Age of Cosmic Exploration, 3 Read online

  Copyright

  Age of Cosmic Exploration

  Author : Zhttty

  Translator : Lonelytree

  Editor : Lucas

  Copyright owned by China Literature

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter101 Countdown for 10 Days

  Chapter102 Dream Team

  Chapter103 Prep-Work

  Chapter104 Aerospace Combat Suit Prototype 1

  Chapter105 Arrival!

  Chapter106 Set Sail!

  Chapter107 Music Box

  Chapter108 A Child's Last Words

  Chapter109 Technological Levels

  Chapter110 Operation Leap!

  Chapter111 Blank Space

  Chapter112 Warship Husk!

  Chapter113 Robot!

  Chapter114 Bait and Switch!

  Chapter115 The Line between Life and Death!

  Chapter116 Strategy to Claim the Warship Husk!

  Chapter117 Rise of the Machines!

  Chapter118 Sacrificial Lambs

  Chapter119 Space Troopers

  Chapter120 6 Months

  Chapter121 Intention

  Chapter122 Forward!

  Chapter123 The Cosmos-crossing Voice!

  Chapter124 Looking for a Way in!

  Chapter125 Might of the Homo Evolutis!

  Chapter126 Rescue Mission!

  Chapter127 Electromagnetic Shield!

  Chapter128 The Nameless One

  Chapter129 Courage!

  Chapter130 Victory!

  Chapter131 Pain

  Chapter132 Language

  Chapter133 Clarion Call of the Fourth Industrial Revolution!

  Chapter134 Space Combat Jet Prototype 003

  Chapter135 A Smile

  Chapter136 Hope Calendar Year 0006

  Chapter137 This is Space!

  Chapter138 Super Civilization… Space Warp!

  Chapter139 Warping

  Chapter140 Underground

  Chapter141 Fever

  Chapter142 Army Draft and Excavation

  Chapter143 A Sense of Danger

  Chapter144 The First Dispatch Unit

  Chapter145 Life? Spaceship?

  Chapter146 War!

  Chapter147 Trump Card

  Chapter148 Tricked!

  Chapter149 Unexpectedly Strong! Black Star Troopers!

  Chapter150 Time for War!

  Chapter101 Countdown for 10 Days

  After the discovery of the UFO was treated as the Hope’s top secret, everyone who knew of it was warned to not leak the information. This combined with the added security around the central mainframe helped Yao Yuan feel at least relaxed about its safety.

  Nevertheless, he retained a certain insouciance regarding the UFO’s discovery, since even if someone on the Hope bore it evil intentions, there was nothing they could do to harm it. The UFO was indestructible.

  As mentioned before, the key difference was technology. With a chasm in technology as big as theirs, Yao Yuan suspected that even if they could somehow get the UFO to open, the technology within would be out of man’s comprehension. Imagine the prehistoric man being granted the technology of brick-laying. Would that help them construct a better shelter? Theoretically, yes, but practically, no. They wouldn’t know how to decipher this technology, and the same could be said of man on the Hope and this UFO.

  Because of this reason, the spaceship junkyard they were closing upon became that much more important. Yao Yuan believed that with a thorough study of the junkyard’s technology, man’s technological level could increase tremendously within a few years. And that gave him a spark of hope.

  Due to its increasing importance, the Hope’s surveillance on this junkyard had been ordered to not cease. Now that they were only 10 days away from the destination, the Hope’s 24-hour surveillance managed to pick up more things than they were able to before.

  First, it was obvious that the technology behind the UFO was levels ahead of the technology that resided in the spaceship junkyard. This was evidenced from the fact that the Hope could still make educated guesses on the junkyard’s situation, like providing a reconstructive model of the original battleship, but they couldn’t make heads or tails about the UFO.

  And how far ahead was the UFO’s technology? The answer was… unknown. A complete unknown. Not only was its material unknown, the technology it contained was an unknown as well. An unknown that stretched across several tens of thousands of years in technological difference!

