Chapter 139: Island Plan III_1

Rey Diaz said disdainfully, "Is that so? Is this what you big countries call respect for us?"

"You indeed poured a lot of resources into the Starbuster, but isn't that what you wanted? After I gave up the development of the Starbuster, did the research stop?"

"The construction of the Moon Base doesn't meet your expectations, how many resources did you invest in this plan?"

"A large portion of the resources for the construction of the Moon Base came from Country C, that's your respect."

The representative from Country A clearly underestimated Rey Diaz, and realized his political career was over, that he had shot himself in the foot.

Having been the representative of the most powerful country for too long, they forgot that it was their country that was powerful, not themselves, and their long-standing superiority made them gradually lose what was once most precious to them.

The representative from Country A struggled to maintain face, "Ridiculous, what do we need Starbusters for?"

"It's an inefficient weapon on the space battlefield, and on Earth, even a hydrogen bomb with a yield of twenty million tons no longer has any practical significance."

Rey Diaz calmly countered, "But on the surface of other planets in the Solar System, Starbusters are the most effective weapons, especially in wars between humans.

"On the desolate surfaces of other planets, once war between humans breaks out, there is no need to worry about civilian casualties and environmental damage, you can confidently carry out large-scale destruction, and even wipe out the entire surface of a planet."

"You clearly foresaw that as humanity expands into the Solar System, the disputes of the Earthly world will inevitably extend to other planets, and even with a common enemy like the Trisolaran world, this cannot be changed, and you are preparing for it."

"Developing super weapons to counter humans themselves is politically untenable at this time, so you made use of me to do it."

In the original timeline, Rey Diaz had said the same thing, but then it was a helpless rebuttal. Now, it was a sharp attack, tearing off their masks completely.

The current Rey Diaz was not someone they could manipulate at their whim, personal capability needed the support of power from behind.

The representative from Country A seemed a bit crazed, "You... this logic is absurd, your thoughts are too dangerous, you're a terrorist, a dictator..."

Rey Diaz didn't look at the representative from Country A anymore and turned directly to the PDC Chairman, "Mr. Chairman, please forgive my earlier rudeness.

"If we cannot reach a consensus on this resolution, I suggest we decide by anonymous vote.

"Since this is a resolution about the distribution of food in the Underground City, we should use the actual number of Underground Cities as the total number of votes. For example, if Country C plans to build 600 Underground Cities, they would have 600 votes.

"If the vote receives more than half of the support, the resolution will take effect."

The representatives from various countries discussed among themselves, but no one stood up to confront Rey Diaz anymore.

A while later, the PDC Chairman said, "We agree to determine whether the resolution passes by voting, but the support rate must exceed two-thirds."

Rey Diaz showed a hint of a smile, "That's acceptable!"

Seeing Rey Diaz's smile, the PDC Chairman suddenly realized he might have been trapped.

Rey Diaz's earlier loss of composure was obviously an act, just to make Country A and the PDC let their guard down, then strike fatally.

The key issue was that the limited resources hadn't been used to combat Trisolaris, but might be used to fight against humanity itself in the future.

Even under the crisis of Trisolaris, the struggle among humans had never ceased, which was unacceptable to most people.

Before the catastrophe, it wasn't a big deal, as human politics had always been like this. However, now the international environment had completely changed, and the countries might need to re-select a reliable ally.

Country C suffered the most damage from the disaster, did the best in rescue work, had the strongest coordination ability, and had always taken on the responsibility of a great power.

No one thought Country C was a sheep, but under the current conditions, choosing Country C might be the best option – it was just the law of the jungle after all.

Soon the voting results came out, and the support for Country C leading the food distribution was 74%.

The PDC had hoped that some of the big countries would vote against it. The top ten countries basically accounted for 80% of the global population. Those in competition with Country C were aware of the consequences of Country C taking control of food distribution, and they could not possibly all agree.

