Chapter 871
Chapter 871 - 857: Great Era
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"A bounty list and an unofficial militia registration? Are they gearing up for a great bounty era for everyone?"
Lu Ping’an checked the specifics and made a couple of inquiry calls, and he roughly understood the situation.
It was probably that various Proper God Churches and officials would engage in long-term "networking" to offer high bounties for some transgressors.
"Wasn’t this always the case? What’s the difference?"
"A conservative estimate would be that the bonus multiplied by tenfold, the previous bonuses lacked sincerity. Now, if you kill a Rule-level fugitive, you’ll be rewarded with a Rule-level Taboo item."
At the same moment, many previously unlikely-to-be-listed "low threat behaviors", like those with dozens of blood crimes, also made the list.
Before, when confronted with those "still redeemable" grey area individuals, officials would consider drawing them to their side as a priority. Now, anyone involved in significant criminal cases goes on the list, and the bounty is directly marked in credit-points, tempting those Extraordinary individuals to hunt on their own.
More directly, this round of warrants completely stripped the fugitives of their "human rights"... meaning anyone who kills them is innocent, shifting the responsibility from law-enforcement authorities directly to everyone.
Moreover, just by applying, you could get intelligence support at the level of a militia, significantly lowering the threshold for becoming a bounty hunter.
This casually assembled first phase of the wanted list was terrifyingly long, and Lu Ping’an could sense the attitude of the officials.
"....No Lei Huoren."
After checking, Lu Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed like Brother Lei had struck some deal with certain forces inclined towards the Government... His "Cleaner" kind of dirty work actually had some value.
Even so, Lu Ping’an, who had put down the newspaper, still felt a bit queasy.
It wasn’t that he was astonished by the internal turmoil; in a sense, having seen a lot of the world, he had never had much hope for the baseline of human nature.
He even quite agreed with the official’s stern measures in chaotic times; otherwise, the situation would continue to worsen...
"Baseline? What’s that? There are always some bastards who won’t hesitate to trample everything around them, just to save a bit on their car’s gas money...."
He wasn’t surprised, but rather it was regrettable...
"....The world is so vast, the opportunities in the Foreign Domain are nearly limitless, and these guys really haven’t progressed at all."
Having really ventured out and witnessed the true starry sky, naturally, his perspective on things was not the same.
Looking at the entire Multi-universe, the humans of This World can’t be said to be a strong species, and it’s even hard to say they’re mediocre, as the competition now is over some "Remote World."
When other powerful stellar civilizations measure the strength of a cross-stellar civilization by "how many worlds they have occupied," you understand how deep their foundations really are.
"It’s really quite boring, in-fighting is normal, but a bunch of adults fighting over lollipops, isn’t it a little too embarrassing...."
In the data of Explorers, and in communications with the Exotic Races, Lu Ping’an for the first time learned about the existence of distinctions like "Mining planets" and "Hempnut Planet."
The former, an entire Planet being a mining area, specifically providing rare metal ingots for a civilization... and such mineral-producing Planets actually play the role of "Currency" in the trade among large cross-stellar civilizations.
"For the right to develop XX World, civilization A paid civilization B 167 mining planets of the seventh grade or higher at one time...."
When Lu Ping’an saw this message, he was a bit stunned.
He flipped through the newspaper again, and this time it was international news. Across the not-so-distant ocean, a gang had killed more than sixty people in order to temporarily occupy an abandoned mine.
In the end, after stealing several tens of kilograms of unprocessed gold ore, they made the headlines internationally.
If it had been the Lu Ping’an of the past, he probably would have thought, "They’ve struck it rich," but now, looking back as an Explorer who had been out there, he only felt shame.
"Several tens of kilograms... Just for this trifle, they didn’t hesitate to kill their own kind, and it even made the headlines."
Lu Ping’an even found the news embarrassing... Not to mention the distant, simply by mining casually on the Green Planet and then openly transporting it back, it could shatter the existing international metal market.
Common minerals (pure metals without supernatural powers) would visibly depreciate in value, which in turn would mean that the prices of basic industrial products would plummet... The influx of "foreign workers" on assembly lines has further reduced labor costs, and in fact, finished products have already begun to plummet in various places.
This probably represents "stellar exploration (colonization)" at its best, with cheap materials and human resources allowing ordinary locals to live in a low-inflation, high-welfare standard of living.
Of course, as a result, equivalent "ordinary currency" made of ordinary matter will experience relative devaluation... erm, perhaps this is why the officials have been pushing so quickly for the introduction of credit-coins.
Don’t look now, but Eastern Country’s coin is still hard currency within the country. In a few years, credit-coins linked to Extraordinary materials may be the only hard currency... But let’s not expand on that for the moment, as the relative impact is far too complex.
Is this only true for metals? No, the "Hempnut Planet" challenged Lu Ping’an’s very limits of understanding.
"A race likes to eat the fruit of a specific plant, so they redesigned a world’s ecosystem to exclusively cultivate ’hemp nuts’ as a snack?"
The ability to tailor an entire planet’s ecosystem into a botanical garden had certainly broadened Lu Ping’an’s horizons.
Therefore, in his view, these professionals who seem to be returning to "normal" and starting to fight amongst themselves, are actually more short-sighted than the next.
You want to be a lord or a king? Go out and do it. Even if you can’t secure a Small World, you can casually find a medieval world to rule as Emperor and start your legacy... If you dislike ruling ordinary foreigners, you can directly trade with ethnic groups that meet human beauty standards. In the stellar realms, Mortal species are also tradable units.
You want precious resources, some rare materials from the Exotic Realm? In another world, what you seek could just be common goods you can buy with ordinary currency, or even the entire world (specifically referring to Small Worlds; there is a huge distinction between worlds).
When a stellar civilization uses whole worlds as units of trade, fighting and killing your own kind for the sake of territory and some local Resources and currency starts to look even more foolish.
True interstellar civilizations actually engage in less internal strife because they at least need to present a united front publicly to compete with other equivalent exotic species... A civilization that is entrenched in long-term internal conflicts and confined to its Mother Star inherently has a big weakness.
"No wonder the media have been going crazy reporting about the Foreign Domain..."
At this time, the insightful naturally saw the crux of the problem; it still boiled down to the relationship between "distant waters" and "near thirst."
No matter how great the dream is, it’s too far away. Some people don’t want to change or act because they think the present is good enough... so the officials are desperately promoting the benefits of the Foreign Domain, hoping they will cause less harm to their own people and set their sights on the Foreign Domain instead.
In fact, the current Nirvana Plan is also a result of increasingly intense "internal strife."
Beasts growing ever stronger desire more. No longer content with their mountains for reigning supreme and hunting daily, to prevent a situation where it’s a fight to the death, they naturally need to open the gates to other worlds, diverting disaster elsewhere.
Once they go out and taste victory, needing the strength of their kind, they will naturally unite...
"So-called unity, at its simplest, is about common interests and common enemies..."
The changes won’t be that noticeable in a short time, but the experience of other stellar civilizations suggests that over a few generations, the internal unity of the ethnic groups will naturally strengthen, and they may even eliminate the concept of separate branches of species and nations... erm, if they fail to achieve this, they might just be outright eliminated.
But in the next few decades, it’s likely that the civilization will go through its most turbulent years.
Perhaps at this time, Lu Ping’an must also carefully choose his stance.
— End of Chapter 871 —