Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 635 - 536 Cold-Protection Measures

Chapter 635: Chapter 536 Cold-Protection Measures

"You must have felt the sudden drop in temperature," Xu Yang nodded.

"Yes..." Rinne hesitated, she really didn’t quite understand, her fingers had gone numb from the cold even inside the hospital ward.

"This is due to the influence exerted by a colossal deity," Xu Yang said solemnly, "A year ago, the Ice Giant made a breakthrough within the jurisdiction of Thousand Lakes Electronics, severely damaging this giant corporation. Back then, other mammoth companies in Taixi Continent simply watched from the sidelines, even taking pleasure in their misfortune, thinking one less competitor was a good thing. Now, the repercussions of that event have come to fruition."

Rinne indeed felt something was odd.

Last year, when she heard that Thousand Lakes Electronics had been badly beaten by a group of Ice Giants that emerged from the ground, and that the executives desperately pleaded for help from other companies, she thought Thousand Lakes Electronics deserved it. She had not expected that among these Ice Giants, there were mysterious entities capable of affecting global climate.

"According to calculations, the effects of the cold wave would have been much greater, but now its impact has been greatly weakened. It won’t cause deaths overnight, and I think that there must be help from benevolent giants," Xu Yang thought of Yan Duo, certain that Yan Duo would not participate in such horrific acts, perhaps being dragged into it by its siblings, "All in all, we need to prepare."

"How bad is the situation?" Rinne still didn’t understand the deeper implications.

"In the past 10 days," Xu Yang showed Rinne climate reports from around the world arriving during this period, "the global average temperature has dropped by 1.5 degrees Celsius, with especially significant changes in high latitude areas. Last year’s agricultural supply was already devastated by the short-term sunless event, and this year sees no improvement, with a heavy disaster expected."

Rinne’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the many startling news stories before her.

"Splendid Highlands suffer 35 consecutive days of drought, breaking the highest record in 110 years! Massive reduction in crop yields!"

"400,000 refugees in the Near East Region migrate due to famine caused by severe weather; they are powerfully intercepted by Near East Providence Company troops, with 2/3 of the refugees neutralized and the rest forced back to their homes!"

"The last elephant on White Elephant Continent has recently been confirmed to have starved to death! ’Emperor of Different Kinds’ Idith requests his ministers to purchase elephants from around the world to decorate the imperial gardens!"

"Songhai Cyber Corporation introduces an unemployment tax within the Hot Tree Continent jurisdiction, residents must find immediate employment or pay 1500 Funds monthly or be cleared out!"

"110 companies in Agave Continent release a joint declaration, set to abolish with ’the most severe measures’ the reproductive rights of male residents earning less than 3500 Funds monthly, in order to reduce environmental pressure. Polygamy is also permitted!"

"Due to energy shortages, Taixi Community plans to withdraw all environmental protection plans and promotions, abolish the position of environmental protection poster girl, and restart coal mining and thermal power plant operations!"

"19,000 kangaroos on Peaceland vying for lowland water sources have taken over 7 townships!"

"Northern Military Industry plans to have ’Magnetic Field Witch’ finish her breakthrough early, preparing for war to resolve disputes with Taixi Continent!"

"Six lakes in the Gael Region of Britannia have completely dried up, and the Niles Water Monster family has been taken into custody by the relevant authorities!"

Rinne furrowed her brows. There was a continuous stream of miserable conditions and strange happenings around the world. Having stayed with Nestor Corporation for too long, she occasionally mistakenly thought other corporations in the world also loved taking care of the common people. In reality, killing, expulsion, and destruction were the norm. Many dominant enterprises had long been strong enough to be self-sufficient, indifferent to the dying populace on their peripheries.

These bizarre, laughable, yet horrific incidents were just the tip of the iceberg in this great chaos.

"Is this a natural disaster?" she murmured, "What about us then?"

"Prepare for action," Xu Yang connected the terminal next to him to the meteorological forecasting subsystem of the Hundred-eyes Demon.

