eyes.

Kallus only smiled. “Red Empress, this is something I must do. Although I can’t change the fate of my people with a mere flick of my hands just yet, what I can do is ensure they have a good starting point. After all, that is crucial to the stability of our Empire.”

“Speaking of the Empire, I remember… when are we holding the founding ceremony? Everything is mostly ready, isn’t it?” the Red Empress asked, tilting her head.

“Indeed. Other than a few things, everything is for the most part ready, but that will have to wait for the return of Ezraand the others from their conquest,” Kallus added with a smile.

“Let’s talk about that later,” Kallus said, shifting the topic with a casual expression. “Tell me, have we yet dealt with the Red Demon race, the Giant race, the Eater race, and the Goblin race found in the outer and inner regions?”

“Yes, all of them were dealt with just yesterday! Our fleet has already seen to their complete annihilation, with nothing left of them to speak of.”

“Good. And the planets they lived on? Have they been claimed and cleaned?” Kallus first appreciated the progress, then asked again.

“Yes, that is also done for the Goblin and the Demon races. The Giant race’s habitable world and the Eaters’ world are still in progress. Because of their sizes—they are just as big as Aurora—it will take time, especially since we haven’t deployed the appropriate resources to speed things up there!” the Red Empress said, first nodding and then shaking her head.

“That is understandable,” Kallus nodded. “As for the appropriate resources… sigh… you know better than I do that we are practically stretched thin right now. We have so many things on our plate that we can’t work like we used to, where we wished for something and it happened quickly,” Kallus explained with a sigh.

“Well, that is because about 30 percent of our human resources are deployed across the region terraforming planets—mostly because you want results quickly. Another 40 percent of our forces are deployed across the region on our ships, patrolling our controlled territory.

And the remaining 30 percent are stationed at our industrial star systems, busy producing our ships, weapons, and other military hardware.”

“That accounts for our direct military-related workforce of almost 40 billion people. The rest are common folks settled across different star systems in the Core Region only, with most of them present on planet Aurora.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that—no need for you to tell me about it!” the Red Empress said, waving her hand dismissively. Seeing that, Kallus’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t say anything; he just kept mum.

“You know how fortunate we are to have the Universal Domain. It provides us with enough resources, even if it is restricted now and we can’t just have things handed to us on a plate anymore. We have to work for it, but it’s still a resource that is only open to us. Along with our planning, it’s the only reason we can handle such an enormous population. Feeding them all otherwise would have been impossible!”

“Yup, that’s true,” Kallus added. “And who knew we would find other human colonies around here in the Sol Region? I thought it was a miracle that humans on Earth survived at all, but I was wrong! Even though it caused us a bit of a problem at the start, it also saved us a headache, didn’t it?”

“Sigh… don’t talk about it. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt!” The Red Empress put her right hand to her temples. Kallus knew she was just exaggerating, but he merely rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything more.

“Let’s talk about the wormholes spreading around the inner and outer zones,” Kallus asked, interest clear in his voice. “What is their status? Have they stabilized?”

The Red Empress began in a serious tone, “The answer to that would be both yes and no. A few have stabilized, but many others haven’t. As you know, we have a total of almost ten wormholes appearing. Seven of them are in the Outer Region, which is where our outer defensive forces are deployed. The other three have appeared within the Inner Region, and one of those stabilized just yesterday.”

She paused, looking at Kallus, who had become serious as he noticed the change in her demeanor.

“From that stable wormhole, a strange insectoid race—resembling centipedes and other insects, both large and small—appeared and attacked our Legion. While it was easy to handle at first, they just kept coming. If we killed one, two more took its place.

Then, the real trouble started. A few began to appear with power rivaling the top level of the World-Building Rank, and some were even in the Quasi-Genesis Realm! While it was troublesome, it was fortunate that we had upgraded our fleet. They were able to take them down, though it took some effort.”

“Even though we suffered no losses, I ordered our fleet to stay clear of that wormhole! From what has happened already, the danger is clear,” she said.

“It looks like the wormhole has connected our star system to another place filled with those powerful insectoids, huh…” Kallus said in a serious tone.

“Deploy a Super Battle Star there—the one that just completed its construction. Let it defend the breach and prepare the 26th Fleet for deployment alongside it. Also, deploy a team armed with Gen-2 Mechsto enter the wormhole and investigate. See if the place on the other side is of value or just trouble. If it’s just trouble, we will forcefully close the wormhole while we still have the timeframe to do so.”

“I have done that already,” the Red Empress replied. “The Super Battle Star has left the Industrial Star and moved toward the Dark Star System, along with a fleet led by Admiral Ashevalier.”

“And what if the place behind the wormhole is of value? What will you do then?” she asked, raising her eyebrow with a faint smile, as if she already knew the answer.

“Of course, I’ll have someone deal with the threat inside if possible. If not, we will create a neutral zone to extract whatever resources are found,” he added with a smile.

“Indeed. While we have a vast area and many resources, much of it can’t be touched just yet. If we deplete those resources now, they will go to waste—especially since mana is beginning to flow and those materials are regaining their former, more powerful states….

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