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Chapter 27 - Chapter 27: Starsea Tower

Igor piloted the spacecraft carrying Liu Hai to Kono Administrative Star. Originally, there were hired pilots and security personnel, but Igor had taken over the pilot's seat.

As Igor put it, wasn't taking care of the boss easier than working for several years to earn money?

Several hours later, the spacecraft docked at Kono's outer orbital space station, where they transferred to a shuttle prepared by the Star Sea Group to descend to the surface.

Following the navigation system's planned route, the shuttle headed toward the tower where the Star Sea Group was located. Along the way, shuttles and small transport ships converged into lines across various flight paths, dividing Kono's high-altitude space into a grid-like pattern.

Though Liu Hai had visited Kono Administrative Star once before, the sight of towering trees reaching into the clouds, the harmonious blend of metal and nature, and the numerous birds soaring through the city's midair still left him awestruck.

The administrative star's population was actually quite small. With a diameter of over 17,000 kilometers, 55% of which was ocean, the vast land area housed just under 10 billion people.

There were only ten land-based cities and eleven ocean cities, each covering over 100,000 square kilometers. The rest of the planet's surface was dotted with small towns and villages, most of which cultivated natural herbs or raised high-value Carbonyl Organisms.

The Star Sea Group's headquarters was located in Ocean City Five, which resembled a coral reef. The purchased administrative tower stood 103 stories tall, reaching 352 meters—half of which was submerged in the deep sea.

The tower itself looked like a coral structure magnified billions of times, with its uneven platforms serving as docking spots for shuttles and hover cars. Liu Hai's shuttle headed straight for the top platform of Starsea Tower.

"Welcome, Chairman, for your guidance visit," Li Ping greeted Liu Hai with a smile.

"My dear CEO, is this the administrative tower you chose? Why pick one on the ocean?" This tower had been purchased after Liu Hai's last departure, costing over five billion Credit Points—enough to make his heart ache for days. After all, he had spent just over ten billion on warships.

If not for the fact that this was fixed property, unlike warships that could be destroyed in battle, Liu Hai might have sold it and rented a space station location for the Star Sea Group instead.

"Boss, this is indeed the tower I selected," Li Ping, aware of Liu Hai's thoughts, chuckled. "Perhaps you're unaware, but every major corporation must have an administrative headquarters on an administrative star. Weapons manufacturers must be located in star systems adjacent to administrative sectors, under military protection. These are industry norms."

"What does that mean? Serving as hostages?" Liu Hai muttered inwardly, though he kept the thought to himself.

"How are the preparations for the Pioneer Order application going?" Liu Hai followed Li Ping and the others into the elevator, descending toward the submerged section.

"The materials have been submitted, and the review process is nearly complete. Now we're just waiting for you to visit the administrative building to receive the authorization," Li Ping projected the relevant documents in front of Liu Hai.

Applying for a Pioneer Order was simple—all it required was two warships. However, to obtain the pioneer authorization, the applicant had to personally visit the administrative tower of their star sector to receive the permissions, which would then be logged with the High Command and the Parliament.

One aspect was that accepting the Pioneer Order simultaneously meant becoming an auxiliary military personnel. When exploring outer star systems, if encountering conflicts like inter-civilization wars, the military had the authority to conscript nearby pioneer fleets into temporary combat units.

Of course, such mandatory conscription came with significant benefits—all losses would be compensated by the Federation, military merits would be calculated at double the rate, and conscriptees would gain eligibility to exchange for military warships.

Another aspect was that each Pioneer Order holder was effectively a provisional council member, requiring registration with the parliament. The council would also evaluate the individual's performance during exploration and provide support accordingly, including but not limited to military aid, funding, personnel recruitment, and assistance with immigration after occupying or terraforming a Life Planet.

Though Liu Hai only wanted to find a place to quietly develop and farm, he had no choice but to accept unconditionally for the sake of future immigration.

It was true that owning a Biological Factory allowed him to mass-produce people at will. However, to avoid being besieged by the Federation's forces, he still had to go with the flow and abide by the moral and legal standards of Federation citizens.

Clone Soldiers could only be used to a limited extent as crew for the Mechanical Fleet or as ground troops—they could never replace the status of natural-born humans.

A few minutes later, Li Ping led Liu Hai into his chairman's office—a spacious, suite-like area spanning over 300 square meters.

The décor leaned toward a retro aesthetic with soft tones. Behind the desk was a floor-to-ceiling window spanning dozens of square meters, offering a breathtaking view of vibrant coral reefs and the stunning undersea ecosystem.

Liu Hai plopped into the executive chair, the soft Bionic Material wrapping snugly around him as if countless tiny hands were giving him a massage.

"This chair alone cost 200,000 Credit Points," Li Ping explained with a smile to Igor, who was looking around curiously.

"Wow!" Igor's face was full of envy before he immediately plopped onto the nearby sofa, calling for the Butler Robot to bring him a drink.

"Boss, I feel like moving in here. Just thinking about how I've spent decades running transport ships and still can't afford a chair like yours makes me seriously resentful," Igor muttered after downing his drink in one gulp.

Liu Hai turned and gave him a sidelong glance. "You've made quite a bit recently. You managed to retrofit the Pioneer transport ship into a Warp Ship—what more do you want?"

"Haha, that's only because I'm working for you now," Igor said smugly. He had poured all his savings—even his marriage fund—into the Pioneer, leaving him with barely 20,000 Credit Points to his name.

Li Ping raised her hand and transmitted a stack of documents onto Liu Hai's desk. "Since you're rarely here, Boss, you might as well take the time to sign these."

"What documents need my signature?" Liu Hai grabbed the projected files and realized they were various proposals—expenditure reports, departmental structures, and business plans for the corporation.

These critical documents indeed required Liu Hai's personal signature. Resigned, he picked up a pen and signed them one by one. Fortunately, there weren't too many, and he finished in just over ten minutes.

As for the contents, the Intelligent Nexus had already reviewed them. Any document that made it to Liu Hai's desk wouldn't contain anything that could backfire on him.

After completing the task, Li Ping took Liu Hai to a local restaurant to enjoy delicious food and savor life.

It wasn't until the third day, when all the application procedures were finalized, that the three of them, accompanied by the company's legal department, headed to the Kono Administrative Tower.

The Kono Administrative Tower was located in City One. The entire structure covered an area of fifteen square kilometers and stood thirty kilometers tall. It was built by hollowing out parts of a giant tree cultivated through biotechnology, using the tree as its foundation.

"Just based on this, it doesn't seem like someone from a prominent family would act this way. They don't even have basic common sense."

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