Godzilla Earth: Origin - Book 2: Chapter 8: Daizuke Senzaki

“The latest detection of Godzilla is being conducted in the South Pacific Ocean, and today the World Government Commander-in-Chief has officially visited Yanjing to discuss the Godzilla plan for East Asia.”

“The coastal defense walls in East Asia are now at 68% completion, the Australian defense line is at 72% completion, and construction is ongoing for the North American defense line.”

“Today, we will interview the various frontlines in East Asia…”

Dr. Senzaki’s temporary residence was not at Yanjing University but at the city government. So, after leaving the laboratory, the two of them headed straight out of Yanjing University. The campus was empty, as it seemed that everyone had left.

Yanjing University had canceled classes for the past few days, granting a month-long break. They urged students from coastal areas to make arrangements for their families to move inland and reunite with loved ones. After all, if Godzilla truly landed in East Asia, whether they would ever see each other again was uncertain.

They walked out of Yanjing University’s main gate and onto the street. They called for a hovering autonomous vehicle and input the address via voice command.

“Yanjing, City Hall.”

The autonomous vehicle opened its doors, and both of them got in. One person lay back, closing their eyes to rest, while the other person, after lying down for a while, pressed their face against the window to gaze outside at the now sparsely populated streets of Yanjing.

The city was filled with towering skyscrapers, hundreds of meters high, crowding the streets of Yanjing. It gave those inside the vehicle a suffocating feeling.

Yanjing’s daytime couldn’t see the sun either, neon lights flickered among the skyscrapers. Some pedestrians were seen walking their dogs on certain pedestrian bridges, and tall trees planted on both sides of the street provided lush greenery that covered the sidewalks.

Sunlight filtered through the tall buildings and tree canopies, casting a gentle glow on the roads, which were relatively empty. Even in the typically congested areas, there were now clear lanes.

Only on some wide roads, with eight or even ten lanes, were there more vehicles, and all of them were heading out of the city, not into it.

Yanjing was one of the most populous, bustling, and colossal cities in the world. It should have been incredibly lively, but today, it was strangely quiet.

“It seems like the news of Godzilla’s impending arrival has led to a decrease in the city’s population.”

Not only coastal cities but also some cities near the coast had experienced significant population loss in recent days, including Yanjing.

Despite Yanjing setting up an extensive network of defenses in the Bohai Strait, the last city to do so, Eastern Japan, had been flattened by Godzilla. People seemed to “trust” Godzilla more than human military forces.

They heard that real estate prices in Siberia had increased several times.

A few days ago, there were even people rioting and looting various supplies. It took a significant deployment of security robots and an influx of supplies to somewhat satisfy the rioting crowds.

“It’s tough for East Asia.”

On the west side, there were protests and zero-cost shopping, while on the east side, there was looting. The world was facing difficulties everywhere.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

They entered a ten-lane road, and Senzaki pressed his face against the glass, looking upward.

“Oh, are those transport drones? Are they all controlled by AI systems now?”

Yanjing’s sky was filled with transport helicopters flying around, far more than the helicopters seen over Osaka and Hokkaido online just a few days ago.

Every part of the sky had countless helicopters carrying various materials to different locations within the Yanjing metropolitan area. There were so many of them that they had managed to construct nearly 15 Electromagnetic Railguns in just a few days.

And this was just the Yanjing metropolitan area!

“Is this the power of artificial intelligence? I’m really envious.”

Fifty years ago, the Agata terrorist attack had led the World Government to halt the use of strong artificial intelligence. It was only a little over ten days ago that this ban was lifted, and people realized what they had been missing.

When robots could handle any task and didn’t require human guidance, industrial construction speed would increase fivefold, tenfold! A group of perfect robots could build an Electromagnetic Railgun in two days and replicate themselves to two hundred percent of their original numbers.

Before Godzilla had destroyed Tokyo, the World United Government had actually lifted the ban.

In just over ten days, nearly half of the Eastern Asian defense lines had been completed. It showed how efficient the robots were.

In front of robots that could infinitely replicate themselves, the only limiting factor in construction speed was the availability of materials, which could be addressed through fully automated mining.

It was truly an unimaginable power. If they had had these robots during the Eastern Japan operation, perhaps they wouldn’t have lost.

Such thoughts crossed Senzaki’s mind, but he shook his head and quickly dismissed them. After all, hindsight is 20/20.

“Yanjing City Government Square, you have arrived. Welcome aboard.”

The autonomous hovercar stopped at the side of Yanjing City Government Square, and the two of them disembarked. The scene that greeted them upon disembarking left Senzaki stunned.

What… what happened here?

Security robots had erected a wall between the city hall and the city government square, and many soldiers in military uniforms were standing on the wall, ready to fire at any moment. They looked serious, as if they were guarding something important.

Numerous small armed drones were patrolling the skies, and higher up, several military-armed helicopters and other transport aircraft were taking off and landing. This city government square was completely sealed off, with no room for even a fly to enter.

This wasn’t a place where some tech genius had made a new discovery; this was clearly a military base!

“Old Huang, are you sure my brother is inside there?”

Senzaki swallowed nervously; he found it hard to believe. But Old Huang just patted him on the shoulder and said, “Senzaki, come on.”

The middle-aged man who had been napping earlier was now alert. He waved his hand to beckon Senzaki to follow. He showed his researcher ID and walked through a gap in the wall.

“Hey, wait for me.”

Senzaki hurriedly followed and picked up his own researcher ID. He waved it and caught up. The soldiers did not stop them and allowed the two of them to enter.

Once inside the wall, Senzaki was immediately greeted by an astonishing sight.

Behind the sternly guarded wall was a large square filled with researchers. Senzaki recognized many of them, and among them were teachers and mentors from Yanjing.

No, don’t they need to go back to their research… Why are they here?

Just as Senzaki stood there, bewildered, a staff member noticed him in the crowd and hurried over. They pulled him and led him into the city hall.

“Dr. Daizuke wants to see you.”

“Oh, okay.”

His brother’s name was Senzaki Daizuke.