Chapter 21: The Dust Settles
Chapter 21: The Dust Settles
Of course, for now, Qin Yu was just thinking about it; he didn’t feel an immediate urge to act.
He understood very well. Even though things looked tense right now, with Huaxia Nation and the other two parties in the HCC seemingly on the brink of conflict, ready to snap at any moment as if a life-or-death struggle might erupt,
in reality, regarding the 2611 Longevity Injection matter, both sides were still just at the stage of trading insults. Neither had taken any real action yet.
Ultimately, the sides would definitely reach an agreement on this. The current pushing and shoving was mainly about setting the price Moon Nation and North Bear Nation would pay for the 2611 Longevity Injection.
Even if, for the reasons Qin Yu had mentioned earlier, the Life-Extending Serum would ultimately be given to these other two parties,
it couldn’t be handed over easily.
After all, Huaxia Nation held the initiative. Not squeezing some concessions out of these other two in the HCC would be disrespectful to the nation’s heroes.
Unsurprisingly,
in the period that followed,
from HCC meetings to other public forums, the two sides traded blows, each countering the other’s moves. Their allies also cheered them on, making the whole world exceptionally lively.
However,
while most people outside Huaxia Nation were preoccupied with this noisy back-and-forth,
within Huaxia Nation itself, discussion on the topic was actually quite muted.
Everyone was too busy worrying about the effects and changes their own 2611 Longevity Injection produced to have time to care about others.
They might occasionally gossip about it.
It wasn’t the people within Huaxia Nation who were frantic, after all. They had all gotten it.
Whether people in Moon Nation and North Bear Nation could use it wasn’t their pressing concern.
“We deeply understand and sympathize with your predicament and urgency. But if you genuinely want timely access to the 2611 Longevity Injection, your nations should promptly come to us for earnest negotiations. Not like now, trying threats and intimidation.”
…
A week passed since the 2611 Longevity Injection was announced.
The standoff between Huaxia Nation and the other two HCC parties over the 2611 Longevity Injection continued, showing basically no change from before.
No matter what North Bear Nation or Moon Nation said, whether they tried to be tough or soft,
Huaxia Nation’s stance was the same: To negotiate, you better come with real sincerity; otherwise, it’s two words: No sale. If you want to grab it? Go ahead and try.
Meanwhile, within Huaxia Nation,
over that one week, the organizational capacity of its grassroots units had been fully demonstrated.
With sufficient quantities of the 2611 Longevity Injection pre-distributed to local units,
distribution proceeded very rapidly.
Within the week,
according to available statistics,
except for some young children whose age made them unsuitable to use it immediately,
basically the entire population of Huaxia Nation had been administered the 2611 Longevity Injection.
An authorized announcement by Xinhua News Agency shared this news. Authorities also urged grassroots units to deliver injections to the very few who still hadn’t received theirs.
While the overwhelming majority, upon learning of the 2611 Longevity Injection’s existence, desperately wanted to get and use it immediately,
in such a vast country like Huaxia, it was inevitable that some eccentric or peculiarly-minded individuals insisted on refusing it.
Among this group, some worried about the 2611 Longevity Injection’s long-term safety.
After all, the serum was so new. There couldn’t possibly be anyone who had lived beyond 150 years after using it yet.
What if, years down the line, side effects emerged?
An even smaller group, holding quite extreme views, believed Life Extension Technology was detrimental to humans, taking a stand by refusing the injection.
For this small minority unwilling to use the 2611 Longevity Injection at present,
the authorities simply ensured they were fully informed, distributed the injections to them, and left the choice to use it or not up to the individual.
Also, after this week,
a somewhat strange piece of news appeared on Huaxia Nation’s internet.
It was an announcement from a Huaxia Nation government department, authorized for release by the National News Broadcast.
The core message was a single point:
“Huaxia Nation will maintain the legal provision for the death penalty for the long term, without wavering.”
It also quoted a legal expert:
“For a criminal sentenced to death, the law does not take his life; by committing the crime, he took his own life.”
