Chapter 386: Reunion with Zhang Beihai
After a long while, the leader finally turned around, his voice deep and slow, each word seeming to be laboriously drawn from the abyss of history, heavily bearing the weight of the entire civilization's past and future.
"We...have been away from home for too long... far too long, I once thought I had seen through everything, believing that flight was civilization's only salvation.
"I spent the first half of my life dedicated to this cause, by any means necessary.
"However, it is only at this moment that we have come to realize that what civilization may need isn't salvation, and it certainly doesn't need a Savior.
"Salvation can save us momentarily, but not for eternity.
"Wounds can only heal by themselves; outside intervention only causes them to rot faster.
"Fear stems from the unknown, but if we let this fear spread endlessly, even if we could barely survive in the torrents of the universe, even if one day we may touch the threshold of a Higher Civilization, what meaning would all this hold?
"It would be nothing but endless flight, endless panic, simply enlarging the Dark Forest by a fraction.
"We are like wayfarers, who, having left home, fly desperately, higher and higher, faster and faster, until we blend our fates with the world we live in.
"What this world is like, that's what we become! Perhaps in the end, I too will become one with the universe.
"But is this really right?
"I have pondered all my life, but I have not thought enough, my life seems to have been a pursuit of the ideas of two people.
"One is my father, the first half of my life was a continuation of my father's life.
"The other, I've only met once, but that encounter changed my life. I still can't see through him, but my fate seems to have always followed his guidance.
"Now, perhaps I can understand some of his thoughts. At this moment, I have decided to make a choice following my heart.
"Maybe this decision is the most mistaken one, but maybe... we... Human Civilization... should also dare to be brave once!
"Let me be selfish this one time!
"Let's reply!"
If the Divine Vessel Civilization could hear this dialogue, they would be greatly surprised. The speakers, they were indeed... Human Civilization!
...
When the long-silent receiver of the Shenzhou Detection Fleet suddenly flickered with responding light, a surge of indescribable elation, like a flood, overwhelmed the hearts of every crew member.
This was another unexpected joy. The courage behind the Unknown Civilization that dared to respond undoubtedly contained a desire for communication and respect for the unknown. This might signify that the family of the Divine Vessel Civilization was about to welcome a new member.
In fact, that so-called "Dark Forest" was not as complicated and merciless a maze as people imagined. At its core, it was merely a construction and power play among cosmic strongholds under specific universal conditions, a reflection of a cold and real, both brutal and fair, set of survival rules in the vast Galaxy.
The barriers between civilizations, like heavy shackles, limited the steps of exploration. And the most direct and dangerous way to break free from these restrictions was to engage in dialogue with other civilizations.
The more rational a civilization, the more likely it was to choose silence out of fear of the unknown, thus entering a vicious cycle. The communication of the Divine Vessel Civilization was also breaking these shackles.
As the exchange between the Divine Vessel Civilization and the Unknown Civilization gradually deepened, both sides began to feel an unprecedented shock and surprise.
Only when both sides cautiously exchanged their carefully constructed autotranslation systems and language samples did the long-standing doubts hidden in the depths of their souls suddenly light up like a beacon in the mist, revealing that—the Unknown Civilization was very likely Humanity's Deep Space Fleet that set out on its escape full of despair and hope 23 centuries ago!
As for whether it could be that another civilization had captured a branch of Humanity's Deep Space Fleet and obtained Humanity's autotranslation system and language samples, using them as some trap, such suspicions would almost certainly exist on both sides.
But the Exploration Fleet still asked one question: Who is the person in charge of the unknown human civilization?
And the reply from the unknown human civilization was even more incredulous, for their leader turned out to be—Zhang Beihai.
These three characters, seemingly carrying the weight of time travel, shone like the brightest stars in the distant cosmos, striking fiercely into the hearts of everyone.
Who could imagine, that the old man who had traversed 26 long centuries, the hero who left The Solar System 24 centuries ago with a last-ditch effort to escape, was still alive!
