Deep Space Wandering Fleet

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Space Journey

The distant tolling of bells resonated by his ear, as the Sun played a game of hide and seek below the horizon.

Zhang Yuan took his seat and fastened his safety belt.

He took a deep breath, trying to expel all the negative emotions from his mind.

Buzz!

Once the elevator started, it brought a slight feeling of increased gravity, causing a roaring in his eardrums.

The structure of the magnetic levitation elevator was somewhat like a vertical high-speed train. It moved quickly, accelerating over time until it reached an upwards speed of roughly 500 kilometers per hour.

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It was predicted that after 72 hours, three days, it would reach the geostationary orbit position at 36,000 kilometers, also known as Tenglong Space City.

Transporting materials to space via the Space Elevator cost about 10 federal coins per kilogram. In order to reduce transport costs, it was crucial for the magnetic levitation elevator, this mode of transport, to be as lightweight and simple as possible, therefore, the overall environment couldn’t be very comfortable.

Each person only had one small sleeping berth, and any personal baggage for the tourists required an additional fee.

In just a few minutes, the elevator reached the stratosphere, surpassing the height of Mount Everest. Through the window, one could admire the breathtaking view outside.

At this altitude, the full view of Xisha City came into sight, its aesthetically pleasing traffic routes like veins within the city, and the cars moving along them like flowing blood.

This international port city operated ceaselessly, day and night.

With nothing better to do, Zhang Yuan simply started chatting with Li Zhendong.

Li Zhendong frowned and said, “I received a notice a few days ago that everyone needs to find some work projects to be considered as part of our comprehensive assessment, along with various work grading systems. It’s basically like military ranks.”

“As astronauts, we’re already in space, yet we still have to generate income for the Foundation… This is outright exploitation!”

While swiping through micro-points on his mobile phone, Zhang Yuan countered, “You could just loaf around and do nothing if you like. After all, as long as you have a basic position on the spaceship, you’ll have a salary and won’t starve. If you really were about to starve, you could apply for hibernation.”

“I now have 100,000 New Coin, probably among the wealthiest on the spaceship. A boxed meal only costs 4 coins, enough to last me a long time.”

The conversion rate between federal coins and New Coin is roughly 100:1.

100,000 New Coin, with a monthly salary of 1000, would take 8.3 years to earn.

Li Zhendong’s eyes widened when he saw Zhang Yuan fervently swiping for micro-points and was momentarily speechless.

Zhang Yuan, who had donated 10 million federal coins at the award ceremony and had a heated exchange with the reporters, causing a sensation, surely knew about it.

He had wondered for a long time how Zhang Yuan had stumbled upon such a chance to show off and had done so perfectly…

“You really struck it rich, huh? When are you treating us to a meal?”

Zhang Yuan replied with a smile, “Alright, I’ll treat you to synthetic meat, as much as you want. Money doesn’t really serve much of a purpose, at least not for now. I can’t eat for two, and I brought a lot of electronic products in my luggage, so I don’t need to buy anything else…”

Li Zhendong was curious, “Is that all you brought, just electronic items? I also brought some condiments, especially chili sauce—don’t come asking me for some!”

Zhang Yuan paused, “Oh no, I forgot!”

Resources on the spaceship were extremely limited, and everyone had a purchase cap.

Zhang Yuan couldn’t possibly use his substantial wealth to buy up all the food and then inflate the prices, monopolize, and profit through speculation and sales.

Such activities were not permissible, and if they actually happened, Zhang Yuan might be invited by the relevant department for a ‘tea talk’.

Though the society was small, it still had a robust security mechanism in place.

On the other hand, donated wealth would only make the initial capital a bit larger; it couldn’t elevate one’s social status.

Only through working on projects that generated income for the Deep Space Foundation could one’s capability be demonstrated.

Or perhaps starting from the academic side, one could write some excellent papers and showcase their own value.

“Earth Era” aimed to build a new civilization on a distant planet, and the first principle it advocated was to reward based on work, more for more labor, less for less labor. It was only natural that people with higher work capabilities had access to more resources and privileges.

Especially during times of resource scarcity, it was particularly apt.

Aside from the original experts, professors, and skilled workers, who already possessed rather high status, these young people were all starting from the same starting line.

The entire assessment lasted one year, continuing until the spaceship reached Jupiter Base to resupply for the last time, after which it would enter formal ultra-long-distance interstellar travel. The vast majority of the crew would enter hibernation, waking only once every three to five hundred years.

Those with higher privileges could choose their hibernation batches first, such as hibernating a little later than others.

Li Zhendong sighed, “We’re still not far from Earth and can still communicate with our loved ones; everyone wants to hibernate a little later, even if just by a year or two.”

“But once you close your eyes and wake up, it’s been three hundred years, and everything is gone.”

“Yes!” Zhang Yuan also sighed deeply.

This was indeed the most distressing point.

To be separated from the era and from all loved ones, truly forsaking everything.

The two fell silent after reaching this point in the conversation.

Li Zhendong snapped back to reality and continued, “…Let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s talk about the work project. I’m planning to develop a mobile game. Games are not hard to make, and if it’s a hit, it can really rake in a lot of money!”

“Games?” Zhang Yuan used to be interested in them, but now, he felt that time spent playing games would be better spent studying.

“Send me the project proposal.”

“Sure, I’ll send it over for you to take a look.”

Li Zhendong pondered happily to himself, Zhang Yuan, oh Zhang Yuan, even heroes have their weaknesses, spending all day chasing girls, you probably didn’t do anything during the entire vacation, right?

With such a beautiful girl, a hero can only become a mere bear!

Unlike me, who studied hard while also working on the proposal, it’s been an excruciatingly diligent vacation!

Wait a second!

A question suddenly popped into Li Zhendong’s head: What would I do if I had a beautiful girl?

I would definitely choose to be a bear too!

Thinking this, Li Zhendong was no longer gloating, but instead filled with longing and… envy!

“It’s such a pity… truly a pity!”

“A pity about what?”

Zhang Yuan read the entire game proposal seriously, his brow slightly furrowed. “Auto-chess? Quite an innovative idea. But making money isn’t that easy. Making games isn’t just about programming, there’s also an element of luck involved. You’d better find a graphic designer and a few other people to do it with.”

“Do you want to join in?” Li Zhendong truly trusted Zhang Yuan’s programming skills.

Even though the other had become a bear, he still needed to offer a helping hand, as Li Zhendong was just too kindhearted.

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and shook his head, “Forget it, I don’t have the time. I’ve already found my project, working with the professors at Xisha University on robot control programming. Whether I can make money, I don’t know, but I’ll do my best…”

“Robot programming?”

“Right, I’ve already promised them. The instruction set that guides robot movement is very complicated, so I need to brush up on the relevant knowledge quickly…”