Chapter 597: The Trap of Magic Industry
The war for hegemony lasted for four years and swept across almost all the countries in the Helka world.
There was an all-round contest between the Empire and the Allied Forces.
From soldiers to strong men, from logistics to supplies, from productivity to industrial research and development, from foundation to decision-making...
There are so many aspects to compete!
However, no one can deny that in the early stages of the war, the Empire relied on the productivity explosion brought by the magic industry and almost crushed the coalition forces to the ground.
For the coalition forces, these four years were a process of going from hostility to acceptance, to vigorous promotion, and to continuous construction of factories towards magical machinery.
The Bonaparte Empire, in particular, promoted and developed the magic industry almost frantically despite its defeat on the battlefield.
Problems encountered during the process should be solved if they can be solved, and those that cannot be solved should be solved quickly by finding a way.
Four years is not a long time, but in this short period of time, the Bonaparte Empire managed to establish its own industrial system.
The Puteaux Arsenal is located in the center of the Bonaparte Empire, southeast of the city of Lutetia.
This place is responsible for the manufacture of at least 30% of the magical weapons and field artillery in wartime, and with the help of the defense of the city of Lutetia, it forms the highest form of protection.
In the later stages of the war, a new magic tank production line was even opened here, assembling the generation of tanks most needed by the Bonaparte Empire based on the principle of proximity.
To date, the so-called Pito Arsenal has become a huge industrial park covering an area of more than 300,000 acres.
Nearly 200,000 people work here every day, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is comparable to a small city.
Because this place is so important, people are most afraid of targeted attacks from the Bonaparte Empire, so the Eiffel Tower used to defend the palace is suspended above the industrial park.
At the same time, there are nine magic eyes belonging to the Mage Tower, scanning and monitoring all directions at all times.
This monitoring team alone has 27 mages who watch in three shifts a day, not daring to make even the slightest mistake.
It's no wonder they are so cautious. This is an extraordinary world with many tricks and it's unpredictable. No one knows how the enemy can cause damage.
If a disaster occurs due to carelessness, it will be extremely difficult to remedy the situation later.
However, no matter how cautious they were, they were helpless against two beings beyond demigods.
Luo Yi led the way and the Pope followed. There was always only two steps between them, but only they themselves knew that although they seemed so close, they were actually thousands of miles apart.
The vigilance and estrangement between them have never been eliminated.
Keluo Yi didn't care at all. He led the Pope to stop in front of a chimney with a diameter of dozens of meters.
He raised his hand and pointed, then he said, "This is a large-scale magic steelmaking furnace, which can refine the steel most needed by industry at the fastest and most stable speed.
The output of a single furnace is comparable to the work of thousands of blacksmiths working day and night, and is the foundation of the magical energy industry."
"This technology was introduced by the Bonaparte royal family from the Flower Territory. They even built a house that is larger than the one in my Flower Territory."
However, Luo Yi raised his finger, pointing at the billowing black smoke, and said, "But they learned steelmaking technology, but they are unwilling to spend more energy to learn air purification."
Everywhere you look, you see rows of identical chimneys stretching to the end of your field of vision.
In each case, thick black smoke billowed up into the sky, spreading like doomsday clouds.
"Ever since they were opened, the skies over the entire Pito Arsenal have never been clear again. The air is always filled with a stench comparable to that of the abyss."
Luo Yi started moving again, ripples appeared in the space, and the old man followed closely.
They stepped into the crushing workshop again. It was always filled with fog and dust was floating in the air. The workers could only wear thick masks. When the distance between them was more than two meters, they could not see anyone.
Luo Yi's voice came out slowly: "They are unwilling to install a sprinkler system, so they allow the dust to float and the toxic substances to spread, corroding the workers' bodies.
Workers who work here for a long time will die of lung disease within three years."
"Of course, if you say they don't learn from their lessons, that's not true.
At least after one open flame explosion, they issued a notice that smoking is absolutely not allowed in this workshop."
As he spoke, ripples appeared in the space again, and Luo Yi took the Pope to another place.
This was a large machine in operation, with rapidly rotating gears making a rumbling sound, but a child of seven or eight years old emerged from a small passage.
The child was holding a small shovel in his hand and was covered in black dust. When he came out, he grinned at everyone, showing his white teeth.
