Urban Sims

Area 52.

Beautiful environment and fresh air.

The streets are clean and the people are polite.

In a high-end reception room in Yaoxing City, in the VIP room on the tenth floor, through the spotless floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Lan Mengxin, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, looked at the busy streets with tourists below, his eyes a little Sluggish, stunned and speechless, as if he had not yet recovered from the shock of two days ago.

After a long time, the coffee in the cup had cooled down, and then she looked away, with a sarcastic smile on her lips, and murmured to herself: "This is really an upside-down world."

In her mind, she thought of the three ultimate problems that the man asked her yesterday, and how to avoid and solve them.

The three ultimate issues are "resource consumption", "clash of civilizations" and "human morality".

If these three major problems cannot be properly and perfectly solved, even if this money empire is overthrown and the rules are changed, the new world will still carry fatal hidden dangers and will be difficult to maintain for a long time.

First, let’s talk about “resource consumption”. Does this planet, which has experienced the development of industrial civilization for nearly a thousand years, really lack resources?

Not lacking, but not lacking either.

It is said to be lacking because the coal, oil, natural gas, gold, silver, copper, iron, titanium, rare earth, non-metallic and other mineral resources underground on this planet have basically been exhausted. High-value minerals in the earth's crust can only be Everything that can be mined has been exploited and utilized.

Therefore, this already riddled planet is destructively mined for various resources through primitive mining methods, such as blasting, drilling, extraction, etc. The damage caused to this planet will sooner or later be fed back to humans themselves.

Such as subsidence, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes... These increasingly frequent disasters will make humans living on the surface experience the consequences of the planet's anger.

Therefore, just looking at various types of non-renewable mineral resources, this planet is resource-scarce, and the cost of mining is high, the rate of return is low, and the negative consequences are serious.

But on the other hand, in terms of renewable resources, this planet still has great potential.

For example, if we intensify efforts to transform the environment, increase the area of ​​arable land and crop yields, and feed 10 to 20 billion people, the pressure will not be great.

There is also energy, such as the electricity in Area 52. In fact, a considerable part is transmitted from the canopy system - the canopy system can generate electricity, and its ability to absorb sunlight can be controlled within the range of 0.01% to 99.99%.

In other words, as long as the canopy system and the inexhaustible energy in nature are properly utilized, the energy issue is not a problem at all.

There are also organic materials, nanomaterials, superconducting materials, inorganic materials with good physical and chemical properties that can replace metals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, titanium, aluminum, tungsten, etc., which can also be synthesized and produced in factories. It almost completely replaces metal and meets most industrial and agricultural needs... Therefore, material technology is also an empire of money, and its development speed is another field second only to medical technology.

There is no shortage of food, energy, or materials. To a certain extent, this planet has no shortage of resources.

The problem of insufficient resources can be solved through advanced science and technology, but "clash of civilizations" and "human morality", two concepts inherent in human beings, can on the one hand promote human communication and progress and move towards beauty, and on the other hand can also make human beings The problems of self-destruction and heading towards the abyss are two ultimate problems that may not be solved in a thousand, ten thousand years or even forever.

Because as long as there are differences, there will be conflicts.

Different beliefs, different customs and habits, different personalities and hobbies, different skin colors and races, different thinking and philosophies... These thousands of differences represent thousands of conflicts.

The highest level of conflict - the clash of civilizations - will allow hatred to accumulate, wars to break out, and blood to be shed over and over again.

Even if people respect each other and can avoid offending each other, sooner or later, driven by careerists and conspirators, these conflicts will ignite, detonate, and tear apart scars... Even the law cannot stop the evil in some people's bones. Arrogance, discrimination and an inexplicable sense of superiority - these are the sources of conflict.

There is also "human morality". What kind of moral norms does this world need, so that people can get rid of the shackles of "the weak and the strong" and at the same time avoid going to the other extreme of "moral kidnapping and the Holy Virgin everywhere".

This standard is difficult to grasp.

If the above three major problems cannot be solved well, just like the historical cycle of rise, fall and chaos, the civilization of this planet will also fall into a "civilization cycle" of alternating destruction and rebirth.

"I think it is better to use technology and law to solve these problems. Use science to develop productivity, use law to restrict the behavior of individuals and groups, and establish a strictly regulated and orderly society. If the population expands and resources are insufficient, we will leave this planet. , develop the resources of other planets in outer space, and carry out interstellar colonization. The resources of this universe are unlimited, and the space for development is also unlimited. These problems you mentioned will basically not be a problem once you get out of this planet."

After thinking about it and combining her understanding of all aspects of the world, Lan Mengxin came up with her solution.

That is, "the road to scientific and technological civilization."

"This route is in the right direction and can be walked, but..."

Realizing a problem, Zhou Ming frowned and said, "But if this road can be used, why didn't the master take it and instead embarked on another road to save resources? This is really unreasonable. If I am the master, and between the road of light and the road of darkness, I will definitely take the road of infinite light.”

