《Dead on Mars》 Chapter 1: Sol One, Earth Has Exploded

Chapter 1: Sol One, Earth Has Exploded

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Just as Tang Yue opened the door to Kunlun Station¡¯s airlock to take his first step onto Martian soil for the day and say with deep emotions running through him, ¡°That¡¯s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.¡±¡ª His assistant robot informed him that Earth had exploded. ... Tang Yue¡¯s heart sank. Ater, objective estimate of the time his mind remained nk was probably a few minutes, with all his brain cells stopping their operations. His nerves and electrical synapses hade to an abrupt halt. As for his cells, tissues, and organs, they had petrified. To put it simply, he should have been dered brain dead. Tang Yue threw aside all his work and turned to examine the Kunlun Station¡¯sputers. A perfectly fine Earth¡ª Such a huge Earth¡ª Had exploded without any warning? Soon, Tang Yue figured out what had happened. Theputer hadn¡¯t made a mistake. It had indeed lost all connections with Earth. The routine connection of every half an hour had suddenly been severed. There was no response, no matter how often the system pinged or how long it waited. As a result, theputer decided to push the alert. It made the robot assistant, Tomcat, inform Tang Yue. However, the words ¡°connection lost¡± when spoken through a silly robot¡¯s mouth became a terrifying: ¡°Tang Yue, your home blew up.¡± Tang Yue really wished to fire his silly assistant. ... This is Kunlun Station! Jiuquan, do you copy me!? This is Kunlun Station, Jiuquan, do you copy me!? Can you hear me!? Jiuquan, do you copy!? Jiuquan! There was no response. This is Kunlun Station! Jiuquan, do you copy me!? There was no response. This is Kunlun Station! Baikonur, do you copy me!? There was no response. Plesetsk, do you copy me!? Houston, do you copy me!? Kennedy, do you copy me!? Guiana, do you copy me!? F*ck. Kennedy, do you copy me!? Pakistan, do you copy me!? Afghanistan, do you copy me!? Tang Yue¡¯s head was covered in sweat. He had already attempted all forms ofmunication, but all of them had failed without exception. Being alone on an extraterrestrial and losingmunications with Earth was truly a confounding situation. If he couldn¡¯t establish any further contact, he would have to employ drastic measures¡ªcalling the Chinese deities such as Buddha or Jade Emperor. ¡°You have already been calling for help for six hours there. You have been unable to establish any connection with the Guiana Space Centre. What¡¯s the freaking point trying to establishmunications with them?¡± His assistant, Tomcat, stood by his side. ¡°Can¡¯t you see the huge words on the screen?¡± On the screen flickered the huge words ¡°NO SIGNAL.¡± ¡°How long is the transmission dy between Mars and Earth?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°About fifteen minutes,¡± Tomcat replied. Tang Yue¡¯s limbs went numb. His sealed space suit wasn¡¯t porous, so his underwear was already drenched in sweat. He quickly followed the instructions ording to emergency protocols. He scrutinized every system at the worksite and even got the ¡°System Maintenance Manual¡± out. He flipped through the book which was as thick as a dictionary and matched each word to what he saw. ¡°Your failure to connect to Earth clearly has nothing to do with the transmission dy. Theputer at the worksite has already done its internal checks ten thousand times. There are no problems with themunication systems. The problem can only be from Earth¡¯s side,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°It might have to do with a collective failure of the ry satellites.¡± ¡°What problem can result in the satellites¡¯ failure?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Earth¡¯s explosion.¡± ¡°Speak any more nonsense and I¡¯ll strangle you to death.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be serious. The probability of a collective failure of all ry satellites is very small. This is because ry satellites are a shared resource. The American satellites might fail, but the Chinese satellites are still avable. The Chinese satellites might fail, but the Russian satellites are still avable. The Russian satellites might fail, but the Japanese satellites are still avable. The Japanese satellites might fail, but the European satellites are still avable...¡± Tomcat droned on, as garrulous as ever. ¡°So?¡± Tang Yue interrupted. ¡°So isn¡¯t Earth¡¯s explosion more reasonable?¡± Tang Yue lunged over to strangle it. As he failed to find the robot¡¯s neck, all he did was hurt his fingers. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Problems happening on Earth will be much easier to resolve than problems that happen here. Having lostmunications for seven hours, the staff at Jiuquan will be more worried than you,¡± Tomcat consoled him. ¡°Perhaps, they might send you a message soon? Be at ease. If you don¡¯t wish to just wait, finish the work you are supposed to do.¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a few minutes. Not being able to reach Earth was most likely a problem on their side. It was pointless for him to wallow in anxiety on Mars. If he had the time to spare, he might as well finish his job. As thest payload specialist to return from this expedition mission to Mars, Tang Yue was tasked with a mission to round up the scientific research. Therefore, he had to stay behind for a period of time to finish all the work. After an inspection, he would shut down the Kunlun Station and prepare it for the next batch of astronauts. Organizing and taking inventory was a very simple task. Kunlun Station was the first research station built on Mars. It was very small in size with an area spanning not more than 100 m2. It was enough for a person to live on, but it would be a squeeze for six. In the words of his teammander, Old Wang, ¡°7.5 billion people spent 75 billion US dors to build a house 75 m2 in a dessert 75 million kilometers away. This must be the craziest real estate project in history.¡± The astronauts who were in the same batch as him had already made their return. Work had been going very smoothly and Tang Yue believed that he could finish his mission very quickly before returning to the space station. He would then take an Orion shuttle back to Earth. The next group of people would only head to Mars in June next year. They would take a six-month trip on the heavy-duty Falcon rockets. Therefore, the next time someone would step into the Kunlun Station would be at least two years from now. The floor and corridor were already packed with crates of various sizes. These were the daily necessities that Tang Yue had finished packing. It included food, medicine, and potable water. All the things were ced on racks ording to their type with an inventory list stered across each crate. The material resources in the station were sufficient for a six-man team to survive for slightly more than six months. Just having these items was naturally insufficient. The unmanned cargo shuttle meant to resupply the next round of scientific projects had already beenunched via Hohmann transfer. The cargo shuttle set off a year before the manned shuttle, and it carried material resources that could supply an entire scientific team for six months. Tang Yue took stock of the crates on the ground while the items by the wall were things he prepared to take along with him into the shuttle. After all, his return to Earth would take several months. The Sun was quickly setting as the tiny fireball hung above the desert¡¯s horizon. It was another windless and sandless day. The Sun on Mars looked slightly smaller than on Earth, and the sky had already darkened. It was like dark blue velvet that cloaked thend. Tang Yue was suddenly taken aback as he took two steps forward, slowly widening his eyes. ¡°Tomcat.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Earth be in the western sky?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°That¡¯s right. It should be in the west and will appear very beautiful. It will be the brightest star you will be able to see. It will look like Venus on Earth,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°If the weather¡¯s good, and your vision is good enough, you might even be able to see the Moon.¡± ¡°Then... Come over and take a look.¡± Tomcat turned around as it lumbered over amid mechanical sounds. It traced the direction in which Tang Yue was pointing before its cat eyes shrank violently. ¡°Holy sh*t, where did the Earth go?¡± ... 11 August 2052. Beijing time: 15:22:13. Coordinated Universal Time: 07:22:13. A particle stream spanning 200,000 kilometers tore through the Sr System¡¯s elliptical ne at light speed with an angle of 5¡ã 12¡ä 22¡±. In 0.0009 seconds, the third of the Sr System had been vaporized. Chapter 2: Sol One, Last Human in the Universe

Chapter 2: Sol One, Last Human in the Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat observed for a long time before finally making a very prudent conclusion: the Earth had vanished. Not only had the Earth vanished, but even the Moon had gone. The third natural satellite that revolved around the Sun at a speed of 29.8 kilometers per second, with a radius of 6,378.137 kilometers and a circumference of 40,075.7 kilometers had vaporized, leaving nothing behind. This was why they couldn¡¯t establish anymunications. Although Tang Yue didn¡¯t know exactly what had happened, he had sessfully escaped this apocalyptic disaster by being on Mars, making him thest human in this world. ... Tang Yue sat on a crate, looking at the ground beneath him, in a daze; his mind was aplete nk. He had been sitting there, in that same state, for a very long time. He even ignored Tomcat as it twistedsciviously in front of him. In the past few decades, all astronauts in human history had been wanderers who had left home. No matter how far they went, there would be a day that they would eventually return home to Earth. However, Tang Yue was no longer a wanderer. He was now a vagrant who no longer had a home to return to. He was just twenty-six this year, and he had suffered the loss of his home. ording to the original n, Tang Yue would finish wrapping up the scientific work in the next two sols before returning to the Mars United Space Station. He would then board thest Orion shuttle back to Earth. This was a n specifically designed for him by the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Behind this n, there were hundreds of people watching Tang Yue¡¯s every move, and thousands of people working to ensure his safety while burning copious amounts of American dors every minute. It was solely to bring back a lump of flesh, weighing 65 kilograms, from an alien 55 million kilometers away. The loss of even half a kilogram would have been considered a mission failure. And when Tang Yue was on Mars, he was worth more than his body weighed in gold. He was worth billions. Now that those people had vanished, Tang Yue had no home to return to. ¡°Is Earth really gone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really gone,¡± Tomcat replied, ¡°although I¡¯ve no idea what happened either, I have used all observation apparatuses avable on the space station. From all angles, the Earth has vanished, without leaving even a speck behind.¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a prolonged period as he didn¡¯t say another word. Tomcat continued twistingsciviously in front of him. If Tang Yue was akin to a kite that had drifted beyond 50 million kilometers, then the moment that he learned that Earth had vanished, it meant that the kite string that connected him to Earth had been severed. He had been embroiled in an unpredictable game of fate by the sr storm that had wreaked havoc. In an instant, he felt he had lost everything substantial as the faint winds and light of dawn directly prated his body and soul. ¡°Is Earth really gone?¡± Tang Yue muttered. ¡°It¡¯s really gone,¡± Tomcat continued replying, ¡°although I¡¯ve no idea what happened either, I have used all observation apparatuses on the space station. From all angles, the Earth has vanished, leaving not a speck behind.¡± Tang Yue looked up at it and whispered, ¡°Why did you repeat the answer?¡± Tomcat returned with a question. ¡°Then, why did you repeat the question?¡± Tang Yue hugged his head with his hands, his fingers lodging deep to the roots of his hair. His eyes had somewhat zed over. That¡¯s right. Why did I repeat the same question? Tomcat stopped its twisting and sighed. It raised its w and ced it on Tang Yue¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s because, in essence, we are the same.¡± Tang Yue looked up; his gaze, a nk. Our essence? What¡¯s our essence? Gravely and earnestly Tomcat replied, ¡°A repeater, of course.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t know where he would ultimately go. In this Universe spanning 93 billion light-years; in the Milky Way gxy spanning 120,000 light-years; in the Sr System spanning an average of 82 Astronomical Units (AU); and on a spanning 6,794 kilometers, a 1.75-meter-tall human was just too minute. A certain potent power of redoubtable proportions had pushed him towards apletely unfamiliar area into the distance. ¡°I know you¡¯re very upset.¡±¡ªTomcat came over amid its whirring mechanical sounds as it consoled Tang Yue¡ª¡±Earth has vanished. You are thest human being, and I¡¯m thest robot. You can tell me anything. Although Earth isn¡¯t around anymore, I¡¯m still here.¡± Tomcat hugged Tang Yue as it patted him gently on the back with its ws. ¡°Don¡¯t keep it in. It¡¯s better to let it out.¡± After a long while, Tang Yue repeatedly recalled that instant. As thest earthling in this universe, upon learning that Earth had vanished, what was the first thought that came to his mind? Tang Yue originally imagined it to be a despairing exmation: ¡°Holy sh*t, I¡¯m doomed,¡± or ¡°Dammit, how is this possible?¡± or ¡°I¡¯ve no home to go back too!¡± Or, he could have been a calm, rational person. ¡°This isn¡¯t scientific. It¡¯s impossible for the Earth to vanish.¡± or ¡°The observational data must have made a wrong conclusion. It¡¯s impossible for the Earth to vanish.¡± or even, ¡°My eyes must have made a mistake. It¡¯s impossible for the Earth to vanish.¡± Or perhaps he had consoled himself. ¡°I must be dreaming.¡± or ¡°Tomcat must be dreaming.¡± or ¡°The telescopes must be dreaming.¡± But reality proved that Tang Yue had underestimated himself. Tang Yue was surprisingly calm, so calm that it was abnormal. A terrifying thought had crept up from between his legs as it gradually swelled. Finally, it had upied his entire brain, chasing away all his grief and horrified astonishment. Back then, the only thought on his mind was: F*ck. I¡¯m still a virgin. ... ¡± Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue, do you copy? ¡± A clear voice suddenly broke the silence. Tang Yue had already entered into a state of withdrawal, one that would have continued indefinitely. He was suddenly awoken by that voice as he fell into a daze for one second. Hadn¡¯t Earth exploded? Why would someone be calling me? He got up on his feet and discovered that someone was speaking on the video call. Tang Yue was overjoyed. A young woman appeared on theputer screen. Dressed in blue work attire, she had a slender and petite body. The area around her cor revealed a fair neck, and her ck short hair was fluttering about in the microgravity environment she was in. In the background, there were US and EU gs stered across the white walls. This was clearly the Mars United Space Station. ¡°Mai Dong?¡± Tang Yue was astonished. The woman breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his face. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, something terrible has happened. I¡¯ve lost allmunications with ground control. I can¡¯t contact the Commander nor the rest either! Allmunications have been severed! I attempted to track the Orion shuttle where the Commander and the rest are but discovered... discovered that...¡± ¡°Earth is gone, right?¡± Tang Yue helped finish her sentence. Thedy nodded as her eyes widened, they were filled with horror and puzzlement. Her long eyshes quivered as they were stained with a faint amount of tears. Clearly, she had just cried in her anxiety. ¡°Calm down. Calm down. Miss Mai Dong, please calm down now.¡± Tang Yue attempted to console thisdy. She was the second remaining human in the Universe. ¡°Don¡¯t panic. First, let us slowly analyze our current situation. Can you understand me?¡± ¡ªTang Yue gave systematic guidance¡ª ¡°If you understand, nod your head.¡± The woman was in utter stupefaction as she obediently nodded. Chapter 3: Sol One, Live On

Chapter 3: Sol One, Live On

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue had asked Tomcat about the problem of determining if Earth had truly vanished. Tomcat was a resident robot of Kunlun Station. It had been working here for years, and its circuitry had earned lots of valuable experience. It could be considered a senior astronaut at the level ofmander for numerous observation missions. It was nothing a rookie like Tang Yue couldpare with. The only ones on Mars with greater experience than Tomcat were the Curiosity rover or the Opportunity rover that hadnded several decades ago. Tomcat suggestedmunications and observations. Clearly, that was obvious nonsense. The research station on Mars¡¯s surfacemunicated with Earth via ry satellites. Three ry satellites operated at a geostationary orbit of 17,000 kilometers. Their reach covered the whole of Mars. The ry satellites had ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennas that could achieve 200 KB/s transfer speeds. If a high-gain antenna with directionality was used, the data transfer speed could be raised by ten times to 2 MB/s. These three satellites were rtively reliable. They had never caused a disconnection in the past two decades and were capable of maintaining smoothmunication even amid sr storms. Tang Yue had already used every means possible tomunicate with Earth. The distance between the Earth and Mars was about 0.5 AU during this period, which made it approximately 4 light minutes. This also meant that the electromaic waves would require four minutes to travel at the speed of light. Then, anymunication dy would be eight minutes. When the twos were at their furthest, it would be 2.6 AU, which was about 20 light minutes. This meant amunication dy of forty minutes. Even if the Earth and Mars were on opposite sides of the Sr System, with the Sun in between them, Tang Yue¡¯s attempts tomunicate with Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center from the Kunlun Station should have earned him a response after forty minutes. But Tang Yue had already waited all day without receiving a response from Jiuquan. The other method was observation. Tomcat had directed all telescopes on the Mars United Space Station, which ranged from far-infrared to visible light using various frequency bands, to make an observation. It ultimately confirmed that Earth was no longer visible on any frequency. There was only emptiness left in the vicinity of Earth¡¯s original trajectory. Without being able to observe ormunicate, or exert any interference, in terms of Physics, one could determine that it no longer existed. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, why are you still on the space station?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Did Old Wang arrange an additional mission for you? Or were you tasked to stay behind to escort the items on Orion back?¡± This was also why Tang Yue felt pleasantly surprised when he learned that there was still another human alive. ording to the original ns, he would have been thest person to leave Mars. Before leaving, Old Wang had patted Tang Yue on the shoulder, saying, ¡°Thomp and I have a mission to do, so we aren¡¯t able to stay behind to apany you. Brother, you will have to make the trip back alone. It¡¯s just a few months and won¡¯t take long. It¡¯ll be over with a nap. Just treat it as though you are being detained as a criminal.¡± Who knew that Earth would be gone after taking a nap. He would have been better off being detained as a criminal. The journey between Earth and Mars was handled by two shuttles, Orion I and Orion II. The two shuttles were unable to enter the atmosphere, and could only be considered as ferries that shuttled between the Mars United Space Station and Earth¡¯s International Space Station. The same group of astronauts had already boarded Orion I and made their way back to Earth. Mai Dong should have left with the rest of the team two sols ago. But for some reason, thisdy remained on the space station. ¡°Because... Because there was a sudden problem with the supplies on Orion I. There wasn¡¯t enough to support all members on the return trip. Commandermunicated with ground control and decided that I was to stay for a few sols,¡± replied the woman. ¡°The n was for us to return onboard Orion II once you were done with your work.¡± ¡°There was a sudden change of ns?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t I know about it?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°A notice... a notice was sent to you,¡± said the woman. Tang Yue was taken aback as he quickly opened the inbox on hisputer. As he scanned through the mail, he found one he hadn¡¯t opened amid the numerous work mail. When Tang Yue opened it, he nearly cursed in anger. F*ck. Those people at Jiuquan are a bunch of chatterboxes. They send mail for everything under the Sun. Have you eaten breakfast? What did you eat? How long did you take to eat? All sorts of questions are specifically asked, making my Inbox explode with mails daily. Why didn¡¯t someone send a video document for such an important matter? ¡°What have you been doing the past two sols?¡± ¡°I... I was sleeping the entire time...¡± the woman said softly. ¡°I was about to establishmunications with you.¡± Tang Yue silently held his forehead. ¡°As it was ast-minute decision for me to stay behind, there was a need to reduce any power expenditure on the space station. I switched off most of the station¡¯s functions before sleeping. However, the space station¡¯sputer suddenly failed tomunicate with ground control some time ago. It began to send an alert and woke me up,¡± Mai Dong exined. ¡°Then... Then, I discovered that Earth was gone. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, is Earth really gone?¡± the woman asked carefully. Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds as he tried to organize his words before revealing the terrifying reality to this youngdy in her twenties. ¡°ording to Tomcat and my observations, Earth has indeed vanished.¡± Tang Yue ultimately chose to be frank in his answer. To have such a huge vanish, anyone with a mind could tell that there was a problem. There was no concealing the truth, much less conceal the Earth. Mai Dong silently nodded. Thedy¡¯s calmness had far exceeded Tang Yue¡¯s expectations. She didn¡¯t cry or make a fuss. The only change was that the light in her eyes had suddenly dimmed as if a candle had been extinguished. She had lost all her zest. Tang Yue felt his heart ache for her. Mai Dong was the youngest woman on the scientific team. She had recently graduated from her Master¡¯s program and had arrived at the Kunlun Station as a botanist and agrotechnician. She was doing research on Martian soil and vegetation adaptability. Coming to Mars was a drudge, and everything was just in its nascent stages. On this godforsaken, apart from the tiny United Space Station and an even tinier Kunlun Station, there was nothing. Tang Yue even had to experience a dy of about twenty minutes when sending mails. 90% of the time, he lived in a sealed environment of less than a hundred square meters. Even the return trip would take nearly two years. Young adults, who didn¡¯t have the selfless spirit of dedicating themselves to science, typically wouldn¡¯t be willing toe. Now that Earth had vanished, for some inexplicable reason, while Tang Yue was still a single virgin, his death naturally wasn¡¯t much to cry over. However, thisdy still had a promising life ahead. It too had vanished with the Earth. The ancients often said that the affairs of the world are inconstant. Tang Yue truly agreed with this saying. Even if you were the President of the United States or the world¡¯s richest man, so what? In this massive and uncertain Universe, aren¡¯t you just but a speck of dust? Things disappeared without any forewarning. Even the Earth was gone. Even if someone threw ten thousand yuan in front of him, he wouldn¡¯t even be bothered to bend down to pick it up. Tang Yue suddenly felt astonished to have such thoughts. Ever since he had learned that Earth had vanished, his thought processes had elevated to a whole new level. His mental state waspletely nk, reaching what Chinese ancestors had always pursued¡ªbeing one with the world. It could be said that the situation was already so bad that to make it worse made no real difference. It could also be said that he had seen through life and had sublimated in a state that transcended the mortal realm. This was probably the epiphanies that Buddhism taught. Tang Yue felt that he was almost bing Buddha himself. ¡°Buddha my ass!¡± Tomcat smacked him. ¡°Quickly check what resources you have left before thinking of your next move!¡± ¡°Screw off.¡± ¡°Do you still want to live on?¡± Tomcat tugged at Tang Yue¡¯s cor and pointed outside the Hab. ¡°If you want to die, just open the hatch and jump out.¡± Tang Yue slowly sat down and looked up at Tomcat and then at Mai Dong on the screen. One man, one woman, and a robot. This was the only remnants of Earth¡¯s civilization. Mai Dong was now in a daze, and Tang Yue had to be the pir. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, what should we do next?¡± Mai Dong asked. Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°What else can we do? Live on.¡± Chapter 4: Sol One, Enough Oxygen for Fifteen Years

Chapter 4: Sol One, Enough Oxygen for Fifteen Years

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue had no choice but to move out all the items he had packed, opening all the packaged crates again. Regardless if Earth had vanished forever or if it was a temporary disappearance, he had to ensure that he could continue to live on this deste. To live on, alone. This was part of the training Tang Yue had experienced back then. When thrown into a perilous situation without any means ofmunication, he had to persist on and await rescue! ¡°First check the oxygen and water levels,¡± Tomcat indicated. ¡°Then, do a check on food, medical supplies, electricity, fuel, energy, and spare parts...¡± ¡°Mr. Tang Yue! Mr. Tang Yue!¡± Mai Dong hurriedly shouted through the video. ¡°Can... Can I descend? To join you on the surface?¡± Tang Yue nced at Tomcat. Tomcat slowly fell silent. ... This was something both Tang Yue and Tomcat knew very well. There was no way for Mai Dong to descend. The onlynder was in the desert just outside the Kunlun Station. Thisnder had been named ¡®Eagle¡¯ by Tang Yue. Eagle was the only shuttle Tang Yue had on hand that could escape the gravitational pull of Mars. It was a vessel that could enter orbit and dock with the Mars United Space Station. If there hadn¡¯t been any mishaps, Tang Yue would board thender and leave Kunlun Station once he was done with his work. He would head for the United Space Station before taking Orion II back to Earth. However, this piece of equipment was of single-use. It wasprised of two parts, one for the ascent and one for the descent. The one that truly escaped Mars¡¯s gravitational pull was the ascent part, which was the upper part of thender. As for the bottom part, it would remain on Mars¡¯s surface. Thender¡¯s ascent part was responsible for sending Tang Yue to the United Space Station. That was its only function and mission. After it was done with its mission, it would be disposed of, without the capability of entering the atmosphere again. This also meant that Tang Yue had the ability to enter the United Space Station again, but once he was up there, there was no way of getting back to the surface. Mai Dong didn¡¯t have ander on the space station. The nextnder should have been delivered by the Orion in two years¡¯ time, but now that the Earth was gone, there was no chance for the next expedition team to set off for Mars. The space station did have Orion II, but the Orion series were shuttles that ferried astronauts through space. They were responsible for shuttling between Earth and Mars and would immediately disintegrate upon contact with the atmosphere. ¡°I understand.¡± The woman¡¯s expression sank slowly. All she could do was stay on the space station. Fate had yed a cruel joke. Although they had survived an apocalyptic disaster and were thest two surviving humans in the world, they were separated by an unbridgeable distance of four hundred kilometers. For a Universe that easily used the units of light years and AUs or a mere 55 million kilometers between Earth and Mars, this four hundred kilometers was truly negligible. It was as thin as the ss on aputer¡¯s screen as though Tang Yue could easily reach her simply by prating thatyer of ss. If one created a map of the Sr System, Tang Yue and Mai Dong would practically adhere to one another on the map. They wouldn¡¯t even take up an entire pixel. But for a human with a height of 1.75 meters, four hundred kilometers was just too far, so far that it was impossible for them to meet. An iota of difference was like the widest chasm. ¡°Lady, don¡¯t be disheartened. Let us think of something else,¡± Tomcat consoled her. ¡°There¡¯s the saying that where¡¯s there¡¯s life there¡¯s hope. As long as one is fine, there will always be a solution out there... There is always a way out.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes. Miss Mai Dong, we will definitely think of a way to bring you down!¡± Tang Yue nodded in response. ¡°You have to believe us! I have Tomcat here. Tomcat is an expert! It will have a solution! Right, Tomcat?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. In Mai Dong¡¯s blind spot, Tang Yue kicked Tomcat. Tomcat hurriedly nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, yes. I¡¯ll definitely think of a solution!¡± Mai Dong bit her lip and nodded. Tang Yue was truly worried thisdy would do something silly in her despair. He was quite a care-free person, but thedy might not share the same nerves as him. After all, the impact of learning that the Earth had vanished could easily break down a person¡¯s mind. ¡°What you need to do now is to take an inventory of survival necessities. Oxygen, electricity, food, water, medicine, and spare parts,¡± Tomcat urged. ¡°Be precise about it. Don¡¯t miss out on anything.¡± Tang Yue began to take stock of his inventory. While packing in the Kunlun Station, he had already done a round of inventory taking. All the items were packed in crates and ssified. While packing back then, he never imagined that he would have to count on these items to survive. He just felt as though he was doing the drudgery work for the expedition team. The only thought he had was to rush back to Earth. Now, these crates were all that Tang Yue had. It directly determined how much longer he could live on. The first thing on the list was oxygen. Oxygen was of top priority. Lacking oxygen for three minutes was enough to finish Tang Yue. Kunlun Station had two life support systems. One was themonly used Oxygen Generation System (OGS). It converted water into oxygen and hydrogen through the process of electrolysis. As long as there were electricity and water, the system could constantly produce oxygen. Under normal circumstances, this system was responsible for producing oxygen in Kunlun Station. It looked just like a refrigerator or an air-conditioner and was ced inside a white cab in the corner, seemingly melding into the background. Thinking back, the OGS used by the Americans years ago was a massive object weighing hundreds of kilograms. Although it didn¡¯t look conspicuous, the OGS cab was core to the guarantee of survival in Kunlun Station. It was also the mostplicated part of things. If something happened to it, Tang Yue would be dead in five minutes. The other system was a non-regenerative oxygen generating system used only in emergencies. It used solid perchlorate salts to produce oxygen. However, perchlorate salts were expendable. Every bit used meant one bit less. They were unreplenishable; therefore, they were not used unless it was an emergency. Typically, they were stored in an emergency box. Tang Yue opened the OGS cab¡¯s door. A green indicator light indicated that everything was working fine. The soft humming sound, produced in the cab, was the sound produced by electrolysis. ¡°How long can this thing operate?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Do I share its lifespan? Its death means mine, right?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Not necessarily. You might not live as long as it does,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The OGS is designed for fifteen years. This system was changedst year. It has at least ten years left... But you might not live for ten years.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take it along with me in death.¡± Tang Yue held the maintenance manual and swept the control panel¡¯s knobs and indicator lights. The OGS was able to produce a maximum of 5 kilograms of oxygen a sol. It was able to provide six people with sufficient oxygen, and now that Tang Yue was the only one left in Kunlun Station, he was lowering the machine¡¯s rate. Back when the Earth was still around, Tang Yue believed that since he didn¡¯t suffered any losses while using it, he might as well treat the OGS as an air conditioner. Thinking back to what he had done, he wished to strangle his former self. He still wished to live a little longer; therefore, by lowering the machine¡¯s rate, he could extend the OGS¡¯s lifespan. ¡°When used to support a single person, producing 0.8kg of oxygen a sol is sufficient,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue reduced the rate by more than half. ¡°Under a low rate of output, how long can this thingst?¡± Tomcat did the calctions. ¡°If all goes well, with sufficient electricity provided, it will experience a peaceful death in... fifteen years.¡± Chapter 5: Sol One, Crazy Canned Food

Chapter 5: Sol One, Crazy Canned Food

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon After the oxygen inspection was done, next up was the water check. Water was equally precious as oxygen. Without it, Tang Yue couldn¡¯t live for more than three sols. On Kunlun Station, oxygen and water were recyble. They were mutually tied together as they worked in coordination. The life support system would release oxygen via electrolysis, then hydrogen and carbon dioxide could be used to produce water. All the wastewater was recycled at the Hab, including steam, urine, and feces. Kunlun Station¡¯s toilets were extremely powerful suction machines that could extract all moisture in human waste. The urine would be dehydrated, turning into urea and uric acid crystals. The feces would be as dry as sand. Then, they would be vacuum-packed and brought back to Earth. Tomcat would often tell Tang Yue that the soup he had in his bowl was still mixed with shit from just ten minutes ago. It was quite alright if it was his own shit, but Tomcat loved to f*cking point out that the soup in his bowl was mixed with Old Zheng¡¯s shit from ten minutes ago. Old Zheng was one of the members of the expedition team. He was quite a creepy, middle-aged man. Every time he shat, he would contaminate the air in the entire Kunlun Station; therefore, everyone would seek refuge whenever he used the toilet. This was uneptable. ¡°You use an average of 1.56 kilograms of potable water every sol. 1.20 kilogramses from reconstituted foods. To produce oxygen, 0.92 kilograms of water is needed for electrolysis. Tomcat began doing the math. ¡°That is to say, you need to use 3.68 kilograms of water every sol. In addition, you need to take a shower every week. This will require you to expend about 5 kilograms of water.¡± ¡°What about recycling?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Recycling of water mainlyes from urine, feces, breathing, sweat, and other water condensation,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°On average, you produce 1.49 kilograms of urine a sol...¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Do I pee that much?¡± ¡°Are you not aware of how much pee you have?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°These are the numbers calcted by theputer. On average, you produce 120 grams of feces a sol.¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me how much shit I produce a sol. You make it sound like I¡¯m a good-for-nothing shit-creating machine...¡± ¡°In addition, your breathing and sweating every sol will produce 1.6 kilograms of water vapor. Other metabolic activities will produce a total of 0.34 kilograms,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Kunlun Station¡¯s Water Reimer has a maximum efficiency of 96%. That also means that Kunlun Station is able to produce 3.4 kilograms of clean potable water a sol.¡± ¡°I expend 3.68 kilograms of water a sol, but only 3.4 kilograms can be recycled?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°There¡¯s a daily deficit of 0.28 kilograms?¡± Tomcat nodded. In response, Tang Yue frowned. Water of less than 300 grams could hardly fill a standard 500-milliliter mineral water bottle. On Earth, he wouldn¡¯t have bothered about it, but now, Tang Yue gained a deeper understanding of the phrase ¡°water is life.¡± The deficit of less than 300 grams directly determined his remaining lifespan. By expending 3.68 kilograms and having 3.4 kilograms replenished, there was a constant loss. The Kunlun Station would lose 280 grams of water every sol, and the total amount of water would gradually reach zero. Once all the water was used up in the Hab, Tang Yue would be finished. ¡°How much water do we have in total?¡± ¡°1,200 liters,¡± Tomcat replied, ¡°in other words, 1,200 kilograms.¡± At the rate of losing 300 grams a sol, that much water can be used for... Tang Yue did a mental calction. ¡°4,000 sols.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just in the most ideal situation. In actuality, it definitely wouldn¡¯t reach 4,000 sols. You aren¡¯t the only one who expends water in the Kunlun Station. Furthermore, as the Water Reimer ages, its efficiency will constantly drop,¡± Tomcat reminded him. ¡°I believe that it would be the most ideal situation if the water you have canst you 3,000 sols.¡± 3,000 sols. About eight Earth years. Tang Yue sat on the ground, facing the opened Kunlun Station¡¯s maintenance manual, before sighing. ¡°I¡¯m already quite blessed by the heavens if I can live another eight years. I¡¯m very satisfied with that.¡± Earth had already gone. Wasn¡¯t he lucky that he could live another eight years beyond that? The King of Hell was indeed giving him face. ¡°You are putting the cart before the horse if you are iming to be able to live another eight years,¡± Tomcat impolitely shattered Tang Yue¡¯s beautiful dream. ¡°Next up is to take stock of the food.¡± Food was the third necessity that needed stocktaking. Insufficient oxygen would suffocate Tang Yue to death; insufficient water would dehydrate him to death, and insufficient food would starve him to death. Each one of them were killers. Tang Yue took lots of effort to take out all the food that he had packed. Food was different from oxygen and water. Other than its weight and bulk, it upied space. Most of the packets were leftover supplies from past expeditions. For some reason, humans didn¡¯t have much of an appetite on Mars. Their taste buds would feel numb, and regardless of how tasty the food was, it tasted like cardboard in their mouths. Therefore, Tang Yue andpany had forced themselves to eat, eating the bare minimum they were required to consume. The previous expedition¡¯s refill still had quite a lot of food left. Most of it was instant food or semi-processed food. On Kunlun Station, they didn¡¯t need to resort to eating toothpaste, like their predecessors, for there was a baking oven and a microwave oven. Thanks to Mars¡¯s gravity, there was no worry that cutlery and food would fly around out of control. Therefore, processing food on Kunlun Station was a lot more convenient than on the ISS. The kitchen was almost a replica of the designs on Earth. In theory, Kunlun Station was equipped with a full set of cutlery that made even the Manchu Han Imperial Feast a possibility. However, due to the need to conserve water and electricity, all the food sent to Mars were halfpleted products that had undergone pasteurization and freezing treatment. Furthermore, there was no means of transporting fresh fruit and vegetables over, due to the one-year journey it would take from Earth to Mars. Anything would have rotted by the time it reached them. Tang Yue opened one crate after another. ¡°Beef, vacuum-packed, salted in preservatives. Shelf date of two years.¡± Tang Yue took out a huge piece of beef from the crate and ced it on a rack. ¡°20 kilograms. When mixed with other food, this can tide me through for two months without a problem, right?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Chicken breast meat. salted in preservatives. Shelf date of two years.¡± Tang Yue took out a huge bag of chicken breast meat. ¡°20 kilograms. This can also feed me for two months.¡± Therge chunks of beef and chicken breast were sealed in soft packaging. These meat products had been pasteurized at high temperatures on Earth and contained a certain amount of moisture. Finally, they were sealed into soft vacuum packs. Although they were, in essence, canned products, their soft packaging made them much lighter than metallic canned food. Also, they didn¡¯t upy too much space. In theory, these meats could be eaten directly, but they were originally used for cooking, such as raw ingredients for steak... Kunlun Station¡¯s permanent headcount was six people, so all the food had been prepared for six people. Twenty kilograms of meat would actually be finished in a week. But now that Tang Yue was the only one, he could eat that for two months if he tightened his belt. Tang Yue took out all of the big-sized food ingredients from the crate and piled them on the racks or floor. ¡°How long can this foodst you?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue did an estimate. ¡°If I don¡¯t consider my quality of life, I¡¯ll probably not starve to death within a year, I suppose?¡± Chapter 6: Sol One, Can Last Another Five Sols

Chapter 6: Sol One, Can Last Another Five Sols

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue opened up all the crates and took out everything that could be eaten. He was like a roon rummaging through the trash, biting at anything that he suspected was edible. Now, food was even more precious than gold. Every scrap of food counted. Finding a tiny piece of chocte was sufficient to extend his life by half a sol. He ced all the food into three categories. The first type was the food with certain amounts of moisture in soft packaging. Food in this category was in bags weighing more than ten kilograms. It included beef, pork, chicken breast, tuna, and macaroni. It had been pasteurized and then sealed in vacuum aluminum packs and could be stored for extended periods of time. Tang Yue did a count and found himself with thirty kilograms of beef, twenty kilograms of chicken breast, twenty kilograms of pork, fifteen kilograms of chopped tuna, and ten kilograms of macaroni. There were also huge bags of dehydrated vegetables, oatmeal, and dried mushrooms. Dehydrated vegetables were different from the sealed meat. Thetter containing 50¨C60% water and didn¡¯t need any additional water during consumption. However, dehydrated vegetables were just like Master Kong-branded beef cup noodles. They needed to be soaked in hot water before consumption. The second type of food was instant food. This included various kinds of canned food that didn¡¯t require any cooking or processing. These could be eaten upon opening. Although it was the year 2052, with space technology rather advanced, to the point of building a space station that orbited around Mars, and building a research station on the surface, there was one thing that had failed to advance despite the many forms of advancement that left the seniors of the 20th century in the dust¡ªfood. Tang Yue ate pretty much whatever the astronauts had eaten back then. There was canned food, all kinds of them. There was nothing but canned food¡ªcanned meat, canned fish, canned vegetables, canned pears, canned pineapple, canned yam, canned peaches, canned cashew nuts¡ªcrates filled with canned food. Although Kunlun Station had a kitchen, the people at Jiuquan clearly didn¡¯t believe that precious time should be wasted on cooking. Compared to preparing a steak, one might as well eat canned food. How convenient and great it was! There was meat, fish, and vegetables, as well as fruits. If a few more cans were opened, one could even set up a Manchu Han Imperial Feast; therefore, the cargo spaceships were choked full of canned food. The staff at the nutrition center had educated Tang Yue, saying that although it was canned food, they were prepared with the brand new canned food technology of the 21st century. They used techniques that instantly sterilized the food while maintaining its vors. The preservatives used were harmless and a technology to restore the food¡¯s original texture was used. The food tastedpletely different from those on the Shenzhou spacecraft. So don¡¯t resist... Come on, try one? We have specially prepared Sparkling Oldendia 1 mixed with Swedish herring canned food? Come on, have a bite. It¡¯s not as if you would die from having one bite. Back when the scientific team was around, they were very averse to eating canned food; therefore, almost all the canned food had been left behind. Back when Tang Yue was packing these cans, he had been secretly chuckling, amused that the cursed cans would be left for the next team. Now that he thought of it, he had raised a huge g for himself. Apart from big-sized food items in soft packaging and instant food, thest was high-energy and emergency food. They included chocte, energy bars, coffee, beverage powder, andpressed biscuits. A characteristic of these food items was that they contained lots of calories. In the early space missions, such food types were the bulk of the supplies. Fifty kilograms of beef could onlyst a week, but fifty kilograms ofpressed biscuitssted months. Later, after the Kunlun Station was sessfully established, the scientific teams moved indoors for work and their living environment experienced significant improvement. As a result, the percentage of suchpressed food items was reduced. However, in the cases of emergencies, Kunlun Station still stored quite a sizable amount ofpressed biscuits. These things were typically used to prop up tables. ¡°This food is enough to feed six people for six months,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Even if thest three months would involve you eating onlypressed biscuits... you would be able to survive on these for three Earth years. If you tighten your belt, it should be able tost you five years.¡± ¡°Five years?¡± Tang Yue swept his gaze across what was left of his possessions. ¡°What happens after five years?¡± ¡°If you can survive longer than five years, eat dirt... By then, I believe you would have be an immortal who practiced inedia. Just eating dirt and drinking the wind is enough for survival,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue rolled his eyes. Tomcat never said anything constructive. ¡°Even Bodhidharma spent nine years wall-gazing,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If you were able to survive on Mars alone for more than five years, even if you couldn¡¯t be Buddha, bing a Bodhisattva wouldn¡¯t be a problem, right? Yearster, when some intelligent beings dig you out of Mars¡¯s sand, they would definitely think of you as a god as they prostrate before you. They would even give you a title called the Great Salvation Bodhisattva of Mars.¡± ¡°Then what about you?¡± ¡°If I still haven¡¯t broken down by then, I¡¯ll be your priest and help spread your teachings,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯ll spread your stories, revering you as the supreme god of Mars... If I¡¯ve, unfortunately, broken down, there¡¯s not much I can do. Robots have a lifespan as well. Please be understanding about that.¡± Tang Yue threw a pack ofpressed biscuits at it in passing. ¡°Give me something constructive!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to panic. It¡¯s useless anyway.¡± Tomcat said as it dodged thepressed biscuits. ¡°You are considered lucky to have sufficient material resources in the Hab. You can still live on for quite a while, giving you sufficient time to slowly make preparations... Isn¡¯t there a saying? Living in the moment?¡± ¡°Living in the moment?¡± Tang Yue felt that the phrase was rather profound 1 . He packed the food into boxes again and rearranged the rack. The next thing he had to do was toe with a detailed n and ration list. How much food and water he could expend a sol would be listed, and it had to be precise to the gram. Saving a gram every meal meant three grams a sol. In an Earth year, that would be 1,095 grams. A kilogram of food could at least keep him alive for another sol. Tang Yue meticulously did the math, carving out weight from anything that could be considered extravagant. Every one kilogram of food saved extended his life by another sol. He felt like a sailor shipwrecked on an uninhabited ind, and he needed to make use of every resource at hand to live on. However, the sailor might be rescued one day, but it was impossible for Tang Yue to return to Earth again. Despite knowing that his resources would one day run out, Tang Yue still worked hard to push that day back further. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue? Are you there? Can you hear me?¡± Mai Dong appeared on the video conference screen. Tang Yue got to his feet and huddled over with Tomcat. ¡°Miss Mai Dong? How¡¯s the situation? Have you finished doing an inventory check?¡± The woman hesitated for a few seconds before slowly nodding. ¡°How¡¯s your situation?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat asked in unison. ¡°Electricity, as well as the water and oxygen recycling systems are working fine. It¡¯s the food...¡± ¡°How¡¯s the food situation?¡± The woman pursed her lips, her eyshes quivering slightly. Bit by bit, the color in her face drained as Tang Yue felt a sense of ominous foreboding. ¡°Miss Mai Dong? Miss Mai Dong? Answer my question.¡± ¡°I... I counted it several times.¡± Mai Dong lowered her eyes and softly replied, ¡°The food on the space station... canst another five days at most.¡± Chapter 7: Sol One, You are Inhumane

Chapter 7: Sol One, You are Inhumane

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue¡¯s heart sank when he heard that, as he secretly knew that things weren¡¯t going well. How could he have forgotten about this? The Mars United Space Station was different from the Kunlun Station on the surface. Kunlun Station was often equipped with supplies tost a six-person team for six months. However, space on the United Space Station was precious; therefore, it didn¡¯t have a store for food. Every mission, all the resources needed for survival were brought by Orion. The food was to be taken away by Orion after the mission to provide for the team on their journey back¡ªit took months to fly from Mars back to Earth, and humans needed food. For safety precautions, the astronauts would adhere to a principle whennding on Mars¡ªsupplies came and went with the people. The supplies followed wherever the people went. The space station was uninhabited for a very long period of time after the mission. Since it wasn¡¯t inhabited, there was no need to stock it with food and resources. Therefore, most of the space station¡¯s facilities were shut down and ced in a hibernation state. Mai Dong¡¯s stay to wait for Tang Yue was ast-minute decision. After Tang Yue was done with his work on the surface, he could bring sufficient resources and enter orbit on thender before docking with the United Space Station. Then, the two of them could board Orion II and return to Earth. But clearly, none of this was possible anymore. Earth had vanished. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to return; same for Mai Dong. With all possible paths severed, the meager amount of food they had on hand was their final possession. ¡°What do we do?¡± Tang Yue pulled Tomcat to the side. ¡°Thatdy only has five days worth of rations.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word. Mai Dong was trapped on the space station with no way of reaching the surface. The food would barelyst her five days, making it appear like a hopeless situation in every other way. This was a truly hopeless situation. Mai Dong was in orbit, hundreds of kilometers from the surface of Mars. Putting the space station above Mars, even the space station that orbited Earth would no doubt be an ind of death if no supplies were sent to it. Tang Yue didn¡¯t even dare look into the woman¡¯s eyes as she waited for him helplessly, hoping that he could find a solution. However, what could Tang Yue do? He wasn¡¯t Superman from Krypton. If he were Superman, he could directly fly into orbit and lower the space station. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat? Give some suggestions. Say something.¡± Tang Yue had no choice but to rest his hopes on Tomcat in the current situation. ¡°What suggestions can I give?¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Thatdy is more than three hundred kilometers above us. On Earth, this distance is about as far as Hangzhou to Hefei. Driving on a highway would take five hours. Now, if you were in Hefei and a chick in Hangzhou were to tell you that she only has five days of rations left, what can you do?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s mouth gaped, momentarily at a loss for words. ¡°Tang Yue, you aren¡¯t Superman. There¡¯s nothing you can.¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing you can do.¡± ¡°I... I can¡¯t just watch idly, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a phrase known as ¡®ability falling short of one¡¯s wishes,¡¯ and there¡¯s another phrase, ¡®willing but powerless to render assistance.¡¯ Now, we are precisely in a situation described by the two phrases.¡± Tomcat patted Tang Yue on the shoulder. ¡°I know you wish to help thatss, a lot. But there¡¯s really nothing we can do...¡± Tang Yue looked out of the window and saw the huge, whitender standing not far from the garage. Its four feet were raised high, looking like a giant crab that stood more than ten meters tall. Thender¡¯s ascending fairing was stered with a giant eagle¡¯s head with bright, piercing eyes. This was also why Tang Yue named thender the Eagle. ¡°Thender!¡± Tang Yue suddenly said. Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°Thender!¡± Tang Yue smacked his thoughts in joy, finally finding a straw to clutch at. He nearly guffawed as he said, ¡°Tomcat! Tomcat, I have a solution! We can use thender! We can use thender to send food to the space station!¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t share his joy and instead looked coldly at the ecstatic man. ¡°Tomcat, thender can automatically dock with the space station, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, it¡¯spletely possible for us to load food and water into thender and have it send the supplies up to the space station! That way, wouldn¡¯t Mai Dong have sufficient food? Haha, I really am a f*cking genius!¡± Tang Yue turned around, about to share the good news. ¡°Mai Dong, Mai Dong, you are saved...¡± Tomcat reached out and stopped him. Tang Yue turned his head over. ¡°Tang Yue, you have to understand the situation you are in. You are like a y Bodhisattva fording a river, and you can¡¯t guarantee your own safety,¡± Tomcat said softly and solemnly. ¡°You... do not have the means to save thatdy.¡± Tang Yue was stunned as the corners of his eyes twitched. You have to understand the situation. Tomcat was a robot after all. Its thought processes were faster than those of anyone else. It probably realized the cruel reality at the moment Earth disappeared... Things were no longer the same as before. With Earth gone, there were only two remaining humans in the entire Universe. They werecking in food and resources. In such times, whoever had an additional kilogram of food lived on an additional day. Tang Yue slowly sat down. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Perhaps by some sleight of hand, Tomcat held a ss cup. It ced it on the table and said, ¡°Imagine that there¡¯s only a cup of water now. You and Mai Dong are trapped in a desert and are about to die of dehydration. Whoever drinks this cup of water lives... Will you give this cup away?¡± ¡°Your resources are limited. If you were to send the food up the space station, what would you eat? What would you live on?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Assume that you are now on the space station, while thedy is at Kunlun Station. Would she split and share her food with you?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Tomcat was always incisive about problems in the calmest and coldest way. If Mai Dong was in his shoes, would Mai Dong share her precious, limited food with him? ¡°I know you wish to save her, but that stems from yourpassion and morals as a human. But Tang Yue, from the instant the Earth vanished... you¡¯re no longer human.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no longer human?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Then what am I?¡± ¡°You are merely a Martian, carbon-based lifeform of unknown origins. Allws of humanity and moral ideas are no longer suited for you,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The good and evil viewpoints of human tradition are no longer something you need to abide by. Whatever you do no longer has any connotations as good and bad. This is because there¡¯s no one to evaluate you for your actions. There are no rules to bind you to them. Nor are there anyws that can sentence you. And from the standpoint of the Universe, whatever you do is reasonable.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Completely iprehensible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because your brain hasn¡¯tpletely gotten round to the situation you are in. You still believe yourself to be a Chinese man who¡¯s honest, kind-hearted, andw-abiding,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But you have to understand that the country and even the Earth no longer exists... You can do anything for your own survival. Survival is a living being¡¯s instinct. Working hard to live on is never wrong.¡± Tang Yue slowly nodded. ¡°So, you want me to just watch as Mai Dong dies?¡± Chapter 8: Sol One, Robots Do Not Need Sleep

Chapter 8: Sol One, Robots Do Not Need Sleep

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word as a form of tacit admission. Speaking of which, Tang Yue and Mai Dong were only colleagues. They were in no way close. Although Tomcat¡¯s words were cruel, there was nothing wrong with the logic. If you were with her in a desert with only one cup of water, and whoever could drink it could live another day, why should one give up the water for the other person? Resources were limited. Tang Yue and Mai Dong werepetitors. Furthermore, the ball was in Tang Yue¡¯s court. Mai Dong was unable to go anywhere while trapped on the space station. As long as he shut off themunications link, he could choose not to ept any cries for help ormunications. Then, that woman would live a maximum of a week... After a week, Tang Yue would be the sole proprietor of all the resources. Tang Yue suddenly shivered and snapped back to his senses... He didn¡¯t know why he woulde up with such terrifying thoughts. This was murder. Under normal circumstances, Tang Yue believed that he would never have thought of killing others for his own survival, but in this uninhabited red desert, the evil weeds in one¡¯s humanity were slowly sprouting. Without him realizing it, it had taken root in his brain, causing his back to break out into a cold sweat. ¡°I¡¯m not a machine. If you want me to live the rest of my life alone on this godforsakennd, I¡¯ll definitely go mad.¡± Tang Yue patted Tomcat on the shoulder. ¡°I might well just enjoy a quick death. Therefore, if it¡¯s possible for her to live, I hope that will be the case.¡± Tomcat sighed slightly. The robot no longer made anyment. The resources were Tang Yue¡¯s, and he had the right to handle and allocate them as he wished. Tang Yue began contacting Mai Dong. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Can you hear me? Don¡¯t panic. Tomcat and I have thought of a solution.¡± The eyes of the woman on the screen lit up as she came close to the camera. ¡°Go ahead, Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Listen up. Miss Mai Dong, I n to send the food in Kunlun Station up to you. Kunlun Station has plenty of resources.¡± Tang Yue pointed outside. ¡°We have an Eagle shuttle over here. It has a carrying capacity of a few tonnes.¡± ¡°Eagle shuttle? You mean thender?¡± ¡°Yes, thender. We have nicknamed it the Eagle,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°What we will do next is put the goods into thender. It has the ability to automatically dock with the space station. You just need to take receipt of the goods.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Mai Dong nodded like a bobblehead doll on speed, as her eyes beamed with immense joy. But she suddenly thought of something as her smile subsided. She felt somewhat doubtful and worried. ¡°But Mr. Tang Yue, what about you if you are giving your resources to me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We have plenty of food here.¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± Mai Dong felt skeptical. ¡°For real?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Following that, Tomcat nudged itself into the picture. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, try to conserve the food you eat as much as possible and minimize your activity. How long can youst?¡± Since Tang Yue had decided on helping thisdy, Tomcat no longer persuaded him otherwise. It needed to do its best to help Tang Yue to send the resources into orbit. ¡°A week at most?¡± Mai Dong pondered for a few seconds as her ck eyes darted around. ¡°I can reduce my daily intake. I¡¯ll just eat one meal a day.¡± ¡°At your present energy expenditure, how much food do you eat in a day?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Uh... Not more than a kilogram.¡± ¡°Three hundred grams,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Three hundred grams a day, not exceeding four hundred grams.¡± The woman slowly nodded. ¡°Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. You have to reduce your expenditure. From now on, keep your activity to a minimum. Reduce the number of meals you take and sleep more.¡± Tomcat¡¯s tone was very solemn. Tang Yue tugged at Tomcat¡¯s ws and leaned in to whisper, ¡°How much time is needed to prepare thender if we start now?¡± ¡°Three days,¡± Tomcat answered indifferently. ¡°Launching an unmanned shuttle under such circumstances requires five days. We might have to make a thorough inspection again.¡± ¡°It takes that long?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because theputer system on thender was updated two days ago, by a bunch of Indian programmers who reset the unmanned control program.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat had now decided to send the resources on the Kunlun Station to the United Space Station. However, this matter wasn¡¯t as easily said as done. Even though the United Space Station was about the same distance to Tang Yue as Hangzhou to Hefei, this wasn¡¯t some FedEx delivery that could promise next-day shipping. The Eagle needed to escape Mars¡¯s gravity and sessfully enter orbit. Afterward, it would dock with the space station. It was a precise operation that had to be taken very seriously. Typically, such matters were monitored by a whole crew of people, afraid that a problem would be encountered. However, there were only three people in the crew if Tomcat was included. There was only one Eaglender with no redundancies. If something went wrong with it, not only was Mai Dong doomed, but the resources it carried would be wasted. Therefore, Tomcat and Tang Yue needed to be careful at every stage. They had toe up with a precise and perfect n with no room for error. ¡°It¡¯s now half-past three.¡± Tomcat looked at the time. A sol was on average 24 hours 37 minutes, slightly longer than Earth¡¯s 23 hours 56 minutes. Therefore, the scientific team on Mars basically adhered to the time-keeping method on Earth. One day had 24 hours. They independently created a ¡°Coordinated Martian Time.¡± This had a time difference of four to five hours from Coordinated Universal Time, and the team members called this inteary time difference. ¡°There¡¯s still another three hours before the sun sets. Tang Yue, tidy up the Kunlun Station first. I¡¯ll be in charge of formting the n needed to ship the goods.¡± ¡°Tidy up?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat pointed at the messy crates and food strewn across the floor. ¡°Is there even any walking space? This is your home from now on. You need to keep it clean!¡± Tang Yue turned around and began tidying up the Kunlun Station. He had previously checked on food, water, and oxygen, but that was far from sufficient. If he wished to live here for a considerable amount of time, he had to guarantee that the power source and other facilities would remain operational. Following that, he needed to do a thorough inspection of the power delivery system. It was no wonder Tomcat wanted Mai Dong to try her best to buy herself time. Tang Yue first needed to finish his inspections of the Kunlun Station before he had the free time to help Mai Dong. Otherwise, it was easy for disaster to brew. ¡°Tang Yue, you still have three hours. You have to sleep once the sun sets.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Why sleep so early?¡± ¡°Hurry up and get some rest,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s mission will beborious. You need to have ample strength and energy.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°What about you?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°I have to do the calctions to formte the shipping n... I¡¯m a robot. A robot doesn¡¯t need sleep.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good being a robot. You don¡¯t need to sleep, eat or breathe. Going out to the Martian surface is like a stroll.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°Why wasn¡¯t I born as a robot?¡± Chapter 9: Sol One, Kunlun Station is a Turtle Shell

Chapter 9: Sol One, Kunlun Station is a Turtle Shell

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon From an Earthling¡¯s point of view, Kunlun Station was no doubt a simply constructed tent in a desert. The entire Station was formed from two parts. The first was the Hab. This was where the scientific team resided andpleted their missions. The Hab¡¯s core was a short circr turtle shell structure made out of aluminum alloy. Its outer shell was made of fortified engineering stics, and it was deeply rooted in the Mars surface. Its diameter was about fifteen meters long and, from the outside, it looked like a ttened white Mongolian yurt. The Hab was where Tang Yue mainly resided. It was Kunlun Station¡¯s main hall, kitchen, storage room, gym, meeting room,boratory, and mainframe room. It was home to most of the facilities provided by the Station. The Hab had seven smaller cabins connected to it in a radial manner. Six of them were the sleeping quarters for the team, with the remaining one an airlock. The sleeping quarters were pathetically small. Furthermore, they weren¡¯t hard structures. In the words of Commander Old Wang, one even had to worry about puncturing a hole in the wall while farting... The six cabins used an intable, modr design. They could be reced and had beenpressed in a crate when they were first shipped over. The second part of the Kunlun Station was a garage. It was simpler in structure than the Hab... It was simply a container where the crewed Martian rovers were typically parked. Tang Yue checked on the batteries first. The backup battery was already fully charged. This power system mainly provided energy for the life support system during the night. After the sun set, the sr panels wouldn¡¯t be of any use; therefore, it was imperative that Tang Yue put them away to prevent any dust storms from damaging them. ¡°Are you heading out to bring in the sr panels?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue took down the EVA 1 suit hanging on the wall and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯ll be getting dark soon. I need to bring them in.¡± ¡°Keep safe.¡± Tomcat nodded. Tang Yue unzipped the zip at the back of the EVA suit before bending over to wriggle in. The EVA suit was a very heavy piece of equipment. It had a mass of sixty kilograms, but thanks to Mars¡¯s gravity being only 40% of Earth¡¯s, wearing this thing, that had a mass of sixty kilograms, felt as though it weighed twenty-four kilograms on Earth. Tomcat came over to help Tang Yue pull up the zipper beforetching on the massive life support system. The life support system was shaped like a luggage bag, and in it was all the equipment needed to keep Tang Yue alive. As long as he left the Kunlun Station, he needed to carry this turtle shell. The green LED light inside the visor lit up, indicating that the life support system was online and the EVA suit was operating normally. ¡°Radiant Armor is in normal working condition. The airtight seal is working fine.¡± Tang Yue spoke to Tomcat through the earpiece and gave a thumbs up. Tomcat patted Tang Yue¡¯s visor and raised up the thumb on its ws. Radiant Armor was what the scientific team nicknamed the EVA suit. It was simply too heavy and bulky, and it was mostly rigid, making the upper half of the EVA suit a hard shell. The visor and shoulders were fixed in ce together. The limb joints were connected by alloys and steel rims. It was akin to wearing armor from ancient times. Wearing Radiant Armor outside the Hab gave one the feeling that they were about to face Martians in battle. Tang Yue didn¡¯t like the suit as he couldn¡¯t even bend when wearing the Radiant Armor. ¡°Good luck!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. Tang Yue looked up and saw Tomcat standing in the hall, waving. Tang Yue nodded and, with great difficulty, turned around before opening the door to the airlock. Once he had donned the EVA suit, Tang Yue felt isted from the world. On the one hand, the noise istion effects of the visor were very good. Once his head had reached the visor, the noise around him seemed to drown out into the distance. On the other hand, the EVA suit was just too thick. Tang Yue didn¡¯t feel as though he was wearing something, but more like he had entered a room. The airlock was a cylindrical chamber that reached out transversely. The Hab was on one end, while the other end was the exit to the Kunlun Station. The airlock was six meters long and had a diameter of three meters. The two ends had doors that resembled a vault¡¯s door. Tang Yue had to lower his body slightly to enter the airlock before turning around to close the airlock¡¯s door behind him and ensuring that there was a seal. Through the observational ss window, above the chamber, he could clearly see Tomcat. Tang Yue walked across the airlock as it depressurized. Following that, he stood at the entrance of Kunlun Station. The instant the airlock opened its doors to connect to the Martian atmosphere outside, a red warning light lit up. Atmospheric pressure on Mars was a hundredth of Earth¡¯s. Without donning an EVA suit, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t live a minute outside. ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°I¡¯m out. It feels alright.¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath as the grand, expansive desert of Mars presented itself to him. The sun was already setting in the west and the sky was gradually bing dark. The garage storing the Martian rover wasn¡¯t too far away. Further off was the huge Eagle. The whitender stood erect over the sand, its smooth, soft lines contrasted starkly with the crude and wild desert around it. The empty space before the Kunlun Station was where the array of sr panels was situated. The intensity of the sunlight received on Mars were not even half of the Earth, which meant that one needed even more sr panels on Mars to provide for Kunlun Station. The Kunlun Station¡¯s main energy source stemmed from the array of sr panels that consisted of more than forty panels. The total power it could produce was 9,000 watts. When fullyid out, it could upy half a standard sports field of four hundred meters. Every morning, Tang Yue had to manually open up the panels. And in the evening, Tang Yue had to take them back indoors before the sun set. After sunset, Mars¡¯s surface temperature would drop to ¨C80¡ãC. At times, it could even plunge to ¨C100¡ãC. Such low temperatures would drastically reduce the lifespan of the sr batteries. There were no spare sr panels. Every panel broken meant one less; therefore, Tang Yue needed to properly maintain them. Tang Yue held a brush in his hand as he began cleaning the dust off the panel. After cleaning them, he would move them back to the garage. Due to the thin atmosphere, the wind on Mars wasn¡¯t like Earth, but dust storms would still happen. This fine particte wouldnd on the sr panels, with a possibility of finding themselves in the cracks of the circuitry or block the heat exhaust vents, causing short circuits or disconnections. Therefore, Tang Yue needed to clean them daily. ¡°Tang Yue.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. ¡°Yes? I¡¯m here.¡± Tang Yue knelt on the ground. As the EVA suit was hard-shell, with his torso unable to bend or turn, all the tools in Kunlun Station had long handles. It was to reduce the need for astronauts to bend their backs. Tang Yue pushed up the light-filtering visor and held a long-handled brush in one hand as he carefully cleaned a panel. ¡°How many resources do you n on sending Miss Mai Dong?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°I need it for the nning.¡± Tang Yue stopped the work he was doing and thought. ¡°Half.¡± Chapter 10: Sol One, Mars Wanderer

Chapter 10: Sol One, Mars Wanderer

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Send half?¡± Tomcat was astonished. ¡°Why? You think it too little?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How about sending 60%?¡± ¡°Are you mad?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What will you eat if you send 60% of your resources to her? Do you have a death wish?¡± Tang Yue sat down, his hand holding the half-meter long brush, as he wore the Radiant Armor EVA suit. It was extremely draining on his stamina to move about since the suit was thick and heavy like a turtle¡¯s shell. Therefore, Tang Yue often had to rest for a while after a period of work. ¡°I can¡¯t say why either. I feel like I have experienced a particr change in the way I think... It seems as though I¡¯ve be rather indifferent towards living or dying,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I feel like my life has be one with the Universe, reaching the supreme realm of being at one with the Heavens. I¡¯vee to understand how Gautama Buddha and Jesus thought, years ago. Tomcat, do you think I¡¯m really bing Buddha...¡± ¡°Be your ass. Speak something sane!¡± ¡°Alright. I only feel the resources should be split equally,¡± Tang Yue replied sulkily. ¡°Between two people, isn¡¯t it fair if each person gets half? Is there a problem?¡± The wide sr panels were installed on the ground with a half a meter tall rack propping them up. They were, in fact, very heavy and couldn¡¯t be handled roughly. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t easy to move them about. Tang Yue typically used a tiny cart to move them into the garage. ¡°There¡¯s no problem splitting it equally,¡± Tomcat said with a suppressed tone. ¡°But Tang Yue, have you thought about it? There¡¯s only one Eagle, and it can only be used once.¡± Tang Yue stared nkly for a moment. ¡°I know.¡± There was only one Eagle and it could only be used once. This implied that Tang Yue only had one chance to send material resources to Mai Dong. This four-hundred-kilometer delivery trip could only be done once. After sending the goods, Tang Yue would lose all capability of escaping Mars¡¯s surface. Mai Dong would no longer get any replenishments, and the space station would lose some of its resources. In other words, Tang Yue could only push back the day of her expending all her resources without changing the oue. There wouldn¡¯t be any significant change to Mai Dong¡¯s oue. Tomcat suppressed its voice. ¡°That woman¡¯s oue has long been written in the sand. No one can change it, but you are different. You¡¯re on Mars. You can support yourself in a much better way than on the space station. You have arger quantity and variety of material resources and tools. There might still be a chance for you to live on for a prolonged period of time.¡± Tang Yue pricked up his brows. ¡°If you were to send half of your resources, that would be equivalent to cutting off any outs you might have.¡± Tomcat¡¯s tone was solemn. ¡°There¡¯s no way you can save her. At best, you will push back the day of her death, but it will only serve to bring you harm!¡± ¡°As emperor, my decision is final. There¡¯s no need for you to persuade me otherwise.¡± Tang Yue waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve already said I¡¯m sending half, not one gram less.¡± ¡°You...¡± Tang Yue slowly got to his feet, walked to the garage¡¯s door and exerted strength on the handle. ¡°Beep¡ª¡± A green LED indicator lit up as the garage¡¯s door slowly opened. Tang Yue once again saw the huge Mars rover. The garage had a simpleyout. It was a container with the logo of China¡¯s XCMG hanging above, and it was used to store and protect the rover. Back when Tang Yue was tidying up the Kunlun Station, he had carried out a thorough inspection of the rover before parking the vehicle inside the garage. ording to the original n, the doors to the garage would only be opened two years from now. The Mars rover¡¯s name was Mars Wanderer. It was the only transportation vehicle the scientific team had for traveling on Mars¡¯s surface. It was eight meters long, three meters wide, and three meters tall. It had six metallic wheels and was about the size of a truck. Compared to the tiny, manually-powered lunar rovers that were the size of a tricycle, the Mars rover was a behemoth. At the head of the vehicle was the piloting station. It carried four people, including the driver. As the vehicle¡¯s interior wasn¡¯t airtight, there was a need to wear EVA suits inside. Mars Wanderer was a mobileboratory. The back of the rover hauled a trailer with a hinge. In fact, the trailer could be modified into a cabin for experiments. During the mission, the scientific team¡¯s geologists would often drive the rover, pulling an exploration drill¡¯s boring crown and geologic hammer as they headed for all sorts of destinations. Mars Wanderer¡¯s highest speed was 30 km/h¡ªnot much faster than a bike, which made Tang Yue nickname it as Mars Tractor. Tang Yue stepped into the garage and looked at the temperature gauge hanging on the wall. ¨C25¡ãC. The temperature inside the garage was a lot higher than it was outside. Outside, the temperature was at least ¨C40¡ãC, going as low as ¨C70¡ãC after sunset. The reason the garage could modte a stable temperature was thanks to a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, also known as an RTG. The RTG looked like a cylinder about half a meter tall. There were six ted spokes around its outer shell. Such a generator used Plutonium-238 as its energy source and didn¡¯t need any sunlight to operate. Plutonium-238 generated a stable amount of heat as it decayed. The electric generator used the temperature difference from the radiation to produce electricity. An amount of the heat would be dispersed into the air; thus, maintaining the temperature in the garage. Furthermore, Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 87.7 years, which meant that Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t outlive it. Tang Yue pushed a tiny cart out and loaded it with the sr panels. ¡°Tomcat, do you know Karl Marx¡¯s theory of human nature?¡± ¡°Human?¡± Tang Yue pushed the cart as he nodded. ¡°Karl Marx said that the essence of man is an ensemble of social rtions. Humans are ultimately social creatures that require people to stay together to live on. It¡¯s impossible for a human to live alone in this world.¡± ¡°So the reason you are sharing half the resources with Miss Mai Dong stems from a fear of loneliness?¡± ¡°Tomcat, you¡¯re a robot. You probably have no way of understanding how I feel.¡± Tang Yue huffed and puffed as he pushed the tiny cart into the garage. After unloading the sr panel, he turned back out and continued moving the rest. ¡°The reason I can talk to you is that my brain still can¡¯t ept the fact that Earth has vanished. Perhaps, the day Ie to terms with this reality, my brain will finally turn around, but it might also spell my mental breakdown.¡± Tomcat fell silent. ¡°Thankfully, the Earth is just too far. I can¡¯t see it or touch it, so my subconscious is still lying to my brain, saying that the Earth still exists,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°If the Earth had vanished in front of me, I might have gone mad right there and then... Living alone is more terrifying than dying together.¡± There was no source from the transmission as Tomcat remained silent the entire time. ¡°Tomcat?¡± ¡°Humans are trulyplicated creatures.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°At times, you wouldn¡¯t make survival your number one priority. This is a shameful form of betrayal.¡± ¡°Betrayal?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Who did I betray?¡± ¡°You betrayed your genes,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Genes are all selfish. Their goal is to survive and reproduce. Yet, you are dying before you can even reproduce.¡± ¡°Are you f*cking hinting and mocking my status as a bachelor dog!?¡± Tang Yue was enraged. ¡°You don¡¯t have a wife either. So why are you putting on airs?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a robot.¡± Tomcat was very calm. ¡°I don¡¯t need a partner.¡± ¡°Then neither do I need one!¡± Tang Yue angrily pushed the cart into the garage. Then, he shouted into the empty, vast, deste wastnd. ¡°What¡¯s a bachelor dog? I, Tang Yue, am a gigantic lone wolf on Mars!¡± Chapter 11: Sol One, Rectum Comparable to a Howitzer

Chapter 11: Sol One, Rectum Comparable to a Howitzer

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue took about three hours to move all the sr panels into the garage. By the time he was done with the work and returned to the Kunlun Station, it waspletely dark outside. Tang Yue was also exhausted. He nearly had to crawl into the airlock before closing the hatch door. The sanitation system sted high-temperature steam at his EVA suit, cleaning off the dust and sand from his clothes. This was a necessary procedure, both for hygiene and safety reasons. Astronauts were not to randomly bring contaminants from outside into the Hab. By the same logic, in order to prevent contamination, the waste produced by the astronauts couldn¡¯t be randomly thrown onto Mars. However, Tang Yue no longer needed to abide by the final rule. No one would care if he took off his pants and defecated on the peak of Olympus Mons¡ªas long as Tang Yue didn¡¯t care for the survival of his ass. Tang Yue opened the airlock¡¯s second door and flipped around to crawl into the hall before slumping over the ground, heaving for breath. ¡°F*ck. This job used to be done by four people at a time... I... I f*cking did a four-men job alone.¡± Tang Yue was so exhausted that he no longer had the strength to get out of his EVA suit. ¡°I¡¯m sure f*cking impressive!¡± Tang Yue chuckled in a silly manner as he spoke. Tomcat walked over and helped flip Tang Yue around. Then, it took off the life support system on his back, pulled the zipper, and pulled Tang Yue out of the Radiant Armor. Tang Yue waspletely drenched, as though he had crawled out of a pool of water¡ªhis sweat had soaked his clothes. Tomcat handed him a cup of water, he downed it while propping himself up on a table. ¡°I¡¯ve been revived... It f*cking killed me.¡± Tang Yue ced the empty cup on the table as he panted. ¡°Where¡¯s the water? Get me some water. I want water!¡± ¡°You have already expended 90% of your daily allocation of water,¡± Tomcat said coldly. ¡°Are you certain you still wish to have more?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Then how much water do I have left?¡± Tomcat took the cup and turned around to fill it. Minutester, it returned with the cup and ced it in front of Tang Yue. Tang Yue dropped his jaws onto the table as he stared at the thinyer of water in the cup. That bit of water was just enough to rinse his tongue. He had to say that this was the first time he found water more beautiful than diamonds. It was clear and crystalline, looked sacred and unadulterated... It was like liquid diamond. No. Diamonds count for sh*t. ¡°Its mass will not increase no matter how much you stare at it,¡± Tomcat reminded him. ¡°On the contrary, water will constantly evaporate. During the time you were staring at it in a daze, 2.7 ¡Á 10?? grams of water evaporated. Therefore, if you wish to drink it, drink it as soon as possible.¡± Tang Yue carefully held the cup of water as his voice trembled. ¡°Do I really only have that much left?¡± Tomcat nodded. Tang Yue tipped his head and downed it before smacking his lips, fully appreciating the phrase, ¡°good to thest drop.¡± ¡°I almost forgot to tell you. This is all the water you have left for consumption, face-washing, feet-washing, showering, and for the toilet.¡± Tomcat patted Tang Yue on the shoulder. ¡°Try to use it sparingly.¡± While smacking the bottom of the stic cup with his hand as he tried hard to extend his tongue, he fell into a daze as his hand stopped in midair. ¡°Holy sh*t, are you f*cking inhumane?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not human.¡± ... Tomcat split all the food into two sets ording to weight. A portion was left inside Kunlun Station for Tang Yue¡¯s consumption, while the other set was to be delivered to the United Space Station. All the food in Kunlun Station weighed about 2,500 kilograms which was enough to feed Tang Yue for five Earth years, which meant about 1,800 days. But if half of it was given to Mai Dong, he would only have enough food for 900 days. The Eagle¡¯s loading capacity was more than three tonnes, so carrying a ton of food wasn¡¯t a problem at all. ¡°Are we sending the beef?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Yue waved his hand, speaking decisively. ¡°Chicken?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Trout?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Tuna?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Yue showed no hesitation. ¡°If you are giving everything, what are you eating?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to being a nice person.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a woman, and she¡¯s all alone in the space station. We need to show some understanding and sympathy for her,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°All it takes is for the two of us men to suffer a little. On a huge like Mars, it¡¯s not as though we don¡¯t have food to eat. I¡¯m sure we will find a solution.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to eat on Mars? Dirt? I¡¯m telling you, Tang Yue,¡± Tomcat said sulkily, ¡°setting yourself up on a path of unrequited love doesn¡¯t end well. At the end of the day, you get nothing.¡± ¡°Where did you learn words that sound so sappy?¡± ¡°Commander Old Wang taught me.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°He was the most famous king of sappy phrases among the astronauts.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue segregated all the food parcels that were to be sent and ced them to the side of a hall before storing them in crates. However, it was impossible to finish all the work that night. It would take a few more days; therefore, Tomcat sent Tang Yue to bed. As the scientific team had already embarked on their return trip, the six living quarters in the Hab were empty. The windowless quarters were extremely tiny and cramped, with only a single bed and an overhead cab. When lying in bed, Tang Yue had a feeling of staying in tiny partition rooms rented out by unscrupulous agents in Beijing. The only difference was that the surrounding walls were made from soft fabrics¡ªafter all, they were intable. If all the air was drained, the internal frame could be dismantled, and the living quarters could bepressed into a luggage bag for ease of transportation. asionally, Tang Yue would express his doubts over the rigidity and safety of the living quarters. After all, Old Wang had once said: ¡°the walls are so frail that a fart could puncture them.¡± However, Tomcat assured him that the technology behind the intable living quarters was a rather mature one. The old ISS used such intable living quarters years ago. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s made of multiyered, high-strength fiber materials and it¡¯s six times stronger than steel wires. If Old Wang can puncture a wall of the living quarters with a fart, it will imply that his rectum is a 75 mm howitzer.¡± That was what Tomcat said. Tang Yue pulled open the zipper to the living quarters and switched on themp above him. It was about ¨C80¡ãC outside. It would take half a minute to freeze if exposed outside, but the living quarters were very warm. He even felt a little hot when pulling a nket over himself. Tang Yue snuggled into bed and reached out to switch the light off. Immediately, it became dark. Zipping up the door curtain made the interior silent. The fortified nylon had good noise istion properties, so all the mechanical sounds from the hall were kept outside as they slowly hummed. The sounds of the venttion fan made him feel as if he was lying in a mobile couchette. The wall separated Tang Yue from a hell of a lot of wind and sand, and a lifeless, silent, deste in. He thought about how the heavens had been kind to him, with him surviving the vanishing of the Earth, and how he still had a tiny piece of peacefulnd to himself spanning dozens of square meters on this cold and deste world. It was warm and bright, cozy and silent. ¡°Good f*cking night, b*stard Mars.¡± Tang Yue closed his eyes. 12 August 2052 A.D. Tang Yue passed the first sol on Mars alone since the disappearance of Earth. Chapter 12: Sol Two, The Naked Man on the Desolate Plains

Chapter 12: Sol Two, The Naked Man on the Deste ins

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Early the next morning, Tang Yue rolled to his feet. The first thing he said to Tomcat was, ¡°Is the Earth back?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°What about Orion I?¡± Tomcat shook its head in response. ¡°There¡¯s nothing?¡± Tomcat nodded. After Tang Yue had fallen asleep, Tomcat had entered a hibernation state and also charged itself. There was a tiny charging dock in the Hab, and Tomcat was a robot that could dock itself for recharging. Twelves hours of charging was enough to run it for an entire day. In its hibernation state, Tomcat still maintained a portion of its operations. It made follow-up observations in the direction of Earth, but the Earth had failed to appear. ¡°What aboutmunications?¡± Tomcat shook its head again. Themunications system was online 24 hours a day. Kunlun Station¡¯sputers would send a ping every half an hour. If there was any response, Kunlun Station would immediately receive it... Tang Yue still had hopes of the world restoring to its original state the moment he opened his eyes. Perhaps, Earth¡¯s disappearance yesterday was a glitch in the Universe. One night was sufficient for it to fix that bug. Unfortunately, things had remained the same as yesterday. It was a mystery whether Earth had vaporized or had run away from home. There was no knowing when it would return, or if it would ever return at all. Tang Yue crawled out of his sleeping bag wearing his baggy pants with his messy, disheveled bed hair. With his eyes half-closed, he stepped into the hall and saw Tomcat already working. It ced a half-filled ss trough on the table. ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± Tomcat tapped the trough with its ws. ¡°Come here and take a look. This is the amount of water you can use today.¡± Tang Yue rubbed his eyes. ¡°This little?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The water you use for drinking, brushing your teeth, washing your face and feet, showering, as well as the water for washing the dishes and the toilet are all here. A total of 1.5 liters.¡± Every time water was rationed, Tomcat¡¯s stinginess made Tang Yue feel like pulling the plug on it. How much was 1.5 liters of water? A typical bottle of mineral water was 550 milliliters. Two of them would be 1,100 milliliters, and three would be 1,650 milliliters. Tang Yue didn¡¯t even have three bottles a day to use. And that was for all kinds of tasks that required water. Tang Yue felt that he couldn¡¯t drink using normal cups in the future. He had to use a measuring cylinder. Tang Yue found a 100-milliliter measuring cylinder from a cab underneath the experimentation table, indicating that he would use it for drinking and brushing his teeth. ¡°I n to split the brushing of teeth into five steps. Each step, I¡¯ll drink 20 milliliters of water.¡± Tang Yue held the measuring cylinder, having never imagined that he needed to use one to confirm the amount of water for brushing teeth. ¡°The first step. Drink a mouthful of water before rinsing the mouth.¡± Tang Yue took a tiny sip of water and very carefully controlled his usage. However, the 20 milliliters basically didn¡¯t do a thing when it entered his mouth. He originally wished to rinse his mouth, but it wasn¡¯t possible. All it did was moisten his throat. ¡°Second step. Get some toothpaste and sip another round of water.¡± Tang Yue dabbed some toothpaste and sipped a small mouthful of water. With the water mixing with the gtinous toothpaste, it felt a little like chewing gum, with a faint, sweet and fruity vor. The toothpaste on Kunlun Station was specially designed. One¡¯s oral hygiene was maintained by chewing on it. There was no need to brush his teeth. Finally, he could even swallow it. On the one hand, he could conserve water and, on the other hand, reduce waste. Tang Yue chewed for half a minute before swallowing the toothpaste. ¡°Third step, dab another round of toothpaste and take another sip of water.¡± ¡°Fourth step, sip some water and rinse the mouth.¡± ¡°Fifth step. Take onest sip... to rinse the mouth... F*ck, where¡¯s the water?¡± Tang Yue turned agape as he overturned the measuring cylinder on his head. He kept smacking it, but it took all day before a pathetic drop of water gathered onto the wall of the measuring cylinder. It slowly dripped down as Tang Yue stared at it intently. At the instant, the water droplet separated itself from the measuring cylinder, he quickly stretched out his tongue to catch it. Tang Yue quickly retracted his tongue like a frog before smacking his lips, feeling extremely pleased with himself. Tomcat silently covered its eyes. ¡°Why are you covering your eyes?¡± Tang Yue tried to extend his tongue inside the measuring cylinder as there were still droplets of water around the inside. Unfortunately, the mouth of a 100-milliliter measuring cylinder was just too small. The cylinder was too narrow in diameter, making it impossible for his tongue to reach it. ¡°I think you are... really pathetic,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°I can¡¯t bear to watch any further.¡± Tang Yue took another 100 milliliters of water and dripped it onto a towel. He rubbed his face and also used it to hold down his hair. He sessfully used 200 milliliters of water to finish up his wash up. This also clearly indicated that the impossible was forced in humans. If one didn¡¯t ruthlessly force oneself, one wouldn¡¯t know what their limits were. Tang Yue nned on challenging the enormous difficulty of only using 190 milliliters the next time¡ªalthough he didn¡¯t know when he would next be brushing his teeth. After finishing the washing up, Tang Yue took off his pants. ¡°Wow!¡± Tomcat jumped in fright and covered its eyes with one paw. Then, it secretly split two of its fingers and pointed its other trembling paw at a particr spot. ¡°Long... Long... Long-haired elephant...¡± ¡°F*ck your elephant! Why the act!?¡± Tang Yue threw his pants on Tomcat. ¡°We are all men. Who hasn¡¯t seen one?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a man, nor do I have one.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Why are you taking off your clothes? It severely affects thendscape and the country¡¯s image, do you know? Tomorrow, Time Magazine will have your naked picture on its cover. The New York Times will probably report: Shocking appearance of naked Chinese man on Kunlun Station. Does this imply that Asia¡¯s views on sexuality have opened up to ce it in the leading ranks of the world?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s to hang up and dry the clothes.¡± Tang Yue thought nothing of it. He walked around the hall showing his naked ass. ¡°Now that I¡¯m the only one on Kunlun Station, and there¡¯s no one else to see, how would it affect thendscape or country¡¯s image? The Earth is gone, so how can there be Time Magazine or The New York Times?¡± Indeed, now that he was the only person on Mars, he could do as he wished. There was no one else to see him. If Tang Yue was willing and unafraid of dying, he could even run naked across Mars. The only oue would be the naked corpse of a nameless man strewn across its surface. Tang Yue found a thin piece of rope andtched them over the hooks on the wall before pulling it above him. Stretching across the hall, it became a makeshift clothesline. Tang Yue hung his pants over it. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it irritating having that thing swinging around? Will it drop if it identally gets caught by something? Since there¡¯s no chance for you to use it in the future, you might as well just cut it off...¡± Tomcat nagged by the side, showing extreme curiosity towards a particr organ on Tang Yue¡¯s body. ¡°Hey, have you been circumcised? I heard that there¡¯s a discount when undergoing circumcision. Is it half price for the second circumcised dick?¡± Tang Yue really wished to unplug the talkative robot. Chapter 13: Sol Two, Grand Art of Dirty Clothes Changing

Chapter 13: Sol Two, Grand Art of Dirty Clothes Changing

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The reason Tang Yue hung his pants up in the hall was to do with Tomcat¡¯s restriction on his use of water. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t shower or doundry without any scruples. Therefore, to reduce the rate at which he stank... Tang Yue decided to use the Grand Art of Dirty Clothes Changing. This art was mastered by Tang Yue during his college days in a male dormitory. All he needed to do was prepare two sets of clothes and switch between them every day. While wearing one, he would hang the other out to dry. This could ensure that both sets of clothes were dry and clean for an extended period of time, saving him the trouble of doingundry. Equipped with four years of actual experience while studying for his Bachelor¡¯s degree, Tang Yue sessfully proved that this method could dy his stinking by 50%. But on the Kunlun Station, Tang Yue nned to go one step further. If it wasn¡¯t necessary, don¡¯t wear clothes. Since there was no one to see him, it didn¡¯t matter if he wore clothes or not. Not wearing any clothes meant noundry to do, so it saved him energy and also conserved water. Tang Yue stood in the hall butt-naked with his arms akimbo. His balls felt a chill from the breeze. To openly walk around naked was a challenge towards his shame as a human. Hence, he pulled out some tin-foiled wrapping, used to inste crates, and wrapped himself in it. It reached down to his calves, making him look like an ancient Roman draped in a robe. As he walked, what he called his vacuum robe would flutter in the wind, asionally showing his two hairy legs that made for quite an enchanting appearance. Tomcat deemed him the vacuum naked man on Mars. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong appeared onscreen. ¡°Have you woken up? Have you eaten... Ah¡ª!¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The woman¡¯s face blushed red as she turned her head to the side. She mumbled, ¡°Clothes, Mr. Tang Yue, clothes!¡± Tang Yue looked down and was stunned. He quickly stuffed the little guy which had peeped out back into the wrapping. From the looks of it, he still needed to wear pants in the future. ... Breakfast was a beef sandwich, a piece ofpressed biscuit, and a measuring cylinder of orange juice, as well as a Vitamin C tablet. The beef sandwich was vacuum packed instant food. It had processed at stabilized heats, so it contained ample moisture in it. There was no need to add any water to it and could be directly consumed by throwing it into the microwave or oven for heating. Therefore, its shelf date wasn¡¯t too long¡ªnot more than two years. Tang Yue had to finish such food first; otherwise, they would only end up going bad. The orange juice was produced by mixing powder with water. Almost all the beverages for space missions were made the same way. Tiny bags of powder granules were mixed with water before they could be consumed. They resembled instant coffee. However, the taste wasn¡¯t something that could be expressed with a few words... Even though the staff at the nutrition center once indicated that they had tried their best to enhance the taste of the beverages, they were ultimately things that needed to endure the long trip to Mars. Therefore, its shelf date was given priority. Tang Yue always said that the orange juice had a stic taste to it. Tang Yue¡¯s daily intake of food needed to provide him with 2,000 calories; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have sufficient energy for work. Tang Yue ced the sandwich on a te and sliced it with a knife before forking it and cing it into his mouth. ¡°Mai Dong, have you had breakfast?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve eaten.¡± ¡°What did you eat?¡± Tang Yue asked as he chewed. ¡°Half a biscuit and a cup of water.¡± Tang Yue chuckled. He forked a piece of beef and waved it in front of Mai Dong, smiling cheekily, ¡°See this? Do you know what this is? It¡¯s beef. Want some?¡± Mai Dong silently gulped. Theputer screen was ced on the work desk in front of Tang Yue, and Mai Dong watched him eat. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will have some soon.¡± Tang Yue put down his cutlery and moved the camera away, making Mai Dong see the floor behind him. ¡°See those crates? They are full of the food I¡¯m preparing to send you. Once I¡¯m done with the preparation work over here, I¡¯ll send them to you. Hold on a little longer.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Mr. Tang Yue, don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m not rushing you.¡± ¡°How much longer can the food on your sidest?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Don¡¯t force it.¡± ¡°Another five days.¡± Mai Dong grabbed a piece of biscuit from an area beyond the camera¡¯s field of view. She held the biscuit close to the camera for Tang Yue to see it and said, ¡°I still have quite a few biscuits here.¡± Tang Yue felt a little relieved. Tomcat kicked Tang Yue¡¯s chair from behind. ¡°Quickly finish your meal and get to work!¡± Tang Yue inwardly cursed Tomcat for his vileness as he obediently stuffed the sandwich into his mouth. No matter how exploitative andlord was, they still would allow their ves to have their meals. This was the second sol he had been trapped on Mars, and there was a lot of work he needed toplete. He had to return all the sr panels back to their original spot as everything in Kunlun Station needed electricity. Electricity was the source of life, and Tang Yue needed to ensure that the electricity reserves were always fully charged. After setting up the sr panels, he still needed to do a thorough check of Kunlun Station. If there were any safety breeches, he needed to eliminate them as soon as possible, but this was also time-consuming and back-breaking work. Finally, Tang Yue had tobor over the Eagle... He and Tomcat needed to ensure that there was nothing wrong with the Eagle and that it was capable of sending the goods into Mars¡¯s orbit and dock with the United Space Station. If this was decades ago on Earth, it would be a mission that would garner massive attention. It needed several countries to cooperate, from theunch center and optical radar, to the remote satellites following and monitoring the entire process. But now, Tang Yue realized, even including Tomcat there would only be a maximum of three. And all of this needed to be finished as quickly as possible because Mai Dongcked food. She wouldn¡¯tst much longer. Tang Yue lifted the te vertically and licked clean every crumb from it. This way, he didn¡¯t even need to wash the te. Water conservation. He used the te as a mirror and found it sparkling clean. The te was even cleaner than his face. Tang Yue got up, picked a clean pair of pants and put his clothes on. Then, he crawled into Radiant Armor... Tang Yue had never attempted wearing Radiant Armor naked. He felt that it was entirely possible for a particrly sharpponent to lodge in his balls. Tomcat helped him zip up his zipper and installed the life support system on him. With an assuring click, it was secured to his EVA suit. After checking that there were no problems with the airtightness, Tang Yue pushed up his light filtering visor. He moved his limbs and joints, and everything was good to go. ¡°Good luck.¡± Tomcat patted Tang Yue¡¯s visor and gave a thumbs up. Tang Yue returned with a thumbs up, paused a little, and turned to wave at Mai Dong, showing her a radiant smile. The woman was floating in the space station, separated by a millimeter-thick ss screen and four hundred kilometers of space. She waved her hand at him, watching the man clumsily open the hatch to the airlock. Chapter 14: Sol Two, How an Earth Can Be Blasted Apart

Chapter 14: Sol Two, How an Earth Can Be sted Apart

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab was a white hard shell that resembled a huge bowl ced upside-down on Mars¡¯s surface. The outer shell was mainly made of ss fiber reinforced PEEK (polyether ether ketone)posite. It was a type of aromaticpound crystallized into a thermostic macromolecule material. It was widely used in space engineering. It was heavy-duty and high-strength and had an operating temperature range of ¨C250¡ãC to 300¡ãC. Tang Yue trudged across the sandy ground, circling around Kunlun Station as he did a thorough inspection. He couldn¡¯t afford any problems in the Hab¡¯s airtightness. Mars only had an atmospheric pressure of 700 Pa, less than a hundredth of Earth¡¯s. Kunlun Station maintained a pressure of 101 kPa, so if there was a breach, the entire Kunlun Station would reduce to a silent tomb within two hours. Today¡¯s weather was very good. The sun hung high above his head. Tang Yue caressed the smooth, outer walls of the Kunlun Station. The white outer walls were nearly three meters tall and were firmly held down on the ground by taut wire ropes. ¡°Tomcat, I have a question.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded through the earpiece. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Under what circumstances would the Earth explode?¡± ¡°The Earth wouldn¡¯t explode under any circumstances.¡± ¡°Then how did Earth vanish?¡± ¡°How would I know how it vanished? No matter how it vanished, it couldn¡¯t have been from an explosion.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Do you know how much energy would be needed to st Earth apart?¡± ¡°How much?¡± Tang Yue reached out to test the wire rope¡¯s tautness. There were six fasteners that kept Kunlun Station down. One side would betched to the outer wall, while the other was buried deep into the ground with a long peg. ¡°We can do a very simple calction. Earth¡¯s average radius is 6,370 kilometers, and its equatorial circumference is 40,000 kilometers. Hence, we can calcte Earth¡¯s volume using the form, V = 4¦ÐR3/3. Earth¡¯s mass is approximately 1.08 ¡Á 1012. ¡°Earth¡¯s eleration due to gravity is 9.8m/s2. ording to the form you learned in high school, mg = GMm/R2, as well as the known radius, we can derive that the Earth¡¯s density is approximately 5.5 ¡Á 103 kg/m3. That makes it about five times denser than water.¡± Tomcat continued, ¡°Therefore, Earth¡¯s mass is approximately 5.97 ¡Á 102? kilograms. ¡°In other words, 5,970,000,000,000,000,000,000 tonnes.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t even manage to keep track of the numbers Tomcat had said as his mind filled with zeros. ¡°We can then define ¡®sting Earth apart¡¯ as elerating all mass on Earth to first cosmic velocity¡ªthe speed needed to escape Earth¡¯s gravity¡ªor in other words, 7.9 km/s. Using the principle of conservation of momentum, one can derive that it needs at least 2.24¡Á 1032 Joules. ¡°That¡¯s 224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The atomic bomb that ttened Hiroshima had an energy of 5.5 ¡Á 1013 Joules. That means that to st apart Earth, one needs 4 ¡Á 101? Little Boy atomic bombs.¡± Tomcat finally gave the conclusion. ¡°This is equivalent to the 6.5 billion people in the world, each carrying 600 million nuclear bombs before they bury them deep into the ground and trigger the nuclear explosion at the same time to st the Earth apart. ¡°Even if humanity was given another 10,000 years, it would be impossible for them to create that many nuclear bombs.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Taking a billion steps back, if someone was really capable of sting apart Earth, then countless rocks would be thrown into orbit, forming an asteroid belt, or perhaps, form a new under gravity¡¯s influence,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But based on present observations, the phenomena mentioned hasn¡¯t happened. Earth has simply vanished without leaving any remains or fragments... That clearly means that it wasn¡¯t sted apart.¡± ¡°Then, what happened?¡± Tang Yue finally spoke. Tomcat paused and hesitated for a few seconds. ¡°Earth seems to have been wiped clean as if it has been erased by an eraser. ording to what I know, to be able to do it so cleanly while wiping out all evidence of the crime, it can only mean that a miniature ck hole hadnded on Earth.¡± ¡°What? A ck hole?¡± ¡°A miniature ck hole. Like a proton... A proton is too small. Maybe a ck hole the size of a grape,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Such a miniature ck hole would evaporate rapidly without any interference. But if it¡¯s thrown into the Earth, it will absorb Earth¡¯s mass and sink to the Earth¡¯s core. After absorbing Earth¡¯s mass, the ck hole¡¯s mass will gradually increase and also be rtively stable. ¡°This is a clean way of handling the corpse, so there won¡¯t be traces left anywhere.¡± ¡°But where would a ck holee from?¡± Tang Yue frowned. ¡°Did those people in Europe cause an anomaly while doing their high-energy physics experiments?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that Earth¡¯s disappearance has to do with a ck hole. Don¡¯t be in a rush to call them names. The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has no means of creating a ck hole.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Earth has considerable mass, so for it to vanish into oblivion without any warning, there¡¯s clearly some vition of mass conservation. ording to physics, as we know it, the only possibility is a ck hole... That¡¯s because the insides of a ck hole don¡¯t adhere to our knownws of physics. ¡°But it¡¯s also clearly incorrect to hypothesize a ck hole. If Earth was really sucked into a ck hole, it would convert the enormous amounts of mass into energy and radiate it out for a period of time. During this period, the Earth would be as bright as the Sun.¡± Tomcat thought about it and overturned its ck hole hypothesis. ¡°Then what could be the reason?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s a natural phenomenon that far exceeds our understanding. For example, a huge filter we have never heard of before. While filtering human civilization, it also filtered the Earth in passing,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s also possible that it was done by an advanced civilization that exceeds our understanding.¡± Aliens? Tang Yue was taken aback. Aliens had wiped out the Earth? If this were any other time, Tang Yue would have been certain that Tomcat was speaking nonsense. As a materialistic atheist that had grown up under the red g, how could he believe in such insubstantial things? However, he had no choice but to ept such a conjecture. Earth was gone; the most unimaginable matter had already happened. What else was impossible? Perhaps, it was an act of a godlike civilization that exceeded human imagination? A godlike entity, sitting high above the Milky Way as ¡®He¡¯ identally farted. I have a stomach upset from something I atest night. God silently thought before furtively looking around. Yes... all is well in the Milky Way. Thankfully, no one noticed me farting. I didn¡¯t cause any destruction. I shall continue sitting here in all seriousness, looking aloof. As a result, Earth was gone. Humanity sits at home down below, a fartes from heaven above. ¡°Goddamn aliens¡ª¡± Tang Yue looked up into the sky and roared angrily, ¡°F*ck you¡ª!¡± Chapter 15: Sol Two, The Eagle That Lets Its Hair Down

Chapter 15: Sol Two, The Eagle That Lets Its Hair Down

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue sat down panting. He leaned against the airlock door and looked at the Eaglender a hundred meters away. Above the white fairing was a painted Eagle that looked domineering. The Eaglender was actually a huge object, more than four stories tall. It was supported by four thick hydraulic legs, and the descent rocket had four embedded convergent-divergent nozzles. Duringnding, these four nozzles would spew out high-temperaturepressed gases at thousands of meters a second, providing a lift of 120 tonnes. Apart from the four main nozzles, there were four smaller stabilizers to maintain thender¡¯s attitude. The process of making the Eaglend safely was a tough problem. In the past, humanity had never nned for such a huge gizmo to re-enter the atmosphere¡ªapart from the space shuttles. However, space shuttles didn¡¯t need tond vertically. Typically, a shuttle¡¯s re-entry module was two to three meters tall. It could hold a few people with very little weight capacity. Its structure was strong and would have its speed reduced with parachutes. However, the Eagle couldn¡¯t do so. It was because its weight and size were just excessive. Furthermore, Mars¡¯s atmosphere was overly thin. At ten kilometers altitude, Mars¡¯s atmospheric density was 0.0065 kilograms/m3. On Earth, the density at that height was 0.413 kilograms/m3, a difference of nearly 63 times. Under such circumstances, there was no way for a parachute to provide an effective deceleration. It waspletely incapable of applying drag on such a massive object. When the Eagle entered the atmosphere, its speed would be more than ten times the speed of sound. It would shriek across the sky and crash into smithereens on Mars. This conundrum had stumped humanity for quite a while, with many suggested ns rejected. Finally, the legendary Caltech¡¯s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) stepped forward and took the honors of solving this problem! A bunch of JPL eggheads¡ªthe best on Earth¡ªsecluded themselves in their rooms, eating ramen for half a year while spotting disheveled hair and slippers, expending half a kilogram of waste paper before finally producing a solution. They decided tobine a parachute and a retro-rocket propulsion system to decelerate, and created all sorts of redundancies for thender. This group of people designed thender with a lifting body. It waspletely different from the traditional conical spaceships. It didn¡¯t use a ballistic for entry into the atmosphere but instead engaged in gliding through the atmosphere. It glided a long distance to gradually reduce its speed. Thender would enter the Martian atmosphere at an altitude of about 120 kilometers. At that point, its speed would reach 21,000 km/h. 90 secondster, it would activate the Intable Decelerator in its belly to reduce its speed. This Intable Decelerator was a massive air cushion. The Eagle would sit on this huge cushion as it descended. One could imagine an Arabian flying carpet. The Intable Decelerator did the first stage of the deceleration. It could reduce the speed to about 2,000 km/h. At this point, the second stage would begin by first jettisoning the Intable Decelerator, and at the same time, opening up a massive canopy, with a thirty-meter diameter, that acted as a parachute. The parachute would reduce the Eagle¡¯s speed to 300 km/h. At this point, its altitude would be several hundred meters high. The retro-rocket engines would activate and thender would slowlynd in a vertical state. Finally, the legs would be hydraulically controlled. Once it had safelynded on its feet, the mission would be a sess! The Eagle before Tang Yue was the final design. It looked like a spacecraft that stood erect on the ground, but it didn¡¯t have the huge wings of a spacecraft. It looked more like a round, sleek mantou. The white part of the Eagle, that Tang Yue was looking at, was the back. The other side¡ªthe belly¡ªwas, in fact, ck. It was covered with heat protection tiles. When entering the atmosphere, the Eagle had its belly facing down as it flew, as though it was letting its hair down. Tang Yue looked at the indicator screen on his wrist. ¡°The temperature is ¨C29¡ãC. Why is it so hot?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you say that again without the Radiant Armor?¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in his earpiece. ¡°If I were Martian, I¡¯d definitely find this temperature scorching hot.¡± Tang Yue even used his hand to fan himself, even though he couldn¡¯t feel a thing with his helmet on. ¡°I wish I could have some ice-cream on such a hot summer afternoon... Ice-cream frozen by Mars¡¯s sandstone and perchlorate salts, infused with carbon dioxide. Ah~ Taking a bite just reminds me of my childhood.¡± ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?¡± ¡°I¡¯m reminiscing about my childhood on Mars,¡± Tang Yue said as he began to hum a tune. It was the tune to Lo Ta-yu¡¯s Childhood. ¡°On the rocks above the meteorite crater, the cockroaches chirp for the summer. By the side of the desert is a valley, a spacecraft parked on it...¡± ¡°Why would there be cockroaches on Mars?¡± Tomcat was stunned. ¡°Mutated cockroaches,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Haven¡¯t you watched Terra Formars? They are mutated cockroaches.¡± ¡°... Have you set up all the sr panels?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue spent two hours moving the sr panels out, one by one. Finally, he unfolded them in front of the Kunlun Station. He needed to do this chore twice a day. With great difficulty, Tang Yue got to his feet and pushed his cart, like a Martian farmhand. Tomcat was inside the Hab arranging the materials, as it slowly circled around the Hab¡¯s hall. Categorizing things was quite a troublesome task. Since Tang Yue had expressed his wish to split things equally, Tomcat couldn¡¯t be biased. An adult needed 80 grams of protein, 3,500 milligrams of sodium, 3,000 milligrams of potassium, 1,000 milligrams of calcium, as well as other vitamins. To ensure a nutritional bnce, Tomcat had no choice but to do detailed research. Even though Tang Yue had requested it to be split evenly, Tomcat couldn¡¯t take the brute force approach of splitting them equally based on mass. Mai Dong and Tang Yue¡¯s physique and sex, as well as the work they did, was different. Therefore, it split the food based on energy expenditure. Tang Yue pushed his cart and slowly stopped beneath the Eagle. Thender¡¯snding legs were thicker than Tang Yue¡¯s arms. Each leg had a footpad with a diameter of half a meter attached to it that was used to reduce the pressure. A weight of more than a hundred tonnes pressed down on these four legs as it stood erect and very stable. Tang Yue used a long-handled rake to scrape the rocks around thender. The Eagle hadnded on solid ground, and beneath it was hard rock. Despite a thinyer of soil on its surface, it remained very level. It was like a naturalnding andunching spot. Tang Yue circled around the Eagle slowly and was looking up at thender when a strange thought came to him. ¡°Tomcat, do you think we can sit on this thing to go up?¡± It wasn¡¯t that Tang Yue had never thought of following thender up, but this n had been rejected by him and Tomcat from the beginning. ¡°You will only die faster that way,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°The space station¡¯s holding capacity is barely enough for Miss Mai Dong alone. If you were added to the mix, the space station would crash in two years.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Orion II still there?¡± ¡°Orion II is there,¡± Tomcat asked, ¡°but so what?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we board Orion II and return?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I wish to see with my own eyes if Earth has really vanished or not.¡± ¡°No problem. You can definitely return.¡± Tomcat was very frank. ¡°But there will be no return. No one will guide you or correct your trajectory. You might not even reach Earth¡¯s original trajectory. And even if you do, without Earth¡¯s gravity to capture you, you would only berge-sized garbage in empty space... Do you still wish to return?¡± ¡°Forget what I just said.¡± Chapter 16: Sol Three, Kunlun Station’s Enslaved Worker

