Chapter 580: Ten Years Later
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the entire history of mankind, never had there been such rapid growth in social structure.
Months went by in the span of days and something new and exciting happened every day. New inventions emerged continuously and new industries rose and fell every year.
Mankind was evolving at an unstoppable pace.
In July 2029, Blackwatch deployed the “Stem Cell Organ Cultivation” technology and from there on, disabled members of society became a thing of the past. Its patent number was 11,457,092.
In October 2029, the BHB Combative Police Force was officially named the Superpower Combative Police Force with the addition of “John the Guardian”.
In May 2031, Blackwatch had developed an upgraded model of Androids known as Little Dai. The upgraded Android was programmed with a modified IQ and EQ processes on par with a ten-year-old child. It was a model superior to its predecessor, Little AI, and patented under the number 11,572,838.
Furthermore, the modified Android model was more expressive than its predecessor which made people more open to having an Android a.s.sistant in their household.
By January 2031, the modified Android entered the global consumer market.
In April 2033, the Earth Federation issued regulations restricting the commercial use of Android Little Dai due to concerns about the exploitability of artificial intelligence.
In May 2033, the regulations were abolished and Little Dai was officially inducted into millions of households.
In August 2033, Chen Chen, the founder of Blackwatch, was awarded the Order of the British Empire medal by the Queen of England.
In February 2034, Blackwatch had acquired the national security enterprise of the North Sea Continent. This was the first-ever acquisition of a major enterprise in one of the four major continents in the Earth Federation. The reports immediately caused a global uproar.
In March 2034, Blackwatch invested 200 billion U.S. dollars in NASA and officially took charge of the “Kepler Mission.”
In December 2034, Blackwatch was ranked as one of the “Top Ten Companies to Work For” of all the 500 top-listed companies in the Earth Federation.
In June 2035, Blackwatch’s laboratory in New York developed a cryogenic system used to temporarily suspend all bodily functions which could then be immediately resumed upon deactivation. This invention was its first step to furthering its conquest into outer s.p.a.ce. Its patent number was 12,456,045.
In September 2035, Blackwatch had invested 300 billion U.S. dollars to build the world’s most advanced superconducting particle accelerator in the Erongo District of Namibia.
In February 2036, Blackwatch had invented a “s.p.a.ce-probing suit” fitted with a portable atmospheric regulatory system that allowed it to function in a vacuum and hostile conditions. This further strengthened the foundation for human exploration in extraterrestrial environments.
In June 2037, Blackwatch’s automated diagnosis and surgery platform “Blacklight Fully-automated Medical Platform” was developed. Patent number was 14,572,092.
In January 2038, after Blackwatch took over the Kepler Mission, they discovered a total of 45,327 terrestrial planets, of which thirteen were deemed potentially habitable.
In December 2039, the Earth Federation announced that credited to Blackwatch’s “Mankind Anti-aging Project”, the global average life expectancy of humans officially exceeded one hundred years old.
In January 2040, the original Mars habitation plan that was estimated to require a century to finalize was completed in just eleven short years due to the successive technological breakthrough achieved by Blackwatch. Mars officially became the second habitable planet for mankind and the first phase of human migration was about to begin...
...
A decade later.
A large airliner slowly landed at the Walvis Bay International Airport. Thousands of tourists got off the plane and were efficiently escorted by the tour guides to the charter buses.
As the charter buses drove out of the vicinity of the airport, they were greeted by the sight of an enormous city skyline that stretched on forever. The silver-gray skysc.r.a.pers towered like monumental pillars threatening to pierce into the clouds.
Intersecting the arrangement of skysc.r.a.pers were circular highways that orbited around the city. These high-alt.i.tude paths intersected with one another and granted seamless navigation across the cosmopolitan city.
Looking up, they could see colorful projected displays alternating between a range of advertis.e.m.e.nts. Sometimes it was an advertis.e.m.e.nt of the third generation household Android Little Li, then it would switch to highlight clips of the Superpower Combative Police Force in action. Upon exiting the airport, they saw the distinct logo of Blackwatch shown on the display.
“What you’re seeing now is Eco Science City in all its glory. This city has a permanent population of 1.35 million, but the floating population reaches up to an astonishing 5 million. Hundreds of thousands of people visit this city every day...
“At the same time, as the world’s first modern city with permanent holographic systems installed, electricity is completely free. It’s carried wirelessly in your surroundings.”
