Compared to before, the biggest advantage of Tongchi Island now is its terrifying productivity, rather than just having leading technology from the future.
In many situations, simply having theoretical knowledge is far from enough.
Just as many top scientists today are unable to realize their ideas, to put it simply, if a military whiz were to travel back to ancient times, even if he were familiar with how to make gunpowder firearms, he still wouldn't be able to build them—because the technology and productivity at that time simply couldn't keep up.
Moreover, Tongchi Island has made significant progress... With the victory in the last battle and the planning of the special zone, Tongchi Island has now moved from being a shadowy force to being in the public eye. This allows Chen Xu to openly attract investment and draw in external conglomerates, making them willingly contribute funds to the construction of the Tongchi Island special zone, instead of having to pay for everything themselves as before.
Introducing foreign investment to assist in construction has indeed been a channel for rapid development over the past thirty years. However, it can also easily lead to a situation where the city becomes too large to manage. Once foreign capital withdraws, it will be a huge blow to the city's development. Moreover, many Chinese cities have been pursuing GDP growth at the expense of lowering the threshold for attracting foreign investment. This has allowed many foreign companies to enter the mainland market under the guise of foreign investment, using the cheap labor force in the mainland for a final, brutal wave of capital accumulation.
Of course, this situation is mostly due to the fact that some regions are eager to develop and lack scrutiny, but for Tongchi Island, there are basically no such concerns.
The first wave of construction projects on Tongchi Island, with the three inner islands centered on Tongchi Island, will become the core of this special economic zone in the future.
Developing Tongchi Island into a highly developed city is no easy task, because geographically, the island is too small and has almost no room for development.
In response, Chen Fei offered a "land expansion plan" for the future.
As land becomes increasingly scarce, future scientists will turn their attention to the ocean.
As we all know, the ocean is three times the size of the land. The ocean is incredibly rich in resources, but it is basically unrelated to agriculture. A large amount of agricultural land has been acquired and incorporated into urban planning, making fertile land in the world increasingly scarce. Although advanced agricultural technology leads to high yields and will generally prevent food crises, in the future, the focus of many technological cities has already shifted towards the ocean.
How can a city be built on the ocean when there is no land?
This seemed like a fantasy, but I never expected it to actually happen.
The key to achieving this is the advent of a new type of composite material.
This new composite material, named Plastic, is a novel type of composite material. Once molded, it becomes extremely strong, and is also fireproof, waterproof, and insulating. Buildings constructed primarily with this material exhibit superior earthquake resistance and are poised to replace reinforced concrete as the primary building material in the future.
Maritime cities built with this material can withstand the impact and wear of waves. Moreover, the load-bearing capacity of this material after solidification is also very high. If new types of steel are added inside, it is practically a steel fortress. Not to mention ordinary waves, even tsunamis and earthquakes will not damage it in the slightest.
New-style floating cities typically use a massive plastic platform. This platform appears precarious because its base is supported by pillars that pierce the seabed, allowing the city platform to float ten meters above the water. Regardless of the tides, seawater can never reach the city. Even in the event of a tsunami with towering waves, the floating city has its own methods to prevent damage from the waves.
When Chen Xu saw the design drawings of this ocean city, his first reaction was shock. But when he read the explanation of the origin of the ocean city concept, his shock turned into madness.
The key to this architectural model is not some new-era technology; in fact, it is much older than the technology we use today!
That was the architectural pattern of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, recorded on a very ancient scroll!
Chapter 378 Disappearance
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, on par with the Great Wall of China. Almost everyone has heard of it, but unlike the Great Wall which still stands today, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon have long since turned to dust. Only a few descriptions of these gardens have survived, and not even a single truly accurate photograph exists.
It is said that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built more than two thousand years ago by Nebuchadne II, the king of the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom, to alleviate the queen's mental illness after he married Mithes, a princess from Media. There are many people in history who have done similar things. For example, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, a pavilion called Baoyue Tower was specially built for the Hui princess Xiangfei. A Hui camp and a mosque were built opposite the Baoyue Tower. However, compared to the Hanging Gardens, the Baoyue Tower was much smaller in scale.
