"Venina." Wang Yu sat high upon his throne and spoke in an indifferent tone.
"I've only just acquired these territories and don't yet know the specifics. How are the fifty life planets under my name being managed? Give me a brief overview."
"Reporting to you, my lord, the overall operation of the territories is currently stable. The daily administrative management of all life planets, tax collection, basic security maintenance, resource extraction coordination, and other affairs are handled by professional teams dispatched by the Blue Silver Empire Administrative Office," Venina answered respectfully.
"The Empire's structure in this regard is already highly mature and has operated for countless years. Everything is presently in good order. Taxes are remitted to the imperial treasury on schedule, and after administrative costs and necessary expenditures are deducted, the surplus is regularly transferred into your account, my lord."
"Current estimates suggest that the fifty planets can generate approximately 500 Universe Coins in annual income for you."
"If you have no special instructions, this system can continue operating smoothly indefinitely."
"Of course, if you have unique ideas regarding the management of your territories, or wish to pursue bolder reforms and investments, you may also consider changing the management model."
"My lord, you possess complete autonomy over the territories. If you feel that the Imperial Administrative Office's team is too conservative in style, or that its efficiency fails to meet your requirements, you may replace them all."
"There are generally two options. The first is to cooperate with professional planetary management companies in the universe. They provide comprehensive services, handling everything from civilian affairs to military matters. Naturally, their fees are not low, and they will take a portion of the profits."
"The second is to build your own management team, recruiting or cultivating professional administrative, economic, and military personnel. However, the initial investment and difficulty of building a team yourself are both high, and truly high-quality talent is not easy to obtain."
"I understand." Wang Yu nodded, looking thoughtful.
Five hundred Universe Coins in income every year?
Absolute garbage!
Though that was normal. For a newly joined Universe-level lord, being given dozens of life planets right from the start meant they would naturally be the lowest-grade ones. Usually, only the main planet and a few surrounding planets were somewhat better.
Compared to the high-quality planets that major powers had operated for years, however, they were utterly incomparable. Their meager returns were only to be expected.
In truth, it was not that low. A Universe-level being had a lifespan of one hundred thousand years. For someone like him, who had broken through before reaching a thousand years old, he could practically enjoy the full hundred-thousand-year lifespan.
Five hundred Universe Coins a year meant five million in ten thousand years, and fifty million in one hundred thousand years!
A First-Order Universe Level warrior slave cost only ten million Universe Coins. That money could buy three of them, or one Third-Order Universe Level slave.
It was not actually a small amount.
It just seemed completely insignificant compared to the system's starting grant of ten billion.
Still, though Wang Yu thought that, he did not show it. A lord needed dignity; his joy and anger could not be displayed on his face.
"What about the population? Roughly how many people are there across all the planets under my name?" Wang Yu asked again.
"According to the latest data, the fifty life planets under your name have a total registered population of approximately 162.7 billion, averaging around three billion people per planet. The main planet, War God Star, and four important planets have somewhat larger populations, all exceeding five billion," Venina answered at once.
"Of these, Apprentice Grade lifeforms account for nearly 99%, while infants and young children below Apprentice Grade account for around 1%. There are 3,516 Planetary-level citizens in total and no Star-level lifeforms for now. However, among the management teams dispatched by our Imperial Administrative Office, there are one hundred Star-level members."
"Mm." Wang Yu maintained the poker face of a dignified lord and nodded lightly.
Just like the income, this population could only be described as equally low-class, so poor that it left him speechless.
In a universe civilization country, the threshold for becoming a legal citizen was Planetary-level. Apprentice Grade beings were not even citizens and belonged to the lowest-quality population.
With this population ratio, it could be said that they were practically all Apprentice Grade. Roughly two Planetary-level beings emerged per hundred million people. With just over three thousand Planetary-level beings, it was scarcely different from having none at all.
Still, this was normal. Every star system generally contained hundreds of thousands of life planets, and the Blue Silver Empire, even among Elementary Universe Countries, was considered fairly powerful, possessing ten star systems.
With several million life planets, fully developing and operating them all was obviously beyond what an Elementary Universe Country could afford. Thus, more than ninety percent were nearly undeveloped and remained at the level of indigenous planets.
When Lord Luo first began in the original story, Blue Star had a population of seven billion but only a little over fifty Planetary-level beings. Around forty of them were first-order, more than ten were second-order, two were third-order, and then there were Hong and Thunder God, who stood far above the rest.
Although Blue Star at that time had only been developing for a few decades since the appearance of the RR Virus, Blue Star humans possessed exceptionally strong talent in soul and willpower, giving them a high proportion of powerful individuals.
The people in his territories had cultivated for far longer, yet their aptitude and talent were abysmal.
Comparing the two, Blue Star had produced nearly one Planetary-level being per hundred million people in just a few decades, while his territories produced around two Planetary-level beings per hundred million people. They were only slightly better.
"Not bad..." Wang Yu thought.
"Not to mention anything else, merely training Apprentice Grade people to break through to Planetary-level, or improving Force Amplitude and Mind Force Amplitude—such low-level training would not cost much. It's perfect for testing the system."
He knew the basic workings of the system's model, but he had no idea about the specifics. For instance, would buying slaves to increase the population earn rewards?
How much would an Apprentice Grade breakthrough to Planetary-level be worth?
Would raising Force Amplitude earn rewards? At what multiplier would rewards begin? How much would they give?
He knew none of those details. They all needed to be verified.
These particularly simple matters were perfect for testing the system. If it gave a lot...
Then he would have some ideas!
At that thought, Wang Yu looked at Venina, who stood below and gazed up at him respectfully. A faint, lordly elegant smile appeared on his face as he spoke in a steady voice. "Venina."
"At your service, my lord." Venina immediately responded, her large white tail swaying lightly.
"I regard these territories as the foundation of my future and intend to develop them properly, so that the people may live and work in peace and talented individuals may emerge in abundance," Wang Yu said calmly.
"Therefore, the first thing to do is properly cultivate the people. I order you to immediately begin preparing a selection process for all the people and find those promising young geniuses for me as soon as possible!"
When Venina heard the words "selection" and "as soon as possible," her expression changed slightly.
In order to rapidly screen for geniuses, many new lords often employed extremely cruel and bloody selection methods, forcing vast numbers of people to slaughter one another and be eliminated within a very short time.
Only Planetary-level beings were legal citizens and could not be slaughtered at will. Apprentice Grade beings, however, were not even citizens and received no protection under imperial law. No one would question however many died.
She had seen many similar incidents. They were simply disasters for the territories!
Before you continue