"Tongchi Island will be a different kind of Tongchi Island, a world wonder of the new century."
On the eve of New Year's Day 2010, Tongchi Island, which everyone had been waiting for for a year, finally announced that it would open to the public on New Year's Day and welcome the first batch of tourists, the first batch of official residents, and staff.
Company S was the first to release photos and videos of this newly built, mysterious city online. They were immediately and frantically shared on major websites around the world.
That's amazing!
No one expected that the final result of the construction of Tongchi Island would be like this!
Skyscrapers? That's nothing new. Of course, to save land, almost no building on Tongchi Island is less than forty stories high.
However, this architectural style is refreshing!
The building, constructed using a three-dimensional sky garden model, appears from a distance as layers of balconies floating in the air. This unique construction method ensures that each balcony is ingeniously designed, allowing residents to enjoy ample sunlight without any obstructed views. The balconies protrude from the building itself, and those with a fear of heights might hesitate to look down. However, for many young people, this architecture is incredibly thrilling.
Of course, there are also traditional buildings. Unlike these sky gardens, traditional buildings are in the shape of pyramids, with fewer rooms at higher elevations, giving people a sense of being grounded.
Tongchi Island, along with the surrounding artificial islands, is connected by viaducts and tunnels. People can choose to travel between the islands via bridges or from underwater—this is nothing unusual. What is truly remarkable is that people can even travel between them by air!
The roads on Tongchi Island are divided into three types: on land, there are a network of elevated highways, several underwater tunnels, and... a fixed track in the air!
Civilian maglev trains have officially been launched!
These maglev vehicles can travel on fixed tracks in the air, making them convenient, fast, safe, and reliable. The fixed tracks are extensive, covering the entire sky above Tongchi Island, and are divided into three levels—upper, middle, and lower—creating a very clear three-dimensional network.
Of course, aerial driving carries risks. These maglev cars are controlled by the central supercomputer on Tongchi Island, essentially miniature taxis, and are not driven by the passengers themselves. However, before leaving home each day, passengers only need to press a button at home, and a maglev car will automatically stop outside their balcony. They can get in without even going downstairs, input their destination, and the central computer will automatically select a route, allowing passengers to travel to their destination at extremely high speed, safely and with peace of mind.
These maglev vehicles come in two types: one is in the form of taxis, and the other can be purchased by passengers as their own private cars—after all, the number of maglev vehicles is limited. Everyone wants to ride this new mode of transportation, but the problem is that there are only so many. If we rely on these maglev vehicles for everything, then the elevated bridges and undersea tunnels built on the ground would be a waste of resources.
After purchasing their own vehicles, customers can easily travel around Tongchi Island. Under the control of the central computer, the possibility of traffic jams in the air is almost zero. The magnetic network on Tongchi Island not only covers the entire 8,000 square kilometers of the island, but also extends beyond the island. Customers can take maglev cars to enjoy the beautiful sea view over the ocean outside the island.
At the very center of Tongchi Island are various administrative buildings and office buildings, which is currently the most bustling city center. Not only are there government departments, but also major companies. Of course, it is also an incredibly prosperous commercial district. Merchants from all over the world are vying to rent a piece of land here, because everyone knows that this newly built island will become an incredibly prosperous metropolis in the future world.
To the south of Tongchi Island lies a large marine amusement park that attracts tourists, while the west is a restricted area, inaccessible to ordinary vehicles—this is a military-controlled zone. It is home to the world's most powerful mech squadron. While mechs haven't yet been deployed for civilian use, they already have a rudimentary form on the Virtual BC platform. At the Tongchi Island amusement park, visitors can experience the thrill of piloting a mech firsthand.
To the north of Trang Island lies a large airport and ferry terminal, attracting airlines and shipping companies from all over the world. All the aircraft are the latest, best, and safest top-of-the-line models. There are also several luxury cruise ships, and the service is naturally top-notch. The selection of flight attendants alone is extremely rigorous; some jokingly say that choosing flight attendants on Trang Island is basically like selecting both flight attendants and Miss World contestants at the same time.
Besides the airport, there are luxury hotels scattered throughout the city, encompassing almost all the world's well-known brands, from Hilton to ordinary hotels—after all, not everyone can afford a five-star hotel, and ordinary chain hotels are the key to attracting ordinary tourists. However, for those with money to burn, there is the second Burj Al Arab hotel invested in by Prince Maktoum of Dubai. Everything here is just as luxurious as, if not inferior to, the seven-star hotel in Dubai. Moreover, Prince Maktoum's "Dubai" has become a frequent guest on Tongchi Island. Out of personal friendship, Chen Xu gifted Prince Maktoum a separate luxury sea-view villa, which made him extremely happy.
