Some readers’ comments

I really liked the dynamic of the different members on the ship and how they explored the new world. Recommend :)

For a short story, this really intrigued me! I would one day love to read this book - it sounds deep and, if it reaches the expectations I have for it, the full novel would be something right up my alley.

I have never read a book like this! There are characters, a plot, a conclusion but not set out in a way I've ever seen before. Intriguing. I would read the next in the series.

I loved his ideas and the plot lines that he created.

Editorial Review --CEO and Founder of Reedsy---

"Your book contains an incredibly intricate storyline containing multiple complex characters, and this complexity can help set you apart in your genre. Make sure your readers are aware of the thought and effort you put into your world-building by talking about your creation process. For example, can try dropping fun facts about Nearth, things that inspired its creation, and how the moral and ethical dilemmas present in your book manifest on the planet."
"Your book contains many important characters, not just a single protagonist and antagonist. Make sure your readers are aware of the fact that your book contains a host of different personalities and character journeys, as this complexity will draw and maintain the interest of prospective readers."
"Your story revolves around complex scientific innovations and terminology, and the inclusion of all of your futuristic technology and its impact on human society will greatly intrigue sci-fi fans and technology enthusiasts alike. Make sure that you convey all of the futuristic science and technology present in your book to your audience. For example, you can discuss the three additional industrial revolutions in your book and hint at their impact on Earth's society."

SUMMARY

If it piques your interest, I hope you'll read the full book. The full book entitled “SUPERMAN FROM EARTH” is at Amazon.

After three industrial revolutions, mankind entered the fourth in the 2050s, with breakthroughs in nanotechnology and genetic engineering. Materials with various extraordinary properties were easily produced by nanotechnology. Genetic engineering greatly extended the life span of human beings. The fifth industrial revolution started in the 2280s, marked by the widespread application of controllable nuclear fusion technology. Large amounts of nuclear fusion materials were stored in sea water, thus solving humankind’s energy problem. The sixth industrial revolution took place in the 2390s, when humans were able to create and store antimatter stably. The reaction between positive matter and antimatter produced a 100% mass-energy conversion rate, which far exceeded the 0.7% conversion rate of nuclear fusion.

The breakthroughs in science and technology led to a sustained and substantial increase in human productivity, which changed people's lives and social relations. The per capita GDP of the whole world reached about 100 trillion US dollars, and most of the materials were available on demand; Average life expectancy was nearly 400 years, and people were able to partially control their dreams, which was very close to the feeling of reality; The whole world achieved unity after the end of traditional wars, trade wars and cultural wars. People's ideological and moral quality was very noble, and the ugliness in human nature almost disappeared.

Life’s quest was not only for length of life, but also for width and depth of life. People were able to live anywhere they felt like, including in space. After training, people were able to engage in a variety of different occupations, while robots performed all the specific day-to-day tasks. People were able to easily change their appearance through genetic technology. Most people no longer followed monogamy, although some more traditional old people and a few young women still insisted. People built many "Time Cities" to imitate the environment and life of the ancient world, including the cities, towns and villages of the 21st century, where real people or robots played various roles as part of a very realistic experience. People were keen to help others and make a contribution to society in order to realize their self-worth. Everyone genuinely loved one another.

However, the development of human society encountered three bottlenecks. Although the technological breakthroughs continued, there was no significant progress in basic science after the 20th century. Progress in research on the most complicated organ, the brain, was slow too. Currently, humans could only slow down the ageing of the brain and control it to a limited extent, and they were far from being able to replicate it. Humans were still unable to obtain energy directly from the Sun. People had previously tried converting the Sun’s energy into antimatter within the Sun itself, but the energy density of antimatter was too high, and the resulting solar accidents affected the Earth.

Human beings were constantly exploring the universe. In 2287, humans sent the first probe to the Alpha Centauri star system, which was the nearest to our own solar system. The probe was powered by controlled nuclear fusion reaction, and its speed could reach 4% of the speed of light. The probe mainly observed Proxima Centauri, which was the star closest to the Sun, but its diameter was only one-seventh of the Sun. People hoped in the future to be able directly to use energy from the smallest star. In 2397, the probe sent back information. To everyone’s surprise, it found a planet similar to Earth in the Alpha Centauri star system, which was named ‘Nearth’, because it was near Earth. Although the probe did not discover water or life on Nearth, the space agency believed that it could be used as the base for exploring the Alpha Centauri star system.

