The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2702. Carl's Life (Part 3)

It must be said that the public transportation system on Planet Anagi is very advanced.

Carl Kestis was also incredibly amazed by this, because he had basically only ever seen public transportation systems on super-prosperous and super-developed planets like Coruscant.

On most planets of the Galactic Empire, residents rely solely on their own means of transportation to get around, and the distance they can travel depends on the type of transportation they have. Those working for large corporations may have access to dedicated shuttle buses for their employees, but the cost of these buses is deducted from their wages.

Otherwise, if you want to travel, you can only rely on taxi companies or hire unlicensed taxis, which will cost more money and even risk being robbed.

The Kingdom of Dawn, however, has established this inexpensive transportation system on almost all the planets within its territory. Take, for example, the capital of Annagi, where Karl-Kestis resides; it boasts over 80 public transportation lines, more than 200 hoverbuses, and 10 passenger spaceships. All of these modes of transport can be traveled at very low prices.

Furthermore, these public transportation systems are operated by a dedicated company that receives subsidies from the government each year, ensuring that public transportation prices are not arbitrarily increased by the company.

There are many other industries and departments like this, and Karl-Kestis clearly noticed that the way the Kingdom of Dawn operated was fundamentally different from that of the Galactic Empire and the Galactic Republic. He couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what the differences were, but Karl-Kestis understood that the Kingdom of Dawn developed as a whole.

In other words, the rulers and officials of the Dawn Kingdom only see the big picture. From a single street to a city, a planet, or a star sector, the administrators of these areas always consider what their jurisdiction should be like, but they never consider the thoughts of each of their citizens.

This mode of social operation, which ignores individual demands and focuses only on collective interests, sometimes produces very strange chemical reactions.

For example, the Kingdom of Dawn, which disregards individual interests, has established a comprehensive public service system, while the Galactic Republic, which highly values ​​individual freedom, can only choose an expensive lifestyle.

However, there are drawbacks. In the Dawn Kingdom, the variety of daily necessities available for purchase is only about one-tenth of that in the Galactic Empire or the Galactic Republic. Having lived here for so long, Karl-Kestis naturally knows that this is because the Dawn Kingdom has always been focused on war since its founding.

Therefore, even now, the Kingdom of Dawn still operates under a wartime economy.

Therefore, you will see a very peculiar scene here – backward and simple personal life, paired with advanced and sophisticated factories and enterprises.

In the Kingdom of Dawn, the reasons for the uprisings and rebellions were different from those of the Galactic Empire. They did not rebel because they could not survive; they rebelled because they felt that the Kingdom of Dawn's government should have done more for them, but instead, the Kingdom of Dawn used all its resources for war.

This might sound like a joke at first, but a comparison with the former Galactic Republic reveals that the Dawn Kingdom indeed produced very few products for its individual residents. For example, the Dawn Kingdom had very few factories producing holographic game consoles; most of these entertainment devices were smuggled from the Galactic Empire.

With this reduction in production capacity and expenditure, the Kingdom of Dawn could use all its resources for military preparations.

In other words, if you have money, you can live very well and comfortably in the Galactic Empire, but the same wealthy person will have a much lower standard of living in the Kingdom of Dawn. And this standard applies to every family with some spare money.

Moreover, making money in the Kingdom of Dawn is much more difficult than in the Galactic Empire. The work pressure in the Kingdom of Dawn is extremely high, and there are few opportunities to slack off. Efficiency is paramount most of the time, which makes some of their companies seem very ruthless at times.

Although the corporations in the Galactic Empire are greedy and corrupt, there are at least many loopholes to exploit.

Cal-Kestis believed this was a key reason why the Kingdom of Dawn was able to consistently defeat the Galactic Empire on the battlefield. However, the cost was that the Kingdom of Dawn would also face extremely acute social contradictions.

As the saying goes, "Water that is too clear has no fish." Sometimes, appropriate loopholes and gray areas can actually be a positive regulator for society. Therefore, Karl-Kastice felt that the entire economic, social, and military system of the Dawn Kingdom was like a very thin steel wire, which could snap at the slightest carelessness, triggering a chain reaction that could plunge the country into a sea of ​​fire.

Therefore, the people of the Galactic Empire often envy the Dawn Kingdom, at least they have food to eat; while the people of the Dawn Kingdom sometimes envy the Galactic Empire, at least they can live for themselves.

Carl-Cestis looked out the window, the voices of other passengers constantly ringing in his ears—complaining about work, or grumbling about all sorts of mundane things. Whenever he heard such complaints, he would only smile slightly, because at least they had the energy to complain.

In the Galactic Empire's territory, many people don't even have the right to complain. Only those who have experienced that kind of despair truly understand that sometimes, complaining is also a kind of happiness.

At least that's how the people of the Kingdom of Dawn live their peaceful lives amidst constant complaints.

Karl-Kastice works for Sunrise Recycling Company, located on the outskirts of Anagi's capital city, near a civilian free spaceport. These civilian free spaceports are generally small in scale, but they have few restrictions on the ships that can dock there, as long as a rental fee is paid.

Therefore, many companies that use spacecraft often simply locate their headquarters near the spaceport so they can use the spacecraft conveniently. Although this makes security less guaranteed, there's no other way; apart from mega-corporations like Tyron Heavy Industries, very few companies have the capability to use city-based spaceports.

In addition, the various industries that inevitably emerge around the free port, such as spaceship repair, parts sales, and second-hand spaceship trading, make the area even more prosperous.

More people coming and going will create more industries, such as food, accommodation, and entertainment.

As a result, this civilian free spaceport will soon develop into a small town.

After leaving the capital city, the public hovercar that Carl-Cestis was riding began to ascend and accelerate, quickly reaching speeds of over 400 kilometers per hour. After about 10 minutes, they arrived at the town known as Freeport Seven.

