Chapter 830: The Question of Stakes
This answer made the Red Dragon Army’s number one expert look at Meng Chao in a new light.
“So, you’re thinking about the future in five hundred years, not just thirty to fifty years?”
Shao Zhengyang looked at Meng Chao deeply and sighed. “Meng Chao, you’re really the most special young man I’ve ever seen in my life.
“And no, I’m not talking about strength…
“Strength, realm, combat ability, and other such things can always be achieved or even surpa.s.sed by relying on the acc.u.mulation of natural talent, coincidences, and astronomical resources.
“I believe that as the Dragon City civilization controls more and more resources, our science and technology will develop by leaps and bounds Our training system will improve day by day too. In the future, the people of Dragon City will become stronger, and countless existences that surpa.s.s you and me will emerge.
“However, your mentality and pattern are too surprising. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are a ‘weirdo.’
“To be honest, if I had such a realm, career, and force at your age, my mentality would certainly be far less stable than yours.
“I will certainly have extremely strong desires and ambitions. I will be eager to improve my realm and expand my force at all costs. I will strive to make my company the tenth largest super company that controls Dragon City as soon as possible and climb from the tenth to the first.
“Even if I am not blinded by my own selfish desires and faced with all kinds of restrictions and responsibilities, I will still be unconvinced.
“I will feel that everything I have is based on my own hands. I started from scratch and worked hard to achieve it.
“My realm comes from my extraordinary talent and crazy cultivation. My resources come from going deep into the wilderness and the fog. I will risk my life to kill monsters. My connections come from countless times of sharing life and death with me. I will carry out suicide missions with the strong. I can only be where I am today because of myself.
“Therefore, why should I pay such a high tax, why should I hand over a large amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to Dragon City, why should I obey the command of the authorities, and why should i carry out all kinds of laborious and extremely dangerous tasks? Why should I be on the same level as the ordinary people who are weak and poor? Why should I take out the real money from the profits that my company has earned with great difficulty and put it into the insatiable appet.i.tes of the ordinary people?
“Why can’t I use the profits and resources I’ve earned to do whatever I want without having to follow all the laws and regulations and march into the depths of the Other World, where no one has ever been before? To expand my territory, to destroy mountains and temples, to roam unhindered, and to create something that completely belongs to me?
“I believe that it’s not just me. Any superhuman at your age who has your power will more or less think the same
“I’ve thought of that too.”
Meng Chao was silent for a long time before he thought of a response.
He did not lie to Shao Zhengyang.
In his previous life, he had indeed had a beautiful dream of how he should summon the wind and rain after obtaining great power.
The scenery and extravagance in the dream were more than ten times more exaggerated than what Shao Zhengyang had described!
Unfortunately, people were sometimes poor. So what if his hegemony was glorious?
When the end of the world came, wouldn’t he be annihilated along with the Dragon City Civilization?
“However, perhaps because I came from an old neighborhood like Blessed Heavenly Garden and was a member of the lower cla.s.s of the people in Dragon City since I was young, many of my relatives and friends are ordinary citizens. Even today, they are still in their ordinary posts and making insignificant contributions. Therefore, I know better than any young powerhouse from a wealthy family how important these insignificant contributions are.”
Meng Chao took a deep breath and said seriously, one word after another, “The reason why I am where I am today is not because of ‘all my efforts,’ but because of the concerted efforts of countless ordinary citizens and soldiers at the gra.s.sroots level.
“If it were not for the b.l.o.o.d.y battles of countless ordinary neighbors in the past half a century, our Blessed Heavenly Garden would have been conquered by the monsters long ago. I would have filled the gaps between the monsters’ teeth when I was still babbling.
“If it were not for the thousands of gra.s.sroots soldiers without psionic power who, with their bodies made of flesh and blood, formed a steel defense line and blocked the overwhelming beast tide and stalled most of the forces of the monster civilization, it would not have been so easy for me and the other superhuman individuals to take the heads of high-level monsters from the armies.
“If it weren’t for so many feeble scientists and researchers who were working day and night to explore the mysteries of the science of life, the physiological structure of monsters, the astronomical geography of the Other World, and the profound meaning of the spirit magnetic field hidden in countless runes, I wouldn’t have been able to master so many deadly skills, nor would I have been able to create the Ultimate Style and establish Broken Star Club together with Master Gu Jianbo.
“Also, the nano combat suit that I’m wearing, the super alloy saber in my hand, the revolving shotgun that is embedded with crystals and carved with runes, the drones, the thinking tank, and the biochemical pets that surround me… These things that can help me improve my combat ability are the fruits of the blood and sweat of all the citizens of Dragon City, either directly or indirectly.
“If I didn’t have all these things, I wouldn’t be able to fight against the overwhelming beast horde?
