48 hours had passed since the collapse of The Gates of Hell. The sandstorm caused by the earthquake was still raging in the desert outside the base.
The dark sky affected not only the lighting in the planting areas but also the morale of all the astronauts in the entire Mars scientific research base. Over these two days, the atmosphere in the base station was quite depressing. No one had a smile on their face, not even the polite ones.
Lomonov seemed to have not yet recovered from the terrifying disaster. He shut himself in the room for days. Professor Aubrey had gotten closer to Schultz as the two discussed some questions about topology, functional analysis, and superstring theory.
As for Professor Vernal…
He was probably the most emotionally stable among all the people who had returned from The Gates of Hell.
The samples collected from the ruins were worth a trillion dollars in his eyes. The information hidden in it could reveal the secrets from billions of years ago.
According to his own statement, he was writing a paper that analyzed the civilizations that entrenched the planet 3 to 3.5 billion years ago from a biological point of view, as well as the serious problems they faced at that time.
But no one cared about this except himself.
No matter what they found in the ruins, it couldn’t make up for what they lost there…
“How is the situation in the planting area?”
Inside the office, Liang Youcheng saw Ming Wenzhe walk into the room.
“Just a small problem. The chip of the main control system for the ultraviolet lamp in A1 burned out. I replaced it with a new one.” Ming Wenzhe found a chair and sat down. He glanced at the document on the table and said, “Mental status report identification?”
“Yes.” Liang Youcheng nodded. “Project 128 is a huge blow to Dr. Fan’s mental condition, and there is no psychiatrist to help him. He is no longer suitable to continue working on Mars. I intend to ask the command center to put him on the next flight to Earth and recuperate for a while.”
“Project 128…”
This was definitely the heaviest loss in the history of China’s aerospace industry.
The whereabouts of two team members were unknown. One of them was Academician Lu, the chief designer of the Mars landing plan and the Lunar Orbit Committee. To be honest, Ming Wenzhe didn’t believe this was real, as if all of this was just a nightmare, and Academician Lu was just joking with them.
There was a knock on the door. The deputy stationmaster Han Kangyu walked in from the outside.
Liang Youcheng noticed the anxious look on his face, so he immediately asked, “What happened?”
“We saw someone outside the base station.”
Liang Youcheng pushed the chair away and stood up with an incredible expression on his face.
“Quick, let me see!”
Standing in front of nature, the power of humanity was minuscule.
Even though Wang Peng had tried his best, relying only on the equipment on his spacesuit, he couldn’t dig through several kilometers of dirt, let alone the huge boulder that blocked his path.
Wang Peng thought about digging with the multifunctional shovel in his hand. He would either find Lu Zhou or die trying. It wasn’t until the reminder that the oxygen reserve was about to run out did he finally accept the reality.
This was not a problem that could be solved with determination.
Even if he could keep digging without eating or drinking, Lu Zhou’s oxygen reserves wouldn’t last that long.
After giving up digging, he desperately searched nearby. He quickly found the oxygen cylinder and supplies that Fan Tong had dropped. Luckily, he found a wrist-mounted computer with the locator turned on under the sand pile…
Although the screen was broken, the chip was still inside.
On the side of the wrist-mounted computer, a line of small but clear text was written.
[If anyone finds this computer, there is no need to look for me. No matter what happens, please bring it back to Earth for me, please.]
After reading this, Wang Peng changed his mind.
Liang Youcheng looked at the screen, at the person walking through the sandstorm toward the base station. His face was full of shock.
“This guy… walked back here?!”
He had no signal.
No navigation.
No means of transportation.
Just relying on his legs and intuition…
How is this possible?!
Han Kangyu was also in shock. He nodded and spoke.
“It seems so…”
“Open the door!”
“Yes, sir!”
The metal alloy door opened slowly.
Wang Peng looked at the opened door in front of him. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t even glance at the security camera.
The cleaning agent was sprayed from all directions, washing away the sand and possible germs from his spacesuit.
