Chapter 173
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### World Timeline Calendar 1521, October 10th
After last year's World Summit, the first WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Apagado. It has now been exactly one year since then.
The WTO, proposed by Arthur, is essentially based on the rules of this world. However, instead of being held at least once every two years like originally planned, the WTO meetings can now be held yearly if more than 30 countries agree.
Since the WTO is newly established, frequent meetings are needed for discussion and cooperation. Therefore, the second ministerial conference is already being held this year.
Unlike the World Summit, where only about fifty kings participate, the WTO Ministerial Conference requires representatives from all participating countries to attend, which makes it much larger in scale.
Over the course of a week, the conference focused heavily on trade. These discussions are still in the early stages of establishing the organization's foundation. Once things are more settled in a few years, these meetings are expected to only last around three days.
The purpose of the ministerial meeting is to discuss major decisions. Smaller issues are addressed in secondary and tertiary meetings, once the main direction is agreed upon.
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**"The Three Nets Plan?"**
The representatives of participating countries—and even some non-participating ones attending for the first time—looked at the leader of the Angel Empire with confusion.
"What does this 'Three Nets Plan' mean?" one representative asked.
Geer, the head of the Angel Empire, explained, "The Three Nets are the power grid, communication network, and the Internet."
The representatives thought about these terms but struggled to fully grasp their meaning at first.
They understood the concept of a power grid since most countries already have access to electricity, at least in their capitals. High-ranking officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants typically benefit from it.
But the ideas of a communication network and the Internet left them puzzled.
"Does the communication network use Transponder Snails to create a network?" one sharp-minded representative asked, limited by their familiarity with the current world's technology.
Geer shook his head and smiled. "No! The communication network is built on a new mobile device created by researchers in our Angel Empire. Using signal base stations, this mobile device can send messages and make calls to others."
The audience looked even more confused. "What's a mobile device? What's a signal base station?" they wondered.
Understanding their confusion, Geer continued, "A mobile device is similar to a Transponder Snail but carries a signal receiver and transmitter. This device allows you to make calls, send messages, and even have video conversations.
With this, you can communicate with someone thousands of kilometers away, seeing and speaking to them in real time."
"What? It can have video conversations? I thought it was just another type of Transponder Snail!" someone exclaimed, causing a wave of shock and chatter across the conference hall.
"Yes," Geer confirmed. "Through a small screen, you can transmit both sound and video over thousands of kilometers. It can even record for later viewing.
This is just the start of its capabilities! However, since the Three Nets Plan hasn't been officially launched yet, I can't go into too much detail for now."
He added, "Signal base stations are structures that will be set up in every country as part of this plan. These stations are crucial for sending and receiving signals to make this system work."
After hearing this, most representatives understood the basic idea of the power grid and communication network. But when it came to the Internet, they were still completely lost.
"What about the Internet? What is it exactly?" one representative asked.
Geer explained, "The Internet, also called the international network, is a massive system that connects smaller networks together. It operates using shared protocols, creating a single, interconnected global network."
"This network works with the communication network but is not the same. It's based on connecting computers, like those currently used by scientists. Once these computers are made for public use, they can form a global web of interconnected systems. This is what we call the Internet."
Unlike the previous explanations, Geer's words about the Internet left the room silent. The representatives understood each individual word, but when put together, they found themselves more confused than before.
### Geer Explains the Three Nets Plan
"You can ask questions, and I'll answer them one by one," Geer said with a smile.
The room remained silent for a moment before a representative raised their hand to ask a question. After half an hour of back-and-forth, the participants finally started to understand what the Internet was.
Even though they now had a basic grasp, the representatives were unimpressed. They felt that existing communication methods, like Transponder Snails, were sufficient. The idea of mobile devices with video call features seemed interesting, but they didn't see it as essential, especially considering the difficulty and cost of implementing such technology.
As for the power grid, they weren't particularly enthusiastic. They already had electricity in their capitals, where nobles and officials lived. For ordinary citizens, they reasoned, candles and oil lamps were enough. Building an expansive power grid seemed unnecessary to them.
Geer noticed the lack of interest and sighed in slight embarrassment. He hadn't expected overwhelming excitement, but he also didn't think the reaction would be this indifferent.
Still, Geer wasn't discouraged. He recalled Arthur's strategy when proposing the Three Nets Plan. Arthur had explained that once these systems were established, participating countries would only receive 10% of the profits.
Geer had initially objected to this, arguing that the potential profits from these networks would be enormous and too tempting for nations to relinquish so easily.
Now, however, Geer realized this disinterest could work in their favor. If no countries were willing to invest upfront, the Angel Empire could take on the full responsibility of building the networks. This would leave other nations with only a small share of the eventual profits—barely enough to cover their initial costs.
With this thought in mind, Geer continued presenting the plan, inviting nations to participate by investing funds. He explained that each country's required investment would depend on factors like land area, population, and the number of towns and villages.
When Geer revealed the estimated costs—starting at tens of billions of Baileys for the smallest countries and going up to hundreds of billions for larger ones—the room erupted in shock. Such sums were unthinkable for most nations, and they outright rejected the idea of investing that much money.
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### Arthur's Long-Term Vision
What the representatives didn't realize was that Arthur had already anticipated this reaction. His plan wasn't reliant on their investments. The Angel Empire had vast resources, and with robots handling the labor, costs were lower, efficiency was higher, and the quality was guaranteed.
Arthur's goal wasn't just to build networks; it was to control the world's infrastructure. By dominating the power grid, communication systems, and the Internet, he would hold immense influence over every nation. This approach was far more effective than waging war against the World Government.
Geer, understanding this vision, shifted his approach. Instead of focusing on convincing the nations to invest heavily, he emphasized how minimal their involvement would be. They would still get 10% of the profits without shouldering the initial burden of construction.
Convinced that they had little to lose, the representatives reluctantly agreed to the plan after consulting their respective leaders. They assumed it would take years, if not decades, for the Angel Empire to recoup its costs, and any profits would be modest at best.
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### The Aftermath
By the end of October, the Three Nets Plan was officially accepted by all participating nations. The representatives left the conference feeling triumphant, believing they had secured a beneficial deal. They expected to make easy profits from such a massive project without much risk on their part.
However, they failed to notice that Geer and the Angel Empire's leaders were also smiling.
Unbeknownst to the representatives, this plan was not just about profits. By the time these nations realized the true value of the Three Nets and the extent of the Angel Empire's control, it would be far too late. Arthur's vision of controlling the world's arteries—its power, communication, and information—was well on its way to becoming reality.