Chapter 334: 326: The Invisible Crisis of the Eastern Continent
"Commander, if these cube-energy robots really were made by the Sirens, then we've got a serious problem."
The silver-haired, mature-looking Enterprise, a legendary war goddess of the Eagle Union faction, may not care much for political affairs, but that was only because others were assigned to handle them.
Besides her razor-sharp instincts in combat, she also possessed the strength worthy of a faction leader.
After Essex handed the phone back to Lin Lan, Enterprise was already rubbing her chin, face serious in thought.
"The Sirens have used the Tianxing Consortium to sell so many cube-energy robots to this country. It's like they've planted time bombs all over the place."
"If their intention is only to observe and experiment, then fine. But once this country's people become reliant on cube-energy robots, the Sirens could easily destroy the entire nation at a moment's notice."
Listening to Enterprise's analysis, Lin Lan knew she wasn't exaggerating.
As an old saying in Dragon Empery goes: 'It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back.'
He had already seen these third-generation robots—the cube-energy robots—several times. He was almost certain they could perfectly replace most human labor.
If the Orland United States truly begins widespread use of cube-energy robots across industries, it would be tantamount to handing its lifeline over to the Sirens.
And more importantly, the sudden large-scale launch of these robots would absolutely replace a massive number of human jobs in a very short time.
Don't forget—these robots had an incredibly high learning capacity. With only minimal training, they could completely take over the work done by ordinary people.
Was the Zhuhai Commercial Association really prepared for an industrial upgrade and had they figured out how to properly arrange for the many workers who'd be laid off?
There were still a large number of detained Liaozhou civilians and followers of the Jiaodao faith in the Orland United States.
These Liaozhou detainees relied on simple, physically demanding jobs to survive.
Even in a small county like Lihu in the Western Continent, the fishing skills of the Liaozhou fishermen there could easily be learned by cube-energy robots.
Thinking of this, Lin Lan felt a chill down his spine.
At this rate, it wouldn't take long before a massive wave of unemployment hits both Orland citizens and the Liaozhou detainees.
And even Lin Lan, a science-stream student whose knowledge of history only went up to high school level, understood what would happen if such large-scale unemployment wasn't handled properly.
Riots.
From what he knew of the Zhuhai Commercial Association, aside from the Tian'ou Group—which now unconditionally followed his orders—and the Goilia Consortium, which had become part of his own faction, the Tianxing Consortium and the Noah desin Consortium would never help those people.
Even if someday in the future cube-energy robots were to be popularized in Orland, it should absolutely not be done so crudely and aggressively.
Lin Lan could easily imagine that under the Sirens' manipulation, a crisis far worse and deeper than the threat of Battleaxe Arms was already sweeping toward the Orland United States.
Brutal crackdowns and bloody clashes initiated by the business consortiums against the unemployed masses would be inevitable—and would certainly lead to the deaths of countless innocents.
Once this happens, the long-time rival of the Zhuhai Commercial Association—the Navy Department—would undoubtedly become the rallying point for the huge population of unemployed.
"Is this the Sirens' way of accelerating the downfall of the Zhuhai Commercial Association…"
Lin Lan frowned deeply in thought, not even noticing that the ice cream on the table in front of him had almost completely melted.
He originally thought the Sirens would gradually wait for Orland to develop cube-energy tech and slowly evolve toward the original world, but he didn't expect them to suddenly pick up the pace like this.
Was it because the Sirens had discovered his presence?
Even though he was an outsider in this world, he had lived in Orland for a year now.
Other than his wariness toward the Tianxing Consortium, he had developed feelings for this country—especially considering that this was all part of a Siren plot.
Even back during the game events, when he used to skip cutscenes, he knew the Sirens felt absolutely no affection or sentimentality toward experimental worlds or their test subjects.
Who could guarantee that once the experiment ended, the Sirens wouldn't carry out their terrifying "partial cleansing" program in the Orland United States out of sheer habit?
No matter what, he had to stop the Sirens' plot against Orland—while ensuring the safety of himself and his shipgirls.
Just then, a spoonful of ice cream was suddenly brought to his mouth.
"Hiss!"
The cold strawberry-flavored ice cream melted in his mouth, and the sudden chill made him suck in a breath.
The one who had fed him the spoon was none other than Enterprise.
It was only then he noticed that Enterprise, with concern on her face, along with Essex, Hammann, and Maury, were all watching him closely.
"Commander, I know this is a big deal, but don't be too pessimistic. No matter what happens, we'll always be by your side to protect you."
Hearing Enterprise's words, Lin Lan realized that his expression must've been too serious during his thinking, which had made his Eagle Union shipgirls worry about him.
"Of course I believe you'll protect me. These things haven't really happened yet—we still have time to prevent them."
Lin Lan took a deep breath, swallowed the ice cream in his mouth, and showed a confident smile to the group.
That's right—this was all just his reasoning for now. As long as he started preparing in advance, there was still time.
By coincidence, he had taken control of both the Tian'ou Group and the Goilia Consortium—both under his influence and the protection of Eagle Union shipgirls.
That gave him the capital to disrupt the Sirens' plan.
Since that was the case, there was no need to be overly anxious.
Seeing the confused expressions on the faces of the four Eagle Union shipgirls, Lin Lan briefly explained his reasoning about how the robots could trigger social unrest.
Learning from their commander that this country could fall into chaos because of the cube-energy robots left even Enterprise stunned.
They had never imagined that the widespread adoption of cube-energy robots would create such a serious national crisis.
In their eyes, these useful robots were merely a natural product of advancing technology—who would've thought they could pose such an invisible threat even without direct Siren control?
"As expected of our commander. Since we're able to prepare in advance, then this Siren plan won't pose any real threat to us."
Enterprise gently tucked a strand of her silver hair behind her ear, her eyes admiring as she looked at Lin Lan—who was now devouring the nearly liquefied ice cream after explaining so much.
"You… you perverted commander who always thinks about teasing us… I guess… you do have some real skills after all."
The tsundere white-haired chibi Hammann noticed Lin Lan glancing her way.
Though she usually liked to snap at him, after hearing his logical and well-founded reasoning, even her white beast ears twitched in agreement.
Essex and Maury didn't say anything, but from their slightly serious expressions, Lin Lan could tell they also agreed with his analysis.
"Actually, it's not really a matter of skill. It's just that the education I received on Blue Star helped me understand some basic patterns in social development."
Lin Lan shook his head modestly.
After all, history on Blue Star had already taught plenty of painful lessons about the dangers of moving too fast.
All he did was apply some scientific principles and extrapolate from them. It wasn't anything special.
And in the end, someone within the Zhuhai Commercial Association might notice this crisis as well and come up with countermeasures in advance.
If so, then maybe he was just being overly paranoid.
"Teacher! Teacher!"
Just as Lin Lan finished speaking, a voice called out from the beach—it was Anchorage.
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