Vitalik's Sci-Fi Novel "Snow Moon" Chapters 31-32

Chapter 31

Northwood, Viridia · 3725 Rain Moon 2

Zey, Bai, and Mu slowly climbed the stairs along the mountainside. Both sides of the slope were completely covered in snow, and the sunlight reflected off the surface, piercing into their eyes. Only the pine trees and the handrails of the staircase were visible above the snow—the trees and railings were tall enough not to be completely buried; the stairs themselves were periodically cleared of snow and salted by drones. They could see one such drone working about thirty meters above them.

A biting cold wind hit their faces. They continued climbing. A few minutes later, they reached the circular platform at the summit.

From there, they could see a panoramic view of the island where Northwood was located. It was about twenty kilometers wide—small enough that the most simplified and highly reduced maps of the region did not even bother to show it, yet large enough that, if truly necessary, this island alone could sustain a civilization. Zey thought that if Northwood were a Zegoran city, it would already possess a fully self-sufficient emergency industry.

To the east lay the main city of Northwood; to the west and north, one could see kilometers of snow dunes and a gently winding path leading deeper into the forest. Zey looked down the eastern slope and saw another staircase leading to the summit, where a young man wearing only a sweater and a thin hood was climbing up.

As he approached the summit, Zey recognized a familiar face.

"Deluin!" he shouted.

Deluin looked up, saw Zey, and ran up the last twenty meters of the stairs.

He rushed onto the summit and threw himself into Zey's arms for a hug, nearly knocking Zey off balance.

"Zey, I'm so glad you're alive. I can finally see you again."

Deluin slowly released Zey and turned to Bai.

"Wait, do I know you?"

"I'm Bai. You might have seen me watching some practice matches at Sazu Du."

"Ah, yes, I remember you!" Deluin replied, somewhat unsure whether he genuinely recalled meeting her or was simply making it up.

"And me, I'm Mu. Don't confuse me with Su—she's still in Zego. She and I are completely different people."

"Nice to meet you, Mu," Deluin replied with a smile.

"So tell me. What happened?"

"Well, it's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it on top of a cold snowy mountain?"

Zey, Bai, and Mu immediately nodded in unison.

"I see you're more suited to life in Redcounty than I imagined!"

"Alright, alright, I'll begin."

"During Grape Season, about two months after they occupied Redcounty, some Arctic officers came to my home and spoke with my parents. My parents had never been particularly worried about the Arctic threat, always saying we should pursue peace and cooperation with them with a more open attitude. But once the invasion happened, they quickly switched to fully supporting what the Arctic people were doing. A considerable portion of Redcounty leaned toward them in the same way."

"The Arctic people offered them a position. They said they should come to the Glass Crown and advise the highest leadership on integration issues—first the captured Redcounty population, then the residents of Northwood, and finally everyone else they intended to conquer."

"I made a bold decision. I decided to 'infiltrate the enemy camp'—to pretend to fully support the Arctic cause, leveraging my parents' prestige, plus my own status as Mingpengtai champion—"

"I'm the Mingpengtai champion!" Zey playfully interrupted.

"Only because the tournament was canceled and they gave you the title. You never beat me."

"I beat you in combat two days ago!"

"What was that line from the ancient poem? mi fu zo de tei ka ciu pin—when I am defeated, I feel I have won?"

"Now you get it!"

"Anyway, relying on my parents' prestige and my status as a Mingpengtai semifinalist, I climbed my way into their power hierarchy. Within two months, they independently discovered that Mingpengtai is an effective method for training talent for modern warfare—"

"Wait, do they know what Mingpengtai is for?"

"Wait... you mean you deliberately designed the Mingpengtai matches to train people's defense?"

Zey, Bai, and Mu immediately nodded.

"Then no, they definitely haven't figured that out. They just discovered that Mingpengtai happens to effectively serve this purpose. So within three months, they appointed me as one of their supreme commanders."

"You know, the Arctic people are actually quite easy to manipulate."

"What do you mean?"

"Their entire ideology thoroughly devalues alignment of purpose and only values capability. In their eyes, top talent is replaceable and tradable; people are like robots that can be reassigned as long as you offer a higher salary. They have almost no theoretical framework for understanding that people have their own motivations, their own hundred thousand dreams; nor do they know how to judge whether a person's heart truly resonates with yours or is merely pretending. So as long as you shout the right slogans and make them believe you're top talent, they will... trust you."

"Wow."

"I'm... actually not surprised at all," Bai added. "I'm just glad you played this game better than anyone else."

"So what's the most interesting thing about the Arctic Empire?" Mu asked softly. "What can we learn from them?"

