Chapter 97
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Chapter 97: New Shan Hai Jing
Hearing her words, Yan Yi tilted his head in thought, "At first, I believed it should have a completely new name, but having some connection to the past is actually quite meaningful."
Wen Jing sat down next to her, "Well, let’s decide by vote later." After that, she glanced at the new space station collaboration principles proposal in front of Yan Yi, "There are quite a few topics for discussion today."
"Yes, but most of the content has already been discussed multiple times, and the conclusions are mostly in place. Today is just about making a resolution together, so it shouldn’t take long," Yan Yi said just as Xue Zheng walked in through the door.
The meeting was almost starting. Xue Zheng was again the last one to arrive on time today. She entered and closed the door, then sat down next to Wen Jing.
At this point, the assembly hall began to connect with the images of remote participants. Soon, many people joined through holographic projection, filling all the seats in the hall.
Today’s meeting was a global resolution concerning several urgent matters regarding the space station. Since the giant solar flares ten years ago amplified the impact of nuclear leak radiation on human health, billions of lives were lost in the old world. Now, those who survived, though still scattered around the world, no longer believed in the concept of nations due to the drastic decline in population after returning to the surface.
People cooperated closely across continents and oceans, organized by their residential villages, engaging in different fields of collaboration.
The new world represented a truly integrated global civilization. Important matters like the space station required collective decision-making from all involved.
Yan Yi chaired today’s meeting. Upon confirming everyone’s presence, she began to introduce the topics for resolution: from personnel arrangements for the space station, to energy fuel reserves, to various cooperation principles in space, and finally, the naming of the new time capsule.
The secrets of time and space cycles had been fully disclosed after the reconstruction of the new world order. This resolution meeting for the new space station also aimed to reopen time and space travel to provide more evidence for the conjecture of time cycles, allowing the people of the new world to face the end of cycles with greater calm.
During their years in the underground shelter, Xue Zheng and several experienced engineering designers from the former Space Agency modified the time capsules for long-distance space travel, adopting a flying disc design similar to the one used by the Ponsuo Tribe.
After emerging from the underground shelter, they returned to the ruins of the Liujin City Space Administration base. They moved the Shan Hai Jing out of the hangar and underwent major modifications at the new space base. The entire exterior was upgraded, and the interior space was enlarged significantly. They had completed simulation flight tests and were ready for launch.
During the meeting, everyone voted on the earlier topics one by one. Since participants were already familiar with these contents, the process went smoothly.
Quickly they moved to the final topic: determining the name and launch timeline for the new time capsule.
Yan Yi listed the collected alternative names on her tablet, showcasing a variety of options. Each name was accompanied by an explanation of its intended meaning by the person who proposed it. However, the last name on the list, “New Shan Hai Jing,” hadn’t had its explanation written yet, since Wen Jing had just shared it with Yan Yi before the meeting. It remained blank beneath the name.
A figure from across the ocean, projected on the left side of the round table, asked after reviewing the names, “Was the last name proposed by the three of you?”
Wen Jing looked at the questioner. The face in the holographic projection was somewhat blurry, but the right eye gleamed with a purple light. She removed her code name "Zhu Long," and her nameplate displayed only "Jiang Jing." At this moment, she was still at the Liujin City Space Administration base, arranging for the transfer of reusable old resources to the new base.
The original name of the execution team for the Shan Hai Jing time capsule was one Jiang Jing had established at the founding of the Space Agency. She had some attachment to this name. As soon as the alternative names were revealed, she spotted this one right away.
Wen Jing nodded with a smile, “The new time capsule is upgraded based on the original Shan Hai Jing. This time capsule took us back thirty thousand years and successfully brought us back. During this time, we discovered the cosmic mysteries of the time cycle and witnessed another world where strange beasts from the Shan Hai Jing truly exist.”
She paused for a moment, looking around the assembly hall, “This time, as we set sail again in the new world, we aim to delve back two thousand years further to confirm the existence of the cycle. I believe that during this process, we might unveil the true reasons behind the creation of the Shan Hai Jing, as well as many unresolved mysteries from legends.”
After she finished speaking, the assembly hall buzzed with murmurs. The attendees were curious about the world compared to thirty thousand years ago and had many speculations, so everyone was eager for the launch of the new time capsule.
Quickly, following the meeting procedure, they discussed the other alternative names, and ultimately decided by vote. “New Shan Hai Jing” was confirmed as the name of the new time capsule with the highest votes.
Next, they finalized the launch time and selected members for the exploration team. Now that the new space base had been completed, it was built on the eastern plain of the Neutral State continent. The construction relied heavily on engineering assistant robots designed by Xue Zheng and several engineers during their years in the underground shelter. In the second year after they returned to the surface, these robots entered mass production and became essential helpers in their efforts to rebuild civilization.
The new space base and space station were fully prepared to support the launch of the time capsule. The official release of the new time capsule was set for three days later, so everyone agreed to conduct the world’s first cross-dimensional exploration after the launch of the New Shan Hai Jing.
