Chapter 119: Devoid of Foreign Foes

Looking back from the grand view of history,

the 30th year of the Human United Era was a very special time.

The total population of human civilization broke through eight billion this year, spread across Earth, the Lunar Surface, and Mars.

The permanent Lunar Surface population and the scale of Smart Industrial Clusters grew quickly to a brand new level.

Development and building on Mars entered a fast track in the 25th year of the Human United Era.

Just a few years later,

in this very year, they finished an important step—the independent growth of smart industrial scale on the Martian surface.

The existing Smart Industrial Zones on Mars were now big enough to support their own continued growth without outside help.

Which meant, by this time,

even if the Smart Industrial Clusters on Earth and the Lunar Surface stopped helping, the Smart Industrial Zones already on Mars could slowly keep building things and growing all by themselves.

That year, people held big celebrations.

Human civilization reached its most powerful and rich state ever.

…

After the 30th year of the Human United Era,

human civilization did not stop developing; it kept moving forward.

The number of people living on Mars, the size of its factories, and how much resources it produced still hadn’t met what the HCC hoped for.

The places set up for mining resources in the Asteroid Belt still needed to grow bigger.

Developing and building things around Venus also hadn’t fully reached what people first planned for building off Earth.

The 31st year of the Human United Era:

The huge celebration the year before stayed fresh in everyone’s memory.

But time always moves on, and daily life and society soon settled back into their usual routines.

That year,

counting the folks who moved from Earth’s cities and the babies planned by the Social Upbringing Bureau using Human Reproduction Devices,

the total number of people living permanently on Mars passed forty million.

This growth was so fast; Mars was quickly catching up with the Lunar Surface, which had been built up first.

At this point,

building brand new Martian cities and meeting people’s needs in finished cities almost totally depended on Martian Smart Industrial Clusters.

The only outside help was Earth, the Lunar Surface, or the Asteroid Belt sending small bits of stuff Mars didn’t have enough of.

The 32nd year of the Human United Era:

After the ring of smart factories looping Venus (called the Venus ‘Silkribbon’ Smart Industrial Band) could also grow bigger on its own,

this ribbon-like band of factories started widening visibly every single day.

The Venus ‘Silkribbon’ wasn’t just shipping processed materials to other planets with people anymore.

It also directly made the stuff human society required to run and the tools needed for science and research.

That same year,

across the wide Asteroid Belt, many spots picked long ago by the Negentropy Research Institute as rich in resources,

now had heaps of Intelligent Machinery busy gathering resources and small bits of Smart Industrial Clusters working to process those materials.

The 33rd year of the Human United Era:

All the Smart Industrial Clusters on Mars worked together and built the very first Electric Propulsion Spaceship made entirely on Mars.

This made Mars the third place, after Earth and the Lunar Surface, inside the HCC able to build huge electric spaceships alone.

The 34th year of the Human United Era:

The Venus Silkribbon Industrial Band managed it a year later than Mars,

but leaning on resource help from elsewhere,

it also finished building its own Electric Propulsion Spaceship near Venus.

The 35th year of the Human United Era:

Way more Electric Propulsion Spaceships got built.

Travelling from Earth to the Moon, from the Moon to the Asteroid Belt, Mars, and Venus,

felt more like moving between cities back on early Earth than between faraway worlds.

If Earth’s giant cities with their Smart Industrial Zones once formed one giant factory for our whole civilization,

then now, Earth’s Smart Industrial Clusters, plus the Lunar Surface, Mars, Venus, and even the Asteroid Belt robots focusing only on digging stuff out,

came together as one gigantic, Solar System-wide factory for humankind.

The super busy star roads connecting Earth to the Moon (Earth-Moon), Earth to Mars (Earth-Mars), Earth to Venus (Earth-Venus), and Earth to the Asteroid Belt,

made by countless huge mega-ships sailing back and forth,

were like the new ‘conveyor belts’ inside this enormous factory.

They whirred, zipped, clicked, all connected and managed together.

They churned out unbelievable amounts of stuff every single minute.

Time moved on to the 36th year of the Human United Era.

