Umbrella, The Light of Humanity

Shirley, Gabriel and other recruits walked into the Retribution.

After all personnel have boarded the ship, the corridor bridge will begin to separate from the ship, folded and recovered to the edge of the port.

Immediately afterwards, the hull of the Retribution trembled slightly, and the engine nozzles at the stern of the ship were filled with blue light.

In the end, the fixed giant mechanical arm also began to recover, giving the entire battleship freedom, allowing the Retribution to sail out of the port.

Adjust the direction of the ship's bow, leave the star port through the air valve, and come to the gray desert on the lunar surface.

When it rises to a height far enough away from the lunar surface.

Not far from the front of the ship's bow, a vortex entrance with a diameter of four hundred meters and mixed with faint blue light was formed.

The Retribution quickly sailed into it, and the entrance created by the jump engine completely dissipated after the entire battleship entered the fault space.

The desert above the lunar surface returned to tranquility, as if the Retribution had disappeared "out of thin air".

In the shimmering fault tunnel, the Retribution is heading towards the Epson VIII galaxy 450 light-years away.

Corridor passages in the hull.

"Attention all personnel, I am the captain of the Retribution, Miranda Macha, and the ship is expected to leave the fault space in 38 hours.

Also, the maintenance team, please go to the equipment room immediately, the mechanical arm in Zone 3 needs to be overhauled.

Combatants please immediately.

Ground staff"

The female captain named Miranda came over the radio, saying a series of precautions in a cold tone.

Listening to the announcement on the radio, Shirley, who was pulling the suitcase, followed a UNSC marine in a desert-colored training uniform through this corridor.

Come to the door of a cabin.

The Marine stopped, turned around, and said, "Sir, this is your makeshift sleeping quarters."

"Thank you, I'll clean it up myself, sorry to trouble you, Corporal." Shirley thanked.

"Sure, if you need to tell me anything, sir." The Marine Corps nodded.

"Okay." Shirley responded with a smile.

After finishing the brief conversation, the marines stepped away from here, while Shirley touched the terminal on the bulkhead.

The door unlocked by induction slowly unfolded, allowing Shirley to see the layout of the dormitory.

There are fixed single beds, desks, chairs, and wardrobes for clothes and luggage. There is a small porthole facing the cabin door.

Although the space is narrow and seemingly simple, it is a single sleeping cabin that can only be used by lieutenant officers near the bridge.

After all, the Paris class is the fourth lowest in terms of specifications among the warships owned by humans.

But Shirley said it was very good.

Before she became a supervisor, some of the tasks she performed were much more difficult than this, so she was very satisfied with a single room.

Go into the dormitory.

Close the hatch.

Shirley opened the suitcase, took out the thin crystal-like "laptop", put it on the fixed table, and took out some changes of clothes to hang in the closet.

After tidying up briefly, she sat behind the fixed desk, turned on the holographic screen of the computer, and prepared to read the company's recent important news and materials.

The Punishment is equipped with a repeater, so that Shirley's personal electronic equipment still has a full network signal.

When I just called up the homepage of the company's internal website, the first headline that caught my eye was the report "Quantum communication has entered the trial stage".

See here.

Shirley tapped the screen to open a column about quantum communication.

The report shows that the company's high-tech research team led by Wang Zhaofeng and the joint engineering department have built large-scale quantum communication relay stations in major colonies such as Zhiyuan, Xirou, and Jingsong.

Preliminary results of the trial show that the quantum relay station has successfully enabled true real-time communication between the major colonies, and most importantly, Earth.

Afterwards, the team led by Wang Zhaofeng will focus on the simplification of the quantum relay station and replace the old-fashioned repeaters used by warships as soon as possible.

At the end of the column, a group photo of the research team is also attached.

Standing in the center is Wang Zhaofeng, who wears glasses and looks old in his fifties or sixties.

Shirley has never forgotten this "Mediterranean" doctor.

During the days of living in the nest, when her parents were busy studying the G virus, other researchers would help take care of her, including Wang Zhaofeng, a kind old doctor.

Recalling the dripping point at the time, Xueli couldn't help but smile, and then swipe the screen to exit the column.

Continue browsing.