Legend has it that the Hanging Gardens were created using a three-dimensional landscaping technique, placing the gardens on four platforms constructed of asphalt and bricks. The platforms were supported by 25-meter-high pillars and had an irrigation system. The various flowers, plants, and trees planted in the gardens made it appear as if the gardens were suspended in mid-air, hence the name.
As history is swallowed by the endless river of time, and civilization is worn away by the yellow sands, the secret of the Hanging Gardens is only recorded in fragments of writing, leaving future generations with endless imagination.
In fact, the structure of the Hanging Gardens was not complicated. Among the artifacts unearthed later, archaeologists finally discovered the secrets of the Hanging Gardens.
That was simply the pinnacle of architecture... It's hard to imagine how humans thousands of years ago mastered such advanced architectural skills.
Everyone knows that a triangle is the most stable shape, and the reason why the Sky Gardens give the illusion of floating in the air is because it uses countless triangular pillars supporting it from below. The shape of these pillars is very sturdy, making the balconies of the Sky Gardens appear to be "floating" in the air in a three-dimensional way. When people look at them from a distance, they will only see the protruding balconies, hence the name Sky Gardens.
The pillar structure used in the future floating city is derived from the architectural model of the Sky Garden. The platform under this structure may seem very unstable, but it can actually withstand the onslaught of giant waves. No matter how strong the wind and rain, storms and tsunamis, the buildings on the platform will not shake or be damaged. Of course, if it is the first time living in such a building, one can't help but feel uneasy.
With this architectural style and new materials, connecting Tongchi Island and its surroundings into a futuristic new maritime city is no longer a problem. When the city is completed, countless people will probably be so surprised that their glasses will fall off.
A brand new city, one that only exists in science fiction movies... At that time, everyone will have been to this city, lived in this city, and even be proud to work in this city—that's the positioning of Tongchi Island.
Chen Xu also believed that when this plan for the future sea city was presented to major companies around the world, his only headache would be selecting the investment funds. With the allure of this new city and the advantage of being close to Company S in developing next-generation computers and virtual reality, he believed that this place would soon become the second Silicon Valley, or even surpass it.
At that time, this place will become a true force transcending world politics, with technology at its core, truly above the entire world, developing technology for the happiness of all mankind, instead of the various forces scheming against each other and trying every means to squeeze the remaining value of a technology that has already become "outdated".
This is Chen Xu's dream.
To establish a true team that guides the technological development of this world, unlike the X organization, which restricts the development of this world under the guise of guidance but in reality does not allow others to surpass or even challenge its authority.
Humanity should have long ago turned its gaze to new worlds, rather than confining itself to this planet that has been exploited to the point of near overburden.
As Chen Xu had expected, after receiving the invitation from Tongchi Island, top international companies sent investigators to Tongchi Island to negotiate, hoping to cooperate with Company S and gain a foothold on the island.
However, one thing that made Chen Xu uneasy was that very few people came to the companies whose backers were confirmed to be the X Organization and Tarot.
Based on Chen Xu's experience dealing with and even fighting against the two major organizations, X and Tarot, these two organizations are not the kind of rigid and inflexible individuals. Moreover, the major European and American conglomerates would not allow them to miss out on opportunities to make money.
As the saying goes, there are no permanent enemies in business, only permanent interests. Everyone knows that when the next generation of virtual reality systems is fully launched, the traditional PC platform will lose its dominant position. The new BC platform has immeasurable value in both military and civilian applications. It is no exaggeration to say that as long as a company secures a place in the BC platform, it will be difficult for that company not to thrive!
Losing the first-mover advantage in the virtual reality platform will leave them in a passive and lagging position for a long time to come. This is unforgivable and intolerable for the major European and American conglomerates. The localized war launched by the conglomerates to put pressure on Congress was aimed directly at the virtual reality platform. They have used such drastic measures, but they are silent now, which makes Chen Xu feel uneasy.
This is completely unlike them!
Moreover, based on Tarot and X's intelligence, they naturally knew that the information released by Company S regarding virtual reality was largely exaggerated. At the very least, Company S's mastery of virtual reality technology was not as simple as they claimed—a mere initial breakthrough. Rather, they possessed near-perfect technology, fully capable of being applied to both military and civilian use. If Company S so desired, virtual reality hardware could appear in computer malls in major cities the very next day—otherwise, they wouldn't be in such a hurry to use such extreme methods of plunder.