At that time, mankind had just developed antimatter spacecrafts, which could attain speeds up to 18% of the speed of light, so it would take 24 years to reach the Alpha Centauri star system. This enormously long space trip presented two major risks: for one thing, the spacecraft would likely come into collision with cosmic dust, which could cause varying degrees of damage to it; for another, astronauts would have to undergo an extended hibernation so the amount of bulky supplies for the astronauts the spacecraft would have to carry, could be reduced. This extended hibernation might damage the brain, although scientists were unsure whether this would be the case or not.

Although the risks were high, many people were still eager to join the expedition. If successful, it would be the first time mankind had landed on a celestial body outside our solar system. The space agency selected six members for the expedition, who represented the elite of mankind. They all took a new name with the word “Sun” in it. Captain Sun-Space, age 382, was highly experienced and proficient in many different fields. He had worked in the space agency for many years. He was a mature, dogged, patient, wise person, with strong leadership skills. Vice-captain Sun-Sky, female, age 232, also had strong leadership experience and was proficient in biology and medicine. She was a typical modern female, who was willing to have sex with any man she liked, including all the male crew members. Sun-Time, age 176, had participated in many space operations, including the previous test flights of nuclear fusion spacecrafts. He was proficient in electronics and materials-related science. He was handsome, gentle, and intelligent. Recently, he had been dating different women, 979 in total. In addition to sex, he enjoyed visiting the “Time Cities”, where he was just a common nobody there. Sun-Star, age 41, was a famous author who wrote science fiction novels about space colonization. He was selected with an eye to possible emigration to and development of the Alpha Centauri star system in the future. Sun-Bright, female, age 26, was the captain’s great granddaughter. Influenced by her great-grandfather since childhood, she had a fascination with exploring the universe. She was one of the few people who still followed monogamy. She was Sun-Time’s girlfriend, who himself had turned to monogamy for her. Sun-Light, age 23, had very high IQ and was a genius in astrophysics. He spent most of his time studying his favorite subject, physics. Just like his name, he was bright, optimistic, and straightforward.

Thus half the crew were old or middle-aged, with the other half being younger members included to cultivate talent and experience in space exploration for the future. Although they all lived in a world that was nearly perfect, they were born and raised in different times, so there were still some differences in their attitudes and thinking, because the times the older members had grown up in had been far from perfect. The space agency equipped the crew with the most advanced technology of the time, including a robot for each person, which could not only protect the crew member but also stored all knowledge possessed by mankind.

On July 16, 1969, mankind set off from Earth for the Moon. On July 16, 2398, an epoch-making day in human history, the antimatter spacecraft, carrying a crew of six astronauts, took off from Earth to fly outside our solar system for the first time. If all went well, they would reach the Alpha Centauri star system in 24 years, landing first on Nearth and then flying on to Proxima Centauri. The antimatter probe was launched three days beforehand, to gauge the danger ahead for the spacecraft.

After a 24-year voyage, the spacecraft arrived in Alpha Centauri star system with only minor damage from cosmic dust. All the crew members awoke from their extended hibernation with, for now, no serious brain damage, but Sun-Sky believed the long-term results were more critical, especially for the older crew members.

The probe reached Nearth first and sent back information about the planet to the spacecraft. What surprised everybody was the existence of oxygen, water and life on Nearth; even more shockingly, there were two types of animal of higher intelligence. One was almost identical to humans and were called numans; the other was short, stocky, deformed and ugly, and were called dwarfs. They were both at the stage of agrarian civilization and were engaged in a fierce war with one another. The numans were at a disadvantage and the dwarfs, being more brutal and brave, held the upper hand. They also ate their numan captives, and, because of this, the numans faced the possibility of extinction. Another reason the dwarfs were in the ascendant was that they could control giant beasts similar to dinosaurs.

More detailed observation found that the numans were not exactly the same as the humans. They had a natural lifespan of around 100 years and an average height of 190 centimeters, and a fourth finger longer than the others. However, the average lifespan of the dwarfs was less than 40 years. The crew was very curious about their origins and put forward a variety of theories, the most accepted of which was that the humans were of the same origin as the numans and probably the same was true of the dwarfs, given how similar the three were. Most likely, there had been a migration between Earth and Nearth a long time ago, and the organizers of that migration were probably some more advanced intelligent beings, super aliens.

The crew saw large areas of land in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. The continent of the northern hemisphere was divided into Eastland and Westland by a plateau region in the middle, simply called Plateau. The terrain of Eastland was relatively flat, while there were many mountains and lakes in the middle of Westland, including the Central Lake, a vast body of inland water measuring more than one million square kilometers. Numans occupied all of Westland, and the central and southern parts of Eastland; dwarfs occupied the northernmost part of Eastland. The continent in the southern hemisphere was called South Continent, where no numans or dwarfs were found. It was possible they had not yet discovered South Continent, though there was a ship currently drifting between the South Continent and Westland.