Most of the headlines are "Zhiyuan Star will build a new flagship that far surpasses the Zeus class", "The population of Arcadia has exceeded the 3.5 billion mark!", etc., seem to be published by the editorial department or the news department in order to complete the performance. column report.

But Shirley just read them one by one with great interest in order to relax and pass the time.

remains?

After more than ten minutes, she found a report about the ruins built by non-human beings.

The headline reads "Non-man-made ruins found in Mythrain Colony, excavation by an archaeological team led by Lara Croft".

Click in and take a look.

The photo at the top of the column is a bird's-eye view of the ruins excavation site.

The photo shows two tall metal columns with dark gray outer walls standing in a lawn clearing in a dense forest.

The tall pillar is like a long rectangular block, inserted vertically into the ground, looking closely at the outer wall of the tall pillar, there are regular gaps overflowing with blue light.

Engineers wearing orange exoskeletons, as well as the latest SCVs and engineering vehicles, set up a temporary camp near the tall pillars.

Excavation has only just begun, but has uncovered what appears to be a larger metal facility beneath the surface.

At the end of the reading, the editor of this column also reminded his colleagues, especially the intelligence agents scattered everywhere, to pay attention to whether the colony also has similar ancient relics.

"."

Shirley frowned slightly after reading the report.

It is not surprising to find ancient relics on the earth, but if they are found on colonized planets, it means that the alien race that built the relics died out and disappeared for some reason.

The company allowed to report on the relics of Mesrein, which is to let all employees pay attention to their respective jurisdictions.

‘After arriving in Epson, let’s conduct a secret investigation. '

Shirley thought.

Swipe the screen to exit the column, and the content below is all insignificant and trivial matters, interspersed with the newly announced or updated welfare policies of the company.

The most mentioned is still "multiple births".

Shirley didn't pay much attention to this, and she won't think about it for the time being.

However, the population explosion that has lasted for more than half a century shows that the ideas of her and a small number of employees are at odds with the mainstream of the public.

The most advanced medical and biotechnology currently available to mankind has successfully increased the average life expectancy, which is estimated to be 185 to 200 years old.

If one is willing to spend a hefty extra, lifespan can be extended even further.

Despite this, most of Umbrella's employees, as well as the people under UEG, still choose to have more children.

After all, in the current society, words such as poverty, famine, and disease have almost disappeared, and resources are almost infinite for human beings at this stage.

With the secret control of the White Queen and the government, prices and house prices remain stable, so people are willing to enjoy the high welfare policy while making the whole of mankind more prosperous and strong.

After reading Shirley's recent report, she exited the home page of the company's website and opened the information and archives.

After some manipulation, a holographic star map of the Milky Way is called up.

I saw the dense stars and the annotations marked by the company, so that the miniature galaxy with different lights appeared directly above the fixed table.

Some dazzling.

Then Shirley stretched out her left hand, placed it on the Orion cantilever "below" the Milky Way, and stretched her thumb and index finger outward, making a zoom-in movement.

Soon, the star map was enlarged by Shirley to the territory involved by human beings.

Clenching a fist with her left hand, she switched the star map to a flat map, which is convenient for her to view, and brief text information is also displayed on both sides.

View with floor plan and brief information.

The human territory is an irregular circle centered on the solar system with a radius of about 450 light-years.

As long as the star systems within the range have terrestrial planets that meet the conditions for terraforming, they will all be set foot by human beings.

The total number is 304.

Even galaxies without suitable planets have been developed into stellar system-level mines by UEG and Umbrella, or private companies that have long-term cooperation with the government.

Counting all colonies and mine systems, the total goes up to 610, and this number changes every so often.

We must know that after Umbrella used UEG to integrate the whole human being, he indirectly or forcibly abandoned most bad habits, and also carried forward some characteristics.

For example——

infrastructure.

In the decades since mankind entered the interstellar era, although there have been episodes of events such as colonists and Arcadia, it has generally been peaceful and stable.

With a good living environment and the official support of UEG and Umbrella, the infrastructure attributes of human beings have been thoroughly stimulated.

Netizens also bestowed the title of "Infrastructure Maniac" on engineering teams responsible for different projects.

Since the development of mankind, the total population has already doubled several times, from 27 billion in 2042 to 93.4 billion today.

Even Arcadia, once the edge of the territory, with a population of only 270 million, has now broken through the 3.5 billion mark.

