Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 268 - Chapter 268 Chapter 268 The 5th Year

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: The 5th Year Chapter 268: Chapter 268: The 5th Year In the blink of an eye, it was already the fifth year since humans came to this planet.

In five years’ time, enough had changed to turn the whole civilization upside down, whether it be in the industrial, military, or cultural fields.

The industrial capacity of the surface industrial bases began to steadily catch up with that of the Earth Era. The government was considering establishing a real Starry Sky Port within the next twenty years, and then gradually relocating the population from the spaceship to the planet.

Although the “Earth Era” spaceship was huge, having more than four hundred thousand people engaged in production activities aboard it was still somewhat crowded. If these production activities were on a planet, there wouldn’t be such a big problem, as a planet has enough space to accommodate an even larger population.

And in terms of military, various types of nuclear warheads, including atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and Helium-3 nuclear bombs, totaled over 200!

The number of small electromagnetic guns also exceeded 50, including a large electromagnetic gun mounted on the surface of a satellite, with electromagnetic cannon shells reaching speeds of one-twentieth the speed of light, that is 15,000 kilometers per second!

This military capability, despite lacking some offensive power, was more than enough for self-defense.

Therefore, in an overall peaceful situation, productivity began to deliberately tilt towards civilian life, especially the demographic planning involving artificial womb technologies for baby incubation, which was being carried out in an orderly manner.

The television displayed the image of Captain Zhao, who reported on the work of the past few years.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s our fifth year since we’ve arrived in the Gliese 581 Star Domain. The past year was filled with achievements.”

“On the diplomatic front, we’ve made notable progress, achieved overall peace, and even engaged in some cultural exchanges.”

“Demographically, last year we naturally born 1,055 people. Through the use of artificial womb incubation technology, we’ve hatched 10,000 babies, rescuing our precarious birth rate.”

“Next year, we expect to produce over 20,000 babies…”

“The year after next, around 25,000 babies will be born, maintaining a long-term population growth rate of 4-5%…”

Listening to these reports, Xu Jie couldn’t help but yawn out of sheer indifference. To him, these matters about babies didn’t really relate. Even if 10,000 new babies were born, occupying a large amount of social resources, the quality of life for the general populace didn’t decrease but rather increased considerably with the shift in industry.

Because there was no need for war anymore!

“10,000 babies isn’t really that much, just a 2% population growth rate,” he thought to himself.

“You barely ever see these kids. Makes me want to volunteer at the nursery,” he mused.

“You? You’d lose interest in three minutes… you’d be annoyed to death by the crying!” Wang Junpeng said with utter disdain.

And because there was no need for war, the standard of living had improved, and Xu Jie’s cellphone repair shop miraculously hadn’t gone out of business. It was crowded with people all watching the TV, which incidentally boosted business a lot in the shop.

“Some of the collective education systems are adopted from the Glizerians…” Wang Junpeng commented while cracking sunflower seeds.

Although he no longer had a stake in the phone shop, he often came to help out in his spare time. Many regular customers would gather around the TV in the repair shop, chatting away. As an interstellar diplomat, Wang Junpeng knew many more secrets, and aside from the things he shouldn’t disclose, discussing publicly known matters with the crowd around him was quite enjoyable.

After all, people should always have some aspiration. Wang Junpeng was a worldly man; if he wasn’t chasing profit now, was there any harm in seeking fame?

“Yes, that’s right… the entire education environment is closed off. The children don’t have much interaction with the adult society until they’re 14.”

“Is that so? The campus isn’t open to the public?”

“Aside from the principal and a few teachers, the vast majority of teachers are robotic. Sometimes the kids come out of the campus for social practice. That’s when we’ll be able to see them, but it’ll be several years yet. Right now, they’re all still lying in their cradles!”

“What do they eat?”

“Of course, it’s the nutritional milk powder… The cows in the underground base are there for this reason.”

Xu Jie wasn’t really interested in joining the lively discussion about such topics. As for kids, playing with them occasionally wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t that he lacked a caring heart; he just detested the incessant wailing and crying.

“I’m off! Going to watch a movie with my girlfriend.” After about an hour of chatter, Wang Junpeng glanced at his watch and hurriedly left.

“Time to eat, time to eat!” The others gradually dispersed, and soon Xu Jie was the only one left in the cell phone store.

If he had to say what had changed the most over the years, it was… a television had been added to his room, produced by the new civilization. There were only two or three TV channels, and apart from the evening news, they sometimes broadcast movies and music, including both human and Gliese Civilization films.

However, he was already quite, quite satisfied.

Thinking back to those years preparing for war, life was… like a living hell!

“Damn it, the Gliese Civilization… they didn’t even start a war.”

“Actually, it’s not too bad.”

Xu Jie turned off the TV, stepped out of his room, and prepared to have dinner and take a stroll. He needed to exercise, or he’d truly become a fat shut-in and never find a girlfriend.

“Hey? Old Fang, heading to eat?” He looked up and saw a familiar face.

“No, it’s a holiday, and the school is open for parental visits. I’m planning to see my child.”

Old Fang next door had gone through great hardships to have a child, especially during those years of war threat. Were it not for the government’s special funding for reproductive support, they would have nearly been too poor to afford even fruit.

In the end, the couple couldn’t bear such a hard life and sent their child to the government foster care, to receive a closed, institutionalized education alongside the artificially incubated children, with only holidays as a chance to visit.

After reflecting, Xu Jie went back to his shop and brought Old Fang some fruit.

Old Fang said uneasily, “Thank you so much! But really, it’s not necessary; the school has rules, we parents aren’t allowed to bring things for the kids.”

“What? You’re not even allowed to bring things?” Xu Jie expressed his surprise.

“Well… you have to consider the other children who don’t have parents, right? It wouldn’t be good for them to see… and the visits are all secretive. Ah, what can I say…” Old Fang was both complaining and sighing. Ever since they had sent their child away, the couple’s quality of life had improved considerably; they were completely relieved of the burden, like hands-off managers.

But there was still a nagging sense of concern.

The education at the school was completely free. Sometimes, on secretive visits, they’d find their child doing quite well and slowly they’d let go of their concerns, not bothering too much anymore.

Xu Jie scratched his head, realizing there was such a custom: “Then take it as a New Year’s gift for yourselves.”

After saying goodbye to the young couple, Xu Jie continued on his way to the restaurant.

Those one-year-old babies, were they still babbling incoherently? So young and naive, and yet there were already so many complexities?

Xu Jie deeply felt that the entire civilization was undergoing a dramatic transformation, in a way that people could barely accept…

Under various new systems, a new culture was slowly emerging.

Perhaps in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time, everything would be different.