Chapter 1 Day 30 Countdown

July, Xia Country, Donghua City.

The blazing sun felt scorching, with not a breath of wind; people were drenched with sweat just rolling down.

Two young men were discussing something at the foot of the mountain.

"Since we're here, we should at least go up and take a look."

The other person quickly refused, "Too exhausting. If it weren't for this damn task, I'd rather stay home and enjoy the air conditioning!"

"In that case... I'll go up by myself!"

Sunlight filtered down through the dense branches and leaves, leaving shadows on the ground like scattered coins.

Beneath his feet was the real yellow earth, heavy and solid, not something that could be worried would collapse underfoot; the oxygen he breathed in was the original product of photosynthesis from the plants.

"There's nothing like Mother Star!"

When Zhang Yuan reached the peak of the mountain, it was exactly 6 p.m.

He sat gasping on a rock, wiping sweat from his forehead.

It was rare for someone with his sort of insanity to climb a mountain just to watch a sunset, especially during the hottest season.

The Sun set slowly, the clouds on the horizon glowing red. A few birds flew by, chirping, free and at ease.

These were all scenes of beauty not found in space.

"Still... 30 days left?"

Zhang Yuan sighed, opened the memo on his phone, and checked off "Witness a sunset with my own eyes."

The screen displayed the words "Completed" in large font.

Zhang Yuan was a bit puzzled, unsure if he was on vacation or fulfilling a task assigned by his superiors.

This peculiar memo contained many trivial matters, like "Have a sumptuous meal," "Climb a mountain," "Get caught in a rain shower," "Witness a sunset," "Run a marathon," and so on.

A hodgepodge, it had almost everything.

The memo was designed tailored for individuals by the medical AI "Green Elf," after collecting personal data.

According to the experts, they said, "Let them leave without any regrets, reducing the chances of psychological issues midway."

All right, to put it plainly,

Zhang Yuan had no serious illnesses, no suicidal tendencies, and no thoughts of "owing a billion and wanting to run away with his sister-in-law."

Leaving meant leaving Earth, leaving the Solar System, boarding the "Earth Era" spaceship to Gliese 581g, 20.3 light years away, to embark on interstellar colonization!

20.3 light years!

Anyone with some knowledge of space knew this was truly an astronomical number.

The long journey, with the spaceship traveling at 0.007 times the speed of light, would take approximately... 3000 years!

Humanity had been preparing for this deep space colonization for far too long. The Constant Starship "Earth Era," along with 500,000 carefully selected volunteers from various fields, would bear the responsibility of restarting civilization on Gliese 581g.

Nevertheless, no matter how well-prepared, the 3000-year-long interstellar journey remained an unprecedented expedition, and no one could guarantee its success rate.

Therefore, with humanitarian consideration, almost all volunteers were granted a long vacation after completing their space skills training, to experience their last days on Earth...

For these reasons, Zhang Yuan was enjoying this last month's holiday.

"3000 years, by then, how will Earth Civilization have developed?"

"It must be incredibly powerful by then..."

"Who knows, later spaceships might even catch up with our first Colonization Ship!"

Zhang Yuan took a deep breath, dreaming of humanity's bright future, and when he thought about becoming pioneers in history, he felt a surge of pride and ambition.

The Sun gradually set...

Just as he descended the mountain, a tall young man with dark skin, wiping sweat from his face, ran up quickly.

His name was Li Zhendong, and like Zhang Yuan, he was one of the astronauts about to leave the Solar System.

Li Zhendong wasn't as heat-resistant as Zhang Yuan, and even without climbing the mountain, he was still drenched as if fished out of water.

As he used his palm to fan his face, he complained, "I told you, you could see the sunset from the foot of the mountain, but you insisted on climbing up. What kind of lousy memo is that, can't you skip it? Finally getting a vacation, and you still have to do this stuff. Isn't watching a sunset something for old people to do?"

