Although the maximum speed of human space warships can reach 20% of the speed of light, the maximum speed of civilian spacecraft flying in the orbit of Jupiter is still limited to the threshold of 100% of the speed of light (3000 km/s).

Counting the acceleration and deceleration time, under normal circumstances, it would take nearly a week to return to Earth by spaceship from Star Ring City.

However, Pang Xuelin's identity is special, and Fleet International has specially planned a military waterway for him, and the spacecraft is also a civilian spacecraft equipped with a military fusion engine.

Therefore, it only took two days, and the blue planet was already in sight in Pang Xuelin's eyes.

Compared with 200 years ago, the Earth today has a bright ring similar to Saturn's rings.

Above the aura, there are silk threads hanging down.

"This is the geosynchronous orbit spaceport and the space elevator?"

Pang Xuelin stood at the porthole and asked curiously.

"Yes."

Cao Bin introduced with a smile: "The first space elevator in human history was completed in the Galapagos Islands in Crisis Era 88, connecting the Star Ring City on Isabela Island at one end and the space station in geosynchronous orbit at the other. Since then, the construction of the space fleet has entered the fast lane. Later, as more and more space elevators were built, more and more space stations were placed in geosynchronous orbit. So the international scientific committee of the fleet decided to use these space stations to build a spaceport in geosynchronous orbit. At the same time, the spaceport is also an circum-geosynchronous orbital collider, and many of our breakthroughs in physics have been made through this collider. 150 years after the Crisis Era, the Ringwood Orbital Collider was built, and Fleet International decided to transfer the operation of the spaceport to Earth International. At present, most of the spaceport is operated by Earth International, and only the space city connecting the Galapagos Islands is in the hands of Fleet International. ”

Pang Xuelin nodded, indicating that he understood.

After about an hour, the ship slowly docked into the airport.

Accompanied by Cao Bin, Pang Xuelin came out of the spacecraft and saw a red carpet at the door, and a team of soldiers in space force uniforms were waiting in line.

Several people who at first glance belonged to the international top leaders of the fleet were waiting for him.

The first one, with a Chinese face, looks like an East Asian race, and looks like he is in his early forties.

"Professor Pang, I'm Liao Chenglong, the Archon of the International Earth Administrative Region of the Fleet, welcome home!"

Pang Xuelin was a little surprised.

When he was on Jupiter, he had only seen Fleet International's senior liaison officer, Fleet International, and none of the Fleet International's top leaders had come forward to meet with him.

On the contrary, after returning to Earth, he was greeted by a heavyweight political figure.

As the birthplace of Fleet International, the Earth Administrative Region has always had a special position within Fleet International.

Although the main international authorities of the fleet have turned to the Star Ring space city in the orbit of Jupiter, the information shows that the consul of the Earth administrative region is still a member of the international nine-member governing committee of the fleet.

"Hello, Mr. Liao!"

Pang Xuelin and Liao Chenglong shook hands.

Liao Chenglong said with a smile: "Professor Pang, let me introduce to you, this is General Xu Shaomin, the commander of the Fifth Fleet......"

Behind Liao Chenglong is a woman in her early fifties dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking general of the Space Force, looking heroic.

Pang Xuelin smiled and said, "Commander Xu, hello, I didn't expect that after so many years, we would meet again." ”

The person in front of him is Xu Shaomin, the captain of the first generation of "Gravity" spacecraft.

Pang Xuelin didn't expect that after so many years, the other party would become the commander of a detachment of the Solar System Fleet.

Xu Shaomin stood upright and saluted Pang Xuelin: "Commander of the Fifth Fleet, Xu Shaomin, report to the Supreme Commander!" ”

Pang Xuelin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he was a little surprised by what the other party called him.

Up to now, most of the people who have seen him call themselves Professor Pang, and only Xu Shaomin calls himself the supreme commander.

You must know that the solar system fleet has a total of six fleets, each fleet has 500 stellar-class warships, plus a wide variety of service ships, supply ships, etc., the total number of ships in each fleet is more than 1,000.

Xu Shaomin can be regarded as a real power boss in the fleet international.

Xu Shaomin's title to herself obviously recognizes in a sense that he has a certain command over her.

The implications of this are worth pondering.

Then, under Liao Chenglong's introduction, Pang Xuelin got to know several high-level leaders of the Earth Administrative Region, and then took the space elevator with Liao Chenglong and Xu Shaomin to return to Earth.

