civilwarnovels Chapter 4193 is, The Supreme Mage (The End)
Chapter 4193 is, The Supreme Mage (The End)
Chapter 4193 is, The Supreme Mage (The End)
"Why would they want to move to the Milky Way?" Strange asked.
"The Milky Way is a beautiful sight."
Strange fell silent, because after thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of any advantages besides beautiful scenery. Most suburbs in the world are beautiful. But that's about it.
The Milky Way is indeed a beautiful galaxy; such striking galaxies are rare in the universe. Moreover, Earth is known as a "cosmic greenhouse," meaning the galaxy capable of nurturing such beautiful planets must have a unique environment. In fact, there are several planets in the Milky Way with environments similar to Earth's, although most haven't evolved significant civilizations. Even the environments of the dinosaur era were far superior to those barren planets.
During his cosmic journeys, Strange roamed the Milky Way extensively. He found dozens of planets with green vegetation. To his knowledge, there are very few galaxies in the universe with such a high degree of greenery.
Moreover, there are virtually no major cosmic disasters here. The stars are all remarkably stable and in their prime. The galaxies are also beautifully shaped, appearing from the outside as rather stunning nebulae.
However, it must be admitted that the Milky Way is indeed a "beautiful wasteland." It's too remote, the concentration of dark matter is relatively high, and the risk of travel is quite high. And there's a bunch of gods who are constantly yelling and screaming.
Furthermore, because the demons have a particular fondness for Earth, there are many roadblocks here. Ordinary merchant ships are unwilling to travel here, for fear of running into some dozing demon. This is also the main reason why Asgard has been unable to participate in interstellar society for many years.
In short, this place is unsuitable as a political center, or any kind of center. Strange truly couldn't understand how much water had gotten into these people's brains to even consider moving here.
“The key is not the natural environment,” Schiller said, “but the human environment.”
“I knew they were just trying to piggyback on our coattails,” Strange scoffed. “The ministers are carbon-based beings; they’ve had enough of those cybernetic lifeforms. If you ask me, emotional beings should stick together and kick those machine heads to the edge of the universe. How can we build a good universe with those rigid robots?”
“That is indeed one of the reasons,” Schiller nodded and said. “Remoteness also has its advantages. At least this place is not within the reach of the three great empires, which allows them to break free from their control and at least have a certain degree of political autonomy.”
“That’s right. If they really move to the galaxy, the Armed Forces will cease to exist. Thor will absolutely not allow the armies of the three great empires to be stationed here. Without soldiers, and under the watchful eyes of the gods, they’ll have to keep a low profile. At that time, it will be springtime for other civilizations.”
"They weren't entirely motivated by their own civilization. The main reason was that the Milky Way is indeed a beautiful place, and they could easily build resorts, entertainment centers, and even commercial districts here. Besides enjoying themselves, they could also make a fortune."
"Why didn't they come to develop it before?"
Do you think Odin will send them?
“Oh, right,” Strange said, stroking his chin. “But Asgard might not agree now, either.”
"Of course they'll agree. It's essentially an exchange—moving the political center there in exchange for access to the Milky Way. It's pretty fair."
Strange began to ponder this carefully. If the political center could really be moved there, it would be an absolute boon. He'd be sitting at home, with the capital city practically falling into his lap. The prestige of being a citizen of the capital city was unparalleled anywhere.
Moreover, once the political center is located in the Milky Way, no one will have any reason to stop Asgard from participating in interstellar politics. They are the lords, and if you don't allow the lords to participate, wouldn't that be going against the will of Heaven?
If Asgard were to garrison troops, they could control the Interstellar Council in the same way the three great empires control it. Of course, they wouldn't do it so explicitly, but ultimately they would achieve a similar effect.
Developing the Milky Way would also benefit humanity. While our technology has reached a point where we can conduct preliminary interstellar colonization, we are still far from being able to extensively modify star systems. Theoretically, we should take things one step at a time, but if a windfall were to fall from the sky, there's no reason not to take advantage of it.
Humanity's strength is undeniable. No matter how much you develop in the Milky Way, once human technology advances, won't it all become human property? Even without outright plunder, simply taking a cut or collecting protection money will still be very profitable.
If we were to include the surrounding star systems and create a Nine Kingdoms Commercial District similar to a large portal commercial district, it would also benefit human development.
This side of the Milky Way has always been a non-free shipping zone. To be precise, it's a non-delivery zone; no interstellar goods can be delivered here. When humans are building things, if they want to buy some parts, they have to send someone to pick them up. When picking them up, they can't just open portals at will, and they don't have those small spaceships specifically for fast travel, so they can only use starships. A perfectly good mainship becomes a delivery truck.
If business districts around the Milky Way could develop, there would be no more worries about free shipping, and maybe even next-day delivery would be possible.
Strange couldn't even imagine what Stark and Richards could conjure up for you if they could buy mechanical parts from advanced civilizations across the universe—what would they say about the sun rising up?
Strange thought this matter had great potential, but he also said with some concern, "Will the three great empires agree? If they react too strongly, it might be difficult to resolve."
"They certainly won't agree; only a madman would want to work under someone else's nose. But unfortunately, it's no use if he disagrees; he has no other choice."
“Wait a minute, this isn’t a last resort,” Strange said. “They’ve selected quite a few star systems, some of which are actually quite good. The Milky Way might not be any better…”
"That's only good for now. You can see what happens after you've made a real decision."
