Chapter 355: The Storm Is Around The Corner
It was not as if Dragon City did not have resources.
But most of their resources were in Shattered Starlake, Graveyard Forest, Raging Waves, and the areas behind the fog they had just conquered.
Even though they had killed off most of the large monsters in those mountains and dense forests filled with lakes and traps, there were still a lot of pests in them.
Even if Dragon City had technology that far surpa.s.sed that on Earth, they still needed a few years to completely develop their resource areas. They also needed a lot of development and construction resources to develop those places.
The upcoming few years were a crucial period for Dragon City, and they were also a period of pain.
The Survival Committee and Supernatural Tower had to make a brutal choice. They only had limited resources. Should they pour them into the reconstruction and defenses of Dragon City so the normal citizens could live their daily lives freely and cultivate, or should they pour them into the development of the perimeter of Dragon City and search for the satellite cities that were lost in the fog, then either save or beat them down?
The first choice was best for the present Dragon City.
The second choice was best for the future of Dragon City.
Meng Chao remembered that the higher-ups had ended up choosing the future.
Even if there was a severe lack of resources in the city and the living environment of the normal citizens was really bad, which led to the intensification of all sorts of conflicts, the Survival Committee gritted its teeth and brought out a batch of resources to nurture the superhumans and motivate them. It was the reason they won the Monster War.
The price for it was that the conflict in the society became really bad. Due to the tough life the normal citizens faced, they began to suspect the superhumans who stood high above them and became hostile toward them. This suspicion and hostility was used by the abnormal beasts, and it created trouble in Dragon City, so it suffered devastating losses for its “victory”. It also planted the seed of destruction, which was a major problem.
The Dragon City in his current state might have won the northern offense, but to develop the areas at the borders and destroy the enemies who were lurking in the fog, they had to allocate a lot of resources to the city outside. However, it would ignore the state of living of thousands of citizens. Their horrible living conditions would not be solved.
Many citizens had a lot to say about the Survival Committee’s methods.
First came the problem about their accommodation.
Due to the arrival of the fog, many of the important people had been killed. The specialists and company managers who had escaped by sheer luck were fearful, and they wanted to immediately move to high-end residential areas with greater defense systems and a lot of powerful fighters as their neighbors.
There were not enough high-end residential areas, so the rent and apartment prices instantly rose like crazy.
It was even more so for top-cla.s.s mansions found in places like Dragon City No.1.
Even in Blessed Paradise, where the murder case had happened recently, the housing prices increased by 50% within a short month. The normal citizens were shocked when they saw it.
Honestly speaking, the specialists and higher-ups of companies could move wherever they wanted as long as they earned money with their intellect and abilities. That was their freedom.
The Survival Committee and Supernatural Tower also had the duty to ensure the safety of these important people. Hence, they added a layer of defense to the perimeter of the high-end residential areas.
However, the normal people whose homes were destroyed by monsters had to live in tents or simple sheds. They stayed in places where multiple people moved about, where others could easily eavesdrop on their conversations, where the environment was hot and humid, where they had to be constantly wary of diseases, and where they had to face the risk of zombies jumping up to injure people at any moment.
So when they saw the important people racing against each other to move into Blessed Paradise or Dragon City No.1, they felt as if they were worlds apart and were no longer the same kind.
Due to the war, the prices for crystals, gene medicine, and strengthened nutritional fluid also went up. Soon, it increased to the point that normal families could not buy them even if they gritted their teeth and tightened their belts.
The children were the greatest hopes of normal families.
Before, even if the parents were normal people with average talent, if they worked a tiring job that only offered a tiny bit of money but lived frugally, they could save some money and ensure that their children had the basic funds for their cultivation. Then, they would have the smallest chance of entering university. After all, even if they ended up being broken-star superhumans, it would be fine.
These families had something to look forward to. The parents had a drive to work, and the children had a goal. At the very least, they did not end up going down the wrong path.
But when the superhumans realized that the Monster War would not end that easily and had just reached an even stranger and unfathomable stage, they began cultivating hard.
Hence, they began buying resources madly. They used all their cash and Supernatural Coins to buy crystals, gene medicine, strengthened nutritional fluid, all sorts of monster materials, and valuable ingredients.
Many superhumans could not digest and absorb so many resources in one go.
But that was fine. The expiration date for gene medicine and strengthened nutritional fluid was very long. Crystals were also hard currency like gold and platinum. Even if they could not use them to cultivate, they could end up being able to profit from them later.
Many of the superhumans bought cultivation resources in amounts that were way higher than what they needed, so the prices for cultivation resources rose continuously. There soon even came a point when there was a shortage of them in the market.
Because of it, the children of normal families faced a major problem.
They all lived in a world ruled by superhumans.
If the family’s children did not have any hope of becoming superhumans, then it was very difficult for anyone to find the motivation to continue living in the Other World. It was a world filled with zombies, monsters, and mysterious beings, after all.
No one reached the point where they would rather die than live, but when normal citizens looked at superhumans, their gazes started to become strange.
The broken-star superhumans and low-grade as well as middle-grade superhumans were treated a little better. They had more contact with normal people, and a lot of the broken-star superhumans also encountered problems such as not having enough money to buy cultivation resources or being unable to live in fancy mansions. So they empathized with the normal citizens.
