Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 604: Section 600 - Delan City
Born and raised on Blue Star, Xiao Jiu, who had grasped the additional skill of lasers, wasn't limited to non-combat light-based spells.
The laser isn't a spell, and its output power does not increase with rank advancement. As long as the energy is focused enough, its destructive power can be quite astonishing instead.
But as the elemental affinity for light increased, Little Bird's control over the laser grew more proficient.
At this moment… the bird relied on human might!
"Chiu!"
The shoulder-mounted fully automatic Chiu Light Cannon on Princess Lin Ziyu finally ceased its divine display, and the glowing green beam dissipated into the air as if it had never appeared, leaving behind only a small patch of red-hot molten concrete and a pervasive, acrid burnt smell.
The Tax Minister of the Slan Dynasty knelt on the ground, his face deathly pale. He dared not trouble a Pure Light Sparrow; to do so would likely be quite humiliating if word got out.
The 20-meter-long Mobile Base Vehicle emerged from Xiao Jiu's leg ring and was immediately taken over by the artificial intelligence AI "Adam". Once implanted with high-capacity, high-grade crystalline blocks, it could undertake long-distance travel.
With the addition of the thirty-two Winged Warriors, there were nearly eighty people around Princess Lin Ziyu. Even if they all boarded the vehicle together, unexpectedly, it wasn't crowded. The carriage's internal area was large enough to allocate at least one square meter per person. After sitting down, there was even more space for communal activities.
Four Winged Warriors quickly climbed to the exterior of the vehicle's roof, set up their Railgun Combat Rifles, and began to keep watch with great diligence.
Inside the carriage, the Winged Warriors occupied every corner, standing by the firing holes, ready to respond to any emergency situations that might arise at high speed.
These loyal warriors were indeed quite reliable!
Because on Blue Star, Chen Fei's Mobile Base Vehicle often traveled through suburbs and wilderness with a bold width of 4.5 meters that could be further expanded as needed, practically making its own way and leaving no room for other vehicles—a true road bully.
However, on Cangqiong Star, given that roads need to accommodate large Magical Beasts traveling or boarding specialized transport, the single-lane width of standard roads is at least double that of Blue Star's. So when the Mobile Base Vehicle entered the highway under the escort of the Royal Imperial Guards, it did not stand out. Instead, it resembled a local vehicle of Cangqiong Star and was not much wider than the escort vehicles ahead and behind it.
The West Suburban Military Airport was about 200 kilometers from the Imperial Capital Delan City. The closer it got to the Capital, the busier the road traffic, with countless vehicles and Magical Beasts frequently passing by.
After all, it's a super metropolis with tens of millions of Intelligent Species. Any main road leading into the city is over a hundred meters wide, with ten lanes in each direction. Even the ruling Royal Family can't completely clear the highways for the Princess's convoy. At most, the Transportation Department could implement slight flow restrictions.
When the dense cluster of skyscrapers of Delan City could be seen from afar, the hundred-meter-wide main artery was already crowded with traffic, including Magical Beasts walking on foot but whose speeds were by no means inferior to the vehicles.
Although vehicles and beasts shared the road, to some extent, it was actually safer to allow Magical Beasts on the road—they were less likely to cause traffic accidents and sometimes could even prevent them from happening.
Whizzing by on the wide-gauge heavy-duty railway that encircled the Imperial Capital, high-speed trains with huge carriages bore through the "Wind Cone," each one larger than the Mobile Base Vehicle.
Aside from the greater scale, which made it seem like a land of giants, Chen Fei felt somewhat disappointed, as the actual cityscape of Cangqiong Star was no different from that of Blue Star. He did not witness any exotic local flair; there were just more Magical Beasts around, almost everywhere, unlike on Blue Star, where they are only seen in big cities.
Yet the two civilizations differed in their emphasis between homogeneity and diversity among Intelligent Species.
On Blue Star, 99.999% of the Intelligent Species are of the Human Race, whereas on Cangqiong Star, the Human Race only makes up a quarter of Blue Star's population. If humanoid races are included, the total is just over half, and when rational Intelligent Magical Beasts are accounted for, the number is roughly on par with the total population of Blue Star.
Thanks to better planning, Cangqiong Star's degree of urbanization is relatively high. However, the concentration of Intelligent Species in cities is not very high. Super metropolis like Delan City are unique; the second-ranked city holds only about 3 million Intelligent Species. After the top five, none exceeds a million.
Most cities have 300,000 to 500,000 Intelligent Species residents, making up over ninety percent of the population. Large cities and small villages are prevalent, while towns are less common.
"Did you know? The road planning on Cangqiong Star wasn't designed by humans."
