Chapter 459: Chapter 457: Pursuing Eternal Progress
John, having listened to Zhang Yuan’s brilliant ideas, exclaid excitedly, “Quark Energy? Wishful thinking! But such a possible science fiction scenario, it’s indeed beautiful…”
Curious looks from people around the cafe made John quickly contain his excitent, his voice gradually lowering.
They enthusiastically discussed the cultural and technological changes in the new civilization, the difficulties faced, and reminisced about the past.
John, who had once been a pessimistic scientist, had now been completely imrsed in the vastness of knowledge thanks to new technologies and was filled with anticipation for the future.
Many technological advancents that were once stuck seed possible to achieve again, including nano-robots and artificial cells; the past barriers were starting to lift. In the future trading markets, humans should also be able to acquire many new forms of knowledge, allowing peaceful contact with much more powerful civilizations.
John shifted the conversation from technology to other areas, recalling his experiences in the virtual world and sharing a few short stories, he couldn’t help but sigh, “The reason we find it beautiful is that society is still progressing, with all sorts of new things to explore and a future to look forward to.”
“If there is no progress, humanity always falls into the strange cycle of internal maneuvering, which inevitably becos less beautiful.”
“Yes,” Zhang Yuan deeply agreed, “A world that doesn’t change is always filled with loopholes to be exploited… I keep thinking, is what we seek the continual change?”
“Just like the heat death of the universe, once it reaches a heat death state, all atoms are uniformly distributed, and there’s no potential left.
“Are we trying to avoid this eternal stagnation… this ‘eternal change’?”
John was silent for a while, “You’re absolutely right, I too despise that kind of long-lasting invariability. A dead civilization is done for once and for all; but a living civilization that never changes is truly unbearable. Sotis, being alive feels worse than being dead.”
Everyone had their own different experiences in the virtual world.
But those without the ability to think for themselves found it very difficult to return to the real world.
John was undoubtedly among the best of them.
“So, as described in the New Civilization History, our first goal is to pursue eternal progress, survival is only the second goal, eternal progress is always the paramount objective!”
“Whoever impedes this progress is our enemy.”
This should be the common ideology among all Transcendents.
After a pause, Zhang Yuan asked, “Have you co across any other old acquaintances? If so, it would be nice to chat and have coffee together. While it’s nice to be with young people, there is always sowhat of a generation gap.”
“I haven’t really gone out of my way to look for them, maybe seen about seven or eight. The return of the Transcendents hasn’t officially started; we are among the first batch of returnees, experintal subjects, not more than a hundred people, don’t expect too much.”
John shook his head: “Also, after so much ti has passed, I don’t know if they have returned to this world, or if they are still the sa people I knew; it’s likely just setting myself up for disappointnt. Maybe they will co back once restrictions are lifted, or maybe not.”
“Seeing you today, I couldn’t help but co over to greet you, and I’m quite happy about it… No need to create ntal burdens for ourselves.”
Zhang Yuan sighed softly.
Indeed, after so many years and so many cycles of aging and death, witnessing the departure of friends and family.
Experiencing this repeatedly makes one slowly accept it.
What is the most important thing for a person living in this world?
It’s oneself!
Other than yourself, no one can accompany you to the end.
Every reincarnation cos with new friends and a new life. If one dwells on old friends and the past, their immortality would beco painful.
Such a person would lose themselves in the Virtual World, never to return to reality again.
At that thought, Zhang Yuan smiled, “So, here’s to our new lives, cheers!”
“Cheers!”
With a clink, they gently tapped their glasses together. Zhang Yuan took a small sip and joked, “The air is filled with the scent of philosophy.”
“Ha-ha, we are all philosophers, but if a society consisted solely of philosophers, nothing would get done!” John stated, “Society needs more doers!”
“Doers!”
After the gathering, Zhang Yuan returned ho, still feeling a sense of unfulfillnt.
Out of habit, he turned on his computer and found his inbox stuffed with research files. His colleagues in the group were enthusiastically discussing the next steps for improvent. There were also letters from other research institutions’ scientists asking questions. Zhang Yuan focused his mind and patiently replied to each one.
It was eleven o’clock at night before he had responded to all the files, after which he read for a while.
He had recently taking a liking to a novel written thousands of years ago by Marquez, “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
The entire book depicted the transformations of the 20th century in Latin Arica through the journey of one family. People are inherently lonely, and it’s difficult to unify scattered forces in any effective way. An individual with ideals and burdens often becos assimilated by society, just as Latin Arica never rose as a power in the end. Societal change is indeed too complex.
There is a phrase in the book, “You hate those people so much, fought them for so long, only to end up becoming just like them; there’s no ideal in the world worth sinking into such degradation.”
Anyone capable of complexity but opting for simplicity knows the weight of these words.
This was a typical day for him…
As such, the years passed, one after another, with the ti to reach the interstellar trading market slowly drawing near. The velocity of the entire fleet began to gradually slow down.
Zhang Yuan had, due to his excellent performance, successfully joined the ranks of the interstellar diplomats, though his daily workload remained largely unchanged except for the occasional personal developnt training for diplomats…
Through news reports, it was known that the entire fleet had begun receiving communication from the outpost ships of Huantai Civilization.
Simple interactions had already comnced.
It was anticipated that in three years, the two main Mother Ships would halt in the outer void of the trading market, and then these diplomatic representatives would travel to the exchange on so smaller spaceships.
After all, it was a trade between civilizations, not a re market vegetable purchase; it couldn’t involve everyone. The vast majority of the population would stay onboard the Mother Ships. It was adequate to dispatch so elite representatives.
“Three more years…” Zhang Yuan took a deep breath, longing for that day to arrive.
Every great journey has its conclusion, yet it remains unclear what humanity will ultimately gain…
Occasionally, on certain days, eting old friends and sharing laughter and stories over drinks was a pleasant surprise in life.
As John had ntioned, Zhang Yuan was among those who returned to the real world sooner. He had only gone through five cycles in the Virtual World before the Artificial Intelligence “Xi Ta” kicked him out.
And five cycles was the minimum requirent. If soone went through even one more cycle than him, they might diverge from the real world by fifty or sixty, or even a hundred years.
The society of New Human Civilization had not yet prepared for the return of nurous Transcendents. Therefore, after so many years without finding Lin Xuanyuan, Li Zhendong, or Yamamoto Ichiro, Zhang Yuan did not concern himself too much. They might still be in the Virtual World, holding on to their ideals, or perhaps facing a worse situation… These were things he couldn’t insist on, as everything depended on them alone.
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