Chapter 110 The Great Depression Arrives_1

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In the 28th year of the Crisis Era, at the beginning.

The original timeline had marked this year as the dawn of a major downturn.

In recent years, frequent large-scale natural disasters had led to the widespread death of crops globally, while droughts, floods, and other extreme climate events also caused a rapid and sharp decrease in food production, turning famine into a global issue.

Many countries had to face insurmountable hunger problems, regardless of whether they were wealthy or impoverished nations.

This situation had shown signs years ago, but initially, people thought it was temporary. They had confidence and means to overcome these issues, after all, hunger had been far from us for a very long time.

This is not to say that there was no hunger among humanity—in fact, even in developed countries many people lived day-to-day, not to mention some poor, war-torn nations. It just meant that in most countries, hunger was no longer the main societal conflict.

The advance of technology led people to believe they could conquer nature, but soon they also paid the price for their ignorance.

Although humanity initially paid attention to those disasters, they were overlooked under the shadow of the Trisolaris crisis, until the effect became so significant that no one could ignore it anymore. Then, we were again and again shocked by it. Severe cold, extreme heat, and starvation tormented everyone, billions of people faced a survival crisis, and for the first time, Mother Nature showed humanity her ruthless side.

Human forces of all stripes were no match for such disasters, and climate and geological calamities led human society into internal strife. Due to the uneven distribution of resources and the rapidly shrinking living space, society became suspicious of one another, filled with panic and unease.

The scarcity of resources and the pressure of survival turned people savage and selfish; the existing social order gradually spiraled out of control, conflicts between each other could break out at any moment, a small-scale human Dark Forest slowly formed.

This was the sunset of humanity... darkness had descended...

After 15 years of slumber, Lin Sen awoke from hibernation.

After two days of recovery, Lin Sen walked out of the Hibernation Base into the dim and dull sunlight.

At that moment, the square was filled with people—PDC's senior officials, leaders from all aspects of humanity, and journalists from around the world—all looking on with eager eyes, anticipating the hero's return.

As soon as Lin Sen stepped out, the entire audience, even the entire world, erupted into fierce applause. Lin Sen glanced at the sky and the weary looks on people's faces, and sighed in his heart, "What was destined to come, has still come!"

When people saw Lin Sen, joyous smiles immediately spread across their faces; Lin Sen's existence was an inspiration to the whole world. No matter what disasters were encountered, as long as Lin Sen was alive, there was hope for humanity.

Over the years, PDC had deliberately elevated Lin Sen's image to the status of a deity, a god whom humanity needed, to maintain the tenuous unity of spirit.

The youth of this era had grown up listening to Lin Sen's stories; those of middle age had idolized Lin Sen since their teenage years. The elderly felt the deepest connection, as it was Lin Sen who had rescued them from despair.

In this period, the rotating chair of the PDC was no longer Garanin; although Sayi still retained some power, he had faded into the background.

The successors still maintained many of the qualities of the original PDC seniors, but they, too, were at their wits' end. The problems they faced were countless times worse than those in the era of Garanin.

They were physically and mentally exhausted, on one hand dealing with various space defense plans, and on the other, contending with frequent natural disasters. Additionally, the tendency for social order to be lost in many areas made an already unbearable situation even worse.

No one could handle such serious, world-scale issues concerning the survival of all humans. Now, human society had reached the brink of being out of control, with all kinds of reserve resources and supplies being crazily depleted, plunging society into unrest and turmoil.

What disturbed them most was not the past disasters but what the weather experts predicted: the largest climate disaster in the history of humanity, perhaps even in the Earth's history, might be on the horizon.

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In the original timeline, this year marked the point where the PDC completely lost the capacity to maintain order in the world, and humanity officially entered a deep recession.

Now, we're luckier than in the original timeline. Controlled nuclear fusion and quantum computers have relieved much of humanity's stress, and thanks to Lin Sen's several successful operations, people are not so desperate. Society overall has not lost control, but it's on the brink of doing so.

At this moment, Lin Sen's awakening served as a powerful shot in the arm for the PDC. They spared no expense in promoting his return, hoping to regain the rapidly waning public confidence and to boost humanity's morale to weather the disaster.

However, if one were to suspect the PDC of ulterior motives, they could be seen as looking for a scapegoat. Consider the original timeline's PDC which survived the future's deep recession and social reshuffling, perhaps only in name. But this alone speaks volumes.

Historically, the overthrow of anything begins with a change of name, yet the name PDC endured until the last battle. This suggests that humanity did not completely abandon the PDC after the recession. Perhaps the phrase "to endow the years with civilization" was indeed coined by the PDC.

Fifteen years ago, Wallfacer Lin Sen inspired countless people, particularly his unimaginably inventive methods for apprehending high-ranking members of the ETO. Like a deity guiding humanity, Lin Sen offered boundless hope, which has sustained until today.

Everyone who lived through that era is now cheering the return of their hero, their god, all eagerly anticipating what hopes Wallfacer Lin Sen might bring them this time.

Lin Sen approached the podium in front of the square, arranged by the PDC in hopes that he would give a speech to all of humanity, also to inform Lin Sen of the current state of human society.

Lin Sen looked at the people in the crowd and said, "I'm delighted to see the sun again, to see you all once more.

"I have learned of the various disasters humanity has faced over the years. Seeing the anxiety and unrest on your faces saddens me, but your smiles tell me that no difficulty can defeat you.

"Since my awakening, I've heard a lot of bad news. The problems we face are unprecedented and of a magnitude second only to the Trisolaris crisis.

"Fortunately, I also see hope in your eyes, and hope is not blind optimism. It is based on reality, on rational thought, it's our hundred percent effort for what we believe in.

"I believe that no matter how great the difficulties, they cannot bring us down. The Trisolaris crisis didn't defeat us, nor will rainstorms, floods, droughts, cold spells, hunger, or anything else.

"We did foresee this human disaster to some extent, only it's far more severe than I had imagined. According to meteorologists, this kind of climate disaster will continue for quite a long time.

"Our catastrophe is far from over; it is just the beginning. This is an unprecedented challenge, and we need to do everything in our power to meet it.

"We are not afraid; we will overcome it. This is the promise of the Wallfacer to everyone!

"I will refer to the considerably long period ahead as the 'Great Depression Era of Humanity.' We have been preparing for the current situation for many years.

"Now I will announce several plans we started 20 years ago in preparation for the Great Depression Era:

"Our first plan: The Giant Reflective Mirror Project.

"In the early days of constructing the Moon Base, we built two super-large nano-membrane reflective mirrors at the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point, each with an area of 11,000 square kilometers.

"This was a super-giant project, and it took four years to complete the construction of the two giant reflective mirrors—a miracle in engineering history.

"Now, it's time for the giant reflective mirrors on the Moon to retire. They are no longer needed there, as solar power has become less critical for the construction of the Moon Base.

"Furthermore, having been exposed to the solar wind for a long time, and despite our continuous dust removal efforts, their surfaces have aged and cannot be used anymore.