Chapter 896 - 468: Civilization in the East, The Sea-to-Farmland Project, Dance of Nine Luminaries’ Charms
Great Xia.
Tarak Desert.
"At this moment, I’m absolutely convinced that true civilization lies in the East!"
François placed his laptop on his lap and quickly typed this sentence.
Originally, he was from Faelan. Two years ago, he accidentally discovered that a pen left behind by his grandfather had turned into a deceitful artifact. He donated it to Great Xia, in exchange for a Great Xia National ID for himself and his family.
Last year, he and his wife Adelle traveled to Eastern City to open an Otherworld resource import-export company, but due to intense competition, he eventually sold the company to a firm in Faelan.
Now, he accepted an invitation from Faelan’s largest media outlet to become a special correspondent stationed in Great Xia.
Nowadays, every renowned media organization worldwide has stationed personnel permanently in Great Xia, constantly monitoring domestic situations.
This is not only because Great Xia has officially ascended to the pinnacle of Canglan Star, becoming the new generation of hegemon, but also because news about Great Xia is beloved by citizens of all countries.
François seems to have caught the era’s favorable winds, landing himself quite a decent job.
"I am currently located in the northwest of Great Xia, in the Tarak Desert.
"Tarak Desert is the largest desert in Great Xia, covering over 400,000 square kilometers, which accounts for one thirtieth of Great Xia’s territory.
"Few people know that as early as six months before the cold wave disaster broke out, Great Xia had already mobilized over three million engineering soldiers into this desolate land.
"Great Xia assigned them a task, which was to build reservoirs and dikes.
"Building reservoirs and dikes in the desert, not just one but an astounding over a thousand; does it sound too crazy?
"But that’s exactly what the Great Xia People did!"
François took a sip of hot water from his thermos cup, organizing his thoughts before starting to type again.
"Folks, let’s shift our view to two years later; do you still think the Great Xia People’s actions were crazy?
"No! Not crazy at all!
"According to statistics, as of half a month ago, the sea level of Canglan Star has dropped a staggering 11.6 meters compared to before the Age of Calamity.
"This was because the cold wave disaster that ravaged all of Canglan Star for over a year moved massive amounts of moisture from the oceans to the continents, preserving it in the form of snowfall.
"The vast expanse of desert beneath my feet has equally absorbed massive amounts of moisture, or rather freshwater resources.
"Of particular interest is the situation surrounding Tarak Desert; to its north is the towering Celestial Mountain range, to the west is the massive Chongling Mountains, and to the south is the famous Kunlun Mountain from myth and legend.
"Among the majestic mountains of these three ranges, the cold wave disaster piled up massive ice peaks with snow and created endless glaciers.
"Now, with Canglan Star rapidly descending, the Primordial World’s Sobbing Green Sea, rumored to be an endless mysterious rainforest, is causing the temperature across all of Canglan Star to rise rapidly.
"This unbelievable rapid warming defies the laws of physics.
"Under normal circumstances, the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature; the temperature of a plateau 5,000 meters above sea level would surely be much lower than at sea level.
"But now physics has been overturned; the temperatures of Celestial Mountain, Chongling Mountains, and Kunlun Mountain are not lower than at sea level, and no one can explain the reason behind this.
"I witnessed firsthand from a helicopter, glaciers are melting rapidly, with streams flowing between the mountains.
"As a basin terrain, Tarak Desert is bound to be the endpoint of at least half of these streams.
"If not for the reservoirs and dikes standing in the desert, the massive amount of freshwater brought by the melting ice and snow would form a flood.
"Ultimately, most of the freshwater would seep below the sand, with a small portion slowly evaporating, leaving the Tarak Desert with nothing but sand.
"But the thousand-plus reservoirs and dikes built by Great Xia’s engineering soldiers have changed everything completely.
"According to supercomputer simulations, the reservoir and dike network not only prevents floods but also captures over 90% of the freshwater, storing it in the desert long-term.
"Years later, when the cold wave disaster officially ends and the temperature of Canglan Star starts to warm.
"The Great Xia People will use the stored freshwater to transform the 400,000 square kilometers of desert into grasslands, forests, and fertile fields, at which point Tarak Desert will become a historical term."
As François wrote this, a look of excitement appeared on his face involuntarily.
He was deeply moved by his own words.
"According to Great Xia’s top-level plan, the future Tarak Grasslands will have over a hundred cities, with at least 500 million or even 1 billion people living here.
"The Great Xia People have named this unprecedented engineering feat in Canglan Star’s history — the Changing Sea and Land Project.
"I must say, this is a great mega-project, one that only a great nation like Great Xia could accomplish."
François composed himself and customarily began to "spur" his homeland of the Faelan Duchy.
"The Great Xia People’s vision looked 20 years ahead, so they built reservoirs in the desert, preparing to turn it into a thousand-mile oasis.
"But the Faelan People are busily constructing indoor farms to completely resolve domestic food shortages, which is something the Great Xia People were doing three years ago.
"Geographically speaking, Great Xia and Faelan are only separated by over 8,000 kilometers; the distance is not considered far.