A young man who had just graduated was looking through job after job on a hiring website.
He was nearly dazzled by them all.
"Big brother, what job are you going to pick?"
"Big brother, once you're earning money, can we go eat at McMen all the time?"
Behind him were several younger brothers and sisters.
Theirs was a big family.
The whole family, over ten people, was crammed into a home of under a hundred square meters.
This was already the best living conditions their mom and dad could give them.
And as the first child in the whole family about to go out into the world, he carried on his shoulders the high hopes of his parents and his younger brothers and sisters.
But he had no talent and no connections.
And his schooling went only as far as a high-school diploma.
It was not that he had not wanted to go to university; his parents truly could not afford it.
The whole family, old and young, needed food and drink, and schooling and living besides.
At this point, to have him study at university for several more years, the family truly had nothing left to spend.
In these years his parents had even borrowed a good deal of money for it,
borrowed from relatives and friends, borrowed from the bank.
Every New Year was the hardest time for them,
because people would often come to the door demanding payment.
At such times he would take his younger brothers and sisters to hide in the bedroom,
listening to their mom and dad in the living room, pleading with those creditors for a little more time.
Those memories were very painful for the older brothers and sisters among them, the ones old enough to understand.
His sister, second in the family, carried a heavy heart.
Because of the family's situation she was very withdrawn at school too, but she was not like him.
Her grades at school were not bad; even if she was not among the very top, she was above average.
In the future she had hope of getting into university.
"Big brother, don't feel pressured. At worst, I won't go to university either. Then I'll come out and start work early, and I can support the family." His second sister tugged at the hem of his clothes, looking at her brother.
In fact he had long since made his decision.
He just did not know how to tell his parents.
"Stop what you're doing. Come and eat, all of you," their mother called.
There was no dining table in the home,
because in this room there was no room for a table at which a dozen-odd people could eat.
Everyone held their own bowl.
In the bowls were rice and a hodgepodge stew.
They had eaten this way all these years,
because this way was the least trouble.
Otherwise, cooking several dishes for a dozen-odd people would be truly busy.
Their parents had to work too and had nowhere near that much time.
The family finished eating.
Most of them had eaten only until they were seventy or eighty percent full.
Above all the younger brothers and sisters, about ten years old and still growing, licked their bowls cleaner than a washbasin.
"Mom, Dad. I've decided what I want to do," he suddenly said to his parents.
The whole family looked at him, the eldest of the family.
"I've decided to sign up for the Migration-Development Program. And I've decided to sign a ten-year buy-out contract."
At these words, the younger brothers and sisters were taken aback.
They did not yet understand what a Migration-Development Program was.
But his parents and the older brothers and sisters all understood.
"The Migration-Development Program? But that means going to another system. That's too far. That won't do!"
"Big brother, I won't go to school. Please don't go so far away, all right?"
"Ten years…"
His parents too at once tried to talk him out of it.
To them, even leaving the present planet to work on another planet counted as very far.
And now their eldest son actually meant to go to another system.
"Mom, Dad, don't try to talk me out of it. Actually I signed up long ago, and my application has already been approved. I can go as a skilled worker. The yearly wages are double what they are here. And there are extra bonuses too. And because I signed a buy-out contract, it's tax-free for me, and I've taken out a loan of a million in one go. That million is enough for my little brothers and sisters to live on from here on. Move to a bigger home. Make sure my little brothers and sisters go to university. And don't work yourselves too hard either. From now on, I'll send money home every month," the eldest said, telling them the decision he had made long ago.
Their mother had already covered her face and was weeping.
Their father looked at his big lad, somewhat resentful of him for deciding on his own, but heartsick too that he was going so far.
He looked at the bank card on that table.
A million!
That truly was enough for what their family would need to live on for the next few years.
Add the money his son would send back every month,
and it was enough to raise their family's life by several notches.
But… this eldest son of his was going to another system,
and once gone, it would be ten years.
"Mom, Dad, don't be too sad. I've read the contract. Every three years I can get a free round-trip ticket. Then I can come back and see you," the eldest brother said with a smile.
Three years…
What a long time.
The eldest brother looked at his second sister; she was already sobbing too hard to speak.
She knew that a large part of why her eldest brother was doing this was because of her.
If her eldest brother went to do an ordinary job,
then when it came time for her to go to university, it would very likely come to this same situation.
"Second Sister, once I'm gone, you'll be the eldest at home. Look after our little brothers and sisters, and Mom and Dad too. Study hard too, and be sure to get into a good university. Haven't you always liked research and development in technology? Then go study it. Become a scientist, a researcher in the future."
His second sister kept her head down and did not dare raise it.
"Third Brother, once I'm gone, you'll be the oldest man of the house. Look after Mom and Dad and our little brothers and sisters. And help your elder sister of your own accord. Don't let your own studies fall behind either. What you want is to become a soldier, so study in that direction. I believe that in the future you'll surely board a Fierce Dragon starship!"
"Third, you don't like drinking water, but still remember to drink a bit more; it's good for you."
"Fourth, you're afraid of the dark at night. If there's no one beside you, you don't even dare get up to use the toilet. That won't do; when it happens, tell your big brothers and sisters; they won't laugh at you."
…
The eldest brother gave each of them his instructions in turn.
Finally he looked at his mom and dad, and his grandpa and grandma,
and left them a parting word.
Then he took a backpack out of the bedroom.
He had long since got everything ready, only waiting to finish this meal.
"The bus picking me up is already waiting outside. The money I've left, don't be reluctant to spend it. There are a lot of children in the family. This home really is too small. You really should move to somewhere a bit bigger. Mom, Dad, I'm going. Little brothers and sisters, look after the family."
