Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: I'm Going to Occupy Earth and Turn It into a Colony
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"Good work, my lord."
"Wow, you actually pulled it off, Geon-woo."
After bringing ten talents from Earth, Ilryeong and Pang followed Geon-woo into the office on the upper floor of the clinic.
"It's not completely over yet. First, they need time to adjust, then we'll evaluate their abilities."
Even with Pang and Ilryeong's words, Geon-woo wasn't letting his guard down.
The ten talents who had just crossed over from Earth were currently going through the adjustment period for this world.
"Some of them might fail to adapt, right?"
Pang asked Geon-woo, his face now serious without a trace of a smile.
"Of course. Don't you remember how much trouble Jumper, Tucker, and Ivan went through?"
"Well, the lower the level, the harder the adaptation. By that logic, the ones who came today are all around Jumper's old level."
"It's possible some might even die."
Ilryeong gave her cold assessment in response to Pang's words.
Geon-woo nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it'd be great if all ten make it through, but that might not happen."
"So what do we do? Based on this outcome, should we raise the bar for the next recruitment?"
Pang called bringing talents from Earth "recruitment."
He figured they could compensate for failures by selecting higher-caliber candidates next time.
"That's not possible. You know that, right?"
Geon-woo pointed out Pang's misconception.
Pang made an "oh crap" face, as if he'd momentarily forgotten.
"Right. The ones who came this time have all hit their growth ceilings on Earth, haven't they? So expecting anything better than that is unrealistic."
"Exactly."
Geon-woo nodded.
"My lord, from what I know, you instructed Jumper to prepare some countermeasures in advance."
But Ilryeong, who had been listening, spoke up with a look that said she already knew.
"What? You prepared something? And you kept it from us?"
Pang looked shocked and grilled Geon-woo as if to confirm.
"I figured it'd be best if they overcame it on their own, but I did prepare something to keep them from dying even if they couldn't."
"Wow, you hid that from us?"
"Exactly."
"Those we'd have to save anyway wouldn't pull their weight. I just set up an environment as close as possible to Earth for them to stay in."
"Would they adapt to this world if we give them that much time?"
"It'll take time, but it seems possible. Though they'd end up as third-rate at best. Maybe commoner-level strength."
Ilryeong did some mental calculations at Pang's words and gave her verdict.
"Right. Even being generous, we'd have to call it an adaptation failure. Still, they could handle odd jobs."
Geon-woo said that as he took a seat at one of the chairs around the round table.
"You two sit down too. We have things to discuss. The others will be coming up."
He gestured for Pang and Ilryeong to sit and glanced at the conference room door.
Soon after, Muhammad, Cheon Su-wan, Tucker, and Ivan entered, with Jumper rushing in last to grab a seat.
"As you all know, something huge happened today. We connected a dimensional passageway to Earth and brought ten people from there to this dimension."
Geon-woo started by explaining the key achievement to everyone.
They already knew, but everyone's faces lit up with fresh excitement.
"All we need now is time. To use my dominion rights and claim a territory with it will take quite a while."
"You can't activate dominion rights without a substantial number, so that's obvious."
Pang nodded at Geon-woo's words.
"The moment dominion rights are activated, every other owner will know. And it'll become possible to steal them."
"Activated dominion rights don't get system protection, right?"
Ilryeong chimed in lightly, backing up Geon-woo's point.
"Exactly. That's why you can't activate them without being thoroughly prepared."
"If your power is overwhelming enough to protect every contractor under the dominion rights, then yeah, it'd be fine. But that's a tall order, isn't it?"
"Your point is, if they can't touch you, they'll go after the contractors instead?"
Pang nodded, grasping Geon-woo's meaning.
"So how much preparation do we need? How often can we connect the dimensional passageway to Earth?"
Muhammad asked Geon-woo with a heavy expression.
"It'll take a tremendous amount of time."
"You're not saying we need to bring over a huge chunk of Earth's population to this dimension, are you? How many? One percent of the total? Five percent? Ten or more?"
Cheon Su-wan seemed eager to pin down exactly what kind of results they'd need over that long period.
The others listening to him wore grim faces, as if contemplating a distant, daunting future.
"We only brought ten at a time, and you're talking about one percent of Earth's population—how long would that take?"
Geon-woo countered Cheon Su-wan's question with an amused look.
"If we take one percent as 100 million, that'd mean opening the passageway ten million times. Sure, the gate size will grow, letting us bring more per trip and reducing the count somewhat, but..."