Although people in Dubai are not short of money, everyone knows that detached villas like these are not something that can be bought with money alone.
There are only two ways to get to Tongchi Island: by sea and by plane. The pirates in the South China Sea have long been wiped out by Tongchi Island's mech squadrons during their regular drills, including those who were actually government troops posing as pirates, so the sea route is very safe. However, some people are reluctant to take the plane, such as Dennis Bergkamp, the former Dutch national football team star whom Chen Xu greatly admires.
Although airplanes are said to be the mode of transportation with the lowest accident rate in the world, everyone knows that's because airplanes are far less likely to have accidents than cars or trains. Moreover, if you have an accident while traveling by car, you might not be seriously injured, and you might not even suffer minor injuries. But if an airplane crashes, it's all over, and it's a miracle if you survive.
The whole world knows this, but there's no way to solve it—after all, the plane is flying in the stratosphere! Once something goes wrong, there's no way to save it.
However, this problem has been solved by Tongchi Island!
No matter which passenger plane in the world is flying to Tongchi Island, passengers can see four strangely shaped flying objects escorting and following the plane through the windows along the way.
This strangely shaped flying object is called the "Guardian".
Don't underestimate these four Guardians. They are flying escort devices commonly used in future societies. They are a type of flying mech, specifically designed for rescue and navigational protection, similar in function to the escort ships on both sides of a naval fleet.
This type of mech doesn't possess the same exceptional agility as other combat mechs, but it's still far more maneuverable than ordinary aircraft. However, its ability to take flight in the stratosphere necessitates some sacrifices.
How do these guardians protect and escort you?
Company S conducted a live broadcast, with Boeing lending out a Boeing 747 passenger plane that was about to be phased out. Of course, apart from the captain and first officer, who had already taken very strict safety measures, there was no other living person on the plane, but there were many animals and a certain amount of evenly distributed weight to simulate the weight of the passenger plane when it was fully loaded.
After the plane took off and entered the designated performance area, under the watchful eyes of several cameras that had been raised into the air by various means, the captain and co-pilot made an emergency parachute jump and shut down the autopilot system—meaning that at this point the plane had become unmanned—this was probably the extreme—how could a plane that was completely unmanned escape danger?
Chapter 398 The Guardians (Part 2)
The plane, having lost control and with its autopilot shut down, immediately began to plummet. If this were to happen... then, thank goodness, an air disaster was inevitable unless Superman, with his red underwear on the outside, arrived in a flash and used his incredible strength to hold the plane up. Otherwise, the passengers at the airport would surely perish.
But at that moment, the four Guardians began to move.
They reacted the instant the plane began to fall. The four Guardians maintained their positions and accelerated downwards. The first Guardian rushed to the bottom of the plane, and suddenly a huge, white, cotton-like object popped out from its "back".
The next step was for the falling passenger plane to crash into these white objects.
Although it was less than three seconds, the sheer mass of the aircraft and its rapid descent generated immense kinetic energy. A collision with the guardians below would have resulted in an explosion on both sides. However, this didn't happen because the white, cotton-like, foam-like substances rapidly expanded, creating a massive buffer zone that mitigated the aircraft's kinetic energy during its descent. Simultaneously, these bubbles possessed strong adhesive properties, directly binding the passenger plane to the backs of the guardians!
At this moment, another Guardian aircraft quickly arrived. The first Guardian was "carrying" the front of the plane, which was obviously quite strenuous, as the center of gravity was not stable at all. The second Guardian was positioned right at the tail of the plane. It also sprayed a lot of foam to "stick" itself to the plane. Both Guardians sprayed high-speed flames from their bottoms, using the recoil speed to counteract the plane's falling speed.
The two guardians, one in front and one behind, lifted the plane from its descent in less than half a minute. At this moment, the people watching the live broadcast were already applauding and cheering—truly worthy of the name of guardians. Although they still didn't understand what that white thing was, it must be the latest technology from Company S.
Moreover, those in the know understand that even if an aircraft malfunctions in the air, situations like this, where it instantly loses control, are extremely rare. This is almost a worst-case scenario, yet the escorts still managed to save the aircraft. In a normal situation, the captain would have noticed the problem beforehand, such as a compass malfunction or navigation system failure. In such an emergency, the escorts who are always on the wings of the aircraft could react much earlier, unlike now, where they only reacted after the aircraft had already begun to fall.
But many people are wondering why four were deployed when two guardians would have been enough.
