章節 138: Chapter 138: The Customized Gene Revolution
Everything has more than one purpose in its existence.
The primary reason for Ella's investment in the Zerg and the [Sequence] was to expand her knowledge of genetics.
Compared to theories from tens of thousands of years ago, Ella has now officially embarked on this path and achieved significant progress. The Zerg project is an extension of the Cosmic Life Project that Yan Xia had previously worked on.
Yan Xia and Ella once discussed a concept—the Universal Customized Gene Project.
As the name suggests, every citizen would be free to purchase specific genes to enhance themselves.
The reason it wasn't implemented back then was the insufficient gene bank and the small population of the Civilization Federation. With the Universal Customized Gene Project, all citizens who undergo genetic modification would become reproductively isolated.
Among these tens of thousands of years, with technological advancements, the Civilization Federation has initiated the Sperm and Egg Bank Project. Every citizen can store their sperm and eggs for future reproduction.
This project is mandatory for all adult citizens.
Technological progress has brought about the approach of taboos. Ordinary citizens can now easily access these taboos, and within the Civilization Federation, there are many drugs that can alter genes from the base level.
In the lower city of Xiaguang, connected to the main network system of the Civilization Federation, Yan Xia saw a giant among the vast amount of news. This giant was over 10 meters tall, a result of gene-altering drugs. After all, the tallest humans now are only a little over 3 meters.
Any individual who uses gene-altering drugs is no longer considered part of their original race. This is also a law within the Civilization Federation. They are classified as "Vagabonds," not to be confused with the unemployed. These Vagabonds are citizens who deviate from natural individuals and are a special group within the Civilization Federation.
According to Ella's statistics, the number of Vagabonds has been increasing rapidly every year, with no signs of slowing down.
One of the more important reasons for this is that once genes are modified to deviate from the original race, the Civilization Federation loses control over their lifespan.
This means that according to the Civilization Federation's regulations, if you don't make progress in telekinesis, your lifespan is limited to 130 years. However, if you undergo gene modification, you are no longer considered human, and this law no longer applies to you. You can have a much longer lifespan.
This is an irresistible attraction for individuals.
"So, we can't regulate this phenomenon at the moment?"
"What is the lifespan of the longest-living Vagabond in the Civilization Federation now?"
Yan Xia is aware of the growing opposition within the Civilization Federation, calling for the removal of lifespan restrictions. However, lifting these restrictions would lead to the collapse of the Civilization Federation. While individuals would gain more freedom, without the Civilization Federation, even with a lifespan of 100,000 years, could these individuals survive that long?
Limiting lifespan is not about depriving citizens of their freedom; on the contrary, it is a necessary condition for granting citizens their freedom.
When Yan Xia initially set the lifespan restrictions, it was to ensure the Civilization Federation's ability to renew itself with fresh blood continually. It was not meant to allow individuals with lifespans of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years to hold dominant positions, leaving no hope for future generations. This is absolutely unfair to the younger generation.
Such a situation would create class conflicts, and the solution is to distribute resources evenly.
But where in the world can you find absolute equality and fairness? A system must have an upper echelon to unify opinions; otherwise, it will become a disorganized mess.
Safety, stability, longevity, freedom, and equality cannot coexist.
If lifespans are unrestricted, Yan Xia might have to follow the path of the Olive Branch Civilization, creating shared consciousness clusters. This would extend lifespans to the point where individuals might not even want to live that long. However, citizens would lose everything except their extended lifespans.
Even if the Civilization Federation becomes the strongest civilization in the universe, unlimited lifespans would eventually lead to internal collapse.
Therefore, when Yan Xia heard about this, he felt that the Vagabonds should be regulated.
Ella replied, "Of course we can. Even small workshops can now offer gene modification services that double physical qualities, lifespans, and more, without any side effects. After all, we are a Level 2 Civilization."
"But these genetically modified citizens still have quark robots inside them, the same as every other citizen of the Civilization Federation. These quark robots can limit their lifespans."
"However, doing so is unethical. I can't judge whether it's reasonable or not; that's a decision you, Yan Xia, will have to make."
This problem has been evident for a long time, and the reason Ella hasn't addressed it is that it involves many aspects, including the nature of life. As a non-biological entity, Ella finds it challenging to make such decisions.
"We must set restrictions, but not in this way."
"The quark robots are clearly robbing individuals of their lifespans. It's no different from killing them. We should only be setting restrictions."
"The Civilization Federation is currently very unstable. We have stronger enemies, and there are many internal wars."
Biological rebellions are everywhere, and the Civilization Federation is not entirely peaceful.
There are countless interstellar pirates and rebels, numbering in the tens or even hundreds of billions.
Yan Xia and Ella sat in a meeting room within the research institute.
"We can reduce the welfare of Vagabonds and impose mandatory military service on them. If they receive more than ordinary citizens, they should also contribute more."
"We can also exclude Vagabonds from the system, not allowing them to take civil service exams, and impose more restrictions. The fewer citizens who want to become Vagabonds, the better."
"However, suppressing them like this is not a long-term solution. While we restrict and constrain them, we should also encourage Vagabonds to have a sense of responsibility."
"For Vagabonds who make exceptional contributions to the Civilization Federation, we can lift the restrictions. This way, we can provide them with a path forward while preventing ordinary citizens from feeling unfairly treated."
At this point, Yan Xia has become adept at handling these matters.
After leading the Civilization Federation for so many years, he has become very familiar with political affairs.
After Ella made the record, she added some supplementary notes.
"The primary reason we created the gene bank was to enhance genes."
"We can encourage Vagabonds to explore and send them to the Cosmic Silk Road, the most chaotic region of the Civilization Federation. It will likely become even more chaotic unless we can deal with the Olive Branch Civilization and expand our star domain."
Yan Xia agreed with Ella's decision.
In his opinion, the restrictions on Vagabonds are still not enough. Perhaps they should be allowed to engage in more dangerous occupations, which could offer high returns, thus reducing the likelihood of large-scale rebellions.
Thinking about this, Yan Xia felt that he might be criticized as a capitalist in the future.
But this is not a capitalist act. Capitalists protect the interests of the upper class, while Yan Xia's restrictions maintain the interests of the lower-class citizens.
Although the term "Vagabond" sounds unpleasant, most of them are middle to upper-class citizens or explorers within the Civilization Federation. The truly lower-class citizens would have to work for tens of years to afford gene modification without side effects.
To regulate the customized gene market, Ella also developed advanced gene modification technology through the gene bank.
This technology is called the "Parasitic Implant."
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