Watching his old friend step down through the open hatch, Chu Guang smiled and extended his right hand.
"A pleasure, Mr. Li! It's been quite a while!"
The man standing before him was none other than Li Changkong, manager of the Construction Department of the Ideal Group.
As one of the representatives sent to Dawn City back when Enterprise was providing aid to the Alliance, he hadn't crossed paths with Chu Guang in some time, ever since the war in Sunset Province came to an end.
For a long stretch, diplomatic exchanges between the Supreme Council and the Alliance had been handled by staff from the General Management Department and Yi Chuan from the Overseas Operations Department.
Li Changkong's visit to the Southern Sea this time did not represent the Enterprise Supreme Council, but rather the oldest of Enterprise's five major conglomerates, the "King of Infrastructure"—the Ideal Group.
Back in the day, the infrastructure of Ideal City had been built single-handedly by the Ideal Group. Its pivot into property management and maintenance operations had come only after Ideal City was completed.
As for the purpose of Li Changkong's trip, it was naturally to conduct an on-site inspection of the "trackless space elevator" project proposed by the Alliance at the Community conference.
Keeping Ideal City running consumed massive amounts of energy, and that responsibility fell squarely within the Ideal Group's purview.
If a stable route between the surface and outer space could be reopened—or if Earth-Moon flights, suspended for two centuries, could even be restored—it would fundamentally resolve the looming threat of energy depletion Ideal City might face in the future.
It was precisely for this reason that ever since the Alliance put forward this plan, the Ideal Group had demonstrated an extraordinary level of interest.
Upon hearing that the Alliance had joined forces with the South Sea Alliance to begin site selection in the Southern Sea, the chairman of the Ideal Group immediately sent an application to Shu Yu, the Alliance's ambassador to Ideal City, requesting permission to conduct an on-site inspection in the Southern Sea.
Seeing that the tycoons of Ideal City were so keenly interested in his plan, Chu Guang was only too happy to oblige. He promptly instructed Shu Yu to approve the request and even went out in person aboard the submarine carrier Conch to welcome him.
Standing upon the sturdy steel flight deck, Li Changkong glanced around, his wide eyes half-filled with shock and half with admiration.
Unbelievable.
That settlement, once a ramshackle place with nothing to its name except hope, had now pulled off such an astonishing feat of engineering!
Although Ideal City sat on the coastline and exploited marine resources, its shipbuilding technology was unremarkable—at least nowhere near as brilliant as its aviation equipment.
Such a state of affairs was hardly difficult to understand.
After all, during the Era of Prosperity, the Human Alliance's developmental focus had steadily shifted toward outer space. Surface logistics and manufacturing had also progressively gravitated toward the four major industrial zones clustered around the space elevators.
Under this overarching trend, orbital and aviation transport captured massive market growth, while maritime shipping largely stagnated or even shrank.
Coupled with the Human Alliance's policy of restricting maritime development to protect marine ecosystems, human nautical technology had seen little significant progress over the more than a century of the Era of Prosperity. The sector's ecosystem had essentially frozen in the form it possessed in the early days of that golden age.
Even when certain vessels saw improvements in materials and power sources, those gains were mostly dragged forward passively in the wake of other rapidly expanding industries.
Ideal City had inherited much of the Human Alliance era's nature. While it was not so pedantic as to strictly perpetuate the environmental policies of that era, its investments in maritime equipment remained far below those in other fields.
Of its five major conglomerates, not one counted marine engineering or naval equipment manufacturing as a core business.
This was precisely why Li Changkong felt such profound awe.
While Chu Guang considered the Overlord transport plane to hold vastly greater strategic significance than the submarine carrier Conch, Li Changkong saw it in the exact opposite light.
This thing was infinitely more astonishing than any of the Alliance's planes!
"Truly astonishing... A submersible mobile airfield. Did you design this?"
Seeing Li Changkong's amazement, Chu Guang laughed.
"I wouldn't dare take full credit. To be precise, it's a joint achievement between us and the people of the South Sea Alliance."
Reflecting on it stirred a certain sentimentality.
Once upon a time, he had worn that very same flabbergasted expression when he first laid eyes on Enterprise's Pioneer.
