Chapter 88
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Chapter 88: See You Again in Ten Years
The images transmitted from the Ponsuo Tribe flickered slightly, indicating that the cross-time communication had become unstable.
Ji Shu noticed Wen Jing and saw a little child standing next to her. With a warm smile, she asked, “You must be Hai Kui, right? I’m Ji Shu. It’s great to meet you.”
Hai Kui curiously looked at the people on the screen. She had heard Ji Shu’s name from her aunt, so she wasn’t shy. After listening to Ji Shu, she beamed and said, “Hello, Professor! I’m Hai Kui. I’m feeling better now. Thank you for the medicine!”
Ji Shu found her confident and clever charm increasingly endearing, smiling brightly as she advised, “That’s good to hear! Remember to eat well every day so you can grow strong.”
Hai Kui nodded earnestly, “Yes! I will definitely grow tall and strong!”
At that moment, the screens flickered again, and Wen Jing noticed that the three of them seemed to be in different places. It was likely due to the quality of the communication, so they didn’t use holographic projection to appear simultaneously.
They listened as Ti Ran briefly introduced the situation there, which revealed that Ji Shu had gone to Mount Wuzhou, while Mo Chuan was still in the Nanzhou rainforest. Only Ti Ran remained in Di Qiu.
Wen Jing explained the circumstances of their time period, “Things are a bit chaotic, and the natural environment poses challenges. But don’t worry, we will get through this.”
There would be solar flares in their area soon, and Ti Ran had also heard about it from Ying Zhao. She grew serious and said, “I’ve sent Ying Zhao the methods to respond to cosmic radiation, but we have never encountered solar flares on such a large scale before. Much of the content is still theoretical. This global natural disaster should not be taken lightly, so please be extra careful.”
Wen Jing and Xue Zheng both nodded seriously, and Ying Zhao added from her end, “I’m monitoring the astronomical agency’s data daily. While the situation is not optimistic, luckily we now have a relatively accurate early warning system that can prepare everyone in advance to avoid being caught off guard.”
As soon as Ying Zhao finished her sentence, the screen flickered several times and even went black momentarily. Ti Ran then said, “The dimensional angles of our two time periods are becoming narrower, and communication is unstable, so it may be interrupted at any time. I’ll wish you safety here.”
Mo Chuan nodded, maintaining her usual calm demeanor and lightly smiled, “I believe you will get through this. Let’s meet again in ten years.”
Ji Shu also waved at them with a smile, and the image on the screen began to flicker wildly once more.
Wen Jing and the others quickly waved back at the screen, “See you in ten years!”
As soon as they finished speaking, the image from the Ponsuo Tribe went black, displaying a few dazed faces in the communication room. They looked at Ying Zhao, who was still on the video connection, and everyone fell silent for a moment, then looked at each other, firmly nodding in agreement.
Ying Zhao turned off the cross-time communication device and updated them on the recent situation at the Time Bureau, as well as the research progress regarding widening the time channel.
After Hu Jiao took over the Time Bureau, she submitted a personnel reduction request to the Bureau Office, as the historical live broadcast had captured the Euyun family attempting interdimensional immigration and led to their downfall. Consequently, the interdimensional execution tasks within the bureau also needed to be tightened. She seized this opportunity to transfer some untrustworthy personnel out of the Time Bureau and redeploy them to other departments via the Personnel Department.
With this contraction, the Time Bureau became increasingly inconspicuous in the Space Administration. Additionally, with the impending massive solar flares, the Time Bureau issued a stop to all outer space execution tasks. The staff mainly focused on the research team’s efforts to widen the time channel and accordingly upgraded the time capsules of various models to accommodate long-duration time channel flights.
The workload for these tasks was significant, so the members of the Time Bureau did not slack off after ceasing off-world execution tasks. They remained busy with the work at hand.
Wen Jing nodded after listening, “These are serious matters. Now that everyone’s work is more focused, you’ll have more support.”
