Since the Great Xia Empire had the Snow Country Train Project, other nations naturally had similar contingency plans in place.
The leadership of various countries wouldn't just sit around waiting for death.
However, compared to other nations' plans, the Great Xia Empire's Snow Country Train Project was more ambitious in scale.
The Far Star Union and Europa Federation's primary initiative was the 'Noah's Ark' - the Doomsday Ark Project.
They planned to construct dozens of massive nuclear-powered arks. According to unverified rumors, the flagship ark being built by these nations would have a displacement exceeding one million tons - larger than any oil tanker humanity had ever constructed at full capacity.
This project had already been secretly launched two years prior.
The rationale behind this plan was that even if Blue Star entered the Extreme Ice Age, it would be impossible to permanently freeze the vast oceans.
The expansive seas cannot be completely frozen - otherwise, how would ancient marine species that have survived for hundreds of millions of years, such as cyanobacteria, archaea, corals, brachiopods, and jellyfish, have persisted?
Over hundreds of millions of years, Blue Star has faced similar catastrophic natural disasters before, yet these lifeforms endured. There was no reason they couldn't survive this one as well.
Some high-tech corporations proposed an alternative vision - constructing a Space City in orbit to avoid the cascading effects of meteorite impacts on Blue Star.
However, this plan proved too grandiose, requiring astronomical investments of resources and funding. It would also necessitate unprecedented international cooperation and the lifting of various technological restrictions - conditions no national leadership would agree to.
Moreover, when comparing the massive resource investment against the limited population a space city could accommodate, the cost-benefit analysis made no sense.
Humanity's current technological capabilities also fell far short of what would be required for such an ambitious orbital construction. Thus, this plan was indefinitely shelved.
Without exception, all nations - including the Polar Bear Federation - ultimately opted to initiate Underground Shelter City Projects instead.
While underground cities could mitigate various post-impact disasters, their capacity would inevitably be limited, excluding the vast majority of the population who would be left to fend for themselves.
For lunch, Li Dong dined at the administrative building's cafeteria.
During the meal, he contacted his younger brother Li Tiang via phone, briefing him on meeting developments and requesting production capacity data related to the Shelter Base.
Though the Shelter Base wasn't yet fully operational, Li Tiang's plans contained detailed specifications - after all, the entire Shelter Base was his brainchild. Who would know its true operational capacity better than its designer?
"Nephew Li Dong, what's your take on what happened in the conference hall earlier?" After an extensive search and multiple inquiries, Uncle Li Jiadong finally located Li Dong and took a seat beside him.
"How should I view it? Sitting down or standing up, I suppose," Li Dong replied between bites of his meal, shaking his head.
"Don't play coy with me. Tell your uncle the truth - did you receive some inside information beforehand?"
Li Jiadong's uncle asked the question.
In truth, Li Jiadong already had an answer in his heart.
After all, Li Dong had been selling properties and stockpiling vast amounts of resources during this time.
Anyone with a bit of curiosity could easily find out what Li Dong had been up to over the past several months.
Let alone someone like Li Jiadong, who held a position of some influence in a state-owned enterprise.
"I know a little, but not much," Li Dong replied succinctly, clearly unwilling to share too much.
After all, the more he revealed, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.
Li Jiadong tactfully didn't press further.
"We'll have plenty of opportunities to collaborate in the future. After all, we share the same surname, Li—we come from the same ancestors. One stroke can't write two different Lis." After saying this, Li Jiadong's uncle gave Li Dong a light pat on the shoulder and left.
He didn't say anything more.
And what Li Jiadong said was correct.
There would indeed be many opportunities for collaboration between them in the future.
With disaster looming, humanity needed to work together rather than exhaust itself in internal strife.
To survive the Extreme Ice Age, they had to direct their strength in the same direction—only then could they muster their greatest effort.
A rope becomes stronger when twisted tight.
Otherwise, it would be self-destruction.
In the following days, many executives and business owners approached Li Dong with similar offers of cooperation.
Those invited by the Pengcheng authorities were all intelligent people—they naturally understood what needed to be done next, and collaboration was inevitable.
Then, someone from the authorities came and pulled Li Dong into an official chat group.
Group name: Pengcheng Doomsday Chat Group
This group was created within the official internal network.
Ordinary people didn't have the clearance to join.
Access required both a key and the appropriate permissions.
The moment Li Dong entered this official chat group, he was immediately pulled into another group by undercover officials from Dongjiang City.
The name of the other group: Dongjiang Doomsday Chat Group
Before Li Dong could even introduce himself in the group, he received numerous invitations to other chat groups.
There was the Doomsday Rescue Chat Group, as well as the Doomsday Trading Chat Group.
Each group had a different function.
But the main purpose was the same—communication and mutual cooperation.
For example, the name of the Doomsday Rescue Chat Group made its purpose obvious.
As for the private business owners, executives, state-owned enterprise leaders, and corporate CEOs, they hadn't yet created their own chat groups.
Perhaps there hadn't been enough time to organize them.
"I hope these groups will serve some purpose after the apocalypse arrives," Li Dong murmured after browsing the discussions in each group, then silently turned off his phone.
After resting for an hour,
Li Dong and the others were summoned by the authorities to return to the conference hall for another meeting.
This time, the officials were direct.
The Pengcheng authorities distributed laptops to each attendee and had everyone in the hall fill out various forms.
It was essentially a survey to assess their capabilities.
Time moved forward relentlessly, and so did business development.
Thus, even the Pengcheng authorities weren't entirely sure what the enterprises under their jurisdiction could produce, nor their production capacity.
How strong their output was.
After all, the number of private enterprises and state-owned companies in the Great Xia Empire was simply staggering.
It's impossible to keep track of everything.
Moreover, Pengcheng's authorities couldn't devote all their attention to this matter.
Currently, Pengcheng's officials clearly wanted to consolidate and organize all these forces.