Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 244: Taking the initiative

"Nana, what is this artificial intelligence you mentioned earlier?"

Pan Na looked at Zhou Yuan and said, "Brother Zhou, our MIT and other well-known universities in the West have recently established a new discipline that mainly simulates human consciousness and thinking. To put it simply, it's about giving machines human intelligence and behavior, and developing intelligent robots, intelligent machinery, or something like that."

"Aren't you worried that these intelligent robots or intelligent machines will rebel?"

“Big brother, we’ve only just started researching this, and we haven’t reached that advanced level yet. But in the long run, such a terrible situation could really happen. That’s not something we need to worry about. Let our descendants worry about it, haha.” Panna seemed to find the scene of people being held by robots amusing and laughed without any attempt to hide it.

Zhou Yuan couldn't laugh. He felt that the Western Tu Kingdom was too powerful. His country had just solved the problem of food and clothing, while the Western Tu Kingdom's technology was advancing by leaps and bounds.

"Nana, I'm curious, has your Western Kingdom ever visited our Earth's neighbors? From your home, you should be able to see those two big blue planets on the horizon, right?"

"Of course we can see them. I only know a few bits and pieces. When I was a freshman, I asked my physics teacher, and he said that even though these two blue planets look close, they are still very far away from our Earth. Our country does not yet have the capability to launch such long-distance spacecraft. However, remote sensing satellites have already captured images of the surface of the blue planets, including rivers, forests, grasslands, and other landforms. It can be said that those two blue planets are similar to our Earth, which means they are suitable for human habitation."

Zhou Yuan remained silent for a long time this time.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"So you're planning to immigrate, right?"

"Immigration? I guess our next generation can manage it. But bro, maybe there are aliens up there, and a Star Wars could break out. Who knows?"

"Do you know anything about the universe? I'm very curious about how this universe came about."

"This universe? That's what our textbooks say, but I don't know if that's true. The textbooks say that our universe originated from a Big Bang, which produced a large number of galaxies, stars, and planets. Many galaxies in this universe are moving away from us."

"Oh, really?"

"Brother, that's exactly what our textbooks say. However, I later found some opposing views online, which don't believe that our universe was created by the Big Bang."

"Oh, what did they say?"

"They say that many galaxies far from our Milky Way seem to be concentrated in one direction, while there are almost no galaxies in other directions of the Milky Way. What's even stranger is that our Milky Way is surrounded by a very vast dark space. In this dark space, there is a weak background radiation, which is clearly directional, all pointing towards those galaxies far away from us. An interesting phenomenon is that, in this direction, the farther away from our Milky Way, the stronger the cosmic background radiation becomes. From this, these people infer that our Milky Way is undergoing a slowing motion in the dark space, and this slowing motion makes us feel that those galaxies are moving away from us."

Zhou Yuan listened with great interest; he had never heard of these things before.

"If our Milky Way galaxy is slowing down, then where did our universe come from, or how was it created?"

Pan Na looked at Zhou Yuan's excited and expectant face and said, "These people also believe that our universe was indeed created by the Big Bang. However, the Big Bang created two smaller universes. One is the smaller universe composed of those galaxies far away from ours, and the other is the universe with our Milky Way as the main galaxy. They believe that there is a lot of dark matter in the dark space around the Milky Way. This dark matter is not observable by us. These people call the small universe containing our Milky Way and dark matter the dark universe."

Just as Zhou Yuan and Pan Na were having a good chat, they heard a burst of enthusiastic applause outside the courtyard gate. Zhou Yuan and Pan Na quickly went out, and Zhou Yuan's mother and the uncles and aunts also came out of the courtyard.

