Age of Cosmic Exploration

Yun Si sat in his apartment, his expression calm like he was not thinking of anything, or rather outsiders couldn’t tell what was on his mind.

The three-month-long torment was finally over, and he was devastated. He planned to quit the Black Star Troopers, but he started to regret this after he handed in his letter of resignation. It was not because he missed the power. Yes, the Black Star Troopers carried plenty of influence, but he didn’t care about that. It was because resignation was an action of cowardice. After all, he had survived this silver war. He had seen so many comrades die beside him. He was not one without emotion, so how could he not get angry? How could he not want to take revenge for his fallen comrades?

Concealing Yue Xuan’s identity was due to his fear and prejudices. Even though it was selfish, he was not acting in the vein of a human traitor like some of the people branded him to be. After all, the silver war came too suddenly, no one had expected it. It was unfair to blame him. His only mistake was doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. He wanted to make up for his mistake, he wanted to get his revenge for his fallen comrades...

At that time, the bell of the apartment rang. Yun Si’s heart skipped a beat. The news he had been waiting for had finally arrived...

"120 Black Star Troopers will depart immediately on the blazing trail. Following are the names of the 120 selected Black Star Troopers..."

Currently, humanity had in total about 250 Black Star Troopers, and 130 of them were senior soldiers that survived the silver war. During the war, the Black Star Troopers suffered 82 deaths, about 1/3 its size. Technically, the Black Star Troopers had been changed. Several Black Star Units had to be changed completely. This was how devastating the war was.

The blazing trail project had already been announced, and Yao Yuan would be personally leading it. At the same time, he would be leading 12 Black Star Units or 120 trained Black Star Troopers. Many people suspected most of the 120 Black Star Troopers would be made up of senior soldiers, but perhaps they might bring along a few hopeful new troopers to have them experience the war.

However, Yun Si had a different idea. According to how he understood Yao Yuan, he would never bring along any new troopers. Yao Yuan was decisive and clever, but he was, at the end of the day, a big softie. This was observable from many of his big and small decisions. Therefore, Yao Yuan would never bring along those new troopers, at least not until they could fend for themselves in war.

Therefore, all of the 120 Black Star Troopers had to be chosen from the senior soldiers. 120 chosen from 130 available soldiers. There should be a huge possibility that Yun Si would be chosen.

However... one month ago, when his issue had reached its peak, he had already handed in his resignation. Even though it was rejected several days later, it had left a sour taste in Yao Yuan’s mouth. Yao Yuan was not one to use politics to take revenge, so he would purposely enroll him into the blazing trail unit to shove him to his death. If anything, Yao Yuan might purposely leave him in the City of Light Moon to give him time to cool down.

This was the thing Yun Si was most afraid of. He looked calm on the surface, but the moment he closed his eyes, all he could see were the faces of his comrades, the laughter they shared, the sweat during the long training, their verbal jabs. In fact, he was in greater pain than he let on. If only he hadn’t concealed Yue Xuan’s identity, if only...

Therefore, his name had to be on the list. Please let me join the blazing trail project, let me redeem myself... to avenge my friends!

"...The third Black Star Unit leader, Ebon, vice leader... Yang Yun Si, members... please prepare yourself in the next three days and report to the third main ship on the fifth day..."

"...The fourth Black Star Unit leader, Liu Bai..."

The order was like a song from the heavens. Yun Si’s heart finally relaxed. He lowered his head and his eyes were prickling with tears. His knuckles were white and popping with veins. His comrades’ smiling faces seemed to appear before his eyes once more...

(Brothers, wait and see, I will definitely avenge you!)

"All of the weapons are ready. All the main spaceships and guardian spaceships have been checked thrice. 240 Steel balls are on board already. Each Black Star Troopers will have one main vehicle and a spare one. Other than that, the main spaceships have enough supplies to last the soldiers 100 years in space..."

Guang Zhen accompanied Yao Yuan as they walked towards the City of Light Moon’s space port. Both were inspecting the war preparations. Originally, it would be Barbie who explained all of these things to Yao Yuan, but Guang Zhen had taken over the job.

After finishing the report, Guang Zhen turned to Yao Yuan and said seriously, "Ol Yao... Ol’ Captain, you already know what I’m going to say next, and I believe you understand that I’m representing many people when I say, why are you personally leading this blazing trail project? You should let me command it in your place. We cannot lose you here. The war has just ended, and many things need your overseeing eyes..."

