"I have an idea, let's use this money to establish an interstellar foundation to develop interstellar affairs. We'll share this money." Jiang Ye sent a message.
The group members expressed their interest:
"Interstellar affairs? What kind of affairs specifically?"
"That's good."
"That works too, but what exactly will this foundation do?"
Jiang Ye scratched his head and quickly typed:
"The foundation can support education. For example, students from various planets coming to Jiang Ye Star to study can receive simple subsidies from the foundation. Or, if students from Jiang Ye Star go to your planets for exchange, the foundation can cover the transportation and tuition fees for impoverished students."
"The foundation can also assist businesses by organizing inspection tours for commercial organizations periodically to promote commercial flow between planets."
"Jiang Ye Star hasn't signed extradition treaties with everyone yet. Once signed in the future, the foundation can also fund the capture of fugitives who need to be extradited."
"This idea just popped into my head. If you all think it's good, I'll quickly write a detailed plan and send it to the group. I'll need everyone's advice then." Da Feng Novel Network
The group was filled with praise and agreement.
Jiang Ye secretly felt pleased. While the title sounded good, setting up a foundation to promote exchange with other planets was essentially spending his own money.
Suddenly, Li Nannan's call came through.
"Hello, Commander?" Jiang Ye quickly answered.
"I've heard the news. The ownership of Birong Star will be decided this year."
Jiang Ye shot up from his seat, "Can I get it? Within the year, which planet's year is it?"
"There are still over two hundred days left in the year. Whether you can get it depends on your capabilities. I'll try to get you onto the candidate list, and we'll see what happens afterward," Li Nannan said. "Prepare more money. There are major planets competing this time, and their influence is very strong."
"How strong exactly?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Bian An Star, Jin Gang Star, and Nu Er Star are the three most powerful contenders. You can look them up yourself," Li Nannan said.
"Does getting on the list require money?" Jiang Ye asked.
"No, my friend is handling this matter." Li Nannan paused. "By the way, have you dug up the Mil people's warp machine from underground?"
"We've found the warp machine's conduit and are following it. We should be able to dig it out this week," Jiang Ye said. "I don't know how to use this thing..."
"Leave it to me. Take a picture and send it to me once you dig it out," Li Nannan replied. "I have to rush to a battle meeting, so I can't chat anymore."
"Please, be busy."
...
The engineering corps, mechanical corps, and the puppy corps had been working hard underground for a full week at a depth of twenty kilometers.
The fortifications built by the Galactic Splinter Alliance here were more than ten times larger than expected, comparable to an underground city.
At five o'clock on Sunday morning, it was still dark. Jiang Ye hurried out of his house.
A black military vehicle was parked at the entrance. The license plate had no numbers, but instead, the words "Jiang Ye Star." This vehicle was Jiang Ye's special car in the military, custom-made for top-tier safety, capable of withstanding the impact of a small nuclear bomb. Its other performance features were quite ordinary.
The car door opened, and two people were inside.
Che Zhen, in military uniform, had white bandages wrapped around his head. His face was full of sleepiness and exhaustion, and his eyes were bloodshot.
She, Snake, wore a long, dark green sweater. Her calves, encased in black stockings, had sharp curves. Her hair was tied up, giving her an aura that was truly like a snake in the jungle.
"What happened to your head? Is the injury serious?" Jiang Ye got into the car, and the door closed automatically.
"A bird pecked me. It's not a big deal," Che Zhen said.
"Why not get it properly treated? Just a simple bandage isn't enough, is it?" Jiang Ye frowned. "What kind of bird is so fierce?"
"A newly discovered small bird on a newly opened continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It pecked quite a few soldiers, so I went to the site last night to assess the situation. I didn't expect to be pecked myself," Che Zhen took out his phone and scrolled through it to find photos.
Jiang Ye took the photos.
Some small birds, killed, were placed on metal trays. Numbers were written underneath in black pen, likely for specimen collection.
A ruler was placed next to the birds. Comparing them, the birds were about the size of a thumb, just over two centimeters long, almost like hummingbirds, but half the size.
The most peculiar thing was... the birds were transparent!
Their feathers were transparent, their outer skin was transparent, and even their internal organs and bones were transparent. They looked like thin plastic products filled with water. Because their shapes were different, one could discern faint outlines, like ice cubes submerged in water.
No wonder they could injure soldiers. These transparent creatures, and they could fly, were indeed hard to guard against.
The only parts with color were the birds' eyes and a small organ in their abdomen, but the color was not deep. The birds' eyes resembled the eyes of cooked river shrimp, and the small organ in the abdomen, only as big as a green bean, was pale yellow.
"Is that a bladder? Storing urine?" Jiang Ye pointed.
"It doesn't seem to be. There are officers in the army with medical and biology backgrounds who said it might be a gonadal gland. The yellower the color, the longer it's been held," Che Zhen said.
Jiang Ye suddenly understood.
"It injured many soldiers? What was the situation at the site? Tell me in detail."
"They were all minor injuries. Of the 216 people sent to the hospital, more than half have been treated," Che Zhen reported. "The area is very sandy, so all soldiers were wearing goggles to prevent sand from getting into their eyes, and also neck and wrist guards to prevent sand from entering their clothes. This unintentionally saved many lives. Because their eyes, carotid arteries, and wrist arteries were protected, these transparent birds could only peck at their scalps and faces."
Jiang Ye imagined the scene of faces being pecked through by birds and found it quite disgusting, so he stopped thinking about it.
"These birds are very peculiar. They don't live in trees or in the ground, but underwater. There are many small lakes in that area... soldiers, when resting, went to the edge of these lakes to wash and drink water, and were attacked by a swarm of transparent birds emerging from the water. The refractive index of these birds' bodies is about 1.35. The refractive index of air is 1, and water is 1.33. So, they are likely adapted to aquatic environments rather than air. Once submerged in water, they become almost invisible, and when stationary, they can fool clumsy fish," Che Zhen said. "We don't yet know the scale of the transparent bird swarms. Frontline troops are currently in a period of rest."
"Interesting, but it's unacceptable. Washing in lakes in unfamiliar places without caution? What happened to the infantry drill manual? What about the alien combat regulations? What if the water is toxic? If a few small birds can injure so many people, what if crocodiles, sharks, or piranhas emerge? It could be fatal! The troops' cultural and knowledge education needs to be strengthened. In a few days, I'll organize a full-army surprise examination, and I'll set the questions myself," Jiang Ye reprimanded.
"You are correct to criticize," Che Zhen nodded repeatedly.
The special vehicle was accelerating, and the plains outside flashed by rapidly.
Jiang Ye remembered that this area used to be reddish-brown barren land and rocks, with dust storms blowing everywhere, like the lair of a Yellow Wind Monster. Now, it was lush green, almost entirely covered by plants.
The occupied territory of the entire Jiang Ye Star was similar, with large areas of wasteland rapidly turning green.
Jiang Ye was very satisfied with this phenomenon of life visible even on a cosmic scale. This was what a place for people to live should be like; what was the point of constantly being battered by sand and dust?