Chapter 43: Extinguishing the Fire

The initial Clinical Trial of the Gravity Protective Fluid spanned the entire mission cycle of those six Astronauts aboard the Space Station.

Only by the end of year 42, when these six Astronauts concluded their six-month task on the Space Station and returned to Earth alongside six colleagues who hadn’t used the Gravity Protective Fluid, was it deemed a success.

By then, these half-year rotations on the Space Station had become routine for Astronauts.

Although the media still live-broadcasted the Astronauts’ return and landing, viewership had dwindled significantly.

More people likely became aware of the event only later, perhaps stumbling upon relevant news reports on social media after the broadcast ended.

However, for those who did watch the live broadcast, some unusual details during this return and landing immediately stood out.

When the return capsule landed precisely on the designated field, and ground crew moved to assist the Astronauts in opening the hatch, normally, because they were returning from low gravity to normal gravity after half a year, the ground crew would need to carry the Astronauts out.

This time, however, after the hatch opened, the ground crew didn’t rush to do that. After waiting briefly, they saw the first Astronaut climb out independently and stand steadily on the landing field.

This was followed by a second, a third… until all six Astronauts from that capsule emerged on their own.

The Astronauts’ exit from the capsule seemed to have reverted to the way it used to be.

The remaining six Astronauts, in contrast, were carried out as usual by the ground crew and placed on a row of lounge chairs.

Had all the returning Astronauts stepped out independently this time, viewers might not have immediately grasped the significance.

But with all twelve Astronauts lined up – each having spent exactly six months on the Space Station, each having just returned –

six standing steadily,

and six only able to lie limply on recliners,

the contrast was too stark to miss.

“…Reporting to our homeland, reporting to our compatriots,” one of the standing Astronauts declared firmly to the camera, speaking as the representative, “we have successfully completed our six-month residency mission on the Space Station and have safely returned to land!”

This was a moment viewers of the return broadcast had eagerly anticipated.

After that, the live coverage of the Astronauts’ return came to an end.

Yet, many who had watched the landing through various channels remained puzzled by its unusual aspects.

And it was at this juncture that the authorities took the opportunity to announce the relevant information.

…

“Huaxin News Agency release: Recently, the research team led by Professor Qin Yu has achieved another breakthrough in the Field of Life Sciences.”

“Spearheaded by Professor Qin Yu and involving a large number of Researchers, the ‘Gravity Protective Fluid’ was developed and has recently completed its initial Clinical Trial.”

“This Gravity Protective Fluid effectively enhances the user’s bodily adaptation to changing gravitational environments, meeting human survival needs across varying gravitational states, from low gravity to normal gravity and beyond.”

“Clinical validation confirms that application on Astronauts significantly enhances their tolerance to g-force pressure during rocket ascent; while in orbit, it drastically reduces the time Astronauts need to spend on exercise, while simultaneously lowering the detrimental effects of long-term low gravity on the body; and upon return to Earth, it enables Astronauts to rapidly readapt to terrestrial gravity conditions.”

“The advent of this Gravity Protective Fluid will greatly advance human spaceflight capabilities and development in related fields!”

Although the widespread application of Yu-type Bacteria still occupied most people’s attention,

as another of Professor Qin Yu’s latest research achievements, the formal announcement of this news story inevitably drew significant attention to the Gravity Protective Fluid, sparking enthusiastic discussion.

“Professor Qin Yu is incredible! That explains it; I also watched the livestream of the previous group of Astronauts returning from the Space Station the other day. Makes sense now.”

“Does this mean future Astronauts will have an easier time during their ‘business trips’ to the Space Station or beyond? This is a fantastic research result.”

“Are you kidding? It’s way more than that! Do you know the real hurdles of interstellar migration with modern tech? Besides the high launch costs associated with rocket propulsion methods, passengers also have to endure accelerations of several g’s during launch and landing – that’s a huge problem in itself. To cope, every Astronaut needs lengthy training. Even if you’re just a space tourist, with less responsibility, you’d still need substantial preparation before taking a rocket ride.”

“And what does the Gravity Protective Fluid mean now? It means riding a rocket could become as straightforward as taking a high-speed train or a plane one day. No special training required beforehand. It means Professor Qin Yu has used his discovery to help fulfill the physical prerequisites for ‘interstellar tourism.’ And with our Lunar Base already established, it means that when it finally opens for tourism, folks like us might actually get to ride a rocket and visit the Moon!”