“In the future, my combat ability will continue to improve, and I might even break through to Deity Realm one day!
“However, no matter how high my cultivation level is, my personal strength is too weak and insignificant in the face of such a vast foreign world continent and the starry sky that is even more vast and profound than the Other World.
“If I didn’t have the entire Dragon City behind me as my strong support, I wouldn’t be able to move a single step in the Other World and the stars.
“Therefore, I will never forget the source of my strength, and I will never forget the contribution that the citizens have made to me. I am willing to listen to the call of the Dragon City civilization and fight for my homeland and my compatriots at any time!”
Shao Zhengyang was moved.
After a long silence, he sighed and said regretfully, “Meng Chao, Meng Chao, it would be great if all the superhumans in Dragon City are as enlightened as you are!”
Meng Chao’s thoughts were running fast as he narrowed his eyes. “Uncle Shao, I have never heard of the so-called theory of the sun never setting before I came into contact with the micro brain and concentrated on my cultivation. It has become so popular in just ten days to half a month that even you, a high-ranking officer of the military who is busy every day, can feel its influence.
“It seems that it doesn’t seem to be groundless. Instead, it seems that… public opinion has been prepared?”
“That’s right, Meng Chao. Chatting with you is a relief. I can see through it easily.”
Shao Zhengyang leaned over, lowered his voice, and said, “Do you know that many members of parliament from the big nine are preparing to jointly propose a new proposal to upgrade the temporary Land Enclosure Decree into a real law?”
“This…”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned.
The Land Enclosure Decree was a temporary decree issued by Dragon City half a year ago after the battle of the beast horde besieging Dragon City ended.
At that time, during the battle with the monster civilization at the periphery of Dragon City, the elites were all lost and the main force collapsed. The entire strategic situation changed from a stalemate between the two sides to a crushing defeat for the monster civilization, and they fled in panic, they had given up a large amount of blessed lands that contained rich resources.
In order to seize the fleeting opportunity to devour, digest, and absorb the surrounding areas of dragon city at the fastest speed and on the largest scale, the resource-rich areas that were originally shrouded in fog and controlled by the monsters had been issued the Land Enclosure Decree by the Survival Committee.
The law encouraged the enterprises, small and large, and ordinary citizens of Dragon City to leave the main city area, march into the wilderness, march into the fog, and march into the monster’s lair.
As long as we can seize by force the lands, forests, mineral veins and habitat of monsters that do not belong to Dragon City, and hold them until the main force advances and establishes a permanent defensive line, all the rights and interests of this land to be exploited in the next ninety-nine years, it’s all owned by the original Enquirer.
And all the enclosure had to pay was a very low, almost free tax.
At that time, the Land Enclosure Decree was necessary and reasonable.
Since no one knew the depth of the monster civilization, no one could have expected that the monster civilization would be defeated like a landslide, collapse so quickly and so cleanly. In just one night, they had given up more than 70% of the area on Monster Mountain Range.
Even Meng Chao, affected by the memory fragments of his previous life, also felt that even if the monster civilization lost all its main force, with the monsters’ valiant fear of death, strong reproductive ability, and familiarity with the environment around the lair… if they were determined to resist to the end, the Dragon City civilization would still face a tug-of-war of one inch of mountains and rivers and one inch of blood.
There was still a war to fight!
Under such circ.u.mstances, to run to the depths of the wilderness, where the fog had just dispersed and the monsters could counterattack at any time, was undoubtedly a matter of risking life and death.
In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of all the citizens, and also to let the brave warriors who were ready to face death receive their due rewards, and to end this d.a.m.n war that had been delayed for decades as soon as possible, ninety-nine years of development rights was a very reasonable price.
However, the rapid collapse of the monster civilization caused a very serious problem in the practical operation of the Land Enclosure Law.
Although in theory, all the citizens and all the enterprises, regardless of whether they were big or small, strong or weak, high or low, all had the power to race on Monster Mountain Range.
But in practice, it was obvious that the peerless powerhouses and the mega corporations would take advantage of it.
First of all, the regulations were originally proposed by a few members of the nine mega corporations.
Before the regulations were pa.s.sed, the nine mega corporations had already made meticulous preparations for the race.
Secondly, it was not an easy thing to establish a forward base in the wilderness.
Compared to the ordinary citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises who were alone, lacking in force and technology, the nine mega corporations were undoubtedly more experienced and could bear the risk of several forward bases being destroyed.
Thus, when the Land Enclosure Decree was just promulgated and most of the ordinary citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises were still hesitating or making preparations, the advance teams that belonged to the nine mega corporations and had been sharpening their knives for a long time, they were like wild dogs that had long gone out of control and pounced into the depths of the wilderness.