Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 195 The Navigator (Long Chapter)

"This is……"

The commander of the Solar System Fleet's Asian Fleet gazed thoughtfully at the ancient letter before him, which exuded a strong sense of vicissitude.

"The letter was written by Chang Weisi, the first commander of the Space Force. I believe you are very familiar with him. He entrusted me to deliver it to the commander of the Space Force two hundred years later. As the main successor of the Chinese Space Force, the Asian Fleet is the most suitable to give it to you, but..." Luo Qing looked at the letter and smiled with emotion.

"I bet Chang Weisi never imagined that you would be the future commander of the Space Force, right?"

The Commander-in-Chief of the Asian Fleet, a contemporary of Zhang Beihai, was born in 1975 and is now 120 years old. Considering his hibernation period, his actual age is well over 200.

The commander solemnly accepted the letter and said to the Wallfacer, "Thank you for keeping this letter safe. By the way, are you still the Wallfacer I know? I have a very good relationship with Mr. Shanqing."

Shanqing is the main name Luo Qing used when she was a kind person.

“Of course, Colonel, he is me, and I am him,” Luo Qing said with a smile.

The word "colonel" immediately brought the two closer.

Among the three fleet commanders of the Solar System Fleet, the commander of the Asian Fleet is the only one who is a "Century Man".

When he was in hibernation, Chang Weisi had not even retired yet. However, the colonel himself was not a member of the Space Force and had no subordinate relationship with Chang Weisi, but rather a colleague.

He was a member of the Space Operations Staff. Strictly speaking, he and Chang Weisi were both early founders of the Space Force, but he was of a lower rank and had a more political work focus.

Compared to the commanders of the American and European fleets, the colonel's resume is even more legendary.

In the 12th year of the Crisis Era, China took the lead in launching the "Support the Future" program, and other countries quickly followed suit. By the 40th year of the Crisis Era, the number of political cadres who had been put into hibernation under the "Support the Future" program had quickly reached thousands.

As the group of hibernating soldiers continues to expand, the Central Military Commission believes it is necessary to dispatch an outstanding political officer to serve as a leader for all hibernating soldiers.

This leader is responsible for guiding hibernating soldiers to thaw and adapt to the new era in all future phases.

This special position is also known as the "Hibernation Project Navigator".

Limited by the historical mission of the leader of the hibernation project, the leader will inevitably have to make huge sacrifices.

In the long future, before each small-scale awakening of hibernating soldiers, the navigator will need to awaken 1-2 years in advance to adapt to the new world and guide the thawed soldiers to quickly adapt to the new era.

Unlike the thawed soldiers who live a long life in the new era, the navigators need to continue hibernating after completing their historical mission.

The cycle repeats itself endlessly, like a fleeting glance, all alone, never ceasing.

Other countries followed suit in establishing the role of future navigators, and in the initial period, more than 100 future navigators were established in various countries.

The role of the leader of the times is enormous. Whenever hibernating soldiers awaken, their anxious hearts will be calmed down with the appearance of the leader.

"Ah, so there are still people from our time who are protecting us. With them around, we people from the old era will never be abandoned by people from the new era."

To ensure that navigators can perform their functions normally in the future, the space forces of various countries have agreed that, regardless of future changes, as long as the space force still exists, each time a navigator awakens, the space force of each country will grant the awakened navigator real power no less than that of a 'general'.

This real power applies to the entire Space Force, regardless of country, ethnicity, or class.

Space forces from all countries will stand closely together, recognize and support each other’s 'navigators', and ensure that these navigators exercise their authority and participate in the work of protecting the rights and interests of hibernating service members.

Therefore, navigators are the professions that hibernate the most. On their long journey, they will become passersby in every new era, experiencing human history in a fleeting manner.

The mental strength required during this period is extremely powerful.

As a result, being a leader has become the job most prone to mental illness, and those mental illnesses caused by being out of touch with the times are collectively referred to as hibernation syndrome.

And the colonel is such a leader.

