Damon couldn't blame them for their reaction. It was akin to Elon Musk appearing at a UN meeting and publicly announcing that he had discovered a way for humans to literally evolve to live in space, or something to that end.
That kind of excitement and fear knowing that the entire system was going to change, and you would soon be thrust into a wave of chaos which would change the very fundamental structure of your life.
Kiisuo simply gazed at Damon deeply before speaking. "And that brings an end to the weekly senate meeting. All Species Representatives are invited to the reception for a quick refresher before returning to their respective duties."
After that, the cars carrying Damon and the other two new species returned to their places. The human noticed that a key manifested before him, so he naturally grabbed it. A tooltip from the system appeared the very next moment.
[This key is locked to hoverseat-#122334247897. Only the owner of this key can summon this specific car when appearing in the senate. Please keep it safe.]
Damon put the key away and looked around. All eyes were still on him, yet the various Species Reps were beaming out of the room, rather than leaving physically.
Since Damon himself was only here digitally, he wasn't surprised, and so he chose to beam out as well. He noticed that he appeared back in the blank space with the central terminal. Realizing that he had returned to the ship, he sighed and logged out of the VR completely.
Damon was stunned when he saw the toothy grin of Ambrose so close to his face when the pod opened. He struggled to maintain his calm when faced with such a sight right after opening his eyes, but he eventually succeeded.
"So, how was it?" Ambrose asked while leaning back, giving Damon just enough space to climb out.
"Very informative, though the reactions I received weren't quite what I had expected. It was almost as if… the information had only appeared at the very last second. Strange, isn't it?" Damon remarked with a pointed look at the Vampire lord.
Ambrose shrugged. "What can I say, sometimes the network is bad. However, it's a good thing, no? Since that information hasn't been shared beforehand, those who could have acted on it now have very little time and very little space to do so."
Damon was aware of this, which was why he was confused. "Yes, but no one is stupid. The person who held back the information might not be penalized officially, but I'm sure the bigger factions who will lose out because of it must have a way to make their live miserable."
"Who knows~? Let's hope the ones benefitting from it will remember the efforts of that valiant person and make sure they are well taken care of in the future, eh?" Ambrose hinted with raised eyebrows.
'Hoh?'
Damon smiled thinly. "The human race is nothing if not loyal. I will see to it that our mysterious benefactor won't be forgotten."
Ambrose nodded with satisfaction. "On that note, the ship has completed the preliminary scan of your planet. With your planet being the only one inhabited, you're practically the owners of the rest of your local solar system, at least in the eyes of the IUAS."
Damon nodded. He was not surprised by this. It was a way to give new species some starting capital by 'gifting' them ownership of a certain amount of planets based on their local territory.
If only one species existed, one could go as far as claim the entire solar system. If more than one species existed, it would boil down to whose space exploration had progressed further.
"So you've also scanned the 9 planets and their various moons?" Damon inquired with interest.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Correct. I have to say, the final numbers are quite impressive. There is great value in your solar system, more so than in most other newly discovered species." Ambrose praised wholeheartedly.
However, he sneered the next second. "That being said, it is nevertheless a far cry from being able to bail you out of your predicament, though if used wisely it might help you in the early stages."
Damon gave Ambrose a look. "That is for the human race to worry about. Let me see the numbers."
Ambrose suddenly shifted and became sycophantic. "Of course, of course, Lord Species Representative!"
Damon was presented with a screen that listed the value of the various metals, minerals and resources on the 8 planets separately. Eventually, he simplified it by seeing the total valuation of each planet in total.
Mercury - 300,000 Essence Coins
Venus - 500,000 Essence Coins
Earth - 3.5 billion Essence Coins
Mars - 100,000 Essence Coins
Jupiter - 8.5 million Essence Coins
Saturn - 4.3 million Essence Coins
Uranus - 9.8 million Essence Coins
Neptune - 22 million Essence Coins
The prices varied and there were also values for the dward planet Pluto, and the various moons, but Damon wasn't too interested in them. Rather, he checked the reasons for the varying prices, both listed on the file and through the terminal.
What made Mercury, Venus and Mars so valuable were their cores and their rocky nature. Especially Venus, which could be bought and terraformed into a luxury planet for visitors, or Mercury which could be made into a private hideout.
Mars was poorly valued because of its lack of anything but rpck and a bit of water.
Jupiter and Saturn were two big mines of gases and minerals. Their value was high, even among planets in the universe. One should know that the universal currency, the Essence Coin, was actually very powerful.
A single Essence Coin was valuable enough to maintain the average life of a galactic citizen for a week. In fact, most small transactions dealt with decimals of an Essence Coin.
You could even compare the power of an Essence Coin to the crytopcurrency of today compared to paper money. However, unlike paper money whose value was determined by the controller of the economy, the Essence Coin was backed by a consumable item called a Worldly Essence Crystal.
A single Worldly Essence Crystal was a small diamond shaped substance that contained pure Worldly Essence that was not configured. It could be absorbed by any individual, which was what granted it value.
However, no individual in the universe could configure or manipulate Worldly Essence to strengthen themselves. That could only be done by the Universe Will.
In a way, Worldly Essence Crystals were basically EXP crystals.
Absorbing them allowed you to add to your 'progress bar'. Once you acquired enough Worldly Essence to 'Level Up', it could then be configured by the Universe Will, allowing you to raise a stat point.
Anyone could use them, even those with VR usage. The difference was that a player using their real body would obtain the benefit truly, while the one who entered through VR would only accumulate Worldly Essence in their body uselessly.
In such a situation, the best it would do would be to make you healthier and live longer, but that was it. You wouldn't obtain the crazy benefits that those who entered with their real bodies did.
Otherwise, there would be no incentive to do so.
Thinking about all this, Damon sighed. Neptune and Uranus were so high in value because, apparently, water was a rare resource in the universe. Very few planets produced it organically, and given the scope of the IUAS and the sheer utility of the wondrous liquid, there was endless demand but limited supply.
Sure, there was technology that existed that could bond two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom to form a molecule of water, and even did this on an industrial scale for profit and to meet the H20 needs of the entire universe.
However, there was something special about naturally occurring water that granted it a more versatile and tangible effect of the species that needed them, and organic water was severely in short supply.
Earth was so ridiculous in value because it was what was described in the universe as a perfect planet. Its composition, makeup, location and everything were perfect for the raising of life.
In fact, the valuation didn't even consider selling the planet. It was impossible to buy home planets of any race in the IUAS to protect the last line of defense of every species.
Otherwise, stronger species could easily strong-arm newer ones to sell their home planet and move them somewhere where the stronger party could either integrate the weaker party or enslave them truly.
This value was given to Earth if Damon would allow the IUAS to own some rights to various resources on the planet and mine them - within safe limits of course - and be taken away. If the entire Earth could be sold, its value would be much higher.
Damon couldn't help but sigh. If this was the early days of the IUAS when the power structure hadn't been solidified, he would exclaim that the human race was blessed with endless fortune. Great minds, great abilities and a solar system full of rich value!
However, given the current situation, all of this rather weighed down on them more.