Book 4, Chapter 228: Drawing The Boundaries For Unified Ruling

The Skyline Project, huh?

Chen Chuan remembered his discussion with Hu Kan, along with the political situation of the island nations. Then, he pretty much figured out why they had come here.

“I’ve heard about it,” he said.

Gu Haiting and Song Yuan exchanged a look before the latter asked, “Director Chen, can I use your screen for a bit?”

“Sure,” Chen Chuan answered and touched his Realm Pass. A ray of light shone down, and he gave Song Yuan authorization.

Song Yuan tapped his Realm Pass and connected with the screen. A moment later, the screen flickered before displaying a map of the Eastern Continent. Then, it shrank to show the island nations. The eastern bank of the Great Shun Republic was at the very edge.

Most of the area between Freezing Sea to the north and Great Sea in the south belonged to the Great Shun Republic. In terms of administrative areas, at the very top was the vast, sparsely populated Haixi Road, and below it was Hedong, Jibei, Huainan, Jiangdong, and others.

On the eastern bank, Haixi, Jibei, Huainan, and Jiangdong were the only ones with a coastline. Haixi’s coastline occupied more than half of the perimeter. However, due to how big Haixi Road was, its Central City wasn’t by the coastline. Instead, Hedong Road was closest to the eastern bank and the other roads. This administrative area was located northwest of Jibei Road.

However, as the two worlds clashed again and again, biotechnology was advancing at lightning speed. Every year, food production increased, along with the population. The number of Central Cities was increasing, and it was highly likely that another Central City was going to appear in Haixi Road.

Each Central City was marked with a shining dot on the map. The peripheral cities expanding outward from the Central Cities were also marked.

However, this map mainly showed the island nations. Among them, only one spot shone with the light of a Central City, and it wasn’t very bright.

“This is where the Central City will be built. Leather Drum Island was chosen for it, since it’s located at a key location that will turn into a hub in the future. The area has been renamed to Sun Genesis Island.

“The active biosentient entity that was created and customized for it has already arrived. It will grow swiftly over the next few months and help us build the foundation of the Central City.

“It won’t be too big in the beginning, but it will continue growing. In the future, this Central City will gather together all the resources from the island nations and become their economic and technological center.”

Song Yuan drew a few lines on his Realm Pass and connected the Central Cities in Jibei, Huainan, Jiangdong, and the other administrative areas with the one in Sun Genesis Island.

“If we could connect the information chain of the Central Cities together, our information, resource, and technological exchanges would improve by leaps and bounds. We could also make use of our resources more effectively. The benefits of it are immeasurable.”

Gu Haiting spoke up then. “Director Chen, based on the documents from our executives, the country has long since come up with a report that lists a series of benefits supported by data. If we manage to carry out the Skyline Project, it will be a huge help in developing Central Cities and increasing the power of the country.”

Chen Chuan nodded. Regardless of whether it was the competition between countries or the fight against the other world, they were both, in essence, just a battle over resources and how to use them. It was the case in both the merged space and the physical world. If they could share information and technology, they would indeed be able to use their resources much more efficiently.

However, setting aside how difficult it was to connect all Central Cities, the countries had a hard time pushing forward the Skyline Project domestically. Up to this date, no country had made any progress in this area.

This wasn’t just due to domestic complications. The countries also faced external interference and obstacles, because those against it knew that if any country managed to pull it off, a metropolitan area might just emerge.

Just one of them would be enough to give rise to a second one. After that, more would pop up, and there would be a reshuffling of the powerful organizations, with the original ones that had had benefits divided among themselves getting eliminated from the running. Far too many people didn’t want to see this happen.

“One of my company executives said that the capital has been trying to push this plan forward for a long time, but it has to consider the opinions of the affected Central Cities, since the country is so big. The Great Crash might arrive at any moment, and the country has many competitors. The slightest setback could lead to major chaos, and the central government would rather not see that come through,” Gu Haiting said.

Chen Chuan could understand that, because having order was better than advances that led to chaos. Besides, this wasn’t the matter of a single Central City. Even if the central government forced out the leadership of one resisting Central City, the interested groups in the other cities would band together to fight back.

If some external power decided to interfere at this point, there was a real possibility that the plan wouldn’t be carried out and end up abandoned, while the country was forced to make concessions of some kind. In the end, all their efforts would go up in smoke.

“Right now, though, we have a chance to break the stalemate,” Song Yuan said and pointed at the map. “Once we build a Central City among the island nations, we can choose to establish information exchange with the Central Cities in the mainland. After all, previous baggage won’t be weighing us down, and we won’t have any organizations strong enough to fight us on it. However, we’ll need support from other Central Cities.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but what’s the Linacrox Union’s reaction toward this? Will it interfere?” Chen Chuan asked while watching the two.

