197: The end of an era

Meanwhile, on Earth, the home planet of Human Civilization, a silent war that had lasted for nearly twenty years finally came to an end.

Lei Wen sat in the chair of the director's office, with countless holographic screens in front of him displaying dense financial data, corporate announcements, and real-time footage from news media around the globe.

"Father, the dismantling process for the major mega-corporations has entered its final stage."

"Over the past twenty years, through the screening mechanism of the zero test zone, we have successfully detached over 40% of the global working-age population from the reality-based exploitation system. This portion of the population has entered the virtual world, living spiritually enriched lives relying on the basic survival guarantees we provide. This has directly caused the labor costs of traditional labor-intensive enterprises to skyrocket by over 300%."

"For those capable and ambitious elites, we have absorbed them into more advanced fields of scientific research and space exploration through the channels of the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau and Paradox Technology."

Lei Wen nodded slightly; this was his open scheme, which he called 'drawing the firewood from under the cauldron.'

Those once-arrogant zaibatsus found that the foundations they relied on for survival were nothing more than the control of labor and the monopoly of resources.

Now, their resources were being throttled by the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau, and their labor force had been drained by Paradox Technology through high welfare and the virtual world. The once-massive commercial empires were like sharks out of water, struggling helplessly on the beach.

"Did they resist?" Lei Wen asked casually, although he already knew the answer.

"Of course, Father." white flower pulled up several files. "In the past five years, there have been as many as 4,200 acts of deliberate sabotage against Paradox Technology facilities, 1,270 assassination plots against you personally, and several attempts to launch armed coups by bribing some military generals."

"Their methods are very old-fashioned," Lei Wen commented. "Rumors, smearing, assassinations, coups... they are still using early 21st-century thinking to deal with the games of the interstellar era."

"Yes, in the face of global information monitoring, their conspiracies are like shouting over a loudspeaker," white flower said half-jokingly. "All actions were strangled in the planning stage by the joint efforts of the GDS Security Forces and the Federal Security Bureau."

This wasn't a contest on the same dimension at all.

Lei Wen possessed the 'Sky Eye' that could perceive everything and the 'Iron Fist' that could crush everything. Those zaibatsu tycoons desperately found that their once-proud money offensives had failed; the assassins they hired were arrested before they even left the door, and the media they controlled were overwhelmed by a larger flow of information as soon as they issued slanderous reports.

In the end, they could only watch in despair as their imperial towers were about to collapse.

And today was the day the first domino would completely fall... The screen switched to Sacramento, to the site of the press conference at the Nikola Group headquarters.

Standing on the podium was not the once-spirited Elon, but a middle-aged man who looked somewhat bloated with wandering eyes; he was Elon's son, Eric.

"...After careful consideration by the board of directors, in order to adapt to the new interstellar economic situation, the Nikola Group will officially initiate asset restructuring procedures."

Eric read from the script, his voice trembling slightly.

"The group will be split into 105 independently operated enterprises, responsible for different businesses such as energy, shipping, real estate, and entertainment. The original Nikola Group will no longer exist as a single entity..."

As those words fell, the reporters and investors below broke into an uproar.

Although it had been expected, when this behemoth that once ruled the Solar System and once monopolized almost all of Mars truly announced its disintegration, the sense of an era ending still left people sighing with emotion.

Lei Wen looked at the screen, his eyes a bit dazed.

He thought back to three years ago, the final moments of Elon's life.

This legendary tycoon did not, as many had speculated, use his wealth—which rivaled that of nations—to replace all his organs or upload his consciousness in pursuit of immortality.

He refused all life-extending surgeries and all expensive life-support systems.

"Lei Wen, I'm tired."

Lei Wen still remembered the last time he visited Elon; the old man lying on the hospital bed held his hand, his eyes no longer filled with the shrewdness and calculation of former years, leaving only a calmness that had seen through the world.

"In my life, I have been crazy, I have succeeded, and I have failed. I sent low-cost rockets into the sky and watched humanity reach Mars. I also once lost myself in the illusion of power, trying to become the king of this world."

"But in the end, I found that death is the fairest destination for life."

"I don't want to become a monster kept beating by machines, nor do I want to become a piece of cold code."

"I want to go see those old friends who left long ago as a human being."

Elon passed away, very peacefully.

He was a controversial figure—a genius, a tyrant, a dreamer, and a capitalist. His life was full of passion and regret, but in the end, he was a human.

Yet his successor, his son Eric, couldn't even compare to one of his father's toes.

"A tiger father has a dog son," Lei Wen commented coldly.

Eric was a typical playboy born with a silver spoon in his mouth. After Elon's death, the Nikola Group he took over was already teetering under the pressure of Paradox Technology.

Not only did he lack the ability to turn the tide, but he was also addicted to pleasure and internal power struggles.

Under the secret guidance of white flower and the pressure from the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau, the executives of the Nikola Group were in a state of panic, with factions everywhere. Everyone was thinking about making one last grab before the ship sank—corruption, embezzlement, selling trade secrets... The once rock-solid commercial empire was hollowed out by termites within just three years.

