What happened before?
A look of reminiscence crossed Yuan Heguang's eyes. "Those things happened so long ago, so long that I can hardly remember them anymore."
He stood up and said to Zhang Tianyuan and the other two:
"Come with me to the archives; the records there are the most detailed."
Zhang Tianyuan got up and followed him out of the reception room. His assistant A Hang, was still pacing around outside, getting a little anxious. When he saw Zhang Tianyuan and the others come out, he came over to greet them.
" A Hang, I'm taking my guests to the archives. Could you ask the cafeteria staff to prepare a few dishes for me..."
"Standard standards are fine, nothing too fancy is necessary," Zhang Tianyuan added.
Yuan Heguang nodded, A Hang left immediately.
The four of them then went to the archives.
The administrator turned on the computer and, as Zhang Tianyuan requested, retrieved the archive records from the database.
Zhang Tianyuan glanced at the time displayed on the computer screen:
June 15, 2067.
Wormholes appeared 48 years ago.
In other words, the wormhole appeared in 2019 in this timeline.
The information that appeared on the screen next confirmed his idea.
"Before 2019, our society was very stable, until that year we discovered gravitational anomalies on Saturn."
"Scientists quickly discovered the root cause: a wormhole had appeared near Saturn."
Yuan Heguang looked at the text and pictures on the screen, as if he was also reminiscing about those times:
"I remember that this news dominated global headlines for a whole month. People all over the world and all over the world were talking about it, and everyone's attention was focused on space."
"At that time, a space race swept the globe. Every country with the capability wanted to understand wormholes and the world on the other side of them. To this end, countries spared no expense and once again staged a space race, with everyone rushing to Saturn, afraid that they would be even a little slower than others."
"At that time, everyone was full of hope. Everyone believed that they would soon find a new home on the other side of the wormhole, and that humanity would begin Interstellar colonization..."
Zhang Tianyuan listened quietly, his eyes never leaving the information on the computer in front of him.
Instructor Yin and Zheng Xu sighed inwardly, both knowing that the story Yuan Heguang was telling would inevitably end in tragedy.
Having witnessed the desolate, sand-swept world outside, they found it hard to imagine the golden age they had known.
Yuan Heguang paused for a moment, then sighed inwardly, "Good times don't last long. This era probably only lasted for a little over ten years before we reached a turning point."
Zhang Tianyuan's eyes had already set a timeframe.
2035.
The first appearance of Blight.
"The unexplained Blight suddenly appeared that year. At first, everyone thought it was some kind of pest or disease, or even a change in the Earth's magnetic field or soil composition. But in the end, we found that nothing had changed, but the crops were still slowly dying."
"Then came the second year, the third year... the Blight affected more and more crops, and after more than a decade of space race, there were three consecutive years of food instability, and some countries could no longer sustain it."
"No one would choose to sit idly by and wait to die, especially since robbery and plunder are in the nature of many countries. It was also in this year that some unrest began to occur in the world, until 2040 when the Blight dealt another blow to humanity—the soybeans disappeared."
"At that time, the entire Earth was like a grenade with its fuse already pulled; everyone was afraid that their granaries weren't big enough, that they didn't have enough food, and this panic was simply unstoppable..."
" Europe was the first to suffer. Within just a few years, most of their grain was plundered. Some of it went to the east, and some was transported across the Atlantic Ocean. Large farms on the plains were also largely destroyed."
Accompanied by Yuan Heguang's voice, images from that time appeared on the screen.
The fleet, destroyed and adrift in the storm, is sending its officers and soldiers, wearing life jackets, jumping into the sea to save themselves.
Tens of thousands of acres of farmland were engulfed in flames, turning the entire sky a fiery red and a deathly black.
In a city where all the skyscrapers have been cut in half, shattered glass covers the streets, stained with blood, like gleaming rubies.
besides...
There were also warships with decks piled high with grain, cargo ships laden with jewels and livestock, and white soldiers holding roasted lamb legs on the battlefield...
Zhang Tianyuan's mood became somewhat heavy.
"And then what? Has the unrest not stopped yet? Judging from the pictures, there's been a lot of looting."
