Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 174: Irrelevant Title

The next day, Maria boarded a spaceship, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and arrived in City B of the former Country C in the Asian region. City B was still as prosperous and bustling as ever, filled with crowds of people and yellow faces.

Maria is 1.9 meters tall, young and beautiful, which attracts the attention of many men and women.

It was July, and the weather was quite hot, so Maria bought a sun hat from a roadside shop.

Since the discovery of the Aries Quadrilateral Star Fleet's tracks 160 years ago, humanity has endured 50 years of turmoil and chaos. After the establishment of the MATRIX, the technological advancements achieved through simulated civilization calmed the people, rekindling their hope for life. After a century of effort, humanity has now deployed weapons and warships on all eight planets of the solar system to counter the Quadrilateral Star Fleet. Various defense and warfare systems are being meticulously deployed. Now, although all of humanity knows that the Quadrilateral Star Fleet will arrive in the solar system in approximately 60 years, the people have long since accepted this and continue with their normal lives.

The farthest star reached by Earth's spaceships so far is Sirius, 8.7 light-years away. The Quadruplex Star System (Aries) is 136 light-years away. In 2013, a citizen scientist in the United States discovered the first exoplanet in a quadruplex system using NASA's Kepler mission database, designated KIC4862625. Scientists at the time were certain this planet could not harbor intelligent civilization. However, in 2050, Earth's humans discovered fleet tracks on the Quadruplex Star System. The MATRIX project immediately began construction, taking approximately one hundred years to complete. The initial purpose of the MATRIX was simply to calculate the evolution of civilizations, just as the Aries planet, which human scientists believed could not harbor intelligent civilization, actually did. If this massive interstellar fleet from the Quadruplex Star System maintains its current speed, it will reach the solar system in approximately 60 years, around 2310 AD.

Maria knew quite a bit about the mythology of the original C country, and also had some understanding of Buddhism and Taoism. This time, Maria visited Fayuan Temple, a global Buddhist holy site, and Baiyun Temple, a Taoist holy site, in City B. Due to her research work, she was very familiar with the abbot of Fayuan Temple and the abbot of Baiyun Temple. Maria obtained the classic quotes and interpretations of Buddhism and Taoism from their exchanges and discussions. There are still Buddhist and Taoist books given to her by them by her bedside at home.

Both men warmly welcomed Maria's arrival, and Maria learned a great deal from discussing topics such as "soul" with them.

When Maria took out the small tablet provided by the maintenance staff and displayed the strange hieroglyphic characters, the abbot and the head monk were clearly astonished. Maria then learned that this hieroglyphic script was Small Seal Script, which had essentially disappeared 150 years ago. However, both were extremely interested in these lines of Small Seal Script and mobilized all the monks and Taoist priests in the temple to translate them. Of course, at Maria's request, the hieroglyphic characters were broken down and distributed to everyone for translation. After about half a month, both sides translated the hieroglyphic characters, and the meanings of their translations were roughly the same.

The meaning of these few lines of pictographic strings stunned Mary, the abbot, and the master of ceremonies.

"Hello, omnipotent 'intelligent entity'. I, Zhou Yuan, the 'photonized consciousness entity' of this universe, have finally seen you."

This is the meaning of those strange lines of small seal script.

Maria immediately contacted the operations and maintenance team by phone and sent them the meaning of those lines of text. The operations and maintenance team was also taken aback.

“Maria, please come back as soon as possible. I think it is necessary for us to report this matter to President Thomas in person.”

"Okay, operations and maintenance, I'll be back as soon as possible."

President Thomas received Maria and Operations directly, and after listening to their reports, Thomas remained silent.

The maintenance crew and Maria looked at the president, not daring to disturb him.

Four or five minutes later, Thomas looked up. "Operations, if this so-called 'photon consciousness' exists, it's very likely that small dot of light shown in the surveillance footage. So the question now is, Operations, Maria, where have all five small dots of light gone?"

At that moment, the president's red hotline rang. Thomas picked up the phone, and Gaia's voice came through.

"Mr. President, excuse me, the Asia Regional Director, Zhang Xiaoyu, says he has an urgent matter to report to you."

"Gaia, take it."

"Yes, Mr. President."

Operations and Maria stood up, ready to leave, but Thomas gestured for them to sit down.

"Xiaoyu, hello."

"Mr. President, I have an urgent matter to report to you."

"What's up?"

“Mr. President, I just learned three days ago that an old man died in H City of the former C Country. He miraculously came back to life on the night of his death, which greatly frightened his three sons, one daughter and grandchildren.”

"How old was the old gentleman when he passed away?"

"Two hundred and sixty years old, that's quite old."

"Indeed, the average human lifespan is only about 220 years."

"Mr. President, this is an unusual situation, so I am reporting it to you. Also, Mr. President, this old gentleman not only came back to life after he died, but also..."

"And what?"

"Moreover, his hair turned from white to black a couple of days ago, and the wrinkles on his face gradually disappeared, as if he had been rejuvenated."

"Huh?" Thomas exclaimed, startling the operations team and Maria.

Thomas smiled apologetically at the two of them.

“Mr. President, this is not the end of the matter. This old man seems to have lost all his original memories after coming back to life, and keeps saying that he is Zhou Yuan.”

“Zhou Yuan?!” Thomas was stunned.

"Zhou Yuan?!" Operations and Maria couldn't help but blurt out when they heard the president mention Zhou Yuan.

"Yes, Mr. President. We were all very surprised. Then our scientists took the old man's blood and analyzed it. It showed that the old man's DNA was different from the DNA he had before he died. It had mutated. Moreover, some of the old man's active proteases were completely different from those of humans."