Luo Yi continued, "This is a large casting workshop where the tank's main gun is produced. However, due to design flaws, there are places here that are prone to blockage.
So, you see, they use children to clear the blockage, and they have to be children of seven or eight years old. If they are a little older, their bodies will develop faster, and they will not be able to get through.
However, they don't actually live long enough to see their bodies develop, and generally, they won't live past the age of ten."
Luo Yi was moving, and appeared somewhere in the factory with the Pope, with a huge machine stretching in front of them.
He waved his hand and the machine moved, revealing a marble floor.
He took out a shovel from the dimensional bag, his fighting spirit spread, and he knocked it lightly and smashed it into the ground.
After lifting the marble, the blue ground was revealed, which also emitted a pungent smell.
"This is an electroplating machine, which coats the surface of the barrel with a rust-proof metal layer. However, if the seal is not good, what you see will appear.
Heavy metal leaks have polluted the land. Even if the situation does not worsen, no grass will grow here for hundreds of years.
Of course, compared to what we're about to see, this is actually not worth mentioning."
Roy took the Pope out of the Pito Arsenal again, and they stopped by a river.
The dark river water surged, mixed with countless substances, as thick as magma, and emitting an astonishing stench.
“All the sewage from the Pito Arsenal was discharged through this river. Over time, there is no aquatic life here anymore, not even algae and green plants can survive.
Wherever this river passes, the grass and trees wither, the crops fail, and even the farmers in the villages have trouble getting water."
The Puteaux Arsenal was the first stop, and Roy also took the Pope to Lyon-Saint-Étienne.
Located in the southeast of the Bonaparte Empire, it has the largest textile industry, as well as a rubber tire production base, and newly built automobile manufacturing and precision instrument manufacturing factories.
There is also the Rhone Valley, where large shipyards were built along the river to undertake the construction of ironclad ships and the most important naval equipment research and development base.
There are Saint-Nazaire and Nantes, which are already the largest aviation factories and bases in the Old Continent.
With the occupation of the Ruhr Industrial Zone of the Habsburg Empire, the largest number of magical aircraft were produced here.
It should be said that the situation is getting worse and worse, there is no worst!
The Pope's face looked quite ugly, but he didn't say a word and just followed silently.
Until the last stop, where the river flows into the sea, dark sewage flows into the endless ocean.
The ocean is vast enough to accommodate more dirt. After being mixed and diluted, the dark river water becomes turbid and eventually dissipates.
Standing at the estuary, the old man finally spoke: "Is this what you want me to see? The damage that the development of the magic energy industry has caused to the environment?"
Luo Yi nodded and said, "Yes, this is what I want you to see."
The old man was silent for a moment before he said, "I admit that the pollution caused by this is very serious, but if Netheril wants to use this to overthrow my lord, I'm afraid he is just wishful thinking, isn't he?"
Luo Yi waved his hand: "No, no, no, you are too superficial and don't realize the huge danger here.
Look at the Habsburg Empire. Since the emergence of the magic industry, it has never thought of dominating the market.
That person even spared no effort to promote Flower Collar and Glorious Empire, saying that they were exchanging technology for market share, but in reality, the effort and reward were not equal.
“That’s because what they want is to spread magical machinery throughout the Helka world and make the environment of the plane extremely harsh.
Therefore, the outcome of the war is unimportant, and the survival of the Habsburg Empire is irrelevant; as long as the goal can be achieved, these can be sacrificed."
"From this perspective, your previous policies were correct.
The magical industry should not be allowed to expand, and the Netheril civilization should not be given the slightest opportunity to exploit it."
The old man's brows furrowed as he listened. He interrupted Luo Yi and said, "I remember you said it was you who said that mechanics should be mechanics and faith should be faith. The two should not be confused."
Luo Yi did not shy away from saying, "This is what I said. I admit it. I was wrong."
"But I still find it hard to understand. Is the environmental pollution caused by the magical machinery a conspiracy of Netheril?"
"We should have looked deeper!"
Luo Yi stretched out his hand and waved it. A ripple arose and spread outwards, as if brushing away the fog on the sea surface, and the corpses of countless fish emerged.
"The plane actually has the ability to purify itself, but when industrial development creates too many pollutants for the plane to digest, it will cause irreversible damage to the plane.
The loss of life caused by this will be countless.”