Twenty-four centuries, for humanity, constitutes a span of time almost beyond verbal measure, enough to witness the transformation of civilizations and for historical memories to blur.
But the name "Zhang Beihai," like an eternal lighthouse, cut through the torrent of time, becoming an undying legend.
When this information was confirmed, the Exploration Fleet sent the news to the Divine Vessel mother ship, plunging all of humanity into an unprecedented shock and excitement.
The shock came from never daring to imagine that the legendary old man, after wandering the endless universe, could still return alive.
The excitement stemmed from this unexpected reunion, which pierced through the currents of humanity's heart, intense and fiery. It spanned the river of time, broke through spatial barriers, and became an echo of the common fate of all of humanity, reverberating in the hearts of each person.
The entire space of the human civilization's mother ship was filled with complex and intense emotions, resonating beyond time and space, a manifestation of the shared sense of destiny among people.
Therefore, the Exploration Fleet hastened without hesitation, heading towards the inner part of the red dwarf star system, their hearts filled with the longing to reunite with Zhang Beihai, a respect for the return of the hero, and an infinite yearning for the possibilities that lay ahead.
The Fleet's navigator, Chu Yan, although never having met Zhang Beihai, seemed to have some sort of bond that transcended time and space, as if they had already fought side by side countless times in another dimension.
Only Lin Sen knew the story of Zhang Beihai and Chu Yan in the original timeline. It was their relay that had accomplished what seemed an impossible continuation of human civilization. Chu Yan, to a certain extent, was a more perfect being than Zhang Beihai, so perfect he scarcely seemed human.
Both of them possessed qualities of determination, forbearance, wisdom, and strategy.
Zhang Beihai leaned towards responsibility and sacrifice, able to decisively assassinate the old space agency head in his early years, and finding solace in his own death. In the face of responsibility, others could be sacrificed, and so could he.
He embodied the spirit of responsibility and sacrifice deeply rooted in the bloodlines of Huaxia.
And Chu Yan, likewise valuing responsibility, expressed it more in the maintenance and rebuilding of order. He dealt with all challenges calmly and still preserved a moral craftsman's baseline. Although his methods could be described as despicable, this was actually a reshaping of order.
He interpreted the way through the mingling currents of old and new civilization consciousness, in search of a path leading to new order and a fresh ideology.
Zhang Beihai and Chu Yan were like an interpretation of civilization's relay, where inheriting responsibility also meant seeking a new order.
Equally shocked was not only human civilization; when the Deep Space Civilization learned that it was the mother civilization of humanity that had arrived, they too were plunged into shock and delight, an unprecedented emotional resonance that spanned time and space, a complex melody interwoven with surprises and shocks.
When Zhang Beihai, the old man who preserved his convictions through the long span of 26 centuries, heard this news, an immense and warm force replaced the desolation cloaked in loneliness and exhaustion deep within his heart.
Those eyes, which had witnessed countless vicissitudes of history, always burning with flame, at this moment, could no longer bear the torrential flow of emotions. Tears, like pearls breaking free from their string, quietly slid down the corners of his eyes.
Nearly every member of the Deep Space Civilization, no matter where they were or how resilient their souls had become in the dark cosmos, in that moment, instinctively allowed their tears to become the most sincere expression of their emotions.
Their tears, merging into rivers, flowing between the stars, told the endless yearning for "home" and the joy of a sudden reunion.
No one had ever thought that there might come a day in the future when they could have the chance to return to the "home" that had once nurtured them yet from which they were forced to depart.
PS: Liu Cixin has said on many occasions that Chu Yan is a utilitarian character, and his hero is still Zhang Beihai, even regretting the death of Zhang Beihai.
But the author thinks this is just right: Zhang Beihai's dying in the final radiance of human nature is the best ending and marks the end of the Zhang Beihai era.
Chu Yan is his perfect successor, representing a new moral system, perhaps one that Zhang Beihai might not have been suited for in the new era.