The various elements and other minerals discovered by the crew on Nearth were quite similar to those on Earth, with only two differences. One was that Nearth contained much more lithium, which was an important raw material for nuclear fusion, so there was much more potential nuclear energy stored here than on Earth. Moreover, the lithium was mainly to be found in and around South Continent. The other difference was that small doses of nuclear radiation were found in the northern part of Eastland which was the area inhabited by the dwarfs.

It was not long before the spacecraft arrived in the space above Nearth, and the probe flew on to Proxima Centauri to prepare for the crew's next move. At that moment, a powerful flare erupted on the main star, rendering many of the crew's equipment unusable and severing the connection with the probe. This filled the crew with foreboding but, nevertheless, the crew still landed on Nearth and made contact with numans and dwarfs in order to gain a deeper understanding of them. They also collected as many of their genes as possible, to help them prepare them future decisions and actions. The crew were only allowed to observe for the time being and could not interfere in any significant way with the major activities of the numans and dwarfs, especially when it came to the development of their society. Even with the effects of the stellar flares, the crew still had access to some advanced equipment, which made them like superhumans to the numans and dwarfs.

The captain was in command of all operations. Born in 2016, he had a rich store of life experiences from a far-from-perfect society, having himself been a participant in trade wars and culture wars between countries. As time passed, human technology continued to make breakthroughs, productivity continued to develop, and the whole world was eventually unified. Along with others, his nature became more and more noble, and he was keen on helping others and making a contribution to society in order to realize his self-worth. But facing different species a few levels below human beings in another world, the selfishness and ruthlessness that had been buried deep in his heart began to surface in the quest for benefits for human beings back on Earth.

The captain's idea was that when humans migrated to Nearth in the future, South Continent would be the best base because it had not yet been discovered by the numans. Also, there was an extremely rich deposit of nuclear fusion materials in that area. In the future, humans could use South Continent as a starting point to further explore and develop Proxima Centauri, which was the smallest star and therefore easier to exploit. Moreover, it was 0.21 light years away from Nearth, so even if an accident should happen, it would not affect Nearth. For this reason, the captain could not let the numans discover South Continent, let alone allow them to master nuclear technology. He must try to halt the scientific and technological development of the numans and dwarfs and keep them at the agrarian stage of civilization. It was best to let the multiple forces remain in a state of division and warfare, so that the next time the expedition team arrived on Nearth, it would be easier to control them.

The two middle-aged crew members, Sun-Sky and Sun-Time, understood and agreed with the captain's plan. The young member Sun-Star could also understand the captain’s thinking. Even though he grew up in a perfect modern society, his profession as a writer had given him a deep understanding of human nature and social relations. However, he did not approve of the captain's plan. The other young members, Sun-Bright and Sun-Light, were both very kind and straightforward. At first, they did not understand the captain's intentions and later, when they did, could still not approve of his plan.

The captain faced an immense risk. Over time, the effects on the brain of the extended  hibernation in the spacecraft had become more pronounced. The more elderly a person, the more severe the side effects. The captain became easily tired and dizzy and had to rely on frequent sleeps to alleviate the side effects. However, he continued to work hard for the noble cause of humans.

Each crew member was assigned different tasks. Sun-Light was responsible for scouting the numans of Eastland. There was an enormous empire called the Great Eastern Empire, which covered most of Eastland, with the exception of the Dwarf Kingdom in the far north and the Highland Kingdom, a small country at the foot of Plateau. The Empire had once been very prosperous, yet, recently, it had been facing threats from every direction and its people were becoming restless. The Empire was fighting against the dwarfs in the north and was gradually losing; in the southwest, there was a rebel army of poor peasants, and their momentum was constantly increasing; the upper echelons of the Empire also had many problems. The Emperor was weak and hedonistic, the prince was arrogant and cruel, and there were many internal factions at the top that were feuding with each other, mainly involving the defense minister’s faction which represented the northern forces and the finance minister’s faction which represented the southern forces.

Straightforward and kind as he was, Sun-Light could not understand the complex interpersonal relationships in numan society, and this lead to many amusing incidents. He was frequently deceived and used without him realizing it. Yet, at the same time, he had made some true friends. Sun-Light sympathized with the poor and miserable lives of the numans. He was an idealist, bent on helping numans to live a happy life by imparting to them modern scientific and technological knowledge and developing their productivity. He also accidentally told an intelligent boy about Newton's laws of mechanics. Since this was forbidden by the captain, he felt bitterly disappointed about all this, and he found he could only fulfill his desires by designing ideal scenarios in his dreams. In the context of complex numan society, some of his human instincts also began to emerge, including pride, resentment and jealousy.

