{With the changes being agreed upon, I hereby declare that the amendment has passed and will be ratified the moment it is signed by the emperor.} Gaia announced, as usual, acting as the chair of the imperial council. She then hit the gavel to conclude the session.

Everyone in the room clapped for a moment, with many of the watchers unsure if the applause was out of obligation or genuine happiness. However, the smiles on their faces suggested it was the latter.

Gaia then brought the meeting to a close, as this was the only agenda item for today's session and the attendees had other pressing matters to attend to.

..

"Why didnt you ratify the constitution if it had already passed the council in the first place? Rina asked him the moment he left VR.

What is the urgency in it, darling? We teach our children (not his students at school) not to pay for anything or sign anything without seeing it first, and you want me to do the same for whole new races without seeing them?

His response made Rina chuckle. She didnt expect him to remain cautious despite all the evidence pointing otherwise, but he also compared the situation as if he were buying a house or shopping for a new car.

Plus, the moment I ratify it and they start creating trouble before I even visit them, they will have to be dealt with as citizens or allies of the empire, not as enemies. This will limit our options and make it take longer to handle any issues compared to if they act out before I meet them and before I ratify it.

Where is Henry? he asked shortly as realised his absence something that rarely happened as he usually liked to come and mess with him and he was missing today.

Tomorrow is Friday, so he is where he usually goes on weekends, House of Hope. Rina reminded him of what day it was today, which was enough to inform him where he was.

A few months after the formation of the empire and stabilization of the situation, he had implemented a four-day work week and made Friday to Sunday as weekends to improve the psychological stability of his citizens since with the reason people were working the majority of the time of the week that they were awake was because their work life was short making that much work understandable and slightly bearable but now that life has been extended there is no need to torture people for that much of time.

Well, it is good that he has people to play with in the first place since everyone here is quite far out of his age range, he said as he looked around the room. His intention was what was beyond that, which was the still active training base, though this time, only the best of the best were being trained here.

Did he go with Mom, Dad, and your mom again?

Mh she responded.

With that, they continued their conversation, shifting through various topics as they had an unlimited number of things to talk about.

.

In a blink of an eye, two months had passed.

Hephaestus Heavy Industries was currently the largest company in the entire empire, employing the second largest number of people, just behind the imperial government itself.

They were responsible for the production of half of everything in the empire that required advanced manufacturing, effectively making them a monopoly.

It had to stop there because they were actually sued by the Imperial Justice Department for being a monopoly. The lawsuit resulted in an agreement that required them to cease producing certain items and buy out all the small production companies they had put out of business, which ended up costing them about a trillion END, which was nothing compared to their profits; hence them agreeing to it without as much as blinking.

The only reason the agreement was reached, rather than the usual severe penalties or even the dissolution of the company, was because Hephaestus Heavy Industries was doing the opposite of what traditional monopolies had done in the past. Instead of suppressing competitors and squeezing them out of the market, they were collaborating with them, helping create production machines and other resources to ensure these smaller companies could remain in the industry.

Additionally, the agreement prohibited Hephaestus from engaging in practices similar to what Amazon had done with its sellers, such as buying the same products and selling them directly to compete with its partners.

Despite these legal constraints, Hephaestus Heavy Industries remained unmatched in precision machining, as they were known for consistently delivering products to the exact millimeter required.

Hephaestus Heavy Industries was also renowned for fostering growth in small companies with innovative technological products. By partnering with these startups for production, they provided an essential bridge for those lacking the funds to enter the tech industry, creating a synergistic relationship with Research City.

To achieve such extensive production capabilities, including the manufacturing of spaceships, Hephaestus Heavy Industries required production bases across multiple locations, including space.

Currently, in front of one of these colossal production bases in space, a fleet of twenty enormous ships, emblazoned with prominent imperial militarys logistical insignia, was seen departing towards the heliosphere and setting course for Proxima Centauri.

Among the fleet were numerous signal towers, destined to be strategically placed along various lanes to ensure redundancy and support both public and private communication networks for the imperial government.

With the preparations for his journey well underway, the focus had now shifted to operationalizing the communication infrastructure essential for the expedition.

Now thats what you call a company, Felix said to Sarah, resuming their playful debate over which company deserved more recognition.

You told me we were going on a date, and now youre showing me one of your companys printers? she asked, feigning a pout.

No, no, this place was just on the way to our date destination. The timing happened to coincide with the start of the journey, so I wanted to see it since I rarely get the chance due to work. Dont get too upset, he explained.

Depends on how good the date turns out to be, she replied, trying to hide her smile as she turned to walk away.

Im confident it will exceed your expectations. Look forward to it, he said with a self-assured grin.