Age of Cosmic Exploration

The date on the Hope had already reached August Year 013. In other words, the four focus projects had been going on for eight months.

For the four projects, the most surprising was the fact that it was the AI system that was completed first. Its progress speed was even faster than the warp drive task group led by Bo Li. In other words, a normal human being’s understanding of future tech was even greater than the Whisperers’!

This caused quite a commotion on the Hope. After all, Da Bing was confirmed by many parties that he really wasn’t a Homo Evolutis. At least from the understanding of the Animas, his soul flame didn’t burn the same way Homo Evolutis’ did, he was really a normal human being.

This instilled a fact in Yao Yuan’s and the Academy’s minds of the existence of crazed geniuses, people even the Whisperers couldn’t compare to. Just like Earth used to have Da Vinci or Newton, the Hope now had Wang Da Bing. He was a sign that a great scientific renaissance was coming.

With the arrival of the AI system, the first batch of about 100 AI robots was activated. Of course, they were operated under the greatest scrutiny since this was the first time mankind had used AI robots, and one couldn’t afford to be too careful.

After use, the majority on the Hope finally understood why so many 4th revolution civilizations were hell bent on creating and using AI robots in spite of their risks. They simply brought too many conveniences!

The first field that received the benefits of the AI robots was the Hope’s manufacturing community that had gone into overdrive. Be it smelting, vehicle production, or others, the manufacturing department on the Hope was the most short-staffed. The AI robots were a huge help because even though there were only about 100 robots, one robot could replace the workload of more than one hundred workers.

The robots had no need for rest and they wouldn’t complain of overtime. As long as there was enough energy, they wouldn’t have slip-ups due to exhaustion, and they were always focused. Furthermore, no matter how repetitive the job was, it was not an issue for the AI robots. If anything, they were suitable for these mechanically-repetitive tasks.

Therefore, even though Yao Yuan was still cautious about the usage of AI, he crumbled under public pressure and added another one thousand AI robots, pushing the manufacturing rate of the Hope into the middle of the 4th revolution. However, due to Yao Yuan’s caution, the AI robots were only being used in manufacturing and assembly lines. The Hope’s maintenance, services, and important tasks like defence and surveillance were still done manually.

However, it was undeniable that the AI was now in use. This meant that the precursor for nanobot technology was ready. The remaining step was to create the actual body of the nanobot. According to the proposal, this would take less than half a year. In other words, by early Year 014, the Hope would have access to nanobot technology.

Therefore, Yao Yuan, who was anxious, held a meeting with a majority of the Academy at the end of August Year 013 to have another scientific meeting.

During the meeting, Yao Yuan was the first to speak. "I hope everyone present has a clear insight in their minds, which is that we human beings still haven’t reached a stage for us to be content. This empty space that is at least one hundred light years away from the nearest solar system is not to be our paradise or home. We are only stopping here temporarily; be it variables of time or environment, we aren’t going to spend a lifetime here!"

At this point, Yao Yuan pulled out a report and continued while flipping through it, "This is the latest information received during the middle of this month. It has all the information regarding the Hope’s supply rate. How shall I put this? We still have a large amount of supply and energy, but as you can see for yourself, the report shows that after we’ve stopped in space, the energy and supply consumption for this month alone was almost equal to how much we’ve spent during the entire year of 010!

"The greater the technology, the better the efficiency, but at the same time, the greater the consumption. This is something that we’ve miscalculated. According to the rate we’re going, at most we have seven years until the Hope’s supplies and energy run out. If we can’t find a suitable terrestrial planet or gas giant to collect enough hydrogen from, then even if we reach the peak of 4th revolution or 5th revolution, we will not have the energy to use them!"

"Therefore," Yao Yuan put down the report to stress his point, "our plan has to change. We cannot stay here for five to ten years, we have to start another space warp the latest by early Year 015. Before that, I hope everyone here can put down their own projects so that we have enough people to crack all the technologies related to the Genesis."

This caused a giant commotion immediately. The Hope was currently in a scientific explosion, be it robotics, physics, astronomy, biology, and other sciences, they were all improving greatly. This was a period where mankind’s scientific knowledge was growing rapidly. After gaining both the junkyard civilization’s and space merchants’ information, mankind predicted they could enter 4th revolution in the next decade when normally it would take another hundreds or thousands of years before that could happen.

Under these circumstances, Yao Yuan’s request was more than a little hard to stomach. Science was supposed to be free, not something that could be limited by politics. Even though Earth’s government had a history of forcing scientists into their service, as time had proven, these were the wrong methods. Science could only grow by being free.

Yao Yuan’s earlier order was reasonable in comparison, which was to focus on four key projects. That was reasonable because this was common practice back on Earth. After all, the government couldn’t just let the scientists complete free reign. This degree of control was something accepted by both parties.

But now, they felt Yao Yuan had given an incomprehensible request. To have the scientists drop their research and focus on the Genesis? How was that possible? What could a biology professor do about electrical engineering?

However, the scientists quickly realized what Yao Yuan meant. He didn’t want the scientists to cross fields of research but rather hope that they could release some of their interns to go work on the Genesis. However, even so, the task group leaders were reluctant to part with their teams.

This was an era-defining period, and any research had the opportunity to change the trajectory of humanity. Money and fame were at stake. Why should these scientists sacrifice themselves to aid others?

Therefore, the whole room of scientists, other than those working on the Genesis, started to riot. They spared no face for Yao Yuan. Everyone started yelling at him. After all, he wouldn’t do anything too serious to them. Yao Yuan still respected them due to their authority in knowledge and science.

Unexpectedly, due to the pressure from most of the scientists, Yao Yuan, even though he was the captain of the ship, had to yield. Finally, he sighed and said, "...Because we need to strengthen the Hope’s defense. Everything else is pointless if the ship is destroyed. We will soon have nanobot technology, so we need to first create the Genesis!

"I know everyone here has their preferred research field, but there is no telling what will happen after this warp. We might encounter some unforeseeable danger, and without enough power to defend ourselves, what is the point even if we’ve reached the 5th revolution?

"Therefore, I suggest a compromise. I will stay out of the research, but the interns graduated from the three general universities at the end of this year will first be siphoned into the Genesis weapon task force. That is my final deal..."

Just like that, with a final deal that neither party was really satisfied with, the scientific meeting drew to a close. During September of Year 013, Yao Yuan personally joined the Genesis weapon design task force as a Whisperer...