"Their technological progress is real, and it's astonishing. The medical care they provided to Northwood residents is just one sample. They believe they've found a way to extend people's lives by ten years, and they're only accelerating."

"The Glass Crown is one of the most fascinating cities I've ever seen. It has its own beauty. It makes you feel like you're living inside a giant ice crystal. Its tallest tower is a kilometer above ground, and its caves extend deep underground."

"They even planted rows of pine trees along some of the walls. That itself is an impressive engineering feat: genetic engineering helps the plants better tolerate the cold, combined with underground heating and cleverly shaped reflective walls that make their environment warmer."

"In winter, the Glass Crown has a month and a half of polar night without sunlight. Then the entire city is bathed in white and blue artificial light."

"Sounds like you want to go back now!"

"Actually, I want something else. I think it's good that the Arctic people have built all this technology—though if I could shut down one thing, it would be the supervirus research. But the danger is how they keep everything they create for themselves and prevent anyone else from benefiting. Even when they give some of it to Northwood residents, it's on their own terms—you come to our health clinic, you can't know what we've done to your body, and if you don't want to revert to your previous state, you have to keep coming back to our clinic again and again."

"Science and technology haven't brought the world together. Instead, they've turned one group into an ever-growing threat that the rest of the world has to worry about more and more."

"But thanks to you, we—I mean all of humanity—have now captured a large portion of their technology. Some of it they brought to Northwood; piles of military equipment are scattered around the Elena Forest; there's also a large cache on Saldur Island. That was originally Arctic core territory, home to tens of thousands of people."

"So our next step should be to persuade as many of them as possible to voluntarily come forward and proactively share knowledge and expertise, so that the whole world can at least reach the technological frontier that the Arctic people had reserved for themselves alone."

"Open source—it's not just a good idea, it's the law," Zey replied.

"Exactly. Let's make the whole world a little more like Viridia."

"Then we can do the reverse. Show the people of Saldur that under our way of life they are calmer, more peaceful, more truly free, while also possessing powerful technology. Then perhaps through them, we can persuade more Arctic people to join our side."

The conversation paused. It was Deluin's turn to walk around the summit and take in the view of Northwood.

About ten minutes later, Mu spoke again.

"I've received some bad news, Deluin."

"What is it?"

"The Free City Defense Force reports that the Arctic garrison in Redcounty has tripled in size. The Defense Force has tried several sabotage operations in Redcounty using drones, employing the techniques we discovered in combat two days ago, but most are now failing."

"They now believe we have essentially no chance of retaking Redcounty."

Deluin sighed. His eyes were filled with deep sorrow.

"Tafindel suggests we take a firmer stance, close the borders of Saldur and other Arctic regions, and then propose a deal. We let anyone who wants to return to the Arctic Empire go back, and in exchange, anyone in Redcounty who wants to leave can leave. They keep Redcounty, we keep Saldur. Then we find a beautiful place in Viridia and build a new Redcounty."

"Why not give them the peninsula between here and Saldur, the one hanging off the eastern end of the north shore? It's very beautiful land."

"I think that should be up to them to decide."

Deluin nodded. "Tafindel is probably right. This is the best outcome we're going to get."

The conversation stopped again. The four of them looked east together, watching snowflakes gently fall on every building in Northwood town, gradually piling up into a thick layer.

Gladias and Sera passed through the giant stone gate at the entrance of Northwood's Great Plum Harbor. The turnstiles had been smashed and thrown to the ground to allow people to move freely; the administrators also seemed unable to bring themselves to enforce any visa regulations at this point. Two Great Plum Harbor security guards in purple-gray uniforms merely watched the passing crowds, retreating to the baseline goal of preventing theft and violence.

Sera's watch beeped. She raised her hand and glanced at it.

From the message timestamp

Yann → [5 images] 45904 She clicked on it and looked at the photos. The first three were photos of people celebrating in the streets and parks of Free City.

The fourth appeared to be an open-air concert held in a parking lot. In the background was a giant factory building, with the Ichara logo prominently displayed on its side wall—one of the now-famous Free City defense enterprises.

The last was a selfie of Yann himself with a manager who seemed to work at a defense company.

"Are you going to Free City to see Yann?"

"Actually, I want to stay in Northwood for about five more days after you leave, and have him come over. He's always wanted to see Viridia."

"You should," Gladias replied gently.

They walked about a hundred meters along the street, then descended into a tunnel. After about two hundred meters, they turned right and went up the stairs. At the end of the stairs was a door.

Gladias was about to tap the green circle beside the door with his watch, but before he could, the door opened automatically.

