The Record of Unusual Creature

Hao Ren had walked through the whole process in his mind. Although theoritically, there was no problem, he still had cold feet. “Will it really work?”

“Nothing is impossible.” The Mobile Data Terminal, MDT buzzed near his ear. “All processes are within the limits of our regulations. And honestly, the situation of the Aerymian elves almost meets the criteria for civilisation preservation. Since you’re the inspector in-charge of the case, you have a certain qualitative authority. Remember, the laws of the Empire are strict, but at the same time, we’re not machines; we’d be better off finding the core of the matter rather than following the law to the letter. There are no more than three core provisions for the preservation of civilisation: One, guarantee the diversity of a civilisation, thus ensuring overall development is in order; two, preserve the potential civilisation so that new blood and standby forces are constantly available in the Empire; three, prevent meaningless conflict between different civilisations. Let me explain more on the last sentence: the Empire will not intervene in the war between mortal civilisations. However, to protect the first two core provisions, we will intervene in extinction-level wars and meaningless conflict. These provisions form 80% of the core work requirement under the Space Administration. All other regulations exist below the premise of these three core provisions. If any conflict arises during the operation of the law, the three core provisions shall prevail. Of course, the smartest way is to apply the existing provisions to avoid any conflict. This will greatly help your inspector appraisal later. Plus, Madam Raven would be impressed too.”

Hao Ren pondered for a while and said, “I suddenly have this feeling that no matter how high the appraisal is, if it’s from Raven 12345, it’s nothing to shout about…”

The MDT agreed shamelessly. “That’s so true.”

Hao Ren hemmed. “Ehem, ehem, let’s stick to business. That means, it’s okay for Aerymian elves to go to our universe?”

“Yup.” The MDT descended slowly back onto the table. “In fact, we can also find them a new home in this universe, which would be a lot nearer for them. But, we want to make light work of it since there’s already an existing planet in our universe. To evacuate them 8,000 light years away, or to another universe makes no difference to the Empire—to us, distance has been a long forgotten concept. And there’s another advantage: the Empire likes young races like the Aerymian elves, who have great potential. It’s better to relocate them to a region nearer to other civilisations so that they may be able to interact with other races quickly, rather than leaving them in a remote region of the universe. It would be a waste of their youthful dash and intelligence.”

Hao Ren lowered his head, and was deep in thought. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, they had to move; but the question was, who was going to help them?

He had a turtle… The Petrachelys came equipped with an expanding container space. But as big as it could get, the extra space could not possibly fit the entire army of one billion elves and their luggage in one go; multiple trips would probably take all the time in the world to complete the evacuation. Additionally, he still did not have the authority to request help from the Empire’s official colonial fleet. Perhaps, he could report the matter to his superior first but he was not prepared to do that.

Since day one, he had been thinking of looking for civilian help. He turned his head upside down but still could not recall anyone in the Macroworld who could be of help. Then suddenly, something crossed his mind. “Hey, MDT, do you recall the captain of the transport vessel who took us on our first interstellar trip? Do you think you could still contact him?”

“You mean vessel No. 883?” The MDT replied as this suddenly rang a bell. “Of course. He shoved me a heck of a lot of advertisement materials when we first boarded his vessel. These long-distance transporters are very aggressive.”

Hao Ren let the MDT contact the captain immediately. A rough, baritone voice answered, “Hi, Mr. Inspector? What can I do for you? Government mission?”

They had not seen each other since the last time they met. Hao Ren felt a little awkward asking for help from the captain. “Yeah, correct, but not entirely. Is your vessel available?”

“It’s currently in-flight,” said the captain of vessel No. 883. He could still be heard giving instructions onboard his spacecraft. “Enzo, go check out the container warehouse, is the cargo ready? We have two hours before we dock. Oh, Mr. Inspector, I was talking to my subordinate just now. I’m busy right now. But, we’ll be having our downtime after tomorrow. Do you need help? What type of cargo is it?”

“Just call me by my name, Mr. Inspector sounds weird.” Hao Ren felt a little relieved as the timing was just right. “Here’s the thing: I’m now in another universe, and I need to send some refugees back… Isn’t you vessel licensed to carry passengers? So, I need your help. The refugees will pay you with their remaining assets in hand. I’ll get the cross-world flight permit for you.”