Chapter 16: Sol Three, Kunlun Station¡¯s Enved Worker

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Third sol of being trapped on Mars. Today¡¯s weather was clear, and there was still no sign of Earth. Tomcat had already finished packing all the items into the crates to be sent. Tang Yue had begun to inspect the Eagle¡¯s state. He stood beneath thender, looking up at it. The sun cast a huge shadow onto the sandynd. Tang Yue lowered thedder slowly by working a knob. The Eagle¡¯s payload capsule was situated at the top, upying a very tiny amount of space. There was amand module and a cargo module. The former had six seats since the standard teamprised of six people; however, the module also reserved ample space. If required, additional seats could be added, allowing for a maximum of ten people. The Marsnder was no longer anything like the Project Mercury spacecraft from decades ago. The antiques of nearly a century ago were cramped, like the bottom of the bed being stuffed with random items. The astronauts sat there like fastenedponents. However, the Eagle¡¯s module was wide enough to put a mahjong table inside. Beneath themand module was the cargo module. Under normal operational situations, thender would be in a vertical position; therefore, the cargo module was actually beneath the astronauts¡¯ feet. One could enter it through a hatch in the floor. Further beneath the cargo module was the main structure, containing the engine¡¯s rocket propents. These tanks, made from an aluminum alloy, were several meters in diameter, and they contained methane and liquid oxygen. The Eagle was made up of Descent and Ascent Vehicles. The Ascent Vehicle would ignite the rocket engine when leaving Mars¡¯s surface, pushing the payload into orbit. As for the Descent Vehicle, it would remain on Mars, and y the role ofunchpad and foundation. Thedder slowly brought Tang Yue upwards as he firmly held on with both hands. He had too many things attached to him, and it was impossible for him to move while wearing Radiant Armor; therefore, he could only rely on thedder to slowly pull him up. With atching sound, thedder arrived at the top. ¡°What the... It¡¯s really freaking heavy.¡± Tang Yue raised his hand to open the hatch door above him. He struggled to crawl in, panting. He carried the heavy turtle shell on his back; yet, he had no one to help him. Doing it alone was truly difficult. ¡°Tomcat, you asshole. Can¡¯t you help share my load?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was not designed to do manualbor,¡± Tomcat directly rejected his request. ¡°Then what were you designed to do?¡± Tang Yue was infuriated. ¡°Specially designed tompoon?¡± ¡°I¡¯m an electrical and mechanical engineer, an astronomer, a telmunications expert, a crosstalk master, and a cat good at catching mice. The only thing I¡¯m not is aborer,¡± Tomcat answered slowly. ¡°Doing manualbor is not my mission.¡± ¡°Then do you think my parents gave birth to me to do manualbor?¡± Tang Yue crawled into the cargo module. ¡°Humans are all born out of flesh. Is there a difference? What gives you the right to not do a thing while I have to do everything?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not born out of flesh.¡± Under normal circumstances, the inspection and repair works of the spacecraft would definitely not be done by a single person. The expedition team consisted of six people. Eliminating the person stationed on the United Space Station, there would be at least five people on the Marsnder. The troublesome task of inspecting thender could be shared among everyone. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t even take off his EVA suit. Tang Yue panted as he took off the tool bags hanging on his suit. Then, he rested on the cargo module¡¯s floor. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded in his earpiece. ¡°Are you alright? How¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°Not very optimistic.¡± ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been this tired in all my life. Do a count of how much work I¡¯ve done today...¡± Tang Yue was sprawled on the ground. ¡°I spent hours moving the sr panels this morning. I did a thorough inspection of the Kunlun Station, spent half an hour on the bike before packing all the items into crates. Now, I¡¯ve climbed up to thender... And the crux of the problem is that b*stard, Tomcat, only gave me two pieces of a sandwich!¡± ¡°Mr. Cat... is really scary.¡± ¡°Mai Dong, is this considered exploitation? Exploitation that will garner universal condemnation?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Enved worker!¡± Tang Yue felt deep hatred and resentment. ¡°I¡¯m a tragic worker enved on Mars. Have you studied Comrade Xia Yan¡¯s ¡®Enved Workers?¡¯¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In the middle of April on Mars, at 6:15 a.m., I was woken up by Tomcat in the cramped Kunlun Station before daybreak. A robot dressed in an out-of-season set of Cantonese silk pants and jacket yelled, ¡®Set up shop! Get up!¡¯ Next, he hollered, ¡®Tang Yue! Go move the sr panels! Damn it, you swine! How could you still be on your back?¡¯¡± Tang Yue had begun modifying the original text as he grunted in exhaustion. Mai Dong burst out intoughter. ¡°Tomcat is a b*stard!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Workers of the Universe, unite! Defeat Tomcat!¡± Thedder descended slowly once again, and when it rose again, it brought Tomcat up. The first thing it did was to kick Tang Yue. ¡°Who were you calling a b*stard?¡± Tomcat closed the hatch door, and with a beep, the green indicator light lit up. The pressure in the cargo module slowly rose and a few minutester, the Radiant Armor indicated to Tang Yue that the environment outside was suitable for normal human operations. Tang Yue sat up with great difficulty as Tomcat helped him unzip the EVA suit. The second Tang Yue had crawled out of Radiant Armor and taken off the EVA suit, he felt as if he had been reborn. He stood in the empty cargo module that resembled a gigantic soda can. The four walls were stered withposite materials with a white substrate. There were a few light-weight orange overalls. The inner walls and the floor inside the cargo module had nylon buckles which were used to fasten the cargo. When sending the cargo to the space station, all the goods would be held here. Another hatch sat above their heads. It led to themand module. Tang Yue climbed up adder and opened the hatch before entering. Tomcat took out an ultrasonic fault detector and began inspecting the rocket¡¯s fairing and structure for any cracks or damages. Themand module¡¯s space was slightly smaller than the cargo module. As it was situated at the head of the vessel, it tapered upwards. It looked a little like a space shuttle cockpit. On one side were six seats, with two in the front and four at the back. The other side housed the master controls. There was a dense array of knobs and LED indicators. However, the Eagle¡¯s seating arrangement was also very different from a space shuttle. A space shuttle¡¯s seating arrangement resembled an ordinary airne. As itnded by rolling to a stop, it could use itsnding gear tond on an airport runway. As for the Eagle, it entered the atmosphere in a prone position butnded in a vertical state. Therefore, the astronauts¡¯ seats had their backs facing the belly of the craft. In a vertical state, it wouldn¡¯t seem problematic, but once thender entered the atmosphere everyone would be facing the sky with their backs facing thend and their heads pointing forward. Tang Yue stood in themand module and looked out through the window. He saw Kunlun Station, not far away in its full glory, before looking further out towards the empty dust storms and desert. He switched on the power and a few secondster, all the indicator lights and screens in themand module lit up. The mainframe¡¯s screen gradually produced a line of text: ¡°Wee to the Eagle Lander.¡± Chapter 17: Sol Three, 13,416 Articles

Chapter 17: Sol Three, 13,416 Articles

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue was taken aback for a few seconds before feeling a sniffle appear. This was the final Eagle shuttle. Earth had already gone, and everyponent on the shuttle had be a unique item in the Universe. The words, ¡°Wee to the Eagle Lander¡± were the greetings and blessings of his old friends before they vanished. Tang Yue never expected that the bidding of farewell back then had be forever. Tang Yue sat down at the pilot seat. It was somewhere he had always wanted to sit, but Commander Old Wang forbade him for he valued the crappy seat dearly. Now, Tang Yue could sit anywhere he wanted. No one could stop him ever again. The entire Orion I, along with the rest of the team had vanished. The indicator lights on the main controls were flickering as dense lines of code scrolled across the screen. The Eagle¡¯sputer was doing a self-check on its boot up. It was a very powerfulputer, something which could y Red Alert or Warcraft ording to Old Wang. It was indeed quite a formidable task for aputer meant for space travel. Years ago, the Apollo shuttles hadputers with a frequency speed of only 2 MHz. In addition, it had 2 KB of RAM and 36 KB of ROM. It couldn¡¯t even store one song. Thender¡¯s ascent and docking could be done automatically. The engineers on Earth had designed its trajectory, and about a hundred lines of code were stored on the Eagle¡¯sputer. The astronauts simply needed to move their fingers and press a few buttons before shouting, ¡°Away we go¡ª¡±, and the Eagle would send them off Mars. But as a contingency n, the designers had left a manual operating system in thender. In the event that Tang Yue andpany were so unlucky that even a fart could stab their heels¡ªthe docking system suffering an unfortunate failure¡ªthemander could step forward and showcase his skills as an elite astronaut and manually dock thender with the International Space Station. In the past century, this was what astronauts did. Whenputerscked the ability to fully grasp the entire situation, the American and Russian astronauts used their eyes and fingers, using their hardened psychological quality and skills, as though they were dancing on the edge of a de. However, these series of procedures were unknown to Tang Yue. There were only two people in the expedition team who could do the manual docking. One of them was Commander Old Wang. Old Wang was formerly a test pilot in the Chinese Air Force. He held the rank of Colonel and had clocked thousands of hours in a fighter jet. He waster selected for entry into the Cosmonaut Training Center. As themander of this mission to Mars, he was the most senior and experienced astronaut in the team. He was quite impressive. The other was Thomp. Thomp was an American whose full name was Howard Thompson. Thomp was the second professional astronaut in the team. He once spent 320 days on the International Space Station. He was often responsible for the docking missions of the Soyuz and Progress. He was also trained in the manual docking system. The others weren¡¯t capable of doing so. They were experts who were ferried to Mars, with none of them being professional astronauts. Tang Yue was a mechanical and electrical engineer. His mission involved inspecting and repairing the Kunlun Station and the Martian vehicles. Mai Dong was a botanist with a long list of scientific research projects to do. Neither of them had ever touched the flight controls. The main control screens gradually dimmed before lighting up again a few secondster. A NASA logo appeared, just like a Windows boot-up screen. The self-checks wereplete. Tang Yue took out a maintenance manual as thick as an Oxford dictionary from his bag. Inspecting the Eagle was indeed a troublesome task. To do aplete inspection, he needed to go through more than 13,000 articles. ¡°Tomcat, do I have to read through every line and box on this?¡± Tang Yue looked down and stamped his feet on the hatch. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded from below. ¡°They have to be gone through once!¡± ¡°Do you know how much content there is?¡± ¡°Six big ones, and eighteen smaller ones. There¡¯s a total of 13,416 articles, as well as an appendix,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s the third sol today. We have tounch the Eagle as soon as possible. It¡¯s best you be quick!¡± ¡°You want me to finish all of this?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°Who was it that found five sols plenty of time?¡± Tomcat scoffed. ¡°If you can¡¯t finish it, I don¡¯t mind. However, thess on the space station will be dead.¡± ¡°You...¡± Tang Yue felt stifled. ¡°Fine, you¡¯re brutal.¡± Tomcat stood in the cargo module as it held the ultrasonic fault detector with its ws. An ultrasonic fault detector was amon device used for inspections. Ultrasound could prate deep into theponents and check for cracks, looseponents, and air pockets which would normally be invisible to the naked eye. Once the ultrasound came into contact with a damaged spot, it would reflect and show an abnormal waveform on the disy. Tomcat held the end of the disy unit with one hand while holding a probe with the other. It held the probe close to the inner walls of the vessel as it stared at the disy. The waveforms oscited regrly like a heartbeat. The Eagle¡¯s cargo module was cylindrical in shape and was more than a meter tall. It was bent from an entire piece of aluminum alloy and had a loading capacity of three tonnes. Logically speaking, thender¡¯s main structure should be devoid of problems. Beforeunching, the staff on Earth would do a thorough inspection to ensure that everything was fine. However, Tomcat remained uneasy about it. Even if thender had been inspected on Earth, it was something that happened more than a year ago. The environment in space and Mars were harsh, and there was a huge disparity in the temperature during night and day. Furthermore, the vessel would experience tremendous heat and heavy g-force during its entry into the atmosphere. Such extreme environments would be an immense test on any material. It couldn¡¯t be guaranteed that a particr metal suffered fatigue, or a particr O-ring seal shattered due to cold temperatures. These were damages that were invisible to the naked eye and could rapidly spread under high g-force. Finally, it could cause a fatal structural failure. The Eagle would then repeat the Challenger space shuttle¡¯s tragedy, bing a gigantic firework, vaporizing all the resources and Tang Yue¡¯s hopes in a massive explosive boom. The interior of the cargo module had ayer of smooth, hard polyimide material. The white walls had the blue logo of the Boeing Company. The Eagle¡¯s cargo module¡¯s manufacturer was Boeing, and thender¡¯s control systems were made by itspetitor, Lockheed Martin. Different parts of this vessel were made by different corporations and manufacturers. If one carefully searched, one would find many famous logos on the Eagle¡¯s internalponents... Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, NASA, CNSA, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Apple, Samsung, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, ESA, Rolls-Royce Group, JPL, etc. Although these world-famous organizations and corporations werepetitors who were at each other¡¯s throats, their logos all coexisted on the Eagle. The Mars Landing Project was one of humanity¡¯srgest space engineering projects. The scale far exceeded the Apollo mission to the Moon. It was a joint coboration between China, USA, Russia, UK, France, Germany, and Japan. Due to the difficulty and resources needed, it wasn¡¯t something any single country could afford. Even the rich USA couldn¡¯t afford it. Tang Yuan imagined what had happened behind the scenes. Chinese representative: ¡°Whoever has more money will pay more of it. Is everyone fine with this arrangement?¡± Russian representative: ¡°Agreed! I would first point out that we¡¯re poor. We will only provide the technology, not money! (holding up the AK47 underneath his table and surveying the area). Feel free to raise any objections.¡± English representative: ¡°We will pay however much the French pay.¡± French representative: ¡°We will pay however much the Germans pay.¡± German representative: ¡°We will pay however much the English pay.¡± Japanese representative: ¡°Well... That won¡¯t be enough money.¡± Chinese representative: ¡°Who¡¯s the richest? I would like to point out that my country is a developing country. We are in the beginning stages of socialism that will extend for long periods of time...¡± English, French, Germany, and EU representatives whispered: ¡°USA.¡± Russian representative shouting loudly: ¡°USA!¡± American representative ms the table angrily: ¡°Me again? We still need to build more aircraft carriers!¡± From the Orion space shuttle, thender, to the Kunlun Station, every step was a result of pooling the efforts of humanity. It was truly the fruit of humanity¡¯s wisdom. All the humans on Earth took a collective step, leaving a faint footprint on a more than sixty million kilometers away. Chapter 18: Sol Three, A Cremation Awaits a Moment’s Joy of Ripping Wires

Chapter 18: Sol Three, A Cremation Awaits a Moment¡¯s Joy of Ripping Wires

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat slowly climbed down thedder and looked up to inspect the entirender. Looking upwards at a close distance, the Eagle looked like a white tower with smooth-flowing lines that stood above a desert. Mars did have an atmosphere; therefore, the engineers had added fairing when designing thender. It wasn¡¯t naked like the Apollo¡¯s. The sunlight on Mars practically added no warmth, but it made the twelve-meter-tall vessel appear milky-white. In fact, the Eagle¡¯s back was covered in organic silicon and PEEKposite materials. Such materials were translucent at close distance. ¡°Tomcat, how¡¯s it on your side?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I¡¯ve just finished understanding what VLBI (Very-long-baseline interferometry) in same beam interferometry means.¡± ¡°I¡¯m checking the Descent Vehicle,¡± Tomcat answered. The sunlight had cast a huge shadow of thender onto it. ¡°I still have more than ten thousand articles that require checking.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°I really doubt I can finish all of this within two sols.¡± ¡°That number is just staggering at first nce. In fact, more than half of the content on the manual is garbage. That¡¯s how engineers work. Every tiny point needs an entire article to exin it. Then, it will provide a footnote exining why this point needs to be exined,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If you are sufficiently confident in thisnder, don¡¯t run any checks.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°This vessel has already been checked on Earth anyway. As long as you believe in this vessel¡¯s meeting of the most stringent quality checks; in the designers on Earth, their abilities and moral character, the technological skills of Boeing, Lockheed, and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, believing that they wouldn¡¯t f*ck you up, go ahead.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather believe in God.¡± Tang Yue shook his head and continued with his work. Tomcat went down to the bottom of thender. At the bottom of the Eagle was the Descent Vehicle. It included a one-stage retro-rocket and four thick legs. The Eagle¡¯s retro-rockets were two Raptor 3D oxygen-methane rocket engines installed in parallel. Each engine had twobustion chambers and two nozzles. The two rocket enginesbined to form four nozzles and, when activated, could produce a powerful thrust of 150 tonnes. When the Eaglended vertically, it relied on the Descent Vehicle¡¯s rockets to reduce its speed. The other four stabilizers were responsible for keeping the vessel stable. When it was fifty meters high, thender would release its legs beforending safely. Tomcat stood under thender and looked up at the gigantic nozzles of the Raptor engines. The nozzles were embedded, and huge enough for an adult to crawl in. The Eagle¡¯s bottom had clear burn signs. The outer shell around the nozzle had been charred ck, thanks to the temperature of the gases spewed out of the retro-rocket which exceeded 2000¡ãC. This was a rather terrifying number. The human race didn¡¯t have that many materials that could withstand such high temperatures. Therefore, the area around the engine¡¯s nozzles was ted with temperature-resistant zirconium carbide ceramics. Tomcat carefully inspected the nozzles of the engine. The engine¡¯s expansion-deflection nozzle was, in fact, a veryplicated structure. It wasn¡¯t what most people would imagine¡ªa simple conic funnel. Instead, the entire nozzle was made up of wrapped tubes. When the engine was started, these tubes would pump out liquid oxygen and lower the temperature. Tomcat took out a wrench from the tool bag by its chest. It opened the outer shell of thender, revealing the engine¡¯s main circuitry and wires. In order to make it convenient for inspection and repairs, the designers had left an inspection window on the Eagle¡¯s fairing. After opening the lid, one could directly see the interior. Tomcat held a volometer in one paw while holding the wrench in the other. It tapped the wrench here and there as it looked around. ¡°This is the Turbo Pump... thebustion chamber...¡± Tomcat muttered to itself as it reached out towards the messy wiring. Raptor 3D rockets were created by the Americans, a product of SpaceX. However, for some reason, the wiring was in the style of the Russians. The Russians had a penchant for chaotic aesthetics. They were good at using their tremendous ability to integrate several basic building blocks, that didn¡¯t meet standards, to produce a potent whole. This was evident in their creation of the MiG-25 with nickel-steel alloys. Stainless steel is a nickel-steel alloy. To use stainless steel to build a ne, perhaps only the Russians were capable of doing that. ¡°... This is the capsule tank. This is thebustion generator... That¡¯s not right. Thebustion generator is over here...¡± Tomcatpared the engine before it with the design ns in its brain, but clearly, the design ns were seller-produced showcases¡ªclean and tidy¡ªlooking like a futuristic technological product. As for the thing before Tomcat, it was what the buyer received. It was like an antique that had transmigrated from the previous century. The dense array of wiring was confusing, so confusing that Tomcat wished to put its head in. ¡°This is the flow-regting valve... What¡¯s that? The electrohydraulic servo valve? No... The electrohydraulic servo valve is here. That¡¯s the injector...¡± Tomcat patiently used a long rod to move apart the wiring as it opened its eyes wide. ¡°This pipe transports liquid oxygen... ¡°Eh? That¡¯s not right. What¡¯s this wire for? ¡°This is the oxidant pump. ¡°Eh... Eh? Why is this screw screwed in an opposite manner? Was the installer a left-hander? ¡°Why are there two wires here? ¡°Where does this wire lead? That¡¯s not right... Shouldn¡¯t it head for the throttle washer? Why is it wired to the heat exchanger before reaching here? Bro, did you get wired wrongly? ¡°There must be a problem. By doing so, the turbine will definitely overheat. It¡¯s a miracle that the rocket didn¡¯t explode.¡± Tomcat began to sweat... if he could. ¡°Eh? ¡°Eh, eh? ¡°Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh? ¡°Wait, this isn¡¯t right. It doesn¡¯t adhere to the designs... Wait. Why are there words above the box? What¡¯s written... Eh. Irina... your ass is so sexy... F*ck, who wrote this?¡± Tomcat began feeling infuriated. ¡°This isn¡¯t right. ¡°This isn¡¯t right either. ¡°This still isn¡¯t right. That¡¯s not right. Nothing is right! ¡°Hooooooly sh*t! This rocket must have been f*cking bought on Pinduoduo 1 !¡± Tomcat¡¯s anger burned as it threw up the ns. It began to pull out the wiring that was eating at its obsessivepulsive disorder. With a ripping sound, it tore off everything. Immediately, everything felt much more clean and refreshing. Much more clean and refreshing. Clean and refreshing. Refreshing. How refreshing. ¡°What happened?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Did something happen on your side, Tomcat?¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Tomcat? Is there a problem?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Problem... not really. Continue on with your work. Ignore me. Everything is fine over here.¡± Tomcat looked up into the air and whistled, pretending as though nothing had happened. Silently, it hid the huge bunch of wires in its paws behind it. Chapter 19: Sol Three, Tomcat is a Good Dictionary

Chapter 19: Sol Three, Tomcat is a Good Dictionary

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°So... you pulled out all of the wiring from the engine?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Can it still be restored?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then, can the rocket still be used?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue suddenly felt faint. ¡°Tomcat, you b*stard, I want to strangle you!¡± ¡°Why are you so agitated? Take a step back! Don¡¯t youe near me... Take a step back! You just said that we shouldn¡¯t be overagitated in any way.¡± Tomcat waved its ws lightly. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal anyway. The Descent Vehicle¡¯s engine can¡¯t be used anyway. So what if it¡¯s spoiled? It¡¯s fine as long as the Ascent Vehicle works.¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief, slumping into his seat. He had really been given a fright back when Tomcat informed him that it had destroyed the rocket engines below. His mind went nk as a chill ran through his entire body. If the rocket engines were really damaged, everything would be over. Tang Yue threw the maintenance manual on the console deck, covered his face, and took a deep breath. ¡°Why did you pull out all the wiring?¡± ¡°Because it was all wired wrongly. It was in disarray,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯spletely different from what¡¯s described in the design ns. Some of the wiring was inpletely the opposite direction. I¡¯ve no idea who installed that crappy engine. You guys were lucky that thender didn¡¯t transform into a huge firework whennding... So I decided to pluck them all clean, and clean up the engine¡¯s control system from the beginning.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Holy sh*t, that serious?¡± ¡°That serious.¡± Tomcat nodded and said categorically. ¡°Clearly, the workers who did the instation were poorly educated. They couldn¡¯t even understand the most basic pictures. SpaceX is such a huge corporation, how could they recruit such people... Wait a moment.¡± Tomcat suddenly frowned as he realized that the problem wasn¡¯t that simple. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Eh...¡± Tomcat hesitated for a few seconds. ¡°Tang Yue, do you know am¡¯s razor?¡± ¡°Oc... What? What razor? Is that some new razor brand?¡± Tang Yue wore a nk look. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of Philips and Flyco.¡± ¡°am¡¯s razor can be considered a godly tool, a godly tool for research problems. It¡¯s a philosophical principle: ¡°more things should not be used than are necessary.¡± It means that when faced with a particr problem when researching or raising a particr hypothesis, it¡¯s best to have as few conditions as possible. The more conditions you add, the more your viewpoint doesn¡¯t hold,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°am¡¯s razor is used to simplify the conditions, rejecting any unnecessary assumptions.¡± Tang Yue thought for a few seconds. ¡°I kind of get you. Is it this? If I were to lie, I would have to project more lies to support the original lie. Finally, the truth alwayses out, so it¡¯s better to not lie from the beginning.¡± ¡°Kind of.¡± Tomcat stood on thedder and nodded. ¡°But why are you telling me this?¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t know why Tomcat had suddenly mentioned am¡¯s razor to him. What did this principle have to do with the previous situation? ¡°Regarding the wiring of the engine, I believe that there could be a few reasons that could lead to such an oue; SpaceX had poor management, and the Americans did it perfunctorily. The instation workers were poorly educated and unable to understand the instation procedure. On the night before the instation, they had too much to drink. Finally, it could be a mistake in the design ns.¡± Tomcat paused, ¡°But after careful thinking, I discovered that am¡¯s razor could eliminate all theseplicated assumptions, leading to a simple oue. This oue is the true reason.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°So what¡¯s the true reason?¡± ¡°I held the ns upside-down.¡± ... Tang Yue sat in themand module of the Eagle, inspecting thender¡¯sputer system ording to the maintenance manual. ¡°Navigation... Where¡¯s the navigation...¡± ¡°Communications. Themunications channel... OK.¡± Tang Yue debugged the button on the console. Under ordinary conditions, this work was left to themander. Themander was the pilot, and he was only a passenger. Now that the pilot was gone, the passenger could only bite the bullet and do it himself. Thankfully, thender was highly automated despite it beingplicated. Theputer did all the work from theunching to the docking. All Tang Yue needed to do was ensure that theputer¡¯s numbers were correct. Then, he just needed to press a button and the Eagle wouldplete the rest of the procedure. This was like driving a fully autonomous car. Under normal conditions, the driver was only there to handle any unexpected situations. Even without the driver, the car would still be able to drive on the streets. If this was a crappy car from the previous century, needing humans to control things from the steering wheel to the brakes, all the passengers onboard the car would be doomed if the driver fainted. ¡°Where... Where¡¯s the docking system?¡± Tang Yue looked up and widened his eyes to scrutinize the dense array of buttons on the console. A spacecraft¡¯s buttons were mostly made huge and conspicuous. This was to prevent any manual mistakes, but the huge number of buttons left one bedazzled. Furthermore, there were all sorts of English acronyms written above the buttons. With Tang Yue¡¯s standard of English, he was definitely incapable of understanding them all. Thankfully, he had an instruction manual, otherwise, he would definitely have been left dumbfounded. ¡°UHF... UHF, ultra-high frequency...¡± ¡°Linear quadratic regtion trees... LQR-Trees? There¡¯s even a simted verification... Hmm...¡± ¡°Autonomous orbital transfer control parameter...¡± Tang Yue matched the maintenance manual and circled around themand module, checking through the dense screens and buttons around him. ¡°Tomcat, what¡¯s GNC?¡± ¡°Short for Guidance, Navigation and Control,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°What about PPL?¡± ¡°Pin-pointnding.¡± ¡°EDL?¡± ¡°Entry, descent, andnding.¡± Tang Yue directly asked Tomcat whenever he encountered any English acronym he couldn¡¯t be sure of. It saved him timepared with checking in the manual. Tomcat could give an answer within a second, and it was indeed a good dictionary. Even though the manual had more than 10,000 lines, most of them were functions that didn¡¯t need to be used. Just as Tomcat said, the manual was in the style of an engineer¡ªbboring every contrived matter. More than half of the manual contained exnations of the manual operations. Without a doubt, the manual operations for the Eagle wouldn¡¯t be of any use. Theunch of the spacecraft didn¡¯t have any human loads. It was purely a cargo spacecraft. Since there wasn¡¯t anyone in themand module, the manual controls were naturally useless. One couldn¡¯t expect the sandwich in the crates to crawl into themand module tomandeer the spacecraft. This part of the system could be shut off before theunch, so Tang Yue didn¡¯t need to inspect it. This greatly reduced the difficulty of his work and saved him time. He believed he could finish the mission within two sols, if he rushed. Whether Mai Dong sessfully survived this disaster, depended entirely on Tang Yue and Tomcat. Chapter 20: Sol Four, I’m Starving

Chapter 20: Sol Four, I¡¯m Starving

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Fourth sol of being trapped on Mars. There was still no sign of Earth. ¡°Good morning... Mr. Tang Yue,¡± Mai Dong greeted Tang Yue weakly. Her face was pale and her hair was disheveled. ¡°Good morning.¡± Tang Yue wore pants and had draped a nket over him. He looked like an elderly monk meditating on the chair. In front of him were a meal tray and a cup of water. Today¡¯s breakfast was canned peaches andpressed biscuits, as well as a hundred milliliters of water. The canned peaches contained plenty of water, so Tang Yue could manage with the water rations. He had attempted the challenge of only using 190 milliliters of water to wash up, but without any surprise, he had failed. He even had toothpaste stuck to his front teeth. From the looks of it, 200 milliliters was the limit. ¡°You don¡¯t look good. Didn¡¯t you sleep wellst night?¡± ¡°Hungry.¡± The woman stared at the food on Tang Yue¡¯s table. The food looked as though it was inches from her, as though she could reach out and touch it. It gave her yearnings to stuff her head into the screen. ¡°I¡¯m starving¡ª¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes emitted a ravenous glint as she let out a miserable cry. ¡°I¡ª am¡ª really¡ª really¡ª hungry¡ª!¡± Tang Yue jumped in fright. ¡°I want to eat everything Iy my eyes on.¡± The woman banged her head on the screen. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, if you aren¡¯t sending the supplies any time soon, I¡¯ll start eating the space station...¡± ¡°We¡¯ll send it over tomorrow! Tomorrow!¡± Tang Yue stuffed all the food into his mouth in no time t, finished his water, and jumped up to don the Radiant Armor. Running off midway, Tang Yue turned around and faced the camera, shouting, ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do not eat the space station. If you bite a hole in the space station, everything will be over!¡± Tomcat hung on thedder to thender as it began inspecting the Ascent Vehicle¡¯s rocket. The Ascent Vehicle¡¯s rocket was critical. Whether Eagle could sessfully beunched into orbit and docked with the United Space Station depended on the sess of the ascent phase. Thender¡¯s ascent phase used two-stage rockets. The first stageprised of two Raptor 3Cbustion chamber engines, with a total of four nozzles. They could provide more than 120 tonnes of thrust. The first-stage engine was the main driving force that would send thender into orbit. Tomcat meticulously checked the status of the rocket¡¯s engines. It knew very well that a life was at stake. Since the Descent Vehicle¡¯s rockets couldn¡¯t be used, things didn¡¯t matter if they were damaged by what it did. However, the Ascent Vehicle¡¯s rocket was what brought life. It was thedy on the space station¡¯s only hope. If anything happened to it, everything would be over. The Ascent Vehicle used Raptor 3C rockets while the Descent Vehicle used Raptor 3D rockets, both products of the same line up from SpaceX. The only difference was their model numbers. From their design structure to the assembly process, everything was rather simr. Yesterday, Tomcat¡¯s removal of the Descent Vehicle¡¯s engine was to fully understand the control system of the Raptor rockets. It was done in preparation for the inspection of the Ascent Vehicle today. All kinds of tools hung over Tomcat¡¯s body, ranging from an ultrasonic fault detector to an X-ray machine. Inch by inch, it inspected Eagle, like a dutiful and responsible doctor. The main structure of thender¡¯s Ascent Vehicle was two massive reservoir heads. They contained dozens of tonnes of liquid oxygen and methane which were used as a propent for the engine. Liquid oxygen and methane are low-temperature propents. Liquid oxygen has a boiling point of 90 K, which is ¨C183¡ãC. As for methane, it has a slightly higher boiling point at 110 K or ¨C163¡ãC. Under atmospheric pressure, they would immediately boil and turn to gas. It was a problem storing such low-temperature propents for extended periods of time. After all, missions on Mars typically exceeded a year or two. Storage of liquid oxygen and methane was easily resolved while in flight since the temperature in space is very low. As long as one took note of not being hit by direct sunlight, the temperature was basically maintained below the propents¡¯ boiling point. However, Mars doesn¡¯t have such conditions. The average temperature on Mars is ¨C60¡ãC, reaching as low as ¨C80¡ãC. But in summer, the sunlight is sufficient to raise the temperature to almost 0¡ãC. This temperature would be considered extremely low for humans, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain oxygen and methane in their liquid state. Therefore, the engineers had to work hard to ensure that the reservoir¡¯s temperature was below the propents¡¯ boiling point. The Eagle¡¯s propent reservoir was a huge aluminum alloy can, but this can¡¯s inner walls used manyyers of polyisocyanurate foam, along with a TVS (Thermodynamic Vent System). The TVS was like a refrigeration system. It could maintain the propent temperatures inside the reservoir below their boiling points. Even so, liquid oxygen and methane would constantly evaporate; therefore, the Eagle¡¯s propent basically reduced slowly with time. Typically, once the propent¡¯s volume reached below a red line, the expedition team had to immediately embark on their return. ¡°Tomcat, how¡¯s the situation on your side?¡± Tang Yue pulled out the cart from the garage. He was beginning to move the goods. Tomcat had packed more than ten crates of food for Mai Dong. These crates added up to more than a ton. Tang Yue still had other things to do in the afternoon, so moving the crates would take him all the way into the evening. ¡°A-okay.¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes stared at the fault detector¡¯s indicator. Thender¡¯s main structure couldn¡¯t afford any cracks, air pockets, or crumbling seals. If the propent reservoir had any cracks, the oue would be disastrous from the leaking of liquid oxygen and methane. The fault detector indicated stable waveforms, implying that the reflected ultrasounds were regr. The Eagle¡¯s internal structure remained t, smooth, and stable. ¡°The propent reservoir, OK?¡± Tomcat put down the fault detector and heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Is the reservoir fine?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that it¡¯spletely without problems.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s not like we can dismantle the entire spacecraft. Under present circumstances, our checks are rather limited. I can¡¯t be sure that there are no problems in the ces we can¡¯t reach.¡± ¡°What can we do then?¡± ¡°Trust in them,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Trust in those people on Earth, trust that their designs won¡¯t create troubles.¡± ¡°Holy sh*t.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°You want to let me believe in those people with the least bit of integrity in this world? Do you know those people at Jiuquan still haven¡¯t repaid me for the meals I bought? If I were to die on Mars, would that mean that they don¡¯t have to repay me... Ahhh!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°F*ck, I¡¯m stuck! I¡¯m stuck inside the airlock!¡± Tomcat looked over and, indeed, it saw a wriggling ass outside the airlock. ¡°Come help me!¡± Tang Yue shouted. ¡°Tomcat!¡± Tomcat lowered thedder and walked over before giving Tang Yue¡¯s ass a hard kick. ¡°Damn it!¡± Chapter 21: Sol Four, Taking off the EVA Suit, Buttocks Go First

Chapter 21: Sol Four, Taking off the EVA Suit, Buttocks Go First

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tomcat¡ª!¡± Tang Yue yelled through the inte again. ¡°What is it this time?¡± Tomcat stood on the amodationdder of the Eagle as it frowned. ¡°This f*cking crate is too, too, too heavy! I can¡¯t move it alone!¡± Tang Yue grunted as he exerted strength. He had to move crates while wearing the Radiant Armor inside Kunlun Station. It was practically an impossible mission. In a bulky EVA suit like the Radiant Armor, he couldn¡¯t even bend. ¡°Think of something yourself!¡± ¡°Tomcat, you are f*cking inhumane!¡± Tang Yue cursed furiously. ¡°I¡¯m not a human to begin with.¡± Tomcat shrugged before it continued checking thender¡¯s rockets. ¡°I¡¯m only a cat.¡± Tang Yue was exasperated. To be honest, Tomcat really didn¡¯t have the time to help him. The Eagle needed to beunched very soon, so they were both terribly busy. Tang Yue needed to move the items while Tomcat needed to check on the spacecraft. The work on their hands piled up like a mountain, so there was no spare time to help the other. Due to theck of manpower, every second counted. Tang Yue¡¯s third attempt to bend his back to move the crate failed again. He had no choice but to take off the Radiant Armor to make another attempt. ¡°Tomcat!¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with you again?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way I can move this while wearing the Radiant Armor!¡± Tang Yue panted. ¡°Help me get out of this thing!¡± ¡°Do it yourself!¡± It was not possible to remove the EVA suit alone. This was because the suit¡¯s entrance and life support system were all on the back. Wearing and removing it required a second person¡¯s help. But for emergency purposes, Kunlun Station had designed an automatic EVA suit removal system... This system was installed on the wall and looked like a metallic w. When the EVA suit needed to be taken off, all Tang Yue needed to do was put his back to it and let the wtch onto the life support system, allowing him to take off the turtle shell. ¡°Radiant Armor Separation Sequence. Step one. Turtle shell has beentched on!¡± Tang Yue grunted as he wore a solemn expression. With a cranking sound, an indicator LED lit up. This indicated that the life support system had been fullytched onto. ¡°Radiant Armor Separation Sequence. Step two. Turtle shell removal!¡± Tang Yue pressed the buttons on his wrist to disconnect the life support system from the Radiant Armor before removing the straps, allowing him to fully escape the massive shell. ¡°Begin separation!¡± Tang Yue sprawled onto the ground as he slowly squirmed, raising his buttocks bit by bit. This wasn¡¯t because Tang Yue was letting himself go to kiss the ground when there was no one around. This was the separation pose he was used to... As the Radiant Armor¡¯s opening was at the back, Tang Yue¡¯s different poses in his repeated attempts to separate himself finally made him decide that letting his buttocks move out first was most convenient. Tomcat had oncemented that this pose was somewhat like a turtle taking off its shell. When the other members of the research team were around, Tang Yue would never dare do something like that. With four men sneering around you, would you sprawl on the ground and raise your buttocks? Have you thought of the oue? Tang Yue burrowed out of the Radiant Armor and immediately felt as light as a feather. He jumped up and turned around to move the crate. He opened the airlock and moved the crate to the end of the airlock before returning to the main hall to don the Radiant Armor again. He couldn¡¯t directly open the outer door of the airlock or the loss in pressure would instantly kill him. Tang Yue had to wear and remove the Radiant Armor each and every time, making it a huge hassle. However, this wasn¡¯t something he had a solution to. He needed to don an EVA suit to leave Kunlun Station. This wasn¡¯t something he could be perfunctory about. Otherwise, he might die before he had evenunched the resources. A few minutester, Tang Yue returned dressed in the Radiant Armor. He opened the outer door to the airlock and pushed the crate with all his might out of Kunlun Station. Tomcat was by the Eagle checking the Ascent Vehicle¡¯s second-stage rocket. The Ascent Vehicle had a total of two rockets. The first-stage rocketprised of two Raptor 3C liquid oxygen-methane engines. The first-stage rocket¡¯s function was to propel the Raptor off Mars¡¯s surface and enter near-orbit. After two hundred seconds, it would use up all of its propents and separate from the package at the top. The second-stage rocket, the rocket at the top, was a Russian RD-0172 engine. Its function was to safely ensure and change trajectories. In order to reduce the weight, thender didn¡¯te equipped with an escape tower. Therefore, the only thing that could provide safety to themand module was the stage-one engine. Once a problem arose while Eagle was beingunched, the rocket at the top could immediately separate along with themand module. If the Eagle was sessfullyunched, the function of the rocket at the top would be to change trajectories and help themand module dock with the United Space Station. Neither of the two-staged rockets was permitted to have any errors. If the first-stage rocket was to fail, the Eagle would end up crashing to the ground. If the second-stage rocket were to fail, the Eagle would fail to dock with the United Space Station and be space trash that floated in near orbit. Tomcat had to be extremely meticulous. Thankfully, liquid-fueled rocket engines were nothing overlyplex. In essence, the basic structure of a liquid-fueled rocket was a pumpbined with abustion chamber and a nozzle pipe. The pump would send the propent into thebustion chamber where it would ignite and spew out from the nozzle pipe. It was simple and crude other than it being something of single-use. Therefore, Tomcat was still able to deal with it. If the thing ced before him was an engine for a space shuttle asplicated and intricate as an F119 afterburning turbofan engine, with several afterburners and boosters, perhaps Tomcat would be at a loss. After all, it wasn¡¯t an engine designer. ¡°Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°What?¡± Tang Yue was pushing a small cart towards thender as he looked up. ¡°I¡¯m short of a No. 7 pentagon key wrench.¡± Tomcat stood on the amodationdder and looked down at Tang Yue who wasn¡¯t too far away on the ground. ¡°Help me bring it over!¡± Tang Yue was taken aback, thinking, Tomcat, to think you actually need my help? You finally have to sumb to my whims! Tang Yue sneered inwardly. ¡°Get it yourself!¡± He cleared his throat and said categorically, ¡°Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy? How would I have the time to get you some key wrench?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t getting it?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± Tang Yue thought, Watch me teach you a lesson! ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Yue said ruthlessly. ¡°If I were to help you get the wrench, I¡¯ll read my name backward in the future!¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Tomcat nodded and smacked its paws. ¡°So be it. I don¡¯t have any opinion on that. But without the wrench, I won¡¯t be able to finish the subsequent work. I¡¯ll continue when you bring the wrench for me.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°I won¡¯t be responsible for dying theunch,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°Thatss¡¯s life above us is in your hands. It¡¯s up to you!¡± ¡°You!¡± ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re impressive.¡± Tang Yue fiercely pushed the cart forward before obediently turning back to get the wrench. ¡°The wrench is in the second cab underneath the table! Take note that it¡¯s No. 7!¡± Tomcat shouted behind him. ¡°Remember that, Yue Tang!¡± Chapter 22: Sol Four, 21st Century Famine

Chapter 22: Sol Four, 21st Century Famine

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon There was a crate by Tang Yue¡¯s feet, one that he was about to deliver... Tang Yue grunted as he busied himself all day, finally moving the first crate to the foot of the Eagle. But he was now facing a problem. Tang Yue looked up at thender. The package was at his feet, but the delivery vehicle was more than ten meters above him. How was he to send the crate up? Under normal circumstances, moving goods into the Eagle required thebined efforts of at least three people. One person was to control the capstan and crane, another was responsible for securing the crate on the ground, and the third person was to cling onto the crate as it was hoisted up. But Tang Yue was all alone now. He had to do the job of three people. Tang Yue lowered the amodationdder. Tomcat came down along with it. The man and cat exchanged looks for a few seconds. ¡°Why did youe down? Aren¡¯t you inspecting the engine?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Do you have mush for brains?¡± ... Tang Yue slowly moved up the amodationdder as he crawled into the cargo module with great difficulty. As he needed to hoist the goods beneath him, the cargo module¡¯s bottom hatch couldn¡¯t be closed, making the cargo hold exposed to the atmosphere. As such, Tang Yue had to wear an EVA suit toplete the job. Inside the cargo hold was a tiny electric hoist and capstan; the former¡¯s purpose was to hoist any item from the ground up either electrically or manually. The maximum weight limit it could bear was 150 kilograms, about the weight of two Tang Yues. The crates packed by Tomcat averaged a weight of about one hundred kilograms, and so were within the limits. Tang Yue threw the cable down the hatch as he moved down to the ground. ¡°What the hell, this is so troublesome.¡± Tang Yue shook his head as he carefully passed through the hatch and grabbed onto the amodationdder. ¡°I have to go up and down every time. Why couldn¡¯t they just design an elevator?¡± ¡°Are you going to swallow the excess weight?¡± Tomcat knocked thender¡¯s fairing before it and, before it could do anything, it descended with the amodationdder. Tomcat seemed to have a dark cloud hanging over its head. ¡°I have to go up and down with you every time. Why couldn¡¯t they design two amodationdders?¡± ¡°Are you going to swallow the excess weight?¡± Tang Yue delightfully grabbed the chance to rebut Tomcat. On the ground, Tang Yue pulled at the hanging cable, attaching it firmly to the crate. Then, he pulled hard on it to test its firmness. Hoisting goods alone was an extremely dangerous matter. As there weren¡¯t others to help, the goods might wobble in midair due to the wind. To have something weighing a hundred kilograms wobble made it as terrifying as a battering ram. Anyone who was struck by it was doomed. Therefore, Tang Yue had to be cautious. He climbed into the cargo hold and peeked his head out to look at the crate beneath him. After confirming that everything was okay, he flipped the crane¡¯s switch. The motor began spinning with a hum as the cable was retracted, slowly pulling the crate up. ¡°Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue shouted through thems. ¡°You have to be careful of the crate! It¡¯s a little wobbly! Don¡¯t get hit by it!¡± There was no response. Tang Yue was taken aback as he sprawled onto the cargo hold¡¯s floor and peeked his head out to look around. Great. Tomcat had already been thrown down. ... Tomcat stood on the amodationdder, half its body inside the fairing¡¯s maintenance opening. Beside it was a groaning cable that moved up and down. Tang Yue was busy hoisting the goods into the cargo module. He went back and forth between the Kunlun Station and thender, pulling at a tiny cart whilst humming a tune. He piled the crates of all sizes beneath the Eagle before moving them into the cargo module one by one. They had been busy the entire afternoon, and the sun was already setting in the west. Fifteen crates were to be supplied to the United Space Station, weighing more than a ton in total. Most of it wasprised of food, but of course, daily necessities and medicine were included. Tang Yue had basically halved the resources in Kunlun Station, keeping half for himself and giving the other half to Mai Dong. The man stood in the cargo module as crates surrounded him. Thender¡¯s cargo module wasn¡¯trge. In previous Mars Lander missions, the cargo module mostly held scientific specimens. Such items typically weighed between a few grams and a kilogram. To bear the weight of a ton was unprecedented. Tang Yue used a nylon rope to secure the crates to the floor and walls to ensure that they wouldn¡¯t move about during the flight. Having the crates tumble about in-flight would alter the spacecraft¡¯s center of gravity, possibly making theunch a failure. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue? Are you there?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Tang Yue grabbed onto the crane¡¯s cable, took a deep breath, and pulled the supply crate secured below. ¡°You just woke up?¡± The girl nodded, yawning. ¡°Yeah.¡± Mai Dong spent most of her time in the space station sleeping. This was to conserve energy so that she couldst until Tang Yue and Tomcat sent the supplies over. On second thought, Old Wang had really been inconsiderate. The food they had left Mai Dong was just too little. If Old Wang had left Mai Dong more food, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t have been in such a hurry. However, such thoughts were simply being wise after the fact. The space station¡¯s food was enough for Tang Yue¡¯s return, but who would have expected the Earth to vanish, making it impossible for Tang Yue to return? Actually, Mai Dong was the one who had vindicated Old Wang. As the temperature control of the storage hold on Orion I had malfunctioned,rge amounts of food had gone bad. Old Wang and the rest of the crew had needed to tighten their belts, so they had left Mai Dong the maximum they could. ¡°I just had a dream. I dreamed that Earth returned and I was on a spacecraft on a voyage back to Earth...¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Central Command made plenty of good food to wee our return. There was beer, roasted duck, Coca-C chicken wings, red-braised fish, rinsed mutton, red-braised pork, and many other delicacies.¡± ¡°What a nice dream.¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°What happened next?¡± ¡°My hunger pangs woke me up.¡± The girl¡¯s voice softened. ¡°How much food do you have left?¡± ¡°I still have three pieces ofpressed biscuit, and two or three sandwiches,¡± Mai Dong answered. ¡°But that¡¯s the food for tomorrow... Can I eat it?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart pained for her. This was the 21st century, but Mai Dong spoke as though she was in an era where famine prevailed. ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue steeled his heart and stopped her. ¡°You have to keep the food for tomorrow. Otherwise, you won¡¯t have enough energy for tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The girl nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t eat it then.¡± ¡°We have already moved all the packed crates into the spacecraft. Everything is ready. They will be sent up to you tomorrow,¡± Tang Yue consoled her. ¡°Hold out a little longer. Just another twelve hours! The package is already on the vehicle. Lady, we will be dispatching the package in twelve hours. Please wait a little longer. Show your indomitable spirit of revolution! Comrade Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, what you said is really interesting.¡± Mai Dongughed before hesitating for a moment. ¡°M... Mr. Tang Yue? I have a question.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I... I keep thinking... What happens if there¡¯s a failure?¡± ¡°Failure?¡± The girl nodded. ¡°If the Eagle¡¯sunch fails, what happens? Will... Will I die here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense!¡± Tang Yue sternly cut her off. ¡°Can¡¯t you be optimistic? With Tomcat and me here, how could there be a failure? Femalerades just love letting their thoughts run wild. Mai Dong, you clearlyck the fortitude. How can you have thoughts of failure towards the grand industry of revolution?¡± ¡°S... Sorry.¡± ¡°Are you a CCP member?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Comrade Mai Dong, you are now one of only two surviving humans in the entire Universe. The Party¡¯s mission for you is to live well, to do your best to live optimistically.¡± Tang Yue spoke in all seriousness as he secured the crate in his hand. ¡°So, make sure not to have any extreme thoughts. There must not be any thoughts of failure. I guarantee you that theunch tomorrow will be a sess.¡± The cargo hold had about ten crates, and the supplies ced at the foot of the Eagle had been hoisted up. There were still five crates left in Kunlun Station. Tang Yue climbed up to themand module and decided to take a break to recover his strength before moving the remaining crates. Tang Yue looked up and surveyed his surroundings when he was suddenly taken aback. ¡°Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue lowered his head and shouted. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why does it feel as though the weather has changed?¡± Tang Yue looked through the spacecraft¡¯s window, trying hard to look at the sand dunes far away. There, he saw a stirring dust storm. Tomcat was taken aback as it immediately put down the fault detector in its hand, got up, and stood by Tang Yue¡¯s side. Then, it looked in the direction Tang Yue was pointing. In just a few seconds, the light outside the windows dimmed. ¡°This isn¡¯t because the sun is setting, but because the dust and sand concentration in the air has greatly increased. Luminous flux has decreased as a result.¡± ¡°Is the weather about to change?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat¡¯s expression immediately changed. Chapter 23: Sol Four, Force 14 Wind on Mars

Chapter 23: Sol Four, Force 14 Wind on Mars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon In the few seconds that Tang Yue had been in a daze, the light outside the window had darkened, as though arge pitch-ck screen had been thrown over them, causing the sunlight to vanish immediately. Tang Yue, a child who had grown up in a Southern China city, had never seen a sandstorm before. Much less a sandstorm on Mars. Tang Yue was instantly dumbfounded. Was this the apocalypse? The next second, a howling wind met them and immediately devoured the Lander. Even though Tang Yue and Tomcat were in themand module, they couldn¡¯t help but be rmed. The sand stirred by the strong winds scraped the Lander¡¯s outer walls as the floor of themand module trembled slightly. Only the heavens knew what kind of godforsaken weather this was. Why would any quakes be apanying the sandstorm? The Eagle was humanity¡¯s magnum opus when it came to engineering and material science, but in the storm, it was like a trembling wooden shack. It felt as though the roof would copse at any moment. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue! Mr. Tang Yue... Do you copy...¡± Strong static sounded in his earpiece as Mai Dong¡¯s voice was drowned. ¡°Mai Dong? Mai Dong!¡± Themunications were cut. ¡°Darn it!¡± Tang Yue held onto the dashboard with one hand as he leaned back into the chair to fasten himself. Tomcat was a meter away from him as it clung tightly to the inner walls, sat down, and used a w to desperately clench a seatbelt. It was already so dark outside the windows that one couldn¡¯t even see one¡¯s fingers. The Lander seemed to be instantly be thrown into deep waters and the howling outside wasn¡¯t from air but water. Tang Yue never knew that sandstorms could reach a scale that blotted out the sun¡¯s rays. As a Southerner, his imagined sandstorm was just sand particles flying everywhere. The only source of light in themand module was the heamp on Tang Yue. Tang Yue crawled over and grabbed Tomcat. ¡°Sandstorm,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s a sandstorm.¡± ¡°Why wasn¡¯t there any warning?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Earth is gone,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Who¡¯s going to warn you?¡± Tang Yue sat on the floor, leaning against the window to look out. It was pitch-ck outside; yet, just minutes ago, the weather was bright and cheery. ¡°Will the Lander topple?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s all talk no action. It would be fine even if the wind speeds doubled. The Martian atmosphere is very thin, so the actual force it can exert on the Lander is very tiny. It wouldn¡¯t topple the Lander as some movies depict.¡± It crawled to themander¡¯s seat and agilely turned on the monitoring system on the console. Blue numbers began to jump on the screen. ¡°The present wind speed is... 32 meters per second, and it¡¯s still rising.¡± Tang Yue got up, stood behind Tomcat¡¯s seat and asked, ¡°What does that speed mean?¡± ¡°In terms of speed, it¡¯s equivalent to a Force 12 hurricane on Earth.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. A Force 12 hurricane? As a Southerner, he had deep impressions of hurricanes. Every summer, there would be a few hurricanes hittingnd, bringing about the copious amounts of rain and floods. They would uproot the trees and billboards on the sides of the road, causing billions of yuan of economic damage to the city. Strictly speaking, hurricanes were a serious natural disaster. However, this disaster came periodically every year, so Southerners were used to it. ¡°The present wind speed is 39 meters per second.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice turned heavy. ¡°The speed is equivalent to a Force 13 hurricane and the wind speed is still slowly rising.¡± Tang Yue shuddered in fear as he looked around, afraid that the Eagle would be toppled by the strong winds. ¡°The wind speed is now at 44 meters per second, a Force 14 hurricane.¡± Finally, the wind reached a stable speed as Tomcat pushed its seat backward and turned its head. ¡°Tang Yue, we might have to terminate ourunching ns.¡± ... Tomcat and Tang Yue sat inside themand module in silence for an extended period of time. Tang Yue took off his EVA suit whilst listening to the howling winds outside. It was pitch-ck outside, resembling ink. They were trapped in the Lander. None of them dared to head out in the situation they were in. ¡°We can only stay here for now,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The visibility outside is less than three meters. It¡¯s almost certain death if we go out.¡± ¡°How long will the sandstormst?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It might be over in a sol or two, but it could alsost a month or two. If our luck is any worse, it¡¯s possible tost half a year.¡± ¡°What do previous expedition teams do when encountering a sandstorm? How do they deal with this?¡± ¡°Nothing. We have no means of dealing with a sandstorm,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Once Earth sends a warning, the expedition team has to terminate all work, abandon all the missions, and immediately evacuate back to the space station.¡± Tang Yue pulled at his hair before letting out a long sigh. F*ck, why is this happening? The goods had already been packed into crates and moved into the cargo module. All they were waiting for theunch tomorrow. They were prepared butcked the crucial element. And the crucial element that came was the element of wind¡ªa hurricane. This sandstorm that came out of nowhere overturned all their ns. The two of them were trapped on the Eagle, and they couldn¡¯t return to Kunlun Station. They had also lostmunications with Mai Dong. ¡°Tomcat... Can the Eagle beunched in the middle of a hurricane?¡± Tomcat was rmed. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°Answer me.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s expression was solemn and terrifying serious. He grabbed Tomcat¡¯s shoulders and red into the cat¡¯s eyes. ¡°You want tounch the Lander in the middle of a sandstorm? Tang Yue, are you mad? The present wind speed outside is 44 meters per second! Furthermore, it¡¯s so dark outside. You wish to continue the work under such circumstances? Do you have a death wish? We have to abandon theunching ns.¡± Tomcat pointed out the window as its tone became heated. ¡°We can continue after the hurricane is over.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°We have no way of knowing when the hurricane will end. If this sandstorm stops in two months, are we to wait for those two months? Mai Dong can¡¯t wait that long. Let me ask you again. Can the Landerunch in the hurricane?¡± Tomcat stood there, clenched its teeth and said, ¡°Theoretically, it¡¯s possible.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The Eagle¡¯s design allows it to withstand crosswinds of fifty meters per second. The Martian atmosphere is very thin, so the effects it has on the Lander isn¡¯t much. Its attitude can be controlled with the rocket¡¯s engine,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But this is just too risky. The influence brought about by the sandstorm isn¡¯t just affecting the attitude. The Eagle has never beenunched in such inclement weather...¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it then!¡± Tang Yue cut off Tomcat and crawled into the Radiant Armor. ¡°The Eagle¡¯sunch will go ording to n. I¡¯ll continue moving the supplies over.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Do you want to die?¡± Tomcat grabbed at him and pulled out a cable and wrapped it around itself, with the other end locked onto Radiant Armor¡¯s waist. ¡°Come with me... if you want to live.¡± Chapter 24: Sol Four, Forging Across the Hundred Meters

Chapter 24: Sol Four, Forging Across the Hundred Meters

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat firmly tied itself to Tang Yue before leading the way down. It then opened the bottom hatch of the cargo module. The instant the hatch opened, Tang Yue was rmed. He hadn¡¯t felt it while inside the Eagle, but the moment the hatch opened, he felt the force of the hurricane... The amodationdder could no longer be seen, and it seemed to reach deep into a huge pitch-ck maelstrom that was devouring it. As the hurricane howled past with sand as its load, Tang Yue¡¯s heart beat like a drum. Did he really want to head down? This was a sure journey to death, right? The valor he had previously, copsed at the sight of death. Just moments ago, Tang Yue had lofty sentiments when wearing the EVA suit as though he was the lead character in a tough-guy movie. He used his immense drive to overturn the objections, ignoring the protests of cowardly characters like Tomcat as he firmly carried out his n to ultimately achieve perfect sess. That was how it was written in the movies. Indeed, the movie scriptwriters only knew how to talk big. Tomcat shone a powerful torchlight down, but the white beam of light failed to prate more than three meters of the sandstorm. Everything beyond that cone was pitch ckness. ¡°I¡¯ll go down first. Follow behind me.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece with a stable tone. Its voice showed no fear, giving him the strength to settle his heart. F*ck, isn¡¯t Tomcat the cowardly character? Why does it seem like it¡¯s the male lead, and I¡¯m the cannon fodder side character? Tomcat grabbed onto the amodationdder and crawled downwards bit by bit. Seeing Tomcat disappear into the sandstorm, Tang Yue took a deep breath and bit the bullet as he followed. The moment they left the cargo module, howling sounds inundated him. The strong winds and the sand scraped the Radiant Armor¡¯s visor as Tang Yue clung firmly to the amodationdder as he looked around. The darkness inside the sandstorm was unlike the darkness of the night. A clear night sky could be said to be a clear crystal, but a sandstorm¡¯s darkness was like a turbid, ink-like darkness. The heamp attached to the Radiant Armor was like a decoration. Tang Yue was in essence equivalent to a blind man. The heamp¡¯s light illuminated the sand in the air, and all Tang Yue could see were points of light flitting past him as though they were an endless snowstorm. This was the first time he had moved about in winds moving at forty meters per second. If he were on Earth, such winds would have been enough to sweep him into the sky. ¡°Grab hold of the amodationdder,¡± Tomcat warned. ¡°We will begin our descent.¡± Tang Yue lowered his head and took a nce. Tomcat was at his feet, and the distance between them was less than a meter, but Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to see Tomcat. All he could see was the high-intensity torch light¡¯s blurry light cone coruscating by his feet. The amodationdder began moving as Tang Yue felt himself slowly descend and leave the Lander. Two secondster, the cargo module above him was consumed by the pitch-ck hurricane. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t even see the floor when he looked down. This made him feel as if he was plummeting into an abyss. He couldn¡¯t see the sky, nor could he see the ground. The descent of the amodationdder felt as though there was no end... nothing like Tang Yue had ever felt when moving up and down on it before. It was true that humans easily had their minds wander when they were blinded. Even though he was only two inches off the ground, his brain imagined the distance to be a hundred thousand feet. The amodationdder trembled slightly and would emit loud thumping sounds elsewhere. Tang Yue was really worried the Lander would topple in the winds. A minuteter, thedder¡¯s descent came to a halt. ¡°We are on the ground,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯ll take point. Don¡¯t move.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat stepped onto a rock, tugged at the cable before saying, ¡°You cane down. You are about half a meter away from the ground. Come down slowly.¡± Tang Yue carefully extended his feet and slowly stepped onto the ground. All he could do was act ording to Tomcat¡¯s instructions. Tang Yue stood beside the amodationdder with a nk look. He couldn¡¯t get his bearings right, and it was obvious that he couldn¡¯t see Kunlun Station, which was about a hundred meters away. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare wander about randomly for if he got his direction wrong, he would be lost on the endless ins of Mars. A w reached out from the darkness and grabbed onto Tang Yue¡¯s glove tightly. ¡°This way.¡± Tomcat yelled. It tried its best to raise its voice over the din. ¡°Follow me closely!¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue had a cable connecting them. It was as though they were on the icy ins of the poles where members of an expedition had to be tied to each other via rope. This was to prevent anyone from dropping into concealed crevices in the ice. But the Martian desert clearly didn¡¯t have any ice crevices. Tomcat did this to prevent Tang Yue from getting lost. Visibility in the sandstorm was nearly zero. Getting lost meant death. Tang Yue followed Tomcat with great difficulty as he took hastened steps. The short distance of a hundred meters between the Kunlun Station and the Lander appeared to be infinite at that moment. ¡°From the weather today, do you think we canunch the Eagle?¡± Tomcat used all its limbs while it crawled forward with great difficulty. Tang Yue hesitated for a few seconds. ¡°But Mai Dong can¡¯t afford to wait,¡± Tang Yue said with some deliberation. ¡°Who knows when this darn sandstorm will pass? What happens if it doesn¡¯t stop after a month? Are we to wait a month?¡± ¡°If this sandstorm doesn¡¯t end after a month, we can ignore thatss.¡± Tomcat spat a mouthful of sand and yelled, ¡°We will be doomed ourselves... In such a situation, there¡¯s no way to charge our sr panels. Kunlun Station¡¯s energy reserves won¡¯t evenst a month. You and I will freeze or asphyxiate to death sooner orter. It just depends which runs out of energy first¡ªthe heater or the oxygen generator!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we shouldn¡¯t wait.¡± Tang Yue held onto the cable as he proceeded to grit his teeth. ¡°If the sandstorm doesn¡¯t stop, we will be doomed together. Why don¡¯t we go ording to n andunch the Lander... You said that the Eagle can withstand such winds, right?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The Lander¡¯s design allows it to withstand surface winds of fifty meters per second on Mars. That¡¯s something the engineers on Earth left for you to save your ass!¡± Tomcat shouted. Its voice was indiscernible amidst the strong howling winds. ¡°The Eagle has an emergency lifeboat meant for such situations! But this function has never been tested before. The Eagle has never made an ascent in such terrible weather!¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Tomcat, you told me to trust the bunch of assholes thatck integrity on the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°I trust those assholes. Tomcat, you should trust them for once as well,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°These assholes mightck integrity by not paying me back for their meals, but they are reliable people when ites to work! If they say it can withstand fifty meters per second, then it¡¯s fifty!¡± ¡°But fifty meters per second is the limit!¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Once it exceeds fifty, the Lander isn¡¯t able to guarantee the stability of its center of gravity! Theunch might end up a failure!¡± Tomcat paused for a breather, turned its head and shone the torchlight at Tang Yue. ¡°You¡¯d better pray that the hurricane doesn¡¯t intensify tomorrow. That way, be it you or me, or thatss in the sky will have a chance of living.¡± Chapter 25: Sol Four, Disappearance of Tomcat

Chapter 25: Sol Four, Disappearance of Tomcat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat sessfully reached Kunlun Station. It proceeded forward, following the walls, before finding the airlock¡¯s hatch. After opening the hatch, the duo entered one after another before they copsed inside, Tang Yue gasping for breath. The short hundred-meter distance between the Eagle and Kunlun Station was as arduous as a death march. Tomcat got up and switched on the sanitation system, blowing and washing off the dirt from the two of them. Having returned from the sandstorm, even Tomcat looked like a muddy cat. ¡°Time?¡± Tang Yue asked, panting. ¡°Twelve past six in the afternoon,¡± Tomcat replied. It dragged the limp Tang Yue through the airlock and opened the hatch to the Hab. The Hab¡¯s interior was warm and bright. The firm walls isted Tang Yue and Tomcat from the tyrannical sandstorm outside. It was like the sole paradise in this hell on Mars. Tang Yue was still shuddering in fear as he and Tomcat had really made a trip through hell and back. He estimated that the terrible weather conditions on Mars were due to a world-destroying hurricane that he had never seen before. It felt as though the sky was copsing, with the entire world being devoured by darkness. Tang Yue sat up by pushing against the wall before lifting his visor. The entire Kunlun Station was still trembling in the hurricane. ¡°Kunlun Station will be fine, right?¡± ¡°It will be fine.¡± Tomcat wiped its face and shook its whiskers. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about Kunlun Station. Even if the wind speed doubles, it will still won¡¯t do a thing to it.¡± The remaining five supply crates were still stacked in the hall. These things weighed more than three hundred kilograms. Tang Yue had spent the entire day moving ten crates. Before he could transport the remaining five over to the Eagle, the hurricane had disrupted his ns. Tang Yue rested for a few minutes before attempting to carry the crates. ¡°I can¡¯t waste anymore time. I have to move the supplies over...¡± ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± Tomcat stopped him. ¡°With the terrible weather outside, if anything happens to your Radiant Armor, you wouldn¡¯t be able to live for more than three minutes. And there wouldn¡¯t be a way of rescuing you!¡± ¡°Then what about these supplies?¡± Tomcat pushed Tang Yue back. ¡°Listen up, Tang Yue. If you have any wish of returning, just stay here.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Tomcat stuck its forehead to his visor as they stared at each other through a piece of ss. The glint in the cat¡¯s eyes made Tang Yue¡¯s heart skip a beat. ¡°Heading out means certain death. No human can survive in a sandstorm with wind speeds of more than forty meters per second.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded from the earpiece. It spoke very quickly and said with a firmness that didn¡¯t allow for doubt or refutation. ¡°Leave the moving of these crates to me. I¡¯m not human. The sandstorm doesn¡¯t affect me. I can return sessfully.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°No, you will be a burden.¡± Tomcat shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have the capacity to divert my attention to take care of you.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s mouth gaped, wishing to say something, but he was at a loss for words. Tomcat was right. He had already had his ass saved by sessfully returning to Kunlun Station. Heading out again in such terrible weather would be absolute madness. Over the past decade or so, Mars¡¯s sandstorms had always been the greatest obstacle that the expedition teams faced on their expeditions to Mars. Upon encountering a sandstorm, the expedition team had to immediately abandon all missions and return to the space station to avoid the disaster. Encountering a sandstorm meant theplete failure of an expensive mission to Mars, but there was nothing they could do about that. No matter how important the mission, the lives of the astronauts were more important. ¡°Do you copy?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue nodded in silence. Tomcat took out a coil of rope from a cab and carried it on its shoulders before opening the hatch from the Hab to the airlock. Dressed in the Radiant Armor, Tang Yue helped it move the crate into the airlock. The duo closed the inner hatch to the airlock as Tomcat tied one end of the rope to its waist and stuffed the other end of the rope into Tang Yue¡¯s hands. Tomcat covered Tang Yue¡¯s hand with its paw. ¡°If anything unexpected happens, I¡¯ll immediately inform you. Remember to pull the rope. Without me giving you any notice, stay here and await orders.¡± Tang Yue nodded. He wrapped the rope around his waist and tied a tight knot. Then, he used his hands to grip the rope tightly. The safety rope was the umbilical cord that connected Tomcat to Kunlun Station. It was Tomcat¡¯s lifeline. Even though it imed that the sand and dust didn¡¯t pose a threat to a robot, it was only an excuse Tomcat used tofort Tang Yue. Even if a robot didn¡¯t need to don the heavy EVA suit or require a life support system, no one knew what mishaps might happen in the hurricane. Under such situations, there was nothing that could guarantee safety. If the rope were to snap, Tomcat might never be able to return. Tomcat leaned its forehead on Tang Yue¡¯s visor and patted him on the shoulder, smiling. ¡°Good luck.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Tomcat dragged a crate with one paw, opened the hatch to the airlock behind it as the pressure in the airlock reduced to zero in 0.1 seconds. Following that, a gush of air along with dust rushed in. Tang Yue took a step back as he stabilized his body. When he looked up, Tomcat had already vanished into the darkness outside the airlock. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat, do you copy?¡± Tang Yue anxiously contacted Tomcat. ¡°No... You are breaking up...¡± Static filled the earpiece as Tomcat¡¯s voice was intermittent. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat! Do you copy?¡± Tang Yue yelled, ¡°Tomcat! Answer me! Do you need me to pull the rope!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t... Don¡¯t pull the rope...¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice vanished amidst the intense static as themunications came to a halt. Thems went dead. Due to the collisions of the sand particles in the Martian hurricane,rge amounts of static electricity was produced. This caused severe interference in wirelessmunications. It was why Kunlun Station had lostmunications with the United Space Station. Tang Yue stood in the airlock in a daze as he was surrounded by howling winds, the hurricane whistling. He sped the safety rope tightly as the other end extended into the pitch-ck sandstorm. It kept shaking, and despite the tension remaining in the rope, Tang Yue didn¡¯t know if Tomcat was still attached to the end of the rope or not. Tang Yue had already lost almost all connections with Tomcat. They were only dozens of meters apart, a distance that could be covered with a short jog, but this distance had be a life and death distance. The weak piece of rope was the only connection between them. It was the only proof that Tomcat remained ¡°alive.¡± There was a moment when unprecedented horror surged from the depths of Tang Yue¡¯s heart. He felt it was possible that he had lost his loquacious and silly assistant. In that pitch-ck night, with strong winds embroiling the entire world, Tang Yue felt as though he was the only human left surviving in this crazy Universe. Chapter 26: Sol Four, Would I Lose All My Reputation?

Chapter 26: Sol Four, Would I Lose All My Reputation?

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue waited for more than twenty minutes, whilst suffering indescribable mental torment. He had lostmunication with Tomcat the moment it had left, and its situation waspletely unknown. He kept attempting to contact Tomcat, but there wasn¡¯t any response. All he could hear from the earpiece was the frustrating static. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat, do you copy? ¡°Tomcat... Tomcat! ¡°Tomcat, do you f*cking copy? Answer me!¡± However, Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare head out to seek Tomcat. Tomcat¡¯s safety rope was still in his hands. In the event of an ident, the only one who could pull Tomcat back to safety was him. If he were to rashly leave Kunlun Station, he and Tomcat would both perish in the sandstorm. ¡°Tomcat, Tomcat? Answer me if you copy!¡± ¡°Shut up... Are you mourning at a funeral? It¡¯s so jarring to the ears. I¡¯m not dead.¡± Words suddenly came from the earpiece as Tang Yue lifted his head in pleasant surprise. A paw had reached into the airlock¡¯s hatch, grabbing its metallic frame. Tomcat crawled in with great difficulty as it grinned at Tang Yue. Tang Yue hurriedly dashed forward to pull Tomcat into the airlock and closed the hatch. With the wind and sand obstructed by the hatch, the pressure in the airlock gradually rose and turned warm again. Tomcat leaned on the wall and rested for a moment. ¡°The supplies have been sent over. Thatdy in the sky has another two months to live at the least... However, the sandstorm outside is so bad that I couldn¡¯t even open my eyes.¡± Tang Yue sat on the ground, exhausted as he gave a thumbs up. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡± Tomcat got up, opened the hatch to the Hab. ¡°No one knows when this darn sandstorm will weaken. There are still four more crates. What¡¯s next? The spare parts? We can¡¯t afford to waste any time.¡± ¡°Is it cold outside?¡± Tang Yue followed behind Tomcat. Tomcat turned its head to nce at him. ¡°It¡¯s still alright. ¨C68¡ãC. However, as the sunlight has been blotted out by the sandstorm, the temperature is still dropping. I believe tonight¡¯s temperature will drop beneath ¨C100¡ãC.¡± ¡°Put this on.¡± Tang Yue took an IVA suit down from the wall and handed it to Tomcat. ¡°I¡¯m a robot.¡± ¡°I know you are one,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Wearing this will keep you warm. You won¡¯t be able to take ¨C68¡ãC either.¡± Tomcat was taken aback before obediently donning the IVA suit which was much lighter than the Radiant Armor. Also, it didn¡¯te with a life support system; thus, it could not be used for humans for extravehicr activity. However, Tomcat was a robot. It didn¡¯t needplicated life support systems, and the purpose of an IVA suit was to fend against the wind and keep warm. Tang Yue helped Tomcat wear the ss visor and asked, ¡°How is it?¡± Tomcat stretched its neck. ¡°It feels a little weird wearing a spacesuit. It feels like I¡¯m wearing a turtle shell... The visor isn¡¯t big enough for my whiskers.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know what it means to be a true turtle when you wear the Radiant Armor.¡± Tang Yue patted Tomcat¡¯s visor as they locked eyes through the twoyers of ss. They did a final inspection of the safety ropes attached to them and confirmed that the locking mechanism was fine. ¡°Good luck!¡± Tomcat carried the supply crate and pushed open the outer hatch of the airlock before vanishing into the pitch-ck hurricane. ... Half an hourter. Tomcat crawled into the airlock, and his body was covered in mud. It was in a sorry state. Tang Yue dragged it back, removed Tomcat¡¯s visor and asked, ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Could be better.¡± Tomcat nodded, opened its eyes, and leaned against the Hab¡¯s wall. ¡°The sandstorm is just too violent. The temperature is still falling...¡± It looked down at the temperature gauge on its wrist. ¡°It¡¯s already ¨C72¡ãC. If not for this suit, I might not have returned.¡± Tang Yue grabbed Tomcat¡¯s paws as it grabbed his hand andughed. ¡°Can you still continue?¡± ¡°No problem. Let¡¯s continue.¡± Tomcat left Kunlun Station with a crate on its back for the third time. Tang Yue sped the safety rope and stayed inside the airlock. He really wanted to head out and help, but Tomcat forbade him from leaving Kunlun Station. In certain ways, the natural differences between a human and a robot became stark. As a robot, Tomcat didn¡¯t need to breathe, drink, or eat. It could precisely determine its bearings even in the most extreme weather. This was something where humans were iparable. Under such a pitch-ck hurricane, Tang Yue would easily get lost. The Eagle was about a hundred meters from Kunlun Station. Tomcat spent about half an hour on each return trip, ten times longer than usual. The third trip took Tomcat more than forty minutes. It left Tang Yue so anxious that he was drenched in sweat. Only then did Tomcat crawl back in. It used up thest bits of its strength to roll through the airlock¡¯s hatch before slumping over the floor. Its eyes were closed as it became motionless. Tomcat was in an even sorrier state than before. Apart from the mud, caked all over its body, the gloves on the IVA suit had disappeared at some point. Its two paws were frozen numb. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue helped it up. ¡°Wake up!¡± Tomcat opened its eyes, trembled, and chattered its teeth in a bid to warm up itsponents. ¡°It¡¯s cold... really cold.¡± Tang Yue looked at the temperature gauge on Tomcat¡¯s wrist. The number had decreased to ¨C76¡ãC. This temperature had made a new record that Tang Yue had never experienced. Tomcat¡¯s gloves were gone, and the IVA suit had lost most of its pressure. The instion it provided was greatly discounted as a result. ¡°Where are the gloves? Tomcat, where are your gloves?¡± ¡°Gloves? Oh... The gloves froze. They were too slippery, making it impossible for me to grab onto thedder.¡± Tomcat chattered as it said, ¡°Therefore, I took them off. Hehe.¡± The fourth trip took Tomcat nearly an hour. Each trip took longer than the previous trip. On this trip, it evencked the strength to crawl into the airlock. Instead, it copsed in front of the airlock¡¯s hatch, knocking on it with all its might before Tang Yue managed to pull it in. Every time Tomcat returned, it was in a sorrier state than before. This time, not only was its gloves gone, even its IVA suit had suffered damage. A shocking tear streaked across Tomcat¡¯s visor, and the inside of the visor was filled with turbid crystals. It was unknown if it was water or some other element, mixed in with the dark-colored mud. The cat¡¯s face had icicles hanging from it. When Tang Yue took off its visor, he identally broke one of the cat¡¯s whiskers. ¡°What bad luck. I identally fell from the amodationdder.¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t holding on tight enough... Also, remember topensate me for my whiskers.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t make another trip.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s my turn.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense.¡± Tomcat¡¯s expression was calm. Of course, it was possible because its frozen face hadn¡¯t recovered. ¡°Your stamina won¡¯t be enough. The environment outside is no longer suitable for any biological creature to survive in. It¡¯s ¨C80¡ãC, with a sandstorm of more than forty meters per second. If your Radiant Armor malfunctions in any way, you will freeze into a popsicle in seconds... The Himyas or the South Pole is child¡¯s ypared to the environment outside.¡± ¡°I can still do one trip!¡± Tomcat had already made four trips. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t bring himself to make Tomcat take the risk again. ¡°You are against me making this trip?¡± Tomcat looked over at him diagonally. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Then hold in your disagreement.¡± Tomcat stood up, took another IVA suit from the wall and said, ¡°There¡¯s onest trip left. The final batch has some anti-radiation pills that need to be sent up. I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy. I¡¯ll pack up everything and prepare for tomorrow¡¯sunch.¡± Tomcat took down the new visor and wore it by itself. It stood there in the Hab in silence. ¡°I¡¯ll still be able to return after leaving. You might die outside if you go out... Stop trying to convince me otherwise. If you were Old Wang, I would have let you go, but a rookie should act like a rookie. If you were to die before me, would I lose all my reputation?¡± Chapter 27: Sol Four, Becoming a Mummy on Mars

Chapter 27: Sol Four, Bing a Mummy on Mars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon With the final crate on its back, Tomcat trudged into the sandstorm. From that moment forth, there wasn¡¯t any radiomunication. About an hourter, Tang Yue couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. Tomcat should have long returned ago. ording to their agreement, Tang Yue was to retract the safety rope if Tomcat wasn¡¯t back in Kunlun Station after one and a half hours. One and a half hours was a red line. If Tomcat hadn¡¯t returned safely at this point in time, it likely meant that something had gone wrong. He decided to pull Tomcat back. Tang Yue began retracting the rope, but as he did so, the feeling that something amiss grew in him. This was because there wasn¡¯t any tension on the rope. Tang Yue anxiously pulled back the rope and it returned like a thin snake from the pitch-ck sandstorm outside. A coiled piley on the floor in the airlock, but what returned wasn¡¯t Tomcat, but a loosened locking mechanism. There was nothing on the other end of the rope. Tang Yue¡¯s mind buzzed as it instantly went nk. ... ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat? Answer me if you copy!¡± Tang Yue panted as he stepped into the sand. He ultimately chose to leave Kunlun Station. Tang Yue used the safety rope to tie himself to the airlock¡¯s hatch. It was a form of insurance that if he were to fail to find Tomcat, he could return to Kunlun Station using the safety rope. The two heamps installed on the sides of the Radiant Armor were useless. The four LED bulbs emitted a white beam that didn¡¯t illuminate further than two meters into the sandstorm. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t even tell east from west. Just walking a few meters away from Kunlun Station was enough to prevent him from seeing the white building that stood more than three meters tall. He surveyed his surroundings and only saw sand. The sandstorms on Mars werepletely different from what Tang Yue had imagined. The sandstorms Tang Yue had imagined were described by the lyrics of a ssic Chinese song: You are wind and I am the sand; sentimentally we go around the ends of the world... The sandstorm in reality: Holy sh*t! Where¡¯s the sun? Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Most of the sand particles in a sandstorm weren¡¯t visible particles, but smog-like particte. When the strong winds blew, they were extremely fine particte that moved. Their diameters were a few microns or tenths of microns. These minute particles moved across the atmosphere, making it transform into a turbid soup. Sunlight waspletely incapable of prating this turbid smog; therefore, everything beneath the sandstorm was pitch-ck. ¡°Tomcat¡ª!¡± Tang Yue yelled at the top of his voice. He proceeded in the direction which his memories told him the Eagle stood. As the visibility was nearly zero, all Tang Yue could do was walk in the darkness. However, he didn¡¯t have the precise ability to pinpoint his location. All he could do was estimate. The Radiant Armor was bulky and heavy. The mobility of his limbs suffered restrictions while the life support system on his back was a massive burden. Therefore, the Radiant Armor¡¯s center of mass was towards the back. Tang Yue had to walk leaning forward. He felt like the Foolish Old Man who tried to move a mountain in the well-known fable in Chinese mythology. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare turn his body or change direction. The direction in which he proceeded was decided upon the moment he left Kunlun Station¡¯s hatch. By following that direction, he was bound to reach the Eagle. However, if Tang Yue deviated midway, he had no means of returning to the correct trajectory in the dark environment. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t a sea turtle or a pigeon. His brain wasn¡¯t able to detect a maic field¡ªbesides, Mars didn¡¯t have any maic fields. Tang Yue was blind, a blind man who carried a heavy turtle shell. As he forged forward in the sandstorm, his body wobbled in the strong winds. Yet, he needed to rescue his assistant. It was tragic just thinking about it. ¡°Tomcat! Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue exhaled. He was quickly losing his stamina. He was already exhausted from moving the supplies all day. Furthermore, he had yet to eat dinner. ¡°Answer me if you copy! Answer me if you copy...¡± There was still no reply over thems. The conditions for radio transmission in the sandstorm were just terrible. All Tang Yue could do was hope that Tomcat remained conscious and could receive his shouts. As long as he was near enough, the short-distant radiomunications could break through the environment¡¯s interference. It would be problematic if Tomcat is already unconscious... It was impossible for Tang Yue to find an unconscious entity in an environment with such poor visibility. He couldn¡¯t even see his feet when he looked down. ¡°Tomcat¡ª!¡± Tang Yue moved his legs one after another mechanically. He was gradually losing the feeling in his legs, and the aching had already gone. All that was left was numbness. Tang Yue had heard of the poles on Earth. To the scientific teams that stayed there, being lost in a snowstorm was equivalent to death. The sandstorms on Mars were more terrifying than the snowstorms in the South Pole on Earth. ¨C80¡ãC and 40 m/s wind speeds had already exceeded the limits of Earth. Now, Tomcat was lost in that vast, pitch-ck sandstorm. No one knew if he could seed in finding Tomcat, but Tang Yue didn¡¯t wish to give up hope. As long as he didn¡¯t give up hope, there was still a sliver of chance. ¡°Tomcat¡ª! Tomcat¡ª!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was hoarse. His dry throat was burning and the voice he produced sounded as though he was sawing wood. ¡°Answer me if you copy!¡± It was truly the apocalypse. Thest man in the world was walking alone in the deste ins in a hurricane. He shouted, his throat hoarse, but there wasn¡¯t any response from thems. If the Universe truly had the end of days, it would be like this. There was an instant that Tang Yue felt that he would die there and then. After wandering for an unknown amount of time, Tang Yue was suddenly pulled back. He was stunned as he turned his head and realized that the safety rope was taut. The rope had reached its maximum length... Tang Yue was rmed. The safety rope¡¯s length was nearly two hundred meters, but the Eagle spacecraft was only about a hundred meters from Kunlun Station. This meant that Tang Yue had walked two hundred meters without encountering the Eagle. Without a doubt, he had deviated from the correct direction and had missed thender. In the sandstorm, even if you brushed by thender by tens of centimeters, you might not even be able to see it. All Tang Yue could do was turn around helplessly to return to Kunlun Station, following the rope. Then, he would redo his venture again. It was likely that he would need to repeat this many times until he found Tomcat. ¡°Tomcat... Damn you, Tomcat. Answer me if you hear me! Don¡¯t f*cking torture me any longer... I¡¯m dying of exhaustion... Really...¡± Tang Yue suddenly stumbled as he stepped into a sandpit. Immediately he lost his bnce and copsed to the ground. Tang Yue didn¡¯t recover from the fall. Hey sprawled on the ground without the strength to even get up. ¡°Tomcat... Tomcat, can you copy me?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s face clung to the visor¡¯s ss as he cried out. ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat...¡± Tang Yue slowly crawled forward. To move in a hurricane, lowering one¡¯s body and using all limbs was a lot easier than walking upright. The center of gravity was lowered and the cross-sectional area that met the win was reduced. Tang Yue crawled forward bit by bit, hoping that he wasn¡¯t crawling in the wrong direction. The fall had left his head spinning. The direction he had decided upon was gone from the fall. Humans were indeed creatures whocked a sense of direction. Just blindfolding their eyes and turning them around a few times was enough to make them lose their bearings. Tang Yue crawled about ten meters aimlessly before draining the strength to crawl. Hey there sprawled on the sand, his limbs aching and weak. His brain issuedmands to move, but his muscles refused to carry out the orders. There was the sharp sound of howling winds everywhere as Tang Yue struggled to raise his hand to wipe the mud from the disy on his wrist. The temperature gauge indicated that the temperature was ¨C82¡ãC. After seeing the number, Tang Yue stopped moving. Hey inside the Radiant Armor, feeling as though he was inside a coffin. I¡¯ll probably die here. Tang Yue thought silently. The Martian temperature had reached extremely low temperatures. Furthermore, the atmosphere was dry. It didn¡¯t suit the survival of microorganisms. After Tang Yue died, he would likely naturally wither away, preserved like a Mummy for years toe. Realizing that his corpse could remain for a century or so, just like aplished monks whose bodies attained Buddhahood in ancient times, Tang Yue decided to pose in a more meaningful manner to express his inner emotions. He pointed his middle finger at the sky. Chapter 28: Sol Four, Himalayas on the Plains

Chapter 28: Sol Four, Himyas on the ins

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon When Tang Yue woke up once again, he realized that he had fainted for an unknown length of time. He attempted to move again and realized that he was being hugged¡ªsomeone or something was hugging his helmet. At that moment, Tang Yue realized that his position had changed. He had previously been slumped on the ground face down, but now, he was lying face up. ¡°You woke up?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he immediately looked up. Through the Radiant Armor¡¯s visor, he saw a huge spherical head above him. It was looking down at him, and of course, it wasn¡¯t an alien, but the helmet of Tomcat¡¯s IVA suit. Tomcat was looking down at him, having gotten Tang Yue to half lie on its legs while hugging the Radiant Armor¡¯s helmet. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue saw the cat face inside the IVA suit¡¯s ss visor as he eximed in surprise, ¡°You aren¡¯t dead yet?¡± ¡°Dead your ass. If I had been another two hours, you would be the one dead, not me.¡± Tomcat pointed at the Radiant Armor¡¯s wrist. While lying on Tomcat¡¯s legs, he raised his left hand and wiped the dust off the wrist disy. The life support system¡¯s power had halved, and the Radiant Armor was giving off warning alerts. An orange-yellow exmation mark was blinking. The oxygen cylinder¡¯s pressure had also greatly decreased, left with less than 0.5 atm of oxygen. It was already close to the warning red line. The life support system¡¯s main oxygen cylinder could store 5 MPa of oxygen, a quantity enough to support Tang Yue to carry out his activities outside for eight hours. Having been working all day, Tang Yue¡¯s oxygen cylinder was nearly depleted. ording to the design, the main oxygen cylinder in the Radiant Armor decreased to 0.4 atm, the life support system would no longer deliver oxygen normally. During such times, the Radiant Armor would automatically connect to a spare oxygen cylinder, which was only used for emergencies. It only had 1.2 kilograms of oxygen, and could onlyst forty minutes. Tomcat was right. If it hade another hourter, the oxygen and power in the Radiant Armor would have beenpletely depleted. Tang Yue would have either frozen or suffocated to death. Tang Yue prodded the disy screen and exhaled. ¡°An EVA is an EVA. Not having power is amon plot point.¡± ¡°Not having power is amon plot point?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t understand the meaning of those words. ¡°I¡¯m talking about this.¡± Tang Yue pointed at his chest. ¡°EVA system. Apart from it being the acronym for Extravehicr Activity, it¡¯s also the name of a gigantic humanoid robot 1 . That thing will go berserk once it runs out of power.¡± The official name of the Radiant Armor was an EVA system¡ªExtravehicr Activity system. But just from its acronym, one would imagine it to be an extremely impressive secret weapon. Tomcat helped him up as Tang Yue sat there. ¡°How long have I been out for?¡± ¡°It¡¯s now twenty minutes past eleven at night. You have been unconscious for about an hour. You were sprawled face-down when I found you,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The wind speed is beginning to drop.¡± Although there was a drop in wind speed, Tang Yue couldn¡¯t tell the difference. It was still pitch-ck everywhere, and the only thing he could see was Tomcat¡¯s face. This was only thanks to the illumination from the lights inside the helmet. ¡°The wind speed is now 38 meters per second,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But why did you run out? Didn¡¯t I tell you to stay in Kunlun Station?¡± ¡°I waited more than an hour for you,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°You didn¡¯t return the entire time... Then, when I pulled the safety rope back, the other end was free. That¡¯s why I came out to look for you. But why weren¡¯t you attached to the rope? You released it?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The rope had be entangled with the amodationdder, preventing me from moving. I could only release it.¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t return for more than an hour,¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Why did you take so long? It took half an hour each trip?¡± ¡°I made trips back and forth more than once because I nearly got lost,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°I missed Kunlun Station and walked backward about a dozen meters before realizing that something wasn¡¯t right. By the time I turned back and found Kunlun Station, I found you had gone. That¡¯s how I followed the rope to you... Thankfully, you tied a safety rope to yourself; otherwise, there¡¯s no way I could have found you.¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief. Tomcat was fine. It had all been a scare. In retrospect, the greatest danger in thest trip that sent the supplies to the Eagle wasn¡¯t what Tomcat faced, but Tang Yue... Tang Yue had fainted in the sandstorm, and the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system had nearly drained its power. If Tomcat hadn¡¯t found him, Tang Yue would have frozen to death while unconscious. In a sense, he had unknowingly rubbed shoulders with Death and had made a trip to the underworld and back¡ªall thanks to Tomcat. The Radiant Armor had begun producing warning messages. Tang Yue nced at the disy, and the main oxygen cylinder¡¯s pressure had already gone under the red light. The backup gas cylinder connected with the Radiant Armor. The internal pressure of the EVA suit was typically maintained at 40 kPa, which was 0.4 atm. This pressure was mainly provided by the oxygen cylinder, and once the backup cylinder was used, the forty minutes started counting down. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to return. We only have forty minutes of oxygen left.¡± Tomcat pulled Tang Yue and arduously crawled back with the help of the safety rope. Tomcat crawled ahead as Tang Yue followed in tow. They were connected to the same rope, resembling a trek up the Himyas. After more than an hour of unconsciousness, Tang Yue had regained some of his strength. ¡°Have you delivered thest crate?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°All the supplies have been securely fastened inside the Eagle¡¯s cargo module. All of them are ready for theunch.¡± ¡°Is there no need to check again?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already done what I could.¡± Tang Yue felt slightly relieved. He had finally finished thest step. This delivery spanning four hundred kilometers was already in boxes, and it was possibly the most difficult delivery in history... If it wasn¡¯t for the damn sandstorm, things wouldn¡¯t have been that troublesome. It was true that the weather was unpredictable. ¡°When do weunch?¡± ¡°There are six suitableunching windows tomorrow morning. I had originally set theunch to be half-past eight in the morning... But all the ns are useless now.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Based on the present situation, all the advanced nning was for nothing. We have to observe the wind speed,unching whenever it falls.¡± ¡°Fifty meters per second?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a design limit,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Of course, the lower the speed, the better. It¡¯s best if it¡¯s below thirty meters per second... There will be a much higher chance if it¡¯s below that threshold. If that happens, we might be able to reestablishmunications with the United Space Station.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we re-establishmunications as soon as possible. Thatss in the sky is probably crying in anxious terror.¡± Chapter 29: Sol Four, A Person Equaling a Billion People

Chapter 29: Sol Four, A Person Equaling a Billion People

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The instant Tang Yue and Tomcat closed the airlock¡¯s outer hatch, after crawling back to Kunlun Station, Tang Yue felt as though he had returned into the realm of the living... He had used up hisst ounce of strength to seal the hatch before copsing onto the floor. Tomcat dragged him into the Hab¡¯s hall before taking off the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system and pulling Tang Yue out of the EVA suit. Tang Yuey there slumped as he crawled towards the water trough before bing motionless. Tomcat didn¡¯t even have the time to take off its IVA suit. It took a few steps towards the water trough and filled a cup with clean, pure water before helping Tang Yue up. ¡°Drink this!¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes as he smiled weakly. ¡°That extravagant? Isn¡¯t there a ration?¡± ¡°Stop talking.¡± Tomcat handed the cup to Tang Yue. ¡°Drink it.¡± Tang Yue tipped his head and downed the water. A refreshing stream flowed down his parched throat, through his esophagus, and finally into his stomach. Tang Yue immediately felt better. It was a rare instance for him to be extravagant, and for Tomcat to be generous. Leaning against the table as he sat on the floor, he panted faintly, his face somewhat pale. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Tomcat crouched down in front of him. ¡°My stomach doesn¡¯t feel too good. I feel like vomiting.¡± Tang Yue held his abdomen. ¡°You are a little dehydrated. However, you can¡¯t consume too much water in a short period of time or there might be risks of water poisoning.¡± Tomcat got up, went to the water trough and got another cup of water. It ced it on the floor beside Tang Yue¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Rest well. If you¡¯re thirsty, drink this... but do it slowly.¡± ¡°Will I get water poisoning if I drink it too quickly?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°But you might choke.¡± It turned around and found a power plug on the wall before plugging itself in. With a beep, a green light lit up as Tomcat began recharging itself. It had been busy all day, beating the sandstorm with winds traveling at more than forty meters per second on five round trips. Humans would have lost their lives, but Tomcat was Tomcat. It had miraculously managed to survive. Not only did it survive, but it had also rescued Tang Yue. Tomcat was also exhausted. Tang Yue always imagined that robots didn¡¯t feel fatigued, but Tomcat was a robot that knew how to im to be tired. Not only could it get tired, it would pant. Tang Yue knew very well that beneath Tomcat¡¯s furry appearance was metal. Its movements were abination of electricity and motors, and not flesh and bone. Could it be that electric-powered motors would feel fatigued? As Tomcat felt the warm electric current slowly infuse into its batteries, it closed its eyes andfortably sighed. ¡°Tang Yue looked over in curiosity. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to know... Where is that socket of yours located? Is it... at the ass...¡± Tomcat raised a stic te beside its hand and pped Tang Yue in the face. Then, it responded with a series of expletives. Tomcat dragged a long electric cable and began pacing around Kunlun Station. With the goods already in ce, what followed next was crucial. Theunch. Sess and failure were determined by this alone. ¡°Will the wind speed drop below thirty meters per second?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No idea.¡± Tomcat shook its head. It scanned theputer disy which indicated that the wind speed outside was at 35 m/s. It was a lot lower than 40 m/s before, but 35 m/s speeds were still equivalent to a Force 12 hurricane. For a spacecraft which was about to ascend, such crosswinds implied possible attitude failures. The Eagle was designed to withstand super hurricanes with wind speeds of 50 m/s, but that was its limit. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare to try his luck on thender¡¯s capabilities. He only had one precious spacecraft which had precious supplies on board. If it crashed, everything would be gone. Although betting everything on one shot had the vibes of a male lead¡¯s heroic actions in a movie, Tang Yue had alreadye to terms with him being a side character. It was fine if the main lead courted death, but side characters really only had death awaiting them if they did the same. Tomcat said that the more ideal situation was 30 m/s. They could forget about hoping that the hurricane would end tomorrow. To be frank, the weather on Mars was highly unpredictable. A sandstorm couldst a few days, but it could also wreak havoc for months. The old Opportunity rover had died from a sandstorm after its immense contributions. Thinking back to the Opportunity, it was extremely hardy. Its designed lifespan was ny sols, but it managed to survive tenaciously for more than five thousand sols, serving its mission by sixty times longer than expected. Tomcat felt deep respect for it, calling the Opportunity a legend in the world of robots, a heroic senior like China¡¯s Zhang Sanfeng 1 . However, even Zhang Sanfeng had fallen under the endless sandstorms on Mars. Over the nightssting months, the Opportunity has drained its final batteries and had be a monument on the desert ins. Tang Yue didn¡¯t know when the hurricane would pass, but if the wind speeds could drop beneath 30 m/s tomorrow, it would be a rtively safeunching environment. Tomcat had confidence in sending the Eagle into orbit before docking with the United Space Station. ¡°If the wind speed doesn¡¯t drop tomorrow,¡± Tomcat turned around and looked at Tang Yue, ¡°do you still n onunching?¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°You have to think it through. There¡¯s only one Eagle. You do not have the luxury of trial and error.¡± Tomcat then said, ¡°This is a gamble. It¡¯s either life or death.¡± Tang Yue felt the pressure, immense pressure... It was a gamble, but there were too many elements that influenced the oue of the gamble. Tang Yue had ced all his bets¡ªthe Eagle and its hold filled with supplies for Mai Dong¡ªon the table. And facing him was Mars¡¯s unpredictable weather, the sandstorms with wind speeds of more than thirty meters per second, the condition of Eagle, and even the engineers who designed thender back on Earth. Every element determined life and death. Mai Dong¡¯s resources had been expended. She couldn¡¯t even wait a day. The Eagle had to beunched tomorrow, but worst of all, Tomcat and Tang Yue had no idea if the weather would turn for the better. What would happen if the wind speed didn¡¯t drop? Was he to continue theunch? What if theunch failed? Not only would Mai Dong be dead, but the Eagle and all the resources on it would be destroyed as well. Tang Yue yanked at his hair as he fell into a conundrum. On the one hand, Mai Dong¡¯s situation made it pressing for him tounch the Eagle as quickly as possible, but on the other hand, rashlyunching the spacecraft might lead to failure. Notunching it meant death, but a mistake inunching also meant death. ¡°Thatdy¡¯s only chance of survival is that we have tounch the spacecraft at a suitable time, in suitable conditions,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Nothing must go wrong. Everything must align perfectly.¡± ¡°Is it possible?¡± Tang Yue muttered. ¡°Not possible, but it¡¯s also possible.¡± Tomcat leaned on a table and said slowly, ¡°In the past hundred years of human history, every space mission has been a conglomeration of such elements... We put the most suitable people into the most suitable spacecraft, then at the most suitable time, in the most suitable conditions, weunch it into space. Even the most ordinary transport mission of goods to the ISS was done with clockwork precision.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he subconsciously said, ¡°How grand.¡± ¡°Do you get it? That¡¯s how we have been going about all this time. We find that only sliver of possibility in the impossibility. It might mean months or years of waiting, all for a twenty-minuteunch window.¡± Tomcat crouched down and patted Tang Yue on the face. ¡°Do not underestimate the grit in humans, punk. You are in terrible conditions now, but can youpare to Apollo 13 back then?¡± ¡°But... There¡¯s only the two of us.¡± Tang Yue hesitated for two seconds. ¡°Apollo 13 had the entire country¡¯s experts backing them.¡± ¡°So what if it¡¯s just the two of us?¡± Tomcat bared its teeth and prodded Tang Yue¡¯s chest. ¡°You can think of yourself as a single person, but you need to think of me as a billion people! Are you done resting? If you are done resting, get up! We will not sleep tonight... We have to find thatst shred of hope hidden in the pile of impossibilities!¡± Chapter 30: Sol Four, Antenna Father and Antenna Son

