The day after the sixteenth Doomsday Rule was announced, the latest remote meeting of the Human Consortium was convened.

Unlike before, this time the proposal to hold the meeting didn't come from the three major powers, but from several other smaller nations.

The purpose of the meeting was that, after communication and discussion, the official representatives of these several nations had drafted a proposal they hoped could be passed within the Human Consortium.

The content of this proposal was related to the current state of Tianshui Star.

Across the vast lands of Tianshui Star, large expanses of photovoltaic panels and other solar energy equipment had spread out, replacing the human settlements of the past.

As the world's population dwindled day by day, the concentration effect of people became increasingly pronounced.

In the first year after the Doomsday Rules were announced, villages in every country were still inhabited. Now, with just over a month left until the full two-year mark of the apocalypse rules, nearly ninety-nine percent of villages and various small cities had been abandoned.

Countries that still maintained their political systems now had their populations concentrated in a few large cities.

Several member states of the Human Consortium had even reached a point where their entire national population was concentrated in just one or two cities.

This wasn't by design; it was out of necessity.

Once the population became insufficient, a sprawling city simply couldn't function normally. Even filling it with large numbers of intelligent robots couldn't reverse this trend.

If this continued, with a few more survival-type rules that reduced the population appearing, these small nations would face complete collapse.

How miserable were the people of fallen nations? The hundreds of vanished countries over the past two years had already provided examples.

Many people from fallen nations became mercenaries, formed wilderness groups, or joined other countries as refugees, but none were as well off as they had been originally.

Under these circumstances, several small nations, unwilling to be passively pushed along by the times, decided to band together against the current and jointly build a new city for their combined populations to live in.

This meant this new city had to be a megacity, capable of accommodating at least tens of millions of people.

This new city also had to be a safe, smart city, with every residential building constructed to the highest specifications to ensure it could withstand the vast majority of natural disaster threats.

For energy, it would primarily rely on clean sources like electricity, water, and wind. The design of various work facilities would aim for "convenience for intelligent robot use."

That's right. In the blueprint described by several representative committee members, 99.9% of the work and affairs in this new megacity would be handled by robots. Humans would only be responsible for a tiny fraction of decision-making tasks.

As for the vast majority of humans living there, their only tasks would be to deal with the Doomsday Rules one by one. Beyond that, it would be rest and entertainment.

To turn this blueprint city into reality was beyond the capabilities of these few small nations alone. Therefore, they hoped Beixing, Suroma, and the Xisiya Empire—the three major powers—would provide assistance.

Suroma would provide a large number of intelligent devices, including intelligent robots. Beixing and the Xisiya Empire would provide the actual engineering for city construction and implementation.

After reading the proposal, Mary was the first who couldn't hold back, her tone laced with sarcasm. "You several nations discussed building a megacity, and your citizens will be the ones living in it once it's built. Yet you want us to provide the labor and resources?"

"This city will, of course, also welcome citizens from Suroma, Beixing, and the Xisiya Empire to reside in it," said the committee member from Luruiguo, the lead representative of the small nations. "This is also for the sake of humanity's overall future."

The Xisiya Empire committee member, Tolovte, frowned. "The two development paths currently set by the Human Consortium are Space Migration and digital life. Building a megacity is not within the plan."

Hearing this, the Luruiguo committee member said very frankly, "That is indeed correct. But after our discussions, we several small nations believe that, given our capabilities, even if those two plans succeed, it would be very difficult to apply them to our citizens."

The other committee members from small nations nodded in agreement.

Currently, apart from the three major powers, the other small nations in the Human Consortium simply lacked the ability to build manned rockets or space stations. They also didn't have sufficient resources to invest in the power and computing infrastructure, which requires massive consumption, needed for digital life.

This meant they couldn't participate as main forces in these two plans; they could only play supporting roles for the three major powers.

Though the power of small nations is weak, it doesn't mean they can't understand things clearly.

