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Chapter 642: 405: Envy, Jealousy, and Hatred
Chapter 642: 405: Envy, Jealousy, and Hatred
Chapter 642: Chapter 405: Envy, Jealousy, and Hatred
After the formal handover, Dunbar warmly invited Harrison Clark to stay for dinner at his home.
Harrison thought about it and decided not to refuse since he had nothing else to do.
Dunbar was exceptionally enthusiastic about the orphan of his comrade.
It wasn’t just the superficial warmth he felt because of Harrison’s expensive watch and stylish clothes, but treating him as if he were half-family.
To make it lively, Dunbar even called one by one, summoning a large family from all corners of Carlisle.
Dunbar’s thriving family was much more prosperous than the scant population of the Clark household.
Dunbar had three sons and two daughters. The eldest son took over the clock and watch business. He was fifty-three this year, with three generations under his knee.
Dunbar’s youngest son was in his 40s, while his youngest grandson just turned fifteen this year.
As family members branched out, Dunbar’s family totaled nearly fifty people, with old and young spread across four generations.
Most of the family lived in Carlisle, and they moved around quite frequently.
Responding to their grandfather’s earnest summons, almost forty family members arrived back at the clock and watch store for dinner, except for a few who could not make it from Europe, East Half Area, and Vailand.
Dunbar introduced Harrison one by one, telling everyone that he was the only descendant of their savior.
If it weren’t for the fact that Harrison was now a big boss, Dunbar would have been too ashamed to form any connections. Otherwise, he would’ve really liked to be related to him.
At first, the little grandson was somewhat dissatisfied and particularly upset that his grandpa called him back from school because of someone he didn’t even know.
He had planned to have a party with his classmates tonight.
However, the moment he recognized Harrison, the young man went crazy with excitement.
He was a diehard music fan, well-versed in Europe and America’s top singers.
Originally, the young man paid no attention to the Chinese music scene.
As a young man with a native yellow skin and a white heart, he was unable to inherit Dunbar’s excellent traditional values. He firmly believed that the Chinese music scene was full of gimmicks, hype, plagiarism, and imitations.
In his social circle, he was probably the most critical person towards his grandfather’s motherland, constantly finding fault and begrudging everything.
But after privately changing his mind in recent months, he became secretly obsessed with the two Chinese composers who wrote Self-Combustion, causing his favorite singer Katie Swift to top the charts.
At first, he was ashamed to reveal his true thoughts. However, when he saw his classmates and friends of all skin colors also starting to fervently admire Mr. Clark and Carrie Thomas for their impressive singing and songwriting skills, he finally jumped on the bandwagon.
He quickly transformed into a super fan of Mr. Harrison Clark.
It’s hard to explain, but he became just as admiring as he once was scornful of the Chinese music scene.
Before dinner, Harrison was pulled by the spirited boy for a mad photo session and even joined him in a livestream for his classmates’ party.
The atmosphere at the other end of the party scene suddenly exploded.
Harrison didn’t quite understand it; he merely waved and said, “Hi, everyone.”
Perhaps this was the world of young people.
Based on his age, Harrison was actually two years younger than some of the people at the party, but after all, he had experienced so much, making him inevitably more mature than most.
According to his birth date, he was about to turn twenty-six.
Considering his time in the 31st century, his psychological age was already thirty-four.
However, Harrison still couldn’t figure out one thing.
He wasn’t sure if his body retained the marks of time during the rebuilding process.
Though it might seem insignificant, it was actually quite important to Harrison.
If his body inherited his age during the rebuilding, it meant that he was actually thirty-four now, only appearing younger due to the gene enhancements that extended his lifespan.
This was certainly bad news.
Each time he died in space proved that he still couldn’t surpass the limitations of his lifespan.
Assuming he could only live a year in the 31st century each time he went back, by June 2025, his real age would reach 94.
Now that his theoretical lifespan exceeded 200 years, he would still look middle-aged by 94. With proper maintenance and exercise, he could avoid looking significantly older.
But what about 2030?
2040?
Following this pattern, would Harrison be over 230 years old when Carrie reached her 40s?
Such a scenario was quite terrifying to think about.
Moreover, as the war progressed and humans were able to support longer periods, it was possible that Harrison might live more than one year in the 31st century – two years, three years, or even five years were possible.
This meant he might become a 200-year-old man before 2030 even arrived.
Harrison felt panic about this, so he had been deliberately ignoring the problem.
He only occasionally thought about it, feeling a bit apprehensive.
After all, if it was true, there was nothing he could do about it.
Perhaps he could only gamble and hope for some miraculous change if his gene activation surpassed 50%.
Harrison had a lively dinner at Dunbar’s house.
As he was leaving, Dunbar cheerfully patted Harrison’s shoulder.
“Harrison, if you ever feel lonely, come over to my place. I can probably live for a few more years and tell you many stories about your grandfather. My family is big, and it’s lively, with people of all age groups who can chat with you. You have to stay strong.”
Harrison nodded, “Okay.”
“Your grandfather’s greatest regret in life was not being able to make the Clark family more extended. Now that you have money and power, don’t disappoint him. Put in more effort. If you can’t find someone suitable because your standards are too high, why not try settling for someone you can trust? Just be careful not to get deceived.”
“Okay.”
Harrison left, carrying the box.