A subsystem of the advanced artificial intelligence Hundred-eyes Demon was responsible for modeling, analyzing, and processing the global weather system, working tirelessly day and night with extremely high accuracy. It was one of the highest representations of Northern Archipelago technology.

The weather reports generated from this subsystem were highly sought after in the market, and companies outside the island were eager to get a glimpse.

The top-secret report now generated by this subsystem revealed the greatest crisis in the world of corporations in 150 years.

"In 6 months," Rinne observed carefully, whispering key parts of the report, "a cold wave will start from the polar regions, covering areas including the entire Great Northern Region, Northern Archipelago Continent, Taixi Continent and New Taixi State, Peaceland, and the southern parts of Agave Continent and Hot Tree Continent. Xia and the Near East Region will also be affected, with the disaster-stricken population exceeding 6 billion... This is... almost half of the world..."

The situation in Northern Archipelago Continent was particularly dire! Rinne’s hair stood on end as she read, as if chilled to the bone by the cold winds.

Energy supply in the Northern Archipelago Continent relied on external shipping, and with the approach of the cold wave causing everyone to look out for themselves, the major corporations would realize this was the best opportunity to cripple Nestor Corporation, break their backbone, and force them to submit.

In the first week of the arrival of the cold wave, they would cut off all oil and gas supplies until Nestor Corporation agreed to be sliced up and divided by international finance.

By then, due to the lack of coal and natural gas fuel supplies on top of the severe cold killing all the Golden Trees, every Nestor agricultural park would go bankrupt. 25% of the population would freeze to death in the blizzards, one in four unable to survive the cold until the climate would improve in April next year, and even then it would only be for a fleeting half a year before the cold wave returned...

"A drop of 1 degree in temperature means a two-week delay in the thawing period and an early onset of frost by two weeks," Xu Yang looked at Rinne’s expression, knowing she had realized the horrific future, then he changed the subject, "...This is a matter of survival, but we still have solutions."

Rinne then saw an entirely new model.

Her heart was shaken as she saw tens of thousands of "Heat Towers" rising from the ground in the model!

They were part of Nestor Corporation’s ambitious heating plan, with countless heat towers forming a grid. With their support, the damage from the great cold wave to the Northern Archipelago would be minimal!

Taking care of every city, every community, every village, every household, every settlement, refusing to let the cold disaster easily claim lives!

"But... this requires..." Rinne examined the resources needed for the Heat Tower project carefully, "a massive amount of fuel! And electricity!"

"As for electricity, besides building another three nuclear power stations and six solar array power stations, we also intend to carry out nuclear fusion experiments," Xu Yang’s tone became more serious. "We just need one portal to transport and extract lunar soil from the Moon, which harbors a potential nuclear fusion fuel, helium-3. The Moon’s helium-3 reserves exceed two million tons, while the Earth has less than five tons. Moreover, for every ton of helium-3 we extract from the Moon’s soil, we can also obtain about seven thousand tons of hydrogen. As for other fuels, we will have what we need."

He switched to the resource display chart.

During the initial period of the undersea industrial park, Lila’s ship encircled the surrounding sea and, using her ability to sense Magic Power, detected a potential offshore oil and gas field, which has since been further confirmed.

This oil and gas field is rich in reserves, estimated at two billion barrels, and covers an area of eighty thousand square kilometers, located 75 nautical miles southeast of White Island in the Asahara Sea Territory, hence the code name "Asahara" deep-sea oil and gas field.

Geologically, it is a deep pit, as if it was formed by the impact of ancient life falling from above, creating a shape that was highly conducive to the accumulation of biological remains. Day after day, year after year, the remnants of plants and animals stacked up and transformed into oil through marine sedimentary processes and geological movements. It is estimated to contain 50% of the oil and natural gas reserves of the shallow sea areas of the Archipelago Continent.

A great treasure chest!

"With our current development, Nestor Corporation has the manpower and technology to exploit this oil and gas field, and we have troops that can protect it," Xu Yang said to Rinne. "But it is also very close to the front line of Black Fire Innovation, especially the military base they established after capturing Sato City."

