Age of Cosmic Exploration, 3

by Zhttty

  Right then, another person pressed the ‘speech’ button. The name that appeared on the panel was Bo Li. Her clear voice rang through the room. "The reason we can’t warp is mass and gravity… Haven’t you considered that? Think about it, why must the Hope be away from any cosmic entity when we decide to warp? That’s because space warping might be destabilized by gravity. That aside, everything that’s attached will be brought along during warp. Do you seriously think the Hope could possibly warp with the whole planet attached to it? That’s not going to happen even if you add another 100 polymerized reactors!"

  Yao Yuan was already used to Bo Li’s insolent tone, so he merely frowned before replying, "But digging our way up is not going to work either. The geologists told me that if we were to dig upwards, there’s a 30 percent chance that there’ll be landslide. Because of the Hope’s elongated structure, the extra weight could easily snap the ship in half. The electromagnetic shield is useless here too because the soil isn’t metallic! Considering everything, is it possible for us to dig around the Hope, to isolate it from the soil layer, and then warp?"

  No one pressed the button, but everyone was discussing amongst themselves.

  Suddenly, a few military officers barged into the room, went up the stage, and whispered into Yao Yuan’s ear. An expression of disbelief spread through Yao Yuan’s features. He nodded his thanks at the officers and then spoke into the microphone. "Everyone, there has been a new update… Help me put up a video, this is something you need to see for yourselves…"

  A 3-D image appeared in the room. Then it started to zoom out. From the Hope, the video moved closer and closer to the surface, 2,000 meters, 1,000 meters, 500 meters, 300 meters… When the video broke through the confines of the earth crust, the view that greeted everyone was that of a verdant field. Some distance away were even a copses of fern-like trees and dinosaur-looking scaly animals that were 5 to 6 meters tall. The video kept on zooming out, and finally there was a wide expanse of blue, was that, yes… Ocean!

  "Ocean! What about the sky? Let us see the sky!"

  A scientist shouted as he sprung up from his seat. Even though he didn’t press the button to speak, his excitement spread through the room like a wave. Before long, almost everyone was on their feet, looking at the video like they were in a trance. A picturesque landscape filled with greenery, animals, sea, and a blue sky that stretched endlessly towards the horizon… It was an image that was bursting with life!

  Even Yao Yuan couldn’t contain his excitement so much so that he felt like his heart was going to jump out of his throat. He felt something stinging his eyes, breaking his composure… Several times he opened his mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out. After many in the room had broken out in tears, he roared, "Yes, this is a life-preserving planet with a vibrant ecosystem. We’ve found it, we’ve finally found it, our next Earth!"

  "Dig, the digging shall start tomorrow! If I hear any talks of space warp, they will be shot without question!"

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  Chapter141 Fever

  Images of the planet they had warped into were published in the Hope Weekly the day after its discovery. Understandably, this had created such a stir in the public that the paper was sold out. To make that happen, every family had to purchase at least 5 copies!

  After a long night of analysis, basic information about the planet had been acquired. Of course, they would need more time before a detailed analysis could be done, a task that was compounded by the fact that they were stuck underground.

  "Oxygen percentage in the air composition is 29 percent and carbon dioxide 1 percent [1]? Everything else is similar to Earth’s… Is this dangerous?"

  Yao Yuan asked the biologists who handed him the report. Among them was Ivan, who answered, "The high percentage of CO2 shouldn’t pose any trouble. As long as people don’t commit to extreme activities, there should be no harm other than the planet being warmer than usual."

  Knowing how difficult it was to procure such valuable information in their situation, Yao Yuan smiled appreciatively. "That’s a relief. Hopefully, the planet isn’t a host to some dreadful virus… Then again, even if it is, we must find a way to overcome it. This is a second chance handed to us by God, so we mustn’t let it slip away!"

  Ivan repaid Yao Yuan’s smile. "That’s right. I’ve not seen, much less touch, the ocean for a long time, so I can’t wait to get to the surface."