Zhou Yuan and the others were stunned when they saw what was happening. In the narrow alley, a long line of people was walking towards them, with rows of soldiers in front and many in military uniforms in the middle. Among these people, three people stood out: a middle-aged man in uniform and a beautiful middle-aged woman. Between these two was a young, beautiful, tall woman in a uniform with a cinched waist, her short hair reaching her ears, looking dashing. The middle-aged man had four blue planet-shaped gold badges on the shoulders of his uniform. Zhou Yuan thought to himself that this person must be someone important. Behind these three people, Zhou Yuan saw Uncle Baoguo and several people in civilian clothes, and behind them, there were also many soldiers.

Hui Mei had already seen her sister and ran over, but was stopped by the soldiers in front. The middle-aged man waved his hand, and the soldiers let Hui Mei in. "Sister, brother-in-law, Xiao Lu, you're here."

"Sister, I'm relieved to hear from Baoguo that you're all doing well. Sister, you seem to have aged."

"Sister, I work for the country, and I'm responsible for everything at home and outside. It's no wonder I'm getting old."

The two sisters held hands, and Hui-mei and Xiao-lu chatted as they walked.

Zhou Yuan's mother, Zhou Yuan, Pan Na, and others were waiting outside the courtyard gate.

The soldiers in the front row quickly took their positions around the courtyard. Uncle Baoguo stepped forward, shook hands with Zhou Yuan's mother, and then introduced them to everyone, "Sister Zhou, this is my brother-in-law, General Chu, this is my sister, and this is my niece, Chu Xiaolu. Little Zhou, come to the front! Are you still shy?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Zhou Yuan smiled and had no choice but to step forward and stand next to his mother.

"Zhou Yuan, hello. This is my daughter, Chu Xiaolu, and this is her mother." General Chu extended his hand to introduce them to Zhou Yuan, who in turn extended his hand and shook hands with General Chu.

Zhou Yuan then bowed deeply and said, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt." The last "hello" was addressed to Chu Xiaolu.

Chu Xiaolu extended her hand. "Zhou Yuan, hello."

The two held hands, and Zhou Yuan felt that although Chu Xiaolu's hand was strong, it was also very soft.

Chu Xiaolu looked Zhou Yuan over carefully and suddenly smiled. Zhou Yuan also smiled slightly.

"General Chu, Madam Chu, Brother Guo, Xiaolu, it's hot outside, please come inside quickly," Zhou Yuan's mother hurriedly greeted them.

Now there were more than twenty people in the courtyard. Chu Xiaolu seemed to notice Pan Na, and the two exchanged a glance. They both thought the other was very beautiful. Pan Na waved to Chu Xiaolu, and Chu Xiaolu nodded and smiled in return.

General Chu's family, Zhou Yuan's mother, Zhou Yuan, and Baoguo sat down in the hall, and some uncles and aunts began to help prepare lunch.

Old Pan tugged at his daughter Panna, urging her to go home, but Panna refused to leave. She sat with some other uncles and aunties in the other rooms of the courtyard. All of these idle people, including Panna, were watching the commotion in the main hall.

"Uncle, Aunt, Xiaolu, you've had a long train journey of a day and a night, and the weather was so hot. You must have had a hard time. Here's some herbal tea to quench your thirst. Uncle Guo, this cup is for you."

Although Zhou Yuan was a bit of a bookworm, he still listened to what his mother had taught him last night.

General Chu and his wife nodded. Chu Xiaolu took the herbal tea handed to her by Zhou Yuan, took a few sips, and felt refreshed.

There were fewer people in the lobby; it had been crowded and chaotic outside. General Chu and his wife finally had a chance to take a closer look at Zhou Yuan sitting opposite them. They thought he was quite handsome, had a scholarly air about him, and was eight or nine centimeters taller than their beloved daughter.

"Xiao Zhou, I heard from your Uncle Guo that you were hospitalized. Are you alright?"

"Uncle, thank you for your concern. I'm almost fully recovered and will officially go back to work on July 19th."

"You graduated from Tsinghua University and are going to work at the National Astronomical Observatories?"

"Yes, Uncle."

