Mount Ranji, Bai Zhongqi revisited his old haunt but could no longer discern any scenes of his experiences from the past. The city's appearance and even the topography had changed. The people of Iridium Star had used manual labor to flatten all the mountains from Worcestershire to Mount Ranji over 4,000 years ago, creating plains that directly connected Mount Ranji with other areas.
This place was no longer the central city of the Empire; the Empire's capital had already moved from Mount Ranji to Ji Jing City in the southeast of the continent. Due to its mild and cool climate, Mount Ranji had become a tourist resort city on Iridium Star, attracting many visitors from other Administrative Stars each year to admire its natural scenery. Sometimes, the Prime Minister would also holiday at Qi Ming Manor in Mount Ranji.
Bai Zhongqi had already decommissioned the Iridium Star Ship, the Elder ship that had originally launched from Iridium Star, which now could be considered as returning to its roots. After his modifications, the Iridium Star Ship essentially became a palace complex floating in the sky. Anyway, the two mother ships in his possession didn't seem very sci-fi.
When he arrived at Qi Ming Manor, he was stopped by the security guard in charge.
"Sir, you have violated Article 713, Subsection 15 of the 'Public Security Administration Regulations', illegally entering an Empire restricted legal area. Please cooperate with us now; we will apprehend you according to the law and transfer you to the public security department for processing."
Bai Zhongqi was not too surprised and shook his head with a smile. Bai Siying, who stood behind him, was giggling at his embarrassment.
Bai Zhongqi stretched out his hand, pointing to the entrance control system of Qi Ming Manor, and said, "You might want to listen to what the support system here says before making your decision."
It's not just official buildings like Qi Ming Manor that have home assistant AIs; even the homes of ordinary Iridium Star people are equipped with them. Bai Zhongqi found it hard to explain his identity to ordinary people, but AIs didn't need his explanation.
The guard, surprised yet insistent on arresting Bai Zhongqi, was about to act when his communicator rang.
"Guard Captain Wo, please salute immediately. The visitor to Qi Ming Manor is the Chancellor of the United Empire of Iridium Star."
While official channels were informed, the guard Captain from such a small holiday city naturally wasn't aware that the Chancellor had returned to Iridium Star. He knew about the giant floating palace in the sky, but any normal Iridium Star citizen would assume it was the work of some scientist since no civilization in the Galaxy could now trouble Iridium Star.
Captain Wo, his face ghostly pale, tapped his communicator and called out, "Alin, Alin, did your program break today? How can you even say such a thing?"
He then looked unfriendly towards Bai Zhongqi, resting one hand on his standard-issue police weapon, and said, "Did you hack into our AI with some hacker's tricks?"
Bai Zhongqi laughed and asked, "Do you really think that's possible?"
For many years, there had not been any incidents of hackers infiltrating AIs made by the Empire. All Iridium Star AIs had a special logical identity encasement, not only quantum encrypted but also featuring identity recognition, making them virtually impenetrable even to powerful hacking techniques.
Just as Captain Wo was about to arrest Bai Zhongqi and his group, his communicator rang again. This time it was his superior, the regional chief of police.
"Wo Zhan, listen carefully, a direct message has come from the cabinet to us, stating that the Iridium Star Chancellor has silently returned and will be staying at Qi Ming Manor temporarily. Our provincial police department has mobilized immediately, and a large number of security personnel will soon be stationed in Ranji. Keep your eyes open, my boy, and treat the Chancellor well when he arrives. I don't need to explain the importance of this to you..."
By then, Wo Zhan was completely dumbfounded; he stared at Bai Zhongqi, stuttering, unable to speak.
Bai Zhongqi smiled helplessly, stepped forward, and patted his shoulder, saying, "You were just doing your job, it's okay, no one will hold you accountable. Hmm, I'm also a bit hungry. Could you please inform the manor's chef to start preparing some food? I'm planning to soak in the hot springs here too, I've heard they are excellent at Qi Ming Manor. It's a pity I had no idea about them 5,000 years ago when I was here."
Only then did Wo Zhan react, his face turning euphoric and excited. He immediately performed the Iridium Star chest-touch salute and loudly said, "Greetings, Your Majesty, it is an immense honor for me and the manor staff to serve you! I will definitely deliver your instructions."
Bai Zhongqi smiled and then walked into the manor with Zero and Miss Siying. Upon seeing the situation, all the manor guards and staff immediately saluted.
Bai Siying, still very unfamiliar with everything on Iridium Star, eagerly asked Bai Zhongqi, "It's really interesting, huh? On Earth, the service industry is almost entirely dominated by bionic humans, while on Iridium Star, from security to cleaning, all service personnel are humans."
Zero, who had once been a bionic human herself, explained with a smile, "The system on Iridium Star and in the Star Alliance is quite different. Iridium Star has the 'Citizens' Labor Law', which mandates all Iridium Star citizens, unless they face personal difficulties, to fulfill a labor commitment. Within a decade, they must be in full-time labor or equivalent for seven years. Unlike Iridium Star, the Star Alliance mostly provides unconditional welfare, but Iridium Star's is conditional, fundamentally satisfying the labor requirements before various subsidies are granted. So, many Iridium Star people refer to these labor commitments as 'corvée'."
Bai Zhongqi was also familiar with the various situations on Iridium Star; he had referred to many aspects when establishing the Star Alliance. He smiled and said, "Actually, there are many ways to avoid the corvée on Iridium Star, such as reproducing, because procreation is encouraged, it essentially exempts the couple from labor commitments. There are also many self-employed people, such as those who distribute products or engage in artistic creation, technically not generating any economic value, but since they are working, they receive substantial subsidies."
Bai Siying laughed and said, "So it's quite easy to circumvent the labor requirements then?"
"Iridium Star people care a lot about face, you know. Labor is not only valued as the worth of individuals, but it's also a common belief. Plus, the standard for full-time labor on Iridium Star isn't high; you only need to work 46 weeks a year, averaging 20 hours per week."
Bai Siying clicked her tongue in wonder, "That really is a high-level civilization. Think about those ordinary lower civilizations, even with abundant resources, they might still have poor citizens. Dad, the two civilizations you've created, one offers everything from food to shelter for free, breeding a bunch of ingrates; the other is slightly more reasonable but still not very intense."