Sky-cracking Rider

The core of management controlling the automation of the entire city is within the central tower of "Atlantis," and no one can replace Chen Fei and the Artificial Intelligence AI "Adam," so it's pointless to seize it.

Chen Fei took over the right place from the very beginning, and especially when the armed forces of the First Sovereign arrived with their followers, this place became a tough bone to chew.

Whether it can be conquered is debatable, those coveting this place must be prepared for total annihilation, and it is likely to happen. Otherwise, why should it be the First Sovereign of Blue Star?

When Chen Fei stopped paying attention to the online meeting, becoming an observer without speech or stance, he was not idle.

The main contact of the First Sovereign's military operations brought professional personnel to Chen Fei, including construction engineer Yan Bochuan, city management expert Bao Minli, and urban planning expert Ruan Jianlan, among other twenty-one experts and scholars in city and architectural-related fields.

They were originally assisting the "Wall of Sighs" action forces to analyze the sea city "Atlantis," providing tactical references and other work, but now, they can also exert their professional expertise to reuse this war-torn city, prepare for long-term residence, and even plan for the future if everyone can't go back, taking root here.

Nobody wants to die here; survival is the most critical matter.

"... My idea is to establish multiple isolation barriers, use the original design of 'Atlantis,' gather water sources, and reconvert it into a surface city. Then cover the entire water source area and 'Atlantis' with a skylight, which not only guarantees that the water source doesn't deplete but also rebuilds a closed-loop ecosystem suitable for human habitation. Based on this, we can slowly transform the planet's ecosystem."

With the cooperation of Artificial Intelligence AI "Adam," Chen Fei proposed a concept of an "Atlantis" survival circle, which copied the work from the Emerald Star. But since there were no people on Emerald Star, it was just a plan that remained on paper. Now, it can be modified and put to use.

The gravity of this unknown planet is similar to Blue Star, but the atmospheric composition ratio and natural resources are not suitable for humans to survive exposed. Constructing a skylight-enclosed space and creating a living environment suitable for humans is the focus.

This plan suits the current "Atlantis," and if negotiations with other sovereignties collapse, Chen Fei could take his people and establish a new habitable city elsewhere.

For this, Artificial Intelligence AI "Adam" has already preemptively collected a batch of grain, vegetable seeds, and live poultry, all sent to the Cooperative Ship, ready to leave anytime without being controlled by others.

Based on the existing template of "Atlantis," the twenty-one experts provided many suggestions. Whether they stay here or not, these suggestions are kept in the archives of Artificial Intelligence AI "Adam." Once Chen Fei makes a final decision, they will be implemented.

The sovereignties of Blue Star are not entirely united; there are many inherent conflicts due to differing interests, and disputes are inevitable.

Chen Fei's three questions, or rather two demands, recognize this point—without a true decision-maker, efficiency would be infinitely reduced. Yet who knows what kind of crisis or danger lurks on this strange planet? Spending limited time on bureaucratic wrangling is undoubtedly self-destructive.

Chen Fei doesn't want to be buried with this group of fools, so the choice is to stay if compatible, or leave if not. Best to part amicably. Anyone looking for death, don't drag others with you.

The online meeting lasted a full twelve hours; even the listeners were exhausted, apart from the speakers. Yet most participating representatives remained spirited and enthusiastic, as if their life's meaning was in verbal disputes during the meeting.

Hah, a bunch of damn politicians.

Many saw these guys' true nature, looking down on them inwardly.

Soldiers and politicians are inherently incompatible. The sudden appearance of a cluster of politicians in the "Wall of Sighs" operation immediately made the military leaders feel disgusted as if they had swallowed a fly.

The host of the online meeting, Commander Huang, was the most hardworking person, having to occasionally pull the off-topic discussions back, act as a mediator, calm disputes, and constantly remind everyone of the meeting's purpose—seeking common ground while reserving differences. Unlike Chen Xiao'er, breaking up immediately on disagreement. Humans are social, communal creatures; breaking up is a dead end. But no amount of his earnest pleading would help; besides social nature, humans also possess selfishness.

As the 24-hour deadline set by Chen Fei nears, the tension in the online meeting grows heavier.

Not everyone wants to play city management games with Chen Fei, the common folk, like the First Sovereign or its followers. But here at Chen Fei, it was the same line—either you leave, or I leave. Make a choice, big brother!

After a full day and night of online meetings focused on Chen Fei's two demands, a result was finally reached.

However, this result was somewhat of a compromise.

Chen Fei became the mayor of "Atlantis," holding all the military, government, and civil power, in control of money, grain, and personnel. For those unsatisfied, no problem—move 20 miles away, find your own place to set up camp. "Atlantis" would provide manpower and materials, along with ten years' worth of survival provisions, and assist in achieving self-sufficiency in food and small industrial projects within ten years.

The ownership and distribution rights of the materials in "Spatial Branding" are not for others to comment on.

Even if others have opinions, Chen Xiao'er's single sentence of "I simply won't take it out, you all starve to death then" leaves no choice; starvation would be inevitable.

Like fluttering snowflakes, the silver city "Atlantis" slowly rose into the air. The sea city unexpectedly had an airborne function. As it ascended vertically to a height of 2000 meters, over ten dazzling blue lights exploded on the ground.

The light mist spreading in all directions casually consumed rocks and eroded soil that had weathered for who knows how many years. Numerous rocks collapsed at the steep edge, finally forming a pit large enough to accommodate the city of "Atlantis."

More precisely, it formed a small basin.

The seawater that was originally flowing in all directions returned, swirling at the bottom of the basin. Within moments, a shallow bottom had accumulated, with the water surface continuing to rise. Many marine life forms survived within.

"Atlantis" descended again, and water, the source of life, let the snowflake-shaped silver city float on the water surface once more.

The drones flying off for distant reconnaissance brought back new footage.

More and more local creatures flung themselves at nearby seawater ponds or lagoons, sipping desperately.

The high-salinity seawater isn't suitable for all creatures, so a large number of local creatures floated on the surface as corpses, yet even more continued forward one after another, fighting for this sip of water.

The drier and more desolate the area, the more uncontrollable the frenzy of species' thirst for water and food.

Some species could withstand Blue Star's seawater, enjoying the rare opportunity to drink heartily, and even climbed onto the thick floating corpses to feast greedily.

"These bugs are truly insane!"

Seeing the transmitted footage, the S-Class Space Ability User, like everyone else, kept gasping.

"The local creatures are rapidly adapting to the seawater; we must reclaim all those water sources."

A significant amount of seawater didn't return but remained in nearby trenches and caverns. Chen Fei felt some regret, but when he discovered the local strange creatures were visibly adapting to the seawater, his sense of crisis grew increasingly intense.

His first order as mayor was to organize all Water Ability Users to reclaim all the seawater and surviving marine life dispersed nearby and return it to the basin where "Atlantis" resided.

If not contested at this moment, those creatures satiated with Blue Star's water would inevitably set their eyes on humans like them.

The human body is comprised of seventy percent water, a ratio akin to the ratio of Blue Star's ocean to land. If they could adapt to seawater, they could certainly eat humans.

Meanwhile, everyone, including Ability Users, couldn't be idle and were fully engaged in the closed city plan.

Earth Element and Fire System Ability Users had the heaviest tasks now. They needed to coordinate with engineering machinery to excavate protective city moats around the basin, strengthen the foundations to prevent the seawater from seeping underground again.