People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

His family, however, stayed with him throughout.

The emotional suppression mechanism was constantly teetering on the brink of collapse, and unconsciously, Friston also used the system of "debate" to build himself a magnificent illusion.

In that dream, there was no "Observer." He could proudly introduce his wife and daughter to his colleagues on a sunny day by a flower-filled lake. The Prophet and Precyth would offer their blessings, Lothar would smile and pat her head, lost in his own fantasy, and Ed would personally cook a "traditional meal" for everyone. As for the "treasure," he would...

What will he do?

The fantasy came to an abrupt end, and silence, like a cunning black mamba, surged from the shadows, silently wrapping around his non-existent neck, choking his throat, and injecting the poison called "guilt" into his veins without reservation, filling every nerve in his body.

Trevor Friston was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Ugh"

he does not know.

He didn't know what would happen to the "treasure".

Fortieth millennium after the Treasure's departure, he was suddenly struck by this realization. He had learned about the Treasure's world and accepted its help, but he had never known what kind of person the Treasure truly was. He couldn't even simulate a virtual "Treasure AI" based on the little information he had left about it, or understand what it would do.

If it were a "treasure," what would he give his daughter in that situation?

A pocket watch, like the one he gave to the prophet? A piece of chocolate, like the one he gave to Priscilla? Or a small medal, like the one he gave to Lo?

"Friston".

A familiar voice called out, pulling the Preservator back to reality from the dream.

Trevor Friston slightly adjusted the camera lens on his massive body, looking at the Mother of Originium who had arrived at some unknown time.

"Prismus, what a rare guest! How have you been lately?"

He greeted them casually, but there was a hint of awkwardness in his tone, and his gaze swept over the still stone coffins once more.

Precy's expression wasn't good. She didn't respond to Friston's greeting, but instead abruptly asked a question:

"You really gave it to her?"

Friston fell silent again.

Precy didn't have the patience to wait for the others to leave. Seeing that Friston was avoiding the question, she simply stated it directly: "Four. Four. Two."

"In that kingdom ruled by the [Heavenly Pivot], Treasure is playing his make-believe game."

“I understand your desire to add some glamour to this game, and I’m happy to see the treasure happy.”

“But Friston, breaking the isolation layer now is not a good idea.”

The atmosphere seemed to plummet the moment Priscilla finished speaking. Trevor Friston slowly withdrew his gaze and calmly responded to the questioning:

“Prismus, I know my limits.”

"Kristen and Ernst are very close. His exploration of outer space is beneficial to enhancing Ernst's status and also helps us regain control over those out-of-control legacies."

"That's why I extracted a portion of the energy from the stasis chamber and gave it to her."

[Preserver] paused slightly, and the already dim red lights in the entire stasis chamber seemed to become even dimmer because of this pause, making the huge spherical body look like a crimson-hued full moon.

“I know what you want to say. With you here, with the prophet here, and with me here, Ernst’s safety can be guaranteed.”

"As long as we proceed step by step, the Originium Project has a high chance of success, so there's no need to take this risk."

"But, Precyth, ask yourself honestly, is this really what you truly think?"

Although she didn't have "pupils" in a strict sense, Precys still felt a scrutinizing gaze sweep over her entire body.

In that instant, she even felt as if she had been truly seen through.

Trevor Friston was the oldest of them.

Admittedly, in prehistoric times, age could no longer be used as a standard for judging technical skill or even experience. Thanks to a host of technologies that seem inconceivable or even immoral by today's standards, there were countless people who were born with these skills.

However, the fact that Friston was able to become the head of an independent project, rather than being included in one of the other three projects and serving as an assistant to the other heads, is enough to demonstrate that his abilities are in no way inferior to those of the Prophet, Precyth, Ed, and Lo.

Ling's "Preserver" plan cost the least and had the lowest success rate, seemingly just a filler plan. But that wasn't because he was incompetent, unintelligent, or couldn't come up with other more ambitious and unpredictable plans; he simply didn't compete.

Because there aren't enough resources!

The exceptionally high moral standards of the prehistoric civilization led him, in a moment of life and death, to entrust the hope of survival, along with the power to bring that hope, to the others, willingly becoming the supporting characters to complement the main flower.

Precy may have forgotten this as well, but Friston reminded her this time:

"The portion of energy I provided to Christen is a share belonging to the [Preserver] Project."

In other words

"It's part of the plan."

“Prismus, you are not a prophet, and you have no right to interfere in this matter. Please do not make me remind you a second time.”

Precys' lips twitched, but he ultimately turned his head away, raised his left hand, and grasped his right forearm, his expression seemingly somewhat hurt.

"Friston, you don't trust me?"

"I don't trust you enough as you are now."

