Spring had arrived in the Imperium.
In the underground world of the capital planet, spring, which had not come for ten thousand years, came earlier than on the surface of the planet.
Xu Zhicheng, the former most distinguished miner of the Great Iron Plants and the Grand Guardian of Nepenthe, stood before the Great Iron Plants that was both familiar and strange to him, finding it hard to believe that the place where he was born and raised had turned into a paradise that was as splendid as a mirage!
The previously hot and suffocating factories had been reconstructed. Countless automatic production lines and spiritual puppets had been added, turning them into the most advanced facilities for unmanned mining, smelting, and even precision processing. It was one of the best facilities in the entire Imperium, saving more than 85% of the manpower and preventing the precious lives from being wasted in the most dangerous posts.
The manpower saved was not wasted, either. After simple training, they became new construction workers. Centered at the Great Iron Plants, they excavated new living spaces from the rocks around and established towns and industrial parks that were as beautiful as gardens, turning the dark slave factories in the past into "model underground cities" that could illuminate the entire Imperium today.
Even though Xu Zhicheng had participated in the construction in person and watched all the beautiful changes taking place, he still couldn't help but feel that he couldn't believe his eyes when the brand-new "Photoelectric Information Industrial Park" was established in the south district of the Great Iron Plants, and the whole underground city was decorated with lights and festoons in celebration.
It was truly like a dream that had been going on for half a year and would continue to go on!
Before, when Li Yao, Long Yangjun, Li Jialing, Xiaoming, and Wenwen left, the underground locals were already prepared to fight hard for ten, twenty, fifty, or even a hundred years. Their ancestors had lingered in the darkness for almost ten thousand years. Why couldn't they wait for another one or two hundred years?
They did not expect that victory would come so fast. After only half a year, they were told that Li Yao had won a great victory on the surface of the planet and even the entire Imperium!
At first, the underground locals were rather suspicious.
It couldn't be helped. Fate had brought them too much torture and bad news. All the resistance in the past had turned into destruction, and all the hope had turned into desperation. They did not dare ask for too much good news.
But very soon, the precious assets that were shipped from the surface of the planet in containers gave them a real taste of victory.
When the teams of coldly-glittering spiritual puppets came to the underground towns, they were panicked for a moment, thinking that the cold machines were there to carry out the orders of slaughter.
However, what the spiritual puppets were holding were not sabers or swords but pickaxes and shovels. They were not there to kill but to help them maintain the shelters, expand the underground cities, open up the transportation routes among the underground towns, and even expand the connection between the underground world and the surface of the planet!
Ever since that day, the underground locals' life had been better and better.
It was especially so for the Nepenthe believers led by Xu Zhicheng. As Li Yao's old acquaintance and Long Yangjun's trusted subordinate, they were naturally duty-bound to be the core forces of the reform of the underground world and enjoy the benefits of the reform first.
Li Yao recruited a large batch of elites from the underground world through Xu Zhicheng at first and added them to the guards of the Gold Crystal Pyramid. Because the Gold Crystal Pyramid was a "demilitarized zone", neither the Thunder Fleet nor the Coalition Fleet of Pyromaniacs were directly stationed there. Therefore, the underground locals were the best candidates for the guards.
Li Yao, on the other hand, valued more than the job of guards. Through the job, the most distinguished young people below the ground could receive more education and see a broader world. It would not be long before they returned to the depths of the underground world for more important work and to bring more light to their compatriots.
As for the other Nepenthe believers, they returned to the Great Iron Plants and devoted themselves to the reconstruction and expansion. According to the plan, together with Xiaoming and Wenwen's puppet construction team, they would build the Great Iron Plants into a "future industrial complex" that was as beautiful as a garden. It would be a city that represented the future!
It was not just an experiment for the reform but also a powerful weapon for propaganda.
The whole process of the reconstruction and expansion of the Great Iron Plants was made into all kinds of propaganda videos and secretly projected to the Spiritual Nexus in the areas under the control of the four families so that the hominoids who were still under the reign of terror of the four families could see it. That was what the future Imperium would look like, and it would be a good life for them too!
Right now, part of the Nepenthe believers were involved in the construction of the "future city", and the other part of the Nepenthe believers were opening up more shelters and underground cities with their excavation skills. Then, they were responsible for the census and data statisticians of the government, bringing more underground locals who were ignored like weeds and ants in the past into the effective governance of the Imperium. They were given sufficient assets to improve their lives, and more and more underground locals joined them. They were expanding to all the rocks and crevices at an exponential speed.
In terms of assets, there was no shortage of assets for now.
The four families had left tremendous industries in the entire Empyreal Terminus Sector. Also, the ace fleets of the four families brought tremendous resources when they invaded the capital, which were all the trophies of the reformists.
The trade routes between the capital and the Seven Seas Space Zone had been opened, too. Incessant assets had been shipped over. It was not a problem to support the post-disaster reconstruction of the capital planet.