The captain of vessel No. 883 laughed heartily. “You’re welcome. Transport fees are negotiable. How many persons?”

“One billion, plus some luggage, scientific research materials, equipment and supplies…”

The transmission suddenly went silent. After a long wait, Hao Ren heard another stranger’s voice at the other end. “Our captain has passed out, you—”

Then, the quivering voice of the 883 captain spoke back. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I just lost my balance. By the way, how many did you just say?”

Hao Ren laughed solemnly. “One billion…”

Silence. Then the captain said, “What wrong have I done to you that—”

“Please, I’m serious.”

“Okay, please tell me you’re not moving the entire civilisation.”

“Yes, I am. The migration of an entire race.” Hao Ren nodded. “I heard there’s a moving company in the Macroworld that specialises in the business of moving entire races. However, I’ve never approached them or found out whether they’re reliable. So, I thought it’d be better to get some opinions from people I know, and I recalled that you specialise in the moving business too—”

“Firstly, you have to tell me the background of these refugees.” The 883 captain interrupted him. “What happened to them?”

Hao Ren briefly related the circumstances the Aerymian elves were facing, and explained why he had to seek civilian help. To the 883 captain, for inspectors—the medium between the Empire and the mortals—to seek help from civilians when they faced problems was not something out of his expectations. It was already a norm rather than an exception; Hao Ren was the one who was being ignorant. The 883 captain lamented. “Born in a stray galaxy? That’s tragic… How are they going to pay for the fare?”

“They will pay with anything.” Hao Ren knew it because Hilda had confirmed this with him. “There is nothing they won’t let go.”

“In that case, what about their floating islands and the components of the eco-dome?”

Hao Ren was dumbfounded. “…I think they’re willing to let that go too. Are you interested in those things?”

“Deal! I’ll take that in lieu of money.” The 883 captain sounded elated. “Dismantle everything they can’t bring along to pay for their fare, and they can travel light to their beautiful, new home. I have them covered.”

“Wait for a second. Is that all you want?” This was totally out of Hao Ren’s expectation. “Those things are mostly scraps. Let me be honest with you, the propulsion drives on the floating islands have all malfunctioned and they could blow up anytime. What use do you have for them?”

“I’ll replace those propulsion drives and redevelop it into a space city. According to what you said, the value of the floating islands and the installations they’re going to scrap would be astronomical. So, you think I can’t even convert at least some cash out of these junk? How much did you expect the fare was going to be?”

Hao Ren was elated; he had been worried about how the poor elves were going to pay for the fare until he learned that trash could be turned into cash. But at the same time, he was still in disbelief as he spoke to those around him. “Things have turned out quite differently from what I’ve expected… I was expecting it to cost the elves a bomb and even if they were allowed to pay in installments, it’d probably take them a thousand years to repay their debt…”

Vivian listened on. She was as surprised as Hao Ren was. She did not expect the problem to be solved just like that. But then, something bothered her as she came to her senses. “Landlord, while you were worrying about the fare, did you ask about rental?”

A light-bulb moment.

“So, deal! Let’s make a date to meet up. Meanwhile, send me your location.” The 883 captain sounded extremely happy as if he had gotten the best deal in his life. Hao Ren had no clue about the Macroworld’s economic condition. However, one thing was sure: the long-haul transporter would not let himself get the short end of the stick while the elves in desperation could not care less if they were shortchanged by the profiteers. As such, he could not care less as well. But still, a question hung over his head. “Don’t tell me that you’re going to do this solo.”

“Of course, not! I’ll find others. They specialise in flying big vessels,” The 883 captain said happily. “You don’t have to worry about the shipping cost, I’ll deal with them myself. Oh ya, please remind the elves to mark any floating isles and installations they’d like to retain; they may want to keep some as memory. I’ll get an energy-field barge to help them haul a few isles, well, free-of-charge.”

“I’m counting on you then. Meanwhile, please hold on while I discuss with the elves. I’ll give you a buzz when they finally agree.”

“Alright then!”

The great Aerymian migration thus began as the rookie inspector and the old, long-haul driver struck a deal.