Chapter 478: I saw Paradise_1

Cheng Ping's decision surprised many, but they soon understood his feelings.

Since leaving the Solar System and coming into the universe, humanity's thinking had subtly begun to change.

The universe was too vast for humans, and the Dark Forest concealed too many unknowns.

Here, humanity's desire to explore was fully aroused. If it weren't for the Solar System State's constant advocacy for planned and rational exploration, a wave of exploration fervor would probably have been triggered already.

Everyone also understood the Solar System State's concerns. After all, they were in a Dark Forest that could devour them at any moment. They weren't on an outing; every step had to be taken with extreme caution.

Therefore, everyone understood Cheng Ping's longing to explore the unknown and admired his courage to do so.

On the day of Cheng Ping's departure, many people came to see him off, including his family, friends, colleagues, and many who did not know him but were inspired by his actions.

The Earth Government even held a simple ceremony for him. Amidst cheers, and his relatives' and friends' tearful eyes, Cheng Ping smiled and waved at everyone. Then he boarded the spaceship without looking back.

Because information had come through that anyone else going would mean certain death, this exploration team consisted only of Cheng Ping.

The spacecraft had been intensely retrofitted, equipped with an abundance of redundant life support systems and energy systems. If nothing unexpected happened, they would be sufficient for Cheng Ping to use alone for a few thousand years.

This retrofitting was done because, at the moment, no one knew how far his journey would be or how long it would take.

To decrease the chances of the spaceship turning into spare parts upon entering a time-disturbed zone, they deliberately used an old military ship from the departure from the Solar System for the retrofit.

However, an intelligent piloting system had been installed, as it would be impossible for one person to operate an old-fashioned military ship otherwise.

The spaceship was also equipped with many modern research instruments. This was a rare opportunity to study cosmic holes, naturally, they wanted to collect as much information as possible.

After the spacecraft took off, the crowd gradually dispersed.

After two or three hours, the big screen at the dock showed the spacecraft as nothing but a small red dot.

Only Logic remained, leaning on his cane, staring blankly at the little red dot.

Another half-hour passed, and his wife called him home for dinner. Only then did he slowly find a shared airship to go home.

At the dinner table, Zhuang Yue noticed her father's mood was somewhat downcast, so she took the initiative to bring up a topic. "The 'Eden' that Wallfacer Jiang Yu ordered to be built is almost complete. I have visited it; it's very beautiful.

"Since coming to Earth, you've been focused on the 'Chameleon' project and haven't had the time to inspect it. Let's go check it out together sometime."

Logic nodded, "Let's go next month."

By next month, Cheng Ping would probably have entered the time-disturbed zone.

Then with a smile, Logic said, "Actually, I don't feel that sad about Cheng Ping leaving. I can feel the excitement in his heart, and I'm happy for his decision.

"It's just that I suddenly realize this is the universe, a paradise for adventurers!

"Too bad I'm just an old man and can no longer venture. Otherwise, I would also like to go out there into the universe and see for myself."

Zhuang Yue was taken aback, "Wallfacer Jiang Yu once promised..."

But Logic waved his hand dismissively, "That's something we just can't do!"

Although Zhuang Yue didn't finish, Logic understood. She was referring to the matter of "transferring" consciousness to a young body.

Jiang Yu had indeed made a promise that Logic could undergo the procedure whenever he wished.

But Logic would never agree. Such revolutionary technology could only be popularized when humanity's level of thought was sufficiently advanced.

If it were initiated now, initially, it might be applied to those who had made great contributions to humanity, but after a century or two, it might not be the case anymore.

Looking at the current state of humanity, if a group of people who never died emerged, it would squeeze the living space of the newborns, and over time, it could even lead to the development of a new privileged class.

That's why Jiang Yu kept a tight rein on technology, lest humanity play with fire and get burnt, or create too many uncertain factors.

At the dining table of Logic's family, Zhuang Yue, seeing her father speak so resolutely, did not try to persuade him further.

During the following period, Logic went to the "Chameleon" research group every day to keep up with the latest developments.

Since there was no need to worry about leaving a trail, Cheng Ping used the curvature engine for the initial phase of the journey. It wasn't until he was two thousand six hundred astronomical units away from the "Chameleon" that he decelerated from the speed of light to perform a series of observations.

The result was: nothing was observed.

The color of the "Chameleon" was the only thing humans could observe.

About twenty days after Cheng Ping's departure, the signals from the spacecraft he was aboard suddenly cut off.

On the spacecraft, there were various signal transmitters, and in the end, only the neutrino signal transmitter sent back a weak signal. However, the signals received by Earth were completely garbled and contained no useful information.

Nevertheless, they had to be decoded by technical staff, and during the process of decryption, a clue was unexpectedly found: the signals weren't garbled but had been divided into several hundred segments of varying lengths.

Considering the phenomenon of the time distortion, it wasn't hard to guess that the phenomenon had altered the signals.

It was as if signals normally sent as 12345 were now received as 43215, making them appear to be garbled.

In the following two days, the staff managed to piece together two small segments of the signal into a coherent one, proving this hypothesis.

It was as if Cheng Ping had sent everyone a note that could only be read by piecing it together properly to get the important information on it.

After another eight days, the "note" was finally pieced together, and it turned out to be a short message:

"I have seen the majestic peaks!

Atop the peak, there is a magnificent hall.

I have seen Paradise!"

This message immediately caused a new sensation, as Cheng Ping's encounter was different from that of "old Cheng Ping"!

Peaks? A hall? Why would he call it Paradise?

Just as the Solar System State was relaunching a new round of research on the "Chameleon," it disappeared, along with Cheng Ping's whereabouts.

For a time, people had many new speculations about the "Chameleon." Many believed it could be a hint from future humanity to the present or perhaps an opportunity to leap into a God-level civilization?

In the future, every person lived a life of ease and contentment, every person was happy and fulfilled, and everything conformed to the deep-seated aesthetics of the soul; that's why Cheng Ping had called it Paradise.

Others believed it was a backdoor opened by an advanced civilization for humanity. After all, humanity had received intelligence about "Paradise" two centuries earlier, which was later confirmed by the Trisolarans.

Then, could it really be that some benevolent God-level civilization had established a Paradise in the universe?

And was waiting for the arrival of various civilizations.

Whatever the case, humanity had missed this opportunity.