Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 438 - 436: 12 Years

Chapter 438: Chapter 436: 12 Years

As they wished, East Sea City greatly reduced its external communications, and the internet was filled with fiery exchanges. The number of people traveling diminished substantially.

An inexplicable sense of superiority arose in the hearts of the residents of East Sea City. Under the influence of people like Zhang Yuan, they actually believed they were superior... celebrating amongst themselves within the organization. This situation wasn’t exactly good, but at least for the time being, East Sea City had preserved itself.

However, Zhang Yuan understood profoundly that so-called xenophobia had to be based on a long-term sense of superiority, otherwise, it would not last long.

Moreover, another city that had banned "Sakura" was in a precarious state without the sense of superiority that East Sea City enjoyed.

A city cannot battle against the world.

In his diary, Zhang Yuan wrote, "Our city is too small, under the influence of an isolationist tide, our population is decreasing, and the inflow of immigrants has almost halted. This is not a good sign."

"The current population has sharply declined to one and a half million and is continuing to decrease... A stagnant population represents a very serious risk."

...

Year Seven.

The second city, which had previously banned "Sakura," did not create a wave of populism and began to revoke their previous laws, reopening "Sakura." The entire world was left with only the sole survivor, "East Sea City."

This was another major blow to the members within the organization.

Even as the population slowly migrated away, East Sea City was in a precarious state.

The ideological rejection of outsiders meant that the inflow of population would become even more difficult. If regional discrimination targeted other immigrants, including some high-quality ones, far fewer people would want to settle in this city. After all, who would want to be subjected to discrimination for no reason?

Even Zhang Yuan could not control the public opinion on this matter. Populism is such a dangerous thing; he could not possibly control the thoughts of every person in East Sea City. This case was too difficult.

Many locals could not withstand the long-term verbal battles either. Movement of people in this world was very simple—file a report with the robot society, and no one knows where you came from or where you are going...

More and more people chose to flee the city at the center of controversy. After all, most people just wanted to live peacefully, not to despise others or be despised by them. A year or two might be bearable, but it would be intolerable over a longer period.

In the robot-public welfare system, the number of babies born is determined by the current population.

If the population of the entire city decreases, it means the population of other cities increases. As such, the number of babies born in this city would also decrease, thereby ensuring the global total of births remains unchanged.

"East Sea City" fell into a predicament of ever-decreasing population numbers...

Year Eight...

Year Nine...

Zhang Yuan led all the scientists in attempting to crack the codes of the robot society, to undermine the societal system from its very roots. Yet, within the organization, incidents of defection arose again. These scientists were unwilling to overthrow the existing system, believing Zhang Yuan’s radical plan was impracticable.

After Zhang Yuan exerted a great effort, he came to a sudden realization. The so-called robot codes were actually a part of the Pangu Brain’s own codes, with no possibility of being cracked. The Virtual World was akin to a low-dimensional prison; if he could break the codes, it would mean directly breaking out of the Virtual World, which was nearly impossible.

The light of victory never appeared; the best outcome was to prevent oneself from regressing. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t move forward a single step, nor could they spread their ideas to other cities.

As years passed by, one after another, the whole world saw no improvement; instead, it seemed to worsen, inevitably plunging everyone into a state of internal doubt.

People without enough belief, one by one, left the team...

...

The twelfth year.

"...I just went to the Mount Everest climbing camp, and there were indeed many fewer climbers there than before," Ma Mingtao, carrying a travel backpack, trudged down from the subway station, wiping the sweat from his face, and sighed, "In other cities, I don’t even dare to say I’m from East Sea City... Geographic discrimination is getting worse."

"...They play the games we create, read the novels our city produces, but as soon as they hear someone is from East Sea City, if there aren’t any robots nearby, they’re ready to fight. It’s as if they’re mortal enemies. What’s all this for?"

"At least it’s good that our city has held on until now, we finally have a place to settle down."

"How are things on your end?"

Listening to Ma Mingtao’s complaints, even Zhang Yuan himself felt a little bewildered, but he soon cheered up again and said softly, "A few more experts have left the team. They just want to live a peaceful life... Some have given up, while others are still holding on. The light of victory has never appeared; failure must be the most likely outcome."

"Is that so? There are always people who leave." Ma Mingtao set down his backpack and sat on a bench in the subway station. "It’s only you guys... who would persist in making enemies with the whole world. A hundred and ten thousand against over three billion?"

"But the more I see of it, the more I feel that what you’re doing is right. Only by traveling to many places could one understand the changes over the past years... Most cities have stopped their cultural output, and there are more drunkards lying in the streets. While such drunks were seen in the past, now there are particularly many. They can’t control their emotions anymore; they drink too much once they start drinking."

"And those girls... you know, the ones who like to sit in the park on the benches, eating sugar. Just eating a bit of glucose makes their bodies shiver slightly; it’s easy to tell them apart."

"Just greet them and you can easily go to a hotel with them. In the past, this was unthinkable. Amplified by the Sakura, that mixed sensation of shame and guilt is significantly more intense than a little glucose..."

Zhang Yuan grinned bitterly, "Many men from East Sea City were lured away by that... beautiful girls throwing themselves at them, who wouldn’t like that? So the outflow of the population became more and more significant, especially for the fresh graduates, who head to other cities as soon as they graduate."

"But is this really good?" Ma Mingtao sighed softly. Over the years, he had well outgrown his youthful days in his twenties.

When one has traveled enough, a plethora of thoughts inevitably arises.

"Humans are like wild beasts, full of base interests. Dreams, a word unique to humans, are not something other animals have. What’s the difference between people with dreams and those without... Sometimes, when I return to East Sea City, I could feel that subtle peace."

Ma Mingtao fell silent for a while before asking, "So, what’s your plan next?"

"Let’s go, don’t think too much about it for now. Let’s head home!" Zhang Yuan patted him on the shoulder and walked ahead on the street.

The sun had set, and the sky was tranquil with fiery clouds; the sunshine was about to leave. But the next day, it would rise on time, never failing to appear.

Once back home, Wang Nana had cooked a table full of dishes. The four members of the small family, each with their own thoughts, hadn’t gathered for a meal like this in a long time.

The two turtles they had started raising since graduation had grown to the size of washbasins over the long stretch of time, consuming a lot of vegetables in one meal.

Yet, in the 12 years since "Sakura" had appeared, the world had changed drastically.

There were never any heroes who could turn back the tide, and Zhang Yuan was no exception.

Eating, Wang Nana couldn’t help but start crying.

Everyone was silent, no one spoke.

...