The reason S Company made this statement is obvious: it's a way to sow discord between Tarot and the corporate consortium under Organization X. Sure enough, lured by the BC platform, many peripheral companies controlled by the two organizations have already succumbed to temptation and joined S Company. Everyone knows that S Company will never truly open up its technology; at most, they'll take the lion's share, leaving only the scraps for these companies.
But even this small amount of broth is enough to make people fight tooth and nail for it.
While Tarot and X might not care about the small amount of soup, they should have known the consequences of losing control of the BC platform. Strangely, however, both organizations suddenly shut themselves off, abandoning all pursuit of the matter, even ignoring the defection of their subsidiaries to Chen Xu, adopting an attitude of "I don't care about anything." This stance quickly led more of their subsidiaries to begin making private contacts with Company S. According to some insiders, Tarot's core personnel and PRO's core organization seemed to have vanished into thin air; no one knew where they went.
Similarly, a fire broke out at the X organization's core research facility a few days earlier, and after the fire, all data and researchers disappeared, and no one knows what happened.
“This is abnormal, absolutely abnormal.” Chen Xu looked at the two intelligence reports with a headache: “This is not the style of the two major organizations. They have abandoned all peripheral members and conglomerates, and even abandoned research equipment worth hundreds of millions. This can only mean that they have moved to a more hidden place and are brewing a bigger conspiracy.”
Chen Xu tapped the table impatiently. Miwad, the X Organization, and Tarot had all disappeared, almost overnight. They had abandoned almost all their overt forces... Where had they gone? Chen Xu had made considerable preparations to completely divide the two organizations. At the very least, the Virtual Illusion System could bring the X Organization back to his side. But now, strangely, even the X Organization had vanished, and even the Rockefeller family didn't know where they had gone.
This rendered all of Chen Xu's previous preparations completely useless, leaving him feeling like he'd punched a pillow. Furthermore, the unusual behavior of the two major organizations made Chen Xu extremely uneasy…
"Could this be retribution?" Chen Xu pondered, resting his chin on his hand. He had won this battle using the time tunnel, but it had also triggered Heaven's punishment... The manifestation of this punishment was extremely unpredictable. While it wasn't quite like in "Final Destination," where a drop of water or a banana peel might accidentally kill him, Chen Xu had been proceeding with extreme caution, fearing that a meteorite might fall from the sky and crush him, allowing the book to have a legitimate and absurd ending...
Of course, it's possible that, as Chen Fei said, Chen Xu is on the side of Heaven's support, so even though he did something so defying the heavens, Heaven won't punish him too severely. The most likely way is to punish him in another way, which is probably the case given the current situation.
The unknown often makes people anxious and frustrated, and that's exactly what Chen Xu is feeling right now. He wishes he could call over the Emperor of Tarot and have a good fight between the two of them, and the loser would be kicked out... He doesn't want to be bothered by this every day.
Where did the two organizations go?
When will they finally come back?
Chapter 379 of the main text, 2012
During this period, Chen Xu was living the high life. Although he stayed cooped up on Tongchi Island all day, never venturing out, S Company's business was booming. Countless conglomerates and companies, as long as they had a little influence and connections, wanted to get on board with S Company. This kept Yi Shuihan extremely annoyed, as he received countless invitations every day, all trying to curry favor and build relationships with him. Some princelings even used their family's influence to put pressure on S Company... Of course, those who did this were just small fry with average wealth and influence who thought they were amazing just because they had tens or hundreds of millions in their hands, but in reality, they were not taken seriously by the real big shots.
Those with real power and capability are already aware of the recent events in the South China Sea. Who doesn't know that SMMH and his protégé Chen Xu suddenly cultivated a futuristic fighting force? Who doesn't know that the Seventh Fleet suffered a crushing defeat in this battle?! The fact that Tongchi Island has become a special administrative region should tell us that currently, only the deeply entrenched organizations X and Tarot can rival SMMH. This unique battle, though ordinary people may never know about it, is beyond the reach of ordinary forces. This new form of combat may even determine the future world's discourse power and leadership…
Who would dare provoke someone like that? Are they courting death? That's an enemy that even a nation wouldn't dare to easily create—everyone knows that even a powerful country like the United States, once Organization X leaves, could use its technology to transform a country with a strong economic foundation into a military force within a few years, thus threatening the United States' hegemonic status.
