Knowing that the situation on Earth had finally calmed down a little, Gaia decided that she could turn her attention toward other matters that had been waiting for her. One possibility particularly interested her: establishing trade with civilisations on other planets, provided that any such planets were close enough for contact to be possible. Although she had many reasons to investigate the wider universe, her primary motivation was her own growth and the opportunities that interplanetary trade might provide. If she could obtain materials, information, and knowledge from other worlds, she might gain advantages that would otherwise take humanity and Earth an enormous amount of time to develop independently.
The possibility did not seem entirely unreasonable, especially considering that an elf had already managed to reach Earth. Granted, that particular journey had required assistance from the universe itself, a fact that Gaia still found ridiculous whenever she thought about it. Nevertheless, the elf's arrival demonstrated that contact between civilisations on different planets was possible under the right circumstances. If the universe could arrange such an encounter once, then perhaps there were other methods of establishing contact that she had not yet discovered.
However, Gaia was under no illusion that the universe would necessarily help her achieve her goals. On an individual scale, she was not particularly important to something as vast as the universe, or even the Milky Way galaxy in which Earth existed. According to the information available to her, there were at least three hundred planets with confirmed civilisations, alongside an even greater number of planets known to support life in the Milky Way alone. Those figures alone suggested that Earth was merely one small part of a much larger collection of inhabited worlds, and there was no reason to assume that the universe would prioritise her interests over those of countless other civilisations.
The situation became even more absurd when Gaia considered what humanity knew about the observable universe. Humans had only been able to observe the regions from which light had enough time to reach Earth, meaning that their observations represented only a limited portion of everything that existed. Beyond that observable boundary, there could be an enormous number of additional galaxies, stars, planets, and civilisations that humanity had not even begun to discover. Gaia could not calculate the true number of inhabited worlds, but she was confident that it would be a truly ridiculous figure.
For that reason, she did not expect the universe to provide much direct assistance with trade or any other project she wanted to pursue. She was not powerful enough to influence something on that scale simply by expressing a desire, and even the universe's occasional interventions did not necessarily indicate that it cared about her personally. Most of the information she received seemed to come through a subconscious programme whose purpose and limitations she did not fully understand. Indeed, she could not even say with certainty whether the universe itself was sentient in the same way that she was, or whether its apparent actions were simply the result of processes far beyond her comprehension.
Those questions, however, were far beyond what Gaia needed to resolve at the moment. She did not have to understand the universe's entire nature before attempting to establish trade with another civilisation, nor did she need to discover every secret hidden among the stars. Her immediate objective was considerably more practical: she wanted access to information about other planets, their natural laws, and the organisms that had evolved under their particular conditions. Such knowledge could prove extremely valuable when she eventually needed to strengthen the laws governing Earth and prepare the planet for its future development.
Although humanity had made considerable progress since mana arrived, its understanding of natural laws remained limited. The scientists and researchers of Earth were still trying to determine how the changes affected their world, and it would likely take them a considerable amount of time to develop a comprehensive understanding of the new conditions. Gaia, on the other hand, already possessed a much broader perspective on the laws governing her planet. She could recognise relationships that humans had yet to discover, and she knew that every additional piece of reliable information could help her improve her understanding of the world she governed.
That was why she intended to take advantage of every opportunity available to her. If the laws governing another planet differed from those on Earth, studying those differences might reveal principles that she could apply to her own development. Even if the laws were fundamentally similar, examining how they operated under different conditions could deepen her understanding of their underlying structure. The organisms living on those planets could also provide valuable information, since their adaptations might demonstrate possibilities that had never developed naturally on Earth.
Humanity had already helped her make progress in this regard, although most people had no idea how significant their contributions were. Before mana arrived, humans had begun creating metals, materials, and other objects that had never existed naturally on Earth in their previous forms. They had introduced substances and structures that expanded the range of things available to the planet. Each successful creation provided Gaia with another opportunity to understand the laws involved, deepening her knowledge and broadening the possibilities available to her.
As her understanding of certain laws improved, those laws could become more abundant or more firmly established on Earth. That development, in turn, provided a stronger foundation for the planet's expansion and future transformation. Gaia did not consider human ingenuity merely a convenient source of inventions or economic growth; it was also an important part of how Earth could develop beyond its current limitations. If contact with other civilisations allowed her to obtain new knowledge and materials, the process could accelerate considerably.
There was, however, a much larger problem waiting for her in the distant future. Gaia knew that, after reaching a certain point in its development, a planet had to evolve into a plane. She did not fully understand why the universe required this transformation, nor did she possess enough information to explain the underlying mechanism. The information she had received indicated that the transformation would eventually happen, and she had to take that information seriously even if she could not yet make sense of every detail.
One possible explanation was that becoming a plane would make the management of energy expenditure easier. Gaia remained doubtful that this alone explained the transformation, since the energy requirements she had experienced so far did not seem sufficient to justify such a fundamental change. Nevertheless, she could not dismiss the possibility entirely, especially when the universe's information suggested that the transformation served a purpose beyond anything she currently understood. For now, she considered the explanation incomplete rather than incorrect, and she continued searching for a more convincing theory.
