Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 649 - 262. Industrial Oligarchy Leoz

Chapter 649: 262. Industrial Oligarchy Leoz

Li Aozi spread his hands and assessed his updated panel:

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[Civilization Name]: Baizhu Autonomous State (Star Union Member State)

[Type]: Mercenary Autonomous State (With a standing army exceeding 100,000 and no specialty production projects)

[Capital]: Newbie City (Immigrant City: +30% attraction to foreign-owned enterprises, +10% crime rate)

[Level]: Level 4 Planetary Civilization (Status: Independent)

[System]: Oligarchic Presidential System (The president single-handedly controls the nation’s economic lifeline, as well as holds power over the military and judiciary—decision implementation speed +120%)

[Belief]: State Religion/Free Belief

State Religion: "God of Reality" Leoz

Pathway:

[Sovereign] (Official)

[Artisan] (Mainstream)

[Destroyer], [Mysterious], [Raiding], [Redemption] (Scarce)

[Leader]: Leoz Dominet

[Political Group]: Foreign Immigrants, Industrialists, Intellectuals

[Group Members]: Sorenfu Nikita, Saga Qi (ID: Caramel Snail), Asakusa Kid (ID: Cumin Powder), etc.

(All Azure Star immigrants automatically join Li Aozi’s political group)

[Industries]: Magic Medical, Magic Education, Technology Industry, Basic Magic Industry, Handicraft.

[Armed Forces]:

Army: Baizhu Star Magic Troops (10 battalions); National Guard (4 brigades); Descendant Mercenaries (30 divisions); Descendant Free Mercenaries (20 battalions); Delta Rank - Growth-armored Vanguard (299 units)

Air Force: Water Midge Guerrilla Team (12 teams, up to 3600 in flight); Griffin Knights (4 squadrons, totaling 400 units); Hell Bat Bombing Squadron (1 squadron)

Navy: Magic Carrier Battle Formation (1 force)

Cosmic Army: ’Furnace’ class medium-sized space cruisers (3 ships), ’Water Ripple’ class freighters (20 ships)

National Defense Strength: 5.8 (Ranked 59,455th in the Layer Abyss)

[Landmark Building]: Ruins Conference Hall (weekly meetings on Sunday mornings, communal dining in the evenings)

[Capital Pool]: 0.7 billion Ammonium Gold

[Administrative Points]: 100 (Source: issuing effective decrees and gaining resident approval/expand your administrative team, establish a qualified tax system)

[Population]: 30.14 billion

[Major Ethnic Group]: Tanas Clan (98%), Azure Star Descendants (1.3%), other immigrants (0.7%)

[Potential Threat]:

External—The surrounding environment is unstable, and numerous interstellar pirates are eager to test the newly established regime. Please enhance your national defense as soon as possible, survey the star map, and carry out regional sweeps.

Internal—Some of the Tanas Clan are wary of the Azure Star immigrants, try to eliminate the barriers between them.

[Legitimacy of Power]: Legitimate

[Status]: Weak Formal State (Happiness ceiling -10%)

[Economy]:

Annual GDP: 1.04 billion Ammonium Gold

Per Capita Income: 80.2 Ammonium Gold

Debt: No deficit currently

Some regions are already experiencing a wave of unemployment.

[Happiness]: 44/90 (Weak State: Ceiling -10)

[Assessment]:

"You have taken over a country whose core advantages have been stripped away, with languishing industry and a despondent populace still not recovered from the last calamity. As the leader, it seems time to do something."

"The quality of your population is low, lacking scholars and mages, unable to adapt to high-end precision magic workshops. The knowledge gap prevents the people from starting production, forcing a regression to the more backward magic industrial era. Luckily, you have bought up those industrial lifelines of the nation, and you firmly believe in the idea that industry strengthens a nation and diligent work saves it, earning you a very high status among the industrialists."

"Your oligarchic group temporarily controls the market, which provides ample funds for allocation. But your money can’t control the nation indefinitely—moreover, even the capital from other planets has. However, you also need to be aware that you must introduce some new technology and talent to energize your facilities and workshops."

"Your country needs revival, and the fate of the people is closely tied to your decisions."

[Suggested Development]: Attract foreign investment, build a national defense army, activate education

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Since the new national mansion was not yet repaired, after the inauguration ceremony, Li Aozi returned to the government office building in Newbie City, gazed at the national construction panel, and nodded slowly.

Although on paper, the data and the situation was a complete mess, at least the military strength looked decent, didn’t it?

However, in reality... even the only carrier and space cruisers were now just sitting in the docks and star harbors gathering dust due to a shortage of technology personnel, and every month a large sum of money had to be spent on their maintenance.

The GDP and per capita income were frighteningly low—a per capita annual income of less than 100 Ammonium Gold was practically slave labor in the interstellar market.

The problem of the education gap was extremely severe; the workshops lay dormant underground with nobody knowing how to operate them, and many of the older generation had to rely on magic medical care to sustain life. Without the supply of magic potions, the death rate of the populace had started to skyrocket.

"Take it slow," Li Aozi turned off the window, not in a hurry but rather confident in his ability to manage the autonomous state well.

His interest group was still insufficiently diverse; he would have to slowly bring the citizen class into it.

Being classified as an oligarch did not surprise Li Aozi at all; after all, the entire planet was his property. The reason he had established a constitutional presidential system was to reduce the pressure on himself.

Furthermore, the occupation of "President" is one of the top-tier identities.

Its main advantage is its strong versatility.