  Therefore, even though the UFO could be said to be the Hope’s trump card, it was a card man currently couldn’t show. Yao Yuan believed that he might not even live long enough to see the mysteries of the UFO revealed, so he perceived it as his biggest present for the Hope’s future generations.

  The thing that could really help the Hope’s situation then was the spaceship junkyard that was teasingly within grasp. It was the source of a better technology that man could get their hands on!

  When the Hope was 10 days away from the junkyard, the news quickly spread among its citizens… and this was all thanks to the Hope Weekly that printed a big, red numeral "10" on its cover page, initiating the official countdown!

  The three men who were responsible for that decision could be found in an internet café playing Star Craft 3.

  The café was situated on the Hope’s 3rd level Barracks and was drastically different from the establishments that they usually visited. With the sole exception of Xiao Niao, Qiu Qiu, and Dan Dan, the rest of the café’s patrons were either quietly doing research or reading web-novels. No one was playing games, and the trio was the café’s only source of commotion.

  That was why they had opted for a private room. The space only had three computers, and the price was at least a 100 times more expensive, but it was still better than being given the evil eyes every other minute.

  "Hey, not fair! The two of you are working together to attack me! Stop using Zerg to speed rush me! This is so unfair!" groused Xiao Niao, with more than a hint of taunting and teasing in his voice.

  Qiu Qiu and Dan Dan snuck a look at one another before laughing slyly as Qiu Qiu retorted, "What! We’re called Zerg for a reason, and it’s your fault for randomizing the Protoss race. We’re not dumb enough for you to reach late game. So surrender quietly and leave the battling to the pros."

  Xiao Niao surrendered in a fit of complaints and then created a new server to start another round. After Qiu Qiu and Dan Dan were added to the server, a window popped up saying that another ID by the name of ZERO had joined their server. The trio was taken aback and instinctively looked at each other.

  "Well, looks like we have a new challenger. We finally found another gamer," said Dan Dan, who was the first to recover. He reached over to a pack of biscuits that sat on the table and started laughing.

  Xiao Niao and Qiu Qiu, though, were still in shock. Qiu Qiu even went so far as to twist his body around to peer outside of their private room, saying, "Wait, this person is playing outside? Isn’t he afraid of being assaulted by a mob?"

  Xiao Niao, however, breezed through the concerns, adding, "Who cares? Isn’t this the best set up? Team death match, 2 versus 2, so now no one can complain. In case you two say I bully you, I’ll volunteer to be in a team with this ZERO. And… game start!"

  Amidst Xiao Niao’s carefree laughs, another round of Star Craft started. After the loading screen, Xiao Niao realized that he had randomized Terran and Zero got Zerg.

  "Not bad at all. One to zerg and another to provide mid-game support. This should be fun," Xiao Niao told himself, not caring that his friends could hear his haughty laughs.

  And… Xiao Niao
lost again. If not for the law that prohibited destruction of public property, Xiao Niao would have slammed the keyboard… He was angry, but not to the extent that he would toy with the idea of two to five years behind bars.

  "Damn, this ZERO is such a noob! What Zerg player focuses on rushing tech tree and completely disregards the team comp!? The freaking enemies consist of a Protoss and a Terran! Yes, they aren’t going to rush, but what tactic consists of not building any close ranged units?! And what’s the point of building so many infestors?! Is your late-game going to be stronger than the Protoss’ and Terran’s?! What a noob!"

  Xiao Niao was almost growling at that point. Even after tagging ZERO as a noob, he was still fuming. He typed in team chat to confront ZERO, lecturing him on the right way to zerg.

  To his surprise, ZERO replied almost instantly.

  "…Star Craft 3 is not meant to be played like that," came ZERO’s reply.

  "Then tell me, if the game is not about tactics using the three races’ weaknesses and strengths, what the hell is it about? As Zerg, you either go for early rush, mid-game zerg, or late-game macro. Tell me I’m wrong," Xiao Niao typed in return.

