jdhmnovel Chapter 224: Inspiration from Games
Chapter 224: Inspiration from Games
Days passed like beads on a string. More than 104,000 people endured hardship, united as one, cherishing their hard-won lives, and displaying great enthusiasm. They transitioned from a life of planting and farming to fill their stomachs, from the Wood Age to the Iron Age. Iron smelting technology matured eleven years after humanity's arrival on Earth. Iron led to the emergence of simple steam locomotives, and crude trains began to run, facilitating transportation. Further mining of mineral resources was carried out, and steelmaking technology quickly promoted great social development.
In a large building in the town's headquarters, which houses a treasure trove of human civilization artifacts, a top-secret, exquisitely crafted iron cabinet contains a holographic disc. This holographic disc stores a video recording—a very precious recording—of the scene when Tommy and his two companions encountered Zhou Yuan and his group on Earth. The recording was made by the helmet cameras on the three of them, showing Zhou Yuan and his three companions, along with the scene of thirteen special forces soldiers being escorted by guns suspended in the air.
Two hundred years into the new era of Earth, human civilization has flourished anew on Earth. In this year, humans landed on Mars.
Although human technology has re-emerged and developed rapidly in energy, transportation, industry, agriculture, and finance, and despite the technological reserves left over from the space cities, progress in fundamental physics, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing has been slow. This is because simply adopting existing technologies is less effective at high-tech applications. Therefore, to celebrate the bicentennial of the New Age and the bicentennial of humanity's return to Earth, the federal government established the Institute of Advanced Technology of the Federal Academy of Sciences. This institute organized scientists and technicians to re-examine and study the technological data left over from the space cities, absorb the ideas of their predecessors, and encourage in-depth exploration and the development of their own valuable ideas—a process akin to a flourishing of diverse perspectives. In education, the federal government also invested significant funds and human resources, transmitting scientific and technological knowledge from elementary school onwards.
The plains town headquarters has long since developed into a large city, the capital of the federal government, and now there are more than a hundred small and medium-sized cities around the world. Due to the long-standing policy of encouraging multiple births, the human population on Earth has surged from more than 104,000 to more than 223 million in the past two hundred years.
After two hundred years of development, the Earth has regained its vitality, and the variety of animals and plants has gradually increased, almost reaching the state before the nuclear war.
Following the bicentennial, the federal government parliament held another meeting to discuss the proposal from the Federal Academy of Sciences and passed the "Dragon Boat Return" plan. This plan aims to salvage the head and tail of the space city that crashed into the East China Sea over a period of ten years. Research on the space city's technology is of great significance to the advancement of human technology.
The Institute of Advanced Technology of the Federal Academy of Sciences welcomed its first batch of employees, totaling 256 people. Of these, 128 were transferred from other departments of the Academy, 95 were selected from university professors, and 33 were recruited from the general public. Although 12 of these 33 lacked prestigious educational backgrounds and could be considered amateur scientists, their IQ tests showed they possessed remarkably high intelligence. Among these 12 was Zhou Yuan.
These 256 people were assigned to several research departments, such as particle physics, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, micro-nano technology, antigravity, propulsion, interstellar travel, space weapons, and spacetime research. Amateur scientist Zhou Yuan was assigned to the spacetime research lab. The director, Tocaro, felt that Zhou Yuan's theories on time and space were quite novel during his interview. This spacetime research department, besides Zhou Yuan, had four other people; it was a very small department, seemingly just there to fill space and create a facade.
However, the Institute of Advanced Technology has a very active academic atmosphere, with a lot of contact and exchange within the department, between departments, and with external units. The Federal Academy of Sciences and the institute also encourage them to exchange ideas and go out to exchange ideas, so as to spark more innovation.
Zhou Yuan and the other employees went to get off work and left on time, completing their 100th day of work.
Zhou Yuan drove his car. Because it got dark early, the streetlights on the capital's streets were already on, emitting a dim yellow light. On both sides of the road, men and women walked in an endless stream, and there were also quite a few cars on the street.
Zhou Yuan drove for more than twenty minutes to his residential complex, parked his car in the underground parking lot, and then took the elevator upstairs. The elevator stopped on the sixth floor. Zhou Yuan got out of the elevator, walked about ten meters down the corridor, and then took out his keys from his bag to open the door.
"Uncle, you're back." A clear and melodious woman's voice came from inside the house.
"Hey beautiful, I'm back! Is dinner ready? I'm feeling a little hungry."
Zhou Yuan walked into the house, closed the door, changed his shoes at the door, peeled off the thin film mask, and then walked into the living room. Pan Na greeted him, and the two hugged and kissed passionately for three or four minutes.
"Uncle, let's eat. Today is a memorable day, uncle, let's celebrate together."
"Oh, what auspicious day?"
"Haha, today marks your 100th day at work."
"Oh, it's been a hundred days already?" Zhou Yuan was slightly taken aback, then smiled slightly.
Panna brought out rice and dishes from the kitchen, and the two sat across from each other at the table. Panna had prepared red wine, and the two drank, ate, and chatted.
"Uncle, it's a pity that Sister Xiaolu and Sister Jing aren't here."
"Yes, that's right. Little beauty, you know, they are mortals, unlike us who don't age. The technology of humans in this world is not advanced, and there is no consciousness scanning cloning technology, so we can't clone them for the time being. So we can only put them and those hundred-plus scientists into deep hibernation in the stealth warship above the Earth."
