I Only Wanted A Class In The Apocalypse-Chapter 1887: Eighty Worlds Join Hye!

Hye decided to give the system a test run. To his satisfaction, he found the process remarkably intuitive. He didn’t even need to personally visit the distant corners of the planet.

By standing at the central anchor portal and activating a bead, a miniature topographical map of the world appeared in his mind’s eye. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

With a simple thought, a new portal would manifest at the selected coordinates. Using the higher-grade beads allowed him to pinpoint exact metropolitan centres with surgical precision.

He didn’t care about the aesthetics of the network; in his eyes, these cities would be empty husks within a few days anyway. As he worked to scatter the beads and expand the central gateway’s size to a massive, yawning maw of energy, his own people finally began to arrive from the other side.

The vanguard was led by two familiar faces: Karoline and Isac.

"You do realise that if your secret plan was to give me a heart attack through sheer overwork, you’re doing a fantastic job!" Karoline laughed the moment she stepped through the rift. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, though her eyes shone with the excitement of a new challenge.

"You know this wasn’t originally in my plans," Hye chuckled, clasping her hand in greeting. "I just stumbled upon a unique opportunity. It would have been a waste to let a whole world slip through my fingers."

"It’s a massive opportunity," Isac said, her eyes scanning the horizon and the sophisticated architecture of the alien city. "Amazing. An entire world similar to ours... I assume this planet is roughly the size of our New Earth?"

Hye understood her underlying concern regarding housing and resources. He needed to clarify the scale of what they were dealing with.

"The physical size of the planet is the same, yes. But you have to remember—this world, like many others, has lived in its post-apocalypse state for over a hundred years. They have three full generations of history here. Their total population figure is astronomical compared to our current numbers."

Karoline’s expression turned serious. "You know we only have a few artificial planets ready for habitation, right? If we take in billions at once, we’re going to hit a ceiling almost immediately."

Hye merely shrugged, his eyes already turning back to the expanding portal.

"We don’t need to travel far and wide to establish new habitable zones," Hye said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute authority. He paused, looking out over the horizon of the world he had just effectively purchased.

"Just plant ten thousand artificial planets around the central segment of our territory. A single artificial planet won’t even take a week to grow to its full-size capacity, and they can be inhabited as early as day three of the growth cycle."

"I know the specifications, Hye," Karoline sighed, rubbing her temples. The sheer scale of the logistics was enough to make her head spin. "But we had specific, long-term plans for the planet seeds you gave us. They were meant for strategic outposts and resource cultivation, not for a sudden refugee crisis of this magnitude."

"Plans change to fit the reality of the moment," Hye interrupted her, his tone leaving no room for further debate. "Just use those seeds for this purpose now. I am already working on the back-end logistics to secure more planet seeds for our future expansions. Consider these the immediate foundation of our expansion."

"If you say so," Karoline replied. She paused, a look of sudden, weary amusement crossing her face before she broke into a laugh. "I actually can’t believe it. When we first arrived at the territory, our main concern—our daily obsession—was how we were ever going to find enough people to fill the empty space. Now, here we are, complaining about how to accommodate the billions you’re dropping in our laps."

"Yes, sometimes it truly feels like you are competing against yourself, Hye," Isac added, her laughter echoing Karoline’s. "You create a problem of abundance, solve it, and then immediately create a bigger one."

Hye only offered a small, knowing smile. He didn’t feel the need to explain the hunger that drove him. "I’ll leave the ground operations here in the hands of you two," he said, waving a hand as he began walking back toward the ramp of his massive battleship.

"I need to head toward the other planetary systems. There are sixty-three confirmed worlds waiting for my arrival to finalise their allegiance. They want to join us, so ensure the logistics teams are ready for a continuous influx."

"..."

His words acted like a physical weight, choking the laughter right out of the two women’s throats. They stood frozen, giving him a long, stunned look as he vanished into the airlock of his ship. The silence on the tarmac was absolute until the engines began to hum, and the ship lifted back into the dark expanse of space.

"Our Hye... he surely grew stronger," Karoline whispered, her voice tinged with a mix of awe and nostalgia. She recalled the early days, back when she had first met him—a man struggling against the tides of a local apocalypse. Now, he was a force of nature.

"He is growing more capable indeed," Isac agreed. She paused, a faint, predatory smile appearing on her lips. "A monarch in the making, right before our eyes. What a lovely, terrifying sight, hehehe!"

Hye didn’t waste a second. He moved with a speed that defied standard interstellar travel, fueled by the urgency of the system’s shifting tides. In less than half a day, he successfully visited every world that had expressed a willing desire to join his faction.

As the news of his "generous" terms and the safety of his territory spread through the sub-sectors, the remaining worlds—those that had been hesitant or fearful—decided they couldn’t afford to be left behind. They didn’t want to be the ones standing outside when the doors to the new empire closed.

By the end of his circuit, around eighty worlds had signed the soul-binding contracts. Hye delegated the massive task of coordinating the migrations to his friends and the rising leaders of his kingdom’s factions. He was the architect; he didn’t need to be the mason.