Survivors

Long Fei activated the recording device and viewed the archived files on the tablet.

The records contained many images of the spacecraft's crew while they were still alive.

The person filming was a little blonde girl.

The little girl had a warm and cheerful relationship with the crew.

Then there was a blonde woman in an orange work uniform. She looked sixty or seventy percent similar to the little girl. Judging by their features and skin tone, they did not seem to be purely Caucasian, but rather mixed-race. Their features and complexion had an Eastern look, while their blonde hair and blue eyes were Caucasian.

"They look like sisters. Medicine fifty or sixty years ago wasn't as advanced as it is now. Human lifespans only started increasing to around two hundred years in the past fifty years. Back then, genetic modification to extend one's lifespan was only available in the Earth Sphere, and only the wealthy could afford it. It only became widespread thirty years ago. It seems the crew of this Jupiter spacecraft never underwent any genetic modification," Long Fei deduced.

Long Fei pressed a shortcut key and sped up the video.

He watched several video files in a row, all of which documented bits and pieces of their lives aboard the spacecraft.

Long Fei found it rather boring. He opened another video file, deciding that if it was still more footage of their daily lives, he would switch to the written documents after finishing it.

In footage of many crew members eating, the little girl's older sister, who was filming, suddenly looked terrified just before the recording ended.

Long Fei immediately paused the video, rewound it ten seconds, and resumed normal playback.

At the beginning, the little girl who often did the filming suddenly screamed. Her sister's expression immediately turned terrified, and the crew looked at the sisters in shock.

Then, in the final seconds of the video, an explosion suddenly erupted and the spacecraft shook violently. Finally, the crew's screams came to an abrupt end as the screen went black.

"The sound of the explosion must have come from the spacecraft's engine exploding."

Long Fei checked the subsequent video files. They showed the captain and crew attempting to contain the accident aboard the spacecraft.

In the end, they failed. Even their distress signals received no rescue response.

Long Fei searched for the footage left behind by the captain.

In the video, a weary captain with a face full of white beard sat in his seat and gave a statement to the screen.

"In the third year of the Jupiter Federation, as the first Jupiter spacecraft bound for the Earth Sphere, I never expected an accident like this to happen. The engine exploded for unknown reasons. Though we did everything we could, our rescue efforts ended in failure. Many crew members were exposed to nuclear radiation and eventually suffered physical mutations. The mutated crew members could not bear the psychological blow and committed suicide. When no rescue came, most of the surviving crew took their own lives in despair. The few remaining crew members gradually went mad in this dark, hopeless environment and began hurting one another. To prevent things from escalating, I could only shoot them myself." By this point, the old captain was already weeping, his face full of despair and self-reproach.

The old captain continued, "Lixiang had always been the ship's source of joy. After the accident, she kept trying to smile, hoping to bring hope to the crew. At first, everyone worked very hard, but as time passed, endless failures drove everyone into despair. From then on, Lixiang gradually lost her smile. Worse still, the ship collided with a meteorite, and much of the equipment aboard was damaged beyond use. Everyone fell into even deeper despair. From that point onward, Lixiang became increasingly depressed. To keep that child from continuing to live in such an environment, her sister and I discussed it and gave Lixiang a sedative before placing her in the hibernation pod in my secret room, putting her into cryogenic sleep. The cryogenic hibernation pod was experimental technology of the Jupiter Federation. It was still in the experimental stage, and I had no certainty it would work. As a precaution, there was actually another cryogenic hibernation pod in my hidden room. Thankfully, it succeeded, so the remaining backup pod was temporarily unnecessary. The power needed for the cryogenic pod does not come from this ship's Nuclear Fusion Engine or the backup power room, but from the ship's emergency solar panels. Although we are far from the sun and the energy they absorb cannot operate the spacecraft, it is enough to keep the cryogenic pod running." At this point, the old captain looked toward a certain spot. Long Fei guessed it was where the captain's hidden hibernation pod was located.

"In the end, fewer than ten crew members remained. One after another, they committed suicide. Taoxiang nearly suffered sexual assault from the last two crew members who had gone mad, but I shot those two crew members myself and saved Taoxiang. Taoxiang did not thank me. She felt that even if I had saved her, what did it matter? She did not want to live anyway. At that time, I slapped Taoxiang and told her that her younger sister was still sleeping, that she still needed her older sister. A trace of will to survive flashed through Taoxiang's formerly despairing eyes. I decided to let Taoxiang use the backup cryogenic hibernation pod. At first, when Taoxiang learned that only one pod remained, she refused and wanted me, the captain, to use it. But I told Taoxiang, if your sister is rescued and wakes up without seeing you, her older sister, by her side, but instead sees an old man like me, she will be terribly sad. When she wakes up, what she needs most is not an old man like me, but you, her older sister." After saying this, the captain moved the camera toward a painting in a frame.

"To any rescuers who see this video, remove the painting frame. There is a button there. Press it, and the hidden room will open. The password is yzj00. The two sisters are sleeping there. I hope you can save them. This is my only wish and request." After saying that, the captain turned the camera back toward his seat.

Then the captain took a pistol from a drawer and held it before the camera, making his final statement.

"I, Bickley, was useless. I failed to lead all my crew to the Earth Sphere, to see that beautiful planet. This accident happened because I, the captain, was incompetent and a failure. I have only one final wish: that all my dead crew members can forgive me, and that together we may pray for those two sisters to be rescued."

After Captain Bickley said this, he raised the gun to his temple and shot himself, ending his life.

Long Fei immediately stood up, intending to investigate and see whether Jupiter's last two people were still alive.