Chapter 30: Sol Four, Antenna Father and Antenna Son

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat sat on a chair as it began to attempt re-establishingmunications with the United Space Station. Normally, Kunlun Station wouldmunicate with the United Space Station through radio transmissions via Ku, L, and C band designations. Among the bands was the Ku band designation which was in the frequency range of 12 to 18 GHz. It was a very mature band designation. Decades ago, the satellite dishes installed on many households¡¯ rooftops used the Ku band designation. This frequency allowed very fastmunication speeds, equivalent to 500 Mbps broadband. Mai Dong and Tang Yue usually used this frequency during their videomunications. The other L and C bands were used as backups. The L band¡¯s frequency ranged from 1-2GHz, a type of millimeter-wave. The C band¡¯s frequency ranged from 4-8GHz. Compared to the Ku band, more time had been poured into studying these two frequency bands. It was more mature technology which was why it was used as a backup. The United Space Station period was eighty minutes. This meant to say that the United Space Station would circle Mars once every eighty minutes, and so pass by Kunlun Station once. During these eighty minutes, the United Space Station would spend half the time below the horizon, which also meant the other side of Mars. Under such circumstances, Kunlun Station was unable tomunicate directly with the United Space Station. After all, radio transmissions couldn¡¯t bend or prate the entire of Mars; therefore, this was when geosynchronous ry satellites came into y. Three ry satellites were equally spaced out in geosynchronous orbit around Mars at a distance of 17,000 kilometers apart. From the poles, the three ry satellites could provide a signal that covered nearly all of the Martian surface. When the United Space Station was situated on the other side of Mars, radio transmissions sent from Kunlun Station would be ryed by the ry satellites before reaching the destination. Tomcat wore an earpiece as it called out to the United Space Station. On the table in front of it was aputer scene indicating the wind speed in green. At that moment, strong winds were blowing outside Kunlun Station. The Martian atmosphere was very different from Earth¡¯s. The lowestyer of the Earth¡¯s atmosphere was the troposphere which had a height of about eight kilometers. Further up was the stratosphere. Therefore, any violent atmospheric activity was limited to the troposphere. As for Mars, its atmospherecked the stratosphere. Its troposphere wasn¡¯t restrained so it could go as high as it could, extending up to a staggering height of sixty kilometers. Therefore, most of the atmospheric activity on the Martian surface often had hurricanes that swept the dust and sand tens of kilometers into the sky, forming a thick nket that cloaked the surface. Humanmunication equipment was blind in such extreme weather. ¡°How¡¯s it?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Can you establishmunications?¡± Tomcat took off the earpiece and handed it to Tang Yue. Tang Yue put it in his ear and heard the sharp static of varying frequencies. It sounded like an old witch screeching loudly in an ear-piercing manner. ¡°What¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°Noise,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Noise from the atmosphere¡¯s sand.¡± ¡°I thought it was Mai Dong singing.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried all avable bands, but none of them have worked. Be it the Ku band, L band, or the C band, all of them have failed... The weather is just too terrible.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°The interference above our heads is just too intense. The sand and dust have umtedrge amounts of electric charge. Now, kilometers above us, there must be lightning.¡± Tang Yue handed the earpiece back to Tomcat. ¡°Is there nothing else we can do?¡± ¡°A natural environment¡¯s electromaic interference indiscriminately suppresses and blocks transmissions. Switching to any frequency channel wouldn¡¯t work unless you have sufficient power to st your signal through the cursed hurricane.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Then, can we increase our power?¡± ¡°It¡¯s already at maximum output.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Apart from increasing its power efficiency, reducing the distance could actually work. If you can raise Kunlun Station to a height of sixty kilometers or make the United Space Station lower its height by sixty kilometers, I could still try something.¡± Raising Kunlun Station to a height of sixty kilometers was impossible; not even an immortal could do it. Lowering the United Space Station¡¯s height by sixty kilometers was also impossible for Tomcat at present. To change orbit trajectories of such a huge space station was an extremelyplex task. Many elements need to be taken into consideration. If there were any mistakes, the space station might identally enter the atmosphere, resulting in an abnormal drop in deceleration and causing it to crash. ¡°The L and C bands arepletely dead.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°there¡¯s only a female ghost howling on these channels. I¡¯m not sure if the Ku channel can be rescued.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°There¡¯s only one way.¡± Tomcat turned its head. ¡°The Ku band is less susceptible to interference, but its focus beam is very narrow and requires strong directionality. For example, the C band¡¯s signal broadcasts in every direction, but the Ku band is like the beam of a shlight. The Ku channel¡¯s transmitter needs to be urately pointed in your direction for you to receive the signal.¡± Tomcat¡¯s exnation was very simple. Although Tang Yue didn¡¯t have a background in telmunications, he could understand it. ¡°Now, the Ku band¡¯s signal ispletely disconnected. It might be because I didn¡¯t point the transmitter and receiver antenna in the correct directions.¡± Tomcat pointed above. ¡°After all, it¡¯s pitch-ck outside, and there are such strong winds. Themunications antenna that¡¯s mounted on the garage must have already been toppled. We have no way of pinpointing the space station¡¯s location, nor do we have any means of tracking it.¡± ¡°So?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°So, we will have to manually adjust the direction of the antenna and find the precise direction of the space station. Only then can we re-establishmunications.¡± ¡°Manually adjusting it would do? I¡¯ll do it!¡± Tang Yue said as he prepared to don the Radiant Armor. ¡°Wait.¡± Tomcat pulled him back, bent down and pulled out an aluminum box. Opening it and removing the bubble wrap, it took out a folded three-legged tripod and a satellite dish. It spread open theponents and set it up. ¡°This is very old. It doesn¡¯t have any electric motors or servomechanism. It¡¯s purely manually-driven. It¡¯s been kept here for years, but it¡¯s reliable. In the early days of the Martian missions, people had to rely on this thing to establishmunications with the spacecraft. I thought it wouldn¡¯t be of use anymore.¡± Only then did Tang Yue realize it was a parabolic dish antenna. The tripod was about a person¡¯s height when set up, and at the top of it was an omnidirectional dish-shaped antenna. ¡°Are you out of your mind? You just survived the hurricane, so you aren¡¯t going anywhere. The garage is too far away. Can you return after you head out?¡± Tomcat pushed the antenna to Tang Yue. ¡°Ignore the antenna over there. We will repair it after the sandstorm is over. Now, we have to use this antenna to tide us through... Set it up by Kunlun Station¡¯s entrance, and don¡¯t go too far away. Then, listen to mymands. We will try again.¡± Tang Yue sized up the gizmo, its appearance was by no means attractive. It looked like a television dish antenna used in the viges. The parabolic dish antenna was about a dozen centimeters in radius. ¡°We are using this gizmo?¡± Tang Yue had his doubts. ¡°Its antenna isn¡¯t any bigger than your face. Is its power efficiency enough?¡± ¡°Its main purpose is to receive signals. This is only the son,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As for the father... It¡¯s four hundred kilometers above your head. That guy is even taller than two of you. When it¡¯s turned on and at maximum power efficiency, it can roast a rabbit.¡± Chapter 31: Sol Four, Two Solutions to Repair a TV

Chapter 31: Sol Four, Two Solutions to Repair a TV

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat helped Tang Yue change the oxygen cylinder and batteries of the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system before helping him put on the EVA suit. As Tang Yue tried moving his limbs, he took a deep breath and picked up the antenna from the floor. The antenna was very light. The tripod was made of hollow aluminum alloy, so Tang Yue could carry it with one hand. It was like a microphone stand. ¡°Just ce it at Kunlun Station¡¯s entrance.¡± Tomcat stood in front of Tang Yue and tiptoed to hold onto his visor, emphasizing, ¡°Do not wander off. Wait there and listen to my instructions.¡± Tang Yue nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Good luck!¡± Tomcat patted him on the shoulder as Tang Yue carried the antenna, dragged the ck electric cable and plodded towards the airlock¡¯s hatch. From the back, he looked like a bear holding up a wooden club. Before the Eagle¡¯sunch, they had to establishmunications with the United Space Station to get Mai Dong ready. Even though thender had the ability to automatically dock, it was impossible to guarantee that there wouldn¡¯t be any mishaps during aunch in such terrible weather. Therefore, everyone had to be prepared to react ordingly. Kunlun Station¡¯s original Ku bandmunications antenna was located over at the garage. It was an antenna receiver that could automatically track the target¡¯s signal, ensuring that the radio transmission¡¯s direction would follow the space station or the ry satellites, but in this sudden sandstorm, all calibration had been lost. Without even needing to stop to think, Tomcat knew that the antenna had been toppled. However, they had been busy moving the supplies to the Eagle and didn¡¯t have the time or effort to deal with it. Repairing the antenna now was unrealistic. It was a miracle that Tang Yue hadn¡¯t died outside. Heading out again meant death. Therefore, Tomcat switched to using a recement¡ªa purely manual antique. Tomcat sat back at its work desk, put in an earpiece, and pulled a keyboard and mouse over. As it checked the channel¡¯s signal strength and change in wind speeds, its w kept adjusting the signal band while the other w pressed down on the earpiece, focused on picking up anything. Tomcat was like an underground worker eavesdropping on the radio under the light in the silence of the night. Tomcat wished to find a meaningful signal through the endless static, but unfortunately, apart from the shrieking cries, there wasn¡¯t anything else. It felt as though demons were dancing about in the hurricane outside, a symphony of wailing from a million female wraiths. ¡°Tomcat, I¡¯m in position.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°Roger that,¡± Tomcat quickly replied. ¡°Listen up, Tang Yue. Set up the antenna in front of the airlock¡¯s hatch. Then, pick up the antenna¡¯s electric plug.¡± ¡°Plug? Where is it? Plug... Found it! Damn it, the wind at the entrance is crazy. The plug was flying everywhere. I had to grab it... Holy sh*t, I can¡¯t bend my back. Wait a moment! I have to bend my back to grab it. It uses a USB interface.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s USB. That¡¯s the antenna¡¯s data line. Now look to your left... There¡¯s a data socket on the left side of the airlock¡¯s hatch. There¡¯s a light above it.¡± ¡°I see the data socket. It¡¯s right beside my hand, but there¡¯s already a data line connected into it,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I have no idea where this data line leads to...¡± ¡°It¡¯s the data line of the originalmunications antenna. You can pull it out now and insert the one you have,¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°After plugging it in, see if the indicator light on the satellite lights up or not.¡± Momentster, Tang Yue replied, ¡°It¡¯s lit up.¡± Meanwhile, Tomcat saw a notification ¡°new hardware connected¡± disy on the screen. This meant that the antenna had been sessfully connected to Kunlun Station¡¯s mainframe. ¡°Now, turn and point the parabolic antenna in the southeast direction. Do it slowly.¡± Tomcat instructed as it carefully monitored the signal. ¡°Currently, the United Space Station should be in that direction.¡± Tang Yue leaned against the airlock¡¯s hatch and secured himself to the hatch with a safety rope. He sped the antenna¡¯s tripod with both hands as he slowly turned it. Although Tomcat was unable to precisely determine the United Space Station¡¯s location, thetter was a celestial object that was in periodic orbit. It followed a fixed trajectory around Mars, so as long as its trajectory parameters were known, Tomcat could easily calcte where the space station was at any time. ¡°Any signal?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat stared at the screen. ¡°Continue turning it.¡± ¡°Any signal?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue looked up towards the southeastern sky. Tomcat had said that the United Space Station would be in that direction, but he could see nothing except pitch-ck darkness. ¡°Raise the angle of the antenna a little bit, approximately five to ten degrees.¡± ¡°Five to ten degrees...¡± Tang Yue mumbled as he adjusted the antenna¡¯s direction. ¡°I suddenly feel like I¡¯m a TV repairman.¡± ¡°TV repairman?¡± Tomcat frowned. ¡°When I was little, the television back in my hometown vige was like this. In times without the Inte or digital television, televisions were connected to an antenna. Those antennas looked like clothes racks and were hoisted high with bamboo poles. We called them television racks,¡± Tang Yue said leisurely. ¡°Those are really old gadgets. Even in a rural vige like my hometown, television racks are nearly extinct.¡± ¡°Those are Yagi antennas,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea what they¡¯re called. Anyway, we all called them television racks. They were quite f*cked up, always giving signal problems, so our television programs were often a noisy blur,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°When the broadcast isn¡¯t clear, we typically had two solutions. The first was to smack it, just keep smacking the television until the picture was clear. ¡°The other solution was to head out and rotate the television rack. A person would stay in the room, watching the television, while the others would head out to adjust the television rack¡¯s direction. Typical television racks were propped up with bamboo, so we would be rotating the bamboo from below while shouting into the house, ¡°Is it clear?¡± If the person inside replied ¡°No,¡± we would continue rotating it until the person inside said otherwise. Then, we would rush back to continue watching TV.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°It does have its resemnces.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t know why he was recalling such things. The scenes had suddenly surfaced in his mind, making his already blurred memories suddenly turn clear. Amidst the Martian pitch-ck sandstorm, he had somehow recalled summer afternoons from years ago. The cicadas on the trees would drone on noisily as he held an ice popsicle in hand. The television on the table would y reruns of My Fair Princess and Young Justice Bao. As he recalled, Tang Yue even hummed the main themes of the two shows. ¡°Stop!¡± Tomcat suddenly yelled. Tang Yue stopped. The static in the earpiece reduced as the female wrath-like static vanished. There was a gentle throb as a weak voice with a sobbing tone surfaced from the dark silence. ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 451st time, please answer if you copy... This is United Space Station. Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, do you copy... Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Cat?¡± Tomcat heaved a sigh of relief. They had finally re-establishedmunications. It pressed down on the earpiece. ¡°Mai Dong, this is Kunlun Station! I¡¯m Tomcat! Do you copy?¡± Chapter 32: Sol Four, SpongeBob Lives Under the Sea

Chapter 32: Sol Four, SpongeBob Lives Under the Sea

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Mr. Cat? Mr. Cat! Mr. Cat! Mr. Cat, is that you? I copy! I copy!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice was suddenly infused with immense surprise as though she had a straw to clutch at. ¡°Mr. Cat, are you both okay? Where¡¯s Mr. Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Kunlun Station ispletely operational,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Tang Yue is also fine.¡± ¡°You guys gave me a fright... I was really frightened to death. You guys suddenly lostmunications and there wasn¡¯t any response no matter how much I radioed. What exactly happened?¡± ¡°Sandstorm,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The weather interfered with themunications, but thankfully, it didn¡¯t cause any damage. We have resolved the problem now.¡± Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, how¡¯s your situation over there?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°How many resources do you have left? How many days can theyst?¡± ¡°The finalpressed biscuits were finished by me fifteen minutes ago. I wanted to keep them for tomorrow, but... I¡¯m just too hungry. I couldn¡¯t even sleep thanks to the hunger. There¡¯s nothing that can be eaten on the space station now,¡± the girl said softly as though she had done something wrong. ¡°I... I attempted to chew on the thermal inner lining of the habitation module... but I realized that I couldn¡¯t bite through it...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice grew softer as Tomcat was left at a loss whether tough or cry. It turned out that thisdy was a glutton, and her hunger had caused her to try to eat the space station. Tang Yue leaned against the airlock¡¯s hatch while sitting on the ground. He had adjusted the Radiant Armor¡¯s heamps to their brightest but was still only capable of illuminating a meter ahead of him. Tang Yue felt as if he was located under the dark sea. On Earth, the only environment with any simrity was the deep sea. As long as the depths reached two hundred meters, all light would be absorbed by the seawater, making the depthspletely dark. Tang Yue imagined that if a diver on Earth was to sit at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, with more than a thousand meters of pitch-ck seawater above him, that situation would resemble his... They were in equal danger and darkness, alone and helpless. But how could a person sit at the bottom of the sea at such depths? Humanity had the ability to reach Mars, but no one was capable of diving to the bottom of the sea at such depths. Billions of tonnes of seawater were enough to tten any creature... except for SpongeBob SquarePants. Tang Yue was taken aback. He imagined that if SpongeBob were to sit at the bottom of the sea and looked up alone, would he be waiting for someone? ¡°Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat shouted through the earpiece. ¡°Adjust the antenna. Move the antenna slightly east!¡± Tang Yue did his best to get up. He truly led a bbored life, and any recount of it only brought tears. Tomcat sat inside Kunlun Station chatting with ady while he had to don the Radiant Armor to suffer the winds outside. As he battled the winds, he imagined SpongeBob SquarePants. He recalled how it was when he watched television back in his hometown, and how the one staying inside the house to stare at the television was always someone else, while he was always the one outside rotating the bamboo. The antenna was by his feet, and the green indicator light was blinking rhythmically. Tang Yue gently rotated the tripod as he adjusted the direction of the antenna minutely. ¡°How¡¯s this? Is it clear?¡± ¡°Move about two degrees east... Wait, turn it back slightly. Do it slower. You¡¯ve moved past it!¡± ¡°Talk is cheap! Try making such micro-adjustments in a sandstorm with wind speeds of thirty to forty meters per second!¡± Tang Yue retorted without standing on ceremony. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to hold this firm! I¡¯m hauling ass keeping this firm!¡± ¡°1.5 degrees! Adjust the circumferential angle by 1.5 degrees...¡± As the instructor, Tomcat obviously didn¡¯t bother with Tang Yue¡¯s gripes. Its only goal was to maintain smoothmunication and make requests only based on this aspect. It didn¡¯t matter if the wind speeds were at thirty to forty meters per second, one millimeter meant one millimeter even if the wind speeds were three to four hundred meters per second. ¡°What the heck is 1.5 degrees?¡± Tang Yue nearly went mad. Tomcat wasn¡¯t even speaking anything human. ¡°1.5 degrees is one and a half degrees. Half a degree is thirty arc minutes!¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s thirty arc minutes! But I have to tell you that my hand isn¡¯t an angr measuring device! I¡¯m unable to do such precise movements!¡± Tang Yue yelled. ¡°Then how precise can you be?¡± ¡°I can only be precise at the level of ¡®approximately,¡¯ ¡®roughly,¡¯ and ¡°seemingly,¡¯¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Then move the antenna east approximately, roughly and seemingly at an angle of 32 arc minutes and 15 arc seconds!¡± ¡°...¡± The United Space Station¡¯s near-Mars orbit had a speed of 3.5 km/s. Its location was constantly changing, so the antenna needed to keep changing directions. Tang Yue was a manual motor and orientation device. After some time, he needed to adjust the direction of the antenna to prevent any disruption or weakening of the signal due to the sandstorm. As Tomcat was informing Mai Dong of the things to take note of for theunch tomorrow, it had to make use of every moment. Themunications were only being barely maintained and weren¡¯t stable. There was no telling when they could be cut off. ¡°Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. Towards the end, when the Eagle is docking with the United Space Station, which also means the final one hundred meter approach, the Eagle and United Space Station¡¯s docking mechanism will begin evaluating the precise positioning and rtive orientations. This process is entirely automatic, but it¡¯s important. This is because it determines if the docking seeds or not. The space station will use a Circle Fitting Method to carry out the precise positioning...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°The intersection of the CRDS (Cavity ring-down spectroscopy) will capture the target vehicle¡¯s traits. There¡¯s a target marker on the Eagle, and this marker has six LED lights. When the Eagle approaches the space station, they will automatically light up. However, you have to take note that the marker that autonomously emits light as it is easily affected and disrupted by ambient lighting, especially by strong sunlight. You have to ensure that it doesn¡¯t get hit by direct sunlight.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°The Eagle¡¯s docking interface is on the back of the space station. It¡¯s an Androgynous Peripheral Attach System mechanism, which means to say that the Eagle¡¯s docking mechanism is the same as the space station¡¯s. However, one points outward while the other is inward. The docking mechanism uses an anti-rotation design. Only after theputer sends a lock-onmand, will the docking mechanism lock tightly. After the docking seeds, you have to ensure that the seal is tight and there are no air leaks...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°During the docking process, there will be remote and proximity guidance before the approach, rendezvous, and docking. The entire sequence will be automaticallypleted by the space station. Originally, the remote guidance should have been provided by us from the surface, but the weather makes it impossible. The microwave radar on the space station is meant for the proximity guidance, but you will have to let it do the guiding for the entire process...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± Tomcat spoke very quickly, telling Mai Dong everything it thought of. ¡°During the docking process, make sure the Eagle and the space station bidirectional link are unobstructed.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°When the Eagle receives the feedback signal from the space station, it will activate its rocket engines ording to the distance. It will gradually decelerate, and its final docking speed won¡¯t exceed 5 m/s.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you kept saying ¡®yeah¡¯ the entire time. Do you understand what I¡¯ve been saying?¡± The girl wore a look of innocence and nkness. ¡°I didn¡¯t understand a thing.¡± Tomcat held its forehead. ¡°Then why did you keep ¡®yeah¡¯-ing?¡± ¡°I... I can¡¯t just keep silent, right?¡± Tomcat grunted softly as it held its chest, feeling as though it had suffered an internal blow as its motors seem to suffer a cardiac arrest. Chapter 33: Sol Four, Parents Need Alone Time When Guiding Children With Their Studies

Chapter 33: Sol Four, Parents Need Alone Time When Guiding Children With Their Studies

Exhausted, Tang Yue brought the antenna back into Kunlun Station. He pulled out the data cable before stumbling into the airlock. It was already half past one in the morning. The wind speeds didn''t show any signs of dropping. Tang Yue was somewhat worried. He didn''t know if the weather would improve in the day. However, with the level of visibility, it didn''t make a difference if the sun rose or not, whether it was day or night. It waspletely dark in the sandstorm, making it impossible to tell night from day. Tang Yue could only determine the time with a watch. By putting away the antenna, it meant that Tomcat''smunications with the United Space Station were over. They couldn''t leave the antenna outside, for it would definitely be swept away by the hurricane if no one watched over it. Yet, there was no way for Tang Yue to stay outside to watch over it¡­ He needed rest, and he didn''t want to exhaust himself to death. Themunicationssted for more than an hour until the United Space Station swept past overhead and went beneath the horizon. Only then did Tomcat end themunications. During this entire time, Tomcat kept droning on and on without giving Tang Yue a chance to say hi. He had even imagined the scene of re-establishingmunications, believing that it would be like a Hollywood movie¡ªthe damsel in distress feeling lost and frantic while the male lead stood in front of the console, silently pressing down on an earpiece with greatposure. Then, he would use an extremely maic and masculine voice to console her: "Don''t worry, don''t be afraid. I''m here." But, all Tang Yue did was stand outside Kunlun Station holding the antenna for more than an hour. He was indeed just a side character foric relief. When Tang Yue entered the Hab, he saw Tomcat slumped in the chair, its eyes looking up as its face looked ashen. It seemed weary towards life. "What happened?" The cat''s face looked defeated. "I need some alone time." During the hour-long conversation with Mai Dong, Tomcat''s goal was to inform her of all the things to take note of, so that she could be prepared. It imagined the conversation to be something along the lines of: Tomcat: Remember the first point. Make sure that the United Space Station''s docking mechanism''s microwave radar is functioning properly! Mai Dong: Got it! Tomcat: Remember the second point. The rtive speed of the target spacecraft and the tracking spacecraft needs to be kept within 5 m/s! Mai Dong: Getting you loud and clear! Tomcat: Remember the third point. Take note of the manual docking system''s operational situation. If the automatic docking system has a mistake, you will have to activate the manual controls. Mai Dong: Roger that! Tomcat: Do you have any other questions? Mai Dong would immediately stand at attention, saying: No! I understand everything you have said, Sir! Simple, efficient, clean, and straight to the point. It was filled with the discipline and precision of a scientist and military man. That should have been the case. But unfortunately, the reality was this: Tomcat: Remember the first point. Make sure that the United Space Station''s docking mechanism''s microwave radar is functioning properly! Mai Dong nodded: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tomcat: Remember the second point. The rtive speed of the target spacecraft and the tracking spacecraft needs to be kept within 5 m/s! Mai Dong nodded in response: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tomcat: Remember the third point. Take note of the manual docking system''s operational situation. If the automatic docking system has a mistake, you will have to activate the manual controls. Mai Dong continued nodding: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tomcat: Do you have any other questions? Mai Dong shook her head: No. Tomcat: Do you understand everything? Mai Dong blinking her eyes innocently: Nothing at all. Tomcat: Why¡­ Why did you say ''yeah'' if you don''t understand a thing? Mai Dong: W¡­ What should I say other than ''yeah?'' Tomcat felt his cardiac motors crank to a halt. It had the feeling of young parents giving their children study guidance. Tomcat finally knew why parents would fall ill over such matters. There was nothing you could do to these brats. You might believe that you have exined it sufficiently clearly, going from the basics to the advanced. Even a pig would understand from your lecturing, but those brats would look at you with a look of innocence,pletely at a loss when asked questions. This wasn''t just being dense. This was called being imprable. Therefore, when parents guided their children in their studies, there were only two oues. Either the children needed some alone time, or the parents needed some alone time. Tomcat felt as though everything ahead was bleak and dark. It was surviving on Mars with two useless bums. One of them Tang Yue, a clueless idiot who ran around naked while only being capable of giving approximate and rough precision when doing work. The other was the rookiess, Mai Dong, who could only widen her innocent eyes, nodding and saying ''yeah''¡­ It was fine with Mai Dong on the space station, but what was the meaning behind Tang Yue''s existence? A feces-generating machine that only knew to run naked in Kunlun Station? Was he trying to generate fertilizer to enrich Mars''s soil? Robinson Crusoe spent decades on a remote ind, but at least he had an assistant, Friday. If you had given Robinson Crusoe a burdensome assistant like Tang Yue, he might have just drowned himself to death during the shipwreck at the beginning. F*ck. It''s inevitable. So be it. After Tang Yue leaned the antenna on the wall, he took the life support system off the Radiant Armor''s back. "Have all the problems been discussed with her?" Tomcat nodded. "What did Mai Dong say?" Tang Yue crawled out of the Radiant Armor before hanging the EVA suit on the wall. "Is she done with the preparations?" "She said ''yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.''" Tomcat muttered. "I think she''s done with her preparations." "Excellent!" Tang Yue pped in glee. This clueless idiot waspletely lost in his excitement of impending sess. "The supplies are ready. The Eagle is ready forunch. The United Space Station is ready. All we need to do is wait for tomorrow''sunch¡­ We are fully prepared, except for that crucial element. Once the wind speed drops below thirty meters per second at daybreak, we willunch the Eagle! We will send the supplies up to the United Space Station!" Tang Yue rubbed his hands in glee as he paced about. He didn''t look anything like an exhausted man. Tomcat nced at the wind speed indicator. The wind speed outside is 35 m/s. It has already dropped 9 m/s from its peak. This means that the atmospheric activity is gradually weakening. If this trend continues, the wind speed might drop below 30 m/s after daybreak¡­ Tomcat''s jaded heart ignited with hope again. Even though Tang Yue and Mai Dong were dumb, there was such a thing as dumb luck. It was possible that the two rookies would receive the blessings of heaven, allowing the Eagle to dock without any mishaps? Tomcat sighed as it spread open some paper over the table. "What are you doing?" Tang Yue came over out of curiosity. "I need to make final confirmation of theunch and docking procedures." Tomcat began writing and drawing on the paper. "I need to ensure that there''s no w in this entire process." Tang Yue pulled a chair over and sat beside Tomcat as he looked over. "Are there any ws that might appear?" Tomcat paused before sighing. "The situation is¡­ probably not as optimistic as you imagine it to be." Chapter 34: Sol Four, Cold Physics and Mathematics

Chapter 34: Sol Four, Cold Physics and Mathematics

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat drew a circle on a piece of paper. ¡°This is Mars with a radius of 3,389 kilometers. It¡¯s about half of Earth¡¯s radius. The equatorial length is 21,330 kilometers, which is also about half of Earth¡¯s.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat then drew a tiny dot on the circle. ¡°This here is where Kunlun Station and the Eagle are. It¡¯s on the northern hemisphere on Mars and located in an impact basin known as the Isidis nitia. The exact location is 12.54¡ãN and 87.0¡ãE. We are near the equator and northeast from us is the Utopia nitia. ¡°The Eagle willunch from this location.¡± Tomcat pointed at the piece of paper with a pen tip. Tang Yue saw Tomcat drawing a huge circle, encircling the first circle. ¡°This is the United Space Station¡¯s orbit. Its periapsis is 380 kilometers and the apoapsis is 480 kilometers. It¡¯s an elliptical orbit that¡¯s nearly circr. Its period is 80 minutes, which means that the United Space Station would past by our heads once every 80 minutes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat drew a small rocket in an empty spot beside the big circle. ¡°This is the Eagle. Its ascent part will be the oneunched...¡± Tomcat boxed up the upper half of the rocket. ¡°The Ascent Vehicle uses two-stage rockets. The first stageprises of two Raptor 3Cbustion chamber engines from SpaceX. They will only produce thrust for two hundred seconds, which is slightly more than three minutes. In these three minutes, the engine needs to push the payload capsule into orbit.¡± Tomcat drew a trajectory from Mars and slowly extended it, depicting the sessfullyunched Eagle. Then, he drew it circling Mars. ¡°If the Eagle is sessfullyunched, the Raptor 3C engines and the main fuel tank would be abandoned. The payload capsule will continue circling Mars.¡± Tomcat continued, ¡°My original n was a rapid dock. By choosing a suitableunch window, we willunch thender at the appropriate moment, allowing it to synchronize with the United Space Station as quickly as possible... The second-stage rocket is responsible for adjusting the trajectory, and it¡¯s done by a Russian RD-0172 engine. Very mature technology from the Russians.¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t worried at all. Tomcat had plenty of experience, so the n it formted was definitely nothing crazy. ¡°But this n is already useless.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Because of the weather?¡± Tomcat frowned. ¡°That¡¯s right. Due to this problematic weather, we cannot choose ourunch time based on the space station¡¯s location. Instead, we determine theunch based on the wind speed. Weunch whenever the wind speed drops... But this brings another problem.¡± ¡°What problem?¡± ¡°The wind speed¡¯s changes are random. We have no idea when the darn hurricane will reduce its speed. Therefore, we are unable to set the docking trajectory between the Eagle and space station ahead of time. When thender does its ascent, the space station might be above our heads, but it could also be on the other side of Mars,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As such, we can only use a slow docking method. We will send thender up first, before letting it remain on its trajectory for a prolonged period of time. We will then take each step as ites.¡± ¡°So you n on sending the Eagle into orbit first, and then slowly adjust the ns based on the situation?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded rxed as he happily turned himself in his chair. ¡°What¡¯s the big problem? The spacecraft is already in orbit. The most difficult stage is over. At the very most, we will circle Mars twice, and it only takes about an hour each circle. I¡¯d rather take it nice and slow to guarantee sess. We can slowly use the engines to change trajectories.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a moment. It stared at the pen and paper on the table. ¡°That¡¯s where the problem lies.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Changing trajectory orbits expend propent,¡± Tomcat said softly. ¡°I know.¡± Tomcat looked up as its face was illuminated by the lights. It wore a deadpan look. ¡°But the amount of propent we have... isn¡¯t anything to be optimistic about.¡± ... Tomcat and Tang Yue huddled together as Tomcat moved the pen rapidly. It quickly did the calctions asplicated forms and numbers filled the piece of paper. Even though Tang Yue didn¡¯t understand a thing, he nervously stood by the side to await the results. He knew that behind those cold numbers was something that determined life and death. ¡°ording to aerodynamics, a spacecraft in low orbit will suffer air resistance, with a drag force of D=1?2C¦Ñv2A, where C is drag coefficient, ¦Ñ being the density of the air, and A the cross-sectional area... ¡°Then, the air resistance will result in negative eleration along the orbit¡¯s trajectory and can be described by F = ¨C1?2C¦Ñv2A. Using a perturbation equation, it can be written as dr/dt = 2vFr2/2¦Ì... Then, using the Taylor series expansion... ¡°If we assume that the initial orbit radius is R1, the docking moment will be when the orbit radius drops to R2, with R1 > R2. The corresponding density of the air will be ¦Ñ1and ¦Ñ2. After thepletion of the docking, and by using the Hohmann transfer to raise the orbit...¦Ä =¡Ì(¦Ì/r)(1-¡Ì(2r/R1+R2)+¡Ì(¦Ì/r)[(1-¡Ì2r/R1+R2)-1]... Tomcat¡¯s calctions kept increasing as all kinds of Greek letters and higher-order equations appeared. These equations and calctions had already been run through more than a hundred times in its brain, it was merely written out for Tang Yue to see. ¡°Paper.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t even lift its head. Tang Yue handed over a stack of white paper, giving Tomcat more paper to write. ¡°Paper!¡± Tang Yue handed the paper. ¡°Paper! Paper! Paper! Paper! Paper!¡± Papers that were filled with calctions covered the desk. Tomcat¡¯s writing speed was so fast that its paw could hardly be seen by Tang Yue. Its eyes were fixated on the paper as all kinds of parameters involving Mars, to the hurricane, to the Eagle, to the United Space Station became forms. Itsputer was making calctions at billions of operations a second as it simted thender¡¯s trajectory afterunch before writing it down on paper. Tang Yue stood by the side, feeling mixed emotions. He felt like a student awaiting the results of an important exam. He prayed from the bottom of his heart for a good oue, but Tang Yue knew that physics and mathematics were the most invulnerable things in the world. As long as the initial parameters were given, the oue was fixed. It was independent of man¡¯s will, regardless of how intricate andplicated the calction process was or how many times it wasputed. When he only had three pieces of paper left, Tomcat stopped. The scribbling sounds of the pen stopped as the massive calction suddenly came to an end. Finally, a simple and cold number appeared at the bottom of thest piece of paper. Tomcat raised the piece of paper up for Tang Yue to see. 2.15547. ¡°Twice.¡± Tomcat said slowly, ¡°Assuming that the United Space Station is on the other side of Mars when the Eagle isunched, then there¡¯s only enough propent in the RD-0172 engine to change thender¡¯s orbit twice.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s brain became numb, momentarily unable to realize what that number meant. ¡°That is to say that the Eagle and United Space Station only have two attempts at most. If the two attempts fail, thender will lose all driving force, making it impossible for it to dock with the space station.¡± Tomcat made the final problem clear to Tang Yue. It turned its head and looked into Tang Yue¡¯s eyes, its gaze rming. ¡°And the sandstorm outside makes it impossible for us to maintainmunications with the space station, nor do we have any means of controlling the Eagle real-time. We also have no way to guide thender or Mai Dong... Do you know what this means?¡± Chapter 35: Sol Four, Man is Unable to Defeat the Universe

Chapter 35: Sol Four, Man is Unable to Defeat the Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The color in Tang Yue¡¯s face drained as cold sweat rolled down his cheeks. The RD-0172 engine that the Eagle¡¯s payload capsule came equipped with was a small rocket. It was used as a safety escape system during theunch or used to change themand module¡¯s trajectory. The thrust it produced and the time it remained online were rather limited. Under normal circumstances, RD-0172 rockets definitely had enough propent because thender¡¯s ascent into orbit was an intricate task. It needed a suitableunch window to be selected, Earth¡¯s control center¡¯s specially tailored ns, Kunlun Station and the space station providing remote guidance, as well as the adjustments and control provided by the astronaut on thender. In past missions to Mars, the docking between thender and space station was done using the rapid docking method. Thender would enter orbit and circle Mars once before entering straight into the docking procedure. The time it took didn¡¯t exceed two hours. It was simple and clean; therefore, the propent in RD-0172, which carried a payload capsule, was never used up. There would be an excess each time. This made Tang Yue misunderstand something. He believed that docking was a very simple task. ¡°How did you have the misconception that docking can happen sessfully without much nning?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°The numerous sessful docks in the past have been because there were Earth, Kunlun Station, United Space Station, and thender working perfectly in time with each other. A huge team of people was helping you monitor everything. Now, do you see what¡¯s left of us?¡± Earth was gone. Due to the inclement weather at Kunlun Station, it was unable to provide any reliable guidance and positioning remotely. The United Space Station only had Mai Dong alone. She wasn¡¯t a professional astronaut with rich experience like Commander Old Wang. Putting her in charge of the entire docking procedure would be like forcing her to put a square peg into a round hole. Finally, there was the Eagle... The Eagle was cargo-only for tomorrow¡¯sunch, so there wasn¡¯t a single person on it. There were onlypressed biscuits and sandwiches, and it was rather unlikely that the sandwiches would help with the flight. Tang Yue slowly sat down. He understood what Tomcat was getting at. His energy drained bit by bit as his skin turned cold. To think that he imagined that they were prepared but werecking the crucial element. The moment Tomcat pointed it out, Tang Yue realized that the n was filled with ws and loopholes. Problems urred at every stage of the n, unable to stand up to scrutiny. They had tounch an unmanned, cargoden spacecraft without any manned supervision or guidance through a sandstorm before letting the unmanned spacecraft find the space station autonomously, andplete the docking with only one chance of failure. This was equivalent to leaving an eight-year-old child, who had never been far from home, in Beijing¡¯s metro station, and then giving him a map to find his way to Shanghai. Then, a word of encouragement would be given to him by patting him on the shoulders. ¡°You are only allowed to make a single mistake, get it?¡± ¡°What the... Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± Tang Yue muttered. ¡°When did we have the time to talk about this?¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Did we even rest over the past few days?¡± Tang Yue felt a little lost. The situation was far worse than he imagined. It was truly a bleak situation. Without the controls and guidance of Kunlun Station and the United Space Station, it was impossible for the Eagle toplete the change in orbit trajectories. Docking was a very intricate task. Thender and United Space Station were hurtling through space at 3 km/s, but their rtive speed couldn¡¯t exceed 5 m/s. This was equivalent to two nes, moving at Mach 10, approach each other in flight and be so close that both pilots could shake hands. Any mistake would lead to the destruction of both human and machine. ¡°What¡¯s the probability of sess for the Eagle¡¯s automatic docking?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat thought for a moment. ¡°Unless Eagle¡¯sputer is able to perfectly control thender, and precisely execute each step without making any tiny mistakes, only then will the docking happen sessfully... However, this is an ideal case. Just relying on the Eagle to navigate itself will always lead to some tiny deviations. ¡°As the objective conditions aren¡¯t ideal, the influence of the external environment will gradually umte. For example, gravity, wind speeds, as well as the engine¡¯s operational state. Therefore, thender needs externalmands to allow it to correct its course. Such externalmands can be guidance from Kunlun Station or the space station. It can also be adjusted by the passengers onboard thender.¡± ¡°Without any external adjustments, it¡¯s almost impossible for the Eagle toplete the docking?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The hope is very slim.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the probability!¡± Tang Yue gritted his teeth as he said, ¡°I want to know the probability! What¡¯s the probability of a sessful docking?¡± ¡°Not more than 5%.¡± ¡°And the RD-0172 engine only has enough propent to make two attempts?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°If the first docking fails, there¡¯s only enough propent for another attempt. If the second attempt fails, the Eagle will be space trash that floats in orbit.¡± Tang Yue was out of ideas. With only two attempts, the chance of sess was only about 10%. He suddenly felt exhausted, so tired that he didn¡¯t even wish to say a word. Every number said by Tomcat was precisely calcted. Mathematics was indeed beautiful but cruel. It was the expression of the Universe¡¯sws and logic,pletely imperturbable. No matter how much strength one had, it was impossible to forcibly change even the hundredth decimal ce of the calctions¡¯ results. 10% meant 10%. This probability was an immutable death sentence. It wasn¡¯t passed by humans, but by the will of the world. Humans couldn¡¯t resist the Universe. Mars¡¯s radius was 3,389 kilometers. It was impossible for you to make it 4,000 kilometers. Mars¡¯s eleration due to gravity was 0.38 G, and it was impossible to make it 0.4 G. All numbers andws had long been fixed at the Creation. Therefore, the judgment they made was imperturbable. Tomcat didn¡¯t say another word as the man and cat sat under the dim lights. All that was left was the humming drone from the Kunlun Station¡¯s OGS (Oxygen Generator System). ¡°Then, where does our hope lie?¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes, a nk look in them. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that we will seek out thest bit of hope that¡¯s buried amidst the impossibility? Where¡¯s this hope? Where is it?¡± Tomcat stabbed at his chest. ¡°In here.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Mars is dead. Same for the Eagle. Thews of physics and mathematics are dead as well,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But you are alive. You are the only person alive on this. If you are dead, then all hope is lost.¡± Tang Yue stared at it in a daze. Tomcat wore a calm expression. ¡°Do you believe man is able to defeat the Universe?¡± Tomcat suddenly asked. ¡°I believe that man is unable to defeat the Universe, but they can defeat themselves.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. His expression became twisted as his voice began to tremble. ¡°Do... you mean... that there¡¯s still hope?¡± Chapter 36: Sol Five, The Universe’s Final Broadcasting Station

Chapter 36: Sol Five, The Universe¡¯s Final Broadcasting Station

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong felt that she was on the brink of death. In the past ten hours, she had forced herself to sleep six times. This was the seventh time her hunger had woken her up. Over the past two days, Mai Dong had only eaten two sandwiches, threepressed biscuits, and had two cups of water. All of that was enough for an adult¡¯s lunch, but Mai Dong had no choice but to split it into six portions. She had finished her final piece ofpressed biscuit six hours ago. Mai Dong searched all the modules in the United Space Station, opened every cab, and bit down on anything that she suspected to be edible. She was after all ady from Guangzhou, Guangdong¡ªfamed for its inhabitants to eat anything and everything. But even if she was from Guangdong, she would still starve to death from theck of food on the United Space Station. The girl curled herself into a sleeping bag, looking at the module walls above her with her eyes wide open. Her face was pale, and she was as weak as a reed. Mai Dong¡¯s sleeping quarters were a crampedpartment. The space wasn¡¯t much bigger than a bathroom. The sleeping bag was tied to the module wall with nylon bands, and the entrance to thepartment only had a curtain pulled across for a door. The United Space Station was constantly filled with a pounding noise as if a construction site was just opposite. Mai Dong wasn¡¯t able to shield herself from the noise, even with earplugs. All she could do was tie Styrofoam material securely around her sleeping quarters before stuffing her head into the sleeping bag. Mai Dong attempted to close her eyes. Momentster, she opened her eyes again. She just couldn¡¯t fall asleep. She was just too hungry. Never had Mai Dong ever felt so close to death. She stared nkly at the opposite module wall¡¯s rope and post-its, as though she could see her end. If nothing unexpected happened, she would silently die alone. She would slowly turn to dust and bone in a corner, unreachable by anyone. This gave her a suffocating sense of despair. She felt as though she was trapped inside a cage that was being dunked into deep water. In space, no one can hear you scream. A tiny Shiba Inu doll entered the girl¡¯s vision as Mai Dong reached her hand out and grabbed the toy. She squeezed the dog with the conniving expression, kneading it again and again as she silentlyughed. ¡°If only you were a real puppy...¡± Mai Dong whispered. ¡°That way, I could eat you.¡± Blinding sunlight seeped in from the curtains. Mai Dong knew that the sun had risen again when the white beam of light, shining on the dark inner lining of the living module, moved. The United Space Station didn¡¯t actually have any night or day. The space station¡¯s orbit period was eighty minutes. This meant that it took less than one and a half hours to circle Mars once, allowing a person in the station to see the sunset and sunrise once. In Earth¡¯s twenty-four hours, the United Space Station would have seen the sunset and sunrise sixteen times. Therefore, Mai Dong¡¯s sleeping followed a temporal n. She set an rm for herself to sleep at fixed intervals, waking up to work when the rm rang... But, Mai Dong didn¡¯t have much work to do. She was a botanist by profession. In the space station, she had a tiny experiment module for her to nt potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce. Her research was on the growth of edible nts in microgravity. Mai Dong crawled out of her sleeping bag, gently pushing the cabin¡¯s wall before floating backward out of the sleeping quarters. Then, she passed through hatches after hatches of cabins, as though she was passing through a tunnel. The United Space Station was clearly a ustrophobic ce, but Mai Dong still found it spacious alone. Mai Dong had a fixed route. She would first head for the experiment module to check on the seeds she had grown in the vessels after waking up. Then, she would make a trip through all the facilities in the space station to check their functionality. The United Space Station was simr to the International Space Station which orbited around Earth. It was a modr structure. The biggest part of the sr panels was a 150-meter-long metallic frame. All cabins and sr panels were attached to this frame. There were a total of seven main modules. Mai Dong would make a trip through these utility modules to ensure that nothing was wrong with them. These modules had varying functions. They carried all kinds of precision scientific equipment. But they were all shut down. Mai Dong alone had no use for a maic spectrometer or X-ray analysis machine. All the power-hungry equipment had been shut down to reduce power expenditure. After circling the entire space station once, Mai Dong would return to the core module and attempt to contact Kunlun Station. During the period she lostmunications with Kunlun Station, Mai Dong really lost her nerve. She would cry out for Tang Yue at every fixed interval, to the point of forgetting to get herself some food to eat. Mai Dong looked at the time. It was 03:16, 16 August 2052 A.D. based on Earth¡¯s calendar. Today was the day of the Eagle¡¯sunch. The girl rolled inside the core module, floating in it as she slowly spun around. There were instruments and knobs all around her. The core module, the Crystal module, was the only module that maintained all its functionality. This was because the space station¡¯s mainframe was here, along with themunications system. Through the window, Mai Dong saw the magnificent surface of Mars. The huge orange-red nearly filled the entirety of her vision. The slightly curved equatorial line split the Universe into two. One was a pitch-ck night sky, and the other was brownish-yellownd. The sun was gradually rising, illuminating the thin Martian atmosphere like a resplendent diamond bangle. ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 460th time, please answer if you copy... Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy...¡± There was no response from the channel. From the looks of it, the sandstorm hadn¡¯t weakened. In themunications a few hours ago, Tomcat had informed her that Kunlun Station had been hit by a sandstorm. The inclement weather had disruptedmunications, and they were hard at work to resolve the matter. Also, it had consoled her by saying that the Eagle was prepared. They couldunch at any time, and she was told to wait at ease for the resupply. She had no idea of the resolution. Mai Dong ced her chin on her knees as her short, ck hair gently fluttered in zero gravity. All sorts of tiny items floated around her. ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 461st time, please answer if you copy... Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy...¡± ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 462nd time...¡± Mai Dong repeated again and again into a machine. United Space Station was like a tiny broadcasting station on a deserted ind that was surrounded by an endless, uninhabited sea. However, it kept emitting a message, hoping that someone would receive the radio transmissions. Just the thought of it made her feel alone. This was probably thest broadcasting station in the Universe. Mai Dong believed that if the resupply n failed, she would set the radiomunications of the United Space Station to its maximum efficiency. After she was dead, she would broadcast Joe Hisaishi¡¯s piano piece, Summer, to the entire Universe. It was her favorite piece. It was unknown how long the United Space Station would remain in orbit. As long as it was still in orbit, it would keep broadcasting the piece, making this warm and cheerful tune be the background music for Mars, or even the entire Universe. On Mars, if Mr. Tang Yue and Mr. Cat were to turn on their radio receiver, they might hear this music from space. Perhaps, it might spice up their lives. How nice. Mai Dongughed. Chapter 37: Sol Five, Snail in a Race

Chapter 37: Sol Five, Snail in a Race

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Today was Tang Yue¡¯s fifth sol of being trapped on Mars. He didn¡¯t have the time to bother about any possible reappearance of the Earth. ording to the n, the Eagle wouldunch within the next twelve hours. Tomcat had made him get some rest; after all, Tang Yue had been working nonstop for more than ten hours. Yet, he came out again after resting for just half an hour in the sleeping quarters. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to get more rest?¡± Tomcat was tweaking theputer in Kunlun Station as a long charging cable extended from the back of its ass. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough rest.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of dying from exhaustion?¡± ¡°It can wait until the Eagle isunched.¡± Tang Yue wore a pair of pants and draped an instion nket over him. ¡°Only then would it be a worthy death.¡± It was 04:55, 16 August 2052 A.D. based on Earth¡¯s calendar. The wind speed outside was at 39 m/s. Tang Yue stood by the window, pulled open a lid, and looked outside with his eyes squinted. He frowned at the sight of the sandstorm¡¯s wanton surging as the darkness remained. The wind speeds had increased instead of dropping after a night. It had gone from 35 m/s to 39 m/s. Indeed, the weather was unpredictable, tenable to changes at any moment. The sandstorm was the first obstacle the Eagle needed to ovee. If the wind speeds didn¡¯t drop, there was no way tounch thender safely. It would then be pointless to discuss the subsequent orbiting and docking. ¡°If you aren¡¯t sleeping,e over and help me.¡± Tomcat left its seat and pointed at a chair in front of the work desk. ¡°Sit there.¡± Tang Yue stood by the side, holding a cup of water. As he was munching on some bread, he was taken aback. ¡°What help can I give?¡± Tang Yue walked over, ced the cup on the desk, and sat down as he chewed on the bread. ¡°Theputer system is doing a series of self-checks. Help me watch it. If there are any problems, inform me immediately. Then, keep a close eye on the wind speed...¡± Tomcat turned around and removed an IVA suit from the wall. It unzipped the suit noisily and crawled in. Tomcat suddenly fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Tang Yue, help me take a look. Why can¡¯t I zip up the suit?¡± Tang Yue turned his head. ¡°It¡¯s because you forgot to pull out your charging cable.¡± ¡°...¡± It had forgotten about it, lost to the pleasure of charging. Tang Yue bent down to help Tomcat pull out the charging cable, zipped up the suit, and helped it put on the helmet. ¡°You are heading out? What for?¡± ¡°To the Eagle. I need to do thest rounds of checks before theunch.¡± Tomcat secured the helmet and confirmed that there weren¡¯t any problems with the seal. Then, it hooked the safety rope onto its suit. ¡°I need to switch on all the systems on thender, and put it in a ready-tounch state.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°When will you return?¡± ¡°In around half an hour.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t return in half an hour, I¡¯ll pull the safety rope back,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Take care.¡± Tomcat nodded. With the safety rope behind it, it opened the airlock¡¯s hatch. Tang Yue returned to the work desk as he looked at the green numbers and symbols shing on theputer screen. A few sinusoidal waves of different colors were slowly moving across the screen. Strings of numbers were changing along with it, but it was an unknown which software they were powering or what its use was. Since Tang Yue couldn¡¯t understand a thing, he chose to turn his attention to the wind speed to protect his eyes. The liquid crystal disy showed a number of 38.89 m/s. 38.89. Tomcat had determined that the safe wind speed forunching was thirty. Nine meters per second. As long as the wind speed dropped by 9 m/s, they couldunch the Eagle. The drop in wind speed was the premise for everything. It was a key condition that couldn¡¯t be influenced by human hands. It all depended on whether the heavens would bestow them with good luck... Tang Yue sat on the chair, staring at the wind speed as seconds turned to minutes. The number representing the wind speed would asionally jump, giving Tang Yue¡¯s heart a jolt as well. Deep down, he was uneasy and nervous. Every tiny change in that number triggered Tang Yue¡¯s nerves. Even a change in the two numbers after the decimal point¡ªa drop of 0.01 m/s¡ªwas enough to make Tang Yue feel a sense of pleasant surprise. Drop! Drop! Tang Yue clenched his fist as he silently prayed for the wind speeds to drop! Please, I beg of you. Drop! If you do it, I¡¯ll set up an epithet for you! I¡¯ll raise you up on a pedestal! He knew that his prayers had no way of influencing the Martian weather, but people often ced their hopes on supernatural elements when cornered. 38.24 m/s. Drop some more! Come on, give it a kick! Drop further! Tang Yue roared silently in his heart. His lips were parched dry despite holding a cup of water in his hand. He had forgotten to drink his water. 38.17 m/s. Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more! If you drop a little more, you will break that 38 m/s barrier! Tang Yue clenched his teeth, his face a grimace. It was a mystery whether he was cheering on the wind speed indicator or the wind speeds. 38.02 m/s. Drop! Drop! Drooooop! Tang Yue nearly yelled out. He saw hope! The Eagle could beunched! Mai Dong could be saved! The wind speed was in a slow decline! Even though it was a tiny drop, it was still a drop. There would be hope as long as the wind speeds kept dropping. If the trend continued, the wind speeds would definitely drop below 30 m/s! He couldn¡¯t sit still any longer. He got up and propped his body up with the desk, staring at the red numbers disyed on the wind speed indicator. You can do it! You can do it! Drop a little more! Tang Yue clenched his fists and roared. You can do it! He was like a spectator in a race starring a snail. Even though the snail was going slow, it would definitely reach the end if it continued. 38.01 m/s. 38.00 m/s. Sess! Sess! Tang Yue was excited. The wind speed was about to break below the 38 m/s barrier! The number jumped once again. 41.25 m/s. Drop... Tang Yue was stunned and he couldn¡¯t shout out anymore. All his strength seemed to have been instantly sapped from his body. He slumped into the chair, his soul empty. The wind speeds had instantly increased again. In hindsight, the previous slight drops weren¡¯t any foreshadowing of a drop in wind speeds, but just normal fluctuations in the wind. It went from 39 m/s to 38 m/s before rising to 41 m/s. As long as the speed fluctuated within a particr band, there was no indication that it was dropping. Something even more terrifying happened next. The wind speed measurements began to continue changing. 42.33 m/s. 42.74 m/s. 42.89 m/s. 43.12 m/s. 43.58 m/s. The wind speeds rapidly rose in an indomitable fashion. It was so fast that Tang Yue couldn¡¯t even react in time. A series of blows struck Tang Yue¡¯s heart, shattering his tiny figment of hope. Tang Yue¡¯s brain went nk. He even wished to burrow into the wind speed instrument to use all his strength to climb onto that darn number, using every fiber in his body to press down on that increasing number. The wind speed finally stopped at a despairing 44.28 m/s. 44.28 m/s. It¡¯s over. Tang Yue sat in the chair, wishing to say something, but his throat was so dry that he couldn¡¯t produce a single sound. Chapter 38: Sol Five, The Meaning of a Million Tang Yue’s

Chapter 38: Sol Five, The Meaning of a Million Tang Yue¡¯s

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon An hourter, Tomcat returned in a sorry state. ¡°Damn it. How is that wind bing stronger in this darn weather?¡± Tomcat wore an ashen expression as it shut the airlock¡¯s hatch. It cursed while removing the safety rope around its waist. ¡°Tang Yue... What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°I need some alone time.¡± Tang Yue sat slumped in his chair, covering his face, feeling weary towards life. Tomcat took off the helmet of the IVA suit, ced it on the table, and unzipped the suit. It then nimbly jumped out of the suit. ¡°What¡¯s the present wind speed?¡± ¡°It¡¯s... 43 m/s.¡± Tomcat turned its head to look at the disy. Four jarring red numbers were disyed there. 43.59. Tomcat frowned. At wind speeds of 43 m/s, the situation wasn¡¯t promising. It looked at the time. It was half-past six in the morning. The sun should have risen by now, but it remained pitch-ck outside. Clearly, the pitiful amounts of sunlight Mars received weren¡¯t enough to prate the dustyer spanning more than ten kilometers above Kunlun Station. All of the Eagle¡¯sputer systems had been booted up. The self-checks werepleted and the docking program had been set up. It could beunched at any moment¡ªas long as the wind speeds dropped below that safety threshold. ¡°Is there any hope for us?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°As long as the weather turns for the better,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Can the Eagleunch at such speeds?¡± He hoped that if the wind speeds didn¡¯t drop, they could still forcefullyunch thender. At the very least, the Eagle was designed up to 50 m/s wind speeds. Wind speeds of above 40 m/s still weren¡¯t too great a threat. ¡°Yes, but it won¡¯t be safe. Even if the hurricane doesn¡¯t fail the Eagle¡¯sunch, it will still interfere with thender moving into orbit. It might cause the final docking to fail.¡± Tang Yue stared at the cup on the table in a daze as he suddenly had the urge to smash the cup of water. If the final docking failed, theunch would have been for nothing. He got up and stood in front of the window, looking in the direction of the Eagle. He knew that it was standing about a hundred meters away,den with rescue supplies. This situation left him burning with anxiety. Tang Yue suddenly understood the feelings rescuers experienced when responding to a marine disaster. You could receive the distress signals of the survivors and you knew that they were alive, but due to the darn hurricanes and huge waves, helicopters filled with supplies and medical help were unable to take flight. As you wished for the weather to turn for the better, you watched helplessly as the chance of a sessful rescue slipped away. One by one, the survivors had their lives snuffed out. ¡°You said that we only have a 10% chance.¡± Tang Yue turned around and while leaning on the wall, slowly slipped down to the floor. He whispered, ¡°Then the probability of failure is 90%.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Does this count as having slim hopes?¡± ¡°Tell me, how did you get yourself here?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue was taken aback, unable to figure out the purpose of the question. Tomcat took a step forward and looked into Tang Yue¡¯s eyes. It was short and wasn¡¯t much taller than the sitting Tang Yue. ¡°In this mission to Mars, how many candidates, including you, were eventually selected to participate in it?¡± ¡°Including me... ten.¡± ¡°Then you are one in ten.¡± Tomcat pointed above. ¡°Thatss is also a one in ten. Do you know what mine is?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°I was the only robot that passed the rigorous tests out of a batch of ten thousand robots,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯m one in ten thousand.¡± ... So the purpose of telling me this is that you are a thousand times more impressive than me? ... ¡°I¡¯m telling you that the Earth is gone, but we remain alive. You, me, and thatss are three in 6.5 billion. If we expand the denominator to all life on Earth, then you might even be more than a trillion in one,¡± Tomcat said calmly. ¡°For you to encounter a one in a trillion event, why should you be afraid of a one in ten event?¡± Tomcat returned to the work desk. On theputer disy, there was a rectangr map of Mars. Following that, a blue waveform appeared over the map. The sinusoidal wave was the United Space Station¡¯s trajectory. To be precise, it was the trajectory of the space station¡¯s subster point. A subster point on a is the point at which a celestial object is perceived to be directly overhead. As a spacecraft¡¯s trajectory and the equatorial circumference have certain intersection angles and are notpletely parallel, the projection of the space station on an unfolded map¡ªthe orbit trajectory¡ªwould result in a sinusoidal motion. Back when Tomcat re-establishedmunications with the United Space Station, it had obtained an update on the space station¡¯s urate position. Now, the space station¡¯s orbit was stored on Kunlun Station¡¯sputer system. Simrly, it was stored on Eagle¡¯sputer. This orbit could be extremely precise without deviating a millimeter. Tomcat was trying to minimize all possible errors. Due to the weather, the Eagle might very well lose its connection after theunch. The Kunlun Station would be unable to guide it, so all trajectory changes and docking procedures would have to rely on thender¡¯sputer. The difficulty was akin to hitting a billiard ball into a pocket from a kilometer away... Without any human supervision, the Eagle¡¯s sess at autonomous docking was only 5%. A more precise number was 4.837%. Tomcat had previously mentioned that the chance of probability was about 5%, but there was still the possibility of raising it a little higher. And with the RD-0172¡¯s propents on the payload capsule capable of two trajectory changes, the chance of sess was 9.44%. It was less than one in ten. ¡°What¡¯s the present wind speed?¡± Tomcat tapped noisily on the keyboard, its eyes peeled to the screen. ¡°43 m/s.¡± Tomcat nodded. Without saying another word, its two paws rapidly moved across the keyboard. It was modifying the flight program of thender bit by bit, making thest three significant figures to five significant figures and, therefore, more precise. Then the numbers of five significant figures were made even more precise to ten. The only sound left in Kunlun Station was Tomcat¡¯s tapping on the keyboard. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare to disturb it. ¡°What¡¯s the present wind speed?¡± ¡°42 m/s.¡± Tomcat¡¯s face was heavy. It expressed the solemnity and meticulousness a robot should have. Again and again, it optimized the Eagle¡¯sunch procedures. Complicated numbers and functional figures on the screen reflected in its bright eyes. Tomcat was putting in thest bit of effort to fight that 9.44% chance. By making precise more than a hundred parameters, perhaps it could raise the probability to 9.441%. Although it was only an increase of 0.001%, it still held meaning. After all, the chances of Tang Yue surviving from Earth¡¯s disappearance was 0.0000000001%. A trillion in one probability might seem meaningless to most people, with it being no different from zero, but its meaning was everything in Tang Yue¡¯s life. That 0.001% held the meaning of a million Tang Yue¡¯s. Chapter 39: Sol Five, the Greatest Being-Toward-Death

Chapter 39: Sol Five, the Greatest Being-Toward-Death

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Seconds ticked down on the clock as time slowly passed in that repressed silence. Tang Yue circled the Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab, asionally standing close to the walls followed by more circling. He was like a bear acting mechanically after being caged for long periods of time. He rubbed his joints uneasily, the worry in his heart clearly written on his face. ¡°Wind speed?¡± ¡°43 m/s.¡± Tang Yue looked at the indicator. Tomcat nodded. It appeared calm and staid whenpared to Tang Yue, and it was staring at theputer screen with a stoic expression. Of course, this was because a robot¡¯s face didn¡¯t have very rich expressions avable to it. ¡°Reducing the initial phase angle... Reducing the phase angle further! The precision for the orbit insertion still has room for exploitation... There¡¯s still room for exploitation!¡± Tomcat gritted its teeth and tested every step of the Eagle¡¯s orbit entry. ¡°Wind speed?¡± ¡°43 m/s.¡± ¡°umted errors from the inertial navigation exceed 7 meters. It¡¯s unreliable and cannot be relied upon... Wind speed?¡± ¡°43 m/s.¡± It had already lost count of the times it asked about the wind speed, and ultimately, Tomcat exposed his worry and anxiousness. Even though it didn¡¯t show on its face, it was still worried about the darn weather, subconsciously inquiring about the wind speeds again and again. The man and cat in Kunlun Station had tried their best, but their efforts were just too feeble. Standing opposite Tang Yue and Tomcat was the massive and magnificent Universe. Reality was the cruelest thing in the world. It wasn¡¯t a story or a fairytale. In critical moments of life and death, there wouldn¡¯t be a savior descending from heaven, nor would there be a reclusive expert suddenly appearing to change the tides of reality. Even less possible was apleted perfect ending. How many tonnes of propent were capable of pushing thender to a higher orbit trajectory was fixed. It couldn¡¯t increase it by a meter. Tomcat tapped on the ¡®Enter¡¯ button on the keyboard, stimting the Eagle¡¯s orbit insertion. ¡°Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement... awaiting phase modtion... Failure. ¡°Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory... Failure. ¡°Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory, entering parking orbit... Failure. ¡°Failure! ¡°Failure!¡± Tomcat had lost count of the number of failures it had faced. It seemed to have a billiard cue stick in its paw, and it was trying to shoot a billiard ball into the hold from a kilometer away. Furthermore, it had to do it blindfolded during a hurricane. Failure was the expected oue. In physics, there was chaos theory. This theory indicated that it was impossible to pinpoint the results of aplex system with many influencing factors. Taking the weather as an example, the butterfly effect was one of the most well-known metaphors in popr culture¡ªthe p of a butterfly¡¯s wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas. Any tiny deviations in the initial conditions would be amplified through theplex system, causing huge differences in the oue. Therefore, no one could hit the billiard ball into the hole. There were too many factors on the billiard table. From the cue stick to the ball, the wind speed, and the smoothness of the table. Just a millimeter miss was as good as a mile. However, Tomcat continued seeking out that sliver of hope. It didn¡¯t care if it was fighting chaos theory, thew of physics, or the calction results. It firmly believed that in theplicated numbers, there was a group of numbers that could cancel out all errors, allowing the Eagle and United Space Station toplete the docking perfectly. For a robot born out of logic, resisting mathematics and physics probably required the greatest courage. It was a solemn march while holding up the banner of the German philosophy¡ªbeing-toward-death. ... ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 512th time, please answer if you copy... Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy...¡± Mai Dong softly called out for Kunlun Station. There was no response from thems. The radio waves emitted by the space station very likely failed to prate the sandstorm beneath, preventing Kunlun Station from receiving anything. The Crystal core module was filled with all sorts of whirring machines. The girl was dressed in blue work clothes with an earpiece over her head. She was floating and remained connected to the module¡¯s wall via the wire from the earpiece. After the sun rose, the temperature inside the space station also rose. Therefore, Mai Dong had slightly reduced the thermal instion system¡¯s efficiency. ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 513th time, please answer if you copy... Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy...¡± ¡°Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 514th time, please answer if you copy... Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy...¡± Mai Dong extended her hand to twist a knob, raising the volume bit by bit. ¡°This is Kunlun Station! This is Kunlun Station... Mai Dong? Mai Dong... do you copy?¡± ¡°Mr. Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong pressed down on her earpiece in surprise when she heard Tang Yue¡¯s voice. She raised the volume to its maximum, but Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded indistinct over the noise. ¡°Mai Dong... Mai Dong, can you copy... This is Kunlun Station...¡± ¡°I copy!¡± Mr. Tang Yue replied, ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, how¡¯s the situation? How¡¯s Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Tomcat is working hard adjusting the Eagle. And I¡¯mmunicating with you over the winds! The wind here is a little strong...¡± Tang Yue held onto themunications antenna and yelled in an attempt to drown out the noise. He felt like a CCTV reporter reporting first hand in the middle of a typhoon, or a disaster victim who was desperately hugging an electric pole in a flood. ¡°Comrade Mai Dong! Good news... The Eagle is ready! It can... beunched at any moment! You will be receiving your supplies soon! You will be receiving your supplies soon!¡± ¡°I know. Mr. Cat has already informed me.¡± ¡°Then... Let me... emphasize it once more!¡± Tang Yue yelled as his voice became intermittent. ¡°You must... stand fast with confidence and await help! The Party and the People will not give up on you! Do not give up... Crap!¡± Mai Dong was taken aback as her earpiece crackled before themunication was cut off. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue, what happened to you?¡± Mai Dong panicked. She didn¡¯t know what was happening on the surface. Hermunication with Tang Yue had cut off way too suddenly. Kunlun Station. As Tomcat tapped the keyboard, it turned its head in a rare moment of distraction to nce outside. It saw Tang Yue slowly get up before stumbling to the ground, having failed to secure his footing. He tumbled together with the antenna into the distance. Thankfully, there was a safety rope holding him down; otherwise, it was unknown how he would be found. A panting Tang Yue propped up the antenna, reinserting the data cable which had be loose. He began adjusting the angle of the antenna, but he couldn¡¯t find the original signal again. All he could hear on the channel was endless static. Kunlun Station¡¯smunication with the space station was entirely based on luck. After all, the sandstorm above their heads was mobile. In better conditions, the radio waves might be able to tear through the interference, but any worsening of the sandstorm resulted in termination. Tang Yue frantically adjusted the antenna¡¯s knob, but his glove, which was frozen hard, kept slipping. He couldn¡¯t turn it to the desired angle no matter what he did. Damn it... Why did themunications break up before he had finished saying what he wanted to say? Wearing the thick, heavy Radiant Armor, Tang Yue tottered around the antenna and kept losing his footing thanks to the storm. Tomcat looked at him and felt that the clumsy figure looked like a bear trying to reach out for a banana. It was simply heartbreaking. Why was life so difficult? Look at him, iling about in the hurricane-like a feeble weed. Yet, he stubbornly stood there, refusing to fall. Chapter 40: Sol Five, Mars United Space Station

Chapter 40: Sol Five, Mars United Space Station

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue ultimately failed to restoremunications. As Tomcat called out for him to return, he remained, standing outside the station, adjusting the antenna with his teeth gritted. Finally, Tomcat had no choice but to personally drag him back. Tang Yue had thoughts of struggling, believing that he could rescue the signal. However, Tomcat directly pulled out the electric cable, iming that what needed rescuing wasn¡¯t the signal, but Tang Yue himself. Tomcat sat at the work desk filled withputer screens to its left and right, in front and above. The screen in front of it had a rotating three-dimensional model of the United Space Station. Tomcat wore a heavy expression as it focused. Its gaze swept across the space station¡¯s every detail. The whiskers on its face trembled slightly as its eyes darted around, its thoughts a mystery. The Mars United Space Station followed a modr structure. From 2020 to 2052, humans had spent decades, investing trillions of American dors to send the different modules into Martian orbit. Then, like jigsaw pieces, they built up the space station in near-Mars orbit. As Mars was so far, building the United Space Station was a lot harder than the ISS. With spacecraft only having aunch window every twenty-six months, the time it took to build the United Space Station was staggering long. Not a singleunch window could be wasted. Earthlings went to great effort tounch the cargo spacecraft, sending the seven primary modules of the space station into Martian orbit. And that alone took a total of fourteen years. But ultimately, it was a magnum opus of humanity. This was another huge stride forward for human civilization since the Apollo project. The United Space Station was thergest and mostplicated permanent space vehicle built in deep space. It was the furthest human territory from Earth, the crowning jewel of human civilization. The United Space Station had a total of seven primary modules. The Crystal core module and the Hub Androgynous Peripheral Attach Systems module was the part that wasunched at the very beginning. The former was a long cylinder, and thetter was a short, thick cylinder. Thetter¡¯s hull had four APAS that allowed the connection of different modules. ording to usual practice, the research and development were done by the USA for this portion. USA: I sold my aircraft carriers to build this! Now, the USN doesn¡¯t have any aircraft carriers to use! Congress! I need money! The two modules were connected, forming a simple space station in near-Mars orbit, just like the Skb and Salyut 1 from many years ago. That was the embryonic form of the United Space Station. Following that, there was the Dawn experiment module. This module was connected to the other end of the core module. It had a APAS, allowing the space station to grow in length. The Dawn experiment module was the smallest and cheapest module on the space station. ording to usual practice, such things were typically built by the Russians. Russia: Technology! We only provide the technology. Let Mother Russia make it clear again, we only provide the technology! The third batch was the Discovery and Hope experiment modules. These two modules were connected to the hub module¡¯s two sides. Simrly, they each came with an additional APAS. The fourth batch was the Harmony service module. It was connected to the hub module¡¯s final APAS, making the United Space Station a cross. The Silent multipurpose module was connected to the end of the Harmony module. It was the dock meant for the Orion spacecraft. It had two docks for the Orion I and Orion II. Theplete United Space Station was then basically in shape. Apart from the astronaut¡¯s activity module, it also included a huge 150-meter-long frame, eight massive sr panels, as well as an expensive super robotic arm. ording to usual practice, this robotic arm was built by Canada. In terms of theplexity involved, the Mars United Space Station couldn¡¯t bepared to the ISS, but it cost more than ten times. Tomcat stroked its chin as it carefully observed the space station¡¯s structure. The United Space Station had a total of five APASs, with one of them being upied by the Orion II. There were four avable for use. The four APASs were orientated in different directions, every one of them capable of allowing the Eagle to berth and dock. ¡°Where will the Eagle dock when the timees?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Under ordinary circumstances, the Eagle will dock here.¡± Tomcat pointed at the Dawn module with its paw. ¡°The Dawn module¡¯s APAS is directly connected to the core module; therefore, this APAS is closest to the core module. However, it¡¯s impossible to predict which direction the Lander wille from.¡± ¡°I remember that... the space station can provide remote guidance and adjustments for thender.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, and I¡¯ve never said it can¡¯t happen.¡± Tomcat nodded, ¡°But that ispletely manually controlled. The steps involved are tooplicated. Miss Mai Dong doesn¡¯t know how... Or should I say, that apart from Old Wang and a few others, there aren¡¯t many in the world who can do it.¡± ¡°In previous Mars missions, there was also a situation of an unmannednder docking with the unmanned space station.¡± In the earliest Mars missions, many things required technological confirmation. For safety, the spacecraft and space station back then were unmanned. ¡°How was it resolved?¡± Tomcat said, ¡°What I understand is that I¡¯ll provide remote guidance and controls from the space station; after all, a robot isn¡¯t a human. Losing a limb or two isn¡¯t considered an industrial injury. Nopensation needs to be paid for death. Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying? Behind every sessful unmanned docking, there is an unknown robot.¡± Tang Yue covered his face with a sigh. It was fifteen minutes past ten in the morning. The present wind speed was 42 m/s. The man and cat sat in Kunlun Station, anxiously awaiting the drop in wind speeds. Tang Yue sat on a chair while Tomcat sat beside him. They looked out at the pitch-ck hurricane, clueless as to how long the sandstorm would continue. There was only the sound of howling winds in Kunlun Station. The numbers and figures on theputer screens slid past silently as the light bulb over their heads asionally flickered. At that moment, Tang Yue thought of SpongeBob SquarePants once again. SpongeBob was clearly a children¡¯s cartoon with a bright and happy atmosphere, but when he thought of how SpongeBob lived alone at the bottom of the sea, looking up at the pitch-ck waters, he found it dreary and terrifying. On careful thought, a sponge was immortal. And his friend, Patrick Star, would ultimately depart the world, leaving SpongeBob alone at the bottom of the deep sea. He would live in that pineapple, walking back and forth alone. He would be catching jellyfish forever alone, chuckling in glee before gradually turning crazy. Tang Yue was somewhat rmed. He realized that his thoughts had gone astray... A crazy SpongeBob? How crazy. If he was SpongeBob, who was Mai Dong? The squirrel wearing a diving suit and helmet, Sandy Cheeks? Chapter 41: Sol Five, Eagle, Away You Go!

Chapter 41: Sol Five, Eagle, Away You Go!

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Half-past eleven in the morning. While Tang Yue and Tomcat were on tenterhooks, the chance finally appeared. The wind speed indicator first measured that there was a drop in the hurricane¡¯s strength. Following that, the wind speeds began to fall. It fell from 43 m/s at a discernible pace as the number on the indicator changed every two seconds. 43.13 m/s. 43.02 m/s. 42.77 m/s. 42.54 m/s. 42.35 m/s. 42.07 m/s. 41.86 m/s. 41.42 m/s. 41.21 m/s. 40.69 m/s. 40.25 m/s. 39.44 m/s. The wind speeds quickly broke below 40 m/s as theputer system began to issue alerts. From the speed at which the wind speeds were dropping, it could reach the safety threshold in theing ten minutes. This might very well be the only suitableunch window. As for Tang Yue and Tomcat, they had already jumped off their seats. There wasn¡¯t a need for theputer alert; they had noticed the first change in the wind speeds... Tomcat pulled over a chair and sat in front of the work desk to wake theputer. In that short interval, the wind speeds had dropped from 38.12 m/s to 37.91 m/s. Right on the heels of that, it went from 37.91 m/s to 37.22 m/s. ¡°Tang Yue, connect that data cable. Plug the red into red, white into white. Don¡¯t mess up,¡± Tomcat said in a heavy voice. Theputer screen in front of it had lit up. ¡°Got it!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s nerves were tense. He cleared the messy cables in a frenzy and took a nce at the wind speed indicator. It was already at 36.08 m/s. Tang Yue was delighted. The heavens have opened up to flood me with blessing? Tomcat swiftly tapped the ¡°Enter¡± key as the progress bar on the screen filled up in seconds,pleting the connection with thender¡¯sputer system. A dialog window appeared on the screen: ¡°Wee to Eagle Lander.¡± It then entered theunch program of the Eagle. ¡°Tomcat, what¡¯s happening?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Why is the wind speed dropping all of a sudden? Did the heavens hear my prayers?¡± ¡°This has nothing to do with heaven, much less anything to do with your prayers. We might be in a low-pressure zone of the hurricane,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Do you know about hurricanes?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°A typhoon¡¯s wind speed can exceed tens of meters a second, but its eye has zero wind speed. There wouldn¡¯t be any wind there. This is because the eye only has strong updrafts. This phenomenon is determined by thews of physics and mathematics. Therefore, all the hurricanes in the Sr System are the same.¡± Tomcat spoke quickly, but its paws were moving even faster. ¡°The hurricane above us should be a huge cyclone. It has been moving slowly across the surface of Mars, and we might have entered its low-pressure zone. That¡¯s why the wind speeds are dropping so rapidly.¡± The wind speed had dropped to 35.11 m/s. ¡°Does that mean that the wind speed might fall beneath the safety threshold?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°It¡¯s our only chance. The low-pressure zone in the middle of a cyclone covers a very tiny area. However, the hurricane moves at rapid speeds. We have no idea how long these wind speeds willst. It might be a few minutes, so we have to seize this window of opportunity. Once we leave the low-pressure zone, the wind speeds will rise again.¡± The wind speed had dropped to 34.07 m/s. Kunlun Station¡¯sputer system quickly provided the prediction trend of the wind speed. The green curve trended down with random fluctuations and was predicted to reach a red line five minutester¡ªthe safety threshold of 30 m/s. Although this prediction was only for reference, nothing worth mentioning, Tang Yue was still delighted. ¡°Lander¡¯sunch initiated.¡± A gentle female voice sounded from theputer. Tomcat made every second count as it inspected thender¡¯sputer system. This was necessary before theunch. ¡°Computer system checksplete!¡± Tomcat muttered anxiously. ¡°Navigation systems checksplete! ¡°Engine checksplete! ¡°Propent checksplete! ¡°Preflight checkspleted. Ascent Vehicle exhaust area cleared. Engine systems nominal.¡± Theputer indicated: ¡°Lander clear for take-off.¡± The wind speed had dropped to 33.79 m/s. ¡°Ten!¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue stared at the wind speed indicator as they began counting down. ¡°Nine!¡± ¡°Eight!¡± The wind speed had dropped to 33.45 m/s. ¡°Seven!¡± ¡°Six!¡± The wind speed had dropped to 32.17 m/s. ¡°Five!¡± ¡°Four!¡± The wind speed had dropped to 31.88 m/s. ¡°Three!¡± ¡°Two!¡± The wind speed had dropped to 30.97 m/s. Drop further! Drop further! Tang Yue muttered anxiously under his breath as his forehead¡¯s veins protruded. His clothes were already drenched as drops of sweat rolled down his back. Tang Yue had never been so nervous in his entire life. Just one more change in those four red digits meant reaching the safety threshold. They were just short of that final step tounch the Eagle. Tomcat stood beside him, its eyes widened. Its whiskers trembled slightly as its paw hovered above the keyboard, awaiting the final change of those numbers. The man and cat nearly had their faces peeled to the wind speed indicator as the ck LCD screen reflected the two twisted faces. It was as though the duo would skin the wind speed indicator if the number didn¡¯t drop below the safety threshold. The countdown had reached two, but the wind speeds didn¡¯t fall further. Tomcat held its paw in midair, hesitant to press it down. 30.97. 30.97. 30.97. It was still 30.97 m/s. F*ck... Come on, drop! Tang Yue roared inwardly as he pped the wind speed indicator. This was what he did in his youth when dealing with disobedient old televisions. If they didn¡¯t work, keep mming it! The indicator shook as it fell backward. Perhaps thanks to Tang Yue¡¯s p, the numbers changed at the instant it fell to the ground with a nk. 29.98. ¡°One!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat roared as thetter¡¯s paw struck the keyboard. ¡°Away you go¡ª!¡± Time seemed to freeze that very moment. Immediately following that, a slight tremor reached their soles before thend began to shake violently. Tomcat and Tang Yue turned their heads and looked out of the window. In the darkness, a distance away, a white light suddenly exploded. It was as though someone had ignited an incendiary bomb underwater. It zed bright like a sword cutting through the darkness. Even the sandstorm failed topletely stop its brilliance. Following that, there was a loud rumbling sound. Sound was slower than light as it drowned out all the noises in Kunlun Station. There was a loud boom echoing everywhere as though a billion people were striking a drum in unison! Tang Yue widened his eyes in a daze as he watched the sun-like blob of light rise up slowly. Tang Yue could imagine the Eagle¡¯s engine spewing out fiery mes that reached several stories high, releasing a hundred tons of thrust. This was the strongest might humans wielded. It roared as it stubbornly escaped Mars¡¯s gravity. All forms of power around it appeared minute. The Eagle had sessfullyunched! Chapter 42: Sol Five, Lil’ Eagle’s Race

Chapter 42: Sol Five, Lil¡¯ Eagle¡¯s Race

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat stared at theputer screen. On it, the Eagle was a shapeless quantity. It followed the preset trajectory in its ascent as the two Raptor 3C rocket engines raised the Lander¡¯s Ascent Vehicle to 3.5 km/s, cing it in a circr orbit around Mars. This speed was half of Earth¡¯s first cosmic velocity; therefore, it was much easierunching a spacecraft on Mars than on Earth. The surface wind speeds were maintained at around 30 m/s, allowing the Eagle and Kunlun Station to maintain a stable connection. Any higher and the wind speeds might be higher, but as the air was thinner at such heights, the conditions would only improve. The sandstorm¡¯s influence on thender would subsequently decrease. Tomcat wore a heavy expression as it didn¡¯t think it was too early to rejoice. The Eagle had only made its first step into space. What followed were all kinds of obstacles that needed to be ovee. Even if theunch was a sess, they only had a 9.44% chance of a sessful dock. This less than one in ten chance was Mai Dong¡¯s chance of survival. The tiny blip shed every second as it moved across the screen. It represented the Eagle, and it contacted Kunlun Station every second. Kunlun Station would immediately send a response to confirm its progress. Thender remained in a vertical ascent. The blip on the screen had a dotted linebeling its trajectory. It was a flight path that Tomcat had set ahead of time, and the dotted line was about to go from a vertical line to a curve. This meant that the Eagle wouldn¡¯t take long before it changed attitude. Be it on Earth or on Mars, spacecraft needed to beunched vertically. However, they would change direction shortly afterunch¡ªusually taking about sixty seconds. The goal was to allow the spacecraft to enter orbit as quickly as possible. Tomcat sat on a chair, spinning the pen in its paw. The blip slowly moved, blinking every second. It looked like a turtle¡¯s crawl. But in reality, the Eagle¡¯s speed had already reached Mach 3. The two powerful Raptor 3C engines could give thender an eleration of 17.5 m/s2 before putting it into parking orbit two hundred secondster. All Tomcat could do for this phase was to watch from below while praying that nothing bad happened... Even God couldn¡¯t save the chunk of metal weighing tens of tonnes if any mishap happened while it was moving thousands of meters every second. Tomcat only wished that the two engines were sufficiently obedient and that the Eagle¡¯sputer didn¡¯t go crazy. As long as everything went ording to the n, there was still hope. To Tomcat, a one in ten chance was enough. At the bottom left corner of the screen was a timer that kept changing. Fifty seconds had passed since thender¡¯sunch. At that moment, thender was more than twenty kilometers above their heads. In another ten seconds, the Eagle would begin changing its pitch angle, going from vertical to diagonal. Tomcat sped the pen in its paw. A speed of 18 m/s2 wasn¡¯t an untenable eleration. It wasn¡¯t even 2 Gs. Fighter jets lifted off from aircraft carriers with eleration exceeding 3 Gs. This eleration was child¡¯s ypared to a spacecraft. However, Tomcat couldn¡¯t help but be worried... After all, the spacecraft was just too important. Everything had to be perfect. Tang Yue leaned against the window, but he couldn¡¯t see the light from thender¡¯s engines. The Raptor 3C engines radiated blinding light at lift-off, but as thender left the ground, the light from the engines was gradually screened by the pitch-ck hurricane. For some unknown reason, Tang Yue felt empty, as though he was bidding farewell to an old friend. Yet, he hadn¡¯t even managed to see his old friend onest time... After the hurricane came to a stop if he went over to where the Eagle was, all he would be able to see would be the charred Descent Vehicle. The only spacecraft he had on hand¡ªone that had the ability to leave Mars¡ªwas gone. From that moment forth, Tang Yue waspletely stranded on the. Even though Tang Yue had never entertained the thought of leaving on the Eagle, the reality still left him horrified. This was probably the feeling of having a bridge burned. Tang Yue walked to Tomcat¡¯s side and sat on a chair. ¡°Is the child alright?¡± Tomcat slowly nodded. ¡°At this moment in time, the little guy is having a pleasant journey... It has left the Martian atmosphere. The sandstorm can no longer affect it.¡± Tomcat reached out its paw and tapped at the tiny green blip on the top-right side of the screen. It was blinking regrly. ¡°This is the Eagle reporting that all is well. It will automatically contact Kunlun Station every second, informing me of its speed, height, attitude, and other statuses. Then, Kunlun Station will provide any course corrections,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s now changing its attitude.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s gazended on the screen. The blip representing the Eagle was following the dotted line as it curved. On another side of the screen, the pitch angle and angle of attack numbers were drastically changing. ¡°Very good... Very good... Keep it nice and slow. Steady, steady...¡± Tomcat muttered as its eyes were fixated on the screen. When it saw the Eagle¡¯s axis gradually stack over the dotted line, it pped its paws in excitement. ¡°Nice!¡± The Raptor 3C engines hadpleted a third of its lifespan. Thender¡¯s speed had already been raised to 1,200 m/s. Tomcat didn¡¯t know when it would lose connection with the Eagle, so it wished that thender would stabilize as quickly as possible. ¡°Our delivery vehicle has seeded in changing direction! What an obedient child!¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Next up, it will head straight for parking orbit!¡± The Eagle¡¯s parking orbit was an elliptical orbit with a periapsis of 150 kilometers and apoapsis of 350 kilometers. It would first enter this orbit before seeking an opportunity to switch orbits to rendezvous with the space station. The wind speed indicator suddenly produced a warning. Tomcat and Tang Yue were rmed. The wind speeds had begun to rise again. It had risen to 35 m/s in seconds as theputer gave a prediction. A harrowing red line seemed to rapidly raise its head like a cobra. In ten minutes, it would once again break past the 40 m/s barrier. From the looks of it, the interval in which the wind speed fell had onlysted minutes. The cyclone¡¯s low-pressure zone had already passed and Kunlun Station had once again entered the hurricane¡¯s wrecking zone. ¡°Darn it!¡± Tomcat nced at the number on the wind speed indicator. It then nced at the Eagle¡¯s speed on the monitoring system. The two numbers were rapidly growing. It didn¡¯t expect the wind speeds to rise so quickly. Tomcat stared at the wind speed indicator and the status of the Eagle. It was anxious, but it couldn¡¯t do a thing. The weather was all-powerful, and the Eagle¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t be raised. If the wind speed continued developing ording to the predicted trend, the Eagle¡¯s signal would quickly suffer disruptions, cutting their connection. Tomcat had wished that this moment could be dyed as much as possible. ¡°Faster, kid... Faster...¡± Tomcat stared at thender blip on the screen. ¡°Go faster!¡± Tang Yue gripped its shoulder tightly. Tomcat and the Eagle were in a race against time. The wind speed indicator¡¯s ferocious cobra was already chasing after them. Although the influence of the hurricane was on the surface by Kunlun Station, Tang Yue and Tomcat simultaneously urged the Eagle to go faster... It was as though the snake would devour it the moment it caught up. The man and the cat jumped and screamed like mad people in Kunlun Station. ¡°Faster! Faster! Go faster!¡± ¡°Lil¡¯ Eagle, run! Faster! Fast...¡± Their screams suddenly came to a halt in the next second. A window had appeared on the screen. It was written in red harrowing words. ¡°WARNING: NO SIGNAL!¡± The signal had been lost. Chapter 43: Sol Five, Nostalgia Became a Tiny Spacecraft

Chapter 43: Sol Five, Nostalgia Became a Tiny Spacecraft

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor, opened the hatch to the airlock, and set up the antenna, despite the strong winds. ¡°Antenna setupplete,¡± Tang Yue reported with a heavy voice. ¡°Commencing signal scan.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice followed immediately. It was sitting in front of the work desk, all theputer screens in front of it lit up. At that moment, Kunlun Station was Mission Control. Theputer systems were thetest HP workstations, especially customized editions for Mars missions. They had powerful processors and were great at handling data. The loss of connection with the Eagle one minute after itsunch was clearly a result of the weather. The radio waves were barely able to break through the interference when the Kunlun Station was situated in a low-pressure zone, but when the sand containing lots of electric charges nketed the station again, the Eagle¡¯smunications sumbed to the environment. Thender¡¯s vertical flight was already over. Flying vertically allowed it to pass through the atmosphere¡¯s densest troposphere. This height was approximately twenty kilometers, and past that height, the Eagle would begin changing direction. Tomcat forced itself to keep calm. In anyunch, losingmunications was a terrifying matter. With millions of kilometers between them, even electromaic waves that moved at the speed of light needed to take several seconds. Amidst the vast and endless pitch-ck deep space, if one didn¡¯t proactively emit a signal, it was almost impossible for anyone to find them. That invisible, incorporeal, and extremely frail signal was the only thread that connected the spacecraft to the surface like a kite¡¯s string. Therefore, losingmunications at times was equivalent to having the spacecraft gopletely missing. Themunications channel¡¯s prolonged silence made it appear dead. In humanity¡¯s past hundred years of space exploration, such silence had appeared several times. Everyone sitting before themunications systems would find their hearts in their mouths, but after every silence was an, ¡°I have been out of the hatch, I¡¯m feeling good1 .¡± Kunlun Station remained scanning for the signal. Tang Yue yed the role of the antenna¡¯s human servo as he slowly adjusted the direction of the antenna. Seconds ticked down on the clock. The second minute after thender¡¯sunch was about to end. ording to predictions from the Kunlun Station¡¯s systems, thender¡¯s speed had already reached 2,000 m/s, if nothing had gone wrong. It was equivalent to Mach 6, and it would have achieved a height of 130 kilometers. But, of all things, Tomcat was unable to contact thender. Without Kunlun Station monitoring the Eagle from below, who knew what the brat would do in space. In the event the Eagle¡¯sputer suddenly went crazy and felt that the predetermined trajectory was too boring and unable to showcase its potent vigor, deciding to attempt a three and a half 360¡ã rotation... The oue was inconceivable. Signal... Signal... Signal! Tomcat clenched its teeth. Damn it, give me some signal! The real-time data on theputer was still from a minute ago. These numbers hadn¡¯t been updated in a minute. ¡°Tomcat, any news?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°Children are all like that. Once they grow up, they leave the family, going so far away that parents can¡¯t reach them. They don¡¯t even write back.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. Tang Yue¡¯s tone made it sound as if he had brought up a child before. His voice even had a baffling sense of mncholy. ¡°I¡¯m the perfect example.¡± Tomcat was taken aback before realizing that Tang Yue was talking about himself. ¡°Back when I saw the Eagle¡¯sunch, it gave me such a feeling... The parent-child rtionship just means that it is fate that has brought both of us together for this particr lifetime and the rtionship entails continual episodes of watching it leave as you gaze intensely at their receding backs.¡± Tang Yue began changing the poem by Lung Ying-Tai. ¡°I stand at the doorstep of Kunlun Station and watch it disappear at the peak of the atmosphere. Not only that, it uses its back view to tell you: Don¡¯t follow me.¡± ¡°Follow? Can you?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°If you have what it takes, impress me.¡± Ever since Tang Yue learned of the Earth¡¯s disappearance, his bearing increasingly took on that of a mncholic poet. For no apparent reason, he would say words that left one baffled. It made Tomcat worried that this man would top himself one day. ¡°Tomcat, you have spent so many years on Mars without returning to Earth. Don¡¯t you have any thoughts of home?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°For example, in Yu Guanzhong¡¯s Nostalgia... Then I was a grown-up, Nostalgia became a tiny spacecraft: ¡®Here am I, and there... my Earth.¡¯¡± ¡°Thoughts of home? Why? Having memories of the assembly line at the factory?¡± At times, Tomcat was rather impressed with Tang Yue. Even though Tang Yue didn¡¯t show his sorrow, he wasn¡¯t truly a sensitive person. True poets would probably have chosen tomit suicide the moment Earth vanished, to immte himself for the billions of lives lost. In an even greater form of artistic expression, he might infuse Kunlun Station with pure oxygen before setting it on fire, yelling, ¡°My name is Tang Yue, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!¡± However, Tang Yue never had such thoughts. He continued eating and sleeping as he should, without meeting Marx while yelling Shelley¡¯s poems. This guy¡¯s state of mind far exceeded Tomcat¡¯s expectations. Tomcat nced at the wind speed indicator. The present wind speed was 38 m/s. On Earth, such wind speeds were enough to blow off a roof. However, Tang Yue was there mumbling about how children wouldn¡¯t return when they were adults or Yu Guanzhong¡¯s Nostalgia. Was he someone with fine sentiments or was he just nuts? 150 seconds after thender¡¯sunch. Tomcat was still unable to contact the Eagle. ording to normal protocol, thender would enter parking orbit 200 seconds afterunch. At the same time, it would detach the first-stage rockets. That was the first step into entering orbit. From theunch to the rendezvous, the Eagle needed to take three steps. One of them was to enter parking orbit. Parking orbit was a rather t ellipse with the periapsis being 150 kilometers and the apoapsis 350 kilometers. The Eagle would remain in parking orbit as it awaited an opportunity. Once it came, it would elerate at the point of apoapsis, escaping the parking orbit and enter a parabolic trajectory to switch orbits. Therefore, being able to enter the parking orbit was of utmost importance. If it failed to reach the specified orbit height, the subsequent flight needed to be redesigned. In a worse situation with the orbit height being too low, thender might once again fall into the atmosphere and vaporize. Tomcat looked at the timer. 160 seconds after thender¡¯sunch. It was about 220 kilometers above the surface. There were still another forty seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. ¡°Rotate the antenna east! About 30 degrees!¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°I¡¯m adjusting it!¡± Tang Yue slowly rotated the antenna. ¡°How¡¯s the kid?¡± ¡°No idea...¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°You¡¯d better pray that it entered orbit, or your child will likely die outside!¡± 170 seconds after thender¡¯sunch. It was about 250 kilometers above the surface. There were less than thirty seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Chapter 44: Sol Five, I’ve Been Caught by the Nazis

Chapter 44: Sol Five, I¡¯ve Been Caught by the Nazis

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon There were less than thirty seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Thirty secondster, the Eagle¡¯s two Raptor 3C engines would expend all their propent. Then, it would detach from the payload capsule of the Ascent Vehicle. Following that, thender would enter a stage of powerless flight. Once it entered this stage, the Eagle would fly ording to its inertia. It was like a rock that had been thrown out. Themands sent by the Kunlun Station would be useless. You might face a free-falling rock and shout, ¡°Fly! Fly!¡± But that rock would be powerless to do so no matter how hard it tried. Seconds ticked by on theputer screen¡¯s timer. The green light on the top-right corner of the screen had turned red. It didn¡¯t sh for prolonged periods of time, indicating that too much time had passed since the Kunlun Station had received a signal. Thest time the Eagle reported its position was two minutes ago. This was like a child heading for the front lines in war. As parents, Tang Yue and Tomcat could only stay at home, burning with anxiety as they hadn¡¯t received a letter in a month. 180 seconds after the Eagle¡¯sunch. There were less than twenty seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Without any incident, thender should be 280 kilometers above the Martian surface while it moved at 3000 m/s. Tomcat stared at the predicted trajectory on the screen. All that was left was a tiny part of the dotted line. The dotted line¡¯s end was the orbit insertion point. The Eagle¡¯s parking orbit¡¯s insert point was at the apoapsis. This was the highest spot in the entire orbit at 350 kilometers from the surface. The two Raptor 3C rockets would send the payload capsule into the apoapsis point with a speed lower than the orbit speed. Following that, the first-stage rockets would detach, making thender a powerless chunk of metal. This metal chunk would go from the highest point of 350 kilometers to the periapsis at 150 kilometers. Like a free-falling body, it used gravitational potential energy to convert into kic energy. Then, it would go from the periapsis of 150 kilometers back to the apoapsis like a roller coaster, turning the kic energy back into gravitational potential energy. This was the parking orbit of ander as it drew out a huge ellipse. ¡°Let the tempeste strike harder!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s yells came through Tomcat¡¯s earpiece. In those few seconds, the idiot had gone from Lung Ying-Tai to Yu Guanzhong to Gorky¡¯s ¡°The Song of the Stormy Petrel.¡± ¡°I know you are very worried,¡± Tomcat said, ¡°But please act normal while feeling anxious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m using the wisdom of our forefathers to soothe my agitated heart. Isn¡¯t that normal?¡± ¡°Then please recite the Incantation for Purifying the Heart Spirit.¡± ¡°Incantation for Purifying the Heart Spirit? Incantation for Purifying the Heart Spirit... Supreme Terraces of stars, respond and transform without stopping! Expel evil and restrain demons, protect Life-Destiny and guard the body! Wisdom is bright and clear, the Heart Spirit is peaceful and tranquil. The three Ethereal Souls are evesting, the Corporeal Souls are not dying nor declining!¡± Tang Yue chanted each and every word with great aplomb. This fellow was wearing the Radiant Armor as he held up the antenna set, yelling amidst the hurricane. He resembled an antagonist from some demonic sect. ¡°For thus was so ordered!¡± Tomcat silently held its forehead. It didn¡¯t know that Tang Yue really knew the incantation; otherwise, it would have asked him to recite the Diamond Sutra. ¡°No news from Lil¡¯ Eagle?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Why are you so naggy like an old mother? You must have confidence in thender... Shouldn¡¯t parents trust their own children? You have to believe that the Eagle is an obedient daughter.¡± ¡°Obedient daughter?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°No, no, no. Lil¡¯ Eagle is obviously a son.¡± ¡°Why must it be a son?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a son!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Who would bear letting her leave if it¡¯s a daughter. Have you seen any family let their daughter head for the front lines?¡± As Tomcat entertained Tang Yue with his nonsense, it stared intently at the screen. Normally, the Eagle wouldn¡¯t have any problems. To Tomcat, theunch¡¯s greatest problem was the hurricane. However, they were lucky enough to have the low-pressure zone past over them, resulting in the wind speeds dropping below 30 m/s. Wind speeds at that level couldn¡¯t affect thender at all. But when the Eagle and Kunlun Station lostmunications, the former had risen to a height of twenty kilometers. It was no different from being in a vacuum. The atmosphere was extremely thin and almost devoid of activity. This also meant that it was basically a perfectunch with the external environmental factors negligible. There were less than ten seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Theputer was already beginning to count down. The green light on the top-right corner suddenly shed as Tomcat¡¯s eyes focused, its pupils constricting. It roared, ¡°Shut up, Tang Yue! Stop your f*cking nonsense! Move the antenna back one degree! Raise the angle by 15 degrees!¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± Kunlun Station had suddenly captured a faint signal which Tomcat had acutely noticed. It made Tang Yue turn back the antenna and make slight adjustments. The signal gradually strengthened as the curve that was clinging close to the x-axis suddenly changed. It was like thest jolt of a dying person¡¯s electrocardiogram. The data transfer speed went from a few bytes a second to several kilobytes a second. Although this speed wasn¡¯t enough for any video calls, it was enough for an update. ¡°Tang Yue, hold it!¡± Tomcat roared. The data transfer speeds were fluctuating, going from a few bytes a second to thousands of bytes a second. It was slower than the Earth¡¯s oldest inte speeds, but Tomcat remained nervous and excited. Kunlun Station and the Eagle had once again established a weak connection. It was a weak kite string that extended more than 200 kilometers as it wavered in the sandstorm with wind speeds of 40 m/s. Theputer¡¯s timer was still counting down. Five seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Zero seconds before the first-stage rockets were detached. Tomcat was taken aback. Zero? Why did five suddenly jump to zero? What happened to four, three, two, one? Before Tomcat could react, a warning sign appeared on the screen. A huge red exmation mark blinked frantically¡ªthe preset trajectory was different from the Eagle¡¯s actual numbers! Tomcat looked at the data sent back by thender. The first-stage rockets had detached. It was at a height of 285 kilometers. 285 kilometers? Tomcat widened its eyes. The first-stage rockets have been detached, so how can thender¡¯s height only be 285 kilometers? ording to the preset flight, the Eagle should have been at 350 kilometers after the first-stage rockets were detached! Theputer had detected the mismatch in the Eagle¡¯s reported numbers and the preset path, so it had terminated the countdown and sent a warning. This was akin to the end of the extremely hard and bitter battle at Stalingrad. Official notice had been sent that the war was over, and you waited at home for your son, believing that he was on a train on his way back home after a triumph victory, having sessfully retreated the battlefield. Just as you were sharpening the de to ughter some livestock to happily wee back your son¡¯s glorious return. You received a letter from your son, telling you: ¡°Mama, Papa, I¡¯ve been caught by the Nazis and will be executed soon.¡± Holy f*ck... What happened to the sessful retreat from the battlefield? Weren¡¯t you on a train back home? As a papa, Tomcat wore a look of confoundment. Chapter 45: Sol Five, Either Make or Break

