Mid-June. A week had passed since the completion of the star gates.
In this week, Celestial Trade conducted repeated experiments on the stability of the star gates and the safety of the neutrino tunnel through different technical means. Finally, after being foolproof, the flight between Celestial City and Heavenly Palace City was renamed “TS Peace” and officially commenced through the neutrino tunnel.
At this moment, passengers who boarded on TS Peace stood inside the hibernation room and prepared to complete the final steps before they entered hibernation. Although the flight attendants repeatedly emphasized that there will be no problems with the hibernation cabins, just like the times before, people still refused to use the cabin and would rather sleep on the floor.
This continued even when the flight attendants stressed the safety of the hibernation cabin and that there were no accidents.
“I don’t care. I just don’t want to go inside this thing. If I can’t wake up after I get inside, can you take responsibility!” The man with a beer belly said aggressively to the flight attendant; he clearly refused to cooperate.
The woman that stood next to him, probably his wife, also had a wary expression on her face. From the two’s appearance, they were probably going to Heavenly Palace City for a tour. After all, space tourism was still a new concept.
The flight attendant patiently explained to them about the safety of the hibernation cabin, but the two clearly did not take in any of the information and refused to enter the cabin.
The commotion attracted the attention of other passengers.
Many people looked at these two with the anticipation for more drama.
“You can’t wake up when you like in the hibernation cabin? This joke is not funny at all.” A skinny and tall man stood not far away and laughed while he shook his head. He then put on the respirator around his neck and shook his head with a smile.
“Now that you mention it,” The man in his thirties next to him laughed and joked along, “There have always been such sayings on the Internet, I think someone said there may be an allergic reaction after some people get inside the hibernation cabin, and then eventually they’ll be frozen into ice cubes. To not cause disputes, Celestial Trade would throw these frozen popsicles away mid-trip…”
“Who would anyone believe in this kind of thing?” the skinny man chuckled with a look of disbelief, “This is more ridiculous than urban legends.”
“Don’t take it seriously, this is just meant to be a joke,” the man in his thirties waved his hand. “Have you been to Heavenly Palace City before?”
“This is the second time. I will probably stay a little longer this time.” The skinny man thought about the tasks his company had given to him and felt a strong surge of ambition and motivation. The last time he was in Heavenly Palace City, he was shocked by the abundance of resources there. Since Heavenly Palace City was also open to foreign capital, he would not easily let this opportunity slip away.
The indicator light of the hibernation cabin lit up and interrupted the two people’s chat.
After he rested the back of his head against the backrest, the translucent hatch slowly lowered, he only felt slightly cooler before his consciousness slipped into darkness. When he opened his eyes again, he was already at the port of the Mars space elevator.
For those using hibernation cabins, space travel was just a matter of opening and closing their eyes.
…
“When this happens, what do you usually do?” Lin Lin was in the Space Command Center on Celestial City when she saw surveillance video on the holographic screen.
For someone from the 22nd century, it was undoubtedly fairly novel for someone to resist the hibernation cabin. It was similar to the idea that someone from modern society went into a primitive tribe and realized that they were people who refused to take pictures, and the reason was that they were afraid the camera would suck away their soul…
“There is a rest area on TS Peace, which provides beds, toilets, and showers, as well as nutrient supplies for passengers who refuse to enter hibernation. Of course, if passengers are not satisfied with the food, they can also pay for vacuum-packaged cooked food.” At this point, Jiang Chen paused and laughed, “But I can guarantee that the food on TS Peace is much more expensive.”
In the meantime, the two passengers on the screen already assumed a victorious posture. Then, they followed the flight attendant to the rest area along with several other passengers who also refused to hibernate.
But what the two didn’t know was that it won’t take long for them to regret their decision. Almost no one could tolerate eating nutrient supplies for an entire week except for those losing weight or vegetarians.
The price of vacuum-packaged cooked food on TS Peace was almost five times more than the usual price.
Not only that, the shower and drinking water on TS Peace were also not free…
The tail engine ejected a faint blue light arc, and TS Peace began to accelerate slowly. After the bottom engine adjusted its direction, it moved towards the star gate. The instant the bow of the ship passed through the ring, the light and shadow were stretched forward under the effect of time dilation. And when the ship’s body was completely submerged in the neutrino channel, the speed of the entire ship suddenly increased and soon disappeared into the boundless universe.
“It’s so fast!” Lin Lin watched the blue dot that gradually faded away from the floor-to-ceiling window. Her nose almost touched the glass while her eyes were filled with excitement. When the blue dot finally disappeared, she looked back at Jiang Chen but still reminisced what she just saw. She then exclaimed, “If I have the opportunity, I’ll definitely go to Heavenly Palace City. That’s where the ruins of Gaia civilization are, right? It’s incredible.”
“Let’s go if you have watched enough,”
Jiang Chen patted Lin Lin on the shoulder, then headed out.
“What are we going to see next? Is there anything fun in Celestial City?” Lin Lin followed after Jiang Chen enthusiastically.
After they made the relationship public that day, her attitude was more enthusiastic than ever. If it had been before, Lin Lin would not be able to resist bad-mouthing him if they spent time together. However, after that day, she seemed to have completely forgotten this skill. Except for the occasional bantering with Xiaorou and Sun Jiao, she was now an obedient girl in front of Jiang Chen.
In the beginning, Jiang Chen was quite uncomfortable by the sudden change, but now he was used to it.
“Next, let’s go to the gravity-free section. The lab of Future Heavy Industries is there. I think you’ll like the place.”
“The lab from the 21st century? What’s so good about that,” Lin Lin muttered, “Is there no romantic place? I’ve heard that you took Sister Sun Jiao to Penglai on a date, and you didn’t even bring me.”
Is it because digitalized humans’ memories are too good, or is Lin Lin too easily jealous?
It’s been a while, and she still remembers.
“I will take you there tomorrow.” Jiang Chen facepalmed, “Didn’t Ayesha bring you there a few times? You don’t have to talk about it every day.”
“It’s different. Going with a girl doesn’t feel like going on a date at all,” Lin Lin raised her head triumphantly, “Anyway, that’s a deal, no take back… OUCH!”
After a light tap on her forehead, Lin Lin pouted and grimaced at Jiang Chen’s back before she ran after him.
