165: I got carried away writing! Extra chapter!

virtual universe, Living Area, History Experience Zone—Dusty Eras.

This place simulates the "Dim Years" of the Human Federation before Star Calendar Year 100000, before Chen Jun reached the pinnacle of his status.

Under the one-hundred-percent simulation of the virtual universe—

The air of the Dusty Eras was permeated with the smell of rusted metal and machine oil.

The streets were narrow and crowded, lined on both sides with dense rows of simple alloy shanties, the walls covered in mottled stains and patches applied haphazardly over damage.

Occasionally, an old, bulky, and incredibly noisy maglev bus would lumber past, splashing the suspicious-colored standing water on the ground.

An old man wearing a virtual retro work uniform, his hair gray and his face etched with the ravines of time and hardship, was pulling a teenager—who looked only thirteen or fourteen and was dressed in iridescent, extraordinary virtual fashion—along this "retro" street.

On the face of the teenager, Xiao Jie, there was curiosity and... a trace of barely perceptible disgust?

"Grandpa, why did you have to drag me to this 'Dusty Eras' zone?" Xiao Jie pouted, nimbly avoiding a virtual puddle on the ground:

"The environmental simulation is so bad! The air purification System must be broken, the energy shield parameters are set way too low, and this house, my god, how can anyone live here? In reality, even the ecological pods for pets are ten thousand times better than this!"

Old Man Li stopped in his tracks upon hearing this, glared at his grandson with those weather-beaten eyes, and said in a hoarse voice that brooked no doubt:

"You brat! Do you think Grandpa is joking with you? This isn't some 'poor environmental simulation'! This is what real life was like when Grandpa was a child! One-hundred-percent accurate reconstruction!"

"Ah? Really?" Xiao Jie exclaimed exaggeratedly, pointing at some virtual trash piled up at the entrance of a nearby shanty that was emitting a sour stench:

"You don't even clean up the trash in time? A cleaning robot can scan and decompose the trash for the entire block in a second!"

"Cleaning robots?" Old Man Li scoffed, as if he had heard a tall tale:

"Back then, in a shantytown with millions of people, there were fewer than ten ancient, low-tech cleaning robots! And they were always breaking down! Trash piling up like mountains was a common occurrence! That smell in the summer... heh, what you're smelling now isn't even one-tenth of what it was like back then!"

Xiao Jie pinched his nose, his little face scrunching up: "That's terrifying! Then... what did you usually eat? I saw in the documentary that back then there was something like... 'Synthetic Nutrient Paste'?"

A flash of bitter recollection crossed Old Man Li's eyes, and he pulled his grandson over to a simulated "Public Ration Station" where a long line was forming at the window.

"Synthetic Nutrient Paste? That was good stuff!" Old Man Li pointed at the grayish, unappetizing blob of paste inside the window:

"Standard rations were five hundred grams per person per day; it tasted like chewing wax, but it ensured you wouldn't starve to death. Even then, supplies were often cut off! Sometimes you could only get the even worse 'Organic Matter Recombination Blocks,' which felt like chewing on wood splinters and scratched your throat!"

Xiao Jie looked at that "Synthetic Nutrient Paste," and then thought of the "Galactic Feast" he had eaten in the "Gourmet Heaven" area of the virtual universe—customized by top-tier "Star Chef" robots based on his real-time physiological data to provide the ultimate taste experience—and couldn't help but retch.

"You... you ate this every day? No limited-edition 'Black Hole Pudding' from the 'Hundred Flavors Delicacy Workshop'? No 'Star Beast Ribs' from 'Aurora Barbecue'?" Xiao Jie asked in disbelief.

"Black Hole Pudding? You're dreaming, kid!" Old Man Li gave his grandson a swat on the back of the head, annoyed:

"Back then, it was good enough just to be full! Fruit? Natural meat? Those were things of legend! Only those high and mighty big shots, the Warrior Rank powerhouses, could occasionally enjoy them! For ordinary people with F-Rank Aptitude like us, just being alive and having a place to shelter from the wind and rain was the greatest happiness!"

He pulled his reluctant grandson inside a simulated, narrow shanty that was only a dozen square meters in size.

Inside, there was only a rusty metal bed, a simple washbasin, and an old screen the size of a palm hanging on the wall, flickering with static.

"Look! This is where Grandpa's family of five lived back then!" Old Man Li's tone carried a hint of excitement.

"A family of five?! Living here?!" Xiao Jie's eyes widened, even more shocked than if he had seen a rare star beast:

"This... how could you live here? It's hard to even turn around! My 'Starry Sky Themed Personalized Space' has a game room that is ten times larger than this! And that's in reality!"

