Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 257 The New Society
The momentary disorientation was quickly shattered by reality; they were now 10,000 meters in the air.

It might be 10,000 meters, who knows how many meters, but it's frighteningly tall.

After exiting the passage, they entered an aerial corridor, a long corridor that seemed to be carved directly into the side of a giant tree branch, from which they could see the earth below.

The number of people in front of them quickly decreased, and it seemed that they could only see the people who had been brought in in their batch. They glanced back, but no more people came out of the passage.

"The passage is now closed." A soldier in the corridor said, "The tour lasts for half an hour. After half an hour, please return in an orderly manner under guidance. If you have any special circumstances, you can come here to apply for a special passage."

Since we're already here, it's obvious no one's going back.

The corridor was edged by a simple wooden railing, beyond which lay a transparent, glass-like surface within easy reach. Perhaps it was this very surface that kept the area from getting cold.

He Xiaoyu reached out and touched it, then withdrew her hand in surprise.

"It's so cold, is this... ice?"

Everyone took two steps back; that thin layer of ice offered little sense of security.

"Don't worry," Song Miaomiao whispered, "I heard it was made by the commander-in-chief himself, it's very sturdy!"

Sun Qi also reached out and pressed it, confirming her statement: "I don't know if it's the commander-in-chief, but anyway, it's really tough, I can't break it."

Among those present were many lower-level superhumans, and before long, quite a few of the bolder ones relaxed and went to the railing to look at the ground.

"This is the first time I've ever seen the ground from this angle!"

Never flown before?

"...That doesn't seem to be the first time."

Sun Qi rummaged in his bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars, which he handed to He Xiaoyu like a treasure.

"It should start soon, and this will allow us to see it more clearly."

The citizens in the corridor chatted quietly, just like them, all eagerly anticipating what was about to happen. They didn't have to wait long; with a commotion, some of the superhumans were the first to notice the unusual activity.

"Look over there!"

From their position, they could vaguely see the main trunk of Taodu, which resembled a heavenly pillar. At this moment, countless straight blue lights suddenly spread out from the ground, centered on this main trunk.

These rays of light are clearly visible even from the cloud platform in the sky. Whether it is a stream, a hill, or a lake, none of them can obstruct them. They flow like water, and after each stretch, they connect with each other, eventually outlining one neat concentric circle after another on the vast land with the main trunk of Taodu as the center.

"This...is this?"

She hadn't paid much attention to news about Taodu's urban development before, only knowing that Sun Qi had done a lot of work with the army in Taodu before the Lunar New Year, such as opening up mountains and filling lakes. She subconsciously thought that the so-called first phase project was just a larger-scale infrastructure project. But when she stood on this sky corridor, she thought that there might be something different, but she didn't expect such a breathtaking sight.

Soon, from those lines, tiny branches quickly spread out, dense and intricate. From this direction, the entire earth looked as if a huge magic circle had been engraved on it, revealing an indescribable geometric beauty.

Before everyone could recover, patches of green sprouted from the squares divided by the concentric circles and straight lines, somewhat like tender buds emerging from the earth in spring. This made the land look like a field for a moment, only the scale of this field was unprecedented.

“These are the streets of Taodu.” Song Miaomiao had obviously found out some information and explained to He Xiaoyu, “Even with the intercity passage, we still need ordinary roads.”

"Those are the buildings in the middle. We can't see them very clearly from here, but we can go down and take a closer look later." "..." He Xiaoyu looked at the main road with binoculars, then muttered after a moment, "It'll probably be very difficult to buy a house in Taodu's first ring road area in the future..."

"Ah, this..." Song Miaomiao scratched her head: "The houses in Taodu should be allocated by the work unit. The essence of our money is to earn spiritual energy crystals, which is a basic need for everyone, so we don't need to use real estate as the driving force for social development? Hmm, if I remember correctly, that's what my dad said?"

He Xiaoyu smiled, handed the binoculars to Sun Xiaomeng, who was being held in Sun Qi's arms, and said, "I was just saying."

There was a slight tremor underfoot, as if the movement of the ground had finally reached here, and I could almost hear muffled thunder-like sounds.

"Look over there!"

Someone exclaimed in surprise. He Xiaoyu looked in that direction with the crowd and saw that the ground in that direction had cracked open with the naked eye. It seemed to be the end of the first phase of construction. It was also a huge arc that cut across the earth and stretched into the unseen distance.

"This...this is also a street?"

"Uh, I'm not sure...maybe it's a moat that hasn't been filled with water yet?"

…………

Yes, that's it, that's correct.

The person who spoke was the former director of the design institute. If it had been Xiao Zhenru who spoke, Su Xunzhen should have considered whether she had marked the height of the city wall backwards.

"Commander-in-chief, please don't always be prejudiced against Comrade Xiao. She learns things very quickly and has helped us a lot. We have reviewed this design draft many times, so there won't be any problems."

Xiao Zhenru nodded repeatedly beside her, as if the old dean's approval was more worthy of her pride than her advancement to the fifth rank.

Su Xun waved his hand and said, "That's just what I said. Of course I believe you. But what exactly is the purpose of this moat?"

He had been spending most of his time at the Daizong Breeding Center with Xu Huan, and only made a few simple requests regarding urban planning, without really paying attention to the remaining specific details.

In Taodu, besides the general public, he himself is the biggest client. As the client, there is no need to follow up on every detail of the project. He can just wait to see the results. Even if there are any problems in the middle, with Taodu's almost map-editing capabilities, there is room for modification.

However, Taodu has indeed spent some time accumulating spiritual energy for today, and the next phase of construction will have to wait until the distant future.

The old dean explained from the side, "This is also the result of our repeated communication with the tree spirit. The roots of Peach Capital in the sea can absorb a large amount of seawater, convert it into freshwater, and transport it to these waterways. They can be used as water for urban residents and can also serve as inland waterway transportation."

"There are large bodies of water in the city, which saves the tree spirit a lot of effort when regulating the city's internal weather."

Su Xun nodded and looked out the window again, but this time his gaze left the ground and looked up at the sky. At this moment, on that cloud platform, a large number of people were looking down at everything on the ground.

Arranging for so many people to go up and enjoy the view is a unique New Year's gift to the general public.

Of course, the purpose was not only to show Tao Du's abilities to them.

He wanted everyone to clearly see one thing: the extraordinary era had truly arrived, and it was relevant to everyone.

Outside of Peach Capital, the apocalypse may still be ongoing, but here, a new society is being established, and the pursuit of extraordinary abilities will be the fundamental driving force for this society's continuous progress.

(End of this chapter)