Ying Zhao sighed in reflection, “Yes, the research team used to serve the Execution Team. Now it’s a rare chance for us to be the focus. Over these ten years, I want to clarify the situation of the two thousand-year blind spot between us and the Ponsuo Tribe.”
They chatted with Ying Zhao for a while longer until they heard the meeting alert on her end, signaling that she had to get back to work. The group bid farewell and turned off the communication device.
Wen Jing and the others followed Dr. Mei’er out of the communication room and noticed that the main laboratory was busy with medication preparation. They didn’t want to interrupt, so they said goodbye to Dr. Mei’er, holding Hai Kui’s hand as they headed outside.
As they reached the corridor by the entrance, Hai Kui suddenly stopped upon seeing a row of black-and-white photos on the wall. She tiptoed up to touch her mother’s face in Wen Kun’s photo.
In the picture, Wen Kun smiled gently, as if she could see her daughter growing up and knew that she was now healthy, her smile filled with some comfort.
Wen Jing silently watched this scene, feeling a little teary; she wished her sister could see all of this.
Dr. Mei’er raised her hand to wipe away her own tears and smiled at Hai Kui, saying, “Your mother is an amazing scientist. She is a pioneer and foundation builder of our asexual reproduction research.”
Hai Kui looked at the photo on the wall and softly replied, “Yes, I know.”
In late summer, Wind Island welcomed its annual typhoon season. Wen Jing held Hai Kui’s hand and walked back with Xue Zheng, slowly making their way from the laboratory.
The air was humid and oppressive, the sunlight blocked, and one could feel the atmospheric changes on the streets, indicating that another typhoon was approaching.
The car that brought them over didn’t stop near the office building outside the laboratory. They circled around several blocks with inspection personnel until they reached a parking lot in an outdoor sports community. Amid a sea of cars, they found an inconspicuous black car, where Wen Yang’s secretary was waiting for them inside.
The secretary drove them home. Before getting out of the car, Wen Jing told the secretary about Hai Kui’s test results and asked her to pass the message to Wen Yang. The secretary nodded, and after they got out, she slowly drove away.
As they entered the house, it was noon. Wen Jing saw a note near the entrance from the aunt next door, saying they had gone out and had prepared some stewed dishes in the kitchen for them to heat up when they returned.
Wen Jing walked into the kitchen and found a large cast-iron pot on the stove. Sure enough, it was brought over with the pot still intact. When she opened it, she saw it was filled with braised pork ribs with potatoes. There was also a note on the oven beside a big platter of roasted mixed vegetables.
She took out her phone to message the aunt, opened the pot, and pulled out a few frozen flatbreads from the freezer to reheat with the platter of vegetables. After preparing everything, she called Xue Zheng to come and help serve the food in the dining room.
After lunch, Wen Jing took Hai Kui upstairs for a quick wash and changed her clothes. After playing with her for a while and putting her down for an afternoon nap, she quietly made her way downstairs.
On the first floor, she saw Xue Zheng sitting on the sofa, fiddling with a tablet that they had brought from Liujin City. When they had departed for the Noah launch site a few days ago, they only took portable equipment with them; the rest of their luggage was still in the apartment arranged by Zhu Long. After the incident at the Noah launch site, Wen Yang contacted Yao Chi and sent someone to retrieve their belongings.
Wen Jing walked over and sat on the other sofa, noticing Xue Zheng’s serious expression. She asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The Southern Federation has issued a conscription order, and the Western Federation has started various preparations for war. It feels like they are really heading towards a civil war. The reason it hasn’t started yet is probably due to intervention from the Special Operations Department, but I think it’s only a matter of time before they fight. The Special Operations Department can only evacuate people in advance to minimize casualties; the situation is inevitable.”
Wen Jing thought for a moment and asked, “What about the Northern Continent?”
“After the last communication, it went quiet. I can’t find any information online.” Xue Zheng said, showing her what information she had managed to find.
Currently, the situation in Poli Port is under global lockdown, and the predictions about giant solar flares are only circulating within a limited circle. Countries’ decision-making bodies are secretly preparing response measures.