Their world and the Ponsuo time dimension from thirty thousand years ago would enter the same dimension in a month, so the farthest exploration distance for the New Shan Hai Jing this time would be set at thirty thousand years before the starting point.
After determining the launch time, they moved on to selecting exploration team members. Currently, global population had drastically decreased, and only a few held qualifications for space travel. Originally, there were 327 people qualified through the Space Administration, but after the disaster, only 23 remained. Among them, only 8 had experience with dimensional travel while the others were merely operational staff of the space station.
Thus, the selection for the exploration to two thousand years ago was limited. Wen Jing, who was once the team leader and chief pilot of the Shan Hai Jing, was experienced, so she was appointed to lead once again. Xue Zheng served as the chief engineer and left co-pilot, while the right co-pilot was Chu Lan, the former executive of the Space Agency, previously code-named “Hu Jiao.” Yan Yi remained as the scientific advisor for the team, and they also included an ancient civilization scholar, a space medic, and a young flight trainee, making a total of seven team members.
The first few members of the exploration team faced no objections, and the members among the latter three candidates were debated beforecoming to a resolution. Once everything was confirmed, Yan Yi recapped the meeting conclusions. After assuring that no one had any disagreements, she officially announced the meeting’s conclusion, turning off the remote projection. Everyone then rose and left the hall in an orderly manner.
Wen Jing and the confirmed members of the exploration team stayed behind to discuss a few more details, finalizing the arrangements for tomorrow’s simulation training, before finally leaving the assembly hall together.
Stepping outside, the noon sun was warm and gentle, spring had arrived with trees beginning to bud, and patches of tender green were emerging from the earth. Many small creatures emerged from their nests in pairs to forage, creating a vibrant scene.
Wen Jing gazed around at the scenery, noticing its resemblance to her memories of the Ponsuo Tribe. They were moving in a positive direction.
The disaster ten years ago had freed them from past burdens and obstacles. Although the new world was still somewhat broken, it was filled with hope.
The place beneath her feet was a hill north of the new space base, not far from their former shelter on the outskirts of Wind Island. This area had no name before, but upon returning to the surface, they decided to call the entire area from the shelter to the hilltop "Di Qiu."
Wind Island’s new port was located to the northeast of Di Qiu, and the space base lay to the south of it. After leaving the assembly hall, Yan Yi and the others planned to head directly to the cafeteria at the space base for lunch, intending to discuss the launch mission arrangements for three days later in the afternoon. Seeing that Wen Jing was still looking at the scenery, Yan Yi approached her to ask if she wanted to join for lunch.
Wen Jing smiled and waved her hand, "I need to go pick someone up at the port soon, so I’ll meet up with you later in the afternoon."
Yan Yi then remembered that today was the day Kun Whale No. 1 would return to port, and she smiled, "Okay, hurry along, we’ll wait for you.”
After they parted ways outside the assembly hall, Wen Jing went to the small helipad in front, took a helicopter, and headed toward Wind Island’s port by herself.
This new port at Wind Island had only recently been completed. The old port had been damaged during their sheltering years when a derailing satellite re-entered the atmosphere and struck it. Fortunately, the ships stored in the nearby sealed hangars were far enough away to avoid destruction.
During the years when humanity "disappeared," particle radiation and volcanic ash cloaked the earth, causing much damage to man-made equipment on the surface. Before entering the underground shelter, Wen Yang was most worried about the ships she managed. Therefore, she prepared a sealed hangar at the port ahead of time and sealed all the ships inside a month and a half before the solar flares hit, protecting them intact.
After they returned to the surface, Wen Yang resumed her long-time endeavor in ocean conservation, conducting seawater sampling tests and purification in oceans. About half of her time was spent aboard the aircraft carrier.
After Wen Jing discharged the two vials of radiation protection agents she had brought back from thirty thousand years ago into the sea, the elements within began to inject antibodies into the human body while simultaneously shortening the half-life of radioactive substances in the seawater.
In recent years, thanks to its powerful self-repair capabilities, the ocean rapidly regained vitality, and Wen Yang’s efforts in releasing marine organisms cultivated from genetic libraries in various bodies of water led to the revival of many species that were previously extinct.
During this month’s expedition, Wen Yang went to observe the growth of species in the western oceanic area and took a student group with her.
When Wen Jing parked the helicopter and walked to the dock, she saw Kun Whale No. 1 just docking.
She stood by the shore for a moment, waiting as the teacher led the students off the ship. A group of fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds descended, chatting and laughing as they moved toward the port.
Wen Jing looked around but didn’t see any familiar faces. Just as the group was about to pass by, she stopped a boy from the back and asked, "Excuse me, is Wen Yang not coming out with you?"
The boy replied, "She went to submit some materials and told us to come out first." He gestured, and at that moment, they spotted a tall, strong figure running toward them from the ramp. "Look, here she comes!"
Wen Jing looked up in the direction the boy pointed. Indeed, Haikui appeared, clad in a sharp dark blue tracksuit, running toward her with a bright smile. “Aunt! We visited an underwater ancient city this time, it was spectacular! I also made a model to show you later!”
