Academician Qian’s pained expression and desolate voice scared many people pale.
But others weren’t so terrified, merely frowning deeply.
Zhang Minglu spoke up. "From what we know of the Fire Thief, it shouldn’t issue a rule that’s an automatic death sentence. If we can’t avoid the toxic effects of microplastics, then reducing exposure should at least lessen the harm."
"Dr. Zhang is right," Gao Liangwei said gravely. "Academician Qian, you need to calm down. We need you and the environmental department to use your professional expertise to provide practical and effective advice for protecting our citizens, not wallow in negative, pessimistic emotions."
Academician Qian was taken aback, a look of shame on his face. "I’m sorry, everyone. I... I just realized how terrifying this rule is and lost my composure for a moment. Please forgive me."
The others all said it was fine and offered words of comfort.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Academician Qian said, "First, since the rule mentions that microplastics will cause organ failure, it means their toxicity has been massively amplified. But it would be best to conduct experiments to get a definite result. That will help with our data analysis."
Gao Liangwei operated his personal computer. "I’ll arrange for researchers to handle it immediately. Please continue."
Academician Qian continued, "The reason we need to determine the toxic dosage is that it’s directly related to the most critical issue: food. Don’t forget, after the last earthquake rule, the external environment changed drastically. Large areas of soil became unsuitable for planting, so a great deal of our food is now grown in greenhouses—but the trouble is, greenhouses are mostly made of plastic!"
Everyone was stunned.
It was true. The film covering greenhouses was mainly made of polyethylene, which is a type of plastic.
Now that the toxicity of microplastics was enhanced, it meant that from the moment this rule was announced, all current greenhouse cultivation would have to stop, and the crops growing inside would have to be discarded.
"Then for this month, let’s just distribute the previously stored grain!" someone suggested. "That food should be relatively safe."
Academician Qian frowned. "The food itself might be safe, but are the containers they’re stored in made of plastic? Could some microplastics have leached into them? These are all problems. But this goes back to my first point: we need to test exactly how much the toxicity has increased. Only then can we determine what food can be kept and what must be thrown away."
Another person, the head of the acquisitions department, said, "I’ve already had my department start buying food from the Terminal Market."
"That’s right! The food in the Terminal Market should be non-toxic and harmless!"
"But it’s expensive..." someone worried. "Not to mention how many food items there are in the market. Even if there were an infinite supply, we don’t have enough Sublimation Coins to buy a month’s worth for over six hundred million people."
"..."
A wave of silence fell over the group.
According to the March census, North Star’s population was now six hundred million, while the total verifiable global population was around eight hundred million. This meant that North Star accounted for three-quarters of the world’s total population.
The advantage of a large population was strength in numbers, but the disadvantage was having many mouths to feed.
Although North Star had implemented food rationing early on, after the earthquake rule took effect, the loss of vast amounts of arable land, environmental pollution, and other factors had already turned food into a major problem.
Now, with this new rule, microplastics were certain to contaminate a large portion of the food supply. Just as Academician Qian had said, food safety was paramount and couldn’t be taken lightly.
If they relied on buying from the Terminal Market, no amount of Sublimation Coins would be enough. Besides, as soon as the rule was announced, any Ascenders selling food items who were quick enough on the uptake would surely jack up the prices or pull their items for personal use.
"We can’t rely on food items," Gao Liangwei said. "And don’t be so pessimistic. Did humanity not eat before the widespread use of plastics? Humans used pottery and metal utensils for thousands of years, and we can still use them now."
"The Director is right! Depending on the situation, we can put some food in containers made of metal, glass, or ceramic and keep it away from plastic ones. That would reduce microplastic contamination. Didn’t Academician Qian just say that deep-sea fish aren’t contaminated? We could also figure out a way to send out boats to catch them and make up for the food shortage."
Academician Qian nodded. "We also need to consider living conditions. We must notify the shelters in all cities to clear out all non-essential plastic items immediately! That includes all sorts of daily necessities. For example, toothbrushes and toothpaste have to be thrown out. People will have to switch to using their fingers to rub tooth powder on their teeth. Considering the airborne transmission of microplastics, we also need to fully prepare ventilation filters and high-performance masks..."
Academician Qian felt mentally exhausted just saying it. Plastic creations permeated every aspect of human life, infiltrating every corner of society. There was hardly a field where they couldn’t be found. Eradicating them from human life overnight was easier said than done.
Just then, someone asked hopefully, "I wonder if the head of Ascender’s Home has posted any hidden information about this rule yet?"
Hearing this, everyone was suddenly filled with anticipation.
Although, based on past experience, the hidden rules usually came with certain negative factors, it was all a matter of trade-offs. If a small negative could resolve a major crisis, it was worth it.
...
After the rule was announced, North Star wasn’t the only one feverishly discussing countermeasures. All the nations of the Human Federation were holding intense meetings.
Once each nation had finished its internal discussions, they would convene a Human Federation conference to share their decisions and discuss multilateral cooperation.
As for the general public, their initial reaction after the rule’s announcement was largely split into two camps.
The Industrialists and the Naturalists.
Shortly after the rule was released, these two factions were already at each other’s throats online.
Many Naturalists declared: "This rule proves a point we’ve been making for a long time: humanity should return to nature, to a pastoral lifestyle, and stop endlessly manufacturing industrial products. That garbage only poisons the environment and the home we live in!"
The Industrialists fiercely retorted: "Without industry, how are you even posting online? You never say this stuff when you’re enjoying the convenience. During the Nightmare Beast rule, without industrially manufactured high walls, you all would have turned into monsters long ago!"
Naturalists: "The earthen walls we build in natural environments can block that mist just fine. We live naturally, we eat naturally. At most, we’ll only absorb some microplastics from the air. In contrast, you people living in big cities are now stuck in an environment full of plastic. You’ll be feeling the effects of the rule very soon, won’t you?"
Industrialists: "Pah! You think we’re all uncared-for savages roaming the wilds like you? Just you wait! The government will announce countermeasures soon, and then we’ll definitely get healthy food and have our exposure to microplastics reduced!"
The two sides went back and forth, their war of words unending.
A third group of people was less interested in joining the argument and more focused on the note attached to the rule.
"Did you all see the ’Star Sea Court’ that the Fire Thief mentioned in the note? Oh my god, this means there really is some kind of galactic federation out there!"
"Is that really something to make a fuss about? Didn’t everyone say the same thing back during the Alien Spores incident..."
"The note for the Spore rule only mentioned that the spores were once a hot commodity in the universe. Now we have a ’Star Sea Court’ that’s explicitly said to exist! I really want to see what that court looks like! And what would the judges be like?"
"Could they be humans from another planet or galaxy?"
"Unlikely... From a probability standpoint, the emergence of humanity was already a miracle of miracles. For humans to appear on another planet would be too much of a stretch..."
"If you ask me, that court is useless, or it has no jurisdiction over our solar system. Otherwise, why have they completely ignored us?"
"Right? If I were the judge, the first thing I’d do is sentence the Fire Thief to death! Look at the mess that bastard has made of us!"
"I can’t believe you guys are fantasizing about this stuff. You can barely save yourselves, and you’re thinking about that? Let’s just focus on surviving the current crisis first..."