Sun-Light fell in love with a beautiful woman. He named her Princess, the most beautiful name that he knew from ancient times. Blessed with outstanding physical and mental attributes, Princess was the daughter of the finance minister. Like her father, she was clever, deep thinking and ruthless.  Sun-Light, in his simplicity, was no match for her at all, and she had a great influence on his future fate.

Sun-Star was responsible for scouting the dwarfs. He was disgusted by their ugliness and cruelty, but at the same time, he also pitied and sympathized with them. They were short and deformed because their ancestors had unfortunately been exposed to nuclear radiation. A long time ago, a meteorite hit Nearth while a nuclear reaction was occurring in it, but, knowing no better, the dwarfs' ancestors had worshiped the meteorite. In addition, the dwarfs were the earliest inhabitants of Eastland, and they had helped the early numan immigrants when they first arrived, but the numans later slaughtered them and drove them away. Sun-Star wanted to help the dwarfs and change their fate, but he knew the captain would not agree.

Sun-Bright was responsible for studying the animals and plants on Nearth. She found that they had evolved better than those on Earth. There were also giant beasts akin to dinosaurs, and wolves with nearly human-level intelligence. The wolves had prehensile horns that were similar to human hands. Given all these better developments, she believed that Nearth had experienced fewer disasters than Earth. She stumbled upon a few numans who were survivors of a shipwreck and had arrived on South Continent by chance. Innocent and kindhearted, Sun-Bright helped these poor numans. However, the news shocked the captain, who did not want numans to discover South Continent. Only Sun-Light really understood and supported her, and she began to grow fond of him, which made it possible for her to abandon the principle of monogamy.

Sun-Time was responsible for scouting the numans in Westland. Since the drifting ship was found between South Continent and Westland,  scouting Westland was the most important task. He went first to the Western Sea Kingdom, the most powerful country on the southern coast of Westland, and stayed in a high-class brothel there. Unlike Sun-Light, who preferred to be with civilians, Sun-Time wanted to acquire information through high level officials. In addition, the brothel had the most beautiful women in the country, who aroused his deepest desires. Unfortunately for him, the captain’s rules forbade him from having sex with them. When Sun-Time compared this place with the ancient “Time Cities” he had visited on Earth, he found he preferred it on Nearth because everything there was completely real, and he was made to feel like a superman. Furthermore, he was not bound by Earth’s moral codes.

Sun-Time befriended the royal family through the high-class courtesans, and he learned that it was very ambitious. They wanted to unify the entire Westland and build an empire like the Great Eastern Empire in Eastland. The prince also married the princess of the Empire, hoping this would gain him the Empire’s help and support. However, Sun-Time discovered that she was a fake princess, who had taken the place of the real princess. She was actually the niece of the Empire’s finance minister, who was also very ambitious. Sun-Time cheated on several stunning beauties, but they all willingly sacrificed their lives for him. This was something he had never encountered on Earth, and it moved him deeply and made him feel guilty.

Sun-Time also explored an island country called the Western Island Kingdom, which, unlike other regions, had a democratic system of government with the participation of the entire population. He also discovered a small country in the Central Lake region where numans were fond of Euclidean geometry. This was because a long time ago a numan happened to stumble upon some geometry painted on the wall of a cave, but Sun-Time was not able to find the cave. These discoveries worried the captain.

After a period of exploration, the crew had roughly identified the origin and development process of numans and dwarfs. It happened long after 70,000 BC, when Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa on Earth. Extensive genetic analysis suggested that the earliest numans appeared on Eastland about 30,000 years ago and were soon transformed into deformed dwarfs by the radioactive meteorite. The second group of numans appeared in the Central Lake area of Westland about 9, 000 years ago and gradually migrated across the whole of Westland. A small group went all the way east, miraculously crossing Plateau and reaching Eastland, where they first settled in the Highland Kingdom in the foothills of Plateau. Later on, most of the numans left the Highland Kingdom, after fierce conflicts with the dwarfs, they eventually occupied most of Eastland. The small group of numans that stayed in the Highland Kingdom had a very strong faith and later on, Sun-Sky caused several of the most pious numans of them to fly across Plateau.

