212: Mars problem

Earth Calendar Year 2217.

If a person from the old era, who had been asleep for fifty years, were to wake up today, they would surely think they had traveled to a utopia depicted in some science fiction novel, or gone mad.

Because the Earth, once fragmented by national borders and constantly squabbling over oil and territory, had completely become a yellowed old page in history books.

Ten years ago, as the last flag representing a sovereign nation slowly lowered in the square of the old United Nations site, and a sky-blue flag depicting the Milky Way and olive branches of the Human Federation rose in its place, Earth officially bid farewell to the 'Era of Nations'.

The current Earth has been redivided into two hundred large administrative regions based on geography, culture, and economic function, all under the jurisdiction of the Earth Council and the Human Federation Central Government behind it.

The fundamental driving force behind all this, besides Lei Wen's invisible hand behind the scenes, came more directly from the distant Mana Star.

Over these fifty years, the 'Heavenly Fire Special Zone' established by Renee on Mana Star was not only a social experiment but also a 24-hour live broadcast showcase for all of humanity.

While ordinary people on Earth were still anxious about high housing prices, cutthroat education, and an uncertain future, they saw through the super-speed of light communication network how human colonists on Mana Star lived.

That was true distribution according to need.

No mortgages, no medical bills, no overtime.

As long as you are a law-abiding citizen, the intelligent AI will arrange all your survival needs, allowing you to devote all your energy to artistic creation, scientific research, or simply enjoying life.

This huge disparity created an enormous envy effect.

"Why? Why are we suffering on the mother planet while they enjoy paradise over there?"

This torrent of public opinion converged into a sea, ultimately breaking through the dams built by old interest groups.

Lei Wen seized the opportunity; he did not use force to overthrow governments but instead leveraged Paradox Technology's infinite energy and material synthesis technology to launch one political movement after another.

He continuously promised all of humanity that if they accepted the unified governance of the Federation and the resource allocation of the AI [Vigilant Adjuster], Earth could also become a paradise like Mana Star.

Between bread and the false freedom packaged by capital, the vast majority chose the former.

Today's Earth, in most regions, has achieved a nascent communist society assisted by advanced artificial intelligence. Hunger, poverty, and homelessness have become concepts that only exist in film and television works... In Beiping, East Asia Administrative Region, within an antique quadrangle courtyard, although surrounded by towering skyscrapers, it still maintains the tranquility of a century ago.

Lei Wen was sitting by a stone table, holding a black chess piece, gently placing it on the board.

Although more than two hundred years had passed, time seemed to have forgotten this true guardian of humanity. Having consumed the highest purity blood orchid original fluid and undergone multiple genetic optimizations, he still looked like a young man of around thirty, but his eyes were as profound as if they contained the entire Milky Way.

Sitting opposite him was a spirited old man with silver hair.

He was Chen Zaiyang, the current Chairman of the Human Federation and rotating Director-General of the Earth Council.

Chen Zaiyang hailed from the Huaxia Region and was an outstanding representative of grassroots governance in his youth. Later, in the wave of global reforms promoted by Lei Wen, he steadily climbed to the pinnacle of power, relying on his excellent political wisdom and a public-spirited heart that always cared for the common people.

"Director, this move of yours is a bit risky," Chen Zaiyang said, shaking his head with a smile as he looked at the chess board.

"Risky? I think it's just right," Lei Wen said with a faint smile. "To place oneself in a deadly situation and then be reborn; without breaking, there is no establishing."

What the two spoke of was both chess and the grand trend of the world.

Over these decades, Chen Zaiyang had been Lei Wen's staunchest ally on the political stage. If Lei Wen was the helmsman guiding the direction in the vast ocean, then Chen Zaiyang was the first mate coordinating the sailors and patching leaks on the ship.

Although there was nearly a century's difference in their ages, they were close friends.

"Xiao Chen, the reforms on Earth are basically stable now," Lei Wen said, taking a sip of tea. "The operating efficiency of the [Vigilant Adjuster] system is even better than I imagined. Last month's global satisfaction survey showed a support rate of 96%."

"Indeed," Chen Zaiyang sighed. "The common people are actually very simple; they support whoever makes their lives better. In the past, those tycoons and politicians always said that humans are greedy and must be driven by scarcity. Now it seems that when material wealth is greatly abundant, human greed transforms into a drive for higher-level spiritual pursuits."

"However..." Chen Zaiyang changed the subject, putting down his chess piece.

"Earth is stable, and the Moon has always been your private domain, so no problem there. But there's still one place that's like a festering sore, clinging to our glamorous civilization."

Lei Wen nodded slightly, knowing where Chen Zaiyang was referring.

"Mars."

Lei Wen uttered these two words... In this interstellar era, countless merchant ships and transport vessels flowed continuously along the route between Earth and Mars, their busyness comparable to the former Pacific shipping lanes.

