86 Underground City

Ning Shi first picked up his phone and looked at the game. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened while the avatar was in the system hack mode.

After that, he got into Yun Moxiang’s Audi car.

Yun Moxiang was dressed in the Exchange Bureau’s uniform for the formal event today.

The blue shirt made her look more handsome than usual.

Ning Shi sat in the passenger seat, fastened his seat belt, and commented casually, “You look better in this uniform.”

Yun Moxiang looked at Ning Shi with a strange look and asked hesitantly, “So you prefer uniforms to black lace?”

Ning Shi was speechless.

“Sit tight, I’m going to accelerate!”

After receiving Ning Shi’s praise, Yun Moxiang’s mood soared, and the car sped up.

Although the High-tech Development Zone was relatively remote, the airport was also remote. The distance between the two was relatively close. It took them half an hour to arrive at the airport.

Ning Shi didn’t have many things, so he only carried a backpack. Yun Moxiang had a residence in Central City, so she didn’t bring much luggage either.

After the car was parked, the two of them walked into the airport lobby.

“I’ve booked you a first class seat according to the treatment of a consultant of the headquarters,” Yun Moxiang said. “I’m a public servant, so I can only sit in economy class.”

Upon hearing this, Ning Shi heaved a sigh of relief. He felt that Yun Moxiang was a little choppy and didn’t really want to sit with her on the plane.

The economy class seats were especially narrow, and it was awkward to sit together.

Ning Shi followed the instructions and went through the VIP passage directly, but he found Yun Moxiang following him and also going through the VIP passage.

“Do you have a VIP card from a bank or an airline?”

Yun Moxiang smiled smugly and waved her plane ticket in front of Ning Shi’s eyes.

“I paid for an upgrade to first class from my own pocket. I’m sitting next to you.”

Although working in the Exchange Bureau didn’t have high requirements for combat strength, Yun Moxiang was able to reach a high position at such a young age. Her family’s conditions and her own strength were definitely not bad.

With a fragrant beauty sitting beside him, he would not be at a disadvantage anyway.

As Ning Shi thought about it, his movements were not slow and he quickly completed the security check procedures.

After a night, the news of the insect plague in Fei Li Island had spread all over the internet.

Even in the VIP lounge, one could hear the passengers next to them talking about the insect plague.

“Honey, do you think the insect plague will affect our country? I saw the video. It’s so scary. I don’t want to be bitten to death by insects!”

“Don’t worry, baby, the country has issued an announcement overnight. The country is safe for the time being. It’s a pity that we didn’t awaken after drinking the potion last time. Otherwise, we’d have more power to protect ourselves now.”

“Honey, you won’t abandon me after you awaken, right?”

“That’s impossible! Baby, my love for you…”

The following words gave Ning Shi goosebumps all over his body. He could only blame his five senses for being too strong, so he could hear many voices clearly.

“Chief Wong, I’ve contacted the military industry. We’ll try to get a batch of the most advanced alloy materials when we go there this time.”

“You’ve worked hard, old Li. Ever since the insect disaster in Bei Shi Nation, I’ve shifted the company’s development direction to cold weapons manufacturing. This time, the insect plague has appeared in Fei Li Island. It’s like the heavens are helping me!”

“The cold weapons market would definitely expand.”

“With the materials we’ve gotten this time, we’re going to develop a batch of excellent weapons and take the lead in seizing the market. We’re going to establish our company’s brand image as a high-end cold weapon manufacturer.”

The keen sense, slyness, and cold-blooded nature of a merchant was fully displayed at this moment.

Ning Shi asked Yun Moxiang in a low voice, “Has the government relaxed the control of cold weapons?”

Yun Moxiang took a sip of coffee and said slowly, “Yes, the current policy is to control hot weapons and relax the control of cold weapons.”

“If a child got hold of a hot weapon, it would cause great damage if used incorrectly. Cold weapons are relatively better.”

“Not only did the officials relax the control of cold weapons, but they also posted manuals and videos on the official forums, encouraging everyone to be familiar with using cold weapons in combat.”

“As a result, civilians will be equipped with cold weapons while the military will be equipped with both hot and cold weapons.

“Not only that, but the government will also carry out longer military training programs in schools, enterprises, and social groups to let the public familiarize themselves with the use of some firearms.”

After finishing her coffee, Yun Moxiang glanced at Chief Wong and continued, “The country’s productivity is mainly concentrated in high-end manufacturing. The cold weapons market will face a huge increase in demand in the near future. The government intends to guide private enterprises into this market to stimulate the production vitality.”

“In this case, the merchants who invest in advance can indeed make a fortune.”