If one doesn't have a leading role in a matter, then when that matter yields results in the future, they will definitely be at the very end when it comes to sharing the benefits.

The Luruiguo committee member spoke bluntly, "If the two major plans, Space Migration and digital life, succeed, it certainly won't be the case that all people of Tianshui Star can immediately enjoy the results.

For example, if Space Migration succeeds, it will definitely be your three major powers' citizens who go first. We can only be left for last. If the digital life plan succeeds, it will definitely be your three major powers' citizens whose digital memories are backed up first. We will be last in line."

"Shouldn't it be like that?" Mary retorted. "Do you think this order of priority would be decided by lottery?"

If it really were decided by lottery, the citizens of small nations would be happy, but the citizens of the three major powers would definitely strongly oppose it.

Why should the results achieved mainly through our efforts be shared with outsiders based on luck?

Even though the Human Consortium has been established, its establishment time is still too short, not even a full year yet. With such little time, expecting people from all nations worldwide to form a "greater human consensus" is completely impossible, even with a common external enemy.

"That is indeed correct. So we believe our small nations' strength can be devoted to building the megacity," said the Luruiguo committee member. "Moreover, we feel blind optimism isn't good. If the two major plans fail, this megacity might become a backup plan and prove immensely useful."

"..."

Mary, Tolovte, and Gao Liangwei were all thinking.

What the Luruiguo committee member said wasn't wrong. Space Migration and digital life are very difficult for humanity, whereas building cities is humanity's "specialty"—something humanity has been tirelessly doing for thousands of years.

Gathering the various advanced technologies humanity has acquired since the Doomsday Rules era, with all nations cooperating fully, and pouring humanity's current wisdom and capabilities into building a megacity is indeed a backup option.

"I think this proposal can be studied," Gao Liangwei said after some thought. "However, construction definitely won't start in the short term."

"It can indeed be studied, but the focus should still be on the digital life plan," Mary also relented. "Before this plan yields results, we won't waste resources building any megacity."

"Also," Gao Liangwei added, "even if we are to build a megacity, it must be after the parasitized forms and the Fire Thief Worship Cult are eliminated. Otherwise, a megacity that could be infiltrated by human enemies would only bring more danger."

"Agreed."

"That's correct."

The proposal to build the megacity wasn't rejected, which already satisfied the committee members from Luruiguo and the other nations. Before the meeting, they knew this was the best possible outcome; expecting immediate construction was a fantasy.

...

After the meeting ended, Gao Liangwei called Zhang Minglu to his office.

"Head, shall we contact Guan Tong now?"

"Contact him."

Gao Liangwei had expressed his intention to contact Shadow yesterday, wanting to initiate new cooperation. But the day the new rule was announced was filled with numerous tasks. Only today did he finally have time.

Zhang Minglu had already sent a message in advance. Now, when he initiated the video call request, it was quickly accepted on the other end.

"Dr. Zhang, Head Gao, hello."

"Hello, Guan Tong."

Gao Liangwei looked at the interior of the room where Guan Tong was on the screen. The intricate and ornate decorative style was unmistakably from the Xisiya Empire.

"Are you still in the Xisiya Empire?"

"Yes, I have some matters to handle and need to stay here for a while. I received Dr. Zhang's message. What does the research office wish to cooperate on?"

Hearing that Guan Tong needed to stay in the Xisiya Empire for a while, Gao Liangwei frowned slightly. "This cooperation requires you to leave the Xisiya Empire... How long will you be staying there?"

"I have to wait until the matters are resolved. Head Gao, please tell me the cooperation content first."

"... I'd like to ask you to lead a team to the Republic of Fahe to eliminate the leaders of the Fire Thief Worship Cult."

"Me, lead a team?" Guan Tong was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"Yes. Several of the research office's top combatants are primarily responsible for dealing with the parasitized forms and searching for their leader, the 'Prophet.' But the problem of the Fire Thief Cult is equally severe and urgently needs resolution, so I thought of you."