Chapter 129: Chapter 113: Fruitless Arguments l
Translator: 549690339
The chess game lasted a whole hour and a half.
Both of them remained silent during the game.
Harrison Clark was completely focused.
Nora Camp even had sweat dripping from her temples.
Eventually, even though Harrison lost miserably, he felt a sense of accomplishment when he looked at Nora’s slightly reddened face from the intense mental exertion.
Upon finishing, Harrison said, “It seems that I’ve made quite some progress recently. I can finally give you some trouble.”
Nora Camp nodded, “Your improvement in chess has indeed been rapid lately. In order to accurately test the extent of your improvement, I had to exert a lot of effort to maintain my previous level of play. Congratulations, you’ve advanced from amateur 1-dan to 1.5-dan.”
It took Harrison quite a while to realize why Nora had been sweating.
Though she was an unparalleled master, it was quite challenging for her to maintain her previous level of handicap when facing the growing skills of a novice like him.
“Today’s mental training session is over. You’ve worked hard. Go back and rest early.”
Nora issued an eviction order.
As Harrison got up to leave, he couldn’t help but say, “General.”
“Harrison Clark.” At the same time, Nora called him back too.
Harrison made a polite gesture, “You first.”
“Your performance in today’s holographic simulation training was excellent, so I’ve already submitted a report to the military department to promptly promote your military rank to warrant officer. You’ll likely become the first rookie in nearly a decade to be promoted to warrant officer without ever going on a mission. When you board a battleship, you’ll be able to directly serve as the Captain of the Special Duty Squad of any battleship. Moreover, after becoming a warrant officer, your family can leave the slums and enjoy the benefits of elite citizens.”
Indeed, in this era, Harrison Clark had a family.
Although he had been sent to a specialized school at the age of two due to his above-average potential, he had spent no more than ten days with his family. But this time, he was not a synthetic human.
After Sergey’s coup, the perverse policy of synthetic humans was never born.
The World Government encouraged even more men and women to freely form relationships, and in various ways.
Couples could proactively conceive and nurture their offspring, receiving the highest subsidies for doing so.
Or, based on personal preferences, they could select a mate and each provide a single strand of DNA, with slightly less subsidy for doing so. If they opted for nurturing the child themselves, the subsidy would be a bit higher.
Alternatively, they could simply participate in matchmaking events or online meetings, submit a report on their chosen match, and let machines handle the sampling and artificial cultivation. This was the easiest, but received the lowest subsidy.
To encourage reproduction and sustain the race, the World Government made many efforts.
The new reproductive model was closer to the natural order than the synthetic human policy from Harrison’s previous experience, both maintaining gene diversity and significantly alleviating citizens’ fear of the troublesome process of raising offspring.
Harrison himself was a product of the second mode of reproduction, but to be honest, his parents wanted him for the reproduction subsidy, not to raise him into an adult.
While he always felt this was unreasonable, it was still better than the previous scenario.
He didn’t know when it started, but the fear of the hassle of raising children had surpassed the biological instinct to preserve the love between couples.
As technology advanced and human intelligence improved, the concept of childfree living even surpassed traditional views of continuing one’s lineage, gaining overwhelming prominence.
The high-subsidy policies of the World Government were a reluctant compromise to encourage population growth.
A thousand years ago, raising a child into adulthood was a difficult war for parents, yet people did it willingly.
In an era where advanced technology and low-cost artificial intelligence assistants can make child-rearing exponentially easier, people should not be so resistant.
The logic of cause and effect reversed.
In the end, it evolved into what it is today. Harrison believed something must have gone wrong, but he couldn’t find the reason for now.
“Thank you. It’s an honor to become a warrant officer.”
“Furthermore, you can start choosing which battleship to board. I’ll take the liberty to recommend my own ship, The Giant Wave. Oh, what were you going to say earlier?”
Harrison hesitated for a long time before saying, “No… it’s nothing.”
“Don’t hold back, feel free to speak your mind.”
Harrison Clark: “Desserts are not good for your health. I know you like them, but try to eat less.”
Having said that, he took a paper box from his bag and handed it to Nora, “I made these myself this morning. Give it a try?”
Nora took the box with suspicion, tasted a bite, and said, “Made with natural ingredients, it has a different texture than molecular foods, and it tastes quite good. It’s very thoughtful of you. But how did you know I like sweets and that my favorite is strawberry cheesecake? This is my little secret.”
“I guessed.”
After saying that, Harrison left.
He felt a little disappointed.
Okay, he admitted that he wasn’t good at wooing women, but he really tried his best.
He also felt a bit regretful.
He shouldn’t have been so impulsive and should have taken it slower.
