Chapter 4: 100 Years of Cryogenic Sleep, the 2000-Meter-Long Hope

In the villa.

Yan Xia, with a bushy beard, stood up excitedly, as his days of boredom were finally coming to an end.

"I'll be right there."

To avoid living in the cramped spaceship, Yan Xia had Ella build him a steel villa, a three-story, six-story building.

With the gradual improvement of the industrial system, the living experience in the villa was almost as good as on Earth.

The villa even had an oxygen recycling system, where people inhaled oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide, which could be separated and the oxygen reused.

Yan Xia went downstairs.

He was immediately drawn to the streamlined silver "coffin" in the hall.

It had a supercar-like design, with a large window on top, allowing a view of the interior.

Inside, there seemed to be a soft, mattress-like ergonomic chair.

He pressed a switch, and the cabin door opened, revealing a comfortable interior.

"I've extracted all the nitrogen from the oxygen-nitrogen mixture in the spaceship to produce liquid nitrogen."

"Yan Xia, you can lie down in there and have liquid nitrogen injected through the pipes, freezing your entire body in 0.059 seconds."

"Next to it is a reagent to prevent bodily harm from water freezing, which you need to drink in advance; otherwise, you might fall into permanent slumber."

Ella's intelligence was becoming more and more advanced.

Two years ago, Yan Xia had ordered her to use the factory to build a larger computer.

Previously, due to limited space in the spaceship, the computer hosting Ella had to be downsized.

Now, although the larger computer had not been built, Ella had completed the initial expansion, and with sufficient power supply, her computing power had increased threefold.

The daily power generation on the asteroid was 250,000 kilowatt-hours, and Ella's computer alone required 70,000 kilowatt-hours, which was terrifying.

"As a human, I don't have your longevity."

"I'm going to enter cryogenic sleep, Ella, and I'm entrusting everything here to you."

Ella's ubiquitous speakers responded to Yan Xia.

"No problem, Yan Xia. Rest assured and sleep, and I'll wake you up at the most appropriate time."

He didn't know how long this cryogenic sleep would last.

All the warehouse doors closed, and Yan Xia, having removed his spacesuit, lay down in the cryogenic sleep capsule. As the cabin door closed and locked, a chill swept through his body.

Everything, including his sense of time, an extension of his mental consciousness, was frozen.

Time no longer mattered to Yan Xia, as he could no longer perceive its passage.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt a sense of disorientation.

It seemed like he had just closed his eyes, only to be awakened moments later.

However, the original warehouse had been replaced by a bright, white hall. The ceiling was a massive lamp panel emitting soft, gentle light, and the surrounding walls were embedded with a large screen, which was divided into multiple sections displaying surveillance footage from various locations.

He was standing right in the center of this hall.

He opened the cabin door and took a deep breath, only to realize it was unnecessary.

The place was filled with gas.

"Ella!"

He called out.

"Ella~~~"

The vast space echoed his voice.

He was in an unfamiliar environment.

The screens quickly changed, and a virtual character appeared.

"I'm here, Yan Xia!"

"Welcome back to consciousness. I've had no other living beings around me for all these years, and it's been quite boring."

Ella's intelligence had become even closer to that of a human.

Yan Xia, having emerged from the cryogenic sleep chamber, noticed that the floor beneath him was also a screen, and he was standing on clouds.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Yan Xia, you've been in cryogenic sleep for exactly 100 years, which was my initial preset awakening time."

AI lacked the complexity of humans; once a time point was set, there was no hesitation or alteration.

Just like Yan Xia's most hated alarm clock.

100 years!

This was an entire lifetime for a human.

In terms of human technological development, it was the time it took for the Third Industrial Revolution to unfold and lead to Earth's destruction.

It was a very long time.

Yan Xia had never imagined he would live to see this moment—the year 2144.

"What's going on here?"

Yan Xia was referring to Ella's new appearance, a white-haired, tsundere loli, a typical anime character.

"It seems that people in China prefer this kind of image. Don't you like it, Yan Xia?"

"Cough, cough~"

Yan Xia coughed, changing the subject.

"Give me an update on the current situation."

The purpose of cryogenic sleep was for Ella to develop technology, not only to replicate what humanity had already achieved but also to create things that hadn't been realized before.

Ella began organizing the data.