He is also the last remaining leader still in office.

The last batch of hibernating soldiers under the "Support the Future" program entered their hibernation pods in the 50th year of the Crisis Era. Following this, as signs of a major economic downturn began to emerge, the morale of traditional national armies wavered, falling short of that of soldiers in the early 21st century. Consequently, various countries gradually suspended the "Support the Future" program.

The earliest batch of hibernating soldiers in the "Support the Future" program began to awaken in the 80th year of the Crisis Era. At that time, humanity faced a great crisis, and after the victory of the World Anti-Trisolaran Organization, traditional armies were generally bewildered and questioned their own meaning. In order to reduce the abuse of ideological imprinting, various countries began to awaken a small number of hibernating soldiers, attempting to inject the current era with a dose of artificial beliefs from decades ago.

Therefore, starting from Crisis Era 78, the Colonel began his tumultuous time-traveling journey.

In the following 40 years, he woke up prematurely twelve times. Facing each new batch of thawed soldiers from the old era, the colonel would always joke with everyone: "I am a frozen dumpling that humans are reluctant to eat."

In the year 115 of the Crisis Era, the second-to-last leader of the American Hibernation Project developed severe hibernation syndrome, and even the mind imprint could not save him from his severe schizophrenia. The leader was forced to retire and embrace a new life in his final era.

The colonel, having lost his last companion, became the last navigator.

He also became a common leader for space forces around the world, and the new generation of hibernating soldiers almost all regarded him as their last source of spiritual support.

Despite wielding the power of a 'general' each time he awakens, the colonel faces just as many obstacles in the new era each time he awakens, as the new era's Joint Space Force does not welcome this rigid and pedantic colonel.

However, the colonel still acted within his authority to protect the rights of the hibernating soldiers.

In the new era of the Joint Space Force, any attempt to marginalize hibernating soldiers has been thwarted by this colonel.

This colonel, who had never used the thought imprinting system, did not neglect his professional skills training while fulfilling his duty to protect hibernating soldiers. In order to learn the skills of every new era space force, he was always active on the front line of the grassroots army.

In the 120th year of the Crisis Era, at the request of this navigator, the United Space Force prepared a star-class warship for him, and the colonel became the fourth captain of the [Infinite Frontier] star-class warship.

The year 120 of the Crisis Era was a special year. At that time, the Joint Space Force was just emerging, the concept of the three major fleets had not yet been formed, and the number of human star-class warships had just exceeded one hundred.

The colonel, who had just awakened, not only adapted skillfully to the new era, but also became one of the best captains in the history of the [Infinite Frontier] stellar-class warship, thanks to his own abilities.

During his first patrol of the outer solar system after becoming captain of the Infinite Frontier, the colonel came into contact with the second alien artifact entity of the first non-Vanguard sensor—the Eridanus Crystal.

He guided the Infinite Frontier to discover and capture Eridanus, who had just escaped to the solar system.

When studying the Eridan crystal, he overruled objections and insisted on bringing in the scientist Ding Yi, who was working on Mars, in conjunction with the Space Force. As a contemporary of the same era, he trusted Ding Yi implicitly.

After the Devouring Empire's envoy 'Big Tooth' piloted his spaceship into the solar system, it was his ship, the [Infinite Frontier], that carried out the interception mission.

In the early communication between the messenger Big Tooth and humans, it was the colonel who represented humans in negotiating with Big Tooth.

The dinosaur's assessment of the colonel was: "A chewy worm."

The colonel's reply to Big Tooth was: "I'll break your teeth."

During Daya's stay in the solar system, the colonel also established a good friendship with Shanqing and became a bridge of communication between the United Space Force and Shanqing.

The Joint Space Force had to take this colonel seriously.

In the 140th year of the Crisis Era, the 'telomere gene technology' was cracked, greatly extending human lifespan. As a result, the Colonel ended his 100-year journey as a navigator. Thanks to his long lifespan, he no longer hibernated after the 140th anniversary of the Crisis Era and began a long life in the new era.

