Chapter 402 - 367: New Proposal and Cooperation Content

Chapter 402: Chapter 367: New Proposal and Cooperation Content

The day after the sixteenth Apocalypse Rule was announced, the Human Federation held its latest remote conference.

Unlike previous meetings, this one was not proposed by the three major powers, but by several of the smaller nations.

The purpose of the meeting was to present a proposal, drafted after discussion between the officials of these smaller nations, which they hoped to pass within the Human Federation.

The proposal’s content concerned the current state of Celestial Water Star.

Across the vast landscapes of Celestial Water Star, sprawling arrays of photovoltaic panels and other solar equipment had replaced what were once human settlements.

With the world’s population dwindling by the day, the trend of population concentration had become increasingly pronounced.

In the first year after the Apocalypse Rules began, the countrysides of every nation were still inhabited. Now, with just over a month remaining until the two-year anniversary of the rules, nearly ninety-nine percent of all villages and small cities have been abandoned.

In the nations that still maintained a government, their entire populations were concentrated in just a few large cities.

Some member nations of the Human Federation had even reached the point where their entire populations were consolidated into just one or two cities.

This wasn’t a deliberate choice, but a matter of necessity.

Once the population fell below a certain threshold, a massive city could no longer function properly. Even filling it with large numbers of Intelligent Robots couldn’t reverse this trend.

If this trend continued, the appearance of just a few more survival-based rules that reduced the population would cause these smaller nations to face total collapse.

How miserable were the citizens of a fallen nation? The hundreds of countries that had vanished over the past two years served as a grim example.

Many citizens of these fallen nations became mercenaries or formed wilderness groups. Some joined other countries as refugees, but their circumstances were invariably worse than before.

Under these circumstances, several smaller nations, unwilling to be passively swept away by the tide of events, decided to defy the trend. They would band together to build a new city where all their populations could live together.

This meant the new city would have to be a supercity, capable of housing a population of at least ten million.

This new city also had to be a safe, smart city. Every residential building would be constructed to the highest possible specifications to ensure it could withstand the vast majority of natural disasters.

Its energy would come primarily from clean sources like electricity, hydro, and wind power. As for its various work facilities, they would be designed with the goal of being "user-friendly for Intelligent Robots."

That’s right. In the blueprint described by the commissioners, 99.9% of the work and affairs in this new supercity would be handled by robots. Humans would only be responsible for a very small number of decision-making roles.

As for the vast majority of humans living there, their only job would be to deal with the Apocalypse Rules. Beyond that, they would simply rest and enjoy their leisure time.

Turning this blueprinted city into a reality was impossible for the smaller nations on their own. Therefore, they hoped the three major powers—North Star, Soloma, and Sisiya—would provide assistance.

Soloma would provide a vast number of smart devices, including Intelligent Robots, while North Star and Sisiya would handle the on-the-ground engineering, such as the city’s construction.

After reviewing the proposal, Mary was the first to speak, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "So, you handful of nations have decided to build a supercity for your own citizens to live in, but you want us to do all the work and foot the bill?"

"The city would, of course, also welcome citizens from Soloma, North Star, and Sisiya," said the commissioner from Lu Rui Country, the leader of the smaller nations’ coalition. "This is also for the good of all humanity’s future."

Commissioner Tolovt from Sisiya frowned. "The Human Federation has currently established two development paths: space colonization and digital life. Building a supercity is not part of the plan."

Commissioner Lu Rui responded with frankness. "That’s true. But after discussing it amongst ourselves, we smaller nations concluded that, given our limited capabilities, it would be difficult to apply the benefits of those two projects to our citizens, even if they succeed."

The other commissioners from the smaller nations all nodded in agreement.

At present, aside from the three major powers, none of the other smaller nations in the Human Federation had the ability to build manned rockets or space stations. Nor did they have sufficient resources to invest in the power and computing infrastructure required for the tremendously expensive digital life project.

This meant they couldn’t participate in these two projects as a major force; they could only play a supporting role to the three great powers.

The smaller nations may be weak, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t see the writing on the wall.

