Chapter 177: Let’s Get a Divorce
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After the war ended, the United Human Federation, the victor, did not demand as severe measures from the United States as expected.
All they asked for was to send some of the congressmen and officials who had harmed the friendship between the two countries to a space prison and to cooperate closely in the future.
They did not even ask for any compensation, which was very different from how they treated other countries.
China and Japan, who had to pay huge reparations, were annoyed but could not say anything.
Japan was in a mood to accept the hegemony of the United Human Federation, and China was close to being scared.
―How can we compete with them when they can produce warships in a day? They have no match now.
―They even wreaked havoc on the US mainland and came out unscathed… That’s insane military power.
―Can those who talk about the US nuclear power explain this? How are they going to deal with the United Human Federation’s particle bombs? If they go all the way, the US will go back to the 1700s, even if the United Human Federation doesn’t.
Anyway, the United Human Federation became a superpower with hegemony after defeating the US.
The aftermath was also significant.
As the US suffered a defeat, the global financial market centered on the Anglo-American sphere began to shake.
There was a growing skepticism about the system itself that inflated money with money.
This was also related to the trend of emphasizing real economy that came from France.
―What’s the point of having a lot of numbers written on the financial network? They evaporate in one disaster.
―These days, they don’t even recover. The financial system is losing trust worldwide.
―Cryptocurrencies have become true paper scraps, and so are other products. It’s a world where real things are preferred.
There was also a hopeful speculation that the financial system would last forever as long as there were real things.
But as the United Human Federation, which defeated the US, excluded finance, the global stock market was heading to hell rather than recovering.
Of course, there was a financial system in the United Human Federation.
The KOSPI and various financial products based on real things were still actively traded in Korea.
But there was no such system in Megacity.
To be precise, it existed on the servers inside the Administration Bureau, but it was impossible for ordinary people to use it and they could not even see it.
As Megacity formed a closed economic bloc, what became urgent were investors around the world.
They witnessed the fall of the US and withdrew their investments and looked at the United Human Federation, but there was no place for them there.
Some CEOs of large investment companies barely managed to arrange a meeting with Yu Ji-ha, but it was not a good atmosphere.
“You suffered a lot of losses this time.”
“We wanted to bet on the United Human Federation, but as you know, there is no place to invest. The money that came out of the US can’t find a place to go. If you open up a way for us, we will reward you greatly.”
“Reward… Can you give me about 10 trillion dollars? I need it to make a warship.”
The CEOs exchanged glances and gave an awkward laugh.
They thought it was a joke, but he asked them with a serious face.
“Let me ask you something. If you introduce your financial products into Megacity, will the citizens live happier?”
“That might be difficult, but we can provide definite benefits to many investors.”
“Those investors will become rich.”
“We grow together with our customers. If you entrust us with your funds, we promise you the best returns in the industry. Security is basic.”
They dreamed of entering the United Human Federation while expecting Yu Ji-ha to deposit his personal funds.
Think about it.
Yu Ji-ha is the richest man in the world.
All Megacities are his property, and he has unimaginable wealth from tangible and intangible benefits derived from Kihoesul.
Even Silla Group, which boasted the largest scale, was only part of Megacity, so even the royal families of oil-producing countries were not comparable to him.
He had accumulated so much money that he thought so.
But Yu Ji-ha didn’t have much money personally.
“I have about 32 billion won. Can I entrust you with that?”
“32 billion dollars?”
“No, won.”
The CEOs smiled faintly at that trivial number.
But Yu Ji-ha was not joking.
“It’s true that I control the United Human Federation. All kinds of Kihoesul and spaceships and Megacities would be an enormous fortune. But they are not mine. They belong to all humanity.”
Yu Ji-ha’s personal assets were only Settlerho and its equipment, blueprints, and other resources inside it, but he had no intention of revealing them until he went to his ancestor’s home planet.
Therefore, Yu Ji-ha’s external assets were only what he had deposited faithfully since he came here.
He couldn’t even use it right away because Arma was managing it.
The CEOs realized that he was not joking.
The dictator who owns the superpower United Human Federation has only that much?