  "…The early stages of space wars should be focused on survival, pooling all your resources to create an environment to ensure that your civilization can have long-term survival. After that, your focus should shift to expansion. There are two halves to expansion, with the first half focusing on the expansion of human resources, supplies, and mapping. With that completed, the second half of the expansion should focus on technological expansion…

  "As this wormlike Zerg organism, you could steal other civilizations’ collected technology through mind-controlling infestation. This is impossible in real life, but if this is possible, the expansion stage should be switched. You will need to focus on stealing others’ technology first and foremost, while base and supply expansion can be put on hold as long as your base is not under serious threat," ZERO replied.

  Reading these replies, Xiao Niao swore he could feel an aneurysm coming. Smacking his keyboard, he fired back, "Please, bro, this is Star Craft 3, not Civilization 7! The main aim is to demolish your enemy. Why are you making it so complicated?!"

  "…Bro? Have I said I’m a male?" ZERO replied.

  "…What?! Don’t tell me you’re a she? I have never seen a female play Star Craft 3 before!" Xiao Niao was close to pulling his hair out. He was certain that this ZERO was nothing more than a troll now.

  "…Female? Male?"

  ZERO disconnected from their server after typing this last reply, leaving behind a speechless and raging Xiao Niao. His friends were trying their hardest to not burst out laughing as they witnessed their friend being mercilessly trolled by this noob.

  "Damn! You noob, who leaves without saying gg!? Now I’m sure you’re a she, because only a woman could do something like that!" Xiao Niao typed furiously, not caring that there was no longer anyone on the receiving end. Then, he turned to look at Qiu Qiu and Dan Dan.

  "You two can stop laughing now!" Xiao Niao added, with a cruel glint in his eyes as he created a new server. "Come, I’m going to go for my strongest pick next! Get ready to be zerged! I’ll make you two noobs bow down to my gaming superiority!"

  "You’re on!" Qiu Qiu said as he slapped Dan Dan on his shoulder, adding, "I’ll pick Terran and go for a bunker rush. Dan, you pick Protoss and have your workers build proxy base next to mine. I’ll defend and you focus on your tech tree; we’ll definitely crush him!"

  "Great!" Dan Dan cheered as he chewed down on another piece of biscuit.

  The trio then spent the rest of the day lost in the joy of playing Star Craft 3. Of course, by the end of it, all three of them had forgotten about this mysterious ZERO. The only exception was Xiao Niao, who was left with a bitter taste in his mouth from being trolled by a noob.

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  Chapter102 Dream Team

  With the passage of time, the Hope floated closer and closer to the junkyard, and finally there were only nine days left to their journey. It was on this day too that Yao Yuan revealed the 12 members of the scouting party.

  First, the team was led by Yao Yuan even though many objected to it, including his Black Star teammates and Guang Zhen. They wished he wouldn’t risk his life so willfully, especially when the Hope still needed his leadership. Nevertheless, their advice fell on deaf ears, his retort being that even if he perished, the Hope still had Guang Zhen, the acting captain, to lean back on.

  Furthermore, he was the most powerful among the 12, both in terms of Homo Evolutis capability and military skills. As the all-rounder, he was the obvious selection for the leader position. With him leading, the success rate of the exploratory missions would greatly increase.

  The rest of the team members were Zhang Heng, Ying, Liu Bai, Lee, Ebon, Fei Biao (Black Star Member, Perceptor), Xie Xiao Yan (Black Star Member, Perceptor), Peng Huai Shi (Black Star Member, Perceptor), Wa Luo, Ren Tao, and Chou Yue.

  In other words, with the exception of Guang Zhen, all the Black Star members were participating in this mission. Both Ren Tao and Chou Yue were also requested to join as respectively the Thinker and the Diviner.

  "…Ol’ Cap’n, isn’t this too much of a risk?" Guang Zhen asked, with concern wrinkling his brow as he looked through the member list.

  Guang Zhen’s concern was shared by many on the Hope, including the many committee leaders and even the newly appointed second lieutenants.