Besides, if they really ran into monsters, the low-grade and middle-grade superhumans were the ones who fought directly in front of the normal citizens. Their sacrifice and hard work were seen by the kind citizens.
But normal citizens had a hard time understanding the research projects of the elusive high-grade superhumans who stood high above them. They could not understand their profound and complicated cultivation projects either. They only saw how they and their families lived rich and fancy lives. The nine great mega corporations they controlled gained all the benefits from the development around Dragon City and were just growing larger and larger.
If Lin Chuan were resurrected at that moment and started spreading his views about Demonic Halberd Pigs and Nine-headed Crystalline Dragons, he would definitely find a lot of people listening to him.
Even Meng Chao encountered this problem.
In the fog attack, Blessed Heavenly Garden was also attacked viciously since it was an old residential area. Its defense system was badly battered by monster fangs.
Even though the monsters had only destroyed some of the buildings at the perimeter and did not reach the unit where Meng Chao’s family was, when he saw his neighbors from the destroyed buildings being forced to set up tents and simple sheds in the residential area, he could not bear the sight. He also grew fearful.
Monsters were becoming smarter as they evolved.
Next time, they might not be so lucky.
If he were alone, he could stay and fight with his neighbors in Blessed Heavenly Garden. But his parents were around, and his little sister was gradually awakening to a mysterious power too. She might end up being corrupted and turn into the Dark Witch at any moment.
He had to consider moving out of Blessed Heavenly Garden to a middle-range residential area with a more complete defense system.
But his little sister had said that Blessed Heavenly Garden was their home. If all the powerful fighters moved out of Blessed Heavenly Garden, there would only be the old and the sick left. The monsters would then have no trouble destroying the place.
To defend her home, Bai Jiacao would fight to the end.
And if they moved away from Blessed Heavenly Garden now, she would feel like they had cast aside the people who had been their neighbors for decades. It might even lead to her getting corrupted again.
That idea left Meng Chao uneasy.
The problem of his family’s safety bothered Meng Chao for a whole month.
And during that month, the housing prices of high-end residential areas in Dragon City increased by 50%.
Meng Chao was flabbergasted. He scratched his head. ‘I never ran into this problem in my previous life, though?
‘Oh, in my previous life, I was busy worrying about paying the hospital fees for my parents and taking care of them in the hospital. Forget about the housing prices for high-end residential areas increasing by 50%, even if they dropped by 50%, it would have had nothing to do with me.’
Meng Chao’s mind raced.
With the wisdom of someone who had returned to the past and the ability to a.n.a.lyze things with loads of data, he could think about things calmly, and he came to a conclusion.
The inflation was just an aftermath of the fog. It was the result of rich people who didn’t have level-headedness buying houses in fear.
Once the situation settled down, the housing prices would definitely fall with a vengeance, and at that time, he could buy them a house.
A month after he made his decision, the housing prices increased by another 50%. They had doubled the original house price in just two months.
“...”
Meng Chao decided that he would shoulder the responsibility of a superhuman and bleed for the weak. He would stay behind and survive together with Blessed Heavenly Garden!
The chaotic situation caused the people’s hearts to change. All sorts of ideological trends popped up one after another. Many powerful people and organizations began wondering about how they should save the country and deduced the future of Dragon City. From it, they came up with all sorts of different conclusions.
Meng Chao had also observed how the students in Agricultural University slowly became restless.
Fewer people could concentrate in the lectures. There were also more people who began publicly debating in the threads on the university forum.
“Practicing martial arts can’t save Dragon City.””Monster controllers can’t save Dragon City.””Runic symbol machines can’t save Dragon City.” Such voices gradually became popular. It was as if the current generation of youths did not worry about the country, they would look as if they were apathetic jerks.
Meng Chao’s friend, Xie Feng, was also a fan of such debates.
Meng Chao joined him to watch a few of the debates between students.
At one point, the topic of discussion was whether they should increase the superhumans’ tax rate and whether the government should execute excess progressive tax rate. Whenever a superhuman increased their cultivation realm by a level, the government would increase their tax rate by a level. Then, the government could use more of the tax money to provide welfare benefits for the normal citizens, which would help them decrease the difference between the social strata in Dragon City.
Then, it moved to topics like: Superhumans have an advantage in terms of intelligence and physical abilities. Is there an unfair compet.i.tion between them and normal people? Was there a need for the government to form a ratio between superhumans and normal people when it came to most gra.s.sroots jobs in society, and was there a need for the government to impose a law where the companies must hire a certain number of normal people?
There were also topics such as “Are the nine great mega corporations good or bad for the future development of Dragon City? Should the government limit or split up the nine great mega corporations so that more power is concentrated in the hands of the Survival Committee?”
He even heard topics like “What is the limit of humans? Is a Deity Realm superhuman still a human? How can you ensure that a Deity Realm superhuman will forever treat normal people as fellow humans and would fight for the welfare of normal people?”
Since they were debates among students, they were not brilliant. It was even difficult for them to provide any evidence. Often, their debates were childish, and they were just venting their emotions.
Many of the students who came from the nine great mega corporations stated in all apparent seriousness that they should limit the development of the mega corporations for the future of Dragon City. All glory and power should belong to the Survival Committee and the Supernatural Tower!
Their words gained huge support from the crowd.
It also made Meng Chao realize that half a century after their transmigration, when the Monster War entered a brand new stage and the monsters began evolving, a complete change was about to arrive in Dragon City like a storm.