In the Southern Theater Command, Shen Cong's party was given a warm welcome, and word of the new government's existence was released. Space Brother Dao became the most glamorous center of attention in the whole settlement. Once a space hero, now a beyond-beast-king, and on humanity's side.

How could it not be the toast of the town?

An Sanshun and the others all asked for leave too and began exchanging notes with the Southern Theater Command's researchers.

Only Shen Cong didn't share in the fun.

Once he understood the Southern Theater Command's situation, he was a little disappointed, because he hadn't found any way to raise his own Talent. Some of the technology the Southern Theater Command had stored up was encouraging, though. The link between riding platform and riding beast in particular gave him a lot of ideas for modifying the iron lion.

Naturally, Shen Cong handed all of that to An Sanshun.

As head of Shen Cong's private research team, An Sanshun had earned a lot of his trust. So far, at least, he had shown no scoundrel tendencies.

Once the Super-Thunder Wave station was built, building the community of shared destiny for Earth would be left to talks between the new government and the Southern Theater Command.

Shen Cong himself drove off to the coast.

He went first to what had been Zhongshan, Macau and the places around them. All that was left there now was a scattering of islands above the water, with no land linking them. As the world warmed, the sea had risen well above its old level and drowned a lot of beaches and low ground.

Nobody knew yet whether the ice at the North and South Poles had melted.

If the climate warmed further and the polar ice melted, Earth might well enter an age of open ocean, and the low-lying coasts would be gone.

Fortunately, all the signs suggested the sea hadn't risen much.

The poles were probably still frozen solid for miles on end.

The Four-Armed Vajra waded through the shallows, towing the Train Convoy along the coast, with a…