"Can't our warships perform consciousness scanning, transplantation, and cloning? Why not utilize the warship's resources?"
"The resources on the warship are limited after all. We should not use the resources on the warship unless absolutely necessary."
"Yes, that's right. But, sir, given the pace of human civilization's evolution and technological development in this world, it's estimated that it will be at least another five hundred years before consciousness scanning, transplantation, and cloning can be performed, right?"
"Five hundred years is fast; I think it's a bit long. Although their technology accelerated after salvaging the space city, it only accelerated the process by a maximum of one hundred years. No, I need to accelerate the pace of technological advancement in this world's human civilization."
"Uncle, what are you planning to do?"
"Awaken a few of us scientists, forge our identities, and blend into human society, just like the two of us, and then offer guidance or enlightenment to human civilization and technology. I myself am also prepared to do this."
"How do we recall these scientists? Are we just going to have them suddenly disappear?"
"It's very simple. Let them get sick and die in human society, then return to the warship to heal them, and then put them into deep hibernation."
"These people are in the human world; they'll get married and have children, right? Won't they reveal our secret?"
"Hmm, I need to think about this carefully. How about this, we clone a few scientists, rewrite or delete the clone's consciousness data, so that their knowledge of everything in the Earth Empire is a blank slate, or implant new consciousness and memory scenarios, only retaining the scientific knowledge of these scientists' clones."
"This is a good method. Even if these clones marry and have children in the human world, there is no risk of leakage."
"Let's do it this way. We're off work on Saturday, the day after tomorrow, and we'll both go back to the warship."
"it is good."
After dinner, Zhou Yuan and Pan Na took a stroll in the park near their neighborhood. When they returned, the dishes and utensils were all washed clean, thanks to the little bee.
"Mistress, are you playing games again tonight?" The little bee fluttered its wings and blinked its eyes as Zhou Yuan and Panna entered the room. After Zhou Yuan and Panna integrated into human society, Panna, having nothing to do, liked to play games and watch TV at home. Zhou Yuan was even considering whether to find Panna a job, but Panna said she'd wait a while, play for a bit first. And that play turned into an addiction to video games. The little bee stayed home with Panna, watching her play computer games, quite engrossed in the game itself.
Zhou Yuan glanced at the little bee, who involuntarily hid behind Panna, peeking out and looking at Zhou Yuan as well.
"Little bee, come here."
"Master, you're not going to punish me again, are you?" the little bee said pitifully. It didn't think flying around the house for two hours straight was a good job.
"Uncle, please let the little one go, please." Panna shook Zhou Yuan's arm, snuggled into his arms, and kissed him.
"Hey pretty girl, is playing video games really that fun?"
"Uncle, this is pretty fun! Leveling up by fighting monsters? Well, what can I do? I'm a gamer, after all."
"Hehe, you're blaming me now. You were the one who wanted this identity in the first place. Leveling up by fighting monsters?" Zhou Yuan suddenly thought of something, and couldn't help but hug Pan Na tightly, spin her around, and kiss her cheek.
"Uncle, why are you so excited?"
"Upgrade, huh? Haha." This time, Zhou Yuan didn't just smile slightly; he burst into laughter.
Panna and the little bee looked at Zhou Yuan with confusion.
"Little beauty, little bee, the human civilization in this world is developing very slowly technologically. How about this, little beauty, we develop a computer game, a cosmic conquest game. The main races are four: the human race, the replicant fleet, the intelligent robot army, and the superhuman alliance. The secondary races will serve as sparring partners for the four main races. This game has three rules: the constant speed of light, causality, and a resource recycling mechanism. Especially important is that the replicant fleet is 22 light-years away from Earth. These are similar to the settings of this virtual universe. The superhuman alliance focuses on enhancing the consciousness field, while the other three races focus on technological advancement. The four races must solve the problems of near-light speed travel and faster-than-light travel. The more advanced a race becomes, the more powerful it will be, for example, quantum communication, star-sniping ships, interstellar catapults, energy exchangers, time machines, consciousness transplantation, manipulating the sun, sniping swords, intergalactic travel, hyperspace communication, and that strange space we encountered."
Speaking of the strange space, Panna couldn't help but shudder, because she knew that the Earth Empire's five-star orbiting system was supposed to come out smoothly, but for some reason, the strange space passage was blocked, and the Earth Empire's fleet, except for Zhou Yuan's warship, was completely destroyed.
Zhou Yuan and Huo Jing discussed the matter and concluded that the passage was blocked due to a high-energy collision outside the strange space. They didn't know the source of this high energy, but they were certain that some being was deliberately destroying the Earth Empire. This being could be the Overlord, the virtual machine itself, or even the virtual machine's owner—any of these possibilities was possible.
When Zhou Yuan said that, Panna and Little Bee's eyes lit up.
“Okay, Uncle, let’s do it this way. Let’s bring in those scientist clones too. They’re experts in the cosmic conquest game, sharing their scientific knowledge and ideas with the world and showcasing them in the game. I hope this game will be of great inspiration for the advancement of human civilization’s technology.”
"Hmm, that's a good idea."
Zhou Yuan and Pan Na began discussing how to carry out this computer game universe domination plan.