Chapter 45: Sol Five, Either Make or Break

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat quickly figured out the reason. One of the Eagle¡¯s sensors had malfunctioned, giving thender¡¯sputer a wrong signal, making it believe that it had reached the predetermined orbit. Therefore, it shut down and detached the first-grade rockets ahead of time. It had shut down twenty seconds too early. This also meant that the Eagle had shut down the rockets 180 seconds after theunch. This was a mistake that could have been avoided if Kunlun Station had maintainedmunications with the Eagle. Kunlun Station could have corrected its error in time, but unfortunately, theirmunications had been cut during the malfunction. No one was there to stop thender from going crazy. Having the rockets shut down prematurely was a severe mistake. It resulted in the orbit entry¡¯s failure. The Eagle had failed to enter the nned parking orbit. It had entered an elliptical orbit with an apoapsis of 280 kilometers and a periapsis of 110 kilometers. To put it simply, it was unfaithful to its intended orbit. Tomcat grabbed its ears in frustration as it twisted and kneaded it... Damn it, I was just praising you for how obedient you were. Why did you go astray in a blink of an eye? This is troublesome. Tang Yue stumbled back with the antenna in his arms. He ced it on the ground before sitting down, panting. ¡°How¡¯s it. Has the kid seeded?¡± Tomcat turned over. ¡°Seed my ass. Your son is about to be executed by the Nazis.¡± Tang Yue jumped in fright. ¡°What? What happened?¡± He didn¡¯t even take off the Radiant Armor as he stumbled over and came in front of theputer screen. His entire being was sucking the warmth from everything. Theputer had already disyed two trajectories. One of them was the preset trajectory and represented in a red dotted line. The other line was the true trajectory the Eagle had taken. It was represented by a solid blue line. Obviously, the actual orbit¡¯s height was lower than the preset parking orbit height. ¡°The Eagle¡¯s height is at 280 kilometers.¡± Tomcat pointed at the blip on theputer. ¡°It should be at 350 kilometers.¡± ¡°Is that problematic?¡± ¡°Very problematic.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The little guy didn¡¯t enter the correct parking orbit which means that all of our ns from before have gone to waste. The subsequent orbital maneuver and rendezvous procedures need to bepletely redesigned. As the preliminary orbit is too low, we have to expend more propent to elerate it... but that¡¯s not the greatest problem.¡± Tomcat moved the mouse and erged the figure. Then, it pointed at the other end of the orbit trajectory to Tang Yue. ¡°This is the orbit¡¯s periapsis, which is the lowest point in the orbit. Its height should be 150 kilometers, but it¡¯s now only 110 kilometers... That¡¯s too low. ¡°110 kilometers makes it enter the atmosphere. Even if the atmosphere is very thin at that height, it will still produce resistance,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Every time the Eagle passes the periapsis, it will lose energy because of the atmosphere¡¯s resistance, causing its height to constantly drop, and the final oue would be...¡± Tomcat tapped the ¡°Enter¡± button as theputer gave the simtion¡¯s results. The simtion was a tight blue spiral that looked like a mosquito coil. It meant that the trajectory¡¯s height would constantly decrease and approach the Martian surface. Finally, it would plunge into the atmosphere and be vaporized. Tang Yue widened his mouth for a moment. Only then did he realize that he had broken out into a cold sweat. ¡°We have to change its orbit as quickly as possible!¡± ¡°I hope so too, but we can¡¯t rashly elerate the Eagle,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget we have insufficient propent. elerating without a n will only make the payload capsule on thender a piece of space trash.¡± ¡°How much longer?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How much longer does thender have?¡± ¡°The Eagle¡¯s current orbit period is 53 minutes. It will circle Mars once every 53 minutes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Before it descends to the lowest safe point, it can still circle Mars another...¡± Tomcat entered the numbers into theputer which quickly gave the result. ¡°Sixteen cycles.¡± Sixteen cycles. With 53 minutes each cycle, the Eagle had fourteen hours left. They had to change thender¡¯s orbit within fourteen hours to leave this orbit that eventually led to death. Time was of the essence, but worst of all, this wasn¡¯t something that could be rushed. Tang Yue and Tomcat observed the Eagle on the screen as Tomcat zoomed into the figure, making the second orbit enter their sights. Another blip was slowly moving across it¡ªthe United Space Station¡¯s orbit. It was an even higher elliptical trajectory with a periapsis of 380 kilometers and apoapsis of 480 kilometers. The United Space Station¡¯s orbit period was 80 minutes. In fourteen hours, it could circle Mars ten times. ¡°In these fourteen hours, there are only seven suitable windows for the orbital maneuver,¡± Tomcat said. It reached out its paw and pointed at the apoapsis of thender¡¯s orbit. ¡°At the apoapsis, thender¡¯s speed is 3.2 km/s. For normal orbital maneuvers, it would elerate at the apoapsis before entering a brand new orbit...¡± Tomcat tapped on the keyboard as Kunlun Station¡¯sputer gave theputational results. A brand new circle was drawnbeled in striking yellow. It epassed the Eagle¡¯s elliptical parking orbit as it intersected with the circle. The two oveps were where thender needed to be elerated. To put it simply, if the Eagle were to elerate at the apoapsis,busting the rockets would allow it to enter a circr orbit of about 280 kilometers. But this orbit was insufficient for the docking with the United Space Station. This was because thetter¡¯s orbit was even higher. Even at the parking orbit, the United Space Station¡¯s height was at 380 kilometers. Therefore, the Eagle needed to make two orbital maneuvers. It had to elerate another time. The second eleration would have the rockets nudge the Eagle, allowing it to enter the space station¡¯s orbit. This was the most reliable method. Using two intermediary orbits and elerating two orbital maneuvers was the mostmon method for orbital maneuvers. ¡°But doing so is very risky.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Using two intermediary orbits and initiating two orbital maneuvers might appear the safest, but it also expends thergest amount of propent. If we use this n... we might expend all of the Eagle¡¯s propent.¡± ¡°If we do two orbital maneuvers, how many rendezvous can we have?¡± Tomcat lifted its paw, and said slowly, ¡°Once. At most once.¡± Once. Tang Yue¡¯s limbs went numb. With only the chance of one attempt, the chance of sess was reduced to 5% It was either make or break. Chapter 46: Sol Five, Third Life in the Whole Universe

Chapter 46: Sol Five, Third Life in the Whole Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong held her hand to the ss as she focused her gaze on the incubator. The clear, ck eyes reflected a tiny patch of faint green. A tomato seed had finally sprouted. It was unknown when this young life had peeked its head out while inside the incubator. It had silently torn through the tough testa, and the sprout was a few millimeters tall. Two light-green leaves and a white rhizome were quivering slightly in the wind produced by the venttion system. The look in the girl¡¯s eyes became enlivened. Mai Dong had discovered this young life while doing her routine inspections of the experiment module. Then, she watched it for a very long period of time,pletely mesmerized. Mai Dong had a tiny region carved out for herself in the Hope experiment module. There was a batch of thale cress, tomatoes, and lettuce grown in the incubator. It was an experiment of the viability of cultivating vegetables during prolonged space missions. This technology¡¯s short-term goal was to provide astronauts with fresh vegetables, allowing them to be free from the evil canned food. The long-term goal was to establish a self-sustaining ecosystem in the spacecraft, to provide the technological capabilities for future human migration. However, thetter was clearly a long-term goal. Humanity had yet to create a reliable ecosphere. It probably had to wait until controlled nuclear fusion reached a certain level of maturity before self-sustaining ecosystems could improve... However, controlled nuclear fusion was still five decades away. Mai Dong eximed in silence. The second life in the United Space Station had finally be born¡ªpossibly the third life in the Universe. Mai Dong was astounded by its frailty and beauty. She felt that life was truly the most intricate object in the world. This tiny tomato sprout wasn¡¯t even a centimeter tall, but inside its tiny body, there were billions of cells working together. Water would be drawn from its roots to its leaves as light and carbon dioxide would undergo photosynthesis. Everything worked in perfect order, in perfect bnce. Compared to this sprout, being inside the United Space Station made her feel as though she was in a crude and simple y house. She wished to immediately inform Tang Yue and Tomcat about this news, but unfortunately, themunications were still down. There wasn¡¯t any reply no matter how many times she called out. ¡°I should give you a name...¡± Mai Dong slowly circled the ss incubator as she wrangled her hair. ¡°What name should I give you? Lil¡¯ Tom? Lil¡¯ Mato? Lil¡¯ Oma? How about Lil¡¯ Green?¡± ¡°Lil¡¯ Green... Lil¡¯ Green Hmm, that¡¯s a nice name.¡± Mai Dong looked up at the ceiling as she nodded slowly. ¡°It¡¯s decided. From this moment forth, your name is Runtu 1 !¡± With great seriousness, the girl stretched out and pointed at the tomato sprout inside the incubator. Her ck eyes widened as she wore a solemn expression. Half a minuteter, Mai Dong couldn¡¯t hold it in together as sheughed out loud, her hands over her belly. Her volume slowly decreased as sheughed. Floating in midair, at a distance of a meter, she looked at the sprout behind the ss. Her eyelids drooped low as the look in her eyes was tinged with loneliness. ¡°Runtu o¡¯ Runtu, thank you for apanying me...¡± Mai Dong moved forward to gently hug the ss cab and stered her forehead onto it. ¡°However, we won¡¯t live long, so... you have to grow quickly. Grow as quickly as possible, and be super, super big, so big that the cab can¡¯t hold you in. Make it such that the experiment module can¡¯t hold you in, and even the space station. Do you understand me?¡± The tomato sprout shook a little amidst the airflow. ¡°You nodded.¡± Mai Dong smiled. ¡°You promised me. Remember to keep your promise!¡± She gently nudged the wall as she moved through the module¡¯s hatch and left the Hope experiment module. Mai Dong still had something to do. She was going to write a will. ... ¡°n B! We need a n B!¡± Tang Yue crawled out of the Radiant Armor, his back drenched with sweat. His clothes were alreadypletely wet. ¡°Do we have a n B?¡± With only one attempt to make the rendezvous and docking, with the chance of sess being lower than 5%, this definitely wasn¡¯t something to attempt. They couldn¡¯t bet on it using Mai Dong¡¯s life. ¡°n B? A n B doesn¡¯t exist all the time.¡± Tomcat leaned into its seat as it rolled its eyes. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m some robot cat 1 who can find a n B just by rummaging through my pocket. Wait a moment. It was indeed a robot cat. ¡°But this isn¡¯t something we should do! With only one rendezvous, there¡¯s only a sess rate of 5%. 5%! The chances of me being admitted into Tsinghua University after high school was even higher than that!¡± Tang Yue mmed the table in agitation. ¡°What the hell can we do without a n B?¡± ¡°The chance of a sessful dock is at most 2.477%. What 5%?¡± Tomcat threw up its paws. ¡°Also, I believe the chance of you being admitted to Tsinghua University is less than 0.5%.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tang Yue red at Tomcat. ¡°What what? You believe I¡¯m underestimating your high school results?¡± ¡°No, no, no, no! I¡¯m not talking about that. The 5% chance of getting admitted into Tsinghua was what my high school teacher said. His original words were ¡®Tang Yue, if the eight million students across the country hand in a nk piece of paper during the exam, you will have a 5% chance of getting admitted into Tsinghua¡¯... I was talking about the 2.477%. Didn¡¯t you say that the chance of a sessful docking was 5%?¡± ¡°The 5% sess was if we seeded in entering the parking orbit. Now, we have even failed toplete the first step. Do you still think we have a 5% chance of sess?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What did your teacher mean? Why did you only have a 5% chance of entering Tsinghua when all eight million students across the country handed in a nk piece of paper? What happened to the other 95%?¡± ¡°You mean we only have a 2.477% chance now?¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°The remaining 95%? The remaining 95% chance was with the Ministry of Education dering that the examination results were null and void.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we only have a 2.477% chance.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Those results can be made null and void?¡± ¡°If only a person named Tang Yue was able to answer the questions across the country while everyone else handed in a nk piece of paper, you shouldmit harakiri if you didn¡¯t dere the examination null and void as education minister...¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair. He didn¡¯t wish to continue the silly topic over the National College Entrance Examination with Tomcat. He knew that there was no way he would be admitted to Tsinghua in this life. If he could be admitted into Tsinghua, why would hee all the way to Mars to do all kinds of menial work? Having nothing better to do? He would have long gone to Wall Street to enjoy upper-ss society¡¯s decadent life of alcohol, money, and women. Tang Yue slowly facepalmed. The chance of sess was decreasing at every turn. What did 2.477% mean? In a hundred attempts, the number of sesses was fewer than three. Tomcat focused on theputer on the work desk as it fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°You have to understand the current situation. The Eagle failed to enter the correct orbit and is on the verge of plunging into the atmosphere. Weck propent, ourmunications are severed, and there¡¯s no one to guide it. Such a situation would be a dead-end no matter when. Doom is guaranteed. There¡¯s no chance of turning this around... Having a 2.477% chance of sess is already a miracle.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. What Tomcat said was right. 2.477% wasn¡¯t too low. It was too high... Tang Yue suddenly realized something as his scalp tingled. The Eagle¡¯s failure to enter the correct orbit, theck of propent, the severedmunications, theck of manual guidance. Any one of these conditions was enough to wreck a space mission. Yet, with all these unlucky factors happening together, doom was pretty much guaranteed. He should have failed long ago, but there was still a 2.477% chance of sess? Something was propping up that weak sliver of hope as if it was thest me in the night. Even though the elements were striking at it, it refused to extinguish. ¡°What is it?¡± Tang Yue looked up. Tomcat turned its head over. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What is it? What is giving up this 2.477% hope?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What is maintaining thisst bit of hope?¡± Tomcat turned its body diagonally and raised a single paw to tap on the keyboard. A window popped open as Tang Yue came close. On it was the Eagle¡¯s payload capsule main structure. The massive first-grade rocket engines and propent reservoir had been detached. This made thender much smaller. All that was left was themand module, the cargo module, and the ascent rockets. Tomcat used the mouse to draw a rectangle, pointing out the exhaust at the bottom of the cargo module. The RD-0172 rocket was built by the Russian NPO Energomash. It was a reliable Russian product. It was a very tiny rocket, and it didn¡¯t stand out in the massive chain that depicted the Marsnding mission. It was purely responsible for the safety of the payload capsule and the orbital maneuver. If the Eagle¡¯s Raptor 3D and 3C rockets were powerful cruise ships, the RD-0172 was no doubt a small dinghy. Now, the cruise ship had sunk, and all they could rely on was this tiny dinghy as their final lifeboat... Thankfully, the dinghy was built by a race that descended from warriors. Powered by vodka and the auspices of the former president, Putin, it made it possible for the dinghy to be used as a towboat! ¡°Without this engine, our chance of sess is zero,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s the final 2.477%!¡± Chapter 47: Sol Five, Lonely Radio Wave

Chapter 47: Sol Five, Lonely Radio Wave

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue and Tomcat sat opposite each other. Between them were pen and paper. The dim lights shone from above, illuminating the duo¡¯s faces. Tang Yue wore a solemn expression, but not as solemn as Tomcat¡¯s. ¡°Completely eliminate the intermediary orbit and abandon the 280 kilometers orbit. We elerate only once and let the Eagle go from a parking orbit straight into the space station¡¯s orbit for the rendezvous and docking. Would that work?¡± ¡°Yes, but the risks are great.¡± ¡°How great?¡± ¡°Going from a height of 280 kilometers to 380 kilometers, it requires one eleration and one deceleration. It uses uprge amounts of propent.¡± ¡°How many rendezvous attempts do we have left with the remaining propent?¡± ¡°None.¡± ¡°This means that no matter which strategy we use, there¡¯s only one chance for a rendezvous?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, which strategy results in more remnant propent?¡± ¡°I need to do the calctions.¡± Tomcat sat on the chair and closed its eyes as though it was in meditation. Following that, fumes emitted from its orifices. Half a minuteter, Tomcat opened its eyes and took the pen and paper. It began writing and drawing. ¡°If we give up the n of having two intermediary orbits with two orbital maneuvers, and use the strategy of directly jumping into the space station¡¯s orbit, we will be able to save 10% of the propent, as well as four hours... But the maneuvering required from jumping into the space station¡¯s orbit is much more difficult. It needs the Kunlun Station¡¯s remote guidance.¡± ¡°It saves 10% of the propent?¡± ¡°10%.¡± Tang Yue mmed the table. ¡°That¡¯s it! That¡¯s our n B! Let thender directly jump over! Let¡¯s not waste even a second! We won¡¯t even burn a gram of propent! Tomcat, you will be in charge of the guidance! I¡¯ll be in charge of getting you that signal!¡± Tang Yue felt an unfounded sense of confidence. He had decisively chosen the n, leaving Tomcat stunned. When did this wimp find his guts? It didn¡¯t know how Tang Yue had roused himself. He was jaded and depressed just minutes ago. ¡°We are already dead,¡± Tang Yue said. Tomcat was taken aback, confused as to what he meant. ¡°We are already dead,¡± Tang Yue repeated. ¡°Theunch of the Eagle is already a failure. Mai Dong is definitely dead... but the heavens have given us a 2.477% chance. Can you understand what that means?¡± Tomcat immediately understood what Tang Yue meant. They had never been forced into a corner. They had always been in a perilous situation! From the moment Earth vanished, Tang Yue and Tomcat already had all means of retreat cut off. The failure of the Eagle¡¯s orbit entry should have been a guaranteed failure, a situation where death was certain, but a strong rocket engine had hoisted up thatst sliver of hope for them. Desperate times called for desperate solutions. ¡°When is the nearest orbital maneuver window?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The nearest one was five minutes ago.¡± Tomcat looked at the time. ¡°The next one is in seventy-five minutes.¡± Tang Yue turned around and dragged the Radiant Armor EVA suit. ¡°I¡¯ll go set up the antenna. Leave the signal problem to me. I¡¯ll definitely allow you to connect to thender before the next orbital maneuver window! Go drive that powerful Russian space tractor and let it do a super drift at the apoapsis! I believe in your driving skills... You are Mt. Akina¡¯s 1 pram racing god! ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll make sure to drive the tractor like it¡¯s a Lamborghini! Watch me perfectly reverse into position!¡± Tomcat raised its paw¡¯s thumb. ¡°Good luck!¡± Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor, lifted the antenna, and walked out with wide strides. He roared, ¡°Dear Comrade RD-0172! Russia is vast but there is nowhere to retreat. It¡¯s Moscow behind us! Hurrah¡ª!¡± Tomcat watched as Tang Yue bent his back to enter the airlock. Suddenly, it felt that there was nothing wrong with Tang Yue¡¯s back looking like a bear. Not only was he a bear, but he was a pr bear. Tang Yue¡¯s baffling sense of confidence might not havee from an enlightenment on the brink of death, but from the Russian written on the RD-0172 engine. Right on the heels of that, the airlock produced a boisterous roar. ¡°Vodka! Forward, Comrades¡ª!¡± ... ¡°Dear Father and Mother, I¡¯m Mai Dong. I¡¯m currently writing you this letter on the Mars United Space Station. I¡¯m doing fine here...¡± Mai Dong was taken aback as she pressed the ¡°Backspace¡± key and deleted all the text. ¡°Dear Father and Mother, I¡¯m Mai Dong. When I wrote this letter, the sun had just risen from the other end of Mars. The golden sunlight has illuminated half the Crystal module. The scenery here is truly beautiful...¡± Mai Dong shook her head and deleted everything she had written. ¡°Dear Father and Mother, I¡¯m Mai Dong. How are you? I¡¯m about to die...¡± Delete. ¡°Dear Father and Mother, I¡¯m Mai Dong. I¡¯m about to join you...¡± Delete. Mai Dong repeatedly typed and deleted. She felt that every word she left behind was unsuitable. Nothing was right from beginning to end. The girl¡¯s slender fingers finally stopped over the keyboard. She fell into a prolonged silence as her brain was filled with words she wanted to say, but when she actually started writing, she was lost as to how to pen it. It was akin to wishing to pour out all sorts of pent up thoughts to someone, only to look up and realize that the world was empty and that you were alone. Mai Dong sat on a chair her seatbelt buckled. She stared at theputer screen as the cursor blinked every second. From a young age, Mai Dong had written many essays. She had always been good at writing, but she had never written a will, nor had she ever attempted writing a will as a living person to the deceased. The Earth had already vanished. Her parents, rtives, friends, and colleagues were no longer around. Who was she writing the will for? However, she still wished to leave something behind for the world. Mai Dong didn¡¯t know if Tang Yue and Tomcat would seed in delivering the Eagle¡¯s supplies. But at that moment, Kunlun Station was in the midst of a sandstorm and connections had been severed. Even though Mai Dong wasn¡¯t a professional flight expert, she knew the difficulty involved and that chances were slim. If the Eagle¡¯s docking with the United Space Station failed, she was doomed. Mai Dong had to use thest bit of strength she had to finish writing that letter¡ªa task she wanted toplete. But where was she to send the letter after she was done writing it? Mai Dong cast her gaze on the console, where there was a dense array of knobs and switches. Using the space station¡¯smunication systems to transform the letter into a digital signal to send out into the vast cosmos? Like the final cry for help in the Universe, Mai Dong didn¡¯t know how far the radio wave would go. Due to the existence of interster extinction, the bulk of interster dust absorbed and radiated electromaic waves, causing radio waves to weaken with distance. Finally, the radio wave would be weakened to the point of not carrying any information. But this distance was a very, very long one. A lone radio wave, carrying thest words of a girl, traveling across the vast vacuum for billions of years. She was lonely just thinking about it. If asked what was the loneliest thing in the world, it would be the final radio wave sent by humanity. It carried anguage no one else in the Universe could understand, from birth to death, heading straight for a distance without end. Then, was she to leave the letter on the space station? A few years after she died, when the United Space Station¡¯s lifespan came to an end and plummeted into the Martian atmosphere, the letter would burn up along with the space station. It would then be scattered across the vast ins of Mars as ashes? Mai Dong sighed silently as she hugged herself tightly. As thest person in the United Space Station, she wished to write a letter, but she didn¡¯t know who to write it to. Although the Universe wasrge, there was no ce to ensconce the letter. Chapter 48: Sol Five, I’m Watching from Hundreds of Millions of Kilometers Away

Chapter 48: Sol Five, I¡¯m Watching from Hundreds of Millions of Kilometers Away

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Before actually facing death... you will never realize what death means. This was the jinx, Tang Yue, had said to Mai Dong at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Earth before theunch. Back then, Mai Dong had sincerely nodded her head. Although she didn¡¯t know what he was getting at, she still treated it as advice a senior was giving her and kept it to heart. Even though Tang Yue was just trying to act cool. At that moment, Mai Dong extended her hand as though she could touch Death. The golden rays of sunshinended on the girl¡¯s fair cheeks. As though moving at a slow speed discernible to the naked eye, Death was as reticent, soft, and silent as the sunlight. Mai Dong raised her head and looked out of the window. Being inside the Crystal core module, she could see the huge, thick girder overhead. It looked like the arm of a super tower crane, with all sorts ofplicated and jagged machinery attached to it. Those twistedponents were exposed to the vacuum, and they were clearly cutting edge technology of the twenty-first century; yet, it gave her the retrospective feelings of the neenth century¡¯s steam engines and driving cranks. Further away were the broad sr panels. They were arranged neatly in rows, like gigantic paddles in ancient warships. As the sunlight gradually rotated away, a huge shadow was cast on the pearly-white walls. This was the Mars United Space Station. It was hundreds of kilometers away from Earth. The girl was floating alone in space a few hundred kilometers away. She was probably a wanderer, who had gone the furthest in human history to leave home, and now had no home to return to. Just five days ago, her life was different. She was only twenty-five years old. She had graduated with a Bachelor¡¯s degree at Zhejiang University. Before leaving Earth, she had just obtained her Master¡¯s degree at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Before applying for a doctorate program, her advisor had advised her to participate in the Mars expedition and make long-duration space-rted technology¡ªthe hottest topic in scientific research at the moment¡ª as her research focus. Then, she could use it as her doctoral thesis. With the Mars exploration project bing a more serious endeavor, many problems involving long and even ultra-long space missions came to the forefront. Fields such as space medicine, physiology, and other topics had be hot topics for research. This was simr to the Apollo project from the previous century. With a massive space project costing billions of dors, it could set in motion the progress development of research and industry for the entire nation or even the entire world. Biology, chemistry, environmental science, and material science werepletely aroused. Mai Dong¡¯s research focus was on the ecosystem in microgravity. This was a topic that involved many topics. It was a difficult subject, but it held great meaning. Few people in China worked on this topic, and Mai Dong wished that she could produce some results. Frankly, she didn¡¯t need to go through this suffering. Participating in a Mars expedition mission was dangerous and the conditions were harsh. It might seem romantic heading out to space at first nce, but once the novelty had worn off, life became extremely monotonous. Furthermore, the round-trip alone took two years. It was akin to being imprisoned and separated from society for two years. For a youngdy, it was a waste of her youth. Mai Dong had many seniors and juniors, but none of them thought of heading to Mars. Everyone chose simple and rxing research topics. They nned on publishing a few papers with high impact factors, hoping to write a good thesis before graduating. Who would be that silly? To give up afortable life and risk one¡¯s life to head to the godforsaken red? What happened if the spacecraft malfunctioned and one couldn¡¯t return? Give up one¡¯s life for science? If you had such lofty thoughts, why aren¡¯t you volunteering? Finally, Mai Dong contacted the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center by herself and participated in the selection and training. This seemingly weak and naive chick passed the tests with shocking resilience and grit. She seeded in being selected for this Mars mission and became Tang Yue¡¯s colleague. The instant she knew she had been selected, Mai Dong was overjoyed. She would receive a smallboratory for herself in the Orion and United Space Station. It would be for her to ce her incubators with a batch of seeds. In the half-year journey towards Mars, Mai Dong took care of these frail seeds on the Orion. She watched them sprout, bloom as they reproduced generation after generation. Mars originally nned on using the collected data to finish her thesis and apply for a PhD after her return. Without any surprises, Mai Dong would have returned to Earth half a yearter, sessfully obtaining her PhD and graduating. How beautiful. Mai Dong gently ced her hands on the keyboard as she began typing. She wrote the salutation. ¡°Dearest Miss Mai Dong...¡± She had decided to write a letter to herself. Since the letter had nowhere to go, she might as well write it to herself. It was a will written to herself, for herself. ¡°Dearest Miss Mai Dong, ¡°Good morning. It¡¯s the eleventh sunrise of the day. The sun is bright and life is good, except for my hungry stomach. The space station is ying the piano piece, ¡®The Sound Of Silence¡¯...¡± Mai Dong looked up as the ss windows reflected the girl¡¯s pale, thin face. Her pitch-ck eyes were as clear as day. She smiled, imagining that behind the window was another her, and that she was writing to the Mai Dong behind the ss. Likewise, the other Mai Dong was also writing to her. ¡°... I always knew you were a clever, beautifuldy. To be honest, I¡¯ve never met another peer as excellent as you. You are perfect in every way, far greater than everyone around you¡ªby arge margin.¡± The girl giggled as she felt a little embarrassed. The words appeared a little narcissistic, but since it was written to herself, she didn¡¯t mind praising herself. ¡°... The space station is still unable to contact Kunlun Station. The sandstorm continues raging, and I¡¯m worried about Mr. Tang Yue and Mr. Cat. I wonder what¡¯s happening to them? Has the Eagle been sessfullyunched? Regardless of the final oue of the n, I wish that they live in peace. Mr. Tang Yue is a good man; Mr. Cat is also a good man... a good cat. They take very good care of me.¡± Mai Dong paused. ¡°... I¡¯m watching from a few hundred million kilometers away, and the Universe is really unimaginablyrge. Mr. Carl Sagan once said: ¡®We are star stuff. You are alive right this second. That is an amazing thing. You have the pleasure of living on a where you have evolved to breathe the air, drink the water, and love the warmth of the closest star. You¡¯re connected to the generations through DNA¡ªand, even farther back, to the universe, because every cell in your body was cooked in the hearts of stars.¡¯¡± Mai Dong penned each word in her letter as time silently slipped away between her fingers. The space station circled to the back of Mars as the sun set once again. Mars¡¯s horizon was like a massive mountain that rose up. The girl exhaled silently. ¡°The sun has set again. It will rise again in an hour ... ¡°Dearest Miss Mai Dong. ¡°The Universe is infinite, so is time. ¡°In this vast space and endless time, being able to share your life with you was the best thing in my life.¡± Chapter 49: Sol Five, Desperado

Chapter 49: Sol Five, Desperado

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Miss... Mai Dong! Miss Mai Dong! Answer if you copy! Answer if you copy!¡± After an unknown period of time, when the space station had entered the shadow of Mars¡ªthe start of a forty-minute long night¡ªMai Dong had just increased the intensity of the lights in the module when a clear, hurried cry sounded from the earpiece. Mai Dong suddenly looked up. ¡°Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me. We are in an emergency situation. I¡¯ll get to the point. Listen clearly to everything I have to say!¡± Tomcat spoke quickly as there were hurried typing sounds in the background. She could imagine that it was typing rapidly as it conversed with her. ¡°Mai Dong, listen up. In another five minutes and forty seconds, the Eagle will rendezvous with the United Space Station! Are you in the Crystal core module?¡± Mai Dong was shocked by the sudden news. The Eagle would dock with the United Space Station in about five minutes? ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Mr. Cat. I¡¯m presently in the Crystal module, by the window.¡± The girl pressed down on her earpiece and hastened to nod. She didn¡¯t know how Tomcat had resumedmunications. Could it be that the sandstorm over Kunlun Station had weakened again? Communicating over the frequency was extremely clear and stable, with almost zero static. Communications with such quality had rarely happened since the sandstorm began. ¡°The Eagle has entered the orbit¡¯s apoapsis! It¡¯s preparing to do the orbital maneuver! We have only once chance of sess!¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Now, switch on the MR!¡± ¡°MR?¡± ¡°Microwave Radar! Switch on the Microwave Radar!¡± ¡°M-m-microwave Radar...¡± Mai Dong began fumbling about frantically. ¡°Aren¡¯t you by the window? Look up to your left There will be a gray control panel. On it will be Boeing¡¯s logo. There will be the acronym ¡°RAD¡± written in white. Do you see it? Damn it, Lady, be quick... Tang Yue is about to lose his life...¡± ¡°Acronym written in white... RAD... I see it! I see it! I found it!¡± Mr. Tang Yue floated up and grabbed onto the panel¡¯s handle. ¡°Mr. Cat, what did you just say? What happened to Mr. Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste time on unimportant matters! Have you found the control system? Good, now switch on the red button on the right of the panel! Listen, the Eagle will be entering a remote guidance stage. I¡¯ll teach you how to operate it! Do what I say, step by step. You mustn¡¯t make any mistakes! Do you copy?¡± The girl nodded her head seriously. ¡°Loud and clear.¡± ... Kunlun Station. The hurricane was wreaking havoc. Tomcat decided that Tang Yue was truly a madman. Mai Dong didn¡¯t know how themunications had suddenly been restored to normal, believing that the sandstorm¡¯s intensity had dropped. In fact, the wind speeds hadn¡¯t dropped at all. With the cyclone¡¯s low-pressure zone departing slowly, the wind speeds rose once more. Now, it was already at 40 m/s. It was pitch-dark outside Kunlun Station. The reason Tomcat could re-establishmunications with the space station was all thanks to Tang Yue. This madman even guaranteed Tomcat that he would allow it to contact the Eagle before the next orbital maneuver window. Tomcat believed that they were merely empty words meant to bolster his courage, for no one could guarantee the establishment ofmunications with thender in such terrible weather. But to Tomcat¡¯s surprise, he did it. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue, do you hear me? How¡¯s the situation on your side? Can you hold on?¡± ¡°Situation is... good! I can still hold on. Ignore me. Focus on the docking between the Eagle and space station!¡± Tang Yue shouted through thems. He was wearing the Radiant Armor while facing the hurricane head-on amidst the darkness. ¡°Darn it!¡± Tomcat cursed softly. If anything happened to Tang Yue, it wouldn¡¯t be able to rescue him in time. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t at the entrance of Kunlun Station. Instead, he was at the garage a hundred meters away. He was standing behind the Mars Wanderer, with a hugemunications antenna on him. This was Tang Yue¡¯s method. The emergency antenna was too weak. He had decided to reboot themunications antenna that Kunlun Station used. Thetter was two-meters tall and had high efficiency. It could maintainmunications even in a hurricane. The only problem was that the strong winds had toppled it, putting it out ofmission. It wasn¡¯t that Tomcat had never thought of re-erecting the huge antenna, but the antenna was installed by the side of the garage, a considerable distance from Kunlun Station. To reboot the antenna, they needed to head to the garage, which was a hundred meters away. Tomcat couldn¡¯t even guarantee that it could return, and it was basically a road to death for anyone else. As for Tang Yue, he forged his way forward while singing ¡°Katyusha¡± and ¡°Unity is Strength.¡± He secured one end of the safety rope to the airlock¡¯s hatch, reattached the antenna¡¯s data cable, and spent forty minutes tottering in the pitch-ck hurricane. Tomcat had wondered if he had died out in the sandstorm, but Tang Yue ultimately arrived at the garage. Right on the heels of that, Tang Yue drove the Mars Wanderer, using its massive body to block the wind before proceeding to set up themunications antenna. At wind speeds of 40 m/s, the antenna couldn¡¯t stay standing by itself. Therefore, Tang Yue tied the antenna tightly to himself and used his seventy-odd kilogram body weight and the sixty kilograms of the Radiant Armor as a human tripod to withstand the wanton sandstorm. The madman really didn¡¯t care for his life. From beginning to end, he was like a desperado. ¡°F*ck... You better return alive!¡± Tomcat stared at the screen. Tang Yue had created unprecedented conditions formunications. The Eagle and the United Space Station were constantly transmitting real-time data into Kunlun Station¡¯sputers. Tang Yue had already fulfilled his promise. He had aplished what he had imed. Now, it all depended on Tomcat... As they had abandoned the n of the double orbital maneuvers, and only attempt a single orbital maneuver, the control difficulty had arisen. The control of the eleration and deceleration as well as the attitude had to be perfect. Likewise for the timing. The experienced Tomcat had to steer the Russian-made tractor above its head, using the RD-0172 rocket engines to ce the Eagle into a huge super drift and change tracks at high speeds before urately getting into position! The docking distance couldn¡¯t exceed 300 meters, and the angle difference couldn¡¯t exceed 5¡ã. The maneuvering would be extremely difficult, but it couldn¡¯t stump the legendary Mt. Akina¡¯s pram racing god! The Eagle gradually approached the space station as the two man-made space vehicles flew through the vast vacuum. Even though they were physically close to each other, they were onpletely different trajectories. They came from different directions and would head for different directions. Once they missed the window, thender and the space station would rapidly pull apart from each other. Tomcat needed to seize that opportunity. It wanted to make the Eagle jump into the space station¡¯s trajectory! Theputer¡¯s timer was already synchronized, and the countdown had begun. Five seconds left on the timer. Tomcat slowly narrowed its eyes as it ced its paw on the keyboard. Its w slowly exerted pressure as the two blips on the screen blinked one after another. Three seconds left on the timer. Thender had arrived at its apoapsis. Two seconds left on the timer. The space station entered its periapsis. One second left on the timer. Tomcat pressed the initialization button, and at that instant, Kunlun Station¡¯sputer sent the digital signal through the cable and into the antenna. Themunications antenna shot the modted radio waves into the sky, as the electromaic waves moved at the speed of light to tear through the hundred-kilometer Martian atmosphere. In 0.06 seconds, they reached the ry satellite, and in 0.02 seconds, the ry satellite ryed the signal, sending themand sent by Tomcat over more than a hundred thousand kilometers to the Eagle. The Eagle received themand as RD-0172¡¯s engines were ignited! It began the orbital maneuver! Chapter 50: Sol Five, The Probability of Success from Betting One’s Life

Chapter 50: Sol Five, The Probability of Sess from Betting One¡¯s Life

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The Eagle and the United Space Station were only 110 kilometers apart at their closest. At this distance, if anyone on the Eagle was to look in the direction of the space station, they would be able to see it with the naked eye. The massive sr panels and white module walls reflected sunlight, making it appear like a shiny, resplendent diamond on pitch-ck velvet. The Russian RD-0172 engine activated as the turbine pumps rapidly turned. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen burned in thebustion chamber, rapidly spewing out material from its exhaust. The vacuum silenced the burning propent¡¯s boom as the Eagle elerated silently. This massive object weighing more than ten tonnes had begun moving out of its orbit! Tomcat stared at theputer as thender¡¯s flight trajectory was drawn out as a huge curve on the screen. The curve intersected perfectly with the United Space Station. This was the Eagle¡¯s transfer orbit. They had given up on the more secure n of attempting a double orbital maneuver and double transfer orbit. They had to pay a price which was the need for precise maneuvering. They had to guide thender into the space station¡¯s orbit without any mistakes. This was akin to getting someone to drive an eight-wheeled trailer weighing more than ten tonnes at Mach 10,plete a drift to change tracks, before precisely driving into a narrow alley that was only two centimeters wider than the trailer. Tomcat was the driver driving that trailer. It was remotely controlling the Eagle from three hundred kilometers away. This was a docking mission with a one-time sess probability of 2.477%. It was an opportunity Tang Yue gave it by risking his life. Therefore, Tomcat was doing its best as well. ¡°Orbital ne adjusted! Attitude adjusted! ¡°Time difference adjusted... Target and tracked vehicle time synchronization. Synchronizationplete! Adjusting trajectory numbers! ¡°Adjustmentplete! ¡°Forward modtion...¡± Tomcat only had the speed fluctuations, legend, and numbers in its eyes. Theputer screen¡¯s bottom was filled with all sorts of timers, as various processes began and ended. It was as precise as gear teeth in motion. And Tomcat was one of the most important gears in the entire process. All the data from the Eagle and the United Space Station was reported here in Mission Control! Massive amounts of data were sent down from four hundred kilometers above them, going through the antenna in Tang Yue¡¯s hand and into Kunlun Station¡¯sputer. Tomcat took the center seat as it issuedmands. ¡°The Eagle has entered the first anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3451.22 m/s. The rtive speed is 227.89 m/s! It¡¯s 60,166 meters away from the target!¡± Tomcat shouted, ¡°Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± ¡°Switch on the transponder. The MR system has begun the search!¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°Lock on and track the spacecraft! Lady, you know what should be done, right? I just taught you!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I got it! I got it! Switch on the RAD control panel with the TURN ON button... POWER button! Following that, it¡¯s the PRHEAT! Then, adjust the microwave radar numbers... Wait for the screen to produce a red cross and adjust the pitch angle!¡± Two minutester. ¡°Locked on! Mr. Cat, the microwave radar has locked onto the target!¡± ¡°Very good! You are really a smartdy! The Eagle has entered the second anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3554.36 m/s. The rtive speed is 221.41 m/s! It¡¯s 35,188.69 meters away from the target!¡± Tomcat shouted, ¡°Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± ¡°MR system angle measurement! Established rtive moving axes!¡± ¡°OK... the angle measurement antenna matrix element has been activated. Confirm the signal carrier phase delta! Confirm the signal carrier phase delta!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice trembled slightly. ¡°Confirming angle measurement¡¯s upper and lower bounds! ¡°Azimuth angle upper and lower bounds determined! Azimuth angle step size determined!¡± ¡°Pitch angle upper and lower bounds determined! Pitch angle step size determined!¡± Mai Dong yelled into the earpiece. The numbers on Tomcat¡¯s screen refreshed as aplete coordinate diagram was outlined. ¡°Very good,dy you are doing very well. Don¡¯t panic... Calm down! Calm down! You can do it! The Eagle is preparing to enter the homing stage! The absolute speed is 3517.32 m/s. The rtive speed is 220.08 m/s! It¡¯s 11,278.39 meters away from the target!¡± As Tomcat consoled Mai Dong, it gavemands to the Eagle. ¡°RD-0172 engines in reverse! Commencing deceleration!¡± Thender on the screen gradually approached the space station as the distance between the two had gone below ten kilometers. At this stage, even Mai Dong, who was inside the core module, could see the Eagle. Through the window, she could see a shiny white spacecraft in the distant pitch-ck space. It looked the size of a rice grain as though it was a lonesome boat in the deep sea. The girl couldn¡¯t help her tears from flowing. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue, are you alright? Can you still hold on?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue hadn¡¯t said a word for quite some time. Tomcat was worried about his condition. ¡°Still... still alright. Don¡¯t bother about me. Which... which stage are we at?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was very weak. ¡°Thest five kilometers!¡± Tomcat said, ¡°The Eagle is at its third anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3511.17 m/s. The rtive speed is 107.35 m/s! It¡¯s 4,823.07 meters away from the target!¡± ¡°Then... does that mean... we are about to seed?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! We are about to seed! Almost there! Hold on a little longer!¡± Tomcat nodded. With the distance less than five kilometers, it meant that the remote guidance stage hade to an end. Next up was the homing and approach stage. The Eagle¡¯s rendezvous was already a sess, so all that was left for the docking was the final five kilometers. Compared to the arduous and long four-hundred-kilometer journey, five kilometers was negligible. ¡°Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± ¡°Switch on the orbital control sensor!¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°It¡¯s on the right side of the RAD system on the control panel! On it is an English acronym TCS written in white! Do you see it?¡± ¡°TCS, TCS... found it!¡± ¡°Open it!¡± Tomcat gave themand. The different telemetry equipment on the space station worked for different distances. At a hundred kilometers, the United Space Station¡¯s guidance equipment used microwave radar, but its uracy was limited at close distances; therefore, when the Eagle reached within a kilometer of the space station, the TCS system took over. The full name was Tark Control Sensor. The TCS¡¯s core was aser range finder. At close distances, aser¡¯s uracy at measurements far exceeded microwaves. Mai Dong switched on the TCS system. The next second, data appeared before Tomcat¡¯s eyes. ¡°Orbit data re-adjusted!¡± ¡°Azimuth angle re-adjusted!¡± ¡°Angle of depression re-adjusted!¡± Tomcat said, ¡°Mai Dong, switch on the optical imagery sensor!¡± ¡°Roger that! Optical imagery sensor activated!¡± ¡°Beautiful! Mai Dong, you are truly a beautiful genius!¡± The Eagle and the space station were eight hundred meters apart with rtive speeds dropping below 30 m/s. Tomcat precisely controlled thender as it micro-adjusted the Eagle¡¯s attitude with attitude control rockets. It had already aimed for the space station¡¯s dock and prepared to make a hole in one. The experienced Tomcat¡¯s skills were truly impable. Theputer system¡¯s prediction was a perfect alignment between the red and blue lines. This meant that the Eagle would perfectly follow its trajectory without deviating a centimeter. It managed to move the huge vehicle weighing more than ten tonnes into an alley without hitting its rear-view mirrors! At the present trajectory, the Eagle would be able to safely reduce its speed before the autonomous docking happened. Tomcat silently heaved a sigh of relief. The distance was less than 400 meters, and the rtive speed had dropped to 15 m/s. ¡°Tang Yue, Tang Yue, do you copy?¡± Tomcat shouted for Tang Yue. ¡°We are about to seed! In half a minute! Our delivery will be made in half a minute!¡± ¡°Alright... Then, I¡¯ll hold out for another half a minute!¡± Tomcat nodded. If it wasn¡¯t for Tang Yue, the docking would definitely have failed. It was all thanks to Tang Yue propping up the antenna at the risk of his life. He allowed Tomcat to sessfully establishmunications with thender and the space station to provide guidance. Even with the 2.477% sess probability, as long as you were willing to bet your life on it, miracles could happen. The distance was less than 300 meters, and the rtive speed had dropped to 10 m/s. Tomcat wanted to cheer. Haha, it works! It knew it would work! ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat?¡± Mai Dong nervously called out to it. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did something wrong happen on my side... The space station is sending alerts,¡± Mai Dong said. Alerts? Tomcat was taken aback as it failed to react. Right on the heels of that, a warning window appeared on the screen in front of it. There was a huge exmation mark and striking red words shing crazily. WARNING: IMPACT! Tomcat was momentarily stunned before it pressed down on its earpiece, subconsciously shouting, ¡°Run! Run! Mai Dong, run¡ª!¡± Chapter 51: Sol Five, We Crashed

Chapter 51: Sol Five, We Crashed

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Run! Run! Mai Dong, run¡ª!¡± Tomcat yelled at the top of its voice. The girl was taken aback. Three secondster, there was a deafening boom. The intense tremors passed through the module¡¯s wall and air, as all the tiny objects floating in the module seemed to freeze at that moment. The air seemedpressed. Time paused for a moment. Immediately after that, all the objects violently flew up as the panel and screens on the module¡¯s walls shattered. The space station¡¯s structure let out the sharp groan of twisting metal as warnings about the loss of cabin pressure sounded. Mai Dong felt a strong force m into her chest. Her first feeling was that she was in a car ident and had been rear-ended. Her body flew out uncontrobly as she tumbled around in midair. Right on the heels of that, she was held back by the earpiece wire which was coiled around her arm. Mai Dong¡¯s body jerked back like a pendulum and mmed heavily into the control panel. The space station had lost its attitude and she felt dizzy as everything before her eyes was spinning. ring by her ears were the undting alerts. The entire core module looked red from the warning lights. Mai Dong had lost all control of her body as she mmed into the window once more. Before she fell unconscious, all she saw was the red lights and thick smoke. ... There was still the striking warning window on theputer screen. As Tomcat pressed down on the earpiece, it stood in front of the work desk, its mechanical heart feeling cold. It¡¯s over. It¡¯s really over. At the final moment, the Eagle¡¯s crappyputer had bugged out. In a normal docking procedure, the Eagle would begin to decelerate when it reached a distance of ten kilometers from the space station. It would reduce its rtive speed to below 100 m/s at five kilometers, and drop to 3 m/s once it entered the hundred-meter mark. But due to the problems involving the propent and hurricane, normal docking procedures were no longer suitable. Therefore, Tomcat had used a one-time orbit insertion strategy¡ªusing high eleration and deceleration speeds without stopping when entering anchoring points to save fuel. However, this resulted in thender having higher than normal speeds when docking. ording to Tomcat¡¯s n, the Eagle and the space station would have a rtive speed of 1¨C2 m/s during the docking process. It was like a trailer, weighing more than ten tonnes, immediately entering its parking lot, after doing an elerated drift into a differentne, while reducing its speed to zero. The first step had been smooth-sailing, and the rtive speed between the Eagle and space station had dropped to 10 m/s. Based on the development of this trend, thender would perfectly dock with the space station. Following that, the Eagle¡¯s sensors had made a mess. On the approach during the even nearer broadside docking stage, the target and tracker were too close, and due to the dy of the surface¡¯s remote controls, the docking control was done autonomously by the spacecraft. The Eagle didn¡¯t have any upants on board, so the control privileges were left to theputer. And once again, a bug appeared. Tomcat didn¡¯t know the source of the malfunction. It might have been a programming mistake or a result of the sandstorm. Theputer had misjudged its speed, switching off the reverse engines ahead of time. The Eagle immediately lost its deceleration and continued moving with its original inertia at 6 m/s before mming into the space station. At that moment, the two bodies were less than forty meters apart. Thender only needed about six seconds to cross this distance, so no one was able to react in time. The moment Kunlun Station noticed the Eagle¡¯s malfunction, it sent an alert. But it was already toote. Thender and the space station¡¯s docking mechanism could only withstand a 5 m/s collision, and that was the limit. Any higher resulted in damage to the mechanism and air-seal... To be honest, the engineers who had originally designed this never expected anyone to m over at 5 m/s. Under normal conditions, the docking speed would be at less than a meter per second, even slower than a person¡¯s walking speed. They felt that a redundancy of 5 m/s was more than sufficient. For this 5 m/s redundancy, they had designed the docking mechanism to be as sturdy as a ship anchor, wasting plenty of their weight quota. Tomcat sat down in silence as it looked at the two blips collide into one another. Following that, a series of windows popped up. The first was a warning window with numbers rapidly jumping over it. The Eagle and the space station¡¯s numbers went from green to red as they exceeded normal thresholds. Imagine a trailer weighing more than ten tonnes mming over at a speed of 6 m/s. Nothing could withstand such an impact. Even a cement wall would crumple like paper mach¨¦. Tomcat stared at the screen with a nk look. It didn¡¯t dare to imagine what had happened on the track, four hundred kilometers above it. It didn¡¯t even want to know if Mai Dong was still alive or not... After the collision, the Eagle deviated from its trajectory, and the docking mechanism waspletely unable to lock onto a speed of 6 m/s. The metal at the APAS and the mps had all been damaged. The Eagle hadpletely destroyed the APAS before being thrown into an out-of-control tumble. It was tumbling through space, breaking ranks from the space station as it vanished into pitch-ck space. The United Space Station also began losing control after suffering the impact. It began spinning about its central axis. The Eagle¡¯s rear-ending had destroyed a APAS and also ttened the Dawn experiment module. When Tomcat received the warning about the United Space Station¡¯s loss of pressure, it meant that the exterior had been punctured by the impact. Air inside the module was leaking as the pressure rapidly decreased. The smoke warnings were sounding as well. The space station¡¯s sensors had detected smoke, which also meant thetent problem of fire. The space station was filled with pure oxygen, so a tiny spark was enough to cause a ming disaster. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Mai Dong! Mai Dong¡ª! Answer if you copy! Answer if you copy!¡± Tomcat roared. The signal hadn¡¯t been cut, but there was no response. Clearly, something had happened to Mai Dong. Tomcat¡¯s head nearly blew up. Theunch had been done too hastily... I didn¡¯t do aplete inspection. It¡¯s not surprising that a bug appeared in the Eagle¡¯sputer and sensors. With such harsh conditions, and spacecraft being objects with high failure rates, whose spacecraft or space station isn¡¯t without problems? However, 99% of the problems others had were trivial ones. A tiny fix made sure that they wouldn¡¯t affect any functionality. As for the Eagle, to have two problems appearing, each lethal... This was a first for Tomcat. Tomcat couldn¡¯t sweat, but if it could, it would definitely be perspiring like a waterfall. It forced itself to calm down. Calm down. Calm down! Don¡¯t panic... You mustn¡¯t panic! All the problems need to be solved one by one! Start with the most urgent one! Tomcat no longer had the time to deal with the Eagle. It could die for all it cared. After causing such a huge mess, it was better off dead. Tomcat first needed to rescue the space station from the boundary ofplete destruction... Mai Dong¡¯s situation was unknown, and it might be possible that she had lost all mobility. At that moment, the only one capable of rescuing her was Tomcat. The space station was losing pressure. The air pressure and temperatures were dropping, and would soon drop below the safety threshold. If Tomcat didn¡¯t take the required measures, Mai Dong would die from suffocation... However, Tomcat didn¡¯t know which module was damaged. All it could do was obtain control of the space station and immediately shut all module hatches, to stop the airflow between modules. What could be done had been done. Tomcat only wished that the damage wasn¡¯t to the core module. Next up was the smoke warning. After that, it was the warning of the attitude instability. Tomcat¡¯s two paws moved swiftly as it resolved each and every warning. The United Space Station was like a sinking ship filled with water. Tomcat was frantically plugging the holes, pulling the ship from the edge of sinking. It yearned to have another two more paws. ¡°Tomcat... How¡¯s the situation?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Which stage are we at?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to hold on a little longer.¡± Tomcat gritted its teeth as it said in a deep voice. ¡°We crashed.¡± Chapter 52: Sol Five, Eternal Increase in Entropy

Chapter 52: Sol Five, Eternal Increase in Entropy

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The dark red warning windows disappeared one after another as Tomcat temporarily stabilized the situation in the United Space Station. Only then did it heave a sigh of relief... It had shut down a few hatches between the modules and stopped any airflow between them. This was a safety mechanism on the original designs of the Mars United Space Station. It allowed for remote emergency shut down of hatches, and it was finally put to use, thus, saving the entire space station. Tomcat had found the module that had lost pressure. Without a doubt, it was the Dawn module. It was the module that had suffered the brunt of the Eagle¡¯s direct impact. The Dawn experiment module¡¯s APAS had beenpletely destroyed and the tremendous impact had caused the walls to crack. The air within the module was leaking, and the Dawn was basically in a vacuum state. Its temperature had fallen below freezing point. Sealing shut the hatches saved the other modules. Next to the Dawn module was the core module which presently maintained standard atmospheric pressure and a temperature of 20¡ãC. At the very least, Tomcat no longer needed to worry about Mai Dong suffocating to death. The smoke rms hade to a stop as well. The smoking Dawn was already in a vacuum state, so without oxygen, it was impossible for a fire to break out. The United Space Station was temporarily preserved. However, Mai Dong remained uncontactable. No one knew what had happened to Mai Dong during the collision. Anything was possible in such a serious ident. She could still be alive, or she might have died in the ident. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! This is Kunlun Station. Miss Mai Dong, answer if you copy! ¡°Miss Mai Dong! This is Kunlun Station. Answer if you copy! ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Answer if you copy!¡± Tomcat was worried as it cried out again and again. There was no response over the frequency. There was only dead silence. ¡°Damn it!¡± Tomcat smacked its paw on the table. The Eagle¡¯s rear-ending of the United Space Station had resulted in disastrous repercussions. Both spacecraft had lost control and had exited their original trajectories. The space station¡¯s situation was slightly better. Tomcat was able to initialize the attitude control rockets on the space station to stop it from spinning. However, there was nothing that could be done for the Eagle. It had insufficient propent, and the rendezvous was aplete failure. The collision had changed the direction of thender, as it lost control of itself and tumbled through space, far into the distance. Tomcat took a look at the distance. Sixty kilometers. The gap was still opening up. While Tomcat was desperately trying to save the United Space Station, the Eagle¡¯s trajectory kept decreasing in height. It was elerating as it tumbled along a trajectory at high speeds, and would ultimately plunge into the Martian atmosphere. No one could stop it. ¡°Tang Yue, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?¡± Tomcat pushed the keyboard as it sighed. ¡°... Let¡¯s start with the bad news.¡± ¡°The bad news will take a year to spell out,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Are you sure you want to hear the bad news?¡± ¡°Good news.¡± ¡°The good news is that the United Space Station is temporarily secured, and the losses aren¡¯t too great. The Dawn module is pretty much dmissioned, but it helped the space station absorb arge part of the impact... This might have to do with the Russians preferring to use flexible material to construct their modules,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There aren¡¯t many problems with the other modules, and they are presently in an operational state.¡± Tang Yue recalled which part the Dawn module was... It was connected to the core module, which was situated between the core module and APAS. This module had provided a buffer for the core module. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°None.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°This is the only piece of good news, but the bad news is aundry list... Miss Mai Dong is still uncontactable, and her situation is unknown. The Eagle is dashing down a route of no return. The rear-ending seriously increased its speed as it¡¯s beginning to plummet towards Mars. It will take about six rounds before the Eagle enters the atmosphere. ¡°Six rounds?¡± ¡°Six rounds.¡± ¡°Is... Mai Dong still alive?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡± Tang Yue fell into a prolonged silence. ¡°Do we still have any chances?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to have any.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded emotionless other than the immense fatigue. ording to the Kunlun Station¡¯s telemetry data, the United Space Station was presently at a height of 400 kilometers. However, the height of the Eagle¡¯s orbit was only 320 kilometers. The straight line distance between them exceeded a hundred kilometers. Thendercked the power to elerate in another orbital maneuver. As a robot, Tomcat could empathize with the feeling of despair. This was a despair rooted in physics and numbers, an irreversible and imperturbable oue. The Eagle¡¯s orbit was 80 kilometers lower than the space station, and this distance was constantly widening. RD-0172¡¯s engine no longer had the capability of another orbital maneuver. No one could raise its orbit by another 80 kilometers, and the only force exerted on it was gravity... It would be pulled down by gravity, constantly lowering its height until it plunged into the atmosphere. There were another six more rounds before the Eagle would plummet and be destroyed. Its orbit took an average of about fifty minutes. Six rounds meant three hundred minutes. The Eagle only had five hours left. Tomcat focused on the predicted orbit on the screen. The space station would continue operating as per normal, but thender¡¯s trajectory no longer had any intersection with the space station. They had missed the only encounter, and whaty ahead was an ever increasing-distance. The Eagle¡¯s signal was intermittent. It periodically shed as a result of its spinning. Every spin it did, its antenna would reach the ry satellite. Tomcat looked at the blip gradually widen the gap and hope dwindled. ... Tang Yue was leaning against the Mars Wanderer. He had been continuously working for more than ten hours that day and hadn¡¯t had a single drop of water. The reason Tang Yue had persisted without copsing was solely because of his firm will and belief. But towards the end, even his mind went into a blur. Tang Yue could only rely on his weight. At present, Tang Yue¡¯s seventy-kilogram body couldn¡¯t hold on. He was cking out and had no choice but to fasten himself to the Mars rover with rope to force himself to find his footing. A strong feeling of powerlessness overwhelmed him. Just minutes ago, Tomcat had told him that everything was going great and sess was imminent, but with a blink of an eye, everything had changed. Tang Yue patted his visor, wiping away the sand on it. He suspected that he was hearing things due to extreme fatigue. Can such a thing actually happen in this world? With sess just inches away, how was it suddenly thrown into despair? It¡¯s nonsense. It¡¯s truly nonsense. Tang Yue¡¯s mind froze as he couldn¡¯t understand anything that had happened. ¡°Tang Yue, I know you find it uneptable,¡± Tomcat said softly, ¡°but this is reality...¡± The entropy in the Universe would forever increase, and the arrow of time was only pointed in one direction. The harshness of reality was that no one had a chance to redo things. Even if you missed time at the nck scale, the oue was forged in reality. You would have no choice but to face the cruel oue¡¯s aftermath, as well as endless regret. ¡°We¡¯ve failed. It was an utter failure.¡± Tomcat continued, ¡°Whether Miss Mai Dong is alive doesn¡¯t matter. No one can save her now.¡± Tang Yue thought for a long time as his stiffened brain began to whir before he thought of a word. ¡°Cruel.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right... The Universe is very cruel.¡± Tomcat leaned back into the chair as it looked up at the ceiling. It had a nk look in its eyes. ¡°It¡¯s far crueler than we imagined.¡± At that moment, Tang Yue thought that he would prefer that Mai Dong had passed away in the ident than face the despairing situation of being alone and with no help provided to her. The Eagle¡¯s docking had failed and the space station was out of food. If the girl was still alive, she would have no choice but to wait for a slow death. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare imagine what kind of torture that would be. ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat? Mr... Mr. Tang Yue? Can... you hear me?¡± A weak but clear female voice suddenly sounded over the channel. Tomcat and Tang Yue were taken aback. ¡°I... I¡¯m Mai Dong. What exactly happened... Did the docking seed? Mr. Cat?¡± Chapter 53: Sol Five, Good People Live Long

Chapter 53: Sol Five, Good People Live Long

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong opened her eyes. She had a splitting headache. She held the back of her head where there was a huge bruise that hurt upon contact. The excruciating pain made the girl draw cold breaths of air. Clearly, she had hit her head due to the ident and was suffering a minor concussion. This was possibly why she had lost consciousness briefly. She didn¡¯t know how long she had been out for. The warning rms in the module hade to a stop, and the lights were dim. The LEDmps along the module¡¯s walls had been switched off, with only a few indicator lights still lit. A faint charred smell emanated through the air, but the smoke could no longer be seen. Mai Dong slowly moved her neck as she looked around. A tiny ck cube appeared in her vision and the girl recognized it to be a panel button that had fallen off. There were all kinds of tinyponents, pencils, tape, cables, floating around her. They were slowly colliding with the module walls before bouncing off in a random mess. The interior of the Crystal module was like a floating trash heap. As Mai Dong reached out to make a way for herself she grabbed themunications earpiece floating in midair. She didn¡¯t know what had happened... All Mai Dong remembered was Mr. Cat giving her a warning, but before she could react, she had lost consciousness. Thankfully, theputer andmunication systems in the core module were still operational. Mai Dong reached out to grope around before switching on the lights. Instantly, the Crystal module lit up as the control panel¡¯s screens shed and lit up. Mai Dong discovered that the hatch beside her had closed. Theputer system indicated that the Dawn module had been damaged and hadpletely lost pressure. The hatch between the Crystal module and the Dawn module had been sealed shut. ¡°Mr. Cat... Mr. Cat? Mr. Tang Yue? This is the United Space Station. Answer me if you copy?¡± Mai Dong attempted to establishmunications with Kunlun Station. ¡°I¡¯m Mai Dong. What exactly happened... Did the docking seed? Mr. Cat?¡± Tomcat¡¯s clear voice sounded from the earpiece. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, this is Kunlun Station. I copy you.¡± Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°You are safe and sound,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Tomcat paused before holding back the word ¡°good¡± at the tip of its tongue before swallowing it back. ¡°Mr. Cat... What happened? There was apparently a collision with the space station. The Dawn experiment module has been destroyed and the hatch is sealed shut...¡± Mr. Cat felt a sense of horror. She sized up the control panel, and there were all kinds of alerts from the various systems. Clearly, the damage to the space station was sizable. The girl opened a cab attached to the wall and took out an IVA suit and put it on. Finally, she attached a helmet. ¡°Listen up,dy. Don¡¯t panic. Calm down. Let me report the situation to you first,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Yeah... I was hit in the head and cked out, but I should be fine now.¡± Mai Dong nodded as she checked the various systems in the Crystal module. ¡°Apart from the Dawn module, there aren¡¯t too many problems with the space station. Things are just a little messy. The inner lining has peeled off in certain ces, and the power systems are tripping in a few spots. A battery has been disconnected, but theputers are functional. There aren¡¯t any malfunctions.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The space station¡¯s attitude seems a little problematic... The light censor¡¯s direction is a little off-axis,¡± Mai Dong continued. ¡°There are also a few alerts from the Hope and Discover modules. However, the hatches are all sealed shut. I can¡¯t head over, but it shouldn¡¯t be anything serious. The indicator seems to imply that it¡¯s a few loose wires.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°The space station¡¯s status is considered stable. The life support system is operational,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The temperature is 20¡ãC, and the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are normal.¡± Tomcat felt a little relieved. It was afraid that the Eagle¡¯s collision had resulted in sometent problems that were hard to detect. Now, since Mai Dong was awake, she could do aplete inspection of the space station herself. ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did the... docking seed?¡± the girl asked cautiously. Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s hearts tensed up. They didn¡¯t know how to answer Mai Dong. Thedy¡¯s tone was so soft and careful, filled with brittle hope. She was like a hopeful child that asked her parents for money, or a terminal patient asking a doctor is she could be saved.¡± Thedy was tugging at your sleeve in darkness and despair, cautiously asking you, ¡°Can you take me with you?¡± She had hope, but it was so fragile, so fragile that a shake of the head might shatter her like ss. The channel plunged into a prolonged silence. Thest time such a silence happened was when Tang Yue informed her that the Earth had vanished. Tomcat remained silent for a very long while. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, I... I¡¯m very sorry.¡± Mai Dong wore her earpiece, floating in the core module, then she suddenly felt her surroundings be silent. ¡°I¡¯m really very sorry.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice lowered in volume. ¡°We¡¯vepletely lost control of the Eagle. It has already gone out of orbit. It was our mistake. If only we had made more thorough and detailed inspections... If only we hadn¡¯t wasted so much time... If only we were able to control thender...¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Mr. Cat. Nor is it Mr. Tang Yue¡¯s fault. Who could predict that... an error would happen to the rockets. It¡¯s not your fault at all.¡± She exhaled as she looked up at the white lining of the module. She rubbed her eyes and pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°It was me who caused you to waste so many precious resources. I should apologize to you. Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I¡¯m really very sorry. I made you waste so much time and effort, as well as a spacecraft and half the supplies for nothing. I¡¯m really very sorry.¡± Mai Dong picked herself up. ¡°You don¡¯t have to me yourselves. Mr. Cat, and Mr. Tang Yue, both of you have worked hard. I¡¯m very grateful that you¡¯ve been working so hard to save me.¡± As she spoke, her eyes were already red. However, tears couldn¡¯t flow out in space. All they did was well up in her eyes. ¡°Mr. Cat, Mr. Tang Yue, both of you are good people.¡± Mr. Tang Yue continued, ¡°I¡¯m very grateful for everything you¡¯ve done. Both of you have taken very good care of me. I will remember all of that for the rest of my life.¡± Tomcat sat in its chair, listening to the girl¡¯s speech. Very grateful for everything it had done? Remember all of that? And remember it for the rest of her life? What use is that? You won¡¯t live long, and you are about to die! Do you understand that,dy!? How many days do you have to your life? You are apologizing? Why are you doing that? You should brutally curse us! You should curse us for being inept! You should me us for being ipetent fools that turn everything we touch to dust! Tomcat¡¯s temper suddenly worsened. It wished to smash something. On this cold and dark lonely, what it didn¡¯t wish to hear were thest words of somebody. ¡°I hope that both of you can live on well.¡± Mai Dong wiped away the tears in her eyes. ¡°Live as long as you can live. The longer the better. As others say, good people live longer.¡± Chapter 54: Sol Five, Biting Fate by the Throat

Chapter 54: Sol Five, Biting Fate by the Throat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue kept silent the entire time. He was leaning against the Mars Wanderer, passing a rope through its handle and stairs, firmly binding himself to it. Tang Yue no longer could stand firm. Just two hours ago, he had lost the feeling in his feet due to the cold. Now, he felt as though he was propped up on two wooden stakes. His knees could no longer bend, and themands fired from his brain could no longer reach his leg muscles. This made Tang Yue recall his time on Earth. Back then, he was thrown into the Daxing¡¯anling Prefecture with Old Wang for training where they had suffered cold weather with temperatures reaching ¨C30¡ãC. The outdoor survival training was part of the program passed down by their ancestors. Everyone had to participate in it, and the astronaut center had a saying: ¡°If you find yourself in an uninhabited zone, I hope you don¡¯t end up as wolf feces!¡± Even though the re-entry module of the Mars mission would ssh down at sea. Old Wang was a formal professional astronaut. He was a mission specialist, while Tang Yue was just a dabbler¡ªa payload specialist. The king of sappy phrases took good care of Tang Yue. Early one morning at three o¡¯clock, they had been stuck in a snowstorm as they squeezed inside a thin tent and had lostmunications with the outside world. Outside the tent was snow that reached knee-deep. Tang Yue¡¯s limbs were frozen, and Old Wang helped him massage them until it was daybreak. Back then, Old Wang had told him, ¡°Tang Yue, I can tell that you are someone not to be messed with.¡± Tang Yue asked him, ¡°In what way?¡± He was the kind of person who wanted to be hospitalized for three days simply from slicing his finger while cutting vegetables. Old Wang patted him on the shoulder. ¡°During the high-G training, you were the one cursing the director and his ancestors in the centrifuge, right?¡± The Mars rover supported Tang Yue as he supported the antenna. Thismunications antenna was a rather bulky and heavy object that was even taller than Tang Yue himself. No one knew how he managed. Old Wang might have been right. Deep down in his heart, Tang Yue was an extremely stubborn person. At times, he was like a mad dog, gripping tight on something without letting go even at the cost of his life. Just like back when he was participating in the high-G training in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the centrifuge kept increasing the eleration. The other payload specialist would tap out once they reached 6 Gs. Tang Yue was the only one holding onto the button as he went ¡°f**************ck!¡± He went ¡°f*ck¡± all the way till he reached 8 Gs. Tang Yue took a look at his wrist. It was fifteen minutes past three in the morning. The winds didn¡¯t show any signs of letting up. He heard Mai Dong apologizing to them over the channel. The docking had failed, and thender was out of orbit. Logically speaking, they were at the end of the rope. Even Tomcat had given up, but Tang Yue thought otherwise. A baffling sense of tenacity and fortitude surged from the bottom of his heart. He was like a mad dog who wouldn¡¯t release its grip. Beethoven had once said to take fate by the throat, but who the f*ck was Beethoven? He wanted to bite down on fate¡¯s throat! He was a mad dog! He wanted to bite down on fate¡¯s throat! And he wouldn¡¯t release his grip even at the cost of his life. ¡°Mr. Cat, Mr. Tang Yue, both of you must live well...¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Tang Yue said coldly. Mai Dong was taken aback. So was Tomcat. ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, I... I...¡± Mai Dong had no idea what she had said wrong to incur Tang Yue¡¯s wrath. ¡°Shut up,¡± Tang Yue said again. ¡°From this moment forth, stop speaking. Don¡¯t say a word! I don¡¯t want to hear anyst words. It¡¯s not time for that. I¡¯m not dead yet. Wouldn¡¯t it be disgraceful if you were to die? ¡°If I¡¯m not dead, I won¡¯t let you die. F*ck the cruel Universe.¡± It was unknown where Tang Yue had mustered that bit of strength from, as he roared, ¡°Tomcat!¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the exact situation? What¡¯s the exact situation? What¡¯s the rtive distance and speeds of the two? Let me think of a solution!¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Give me the exact situation.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a moment. The blip on the screen was blinking regrly as theputer produced a predicted trajectory. ¡°The United Space Station and thender are still sharing a conar orbit. However, the distance between the two is too great. The space station¡¯s height is 403.5 kilometers, while the Eagle¡¯s height is 322.1 kilometers. It¡¯s short by 81.4 kilometers. The straight line distance between the two has increased to 157.5 kilometers,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°It won¡¯t work, Tang Yue... It¡¯s too far...¡± 81 kilometers... 81 kilometers... 81 kilometers... 81 kilometers... Tang Yue closed his eyes as he kept repeating the number. They were still short by 81 kilometers! ¡°Worst of all, the Eagle¡¯s height is constantly dropping. The orbit it¡¯s currently in has a periapsis of 113 kilometers. Thender will brush past the Martian atmosphere at the periapsis, and lose energy. It¡¯s predicted that after one orbit, thender¡¯s height will reduce to 284 kilometers. When that happens, the height difference between the two will increase to 119.5 kilometers. ¡°Based on this trend, thender willpletely fall into the atmosphere after six orbits.¡± ¡°How much propent is left in the Eagle?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°There¡¯s 20% left,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°That bit of propent isn¡¯t enough toplete an orbital maneuver. It can only maintain its attitude.¡± 20%... 20%... 20%... 20%... 20%... Tang Yue shut his eyes tightly. There was only 20% of the propent left. ¡°In such a situation, there¡¯s no hope for any docking.¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°Tang Yue... I can understand your feelings. I¡¯m very regretful as well, but we¡¯ve already thrown everything we¡¯ve got and have nothing left. There¡¯s really nothing that can be done.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, don¡¯t...¡± Mai Dong said fearfully. ¡°Shut up,¡± Tang Yue said fiercely. ¡°Lady, we are saving your life. Do you get it? This is your life, not anyone else¡¯s! If you get it, please shut up! If you can¡¯t, please shut up as well! If you don¡¯t wish to live, let me do the thinking for you!¡± Tang Yue leaned onto the Mars rover as he closed his eyes. His limbs were already freezing cold, but his brain was surprisingly clear. The numbers reported to him by Tomcat churned through his head repeatedly as they meshed in and out of each other. The space station and thender¡¯s orbits began crossing before Tang Yue¡¯s eyes.¡± There¡¯s still a chance... There must be one final chance! It¡¯s buried in those numbers! Physics and mathematics were indeed irondws, but Tang Yue was a one in a trillion miracle! Tang Yue opened his eyes as the sand around him gradually distanced from him. He saw the damaged space station in the darkness as well as the distant Eagle which was tumbling out of control. At that instant, something seemed to run through his mind. ¡°Tomcat, we still have a chance.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Old Wang once said that I¡¯m a dull-looking man of great wisdom that shouldn¡¯t be messed with and that my mind works faster at critical moments. I didn¡¯t believe it back then, but I believe it now.¡± Tang Yue stood in the sand as the howling winds around him gradually softened. He seemed to be standing in the middle of the Universe speaking to the void. ¡°Tomcat, we still have a chance.¡± ¡°What chance?¡± Tomcat was astonished. ¡°If the mountain will note to Muhammad,¡± Tang Yue said softly, ¡°then Muhammad must go to the mountain!¡± Chapter 55: Sol Five, The Mountain Will Not Come to Muhammad

Chapter 55: Sol Five, The Mountain Will Not Come to Muhammad

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat was taken aback as it hurriedly jumped up. ¡°Hoooly hell, you are too f*cking crazy. Tang Yue, you really are a madman!¡± ¡°Will it work or not?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to do the math! I¡¯ll have to do the math!¡± Tomcat pushed the keyboard, stood up, and began pacing about the Hab. The light in its eyes flickered as massive amounts of data churned in its mind. Not a single detail could be missed out. ¡°The United Space Station doesn¡¯t have any driving force, making it unable to change orbits... Unable to change orbits... ¡°But we have Orion II!¡± Tomcat muttered to itself. ¡°After itpletes one cycle, the orbit difference in height between the Eagle and the United Space Station is about 120 kilometers... 120 kilometers! 120 kilometers!¡± Tomcat began to simte the trajectories of the two vehicles. It was equipped with a powerful CPU. The reason it often did calctions with pen and paper was that Tang Yue was present. It had to showcase and exin the calction process to him. Tomcat¡¯s pacing sped up as it fell into thought and calctions. It began to ess the possibility of the strategy. If the mountain will note to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain! Since the Eagle could no longer raise its orbital height, the United Space Station could lower its height! They could lower the United Space Station by 120 kilometers to catch the plummetingnder! Even if the space station didn¡¯te equipped with any driving force, they had Orion II on their hands. It was a powerful spacecraft! As a spacecraft to ferry passengers to and from Earth, the Orion II would have to elerate from a Martian orbit to a Hohmann transfer orbit before returning to Earth. As such, it came equipped with plenty of propents and a powerful driving force... If the space station was considered a floating tform that was at the waves¡¯ mercy, then Orion II was a powerful tugboat! They could use this powerful tugboat to move the floating tform forward! They could catch the dinghy that carried supplies before it sank! ¡°Time.¡± ¡°Time?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The key lies in the time. After every orbit, the Eagle will drop 280 kilometers from its orbital height after meeting with the space station. This will be when its closest to the space station. It¡¯s also our only chance,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If we miss this temporal node, thender¡¯s height will continue falling, and we will never be able to catch it.¡± ¡°How much more time do we have before that happens?¡± Tomcat took a look at the time. ¡°50 minutes!¡± ¡°We need to lower the space station¡¯s height by 120 kilometers in 50 minutes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not 50 minutes. ¡°We can¡¯t begin decelerating now. If we do not control the deceleration well, the space station will miss the Eagle. It has to do an orbital maneuver at the opportune time, allowing its orbit to intersect perfectly with thender.¡± Tomcat drew a curve on the table. ¡°At the point the Eagle reaches a height of 280 kilometers, the space station needs to pass by there!¡± ¡°Then how much time do we have?¡± ¡°1,320 seconds! We need to decelerate after 22 minutes!¡± Tomcat answered. To begin decelerating after 22 minutes. That gave them 28 minutes for the orbital maneuver before the deceleration. They needed to lower their height by 120 kilometers in 28 minutes. Such a violent orbital maneuver was probably unprecedented in human history. It was a swoop down with the space station falling at a speed faster than the Eagle, catching thender before it plunged into hell! Tomcat quickly calcted the thrust the Orion II¡¯s engines produced, the amount of propent left in the Orion II, the mass of the Orion II and United Space Station, the Eagle¡¯s orbital trajectory, thender¡¯s remnant propent, and the precise time the two would rendezvous. Massive amounts of data flowed through Tomcat¡¯s brain as it went into turbo. Its eyes were closed as smoke emitted from its orifices. There¡¯s less than 20% of the Eagle¡¯s propent left. After finishing one orbit, the rtive speed will be 120 m/s. The axial rolling angle is 15¡ã/s. The rockets in reverse will be able to reduce the speed to 6 m/s at best! It¡¯s impossible for a safe docking. It¡¯s impossible to dock... Then, we can only grapple it! Tomcat widened its eyes. It was astonished by its bold ideas. Never in human history had such a risky space n been put into motion. To be honest, this wasn¡¯t considered a n, but a crazy attempt. It was an all-or-nothing bet. Tomcat stood still in the middle of the Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab. It opened its eyes and muttered, ¡°F*ck. Tang Yue, you are really a genius.¡± ... ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Listen up! Immediately head to Orion II!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in Mai Dong¡¯s earpiece. ¡°Go, now!¡± Mai Dong was rmed, but she immediately followed the instructions. She donned a white IVA suit, and kicked off the module¡¯s wall and turned to leave the core module. Immediately following that, she passed through different hatches. The Orion II was located on the other end of the space station. It was connected to the Silent multipurpose module. The Silent module was the dedicated dock for the Orion spacecraft. Both Orion spacecraft were usually docked there. But now, with the Orion I having departed, all that was left was Orion II. Mai Dong moved through the long and narrow Silent module. Through the window, she could see the massive spacecraft docked outside. The Orion II¡¯s spacecraft used attice-type frame. The cabin for the crew, sr panels, propent tank, and the engine were all installed around the metallic frame. It looked thin and long, and its bulk was even bigger than the United Space Station. After all, this spacecraft could simrly support an entire scientific expedition¡¯s survival and activities. It also had a powerful power generation system, with a massive propent tank and a rocket engine. Usually, when the docking was maintained, the Orion spacecraft would form the United Space Station with the Mars Space Station. This was the origins of the word ¡°United¡± for the space station. It had nothing to do with the United Nations. Mai Dong opened the heavy hatch with great difficulty and went through the passage. She said, panting, ¡°Mr. Cat, I¡¯m inside!¡± ¡°Go to themand module!¡± Tomcat said. Five minutester. ¡°Mr. Cat, Mr. Cat... I¡¯m inside themand module!¡± ¡°Good. Miss Mai Dong, listen to me. Now, you will have to manually control this spacecraft! Do you understand what I mean? We need you to manually control the spacecraft!¡± Tomcat enunciated each and every word. The girl jumped in fright as she surveyed her surroundings. There was a dense array ofplicated buttons. It left her dazzled. ¡°Manually control? I-I-I-I¡¯ve never been trained...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Tomcat sat before its work desk. ¡°Neither have I.¡± ¡°Then... What do we do?¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± Tomcatughed through gritted teeth. It flipped through a maintenance manual as thick as a dictionary. ¡°Learn on the spot.¡± Chapter 56: Sol Five, Fly Towards the Sun

Chapter 56: Sol Five, Fly Towards the Sun

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong sat in themand module of the Orion II. She buckled her seatbelt and reached out to turn on the control panel¡¯s switch. With a clear series of clicking sounds, themand module¡¯s indicator lights and screens lit up. Following that, there was a humming sound. The slumbering spacecraft gradually awoke as the various systems began a self-inspection. Mai Dong had never manually controlled the Orion II. Or it should be said that she had never touched the Orion¡¯s flight controls. In the entire mission, the only professional astronauts were Old Wang and Thomp. Both of them knew how to control the beast, while the other payload specialists didn¡¯t have the capability to do so. In fact, the manual control system was only a redundancy. The Orion¡¯sputers had all the programs needed to return to Earth. In the past few decades, the Orion spacecraft had gone back and forth between Earth and Mars. The manual control system had never been used once. Today was the first time it was put into use. ¡°Mr. Cat, I¡¯m in position!¡± Mai Dong focused on the lit-up screen before her eyes. The white Englishbel ¡°ORION¡± slowly appeared as all sorts of colorful indicators blinked. ¡°Well done,dy.¡± Tomcat looked down and quickly flipped through the manual in its paws. This maintenance manual was about the thickness of an Oxford English dictionary. Even its writer probably hadn¡¯t memorized the entire book. However, Tomcat needed to memorize the manual in twenty minutes and gain mastery of it before teaching Mai Dong. It had confidence in Mai Dong. She had already proven herself to be a beautiful genius with a great learning capacity. As expected of a top student from Zhejiang University. It was truly unworthy of her talents for her to get her Master¡¯s degree at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Such a thought quickly flew through Tomcat¡¯s mind. ¡°Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. I¡¯m going to teach you how to do the inspection before the flight initiation! There are a total of seven categories with 200 steps. Do you copy?¡± Tomcat asked loudly. ¡°Repeat if you copy.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... There are a total of seven categories with 200 steps for the inspection before the flight initiation.¡± The girl¡¯s voice trembled a little as she rubbed her hands. Her palms were covered with sweat as was her short, ck hair that stuck to her forehead. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. You can do it! You definitely will! You are the smartestdy I¡¯ve met,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tang Yue, can you still hold on?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Tang Yue chuckled. ¡°My life... is stronger than a cockroach¡¯s.¡± 1,100 seconds left. The United Space Station was silently orbiting, hurtling through space at a speed of 3 km/s. Outside the station was the endless darkness for it was behind Mars. But far into the distance, there was a point of light, a result of the sun¡¯s reflection. It was Mars¡¯s moon, Deimos, and stood 23,000 kilometers away from Mars¡¯s surface. The other Martian moon was on the other side of Mars, and nothing of it could be seen. The Orion and the space station were connected. From afar, it looked sharp and jagged in a very irregr state. It was like a bamboo raft that had be a mess while drifting across the vast oceans. The United Space Station was supposed to be the best creation of humanity, an engineering masterpiece, but with it being sixty million kilometers away in deep space, it appeared like a frail and simple shack. In the face of the vast and broad United Space Station, human civilization¡¯s tiny achievements were not worth mentioning. It was even a littleughable. Time slowly passed in the dead silence of the void. 800 seconds left. ¡°FUEL... FUEL... Here¡¯s the FUEL!¡± Mai Dong pressed buttons in proper sequence and pointed at theplicated lines on the screen and confirmed them one by one. ¡°Following that, it¡¯s the conditions of Valve 1, 3, 22, 23, and 29... Mr. Cat! Code 1202 alert! Code 1208 alert! Code 1409 alert!¡± ¡°You can ignore Code 1202¡¯s alert! Close the alert!¡± Tomcat waved its paw. ¡°Code 1208... Code 1208¡¯s alert requires you to shut down Valve 20! You can ignore Code 1408¡¯s alert. Just close the alert!¡± 600 seconds left. ¡°NAC! NAC system panel!¡± Tomcat flipped the page of the maintenance as its gaze swept through the two pages. ¡°NAC systems activated.¡± ¡°Listen up. You will see two neat rows of white buttons on the control panel. On the first row, from left to right, press the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, eleventh buttons. Then, on the second row, press the fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth buttons!¡± ¡°First row. Second! Fourth! Seventh! Ninth! Eleventh! ¡°Second row. Fourth! Fifth! Sixth! Ninth! Tenth!¡± The girl pressed down on her earpiece. ¡°Done!¡± ¡°What does it say on the screen?¡± ¡°Program Adjustment Completed.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± Mai Dong followed closely with Tomcat¡¯s pace as it worked like a machine gun. Her actions were also akin to a machine gun. The massive andplicated Orion spacecraft gradually recovered its activity under her hands. The program in the spacecraft¡¯sputer was being modified bit by bit. In spots where Mai Dong couldn¡¯t see¡ªthe thousands of valves inside the spacecraft, the electric lines, pipes, and the actuators¡ªwere all experiencing changes. They were sending outmands from themand module to every corner of the spacecraft. The Orion II which doubled up to carry cargo and passengers was transforming into a powerful tugboat. 400 seconds left. Tomcat focused on theputer screen. It was strictly measuring and calcting the space station¡¯s and the Eagle¡¯s trajectories. Thetter would plummet into the atmosphere after six orbits around Mars. Thender was like a fish jumping out of water, and the United Space Station was a fisherman with a longted bag in its hands. They only had one chance for the catch... When the fish jumped to its highest point, they had to extend the below to intercept it. If they missed this chance, the fish would fall back into the water, and they would never have another chance of fishing it out. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, turn on the data connection between the Orion and Kunlun Station!¡± ¡°Turned on! The data link has been established!¡± ¡°I¡¯m rewriting the flight program!¡± Tomcat roared as its paws flew across the keyboard. ¡°Help me watch it by the side!¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°When I add a number, look at it! See if it appears on the screen! Make sure that there are no mistakes!¡± Tomcat said, ¡°First up, 112.7!¡± ¡°112.7!¡± ¡°Second, 202.4!¡± ¡°202.4!¡± ¡°214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!¡± ¡°214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!¡± Tomcat was as deep as water. Mai Dong¡¯s expression was heavy. This was a crazy attempt, a real all-out bet that was a desperate action to fight for her dear life. No one knew if it would work, nor did anyone know if it would seed. There wasn¡¯t even a 2.477% chance of sess this time. 200 seconds left. A huge bright outline slowly appeared against the pitch-ck background. It was a curve like a new moon¡ªMars horizon. The sunlight behind the was lighting up the boundary and atmosphere of Mars. In this intersection of light and darkness, a blinding but resplendent light rose up like a mountain. It felt like an awe-inspiring power was being born behind it. The long night was finally over. The sun had risen once again. The dark red ins, mountains, and valleys swept beneath the United Space Station. Mai Dong looked up at the light before her as her thin face was being illuminated. She suddenly had the illusion that... she was flying towards the sun. Ten seconds left. Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in her earpiece. ¡°Ten! ¡°Nine!¡± Mai Dong closed her eyes. All that could be done had been done. There was nothing else she could do. ¡°Eight! ¡°Seven! ¡°Six! The control panel¡¯s indicator lights lit up. The Orion II¡¯sputer began to issuemands as the rocket engine¡¯s turbine pumps were activated! ¡°Five!¡± A slight tremor reached out from behind her as the vibrations grew increasingly intense. From the seat to the console deck, there were loud thudding sounds. ¡°Four!¡± The propent was injected into thebustion chamber as it was ignited! ¡°Three!¡± The engine¡¯s nozzles spewed out bright mes. At that instant, the light it emitted, even overwhelmed the sun. The massive Orion II began adjusting its direction. ¡°Two!¡± The girl sped the seat and seatbelt tightly. She could feel the massive thrusting from behind her as the powerful G forces pressed her to her chair. ¡°One!¡± Tomcat roared. ¡°Orion, away you go¡ª!¡± Chapter 57: Sol Five, The Solitary Shout

Chapter 57: Sol Five, The Solitary Shout

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Sitting in themand module, Mai Dong heard the Orion II¡¯s engine emit a deafening boom. The vibrations and sound traveled through the metallic frame and even themand module was shaking violently. A massive force pressed Mai Dong down on the chair as the Orion II began its reverse eleration. By using the Orion II as a driving force, it would allow the United Space Station to engage in an orbital maneuver. This was Tang Yue¡¯s idea, but this attempt was overly bold and crude. They needed to lower the United Space Station¡¯s orbit to 128 kilometers in a short span of 28 minutes. Instead of calling it an orbital maneuver, it was better off calling it a plummet. However, they needed to control the space station¡¯s plummet and allow it to precisely intercept the Eagle. Tomcat stared at theputer screen. It was monitoring the Eagle and the United Space Station¡¯s situation simultaneously. Even though thender¡¯sputer was bugging out and control of its attitude was lost, itsmunications system was still in operation. It sent a signal back every two seconds. The United Space Station was decelerating at high speeds as the Orion II¡¯s power engines kicked into gear. The tugboat was beginning to push the floating tform to a designated sector where it would meet the dinghy with the supplies. It followed a preset trajectory to lower its height, but Tomcat continued paying attention. The only rigid connection between the Orion spacecraft and space station was the APAS. The massive amount of thrust produced by the engine would be acted on the space station through the APAS. This was their only connection, just like the chain linking the tugboat to the floating tform. Tomcat was extremely grateful to the engineers on Earth who had helped in the design. They had sacrificed weight to ensure that the APAS design was as firm as a ship¡¯s anchor. Now, the firm APAS connection might be the thing that saved Mai Dong¡¯s life. In the past decade or so, the United Space Station had never experienced such a violent orbital maneuver. Under normal circumstances, the adjustment of the space station¡¯s orbit would be on the order of a hundred meters. It would use an engine to float about a hundred meters, taking a very long time at a slow speed, exerting very little pressure on it. To reduce the height by 120 kilometers in half an hour was absolutely unprecedented. The space station and Orion weren¡¯t structures meant to bear stress. Their main bodies were a framework and sr panels, just like a put-together Lego toy. Such a structure on the surface might copse under its own weight. A sudden deceleration and a lowering in height brought it immense stress, making it a harsh test and a challenge for the United Space Station. Tomcat didn¡¯t know if the sr panels and Orion were able to ride it through. Mai Dong sped the armrest of her chair tightly. She waspletely immobile from the eleration forces, being pressed down to her chair... The entire spacecraft was vibrating violently as though it would disintegrate at any moment. ¡°WARNING: HEIGHT REDUCTION!¡± ¡°WARNING: SPEED REDUCTION!¡± ¡°WARNING: LOSS OF POSTURE!¡± The console deck began to produce sharp warning alerts. The robotic female voice repeated the warnings in themand module as windows kept popping up as they shed in red. Theputer indicated that speed and height were rapidly reducing. The stress ced on the APAS, as the frame was rising rapidly, putting the space station at risk of disintegrating. The pale Mai Dong clenched her teeth, almost unable to think normally. The intense vibrations made her stomach church. If not for the seatbelt holding her firmly to the seat, Mai Dong would have hit her head onto the console deck the moment the engine initialized. She couldn¡¯t control the Orion, and could only trust in Kunlun Station¡¯s Tang Yue and Tomcat. ¡°Hold on! Hold on! Hold on... You must hold on for me!¡± Tomcat clenched its paws. It could also see the alerts on the space station. The vibrations happening in the space station and the Orion exceeded expectations. This was possibly because the two bodies were resonating with one another. As it was in a rush for time, Tomcat didn¡¯t have the time to consider such minute details, but now, it was worried that the resonance might destroy the space station, taking Mai Dong¡¯s life with it. ¡°Miss Mai Dong... can you hold on?¡± ¡°Yes... Yes...¡± The girl gritted her teeth as she squeezed those words between them. She couldn¡¯t open her mouth or she would bite off her tongue. The Orion¡¯s engine spewed out mes extending more than ten meters. From a distance away, the United Space Station¡¯s brightness was increasing as though it was Mars¡¯s third natural satellite. Immediately following that, this satellite¡¯s height and speed kept decreasing. It was like a rock being thrown by someone. After it reached its apex, it followed a trajectory downwards. Tomcat watched intently. The blip on the screen was following a descending trajectory with precise uracy. The facts proved that as long as theputer didn¡¯t bug out, Tomcat¡¯s designed orbital maneuver was rather reliable. On the other hand, the Eagle had alreadypleted one orbit around Mars and was heading straight for the predetermined intersection point. Tomcat stared at the height and speed of the United Space Station. The two numbers were rapidly changing. A height of 366.7 kilometers. The Eagle was still 4,119 kilometers from the grappling point. ... Tang Yue stood on Mars, feeling as though the wind speeds had dropped a little. This was because the noise from the wind had weakened... Of course, it might also be possible that his auditory senses had been affected as a result of his clouded mind. The numbness in his legs rose to his torso. Tang Yue felt as though he had lost all feeling beneath his chest. He seemed to be suffering from severe paraplegia, unable to move his left hand as it felt stiff like wood. Every joint had rusted and needed a good oiling. ¡°A height of 325.8 kilometers! Attitude control rockets initiated! Space station¡¯s attitude stabilize... stabilize!¡± Tomcat¡¯s reporting voice echoed in the earpiece. ¡°The Eagle is 3611 kilometers away from the grappling point!¡± A height of 366.7 kilometers. ¡°The Eagle is still 3,207 kilometers from the grappling point!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded like the grinding gears in a watch. ¡°A height of 310.4 kilometers! ¡°The Eagle is still 2,989 kilometers from the grappling point!¡± Tang Yue looked up at the darkness above him. He knew that deep in space three hundred kilometers above him, two tiny spacecraft were arduously making their way to approach each other. The United Space Station wasrge, spanning billions of light-years. Yet, they had to draw out two trajectories that would meet in this vast void, with the slightest difference implying failure. This was the fate of the United Space Station, the Eagle, as well as Mai Dong¡¯s fate. Tang Yue pumped himself up as he took a deep breath before shouting at the top of his voice. ¡°Comrade RD-0172! Russia is vast but there is nowhere to retreat. It¡¯s Moscow behind us!¡± ¡°Comrade United Space Station! For freedom! For equality! For all mankind!¡± ¡°Comrade Mai Dong! For the Party and the country! For Socialism with Chinese Characteristics! All the best!¡± Tang Yue roared with his face flushed, yelling at the top of his voice. Even though no one could hear his shouting in the dark world, what could an ant-like man¡¯s solitary shouts in the Universe change? In this mission that meant life and death, Tang Yue was the only spectator and cheerleader. However, he was powerless to change the situation or alter its oue. His voice wouldn¡¯t even go beyond five meters. There might not be an even more foolish action than this in the world. A man was standing alone in destion, making theughable action of shouting in a hurricane-filled desert. Yet, he shouted in an indomitable fashion, with unbending tenacity. ¡°Comrade RD-0172! Comrade United Space Station! Comrade Mai Dong! All the best¡ª!¡± Chapter 58: Sol Five, The Arm

Chapter 58: Sol Five, The Arm

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The United Space Station was at a height of 300 kilometers. The Eagle was still 2,033 kilometers from the grappling point. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Your vital stats appear abnormal! Can you still hold on?¡± Tomcat looked at theputer¡¯s warning. A few of Mai Dong¡¯s vital stats were approaching their limits, such as her elerating heartbeat and rising blood pressure. ¡°It¡¯s... fine... Mr. Cat, I¡¯m... fine...¡± Mai Dong replied. She opened her eyes slightly, but her eyeballs were flushed red with blood as her vision was darkened. The Orion was still shaking violently like a boat thrashing in a storm. A loud creaking sound wasing from somewhere, and it sounded like a particr structure was suffering immense torsional forces as it let out a moan before it buckled. Through the window, one could see Mars¡¯s brownish-red surface. The rising sun illuminated everything as mountain valleys, thousands of meters long, appeared like thin, faint lines. The magnificent world was rushing at her that very moment, something Mai Dong enjoyed very much. Witnessing this unimaginable scene seemed to make her soul undergo sublimation. But she found it difficult to even open her eyes. The intense vibrations made her organs churn. Mai Dong didn¡¯t know how long this state wouldst, and she felt that she would die sooner orter if this continued. Mai Dong, hold on! Hold on! She told herself silently. 2,000 kilometers away. The Eagle was tumbling along its orbit without any forces acting on it. Thender¡¯s buggyputer didn¡¯t seem to know how much trouble it had stirred as it continued receiving the data from its various sensors. Then, it would send it out through the antenna. Even though the Eagle had lost control of its attitude, theputer still believed that it was flying normally¡ªa result of Tomcat shutting down its stabilizer rockets. Tomcatpletely cut the Eagleputer¡¯s control over its rockets for it didn¡¯t wish the buggyputer to touch them again. The Eagle had less than 20% of its propents left, and they were critical for the grappling. If theputer went nuts again and turned on the engine for no good reason, the propents would be expended, putting an end to their endeavor. There wasn¡¯t any time for a contingent inspection or fixing the bug in the program; therefore, Tomcat decided to just neuter theputer system. Ten minutes left. ¡°Initiate RD-0172 engine. Commencing attitude adjustment!¡± Tomcat¡¯smand was issued from Kunlun Station, sending the signal from a ry satellite to thender. The rocket engines were initiated as high-speed exhaust exerted a backward force from the direction in which the Eagle was tumbling forward. Coupled with the gyroscope, thender¡¯s tumbling speed was gradually lowered. It was thest propents the RD-0172 had, and every bit used meant every bit less. Tomcat stared at thender¡¯s solid line trajectory and the predicted path gradually ovep as the status of the propent, depicted on the screen, kept dropping. It went from 19% to 16%, and from 16% to 14% in the next update. Soon, it entered a red warning zone as Tomcat broke out into a sweat figuratively. ¡°CONSISTENT PATH!¡± Tomcat hurriedly shut down the engine when the red window blinked! It was time to change direction! ¡°Decelerate!¡± Tomcat roared. The space station was at a height of 290 kilometers, and the Eagle was still 507 kilometers from the grappling point! The Eagle and the space station¡¯s rtive speed was as high as 20 m/s. Tomcat had to reduce the speed, and initiate the RD-0172 one final time. This Russian rocket had finallye to the end of its life after all the meritorious services it had rendered. This veteran had shot out its final bullet, expending thest fuel in its reservoir with a mighty boom to give the Eagle that negative thrust! ¡°Comrade RD-0172, Hurrah¡ª!¡± Tomcat roared. ¡°Stop it for me!¡± The Eagle¡¯s rtive speed rapidly dropped. The numbers were refreshed as theputer produced the trajectory prediction of the Eagle and the space station. Thender¡¯s trajectory was indicated in blue, while the space station¡¯s trajectory was indicated in red. The two lines perfectly intersected in the middle of the screen. At the point of intersection, the Eagle¡¯s estimated height would be 284,633 meters, while the United Space Station was estimated to be 284,696 meters. There was a gap of 63 meters¡ªthe United Space Station was 63 meters higher than thender. That also meant that the Eagle would sweep past beneath the space station¡¯s feet, and the two would brush shoulders. ¡°Short of 63 meters?¡± Mai Dong was rmed. ¡°Can the space station¡¯s height be lowered again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s already toote to micro-adjust the space station. Rashly lowering its height might cause thender to m right into the space station. The Eagle has already expended all of its propents. We can¡¯t control it.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°However, this difference was within our expectations.¡± ¡°Then, what do we do now?¡± the girl asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it short of over sixty meters? How will the docking work?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t docking!¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°We aren¡¯t docking?¡± Mai Dong was stunned. ¡°Yes, we have never said that we were going to dock. Thender is uncontroble, and the rtive speed is too high, so a docking will definitely fail,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We are going to grapple it!¡± ¡°Grapple? How?¡± Mai Dong was a nk. She didn¡¯t know what it meant. Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded in thems, as he said with Tomcat in unison, ¡°The arm!¡± ... The arm. The official name was the Mars Space Station Remote Maniptor System (MSSRMS). It had also been called Canadarm70. This was the longest and biggest robotic arm built in human history. Its senior was the decorated Canadarm2, a robotic arm contributed by Canada for the old International Space Station. However, the robotic arm installed on the ISS was 19 meters long, while the Mars United Space Station¡¯s arm was 70 meters long! The United Space Station had many robotic arms, but this was the most striking one. It was built by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and it was mainly built of an aluminum and epoxyposite. It had twelve degrees of freedom and was very light and agile. It was installed in the middle of the frame where it was stablest and sturdiest. The tform at the end of the arm could carry a few astronauts for them to carry out maintenance and repairs on the space station or spacecraft. It was made so long because the Orion spacecraft were massive. If the robotic arm was too short, it wasn¡¯t able to grapple it, making it inconvenient for the maintenance. The CSA had once argued with NASA. CSA: Seventy meters!? Seventy meters!? Do you know what seventy meters are? I¡¯m telling you, even if I were to jump out of this window and die outside, I wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to build something like that! NASA: You aren¡¯t doing it? We¡¯ll just source it to the CNSA then. CSA: We¡¯ll do it. Mai Dong turned her head in a daze as she looked out of the window. She could see the white gigantic robotic arm slowly opening. Its joints and axle bearings were spinning and locking on before slowly leaving the frame. Only then did she realize what Tang Yue and Tomcat were attempting. Chapter 59: Sol Five, Seventy-Meter-Long Surgical Knife

