Chapter 864 - Recently at the Sixth Street
Jiang Chen always asked questions that were tricky and difficult to explain. This unpleasant habit made Luo Yang screaming on the inside, but he must keep a patient appearence.
[What do we do if it hits the Earth?]
In his opinion, it wasn’t a problem at all.
“Nothing, the atmosphere’s appetite is much larger than we imagine it to be.” Luo Yang shrugged and replied, “The wavelength of the laser is quite short. Particles in the air will block the laser, scatter it around, and eventually, it will be absorbed by the ozone layer. Unlike a light beam emitted by a laser pistol, you can view the transmission laser as a type of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than ultraviolet light. This type of energy is more easily absorbed by the atmosphere, so the environmental impact on the Earth would be quite minor.”
While he mentioned this point, Luo Yong paused and said half-jokingly, “Taking 10,000 steps back, the space elevators are usually built out on the open sea. Even if there’s a small angle deviation in the optical path of the transmission laser, there’s a high probability that it will only hit the sea. It’s almost impossible to strike landmasses.”
Under the control of a quantum computer, it was almost impossible for a laser beam to miss the thousand square meter hexagonal platform. According to data provided by Luo Yang, from the period between 2050 to 2150, there were only four power transmission path failures between the Earth and Moon.
Four failures in one hundred years – this probability was already quite low, and the economic loss caused by each failure was only the power lost in the atmosphere, and the nuclear fusion cores consumed by ground facilities in the event of large-scale power outages.
After being educated by the scientist, Jiang Chen circled around the long-distance power transmission equipment a few times and finally left the warehouse feeling satisfied.
Before coming, he thought long-distance power transmission in the 22nd century was similar to Tesla’s proposed Wardenclyffe Tower project. They were going to build an electric tower that resembled a radio tower, except it wouldn’t be used to transmit information; it would transmit energy.
As long as it was on Earth, without new electric poles, only a “radio”-like device would be needed, no matter how far it could connect to the power grid.
However, when Jiang Chen proposed this concept, he realized the scientists were struggling hard not to laugh and they explained to him that the concept wasn’t possible. Moreover, Tesla also existed on the timeline of the apocalypse, but it wasn’t Morgan Consortium who provided the funding for the Wardenclyffe Tower.
“Constrained by the technological level of the current era, Tesla created his wireless transmission system by coil coupling. In his algorithm, ground, water, air, and the ionosphere don’t absorb electromagnetic waves, so the transmission efficiency is certainly much higher than the resistance of the wires. However, in reality, this is impossible.”
“To be honest, Tesla isn’t a reliable genius. Of course, I don’t deny his contribution to alternating currents, his Nobel Prize, or his many contributions. It’s just that many of the concepts he proposed were too… Well, science fiction, including his super weapon ‘Deadlight’ which was proved to be just a charged particle beam. But this is the reason why he was admired by everyone. After all, compared to old pedagogy, ordinary people generally prefer elaborate theories. It’s like conspiracy theories are always more widespread than news.”
In other words, if his invention was so magical, the Morgan Consortium never would’ve stopped funding him.
After leaving the warehouse, Jiang Chen didn’t return to the mansion. Instead, he accompanied the guards and toured around the Sixth Street.
It was nearing the end of October. The dry and cold air iconic to the end of the fall was lingering.
Winter in the wasteland was much longer than in the modern world, and it was much colder and deadlier.
Even in the southern region, snow would start to fall in Wanghai in a month at most.
Since the control of the city center was regained and the mutant nests and zombies were cleared, the city was no longer threatened. The walls that surrounded the Outer Circle of the Sixth Street was still preserved, but compared to its original purpose, the wall now served more as a symbol.
The survivors built houses outside the walls, and the half-collapsed buildings were also used. After a few repairs, they became the homes of survivor families and groups.
Almost all survivors of Suhang Province migrated to the Sixth Street or Jia City, also under the jurisdiction of NAC. Excluding the colonial cities of Hongcheng and Yizhou, the total population of NAC already exceeded 300,000. On the streets of Sixth Street, it was more crowded compared to a year ago.
On the road leading to the market, vehicles transporting food passed by frequently. Merchants from afar often chose to do one last haul before winter, pull Chinese cabbage from the Garden of Eden to the more southern area of Fuzhou, and take their crystals to comfortably spend winters at the local survivor settlements. After the spring, they would bring back local products and return to Sixth Street.
Because of the existence of NAC, Wanghai had become a trading hub connecting the north and south.
For some unknown reason, based on what Chu Nan said, the number of merchants from the north decreased significantly compared to previous years. The military government sent a team of Hunter Corps to explore the area around Shangjing, but the scouts who had yet to return.
However, there were only a few possible reasons for the decrease.
If it wasn’t the weather, they must’ve had a hard time dealing with mutants, or they encountered gangs in a certain place that blocked their way.
Jiang Chen exclaimed from the industrial zone to the market because every time he returned, he would discover something new in this place. In his memory, the robot ramen noodle shop on the corner was gone and was replaced by a neon bar. The small vendors all disappeared and were replaced by the same shops as the Inner Circle.
The abundance of materials brought economic prosperity.
According to Lin Lin, the second Garden of Eden was under construction. After the success of the previous Garden of Eden, the construction of the new one was faster. When the second Garden of Eden was completed, NAC’s food would achieve self-sufficiency without any need for exports.
By that time, Jiang Chen could get rid of the title “food transporter.”
In any case, he was also the president of a world-class company and a warlord with control of a sizable territory. A trip to the secret warehouse to transport hundreds of tons of food every month was unfitting for his status.
Every week, adding some vegetables from the bottom of the sea to the refrigerator in his own mansion was enough to demonstrate his status as a “great family man.”
Whether it was the taste or texture, the vegetables produced by Xin Ocean Agriculture were very popular among the ladies.
At the dinner table, watching Sun Jiao and Lin Lin gobble down the food while Yao Yao and Xiaorou took small bites every time made Jiang Chen feel sincerely happy.
After all the crises in Wanghai City were eliminated, that was one of the main driving forces for him to return to the apocalypse every week…