Ye Wenjie, watch my moves closely.

Chapter 47 The Future Historians

The North Sea Fleet's base is like a steel fortress floating on the sea.

Along the dock, gray Type 051 guided missile destroyers stand in neat rows, their hull numbers appearing and disappearing in the dappled sunlight.

Li Youyu got out of the car, and the sea breeze, carrying a salty and fishy smell, hit him. Zhang Zhi'ao, wearing a sailor shirt, stood by the water, casually holding a cigarette. When he saw Li Youyu, he didn't rush to speak, but instead made a shushing gesture, as if he was waiting for something.

After the wind had finished smoking the entire cigarette, the water near the shore suddenly began to churn, and a huge roar of machinery came from underwater.

With a whoosh, a dark submarine emerged from the water like a giant sea monster.

As soon as the submarine docked at the shipyard, the hatch was pushed open, and a line of dark-skinned sailors emerged from the submarine, roaring as they threw their clothes into the sea. Zhang Zhi'ao took out two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and threw them toward the submarine. The sailors were overjoyed and immediately stuffed them into their mouths, sucking on them greedily.

Just then, two white-hatted military police officers walked over, displeased with the sailors' disheveled appearance.

Zhang Zhi'ao quickly stepped forward and whispered, "They stayed at the bottom of the sea for half a month."

The inspectors' faces darkened. They saluted Zhang Zhi'ao and quickly left.

"Aren't my submariners handsome, Lao Li?"

Having dealt with the inspectors, Zhang Zhi'ao had finished his business. He walked up to Li Youyu, put his arm around him, and boasted, "The Type 091 nuclear submarine has a submerged range of 30 knots and almost unlimited endurance. As long as they can stay there, this submarine can stay underwater for a lifetime."

Li Youyu retorted, "That sound... the moment the submarine turned on its engines, it was detected by the Americans' sonar."

"This is so boring."

Zhang Zhi'ao curled his lip and led Li Youyu onto the Jinan warship docked at the pier.

When the busy sailors on the ship saw Zhang Zhi'ao, they all stopped what they were doing and saluted him.

The North Sea Fleet comprises multiple formations, and Zhang Zhi'ao is the captain of one of them.

At his age, reaching this position means he has a very promising future.

"sit."

The two arrived at the aft deck, where Zhang Zhi'ao pointed to two overturned ammunition boxes on the deck and said, "This is the high-class reception room on our Jinan ship."

Looking out along the railing, Li Youyu could see the Republic's fleet shuttling back and forth at the mouth of the Yellow Sea, a truly magnificent sight.

Although it's simple, it's definitely a top-notch location.

"Why did you suddenly decide to come see me?"

Zhang Zhi'ao pulled a handful of peanuts from his pocket, scattered them on the makeshift table made of ammunition boxes, and ate them while enjoying the sea breeze. "I'll be on vacation in half a month, so wouldn't it be the same if we got together again when we got back?"

Li Youyu cracked open a peanut and said, "Have you ever thought about taking warships into space?"

Zhang Zhi'ao laughed, "Of course I want to! How could I not?"

"I get more excited when I see open spaces. When I was a child, I secretly rowed my father's fishing boat to the open sea and encountered a wave."

Do you know how high that wave was? If it was a giant, I'm not even as big as one of its penises.

It almost killed me.

But I'm not afraid at all; I find it particularly interesting.

Conquering these colossal creatures by human power is an extremely challenging task.

The same goes for space. If I could witness those massive celestial bodies, so enormous they defy description, I think I'd faint from excitement.

"Your analogy suggests you have some kind of quirk."

"Maybe," Zhang Zhi'ao shrugged, "but I doubt I'll live to see the day humanity builds a spaceship."

Have you thought about supporting the future?

Li Youyu asked.

"Support the future? What is that?"

"Hibernation technology can freeze your time. Once it's set up, whether it's decades or centuries, the program will automatically wake you up on the day the starship is built."

"Forget it." Zhang Zhi'ao pinched a handful of peanuts and tossed them to the seagulls that were circling near the deck. "I still have things to do. I have to stand guard for this era. Supporting the future is too much of a luxury for the country right now."

Zhang Zhi'ao's thinking was very simple.

The nation in this era still needs people to build it. If everyone goes to support the future, then who will protect the present?

If we can't even protect the present, then let alone the future of humanity.

However, after learning about the Three-Body Problem, Zhang Zhi'ao secretly did something.

He gathered his trusted associates together and conducted a simulation exercise.

At first, I just wanted to learn how military exercises look and simulate what future wars would be like.

However, as more and more people joined and the range of knowledge involved became more and more complex, the results of this so-called deduction group actually became more serious.

Even Zhang Zhi'ao found it somewhat unbelievable.

However, he felt that the predictions were too pessimistic and that spreading them would have a negative impact.

Just then, Li Youyu found him, so he simply asked Li Youyu if it would be better to disband this so-called deduction group.

"I have a question for you."

"Old Zhang, come help me."

Zhang Zhi'ao and Li Youyu spoke at the same time, both of them taking a break. Then Zhang Zhi'ao laughed and said, "What do you need me to help you with, you who studies the universe? Like Hong An, to set up a trap to capture people? I won't do that. Last time was just a coincidence. My main business is training."

"That's not it."

Li Youyu denied it, saying, "Ye Wenjie is researching a discipline called cosmic sociology, but the sample size is too small. There is no data, so I need your help to deduce it for her."

Upon hearing the word "deduction," Zhang Zhi'ao's lips twitched. Could it be that sinister? His secret group had only been established for a short time, and it had already reached Li Youyu's ears.

Has the classified unit been completely infiltrated?

Seeing Zhang Zhi'ao's expression, Li Youyu knew that he must have started a school of future history.

I just don't know what stage it's at now.

"Tell me, Lao Zhang, what did you deduce?"

Li Youyu smiled mysteriously, while Zhang Zhi'ao looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Who told you all this? Did you plant a spy next to me?"

"I guessed."

Li Youyu said, "You're so smart, after hearing about extraterrestrial civilizations, you definitely won't just sit and wait to die."

"You're kidding me!"

Zhang Zhi'ao spat at him, then said, "This is exactly what I wanted to ask you. I found a group of people, but I didn't tell them about the Trisolaran invasion. I just gave them a hypothetical premise: if an alien civilization wants to invade Earth, how should we fight this war?"

This final battle was constantly evolving, and based on these evolutions, we have extrapolated the course of history further back...

Does that sound weird?

The history here remains a distant future for us.

"The Future School of History"

Li Youyu concluded.

"The Future History School... that's a good name."

Zhang Zhi'ao continued, "But the future we've predicted is terrifying; there's no hope in sight."

"Is humanity destined to lose?"

Li Youyu asked.

Zhang Zhi'ao nodded. "Humanity is doomed to lose."

"So I think it would be better to disband this simulation team. Pessimism is too undesirable. To hold the belief that we are bound to lose before the battle has even begun is to demoralize ourselves!"