Chapter 59: Sol Five, Seventy-Meter-Long Surgical Knife

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong stumbled through the narrow passageway as she entered the Orion¡¯s airlock. She then hurriedly donned the heavy EVA suit. ¡°Quick! Quick! Quick! Quiiicck! Lady, be quicker! A little bit quicker!¡± Tomcat stared at the time on the screen as it controlled the arm to open. The Eagle was approaching the United Space Station, and time waited for no man. Mai Dong only had one chance, and if she missed it, they had no other means of grappling thender. Mai Dongtched the safety tether to her body. This was the longest nylon safety tether in the space station, with a length of 500 meters that could withstand fifteen tonnes of tension. She then twisted open the airlock¡¯s outer hatch as she shouted, panting, ¡°Mr. Cat! Mr. Cat... I¡¯m out!¡± ¡°OK!¡± The arm was already waiting for her outside the airlock. Mai Dong gently nudged the airlock¡¯s wall as she clumsily floated out. Her feet touched the end of the robotic arm¡¯s repair tform as she locked herself in. ¡°Stand tight,dy!¡± Tomcat said in the tone of an excavator who graduated from Lanxiang 1 ¡°I¡¯m going to send you over!¡± The arm began moving and its folds began to open segment at a time. It carried Mai Dong to a spot where the Eagle was predicted to pass. Together with the United Space Station, it adjusted its attitude as it slowly tumbled. From afar, it did look like the space station had extended a strange, long arm to intercept the passing Eagle. Although the im was that they were going to grapple the Eagle, the arm wasn¡¯t a crab¡¯s w. It wasn¡¯t able to directly catch thender that was hurtling past at high speeds. On the contrary, as the arm was, in fact, a rather weak structure, there was no way it could withstand the force from the impact. Therefore, not only was it unable to stop the Eagle, it had to maintain a distance. It couldn¡¯t make any physical contact with thender to prevent any idents. Therefore, the one who was truly burdened with the grappling mission was Mai Dong. She carried with her a handheldser range finder and by her chest was a nylon safety tether. Mai Dong stood on the arm and through her transparent visor, she could see the brownish-red Martian surface beneath her feet. The water vapor from her breathing condensed on the ss as her eyes reflected a resplendent light. This wasn¡¯t her first time doing a spacewalk. When Commander Old Wang went out into space to do maintenance, Mai Dong had requested to be taken along. She was often excited and nervous when floating in space. She had always said that living in space for her entire life would be a wonderful thing. Old Wang was left rather exasperated about that. He was a man with a wife and children. How could he spend his entire life in space? People who lived their lives in space also had another great title... Martyrs . ¡°Miss Mai Dong!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°Repeat the gist of the procedure again!¡± ¡°Alright... The procedure¡¯s gist... 5 seconds!¡± ¡°Yes, 5 seconds!¡± Tomcat nodded. Five seconds was the amount of time Tomcat had won for Mai Dong. The arm¡¯s maximum length was 70 meters, and thender¡¯s trajectory when flying past the space station had a straight-line distance of 60 meters. Based on a simple calction, with 70 meters as the radius of a circle, a 60-meter-long line segment from the center of the circle made it possible to make contact with the Eagle. This line segment¡¯s length was 60 meters, and thender¡¯s rtive speed was 6 m/s. Therefore, the Eagle would pass by the arm¡¯s grappling range for about 10 seconds. However, the arm wasn¡¯t a straight line, and its speed whilst moving would be unable to keep up with the flying Eagle. Therefore, Mai Dong only had 5 seconds to make contact with thender. In these 5 seconds, Tomcat would remotely control the arm to move in the same direction as the Eagle, doing its best to reduce the rtive speed between the two, to create the conditions needed for Mai Dong¡¯s operations. Mai Dong had to grapple the Eagle in 5 seconds. ¡°Safety tether!¡± ¡°Yes, safety tether.¡± Tomcat nodded. Mai Dong needed to buckle the safety tether to the Eagle. The safety tether with high tensile strength could withstand more than ten tonnes of tension, so it had the ability to make the Eagle stop. However, thender¡¯s surface was smooth, so there were few ces where the safety tether couldtch on to it. Themand module¡¯s emergency escape hatch had a handle, and there were two such hatches on both sides of the spacecraft. As long as Mai Dongtched the safety tether to any one of the handles, they would be able to stop the Eagle. The high-tensile safety tether was 500 meters long, so once the connection was confirmed, Tomcat would gradually pull in the rope, giving the Eagle 500 meters to decelerate until it reached zero speed. ¡°Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. I¡¯ll be under yourmand,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Theser range finder is with you, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The girl pulled out theser range finder from the tool bag in front of her chest. The handheldser range finder was shaped like a digital video camera. It was small in size, but extremely urate. In previous rendezvous missions, astronauts would often use this gizmo to aid them with the docking. Mai Dong could already see the Eagle from afar. It was a tiny point that reflected white light, appearing very striking in the pitch-ck background. She raised theser range finder. ¡°A distance of 1202.44 meters... Mr. Cat, move left 0.52 meters.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± Tomcat controlled the arm and slowly moved it. ¡°There¡¯s another 6.2¡ã difference... Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± The Eagle could no longer be controlled, so Tomcat and Mai Dong could only adjust their own attitude to align with thender¡¯s state. Without a doubt, it was highly risky doing so. Mai Dong had to approach the Eagle from inches away. She wasn¡¯t able to grapple onto it if it was too far, but being too close made a collision possible. This was akin to Mai Dong holding a rope by the roadside with a huge eight-wheeler, weighing more than ten tonnes, zooming by. She had totch the rope onto the vehicle¡¯s side mirror at the instant it passed by. If there was any problem with her positioning, the rope would either nottch on, or she wouldtch on together with the rope. This was a precise operation that resembled surgery. Tomcat, who was 300 kilometers away had to remotely control a 70-meter-long robotic arm doing precise adjustments of just centimeters. But no surgeon in this world could use a 70-meter-long scalpel for surgery. ¡°Distance of 1031.74 meters. Mr. Cat, move right 0.30 meters.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was light as she noticed that the Eagle was gradually bing bigger. Now, she could see the paint and logos on thender. ¡°Roger that!¡± ¡°Adjust the elevation angle by 3¡ã.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± Tomcat¡¯s response was sinct and forceful. ¡°Lock up.¡± Mai Dong put away theser range finder and stuffed it into the tool bag by her chest. ¡°Locked up!¡± Tomcat pressed a button as the arm¡¯s internal motors and bearings locked up! Mai Dong held the nylon safety tether in her hand as she took a deep breath. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Miss Mai Dong! I notice that your EVA suit¡¯s pressure is dropping!¡± Tomcat warned. ¡°Yes.¡± The girl nodded. ¡°I¡¯m lowering the pressure; otherwise, I¡¯ll be too bulky and won¡¯t be able to bend my limbs. It would affect my mobility.¡± Mai Dong stood alone in deep space as she looked at the distantnder. She suddenly calmed down as the Eagle approached silently. The painted eagle on its body wasrge and striking. Chapter 60: Sol Five, Five Seconds That Can Give Birth to Ten Thousand Stars

Chapter 60: Sol Five, Five Seconds That Can Give Birth to Ten Thousand Stars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Badump... Badump... Badump... Badump! Mai Dong could clearly hear her heartbeat as her heart hit again and again inside her chest, tenacious and forceful. Logically speaking, sound couldn¡¯t be transmitted into the surrounding vacuum. The Universe was supposed to be a dead silence, but Mai Dong could actually hear a lot of sounds¡ªher heartbeat, the sloshing of water in her in-suit drink bag, the rustling of her hair against the inner lining of the helmet, the static in her earpiece, and the humming sound from the EVA suit¡¯s life support system, as well as the vibrational noises from the arm¡¯s operations. These minute movements were inaudible under ordinary conditions, but the silent background entuated them. Together, they sounded like a symphonic medley. Speaking of which, the Universe wasn¡¯t silent. The vacuum wasn¡¯tpletely devoid of matter. It was actually filled with radiation, energy, and particles that were naked to the human eye. From neutrinos to microwave background radiation, there was energy everywhere. Gravity was also producing ripples in space. If humans were able to sense these things, the Universe would appear like a boiling pot. The background radiation would be like the bottom of a red-hot pot, while the quantum energy fluctuations were bubbles that rose up and burst on the water surface. The Universe was a radio station in which no one spoke. It was constantly filled with random white noise. This was actually a noisy world. Mai Dong stood at the end of the arm, as she held the shackle of the safety tether. The white Eagle was rapidly burgeoning in her sights as though it was a train approaching her. At this moment, the Eagle only had its ascent portion. Themand module and the rocket engine added up to about five meters. Mai Dong could see the small circr emergency hatch on themand module which was used by astronauts to escape in an emergency. There was another one behind the Eagle. Under normal circumstances, the passengers would exit from the passageway at the bottom of themand module, entering and exiting from the space station¡¯s APAS. The emergency hatch was typically not used unless there was a fire in the module. These two hatches were connected to the spacecraft¡¯s body via pyrotechnic fasteners. If an ident happened, the passengers would be issued with an emergencymand for evacuation. The hatch would be sent flying far away, which was to say that the hatches couldn¡¯t be closed once they were opened. In an inoperative state, the emergency hatch was bolted down to the spacecraft and extremely secure as it didn¡¯t have anyplicated hinges or locking mechanisms. It simply used an explosive method to open it¡ªsimple and brutal. What Tomcat wanted was simple and brutal. Thender had already proven that the moreplicated something was, the easier it was for a problem to ur at critical stages with its buggyputer. Reality had proven that the simpler things were, the more reliable they were in emergencies. There was a handle by the emergency hatch. After Tomcat thought through the matter, it felt that there were only two spots where the safety tether couldtch onto the Eagle. The boundary of the APAS actually allowed for the safety rope totch on, but Tomcat suspected that the APAS was unable to withstand the immense tension. After the safety tethertched onto the Eagle, Tomcat would immediately reel in the rope and pull thender back, reducing its rtive speed to zero. This was like using a rope to stop an eight-wheeler that was sliding forward. The process would result in immense tension. For safety purposes, Tomcat naturally decided totch onto a capstan or the bumper instead of the car te. Tomcat finally used the APAS as a backup choice. If Mai Dong failed to catch the emergency hatch, the next choice would be the APAS. ¡°Ten seconds.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in Mai Dong¡¯s earpiece. Mai Dong slowly held her breath. ¡°Five seconds.¡± The Eagle was just inches away. Seeing the massive machine silently fly over was counterintuitive. Mai Dong subconsciously felt that something was pushing at it. Tomcat stared intently at the screen. It had opened the arm¡¯s camera, allowing it to see the figure in the EVA suit. It could also see the approaching Eagle. Thender was already very close. But it wasn¡¯t the time. The rtive speed between the Eagle and the space station was 6 m/s. This speed was too high. With thender being more than ten tonnes in weight, the kic energy it possessed while moving at 6 m/s was terrifying. Even without a direct impact, just being brushed by it would be fatal. The train hadn¡¯t entered the station. Tomcat was waiting. It was waiting for thender to enter the big circle with a radius of seventy meters¡ªthe operational range of the arm. ¡°Three seconds!¡± The Eagle flew by Mai Dong¡¯s eyes like the head of a train rumbling past themuters waiting at the tform. The train was in the station! ¡°Arm is at fixed length! Commencing roll! Countdown of five seconds¡ª!¡± Tomcat suddenly mmed the keyboard as it roared, ¡°Mai Dong¡ª!¡± The arm received themand as its gyroscope firmly locked in ce! The motors were initiated! It was like a remote arm used when filming movies. It moved in the same direction as the Eagle, its directionality already locked. The path it would take was a very strict straight line. In the next five seconds, Mai Dong and the Eagle¡¯s rtive speed would be zero! Mai Dong leaned forward as she tried her best to reach thender¡¯s outer shell. The emergency hatch was right before her eyes, almost at arm¡¯s length. As long as she grabbed onto it, she could be holding onto the Eagle. She would be able to seize her fate in her hand! But the girl was suddenly taken aback. She wasn¡¯t about to touch the Eagle. She couldn¡¯t reach it. Mai Dong¡¯s arm was too short. There had been a slight error in the measured distance and angle. This error was a negligible five centimeters. In ordinary situations, this couldpletely be understood. After all, she was human and not a machine. A tiny error didn¡¯t matter in the big scheme of things. But at that moment, Mai Dong¡¯s hand was five centimeters from the Eagle. At times, life and death were separated by just five centimeters. ... As the arm moved in synchronization with the Eagle, they were moving on that circle with a radius of seventy meters. The arm would soon not keep up with thender¡¯s speed. There were only five seconds when they would move alongside each other. How long was five seconds? The lungs could rx and contract twice, breathing in 600 milliliters of air. The heart could beat five times, pumping 375 milliliters of blood. The brain could imagine the voice and expression of a lover,manding the hypothmus and the pituitary nd to produce dopamine. Sound could travel 1,500 meters. The Earth would have moved 150 kilometers. Light would have traveled 1.5 million kilometers. The Universe would have expanded by 150 million light-years. Five seconds in the Universe was sufficient to give birth to ten thousand stars. A person could fall in love with another person given five seconds. Or they could make a decision. How many history-changing decisions in the world were decided in five seconds? ¡°Mr. Cat!¡± Mai Dong shouted through gritted teeth. ¡°Release the tform¡¯s lock!¡± Tomcat was rmed, but it didn¡¯t say a word as it immediately removed the lock. ¡°Lock released.¡± The girl sped the safety tether tightly as she used all her strength as she faced Mars, the vast deep space, and the Eagle before jumping! Chapter 61: Sol Five, Grab onto That Shackle

Chapter 61: Sol Five, Grab onto That Shackle

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong mmed onto the Eagle¡¯s hull. Thender, that was moving thanks to its inertia, received a sideways impact making it deviate from its original trajectory, despite the tiny amount of force. The girl subconsciously grabbed onto the hatch¡¯s handle. She had taken the risk to lower the pressure in the EVA suit, and reality proved that she had a prescience. After lowering the pressure, the EVA suit wasn¡¯t as bulky as before. It allowed her to conveniently move her hips. As Mai Dong tightly grabbed onto the hatch¡¯s handle with one hand, thender flew away from the United Space Station along with her. The distance between it and the arm grew. Thisdy had failed totch the rope onto the trailer, but she ended up jumping onto it. She panted heavily, her body weak. The jump had expended all her strength. She didn¡¯t even have the strength to raise her arm. Any activity in space would expend several times more strength than it would on Earth. She was famished. Having starved for several days, with her constantly in a worried and insomniac state, her body and mind were exhausted. In the past twelve hours, she had almost got zero rest. She had been working with Tomcat the entire time. God knew how thedy had managed tost this long. She was only a studious scientist who had never done any physicalbor. The only connection between Mai Dong and the United Space Station was the safety tether. This thin nylon rope was five hundred meters long. The Eagle was flying at about 5 m/s, giving her less than a hundred seconds to cover that five hundred meters. Mai Dong summoned every ounce of strength as she held onto the handle. Her fingers were sore and numb, but she didn¡¯t dare release her grip. Her helmet was held close to the Eagle¡¯s wall. Mai Dong had failed to hold onto the other end of the safety tether as it flew out. It was floating not far beside her. The dark red rope was like a thin, warped snake. The girl struggled to reach out her hand to grab the shackle. However, the safety tether was as slippery as an eel. Just contact with it sent it floating further away. There was no way to grab it. Her three attempts failed as the safety tether slowly floated a distance away... Mai Dong turned her head to nce at the United Space Station. The arm was already fifty meters away from her. The safety tether on her body was only five hundred meters long. Once thender exceeded this distance, Mai Dong would be dragged back by the rope. She had totch the second safety rope to the Eagle within a hundred seconds. The earpiece was silent. Tomcat and Tang Yue both knew it was a critical moment. None of them dared to make a sound, afraid of disturbing her. All they could do was wait for the news with bated breath. Mai Dong pressed her head against the insides of the helmet. She took deep breaths for a few seconds as she turned to look at the red safety tether. Ropes that were long and soft objects wereplicated when force was exerted on them. They could float in a vacuum as the force exerted on them would pass through their internal structure. Any perturbation would result affect it greatly. Its trajectory was difficult to predict, so Mai Dong didn¡¯t dare waste her strength again after a few consecutive failures. All she could do was rest and wait for an opportunity. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, take note. You are now 150 meters away from the United Space Station,¡± Tomcat warned. Mai Dong nodded. Just float a little nearer... Just float a little nearer... Mai Dong tried hard to reach out as the shackle floated a meter beyond her. It twisted without showing any signs of approaching. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, take note. You are now 200 meters away from the United Space Station.¡± Damn it... Float a bit nearer! Mai Dong was anxious. She could sense that her physical strength was waning. Her limbs were gradually turning sore and limp. Her final strength was being drained from her body bit by bit. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, take note. You are now 300 meters away from the United Space Station.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was heavy. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you copy?¡± ¡°C... opied...¡± Mai Dong made another attempt as the safety rope¡¯s shackle floated before her index finger. She failed to grab it. The safety tether connecting her EVA suit to the United Space Station was gradually being pulled taut. The five-hundred-meter long rope was slowly unfolding in the vacuum. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you are now 400 meters away from the United Space Station.¡± Tomcat was burning with anxiety. ¡°You have at most twenty seconds. Can youtch on?¡± The girl was sweating profusely. Mai Dong stared intently at the floating shackle. It floated to a distance two meters away but was yanked back by the safety tether, resulting in it slowly floating back. The shackle oscited in this manner, each trip taking about twenty seconds. At its furthest, it was about two meters away from Mai Dong, but at its nearest, it was half a meter away. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you have ten seconds!¡± Mai Dong counted silently in her head as the shackle was beginning to move back towards her. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you have eight seconds!¡± The girl¡¯s attention was fully on the tiny gadget. It was a metallic fastener, and behind it was a long rope. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you have six seconds!¡± Mai Dong took a deep breath. Instantly, there was silence as Tomcat suddenly became distant. The shackle floating closest to Mai Dong and was preparing to float backward. The girl slightly released her grip of the hatch¡¯s handle, extending her reach by two centimeters. Right on the heels of that, Mai Dong reached out her hand with all her might, sping the shackle firmly in her hand! Mai Dong yanked the shackle and turned around totch it onto the Eagle¡¯s handle. With a click, it was secured! The safety tether suddenly tightened! ¡°Mr. Cat¡ª!¡± Mai Dong shouted at the top of her voice. It was a hysterical shout. ¡°Roger that!¡± F*cking asshole! Eagle,e back¡ª!¡± Tomcat jumped up as it mmed onto the button. The girl was exhausted. She could no longer grab onto thender. Thetter¡¯s flight had reached the limit of the safety tether as the straightened rope pulled the Eagle back. Mai Dong watched as thender slowly moved further as she silentlyy inside her EVA suit and floated in the vacuum. She was just too tired. All sound had distanced from her, and her body seemed to melt into the surrounding void. All that was left was her consciousness. A baffling sense of tranquility and warmth slowly inundated her as though she had returned to the origins of life¡ªshe was back in her mother¡¯s womb as a fetus. To the Universe, humans might forever be infants who had yet to open their eyes in the amniotic sac. Through the ss visor, Mai Dong saw the resplendent stars that filled the sky. ... Kunlun Station. There was dead silence in the hall. Tomcat sat in front of the work desk, motionless. Its proverbial heart was in its mouth. It had initiated the reeling in of the safety tether, but it was still a question if the safety tether was able to pull the Eagle back. In theory, the safety tether could withstand more than ten tonnes of pull. It had the strength to stop an eight-wheeler, but theory was theory. No one dared to say with certainty before the oue became reality. In theory, the chances of a bug appearing in the Eagle¡¯sputer was one in ten thousand. The United Space Station¡¯s motor was spinning as it reeled in the safety tether. At the instant Mai Dong had shackled down the Eagle, it had exerted immense tension on the thin rope. The rope¡¯s sticity and ductility reached a maximum. The two-centimeter-thick safety tether was pulled and was now only a few millimeters thick. Thender was decelerated because of the rope¡¯s pull, and as the rope was attached to the emergency hatch¡¯s handle, the force wasn¡¯t directed upwards. The Eagle began to tumble from the sudden yank. This is the final stage. As long as the safety tether survived until thender decelerated to zero speed, the Eagle would be brought back. Seconds ticked down on the clock. There was silence through the transmission frequency. Tomcat was praying inwardly, praying that the rope wasn¡¯t as much a loser as the crappyputer onboard the Eagle. It prayed that the Eagle and Mai Dong could return safely. The screen indicated that the motor was working fine, but the motor was unable to sense the situation of the safety tether. It could pull back Mai Dong and the Eagle, but it could very well pull back a torn piece of rope as well. After an unknown period of time, there was a rustling sound from the earpiece. Tomcat jolted to attention as it realized that it had been in a dazed system breakdown. Following that, Mai Dong¡¯s weak voice sounded. ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m listening.¡± Tomcat¡¯s expression grew heavier. ¡°W... We...¡± Mai Dong smiled. Her face was very pale, but she was overjoyed. Tears began to stream out of her eyes as she shook her head. Crystalline teardrops floated inside the helmet, reflecting the resplendent sunlight. ¡°We got it.¡± Chapter 62: Epilogue

Chapter 62: Epilogue

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon After the safety tether had sessfully held back the Eagle, thetter¡¯s speed was reduced to zero before the rope reached its limits. The arm slowly brought back thender before docking with the United Space Station. ¡°Dockingplete, Mr. Cat.¡± Tomcat let out a sigh of relief as it copsed into its chair. Only then did it really feel at ease. Only when the docking mechanisms were in ce did it mean that the Eagle had sessfully berthed and that there wouldn¡¯t be any further problems. The Orionmanded the Orion II to initiate its engines to elerate the United Space Station up to a higher height, returning to an orbit of three hundred plus kilometers. There was still plenty of propent in the Orion¡¯s engine, so it couldplete the task. Only then did the resupply missione to a sessful conclusion. Tomcat and Tang Yue had risked their lives over thest five days, oveing all kinds of difficulties as they faced ups and downs. They had finally sent the package to the destination after innumerable trials and tribtions. Perhaps there hadn¡¯t been a delivery this difficult apart from Tripitaka¡¯s journey to the west for Buddhist scriptures. Mai Dong had received half of the Kunlun Station¡¯s supplies, and these goods were enough tost her two years. The pressing problem of a food shortage had been eased. As for what would happen two yearster... Leave it to two yearster. Perhaps they might not even live beyond two years. Everyone had to live each day as it came. There was a possibility of dying the very next day, so who would think that far? Now, the entire Universe only had two humans left. Surviving today was being responsible for half of humanity. ¡°The United Space Station and thender have been connected. Systems operational. The hatch can be opened,¡± Mai Dong reported. ¡°Roger that.¡± Tomcat nodded. Tomcat turned to look out the window. It was still pitch-ck outside. The sandstorm was still raging on, and Mai Dong was safe and sound. However, it and Tang Yue had to face the challenge of the sandstorm. Thankfully, the wind speed indicator showed signs of the sandstorm weakening. The cyclone above their heads was beginning to leave Kunlun Station. Due to ack of monitoring means, Tomcat still didn¡¯t know how big the cyclone was. From the looks of it, it was likely only a small one that hadn¡¯t covered the entire Isidis nitia. Tomcat was previously worried that the hurricane wouldst for months. That way, the Kunlun Station would fail to receive its much-needed electricity, dooming it and Tang Yue. From the looks of it, they were still rather lucky. As long as the wind speeds fell, the sandstorm¡¯s intensity would lower to the point of seeing sunlight. That way, the sr panels would be able to generate electricity, allowing the Kunlun Station to continue operating. Upon thinking about the sr panels, Tomcat realized that they were still outside. They had been busy all day and hadn¡¯t had the chance to bring them indoors. The low temperatures and sandstorm could damage the sr panels. Thetter was the power source that the Kunlun Station relied on survival. Furthermore, there was no way for any replenishments; therefore, it still had to head out to store the sr panels away. ¡°Tang Yue, Tang Yue, can you hear me? We seeded... The Eagle has sessfully docked. Miss Mai Dong is saved,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°How¡¯s the situation on your side?¡± ¡°We seeded?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. Tang Yue didn¡¯t say another word. Upon hearing that it was a sess, his strung-up nerves rxed as his head drooped into immediate unconsciousness. Tang Yue was even more enervated than Mai Dong. In the final hour, he had held on just by sheer willpower. He had been standing in the pitch-ck sandstorm for almost four hours, and he was caked in sand. The Radiant Armor¡¯s battery was reaching the red line, and the temperature outside was ¨C90¡ãC. It was all thanks to the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system that Tang Yue was still alive. If the surface of the Radiant Armor was damaged in any way, the EVA suit¡¯s pressure and temperature would drop rapidly, suffocating Tang Yue in minutes. Humans were, after all, frail creatures. They couldn¡¯t put up a resistance in harsh environments. If the temperature exceeded 90¡ãC, a normal person could onlyst twenty minutes. Below 0¡ãC, it was enough to freeze an adult. This tiny range of less than a hundred degrees was the survival limit for humanity. In the Universe where the temperature ranged from ¨C273¡ãC to tens of thousands of degrees Celsius, humanity¡¯s narrow tolerance range was practically negligible. This might also imply that life itself was a miracle that survived in between the cracks. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, carefully take stock of the goods. We will be immediately ceasing transmissions.¡± Tomcat sighed as it pushed the keyboard, turned around and donned an IVA suit. ¡°I¡¯ll have to get Tang Yue back.¡± ¡°Is Mr. Tang Yue alright?¡± ¡°He isn¡¯t dead. That punk is hardy,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°But he¡¯s not too far from being dead.¡± It wore the helmet, stood in Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab for a few seconds before opening the airlock¡¯s hatch. The long day was finally about to pass. However, Tomcat could foresee that this was only the beginning of the difficulties and challenges they would face. The road ahead was a blur, with no destination in sight. But so what if there was plenty of hardship? The Universe¡¯s entropy increased without end, and time only flowed forward. There was nothing in the world that could stay in its spot. Even if you didn¡¯t head forward, time would push you forward. This was akin to Tripitaka¡¯s journey to the west. He left Chang¡¯an and was told by Bodhisattva Guan Yin that the journey was long and that he would face a series of 81 tribtions. They met bandits and demons¡ªnone of which were a breeze. All you could do seeing the difficulties ahead was to bite the bullet and take them as they came. Could you ride on the white horse with your luggage back to the capital to tell your emperor brother that you didn¡¯t wish to do the job? If this was a role-ying game, there was no means of retreat once you stepped out of the beginning vige. No matter how you ran back, you would be stuck at the boundary of the screen, walking in the same spot. Tomcat stepped out of the airlock and closed the hatch behind it. ¡°Tang Yue? Tang Yue, are you still alive? Make a sound if you aren¡¯t dead.¡± There was no response. From the looks of it, he had fainted. Tomcat shrugged. Although Tang Yue had said that he was more hardy than cockroaches, they wouldn¡¯t survive five minutes if they were ced outside. It had to pull Tang Yue back, and it had to store the sr panels away. It also had to check Kunlun Station¡¯s situation, the inventory of the remaining goods, and the remnant battery levels. It had to do all kinds of checks, no matter how trivial they were. Be it on Earth or Mars, there was no end to the trivialities. Life was forever made up of these trivialities. Tomcat suddenly felt as if it was a butler. Or an old housemaid. Although it was a cat, it had a gossipy heart. Whether the Earth was destroyed or not, or whether it was the apocalypse, life still had to go on. Although a change in dynasties appeared to be a grand spectacle, the daily necessities still reigned in importance. The greatest adventure in life was ultimately to live. Even if the sky were to fall before you, one still had to eat. There were still plenty of days ahead. Chapter 63: Sol Ninety-Eight, Disappearance of the Orion I

Chapter 63: Sol Ny-Eight, Disappearance of the Orion I

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue looked at himself in the mirror. A silver tin-foil instion nket was draped over him. He gave himself winks while he bared his teeth. Hebed his hair to the back, giving himself a huge slicked-back. He tried hard to have the swooning, gentleman¡¯s aura of Leonardo DiCaprio or Chow Yun-fat. ¡°Tomcat, do you think I look like... that old-school Hong Kong actor? The one that¡¯s super handsome. The one who acted in the police movie with Jackie Chan.¡± Tang Yue recalled as he said, ¡°His name was Wu... Wu 1 ...¡± Tomcat sat behind him and nced at him. ¡°Wu Mengda 1 .¡± Today was Tang Yue¡¯s ny-eighth sol of being trapped on Mars. Three months had passed since Earth¡¯s disappearance. There was still no news from Earth, and the Kunlun Station had itsmunication systems round the clock, but nothing had been received. In the past three months, Tomcat had spent a great deal of time and effort analyzing the reasons for Earth¡¯s disappearance and attempting to track the Orion I¡¯s trajectory. The Orion I was the spacecraft that Old Wang andpany had taken. They had left for Earth a few days before Tang Yue was due to leave. Tang Yue should have taken that spacecraft back to Earth. It was a rare situation for Mars scientific teams to be split into two batches. However, there was an important research observation mission that needed to bepleted on the Kunlun Station. Tomcat alone was insufficient, so Tang Yue had stayed behind to help it. The n was for Tang Yue to return to Earth on the Orion II after the mission waspleted. Meanwhile, he was tasked with the cargo on the Orion II. Most of the activatedboratory samples on the Orion II needed someone to take care of them. Who would have expected that this dy of a few days had actually saved Tang Yue¡¯s life? The Orion I and II were old spacecraft that had been in service for more than a decade. They had rendered plenty of meritorious services, but they were aged. ording to the ns, the Orion I and II would return to Earth after this mission and be dmissioned. The spacecraft to ferry the next Mars scientific team were probably the brand new Orion III and Orion IV. This dy of a few days also saved the Orion II. If it hadunched together with the Orion I, it might have disappeared as well. ¡°Mr. Cat! Tang Yue!¡± Mai Dong appeared on the screen. ¡°Good morning! Have you had breakfast?¡± She was still as lively as before. Three months had passed, and her hair had grown long. Mai Dong tied a simple ponytail as a result. ¡°Good morning, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat sat at the other end of the Hab as it waved its paw from afar. It would groom its fur every morning. ¡°Good morning,ss.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Which sunrise is it on your side?¡± ¡°The seventh.¡± ¡°What did you eat this morning?¡± ¡°Eh... Tuna, cheese, and orange juice.¡± The girl¡¯s fair face and neck were glistening with perspiration. She flicked away the hair by her forehead and said, ¡°I just cycled for five kilometers.¡± ¡°How bourgeois.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, what did you eat this morning?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Me? I ate an East-meets-West fusion.¡± Tang Yue thought and said, ¡°Sparkling Oldendia Water matched with canned Swedish herring.¡± Three months ago, Tang Yue had sent enough supplies up to the United Space Station. Mai Dong temporarily didn¡¯t need to worry about food, but power and nutrition were only able to maintain one aspect of healthiness. Humans were biological creatures that had evolved on Earth. Their body structures were adapted to gravity of a single G. Being in a weightless environment for extended periods of time brought about all kinds of problems, especially problems to the bones, muscles, heart, vessels, and nerves. In long space missions, the physiological and mental effects on astronauts were always hot topics of research. Due to the extended exposure to microgravity environments, humans would lose calcium in their bones at elerated speeds. Their bones would turn brittle, and muscles that work against gravity would be in prolonged periods of disuse, causing muscle atrophy. The red blood cell count would also decrease, causing the regtion of blood vessels to weaken. These problems were entuated during the long missions to Mars. It severely threatened the health of astronauts. The medical experts on Earth targeted the Mars missions, and specially designed a set of training exercises. It was to resist the decline of one¡¯s physique due to the loss of gravity. The Orion and Kunlun Station both had training facilities. It required the team members toplete a full daily exercise regime. For instance, Tang Yue had to run three thousand meters on the treadmill daily. There was some gravity on Mars, but the United Space Station was in zero gravity. Mars United Space Station¡¯s exercise regime was tougher than Tang Yue¡¯s. ¡°Tang Yue, what do you n on doing next?¡± Mai Dong asked, ¡°Move the sr panels?¡± Tang Yue nodded. He took off his robe, changed into his clothes before donning the Radiant Armor. Out of the forty-plus sr panels, one of them had been damaged. In the sandstorm three months ago, they had failed to store them away in time. The next day, Tomcat and Tang Yue discovered that two of the sr panels had lowered efficiencies. The two went to great effort to fix one of them, but the other one remained unrepairable. Tomcat theorized that due to the prolonged exposure to low temperatures, together with dust entering the battery¡¯s internal circuits, the batteries had short-circuited. Now, they had forty sr panels left. Thankfully, one less sr panel didn¡¯t affect Kunlun Station¡¯s normal operations. Tomcat warned Tang Yue that ten was the warning line. Once more than ten sr panels were damaged, there was no way to maintain Kunlun Station¡¯s normal power consumption. They would then have to shut down parts of the Station. Food, water, batteries. It was unknown which would be exhausted first. This was somewhat like Liebig¡¯sw¡ªTang Yue¡¯s remaining lifespan was not dictated by the total resources avable, but by the scarcest resource. ¡°After moving the sr panels out, I¡¯ll have to check the conditions of the various systems in Kunlun Station. Anyway, it¡¯s a bunch of trivialities,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If I¡¯m fast enough, I might have the time to sit by Kunlun Station¡¯s entrance to see the sunset.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the sunset at Kunlun Station?¡± ¡°At times red,¡± Tang Yue replied, ¡°at times blue.¡± ¡°Blue?¡± Mai Dong was astonished. ¡°Tomcat said that the dust in the Martian atmosphere scatters blue light that has a rtively short wavelength. Therefore, the sun appears blue.¡± Tang Yue shrugged his shoulders as he passed by Tomcat with clothes in hand. He saw the motionless cat sitting squarely, its paws on its knees with its eyes closed. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Yue prodded the cat¡¯s head. ¡°Move your w away,¡± Tomcat said softly without much of a reaction. ¡°Mine is a hand. Yours is a w.¡± Tang Yue corrected it. ¡°From my point of view, you are a primate with five furless ws.¡± Tomcat counterattacked. ¡°I¡¯m currently meditating over the truth of this world.¡± ¡°Meditating?¡± Tang Yue scoffed. ¡°Are you meditating over some Zen? Have you figured out any truths?¡± ¡°I¡¯m meditating over the way of the world, the ultimate truth of the Universe.¡± Tomcat slowly opened its eyes as it wore a calm expression like an aplished monk. ¡°For example, the truth behind the Orion I¡¯s disappearance.¡± Chapter 65: Sol Ninety-Eight, The Space Station’s Miss Farmer

Chapter 65: Sol Ny-Eight, The Space Station¡¯s Miss Farmer

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue looked up at the sun, which was hanging low over the horizon, as he set up the sr panels. The sr panels had very simple constructions. They didn¡¯t haveplicated steering mechanisms, simply for weight reduction purposes. A total of about forty plus sr panels provided the Kunlun Station with all its power needs. The priority for the sr panel¡¯s power started from the storage battery, the OGS, the temperature control, the water filtering, and other life support system, before themunications systems, the lighting systems, and the Kunlun Station¡¯s mainframe. The Station¡¯smunicationsputer was a power-hungry monster. To save power, Tomcat switched off most of the station¡¯s functions. After all, there wasn¡¯t any research or observational work to be done. After the Earth had vanished, Tang Yue had stopped all academic research. Thest time the Kunlun Station¡¯sputer systems were fully powered up was three months ago when orbits needed to be calcted for sending supplies to Mai Dong. Ever since then, theputer had not received a serious mission. A self-inspection was made daily, based on a schedule. It checked that every functional module in the Kunlun Station worked properly before sending a greeting to the United Space Station. This was the daily job of the Kunlun Station¡¯sputer. Such work could have been done by an ancient 386 machine. It was quite a waste of its powerful CPU and data-handling capabilities. After Tang Yue set up thest sr panel, he leaned on the tiny cart and sat down to take a break. The forty sr panels were arranged neatly on the sand. Tang Yue gave them a nickname¡ªBattery Farm. With him walking around the sr panels and having to toil at dawn and dusk, made him resemble a farmer. Not far behind Tang Yue was the Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle. Thender¡¯s Ascent Vehicle had beenunched into space three months ago, leaving the Descent Vehicle behind. It was a columnar structure, about five to six meters tall. It was propped up by a strongnding pad, and its white surface had already been charred ck by the engine¡¯s exhaust. Tang Yue often went over to the Eagle as though he was visiting a neighbor or an old friend. He would sit there and chat with it... even though the Eagle only listened in silence and never made a sound. He only had that many friends. Mai Dong on the space station, Tomcat in the Kunlun Station, thender standing in the desert, the Mars Wanderer in the garage. These people and objects formed a smallmunity. This was all there was to Tang Yue¡¯s world. As long as he didn¡¯t walk out of this tiny bubble, he could still sense the protection and warmth from ¡®human¡¯ civilization. ¡°Tang Yue, can you hear me? Another tomato has borne fruit in the space station!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded in thems. She sounded pleasantly surprised. Tang Yue had lost count of the number of times Mai Dong talked to him about tomatoes. ¡°How many tomatoes did you nt?¡± ¡°Hmm... About eight? There aren¡¯t many tomatoes,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°There are also ten thale cress, eleven prickly lettuce, twenty-three lettuce, seventeen potatoes. Additionally, there¡¯s a batch of fat choy.¡± ¡°Are you nning on making the space station into a botanical garden?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°To grow so many nts, they will be vying with you for oxygen and water... You don¡¯tck food, so why are you nting so many tomatoes for?¡± ¡°I pay great attention and control the water expenditure. The incubator uses capiry tubes to deliver water by osmosis, reducing the waste of water to its lowest,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The space station is too dreary. Having some nts makes it more lively.¡± ¡°Lively? nts don¡¯t speak...¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Speaking of which, he was the same. The Eagle wasn¡¯t able to speak either, but he still babbled at it. ¡°The growth of the tomatoes is delightful. The first batch that bore fruit has already grown very tall. The colors are bright... These were all seeds I especially selected back then. They have a survival rate of more than 97%.¡± The girl¡¯s joy was obvious. Over the past three months, she had been meticulously taking care of these nts. The tomato sprout that had germinated was already mature and had borne fruit. Mai Dong was as happy as a farmer reaping in the harvest. ¡°Lady, is your profession botany or agricultural science?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Is your research in agricultural science?¡± ¡°My research topic is ¡®the influencing factors between vegetation growth under prolonged high radiation and microgravity and the eco cycles of a sealed environment,¡¯¡± Mai Dong said a very long sentence. She paused and added, ¡°In short, vegetable nting in space.¡± ¡°Good day, farmer.¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t nting vegetables in the beginning. There were many specimens used in our experiments. Most of them were algae with simple structures, such as Nostocales and brown algae. The mature angiosperms require stringent environments for growth, and they are too weak. If we attempted to terraform the Martian environment or create a small ecosphere in the spacecraft, we would definitely need to start with simple algae,¡± Mai Dong continued. ¡°Simple nts like algae is really the direction of my research.¡± As the girl spoke, there was a rustling sound of leaves in the background. Clearly, she was plucking the tomatoes as she spoke. ¡°Five... Six, seven, wow this one is huge... I¡¯m going to freeze the tomatoes. This way, I can store them for even longer.¡± With the way Mai Dong constantly mentioned the words ¡°tomato,¡± it appeared as though the true target to whatever research on ntations in microgravity and ecospheres wasn¡¯t algae. Thedy was already immersed in the joy of the harvest. As she counted, she threw tomatoes into a basket,pletely like a farmer. ¡°It won¡¯t cause any contamination?¡± ¡°It¡¯s soilless culture,¡± Mai Dong said as she shook her head. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t cause any contamination.¡± ¡°Potatoes can also be grown in soilless culture?¡± Tang Yue was somewhat astonished. Weren¡¯t potatoes supposed to be buried in soil? How were potatoes to grow without soil? ¡°nts of the tuber or root family can be grown using spray aeroponics. Do you know what aeroponics is? It¡¯s irrigating them with a nutrient mist, then you will see potatoes grow in midair.¡± Mai Dongughed. ¡°None of this is difficult for me.¡± Tang Yue got up and pushed the cart back to the garage before returning to the Kunlun Station. He had already set up the sr panels, and his next step was to have a quick bite to replenish his energy stores. After half an hour of rest, he had to begin his afternoon¡¯s work. His afternoon work included: Inspecting the conditions of the Kunlun Station in various aspects. Quibble with Tomcat. Check on the Mars Wanderer. Quibble with Tomcat. Store the sr panels before sunset. Quibble with Tomcat. Tang Yue opened the airlock¡¯s hatch as he shuffled into the airlock, turned around to close the hatch, and switched on the sanitation system. ¡°Tomcat¡ª! I¡¯m back.¡± Tomcat opened the inner hatch as Tang Yue walked in, panting. Suddenly, his feet staggered as he copsed to the ground. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue looked down at his feet as his calves trembled vigorously as though he was having a cramp. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t use any strength. ¡°Tomcat... it seems like there¡¯s something wrong with my legs.¡± Chapter 66: Sol Ninety-Eight, Scurvy, and Kidney Failure

Chapter 66: Sol Ny-Eight, Scurvy, and Kidney Failure

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat dragged Tang Yue in, closed the hatch, and took off the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system before pulling him out of the EVA suit. Tomcat made Tang Yue lean on the wall as it crouched in front of him. It pinched Tang Yue¡¯s toes and asked, ¡°You had a cramp?¡± ¡°F*ck, don¡¯t pinch me! It hurts!¡± Tang Yue pulled back his leg as he pped Tomcat¡¯s paw away, only to massage his calf muscles slowly. ¡°It¡¯s good that you are alright.¡± Tomcat threw up its paws. ¡°I thought you would be half-paralyzed... If you were to be paralyzed, I¡¯d throw you outside and leave you out there to perish.¡± ¡°Can you be more humanistic?¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°Throwing you outside is being humanistic. You wouldn¡¯t survive more than three minutes outside the Kunlun Station. You¡¯d die fast and not suffer much pain,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Trust me, you don¡¯t want to be paralyzed inside and slowly die and rot. That kind of life would be worse than death.¡± Tang Yue massaged his knee joint. His knees had suddenly felt a sharp pain before they had buckled, causing him to fall to the ground. Tomcat circled around him and raised Tang Yue¡¯s arm. After carefully sizing him up, the pair of cat eyes turned around as it began sniffing. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Yue felt creeped out. ¡°Look down.¡± Tomcat pressed one paw on Tang Yue¡¯s head, pressing his head down before pulling up his cor. ¡°Look up.¡± Tomcat held up Tang Yue¡¯s chin and pushed his head up. He then touched Tang Yue¡¯s neck. His careful observations looked like a ughterer deciding which was the best ce to deliver that incisive cut. ¡°Holy sh*t, what the f*ck are you...¡± Before Tang Yue could finish his sentence, his face was being pinched by Tomcat. ¡°Ah¡ª¡± Tomcat indicated for Tang Yue to open his mouth as though it was a doctor checking on him. Tang Yue obediently went ¡°ah.¡± Tomcat pinched Tang Yue¡¯s front teeth and stared at it for a while before nodding. It released Tang Yue, took a step back and sat down on a chair as it crossed its hind legs. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with your body.¡± Tang Yue was at a loss. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°From the symptoms you are currently exhibiting, your body is suffering from a calcium and Vitamin C deficiency. I just checked on you. There are signs of bleeding beneath the skin. There are also bruises on your back and arms. And your gums are swollen. They are ssic symptoms of ack of Vitamin C. Do you find your joints aching? This is also a result of Vitamin C deficiency,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°Calcium deficiency will also cause you to be weak and suffer cramps.¡± With Tomcat sounding serious, Tang Yue lifted his arm. Indeed, he saw bruises and blood spots on the inner side of his arm. He had thought that it was a result of him donning the Radiant Armor. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t a doctor or biologist by training. He wasn¡¯t as sensitive to details of nutrient supplements like Tomcat. In his current living conditions, all Tang Yue could do was guarantee that he had food to eat and sufficient energy. As for the eighteen micronutrients and eight essential amino acids, he didn¡¯t bother with them. Previously, the expedition team¡¯s doctor was Maxwell Thorpe, who they called Max. He was an expert on aerospace medicine and physiology. The nourishment of the astronauts on the Mars mission was typically his responsibility. As the Mars mission was an extended space missionsting two years, with the Orion¡¯s passengers unable to receive frequent replenishments from Earth like the ISS, it was always a difficult problem to ensure the health of the expedition members. After all, treatment was difficult if any one of them fell ill. Max stipted strict health ns for the members. It included what they were to eat, how much they were to eat, how they were to eat, as well as physical exercise. This was to prevent any loss of calcium, as well as osteoporosis and muscr atrophy. ¡°How many vitamin capsules are left?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Half of them were given to Mai Dong. The remainder has mostly been consumed,¡± Tang Yue answered. The vitamin deficiency was a problem with the food. Tang Yue recalled the menu from the recent month. The first two months were rather sumptuous, but as the reconstituted foods and canned food were depleted, Tang Yue had no choice but to mainly eat energy bars andpressed biscuits. The vitamins contained in energy bars andpressed biscuits were clearly iparable to canned vegetables and fruits. However, he hadn¡¯t expected the repercussions to show so quickly. ¡°Severe Vitamin C deficiency leads to scurvy.¡± Tomcat was very stern. ¡°The radiation on Mars is too high. Due to thecking atmosphere and maic field, this ce is filled with high-energy charged particles from space and the sun, as well as secondary particles generated by the atmosphere and soil. They are mainly neutrons and gamma rays. This doesn¡¯t exist on Earth. ¡°In environments with high radiation, antioxidants such as Vitamin C in a person¡¯s body will rapidly deplete. The speed here is a lot faster than on Earth,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°You can eatpressed biscuits on Earth for three months, and the symptoms wouldn¡¯t be as serious as the ones you are facing now. I believe that if you continue doing this, you won¡¯t be too far from suffering scurvy.¡± Tang Yue knew what scurvy was. In the seventeenth century, sailors on long-distance expeditions would end up with scurvy due to theck of vegetables and fruits. The disease caused joint pains and bleeding under the skin. In more severe cases, it led to death. But in modern-day society, scurvy that was a result of Vitamin C deficiency had been eradicated. This was because such a disease could be treated by eating oranges. But on the godforsaken Mars... finding an orange was as difficult as finding an extraterrestrial spacecraft. In some ways, the passengers on the Orion spacecraft were in the same situation as the sailors on long-distance expeditions at sea. However, the sailboats had be spacecraft, and the ocean had be space. The only thing that didn¡¯t change was the difficulty in acquiring material supplies. Be it the sixteenth century, or the twenty-first century with advanced scientific technology, the shelf life of tomatoes and oranges couldn¡¯tst more than two months. Scurvy, that had been long forgotten by people, had managed to seek out Tang Yue 60 million kilometers away. Humans just had too many physical problems. Tang Yue had even believed that he would starve to death. Now, in hindsight, it seemed uncalled for. Before he starved to death, he might die as a result of scurvy, kidney failure, cardiac arrest, or even from a baffling allergy. Tang Yue took out a white pill bottle from a drawer and ced it on the table. ¡°This is the final bottle of multivitamins.¡± Tomcat unscrewed the lip and nced at it. ¡°How long can these pillsst you?¡± ¡°Not long. At most a month,¡± Tang Yue answered. ¡°If I were to subsequently eat more canned food and fewer biscuits, probably longer... However, there isn¡¯t much canned food left. They will be gone if I keep eating them.¡± Tomcat was a little stumped. A month ago, Tang Yue had finished the multivitamins and the canned fruit. As a result, his vitamin intake had drastically dropped, and following that were all kinds of physical problems. This would be a trivial problem on Earth, but in the harsh environments of Mars, the problem was magnified a thousand times over. It became an insurmountable task, one that might even endanger Tang Yue¡¯s life. Tomcat paced about the Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab. It had to find a method to replenish Tang Yue¡¯sck of nutrients. ¡°What replenishes Vitamin C?¡± ¡°Oranges.¡± Tomcat kept mentioning oranges, but where could they be found on Mars? They only had minimal resources at hand, so it was impossible for Tomcat to pull oranges from thin air. ¡°Apart from oranges?¡± ¡°Tomatoes.¡± Tomcat sat down and frowned. ¡°Tomatoes... Tomatoes... Where would you find tomatoes in this godforsaken ce?¡± ¡°Mr. Cat? Tang Yue?¡± At this moment, Mai Dong spoke up through thems. ¡°What were you talking about? I just heard something about tomatoes?¡± ¡°We are looking for tomatoes,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°Tomatoes?¡± The girl had a tomato in hand. She shook it in front of the camera. ¡°Here¡¯s a tomato. Take a look!¡± ¡°We are looking for tomatoes on the Kunlun Station,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tang Yue is suffering from vitamin deficiency. He needs to eat more oranges and tomatoes.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any tomatoes on the Kunlun Station, but you can grow them,¡± Mai Dong suggested. Tomcat and Tang Yue were taken aback. ¡°Grow?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How would I know how...¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± The girl looked pumped as she said with confidence, ¡°I¡¯ll teach you! I¡¯m an excellent teacher!¡± Chapter 67: Sol Ninety-Eight, A Man Without Water Is Not a Man at All

Chapter 67: Sol Ny-Eight, A Man Without Water Is Not a Man at All

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon As a person who had grown up in the city, Tang Yue had never done any farming before. He had seen tomatoes in supermarkets or vegetable stalls, but those red fruits were ced neatly in baskets. Tang Yue knew that tomatoes were nted in the ground, but he was clueless as to how they were nted. Without a doubt, tomatoes were nted in the ground. But what kind of soil was needed? Tomatoes also needed water and fertilizer. But how was he to fertilize and water them? Also, was there a way to prevent nt diseases? How long did they take to sprout? How long did they take to flower? How long did they take to bear fruit? All these questions appeared in Tang Yue¡¯s mind. It was truly a case where different professions meant different worlds. As someone with a science and engineering background, nting tomatoes was a difficulty. Tomcat asked the most crucial question, ¡°Where do we get the seeds?¡± Without seeds, what were they using to nt? Mai Dong took a moment to recall. ¡°My cabin still has seeds. They were supposed to alternate samples for the experiments but weren¡¯t used in the end. I left them on the Kunlun Station... Didn¡¯t you see them?¡± Tang Yue suddenly recalled seeing such things. While he and Tomcat were rummaging for food, they had overturned nearly the entire Kunlun Station. He had indeed seen tiny ss bottles in Mai Dong¡¯s cupboard. They were filled with ck seeds, but since they were experimental samples, Tang Yue didn¡¯t pay too much attention to them. Even though hecked food, he wasn¡¯t bold enough to randomly eat things from theboratory. Otherwise, he might just die of food poisoning. Tomcat entered Mai Dong¡¯s room and carried out all the seeds and ced them on the table. There were a total of six tiny ss jars. Each bottle was about the size of a perfume bottle. They were filled with seeds of different colors and sizes. ¡°That bottle with dark brown, ote seeds. Those are tomato seeds.¡± Mai Dong pointed at the bottle on the table. ¡°By its side is thale cress. Thale cress is used to study the hereditary and mutation aspects of nts. They can¡¯t be eaten, but they aren¡¯t poisonous or harmful... By the side of the thale cress is that bottle with ck, thin long seeds; that¡¯s lettuce. Beside the lettuce is prickly lettuce. Beside prickly lettuce are carrots, then crown daisies. They were seeds I meticulously selected. There¡¯s a high chance of survival and they are specimens that can reproduce.¡± Tomcat was surprised that most of the vegetation that thedy had brought were vegetables. Was she really not here to be a farmer? ¡°It... It¡¯s not that I was especially choosing vegetables. I had chosen specimens from mustard, daisy, nightshade, and other species, but these were the only specimens that could be eaten and happen to have a bit more...¡± The girl scratched her head. Only then did Tomcat suddenly recall that she was ady from Guangdong¡ªfamed for its inhabitants that eat anything and everything. Tang Yue poured out all the tomato seeds in the bottle and did a careful count. There were a total of 56 seeds. The other bottles had roughly the same number of seeds. Back then, Mai Dong had probably left the seeds behind unintentionally, but this unintentional act might end up saving Tang Yue. On this deste, seeing fresh vegetable seeds was like the lovely feeling of seeing one¡¯s parents. Tang Yue felt hot tears well up in his eyes. ¡°Not only can you nt tomatoes, but you can also nt carrots, lettuce, and prickly lettuce.¡± Mai Dong brightened with joy. ¡°The carrots are delicious, crispy and sweet. Same for the lettuce and prickly lettuce. They can all be eaten raw. You can even make vegetable sd! Tang Yue, do you know that I chose giant tomatoes Type 11. The colors are bright, and they have a sourish-sweetness to them. They are tender and sulent...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°They are really delicious.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue nodded silently. ¡°I¡¯m not lying.¡± ... nting vegetables needed a medium, water, and nutrients. The space station¡¯s cultivation used culture techniques for microgravity and soilless environments, but the Martian surface didn¡¯t have these conditions. If they used a soilless culture on Mars, the water expenditure would be too excessive for the Kunlun Station. Tomcat checked the remaining quantity of fresh water in the water tank and felt that the situation wasn¡¯t optimistic. The Kunlun Station¡¯s water reserves had 1,200 liters. Tang Yue used 3.68 kilograms of water daily, and the Water Reimer was able to reim 3.4 kilograms. Under ideal conditions, the water tank¡¯s reserves could support 4,000 sols. But reality was never capable of reaching the ideal conditions. Now that three months had passed, there were only 1,150 liters of fresh water left in Kunlun Station. More than 50 liters of fresh water had been lost. The water expenditure was greater than they imagined. If this continued, the water they had left was only enough for 2,000 sols. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t the only one who needed water in Kunlun Station. The 50-liter water expenditure might havee from other ces. It was unavoidable to have such unknown expenditures. If they were to use the little bit of freshwater they had left for cultivation, the expenditure would only elerate. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough water,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If we want to use water to nt tomatoes, I believe Kunlun Station¡¯s water willst not more than 1,000 sols... The more you nt, the greater the water expenditure.¡± Tang Yue sat in a chair as he fell into thought. The worst thing was that water was needed. It truly was the case that a man without water is no man at all. ¡°Apart from the Kunlun Station, where else can water be found?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°There is. There¡¯s water on the two poles of Mars, and they are huge chunks of ice. You won¡¯t be able to finish them in your entire life,¡± Tomcat answered, ¡°but they are thousands of kilometers from us.¡± Tang Yue slowly got up, walked to Tomcat, and pressed his hands on its shoulders. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue wore a solemn expression. Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to eat, drink, breathe, nor are you afraid of radiation, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Now, the organization is handing you a glorious mission. This mission is extremely difficult, but the Party and the People trust that you canplete it!¡± Tang Yue spoke in all seriousness. ¡°Please head to the North Pole to bring some ice back. You can use the Mars Wanderer as you wish, likewise for the sr panels. You can take anything you want with you. I hope you won¡¯t let down the expectations of the country and the people!¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll pull some ice blocks back from the North Pole for you.¡± Tomcat shrugged its shoulders and walked off. ¡°However, the Mars Wanderer can only travel 60 kilometers a day, and the journey to the North Pole is about 6,000 kilometers. The round trip would take at least six months. I hope you won¡¯t have attained deification and be the Great Salvation Bodhisattva.¡± ¡°Sir Cat, please hold back.¡± Tang Yue pulled it back. ¡°Daresay we discuss this over again?¡± Which was more important¡ªwater or tomatoes? The answer was both. The tomatoes needed to be nted, but Tomcat and Tang Yue wished to do so by minimizing the expenditure of fresh water, or by finding other sources of water to replenish the Kunlun Station¡¯s expenditures. With his afternoon work at hand, Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor and went out. He continued thinking about the problem of the fresh water. He walked to the Battery Farm, passed through the neat array of sr panels, circled around it, and subconsciously walked to the Eagle. He was used to taking this path. Tang Yue stood under the Eagle as he stroked the hull of thender. ¡°Buddy ol¡¯ Pal, where do you think I can find...¡± Tang Yue was suddenly stunned. ¡°Tomcat.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I know... where there is water.¡± Chapter 68: Sol Ninety-Nine, Saving the World with a Shovel

Chapter 68: Sol Ny-Nine, Saving the World with a Shovel

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next day at dawn, Tomcat drove the Mars Wanderer out and stopped by the side of the Eagle. Donning the Radiant Armor, Tang Yue stood on the sand and looked up at the tallnder¡¯s Descent Vehicle. Even though the Ascent Vehicle had beenunched, the Eagle remained the tallest and most striking object around Kunlun Station. Tang Yue circled thender a few times. The, originally white, paint had been scorched ck by the rocket engine, and beneath his feet was ayer of sand that was orange-red in color¡ªa signal that they were rich in hematite. Beneath the sand was hard basalt. Mars was a nearly-dead, and any seismic activity had died down ages ago. These ancient rocks had been formed three billion years ago. Under the years of weathering, they had turned to sand followed by dust. Tomcat pushed open the rover¡¯s door and jumped down from the drivingpartment. Tang Yue gently knocked on thender¡¯s hard shell. ¡°How much propent is there left in here?¡± ¡°There should be some left. There¡¯s redundancy for the propent in the Descent Vehicle¡¯s engine, so it¡¯s unlikely all of that was burned up.¡± Tomcat stood akimbo as it looked to size up the Eagle. ¡°However, we will need to open it up to know exactly how much is left.¡± The Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle had Raptor 3C rocket engines. They used methane and liquid oxygen as a propent. And even middle school students knew that methane and oxygen burned to produce carbon dioxide and water. One mole of methane and two moles of oxygen reacted to form one mole of carbon dioxide and two moles of water. It was an excellent source of fresh water. This was Tang Yue¡¯s n¡ªobtain fresh water by mixing the propent in thender. OId Cat returned to Kunlun Station and brought back a toolbox. The Descent Vehicle didn¡¯t have an amodationdder, so Tomcat could only use the Mars Wanderer as adder. It climbed on top of the Mars Wanderer and came close to the Eagle¡¯s outer shell while wrenches and screwdrivers hung from it. Even though it sounded simple, obtaining the methane and liquid oxygen from the propent reservoir wasn¡¯t an easy task. They couldn¡¯t smash open the reservoir to release the fuel as methane and liquid oxygen wouldpletely leak out in a short span of time. The only way was to create a conduit with a dpression valve. The methane and oxygen, that were in a liquid state inside the reservoir, were constantly evaporating so without the dpression valve the reservoir¡¯s pressure would reach dangerous levels. In order to sessfully use thender¡¯s fuel, the methane and oxygen needed to be channeled slowly and safely to a reservoir before they were burned. This was a veryplicated task for Tomcat and Tang Yue. Firstly, they needed to remove thender¡¯s fairing. Such intricate work was difficult for the Radiant Armor-d Tang Yue, so he could only leave it to Tomcat. Tomcat held a screwdriver in its mouth as it opened thender¡¯s service ess. It narrowed its eyes before finding the pressure gauge. ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue asked from below. ¡°How much propent is left?¡± ¡°Hmm... Slightly lower than I expected. It might be because the propent is constantly evaporating. We still have about 200 kilograms of methane.¡± Tomcat frowned. ¡°This much methane will at most produce 400¨C500 kilograms of water. However, this much water should be sufficient to nt tomatoes and carrots.¡± ¡°Can this water be added to the water tank?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°This water isn¡¯t potable before it¡¯s processed and purified... However, how do you n on collecting this water? Thebustion of methane and liquid oxygen is steam.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Leave the collection to me.¡± Tang Yue was confident. At two in the afternoon, Tomcat removed thender¡¯s fairing, exposing the entire propent reservoir and the rocket engine. Immediately following that, they began preparing the modification ns. Tang Yue got two rubber tubings and a Y-shaped ss tube from the Kunlun Station. These items were used in experiments previously by the research team and had already been stored away by Tang Yue. Tomcat attached the rubber tubing to the propent reservoir¡¯s dpression valve¡ªone for the methane and one for the oxygen. Iron wires were used to tie them tight to prevent any leaks. ¡°OK!¡± Tomcat stood on the Mars Wanderer and waved its paw. Tang Yue stood below, picked up the two rubber tubings and connected them to the two ends of the Y-shaped ss tube, before fastening them with iron wiring. In time, the methane and oxygen would burn within the ss tube, producing carbon dioxide and steam. Tang Yue felt as if he was back in high school doing chemistry experiments. ¡°OK!¡± Tang Yue signaled by raising his hand. ¡°Tomcat, you can give it a try!¡± Tomcat nodded. Using a wrench, it slowly twisted the valve, allowing one mole of methane and two moles of oxygen to react. To prevent any wastage, and to ensure that the methane burned uppletely, Tomcat had to carefully control the flow of methane and oxygen. It stared at the pressure gauge with a serious expression. ¡°Watch it¡ª!¡± Tomcat warned. ¡°I¡¯m about to turn the valve!¡± Tang Yue took out an electric arc igniter and moved it close to the ss tube. With a spattering sound, he lit the methane. A small yellow me flickered at the end of the ss tube as high-temperature steam met the cold weather outside, immediately condensing to form small liquid droplets and white mist. Through the thick ss visor, he observed the burning methane and exhaled. They had obtained their source of water. ¡°Tomcat! We seeded!¡± ... Tomcat and Tang Yue stood on the sand, their heads looking down at the ss tube. After many experiments, they had finally determined that the methane in thender could be safelybusted¡ªit wouldn¡¯t suddenly st them to kingdome. The next problem was to efficiently gather the resulting steam from thebustion. ¡°You said you have a method to collect the steam,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What¡¯s the method? I have to warn you ahead of time that we don¡¯t have condensate tubes. All therge experimental apparatus have either been damaged or taken away. We can¡¯t even find a long enough ss tube to use as a condensate tube.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need a condensate tube. It¡¯s too slow.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Using such a thin ss tube to collect four hundred kilograms of water will take us a year.¡± Tang Yue really didn¡¯t n on using the usual condensate tube to collect the water. Such a method wasmon in aboratory, but it wasn¡¯t convenient doing so on Mars with sand blowing everywhere. ss was too brittle, and a long ss tube was even worse. Furthermore, a condensate tube¡¯s collection speed was too slow. If they tried to speed it up, it would easily create waste. ¡°Then, what method do you n on using?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue turned to return to the garage. A few minutester, he returned with a long shovel. Tang Yue threw a shovel to Tomcat. Tomcat held it and looked at it nkly. ¡°Shovel?¡± Using a shovel to collect water? ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Tang Yue nodded. He waved the shovel in his hand. ¡°We will use shovels to collect water!¡± Chapter 69: Sol Ninety-Nine, Memoirs of Human Civilization

Chapter 69: Sol Ny-Nine, Memoirs of Human Civilization

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat didn¡¯t know how to use shovels to collect water. Many uses for shovels shed through its mind. Fighting. Cleaving. Digging a hole. Shoveling. And cooking an egg. Combine them together, the shovel¡¯s usage was likely¡ªfight with Tang Yue, cleave him dead, dig a hole to bury him, and then cook an egg with the shovel over his grave. But what did this have to do with collecting water? As Tomcat was in thought, Tang Yue had begun forming a circle with the shovel. He looked down at his feet while circling the Eagle. As he circled, he used his feet to test the sand beneath. He looked like he really was finding a spot to dig a hole. Tang Yue walked about six meters away and stuck the shovel into thend before turning around to shout for Tomcat, ¡°Tomcat, over here. Come over here!¡± Basalt was too hard, making it impossible to dig through it with shovels. Tang Yue had found a spot where there weren¡¯t anyrge rocks beneath them. This region¡¯s upperyerprised of gravel, and the bottomyer was a mixture of fine sand. Tang Yue had stabbed the shovel in, and after confirming that it was digable with human strength, he called for Tomcat to help him in his hole-digging endeavor. ¡°How big do you want the hole to be?¡± Tomcat held the shovel and stood to the side. It wasn¡¯t much taller than the shovel. Tang Yue looked down, spread his palm and gestured. Then, he drew a circle on the sand with the shovel. ¡°Hmm... Let¡¯s dig a hole with a diameter of a meter, and half a meter deep.¡± Tomcat nced at him and said, ¡°Return first. Don¡¯t waste the oxygen and power of the Radiant Armor. I¡¯ll do the digging.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue categorically objected to it out of fairness. He picked up the shovel and said, ¡°We can dig together. This will be faster!¡± Ten minutester. ¡°If you n to continue using the shovel like a soup spoon, I suggest you return now.¡± ¡°...¡± ... Tang Yue returned to Kunlun Station. ¡°Tang Yue, why are you back?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Where¡¯s Mr. Cat?¡± Tang Yue closed the airlock¡¯s hatch, took off the life support system, and got out of the Radiant Armor. ¡°Tomcat is outside digging a hole. It said I don¡¯t know how to use a shovel, and that I use it like a soup spoon. I was then chased back... But can¡¯t it spare a thought for me? I was in the Radiant Armor; I couldn¡¯t even bend down, so how could I be as agile as it?¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°Dig a hole?¡± The girl was intrigued. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°I n to dig us a grave,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I¡¯ll just lie down there when I can no longer live on...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s expression instantly changed. Tang Yue knew that his joke had gone wrong. ¡°It¡¯s to collect fresh water,¡± he hurriedly exined. ¡°The goal of digging a hole is to collect fresh water. As we need water for nting tomatoes and carrots, and we don¡¯t have enough water... we were nning on using the reaction of the propent from the Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle to obtain water. However, the reaction produces steam. We need to be able to collect that.¡± Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief. Her greatest fear was that the man and cat on Kunlun Station would suffer any mishap. ¡°Have you finished today¡¯s work?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How¡¯s the space station?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°I just did my rounds. I discovered that an inner instion lining in a module had fallen off. I used tape to paste it back. The other modules are fine... But the Dawn remains a problem. I still haven¡¯t found the crack in the module¡¯s body. Three months ago, during the resupply mission, the Eagle spacecraft had collided with the United Space Station. This dealt the Dawn module severe damage, and a fissure had opened up in the outer wall. Back then, Tomcat had sealed the hatches in time, cutting the flow of air and power supply. This prevented the entire space station from losing pressure. However, Mai Dong alone couldn¡¯t inspect the damaged Dawn module. During thest three months, Mai Dong had attempted entering the Dawn module under Tomcat¡¯s guidance. She donned an IVA suit and a life support system before closing the other hatch in the Crystal module to stop any airflow between the Crystal and the other modules before opening the Dawn module. The instant the Crystal and Dawn modules connected, air began to leak. The Dawn module, which had remained silent for two months, was pitch-ck. It was in apletely cold, vacuum state. After Mai Dong entered, she closed the hatch behind her and attempted to search for the fissure. The fissure wasn¡¯t easy to find. It was on the outer wall of the space station, and Mai Dong was unable to directly see it. The module¡¯s walls had a thick inner lining, and experiment boxes and control panels were blocking the way. To mend the fissure, she needed to find its exact location, before dismantling the apparatus and inner lining. The difficulty involved was immense, and the workload was great. It was impossible for Mai Dong to finish it alone... After she searched the Dawn module for two hours, Tomcat called it off. Mai Dong had once suggested mending the space station from the outside, but considering the difficulty and danger levels, Tomcat gave up the idea. Now, the United Space Station hadpletely abandoned the Dawn module. Thankfully, this module didn¡¯t affect the space station¡¯s normal operations¡ªits original purpose was deep-space observation and high-energy physics research. This wasn¡¯t something Mai Dong needed at all. ¡°Tang Yue... Over the past few days, I¡¯ve been thinking. If Earth has really disappeared, as thest two humans in the Universe, shouldn¡¯t we do something?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°For example, we can make a record, to leave some signs of human civilization.¡± ¡°Make a record?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Are you thinking of writing a memoir? A memoir for all of human civilization?¡± Mai Dong nodded in response. ¡°We should leave something behind; otherwise, when we aren¡¯t around any longer, what is there to prove that Earth and humanity once existed?¡± Tang Yue thought this a great idea. A memoir that talked about humanity, one that reviewed the developmental process of human civilization, a conclusion for all of humanity. Although this was the work of God and he probablycked the standards and qualifications, there wasn¡¯t anyone who could aplish this apart from them. Finally, they coulde up with a lofty-sounding name, such as ¡°Earth Chronicles.¡± This was the evidence that human civilization had once existed. It was to make the Universe remember humanity. That we once existed. Regardless of the endpoint, we worked hard to survive. ¡°But my history isn¡¯t that great...¡± Tang Yue scratched his head. As a guy with a STEM background, he had some idea of Chinese history, but he knew nothing about ancient Egypt. Without a doubt, chronicling human civilization was a massive endeavor. It was impossible with just Mai Dong and Tang Yue alone. They could only do as much as they could. ¡°We can ask Mr. Cat things we don¡¯t know,¡± Mai Dong reminded. ¡°Mr. Cat will definitely know it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We can ask him.¡± Tang Yue turned to look out the window. Beneath the Eagle was a tiny white cat shoveling, working hard at digging a hole. Tomcat threw the shovel to the ground and crawled out of the pit. ¡°Tang Yue¡ª! The hole is done!¡± Chapter 70: Sol Ninety-Nine, Polyethylene and Condenser

Chapter 70: Sol Ny-Nine, Polyethylene and Condenser

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue rummaged through the crates for a few polyethylene sheets. These sheets were originally used to wrap the food crates, but they were no longer of any use. He then held the plexiss water trough on the work desk in hand, donned the Radiant Armor, and waved to Mai Dong before leaving Kunlun Station. Tomcat stood by the side of the pit, holding onto a long shovel. It was covered in dust as it looked into the distance with indelible marks on its face. The pit had a diameter of about a meter and a depth of about half a meter. The sand and gravel dug up were piled to the side. Tomcat was a cat after all¡ªa great digger of holes. ¡°Tell me.¡± Tomcat pointed to the pit at its feet. ¡°How do you n on using this hole to gather freshwater?¡± It nned on deciding whether to bury the fellow in that very pit based on his answers. ¡°Condensation.¡± Tang Yue ced the stic sheet and water trough on the ground and slowly crouched down to grab a handful of dirt from the pit. The soil was still very dry, and it was mixed with hard siliceous material andyered rock. Tang Yue grabbed the shovel and began fixing the pit. He widened the bottom of the pit, removed sharp gravel, and ttened the pit¡¯s walls and bottom. ¡°What¡¯s the temperature now?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat looked at the sun. ¡°¨C30¡ãC. It will be noon soon, so the temperature is a little high.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Come, give me a hand. Spread that stic sheet open.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat spread open the smooth stic sheet. Then, they neatly covered the pit¡¯s bottom and walls. stic sheets made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were very soft and had great sticity. Following that, Tang Yue ced the water trough in the middle of the pit. ¡°This water trough is used to collect the water?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue pulled over the rubber tubing, that delivered the fuel, before stuffing the end of the Y-shaped tube into the pit. Tang Yue and Tomcat spread open a second stic sheet. They spread it tight and covered the pit¡¯s mouthpletely. After confirming that there weren¡¯t any holes or any leaks, they secured the ends of the stic sheet with soil. Following that, Tang Yue picked up a rock and gently ced it in the middle of the stic sheet at the top of the pit¡¯s mouth. Gravity made the stic sheet sink slightly. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Tang Yue patted his hands. ¡°This is a condenser. It¡¯s much faster than a condensate tube.¡± Tomcat circled the pit and understood Tang Yue¡¯s intentions. This was indeed a condenser. As long as they lit the methane, the generated steam would rise and touch the cold stic sheet. Mars¡¯s environmental temperature was very low, allowing the stic to maintain a low temperature. Once the steam dropped in temperature, it would condense to form water droplets, and under gravity, it would gather at the lowest point of the nted stic sheet. All the water droplets would eventually drip into the water trough at the bottom of the pit. The first sheet at the bottom of the pit was to prevent water droplets from entering the soil. This condenser was nearly apletely sealed setup, and steam wouldn¡¯t escape. All the water would either fall into the water trough or be intercepted by the stic sheet that lined the bottom of the pit. The entire stic sheet is a condenser. The bigger the hole, the more water we can gather,¡± Tang Yue said. Tomcat pondered for a moment. ¡°However, you can¡¯t make it too huge either; otherwise, the water will freeze on the sheet. The heat generated by burning methane is limited. Tang Yue was taken aback. After careful thought, it made sense. Tomcat turned to climb on top of the Mars Wanderer and turned on the dpression valve. Tang Yue went into a prone position as he carefully raised one end of the stic sheet and reached in to adjust the ss tube¡¯s height. He didn¡¯t want the methane me to be too close to the stic sheet; after all, polyethylene wasn¡¯t heat resistant and melted under heat. Following that, Tang Yue used the electric arc igniter to light up the methane. Tomcat and Tang Yue gathered around the pit¡¯s periphery as they stared intently at the stic sheet. LDPE sheets were transparent. Through it, Tang Yue could see the pale yellow me in the pit. He was a little worried. No one knew if this was a workable idea, but water was truly a precious resource. If this method failed, he had no choice but to think of other means to gather water. Five secondster. Ayer of blurry steam covered the stic sheet. The water rapidly gathered as huge droplets of water appeared. They began to slowly slide down the stic sheet. Tang Yue and Tomcat slumped down onto the ground as they heaved a sigh of relief. ... Tang Yue and Tomcat did some math. By using this method, they were able to get about three to five liters of water an hour. This was limited to thebustion rate of the propent. If Tomcat raised the methane and oxygen release rate, it would generate more steam. However, it couldn¡¯t be raised indefinitely, greater amounts of methane created a me that might burn through the stic sheet. Half an hourter, the water trough was full. Tomcat lifted the water trough from the pit, and immediately returned to Kunlun Station. However, the water in the water trough began freezing the moment it was exposed to the atmosphere. By the time Tomcat had closed the airlock¡¯s hatch, there was already a thickyer of ice floating on the surface. They began searching for a more suitable way of gathering water. Tomcat chased Tang Yue away as usual to reduce the depletion of the Radiant Armor¡¯s power. Alone, it sat in the pit and watched the condenser. Tang Yue was inside Kunlun Station maintaining the OGS and water recovery system. ¡°A speed of 3 cm3/s is too slow. Furthermore, the me¡¯s temperature isn¡¯t high enough.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. ¡°The water on the sides of the sheet has already frozen. I think the temperature inside the pit should be maintained between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius... I should get a thermometer over.¡± ¡°Then increase the methane delivery.¡± Tang Yue opened the OGS cab¡¯s cover and held a wrench. ¡°Let¡¯s see what happens when you raise it by 5 cm3/s.¡± ¡°Hmm... I¡¯ve increased it by five. The gathering speed is twice as fast as before, but there¡¯s still freezing on the boundaries of the sheet.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°The temperature at the bottom of the pit is... 1¡ãC. The temperature of the pit¡¯s walls is still below zero.¡± ¡°The temperature in the pit isn¡¯t uniform?¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°After all, the heat source is from the methane me. Heat will rise, so the air in the upperyer of the pit heats up faster than the surroundings and bottom. It¡¯s best we speed up the temperature rise.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Tang Yue closed the OGS cab¡¯s lid, patted it, and turned to look out. He saw Tomcat crawling down from the Mars Wanderer in a rather dexterous manner. It had likely just opened the propent¡¯s dpression valve. The cat went into a prone position with its ass up. It opened the stic sheet and lit the methane. A secondter. ¡°Boom!¡± There was a loud boom as the pit burst into mes. Chapter 71: Sol Ninety-Nine, No One Steals Electric Cars Here

Chapter 71: Sol Ny-Nine, No One Steals Electric Cars Here

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°F*ck... It actually exploded...¡± Tomcat sat on a chair, its face ashen. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± Tang Yue held its head, pulling out a broken whisker that was stered to its cheeks. Then, it began helping to groom the messy and charred cat fur. ¡°My... My whiskers...¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes seemed to well with tears. ¡°What were you doing? Did you forget methane¡¯s explosive limits?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I was careless... There was a problem with controlling the releasing speed of the methane and liquid oxygen, leaving some oxygen unignited. Therefore, there was still oxygen left in the pit. By the time I had climbed up the Mars Wanderer to open the dpression valve ande back down, the methane in the pit had reached more than 5% concentration.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s why it was all ignited at once.¡± Tang Yue patted Tomcat on the shoulder as a form offort. After all, it wasn¡¯t a real cat, and there was no way for it to regrow its broken whiskers. Tomcat truly cherished the few whiskers it had. It would groom them every morning. Tang Yue had even chanced upon Tomcat secretly using 502 Super Glue to stick back its broken whiskers. Unfortunately, it failed. This tiny explosion temporarily stopped their work on gathering water. The two stic sheets and water trough had been sent flying from the explosion. They couldn¡¯t use the stic sheet anymore as it had torn like a burst balloon. Tang Yue had to switch the sheet. The water trough which was made of plexiss was robust and could be reused. Having learned a lesson, Tang Yue and Tomcat decided that both of them needed to be present when collecting water. Otherwise, letting the methane in the pit mix with oxygen easily reached the explosive limits. Tang Yue was munching on a biscuit as he put the huge water trough from the ground onto the table. There were about ten liters of water. As it was condensate water, there weren¡¯t many impurities in it. This was the result of an afternoon¡¯s work. On his ny-ninth sol on Mars, Tang Yue had his supply of water replenished. ¡°Mai Dong, the water is settled. What do we need to do next?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Go out and plow thend?¡± The girl was dressed in a blue work suit when she appeared on screen. ¡°You have settled the water?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the water trough on the table. Mai Dong was pleasantly surprised. ¡°As expected of Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°What Mr. Cat?¡± Tang Yue sulked. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to me, alright? Your Mr. Cat nearly blew up the condenser.¡± ¡°Alright, alright. It¡¯s all thanks to you, Tang Yue.¡± Mai Dong smiled as she pressed her palms together in apology. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the topic at hand. You can¡¯t just head out and plow thend. Back when I was there, I had obtained specimens. Most of the soil on Mars isn¡¯t conducive to farming. It¡¯s because they have too many chlorates, mainly chloric acid salts and perchlorate salts... To put it simply, it¡¯s too dry and salty. Tomatoes can¡¯t grow in such soil. You need to find soil with slightly better foundations.¡± ¡°We still have to search?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Have you seen anyone grow tomatoes in salinend?¡± ¡°Then, there¡¯s no way for us to reduce the soil¡¯s saltiness? For example, using a filter and extractor or something...¡± Mai Dong shrugged. ¡°Extraction solvents are mostly poisonous, and I believe it will be too troublesome. This is because the amount of soil you will be using will be great. In addition, the biggest problem is, do you have the conditions for doing that?¡± ¡°Do we have them?¡± Tang Yue turned to look at Tomcat. Tomcat was holding a broken, charred whisker in its paws; its expression nk. Tang Yue turned his head back. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go search for it.¡± ... ¡°I suggest using the Mars Wanderer and, with Kunlun Station as the center, obtain specimens around it up to a kilometer radius.¡± Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor as he opened the garage with Tomcat. They seldom used the Mars Wanderer. It was actually very troublesome to use. Furthermore, it was very power-hungry, consuming the most electricity in all of Kunlun Station. But in essence, it was a tractor. It was called a Geb Vehicle by others because it dragged a geb experiment module behind it. If you changed the experiment module into a rubbish chute, Mars Wanderer would have been Mars Rubbish Collector. The Mars Wanderer looked tall and mighty, but it was an electric vehicle. It used rechargeable batteries and was driven by electric motors. It had no suspension and it moved at the pace of a turtle. At most, it barely exceeded a bicycle¡¯s speed, and its ability to go cross was basically zero. Back when the science team was around, there were many times when the Wanderer found itself stuck in a sandpit. The passengers had to collectively get down and push it. It really was quite useless. The rover¡¯s design wasn¡¯t meant for long-distance hauls. Its only use was to be a mobileboratory, making it convenient for the geb to do its research. To this day, the furthest the Mars Wanderer had gone hadn¡¯t exceeded twenty kilometers. In theory, the Mars Wanderer could go thirty kilometers from a single charge. It then needed to stop to be recharged after its batteries ran out. But in fact, it had never reached the theoretical value. Old Wang oncemented that the Mars Wanderer ¡°worked half a minute after a five-hour charge.¡± It was more OPPO than OPPO 1 . ¡°How many specimens do we need?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, you can try to create quadrants,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°I think getting about twenty specimens would do.¡± ¡°Then, we will choose the more suitable soil out of the twenty specimens?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat opened the rover¡¯s door and sat in the driver¡¯s seat. Tang Yue hopped on as well. The Mars Wanderer¡¯s drivingpartment wasn¡¯t airtight; therefore, passengers needed to wear an EVA suit. It was very easy driving the Mars Wanderer. It only had a wheel, a brake pedal, and an elerator pedal that worked as expected. A start button started the engines on a single press and shut down the engines on another press. Some crazy person had evenbeled the console deck with the slogan: ¡°A merry trip begins here!¡± An arrow then pointed to the start button in apletely ridiculous style. No one would steal the electric vehicle on the Mars Wanderer anyway. If it was stolen, it wouldn¡¯t be a simple case of theft, but an interster diplomatic incident. There were a few indicators for power, location, and temperature, making it resemble a bumper car at an amusement park. It was even the type that happily cried out ¡°Daddy¡¯s daddy is Grandpa!¡± when pressed. Tomcat put on its seatbelt and looked at the battery level. Its batteries were fully charged, the Mars Wanderer was constantly on standby, so it was fully charged every day. This power was enough for them to go about twenty to thirty kilometers. ¡°Mars Wanderer, start.¡± Tomcat pressed the start button, and the rover gently trembled in response. A few minutester, the vehicle¡¯s engine died again. Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°I think it¡¯s because you didn¡¯t call out its name. It¡¯s not very happy,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Try starting it again.¡± ¡°Great Mars Wanderer, start.¡± Tomcat pressed the start button again as it pressed on the elerator, and this time, the vehicle moved slowly out of the garage. Chapter 72: Sol Ninety-Nine, Precious Land

Chapter 72: Sol Ny-Nine, Precious Land

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue and Tomcat drove the Mars Wanderer around Kunlun Station,beling and retrieving samples from the soil beneath them in sequence. As a transportation vehicle, the Mars Wanderer was undoubtedlycking, but as a research apparatus, it was probably the mostplex and expensive geb in human history. Ignoring the cost of delivering it to Mars, just the cost of building it was 400 million American dors. Apart from the driving and engine systems, most of the expenditure was on the experiment module which didn¡¯t have any driving force. All it had were four wheels, allowing it to be dragged along. On it was almost all the functions one needed for any testing. From surveying and mapping to drilling to spectroscopy, to carbon and hydrogen analysis, these intricate and expensive apparatuses made for an all-rounded geb with power delivered by sr panels. Tang Yue sat on a chair, on the work desk in front of him was a microscope and aputer screen. On the other side of the work desk was a neat row of test tubes filled with soil samples. The experiment module was very cramped as it was filled with all sorts of equipment. If two adults were to sit in the module with their backs together, it would be difficult for them to even turn around. ¡°Is the analysis of B3 done?¡± Tomcat stood on a rock outside the vehicle as it surveyed the area. It lowered its body to retrieve soil samples before pasting abel on the test tube. ¡°Sample B3 is being analyzed.¡± Tang Yue wore a mask and protective goggles as he used a stirrer to loosen the soil sample, ground it even, before pushing it under the microscope. Tomcat and Tang Yue had separate jobs. Tomcat was responsible for driving and retrieving samples, while Tang Yue was to sit in the experiment module to do measurements and analysis. Tang Yue had taken off his EVA suit because there was no way he could do work with any level of precision in the bulky clothes. The Mars Wanderer¡¯s geb was an air-tight module with two doors. On this point, it was different from the drivingpartment. Therefore, inside the experiment module, passengers could take off their EVA suit, and carry out ordinary work with an IVA suit or even ordinary clothes. However, the experiment module didn¡¯t provide an OGS, so the oxygen had to be provided by the Radiant Armor. ¡°How manyyers does your face mask have?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Two.¡± ¡°I think you should wear another two more,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You need to know that the soil in front of youes from Mars. There are objects that the immune system of Terran creatures, which took hundreds of millions of years to evolve, have never made contact with before,¡± Tomcat slowly replied. If you were to identally suck the fine dust into your windpipe or mouth, letting it make contact with your skin, who knows what sort of strange reaction or allergies you would have. ¡°For example, your windpipe¡¯s inner walls might quickly swell, blocking it and leading to suffocation. You would die in three minutes,¡± Tomcat added nastily, ¡°Or something abnormal happens to your immune system, and your lymphocytes fail in detecting problems, causing your lungs to bleed profusely. This would also kill you in three minutes.¡± After a moment of silence, Tang Yue took the IVA suit¡¯s helmet and put it over his head. The microscope magnified the dust samples by a few hundred times. Under the magnification, the dark brown dust became gorgeous and colorful. The crystalline, multi-faced particles looked like quartz or diamond. As Tang Yue moved the mouse, the minute minerals sparkled under the background light. ¡°Tang Yue, how¡¯s the soil quality for this batch?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I can¡¯t tell a thing.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Wait a moment. I¡¯ll send you a screenshot. You decide.¡± Tang Yue took a screenshot of the microscope¡¯s image and sent it to Mai Dong. ¡°Hmm... This is the third specimen on the B row?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Tang Yue, look carefully at these minerals under the microscope. Theyered ones are silicatepounds, mainly nontronite, montmorillonite, and muscovite. Finally, the shiny ones are calcites.¡± Mai Dong gave the analysis. ¡°Clearly, these are gravel formed from weathered rock. They have no means of retaining water, making them unsuitable for nting tomatoes.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s nk expression was colored with a look of enlightenment. He looked nk because he didn¡¯t know any of the names of those minerals. He was enlightened because he now knew that the soil couldn¡¯t be used to nt tomatoes. However, Mai Dong¡¯s understanding of the Martian soil far exceeded his expectations. As a researcher in vegetation, did thisdy also take the opportunity to study the Martian soil for the ntation of tomatoes? Tang Yue didn¡¯t have a deep understanding of Mai Dong¡¯s background. All he knew was that she graduated with a Bachelor¡¯s degree from Zhejiang University and a Master¡¯s degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She had nned on heading to Princeton or MIT for her doctoral studies, and even though he knew that thisdy was a schrly academic, he had no idea how schrly she was¡ªthe beginner kind that did well in exams or the supreme kind that had a thorough understanding of everything. Based on the present situation, Mai Dong might very well be a schrly academic that had hidden how schrly she was. The possibility that she was a supreme schr couldn¡¯t be eliminated. ¡°Sample C1.¡± Tomcat opened the first hatch of the experiment module and ced the test tube in. At a nce at the test tube¡¯s soil, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t surprised if it was another sample that wouldn¡¯t be conducive for the nting of tomatoes. After he finished grinding it, dissolving it in water, and filtering it, he ced the solution into a spectrophotometer. The results were as he expected. ¡°Tang Yue, look at that absorption spectrum. The highest peak represents perchlorate ions, and the one behind is chloric acid ions. These two are far beyond the norm, which means that this sample¡¯s dissolvable perchlorate salts and chloric acid salts are too high. Having high a concentration of salt ions can damage the nt¡¯s root cells and osmotic bnce. This kind of soil isn¡¯t suitable for nting tomatoes.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. Sample C2. ¡°Tang Yue, this won¡¯t work.¡± C3. ¡°Not up to standards.¡± C4. ¡°Not suitable.¡± Tang Yue ced all the samples that didn¡¯t meet the requirements aside. Then, he recorded the results in a notebook. Tang Yue mused at the fact that Mars was truly not conducive for humans to live on. They couldn¡¯t even find soil that could nt tomatoes. He immediately missed the fertile ck soil on Earth. Almost anything nted could be harvested. A grain nted in spring led to a harvest in autumn a thousandfold. It was practically the selfless gift from nature, the source of human civilization. In the film, ¡°Gone with the Wind,¡± Scarlett O¡¯Hara¡¯s father once told his daughter that thend was ¡°the only thing in the world worth workin¡¯ for, worth fightin¡¯ for, worth dyin¡¯ for.¡± And in truth, the people of the past didn¡¯t deceive him. Scarlett¡¯s father was a philosopher. He immediately saw the core importance thatnd had in the developmental history of human civilization. A piece ofnd that could nt tomatoes was precious. Now, if someone had this piece ofnd to offer, Tang Yue was willing to die for it. ¡°Tang Yue, how many samples do we have in total?¡± Tomcat patted on the experiment module¡¯s wall. ¡°Eleven.¡± ¡°Any discoveries?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°We discovered that the soil on Mars isn¡¯t suitable for nting crops. Whatever you nt will die.¡± Chapter 73: Sol Ninety-Nine, Civilization to Dust

Chapter 73: Sol Ny-Nine, Civilization to Dust

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat took a look at the time, packed up the tools, and turned to enter the drivingpartment. ¡°That¡¯s it for today. We shall continue the rest of the work tomorrow. We need to return to move the sr panels.¡± Tang Yue looked at the setting sun hanging above the red desert. It reminded him of a poem from the Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei¡ªthe solitary smoke over a desert is straight; the setting sun over rivers is round. ¡°I once had fertile soil ced before me, yet I didn¡¯t cherish it,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you have until it¡¯s gone. Nothing else is more painful than this. ¡°If the heavens will give me a chance to redo things...¡± Tomcatnguidly cut him off. ¡°You still wish for Earth¡¯s disappearance to repeat?¡± Tomcat ignited the Mars Wanderer as the vehicle began to shake. It slowly turned around as Tang Yue sat in the vehicle, trembling along with it. He had fixed all the bottles on the work desk, as well as closed the spectrophotometer. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, what happens if we fail to find any suitable soil? We are only taking samples a few kilometers around us. Will there be any major differences in the soil in such a small area?¡± Tomcat held the wheel as it looked forward. The Mars Wanderer¡¯s wheels rolled down the desert, its tires leaving two straight tracks in its wake. ¡°Hard to say,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°This is because Mars once had liquid water. Areas with water flowing through them will result in changes in thend features. It can still cause a rather huge difference in soil quality even in a small region. For example, the soil quality between a flood in and a riverbed is different... We have to find soil with rtively good foundations, rtively bnced pH values, and rtively good water retention. Such soil is more suitable for the growth of nts.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, did you find any suitable soil back when you were on Kunlun Station?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°Old Zheng and I researched this. He¡¯s an expert in the environment and geology. He told me that Mars is filled with extensive tracts of dry, saline-alkalinend.¡± Tomcat was taken aback for a moment before it let out a long sigh. ¡°We need a Yuan Longping 1 ¡± ... When the Mars Wanderer traversed across a depression in the ground, Tomcat said that it was possibly an ancient river. Perhaps millions of years ago, liquid water once flowed through it. ¡°Mars was also once a rich with water resources.¡± Tang Yue looked out the window. The Mars Wanderer had just climbed over a small sand dune, and a distance away was what appeared to be a slowly-moving brown vertical sand column. On careful look, it was a tiny tornado. ¡°Where did all that water go?¡± ¡°A portion of it evaporated away. Mars¡¯s seismic activity stopped millions of years ago and has mostly lost its maic field. The atmosphere, together with its water, has mostly been stripped off by sr winds,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°A portion of it remains in the poles as ice where the sun can¡¯t reach. The final portion might be underground, turning into ice or some other hydratedpound.¡± ¡°There¡¯s water underground?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Then, wouldn¡¯t that mean we can dig up water if we keep digging downwards?¡± ¡°With that shovel that you use as a soup spoon?¡± Tomcat scoffed. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone use a spoon to dig a well. You will probably dig to the end of your days.¡± The Mars Wanderer drove across the desert covered with gravel. Due to theck of a suspension system, Tang Yue¡¯s ass hurt from all the bumps. ¡°If water exists, would it be possible that Mars once had creatures?¡± Tang Yue looked out the window as he made conversation. ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°If you dig twenty meters down, perhaps you might find the fossils of some ancient Martian creature.¡± ¡°If creatures can exist, would it be possible for civilization to exist on Mars?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, that¡¯s hard to say.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Intelligence and civilization aren¡¯t the goals of evolution. Biological evolution¡¯s goal is to better adapt to the environment, and not grow to have developed brains. Why must you treat intelligence as a standard of higher life forms? From the angle of evolution and biology, the most sessful creatures are always the ones who adapt to their environments the best, and not those with the greatest mental capacity. In the Mesozoic era on Earth,rge reptiles didn¡¯t have high intelligence, but it didn¡¯t stop them from upying the entire globe.¡± ¡°I just feel that if a civilization once existed on Mars, everything would be very romantic,¡± the girl said. ¡°What we are facing isn¡¯t a dead without any life, but the ruins of an ancient civilization.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he looked down at his feet. He imagined huge and magnificent buildings like the ancient Roman halls buried under the surface that the rover had passed. They were passing through a particrly wide road, where tens of thousands of years ago, the residents of Mars civilization were worshiping their gods. ¡°Even if a civilization existed, it would be difficult for us to see their ruins,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°Tang Yue, look to your left.¡± Tang Yue followed the instruction as he stood up and looked to the left of the rover. At the end of the desert ins, there were stackedyers of dark red hills. They were arranged in a criss-cross pattern as they spread across a ravine. ¡°What do you see?¡± ¡°Sand, desert, and linearly arranged hills.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a yardang.¡± Tomcat asked, ¡°Do you know what yardang is?¡± ¡°Some wind-erosionndform?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Precisely. The rock structure you see that rises like a dragon¡¯s back is the result of wind erosion. On this, no strength is stronger than sand drift. No matter how big and strong the building built by some civilization is, it will be eroded and destroyed by time like a slicing de. Eventually, it will turn into sand,¡± Tomcat said softly. ¡°The slowest and most silent force is often the strongest. ¡°Nothing in this world can defeat time. A civilization that develops itself for ten thousand years can have its traces wiped out in ten million years,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°But in geological time, we typically use hundreds of millions of years as the time scale... Whatever aplishments or civilization achievements will all turn to dust.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong fell into silence. They didn¡¯t know what to say. Comparing insignificant humanity to the scale of time left one with fear and respect. Tomcat paused as it began reciting loudly. ¡°I met a traveller from an antiquend, Who said¡ª¡¯Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, and wrinkled lip.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback, lost as to what Tomcat was saying. Mai Dong softly reminded him through the earpiece that it was Shelley¡¯s poem, from the famous work, ¡°Ozymandias.¡± Tomcat raised its voice. ¡°And wrinkled lip, and sneer of coldmand, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!¡± The Mars Wanderer advanced across the silent and endless desert. Amidst the sand and gravel, Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded vast and boundless. Tang Yue looked at the sand-carrying wind as his heart instantly turned cold. However, Tomcat¡¯s voice slowly lowered as though it was singing a sorrowful dirge. ¡°Nothing beside remains. Round the decay; Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare; The lone and level sands stretch far away.¡± Chapter 74: Sol Hundred, Shit-Stirring Tomcat

Chapter 74: Sol Hundred, Shit-Stirring Tomcat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next day. Tomcat and Tang Yue took the entire morning to obtain another twenty specimens in an area spanning one square kilometer. Kunlun Station was located on the northern hemisphere of Mars, the Isidis nitia. This was a circr basin spanning 1,500 kilometers in diameter, the result of a meteorite strike 3.9 billion years ago. The reason Kunlun Station was located here was because experts in the Marsnder program suspected that the Isidis nitia hadrge quantities of ice. Later missions for Kunlun Station were to seek out and develop these hidden water resources, to prepare for the advancement of thending missions. In the next Marsnding mission, it was nned for Earth to send a modified Mars rover which had the capability of making long-distance travel. Future scientific teams would then be able to drive the rover and cross the vast ins. Unfortunately, Earth had disappeared. The entire project hade to a halt as a result. Tang Yue spent the entire afternoon inside the experiment module before finally finding a suitable specimen out of the twenty soil samples. ¡°This is the best soil at present. Tang Yue, look. This specimen is mainlyprised of giose and clinopyroxene. The amount of borosilicate ss is rtively low, and the soil is rich in iron and magnesium silicates. Such soil is very close to the soil found on Earth, and the pH values are rather neutral.¡± Mai Dong was delighted. ¡°Can it be used to nt tomatoes?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Let¡¯s see the results from a Vis-NIR optical-spectrum analysis first,¡± Mai Dong instructed. Tang Yue nodded, ced the soil sample into a solution, obtained the filtered liquid, and ced it in the spectrophotometer. The result quickly came up. ¡°Hmm... based on the infrared data, it¡¯s ideal!¡± Mai Dong stared at the picture for a long while as she slowly nodded. ¡°Tang Yue, where did you get this specimen from?¡± Tang Yue lifted the test tube and looked at thebel. ¡°E2. From an old riverbed. It¡¯s not very far from us. Tomcat dug quite deep to retrieve this sample.¡± ¡°Right, the Isidis nitia is a crater from the Late Noachian Epoch. In that period, there was arge number of hydrated sulfatepounds that had umted on the surface due to volcanic eruptions. You guys are awesome! This is it!¡± Mai Dong made the decision. ¡°Tang Yue, this can be the substrate for you to start nting tomatoes!¡± Tang Yue was delighted as he turned around and shouted towards the driverpartment. ¡°Tomcat! Turn back! We found suitable soil!¡± Upon saying that, the rover shook as Tang Yue fell forward. Tomcat turned its head and said unhappily, ¡°What¡¯s all the fuss? The wheels got stuck in a hole.¡± ... Tomcat and Tang Yue used sealed stic bags and obtained more than ten kilograms of soil from a spot about a kilometer away from Kunlun Station. It was from a long-dried out ancient river. Tomcat had removed the surface sand and gravel and had dug a meter deep with a shovel before finding suitable soil. They then used Mars Wanderer to move the soil back to Kunlun Station. Tang Yue panted as he piled the bag in front of the garage and smacked his hands. ¡°This soil is at least fifteen kilograms. Is that enough? We¡¯ll go dig more up if it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°It should be enough for starters,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°However, this soil cannot be directly used to nt tomatoes. They are only for the substrate. Itcks the nutrients needed for vegetation growth, so following that, we need to add...¡± ¡± Jink !¡± Tang Yue¡¯s eyes lit up. ... Fertilizer was a miracle item. It was the most important invention of humanity aftering up with sh-and-burn cultivation. By manually improving theposition of the soil, the fertility of the soil could be enhanced. This greatly enhanced the production of the farming industry. In the long history of farming, the usage of fertilizer was a revolutionary improvement. It was the foundation to which agricultural societies were able to develop and prosper. Fertilizer was an ever-important topic in agricultural science. Societal and technological improvement, especially the development of the chemical industry, allowed people to quantify and study the nutrients needed by crops, and manually providing these basic elements for them. This technology eventually expedited the most important ingredient in modern agriculture¡ªchemical fertilizer. The reason modern society could have such a poption boom was ultimately due to the use of chemical fertilizer. Using science, essential minerals and elements were provided to the crops, allowing agriculture to rapidly be industrialized. It facilitated the production increase in food, and raising food production was the foundation of increasing the human poption. Of course, Jink was a magical item. Rumor had it that using one bag of Jink could match two... It was obvious that there was nothing on Kunlun Station that could be used as fertilizer. But thankfully, Tang Yue was a fertilizer creation machine. This was probably the meaning of his existence. Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese learned how to use organic fertilizer to raise the fertility of the soil to promote the growth of their crops. This was probably a technical skill that came naturally to the Chinese. Thousands of years¡¯ worth of agriculture civilization had engraved the love for thend into everyone¡¯s genes. Otherwise, why would so many people like buying real estate? Tomcat and Tang Yue removed all the dried feces from the waste-collecting tank. The feces had all been dried via the sanitation system and were as dry and hard as a rock. They were wrapped in vacuum packs. ording to the rules, all waste created by Kunlun Station was not to be thrown on the surface of Mars. All of it had to be brought back to Earth. However, that rule was now no longer in effect. Tang Yue could defecate wherever he wished. The two brought all the feces into the garage. Such shit-stirring activity definitely couldn¡¯t be done in the Hab, or there was no way they could live there again. Tang Yue poured the dry feces onto the garage¡¯s ground. He did a casual sweep and discovered that his bowels had been unhindered over the past three months. All the feces there were his. The feces of the others and their trash had all been taken away by Orion I. Tomcat crouched down as it held a stick it had found from somewhere. It prodded the packaged feces with interest. ¡°Tang Yue, I think you are severely constipated, making your shit dry. Look at your shit; it¡¯s as hard as marble.¡± Tang Yue wore a mask,pletely ignoring Tomcat¡¯s random drivel. Tomcat was still prodding the feces on the ground as it prodded them again and again. ¡°Tang Yue, look. Doesn¡¯t this piece of shit look like a vacuum-packed tea egg? How did you produce such a round shit egg? Can you demonstrate it to me? ¡°Also, look at this. It¡¯s huge. I estimate it to be about a quarter kilogram... ¡°This piece of shit has artistic vibes. It looks like Vincent van Gogh¡¯s The Starry Night. ¡°Hey, Tang Yue! Look at this. This piece of shit looks just like you! Both of you must havee from the same mold. You truly are father and son...¡± Tang Yue angrily picked up a piece of dehydrated shit and threw it at Tomcat. Chapter 75: Sol Hundred, Hoarding Shit to Richness