“Wow! Got it. Professor Qin is awesome!”

Naturally,

the Gravity Protective Fluid’s debut wasn’t quite as sensational as the Yu-type Bacteria.

Unlike the 2611 Longevity Injection or the Yu-type Bacteria,

the Gravity Protective Fluid didn’t have an urgent need for mass adoption.

After all, its primary applications lay within the realm of spaceflight,

and currently, spaceflight technology hasn’t yet progressed to the stage of transporting large numbers of civilians into space.

Moreover, the vast majority of people on Earth have no need to adapt to shifting gravitational environments.

The introduction of the Gravity Protective Fluid, however,

held far greater significance – even shock – for scholars and Researchers in fields like Life Science or Biology.

A saying widely circulated and believed among scholars in these domains during that era was:

“If you want to engage with the most advanced knowledge in the Life Science Field, you need to be close to Professor Qin.”

Under Qin Yu’s leadership, Research Institute 011, instrumental in developing the Human Reproduction Device, advancing the Human Enhancement Research Project, and delivering Yu-type Bacteria,

had achieved progress in the Life Science and Biology Fields that placed it in a league far ahead of the general level of the external academic world.

…

Following the initial use of the Gravity Protective Fluid by those six Astronauts,

Astronauts within the Huaxia Nation subsequently underwent its application.

This served a dual purpose: contributing to space development and facilitating a broader Clinical Trial for the fluid.

Reaching this stage signified the conclusion of the Gravity Protective Fluid research phase for Research Institute 011.

Some Researchers stayed on to explore deeper applications, such as enhancing human adaptation to even greater gravities.

Meanwhile, other researchers within the Human Enhancement Research Project

naturally shifted their focus to its other objectives.

After the Gravity Protective Fluid, guided by Qin Yu, the specific target for relevant Researchers became ‘human recovery’ – or enhancing the body’s self-healing capacity.

This was a foreseeable, central research direction within the Human Enhancement Research Project.

The implications were clear: enhancing human self-recovery and self-healing capabilities could profoundly benefit human health and lifespan.

The human body’s survival capability naturally increased in leaps and bounds.

Regarding this direction, the research team’s ultimate hope was definitely,

‘regrowing severed limbs’, ‘organs healing themselves’, even surviving a hole in the heart, or living for a while with half the head blown off.

Of course, reaching the final goal of this research path would likely take a very long time, requiring step-by-step progress through many stages; it couldn’t be achieved at once.

Most researchers on the team initially aimed only for a modest improvement in the human body’s self-healing ability.

While the researchers of the Human Enhancement Research Project began preliminary exploration of this new direction and gradually stepped onto a new research path,

within Research Institute 011,

the researchers previously responsible for the Yu-type Bacteria project,

under the leadership and participation of Qin Yu, gradually shifted their focus to a new goal: plant and crop research.

“With Yu-type Bacteria improving land in desert regions, next we should conduct crop research.”

Thanks to the Yu-type Bacteria, most desert areas with reasonable rainfall and less harsh environments could gradually become usable soil again.

However, significant portions of this land remained relatively arid.

Therefore, building on the Yu-type Bacteria foundation, Research Institute 011 also started researching crops better suited to the soil improved by the Yu-type Bacteria.

Actually, the drought-resistant grass seeds provided earlier by Institute 011 could be loosely grouped into this category, but those weren’t cash crops or food crops.

“Drought-resistant rice, drought-resistant wheat, even drought-resistant varieties of other cash crops and food crops.”

This was clearly a series of crop research projects. Even for Research Institute 011, this was likely to be a long-drawn-out endeavor.

Especially since some crops, unlike the previous Yu-type Bacteria, had long growth cycles, requiring extensive time for each experiment.

Thus, in year 42,

the year Qin Yu turned forty,

passed by swiftly amidst the world’s hustle, bustle, and excitement.

…

In year 43,

not much of significance happened this year.

No major breakthroughs were achieved in the new research projects.

The Information Denoising Research Institute, under the Negentropy Research Institute, using permissions granted to them,

collected information from various fields like Earth’s geology, climate, humanities, astronomy, that might trigger widespread crises for civilization.

