Chapter 46 That's All
After Zhou Cheng finished speaking, the conference room fell silent again.
People carefully pondered every detail of this plan, which Zhou Cheng named "Resource Depletion," and continued to think deeply about it.
After a long time, another person raised his hand.
"Continuing civilization at the level of the feudal era...is this really a good thing for our civilization?"
The old man said tremblingly: "I am already over ninety years old this year. When the Cataclysm Chronicle began, I was already in my thirties.
When I was a child, even though humanity was already at its peak, there were still some very poor places in the world. I grew up in a very poor place.
When I was little, I didn't even have shoes to wear. I had to run around barefoot every day. In the winter, my brother, sister and I had to stay in bed every day.
All they ate every day was steamed bread, and eggs were only available on their birthdays. If they got sick, they could only endure it, or take medicine with severe side effects prescribed by the village doctor.
When the weather gets warmer, we have to work in the fields every day because machines cannot get in.
I work so hard but don't earn much money in a year.
My mother died of heatstroke while working in the fields.
I watched her die, helpless. My family didn't have the money to go to the hospital, and even if I had health insurance, I couldn't afford the extra money.
Besides, even if you have money, the mountain roads are too difficult to walk on, so you can’t go there at all.”
The old man's voice was trembling. "I have to admit that the development of science and technology and civilization has also benefited families like mine, even those at the bottom of society. If it weren't for the development and strength of civilization, my family's situation would be even worse."
But... even with the blessing of technological and civilized development, the situation of the lowest-income families like mine is still so difficult.
If our civilization regresses to the feudal era, the situation of families at the bottom of society like mine will only be more difficult.
After all, even though my family was poor, we were not subject to heavy taxes and no one bullied us.
In the feudal era, the vast majority of the world's population must have been composed of these lowest-class civilian families...
Emperors, generals, talented men and beautiful women, romantic men, and romance are always the rights of only a small group of people at the top.
If the vast majority of people in this world live in a life even more difficult than my childhood home, with no hope and no chance of recovery, would such a civilization, even if it could continue, really have any meaning?"
No one in the conference hall had ever experienced the old man's situation, but through his story, people could still sense the profound despair and misery.
“I have studied hard since I was young, regardless of the consequences, just to ensure that the vast majority of people in the world will never have to live the kind of life I had as a child.
I have fought for our civilization my entire life, and now...are we going to push everyone in the world into a life even more miserable than when I was a child?"
Zhou Cheng also fell silent.
After a long moment, he raised his head and whispered, “Whether or not to live this kind of life is not decided by me, nor by you, nor by any of us.
Our task is to come up with a feasible solution, nothing more.”
The old man wiped his eyes and sat down tremblingly.
The meeting host tapped the table lightly and said solemnly, "Next, we have three days to raise questions about the 'resource depletion' plan.
If no valid questions arise, I will formally report to the World Government on behalf of the scientific expedition team. Now, adjourn this meeting."
Three days passed without anyone raising any valid objections. The "resource depletion" plan, jointly proposed by Zhou Cheng and Liu Yu, was officially approved in its first round.
On this day, Zhou Cheng and Liu Yu followed the decision maker and came to the office of the first decision maker.
After not seeing him for a while, there seemed to be more bloodshot in the eyes of the first decision maker.
After listening to the report, he looked at Zhou Cheng with some emotion.
"Resources exhausted? Resources exhausted..."
He tapped the table lightly for a long time before asking, "If we were to carry out this plan, how long would it take?"
At this moment, whether this plan will actually be carried out is still uncertain. Whether this plan can be exchanged for the unlocking of the Moon Goddess is also unknown.
But at this moment, we can put aside those factors and just assume that it really needs to be executed.
Zhou Cheng and Liu Yu already had a plan in mind regarding this matter.
Liu Yu gave an answer.
"Dear First Decision Maker, according to our research, there are currently 19,000 modern coal mines and oil fields in the world that need to be destroyed one by one.
Destroying these mineral deposits doesn't require advanced technology; conventional explosives are sufficient. However, planning and executing the blasting mission may be more complex.
After the explosion, all existing facilities, as well as excavated mines and caves, will collapse.
Even with our current technological strength, we are unable to rebuild it, let alone the people who have lost the support of the modern technological system.
Based on existing industrial capabilities, this may take 3 to 5 years.
Secondly, there is the task of destroying scientific and technological information.
Most existing scientific and technological data is stored in electronic devices, making their destruction much simpler. Preliminary estimates suggest it will only take a year at most to complete.
The most tedious task is the technological isolation task.
There is still a lot of scientific and technological information stored in our brains. We cannot destroy this information by killing people. The only thing we can do is wait for everyone in this generation to die of old age.
At the same time, in order to prevent the elderly from imparting technology to the new generation of young people, we need to build an isolation zone to isolate all young people in it, and they can only come out after everyone of our generation dies.
The engineering and resource coordination involved are enormous and complex, and it is initially estimated to take at least 20 years to complete."
"Twenty years..."
The first decision maker repeated the number in a low voice.
"In 20 years, the global population is expected to drop to less than 50 million, and... except for a few young people like you, everyone else will be over 81 years old."
He sighed, "It seems like time is very tight. If we want to carry out this plan, we must start preparing now."
Liu Yu nodded silently.
The first decision maker thought silently for a long time before finally making a decision.
“The final decision on whether to carry out this plan is not in my hands.
However, we do not have to let our civilization face this choice for the time being.
Are they still digging in Yangjiagou? Then let's dig for a while and see if there are any new discoveries."
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