The reason for this sudden announcement
was naturally because,
after the near-universal rollout of the 2611 Longevity Injection within Huaxia Nation,
some odd discussions had begun to surface in small pockets of the internet.
Some argued that individuals sentenced to death in the past were deprived only of their remaining decades of life,
but now, a death sentence meant depriving someone of over a hundred years, or even longer.
They further suggested that the existence of the death penalty was now disproportionately severe.
It was strange logic, but it did appear online at this time.
Fortunately though, it didn’t become mainstream opinion.
After the relevant unit issued this rebuttal announcement,
the vast majority of people expressed support.
“…Those who think depriving future death row inmates of a century of life is too heavy… have they considered that the victim could have lived that long too?”
“Honestly, I actually think fixed prison terms are too light now, maybe not suited to a society where our lifespans have increased by a century. Someone expected to live 180 years committing a serious crime only sits for twenty years? That cost seems way too low.”
“I agree with you.”
At this moment, after the first wave of excitement from the 2611 Longevity Injection faded,
once everyone had received and used it,
the initial thrill subsided. Inevitably, other voices started to emerge online and in real life.
To some extent, this was one of the inevitable societal changes humanity would undergo following the widespread adoption of the 2611 Longevity Injection and Life Extension Technology.
…
However, while people within Huaxia Nation were already starting to discuss the follow-on effects of the 2611 Longevity Injection,
the internet outside Huaxia Nation painted a very different picture.
As time passed, from one week after the announcement to almost half a month later,
online discussions outside Huaxia Nation gradually shifted away from the initial, widespread bully-boy logic.
The pressure of public opinion slowly turned inward, falling onto their own governments.
It wasn’t that these people suddenly all became reasonable.
While individuals likely held various private views all along,
this overall shift was mainly because the previous hostile attitude and rhetoric weren’t getting them what they wanted.
An individual might overcome selfishness rooted in genetics for certain reasons,
but when individuals form a group, it becomes far less likely.
The overall shift in attitude boiled down to one thing: their previous stance had harmed their interests.
Therefore, their attitude now changed.
Perhaps Huaxia Nation was right.
Moon Nation and North Bear Nation should immediately negotiate with Huaxia Nation on this matter,
giving it what it wanted in exchange for the 2611 Longevity Injection.
Why?
Because their previous conflict hadn’t secured them the 2611 Longevity Injection in time, so naturally, they grew impatient.
To put it more bluntly:
Whatever Huaxia Nation wants, just give it to them quickly! Hurry up and get the 2611 Longevity Injection back.
Even set aside the synthesis technology for now. Couldn’t they, like the nations siding with Huaxia Nation before,
trade for some finished 2611 Longevity Injection products first so they could use them?
Huaxia Nation didn’t mock this change in attitude towards them.
However, the nations already guaranteed to receive the finished 2611 Longevity Injection later had much sharper words,
speeding up the mental breaking point for people in both North Bear Nation and Moon Nation.
All of this ultimately turned into pressure aimed at Moon Nation and North Bear Nation.
“Damn it! Those Huaxia people can already live past a hundred! They’ve entered a whole new era, where everyone can live to 150, 180!”
“How much longer must we wait? Until we all die of old age? You damn elites, you must have already gotten the 2611 Longevity Injection and just aren’t giving it to us!”
“When will you kowtow to Huaxia Nation? I don’t care about anything else! I want the 2611 Longevity Injection NOW!”
A middle-aged man from Moon Nation vented fiercely online,
reflecting, to some extent, the mood across non-Huaxia networks at that moment.
…
North American State, Moon Nation.
The leader had just finished a call with the leader of North Bear Nation.
He looked at the other participants gathered before him in the ongoing meeting concerning the 2611 Longevity Injection.
Among them were sociologists, leading figures from the Field of Life Sciences, and other important individuals.
“When will we unravel the secrets of the 2611 Longevity Injection? Or even, is it even possible?”
