Chapter 114: Contradiction
Chapter 114: Contradiction
“…Personally, I don’t think developing Mars is necessary right now.”
“Whether considering costs or benefits for scientific advancement, increasing the scale of Lunar Surface development makes more sense than starting fresh development on Mars.”
“Developing Mars offers no real help to our current research progress. We can study Mars entirely using Intelligent Machinery. Building cities on Mars has no value.”
At the meeting, Professor Yue Ming, head of the Geological Research Institute within the Negentropy Research Institute,
expressed this opinion.
Before this, during the Moon development work,
the question of whether to develop Mars next
was essentially set aside within the Negentropy Research Institute.
However, now that the Lunar Surface development work faces its first completed phase, delaying a decision became impossible.
They must make a choice.
At first glance, the words of Professor Yue Ming, head of the Geological Research Institute,
seemed to go against what history expects and slow down Human Civilization’s progress.
After all, looking down the long lens of history, constant territorial expansion almost always shapes Human Civilization’s story.
Yet, Professor Yue Ming’s stance actually mirrored the views of many Negentropy Research Institute Researchers and even large parts of Human Civilization itself.
After Professor Yue Ming finished speaking, none of the other institute leaders in the room immediately stood to object. Instead, they remained quiet and thoughtful.
This thoughtful reserve shown by the leaders and key Researchers of the Negentropy Research Institute
was fundamentally tied to the stance held by Qin Yu, the institute’s vital center.
Previously, regarding proposals to extend development beyond the Moon to Mars,
to incorporate Mars into Human Civilization’s territory,
Qin Yu had neither directly opposed nor fully supported the idea.
Now,
during this Negentropy Research Institute meeting, Qin Yu, seated at the head of the table, simply listened.
He listened to the arguments of the various institute heads and team leaders.
He himself said nothing.
On its surface,
this widespread hesitation about Mars development seemed puzzling.
But there always was underlying logic.
After the Asteroid 2801 Impact Crisis,
the mindset of others within both Human Civilization and the Negentropy Research Institute
fell more in line with Qin Yu’s on certain matters.
Including Researchers from the Geological Research Institute and others involved within the Negentropy Research Institute,
doubts persisted about the origin of Asteroid 2801.
Even though “remnants” of Asteroid 2801 revealed nothing unusual, those doubts remained stubbornly fixed.
Given this suspicion,
moving forward with Martian development carried risks.
Developing the Moon became one matter; developing Mars was entirely different.
If Martian development began, it would likely represent the very first step in Human Civilization expanding throughout the entire Solar System.
And if Human Civilization expanded its frontiers across the whole Solar System,
the traces of human activity within the system would intensify greatly.
Human Civilization would become significantly more noticeable in space, or at the very least, within the Milky Way Galaxy.
Based on the lingering concerns about Asteroid 2801, standing out further might not be a positive development.
Furthermore,
making the leap to develop Mars offered insufficient benefits to Human Civilization at its current stage to justify the risk.
Why then should Human Civilization build on Mars?
Would it truly be worthwhile just to claim ownership of Mars?
Wouldn’t focusing the Negentropy Research Institute’s efforts purely on scientific advancement,
raising Human Civilization’s technological level right here,
on Earth and the Moon’s surface, suffice? Couldn’t that be the smarter path?
For the various institutes and Researchers of the Negentropy Research Institute now,
the crucial question sharpened to this:
Did the necessity of Lunar development decisively outweigh the lingering potential risks?
…
For Qin Yu, a sharp conflict tore at him too.
If Human Civilization expanded its domain from Earth across the entire Solar System,
it mirrored ancient human tribes spreading along a single river until they claimed the whole world.
Such scattering would certainly boost Human Civilization’s margin for error if catastrophe struck.
Consider an asteroid similar to Asteroid 2801.
If Human Civilization remained confined solely to Earth, one single strike could destroy everything completely.
But spreading across multiple planets within the Solar System would make total annihilation far harder. The chance of such a collision causing Human Civilization’s end would drop significantly.
But,
the problem was this: if Human Civilization stretched from Earth across the Solar System,
its profile as an unmistakable target would expand dramatically too.
Human Civilization currently had zero direct interaction with other cosmic civilizations.
The broader cosmic environment, the ecosystem of possible civilizations beyond Earth remained a black box context.
If Human Civilization drew the attention of other civilizations within the Milky Way Galaxy, or beyond,
whether those civilizations held goodwill or malice remained a mystery known only to the universe itself.
It felt akin to placing Human Civilization’s fate directly into the hands of an entirely unknown and unpredictable civilization.
For most other Researchers in the Negentropy Research Institute,
thoughts about Extraterrestrial Civilization rested on mere educated guesswork. People generally assumed stronger civilizations probably existed somewhere out there.
But for Qin Yu,
this felt like an unavoidable near-certainty.
How else had his three wishes been granted? It might not link directly to the conventional idea of “advanced alien cultures,”
but something powerful must have been their source.
Driven by this certainty, Qin Yu knew powerful forces exceeding Human Civilization must inevitably exist somewhere in the cosmos.
Therefore,
the decision about whether to build on Mars, or push deeper into the Solar System,
became a source of paralyzing inner conflict.
Regarding the goal of extending Human Civilization’s existence for as long as possible,
Qin Yu had faced many difficult choices before,
Perhaps the development of things always unfolds amidst contradictions.
Qin Yu could only try to maintain balance between options; achieving perfection in everything was nearly impossible.
…
“…I believe continuing the development and construction on Mars is still necessary.”
After a period of silence in the meeting room, the head of one research team finally voiced their opinion.