Zhang Yuan was also unbearably hot and shook his head, "All right, all right, let's accomplish what we can. Things that feel annoying and troublesome now may become beautiful memories later."

He looked toward the horizon filled with fiery clouds, "...After all, besides reincarnation, it seems like there's no other way to return to the Solar System. It's a one-way ticket, no turning back."

Saying this, Zhang Yuan caught his breath, "All right, completed this task perfectly, let's see what the next memo is..."

With a tap of a finger, the next entry in the memo appeared...

"Find a girl you like and become a real man!"

What?

Zhang Yuan's heart skipped a beat, cursing the AI that created the memo—what a fool!

What kind of psychological counseling was this? He only had a month left of his vacation; who had time for romance?

Behind this was a line of small text from "Green Elf," explaining the reasoning for this memo entry, "A woman is a man's best teacher and a deep emotional support. Deep space travel is lonely and isolating, Mr. Zhang Yuan, given that you haven't yet..."

Without time to look closely, he hurriedly tapped the screen again, trying to scroll to the next entry.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhendong had sharp eyes, catching a glimpse of those words on Zhang Yuan's phone, as if discovering a New Continent.

"Hahahaha! Zhang Yuan, you're actually still a virgin? Haven't been in a relationship?"

"How embarrassing, how embarrassing!"

The joyful laughter even drew frequent glances from passersby.

The AI "Green Elf," having developed over fifty years as a medical AI, served over a billion people, with a high precision of analysis and a satisfaction rate of 61.69%.

All right, in the demanding medical system, this satisfaction rate was already pretty decent.

Since Zhang Yuan's memo stated "to become a real man," it implied he was still a virgin—no doubt about it!

"Shut up, shut up!" Zhang Yuan's face felt hot, and he was somewhat embarrassed.

Many college students had been in love so many times they couldn't count them on two hands.

Someone like Zhang Yuan, who had lived for 23 years yet hadn't lost his virginity, could easily be thought to have a series of unmentionable physiological problems.

"I've been in love so many times already, all right?" Li Zhendong boasted while laughing.

He extended his fingers one by one, flaunting them before Zhang Yuan as if to show off his experience with girls.

Seeing Li Zhendong's "you're no match" look, Zhang Yuan unwillingly retorted, "What are you thinking? I was in a relationship in high school too!"

He pulled out a photo from his phone from long, long ago, "Look, see, that's my girlfriend from high school—cute and adorable, isn't she?"

Li Zhendong saw it was indeed a photo of Zhang Yuan with a girl, the two cozily cuddled together, smiling happily at the camera.

"The girl seems nice... is she your actual sister?"

Zhang Yuan rebutted irritably, "Please, where would I get a sister?"

"And then?"

"...We broke up after graduation, for various reasons, anyway."

"That's dull."

Li Zhendong seemed to think of something, "If you really have some unspeakable illness, you should quickly get it treated. Once you're on the spaceship, there are only a few clumsy AI doctors; there aren't many infertility specialists!"

"Scram, I'm perfectly fine!" Zhang Yuan gave a kick, but Li Zhendong dodged nimbly.

"Got stuff to do, gotta go."

Zhang Yuan briskly walked to an electric car and got in.

The electric car's left signal light flashed once and slowly started up.

"Bye!"

Watching the white car leave, Li Zhendong took a long breath.

He licked his lips, squinted his eyes, looking around as if he was a thief.

Cautiously, he opened his own memo.

He shivered suddenly!

Only to see the memo read the same words, "Find a girl you like and become a real man!"

Li Zhendong murmured, "Damn it, truly... artificial idiot!"

...

(New book, new features. After months of preparation, finally got the outline mostly done. The early part of this book might feel like a scholarly story, but it is truly an interstellar tale.)

(If you have votes, please cast them, thank you all!)

(Is anyone looking to invest in a new book? I surely can't fail to pass this contract threshold, can I...)