Wandering Spaceship in Deep Space - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Please Cooperate With the Examination

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

There were only a few reports on the laptop and most of them were personal ideas. From just a brief look at it, Zhang Yuan was already dazzled.

“We should strictly monitor the research of deep neural networks. Artificial intelligence has no morality or self-consciousness, and the instability of algorithms can easily result in unpredictable crises.”

“Social ethics have begun to affect the development of science, especially in the development of biotechnology. Due to the restriction on human cloning, artificial uterus technology has not advanced further and the old paradigm does not allow for research that undermines ethics. Only a new civilization can break these old shackles…”

It was a pity that other than those somewhat unethical ideas, he could not understand most of the points in the reports.

Due to the lack of knowledge, his situation was similar to having encountered a treasure mountain but was unable to dig out the treasure inside—that feeling caused him to feel extremely upset.

It all boiled down to a single fact. His mathematics standards were still lacking and his previous accumulated knowledge was insufficient. Mathematics was the key that unlocked everything, but without that key, it was even harder to unlock the corresponding knowledge. Just based on his undergraduate level in math, it was definitely insufficient.

Zhang Yuan sighed. It seemed like he still had to start from the bottom. Even though he was now smarter, it was impossible to reach the Heavens in a single step.

Oh well, he shall just grind his studies day and night, from dawn to dusk and until his morning and evening was flipped upside down!

…

One day, his good friend Li Zhendong suddenly gave him a call, rescuing Zhang Yuan from drowning in the sea of knowledge.

“Zhang Yuan, are you done visiting all your relatives?”

“What?” Zhang Yuan said blankly.

“I asked if you have finished visiting all your relatives!”

‘Wait a minute, you are?’

‘Who am I?’

‘Where am I? What was I doing?’

Zhang Yuan, who had dark panda eyes, shook his head with force and he suddenly came to the realization that his vacation was only left with… 20 days.

“Hey, I’m asking you a question! Have you finished visiting all your relatives yet?” Li Zhendong asked loudly.

Zhang Yuan finally managed to react and responded stiffly, “Ah, I’m more or less done. The majority of them are my distant relatives and I don’t really keep in contact with any of them…”

In fact, he had not taken a single step out of his house in the following days.

Except for his Aunt and her family that he was somewhat close with, he had not interacted with his other relatives after the passing of his father, which was also convenient for him.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you fall sick? Why is your complexion so bad as if you had indulged yourself in some pretty intensive ‘exercise’?”

“Ah, there’s no such thing.”

“Then what were you doing holed up all day at home? You’re not heading outside, and you don’t play games. Also, you didn’t even post anything on your social feed. It was as if you had gone missing.”

“Cultivating… I mean I was studying!” After much effort, Zhang Yuan finally returned to the living world.

He raised the tablet in his hand. And on it, there was an electronic copy of a book displayed on the screen.

He then said with a strange excitement, “I thought that my foundational knowledge was not solid enough, so I simply relearned everything. I have also learned quite a lot of new stuff. It’s so refreshing!”

“Learn….ing?” Li Zhendong deliberately dragged the word as he exclaimed in discontent. “Don’t tell me you are learning the physiological structure of females? Get a grip on yourself and take a look at your complexion. Take a break and stop studying about that dirty stuff1!”

“Get lost! Open your eyes widely and take a look!”

Li Zhendong finally saw the large words written on the cover page…

Similar to an infatuated idiot, Zhang Yuan revealed an obsessed expression. “I found out that mathematics is a very fun subject, especially when you use different methods to obtain the answer. That joy you experience is hard to describe!”

Li Zhendong could not help but internally spit in contempt at Zhang Yuan. ‘You have a nice vacation but you have unexpectedly used it to study? Are you a dog?’

However, when he recalled Zhang Yuan’s previous behavior, it seemed like it was pretty likely for him to do such crazy things.

However, that possibility was only a teeny weeny little bit.

“Why don’t you read ?”

