Deep Space Wandering Fleet

Thus, while a major public debate raged within New Human society, negotiations between both sides proceeded in an orderly manner.

The second phase of negotiations mainly concerned military and industrial cooperation. The military aspects—including mutual assistance, exercises, and the joint development of new spaceships—were naturally of utmost importance.

As the negotiations concluded, control over the Kyushu War Star swiftly transferred to human hands. This stirred tremendous goodwill among the populace. A War Star, a fully developed War Star, had just been acquired!

This sentiment was akin to a pie falling from the sky, suddenly becoming the new rich; the sort of euphoria that made you want to burst into foolish laughter upon the mere thought of wealth.

Of course, everyone was aware that everything came at a price. The War Star wasn't gained for nothing—if there were gains, there must be sacrifices.

Owing to the acquisition of the War Star, an eager recruitment boom surged within New Human Civilization, with many young people enthusiastically enlisting—not merely as soldiers of New Human Civilization but as Alliance Soldiers!

As for the third phase of negotiations, these involved exchanges in the fields of science, economy, and culture, including the creation of an entirely new trading market on Kyushu Planet. In total, over a hundred major projects and infrastructure initiatives were discussed.

The negotiations of all three phases took a full five years.

During these five years, the broad public debate within New Human Civilization had essentially concluded. A well-defined outcome had been reached through widespread discussion: the alliance was beneficial to the New Human Side, and it should be advantageous to Half-sphere Civilization as well—a win-win partnership.

And that outcome was enough.

Moreover, it was a conclusion reached by their own protracted discussions, so it was deeply ingrained, unlikely to spawn any rumors or gossip. This was far more effective than a government mandate announcing "We have formed an alliance," garnering much higher public support.

On the other hand, the majority of public attention had been captured by a new economic system: above the Planet Fortress of The Kyushu, a brand-new trading market, referred to simply as "The Alliance Market," would be established.

The newly acquired Kyushu War Star differed greatly from the Mountain and Sea. The infrastructure on Kyushu Planet had been primarily built by the Half-sphere people, whose environmental requirements were virtually nonexistent, hence no ecological facilities had been constructed.

Therefore, the ecological environment on The Kyushu was poor and wouldn't house a large population of human citizens. It would serve as a principal collaborative venue for both sides of the Alliance.

Together, the New Human Civilization and Half-sphere Civilization introduced a new currency: the Galaxy Progressive Alliance Currency, colloquially known as Alliance Coin.

The issuance volume of the Alliance Coin was decided jointly by the central banks of both sides, not simply issuing however much was desired, as this would only trigger massive inflation. Instead, it would be controlled by banking regulations according to certain rules.

The economic system of the Mountain and Sea, the main base of the new humans, would not change and had no need for this Alliance Currency; it would be used only in trade with the Half-sphere Civilization.

The "Alliance Coin" served as a bridge between two different economic systems. The newly established trading market was a huge vacuum of demand, showing great promise.

To promote the use of this currency, all 130 major projects cooperatively developed by New Human Civilization and Half-sphere Civilization were settled using this currency. If quantified, New Human Civilization's annual gross domestic production was 3796.3 quintillion Alliance Coins, then the settlement amount for these 130 major projects stood at a staggering 265.3 quintillion—nearly 6.7% of the gross domestic production.

The injection of 265.3 quintillion into the market immediately sparked prosperity in the Alliance Market.

The various interview programs on television channels and the columns in newspapers were all introducing this brand-new market.

"... The Kyushu Star Trading Market adopts an all-encompassing competitive market pricing mechanism. Within it, trade prices are determined by the market, no longer by the planned economy,"

"Take, for example, the price of steel. It will be determined by the supply and demand relationship, and there will even be the establishment of a futures exchange for trading bulk commodities. Previously, within our human society, we could accurately calculate the steel usage for the upcoming months, ensuring production was neither too high nor too low. But now, within the Alliance, there are two civilizations, and precise calculations are impossible; pricing will have to be done through the market."

"In addition, within the trading market, all patents will generate intellectual property protection, and piracy will be staunchly cracked down on! As long as there is technology, as long as there is knowledge, one can earn the money of Aliens and generate profits."

Therefore, the New Human Government encouraged citizens to start businesses in the market, especially the current unemployed populace, to compete with the Half-sphere Civilization.

Establishing a new intermediary market is beneficial to Humans themselves; such market-based competition can more flexibly bring into play the initiative of the private economy and can strengthen communication with the Half-sphere Civilization.

One hundred and thirty major projects were substantial and involved cooperation mainly through a shared economy, but there were still many details to be filled in.

The current plan was detailed, yet it couldn't possibly cover every single aspect of each project, and inevitably, a series of contradictions and frictions were bound to arise between New Humans and the Half-sphere Civilization.

Therefore, deploying talents to this intermediary market to a certain degree and allowing them to fully use their imagination to fill in these details could act as a lubricant for civilization.

Sometimes, giving people more freedom can actually lead to better results.

The second benefit is that it can fully create jobs. The population of the New Human Civilization was slowly growing and was about to reach the level of 800 million; as the population increased, so did the internal pressure on jobs.

Many labs, factories, and construction teams were fully staffed, and hiring more people would be counterproductive.

Now that a new market had emerged, it could greatly alleviate the pressure on employment.

To give a simple example, the entertainment service industry was able to absorb a large number of jobs. The Half-sphere people were very fond of the Human's entertainment modes, and Humans were also eager to try the entertainment products of the others. Should government departments plan the various translation works and the conversion of electronic programs in the long run?

Of course not.

In this case, letting private capital do it was a better choice. As long as there were benefits to be had, people would pursue them. The government only needed to take care of the auditing.

Similarly, in various non-sensitive areas such as industrial cooperation, consumer goods, higher education institutions, and even high-end laboratories, it was possible to employ top-end talent from the Half-sphere Civilization, as long as they were paid a satisfactory salary.

Employing talent from Alien Civilizations, if only a small salary was paid, what's the difference from zero? In a civilization, talent was the most important asset.

As for the third benefit, it could bring both sides closer in their cooperation. As long as there was enough collaborative exchange, one wouldn't just scam and run away with the goods, a serious consequence that could otherwise occur.

Moreover, such market competition in the middle zone was a good complement to the economic systems of both sides, a complement that wouldn't harm the existing economic systems.

Some might think that such a policy was "the resurgence of capitalism," which could lead to a series of corruption.

But this resurgence only appeared in the middle zone of the Alliance. What capital really could exploit was only the Aliens, which wasn't largely related to the operation of the civilization itself. As for the emergence of corruption, it was more likely, but more importantly, supervision and the perfection of laws and regulations were needed to eliminate such corruption.

In this way, with these new policies being introduced, another wave of social debate was sparked.

"The Millennium Plan of the Alliance, interstellar trading market!"

A large number of business executives were already rubbing their hands together, preparing to open up a whole new market; there were also some young people who were unemployed due to not meeting the required knowledge standard, who began to ponder deeply what opportunities this new market could bring for them...