Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 206

After the volunteers returned to the Hope, everyone on board the ship was hyped because this meant that they would resettle on the new planet soon. There would be a new life waiting for them, one filled with sunlight, sea, and actual earth. With every family assigned a house of their own, the future was a beautiful dream. The topic of conversation revolved around the public inoculation and the resettlement date. They stared at the ten blocks of seaside villas that had been built with mounting anticipation.

The Hope’s huge population proved to be quite a challenge… Even though the Hope’s current population of 184,241 people was nothing compared to the several billion people originally on Earth, it was still a sizeable number. There were about 60,000 newborns in the past six years, so the population number was indeed that much.

For the Hope’s compact government, the public resettlement posed a challenge that was as daunting as an actual war. There were simply too many things to juggle, like the manufacturing of the public-use Ultimate Vaccine, the physical check-ups prior to injection, the medical support in case of emergency during injection, the additional manpower needed to bolster the capital’s defense…

It was a giant project.

Currently, about 3,400 villas had been built. They were all isolated bungalows, and every block would have 200 to 300 of them. Of course, there were spare spaces left in between for gardens or future plans. In the future, when all 10 blocks were finished, there would be more than 5,000 villas. Of course, if the situation demanded it, new residential blocks could be set up; the capital was not lacking in space.

Currently, the 3,400 villas could only fit 3,400 families. Even if each family had 10 members, that would only bring the capacity to 34,000 people. Where would the reamaining 150,000 people live?

Therefore, the public resettlement was impossible until more residential areas were completed.

Thankfully, mankind had reached the 4th industrial revolution. The construction robots were incredibly helpful in solving the issue of the lack in manpower. If 70 percent of the robots were assigned to villa construction duty, in about 6 months, the remaining residential areas would be completed. However, this led to another problem.

The problem of land ownership.

This was a sensitive subject that involved politics, countries, economics, and the future humanity! If treated rashly, it could lead to a big problem that would last for the next tens or even hundreds of years. Yao Yuan, of course, rounded a bunch of experts to hash it out. Hopefully they could provide him with a satisfactory solution.

Should the land be government-owned, privately-owned, or a mixture of both? The question was left for the experts to figure out. On the other hand, since the public-use Ultimate Vaccine had passed its last trial successfully, it was time to allow the first batch of people to resettle the new planet. This would help ease the public’s anticipation.

But who to pick? The selected ones would be able to live in villas, enjoy fresh air, feel the touch of solid earth, sun, and wind. The selection must be as fair as possible.

"I have three opinions. First, the selection must take into consideration their occupation and responsibility. For example, soldiers from the Defense Unit. We must allow family members of the Defense Unit, who have to guard the capital 24/7, to go down first. Other than that, we have to consider the technicians and engineers. There are still many projects waiting to be done in the capital. The construction robots are still sadly not fully automated, so we need the technicians and engineers down there. Naturally, there should be an allotted quota for their families as well. Of course, the quota has to include the scientists as well.

"Secondly, I feel we should continue picking using the honor medal system, hero, warrior, guardian, and defender accordingly. Of course, due to the limitation in number, we can’t take all of them, so we’ll set aside a specific quota which will be filled with people randomly selected from this pool.

"The third point, I think the rest of the spots should be purchasable using H-coins."

This was Yao Yuan speaking at the House of Representatives. The room was a circular hall, and Yao Yuan stood on the elevated stage in the middle. Nearest to him were the representatives, then the authorities from the Academy, Barracks, and Workshop. After that were the public members. The hall sat about 5,000 people, and the meeting was live-broadcasted throughout the Hope. Other than the few Defense Unit soldiers who were not on the Hope, the rest tuned in.

The first two points brought up by Yao Yuan received no objections. In fact, many people predicted this would be the arrangement. However, when Yao Yuan brought up his third point, the hall erupted into pandemonium. Some of the representatives protested loudly and even parts of the public members stood up in opposition. The commotion was so overbearing that it covered what Yao Yuan said next.

"Silence!"

The speaker of the house ordered sternly after putting his microphone to maximum volume. The hall quieted immediately. The speaker stood up and eyed the room, adding, "This is the House of Representatives! Rioters will be escorted out without question! Please give our captain the respect he deserves!" Then the English gentleman sat down gently.

Yao Yuan wasn’t at all flustered. He continued, "I know my third point is hard to accept by many people here because how could money buy freedom? Especially freedom on the new planet, but I have a question for everyone here and the people watching from home: are H-coins only money?

"No! H-coins are just money pure and simple! I believe in the six years after the Hope left Earth, other than the few families who had human heroes amidst them, there shouldn’t be anyone sitting atop a hoard of H-coins for no good reason. In other words, the H-coins you have in your ID card represent the contribution you have provided to humanity! It is a point of honor, a reward for your blood, sweat, and tears! They are earned through hard work! Something you can be proud of!

So…"

Yao Yuan addressed the room, "Why can’t H-coins be used to purchase this valuable opportunity? The more H-coins one has means that the more he or she has contributed to humanity, so why can’t he or she have the priority to resettle the new planet?

"That is why I came up with the three rules. Those that are eligible for the first 2 rules will not be taken in consideration for the third rule. That is only eligible for the normal civilians currently residing in the Hope’s lower one to third floors! It is fair, open, and transparent! The whole selection and purchasing process will be put online, so anyone can monitor it at any time they wish. Cheaters will be punished by death!"

Yao Yuan took out a bound tome, adding, "All the resettlement rules will be written in this white-covered folder. At the same time, the digital version will be available online. I will single-handedly oversee the details that are added within. We will accept comments and modifications within the next 48 hours. You can do it through e-mail, phone calls, or even in person. I promise you we will take them into serious consideration. Of course, we can’t promise everyone’s comments will be taken into effect, but we still wish to hear from everyone."

Yao Yuan took a pause and set down the book. "Everyone, it has been six and a half years since we left Earth. That is one hell of a long time, and now we are going to welcome a new Earth into our lives. Humanity will survive and flourish on it. We will see with our own eyes our children running through the fields as we tell them stories about this other Earth we once occupied. This is just a matter of sooner or later, so please do not fret…

"Because the future is long!"

Chapter end