Hundreds of millions of years ago, in the outer solar system, there were vast stars.
181 years after the Earth Escape Fleet set off, the flagship "New Hope".
Strikes, protests and riots have been going on for a full ten days.
The lights that were originally extremely dim due to energy control, and under the influence of various line damages, flickered rapidly from time to time, emitting a strange red light, which made the crowd gathered in the narrow cabin even more angry and bewildered.
"Protest, protest, why are the authorities cutting our food and clean water rations again and again, are they really going to starve us to death?"
"The environment on the ship is getting worse and worse. We have to work in the high temperature of 70 or 80 degrees every day. This is not an escape, let alone marching towards a new hope. This is torture that is worse than death. This is an indefinite war death penalty!"
"During yesterday's explosion, three more workers died innocently. What are our wise and wise leaders and all-knowing scientists doing? Is the maintenance plan they formulated just to use our lives to fill holes?"
"Do they want us to die as much as possible? The more we die, the more resources we can save for their enjoyment!"
"Where is Wanzanghai? We want to talk to Wanzanghai. Where is the hope he promised, where is the heaven, and where is the new home?"
"Wan Zanghai, come out! Wan Zanghai, come out!"
The strike crowd continued to commotion, gradually converging into a huge wave of riots, breaking through everything blocked along the way, and rushing towards the bridge.
It wasn't until they met the military police, that is, the iron wall formed by Wan Zanghai's confidantes, that they were slightly stopped.
However, in the face of the gendarmes with live ammunition, expressionless faces, and stern black statues, the protesters did not show any fear or retreat.
Hundreds of years of hard labor have worn away all their patience and fear of the law. Here are the vast stars and the unknown universe. The road ahead is dark, and the way back has long been cut off. The glory, majesty and law of the past are not worth mentioning here However, if they had the courage, they could completely tear apart the iron coffins around them, and die together with the gendarmes and former "leaders" or even "gods" like Wan Zanghai.
"Citizens, citizens of the United Fleet of New Earth, calm down, please remain calm."
Among the military police stood out a strong man with a scarred face wearing black power armor. He was really the major general commander of the military police. His name was "Tiexiong". He was also Wan Zanghai's confidant. When he fell into hibernation and extended his life to the greatest extent, Tie Xiong acted as the spokesperson of Wanzanghai, giving orders and maintaining the basic operation of the fleeing fleet.
The appearance of Tie Xiong calmed down the protesting crowd a little, allowing him to finish the second half of his speech, "As we all know, we have just passed through an interstellar dust belt that is as sticky as a swamp. Three immigrant starships crashed into the sand, and most of the rest The starships have also suffered considerable losses, consuming a lot of resources and energy—during this extraordinary period, all citizens need to work together to tide over the difficulties. I assure you that the reduction in food rationing and energy supply is only temporary, as long as We can restore the old supply by repairing the synthetic food cycle line!"
On weekdays, such a guarantee is enough to calm the restless hearts of most people.
At least, when they encountered the aftermath of a gamma-ray burst last time and the last time they encountered a weird gravitational trap, the crew were still willing to "share the difficulties" with the bridge team.
But this time, after hundreds of years of suffering, many people no longer believed in the promise of the bridge team, and no longer believed in the slim hope.
"When will such a day end!"
In the tumultuous crowd, someone cried out sadly.
"When Wan Zanghai brought us out of the earth, he clearly said that we would soon find a new home—even if it wasn't a real habitable planet, we could find a place similar to 'Mars' and build small settlements. After all, we Now there are only tens of millions of people left, and any planet is enough to house us!"
Someone turned up the old account again.
"Liars, you are all a bunch of liars, Wan Zanghai is a liar, Tiexiong, you are also a liar, it was a waste of us trusting you in the past, where are you going to take us, the few remaining human beings?"
Others waved angry fists at the gendarmerie.
Tiexiong and his gendarmerie just remained silent, even though the protesters stuffed their fists under the tip of their noses, they remained indifferent.
Although the Gendarmerie is now the most powerful force on the "New Earth United Fleet"—that is, hundreds of immigrant ships, the advanced power armor with the blessing of doomsday technology is better than the "Magnetic Explosion Infantry" and "Rocket Pilots" in the past one chip.
Even if the blessing of cutting-edge weapons is not counted, those who are eligible to join the gendarmerie have been selected through layers of selection, and the "capable people" and "reformers" selected from thousands of miles can compete with the old main battle tanks with bare hands.
but…
Not only the flagship, but similar protests and riots occurred on almost all immigrant starships. Public opinion is like a torrent, which can set off turbulent waves at any time. This barely put together, riddled with holes and devoured by the fugitive fleet with no hope in sight, even A ruthless iron-blooded strongman like "Tie Xiong" dare not project sparks on the dried powder keg.