They couldn’t ignore the Linacrox Union when it came to the island nations. Even though Ferris Wheel’s destruction had led to a major blow to its influence, the Linacrox Union still had some organizations and interest groups established on the western side, which was closest to it. No matter how Chen Chuan thought about it, there was simply no way the Linacrox Union was going to watch the Great Shun Republic push such a plan forward.

“The Great Shun Republic has been spreading its influence and setting up its power in the Linacrox Union for a long time. If it tries to disrupt our development, we can make them fall apart along with us. We’ve managed to gain some success over the years. Recently, two states close to the western side of the island nations have descended into civil war. Before it ends, the Linacrox Union won’t have the time nor energy to pay attention to us. This buys us a few months’ time, up to half a year. That’s why this is a good chance,” Gu Haiting explained.

Chen Chuan nodded. Even though the Great Shun Republic had plenty of internal conflicts, just like the other countries, its External Operations Bureau wasn’t just for show and had quite a lot of success. “Please continue.”

“Haixi Road’s Central City is too far away, and most of its sea regions are rather cold, so it’s not our first choice. We’ve sent some people to Jiangdong Road’s Central City, but they’re rather non-committal about it. They want to participate, but they don’t want to take the lead,” Song Yuan said.

“We’ve also tried to convince Huainan Road’s Central City to join us. They’re quite enthusiastic about it, and we’ve made some progress in that area, but things have come to a halt there. Their municipal government is in the way.

“That’s why we’re here, in Jibei Road, where the situation is much better. If we try to push the plan forward, we’re sure that the Department of Administrative Affairs will support us.”

Chen Chuan figured out what they were talking about now. Even though the central government wanted to push this plan forward, they had to consider the push back from the other parties. That was why they could only ask the state-owned enterprises and Departments of Administrative Affairs in the various Central Cities to push the plan on their own. Right now, the Central City where they had the highest chance of success was Jibei Road.

After suffering from multiple setbacks, its municipal government had been weakened considerably. It didn’t have as strong a foundation as the other municipal governments. Jibei Road’s Department of Administrative Affairs had also announced several new laws that were beneficial for them. They were a great help to this plan as well.

“The safety policy panel is the one who decides on what policies will be carried out,” Gu Haiting chimed in. “You’re now a part of the panel, so we hope that you can bring up the plan to them.”

“Our companies have worked together with you before, and our executives heap praise on you. I’m sure that if we work together again, it will be mutually beneficial,” Song Yuan said.

He was basically hinting that Chen Chuan was going to benefit from this.

Of course, Chen Chuan knew that these two were sent to convince him to participate in the plan.

If he were a politician, he would not be in a hurry to give a concrete answer and would instead make them bring out more benefits, but Chen Chuan was a martial arts master. He didn’t need to hide his thoughts. Hence, he gave a direct statement. “Personally, I support the Skyline Project.”

Song Yuan and Gu Haiting perked up, and delight appeared on their faces.

“Since this is beneficial for us, I’ll try to convince the panel to carry out the plan. But you must understand that even if the Department of Administrative Affairs decides to participate, there will be plenty of obstacles in the way to bring this plan to fruition,” Chen Chuan pointed out.

Gu Haiting and Song Yuan’s expressions turned stern. Gu Haiting said, “We know. Director Chen, this is related to the country’s macro strategy. We’ll be doing whatever it takes to work together with you.”

Chen Chuan nodded. The two state-owned enterprises were really strong. If the Department of Administrative Affairs made up their minds to participate and they joined hands, the chances of success would be pretty high.

Upon getting confirmation that Chen Chuan was going to help, Song Yuan and Gu Haiting stayed for a little longer before leaving.

Chen Chuan mulled over it for a while after, then finished his tea and went to the training hall.

That night, he received a message from the Fu-Mu Entity. The safety policy panel was going to have a meeting at 10 a.m. on the twenty-first of December. He was expected to attend it.

It was the day after tomorrow. This meant he could head to the island nations to search for the He siblings before New Year. He could even do it on the twenty-first itself. So, he submitted his travel itinerary to the Department of Administrative Affairs and packed his luggage.

Two days later, Chen Chuan turned on the screen in his office at 9:50 a.m.. A moment passed, and the other members of the safety policy panel arrived. Qi Weizhao, Liang Guanghai, and Qiao Weiting appeared on the screen. Even Qian Shushan showed up, but the director of the Cult Investigation Bureau was just like Wei Huan of the Resolution Department. He only had the right to attend as an observer, but not make any suggestions or decisions.

Meanwhile, since Chen Chuan was attending, Wei Huan didn’t need to show up. He only needed to be present if Chen Chuan was, for whatever reason, absent.

“Members of the safety policy panel, I will first make an announcement: Since Mr. Yao has to stay in the merged space, he can’t attend the meeting. That’s why he’s invoking the fourth clause of the panel’s regulations and is handing his voting power to Director Chen. He will be exercising Mr. Yao’s decision-making rights on his behalf.”

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