Now, their roles were reversed—it was the Alliance's manufacturing that had opened Enterprise's eyes.
"Incredible..."
Looking down at the smooth deck and then up at the towering bridge, Li Changkong still couldn't calm his racing pulse. Utterly mystified, he turned to Chu Guang and asked, "Our ships get covered in barnacles and oysters after floating on the sea for a few months. How on earth did you keep those things from crawling all over the deck?"
It wasn't a secret worth guarding, so Chu Guang replied in a casual, conversational tone: "Psychic interference devices aren't just useful for driving off mutants. They work quite effectively against troublesome shellfish as well."
A look of sudden comprehension dawned on Li Changkong's face.
"I see."
Though he wasn't a naval specialist, this unconventional solution was truly ingenious.
"The more incredible sights are yet to come," Chu Guang said with a faint smile. "Follow me. I'll show you inside."
With that, he took the lead, guiding Li Changkong and his entourage toward the bridge alongside his personal guards.
The entrance into the hull sat directly beneath the bridge. The group stepped onto an elevator, and with a soft mechanical hum, they quickly descended into the belly of the submarine.
Within that cavernous hangar, more than twenty Alliance carrier-based aircraft were parked in neat columns.
Among them were VTOL transports like the Viper, fixed-wing aircraft like the Lightning and Thunderbolt, and even Cloud Dragonfly ornithopters imported from Ideal City.
Electromagnetic launch catapult rails led straight toward an upward-canted bow hatch, with a straight main rail interconnected to multiple feeder rails linked to the fixed-wing craft.
In combat, the Conch could surface and immediately launch every piece of aviation hardware stored within its bay into the skies, forming an aerial strike formation in mere moments while using its exterior flight deck as a forward staging ground for land-based aviation squadrons.
Beyond the aircraft, the munitions stores within the submarine carrier were equally impressive.
Racks flanking the rails were packed tight with missiles of varying models.
Judging strictly by quantity, this vessel's current ammunition stores were more than enough to sustain three full-scale military engagements!
Nor was that all. In the mezzanines along the hangar's ceiling, folded King Crab amphibious engineering armor waited poised for action.
When not in use, they rested quietly plugged into charging stations.
The moment deployment orders came, mechanical arms mounted to overhead rails would hoist them onto the inner deck, sending them out to battle through dedicated buffer launch tubes.
From the second he set foot inside the hull, Li Changkong was thoroughly overwhelmed.
This was practically a mobile sea fortress!
And one capable of submerging at a moment's notice, no less!
However, Chu Guang's goal was not to flaunt the sheer martial might of the Alliance, but to show him something else entirely. Pulling the reluctant visitor away, he led him straight to the observation compartment at the vessel's bow.
En route to the observation compartment, Li Changkong seemed to finally recall the purpose of his journey. Turning to Chu Guang, he asked, "Speaking of which, how is your site selection going? Any progress?"
Chu Guang chuckled.
"Site selection was last week's business. We've already moved on to the experimental validation phase."
Li Changkong stared at him in surprise.
"Site selection is already finished? That fast?"
He had assumed the Alliance would wait until discussions at the Community assembly bore fruit—or at least until they secured some outside investment—before commencing the next phase. He had never expected the project to already be in testing and validation.
Such efficiency was utterly unmatched!
Unsurprised by Li Changkong's reaction, Chu Guang stopped outside the observation compartment, gazed out through the panoramic window, and continued, "We figured that an unprecedented undertaking like a trackless space elevator would never reach a conclusion through mere debate. Whether it works or not can only be known by testing it."
Whether the project ultimately won the support of the Community or not, the Alliance would forge ahead as planned.
Not just because of the threat posed by the Celestials, but because the future of human civilization lay out there.
Merely inheriting the legacy of the Human Alliance was not enough to escape the wasteland.
To truly bring the Wasteland Era to an end and keep the fire of civilization burning, the Alliance had to confront the myriad problems left behind by that bygone era.
Rebuilding the space elevator was merely one step in his grand plan, and there would never be a better time to do it than now.
Of course, while he intended to press on regardless of external backing, securing some "investments" would certainly be welcome.