What's more, in the place of escape, nine out of ten ordinary people on the earth were abandoned, and in the "massacre in the outer solar system", most of the dignitaries and rich people were slaughtered, and most of the remaining crew members were tens of thousands of people. The basic board of Zanghai, that is, "capable people", "reformers", and "gene mutants", almost all have various superpowers, but the degree is different.
The ants killed the elephants, which really drove the crew into a hurry. It was impossible for the so-called "elite" of the gendarmerie to suppress the entire crew.
Therefore, Tie Xiong could only suppress the killing intent in his heart, and gritted his teeth: "Citizens, please don't forget your sacred mission, don't forget that you are the only hope to continue human civilization, trust the authorities, trust yours. Leader Wan Zanghai, continue the 'March of Suffering' for three to five years, at most seven or eight years, everything will be fine, everything!"
"We don't believe it!"
"Stop your big lies, we've had enough!"
"There is no hope of going forward, only turning back, and returning to our homeland—the Earth!"
"Hundreds of years have passed, no matter how strong the solar storm is, the impact should have disappeared, not to mention the wonderful force of meteorites, the current earth should have regained its vitality, right?"
"It doesn't matter if we don't fully recover, we only have tens of millions of people left, and with such advanced technology, we just need to return to the earth to find a small place to live, enough to build a settlement, and then slowly expand outward, Rebuild the earth, and one day, we will see the beautiful homeland regain its light!"
"That's right, back to Earth, back to Earth, we want to return to Earth!"
From the depths of the crowd, several gloomy and fanatical voices suddenly sounded.
Tie Xiong's pupils suddenly contracted.
Damn, it's regressionists.
He said why the riot was so loud and lasted so long. It turned out that the returnists were fanning the flames and even manipulating it themselves!
Ordinary protesters can ignore it, but the returnists are a virus that erodes the future of human civilization. Once discovered, they must be killed immediately!
Tiexiong gestured behind him, and the military police's power armor immediately made a "buzzing" sound.
The crowd was in a commotion, and the returning faction hidden at the end screamed: "No, they are going to attack, everyone run away!"
The turbulent crowds and stormy waves, flash bombs, smoke bombs, and incendiary bombs made by protesters or returnees instantly made the scene out of control.
…
An hour later, the secret room behind the bridge of the "New Hope".
It has a full set of state-of-the-art hibernation facilities, as well as supercomputers that control the entire fleet.
It is the nominal commander of the "New Earth United Fleet", the former chairman of the "Earth Council", and the spiritual leader of all fugitive humans—the small palace of Wanzanghai.
Wan Zanghai is very old.
Integrating the twists and turns and hardships of the earth, facing the endless catastrophe of natural disasters, and the hypocrisy and intrigue with the rich and powerful, including the "massacre in the outer solar system", and several thrilling interstellar adventures - these are often related to The matter of hundreds of millions of lives has seriously consumed his vitality and spiritual power. Although he has cultivated his "heart power" to the extreme like his mentor "Yuri", and has the dual maintenance of doomsday technology and hibernation technology, 90 % of the time soaked in the high-energy nutrient solution, he still inevitably presents an extremely aging posture, with intertwined wrinkles on his face, and age spots all over his body. Every breath has to be brewed for a long time, as if this is his last. in one breath.
The clear and deep eyes in the past have gradually been replaced by cloudy suspicion. The sequelae of excessive consumption of "heart power" have exploded in recent years. He has severe visual and auditory hallucinations. In many cases, he is not only unable to deal with the intricate fleet He can't even control his temper, just like countless promising young and heroic leaders throughout the ages, gradually turned into a faint and cruel tyrant at the end of his life.
When Tie Xiong saluted Wan Zanghai respectfully, he could even faintly smell the old man's breath coming from him.
It was a very strong smell, a symbol of death and decay.
It's as if the seemingly frail old man in front of him is only alive with his body, but his internal organs and spirit have long since died and are slowly deteriorating.
Even the strong fragrance of the high-energy nutrient solution and hibernation potion in the hibernation cabin can't cover up this disgusting smell.
"He's old."
Tie Xiong thought to himself.
Then I was taken aback by my own thoughts—in any case, Wanzanghai is the only spiritual symbol of the remaining human civilization, a living god, how can a god grow old
But after being taken aback, looking at Wan Zanghai's slightly nervous expression, he felt that it was no big deal.
After all, he is not a god, just a person.
As a person, he will grow old and die.
After death, he will give up his position.