However, based on the compiled data, they could only observe that Earth’s climate environment, influenced by multiple factors, was in a state of overall gradual deterioration.

Viewed on a timescale of millennia, this could have a massive impact on Earth’s ecology.

However, this climate deterioration for humans was largely influenced by solar cycle activity, apart from human activities themselves.

In the short term, humans could do little to interfere.

Besides this, the likelihood of an apocalyptic war erupting within human civilization this year decreased slightly.

But possibility is just possibility; it might be lower, yet the threat of apocalyptic war remained ever present.

The Information Denoising Research Institute continued its ongoing research into intelligent large models for gathering crisis information and intelligent programs.

Nonetheless, the challenges normally faced by AI researchers in academia persisted for the denoising institute’s researchers as well.

Although the Negentropy Research Institute provided ample financial backing for the denoising institute in this area,

Qin Yu, being a scholar in the Field of Life Sciences, did not directly participate in the research of this AI project.

Aside from these things,

this year, after the Yu-type Bacteria mass production line was established at Research Institute 011,

its use continued to spread to an even wider range.

Near the year’s end, workers on the Shuling City desertification control project,

following Qin Yu’s earlier suggestion, after the grass seeds provided the previous year had naturally grown, withered, and died,

began trying to plant other crops on that first 10,000 mu of land initially improved by the Yu-type Bacteria.

Around these 10,000 mu, over the broader surrounding desert land awaiting treatment, they spread more Yu-type Bacteria.

The Gravity Protective Fluid, after being used by all spaceflight personnel in years 42 and 43,

also began to see an expanded scope of application.

It wasn’t yet available to absolutely everyone,

but its use was no longer limited to just Astronauts.

…

In year 44, an interesting incident happened related to Qin Yu and Research Institute 011.

The World Games took place as usual this year.

During this Games,

historical records in a series of events including athletics and weightlifting were shattered, advanced significantly.

This naturally had to do with the Gravity Protective Fluid.

The side effect of the Gravity Protective Fluid on the general population was a 10% to 15% body enhancement.

While this boost offered no great advantage on its own –

it certainly couldn’t turn someone into a ‘superhuman’ –

For athletes, in specific sports, it became an entirely different matter.

In many competitive events, the gap between first and tenth place could be minute to begin with.

Now, after using the Gravity Protective Fluid, their bodies became 10% stronger than before, leading to seemingly exaggerated performance improvements in sports.

Moreover, the changes induced by the Gravity Protective Fluid were permanent and foundational;

it genuinely made the human body stronger overall, so using it technically wasn’t considered a violation of rules.

…

Then, years 45 and 46.

During these two years, within the Huaxia Nation,

the proportion of newborns not raised under the Collective Social Rearing system showed signs of rebounding.

The number had once dropped to just over two million per year but climbed back up to over three million, approaching four million.

Macroscopically, the primary reason was largely linked to the widespread adoption of Yu-type Bacteria.

After four years of existence, the bacteria had brought concrete benefits to society.

Due to the increase in total resource availability,

people generally felt life was a bit easier these past two years; prices for most essential survival goods were falling.

Of course, this shift carried a sense of anticipation,

a proactive reaction to future changes.

If one strictly calculated the actual amount of new arable land reclaimed from desertification and the increase in crop yields this year,

such a dramatic change shouldn’t have occurred yet.

Years 47 and 48.

With Yu-type Bacteria production within Huaxia meeting domestic demand,

the scale of exports gradually became substantial.

Naturally,

from a global, macro perspective, some noticeable changes also occurred.

The shadow of war looming over the world actually receded further.

In many hotspot areas, tensions eased considerably.

Scholars and experts in relevant fields discussing this change invariably mentioned the role of Yu-type Bacteria.

Fundamentally,

the short-term global increase in total resource availability provided temporary relief for some conflicts and internal problems among various parties.

For the vast majority of people in nations worldwide,

even if discontent existed, having full stomachs placed a natural limit on the anger and problems stemming from that discontent.

“…Sometimes it feels like Professor Qin is holding a water dipper. Every time the whole world feels like a furnace on the verge of flaring up, splash – he douses it with water, and the whole world settles down again.”

Someone couldn’t help but voice this sentiment.