Around the world, people could feel the tension building with every passing hour. News channels ran constant updates while factions, corporations, governments, and powerful families positioned themselves to rush toward the nearest Secret Realms the moment access became available. The Expansion was about to begin, yet everyone already understood one thing. Whoever secured the best Secret Realms first would possess an enormous advantage in the years to come.
Different nations responded to the situation in very different ways. The United States had decided on a relatively hands-off approach, choosing to auction development rights to private companies and organizations. Aside from reserving a handful of realms for military use, the government largely did not care how the winners chose to monetize them. As long as the treasury received its share, they were satisfied.
The advantages of that approach were obvious. The government did not need to spend manpower securing, developing, and operating every Secret Realm themselves. Instead, private groups would take on the risk while paying enormous sums for the privilege. Better yet, many of those rights were being sold through installment plans, allowing even relatively new factions to participate in the bidding process.
Of course, there were drawbacks as well. Once the development rights were paid off, most of the long-term profits would belong to the owners rather than the government. The state would receive taxes, but the true wealth generated by the realms would largely remain in private hands. Some politicians viewed that as a necessary compromise while others considered it a disastrous mistake.
China had chosen the exact opposite strategy. There, every Secret Realm was considered property of the state. Access fees, development projects, resource extraction, and monster farming all fell under government supervision. If someone wanted access to a realm, they paid the government directly and followed government regulations.
That method had its own strengths. Every kill, harvested resource, and access fee created a steady stream of income for the state. Long term, the profits could be immense. The downside, however, was equally obvious. Maintaining and operating every Secret Realm required manpower on a staggering scale.
That manpower had to come from somewhere. Every soldier guarding a realm was a soldier not reclaiming territory. Every worker maintaining realm infrastructure was a worker not restoring roads, farms, factories, or power grids. The approach promised long-term wealth, but it slowed recovery efforts significantly.
Europe had ultimately chosen a middle path.
"Everyone is on standby, correct?" Herman asked while looking around the virtual meeting room.
Dozens of military officials stared back at him through their screens. The emergency conference had been called only hours before the first round of Secret Realm auctions concluded. Nobody wanted surprises tomorrow.
"Yes, sir," one of the generals replied immediately. "All rapid response forces are prepared. The documentation has been distributed to the relevant authorities. The Secret Realms reserved for public bidding have been identified, and the military-controlled sites have already been marked."
Herman nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Then let's discuss the real problem."
Several officers straightened in their seats.
Everyone already knew what he meant.
"There is no way satellites are finding all of them," Herman continued. "The obvious ones will be discovered quickly, but the hidden realms are another matter entirely. Dense forests, mountain ranges, underground entrances, and areas with constant cloud cover will conceal many of them."
A few officers nodded grimly.
The limitations of modern satellites had become painfully obvious after the arrival of mana. While digital cameras still functioned, countless other systems had become unreliable. Even something as simple as cloud cover could completely obstruct observation efforts.
"Because of that," Herman continued, "we will begin large-scale scouting operations."
A map appeared behind him.
Large sections of wilderness lit up across the display.
"Reconnaissance teams will search for rare resources, hidden settlements, monster concentrations, and undiscovered Secret Realms. Any realm we discover through military operations will remain under military control until further notice."
Nobody objected.
After all, those realms represented significantly greater risk. If a realm was hidden well enough to avoid satellite detection, there was a good chance it contained additional dangers. Securing those locations would require trained personnel rather than adventurers chasing profits.
"Have the Legions ready," Herman ordered.
A smile appeared on his face.
His military had never been larger.
Before the Trial, Europe maintained roughly four million active military personnel. That number had already been considered substantial by historical standards. Now, however, the standing military had grown to over twenty-seven million service members.
The increase was almost absurd.
It was also necessary.
The world had changed too much for old military doctrines to remain relevant.
Naturally, Parliament hated it.
Keeping twenty-seven million soldiers fed, equipped, housed, and paid consumed an incredible amount of money. Many politicians argued that those resources should instead be invested into research, infrastructure, or technological redevelopment.
Herman disagreed.
Technology could come later.
Survival came first.
The greatest advantage humanity possessed right now was manpower. If they could secure territory, reclaim farmland, and restore production, everything else would follow naturally. Without security, however, no amount of technology would save them.
Besides, Parliament's complaints annoyed him for another reason.
During the emergency powers period, military authority had undergone major reforms.
Previously, civilian officials had exercised much greater control over military operations. Now, however, the Minister of Defense primarily served as an oversight position. They monitored spending, reviewed performance, and ensured regulations were followed, but they no longer dictated military operations directly.
Training methods.
Equipment procurement.
Operational doctrine.
Force deployment.
All of those decisions now belonged to military leadership.
To say Parliament was unhappy about that would have been an understatement.
Fortunately, they were too busy dealing with thousands of other crises to reverse those changes. Infrastructure reconstruction, food distribution, economic recovery, and diplomatic negotiations consumed most of their attention. As a result, the military currently enjoyed a level of independence it had never possessed before.
For Herman, that arrangement was ideal.
"Alright," he said eventually. "Let's wrap this up. Tomorrow should be an interesting day."
The call ended shortly afterward.
Elsewhere, Karl was returning toward the villa when a notification appeared on his phone.
His eyebrows immediately rose.
Before he could investigate further, another call arrived.
"Karl, we won the bid."
Bennie's voice sounded both relieved and pained.
"We spent fifty thousand silver coins securing the development rights. Whatever is inside that Secret Realm had better be worth it."
Karl nearly stopped walking.
"Wait. Only fifty thousand?"
The surprise in his voice was genuine.
Over the past few days, he had followed bidding reports closely. Some of the more desirable Secret Realms had already reached prices measured in gold coins rather than silver. That alone demonstrated how valuable people believed they would become.
The transition from silver to gold currency had become increasingly common lately.
Ironically, gold coins were only worth ten silver coins.
By all logic, people should have preferred using gold.
Yet the opposite had happened.
Nobody wanted to spend them.
Researchers still did not fully understand why, but items purchased through the System Store often became slightly cheaper when gold coins were used. The difference was not massive, yet it was noticeable enough for people to hoard every gold coin they acquired.
As a result, gold coins had become strangely valuable.
Most people would rather spend hundreds of silver coins than part with a handful of gold ones.
That was why Karl found the final price surprising.
Compared to some of the auctions he had seen recently, fifty thousand silver coins almost sounded reasonable.