On screen, the plane's freefall has come to a successful end. It is clearly impossible to rely on the two escorts to lift the tens of tons of passenger plane to its destination. As expected, the two escorts descend at a constant speed, preparing to make an emergency landing on the sea below.
A complete airplane floating on the sea is not difficult, and the passengers would not be harmed. Moreover, the Guardians had already sent out a distress signal the moment the crash occurred, and the nearest country would immediately send a rescue team. But what use were the other two Guardians, which had been flying on either side of the plane after the crash?
Company S explained: "Although the other two escort aircraft are invisible to the naked eye, they are actually indispensable. While the first two escort aircraft might be able to support the aircraft if the center of gravity is stable, they would struggle to hold up such a large passenger plane if the center of gravity is unstable. The function of the other two escort aircraft is that, at the moment of impact, they utilize Company S's latest electromagnetic technology to create an invisible anti-gravity magnetic field around the fuselage. You can review the footage; the speed at which the passenger plane falls is far slower than the speed of free fall. If you still don't understand, you can watch our animated demonstration video."
In the animated demonstration video, the two seemingly useless Guardian mechs fired two beams of electricity the instant the plane crashed. These beams were invisible to the naked eye, so the animation was used to simulate them. The two beams struck the fuselage, immediately creating an invisible magnetic field around the passenger plane. This magnetic field could significantly counteract gravity, but due to inertia, the plane would still fall. At this moment, the two Guardians had already rushed beneath the plane and began to support it.
Once everything was stable, the two escort aircraft below descended at a constant speed, while the other two escort aircraft also descended at a constant speed, using magnetic nets to hold the wings of the aircraft together, making the aircraft's center of gravity more stable.
When the passenger plane landed safely on the sea, the reporters who had been waiting on boats nearby rushed over. When they opened the cabin door, they saw that the various animals used for experiments were not only unharmed, but the dogs and cats were also licking their paws or fighting around, seemingly unaware that they had just narrowly escaped death.
"With this guardian, flying will be the safest mode of transportation!" Boeing's president publicly stated after the test. Almost all airlines in the world extended invitations to Boeing, hoping to purchase this guardian to protect their aircraft.
Because everyone knows that this live video will spread throughout the world instantly, and in the future, when people choose to fly, they will inevitably prioritize airlines with escort aircraft. As for the cost, of course, deploying four escort aircraft will cost money, and ultimately, the cost will be borne by the passengers, included in the ticket price. However, Company S has already announced that this cost is not much; compared to tickets that often cost thousands of yuan, each passenger will only need to pay an additional 200 yuan. If you don't want to pay extra, then... Since the number of escort aircraft is limited, there will always be flights without escort aircraft that you can choose to fly on.
There are still many people in Kenya. Although they know the probability of a plane crash is less than one in ten thousand, after all, nothing is more valuable than their own life, right? If something really happens, will they regret not spending those extra two hundred dollars in the afterlife?
Having escorts along the way is actually a last resort—because the uncertainties of air crashes are too numerous. Company S explained that their original plan was to set up escort stations along major routes, with each station staffed with escorts on standby 24/7. This way, if communication between the aircraft became abnormal, the nearest escort would arrive quickly. However, as everyone knows, if a plane crashes, it's usually a matter of minutes. While escorts are fast, they are not infallible; if a crash occurs, they simply won't be able to arrive in time. Currently, their only option is to contact major airlines, hoping to reduce costs and minimize the extra expenses for passengers.
However, Company S also stated that because the Guardian involves the most cutting-edge technology currently available, cooperation with major airlines still needs further discussion. Originally, due to confidentiality clauses, the Guardian mechs should not be used for civilian purposes, as their technological content even surpasses that of many countries' military aircraft. However, for the safety of passengers, Company S had to make this decision. As for distributing the Guardian globally, there are various difficulties involved, and it cannot be achieved in the short term.
However, Company S also stated that it could lease some of its guards and rigorously trained professional pilots to major airlines, but if a leak was discovered, they would be immediately recalled, and the company would cease all cooperation with that company or even that country from then on.
This condition, while leaving many speechless, isn't entirely unacceptable. After all, Western countries have imposed a technological blockade on China for decades. We're already grateful they're willing to help; why would we expect them to steal our technology?
Moreover, what Company S didn't mention is that these countries would essentially be unable to learn it even if they wanted to. Every mech, including these Guardians and other military mechs, has strict security measures in place; dismantling it requires a password. And this password isn't a vulnerability like an electronic lock that hackers can exploit; it's a very old but powerful mechanical combination lock.
