Chapter 466: Is the Mission Accomplished?_1

The next day, Jiang Yu did not go to work. He had a robot carry a lounge chair to the seaside, where he began to sunbathe.

It was yet another summer, this year's summer was sunny and bright, with little rain.

On Blue Maiden Star, if it did not rain, then when it did, it would be a continuous torrential downpour. Thankfully, there was no landmass too large on this planet; otherwise, it would surely have been inundated by floods.

Starting thirty years ago, humanity began using Climate Air Conditioning to alter the environmental conditions of Blue Maiden Star, including its oxygen content.

Today, Blue Maiden Star's oxygen level is slightly thinner than Earth's, equivalent to the oxygen concentration found at Earth's altitudes of over four thousand meters.

Now, one no longer needs to wear protective gear when going out.

To prevent the bacteria on Blue Maiden Star from harming humans, sustained sterilization efforts have been carried out.

Nowadays, one can no longer see any native life forms on Base Island, as the environment here is no longer suitable for them.

Fortunately, however, when the oxygen level of Blue Maiden Star increased, it did not lead to the demise of many species.

Biologists believe that this might be due to the general lack of high oxygen requirements among the native species.

On the nearby Fuxi Star, after just two years of Climate Air Conditioning operation, about 10% of the species have gone extinct.

If the transformation continued, creating an environment where humans could move about freely, it is estimated that 60% of Fuxi Star's species would go extinct.

For this reason, a summit was held by all sectors of the Solar System State to discuss whether to continue altering the environment of Fuxi Star.

Given the precedent set with the native life forms of Blue Maiden Star, this time, without much prolonged discussion, it was unanimously agreed that human needs should take precedence.

The extinction of species on Fuxi Star is unfortunate, and humanity should take some responsibility, but most of the blame should be attributed to this cold universe.

It is the Dark Forest Law existing in the universe that caused their misfortune, as well as the evolutionary process of the universe that gave the species of Fuxi Star their inherent disadvantage.

Jiang Yu did not concern himself with such far-fetched justifications; after all, humanity on Earth thrived at the expense of many other creatures, purely to make their own lives more comfortable.

This might sound disheartening, but it is the law of nature.

It was not until the emergence of the Space Ranch that human consumption of meat found a new source, significantly reducing the slaughter of live livestock.

The current environmental destruction in the New Continent Star System can be seen as retracing old steps, but with further technological advancements, such damages could potentially be avoided.

However, it is unavoidably affecting human development at present, something that Jiang Yu would not tolerate.

Jiang Yu was leisurely sunbathing on the beach, but the upper echelons of the Solar System State were somewhat uncomfortable.

Number Three and Hao Ying were muttering for half a day, discussing how to get Jiang Yu back to his position.

With the Ark project now concluded, it was necessary to draft a developmental plan for humanity for the next two or three decades. Most of it was already complete, with only some forward-looking issues still unresolved.

Without Jiang Yu's supervision, everyone was truly a bit uneasy.

After this task was finished, it wouldn't be too late for Jiang Yu to go on vacation.

The two discussed for a long time and actually did come up with a method.

So five days later, when Jiang Yu went to sunbathe again, Thirty-Six was already waiting on the lounge chair for quite some time.

"When did you wake up?" Jiang Yu then realized, "Here to play the negotiator?"

Thirty-Six sat up, "I hear you've been living a pretty good life lately!"

"It's quite nice," Jiang Yu laughed, "Exercising in the morning, sunbathing at noon, playing a few games in the afternoon.

"I haven't had such comfortable days in a long time."

"It's like the retirement life of an elderly person." Thirty-Six smiled and waved at his robot, which brought over a metal box.

Upon opening it, there were actually several small dishes carefully packed in exquisite metal boxes, along with beer served in recyclable metal containers.

Then, the robot took out a folding table from the bag.

The folding table was only the size of a mouse pad, as modern smelting technology had made it possible for metal to maintain sufficient hardness even when extremely thin.

So, the mouse pad-sized folding table, after being unfolded four times, became quite large, with thin legs under the tabletop that made it very stable on the sand.

Next, the robot skillfully arranged the dishes and opened the beer for Jiang Yu and Thirty-Six.

Thirty-Six raised his beer, "Praise to the Wallfacer for passing down such a wonderful thing as beer!"

Jiang Yu smiled and took a sip, "If this conversation doesn't have any ulterior motive, it'll be a pleasant, idle chat."

Thirty-Six, however, spoke for himself, "A beach without coconut trees and beautiful women is imperfect! Can the soil on Base Island support Earth plants now?"

Jiang Yu followed up on the topic, "It still needs some modifications."

Thirty-Six took a bite of the dish, "Praise the Wallfacer again for making food more delicious and not letting space food, which is like garbage, become mainstream.

"Is this cube peanut?"

"Yes," Jiang Yu replied. "Now, the peanuts in the farms are as big as corn used to be, so the peanuts used for cooking have been cut into these small dices."

Thirty-Six laughed, "The size of corn, huh? When I first met you, it was simply unimaginable."

He paused then added, "Every time I wake up, I feel like I've fallen behind."

Jiang Yu shook his head with a smile.

"But soon I realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same," Thirty-Six said. "My thoughts are still so forward-looking!"

He paused again and said seriously, "And yours are as well."

But Jiang Yu wasn't buying it, "So now we're getting into work mode?"

Thirty-Six shook his head, "Don't you understand yet? Our emergence is no coincidence."

Jiang Yu was taken aback.

Thirty-Six continued, "Haven't you ever thought about it? What would humanity look like without you?

"Without me and Jiang Shiliu, humanity would just lack some bold ideas.

"But without you, I think, during the Two-dimensional foil crisis, humanity might have been left with only the lone spark on Starship Earth."

Jiang Yu was even more surprised because that was indeed the case. At this moment, he even wondered whether Thirty-Six had somehow peeked at the script.

With a beer in hand, Thirty-Six extended it forward, and Jiang Yu clinked his beer against it, "As you said, my emergence indeed improved the situation considerably.

"However, my mission should also be over by now; up to this point, the main body of humanity has not suffered significant losses."

Thirty-Six, however, said, "My mission isn't over yet, so how can you be so sure you've completed yours?"

Jiang Yu was stunned. Yes, if there really was an invisible hand that had facilitated his time travel, then he must be carrying some mission.

Even he himself wasn't clear whether his mission was completed yet.

All he knew was that humanity still had a lot to do in the future.

Jiang Yu heaved a deep sigh, "Damn it, who woke you up? You've spoiled my good mood."

Yet Thirty-Six laughed, "As the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility, we're both fated to toil."