Chapter 75: Sol Hundred, Hoarding Shit to Richness

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue sat amidst the feces pile, using scissors to cut open the vacuum packaging of the feces. Due to dehydration and low temperatures, the feces in the package were dry and brittle. They crumbled like sand from a gentle prod even though they appeared hard. At his age, he had never expected to be fortunate enough to be in such close proximity with his feces. In the past, Tang Yue had been the kind of person who flushed and left after doing the deed. He was a rather heartless person who had never even looked back. After Tang Yue poured the dehydrated feces in the vacuum packaging into a metal tray, he realized he could tell from the remnants, what he had eaten that day. Food rich in crude fiber wasn¡¯t digestible and would be expelled along with the feces. There was a period when Tang Yue had often eaten canned vegetables; hence, undigested crude fiber could often be found in the feces from that period. Tang Yue wore two masks, and thankfully, as the feces had been dehydrated for quite some time, there wasn¡¯t much smell to them. ¡°The smell of shit mainlyes from 3-methylindole or skatole. When such things are smeared on your clothes, you will smell like a piece of shit,¡± Tomcat muttered as it sat by the side helping crush the feces. Tang Yue felt that its interest was more on the feces themselves. ¡°Tang Yue, look at this piece of shit. There¡¯s a long thing inside here... Is that a roundworm? Ah, no. It¡¯s some undigested crude fiber... ¡°Tang Yue, were you eating vegetables that day? I see the remains of a vegetable leaf. This is a waste of food, do you understand? I think you can still eat those leaves if you take them out. ¡°Tang Yue, is there a problem with your digestive system...¡± Tang Yue smacked his hands and turned around. He had just stuffed a rolled-up glove into Tomcat¡¯s mouth. It was finally over. ¡°Human feces are traditional fertilizer. They¡¯re rich in elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. They¡¯re very suitable for nting vegetables, and can provide tomatoes with sufficient nutrients.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°Tang Yue, you need to rehydrate the dried feces, which means adding water and stirring sufficiently. Then, you will need to mix them with the soil you retrieved.¡± Rehydrate... Tang Yue¡¯s forehead began to perspire. Although Mai Dong described it in a very academic manner, wasn¡¯t this an act of... stirring shit? Tang Yue looked at the metal pick in his hand. The usage of a long object was determined by who wielded it. If it were in the hands of Harry Potter, it would be a powerful wand. And in the hands of Tang Yue... it was a shit-stirring stick. One¡¯s background determined everything. Tang Yue got Tomcat to bring over the chilled water from before. Mai Dong didn¡¯t say how much water was to be used. All she said was ¡°add the water to make the feces soft and thin enough. The stickiness should be around that of porridge, like curry that had a little too much water.¡± ¡°Following that, add the feces into the substrate soil, just like pouring curry over rice.¡± Such an analogy was truly apt. Tang Yue didn¡¯t want to eat curry rice for the rest of his life. As it was only a test ntation, Mai Dong and Tang Yue didn¡¯t n on using all the tomato seeds. It would be terrible if they failed. Tang Yue decided to nt about ten tomato seeds in the first batch to determine the viability of the n. It wasn¡¯t toote to grow the remaining vegetable seeds if they were certain of sess. Therefore, the soil and feces were prepared ording to ten tomato nts, so Tang Yue still had plenty of shit on hand... On this deste Mars, shit was indeed a rare valuable resource. Tang Yue imagined that in a primitive agricultural civilization on Mars, shit would definitely be something to be vied for. Perhaps someone could be rich from hoarding shit. Tomcat and Tang Yue wore their helmets as though they were facing a formidable enemy. Tomcat held the water trough that was filled with ice water. Tang Yue held a metal rod, with a huge beaker in front of him. Inside the beaker were mysterious powder and lumpy material which were dark brown in color. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes wore a determined look. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat tilted the water trough, pouring the water into the beaker. As the feces in the cup met water, the water immediately became turbid. ck residues mixed with the bubbles that swirled to the surface as the feces rapidly absorbed the water. The dry powder and feces became sticky again, like a container of mud. Tang Yue held his breath as he inserted the metal rod into the shit, stirring it with great vigor. Tang Yueforted himself that this was a happy job as a nightman. ¡°Tang Yue, just imagine it as ck sesame paste,¡± Mai Dong suggested. Tang Yue and Tomcat held their breaths. ¡°Lady, please stop saying a word. You have already brought harm to curry rice. Please don¡¯t spread your harm to sesame paste!¡± ... Mai Dong was wearing blue work clothes with a matching cap. She was floating in the Crystal core module, and in front of her was a screen that connected to Kunlun Station¡¯smunications system. There was a dense array of control panels around her. Mai Dong never dared to switch off themunications system, afraid that Tomcat and Tang Yue would vanish like Earth. Only by seeing that man and cat did Mai Dong know that she was still alive. Living alone in the space station was a boring life. Even though the Universe was huge and endless, being stuck in a tiny space station left one ustrophobic. The Crystal core module was the biggest and most spacious module on the United Space Station, but it only took a fewrge strides to cover it. The other modules were more passages than rooms. Passing through those cylindrical passages made it feel like traversing a maze or being in an ant tunnel. Mai Dong¡¯s daily life was very regr. Physical training, eating, checking on the space station, taking care of her nt samples, and finally sleep. She slept five to six hours a day. Being in near-Mars orbit, it was difficult to tell night from day, so Mai Dong often suffered from insomnia. After all the research work had been canceled, the girl used the free time to rest and entertain herself. There were plenty of movies, music, and video games in the space station. There was even a special edition of the Sony ystation 10. It was brought over by Thomp¡ªevery astronaut was allowed a quota for personal belongings. Apart from the necessary supplies and research equipment, the scientific team was permitted to bring toys, photo albums, and even vinyl records as long as they didn¡¯t vite safety protocol. To kill the boredom of their long journey, most people took entertainment equipment, for example, a few terabytes of movies and music. Apart from Max who was a crazy mathematician. He had taken a bunch of paper, iming that he would crack Goldbach¡¯s conjecture on the journey to Mars. Of course, he threw this bold im to the back of his mind once he got on board. He began happily ying The Elder Scrolls and Call of Duty with Old Wang. Mai Dong didn¡¯t y games, so she used her spare time to listen to music and watch movies¡ªthere were many ssic movies on the space station. The girl wasn¡¯t very interested in the dazzling special effects of Hollywood movies. Ever since Earth had vanished, Mai Dong had been repeatedly watching Gone with the Wind, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and other BBC documentaries, imagining that the blue was still about a hundred million kilometers away. Chapter 76: Sol Hundred, Sliding into the Abyss

Chapter 76: Sol Hundred, Sliding into the Abyss

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong reached out to press the button on the panel, as the words ¡°PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST¡± appeared on theputer screen. After a few seconds, the screen indicated: ¡°Pleaseplete the following questions.¡± Mai Dong took a deep breath. Long periods of dull, solitary life led to psychological problems in humans. Therefore, every member of the Marsnding mission needed to undergo a psychological test at fixed intervals. In the past, this test was administered by the team doctor, Maxwell, but with Mai Dong, the only person left on the space station, all she could do was self-administer the test. One¡¯s mental health was equally as important as one¡¯s physical health. In the first few Marsnding missions, the monitors on Earth had belittled this problem. Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov had once spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir space station, circling the Earth about five thousand times while maintaining a normal mental condition. Therefore, scientists believed that from the experiences gleaned from extended space station missions, it was enough for a Marsnding. But the realityter proved that Earth¡¯s space station and the Mars mission were two entirely different matters. Traveling deep into space overturned one¡¯s mental state in a manner that far exceeded the scientists¡¯ imaginations. In the first few missions for the Orion I and II, several astronauts began spontaneously exhibiting mental problems. The worst-case was during the third flight of the Orion I. On the return journey, American payload specialist, John Yang was diagnosed with depression. He was unable to work properly and even attempted to inflict harm on himself. He was hospitalized after returning to Earth. In John Yang¡¯s words, ¡°Only when you leave Earth¡¯s orbit do you realize that you are sliding towards a bottomless abyss.¡± Subsequent Mars missions beganpelling astronauts to have periodic psychological tests, as they ced mental health on the same level as physical health. The team doctor would also be trained in psychiatry. Meanwhile, the selection of members began leaning towards people like Tang Yue. Mai Dong¡¯s mental condition had always been very stable. Her curiosity towards deep space far exceeded her fear. She had enjoyed watching the stars from a young age. At the age of ten, her father bought her a 200m reflecting telescope. The youngdy would spend every night on her balcony looking at the moon and Saturn. From a young age, she had been engrossed with the grandeur and vastness of the Universe. This longing, buried deep in her heart from a young age, was the impetus for her participation in the Mars project. ¡°Next, you will see an image. Please follow the instructions.¡± Mai Dong tapped the button on the screen and began answering. The test consisted of more than a hundred questions, involving various aspects. It wasn¡¯t a pure psychological test, as it included a number of math and physics questions. It tested the astronauts¡¯ mental condition, thought and logical processes, and wit. ¡°Mai Dong, we have mixed the shit evenly!¡± A particr nightman¡¯s voice sounded in Mai Dong¡¯s earpiece. It was truly a killjoy. ¡°What do we do next? Just bury the seeds in it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Mai Dong answered Tang Yue¡¯s questions as she pressed the control panel¡¯s buttons. ¡°That¡¯s the final step. Before that, we still have plenty of work to do... Next, we have to let the fertilizer ferment.¡± ¡°Ferment?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat held their breaths. ¡°Do you know aboutpost?¡± Mai Dong asked, ¡°Hotpost.¡± ¡°Heard of it.¡± ¡°Under normal conditions, human feces cannot be directly used as fertilizer. They need to be processed by mixing them with straw, hay, and silt. Then, it will be fermented at high temperatures to kill any parasitic worm eggs and weed seeds. It will let the feces undergo bacteria dposition, turning into a humicpound,¡± Mai Dong exined. ¡°Thus, Tang Yue, your feces need to undergo fermentation to be fertilizer. That way, it will allow the nts to absorb it better.¡± Tang Yue ced a container of feces by the side of the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG). It constantly emitted heat, and its surrounding temperatures were the highest. It could maintain above zero degrees Celsius, making it most suitable for microorganisms to grow. In fact, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t sure how much bacteria was left in the container of shit. After being dehydrated and cooled, the vacuum-packed feces were in fact in a nearly bacteria less environment. However, it couldn¡¯t be said to be clean. This rationale was the same as having bacteria killed in a high-pressure washer. Even though all microorganisms were killed, no one wished to have this stain their clothes. Tang Yue found something to cover the container before finding a piece of stic to bind it tightly inyers. People not in the know might even imagine that he was hiding a treasure. If someone were to steal this treasure of his, they would definitely be in for a surprise when they opened the container. ¡°Ordinarypost needs about half a month to ferment. Tang Yue, you will have to control it on your side,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Once the fertilizer is fermented and ready, you can use it to nt tomatoes.¡± The conditions on Mars were crude. Makingpost like this on Earth was unrealistic. Everything had to be done simply. ¡°How will I know when the fertilizer is ready?¡± ¡°Taste... Ah, no¡ªyou can look at its color and size. If the color turns ck-brown, and the volume reduces to about a third from what it was, it means the fermentation is almost done,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°However, the temperature at your side is overly low, and there¡¯s no oxygen. Only anaerobic organisms can live, so the conditions are suitable for fermentation... Therefore, I don¡¯t think you need to follow it to the tee. Waiting a few days would do.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°While the first container is fermenting, you can continue creating other fertilizer,¡± Mai Dong continued. ¡°At the same time, you can also begin pretreatment on the seeds.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Tang Yue got up and thanked her in all seriousness. ¡°My dear agriculture expert, Comrade Mai Dong, thank you for your guidance!¡± Mai Dong smiled silently. She finished her test, gently pushing the wall and floated away from the control panel. From afar, she looked at that screen. The psychological test was over, and the screen would soon give her the results. This was aplicated form that indicated various indicators and numbers. Mai Dong didn¡¯t understand the jargon, so she went right to the end of the report. It was a colored column with a bright green color at the top and a dark red color at the bottom. It was a graded color chart that depicted the most objective state of one¡¯s mental health. All the data would be processed by theputer and made into a diagram. The closer the pointer was to green, the healthier one was. The closer the pointer was to the red, the more dangerous it was. In every previous test Mai Dong took, she was in the bright green region, indicating that she was an optimistic person. The girl¡¯s gaze swept the colored column. This time, she didn¡¯t find the pointer indicating her in the green region. Mai Dong slowly scrolled down and found her pointer in a yellow region. On it was a line of red text. ¡°Dear Miss Mai Dong, your mental and psychological state is unstable. There are signs of mild depression. Please seek advice from a psychiatrist to prevent the situation from worsening.¡± Chapter 77: Sol Hundred, Picasso’s Full Name

Chapter 77: Sol Hundred, Picasso¡¯s Full Name

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong turned off the psychological test. Theputer had warned her to seek advice from a psychiatrist, but the advice was of no value. She was the only one on the United Space Station, so who could she turn to? The girl adjusted the temperature in the Crystal module as the space station had entered the shadows of Mars. A pencil slowly floated across her eyes. Without any external forces exerting on it, it would continue moving in a straight line until it hit the wall. Mai Dong reached out to flick it, sending the pencil in another direction. Mai Dong turned around to leave the core module, passed through the passage connecting the modules and entered the Hub APAS module. The Hub was a nearly spherical module. It was located in the middle of the United Space Station, and a crossroad. It had the most APASs and was in charge of connecting the other modules. On the left was the Hope experiment module, and on the right was the Discovery experiment module. Ahead was the Harmony service module. All of Mai Dong¡¯s nts were nted in the Hope module. It came with a fully-equipped microgravity vegetation incubation system, with a total of twelve incubators, and each incubator having eight units. Due to the restrictions of the environment, the nts cultivated in the space station couldn¡¯t be grown the same way onnd¡ªnted in soil with water and fertilizer. To get the nts to grow normally, the space station needed a set ofplicated cultivation equipment. The equipment was spearheaded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in which they referenced former space cultivation systems from the Americans and Russians, before enhancing it with socialism with Chinese characteristics. For growth in a microgravity environment, the delivery of water and nutrients was crucial. In a weightless environment, liquid didn¡¯t flow freely. It would only float about like a ball due to surface tension. Therefore, engineers needed to use special negative pressure perforated tubes to deliver the nutritional fluids that would flow into the nt¡¯s substrate by osmosis. The final oue was a ratherplicated piece of equipment. This tiny space-greenhouse was split into several main modules. Theputer automatically controlled the delivery of light, water, and temperature. Mai Dong had nted eight tomato nts, twenty-three lettuce nts, and seventeen potato nts in the United Space Station. The species were high-quality specimens specially chosen on Earth. They grew fast and had a high chance of survival. All the tomatoes had borne fruit, and the ones that developed the fastest had ripened. Mai Dong picked the ripe tomato and store it in a refrigerator. There were still about five tomatoes that hadn¡¯t ripened. They were green with hints of red. They hung heavily in the ss box and were a joy to look at. Mai Dong enjoyed staying in the Hope module. She found it the liveliest ce in the space station as it was filled with vibrancy. Although the nts couldn¡¯t speak, they were definitely whispering to one another in a manner humans couldn¡¯t detect. Mai Dong closed her eyes and felt as though she could hear their voices. Such voices were filled with the vibrant nature of life. At times, Mai Dong would y music to the tomatoes and potatoes. She had heard that soft, gentle music aided the growth of nts... Her gentle maternal instincts had nothing to act on, so all she could do was give it to the speechless nts. Mai Dong opened the incubator and carefully inspected the growth of the lettuce. ¡°Hmm... Ah Chang, you need to grow a little longer. ssics beside you has already borne fruit.¡± Ah Chang was a tomato¡¯s name. Likewise for ssics. Mai Dong had given every nt a name. The first tomato seed that sprouted was name Runtu, the eldest brother. Ah Chang was the fifth tomato seed that had sprouted, so he was the fifth brother. ssics was the sixth. The tomatoes in the space station were a big family with eight brothers. Since tomatoes were hermaphroditic nts, they were brothers if Mai Dong said so. The youngest tomato¡¯s name was Zha, an animal like a badger created by Lu Xun. ... Kunlun Station. Night had already descended and the stars were bright. Without any man-made light pollution, one could see the grand Milky Way across the surface of Mars. Without the series of problems, Mars was indeed a ce that provided the soul with a catharsis. Some people said that Kunlun Station was the closest spot of human society to the Universe. Others said that heading for Kunlun Station was a pilgrimage. There were indeed people who participated in the Mars missions with such ideas. In the past ten plusnding missions, many experts had been devout Christians. They traveled millions of miles to Kunlun Station, partly to discover the scientific truth, and partly to narrow the distance between them and God. However, these people mostly fell into deep self-doubt after returning to Earth. The feeling of really stepping onto another struck them. This was the first time humanity was using their feet to measure the extensiveness of the world. They began to suspect if God, that arose from humanity¡¯s own thoughts, really had the ability to create such a Universe. The thought of God creating everything was perhaps only an anthropocentric aspect of human arrogance. In contrast, Tang Yue didn¡¯t think much about it. As an atheist born under the red g, he had received uplifting influence from Marx and socialism. From a young age, his education involved: Mars? Mars is just another huge mud egg, a mud egg just like Earth that circles the sun. There are a few other mud eggs in the Sr System, so it¡¯s nothing special. Whatever God or Creation was just bullshit. It was all much ado about nothing. Sigh. Tang Yue had spent the entire day stirring shit. Kunlun Station might be the furthest holynd from the mortal world, but here he was, stirring shit in the holynd. It was quite impossible to make things holy. Tang Yue and Tomcat finished making two containers of feces, before cing them both in the garage where they were apanied by the radioisotope thermoelectric generator to await fermentation. There was still a batch of dehydrated feces that had yet to be handled, so Tang Yue ced them in the garage and decided to deal with them in the future. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue sat by the window as he looked out while resting over his cheeks. ¡°Yes?¡± Tomcat leaned on the table, crossed its legs, and closed its eyes. ¡°Mai Dong told me previously to leave some records of human civilization.¡± Tang Yue turned his head over. ¡°What do you think about writing some memoirs?¡± Tomcat opened one eye. ¡°Let me ask you, which country was Picasso from?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Which country was Picasso from? This was apparently taught in middle school history. However, it had been so long ago that he could no longer remember. He knew that Picasso was a famous artist, but he wasn¡¯t sure which era or country Picasso was from. Tang Yue tried hard to recall. He was European, probably an ancient European. Perhaps he was in the same era as Davinci? ¡°What¡¯s his full name?¡± Tomcat carried on asking. ¡°His surname is Pi, and his name is Casso?¡± ¡°Picasso passed away only in 1973. His full name is Pablo Diego Jos¨¦ Francisco de Pa Juan Nepomuceno Mar¨ªa de los Remedios Cipriano de Sant¨ªsima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.¡± Tomcat shook its head and closed its eyes. ¡°You want to chronicle human civilization when you can¡¯t even remember Picasso¡¯s name? It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± Chapter 78: Sol Hundred, Starting from the Cambrian Period

Chapter 78: Sol Hundred, Starting from the Cambrian Period

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°It¡¯s true, I don¡¯t remember, but you do.¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°With you around, you can help.¡± Tomcat kept one eye open while the other remained close. ¡°You wish to get my help?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Call me daddy.¡± Tomcat hooked its paw. Tang Yue frowned. ¡°Call you what?¡± ¡°Daddy.¡± ¡°Good son.¡± ... ¡°What the two of you wish to do is an unprecedented endeavor that will never be matched even in the future. In ancient times, history offices needed decades just to chronicle the previous dynasty. And both of you wish to chronicle all of human civilization.¡± Tomcat yawned as its ears twitched. ¡°Civilization is an ill-defined concept. It covers history, culture, technology, art, and everything you created as well as everything that created you. If you write down the entirety of human civilization¡¯s development process into the book, I believe that book will be thick enough to circle Mars several times.¡± Tang Yue was somewhat rmed. He knew that it would be a massive endeavor, but he never expected it to be that scale. He didn¡¯t have much knowledge about history, to begin with. Most came from his history textbooks in high school, and in history textbooks, spanning centuries was covered in just a few pages. Even the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, appeared only a handful of times. ¡°The researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences spend their entire lives researching a tiny slice of history, and that¡¯s without any guarantees of them figuring out anything. What makes you think you can chronicle all of human civilization?¡± Tomcat scoffed. ¡°Do you know the difference between Roosevelt and Roosevelt Jr.?¡± ¡°Simplify it a little. We can simplify it a little.¡± Tang Yuepromised. He didck the capabilities needed to chronicle all of human civilization. If he made a mistake with Emperor Wu of Han¡¯s date of birth and death, he wondered if this particr Mr. Liu Che would travel hundreds of millions of kilometers to Mars to make a protest. ¡°We can start with a framework based on time, just like a chronicle. Then, we can slowly fill in the details, and develop as we go,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Peking Man, Yuanmou Man... We should start with the Neanderthals?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just start from the Cambrian Period?¡± Tomcat scoffed. ¡°Why not start from the hallucigenia?¡± ¡°Great idea!¡± Tang Yue pped. ¡°Earth is gone. We should biographize Earth¡¯s history.¡± ¡°Biographize my ass... Do you know what it means to do things within your means?¡± Tomcat opened his eyes, waved his ws, and felt a little exasperated. ¡°Are you going to start from the Cambrian period to the Ordovician period, to the Silurian period, to the Devonian period, to the Carboniferous period, to the Permian period, to the Triassic period, to the Jurassic period, to the Cretaceous period, to the Paleogene period, to the Neogene period, all the way to the Quaternary period? Do you have a lifespan longer than Peng Zu 1 ?¡± ¡°We can simplify it a little. Simplify it a little,¡± Tang Yue said with resent. ¡°For example, we can describe the Jurassic period as a period when reptiles flourished. On the massive continent lived... lived...¡± Tang Yue realized he had nearly zero knowledge about ancient creatures. He couldn¡¯t even remember the names of any dinosaurs. ¡°... lived the teosaurus!¡± Tang Yue finally recalled a name. Tomcat silently held its forehead. ¡°The teosaurus is a creature from the Triassic period.¡± ¡°In the Jurassic period, the supercontinent began to break up. Gymnosperms reached their peak development, and there were plenty of reptiles. Among them, Ornithischia and Saurischia dinosaurs had the greatest development. Ornithischia dinosaurs included the Stegosaurus, while the Saurischia dinosaurs included the Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Brontosaurus.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded over thems as she gave a livelyugh. ¡°Would that be fine?¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± Tang Yue snapped his fingers. ¡°Perfect,dy! That would do! That¡¯s it, we shall begin from the Cambrian period!¡± Tomcat silently facepalmed. It didn¡¯t dare make the sarcastic remark, ¡°Why don¡¯t you start from the Big Bang?¡± It was very likely that this clueless idiot would just smack his head and really begin from the Big Bang. Clearly, just Tang Yue and Mai Dong were insufficient toplete this endeavor. Therefore, the one who would truly end up with all the troubles was Tomcat. It didn¡¯t wish to make things worse for itself. ¡°Alright, alright. You can start wherever you wish to start from.¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°But what are you going to use to record? Paper? Hard disks? Or carving it on a rock?¡± Kunlun Station had lots of paper which Max had brought to solve Goldbach¡¯s conjecture, but after Max got engrossed with The Elder Scrolls, this grand goal was thrown to the back of his mind. ¡°We can¡¯t use paper. The density of information it can contain is too little. It has too low a capacity.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t have that much paper or pens, much less that much manpower.¡± Using paper to record Earth¡¯s history was unimaginable. The efficiency of handwriting records was just too low. In the era before the printing press was created, books and cultural transmission was done by professional scribes. Those people workedte-nights for months to write. Finally, that pitiful amount produced became the exclusive collections of the aristocracy. Using the capacity of hard disks was viable as Kunlun Station didn¡¯tck hard disks. There were hard disks with tens or hundreds of terabytes of storage. A Chinese character only took two bytes of space, and each letter in the alphabet took a byte of space. If it was all used to store text, the hard disk¡¯s storage would be enough to store all the books in human history. With just Tang Yue and Mai Dong alone, there was no need to worry about having ack of hard disk space. ¡°How long can the information on hard disks be preserved?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. The harsh environment on Mars will greatly degrade the lifespan of a hard disk. The particles in solid-state drives that are used to store data are prone to damage. Mechanical hard drives have slightly longer lifespans, but they won¡¯tst past a century.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Even if you were to record the information on a hard disk, where would you store them?¡± ¡°The best environment on Mars is here.¡± Tomcat pointed down. ¡°Kunlun Station¡¯s lifespan is longer than both of yours, but once you are dead, it won¡¯t survive long due to theck of maintenance. It willst for at most fifty years, and by then it will be inplete ruins. And a centuryter, the information left on the hard disks would have been damaged and lost.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong fell into a thoughtful silence. In a certain way, they were writing an epitaph for human civilization. An epitaph was engraved on tombstones for people from the future to see. It needed to be preserved, so even if the coffin and remains in the grave had rotted and reduced to soil, their names would still be known to others. It was why Tang Yue wished to record something and store it for as long as possible. Paper and hard disks weren¡¯t viable options. As for engraving it on stone, that was indeed a romantic idea. If he had the conditions, Tang Yue wished to use the entire Martian surface like paper, using an excavator and tractor convoy to engrave words on Mars, so that the entire Sr System could see it. But Tang Yue only had a soup-spoon-like shovel on hand. At best, he could engrave his name on the rock. However, Lu Xun 1 once said, ¡°The one who engraves his own name in rock, will see their name rot faster than a corpse.¡± Lu Xun: ... I didn¡¯t say 1 that. It¡¯s by Zang Kejia 2 . Chapter 79: Sol Hundred and One, When Heaven Is About to Confer a Great Responsibility on Man

Chapter 79: Sol Hundred and One, When Heaven Is About to Confer a Great Responsibility on Man

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next morning. After having breakfast,pleting his physical training, and moving the sr panels, Tang Yue continued stirring shit in the garage. ¡°I say... As one of the only two remaining humans in the Universe, I should be one of the most illustrious figures in human history, right? Isn¡¯t it said that when Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering and his sinews and bones with toil?¡± Tang Yue stirred the shit mixture with great force before stopping. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat sat with its back facing him. It too was handling the shit. ¡°Then, what¡¯s my great office?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Stir shit,¡± Tomcat replied. Tang Yue felt helpless. As one of the two remaining humans in the Universe, he could be considered one of the most special people in human history. The significance was probably second only to non-hominin ape, Lucy, from Africa. This was like being the Chosen One. As such an important figure, shouldn¡¯t the expected development be the heavens burdening him with the important mission of saving the world? The previous Chosen One 1 had pulled out a race that faced extinction from a quagmire, and developed them into one of the greatest nations in human history. Therefore, Tang Yue believed that he had to rise up to contribute something of equal proportions. He couldn¡¯t lose out to his forefathers. But what was the meaning of stirring shit day after day? ¡°Stirring shit isn¡¯t an important mission? Stirring shit is also an important mission,¡± Tomcat said leisurely. ¡°No matter how heroic a figure is, they will have to survive. Think about those stories with knights killing princes, ah I mean... demon kings, so they could marry the princess and lead a happy life together. Although the story usually ends there, life doesn¡¯t end. There wille a day when they get fed up with their mundane lives. Even the most invible vows would waver, and the sharpest swords would rust. Even a beautiful princess would be a grizzled, wrinkled old granny as she sits with her neighbors to gossip and y mahjong.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Life is an important mission. Knights aren¡¯t defeated by the demon kings, but they are defeated by life. Snow White didn¡¯t lose to the Queen, but she will lose to time.¡± Tomcat waved the shit-stirring rod in its paw. ¡°Everyone¡¯s life is a journey towards distant dreams, as they streak out a beautiful trajectory, only tond themselves in a pit of shit. ¡°It¡¯s important for life to dream, but the true face of life is stirring shit,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°That¡¯s because most people in this world spend their entire lives stirring shit.¡± ¡°Are you implying that the final destination of my life is to be Shi Chuanxiang 1 ?¡± ¡°Is there something bad about being Shi Chuanxiang?¡± Tomcat patted him on the shoulder. ¡°He was honored as a national model worker by the country!¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll try to get the Mars model worker. Don¡¯t fight against me for it.¡± ¡°No way. All this shit is yours.¡± Tang Yue sighed. Based on the principle of trantion invariance, be it on Mars or on Earth, Tang Yue was still the same Tang Yue. The work he needed to do wouldn¡¯t change. Life was forever filled with trivialities, and there was no one in the world who could live every day with great aplomb. If there was anyone, it would be Batman. When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil; it exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty; then, it makes him stir shit. Finally, Tang Yue stuffed the third container of feces in a corner of the garage. These containers were previously used to store food, and now, they were used to store the deeply processed residual product of food. They nned on nting ten tomato nts in the first batch as an experiment. It was unknown if the soil and fertilizer would be of any use. If the seeds sessfully sprouted, Tang Yue would then nt the rest of the seeds. ¡°How much shit do we have left?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue did a count. ¡°We have already used half.¡± Tomcat nced at the fertilizer in the corner. ¡°At present, thispost can only nt a batch of tomatoes at best. The remaining shit should be capable of nting another batch, but we won¡¯t be able to nt all the seeds that Mai Dong left behind... There isn¡¯t enough shit.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat stood in the garage nkly. Never had they expect themselves to be stumped by a bucket of shit. ¡°Say, can you get better as a shit-making machine?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Are you unable to shit?¡± ¡°I shit however much I eat!¡± Tang Yue fumed. ¡°I eat only a tiny amount a day, so how can I shit that much?¡± ¡°Special situations call for special treatment,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°In hardship, an able man is always busy. You should eat as little as possible, but shit as much as you can.¡± Tang Yue was dumbfounded. The cat was speaking weirder by the day. ¡°F*ck! You want my digestive system to fight the conservation of mass?¡± ... ¡°While waiting for the fertilizer to ferment and be ready, we can begin pretreatment on the seeds,¡± Mai Dong instructed. ¡°The seeds we brought over are mature seeds that were selected. However, they have been in a hibernative state during our transportation of them. Therefore, we need to do some pretreatment to break them out of hibernation.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue took out the vegetable seeds and poured out the tomato seeds in the bottle. They carefully selected ten seeds and numbered them from one to ten. Tang Yue called them the Mars Vegetable Advance Party. In fact, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t the first person to nt vegetables on Mars. In the past dozen or so Mars missions, there had been several simr experiments. The scientific team had nted chili, eggnt, orchid, and even pine trees. However, they had never thought of relying on these experimental nts for survival. They brought back all the samples after the mission was over. The man and cat were very careful. To them, these ten hibernating tiny life forms were kin from Earth. They were life-giving and were also carbon-based lifeforms just like them. Tomcat also believed itself a carbon-based lifeform as it imed that it was made from polymers that had carbon in them; therefore, making it look especially familial. As one of the few creatures on Mars that hailed from Earth, who cared if it was an animal or nt. They were all fellow Earthlings. It truly was a tearing event to see a fellow Earthling. ¡°Mai Dong, what do you do with the tomatoes after they bear fruit?¡± Tang Yue suddenly recalled something. ¡°Tomatoes can¡¯t be stored for long, right?¡± The storage of tomatoes was also a problem. They were fruits that easily rotted and, under normal circumstances, they couldn¡¯t be stored for too long. Tang Yue had zero experience in handling food, but he wished to be able to store the tomatoes as long as he could. It was impossible for him to farm tomatoes for extended periods of time since water was limited. ¡°Me?¡± Mai Dong thought for a moment. ¡°I first chill them at low temperatures before pickling them.¡± ¡°Pickling them? How?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°First let them undergo high-temperature sterilization, then add sugar and seal them. The pickled product can be stored for more than a year, and it will be delicious.¡± Tang Yue turned to look at Tomcat. ¡°Do we have sugar here?¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not sweet,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Do you want it?¡± ¡°Sugar that¡¯s not sweet?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°What kind of sugar?¡± ¡°Deoxy sugar.¡± Chapter 80: Sol Hundred and One, Wretched God

Chapter 80: Sol Hundred and One, Wretched God

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°First, we need to break the seeds out of hibernation. The typical pretreatment is to soak them in water,¡± Mai Dong instructed. ¡°Therefore, Tang Yue, you need to get enough water to soak all ten tomato seeds.¡± Tang Yue used a beaker and retrieved 200 milliliters of water. Then, he ced it above a burner tripod, ced an electric heater beneath it, and turned on the power. Tang Yue and Tomcat sat by the side of the table and watched the heating element turn red. ¡°It feels as if I¡¯m doing chemistry experiments back in university again.¡± Tang Yue held a thermometer as he held his chin above the table. His eyes stared at the water in the beaker. ¡°That was the worst ss of my life... I toppled an alcohol burner during a chemistryb, and burnt the hair of a female ssmate sitting at my bench.¡± ¡°And then?¡± Tomcat also leaned its chin above the table, its ears drooping down. ¡°Then I strictly followed theboratory¡¯s safety protocol,¡± Tang Yue answered. ¡°I rushed out of theb, picked up a pail of sand, and poured it over thatdy¡¯s head.¡± Tomcat imagined the situation. ¡°... I now understand why it¡¯s the worst ss of yours. ¡°What happenedter?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°What method did you use to soothe matters? Didn¡¯t you apologize to her? Get her telephone number, QQ or WeChat number, treat her to a meal and movie, then use the chance to deepen the rtionship between the two of you. Then, you could bury the hatchet, and might even get married.¡± ¡°I obviously tried to soothe things over.¡± Tang Yue held his cheek with one hand as he used a ss rod to gently mix the water in a beaker. ¡°I was worried that there were still some mes I hadn¡¯t snuffed out, so I immediately took off the whiteb coat I was wearing and began whipping her...¡± Over thems, Mai Dong softly burst out inughter. ¡°Later, what happened was spread across campus,¡± Tang Yue said sadly. ¡°People all knew of a lunatic named Tang Yue, who bullied a girl in chemistry. Not only did he pour alcohol over her hair, but he even beat her. Worst of all, I failed that ss... Lady, if you wish tough, go ahead. I heard you.¡± Mai Dongughed out loud and was unable to stop. She nearly suffocated from ack of air. ¡°Hahaha, Tang Yue, that¡¯s so funny. Hahaha. Seriously, it¡¯s so funny...¡± Mai Dong hugged a tabletputer as she floated in the Crystal module, tumbling around. Tang Yue blushed red. ¡°Lady, you canugh, but don¡¯t keepughing... Spare a thought for my feelings.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t believe you back when you said that you were a lone wolf that didn¡¯t need a partner.¡± Tomcat looked up, its eyes filled with admiration. ¡°I now believe you. You aren¡¯t just a lone wolf, you are basically a wizard.¡± Tang Yue ced the thermometer into the beaker as he observed the red fluid slowly rise. ¡°Tang Yue, do you have a girlfriend?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Does a girlfriend I fooled by using a lollipop in kindergarten count?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No.¡± After a few seconds of silence, Tang Yue asked, ¡°Does it need to be someone of the opposite sex?¡± ¡°Girlfriend. It obviously needs to be female.¡± ¡°Then... must it be of the same species?¡± ... ¡°The temperature needs to be about 50¡ãC, then add potassium permanganate to the water. The concentration should be at 0.3%. Tang Yue and Tomcat had to rummage for potassium permanganate, as there weren¡¯t many chemicals left behind in Kunlun Station. Finally, Tomcat went to the Mars Wanderer¡¯s experiment module and found a bottle of solid analytical reagent. Tang Yue carefully poured the potassium permanganate into the beaker as the dark purple powder quickly dissolved into the water like a plume of smoke. ¡°The goal of adding potassium permanganate is to kill germs and prevent anymon diseases that tomatoes suffer from. Tomatoes might get leaf mold or early blight. Even though the chances of it happening on Mars is very low, we have to be safe and use a sterilization process,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Next, you can soak the seeds in water for twenty minutes.¡± Tang Yue switched off the heater and poured the ten prepared tomato seeds into the beaker. With Tomcat, he used a ss rod to press down the seeds that floated to the surface as they gently stirred. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the tomato seeds in the beaker. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hope,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Think about Creation, Jehovah said, ¡®Let there be light,¡¯ and there was light. Aren¡¯t what we are doing the same as what God was doing? We brought tomatoes to Mars. This might be the epoch of a grand civilization. When Mars is covered with tomatoes, a brand new species would be born¡ªthe Tomato species. As the saying goes¡ªwaiting in the mountain, this brightly colored tomato, she stays in the thickets until it¡¯s time to spread her smile. ¡°nts can also evolve into a civilization, right?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We are proliferating life itself. This is akin to Genesis. The end of one civilization leads to the nascent birth of another.¡± ¡°Proliferating life on Mars?¡± Tomcat curled its lips, took off its earpiece, and pointed at the airlock behind it. ¡°Let¡¯s see if the soil will produce a tiny Tang Yue in a few days. If you have such powerful reproductive ability, it¡¯s true that you can create a species. If every sperm of yours matures, you alone will be able to proliferate life that can fill ten Mars.¡± Tang Yue thought about standing on Mars Wanderer with his ass bare. Could it be that this was how God created the world back then? That would be too wretched. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for just the two of us to change the Martian environment. Even if Earth were around, this task would be an extremely expensive century-long endeavor.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Just this Martian atmosphere makes it impossible for any nts or animals to live. Even if humans want to live in it, they need to buildpletely sealed underground or semi-underground bases. This is even under the premise that technology in creating artificial ecospheres have been acquired.¡± ¡°What¡¯s exactly needed to change the Martian environment?¡± Tomcat thought for a moment and said, ¡°First, you need to burn coal, burn plenty of coal.¡± ¡°Burn coal?¡± ¡°Burn fossil fuel to create carbon dioxide,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Artificial production of mass amounts of carbon dioxide is needed. This amount is unimaginable to you. Humans would need to have factories everywhere across Mars, to harvest the methane resources. They would have to generate carbon dioxide daily. After all, you wish to transform a¡¯s climate. Enough carbon dioxide would result in the greenhouse effect, raising the surface temperatures of Mars. Once the temperature is above ¨C80¡ãC, other work could begin.¡± Tang Yue really couldn¡¯t imagine such a scene. The entire surface of Mars had to be covered with scorching-red gas furnaces, making Mars a huge minefield. The work involved far exceeded the amount any species or country could undertake. It would be a pioneering undertaking for the entire human civilization. ¡°Putting aside whether it¡¯s a pioneering undertaking,¡± Tomcat shook its head, ¡°it¡¯s clear about the oues of doing so. Mars would be filled with ck miasma. But socialism with Chinese characteristics has told us that polluting than making corrections is the wrong thing to do!¡± Chapter 81: Sol Hundred and One, Men and Women are Unequal in Love

Chapter 81: Sol Hundred and One, Men and Women are Unequal in Love

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue was deeply aware of this point. From the look of it, socialism with Chinese characteristics was universal, literally. Choosing to terraform the Martian atmosphere clearly wasn¡¯t worth it. This project fit for God was in no way easier than creating a Dyson ball. If human civilization had the ability to create a Dyson ball, they probably wouldn¡¯t have much interest in a godforsaken like Mars. Atmospheric pressure on Mars was a hundredth of Earth¡¯s. To create a greenhouse effect to raise the global temperatures required immense amounts of energy. Furthermore, Mars didn¡¯t have a maic field that reduced the radiation concentration. Under such radiation, normal creatures could hardly leave. If creating carbon dioxide to raise global temperatures was within Tang Yue¡¯s realm of imagination, artificially creating a maic field was something only a deity could aplish. ¡°Lady, stopughing at me. Haven¡¯t you been single all your life as well?¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°It¡¯s just the pot calling the kettle ck. We are both the same.¡± ¡°Ohe on, the pot calling the kettle ck?¡± Tomcat kicked Tang Yue under the table and rolled its eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t find someone, but she¡¯s not interested in finding anyone. What do you mean that you are both the same?¡± ¡°She¡¯s about to evolve into a monster known as a female professor, alright?¡± Tang Yue kicked back. ¡°Female professors can only marry Saint Seiya 1 .¡± ¡°Saint Seiya?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t get it. ¡°In the pyramid of societal love, the matching of men and women isn¡¯t equivalent.¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°Men are inclined to find women a level lower than themselves, while women are inclined to find men a level higher than themselves. Therefore, probability-wise, female Bachelor¡¯s degree holders will marry male Master¡¯s degree holders, and female Master¡¯s degree holders will marry male Ph.D. degree holders. As for female Ph.D. degree holders, they can only marry Saint Seiya... This is also where leftover men have bottom socioeconomic status, while leftover women have the top.¡± ¡°So, after beating about the bush all day...¡± Tomcat scratched its head. ¡°You are proving that you are a bottom-ss leftover man?¡± Mai Dong hugged the tabletputer as she floated in the core module, looking at its white inner-linings without a word. Tang Yue was right. She had been single all her life. In the past twenty-five years, she only had a handful of friends of the opposite sex. She had never held the hand of another guy despite her age. In an era when other girls were getting three boyfriends a year, she was extraordinarily staid and silent. Mai Dong was the kind most guys would like. She was smart and slim. Even though she wasn¡¯t short, she appeared petite. She had a very ssic Asian face with soft facial features. She looked very in without makeup on, but her dark, bright eyes spoke for themselves. Old Wang once gave a very objectivement: If thisdy were to openly put herself on the market for boyfriends, the number of people who came could form apany of men. Typically speaking, such an excellent girl wouldn¡¯t be a leftover. However, Mai Dong had spent four yearspleting her Bachelor¡¯s degree as a single person before spending another three yearspleting her Master¡¯s degree as a single person. It was because she was quite an introverted nerd. No matter how excellent you were, once you were an introverted nerd, it basically meant zero chances of having a rich and satisfying life. Mai Dong spent most of her time in university as a recluse in her dormitory. She never went out in summer because of the heat, unless necessary. In winter, she would huddle herself in nkets on the bed because of the cold. The rest of the time, she would hole herself up in the library. During term breaks, she would punctually appear at the library¡¯s study areas at seven in the morning, spending time with her research buddies, eating together without staying together. Along with the worsening air quality of Hangzhou, Mai Dong preferred wearing a face mask and hat, covering herself up fully. She also kept her hair short, so it was difficult to tell if she was male or female from afar. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you find a boyfriend at university?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°You could use him as a long-term food coupon. Mai Dong, with your assets, you could even find one, keep two hanging, and even have a bunch of spare tires... Thinking back to my dorm mate, he was quite a tragic spare tire. He thought that he had seeded in pursuing his goddess, but in fact, she only treated him as a food coupon. He paid for everything¡ªmeals, karaoke, movies¡ªwhen they went out during weekends. He didn¡¯t even get to touch her hand.¡± ¡°Your dorm mate was that stupid?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Love makes one blind.¡± Tang Yue threw up his hands as he acted profoundly. He wore a look as though the untainted him had seen through life. ¡°You have no idea how much my dorm mate liked that girl. He called her some school belle of some campus, extolling her to the skies. Even at night, he would murmur her name in his sleep. The first time he met her, he said that he had thought about how many children to have and even their names.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this amon illness of long-tenured bachelor dogs?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°They are good at making deep illogical conclusions. A girl might nce at them, and they might think that a previous life¡¯s love was being continued in this life. In fact, it¡¯s only because they had their fly open.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°Why haven¡¯t I experienced that before?¡± ¡°It might be because you have already evolved. You aren¡¯t a bachelor dog,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You are a lone wolf.¡± Tang Yue nodded in enlightenment. ¡°What happened next? Did your dorm mate realize what was on the girl¡¯s mind?¡± ¡°She obviously noticed it, but he believed that his persistence had touched his goddess,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°In the words of my dorm mate: ¡®Humans are not a stalk of grass or a tree, how can they be emotionless? There wille a day when she discovers it and realizes deep down that she truly loves me.¡¯ For this, my dorm mate spent an entire week getting up in the middle of the night to knit a scarf as a birthday present. Inside it, he even sewed his initials and the words ¡®I LOVE YOU.¡¯¡± ¡°What happened in the end?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Did the goddess discover that the person she loved deep down was him?¡± ¡°Before that day arrived, the goddess ran off with a wealthy guy who had just returned to the country.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°What a tragic story.¡± ¡°Therefore, leftover men not only have the bachelor dogs and lone wolves lining the bottom, but there are also heartbroken people.¡± Tang Yue stirred the seeds in the beaker. The light above him was dim¡ªto conserve electricity, they typically only switched on a simple light. In the dim Kunlun Station, the man and cat sat there chatting as though they were sharingte-night stories. ¡°Iter saw that so-called goddess.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Her figure was only slightly better, and she was not even as good-looking as Mai Dong. Indeed, it¡¯s different strokes for different folks.¡± ¡°Hey, hey, Tang Yue!¡± Mai Dong shouted out Tang Yue¡¯s name through the earpiece. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning behind yourst sentence?¡± ¡°Not as good-looking as Mai Dong?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Then, if Mai Dong¡¯s looks are a ten, how many points is that dorm mate¡¯s goddess?¡± ¡°Mr. Cat¡ª!¡± Tang Yue recalled and madeparisons deep down. ¡°If Mai Dong is a ten, that girl is probably a six, at most seven.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°See? At the end of the day, Mai Dong is better.¡± Chapter 82: Sol Hundred and One, Planting the Tomato Seeds in the Pots

Chapter 82: Sol Hundred and One, nting the Tomato Seeds in the Pots

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue kept a note of the time. Once the twenty minutes were up, he and Tomcat scooped the soaking tomato seeds from the beaker. ¡°The sterilization isplete. Next up would be vernalization. It¡¯s done simrly by soaking,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°However, the soaking will take a little longer. You need to soak the seeds in water for eight hours, so you can soak them tonight and scoop them out tomorrow morning.¡± Tang Yue unplugged the heater and removed the beaker from the tripod. The precious water could still be used, and Tang Yue didn¡¯t wish to waste a single milliliter. They soaked the seeds in water again. Soaking them for an entire night was to allow them to absorb sufficient water. Sufficient water allowed the hibernating seeds to awaken and regain their vitality. This was the result of nts adapting to their environment over millions of years. Sufficient water often meant that the rainy and warm season was at hand¡ªthe best season for nts to grow. Sprouts would seize this precious opportunity to tear out of the ground and grow tall. The intelligence of life was often that subtle but infinite. ¡°How do you n on growing them?¡± Tomcat circled Kunlun Station¡¯s interior. ¡°This ce is only so big. You aren¡¯t going to just pile soil on the ground, right?¡± Kunlun Station was structured like a Mongolian tent. It had attice structure and a circr base te with a diameter of about ten meters. The tiny space was already filled with amodation, gym, medical, and research facilities. The one that upied the most space was the desktopputer, the bathroom, and the life support system. If they had to pile soil on the ground to grow tomatoes, life would only be more miserable. ¡°We can¡¯t nt them in the ground. We won¡¯t have space to walk, and we can¡¯t control the water and fertilizer provided. Furthermore, it could contaminate the environment.¡± Tang Yue shook his head and surveyed his surroundings. He pointed at a shelf along the wall. ¡°We can nt the tomatoes on the shelf like nting flowers.¡± The Hab had cabs and shelves along its inner wall. The rack had four levels that were separated by stic shelves. They were typically used for food, clothes, samples, and misceneous objects. Now, the rack was covered with food. They put words into action as Tomcat and Tang Yue began moving the boxes from the rack, stuffing them into empty amodation cabins, emptying out two racks. ¡°Tomcat, are there any suitable containers? Ones that don¡¯t leak water or soil, and are rtively sealed.¡± Tomcat rummaged around and pulled out a pile of bottles and containers. ¡°There are another two plexiss water troughs, which were likely left behind by Old Zheng.¡± Tang Yue received the rectangr water trough, narrowed his eyes as he inspected it against the light. It was light and solid without any cracks. It was perfect for a container to nt tomatoes. He ced the water trough on the rack, took a step back, and scrutinized it. ¡°Let¡¯s nt them here. Tomcat, Mai Dong, what do you think? The soil, fertilizer, and water will all be in the water trough, so it won¡¯t make a mess.¡± ¡°A water trough can have five tomato nts?¡± Tomcat measured the length of the water trough. ¡°Will it be a little too much of a squeeze?¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be helped. We can only get our dear tomatoes to make do with it. We are sleeping in kennels ourselves, so there¡¯s really no way to get them a vi to stay in.¡± Tang Yue pped his hands. ¡°Thendlord doesn¡¯t have any spare food either.¡± ¡°Would it be fine nting them like that?¡± Tomcat asked the camera behind it. ¡°No problem,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Your conditions are restricted after all. The sprouts shall be nted here first. When they are bigger, we can think of ways to make space for them. Tomatoes aren¡¯t fragile nts. They are very tenacious.¡± Due to the restricted conditions of Kunlun Station, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to find a better way to nt these tomatoes. There were only two water troughs left, and if they were to scale their farming, Tang Yue would have to personally build containers. Tang Yue had previously imagined nting the nts outdoors in an experimental field. He came up with a ratherplicated design¡ªcircle out a small area in front of Kunlun Station, line it with stic sheets, then cover it with soil before scattering the seeds. Then, he could use another stic sheet to create a sealed greenhouse... But this idea died a death. Tang Yue could tell that the n faced great difficulties and was impractical. Not only did heck the materials, but he couldn¡¯t ensure the right temperature or pressure. Right on the heels of that, he had another idea. It was to dig out a squarish pit around Kunlun Station¡¯s periphery. He would fill the pit with stic sheets and soil before scattering the seeds. He would then seal the pit with stic sheets in a bid to try an underground, experimental field... Of course, this idea simrly died a death. Tang Yue was still unable to ensure a stable temperature and pressure. Tang Yue¡¯s third idea was to drive the Mars Wanderer over, empty the garage, and use it to nt tomatoes. However, this was still unfeasible. Even though the temperature in the garage was stable, its highest temperature was around zero degrees Celsius. Tomatoes were nts that preferred high temperatures, so it was unlikely that they could survive in such low temperatures. Tang Yue¡¯s fourth idea was to dig up Kunlun Station¡¯s floor tiles, nting tomatoes in the pit he dug up. But considering how this might end up killing him, he abandoned this dangerous n. Tang Yue racked his brains and discussed all the possible ideas, but ultimately discovered that any method employed was blocked by two unresolvable problems. The first was pressure. The atmospheric pressure outside was too low, and the tomatoes that were exposed to it had no way of living. Second, it was the temperature. Temperatures at ¨C50¡ãC made the tomatoes brittle from frost. To resolve these two problems, Kunlun Station usedplicated heat instion material and an OGS, but Tang Yue had no means to create an OGS himself. After all, he wasn¡¯t Tony Stark. If Iron Man were here, he would probably have dismantled Kunlun Station and built a spacecraft capable of flying through the cosmos. He would then use some baffling element as its driving force to leave Mars to seek revenge on Thanos. And clearly, Earth had been snapped away by Thanos. Don¡¯t ask how Kunlun Station could be rebuilt into a spacecraft for everyone knows that the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn¡¯t obey the conservation of mass. Finally, Tang Yue could only nt the precious seeds in pots. Tang Yue was depressed to realize that regardless of what he wanted to do, he was limited by the tiny space offered by Kunlun Station. He wasn¡¯t able to expand his living environment by even a small step. In the harsh environment of Mars, every tiny step he took outside was a result of a quantum leap in basic science and engineering. ¡°That¡¯s it for today,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, the tomato seeds have already been soaked, right? Remember to scoop them out in eight hours to dry them.¡± ¡°OK! OK! Agriculture expert, Miss Mai Dong, thank you for your guidance!¡± Tang Yue turned to face Mai Dong as he gestured. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, are you going to sleep? If you aren¡¯t, shall we y FreeCell?¡± ¡°What do you mean y!? Look at the time! How can you have thoughts of ying games!?¡± Tomcat kicked Tang Yue in the ass. ¡°Go take in the sr panels!¡± Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor as he angrily left the Hab. Tomcat pped its paws and looked up. ¡°Mai Dong, are you nning on sleeping?¡± ¡°Uh... I¡¯m not in a hurry to.¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Then shall we y FreeCell together?¡± Chapter 83: Sol Hundred and Two, The Toilet at the End of the Universe

Chapter 83: Sol Hundred and Two, The Toilet at the End of the Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The sun rose once again across the sparse desert as Tang Yue finished moving the sr panels. He sat amid the Battery Farm and looked into the distantnd. This made Tang Yue recall the Tamakan Desert. During his training, he and Old Wang had gone to Lop Nur, one of the ces on Earth with the closest environment to Mars. The two had set up a tent in the desert as they looked up at the starry sky. As they were so far from human civilization, the milky way disyed itself over their heads with full grandeur. Old Wang pointed at the desert and asked if he knew Peng Jiamu. Peng Jiamu was a biochemist and explorer who had died there. Back then, Tang Yue tried imagining a deserted, but as an Earthling, he found it hard to imagine what kind of desert would be big enough to prevent him from walking out. Now, he had seen for himself the truly boundless desert. ¡°Tang Yue, the tomato seeds have been scooped up.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°They are being dried and they look to be in good condition.¡± ¡°Tomcat, have you read ¡®The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Gxy?¡¯¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The book by Dous Adams?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°I can recite the book perfectly, as well as in thirty differentnguages.¡± ¡°In the Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide series, there¡¯s a book named ¡®The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,¡¯¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Do you think we are considered a restaurant at the end of the Universe?¡± ¡°The problem is that we aren¡¯t a restaurant.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°With Kunlun Station¡¯s conditions, it can only be called the toilet at the end of the Universe. How¡¯s this slogan: Before the Universe is destroyed, have a p*ss before leaving. Don¡¯t keep it in while heading to the Underworld.¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that Kunlun Station is very lonely. Here I sit, watching it, feeling that it can stand here for all eternity until the world ends.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the Eagle apanying it?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°These two won¡¯t get sick of each other. They will probably stay together to watch the end of the world.¡± Tang Yue turned his head to look at the distant Eagle. The Descent Vehicle remained firmly erect. Even Tang Yue didn¡¯t know how long the Eagle could remain standing. Due to its reinforced alloy materials, it would take a long time to disintegrate. Before the Eagle copsed, it was certain that it would be buried by the sandstorms. After being buried, the Eagle would stay in its spot for a long time. ¡°Do you know the story about the Khodovarikha Meteorological Station and va?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It was once a meteorological station by the side of Russia¡¯s Pechora Sea located within the arctic circle. It was the most remote meteorological station in the world. The nearest city to it needed an hour¡¯s flight by helicopter,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°va was the only meteorologist in the station. He worked there for thirteen years and the only person apanying him was a parrot.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Later, a photographer went to the Khodovarikha Meteorological Station to visit va. That was in 2014, and va was then a man in his sixties. The photographer was astonished that the ce seemed frozen in time. The walls were covered with Soviet-era wallpaper, and there wasn¡¯t any telephone or Inte. va used Morse code to maintainmunications with the outside world. It was basically an ind isted from the world. There was only an old lighthouse, an old man, and a parrot.¡± Tang Yue imagined the old man spending his long nights alone under the dim lights, listening to the broadcast from a radio,pletely separated from the noisy outside world. Time often passed slowly on certain matters with time unable to leave its mark. For instance, the old man or a tomb. In the arctic circle, even the switching between night and day took a long time. In the extremely long days and nights, the elder named va guarded a wall, a bird, and an old lighthouse. He led an unimaginable life and stayed there in silence. ¡°That old man¡¯s truly impressive,¡± Tang Yue said softly. ¡°Actually, I think loneliness and being single is the same.¡± Tomcat rubbed salt into Tang Yue¡¯s wounds. ¡°You get used to it after some time.¡± ¡°Has he never thought of leaving?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°va.¡± ¡°He is a meteorologist, and that¡¯s the kind of job it is. They often enter the harshest environments that most people are unable to enter, for example, the pr stations or people who fly into the eye of a hurricane with a ne or people who fly to Mars on a spacecraft. In a certain sense, you are the same kind of person as va. Both of you are watchmen.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback, failing toprehend what it meant. ¡°What do you mean by watchmen?¡± ¡°On Mars, what do we see when we sit down and look around?¡± Tomcat asked loudly. ¡°We will see a mote of dust of little importance. But every person you love, every person you know, every person you heard of, every person in history, hadpleted their lives through it!¡± ¡°The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ¡®superstar,¡¯ every ¡®supreme leader,¡¯ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there¡ªon a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam 1 .¡± It was unknown which book Tomcat was reciting from as his voice was filled with agitation. ¡°What you see is Earth, all of humanity, all that is good and evil, all races of different skin color. You are the only one watching all of humanity in human history.¡± Tang Yue grabbed some soil from his feet and fell into a daze. He was at a loss for words. He felt that Tomcat seemed to be cing him on a pedestal... He was merely a nobody who was lucky enough to survive. What made him qualified to be the watchman of human civilization? Tomcat had never thought so highly of him. He found it baffling to have such a lofty title of being human civilization¡¯s watchman which sounded mysterious and unfathomable. In the past, Tomcat had often called him a sh*t-making machine who was good for nothing. ¡°Then, you lost Earth.¡± Tomcat smacked its paws. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, the seeds are dry. What do we do next?¡± Tang Yue nearly had a cardiac arrest. In a few sentences, the cat had med Earth¡¯s disappearance on him. He sat in the sand with the erect sr panels beside him. Tang Yue woke up early every day and often sat in front of Kunlun Station to watch the sunrise. The sunrise on Mars was much smaller than on Lop Nur, but it looked brighter. Perhaps it was because of atmospheric scattering. The poet, Su Shi, once said: ¡°though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.¡± It meant that no matter where anyone was, they would see the same moon, and one could share the same memories with the moon despite the distance. The sun that Tang Yue was looking at was still the same sun, but the people who should have seen the same sun with him were no longer around. He was clearly just a survivor, but for some reason, he felt as if he was being abandoned. Tang Yue sighed. The sun had already risen, so he got up, and returned to the Hab in preparation to continue nting tomatoes. Chapter 85: Sol Hundred and Two, Star

Chapter 85: Sol Hundred and Two, Star

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong rushed into the core module and picked up the earpiece. Her heart beat furiously as her hands trembled nervously. She was afraid that the sound she had just heard was a result of theputer¡¯s tiny bug, and that there wasn¡¯t any radio signal... The girl wore the earpiece, held her breath, and listened carefully. A few secondster, another beep was heard. The waveform on the screen jumped as Mai Dong¡¯s heart immediately tightened. Theputer wasn¡¯t having problems. There was indeed a radio wave, and it was a regr one. The space station had received an unknown signal that resembled Morse code. It blinked once every few seconds, and the oscilloscope resembled the electrocardiogram of a person. Mai Dong was ecstatic. It clearly wasn¡¯t noise, but an electromaic signal with meaning. In the past hundred days or so, she had held a slim hope. She was alone day and night here, listening to all the sounds and stirrings that came from everywhere, and today, there was finally an oue. Even though she had no idea of the radio wave¡¯s origins, nor did she know the message contained within, it could very welle from an intelligent life form, with a greater possibility that it was of human origins¡ªfor example, Orion I or other remaining human spacecraft. It could even be Earth. The girl¡¯s tears immediately welled. She had finally seen a glimmer of light in that swath of infinite darkness. ¡°Mr. Cat! Tang Yue!¡± Mr. Cat wiped away her tears as she immediately contacted Tomcat and Tang Yue. ¡°Mr. Cat! Mr. Cat! I received a radio wave signal!¡± In Kunlun Station, Tomcat and Tang Yue jumped in shock as they leaped out of their chairs. A radio wave? ¡°From who?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°What does it say?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea, but the signal is very clear. It¡¯s constantly being sent.¡± Mai Dong was excited. ¡°I¡¯ll forward it to you. You can see what it is.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue nodded. They were puzzled and shocked, as they nervously hung onto that tiny bit of extravagant hope, nor did they dare ask for too much... If it really was a radio signal, where did ite from? Had the long-disappeared Orion I appeared again? Or had the other man-made spacecraft been resurrected? Who knew if this radio signal would be a turning point for everything, allowing Mai Dong to sessfullynd on the surface? Mai Dong transferred the signal as Tomcat and Tang Yue impatiently grabbed at the earpiece and stared into theputer screen, standing there, listening for a very long period of time. ¡°How is it? How is it, Mr. Cat?¡± Mai Dong asked anxiously. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue? What is it exactly saying? Is it Morse code?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word, nor did Tang Yue. The man and cat stood there motionless, their faces grim. They looked like statues. ¡°Mr. Cat... Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath and removed the earpiece first. He then smiled at Mai Dong. ¡°Mai Dong, it might be a shocking result.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°What does that radio signal say? Who sent it? Humans? Or the Orion?¡± Tomcat removed the earpiece and slowly said, ¡°It¡¯s from a pulsar.¡± The girl was stunned. Tang Yue turned his head away and sighed. He and Tomcat had recognized it to be the electromaic pulse sent from a pulsar. A pulsar¡¯s period of rotation was extremely short. It was like a spinning lighthouse that shot out electromaic radiation, which was why the signal was so stable and regr. This radio signal wasn¡¯t of human origin, much less that of the Orion I. It didn¡¯t contain any information... It was a natural phenomenon in the Universe. Discovering this pulsar was indeed quite an academic sess, which was why Tang Yue had said those words. The signal was at best, an academic achievement, but it had nothing to do with human spacecraft. ¡°This is a pulsar with a rotation period of three seconds. The space station is receiving its signal.¡± Tomcat sat on a chair with its eyes stuck to the screen. The signal on the oscilloscope was regr and periodic. ¡°If... If it¡¯s a pulsar, why are we only receiving its signal now?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice trembled, a clear sign that she refused to give up hope. ¡°It should have been there constantly...¡± ¡°It really is there constantly.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°This pulsar has likely long been identified and taken note of. The space station¡¯smunications system would filter it away as background noise. You heard it again because you had adjusted theputer system. This is also why only you heard the signal while we didn¡¯t. Kunlun Station is still filtering it out.¡± The color drained from the girl¡¯s face. It was true that she had only received the signal after she adjusted the space station¡¯sputer andmunications system. Based on the electromaic wave¡¯s characteristics, Tomcat quickly found the pulsar in the Kunlun Station¡¯s database¡ªPSR-J1078-2416. It was five million light-years from the Sr System. This cast the results in stone. ¡°So... it was only a star...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes drooped as all her joy instantly turned into a heavy burden that nearly crushed her. ¡°Mai Dong...¡± Tang Yue racked his brains for something to say, but he realized that it was all useless. It was a false hope, and they had destroyed it. But at the same time, they had smashed the hopes in the girl¡¯s heart. Tang Yue wished to give her a tight hug for perhaps it might make her feel better, but with a distance of four hundred kilometers between them, he couldn¡¯t even lend her a shoulder. ¡°I got it... Thank you, Mr. Cat, Tang Yue. I¡¯m a little tired. I¡¯ll go get some sleep. Bye.¡± Mai Dong took a deep breath as she lowered her head to leave the sights of the camera. She slowly passed through the core module¡¯s APAS, her heart empty. She didn¡¯t wish to say anything, for she felt exhausted. Just using her brain to think made her feel tired. She knew the source of the radio wave. It was from a star of more than five million light-years away. Five million light-years. It was an unimaginable distance. She could receive the sounds from millions of light-years away, but she couldn¡¯t find Earth which was just nearby. She had been searching bitterly all this time, but for what? Mai Dong drew the sleeping quarters¡¯ curtains, and slowly unzipped her sleeping bag in a mechanical and stiff manner. A tiny Shiba Inu doll floated over and struck her hand. Mai Dong was taken aback. A smile appeared on her pale face as she grabbed the doll and squeezed it. ¡°You came to wee me again...¡± Large drops of tears welled in the girl¡¯s eyes, and finally, she hugged the silly-looking Shiba Inu doll and wailed. She hadn¡¯t cried like that when the Earth had disappeared, but the sorrow had never left or disappeared. It had only lingered around her, waiting for her to get tired, before chasing up to her and devouring her. At that moment, Mai Dong epted her fate. Thest piece of hope in her heart had finally been shattered. All that was left was deep sorrow and despair. She epted the fact that Earth had vanished, along with the Orion, and all of humanity. No one would save her. All her family and friends, as well as her entire life, was gone. The girl¡¯s sobs echoed in the space station, but in the darkness of deep space, even her sobs couldn¡¯t escape that tiny area. Chapter 86: Sol Hundred and Two, International Superstar Tang Yue

Chapter 86: Sol Hundred and Two, International Superstar Tang Yue

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tang Yue¡ª! Tang Yue¡ª!¡± Colorful streamers and confetti fell as passionate onlookers on the sides of Michigan Avenue weed him as they broke into an uproar. Tang Yue was sitting in a Porsche convertible as he held beauties around their waists, feeling extremely pleased. As a heroic figure, who survived several hundred sols on Mars, he was immediately raised on a pedestal by the public and media when he returned to Earth. The tenacity and optimism expressed by Tang Yue during his predicament on Mars were considered a model example for the human spirit. In the words of some critics, he exuded what was a precious halo of humanity, and from that moment forth, Tang Yue began touring the globe giving inspirational talks. He promoted everywhere that human culture was Mars culture, and to be precise, it was the Tang Yue spirit. He even imed that he would be appearing in the film, ¡°Where is Home,¡± a joint production between China and America next year. Tang Yue smiled as he waved at the audience, incurring the screams from arge group of young girls. Huge crowds turned out, no matter where he went. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! Let me ask every one of you here a question...¡± Tang Yue raised his microphone. ¡°Can those who haven¡¯t heard of my story please raise your hand!¡± Not a single person in the crowd, numbering thousands in strength, raised their hands. Tang Yue dropped the microphone smugly, as he gleefully leaned back. What was an international superstar? This was it. ¡°My hero...¡± A big-boobed babe with blonde hair and green eyes clung tightly to his body as her eyes flirted with him. ¡°Come on.¡± ¡°Oh, sweetheart, are you sure you want to do it here...¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°Right here.¡± She pounced on him, her eyes adrift. ¡°I can¡¯t hold back anymore. I want to do it here, right now... They can watch for all I care.¡± ¡°Neither do I then.¡± Tang Yue smiled and came close. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Come on.¡± The blonde babe caressed Tang Yue with her hands, sliding through his suit¡¯s buttons before reaching into Tang Yue¡¯s pockets. With flush, red cheeks, she pulled a vacuum-packed... spicy buffalo wings from New Orleans. ¡°My sweetheart, I can¡¯t wait to eat these wings. They can watch all they want, take pictures all they want, andment all they want. Is there anything in this world that¡¯s more important than eating wings?¡± Tang Yue closed his eyes as he opened his mouth. The next moment, he felt a furry object stuff into his mouth, nearly smashing his front teeth away. ¡°Hey, sweetheart. Why are your wings so hard...¡± Tang Yue frowned as he opened his eyes in puzzlement. ¡°No... M-m-m-m-maidong, listen to me exin...¡± At some point in time, the blonde, green-eyed babe had turned into Mai Dong. Thedy was holding a cat¡¯s paw as she stuffed it straight into Tang Yue¡¯s mouth. ¡°Exin? Exin this!¡± Mai Dong cursed with all kinds of vulgarities as she raised her hand and pped Tang Yue ruthlessly in the face. Tang Yue instantly snapped awake as he opened his eyes, his body covered in a cold sweat. Almost instantly, he saw Tomcat standing by his bedside with its paws up. It pped him once more. ¡°Holy sh*t! Tomcat, are you sick? Why are you disturbing my sleep in the middle of the night!?¡± Tang Yue jumped up and went into a rage. ¡°I was almost going to do the deed! You smacked me awake! My New Orleans buffalo wings! Return my wings to me!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart ached for the roasted wings that he hadn¡¯t managed to put into his mouth. If he had known that he would be awakened, he would have long finished the wings. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake?¡± Tomcat nced at him coldly before throwing clothes and a nket on him. ¡°Wear them.¡± Tang Yue trembled. Only then did he realize that the room temperature was abnormal. He quickly put on the clothes, but with the environmental temperature almost at zero, he also draped the nket over him. This gave him some warmth as he followed Tomcat out of the living quarters. The Hab¡¯s lights were on, and everything seemed normal. Only the temperature made him feel as though they were in a frozen cavern. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Something happened to the OGS. The temperature control is malfunctioning.¡± Tomcat crouched on the floor as it held a screwdriver in its mouth while an open toolbox was beside it. Tomcat opened the OGS panel to inspect and repair it. Tang Yue attempted to reach out, the air outlet of the machine was biting cold. ¡°When did you discover it?¡± Tang Yue trembled as he crouched down beside Tomcat, huddling close to it. He then craned his neck at the maintenance box. ¡°Just.¡± Tomcat focused its attention as it looked at the circuitry and panels inside the equipment cab. ¡°The thermometer detected the drastic drop of Kunlun Station¡¯s internal temperature to the warning threshold and woke me up. That¡¯s why I came to wake you... I¡¯ll inspect the OGS. Tang Yue, go check on the tomato seeds.¡± Tang Yue nodded, turned around and moved the germinating bed down from the rack. Mai Dong had previously exhorted that the tomato seeds had to be in an environment with a temperature maintained at 25¡ãC during the germination process, but with the ambient temperatures dropping to nearly zero, the seeds had no way of germinating if this carried on. Their grand n of nting tomatoes would instantly be shattered. Tang Yue hugged the metallic tray and entered his living quarters. He used his sleeping bag and clothes to wrap the germination bed rightly. The temperature here was higher than the Hab, but it wouldn¡¯tst long. In a few hours, the living quarters would be equally as cold. Tang Yue observed the sleeping bag in silence, as he tried hard to maintain the seeds¡¯ temperature... An incubator! I need an incubator! Unfortunately, Kunlun Station didn¡¯t have one. What if there wasn¡¯t one? He had to make one! Tang Yue turned to burrow into his living quarters, pulled the curtains to lower the dissipation of heat before rummaging for parts. It was not a simple task to produce an incubator with the few materials avable on Kunlun Station. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tomcat narrowed its eyes as it held a pair of tweezers in one paw while holding a volometer in the other. It was checking for the electrical malfunction. ¡°Making an incubator.¡± Tang Yue pulled open a drawer and found a cassette. He raised it against the light and inspected it. It was likely Thomp¡¯s for the man enjoyed ssical music. He liked to listen to music while ying it through a retro style. In his words, digital music had already lost its essence as music. It was only a bunch of data and signals. Only records and cassettes could replicate the original singer¡¯s soul. Tang Yue dismantled the digital clock on the table and took out its batteries before looking around. ¡°I¡¯ll need a heating element... Heating element... Tomcat, do you have a heating element? Just some old tungsten fment bulbs would do.¡± ¡°There are only LED bulbs.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t even look up. ¡°Do you want that?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. LED bulbs didn¡¯t emit enough heat. They were unable to maintain a stable temperature in the incubator. ¡°Aren¡¯t you trying to find a continuous heat source?¡± Tomcat turned its head and nced at him. ¡°Isn¡¯t there one here?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ... Tang Yue stuffed the seeds wrapped in moist cotton into the cassette before pulling out a piece of fabric. He pulled off his clothes and tied the cassette to his tummy. Then, he put his clothes on and bound it tightly. This was Tang Yue¡¯s final solution¡ªa human body incubator. A heat source wasn¡¯t only limited to tungsten fment or light bulbs; there was still Tang Yue. A human¡¯s body temperature was 37¡ãC. Furthermore, it continuously emitted heat. This heat source was rather stable, and it could adjust the temperatures at any time. If the cassette¡¯s temperature was too low, he could wear a few moreyers of clothes. If the temperature was too high, he could just wear a little less. ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue came close to Tomcat as he crouched down. In the past half an hour, Kunlun Station¡¯s room temperature had fallen once again. Tang Yue could even see himself breathing out white mist when he spoke. ¡°Not optimistic.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Switch on the emergency oxygenator. I will be shutting down the OGS cab!¡± Chapter 87: Sol Hundred and Three, A Murder Caused by a Particle

Chapter 87: Sol Hundred and Three, A Murder Caused by a Particle

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue dragged the emergency oxygenator out. Unlike the OGS equipment cab, which used molecr sieving and electrolysis to obtain oxygen, the emergency oxygenator used non-renewable chemical oxygen sources. It relied on the catalytic dposition of solid perchlorate salts to produce oxygen. This system was very old and simple, but it was very reliable. It didn¡¯t have anyplicated machinery or circuitry. This meant that it would rarely malfunction. As something that would be used in an emergency, the system was stored in an emergency box. Once the OGS malfunctioned, the upants of the station would rely on it for oxygen. The emergency oxygenator could produce enough oxygen for six people to breathe for twelve hours. It could also replenish the oxygen for the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system. Under normal circumstances, it was enough for the research team to evacuate Kunlun Station. However, Kunlun Station¡¯s OGS had always been reliable. After so many years, nothing serious had ever happened to it. Therefore, the backups were held in storage, unused. The emergency oxygenator was an integrated product. It was usually stored in a box, and when taken out, it was a rectangr object about sixty centimeters long and the thickness of a human arm. It weighed about ten kilograms. With a white stic outer shell, its interior was a mixture of grain, of alkali metal perchlorate salts, as well as an electric lighter, and a gas filter. As long as it was switched on, the grain inside would begin to react due to the catalyst and release oxygen. The object even had a sling. If one so wished, they could sling it across their backs. A rectangr oxygenator could provide a total of 1,500 liters of oxygen, and there were a total of six of these on Kunlun Station. Tomcat switched off the OGS as the green indicator light on the equipment cab slowly extinguished. Once theputer detected the shutdown of the OGS equipment cab, it immediately sounded an rm. ¡°Shut up,¡± Tomcat said coldly. Theputer shut up. Tang Yue wore a breathing mask as Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab still had a certain amount of oxygen left. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to switch on the emergency oxygenator, as it was nonrenewable. It was expendable, and if possible, he wished to save it for another time. Tomcat and Tang Yue opened up the equipment cab as they carefully moved out the temperature control¡¯s control motherboard. Tang Yue caught a faint whiff of burnt smells. ¡°Something burnt,¡± Tang Yue whispered. Tomcat slowly nodded as it reached out with the pliers in its paws. It pried away the messy lines one by one. ¡°Which spot short-circuited?¡± Tang Yue held an electric pen in its hand as he narrowed his eyes. He scanned everything; after all, he was skilled in fixing such things. ¡°It might be a chip. It might be a Single Event Effect by a single, energetic particle that caused its control logic to malfunction.¡± A so-called Single Event Effect was when an energetic particle affected semiconductors and integrated circuits. In the eyes of amoner, aputer¡¯s internal information was a binary sequence of 0s and 1s. But in hardware, this logic was basically the changes in electric charge. Integrated circuits would undergo electron identification to produce logical calctions, and the Universe carried high-energy basic particles that could interfere with the circuitry¡¯s operations and lead to logic errors. Certain errors were harmless, but certain errors could lead to logic flips or even burn the hardware. The higher the frequency and the more precise aputer, the easier it was for such problems to ur. This was also why theputers sent for the Mars project were rtively outdated. Earth¡¯s VR systems had long be mainstream, but the space station and Kunlun Station were still using primitive disy screens and buttons. It was for safety reasons. ¡°However, the OGS temperature control system is simr to a Gree Electric air-conditioner. Such a bulky, crude design is also affected by Single Event Effects?¡± Tang Yue frowned. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. The problems of high-energetic radiation are a purely random cmity. The chances are very low, but it¡¯s impossible to estimate or stop them.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s just that they typically wouldn¡¯t cause any overly serious oues. At most, it would BSOD theputer, with a restart fixing it.¡± Tang Yue unscrewed the screws of the protective ting on the motherboard with a screwdriver then threw them into the metal tray. Tomcat pulled over theputer data wires and connected them directly to the test ports on the motherboard. Superficially, it was very difficult to find the source of the malfunction. This was because the motherboard didn¡¯t have any obvious signs of damage. There were only a few welding points that had charred bottoms. If the chip was malfunctioning, they needed software to carry out a test. Tomcat sat in front of theputer as it began to test the motherboard¡¯s functions. ¡°ording to my many years of experience and sharp intuition,¡± Tang Yue carefully observed the motherboard¡¯sponents, ¡°I think it¡¯s most likely No. 2...¡± ¡°No. 3 control unit is damaged.¡± Tomcat finished the testing as it looked up. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s No. 3!¡± Tang Yue said, ¡°I was just about to say Unit No. 3!¡± He gently removed Unit No. 3¡¯s processor and studied it carefully against the light. The chip itself was about the size of a fingernail, and its internal structure waspletely sealed shut. All that could be seen were the dense metallic pins on both sides and the striking Intel logo. He couldn¡¯t find any problems from the surface. The structure of a semiconductor chip waspletely sealed in a tiny ck square, and without a doubt, this processor must have produced an error somehow. Furthermore, it was a very serious error. Due to the limited conditions, Tomcat had no way of conducting an in-depth analysis of the fault. The semiconductor itself was a precise piece of work to begin with. To probe the interior of a chip needed the surface to be ground away, and that needed professional equipment and personnel to do it. In the entire world, only Intel and Huaqiangbei 1 could do it. Tomcat wasn¡¯t able to do it. Tomcat and Tang Yue reseated the chip and tested it several times before finally having to admit that the chip waspletely damaged. ¡°D*mn it. There¡¯s no way to use it again.¡± Tomcat smacked the keyboard. ¡°Its interior must have suffered some hardware damage, or in other words, physical damage. There¡¯s no way to fix it with software.¡± ¡°If the motherboard cannot be fixed, what will happen to the temperature control system?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Am I going to have to live my days as an Eskimo?¡± ¡°Without the temperature control system, Kunlun Station¡¯s room temperature will eventually drop to ¨C50¡ãC. Even an Eskimo would freeze to death... Where¡¯s the backup?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°If we really can¡¯t fix it, we have to swap it with the backup.¡± Tang Yue pointed at the chip on the tray. ¡°This is the backup.¡± Tomcat frowned. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Back when Old Wang and the rest were here, they had checked the OGS cab once. They switched out all the parts for new ones.¡± Tang Yue picked up a chip in the tray and shook it. ¡°This is thest processor for the OGS temperature control system in Kunlun Station... The next batch of recement chips should have been sent a yearter. Now, they will never be sent.¡± This time, it was Tomcat¡¯s turn to stare nkly. ¡°You mean there are no more spare parts?¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat pinched the screwdriver in its paw and fell silent. ¡°Holy... sh*t!¡± Chapter 88: Sol Hundred and Three, Martian Iceman

Chapter 88: Sol Hundred and Three, Martian Iceman

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat crouched in front of the OGS equipment cab, its paw grabbing a screwdriver while its eyes were peeled to the motherboard. Tang Yue was crazily rummaging through the Hab before throwing a cup cover onto the table and sighing. ¡°There¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ve searched everywhere possible. I can¡¯t find any recements... I¡¯ve no idea where the old chip is. It was likely crushed,pressed, and taken back.¡± All the trash that Kunlun Station generated went through thepressor before being taken back. This involved violently crushing the trash into pieces beforepressing them to cubes of less than a meter in size. An intricate semiconductor chip had no means to survive the ordeal. ¡°What about other recements?¡± Tomcat turned its head over. ¡°How would there be any other recements?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°In this crappy shack, almost everything is manual even the Gree Electric air-conditioners are considered high-tech products... Now, the only thing we can do is to see if we can find a processor that can be used from the workstation.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat began dismantling theputer. The workstation wasn¡¯tcking in processors, but they were not necessarilypatible with the OGS cab¡¯s temperature control chip. Every processor in Kunlun Station was highly specialized, making it impossible for any mix-and-matching. Tang Yue knew that and, although he didn¡¯t hold much hope, he still needed to give it a try.¡± ¡°Can this be dismantled?¡± ¡°No, theputer won¡¯t work without it.¡± ¡°What about this... Damn it, it won¡¯t even fit! Tomcat, do you have an electric soldering iron and soldering tin?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat busied themselves for about two hours as they dismantled the workstation¡¯s case, hoping that they could fix the OGS equipment cab using its parts, but the result was ultimately disappointing. However, that was within expectations¡ªthe OGS¡¯s processor and workstation¡¯s processor werepletely different types. They didn¡¯t even use the same connection. Tomcat and Tang Yue sat on the ground, putting the workstation back together. ¡°It¡¯s getting colder.¡± Tang Yue tightened his clothes and nket, as he shrank his feet in. ¡°What¡¯s the temperature now?¡± ¡°¨C3¡ãC,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s still dropping slowly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really cold.¡± Tang Yue shivered. ¡°But the temperature here is 50¡ãC higher than it is outside.¡± Tomcat rapped the table¡¯s leg with a wrench. ¡°Kunlun Station has already helped you retain most of the heat, but if this continues, the interior temperature will drop to ¨C5¡ãC by daybreak, and by tomorrow night, the temperature will drop to ¨C15¡ãC.¡± Tang Yue shivered. If the temperature control couldn¡¯t be fixed, Kunlun Station¡¯s temperatures would continue declining. It would go from ¨C15¡ãC tomorrow evening to ¨C25¡ãC the following evening. He couldn¡¯t imagine living in ¨C25¡ãC temperatures. It wasn¡¯t even possible for nts to live under such cold temperatures, and all his ns for tomato nting would go up in smoke. He would have to be like an Eskimo, wearing the Radiant Armor for life. Eventually, Kunlun Station would reach temperature equilibrium with the outside world. The outside world¡¯s lowest temperatures could go as low as ¨C80¡ãC, and that was a temperature Tang Yue had only seen in liquid nitrogen freezers. He didn¡¯t believe that he could survive in one. ¡°Can the temperature control be fixed without the processor?¡± Tang Yue couldn¡¯t just be a sitting duck. ¡°The processor is core to the temperature control system.¡± Tomcat inserted the PCU back into the motherboard¡¯s socket. ¡°The temperature sensor unit sends the information to the chip which responds by adjusting the temperature control. It¡¯s the brain of the entire operation. Without the brain, the temperature control isn¡¯t functional.¡± ¡°What if we rece it with the workstation?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°If it¡¯s just a simple automatic negative feedback system, theputer ispletely capable of doing so!¡± Thus, the man and cat began their attempts to connect the temperature control to the workstation. Tang Yue found scissors and some tape, while Tomcat held a soldering iron and tin solder. It cut open the interface of an unused data cable and retrieved the copper wires within. They were making a very crude data connection interface. They would connect it straight to theputer¡¯s socket, and then solder the two extremely thin copper wires to the motherboard¡¯s pins. One of the wires was for data input and the other was for data output. Tomcat¡¯s paws were stable like a skilled electrician. With everything ready, Tomcat switched on theputer andunched the testing program. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Tang Yue nodded as he opened the OGS cab. ¡°Begin raising the temperature!¡± The two fell silent for a few seconds. Tomcat stared at the screen and its raised brows slowly fell. ¡°No reaction... It failed.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± Tang Yue was very disappointed. He had wasted an entire night for nothing. Inside the crude shack, which was the Kunlun Station, they only had a few machines that were more automated. On Earth, Tang Yue could randomly find aputer shop to fix the OGS¡¯s temperature control, but on Mars, there was no way for him to find a simple chip. Tang Yue found the cold getting to him as the clothes and nket around him were failing. He returned to the living quarters and got out his sleeping bag before burrowing into it. Hey on the ground like a huge worm with his head exposed. Tomcat held the processor and stared at it silently. ¡°Tomcat, do you know of ?tzi, the Iceman?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°?tzi?¡± Tomcat answered, its mind preupied. ¡°It¡¯s a very famous mummy from five thousand years ago. He died in the alps and his corpse waspletely preserved in a cier. It waster discovered in the 90s,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°?tzi¡¯s cause of death was an arrow wound. He was struck in the shoulder, and was suspected to have died while fleeing. Therefore, it¡¯s possible that he died in pursuit.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Tomcat narrowed its eyes as it studied the chip in its paw. ¡°If the temperature control isn¡¯t fixed, I¡¯ll probably meet the same end. I¡¯ll be a mummy inside a sleeping bag.¡± Tang Yue huffed as white mist shimmered under the faint light. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯ll be disyed inside a museum¡¯s ss case a million years from now after being discovered by intelligent lifeforms. I might be called the Mars Iceman.¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± Tomcat replied indifferently without turning its gaze away. It looked somewhat in a trance. Tang Yue was puzzled. Why was this loquacious cat suddenly so silent? Nothing seemed to pique its interest. ¡°Tomcat?¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Tomcat¡¯s pupils slowly dted, reflecting the processor in its paw. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in the ?tzi Iceman or the Mars Iceman, nor do I care if you will be disyed in a ss case at a museum a million years from now. Furthermore, I don¡¯t think you will bebeled as Mars Iceman, but Mars Icemonkey... I¡¯m considering a problem, a very important problem.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°What problem?¡± Tomcat turned its head and ced the processor on the table. ¡°How to fix the OGS¡¯s temperature control.¡± ¡°But the problem is that it¡¯s unrepairable. Didn¡¯t we try everything?¡± Tomcat turned its head over. ¡°No!¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°What?¡± Tomcat raised one w. ¡°There¡¯s still one solution... thest solution!¡± Chapter 89: Sol Hundred and Four, The Last Solution

Chapter 89: Sol Hundred and Four, The Last Solution

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Good morning, Mr. Cat, Tang... What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mai Dong was shocked. She saw Tang Yue sitting on the ground like a wrapped bun. He was wearing a hat and face mask, and he had nearly every inch of his body covered. ¡°Something went wrong with the temperature control. The control chip was damaged, and now, the Hab¡¯s temperature has dropped below freezing point.¡± Tomcat sat on a chair, looking as spirited as usual. As a robot, Tomcat relied on batteries to provide it with power for movement. It was a body of steel, so its ability to withstand low temperatures was far greater than any human. At even lower temperatures, it would symbolically tremble a little, as a sign of respect for nature. Therefore, whether the temperature control functioned, or not, didn¡¯t affect it. At worst, it would simply switch off and enter hibernation. ¡°What about the backup part?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°The backup part was the one that spoiled,¡± Tang Yue mumbled. ¡°Old Wang and the rest swapped the older processor with the backup before leaving. And it¡¯s this backup that broke.¡± ¡°What about the other backup parts? Aren¡¯t there any more?¡± ¡°Who would hoard a pile of those on Kunlun Station? Miss Mai Dong, would you installposite armor on your rooftop at home?¡± Tomcat threw up its arms. Mai Dong was taken aback,pletely confused as to what it meant. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of letting a meteorite m through your roof if you don¡¯t cover your rooftop withposite armor?¡± Tomcat shrugged. It waved the chip in its paw. ¡°By the same logic, theplete damage to the temperature control¡¯s processor is a low probability event. The design lifetime of this tiny gizmo is more than ten years. It¡¯s an extremely reliableponent.¡± ¡°But preparing another two wouldn¡¯t do any harm...¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you think backups are a dime a dozen that they can be stashed away in a cer?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°In a high-radiation environment, a semiconductor chip would have its lifespan shortened even when not in use. Therefore, stashing away a pile of backup processors would be meaningless. By the time the processor in the equipment cab dies, the backup parts you hoarded would have died as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already met the lowest of probabilities,¡± Tang Yue said sulkily. ¡°I¡¯m the guy that got hit by a meteorite.¡± ¡°In a high-radiation environment, the probability of having problems in the circuitry isn¡¯t that low. It¡¯s quitemon, in fact. It¡¯s just that a specially optimized chip usually wouldn¡¯t have such serious malfunctions,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But a thousand tiny problems can develop into one huge problem.¡± ¡°Without this processor, can the temperature control be fixed?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°For example, do something manually? Or let Kunlun Station¡¯sputer manage it?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve tried all means.¡± Tang Yue shook its head. ¡°Nothing worked.¡± He and Tomcat had spent the entire night trying out all possible means. Even though the temperature control was at the standards of a Gree Electric air-conditioner, the main problem was that it was coupled to the OGS. While Tang Yue was attempting to fix the temperature control, he had to be very careful about ensuring that the molecr sieve and electrolysis module, carbon dioxide filtering and absorption module, and water recycling module wasn¡¯t damaged. Theplexity of these parts far exceeded that of an air-conditioner, and they were precise equipment. Tang Yue and Tomcat didn¡¯t dare go overboard to use tricks that worked on Earth when fixing electronics for if the OGS malfunctioned, Tang Yue would have his oxygen source terminated. The severity of that far exceeded that of the temperature control. Tang Yue wrapped himself tightly in his clothes as a cold draft blew through the Hab. He missed the spring days of the South on Earth, the days filled with cherry blossoms. If Earth hadn¡¯t disappeared, he would have long led Tomcat and Mai Dong back to Earth. Since Kunlun Station was about to be shut down, the OGS and temperature control would also be shut down. In that case, it didn¡¯t matter if the darn processor was damaged. He had nothing to do with it once he left. The next team that came to Mars would bring brand new backup parts, so a swap would resolve the problem. Tang Yue had an RTG beside him. He had gone to the garage to bring it over. The RTG relied on Plutonium-238 to emit heat and didn¡¯t need any external power source. During such times, Tang Yue could only rely on it to gain some warmth... He couldn¡¯t even light a fire for everything on Kunlun Station was made of fire-retardant material. However, Plutonium-238 was a radioactive element that left a harrowing experience. Even though the RTG¡¯s radiation was shielded by a thick case, and was, in fact, very safe, Tang Yue still held a Geiger counter in his hand. By moving the RTG into the Hab, it meant that the garage lost its heat source. Therefore, all the fermenting sh*t probably had hard days ahead of it. However, Tang Yue could only save himself for the time being. The feces would have to make do with it. ¡°What do we do?¡± Mai Dong turned anxious. ¡°Aren¡¯t there any other emergency measures? If the temperature keeps dropping, how are you to live?¡± Tang Yue clung close to the RTG, ignoring if it was emitting radiation. In times like this, he wouldn¡¯t even mind hugging an atom bomb and let out a long,fortable sigh. He might even snort like a sow, saying, ¡°An RTG is still the best. I¡¯ve decided, I¡¯m never leaving the RTG. Don¡¯t even think of separating the two of us.¡± ¡°See that?¡± Tomcat turned to nce at Mai Dong as it kicked Tang Yue in the ass. It shrugged and said, ¡°This fellow¡¯s life is tougher than a cockroach¡¯s. His ability to linger on during hisst days is unparalleled. Why are you worried if he won¡¯t be able to live on?¡± ¡°... But we can¡¯t just leave it at that, right? The temperature control needs to be fixed.¡± The heat produced by the RTG was extremely limited and was simply a stopgap measure. If the temperature continued dropping, the RTG wouldn¡¯t be able to turn the tide. Tang Yue could sleep hugging it, but he had no way of carrying it with him while working. ¡°The temperature control needs to be fixed, and we still have onest solution...¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°However, I¡¯ll need the help of the United Space Station.¡± ... Three hours ago. ¡°There¡¯s still onest solution? What is it?¡± Tomcat threw the processor at Tang Yue who caught it. ¡°Take a careful look.¡± ¡°At what?¡± ¡°The processor,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue carefully observed the processor, it was a very ordinary chip. It was the size of a fingernail and sealed in ck. Its boundary was filled with tiny golden pins and printed on it was the Intel logo, as well as two product numbers¡ªTCU1524M/2051120914. It didn¡¯t look odd in anyway, for there were many of its kind all across Earth. It could even be found in tiny gaming consoles. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this?¡± Tang Yue frowned. What coulde out of staring at it? ¡°I¡¯ve seen this chip before. The TCU1524M temperature control processor. It¡¯s a customized edition for the Mars missions.¡± Tomcat pointed at the processor in Tang Yue¡¯s hand. ¡°Obviously.¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it before too. We maintain the OGS equipment cab daily, so we see each other every day, be it the previous one or this one.¡± ¡°No... I¡¯m not talking about those two.¡± Tomcat shook its head. It raised three ws. ¡°I¡¯m talking about a third processor.¡± Chapter 90: Sol Hundred and Four, I Think It Can Still Be Rescued

Chapter 90: Sol Hundred and Four, I Think It Can Still Be Rescued

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°A third processor?¡± Tomcat retracted its ws and nodded. ¡°On Mars, there¡¯s a third TCU1524M temperature control processor. I met it eight years ago.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Chelomey.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Chelomey? He tried hard to recall this strange name, and vaguely seemed to recall that he had heard it before... But what was it? A rocket? A satellite? Or a probe? Tang Yue could no longer recall what Chelomey was. After the Marsnding missions fully unfolded, unmanned probes were no longer the focus of attention. This was particrly so with the Orion I and II ferrying astronauts like a bus between Earth and Mars. There was all kind of equipment that hitched a ride to Mars. Even the Vatican had sent a tinynder via the Orion spacecraft. It wasn¡¯t responsible for any research work other than to transmit the Holy Bible¡¯s contents once every twenty-four hours. The idea was to spread the gospel of God to the Universe. Unfortunately, thender crashed when it passed through the Martian atmosphere. So the spreading of God¡¯s gospel on Mars probably had to wait. ¡°The Russian Chelomey is a Martian probe. It wasunched in 2044, and was carried by a cargo spacecraft,¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°Thatnder has a TCU1524M temperature control processor. Its exact number is TCU1524M2043071123. It¡¯s from the same product line but a different batch. It¡¯spletelypatible.¡± ¡°Wait... How do you know whatponents are on a Russian probe?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I participated in the design of that probe. Back then, the Russian engineers had sought my advice when creating the Chelomey probe,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°The Chelomeynder has such a processor. Intel¡¯s TCU1542M is the most reliable temperature control chip to date, so the Russians specially purchased a batch from Intel to be used for the Mars exploration projects.¡± Tang Yue understood what Tomcat¡¯sst solution was¡ªfind the Chelomey, and remove its processor. ¡°But where¡¯s the Chelomey?¡± Tang Yue asked. Even though they knew that there was a third TCU1542M processor on Mars, it was a huge with a radius of about 3,300 kilometers. The surface area exceeded 140 million square kilometers. How was one to find it across such vastnds? To search for a tiny probe on an entire without knowing its exact location was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Besides, the surface area of Mars was huge. If the probe¡¯snding point was more than a thousand kilometers from Kunlun Station, how was Tang Yue to obtain it? ¡°The Chelomey¡¯s exact location isn¡¯t recorded in Kunlun Station.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°The detailed location will need to be obtained from Roscosmos.¡± ¡°How can there be a Roscosmos now? Buddy ol¡¯ Pal, the great Qin dynasty is finished, the great Soviet Union has disintegrated.¡± Tang Yue threw up his arms. ¡°If Roscosmos is still in existence, we should already be on Earth by now.¡± ¡°We can only search for it ourselves,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The Chelomey¡¯s main mission is to evaluate the soil quality and water resources of the Isidis nitia; therefore, it can¡¯t havended too far from Kunlun Station. It should be within reach...¡± Even if they narrowed the scope to the Isidis nitia, it was still a massive region spanning more than a hundred square kilometers. To seek out a probe in such arge desert was impossible via Tomcat and Tang Yue alone. ¡°How do you n to find it?¡± ¡°Obviously not with our eyes. It will take ages.¡± Tomcat swiftly turned on theputer. ¡°We will shout to it. If it¡¯s alive... it will respond.¡± ... ¡°OK! Mr. Cat, I¡¯m in position. Themunications system is fully operational.¡± Mr. Cat floated in the core module as it held a wireless keyboard in hand. ¡°The Russian Chelomey probe... is that it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°It¡¯s been eight years. Is it still alive?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Will it be able to receive ourmands?¡± ¡°In fact, the Chelomey died five years ago. The probe was designed for thirty-six months, and it ultimately failed to die a natural death... A super sandstorm swept thending area of the Chelomey, caking the probe¡¯s sr panels with sand. Finally, the Chelomey was drained of all its power and lostmunications with Mission Control,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Project Chelomey was just a tiny part of the Roscosmos¡¯s Mars missions. The mission team was very small, and the budget was limited. After they lostmunications with it, Roscosmos immediately abandoned the probe and dered the end of Project Chelomey. The mission team was dismissed, and it waspletely forgotten from that moment forth.¡± ¡°It died five years ago?¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that it¡¯s a chunk of metal that¡¯s been dead for years? Then how will it respond to you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s you humans that believe it¡¯s dead. I don¡¯t think so.¡± Tomcat raised a single w and waved it. ¡°Mai Dong? Are you ready?¡± ¡°The antenna is unfolding!¡± Mr. Cat answered. ¡°I¡¯m adjusting the high-gain antenna¡¯s direction... Mr. Cat, what¡¯s themand?¡± ¡°Themand is §¬§¡§´§À§º§¡.¡± ¡°What?¡± Mai Dong and Tang Yue were taken aback. Tomcat had just said a series of retroflex consonants that neither one of them understood.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Katyusha in Russian,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°That¡¯s the awakeningmand for the Chelomey.¡± ¡°You even know that?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°All the probes in the Roscosmos Mars projects use thismand. Some Russian astronaut had told me that, after having too much vodka to drink,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, try using that!¡± Mai Dong nodded as the United Space Station swept over Kunlun Station. The high-gain antenna was pointed at the Isidis nitia, and if the probe named Chelomey was really still alive, it would respond after receiving themand. Tomcat and Tang Yue were awaiting the news. Tang Yue¡¯s found his heart in his throat. No one knew if a probe that had been abandoned for five years was still operational. The chances were low, and with the harsh environment on Mars, it wouldn¡¯t surprise Tang Yue if it waspletely destroyed. Tomcat was betting, but not all probes had a life as hardy as the Curiosity rover that had remained in service for more than ten times its expected lifetime. God, please... Tang Yue muttered inwardly. Half a minuteter. ¡°Mr. Cat! Tang Yue!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded over thems. Her tone was filled with amazement and surprise. ¡°The Chelomey probe has greeted us!¡± ... ¡°Truly amazing.¡± Tang Yue sat down with his nket wrapped around him. ¡°A probe that people have forgotten for five years is still stubbornly living on... Didn¡¯t you say that it was covered in sand, and its batteries werepletely drained?¡± ¡°The Chelomey has a clock on it that can run for ten years,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°ording to the Chelomey¡¯s original design, once the battery stores dropped below a critical line, the probe would enter hibernation, shutting down itsputer and all power-drainingponents. But that clock will keep running. It would wake theputer from time to time, and once the sr panel gained a charge, the probe would awaken from its hibernation... Do you still remember the hurricane from three months ago?¡± Tang Yue nodded. He obviously remembered the super hurricane that enveloped Kunlun Station. It nearly caused the Eagle¡¯sunch to end up in failure. ¡°A hurricane can sweep up sand, but it can also sweep away sand,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The hurricane three months ago might have swept away the sand on the Chelomey¡¯s sr panels, allowing the batteries to be recharged. Therefore, the probe would awaken from its slumber and continue its work... That¡¯s how machines are. As long as you don¡¯t give them up, they will never let you down.¡± Chapter 91: Sol Hundred and Four, Sunset

