Chapter 549 - 360: The Advancing Humans
Chapter 549: Chapter 360: The Advancing Humans
Harrison Clark did not know whether it was due to the inevitability of fate or the corrective nature of time, but his personal starting point was never optimistic every time he arrived in a new timeline, where he always ended up as a minor soldier in the military.
Perhaps this was to reduce the immense instant impact his physical replacement traversal could have on the era.
Due to the lack of inherited memory and a low starting point, he needed to put 100% enthusiasm into participating in every new timeline, quickly adapting to the new environment, and making various moves that either made people laugh or amazed the world.
Indeed, he possessed extraordinary talents, which might have been honed by numerous failures, turning him into a well-trained and experienced time-traveler.
No matter what situation he faced, he could always adapt to the environment at a rapid pace and carry out a series of dazzling maneuvers that even dazzled himself, maximizing his impact on the vast civilization.
This time was no exception, and he even did it faster and in less time.
Within only two months, Harrison Clark achieved an unparalleled position as a spiritual leader without getting himself tragically involved in various chores he was not adept at.
The time that followed was what he truly desired on the right track.
He could concentrate on improving his strength, learning knowledge, listening to music, watching movies, playing chess with his wife and kids, turning Clark’s head into a big one, and occasionally participating in the refinement of soldier training courses.
He loved every single thing.
He thoroughly enjoyed this state of life.
But he enjoyed even more seeing the technological advancements made by the civilization as it rapidly assimilated the information he provided.
Three months later, in April 3020, the new type of physical toxin bombs was developed, and nearly 800 million high-speed dual-person warplanes, 20 million small-sized pursuit ships, 10 million medium-sized snowflake impact ships, 3 million large snowflake position ships, 30,000 combined fortress ships, 6,000 ultra-mobile cubic transport ships, and nearly 5 million Galaxy Equipment loaded with weapons and individual soldier weapons began a rapid replacement of their modular new toxin cannons.
These replaced weapon modules would be distributed to tens of millions of newly mass-produced long-body-type large, medium, and small-sized warships and billions of low-performance individual fighter planes that were being rapidly equipped.
By mid-May 3020, the development of the new pseudo-curvature engine was completed, and the power system of the main fighting force was also undergoing an intensive upgrading.
To meet the sudden surge in production demands, a large number of ordinary soldiers had to temporarily withdraw from the training sequence and enter the industrial system.
Star was so busy that he didn’t even have time to banter with Harrison Clark, keeping his computing power usage above 99% for an extended period.
In early June of 3020, there was an energy shortage.
A large amount of equipment replacement and the demand for expanded ships to meet the needs of all-out war caused the already meager energy reserves of mankind to be quickly depleted, and production slowed down.
But…
During this month, two major innovations took place.
The top physicist, Dr. Matilda, and the rising star biologist, Dr. Scott, completed the artificial synthesis extraction and practical application technology of Z Bacteria enzyme.
Finally, mankind found a way to continuously and controllably utilize antimatter energy sources.
This event even alarmed Harrison Clark, the spiritual leader in seclusion at Cauldron Base. When he learned the news, he immediately set out from Earth and arrived at the Biological Institute near Saturn’s orbit a few hours later.
He did not meet Scott and Matilda in person but only saw the finished product.
It was a fleshy, spherical object with a diameter of about three meters, pulsating like a heart.
A dozen tentacle-like tubes extended from the sphere.
Half of the tubes were dark in color, connected to the anode of the wireless power transmission network, while the other half were lighter in color, connected to the network’s cathode.
Harrison Clark recognized this object, which was very similar to the giant sphere in the center of the Spherical Battleship.
A technical staff excitedly introduced the object to Harrison Clark, “General Clark, we’ve calculated that each antimatter power cabin can provide power equivalent to ten Dyson Membrane Bio-Batteries working simultaneously. And its supplying duration is a hundred times that of the bio-batteries! We can equip these antimatter power cabins on all warships and quickly expand production capacity. If we consume all our stored Z Bacteria, we can double the current power supply!”
Harrison Clark thought about it but did not express his opinion.
After all, this technology was derived from the Compound-Eyed Observer, and there was a possibility that it could be controlled during battle, so he did not recommend the entire army to replace their power cabins.
It was a good choice to only bring out a certain proportion of warships for experimental trials.
Of course, these warships must also maintain a conventional bio-battery power system to avoid the possibility of irreversible consequences if they were unexpectedly sabotaged.
But Harrison Clark didn’t need to make the decision on these matters; Neville Brown, Mr. Green, and Horatio would certainly be able to calculate the most appropriate proportions.
Harrison Clark asked, “The name ‘antimatter power cabin’ sounds too vulgar and can easily reveal its nature. Did Matilda give it a new name?”
The technician shook his head, “No, General Clark. Before their deaths, Dr. Matilda and Dr. Scott hoped that you would name it.”
Harrison Clark’s expression was unreadable, “They’re dead?”
“Yes, their hair turned white and fell out, and they passed away after writing their last piece of data.”
“Hmm. Let’s call this power cabin Mars Power.”
“Ah? That simple?”
“Yes, that simple. Warships equipped with Mars Power will also be additionally named Mars Battleships.”
“Alright.”
“I’d like to see their graves.”
“General, there are no graves. They left their last words early last month, hoping that we could throw their bodies towards the Solar Dome. They should still be on their way by now.”
The technician said as he pressed a button.