  One of the problems was that even though Yao Yuan was clear that Guang Zhen would be his successor, that decision was not one that was unanimously accepted by the citizens of the Hope.

  For one, after his heroic deeds on both the meteorite base and Planet Sahara, Yao Yuan’s position as the Hope’s de-facto leader became firmly unchallenged. For another, even though he held absolute military power, his policies had proven time and again to be humanistic and inclusive. Finally, he wasn’t ethnocentric, for he showed appreciation for other cultures and encouraged inter-cultural assimilation.

  Compared to Yao Yuan, Guang Zhen was a traditional military man. There was a clear hierarchy in his mind when it came to policy-making. He was prone to having a condescending attitude towards people that he considered being a station lower than him, and with the exception of his Black Star mates, those people was everyone else on the Hope. Many westerners and some Asians were put off by this to the extent of being apprehensive of his leadership.

  While Yao Yuan was still around, they were mostly fine with Guang Zhen being the second in command, because they knew that most policies still came from Yao Yuan.

  However, after Guang Zhen officially took over as the captain of the Hope, things would be a lot more different… Because of that, after the member list for the exploratory party was revealed, many came forth with objections. They were adamant that Yao Yuan not participate in this mission, and they were also concerned about whether it was wise putting all their eggs in one bucket with all 12 members of the party being Homo Evolutis.

  "I understand your worry."

  Yao Yuan sat in central command, going over the member list once more. "Ol’ Wong, you’re worried that the list is too weighted, right? First, with me dead, the Hope might face political upheaval, and second, if the team was to perish, half of the Hope’s known Homo Evolutis will disappear alongside it as well. Those are your concerns, right?"

  Guang Zhen hesitated before finally nodding and sighing. Sitting down across Yao Yuan, he added, "Ol’ Cap’n, you know as well as I do that I’m not politician material. For the sake of the Hope, I behoove you to reconsider the candidate for your successor."

  "What is there to reconsider?" Yao Yuan lifted his head to catch Guang Zhen’s eyes. Laughing, he stood up and walked over to Guang Zhen. Patting him on his shoulder, he added, "Guang Zhen, regardless of your political leaning, there are two things about you that make you the best successor candid
ate. Your kindness and your reliability, those are the qualities that the rest of the Hope has yet to see.

  "Your reliability ensures that you will not instantly roll back current policies. Even though you might have opposite opinions on some of them, for the sake of stability, I believe you will make sure that they remain effective. Secondly, your kindness ensures that you will not draft draconian policies. These two qualities alone make you a more than qualified leader. Plus, stepping into this post will change you. You’ll learn from experience and I’m sure you’ll only get better at it."

  Yao Yuan smiled, "That’s why you are the best candidate. The all Homo Evolutis line-up though, I’ll admit, is rather risky."

  "However, isn’t the fact that we’re in space itself a big risk? Every step we have taken even before leaving Earth was risky. Every day we’re taking some sort of risks. We can’t let that hold us back. For the sake of a successful mission, this risk is one that I am willing to take," Yao Yuan confessed.

  "Furthermore… We really do need this success."

  Yao Yuan circled back to his chair and sat down, sighing. "There has been a series of roadblocks since our adventures on Planet Sahara, then the nebula, and finally the meteorite base. It is obvious that such a long period of distress has introduced frustration and fear in the citizens of this ship. Within these two months, I’ve received reports that people are forming new religious groups. The tenets for these groups are very basic, but their aim is to find reasoning behind the series of misadventures. The majority of them says that these are trials given by God to test us sinners.

  "I’ll be frank. I’m very afraid… Religion is the manifestation of man’s irrationality. If correctly guided, it can provide wonderful spiritual relief, but if wrongly used, it could cultivate cult mentality. When things escalate to an unruly stage, I will have no choice but to execute all followers of this cult. I do not see that sitting well with the rest of the Hope, but it is definitely something that has to be done. Therefore, to prevent that from happening, we have to stem these doomsday cults at their buds.

  "To that effect, this 12 Homo Evolutis party is necessary."