In this Star Ring City on Isabela Island, except for the electromagnetic catapult orbit that has been dismantled, a space elevator has been built on the top of Mount Asur, and the architectural layout of the entire city has not changed much compared with more than a hundred years ago.

When Pang Xuelin and the others arrived on the ground, it was noon.

Liao Chenglong held a small welcome banquet in Star Ring City to welcome his arrival.

It wasn't until the end of the banquet that Pang Xuelin chose to say goodbye and boarded a flying car with Cao Bin.

After getting in the car, Pang Xuelin said: "Cao Bin, what's going on with today's welcome ceremony?" ”

Cao Bin had already prepared for Pang Xuelin's doubts, and said with a smile: "Professor Pang, on the information given to you before, you should have seen the struggle between the Young Zhuang faction and the old man faction within the fleet international. In fact, this struggle continues even today. At present, within the fleet international, the Young Zhuang faction controls about 70% of the power, and their main sphere of influence is mainly distributed in the space cities near the orbits of those giant planets. The sphere of influence of the Elder Sect is mainly Australia, the Galapagos Islands and the Martian colony on Earth. As for the Fifth Fleet controlled by Xu Shaomin, it is currently stationed at the Mars base. Professor Pang, this is the power left by Mr. Vader and Mr. Luo Ji before they hibernated, they once said that one day when you wake up, these part of the military force will directly obey you! ”

Pang Xuelin nodded, and said thoughtfully: "How is the Star Ring Advanced Research Institute?" ”

Cao Bin said: "The main campus of the Star Ring Advanced Research Institute is in the star ring city in the orbit of Jupiter, but the old campus on the earth also has relatively strong scientific research strength, and in general, within the scientific committee, the struggle between the young Zhuang faction and the old faction is not very strong. Now the Supreme Ruling Council of the International Fleet is different from that of the past, except for the chairman of the Scientific Committee, the remaining eight people are basically politicians. The Scientific Committee does not have much say in the fleet international. ”

Pang Xuelin nodded and did not speak.

The flying car came to a halt at the gate of a manor.

The manor has strange mountains and rocks, lawn gardens, and even an artificial lake covering an area of nearly half an acre.

In the center of the manor is a villa that Pang Xuelin is somewhat familiar with.

Pang Xuelin and Cao Bin got out of the car, and Cao Bin said with a smile: "Professor Pang, this area is the villa area where you lived back then, and later Mr. Weide demolished the villa area, and your villa was left and converted into a manor, waiting for you to come back to live." At present, Ms. Zhuang Yan is arranged here, and Cheng Xin is taking care of her. Professor Pang, I won't disturb you to reunite with Ms. Zhuang Yan, and I'll come back to you tomorrow. ”

A smile appeared on Pang Xuelin's face and said, "Cao Bin, thank you!" You have a heart. ”

Pang Xuelin entered from the gate of the manor, and the guards in the manor seemed to have received the news, and no one stopped Pang Xuelin's arrival.

Pang Xuelin walked to the lake step by step, and saw a beautiful girl in a white dress, sitting by the lake and chatting with Cheng Xin.

The girl unconsciously turned her head, and out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly discovered Pang Xuelin's existence.

Immediately afterwards, her eyes were firmly attracted by Pang Xuelin's figure, and extreme surprise flashed in her eyes.

"Yan Yan, what's wrong with you?"

Cheng Xin turned his back to Pang Xuelin and did not notice Pang Xuelin's arrival.

Zhuang Yan's eyes seemed to be filled with Pang Xuelin's figure, and he didn't notice Cheng Xin's question at all.

"Brother Huge!"

She suddenly got up from the grass, like a nimble deer, trotting all the way into Pang Xuelin's arms.

"Brother Pang, I miss you so much!"

Nephrite is warm and fragrant.

Pang Xuelin hugged Zhuang Yan and said, "Yan Yan, I miss you too!" ”

The two looked at each other, Zhuang Yanqiao's face flushed with a hint of redness, and he closed his eyes a little shyly.

Pang Xuelin seemed to get some kind of signal, lowered his head, and blocked the girl's red lips.

Cheng Xin turned his head and looked at the couple who were kissing, a hint of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Pang Xuelin and Zhuang Yan separated.

Only then did Zhuang Yan notice Cheng Xin, who was watching the excitement on the side, and couldn't help but fly his cheeks.

Pang Xuelin greeted Cheng Xin with a smile: "Cheng Xin, during this time, thank you for taking care of Yan Yan." ”

"You're welcome!"