In the quantum simulation scene, two small single-person shuttles, side by side, were peacefully drifting through space.
“General Clark, here is a last message from Dr. Scott. Do you want to listen to it?”
“Let me hear it.”
Scott Mitchell’s cheerful laughter echoed in the room.
“Brother Feng, sorry. Ahem, I don’t think I have the right to call you that this time. But like my past selves, I want to thank you for changing my destiny time and time again, making me more and more important. I just feel so regretful that I was too tired this time, and it wasn’t until you came that I realized my favorite thing was F1 racing.”
“In recent days, I’ve been watching a lot of F1 racing videos during my breaks. It’s amazing how such an old-fashioned machine can make me so excited. It’s like fate.”
“I can’t remember who said it, but the greatest drivers are most likely to die on the track. It’s both the misfortune and glory of a driver.”
“I don’t have the chance to go back to the twenty-first century and become an F1 driver. I’m even more saddened by Senna’s fate, but I’ve turned my humble life into my own racetrack. This time, I’m a biologist, and my racetrack is to work hard for science and to prepare for our war against the Compound-Eyed Observer.”
“So, I also want to die on my own racetrack. I want to drive my war chariot and crash into my barrier. Goodbye, Brother Feng, I hope we can still chat about F1 in the next timeline.”
Harrison Clark laughed.
This guy.
Thinking about it, he must have regretted not being able to see him one last time before he died.
Before long, Bernal Connor sent Harrison Clark another message.
“General, say a few words of praise for Dr. Matilda and Dr. Scott. It will still be very inspiring for others.”
Harrison Clark raised his hand and wrote a line of words in the air with grand strokes.
“Mighty warriors of knowledge, role models of civilization.”
After writing, he turned and left.
He didn’t really want it to be this way.
He didn’t know how many people would fall in their struggles because of his words.
But there were bound to be many, and he had no choice.
Humanity had only a little over four months left, and it was time to go all out.
He knew that every step forward from now on would be painful.
The pain came quickly.
And it was more painful than Harrison Clark could have imagined.
Three days later, another research result from the Biological Institute and the Gene Institute was officially realized.
The Dyson Membrane Mutation Guided Cloud Burst Bomb was successfully developed.
The Cloud Burst Bomb fused another kind of enzyme derived from Z Bacteria.
This was a high-energy radiation enzyme that could cause countless space microbes in the Dyson membrane to mutate simultaneously in a specific direction.
If the operation was successful, the efficiency of the Dyson Membrane Bio-Battery and power supply could be doubled on the existing basis.
According to precise calculations by the Star and Mathematical Research Institutes, mankind needed to deploy a total of 2 billion Cloud Burst Bombs simultaneously.
The error in the deployment of the Cloud Burst Bombs could not exceed one second.
In theory, this could be achieved under the precise control of the Star Cluster.
But there was a new problem here.
The high-energy radiation enzyme integrated the genes of Dyson membrane microbes and Z Bacteria, which were extremely unstable within the Z Bacteria and even more unstable outside, making them virtually impossible to manufacture in large quantities.
The Biological Institute tested many gene sequences and eventually concluded that there was only one suitable carrier.
When Sergey and Willian first designed the Dyson membrane, they had already absorbed some underlying information from human genes.
About 15% of the genes in the Dyson membrane microbes were similar to human gene fragments.
After the first volunteer stepped forward and died, the Biological Institute provided the results.
The virus capable of producing high-energy radiation enzymes could proliferate and reproduce inside the human body.
The reproduction of the special virus was swift, extremely rapid, and could convert almost all the nutrients in the human body into high-energy radiation enzymes within two hours, killing the person in the process.
Five days later, Harrison Clark locked himself in his room.
A floating, three-dimensional projection in front of him showed an oval shape, representing the Dyson membrane.
Near the inner wall of the oval were two billion red dots.
Red meant they were all infected.
“Ten, nine, eight…three, two, one! Go!”
Almost simultaneously, these two billion red dots approached the Dyson membrane and were engulfed by a massive electronic vortex, then extinguished at the same time.
Two billion volunteers, the oldest aged 276, the youngest 173 years old.
These elderly volunteers, who had spent their entire lives in mediocrity and considered themselves unaccomplished in old age, burned their last drops of their life’s candles.
Among the volunteers were several of Harrison Clark’s family elders in Boston’s capital.
Before they left, the elders said that they could not disgrace their leader and must set an example.
It also included at least 300 million ordinary Lost Ones who had left the Lost City ahead of time but still failed to achieve anything after that.
Ten minutes later, the Dyson membrane resumed power supply.
Tears streaming down his face, Bernal Connor shouted, “Dyson membrane mutation succeeded!”
Among the sacrificed elders was Bernal Connor’s own brother, a half-senile old man whose mind was chaotic most of the time, barely conscious at other times, and completely unable to engage in scientific research.
Harrison Clark remained expressionless.
However, nobody could see the bulging veins on his arm.
The heart of the old appeared when faced with true desperation.
If it were up to him, he wouldn’t even have agreed to Neville Brown’s suggestion to release the news.
But he had no choice.
This was true desperation.
In a real war, this group of elderly people would also be cannon fodder.
Now they took a step ahead, sacrificing themselves on the battlefield.
This was a war of extinction, and humanity had lost seven times already.
Without Harrison Clark’s reminder, everyone knew that they had to use every means necessary, including self-sacrifice.