In the eyes of the general public around the world, the Global Occult Coalition, established by the Worldwide Special Events Coordination and Management Committee, was undoubtedly a guarantee for the order of human civilization. However, to some players, the Global Occult Coalition's loose organizational structure meant it was destined to be of little use in the face of increasingly severe anomalous disasters. The order of each region ultimately had to rely on local supernatural institutions to maintain it.
Of course, Li Ang, as a weak, pathetic, and helpless Lone Wolf Player, simply observed the changes in the global situation with detachment.
It took the people of Yin City two to three days to return, and another two days to restore the order of production and daily life. Li Ang's Experimental Middle School of Yin City also resumed normal classes around this time.
"Should I say, 'If the Earth doesn't explode, we don't get a holiday; if the universe doesn't restart, we don't get a break'?" Li Ang, lying on his desk like a salted fish, muttered softly as he watched his visibly exhausted homeroom teacher, Tang Hanyi, gather his teaching materials and hurriedly leave the classroom amid the end-of-class bell.
Heaven knew what the Special Affairs Bureau and the school administration were thinking. Just a few days ago, the people of Yin City had seen the Mirage Dragon carrying the sun into the sky, yet now students were still continuing their normal studies at school. Even the number of tests they had to deal with every day had increased slightly. It seemed that college entrance exams would never be canceled, not in this lifetime.
"As long as studying doesn't kill us, we'll study ourselves to death..." Wang Congshan, also sprawled out like a salted fish, murmured listlessly as she stretched out a trembling hand to grab a handful of beef jerky from the snack bag under her desk and began to chew.
Li Ang, with his usual shamelessness, reached into Wang Congshan's desk, grabbed some snacks, and swallowed them down.
"By the way," Li Ang remembered something and, facing Wang Congshan's glare, casually asked, "didn't you say yesterday that you were moving?"
Wang Congshan was silent for a moment, then shook her head, which was resting on the desk. "Yeah."
"Moving where?"
"To the north of the city, near the Nature Museum."
At the mention of this, Wang Congshan seemed somewhat dejected. "My cousin said that the neighborhood we used to live in isn't very safe, so both our family and hers are preparing to move to the north of the city. It's closer to the official offices of the Special Affairs Bureau."
"..." Li Ang was silent for a moment. "What about getting home from school for you?"
"Like everyone else, I'll take the school bus," Wang Congshan sighed and said in a somber tone. "Originally, my mom planned to drive me to and from school, but since the school has already arranged for armored school buses throughout the city, I might as well just take the school bus. After all, taking the school bus seems a bit safer than driving ourselves."
Indeed, various schools, including the Experimental Middle School of Yin City, had begun using armored vehicle-level school buses to transport students.
Undoubtedly, after the Killing Fields game became public knowledge, the vast majority of people developed a strong sense of crisis, even to the point of hyper-vigilance, treating some ordinary accidents as supernatural disasters triggered by the Killing Fields game.
To soothe the public, the Special Affairs Bureau launched various propaganda campaigns while coordinating with other departments to establish new public safety regulations. These included deploying more comprehensive surveillance throughout the city, setting up automated monitoring and early warning systems, expanding the police force, enhancing police welfare, extending police working hours, broadening patrol areas, and establishing larger bases in various urban districts. Such measures were not only being implemented in Yin City but were also being rolled out in other cities.
Cities were one aspect; the countryside was another. A few days prior, the authorities had set the directive to fully promote urbanization, planning to relocate as many rural populations as possible to towns and cities within the next few years.
According to Li Ang's speculation, this was likely a desperate measure. The authorities had probably made a prediction about the future trajectory of the Demon Tide and the Killing Fields game, concluding that large-scale urbanization was necessary. By consolidating rural populations, they could shrink the defensive perimeter and prevent supernatural disasters from causing major harm to remote areas.
In reality, urbanization is not a process that can be rushed. Attempting comprehensive urbanization within just a few years could likely lead to widespread chaos and the collapse of order in production and daily life. Even modern megacities struggle to solve issues related to housing, transportation, basic necessities, entertainment, consumption, and waste disposal when faced with a large influx of people.
Fortunately, new types of building materials proposed by a laboratory in Yin City had solved this problem.
According to currently disclosed official information, huge buildings spanning hundreds of square kilometers and reaching kilometers in height will be constructed in the peripheral areas of large modern cities like Yin City over the next few years, using new building materials. These colossal structures were also referred to by names such as Sky City, Aerial City, or Bubble Skyscraper. Internally, they would be divided into hundreds of floors, interconnected by elevators and roads resembling winding mountain highways. These self-contained environments would house commercial districts, residential areas, and industrial zones, fully equipped to support millions of people in their daily lives and work.
Within these Aerial Cities, numerous automated systems would be established. Tasks like street cleaning, garbage processing, and package transportation would rely on unmanned automated systems, minimizing the need for manual labor and reducing complexity. In terms of transportation, aerial tramways and driverless public transport vehicles would largely replace private cars, significantly easing traffic loads.
These new types of cities would become a model for future urban construction. Such cities could significantly shrink the defensive perimeter of the Special Affairs Bureau, allowing them to concentrate their main forces in major cities to prevent supernatural disasters.
Other countries had also recently proposed Aerial City construction projects similar to those in Yin City. The benefits of Aerial Cities were clear. Whether it was through industrial upgrading to consolidate funds and boost production, or by helping local supernatural organizations maintain social order more effectively, they presented an irresistible prospect for every country.
The Japan Islands were among the most enthusiastic. Their terrain is predominantly mountainous and frequently plagued by natural disasters. Furthermore, their main population is concentrated in a few large metropolitan areas, making new aerial cities an ideal solution for consolidating their populace. Architectural projects like "Second New Tokyo" and "Third New Tokyo" sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain in the design firms of the Japan Islands.
Regrettably, aside from the Yin City laboratory and the Prometheus Company, other organizations had not yet obtained the specific data for the new materials and could only attempt to purchase them. Moreover, some regions, like those in Europe, lacked the spare funds to construct such new cities.