Chapter 153: Medical Technology to Extend Life
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After carefully deliberating for two days with many discussions with Alice and Nuwa, Chen Jin finally made his decision.
Build it! Building the interstellar battles.h.i.+p was a must. However, he would not start the construction immediately. He would wait until he had sufficient resources before starting construction. The planned estimated date when the construction would start was seven years later. Construction would last for about five years. By the twelfth year, Chen Jin would be in possession of the first F grade interstellar battles.h.i.+p (The F grade was the weakest grade).
The maximum number of battles.h.i.+ps that he would build was one. After which, it would be an experimental s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p for scientific research purposes. He would carry out experiments on engine systems, weapons systems, and control systems. It would act as an experimental platform for various technologies. It would provide valuable support in terms of data for the development of the next battles.h.i.+p which would be more powerful.
That was right. The simulated reality game, “The Interstellar Homeland OL,” had a reality level of more than 99.9999%. Theoretically, the Prototype No.1 battles.h.i.+p designed by Alice in the simulated environment could be transformed into a battles.h.i.+p that was usable in reality. But, no matter how life-like the simulated reality environment was, even as it got infinitely closer to reality, there still existed a certain difference.
A miniscule difference of one in a hundred million. Such a small difference would not cause any big issues on small devices, but for something as ginormous and complicated as the interstellar battles.h.i.+p, the acc.u.mulated differences would be greater. If he did not build the Prototype No.1 in reality and extract huge amounts of real-life data from it to correct the differences, it was unlikely that Alice would be able to develop a more advanced interstellar battles.h.i.+p. Therefore, Prototype No.1 must be built!
But due to its weaker combat ability, he would build one and only onen. Using the Prototype No.1 as a foundation, he would research and develop Prototype No.2, which would have a more powerful combat ability. If Prototype No.2 had more powerful capabilities that were sufficient for his uses, then he would produce a few more. It would be a batch created for military purposes.
If Prototype No.2 had weaker capabilities that were insufficient to satisfy his needs, then he would stop at one. He would use the Prototype No.2 as a scientific development platform to aid the development of Prototype No.3. He would not stop until he had produced an interstellar battles.h.i.+p with a combat ability that met his satisfaction! After which, he would rapidly expand production capacities and produce them in lots until the quant.i.ty was sufficient.
This type of development model was termed “sprinting in small steps.” Then again, was this type of development somewhat “small-minded?” What if he was suddenly faced with danger? How would he resist the enemy when he had no decent battles.h.i.+ps? Of course, Chen Jin had his reasons for considering this course of action. A “generation gap” existed between weapons systems. For example, knives, swords, and crossbows were one generation ahead of rocks and wooden clubs. Rifles and cannons were one generation ahead of heavy cavalry. Aircrafts and tanks were one generation ahead of linear attacks. And the ultimate weapon of the nuclear bomb was one generation ahead of all conventional weapons.
In between two systems was a tremendous generation gap. Once a conflict occurred, the odds would not be one to 10 or one to dozens. It could be zero to infinite. Even if it was the most powerful weapon in its generation, once it came up against a weapon from the next generation, it would be destroyed and eliminated immediately.
For example, if the Prototype No.1 designed by Alice was to meet with an E grade battles.h.i.+p with a combat ability of 10 or more, the odds would be terrible at 0:10 or worse. If it met with a D grade battles.h.i.+p that was two generations ahead, the odds would be much worse than even 0:100. Hence, rather than having an interstellar battles.h.i.+p with outdated technology, it would be better to have one with the latest technology.
Under the premise of rapid technological development, he could reduce resource wastage by taking the pathway of “sprinting in small steps.” It was the best choice for him to achieve sufficient self-defense capabilities in the shortest amount of time. In this long intermediate gap before a battles.h.i.+p with a satisfactory performance could be achieved, the only action Chen Jin could take to build up his defense was only an early stage alarm system.
Chen Jin said, “Alice, your present task is urgent. You have to develop a type of early warning satellite and produce a few hundred or even thousands of them. Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens will take these satellites and release them into the periphery of Haierfa planet to create a set of early warning systems. The larger the monitoring range, the better! It has to be good enough to be able to detect approaching enemies early so we can have sufficient time to react!”
Alice replied, “Yes, master. I will immediately begin the development and production of the early warning satellite and build an excellent alarm system.”