The driver for him today was the familiar Paul, but Harrison sat silently in the back seat the entire time without talking.
Paul thought that the boss might be in a bad mood today, so he didn’t dare to joke around.
Harrison Clark felt somewhat gloomy.
He held the wooden box in both hands, leaning against the backseat, occasionally getting his fingers caught in the rough edges of the box but didn’t even realize.
Two scenes kept appearing in his head.
One was the scene of him accompanying his grandfather, Moor Clark, during his lonely last moments, and the other was the lively gathering at Harry’s house.
He thought about how Moor gave the photos and the woolen trousers to Harry first.
Some happenings in the past are left untouched and don’t reveal their true meanings.
Although Harry narrated these events in simple words, just by imagining them, Harrison Clark could faintly taste the unspeakable sadness in his grandfather’s repeated attempts to cut ties with the past.
Harrison Clark took a deep breath.
He suddenly felt envious.
Perhaps he had always been fighting for the human family, but he didn’t have his own family.
The more he saw others’ lively gatherings of four generations under one roof, the more he could imagine the loneliness of his grandfather Moor Clark persisting through the bitter and desolate wait.
Everyone’s persistence is unique, but equally effective.
Harrison Clark didn’t think his persistence was harder than his grandfather’s.
He thought of Moor, who casually asked if he had any children.
When he replied, “Not yet,” the old man’s eyes were filled with extreme disappointment, but he hid it quickly.
Moor was a very traditional person. In the hearts of those generations, the greatest happiness in the world wasn’t luxurious living or power, but a house full of children and grandchildren.
By comparing himself with his close friend, Harry, Moor might have been unyielding in words but was inevitably saddened deep down.
“Sigh.”
Harrison Clark sighed leisurely.
He felt a little regretful.
When he was an ordinary person, why hadn’t he fallen in love, gotten married, and had children sooner?
That way, when he returned to Bashu, he would bring his wife and children along, and his grandfather’s shattered life would at least be complete in the last moments.
Unfortunately, the past cannot be pursued.
Harrison Clark didn’t know if his fate would have taken a different path if that had indeed happened.
Life doesn’t have what-ifs.
What has been missed is missed forever.
When he returned to the villa, he carefully took out the sixteen pairs of woolen trousers and arranged them on the bed in order of size.
The stitching was intricate, not the simplest type, but with beautiful patterns woven in.
The pants were also well-designed.
It was clear that the person who knitted these had put in a lot of effort and research.
However, no one wore knitted woolen trousers nowadays, so those things on the bed seemed rather outdated.
Harrison Clark didn’t think so.
He placed his hand on the trousers and began to imagine his never-met grandmother knitting stitch by stitch under the dim light.
He sat by the chair, quietly watching, freeing his thoughts, letting them wander wherever they wanted.
Unknowingly, it was dawn. He got up from the chair, stretched lazily, and carefully packed the woolen trousers and photo album into the leather suitcase.
Then he went to bed and slept for the rest of the morning, only getting up in the afternoon.
After lunch, he sat down in his study and began typing on the keyboard.
It was time to work.
For the past ten days or so, he’d been working intermittently, sometimes picking up a little work.
Despite his laziness, his productivity remained high.
The song and movie script he had planned to transfer were already sent to Julia Lambert.
Madman’s Conjecture Collection 3.0 had also been released.
In addition to the detailed contents of the 500-Year Plan, he needed to highlight some new technologies.
Harrison Clark didn’t want the newer and more advanced technologies he introduced.
For example, last month, he brought out the framework for carbon structure chips and some concepts for biological computers. Now, he has already made a leap in materials science.
However, this time, he was going to draft something simpler: a conventional 1nm process silicon chip that is closer and more accessible.
That’s because, even with his accelerated pace, it would take at least seven or eight years for carbon structure chips to appear, and 20 years for them to become widespread.
In the next 10 or 20 years, there will be a rapid development gap in human computer technology.
The 500-Year Plan takes into account this small gap in the development cycle of artificial intelligence and other similar gaps.
Harrison Clark will fill all these gaps this time to reach the extreme in all aspects.
Silicon chip technology is already mature and widely applicable.
If Harrison Clark starts the transformation now, he will be able to start building wafer fabs within a year, produce seamless products with the current technology route in two years, and complete a comprehensive popularization and upgrade within four years.
In addition, he will specifically move other mature application technologies and strive to complete an unstoppable industrial layout within three years.
This will help Harrison’s country quickly break through Europe and America’s blockade and force the Western world to quickly accept China’s power and the fact they cannot be suppressed.
Alongside the cultural exchanges and merging of Eastern and Western thinking promoted by Compound Eye Crisis, the peaceful evolution of the international landscape will be accelerated.
Harrison Clark’s goal is to achieve relative eternal peace in the world within 30 years and then focus on major projects, quickly making breakthrough progress in five core fields of aviation, materials, energy, biology, and medicine.
In addition to promoting more direct application technologies, he also wants to resolve human life expectancy problems as early as possible to allow more talented individuals to live longer.
At 10 PM, he drove out himself.
He was going to pick up Carrie Thomas.
Don’t get the wrong idea. At half-past eleven at night, he and Carrie would log in simultaneously to hold the world-saving team’s first online meeting with the other four members in their local Beijing time of 8:30 AM.