That year,

even though the Negentropy Research Institute and the HCC didn’t plan any special events,

it was Academician Qin Yu’s one-hundredth birthday.

All by themselves, both online and in the real world, people kept sending best wishes to Academician Qin Yu.

It wasn’t a massive party like the landmark 30th-year celebration for the HUE,

but this happy wave kept going non-stop for the whole year.

Across the entire HCC, from Earth to the Moon, from the Moon to Mars,

throughout that entire year, you could find Academician Qin Yu’s name and wishes from people popping up everywhere.

Online, the cheers and messages for Academician Qin Yu’s 100th just kept flowing, in every form, right up to the year’s end.

For the people of this time,

Academician Qin Yu, head of the Negentropy Research Institute, was already so legendary, it was like his name had become a powerful symbol.

Some folks went through the long list of his accomplishments and everything he did.

Since the start of the Intelligent Era,

Academician Qin Yu’s presence had been there at every big, important moment in human history.

A clear memory of Academician Qin Yu was etched deep into basically everyone living at this time.

For this generation, any amount of praise for Academician Qin Yu felt totally, truly deserved.

The 37th year of the Human United Era.

Finally,

this year,

with another new city finished on the surface of Mars,

the number of permanent residents living on Mars officially passed 100 million for the first time—surpassing the population of the Lunar Surface, where large-scale building started earlier.

In response to this, the HCC and Negentropy Research Institute prepared to announce,…

“After developing and constructing the Lunar Surface, Human Civilization and the HCC achieved initial success in developing and constructing three regions: Mars, Venus, and the Asteroid Belt.”

“Mars, Venus, and the Asteroid Belt were officially added to the territory of Human Civilization!”

“The innermost ring of settlements in the Solar System for Human Civilization, formed by Mars, Venus, the Asteroid Belt, and the Earth-Moon System, was now fully established!”

“From this moment, Human Civilization and the HCC entered a new chapter!”

This announcement was naturally met with many cheers across Human Civilization.

For this historic moment of the year, many within the HCC created numerous artistic works to commemorate it.

At the same time,

with the initial completion of development and construction on Mars, Venus, and the Asteroid Belt,

the Negentropy Research Institute, which was ready to further develop and construct other planets and objects within the Solar System, didn’t want to stop now.

In the 38th year of Human United Era (HUE),

the Negentropy Research Institute announced that, following the development plans for Mars, Venus, and the Asteroid Belt,

it would likewise add Mercury, Jupiter, and other more distant planetary bodies to Human Civilization’s territory.

After this plan was announced,

there were no real voices of opposition within Human Civilization.

But people’s attitudes toward this new plan clearly differed from their reaction to the initial development plans for Mars, Venus, and the Asteroid Belt.

If their earlier feelings were enthusiastic,

now, while some cheered for the greatness of Human Civilization,

others neither opposed it nor discussed it passionately—or simply weren’t very interested anymore.

People seemed to have gotten used to things like this,

used to Human Civilization starting from the Lunar Surface and expanding step-by-step across the Solar System.

It had almost become normal for them.

Whether Human Civilization continued expanding or not didn’t seem to affect most people much.

…

HUE 39.

Human Civilization pushed ahead with exploring and developing more distant parts of the Solar System, like Jupiter and Mercury.

That same year,

within Human Civilization,

a virtual idol named ‘Luo Shen’ was launched.

Thanks to her perfect, realistic face and great character design,

she gained over 500 million fans instantly.

Using intelligence and virtual reality technology, her supporters

created more than 560,000 well-produced full-length movies featuring her in less than a year. Countless shorter films, spin-offs, and shorts were made too.

Many Virtual Worlds also introduced ‘Luo Shen’.

Service Robots designed with the ‘Luo Shen’ image sold over 600 million units that year.

She was the virtual idol with the most fans gained in the shortest time.

That year,

the total population of Human Civilization reached 11 billion.

Meanwhile, there were just over 2.36 million Researchers at the Negentropy Research Institute.

HUE 40.

Another virtual idol for everyone was born, breaking the record set earlier by ‘Luo Shen’.

In just one year after launch, she got over 600 million fans.

