Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 441 - 439 Sakura - Final - (Two in One)

Chapter 441: Chapter 439 Sakura - Final Chapter (Two in One)

In the fifty-ninth year of the "Sakura," Zhang Yuan, with his head full of white hair, came to Atiya Park on the north side of East Sea City...

Behind "Atiya Park" is the renowned 20th-century mathematician, Sir Atiyah, famous for proving the "Index Theorem." However, nowadays, few people delve into these matters, let alone know what the so-called "Index Quantity" actually is or what purpose it serves...

Zhang Yuan sat down on a bench, leaning on his cane.

Years of worry and enormous mental stress had stolen his health, making it impossible for him to ambitiously confront the whole world as he had done in his youth...

Aging is an inevitable enemy of life. This was not Zhang Yuan’s first time facing it; willing or not, it always arrived on schedule.

March was the peak blooming season for cherry blossoms. Each cherry tree in the park was laden with flower fairies of varying sizes—some had just steadied themselves, others were already nestled on the branches, and a few, despite their vibrant colors, were frail against the wind.

A breeze blew, scattering petals onto his palm before they fell to the ground.

Zhang Yuan was here waiting for his "comrades-in-arms."

Every year on this day, comrades from all corners converged at "Atiya Park" to discuss the current world situation. They debated how to curb the over-proliferation of "Sakura," how to colonize the Moon, and how to improve existing rocket technology.

This had been the routine thirty, forty, and fifty years ago...

Especially when the rovers had just landed on the Moon, many idealistic people expressed their boldest words, hoping to establish their own utopias on the Moon.

"...Mr. Zhang, we can go to the Moon and establish our own nation using a method of physical isolation!"

"We won’t need to rely on robots, and we can create our own laws!"

He could still recall the ambitious visions of his youth.

But fifty-nine years had passed, and they had ultimately failed to achieve this. Space engineering required far too much talent—they hadn’t beaten time.

Those people were no longer around; they had disappeared without a trace.

Zhang Yuan sat alone on the park bench for a long time... waiting, just waiting...

In the evening, the hour when various men and women hunted for companionship, a young woman noticed the well-dressed, dignified Zhang Yuan and felt a thrill of excitement.

"What vitality might an old man with a serious demeanor and a unique charm ignite when faced with a young girl!"

"Wouldn’t it be something if he got a heart attack or a stroke in those moments... moving on to Paradise might not be so bad!"

With these mischievous thoughts, she tiptoed over, her mind conjuring various bizarre scenarios.

The psychological thrill was even more exhilarating than physical pleasure.

Such an interesting endeavor was something she had yet to experience!

However, when she saw Zhang Yuan’s face clearly, she shuddered and quickly ran away.

She certainly knew who this famous anti-Sakura figure was. She had no doubt that if she tried to approach him, Zhang Yuan would swing his cane and smash her head like a crisp watermelon—splitting open with a "pop."

Even if it meant sacrificing her life for his, it surely wasn’t worth it.

"How could anyone oppose the cherry blossoms? Ridiculous! Isn’t our world beautiful enough?" the girl thought indignantly as she hurried away.

At midnight, a cleaning robot passing by discovered Zhang Yuan still waiting in his seat.

The green-eyed girl said, "Sir, considering your health, you should go home... Sitting here could make you catch a chill, which isn’t good for your health."

"Could you sit with me for a while?" Zhang Yuan asked.

"Of course, no problem. For your health, please wear this hat." The girl took off her own hat and helped Zhang Yuan put it on.

She did not actually possess emotions; she was simply maintaining the "absolute justice" defined by humans.

Zhang Yuan waited until dawn, but no comrade showed up.

As the first rays of sunlight peeked through the eastern sky, warming his face, he commented, "The morning sun is truly wonderful."

"Yes, the sun always rises from the east... Such days will continue for another five billion years," the robot girl said softly, supporting her cheek with one hand.

Though she was just a cleaning worker, she possessed intelligence—perhaps, like the entire East Sea City, all connected through a computer network via 5G.

"In five billion years, when the Sun explodes, humanity will also perish."

Zhang Yuan remarked, "Compared to the immense figure of five billion years, a human life, just a hundred years, is far too brief—ending before one can accomplish much."

"How endless five billion years seems. If it keeps cycling back like this without change, it wouldn’t be very wonderful either."

Having spoken his last words, Zhang Yuan, supported by his cane, shakily walked away.

The robot girl bowed slightly, showing the respect due to an elderly person: "Take care."

Zhang Yuan waved his hand behind him, his final mood unknown to anyone...

Zhang Yuan struggled through the winter of that difficult year.

The scorn and rejection of others did not affect the care he received from the robot system.

The society’s elderly care system was quite comprehensive. When someone’s physical condition deteriorated significantly, specialized robots were there to assist with daily activities.

In a small room, a robot nurse named Ling, always lively and cheerful, often accompanied him in conversation, though sometimes she struggled with more complex topics.

Zhang Yuan didn’t have any friends, or rather, he didn’t need any from here.

Since the "Sakura" had overrun, the average lifespan in this world had decreased by 2.6 years—a trend likely to continue in the foreseeable future. However, society was indifferent to politics; such a slight reduction in lifespan meant little to young people, just as smoking and drinking also shortened lives.

"You know, what words were engraved on that monument by our lunar rover back then?" Zhang Yuan asked Ling, who was behind him.

