Chapter 19

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Chapter 19: Torch Festival, Oh, Torch Festival!

January 28, 2076 AD

This is a narrow little room, with only a small orange light bulb providing a dim light. The dim room is crowded with the political commissar of the fleet, doctors from the medical aid team, senior experts from the science team, as well as the professor leading the geological survey team sitting upright alongside the rough and tough geological team members.

Everyone was looking at the young man sitting nervously on the chair, and it felt like a storm was brewing in the silence. "Lin Shenhe, the outstanding representative of the 77th geology department, has been selected by the organization to participate in this mission," the old teacher said slowly, adjusting his glasses. "He has performed excellently in school, has a strict work ethic, and is a good seedling. Hmm, he is single, no girlfriend."

"In these few months, he has made many contributions that everyone has witnessed, such as discovering the large Saremt iron mine and multiple precious mineral deposits. He has also played a significant role in studying the formation ages of rock layers," Commissioner Zhao said expressionlessly. "However, he took multiple leaves of absence a week ago and then disappeared after that. Recently, thanks to the efforts of the reconnaissance soldiers, concrete evidence has been found. Do you have anything to add to this?"

"Gulp~" The young man swallowed and shook his head.

"Very good…" Commissioner Zhao took off his glasses and slapped the table. "It’s simply chaotic and undisciplined! Who gave you the audacity!"

"Um… couldn’t help it, couldn’t help it…" The young man almost buried his head on the table.

"If they hadn’t brought it to our attention, the organization wouldn’t have known about this at all! How long did you plan to hide this? Speak!"

"I-I didn’t mean to hide it… it’s just…"

"Cough, the focus now is how to solve this issue." Professor Bai coughed. "We need to come up with some regulations, right?"

"Um, I don’t think the organization has any rules against this, right?" The young man blushed and tried to justify, "Well, in principle, we don’t have much control over personal behavior, especially since you are not serving military personnel. Let me tell you, the higher-ups generally support and encourage you to have friendly relationships with the locals and build deeper connections."

"Huh?" Two officers listening nearby looked confused and surprised.

"Um, well this is also a kind of friendly relationship, right!"

"So, you’re friendly enough to end up in bed together?"

"Um…" Faced with classmates’ gazes that seemed like they were looking at a traitor, the young man quickly looked down in surrender.

"It’s okay to be impulsive when you’re young, but some things require a bit of mental preparation." The doctor who had been watching coldly interjected, speaking calmly but with a serious tone. "Do you know how HIV was transmitted from monkeys to humans? It’s through bodily fluids… Besides being transmitted through monkey blood transfusions and mosquito bites, do you think there’s another possible way of transmission?"

Immediately, the young man’s expression turned pale. "So, both of you should come to the medical area later. We need to conduct a comprehensive examination on you to see if there are any strange parasites, bacteria, viruses… Well, there’s still not much information available about the microbial environment. You might have a chance to leave a mark in history."

"Leave a mark in history?" Half of the people in the room showed confused expressions.

"Basically, in the field of medicine, if a new incurable disease or unusual illness is discovered, and if the patient survives, they have the right to name the disease after themselves. For example, in the future, there might be names like ‘Deep River Syndrome’ or ‘Deep River Parasitic Disease’ appearing in medical textbooks. That’s definitely leaving a mark in history."

"Gulp…" Everyone in the room had very rigid expressions.

"Ahem, let’s not talk about this topic. Let’s continue with our previous discussion," said the leader with a serious look, adjusting his glasses. "Let’s consider it a friendly relationship, but our country’s law states that having a relationship with a minor starts at three years…"

"Wait, a minor?" The young person looked terrified. "That can’t be possible!"

"It’s possible. Their lifespan is slightly shorter than ours, but whether based on physical age or proportional age, it’s just a difference between life imprisonment and the death penalty," the head of the medical team interrupted sharply. "Based on physical age, at 13 or 14 years old, it’s the death penalty, and based on proportional age, at 16 years old, it’s life imprisonment."

"…" You’re telling me that a girl who may be petite but developed has a mature charm is only 13 years old? Are you kidding me?