Her fans created more than 10,000 Virtual Worlds featuring her image and Intelligent Programs in under a year.

That same year,

a team at Research Institute 011 developed a type of drug for use with Virtual Reality Devices.

It could put the user’s body into sleep mode while their brain safely controlled the device to enter the Virtual World.

However, the Social Philosophy Department of the Negentropy Research Institute judged this invention too risky for civilization.

They ordered all research on it to be sealed off, banning its use outside labs.

That year, the total population of Human Civilization was 11.3 billion.

The total number of Researchers at the Negentropy Research Institute remained 2.36 million.

HUE 41.

Civilization population: 11.6 billion.

Negentropy Research Institute Researchers: 2.35 million.

HUE 42.

Civilization population broke 12 billion.

Negentropy Research Institute Researchers: 2.35 million…

…

By this point,

you didn’t even need Negentropy Research Institute Researchers to see it—

most ordinary people had already realized

that something felt wrong about Civilization.

Or rather, the whole cultural atmosphere felt off.

In this day and age,

after years of human-guided evolution, plus the Social Upbringing Bureau and education system shaping each child’s upbringing,

most adults weren’t exactly geniuses or talents,

but they all had basic understanding.

Therefore,

they mostly knew what was happening.

It was an underlying problem hidden in human genes since the start of the Intelligent Era—

the degradation, or blunting, of Civilization.

…

“Personally, I think society is great right now. Life is easy and free, no pressure. Under law and morality, I can do whatever I want. Based on Strong Artificial Intelligence’s stats, our depression rates are much lower than before the Intelligent Era.”

“But for Civilization as a whole… things don’t look good. I’m afraid we’ll sink into an abyss of just seeking fun.”

“Why be afraid? I think we’ve already fallen… Lots of people lack motivation or drive. That ‘rice worm’ mindset is everywhere. Me included.”

“Well what do we do? Try pulling ourselves out of comfortable lives?”

“Save it. Why leave a good life for suffering? Seems impossible to me…”

That year,

many people online expressed worries about the future of Human Civilization.

When they talked about it, each person sounded sensible.

But talking is one thing; acting is another.

Many who made these comments were part of what caused this ‘decline’ in the first place.

“…As a kid, I dreamed of dedicating my life to Human Civilization’s progress. But later I learned—save it, I’m not cut out for it. I damn well couldn’t even get into the Negentropy Research Institute. Almost fifty now, still hanging around in university. But honestly? Things are good. I’m free. Plenty to eat and drink, nice clothes… Just got myself a Luo Shen model Service Robot too. Life’s comfortable.”

“…Saw an ancient quote shared in class last week. How did it go? Oh… the instructor reminded me: ‘If internally, a country has no scholars who care for its fate, and externally, no enemies to worry about, the kingdom always perishes.’ Our Civilization—no real internal struggles, no outside threats—lacks drive to develop.”

“…Truth be told? I’m a ‘rice worm’. But I don’t think I or others like me are wrong to live like this. Why waste research resources my whole life only to achieve nothing? I’d rather focus on living well—and save the civilization some resources. I don’t want to climb the social ladder either. Living my whole life as I am now feels just right.”

“Some want lives full of adventures. Me? I just want to be an ordinary person in history, living one calm, uneventful life. What’s wrong with that?”

“This era lets everyone live as they choose. Some enjoy researching one topic deeply. Me? I enjoy life’s little beauties. When death comes, the researcher won’t think his life was wasted—but I don’t think mine is either! What’s the problem?”

“…Can’t say you’re wrong. Sometimes I think things are fine as they are now. But if all civilization follows this path… what about development?”

“This might sound radical: Why keep developing? Our civilization has plenty of resources already. Develop more, then what? To reach Mars a bit faster?”

“Honestly? We’re okay for now—but what about later?”

“Friend, I’m only living 180 years. You think our civilization won’t last that long?”

“…”

This kind of talk spread all over the internet in Human Civilization back then.

But no argument really changed the reality.

The reality was this:

You couldn’t make everyone ignore how they felt

and push themselves relentlessly

just for the benefit of all Human Civilization.