Cheng Xin reluctantly smiled.

That night, Zhuang Yan and Cheng Xin cooked together and cooked a sumptuous dinner to welcome Pang Xuelin's return.

After eating, Pang Xuelin, accompanied by Zhuang Yan and Cheng Xin, watched holographic movies of this era.

In fact, after waking up, on the spaceship that came to the earth, Pang Xuelin has been paying attention to the film and television culture of this era.

The cultural products of an era can reflect the spiritual outlook of the people of this era and the mainstream values of society.

Soon, Pang Xuelin realized that this era was more like a legendary ideal society for human beings.

Due to the highly developed social productive forces, words such as food and clothing, poverty, and hardship have become historical terms.

At present, the average number of years of education per human beings on the planet has exceeded 20 years, and almost everyone has undergone higher education.

The public's appreciation of aesthetics, art, literature, etc., has also reached an unprecedented height.

The works of art that Pang Xuelin saw were gentle and realistic, and the soft colors were full of vitality and emotion, beating gently for the beauty of nature and human nature.

The music is classical and solemn, light and lively, and all styles are of a very high standard.

In contrast, those popular songs of the Common Era, and only some gold-level works, can be compared with the ordinary works of this era.

Even film and television works, the big sellers are mainly literary films.

In other words, the commercial blockbusters of the A.D. era no longer conform to the aesthetics of the people of this era.

For example, the movie that Pang Xuelin watched with Zhuang Yan and Cheng Xin tonight is a romance film called "Yangtze River Fairy Tale", which is based on Li Zhiyi's "Fortune Operator" "You live at the head of the Yangtze River, and I live at the end of the Yangtze River......".

The film depicts the love of a couple living at the mouth and source of the Yangtze River in an ancient pastoral era with no specific year.

In the whole film, the distance between the hero and heroine is insurmountable, they have never met, and they have never even appeared in the imaginary meeting picture, but their longing is expressed extremely poignantly and moving.

The cinematography of the film is also very beautiful, and the beauty of the Yangtze River at the mouth of the sea and the majestic grandeur of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the source of the Yangtze River, are intoxicating.

The film does not have the kind of commercialization of the Common Era, and the story flows calmly like the Yangtze River, making people integrate into it.

Cheng Xin and Zhuang Yan were very devoted, but Pang Xuelin felt a deep chill from these works.

Such a human civilization, like an innocent child, cannot survive in the dark forest of the universe.

At ten o'clock in the evening, the movie ends.

Cheng Xin got up, stretched, and said to Pang Xuelin and Zhuang Yan with a smile: "Professor Pang, I'll go to sleep first, and you and Yan Yan should rest early." ”

"Good!"

Pang Xuelin nodded with a smile and turned his gaze to Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan lowered his head shyly, but one hand was tightly clasped with Pang Xuelin's hand.

"Yan Yan! Let's go back to our rooms and rest. ”

"Hmm!"

Zhuang Yan hummed softly and obediently followed Pang Xuelin back to the room.

Although the two had confirmed their boyfriend and girlfriend relationship as early as the Common Era, they had not broken through the last step because of Zhuang Yan's physical problems.

Now that Zhuang Yan has recovered his health, the relationship between the two is naturally natural.

It's just a pity that under the current situation, Pang Xuelin still can't stay in Gentle Township for too long.

The next morning, Pang Xuelin, accompanied by Cao Bin, took a wave-body aircraft to Australia.

"At present, the largest gravitational wave research center is located in the suburbs of Melbourne, where is located the Gravitational Wave Research Institute of the Star Ring Institute for Advanced Study.

Cao Bin, who accompanied him, introduced to Pang Xuelin.

After more than an hour of flight, the aircraft landed smoothly at Melbourne Airport.

To get from the airport to the institute, you need to travel through the city of Melbourne.

When passing by the municipal square, Pang Xuelin found a large number of people gathering, and some people were still speaking on the stage.

Pang Xuelin asked the driver to stop the car and listened silently for a while.

Only then did he shake his head with a wry smile and motioned for the driver to leave.

Due to the danger of being swallowed up by the Centauri α the planet where the Trisolarans live, the politicians who convened this rally actually called on human beings to open their sympathy and hand over Mars to the Trisolaranus civilization as their foothold and settlement area in the solar system after signing a peace agreement with the Trisolaran.

From the cheers and applause of the onlookers, Pang Xuelin could feel that this proposal had won the support of many people.

How naïve!