Chapter One: A Sigh

Prologue

Heaven and earth, mysterious and vast, the universe in its primordial chaos.

A heavy sigh echoed from the void, resonating through the universe like an eternal bell. Darkness reigned—an endless, impenetrable blackness. Was there peril hidden in this boundless night, or did it conceal the answers so desperately sought?

No one knew where the borders of this darkness lay. Perhaps no one had ever come here, or perhaps some had, yet there was no legend, not even a whisper, about this place. No one knew what lay beyond this infinite gloom.

Earth Chronicles

2100 CE – The Huaxia Republic establishes itself as the world's sole superpower.
2142 CE – Sea levels on Earth rise rapidly.
2170 CE – The Japanese Self-Defense Forces violate WWII treaties and launch a surprise attack on the northeast region of Huaxia.
2173 CE – Japan is defeated and announces its dissolution.
2175 CE – The Japanese archipelago sinks; its people are assimilated into other nations.
2230 CE – Humanity builds the first genuinely habitable space base.
2300 CE – Helium-3 extraction on the moon begins; Earth enters an era of rapid development. The first message from extraterrestrial intelligence is received, ushering in an age of transformation.
2340 CE – Russia attacks the Pan-Pacific Fleet, triggering war.
2341 CE – The Pan-Pacific Fleet launches a surprise attack on the Huaxia Republic's aircraft carrier. The Huaxia Republic declares war on the United States. The world's first legal clone is born in Huaxia.
2342 CE – The Fourth World War breaks out on a global scale.
2350 CE – The Fourth World War ends; many sovereign states dissolve.
2351 CE – The Huaxia Republic acknowledges the formation of the Earth Federation Community. Only four sovereign nations remain: the United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the Vatican Papal State.
2460 CE – The first Earth Federation Fleet sets sail.
2470 CE – Earth constructs a new generation of floating cities, marking the beginning of a leap forward.
2731 CE – The Earth Federation officially contacts intelligent life in other star systems within the Milky Way.
2876 CE – Earth announces full integration into the universe, establishing the first year of the Star Era.
Year 1 of the Star Era – Earth enters the Great Age.

Star Era Year 30 – The Human Completion Project begins.

Main Story

Star Era Year 1220

Virgo Supercluster, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System

Earth, Huaxia People's Republic, Jiuzhou Continent, Jinling Military Base, B1 Underground City

“Shaoyu! Did you finish the transmission module model for the shipborne drone that the teacher assigned yesterday?” The speaker was a boy of about ten, with a buzz cut, a few freckles on his face, and the same school uniform as the children around him. There was a lazy tone to his words. He was somewhat stocky and carried a heavy textbook, probably because his family couldn’t afford the new third-generation learning module, so he was stuck with this cumbersome book and its awkward metal rod.

“Here, take a look, but don’t mess with it. If you break it, I’ll have to make it all over again,” replied Shaoyu, tapping a metal band on his wrist. Instantly, a full-spectrum holographic projection sprang from the band.

This was Liu Shaoyu, also about ten years old, but already much taller than his peers, standing at a height of 1.7 meters.

Earth was no longer what it once was; technology had advanced at a breathtaking pace. As one of the top three most economically powerful military base underground cities in the Huaxia People’s Republic, Jinling’s underground city was affluent, but not to the point where every resident—essentially the “slum” dwellers—could participate in the Human Completion Project.

The so-called Human Completion Project began in the “Great Age,” when the Solar System officially joined the Galactic Star Era. The project first started during the “Great Migration,” as the Planetary Federation launched its extraterrestrial colonization efforts. In the harsh environment of space, humanity’s native physiology struggled to adapt to different planetary conditions. With massive government and corporate investment, the first wave of immigrants underwent the Human Completion Project, which pushed the limits of cellular enhancement, dramatically increasing human physical capacity and unlocking the full potential of the brain. Those who underwent the complete process could theoretically live 300 to 500 years. However, the costs were staggering—a single complete procedure for a normal earthling would consume enough resources to build a C-class destroyer equipped with 500 drones—a space destroyer! For families who couldn’t afford or qualify for interstellar immigration, it was simply out of reach.

“Don’t be so stingy! If I could do it myself, I wouldn’t bother you—I’d just copy it!” He began operating the module.

“Requesting data transfer,” an artificial intelligence voice came from the freckled boy’s textbook.

“Permission granted,” responded a female AI from the wristband, her voice notably more pleasant than the one from the metal book.

“Data transfer complete.”

“Thanks! That’s today’s homework done.” This boy was Wang Weifu. His father was an administrator in charge of waste management in Jinling Military District’s underground city—an informal contract worker, not a regular soldier. In today’s terms, he was a waste collector, responsible for handling, sorting, and transporting the city’s garbage to the surface. His income just barely covered the family’s rent and daily expenses.

