Ten days later, Liu Hui was invited by Chen Changsheng to an area that had been specially cordoned off for vertical agricultural production. The site was still an empty lot, but the surrounding area was piled high with materials, with more than a dozen massive construction vehicles parked nearby. Chen Changsheng himself stood on a makeshift command platform beside them.

“Boss, our preparations are complete. Now we will show you exactly how this ‘Vertical Agriculture Technology’ is constructed. Do you have any further instructions?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Liu Hui smiled. “Dean Chen, you are the expert here; I won’t say more. You may begin!” With that, he sat down in a nearby chair and watched Chen Changsheng’s direction intently.

Given Liu Hui’s assent, Chen Changsheng commanded, “I now order the official commencement of the Vertical Farm Demonstration Project.”

The large construction vehicles at the site immediately sprang to life. They moved forward to lift the prefabricated components stacked on the ground—the materials for construction—and installed them into the troughs laid out on the empty space before them.

Liu Hui noticed that these hoisted components were essentially the building blocks of a structure: walls, floors, and pillars. The construction machinery installed these parts in a predetermined pattern with great precision. Soon, the first level of the building, covering an area of ten thousand square meters, was erected.

At this point, the specialized array formation personnel, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward. They began manipulating the Zhenyuan stored in their energy storage spheres to activate the various array formations already embedded within the structural components. As soon as these arrays were activated, they exhibited a magical effect, making the completed floor lighter yet significantly more robust.

Having completed their task, the array personnel withdrew, and the construction machinery moved in again to begin work on the second level. The structural components were lifted and installed like building blocks, placed according to the numbering etched onto them. Quickly, the second level was fully constructed. The array personnel returned to activate their formations, followed by the construction machinery starting the third level.

Liu Hui sat observing and calculated that when these massive construction vehicles operated in unison, erecting a single floor took only twenty minutes. Including the time required for the array personnel to activate the formations, completing one such floor took merely thirty minutes—a remarkable feat of efficiency.

Indeed, two and a half hours later, the demonstration building for the vertical farm had reached the sixth story. By the sixth floor, the array personnel, in addition to activating the standard arrays on that level, set up a small anti-gravity array across the entire sixth floor. This anti-gravity array was calibrated to precisely counteract the pressure exerted by the five floors above it. The plan was to install a similar small anti-gravity array every five additional stories built. This meant that each level of the skyscraper would bear the stress of, at most, the five floors immediately above it. Given the strengthening effect provided by the solid arrays embedded in the walls, pillars, and floors, this load capacity was considered entirely manageable.

Therefore, as long as the technology of the "City of Starlight" could ensure these structures remained perfectly vertical, theoretically, the "City of Starlight" could construct buildings of infinite height. However, as the "City of Starlight" had not yet reached a point where every inch of space was fiercely contested, there was no need for such a reckless attempt currently.

Once the building reached the sixth story, the large ground-based construction machinery could no longer effectively service the upper floors. This was the moment for the "City of Starlight’s" newest construction equipment to debut.

Liu Hui watched as several large, hovering construction cranes flew in from the distance. These suspended lifting devices descended to the ground, effortlessly hoisting various structural components. They then floated upwards to continue assembling the building on the floors above the sixth level.

In truth, these hovering high-altitude construction devices had been developed by the "City of Starlight" long ago. However, due to their utterly astonishing nature, Liu Hui had kept them under wraps, never deploying them publicly. Now, with the "City of Starlight's" immense power, excellent security, and other strategic considerations, Liu Hui finally decided to put this new equipment to use for large-scale high-rise construction. With these aerial construction units in place, the building speed for both the "City of Starlight" itself and its structures would accelerate dramatically.

With the new high-altitude construction equipment officially joining the effort, the building progress surged. In just the short span of four hours that morning, the demonstration tower reached a height of thirteen stories.

This speed left Liu Hui deeply impressed. He remarked, “Only now do I realize that constructing high-rises is as quick and convenient as stacking building blocks.”

Chen Changsheng chuckled. “Boss, although constructing high-rises now feels like playing with blocks, without our proprietary special materials, the application of various magical arrays, and the introduction of these brand-new construction vehicles, we couldn't possibly reach this height so rapidly. Keep in mind we spent ten days just producing the components for the structure itself, not counting all the other preparatory work; otherwise, you wouldn’t see this building go up so fast.”

Liu Hui sighed. “I am once again reminded of the profound truth that science and technology are the primary productive forces. I am fortunate that I made the resolute decision to develop our own technological capabilities back then. By the way, Dean Chen, according to your plan, how long will it take to completely finish this building?”

Chen Changsheng considered this for a moment. “The main structure of the tower will take four days to complete. However, after the main structure is finished, we still need to perform various adjustments and checks, along with installing and testing the internal equipment. The time until it is officially operational should be about a month and a half from now.”