He leaned forward and said.
“You seem to have expected something great, but I’m sorry. But that’s all I have personally. And I think there will be more losses than gains if I bring your system into Megacity.”
“Why is that? Our system is very sophisticated. Of course, it can’t compare to the artificial intelligence, but we generate profits through very sophisticated mathematical modeling…”
Yu Ji-ha shook his head.
“How will that help when you fight the Plague?”
They were speechless.
If they were asked if it would help when they fought that space monster, most of the systems would have to be scrapped.
When they were about to say something, Yu Ji-ha continued.
“The US suffered an astronomical damage in this war. Not only the money itself, but also the loss of trust. On the contrary, the United Human Federation did not gain much.”
“Isn’t it because there is no external investment?”
“That’s why it’s stable. The prices are steady regardless of the external influence, and so is the money people earn.”
Now the CEOs knew what Yu Ji-ha was thinking.
He wanted a system that could control the United Human Federation stably.
The surveillance system with drones was criticized by everyone, but some re-evaluated it as the high population density of Megacity was revealed.
―The crime rate should skyrocket with such a high population density, but Megacity has the lowest crime rate in the world. The level of citizens is also quite high, but placing drones and androids everywhere has eliminated the motivation to commit crimes.
―I see why he introduced drones and citizen points while being called Hitler. It’s the only way to control people of various races and classes from all over the world.
Of course, there were many people who hated the surveillance system, but they could not deny that it was a very efficient system.
Yu Ji-ha said.
“Megacity is complete in its current state. Of course, it still has a long way to go in terms of scale, but the foundation is set. If your system comes in, it will only be chaotic. I don’t want that kind of confusion.”
Strictly speaking, money was important.
But in the system of the United Human Federation, resource management was much more important than money.
No matter how many difficult words and advanced financial techniques they used, the total amount of resources would not change.
It was likely that adding too much seasoning to a dish that Arma managed well would change the taste itself.
The CEOs were disappointed and Yu Ji-ha leaned back on his chair.
“I will maintain this system until I completely eradicate the Plague. After that, you may be able to introduce an advanced financial system as you wish.”
Yu Ji-ha would have left the solar system by then, so it didn’t matter what the remaining humans did.
“I’m not sure. It could be sooner or later, or maybe that day will never come. If humanity loses to the Plague, there won’t be such a system anymore.”
Humanity loses to the Plague?
The CEOs had seen many reports from their own analysis teams, but they had never heard of such a possibility.
They should know something.
They wanted to hear more about it, but their meeting time was running out.
He glanced at his watch and stood up.
“Let’s end it here. By the way, I heard you applied for a residence in Megacity, but you can’t exchange your assets for credits. Oh, donations are welcome.”
Money is still important.
The CEOs got up nervously.
***
After the war ended, people’s interest was on the situation in America.
It was because they were relatively more curious about America than the United Human Federation, whose stance would not change much.
In fact, America was going through a huge turmoil compared to the United Human Federation, which did not experience much change.
Compensation plans for the soldiers who died or were injured were announced one after another, and an economic reconstruction plan was established.
The ones who controlled it were not the previous administration, but the new bureaucrats led by Bernstein, who had emerged recently.
They received the reputation of being influenced by Yu Ji-ha since their appearance.
―They are too fast in analyzing the current situation for bureaucrats who drank Washington’s water. How can they finish the compensation plan for the wounded soldiers in three days?
―The most suspicious thing is that they decided not to rebuild the American military. Did the United Human Federation decide to subjugate America?
Bernstein ignored these doubts and pushed for America’s reform.
He couldn’t change the whole of America, so he came up with a bold plan to split it in half and merge one with the United Human Federation.
There was no consent or discussion from the citizens, but he was convinced that integration was necessary for America to survive.
His drive was packaged as decisiveness and he won an overwhelming vote in the presidential election in February.
Many politicians resigned or were dragged to space prisons, so there weren’t many decent people left.
Above all, he often showed off his friendship with Yu Ji-ha.
It would have been criticized in normal times, but America was now a country that might collapse without Yu Ji-ha’s help.