Looking out the window, the colossal tower, thousands of meters high, stands majestically in the center of the spaceport. This tower has 500 floors, each with four to twenty docking cantilever arms of varying sizes, capable of accommodating a large number of spacecraft. A very large Tyron Heavy Industries logo is prominently displayed on the tower, indicating that Tyron Heavy Industries owns it. All spacecraft requiring repair can dock on the tower and receive repairs from Tyron Heavy Industries' professional technicians, although the repair costs are relatively high.

Furthermore, the control tower operated by Tyron Heavy Industries also offers hangar rental services. Spacecraft that need to be parked for a long time can be moved into the hangar, which provides shelter from the wind and rain, safety protection, and 24-hour monitoring and maintenance by maintenance robots.

Of course, this requires money.

Ten floors of the control tower belong to the government. Besides housing government-owned ships, these floors are also responsible for commanding, securing, and monitoring ships around the entire spaceport. At least one squadron of twelve Ghost fighters and half a squadron of six Banshee fighters are housed there, along with 30 Vulture robot fighters.

Whenever the spaceport is threatened, these fighter jets will be deployed immediately to eliminate any invading enemy.

Around the control tower, there's a huge plaza spanning several kilometers, divided into eight sections, all filled with various types of spaceships. This is the public parking area. You can park your spaceship here for a very small fee, but basically nobody cares what happens to them.

Surrounding the square are a ring of buildings of all sizes, including shops and warehouses. These are all small private workshops and companies.

There are many shady shops that offer spaceship repair and modification services. Here, you can often get your spaceship maintained and repaired for one-fifth the price you'd pay at the Tower, but the quality is up to you.

If you have a good relationship with the owner, they might occasionally whisper to you about how they got their hands on some military spare parts. This kind of little surprise is something you'd never find at the repair station operated by Tyron Heavy Industries over there.

The public hovercar stopped on the 200th floor of the Freeport 7 tower. Carl-Kestis followed the flow of people off the spaceship and was greeted by several huge holographic projections displaying various new products from Terran Heavy Industries.

This included a 20-meter-long shuttle equipped with three twin-mounted lightweight turbine laser cannons. A burly man in a tight vest, with well-developed muscles and an air of security about him, was giving a long, detailed explanation of the safety features of this shuttle, called "TL-44A, Violet."

For example, it boasts powerful deflector shields, turbo-laser cannons equipped to the upper limits of civilian standards, and rapid maneuverability. Carl-Kestis felt that this ship was almost reaching military standards; only a super-military-industrial complex like Terran Heavy Industries would dare to build and sell civilian ships to such standards.

Of course, without a doubt, this violet-shaped shuttle is far inferior to similar products in terms of both cargo space size and comfort, and the burly man naturally didn't mention this aspect at all.

It's safe to say that Tyron Heavy Industries truly lives up to its reputation; the person they chose perfectly embodies their company's spirit—ruthless, tough, and focused on selling lightweight warships like civilian vessels. What is safety? Eliminating all approaching enemies ensures safety.

Karl heard someone snort beside him and muttered under his breath, "This piece of junk costs 2 million No. 4 coins! Is this robbery? I can get a ship modified with a medium-sized turbo laser cannon from Old Wang for 800,000."

Then your spaceship will be seized. Carl-Kestis silently added to himself.

After walking a while longer, an advertisement for mechanical prosthetics appeared ahead. This was Tyron Heavy Industries' attempt to expand into other industries. Undoubtedly, these mechanical prosthetics were less about adding weapons to a prosthetic arm and more about simply attaching a cannon to your hand as a prosthetic...

Then the guy on screen, who had practically transformed himself into a mechanical warrior, was enthusiastically claiming that if you placed an order now, you would also receive a free melee blade that could be mounted on a cannon muzzle...

Pedestrians around it would silently walk around it, keeping their distance from the holographic advertisement.

Carl-Kestis didn't care. He would pay attention to the content of every advertisement he passed, as a way to spice up his mundane life. The technological disconnect in the Dawn Kingdom was so severe that it always felt like living in a world hundreds of years ago, yet in a galaxy thousands of years in the future.

After taking the elevator down to the bottom of the tower, Carl-Kestis randomly picked up a hovermobile, haggled with the driver for two minutes, reducing the fare from 15 Coins to 12 Coins, and then straddled the back of the hovermobile. The driver flipped a switch, and the hovermobile instantly started, speeding towards the outskirts of town.

Interestingly, this was actually a Zephyr-G hoverbike, a type of equipment frequently used by the Galactic Republic's military. Along the way, the talkative driver boasted that his brother had bought this hoverbike at a low price from a retired, abandoned clone soldier in the Outer Ring Sector. He claimed it was a military product, and that his hoverbike was the fastest in the entire port area.

He also secretly mentioned that he had even bought the DS-1A blaster rifle from the clone, and that the soldier, who knew nothing about weapons, was easily fooled and bought it for a price far below market value.

Cal-Kestis looked at the faded and blurry Galactic Republic logo on the hovermobile and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Once upon a time, he too stood beneath this solemn banner, fighting to maintain the unity of the Milky Way...

And that clone soldier who was abandoned and impoverished, forced to sell his military equipment, is still alive, I wonder. These poor soldiers are aging rapidly, and struggling to survive because they lack any life skills other than killing.

By now, probably less than one in ten of the soldiers who participated in the clone wars are still alive...

Arriving at his company, Carl Caseis said goodbye to the chattering motorcycle driver, looked up at the three-story building, and smiled.

But then, his smile froze.

Because he sensed a faint, almost imperceptible primal force!

The Dark Side of the Force! (End of Chapter)