During the Martinez incident, Black Fire Innovation took advantage of the situation to capture several corporate cities in the southern part of Kyoto Infinity, amassing troops within them.

Now many troops have been redeployed, leaving only a small number of elite forces stationed there, so there’s no need to worry about them attacking from the north. However, if they launch raids, the construction of the offshore oil and gas extraction platforms will be indefinitely delayed! And if we maintain a military presence in the Asahara Sea Territory indefinitely, it would not only drain funds but also make us appear reactive."

Therefore, the Disciple Squad needs to launch a surprise attack, to strike first and destroy the military facilities within Sato City, weakening Black Fire Innovation’s control over the area.

"I understand..." Rinne saw the current situation clearly from a strategic perspective, her attitude serious.

All of the Disciple Squad’s previous operations were minor skirmishes. But now they were truly about to launch an assault on the corporate troops of Black Fire Innovation, to avoid them interfering with the drilling platform construction project.

This would be the highest test they had faced so far.

"We have not formally declared war on Black Fire Innovation," Xu Yang reminded. "A hasty initiation of hostilities could also affect our reputation, after all, both citizens and workers have a war-weariness mentality and do not wish to be drawn into a brutal corporate war. But we will still have all three space motherships begin the cruising process, advancing step by step to the south, conducting military drills in the nearby seas."

"Like a barrier force," Rinne caught on immediately. "If Black Fire Innovation is shaken by us and tries to counterattack, the Nestor military will have reason to intervene in the conflict, believing they are provoking our fleet. Even in the worst-case scenario, the warship troops can cover our retreat."

"Exactly." Xu Yang nodded, pleased with Rinne’s quick wit. "If the plan is executed flawlessly, we can give them a beating, uproot their footholds in the south. If they dare not retaliate, it means Black Fire Innovation has decided to swallow their pride and take the bitter pill. If they recklessly counterattack, we will have a reason to get involved in the war. No matter the outcome, Nestor Corporation will be able to completely control the Asahara Sea Territory, engulf all the oil and gas resources, and save everyone here from the coming cold wave!"

This was Xu Yang’s wish, to lend a hand and protect the countless residents. Once he had achieved his goal, he thought about helping others as much as possible, those who, like him, were in weak and difficult situations.

Aside from his moral inclinations, he also had practical considerations. If such a Heat Tower project succeeds, Nestor Corporation’s prestige would reach its peak.

Once the cold disaster is successfully repelled, every person and every city in the Northern Archipelago will turn to us! The public will be genuinely grateful and filled with unspeakable admiration. Everyone will continue to live in peace and enjoy all the achievements so far.

By then, Nestor Corporation’s prestige will be high enough to absorb any company without controversy and to integrate every resident into the system without resistance.

By then, the Nestor System will indeed reach its most prosperous state!

Only by surviving the bitter winter can we embrace the arrival of a bountiful summer.

Rinne, too, was eager to try her hand.

She wouldn’t just be a runner on the fringes but would truly participate in a major event.

She immediately turned to prepare, but Miyazato Kazama suddenly called out to her.

"Come," Miyazato Kazama nodded, "I have some excellent weapons and equipment that your squad can test and gather data on."

"I hope Snowball can also come and help," Rinne pointed to the robotic dog.

"I’ll lend it to you for the time being, it needs to see the world too," Miyazato Kazama nodded in agreement.

"Snowball, you must protect me with your life," Rinne told the robotic dog. "Be my meat shield when necessary!"

"Alright then," Snowball let out a whine and then followed behind Rinne.

Leaving the Synthetic Human Laboratory, Miyazato Kazama led Rinne to Kazama Palace’s super arsenal, filled with all kinds of military equipment developed based on Miyazato Kazama’s wild imaginations.

On one wall, hung the thinnest, most form-fitting, and agile Witch Armor ever created.

"Ah, this is really cool..." Rinne’s gaze moved to the Witch Armor.

"Your liking it is best," Miyazato Kazama smiled slightly. "Because it is your armor."