"A game room? And in reality?" Old Man Li's voice rose an octave, as if hit on a sore spot:

"Back then, our only entertainment was staring at this broken screen, watching boring official propaganda films and limited public channels! The virtual universe? That was a myth we hadn't even heard of!"

He pointed at the metal bed: "Me, your Great-Grandfather, your Great-Grandmother, and your two Great-Aunts, we all squeezed onto this one bed! It was like an ice cellar in the winter and a steamer in the summer! At that time, the average life expectancy for ordinary people was less than eighty years! We just scraped by in this kind of environment!"

Xiao Jie's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

He couldn't imagine how one could live that kind of life.

He was born into a spacious and bright standardized citizen residence, served by all-purpose household robots, and had the virtual universe to play in endlessly.

The most troublesome thing in reality was probably deciding which planet's friend's house to go to for an offline gathering.

"Then... what about work? What did you do before, Grandpa?" Xiao Jie asked curiously.

"Me?" Old Man Li straightened his hunched back, a trace of the humble pride belonging to that era appearing on his face:

"I was an assembly line screw worker at the 'Rock' Heavy Machinery Factory in District Seven for forty years! The job was stable, which was much luckier than many other F-Ranks!"

"A screw... worker?" Xiao Jie tried hard to understand the term. "Is that the kind that operates precision robotic arms to assemble starship engines?"

"Robotic arms, my foot!" Old Man Li spat. "It was by hand! Using the simplest tools! Twelve hours or more a day, standing by the assembly line, repeating the same action—tightening screws! Tens of thousands, over a hundred thousand! When I got off work, I couldn't even lift my hands, and I couldn't even hold chopsticks steady while eating! And this was a job that other F-Ranks envied!"

Xiao Jie looked at his grandfather's virtual hands, covered in calluses and tiny scars, and fell silent.

He couldn't imagine that kind of pure, mindless physical labor.

In his understanding, all repetitive and dangerous work had long been taken over by robots.

A citizen's work was either creative activities or scientific research in the virtual universe.

Or it was engaging in positions in reality that machines could not fully replace, requiring high levels of emotional interaction or complex decision-making.

"F-Rank Aptitude... could you only do that?" Xiao Jie asked quietly.

"What else?" Old Man Li sighed. "F-Rank is the very bottom of the Human Federation! We couldn't even break through to the Warrior Rank! We were the consumables of civilization, the most inconspicuous but most numerous screws in the giant machine. Living, working, having children, and then dying... generation after generation, with almost no hope of any change."

His tone became low and oppressive, as if he had returned to that desperate era.

"Back then, for ordinary people like us, the greatest wish was to have a few more children, hoping that one of them would have better Aptitude, which would give us hope of changing our fate. If their Aptitude wasn't good, we would dump them in an orphanage!"

"An orphanage?" Xiao Jie caught this unfamiliar term.

"Yes." Old Man Li's eyes dimmed. "Back then, many families like ours couldn't afford to raise children, or felt that the children had no future with us, so they would... voluntarily send them to an orphanage. The Human Federation had a screening mechanism that would look for promising candidates in orphanages to train. Your Great-Grandfather and Great-Grandmother... they sent your Great-Aunt away."

Xiao Jie was completely shocked!

Voluntarily sending away one's own child?! To him, this sounded like an incomprehensible tall tale!

Now the Human Federation strongly encouraged childbirth; every newborn received generous rewards and resource allocations, and parents wished they could have hundreds!

An orphanage? That was just a term in history books, long replaced by a perfect social welfare and upbringing System.

"Why?!" Xiao Jie asked excitedly. "There are so many rewards for having children now! The 'Newborn Growth Fund' alone is enough for a family to live comfortably for many years!"

"Rewards?" Old Man Li looked as if he had heard the funniest joke, but his smile was full of bitterness:

"Back then, having children was a burden! One more mouth to feed meant one more drain on resources! Those meager rations were simply not enough to eat! Moreover, for families like ours, the children born would most likely still be F-Rank, repeating our tragic fate... Sending them to an orphanage, at least... there was a glimmer of faint hope."

The grandfather and grandson fell into a silence... only the sound of old-fashioned factory whistles from the distance, simulated by the "Dusty Eras" zone, echoed in the oppressive air.

Watching the real, non-simulated expression of pain on his grandfather's face, Xiao Jie felt a huge shock to the happy life he had taken for granted for the first time.

He was born in Star Calendar Year 100050; since he could remember, the Human Federation had already been like this.

He only knew that he had F-Rank Aptitude, but this didn't seem to have caused him any trouble.