Chapter 91: Sol Hundred and Four, Sunset

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°The Chelomey probe¡¯snding point is 95 kilometers southwest of Kunlun Station. I¡¯ve sent you the exacttitude. The probe is made up of two parts, thender, and the rover. I¡¯ve already establishedmunications with thender, but the rover remains uncontactable... The Chelomey is currently in a semi-hibernation, and its battery reserves are very low. It sends me a signal once every five minutes.¡± ¡°OK, thank you for your help, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat opened the garage¡¯s entrance. ¡°Please continue tracking Chelomey.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat stood in the garage with the huge Mars Wanderer in front of them. The polygonal drivingpartment protruded at the front with a dark panel of ss embedded in it. The Chelomey probe was nearly a hundred kilometers from Kunlun Station and, without a doubt, it was impossible to cover this distance on foot. All they could do was drive the Mars Wanderer to find it. ¡°The Mars Wanderer can travel at best thirty kilometers a sol. It travels at night while being charged in the day. So, the ny-five kilometers will take at least three to four sols. The return trip will take six to eight sols.¡± Tang Yue leaned against the garage wall as he studied the Mars Wanderer while doing the math. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to rely on the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system for six to eight sols, so we¡¯ll need to move the OGS over. But in that case, we¡¯ll need to modify the Mars Wanderer...¡± Tang Yue reckoned that moving the OGS experiment module was a ratherplicated task. It wasn¡¯t an air-conditioner that could simply be moved... The Mars Wanderer¡¯s experiment module was airtight, this saved him a lot of trouble; otherwise, making the enclosure airtight would have been a huge problem. After all, it was quite impossible for him to use tape to wrap up the entire vehicle. ¡°In six to eight sols, we will need to carry at least ten sols worth of food and water. The weight needs consideration as well. There¡¯s limited space in the experiment module, so there¡¯s no way to amodate everything. We will have to wrap the items and put them on the rooftop. ¡°There¡¯s also the problem with power. We need to bring the sr panels along with us, and we need to bring a sufficient quantity of them to satisfy the Mars Wanderer¡¯s needs.¡± Tang Yue leaned on the vehicle¡¯s door and turned his head to look at the Battery Farm. The neat array of sr panels were reflecting the sunlight. Usually, with the Mars Wanderer parked in the garage, the Battery Farm would provide it with the required power to charge its batteries. But if they were to drive the electric vehicle a hundred kilometers away, they would need to take the sr panels with them. On Mars, sr panels weren¡¯t considered a highly efficient source of power. They were capable of providing the power needed by the research equipment, but it was way too demanding to power a vehicle. This was why the charging process was so slow. The Mars Wanderer had two battery packs at the top of the car, but the batteries didn¡¯t supply the engines with power, instead, they supplied the experiment module. ¡°The Mars Wanderer¡¯s maximum output is 30 kW. If we remove all the power-draining equipment in the experiment module, and install the OGS equipment cab, while the heat source is provided by the RTG¡ªwhich doesn¡¯t expend any power¡ªthen a sr panel¡¯s power output is 200 W. We will need to bring...¡± Tang Yue began doing the math. ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Tomcat shook its head and cut off Tang Yue. Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°We don¡¯t need the OGS or the RTG, nor do we need to modify the Mars Wanderer.¡± Tomcat tapped on the wheels which weren¡¯t filled with air but wereprised of finely woven metal mesh. ¡°We aren¡¯t bringing the OGS?¡± Tang Yue looked over. ¡°Then what about the oxygen?¡± Tomcat looked at him with burning eyes as it enunciated its words clearly. ¡°There¡¯s no need for oxygen.¡± Tang Yue was rmed before suddenly realizing what Tomcat was getting at... There wasn¡¯t a need for them to modify the Mars Wanderer or install the OGS in it, much less bring the RTG and supplies. There was no need for the life support system since Tang Yue didn¡¯t need to participate in this operation. Tomcat never had the intention of letting Tang Yue join it. It could go alone for it didn¡¯t need oxygen, heat, or a life support system. All it needed was a vehicle and a bunch of batteries. This was the simplest solution. Modifying the Mars Wanderer involved too much work, and moving the OGS cab was tooplicated. Besides, food and water took up too much space. In this trip, spanning more than a hundred kilometers in the middle of nowhere, any ident that happened midway would lead to inconceivable consequences. ¡°You¡¯re going alone?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going alone. I¡¯ll drive the Mars Wanderer, and remove all unnecessary items. I¡¯ll take half the batteries and nothing else. This is the fastest and simplest method, and also the safest and most reliable way. Stay on Kunlun Station while I try my best to return within seven sols.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat is going alone?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°There won¡¯t be any problems, right?¡± ¡°If something can happen to me, then there¡¯s only doom awaiting Tang Yue if he joins me.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°But having another person means another person watching your back.¡± Tomcat stole a nce at Tang Yue. ¡°Watch my back? Him? He¡¯s only a burden.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue immediately began removing the chains and detaching the experiment module. They would then switch to attaching a sled. The sled was basically a tbed with wheels. It didn¡¯t have any driving force or suspension. It was the simplest and lightest configuration of the Mars Wanderer¡ªthe tractor form. Tomcat wanted to drag the Chelomey back, so it only needed a sled. The tractor form allowed the Mars Wanderer to reach its highest speed, exceeding that of a bicycle. Tang Yue returned to Kunlun Station to grab a bite to eat, while Tomcat drove the Wanderer into the garage before the two began packing the sr panels. ¡°On average, each sol gives an effective charging time of eight to nine hours without exceeding ten...¡± Tomcat dismantled the sr panels and ced them on Tang Yue¡¯s tiny cart. ¡°I can only charge during the day from six in the morning to six in the evening while proceeding through the night.¡± ¡°How many sr panels do you need?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Let¡¯s guarantee that Kunlun Station can operate normally, then I¡¯ll take away all of the rest.¡± Tomcat stacked the sr panels on the cart. ¡°How much power do you need on Kunlun Station?¡± ¡°I can shut down most of the functions in the Hab, leaving only the life support system andmunications system on. For now, the RTG should be able to handle it.¡± Tang Yue did the math. ¡°Thirty sr panels would be sufficient.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take the remaining ten.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Ten sr panels, each providing 200 W. Ten hours make it 2 kWh. It should be able to run 30 kilometers a sol. Then, from Kunlun Station to Chelomey¡¯snding point, it will need about three sols... if everything goes as nned.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat pushed the ten sr panels onto the sled and tied them down with ropes. ¡°They won¡¯t fall off from the vibrations, will they?¡± Tang Yue nudged the stacked sr panels which appeared securely fastened. ¡°No.¡± Tomcat found a huge stic sheet and covered the sr panels to prevent the sand from getting to them. It then carefully tucked in the sides. After all, the sr panels were the lifeblood of Kunlun Station. After everything was done, the sun had already set. Tang Yue circled the Mars Wanderer a few times, inspecting while thinking. He was like a traveler just before heading out. Even though he had finished packing his luggage, he still needed to do repeated checks in fear of forgetting something. ¡°Can you rush back in seven sols?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Tomcat patted Tang Yue on the shoulder and made him crouch down. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around on Kunlun Station. Don¡¯t pig out on food and water. Don¡¯t dismantle the equipment. Don¡¯t dismantle the OGS or RTG. Don¡¯t try to attain enlightenment by killing yourself. Make sure to be safe.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Tomcat knocked its forehead onto Tang Yue¡¯s visor. ¡°Good luck.¡± Tomcat turned around and crawled into the Mars Wanderer¡¯s drivingpartment, started the engines, and set off slowly on the Wanderer. The vehicle turned, dragging along the sled and sr panels towards the boundless desert. Tang Yue stood at the garage watching Tomcat leave. The tractor moved up and down the dunes until it got smaller and smaller and vanished against the red sunset. Chapter 92: Sol Hundred and Five, First Sol After Tomcat’s Departure

Chapter 92: Sol Hundred and Five, First Sol After Tomcat¡¯s Departure

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue tightened his clothes and nket, leaning his body close to the RTG. Kunlun Station¡¯s temperature had already fallen to ¨C15¡ãC in the morning, but it was far from Tang Yue¡¯s limits. Back when he was undergoing training with Old Wang in Daxing¡¯anling Prefecture, it had snowed at night with temperatures dropping below ¨C30¡ãC. With Tomcat gone, Kunlun Station suddenly appeared empty. Tang Yue woke up from his sleep. When he drew the curtains to his living quarters and wanted to call out to Tomcat, he paused midway, suddenly realizing that Tomcat was gone. He was the only person left on Kunlun Station, and everything seemed bleak. ¡°Has it protruded? Have you protruded... Have you protruded or not?¡± Tang Yue held the box and carefully and observed the tomato seeds in the box. He flipped them around as though he was a pervert hoping to steal a nce under a girl¡¯s skirt. But the anti-gravity skirt didn¡¯t give him a chance. In the past two sols, he had been tying the tomato seeds to his body. He relied on his body temperature to supply them with heat, but it clearly hadn¡¯t shown any significant effects. Based on what Mai Dong said, the seeds should have sprouted by now, but none of the tomato seeds on Tang Yue showed signs of awakening. ¡°Have the seeds not germinated?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Nope.¡± Tang Yue was somewhat disappointed as he shook his head. The temperature control¡¯s sudden malfunction had wrecked their ns to nt the seeds in soil. Tang Yue had attempted to check the temperature control once again this morning but was helpless. He had no idea which lunatic had designed a heater to be thatplicated. It would have been easy to fix if they were only two fments. Tang Yue would then be able to fix it like fixing a hairdryer. Tang Yue had also brought in the fermenting fertilizer from the garage. As the saying went, it was much more joyful to share the joy than enjoy alone; likewise for heat. He couldn¡¯t forget his sh*t brothers who were suffering from the cold in the garage while he enjoyed the warmth. Therefore, Tang Yue circled the RTG with a few buckets of feces to warm each other up. The feces didn¡¯t seem to be fermenting. Instead, it was a lot more frozen. In the past, it had smelled. Now, it smelled and was hard. Being alone on Kunlun Station made one feel as though they were in a boundless ce with no ce to call home. Over time, one¡¯s heart would be filled with bleakness. Even with Mai Dong on thems to apany him, the solitary feeling wasn¡¯t something that could be dispelled with the two people hugging each other. If the Mars mission only had two people, the two would most likely cover every topic there was to be covered during that long period of time. Eventually, they would have nothing to say to each other and be sick of each other. It was also why each expedition typically had six people, with the addition of Tomcat. Tang Yue believed that the reason Tomcat seemed neurotic and naggy was likely a result of this. Tomcat often found all kinds of baffling topics to talk about. In a small way, it was to liven Kunlun Station¡¯s mood, and in a big way, it was to train the brains of the expedition members. In terms of a chattingpanion, Tomcat was as good as six people in one. ¡°How¡¯s Tomcat? How far has he gone?¡± Tang Yue put away the seeds. ¡°Mr. Cat has already stopped advancing at a distance 31.4 kilometers from Kunlun Station. It contacted me two hours ago.¡± Mai Dong looked at the screen which had a blip representing the Mars Wanderer blinking every five seconds. ¡°Currently, it should be recharging.¡± The Mars Wanderer had a high-powermunications antenna that could connect to the ry satellites or United Space Station to establishmunications, but to save power, Tomcat shut down themunications system, and only contacted the United Space Station twice a sol to report on its exact situation. Tang Yue got up and looked out through the window. However, all he could see was thirty kilometers out. He could only imagine the cat taking down the sr panels from the sled, setting them up, then leaning against the tire to await aplete recharge. Tang Yue got up and did high knees on the spot before getting down to do ten push-ups to dispel the heat. ¡°I feel as if I¡±m an Eskimo who¡¯s trying hard to survive in the arctic.¡± ¡°Like an Inuit?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Yes, those people who like eating Kiviak.¡± ¡°Kiviak?¡± ¡°It¡¯s some traditional wintertime Inuit food. They stuff five hundred auks into seal skin and let them rot and ferment for three months. Finally, they dig out the auk meat for consumption,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°That¡¯s Kiviak for you. It¡¯s said to be rich in vitamins, and is way more terrifying than Sparkling Oldendia Water mixed with Swedish herring canned food.¡± ... Around five in the afternoon, Tomcat establishedmunications with the United Space Station and Kunlun Station. It sent a very short email. Tomcat: ¡°This is the Mars Wanderer. Everything is fine. The batteries have been charged, and all the sr panels have been packed up. I estimate I¡¯ll be able to continue traveling another 30 kilometers tonight.¡± Mai Dong: ¡°This is space station. I copy you five-by-five. Mr. Cat, you are heading in a direction right on target. Good luck.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Tomcat, how¡¯s the situation. Did you meet Optimus Prime?¡± Tomcat: ¡°No, but I encountered Nazi Germany¡¯s Mars base. They invited me to be their guest and warmly entertained me. They even asked if Stalin was dead.¡± Tang Yuenguidly typed: ¡°Oh, apart from the moon, the Third Reich also has a base on Mars?¡± Tomcat: ¡°Of course, ording to them, during WW2, after the Normandy D-Daynding, the Chancellor knew it was over. Hence, he gathered all the rocket experts in the country, and with Professor Wernher von Braun as lead scientist, they secretly built arge carrier rocket in Peenem¨¹nde and Hamburg, sending the empire¡¯s legacy to Mars.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Impressive. The Third Reich had the ability to reach Mars in 1944?¡± Tomcat: ¡°ording to them, it¡¯s because the Chancellor had discovered alien technology in the Tibetan teau. In fact, the Messerschmitt Me 262 and the V-2 rocket are the results of reverse-engineered alien technology. They even found the legendary Ark of the Covenant, but it was stopped by some guy named Indiana Jones. They even imed that they were the only country in the twentieth century who couldnd on an extraterrestrial. They said that the American Apollo missions were a hoax, and were all recorded in a studio.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Why was it a hoax?¡± Tomcat: ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s said on some forum.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Then, did you see Hitler?¡± Tomcat: ¡°Hitler didn¡¯te. He didn¡¯t trust Braun¡¯s rockets.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°So Hitler stillmitted suicide?¡± Tomcat: ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. It was a stand-in. At the end of WW2, he escaped to Argentina.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°So Hitler died of old age?¡± Tomcat: ¡°No, he didn¡¯t end well. He was pursued by Israel.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°How many people are left in the base?¡± Tomcat: ¡°There were three, but now, there¡¯s only one left.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°What happened?¡± Tomcat: ¡°The three from before were from Hydra, and the remaining one is named Steven Rogers. He was dressed weirdly and even held a shield.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Alright then. Where are you now?¡± Tomcat: ¡°I¡¯m still about sixty kilometers away from the Chelomey¡¯snding point. I¡¯ve just moved all the sr panels onto the sled. I¡¯ll spend the first half of the night traveling and spend the rest of the night resting... Eh? Wait a moment.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tomcat: ¡°I might be seeing things.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°You¡¯re a robot. How can a robot be seeing things?¡± Tomcat: ¡°Robots can too. It might be a bug in the program, creating some incorrect image.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°Then what did you see?¡± Tomcat: ¡°Something flew over the Wanderer.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°?¡± Mai Dong: ¡°?¡± Shit: ¡°?¡± Tomcat: ¡°It caught me by surprise as well. That thing traveled really quickly, and it flew at a very high altitude. It was just a tiny dot that emitted light, just like a jet-propelled ne, but it was silent. If I hadn¡¯t happened to look up, I might not have discovered it.¡± Tang Yue: ¡°A satellite? The space station? Or a meteor?¡± Mai Dong: ¡°It¡¯s not our satellites or space station. No satellites are over Mr. Cat at the moment.¡± Tomcat: ¡°It¡¯s probably a meteor. It¡¯s impossible for anyone to build an aircraft on Mars... That will be the end of today¡¯smunications. I¡¯ll need to get moving. Over and out.¡± Chapter 93: Sol Hundred and Six, Second Sol After Tomcat’s Departure

Chapter 93: Sol Hundred and Six, Second Sol After Tomcat¡¯s Departure

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Mr. Cat, the straight-line distance between you and the Chelomey probe is 32.78 kilometers.¡± Mai Dong observed the number on the screen. ¡°You are still right on target.¡± ¡°Straight-line distance of 32.78 kilometers? But the actual distance is probably far greater than 30 kilometers. I believe a detour is needed next.¡± Mai Dong and Tang Yue were stunned. ¡°Detour?¡± Tang Yue got up and typed on the keyboard, and send an inquiry by email. ¡°Is something blocking your path?¡± Mai Dong asked as well: ¡°A sand dune?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sand dune, one that just extends endlessly. I¡¯ve parked the Mars Wanderer at the bottom of it to charge. The sand dune¡¯s slopes are too steep, and they are about one- to two-stories tall. I don¡¯t think the Wanderer can climb over it, so a detour is needed.¡± ¡°How far would the detour be?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. I¡¯m attempting to climb the sand dune. I¡¯ll stand from a high vantage point to see the surroundings and find a passageway... It¡¯s truly shocking. This isn¡¯t sand, but rock.¡± ¡°Rock?¡± ¡°Underneath the sand is buried rock, huge bs of rock. Just one of them will weigh tens or hundreds of tonnes. I think it¡¯s basalt. They might be the result of volcanic activity billions of years ago. They wereter eroded to their present state,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°I¡¯ve already climbed onto it. Let me see how I should proceed next... Damn it, it¡¯s not a sand dune, but a wall!¡± The two humans over thems were rmed. ¡°Wall?¡± ¡°This is basically a wall formed by stacked pieces of rock. It has beenpletely covered in sand, making it look like a sand dune. But when digging away the sand, you¡¯ll see the rock beneath. It¡¯syer uponyer, just like stacked bricks.¡± Tomcat was astonished. ¡°Standing here, I can see it extending far into the distance until it disappears by the horizon. There¡¯s no way of estimating its length... It¡¯s shocking.¡± ¡°Just like the Great Wall?¡± Mai Dong asked. Tomcat nodded. ¡°Just like the Great Wall of China. Can you imagine a great wall on Mars?¡± ¡°Is it artificially made?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. Even though it looks like the work of some intelligent lifeform, it could be a result of cier movements. In ancient times, the ciers would move the rock over; therefore the boulders would stack upon each other at the boundaries of the ciers. The forces of nature can at times far exceed that of human hands.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Do you know of Northern Irnd¡¯s Giant¡¯s Causeway?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°A very specialndscape. It¡¯s located on the coast of the Antic Ocean in Northern Irnd. Thirty thousand stone columns of different sizes from a long series of steps that extend for thousands of meters. Each stone column is hexagonal in shape, making them look like they were man-made,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°But they were, in fact, naturally formed. The Giant¡¯s Causeway is made of basalt. It¡¯s the result of molten basalt from volcanic activity meeting seawater. The reason they are hexagonal is because of the crystalline structure of basalt... That¡¯s why the wall I¡¯m seeing on Mars might be a naturalndscape as well.¡± Tang Yue found it true after some thought. It was highly likely that it was naturally formed. At times, weathering and water erosion led to amazing wonders. How could Mars have any artificialndscapes? ¡°I¡¯m walking along the wall. Its highest spot exceeds nine meters and is about three-stories tall. Do you know what this reminds me of?¡± Since Tomcat was waiting for the Wanderer to be charged, it began to share what it saw with Mai Dong and Tang Yue. ¡°What?¡± ¡°A beacon tower,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°If this wall is viewed as the product of a civilization, then this wall has all the necessary features...¡± Tomcat leisurely searched for clues on the ancient wall. The marks had already been blurred by time, but Tomcat used its extraordinary imagination to depict a scene. ¡°I see beacon towers, each ced at a set distance from each other. It would be perfect for setting fire to pop smoke to indicate war. There are also the steep slopes of the city wall, the narrow ones for people, and the broad ones for offensive machinery... Oh, there¡¯s also the signs of watchtowers. I see a very regr square-shaped tform, and very clearly, it was used to station troops. If any enemy were to attack, the soldiers living in them could charge out to face the enemy...¡± As Tomcat spoke, its voice lowered until there was silence. Mai Dong and Tang Yue were already silent. ¡°F*ck...¡± Tomcat reeled in shock for a very long period of time. ¡°It¡¯s really naturally formed?¡± The force of nature was like an artisan. It had the ability to chisel a six-sided stone column into a passageway and could carve rock into a wall. However, it was not great enough to build beacon towers and watchtowers. Tomcat was rmed. ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat...¡± Mai Dong whispered. ¡°You... might be standing on the ruins of an ancient civilization?¡± ¡°No! No! No! No! Impossible! That¡¯s impossible!¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Mars has never had any intelligent life form, much less any civilization! Don¡¯t be misled by what I just said. What I meant was that certain things can be produced under natural conditions... Holy sh*t, what¡¯s this?¡± ¡°What have you discovered this time?¡± ¡°A ravine, a long ravine. On the other end of the wall is a ditch. It goes along the wall, forming a very deep ravine.¡± Tomcat frowned. ¡°Does that remind you of anything?¡± ¡°A moat?¡± Tang Yue had an idea. ¡°It does resemble a moat. However, who would build a moat for a great wall? The ravine has already been filled with sand. Let me try to dig into it...¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This ravine is about four to five meters wide, but I¡¯m not sure of its depth. However, it¡¯s at least a meter. This ravine¡¯s length is simr to the wall¡¯s. I can¡¯t see its end.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong were astonished. A wall that extended endlessly would have been a massive project known to all on Earth. Yet, someone had dug out a moat for this wall? ¡°This ravine is also a natural phenomenon?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Perhaps formed by ciers?¡± ¡°Possible, of course it¡¯s possible! After ciers melt, they leave behind traces. Together with erosion from flowing water...¡± Tomcat racked its mind to find a reason. It was wondering if any preceding examples on Earth would naturally form a moat. But it failed to find one. When all assumptions were eliminated, then no matter how inconceivable the remaining exnation was, it was the truth. Tomcat sat on the sand dune and looked at the wall meandering into the distance as far as its sight could go. It didn¡¯t know if it was a work of the natural world or the remains of an ancient civilization. If it was truly the work of intelligent lifeforms, then it would no doubt be an extremely illustrious civilization. What kind of civilization would build up a tall wall that tore through its? Tomcat looked at the ruins, and couldn¡¯t help but imagine how it would have appeared like a miracle when such a tall wall was built. Tomcat had no way of knowing the truth. Its database didn¡¯t have any relevant information, but it could determine that in the dark back when Earth¡¯s humans hadn¡¯t been born, the civilization on this might have already built up such astonishing wonders. Although their civilization was destroyed with time, these miraculous works remained standing steadfast. ¡°What a pity...¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°A pity that this ancient civilization has vanished?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s a pity that Earth is gone, and the Mars mission has been terminated,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Otherwise, I could set up a tourism business. Wouldn¡¯t that earn me loads of money?¡± Chapter 94: Sol Hundred and Seven, Third Sol After Tomcat’s Departure

Chapter 94: Sol Hundred and Seven, Third Sol After Tomcat¡¯s Departure

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°This is the Mars Wanderer. United Space Station, please reply if you copy.¡± ¡°This is United Space Station. I copy you. Good morning, Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve discovered the Chelomey probe. I repeat, I¡¯ve discovered the Chelomey probe. Thender is intact, but the rover is nowhere to be found, but it should be within a few kilometers of this area. I n to find its location. Will the United Space Station be able to provide any assistance?¡± ¡°Probably not, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°I¡¯m unable to establishmunications with the rover. The high-precision telescope and camera on the space station is in the Dawn module, and have already been damaged along with the module. ¡°Darn it!¡± Tomcat had finally arrived at the Chelomey¡¯snding spot on the third afternoon. It had found the half-buriednder that appeared the size of a circr table across the ins. The ck metal shell and the silver thermal-insting material looked extremely striking in the orange-yellow background. The probe¡¯s sr panels were unfolded with ayer of sand over them. Perhaps the hurricane from three months ago had swept away most of the sand, allowing the sr panels to see the light of day again. Theputer had then managed to be recharged, awakening the probe from its long slumber. The Chelomey probe arrived on Mars in two parts¡ªthe immobilender and the mobile rover. Thender was a descent tform in charge of carrying the tiny rover. It remained in a folded state within the rocket¡¯s fairing, with the rover encased by the sr panels. Only after a sessfulnding were the sr panels opened up to release the rover. The rover had disappeared. Even though Tomcat guessed that the tiny guy couldn¡¯t have gone far, it had no means to find a tiny rover in an area spanning kilometers without the help of the space station. ¡°Mr. Cat, how¡¯s the rover¡¯s situation?¡± ¡°I¡¯m checking.¡± Tomcat stood beside the probe with a stic sheet wrapped tightly around its body, making it look like a Bedouin nomad. It removed the sand from the Chelomey, sweeping it clean bit by bit as the probe slowly appeared in its original form. Tomcat felt that its actions were like that of an archaeologist as it carefully brushed away the soil from an ancient tomb. It too was discovering a lost artifact of a vanished civilization. After cleaning away the dust, Tomcat saw one of the probe¡¯s indicators blinking. Even though it had been eight years, the Chelomey remained brand new, as though it had just left theboratory yesterday. Even its screws were bright and clean. In the arid and oxygencking Mars, the antiquation of a machine was greatly decreased. It was able to be preserved for many years in such an environment. Tomcat saw the Chelomey once again. Thest time they met was when they were back on Earth. ¡°Buddy ol¡¯ Pal... we meet again. You haven¡¯t changed the least.¡± Tomcat sighed as it sat beside the probe. ¡°Do you know your home has blown up?¡± The Chelomey stood there silently in the desert. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to say something after hearing such sad news?¡± Tomcat turned its head. ¡°If you feel sad, blink.¡± The probe¡¯s indicator light blinked once. ¡°I knew you were sad.¡± To meet one of its own kind on this remote was like running into an old friend in a distantnd. Be it Tomcat or the Chelomey, both of them should¡¯ve been happy. A wanderer in a foreignnd was likely to have endless things to talk about when meeting a friend from the same country, and this old friend had brought it news from home¡ªgood and bad of all kinds, including that its home had blown up. Chelomey had been sitting here alone for eight years to the point of being forgotten by its creators. Under normal circumstances, it would be sitting there perpetually for eight years, eight decades, or even eight centuries, until the end of time. If it wasn¡¯t because Kunlun Station¡¯s temperature control processor was broken, even Tomcat wouldn¡¯t havee looking for it. ¡°You¡¯re asking me how it blew up?¡± Tomcat muttered. ¡°Neither do I. It just vanished, without leaving a single trace. The reason is unknown... It isn¡¯t a gamma-ray burst, quite impossible. That wouldn¡¯t have happened if it were a gamma-ray burst.¡± ¡°Those people from your hometown?¡± Tomcat muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel any resentment for them to throw you here? If you ask me, I think they have long forgotten you... Ah, no. Even if most people have forgotten, there will always be someone who remembers you. The guy who personally wrote your programs, the one who screwed those screws in your wheels, the ones who worked day and night to gather funding for you. Those people are your parents, and you are their child. How could they forget their child? ¡°However, they have all vanished. ¡°Have you seen anything interesting over the past eight years while standing here? For example, did you see something like a huge battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron?¡± Tomcat sat beside the probe, looking far into the distance at the bleak and lonely terrain. Mars was truly a boring world. At a nce, there wasn¡¯t a ce to focus one¡¯s gaze upon. ¡°Thankfully, you are myopic. You might be disappointed if you could see this world in its entirety.¡± Tomcat sat on the ground as the sun slowly passed over its head. The breeze swept up the tiny particles of sand andnded them on Tomcat¡¯s body. It shook away the dust that hadnded on the stic sheet wrapped around it. It wasn¡¯t in a rush to move. The Mars Wanderer had already been drained of its batteries and had stopped two kilometers away. It was being recharged, and Tomcat had to wait until the evening before continuing to advance. It would drive the Mars Wanderer over and load the probe onto it before finally heading back. Being a machine as well, Tomcat actually wished to find the rover and bring it back. it didn¡¯t want it to be left alone in the deste world all alone, but the rover was long gone. The scientists from Roscosmos had installed a powerful motor on it, allowing the rover to drive like a sports car on Mars. To this day, it maintained the Guinness record of being a transportation vehicle that had the fastest speed on an extraterrestrial. Back then, the leading expert of the Chelomey project had said, ¡°Our probe is to exceed the Americans in every way. Speed is just the beginning!¡± It was believed that the next aspect would be the aspect of firepower. Tomcat weighed the pros and cons and had no choice but to abandon the rover. Kunlun Station was still awaiting its return to swap the temperature control processor. Not a second was to be dyed. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking you with me, to Kunlun Station.¡± Tomcat turned its head and said to Chelomey. ¡°It¡¯s because...¡± Tomcat hesitated. It didn¡¯t know how to exin itself. It felt wrong to say that it had made this trip solely to rip itsponents out. It sounded nefarious, like an illegal peddler who sold organs. ¡°It¡¯s because there¡¯s a patient with a serious case of uremia. He¡¯s in desperate need of a new kidney, and you are the only match in all of Mars.¡± Tomcat quickly found a grand and aboveboard reason. ¡°That¡¯s why we have to invite you over to save him. We hope you can donate your kidney to someone who needs it... It¡¯s not like you need it, right?¡± The Chelomey stood there silently in the desert. ¡°If you agree...¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Blink your indicator light.¡± The probe¡¯s indicator light blinked once. ¡°Hahaha, I knew you would agree!¡± Tomcat patted the Chelomey probe happily. ¡°You are such a kindhearted probe. You live up to being a magnanimous v...¡± Chapter 95: Sol Hundred and Seven, Fourth Sol After Tomcat’s Departure

Chapter 95: Sol Hundred and Seven, Fourth Sol After Tomcat¡¯s Departure

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat parked the Wanderer in the desert before moving the Chelomey probe. It switched off the probe¡¯sputer and folded back the sr panels and legs. Then, it dragged it onto the Wanderer¡¯s sled and secured it with rope. The Chelomey¡¯snder was about 150 kilograms. It was considered small in size among all the Martian probes. Back then, the Chelomey project was limited in budget. It was an obscure project under Roscosmos. It was also given a mission for education purposes. It collected experiment proposals from students all over the country and finally, a middle school in St. Petersburg won. Their program was to get the probe to carry a culture dish that they had designed. This involved the need for a temperature control which was helmed by the Intel TCU1524M processor. While designing the Chelomey, the experts had sought Tomcat¡¯s advice. It had built up a good rtionship with the engineers and had joined them in drinking vodka once. It was during that instance when one of the experts who had too much to drink divulged that all the Russian probes sent to Mars used the activationmand, Katyusha. Tomcat did a simple inspection of the Chelomey and found it extremely well preserved. Back then, the Chelomey¡¯snding was very sessful. If not for the sandstorm, it could havepleted its work until the end of its lifespan. If there had been enough funding, it could have even served far beyond that. ¡°Wee aboard the Mars Wanderer, a non-stop service to Kunlun Station.¡± Tomcat pushed the probe with all its might and determined that it was secured. ¡°All passengers, please make sure your seat belt is securely fastened as the tractor will be starting at any moment...¡± Tomcat returned to the drivingpartment and started the Wanderer¡¯s engines. It nced at the battery indicator, it still had more than 90% left after the recharge. It could go on for about 30 kilometers. Tomcat turned the wheel and the Wanderer began to turn. At this point, Tomcat had finished half its mission. It still needed at least three sols to return to Kunlun Station... It was best if Tang Yue didn¡¯t cause any trouble during these three sols. The Mars Wanderer proceeded between two dunes as it prevented the wheels from sinking into the sand. In the past, the Mars Wanderer would often get stuck in holes, forcing everyone on board to get off to push it. Now, with Tomcat the only one on the vehicle, it would be quite difficult for it to push the vehicle alone. Tomcat would rather take a detour than attempt to cross steep dunes. ¡°High are the mountains; long are the rivers; harsh is the road to Heaven...¡± Tomcat sat in the driver¡¯s seat as it wobbled its head while humming the song, Riding the Train to Lhasa, just like a driver on a long haul trip to Lhasa, Tibet. ¡°Passing through the ins; crossing mountains, carrying dreams and fortune. Singing my way to Tangg, I ride the train to Lhasa...¡± Tomcat kept the beat as it belted out a high note like a poorly tuned gong. ¡°To see the mystical Pot; to see the prettiest Galsang flower...¡± The Mars Wanderer proceeded amidst the singing, thrashing through the gravel and sand as it traversed the vast, destends. The sled behind it also tossed back and forth, sending a cloud of dust in its wake. ... ¡°Tang Yue? Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Yue pinched his nose as he cracked open a tiny slit in the container filled with feces and soil, narrowing his eyes to take a peek on the fertilizer¡¯s fermentation progress. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Low temperatures were indeed unsuitable for microbes to proliferate. The fermentation of the fertilizer was happening extremely slowly. ¡°It¡¯s time for us tomunicate now, but Mr. Cat hasn¡¯t sent an email today,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Nothing has gone wrong, has it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. What could go wrong? Based on the time, it should be making its way back.¡± Tang Yue stuck a metal rod into the container and began stirring the solidified feces. Beneath the ck outer crust of the feces was a dark green color that resembled matcha. ¡°Perhaps it overslept... Heavens, this shit nugget looks like a green bean paste.¡± ¡°Green bean paste?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s ears pricked up as her eyes brightened. ¡°Where did this green bean paste from?¡± The ten tomato seeds in the box had finally shown signs of improvement. Three seeds had finally protruded out of the seed¡¯s kernel, leaving Tang Yue extremely excited. Lady Luck had finally smiled at him, ensuring that the meticulous care he had put in all these days wasn¡¯t for nothing. He made sure they were warm and hydrated, and these seeds had not let him down. Since the seeds had begun germinating, it implied that his solution was workable. It was only a matter of time for the other seeds. ¡°Trudge on, Comrades! Strive for higher targets!¡± Tang Yue cheered on the yet-to-sprout seeds. ¡°Whoever germinates the fastest gets a prize!¡± ¡°What prize are you giving them?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I¡¯ll give them a chance to be recorded in history! I¡¯ll make them the greatest tomatoes in history!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°When we start chronicling history in the future, this will be written: In the past 15 billion years, and for the next 20 billion years, never has there been such great tomatoes born in this Universe. They survived against all odds by bearing fruit, perfectly entuating the grit and courage that all life contains¡ªlife will find a way!¡± Mai Dong looked at Tang Yue in silence beforeughing. ¡°What are youughing at?¡± ¡°I... I think you are talking about us,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I thought you wouldugh at my English pronunciation,¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°My English high school teacher often said that my entes along with the smell of pickled vegetables.¡± Looking at the white sprout, Tang Yue felt as though he could already see plump red tomatoes. He couldn¡¯t remember how long it had been since he had tasted fresh vegetables. Thest time he had fresh food felt like a lifetime ago, so distant that it felt like another life. Tang Yue had once heard of some distant outposts at the borders that were high above the snow-line on mountains. Once winter sealed off passage to the mountains, all supplies were cut. The warriors at the outpost had to survive their days on canned food. For half a year, they wouldn¡¯t have any fresh vegetables to the point of them wanting to have a bite of the green weeds on the ground. Tang Yue was in a simr state. The green feces in the container reminded him of green bean paste... Tang Yue hurriedly stopped himself from thinking further. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat hasn¡¯t contacted me yet. It¡¯s already past the scheduled time...¡± Mai Dong was a little worried. ¡°Will it be alright?¡± ¡°What did it tell you?¡± ¡°It said it would contact me twice a sol, once during the day, and once at night,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°When the timees, it would contact me. If there¡¯s no email thirty minutes after the scheduled time, that means that something has happened to it.¡± ¡°What time should it have contacted you today?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Six in the afternoon.¡± Tang Yue looked at the time. It was thirty-five minutes past six. ¡°Have you tried contacting it?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been constantly calling out to it for the past hour.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any reply.¡± While the Mars Wanderer was advancing, itsmunications antenna was put away, making it unable to receive any radio signals, so Tomcat had to be the one to contact the space station. Tang Yue felt a little uneasy. Although Tomcat was quite a nag, it was rather reliable, and its ns were watertight. To not make contact after the scheduled time, meant that something had happened. It was impossible for it to be a mistake. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a little longer, a little longer...¡± Tang Yue tried hard to keep calm as he tightly sped the nket over his body. ¡°Nothing will happen to Tomcat. It must be busy with something, and can¡¯t contact us in time. Just wait until it¡¯s done... just wait until it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, why don¡¯t you have some sleep first?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I¡¯ll wait.¡± ¡°No! No... I¡¯ll wait with you. I¡¯ll wait with you.¡± The two fell silent as Kunlun Station was filled with an uneasy silence as time slowly ticked away. Seven in the evening. ¡°Has there been any news from Tomcat?¡± ¡°No.¡± Half-past seven. ¡°Any news?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Eight in the evening. ¡°News?¡± Mai Dong shook her head. Nine in the evening. There was still no news. It felt as though Tomcat had vanished from the world. There was nothing from it. Chapter 96: Sol Hundred and Nine, The Missing Tomcat

Chapter 96: Sol Hundred and Nine, The Missing Tomcat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue and Mai Dong waited the entire night until the sun rose and lit the skies. Yet, there was still no news from Tomcat. Only then did Tang Yue determine that something had really happened to Tomcat. ¡°But what problem could happen to Tomcat? It was an experienced resident of Kunlun Station. It had with it the Mars Wanderer with enough sr panels. It didn¡¯t need oxygen, water, or food. What kind of trouble could it encounter in this uninhabited Mars? There wouldn¡¯t be any bandits at all. The anxiety in Tang Yue grew. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work, Tang Yue. There¡¯s no response from the channel.¡± Mai Dong tried calling out for the Mars Wanderer again. ¡°I still can¡¯t contact Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°What problem can it have encountered?¡± Tang Yue held the pen in his hand as he mechanically tapped the table with its tip. He began theorizing all possible difficulties that Tomcat could encounter. He then overturned each and every one of them. ¡°Even if it encounters an unresolvable problem, can¡¯t it send a message... Could it have gotten into an ident?¡± Could it be that Mt. Akina¡¯s pram racing god would one day get into an ident? Tang Yue found it hard to imagine the Mars Wanderer flipping over. At speed that was akin to a turtle¡¯s crawl, with such huge tires, low center of mass, and low power output, it was impossible for it to do any exciting stunts. At full speed, it was only slightly faster than a bicycle. Its control was as simple as a bumper car at an amusement park. Even if Schumacher were to sit behind the wheel, all he could do was stare in silence at the aged machine¡¯s elerator. Unless one deliberately drove into a ditch, it was almost impossible for the Wanderer to get into an ident. ¡°That¡¯s unless it had an ident that damaged themunications antenna; otherwise, it¡¯s impossible for it to not contact us after so long.¡± Tang Yue turned to look outside. At this moment, Tomcat was still about 90 kilometers away. This distance was nothing on Earth, but on Mars, it was like a chasm. Tang Yue had thought of seeking out Tomcat by himself, but his life support system didn¡¯t permit him from doing so. Donning the Radiant Armor, Tang Yue could only be outdoors for eight hours. Any longer, and the power and oxygen would be drained. Eight hours was clearly insufficient for him to traverse 90 kilometers on foot. Tang Yue would die midway if he were to rashly head out. Losingms with each other meant a wide range of possibilities. A minor possibility would be a malfunction with the Wanderer¡¯smunications antenna, while Tomcat and the Wanderer remained safe and sound, and they were still heading for Kunlun Station at full speed. The worst possibility could be an ident involving both cat and vehicle. Tomcat might have driven the Wanderer down a cliff, crashing and dying as a result. There was just endless static in the frequency channel. Tang Yue twisted the knobs, repeatedly searching across all frequencies, but there was nothing. The silence that faced them was extremely unsettling. To not be able to send a brief cry for help either meant that Tomcat wasn¡¯t avable or it wasn¡¯t alive. ¡°This darn cat, what¡¯s wrong with you... Just send ama or something! Come on, send me ama...¡± Tang Yue paced about Kunlun Station as he cracked his knuckles repeatedly while looking out the window. ¡°Tang Yue... Perhaps it¡¯s only a malfunction with themunications system on Mr. Cat¡¯s side. Perhaps it¡¯s still on its way back? You don¡¯t have to be too anxious...¡± Mai Dong consoled him. ¡°Just wait a little longer.¡± Just waiting was indeed unsettling, but Tang Yue just couldn¡¯t do a thing. He could only stay on Kunlun Station and walk in circles in a small space spanning tens of square meters. The OGS cab was spewing cold air, and with the night passing, Kunlun Station¡¯s internal temperatures had dropped to ¨C20¡ãC. The temperatures could rise after the sun rose, but it would only fluctuate below zero. Tang Yue had already put on all the clothes he could wear. All he could do was wrap himself in a nket and lean beside the RTG to pass his days. ¡°Calm down... Calm down!¡± Tang Yue sat back down as he took a deep breath. ¡°Mai Dong, calm down now. Mai Dong, calm down. Being anxious won¡¯t solve any problems.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very calm. The one that needs to be calm is you, Tang Yue.¡± The girl blinked. ¡°Alright, alright... let me calm down now.¡± Tang Yue pressed down on his forehead, forcing himself to calm down. ¡°Let¡¯s analyze what Tomcat might be facing. Let¡¯s see if we can help it.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°It lost contact with us. There is one thing that goes beyond doubt¡ªitsmunications system has malfunctioned,¡± Tang Yue said. Of course, it was possible that Tomcat had decided to y a prank, and had deliberately chosen not to contact the space station, but that was almost impossible. Tang Yue didn¡¯t even consider it. ¡°What could have resulted in Mr. Cat¡¯smunications system malfunctioning?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°The Mars Wanderer¡¯smunications system is Kunlun Station¡¯s backup. It¡¯s extremely reliable and the entire system is very robust. Its shelf life is as long as Kunlun Station, but themunications system has never malfunctioned before,¡± Tang Yue answered. ¡°I even gave the Wanderer an inspection the day before Tomcat set off. Back then, the system was fully operational... So, it¡¯s very unlikely that it suddenly malfunctioned.¡± ¡°Then could it be due to external factors?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°It¡¯s very likely to be a result of external factors, such as a mechanical collision, high temperatures, strong radiation, intentional sabotage...¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong had a premonition that the malfunction in themunication systems was a result of external factors. The system was installed inside the Mars Wanderer, and if it could be destroyed in a collision, wouldn¡¯t that mean the Wanderer itself and the driver, Tomcat, were in greater danger? ¡°On the Martian surface, apart from the possibilities of high-temperature radiation or intentional sabotage, the only possibility is an ident,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If it really did have an ident, there would be no way for it to lift the Mars Wanderer back onto its feet. Therefore, the most suitable solution would be to abandon the Mars Wanderer and walk alone back to Kunlun Station... But Tomcat needs to charge as well; therefore, it would need to carry enough sr panels... Damn it!¡± Mai Dong held her breath. If Tang Yue¡¯s deductions were right, it was likely that Tomcat was dragging a sr panel as it walked across the desert alone. ¡°But that¡¯s only a possibility, a possibility!¡± Tang Yue shook his head and eliminated the theory. ¡°If the severity of the ident is worse than we can imagine, it¡¯s possible that Tomcat might have been destroyed together with the Wanderer. It might have escaped, but is severely injured and can no longer move. It might have died on the spot... F*ck.¡± The second assumption was so terrifying that Mai Dong didn¡¯t even dare think about it. What did it mean to be severely injured that it could no longer move? Were its legs smashed, making it lie there helplessly to await its death? ¡°Mai Dong... Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Mai Dong snapped out of her daze. ¡°We can¡¯t just keep waiting. We need to understand Tomcat¡¯s current situation!¡± Tang Yue said, ¡°You have to help me! Do you hear me? Only you can help me!¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°First, we have to find Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°The space station has a camera. You can scan from above...¡± ¡°But the high-precision telescope and camera used for scanning are in the Dawn module. They¡¯ve been destroyed.¡± ¡°There are other cameras in the other modules!¡± ¡°Yes... But they aren¡¯t used to monitor the surface. The resolution isn¡¯t high enough,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Besides, they can¡¯t be configured to scan, nor can they automatically do any identification.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s not automatic. We¡¯ll do it manually.¡± Tang Yue pointed at Mai Dong and then pointed at himself. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it cannot be automatically identified. We can use our eyes!¡± ¡°By hook or by crook, we have to find that cat!¡± Chapter 97: Sol Hundred and Nine, 100,000 Pictures

Chapter 97: Sol Hundred and Nine, 100,000 Pictures

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon To get the orbiting United Space Station to find Tomcat via camera was a solution that Tang Yue came up with due to his anxiety. It was his final straw to clutch at. In fact, the United Space Station wasn¡¯t suited for such work since it wasn¡¯t a spy satellite. It didn¡¯t have any high-precision optical observation equipment. To identify a vehicle of fewer than ten meters on the Martian surface, from a height of three to four hundred kilometers, would require American National Reconnaissance Office Keyhole satellites. The United Space Station was once tasked with a Martian remote sensing and observation mission. It was equipped with a spectrum scanner and a synthetic-aperture radar, but this equipment was mainly used to sense and constructrge swaths of geologicalndmarks. It wasn¡¯t capable of precisely determining a vehicle¡¯s location. The only high-precision camera onboard the United Space Station was inside the Dawn module and was likely damaged along with the module. Mai Dong tried finding telescopes and cameras in the other modules, hoping that she could find something of use. She remembered that there was another set of optical observation equipment in the Discovery module which had previously been used to aid in the rendezvous with spacecraft. It was able to discover the approaching Orion from two hundred kilometers away, so it was a viable tool in finding the Mars Wanderer. Tang Yue opened the map andbeled Kunlun Station on it. ¡°This is Kunlun Station¡¯s location: 12¡ã 54¡ä N and 87¡ã E. It¡¯s Tomcat¡¯s origin.¡± Mai Dong nodded. Tang Yue thenbeled the Chelomey probe¡¯s location on the map. ¡°This is the Chelomey, the destination for Tomcat¡¯s mission.¡± He then drew a clear red line to connect both nodes, and theputer quickly gave the straight line distance between the two: 95.23 kilometers. ¡°It¡¯s best we scan every inch of ground that Tomcat might cover. We mustn¡¯t miss any corner.¡± Tang Yue turned the map as he drew two two-kilometer-long lines perpendicr to the ends of the red line. Then, with the two lines as the foundation, he added two more lines toplete a long and narrow rectangle. Tang Yuebeled the area of the rectangle with red. ¡°This is where Mr. Cat might be?¡± Mai Dong looked at the map. ¡°After Tomcat found Chelomey, it immediately returned; therefore, it¡¯s location must be somewhere in between Kunlun Station and the Chelomey, which is 95 kilometers,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°We have expanded this line by a kilometer on both sides... Then, this 95-kilometer-long and 2-kilometer-long corridor is Tomcat¡¯s activity region. It¡¯s unlikely for it to exceed this range.¡± Mai Dong carefully analyzed the map. Tang Yue¡¯s red, giant rectangle was extremely striking. Tang Yue¡¯s surmise was very reasonable. He had left enough room since Tomcat¡¯s trajectory was unlikely to be a straight line; however, it was unlikely to take a detour that brought it out of the two kilometers range. As long as they carefully searched this region, they would find Tomcat. However, this region¡¯s area was 190 square kilometers. ¡°Alright... Let me prepare. Once the space station flies over you, I¡¯ll begin snapping pictures.¡± Mai Dong immediately put words into action, but her tone was filled with worry. ¡°But the area is toorge. The resolving power of the cameras I have on hand is very low... If we scan every inch, the picture data we receive might be a huge number.¡± This wasmon knowledge. When it came to optical observation, the closer the image, the smaller the area observed. To find the Mars Wanderer, Mai Dong had no choice but to raise the magnification of the observation equipment to their highest, but this correspondingly led to the maximal shrinking of the area she could observe. ¡°The resolving power of the optical tracker on the space station is at best five meters, but this will make its field of view about 2,000 square meters.¡± Mai Dong did the math. ¡°If a picture covers 2,000 square meters, to fully scan through the corridor, it will need 95,000 pictures.¡± This number was staggeringly huge. In the event that Mai Dong snapped every picture seamlessly and covered every region, it would take 95,000 pictures to cover the entire corridor, but it was definitely not the case in practice. The final number of pictures would probably exceed 100,000. And Tang Yue and Mai Dong were just two humans. They weren¡¯t capable of automatic scanning, automatic photo-taking, or automatic identification. They needed to rely on their eyes and hands for everything. Ignoring the identification of the photos, just the task of photo-taking was an immense endeavor. Furthermore, the photo-taking had to be done by Mai Dong alone. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to help. Tang Yue thought and said, ¡°If you find it too tiring and troublesome, we can reduce the workload...¡± ¡°No, no, no, no. I don¡¯t feel tired, nor do I find it troublesome.¡± Mai Dong hurriedly shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that you won¡¯t be able to handle that many pictures. Besides, it¡¯s prone to error, so I¡¯ll share the burden with you. We can cross-check, so we don¡¯t miss any clues.¡± Tang Yue was momentarily taken aback before he nodded. ¡°Alright, we shall cross-check... That will reduce any errors and should be faster.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that so?¡± Mai Dong winked as her light brown eyes sparkled with a yful hint. ¡°How much longer before you arrive above the Isidis nitia?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Mai Dong looked at the time and then the trajectory orbit of the space station on the screen. ¡°About forty minutes.¡± ¡°Then start preparing. I¡¯ll go move the sr panels.¡± Tang Yue got up and began donning the Radiant Armor. After he had secured the life support system and switched on the power, he asked, ¡°Roughly how many photos will you snap when passing over us?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell... The system inside Discovery isn¡¯t meant for surface photo-taking. It¡¯s a little difficult operating it, but thankfully, it supports continual tracking and photo-taking.¡± Mai Dong did a rough estimate. ¡°The amount of time I have to observe is roughly fifteen minutes. After locking on an intended trajectory, it will be able to take two photos every second.¡± Fifteen minutes with two photos taken every minute meant a total of 1,800 photos. ¡°Remember to begin the scan and photo taking from the Chelomey¡¯snding spot.¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Tang Yue exhaled as he adjusted the Radiant Armor before standing inside the Hab for a few minutes, his mind adrift for a moment. He swept his gaze across the empty seat beside the desk and then the area around him beforending on the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The girl waved her hand. ¡°Come back soon. Be safe.¡± Tang Yue opened the hatch to the airlock and was about to bend down to enter when he suddenly paused. He turned around and looked at Mai Dong. ¡°Thank you, Mai Dong... I¡¯ll thank you on Tomcat¡¯s behalf as well.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡± The girl giggled as her eyes turned away, feeling somewhat bashful. In her hand, she was squeezing the Shiba Inu doll. Tang Yue entered the airlock as the hatch behind him closed heavily. Chapter 98: Sol Hundred and Nine, Please Don’t Tremble

Chapter 98: Sol Hundred and Nine, Please Don¡¯t Tremble

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong ced her eye on the eyepiece as she slowly adjusted the magnification knob. The optical tracking system in the Discovery module was aborious piece of equipment. It was formerly used to help in the Orion¡¯s rendezvous, and after the Canadarm70 came into service, this system was practically left defunct. The Canadarm70 could directly grapple the Orion spacecraft and engage in a precise dock. There was no longer any need for such primitive optical tracking. The Mars United Space Station¡¯s orbit was three hundred kilometers from the surface. At this distance, it found it difficult to lock onto a target. Just a few millimeters difference meant a world of difference for the photos. A slight shake of the camera could mean a deviation of nearly a hundred kilometers. Besides, the region Tang Yue had carved out for the sweep was only 95 kilometers long. This also meant that a tiny tremble of Mai Dong¡¯s hand could result in the camera¡¯s field of vision being thrown far away. The girl slowly twisted the knobs, moving angle by angle as she adjusted the optical tracking system¡¯s direction. The ravines that covered the Martian surface quickly swept through her vision as the numbers that diffracted from the eyepiece jumped rapidly. Theputer used green numbers tobel the target¡¯s exact longitude andtitude location which was then projected onto the eyepiece byser diffraction. Mai Dong lowered the camera¡¯s magnification to the lowest setting. This way, the field of view would be at its widest, making it suitable for her to find a target. In the Mars Wanderer¡¯s vision, there were only dark-red sand dunes and ck shadows that intersected one another. She couldn¡¯t see the Mars Wanderer or Kunlun Station. Those targets were too tiny, far exceeding the resolving power of the human eye... There was once an urban myth that the Great Wall of China could be seen from space, but in fact, the Great Wall was only four to five meters wide, far below the resolving threshold of the naked eye. If astronauts really wished to see the Great Wall from the International Space Station, thetter probably had to install high-power light bulbs at night. ¡°12.54¡ãN and 87.0¡ãE... 87.0¡ãE. This is Kunlun Station¡¯s location. Then, the Chelomey is...¡± The girl found the Chelomey¡¯snding spot with the corresponding longitude andtitude. Thest time Tomcat hadmunicated with her was at the Chelomey¡¯snding spot, so she could use it as her starting point for the search. Based on the Mars Wanderer¡¯s speed, it could be inferred that Tomcat advanced about thirty kilometers a sol. They hadmunicated with each other twenty-four hours ago, which meant that Tomcat¡¯s likely location was within a thirty-kilometer radius from thending spot. Mai Dong split Tang Yue¡¯s rectangle into six regions, with each region about thirty kilometers in length. She nned on searching region by region. The area around the Chelomey was given priority. ¡°Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Yes, I copy. I¡¯m familiarizing myself with the system...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes left the eyepiece as she pulled out the keyboard tray to correct the numbers. ¡°This system is a little old.¡± The optical tracking system in the Discovery was indeed an ancient piece of equipment. It used a straight-through optical pathway. It didn¡¯t have any fiber optics, disy, or borate servo control. If the Dawn module wasn¡¯t damaged, Mai Dong could have used its surface remote sensing system and scanning the region would only require her to enter a few numbers and a few mouse clicks. The camera would then auto-focus and the images would automatically be transmitted to theputer. There wouldn¡¯t have been a need for her to do so much manualbor. ¡°Is it done?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mai Dong pricked up her brows as she gave a cunning smile. ¡°You should be confident in me... What kind of person am I?¡± She tried adjusting the magnification to find a rock patch in her field of view. Then, she aimed the crosshairs at the rock before pressing the button. The photo appeared on theputer¡¯s disy and the girl scrutinized its rity. She leaned in as she squinted to verify the reliability of the system, so she had randomly taken a photo of a target. Mai Dong then tapped the keyboard to switch photos. Hmm... there are some double images. Is it because of the focal distance? Mai Dong shook her head as she adjusted the camera again before testing the system by continuing with the photo taking. After repeatedlyparing the resolution of the pictures, she adjusted the equipment bit by bit. The exposure was too long. The image can still be sharpened a little. The resolution can still be raised a little... Raised just a little... Mai Dong adjusted the equipment in her hand like an experienced photographer as she constantly strove for perfection. The United Space Station would pass by the Isidis nitia once every eighty minutes, so to save time, Mai Dong wanted to take as many photos as possible during every window. The Mars United Space Station silently streaked across its orbit as it gradually approached the Isidis nitia. ¡°Lady, where are you now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m approaching the area above Isidis nitia. The optical tracking system is ready. It¡¯s estimated to enter an effective scan zone in a minute.¡± Mai Dong kept her eye peeled to the eyepiece as she took a deep breath. All the details had been adjusted to their optimum state. She stared at the diffracted parameters from the eyepiece instead of the images which were rapidly sweeping past, as all the images looked the same¡ªan image of a desert. Only the parameters were capable of telling her if she had locked onto her target. In a certain way, Mai Dong was blindly tapping. She couldn¡¯t see the target she was looking for, and could only press the shutter based on the location data. ¡°Tang Yue,¡± Mai Dong suddenly called out. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you know what¡¯s on my mind now?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very magical. It feels like Mars is a giant microbe, like germs or yeast cells. And I¡¯m using a microscope to observe this huge microbe. This feeling reminds me ofboratory lessons in college when I studied the specimens on a microscope slide. Its cell membrane¡¯s protein and phosphate groups...¡± A giant microbe? Tang Yue was taken aback. Wasn¡¯t this an oxymoron? ¡°I¡¯m serious. It doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m using a telescope to observe a celestial body, but using a microscope to observe a huge...¡± The girl paused before finding the word. ¡°Life.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. He was unable to experience what Mai Dong was feeling from Kunlun Station. All he could do was to drag the sr panels around. To him, Mars was just an endlessnd of saline-alkali soil. The Chinese proverb, ¡°we can never know the true face of Mt. Lu because we are located within its environs¡± was apt. If he were on the sr panels in near-obit, he might have understood what the girl was saying¡ªMars wasn¡¯t a dead and silent celestial body, but a life with a strong pulse. Of course, with Tang Yue¡¯s artistic ir and lofty thought processes, he would likely have called it a mud egg. ¡°There¡¯s another twenty seconds before entering the effective scan zone. I¡¯ll be cutting offms.¡± Mai Dong took note of theputer¡¯s alert. ¡°Wish me luck.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Mai Dong took out her earpiece, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Don¡¯t tremble. Please don¡¯t tremble. Mai Dong silently said to herself. Chapter 99: Sol Hundred and Nine, the Dinghy in the Middle of the Ocean

Chapter 99: Sol Hundred and Nine, the Dinghy in the Middle of the Ocean

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue moved the sr panels onto a cart and dragged it out of the garage. Tomcat had taken away ten sr panels, so now, Tang Yue was left with only thirty which wasn¡¯t enough to supply Kunlun Station with enough power to be fully operational. Therefore, Tang Yue had no choice but to shut down a considerable amount of power-draining equipment, leaving only the most basic life support andmunications systems operational. The Hab¡¯s temperature stayed at about ¨C10¡ãC and was undoubtedly a frozen cavern. With the Radiant Armor to resist the low temperatures, Tang Yue found it warmer moving the sr panels outside than staying indoors. The sun had already risen and was like a huge light bulb that wasn¡¯t too hot. Tang Yue looked up at the sun and because Mars rotated in the same direction as Earth¡ªrotating from west to east¡ªwith a simr tilt, the sun¡¯s trajectory across the sky resembled the trajectory on Earth. The sun rose in the east and set in the west. Tang Yue unloaded the sr panels from the cart, set them up, and tightened the electric cables. He gently swept away the dust from the sr panel¡¯s surface as it reflected his round visor. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t see his face through the panel¡¯s reflection as it looked bloated, making him resemble a big-headed extraterrestrial. Tang Yue stared at his reflection for some time before he suddenly recalled Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. Tang Yue sighed. He had never imagined that anything could happen to Tomcat. Thetter was the most reliable one out of the three. It had stayed on Kunlun Station for years and was extremely experienced and qualified. It was the Station Commander of Kunlun Station in all sense of the word, even though the title was never fixed. It was usually helmed by the Commander of each Marsnding mission. Moving the Chelomey probe back was just a simple retrieval. It waspletely within Tomcat¡¯s capabilities. It was impossible for Tang Yue to drive more than a hundred kilometers, but it was nothing for Tomcat. In the past Mars missions, it had seeded in far more tedious work. Logically speaking, nothing should have happened to Tomcat. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t think of a problem on Mars that would leave Tomcat in apletely nonmunicable state. Once they had lost contact, the space station was unable to locate the Mars Wanderer. In the past, the Mars Wanderer¡¯s location needed Tomcat to establishmunications and report its location. In fact, it wasn¡¯t true that there weren¡¯t other remote sensing satellites orbiting Mars. It was possible to find the Mars Wanderer by using them, but these satellites belonged to different countries and different organizations. They used different data pathways, and permission needed to be granted to use them. With Earth suddenly vanishing, all these satellites became defunct overnight. Setting up a Global Positioning System (GPS) was never an easy task. If one wanted to locate a particr source on the surface, one needed at least three satellites. The Americans had taken decades to ce GPS satellites in orbit before they could allow for real-time tracking, but clearly, Mars didn¡¯t have such equipment. Without any support from Earth, it was truly difficult to take a single step on Mars. Tang Yue raised his hand wishing to scratch his head, but his visor got in the way. The green light on the sr panel¡¯s edge lit up, indicating that it was operational. Tang Yue stood up, looked around, and saw all thirty sr panels arranged neatly in the Battery Farm. A short distance away was the Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle and the garage. A hundred meters away was the tiny Kunlun Station. Tang Yue¡¯s world could be said to be extremelyrge, but also extremely small. It wasrge because he was the only person on Mars, so the entire was his. He could go anywhere he wished in this extensive piece ofnd. It was small because Tang Yue would die no matter where he went. He could only live in a tiny region around Kunlun Station. With resources and supplies terminated, what he possessed was just a world destined to be left dpidated. ... After Tang Yue was done setting up the sr panels, he returned to Kunlun Station to find Mai Dong havingpleted the first round of photo taking. In the fifteen-minute window, Mai Dong had taken a total of 1,500 photos. On average, each photo showed 2,000 square meters, and these 1,500 photos put together covered an area of 3 square kilometers. ¡°Tang Yue...¡± Mai Dong exhaled. In that short span of fifteen minutes, the high focus required from her had made her not even dare to blink. It had thoroughly exhausted her. ¡°The first round of scans has beenpleted. The images are being sent... 86%, 87%. Please take receipt.¡± The girl leaned into the camera and smiled, her sweat-soaked hair sticking to her cheeks. ¡°How is it?¡± Mai Dong cocked her head. ¡°Excellent work. Lady, you¡¯ve been a great help. You live up to being a beautiful genius.¡± Tang Yue took off the life support system from Radiant Armor. ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Mai Dong had numbered all the photos, from 1 to 1,500. They corresponded to the map, allowing her to continue her work on the next scan until the first sector¡¯s thirty square kilometers had been snapped. The two immediately began the identification work of the images. However, identifying the images wasn¡¯t a breeze. In the early days, when the resolution of reconnaissance satellites was still low, the identification work of the resulting photos needed arge number of experts. It was extremely specialized work, and Tang Yue and Mai Dong weren¡¯t professionals in this. They didn¡¯t know any tricks, and could only rely on the slowest and most primitive method as they did a carpet sweep of each pixel. The optical tracking system that Mai Dong used wasn¡¯t a specialized piece of equipment for surface observations. Its highest resolution was merely five meters, and so the resolution of the photos taken was very low. Furthermore, they were all in ck and white, making it impossible for them to find the Mars Wanderer via color. Wrapped in a nket, Tang Yue sat down and switched on theputer. He zoomed into every image until he could see the pixels. He began searching for the missing cat and the missing vehicle amid a sea of mosaic tiles. ¡°Tomcat... Where are you?¡± Tang Yue stared at the screen intently with widened eyes. His gaze swept across the images up and down and was just short of drilling into the screen. ¡°Tomcat... Tomcat... Tomcat... Tomcat...¡± Tang Yue clicked the mouse as photo after photo swept past his eyes. Meanwhile, Mai Dong didn¡¯t take a break. She took a deep breath and plunged into the endless number of photos. With more than a thousand photos that all looked identical due to their gray ins and dunes, there was no way Mai Dong could have distinguished between them if not for their numbers. ¡°Tang Yue! Look at this... Is this the Mars Wanderer?¡± ¡°Hmm... No, it¡¯s an anorthosite.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, what about this? I think it looks like it!¡± ¡°No, turn the photo and see it from another angle. It¡¯s just a shadow of a sand dune.¡± ¡°This?¡± ¡°Sand dune.¡± ¡°This?¡± ¡°Sandpit.¡± Mai Dong would ask Tang Yue with every image that could hold a possibility, leaving thetter nervous and excited. He would carefully analyze it, but his excitement would always turn into disappointment. Every item that was suspected to be Mars Wanderer would eventually be proven to be a rock or a shadow. Mai Dong and Tang Yue were unwilling to leave out any clue for they yearned to find Tomcat. They almost treated every blurred pixel as the Mars Wanderer. In the blurry, ck-and-white photos, theyered sand dunes looked like the undting surface of the ocean. Tang Yue felt as though he was finding a tiny dinghy that was being tossed about in the ocean, but the dinghy might have capsized and sunk to the bottom of the water forever. Chapter 100: Sol Hundred and Nine, Mai Dong Sucks at Naming

Chapter 100: Sol Hundred and Nine, Mai Dong Sucks at Naming

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon After an unknown period of time, Tang Yue¡¯s eyes became sore. Tears kept flowing as the prolonged staring at the images on theputer was a time-consuming and mentally draining task. Over time, Tang Yue¡¯s eyes began to cross. The number of photos that needed identification went on endlessly. Furthermore, each photo looked almost identical. The only difference between thest photograph and the next one usually came from thebel number. Upon zooming into the image, there were only gray pixels. Staring at such images easily resulted in eye and mental fatigue. To ensure that he didn¡¯t miss any clues, Tang Yue often shut his eyes to rest them. Mai Dong¡¯s camera coverage was a rectangle with an area of 2,000 square meters, with lengths and breadths of about forty to fifty meters. With the Mars Wanderer¡¯s length exceeding five meters, together with the shadows cast by the sun being evenrger, it should have been possible for Tang Yue and Mai Dong to rapidly identify it if it had been captured by the space station, just like a reef in the middle of the ocean. Tang Yue attempted to find even more traces, such as the Mars Wanderer¡¯s tire marks, or traces of the sr panels being unfolded, but he eventually gave up such pursuits. The image resolution was too low, and a truck-sized vehicle like the Mars Wanderer could barely be identified, but the tracks would find themselves buried in the mosaic. All the details were blurred into a square pixel, making it impossible for Tang Yue to identify anything. Sand dune. Sand dune. Rock. Shadow. Sand dune. Mountain. Rock. Another rock. Yet another rock. Tang Yue closed his eyes as he left the desk. All theputer screens were images of the Martian surface. He had reached Label 320, which meant that he had finished looking through more than three hundred photos, covering an area of 640,000 square meters. However, he had not found any clue of value; there just weren¡¯t any signs of Tomcat. As a robot, Tomcat didn¡¯t need anything apart from electricity. In a particr sense, this made it harder for Tang Yue to find it. If Tomcat were an ordinary human, it would definitely have left its mark like nomads. Humans left plenty of traces from their daily life, generating copious amounts of trash. These abnormal traces would stand out in the environment, making it easier to pinpoint. However, Tomcat just needed the sr panels and the Mars Wanderer. While in motion, it would put away the sr panels, step down on the elerator, and vanish into the vast deserts. The winds would cover the Mars Wanderer¡¯s tire tracks, wiping away all traces. Tang Yue pressed down on his eyes as he rested for 30 seconds. He stole a nce at the time when he opened them, and without realizing it, he had continued the search for more than three hours. During these three hours, the United Space Station had passed over Kunlun Station once. Mai Dong had taken another thousand photos and had sent them to Kunlun Station¡¯sputers for storage, adding to the number of photos that needed identification. ¡°Tang Yue, did you see the spot I circled? What do you think it is... I think it resembles signs of the Wanderer. The direction is a match as well.¡± Mai Dong was munching on crackers as she turned her head around to the camera. She too was as exhausted as Tang Yue. In fact, her workload was greater than Tang Yue¡¯s. She hadn¡¯t had any time to eat, and could only tide herself over by eating a cracker. Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s only the shadow of the riverbed, not the tire marks of the Mars Wanderer.¡± ¡°What about the second spot I circled? That circle is so regr. Is that also naturally formed? Could it be signs of Mr. Cat¡¯s activity?¡± ¡°It has nothing to do with Tomcat. It¡¯s likely just a pit.¡± By carefully searching the Martian surface, Tang Yue and Mai Dong would often discover particrly strange features that didn¡¯t seem naturally-made or man-made. For example, a particr photo had what appeared to be a gigantic statue with a protruding chin. It was something Mai Dong couldn¡¯t exin at all. Tang Yue suggested that it was just a piece of ordinary rock, and due to the low resolution of the photo, the rock had turned into something that triggered their imagination because of the lighting and shadows. This was just like the Face on Mars which once caused quite a stir. In the 1970s, the Viking orbiter discovered a clear human face on the Martian surface, but factster proved that this face had nothing to do with intelligent life on Mars. It was simply an optical illusion thanks to the angle of illumination. Later, other probes had taken new pictures of the area and found it to be an ordinary hill. Mai Dong rubbed her dry eyes. Even closing them made her see flickering shadows. She needed rest. Staring any longer only made her see double. The United Space Station was already behind Mars, and in another hour or so, it would once again sweep above Kunlun Station. In that one hour, Mai Dong seized the time to identify the images to lessen Tang Yue¡¯s load. The girl hadpleted more than two hundred photos, and she was a very meticulousdy. She repeated the monotonous work of identification more than a hundred times with meticulous attention to detail. She ensured that each image waspletely unquestionable before going to the next. After two scans, Mai Dong had taken photos spanning an area of 6,000,000 square meters, which was 6 square kilometers. However, the total area she needed to search reached as high as 190 square kilometers. She hadn¡¯t evenpleted one-thirtieth of the work. Just the thought of the remaining photos from the sea of images was harrowing. Mai Dong grabbed the floating Shiba Inu doll and began squeezing it before cing it over her head. ¡°Lil¡¯ Q, where do you think Mr. Cat is?¡± The Shiba Inu¡¯s name was Ah Q. Very clearly, Mai Dong sucked at giving names. The names she gave were basically an anthology of Lu Xun¡¯s literary collection. Even the tomatoes in the incubator had names like Runtu and Zha. The furry doll stared with itsrge, pitch-ck eyes, wearing a look of innocence. Mai Dong exchanged looks with it as she widened her bright, ck eyes, also wearing a look of innocence. ¡°There are still 100,000 photos... 100,000! 100,000!¡± The girl squeezed the furry toy, saying ¡°100,000¡± with each squeeze, causing the toy¡¯s face to deform as a result. ¡°God, can someone help me... I think I¡¯ll drown in 100,000 photos...¡± The girl slowly covered her face and let out a long sigh. ¡°Mai Dong?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± The girl opened her eyes as she propped herself up. ¡°Sir, why have you summoned me?¡± ¡°Look at this photo.¡± Tang Yue sent the photo over. ¡°There are two very uniform dark-colored marks. They are almost parallel. Do they look like tire marks?¡± Mai Dong stared at the screen and after a long time, she said, ¡°No... That¡¯s not right. They aren¡¯t tire marks. Compare it with the surrounding environment. Look at the scale. If they are tire marks, then the tires would be more than three meters wide. The Mars Wanderer¡¯s tires aren¡¯t that wide...¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t say a word, probably because he was scrutinizing the image as well. ¡°I think it¡¯s likely the shadow formed from the sides of a rectangr sand dune. Tang Yue, try turning the photo a little.¡± Mai Dong suggested. ¡°The two shadows aren¡¯t depressed, but protruding.¡± ¡°I get it. Next one.¡± Chapter 101: Sol Hundred and Ten, The Heavens are Dead

Chapter 101: Sol Hundred and Ten, The Heavens are Dead

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon As Tang Yue mechanically clicked the mouse, the image number slowly went from 520 to 650 before reaching 770. Apart from moving the sr panels, he had practically stayed glued to the desk andputer. Time passed slowly in silence, as images kept shing across theputer screen. Even though Tang Yue and Mai Dong had tried their best to do the identification, the analysis work of the photos progressed at a speed far slower than the photo taking. When the Mars United Space Station passed by the Isidis nitia for the fifth time, Mai Dong took another 1,400 photos. These photos were all stored on Kunlun Station¡¯sputer and were ordered by their numbers in the directory folder that kept filling up with files. Mai Dong suddenly jolted awake, realizing that she had unknowingly dozed off. She yawned and saw that the screen was still showing a picture of the Martian surface. The time was 7:20 p.m., and it was likely that she had dozed off for about twenty minutes due to over-exhaustion. Mai Dong did a count, it would bete at night over at Kunlun Station. She and Tang Yue had been analyzing the images from seven in the morning until seven in the evening. During this time, all she had eaten was two crackers. She hadn¡¯t even had time to bother with the space station or the nts in the experiment module. Now, her eyes were aching, along with a throbbing headache and hunger pangs. Up to that moment, they had lost contact with Tomcat for nearly thirty-six hours¡ªit hadn¡¯t even sent a singlema. Thest time they had made contact with Tomcat was at thending spot of the Chelomey, and it had reported that it had found the probe. There was nothing from it after that. ¡°Tang Yue... Do you have any results on your side?¡± Mai Dong rubbed her eyes which could hardly open. ¡°What number are you at?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t look up. ¡°I¡¯m looking through Number 781.¡± ¡°I have a few suspicious points here. Want to take a look?¡± ¡°Send them over.¡± Tang Yue knew very well that the suspicious points that Mai Dong discovered were likely a part of the naturalndscape that didn¡¯t go beyond the confines of sand dunes, mountains, or hills. However, he still held hope... At this point, it was as though they wished to identify a pixel as Tomcat. Mai Dong sent the image to Kunlun Station¡¯sputer, and after a careful look by Tang Yue, it was as he expected. The suspicious objects were only sand dunes, ravines, or rocks. Mai Dong hugged her Shiba Inu toy and tried her best to keep her heavy eyelids open. She flicked away the floating hair on her forehead and said, ¡°How is it... Tang Yue? Any clues?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Okay... It¡¯s such a pity that there aren¡¯t any.¡± Mai Dong slowly lowered her eyelids as she fell asleep once again in a second. Half a minuteter, she jolted awake once again and blinked. ¡°How is it? Tang Yue? Any clues?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s eyes were peeled to the screen as he moved the mouse to drag the image. ¡°You asked this question just a moment ago. Mai Dong... Mai Dong?¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t reply for she was asleep once again with her Shiba Inu toy, Ah Q. ¡°Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Ah... Ah? Tang Yue?¡± The girl jolted awake as she looked around in a fluster. Only after making one full circle did she find the camera and screen. Clearly, she was still lost in her reverie. ¡°How is it? Any clues?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Saliva.¡± The girl¡¯s face blushed as she quickly wiped her saliva away. ¡°If you are really tired, have some rest,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You¡¯ve worked the entire day. That¡¯s exhausting enough. Leave the rest to me.¡± Mai Dong nodded as if relieved of a burden. She didn¡¯t even return to her quarters to sleep. She closed her eyes and fell sound asleep in the Crystal module in just two seconds. Tang Yue smiled wryly and shook his head when he saw the girl¡¯s exhausted and peaceful sleeping face. He then continued delving into the identification work. ... ¡°Good morning, Tang Yue... You didn¡¯t sleep the entire time?¡± Mai Dong was shocked. She had discovered Tang Yue sitting in front of the desk when she woke up, his posture looking identical tost night. In the past, she would wake up earlier than Tang Yue as there wasn¡¯t any day or night on the space station. She slept ording to a timetable, which made her waking time half-past five in the morning on Mars. As for Tang Yue, he typically woke up at six. Therefore, Mai Dong would have finished breakfast by the time she saw Tang Yue walking over sleepily in a nket, resembling an ancient Roman. But today, Tang Yue was up earlier than her. He had probably pulled an all-nighter without any rest after she fell asleep. ¡°Good morning, Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was hoarse. Not only hadn¡¯t he slept, he hadn¡¯t even drunk a sip of water. ¡°What number are you on?¡± ¡°Number 1,429.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s eyes were red and his hair was disheveled. ¡°Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t found anything.¡± Tang Yue hadn¡¯t taken a nap the entire night. He relied solely on a few sachets of instant coffee and pinching his thighs to keep awake. The instant coffee sachets were found at the bottom of a crate back when he was rummaging for supplies. God knows when they were ced there. Tang Yue¡¯s eyes hardly left theputer screen. The only rest he got was turning his head to look at Mai Dong¡¯s sleeping face. She had slept in the Crystal core module until daybreak, hugging the Shiba Inu toy tightly the entire time while sleep-talking. Up to then, Tang Yue had finished going through 1,400 photos, which covered an area of 2,800,000 square meters. Having not slept for an entire day, all he had managed toplete was one-sixty-sixth of the mission. Time was of the essence. He tried to clear the images on theputer while Mai Dong was sleeping. The Mars United Space Station had an orbital period of eighty minutes, so on average, it could sweep across Kunlun Station eighteen times a day. Mai Dong was only capable of taking 1,500 photos each time, and if she wanted to finish snapping all the photos, it required the Mars United Space Station to pass by the Isidis nitia sixty-seven times. That also meant that Mai Dong needed nearly four days topletely cover the corridor. This was only the time it could snap photos. The reading of them clearly took even longer. They had now lost contact with Tomcat for forty-eight hours. If something really had happened to Tomcat, the earlier they found it, the earlier they could resolve the problem¡ªeven though it was impossible for Tang Yue and Mai Dong to do anything. However, they wanted to see the cat dead or alive. Only then would they feel at ease. ¡°May the Heavens... help us find Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong closed her eyes as she pressed her palms together. ¡°If the Heavens were really protecting us, we wouldn¡¯t be in this state.¡± The stubbled Tang Yue scoffed coldly. ¡°God died when Nietzsche was born. The Heavens died at the instant Earth vanished. We are isted and helpless.¡± ¡°Then may Buddha help us.¡± The girl raised her hands to her forehead. ¡°Gatling Bodhisattva, please help us in finding Mr. Cat.¡± Chapter 102: Sol Hundred and Ten, The Old Monks Before the Big Bang

Chapter 102: Sol Hundred and Ten, The Old Monks Before the Big Bang

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue didn¡¯t know if Buddha still existed as he wasn¡¯t Buddhist. He could recite the Incantation for Purifying the Heart Spirit, but he couldn¡¯t recite the Diamond Sutra. However, he vaguely remembered that the area under Buddha¡¯s jurisdiction wasn¡¯t limited to Earth. In Buddhism, there was something known as Kalpa, a Sanskrit word meaning a rtively long period of time. There were four kinds, with the regr Kalpa approximately 16.8 million years. A small Kalpa was 1,000 regr Kalpas, and every 20 small Kalpas was a medium Kalpa, making thetter 336 billion years. Finally, a great Kalpa was four medium Kalpa, making it around 1.344 trillion years. The present known Universe¡¯s age was approximately 13.8 billion years, barely a small Kalpa. In Buddhist scripture, it was said that every great Kalpa implied the birth of a thousand Buddhas. This also implied that it wasn¡¯t true that there wasn¡¯t anything before the Big Bang. There might have been a bunch of nagging old monks. But who the hell was Gatling Bodhisattva? Tang Yue drank another mouthful of thick coffee as he closed his eyes and opened them again. At this point, he no longer cared if he conserved water. If Tomcat was around, it would have absolutely forbidden him from being so extravagant by wasting water to make coffee. With Tomcat away, he could let himself go. He could even use the water for a sauna for all he cared. Mai Dong left the Crystal module and lightly circled around the electric cable that was floating in midair. With the need to do a routine inspection of the space station, she passed through the APAS and checked on the nts in the incubator. After all, Ah Chang, ssics, Runtu, and Zha had not seen Mai Dong for an entire day. The United Space Station still had another forty minutes before it would fly overhead Kunlun Station, so Mai Dong had to use this interval toplete her daily routine. ¡°Tang Yue, I think we are just too slow with what we are doing.¡± Mai Dong wore an earpiece as she spoke. ¡°It¡¯s been thirty-six hours since we lost contact with Mr. Cat. We have been searching through the photos for twenty-four hours, and have onlypleted one-sixty-sixtieth of everything. By the time we finish looking through all the pictures, won¡¯t that be in two months¡¯ time?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°It will take about 1,500 hours.¡± Mai Dong dragged out a particr control panel from the space station and reached her head in to check the electric cable before pressing down on a button. ¡°Is there a faster and more efficient method? Aren¡¯t we tight on time? It¡¯s best if we can go through the images as quickly as possible.¡± Tang Yue leaned back into his chair as the image on the screen changed, the numberbel jumping to Number 1,480. ¡°What other methods do we have? The camera¡¯s resolution is at best five meters. The camera¡¯s field of vision is at best 2,000 square meters. With this kind of capability, calling it a remote sensing system is already ttering it. To think it¡¯s a product from Carl Zeiss AG.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°We only have this to use. You can¡¯t expect it to beparable with the Webb Space Telescope, can you?¡± To search for a target on the Martian surface was technically nothing difficult. If Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center or Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site were there to help, they would have all kinds of solutions, with each one of them simpler than thest. They could do high-precision imaging sweeps or fuzzy image recognition. The United Space Station probably wasn¡¯t even needed; they had the means of finding Tomcat from Earth. But regardless of the method, there was a prerequisite which was the imagery. High-precision and high-resolution imaging of the terrain was crucial. This was the foundation that all methods would rely on. Whatever supeputing AI recognition would only shorten the time it took, but if the imagery couldn¡¯t be improved, everything else was pointless. ¡°If we have a powerful telescope with a resolution of a meter, and a field of view exceeding a square kilometer, would we need to be going through all this trouble?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We¡¯d just need to take two panoramic pictures and let theputer find the difference. The problem is that we don¡¯t have anything like that.¡± That was the truth. Tang Yue didn¡¯t wish to use such a primitive and slow method either. To do a brute-force search by eye was enough to blind him, but due to the poor conditions they had, there weren¡¯t any other useful tools he could use. ¡°To be frank, we should thank our lucky stars that you managed to find this optical tracking system,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If we didn¡¯t have that, we would truly be helpless. We might be slow, but so be it... We need to trust in Tomcat. It¡¯s tenacious.¡± ¡°It exists in the Dawn.¡± Mai Dong pushed the panel back in ce. ¡°The Dawn has high-precision observation equipment.¡± ¡°I know that the Dawn has it, but the Dawn module has long been destroyed.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. Back when the Dawn¡¯s walls ruptured from the collision, it lost its pressure, forcing Tomcat to seal the hatch shut and cutting all power and air supplies. Now, the Dawn was like a frozen tomb that waspletely disused. Mai Dong thought for a moment. ¡°I can try activating the equipment in the Dawn module.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°Don¡¯t mess around,ss!¡± Tang Yue became extremely stern. ¡°Do not open the hatch by yourself, much less enter the Dawn module!¡± Tomcat and Mai Dong had attempted to repair the Dawn previously but were met with failure. The Dawn, that had lost its air and pressure over the past three months, was no different from the external environment outside. No one knew if the equipment was still working when exposed to a low-temperature vacuum for such an extended period. Mai Dong definitelycked the ability to make the Dawn operational again by herself. She was only ayman, so any rash actions might only lead to a disaster. With Tomcat missing, Tang Yue might really find a tree to hang himself if anything were to happen to Mai Dong. Well... Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t die that quickly actually. ¡°Heard that?¡± Tang Yue was very worried that thedy would do something silly on impulse. ¡°Absolutely do not open that hatch! Do not enter the Dawn!¡± ¡°Okay... Got it,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Promise me.¡± ¡°I promise you I¡¯ll absolutely not open the hatch and enter the Dawn,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Swear on the lives of Ah Chang and ssics.¡± The girl was taken aback as she pouted. ¡°You really are ruthless.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. Ruthlessness is the mark of a truly great man ¡°If we aren¡¯t trying to use the equipment in the Dawn module, there¡¯s a need for us to change our searching methods. At the speed we are searching, we will still spend another two months doing so. It¡¯s definitely not a solution.¡± Mai Dong thought deeply about the matter. ¡°Is there a way to speed up the search?¡± ¡°What we are doing now is already at the highest efficiency possible. By scanning in proper sequence and searching through thebeled images, we won¡¯t miss out on anything. We¡¯ll definitely find Tomcat if we continue using this method.¡± ¡°We can try changing our thought processes.¡± The girl pinched her hair as she coiled it around her fingertip. ¡°We should prioritize the locations where Mr. Cat is mostly likely at.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the most likely location around the Chelomey¡¯snding spot, within sixty kilometers of Kunlun Station¡¯s direction?¡± They had lost contact with Tomcat for forty-eight hours. ording to its normal speed, its location could only be within sixty kilometers from the Chelomey. Any further would exceed the Mars Wanderer¡¯s capabilities. ¡°No... No, this area is still too big.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking, Tang Yue. Whether Mr. Cat¡¯s vehicle was destroyed or if it was a malfunction in the antenna, the greatest reason would be that it encountered a powerful external collision, but this wouldn¡¯t happen if it was driving normally on t ground.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for Mr. Cat to just have an ident for no reason. It¡¯s highly possible that such an ident is a result of the terrain,¡± Mai Dong exined. Tang Yue understood her point. ¡°So we should first focus on regions with cliffs, slopes, and ravines?¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± Mai Dong snapped her fingers, indicating that Tang Yue waspletely correct. If Tomcat had unfortunately gotten into an ident, it had likely plunged into a ravine or down a cliff. Such steep terrain was rare on the Isidis nitia to begin with. As long as Tang Yue and Mai Dong checked these areas, there was a very high chance of finding the scene of the ident. Chapter 103: Sol Hundred and Ten, zhddygt

Chapter 103: Sol Hundred and Ten, zhddygt

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong¡¯s idea was a good one. Prioritizing the search based on the terrain was, indeed, faster than brute force searching every spot. Between Kunlun Station and the Chelomey¡¯snding spot, there were few areas that could be considered precipitous, so it wouldn¡¯t take too long to search those areas. Delivering a precision strike was clearly better than carpet bombing. They couldplete everything in half a day. However, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t sure if Kunlun Station had the Isidis nitia¡¯s terrain information. Back when America, China, Russia, and other countries worked together to build Kunlun Station, they had gone into a deep discussion about the nearby terrain. They hade up with an extremely detailed map of the area and ced it on the official site of NASA for public consumption. However, Tang Yue wasn¡¯t sure if this map was avable on Kunlun Station since he wasn¡¯t involved in terrain science. ¡°Wait... Let me look for it! If we are going to search for any cliffs along Tomcat¡¯s path, we need to have a terrain map... Let me find it.¡± Tang Yue paused his identification work and immediately opened theputer¡¯s documents folder on the hard disk. He first searched for the keyword ¡°map.¡± A series of results appeared. Tang Yue felt a little nervous as his heart raced. He could see the shortcut in finding Tomcat... Perhaps Mai Dong¡¯s suggestion was workable, and they didn¡¯t need to search for three months. It was possible that they could obtain results by today. All he needed to do was find a detailed map. Remote sensing maps would preciselybel the elevation, longitude, andtitudes of the terrain; then, Mai Dong could use these coordinates to find the target. ¡°People¡¯s Republic of China map. ¡°London¡¯s Tube map. ¡°Pamir Mountains contour line map. ¡°Amazon River rainfall distribution map. ¡°Chernobyl City tourist travel map. ¡°Tourist map for the Akihabara otaku pilgrimage.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s gaze swept through the list of document names, there were all kinds of random maps left behind by Old Wang andpany. They were basically garbage data, ranging from a standard world map to random tourist maps! Despite having a trekking map from Canada to ska, there weren¡¯t any signs of the Martian Isidis nitia remote sensing terrain map. Tang Yue shook his head. A direct keyword search clearly wasn¡¯t working. Regardless if he keyed in ¡°map,¡± ¡°terrain map,¡± or ¡°Mars terrain map,¡± he couldn¡¯t find the information he needed. This meant that the Isidis nitia¡¯s remote sensing map either didn¡¯t exist, or the document¡¯s name had been changed by someone. Without knowing the name, he could only search for it manually. Tang Yue opened Old Zheng¡¯s personal folder. Old Zheng was a terrain expert, so if Kunlun Station really had such a map, it was likely in his hands... Even though Old Zheng had left Kunlun Station, a portion of his work had been left here, including the maps. Thankfully, Old Zheng was a frank and open person who never encrypted his documents. Tang Yue frowned. ¡°Evaluation results of Martian surface water source and soil quality. ¡°Isidis nitia¡¯s topsoil¡¯s silicate analysis. ¡°Mars southern hemisphere¡¯s meteorite crater numbers and distribution. ¡°Records of 2052 Venus transition observation. ¡°13th Marsnding missionmemoration photo. ¡°Anthology of premium Japanesenguage flicks.¡± Tang Yue dragged his cursor, opened every folder and did a careful search, afraid he would miss out something. The words left Tang Yue¡¯s eyes blurred, with certain theses spanning hundreds of pages. Tang Yue kept clicking with his mouse but was unable to find the terrain map for the Isidis nitia. It was true that Old Zheng¡¯s documents mostly included information on the Martian surface, but Tang Yue and Mai Dong couldn¡¯t use any of that. They were research results regarding a crater in the southern hemisphere which had little to do with Kunlun Station. Tang Yue scrolled to the bottom, and finally saw an unknown document titled ¡°zhddygt.¡± The name looked as though Old Zheng had rolled his face on the keyboard after having too much to drink. ¡°Damn it!¡± Tang Yue mmed the mouse on the table as he leaned back and sighed. ¡°There¡¯s none on my side either.¡± Mai Dong shook her head after searching through the space station. Tang Yue was very disappointed. He slouched in exhaustion as he ced his chin on the table, looking straight at theputer screen... It wasn¡¯t easy for them toe up with a new solution, but now they were unable to carry it out without a precise map. When one was unlucky, one would sprain his thumb when blowing his nose. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s just go through one picture at a time. So what if it¡¯s 1,500 hours? So what if it¡¯s three months. It¡¯s better than being helpless.¡± Tang Yue reached out and casually clicked the document named ¡°zhddygt.¡± Theputer suddenly froze. Tang Yue was taken aback as he moved the mouse, but the cursor on the screen didn¡¯t move at all. It looked as though theputer had really hung, as the screen had gone ck. ¡°What? Did it crash theputer? Is that document some virus?¡± Tang Yue stood up to check on theputer. He really had no idea what was stored on Old Zheng¡¯sputer. Perhaps the screen would suddenly go from showing ck to showing a sexy voluptuous croupier handing out cards. Right on the heels of that, Tang Yue heard the fan in theputer case spin as it emitted a whirring sound. This meant that some resource-intensive software or document had been opened. Even with the processing power of Kunlun Station¡¯sputer, it still took several seconds tounch it. Two secondster, a gigantic white logo appeared with a line in English: SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING DATA. Satellite remote sensing data? Tang Yue grew excited. There was hope! The logo slowly dimmed as a huge,plicated map appeared before Tang Yue¡¯s eyes. The boundaries of the map had fine markings for longitude andtitude, with all kinds of numbers squeezed onto it. Tang Yue held his breath as he moved the cursor to drag the map and scroll to zoom into it. This was an extremely detailed three-dimensional map, with blue and green lines intersecting to form a mesh that formed the undting terrain. Tang Yue briefly nced at it and realized that the map had tons of information. Every detail could be seen, and even tiny drops could be seen clearly. He had no idea how many man-hours and effort it took for the people to create this remote sensing map as its area spanned hundreds of square kilometers. Tang Yue didn¡¯t know how much space was needed for such copious amounts of data, but it was at least more than ten terabytes. It was no wonder theputer took quite some effort tounch it. A slightly weakerputer would probably have frozen right on the spot. Tang Yue scanned the map as his eyes lit up. A striking red arrowbeled Kunlun Station¡¯s location. ¡°Mai... Mai Dong? Mai Dong? Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah? I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°I found it... I found it!¡± Tang Yue yelled. ¡°I freaking found that damn map! Its name is zhd... dytg!¡± Chapter 104: Sol Hundred and Ten, Underlying Every Piece of Land on Mars Is a Thesis

Chapter 104: Sol Hundred and Ten, Underlying Every Piece of Land on Mars Is a Thesis

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Due to the map¡¯s massive amounts of data, it wasn¡¯t convenient for Tang Yue to send it over. He decided to manually seek out targets. He found Kunlun Station and the Chelomey probe¡¯s location on the map, drew the trajectory that Tomcat would likely take, and in this stretch, he began to search for any location that might lead to an ident. Tang Yue had driven the Mars Wanderer before, so he knew very well how it performed. Old Zheng¡¯s map was astoundingly detailed. It was made of threeyers, with the Martian ¡°sea level¡± being the foundational zero point. It uratelybeled everyndmark with the sea level elevation. An immense price was needed to achieve such precision. It even left Tang Yue wondering if someone was nning to use the area for military purposes and if the bald,scivious, middle-aged man, Old Zheng was actually tasked with a secret mission¡ªa secret operative of some military intelligence division. But on second thought, Tang Yue overturned this random thought. The Martian surface¡¯s remote sensing imagery had been made publicly avable on Earth. Many academics were relying on it to finish their thesis for graduation. With the Marsnding projects being carried out for years, every underlying inch of the Martian surface was probably a student¡¯s graduation thesis. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t sure if there were other goals for the Martian project, nor could he predict anything. But at the moment, the Martian project was a massive scientific research endeavor. The ones who undertook this endeavor were mainly research scientists, engineers, or professional astronauts. It was a global project that was worthy of praise, but with the way certain humans were, they wouldn¡¯t fund anything unless promising returns were possible. The Mars project cost plenty, and the origins of the funding were multifarious. It couldn¡¯t be ruled out that the CIA was involved. However, there was no future. Without this map, Tang Yue and Mai Dong would have found it difficult to continue their work. Tang Yue found spots that were respectively 22 kilometers, 41 kilometers and 43 kilometers from the Chelomey. The first spot was a cliff. The exact distance from the Chelomey was 22.83 kilometers, and it was practically on the straight line between the probe and Kunlun Station. It happened to be in Tomcat¡¯s way with a length of 1,200 meters. The cliff was created from unequal sea level elevations. With the Martian surface as zero sea level, the in beneath the cliff was at an elevation of 0.22 meters, while the cliff was at an elevation of 3.37 meters. ¡°Hmm... a drop of 3.15 meters. If Tomcat were to identally fall off it, such a height might damage the Wanderer¡¯s antenna.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°The Chelomey is at a high elevation, while the Kunlun Station is at a lower elevation. When heading over, Mr. Cat would be able to see the cliff, but on its way back, due to the raised driver¡¯s seat on the Mars Wanderer, it¡¯s possible that it failed to notice it and ended up plummeting over it.¡± The second spot was a deep ravine. The exact location was 41.46 kilometers from the Chelomey. ¡°Mai Dong, look. This ravine is six meters at its widest. The deepest spot is four meters deep. It¡¯s also very possible.¡± Tang Yue pondered. ¡°Perhaps Tomcat has had an ident in this ditch.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Mr. Cat an experienced driver?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I heard it was... some racing god of some mountain?¡± ¡°Mt. Akina?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that mountain.¡± Mai Dong recalled. ¡°Mt. Akina¡¯s racing god. Tang Yue, is Mt. Akina some very famous racing track?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Mt. Akina¡¯s Pram Racing World Rally Championship. It¡¯s held once every four years. It¡¯s the crowning jewel in the world of racing.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°Tomcat was a champion.¡± The girl only heard the word ¡°champion¡± clearly as she couldn¡¯t help but cry out in amazement, ¡°Wow¡ª!¡± The third spot was a slope over tnd. It was 43.69 kilometers from Chelomey. Instead of calling it a slope, it was more of a hill that stretched several kilometers. The highest peak was tens of meters tall. Even though the elevation wasn¡¯t high, the slope was extremely steep with an angle of sixty to seventy degrees. It was like a wall that was slightly better than an overhanging cliff. It was obvious to Tang Yue that such steepness far exceeded the Mars Wanderer¡¯s ability to scale the slope. As long as Tomcat¡¯s brain hadn¡¯t bugged out, it wouldn¡¯t have challenged such a steep slope. The correct choice would be to circle it, but under ordinary circumstances, Tomcat wouldn¡¯t have lost contact with them either. With the worst already happening, all Tang Yue could do was investigate with the craziest of ideas. Tang Yue gave the three coordinates to Mai Dong. The next time the United Space Station flew over Kunlun Station, Mai Dong would take urate snapshots of the three spots. This was a much smaller workload that could be done in one sweep. Mai Dong entered the coordinates into theputer and confirmed the exact location with her naked eye. From an orbit of four hundred kilometers, the entire Isidis nitia was about the size of a fingernail, that was more than the Chelomey and Kunlun Station. Thest time Kunlun Station had suffered a hurricane, Mai Dong didn¡¯t feel it at all, because it looked trivial to her eyes. In theputer on the space station, there was an entire set of Martian geographical coordinates that resembled Earth¡¯s. Mars had been given its own coordinate system a long time ago. In the second half of the neenth century, astronomers had attempted to replicate the surface map of Mars. Its prime meridian was set to be the geodesic which passed through the crater, Airy-0. However, the longitudes on Mars were very different from Earth¡¯s. Earth¡¯s coordinates had East and West longitudes, reaching a maximum of 180¡ã. However, Mars¡¯s geographical system either used an East longitude or a West longitude. Both started from zero and respectively extended 360¡ã either east or west. Theputer found the location in the database, via the coordinates Mai Dong had entered, before guiding the girl to point the optical tracking system onto the targeted area. This process sounded simple, but the work involved required considerable technique and patience. Even though she was observing a massive celestial body like Mars, Mai Dong felt like she was using a microscope to observe a paramecium. Just a tiny shake of the camera would make her lose her target. The girl put her eyes onto the eyepiece once more, and with a wide field of view and low magnification, she turned the knobs to adjust the direction of the camera. The eyepiece had a clear crosshair and numbers, just like an advanced sniper rifle scope in movies or a tank disy in an old-school tank cockpit. The green numbers jumped as the United Space Station swept over the targeted spots. Mai Dong took a deep breath as she turned on the camera. ... Three hourster. Tang Yue and Mai Dong fell into silence as thetter sat in the hall, looking at the images on the screen. He was confounded... How was it possible? How was it f*cking possible? Did that cat vaporize? How could such a huge cat and huge vehicle just vanish? After a careful search, Mai Dong and Tang Yue had finally confirmed that Tomcat hadn¡¯t fallen off a cliff or into a ditch, much less to the bottom of a slope. Tang Yue had yearned to squeeze each pixel until he saw something, but unfortunately, there weren¡¯t any traces of Tomcat at the bottom of the cliff, ravine, or slope, nor were there any signs of any external activity. Tang Yue¡¯s excitement and passion turned into cold, bleak disappointment once again. If Tomcat had peacefully passed the cliff and ravine, why would it suddenly lose contact with them? Could it really have had an ident on a t in? When did the Mars Wanderer have the additional trait of somersaulting on t ground? ¡°Tang Yue... Perhaps Mr. Cat got into trouble elsewhere, or maybe there are areas we missed out. Shall we continue searching in those areas?¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t respond. He tore a piece of white paper, folded and ttened it before taking out a pen. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to make a tablet.¡± Tang Yue uncapped the pen. ¡°What tablet?¡± ¡°A tablet for gods.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that praying to the gods wouldn¡¯t work? The heavens are dead, and we can only rely on ourselves. Why would you need a tablet?¡± ¡°A tablet doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it¡¯s for consecration.¡± Tang Yue wrote some huge words on the piece of paper. ¡°F*cking heavens.¡± Then, he raised the piece of paper on the table and yelled in rage, ¡°Go to hell, f*cking heavens! Go f*cking die!¡± Following that, he mmed it to the ground and stomped on it. Indeed, a tablet wasn¡¯t only used for consecration. It could also be used for corpse flogging. Chapter 105: Sol Hundred and Eleven, 1/6333333 Intuition

