Chapter 1286 The Eternal Sun King

Hao Ren left a dedicated communications channel for the Irim when he departed Dou Dou Star, so they could contact him in case of emergencies. Obviously, such an important external communication channel was staffed around the clock. Hao Ren had just yelled into the communicator when he heard a burst of commotion on the other end. He didn't know which Irim was startled by the sudden call. Then, a slightly nervous voice came through, "Irim Central Communications Tower receiving. Confirming your identification signal… Ah, it's Lord… Lord?"

Hao Ren was stunned, then realized that "Lord" referred to him—considering the amount of land he rented to the elves, "Lord" was the ultimate evolution of "landlord."

Hao Ren acknowledged. He asked the person on the other end to notify Hilda and Wim of his arrival. Soon after, he saw a few small bright spots in space. Those were the Irim ships sent to welcome him. Most of those ships were still heirloom-level antiques brought over from the old Irim island chain. Apparently, the elves hadn't completed the restart of all basic industries; at least, new ships weren't being manufactured yet. However, there were two new models mixed in with those antique ships: they must have been support supplies that the 883 Fleet left for the Irim according to the agreement. Judging by their models, they were all low-tech ships limited to use within the solar system.

An Irim ship with a triangular shape approached the Petrified Turtle Rock. Wim's face appeared on the communicator above Hao Ren. The young elven prince still looked handsome as if he had been photoshopped, and his face was full of a bright smile. "Landlord, what brings you here?"

"Lead the way. I'll talk to your mother later," Hao Ren nodded. "I need your help with something important."

Seeing that even Hao Ren was serious, Wim immediately felt that the matter was of great importance. He quickly turned his ship around to lead the way. The Petrified Turtle Rock flew toward the only continent on the planet's surface under the guidance of several Irim cruisers.

After passing through the atmosphere, Hao Ren opened an additional external monitor. He was pleased to see that there were already many signs of civilization on the desolate, primitive continent's surface: stretches of simple cities could be seen on the barren beaches, magnificent white towers stood in the forests, and many peculiar facilities were under construction on the originally craggy mountains—probably broadcast towers for basic communication or energy transmission. He increased the sensitivity of the external monitor and discovered more residential areas and infrastructure under construction. Although they were still rudimentary, they were enough to show that the Irim had adapted to this planet and could survive well here.

And in the ocean far away from the continent, those "colonial ecosystem spheres" formed by the descending floating islands had obviously changed: they no longer needed to return to space, so they were now being built into fixed seaside cities. After the protective walls of the ecosystem spheres were modified, many gates were carved out. Outside the gates were artificial land extending outwards, and long runways and ports. Fully loaded aircraft and freighters, obviously newly manufactured, traveled back and forth between the continent and the seaside cities, transporting massive amounts of personnel and materials.

New residents were stepping onto that continent, which was still somewhat unfamiliar to them. Materials from the continent were also being used to repair and renovate those ancient shelters. The Irim people had successfully taken root in their new home and were beginning to seek peaceful coexistence with this planet in their own way.

"The construction progress is fast," Hao Ren said with some surprise into the communicator. "I originally thought it would take you a few years to land on the continent in large numbers. Now it looks like those aerial island shelters have already started to relocate?"

"The environment of the new home is even better than we imagined," Wim's voice came from the communicator. "And the ancient Mysteries of Nature allow our people to adapt to the environment outside the dome at a faster rate. Now, hundreds of thousands of elves travel from the dome cities to the new continent to develop new homes every day. But those dome cities will not be abandoned. Mother has decided to use the resources on the continent to renovate all the facilities on those islands. In the end, each dome city will still accommodate the equivalent of one-third of its original population—this is their most reasonable living state. The cities are no longer dilapidated, the materials are no longer restricted, and water and food can be obtained in full... There is no better era than this."