By Star Era Year 1220, compulsory education was universal across the Huaxia People’s Republic. At age five, children entered district elementary school—the “district” here referred to the underground living zone, known as B1, meaning “underground.” The inhabitants were primarily staff ensuring the military base above operated smoothly, along with their children—a small demographic mostly engaged in administrative roles. Still, with so many departments, even the administrative personnel brought the city’s population to over a hundred thousand, all residing in the city’s central zone, close to the only transfer hub between the surface and underground. Yet, not all underground dwellers lived here; outside the city walls, another group resided—clones.

By Star Era Year 1220, the calendar having reset from the original 2876 CE, clones had existed for over five centuries. Initially created as organ donors, they eventually replaced humans in tedious physical labor that robots couldn’t perform, and ultimately found another purpose—warfare.

In 2300 CE, when humanity first encountered extraterrestrial intelligence, it took less than a century for Earth to transition from over two hundred countries to a unified military regime. This era, known as the Fourth World War, saw billions perish and some two hundred governments dissolve. The first message from alien intelligence was a single word: “Help!”—and then nothing more. With over seventy percent of the global population, the Huaxia People’s Republic led the new unified government, forming the Earth Federation. The Federation comprised four powers: the Huaxia Republic, the Vatican Papal Kingdom, the United Nations of America, and the Russian Federation.

After the Fourth World War, all but the Huaxia Republic were republics in name only.

In 2460 CE, the Earth Federation launched its first interstellar fleet, assembled by three remaining national governments, to seek the source of that first cosmic cry. All they found were ruins.

Using remnants from that lost planet, Earth’s scientists accelerated their research, and within three centuries, established contact with intelligent life elsewhere in the Milky Way. A century later, Earth officially joined the galactic community. That year marked the first of the Star Era.

The B1 Affiliated Academy of Jinling Military District enrolled children aged five to ten from the B1 underground city for foundational education. At age seven, students were placed in specialized tracks based on individual performance. Wang Weifu and Liu Shaoyu, at seven, entered the Space Fleet Command Academy’s preparatory class—one of only a hundred such students nationwide each year. Of all the students in Jinling B1’s Affiliated Academy, only three made it into this program: Wang Weifu, Liu Shaoyu, and the son of the Jinling Military District commander. Unsurprisingly, the commander’s son would never descend to these gloomy, damp depths to study alongside two poor kids.

Not that the underground city was truly dark or damp; the ceiling was a massive holographic projection, and the advanced ventilation system made life here nearly identical to the surface—apart from the absence of seasons. For children who had never seen the surface, this was their entire world.

The drone transmission module assignment was a carefully designed practice test from their teacher—after all, expecting ten-year-olds to master drone core energy transmission theory would be a bit much.

Today was the last day they’d hand in homework. After this, they would face the entrance examination—a test that would, without exaggeration, change their destinies.

“Shaoyu, are you confident about the exam?” Wang Weifu, at 1.6 meters tall, had to crane his neck to see Liu Shaoyu’s chin as they walked side by side.

“I guess. The focus should be on the drone’s mechanical structure. Just check the schematics for earlier generations in the archives and take them apart—that’s all there is to it.”

“Oh, come on! It’s not like I haven’t done that before. Whenever I reassemble them, there’s always something extra left over. My old man keeps telling me I’m not cut out for this, that I should just go back to collecting trash with him!” Wang Weifu grumbled.

Shaoyu laughed. “With your build, you’d probably eat up your whole collection quota before you even got started.”

Wang Weifu wasn’t actually fat, but though he hadn’t undergone the full Human Completion procedure, rumor had it his father had snagged him some “contraband” enhancements.

“By the way, did you get that thing I asked you about?” Liu Shaoyu suddenly stopped, looking at Wang Weifu.

“Here you go! My old man had to bribe a bunch of those bloodsuckers for this—I couldn’t even replace my bracelet because of it.” Wang Weifu fished a black cube from his pocket and tossed it to Liu Shaoyu, who grinned with satisfaction and tucked it away.

The “bracelet” in question was the same one Liu Shaoyu used to copy homework—a new generation “textbook” that was also an AI computer, linked to the neural chip implanted in every citizen at birth. This “matrix” chip stored personal data and numerous interfaces, which external AI could access for data transfer.

“Don’t worry, your bracelet is good to go—you’ll have it tomorrow.”

As they chatted, they arrived at the school gates.

“Scanning citizen ID: cjnbg124011266511. Citizen Liu Shaoyu confirmed. Please enter.” The citizen ID consisted of seventeen characters plus three unique digits—essentially a futuristic identity card.

“Scanning citizen ID: cjnbg124012171610. Citizen Wang Weifu confirmed. Please enter.”

“Scanning citizen ID: cjnbg124012171610. Citizen Wang Weifu confirmed—yeah, yeah, I get it! You act like I don’t know who I am—I go through this every day, several times a day!” Wang Weifu muttered as the scanner spoke.

These scans had been mandatory since birth—every time you passed through a door, you had to do it. Even three-year-olds could recite their ID number by heart; once assigned at birth, it followed you until your death.