The tour guide smiled affectionately as he introduced the city’s merits to the tourists. “All electrical devices such as phones, computers, even electrical cars and other appliances that are fitted with the wireless charging chipsets developed by Blackwatch will never run out of electricity in this city!”
The tourists gazed out of the window to admire the wondrous view of the futuristic city and take in the miraculous sight.
Several minutes later, the charter bus arrived at the intercity Maglev1 central station connected to the city-spanning highways. With the instructions of the tour guide, the tourists stepped into the trains. The train departed after everyone settled themselves, moving at three hundred kilometers per hour as they made for the upper-level district of the city.
“What you see now is the global headquarters of Blackwatch. This recently constructed building is located in the central area of the city. It’s 671 meters high and has an indoor area of more than one million square meters. Its facilities currently house 13,890 employees...
“Over here is Blackwatch’s biological laboratory central hub. As we all know, biology is Blackwatch’s primary sector and this is where the world’s top biotechnology invention is centered at!
“This is Blackwatch’s seaside sanatorium district. There are more than a thousand sanatoriums scattered in the area, each constructed with a distinct style. Any elderly that comes to this place for Blackwatch’s fabled treatment can regain their youth in just one to two short months and return to their prime condition in their thirties!
“Next to the sanitorium district is the world’s leading plastic surgery sector. Blackwatch fully utilizes the potential of its biotechnology prowess to develop optimized plastic surgery procedures. Their developed facilities offer services to get rid of facial defects, scars, wrinkles, breast augmentation, and a mult.i.tude of plastic surgery options... It’s guaranteed to grant its clients their preferred appearance and physique!”
Just like that, the tourists saw everything notable in the city with the accompanying narration of the tour guide. Every few minutes, they would see another Maglev train gliding past them in the opposite direction, attracting “oohs” and “ahhs” from the enchanted pa.s.sengers.
In the end, the city-orbiting train reached its destination, a grand international hotel more than a hundred stories tall. As soon as they arrived, dozens of Androids with blue halos flashing on their temples appeared to receive the esteemed guests at the entrance of the hotel.
These Androids dressed in hotel waiter attire greeted the guests enthusiastically. Their speech pattern and gestures were extremely lifelike and it was practically impossible to distinguish them from a real human if not for the halo on their temple.
“Welcome to the Romantico International Five Star Hotel, where there will always be a warm harbor for you!”
The Androids carried the luggage of the guests and escorted them into the hotel. The guests felt welcomed by the excellent service and stepped into the hotel in a festive mood, filled with laughter and cheeriness...
In the meantime, in the top floor office of the Blacklight headquarters, there was a young man whose eyes were bottomless sockets standing by the floor windows. He silently gazed at the bustling city below his feet.
Though he was looking at the city filled with lights, his eyes were two pools of void. There was the barest glimpse of light reflected within them, captured within them was the deepest black hole ever seen in the universe...
“I can’t believe it’s been so long...”
The man smiled and turned around to face his office. Facing him at the front of his desk was a young lady whose gentle elegance reminded one of the warmth of springtime. She slowly approached the man and glanced at the vast city beneath them. “It’s certainly been a long time, Sir G.o.dfather. I can’t believe I’m nineteen years old already!”
The man did not say anything and only answered with a smiling nod.
If memory served him correctly, he was eighteen years old when he first acquired the USB drive. Little X was born a year after he obtained the USB drive and from there on, he embarked on his trajectory of exponential growth.
Reflecting on past events, he broke into a smile. “In the blink of an eye, two decades have pa.s.sed. I’m already thirty-eight years old...”
The young girl who was Little X smiled upon hearing this. She looked at Chen Chen and shook her head mischievously with a strange look in her eyes. “Does age even have any significance for you at this point? With the T-virus running through your veins, you can easily live above five hundred years old.”
Little X continued. “Furthermore, if you continue your monthly therapy with the Blacklight Fully-automated Medical Platform, you can easily live to a thousand years. There’s also our recent breakthrough in the black goo research to consider. If black goo can be fused with your DNA, your life span will even surpa.s.s the ‘engineer’ race in Prometheus and you can live more than three hundred thousand years.”
“Maybe.”
Chen Chen waved the suggestion away, clearly not too fixated on the topic at this moment. “Let’s not talk about this for now. How’s the Mars immigration preparations coming along?”
