Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 452 - 450: The Legends of This World

Chapter 452: Chapter 450: The Legends of This World

In the blink of an eye, it was already the sixtieth year since he had arrived in this world...

Zhang Yuan sat in a comfortable chair, basking in the wonderful sunshine; the hundreds of elderly people in front of him were once captains, first mates, second mates, and some sailors from that final voyage.

The room was filled with guests, the toasts were flowing, and spirits were high. Time spent with old friends was always joyful.

At the dinner table, people reminisced, recalling the difficulties they faced on that final voyage. Quite a few sailors had succumbed to depression over the long journey; some even tried to wrest control of the ship, half-wishing to turn back.

But all those difficulties were defeated by the sight of the Sunlit Continent that ultimately appeared...

Now, when recalling the past, Zhang Yuan could still remember the shrill screams of joy upon discovering the New Continent.

Humans are such creatures!

"Why didn’t Dolev come?" Zhang Yuan asked one of the old men.

"That guy, due to his lack of moderation in life, died on a woman’s belly! Even at his age, he didn’t take care of himself."

"What a pity..."

"And Asov?"

"Died of old age; after all, he was over seventy."

Zhang Yuan shook his head, not dwelling on it much, and raised his glass, "Well then, my old friends, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The hundreds of people celebrated the ultimate victory of the grand voyage loudly. These kinds of celebrations were held every five years, and the banquet was naturally hosted in Zhang Yuan’s Duke Mansion.

Looking up at the sky, the morning sun hung on the horizon, never to set.

Indeed, on this land, there was a sunrise, not a sunset.

The Sunlit Continent, longed for by countless people, was right here!

...

This was the Hoffman Continent, a vast land named after him!

Since that legendary fleet brought back information about the New Continent to the Old Continent over thirty years ago, this sunny land had sparked a gold rush. Countless common people and nobles took great risks, crossing over half the planet to break new ground on this expansive land.

Due to initially imperfect systems, this area was in complete chaos, filled with violence, bloodshed, and crime.

As time changed, and history surged forward rapidly, Zhang Yuan invested almost all his efforts into this New Continent.

Thirty years had passed...

The gold rush was still ongoing, but in "New Karrenburg," the largest city on the Hoffman Continent, the crime rate had gradually decreased, transforming it into a very livable city.

Most of the old crew members had done quite well over the years, since the New Continent was thriving with opportunity. Agriculture, livestock, steel, coal, chemical, electrical industries, and the newly discovered oil industry meant survival was definitely not a problem, as long as one did not choose to fall into depravity.

And Zhang Yuan, the illustrious "Duke," provided a certain level of care for these old acquaintances.

Of course, some people acquired a great deal of wealth and honor all at once and lost themselves in it, unable to control their own desires.

Virtue unaccompanied by talent inevitably courts disaster. Having seen too many such individuals, Zhang Yuan no longer felt obliged to take care of them.

A group of people drank and talked about the past, reveling in reminiscing as they grew older. They chatted about various individuals: one who died on a woman’s belly, another whose son squandered the family wealth on drugs and gambling, and another who had become a successful businessman.

Time flies, and life is unpredictable. Many of the old friends had passed away, which was truly lamentable! A person’s fate is to some extent predestined, but a great deal also lies in their own hands. If someone can’t even manage their own destiny, what can others do?

After the banquet, a young deacon whispered from behind, "Duke, the Queen’s fleet is about to arrive at the port."

"Let’s go, off we go!" Zhang Yuan called out.

A group of elderly hurried onto a car, traveling on the wide road. All the city residents who saw the car full of old men cast admiring glances and cheered loudly.

Not far away in the square, an obelisk-shaped building was striking "dong dong dong." Because the Sun in this region was always hanging in the sky, it was easy for people to get confused about time. Big Ben served as the standard time for the city, dictating people’s work and rest schedules, and even setting the standard time for the entire continent.

The working hours for laborers and school hours for students were all determined by Big Ben’s standard time.

A massive ten-thousand-ton ship was anchored in the port. The passengers on the ship, after a long three-month voyage, were already impatient and even felt nauseated at the sight of the sea.

This was the time required even after significant improvements to the route. In the early days of exploration, without the lighthouses on various islands and without a thorough survey of the surrounding sea depths, it would take six or even seven months!