The crew eventually found the cave with the geometric paintings. They also found other caves with designs, symbols and characters painted on their walls, including depictions of modern scientific and technological knowledge, such as Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism. One cave particularly interested the captain as it was painted with mountains and rivers, various animals and plants, and 22 small figures. The captain believed that they were all created by gods or demons. Among the depictions, there were 15 species of human from Earth, including our ancestors Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals who were exterminated by them. There were two human species on Nearth, numans and dwarfs, and five unknown ones, possibly on other planets in the system. The captain also believed that the modern science and technology on the cave walls was painted by the second earliest group of numans who appeared in Westland. They were naked and had nothing but were apparently determined to pass on the knowledge they held in their heads to their descendants. Unfortunately, that knowledge appeared to have been either forgotten or ignored by later generations.

In another part of the cave wall, the small figures were bound, and the captain thought that they were punished. He also believed that different species were punished differently, and the numans on Nearth were punished less because they were tall and lived longer. The dwarfs were punished more severely, as their ancestors had suffered radiation damage and become deformed and short-lived.

Based on paintings on other cave walls, the captain speculated that the numans gradually stopped believing they were sinful and instead believed they were sent by gods to rule over all other things in their world. However, there were still some numans who believed they were sinful, and they were slaughtered or driven away because of their difference in belief. Those of these determined numans that survived, fled all the way to the east of Westland and arrived at the foot of Plateau. Miraculously, they crossed Plateau which is more than 10,000 meters high, and reached the other side to establish the Highland Kingdom. At first, they were very religious and tried to atone for their sins. But gradually some of the less determined of them found they could not bear the hard life, and they began to expand further into Eastland, taking over most of it and driving the dwarfs to the far north.

The rest of the crew did not believe the captain’s speculative ideas. Many cave walls on Earth were painted with mountains and rivers, a variety of plants and animals, and many small figures, which were ancient records of their hunting or sacrificial scenes. It had never occurred to humans that the small figures represented different species. Humans had found ample evidence that different species evolved over hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. Moreover, whether ancient humans or numans, they could not have mastered modern scientific knowledge. Besides, before he eventually slipped into a coma, the captain activated the most powerful brain stimulation, which made his brain extremely active and very prone to crazed excitement, bizarre and extreme thoughts, and hallucinations. The crew was more inclined to believe that humans on Earth were transported here by more advanced aliens and gradually became dwarfs and numans. The grounds for this were that the genes of all three were very similar, and the dwarfs and numans appeared here later than the Homo sapiens appeared on Earth.

However, the captain was the leader of the expedition, and according to the regulations, everyone had to obey him.

The captain was getting weaker and weaker. He asked the other crew members to figure out two plans to hinder the growth of civilization on Nearth. One was to change the trajectory of meteorites in space and let them hit Nearth. Some meteorites would smash into the ocean near the Great Eastern Empire and the Western Sea Kingdom. The resulting tsunamis would destroy their powerful fleet and put a stop to their expedition of South Continent. The damage would also cause civil wars in the Empire and the Kingdom. Furthermore, the tsunamis would flood the whole Western Sea Island and thus nip the development of numan’s democracy and capitalism in the bud. Some meteorites would also hit the dwarf troops so they would lose their edge in the wars and not be able to exterminate the numans. Smaller meteorites could also be used to kill selected families and individuals, including the finance minister of the Empire, the man who was secretly behind the expedition to South Continent, and his family. His daughter, Sun-Light’s beloved, would also be killed. The young Newton of the numans, who might launch a scientific and technological revolution in the future, would be eliminated as well.

The other plan was more moderate. The meteorite attack was replaced by the leaking of secrets information, provocation and estrangement, accompanied by the deliberate spread of viruses. For example, they could pass on the rumor that the wife of the prince of the Western Sea Kingdom was not the true princess of the Great Eastern Empire but the niece of the finance minister, so as to provoke disputes or even wars between the two states, cause internal division within the royal family of the Kingdom. Hopefully, this would spark off revenge killings between the royal family and influential ministers of the Empire. The crew would also order their robots to pose as the emperors and kings and give fake orders to create further conflict and chaos. To weaken the dwarfs, viruses would be spread first into the flying dinosaurs and then the dwarfs. To stifle the nascent democracy and capitalism of the Western Sea Island, the crew would let numans “accidentally” discover gold mines there, which would provoke greed in numans all across the planet, leading to the rapid invasion and destruction of the whole island. In addition, the crew would destroy all the caves painted with modern knowledge. The captain's main concern was South Continent, which must never be discovered by numans and, to this end, the finance minister's family including Princess had to be killed.