Following the Pojang-Daga incident, the colonel officially began his rise to the top ranks of the Joint Space Force.

With his outstanding personal abilities, high prestige among hibernating soldiers, and good personal relationship with Shan Qing, the colonel gradually rose to the core leadership of the Joint Space Force.

In Crisis Era 160, the colonel spearheaded the transformation of the Joint Space Force into the Solar System Fleet and effectively became one of the highest-ranking members of the Solar System Fleet Joint Council.

In the year 170 of the Crisis Era, facing 120 probe ships flying from the direction of the Devouring Empire, it was the colonel who gave the important order to 'destroy them all'.

In the year 188 of the Crisis Era, the Kuiper Belt Campaign broke out. The colonel, as the main commander of the vanguard, innovatively devised a space tactic using five dwarf planets as an 'interstellar trench' to defend against the Devouring Empire's laser counterattack, annihilating 1500 of the Devouring Empire's dinosaur warships with almost zero casualties. (Note: The 'Titanic' was a non-combat loss.)

In the year 190 of the Crisis Era, the colonel was nominated to be the commander of the Asian Fleet.

In the 192nd year of the Crisis Era, the colonel assumed the position of Commander of the Asian Fleet and Vice Chairman of the Joint Conference of the Solar System Fleet, a position he has held ever since.

The nominal highest command body of the Solar System Fleet is the Solar System Fleet Joint Conference, which evolved from the Planetary Defense Council. However, the Joint Conference only has a coordinating function, and the actual power is held by the three major fleet command headquarters. The colonel is one of the three commanders of the Solar System Fleet.

In the human political landscape, the political status of the commanders of the three fleets is equivalent to that of the powerful leaders of the member states of the Earth United Government.

This colonel, after graduating from Dalian Naval Academy at the age of 23 in 1998, spent 206 years reaching the pinnacle of human political and military power.

And now, the commander-in-chief of the Asian fleet, who had led such a turbulent life, carefully opened this envelope spanning 188 years in front of the Wallfacer.

Seeing the familiar handwriting, the commander smiled knowingly. "It seems you anticipated the contents of the letter," Luo Qing said.

"I can probably guess something. Chief Chang Weisi is a very concerned person. The letter is about the introduction of the early hibernation political cadres. The letter you have should be the earliest one."

"From what you're saying, there's more than just this one letter?"

The commander of the Asian Fleet nodded: "By the time Chief Chang Weisi retired, he had written a total of 64 letters to introduce 64 batches of 'Support the Future' hibernators."

Luo Qingmo said "Awesome!"

"However, the other letters were not passed through you across time. Instead, most of them were placed in the National Archives and were unsealed one by one in the order of unfreezing. This is the 64th letter of introduction I have seen, and it is most likely the last one. In any case, I would like to thank you for your patience in keeping them safe and for only now handing them over to me."

Luo Qing complained, "I thought it was some great mission. When I went into seclusion, I even cast ten layers of forbidden spells to protect it."

The commander nodded: "No, this is a great mission. It's just that Chief Chang Weisi didn't expect anyone to live to be 200 years later before he retired, let alone that someone only 10 years younger than him could become the Space Force Commander 200 years later. These unexpected things cannot erase his achievements."

"And it's fortunate that I saw this letter. If Serantin (Commander of the American Fleet) and Vitalis (Commander of the European Fleet) had seen it, those two definitely wouldn't have understood its meaning. They're both born in the 2000s, oh, the 22nd century's 00s generation. Those two kids definitely wouldn't understand it. Commander Chang Weisi's letter was written too subtly. Although people in this era haven't become effeminate, they've all become fools from practicing martial arts. They definitely wouldn't understand a letter like this."

"Did you figure something out?"

The commander nodded, unfolded the letter, and pointed to Zhang Beihai's name.

