Chapter 35
The United Star System’s Academy of Sciences, Center for Historical Research, had recently become the liveliest place in the entire academy. After the last private message exchange, the United Star System had been given a very difficult and urgent task: to find any clues about the planetary explosion that had led to the destruction of Earth.
Professor Xie Yun, the head of historical research, was carefully studying one of the few preserved records: a diary from an ancestor during the initial migration to the stars. This record was precious because it was written on a material brought from Earth, now extinct and difficult to replicate, known as “paper.” Even at her level, Professor Xie was not allowed to view the original and could only study a copy transmitted through the photon-computer.
She had read through this rather long record many times, her feelings complex.
How long has it been since we left Earth? I can’t seem to remember anymore. We’ve been drifting in the universe. At first, I thought it was so new and exciting. The spaceship is huge, and you can see the stars through the window. But the sky is always black. We don’t have a sun anymore. So, what year, month, and day is it today? Mom told me I could keep a diary every day to keep track of time. I think that’s a good idea, so I’m going to start writing a diary now!
It still feels so unreal. Am I really living in space? The spaceship is big, but I’m already a little tired of it. I want to travel, I want to go shopping, I want to go to school!
When will we find a place to land? It’s so, so boring. The broadcast was late again today, and the power rationing is getting more and more severe. My phone is finally about to become a useless brick.
The broadcast said another spaceship has deviated from its course and left the fleet. It must be another country. I wonder if it’s because we’ve been drifting for so long without any sign of a new home that more and more ships are leaving the designated route to search on their own. Sigh. Why do I suddenly feel a sense of desolation, like rats fleeing a sinking ship? What happened to the great unity of all humanity?
The lunch served on the ship today actually had watermelon! But it was a bit dry and watery, and each person only got a tiny bite. Not even the rind, just a small clump of watermelon flesh. I miss the days of watching TV while eating iced watermelon. The little brat in the next cabin has been rambling all day about how delicious watermelon is, that it’s the best thing in the whole world! Hmph. A little brat born on a spaceship, of course he doesn’t know how delicious watermelon used to be! Thinking about it this way, I’m much luckier than those little kids, hehe.
It’s my turn for our family’s volunteer service this week again. It’s a good thing we have this activity; at least I can keep track of the weeks. But this time, I was assigned to be an elementary school teacher! Damn it, I really hate dealing with these little brats born on the spaceship. I feel like the gap between us can’t be described as a generation gap anymore; we’re practically not even from the same planet… But sometimes, seeing their clueless faces makes me a little sad. A bunch of unlucky kids.
Today, I snuck off behind my parents’ backs to watch the body disposal. I have to say, just throwing them into space from the bottom deck is a really simple method. It’s just that the final appearance is too ugly. The person is compressed into a thin layer. I heard that you can now choose to be cremated and used as fertilizer for growing vegetables. If you become fertilizer, your family gets priority in applying for vegetables! Hmm, that sounds good. I want to be fertilizer in the future!
I miss Earth so much. Our mother Earth, I want to go back so badly!!! But I heard Earth has been blown to bits. Sigh. I really hope it’s not true, that one day we can turn around and go back to our home. Thinking back now, the day we were notified that we would be drifting in space and boarding the spaceship feels like a lifetime ago. I really don’t know when the country built such a huge spaceship. How many years in advance did they know that Earth was going to be destroyed? None of that matters now. Mom and Dad always say that just being alive is hard enough. There were so many people who didn’t even have time to get on the ships and were left on Earth forever. Thinking about it now, that might not have been such a bad ending.
Today is a special day!!! It seems we’ve found a new home! I’m going to the front to take a look, no time to write in my diary!
The diary ended there. Professor Xie carefully stored the copy in a secure box. Although it didn’t mention many details about the destruction of Earth, it did supplement a lot of their understanding of ancient Earth humans and their living conditions during the interstellar drift.
“How is it? Any progress?”
A voice from behind suddenly startled Professor Xie. She clutched her chest and turned to see Director Li Sheng.
Director Li had been running all over the research institute lately, with the Center for Historical Research and the Center for Psychic Power Research being his most frequent haunts. But for the past two days, he had been spending more time at the psychic power center, watching over his precious student.
