Chapter 232: Waking Up in a Beautiful Era_1

The hospital room was spotlessly pure white, a kind of white with no trace of dust, unlike any Jiang Yu had seen before on hospital walls.

Xiao Wu had the appearance of an Eastern beauty, with black hair and black eyes, except her gaze had a distinct dullness.

From the outside, except for the fact that she stood perfectly still when idle, quite unlike humans, her clothing and limbs seemed no different from those of a normal person.

Another notable difference was her walk; Jiang Yu guessed she had some kind of roller mechanism under her feet, as her legs and body remained stationary while she moved forward.

At first glance, it was quite unsettling, especially encountering such a "peculiar person" in a hospital, reminiscent of the beginning of a ghost story.

However, after some thought, Jiang Yu realized the design was quite necessary.

If robots could not be distinguished from regular humans, that seemed like an even more troublesome issue.

Because people would presumptuously fight for robot rights, which would lead to significant social problems.

Jiang Yu had just regained his ability to speak and hoarsely asked Xiao Wu about the outside world.

However, Xiao Wu continued in her gentle voice, "Please rest assured and rest. Knowing about the outside world prematurely may affect your recovery. You will have visitors the day after tomorrow. You can communicate with them then."

Jiang Yu had no choice but to wait patiently, but Xiao Wu's service was truly considerate. She started by feeding Jiang Yu water and the next day began feeding him porridge and massaging his muscles to help him recover more quickly.

Perhaps due to Xiao Wu's care, or possibly due to advancements in hibernation awakening technology, Jiang Yu was able to get out of bed and walk after just two days.

Although his recovery was quicker, the feeling of weakness after awakening from hibernation was still present; he needed to lie down and rest after walking a bit.

On the third day after Jiang Yu awakened, Jiang Shiliu came to the hospital room with a stranger.

Seeing Jiang Shiliu, Jiang Yu was quite excited, "You've awakened too?"

Jiang Shiliu appeared to have been awake for some time, already looking to be in his thirties.

"I woke up twenty years ago," Jiang Shiliu said with a smile. "I appear to be about your age now, it feels awkward even to call you father."

Jiang Yu laughed, "Call me or don't."

He looked toward the young man standing behind Jiang Shiliu, who was clearly of mixed heritage with black hair and blue eyes, and his facial features showed some Western lineage.

The young man looked unfamiliar, but Jiang Yu had a sense of deja vu. "You... couldn't be Number Three, could you?"

Jiang Shiliu clapped his hands, "Haha, I won the bet; you're treating us tonight."

The young man laughed, "I'll treat."

Then he said to Jiang Yu, "Hello Wallfacer, I am Number Three. Did you recognize me even after I changed my appearance?

"Just now, I bet with Shiliu that you wouldn't recognize me."

Jiang Yu thought to himself: Am I supposed to say I could recognize you even if you turned to ash?

With this thought, he smiled and shook his head, "Why change appearances?"

And it seemed not just his appearance was different, the slight lag in his movements that used to precede them by a fraction of a second had also vanished.

As they talked, Jiang Yu invited them to sit in the small reception area of the hospital room, where Xiao Wu immediately served them drinks.

Number Three sighed, "After you went into hibernation, the government of the Solar System State became more transparent, and if I only used that one appearance, it would cause panic."

"Moreover, my secret is known only by a few people, and to avoid being discovered by everyone, I can only use this clumsy method to stay hidden," he said.

He paused and added, "But the shell Sixteen gave me after waking up not only got rid of the feeling of lag, but also allowed me to regain much more of my bodily sensations."

Jiang Yu nodded, "It's only when he can give you a normal body that we can really talk about his skill."

Jiang Shiliu laughed, "The kid just doesn't know when to be content. Now that he can even do that, what's there to complain about?"

"Oh, come on!" Number Three was somewhat embarrassed, "Let's talk serious."

Jiang Shiliu smiled and didn't continue the topic, his expression turned serious as he spoke of important matters, "I originally thought waking me up meant there had been a huge advancement in computer technology.

"Who knew it was just that computers have become smaller in size while the ceiling set by Sophon is still there, not knowing what people today are so ecstatic about?"

Number Three followed, "Everything is as you predicted, today is an era of hedonism. Whether it's the Solar System Federation or Earth, they all call this the good times.

"Moreover, everyone believes that we can now defeat the Trisolarans. Some have even begun to advocate spontaneously for the Trisolarans' right to live in the Solar System."

Jiang Yu was not surprised, "This is the stupidity of collective thinking; it's times like this when the calm thinking of individuals must come into play.

"This is precisely the advantage of the Wallfacer and Governor systems, utilizing the strengths of the Wallfacers as individuals and the power of the collective."

He paused then asked, "Did those wastrels change 'state' to 'federation' again?"

"Yes," said Number Three, "After Wang Wenyang, Kong Fangcheng and Tao Jingxing successively served as the third and fourth governors.

"While in office, they followed the policies you set out.

"Five years after Tao Jingxing's retirement, the Solar System State was changed to the Solar System Federation, and it was then that the next generation took some of the financial and personnel powers away from me."

Jiang Yu laughed, "The new generations think the times have changed, that to better enjoy life, they shouldn't keep dedicating themselves to the Wallfacer Project, and Wallfacers shouldn't have the right to boss them around anymore."

He shook his head, "Talk to me about the current state of the Solar System."

Number Three had Xiao Wu leave the sickroom before speaking to Jiang Yu, "This kind of firewall isn't airtight, and robots can easily become the eyes and ears of others."

After closing the door, Number Three began to describe the current state of the Solar System.

After Jiang Yu went into hibernation, during the reigns of the two governors, Wang Wenyang and Kong Fangcheng, the Solar System State seized the opportunity of Earth's emergence to accumulate a massive amount of wealth.

Then, they invested all these treasures into the construction of Jupiter, and the governorship of Tao Jingxing also signified that the focus of the Solar System State had moved to Jupiter.

The three governors did not serve very long, only a total of 53 years in office, but they significantly increased the power of the Solar System State!

The population of the Solar System State is around one hundred million now, while at the time of Tao Jingxing's retirement, it had already reached eighty million.

At the same time, the welfare of the residents was always a level above that of the PDC and the forces extended from PDC.

Shortly after Tao Jingxing retired, the PDC too thought that the Trisolaran invasion should be considered again, so they began to re-invest their efforts into space.

With more and more nuclear-powered spaceships, Jupiter, with its immense strategic depth, gradually became the center of all of humanity's space forces.

However, because the initial speed of nuclear-powered ships was only about one-fifth of the current speed, there was still a "chasm" between the Earth and Jupiter.

Due to the inconvenience of transportation, the PDC's power in Jupiter declared independence one after another, around the crisis of the year 160.

Now, the Asian Fleet, European Fleet, North American Fleet, and the Solar System Federation's federal fleet, together constitute Fleet International.