Chapter 4811: The Little Ghost Runs the House (Nine)

A few of them sat in the car, watching the cleaning company's staff enter the house. Stark put his sunglasses on again and said, "They won't be done cleaning for a while. I'll take you to the beach for a stroll."

The beach in East Hampton, Long Island, was once rated the number one beach in the United States. This wasn't a tropical white-sand beach, but it had considerably more charm than a tropical beach. There were very few people on the winter beach; the golden sand resembled a crescent moon in the night sky. Under the deep blue sky, the cold, damp sea breeze had a kind of transparency.

They went to the seaside, found a bar, and sat down, ordering some snacks and drinks. Ethan spoke up: "I still don't quite understand why you're coming with us. Shouldn't you be looking for Avengers members?"

"They each have their own ideas." Stark bit into a fry. "That old fossil Steve just likes Brooklyn; he thinks that's the real New York. Matt leans toward the Bronx because it's close to his place. Everyone else, including Nick, prefers Manhattan because it's closer to where Shiler works, which would cut down his commute."

"Those sound more reasonable." Dr. Banner assessed objectively. "Compared to them, Long Island has nothing going for it except better natural scenery."

"Who says?" Stark clearly disagreed. "There are shuttles now; getting to downtown New York takes only a few minutes. The housing quality here is also far better than other boroughs, more suited to Shiler's spending level. And — being close to me is the biggest advantage, isn't it?"

"That last point is questionable." Ethan said. "Seriously, sometimes distance makes the heart grow fonder, especially for Shiler."

Stark looked at Peter, because Peter was the one who had lived with Shiler for a long stretch. Peter basically lived in Shiler's little clinic during high school. Peter thought for a moment, then said: "First off, your schedule doesn't match Dr. Shiler's. If you want to be his neighbor and still drop by for visits, you'll probably have to adjust your schedule."

"You guys don't get it." Stark said. "For little Morgan, my schedule has become healthily absurd. Up at 5 a. m. every day, asleep by 9 p. m. — that should perfectly match Shiler's schedule, right?"

"So you want us to be your lobbyists." Banner put an arm on the table and said. "But aside from Peter, the two of us aren't that close to Shiler. He's buying a house; he probably won't take our opinions into account."

Stark waved a hand. "You'll know when the time comes."

At the same time, Greed and Pride were house-hunting in the Bronx with Matt. Like Queens, the Bronx was huge, and it wasn't without wealthy neighborhoods, so there were still some nice houses.

Upon learning that the real estate agents he'd found were unreliable, Matt decided to handle it himself. After practicing law for so many years, he still had connections; he quickly found a good house.

This time the house truly checked every box: the location wasn't remote, the environment was relatively quiet, the house itself was solid, and it had even been completely renovated a few years ago, with decor that fit modern aesthetics.

The group toured the house and found quite a few pluses. For instance, the backyard had an open view, floor-to-ceiling windows at the rear, excellent natural light; and beyond that was a lawn with no neighboring houses, so privacy was good. The house's size and layout were quite suitable.

Drawbacks naturally existed too. For one, this house could only count as a villa, not a mansion, let alone an estate. Meaning it had only front and back yards and the house itself, lacking supporting facilities.

Generally speaking, to qualify as a mansion it must have a sufficiently large private garage, a matching swimming pool, tennis court, shuttle pad, and preferably a private beach.

Greed put this house into the consideration range, but its priority wasn't high, because it was indeed a bit small and couldn't meet his hosting needs. Still, he chatted with Matt about the house's history.

"A family emigrated from here." Matt said. "They left recently."

"Which country did they go to?"

"Uh, the Shi'ar Empire."

"Ah?"

"They emigrated to the Shi'ar Empire." Matt shrugged. "Nothing strange about that. Since the interstellar gates opened, a lot of people want to emigrate off-world. The other two empires aren't immigrant nations; only the Shi'ar Empire accepts immigrants in large numbers, so someone emigrating there is normal."

"Okay." Greed was indeed a little surprised — possibly because from his angle the three great empires didn't seem to have anything good. But from an ordinary person's perspective, it might be like a Third World country looking at America: they think it's developed and prosperous and want to move the whole family there.

In fact, the Shi'ar Empire really wasn't bad. They weren't militaristic; commerce and trade were prosperous. Aside from all citizens having to worship the Twin Gods, there weren't any very strict immigration requirements; they were practically begging people to immigrate.

