What Does It Feel Like to Have 29.6 Billion You Can't Spend?

Soon, the effect of improved fortune became apparent.

Just as Li Aoz was enjoying dinner and leisurely browsing the forum, his subordinate relayed a message to him.

"Your His Excellency the President, Kuer Si Lubang, a wealthy merchant belonging to the Xu Site Civilization, wishes to establish a magical materials processing plant in our country."

Li Aoz slightly surprised. "Kuer Si Lubang? He's a well-known entrepreneur in the Abyss, but what does he see in our planet?"

"According to him, it's because he's interested in the civilization in the Galaxy Eye star region, which may join the Interstellar Alliance in the future, and the market prospects are very good."

This reason is not unreasonable. After all, although the Galaxy Eye Starfield is extremely remote in the Abyss, equivalent to the North and South Poles, it still has two Interstellar Civilization: the Crystal Tower and the Night Butterfly Federation.

Such a market is not something that star system civilizations can provide. It is indeed very promising, but the problem is also obvious: neither civilization chose to join the Interstellar Alliance. The market is highly autonomous, which, to put it bluntly, is basically no different from Secluded Cultivation.

Li Aoz understood why the Night Butterfly Federation and the Crystal Tower chose not to join the Interstellar Alliance —a major reason being that the two civilizations were unable to cope with the overwhelming dominance from the high-end market in the context of interstellar marketization. Their local markets would be rapidly occupied, followed by the subversion of their economies, cultures, and ideologies, ultimately leading to their conquest.

In particular, the three major hegemonic powers are represented by Narrative-level Civilization. Narrative-level Civilization are extremely fanatical in their pursuit of Grand Narrative, sparing no effort to promote their so-called 'blueprint dreams,' while attracting the strong through their cultivation paths, monopolizing the channels of advancement, and making various small and medium-sized civilizations eager to join them.

Of course, incorporating Grand Narrative has many advantages, especially in terms of improving material life. Narrative-level Civilization have almost no concerns about conserving resources and can build as much as they want.

Independent planets like the White Candle Autonomous State controlled by Li Aoz are quite special because their resource production is insufficient, their manufacturing capacity is relatively ordinary, and they lack distinctive features. Ultimately, these planets will choose to embark on the path of mercenary city-states, acquiring resources through conquests or earning income by selling their military capabilities.

The main fighting force under Li Aoz comes from players. The awkward thing is that, since these undead invaders do not yet have a legitimate interstellar identity, their output is not included in the total GDP by the system.

However, as Li Aoz's 'private army,' they ate the redistributed income, so the per capita GDP of White Candle Star is problematic and cannot represent the actual living standards of the residents.

"It's possible to bring in foreign investment from non- Crystal Tower and Narrative-level Civilization... Hmm, that's also an option."

Li Aoz nodded, agreeing to the other party's request and leaving the matter to the economic department to handle.

No sooner had he finished speaking than X Fleet sent another report, "Your His Excellency the President, our unmanned probes have discovered a ' Golden Planet,' estimated to yield 4.2 million tons of gold! There are also large quantities of high-value minerals..."

"Great!" Li Aoz's eyes lit up.

Even in the Interstellar Era, natural gold is a precious metal. To put it simply, in Magic Civilization, gold is considered a 'supreme material,' and many rituals, crafting processes, and enchanting techniques heavily rely on it.

Not to mention, synthesizing Orichalcum Steel, a superior magical metal, requires gold.

4.2 million tons, a truly enormous reserve, equivalent to ten times the reserves of Azure Planet. It will take at least eight to ten years to excavate.

Just as Li Aoz was preparing to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss whether to allocate funds to establish an alien mining company or outsource it to seek cooperation, another message popped up in the system: [Player ' Yu Tianxiao ' requests to trade items with you: Strange Meteorite]

[Additional message: Li Aoz, I was hit by this thing while working in outer space. There seemed to be a voice inside, demanding that I deliver it to someone of high status...]