"Qing Teng University is great! It's the top university in our country. I was just two points short of getting in back then."

"Honey, are you still bragging here?"

Madam Chu couldn't help but interject.

"Mom, the truth is, I was only two points short."

"Uncle, you graduated from a military academy, right?"

"Yes, it wasn't easy for us to get into university back then."

"Yes, the score requirement is extremely high."

"You're no ordinary person either; you were among the first batch of top students after the resumption of examinations."

Chu Xiaolu watched the two men, one old and one young, flattering each other and couldn't help but laugh. Zhou Yuan saw Chu Xiaolu's smile and smiled slightly as well. Chu Xiaolu smiled again.

"Xiao Zhou, I'm a soldier, and I don't understand your research on stars and such. But I hope our country can cultivate a large number of outstanding high-end talents like you. Only in this way can our country catch up with the Western Turks."

Zhou Yuan's expression tightened, and he couldn't help but glance at General Chu. "Yes, Uncle, you're absolutely right. Our country has already resumed exams, hasn't it? Now everyone is living a good life, and only when people are living a good life are they willing to put their energy into studying. I can't study on an empty stomach."

Zhou Yuan's saying brought smiles to everyone's faces, and Zhou Yuan's mother secretly applauded her son.

"Xiao Zhou, since you've brought up the topic of the country, let's talk about it. Xiao Zhou, besides talent, what else do you think our country needs most right now?"

Zhou Yuan was taken aback. He looked at General Chu and then at the Imperial Uncle.

"Xiao Zhou, we're all family here. We're just having a heart-to-heart talk, so feel free to speak your mind."

"Uncle, Aunt, Uncle Guo, let me share my personal thoughts."

"High-end talent cannot be cultivated overnight. What the country is currently lacking is high-end talent, and it is also what the country needs most. In addition to talent, I personally believe that what our country needs most right now is to activate the creativity and innovation of the people."

"Oh." General Chu was surprised, as was Uncle Baoguo, who worked at the municipal government.

"High-end talents are, after all, a minority. We ordinary people are not highly educated, but the people of our Eastern Kingdom created miracles and made many inventions in ancient times. I think our Eastern Kingdom can learn from the Renaissance of the Western Kingdom, liberate our minds, let a hundred flowers bloom, and strive for excellence. We should gather the wisdom and talents of the masses, serve our country, and embark on the path of technological development. All walks of life should be invigorated, rewards and punishments should be clear, more work should be paid more, and distribution should be based on work, so as to achieve fairness, justice, openness and public benefit."

General Chu nodded repeatedly, "Little Zhou, well said. It seems you are also an ambitious person."

"Uncle, I'm just talking theory. It's not easy to actually do this in such a big country."

"Well, at least you realize that the country needs talent like you."

General Chu looked at Zhou Yuan's mother and said, "Elder sister, I've heard Baoguo talk about your family. Elder sister, you've had a tough time raising such an outstanding and handsome son."

General Chu's last words left Zhou Yuan's mother in disbelief. She hadn't expected a general to say such a thing, but she wasn't dizzy. "General, thank you for your praise. I always teach him to be successful and serve his country when he grows up."

"Good, that's rare."

"Dad, Brother Zhou, excuse me, may I say a few words? Brother Zhou, I have some things I'd like to ask you for advice on."

General Chu glanced at his daughter, feeling a little nervous, wondering what tricky or strange questions she would ask this time.

"Xiaolu, please speak. I dare not presume to ask for your advice. Let's have an open exchange and learn from each other."

Madam Chu's gaze toward Zhou Yuan grew increasingly strange. She was secretly overjoyed, thinking that Zhou Yuan was tall, handsome, cultured, polite, and sensible. She was also worried that her precious daughter might ask or say things she shouldn't.

Madam Chu subtly winked at her daughter, but Chu Xiaolu ignored her. General Chu and Madam Chu knew things were going badly.