<h4>Chapter 580: Ten Years Later</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    In the entire history of mankind, never had there been such rapid growth in social structure.


    Months went by in the span of days and something new and exciting happened every day. New inventions emerged continuously and new industries rose and fell every year.


    Mankind was evolving at an unstoppable pace.


    In July 2029, ckwatch deployed the “Stem Cell Organ Cultivation” technology and from there on, disabled members of society became a thing of the past. Its patent number was 11,457,092.


    In October 2029, the BHB Combative Police Force was officially named the Superpower Combative Police Force with the addition of “John the Guardian”.


    In May 2031, ckwatch had developed an upgraded model of Androids known as Little Dai. The upgraded Android was programmed with a modified IQ and EQ processes on par with a ten-year-old child. It was a model superior to its predecessor, Little AI, and patented under the number 11,572,838.


    Furthermore, the modified Android model was more expressive than its predecessor which made people more open to having an Android assistant in their household.


    By January 2031, the modified Android entered the global consumer market.


    In April 2033, the Earth Federation issued regtions restricting themercial use of Android Little Dai due to concerns about the exploitability of artificial intelligence.


    In May 2033, the regtions were abolished and Little Dai was officially inducted into millions of households.


    In August 2033, Chen Chen, the founder of ckwatch, was awarded the Order of the British Empire medal by the Queen of Ennd.


    In February 2034, ckwatch had acquired the national security enterprise of the North Sea Continent. This was the first-ever acquisition of a major enterprise in one of the four major continents in the Earth Federation. The reports immediately caused a global uproar.


    In March 2034, ckwatch invested 200 billion U.S. dors in NASA and officially took charge of the “Kepler Mission.”


    In December 2034, ckwatch was ranked as one of the “Top Ten Companies to Work For” of all the 500 top-listedpanies in the Earth Federation.


    In June 2035, ckwatch’sboratory in New York developed a cryogenic system used to temporarily suspend all bodily functions which could then be immediately resumed upon deactivation. This invention was its first step to furthering its conquest into outer space. Its patent number was 12,456,045.


    In September 2035, ckwatch had invested 300 billion U.S. dors to build the world’s most advanced superconducting particle elerator in the Erongo District of Namibia.


    In February 2036, ckwatch had invented a “space-probing suit” fitted with a portable atmospheric regtory system that allowed it to function in a vacuum and hostile conditions. This further strengthened the foundation for human exploration in extraterrestrial environments.


    In June 2037, ckwatch’s automated diagnosis and surgery tform “cklight Fully-automated Medical tform” was developed. Patent number was 14,572,092.


    In January 2038, after ckwatch took over the Kepler Mission, they discovered a total of 45,327 terrestrials, of which thirteen were deemed potentially habitable.


    In December 2039, the Earth Federation announced that credited to ckwatch’s “Mankind Anti-aging Project”, the global average life expectancy of humans officially exceeded one hundred years old.


    In January 2040, the original Mars habitation n that was estimated to require a century to finalize waspleted in just eleven short years due to the sessive technological breakthrough achieved by ckwatch. Mars officially became the second habitable for mankind and the first phase of human migration was about to begin...


    ...


    A decadeter.


    Arge airliner slowlynded at the Walvis Bay International Airport. Thousands of tourists got off the ne and were efficiently escorted by the tour guides to the charter buses.


    As the charter buses drove out of the vicinity of the airport, they were greeted by the sight of an enormous city skyline that stretched on forever. The silver-gray skyscrapers towered like monumental pirs threatening to pierce into the clouds.


    Intersecting the arrangement of skyscrapers were circr highways that orbited around the city. These high-altitude paths intersected with one another and granted seamless navigation across the cosmopolitan city.


    Looking up, they could see colorful projected disys alternating between a range of advertisements. Sometimes it was an advertisement of the third generation household Android Little Li, then it would switch to highlight clips of the Superpower Combative Police Force in action. Upon exiting the airport, they saw the distinct logo of ckwatch shown on the disy.


    “What you’re seeing now is Eco Science City in all its glory. This city has a permanent poption of 1.35 million, but the floating poption reaches up to an astonishing 5 million. Hundreds of thousands of people visit this city every day...