Recently, the Alliance has increased the number of underground shelters authorized for public access during this special period while tirelessly repairing air raid shelters that haven’t been used in a long time.
Many wealthy individuals have begun to stock up on supplies, gradually moving into their private bunkers to evade disaster. Their rampage in the market has left even fewer resources for ordinary people.
The two sat in the living room, looking over various information, when they heard a car pull up outside. They looked out the window to see Wen Yang returning.
Wen Yang returned home unusually early today. After greeting them, she went upstairs to check on Hai Kui before returning to the living room to ask about their day in the laboratory.
Wen Jing poured her a drink and explained everything that happened that day, mentioning the imminent closure of their connection to the Ponsuo Tribe and the research progress on Ying Zhao’s side.
Wen Yang listened silently as she held the teacup, thinking for a moment before sharing some news from the Territorial Waters Convention Agency.
First, regarding the spread of radiation protection agents, the agency’s testing teams have detected radiation protection components in the water bodies of the highest-latitude human habitats. However, as the use of these agents has not been made public, it is currently impossible to determine how many individuals have successfully developed antibodies. They can only estimate that the covered population is approximately between fifteen to twenty percent based on internal testing data from the Territorial Waters Convention Agency and the basic human data from the World Unity Organization.
After Wen Yang finished speaking, the room fell silent. This figure seemed cold and unfeeling. Wen Jing recalled Mo Chuan’s earlier predictions of their world facing an apocalypse and how she had suggested that even with radiation protection agents, surviving this catastrophe would feel like a complete reboot of the world.
Reboot… Thinking of this, her eyes brightened. What she desired was indeed a kind of restart, a new beginning that would allow those who woke up to truly break free from their shackles.
The current chaos in some regions had triggered the contradictions of Mo Chuan’s prediction about their world ultimately being destroyed by thermonuclear war, igniting a small-scale explosion ahead of time. They could seize this opportunity to gather more resources, allowing more people in the population covered by the radiation protection agents to survive and build a post-disaster civilization, preparing for the impending end of the cycle.
At that moment, Wen Yang said slowly, “The reason I returned this early today was due to a meeting that ended unpleasantly. It was about whether to disclose the scope of the nuclear radiation leak at Poli Port. The World Unity Organization and various countries couldn’t reach a consensus, and it seems this will drag on for a while longer.”
When it comes to the potential for widespread disaster, countries always tend to prioritize information lockdown. Decision-makers view the public from their elevated positions, afraid that even a little bad news will cause chaos among the masses and shake their authority. Thus, they strictly control information and naturally oppose its disclosure.
When it truly becomes impossible to hide the truth or sustain the situation, their fallback plan will simply be to cut and run, leaving the public to fend for themselves.
This governing mindset is unchanged through countless dynastic changes throughout history. They treat the public as livestock, as tools, as their spoils of war, never regarding them as equals. In a way, it is also understandable; how can the powerless rulers truly learn to respect life?
Thus, civilizations across continents rise and fall. In prosperous times, one can see emperors treating their subjects like cattle, while in turbulent times, the populace, unwilling to remain subservient, topples the rulers above them. Over thousands of years, this cycle perpetuates, with everyone trapped in this flawed social model, endlessly replaying similar tragedies.
“You can never count on transparency of information for matters like this. By the time there’s official news, it will be too late,” Xue Zheng said, her tone filled with anger. “I’d do it myself; I have backups of all previously blocked information. If I write a virus, in just one night, I can send the doomsday warning to everyone’s phones.”
Wen Jing felt excited upon hearing this. “Really? Can you write it now? I never thought of breaking through the information barrier this way.”
Xue Zheng looked proud, “I can. There’s a computer upstairs. I can work through the night to create a global virus. Don’t worry, my encrypted network won’t be traceable to this location.”
Wen Yang watched them for a moment with interest before getting up and laughing, “You young people have some innovative ideas for solving problems. I’ll pretend I don’t know about this.”
Once Wen Yang slowly turned and headed upstairs, the two exchanged glances and smiled. Once this was done, the situation would become even more chaotic, and that would mark the beginning of their hunting time.
