Homo Sapiens

August 5th.

「Manila Branch.」

Lilith Lopez was on Lake Heart Island, located in Manila’s Laguna de Bay.

The entire Lake Heart Island had been transformed into a massive park. She led a group of internal media reporters, along with a dozen or so specially invited foreign journalists, into a colossal building bearing the sign: Manila-Lake Heart Park Station.

One of the invited reporters, Robert from the BBC, spotted his old acquaintance, Catherine from the Mirror. He smiled and whispered to her,

”Does an island this small really need such a massive station? Is this just to intimidate us? Heh...”

Catherine didn’t get a chance to reply.

Before she could, Mitsui, a reporter from the Yomiuri Shimbun walking ahead of them, turned his head and remarked, ”Perhaps it’s some kind of secret base?”

”Is that so?” Robert replied noncommittally.

But when Lilith Lopez led the group into an elevator with a 50-person capacity, the reporters didn’t realize what it was, thinking they had entered a small room.

Lilith smiled and explained, ”No need to be nervous, everyone. This is just an elevator.”

An elevator?

Before they could process this, they felt a slight tremor beneath their feet as the massive elevator began its descent.

Robert’s eyes filled with shock and suspicion. He muttered under his breath, ”So it really is a secret base?”

Two minutes later, the elevator doors opened.

The sight that greeted them was a station hall built in a Spanish architectural style.

”Welcome to Manila-Lake Heart Park Station.”

Catherine adjusted her glasses. ”A subway station?”

Lilith stopped and gestured for an assistant to hand out route guides to all the reporters.

Then, Lilith nodded to the Homo Sapiens Company’s internal media, signaling that they could begin.

A reporter from Manila TV Station raised her microphone to the camera. ”Good morning, viewers. This is Sang Ye from Manila TV Station, reporting live from Manila-Lake Heart Park Station, one of the stops on the Southeast Asia Loop Line...”

”The company has used new technology to build a railway connecting the Luzon Islands. With the completion of the submarine tunnels under the Balabac Strait, the Karimata Strait, and the Malacca Strait...”

”The Southeast Asia Loop Line...”

Meanwhile, Robert and the other foreign journalists looking at the route guides were already dumbfounded.

This Southeast Asia Loop Line was built entirely underground and undersea.

Starting from Aparri City in northern Luzon Island, it passed through Luzon Island, Mindoro Island, Palawan Island, Borneo Island, Sumatra Island, Xing Island, the Malay Peninsula, the Kra Canal, the Deline Coast west of the Tannantawong Mountain Range, the Shan Plateau, and Kachin State, with the final terminus in Mizhi City, Kachin State.

It spanned a total length of 8,137 kilometers, all with four parallel lines.

”Is this a joke?” Robert’s eyes were filled with disbelief. The length was just too great, and the entire line was completely underground and undersea.

The sheer scale of the project was staggering.

Even the world’s most prolific ”infrastructure fiends” couldn’t handle a subterranean construction project of this outrageous magnitude.

However, Mitsui from the Yomiuri Shimbun stroked his chin, looking around pensively. This underground station didn’t seem like a recent construction; it looked as if it had been operational for some time.

Mitsui’s thoughts then turned to the situation in Assam.

Currently, the entire Assam Region was essentially desolate and uninhabited—at least, satellite imagery showed no significant human activity on the surface.

If the Homo Sapiens Company could really complete the Southeast Asia Loop Line in just a few years, then there was another possible explanation for the situation in the Assam Region.

’The locals in Assam really have moved completely underground.’

Just as the foreign journalists were letting their imaginations run wild,

the six internal media outlets of the Homo Sapiens Company finished their interviews and reports.

Finally, it was the foreign media’s turn.

Catherine was the first to raise her voice recorder. ”Ms. Lopez, does the Homo Sapiens Company plan to officially begin operations on this grand railway?”

Lilith nodded. ”Yes. Starting today, the Southeast Asia Loop Line will connect to the various regional subway systems to serve Homo Sapiens Company employees, and it will also be open to outside tourists.”

”Then may I ask, how did the Homo Sapiens Company complete over eight thousand kilometers of a four-line underground railway in such a short time?” Catherine pressed.

”Our company has developed some brand-new technologies. Of course, when it comes to the technical details, I’m not an expert.”

Catherine asked another question. ”And how can the safety of this railway be guaranteed? As far as I know, Southeast Asia is located at the junction of tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. If a major earthquake occurs in the future, can this railway withstand such natural disasters?”

Lilith shook her head. ”You needn’t worry. Our company has made all necessary preparations. Even in the event of a magnitude 9 earthquake, the impact would not be too severe.”

A magnitude 9 earthquake?

And the impact wouldn’t be severe?

’Is everyone at Homo Sapiens Company this arrogant?’

The other foreign reporters snarked silently to themselves.

Her three questions were up. Next was Mitsui from the Yomiuri Shimbun, whose angle of questioning was particularly sharp.

”Excuse me, does your company have any intention of undertaking projects for foreign countries?”

Lilith replied with a smile, ”Naturally. Technology is developed to benefit all of humanity and the entire world. If other regions are interested in building their own underground railways, they can consult the Coral Construction Group.”

”Second question: of the lines your company has built for this railway, two are sub-vacuum tube tracks. Can they truly achieve transport speeds of 750 kilometers per hour?”

Lilith nodded. ”750 kilometers per hour is the maximum speed. Those two lines are primarily intended for freight and are also fully automated.”

Mitsui’s eyes narrowed. ”I see. In that case, will your railway be connected to the Assam Region and Ceylon in the future?”

Hearing this question, the other reporters’ eyes lit up, and they pricked up their ears, afraid to miss a single word.

Lilith told a bald-faced lie. ”Ceylon will certainly be connected to the railway in the future. As for the matter of the Assam Region, that is an issue for the people of Assam and has nothing to do with the Homo Sapiens Company.”

’Heh, nothing to do with them?’

’Without support from your Homo Sapiens Company, Assam would have been crushed by Tianzhu long ago.’

Robert seized the opportunity to jump in with a question: ”If Tianzhu attacks Assam, will the Homo Sapiens Company intervene?”

”As long as the interests of the Homo Sapiens Company are not infringed upon, there is naturally no need for us to intervene.” Lilith gave a slight shrug.

The implication was clear: ’Assam contains interests of the Homo Sapiens Company, so you tell me if we’ll intervene or not?’

”Regarding the recent petition for independence in the Javan Region, does your company have any response?” Robert continued.

Lilith’s smile grew even brighter. ”We have already addressed their demands. They are all very satisfied.”

”By ’addressed,’ does the Homo Sapiens Company mean dumping them on the high seas?” Robert pressed on.

”Mr. Robert, I feel it’s necessary to educate you on a matter of common sense. Everything owned by the Homo Sapiens Company belongs to our Chairman. By what right do they demand ownership of that private land?”

”Their ancestors...”

Lilith laughed. ”You’re mistaken again. From the moment Java agreed to enter into deep cooperation with our company, all local assets in Java became the property of the Homo Sapiens Company. Since those people are unwilling to work for the company, the company naturally will not waste resources on them. When a private company fires its employees, isn’t that perfectly justified?”

Robert didn’t give up. ”But they didn’t receive any due compensation.”

”You can tell them to sue the Homo Sapiens Company.”

Hearing this, the reporters almost cursed out loud.

’Sue the Homo Sapiens Company? And who would be the judge?’