In the end, fearing the gods and demons, the captain chose the less extreme option before he fell into a coma, even though it was never going to be as effective as the meteorite bombardment.

Sun-Light was lost in grief and depression. This kind and straightforward young man did not understand how or why the captain could be so cruel and despicable. The crew was not only grabbing the numans’ valuable resources but were also hindering their development by entangling them in poverty, ignorance and backwardness. Did they not themselves come from that perfect and noble world on Earth, where everyone helped and loved one another and contributed to society to realise their own self-worth? Were the dwarfs and numans not the same as humans? And were they not currently at the agrarian stage of civilisation, agrarian culture and therefore even more in need of help? Another thing that distressed Sun-Light was that Princess, his one true love, would be killed. Although at this time he could not have any intimate contact with her, he hoped that he could marry her when he visited Nearth the next time. Even though Princess would be an old lady by then, human genetic technology could easily restore her youth.

Before leaving Nearth, the crew would search for other similarly painted caves and destroy them. One after another, the crew discovered more caves with modern scientific and technological knowledge. Among them, Sun-Light found one with the mass-energy equation E=mc2 painted on the wall, which thrilled him. He was even more astonished when, elsewhere on the cave wall, he saw a painting of two planets connected by a thick line. Obviously, those two planets represented Earth and Nearth. This reinforced his belief that humans were once transported to Nearth by super aliens, and the modern knowledge had been left behind by those super aliens. On Nearth, humans gradually became dwarfs and numans.

Standing in front of this extraordinary cave wall and imagining the call of the super aliens, Sun-Light hit upon an idea that rid him of his grief and depression and restored his energy and vitality. He decided to stay on Nearth to pass on his own scientific and technological knowledge to numans in order to develop their productivity and help them escape ignorance and poverty. To achieve this end, he would not hesitate to sacrifice his own life, because he had always vowed  since childhood that he would devote everything of him to social development. In his mind, numans and dwarfs were the same as humans, and simply needed more help. In a state of great excitement, he took off his space suit with its tracking devices, naively believing that this would prevent the rest of the crew from locating him.

A shocking and extraordinary accident occurred, which was to change the course of numan and dwarf development and would also change the fate of humans. It could be that a mysterious and unknown force might be behind the accident. The probe that previously left Nearth and headed for Proxima Centauri was diverted by the gravitation pull of an unknown planet and was then caught by the main star's gravity and pulled straight towards it. The probe, which was carrying a large amount of antimatter, exploded inside the star, and the explosion's extremely high energy-density caused an uncontrolled reaction inside the star, prompting the stellar eruption. The unsuspecting spacecraft orbiting Nearth in space was destroyed by the eruption, and the crew was killed. Sun-Light survived because he had just taken off his spacesuit and so was not connected with the spacecraft, but he lost all his equipment and now even found himself inferior to a normal numan because of his very small stature.

For Sun-Light hope followed the immediate grief and horror. Now he could stay on Nearth and be with Princess. Together they could pass on his knowledge, develop productivity, and bring happiness and prosperity to numans. To his surprise, when they met again, Princess ordered him to kill her elder brothers. But Sun-Light had lost his superpowers and, with his own life on the line, he used his quick wits to escape into the mountains. Having grown up in a perfect world, he had no experience of being in such a situation and suffered all kinds of hardships in the mountains. To him, it felt like a living death, and he even contemplated suicide. Only his dream of leading numans into a more advanced civilization kept him alive. He believed that these hardships were an ordeal sent by the super aliens, and this confirmed him in his beliefs about the need to contribute to numan society.

Later, Sun-Light fled from the mountains. To make a living and escape Princess’s hunters, he worked as a slave in a manor house. Being short in stature and not knowing the native language, he was constantly bullied, and also suffered an accident that nearly killed him, leaving him blind in one eye, crippled in one leg and suffering chest pains. Once again, the pain and torment almost drove him to suicide, but the strength and calling of his inner faith pulled him through. He thought that the pain was sent by the super aliens to test him and educate him.

Because of his intelligence, the hardships that Sun-Light endured served to mature him and toughened him up. He also received help and support from some good numans, which made him see the potential glory of numan nature and offered him a deeper understanding of the complicated web of society and humanity. He was growing more and more determined in his belief in the need to contribute to numan society. He had little concern for the material things of life, and he believed that the only value of his own life was in the benefits he could bring to numans.

