Chapter 360: The Dawn of a Frozen Revolution

After Du Qiu finished the meeting with the heads of various research institutes, no decisive conclusion was reached, but relevant projects were nonetheless assigned to each institute.

Each institute was tasked with exploring the feasibility of replicating the current state of the Tur Fleet from their own fields of research.

All manner of outlandish ideas were welcome; even the Nebula AI could be consulted to assist with various simulation tests.

In short, they had to figure out why the Tur Fleet had deteriorated to its present condition.

Apart from that, research institutes accelerated their technological projects, rolling out results at a faster pace.

Dream Technology entered a phase of unprecedented technological explosion.

That phase passed by in the blink of an eye—ten years in all.

During that decade, Earth was completely engulfed by an ice age, turning into a frozen planet with thick layers of snow and ice covering the surface, stifling all life.

Nearly half of Earth’s land area was blanketed by ice—a record surpassing even the most recent ice age.

The ice had built up to more than 200 meters in thickness and continued to grow.

Even though Dream Technology had long cleared volcanic ash from the atmosphere, rendering the sky a deep blue and allowing sunlight to reach the ground unhindered,

it still couldn’t prevent the relentless drop in temperature.

The sun’s warmth had all but vanished as its nuclear fusion inexplicably dwindled to a minimum.

Even the once-frequent solar flares had quieted considerably.

It was as if an unseen hand had hit pause on the entire solar system, with natural processes slowing down dramatically.

Yet exceptions abounded; the vast void both within and beyond the solar system buzzed with activity as countless space warships, transport ships, and Planet Buses crisscrossed the cosmos.

Without all this movement, one might have assumed that this star system was lifeless.

After Earth became frozen, most nations retreated underground. Later, once Dream Technology ramped up its warship production, Martian City was rebuilt.

Dream Technology began large-scale deliveries to the countries, organizations, and individuals who had purchased Martian Real Estate, supplying numerous Planet Buses to establish regular flights between Earth and Mars.

This revived the once-quiet frozen Earth.

Human civilization entered a new era, and 2023 was declared the inaugural year of the Ice Age.

Over that decade, Dream Technology finally broke through the Unified Theory—thanks largely to the solar ring particle collider that had been completed eight years earlier.

Once this massive project was finished, its first month of experiments confirmed countless particle properties.

With Du Qiu’s Dream Technology mastering the essence of fourth-level civilization, third-generation warships emerged.

At that point, Dream Technology’s warship production had expanded one hundredfold, manufacturing 1,000 main fleet ships each month.

The second-generation warships, continuously improved over the past eight years, had evolved into what could now be considered late second-generation vessels—practically third-generation in their capabilities.

The entire Dream Technology fleet now boasted 50,000 main fleet ships, 50,000 cruisers, 100,000 transport ships, 10,000 warship factory vessels, and 1,000 Heavenly Spacecraft.

Every warship and spacecraft was outfitted with a third-level electromagnetic shield and light shield, capable of defending against both electromagnetic kinetic weapons and high-powered laser arms.

For instance, the particle main cannons on the main fleet ships typically had a range of 30 million kilometers and a top speed of 20,000 kilometers per second.

Thanks to the fusion reactor Du Qiu previously replicated at the Energy Research Institute, they had reached the technological pinnacle of a third-level civilization.

Thus, over those eight years, the only constant remained the speed of the warships.

But this time, once the breakthrough in the Unified Theory was confirmed, it was as if a long-standing bottleneck in technological development had been shattered.

Several research groups dedicated to faster-than-light travel made significant strides, and experimental ships quickly achieved early superluminal speeds.

After another six months, with superluminal travel stabilizing at 40 times the speed of light, Du Qiu initiated the full-scale construction of third-generation warships.

Existing late second-generation warships were extensively retrofitted with warp engines and the addition of warp rings.

This conversion was performed to ensure that the fleet’s numbers wouldn’t plummet dramatically, given that only a little over a year had passed since third-generation warship construction began—with only 20,000 main fleet ships completed.

The third-generation warships showcased new advancements in hull materials; fourth-level civilization material technology enabled Du Qiu to reinforce them with specialized ternary alloy materials.

This enhanced alloy, a material with exceptionally strong binding properties, featured a flawlessly smooth and seamless surface that could reflect lasers directly.

Consequently, third-generation warships no longer required separate light shields to ward off laser attacks.

In fact, these warships already integrated force field shield technology, achieving a dual-layer defense with both electromagnetic and force field shields.

Armed with such an impressive fleet—and with 1,000 Heavenly Spacecraft at their disposal—they could evacuate the entire human population from Earth.

In reality, the first batch of 50 Heavenly Spacecraft had already been sold to various countries on Earth, enabling Dream Technology to acquire even more natural populace.

By the 12th year of the Ice Age, Dream Technology’s population had reached 2 billion—but these weren’t just individuals obtained through exchange; over half were New Humans.

During that decade, Dream Technology’s most significant leap was in biotechnology.

The massive space farms established by Dream Technology produced a variety of agricultural products and meats, which became the primary food source for Earth’s nations.

In these commercial exchanges, countries had to supply vast amounts of genetic material in return for Gene Coins to purchase food.

Thus, Gene Coin evolved into the sole hard currency for all humankind, as Dream Technology ultimately gained control over the genes of everyone on Earth.

Building on that, research teams at the Biological Research Institute finally achieved breakthroughs in gene modulation, extending the human lifespan to 300 years.

Post-modulation, humans not only enjoyed longer lives but also became smarter.

Their cognitive capacity was significantly enhanced, nearly reaching the levels Du Qiu remembered from his earliest days connected through the crystal pillow.

This beneficial trait spurred Du Qiu to vigorously promote gene modulation among Dream Technology’s population, convinced that future generations would further amplify their cognitive strength.

Once a sufficient number of individuals with robust cognitive abilities had been cultivated, Du Qiu planned to fully test the consciousness upload technology associated with the crystal pillow.

Kawanohoroharu’s experiments in this realm became increasingly frequent, and he was certain that the breakthrough was near.

New Humans were not only created through gene modulation but also included a contingent of clones.

Due to the massive expansion of the space fleet, there was an urgent need for a vast number of human crew members on the warships.

For example, a single main fleet ship required roughly 8,000 personnel, meaning that 50,000 main fleet ships would demand about 400 million people.

Originally, space warships were equipped with smart brains—powerful artificial intelligence systems—and plenty of accompanying intelligent robots, which should have reduced the need for human crew.

However, internal pressures within Dream Technology to restrict the use of AI and robotics ultimately necessitated a significantly larger human crew.

This was largely due to the spreading news of the Pleiadians’ rebellion against artificial intelligence and their subsequent annihilation, which had sparked widespread panic.

Despite Du Qiu’s relentless reassurances and explanations, that deep-seated fear could not be entirely eradicated.

To address the urgent need for more warship personnel—and aided by advances in genetic technology—Du Qiu accelerated the cloning process.

By the 9th year of the Ice Age, customizable crew templates for clones were successfully developed and mass-produced, triggering a massive expansion of the New Human population.