72: Chapter 72 Thompson, the Sinner of Blue Star

Listening to the ear-piercing sound outside the window that sounded like a thousand electric drills having a party, Chen Mu sat up and shouted angrily, "Maya!"

Maya pushed the door open instantly, her face full of smiles: "Good morning, Ball Chief!"

Chen Mu pointed outside the window: "What is going on now? Ever since I came to the Blue Star, first I was disturbed by sirens, then by protests, then by gunshots, and now this. Is it so hard to get a good night's sleep in your civilization? Does your civilization have a grudge against the word 'quiet'?"

The smile on Maya's face finally broke as she laughed: "Ball Chief, this is all your fault..."

"Huh?"

"Ever since you announced at the banquet last night that you were going to turn New York into the Blue Star's first Interstellar Metropolis..."

She took a tablet from under her arm; on the screen was a real-time data chart.

"Now global capital is flooding into New York like crazy. Every international syndicate you can name, plus over a dozen unnamed sovereign wealth funds, set up offices in New York overnight."

"Those who couldn't find an office are setting up temporary tables in hotel lobbies to work."

"The battle for every square meter of commercial real estate in Manhattan is now more intense than yesterday's scramble for your banquet tickets, and land prices have skyrocketed to tens of millions of dollars per square meter."

"The Governor of New Jersey gave a televised speech overnight, declaring his state to be a 'natural extension of the New York Interstellar Metropolis,' and strongly requested that you, Ball Chief, set up the second terminal of the space portal there."

"The Governor of Mississippi was even more extreme, directly stating that their land is sparsely populated and beautiful, making it the top choice for alien vacations."

"At the same time," Maya's finger swiped to the next page on the tablet, "a massive number of people have also begun migrating to New York."

"From midnight last night until now, the net population growth of New York has already surpassed several hundred thousand."

"The traffic on several highways leading to New York has completely paralyzed; the traffic jams are now long enough to circle the United States with room to spare."

"Train and plane tickets are sold out. Some people are even moving across states by bicycle just to catch the first wave of the interstellar dividend."

"Wait a minute." Chen Mu rubbed his temples, "I remember New York originally had nearly ten million people? If it keeps growing at this rate?"

"According to the current population inflow rate, if this momentum continues, New York's population could likely exceed one hundred million in a year."

Maya tapped lightly on the edge of the tablet: "One hundred million, Ball Chief."

"New York will become the first city in human history with a population of one hundred million, while its permanent population capacity, before your interstellar trade policy was announced, was only a tenth of what it will be."

Chen Mu was silent for a moment, then pointed out the window, listening to the increasing noise: "So that noise outside is..."

"Renovations." Maya finally couldn't hold it back anymore when she said those words, and the tablet almost slipped from her hand. "Before dawn this morning, the Mayor of New York City signed an emergency transformation bill."

"Now all renovation companies, construction companies, and even any qualified private construction teams in all of New York have received emergency construction permits issued by the government."

"The goal is to use record-breaking speed to transform New York into something worthy of the title 'Interstellar Metropolis' within a month."

"Not only are all roads being widened and underground pipe networks being fully renewed, but five new Interstellar Malls have already broken ground. What you hear now is the sound of tens of thousands of construction sites in New York starting work simultaneously."

She gave a formal report with a hint of teasing: "The Mayor said he wanted to report to you in person, but he was held up on a construction site by a contractor demanding more money, and he can't get away right now."

"He asked me to tell you, 'Ball Chief, New York will surely not fail your expectations!'"

Chen Mu was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly: "You mean, the entire New York is now turning the whole city upside down at any cost, all because of that one sentence I said last night?"

Maya nodded: "Yes, Ball Chief."

Chen Mu's gaze moved from Maya's face to the system interface at the edge of his vision that only he could see.

The numbers for the fear value on it were jumping rapidly. In just one night, it had increased to [300 million fear value.]

He was silent for a good while. What was going on? Yesterday he was still worried about the fear value stopping its growth, and now, just by announcing the news that New York would become an Interstellar Metropolis, tens of millions had appeared out of thin air.

One should know that when he turned off the sun for three minutes last time, it only resulted in over 100 million fear value.

The next moment, he understood. Because this news wasn't an abstract threat floating in the sky; it slammed directly into everyone's lives.

Global capital moved upon hearing the news, New York's housing prices soared, and the entire city began a frantic expansion. Even those who never cared about national affairs couldn't escape the drill starting punctually at seven o'clock downstairs.

Chen Mu, having found the new code for fear value, his eyes suddenly sparkled with sharp light. He threw back the quilt and jumped onto the floor barefoot.

"Maya, go quickly and call the New York Police Commissioner, the Mayor of New York City, and the President. Have them come to the United Nations for a meeting immediately. I want to have a good talk with them."

"Good, Ball Chief."

Maya nodded and turned toward the door. Chen Mu suddenly called her again: "By the way, help me announce two more things."

Maya looked back.

"Find someone to transform the top floor of the United Nations Headquarters into my private residence."

"Additionally, transform the entire floor below that into the Interstellar Court. That way, I won't have to keep running back and forth."

"Understood." Maya nodded again, "Then regarding the matter of employee salaries?"

"..."

Chen Mu waved his hand, "We'll talk about that later. Don't worry, as Interstellar Civil Servants, the benefits will certainly not be bad."

After Maya left, Chen Mu took out his phone to check the news online when a video suddenly popped up.

[Blue Star Sinner Vincent Thompson, today finally faces trial.]

"Pfft!" Chen Mu couldn't help but laugh out loud. Thompson was a hero of the Blue Star just a few days ago, but now he had become the Blue Star's sinner. This piqued Chen Mu's curiosity.

In the video, the hallways of the Federal Court were packed with reporters carrying cameras. The gallery was filled with officials of all kinds, and there were even a few City Councilors who arrived late and could only stand at the door, craning their necks to look inside.

Outside the court, it was even more crowded, with people holding up banners calling for the trial of the human sinner, Thompson.

The Judge presiding over the trial was an old man with white hair and gold-rimmed glasses.

He struck the gavel three times, and the courtroom fell silent. Then he opened the thick case file in front of him: "Officer Vincent Thompson."

"You are accused of conducting a hunger interrogation lasting over ten hours this month, in an interrogation room at the Seventh Precinct, against Mr. Chen Mu, the current Ball Chief of the Blue Star, whose identity was not yet clear at the time."

"During this period, you knowingly ignored the detainee's reasonable request for food and deliberately refused to provide it."

"And when your partner, Officer Maya Rodriguez, offered to purchase a meal at her own expense, you also explicitly refused."

"Do you admit to the aforementioned facts?"