"Well, their hormone secretion is slightly higher, so their development is faster in the first twenty years compared to humans. However, due to this reason, even after adjusting for environmental and labor influences, their life expectancy is lower than humans, roughly… in normal circumstances, they can only live up to 60-70 years, whereas humans usually live 70-80 years; with modern medicine, the former can live up to 75-80 years at most, while humans can exceed 100 years," added the head of the medical team. "Yet, their aging process is much slower than humans, so a 60-year-old would look similar to someone in their forties."

"Ahem, so how should we solve this matter?"

"No, you don’t know?"

"You don’t know?" The leader’s tone suddenly escalated. "If you were under my command, I could have someone drag you to the wall for target practice right now!"

"Forget it. Since the car is already here, if we were to drag you out and dispose of you now, the locals might think we’re discriminating against them. So, how do you plan to take responsibility?" asked the expert from the social investigation team.

"In their customs, they still follow some primitive marriage traditions. When a woman gets married, she is seen as the property of the man’s family. So, once you choose to abandon her, the only option for her is to die. If you choose to accept, you must pay a price enough to make up for the loss of one labor force. Usually, the locals opt for swapping spouses, taking in one and sending out another. Even if there are no suitable candidates, they will choose to get engaged."

"……"

"If you choose compensation in wealth, depending on the economic situation of both families, you need to make a one-time payment and be responsible for providing the other person a male member’s food and shelter needs for 3-5 years."

"Of course, this time you are lucky, as the organization is treating this matter as a political propaganda task, so they will help you cover these costs. But… in return, you must accept the necessary punishments, self-criticism, and cooperate for free in future studies on biology and reproduction."

"Um, yes, yes."

"Alright, now go out and inform the people waiting outside of your decision. As the first to start a family in the exploration team, the organization will assign you a separate living space."

"That good?"

"Yes, it’s standard welfare." Commissioner Zhao didn’t tell him that there were at least 20 hidden cameras in the residence. The scientific team’s biology department was very interested in the reproduction of the Nico people. However, installing cameras in the locals’ homes seemed excessive. To maintain good relations, the organization had not agreed before. But now, there was free research material delivered to their door.

Whether or not they would be censored on their debut would depend on the morals of those old experts in the biology department. Anyway, in the scientific community, especially in the world of biology, debuting was inevitable. Future students would learn about reproduction and physiology related to the Nico people based on them.

In the future, scientists studying Nico’s ecological and physiological characteristics will often use this video footage as references and observation data for writing academic papers – this is what we call leaving a lasting legacy.

Not only that, many details from daily life will gradually be extracted. Hmm, these may also leave a lasting legacy in sociology. Of course, to protect the individuals from mental breakdown and ensure the accuracy of observational data, these things will not be told to Lin Shenhe. Perhaps it will only be revealed after a long time back on Earth, maybe at some biological research institute, seeing their faces blurred in the video. If they can recognize themselves.

"As for the others…" Commissioner Zhao glanced at the male geology students who were about to explode on the spot, paused, "After the medical team finishes checking and confirms there are no hidden dangers, during the Chinese New Year, we will organize a gathering for all the singles so don’t say you weren’t given a chance."

"Long live!!!"

As tough as the male geology students were, they had been craving those cute and gentle cat ladies for a long time, but out of respect for organizational discipline and what little morality they had left, they managed to restrain themselves.

Of course, the main reason was that Lin Shenhe was in charge of logistics support, always running into the village, contacting guides, setting up camps, hiring labor, organizing supply of goods, and so on, so he had that opportunity, and they were the ones at the forefront, the Nico people who could act as guides were either experienced hunters or frequently ventured into the mountains to gather herbs.

If they weren’t burly men in the feline department, they were elderly women about to become grandmothers. Of course, there were fans of peculiar tastes, but when they saw those sons who stood up a head taller and had thighs thicker than their waists, any strange ideas were immediately dispelled.

Just like how cats all seem cute, it’s just because of their size. In reality, male cats’ combat capabilities and bloodthirstiness rank high among animals, if you magnify it to human size, like those Imperial people, even trained elite soldiers from Earth wouldn’t last two minutes in hand-to-hand combat.

Even Nico people with various qualities lower than the Imperial people have innate talents for night vision and dynamic visual acuity. When they focus their attention, their time perception is about 2/3 of a human’s, meaning that when fully focused, the world they perceive is almost one-third slower than that of humans.