The financial officials screamed that they had no budget for next year.
“If we don’t print dollars right now, we might have to fire a lot of public servants next year.”
“Even if we print them, it’s a problem. The world no longer wants dollars. They are desperate for credits.”
The financial analysts thought that the indirect damage, such as losing the dollar hegemony, was much bigger than the direct damage that America suffered.
The dollar had steadily lost its demand as it clashed with the United Human Federation, but its position dropped significantly due to this war.
It didn’t completely lose its influence, but each country started to look for credits instead of dollars.
As a result, America’s financial authorities reached a point where they couldn’t use aggressive quantitative easing.
This meant America’s bankruptcy.
The scholars would have dismissed it as America’s bluff in the past, but they looked at it seriously this time.
―The loss of dollar’s status as a reserve currency is huge. Even Saudi Arabia is trying to switch to credits for oil payments.
―The problem is that the United Human Federation has no intention of making credits a reserve currency. They created a closed economic bloc managed by a strong artificial intelligence and blocked almost all external influences.
―There is no solution in this situation. The only thing that might work is America joining the United Human Federation.
But the scholars thought that the possibility of America joining the United Human Federation was low.
The voices against Yu Ji-ha had subsided due to this war, but they didn’t know when they would rise again.
However, it was true that the argument that they had to cooperate with Yu Ji-ha became stronger and Bernstein’s administration focused on that.
In the first week of February 2034, President Bernstein announced a plan to form a loose alliance with the United Human Federation.
This plan included not only personnel exchange with the United Human Federation, but also a wide range of resource supply.
In short, it meant that they were starting to prepare to join the United Human Federation, which caused a lot of waves.
Criticism against Bernstein’s administration followed immediately.
―We lost the war, but do we have to be so servile?
―I admit that the United Human Federation is stronger than America. But their influence on the world is not that great because of their closed economic policy. We can negotiate with them on equal terms if we solve our fiscal deficit.
―We have no way to solve our fiscal deficit. We have to face the reality that we can’t print dollars anymore.
So there was criticism that nothing would change even if they formed a loose alliance with the United Human Federation.
―If anything changes, it means that they want to split America. I warn you, we cannot accept any possibility of dividing America.
―I doubt how much that threat will work. How can we stop the United Human Federation’s army and drones when our military is weakened?
That was the biggest problem.
America had no power to stop the United Human Federation.
Who would stand up and stop them if Yu Ji-ha said he would split America?
The separation plan also received unexpected support.
Surprisingly, both the supporters and opponents of Yu Ji-ha expressed their subtle approval.
―The current system of America has proven to be helpless against the Plague. According to Yu Ji-ha, there will be a massive attack by the Plague within decades. So we have to start integrating now.
―We cannot accept someone like Yu Ji-ha, a socialist. Of course, we don’t want to join the United Human Federation either. We hate drones and androids.
The arguments were sharply opposed, making it difficult to reconcile them.
Some suggested splitting up.
―America was originally a federation. Let each state vote on whether to join the United Human Federation or not.
―Don’t be ridiculous. We can’t give up an acre of American land, so if you want to join the Alliance, you get out.
Regardless of such claims, Yu Ji-ha prepared a system for complete integration with the United Human Federation.
One of them was the Supreme Council.
“From now on, the policies of the United Human Federation will be decided by the Supreme Council. For the time being, I and the artificial intelligence will operate it, but we will gradually transfer our authority.”
The target was none other than the full citizens.
People were shocked by this news.
―He’s going to share his power? Most dictators would never let go of their power until they die.
―Look at that. Yu Ji-ha’s real goal is not dictatorship, but management for the preservation of humanity. He had to use extreme systems like drones or CP because he was pushing too fast.
―Isn’t there a chance for us to become full citizens?
―Well, it’s hard for ordinary people.
The citizens of Megacity theoretically had the possibility of becoming full citizens.
However, it was not enough to just work diligently and not commit crimes.
They had to contribute to the United Human Federation in some way, and that was left to the judgment of the artificial intelligence.
Looking at the list of people who became full citizens so far, most of them had special abilities such as psychers or scientists.