“While currently our resources aren’t scarce, energy is sufficient, and productivity available to each individual within the HCC is relatively abundant, we must view this issue from the perspective of progress.”
“Even if developing Mars or other Solar System planets doesn’t directly aid our technological advancement, the resources these places provide, their capacity for expanded intelligent industrial production, will indeed increase our civilization’s overall strength and productivity.”
“Currently, the HCC territory is ample for our population. But we shouldn’t wait until population growth forces us to develop other planets. Instead, we should first secure resources and space for a larger population base, then allow growth. Furthermore, the scale of population increase is ultimately under our control themselves.”
After this team leader spoke, the researchers present fell silent again briefly.
They exchanged thoughts for a while longer,
Eventually, the researchers and institute directors all turned their gaze toward Academician Qin Yu.
The core decision on this matter ultimately rested with Academician Qin Yu.
Discussions solely among the institute and team leaders would struggle to yield a definitive outcome.
Qin Yu looked at the assembled leaders, not speaking immediately.
He slightly raised his head, gazing out the conference room window as if looking into the distance, pondering.
If Human Civilization were already strong enough now,
then staying confined within the Earth-Moon system, avoiding notice from potentially existing civilizations elsewhere,
would certainly be the best choice for Qin Yu.
This strongly aligned with his original expectations for Human Civilization.
But the question remained:
Was Human Civilization truly strong enough at present?
Realistically, while Human Civilization had reached the Moon and integrated it into its territory,
and its overall strength could be said to represent the fullest potential of current technology,
some new problems – issues Humanity couldn’t yet solve – had clearly emerged.
The Earth-Moon communication delay persisted.
The projectile velocity of the Electromagnetic Railgun had stalled after reaching 12%.
Moreover, the most advanced Electric Propulsion System propelling Electric Propulsion Spaceships couldn’t break past even 1% of light speed. Fast by past standards, but was it fast enough to evade unknown dangers?
Thus,
it was almost certain that Human Civilization still needed to advance further.
But did this advancement require more resources, a larger Solar System territory, and further development of other planets?
From Qin Yu’s perspective, the answer was yes.
“Personally, I agree to proceed with the further development and construction of Mars after the Moon development plan.”
Qin Yu spoke, delivering his decision on the matter.
His words definitively ended the researchers’ discussion on this topic.
With Academician Qin Yu having decided, there was nothing more to discuss.
No objections were raised.
The entire Negentropy Research Institute would now work together toward the goal Academician Qin Yu had set.
“…Although Earth-Moon resources can currently sustain the normal operation of our civilization under the current population size and ensure survival pressure for all,”
“continuing to increase the population base is necessary for Human Civilization’s development.”
“A sufficiently large population base enables us to cultivate enough excellent researchers to further propel our civilization’s scientific progress.”
“We need to acquire more resources to support our goal of increasing the civilization’s population base.”
Qin Yu stated this calmly.
This could be considered a need of Human Civilization’s development, or indeed, Qin Yu’s own personal need.
It wasn’t primarily driven by the future resource demands of a potentially larger population.
Rather, Human Civilization needed to cultivate more people through Human Reproduction Devices and intelligent tutoring systems, which in turn required more resources.
While Moon development chiefly aimed to mine more Helium-3 to fuel Helium-3 Fusion Reactors and Reactors,
the Mars further development Qin Yu now approved served one main purpose:
to enable the continued increase of Human Civilization’s population base.
Developing Mars wasn’t the end goal, merely the means to an end.
With Qin Yu’s research into “enhancing Human Civilization’s collective intelligence” having no breakthrough yet—unable to make others’ IQs grow continuously like his own—
expanding the population base was indispensable at this stage.
“…Additionally, the experimental proposals recently submitted by your institutes—Physics Department, Materials Research Institute, Geology Institute—demand significant industrial resources.”
“If we halt the further expansion of industrial scale, our current production capacity and industrial scale might prove insufficient to support your research needs.”
Qin Yu offered a slightly awkward joke here.
The serious institute and team leaders managed a smile.
But the point held true.
At this juncture,
the fundamental needs of daily life and societal operation consumed only a small portion of Human Civilization’s total productive output.
The vast majority of industrial capacity was absorbed by research projects across myriad fields and directions.
The teams and institutes under the Negentropy Research Institute consumed the lion’s share.
Outside the Institute, countless individuals—numbering in the billions—were involved in specialized research across countless disciplines.
While each individual researcher outside the Institute could access significantly fewer resources than those inside,
their sheer numbers resulted in an astronomical combined annual consumption.
Human Civilization’s rapid advancement came at a cost.
Just recently,
the Physics Department desired to build a giant foundational research instrument for theoretical particle physics.
The Materials Research Institute planned an extreme-environment materials synthesis facility.
The industrial resources each required were staggering.
As evidenced by the Ring Electromagnetic Railgun,
a “giant” research facility within the Negentropy Institute meant precisely that – a megastructure.
Scientific research inevitably demanded such colossal investments.
Even Qin Yu, without hands-on experimentation beyond his pure mathematics, couldn’t yield results from thin air.
After the brief moment of shared amusement passed, Qin Yu paused before continuing.
“…However, since the decision has been made to accept this risk and proceed with Martian development,”
“let’s synchronize the off-Earth development: target Venus, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt simultaneously.”
With Qin Yu’s earlier decision settling the debate on Mars,
it made little difference now whether Solar System planet development proceeded sequentially or concurrently.
His announcement finalized the approach immediately.
Even among the geniuses at the Negentropy Research Institute, trust in Academician Qin Yu’s judgment was absolute.
When the Institute faced a pivotal decision, the ultimate word was always his.