But the reality was that those big countries even preferred not to be too constrained by the PDC, and Country C was not a bad choice for them. Moreover, they had promised many conditions to Country C before the disaster.

After the calamity, although no country truly entered the Dark Forest, they were all familiar with game theory, and the future situation had changed. The original competitive relationships changed as well, and a new game had begun.

Of course, Lin Sen and Rey Diaz racked their brains to ensure that Country C would hold an advantage in the future, essentially because they believed that Country C's system was more suited for the Interstellar Era, unrelated to national sentiments.

The early PDC was indeed capable, the true elite of humanity. Regardless of their purpose, Lin Sen respected them, but the PDC of the middle and later periods became like tumors, making it more fitting for Country C to take the lead according to Lin Sen's interests.

...

But Lin Sen's plan did not stop there. The real name of the plan was "The Island Plan":

The first step was the Underground City construction project, building nearly four thousand Underground Cities around the world, akin to a multitude of informational islands.

After the calamity, with resources becoming scarce, the nations essentially entered an alternative Dark Forest state.

In the absence of sufficient resources for survival, the connections between the Underground Cities would become increasingly scarce, and even necessary resource exchanges would have to be conducted with extreme caution.

The ultimate choice for everyone was to hide and to arm themselves, which was one of the reasons why the Underground City project was quickly approved.

To hide meant entering the Underground Cities and forming informational islands, with reduced contact between cities.

To arm themselves meant to protect themselves and to always be ready to attack others.

The Moon needed to provide a significant amount of food, and at the same time, through assessments and recruitment, a great number of talents could be selected to enter the Moon Base. Those chosen could bring their families to the Moon to a certain extent.

The living environment on the Moon now was more comfortable and safer than that on Earth.

One should never let people fall into complete despair, for those in hell can endure suffering, but not the absence of hope.

The second step, as the industrial system of the Underground Cities neared completion, countries would start to produce food using nuclear fusion and genetic engineering.

This was so they could break free from the Moon's food limitations, a time estimated to come within 5 to 8 years.

Obviously, Lin Sen had long anticipated this development, but by then Earth's dependency on the Moon would deepen, not lessen, and the ties would become even tighter.

Because only the Moon possessed large amounts of Helium-3 resources, the crucial resource of the future. To control Helium-3 was to control the future.

Clearly, Lin Sen would not provide any surplus Helium-3 to them, even fostering competitive relationships among them.

After nearly 5 to 8 years of underground development, the informational islands would be at their most entrenched, making it very difficult for Underground Cities to unite against the Moon Base.

Of course, other fossil fuels could also be utilized, albeit less efficiently, and serve as an important industrial supplement for the Underground Cities.

All Underground Cities needed to produce various products as demanded by the Moon, and should any city make a significant technological breakthrough, sharing the technology with the Moon would result in more Helium-3 allocation, naturally leading to other cities receiving fewer resources.

Obtaining more resources would also lead to more investment in research and development, fostering a positive cycle of growth.

Everyone was like cogs in a machine, incessantly busy, and the viability of this system was mainly because the Underground Cities were small, with populations of only a few million.

The Underground Cities were also in competition with one another, and technology would no longer be shared; they all understood the cost of falling behind.

All the Underground Cities would be intensely occupied with one thing: accelerating their technological breakthroughs, otherwise they might starve.

Falling behind would mean being unable to fulfill orders from the Moon, leading to decreased energy resources and even scarcer research and development resources, thus entering a vicious cycle.

Residents of the Underground Cities would always be on the brink of subsistence, with only two ways to change this.

One was achieving technological breakthroughs, and the other was through technological assessments from the Moon.

The Underground Cities did not dare to restrict the Moon's technological assessments. They might resort to petty schemes, but they would not forbid the assessments.

The administrators of the Underground Cities gradually became rulers, and according to Civilizational Cyclic Historiography, this was entering the "Tribe" era.

It must be said that Lin Sen was truly despicable, exploiting the entire world, arguably the greatest exploiter in history.