Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 428 - 226 A World of Variety

Chapter 428: Chapter 226 A World of Variety

Wang Nana leaned against Zhang Yuan, panting heavily, her face looking terribly sickly. They both had life monitoring systems on them, so if anything dangerous happened, the guide would know very quickly.

After inhaling a generous amount of oxygen, her complexion gradually recovered.

"Do you want to descend the mountain?" Ma Mingtao hastily asked, his emotions complex and a bit unclear about what kind of response he actually wanted.

The feeling was unbearable, even with a lot of oxygen, it was still very uncomfortable.

Wanting to back down.

Fearing.

Wang Nana looked at the two of them, took her time, but ultimately decided to keep moving forward.

When the three of them spent an entire night climbing the most dangerous part, the "Hillary Step," they almost collapsed onto the ground.

Zhang Yuan was very tired, feeling almost as if his body was about to become paralyzed, he overcame the desire to turn back countless times and finally reached the summit.

He saw the true blue sky and white clouds, as well as the sun rising from the east.

"This is the place closest to the universe. This pain is worth it!"

"Currently receiving the primeval force from the universe," Ma Mingtao joked.

Wang Nana and Ma Mingtao were even more spent, leaning on him so much that they nearly pushed him over.

"This is for you," Wang Nana handed over an oxygen helmet.

Without this thing, she really might have died halfway up.

"Thank you."

Zhang Yuan squinted his eyes, looking through the oxygen glass cover towards the distant sun. The sunlight slanted down, bringing a strange halo of light, which felt a little warm and very comfortable.

Ma Mingtao also regained a bit of strength and began to take out his cell phone to snap pictures, ready to post them to his circle of friends after descending the mountain.

"Actually, our climbing difficulty has already been reduced a lot," Wang Nana suddenly said: "Carrying this equipment on the plateau makes it feel several times heavier than its normal weight."

"In the past, when there were no guides, everything had to be carried by oneself."

It must be said that interpersonal relationships in this era are very harmonious, robots are as reliable as a mother.

Zhang Yuan nodded and said, "The equipment and material conditions of past climbing expeditions were indeed very rudimentary and scarce, but under such tough conditions, our ancestors accomplished unprecedented feats with their courage, perseverance, and determination... This might be the spirit that our own era lacks."

Indeed, why climb a mountain?

Because, the mountain is there.

...

The two-month vacation ended quickly.

Ma Mingtao, the big guy, hadn’t gotten over that climb yet, and was recuperating at his sister’s house, while Wang Nana had opened a small pet store, not really caring whether it did business or not.

Inside, she also kept two small tortoises, slightly larger than a fist, which consumed a lot of vegetables all day long.

"At least give classmates a place to play..." Wang Nana said with a smile, bidding farewell, she was sharing her future development plans with Zhang Yuan.

"And then find a handsome boyfriend. At least as good-looking as you!"

"Looking good is useless; in the end, it all comes down to substance," Zhang Yuan said. "As you get older, you inevitably become less handsome. It’s pointless."

Wang Nana turned her head, a smile playing on her lips as she pinched Zhang Yuan’s face. "I just love this kind of cool, indifferent expression. If I really can’t find anyone, I might as well just spend my life with this ’little brother.’ That wouldn’t be so bad."

Ma Mingtao made a disgusted face, thinking it’s pathetic to even consider someone from your own small family...

This kind of sibling obsession is really sick!

But he didn’t dare say it out loud, fearing another beating. This girl was the youngest among the four, spoiled from a young age; you couldn’t hit her or scold her, only be bullied by her.

"Let’s go! See you after the winter break!" Zhang Yuan waved and stepped onto the high-speed train.

"Goodbye!"

The sky train slowly started moving, and looking down from high above, the city resembled giant beehives, with the tallest buildings reaching up to one kilometer. The city was littered with such superstructures. The number of robots exceeded that of humans, taking on the work essential for societal operations.

Such big and small cities totaled 1,800 worldwide, with a global population of approximately 3.2 billion!

Due to the substantial reduction in human living spaces, the outskirts had reverted to their original forest-like state, with many animals living freely.

There were also distinctive small towns near the cities, inhabited by a large number of jungle and wildlife enthusiasts. Celebrities like Ed Bell and the "Big Brother of Australia" had a significant influence on television programs and amassed a large following.

These people worked purely for self-challenge or to gain a sense of honor in front of the public. This pursuit of honor motivated them to work, unrelated to the likes of making money.

Truly a beautiful utopia.

Zhang Yuan quietly pondered, "Ordinary people and idealists mixed together create this colorful world. According to some principles of New Civilization History, Sakura World indeed is an Ordinary Civilization, because this civilization has ceased to progress, falling into eternal stagnation."

"...People are like loose sand, lacking cohesion. The normal functioning of society depends on the technological, cultural, and institutional legacy left by ancestors."

"There is no such thing as political parties here. The most influential are some entertainment stars, but even the most influential stars can only affect a very small part of the population. There is no government, no administrative decrees."

But without a doubt, the people’s sense of happiness was incredibly high. Higher than that of the people in Kunlun Mountains, where children lacked the so-called ’happy education,’ faced high competition pressure, and studying was always very painful, inadvertently affecting their happiness.

"It all feels like a mirage, ready to shatter upon touch."

An hour later, Zhang Yuan arrived in Jinghua City.

The renowned "Qingbei University" was situated in this metropolis of ten million people.

A robot counselor gave him some materials and arranged his dormitory. Because only Zhang Yuan was in his department, he was temporarily placed in a dormitory combined with other departments.

His roommate was a boy named Ren Junzhe, sipping on a soda called "O’Levin." "Hey, buddy! From now on, we will be living together."

"Hello!"

From the information for new students, one could understand that the dropout rate of this university was astonishingly high, with more than 30% of students dropping out each academic year.

Even the "Information for New Students" started by dissuading students, suggesting that if they were not purely interested in pursuing knowledge, there was no point in attending university, and they might as well drop out.

With a 30% dropout rate each year, after four years, only 24% of students remained in university to graduate normally.

This was understandable. Compared to sitting in an office and dully doing academic work, the colorful outside world was just too attractive. Moreover, with no survival pressure in this world, nobody cared if you dropped out, naturally leading to this kind of phenomenon.

In Zhang Yuan’s major, "Space Engineering," there wasn’t a single real expert, only some robot assistants capable of playing videos and grading papers.

Therefore, he had to self-study various materials and pass by getting the right answers on some exams that dated back 150,000 years during the finals. As long as his GPA each year was sufficient, he could graduate smoothly.

Although, graduating smoothly didn’t mean much...because this world simply didn’t need people to work.