"Not enough, far from enough." Yuan Heguang shook his head. "According to our intelligence, the grain and supplies looted from Europe are actually only a fraction of what they were originally intended to be."
This effectively offset the costs of troop deployment; most of the grain and farmland were voluntarily burned.
"In other words, after several years, the people who planned this operation have barely recouped their costs..."
"Of course," Yuan Heguang took a deep breath and continued, "From a practical point of view, the people who planned this operation consumed a sufficient number of people over those years, reducing domestic food consumption and thus indirectly increasing grain reserves. So it wasn't entirely without profit."
As Instructor Yin and Zheng Xu listened, their hearts were filled with shock. They found it hard to believe that such things had happened in other countries in this timeline, that they had to use such methods to actively deplete their population.
Those were precious lives!
Zhang Tianyuan sighed.
Without Yuan Heguang needing to continue, he knew where the next disturbance would occur.
The western part of World Island is already out of food and manpower, so it's naturally the eastern part's turn.
Otherwise, how could a drone commanded by the Delhi Command Center have flown over North America?
As expected, according to Yuan Heguang...
The second unrest lasted until 2057, ultimately ending in chaos in South Asia.
"Although those people failed to set foot in East Asia, South Asia was still devastated. The only thing we can do to help is to destroy all their supply convoys evacuating from the Indian Ocean, so that they will gain nothing in their second operation..."
Zhang Tianyuan carefully examined the information flashing on the screen, which detailed all the actions and data from that time.
Yuan Heguang's statement is not entirely accurate.
They did more than just blow up the grain transport team on the other side.
Instead, over a period of about ten years, they sent the entire navy and air force across the Pacific Ocean into the sky.
This is precisely why the other side completely halted their operations on World Island. After all, with their hands and feet gone, they couldn't cause any more trouble, no matter how much they wanted to.
Especially now, with the significant decline in industrial scale, the impact is enormous. The production capacity of aircraft and ships is not only incomparable to that of the past, but may not even be comparable to that of the 20th century.
It was Yuan Heguang who sent all the opposing naval and air forces into the sky, finally bringing an end to the global turmoil that began in 2040 and continued until 2057.
Moreover, it was in this year that most countries in the world abandoned their armies, either because they were destroyed or because they could no longer afford to maintain them.
The drone command center in Delhi was also shut down. As a result, the drones that were still flying over North America lost command and continued to fly in the air according to the pre-programmed sequence.
It wasn't until the plane malfunctioned and began to descend to a low altitude, that it was discovered and captured by the movie's protagonist Cooper.
One important reason why these drones were able to fly over North America for a decade is that the North America drone command center closed down earlier than the one in Delhi...
What else?
There are no planes left, and they still won't shut down the facility. Are they going to let the staff there draw salaries without working?
People in North America even went a step further, following the global trend and abolishing their armies.
After all, by then, the world's food reserves had been almost entirely plundered, and as the Blight worsened, occupying land became increasingly unrealistic.
The army and war gradually lost their meaning, so there was no need to maintain them any longer.
This led to Cooper's famous question to the headmaster at his children's school, "Now that we don't even need to support the military, where has all the money gone?"
After recounting the past, Yuan Heguang continued, "After 2057, many places around the world will exist in name only. Either there will be no people left, or there will be no organizations. Humanity will be like savages, returning to agricultural or even primitive societies, relying only on the remnants of the old civilization for survival."
Even if some countries still exist, they would certainly be pursuing isolationism now, completely ignoring the outside world.
The current state of the Americas is a typical example.
The era of globalization that once existed has now completely ended, and most people no longer interact with each other.
The more Zhang Tianyuan listened, the more moved he became.
He learned from Yuan Heguang that their situation was also not good.
Yuan Heguang and his group did not choose to actively deplete the population during the global unrest of the first two decades, which has resulted in them still having to support as many as 1.2 billion people today.
In this context, many places have effectively regressed from industrial civilization back to agrarian civilization. The fruits of industry have gradually disappeared from society, and people's lives have entered a state of self-sufficiency.
They farmed their own land and made their own tools...
