Free Web NovelChapter 130: Chapter 130: The Great Deep Space Hibernation Technology
"Ah— AHH— My arm, my arm!" Skinny fell to the ground, clutching his forearm—which was now connected by only a shred of muscle and sinew—and letting out a miserable howl.
He never felt any pain when he was hurting others, but now that it was his turn, he couldn’t stand it for even a second!
The others present descended into chaos, as if reverting to a former life, and they all crouched down to find cover.
Only Mike remained standing, staring in the direction of the gunshot. His eyes were actually filled with excitement.
Everyone looked toward the source of the gunshot. Many of them had been awake for several years, yet they had never heard of guns still existing in this world.
As they all watched, the sound of footsteps emerged from a patch of shadow, and a figure slowly walked out.
Tactical helmet, full-color night-vision goggles, body armor, a black bodysuit, an automatic rifle in his hands, and two grenades hanging from his gear.
"A co... cop?" Big Beard mumbled. "Cops still exist? The government still exists? Are... are we saved?"
"Shut up and look at his feet. Would a cop wear Yeezys?" the person next to him cursed viciously. "This whole world’s a giant prison. What fucking government is left!"
Only then did everyone notice that while the man’s equipment was comprehensive, it was also a strange mismatch. Moreover, those full-color night-vision goggles were clearly military-grade; it was impossible for the police to be equipped with them.
"You found weapons?" Mike suddenly asked. "Where?"
Everyone else now understood. This person was likely another one of them, someone who had woken up from a Hibernation Pod and just happened to find weapons and gear somewhere.
"Ahhh—it hurts... ah..." Skinny was still screaming miserably off to the side, clutching his broken arm, providing a twisted background music to the scene.
Unexpectedly, the man completely ignored Mike’s question. Instead, he spoke in a hoarse voice, like an Evil Ghost’s:
"Hands on your head, on the ground. You have three seconds. Anyone who doesn’t comply dies."
As he spoke, he flicked the muzzle of his rifle, and a single bullet instantly silenced Skinny’s miserable screams.
Hearing this, the men were stunned for a moment, then they all put their hands on their heads and dropped to the ground.
The man had casually killed Skinny as if slaughtering a chicken. Naturally, none of them dared to challenge him now.
Mike, who was as strong as a bear, gave Shen Feng a deep look before he, too, got down on the ground.
Though he was extremely tyrannical and arrogant, he was by no means a fool.
Only then did Shen Feng step completely out of the shadows. Big Beard quietly raised his head to get a clear look at the man’s face and couldn’t help but freeze.
He looked like an Asian teenager.
BANG! The next instant, a bullet pierced the top of his head, ending his life.
Everyone immediately bowed their heads low, burying their faces against the ground, not daring to move an inch.
Shen Feng watched the men on the ground with a cold gaze, saying nothing. The air instantly grew oppressive and silent.
He had watched them from the shadows earlier and seen what they were capable of. He knew they were a pack of vicious, sadistic Demons who wouldn’t blink an eye at killing.
’To deal with evil men, you have to be more vicious than them. That’s the only way to completely intimidate them!’
After a long and agonizing minute, Shen Feng finally spoke again, his voice a low, interrogating growl:
"Who are you? Where is this place? What do the words on the Hibernation Pods mean?"
As the men remained silent, Shen Feng took a step forward and pressed the muzzle of his rifle to the back of a man’s head, whose body was covered in tattoos.
"You first. Three... two..."
The tattooed man shuddered and immediately blurted out:
"We... we’re inmates from New York State Prison... My name is Danny. I’m a felon serving a heavy sentence. For multiple counts of serial murder and arson, I was sentenced to 923 years in prison, with no possibility of parole. The years on the Hibernation Pods, that’s our sentence..."
’Prison? Sentences?’
Shen Feng couldn’t help but frown.
In the legal systems of Europe and America, many countries had abolished the death penalty and adopted the concept of consecutive sentencing. For a specific criminal, this could result in a prison sentence of several hundred or even a thousand years.
Often, some of the most vicious and hardened criminals could even be sentenced to over a thousand, or even several thousand, years.
Under these circumstances, there was basically no chance of sentence reduction or parole. It was equivalent to a life sentence—imprisonment until death.
Considering what he had overheard from the shadows earlier, the tattooed man didn’t seem to be lying.
In other words, all these people were felons serving heavy sentences!
The area Shen Feng had just passed through, the one with the highest sentence numbers, had all its Hibernation Pods’ lids open. This was clearly where these men had been hibernating.
And that man, Mike, was the prisoner here with the longest sentence: 1762 years!
"Why were you in Hibernation Pods instead of prison?" Shen Feng continued to ask. "Did the Eagle Country change its incarceration laws?"