The ship gradually decreased its altitude, and a glittering beach appeared on the screen transmitted by the external monitor. The outline of that beach was vaguely familiar, but the scene on it was very different: neat buildings with a preliminary scale were orderly distributed on the beach and the large area of land behind the beach. The land in the city had been reinforced and laid with artificial materials, and towering white walls surrounded the city, forming a semicircular barrier facing the sea to block the overly strong and humid sea breeze. And in the part of the city that extended to the continent, the elves did not destroy the original forest vegetation, but carried out reasonable transplantation and pruning—they directly built the other part of the city in the forest. With the ingenious design of the craftsmen, half of the city and the forest were perfectly integrated.

The City of Stars, the new capital of the Irim elves, the place where the first immigrants landed, Hilda once said that she would build it up here. Now it seems that her project has initially taken shape—the construction speed of this city also exceeded Hao Ren's expectations. He did not expect that the city would be so large in just a few months.

But then again, the construction speed of this city is not too difficult to understand: after all, the Irim elves also came from the interstellar era. Even if their technological strength cannot catch up with the monster civilizations that fly in the sun all day long, they are still stronger than the earthlings. Plus, they used to live on space floating islands that had problems at any time. It is estimated that their technology tree must have a lot of points in the "speed construction" skill. Things like the dome islands being quickly blocked in three minutes after being damaged, and the protective walls collapsing and being quickly built in ten minutes should be considered basic industry...

The new city was still under construction in full swing, and large areas of vacant land could be seen in the city. The ship circled over the city and then slowly landed near the newly built royal area. Hao Ren and Wim each led their people off their ships, and they gave each other a solid hug as soon as they met—in fact, it was Wim who rushed up and gave the hug, making Hao Ren feel embarrassed.

He was really not good at hugging a man who was at least three or four times more handsome than him. It was easy to hurt his self-esteem...

But after looking at his elven follower, Yosef, he felt balanced: No matter how handsome Wim was, you could tell that he was a man. But if this guy behind him stood on the street, even if he was just brought home to watch and do nothing, it was estimated that a reinforced company of tycoons would be willing to take care of him...

The two elven followers were startled by the scene in front of them as soon as they landed. They did not expect to actually see so many elves in another world. Although they looked similar to the elves in their hometown, they could tell at a glance that they were a different group of guys by looking at the surrounding buildings and the tools used by the locals. Yosef and Ailu almost forgot what they were here for. They stared blankly at the surrounding scenery and could not walk. In the end, Lily pulled them hard before they followed the team.

Lily was very satisfied with this—usually others were pulling her to walk around, this time it was finally her turn to pull others...

"Mother is in the council hall, holding a meeting with the elders and couldn't come out to greet you. She asked me to apologize to you first," Wim said to Hao Ren while walking ahead and chatting with him. "Many things are getting on the right track, and there is no shortage of manpower, but the main thing is that there are many things that need to be adapted to when living on land for the first time. We have to formulate new transportation, farming, and construction regulations. This matter has been busy for more than a month."

Hao Ren nodded to show his understanding: "I understand, I understand. At this time, the management must be overwhelmed... Hey, I still need you to help this time. I guess your mother will be even more busy for a while..."

As he spoke, Hao Ren suddenly stopped moving. He stood blankly in front of a central square, looking at the huge group statue at the entrance of the square, and did not react for a while.

The statue was cast from some kind of alloy, and the overall height was more than ten meters. The leading image was a man wearing a spaceship commander's uniform, leading the team forward with his head held high, one hand pointing forward as if guiding the direction. Behind the leading statue was a group of Irim elves with firm expressions, leaning forward and trekking hard. The whole group statue presented the image of a pioneer team constantly moving forward under the leadership of a leader.

Exquisite, grand, solemn, and particularly heavy.

Hao Ren looked at it for a long time before finally realizing what it was. He looked at Wim in a daze: "Is that me on top?"

Wim smiled and pointed to the bottom of the statue: "Spiritual pillars are extremely important at this time. The people need something to inspire their morale—there is nothing more inspiring to them than the person who led them here."

Hao Ren did not know what expression to make. He lowered his head and saw a golden plaque in front of the statue with a line of words written on it: To the Pathfinder, the Irim Elves' Eternal Sun King and High Lord—Hao Ren.

Hao Ren: "... What the heck!"