If you don’t have a leading role in a project, you’ll be the last in line when the time comes to divide the spoils.

Commissioner Lu Rui spoke bluntly. "Space colonization and digital life—if these two grand projects succeed, not everyone on Celestial Water Star will be able to enjoy the benefits immediately."

"For example, when space colonization succeeds, it will be the citizens of your three great powers who leave first. We’ll be left for last. If the digital life project succeeds, it will be your citizens who get to back up their Digital Memories first. We’ll be at the back of the line."

"And why shouldn’t it be that way?" Mary retorted. "Did you think the order would be decided by a lottery?"

If it were truly decided by a lottery, the citizens of the smaller nations would be thrilled, but the citizens of the three major powers would surely object vehemently.

’Why should the fruits of our labor be shared with outsiders based on pure luck?’

Even with the establishment of the Human Federation, it had been in existence for far too short a time—not even a full year. It was impossible to expect the people of the world to form a "grand human consensus" in such a short period, even in the face of a common enemy.

"That’s true," Commissioner Lu Rui said. "That’s why we feel the strength of our smaller nations can be put to good use building this supercity. Besides, we feel that blind optimism isn’t wise. If the two grand projects fail, this supercity could become a backup plan, a very useful one at that."

"..."

Mary, Tolovt, and Gao Liangwei were all lost in thought.

The commissioner from Lu Rui Country had a point. Space colonization and digital life were monumentally difficult endeavors for humanity. Building cities, on the other hand, was humanity’s forte—something humankind had been doing tirelessly for thousands of years.

Combining all the advanced technologies acquired since the beginning of the Apocalypse Rules era, with all nations working together and pouring all of humanity’s current wisdom and capabilities into the project, creating a supercity was indeed a viable backup plan.

"I believe this proposal is worth looking into," Gao Liangwei said after a moment of contemplation. "However, construction certainly won’t begin in the short term."

"We can certainly study it, but the digital life project must remain the priority," Mary relented. "Until that project yields results, we won’t waste resources building some supercity."

"Also," Gao Liangwei added, "even if we were to build a supercity, it would have to be after we eliminate the Parasites and the Fire Worship Cult. Otherwise, a supercity that can be infiltrated by humanity’s enemies would only create more danger."

"I agree."

"That’s right."

The proposal to build a supercity hadn’t been rejected, which was enough to satisfy the commissioners from Lu Rui Country and the other nations. They knew before the meeting that this was the best possible outcome; hoping to begin construction immediately would have been delusional.

...

After the meeting, Gao Liangwei called Zhang Minglu into his office.

"Mr. Gao, shall I contact Guan Tong now?"

"Go ahead."

Gao Liangwei had mentioned wanting to contact Shadow about a new collaboration yesterday. But the day the new rule was announced had been hectic, and today was the first chance he’d had. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Zhang Minglu had already sent a message ahead of time. When he initiated the video call, the other end accepted almost immediately.

"Dr. Zhang, Mr. Gao, hello."

"Hello, Guan Tong."

Gao Liangwei looked at the interior of the room on Guan Tong’s screen. The ornate, lavishly patterned style was unmistakably from Sisiya.

"Are you still in Sisiya?"

"Yes, I have some business to take care of, so I’ll need to stay here for a while. I received Dr. Zhang’s message. What kind of collaboration did the research lab have in mind?"

Hearing Guan Tong say she needed to stay in Sisiya for a while, Gao Liangwei frowned slightly. "This collaboration would require you to leave Sisiya... How long do you plan on staying there?"

"I’ll have to wait until my business is concluded. Mr. Gao, why don’t you tell me about the collaboration first."

"...I’d like to ask you to lead a team to Fahe Country to eliminate the leaders of the Fire Worship Cult."

"You want me to lead?" Guan Tong sounded surprised.

"Yes. Many of the lab’s high-level combatants are focused on dealing with the Parasites and searching for their leader, the ’Prophet.’ But the problem of the Fire Thief Sect is just as serious and needs to be resolved urgently, so I thought of you."