Hearing this, the prisoners couldn’t help but look surprised. They glanced at each other, seemingly shocked that Shen Feng didn’t know the reason.
But feeling the cold touch of the gun barrel against the back of his head, the tattooed man quickly began to explain everything he had experienced to Shen Feng.
In 2021, as bleeding-heart liberal ideology ran rampant, the Eagle Country, in its extreme pursuit of political correctness, officially abolished the death penalty in all states.
Meanwhile, the failure of the southern wall project led to a backlash of illegal immigration, and the widespread legalization of marijuana caused the nation’s crime rate to skyrocket.
The Eagle Country’s inmate population, originally over two million annually, doubled at this point, reaching a staggering five million.
Such a large number of prisoners caused the entire prison system to buckle under the strain, resulting in massive government spending. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
After all, just maintaining a relatively humane prison environment was already enormously expensive, not to mention the costs of guards and all sorts of other related government employees.
All of this required money.
And after abolishing the death penalty, the number of criminals became completely uncontrollable, and imprisonment lost much of its deterrent effect.
Just as the entire federal government was at its wit’s end, a genius idea was proposed. It received unanimous approval from both the government and the prisoners, and the whole of society even cheered for this humane incarceration technology.
That idea was deep space hibernation technology.
A company specializing in space application technology, SpaceWorks, after long-term cooperation with the Eagle Country’s space agency (NASA), finally developed this epoch-making technology and was able to apply it reliably.
This so-called deep space hibernation technology was originally intended for long-duration, long-distance space travel.
After all, with light-speed and even near-light-speed travel yet to be developed, any long-term space journey using humanity’s current propellant-based propulsion technology would easily take decades or even centuries.
By the time astronauts reached their target celestial body, they would have long since died of old age.
However, if they entered a Hibernation Pod for deep space hibernation, it would be much more convenient.
In a low-temperature environment filled with hibernation fluid, a person’s metabolism would be lowered to its absolute minimum, thereby minimizing consumption. It was similar to entering a state of suspended animation.
Even after decades or centuries, as long as the machine didn’t break down and the hibernation fluid was continuously replenished, the person inside could maintain their original physical state without the problem of aging to death.
The original intention of SpaceWorks and the Eagle Country’s space agency (NASA) was long-distance space travel and colonization, but while the technology was theoretically reliable, it also required a large number of live test subjects.
After all, no one knew if such long-term hibernation would cause any hidden damage to a person’s mind or other faculties.
Of course, both organizations also needed money.
So what if they actually managed to pull off long-distance space travel?
How many years would it take to launch a single starship?
How many people could it transport at one time?
But the entire Eagle Country had five million prisoners!
How much profit was there to be made?!
It was an almost unimaginable amount!
The government also agreed with this method. After all, the amount of space, manpower, and resources it would save was immense. The annual budget savings were even measured in the hundreds of billions of US dollars.
After all, a single Hibernation Pod took up less space than a bed. There was no need to worry about the inmate inside escaping, so it required no dedicated guards.
A traditional prison required several hundred guards, but once hibernation replaced incarceration, only a few technicians and cleaning staff were needed.
As for the prisoners, of course they were even more in favor of it!
For a sentence of several decades, all they had to do was lie down and take a nap. When they woke up, they would still be young, their tedious and terrifying years of imprisonment would be over, and they could embrace the future.
And that didn’t even mention the felons sentenced to hundreds or thousands of years. They were originally supposed to rot and die of old age in prison, but now, they didn’t have to die at all!
They were going to enter a better future!
In the eyes of some, it was practically a time machine!
As for public opinion, and those holier-than-thou, bleeding-heart liberals?
Of course they were even more for it!
This way, no one’s rights were violated. The murderers, rapists, sadists, addicts, and all sorts of other deviants would get a chance to turn over a new leaf. What wasn’t there to like?
For a time, the entire country was swept up in a frenzy, fanatically praising the birth of the hibernation-incarceration system. It was even hailed as one of the greatest inventions of the century.
Later on, even many criminals with sentences of less than a year began to protest, demanding to serve their tedious sentences through hibernation technology.
And so, the several million prisoners within the Eagle Country all entered their Hibernation Pods, waiting for their sentences to end.
For a time, the entire nation was filled with joy and peace, believing they had finally entered a great new era.
"When we woke up, we were already here... We don’t know where this place is... It... it was Boss Mike who woke us up..." the tattooed man said, casting a careful glance at Mike.
When he had woken up, he had seen Mike and a few other prisoners standing outside his Hibernation Pod. They were the ones who had awakened him.
Just then, Mike, who had been lying quietly to the side, took advantage of Shen Feng’s momentary distraction. Like an enraged black bear, he suddenly rolled over and lunged, yanking the gun barrel aside before locking Shen Feng in a brutal bear hug!
