"The doctor said at your age, you can live for at least another hundred years. What are your plans for this new century?" the reporter asked.
"Of course I have plans. Jiang Ye Star has several medical schools that have invited me to be a teacher. I plan to contribute my remaining years and strive for decades more in the teaching position, aiming to cultivate dozens of batches of qualified medical personnel. Saving lives and helping the injured will be my way of accumulating merit," Guo Tairan said with a bright smile.
"Alright, thank you for accepting the interview. You have a few more days of observation time in the hospital. Please rest well!" the reporter said.
The television program continued. The second person to undergo surgery was an elderly woman, a financial expert who had won numerous economics awards. This elderly woman had already undergone two expensive life-extension surgeries. Now at the age of 278, she decided to have her third life-extension surgery on Jiang Ye Star. Firstly, it was cheaper, and secondly, it was a form of advertising for the life-extension hospital. After all, she belonged to the elite class and trusted the affordable life-extension hospital, which carried a certain persuasive power.
Jiang Ye watched quietly. The old woman's surgery was also very successful. After leaving the operating room, she delivered a lengthy speech, which was clearly a prepared script.
The program ended.
The life-extension hospitals on the three planets would commence operations one after another in the next couple of days, performing life-extension surgeries non-stop. Within six months, they would erase wrinkles, remove age spots, and straighten hunched backs for batches of elderly people, restoring their vitality.
In addition to civilian life-extension hospitals, the three planets also had military-owned life-extension hospitals, usually built in military family housing areas. These would also begin surgeries today.
Military life-extension hospitals were granted priority by Jiang Ye's special approval. After all, soldiers fought in life-and-death situations, underwent rigorous training, and besides fighting external enemies, they also participated in disaster relief, making them the important pillars of the planets. Providing them with preferential treatment was reasonable.
The beneficiaries of military life-extension hospitals included military personnel and their immediate family members. Therefore, they did not have to wait for years in line like ordinary planetary citizens; everyone could complete their surgery within a year.
In addition to immediate family members, each soldier also had a friend quota, meaning they could choose one friend from society to undergo life-extension surgery at a military hospital.
It was estimated that many soldiers would sell this friend quota, fetching over a hundred thousand yuan. Jiang Ye tacitly approved of this situation, considering it a form of bonus payment.
The military had its own ranking system, which was not based on military rank. It was primarily based on military merits and the number of injuries sustained. Those who earned more honors and suffered more injuries could undergo surgery earlier.
For instance, a squad leader who had lost both legs twice in war could have surgery before a division commander.
In addition to this, the intensity of daily work was also a ranking parameter. Some military civilian officials, although not on the battlefield, worked day and night, losing hair at a young age. Thus, they could undergo surgery before ordinary soldiers. Among soldiers who went to the battlefield, those who operated weapons from offices would be ranked behind the frontline transport soldiers sweating profusely.
...
The issue of illegal immigration remained severe.
Every day, 300,000 people illegally immigrated to Jiang Ye Star, 400,000 to Bi Rong Star, and 300,000 to Exile Star.
In addition to illegal immigration, there were also tourists who overstayed their visas.
Many tourist groups came for sightseeing. A ten-day tour group, on its third day of travel, saw half of its members disappear. The tour guides could not contact them at all; they vanished like smoke, along with their luggage.
As a result, police stations in major cities on the three planets were filled with anxious tour guides. Thick stacks of missing tourist registration forms were used daily, and the police officers were overwhelmed. The number of people overstaying their visas was basically on par with the number of illegal immigrants. There were too many people to apprehend.
Newspapers and media used a term: "Rat Tribe."
The Rat Tribe originally referred to homeless people living in the sewer systems of cities. Now, the meaning had been expanded to include tourists who overstayed their visas and illegal immigrants who arrived on cheap spacecraft from outer space.
Because the vast number of overstayers and illegal immigrants had also integrated into the Rat Tribe, they needed to evade police pursuit and the pervasive surveillance cameras. They hid and scurried like rats, trying their best not to expose themselves to the local population.
Police forces across the regions conducted daily raids on old bridges, abandoned tunnels, suburban forests, slums, and sewers. They used nets, stun guns, and tranquilizer guns to round up and capture entire vehicles full of Rat Tribe members from dirty and dark corners. These individuals were first housed in cheap hotels and then, once enough people were gathered, crammed into spacecraft and launched back to their home planets for mandatory repatriation.
Initially, this approach was barely sustainable. Within a short week, 8 million members of the Rat Tribe were repatriated.
However, over time, it became increasingly difficult to maintain.
First and foremost was the exhaustion of the local police forces. Large cities already had numerous cases to handle, but now, too much police power was diverted to catching the Rat Tribe, leading to a massive backlog of cases in the cities themselves.
Moreover, the arrest operations were often unscheduled. Typically, plainclothes officers would patrol, stealthily scouting locations where the Rat Tribe frequently hid, and then call for backup:
"Thirty-odd rats under the old bridge on East Twelfth Road, strong and healthy, requesting backup."
"Over four hundred rats in Huangyang Forest, moving eastward, requesting immediate support!"
These calls for backup rang almost non-stop, day and night. The police officers were driven to the point of neglecting food and sleep. They would be called out for support while eating, and called out for support while sleeping. Many officers became neurotic, constantly on edge. The slightest sound of a mobile phone or landline would make their hearts race, and even when their phones were silent, they often experienced phantom vibrations.
After several weeks, a whole floor of local hospitals was occupied by sick police officers. Some were stabbed by the Rat Tribe during arrest operations, and others contracted strange alien infectious diseases.
Numerous police officers, unable to bear the burden, submitted their resignations. This cat-and-mouse game saw the Rat Tribe, with their endless reinforcements, deplete the stamina of the cat tribe. The strength of both sides waned, and the situation was on the verge of collapse.
Jiang Ye convened a special meeting to discuss the current predicament.
The meeting was held in a large conference hall at a military base on Jiang Ye Star. It was attended by over fifty randomly selected grassroots police officers, more than twenty high-ranking police officials, and over thirty experts from relevant fields.
The experts, dressed in formal attire, had rosy complexions, but the police officers in uniform all looked exhausted, with bloodshot eyes, appearing as if they had just retreated from a battlefield. It was evident they had been extremely busy during this period.
Jiang Ye tapped the microphone. "Everyone is here. I won't waste time. This meeting will address two things. The first is for everyone to share their respective situations, learn from each other, and exchange experiences. The second is to discuss how to solve the problem."
"First, I want to establish a premise," Jiang Ye said. "Do not expect the military's assistance. The military will have other tasks soon and will not have personnel to spare. This is not a long-term solution."
"Alright, let's start with the grassroots representatives from Exile Star," Jiang Ye said, looking towards one side of the hall. "Tell us about your situation."