Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

When the earth took its first step toward the starry sky, the starry sky returned its gaze with indifference.

Inside a geometrically styled conference hall on the "Ark" space station, unlike the luxurious decorations of the entertainment area, all that can be seen here is cold, silver-gray metal, like stepping from a sweltering summer into a deathly winter.

The company representatives were illuminated by white lights, casting no shadows. Touchscreens automatically rose from the tables in front of them, displaying real-time footage from the space station's monitoring system.

The viewpoint rapidly descends towards the planet embraced by ice and snow, the once-familiar continental territory is now close at hand, glaciers are spreading, and the coastline of the past can still be vaguely discerned.

This land no longer belongs to them. The perspective suddenly shifts, and the land changes from a snow-white expanse to one bathed in flowing blue light, with scattered dark red spots of light. A red net is woven into the overwhelming blue, like beautiful patterns embroidered on a planetary azure cloak.

"Those light spots are thermal radiation signals," the technical official reported over the loudspeaker. He wasn't authorized to participate in the meeting in person; the image zoomed in as he spoke, rapidly scanning the surface. "According to thermal imaging analysis, several large heat sources have appeared on the surface in the past few months, and they've quickly begun to expand outwards. In addition, please pay attention to this area—"

The camera pans to near-Earth orbit, where several thin white trails are slowly dissipating in the atmosphere, with the remaining unknown energy disturbances at their tails highlighted.

"Following the first discovery of a reusable spaceplane launched from the Earth's surface, we have monitored more trajectories of satellites returning after completing suborbital flights, and discovered a continuously increasing number of new satellites entering orbit. According to model calculations, at the current rate of development, the Earth's surface will be able to re-establish a global network within three years."

The representatives around the conference table exchanged glances, as if considering how many companies had reached private agreements before the meeting. In the center of the power vortex, intrigue and struggle are always classic plays that never end.

The representative sitting at the head of the left swiped his finger across the screen, bringing up images of the surface city taken by the space station. The semi-underground buildings resembled honeycombs embedded in the permafrost, their cold, hard black shells exposed beneath the snow and ice, and numerous pipes intertwined like the city's blood vessels.

"They've managed to weather the harsh winter," the company representative said, a hint of barely concealed disgust in his voice. "Those old consumables, boiled water, and... some unknown primitive technology, and they've actually rebuilt civilization?"

"The point isn't how they survived," said the third representative on the right. "They already have the ability to return to space. Spaceplanes are just the beginning. According to my intelligence, the main focus of those people on Earth in recent years has been aerospace."

Companies are not partners marching in unison; they each have their own interests and calculations, and they don't share information. However, it's clear that they all have their own channels, and frequent transactions had taken place before this meeting.

The company representative chairing the meeting directly pushed the process to the voting stage. Without the facade of peace that companies maintain between various countries on the ground, the naked interests between companies made each joint meeting highly efficient, eliminating the need to waste time listening to tedious rhetoric and arguments.

Returning to Earth, migrating into deep space, or maintaining the status quo: these are the three options facing the companies.

"The 'Ark' has enough energy reserves to sustain us until we are all buried, including the years of genetic optimization that gave us. However, the failure of the ecological cycle system is inevitable. Even with three sets of replacement components, we still cannot break the law of conservation of energy and stay in space forever."

"Back to the ground? Don't be ridiculous," the second representative on the left scoffed. He pulled up a video showing the ruins of the city during the company's war years. It had been reduced to a snowy world, and only a few scavengers would form teams to explore this remnant of civilization.

"Those people treat us like the plague now, avoiding the company at all costs. Howard Jones still has wanted posters for all of us. Are you willing to go back? Are you willing to hand over all your technology and resources, begging them to take you in like stray dogs?"