In the virtual universe, relying on his own efforts and sufficient study time under a hundred-fold time dilation, he had already won the youth group championship in the "Starry Sky Mecha Design Competition."

The concept art for the "Phantom Meteor" mecha he designed had even been liked by big shots at the Academy of Sciences, and it was said there was hope for it to be put into actual development.

In reality, he lived in a comfortable residence, enjoyed the services of all-purpose robots, ate delicious food customized by "Star Chefs," and if he wanted to travel to any planet, he could just apply for an interstellar flight, which was also free.

He had never felt inferior or unfairly treated because of his Aptitude, because everyone around him was the same.

Everyone was looking for their own value and fun in the virtual universe.

Resources? What were those? Weren't they always as abundant as the air?

Until today, listening to his grandfather recount the "past" that felt like it came from another Universe, he suddenly realized that everything he possessed was not a matter of course.

"Grandpa..." Xiao Jie's voice was much softer. "Then... how did it become like this later on?"

When Old Man Li heard this question, a bright and incredibly pious light suddenly burst forth from his cloudy old eyes!

He gripped his grandson's hand tightly, his voice trembling with excitement:

"It changed! Everything changed! Because of... Ancestor Chen!!!"

"Ancestor Chen?" Xiao Jie certainly knew this name; it was a legend of the Human Federation, the "guardian of civilization" in textbooks, and the subject of countless statues in the virtual universe.

But to him, it was more like a symbol, a distant deity.

"Yes! It was Ancestor Chen!" Old Man Li's tone was filled with endless gratitude and worship:

"It was Ancestor Chen who brought about the change! It was Ancestor Chen who let us F-Rank trash see the light!"

He pulled his grandson, excitedly pointing at the simulated, gloomy sky outside the shanty:

"I don't remember exactly what year it was, but it was shortly after the Human Federation defeated the Tristan Empire! The Human Federation suddenly launched the 'Benefit the People Plan'! Big shots of the War General Rank personally led teams, driving military assault ships, and came to our kind of broken shantytown!"

"They installed the most advanced household robots for us for free! Upgraded our houses! Repaired all the damage! Provided us with the best medical care and food! They told us that from then on, we wouldn't have to worry about making a living anymore, and we could pursue our hobbies and enjoy life to the fullest!"

Old Man Li's voice grew higher and more excited, gesturing wildly:

"At first, no one dared to believe it! Everyone thought they were dreaming! Until those robots really started working, until we ate natural food we had never seen in our lives, until we moved into bright and spacious new homes... we finally believed that this was real! The sky, it had truly brightened!"

Xiao Jie listened to his grandfather's story, imagining the scene as if a miracle had descended, and an indescribable shock filled his heart.

"And then, there is the virtual universe!" Old Man Li continued excitedly:

"Ancestor Chen promoted the popularization of the virtual universe! One hundred times the time! Child, do you know what this means?"

"Does it mean... we can live longer? And learn more?" Xiao Jie answered tentatively.

"It means far more than that!" Old Man Li slapped his thigh hard:

"That is Rebirth! It is a second life! An old guy like me learned some carpentry skills in there, and now I'm quite popular in the 'Traditional Craft District'! Your parents, one became a well-known star-sky painter in there, and the other became a music producer! And you! Aren't you working on some mecha design? In the past, if you had F-rank Aptitude, you wanted to touch a mecha? Not a chance!"

Xiao Jie was stunned...

He had never thought about it from this perspective.

Yes, if not for the hundredfold time and infinite possibilities provided by the virtual universe.

How could someone with F-rank Aptitude like him possibly have access to top-tier mecha design knowledge?

How could he have the opportunity to showcase his talent?

"And having children!" Old Man Li became more excited as he spoke:

"Ancestor Chen strongly encourages childbirth! Now, having children is not only burden-free, but there are also big prizes! Resources are plentiful! Medical Guarantee is in place! The Federation even helps you raise them once they are born! You can meet anytime in the virtual universe! Look at it now, who wouldn't want to have hundreds? Even this old bag of bones like me thought having five was amazing back then, but look now, tsk tsk..."

Old Man Li shook his head with emotion: "I heard that some young people who have just come of age now date for decades in the virtual universe, and as soon as they return to reality, they can't wait to get married and have children, giving birth to dozens at once! Back in our day, we wouldn't even dare to imagine that!"

Xiao Jie subconsciously touched his virtual ID card, remembering his girlfriend whom he met at the "Star-Sky Music Festival" and had been in a virtual relationship with for "thirty years."

They seemed to have agreed that once they reached the legal age in reality, they would go register, and then... his face turned slightly red.