Yao Yuan shook his head and said, "This I understand. My presence can calm the people. Even though I don’t want to admit it, I have become something like a spiritual guide to humanity. When I’m around, the human civilization will be peaceful. There will not be internal strife, that much I’m confident. However, Ol’ Wong, have you considered this... what if one day I’m gone?

"In this silver war, I was confident that I was not going to survive it. I felt this deeply once during the ambush circle and again during the landing on the City of Light Moon. I was ready to die, but I was worried about what would happen to humanity after I did... This world will not stop for anyone, but humanity has gotten used to my governance and has gotten used to me deciding crucial stuff using my authority. Even though there is a House of Representatives and a government, this doesn’t really translate to democracy. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Do you think the current humanity can survive an internal strife? We should be focused on trying to become a level 4 space civilization. Imagine the devastation if there is internal strife.

"Therefore, this blazing trail project is an opportunity. You’re my natural successor. We have to let humanity get used to other political ideals other than mine. That way, even after I’m gone, humanity can continue to move forward. This is number one. Number two, the blazing trail project needs our most powerful forces, and that is undeniably my Red Lightning. I have to be there. The AI fleet still has about 100,000 spaceships, and a majority of them are main spaceships. Therefore, even with the many Steel Balls, the difficulty of this war is very high, so I have to be present."

Yao Yuan turned back to look at Guang Zhen. He continued, "Humanity is humanity, I am me. This is my ideal and the reason why I have to lead the blazing trail project..."

Guang Zhen sighed but didn’t say anything. He followed Yao Yuan as they walked further away.

At the same time, in an isolated corner of the City of Light Moon, in an alley between two buildings, there was a sudden spark. Since the City of Light Moon started to simulate the day and night cycle, it was already late at night. There were few people on the streets. The spark was not bright; if anything, it was faded with a greenish purplish glow. It concentrated into a ball. The ball expanded but the glow weakened. This continued until the ball expanded to about two meters. The next second, a man appeared in the alley in a half-kneeling position. He maintained that posture for about eight seconds before he slowly straightened himself. His bones cracked and the man grimaced with pain. He stretched his limbs before turning to look around.

"So this is the City of Light Moon? The first city built by the ancestors after they had just survived the silver war. They hadn’t even built Kun Lun yet. Unfortunately, those archeologists couldn’t come along, or else they would lose their minds over this discovery..."

The man, when he was standing straight, was about 180 centimeters tall. He was covered in muscles and had zero hair. There was no hair on the top of his head, none on his brows either. In fact, since he was naked, there was no hair follicle observable on his body.

The man took a deep breath and took a small step. However, the next second, he started to grimace again. This continued for at least half an hour in the alley before he reached the entrance. He looked around and mumbled to himself, "The eighth residential street, the teleportation device didn’t move too far away this time. Two more streets and I will reach the designated area where I can get some clothes, then..."

The man stopped talking. He took several deep breaths before he rushed out of the alley. His speed was incredible. It was indescribable by words. His speed was so fast that it was unbelievable. He crossed 100 metres in less than two seconds. His figure seemed to have morphed into a shadow as he dashed through the streets. Furthermore, he seemed to be very familiar with the surveillance cameras in the City of Light Moon because he dashed past those cameras easily and no one had spotted him.

It wasn’t until he reached the fourth residential street that he stopped with a frown. There was a surveillance area not far away from him, and he couldn’t get any closer. The fourth residential area housed some scientists. They might contain confidential information, so the security at this area was tighter compared to the rest. His destination was one of the buildings that had been abandoned for more than a month already.

"Looks like I have to use the psychic power. Hopefully, everything goes well..."

The man mumbled to himself before he opened his eyes wide. The next second, he walked out of his hiding place and dashed into the building with the cameras watching. However... if one would check the video, the camera had caught nothing even though the man was walking under it!

The man walked towards one of the rooms inside the building. He looked around and pressed something on the room’s electronic lock. He then leaned his eyes towards the identity scanner and for some reason, he was allowed entry. The corneal and fingerprint data were matches.

"No, I have to be faster. The memory is coming loose. If I don’t hurry, all the memory will disappear..."