"Moreover, the Overlord often makes people say on the radio that resources are insufficient, but they do not clearly explain what resources are insufficient, so I guess that the resources mentioned by the Overlord should refer to the resources for external interstellar colonization. Lack of it prevents humans from leaving this planet on a large scale.”

"Otherwise, how could he have established a world of money with such severe class consolidation, so many restrictions, extremely uneven development in various fields, and suppressing all human beings on this planet? If the other path had not been impossible, he How did you end up on this path?”

"Of course, we can also assume that the master is a despicable, evil, extremely selfish person. For his own selfish desires, he wants the entire planet to serve him personally. But how can we explain that he established Area 0, collects garbage, and every hundred years What about the various efforts he has made to carry out a transformation project to improve the environment of this planet? If he is a selfish person, he does not need to consider so many issues at all. He can do whatever he wants with the collected resources. matter."

"So I think that if the road to interstellar colonization is possible, the master who leads the remaining humans out of the end of the world and re-establishes a new home should not give up the opportunity to become a 'noble saint'."

Zhou Ming's eloquent analysis.

this……

These words shook Lan Mengxin's thoughts violently.

If the man's guess is more likely to be true, the path of "technological civilization" is indeed unlikely to succeed. Human beings will eventually be limited to one planet. Once the population exceeds 10 billion or 20 billion, it will bring about The massive consumption of resources and the amount of garbage produced will definitely exceed the carrying capacity of this planet. When it reaches that upper limit, various conflicts will intensify, and wars may restart the world.

So what should we do?

"So annoying!"

The woman grabbed her hair, glared at the man in front of her and said, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Taking a sip of coffee, Zhou Ming smiled slightly and said, "I have a few plans here, you can refer to them."

"Say it quickly," the woman urged urgently.

"The first plan, which I call the 'virtual game' plan, is to develop a virtual online game to allow people to gain more happiness and satisfaction in the virtual world. Facts have shown that spiritual food is more valuable than material food. Importantly, if the supply of spiritual food is increased, material needs will be reduced a lot, which may even lead to a decrease in desire, a decrease in the birth rate, and a significant reduction in material and energy consumption."

"But the side effects of this plan are also very obvious. Once virtual games are released, people's enthusiasm for learning knowledge, mastering skills, and working seriously will be greatly reduced. The speed of scientific and technological progress will slow down. People may hand over all their work to robots, and they, Being addicted to the virtual world every day will eventually become like a rice bug."

“The second option is what I call the ‘Ladder of Civilization’ option.”

"This plan is to transform each area into a different civilization based on the canopy system, divided into primitive civilization, ancient civilization, ancient civilization, medieval civilization, modern civilization, modern civilization, etc., divided into different civilization levels , and then provide relatively sufficient resources and development environment, and allow these civilizations to develop freely without interference. It is best to start from primitive civilizations and see what kind of results they will bear."

"The third plan is what I call the "Improved Money Empire" plan."

"In this plan, the monetary promotion mechanism will be retained, but the promotion rules will be changed from the original promotion of killing competition to the promotion of those who have made outstanding contributions. This kind of contribution can be given to environmental protection personnel who have completed more tasks of ecological environment transformation. Rewards for candidates can be scientific awards for major discoveries or inventions in science, or awards for artistic achievements that have been widely welcomed and recognized in the fields of arts and humanities... both are likely to be promoted."

"The cruel elimination rules can be removed, and the crackdown on criminals can be stepped up instead. Those criminals can be sent to areas with harsh environments to help with environmental transformation, or sent to District 0 to help with garbage disposal."

"In this way, people will have the motivation to move up without having to worry about being eliminated. As long as they abide by the law, they can live happily even if they don't have money."

"It can even bring about the return of morality and humanity, and the prosperity of art and science. Resource consumption will definitely increase, but because of the supplement of spiritual food, there will not be too serious waste materially. If it is not possible, it can be Get the virtual game out.”

With the capabilities of Zhou Ming's "YuanZero 3.0" artificial intelligence and the existing technological foundation in this world, developing a virtual game is not a problem.

"The third option is the best!"

Lan Mengxin's eyes lit up, her smile blossomed, she clapped her hands and shouted, "I choose the third one, I choose the third one!"

Zhou Ming looked up at her and said with a smile: "I knew you would choose this plan, but you don't have to be too impatient. Whether this planet has the conditions to step out of the planet and enter the age of interstellar navigation, I still have to learn from the master. Then, ask the answer to this question, and when you know the answer, then based on the answer, formulate corresponding plans to completely transform the world."

"If you believe me, maybe you won't have to wait long before you know the answer."

After saying that, Zhou Ming smiled slightly again.

"Um!"

Lan Mengxin's eyes were full of expectation, and he nodded heavily and said: "I believe you!"