“Among the tens of millions of people who signed up for the Martian Immigration Program, we’ve picked out one hundred thousand most suitable candidates, which includes your cla.s.smate, w.a.n.g Wei.”
Little X stated, “The three migration s.p.a.ceships are ready and once they have arrived at Eco Science City, I’ll send the candidates to outer s.p.a.ce.”
“Excellent.”
Chen Chen was relieved to hear this. “Remember to check the cryogenic chambers again before launching. This project directly concerns our plans over the next century. I don’t want any unforeseen accidents occurring and have the Earth Federation pointing fingers at me.”
“Understood!”
Little X left the office shortly after that, leaving Chen Chen by himself in his large office.
“All these years of scuffles have finally led us to this point.”
Chen Chen raised his head and exhaled deeply. “From today onward, Blacklight Biotechnology which I’ve founded with my own hands shall officially surpa.s.s the Earth Federation!”
In truth, as early as a decade ago when Chen Chen began to get involved in the military technology trade, Blacklight Biotechnology was already on the same tier as the four major continents. However, Blacklight Biotechnology at the time had not achieved an untouchable status yet. If the four major continents were willing to take the most drastic route possible and start World War III, they could very likely unite all other countries around the world to sanction Blacklight Biotechnology and successfully suppress the company. As things were now, the circ.u.mstances had changed dramatically.
Blacklight Biotechnology had obtained colonization rights some time ago. With the establishment of a permanent Mars colony coupled with their s.p.a.ce navigation technology superiority, the pieces were in place for Blacklight Biotechnology to fully separate itself from the bounds of the Earth Federation. Even if the Earth Federation concentrated their unified efforts to impose strict sanctions on Blacklight Biotechnology, Chen Chen could simply leave them to their little games and head to Mars for a fresh start.
However, the leaders of the world would have to be completely demented to resort to such a destructive option. The combination of economic and military sanctions on Blacklight Biotechnology would come at the cost of crippling human civilization.
Blacklight Biotechnology’s establishment of a permanent colony on Mars was a landmark to symbolize that they had become the only faction in human society powerful enough to rival the Earth Federation.
There was nothing the Earth Federation could do but to watch idly as everything unfolded before their eyes. Their only feeble attempt at catching up to Blacklight Biotechnology was to gradually increase capital investment in the aeros.p.a.ce industry and wait for further technology to develop.
Leaving the matter of the battles between the two factions aside, the rise of Blacklight Biotechnology would always be a winning situation for human society as a whole. At the end of the day, Blacklight Biotechnology’s agenda was for mankind to advance into the future and this would inevitably benefit the Earth Federation as well.
This was the reason that the Earth Federation had tolerated Chen Chen and Blacklight Biotechnology all this time.
On the second day, three giant s.p.a.cecraft more than a hundred meters tall and three hundred meters wide were parked at the aeros.p.a.ce base on the south side of the Eco Science City. Countless maintenance vehicles sized like construction trucks were cycling back and forth around the aeros.p.a.ce base. A final inspection was being conducted on the s.p.a.ceships to prevent any hiccups in the following operation.
These three outrageously large s.p.a.ceships were the pinnacle of human creation. There could not be any room for error in what was to come.
When the appointed time arrived, the inspection crew relayed the message of completion of their work to the central. The news quickly reached Little X who subsequently pa.s.sed it to Chen Chen.
“All migrants, prepare to board the ship!”
With the order given by Chen Chen, countless land rovers purposed for Mars entered from the edges of the square and into the s.p.a.cecraft. There was no need for the migrants to step out of the rover. They only needed to retire inside the cryogenic chambers inside the rovers.
The migration s.p.a.cecraft was fitted with many safety installations to minimize the likelihood of things going awry.
The design of the s.p.a.cecraft itself was insurance of its own. They were designed with precision and the odds of something going haywire was even slimmer than winning the lottery. In the event where an accident occurred, the rovers themselves could also double as emergency s.p.a.cecraft, and from there on the crew inside could choose to return to Earth with it or wait for rescue.
In the worst-case scenario where even the emergency s.p.a.cecraft failed, then that was when the cryogenic sleep chambers came into play. The crew could enter a hibernation state for decades, even centuries while they wait for rescue.
With all these scenarios put into careful consideration, there was no way that this migration operation was going to fail!