“That e-book is too expensive! It’s 308 yuan for a copy! I can’t bear to spend so much money on a single book. Moreover, it is a book that was published 300 years ago. There’s nothing special about it other than its famous reputation…” Zhang Yuan said with great regret, “that’s right, why are you looking for me?”

“My mom wants to treat you to a meal. Are you free tonight? Come over to my place and play.”

“Er…” Honestly speaking, Zhang Yuan did not want to leave as he deeply wished to continue studying. The joy of studying made him incapable of extricating himself.

But at that moment, a sudden surge of fatigue invaded his brain. With that, he knew that he could not continue further.

“Alright.”

Li Zhendong’s house was located in Donghai City right next to the city he lived in and the distance from his house was about 400km. Fortunately, transportation nowadays was very developed so it was now very convenient to travel such far distances.

After he received the invite, Zhang Yuan reluctantly put down the tablet and stood up to check himself out in the mirror.

Dispirited!

He looked extremely dispirited.

He had continuously read books for the past 10 days and other than settling his basic needs, all his time was spent on reading, reading, and more reading. Not to mention his deep, dark panda eyes and yellowed complexion, his whole body was aching, and his legs were cramping.

“I finally know why bionics studies rose… The basic human physique is honestly very bad.”

Zhang Yuan struggled to make his way out of the door.

The environment outside was still scorching hot as usual.

“Beep, ID 330841244… Mr. Zhang Yuan, please cooperate with the examination!”

When he walked out the neighborhood, he was suddenly obstructed by a security robot.

The robot forcefully pulled out a few strands of his hair and drew a drop of blood from the tip of his finger. It was only after the examination result came out did the robot release him.

“There are no problems with the results. Thank you for your cooperation. I wish you a pleasant trip.”

‘Such bad luck! Could it be that my complexion is so bad that it has triggered some security mechanism? How could I possibly inhale drugs?” Zhang Yuan shook his head, but he was not too displeased about it.

These robots were specially designed to rein in drug addicts. If someone were to consume illegal drugs and was detected by a robot, they would be forcefully sent to a rehabilitation center.

Thanks to the strong regulatory measures, the drug consumption rate in Xia Country had always been low.

Since it was still early, Zhang Yuan decided to go for a massage.

When he walked into a self-service massage shop and paid for the fees, the massaging robot started its services.

Soft, melodious music was played and the knots around his body seemed to have been loosened.

“What a pleasure it is… Life on Earth is wonderful.”

As he was too exhausted, Zhang Yuan unknowingly fell asleep.

When he woke up, the robot had already stopped operating and next to his bed was a fashionable auntie who was also enjoying a massage with her eyes closed. Based on her clothing, she seems to be a member of the neighborhood committee that was responsible for encouraging fertility.

“Hey handsome, are you from here? Why haven’t I seen you before?” The auntie habitually asked.

“I stay in 2236-9”

“Oh, I remember you. You are Zhang Qiming’s son. You’ve even come to my house in the past! You’re an astronaut, right? Are you leaving Earth soon?” The auntie continued rambling on and on.

“En, that’s right.”

“What would happen to the properties you own? What’s more, you have no descendants to carry on the family line?” The auntie’s gossiping mentality was activated as she rambled about the topic of family line.

‘Carry on the family line?’ Zhang Yuan secretly rolled his eyes.

‘I’m not dead yet. If this all goes well, I will sow my seeds outside of Earth. That should be pretty satisfactory for my ancestors.’

However, he only thought about that in his heart and did not say it out loud.

“I can still pass on the family line on the spaceship. As for my property, I donated it.”

“Donate… donated it?”

“Yep, I have no use for it anyway.”

“…You are really generous.”

“It’s not about generosity but more about accepting the situation and getting it over and done with it.”

“…”

Under the auntie’s inconceivable gaze, Zhang Yuan got up from the massage bed and smiled before leaving the shop.

It was hard to establish an understanding between people.

In particular, it was even harder for those who had never personally witnessed space to understand his thoughts.

In fact, there was no need to force the world to understand themselves. Having a group of like-minded companions would suffice.