Among the Nico people, their pupils are more similar to those of cats. They are natural marksmen, able to adjust their pupils automatically for better focus and light intake. With exceptional physical abilities and coordination, they can easily become skilled machine gunners and snipers. (Cats are experts in ambush, and it’s common for them to stay still for a long time waiting for prey. The pads on their paws help them move silently towards their target, and they use their sharp claws to catch prey.)

When it comes to explosive power and agility, the Nico people are superior to human soldiers. Without using modern weapons, they excel in one-on-one combat with traditional weapons. Even the weaker females among them possess outstanding spatial awareness, direction sense, and quick reflexes. Their lower body strength is remarkable. To what extent, only Lin Shenhe knows for now.

Their only weakness is getting dizzy easily when focusing intensely, which hinders their spatial awareness and coordination. They might not be suitable to be jet pilots, but helicopter flying is less of a problem. This is why higher authorities are eager to assimilate this bloodline, for stronger, faster, and higher potential intelligence development.

This kind of race either faces extinction or assimilation. Their ability for infinite regeneration, metabolizing and recreating stronger nerve cells after death, has truly shocked the top officials in China. Given enough time and rigorous training, there is a good chance of transforming a group of individuals with an IQ below 90 into top scientists in three to four decades.

Therefore, China chose to let go of its richer territories to bring the Nico people into their fold. Even the Russians promised the Nico province’s control over other imperial territories to them, with no objections from Americans or Russians regarding China’s proposal of intermarriage for assimilation. After all, among the fifty-six ethnic groups in China, there is already a Russian group. What’s so surprising about this?

"Chief Zhao, what do you propose?" A Nico elder with two thick braids stared at Commissioner Zhao, with a young blushing girl behind him. Commissioner Zhao observed her – fair skin, pretty face, and long, slender legs. Without asking, it was hard to tell if she was truly underage.

Aging fast, growing fast, and maturing quickly – well, perhaps primitive humans also experienced this. Maybe they will readjust to a pattern similar to humans as their living environment changes.

"Our organization takes responsibility for this matter. If you require any compensation, it will be provided in full."

"What do you mean?" The old Nico man was a bit confused. "What is compensation if we agree to their terms?"

"Um… so according to your way of doing things…"

"You marry a woman to our village or three pairs of big-headed beasts, a cart of salt, and three piles of cloth!" Elder Nico thought for a moment and said, "This price is actually excessive."

But considering that these foreigners without ears are from another land and won’t stay long locally, and they seem quite wealthy, so naturally the price goes up. Normally, for locals, receiving a cart of salt for marriage is already considered greedy; usually it’s just one pair of big-headed beasts and a pile of cloth.

The former is the first property after the marriage. These animals with especially large heads, like pigs and sheep on Earth, are the main livestock. They can help transport goods and provide meat. Adult big-headed beasts can grow to almost 1 ton, with very tough skulls that can be polished into tools next to steel farming implements. They are one of the main economic livestock for the locals. The cloth is used to make new clothes, beddings, and other necessities.

"We don’t have big-headed beasts, can we use something else?"

"Hmm, that’s fine," Elder Nico thought. Since one of the marrying party belongs to them, the big-headed beasts are not kept by the bride’s family, they will eventually be given back to the newlyweds. If the other party doesn’t have them, then so be it. Since they seem wealthy, they wouldn’t let their village girls lose out. "But, the cart of salt and cloth cannot be omitted."

"That’s not a problem," Commissioner Zhao smiled. Originally, the organization specifically allocated over 2 tons of various goods and 50,000 in funds, converted into silver and gold coins for necessary expenses. It seems that they have overspent greatly, so there’s no need to return the money. They will use it for a luxurious wedding by local standards and even use the excess goods for the banquet and handle the friendship events as well.

In a world with not much entertainment, having a wedding and gathering for a meal is already a big event. Compared to people coming from all directions to join in, it can give the newbie members of the resistance army experience in organizing such a grand event, and promote the revolutionary cause – a win-win situation.

Thinking about this, Commissioner Zhao suddenly remembered a common situation in Chinese weddings. He quickly turned and called a soldier over, "Go tell those students not to disturb the bridal chamber. Being disabled by the girl’s family is not just embarrassing."

"Huh?"

"You guys who don’t usually train seriously could easily be defeated by others, so how can those students withstand it? Plus, this place doesn’t have this custom. To avoid misunderstandings later on."