  Yao added, "Your son is in his troublesome stage, isn’t he? It’s about time he wants to run around freely. Hopefully we can reach the surface soon. I too can’t wait to lay my eyes on the blue sky and sea."

  The two chatted amiably until the team of biologists had to leave. Even so, the smile didn’t leave Yao Yuan’s face. He could feel his face muscles cramping from smiling too much for the past 2 days, but he couldn’t help himself. It was difficult to not be infected by the sense of mirth all around.

  As the saying goes, you’ll only treasure it after you lose it. After the loss of Earth, there was no one on the Hope that was not overjoyed by this miraculous find. Yao Yuan shook his head, incredulous about their good fortune. As he settled down to read some paperwork, his secretary, Barbie, barged into the room. Her usually perfectly styled hair was in a disarray as she exclaimed disconcertingly, "Captain, we’ve been infected by a mysterious virus!"

  Outside of the pathology lab, Yao Yuan saw Mitsuda Saburo peering through his microscope while a few assistants bustled about frantically. Without knocking, Yao Yuan entered and demanded, "What’s wrong? I heard that there has been a virus infection? When and how did it happen? Wasn’t there a strict order that no one was allowed to come into direct contact with the outside minerals?"

  Saburo stood up and bowed, "Captain, I’m afraid it’s not a virus infection."

  "Not an infection?" Yao Yuan asked curiously.

  Ever since they realized that this planet housed living organisms, Yao Yuan ordered all of the outside entrances to be on lockdown and set soldiers to guard them. Since there were microorganisms 4,000 meters beneath Earth’s crust, who could say things would be different with this planet?

  Their experience on Planet Sahara reminded them that the evolution of organisms in space could be wildly different from their history on Earth. An incredibly powerful space plant could be destroyed by Earth’s common plant virus after all.

  Similarly, mankind’s immune system evolved alongside Earth’s own strains of unique viruses and bacteria. Therefore, it was foolish to expect man’s immune system to be useful across different planets. Yao Yuan knew some viewed this action of his to be overly cautious, but he had no choice because he couldn’t risk the possibility of alien bacteria leaking into the Hope!

  Therefore, when he heard that there was an infection, his expression immediately dimmed… If someone had really bypassed his many orders to not go outside the Hope and had unwittingly brought an outbreak back to the Hope, that person would suffer a fate worse than death!

  His feeling thus took a 180 turn when he heard Saburo say that it wasn’t an infection.

  Saburo forced a smile. "Since it’s not an infection, then most possibly it’s…" Before he could finish, the pathologist collapsed forward. Everyone in the room dropped their work and rushed to their leader’s side. They talked over one another, unsure of what to do.

  Yao Yuan, however, remained calm and squatted down beside Saburo’s repose body. He felt the pathologist’s pulse and forehead… "Fever? Homo Evolutis?"

  It was too early to tell, because many diseases showed symptoms of fever and faint spells. However, to be safe, Yao Yuan asked for quarantine for Saburo and all the consecutive fever victims.

  The victims, on their part, sprang up like mushrooms after a fresh rain. They included Barbie, Zhang Heng’s friends Ning Xue and Mao Miao, and a few others from the Black Star close guards, including that female soldier who saved Zhang Heng’s life on th
e meteorite base. In total, there were 160 plus people in quarantine.

  The pathological department, of course, didn’t stay idle even though their leader, Saburo, was unconscious. However, after diagnosis was done on the patients’ samples, the result on the presence of virus came back negative!

  At the same time, these patients’ brain activity was shown to be 10 times faster than normal as revealed by the CAT scan performed using the latest electromagnetic medical devices. The mesomeric resonator showed more interesting results. These patients’ genetic coding seemed to be evolving.