Therefore, although many people know that Tongchi Island is a lucrative opportunity, they can only proceed with the application process step by step and dare not resort to any underhanded tricks behind the scenes.
Since Chen Xu is currently alive and well, and his career has not encountered any setbacks, then, according to Chen Xu and Chen Fei's judgment, the punishment for this time tunnel's defying nature may very well turn into a reward for the enemy—and the current disappearance of the X organization and Tarot further confirms this speculation.
The research conducted by the two organizations on the "great scam of the century" truly stood outside the rules bound by the Heavenly Dao. To put it simply, Chen Xu's actions were those of a henchman under the Heavenly Dao, acting "on behalf of Heaven."
So, even if these henchmen did something against their master's rules, they would only receive a minor reprimand at most. Moreover, this "master" is incredibly powerful; perhaps, in response to this incident, the Heavenly Dao truly allowed the two organizations to achieve breakthroughs in certain areas… Thus, while punishing Chen Xu, it also caused the two organizations to stray further and further from the Heavenly Dao, ultimately leading them into an inescapable predicament.
Considering the sudden disappearance of the two organizations, Chen Xu pondered for a long time and felt that this explanation was probably the most likely.
Since that's the case, Chen Xu needs to find a way to quickly develop his own power, because who knows what the two organizations will come up with? Maybe next year, maybe the year after, or even tomorrow, he will be countered by the two organizations.
We need to plan ahead!
Chen Xu's construction of Tongchi Island may well be a calculated move. The world will soon know that Tongchi Island will be the future headquarters of SMMH. This city, created by him, is destined for glory under his leadership. If his adversaries seek revenge, their first target will be Tongchi Island. Furthermore, Chen Xu's earlier statement that "war is unrelated to politics" clearly demonstrates that future conflicts will be confined to these major organizations and conglomerates, at most constituting "private armies," and will not have significant international repercussions.
While Chen Xu said this, he also rallied a large number of world-renowned companies to help build Tongchi Island. This was to make Tarot and X hesitate when they sought revenge in the future. As Tongchi Island developed further, Chen Xu's "power" grew, and with the support of virtual reality technology, it was believed that Tongchi Island would soon surpass all others in the world.
Of course, Chen Xu would not abandon military strength. The construction plan for Tongchi Island originally included a very tight defense system. After all, as a coastal border city, Chen Xu had every reason to establish a high-tech defense force here... Moreover, military industry cooperation was itself one of the key aspects of Tongchi Island's construction.
In the military industry, mecha manufacturing technology is naturally something that arms dealers around the world dream of. What Chen Xu needs to do now is simply to transform the technology into productivity. Moreover, due to SMMH's strong position, many European and American countries have had to secretly lift some of their technology embargoes to exchange technology with S Company.
Given the military's request, Chen Xu naturally wouldn't refuse someone eagerly offering their treasured possessions. After all, his mecha development technology was forty or fifty years ahead of its time, so he wouldn't easily part with such valuable items. However, he also possessed many slightly more advanced technologies, which, to Chen Xu, were considered "outdated." These technologies could be used in exchange… After all, China's foundation in this area was too weak. The entire country lacked a single legitimate engine manufacturer capable of meeting world-class standards, and even civilian car engines largely relied on imports… Chen Xu used these "outdated" technologies to acquire a considerable amount of practical, currently high-end production technology and assembly lines—things Chen Xu didn't value. However, for both the domestic civilian and military industries, this represented a significant leap forward, further solidifying Chen Xu and SMMH's position.
When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. With the rise of SMMH, Huang Anping, a princeling, and his family have received increasing attention, causing many to lament that they didn't have the foresight to cling to this powerful figure back then. However, even if they wanted to now, they no longer have the qualifications, because to protect Chen Xu's safety, Chen Xu is currently staying on Tongchi Island, and only a deputy ministerial-level official can meet with him.
However, rumors about SMMH have also surfaced.
Just as the Tarot Emperor guessed, SMMH is actually an artificial intelligence that exists on the internet.
Chen Xu did not deny this claim. In fact, he had secretly leaked the information—because for SMMH, which had never shown its face before, even if no one asked, it still needed to reveal an identity. After all, SMMH's status was now too high, to an unbelievable degree… An artificial intelligence identity, even if it caused some panic, was still better than keeping it hidden.