Li Aoz received the item, and an irregular stone, somewhere between ice crystals and metal, immediately appeared before him.

"This thing... why does it look so familiar?"

Li Aoz played with the meteorite, which emanated a familiar aura that seemed to contain some kind of radiation. Tiny blue nerve tendrils unconsciously extended from his palm, constantly touching and absorbing the radiation energy from it.

"It seems to be something from the [Dominion] category."

Silver runes appeared in his eyes as he carefully scanned and analyzed the structure of the meteorite:

The Eye of Truth

[Initiating authentication of an item...]

[Specialty [Autocratic] - Activated!]

[Charm test passed! Great success!]

[Authentication Completed]

[Item Name]: Flawless Solid Ice [Category]: Rare Minerals/Mutation Inducers

[Quality]: "Transcendent and Refined"

[Attribute]: Limited to [Dominator] type.

When placed in the backpack: Charisma +20. When carried close to the body: A [Mutation] check is performed every seven days. If successful, the user gains Alpha Rank Aoneng – [Frost Release]; otherwise, gene fragments are accumulated. If [Frost Release] is already obtained, an [Optimization Mutation] check is performed every seven days. If successful, [Frost Release] will be upgraded until it reaches Omega-rank Aoneng – [Heaven and Earth Frost]. If unsuccessful, gene fragments are accumulated.

[Perpetual]: If the wearer is above Zeta-rank (6), they will receive additional gene fragment rewards for each advancement in their cultivation path.

[Introduction]: "This shard of ice seems to have come from a civilization of the [Dominion] system, but over the long years, the civilization has declined and the planet has been destroyed. It has been wandering in the universe for a long time."

"When the craftsman created it, he endowed it with the ability to grant power to mortals. Although for non-mutant individuals, carrying it would only bring severe frostbite and a chill to the soul, and even, if not careful, they would be devoured by the power of frost, it is still undeniable that it is a masterpiece."

"This thing is pretty good."

Li Aoz's eyes lit up. Equipment of the [Dominator] type is extremely rare, and this mutation inducer is quite useful.

Although Li Aoz no longer values non-sequence Aoneng, its perpetual effect can provide a considerable amount of gene fragments.

Gene fragments become increasingly difficult to obtain as you progress. As individuals become stronger, their genes become more stable, making it even harder to induce gene mutations.

As for powerful cultivators like Canyue who follow the [Dominator] path, they are hard to encounter in the later stages, and even if they do, they may not be able to defeat them.

Previously, in order to synthesize [Sequence 13: Darklight], Li Aoz had almost exhausted his gene fragments over the past five years.

At least now, he has a stable way to obtain it.

"Not bad, not bad—"

Li Aoz smiled so much his eyes narrowed. He carefully placed the device close to his body and was about to continue cutting his steak when his personal communicator rang again.

He had to put down his food again and turn on his communicator— Olavier, the owner of the 'Heroic Soul' bar, immediately projected himself onto the screen. He gently wiped his glass and said to Li Aoz, "Long time no see, Lioz —oh, I forgot, I should call you Your His Excellency the President."

"Ha, just the president of a tiny, broken-down planet." Li Aoz chuckled. "How have you been lately, Mr. Olavier?"

"I'm doing well. The radon-rich planet you pointed me to made me a small fortune. The ' Real Person Killing Contest ' you proposed is already underway in the Vanlenkov Autonomous State —and coincidentally, I'm here to inform you that the broadcasting rights have been sold to the ' Heroes Empire.' I'm here to congratulate you on your election as president and to transfer the proceeds from the program's copyright to you."

As Olavier spoke, a notification immediately came from Li Aoz's side:

[NT$136 million in Ammonium Gold received by Sogen Bank]

"The main body was sold for 110 million. After deducting taxes, what's left is the dividends from the past few years, which are settled roughly every five years. Just sit back and wait."

Olavier raised a glass to Li Aoz and said, "Good luck, my friend."