Chapter 271: Viceroy Assessment

When the orange-yellow light of the star bathed the land, a massive starship bearing the Federation's official emblem slowly docked at the spaceport of Morabiss Star.

As the starship stabilized, several personnel in Federation Inspection Bureau uniforms stepped out.

The elderly male at the front gazed at the emerald-green planet below the spaceport and chuckled: "Never thought I'd live to preside over the Viceroy assessment of Morabiss Star."

Hearing this, those behind him immediately chimed in: "That old fool Duonuo finally kicked a iron plate."

"Yeah."

After a few light jokes, the elderly man turned to the young man walking last: "Mo Di, you've dealt with this assessment candidate before—anything you'd like to say?"

At the sound of his name, the young man snapped back to attention: "The opponent is a dragon-type lifeform, and their alchemy is also quite impressive."

"Strength."

Here, Mo Di paused.

He never imagined the guy who once helped him immensely on Colony Star 9527 had advanced so absurdly fast.

Just over a month ago, when they parted, the opponent was still only a Level-Two practitioner.

Though his combat power was already unusual.

Recalling the terrifying golden light that had split heaven and earth in the dossier footage, Mo Di fell silent.

At that moment, the elderly man at the front suddenly laughed: "Hahahaha, never thought a backwater star cluster like ours would produce a monster like this."

"This year's bureau performance won't look too bad."

Hearing this, the group all smiled.

For how many years had their star cluster finally produced a practitioner with serious potential?

Indeed, according to the dossier, this assessment candidate must be hiding secrets—otherwise, how could their power have grown so rapidly?

But so what? In the end, they merely gained Level-Four combat power through special means.

Know this: every year, the Federation and the Empire each produce a few geniuses who leap directly from Level-One to Level-Four; even the neighboring Dawn Empire had, centuries ago, produced a freak who jumped straight from Level-One to Level-Seven.

Compared to those, this candidate is impressive, but only to that extent.

As they spoke, the space elevator carrying them had reached the surface.

No sooner had they stepped out than they saw, far in the distance, a colossal stone sphere split in two, floating in the sky.

Seeing this, the elderly man murmured: "They've really gone all out."

Even he, with his vast experience, had rarely seen such a sight—achieving this was no small feat, meaning the opponent's profession was exceptionally unique.

At that moment, a young man stepped before the group: "Are you the assessors for this Viceroy assessment?"

The young man was naturally Li Ang, and today was his day for the planetary Viceroy assessment.

The elderly man sized up Li Ang, then introduced himself: "I'm the chief assessor—you can call me Xiao Qi."

Xiao Qi, Level-Five, Director of the Federation Inspection Bureau for the Bar Star Cluster.

Star cluster, star group, star region—these are the most basic territorial divisions of this world; Li Ang currently resides in the Bar Star Cluster, and before the assessment, he had thoroughly researched these details.

"Director Xiao, please follow me."

Without further words, Li Ang turned and led the Federation Inspection Bureau personnel toward the city hall at the center of Central City.

Since he had not yet officially become Viceroy, he could only temporarily borrow this venue for the assessment.

Soon, the group arrived at the spacious conference hall of the city hall.

To be honest, Morabiss Star had rarely used this venue before—almost everything was handled directly by Duonuo.

Facing the row of Federation Inspection Bureau personnel across from him, Li Ang showed no sign of nervousness.

Seeing his demeanor, Xiao Qi cut straight to the point: "What are your plans for governing Morabiss Star after becoming Viceroy?"

A broad question, but Li Ang had prepared in advance: "The Clearwater Tree Clan and the Essence Iron Tree Clan are willing to serve under me—I will mediate conflicts among Morabiss Star's plant races through these two clans."

Li Ang is not Duonuo—he is willing to delegate authority.

After all, in his plan, becoming Morabiss Star's Viceroy is merely a means to rapidly accumulate wealth—as long as those beneath him follow this broad direction, it suffices.

Naturally, beyond that, he has no objection to giving the Clearwater Tree Clan some preferential treatment.

Upon hearing Li Ang's response, Xiao Qi's expression remained neutral: "What about the economy? Will you continue Duonuo's plan to develop Morabiss Star as a tourism planet?"

At this, Li Ang shook his head slightly: "Duonuo's approach is far too wasteful."

Although Morabiss Star, as a transportation hub, does well in tourism, he has his own thoughts.

As he spoke, several metal cans suddenly appeared on the conference table.

Seeing this, Xiao Qi picked up one can with interest and said: "What's this? A bribe?"

"Try it and you'll know."

Li Ang gestured for the Federation Inspection Bureau personnel to open the cans and taste them.

Hearing this, everyone opened their cans and took a sip, then their faces showed surprise.

The liquid inside was icy-cold, sweet and sour, and slightly soothed their spirits.

Xiao Qi asked curiously: "Did you make this?"

In response to the elder's question, Li Ang nodded: "This is a functional beverage made from Clearwater Fruit. Compared to a tourism planet, the raw materials produced by Morabiss Star's plant tribes are the real focus."

The liquid in the metal cans was a byproduct Li Ang produced while developing a mental enhancement potion from Clearwater Fruit.

Since ordinary Clearwater Trees bear fruit that does not increase mental strength, it functions more like a beverage.

"You've got ideas," Xiao Qi set down the can. "But what about production capacity? If you can't scale up, it's useless."

"I'm still working on a solution," Li Ang replied honestly. "But initially, we can bundle it with admission tickets, so production doesn't need to be high at first."

Correct—he had no intention of abandoning Morabiss Star's tourism industry.

Though he had lost Duonuo's spectacle, he had created a new one himself—world inhabitants had never seen a Starfall Explosion.

Later, he could slightly raise ticket prices, calling it a complimentary can of beverage—surely, Clearwater Type-1 Functional Beverage would quickly capture the market.

At worst, he could simply continue developing tourism.

Upon hearing his words, Xiao Qi fell silent for a moment.

After their exchange just now, Li Ang had already surpassed Lord Duonuo by a wide margin in his eyes.

'Alchemy, huh? Interesting.'

Recalling the information on the young man opposite him, the director of the Federal Review Bureau couldn't help but have his gaze flicker.

In terms of strength, the other party had taken out Lord Duonuo.

In terms of governance approach, he was also stronger than Lord Duonuo, who had blindly suppressed aquatic plants, and had even put forward a rather viable wealth-generating plan.

If the functional beverage the other party had developed could sell well, that would be even better for the Federal Review Bureau — after all, selling well meant more tax revenue.

And even in terms of background, the other party's file was marked as 'background unverified,' with the bloodline origin suspected to be a high-energy-class dragon-type creature.

All in all, the young man before him was clearly a far more suitable planet Viceroy than Lord Duonuo.

After a moment of silence, a smile appeared on Xiao Qi's face: "Originally there should have been one more combat assessment."

"But you've already proven yourself, so naturally that one isn't needed."

Saying so, he pushed back his chair and stood up.

"Congratulations, Li Ang."

"You have officially passed the assessment. From today onward, you are the planet Viceroy of Morabis Star."

At the same time, Li Ang's communication device also received a message sent by the federal authorities.

【Esteemed citizen, hello. Your application for the planet Viceroy of Morabis Star has passed the assessment, with a term of twenty years.】

【Welcome, Viceroy Li Ang.】

Two more chapters will be posted together tonight.