Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 301 - Chapter 301 Chapter 300 Captain Star

Chapter 301: Chapter 300: Captain Star Chapter 301: Chapter 300: Captain Star Here lies the distant and secluded Captain Star…

Over five hundred years ago, The Golden Sun spaceship successfully reached this star domain, bringing interstellar colonizers from the Solar System.

All the planets here hadn’t given birth to any biological life, and the humans from The Golden Sun hadn’t encountered any alien civilizations either.

Unfortunately, this branch of humanity suffered a large-scale civil war due to political revolution, which considerably slowed down the process of planetary development.

These painful memories are now stories from three hundred years ago. The older generation has gradually passed away, and the new generation has taken up the torch, leading the entire civilization to continue advancing forward…

After more than three hundred years of smooth development, this star field is now akin to another Solar System, from mineral mining spots on mining planets, to interstellar shipyards on the main planets, to the nuclear fuel industrial bases on gaseous planets.

Even, one could see a massive Global Accelerator on the surface of a planet!

The only difference from Earth Civilization is that this civilization is younger, more vibrant, and filled with more poetic longing for distant places…

“…The genetic modification plan for the next generation?”

In an office, a few high-ranking leaders and scientists deliberating on affairs of science were discussing something.

“Yes, Captain. Up to now, the social public care system has been in place for three hundred years of Time. According to public opinion surveys, most people hope that our next generation will be smarter, more creative, and aren’t much resistant to the idea of genetic modification…”

“Undertaking certain selections and adjustments in the fertilized egg stage, it’s without a doubt that the next generation of children will be much smarter. The overall Intelligence is expected to increase by 11%. This is a huge progress, much faster than natural selection.”

The gentleman with graying hair, also the current Captain Xu Peng, listened to the complete proposal and asked cautiously, “Although all of us are no longer reproducing on our own. However, the sperm and eggs in the artificial incubation chambers are still donated by citizens of the society.”

“I have a few key questions to ask…”

“First is, due to the genetic modifications, they will be aligned towards the BIA gene sequence, is that correct?”

The young man immediately answered, “Yes, that’s indeed the case.”

“Then, will there be any problems with the sperm and eggs donated by humans after genetic modification? After modification, the human genetic system might not collapse within decades, but if reproduction occurs thousands or tens of thousands of years later and the entire genetic system encounters problems, it will be extremely difficult to readjust. Is such a scenario possible?”

“Captain, based on the current samples, no problems have surfaced. But the experiments have only continued up to the fifth generation. Whether or not problems will occur in the following dozens or hundreds of generations is still unclear.”

“Moreover, implementing genetic modifications indeed reduces genetic diversity, which is another risk… Alas, if only we could find more premium gene sequences. The progress of research on how to uplift human intelligence is just too slow.”

Xu Peng remained silent for a while, offering no immediate response.

The urgency to enhance the overall intelligence is because scientific development has become more difficult and slower.

Furthermore, the entire civilization is also controlling its population size, maintaining it at a suitable level. If the population isn’t at the level of universal geniuses, there really seems to be no way to continue. Yet, blindly expanding the population would lead to a decrease in capability, which is something the civilization’s upper echelons do not wish to see.

And long-term stagnation will inevitably lead to a loss of spiritual ideals and fighting spirit. Humans can only continue to push forward by relying on the fruits of victory.

The headache, however, is that humanity’s understanding of genetics is still in a half-understood state. They are stuck, unable to move forward or back.

“Let’s do this… The trial group for the BIA gene sequence shall not exceed 5% of the total population for now.”

Xu Peng mulled it over for half a day, sighed, and added, “Moreover… We’ve found a propulsion method using Cosmic Strings; it’s time to explore the outside world. There must be more powerful alien civilizations in the universe, and our challenging problems could be trivial for them…”

“Even though such external exploration carries great risks…”

He looked up in the direction of KIC8462852, Tabi Star.

The Dyson Sphere, it was there, proudly announcing to the entire Milky Way the collapse of the “Dark Forest Law,” proclaiming that “the Universe is communicable.”

Had humans not discovered that Dyson Sphere, they might still hide in their tender land, arrogantly fantasizing that they are the only intelligent life in the universe.

“Captain, regarding the exploration plan, we need a powerful interstellar fleet, from the main ships to the military spaceships; it will take decades to construct.”

Xu Peng nodded, “The public will surely support this plan.”

“We also need to start training related personnel from now.”

“The content of school education will need adjustment.”

As they were discussing fervently, suddenly, the door to the office opened, and a young man from the secretariat walked in.

He exclaimed with a trace of excitement, “Captain!”

“What’s the emergency?”

“It’s not really an emergency.” The young man hurriedly said, “Theoretically, the Gliese 581 should have received the message we sent a few hours ago! No one knows if the people of Earth Era have received these messages… or if they even still exist, or will they reply to us?”

“If they have received it, they must be very excited!”

Message?

Xu Peng was startled for a moment, then understood; this had been a ceremony from more than twenty years ago.

Indeed, space is so immense; sending a message once takes the other side twenty to thirty years just to receive it, so everyone has mostly forgotten about it.

He sighed, “Even if they want to reply to us, it would take another twenty to thirty years for it to reach our planet…”

“I don’t think it will be that fast; it might take another hundred or two hundred years.” Another scientist said, “It’s only been a hundred years since the Earth Era arrived at Gliese 581, hasn’t it? Even if they had no setbacks, that amount of time isn’t enough for them to develop themselves, let alone build a large electromagnetic wave transmitter.”

“Let’s bet on it, two hundred years.”

“Old Yu, you might not live another two hundred years.”

“Then let’s make it one hundred fifty years. What shall we bet… let me think…”

A group of people started making bets, yet none of them were under a hundred years. Because even The Golden Age took so long to develop to have sufficient surplus productive capacity to send information.

This was truly a bet that lasted a lifetime.

Xu Peng sighed again, “Well, a late reply doesn’t really matter… I just hope our data can be of some help to them.”

He also hoped that within his lifetime, he could receive a message from the Earth Era.

Even if he lost the bet… it would still be good.

In the vast universe, to truly know there’s another human branch existing, is indeed a very comforting thing…

…