The vast majority who disembarked were young people from the Old Continent. A boat ticket might represent their life savings, so they might not return to their homeland for decades.

There were more opportunities for making a living here. Upon seeing the New Continent, they swept aside any homesickness and couldn’t help cheering.

"We’re finally here, the New Continent, the New Continent!"

Even the babbling children were cheering along with the adults. The children, who came with their parents, had no sense of attachment to the old land.

The young Queen standing at the forefront tried stepping on the firm earth beneath her feet and looking at the sunrise on the horizon, suddenly feeling an unreal sense of wonder.

"...I wonder what kind of surprise Duke Hoffman felt when he first encountered this land in the vast sea!"

"What a long journey."

In Giant Stone City, the Sun could never be seen; here in New Karrenburg, it was eternal daylight, requiring no gas lamps or any kind of lighting. Further away stretched green crops, the ample sunlight supporting a larger population and more livestock.

Zhang Yuan bent forward, right hand over his chest, and performed a bow to the young Queen, then kissed her hand.

Faced with a living legendary figure, the girl felt a bit nervous.

If the Queen died, someone could succeed her, but such a legendary figure was unique in the world. The man who had gone through two failures, two bankruptcies, and then stood up again to embark on an even more challenging third exploration was a truly living legend.

In a thousand, ten thousand years, no one might remember the name of the Queen, but surely someone would remember the name of this legendary figure.

If he died, the whole world would mourn.

The young Queen strolled around the new city, encountered many novel things, and quickly grew fond of this so-called "New Continent."

She recalled that in Giant Stone City, there were still some stubborn old-timers who looked down on the "new rich" of the New Continent and refused to cross the ocean and venture into new territories.

Every era has such obstinate individuals who resist change and dislike new things. But every wise person knows that the real opportunities lie in this vast New Continent.

Looking at Zhang Yuan’s aged face, the girl smiled and asked in private, "Duke Hoffman, how did you come to discover this continent? Your three expeditions are not only an epic for the world but also for you personally. May I hear your story?"

Zhang Yuan, recalling the difficulties he faced in the past, said with a smile, "That, too, is a very, very long story..."

"A satisfactory ending is bound to please everyone, right?"

...

During his second reincarnation, Zhang Yuan not only discovered the New Continent, but he also single-handedly promoted a technological revolution.

This new city, by comparison with the cities of the past, appeared much more orderly. Starting with the underground drainage system, including wider streets in the city and various public welfare projects, a substantial amount of money had been spent, but in the subsequent life, everyone clearly felt the convenience they brought.

Zhang Yuan also tried to promote the development of the social system; this new city imposed higher taxes on capitalists, but most of the taxes were used for urban infrastructure construction. These infrastructure projects sustained a large number of common people.

In fact, for the people of this era, having enough to eat was good enough; they wouldn’t ask for much else.

The primary need of a person is survival, and only after securing survival can one afford to think about other things, including education and entertainment.

On the other hand, he founded universities, high schools, and primary schools, trying to implement a five-year compulsory education system for elementary schools across the city. Only with a greater number of high-quality workers could the era be advanced more effectively.

The humans of this time had certain limitations; they would rather have their children work from a young age than waste time going to school. However, human nature is inherently profit-seeking, so as long as they saw that children could earn money much more efficiently with just five years of schooling compared to being illiterate, the compulsory education system could be implemented more and more smoothly.

And through education, the concept of class transformation was gradually instilled in people’s minds, becoming a universal value.

When he passed away, nearly the entire city’s population formed a long queue, spontaneously going to bid farewell.

No one is immortal, and being able to live to the age of seventy or eighty was already considered a long life.

...

In fact, Zhang Yuan’s wish was still not fully realized; the world was still a capitalist society with a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and severe exploitation of the lower class by the upper class.

Even he himself had to become a big capitalist in order to go on his three expeditions.

Compared to a person’s short life, there was too little that could be changed.

However, he himself was very pleased with the outcome and was grateful for the goodwill of this world towards both himself and humanity.

This New Continent had an inhabitable area more than four times that of all those small islands combined! And with sunlight to grow plants, it could sustain a larger population... and even near a certain bay, they discovered oil!

With that, the world was presented with far greater variables.