"Where is this old gentleman, Zhou Yuan, now?"

"Mr. President, he is still at home, and we have already assigned people to provide him with special protection."

"Yes, Xiaoyu, you did a great job."

"But Mr. President, what should we do next? If we take the old man away, according to imperial law, we need your authorization and approval, since the old man is already dead."

"Xiaoyu, here's what I'll do. I'll send a presidential envoy over there with my authorization letter, as well as some medical and scientific experts. They'll arrive tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Mr. President."

Thomas hung up the phone, lost in thought. This was too bizarre. Not only had the dead come back to life, but they had even rejuvenated! Could it be true, as Maria had just reported, that reincarnation existed? Or was this related to the small point of light that exploded in the virtual universe?

"Mr. President, are you alright?" the operations and maintenance personnel asked with concern.

"Oh, I'm fine." Thomas snapped out of his daze.

Thomas relayed Zhang Xiaoyu's report to the two of them word for word.

The operations team and Maria were also astonished and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Operations and Maintenance, Maria, get ready. Tomorrow, you'll go with them to meet Zhou Yuan."

"Yes, Mr. President."

The two then left the presidential office.

At the Longxin Military Base near the capital, a luxury spaceship, escorted by four fighter jets, silently flew rapidly towards H City in the former C Country, arriving at the H City air base in less than half an hour.

A large group of people disembarked from the luxury spaceship. Led by the president's special envoy, they boarded eight luxury cars and headed east with police escort.

H City is considered a fourth-tier city in the empire, but it is also a developed and prosperous city.

Eight luxury cars were parked in two rows on both sides of the street. Everyone got out of the cars and walked towards the cordon. Zhang Xiaoyu was already waiting. He never expected that the president's special envoy would be General George.

Zhang Xiaoyu quickly stepped forward, shook hands with George, and the two exchanged pleasantries for a while.

After the special forces captain checked the pass and the president's handwritten letter, all the special forces guards saluted George, who returned the salute.

George and Zhang Xiaoyu led the group into a courtyard house, which had a somewhat retro style. There were armed soldiers guarding the entrance and the surrounding area.

The courtyard house was sparsely furnished, suggesting that the family was not wealthy. Four elderly people, supported by some middle-aged people, walked out of the main hall to greet George and his companions.

The operations engineer glanced sideways at the lobby and vaguely saw an old man sitting in a chair, his eyes seemingly looking at him as well. The operations engineer couldn't help but shiver.

"Sirs, please have a seat inside," a middle-aged man said first.

"Wei Chao, this is General George, the special envoy of the Imperial President, along with some scientists. They have all come to visit the old man."

"Presidential Special Envoy? My apologies. Presidential Special Envoy, gentlemen, please follow me. Please help the four elderly people to the inner room; I can take care of them by myself."

"Yes, brother." The other middle-aged men helped the four elderly people walk away.

Wei Chao led everyone into the lobby, which was quite large; even with twenty-five or twenty-six people inside, it didn't feel crowded.

All the people saw was an old man sitting in the highest chair in the hall, his eyes closed, as if he were resting.

"You've finally arrived." The old man suddenly opened his eyes, his voice booming like a bell.

George and the others were startled. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that only half of the old man's hair was white, while the other half was black. His face was indeed not very wrinkled, and he appeared energetic, looking much like a middle-aged man.

The old man smiled, waved his hand, and gestured for everyone to sit down.

"Grandpa, the president's special envoy and the others have come to visit you."

"Wei Chao, you don't need to speak so loudly, I can hear you. Presidential Envoy?"

“Yes, Uncle, I am Presidential Envoy George.”

"George, George," the old man murmured to himself.

Suddenly, a glint flashed in the old man's eyes. "George, where's Thomas? Why didn't he come?"

George's heart was pounding; the old man exuded an imposing and domineering aura. This old man was no ordinary person, a feeling shared by everyone accompanying him.

The old man's eyes swept around the room before settling on the operations and maintenance (O&M) personnel. The O&M personnel felt extremely uncomfortable under the old man's gaze, as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

“Uncle, we’ve come here to find out the truth.”

"The truth?" The old man laughed heartily, but there was a hint of bitterness in his laughter.

"I'm afraid you'll never know the truth." The old man's words surprised everyone.

"Grandpa, trust them. The truth will eventually come out."

"My child, you don't understand." The old man looked away, then turned to look at Wei Chao with a kind expression, and the operations and maintenance personnel breathed a sigh of relief.

“Zhou Yuan, aren’t you just a reincarnation of a ‘soul’? What’s so hard to understand?” Maria stood up and faced Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan looked at Maria carefully, his gaze softening.

"May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Maria."

"Maria?!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed in surprise. Everyone was taken aback, and Maria was also surprised. This old man kept saying that he was Zhou Yuan, as if he knew her.

"Maria, does the Imperial Cloning Act you proposed still exist?"

Maria wondered if Zhou Yuan was getting senile, since she had never proposed such a bill.

Zhou Yuan noticed the suspicious look on Maria's face, and seemed to feel a little confused as well.

"Maria, what era is it now?"

"It is now the year 2250 AD."

"Then this planet, is it Earth?" Zhou Yuan asked in a questioning tone.

"Yes."

"The solar system or the eight planets?"

"Yes."

"What about Gaia on the moon?"

“Gaia?!” This time, George, Operations and Maintenance and others also exclaimed. Gaia is the secretary of President Thomas. This old man could not possibly know the name Gaia. But why would the old man ask “Moon Gaia” and even add the word “Moon”?