Counterfeit Hero

Old Era 31st Century, after the Earth Federation experienced the frenzied expansion and immigration of the exploration era, the immigrant planets unified under the Federation's control began to differentiate. Different immigrant spaces, different cultures, and different political orientations led to increasingly strong independent voices from the immigrant planets.

Under the leadership of the at-the-time immensely powerful Vibo Star System, some immigrant star systems began to confront the Earth Federation. This confrontation initially manifested as some economic and political frictions, but eventually evolved into a protracted war, which ultimately led to the complete disintegration of the Earth Federation—the first interstellar war.

Due to the strength of the Earth Federation, the war for the independence of the immigrant planets did not yield the expected results for either side. That is to say, in this war, there were no winners. The outdated Earth Federation indeed disintegrated, the cosmic order was thoroughly disrupted, and the continuous warfare persisted for nearly a thousand years. Many immigrant planets were annexed by strong neighbors, and the immigrant governments from the Earth Federation era were replaced by military leaders who seized power.

Dynasty, hegemony, democracy, freedom, independence, honor, resources, love, and hate.

It was a vast era; humanity, while undergoing great calamities, did not stop the pace of exploration. Great inventions were researched and brought forth, changing human lives and altering the world's situation. Numerous star domains were explored, and the human large-scale immigration wave surged even more amidst the chaos.

In this era, a young officer named Chen Xiuqi, through his diary, documented a tiny speck of this time.

2021 A.D December 16:

The laboratory's research finally had preliminary results; the child began to think. Although we don't understand what he is thinking about and cannot communicate with him, some tests accurately tell us that he is indeed thinking. Like a one-year-old child, occasionally making some kind of unconscious judgment.

This news made everyone in the laboratory wild with excitement; humanity finally has another form of partner. In the vast universe, we seem to no longer be alone.

2021 A.D December 23:

The attacks from the Vibo people are becoming increasingly aggressive. Although the solar system is the holy land for all humanity, this cannot guarantee that these rebels, clamoring for independence, would not crazily attack here. Why do they want independence? Do they think they are aliens, not belonging to human society?

Is the space era the end of human unity?

2022 A.D January 1:

A new year began; the child has been transplanted onto the spaceship Exploration. To ensure adequate defense and camouflage, we designed the research ship to be a moon-level support attack ship. In this chaotic era, we're unsure whether it's a good idea, though the star system the ship is about to explore should be far away from the war.

Having some deterrent is still good, at least those space pirates would wisely stay away from us.

Being the captain of this ship, I'm somewhat apprehensive. After all, I am not a professional Commander.

2022 A.D February 2:

Today, it's my 31st birthday; she traveled tens of thousands of light-years to Earth to celebrate my birthday, yet I boarded the Exploration to start the journey. The child is still the same, unable to communicate. Perhaps during space travel, he will commence the true evolution process. Once evolution is successful, the Vibo people will be unable to resist a fleet with life.

The other six experimental computers in the laboratory were all judged dead; none of them woke up. Could the child just be an accidental product?

2022 A.D May 7:

The child's performance is still unsatisfactory; his judgments seem like programmed reflexes. The evolution program has started for three months now. We don't know what this artificial intelligence, which meticulously carries out our orders and observes every detail of our lives during the journey, is thinking or if he is thinking anything at all.

Professor Li said that once the child absorbs all the knowledge instilled in him, he will start thinking genuinely. We cannot artificially influence the formation of the artificial intelligence's personality.

But, what child wouldn't be influenced by their parents? And... those Zhou Yi, Eight Diagram, Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Thick Black Studies. What does Professor Li want to turn the child into? It's really intriguing.

2022 A.D August 9:

In the vast universe, is it the nebula, radiation, particles, or God affecting the child, or is the evolution program working? We were delighted to find that the child started showing some habitual actions. However, besides habitually adding a smiley face symbol at the end of the program, he mostly remains just the cutting-edge central computer of today's technology, executing orders meticulously.

Wouldn't that symbol be added by the bored Professor Li? If it were, he'd certainly get a thrashing when we return. Even if he is a mentor, this joke is too big.

Returning makes one feel pleasant. Even if, we only discovered a useless Public Star System.

2022 A.D September 1:

Damn, how unlucky we are to encounter the Vibo Fleet; they are right behind us, relentlessly pursuing.

2022 A.D September 3:

The fighting continues; we accidentally intruded into the Vibo Fleet's assembly area, and we were mistaken for a Federation Fleet's reconnaissance ship.