  Because of their internal increased activity, the patients’ physical bodies needed extra nutrients to keep up. Thankfully, due to the improvement in medical science, the Hope had packets of nutritional tonics available. The patients were supplied with these tonics almost daily. Thus far, Yao Yuan was sure that the Hope wasn’t ravaged by a new virus but instead some of its people were undergoing a new adaptation to life in space. Yao Yuan was unfamiliar with its inner workings, but these people were evolving into a new batch of Homo Evolutis!

  (The first set of Homo Evolutis came when the Hope first left Earth. And now it’s happening again. Could it have something to do with the discovery of this planet that’s similar to Earth…? Or is it something else?) Yao Yuan paused to think. Even though the Hope had access to medical devices from the 4th revolution, all of the results came back negative on accounts of sickness, virus, bacterial, or microbial infection. It was extremely similar to Virus X.

  Either way, with this happening, everything else had to be put on halt. Even though they still hadn’t fully understood what a Homo Evolutis was, Yao Yuan knew well enough to know that they would be invaluable assets to the Hope. The Whisperers could help the Academy greatly, the Perceptors were the best soldiers, the Diviner was helpful as an alarm, the Seekers were perfect for surveillance, the Anima could invalidate the creator’s particle… another All-Rounder would definitely be a welcomed addition, and lastly, a second Deceiver could be kept as an ultimate trump card.

  In conclusion, the known Homo Evolutis had already been a great help to the Hope, and there was a possibility of Homo Evolutis emerging with new powers.

  Even for the normal Homo Evolutis, who showcased no obvious superhuman skills, they were already exceptional soldiers. Seated in the combat jet, their ability could rival 100 normal jet pilots!

  The time between the last patient that was sent into quarantine and the first patient to wake up was 18 days… 1 month and 4 days later, all of the patients were conscious. In total, there were 193 fever patients, and under the aid of the tonics, 172 survived and 21 died.

  Another month was given for the patients to recuperate before they were hauled to the Homo Evolutis Faction for analysis. There were 13 new known Homo Evolutis: Saburo was a Whisperer, Barbie was an Anima, Mao Miao was a Diviner, Ning Xue was a Perceptor, and the female soldier who saved Zhang Heng was a Seeker. The rest were all Survivors [2]!

  Sadly, there was no new All-Rounder or Deceiver…

  "159 survivors and 13 known Homo Evolutis."

  Looking at that line in his report, Yao Yuan had mixed feelings. If mankind had better medical technology during the first Virus X fever, the lives of several hundred people would be saved and there would be more Homo Evolutis around… "Regardless, the truth is that a second batch of Homo Evolutis is here. Then…

  The digging operation shall resume tomorrow!"

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  Chapter142 Army Draft and Excavation

  With the arrival of the second batch of Homo Evolutis, the Barracks immediately reared its head. Excluding the Whisperers and women, the amount of able-bodied new Homo Evolutis was 122.

  Realizing that this fever might not be an isolated occurrence, the Barracks approached Yao Yuan with an ambitious proposal. They wanted all male Homo Evolutis to be handed compulsory enlistment if they survived Virus X. They wanted this to be part of the Hope’s legislation.

  This was because Homo Evolutis were natural soldiers, a feature that was perfectly showcased when paired with weaponry from the 4th revolution. The most notable example was the Space Combat Jet Prototype 003.

  The Survivors could handle the combat jets with a maximum speed of 150 kilometers per second while other Homo Evolutis could handle 200 kilometers per second. Theoretically, they could still pursue a higher speed if not for the fact that speed was not the only thing one needed to be concerned with while sitting at the pilot’s seat. The 4th revolution added many accessory systems to the combat jets, like a ballistics prediction system, a coordinate triangulation system, a natural lock-on system, and a target homing system. Utilizing all of them in tandem to one another required extreme focus. In other words, only Homo Evolutis could pilot these combat jets.

  Therefore, for the Barracks, the more Homo Evolutis the Hope’s army had, the better it was. Forgoing the combat jet for a minute, another 4th revolution technology could also help prove how Homo Evolutis were miles above common soldiers.