Compared to an "Emperor," you can have more armies, compared to a "Prime Minister," you can garner more support from interest groups, compared to a "Grand Scholar," you can receive more industrial bonuses, compared to a "Patriarch," you can gain more diplomatic skills...

In short, "President" is a very versatile occupation, perfectly suited to Li Aozi’s current situation.

"President - Oligarch":

[Professional Talent - Servant of the People]—You are the leader of the people, chosen by popular will, and will act in accordance with the public’s wishes.

Effect: For every 100 points in your main attribute, the number of loyalists increases by 0.1%, the number of confidants in the loyalist faction increases by 10%, and the favorability of interest groups rises by 1 (up to a maximum of 10).

[Professional Talent - Unquestionable]—You monopolize the domestic industry profits. In this realm, no one shall oppose your will, and those bold enough to defy you will be annihilated by your monetary munitions.

Effect: As a leader, you can use your own funds to undertake national investment projects, obtaining at least 30% of the profits as your personal assets.

Also, you will receive 10% of the annual GDP as the President’s salary.

"That’s right. This is what I want,"

Li Aozi said with a smile.

What’s the greatest advantage of being a "President"?

Affinity with the people!

As a "Sovereign" Descender with extremely high "Charm," Li Aozi already has outstanding affinity, and now, coupled with the status of "President" and the "Aura of Goodwill," in principle, as long as he doesn’t make mistakes, everyone will like him even if he spends his days partying on a yacht.

But Li Aozi isn’t content with just that.

Development and construction require a significant amount of startup capital, and when it comes to development, you need to take out loans.

To take out loans, you have to ask for money, either from the "Crystal Tower" or from the "Union Group."

To approach the former, Li Aozi would have to humble himself and play the sycophant, at the risk of having the master of Crystal Tower seize the market.

If he chose the latter, Li Aozi thought it would be better to leave it to the Scholarly Faction rather than let Redd Gold’s capitalists come over to proselytize and exploit.

Looking at it this way, it seemed there was no way to break the impasse.

But a philosopher once said: All the methods of making a fortune are written in the "Criminal Law."

Therefore, Li Aozi decided to go ’loot’ a bit.

Oh no, he’s a civilized man now, already a president, so this is called a civilizing mission.

He deliberately turned the country into an autonomous state for mercenaries, largely because the players had reached Gamma Rank and, in the current version, they were rich in experience, itching for a fight every day, and in their most ferocious phase.

Simply giving players quests and instance runs will eventually bore them. A savvy game designer never teaches players how to play the game but instead provides a new land awaiting cultivation, allowing players to explore and entertain themselves with proper guidance.

During his downtime, Leoz glanced at the forums, where the Caramel Snail’s final match was about to conclude.

Caramel Snail performed well in this competition, successfully made it to the finals, and was up against Long Yuqiong, also from the Fiery Summer People.

As for the team competition,

Night Fighting Sword, as the top player of Fiery Summer, unexpectedly... encountered an upset.

The entire [Endless Pioneers] professional team was targeted and sniped in the quarter-finals, and since they drew a vacuum environment for the venue and lacked space combat experience, they were ultimately defeated and eliminated.

The other teams didn’t fare much better.

For instance, Cumin Powder’s [Fragrant Chicken] team, because their core members were defeated and had their accounts closed during the skirmish in the Mechanical World Society, suffered a great loss of strength. With Cumin Powder as the only exception, the rest were substitute accounts hastily entering battle and only made it to the top 16.

The huge setback in the team competition disappointed many players from Fiery Summer, and Li Aozi also felt a little bad about it.

"It’s about time to put my plan into action," he thought.

Four hundred thousand indefatigable players.

Out of them, 300,000, or rather thirty divisions, had undergone military restructuring. Most of these players are military enthusiasts or veterans, dedicated to soldier accounts, and enjoy tactical drills day in and day out. They will be the main combat force in the future.

This kind of power, although challenging to pit against a regular interstellar civilization, is more than enough to sweep and conquer those unrecognized primitive planets.

Are there unrecognized primitive planets in the Galaxy Eye Region?

Not only are there many...

4,000... 5,000?

After all, the universe is too vast. There’s no way around it.

Some of these planets even fall under the control of Night Butterfly People and Night Butterfly member planets. As the President of the Tanas nation, attacking them would not draw any moral censure for Li Aozi.

In his plan, Li Aozi intended to sign some military defense agreements with Crystal Tower.

Therefore, not only were they responsible for surveying the unknown starry sky, they also had to raid the outposts of the Night Butterfly Federation, which suited a military edict quite well.

Of course, now that he was independent, Li Aozi didn’t want to keep taking sides.

The purpose of battle, after all, is for the economy, and under the name of exploring the stars, his smuggling business would also continue.

In particular, Li Aozi remembered dozens of planets with important side quests that, although lacking in resources themselves, to players, these quests were resources in their own right.

If he could get the players to start moving, the economy would be driven forward, which would be enough for Baizhu Star to break through the current state.

Players have a full three years before the version update, enough time for Li Aozi to lead his forces on a sweeping campaign around them.

"The time has come to begin our great expedition," he declared.

Li Aozi opened his panel and issued his first decree since taking office:

"Increase military spending for Baizhu Autonomous State to 16%, raise soldier wages by 30%, officers by 50%, and add amphibious warfare military exercises..."

He also crafted the [Participate in Military Training] quest and distributed it to the players.

"Next, we are going to create an army with a nation behind it."