Chapter 297 - 290 Life Science_1

Time rewound to three minutes ago, and with the passing of 14:35 on the last day of 2016, the Steadfast once again sent 8 tourists into space, bringing the total number of non-professional astronauts to over 100. Immediately, a system prompt popped up in my mind:

[Detected: The host’s base has sent more than 100 non-professional astronauts into space, current number: 103.

Achievement Unlocked: Push to the Public (D-level achievement, for any career to advance rapidly, it must impact the broadest group of people. Space isn’t for a select few!)]

[Reward:

Union Hero Medal (1941 Commemorative Edition)*1

Universal Single Combat Unit Strengthening Injection Liquid (USBI) formula and manufacturing process (sponsored by the American Army, developed successfully by Dupont Laboratory in 2057, inspired by individuals naturally endowed with higher bone and muscle density, can enhance muscles and bones of average individuals to a limited degree, increasing resistance to impact and load capacity, enhancement duration: 1000 days.)

Caution: Biopharmaceuticals have many unforeseeabilities, it is recommended not to use more than once within a year, and the effects vary from person to person. Out of 2000 clinical trials, 4 persons experienced dizziness, nausea, vomiting, rashes, and 2 persons had a low fever, with no other discomfort symptoms found so far.

Note: Use discretion, host is advised not to use.]

Lin Ju: Ahhhh!

Biopharmaceuticals, it’s biotechnology!

Although it came from an American Army development in some world line, which sounds a bit unreliable, it’s still exhilarating.

Since the system offers it, that means the strengthening injection liquid is effective. It’s just that the side effects are unclear, and there are some unknown risks, but it should meet the minimum usage requirements.

Lin Ju guessed that the reason for providing the USBI injection liquid might be related to the achievement; the physical requirements for professional tasks are still not small, hence the provision of such an item.

Mainly enhancing bone and muscle cell density also means increasing a person’s weight, the robustness of one’s skeletal structure, and a certain amount of strength gain.

In reality, there is no lack of naturally gifted individuals. America once had a person with naturally high bone density, whose palm bones were large and hard enough to even withstand the force of an animal trap. That’s the advantage of having naturally high bone density.

Not only could it strengthen average people, could the USBI enhancement liquid also treat osteoporosis and muscular atrophy?

Furthermore, does this biotechnology, which can truly enhance human physical qualities, imply a major breakthrough in biology?

As for that Union Hero Medal, he naturally cast it aside, given that even the one worn by Brezhnev himself hadn’t been taken out from the system store.

Lin Ju was initially waiting for the 2016 annual mission settlement and the rewards after the establishment of the space race event on January 1st, but he hadn’t expected this pleasant surprise, naturally causing his mind to wander.

Fortunately, the others didn’t think too much about it, as there wasn’t anything urgent anyway, and the atmosphere at the Aerospace Development Committee was relatively relaxed apart from discussions about the moon landing.

...

In Moscow.

A dozen rookies from the KGB were called here by the boss, saying there was a very important mission for them to execute. The enthusiastic newcomers, dressed in neat gray overcoats, gathered in front of a vast yet dilapidated archive.

The street’s freshly cleared snow had swiftly formed another considerable layer; there were pitifully few pedestrians, all hurrying either to get home to drink a glass or to find a pub for a glass.

The grayness, the desolation, the dim glow of the incandescent lights, and the intermittent light from within the archive all indicated that this was an extraordinary mission.

From a distance, Vladimir Ivanov felt an urge to kill himself.

Did these so-called elite graduates of special agent schools only learn how to dress uniformly and strut around together in public? Buret!

Fortunately, it was a parish with hardly any people. After Ivan cursed under his breath, he walked past the dozen or so rookies with his head down, stepping into the archives. The latter, lagging a step behind, hurriedly followed.

As soon as Ivan entered the building, he smelled the unique odor of ink on paper and the faint mustiness that documents exude, praying internally that nothing would go wrong with those items.

A bald old man with glasses came out of the rest area inside the archives, holding a bottle of brandy and between the cracks of the cabin, one could see the bright light emitted by an electric heater.

Valery was the custodian here, a former university professor. More than twenty years ago, his wife left him for Germany with their daughter. Suffering the double blow, Valery remained, earning a meager salary to guard the archives.

More than twenty years ago, a flood of various internal materials and technical documents from the Union had scattered. Only years later did Russia manage to begin cleaning up the mess, collecting and sealing away the significant research achievements of the Union era, stowed in the archives for potential future revival.

Swaying drunkenly, Valery slurred, "Who are you... what are you looking for?"

Ivan, with his hands in his coat pockets, calmly replied, "We are from the security bureau, here to retrieve the ternary computer research data from Moscow State University back in the day. According to the internal index, it should be here."

"#￥*@&...," Valery mumbled something and then said impatiently:

"That stuff is useless; its computing power isn’t even as good as an 8086 chip. Ternary has been abandoned."

"No, it has seen the light of day once more," Ivan approached the drunk, noticing that his mood was a bit off.

"The Chinese have created a ternary chip, and with outdated technology, its performance has surpassed the current mainstream chips. So, we need to dig out those old materials to continue the research. The federation has already allocated 5 billion rubles to restart this research."

Valery, who had been nearly about to collapse on the ground, suddenly stood up straight, his eyes shining with a captivating light.

"What, what!"

Valery had lost his composure, gripping Ivan’s arm tightly enough to actually cause the seasoned intelligence chief pain.

Ivan, gritting his teeth, took out his phone, fiddled with it for a moment, and handed it over.

"Have a look for yourself. Actually, the news came out last year, but it was only these past few days that significant progress was achieved."

Valery looked down and quickly read the phone screen, taking a little over a minute to finish the article, then he scrolled back to the top to begin again.

This was a brief article from an internal Russian summation that explained the principles, design ideas, and features of the Chinese ternary chip, intended for tech bureaucrats to read. It was concise but loaded with information, and Valery could discern a lot of the subtext.

His body shook continuously, he muttered to himself and clenched his fists, then turned and limped towards the spiral staircase.

"Follow me, to the fourth floor, kids. Those documents only took up half a bookcase originally, but I’ve filled another half over the past twenty years. I believe you will need them.

Perhaps you don’t know who I am, but I have to tell you, although I wasn’t involved in the invention of the first ternary computer, I completed its underlying architecture and operating logic as a committed person during its practical application phase! I was right, I was right!"

Ivan was somewhat taken aback; he hadn’t expected Valery to have such a story behind him and quickly signaled the rookies to follow.

Only then did the rookies realize they were there to do the grunt work of searching through documents, and they moved with sighs and groans.