The problem was how to deliver the assets on the surface of the planet to the underground world at the highest efficiency and distribute them to everybody who needed them precisely.
In that regard, Xiaoming and Wenwen, the two information lives, had made great contributions again. Or rather, they were stretching out the tentacles of their lives and building a brand-new, unbelievable informationized world below the ground.
On the surface of the planet, the Immortal Cultivators' reign was already very mature. Also, there were too many bottles and jars that could not be smashed and rebuilt. Xiaoming and Wenwen's growth had been hindered by a lot of factors, and they had to tread carefully all the time.
The underground locals, on the other hand, were so poor that even their basic survival had become a problem. Naturally, they did not care about the problems that only those who had nothing better to do would consider. As long as they could live a good life, they could do whatever they wanted!
In the face of unprecedented new technologies, it was actually the underdeveloped areas that could abandon all prejudices and absorb and apply them at any cost. In turn, they were able to surpass the more advanced areas and achieve "cornering overtaking". It was a common phenomenon in the history of the development of the civilization of mankind.
It was the same for the people living below the ground of the capital planet. They skipped the very mature magical equipment industry and directly entered the brand-new era of super-informationization!
It took them only a short time to get used to the omnipresence of Xiaoming and Wenwen, and they were also used to working together with the iron-headed spiritual puppets. Even the children who were learning how to speak were followed by a few beast puppets that were connected to the Spiritual Nexus. They were learning the simple manipulation and setting skills in silence.
Looking at the innocent children playing with the glittering spiritual pets in the picturesque factory garden and letting out bell-like laughter, Xu Zhicheng felt that his heart was about to melt in the intoxicating spring breeze.
He seemed to be dozens of years younger all of a sudden, and he was back to the beautiful days when his wife and children were still alive.
The underground locals were not idiots, especially Xu Zhicheng, as the Grand Guardian of Nepenthe. He naturally knew the concerns of the locals on the ground about the highly-developed crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus.
Were the underground locals not shuddering in fear and gnashing their teeth in hatred when they were faced with the cold, heartless slaughter machines of the spiritual puppets in the past, hoping that they could smash the iron skulls into smithereens?
However, could the spiritual puppets be as bad as the people who oppressed them in the past?
Even if they were truly reigned by the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus one day, so what? Would it be any different from the darkness that they had been mired in in the past ten thousand years?
"The children of the new generation of underground locals who have been exposed to the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors since they were born, and they grew up with spiritual puppets as their companions will certainly have unexpected changes when they grow up. They will be different from the people on the ground right now."
Xu Zhicheng thought to himself, But so what? The underground locals have always been different from the people on the ground. Since the Immortal Cultivators despise us and do not even consider us as their own kind, why can't we consider the cold machines as our compatriots by associating with the crystal processors, the Spiritual Nexus, and the spiritual puppets? After all, in the eyes of the Immortal Cultivators, we are just machines that are slightly warm!
"Uncle Xu! Uncle Xu!"
While Xu Zhicheng was pondering, he suddenly saw a slender figure riding on a red lizard, jumping towards him.
Xu Zhicheng recognized that it was a child named 'Bing Bing'. She used to be a resident of the 10084 shelter deep below the ground. Right now, she was a liaison between the underground towns and the surface of the planet. Her job was to deliver certain items that could not be delivered via the Spiritual Nexus.
"Bing Bing."
Xu Zhicheng grinned and waved his hands to stop Bing Bing's red lizard. "What good stuff have you brought for Uncle Xu?"
"It's a gift card. It's a permit for the coronation ceremony!"
Bing Bing was so excited that her face was blushing. She was almost dancing in joy as she said breathlessly, "We're going to the royal palace. Uncle Xu, did you hear that? We're going to the royal palace!"
"Is a new emperor about to ascend the throne?"
Xu Zhicheng mumbled, but he was not as excited as the girl. He was not interested in who would be the leader of the Immortal Cultivators. After all, they were all jackals of the same tribe, and it did not matter who was the leader.
However, it never occurred to him that even the "hominoids" who had never seen the sun would be qualified to observe the coronation ceremony of a new emperor. The world had truly changed.
"Yes! Yes!"
Bing Bing nodded quickly, her eyes glowing. "Do you know who the new emperor is, Uncle Xu?"
"How would I know?"
Xu Zhicheng was amused. "We are just barbarians below the ground. Are we qualified to speculate about the identity of the new emperor?"
"No, it has been announced to the world. I believe that it will be spread out on the Spiritual Nexus before long. However, I was one step ahead of them because I had the Black Wind King's personal invitation card!"
Bing Bing almost jumped to her feet. "The new emperor is Brother Jialing, Li Jialing, who fought together with us below the ground! Right. Li Jialing is his fake name. As it turns out, his real name is' Wuying Ling '. He is the thirteenth son of Emperor Shenwu and the most beloved heir with the purest royal bloodline. He only met us because he had to be wary of the hunting of the four families and the scourge of the extraterrestrial devils! "
"What!"
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