Sun-Light's next stop was a northern border city, where numans were fighting dwarfs. The virus spread by the crew weakened the dwarfs, but did not crush them completely. Sun-Light made gunpowder and artillery to help the numans defeat the dwarfs and became a hero. Afterwards, he began to pass on his scientific and technological knowledge to numans, and his heart leaped with joy at the sight of his dream being fulfilled. Nevertheless, the envy of top officials led them to try to discredit him. They spread rumors that his short stature was because he was a hybrid of dwarf and numan, and they asserted that his knowledge was nothing but sorcery he used to befog the minds of numans.

Sun-Light had no choice but to flee again. There was nowhere to go but the Western Sea Kingdom, as he had guessed from various rumors he had heard, that the current king there might be Sun-Time, but he did not know how Sun-Time could possibly have survived the explosion of the spacecraft. Sun-Light’s agile mind came up with a reason for him to leave. He said that he needed a ship to sail east to an island where there were medicines that could cure the king’s uncle of his disease. Actually, he just wanted to sail to the Western Sea Kingdom, and he was the only one on Nearth who knew that the planet was round. Many crew members were restless and were driven crazy by the long voyage. Sun-Light felt the situation was getting dangerous, so he told them the story of “the most beautiful world”, which was, in fact, about his previous life on Earth. The crew were fascinated by the wonderful life in the most beautiful world and were finally appeased when Sun-Light told them they themselves might reach there.

Sun-Light met Sun-Time, the new king, in the Western Sea Kingdom. The king told him that, at the time of spacecraft explosion, he was exploring the cave several kilometers underwater and he had escaped the disaster as his equipment had not been connected to the spacecraft. Fortunately, his robot had survived with him, so he commanded it to defeat the troops of the former king, and so he became king himself. Afterwards, the robot ran out of power, and Sun-Time failed to build on his success and conquer the whole world.

Another thing that Sun-Time said was even more shocking to Sun-Light. He had seen a painting on the wall of that underwater cave in which two orbs were connected by a row of small figures. Sun-Light remembered the painting he himself had seen, where two orbs were connected by a thick line. So, there were two paintings suggesting a connection between Earth and Nearth, and it was beyond doubt that humans were transported from Earth to Nearth in ancient times. Nor was it only in ancient times that the two planets had been connected, but in modern times too and humans had come to Nearth. This deepened Sun-Light’s worship of the super aliens and made him even more convinced that he had a sacred mission to develop the civilization of Nearth.

Sun-Time became aged greatly in the less than two years since they parted and had to sleep a lot to sustain his energy. They both knew this was the after-effect of the extended hibernation on the spacecraft, and that such effect would be more severe for older people. Although Sun-Light was still young, he started to worry about his own future. The after-effects would get to him someday, quite apart from his existing chest condition. He was not really anxious for himself but worried whether there would not be enough time for him to disseminate his knowledge, develop productivity and bring well-being and prosperity to numans. He reached an agreement with Sun-Time: Sun-Time would allow him to disseminate scientific and technological knowledge if he helped Sun-Time make firearms to suppress the rebels.

Sun-Light found that Sun-Time was no longer as kind and sincere as when he was on Earth, but had become as profligate, brutal and ruthless as the numan nobles around him. Sun-Time even ordered the army to kill all the crew of the ship from Eastland who had come with Sun-Light. The realization drove Sun-Light into depression. It was the minister of education who helped him overcome it. The minister admired his honest poverty, benevolence and initiative, so he gave him his daughter in marriage. A loving wife and happy family life enabled Sun-Light to pursue his dream of spreading his knowledge and leading numans to a more advanced civilization.

But before long, Sun-Light's thinking underwent a major change. This was because his intelligence suddenly gave him the idea of making an atomic bomb. The radiation waves generated by the explosion of such a bomb would reach Earth and tell humans that he was still alive. Then the space agency would immediately send a spacecraft to rescue him. This idea completely swamped his plan to develop numan society, to which he had been willing to devote his life, but he could not think why. He soon worked out that it was because the temptation of living a perfect, almost eternal life on Earth was too great.

Sun-Light intended to stage a coup, forcing the dying Sun-Time to hand power over to him, so that he could unify the world from the stronghold of the Western Sea Kingdom. He had to mobilize powers and resources all around the world to make the atomic bomb as soon as possible, and he especially needed the meteorite containing nuclear material in the Dwarf Kingdom. Nevertheless, he did not have the slightest idea of how to fight the necessary political battles, so the coup remained a pipe dream. Just then, Sun-Time suddenly announced on his deathbed that the throne would be passed to Sun-Light, because he confirmed that only a man as kind and straightforward as Sun-Light would take care of his children after his death.

