Extra 1. The day I left Wang Qiu (Part 1)
"... That short but wonderful time of time travel has long passed now. The voices and smiles of my former companions have gradually become blurry in my memory. But I can still often recall the Nile River and the Pyramids of ancient Egypt. , the Avengers' peak showdown against aliens in New York, and the doomsday scene of the zombie craze sweeping Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as the mushroom clouds of nuclear explosions announcing the death knell of civilization...
When the time and space gate connecting the fantasy world on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Kowloon Peninsula turned into nothingness in front of everyone's eyes, I once thought that in the next time, I would bid farewell to cruel destruction and war, and live in a prosperous world from now on. A beautiful new era of peace and prosperity.
After all, during the great time-travel era that lasted for several years, although the people on earth did suffer some losses and sacrifices, compared with the huge gains, they were simply not worth mentioning. For example, the cold fusion ark reactor represents unlimited energy, strange alien crops and alien poultry and livestock, and the Macross space battleship MACROSS that can carry thousands of people to the edge of the solar system at a time...
Of course, these benefits must first belong to my motherland, but other human beings on the earth can also share the benefits to a greater or lesser extent.
At the same time, with the advancement of science and technology, economy, and politics around the world, the problems of hunger, plague, and war that have plagued human civilization for thousands of years and have long threatened human survival and development have gradually declined in the early years of the 21st century. , and there are gradually signs of being suppressed and resolved.
Indeed, successive terrorist attacks continued to dominate the news in those years; in Africa and India during those years, tens of thousands of people were still dying of hunger and disease every year. However, compared to the entire human society on the planet, humanitarian disasters of this scale can only be regarded as special cases at best, and they should almost always be attributed to human beings' own political factors rather than natural disasters that cannot be resisted by human beings.
Compared with the Great Famine in Ireland in the 19th century, the great wars in ancient Chinese history that frequently halved the population, the Black Death that broke out again and again in European history, and the great destruction of American Indians during the white invasion, all this It really can only be regarded as a very gentle little problem.
Specifically, although hunger, plague and war have not completely disappeared from mankind, they have at least changed from incomprehensible and uncontrollable destiny to some kind of challenges that human leaders need to try to deal with. In the face of these hungers, plagues, and wars, human beings can no longer just shrug helplessly, thinking that this is God's will, or pray to a certain god to save themselves. Instead, they have established various committees to study countermeasures.
What scientists can now do for farmers has far surpassed God and Buddha. Relying on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, breeding techniques and genetically modified technologies, agricultural output has exceeded the highest expectations of ancient farmers from gods. Although germs continue to evolve drug resistance, the continuous innovation of various antibiotics has made it rare for large-scale plagues to break out except for influenza. The era when humans were helpless in the face of epidemics is a thing of the past. The problem of war is the most difficult to solve, but no one can deny that because of the efforts and coordination of the United Nations, the human world after World War II is always more peaceful than before World War II. The trauma that war brings to society is less than before World War II. The problem of terrorism seems serious, but in fact it is just about spreading fear and planning a few frightening violent performances, rather than causing serious physical damage. Compared with the Hun army of Attila, the whip of God, and the bloodthirsty cavalry of Genghis Khan, modern terrorists’ petty attacks are nothing more than clowns.
All in all, due to technical limitations and interest entanglements, human beings are not able to succeed in every challenge. But on the whole, the global trade network in the information age has been able to turn droughts and floods into business opportunities, and it can also quickly and efficiently Overcome the food shortage crisis cheaply. Even when entire countries are devastated by war, earthquakes, or tsunamis, the international community usually succeeds in preventing famine and plague from spreading too much, preventing starving refugees from eating everything in their path, and keeping the death toll to a relatively small scale. Inside.
As early as when I was still in school, the number of people who died of overnutrition in the world far exceeded the number of people who died of malnutrition, and the number of people who died of old age also exceeded the number of people who died of infectious diseases. The number of patients who have committed suicide exceeds the number of people killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals combined, which is unprecedented. Although terrorist attacks are made so horrifying by the media, in fact, everyone is less likely to die from Ebola or an al-Qaeda terrorist attack than from overeating on McDonald's food.
Although there are still hundreds of millions of people starving every day on the entire planet, in at least half of the world, even if a person loses his job and has nothing, he is unlikely to starve to death. The various welfare benefits and job placement provided by the government may not be able to lift him out of poverty or give him a place to live, but at least they can allow him to get enough calories from cheap food to continue to survive.
With the new round of science and technology explosion brought to the earth by the Great Time Travel Era, especially the promotion of controllable nuclear fusion power generation technology and the successful mining of lunar helium-3 resources, human civilization seems to be about to completely get rid of the shackles of energy issues. Toward a better new era.
However, the so-called history is reincarnation again and again. When human beings gradually forget the pain of the past, new catastrophes will quietly begin to brew again... Class barriers, wealth differences, ***** The struggle between democracy and civilization remains an enduring source of disaster. Advanced science and technology can be used to build homes, and can also be used by humans to destroy themselves with higher efficiency. The rapid advancement of biotechnology allows us to defeat bacteria and viruses, but in the hands of the military and terrorists, it can also plunge mankind into unprecedented terrifying threats.
——Just as we warmly celebrate the MACROSS spacecraft's expedition to Europa, hoisting the five-star red flag on the solid ice cap of this icy moon and its triumphant return; just as experts and scholars are optimistic that humans have walked out of the earth The cradle, entering the cosmic era, is about to embark on a journey to the stars and the sea. A door to hell leading to disaster and destruction has been quietly opened in another 'Europa'..."
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After writing this, Ma Tong suddenly stopped typing with a feeling, and clicked [Save] with the mouse. Then he removed his hands from the keyboard, first stretched his arms, and then looked up at the porthole. Looking at the rough sea outside, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
The passage of years and the pressure of life have left obvious traces on Ma Tong, turning her from a vigorous, sporty and lively girl into a mature and steady middle-aged young woman, as well as two The child's mother.
Among the group of professional time-travelers who were once incorporated by the country, except for Wang Qiu, who is now unknown about his life and death and has disappeared without a trace, Ma Tong is considered to be relatively busy. He was unable to successfully transition into politics and hold an official position, nor was he able to start his own business or company. Even most of the assets she accumulated during her adventures in other worlds evaporated without a trace due to a sudden financial crisis and stock market crash.
But even so, with the connections he had built in the past and the extraordinary experience of seeing different worlds with his own eyes, Ma Tong has now obtained a stable job with a good salary and has become a well-known person. A researcher at a private think tank and a media columnist.
At the moment, she is working as a reporter, following an evacuation fleet heading to Europe, with its destination being the port of Lisbon, the capital of the Portuguese Republic.
This is the initial starting point for Europeans to move towards the Age of Discovery, and it is also the last bastion for Europeans to resist disasters in this nightmare era. Because, a biochemical crisis sweeping Europe, and the ensuing war and catastrophe, are spreading crazily across the countries of Europe...