Ning Shi nodded, agreeing with Yun Moxiang’s words. When he woke up this morning, his WeChat groups and moments were very lively.

The last time the Bei Shi Nation had an insect plague, because it was far away, everyone had treated it lightly. However, this time, the insect plague was so close, so the group messages and moments were all posted in a panic.

This was also the reason why the officials had issued an announcement overnight to calm the public down.

In their panic, many people wanted to buy some weapons for self-defense. This was still considered normal thinking. Some irrational people had already started to stock up on food.

In Ning Shi’s circle of friends, some elders had already shared pictures of their family. They had bought a lot of bread, biscuits, instant noodles, and water.

Yun Moxiang looked around, and her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth and said, “Next, the officials will release a series of popular science tutorials to explain the characteristics and knowledge of the insects in the insect world to the public.”

“A lot of fear comes from the unknown. As long as everyone knows the characteristics of the insects and gets used to their existence, the panic will be reduced.”

Yun Moxiang’s lips kept opening and closing, but her voice did not come out of her mouth. Instead, it was directly transmitted to Ning Shi’s ears.

This scene was very strange. Her mouth was moving, but no sound came out.

Yet, the other person could hear her directly.

It was as if the sound had crossed a section of air, directly reaching Ning Shi’s ears.

Seeing Ning Shi’s surprised expression, Yun Moxiang was slightly proud.

“My ability is to control sound waves. What I’m saying now is confidential, so it’s directly transmitted to your ears, similar to the secret sound transmission in martial arts novels.”

This was the first time Ning Shi found out that Yun Moxiang’s special ability was sound waves, which was also a very powerful ability.

Yun Moxiang continued, “What the masses are most afraid of right now is the metal devouring insects’ ability to consume everything.”

“However, this bug has a remarkable characteristic, and that was that it would not devour materials from the ground and underground.”

“In order to prevent extreme disasters from happening, the country had been constantly building underground structures.”

“Just like the Peach Blossom district that I mentioned to you before, each of them is equipped with a building that is 10 floors underground, as well as sufficient food and energy reserves.”

“It’s to ensure that after an incident, the population of the community can still survive underground for at least five years.”

Ning Shi didn’t have the ability to use secret sound transmission, so he could only ask in an extremely low voice, “Under such circumstances, if the official announcement of the metal devouring insects’ characteristics were made, wouldn’t the underground buildings be sold for sky-high prices? Wouldn’t this also encourage the masses to stock up on food?”

“Have the officials made the necessary preparations?”

Yun Moxiang continued to transmit her voice, “If we want to defeat the insects, we have to spread the knowledge of the insects to the people.”

“The greatest advantage of mankind is wisdom. We know how to use tools and attack our enemy’s weaknesses. Without mobilizing the wisdom of the masses, the probability of us defeating the insect plague will be reduced a lot.”

As for the underground construction, after the official announcement of the insects’ characteristics, the underground city plan will begin.”

Yun Moxiang looked at the time on her watch. There was still 10 minutes before boarding, so she continued, “Underground buildings can’t be built randomly, or it’s easy to cause the ground to collapse. After the official announcement, they will introduce underground building regulations and prohibit private underground buildings.”

“Geological experts would find suitable locations to build underground cities according to the population of each core city. We expect to build 11 buildings as the first batch of underground cities. The residential slots would be centralized. The details of the distribution had not been confirmed yet. The only thing confirmed was that the families of martyrs and meritorious contributors would be given priority.”

“The master plan is to build 118 underground cities in five years. We will decide whether to build more according to the situation.”

Ning Shi frowned. The plan showed that the officials were well-prepared in considering a way out for the country and people.

“How much resources will be consumed to build so many underground cities? Will it delay the defense against the insects and the national policy of encouraging citizens to grow stronger?”

Yun Moxiang shook her head.

“That won’t happen. Our country’s current infrastructure production capacity is already excessive. If government builds more cities, it will instead promote economic development. Moreover, we can obtain a large amount of wealth by selling the awakening potion, which is enough to support the construction of the underground city.”

Ning Shi thought of more things. The country had built an underground city not only to defend against the insect plague, but also for the upcoming beast disaster and spiritual disaster.

A single insect disaster was already so terrifying that it had destroyed two countries in a row.

The officials had to take into account the more powerful beast and spiritual disasters that would come later.

After thinking about it, Ning Shi didn’t worry anymore. The officials stood at a high position and planned the overall situation, so they would definitely think more comprehensively than himself.

“Passengers heading to Central City, please take note. You are on flight CA7788. The check-in procedures are now starting. Please proceed to the check-in counter, thank you!”

With the airport announcement, Ning Shi no longer spoke and began boarding.