Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-286

Chapter 286: Shock!

The Hope had entered December of Year 013. With the advent of AI robots, the Hope currently had 1,300 plus AI robots, and they had taken over most of the manual labour labor. For example, manufacturing, which was previously understaffed. This introduced a giant increase to the Hope’s production speed. Thus far, the Hope had created around one hundred Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s and 10 percent of the Hope’s latest upgrade had been finished.

On the other hand, research on nanobots had reached a standstill. The biggest obstacle was nanobot metallurgy. Other than that, all the remaining technologies had been completed. After this hurdle was solved, mankind would welcome a new manufacturing era.

Sadly, among all the scientists on the Hope, there was none that was familiar with this field. Even when the Hope left Earth, they only had a handful of scientists hailing from this field of science. Therefore, even though the government had poured tons of effort into this sector, the effect wasn’t big. The most depressing was the fact that the Whisperers and, weirdly, Wang Da Bing were complete strangers to this study.

Therefore, they had no choice but to wait…

At the same time, cries for reformation of civilian goods were on the rise. Currently, only the Hope’s medical science had entered the 4th revolution. In comparison, other civilian goods still remained in 3rd revolution level. Only a small section had been upgraded. Therefore, as the Hope idled in space, hoping to reach the peak of 4th revolution, this cry had appeared.

The public hoped to enjoy the benefits of the advancement of science. Other than an increased life span, they also yearned for an increase in quality of life. This was natural for human beings, or rather, all life forms. Every life form improves themselves for the sake of having a more convenient lifestyle.

Finally, at December of Year 013, this cry couldn’t be ignored by Yao Yuan anymore. This was because more than six representatives had brought up such proposals in the House of Representatives. These proposals started to garner requests among the house and the general public. They hoped for the government to introduce 4th revolution technologies to the public.

Yao Yuan might've been a dictator, but he was not a cruel leader. In fact, he almost never used his dictatorial power unless it was absolutely necessary, like in a war. He was a fair leader that was willing to listen to the opinions of the public, and this was one of those times…

"I understand the public’s demand, they wish to enjoy the benefits of better life quality with the aid of better technology, and this was to be expected. Of course, I know it is a bit harsh for me to demand you finish designing 4th revolution public items when there are so many things to be done. Therefore, I won’t ask that you put your time into creating technologies like hover cars, or family-use super 6D televisions, or AI-operated games…"

This was during another scientific meeting, and this was to be the last of such meetings in the Year 013. Standing on stage, Yao Yuan told the scientists beneath, "I only have a simple request, which is to enable the people to see the blue sky…

"Of course, I’m not asking you to create a sky, I’m not that crazy. I’m just throwing a possibility out there. We already have 3D Projection technology, right? Why can’t we build up from there? Increase its size and longevity? Everyone here spends their entire day on the Hope, so you understand how dull it can get on the Hope. Even adults like us will feel monotonous watching the same metallic walls and narrow corridors day after day, much less the children. Don’t you feel pressured every time you lift up your head and see the metallic ceiling?

"Therefore, I’m sharing my thoughts with everyone here. If possible, I wish there could be some changes using the 3D projection technology. Of course, I’m not an expert, so this is just a suggestion. Whether it is usable is up to the Academy to research and decide… Increase the longevity and size of 3d projection and used it to cover the spacious pavilions scattered throughout the Hope. The 3d effects will overwrite the cold, emotionless, metallic walls and ceilings. Is that possible?

"I remember a comic from my childhood called Doraemon. There was such a technology in it. It could create the mirage that one was in a large expanse of nature even though one was actually in a small room using 3d technology. One could even hear the sounds of nature and could use the technology to emulate natural drafts, creating the sensation that one really was in the wild…"

The more Yao Yuan described it, the more excited he got. Not only him, the scientists underneath also had their eyes glowing with excitement.

"As everyone here knows, the Hope’s scientific research is already operating at full load. There are no more free people that I can move around to work on civilian goods. We have to focus on the Hope’s navigation and weapon technologies for now. Therefore, it is likely that in the next four to five years, there will be no change to public goods, and therefore, before that, is it possible to make my suggestion a reality? Think about your children, you must also wish for them to grow up in a world where they can enjoy nature and not face the cold, metallic walls every day, right? Even though the natural world they see will be a mirage, at least they’ll know that is how their home planet looked like!"

Yao Yuan’s order, or rather, suggestion, received good reception from the Academy. Furthermore, 3D projection technology was a technology the Academy had already mastered. A little tweaking was not much of an issue. The hardest parts were the size and longevity. However, this was not really that difficult. With the related scientists pooling their effort together, in less than a week, a large scale virtual environment generator was produced. Accompanying devices, like natural environment sound emulators, were already created. The only difficulty was creating natural drafts using the Hope’s homeostatic system. This was to be a large project, but for now, the most important point was to upgrade the many public pavilions so that the public could usher in a new year in a brand new environment.

This propelled the Hope’s manufacturing process into another round of business. It was only a week away from the new year, and even with the AI robots’ aid, transforming a handful of large public pavilions was not an easy task. Finally, Yao Yuan even had to order 2,000 Defense Unit soldiers to join in the operation. The public pavilions were thus closed down. This was because Yao Yuan wished to give the public a surprise, so he ignored the complaints from the people and kept the pavilions under complete quarantine. The news about the virtual environments was also kept a secret. Only a handful of individuals knew about it, and the majority of the public was kept in the dark…

Very soon, the new year had arrived. As mankind stepped into Year 014, it meant that it had been fourteen years since mankind was forced to evacuate from Earth. Like usual, luxury items and civilian goods were running out of stock on the market as everyone was preparing to welcome the new year. When everything was ready, on Year 014 January 1st, the few largest public pavilions were opened to the public again. This grand reopening stunned the public.

The pavilions had blue skies and white clouds. Even though the ground still felt like hard metal,it looked like pavement or sandy ground. Beyond the shops that surrounded the pavilions were not the inhibitive, metallic walls, but endless forests and plains that stretched beyond the horizon. Occasionally, they could even see doves flying across the sky and could hear the birds’ calls…

Even though the public knew that this was all 3D imaging and that the virtual environment was technically fake and they were still in space and inside the Hope, it didn’t decrease the shock and pleasant surprise. The people that lived near the pavilions practically had moved there, and those that lived further away took the electromobiles to visit the pavilions….

Dark circles ringed Yao Yuan’s eyes as he watched the crowd that thronged about the pavilions. In fact, there was so many people, way beyond the pavilions’ capacity, that there were cases of trampling. The Defense Unit soldiers had to be deployed to ensure public safety. Watching all this, Yao Yuan smiled satisfactorily. He was not God, so he couldn’t create a new planet for humanity, but he had given them the best he could. The only reward he hoped for was the people’s smiles…

After the project for the virtual environment had started, Yao Yuan hadn’t had a good night's sleep. He rushed the project so that it could meet the new year deadline; he had even moved into the construction site. Thankfully, it was all worth it…

"Captain, we found…"

Right then, a few government workers rushed over. They were wearing the surveillance team’s uniforms.

As Yao Yuan was watching the public in the pavilions, he asked without even turning around, "What did you find this time?"

Indeed, in these few days, people had been approaching him with endless reports and requests, like there weren't enough metals, not enough energy, and the placing was wrong. In other words, he was used to people greeting him like that.

"Noah One, the large spaceship built before the Hope, we’ve found Noah One’s signal!"

"What?!"