Trevor Friston answered in this way.

Does he trust Precyth?

The answer is obvious. If he didn't trust Precyth, he wouldn't have allocated his resources to the Originium Project team in the past.

But that Priscilla is different from the Priscilla we know now.

The original Precys wouldn't have secretly infiltrated his "debate" and stolen his guests right in front of him.

The moral standards of prehistoric civilizations were incredibly high. While these standards certainly drove them to do many things that seem incomprehensible or even irrational to people like Ernst, they were not without their merits in some ways.

At least, Trevor Friston sensed Precy's "abnormality"—she had become rather "rude."

For them, who always adhere to the principle of "consistency," even the slightest change is enough to attract their attention. Let alone Precys's current assertive, rude, and even somewhat domineering style!

Would the previous Precys have been so oblivious to the principle of first come, first served, and forced his way into the "debate" to be the first to communicate with the "treasure"? Obviously not.

Would the Prisus of the past have come to the "treasure" demanding his soul and then felt no remorse for his actions? Obviously not.

Would the Precys of the past have viewed indigenous civilizations as ants, openly distinguished between "superior" and "inferior" civilizations, and measured their value by their own standards?

Obviously not! Otherwise, how could someone with the Prophet's personality, who would experience such immense mental stress from sacrificing a friend that he needed the Gray Nail to stabilize himself, possibly have a good relationship with Precys, who treats civilization and life as worthless?

Trevor Friston could turn a blind eye to much of what Precys did.

For example, he manipulated the Shard to attack the Agors because it was to stand up for Ernst, who owed him a debt. If it was just a moment of extreme anger and emotional outburst, it could be overlooked.

For example, he set a trap for Ernst in Londinium, even to the point that he had to step in to help Ernst control the situation at the meeting and determine the counterattack plan. This could also be seen as helping Ernst build up his reputation, since once Ernst went, regardless of the process, Precys did indeed back down.

But this time, Precys really crossed the line.

He interfered with the plans of other leaders, went directly to his underground stasis chamber to question him face to face, and rudely dismissed the current state of the civilization that Ernst had worked so hard to build as "playing house."

Trevor Friston sensed a long-lost, extremely dangerous aura in Precyth.

This flavor is called "arrogance".

Coupled with Mark Max's recent report that Ernst had used the "First Originium" on the Yan side, Friston had to consider a possibility he least wanted to think about.

Precy has changed.

In the Originium Project, there was never any intention to have anyone use the original Originium. Those three Originium should have served as the cornerstones of the Solaris Ocean of Information, becoming the foundation for the future expansion and internalization of the universe.

If the fundamental principles of a universe are grasped by one person, then...

“Prismus, look into my eyes and answer me.”

"What has become of Project Originium? What are you creating? What are you thinking right now?"

Leave of absence: Provincial civil service exam, classic work schedule adjustment

I took the civil service exam. There's still one more day until tomorrow, but I probably won't pass. It's just a taste of what it's like. The pressure is immense.

My sleep schedule has been completely messed up these past few days, so I'll go to bed early tonight to adjust it. I need to conserve my energy so I can go to bed early after the exam tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone. Don't stay up late. Lately, I've been staying up late so much that I feel nauseous, have an upset stomach, and feel dizzy when I wake up in the morning.

We still can't rely on our youth to tough it out.

Chapter 1008 Christensen: Wait for me to send you a Morse code love letter from above the clouds.

Everyone in this world has something they pursue. Some pursue fame, some pursue fortune, some pursue supreme power and status, and some pursue pure dreams.

Ernst always understood this principle, so he would not ridicule those who wanted to earn more money for being greedy, nor would he satirize those who wanted to improve themselves for being too utilitarian.

However, Ernst sometimes had to admit that people do feel a genuine admiration and longing for those dreams that are purer and more morally noble, and for those who pursue them.

Some people yearn for a world of harmony and dedicate their lives to it; others hope to achieve human progress and toil tirelessly for it; still others pursue a distant yet grand ideal, becoming steadfast warriors to dedicate themselves to it.

And Christensen, she is that kind of person.

Watching Andorn leave the room with a subtle expression, Christensen showed no unusual expression whatsoever.

Ernst could read the pure, unadulterated quality in her eyes.

Christensen was undoubtedly a pure person.

Humans are complex, but in some people, a certain aspect of their complex nature becomes excessively prominent, thus overshadowing all their other characteristics.

That's how pure she was. So pure that when she hurriedly knocked on the lounge door and burst in carrying her terminal, Ernst didn't even need to ask her the purpose of her sudden visit, as he would with other people.

Christensen could only have come for the third Star-Picking Project.