The question landed first with the Field of Life Sciences authority figure from Moon Nation.
He shook his head.
“Mr. Leader. Based on our analysis of the 2611 Longevity Injection product sample we obtained, we know its main component is a unique reactive substance.”
“But our current Life Science research offers nothing even remotely similar to this substance as a precursor. This means the gap between our current capabilities and synthesizing the 2611 Longevity Injection isn’t just one step.”
“The difficulty of synthesizing it… it’s akin to needing to create a non-existent biological entity from scratch next… Frankly, we have few leads.”
“Previously, there was much exchange between our Field of Life Sciences and Huaxia Nation’s. The gap shouldn’t have been this vast. Yet this is the reality… I don’t know how Professor Qin Yu created it. Must be said, Professor Qin Yu is truly a genius.”
No one present disputed the life sciences expert’s final statement about Professor Qin Yu.
“So, currently, there’s no way for us to synthesize the 2611 Longevity Injection in the short term. And we don’t even know how long it might take to achieve it, correct?”
“Correct.”
A quiet pause fell over the meeting.
Someone else spoke up.
“Mr. Leader. From a population-wide perspective, collective life extension isn’t an absolute good. Looking at biological evolution and civilizational development, excessively long individual lifespans reduce the iteration speed of a populace. This lowers competitiveness, operational efficiency, and development speed.”
“In that scenario, if we forgo large-scale adoption of Life Extension Technology for an extended period, we could, in the grand scheme of civilizational competition, gain a significant long-term advantage.”
“By that time, acquiring the Life Extension Technology from Huaxia Nation would cost us far less.”
The people of Moon Nation weren’t fools.
Some truths were mutually understood; it was simply about who could hold out longer.
“You’re right. But I want to know, personally, for each of you sitting here. How long are you personally willing to wait for the 2611 Longevity Injection?”
“A year? Five years? Ten? Or will you abstain and leave it for your children?”
“I know you’ve all, through various channels, obtained and used the 2611 Longevity Injection already. Don’t deny it. I have too.”
The assembled Moon Nation officials in the room remained silent.
“If you yourselves aren’t willing to wait, why expect others in this nation to be? No one will willingly watch others live over a hundred years while their own life is limited to mere decades.”
“I fear Moon Nation will collapse long before your ‘long-term’ advantage materializes. The craving for longer life will drive people mad.”
“What then? Start a war? You’ve all had the 2611 Longevity Injection. You have at least four or five more decades to live. Do you wish to die?”
“You see? We all think the same.”
“And although it seems many nations stand with us now, it’s only because Huaxia Nation hasn’t yet given them the injections. The moment they get it, they’ll desert us instantly.”
“Then, since they all benefit from Life Extension, they’ll naturally turn against us. You say our shorter lifespan might accelerate our development, but would they allow us to grow faster? We’d become an isolated island. Hating us as outliers, they’d destroy us with utter ruthlessness.”
“Compromise. There’s no point. The initiative isn’t ours. We cannot refuse the 2611 Longevity Injection.”
“Better to act before North Bear Nation. We might pay a lighter price.”
So said the leader of Moon Nation.
In that meeting, no other Moon Nation official voiced strong opposition.
One thing was certain: they had indeed all used the 2611 Longevity Injection.
At the same time,
similar developments unfolded within North Bear Nation.
Some insights weren’t exclusive to one party.
Naturally, they reached the same conclusion.
“Act swiftly… Even though the Moon Nation leader assured us they’d continue pressuring Huaxia Nation alongside us.”
“But I believe if Huaxia Nation lowered the asking price slightly, they’d sell us out instantly. Once all others struck deals with Huaxia, the last one standing might not have anything left worth trading.”
“The wheel of the era has rolled in. There are no real choices. Sadly, we aren’t riding it. But at least, we should avoid being crushed beneath it.”
Thus,
simultaneously,
Huaxia Nation received two private requests for new 2611 Longevity Injection deals.
And all the previous back-and-forth, the fierce confrontation,
seemed to instantly quieten down.