Liu Hui nodded. “That is excellent. To finish a three-hundred-meter skyscraper and have all its systems calibrated within a month and a half—this speed far exceeds my imagination.”

Liu Hui paused, then added, “Dean Chen, you must be mentally prepared: we plan to construct one hundred vertical farm towers by the end of this year. So, you must manage your schedules effectively and ensure no delays in the construction timeline.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Boss, rest assured, we guarantee mission completion.”

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A month and a half later, Liu Hui visited the vertical farm for an inspection and found that the demonstration building was completely finished. Not only that, but the interior and exterior of the structure had been fully decorated. A complete set of indoor cultivation equipment manufactured by the "City of Starlight" had been installed within. Cultivation workers, who had undergone systematic training, were already prepared, eager to achieve success in this vertical farm that utterly transcended conventional concepts.

After inspecting the demonstration building and asking several questions, Liu Hui was extremely satisfied with the model farm. Thus, the vertical agriculture cultivation model officially commenced operations in the "City of Starlight," destined to replace traditional natural agriculture and provide an ample food supply for the city.

As the lease terms for the "City of Starlight’s" existing overseas cultivation farms gradually expired, the city abandoned negotiations for renewal. Instead, they slowly recalled their overseas personnel back to the "City of Starlight" and reassigned them to work in these brand-new cultivation facilities. This recall action by the "City of Starlight" was so sudden that it left the nations preparing to inflate prices and reap massive profits deeply frustrated.

Commercially, at the start of 2017, the "City of Starlight" made a powerful market entry, aggressively promoting cheap electricity worldwide. After experiencing the benefits of the inexpensive power supplied by the "City of Starlight" the previous year, several nations actively requested an increase in the supply volume this year, especially those lacking resources, who were keenest on importing this cheap electricity. Suddenly, the entire world was talking about the "City of Starlight," and a powerful storm of Starlight electricity swept across the international landscape.

Leveraging its vast reserves of cheap electricity and US dollars as bargaining chips, employing tactics of division and fomenting discord, the "City of Starlight" finally managed to crack open several entry points in the European market. A few smaller member states of the EU agreed to allow electric vehicles (EVs) into their domestic markets. This symbolic victory finally paved the way for the "City of Starlight’s" EVs to enter Europe. Once EVs gained a foothold in these nations, it meant the entire European Union would soon experience the advantages these vehicles offered. Gradually, consumers who had supported domestic petroleum-fueled vehicles, after making direct comparisons, would lose loyalty to gasoline cars and begin demanding that their governments also introduce more convenient and cheaper EVs, as they could now witness the superiority of electric mobility firsthand.

This outcome left the major European automotive powers deeply unsettled. While their domestic car markets had not yet seen a contraction, their overseas markets were being rapidly eroded by the emerging EVs. Consequently, to safeguard their domestic economies, these nations united to negotiate with the "City of Starlight," hoping for collaborations between their domestic auto manufacturers and the "City of Starlight" for EV production. Unfortunately, their request was rejected, with the "City of Starlight" citing that they had already selected their production partners.

These countries then stepped back, asking the "City of Starlight" to retrofit their existing petroleum car production lines, enabling their vehicles to run on both electricity and petroleum, thereby extending the lifespan of their domestic automotive industries.

However, the "City of Starlight" had no intention of prolonging the demise of its adversaries by patching up their failures. They also refused to perform these electrical retrofits. When news of this negotiation’s outcome was released, the final hope for these national auto manufacturers was extinguished. Consequently, their stock prices plummeted, vehicle production sharply declined, and their markets were progressively supplanted by EVs. No force could reverse their current downward trajectory.

As a result, during the first half of 2017, the "City of Starlight" turned the world upside down, causing countless factories to close and go bankrupt, while simultaneously benefiting countless individuals. Rumors surfaced labeling the "City of Starlight" as a devil, while others hailed it as an angel. Regardless of the speculation, no one could impede the incredible, high-speed advancement maintained by the "City of Starlight" throughout the first half of 2017.

During these six months, not only was Liu Hui’s enterprise developing rapidly, but the ventures of the planar traders who dealt with Liu Hui were also progressing exceptionally well.

The Zerg of the Swarm, having received the one thousand tons of drugs pre-paid by Liu Hui, saw their power surge in an extremely short time. After their headquarters successfully lured several elite Protoss strike teams into ambushes and annihilated them, the Protoss dared not send further commando units to raid the Zerg nest.