This is also why Instructor Yin once mentioned that he actually saw a blacksmith shop next to a city street.
Of course, with the Blight becoming increasingly severe, this self-sufficiency is extremely fragile, even more so than in ancient societies.
Therefore, during these ten years, Yuan Heguang have been recuperating and rebuilding their strength.
"I've heard that Washington has restarted its research on Saturn's black hole in recent years, and we've been monitoring it closely. Our original plan was that if they didn't make any progress, we would get involved once we recovered a bit more."
At this point, Zhang Tianyuan had already understood Yuan Heguang's line of thinking.
Yuan Heguang was not unaware of North America's research on Saturn's black hole; he was simply waiting for the right opportunity.
If the research in North America yields results, they can simply take advantage of it for free. Only if no results are found will they consider continuing to invest resources.
Yuan Heguang wasn't in a hurry at all.
And the source of his composure...
Zhang Tianyuan narrowed his eyes. Yuan Heguang's military characteristics were actually quite obvious, and if he remembered correctly, Yuan Heguang had not been deeply involved in the global riots more than 20 years ago.
In other words, unlike other countries, Yuan Heguang may still maintain considerable power.
Thinking back to what Instructor Yin had just reported to him via system communication, Yuan Heguang he had hidden a pistol in his office drawer...
Who knows how many guns this person has hidden in the other drawers?
Thinking of this, Zhang Tianyuan smiled and said, "On the other side of Saturn's black hole, there are indeed New Star suitable for humans."
Yuan Heguang didn't ask where the news came from. After a moment's thought, he made up his mind. "Then I'll have someone go and propose a cooperation project to the space agency across the street tomorrow."
Zhang Tianyuan said, "The space agency on the other side has been studying Saturn's black hole for many years. It would indeed be beneficial to cooperate with them, but in my opinion, there's no need to rush."
"It's best to let them bring up the cooperation idea themselves."
As he spoke, Zhang Tianyuan tapped the table, emphasizing that the other party should take the initiative to propose cooperation. Yin Zheng and the other person beside him nodded in unison, clearly agreeing with the idea.
Because in these kinds of situations, whoever brings it up first is always in a passive position.
Yuan Heguang probably didn't care about this situation, since he originally intended to get something for free.
However, the current Mutual Aid Society cannot accept this situation.
After several phases, all branches have reached a consensus: the matchmaking system in North America might be a bit too good.
That place is full of bizarre and outrageous things!
Aside from the establishment of United Government in the Wandering Spacetime, among the North America regions of the other timelines, only Taylor from the Pacific Rim Spacetime is relatively normal, followed by Thomas from 2012.
In the other three timelines, the seemingly normal Legend Spacetime, although containing Robert, still leaves a deep impression with those old chrysanthemums hiding in Antarctica...
Not only did Zhang Tianyuan find Jack, the charlatan from the Finch Spacetime, speechless, but Becker from the Day After Tomorrow Spacetime left the entire Mutual Aid Society speechless as well.
We still don't know how to clean up that mess over there.
In short, in these different time periods, the North America region truly boasts a riot of colorful flowers, a sight rarely seen on earth.
Against this historical backdrop, even normal North America Branch presidents like Thomas, Taylor, and Robert would feel apprehensive upon hearing about cooperating with North America and having North America take the initiative.
Compared to this, they would rather give up the cooperation, even if it meant giving up the data and research results on Saturn's black hole and starting all over again, than be tortured.
This matter was specifically conveyed to him by the various chairpersons after the last time-space conference, after the discussion on how to deal with No. 7 Spacetime.
Carl, in particular, went to great lengths, going through layers of bureaucracy, to make a time-traveling phone call to him, just to tell him—
The lessons of the Day After Tomorrow Spacetime are still vivid in my mind, as if they were right before my eyes!
------Aside------
The timeline used on this website states that Cooper was born in 2032 and was 35 years old at the start of the story (2067), which is relatively reasonable. In a poor society, a child would be born at 20 and Murphy at 25 (2057).
As for the month, Cooper's cornfield was still in the tasseling stage. According to what I found, North America corn is planted from April to June and matures from September to December, with a transition period in between, so June was chosen.