"All of this was brought about by Ancestor Chen!" Old Man Li concluded, his tone extremely solemn:

"Without Ancestor Chen, we wouldn't have today! We might still be tightening screws in that broken factory, living in this drafty shack, eating synthetic paste that tastes like pig swill, and worrying about tomorrow's rations!"

He stared intently into his grandson's eyes: "Xiao Jie, remember this! No matter how much you achieve in the virtual universe in the future, or how comfortable you live in reality, you must never forget who gave you this fat... ahem, who gave you this good life! It is Ancestor Chen!"

Xiao Jie looked at his grandfather's extremely serious, even slightly sacred expression, and nodded heavily.

He had only vaguely known before that Ancestor Chen was great, but until today, through this living "history lesson" from his grandfather.

He finally truly understood what the two words "Ancestor Chen" meant to the Federation, especially to ordinary citizens like them!

It was salvation!

It was hope!

It was a deity that completely rewrote destiny!!!

"I understand, Grandfather." Xiao Jie's voice was unprecedentedly serious, "I will remember it."

Old Man Li saw that his grandson seemed to have taken it to heart, smiled with relief, and patted his shoulder:

"Come on, let me show you something else. This 'Dusty Era' zone has many more 'fun' things, such as 'public bathrooms,' 'hand-laundry rooms,' 'paper book reading rooms'..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jie's face fell again: "Ah? There's more?"

Just as Old Man Li was taking his grandson through memory lane in the virtual universe.

In the real world, in the orbit above the Federation's Capital Star, "Kunlun."

A newly expanded super-interstellar port with a scale comparable to a small planet — "Heart of Kunlun," was ushering in an unprecedented period of busyness.

Countless envoy ships, trade ships, and tourist sightseeing ships of various shapes and sizes from various civilizations in the Cangqiong Seat were like a swarm of bees returning to their nest!

Under the precise guidance of the intelligent navigation System, they sailed into their designated berths in an orderly manner.

On the port's holographic bulletin board, welcome messages and notices in multiple languages were scrolling, one of which was particularly eye-catching:

【Warmly welcome the 19,084,927th batch of "Cangqiong Seat Civilization Exchange Group" to arrive at Kunlun Star today! We wish you a pleasant journey! Friendly reminder: If you need to apply for a pre-screening for marriage with the Chen Clan, please go to the 'Interstellar Friendship Affairs Center' in District A7 to submit your Materials. Current queue number: 886755891...】

Inside a luxury sightseeing ship from the "Pearl Vortex Community" that was shaped like a giant pink seashell, several nobles from the community who were visiting the Human Federation for the first time were staring at the scene outside through the portholes in astonishment.

"Oh my god... this planet... is too big! The planetary life aura I perceive is as vast as a star!" A young noblewoman exclaimed, her skin shimmering with a soft pearly luster.

"According to the data, Kunlun Star has undergone dozens of large-scale planetary expansions and ecological transformations, and its surface area is now more than 30 million times that of a standard planet. But even so, the population density is shockingly low." An elder noble pulled up the data to educate the younger generation:

"Over 80% of the area is zoned as natural ecological zones, artistic landscape areas, and personalized private territories."

"Look over there!" Another noble pointed to a complex of buildings floating above the sea of clouds in the distance, consisting of countless pavilions, towers, and fairy mountain waterfalls:

"What is that? Is it the Heavenly Palace from ancient Eastern mythology?"

A tour guide robot wearing a standard Federation uniform with a polite smile explained in fluent Pearl language:

"Respected guests, that is the 'Primordial Mythology Theme Resort,' which completely simulates the Primordial fairyland in the virtual universe. It was proposed and designed by Ancestor Chen himself, utilizing the latest environmental simulation and space folding technology, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Federation."

"Ancestor Chen..." The nobles immediately showed awe and longing in their eyes.

"I heard that as long as one can successfully marry into the Chen Clan, one can obtain offspring with a 'Guaranteed Innate Martial Body'?" The young noblewoman asked her elder in a low voice, with a blush on her face.

"Yes, Your Highness. But the competition... is extremely fierce. Look at that queue number..." The Prince noble smiled bitterly and pointed to the nine-digit number on the holographic bulletin board.

On the surface of Kunlun Star, in the "New Chang'an" urban area.

There are no skyscrapers here; instead, there are courtyards, villas, and low-rise ecological buildings that blend classical aesthetics with future technology.

The streets are wide and clean, lined with green trees, and filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Occasionally, elegantly shaped, silently gliding personal aircraft pass by, but more citizens choose to walk or take public sightseeing elevators to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this city, which is known as the "Star-Sky Garden."