Princess Lin Ziyu sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle, recounting to Chen Fei the landscapes and culture of Delan City.
After all, it's where she grew up. Having left for several years and now returning, her memories were still fresh.
Chen guessed, "Calculated by AI?"
"No, the computational requirements for road planning are too great. The existing supercomputers simply can't allocate so many computational resources."
Lin Ziyu laughed and shook her head.
If left entirely to the most advanced supercomputers and AIs, they would need to run at full capacity for an entire year to produce the road traffic planning scheme for Morning Star Continent.
However, Cangqiong Star possesses eleven continents and one archipelago; except for Antarctica, whose intelligent species population is scant, the other continents' demands for road traffic planning are not much less than those of the Morning Star Continent.
No one would use ten supercomputers at the same time or take ten years to calculate these planning schemes.
The Silan Dynasty took a shortcut and obtained the most scientific and optimal solution in a short time, all at a cost of just ten thousand Star Yuans--practically a steal compared to the budget that would be required for supercomputers and AI.
"Could it be that the Metallic Dragons helped?"
Chen Fei guessed again, knowing that the Silan Dynasty had a deep connection with the Dragon Clan, and that the Metallic Dragon race guards the "Halo." The upbringing and education of the young dragons are responsibilities of the Royal Family.
Metallic Dragons are naturally endowed with computational abilities. If they were employed for such tasks, it should be feasible.
Even Metallic Dragons shouldn't expect to just eat and not work every day.
As soon as Metallic Dragons were mentioned, Chen Fei discarded his plan to return to Blue Star immediately after he finished protecting the princess and prepared to visit a friend from Cangqiong Star to catch up, assuming the friend would still recognize him.
"That's not it either, guess again!"
Princess Lin Ziyu still shook her head; the real answer would definitely be surprising.
"Then I'm at a loss. This workload isn't small!"
Chen Fei shook his head vigorously, giving up on guessing such a difficult question.
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Despite "Adam" claiming he had nearly infinite computing power, if Chen Fei really used these computing resources on these road traffic planning schemes, he wouldn't be able to keep up nutritionally, and his brain might even burn out.
"The answer is slime mold. In just one week, the slime mold had planned out the road traffic for all continents of Cangqiong Star, including the Morning Star Continent, with at least a hundred alternative schemes for each continent."
Princess Lin Ziyu didn't keep him in suspense any longer and revealed the answer.
"Certainly, an unexpected answer."
Chen Fei was taken aback and, thinking of the characteristics of slime mold, had an epiphany.
For a slime mold, which lacks a brain and computing core, to design feasible traffic road solutions is even more inconceivable than magic and Battle Qi.
Using cities as nutrient nodes, the growth path of slime mold is indeed the solution with the lowest consumption and highest efficiency. Then, applying it to a proportionate map with a smack, voila, it's scientific!
Highways and railroads almost entirely rely on slime mold to assist with road planning.
In the midst of casual conversation, the mobile base vehicle and the escort convoy entered one of the major urban districts of Delan City, the Imperial Palace District.
The eight major urban districts of the Imperial Capital, one of which is exclusively held by the Royal Family.
The entire Imperial Palace District is indeed the area where the Imperial Palace is located: the administrative center governing the entire planet, the dwelling place of the Royal Family, and the court gardens are all here. Ordinary people without permission would almost never set foot in this area. Every road, every intersection is tightly secured, and consequently there are far fewer vehicles and magical beasts coming and going.
Upon entering the Imperial Palace District, the speed of the convoy suddenly increased.
"...On the left is the political center, where the Congress of Cangqiong Star resides. Further back are the various ministerial level administrative centers, which interface with the administrative departments of all levels globally. Across the road is the military and political center, controlling all global military bases and legions. After the intersection ahead, on the left, is the Imperial Security Department. They manage and train all investigative agents who have only investigative powers and no authority for arrest or combat. Any violent action must be coordinated with the Imperial Guards and law enforcement departments. The Royal Imperial Guards are a combat force directly under the command of the Royal Family, equipped with the best gear and the finest military personnel."
"...Adjacent to the Imperial Palace District is the Diplomatic District. Representatives of various intelligent species from Cangqiong Star and embassies of the Blue Star Sovereignty are concentrated here. In the Diplomatic District, one can see a wide variety of faces. Next to the Diplomatic District is the Trade District…"
As a member of the Imperial Family, Princess Lin Ziyu was thoroughly familiar with every building and its corresponding function within the Imperial Palace District, giving Chen Fei a rough understanding of Delan City.
Unknowingly, the Imperial City was near, but the convoy had slowed down.
"Your Highness, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is ahead to greet you,"
Housekeeper Mars reported at once.