Humans also gradually learned of the three great empires' existence through the news. Many people from the three empires would promote their countries on social media. The Kree Empire and Skrull Empire generally touted how strong their militaries were; the Shi'ar Empire was milder, preferring to promote cultural scenery and such.

Although they'd been badly burned by humans before and still hadn't recovered — might not recover for thousands of years — a dead camel is still bigger than a horse; the three great empires couldn't just collapse like that. Perhaps precisely because they had no other way, they could only use this kind of soft power output to win back some public opinion.

Greed took out his phone and started searching for similar content, and found there really were quite a few people promoting immigration to the three great empires, even with "irregular migration" guides. Greed didn't know how humans would "irregularly migrate" through the universe — although physiques had improved, they still couldn't move freely in vacuum; presumably they'd take spaceships or the like.

And unlike internal Earth migration, where people from less economically developed regions run to developed countries, interstellar migration was exactly the reverse: people from relatively developed countries like America running outward.

But think about it: leaving aside that outrageous "irregular migration" method, the cost to successfully reach the other end of the universe wasn't small either. First you need interstellar universal currency, which ordinary people can't get — you have to do business with aliens; second you need channels to obtain life-support equipment, and legal status in the destination country, and buy property. Basically only the upper crust can pull it off.

Greed sized up this property. This family should count as wealthy; after all, every inch of New York land is gold. Although this house wasn't a top-tier mansion, it was still a very good villa. That proved how comfortable their life was; they probably felt they had more room for development in the Shi'ar Empire.

"Do you think that's a good thing?" Matt asked.

"Nothing good or bad about it." Shiler said. "Emigrants can roughly be divided into two types: those going for profit, and those going for utopia. The former, as long as you're capable enough and not too greedy, still have a chance of success; the latter, no matter where they emigrate, will be disappointed."

"The first type leaving benefits us. Because they can gain a foothold elsewhere, and to seize greater profit they have to help their mother race — Earth — or at least unite with other emigrants. That counts as spreading human culture."

"The second type leaving also benefits us. On one hand it reduces Earth's survival pressure, makes space roomier; on the other it prevents them from being dissatisfied with Earth and scheming to stir up trouble all day."

"What about for them? Would the three great empires be a good destination?"

"You should know that better than me, Counselor Murdock." Greed smiled and shook his head. "After litigating so many cases, haven't you figured out one thing? Intelligent life all follows the same social code; no one is an exception."

Matt also shook his head helplessly. The opponents he'd faced in interstellar courts were no different from those he'd faced on Earth. Their speech, defense strategies, even their shameless wrangling style were identical.

This proves that as long as they're beings with both reason and emotion, no matter their appearance, their reactions to the same matter are about the same. No race is an exception.

This proves that the social conditions of most civilizations in the cosmos won't differ too much from humanity's. Even the three great empires that have long achieved infinite energy — society is whatever it is, and fundamentally hasn't evolved into the "ideal state" humans imagine.

The existence of the three great empires actually proves that social evolution has a limit and doesn't keep developing alongside technology. Develop to the end and it's absolutely not utopia; it's just a large-scale Earth.

"If they want to pursue a utopia, leaving Earth is completely looking far when the near is at hand." Matt gave his view. "In fact I think human civilization is the one closest to utopia; our path is correct."

"No matter what you pursue, leaving Earth is looking far when the near is at hand." Greed said. "Otherwise why would the three great empires fight tooth and nail to get Earth?"

"Actually I want to know why too, but it seems there are some deeper reasons." Matt shook his head.

Greed and Pride exchanged a glance. The real reason was that the center of the Marvel universe is Earth; moving the Galactic Council to the Milky Way is setting right what was wrong, returning to the old capital.

"Who else found you a house?" Matt asked.

"They're all looking." Greed said while walking down the stairs. "I have an appointment with Natasha this afternoon. Nick found me a house in Queens; I'm going to take a look."

"That's not bad either." Matt said. "All supporting facilities are complete, and public safety is better than here. If you buy a house there, you'll be neighbors with Peter."

"No matter where in New York I buy a house, I'll be neighbors with one of you." Greed shook his head helplessly. "Who told you lot to have your houses scattered across New York's boroughs? If I play Santa and deliver gifts, I'd have to run a full New York loop."

"Then I'll wait for you." Matt laughed. "Little Jack is the one most looking forward to your Christmas gift. Last year you gave him that set of Phantom Grimoires; he loved it, and now he asks me every day when you're coming."

"Absolutely won't let you down." Greed looked smug. "This year will only be better than last year."