Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 388 - 386: 70 Years

Chapter 388: Chapter 386: 70 Years

Time flew by swiftly...

For the Riley Civilization, the sudden economic boom that emerged out of nowhere after humans left, quickly vanished.

The wealthy nobles no longer splurged, and the wretched slaves lost their opportunities to rise, reverting to their previous difficult lives.

However, transitioning from frugality to luxury is easy, whereas the reverse is hard. Because of life’s discontents, scattered rebellions arose amongst the slaves. But they were just that—scattered... Most simply endured, praying for the Divine to save them once again.

These slaves firmly believed in their religion, hoping that enduring this lifetime would grant them a better life in the next.

The Riley people neither knew how humans appeared nor how they disappeared, only that their history books and religious scriptures now contained some ambiguous records.

Many countries suddenly acquired unanticipated wealth. Many nobles started using shiny metal utensils, including knives, tableware, armor, and jewelry, all of which swiftly became treasures of immense value.

The stainless steel products of humans, of unquestionable quality, could easily be produced in abundance without skimping. These metals, in the low-oxygen environment, could still shine bright even after thousands of years with proper care.

The extravagant culture of etiquette briefly became the craze among the world’s elite. Especially the use of metal cutlery and ornaments, which was considered elegant. Some fallen nobles were unwilling to sell these metal items, for they were the last of their pride, and to sell them would symbolize complete downfall.

Including the certain pauper who caught the humans’ favor by donating valuable plant specimens and instantly became a magnate, elevated to the status of a higher being... or the man wounded on the battlefield who, due to his devout faith, had his life saved by a Divine Messenger and was even bestowed with costly gifts...

Anecdote after anecdote turned into fables, became well-known bedtime stories in the villages, persisting through time.

The Riley people subconsciously attributed everything to the "Divine," believing that the exemplary moral character of the Riley people had moved the Divine... Who doesn’t love stories about sudden wealth or pies falling from the sky, right?

But there were also a few Rileys who inadvertently discovered something locked away in a loft...

Knowledge!

They were terrified to discover the existence of "irrational numbers," realizing that not everything could be measured using integers or ratios, which contradicted traditional knowledge.

They found out...

The "geocentric theory" had actually been overturned!

The books of the Divine Messengers clearly stated that Riley Star was not the center of the universe!

They even learned the nature of fire, realizing that fire wasn’t a gift from the Divine, but rather followed deeper principles...

Fire is simply an "oxidation-reduction reaction"!

They also stumbled upon... the theory of the Big Bang!

The notion was terrifying; the universe wasn’t created by the Divine, but originated from an explosion!

They uncovered that in the universe, there were many more races that didn’t worship the Divine, including these envoys, who completely disregarded their so-called Divine! Particularly the part about "dialectical materialism," which led several archbishops to hang themselves!

They panicked, filled with dread.

Some even began to suspect that humans were actually envoys of demons sent to beguile the Riley people.

But others were unsure, as public opinion had already set. To speak nonsense would surely lead to a conviction of blasphemy.

Some tore the books into pieces, while others continued their studies.

This ancient yet naive civilization, whether it would undergo major changes in the coming million or tens of millions of years, no one knew, nor could they predict.

Indeed, who knows?

Even the Enlighteners couldn’t dismiss them with a single blow, humans had no need to look down on them with contempt, nor to take pride in being a step ahead.

For a momentary lead in this universe, it’s really not worth mentioning.

The long journey, measured in units of a hundred thousand or even a million years, who can laugh at the end is the real victor.

Humans can only hope that they will be lucky, and...

keep up the good work.

...

The Kunlun Mountain Fleet quickly entered the correct trajectory for navigation, disappearing into the pitch-black universe...

Following the original route of the Badeit Civilization, the nearest wisdom civilization was located beyond 20 light-years, a considerably distant journey. Moreover, it was a very boring, unprogressive religious civilization that indulged in drug use across the entire population, with nothing of peculiar interest.

A religious civilization is one thing, but it wouldn’t be too bad if there was some unique culture to enrich the content of the Virtual World, maybe even some traces of the Enlightener Civilization could be discovered.

However, the aspect of universal drug use was quite uncomfortable.

Scientists weren’t particularly interested in conducting field studies on such civilizations.

Thus, humanity planned to embark on a new route along another Cosmic String, taking their chances.

This new route would lead to many more planets, and if they encountered another cosmic civilization of referential significance, that would be ideal. Even a Low-level Civilization wouldn’t be a problem; perhaps they could find traces of the Enlightener Civilization.

If they didn’t encounter anything, it would just be chalked up to bad luck...

This would make the entire journey a bit longer, but the final destination, the Huantai Civilization’s commerce hub, remained unchanged.

And so, ten years went by.

Twenty years passed...

Thirty years went by...

In the thirty-fifth year, humans reached the first Constant Star, a Red Dwarf Star with a luminous intensity lower than Bigelizer 581.

It was far too cold here, people didn’t encounter any life on the nearby planets, so after replenishing some resources, they left in a hurry...

Forty years, fifty years, sixty years, seventy years...

Humans reached the second Planet System.

This was a binary star system composed of a White Dwarf Star and a Yellow Dwarf Star. But the environment of the binary star system was still too harsh, with the White Dwarf absorbing material from the Yellow Dwarf, causing the entire planet system to be in an unstable state.

On nearby planets, people found some simple single-celled microorganisms, with no complex multicellular life present.

These simple microorganisms provided excellent samples for the origin of life hypothesis but that was about it.

This was the norm for interstellar travel, waiting for decades, even centuries, just for that slim chance of surprise.

And most likely, ending up with nothing...

Such is life itself, ordinary and simple—where do so many thrills and surges come from?

To the new generation just born in these years, the interstellar war that occurred in the past was no longer a painful memory but has become great fodder for conversation.

Many video games are based on that war.

Thankfully, with the existence of the Virtual World, interstellar war drills are part of the essential curriculum for citizens. Only after being educated with real pain and death did everyone understand that the true essence of life is simplicity and ordinariness, which is indeed the hardest to achieve. This prevented the complicated social issues of war becoming entertainment.