"Jumper, how long does it take to prepare one of those?"
As Jumper crunched the numbers for relocating 100 million Earthlings, Ivan suddenly cut in.
"Oh, prep takes about three to five days. Roughly four on average, but factoring in buffers, once a week is realistic."
"Once a week for ten people? You think that's enough to bring over 100 million?"
Ivan looked incredulous at Jumper's answer.
"And that's not the only issue. Even if we connect that often from this side, can Earth prepare that many talents? Plus, constantly pulling top people from Earth like this—won't it turn Earth into prey for other dimensions?"
This time, Tucker pointed out another problem.
"Geon-woo, this is trickier than it seems. The number we can bring at once from Earth is too small to begin with. And even if we bring more, they'll be underleveled for sure."
Pang judged that while connecting to Earth and bringing people had significance, it wouldn't meaningfully help with Geon-woo's dominion rights plan.
"Maybe we need to rethink this. Tying the dominion contract's base condition to Earthlings seems unfeasible."
Muhammad reached the same conclusion from the revealed facts.
The others in the room seemed to agree, their gazes toward Geon-woo all carrying a similar weight.
"Hmm. Our lifespans have lengthened since ascending to a higher dimension, but 100 million or 500 million is still a stretch. We couldn't even bring that many Earthlings here."
Geon-woo nodded, as if understanding his comrades' concerns.
"So in the end, the plan is to let Earth humanity flourish here over long ages? Building up the numbers across dozens or hundreds of generations?"
Jumper asked Geon-woo with a look that suggested it might be the most realistic option.
"Hmm. Even with our extended lifespans, I doubt I'd live that long. Right?"
Geon-woo turned to Pang as he spoke.
"True. And I can't see you making plans that span centuries anyway. You want to see the results with your own hands."
"You know me so well, Pang. Like you can read my mind."
"So there is a way? Narrow-minded as I am, I can't see how activating dominion rights with the 'Earthling only' condition is feasible, no matter how I think about it."
Even Ilryeong looked puzzled and curious, unable to guess Geon-woo's plan.
"First, we'll recruit as many talents from Earth as possible. Naturally, we'll support their growth here without holding back."
"Even so, the numbers will be too few."
Cheon Su-wan shot back, questioning what good that would do.
"Right—we secure a bunch of powerhouses from Earth origins. We make some duke-level, even on par with the Peniel family head or Rafin Tebrus, and fill in the support ranks below them."
"So, skip the mid and low tiers, just grab the absolute top?"
Tucker asked, as if doubting the point.
"Once we've reached that level."
Geon-woo paused there, scanning everyone's faces before continuing.
"We pull Earth into this dimension."
"Pardon? Pull Earth how?"
Jumper wore a face like he'd misheard.
The others looked equally baffled.
"Earth is a lower dimension than this one. So why is Earth considered lower?"
Geon-woo asked the group.
"Because everything on Earth is weaker compared to this dimension. Even the dimension-managing system is inferior."
Muhammad shared his take on the gap between lower and higher dimensions.
"Yeah, roughly. But what if the demon race had conquered Earth and Onbirod?"
"Ah, I know that one. Conquered dimensions become colonies, exploited for manpower and resources by the ruling dimension."
Jumper answered.
"Right. But did you know some colony dimensions have successfully gained independence?"
"Huh? Dimensions like that exist?"
Jumper looked blankly, caught off guard.
"Yeah, they do. And those dimensions all got incorporated into this one. This dimension grew this large by absorbing qualified ones like that."
"Hmm. So you're saying you'll strengthen Earth enough to join this dimension?"
Pang's face lit up with realization, piecing together Geon-woo's intent.
"Nah, that's going too far. First, I'll conquer Earth and turn it into a colony dimension. Nominally, of course. Then smooth out communications with this dimension, gradually assimilating Earth. Let it get permeated by the higher dimension's standards."
"Whoa! My lord! That's brilliant. Bring talents from Earth, build their strength, then use that power to conquer Earth? Assimilate it into this dimension, and eventually incorporate it after growth."
Ilryeong muttered in admiration.
"Plus, once you've conquered Earth and activate dominion rights there to declare territory, other factions won't interfere easily. Higher dimension forces, groups, and organizations face restrictions when meddling in lower dimensions."
Cheon Su-wan couldn't hide his awe at Ilryeong's summary.
"Is it... possible?"
Pang asked Geon-woo with a doubtful, 'could it really work?' expression.
"There's potential. Worth trying, at least."
Geon-woo nodded with a satisfied smile.