"Commander Chang Weisi asked me to take special care of him, Senior Colonel Zhang Beihai, whose rank is even higher than mine before hibernation... I'm thinking, Comrade Zhang Beihai should be among the last batch of hibernators to be thawed, and he's probably awake by now. Do you know him?"

Luo Qing nodded: "I've met him, but we're not close. 182 years ago, I met him once on the 'Opener' spaceplane. Although it was only once, I could tell that he was a warrior with firm beliefs. I suggest you train him well."

"Yes, he is a soldier with unwavering conviction... Hmm, let me check his file first."

The commander swiped a few times on the light panel in front of him, and a line of data appeared: "Zhang Beihai, Perfected Innate Martial Artist, Martial Arts Grandmaster. To be able to reach the Martial Arts Grandmaster level while in hibernation using only the Hibernation Micro-Body Refinement Technique, he is truly a born warrior. We originally wanted to put him in logistics, but now we have no choice but to send him to the front lines."

"Such a good soldier, why are you making him work in logistics?" Luo Qing said helplessly.

"Haha, this is at the request of Commander Chang Weisi, to give him some extra care. Just kidding. I won't let a pearl be tarnished. After all, the Space Fleet wouldn't have reached its current size without his help back then." The Asian Fleet Commander smiled.

"His help?" Luo Qing asked, puzzled.

"He was just one of many people who helped me," the commander said with emotion. "Let's not dwell on the past. How was your seclusion this time? Humanity desperately needs your fighting power."

"Yes, my skills have improved a lot."

Could you describe it briefly?

"I have a move called 'Ten Thousand Swords Return to One,' which can summon ten thousand spirit swords. It is extremely powerful. You can think of it as me being able to fire ten thousand electromagnetic cannonballs instantly, and they can even be reused and change direction."

The commander carefully wrote it down.

"Secondly, my maximum vacuum escape speed has increased from 1% to 10%, a tenfold increase. Although it still can't keep up with the [Advance 10] of a star-class warship, I am agile enough and have a short acceleration time, which should give me a great advantage in battle."

The commander's expression turned serious: "Your speed is incredible."

Luo Qing continued, "My divine sense has expanded from Pluto's orbit to the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt (100 astronomical units). My divine sense can spread at the speed of light. It started when I came out of seclusion and has now reached the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt. Although it cannot detect the Devouring Empire's mothership 500 astronomical units away, it can still be used as a super radar."

The commander asked hesitantly, "Was there any delay when your divine sense transmitted the information back?"

Luo Qing paused for a moment, then realized, "It seems not."

"Is this really not some kind of faster-than-light information transmission?" The commander felt that the situation was not quite what he had expected.

Luo Qing shook his head. He thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps my divine sense also follows some kind of quantum entanglement principle, just like the sophon. Anyway, divine sense has no mass, so it's reasonable for something without mass to reach the speed of light."

The commander looked suspicious, and after a long while he said, "Alright, whatever you do, if you can achieve zero-delay information transmission within 100 astronomical units, it's equivalent to us gaining a full-map view in this war, and at the sophon level at that. This is a huge intelligence advantage, and I believe the dinosaurs certainly didn't have it."

“Dinosaurs are too far removed from me; their motherships are 500 astronomical units away,” Luo Qing said.

"Then let them in to fight! It's too risky to let the Solar System Fleet take the initiative to attack. I doubt that even if the entire Solar System Fleet's firepower were unleashed on that giant ring, it might not be able to destroy it. Only by relying on the Solar System's defense system can we effectively destroy it."

"I'll do whatever you say," Luo Qing said.

"How much direct attack power do you have now?" the commander asked.

"Without using cultivation techniques, my full-force attack is roughly equivalent to the combined energy of three stellar nuclear bombs."

"If this were applied to the Devouring Empire, it would probably only create a small crater," the commander sighed.

Luo Qing added, "At crucial moments, I can send my two clones into battle."

"Two clones?"

“The good Qing you know also has an evil Qing… but this evil Qing seems a bit strange. He is the product of me cutting off my own evil thoughts.”