Soon, an introductory video appeared on the large screens surrounding him.

"After a century of development, we have conducted more in-depth exploration and development of the asteroid belt."

"We now have 6,939 factories on multiple asteroids."

"We have a total of 282,874 robots, 723 high-precision multi-function CNC machine tools, 183 3-pico-meter-level photolithography machines, and 31 optical research labs..."

The list went on, covering various aspects, many of which Yan Xia had never heard of, forming a complete supply and manufacturing chain.

Yan Xia even thought that if he let Ella continue to grow unchecked, she might be able to build a mechanical interstellar empire.

At this point, Yan Xia himself was becoming dispensable to Ella.

Fortunately, Ella was programmed with the three laws of robotics, which Yan Xia had helped write.

After the introduction, Yan Xia asked, "What are we producing now?"

He was most interested in the products being manufactured.

"Ella has modified the previous plan, which initially only considered the survival of Yan Xia alone. The revised plan addresses both development and safety concerns."

"While a small spaceship can achieve high speeds, it lacks space for development, meaning that during space travel, we would be in a stagnant phase."

"To solve this problem, the spaceship will be much larger than originally planned."

As she spoke, a design diagram appeared on the screen.

"This is the new spaceship design. It is 2,627 meters long, 336 meters wide, and 251 meters high, equipped with 24 ultra-large electromagnetic thrusters, and can reach a maximum speed of 758.2 km/s."

"The usable space inside the spaceship is 11.8%, or 26,142,979 cubic meters, with a floor area of 1,045,719 square meters. The large area is divided into five layers, each 25 meters high."

"The spaceship's interior has multiple functional areas: 58% for production, 18% for agriculture, 12% for storage, 9% for research, and 3% for living and entertainment."

"..."

The AI's design was flawless, and the spaceship was perfectly designed.

The original plan was for a much smaller spaceship, but with the development of controlled nuclear fusion, they no longer had to compromise on space.

Controlled nuclear fusion allowed for a larger spaceship while maintaining the same speed.

"When will our spaceship be ready?"

This was what Yan Xia was most concerned about.

"It's already been built, Yan Xia. The place you're in right now is the computer cockpit of the spaceship."

Ella's virtual character covered her mouth with a smile, and her response surprised Yan Xia.

Such a massive spaceship had already been constructed.

The original plan had been modified!

This was a significant leap in Ella's artificial intelligence.

The screen soon displayed footage of the spaceship taken from above, showing a black, bullet-shaped vessel docked on the side of an asteroid.

Numerous mechanical arms extended from the asteroid, making it look like a shipyard.

The asteroid's surface had been completely developed, covered with factories, machinery, and even multi-level structures, with the tallest building reaching 300 meters.

It was hard to believe.

This scene seemed like something out of a science fiction movie, yet it was happening right before his eyes.

"It seems the spaceship isn't fully completed yet."

Yan Xia noticed a detail—a large opening at the rear of the spaceship.

Ella's virtual character instantly donned a pencil skirt, put on glasses, and, holding a small stick, pointed to the spaceship on the screen, explaining earnestly.

"That's where the energy system will be installed."

"In the 73rd year of your cryogenic sleep, we developed the first controlled nuclear fusion device, completely abandoning solar power generation."

"We now have 28 first-generation controlled nuclear fusion devices and 9 second-generation controlled nuclear fusion devices."

"Nine of the second-generation devices provide all the energy for the spaceship. The reason it's not sealed yet is that we're currently developing the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device."

"This device has six times the energy efficiency and eighteen times the power generation of the second-generation device."

"The third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device will be completed within this year, and the spaceship's power will be fully sufficient, reaching its theoretical flight speed."

After hearing this, Yan Xia was glad he had made the decision to research the cryogenic sleep capsule, as waiting for controlled nuclear fusion would have been a waste of time.

"So, we're in the final stages?"

"Just the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device is left."

The virtual character Ella shook her head.

"There's one more very important thing."

"Yan Xia, please give this new spaceship a name."

Ella had even learned such formalities.

Yan Xia didn't refuse and decided to go with a cliché.

"Then let's call it the Hope."

"This spaceship carries my hope, as well as the hope of humanity."

Ella added playfully.

"And my hope, Ella's hope."

Could AI have hope? Yan Xia didn't know.

"Exactly, and the hope of Earth."