Nuwa commented that with the current technological capabilities of the Base, the primary warning system could cover every corner in the area located within the radius of 100 astronomical units. With transmission speeds of electromagnetic waves, this would be equivalent to a warning of 13.8 hours in advance.
13.8 hours? Chen Jin nodded. With half a day’s time, it might be impossible to come up with an idea to defeat a stronger enemy, but it would be a simple thing to pack up his valuables and flee to Earth. Out of the near 300,000 tons of gold that he had acc.u.mulated in the Base, he could transport at least a few hundred tons to Earth….
“Say, why am I always thinking of fleeing?” Chen Jin shook his head forcefully. Those mysterious and powerful forces were causing him to feel crazy. Actually, he only wanted to peacefully carry out his various small projects to transform Haierfa into a planet filled with rolling hills and clear waters, with the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers in the background.
However, after witnessing the post-destruction devastation on Haierfa, he dare not remain defenseless no matter how much trust he had in himself. Even worse, he had a vague hunch that the peaceful, countryside times when he could quietly develop his own projects would not continue forever. Sooner or later he would come face to face with those heretofore unknown powerful forces. Conflict would suddenly arise and they would collide. Maybe they would even fight to the death, and only then would the winner be revealed.
Chen Jin would face these collisions. It was because he could live until that moment.
There was a medical research facility located in the Base of Operation’s science R&D zone. Based on the technological information and medical equipment gathered, a type of medical technology had been successfully developed inside the facility. A risk-free life-extending technology! This technology could extend a human’s life to around the age of 220, totally free of medical risks.
The specific principles behind life-extension included “increasing the lifespan of cells,””extending DNA telomeres,””strengthening the ability of cells to fight oxidation,” etc. A plethora of effective pharmaceutical ingredients was encompa.s.sed in a shot called the “life-extending injection.” The injection was made up of a light amber fluid. After an injection had been administered to the human body, the results were very obvious. In a few short days, one could see that he had turned younger. His skin would be smoother and tighter. His body would be filled with vigor.
However, the effects of this single injection could only last for a maximum of three months. He could go for this injection every three months. If he continued doing this for the rest of his life, not only could he live until 220, but he could also retain his youthful looks and vitality forever.
The price was exorbitant. One shot of the “life-extending injection” cost 100,000 Mi dollars. Four injections in a year was equivalent to 400,000 Mi dollars. However, the annual income of the overwhelming majority would not exceed 300,000 Mi dollars. Hence, it was an unchangeable fact that this was a medical treatment that only the rich could afford.
However, the AI, Scarlet (Scarlet was not re-formatted. After Alice entered ‘Sakura,’ Scarlet was restarted), who was in charge of researching this medical technology, commented, “The production cost of the life-extending injection is very low. At most, it cost 10 Mi dollars to manufacture one injection. As long as the raw materials are sufficient, the Base can ma.s.s-produce the injections in big batches.”
Production cost of 10 Mi dollars? Chen Jin shook his head. “The profits from this injection is so much higher than profits from drugs! The pharmaceutical company called ‘Angel’ has a blacker heart than drug runners.” Now that this life-extending injection could be manufactured at the Base, he could get a shot every day without worrying about the costs, much less getting only one shot every three months.
However, the effects of this injection was limited to the age of 220. Beyond this age, the amounts of toxins and heavy metals acc.u.mulated in the human body would reach life-threatening levels. If one still wanted to extend his life, he could go to the nursing facility on the moon or the hospital in outer s.p.a.ce. In a minimal to zero gravity environment, he would receive the “low-risk life-extending treatment” where toxins would be eliminated from his body. After eliminating all the various toxins from the body, it was basically a non-issue to extend one’s life until 300 years old.
But, when a person had lived for more than 300 years, he would face increasing medical risks if he wanted to extend his life. Still, there were medical treatments that could achieve this.
However, the development history of Haierfa was not long. To the day that the civilization was destroyed, the longest living billionaire was only 289 years old. He did not have the opportunity to undergo the medical treatment that would allow him to extend his life to a thousand years or more.
So, if Chen Jin wanted to extend his life to a thousand years or even more, he had to develop this medical technology himself. In short, living forever was not wishful thinking. For him, it was something that was entirely achievable.