Today's split was merely the final blow to this corpse.

With the disintegration of the Nikola Group, it also marked the complete end of the era of barbaric growth and mega-corporate monopoly models characteristic of the early interstellar age.

Other industry giants—whether it was the United Heavy Industries in Europe or the Energy Alliance in the Americas—wisely chose to compromise after seeing Nikola's fate.

They either accepted nationalized acquisitions by the government or took the initiative to split their businesses and accept strict supervision from the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau.

The huge market vacuum and core assets left behind after these behemoths fell did not trigger a chaotic scramble as before, because an even larger entity took over everything.

Paradox Technology.

Like a silent black hole, it absorbed all the core technologies, production lines, skilled workers, and key resource nodes of those bankrupt giants.

Paradox Technology was not just a technology company.

It now controlled 80% of the world's robot production capacity, held 90% of interstellar logistics capacity, monopolized all anti-matter energy supplies, and possessed the most powerful private armed force (GDS).

If the previous Nikola Group was a mega-corporation, then the current Paradox Technology was a Universal Conglomerate that stood above all nations and regimes.

Its power had far surpassed the sum of all other political and economic forces in the Human Federation... Beep... Ms. Melissa, Chairperson of the Human Federation, is requesting a call.

The communication request interrupted Lei Wen's thoughts.

"Patch her in."

A woman with a capable demeanor appeared on the screen; she was the current rotating Chairperson of the Earth Council and the nominal supreme head of the Human Federation.

But when facing Lei Wen, this iron lady, who represented not just the United Kingdom but the face of all humanity, had unmasked politeness and a hint of respect on her face.

"Director Lei, sorry to bother you," Melissa said with a smile. "Regarding the disposal of assets after the Nikola Group's split, the Council has just passed a resolution. We will fully cooperate with Paradox Technology's takeover to ensure that no turmoil occurs during this process."

"Very good," Lei Wen nodded, his tone flat. "Thank you for your trouble, Madam Chairperson. Regarding the resettlement of those unemployed employees, Paradox Technology will be responsible to the end; we will incorporate them into the new welfare system."

"Of course, of course," Melissa nodded repeatedly. "With those words from Director Lei, we are relieved. Also, regarding next month's interstellar budget..."

"I will have my AI send the proposed revisions to you," Lei Wen interrupted her. "Just execute it according to that."

"Alright, no problem. Everything will be as you say."

The call ended.

This was the current power structure.

Although Lei Wen held no title of a head of state, in everyone's heart, he was the true helmsman of this civilization.

He didn't need to stand at the forefront and shout; he only needed to speak softly in a dim room, and the entire world would shake accordingly.

"Father, the cleanup of the old era is basically complete," white flower summarized. "The obstacles have been removed, and the foundation has been laid."

"Yes..."

Since the mess on Earth's side had been mostly cleaned up, and the old production relations that hindered the development of productivity had been broken, it was time to build a New World.

Although Earth was unified, thousands of years of historical inertia and a massive population base made it full of complex interest entanglements and ideological baggage. Directly implementing that ultimate social system here would still face great resistance.

But Mana Star was different.

It was a blank sheet of paper, a virgin land where the old order had been completely shattered after being conquered.

"white flower, initiate the second phase of the 'New World' plan."

Idealistic light sparkled in Lei Wen's eyes.

"I want to designate several special experimental zones on Mana Star."

"There, we will establish a social model where the means of production are entirely public, productivity is extremely abundant, and distribution is based on need."

"All factories, mines, and land will be collectively owned, with unified scheduling and distribution handled by a central AI."

"There will be no currency and no wealth gap there."

"People will work not for survival, but for interest, for honor, and for the progress of civilization."

"All the dirty and tiring work will be handed over to robots; humans will only be responsible for creation, art, scientific research, and... enjoying life."

This sounded like an impossible utopia.

But in the end, possessing anti-matter energy, nano-manufacturing technology, and advanced artificial intelligence (though not yet strong AI), the scarcity of material goods was no longer a shackle limiting humanity.

What limited humanity were only those ancient distribution systems and the greed of the human heart.

"I will use the experimental zones on Mana Star to prove to all of humanity."

Lei Wen clenched his fist.

"That kind of ideal society that only exists in theory can be realized."

"When the colonists on Mana Star live heaven-like lives, those on Earth who are still maintaining the old system will find that they are guarding a pile of ridiculous trash."

"One more thing, Father," white flower reminded him at the right time: "How should we handle the indigenous humans and other races on Mana Star?"

"The humans can be absorbed into the Human Federation; their third-generation descendants can officially become citizens of the Human Federation after passing loyalty tests. But for now, migrate them to those continents in the Western Hemisphere to keep them isolated from our colonists. Other races can be issued residency permits, contributing to our future construction of the Solar System or other star systems based on their racial characteristics."