Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 548 - 545: The Big Strike!

Chapter 548: Chapter 545: The Big Strike!

People didn’t know how to describe their complex emotions, nor whether to feel joy or sorrow. It was such an important victory, yet only a small portion of the crowd was clapping.

This situation caught the eye of many scholars, who quietly worried about what the future might hold...

The recent plan involved two planets nearing the perihelion for the last time in the course of thousands of years.

Due to accelerating for hundreds of years and further accelerated by the gravitational slingshot, the kinetic energy accumulated by the Big Ice Ball was incredibly vast.

In the coming 800-plus years, the Big Ice Ball would travel to the far perihelion of its elliptical orbit.

years later, at a location 120 astronomical units away from the neutron star—the planned observation point—a prime observation opportunity would arise.

Within 200 years, humans needed to completely finish the construction of the Planet Engine and build numerous observation devices on the Big Ice Ball, which was the third phase of the project.

Finally, when the curvature spaceship from the trade market arrived to take everyone away, the fourth phase would commence: to thoroughly trigger the neutron star’s collision.

All these tasks had deadlines. Even if humans hadn’t finished, the trading market’s spaceship would still arrive on schedule. Contracts had been signed; backtracking last minute was not an option.

The first hand astronomical report soon came back—massive cracks appeared on the surface of the Big Ice Ball, alongside a circular mountain over fifty kilometers in diameter created by a meteorite impact. It was a harrowing sight. An enormous amount of water vapor evaporated in that collision, forming a comet-like long trail of mist in space, stretching for hundreds of millions of kilometers.

However, good news quickly followed—the orbit was within the predicted range, with a margin of error of about 1.2%, which was acceptable.

Another piece of bad news: after this acceleration, the Big Ice Ball began a slow rotation.

"In order to ensure better observation in the future, we must build steering engines above the Big Ice Ball to counteract this rotation."

These steering engines were additional items, not part of the original plan.

This astronomical report immediately led to a slew of complaints; the initially received good news suddenly disappeared, clearly indicating an increase in the workload. Although not by much, it would still take up the scarce rest and vacation time.

As for so-called passion, it had long been completely eroded over the endless passage of time.

The crowd in the square slowly dispersed, and Wang Haifeng also returned to his room, with one last day of holiday remaining.

He lazily stretched, feeling that the crisis was over, and now he would have to return to the planet and resume work, as if he hadn’t rested enough...

His circle of friends and family also sighed, wishing they could rest a bit longer.

Humans are such lazy creatures, like marathon runners who can’t afford to stop. Once they do, they realize their bodies are already overdrawn and can’t restart. But if they just keep running, there seems to be no problem.

Wang Haifeng suddenly remembered a piece of news he had once seen—over the years, the crime rate in society had been slowly increasing. The so-called "Sinners," who did not engage in any production and simply dwindled, were also rapidly increasing.

It seemed that anger was slowly brewing and growing in every corner of society, an anger that had been born and suppressed for eight hundred years, stemming from every individual in the entire civilization, both old and young.

This was the trend of the era, a momentum built up over eight hundred years.

Government departments were trying to suppress it. Once it was suppressed till the day the entire plan was completed, it would only turn into celebratory fireworks; but if they couldn’t suppress it, it would form a raging volcano, a volcano that would erupt completely!

...

Wang Haifeng had been working for 197 years...

A terrible crisis had emerged atop this planet!

Ongoing aging led to a labor shortage, policies to delay retirement age, and a long-term high-intensity workload, causing the flames in people’s hearts to spread worldwide!

More and more people’s ideologies began to lean towards the radical faction’s views. They wanted to pursue a better life, not toiling away their entire lives overworking here!

However, they didn’t want to consider how to achieve this.

They just wanted to reduce some working hours, was that wrong?

No, it was not wrong! Even the moral guardians couldn’t find any fault with it.

And on this day, terrifying news spread across the entire internet: In workspace GM8794, the rigid body of an ordinary worker from the New Human Civilization was found.

The worker had died at his work station due to prolonged exhaustion.

It was less a sudden death and more a suspected suicide. Autopsy revealed he had consumed a significant amount of alcoholic drinks and then manually disconnected the oxygen device of his Power Armor, suffocating himself.

A suicide note was also found.

The sense of social responsibility instilled from childhood made him unwilling to simply abandon his post, but human instinct made him want to stop; he wanted to rest, to return to the Mother Ship, to find temporary peace...

"I’m sorry to myself, sorry to civilization!"

"Sorry to my loved ones, goodbye, world!"

This contradiction brutally tore the worker into pieces!

He had committed suicide...

With this incident as a catalyst, various Underground Cities had become smoldering volcanoes, a terrible massive strike erupting on this planet!

"...Citizens! We should fight for our rights! The right to rest, the right to entertainment, the right to protect our mental and physical health!"

"In the agricultural culture of 5000 years ago, people worked 8 hours from sunrise to sunset. Although life was not affluent, it was free and peaceful."

"In the darkest capitalist era of the 20th century, each person worked more than 12 hours, which led to a widespread workers’ movement!"

"A red specter roamed Europe! To hunt this specter, all old powers of Europe—Popes and Czars, Metternich and Guizot, radicals from France, and police from Germany—united. But these old powers ultimately failed, and the workers gained higher welfare benefits."

"In the post-21st century, an 8-hour working system was adopted, later even reduced to 7 hours, 6 hours! Only by having a freer environment, could higher work efficiency be achieved."

"Now, however, we have reverted to a 10-hour workday, even if for a more noble goal. But the most important aspect of living is oneself, not others, not ancestors, nor descendants, and certainly, not for the sake of widespread civilization!"

"Humans live... for themselves!"

"We won’t resort to rioting, in this moment we cannot advocate chaos, but we can strike! Until we achieve the rights we deserve!"

Such words were broadcasted, as if emerging from the very depths of every citizen’s heart.