The unprecedented vastness of the territory, the fleet composed of behemoths, and the extreme prosperity of the society make human beings feel extremely proud.

But what the public doesn't understand is that Lone Wolf and Celtic's iron-blooded mother planet have unknowingly become "neighbors" of human beings.

Shirley, who knew the inside news, knew that her superior, that is, her uncle Sui Bian, planned the next stage for human beings, which included announcing that they were allies of the Iron-Blooded Clan.

But she didn't know exactly how and when it was announced.

However, she guessed that once the official announcement of an alien race is an ally of humans (Umbrella), then humans are very likely to be caught in an interstellar war.

As soon as she thought that a war of unpredictable scale would break out in the future, Shirley couldn't help sighing to herself:

"I hope peace can be maintained for a while longer."

With that said, Shirley waved her left hand lightly, dissipating the holographic screen and putting her computer in standby mode.

Glancing at the fault space outside the window, he got up and left his seat, lay down on the bed and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

Next, she will stay on the Retribution for nearly two days, and the jump voyage has just begun.

———————

Thirty-eight hours later.

Epson VIII galaxy.

There are five planets orbiting a star slightly larger than the sun.

The first to fourth orbits are all terrestrial planets, and the fifth orbit is a gas giant planet with a star ring similar to Saturn.

And Shirley's upcoming destination, Epson D, is in the fourth orbit of this galaxy.

Observed at tens of thousands of kilometers away.

The volume of Epson d is almost one-third that of the earth, even smaller than Mercury in the solar system.

Although small, Epson's surface is incredibly beautiful.

The supercontinent, named "Irene" by the colonists, occupies 70% of the surface area, with two low-salinity oceans covering the rest.

The mainland is covered by vast grasslands and forests, with thousands of miles of plains and rolling low hills, as well as thousands of freshwater lakes.

A closer look inside the atmosphere.

Introduced animals can be seen everywhere in freshwater lakes and forests, enriching and improving the ecosystem.

Epson d does not have the metropolitan areas of Arcadia, Reach, or other colonized planets, but towns inhabited by tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, scattered across a supercontinent called "Irene."

On the outskirts of one of the towns near the ocean, there are orchards and vegetable gardens for growing various fruits and vegetables, and pastures for raising different livestock.

The most amazing thing is the seemingly endless golden wheat fields and fertile land for other crops.

People drive farming machines to harvest mature grains without any hassle.

Feel the warm breeze blowing by.

Listening to the occasional chirping of cicadas in the distance.

The slow-paced pastoral life makes people involuntarily let go of their minds, and the pleasant environment makes them want to lie in the fields and take a nap.

Not only this seaside town, but all the towns on Epson d are similar, and there are almost no heavy industry factories.

Grain, countryside, and abundance are the labels of Epson d.

The gravity of the earth is 0.998 times, the atmospheric pressure is 1.02 times, the length of a day is about 23 hours, and there are 312 earth days in a year, and the minimum temperature on the surface of the earth is also maintained above 12°C.

A series of excellent conditions, etc., have made Epson d one of the most productive and stable "granaries".

Therefore, in addition to the official name of Epson d, "she" is also called "Harvest Star".

Shirley chose this place as her new workplace. Helping the company train newcomers was one aspect, but her main motivation was also the beautiful environment of Harvest Star.

The "taste" of Mars' heavy industry is too strong, and she has never been out of the solar system, so she applied to be the head of the intelligence department of Harvest Star.

The capital of Harvest Star is Aldegar, which is located in the center of the Irene continent and has 400,000 people.

The biggest difference from other towns is that Aldega has a "track elevator" that really breaks through the sky.

At the end of the elevator.

It is a large-scale transportation hub that is consistent with the rotation speed of Harvest Star.

More than a dozen cargo ships and cruise ships are moored in the peripheral ports of the hub station.

Cargo and passengers can get in and out of the ship more quickly and conveniently through the track elevator.

now.

The Punishment, which had just left the fault space, also adjusted the direction of the ship's bow while dissipating at the jump exit, and slowly approached the hub station.

Finally, it moored in the exclusive port, the mechanical arm was fixed, and the corridor bridge was stretched to connect with the hull for Shirley and others to leave the Retribution.