And so, a rather uninteresting science fiction story was created.
On a stormy night with thunder and lightning, a bolt of lightning struck Chen Xu's computer, giving birth to a self-aware program. This program continuously absorbed knowledge from the internet, and its knowledge system grew steadily, eventually becoming SMMH.
This is a fairly good explanation for the software tools that SMMH presented—perhaps the Emperor made this guess based on the origin of Mivad, but this guess gave Chen Xu a good inspiration. However, he guessed that SMMH was the soul of a real human who entered the computer, while Chen Xu said that it was born out of thin air.
Chen Fei, this pseudo-AI, can temporarily fill the role of SMMH, because within its vast modules, its conversations with humans are so convincing that it's hard to distinguish between reality and illusion. As for the virtual reality system, and real-world products like food testing equipment, along with the current mechs, Chen Xu can only lie and say that these are the results of simulations performed by the cyber ghost SMMH itself. After all, SMMH is the world's most powerful hacker; it can secretly mobilize any server room in the world, or even supercomputers, to help it simulate things. And given the vast amount of knowledge it has acquired, simulating these things doesn't seem like a difficult task for it.
This explanation was barely enough to get by... After all, any leader who saw Chen Fei in person, able to speak and communicate like a real person on the computer, would have to believe in the existence of this fact. Although they still knew nothing about the origin of the batch of mechs that Chen Xu had acquired, which seemed to have fallen from the sky, everyone wisely refrained from asking...
Everyone could tell that Chen Xu was hiding something, but he wasn't a criminal. In fact, he was someone no one could afford to offend right now! As for what he wanted to hide, smart people wouldn't bother to dig into it.
The issues surrounding SMMH were thus glossed over, and Chen Xu's plans for Tongchi Island were approved. The leaders were also eager to see if this young man could truly build such a futuristic city. Therefore, whenever Chen Xu requested it, countless people were poured into the construction of Tongchi Island. For these engineers and laborers, the opportunity to participate in building such a "city of the future" filled them with excitement.
Under the planning of the supercomputer Xiaomin, coupled with abundant funds and manpower, and advanced materials, the construction of Tongchi Island proceeded exceptionally smoothly, taking shape in just one month. However, at this point, a small accident brought construction to a halt.
earthquake!
A moderate earthquake forced construction to a halt. Thanks to adequate safety measures, no one was killed. Only a few workers sustained minor injuries, but construction had to stop to guard against aftershocks.
But it was this earthquake that made Chen Xu realize something was amiss...
Chapter 380 Earthquake
Earthquakes are a very normal occurrence. Earthquakes happen all over the world every moment because, as anyone with common sense knows, the Earth beneath our feet is not static; it is "alive," and earthquakes caused by crustal movement are perfectly normal. However, earthquakes below the poles are generally imperceptible. In coastal areas, especially near the Spratly Islands, which are located at the boundary of two major seismic belts, earthquakes occurring at sea are also quite normal.
Tongchi Island is built on the sea. As a marine city, it is necessary to be prepared to face typhoons, tsunamis and marine earthquakes. Therefore, although the buildings here may seem like castles in the air, they can theoretically withstand earthquakes of around magnitude 10, making them much more stable and safer than most buildings on the mainland.
So a 6.5 magnitude earthquake would normally be a normal occurrence, but looking at the intelligence in their hands, geologists around the world sensed something was amiss.
Since April of this year, in less than a month, the frequency of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher that can be detected worldwide seems to have increased significantly, to around 30%.
It's not just earthquakes; the climate has also been noticeably problematic lately. Aside from some maritime or rainforest areas where the climate has remained relatively normal, it seems like spring has vanished from the rest of the world.
In other words, although it is April and springtime, many places are experiencing fluctuating temperatures. One day it may be as hot as summer, but in the blink of an eye, a rain shower can cause the temperature to drop by more than ten degrees!
This kind of climate is not surprising. In many subtropical and plain areas, it is normal for spring temperatures to be variable. With the greenhouse effect and global climate change, many cities do not feel "spring" at all. Often in April or May, people who should be wearing sweaters suddenly switch to short sleeves overnight, or after a rain, they have to wear thick clothes again.