Yama Rising

Inside a spacious office, Wang Chenghao silently made his way over to Qin Ye before reporting in a low voice, "Your Excellency, the three directors of the GTO have arrived outside the Array of the Nine Gods, and they're requesting entry into our Cathayan Underworld."

Inside the spacious conference hall, all of the supervisors of the energy resource department were present, while Qin Ye was hosting the meeting in person on the main stage at the center of the room. The newly appointed director of the energy resource department, Zhou Dingfang, was seated beside him, as well as Vice-director Ma Kun, Vice-director Zhu Yiming, Main Architect Mi Xingguo, the commander of the Frontier Brigade's first division, Gao Mingliang, and the commander of the second division, Qin Xinzhong.

The deputy architects were gathered in front of them, reading out a government report in an excited manner. "At this point, circuitry has been laid down in 90% of all of the cities across the entire nation, and from here onward..."

Another four years had passed since the emergence of the electricity-like energy string.

During these four years, the entire population of the Cathayan Underworld had been put to work! The education and construction industries had developed rapidly, and the entertainment industry was also raring to go. Hundreds of film scripts were sitting in the propaganda department, and hundreds of film crews and thousands of actors were eagerly awaiting their chance to shine.

This was the wrap-up meeting for the conclusion of the first stage of work, and Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly upon being interrupted by Wang Chenghao. "What are they doing here?"

"According to international regulations, the GTO has a right and a duty to inspect the site where the next international trade conference will be taking place a year and a half in advance. On top of that, we haven't submitted any information to them, so they don't even know where the international trade conference is going to be held. As such, their request is actually very reasonable."

A derisive sneer appeared on Qin Ye's face. He wasn't concerned at all by the fact that there had been no response to the 4,000 patent applications he had submitted.

He was intentionally trying to alert the entire world, and he actually wanted the GIPO to spread the news and tell all of the underworlds that the wheel of history was rolling once again, and that they would either have to submit to it, or be crushed by its weight.

However, it was clear that the spread of this news had been stalled by some underworlds.

The underworlds with the ability to stop the spread of this news definitely weren't ordinary underworlds, and right after the Cathayan Underworld had submitted its patent applications, these three directors of the GTO had arrived.

Their visit seemed to be reasonable, but was that really the case?

Who had asked them to come here, and what objectives did they have?

A series of thoughts quickly flashed through Qin Ye's mind, and after a brief hesitation, he instructed, "Take them to the Kraken Fortress at the Bohai Sea."

"Your Excellency!" Qin Xinzhong hurriedly interjected. "Work on the fortress still isn't complete yet, and if we reveal it so early, all of the other underworlds will most likely become very wary of us!"

"Then let them think what they want!" Qin Ye replied in a cold and implacable voice. "In the face of the new energy resource, they'll forever be on the back foot. Following the submission of our patent applications, the Heavenly Fire Research Station hasn't released any progress reports. Why is that? If I'm not mistaken, they're most likely so busy that they don't have the spare time and manpower to keep up pretenses anymore. None of the three pillars are going to just roll over and accept defeat. All of them must be clearly aware that the submission of these patent applications is a declaration of war from me! The four pillars have been competing against one another for thousands of years, and I'm going to put an end to all of this once and for all at the international trade conference!"

Not only did he have to win, he had to secure a resounding victory!

None of the underworld emissaries present said anything further. Their expressions remained unchanged, but deep down, their emotions were churning and riling!

Never had they felt such a strong sense of patriotic pride!