"Maintaining the status quo is equally unacceptable," he said, pulling up a screen showing the Earth-Moon orbit to the leader's representative. Red warning signals were flashing around the planet. "More and more satellites are being launched from the Earth's surface. Once they recover, they'll inevitably take action against us sooner or later, not to mention that thing on the moon—"

He paused deliberately, his tone tinged with obvious apprehension, "Its energy field keeps expanding, and the detectors are still unable to analyze it. The progress has remained at 0.01%, and nobody knows if it will suddenly become interested in us."

The discussion among company representatives gradually focused on the "deep space migration" option, or rather, most companies had tacitly chosen this direction before the meeting even began.

The most accomplished company in the space industry showcased a pre-designed route, extending from the Earth-Moon orbit to the gas giants on the outer reaches of the Gronte Dominican system. "There are abundant resources there, and we can establish permanent bases on their satellites, far from all trouble and threats."

If the future remains uncertain, the space station could potentially travel beyond the star system using the gravitational pull of a massive planet.

The voting proceeded in silence, with more and more green beams of light appearing, until finally all the companies voted in favor of the "deep space migration" option.

There was no usual cheering. These people, who were used to being in control, simply accepted the result calmly, as if they had just approved an ordinary business plan. They each represented the giant companies behind them, and this harmonious facade would continue until a real life-or-death struggle could be determined.

Just as the host was about to announce the adjournment, the fourth representative from the left, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. The image he pulled up was marked with a large number of red dots, each representing a city with a steam tower.

"We've overlooked a problem," he said in a low voice, "Migration always takes time, but the pace of development on the surface is far exceeding expectations. If we leave, and one day they achieve global unification and develop interstellar travel technology, won't they come back to settle old scores?"

The atmosphere in the conference room seemed to become subtle. The representative brought up the space station's weapons system interface, where icons of thousands of nuclear warheads were neatly arranged on the screen, flashing with a dangerous glow.

"These 'purifiers' have never been used since they left the factory. Shouldn't we address any potential hazards before we venture into deep space?"

The company representatives exchanged glances, seemingly asking if they knew about the proposal before the meeting, but it was clear that the proposal had only needed a proposer from the beginning.

"Use nuclear bombs to wipe out those cities," the representative who brought up the topic said, his finger tapping heavily on the screen, the red dots corresponding to the missile icons one by one. "We don't need to launch immediately. We just need to deploy the warheads during the orbital process and release all the nuclear warheads in batches to the preset nodes during the process of orbiting the planet once."

He pulled up a simulation diagram of the space station's orbit and presented the simulation calculations of the project to all the representatives present. "After completing one revolution, the 'Purifier' will be on standby in orbit. At that time, the launch procedure will be initiated in unison to ensure surprise and simultaneous strike."

"Surface monitoring systems will only treat our nuclear weapons as space debris. By the time they realize what's happening, all the nuclear weapons will have already entered the atmosphere, leaving no time for interception."

"Won't this anger the being on the moon?" someone questioned.

"Since it was detected, it has never interfered in human affairs," the proposer of the plan countered. "It turns a blind eye to wars and disasters on the surface, which shows that it doesn't care about the lives of ants. We are just cleaning up a group of ants that might cause trouble, and it won't react at all."

The debate lasted only a short time. When the voting results appeared on the screen, a large number of green votes overwhelmed the few red votes against it. The host announced that the bill had passed, and the space station's central control system emitted a low beep. The isolation valves of the weapons bay began to open slowly.

"Weapon system activated, deploying according to the pre-set plan," a cold electronic voice echoed in the conference hall. "Second recalculation complete. Within the estimated time, the 'Purifier' will be in the correct orbital position."

Through the observation windows of the space station, you can see missile launchers extending from the hull, like the stinger of a scorpion.

The first nuclear missile was launched, its tail glowing with the light of its thrusters. It was constantly adjusting its attitude, flying along a pre-set trajectory, like a ghost blending into the cosmic background.

As the space station orbits the Earth, more nuclear weapons are released in sequence, forming a ring-shaped weapon array in space. From a distance, it looks like a string of black pearls hidden among a sea of ​​space debris, silently awaiting the launch command.