My Children Swarm the Cosmos

「There aren’t many intelligent beings who know about aesthetic value. Humans are very special, a race that knows the beauty of creation. That’s why I respect humans. This moment is glorious and exciting.」

The Aooa’s voices created harmony as if several people were singing opera. Each note, pitch, intensity, and length of their voices all had meaning.

Therefore, when listening to them, one couldn’t help but wonder whether they were having a conversation or listening to a song.

“. . .Ah, yes. Haha. . . I heard that you, Oaa, came here without a dimensional passageway. Did you manipulate gravity by leading a very large spaceship or many spaceships? How did you come?”

「We formed a ring formation and performed dimensional gravitational acceleration. So, 22 of our spaceships came. They are currently anchored at the artificial structures in Mars’ orbit, purchasing human items.」

「If there are 22 spaceships, the mooring fee must be quite expensive. Hmm. . . if it’s okay with you, our group owns an orbital structure with a spaceport and a harbor. If you anchor there, we’ll do it for free. Haha.”

「Free is a bit. . . then, instead of us anchoring there for free, we’ll let you see our spaceships. It’s crude technology compared to humans, but I think it’s worth showing.」

“What are you talking about! If you have crossed the galaxy, you’re a civilization on par with humans. There are countless races in this universe that can’t even leave their own planets.”

「You’re being humble. I appreciate the compliment.」

“Then, let’s anchor at our spaceport. . . Shall we skip the time for shopping and get down to business?”

「That’s what I wanted.」

When Rittan reached back while sitting, one of the people behind him came up to him and handed him an electronic notepad.

The electronic notepad, which was as thick as a sheet of paper, was an invoice listing the trade between the Whitehole Group and the Aooa this time.

“Music, movies, dramas, speakers, microphones, laptops, pianos, violins. . . it seems like there are a lot of things related to sound. Oh, and there are civilian spaceships and cars too. There are also elements like uranium, plutonium, and argon.”

「The humans at our embassy in the Small Magellanic Cloud advised us that it’s best to use Whitehole when ordering various items.」

“Haha. That’s right. We’re the best in this galaxy when it comes to trade. Anyway, based on this, we’ll receive 31 tons of Aooa’s californium batteries, and we’ll pay 1.4 billion Cret. You can manage the Cret at your embassy. Please check it out.”

When Rittan placed the electronic notepad on the table, the contents translated into Aooa’s text were displayed on the Aooa’s side of the table.

An Aooa who approached Oaa from behind read the text and said.

「There are no problems.」

「It’s a good deal. Rittan-nim.」

Rittan smiled brightly.

“We received a lot of high-quality californium batteries that are compatible with our machines. I’m very grateful. Do you need anything else?”

“There’s one more thing. The humans at the embassy told me to ask you this.”

“Please, tell me anything.”

「We are a race that evolved from whales (temporary translation of species) that used ultrasound. Our blowholes that sprayed seawater became vocal organs, our fins became legs, and the tentacles that lured prey became hands. A long time ago, we were a marine planet, but we came to land because there was nothing to eat in the sea.」

Rittan made eye contact with Oaa with a serious expression.

「We have flourished a civilization based on fire, machines, computers, and metals, and we have peacefully entered space without any civil wars among our own kind.」

「Despite our growth, we, the Aooa, are still suffering from localized famine.」

A race from the Small Magellanic Cloud that had become civilized and entered space was suffering from famine.

“Oh my. . . is it an environmental problem?”

「Our military power is by no means weak. However, we have always paid tribute to a relatively stronger race in the form of planet-scale hydroponic food.」

It meant that there was a force in the Small Magellanic Cloud that was harassing this peaceful race.

Rittan sympathized with the Aooa’s suffering.

“They’re savages. If you’re a great power, you should act like one. . .”

「That’s why our elders came up with a solution to solve both the tribute and the famine at the same time.」

「That is to launch a self-replicating protein satellite in a planet with famine. And for that, we need 370 billion tons of organic matter centered around protein.」

Rittan doubted his own ears.

“370 billion tons?”

「It’s 370 billion tons of organic matter with a protein-based molecular structure. Can you get it for us, Rittan-nim? Our young Aooa are starving. We’ll make the appropriate calculations.」

The Whitehole Group is a global conglomerate that monopolizes a large portion of the world’s trade network with its inexpensive spaceships and transparent distribution network.

However, even for Whitehole, obtaining organic matter close to the weight of a satellite is no easy task.

‘𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. . .’

Rittan racked his brain. How could he process this enormous order?

It’s an issue in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This kind race is being exploited by some bad race, and despite entering the space age, they are still suffering from the chronic problem of food shortages from the past.

They are a race that has built a civilization and travels through galaxies like humans, but is it even reasonable that they are still suffering from famine because of a great power in the same galaxy?

He couldn’t just contact them right away and gather an army to invade the Small Magellanic Cloud, and he couldn’t just tell the Aooa to come to our galaxy.

Diplomacy isn’t something that can be resolved so easily, like a fight between friends. He didn’t dare to meddle in the diplomacy between different races where enormous interests clashed. He wasn’t in that position.

‘𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.’

Rittan thought hard about the suppliers he knew, and finally, he clapped his hands.

“That’s right!”

「An exclamation, is that right? Can you help us?」

“It’s not a place that originally sells those kinds of things, but there is one place in the Human Galaxy that can prepare that much organic matter.”

「Where is it?」

“It’s the Darwin Foundation. If you enter the Opeltes Cloud in the Nemea star cluster, you’ll find a structure called Apoptology. That’s a place that can quickly produce 370 billion tons, or even 1 trillion tons of organic matter.”

「Thank you for telling us about the Darwin Foundation. Do they also accept Cret or californium batteries?」

“Hmm. . . I don’t think so. They’re not an interest group in the open, being a foundation. . . It’s not a place where there’s a lot of demand for batteries. But I’m sure we can make some kind of deal.”

As far as Rittan knows, the Darwin Foundation is not an interest group only on the surface, but behind the scenes, there is no group that pursues profit without regard for means and methods as much as they do.

「I understand. What should we pay them in return?」

“I think it would be better if you went there and talked to them. I don’t even know what the chief there wants these days. . . I haven’t contacted them personally for over 10 years. Haha.”

「No matter what they want, we intend to accept it if it’s for resolving our race’s famine.」