Reason

Two hundred years is both a long and a short time.

"Long" refers to the Earth Era, while "short" refers to the interstellar era.

Yue Yuan mentally estimated how much time he had left, then took a few steps forward to approach Zhu Pete and said, "We can't delay any longer. Let's freeze Yi Kai under the pretext of the Eighth Law! You handle this personally."

"Good!" Zhu Pete nodded emphatically.

He knew what the so-called Eighth Law was; it concerned the New Government's policy towards outstanding scientists, which stipulated many benefits for them, including a hibernation program for those nearing the end of their lives.

The reason Yue Yuan decided so quickly to use the Eighth Law as a pretext when he heard that Yi Kai was nearing the end of his life was because, after hearing Zhu Pete's words, he checked the probability of Yi Kai hibernating through his Personal Terminal service.

The document records that relevant personnel had advised Yi Kai to hibernate and await future technological advancements, but Yi Kai refused. According to Yi Kai, his reason for refusing was that he didn't need to hibernate and wanted to continue his research in Life Science, striving to develop New Life Elixir as soon as possible.

He also claimed that he is a scientist of the old era, whose thinking is no longer keeping up with the younger generation. He argued that leading research in the field of cutting-edge technology for too long would actually bring science to a standstill, and the fact that breakthroughs in Life Elixir have been slow to materialize is the best proof of this.

Yue Yuan believed the first explanation, but not the second.

Yi Kai was making up a completely random excuse. As the leader of a civilization, Yue Yuan was more than aware of the scientists at the forefront of science and the fields they were researching. After all, he would take time to pay attention to the development of other aspects after handling his daily affairs.

There are many scientists in the fields of Life Science and biology, and Yi Kai is not the only one. His research team is also far from being the only one. Yi Kai just one of the best among them. In addition, he is senior, cheerful and approachable, and has taught many students.

Therefore, almost all scientists in the Life Science community respect him very much. It is for this reason that Yi Kai has been sitting in the leadership position of the Life Science Association for many years. However, sitting in this position is only a manifestation of his popularity, not that everyone has to listen to him in scientific research.

After so many years of policies promoting science, a scientific environment has been formed where, when there are differing opinions and views, other scientists or researchers will not give you face regardless of your position.

So what Yi Kai called outdated thinking is irrelevant. Besides, he's not outdated at all; on the contrary, he's like a child who never ages, always maintaining the lifestyle habits from his childhood.

Yue Yuan remembers this vividly; he still vividly recalls the scene when he first met Yi Kai at the Guanghan Palace Base.

Yue Yuan's pupils lost focus as he was lost in memories of the past. But it was only for a brief moment. When he came back to his senses, he found that Zhu Pete had already turned around and was about to walk away.

Seeing this, Yue Yuan quickly said, "Pi Te, wait a moment."

"Commander Yue, is there anything else?" Zhu Pete stopped and turned around to look at him, his face still as serious as ever.

"After arranging Yi Kai's hibernation, you should go hibernate too!" Yue Yuan looked at Zhu Pete's thick hair; genetic technology had already cured his baldness.

"Commander Yue, this is not appropriate!" Zhu Pete did not accept Yue Yuan's opinion unconditionally. He gave his reasons. "So many years have passed, and we humans thought we had gotten rid of the threat of death, but now society seems to have returned to the past overnight, and birth, aging, sickness and death have once again become the focus of society."

This is particularly serious among the general public, and the group that has the most discussions and opinions is the new generation. Judging from their remarks, they seem to have developed a certain resentment towards the natural end of life, and this sentiment seems to be intensifying.

While there is a fear of death involved, analysis by relevant departments indicates that the primary sentiment is one of resentment—a resentment that the universe is so beautiful, and that humanity's future is so wonderful, yet they cannot witness it. These departments analyze that if this sentiment is not handled properly, it could spread throughout society. Some people have already intentionally or unintentionally proposed expanding the scope of the Eighth Law, which currently only targets scientists and Research Personnel, to the entire society, in order to gain a chance to hibernate before aging. If this sentiment festers, it could potentially cause social unrest.

Besides these, there are voices urging for the launch. These people believe that once the launch is made, the New Government will initiate a major Hibernation Plan, which will allow them to observe their aging process and await future technological treatment.

However, this claim was merely wishful thinking on their part and was quickly refuted by some informed individuals. After all, they were unaware that when the Great Fleet embarked on its voyage, research institutions would also enter a semi-hibernation phase.

Zhu Pete is right. Humanity seems to have set foot in the stars for thousands of years, but it has only now reached the level of Level 3 Civilization. All that time was not wasted, but rather everyone was in a deep hibernation while the fleet was traversing Star System.

The real development of science and technology only occurred when humans stayed in a Star System, since the resources carried during travel were mainly used for survival and to prevent various accidents.

However, this situation should improve somewhat by the time it reaches Level 3 Civilization, but not much, for no other reason than that the speed of travel will increase.

At 50% of the speed of light, a noticeable time dilation effect already occurs. If it were a 46-year journey, traveling at 50% of the speed of light, the people on the spaceship would only feel that 40 years had passed before they arrived at their destination.

The closer the speed is to the speed of light, the greater the time difference between the observer and the mover; this is the time dilation effect.

At this moment, Zhu Pete paused for a moment, and seeing that Yue Yuan seemed to be thinking, he felt that there was a chance. So he pressed on while the iron was hot and said, "Nowadays, there are already some problems emerging in our human society. We need the Security Department more than ever. As the Minister of the Security Department, how can I go into hibernation at this time? As the ancients said, death is inevitable for everyone. Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of nature, so what is there to fear?"

Hearing Zhu Pete's reasons, Yue Yuan fell silent.

Yue Yuan was aware of the various voices in society recently, so he knew that what Zhu Pete said was true. Just as Zhu Pete said, the strength of the Security Department was needed even more at this time.

Because nowadays, in a world where everyone has received genetic enhancements, only the Security Department have the strength to overwhelm ordinary people. With them around, chaos can be prevented within the human community.

However, while the facts are the facts, Yue Yuan was considering more than just these aspects.