166: The division of civilizations

Inside the administrative center's main hall in Guanghan City, a crucial administrative division adjustment meeting was underway.

Zhang Mingyuan, the newly appointed Mayor of Guanghan Municipality and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, stood before a holographic sandbox, gazing at the dome-covered urban cluster on the lunar surface, which had expanded to over 1 million square kilometers.

"According to the latest census, Guanghan's total population has reached 609 million," the Minister of Civil Affairs displayed a set of data, "At this growth rate, it will exceed 700 million by the end of the year."

Zhang Mingyuan nodded slightly, his finger tracing several boundary lines on the holographic image: "With the approval of the Zijin Pavilion, the dissolution of Guanghan City has been agreed upon. The former administrative area of Guanghan City will be officially divided into Guanghan Municipality and six provincial-level administrative regions."

On the holographic map, the vast lunar city was divided into seven different colored blocks. The original core area retained the name "Guanghan Municipality," while the surrounding areas were named "Moonsea Province," "Yuhuan Province," "Guilun Province," "Xuantu Province," "Yunyi Province," and "Taiyin Province."

"Each new province will establish a complete administrative system," Zhang Mingyuan continued, "including provincial governments, courts, and public security systems. Public services like education and healthcare will also be configured to provincial standards."

The Minister of Science and Technology raised his hand to ask: "How will energy supply be allocated? All existing Helium-3 refineries are within the scope of Guanghan Municipality."

"The new plan has already taken this into account," Zhang Mingyuan brought up the energy distribution map, "Moonsea Province will build three new large Helium-3 refineries, and Guilun Province and Yunyi Province will each build two. The technical team provided by Interstellar Peace Corporation has already begun preliminary exploration work."

Halfway through the meeting, a secretary hurried in and whispered a few words to Zhang Mingyuan. Zhang Mingyuan frowned slightly, then announced a ten-minute recess.

In the confidential meeting room, the holographic image of the Starsea Community Secretary-General had been waiting for a long time.

"Mayor Zhang, the situation is urgent," the Secretary-General went straight to the point, "The Oceania City-States announced their withdrawal from the Starsea Community this morning and froze all technical cooperation agreements."

Zhang Mingyuan was not surprised: "Those four super-enterprises finally couldn't hold back?"

"Not only that," the Secretary-General brought up a surveillance footage, "They seem to be secretly testing a new type of weapon, possibly an improved version based on old-era nuclear technology."

In the footage, a massive device was being tested in the desert, its dazzling light illuminating the night sky.

"The Academy of Sciences has calculated that, conservatively, its power is twice that of nuclear weapons for the same weight. The most critical thing is that their simulated destruction target has a very high similarity to the Sky Ladder Base."

Zhang Mingyuan immediately understood the seriousness of the problem: "Immediately notify Tiangong City to raise its alert level. Also, I will report to the Chief Executive."

"We have already contacted the security chiefs of Tiangong City and Sky Ladder Base in advance," the Secretary-General nodded, "There's also another tricky matter."

He switched to an encrypted file, the title prominently displaying "Freedom Civilization Alliance Charter."

"The four super-enterprises of the Oceania City-States are trying to rope in the remnants of the European Continental Union, North Steel, and New Union to form the so-called 'Freedom Civilization Alliance.' What's more troublesome is that they have received covert support from the former privileged class."

Zhang Mingyuan sneered: "A bunch of people abandoned by the times making a last-ditch effort, completely meaningless."

"I'm still a bit worried," the Secretary-General frowned, "Although their overall technological level is lagging, I always feel that they are trying to stir up something big again."

After the meeting, Zhang Mingyuan stood on the observation deck of the administrative center, overlooking the most magnificent space city in human history. Six hundred million people, a dome city covering over 1 million square kilometers, seven provincial-level administrative regions... all of this was an unimaginable science fiction scenario just over a decade ago.

And now, the Moon has not only become the Eastern Federation's second home but also a bridgehead for human civilization's expansion into interstellar space.

"Mayor," the secretary approached and whispered, "The new Governor of Xuantu Province has arrived, and he wants to consult you about building new ecological farms."

The Governor of Xuantu Province collected his thoughts: "Let him in."