And at the center of these prosperous scenes, the once crimson planet Mars had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Fifty years ago, Lei Wen, against all dissenting opinions, pushed forward the crazy 'Heavenly Flood' plan.

An icy dwarf planet nearly fifty kilometers in diameter was fitted with engines and, under precise calculations, crashed into the Hellas Planitia in Mars' southern hemisphere.

That impact changed everything.

Now it was no longer the red dead planet; Hellas Planitia had transformed into a vast inland sea, named the New Tethys Sea, its shimmering surface reflecting the sunlight.

The massive amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide released by the impact, combined with the giant reflectors deployed in orbit by humans over the subsequent decades and atmospheric factories on the surface, successfully wove an atmosphere for Mars that, while not as dense as Earth's, was sufficient to sustain liquid water.

Temperatures in the equatorial regions had risen above freezing, and genetically engineered lichens and mosses covered the formerly red barren lands like green carpets. In some low-latitude areas, stretches of coniferous forests had already appeared.

Mars had turned blue and green.

However, beneath the facade of this beautiful ecological recovery, Mars' social structure remained stuck in the old era, even becoming more distorted due to environmental improvements.

Although the Nikola Group was broken up decades ago, the spin-off subsidiaries and various capital influxes that followed still firmly controlled Mars' economic lifeline.

While they lost their absolute monopoly over water and air, they swiftly shifted their methods of exploitation.

They monopolized land, high-tech means of production, and ports leading to space.

Hundreds of millions of residents on Mars no longer had to worry about dying of thirst or suffocation, but they remained prisoners of capital. High housing prices, expensive interstellar commuting fees, and carefully designed consumer traps still firmly pinned them to the bottom.

Mars is currently the only special zone in the Human Federation that has not fully implemented distribution according to need and comprehensive AI management.

It is called the 'Free Enterprise Zone,' essentially the last bastion of capital.

"The Mars tycoons have been restless lately," Chen Zaiyang said. "They've united to pressure the Council, opposing the introduction of Earth's welfare system to Mars, claiming it would undermine market vitality, and even secretly funding some so-called Mars independence movements."

"They're scared," Lei Wen sneered. "They see the changes on Earth and know their doomsday is approaching, which is why they're making a last struggle."

"So what do you plan to do?" Chen Zaiyang looked at Lei Wen. "Use force?"

"No, if force can be avoided, then don't use it. This is the democratic tradition of our Human Civilization."

Lei Wen stood up and walked to the old locust tree in the courtyard, looking up at the stars in the sky.

"Fifty years ago, I sent a flood to Mars, changing its environment."

"Now, I will send it another 'flood' to wash away the grime attached to its social fabric."

Lei Wen turned around.

"Xiao Chen, my idea is redemption."

"Redemption?" Chen Zaiyang was stunned.

"Yes, peaceful redemption," Lei Wen explained. "Paradox Technology will invest, not with money, but with technology, with exclusive operating rights for interstellar routes or development shares in new star systems... using these future benefits, which they cannot refuse, to buy out all their assets on Mars."

"I want to buy every inch of land, every factory, every building on Mars and turn them into federal public property."

"This... how big of a deal would that be?" Chen Zaiyang was shocked; even as the Federation Chairman, he was taken aback by Lei Wen's grand gesture.

"For the current Paradox Technology, this is just a numbers game," Lei Wen said calmly. "We control antimatter, we control Warp Engines, we control the key to the Milky Way. Those tycoons guarding their little pots and pans on Mars think they have a treasure trove, but in my eyes, it's just a garbage heap hindering civilizational integration."

"If they agree to sell, then everyone is happy. They can take this severance package and become wealthy magnates in other star systems, or transition to pure interstellar traders."

"If they don't agree..."

Lei Wen's eyes turned cold.

"Then don't blame me for being ruthless."

"I will have the 'Vigilant Adjuster' cut off all economic ties between Mars and Earth, the Moon, and the Federation's colonial star systems."

"Mars will become an economic island."

"Their stocks will become worthless, their proud factories will rust due to lack of orders, making them kneel and beg me to acquire them on the brink of bankruptcy."

Listening to Lei Wen's words, Chen Zaiyang felt more admiration.

This was Lei Wen.

He could achieve the most radical goals with the gentlest means, and realize the noblest ideals with the coldest methods.

"Good!" Chen Zaiyang slapped his thigh. "Since you've decided, then this old man will go crazy with you one more time!"

"I will immediately propose a motion in the Council, cooperate with your actions, and pressure the Mars tycoons legally and through public opinion."

"Thank you, Xiao Chen."

"But before that," Lei Wen glanced at the time, "I need to go to Mars first, meet those local emperors personally, and give them a final ultimatum."

"And incidentally..."

Lei Wen's gaze softened slightly.

"I also want to take a vacation and see that sea."

"That New Tethys Sea that I personally created."