Chapter 207: A 70-Year Slumber_1

Familiar darkness descended once again, and with it, Jiang Yu's consciousness returned.

He knew he was about to awaken, but a wave of sorrow washed over him, for this awakening likely meant one of his parents was critically ill.

Soon, Jiang Yu's senses, all except vision, had mostly recovered.

He didn't know how long he had waited when finally someone came to push his hospital bed.

Jiang Yu desperately wanted to know the current time from the person pushing him, to gauge the reason for his awakening.

But the person remained silent, unlike the doctors before, who would have told him the year of the Crisis Era without delay.

Had the rules changed?

Now, Jiang Yu couldn't even speak, so he had to wait and see.

After more than half a minute, Jiang Yu felt himself being lifted by two people onto another bed, a thin cloth covering his face and body.

This wasn't right; in all his times of awakening, he'd never been moved to a different bed at this stage.

Just then, Jiang Yu finally heard someone whisper in his ear, "Security has people from the PDC, you'll have to play dead to fool the guards at the door."

Jiang Yu recognized the voice as Number Three's. What was he up to?

Number Three added softly, "I'll explain everything once we're in the car."

While Jiang Yu had his doubts, he knew Number Three wouldn't engage in such deception for no reason.

Minutes later, during the security check at the door, Jiang Yu held his breath and feigned death, quickly passing the inspection.

Once in the car, Jiang Yu let out a sigh of relief.

Number Three said, "Quick! Change the Wallfacer's clothes!"

Jiang Yu felt his hibernation suit being removed and replaced with comfortable cotton clothing.

While he was being dressed, Jiang Yu heard people outside chanting, "Offer civilization to the ages, not the ages to civilization!"

Number Three immediately said, "Take another route!"

Then, with a touch of curiosity, he asked, "Haven't all PDC countries already announced the cessation of space strategy plans, focusing on improving the quality of life for the people? Why are there still protests?"

A stranger's voice replied, "Apparently, this is a parade celebrating the victory of the Second Enlightenment Movement."

A shiver ran through Jiang Yu, the Second Enlightenment Movement? Had the Great Rift Valley just ended?

Had his parents also gone into hibernation? Otherwise, why had half a century passed in the blink of an eye?

Suddenly, an ominous premonition filled Jiang Yu's heart.

At that moment, Number Three explained in his ear, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang, for awakening you at this time.

"It is now the 91st year of the Crisis Era. Your mother passed away in the 26th year due to illness, and your father also passed away in the 38th year.

"Both of your parents passed away peacefully."

Jiang Yu struggled to slap Number Three in the face, but his body was too weak, and he had to give up.

Then, with tears streaming down his face, he realized he had been ready to bid his parents farewell for the last time, but he had missed everything.

As Number Three wiped away his tears, he said with a sob in his voice, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

"Both of your parents made a will, and in front of them, I promised not to awaken you, so as not to interrupt your work.

"Your mother took her last breath only after seeing me promise; I really couldn't bring myself to break that promise."

The carriage fell into a long silence.

Gradually, Jiang Yu forgave Number Three, but he still found it hard to let go of the fact that he hadn't been able to see his parents off on their final journey.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Number Three spoke again, "After you went into hibernation, life on Earth became increasingly difficult, yet the breakthrough for nuclear fusion spacecraft technology was still nowhere in sight.

"PDC's planetary defense plan, however, grew more and more ambitious, and in Crisis Era year 35, they issued the command to construct a military base in Jupiter Orbit.

"Without nuclear fusion spacecraft, journeys to Jupiter still relied on liquid fuel rockets, with a one-way trip taking about five years and two months.

"After all, the average distance between Earth and Jupiter is 780 million kilometers, 13 times that of the Earth to Mars average distance!

"Every journey required a massive amount of fuel and space equipment.

"Even in the beginning, most of the food had to be sent from Earth to Jupiter.

"The countries in the PDC blindly pushed their space industry developments, causing rapid environmental degradation on Earth!

"Professor Qi Guanglu's 'Green Pastures Plan' was also forcibly canceled by the PDC during that time. The Star Defense Department claimed that Professor Qi and others were suspected of belonging to the ETO, as if they were improving the environment to then hand it over to the Trisolarans.

"The over-eighty-year-old Professor Qi, in a fit of rage, passed away from the world.

"Fortunately, Burton intervened in time, saving the research results of Professor Qi and his team. Most of the project team members and their families were also taken to Guanghan City."

Number Three let out a long sigh, "After that, there were no more good days. Although Guanghan City and Mars City, and even the later-built Kitchen God Star City and Grain God Star City, were supporting Earth.

"There still were incidents of people dying from starvation, thankfully, the number of such deaths was not huge."

Jiang Yu nodded slightly. He was quite satisfied with the work of Number Three and Burton because, after all, it was about the food supply for billions of people.

Even though the countries in the PDC all had considerable facilities for producing artificial starch, there would definitely be a huge gap in food supplies due to global environmental degradation.

Only to hear Number Three continue, "The official term for the past fifty years is the Great Rift Valley. The high-pressure rule of the PDC countries ultimately led to a series of protest actions.

"Initially, the PDC countries were able to suppress the protests with military and police forces, but later the police and military personnel joined the protest actions as well.

"This global movement was called the Second Great Revolution.

"According to our investigations, a new ideology was emerging, and Earth was facing a global change in thoughts.

"Many films and television works from the Golden Age... oh, the era before you went into hibernation was called the Golden Age.

"Many works from the Golden Age re-emerged and began to spread, and arts like painting and music also began to flourish.

"Governments around the world were powerless to stop this trend, marking the collapse of oppressive rule, which everyone is now calling the Second Renaissance."

Number Three remarked with a sense of loss, "However, before this, many people had died because of these artworks and the ideologies opposing oppressive rule!"

He paused before continuing, "In recent years, PDC's power has weakened, and residents of the Moon and Mars have been quite disappointed with the PDC's strategies during the Great Rift Valley.

"Some of the Moon and Mars cities from various countries even want to throw off the heavy burden of Earth.

"Thus, the leaders of each city gathered in our Guanghan City and Mars City, hoping we would come forward and establish the Lunar Federation and Martian Federation to completely break away from the human world.

"Burton woke you up, hoping you would make this decision.

"Also, in order to avoid PDC detaining you as a leverage against Guanghan City, we had to secretly awaken you.

"Although PDC had planted informants in the hospital, their organizational ability is very weak now, and they can't control the entire hospital.

"This gave us the chance to carry out the rescue plan."

Jiang Yu sighed. He had become busy the moment he woke up.