But every day he waited, he felt wasting that time was a loss, and a burning anxiety inside him prevented him from finding peace.These past few days, he had performed so outstandingly, yet he still hadn’t managed to make her take the initiative to consider reproducing with him, and he didn’t know where the problem was.
He tried to show off, attempted to get close with chess, and even made dessert, but still, it didn’t work, and he was at a loss.
Harrison Clark wanted to bring it up just now, but as he was about to speak, he hesitated and took a step back.
That’s what it’s like for someone who’s never chased a girl. If the girl doesn’t take the initiative, he wouldn’t know how to take the lead.
Back in the dormitory, Harrison Clark pondered for five seconds, put aside studying the preschool teaching materials, and started watching romance movies from the ancient times.
I will learn!
Seven days passed, and Harrison Clark had become the top-ranked student in the holographic simulation training system at an unprecedented speed.
His overall single soldier ability assessment ranked first globally, even surpassing some senior soldiers who had trained for over ten years and boarded battleships.
His overall score reached 178415 points, leading the second place by more than 2000 points.
This advantage wasn’t particularly significant. If the second-ranked person achieved a few perfect evaluations in the upcoming S-level tasks, they could overtake him.
But being first is still first, and Harrison Clark’s military rank was promoted to lieutenant smoothly.
In the meantime, he launched a series of intense moves towards Nora Camp
He first confirmed that the battleship he would board was The Giant Wave, then volunteered for the position of Captain of The Giant Wave’s Task Force. He also sweet-talked Nora Camp into appointing him as the Chief Security Officer of the Captain.
Harrison accompanied Nora Camp aboard the time machine to the Space Station to attend meetings and training.
Nora Camp liked playing chess, so he studied it crazily.
Nora Camp enjoyed simulating battles in her mind while looking at the star charts of the Milky Way, and he also took the initiative to do so.
General Nora Camp wasn’t a fool; she quickly understood Harrison Clark’s changes.
She wasn’t angry, just a little amused, but couldn’t laugh.
One day, after playing chess with Harrison Clark, she laid her cards on the table.
“Do you want to pair with me?”
Harrison Clark’s eyes slightly evaded hers, but soon he looked firmly back at her, “Yes.”
“Actually, you didn’t need to beat around the bush. The method you used to court me seems to come from the concept of love from a thousand years ago.”
Harrison Clark was taken aback, “Yes.”
“Such an approach is already outdated. Modern pairing methods are much more efficient. A week ago, you should have told me directly, and I would not have refused you.”
Harrison Clark felt slightly delighted.
Nora Camp: “Although I’ve never paired with anyone before, my egg cells have already been stored. I’ll transfer one to you right now. Our genes should be very compatible.”
Harrison Clark’s mood plummeted, “I want more than just this.”
“What do you want, then?”
Harrison Clark tried to make his expression more serious, “I hope for a more direct method – for you to carry the child.”
Nora Camp fell into contemplation as if weighing the pros and cons, “No, it would be too time-consuming.”
Harrison Clark never expected her to think this way.
“But I have analyzed all our base pairs, and if we use artificial cultivation, the embryo is bound to be unable to survive.”
“Let’s just forget it then.”
“Don’t you want to reproduce better offspring to increase humanity’s chances of victory?” Harrison Clark repeated what she had said in his previous life.
Nora Camp thought for a moment, “Of course I do. But you’re only a worthy match for me, not an outstanding one. I don’t deserve to waste so much time on bodily fluid exchange for such a small improvement.”
Harrison Clark became anxious and asked the question he had always wanted to but kept deep in his heart: “Is playing chess with me not a waste of time?” “Chess is an essential way for me to train my thinking.”
Harrison Clark raised his voice, “Stop making excuses! You know that with your strategic capabilities already at their peak, it’s hard to improve any further. With someone like you, don’t you realize using chess to train your thinking is the biggest waste of time? You’re lying to yourself! Don’t you find this strange?!”
The atmosphere in the General’s office suddenly became tense.
Nora Camp briefly appeared lost, her eyes unfocused.
After a long while, her gaze gathered again, and she answered confidently, “No, I don’t find it strange. All captains and leaders are like this. We believe that we are under immense pressure and must find a hobby worth investing in to relieve stress. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to bear the weight of our responsibilities and have the courage to face unknown enemies. Maintaining our hobbies and staying true to ourselves are prerequisites for preserving our fighting spirit in war. It’s crucial.”
In Nora Camp’s words, everything seemed so natural.
Harrison Clark was puzzled.
If such a thing happened a thousand years ago.
Any person with a sane mind would think there’s a problem, not just with one person, but with everyone being off.
But in this era, these supposedly highly intelligent people were completely unaware.
The basic worldview of the entire human society’s top tier had been infiltrated.
This infiltration ran deep into the marrow, becoming customary common sense, just like Earth’s rotation and revolution..