Just like the treasure box that Mud Bodhisattva gave to Xiong Ba in "Storm Riders" containing the prophecy for Xiong Ba's later life, "The dragon's roar in the nine heavens will startle the world, and the wind and clouds will meet in the shallow waters," if the password is wrong three times or if it is forcibly opened, the internal mechanism will immediately generate high temperature and self-destruct.
Of course, since mechs often participate in combat, their outer shells are easily damaged by attacks. If a mech would self-destruct as soon as its outer shell breaks, then it would have no purpose. This self-destruction determination method is also determined by a pseudo-intelligent program, and it will not make a mistake in 99.9% of cases.
However, there's no need to bring these things up; saying them would only make one seem petty.
However, S Company's series of actions instantly elevated Tongchi Island's status above traditional cities such as New York, Paris, London, and Shanghai, making it the top-ranked city in the latest round of polls on various websites for "most worth visiting," "most desirable," and "most livable."
Preliminary estimates suggest that, just in terms of tourist reception alone, Tongchi Island's annual revenue is already comparable to that of any other tourist city.
Such achievements made Chen Xu a little complacent. In fact, with everyone on Tongchi Island united and the island boasting one of the world's most advanced stadiums capable of holding nearly 200,000 people, Tongchi Island even considered bidding to host the Olympics.
This is no joke. Given Tongchi Island's current soaring reputation, several world-class star agents have expressed their desire to hold concerts there. This idea coincides with the current thoughts of the publicity department, and the two sides are engaged in urgent negotiations. Among the first batch of officially invited guests were officials from the International Olympic Committee. After visiting Tongchi Island, these officials unanimously stated that Tongchi Island is fully capable and qualified to apply for the right to host the Olympic Games. The 2012 Olympic Games have already been confirmed to open in London, and the 2016 Olympic Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. If Tongchi Island is willing, it can certainly compete for the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Although the Beijing Olympics have just ended, it's worth noting that after Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1984, Atlanta in the United States hosted the Olympics in 1996. And if we wait until 2020, it will be exactly 12 years later, just like 2008, when the same country will host the Olympics again. Therefore, Tongchi Island may not be without its own opportunities.
Chen Xu didn't expect that his joke would actually be taken seriously by his subordinates. However, the bidding time for the Olympics is seven years in advance, so this matter will have to be discussed in 2013. By then, Tongchi Island should be very mature and the residents should be settled. If the people under him are willing, then let's go for it. If it is successful, it will be a great story.
It is foreseeable that with the infusion of new materials, artificial islands will become easier to construct, and the area of Tongchi Island will become larger and larger, until it becomes a huge province in this ocean.
This also illustrates that human living space is expanding, and the development of the ocean is no longer limited to minerals and resources, but also involves the land within the ocean.
Moreover, this development has not caused significant damage to the local marine environment.
Because the houses here don't require very deep foundations, this new type of architecture, which subverts traditional building patterns, is not only sturdy but also doesn't significantly impact marine life. On Tongchi Island, the most sought-after floors aren't the high-rises where you can enjoy plenty of sunlight and fresh air, but rather the underground structures that extend below sea level.
Because under the fully transparent, high-pressure resistant glass dome, people can clearly see the marine fish swimming around them, which is equivalent to having a giant aquarium next to them. This is especially appealing to many fish enthusiasts.
However, it's not all good news.
On New Year's Day 2010, the very day Tongchi Island opened to the public, a professor named Jefferson from Cambridge University in the UK published a paper that immediately sparked a strong reaction throughout the scientific community.
The title of this paper is: "Using Science to Create Gods".
As Chen Fei said, history has not changed in the end. The publication of this paper marks the official start of the grand hoax of the century...
Chapter 399 The Great Deception of the Century
"Do gods really exist? This question has long been scorned by the entire scientific community. Many scientists believe that the idea of gods is nothing more than a form of totem worship by primitive and ignorant people. However, these are merely speculations within the scientific community; no one can truly provide evidence to prove this view. This prevalent attitude within the scientific community saddens those of us dedicated to scientific research. Because science is a process of boldly hypothesizing and carefully verifying. All races that have survived to this day have legends about gods, including most of us in the West who believe in Catholicism and Christianity. Yet, a small group of people, based solely on their own assumptions, have categorically declared such an 'atheistic' viewpoint and spread it far and wide, even making it an ironclad rule in textbooks in many countries. This is truly lamentable."
"Actually, they are afraid because many people know everything about gods, but they can't explain it. They feel that the existence of these ancient gods challenges their authority because the science they have always believed in is now useless. This feeling frightens these self-righteous professors. Because of their fear, they refuse to acknowledge it."