After all, for a project of such historic magnitude, whether viewed through a political lens or from the standpoint of collective wisdom, the more forces they could marshal, the higher their chances of eventual success.
Suppressing his astonishment, Li Changkong steadied himself and looked at Chu Guang. "I agree with your point. But... speaking practically, how do you intend to deal with the debris floating in orbit? We're talking astronomical quantities of wreckage. If that problem isn't resolved, let alone a space elevator, launching a single spacecraft becomes an ordeal."
Enterprise had tried launching spacecraft into outer space before, but almost without exception, once they passed low Earth orbit, they simply became part of the debris field.
Debris was one thing, but orbital automated defense systems still patrolled on perpetual standby, identifying and targeting intruders.
Though Enterprise had neutralized or commandeered a small fraction of those orbital weapons, it was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the astronomical sea of wreckage.
Compared to whether the concept of a "trackless space elevator" could succeed, he cared far more about this immediate, practical obstacle.
Unfazed by Li Changkong's doubts, Chu Guang answered smoothly: "We've already taken that into account. We're currently considering using a 'gravity well' to clear orbital debris."
"A gravity well?" Li Changkong's brows knitted slightly, a look of bewilderment spreading across his face.
Chu Guang explained, "I don't mean a natural gravity well, but an artificial one. Simply put, we use graviton manipulation technology to interfere with the Earth's gravitational field, creating a downward-dipping, well-shaped graviton channel over a designated region. This will draw orbital debris passing through that zone downward, causing it to fall precisely where we want it to."
Li Changkong stared blankly at Chu Guang, taking several moments to find his voice.
"Can something like that even be done?"
He had never heard of such a concept in his life!
Chu Guang offered a sheepish smile. "We're still in the conceptual phase, just like with the 'trackless elevator.' Actually making it happen will undoubtedly be quite difficult. After all, the graviton technology we possess is extremely limited—our only 'prototype' was captured from the Legion."
Even during the Era of Prosperity, graviton technologies were considered cutting-edge, though their applications were widespread.
Classic examples included FTL drives, hyperspace lanes connecting massive celestial bodies, antigravity systems, and deflector shield technology—all of which were realized through graviton manipulation.
While the Alliance's manufacturing capabilities had reached a new plateau thanks to the manufacturing center on Level B7, it had only advanced far enough to produce deflector shields. Replicating the "frigate core" aboard the Heart of Steel still presented a challenge, to say nothing of black technologies capable of manipulating the gravitational field of a massive celestial body—a feat comparable to "forbidden-tier magic."
To be frank, when the Scientific Expedition's experts first pitched the idea to him, Chu Guang had wondered if their minds had completely snapped.
Before that, Chu Guang had leaned toward a wild brainstorm posted on the forum:
Launch a bunch of rockets into low Earth orbit and unfurl gigantic nets to drift through space like kites, catching whatever debris they could. Every so often, launch another rocket to haul the nets back down, hauling junk to the ground bit by bit.
Though the Scientific Expedition's approach sounded more convenient than this mountain-moving folly, the underlying theory was far too arcane for him.
Hesitations aside, Chu Guang was careful not to let a layman micromanage experts, entrusting the feasibility studies to the scientists.
At present, Yin Fang's preliminary verdict was that "the technology is theoretically feasible, but practical implementation will be exceedingly difficult"—at least not an outright dismissal.
Li Changkong was clearly dumbfounded by this wild concept. After a long silence, he gave an awkward laugh and said, "This... is entirely beyond my field of knowledge. I'll probably have to consult the professors at Yunjian University back home. Still, I never imagined you would contemplate such an extraordinary method. It seems you truly have great confidence in the prospects of outer space development, Mr. Chu."
Chu Guang smiled faintly. "Of course. And I trust I don't need to explain the significance behind it to you."
Li Changkong sighed. "Be that as it may, our board of directors is focused on the profits right at our feet."
Chu Guang continued in a gentle tone, "There is nothing wrong with focusing on immediate interests—one must walk securely on the ground beneath their feet before they can go far. But from where I stand, you have already developed the land beneath your feet remarkably well. So why not broaden your ambitions? You clearly possess the capability, so why confine yourselves to a tiny Ideal City?"