"Dad!" Lily ran to Gladias and hugged him, shouting loudly.

"Lily! I'm so glad you're safe."

Febrik and Hreda came out from another room and rushed over to hug Gladias and Sera.

"I'm so glad you're all together."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"Don't be. We all made a lot of mistakes last year. Now we've gotten through it, and if we need to, we can get through more. We're a family."

"Is Zven here?"

"Oh, Zven, Vil, and Deya are coming tomorrow morning!"

"Awesome! I'm so excited to see Mom!" Hreda exclaimed.

"So how's Great Plum Harbor treating you?" Gladias asked.

"Actually, it's pretty fun," Hreda answered. "They've organized education, entertainment, public activities, and all kinds of things to keep people happy really well. They also persuaded the Arctic people to allow food to be delivered in by drone, so other than the cramped and enclosed space, it's all pretty good."

"Out of curiosity, we've eaten Arctic food here a few times," Febrik added. "They've figured out over a dozen substances that taste like sugar but have no calories at all. There are also protein products that taste like fish or meat. Actually not bad! Their slogan is: whatever flavor you want, paired with whatever nutritional structure you need."

Sera quietly lowered her face. She still wasn't entirely used to having to admit that the Arctic way of doing things sometimes did have benefits, and that they could learn from them.

"How about I invite a few new friends over?" Gladias interjected. "Let them show us what properly cooked Zegoran food is really like."

"Yay!" Lily shouted.

Febrik and Hreda also nodded eagerly.

"Then I'll invite them over tonight. I still have to go out this afternoon—there's a military funeral at the summit for Deng and the fallen soldiers. After that, we can all go down the mountain together and have a proper meal."

Lily, Febrik, and Hreda nodded excitedly.

Chapter 32

Meldan, Viridia · 3725 Rain Moon 12

Gladias and Sera walked side by side along the familiar path through Kalima; by now, they had walked it hundreds of times. The path was shaded by green trees, with stone houses on both sides.

On the left, a man was climbing a tall ladder leaning against a tree. After reaching the top, he began unscrewing the security camera mounted on the tree. Once removed, he unceremoniously tossed the camera into a box a few meters away on the ground, hitting the target dead-on. The camera crashed into the dozens of devices already in the box with a loud noise. The man then climbed down the ladder.

The two continued on, passing a shop. Gladias remembered that a few months ago this shop had hastily replaced most of its inventory with emergency rations. Now occupying the front shelves was a red flower unique to Northwood; residents were buying flowers to celebrate the province's liberation.

On one side of the shop was an advertisement:

We are now offering the freshest freshwater captured from the Arctic Empire's core territory.

Get the latest AquaFill drinking water, bottled at the Saldur springs, today!

Enjoy the spoils of victory. Buy AquaFill.

The road gradually sank into dense shrubs, then connected to an elevated walkway crossing a busy highway. On the left was a forest-covered hill. Several apartment buildings about fifteen stories tall poked out above the treetops, shaped and decorated like greatly enlarged medieval castle towers, except with far more windows on their side walls.

After crossing the elevated walkway, the path entered a tunnel, and Gladias and Sera arrived at a Y-shaped fork. They turned left and continued until the road returned to ground level, then turned right. Gladias checked his watch to confirm directions; he had never actually walked all the way to the Parliament before.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived in front of the massive circular building. Gladias tapped the green circle with his watch, and the door opened. Inside the building, he clearly remembered the directions. Straight ahead, turn right, straight ahead again, then the third door on the left.

He tapped his watch again, and the door opened.

Vildor and Zey were both sitting in the office. They turned their heads simultaneously toward Gladias and Sera.

"Gladias, Sera, welcome back!" Vildor shouted in a warm, friendly tone.

"Vildor, great to see you again!"

"Please sit, please sit."

A robot slid into the room.

Gladias briefly turned to face the robot. "dia jie fe kai ja cu dze kai lin pan," he told the robot in a deliberately clear tone.

The robot beeped and left the room.

"Amazing, Gladias. Even I can't do that."

Vildor was silent for a moment, then spoke again.

"Alright, I'm embarrassed. What is dze kai lin pan?"

"Vegetables and rice."

"Ah right, green plant-line bread."

"By the way, Zey, when are we going to switch from mi to light-ruler?"

"Fen told me that Bansongpei is pushing hard to bring Zego's privacy and security habits up to a new standard. In about ten days, he and a few others will come to Viridia to see if they can help you catch up as soon as possible."

"But I don't think we need to wait for them. If you like light-ruler, you can start using it today."

"I think they