  This technology was the Black Star troopers’ standardized combat suit. The spacesuit was created using a thin alloy alien-tech, equipped with high-power electromagnetic non-invasive body matrix and space armor prototype 1. The body matrix included an internal electromagnetic induction system that calibrated the wearer’s movement speed using his innate ability. For example, when Yao Yuan put it on, the highest speed he could achieve during combat was up to 400 meters per second!

  Even Zhang Heng, who was unfamiliar with combat, could go up to 150 meters per second. That was 3 times the speed possible for normal soldiers!

  Even though speed didn’t mean everything in combat, it had unequivocally showed the value of Homo Evolutis in combat. It was little wonder why the Barracks wanted to have all the male Homo Evolutis for itself.

  Yao Yuan, though, rejected this proposal after careful consideration. For one, it was not necessary that all males must be suited for combat. Their expertise or talent might be more useful off the battlefield. Pushing them into combat might put them in a situation where they could fumble and die in their first battle, thus depriving the Hope of their talent that might shine elsewhere.

  Secondly, not all female were unsuitable for combat. Combat drills had shown women to be good jet pilots as well.

  Lastly, if the Homo Evolutis were forced into the military, they might grow resentful of the government. If there were people like Xiao Niao, who was initially suspicious of the military in the new batch of Homo Evolutis, being forced into the military could only exacerbate that antagonism.

  To conclude, even though the Homo Evolutis were powerful, it didn’t necessarily correspond to them having a greater responsibility. The best scenario was for them to volunteer to join the army.

  However, Yao Yuan knew a volunteer system couldn’t work for the Hope because of their current population number. After consulting a few experts, Yao Yuan decided to roll out an obligatory military service.

  If the Hope had several billion people in population, of course a voluntary military service would be a non-issue, but in reality, the Hope only had 130,000 plus adults. For a population this size, there had to be more than 5,000 soldiers to ensure everyone’s safety!

  But who would volunteer?

  Granted, there might be quite a number that would be willing to pick up arms to protect his or her family or out of a sense of loyalty to the Hope.

  However, one had to admit that such sentiments were limited to the first generation of Earth escapees. They had been through it all with the government, so they had forged a sense of loyalty in their common goal of seeking a better future for all human survivors!

  The question was… could that loyalty be cultivated across generations? In the far future, when Earth was long forgotten, how many would still willingly join the army to protect its survivors… several thousand… or hundreds?

  Therefore, instead of wa
iting until then, Yao Yuan had decided to introduce an obligatory military service when the public was still in line with the government’s philosophy. When there were more people to go around, they could revert to a voluntary service. Yao Yuan believed it was easier for the public to stomach an enlistment policy this way than the other way round.

  Thus, Yao Yuan transformed the Hope’s military system. First, the obligatory military service was written into the law. Every man in the Hope under the age of 60 was on army reserve duty and could be scripted into the army if necessary. Exception was given to members of the Academy and the Workshop.

  Changes were also made to the Homo Evolutis Faction. First, detailed analysis had to be carried out on new and future batches of Homo Evolutis to identify their power before they were conscripted. This was to make sure non-combative Homo Evolutis, like Whisperers and Animas, could be isolated to prepare them for training that would better suit their powers.

  For example, the most powerful Anima then, Nian Xi Kong, had been honing her skill in the past few years.

  As an Anima who could phase into what the aliens called the "soul web" with just singing, her power could bypass the creator’s particle. Information is important on the battlefield, especially when the enemy doesn’t expect you to have access to it. Therefore, Xi Kong had become a unique strategic advantage in combat. Her power allowed the troopers to perform simple, coordinated moves in combat despite the confines of the creator’s particle.

  This was a strategic upper hand that shouldn’t be underestimated. Her power could practically give an army from a level 2 civilization an edge over an army from a level 3 civilization and even possibly allow them to emerge victorious.

  This was the undisputed power of the Anima, even though she was behind the front lines. With the appearance of the creator’s particle, the Anima only became that much more important, giving her allies valuable leverage over the enemy!