After taking off the spacesuit, Wang Peng looked at stationmaster Liang and the deputy station master Han, who walked out from the opened hatch. He nodded.
“I’m back.”
Liang Youcheng sighed softly and spoke.
“I heard about what happened under the ruins. We are all very sad about Academician Lu… We’re glad that you are back.”
Wang Peng glanced at him and did not reply. He silently handed the wrist-mounted computer with the broken screen to Liang Youcheng.
“Send this back to Earth.”
Liang Youcheng’s heart dropped when he received the wrist-mounted computer.
There was no need to ask who this belonged to.
Han Kangyu, who was standing next to him, gulped and spoke.
“Lu Zhou…”
Wang Peng did not say anything. He walked past the two and left…
Earth.
Chang’an Avenue.
A ministerial meeting was going on.
A gray-haired old man with an expression of grief and indignation on his face scolded those sitting at the conference table.
“It was a wrong decision to send him! The mission has failed and he’s gone, how can we explain to the people of our country?! How can we explain this to his parents?!”
A thin middle-aged man coughed and said, “Um, Minister Wang, we didn’t send him, he insisted on going! We tried to convince his relatives and friends to not let him. But he insisted on going. Who can stop him, except himself?”
Lu Zhou was the highest commander of the Mars landing office.
Unless there was an administrative order issued directly from the top of Chang’an Avenue, nobody could really stop him. This kind of administrative order couldn’t be written on a whim. It would be embarrassing for an outsider to command the chief designer.
Minister Wang sighed and finally sat back in his seat, knowing that there was no reason for an outburst.
The atmosphere at the conference table was heavy.
Everyone looked horrible.
The President glanced at the people around the conference table. He went silent for a while, then slowly spoke.
“This is where we are. There is no reason to argue.
“According to the latest news from the Mars scientific research base, the scientific research personnel there found Academician Lu’s wrist-mounted computer and have confirmed that he lost contact during the operation… In addition to mourning the disaster, all we can do now is to continue along his journey.”
The President sighed slightly and put on a serious look.
“Also, there is a more urgent matter waiting for us to discuss.
“Which is exactly what Academician Lu saw in the ruins before the accident.”
There were whispering voices in the conference room. The people sitting at the conference table exchanged their surprises and bewilderment with their eyes.
In fact, their information was limited. Even if they wanted to discuss, they had nothing to discuss.
As for what Academician Lu encountered in the ruins, even those who returned alive from the ruins had no clue either.
The President looked at the silent meeting room and continued, “It seems that everyone is uncertain, so I’ll say a few words.
“According to the analysis from our astronomical experts, the cooling of the core of Mars is an indisputable fact. An earthquake of this magnitude is definitely not caused by a simple tectonic movement. What Academician Lu encountered is worthy of our attention.
“If the accident is related to an extraterrestrial civilization, this is a display of hostile behavior, I think you all should know what this means.”
The conference room was terribly quiet.
The President stopped talking. He gave time for the people in the conference room to think.
Time passed by slowly.
Finally, a middle-aged man in military uniform stood up and broke the silence in the conference room. He spoke in a sonorous voice.
“If Academician Lu’s death is related to an extraterrestrial civilization, this brutal killing of our citizens is undoubtedly an act of war! We should fight back!”
The expressions on the faces of the people sitting at the conference table suddenly became fearful.
Fight back…
Against an extraterrestrial civilization…
This sounded so ridiculous that most people didn’t know what to think.
The President nodded slowly.
“This is exactly what I wanted to say.”
With a serious expression in his eyes, the President looked around the conference table and spoke.
“I know this sounds unbelievable, but we can’t find a more reasonable explanation for the coincidence that the best scientist of our civilization encountered such a disastrous accident the second he entered The Gates of Hell!
“Peace is based on friendship and reciprocity.
“Now that such a disastrous accident has occurred, we must plan for the worst.”