Once the Zerg secured the safety of their stronghold, they began dispatching their own strike squads to carry out widespread assassinations and sabotage within the Protoss ranks. Thanks to their superior long-distance command and communication capabilities, they caught the Protoss completely off guard, achieving remarkable success. Their disruptive actions not only slowed the mobilization of the main Protoss army but also caused the initially high morale of the Protoss forces to wane.

The Protoss, meanwhile, fundamentally misjudged the situation, still viewing the Zerg as they were previously. They structured all their countermeasures based on the former Zerg capabilities. Unaware that the Zerg’s control range had increased tenfold, rendering their previous tactics obsolete, the Protoss arrangements completely lacked focus and yielded no results.

Due to continuous miscalculations by the Protoss high command, their main army suffered heavy losses before it could even fully assemble. The Zerg’s maneuvers completely disrupted the Protoss's prior strategic deployment, forcing them to make last-minute adjustments to their overall battle plan, granting the Zerg the strategic initiative.

And Xiaoyaozi, upon receiving a massive influx of high-grade spirit stones from Liu Hui, immediately saw the strength of his Artifact Refining Sect begin to skyrocket. This sect, which had been in decline within the cultivation world, started to flourish anew.

Driven by the temptation of high-grade spirit stones that could significantly enhance their cultivation abilities, many unaffiliated masters began joining the Artifact Refining Sect as Dharma Protector Elders. They provided formidable martial protection for the sect, while the sect offered them the high-grade spirit stones necessary for continued cultivation.

With the Artifact Refining Sect opening its gates, talent from across the entire cultivation world began to converge there. Coupled with their sudden surge in power, no one dared covet their wealth. This favorable situation excited Xiaoyaozi, who felt he had finally fulfilled the founding ancestors’ wish to revitalize the Artifact Refining Sect.

As the strength of Xiaoyaozi's sect grew, they acquired many unique artifact refining methods from the cultivation world, further augmenting the sect’s refining prowess. However, Xiaoyaozi had still failed to forge the magic treasure Liu Hui had requested—one capable of immersing ten billion people in a phantasmal realm. This failure deeply disappointed the avaricious Xiaoyaozi. If he had succeeded, receiving Liu Hui’s reward of one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, the strength of the Artifact Refining Sect would have been even greater.

Although the super-magical item Liu Hui demanded remained uncreated, Xiaoyaozi still received substantial high-grade spirit stones from Liu Hui over the past six months. In return, he provided Liu Hui with over one million years of cultivator Zhenyuan, alongside ten million cultivation cushions.

While these items brought Xiaoyaozi considerable profit, their high production costs meant his net gains were modest. He intensely desired to complete the illusory realm artifact for Liu Hui, securing the massive bounty to further strengthen the Artifact Refining Sect.

The development in Alexander's magic planar world was even more vigorous. After the Church of Light officially allied with the Kingdom of Pompeii, Alexander married the Pompeian princess, formally appearing in the Elven world as a son-in-law of the elves.

With the full support of Pompeii, they transported over thirty million human slaves to the Church of Light in half a year. With the addition of these thirty million humans, the total human population within the Church of Light reached fifty million. Including other vassal and enslaved populations, Alexander directly controlled over seventy million people.

These newly arrived humans, upon entering Alexander’s territory, were immediately absorbed as followers of the Church of Light. Subsequently, through the Church’s doctrines, combined with the occasional so-called “miracles” displayed by Alexander, who served as the Pope, these fundamentally simple humans swiftly converted completely to the Church of Light, becoming loyal servants of the Light God, providing him with an unparalleled source of high-quality faith. Through years of cultivation, Alexander had slowly reached the peak of a Level Twelve Mage, and now, utilizing the three key Papal artifacts, he could initially simulate the majesty of a deity.

With this foundational population base of seventy million, Alexander began selecting individuals with cultivation talent among them. After testing their physical constitutions, he assigned them to cultivate the Sacred Battle Qi, Light Magic, or Dark Magic of the Church of Light, respectively.

Due to the expansion of the population base and the fact that the Church of Light's cultivation methods were highly suited to the human physique, Alexander managed to select ten million geniuses with cultivation potential from the newly joined populace.

Alexander then focused intensive training on these ten million promising talents. He kept them entirely separate from production duties, allowing them to dedicate themselves solely to cultivation. To fuel their desire to train, Alexander offered the ten million cultivation cushions, specially customized for him by Liu Hui, as rewards.

Stimulated by these incentives and abundant resources, the cultivation speed of the talents selected by Alexander was extraordinarily fast. In just half a year, all of them surpassed Level Seven, with a significant number reaching higher tiers, and over a thousand individuals even achieved Level Ten mastery. The current strength of the Church of Light was incomparable to when it was first established; they now possessed the fundamental capital required to establish a firm foothold in the world.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～ Thanks to the reader: Ling_ShuiHan for your support!RO