Things quickly unfolded as Schiller had predicted. The Supreme Intelligence was firmly opposed to moving to the Milky Way, and its patience had run out. It directly deployed troops from the Armed Forces to patrol the Ring Sector, ostensibly to "conduct a pre-relocation inspection."
Seeing his behavior, many people dared not utter a sound, fearing that they might provoke him and that he would dare to defy the world and shoot them all.
The Supreme Intelligence chose a fairly good star system, not far from the center, and not expensive. Apart from the slightly shorter lifespan of the stars, it was practically perfect.
Just as he was preparing to privately contact the civilization in this galaxy to discuss the purchase, the galaxy's sun suddenly exploded.
The Supreme Intelligence sent people to investigate the incident, but found it was indeed just a normal stellar explosion. Given that stars have relatively short lifespans, instability is a possibility.
Although it's a bit of a shame, the Supreme Intelligence has alternatives. The one they've chosen this time is a little further away, but the scenery is beautiful, the price is lower, and the star is in its prime. Four planets, all the same size, with beautiful environments—except for the distance, they're flawless.
Then the sun of this flawless galaxy exploded.
Even if the Supreme Intelligence were completely incompetent, it should have sensed something was wrong. It knew this was probably done by humans, either Magneto or Iron Man. But lacking evidence, it went to Strange, who simply shrugged and said, "Go ahead and sue me." Strange was powerless to do anything about it.
However, the Supreme Intelligence became more determined with each setback. This time, he kept the information strictly confidential and didn't even send anyone to check. He was preparing to start the purchase process directly. But, as luck would have it, the informant he contacted turned out to be a fraudster, and he almost got swindled out of the money. Moreover, the matter was exposed.
When the Supreme Intelligence returned to Strange's office, it was no longer so calm. It rushed in in a panic and said, "Sorcerer Supreme, you have to believe me, I didn't embezzle on purpose! The funds were provided by the three great empires, why would I embezzle my own money?"
Besides, I'm an electronic life form, what would I need money for?
“That’s not necessarily true,” Strange said, blowing on his tea. “There are people in this world who are greedy for money not so that they themselves are rich, but so that others are poor. Considering your relationship with the other two great empires, it’s not impossible.”
"But I really didn't! I have system logs! I have data records!"
"So you didn't go to court, did you? They just talked about it in private, it didn't sway you much," Strange said unhurriedly. "But you should really be careful, you have a lot of money on you, if you really get scammed, it would be a huge loss."
That's exactly what the Supreme Intelligence is trying to say. The entire Interstellar Council is complaining, believing the money will eventually be swindled out of them, and demanding that it be transferred to the Treasury Department according to procedure. But once the money is in the Treasury Department, they'll absolutely initiate the purchasing process and move it to the galaxy.
Knock, knock, knock. There was a knock on the door. The Supreme Intelligence turned around and saw Schiller walk in, place a document on Strange's desk, and smile at the Supreme Intelligence.
The Supreme Intelligence felt a chill run down his spine. He recalled the nonsensical things Strange had said to him, and then suddenly realized that Strange wasn't spouting philosophy; he was stating the facts.
He instinctively reached for the document, but Strange had already picked it up. After reading its contents, he had a look of sudden realization, and then said, "Secretary-General, members of the Interstellar Council have jointly submitted a letter criticizing your lack of rigor in your work and improper procedures, demanding your removal from your position as Secretary-General. What should we do?"
The Supreme Intelligence gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Countless error alerts flashed before his eyes, but he had no time to pay them any attention. He simply said, "I will hand the money over to the finance department."
“Very good. Jarvis, help write a reassuring statement saying that I have severely criticized him, deducted his salary, and required him to write a self-criticism. In addition, the money will be transferred to his account according to the procedure, and the Secretary General has also deeply realized his mistake and promised not to do it again.”
"Who is Jarvis?!" the Supreme Intelligence screamed.
“He’s my personal secretary,” Strange said with a smile, then slapped his forehead as if he had just remembered, “I forgot to introduce him to you. Jarvis, say hello to the Secretary General.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Supreme Intelligence collapsed. When it got up again, another voice came from its mouth: "This robot is actually an armed model. It seems it was unconvinced after being beaten last time and wants to get revenge."
"Hey Jarvis, how did you kill him?"
"He's not dead, I was just saying hello to him."
At that moment, a voice rang in the ears of the supreme intelligent entity far away in the capital of the Kree Empire: "Hello, I am Jarvis."
"Get out of my way!!" the Supreme Intelligence roared. "What are you? You're not a cyber life form at all!! You freak, get out of my way!!"
The next second Jarvis withdrew, the Supreme Intelligence regained control of the body, and then Strange saw that his expression was extremely terrified, just like a human seeing a ghost, and the muzzle of his hand cannon was open.
“By the way,” Strange waved his hand, “he is also Scarlet Witch’s husband and the father of three children.”
The cannon muzzle closed instantly.
"Alright, Secretary General, go and take care of the funds first, then pack your things. See you in the Milky Way."
"...Yes, Your Holiness."
Actually, we should be moving on to the next unit today, but from the very beginning of this unit, I realized that the titles might spoil the plot. For example, you can already tell who the speaker is just by looking at the title, so this unit will have to continue for another day.