What would evolve next, whether a new era’s "Marx" would emerge to describe the essence of capital, whether a "Washington" would rise to overthrow the slave regime, whether the contradictions between the New and Old Continents would deepen, whether war would break out, all these issues would have to be solved by the local humans themselves.

He couldn’t manage so much anymore.

Throughout the world, more thinkers and revolutionaries would inevitably emerge to drive the development of the world...

However, no matter how many heroic figures appeared, Zhang Yuan’s place in the history of this world would not change.

"Goodbye!"

The second reincarnation, complete.

...

Zhang Yuan once again returned to that pale blue space.

"It looks like you are very satisfied with this trip?"

He saw that white viewpoint of the Artificial Intelligence "Xi Ta" again.

"Yeah, it should make me more satisfied than the last Sakura World..." Zhang Yuan said with a smile.

This time, there wasn’t much regret.

"Humans always like to receive a reward after making an effort. Even if it’s just a psychological reward. Without any return, the motivation to contribute would undoubtedly be significantly weakened."

"Why do you contribute? Exploring the ocean is very arduous. You have to understand that you are not immortal. Falling ill can be painful, and you may die in a storm. Even if you won’t truly die, you’ll still feel pain."

Zhang Yuan said, "I just like to see progress and dislike regression... Stagnation is equally uncomfortable."

In this space, all memories become extremely clear.

Zhang Yuan had written a memoir about this world, the sights and insights, analyzing its gains and losses, including whether he could have done better in certain details and the possible future projections in this world...

In the No Light World, the distance between the Old Continent and the New Continent was too vast. By heritage, the New Continent definitely couldn’t surpass the Old Continent, which led to the old nobles looking down on the newly born nobles, just like the British once looked down on Americans.

They could still cooperate now because the cake hasn’t been completely divided, and the New Continent still needed financial support from the Old Continent. But in the future, that could change. No one likes to be exploited for long, and the struggle over this New Continent could go on for a very long time...

Zhang Yuan sighed. History, after all, meanders with twists and turns and is never smooth sailing.

Regarding history, there were once four perspectives on Earth: the theory of decline, the theory of progress, the cyclical theory, and the spiral ascent theory.

Some religions believed that history was a process of decline, like when human ancestors Adam and Eve were expelled from the paradise of Eden Garden for eating the Wisdom Fruit. The descendants of Adam and Eve bore original sin, suffered from birth, and continually committed new sins. Ultimately, God would come down to Earth again to judge sinners, and so on.

These religions thought that the earliest era, with saints, was the best.

Ever since Darwin published "Origin of Species" and proposed the theory of evolution, British Spencer applied the theory of evolution to the social and historical fields, proposing "social evolutionism" and considering society to be continuously progressing. Afterward, the theory of historical progress gradually became the mainstream.

The third viewpoint was cyclical theory, which posited that history is an endless process of dissolution and reformation. It rises and falls along the timeline but does not keep getting better or worse; instead, it cycles through good and bad.

Then there was the fourth viewpoint: history spirals upward. In the short term, it seems to improve or worsen—sometimes even seeming to deteriorate drastically, regressing from peaceful times to chaotic ones—but seen from the grand perspective of history, it is always getting better. The irregular ups and downs of short periods and the continual decline of certain phases do not hinder the overall ascent.

Zhang Yuan sighed again. There are no absolutes—history is invariably complex, and a simple rise or fall can hardly provide a truly objective summary.

Subsequently, he began his third cycle of reincarnation.

...

In the third cycle, he was reborn into a technologically advanced world, much like the erstwhile Earth Civilization, with humans having occupied the entire Solar System. Yet, they no longer had the drive for further exploration, stuck in a solidified class system.

Each reincarnation had a very favorable birth, and Zhang Yuan was born into the upper class once again.

During this cycle, he devoted his entire life to construct a spaceship, sending his physical body towards the distant reaches where no aliens could possibly exist.

In the fourth cycle, he was reborn into a world where the red regime had collapsed, and human civilization had lost its direction...

This time it was even more difficult. Zhang Yuan deeply felt the malice of the Pangu Brain Artificial Intelligence "Xi Ta"...

During the fifth cycle, a deeply entrenched dictatorship ruled the entire world...

An era without a speck of light where one could easily end up in a concentration camp if not careful...

After five cycles, Zhang Yuan was judged by "Xi Ta" as having passed the assessment, and he was prematurely ejected from the Virtual World.

...