"And there was the war, the battle for supremacy in the Old World, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 million people and the loss of countless lives.
These may seem like mere human behavior, but what if we look at it from a higher dimension?"
"For example, how about looking at this from the perspective of pan-consciousness?"
Luo Yi raised his hand and saw a ball of mud flying into his hand, turning into a ball of mud and slowly rotating at a constant speed.
Countless green dots appeared on it, as if representing life.
"Any prime material plane possesses panconsciousness, which is a combination of the subconsciousness of life.
He is not subject to personal will.
His existence is to protect and continue the entire prime material plane."
Luo Yi suddenly turned his head, looked at the old man, and asked, "What if environmental pollution seriously affects the ecosystem of Helka, so that countless lives are lost?
At this moment, because the war is too brutal, countless humans have died. What will be the result? "
Luo Yi stretched the soil ball in his hand forward, and right in front of the old man, spots of black blocks appeared on the rotating ball.
Then it spreads rapidly, more and more, until the entire soil ball is contaminated.
Luo Yi's voice sounded faintly, clearly not loud, but chilling to the bone.
"The plane's pan-consciousness will become angry and agitated, and may even initiate a self-rescue process, impose punishment, and trigger a catastrophe.
What if the Netheril civilization came from behind and gave a push at this time?"
"They possess a forbidden magic, and the conditions for casting it are extremely harsh. It can only take effect when the pan-consciousness of the plane stirs up waves.
But the power is quite amazing!
It can intensify, expand, and even lead to a catastrophe, so that the world will be turned upside down!"
"By then, the human race will no longer be the protagonist of this plane, and may even be despised by the will of the pan-plane.
The Netheril civilization can then take over the magpie's nest, create a new race that is beloved by the plane, and grow stronger."
"Yes, what they are after is not resources, not population, not faith, and not victory in war.
What they want is the entire Helka Prime Material Plane, to become their private property."
As he spoke, the ball of earth in Luo Yi's hand changed. The darkness disappeared and green fields emerged.
However, the people living and multiplying there are no longer the indigenous humans, but half-elves.
They are a hybrid of humans and elves, have an excellent affinity for magic, are either beautiful or handsome, and their ears are not as pointed as those of elves, but are slightly larger than those of mortals.
These are the Netherese, a hybrid of humans and elves.
Luo Yi's voice continued: "Your Majesty, the one behind you is very powerful. Such a powerful god has not appeared in the Helka plane for countless years.
However, when the human race is extinct and faith no longer exists, how long can He last?
Or, how long can the indigenous gods of Helka hold out?"
Although it was just words, just a guess, Luo Yi's description still made the old man shudder.
He even instinctively objected: "You are exaggerating, exaggerating. It will never develop to that extent."
Luo Yi continued, "Why do you think Nesriel can grasp it so accurately? So confidently?
That’s because this is the wrong path their civilization has taken!”
"The Netheril are a highly developed magical civilization, and their Archmages are so powerful that they can even use gods as research material.
But before that, they had already experienced a catastrophic era of industrial proliferation and environmental degradation.”
The old man was speechless.
Luo Yi added, "I don't want this to happen either, but if you think about it carefully, isn't everything happening right now following Netheril's script?"
"So, what should we do?"
The old man asked, "At this time, should we completely ban the development of the magic industry?"
"That's no longer possible. The explosive growth of productivity and the immense abundance of material goods are a historical necessity, enough to crush anyone who attempts to stop it.
But the current situation is not the worst after all.
So, my idea is that achieving a balance between industrial development and environmental protection is the top priority at this stage!
The reason I'm anxious to see you is because only the Church of the Sun God can curb the vicious competition between nations and make environmental protection a consensus among all nations."
The old man looked at Luo Yi, dumbfounded. After a long pause, he said, "So what we are discussing now is actually the issue of environmental protection?"
Luo Yi nodded: "Your Holiness, this is a matter concerning the continuation and inheritance of Helka, so please take it seriously."
"knew."
His Holiness the Pope nodded slowly before asking, "Anything else?"
"Yes, I have gained a lot of information about the floating city Silvertop from that person's memories. When the time comes, I will sort it out and give it to Saint John to give it to you.
These should be very useful to you.”
“It is very useful.”
"That's all, I hope to hear good news from the Flower District."
"The great Sun God never disappoints His believers."
(End of this chapter)
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