    “At the same time, as the world’s first modern city with permanent holographic systems installed, electricity ispletely free. It’s carried wirelessly in your surroundings.”


    The tour guide smiled affectionately as he introduced the city’s merits to the tourists. “All electrical devices such as phones,puters, even electrical cars and other appliances that are fitted with the wireless charging chipsets developed by ckwatch will never run out of electricity in this city!”


    The tourists gazed out of the window to admire the wondrous view of the futuristic city and take in the miraculous sight.


    Several minutester, the charter bus arrived at the intercity Maglev1 central station connected to the city-spanning highways. With the instructions of the tour guide, the tourists stepped into the trains. The train departed after everyone settled themselves, moving at three hundred kilometers per hour as they made for the upper-level district of the city.


    “What you see now is the global headquarters of ckwatch. This recently constructed building is located in the central area of the city. It’s 671 meters high and has an indoor area of more than one million square meters. Its facilities currently house 13,890 employees...


    “Over here is ckwatch’s biologicalboratory central hub. As we all know, biology is ckwatch’s primary sector and this is where the world’s top biotechnology invention is centered at!


    “This is ckwatch’s seaside sanatorium district. There are more than a thousand sanatoriums scattered in the area, each constructed with a distinct style. Any elderly thates to this ce for ckwatch’s fabled treatment can regain their youth in just one to two short months and return to their prime condition in their thirties!


    “Next to the sanitorium district is the world’s leading stic surgery sector. ckwatch fully utilizes the potential of its biotechnology prowess to develop optimized stic surgery procedures. Their developed facilities offer services to get rid of facial defects, scars, wrinkles, breast augmentation, and a multitude of stic surgery options... It’s guaranteed to grant its clients their preferred appearance and physique!”


    Just like that, the tourists saw everything notable in the city with the apanying narration of the tour guide. Every few minutes, they would see another Maglev train gliding past them in the opposite direction, attracting “oohs” and “ahhs” from the enchanted passengers.


    In the end, the city-orbiting train reached its destination, a grand international hotel more than a hundred stories tall. As soon as they arrived, dozens of Androids with blue halos shing on their temples appeared to receive the esteemed guests at the entrance of the hotel.


    These Androids dressed in hotel waiter attire greeted the guests enthusiastically. Their speech pattern and gestures were extremely lifelike and it was practically impossible to distinguish them from a real human if not for the halo on their temple.


    “Wee to the Romantico International Five Star Hotel, where there will always be a warm harbor for you!”


    The Androids carried the luggage of the guests and escorted them into the hotel. The guests felt weed by the excellent service and stepped into the hotel in a festive mood, filled withughter and cheeriness...


    In the meantime, in the top floor office of the cklight headquarters, there was a young man whose eyes were bottomless sockets standing by the floor windows. He silently gazed at the bustling city below his feet.


    Though he was looking at the city filled with lights, his eyes were two pools of void. There was the barest glimpse of light reflected within them, captured within them was the deepest ck hole ever seen in the universe...


    “I can’t believe it’s been so long...”


    The man smiled and turned around to face his office. Facing him at the front of his desk was a youngdy whose gentle elegance reminded one of the warmth of springtime. She slowly approached the man and nced at the vast city beneath them. “It’s certainly been a long time, Sir Godfather. I can’t believe I’m neen years old already!”


    The man did not say anything and only answered with a smiling nod.


    If memory served him correctly, he was eighteen years old when he first acquired the USB drive. Little X was born a year after he obtained the USB drive and from there on, he embarked on his trajectory of exponential growth.


    Reflecting on past events, he broke into a smile. “In the blink of an eye, two decades have passed. I’m already thirty-eight years old...”


    The young girl who was Little X smiled upon hearing this. She looked at Chen Chen and shook her head mischievously with a strange look in her eyes. “Does age even have any significance for you at this point? With the T-virus running through your veins, you can easily live above five hundred years old.”


    Little X continued. “Furthermore, if you continue your monthly therapy with the cklight Fully-automated Medical tform, you can easily live to a thousand years. There’s also our recent breakthrough in the ck goo research to consider. If ck goo can be fused with your DNA, your life span will even surpass the ‘engineer’ race in Prometheus and you can live more than three hundred thousand years.”


    “Maybe.”