On the main stage, Fang Lin said, "The world is currently at a crossroads, and our Cathayan Underworld is also undergoing a period of rapid growth. The esteemed Harken has created the 18 abysses of punishment and the six paths of reincarnation, Ghost King Zhao is working on the Kraken Fortress in person with the assistance of King Yanluo's Seal, and all of the most skilled workers of Yin Construction are working tirelessly on transforming the entire island of Formosa. At the same time, they've been laying down circuitry all over the entire nation in conjunction with all of our nation's real estate companies and government departments. Two years ago, after two years of blueprint design, Yanluo Qin stepped in in person, working with 100,000 construction workers to construct the power plant at the origin site of the Yellow Springs within half a year, and that is also our nation's largest power plant to date. In the coming three years, an estimated investment of three billion will be made to construct the largest thermal power plant in the nation in Inner Mongolia. At the same time, an estimated investment of three hundred billion will be made by the Everburn government to construct 1,000 medium-sized thermal power plants within the next five years. Additionally, a further investment of a hundred billion will be made to construct 500 hydroelectric power plants and wind farms!"

Fang Lin's voice was filled with patriotic pride as he made these announcements, and all of the underworld emissaries participating in the meeting were also feeling the exact same sense of pride.

This was an extraordinary feat!

During the past five and a half years, all of the participating Yin spirits had worked with virtually no sleep or rest. All of the officials of the energy resource department had been deployed, and even the main architects and directors were no exception to that. The prospecting teams, the inspection teams, the construction teams, the energy resource department, the construction department, and the frontier brigade had traveled all over the nation within the past few years. Due to the severe lack of manpower, the frontier brigade had finally re-emerged in the new Hell, and it was led by Qin Xinzhong.

There was no way that all of this could've been possible in the mortal realm due to the physical limitations of Yin spirits compared with humans.

These were absolutely massive projects comparable to the power networks set up in Cathay between 1949 and 1978 with the assistance of Russia. However, at the time, Cathay had been unaware of just how significant that project was going to be. Furthermore, electricity management policies had constantly oscillated between centralized and decentralized management.

Only after 1978, the year in which the 11th Third Plenum was held, did Cathay truly develop aspirations for electricity. The national electricity network was further refined between 1978 and 1997, and the relevant departments, such as the energy resource department, the ministry of electric power industry, and the ministry of water conservancy and electric power, were also founded during this time period.

That was an electricity revolution that had lasted 20 years, stretching even to the turn of the millennium, and there were still many places that experienced regular power outages in order to keep up with the electricity demands of the major cities.

During his address, Fang Lin had already choked up on several occasions, and his hands were trembling as he held onto his script. Having been a part of the mortal realm's electricity revolution, he knew just how hard the entire Cathayan Underworld had worked to accomplish these feats. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I hereby announce that our Cathayan Underworld has already completed all of its objectives for the first stage of our energy resource plan! Thank you for your hard work, everyone!"

A round of thunderous applause immediately rang out, and if it weren't for the fact that Qin Ye was present, all of the underworld emissaries would've most likely already risen to their feet in celebration. Even Qin Ye himself couldn't help but be overcome by a wave of excitement.

Fang Lin's lips were trembling as he continued, "In addition, electricity will be supplied to the entire nation on the 15th of next month, and to commemorate the occasion, we will be holding a national lighting ceremony!!"

Silence.

Three seconds later, a round of even more thunderous applause rang out, and the netherfire in the eyes of all of the underworld emissaries present were flashing incessantly.

The Cathayan Underworld had only completed the equivalent of two thirds of the work completed in Cathay's electricity revolution in the mortal realm. At the very least, it would take until the completion of the 1,000 thermal power plants and 500 hydroelectric power stations and wind farms before this journey finally drew to a conclusion. However, they had completed something that had taken Cathay 15 years in the mortal realm in just five years here, and that was an incredible feat!

It was exactly because of this monumental feat that the Cathayan Underworld could enjoy the honor of being the first nation in the underworld with nationwide access to an energy resource!

The lighting ceremony wasn't just a show put on by switching on countless lights, it was a sign that this entire world was about to enter a new era!

In no more than 20 days, the Cathayan Underworld was going to trigger a worldwide change!

………………………………………………..

Perkins was seated in a louchuan, looking out at the dark sea in the distance. Even now, he still couldn't understand what was happening.