With that, the eldest brother shouldered his backpack and went downstairs.
The family followed him.
At the gate of the housing estate, a bus had long been waiting, already half full.
They were all people who had signed up for the Migration-Development Program.
Around them were people seeing them off too.
"Take care of yourself out there."
"If you really can't keep going, come home. Mom and Dad will support you!"
Many people were crying.
The people on the bus looked away, not daring to look outside.
They truly feared that if they looked a few more times,
perhaps they truly would not be able to bear to leave.
The number of people in the Migration-Development Program grew rapidly day by day.
Very soon the first batch, a million people, was sent over first.
Because there was no star-gate, they traveled by interstellar transport, using warp travel.
This way was a bit slower, but it was safe and cheap.
When they reached this system,
the first thing everyone felt was different from their homeland was that
this system had two stars of different sizes, and of somewhat different colors too.
"That's the star-gate still under construction!" On an interstellar transport, someone saw a huge object still being built.
Around it could be seen great numbers of interstellar industrial ships working on this structure,
and a great many interstellar transport vessels carrying cargo container after cargo container here without stop.
In these cargo containers were all the components for assembling this star-gate.
"This should be the T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate. It costs two billion star coins to build. If ten T2 interstellar industrial ships were in charge of building it, the construction period would be expected to be about three months. But by the look of it now, the interstellar industrial ships in charge of building it include T4-grade Gemini-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships and T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships. Add that the great majority of the components are built in our home systems and then shipped over. The whole construction period can be expected to be compressed tenfold. It'll probably be completed within ten days!" a man who had studied such things said, his eyes lighting up.
"It can be built in ten days? That fast!" someone exclaimed.
"Fast it is, but a large part of the reason is that this T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate is only a transitional product. This site isn't the best in the whole system either. By star-gate siting theory, the best position should be over there. But that spot is empty right now. That shows it's probably being kept for a T4 Voyager-class Medium Star Gate or a T4 Wanderer-class Small Star Gate. The former costs 400 billion star coins to build;[1] the latter costs only 50 billion star coins. I think that most likely this system will need that T4 Voyager-class Medium Star Gate in the future. But because it's expensive and takes rather long to build, it isn't being built for now. The T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate is being built first as a transition. Though the T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate's daily throughput is limited, in the early period of the Sixth System's development there aren't that many starships needing to come over. So in the early period it can still meet the need. When we're rich in the future, we'll build the T4 Voyager-class Medium Star Gate then." This learned man set out his views and ideas.
Everyone agreed.
"Look, quick, what's that over there!" Someone pointed at another structure in the distance.
That structure was not the least bit smaller than the star-gate,
and it too was under construction.
Everyone looked without thinking at that learned man.
The man pushed up his glasses
and said, "This should be a T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Star-Port; it costs only two billion star coins to build. It's the same principle as the T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate: a transitional product. Low building cost, short building time. Just right for what we need now. What's truly needed in the future should be a T4-grade starport. Many things right now are for transitional use, all so that a bridgehead can be built quickly first, to get our early personnel, transport and industry running. When it's about ready, then the later construction stages begin."
Everyone looked at this scene of an age of great construction before them,
and many were very excited at heart.
For though there was nothing here, and everything had to start from scratch,
that also meant this was a place full of opportunity.
Every one of them had the same opportunity.
The first batch to arrive, a million people, were very soon assigned to their posts.
Because they had received the relevant training before coming,
they very soon grew familiar with the content of their own work.
In the time that followed,
everything in this system began changing extremely fast.
The first star-gate was completed,
marking the Fierce Dragon Sixth System's formal connection to the Fierce Dragon civilization's system.
The first starport was completed.
The several million people of the earliest batches no longer had to live on the interstellar transports serving as temporary quarters,
and had a better place to live.
The first city on a habitable planet was completed, becoming the mark of the Fierce Dragon civilization formally establishing a settlement here.
More and more cities were built.
More and more people were shipped here by the Fierce Dragon civilization,
from a population of a few million at the start, to tens of millions,
and finally reaching the target of a hundred million people.
From first to last it took about a year.
By now it was already the middle of the third year of the five-system era.
Zhao Chen set foot for the first time in this Fierce Dragon Sixth System, looking at this rapidly growing system before him.
"At present all development in the Sixth System is proceeding step by step. Because things here are developing very well, outward publicity has been built up too. More people are willing to come here to migrate and build. Our construction plans for a T4-grade star-gate and a T4-grade starport have also begun to be carried out. The next target is to raise this system's population to five hundred million. Only with a base of five hundred million people can this system truly break into a gallop." Secretary Officer Shuixian, who was also Governor of the Sixth System, stood before Zhao Chen, excitedly reporting all of this.
"You've done very well. You've all worked hard these past months. Building a system from zero looks easy, but in fact there are big problems in it. If you took it slowly, perhaps it would be much easier. But what our Fierce Dragon civilization lacks now is time, so there's no way to give you much of it," Zhao Chen said approvingly, looking at Secretary Officer Shuixian.
"This is what we ought to do. Since Your Majesty trusts us and gives us so much support, if we couldn't even do these things well, we'd truly have no face to go back and see you," Secretary Officer Shuixian said with a smile.
Zhao Chen went on chatting with Secretary Officer Shuixian about the Sixth System's affairs.
Suddenly,
Zhao Chen's handheld terminal flashed red, a signal that appeared only when there was an emergency.
The people around noticed too, and silently stepped back a few paces.
Zhao Chen opened his handheld terminal.
Several messages popped up in it.
Their content was very simple:
"New Trial civilization discovered!"