At those words, Li Changkong's eyebrows twitched.
"Ideal City is tiny?"
He felt this man had gotten a bit too full of himself.
While he admitted Dawn City had developed impressively, comparing it favorably against Ideal City was sheer arrogance.
Yet Chu Guang didn't spare his feelings in the slightest, pressing on without hesitation:
"Tiny. And not just you—our Alliance, and even the Legion that spans half the continent, are a drop in the ocean compared to the territory of the Human Alliance era. In fact, if you ask me, you could expand your business far further. For instance... how about opening a branch of Ideal City five light-years away?"
Li Changkong froze, forgetting his annoyance.
"...Five light-years away?"
"Precisely."
Chu Guang nodded, his voice steady and warm. "Somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri... Doesn't your colony ship's core hold the coordinates to new worlds? Once we finish dealing with the troubles on the planet beneath our feet, sooner or later, we must finish what was left undone."
Li Changkong laughed ruefully. "That's far too distant."
Chu Guang shook his head. "Not as distant as you think. We can start preparing for that day right now. I imagine your ancestors didn't turn back all those years ago just so their descendants would remain forever trapped on this hopeless planet. They must have believed this world could birth new hope, and trusted that you would set forth once more. That is why they returned without looking back."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't his place to utter such words; those pioneers were the ancestors of Ideal City, not his.
Yet for reasons Chu Guang couldn't explain, whenever he spoke of their deeds, while he felt admiration, he harbored not the slightest trace of reverent awe. He could easily inhabit their perspective and think from their standpoint.
It was somewhat presumptuous, really.
Yet the words had come to him naturally.
Perhaps it was because he was an outsider.
When speaking of that history, it felt as mundane as recounting an everyday tale—or describing the plot of a video game.
Li Changkong stared blankly at him, only managing a faint smile after a long pause.
"...Perhaps."
The citizens of Ideal City held no taboo against outsiders discussing or appraising their ancestors; they were far less sensitive than the Legion.
Still, from his indifferent expression, it was evident he hadn't taken Chu Guang's grand promises to heart.
Yet what Li Changkong did not realize was that the speech, despite causing no immediate ripples, had inadvertently planted a seed in his heart.
The Ideal Group's construction machinery had indeed sat idle in warehouses for far too long—long enough to begin rusting away.
Once, the Ideal Group had forged miraculous wonders across the wasteland; now, they were reduced to doing patchwork repairs on the foundations laid by their forebears.
Though merely a department manager, he too had secretly yearned for the monumental achievements wrought by his predecessors two centuries ago.
One sentence from Chu Guang had struck a chord deep within him.
When the colony ship Zhiyuan turned back, it was never so that their posterity would stay mouldering away on this planet forever.
They must have believed that future generations would one day take up their unfinished mission, which was why they turned back without hesitation to rescue those who could still be saved.
Framed that way...
That grand pie hanging five light-years away actually smelled rather appetizing.
"I find your proposal intriguing, but... could you show me something tangible?" Following Chu Guang's gaze out the panoramic window, Li Changkong stared across the boundless sea and continued, "The surprise you mentioned over the phone... surely it isn't just this Conch?"
Before coming here, he had spoken with Chu Guang over the phone, and Chu Guang had promised him a surprise upon arrival.
He had been anticipating it, especially now that he knew the Alliance had already advanced the project to the experimental phase.
Yet standing here in the observation compartment, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
While the Conch was an impressive engineering feat in its own right, he hadn't made this journey just to inspect the Alliance's naval might.
The Supreme Council might care about that, but it was irrelevant to his mission.
"Of course not. As for the surprise I promised, you'll see it shortly." Chu Guang smiled enigmatically, then turned to the captain standing beside him. "Prepare to dive!"
Receiving the order, the captain snapped to attention and rendered a crisp salute.
"Yes, sir!"
Unclipping the radio from his shoulder, the captain barked into the mic:
"All hands, dive!"
The moment the command was issued, the colossal steel hull parted ripples of seawater, sinking slowly beneath the surface.
