"You're not just trying to integrate one company, are you?" Jiang Ye asked suspiciously.
"For now, yes."
"And later?"
"Later..." Xu Yan rolled her eyes. "I'll take it one step at a time. Perhaps I'll consider setting up my own shop and going solo."
"Of course!" Xu Yan quickly reaffirmed her loyalty. "If I do set up my own shop, I'll definitely be tied to your war chariot. The more prosperous your planets are, the more planets you control, the better my company will do."
"You can try. I support you," Jiang Ye nodded.
Jiang Ye truly hoped that on his own territory, various enterprises and industries could emerge that were not dependent on aliens, and could even capture alien markets. Real estate was a big cake, and if Xu Yan succeeded, it would be a great blessing.
Xu Yan didn't leave. She stayed at the Divine Palace for the next few days. The High Priest gave her top-level permissions, as the over a billion immigrants from Hal Star would eventually live in houses she was responsible for.
It could even be said that Xu Yan's work speed determined the speed at which the Hal Star immigrants could relocate. Jiang Ye had two "Nests," and their transport capacity was sufficient, but how many Hal Star citizens could be transported depended on the cities newly built on Birong Star and Jiang Ye Star that could accommodate them.
A week after Xu Yan arrived at Hal Star, Jiang Ye finally received the military notification he had been waiting for.
[Decision Regarding the Sovereignty of Birong Star]
[Following the competition among various planets, the Jiang Ye Star forces have emerged victorious, unifying all territory, territorial waters, and airspace of Birong Star. During the competition, the Jiang Ye Star forces demonstrated rapid development and high levels of progress, achieving accomplishments in multiple fields including military strength, economic development, infrastructure construction, population size, and environmental modification, thereby exhibiting a high degree of organizational management, governance, and construction capabilities, and meeting the requirements of the Galactic Empire for planetary sovereign owners.]
[In light of the above, it is hereby decided to grant sovereignty of Birong Star to Jiang Ye.]
[This grant is made by the Galactic Empire.]
This was merely the number of stars, and each star was orbited by several planets.
The planets currently occupied by the Galactic Empire were perhaps no more than the sand on a small beach. But the entire universe was an endless desert!
Thinking of this, Jiang Ye's expression suddenly turned subtle.
He felt that although he was the leader of two planets, he was less than a tiny insect in the universe, akin to a bacterium.
...
Jiang Ye Star.
Jiang Senlin Academy of Fine Arts.
In the vast studio, all four walls were made of glass, and the sunlight illuminated the interior with stark clarity.
Over a hundred students sat before their easels, their faces tense as they wielded their brushes.
Jiang Senlin paced between the easels with his hands behind his back, occasionally stopping to observe.
Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed in Jiang Senlin's eyes.
"Raphael Francis, put away your easel and go to the academic affairs office to process your withdrawal," Jiang Senlin said loudly.
All the brushes in the studio instantly stopped. The other students looked over with expressions of terror.
A white man in his thirties with brown hair and a face full of acne stood up, his expression as if struck by lightning, looking at Jiang Senlin in disbelief.
"Teacher..." Raphael looked fearful.
"Don't call me teacher. I am no longer your teacher," Jiang Senlin said coldly.
"Why are you expelling me?" Raphael's tone was almost pleading. "I can redraw it, I can draw it well! I'm more diligent than all of them. I draw for 14 hours a day and have already had two carpal tunnel surgeries. If you need me to, I can draw even longer every day!"
"And then? Draw a whole day of bad art? Aren't there enough bad paintings in the world?" Jiang Senlin looked at him coldly.
"I may not be painting to your satisfaction now, but if I keep trying..." Raphael's lips trembled with panic.
"If you keep trying, you'll succeed. At your age, why are you so naive?" Jiang Senlin turned away to look at other students' paintings. "The idea that effort leads to success is a lie told by unscrupulous parents to children. You have no talent, and what awaits you is a lifetime of failure. Does naming yourself Raphael make you Raphael?"
"I believe I can!" Raphael pleaded, chasing after him, but not daring to get too close, only following at a distance. "Teacher, I've been painting for twenty years, and I've made great progress! If I paint for another half of my life, I'm sure I can become a famous painter!"
"You can't," Jiang Senlin continued looking at other students' paintings, saying indifferently. "You have no artistic talent. Don't deceive yourself. If you can't do it, you can't do it. There are no such good things in the world."
"Teacher, please give me one more chance!" Raphael knelt down with a thud, tears welling up, his body trembling with emotion. "I can work harder than anyone else. Painting is my life! I must paint in this life!"
"This is annoying. You haven't listened to a single word I've said," Jiang Senlin said with annoyance. "If you don't leave, I'll call security. Leave with some dignity. Find a small town and become a vulgar painter. You can earn enough to live, but don't dream of being a painter."
Raphael's face was streaked with tears, but he made no sound. He turned to look at his classmates in the studio, his eyes full of pitiful pleading, begging them to speak up for him.
All the students in the studio had pale faces and looked at him with great sympathy, but when Raphael looked at them, everyone turned their heads away. Some students trembled all over, their faces full of fear.
Raphael knelt on the ground, looking at each classmate. His helpless and pitiful expression made everyone unable to bear looking. When the entire studio fell silent, Raphael's face turned a deathly pale, and deep despair flickered in his eyes.
After a long time, he stood up stiffly and walked out like a puppet.
Before leaving, he stopped again and looked back into the studio with a pleading gaze. He first looked at Jiang Senlin, but Jiang Senlin was engrossed in his painting and didn't look back at all. Many students were looking at him from the corner of their eyes, but not a single one met his gaze. He seemed to have become a ghost, invisible to the living eyes in the studio.
After a long stare, Raphael stiffly left.
The atmosphere in the studio was oppressive. All the students were sweating on their foreheads, continuing to focus on the paper in front of them.
Jiang Senlin seemed to have completely forgotten about expelling a student, his demeanor unchanged as he continued to look at the paintings in the studio.
"Boom!" A loud thudding sound suddenly came from outside the window.
All the students were startled and looked out, then someone screamed. Someone's hand shook and knocked over a paint box, spilling various colors all over the floor.
Raphael's body had splattered on the cement ground outside, blood splashing against the glass.
Judging by the gruesome sight, he must have jumped from the rooftop on the sixth floor.
Some students were crying from fright, some older students tremblingly took out fast-acting heart pills, and more people turned pale, looking at Jiang Senlin.
Jiang Senlin calmly finished looking at the last two paintings before turning his head to look at the corpse outside the window.
"Naive," Jiang Senlin said, his expression unchanged. "Who has a phone? Call the police, the funeral home, and the cleaning crew."