"However, excessive faith in science is itself a form of superstition. Modern science is far from perfect. As true scholars, what we should do is not escape, but move forward, to explore and research. Just like the great pioneers of the scientific community, Newton and Einstein. In their later years, these two scientific giants also began to study theology. That was not because they were senile, but because, standing at their level, they had discovered things that ordinary people could not discover."
"We were already standing on the shoulders of giants, but we dared not face it all, and even tried to hide it. This is our tragedy. Today, I will announce all my findings, expose the biggest hoax in the scientific community, and issue a call to action—all like-minded people, let's work together. This is our era, and no one can stop us now."
"These are specimens preserved in the most prestigious laboratory at Cambridge University. My God, how long have those hypocritical scholars kept this a secret? How much data have they falsified? They've released lies to make the public believe that lies are the truth. Darwin's theory of evolution has been completely distorted by them, and the history of humankind's emergence has been altered beyond recognition!"
“They showed us some fossils and said, ‘Look, these are your ancestors! Your ancestors were apes. They appeared seven million years ago, but it wasn’t until one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand years ago that they truly evolved into what we now call humans—Homo sapiens!’”
"How ridiculous! They fabricated a history, presenting fossils of another species to tell us that these are your ancestors! Look, even with DNA testing, their similarity to you is as high as 99%!"
"It's all a lie! Because they dare not tell the truth. In fact, as early as three million years ago, or even earlier, there were already perfect humans in this world! When I say perfect, I mean that they not only possessed intelligence no less than ours, but also strength and abilities far exceeding ours! They were the earliest humanoid rulers in this world, and they are our true ancestors, not those apes that walk on their arms!"
"Let me reveal all of this. The specimen in the Cambridge University laboratory, although it's only half a skull, can you believe it? Within this half-bone lies a tremendous amount of energy! Yes, energy! Static energy! I don't know if you understand this concept, but our world is composed of three forms: energy, matter, and data. The energy we usually use is converted from matter... However, this skull represents a higher form of energy that scientists are currently striving to study but haven't even scratched the surface of—the materialization of energy!"
"Energy materialization? Do you think I'm joking? It means this skull isn't just pure matter anymore; it's a truly advanced life form that surpasses ours! Just the energy left over from these millions of years—this small piece of skull, through certain methods, we can extract that energy—enough to power the entire Cambridge Advanced Laboratory! We still don't know how this energy form was formed, but one thing is certain… this is God! Yes, they are God!"
"They are not aliens, they are our ancestors, or gods passed down by our ancestors through countless myths and legends! Think about it, fragments buried underground for three million years still possess such powerful energy, so we can be sure that they possessed even more powerful energy when they were alive! Almost half, or even more than half, of their bodies are crystallized energy! Each of them is equivalent to dozens of freely moving hydrogen bombs!"
"These 'gods,' we can speculate, possess such immense energy that it's definitely not some kind of biological mutation. Even if it's evolution, they would still manipulate this energy! That's right, they release this energy through their bodies! So, the legendary gods who can summon wind and rain, whose wars are enough to destroy the heavens and the earth—this isn't mythology! It's a real thing! It's just that those guys in the scientific community are afraid, they can't explain this existence, or for various other reasons, they've kept it all hidden! They call this world godless… They're not wrong, there really are no gods left in this world now, but we humans must strive to become new gods!"
There were still many papers to read. Although Chen Xu was worried, since he was already there, he simply decided to take a "what's done is done" attitude and start reading the paper. He found that... this guy was telling a science fiction story, and it actually had some merit. He couldn't help but be drawn in.
Moreover, many of the arguments in this paper do not seem to be false, especially this passage: "I believe that such specimens are not only kept in Cambridge University, but also in government institutions in various countries that study mysterious phenomena. In fact, many countries do not limit their research on these specimens to historical research, but want to invent new tools of war through the study of these ancient relics!"
Upon seeing this, Chen Xu couldn't help but make a phone call to his superiors.
result……
Chapter 400 Ancient Relics - The Nine Provinces Cauldron
Chen Xu and Zhan Jing stood before a colossal bronze cauldron, over three meters tall, utterly awestruck. They practically groaned as they uttered three words through clenched teeth: "The Nine Provinces Cauldron?!"
This is a very secluded secret research institute in the Gobi Desert of Gansu Province. It has been established for a full sixty years. It was a special research institute established under the special instructions of Premier Zhou Enlai. There are dozens of such research institutes throughout China! In this research institute in Gansu, there is only one thing being studied: a huge ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel) unearthed in a dried-up riverbed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Based on other unearthed artifacts, as well as the special features and clues of the ding itself, the researchers finally confirmed that this is one of the legendary Nine Ding of the Xia Dynasty.