The ship was an antiquated Cathayan-style louchuan that was giving off a strong sense of age and history. It was very large, close to 100 meters in size, and it was also very luxurious, easily able to house the three directors, over 20 secretaries, and dozen or so secretaries of the GTO. However, none of them could truly bring themselves to settle down on the ship. The dark seawater around them was like a bottomless abyss, and the ship was packed with statuesque Yin soldiers who seemed to almost be inanimate and refused to answer any questions.

The captain's cabin had been locked this entire time, and they had tried to enter it, only to be forced back by the Yin soldiers on the ship.

Back when they had first set foot onto the ship, they had been extremely excited. After all, they were going to be the first foreign Yin spirits to have stepped into the Cathayan Underworld for past century, but they quickly discovered that something was wrong.

There was no welcome arranged for them, and no one even told them where they were going.

Countless thoughts and possibilities were flashing through Perkins's mind, and right at this moment, another director made his way over to him and said, "The Cathayan Underworld has no intention of allowing us to reach their borders."

"I can see that, but they can't just keep us here like this forever!" Perkins replied. "Judging from the political style adopted by the Cathayan Underworld in the past, they wouldn't blatantly encroach upon international regulations like this, and the third King Yanluo has always abided by the law. He's certainly not opposed to exploiting legal loopholes, but there's no way he won't grant us access to the Cathayan Underworld. After all, it's their turn to host the international trade conference... Hold on..."

All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed slightly as he cast a confused gaze forward. "Look over there... Is there something there?"

All of the other underworld emissaries on the deck of the ship had also seen what he had seen, which was what appeared to be a small island on the horizon.

A small island by itself obviously wouldn't present much of a remarkable sight. What was astonishing to them was that there were countless golden vortexes of light revolving incessantly around the island.

There were so many Yin runes around the island that the surrounding sea for a radius of hundreds of meters had been illuminated a bright golden color, and all of the foreign underworld emissaries on the ship were looking on with stunned expressions. All of a sudden, one of them exclaimed, "There's a Yama-King from the Cathayan Underworld here!"

As soon as they caught sight of this sea of Yin runes, an aura more overwhelmingly powerful than any they had ever sensed before came crashing down upon them, instantly causing their legs to give out from under them and forcing them to their knees.

"Who is that?! Which Yama-King could possibly possess such fearsome Yin energy?! This Yin energy is even more formidable than that of the twin gods of the Argosian Underworld!" Perkins's face had turned deathly pale, and his body was trembling uncontrollably as he supported himself with his palms pressed against the deck. "What is he doing here? Is this our destination? What is this place?"

In a state of extreme fear, it was very difficult to sense the passing of time, and only after the ship had drawn to a halt did Perkins look up with a fearful expression. In the instant that he raised his head, all of the underworld emissaries let loose cries of surprise as their bodies were drawn toward the center of the island against their will.

They were sent flying through the air so quickly that their surroundings had turned into a complete blur, and before they even had a chance to close their eyes, they had already arrived at their destination.

Immediately thereafter, all of the foreign underworld emissaries drew a collective sharp breath as they looked around with incredulous expressions, and the netherfire in their eyes sprang up to over three meters in height.

"My god..." Perkins's legs gave out from under him again as he fell onto the ground with a dull thump, and all of his colleagues were also looking at the scene presented to them with disbelief in their eyes.

They were looking at a massive city with a radius in excess of 150 kilometers. This was an ancient Cathayan-style city with four tall tall buildings surrounding a massive pagoda that extended all the way up into the heavens. Countless bright red lanterns were hanging from the pagoda, giving it a menacing and awe-inspiring appearance.

However, this wasn't worthy of their stunned reactions.

They had seen many giant Cathayan cities in the past, and this city was nowhere near as impressive as Fengdu. What was truly astonishing to them was that eight chains were extending out from the very top of the pagoda, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, and were attached to eight gargantuan tentacles!

Those tentacles were riddled with golden eyes that were reflecting the light of the moon, giving off an extremely eerie appearance in the night.

Perkins stood up unsteadily as his heart thumped violently, and his voice trembling as he exclaimed, "They've slain a marine monarch beast and used its body to create a floating city! This is... a biological mothership!! My god!!"