Three days later, the 101st plenary meeting of the Starsea Community was held in Tiangong City. Holographic projections displayed images of representatives from various member states around the circular conference table. Representatives from the Eastern Federation, the four nations of the Emerald Ocean region, the five emirates of the Middle Ancient Continent Emirates Alliance, a dozen countries from the Black Continent, and South Korea and East Ocean from the East Asia region were all present.

Zheng Guoming, as the chief representative of the Eastern Federation, stood at the podium: "According to the latest assessment, the Tiangong City expansion plan will add space to accommodate 100 million people within three years. All member states of the Starsea Community can obtain immigration quotas proportionally."

The representative of the Golden Buddha Federation immediately raised his hand: "Our country requests an additional 10% quota. We can provide an additional 20% of funding to the Starsea Community annually."

The representative of the Middle Ancient Continent Emirates Alliance was not to be outdone: "You want to compete with money, do you? Fine, we'll add another 10%, also for a 10% quota."

After a period of clamor, all countries had their interests allocated. At the end of the meeting, the historic "Guanghan Declaration" was passed, announcing that the Starsea Community would serve as the sole legitimate representative of human civilization, leading humanity into the interstellar era.

As for the Ten Thousand Nations Roundtable, it had long been forgotten by everyone at some unknown point.

In the top-floor conference room of New Sydney Central Tower in the Oceania City-States, the CEOs of four super-enterprises sat around a holographic projection table.

Outside the window, the massive metropolis, bounded by a certain height and width, presented a picture of prosperity and poverty coexisting harmoniously.

"Everyone, look at this," Nadia of Qilu Corporation said expressionlessly, "In the past three years, our economic growth rate was 1%, while the Starsea Community's average growth rate was 38%."

Usmanov of United Energy scoffed: "Do we even need to look at data for this? You can feel it just by walking on the street. Five years ago, our technological level could barely keep up with the Eastern Federation, but now?" He pointed to an old hovercar outside the window, "Even the Black Continent Alliance is using third-generation hovering systems, and we're still using the first-generation technology released by the Eastern Federation."

The conference room door suddenly opened, and a young man in a finely tailored suit walked in quickly. He was Burke Smith, the Chief Technology Officer of New Era.

"Gentlemen, the latest test results for the 'Spear of Freedom' project," Burke's voice trembled slightly, "It's still not working. The plasma confinement field collapsed at the 7-second mark."

Meredith of Militech slammed the table: "Useless! We invested five billion credit points for this?"

Burke wiped the sweat from his forehead: "The problem is the basic theory... We only have a superficial understanding of confinement technology theory and can only use imitation materials to... Uh. In short, the original technology released by the Eastern Federation fifteen years ago, we still cannot replicate."

The conference room fell silent. All four knew well that the root of the problem lay in their long-lost control over global resources.

Once, they could acquire raw materials and talent from all over the world through economic means. Now, the resources on this isolated island of Oceania are simply insufficient to support cutting-edge technological research and development.

The Freedom Fleet project alone had drained the resources that the four super-enterprises had extracted from the people of the Oceania City-States over many years.

"I have a suggestion," Nadia suddenly spoke, "Instead of trying to catch up technologically, why don't we think of another way?"

"What way?" Meredith asked with a frown.

"Our old business."

"Old business?" Usmanov frowned.

"Plunder," Nadia's voice was cold and firm, "Isn't that how our ancestors got rich?"

Meredith suddenly looked up, a glint flashing in her eyes: "You mean..."

"Look at these countries," Nadia zoomed in on the Starsea Community map, pointing to several small, peripheral countries in the Middle Ancient region and South Roma, "These countries are at the bottom of the Starsea Community, with almost zero military strength."

"According to intelligence, although these countries have made some progress in aerospace technology, that's based on their past complete lack of capability. Their current level is not much different from ours at the end of the last century. Their space transport is 100% reliant on the Eastern Federation's 'Wangshu'-class cargo ships, and their self-defense consists only of a few airships modified from civilian equipment."

"And we," Nadia continued, "The Freedom Fleet project is about to be completed."

The four fell silent again. Outside the window, the setting sun's afterglow pierced through the thick radiation clouds, casting a sickly orange hue over the entire city.

Meredith finally made the decision: "Let's do it."