Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 454 - 452: A New Era

Chapter 454: Chapter 452: A New Era

He took a deep breath and, realizing that he was back in reality again, Zhang Yuan reflected on the hardships of life...

He also felt a bit nostalgic for the bizarre worlds he had experienced in the past.

Good or bad, it all came down to comparison. Even in worlds where the environment was extremely harsh, having spent decades or even centuries there, there was always a bit of longing.

After five cycles of reincarnation, Zhang Yuan no longer really cared whether this was the Virtual World or the real world.

Or, one could say, life in the Virtual World and life in the real world weren’t much different after all, both needed to be taken seriously and lived well. No matter where, there would be happiness, sadness, joy, loss, and pain... Where could one find a flawless, utterly smooth life? If one treated the Virtual World with the attitude of playing a game, it undoubtedly would be irresponsible to oneself.

However, compared to the chaotic societies of the past, the society of the new humans was the only one that didn’t need to be constantly worried about, spending a lifetime trying to save it may still be in vain.

Here, there were a great many talented people, whether scientists or philosophers, or versatile artists of all kinds. No matter what profession, one could always find like-minded partners.

This sense of ease, he hadn’t felt it in a very long time.

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly felt refreshed.

Aside from a few special individuals, no one knew he was a selected "Transcendent," including a large group of peers around him, as well as the other three members of his small family, two older sisters, and a male peer of similar age.

In this society, he had no special powers; he just studied and lived alongside his peers.

At first, he was a bit autistic, but as his self-awareness revived, he had completely recovered his health by now.

"Hey, Zhang Yuan, let’s eat, I’m starving!" said a male peer patting his shoulder from behind; it was his peer, Lu Tao.

"Can we not study all day long? Hey, daydreaming again?!"

Zhang Yuan snapped back to reality, "Oh, food, good food!"

"Let’s have octopus meat today..."

Zhang Yuan remembered the giant octopus meat from the No Light World, which was very chewy and his favorite dish, and he had been longing for it for hundreds of years.

But now, he could eat octopus meat from an Outer Planet... brought in from an Outer Planet.

"Octopus meat again? To avoid alien virus infection, the octopus meat from outer planets is cultivated in sterile petri dishes, it’s not the real original flavor." Lu Tao frowned, "I tried it once, it was too fishy, but my house’s cat liked it a lot."

"That’s because you haven’t found a tasty sauce recipe! I’ll make the seasoning today and invite the two sisters over to show them my cooking skills!" Zhang Yuan said with a smile.

"Really? You can cook?" Lu Tao looked at Zhang Yuan skeptically, realizing something was a bit off about him today, seeming more lively and cheerful than usual. It was an odd feeling, as if he had changed into a different person, yet not...

Zhang Yuan shook his head slightly; his self-awareness had recovered, and of course, his behavior was slightly different than before when it was instinctively autistic, but now it was normal.

Although his name was still "Zhang Yuan," the same as the first captain of the Kunlun Mountain, it was a common name, and no one would think otherwise. Newborns were randomly assigned a name by the computer at birth. Of course, the random names weren’t terribly ugly or phonetically unpleasant.

A name was just a code, not all that important; if one really didn’t like it, they could change it themselves after turning 18.

When heading to the dining hall, Zhang Yuan was still pondering whether some Transcendents had already passed the assessments and returned to the real world. Theoretically, this should be the case, but he couldn’t immediately reconnect with these old friends...

In front of the ordinary masses, he needed to keep it a secret that he was a returnee from the Virtual World, so it was not possible to make a big fuss about this matter.

"I really want to go out into space and see our new Mother Ship!" Zhang Yuan suddenly said as he looked at the silvery-white walls of the corridor.

"The Radiant Galaxy?"

"Yes... I still don’t know what it truly looks like."

"There are plenty of images on the computer, you can find loads with a search."

Zhang Yuan paused, "I mean, personally observing the new Mother Ship from the outside, not just looking at a computer here... From the outside, you can really feel its immensity and grandeur. Each giant city has a sense of power that belongs to it alone."

The overall structure of the Radiant Galaxy was similar to the Kunlun Mountain, appearing somewhat like a disc-shaped giant city. Its volume was 60% larger than that of Kunlun Mountain.

That is, humanity now had two such supercities.

Theoretically, the New Human Civilization would not add a third city, as the operation of the cities was planned economically, and the industrial division among cities also varied. According to current operational planning capabilities, the more cities there are, the more difficult management becomes.

In high-speed navigation, the exchange of materials, information, and personnel all experienced delays. If there were too many of such giant cities, it could easily lead to management chaos and result in a decline in the execution of civilization.

"If we want to continue expanding the population, humans might need to consider Planet-level Spaceships. Consolidating the population is the real deal."

Listening to Zhang Yuan’s reflections on this aspect, Lu Tao laughed and said, "A Planet-level Spaceship, huh? You really dare to dream! At least it would require Curvature Navigation Technology to drive such a spaceship. Just relying on Cosmic Strings isn’t enough; what if it detached from the Cosmic String? Wouldn’t it lose its maneuverability?"

Nowadays, especially the young men, by the age of 22 after university graduation, were essentially required to serve in the military, so they were quite familiar with various spaceship parameters. Of course, some studious students could be exempted if they passed the postgraduate exams; giving up their studies to enlist would be too wasteful, so they could opt out of military service.

Speaking of which, Lu Tao suddenly thought of something, "...If I really passed the postgraduate exams, I should be exempted from military service. But honestly, I really want to serve for a few years, personally handling various types of spaceships and weapons. Practical experience is quite important."

Zhang Yuan replied, "If you want to, then go ahead. When you return from the military, you can still continue your studies. As for me, I had better stick to pursuing a postgraduate degree and then a Ph.D."

They arrived at the dining hall and found a place to sit.

"I’ll treat today!" Zhang Yuan hurriedly said, as these friends had taken good care of him.

Although the New Human Civilization had long achieved great wealth and provided many basic social benefits, it still retained a monetary system.

Various robotic services usually required payment.

The main reason the monetary system was linked to Civilization Contribution was because human nature tended towards laziness and comfort, even though the citizen quality of the current new civilization had greatly improved. Yet, a certain degree of money was still needed to stimulate work motivation, otherwise, it could follow into the footsteps of the Sakura World.

After all, not everyone could be a Saint, and even in this interstellar era, it was impossible before thoroughly modifying genes and the "drive for progress" to completely avoid idleness.

All these virtual worlds were not without any value; they provided good social samples for the sociology of the new humans.