The man was in extreme fatigue, but he gritted his teeth to rush towards the computer in the room. He pulled the internet cable loose and then opened the computer. He started to write in the computer in a hurry.

"My name is Wang Shao Yun. I’m your great great great great great great great grandson. You might not believe me, but please don’t reveal my identity to anyone else other than the Chancellor. Now, please listen to me...

"I was under the order of the Black Star coalition of the human nomadic civilization from the future to return to this point in time using the illusory space of the god tier space civilization. I came from the future to help humanity change its future...

"Time will branch off into different scenarios at a particular frame in time, and we call this Time Node. None of the civilization beneath god tier space civilizations have the ability to return to the past. They might have the ability to see into the past, but they cannot change it. We humans have sacrificed a lot to get this opportunity from the god tier space civilization’s illusory space to return to the past one time. This sacrifice was our greatest leader, humanity’s only Immortal, Chancellor Yao Yuan’s soul. Even though he has passed on, his soul lives on, and when we become a god tier space civilization, we will be able to revive him. However, to gain this opportunity, we have sacrificed his soul, so please believe me when I say, this is the future of humanity...

"After I wake up, I will have lost all the memories that don’t belong in this time line. Unless I reach another Time Node, I will not recover these memories. These have to be recorded before I fall asleep, so please listen carefully...

"Stop the formation of the Great Academy, or at least stop them from building their own army!

"The scientists have to be attached to politics or the human civilization itself. We cannot allow the scientists themselves to have individual power. They have the ability to search for knowledge and the ability to transform that knowledge into power. In the future, when humans become a high tier space civilization, this power will in turn collapse the civilization itself!

"Think about it, what if Einstein didn’t hand atomic power over to the government after he discovered it? Imagine the devastation he could’ve produced. With a wave of his finger, a city would have disappeared. He was no longer a man, or at least he wouldn’t see himself as one. He was God... a God above everything else!

"The future that I came from is a manifestation of this future. In this Time Node, the Chancellor has formed the Great Academy for humanity’s future, and indeed, in the future, the Academy will contribute immensely to human progress. In fact, the contribution of the Great Academy cannot be understated for humanity to become a high tier space civilization... but, after that, after the first batch of great scientists and their successors all perished away, the new batch of great scientists, since they had both knowledge and the uncontestable system to transform their knowledge into power, they started to look down on everyone else. They considered themselves the pure human beings. They continued to expand beyond the power of the normal human civilization. From what we have known, a few of the great scientists had advanced into level 9 space civilization, when the general civilization had just become a level 7 space civilization...

"They started to degenerate. They started to treat other humans as their vassal or slaves. They became cruel, condescending, aloof and finally they betrayed... The Chancellor lost his life because he was betrayed by the great scientists during a war with the Zerg race. The war was called the War of Science, and the great scientists appeared victorious. With that, they announced themselves as gods...

"I’m the descendants of the survivors, which include my parents. We cannot stand the cruelty of the great scientists anymore, so we banded together as the human survivors and escaped. We served the soul brand of the Chancellor, hopeful that one day he might rise again to fight the scientists. However, it was too late as their power was too strong. They sought us out throughout the galaxy, trying to kill us to snatch the Chancellor’s soul brand away from us. We are unable to escape them anymore. Before I arrived, the illusory space we owned had accepted the Chancellor’s soul. It then bounced the rest of the survivors out of its protection. Therefore, when I accepted this mission to change the past, the rest of the survivors...

"My ancestors, please believe everything that I have stated here. To prove the validity of my statement, I will provide a formula. This is a formula for a metal called psychic sensory metal. It can be created when humanity becomes a level 4 space civilization, and this is a technology from level 5 space civilization. The formula is...

"Before you expose me or suspect me, please check the validity of this formula. In humanity’s most glorious era, we had four Whisperers, and the most powerful among them, ancestor Bo Li, will be able to check the truth of this formula...

"Please do not leak my presence and the contents of this computer to anyone else, we can only believe the Chancellor...

"After I faint and lose my memory, I will forget that I’m your descendent, my ancestor...

"I can no longer return, return to my timeline, my home. As the last Homo Evolutis of the human survivors... I already have no one else...

"So please save us humans! Do not let the fourth tragedy appear in space, the tragedy known as knowledge civilization..."

The man typed until this point and his face was white as paper. He smiled bitterly, and the next second, he fainted...