In an elegant courtyard surrounded by green bamboo, an old man who looked spirited but was actually approaching the 150-year lifespan limit was sitting leisurely on a rocking chair, enjoying the afternoon sun.

The personal terminal on his wrist vibrated gently, displaying a message:

【Respected Citizen Mr. Li Fugui, your 'Elderly Vitality Childbearing Encouragement Subsidy' has arrived in your account, this month's amount: 10 million Federation Credits. Thank you for your contribution to the Federation's population cause! Attachment: The 'Sunset Red Marriage Introduction Agency' in District Seven recommends three like-minded ladies to you, the information has been sent, please check.】

The old man, Li Fugui, closed the message happily and said to the housekeeping robot next to him that was helping him trim the plants:

"Xiao Yuan, look, how good the Federation is to us old guys! Even at this age, they are still urging us to contribute our remaining energy!"

The robot Xiao Yuan emitted a soft electronic sound: "According to big data analysis, Mr. Li, your physiological age is equivalent to forty years old in the old era, your physical health indicators are excellent, and you are fully capable of reproducing offspring again. Federation resources are infinite, it is recommended that you actively consider it and enjoy a complete life."

Li Fugui laughed loudly and touched his still quite thick hair:

"We'll see, we'll see! At my age, I don't have many years left to live, so I mainly just have to enjoy life. I have an appointment with Old Man Zhang to go fishing at the 'Star-Sky Fishing Ground' this afternoon, and tonight I have to enter the virtual universe to play chess with my old buddies!"

This is the life of ordinary elderly people in the Federation today.

Under the Guarantee of advanced medical care and abundant resources, they are healthy, energetic, and enjoying a wonderful life in both reality and the virtual universe.

For them, childbirth is no longer a burden, but a "pleasure" and a "contribution" that is encouraged and can be freely chosen.

virtual universe, "Star-Sky Tea Party." Several young people from different planets were discussing heatedly.

"Brothers! I just had an Epiphany about a new energy circuit configuration in the 'Endless Battlefield' dungeon! I feel like it has even inspired my Cultivation in reality!" A young man with the ID [Sword Qi Lingxiao] said excitedly.

"Congratulations! I am an intern at the 'Life Academy of Sciences,' working as an assistant to the virtual projection of Dean Mo Heng, and I just participated in optimizing a gene stability equation yesterday! It was so fulfilling!" [Biology Dog Doesn't Cry] chimed in.

"You guys are too hardcore!" A girl with the ID [Art is Patrick Star] said, "I opened a solo art exhibition in the 'Renaissance District' and sold several paintings! I used the earned virtual currency to buy the latest health pod for my parents in reality!"

Xiao Jie had just finished his "history lesson" with his grandfather and also joined the chat. He couldn't help but share what he had learned:

"I just came out of the 'Dusty Era' zone with my grandfather... My god, you absolutely cannot imagine what kind of life ordinary people lived in the past!"

Once he told them about the synthetic nutrient paste, shanty towns, and screw-tightening jobs he had heard about, the chat room immediately exploded.

"Really? Was F-rank Aptitude that miserable before?"

"Tightening screws for more than twelve hours a day? That's too terrifying!"

"Couldn't even afford fruit? I feel uncomfortable all over if I don't eat 'Spirit Fruit' for a day now!"

"Thank you, Ancestor Chen! For letting me be born in the best era!"

"Long live Ancestor Chen!"

"Long live Ancestor Chen!"

Similar conversations were happening at every moment in every corner of the Federation and in countless chat rooms in the virtual universe.

Chen Jun did not participate in the living areas; he preferred to stay in the real world, but his legend was like air, omnipresent!

It profoundly shaped this civilization, as well as the thoughts and destinies of every ordinary person living in it.

From being regarded as consumable F-rank Aptitude, to now being citizens who swim in the star sea in the virtual universe and live and work in peace and contentment in reality;

From crowded and dirty shanty towns to the now sparsely populated, fairy-like Star-Sky Garden;

From a desperate and short career to a hundredfold life experience filled with hope and possibilities...

All these changes stemmed from that person who liked to lounge on a lounge chair, seemingly doing nothing, yet quietly pushing the entire star sea landscape — the reclining winner and immortal, Chen Jun!

He was still lounging on his lounge chair, seemingly idle...

But his very existence was already the greatest miracle of this era!

The warmest gospel!!

Lounging on the lounge chair, blessing hundreds of millions of people!!!!!

Winning by reclining really can be passed on! Lying flat and winning by reclining are two different concepts!

And the legend belonging to Chen Jun, as well as the legend of the civilization where his offspring reside, has just begun its second chapter!

Me? Already passionate and excited!!!!

You? Are you ready?!!!