With the help of the minister of education and his family, Sun-Light started his campaign to conquer the world. His main rival was the Great Eastern Empire. By this time, the wily, ruthless Princess had assumed the throne of the Empire. Sun-Light defeated the Empire with more advanced firearms and surprise attacks and captured Princess. Princess had once been his true love and he immediately fell in love with her all over again. However, Princess died in a supposed accident soon afterwards. Sun-Light suspected that she had been murdered by the family of the minister of education who were afraid of Princess’s potential threat to the queen, who was the daughter of the minister. Then came more bad news. High officials in the Western Sea Kingdom, whom he trusted, had launched a coup and tortured his family to death. These emotional blows, combined with the bloody carnage of the battlefield, almost drove him to a mental breakdown. But, at the same time, they also made him more mature and offered him a deeper understanding of the ruthlessness of politics and the crueler aspects of humanity.

Sun-Light eventually crushed the coup, and unified numan world and conquered the dwarfs with his advanced weaponry. Now his dream was fulfilled, and he became the emperor of the entire world, able to mobilize global powers and resources to make the atomic bomb. To this end, he vigorously cultivated scientific talents, ran numerous schools, and treated his students well. However, his real purpose in disseminating knowledge was totally different. He had become a selfish man. He began to lead a profligate life, just as Sun-Time had done, and even brainwashed numans by claiming that he was the messenger of the gods and anyone who obeyed him would be taken to the most beautiful world in their afterlife. He was, of course, describing the world of humans on Earth. Many numans worshipped him because of his knowledge of that, to them, unknown world, and it was he who led the numans to defeat the dwarfs and unify the planet. It was also because of his vivid descriptions of the most beautiful world.

Sun-Light encountered several great difficulties in making the atomic bomb. One was that under the restrictions of an agrarian civilization he still had to make the bomb quickly, within less than eight years. This was because it took more than four years for radiation waves to reach Earth, and 24 years for a spacecraft to reach Nearth. But the after-effects of extended hibernation and his chest condition made him worry that his natural life would not be long enough. Another difficulty was that although he was a gifted theoretical physicist, he had little knowledge of the engineering and technological skills required to purify nuclear materials. Because Sun-Light still had Sun-Time's robot, which stored all the knowledge of mankind, he initially thought of activating the robot with electricity, but he did not succeed. The third difficulty was that the meteorite containing the nuclear material was buried deep inside a mountain, making it very difficult to mine.

In order to make the atomic bomb as quickly as possible, Sun-Light forced the dwarfs to mine for nuclear material, since their ancestors had already been damaged by radiation anyway. Cruel working conditions and numan persecution in revenge soon made the dwarfs extinct. Sun-Light had not anticipated this but it reminded him of how the Neanderthals were wiped out by Homo sapiens on Earth.

Worried, Sun-Light thought of recruiting numans to continue to mine for nuclear materials, but radiation would also kill a lot of numans, which could cause large-scale disaffection and rioting. He now faced two choices. One was to suppress the continuous mutiny of the numans, but there was no guarantee that he would succeed in making an atomic bomb, and he might be killed in the insurrection before he could finish the task. The other was to give up the idea of making the atomic bomb and returning to Earth, but live the rest of his life happily as the Great Emperor of the planet Nearth, while fulfilling his old dream of leading numans into a higher civilization. After a fierce inner struggle, Sun-Light chose the latter.

Most dramatically, Sun-Light accidentally found that the nuclear radiation from the meteorite could activate the robot, and with all the knowledge of humankind stored in it, completing the atomic bomb would be quick and easy. He faced two new choices. One was to use the explosion of an atomic bomb to tell humans on Earth that he was still alive, and the space agency would send a spacecraft to take him back to Earth. Humans would still disrupt the development of numan society once they arrived back on Nearth again, in order to use Nearth and the Alpha Centauri star system for their benefit. The other was that by using all the knowledge in the robot, he could develop numan productivity at a rapid rate, and he might revolutionize biology and medicine to make him live longer. Of course, this was only a possibility. Which would Sun-Light choose?

In the end, he made another major life decision, which was to stay on this planet; to lead the numans in the rapid development of productivity; and to help the numans to avoid the wrong turns that humans had taken in the course of their own development. Maybe he would see a major leap forward in biomedicine in his lifetime, so that he could still live a long life. He made this decision both for himself and because he had developed a deep affection for this planet and the numans that lived on it.

Also because one’s original intention is difficult to change.

If it piques your interest, I hope you'll read the full book. The full book entitled “SUPERMAN FROM EARTH” is at Amazon.