Chapter 150 Great Depression Chronicles_1

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Crisis Era, Year 40.

That year, Feng Zi was 50 years old. The Moon's development had entered the right track, and with the management handed over to Ramon, he also went into hibernation.

The battleship construction plan of Moon Base progressed steadily, with eight Second-and-Half Generation Battleships built and an estimated eight more to be built before halting construction.

The design work for the Third Generation Space Battleships was also underway, with their theoretical top speed reaching 1% of the speed of light, and their weapon systems also underwent significant upgrades.

Fours ships of each generation of battleships were planned for construction. There was no need to build a large fleet now, as human technology was advancing rapidly, with technical updates happening very frequently, and the rate of battleship obsolescence was also very fast.

By comparison, the construction of standard industrial and transport ships was more important.

Construction had also begun on Space Particle Accelerator Ships, a project that had been delayed for nearly 20 years and was now underway. The current construction speed was not slower than before the great depression, but in fact, faster.

The Moon only needed to use cheap grain grown on the Moon to exchange for a large number of industrial products, especially high-strength alloy materials, high-polymer materials, special coating materials, fiber composite materials, and thermal control materials...

The Moon was now undertaking massive space construction, which also faced countless problems. These problems were distributed in the form of orders to various Underground Cities.

The scientific researchers in various Underground Cities worked tirelessly day and night. Only through scientific and technological progress could new hopes and opportunities be brought to the Underground Cities.

With the current pace, a Space Particle Accelerator Ship could be built on average every year.

Although the industry of the Underground City had not fully recovered, it supplied a large amount of technology and products to the Moon Base, naturally propelling the rapid development of the Moon.

On Earth.

There was a slight rise in global temperature, and the frozen caps began to melt gradually. The extreme climate conditions around the world no longer continued to deteriorate.

Due to competitive pressures, various Underground Cities did not share technology. The differences in social values among the Underground Cities became more apparent, with the directions of science and technology being diverse, and processing techniques varied.

Many Underground Cities had made significant breakthroughs in new resource points and technology. Technology development changed day by day. Although it did not completely alleviate the plight of the Underground Cities, the lives of the residents gradually shifted from day-to-day survival to a state full of hope and opportunity.

During this time, many super Underground Cities and Underground City Federations were born, becoming the "hegemonies" of the Underground Cities in this era.

The Underground Cities seemed to have entered a "Sengoku" era.

The development models of each Underground City varied, maximizing the utilization of resources, all aiming to shed dependency on the Moon's resources as soon as possible.

The sense of societal norms in the Underground Cities was inevitably evolving towards a polarized society, with every resident deeply entrenched in their daily toil.

They worked hard, primarily to pay back for the grain from the Moon Base, with everyone struggling desperately to survive.

The administrators also enforced various methods of social control and high-intensity regulation, avoiding all unnecessary "waste."

Societal norms had entered a phase of emerging development yet extreme authoritarianism.

Just as Lin Sen had predicted, various authoritarian social concepts were born: digitized authoritarian society, capitalized authoritarian society, academic authoritarian society, diversified authoritarian society...

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Crisis Era, Year 55.

The Fifth Generation Space Battleship construction began at the Moon Base, with its theoretical top speed reaching 4% of the speed of light and its Directed Energy Weapons having an attack range of up to three astronomical units, signifying a quantum leap in progress.

This level of Space Battleship had fulfilled the requirements for operations within the Kuiper Belt, marking the development of humanity's space military capabilities entering a new phase.

This had reached the high technology level envisioned by the Space Force, now capable of entering the Oort Cloud.

All existing space warfare theories needed to be completely revised.

Low Technology Level: Battleships with a maximum speed of 5% of the speed of light;

Mid Technology Level: Battleships with a maximum speed of 10% of the speed of light;

High Technology Level: Battleships with a maximum speed of 20% of the speed of light;

Moon Base was not limited to the Moon, as the grand development of Mars had been underway for five years.

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On Earth.

Over these fifteen years, the Underground City had gradually developed into the Underground City Federation, based on former national regions, as well as the Underground City Alliance, which was formed according to geopolitical concerns.

The Earth's climate environment, also altered by the Synchronous Light Rings, acted like a huge regulator, adjusting the heat distribution around the globe and aiding in the restoration of ecosystems.

The density of volcanic ash floating in the atmosphere also significantly decreased. Although the ash blocked sunlight, it also insulated heat, allowing the ecology in certain areas to recover.

Although there was no way to compare to the period before the Great Trough, there were significant improvements, and extreme weather disasters no longer occurred frequently.

The places around the world that had been ravaged by natural disasters were all mudslide floods and marshlands, with a great amount of soil and water rushed into valleys, rivers, and oceans. Now, new vegetation began to grow tenaciously in many places, and the ecological prosperity of the past was reemerging.

The quality of the air also improved noticeably, and people could finally breathe outside without wearing masks.

But in many other places, desertification intensified further, and it had even become irreversible.

The authoritarian society of the Underground City developed further, and humanity also achieved huge technological breakthroughs:

In the technology of new energy and recycling resources, geothermal energy, biomass energy, and deep underground storage energy were widely used. Controlled nuclear fusion was no longer the only option and gradually broke free from Moon control.

In the field of materials technology, high-strength and lightweight materials, self-healing and intelligent materials, insulating and superconductor materials... The diversity and multi-functionality of materials provided strong support for the great space construction project of the Moon.

In biotechnology, the development of genetic engineering and the prevention and treatment of diseases greatly improved the quality of life and health condition of the residents.

In information technology, the internet, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence connected every individual in the Underground City, making the entire society develop efficiently and rapidly like a machine.

...

However, the negative impact of a polarized society gradually became apparent, with the distribution of resources and power becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of a few, causing the wealth gap to grow.

The society gradually showed an imbalance trend, with those who had abundant resources and advanced technology becoming the dominant figures in society.

Those at a disadvantage increasingly found themselves marginalized, facing various challenges and difficulties in life, and struggling to find a means of survival within the limited resources.

The polarized society severely restricted individual development opportunities and freedom, and the control and intervention of society on individuals became stronger and stronger. It not only killed people's creativity and spirit of innovation but also led to the sclerosis and stagnation of society.

Over time, this trend of social structure solidification became increasingly evident, and the overall development of society could be hindered by it. Social emotions were also brewing.

Breaking the rigid social structure and promoting fairness and fluidity in society became a difficult problem for everyone.

The Underground City also realized the seriousness of the problem; whether through internal reform or transferring conflicts outward to relieve pressure, it all suggested:

The "Sengoku era" of the Underground City had begun...

In the age of great contention, the strong grow stronger, and the weak perished.

In this era, only the strong could survive, while the weak were eliminated and had to choose to submit.

The original Underground City fell into crisis, mainly due to a lack of resources, where everyone was desperately struggling for survival, and others were a threat to one's own existence.

Yet, it was also possible to maintain a sort of cooperative relationship because successful cooperation meant more chances for survival.

Now, despite resource improvements and technological advancements, the struggle for living space had begun, which did not break the "Dark Forest" because the struggle for survival space had started.

They invested a massive amount of human, material, and financial resources to improve their level of technology, military strength, and resource reserves.

In this era, only by continuously adapting to the environment and reforming oneself could one survive in the fierce competition.

PS: Without a protagonist, it's hard to write too much. I planned to write a historical account, but it feels like it's better to document stages, roughly describing the developmental process.

The previous Lagrange project was actually the outline of this period of history, so there's a bit of repetition here.

This chapter was censored again. I modified some content and changed "social ideology" to "social moral concept."

I deleted the plundering and exploitation of various strata. It's fine not to write about this; readers should understand.