"That was decades ago, right? I’ve heard... you launched many probes, it really wasn’t easy!"

The girl with green pupils always spoke in a way that was appealing, "Unfortunately, I don’t know the specifics. Can you tell me about it?"

Zhang Yuan squinted his eyes and wrapped his cotton coat tighter around himself as he saw a snowflake drift down from the sky.

It was snowing.

Snow was rare in the south.

He smiled, recalling the year they had launched a small engraving robot to the Moon.

The robot, with great difficulty, had engraved a few lines of small text into that large monument.

"In Epoch 1009212, June 13, after a million years, we painstakingly returned to the Moon, a truly exhilarating day!"

"However, unfortunately, the world is not as wonderful as imagined. Human civilization might permanently step into a mundane trough..."

"The tide of the era is overwhelming, the strength of an individual merely akin to an insect trying to stop a chariot."

"A drug called ’Sakura’ is rapidly spreading across the world. It has exploited all the system’s loopholes, and our social structure is powerless to stop it. All those opposing Sakura have gathered in East Sea City, but it’s hard to prevent ideological infiltration."

"We do not know if restarting the Moon landing program at this time will make the world any better, but it should not make it worse..."

"We are unlikely to stem the tide of the entire world. If possible, we would like to establish another human nation on the Moon, but it is difficult, truly difficult..."

"If humans can set foot on this land, we will leave another message on the monument. If not, it may signify the last time humans land on the Moon... or maybe not, who knows?"

"Calamity always brings sorrow; it’s like the lion on the prairie, reminding the grazing sheep..."

Zhang Yuan looked towards the distant horizon, recounting this piece of history, remembering that small victory, and showed a faint smile.

He recalled an old song: "On a bright yet brief night, when the war ended, the smoke of gunpowder had vanished, oh comrades of my platoon, where are you now? As the sun sets and evening nears, I wander by the door, perhaps the breezing wind may bring a comrade here to meet me..."

It seemed as if it were spring again, that March when the cherry blossoms bloomed, running along Sakura Avenue, a breeze passing through, scattering the petals; what beautiful days...

Ling suddenly realized that Zhang Yuan in the wheelchair seemed to have fallen asleep, but this time he had truly slept permanently, never to awake again.

The old man had left this world forever...

Apart from a few close friends and relatives mourning for him, it did not cause any ripples.

This world did not need heroes, nor would humanity perish because of it.

It’s just that after a year, two years, a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, a million years, if one were to observe the Sakura World again, they would find that humanity remained just that—unchanged, that’s all.

Or perhaps civilization had already died, with no living cells remaining. What was left were just bacteria standing on the corpse of civilization, drawing the last of the nourishment, that’s all...

...

...

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yuan was back in the small room filled with blue dots, his mind clear again, no longer prone to wandering and distraction as in his old age.

He was stunned for a moment, a bit puzzled by the situation, but quickly he recalled the so-called "Extraordinary Test" and the once famed Kunlun Mountain Fleet.

"How quickly time passes, the first cycle has just passed like this..." Zhang Yuan sighed softly.

This mood was very complex... Tears involuntarily welled up, and though he was not a man given to crying, at this moment he mourned for the "Sakura World" he had lived in.

In fact, in the later stages in Sakura World, he had been preoccupied with his own career, rarely reminiscing about the past.

Virtual World or real world, there isn’t much difference in fact. The Virtual World isn’t a game; people there are also living humans, with their own emotions and thoughts. Time had passed, with no possibility of reloading and starting over.

Memories flickered like a carousel.

Though his past life was tough and unsatisfactory, Zhang Yuan considered himself somewhat content.

The tide of the era was not something one or two individuals could forcibly reverse; from the start, he knew this would be difficult.

As for the result, after all the efforts, being unchanged was another matter altogether.

It seemed he heard a voice, "Respected Mr. Zhang Yuan, you can rest here for a while, reminisce about your lifetime in Sakura World, and when you are ready, you can start the next cycle."

A white dot in his mind sent a series of signals, it was the Artificial Intelligence "Xi Ta" from the Pangu Brain.

Zhang Yuan slowly came to his senses from the pain, chuckling painfully, "It really is painful, are you sure, the virtual world is about enjoying a beautiful life?"

"You can choose suffering, or you can choose happiness."

Zhang Yuan nodded, his physical presence in the small room, sitting quietly on a chair reminiscing.

Leaving a familiar world, even if that world was utterly rotten, still carried a sense of nostalgia.

But he also truly knew that in a civilization bogged down in mediocrity, it would be very difficult to escape the mire using his own strength. That is to say, unless there were strong external forces to intervene, this "Sakura World" would continue in the same way.

It truly was a sad matter.

What was the source of this sadness?

Human civilization would not perish, humans would not perish because of it.

There’s nothing to be sad about.

Perhaps, after returning to the real world, he could attempt to interfere with the Sakura World, in fact, just a little interference would suffice, like the collapse of the robot system, robots no longer able to maintain themselves, creating errors... If the entire social system collapsed, it would naturally lead to changes.

In any case, the first step was to pass the Extraordinary Test of the Pangu Brain...

Zhang Yuan did not want to think about such complex matters for now; he simply slept a deep sleep, to alleviate that profound sense of grief.

(Sakura World, end!)