    Chen Chen waved the suggestion away, clearly not too fixated on the topic at this moment. “Let’s not talk about this for now. How’s the Mars immigration preparationsing along?”


    “Among the tens of millions of people who signed up for the Martian Immigration Program, we’ve picked out one hundred thousand most suitable candidates, which includes your ssmate, Wang Wei.”


    Little X stated, “The three migration spaceships are ready and once they have arrived at Eco Science City, I’ll send the candidates to outer space.”


    “Excellent.”


    Chen Chen was relieved to hear this. “Remember to check the cryogenic chambers again beforeunching. This project directly concerns our ns over the next century. I don’t want any unforeseen idents urring and have the Earth Federation pointing fingers at me.”


    “Understood!”


    Little X left the office shortly after that, leaving Chen Chen by himself in hisrge office.


    “All these years of scuffles have finally led us to this point.”


    Chen Chen raised his head and exhaled deeply. “From today onward, cklight Biotechnology which I’ve founded with my own hands shall officially surpass the Earth Federation!”


    In truth, as early as a decade ago when Chen Chen began to get involved in the military technology trade, cklight Biotechnology was already on the same tier as the four major continents. However, cklight Biotechnology at the time had not achieved an untouchable status yet. If the four major continents were willing to take the most drastic route possible and start World War III, they could very likely unite all other countries around the world to sanction cklight Biotechnology and sessfully suppress thepany. As things were now, the circumstances had changed dramatically.


    cklight Biotechnology had obtained colonization rights some time ago. With the establishment of a permanent Mars colony coupled with their space navigation technology superiority, the pieces were in ce for cklight Biotechnology to fully separate itself from the bounds of the Earth Federation. Even if the Earth Federation concentrated their unified efforts to impose strict sanctions on cklight Biotechnology, Chen Chen could simply leave them to their little games and head to Mars for a fresh start.


    However, the leaders of the world would have to bepletely demented to resort to such a destructive option. Thebination of economic and military sanctions on cklight Biotechnology woulde at the cost of crippling human civilization.


    cklight Biotechnology’s establishment of a permanent colony on Mars was andmark to symbolize that they had be the only faction in human society powerful enough to rival the Earth Federation.


    There was nothing the Earth Federation could do but to watch idly as everything unfolded before their eyes. Their only feeble attempt at catching up to cklight Biotechnology was to gradually increase capital investment in the aerospace industry and wait for further technology to develop.


    Leaving the matter of the battles between the two factions aside, the rise of cklight Biotechnology would always be a winning situation for human society as a whole. At the end of the day, cklight Biotechnology’s agenda was for mankind to advance into the future and this would inevitably benefit the Earth Federation as well.


    This was the reason that the Earth Federation had tolerated Chen Chen and cklight Biotechnology all this time.


    On the second day, three giant spacecraft more than a hundred meters tall and three hundred meters wide were parked at the aerospace base on the south side of the Eco Science City. Countless maintenance vehicles sized like construction trucks were cycling back and forth around the aerospace base. A final inspection was being conducted on the spaceships to prevent any hups in the following operation.


    These three outrageouslyrge spaceships were the pinnacle of human creation. There could not be any room for error in what was toe.


    When the appointed time arrived, the inspection crew ryed the message ofpletion of their work to the central. The news quickly reached Little X who subsequently passed it to Chen Chen.


    “All migrants, prepare to board the ship!”


    With the order given by Chen Chen, countlessnd rovers purposed for Mars entered from the edges of the square and into the spacecraft. There was no need for the migrants to step out of the rover. They only needed to retire inside the cryogenic chambers inside the rovers.


    The migration spacecraft was fitted with many safety instations to minimize the likelihood of things going awry.


    The design of the spacecraft itself was insurance of its own. They were designed with precision and the odds of something going haywire was even slimmer than winning the lottery. In the event where an ident urred, the rovers themselves could also double as emergency spacecraft, and from there on the crew inside could choose to return to Earth with it or wait for rescue.


    In the worst-case scenario where even the emergency spacecraft failed, then that was when the cryogenic sleep chambers came into y. The crew could enter a hibernation state for decades, even centuries while they wait for rescue.


    With all these scenarios put into careful consideration, there was no way that this migration operation was going to fail!