Her strongest suspicion concerned the celestial bodies within her solar system. At present, Gaia had no direct control over the Sun, and she possessed similarly limited control over the Moon. Maintaining the familiar patterns of day and night had therefore required her to expend energy in ways that seemed unnecessarily complicated. Instead of simply adjusting the rotation of Earth to preserve the same cycle, she had been forced to spend energy maintaining the existing coverage and behaviour of the Sun and Moon relative to her world.
Gravity presented an even more troubling set of problems. The Moon's relationship with Earth was not something Gaia could freely adjust, and the possibility of the Moon falling toward the planet illustrated how little direct control she possessed over certain aspects of her own solar system. If she were able to influence these celestial bodies more effectively, she might be able to prevent such problems and manage the system with far greater efficiency. That possibility led her to suspect that transforming into a plane might grant her a much greater degree of control over the Sun and Moon, perhaps because they would become integrated into the transformation itself.
Unfortunately, reaching that stage would require far more preparation than simply waiting for the necessary moment to arrive. Gaia needed a sufficiently deep understanding of the laws governing her existence, and the broader that understanding became, the better her chances of surviving the transformation. A process that fundamentally changed her nature could not be approached carelessly, especially when she did not yet understand all the conditions required for success. She therefore intended to gather as much knowledge as possible before the time came, and investigating other civilisations was one way to achieve that goal.
With those considerations in mind, Gaia concluded that she would have plenty of work ahead of her. Establishing contact with other planets would not necessarily be easy, and there was no guarantee that the first civilisation she encountered would be willing or able to trade. Nevertheless, the potential rewards were too substantial for her to ignore the possibility. If she wanted Earth to continue growing and eventually undergo its next transformation, she needed to expand her understanding of the universe, one discovery at a time.
Meanwhile, inside the office of the President of the European Union, a very different calculation was taking place. The Treasury Ministry had assembled the latest figures concerning the money earned from the secret realms during the previous month, and the minister had come to report the results directly to the president. The information was important because the European Union had been struggling to manage its finances while simultaneously dealing with the enormous expenses created by the arrival of mana and the changing security situation. Any new source of income was welcome, but the amounts involved in this particular report were far greater than the president had anticipated.
"Wait, how much did you say?" Isaac Aiken asked, his voice filled with surprise as he tried to process the figure his minister had just announced. He had expected the secret realms to generate some revenue, particularly after learning how much money the creatures emerging from them could produce. However, the sum being presented to him was large enough that he needed to hear the explanation again before he could properly assess its significance. For a moment, he wondered whether he had misunderstood the numbers or whether the minister had accidentally combined figures that were supposed to remain separate.
"Yes, sir. We earned approximately 150 million silver coins from the taxes automatically applied to the factions that own secret realms," Jónás István explained, wearing a relieved smile. "On top of that, we earned another 300 million silver coins from the secret realms controlled directly by the military." He was understandably pleased with the results, since the combined income represented a considerable improvement over the government's recent financial situation. Nevertheless, he knew that even such a large sum would not solve every problem facing the European Union.
The military alone was so enormous that its expenses could consume the money at an alarming rate. At the current wage of one copper coin per month for an enlisted soldier, the government's financial obligations were already substantial, and wages represented only one part of the total cost. Soldiers also needed equipment, supplies, training, and the resources required to maintain their units in working condition. With so many responsibilities competing for the same funds, even hundreds of millions of silver coins could disappear much faster than an ordinary person might expect.
Jónás had therefore been searching desperately for additional ways to generate revenue. He did not want the government to remain dependent on loans from the System indefinitely, especially when the amount owed was already so large that repayment seemed increasingly difficult. The new income from the secret realms offered some breathing room, but it did not remove the underlying problem of expenditure exceeding what the government could comfortably sustain. Unless the European Union found a way to stabilise its finances, the new profits would merely slow the growth of its debt rather than reverse it.
This was also why Jónás had little patience for factions attempting to evade their tax obligations. The revenue collected from privately owned secret realms had become an important source of funding, and every missing payment made it harder for the government to meet its commitments. If a faction attempted to conceal its earnings or avoid the required deductions, Jónás was prepared to take every lawful measure available to recover the money. He could not afford to be lenient simply because the people involved were wealthy or influential, particularly when the government needed every silver coin it could obtain.
"That is good news," Isaac said, although his expression remained troubled as he considered the government's wider financial position. "What do you suggest we do with that money? If I remember correctly, we are currently fifty billion silver coins in debt, and that figure is only expected to increase." He let out a defeated sigh, recognising how insignificant even 450 million silver coins appeared when compared with the total amount owed. Although the new income was certainly useful, the government's debt remained so enormous that he could not see an easy path toward reducing it.
The interest rate on the System's loans was only one percent, which was the sole reason the situation had not become even more unbearable. Nevertheless, even that relatively low rate was enough to keep Jónás awake at night, since the principal remained enormous and the government continued to face mounting expenses. A low interest rate could make a debt easier to manage, but it could not magically eliminate the obligation to repay it. For the time being, the European Union had gained a valuable source of income, yet both men understood that the real challenge would be finding a way to ensure that the debt eventually began to shrink rather than continuing to grow.