Professor Xie took off her neural connector and glared at him. “Can’t you make some noise when you walk? Who are you trying to scare to death?”
Director Li chuckled. “I did say hello. You were just too absorbed in your research to hear me.”
“Is this the artifact that was just excavated yesterday?” he asked, leaning in and squinting. Professor Xie had been so startled she hadn’t closed the secure box. Director Li reached out to touch it but was slapped away by her.
“Don’t touch it!”
“It’s just a replica, look at you being so protective. It’s not the original,” Director Li tsked.
“Not even the replica! Do you know how much effort it took to reproduce the handwriting and texture?”
Director Li strolled around the research center with his hands clasped behind his back, then circled back and asked, “How did yesterday’s excavation go?”
Professor Xie put away the diary and shot him a look. She knew this was what he was really interested in.
After Xia Anran had shared that their archaeological research involved excavating ancient tombs and studying the artifacts inside, Professor Xie had been inspired. Although they no longer practiced burial, it was possible that the ancient people who had just arrived in the interstellar era had continued the practice for some time. There might be ancient tombs left behind. So, they had immediately conducted a scan of the United Star System’s land, and to their surprise, they had actually found a few. And inside, they had indeed found some artifacts.
When they went to excavate the ancient tombs, everyone in the history research center was incredibly excited. This was a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the ancients and their completely different customs and culture. And when they thought of Xia Anran’s description of ancient tombs, such a magical and mysterious place, their curiosity was piqued!
In the end, after opening the tomb, everyone was a little disappointed. Inside was only a square box, heavily worn, and this diary. Even though it was a little different from what they had imagined, Professor Xie was still overjoyed. This was a great step forward and a significant addition to the United Star System’s historical research!
Director Li had also been extremely interested in this and had originally planned to witness this historic moment in person. But then the incident with Ye Yuxing had happened, and he had lost the mood. He had stayed in the observation room for a whole day and had only been relieved by Major General Qin Feng, allowing him to take a short break.
Seeing his relaxed expression, Professor Xie knew that Ye Yuxing was probably fine. Out of collegial concern, she still asked how he was doing.
Director Li waved his hand. “He just awakened his psychic power, nothing to worry about. Although we still don’t know what caused it, I had Qin Feng watch over him. Qin Feng even said that Yuxing has great potential!”
“Alright, I know you’re proud. You’ve raised that student like your own son. You know, if you like him so much, you should have just adopted him earlier. Yuxing was from the Child Protection Zone, with no parents,” Professor Xie chided him. “You took him in and raised him from a young age, but you just wouldn’t go through the adoption procedures. I really don’t know what you’re thinking.”
In the current interstellar era, childbearing had been completely externalized. The process was simple and inexpensive. Parents only needed to provide their reproductive cells, and the fertilized egg would be cultivated in a nutrient base. The time had even been shortened to just three months before parents could take their fully developed baby home. Of course, some people still chose the traditional method of maternal gestation, but they were few and far between, existing only in some remote areas. However, even though childbirth could be done externally, and all expenses from birth to graduation were covered by the government, the birth rate in the interstellar era was still unsatisfactory. Even with the government handling everything, the parents were still the primary caregivers, so most people chose not to have children.
Helpless, the United Star System could only establish a Child Protection Zone. The children there were partly from donated reproductive cells and partly from parents who were unable to raise them for various reasons after they had been cultivated. In short, they were all orphans. These children could, in principle, be adopted or continue to receive government subsidies. Children were scarce in the interstellar era, so they would all receive good care and education regardless.
Ye Yuxing had grown up in the Child Protection Zone. He was very smart from a young age and always liked to be by himself, writing and drawing. He loved to learn and loved knowledge. At the age of a few, he had been taken in by Director Li and raised under his care. Director Li had no children of his own and treated Ye Yuxing no differently than a biological son.
“I suddenly remembered I have something to do. I’ll be going now.” The moment this topic was brought up, Director Li was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He had no defense and just wanted to flee.
“Professor! There’s a new discovery here!”
Just as he was about to leave, Professor Xie’s assistant rushed over with an excited expression.
Professor Xie’s eyes also lit up. “What did you find?”
“A record from the ancient Earth era, detailing the situation when the disaster occurred!”