Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 436 - 434: The Death of Barry Pandora (3 more updates)

Chapter 436: Chapter 434: The Death of Barry Pandora (3 more updates)

Three more years had passed...

In these three years, the whole world had undergone significant changes. Spurred on by the Anti-Sakura Alliance, public debate on whether "Sakura" should be banned had become a major topic online.

As the public gradually became aware of the existence of "Sakura," various messy debates became particularly sharp.

However, although debates are debates, most people still felt that since this thing did not affect their own lives, and the robot regulation did not deem it illegal, there was no need to interfere with others’ choices.

Use it if you want, and if not, just let it be. Why ban it with laws?!

That was the mainstream societal cognition, a frustrating reality.

Meanwhile, the population migration in East Sea City became more frequent. Some people would travel elsewhere and never return. Since East Sea City did not allow the use of "Sakura," they simply relocated to other places, considering that all it took was a filed report to move cities.

Some professors from Qingbei University had moved from Jinghua City. Jinghua City, with its population of over ten million, did not pass the issue through voting initially, and it had become even less likely now.

Including some intellectuals who opposed Sakura, many often came to this city to inspect how the initial voting had passed.

The whole process was, in fact, very difficult to replicate. It merely took advantage of a timing window, before the opposition had grown, that it had been forcibly passed.

East Sea City, which had banned "Sakura" from the start, had become the stronghold for the opposition.

In three years, the surrounding cities had sparked 16 public votes, 14 of which failed, and only 2 succeeded. This result was far worse than Zhang Yuan had anticipated.

As "Sakura" gradually spread, and its user base grew, the Anti-Sakura Alliance couldn’t even muster the 17th vote. Now, just three cities remained worldwide that didn’t use "Sakura," and they were constantly at risk of counterattacks.

In these three years, Zhang Yuan had plagiarized a large number of online novels from the real world, and released quite a few games, winning a large fanbase. With the "carrot and stick" approach of various games, these fans helped Zhang Yuan during voting, but that was about it—it was really hard to truly change anything.

Watching the sky crumble bit by bit, an individual’s power was just like a small boat in the face of the tides of the era, barely managing self-preservation and always at risk of capsizing. This sense of powerlessness reminded Zhang Yuan of the once Gleize Civilization—a lonely and helpless civilization, watching itself fall step by step into the abyss.

"A political party, we need a strong political party to change everything!"

But the response was sparse; even the members of the Anti-Sakura Alliance were unwilling to join in the so-called power struggles. Many were willing to oppose "Sakura," but not at the cost of everything they had.

...

In the fourth year, Barry Pandora, the inventor of "Sakura" and a chemist, committed suicide by slit wrists at home.

The death of the chemist did not stir any ripples in this colorful world. He simply left a letter to the Anti-Sakura Alliance.

"...I’m sorry, I created this demon, yet I lack the power to reseal it. This is all my fault."

"...Yesterday I visited our campus, something I do almost every year. I like recalling the beautiful times of childhood, the campus always felt like a mother’s warmth."

"Just five years ago, our students were full of ideals and morals. When they graduated, they’d aim to climb a mountain, travel the world, or find something to do... those personal little dreams."

"But now, most of them only think about how to escape the constraints of robot teachers, how to step into society, and obtain greater physical pleasures..."

"In their social practice, students’ ideologies have been contaminated. Our world is no longer pure. And now some demons reach out towards these students fresh out of campus, enticing girls to use ’Sakura’ to satisfy their own desires for conquest..."

"What we’ve built is nothing like what we’ve strived for..."

"I’ve always wondered, climbing a mountain, running a marathon, gaining spiritual enjoyment, how do these differ from directly obtaining physical pleasure... Maybe there’s no difference at all, or perhaps there is an essential difference, one of soul and body which I can’t describe."

"Humans will not perish; as long as there are robots, humanity will not die out..."

"I am such a coward, farewell, this world."

Barry Pandora wrote incoherently at great lengths. He couldn’t clarify what "good" was, nor what "bad" was. He just felt that society was becoming "worse," that this "worseness" was his doing, and then, irresponsibly, he died at home...

...

In the fifth year, the number of cities that banned "Sakura" had shrunk from three to two. One city had modified its laws back again through a public vote.

This was not the first major setback suffered by the Anti-Sakura Alliance.

The votes sparked by the Alliance in these two years were almost a resounding failure. In cities overrun with Sakura, the opposition votes were overwhelmingly outnumbered. At this point, mere spoken appeals became utterly meaningless.

Even the stance of the Alliance’s internal members began to waver.

Some felt there was simply no need to exert so much effort. Indeed, as chemist Barry Pandora said, what’s the fundamental difference between a child determined to climb a peak after graduation and one indulging in various material pleasures?

The world had long ceased progressing; the vast majority of productivity and services were provided by robots. Humans could not face extinction; whether slightly better or worse in spirit, humans would still live on this planet, comfortably.

And because of opposing "Sakura," these once influential individuals had also been subjected to public denunciation. The world still experienced internet violence, especially when the majority supported "Sakura"... They believed the Anti-Sakura Alliance wanted to seize more power and limit human freedom.

Thus, after a fierce internal meeting, many members of the Anti-Sakura Alliance chose to leave. They had accepted the reality of their failure and were no longer willing to resist too much.