Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 368 New Proposals and Cooperation Details
The day after the release of the sixteenth doomsday rule, the latest remote meeting of the People's Federation was held.

Unlike in the past, this time the meeting was proposed not by the three major powers, but by several other smaller countries.

The purpose of the meeting was that, after exchanges and communication among the officials of several countries, a proposal was made in the hope that it would be adopted within the UN.

The content of this proposal is related to the current situation of Tianshuixing.

On the vast land of Tianshuixing, solar energy equipment such as photovoltaic panels, which are spread out over a large area, have replaced the previous human settlements.

As the world's population decreases, the effect of population concentration is becoming increasingly apparent.

In the first year after the apocalyptic rules were announced, rural areas in various countries were still inhabited. Now, with just over a month left until the two-year anniversary of the apocalyptic rules, almost 99% of rural areas and various small cities have been abandoned.

In countries that still maintain their political systems, the population is concentrated in a few large cities.

Some member states of the Federation of Peoples have even reached the point where the entire population of their country is concentrated in one or two cities.

This wasn't intentional; it was out of necessity.

If the population is insufficient, a large city can hardly function properly, and even filling it with a large number of intelligent robots cannot reverse this trend.

If this continues, and a few more survival-related rules that reduce population emerge, these small countries will face complete collapse.

How tragic is it for those whose countries have fallen? The disappearance of over a hundred countries in just two years serves as a stark example.

Many people who lost their country became mercenaries, formed wilderness groups, or joined other countries as refugees, but none of them fared as well as they did before.

In this situation, several small countries, unwilling to be swept along by the times, decided to go against the tide and join forces to build a new city where their populations could live together.

This means that the new city must be a megacity, capable of accommodating at least tens of millions of people.

The new city must also be a safe and smart city, with every residential building built to the highest standards to ensure it can cope with the vast majority of natural disaster threats.

In terms of energy, clean energy sources such as electricity, water, and wind will be the main sources, while all work facilities will be designed with the goal of "facilitating the use of intelligent robots".

Indeed, in the blueprint drawn up by several delegates and committee members, 99.9% of the work and affairs in this new super city will be handled by robots, with humans only responsible for a very small number of decision-making tasks.

As for the vast majority of humans living in it, all they have to do is deal with the rules of the apocalypse, and rest and have fun.

Turning this blueprint into reality is beyond the capabilities of a few small countries on their own. Therefore, they hope that the three major powers—North Star, Soroma, and Sisyah—will provide assistance.

Soroma provides a wide range of smart devices, including intelligent robots, while Northstar and Sisyah provide on-the-ground engineering projects such as urban construction.

After reading the proposal, Mary couldn't hold back and said sarcastically, "You countries are discussing building a megacity, and once it's built, it will be your citizens living there, but we're expected to do the labor?"

"This city will certainly welcome citizens from the three countries of Soma, North Star, and Sisya to live here," said Lu Ruiguo, a member of the committee and the leader of the small countries. "This is also for the sake of the overall future of humanity."

"The two development paths currently being pursued by the Confederation of Humanity are space colonization and digital life; building megacities is not part of the plan," said Cissia Commissioner Troft, frowning.

Upon hearing this, Committee Member Lu Rui frankly stated, "That's true. However, after discussing it, we, a few small countries, believe that even if those two plans succeed, it would be difficult to apply them to our citizens, given our limited capabilities."

The other representatives from smaller countries nodded in agreement.

Currently, apart from the three major powers, other small countries in the FBI are simply not capable of building manned rockets and space stations, nor do they have sufficient resources to invest in the infrastructure that requires the enormous power and computing power needed for digital life.

This means that they cannot participate in these two plans as the main force, but can only act as assistants to the three major powers.

Small countries may be weak, but that doesn't mean they can't understand things.

If you don't have control over something, you'll inevitably be at the bottom of the distribution when things are done and the rewards are distributed.

Committee member Lu Rui bluntly stated: "Even if the two major projects of space colonization and digital life are successful, not all Tianshui people will be able to immediately enjoy the benefits."

"For example, if space colonization succeeds, the citizens of your three major powers will go first, and we'll have to wait until last. If the Digital Life Project succeeds, the citizens of your three major powers will also back up their digital memories first, and we'll be last." "Shouldn't it be like this?" Mary retorted. "Do you really think this order will be decided by lottery?"

If the decision were made by lottery, the citizens of the smaller countries would be happy, but the citizens of the three larger countries would certainly strongly oppose it.

Why should we share the fruits of our labor, which are mainly achieved through our own efforts, with outsiders based on luck?
Even if a global community is formed, it has been too short a time, less than a year. It's utterly impossible to reach a global consensus in such a short period, even with a common external enemy.

“That’s right. So we think that we, as small countries, can contribute to the construction of megacities,” said Committee Member Lu Rui. “Moreover, we think that blind optimism is not good. If the two major projects fail, this megacity may become a backup plan and come in very useful.”

"..."

Mary, Troft, and Gao Liangwei were all pondering.

Committee member Lu Ruiguo is not wrong. Space colonization and digital life are very difficult for humanity, while building cities is something that humanity is good at and has been doing tirelessly for thousands of years.

Combining the advanced technologies humanity has acquired since the post-apocalyptic era, and with nations working together to utilize all of humanity's current wisdom and capabilities to build a megacity, is indeed an alternative option.

“I think this proposal is worth considering,” Gao Liangwei said after a moment’s thought. “However, construction will definitely not begin in the short term.”

“The research is certainly worth exploring, but the focus should still be on the Digital Life Project,” Mary reassured. “We won’t waste resources building any megacities until this project yields results.”

"Furthermore," Gao Liangwei added, "even if we're going to build a megacity, it should only be done after we've eliminated the parasites and the Fire Stealers Cult. Otherwise, a megacity that can be infiltrated by human enemies will only bring more danger."

"agree."

"That's right."

The proposal to build a megacity was not rejected, and the committee members from countries like Lu Rui were satisfied. They knew before the meeting that this was the best possible outcome, and any talk of immediate construction was wishful thinking.

……

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

"Manager, shall we contact Guan Tong now?"

"Let's get in touch."

Yesterday, Gao Liangwei expressed his intention to contact Shadow to explore new collaborations. However, he was busy with other matters on the day the new rules were announced and only had time today.

Zhang Minglu had already sent a message in advance, and now he initiated a video call request, which was quickly accepted.

"Dr. Zhang, Director Gao, hello."

"Hello, Guan Tong."

Gao Liangwei looked at the interior of the house where Guan Tong was on the screen. The intricate and gorgeous patterns were clearly those of Xisia.

Are you still in Cissia?

"Yes, I have some things to take care of and need to stay here for a while. I received a message from Dr. Zhang. What kind of collaboration does the research lab want to pursue?"

When Gao Liangwei heard Guan Tong say that he would be staying in Xisia for a while, he frowned slightly: "This cooperation requires you to leave Xisia... How long are you going to stay there?"

"We'll have to wait until things are resolved before Manager Gao talks about the details of the cooperation."

"...I would like to ask you to lead a team to France and the country to eliminate the leader of the Fire-Stealers Cult."

"I'm leading the team?" Guan Tong was somewhat surprised to hear this.

“Yes. Several high-level combatants in the research lab are mainly responsible for dealing with the parasites and searching for their leader, ‘The Prophet.’ But the problem of the Firebringers Cult is equally serious and urgently needs to be solved, so I thought of you.”

(End of this chapter)