115: Chapter 115 The Awakener

The management didn't worry about the miners hiding down there, because the oxygen tanks carried on their protective suits only supported breathing for three days. Each person could only exchange them once every three days, they couldn't be collected on behalf of others, and they weren't free—they had to be acquired using work points!

Work points served as the miners' wage cards; when they returned to Earth, they could exchange the points for money!

Here, every form of consumption required points.

Gao Yuan didn't know how Gao Qiu had managed it, but he was certain that Gao Qiu was definitely here.

This was the only place in the Asteroid Belt where he could remain undiscovered!

Gao Yuan rode a Monkey Car downward, and the miners along the way ignored him completely.

In the tunnels today, Gao Yuan discovered that it was practically an Underground City down here; many people even lived directly inside it.

There were stalls below selling Nutritional Paste.

Gao Yuan even saw people selling Synthetic Food, which was something only the middle class on Earth would consume.

Walking all this way, Gao Yuan was struck with wonder.

Gao Yuan stopped in a tunnel that had been converted into something like a pedestrian street.

It was crowded with people.

They all had tall and thin frames; Gao Yuan walking among them was like a chicken in a flock of cranes!

The people around him were all taller than him, giving Gao Yuan—who had never felt insecure about his height—a slight sense of inferiority.

Gao Yuan hadn't walked far...

Before his path was blocked by a group of people.

"You... come with me!"

The voice was very hoarse!

Gao Yuan wasn't surprised in the least...

"Is someone looking for me?"

"Yes!"

Gao Yuan was surrounded by the crowd; from a distance, he couldn't be seen at all.

After walking for about ten minutes, Gao Yuan only remembered making five turns with various ups and downs in between, before the person in front pushed open a door.

"Go in!"

Gao Yuan nodded and walked inside; it was a stone room.

It was very dark inside, so Gao Yuan found a place to sit down.

"I'm here!"

"You shouldn't have come so early!"

A familiar voice came from behind him.

Gao Yuan turned abruptly. Although the light was dim, he could still make him out.

This was his 'grandfather,' and also his father in the Future World—Gao Qiu.

Gao Yuan thought he would be angry about his departure without saying goodbye and his taking matters into his own hands, but meeting him now under the faint light, Gao Qiu's body was slightly stooped, and his face was even thinner.

However, his eyes appeared very bright in the gloom.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Gao Yuan asked.

"The time had not yet come!"

"When will the time be right?"

"When you have grown up!"

"What exactly are you after by doing all this?"

Gao Yuan asked.

"What does a person live a lifetime for?"

Gao Qiu sat down opposite Gao Yuan, poured a cup of water, and held the cup, seemingly talking to himself yet also as if questioning Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan was actually just venting his emotions.

He just felt like he had been abandoned.

He had originally thought his relative had gone to 'another world,' but the truth was that he really had come to another world, and now he had come too!

"Some seek fame, some seek profit, some seek wealth, and some seek power. All of these... I have already achieved their pinnacle, so the only thing I can seek is to leave my name in the annals of history!"

Gao Yuan wanted to laugh...

"You want to leave your name in history, but why drag me along? I just wanted to make some money, marry a few wives, and have some children! To enjoy life... If I hadn't met Gao Gan, how much longer were you going to hide this from me? Besides, Gao Gan is over a hundred years older than me, yet he says he's my brother..."

"I discovered a space-time node and felt it was an opportunity, but Gao Gan was already too old and couldn't cross over. Only a newborn would have the chance. I planned for a long time, and for the sake of this space-time channel, I fathered you..."

Gao Yuan was completely speechless; he was born to be a tool!

"Gao Qiu... do you know how ridiculous that name is? And Gao Gan, even more ridiculous. You're just terrible at naming things!"

Gao Qiu's expression did not change in the slightest.

After a few minutes of silence...

Gao Yuan asked in a low voice, "What do you need me to do?"

"Air, water... food!"

"And then? What will you rely on to oppose The Big Three?"

"The awakening of the people!"

Gao Qiu said.

Gao Yuan wanted to laugh.

What era is this, and you're still trying that approach?

If The Big Three are pushed too far, they could just slaughter all these low-level people without much loss... at worst, they'd use robots for everything, and life would just be a bit more boring in the future!

"Gao Qiu, how old are you this year?"

"One hundred and sixty-eight!"

"At such an age, you're still so naive... The people? Can a billion people with bare hands stand against a single warship?"

Gao Qiu looked at Gao Yuan. "They cannot."

"Exactly. So what will you rely on to fight back? The military power is in their hands..."

Gao Qiu put down his water cup. "Isn't there still you? If you can also manufacture Interstellar Warships in that world, wouldn't we be able to fight back?"

Gao Yuan was stunned.

Was that how this worked?

But...

"This will take too long. Aren't you afraid you won't live to see it? And if you're relying on me, then what are you making a fuss for here? Come back to that world with me."

"Gao Yuan, if I don't make a fuss, how will you get the core technology?"

"You can get core technology here?"

Gao Yuan expressed his doubt...

"Of course!"

Gao Yuan looked at Gao Qiu, waiting for him to continue.

"In the year I've been here, I've orchestrated twenty-six riots of various sizes... Now, they are finally going to make a move on the Vesta mining area!"

"And then? Is that a good thing?"

"I have selected a group of people; they are called 'The Awakened.' These people are willing to sacrifice themselves for the revolution. These Awakened are dying every day, but their 'consciousness' is being stored by me and transmitted through special equipment into the robots here. These robots possess the will of The Awakened; they exist to overthrow the Development General Administration..."

Gao Yuan felt uncomfortable in his heart...

Injecting human consciousness into robots—were those robots human or machine?

"These people are willing to die?"

"Willingly. And not only have they not died, they've gained eternal life... As these robots grow in number, they will enter various vital departments. They possess the will of The Awakened and the execution capabilities of robots; they will soon take control of the entire system..."

Gao Yuan had to admit the plan was good, but it still made him feel uneasy.

Gao Qiu continued, "Robots are very powerful, but the more high-end an intelligent robot is, the more unreliable it becomes. Biological Chips grant robots their abilities, but they also make it possible for them to give birth to a human-like will... Moreover, every system has loopholes; there is no perfect program in the world. If you can't break through, it only means you're not strong enough! Programs are unreliable, robots are unreliable, and similarly, humans are unreliable! This is why robots haven't completely replaced humans after all these years... Furthermore, all highly intelligent robots have a service life; they are destroyed after ten years at most. This is one of the major reasons why they retain so many humans..."

Gao Yuan fell silent.