Chapter 1549 - 506: Clean the House Before Inviting Guests

Chapter 1549: Chapter 506: Clean the House Before Inviting Guests

"It’s rare for someone of your age to be so optimistic."

"Me? Old?"

The old man laughed heartily.

"It’s one thing for others to say this, but wouldn’t it be strange for you to say it?"

"When you came to attend the internal meeting back then, I was not yet thirty, just a minor section chief, and couldn’t even meet you."

Lin Miao remembered the time his predecessor went, it was 2007, the second year of entering reality. In terms of age, there wasn’t much difference; the situation over there didn’t relate to the well-being here, as they were engaged in a three-line war, with limitations everywhere.

Perhaps because he mentioned that era, the old man couldn’t continue laughing.

"Ah..."

He let out a heavy sigh.

"Back then, the reform entered deep waters, promoting a market economy led to a massive loss of state-owned assets, resulting in large-scale worker layoffs and unemployment. The failure to break through led to a full-scale backlash of retro trends..."

The United States let go of the European Community’s leash, declined in strength, unable to uphold world order, let alone orchestrate anything like the WTO.

Without the globalization market economy brought by the WTO, and facing global natural disasters, massive plant extinction, reduced food production, melting glaciers at the North and South Poles, rising sea levels, floods everywhere, all unfortunate events collided together, comparable to a mass extinction, making life extremely difficult worldwide.

Tokyo University faced issues to the east, west, and south, suffering unprecedented setbacks on the path of industrialization, the damage comparable to an anti-Japanese war + liberation war. They couldn’t even manage the situation between Peizhuo Petrochemical and Soviet Petrochemical vying for offshore oil at their doorstep.

Lin Zhenhua, having fully experienced that era, naturally felt it heavy on his heart.

"It took us a full thirty years to catch our breath."

Lin Miao spoke in a peculiar tone,

"Have we really caught our breath? I don’t see Kangtao being any stronger than Huang Ban or Military Science."

He wasn’t referring to assets or armaments, of course.

"No matter how you see it, for the people of that era, surviving that crisis-ridden time and completing the industrial transition was the most important; everything that happened during has already passed."

A casually uttered ’past’ buried countless sufferings.

"Is it okay to surrender our fate to the devil just to survive?"

"Not to that extent. We merely separated political, commercial, and military into two parts; the military still maintained relative independence. Although the politics and commerce were chaotic for a while, major power still lay in our hands."

Don’t be fooled by Tokyo University claiming to adhere to some ideology, it’s all fake. People living on this land have only one thought: whatever lets the majority survive better, we choose that; it’s pure pragmatism.

Even if someday it requires everyone to meditate and worship God to survive, they could seamlessly convert to Christianity.

"To have reached today, we must thank the legacy they left. The third generation then noticed the shifting international situation early, tightened military control, and banned military involvement in commerce. Later, several initiatives were launched to send people to grassroots to ensure the younger generation didn’t become entirely liberalized but experienced common people’s hardships, hence a brake was applied."

In the 80s and 90s, the relations between the Eastern and Western countries were pretty good, undergoing a post-honeymoon period, which lasted until the Soviet Union’s dissolution.

But here, the Soviet Union didn’t dissolve; rather, it joined the European Community, which extricated Europe from West University’s jurisdiction. In the 94 financial crisis, they dealt a heavy blow to West University’s global financial system, then began meddling in Tokyo University’s matters.

The Sino-Soviet relationship was even worse than during the Zhenbao Island period.

So for a long time, the Eastern and Western countries huddled together for warmth; otherwise, Kangtao wouldn’t have been the second foreign firm to reside in Night City after Huang Ban.

Bear in mind, neither Soviet Petrochemical nor Biotechnology had that privilege.

But this was also a good thing; it was because they diverged from the Soviet Union early that Soviet Petrochemical couldn’t totally shatter Tokyo University’s mainstream belief.

Whether it’s a god turning into a rabbit or a rabbit turning into a god, it’s merely a change in faith.

Yet once the faith is broken, it would plunge into an extreme frenzy of self-interest, and such people are terrifying.

Lin Miao listened silently, nodding.

"As for me... heh, it’s because I was young and impetuous then and made some mistakes."

"That is... I spent some time with a group of liberals until several corporate wars made me see reality. That’s how I got the opportunity to be arranged at Kangtao as a foreign board member in Night City, though compared to what you’ve done in recent years, my old faults pale in comparison."

Indeed, his mistakes were minor.

Lin Miao wouldn’t have thought this old man also had a wild past in his youth.

"Ah, let’s not talk about it. I’ve talked so much and forgot you’re the main focus today."

Lin Zhenhua put down the fishing rod, gravely said,

"I heard that the board of Military Technology was completely wiped out, was that your doing? Let me stress first, Kangtao won’t take the blame for this."

"Yes, it was me, but it has little to do with what we’re discussing today."

"Oh?"

"I sought you out primarily to ask about Kowloon and Ote; how much do you know about what those rogue AIs are up to? Do you know what they’re planning lately?"

"..."

Lin Zhenhua glanced at Dong Hui, who sensibly led all the security personnel to the other end of the boat, indicating that these matters were out of their jurisdiction.