This meant a de facto class system, which caused a lot of controversy.
―He’s saying he won’t give voting rights to people who have no ability. This is shocking.
―There is a clause that allows you to register as a sponsor for a Supreme Council member. It seems that you are not completely excluded.
―You seem to be mistaken. The United Human Federation is a dictatorship. The citizens cannot participate in politics.
―This is just a process for Yu Ji-ha to give up his power. Once the Supreme Council is formed, can’t we modify the policies?
People were very interested in joining the United Human Federation and changing it from within.
Thanks to that, the separatists in America gained strength and Megacity America showed its presence.
Yu Ji-ha confirmed the construction of Megacity America and Deutsch.
“The candidates have been selected and we will start construction soon. The new Megacity will have the same conditions as the existing ones.”
That is, they had to meet certain conditions to enter.
Russia was already preparing for integration, but it was surprising that America and Germany joined in.
―To build a Megacity, you have to delegate administrative authority to an artificial intelligence. I can understand America, who lost the war, but why does Germany do that?
―They are rational and calculative people, aren’t they? They seem to have derived that there is no other way than Megacity.
―They are like soldiers anyway. It would be easier for artificial intelligence to manage them.
The actual situation in Germany was that they had no time to spare for analyzing this announcement calmly.
The politicians did not oppose much, thinking that it was difficult to fully integrate with the United Human Federation in a short time, but building a Megacity was beneficial.
The people were also busy looking at the structure and life of Megacity.
But America was swept by fierce opposition as expected.
―We can’t let something red like Megacity enter our sacred American land!
But this resistance was crushed by Yu Ji-ha’s words.
“I warn you, I will not tolerate any force that interferes with Megacity construction.”
Who could resist when he said he would smash them?
Instead, a separation plan emerged among Americans.
The supporters of Megacity should leave.
―If you like Yu Ji-ha and Megacity so much, get out. Don’t make noise in America anymore.
―America can never be split, but we won’t mind if you leave.
They took advantage of the fact that those who entered Megacity had to leave most of their property or sell it cheaply for gold.
They could exchange it for gold or dollars, but there was no way to exchange it for credits, which were useless.
The only payment method in the United Human Federation was credits, and since they were managed by artificial intelligence, there was no room for other currencies to intervene.
Nevertheless, there were millions of Americans who applied for Megacity America in a month.
The existing Megacities were too far away to be reluctant, but California was a different story.
―The economy is ruined and there are no jobs, so it’s not bad to start a new life in Megacity.
―I like the fact that I can study the initial skills of the United Human Federation.
―Now they criticize Megacity as socialism or something, but when the Plague’s attack begins in earnest, they will be in trouble because they can’t get in.
Among those who applied, the upper 1% elites who led America were included, which caused serious warnings in America.
―The result that 74% of Stanford students applied for Megacity residence is very shocking. We must not ignore this.
―The intellectual class is joining the United Human Federation. Can the remaining people lead America?
No one could answer that for sure.
The only thing certain was that America was splitting in half.
And accordingly, many countries also began to seriously discuss whether to form an alliance with the United Human Federation.
There was naturally a lot of opposition, and some countries even experienced civil unrest.
CNN defined this situation as a divorce after a couple’s fight.
―People couldn’t decide to emigrate easily even if they disagreed. Because they couldn’t guarantee their survival there.
―But if you get a Megacity residence, you won’t starve to death and you can live a stable life as long as you are diligent. Therefore, more people wanted to break away from the existing society.
―Among them, there are many intellectuals. They are people who have the ability to lead science and industry in each country. It is worth paying attention to how their departure will affect the existing society.
The property division due to divorce was considered to be advantageous for those who remained in the existing society for now.
Those who entered Megacity had to leave most of their property or sell it cheaply for gold.
But it was not certain whether it would be the same in the future.
In the fall of 2034, more than 50 Plague cocoons entered the solar system.
The United Human Federation sounded an alert at once and people looked up at the cocoons that burned the atmosphere and fell.
It was good to divorce, but it looked like the divided property would be smashed.
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