More precisely, she must have come for the most crucial part of the third mission to reach for the stars—the manned spaceflight component.

Holding the sun and moon in my hands and plucking stars from the sky, there is no one like me in this world. This is a line of poetry that Ernst thought of when naming the Star-Picking Project.

He focused on the first half of the poem, using the grand and majestic phrase "plucking stars" to succinctly summarize the goal he wanted to achieve. At the beginning, he presented Christensen with this plan, which had no members, no funds, no plan, and only a pie in the sky.

To be honest, at the time he was really just trying to get some investment to fix the road in Sherag. As a liberal arts student, his understanding of space was limited to a few common sense facts and some miscellaneous trivia he learned from science fiction novels. How could he know how to explore the universe, or how to take the first step in exploring outer space on a planet like Terra, where conditions are extremely limited and the challenges are even greater than on Earth?

But Kleeko QuN: 朳簱六∠馓司肆斯腾 truly believed it.

Not only did she believe it, she also focused her attention on the second half of the poem.

She wanted this world to be free of people like her!

In just three years, she and Rhine Life invested tens of millions of Colombian dollars in Kjerag, the Dome Research Station, and the new city of Ulaniburg, almost risking the collapse of the entire company, and took on all the needs required for Kjerag's early development.

This might sound harsh, but if the Duke of Windermere was Kjerag's first angel investor, then Rhine Labs was Kjerag's first and only chosen worker.

To a certain extent, she truly carried the weight of most of Ernst's life. Even today, RheinLife remains the largest foreign-invested enterprise, high-tech enterprise, and company providing the most upstream and downstream jobs in Kjerag—the top company on all three lists! And this isn't just a slight lead; it's a solid, undisputed lead!

Compared to that, her request was actually quite insignificant.

She just wanted to go to heaven, and at most, take Ernst with her.

Is this an unreasonable request?

That's really not an exaggeration.

It's no exaggeration to say that in the past, if the story of "a young, beautiful, and multi-talented female celebrity CEO and genius scientist from a developed country spending tens of millions of dollars to move her entire company to the village as a dowry just to have a romantic space trip with him" were posted as a joke in a QQ group, it would be drowned out by witty comments from group members such as "He's fantasizing again," "He's sexually repressed," "If this is good for you, then believe it," and "+1."

Not to mention that if it actually happened, there's absolutely no reason to choose "to be a cow or a horse in the next life, or to be a slave in the next life!"

It was in Terra, in a position of great responsibility with so many people he had to be accountable to, that Ernst had no choice but to decline her invitation.

But he had already rejected one of Christensen's requests, so how could he then stop Christensen from realizing her lifelong dream?

Meeting her expectant gaze, Ernst smiled and nodded slightly.

Some birds can't be caged.

"The preparations for manned spaceflight in Laterano should be almost complete."

He spoke slowly, as if giving a instructions:

"The test site was chosen at Military Base 52 in Trimont, Colombia, instead of in Sheraco. Our infrastructure is still not perfect enough. In Colombia, we can provide better ground support to the best of our ability."

After agreeing to let Christensen serve as the "astronaut" for the third Star-Picking Project, Ernst began preparations.

He didn't choose Kjerag as the launch site this time. While the summit of the Matterhorn is indeed the closest point to the isolation layer, this time is different from any previous one. This time, Ernst specifically wants to send a manned spacecraft out of the isolation layer, and in terms of the difficulty of penetrating the isolation layer, the Matterhorn and Columbia are not fundamentally different. (In the original storyline, Rhine Lab chose to build the launch silo directly in Kjerag because the hole Kristen had opened wasn't completely closed yet, allowing for a direct exit without needing to penetrate the isolation layer themselves.)

Columbia also has a unique advantage that Scherrag absolutely cannot match – with the assistance of Mark Max, from the construction of the launch site to the building of the aircraft, to the full-process tracking and status monitoring of the aircraft after the scheduled takeoff, as well as ground logistics support and other complex areas where Ernst's expertise cannot help, they can guarantee 0% zero errors!

After all, launching a manned spacecraft that breaks through the barrier might be a first for Terra, and a blind spot for Ernst that he had never tried before, but for Mark Max, it was child's play—a piece of cake!

However, theory is theory. Although Ernst went so far as to use his influence with the Führer to beg Mark Max to help draft the entire space program, and even brought in the wealthy Lateran to cover the costs of this space mission, using the best equipment to ensure quality and quantity, and not taking advantage of Rhine Life again, he still could not guarantee that Christen's survival rate would be 100%.

This may sound unbelievable, but it is true.

After the Observer's sweep and the isolation layer that lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, not only Mark Max, but even Trevor Friston, the Preservator, couldn't say for sure what Terra's outer space actually looked like now.