Sky City

She placed the empty sacks on a high spot where they wouldn't splash into the puddles, then walked to the pile of soil that had been turned over earlier by the courtyard wall; the pile was still there.

She picked up an entrenching tool and shoveled the soil into a burlap sack, filling it to the brim, tying it tightly, and then stacking it to the side.

She moved quickly, despite the thunder rumbling, but she couldn't afford to be distracted. When her arm got tired, she switched to the other hand, and when her speed slowed down slightly, she gritted her teeth and sped up again.

Sweat mixed with raindrops streamed down her forehead, but she didn't bother to wipe it away, letting it drip down her chin and into the puddles at her feet.

Xu Xiaoyan dragged all the full sandbags to the courtyard gate and the main gate, and stacked them one by one on the greenhouse film until they were piled up three or four layers high, about half a meter high.

Then press the sandbags together tightly to fill the gaps, so that they form a continuous and dense water barrier.

After doing all that, she glanced at the water in the yard, which had risen considerably since before. If it exceeded half a meter, the sandbags would be of little use.

We've done all we can; now we can only leave the rest to fate.

The rain outside the window continued to patter against the roof and the courtyard wall, but she had gotten used to it.

In the distance, she could hear a sound. At first, she thought it was the wind, but after a few seconds, the volume gradually increased, and she finally heard it clearly – it was the sound of a loudspeaker.

The voice, "Dear residents of Satellite City Five," was somewhat muffled by the heavy rain, but it was still clearly audible.

"Important Notice Is Now Issued."

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked out through the glass protected by the plastic sheeting and tape.

Outside, the wind and rain were fierce, and visibility was very low. She could only see the deserted street outside the courtyard wall, where murky water had already flooded the road.

"Given the severity of the flooding, once this disaster is over, a 'Sky City' will be built centered around Qing City!"

Xu Xiaoyan frowned slightly. Sky City? She thought she had misheard and moved her ear closer to the window.

"The main buildings of Qing City will be renovated into a high-tech city, and three concentric ring-shaped building complexes will be built around Qing City using the principle of elevated roads."

The innermost ring, designated as Ring One, will continue to operate on a housing rental model, primarily catering to high-tech personnel and their families, as well as former residents of Kyungcheong City. Individuals with exceptional contributions may be granted private property upon approval.

The middle circle, numbered the second ring, allows private property ownership, with satellite cities numbered one, four, five, and eight each occupying one-quarter of the area.

The outer ring is numbered as the Third Ring and is divided into five blocks. Satellite cities No. 2, No. 3, No. 6, and No. 7 each occupy one-fifth of the area and are open to private ownership.

The remaining one-fifth is designated as an isolation area for outsiders. The housing is rented out, and those who meet the requirements can settle in other satellite cities within the Third Ring Road after living there for three months.

The horn continued to blare.

"In addition, we are sincerely recruiting experts in architecture, materials science, geology and other fields with high salaries. Those with the above abilities will directly own a permanent private property in the first ring road. We hope you will apply enthusiastically."

After repeating this process once more, the horn finally stopped, and the wind and rain once again dominated all sounds.

She stood by the window, remaining motionless in that position for several dozen seconds before slowly taking a step back and sitting back on the sofa.

The local forum has exploded.

As soon as she opened the app, the posts on the homepage refreshed at an astonishing speed, with a new post popping up almost every two or three seconds, all with titles directly addressing that notification.

She randomly clicked on one of the most popular posts, and the number of replies had already exceeded one hundred in a short period of time.

Every floor seemed to be frantically expressing shock, confusion, excitement, and unease.

"Did I hear that right? Sky City? A ring-shaped complex surrounding Qing City? What kind of sci-fi movie plot is this?"

"No, the key is that I didn't understand. Can someone explain what the first, second, and third ring roads mean? I currently live in Satellite City No. 5, so does that mean I'll be considered part of the second ring road?"

"Satellite City No. 5 occupies a quarter of the area within the Second Ring Road! This means that residents of Satellite City No. 5 can be allocated private property within the Second Ring Road!"

"None of you understand the situation. The prerequisite for owning private property within the Second Ring Road is that you already own property in Satellite City No. 5, right?"

If you're a renter, do you think property will fall from the sky and fall into your lap?

"Yeah, I don't own a house. Am I supposed to go to the Third Ring Road?"

"What exactly constitutes private property? Is there any standard?"

"Simply put, the residents of satellite cities number two, three, six, and seven live within the third ring road."

People who originally lived in satellite cities No. 1, 4, 5, and 8 now live in the second ring road, while high-tech personnel and former residents of Qing City live in the first ring road.

"This is so unfair! Those who own a house will always own a house, while those who don't own a house will never own a house!"

"What do you mean by fair or unfair? Haven't you heard people say that this is a plan for the current flooding and urban redevelopment? The government must have its own considerations."

And didn't you hear me? If you were an expert in architecture, materials science, or geology, giving someone permanent private property in the first ring road would be too much of a privilege.

"Does my accounting background count?"

"This doesn't count as the day."

"Who knows? Anyway, there's too little information right now; we only know the general outline."

"So, what exactly are the plans for the first, second, and third ring roads? How tall is Sky City? When will construction begin? These questions haven't been answered yet."

Xu Xiaoyan scrolled through dozens of floors and found that everyone was full of doubts about the newly announced plan.

Logically speaking, the government wouldn't announce something in advance if it wasn't a done deal; presumably, this was done to boost public morale.

Repeated natural disasters have caused many people to lose their will to live. Now, with Sky City as a goal, they will be more willing to actively face difficulties in order to have a better life in the future.

Xu Xiaoyan felt a little more at ease when she remembered what the loudspeaker said about "being able to own private property".

Because satellite cities have many homeowners, if the government wants to redistribute properties, it will inevitably have to deal with these existing property rights issues.

She didn't believe the government would simply and crudely declare, "Your original houses are no longer valid," because that would immediately plunge the entire city into chaos, and no one would accept such an arrangement.

Therefore, the original private property will inevitably be preserved, only transferred to the new urban structure through exchange or other means.

She had previously heard that urban redevelopment and resettlement during peacetime had a well-established set of laws, regulations, and compensation mechanisms.

There are clear legal provisions for allocating resettlement housing, whether by area, by appraised value, or by population.

Since the notice specifically emphasized the attribute of "private property", it means that the government had already included the issue of property rights in the core considerations when formulating the Sky City plan, rather than leaving it to be patched up later.

In particular, the fact that the first ring road focuses on supplying high-tech personnel and their families, as well as former residents of Qing City, suggests that the government had planned this matter long ago, because the first ring road is closest to Qing City and belongs to the core circle.

Priority will be given to resettling people directly related to the Gyeongsang High-tech City, as well as original residents who already live in the Gyeongsang urban area. This is in line with the conventional approach of "settling nearby" and "industrial support".

This is the latest chapter.