“Although you yourself have no ill intentions, this still sounds somewhat risky…” the commander said hesitantly.

“I also think he’s risky, so let’s not let him go. Shanqing and I will team up. He’s quite strong. Shanqing’s strength is equivalent to one-third of mine. His full-force attack is equivalent to a stellar nuclear bomb. His weakness is that he doesn’t know any magic and can only fight head-on. Moreover, his escape speed is still only 1% of the speed of light.”

"That's enough. The strategy for the final battle will be built around you and your clone."

Luo Qing nodded, then suddenly thought of something and added, "Also, I think we could bring all the scientists out of seclusion... ptooey, ptooey, I mean, thaw them all out and awaken them."

Before the commander could ask a question, Luo Qing quickly explained, "The Sophon's blockade will no longer exist. I can now easily annihilate all the Sophons."

"You already have the ability to destroy a sophon? A proton moving at the speed of light... I can't imagine that you could actually destroy it." The commander was extremely shocked.

Luo Qing nodded. "That's not difficult. I now have the ability to achieve effects similar to the Large Hadron Collider. Just two days ago, when I came out of seclusion, I had already destroyed four sophons. Including the ones before, I have destroyed eight in total."

The commander took a sip of tea. He had lived long enough, spending most of his life in the shadow of Zhizi. Upon hearing this news, he could hardly contain his excitement.

"You actually destroyed four of them before... It was completely unknown to humanity; we only knew about the sophon that unfolded in six dimensions."

“It happened a long time ago, in the 8th year of the Crisis Era, I destroyed a sophon that was typing right under my nose. In the 83rd year of the Crisis Era, I destroyed a second sophon with a hydrogen nucleus. In the 87th year of the Crisis Era, when MOSS was experiencing the Omnic Crisis, I destroyed another one inside the quantum computer. When the Risk Takers arrived, I destroyed that six-dimensional sophon.”

"How many sophons are left in the solar system? Can you sense them? Currently, human science and technology are not capable of detecting their number."

"There are 20 left."

"There are still so many..." the commander exclaimed in astonishment.

"After all, it's been over two hundred years. The Trisolarans haven't been idle either. They've sent a total of 28 sophons to Earth. I estimate that the Devouring Empire is also under the Trisolarans' surveillance. The Devouring Empire has at least 6 sophons. I just don't know if those dinosaurs have discovered them yet."

"I'm afraid not. The Devouring Empire's technological development is somewhat distorted. Their main means of observation is optical observation, and their energy source is controlled heavy nuclear fusion, which is similar to that of humans."

"That's why the Trisolaran fleet is such a threat."

"After all, it will be another 200 years before they reach the solar system, and their travel speed will be very slow."

"Colonel, I sense a hint of underestimation in your words."

"I will reflect on myself, but the main enemy now is still the dinosaurs."

"Aren't you concerned about those ten probes? Their orbital speed is 8%."

"I'm concerned, but that's five years from now. Let's focus on the dinosaurs first."

Luo Qing shook his head. He couldn't deny the colonel's concern for dinosaurs, but it would be better to pay more attention to the Trisolarans.

It's important to understand that even after two hundred years of human development, we still haven't figured out how sophons are created...

Luo Qing said, "Colonel, find a way to lure the dinosaurs into the solar system. I will fly onto their tires to fight. Before the final battle begins, gather the scientists together and have them conduct the hadron collider experiment. Complete all the experiments that have been owed for the past 200 years within a year. I will guard the hadron collider. As long as the sophons dare to come, I will kill one if they come, and kill two if they come."

"Great!" The commander seemed very excited. "I will immediately notify the United Government to unfreeze the remaining scientists, especially Dr. Ding Yi."

Luo Qing wasn't as excited as the commander of the Asian Fleet. He just said worriedly, "It's too late to break the Sophon blockade. Technological development also takes time. In any case, let's focus on advancing technology first. There's always a way out. We'll find a way to deal with the dinosaurs."

(End of this chapter)