Watching the panoramic window submerge into the sea, Li Changkong suddenly remembered his plane was still on the landing pad. He quickly turned to Chu Guang. "My plane—"
"Don't worry," Chu Guang said, giving him a reassuring look. "We've already brought it inside."
The landing pad itself was a hydraulic elevator; when they stepped onto the lift earlier, the transport plane—outwardly resembling a Viper—had already descended into the hangar along with them.
Hearing this, Li Changkong finally relaxed and turned his gaze back out the panoramic window.
In that very instant, what met his eyes rooted him to the spot.
Deep within the azure waters, glittering arcs of light danced beneath the sea like underwater sprites.
A towering alloy megastructure stood enclosed in the center by countless flickering "sprites," as extending metal frameworks coalesced and took shape bit by bit amid the flashing light.
Li Changkong's eyes went wide. Just as he was about to ask Chu Guang what on earth he was looking at, Chu Guang seemed to anticipate his shock and waved to the captain.
Understanding at once, the captain ordered the forward searchlights activated.
As beams of milky-white light blazed forth, illuminating the dark expanse, Li Changkong finally saw what those dancing sprites truly were.
Manta-ray-shaped machines flapped their broad pectoral fins, swarming around an underwater construction site.
The flickering lights were low-temperature electric arcs emitted by welding apparatuses atop their heads.
Under the crackle of those arcs, metal pipes and plates were rapidly welded onto a pre-assembled framework.
Around the metal framework, numerous crab-shaped automatons bustled about, handling delicate tasks in place of the manta rays.
"...Those devil-ray-looking fellows are called Electric Rays," Chu Guang explained. "They're automated underwater welding drone craft we developed not long ago—I forget which company manufactured them. The crabs are our 'Crab-type,' adapted from the Diving Beetle engineering armor. As engineers, you've probably heard of them."
Li Changkong nodded dumbly, then let out a heartfelt sigh after a moment.
"Incredible."
While Enterprise did not lack innovation, the Alliance's terrifying pace of development was truly an eye-opener.
Their growth was simply too fast!
Even "snowballing" failed to capture the sheer speed!
Though Enterprise deserved some credit for enabling it, what stood before him now had nothing to do with them—it had been built entirely by the Alliance's vault dwellers working alongside wastelanders.
His disbelief gave way to profound, heartfelt respect.
These people were truly remarkable.
Over the past two centuries, everything Ideal City had done amounted to a mere repetition of the Era of Prosperity; they had not advanced a single step beyond it.
Yet an alliance of survivors that had existed for only a few short years possessed the courage to challenge heights they themselves dared not even dream of—to build a new tower reaching to the heavens, one that not even the Era of Prosperity had possessed!
No wonder the Supreme Council favored them so heavily!
With torchbearers like these leading the way, even the indolent citizens of Ideal City couldn't help taking steps forward.
Including himself—
which was why he was standing right here!
Gazing at the man before him, Li Changkong suddenly saw a possibility he had never imagined before.
If it was him... perhaps there truly was hope of bringing an end to this wasteland!
"...Before arriving here, I harbored many doubts, including whether it was too early to rebuild a space elevator at this point in time."
Pausing, Li Changkong looked at Chu Guang and continued earnestly, "But after seeing what is before us, I feel only shame for my former doubts."
"Measuring the value of this undertaking by return on assets is an insult to it. This is a project that can inaugurate a brand-new era!"
"Just as you said, if we can truly rebuild the bridge between the surface and space, who knows—perhaps one day we truly will reclaim every inch of the Human Alliance's former territory."
"The names of Ideal City's citizens should be on this magnificent monument. Please, put our strength to use as well!"
That impassioned speech made even Chu Guang feel a little embarrassed, nearly bringing a blush to his cheeks.
However, he was a seasoned veteran by now, having long cultivated skin as thick as city walls.
Gazing into those sincere eyes, Chu Guang solemnly gripped the right hand Li Changkong extended and gave it a firm shake.
"On behalf of all the survivors who have united, and all those who are uniting, I thank you!"
"Thank you for joining us!"
"And I promise you—all our names will be carved upon this immortal monument!"
Chapter 809