Phase Overview
As the festival approached, Yue Yuan also delivered a speech via live video broadcast.
"Since the Solar System catastrophe, 1,150 years have passed. Today also marks the 40th year since we arrived in the Wolf 1061 Star System. Although we have spent most of our time in hibernation, the time of the universe has indeed flowed for thousands of years."
Yue Yuan gave this type of speech every few years, aiming to strengthen cohesion and incidentally enhance his ruling prestige. He felt that since he had chosen the path of dictatorship, he couldn't give up halfway; he should go all the way and consolidate his position as much as possible.
As usual, the speech was delivered through the internal human communication system, and his speech could be seen in every room, every cabin, and on television screens everywhere.
Yue Yuan's speech echoed through the cabins. This kind of New Year's speech, which only comes once every few years, was quite rare. Most of the residents on the Hope were willing to spend some time listening, especially since this year was quite special, with most people staying at home eating and drinking to their hearts' content, so they could listen while they ate.
"Since the day the sun was destroyed, a series of disasters have followed. The earth was destroyed, the moon turned to ashes, Mars followed suit, and even the sun did not leave behind any remnants. We are lucky. We survived with difficulty thanks to the shielding of Jupiter, and with the help of the only remaining radioactive minerals on Callisto and the wisdom of countless scientists, we embarked on a vast Starry Road among the stars."
"After nearly a thousand years of voyage, we arrived at the other side of the star, Ross 154. There, we thought we could develop peacefully, but we encountered the Nano Mining Robot of the Moke Star Civilization. They were an Artificial Intelligence Consciousness, which we called the 'Silver Mist Consciousness'."
Yue Yuan began by reviewing the history of humankind over thousands of years, then began to describe the technological regression that humanity had experienced since the disasters, and finally how, through the efforts of countless scientists, the regressed technology was gradually brought back and then surpassed.
Many people stopped what they were doing and listened carefully to Yue Yuan's speech.
History since the disaster has been written into human history textbooks, but this speech, which reviews history in concise language, gives the listener a sense of the vicissitudes of time and the condensation of history.
Especially for the younger generation, the speech gave them a feeling different from attending a history class, as if they were reviewing history.
Every sentence Yue Yuan uttered, which encapsulated the entire event, brought to mind historical texts they had studied in class.
Learning from the past is a guide for the future, and at this moment, the new generation seems to have understood the significance of history.
"Energy shortages, material scarcity, technological regression, and the insurmountable barrier of space—these past difficulties could not stop the great human race from moving forward. With our excellent qualities, we have united as one and worked together to overcome these challenges. Now, we have finally used our wisdom to enable all of humanity to meet the standards for embarking on the Starry Road."
"The course of Heaven is constant; it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie. Whenever disaster strikes, only we ourselves can save us; our God is our own wisdom."
"This is a great era, an era created by our own hands. In just a few decades, we have developed Life Elixir 1.0, which can extend human lifespan from a mere hundred years to two hundred years. Now we have successfully developed Life Elixir 2.0, which is a great scientific achievement because it can deceive genes for a full four hundred years."
It's worth mentioning that the two medicines are formulated differently; although they cannot be used simultaneously, they can be used sequentially. This means our lifespan has reached six hundred years."
In fact, if both are used simultaneously, they will both take effect at the same time. However, doing so would mean that after two hundred years, version 1.0 would become invalid while version 2.0 would have been effective for two hundred years, leaving only two hundred years of validity remaining, which would be considered duplicate effectiveness.
Therefore, humans who have used the Life Elixir 1.0 should wait until the drug's effects wear off before using version 2.0.
This is the only way to maximize the effectiveness of the Life Elixir. It also has another advantage: if people want offspring, they can have several more children when one Life Elixir wears off and their genetic reproduction function resumes.
On the other hand, the New Government can also, to some extent, unite the entire human society through the Life Elixir.
Yue Yuan continued his speech, "'The ephemeral fungus knows not the dawn and dusk, the cicada knows not spring and autumn!' The Life Elixir and the Enhancement Elixir, two great achievements in Biotechnology, have finally transformed us from ephemeral fungus and cicada into true cosmic life."
"In physics, we have also successfully made breakthroughs and mastered Controlled Nuclear Fusion, Miniaturized Fusion Reactor technology, General-purpose Quantum Computer, new Artificial Intelligence based on Quantum Computer, and new materials. Everything is developing rapidly!"
"Based on General-purpose Quantum Computer and superconducting technology, we have successfully developed a new type of personal data terminal, which is what you know as a mobile phone. Its performance is 100 million times that of traditional terminals! Yes, you heard right, 100 million times. This means that in the near future, each of us will have our own Supercomputer."
"The rapid development of computer technology has also enabled us to achieve exciting results in Virtual Reality technology and Artificial Intelligence, such as faster internet speeds and smarter Artificial Intelligence."
"Thanks to these technologies, our productivity has made a tremendous leap, transforming us from having only one Hope and one Callisto Warship to having a fleet today."
As Yue Yuan's speech changed, the television screen automatically split into sections, displaying scenes of spaceships, docks, and warships under construction.
To date, humanity has fifteen Residential Spaceship. Their naming is quite simple: the original Hope was Hope 1, and the others are numbered from Hope 2 to Hope 15.
The newly built Residential Spaceship is much larger than Hope 1, with a total length of 2,200 meters and a radius of 850 meters, which is 300 meters longer than Hope 1. It is designed primarily for habitation, so it can accommodate a much larger population than Hope 1.
Of course, since Residential Spaceship requires rotation to generate simulated gravity, a radius that is too large is not entirely suitable for human habitation. Fortunately, after being enhanced by the Enhancement Elixir, humans' various physical indicators have become extremely strong, so a slight difference in gravity has little impact.
Each of the Hope 2 to Hope 15 spaceships can accommodate 300,000 people. However, they are not yet fully occupied. Only Hope 1 to Hope 3 are full, and Hope 4 has just started to have adults moving in.
The reason is that the population consists mostly of newborns, children, and teenagers, totaling about 300,000.
In other words, the current total human population is about 970,000, which is about nine times more than when we first arrived in this star system, but almost a third of them have not yet grown up and are still being raised by their parents or the New Government's childcare facilities.
Overall, the New Government's various population policies have been quite effective, but these open policies have also led to a more open attitude towards gender relations in society, resulting in many illegitimate children.
Human social customs have changed, and the issue of illegitimate children is no longer considered a problem; people have become accustomed to it, especially the new generation.