Chapter 105: Sol Hundred and Eleven, 1/6333333 Intuition

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Communication with Tomcat had been lost for sixty hours. Tang Yue pulled another all-nighter. He looked haggard and his eyes were bloodshot. Tang Yue and Mai Dong had used the terrain map to expand the search from the possible locations of Tomcat¡¯s ident but found nothing. Mai Dong¡¯s solution had failed, and they had no choice but to continue the brute force search. Tang Yue transferred the images he had finished with into a directory that already had more than 3,200 files. No one knew where Tomcat was. It had vanished mysteriously just like the Earth. No sight of it could be found. After a nap, and with the passing of time, Tang Yue wore an earpiece, faithfully waiting for a message through themunications system, but there weren¡¯t any messages, not even ama. The situation was turning grimmer, in the beginning, Mai Dong was the one consoling Tang Yue, but now, even she had fallen silent... The two buried themselves in the massive pile of images, and other thanparing the images, they had even stopped conversing. They didn¡¯t even dare imagine what could have happened to Tomcat. Mai Dong looked at the documents that filled her screen. The worst and most terrifying oue could be buried in the millions of images, but none of them dared to mention it, afraid that the very mention of it made it a reality. This was like a scratchcard lottery. The card in one¡¯s hand could be scratched to reveal that Tomcat was safe and sound, or that Tomcat had perished along with the Wanderer. Tang Yue huddled on the chair in front of the desk as he trembled under the thick nket. He had maintained this position for the entire night like a crouching statue. All Mai Dong could see was Tang Yue¡¯s eyes and fingers moving every few seconds. He was like a ko bear, huddled into a ball to prevent any loss of heat. Kunlun Station maintained a temperature of ¨C10¡ãC, and the Hab¡¯s interior was covered in frost. The RTG was ced on the floor in the middle of the Hab, and apart from Tang Yue himself, it was the only source of heat. Circling the RTG were buckets of feces, something that, at present, Tang Yue no longer had the energy or time to bother with. At this point, the tomato-nting ns had to be pushed back. All he could do was ce the RTG there and hope that the feces would ferment by themselves without much supervision. ¡°3277... 3277...¡± Tang Yue stared intently as he muttered as if he was chanting some scriptures. He clicked on the mouse. ¡°3278. Mai Dong, look at this picture. Am I seeing things? Why do I find this image a little odd?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong. You are seeing things.¡± ¡°What about 3279? My intuition as a man tells me that there¡¯s something odd about this image.¡± ¡°My intuition as a woman tells me that it¡¯s nothing special.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll heed your advice. Your intuition is sharper than mine.¡± To be honest, Tang Yue, who was at the end his tether, even had thoughts of using metaphysical methods by letting Mai Dong use her woman¡¯s intuition to randomly hit a spot on the map to see if she could hit Tomcat¡¯s location, but it was infeasible due to the low probability. The corridor marked out by Tang Yue had an area of 190 square kilometers, and the area the Mars Wanderer covered didn¡¯t exceed 30 square meters. For Mai Dong to randomly hit Tomcat, the probability was 1/6333333. Mai Dong might try it all her life without randomly hitting Tomcat. Tang Yue continued reciting. ¡°3280... 3281...¡± ¡°Tang Yue, Tang Yue? Have some water and take a break...¡± Mai Dong was very worried about Tang Yue. He hadn¡¯t slept for days, his hair was messy and he was growing stubble. He didn¡¯t follow a set timetable and was extremely haggard. If this continued, Tang Yue might copse before Tomcat was found. ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Yue nodded, but he didn¡¯t show any signs of moving as his eyes were glued to the screen. ¡°Mai Dong, any discovery over on your side...¡± Before he could finish his sentence, Tang Yue broke into a fit of coughing as though he was a patient diagnosed with a bad case of tuberculosis. He held onto the table as though he was about to cough his lungs out. The repeated coughing emptied the air in his lungs to the point of him not being capable of coughing any further. He opened his mouth, but the inability to replenish the air he had lost made his face flushed red. ¡°Sorry about that, I... I have to drink some water.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was hoarse as he waved his hand. With the nket over him, he trembled as he sauntered over to the water trough where the RTG was. If not for the RTG, the water would have frozen. Tang Yue got a cup, bent down, and carefully poured himself some water. The thinyer of water only managed to cover the bottom of the cup, and before he could bring it to his mouth, his frozen fingers slipped as the cup fell to the ground, spraying water everywhere. ¡°Holy sh*t! My water!¡± Tang Yue hurriedly crouched down and sucked up the water on the floor, before picking up the cup and sticking his tongue in, while mming the bottom of the cup... He really felt the pinch for he was only rationed to use 1.5 liters a day. It wasn¡¯t even enough for his consumption, and he needed to use that amount of water for his hygiene too. Wasting even a milliliter of water was a heinous sin. Years ago, the poet, Tao Yuanming, had imed that for five bushels of grain, I bow like a servant. Now, just a milliliter of water was enough to make Tang Yue kowtow. After confirming that he hadn¡¯t wasted any water, Tang Yue stood up in satisfaction as though he had made a killing. ¡°Are... you okay?¡± Mai Dong was dumbfounded. ¡°I feel much better after drinking some water. I¡¯m feeling refreshed now and filled with energy.¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath as the biting air made him choke, violently. ¡°Tang Yue, you need some rest!¡± The girl turned stern. ¡°You have to rest! Leave the work to me. You! Are! To! Immediately! Lie down!¡± ¡°Fine, fine, fine. Wait till I¡¯m done with this batch of photos and I¡¯ll immediately get some rest,¡± Tang Yue glibly replied. ¡°I know my body best. You don¡¯t have to worry. I can still hold on.¡± At sunrise, it was time for him to head out and move the sr panels. Tang Yue hung the life support system on the wall, unzipped the Radiant Armor and bent to get inside. Without anyone to help him, just putting the Radiant Armor on and taking it off was a tedious affair. Tang Yue felt his joints frozen stiff, and the way he moved was like an elder with cervical spondylosis and a slipped disc. Tang Yue clumsily put on the Radiant Armor and secured the life support system. After connecting all kinds of wires and checking that everything was okay, the green indicator on his wrist lit up. He felt a lot warmer after donning the Radiant Armor as the air he breathed out condensed on the visor. ¡°Mai Dong, I¡¯ll head out to move the sr panels. Continue the search.¡± Tang Yue waved his hand. ¡°Inform me if you discover anything.¡± ¡°Are you really okay?¡± Mai Dong waved her hand as well. ¡°No problem! I¡¯m pumped with so much energy that I can head out and run five kilometers!¡± Tang Yue smiled as he gave a thumbs up. He turned around, opened the airlock¡¯s hatch, and walked out with in high spirits. He then tripped over the hatch¡¯s edge and copsed inside the airlock. ¡°Tang Yue!¡± Mai Dong eximed. She saw the bulky figure copse inside the airlock and it remained there motionless, with no signs of it standing again. Chapter 106: Sol Hundred and Eleven, The Mother Who Urges You To Wear Thermal Underwear

Chapter 106: Sol Hundred and Eleven, The Mother Who Urges You To Wear Thermal Underwear

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tang Yue? ¡°Mr. Tang Yue, what¡¯s wrong? ¡°Tang Yue, wake up!¡± When Tang Yue opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Mai Dong¡¯s tear-stained face. ¡°Tang Yue, you¡¯re awake? Are you alright?¡± Mai Dong was stunned before rejoicing and crying tears of joy. She had been worried sick. The past few hours could have been described as some of the worst few hours of her life. Mai Dong could only watch helplessly as Tang Yuey there in the airlock, making her imagine that he had suddenly suffered from a stroke, a cerebral hemorrhage, or a heart attack. From what she could see, Tang Yue was in urgent need of medical help for him to copse, but the only person aware of that was hundreds of kilometers in orbit. For an instant, Mai Dong wished to find a cellphone to call the emergency services but realized that she was marooned alone in space. Mai Dong felt desperate. She could only cry out Tang Yue¡¯s name repeatedly, there was nothing else she could do. This was no doubt excruciating torture for the girl. She believed that she was helplessly watching Tang Yue¡¯s life slip away and that the man would lie there forever. There was no one else on Kunlun Station, and the camera was fixed. If Tang Yue was to die in the airlock, his corpse would remain on-screen forever. A white wall, a circr-shaped hatch, and a bulky white figure wouldbine to form this post-modern Surrealist picture of death as though it had been produced by the hands of a master like Salvador Dal¨ª. ¡°I...¡± Tang Yue frowned. ¡°What happened to you?¡± ¡°I fell asleep.¡± Tang Yue sucked up the drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. ... ¡°How... How long was I out for?¡± Tang Yue had a throbbing headache. When he looked at the time on his wrist, the Radiant Armor¡¯s control terminal indicated that it was twenty minutes to seven in the evening. He had headed out at around seven that morning, implying that he had been out for nearly twelve hours. It was likely a result of him working continuously for two days under intense stress. He was just too exhausted, and when he tripped when heading out in the morning, just the mere act of closing his eyelids was enough for him to fall asleep until he woke up. Tang Yue had been in a deep sleep, so deep that Mai Dong¡¯s voice had be hoarse from shouting through the earpiece. Yet, she had failed to wake him up. While Tang Yue had a great sleep, Mai Dong had been sick with fear. Through the screen, she saw Tang Yue motionless on the ground, and that only made her believe that something had happened to him. Tomcat had already disappeared silently, so if Tang Yue got into trouble, it would leave Mai Dongpletely alone. Mai Dong was on a space station that was four hundred kilometers away. Apart from reeling in anxiety, there was nothing she could do. She had been desperately calling out Tang Yue¡¯s name, but thettery on the ground like a dead pig. Furthermore, hey there for more than ten hours. Mai Dong had searched through the entire space station, but couldn¡¯t find anything that could be of help. Towards the end, she began crying out of anxiety. Being at the end of her tether, all she could do was hug Ah Q and pray for a miracle. Tang Yue slowly got up as the Radiant Armor was shing a warning light. It was unknown how long it had been issuing the warning. The life support system had long expended all its oxygen, and the main oxygen tanks had been depleted below the warning level. Thankfully, Tang Yue hadn¡¯t left Kunlun Station. He had fallen inside the airlock, and after the Radiant Armor had expended all of its oxygen, it detected that the surrounding environment had ordinary levels of oxygen. It then allowed the oxygen to flow in and out of the suit; otherwise, Tang Yue might have suffocated inside his EVA suit. The sun had already set, and it waspletely dark outside. Tang Yue had nned on going out to move the sr panels, but there was no need for him to do so anymore. He had slept the entire day, neglecting all his routine work. Thankfully, Kunlun Station¡¯s battery reserves were sufficient. They didn¡¯t have any problemssting through the night. The Radiant Armor¡¯s energy was depleted, and it was now a thick and heavy gunny sack. Tang Yue sighed as he unsecured the life support system, took off the battery and oxygen tank before crawling out of the Radiant Armor. He then left the EVA suit on the wall to charge. ¡°Tang Yue, do you want to check on yourself? ¡°Tang Yue, I think your physical condition might not be too good. Why don¡¯t you check on yourself? ¡°Tang Yue, are you losing bone mass? Are your muscles atrophying? Did you strictly follow the training schedule? ¡°Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue smiled wryly as he pressed his palms together and gave Mai Dong a deep bow. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, thank you for your concern. However, why are you like my mother?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s nagging did sound like a mother who urged her son to wear thermal underwear. It was like a surround sound system. ¡°Scram, I don¡¯t have such a useless son like you.¡± The girl was taken aback as she turned her head away. Her eyes were still red, but her tone sounded brisk. Tang Yue had finally awoken, relieving Mai Dong greatly. She heaved a sigh of relief as the weight over her chest was removed. She was now able to joke with Tang Yue. As Tang Yue stretched his limbs, he found himself starving. Hence, he got out apressed biscuit from the crate to munch as he poured half a cup of water for himself. He then sat in front of the desk. ¡°Have you discovered anything from the images?¡± ¡°No.¡± To be honest, Mai Dong hadn¡¯t bothered with the photos for the past twelve hours. Neither had she had the time to take photos when passing by the Isidis nitia. ¡°Beep¡ª¡± It was theputer¡¯s periodic reporting of time: 7 p.m. Tang Yue¡¯s heart sank as he subconsciously turned his head to look at the earpiece. Without any surprises, there weren¡¯t any messagesing in. The oue he was most worried about had happened. They had lostmunication with Tomcat for more than seventy-two hours. Based on the original n, Tomcat should have returned to Kunlun Station by now. Tang Yue¡¯s and Mai Dong¡¯sst bit of hope had been snuffed out. They were still holding out hope that Tomcat¡¯sck ofmunication was due to damages in themunication system while it maintained its mobility. They hoped that the Mars Wanderer was still able to be driven and that it would return to Kunlun Station on time. But three days had passed with the cat nowhere in sight. This meant that the damage wasn¡¯t only to themunication system. The situation was spiraling downward. At this moment, Tang Yue had basically confirmed that something had gone wrong with Tomcat¡¯s and the Mars Wanderer¡¯s operation. It wasn¡¯t unexpected and even though Tang Yue didn¡¯t want to admit it, he still believed that there was the possibility of the utter destruction of the Mars Wanderer. Thankfully, he had yet to find Tomcat on the satellite imagery. All the spots that could lead to an ident had been searched, but they had found no signs of anything. If Tomcat had really had an ident, where could it have happened? An incredulous possibility surfaced in Tang Yue¡¯s mind. Could it be that the cat had eloped with the Mars Wanderer? Chapter 107: Sol Hundred and Eleven, An Orphan

Chapter 107: Sol Hundred and Eleven, An Orphan

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon In the past, Tang Yue definitely wouldn¡¯t have had such a ridiculous idea. Tomcat was, in name, an assistant on Kunlun Station, but, in reality, it was the Station Commander. It could also be described as an ambassador stationed at the embassy of Earth¡¯s civilization on Mars. It had worked conscientiously on Kunlun Station for years. It had a wealth of experience, had made great contributions, and had built a strong friendship with the astronauts from everynding mission. On Earth, Tomcat had joined the team members from the USA, UK, Russia, and China in drinking brandy, whiskey, vodka, and Beijing Red Star erguotou as they engaged in all kinds of chatter. Tomcat was considered by everyone as greatpany. After all, Tomcat couldn¡¯t absorb alcohol, so it drank alcohol like it was water. It drank with everyone, and the young members of the team who didn¡¯t know better would end up sumbing to the alcohol as they copsed under the table. Tomcat and the Mars Wanderer had eloped? But where could they go? Were they really living by the lyrics of the ssic Chinese song: You are wind and I am the sand; sentimentally we go around the ends of the world? However, the Mars Wanderer was only a tractor, who in their right mind would elope with a tractor? Even with Earth gone, it was true that the tractor was now priceless, monopolizing the Mars Wanderer didn¡¯t benefit it in any way. Property had already lost its meaning now. If one so wished, they could dere the entire Universe as theirs. Tang Yue absolutely refused to believe that Tomcat had betrayed him. It was meaningless for it to drive off with the Mars Wanderer. Mars was a dead, with deserts wherever one went. It was still a little livelier on Kunlun Station. Furthermore, Tomcat was a talkative robot. It wasn¡¯t as though the Mars Wanderer could participate in its conversations. But based on the present situation, Tang Yue couldn¡¯t help but have such a thought. Tomcat didn¡¯t need oxygen or supplies. All it needed was electricity, and it had already taken away a number of sr panels. This meant that it couldpletely abandon Kunlun Station and live alone on Mars. The idea that the cat had left for some unknown reason wasn¡¯t an illogical conclusion. ¡°If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with it.¡± Tang Yue wrapped himself in a nket as he stared nkly at theputer¡¯s desktop. The hall was only lit by a dim light and the mist that he breathed out from his mouth and nose swirled under the light. Theputer desktop was filled with folders. Each folder contained thousands of satellite images, but Tang Yue no longer searched through them. He was exhausted. Back when Tomcat rejected Tang Yue¡¯s offer to join it, it was because modifying the Mars Wanderer to have the life support system installed in it was tooplicated. Tang Yue needed to eat, sleep, and breathe. If he left with Tomcat, they needed to take plenty of supplies. This would severely slow down any progress, so Tomcat had culled all burden, and had chosen to head out alone. Heading out alone also meant being without help. ¡°If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with it.¡± Tang Yue muttered as he picked up a pen on the table. There was some paper underneath the pen, and it was filled with numbers and equations. The handwriting looked like chicken scratches, and they were clearly the work of Tomcat. These were the calctions Tomcat had written during the Eagle¡¯sunch. Tang Yue had tidied them and put them away. After all, on this godforsaken, paper pulp was a precious, nonrenewable resource. Even though it wasn¡¯t of any use at present, it was unknown when it could be put to use. Tang Yue flipped through the pieces of paper that were filled with calctions he couldn¡¯t understand. Back then, Tomcat¡¯s exnations were like ying the lute to a cow. Tang Yue suddenly found the world ridiculous. The massive Earth had vanished overnight, and he was stuck in a tiny shack more than a hundred million kilometers away while wondering where a cat was. It was truly a magical realism. ¡°If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with it.¡± ¡°Tang Yue!¡± ¡°If I had known...¡± ¡°Tang Yue! Stop repeating yourself!¡± Mai Dong cut him off. ¡°It¡¯s toote for regrets. We... We should spend our time searching for Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°So what if we find it?¡± ¡°We can think of ways to bring it back once we find it!¡± ¡°Bring it back?¡± Tang Yue sneered as he pointed at the Radiant Armor that was hanging on the wall. ¡°See that? Without that thing, I¡¯ll be dead once I¡¯m outside. It can only work for eight hours. Without the Mars Wanderer, how far can I walk in eight hours?¡± Mai Dong fell silent. They had been burying themselves in the image recognition work the past few days, deliberately avoiding this question... Even if they had found Tomcat, there was no way for Tang Yue to rescue him. The Radiant Armor only allowed extravehicr activity for eight hours. In the bulky EVA suit, Tang Yue¡¯s speed was as slow as an eighty-year-old. With each leg of a return trip taking four hours, there was no way Tang Yue could go beyond eight kilometers. Tang Yue had no way of resolving the problem ofcking oxygen and power on a long-distance trek. There was no way for him to sort his food and water either. He could carrypressed biscuits on him, but he couldn¡¯t open his visor on the Martian desert to eat them. They had lostmunication with Tomcat who had the Mars Wanderer and some sr panels. If it didn¡¯t return in time, the temperature control wouldn¡¯t be fixed. The temperature inside Kunlun Station would forever fluctuate below zero degrees Celsius. There was no way for the tomatoes to be grown, and Tang Yue¡¯s physical condition would only worsen. Life was difficult as it was, yet when he was at the end of his rope, fate had bared its teeth at him. The so-called Matthew effect says that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; likewise, the unlucky got unluckier. ¡°Unless we have the ability to drag the entire Kunlun Station there, there¡¯s no way we can rescue Tomcat.¡± ¡°Is there a solution?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Drag Kunlun Station along?¡± ¡°Give me a tractor powerful enough, and a sled on which to ce it, and I shall move Kunlun Station.¡± Tang Yue gestured. ¡°Just like a nomad, setting up tents on a truck, and dragging them along with a tractor... Of course, a crane would be needed.¡± This answer was meaningless. If they had a tractor, sled, and crane, the situation wouldn¡¯t have been this bleak. Tang Yue silently sat in the chair as the dim lights on the wall projected irregr shadows. The Radiant Armor was hanging beside a cab, and the indistinct shadows made it appear like a silent warrior. There was a low hum in the air, likely a result of the OGS¡¯s venttion fan. It was rare for Kunlun Station to be this quiet. The tiny shack of about eighty square meters was a cramped space usually with things strewn everywhere, making it easy to bump them. But now, it seemed empty. Speaking of which, Kunlun Station only had a man and a cat. That was less than half the regted six members, and the reason why it hadn¡¯t seemed so dreary was because of Tomcat¡¯s talkativeness. It alone could y the role of five people. ¡°I¡¯m now like an orphan,¡± Tang Yue said gloomily as he stood up with his back hunched. ¡°From this day forth, I might have to live my days alone.¡± ¡°You... you still have me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I still have you.¡± Tang Yue sighed without turning his head. He trembled as he entered his sleeping quarters. As Mai Dong looked at his back, she realized that there was frost on his hair and it looked like he had aged considerably with a head of white hair. Chapter 108: Sol Hundred and Twelve, I Believe I’ll Be Forever Alone

Chapter 108: Sol Hundred and Twelve, I Believe I¡¯ll Be Forever Alone

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Get up¡ª! Get up¡ª! Stay in bed any longer, and the sun will be burning your arse! Stay in bed any longer, and Zhang Fei 1 will be setting your house on fire!¡± A sharp voice broke the silence as it resounded across the Hab in a jarring manner. ¡°F*ck, didn¡¯t I tell you to switch off that ridiculous rm clock? Why is it switched on again? Tomcat! Did you hear me? Switch off that brain dead clock!¡± Tang Yue buried his head as he iled his extended hand. ¡°Tomcat! Tom...¡± Tang Yue paused. He crawled out of his nket as he sat up. The air was biting cold as it seeped through his thin clothes like a winter morning in a southern city. The noisy rm clock was still ring away, urging him to wake up as though Zhang Fei was holding a torch outside the station, prepared to burn it down if Tang Yue didn¡¯t get out of bed. It was a mystery who had set such an rm. None of what it said was normal. It revolved around ¡°stay in bed any longer, and Zhang Fei will be setting your house on fire,¡± ¡°stay in bed any longer, and Guan Yu 1 will y you while drinking alcohol 2 ,¡± or ¡°stay in bed any longer, and Liu Bei wille seek shelter under you 3 .¡± The most ordinary one was ¡°stay in bed any longer, and you won¡¯t be in time for the 50% discount on onions at the market.¡± It made Tang Yue seem like a housewife that had to make every second count just to save a few cents. Tang Yue grumbled as he put his clothes on, wrapped himself in a thick nket, and rushed into the Hab on tiptoes to switch off the rm clock. Kunlun Station instantly fell silent. He turned his head to nce at themunication system. The stream only showed the space station¡¯s wall¡ªMai Dong wasn¡¯t there. He didn¡¯t know if she was still in bed or if she was working. Tang Yue got apressed biscuit from the cab and saw that its vor was red-braised beef. Tang Yue shook his head, threw the biscuit back, and took out a new packet. He was sick of red-braised beef-voredpressed biscuits. Although it said it was beef-vored, it tasted more like brick powder. The new packet had pickled vegetable voring. Tang Yue used a measuring cylinder to draw 500 milliliters of water. This was meant for drinking since Tang Yue had long stopped brushing his teeth daily. The main reason was that he had finished the toothpaste, and his toothbrush was pretty much unusable. Now, Tang Yue would just use his index finger to rub against his teeth. Even though the effect wasn¡¯t as good as a toothbrush, it was better than nothing. Legend had it that the ancients used salt to clean their teeth back when there wasn¡¯t toothpaste, but Tang Yue found it an extravagance. He didn¡¯t have that much salt to begin with. Tang Yue took a bite of the biscuit and drank a mouthful of water. Indeed, the pickled vegetable voring tasted better than the beef voring. There was a faint taste of Earth. What does Earth taste like? Have you fallen down to the ground and end up eating a mouthful of dirt? ¡°Pui!¡± Tang Yue frowned as he looked at the blood he had just spat out. It was no wonder he tasted something raw. His gums were bleeding. Tang Yue bared his teeth as he looked into a mirror. The bleeding was worse than before. The bright red blood was mixed with his spit, and his entire mouth was filled with blood. Yet, Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare to spit it out, afraid that he would be wasting water and food. All he could do was swallow it. The result of a serious vitamin deficiency presented itself. The symptoms of scurvy were bing more apparent. This disease that gued sailors who were out at sea for extended periods of time was enveloping Tang Yue. The spots that were a result of internal bleeding were increasing in number, and it was getting moremon for his gums to bleed. In time toe, his teeth would begin to loosen, and his body would lose its strength as his muscles ached. It might even develop into pseudoparalysis. In this godforsaken ce, once he was paralyzed, it was a fate worse than death. Tang Yue silently looked at the half biscuit in his hand. There were still remnants of his saliva and blood on it, and the sight of it was rming. Tang Yue sat on a chair, first looking at the OGS and then the fertilizer on the ground. Finally, he looked at the empty water trough on the rack. These thingsbined together could save his life, but Mai Dong had mentioned before that tomatoes needed a warm environment of at least 20¡ãC to germinate; otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to live even if they were nted. The RTG was unable to provide that high a temperature, so all his hope could only be ced on the temperature control chip. Without Tomcat returning, he wouldn¡¯t have the chip. Tang Yue knew his days were numbered, but he didn¡¯t know how long he had. Yet, he needed to try to live alone on this barren and get used to a Kunlun Station without Tomcat. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem like there were many such days left. Tang Yue threw the remaining biscuit into his mouth, munched at it and downed all the water in the cup. With the EVA suit¡¯s life support system and oxygen tank fully charged and pumped, he took down the Radiant Armor from the wall. A brand new day had begun, and he needed to continue with his daily chores. On Mars, Tang Yue¡¯s daily chores were rather monotonous. It involved inspecting Kunlun Station and the Mars Wanderer and putting out the sr panels. Now, there was another task¡ªfinding Tomcat. With 100,000 photos, that was enough to keep him upied for three months. Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare to imagine working as he had before, without eating, drinking, resting, or sleeping. Tang Yue¡¯s physical condition wasn¡¯t good to begin with, so if he were to copse due to over-exhaustion, that would be the end. He nned on continuing the search, believing it was his responsibility. As Tomcat¡¯s friend and colleague, he needed to find the cat¡¯s location. Before that, he still needed to move the sr panels. No matter if Tomcat was around or not, those were the jobs that needed his attention. Tang Yue would repeat the same routine of eating, sleeping, checking Kunlun Station, again and again until he met his end. If he didn¡¯t do it, he would immediately reach the end of his life. The sky was still dark like velvet. The constetions that filled the sky remained hanging high above as the sun hadn¡¯t risen. If Tang Yue was fast, he might even be able to see the sunrise. The star that emitted blinding light had risen on this more than a billion times, but the number of times it had been witnessed by humans was unknown. Tang Yue felt that the sunrise on Mars was really dull. It was the same color every morning. If only the colors were different across the week... Red for Mondays, orange for Tuesdays, yellow for Wednesdays, Green for Thursdays, blue for Fridays, indigo for Saturdays, violet for Sundays. Just thinking of a green sun rising from the horizon was enough to forgive 1 the whole Universe. The man bent his back and crawled into the Radiant Armor. He extended his limbs into the EVA suit, wriggled his fingers and pushed up the light-filtering visor on the helmet. Then, he took a step back to connect the life support system. ¡°I think I¡¯ll be lonely forever. This lonely all my life.¡± As Tang Yue gently hummed Rene Liu¡¯s old song, ¡°Lonely Forever,¡± he bent down to pick up his tool box. In terms of music appreciation, Tang Yue and the rest of the expedition team shared simr tastes. They all preferred retro songs and were fervent fans of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Chinese singers from decades ago. These days, the Chinese billboard was filled with songs that had foreign influences. They were filled with incitement rhythms and electronic music. They were unlike the sweet melodies of the early 21st century. Of course, there was conflict among the retro gang. Those who preferred absolute music and those who preferred pop music viewed each other as heathens. The absolute music gang called those who followed pop music as following a ¡®greasy pig trend,¡¯ a pun name for being non-mainstream, while the pop music gang called the absolute music gang¡¯s music as mindless humming. Even though they were out of fashion for decades, Old Zheng always viewed such coexistence with contempt. Daily, he listened to Zhao Benshan¡¯s ¡°Our People 1 .¡± Tang Yue opened the hatch to the airlock and looked back into the empty Kunlun Station as he bade farewell. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out. Bye!¡± Tang Yue stepped into the airlock, and with a click, closed the hatch behind him. He then began humming his song. ¡°I think I¡¯ll be lonely forever, lonely like this my entire life. The bluer the sky bes, the more afraid I am to turn my head up to see it...¡± Chapter 109: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Tomb Digger

Chapter 109: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Tomb Digger

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue stabbed a shovel into the soil with all his might, the vertical handle appearing like a tombstone. Although he was supposed to head out and do his daily chores, Tang Yue had begun digging a pit with a shovel after he had finished moving the sr panels. He had chosen a prime location that wasn¡¯t too far from the Eagle. The ground was t, and there was a shallow ditch ahead with a hill behind. In Chinese geomancy pance, good sites for burials usually had mountain peaks at the back and rivers orkes running in front. In the book ¡°Burial,¡± written by Guo Pu, a famous geomancy theorist from the Jin dynasty, one had to follow water-rted principles as they were essential. Tang Yue had no idea if such principles worked on Mars, for the godforsaken ce hadn¡¯t had water for millions of years. Tang Yue dug a shallow pit and estimated the size with his footsteps. It was about two meters long, and about half a meter deep. It was more than enough for a person to lie down t. This was a grave he had prepared for himself. If there came a day when he copsed to the ground, Tang Yue would crawl into the pit and lie down. Then, he would sever the oxygen and electricity to the Radiant Armor, dying peacefully without anyone knowing. Tang Yue sat down and surveyed his surroundings. He found the scenery pretty good if hey down there. Not far to the left was the Eagle, and to the right was Kunlun Station. These three points weren¡¯t too far from each other. It could be imagined that Tang Yue¡¯s corpse would be preserved for an extended period of time due to the low temperatures and aridness. If the EVA suit was opened, it wouldn¡¯t take long for Tang Yue¡¯s corpse to be as dry as a piece of firewood. As for setting up something like an epitaph, there was no need. After all, no one would read it. From the moment Earth vanished, Tang Yue¡¯s name no longer mattered. He was the only Earthling on this, so he no longer needed a name to represent him and separate him from others. He was unique. Tang Yue got up and returned to Kunlun Station. He left the shovel there as andmark to prevent himself from not being able to find the grave in the future. What kind of person would use a shovel as their tombstone? Perhaps thest man in the world would do that. Mai Dong had finished scanning the photos by the time Tang Yue returned. The number of satellite photos had surged from 4,000 to 4,500. The search for traces of Tomcat had be part of Mai Dong¡¯s daily routine. ¡°Good morning, Tang Yue. You woke up early today?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes left her screen. ¡°Are you done with today¡¯s work?¡± ¡°Good morning.¡± Tang Yue nodded as he paused for a few seconds. ¡°Mai Dong, I might not be able to live long.¡± The girl¡¯s hands trembled. ¡°What... What are you talking about?¡± ¡°After Earth vanished, I spent a long period of time in a muddled state. I lived like a walking zombie.¡± Tang Yue took off the Radiant Armor and sat down on a chair as he rubbed his hands to regain some warmth. ¡°I don¡¯t know where am I, or what I¡¯m doing, much less know my purpose in living on this... Since the Earth has vanished, with seven billion people gone, what¡¯s the difference in having one more or less person? ¡°I don¡¯t dare to think of Earth or the people on Earth. I¡¯ve been numbing myself by repeating my daily work, afraid that I¡¯ll mentally break down,¡± Tang Yue muttered softly. ¡°Can you imagine that sense of hopelessness? Back then, I felt that perhaps a great office was to be ced on my shoulders for me to survive, butter, I realized that I might just be a pile of trash that had been forgotten in some corner of the Universe.¡± ¡°Tang Yue... Don¡¯t have such thoughts. As long as we are alive, there will still be hope.¡± ¡°There¡¯s not much hope left. My physical condition is terrible.¡± Tang Yue shook his head and rolled up his sleeves, revealing to Mai Dong his bruises and blood spots on his arm. ¡°I¡¯m bleeding everywhere under my skin. This is a symptom of scurvy. Perhaps in six months, I¡¯ll be debilitated. Once I lose my mobility, it will definitely be an oue worse than death. If that dayes, I¡¯ll choose to end my life... I¡¯ve already dug my grave.¡± Mai Dong widened her eyes as she covered her mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve chosen a prime location. The site contour corresponds to the four gods, allowing it to amass the essential powers of the world. If my corpse doesn¡¯t rot for millennia, I might even be a huge dumpling.¡± Tang Yueughed. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll climb out of the grave and begin dancing on Mars.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not funny at all!¡± Tang Yue wiped away his smile as he held his palms to his nose tip and let out a deep sigh. ¡°At times, I lie in bed and look at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. I keep wondering when such days wille to an end. What difference does it make to die one day earlier or one dayter? What¡¯s the difference between dying two yearster and tomorrow?¡± Mai Dong slowly lowered her head. She didn¡¯t know how to answer Tang Yue. Her situation was identical to Tang Yue¡¯s. To a youngdy like her, when would such dayse to an end? ¡°But I¡¯m not dead yet. If I¡¯m dead, what will happen to you? What about that darn cat?¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°How can I just abandon both of you?¡± Mai Dong nodded while biting her lip. ¡°That¡¯s why I need to save myself.¡± Tang Yue looked up and clenched his teeth. ¡°Regardless if Tomcat returns or not and regardless of whether the temperature control can be fixed or not, I need to save myself!¡± He decided not to wait for Tomcat. Its return was still an unknown. He needed to divert all his remaining efforts into saving himself! The greatest threat facing him was scurvy, and the only way to treat scurvy was Vitamin C. It wasmon on Earth, and nearly every vegetable and fruit was rich in Vitamin C. However, it was extremely difficult to obtain on Mars, forcing one to rely on their supplies. Resupplies had longe to an end. The multivitamins in Kunlun Station had already been finished, and at present, the most viable and sustainable source of Vitamin C was from vegetables and fruits. Mai Dong had left plenty of tomato seeds in Kunlun Station. If Tang Yue was able to seed in nting them and wait until they germinated and bore fruit, his predicament of ack of Vitamin C would be resolved, treating his scurvy as well. However, the damaged temperature control was causing Kunlun Station¡¯s temperatures to decrease drastically. This was the hardest obstacle in nting tomatoes. ¡°Tang Yue, do you have any solutions to maintain the temperatures?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°But it¡¯s not something I can bother about. I¡¯ll just take it as ites, and hope to make a Hail Mary effort... The lowest temperature needed is 20¡ãC, right?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Tomatoes are nts that like warm temperatures. The best conditions are temperatures between 20 to 25¡ãC. However, it¡¯s fine if it¡¯s a little lower. It will just take longer to grow and bear fruit.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to give it a temperature of 20¡ãC.¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath and swept his gaze across everything in Kunlun Station. He was going to use whatever he could. He no longer cared if he wasted resources. At worst, he would drink less water and use less electricity in the future. ¡°But Tang Yue, the tomatoes will need at least two months to bear fruit from the time they are nted.¡± Mai Dong reminded him. ¡°What are you going to do during this two-month interim? If you don¡¯t replenish your body with Vitamin C, your physical condition will only worsen.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The tomatoes need time to grow, so I need to find a temporary source of vitamins.¡± ¡°A temporary source of vitamins?¡± Tang Yue nodded. He took out a packet ofpressed biscuits from the cab and shook it at the camera. ¡°It¡¯s this.¡± Chapter 110: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Unintentional Actions May Bring Unexpected Success

Chapter 110: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Unintentional Actions May Bring Unexpected Sess

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Compressed... biscuits?¡± Tang Yue nodded. He moved the remainingpressed biscuits from the cab and piled them onto the table. The pile reached a height taller than Tang Yue. They were to be Tang Yue¡¯s main source of food in theing months for he had finished up all the soft bread and canned food. The fruits and vegetables that had a shorter shelf life had been finished first, followed by meat, noodles, and other reconstituted food. Back when Tomcat and Tang Yue sent supplies to the space station, they were inclined to give the tastier canned food to Mai Dong, a showcase of the Chinese culture¡¯s time-cherished tradition of selflessness. Now, Kunlun Station only had these hard and heavypressed biscuits of different vors¡ªred-braised beef, pickled vegetables, prawn and fishcake, mushroom-stewed chicken. But in fact, they all tasted the same. They were as hard as bricks and could be used as a murder weapon. One piece was enough to fill Tang Yue¡¯s stomach, and it was also the main culprit of Tang Yue¡¯s constipation. The early missions of the Mars project had food that followed the style of military ration packs. They were high in calories, small-sized, portable, and had long shelf lives. They included spam, chocte, energy bars, andpressed biscuits. There was also chewing gum that helped the consumer maintain calm, but due to the terrible taste, it was unanimously boycotted by all the astronauts. Some people called it ¡°diet food¡± out of jest, so inter missions, such food items were eliminated and no longer mainstream. Many of thepressed biscuits in Kunlun Station were a result of history. No one wished to eat them, but spending the effort to take them back to Earth was too troublesome. Therefore, they were left on the station as emergency supplies. Whoever wanted to eat them could eat them; after all, they had a shelf life of decades. ¡°Compressed biscuits contain Vitamin C?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°In theory, no.¡± Tang Yue weighed thepressed biscuit in his hand. ¡°Mai Dong, what¡¯s Vitamin C?¡± The girl subconsciously replied, ¡°Ascorbic acid?¡± ¡°L-ascorbic acid.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Vitamin C isn¡¯t stable by itself. It can only survive in an ascorbic environment, but it¡¯s easily exposed to oxygen in the air. And the raw ingredients in thepressed biscuits contain sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. The creation process ces them in an ascorbic environment. They will also experience high-temperature baking to eliminate any germs. Therefore, normallypressed biscuits do not contain any Vitamin C.¡± ¡°Normally...pressed biscuits?¡± Mai Dong noticed the out-of-ce term. If there were normallypressed biscuits, did it mean that there were abnormallypressed biscuits? ¡°That¡¯s right. Normallypressed biscuits do not contain Vitamin C, but the idiots at the nutrition center back then began producing abnormalpressed biscuits.¡± Tang Yue picked among the pile of biscuits. ¡°Mai Dong, do you know Yang? Cryptic Yang? Cryptic Yang? Mai Dong frowned. What kind of name is that? Were his parents cryptographic programmers who had suffered brain damage because of all kinds of software bugs? ¡°Cryptic Yang is that guy who kept moring about making Swedish herring canned food mixed in Sparkling Oldendia Water.¡± Mai Dong was enlightened. She knew the man once Tang Yue had said that. Although she had never heard his name, this man¡¯s name was infamous. He was a legend in the nutrition center who had purchased a wall worth of Swedish herring canned food and another wall worth of Sparkling Oldendia Water. He spent all day in hisboratory, wearing a gas mark and using an electronic bnce to measure the fish meat. It resulted in the building stinking in a way that was so bad that people began theorizing that the man was trying to create biological weapons. ¡°Yang told me that his mentor was once in charge of a project. The topic was to use cold treatment to ensure the nutrients in thepressed biscuits are preserved. The nutrition center then used this method to produce biscuits.¡± Tang Yue tried hard to recall. ¡°I remember Yang¡¯s words were... ¡°The old man developed a new process to producepressed biscuits in an acidic environment without using any high temperatures... In the future, you can save on multivitamin pills.¡¯¡± ¡°They managed to preserve the vitamins in the biscuits?¡± ¡°Not only did they preserve the vitamins in the biscuits, they even stuffed all the micronutrients the human body needs in them. They created a nutritious biscuit that¡¯s convenient for consumption.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°But the facts proved that it was a n that had been taken for granted. The project eventually failed.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because they tasted nasty. The cold-treated biscuits didn¡¯t undergo the puffing processing, so everyone who ate them said that it was like eating brick powder. Not only were they nasty, but it was also painful for the teeth. They would rather consume multivitamin pills than eat these so-called nutritious biscuits,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°In fact, there was no need to stuff all the micronutrients into the biscuits. The development of space food was working towards being varied and diversified, so this project was doomed to failure from the beginning. It¡¯s said that this project was spearheaded by CNSA, so to save face, they bit the bullet and continued.¡± Mai Dong nodded. It was quite understandable. Nothing was more important than face. ¡°After the production of cold-treated biscuits seeded, they entered the food menu of the Mars¡¯s project astronauts. They were sent onto the Orion and were used as a supply for micronutrients and vitamins needed. The higher-ups even suggested not providing any multivitamins but were met with fervent objection from the ground. Someone even made the im that if they were made to eat these things, they would refuse to carry out the mission,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°As a result, the cold-treated biscuits were quickly discontinued after all theints. Later, the importance of thepressed biscuits became lesser and lesser, until it was left out of the astronauts¡¯ food menu. No one cared about these biscuits after that...¡± ¡°Such bad-tasting food actually managed to win the bid?¡± Mai Dong found it incredulous. She was a neer, so she had never eaten these biscuits that had earned such opposition. ¡°It¡¯s because the factory had ties with someone from the logistics department. There was a strong conflict of interest. Back then, cold-treated biscuits were even considered a key innovation project backed by the country. The people working under this project managed to get more than 10 million yuan in funding,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°After this matter was exposed, the top brass of the corporation were thrown into jail for charges of bribery as well as havingrge sums of cash from unknown sources. It was said that the amount far exceeded 200 million yuan.¡± Mai Dong was rmed. As a mere member of the expedition team, to hear of such gossip about Earth on a space station hundreds of millions of kilometers away in Martian orbit gave her the feeling of being an objective spectator. The various conflicts of interest that involved the Marsnding project was something that she had heard about, but she hadn¡¯t paid too much attention to them. To Mai Dong, the Mars project was a resplendent pearl of human civilization¡¯s development¡ªa grand milestone. But to certain people on Earth, the Mars project was equivalent to a massive gold mine, a chance for them to get rich overnight. Just siphoning ten-thousandth of the benefits was enough to have themughing to the bank. Beneath any grand miracle were squirming maggots and darkness. Not everyone looked towards the starry heavens. Mai Dong patted her cheeks as she got back on topic. ¡°You mean that a portion of these biscuits contains Vitamin C? The discontinued cold-treated biscuits?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± ¡°Where are those biscuits?¡± Mai Dong asked. Tang Yue pointed at the pile ofpressed biscuits on the table. ¡°Inside Kunlun Station. They¡¯re here, right in front of me!¡± Tang Yue circled the table quickly as he pressed his index fingers into his temples, trying his best to recall. ¡°Let me think! Let me think! The cold-treatedpressed biscuits have short shelf lives. When were theymissioned for use? When was it... I left Earth in early 2052. Back then, Yang told me it was six years ago! Cold-treatedpressed biscuits were officially used in the Mars projects six years ago. So that¡¯s 2046!¡± ¡°The project was discontinued after two years. They were then abandoned, and the production ofpressed biscuits returned to normal after that. That is to say that all the biscuits that were made in China from 2046 to 2048 were all made using the cold-treated process!¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Which Mars mission was it between 2046 and 2048?¡± ¡°The eleventhnding mission happened in March 2047. It was the fourth flight of the Orion. That was the final construction mission for the science station.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s thepressed biscuits brought from the eleventhnding mission that I want!¡± To be frank, finding vitamins inpressed biscuits was an idea Tang Yue hade up with on a whim. He suddenly recalled his idle conversation with Yang at the nutrition center. Back then, they were having a meal together, and Tang Yue was only listening unintentionally. He didn¡¯t expect that conversation to save his life. It was truly a case of unintentional actions bringing about unexpected sess. Chapter 111: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Biscuits and Coal

Chapter 111: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Biscuits and Coal

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue began selecting thepressed biscuits that met the criteria. ced in front of him was practically all the food in Kunlun Station. Under ideal conditions, thesepressed biscuits would have allowed him to survive eight hundred sols. This was the number that Tomcat had calcted back when it was distributing the supplies. It was unknown what it was thinking back when it was doing the calction. Thest two human lives in the Universe were held in its paws, and whoever received an additional biscuit lived another day. This robot cat had yed the role of God, cing Tang Yue and Mai Dong on two ends of a scale to measure their lives¡¯ importance. The production date of thepressed biscuits in Kunlun Station was nonuniform. The oldest batch went all the way back to the ninthnding mission, 2042 from ten years ago. The Orion had just beenmissioned back then, and it was the first time a Chinese astronaut had boarded the spacecraft as Mission Commander. It is worth mentioning that the Commander was Tang Yue¡¯s teacher, the present deputy director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Li Yang. He was said to be an elite of the PLA Air Force¡¯s 1st Fighter Aviation Division. Tang Yue sat on the edge of the table while a cardboard box was ced by his feet. He checked each biscuit packaging for its production date, ced those that met his criteria beside him and threw those which didn¡¯t into the box. ¡°June 2041... Nope. ¡°August 2044... Nope. ¡°February 2051... Nope.¡± Tang Yue casually pulled out a packet from the pile of biscuits. ¡°Production date: July 2046. China Astronaut Research and Training Center... This is it!¡± ¡°How much Vitamin C do these cold-treated biscuits contain?¡± ¡°No idea. It¡¯s hard to tell.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. He waved thepressed biscuit in his hand at the camera. ¡°The packaging says that each biscuit contains 120 grams of Vitamin C, but in reality, it¡¯s definitely not that much. Cold-treated biscuits were failed products. The amount of Vitamin C contained in them will keep dropping with time. Back then, Cryptic Yang showed me a table... I think it drops 25% every two years on average.¡± Mai Dong did a rough count. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that the biscuits have already lost 75% of their Vitamin C?¡± ¡°Possibly. Therefore, there aren¡¯t many vitamins in these biscuits, and can only be used to tide me through.¡± Tang Yue continued the selection. He didn¡¯t know how many of thepressed biscuits in Kunlun Station met the requirement, and based on the present situation, it was best that he had as many as possible. Tang Yue muttered the production date on the packaging as he threw plenty of biscuits into the box. Beads of perspiration oozed out of his forehead while he did so. ¡°2051, 2044, 2044... More 2044...¡± When Mai Dong saw the number of biscuits beside Tang Yue¡¯s hand increase in number, she felt her heart tense up. This was a matter of life and death. The more cold-treatedpressed biscuits there were, the more Vitamin C there could be. It would give Tang Yue more time to live. ¡°How do you n on collecting the Vitamin C in these biscuits when the timees?¡± the girl asked. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to eat them all, right?¡± Based on Tang Yue¡¯s exnation, the cold-treatedpressed biscuits contained less than 30 grams of Vitamin C. An adult needed 100¨C120 grams of Vitamin C a day, and more was needed on Mars. Furthermore, Tang Yue¡¯s body was on the brink of sumbing to scurvy, so he needed to consume at least 200¨C300 grams of Vitamin C a day. If Tang Yue were to solely rely on eating biscuits to replenish his vitamins, it would require him to each ten a day. It would definitely kill him. ¡°Of course not by eating them. Do you think I¡¯m a machine that burns carbohydrates? To eat more than ten a day, are you adding charcoal to a furnace?¡± Tang Yue pped the bricks ced to his hand. ¡°With so manypressed biscuits, eating them would kill me. I¡¯ll need to extract the vitamins!¡± ¡°Extract?¡± ¡°Yes, do you still remember the traits of ascorbic acid?¡± Tang Yue smiled with clenched teeth. ¡°It happens to be the easiest vitamin that can be extracted!¡± ¡°Ascorbic acid is easily soluble in water... Are you saying that Vitamin C is soluble?¡± Mai Dong frowned. ¡°You want to extract the Vitamin C from the biscuits using water? But Vitamin C solution isn¡¯t stable at all. It easily gets oxidized.¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t understand why Tang Yue was iming that ascorbic acid was the easiest vitamin to extract. In fact, it was the opposite. Vitamin C solution was easily oxidized, and the reducibility was extremely strong. There was no way it could stably exist. To extract Vitamin C inboratory conditions, one needed to add hydrochloric acid or oxalic acid. ¡°On Earth, extracting Vitamin C isn¡¯t simple, because of the existence of air. Air will quickly oxidize and damage the ascorbic acid, butss, use that tiny brain of yours. Where am I?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the camera and tapped on the girl¡¯s forehead. ¡°I won¡¯t be extracting the Vitamin C in Kunlun Station, but in the garage... What¡¯s mostcking over there is oxygen. With nothing to react with the Vitamin C, it won¡¯t be a problem to extract it.¡± Mai Dong pped her hands in amazement. ¡°Come on, you were some schr from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Why didn¡¯t you think of this?¡± Tang Yue smiled. The girl pouted her lips. It wasn¡¯t that Mai Dong hadn¡¯t thought of it, but that her train of thought had been derailed from the beginning. With her mind nk, there was no way for her to think normally. Tang Yue had suddenly informed her that he was dying, and that had given her a fright. She hadn¡¯t even recovered from the shock yet. Tang Yue spent the entire morning selecting all thepressed biscuits that were produced between 2046 to 2048. There were a total of 96 pieces, and ording to the calction that each piece had 30 grams of Vitamin C, 96 pieces contained a total of 2880 grams. ¡°If I provide myself with 200 grams of Vitamin C a day, these biscuits are enough tost me 14 days.¡± Tang Yue pondered for a moment. ¡°If I supply myself with 200 grams of Vitamin C every two days, these biscuits canst me a month.¡± The cold-treatedpressed biscuits didn¡¯t contain much Vitamin C, and the time it took to grow the tomatoes was about two months. He was still short by a month. ¡°Forget it. So what if I¡¯m short by a month. At worst, I¡¯ll just lower the amount of Vitamin C I receive a day. I won¡¯t die in a month anyway.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°He took the measuring cylinder from the rack and counted six blocks ofpressed biscuits. He threw them into a water trough, along with a metal rod he nned to use as a pestle. He then tore off a roll of gauze from the first-aid kit, used the measuring cylinder to measure half a liter of water, screwed tight the cup¡¯s lid, and threw them all into the water trough. Finally, Tang Yue removed the instion nket around him, wrapped the water trough in it and took down the Radiant Armor. ¡°Mai Dong, I¡¯ll be heading out to extract the Vitamin C. You continue searching for Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue crawled into the Radiant Armor, contacting Mai Dong as he inspected the EVA suit. ¡°Tell me if you discover anything.¡± ¡°Okay, got it.¡± Tang Yue clumsily bent down, hugged the water trough in his arms, surveyed the area, and paused for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out. Bye.¡± Chapter 112: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Flowers in Bloom

Chapter 112: Sol Hundred and Twelve, Flowers in Bloom

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue opened the door to the garage. As the Mars Wanderer had been driven away by Tomcat, the garage was mostly empty. It was perfect for a workshop. Tang Yue ced the water trough on the ground, then returned to carry the RTG over. The conditions in Kunlun Station were extremely limited, so Tang Yue could only use what was avable to him. He sat on the ground with the RTG in front of him. He then covered himself with arge instion nket, forming a simple tent with him as the supporting rod. This was to ensure that the thermals were maintained since the RTG¡¯s heat wouldn¡¯t disperse that easily within the small space of the nket. The water trough,pressed biscuits, te, water cup, measuring cylinder, rod, and gauze were ced in front of Tang Yue. Due to the poor lighting in the garage, Tang Yue had switched on the heamps of the Radiant Armor. Tang Yue had brought sixpressed biscuits. Under ideal conditions, these biscuits could provide him with 180 grams of Vitamin C. But as there weren¡¯t many, it wasn¡¯t enough tost him until the tomatoes bore fruit. Therefore, Tang Yue had to n the rationing of the Vitamin C over the next two months. He prepared to replenish his body with 200 grams of Vitamin C every day for theing week. This would expend about 47 biscuits, using up about half of the total. However, this was forced by his circumstances. His physical condition was in a terrible state. He already had serious ulcers in his mouth. If he didn¡¯t supply his body with Vitamin C as soon as possible, he wouldn¡¯t be able to eat any longer. Tang Yue unwrapped thepressed biscuits¡¯ packaging which took him quite a bit of effort. The Radiant Armor¡¯s gloves made it inconvenient for any intricate tasks. ¡°Where¡¯s that darn cat? Where did it go?¡± Tang Yue threw a hard piece of biscuit into the empty water trough. ¡°Where did you go... Why aren¡¯t you back?¡± He recalled the letter sent by the warlord, Qian Liu, in the Tang dynasty to his wife who had returned to visit her parents. In the letter were the words: ¡°Flowers in bloom; I¡¯ll be right here waiting 1.¡± Later critics noted that despite being short, it was infinitely elegant and that nothing could exceed such a male literary figure. If Tang Yue were to write to Tomcat, the writing would definitely be filled with deep feelings, just like Qian Liu. A few words would be enough to stir the soul. He would write: ¡°F**k you! Tomcat, you a**hole!¡± Even though there were only four stars, all the intense feelings contained within poured out in an inundating manner. ¡°Tang Yue, we¡¯vepleted a total of 5,000 satellite photos.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really an incredible breakthrough. Congrattions on youpleting 5% of everything. Any discoveries?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Humph.¡± After putting the sixpressed biscuits into the water trough, Tang Yue needed to smash them into pieces before soaking them in water. To be honest, this was quite a waste of food. The biscuits already tasted horrendous in their original packaging. Now, by crushing them and soaking them, the taste would be unimaginable. Tang Yue smashed the biscuits with all his might until they were in pieces. All the crumbs were caught by a te. After they had beenpletely smashed, he used a rod to crush them as much as he could before carefully pouring them into the measuring cylinder... Tang Yue could only pour a portion of the powder into the measuring cylinder because thetter had limited capacity. He also needed to leave enough space for the water. Therefore, Tang Yue decided to split the extracting of the Vitamin C into six. ¡°Tang Yue, do you think Tomcat¡¯s disappearance has something to do with Earth¡¯s disappearance?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Think about it. Earth vanished overnight. Mr. Cat also vanished overnight. Could they have vanished for the same reason?¡± Mai Dong suggested. ¡°I discussed with Tomcat the reason for Earth¡¯s disappearance a long time ago. We didn¡¯t manage toe to a conclusion.¡± Tang Yue shook his head as he gently crushed the biscuits. ¡°It told me that to date, there is nothing within the confines of human knowledge that can make the Earth vanish silently and without any traces. Finally, we had no choice but to relegate it to some unknown natural phenomena, or some advanced extraterrestrial civilization... Are you implying that Tomcat fell into a wormhole or was abducted by aliens?¡± Mai Dong fell into deep thought. Very clearly, these two theories weren¡¯t reliable at all. They werepletely established on imagination with no value for reference. ¡°Stop thinking nonsense. That darn cat is probably in some ditch after getting into an ident.¡± Tang Yue picked up the measuring cylinder, shook it vigorously and brought it close to his eyes for inspection so check that no impurities that had got in. Tang Yue¡¯s actions were rather cautious. He had cleaned up the garage to prevent any external objects from entering the measuring cylinder or water trough. In Kunlun Station, anything that entered the mouth needed to be strictly sterilized, but Tang Yue could no longer meet that requirement. He could only try his best to maintain the cleanliness. Tang Yue removed the cup¡¯s lid and poured the water into the measuring cylinder. As the water sloshed in, the biscuit powder mixed with the water into an earthly-yellow mush that looked like mud. The starch in thepressed biscuits began to dissolve into the water while the insoluble particles were left suspended in the solution. Tang Yue gently shook the measuring cylinder to mix it well, allowing bubbles to float to the surface. He wanted to extract the Vitamin C from the biscuits, and the only solvent he could use was water. As long as he soaked the biscuits inside for a period of time, the Vitamin C would dissolve into the water. Then, after filtering, it would be separated from the biscuits. If such a method was used on Earth, the Vitamin C would have been oxidized by the air during the dissolving and mixing stage. It would have been impossible to extract it. However, such considerations didn¡¯t exist on Mars. The Martian atmosphere was thin and didn¡¯t have any oxygen, allowing the Vitamin C to be perfectly preserved. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve previously thought of the possibilities of aliens.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought of it as well. But I¡¯ve had so many ideas. I even thought of trying to get into Tsinghua University to hook up with its school belle, but most of my ideas were just a pipe dream.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°If aliens were really the ones who abducted Tomcat, there¡¯s no need for us to search any further. By now, he might have already flown out of the Sr System.¡± ¡°Are aliens a pipe dream?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°When you failed your exams when you were little, would you pray for aliens to help you change your results?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never failed.¡± Tang Yue choked. ¡°Alright, when you split up with your ex-boyfriend, would you wish for aliens to descend to headshot that scum?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never had a boyfriend.¡± Tang Yue choked once again. ¡°Then, when you encounter something unlucky, such as losing a kitten or puppy, would you think that aliens were the ones behind its disappearance?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°There you have it.¡± Tang Yue threw up his hands. ¡°Since you don¡¯t think that aliens will abduct your dog, why would you think that aliens have abducted our cat? Besides, this is a talkative cat, the kind that people might not want even if you paid them to have it... Could it be that just because you are on Mars, there¡¯s a higher chance of encountering alien lifeforms? If I was an alien, I¡¯d definitely be more interested in Earth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why Earth vanished?¡± Mai Dong asked out of the blue. Tang Yue was taken aback. The girl¡¯s question left him shocked. ¡°Okay, enough of the idle chatter. I¡¯ll be filtering the vitamin solution in a minute. Don¡¯t disturb me.¡± He ced the measuring cylinder on the floor as the turbid liquid began to separate. The insoluble solid particles slowly deposited, forming a very clear line between the liquid and the precipitate. He carefully tilted the measuring cylinder and poured the earthly-yellow, translucent liquid into the water cup. Following that, the measuring cylinder was left with biscuit mush that resembled mud. At this moment, the gauze came into y. Tang Yue wrapped the measuring cylinder with manyyers of gauze as a filter. He then overturned it above the measuring cylinder to pour out the remaining solution. This process was very slow. It took about an hour for all the liquid to drip down. Tang Yue didn¡¯t have any mping apparatus, so he had to rely on his hand. All that time he needed to maintain a fixed posture, causing his back to hurt. He had no choice but to pause for a break to stretch his limbs. After gravity had fully pulled down all the stray liquid, there was a chunk of moist mud in the measuring cylinder... Tang Yue poured the mud onto the gauze, tied it up, and then wrapped the entire thing with a waterproof stic sheet. Then, he pressed down hard, causing the water to drip down the stic sheet¡¯s hole into the cup. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t willing to waste any bit of water; therefore, he tried his best to squeeze out all the moisture from the biscuit mush. He squeezed it into all kinds of shapes like dough. The final oue was a strangely-shaped cookie, as well as 300 milliliters of brownish-yellow solution. From this oue, Tang Yue¡¯s efficiency was rather high. He had poured in about 300 milliliters of water and had managed to filter out 300 milliliters of Vitamin C solution. There wasn¡¯t too much wastage. Of course, the solution not only contained Vitamin C, but also any other easily soluble ingredients in thepressed biscuits. Tang Yue let out a long sigh of relief. His initial attempts for extraction had seeded. If not for him being outside, preventing him from opening his visor, he might have immediately tried the taste of the muddy water. The water trough still had a portion of biscuits. Tang Yue pumped himself up, for he wanted to extract all the Vitamin C before it was dark. Chapter 113: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Shit Creates a Beautiful World

Chapter 113: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Shit Creates a Beautiful World

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Cold-treatedpressed biscuits were only a temporary source of Vitamin C. They helped resolve Tang Yue¡¯s pressing situation, but they weren¡¯t a long-term solution. The really sustainable source of Vitamin C was fresh vegetables and fruits. Mai Dong had patted her chest and confidently assured Tang Yue that the tomato seeds on Kunlun Station were the best kinds. They had short growth periods, were disease resistant, rich in nutrients, and its seeds which had a high survival rate could be used for renting. Tang Yue silently looked at her chest and showed some doubt... He wasn¡¯t sure if Mai Dong¡¯s assurance was as negligible as her bust size. After drinking the extracted Vitamin C solution, Tang Yue felt his physical condition improve. His body was brimming with energy, so he tried out his newfound strength. With a loud roar, he chopped at the table... The next second, he was tumbling on the ground holding his hand, while writhing in pain. ¡°Ouch, why did I do that? It hurts so much¡ª¡± In fact, Tang Yue also knew that it was likely a cebo effect. Even if his body had been replenished with Vitamin C, the effects wouldn¡¯t have shown that quickly. He still needed to drink a week¡¯s worth of vitamin liquid before his physical condition would show any signs of improvement. Today¡¯s breakfast was naturally the wrecked biscuits from yesterday. After a night¡¯s worth of ¡°neglect y 1 ,¡± the earthly-yellow mush had already dried up into a hard irregr chunk. There were even five clear fingerprints on it. Tang Yue frowned as he sat in front of the table for twenty minutes, lost as to how to eat it. ¡°Tang Yue, are you cold?¡± ¡°Yes, the cold is killing me.¡± Tang Yue trembled. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe over and hug me? We can gain warmth from each other. It¡¯s said that women have higher body temperatures than men.¡± ¡°You are better off freezing to death.¡± ¡°How ruthless.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips as he tightened his clothes. ¡°Are you going to continue nting tomatoes today?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°How are the seeds that had been vernalized?¡± ¡°They are still around. I¡¯ve protected them very well. All the seeds have protruded.¡± Tang Yue returned to his quarters and took out the cassette from his sleeping bag. It was a tiny greenhouse. The ten seeds that had germinated previously were sitting silently in the gauze within the greenhouse. On the night the OGS¡¯s temperature control malfunctioned, Tang Yue had started protecting these seeds. He had made a simple modification of the cassette, and had installed a tiny light bulb inside. He had connected it to a wire and battery, using materials that weremonly found in Kunlun Station. The light bulb provided the seeds with light and warmth. Tang Yue would even use a pipette to drip a few drops of water to the gauze every day to ensure the moisture. Tang Yue poured out the seeds from the cassette, and thanks to his meticulous care over the past few days, the sprouts were still alive. ¡°Since the seeds are fine, let¡¯s take a look at the fertilizer.¡± Tang Yue nodded. He lifted a container filled with fertilizer onto the desk. After the long period of fermentation, the feces were ready for the limelight. The moment the lid was opened, the rich smell of life inundated him. As Tang Yue was too close, he instantly lost his sense of smell. He felt groggy as he stumbled backward. He put on threeyers of masks before putting on a helmet. The container¡¯s fertilizer was brownish-ck in color. Tang Yue found a rod to stir it, and clearly, the fermentation had been effective. Even though they were on Mars, the microbes in feces remained cooperative. When Mai Dong caught sight of it, she said that it looked like a container of sauce... Thedy¡¯s bad habit of using food as an analogy remained. ¡°Remember to test the soil¡¯s pH values,¡± Mai Dong reminded. Tang Yue took out a pH strip and roughly tested for the soil¡¯s pH value. ¡°Hmm... It¡¯s about 7.2. Neutral.¡± ¡°OK! This number is perfect. You can nt the seeds. Remember to bury the kernel root downwards,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°However, I suggest that you heat up the soil before you nt them. The most suitable temperature for tomato roots to grow in is when the soil is approximately 20¡ãC. Raising the temperature can facilitate the roots¡¯ growth.¡± Tang Yue moved a stand and a heating machine over. He then ced the water trough over it, filled it up halfway with water, to heat up the fertilizer using a water bath. Tang Yue vaguely remembered his middle school chemistry teacher repeatedly emphasizing that water troughs were not to be heated up. What Tang Yue was doing was strictly against the safety regtions of aboratory, but Tang Yue no longer cared about all the rules and regtions. Unless his chemistry teacher was to appear outside Kunlun Station, no one was stopping him from directly heating the water trough. In fact, at this point in time, Tang Yue had a frivolous feeling. If Kunlun Station was a microwave, he even had thoughts of cooking two grapes in it 1 . It was quite impossible to heat the soil in the container to 20¡ãC precisely with Kunlun Station¡¯s conditions. This was because soil wasn¡¯t a good conductor of heat. He could heat the sides of the container, but the inner areas would remain at a low temperature. Therefore, Tang Yue used short bouts of heating as he stared at the thermometer, raising the average temperature of the fertilizer slowly. By the time the thermometer¡¯s reading stabilized at 30¡ãC, Tang Yue took out the container from the water bath and left it to the side to cool. Following that, he threw the second container into the water bath. ¡°When the tomatoes are growing, it¡¯s best if the environmental temperature is about 25¡ãC. In addition, take note of the light. Tomatoes are most suited to light of 30,000 to 50,000 lx.¡± ¡°Lux?¡± ¡°Light¡¯s unit of illuminance and luminous emittance. One lumen of light projected evenly on a square meter is one lux,¡± Mai Dong gave the standard answer. ¡°When we are outside, the sunlight we see has about 50,000 lux.¡± Having learned that tidbit, he observed the fertilizer container and thermometer in the water bath. ¡°That is to say, it¡¯s best if I provide the tomatoes the illumination of normal sunlight on Earth?¡± ¡°Yes, and you need to take note of the amount of time they are exposed to light. The tomatoes need to have at least eleven hours of light a day. This will allow them to grow faster.¡± Tang Yue scratched his head. ¡°These guys sure are high-maintenance. They are harder to serve than a man like me.¡± ¡°You have to remember that right in front of you is the mostplex and frailest, yet miraculous life construction in the world. They are the oue of millions of years of evolution. There were nts everywhere on Earth, so you thought nothing about tomatoes back then,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°But on Mars, look out the window. It¡¯s just an endless swath of desert. Look at the cold and infinite space... More than 99% of the world is made up of inorganic substances. Don¡¯t you think that life is a rare miracle?¡± ¡°Not only do I find life a miracle, I even find sh*t a miracle.¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair as he stared at the fertilizer container in the water bath. ¡°I once felt that sh*t was something disgusting... How unbelievable it is. What was my brain thinking? Why would I hate something so adorable? This is the source of valuable life!¡± Mai Dong was taken aback. ¡°To be frank, if we can return to Earth, I¡¯ll be willing to be a nightman,¡± Tang Yue said in all seriousness as he waved his fingers, lost in his wild and fanciful thoughts while his tone revealed envy. ¡°Think about it, endless amounts of sh*t... What a beautiful world that would be.¡± Chapter 114: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Tomorrow Will Be Better

Chapter 114: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Tomorrow Will Be Better

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong could understand Tang Yue. She had already forgotten the feeling of being able to eat and drink as she did on Earth. On the United Space Station, her daily intake had to be restricted. Recently, Mai Dong¡¯s dreams would mostly be about eating¡ªfried chicken, ham, shrimp, and fish¡ªbut all the food that entered her mouth tasted like wax, dull and tasteless. When she woke up in horror, she would realize that she had forgotten what food tasted like. As for Tang Yue, he was living amidst feces every day in Kunlun Station, so he naturally viewed the pittance inside the containers as valuable. He also missed the inexhaustible feces found on Earth. He wanted to swim in a pool of feces! He wanted to jump in to swim in it! After Tang Yue had finished heating the fertilizer, he poured it all into a water trough. Back then, he and Tomcat had prepared enough soil to fill two water troughs. These would be the hotbeds for the tomato seeds. ¡°So I just nt the seeds next?¡± Tang Yue turned his head to seek Mai Dong¡¯s advice. ¡°Yeah.¡± The girl nodded. ¡°Go ahead and nt them.¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath as he prayed. Carefully, he used a pair of tweezers to nt the ten tomato seeds into the soil, his actions as gentle as a parent carrying his child. ¡°What do we do next?¡± ¡°Next...¡± Mai Dong paused. ¡°All that¡¯s left is to wait. And also pray!¡± ... In order to ensure that the tomatoes would grow normally, Tang Yue had to ensure that the nts remained in an environment of 25¡ãC. He had nned on using Kunlun Station¡¯s temperature control system, but with Tomcat not returning, there was no way to fix the temperature control processor. Therefore, Tang Yue could only manually use inelegant methods to keep these precious saplings warm. Tang Yue cleared out a spot in the Hab, brought over the manual antenna he had used three months ago and erected it there. When the parabolic dish antenna remained in an unfolded state, the antenna resembled an erect metal pole. It was best used as a support beam. Next was the RTG. With the temperature control system defunct, the RTG was thest thing keeping Tang Yue alive. He propped it up and ced it beside the antenna. ¡°Tang Yue, you are going to ce the RTG in Kunlun Station?¡± Mai Dong was a little worried. ¡°If... if I remember correctly, this thing produces radiation, right?¡± Tang Yue nodded and patted the circr beam, which was about half a meter tall. ¡°That¡¯s right. Its energyes from Plutonium-238. It emits very strong radiation.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that matter?¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It radiates alpha particles. They won¡¯t be able to prate the protectiveyer. On Earth, people ce it into the heart to work as a pacemaker.¡± Tang Yue ced the tomato trough close to the RTG, and then covered it with a stic sheet, creating a tent that nketed both. Then, he used all kinds of items to press down on the sides of the stic sheet... This greenhouse appeared very crude, but it was the best Tang Yue could manage. ¡°Can this guarantee the temperature?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Not yet.¡± Tang Yue pped his hands and turned to don the Radiant Armor. ¡°There¡¯s still plenty of work needed.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Light.¡± Tang Yue carried his toolbox and opened the hatch to the airlock. He then headed out of Kunlun Station to open the garage door. There was a series of high-pressure sodiummps on the ceiling of the garage. As they consumed a lot of power, they were usually shut down. However, these kinds of high-intensity light bulbs were perfect for providing the light needed by nts for photosynthesis. After Tang Yue shut down the power switch to the entire garage, he stuffed his entire set of tools into the bag by his chest. Then, he slowly climbed up the maintenancedder by the wall. At that height, he could reach for a light bulb simply by extending his hand. ¡°Tang Yue, are you in the garage?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded through the earpiece. ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue lifted his head and slowly drew in a breath. He worked hard to reach out and gently grab the light bulb. ¡°I¡¯m dismantling the light bulbs in the garage.¡± The high-pressure sodium light bulbs were tube-shaped. The outeryer was made of hard silica ss, but it was brittle. Therefore, Tang Yue was very careful. With a thick glove, it was often easy for him to exert excessive strength identally. Tang Yue removed tube after tube, stuffing them into the pocket on his chest before he slowly climbed down and ced them in his toolbox. Just the light bulbs alone were insufficient. High-pressure sodiummps couldn¡¯t be used directly in Kunlun Station. He still needed to set up ampstand, dismantling the wiring and current stabilizer. This was a massive task, so Tang Yue had brought scissors, hammers, and pliers. All kinds of screwdrivers and wrenches hung over him, upgrading the Radiant Armor to a home depot outfit. ¡°Will you be okay doing it alone?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to do it regardless.¡± Tang Yue panted. He had just removed two tight screws, dropping a section of the electric cable that was fixed to the ceiling. ¡°All the best, Tang Yue! I¡¯ll support you in spirit!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you give me some tangible help?¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°Damn it... why is this screwed so tight?¡± ¡°The problem is... How can I provide you tangible help? I¡¯m on the space station. It¡¯s not like I can give you a hand.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you sing a song?¡± Tang Yue gritted his teeth, removing the stuck screw. Then, he held onto thedder and gasped for breath. As he perspired profusely, he asked, ¡°Do you know how to sing?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± There was silence. Clearly, Mai Dong was in thought. ¡°How about ¡® Your Mother is Shining Along the Horizon ?¡¯¡± ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Tang Yue frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? It was the most popr song before Earth vanished. It¡¯s from that postmodern-styled music genius¡¯s new album. There¡¯s also ¡®Grandpa is Building a Nuke in the Basement ,¡¯ ¡® High School Teacher¡¯s Gatling .¡¯¡± Mai Dong exined. ¡°All the young people around me loved them.¡± ¡°You... You also like such music?¡± Tang Yue curled the corners of his lips. He couldn¡¯t imagine a schrly and quiet chick like Mai Dong listening to ¡± Grandpa is Building a Nuke in the Basement ¡± from a head-banging non-mainstream singer. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. I prefer absolute music and piano pieces.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°I thought you would like that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it either.¡± Tang Yue hurriedly shook his head. ¡°What I like is the old-school music before the music industry became a mess. I like the old-school songs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. Do you know that choral song, ¡® Tomorrow will be Better ?¡¯¡± Mai Dong thought for a moment before she hummed a few notes. ¡°Is it this one?¡± ¡°Yes! It¡¯s that one. Lightly knocking and waking up the soundly asleep heart and mind, slowly open up your eyes ... That line.¡± Tang Yue also hummed a few lines. ¡°Can you sing it? I haven¡¯t heard anyone sing in a long while.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Let me find somepanion music.¡± Slow and soothing music sounded in Tang Yue¡¯s earpiece. It was a very familiar prelude for him. Each note seemed to trample over his heart, making long-lost feelings return to him. Slowly, the girl¡¯s gentle voice sounded. ¡± Lightly knocking and waking up the soundly asleep heart and mind, slowly open up your eyes. Look at the busy world to see whether or not it is still lonely turning around and around non-stop .¡± Mai Dong wasn¡¯t very familiar with the song, so all she could do was follow the apaniment, resulting in her going off-tune in the first line. ¡± The spring wind doesn¡¯t understand the feelings and emotions, and it blows the heart of the youth .¡± Tang Yue leaned on thedder as he rested. He wasn¡¯t suited for physical activity thanks to the Radiant Armor. He turned his head to look out of the garage at the endless desert. He still remembered Tomcat heading out in that direction, but up to this day, it was nowhere to be seen. ¡± The sun called and woke up the morning, the grand earth reborn with splendor .¡± Mai Dong was still trying hard to follow the apaniment even if she had gone extremely off tune. Yet, she insisted on finishing the song. Thisdy sure is a gentle girl. Tang Yue grinned, but he couldn¡¯tugh even though he wanted to. All he could do was stuff the wrench into his bag and begin humming. ¡± Let the warm wind breeze out the sounding topose the musical chapters of life ...¡± Chapter 115: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Martian Agriculture

Chapter 115: Sol Hundred and Thirteen, Martian Agriculture

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon While holding his toolbox and carrying a huge roll of electric cables, Tang Yue returned to Kunlun Station. Mai Dong had finally finished singing the song. ¡°How was my singing?¡± the girl asked. ¡°That¡¯s not a question you should ask me.¡± Tang Yue closed the hatch to the airlock, turned around and waved his fingers. ¡°You should ask Voyager 1 about that.¡± Mai Dong was taken aback,pletely confused as to what he meant. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you were so out of tune that tone has gone all the way to the Kuiper belt.¡± Tang Yue shrugged as he detached the life support system on his back and got out of the Radiant Armor. ¡°Congrattions Miss Mai Dong, your singing has crossed a distance of 30 AU in two minutes. It¡¯s 114 times faster than light. It¡¯s definitely the fastest in the Milky Way.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s face flushed red as her embarrassment turned to anger. With a m, she switched off the camera, and themunications system instantly turned ck. ¡°Mai Dong?¡± There weren¡¯t any replies in the earpiece. ¡°Mai Dong? Mai Dong?¡± Tang Yue cut a portion of the electric cables in Kunlun Station, before dismantling the electric control panel. He needed to modify the circuitry in Kunlun Station, and bring the high-pressure sodiummps inside. Their system operating voltage was ipatible with the Kunlun Station¡¯s power system, preventing him from directly plugging them in. Thankfully, the required modifications were exactly what Tang Yue was trained in. He was a very skilled electrician. Tang Yue was not going to touch anything else, especially the OGS or theputer systems. ¡°Mai Dong? Mai Dong, say something.¡± From the looks of it, Mai Dong was determined to ignore him for some time, but Tang Yue knew that thisss was around because he could hear her breathing over thems. She was probably waiting for his apology. ¡°Mai Dong? Say something? It was my bad. I apologize. I shouldn¡¯t have said that your tone went so off-tune that it went to the Kuiper belt. In fact, you didn¡¯t go that far off-tune. It probably only reached Uranus¡¯s orbit¡­ Mai Dong? Mai Dong? Mai Dong?¡± Tang Yue unscrewed the front of the control panel, revealing theplicated circuitry inside. Faced with the plethora of colors, he shook his head, turned around, and took out the Kunlun Station¡¯s maintenance manual from a drawer. The girl was still ignoring him. Tang Yue scratched his head. Coaxing a girl was truly a centurial problem. ¡°Comrade Mai Dong. How¡¯s the search with the satellite photos? Please report your progress immediately. Have you found Tomcat? I repeat, please report your progress immediately! Have you found Tomcat?¡± ¡°¡­ No.¡± Mai Dong finally spoke, sounding infuriated. ¡°Isn¡¯t this cheating? Using official matters to get me to speak is really unfair and just abusing your power!¡± ¡­ Tang Yue coiled the electric cables on the antenna frame before leaving themps hanging from the top. The high-pressure sodiummps could provide sufficient illumination, aiding the nts in photosynthesis and providing them heat to maintain the ambient temperature. ¡°Hey, Tang Yue,¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Was¡­ my singing really that bad?¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually not bad. Your voice is nice, just that the tone wasn¡¯t precise.¡± Tang Yue knelt on the ground, adjusting the height of thempstand. After confirming that the tomatoes got most of the light, he said, ¡°You have a good foundation. Your voice is very clear, so you just need is to practice on your tone.¡± ¡°That sounds more reasonable.¡± The girl grunted. ¡°Don¡¯t install the illuminationmps too close to the nts, or the heat might just bake the sprouts. A distance of a meter to a meter and a half is more suitable.¡± Tang Yue turned the knob, raising the antenna frame high as he gently ced a bulb into its socket. With that, the greenhouse was basically done. The high-pressure sodiummps hung at the tent¡¯s apex, and beneath it were two water troughs with the tomato sprouts. In a while, Tang Yue would connect the power source to verify that the bulb worked properly. He would be finished if the bulb lit up, and there weren¡¯t any problems with the circuitry. ¡°Can this keep the temperatures warm?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Even if it¡¯s okay in the day, will itst through the night? Especially in the middle of the night when the temperature plunges.¡± ¡°With the RTG and the light bulbs, the source of the heat should be guaranteed. In a while, I¡¯ll also add a fewyers of clothes to keep it warm.¡± Tang Yue crawled out of the greenhouse, draped the nket over him, and circled around the fruits of hisbor. He had set up a tiny stic tent in the middle of the Hab. It was a traditional agriculture technique used on Earth. It was very primitive, but also very effective. The stic sheet could be used for heat instion, and the high-pressure sodiummps could provide enough light. The RTG would emit heat to maintain the temperatures. To nt tomatoes, Tang Yue had mobilized every possible resource. ¡°Next, let¡¯s see how it all works. I hope the bulb doesn¡¯t explode.¡± He walked to the side of the wall and switched on all the power. At the instant the electrical circuit was closed, the high-pressure sodium light bulb under the stic sheet flickered before emitting a blinding white light. Everything was working normally. The bulb was working normally, and the electrical cables didn¡¯t burn out. The Kunlun Station¡¯s power system didn¡¯t break, and all indicators remained in an ordinary range. ¡°Nice!¡± Tang Yue pped as he walked into the tomato greenhouse in excitement. ¡°God said, ¡®Let there be light: and there was light!¡¯ Look at this resplendent light¡­¡± Tang Yue suddenly fell silent. His body began to tremble violently as his facial muscles writhed. He kept repeating the same word in an indistinct manner, ¡°Power¡­ Power¡­ Power¡­¡± ¡°Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong was rmed seeing Tang Yue convulsing as if he was having a fit. He had been fine just a moment ago. The girl immediately imagined that Tang Yue had been electrocuted because of a mistake. He had been modifying the circuits in Kunlun Station, throwing all kinds of electric cables around. These electric cables might have reached all kinds of ces with thousands of voltage running through them. If Tang Yue hadn¡¯t cleared them up in time, he might have stepped on them. And one of them might have exposed. But why didn¡¯t Kunlun Station¡¯s circuit breaker trip? Could it be that Tang Yue¡¯s modifications had caused the safety switch to be ineffective? Mai Dong didn¡¯t have the time to consider the reasons. Tang Yue¡¯s limbs were shaking violently as he was unable to move away. Clearly, the electric current had numbed his muscles and nerves. Tang Yue rolled his eyes as his mouth couldn¡¯t even close. ¡°Tang Yue¡ª! Tang Yue¡ª!¡± Mai Dong lunged towards the screen as she screamed. Tears immediately welled in her eyes. Tang Yue suddenly lifted his leg. His mouth wasn¡¯t twisted anymore; neither were his eyes rolled back nor his limbs trembling. ¡°Tang¡­¡± The girl was stunned. ¡°I was pulling your leg.¡± Tang Yue stuck his tongue out at her. ¡°How was my acting? Great, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Tang¡­ You¡­ You¡­ You f**king¡­¡± Before Mai Dong came to her senses, she paused for a few seconds before realizing that the b*stard had pulled a prank on her. She immediately burst out intoughter, feeling both surprised and angry. She had even used vulgarities. ¡°How can a girl use vulgarities?¡± Tang Yue waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s too uncivilized. You are now representing all the females on the globe.¡± Mai Dong reached her hand out to switch off the video. ¡°Wait¡ª!¡± Tang Yue took one big stride forward, reaching out as though he was trying to stop her. He bellowed, ¡°My fairdy, we can always talk. Don¡¯t switch off the camera!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s hand paused. There were a few seconds of stillness as both parties locked their gazes as they fell silent. Mai Dong was the first one who burst outughing. Her eyes were red from crying. Tang Yue alsoughed out loud as theughter was contagious. Finally, the two of them wereughing while holding their bellies. ¡°Hahaha¡­ Tang Yue, you *sshole¡­ Why didn¡¯t you get electrocuted to death? Hahahaha¡­¡± Chapter 116: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, Seven Heroes of Wudang

Chapter 116: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, Seven Heroes of Wudang

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue snapped awake in the middle of the night as he reached his hand out to get an idea of the ambient temperature. He got up and dressed, drew the curtains to his quarters as a biting cold rushed at him. Tang Yue trembled. Kunlun Station was dim and silent. Themunications system was still online, but Mai Dong wasn¡¯t in the Crystal module. She was likely sleeping. The stic tent was propped up in the middle of the Hab. Over the stic sheet were nkets and cloth, and the light from the blinding high-pressure sodiummps was seeping out of the cracks in the nket covering. Theputer monitor on the desk was ck. The clock was flickering a red light every second. Tang Yue walked over, crouched beside the greenhouse and through the stic sheet, which was covered in dew, he could see the water troughs on the floor. Inside the water troughs were the tomato sprouts. Their white kernels were buried in the soil as a light green tender leaf tenaciously stood out. Tang Yue lost himself looking at the tomato sprout and he suddenly realized why Mai Dong gave names to the nts. For the longest time, he believed that he was an advanced creature with intelligence. He had already left the primal world and was nothingparable to lowly nts. But in fact, it was just humans putting themselves on a pedestal. Only now that he was on the Martian desert and facing the Universe alone did Tang Yue realize that he was no different from the tiny tomato sprout. If the Universe had supreme intelligence, would it believe that Tang Yue was more advanced than a tomato? In the eyes of nature, perhaps there wasn¡¯t any difference. ¡°ording to usual practice, I should give you a name,¡± Tang Yue said to the tomato. ¡°What should I name you? Washington? Roosevelt? Kennedy? Or Nixon?¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Tang Yue thought for a moment as he pped his thigh. ¡°From today, you¡¯ll be named Zhang Wuji 1 !¡± The tomato sprout didn¡¯t respond, its thoughts were unknown. The other sprout that had revealed itself was named Yang Dingtian 1 by Tang Yue. Tang Yue crawled into the greenhouse and hugged the two water troughs tightly. He used his body temperature to warm these tomato sprouts, worried that the heat produced by the RTG and high-pressure sodiummps was insufficient for the nts to withstand the cold Martian night. Tang Yue sat on the floor, hugging them as he began droning on. ¡°Wuji... Quickly grow up... Be strong, bloom, and have fruit. Your master, Golden Haired Lion King 1 , is still in the hands of those darn monks at Shaolin Temple and awaiting your rescue...¡± The high-pressure sodiummps cast a shadow of the man onto the stic sheet as he hugged the water troughs as though he was hugging his children. This was the only beacon in the pitch-ck Martian desert, tiny but bright. ... ¡°This is United Space Station. Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy... This is United Space Station. Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy.¡± The Mars United Space Station was sweeping across the Isidis nitia at an average speed of 3,500 m/s. The high-gain antenna was directed to the surface, and the girl¡¯s voice was captured by an electret¡¯s carbon membrane. This converted into a digital signal before being amplified and sent into an electromaic signal that the antenna broadcast onto the Martian surface. A vacuum didn¡¯t allow the transmission of voice, but electromaic waves didn¡¯t need a medium. They were able to carry the information to pass through the void and reach distant spots. Mai Dong pressed down on her earpiece. ¡°This is United Space Station. Kunlun Station, please answer if you copy.¡± ¡°This is Kunlun Station. I copy you five-on-five.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, the satellite image recognition has reached Number 7,750. We have already scoured an area of 1,550,000 square meters to no avail. Do we continue the search?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I can¡¯t find Mr. Cat or contact the Chelomey.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way you can contact the Chelomey. That¡¯s because it needs to be shut down while transporting it over. Therefore, Tomcat had switched it off from the very beginning. It wouldn¡¯t be able to receive anymands.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°That cat must have eloped with the Mars Wanderer. Who knows, it might have had a litter of kittens by now... However, we still need to find it. If that cat doesn¡¯t return, I¡¯ll have to get used to living alone.¡± Today was the sixth sol since Tomcat¡¯s disappearance. To be honest, it was possible for Tang Yue to live on alone. He had food, water, and power. He even had two containers of tomatoes. In time toe, when Zhang Wuji, Yang Dingtian, and the other Seven Heroes of Wudang 1 matured, Tang Yue¡¯s scurvy would be treated, and he would be able to live for at least a year. Tang Yue and Mai Dong wished to find Tomcat, even if they couldn¡¯t do a thing after seeding. They were still bent on seeing the cat, dead or alive. ¡°Tang Yue, how are the tomatoes?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Are you providing them with enough warmth and light?¡± ¡°They seem to be growing well.¡± Tang Yue shut down the sanitation system, opened the airlock¡¯stch, and stepped into the Hab. ¡°Do you want to take a look? You are the agriculture expert. Why don¡¯t you give some advice and guidance?¡± Tang Yue took off the Radiant Armor and rubbed his hands in glee. It was as though he was about to look at his son in swaddling clothes. ¡°Be quick. The temperatures outside are too low. They won¡¯t be able tost long.¡± He raised the stic sheet, took out the water trough, and with an instion nket wrapped around it, carried it to the camera. Mai Dong leaned over and she saw the five green sprouts emerging from the brownish soil. It wasn¡¯t easy to determine their growth through the screen, but from the lush green colors, the sprouts appeared to be filled with vitality. ¡°Let me introduce you to them. This big one that grew the fastest is the eldest brother. His name is Zhang Wuji... Look at its leaf.¡± Tang Yue pointed out each one of them to Mai Dong. ¡°This is Song Yuanqiao. This slightly whiter one is Yu Lianzhou. By the side is Yu Daiyan, and finally, this one is Zhang Songxi... There¡¯s also Zhang Cuishan and Yin Liting, but they are in the other trough.¡± Mai Dong slowly nodded. She originally imagined that Tang Yue would be better at names than she was. From the looks of it, he also sucked at it. ¡°How long will these little rascals take to grow?¡± ¡°If you can guarantee the warmth and light, they will bear fruit within two months,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The tomato species you have is an excellent breed. It¡¯s the same as the one I have nted on the space station.¡± Tang Yue hugged the water trough and spun around, raising the sprouts high. It was as if he could already see the lush green leaves and bright red fruits. Tang Yue had never imagined that he would be this excited over nting tomatoes. For the first time, he understood the feelings of the farmers when it was time for the harvest. ¡°Zhang Wuji appears a little nted. You can help to correct it a little.¡± Mai Dong pointed at the water trough. ¡°It¡¯s to prevent the roots from developing improperly in the future.¡± ¡°OK.¡± Tang Yue reached out his finger and gently nudged Zhang Wuji. With a slight tremble and a cracking sound, Zhang Wuji¡¯s most striking and delightful green leaf snapped and fell to the soil. Tang Yue and Mai Dong were astonished. ¡°What happened?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Did you use too much strength?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s expression turned heavy as he gestured for the girl to keep silent. He immediately moved the water trough back to the greenhouse, anxiously checking on Zhang Wuji¡¯s condition. He kneeled on the ground, using his finger to gently prod the young tomato sprout. It didn¡¯t feel right to the touch. Tang Yue exerted a bit more strength and pinched the stem. He soon realized that the tomato sprout was hard and brittle. It didn¡¯t feel normal. Tang Yue held his breath as he tried to use his finger to peel off the sprout¡¯s outeryer. When he did that, his heart sank... The mouth was rough, and he could even see tiny ice particles. The water in its body had frozen, and although the sprout looked green and luxuriant, it wasn¡¯t because of its brimming vitality, but because it had frozen at its prime, literally. It was just like a fruit ced in the freezer. Tang Yue hurriedly checked the other sprouts in the water troughs. All of them were like Zhang Wuji¡ªnone of them survived. It was to be expected. The sprouts were just centimeters away from each other. If one froze to death, it was likely that the others would share a simr fate. Tang Yue dug them out of the soil and ced them in his palm. Zhang Wuji, Yang Dingtian, and the Seven Heroes of Wudang had cold corpses. They were long dead, and perhaps had frozen to death several hours ago or even the previous night. The ultra-low temperatures could freeze the moisture in them in short spans of time. The burgeoning ice crystals would damage all cell structures, so the nts couldn¡¯t be any deader! Tang Yue lowered the water trough in panic as he looked at the other water trough, wondering if Yin Liting and Zhang Cuishan were still alive. ¡°Tang Yue? Tang Yue... How is it?¡± Mai Dong saw the man suddenly copse onto the ground as though he had lost all his strength. Tang Yue held all the dead sprouts in his hand, his eyes zed over. He didn¡¯t understand what had gone wrong; he had prepared aplete set of heat preservation measures. He didn¡¯t know how these tiny lives had frozen to death. How did it happen? How? ¡°Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue turned his head and didn¡¯t say a word. He gave her a faint smile, making her heart contract sharply. There was aplicated look in Tang Yue¡¯s eyes, seemingly filled with sorrow and helplessness. It also seemed as though all his hopes had been dashed to pieces. That gaze seemed to say: Look,ss... I¡¯ve really tried my best this time. Chapter 117: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

Chapter 117: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, The Straw That Broke the Camel¡¯s Back

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tang Yue, don¡¯t be disheartened. It¡¯s only the first batch of seeds. There are still other tomato seeds on Kunlun Station,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°You can continue nting them. I believe that you will eventually seed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right... Definitely. I know.¡± Tang Yue sat in the stic greenhouse, leaning against the RTG as he held the frozen nts in his hands. ¡°I know.¡± Although he was saying that, Tang Yue didn¡¯t move at all. He just sat on the ground, the glint in his eyes gone. Mai Dong became anxious. To survive in perilous conditions, what mattered most was willpower. At times, it was that tiny difference that determined if one would survive the dire conditions. Once one lost the confidence and willpower to struggle for survival, a person would rapidly copse¡ªaplete breakdown. Nothing was more dangerous than giving up fighting for salvation. Ever since Earth vanished, Tang Yue had presented an optimism that exceeded Mai Dong¡¯s. Every day, while drinking cold water and swallowing those hard biscuits, he would tell her jokes. He and Tomcat had created an atmosphere as though human society still existed, preventing them from thinking about the Earth that had disappeared a hundred million kilometers away. But now, even Tomcat had disappeared. There was no way for them to engage in anyic dialog. The tomato sprout¡¯s freezing might very well be the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. Tang Yue¡¯sst efforts for salvation had been dered a failure. It had drained away the remaining bit of valor he had. Of course, Tang Yue could continue nting the remaining tomato seeds, but the continued failures might be the final oue. The tomato-nting failure meant scurvy. His condition would worsen until his body began bleeding, and his ulcers would rot. He would lose calcium in his bones as his muscles atrophied. Finally, he would slump onto the ground, unable to move a muscle. All he could do was wait for death. This was a foreseeable future. It was enough to plunge someone into despair, into madness. Therefore, Tang Yue had long dug his grave. As thest two humans in the Universe, he represented all the men. Therefore, even if were to die, he needed to die with dignity. Copsing in Kunlun Station and slowly rotting was just unsightly and unimaginable. Mai Dong had no idea what Tang Yue was truly thinking, but even she herself had mild signs of depression. It was not difficult for her to guess that this man was burdened with stress that was greater than hers. Such stress would only worsen with time. Even though Tang Yue appeared on screen like a care-free person, no one knew what he was thinking when he saw his body covered with internal bleeding when he was outside the camera¡¯s vision. Tang Yue silently held the corpses of the sprouts. He had just been enlightened about how equally important the nts were before their lives had been stolen by the cold. Tang Yue didn¡¯t understand what had gone wrong in his ns. Was the heat provided by the RTG and the high-pressure sodiummps insufficient? Or were the thermal instion measures inadequate? However, he had used every means and object possible. Yet, he had still failed to keep them alive. Tang Yue had exhausted all his time and effort. He was tired. ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Back on Earth, I never realized that staying alive was that difficult. There¡¯s air everywhere, water that¡¯s easily reachable, so much food that it goes to waste.¡± Tang Yue looked up at the airlock hatch. ¡°We have never struggled for survival. When did it begin that survival wasn¡¯t a goal we strive for? ¡°In the natural world, any life suffers from birth, illness, aging, and death. Every life is seeking survival with great difficulty, so nature has failed entities. Faced with these failed entities, you should be more optimistic and honest. That¡¯s because they are also part of the natural world...¡± ¡°Tang Yue, Tang Yue... Let¡¯s not talk about this. Why don¡¯t I tell you a joke? Let me tell you a joke.¡± Mai Dong stammered, ¡°What do you get from a cow at the North Pole?¡± Tang Yue turned his head over. ¡°Ice-cream!¡± Tang Yue was taken aback for quite a while. ¡°Is it... not funny?¡± ¡°It is.¡± Tang Yue nodded and said, ¡°Hahahaha.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I tell you another? Back when I was in college, there was a hide-and-seek society. Its main activities were to y hide-and-seek everywhere. The society¡¯s president hasn¡¯t been found to this very day.¡± Tang Yue was dumbfounded. ... Tang Yue¡¯s low spirits left Mai Dong reeling in anxiety. However, she had no idea what she could do to make him regain his will. ¡°There¡¯s Mr. Cat! We still need to find Mr. Cat! That¡¯s why you need to work hard to survive. If you give up, who will find it? Didn¡¯t you say that we need to see the cat, dead or alive?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We need to find Tomcat.¡± ¡°So you need to make every second count to nt the remaining tomato seeds. Let them grow up, bloom, and bear fruit. Only then can you save yourself.¡± ¡°Yes, every second counts.¡± ¡°Then take action now! Time waits for no man! The faster you progress, the better. Your vitamin reserves are limited. You can¡¯t dy any further. Do you hear what I say?¡± ¡°Yes... I need to take action.¡± Regardless of what Mai Dong said, Tang Yue nodded in agreement, but she didn¡¯t see him moving. All he did was sit against the RTG with a numbed look on his face. This was what Mai Dong worried about the most. Tang Yue had sunken deep into self-doubt. He had lost his direction in life, as well as his goals and motivation to live on. ¡°Then, get moving. Tang Yue, please move! Do it again. It¡¯s just another vernalization and nting of the tomatoes. Is it that difficult to put in a bit of effort? What problems can you solve sitting there in dejection?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice rose to a crescendo as she bellowed angrily, ¡°Are you even still a man?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Yue cocked his head, looking somewhat exasperated. ¡°I¡¯m sitting here because my legs are numb. I can¡¯t stand up.¡± Mai Dong shrank her neck ... Oh. ¡°Look at these tomato sprouts. I¡¯ve given them all I can give them. I¡¯ve even given them all my clothes and nkets, but they still froze to death. I don¡¯t know why.¡± Tang Yue pointed at the Seven Heroes of Wudang in his hand, raising them high. ¡°Do you really think the results would be different if I try again?¡± ¡°How would you know if you don¡¯t try it?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes glimmered as she stared at Tang Yue. From some unknown source, she had drawn immense energy. ¡°Remember what you said previously? If you don¡¯t wish to live, let me do the thinking for you!¡± Tang Yue palpitated before he shook his head with a smile and let out a long sigh. With the help of the table beside him, he slowly got up and stretched his legs. ¡°I just can¡¯t bear sending these pitiful little guys to their deaths...¡± Chapter 118: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, Disqualified as a Human Being

Chapter 118: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, Disqualified as a Human Being

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Late into the night. Tang Yue sat on a chair wrapped in clothes and nkets. The white mist he breathed out swirled under the dim light. He began his second attempt. This time he didn¡¯t dare use too many seeds. As an experimental nting, he only used two. He was afraid of any spontaneous deaths using one, while two could guarantee a sufficient number of samples. The two seeds were inside the cassette box, the hotbed that Tang Yue had specially prepared himself. They were to produce two brand new lives. These two newborn sprouts would pave the way for their brothers and sisters. The final oue was hard to tell, but there was a high chance of failure. Tang Yue had no way to provide better living conditions. Tang Yue had treated the previous batch of tomato sprouts like the apple of his eye; yet, they failed to survive. He had decided that if the two tomato sprouts were to die again, he would stop throwing them to their death. As cells that had luckily survived this Universe, he did not have the right, nor was he willing to rob the lives of these living beings. It was better to leave the two seeds of life behind for the Universe. Otherwise, it would be too lonely. Mai Dong had already gone to sleep, and there was no one on themunications system. Kunlun Station was very quiet. Taking the opportunity that his mind was still sharp, Tang Yue recalled his entire life. Typically, this was something only elders would do. They would sit in their proverbial coffins recalling their lives, regardless of whether it was happiness or regret. They wouldn¡¯t take all the beautiful and sorrowful past with them to their graves. After all, Tang Yue was halfway in the grave. The only regret he had was that he hadn¡¯t lived long enough, and the memories he had were just too few. The distant memories were fuzzy, and the recent experiences were too nd. Tang Yue felt a little regret not engaging in fights or punching the headmaster back when he was schooling. Look at the lives of those young people on the silver screen, which one of them hadn¡¯t been in a fight? Which girl had never had an abortion? Was a youth without fighting or abortion considered a youth? As Tang Yue engaged in his warped thoughts, he recalled a middle school ssmate who had been extremely gungho. He had a passionate rtionship with a particr girl from the same grade which eventually developed into an elopement. He had stolen his father¡¯s credit card, got on a train with the youngdy, and escaped hundreds of miles away. It was practically a modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet. It obviously ended with them being brought back by the police. Back when he watched the young couple sob on-stage, Tang Yue was deriding them for their sinful act whilst eyeing the most beautiful girl from the neighboring ss. In his youth, Tang Yue had never had any young girls fancy him. He believed that with his temper, he was bound to be someone who didn¡¯t ept the authoritative actions his parents or school would put on him. He would stand up to them with an unrelenting stance. He finished recounting his life from the age of eight to twenty-two in five minutes. He was taken aback. Holy sh*t, that was way too fast, right? Fourteen years were finished in five minutes? Could it be that his life was really dull and boring? Hence, Tang Yue recalled his life experiences again, doing so in detail, no matter how trivial they were. Therefore, it took him eight minutes this time. ¡°Should I write a will? It¡¯s about time.¡± Tang Yue sat up straight, stretched his wrists, and got a pen from a drawer. Being prepared with a will allowed him to sit pretty. It was best that he wrote it while he was still mobile and lucid. He didn¡¯t wish to write when his mind was turbid, producing chicken scratches that no one could recognize. ¡°Dear Miss Mai Dong, Dear Tomcat¡ªif you are still alive, ¡°This letter is my farewell to this world.¡± Tang Yue muttered as he wrote. ¡°I don¡¯t know who will see this letter. Perhaps it will be you, Tomcat, or perhaps it might be some aliens. Or maybe, it will be an intelligent lifeform that¡¯s born years into the future on Mars... It¡¯s unlikely that will happen. This piece of paper won¡¯tst that long. ¡°Mai Dong won¡¯t see this letter, but none of you should show it to her. It¡¯s because this letter doesn¡¯t say anything nice. ¡°First, I would like to say to the world: ¡°F**K! ¡°Got that? ¡°F**K! ¡°You don¡¯t know what it means? Let me trante it for you. FCUK is an acronym. Its full name is French Connection United Kingdom. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all I have to say to the world. ¡°Oh right, there¡¯s another thing. The world, if you have any pittance of fairness, justice, and conscience, make sure that Mai Dong will be fine and safe.¡± Tang Yue paused and continued writing. ¡°Next, Tomcat. Where are you? Please don¡¯t tell me you really eloped with the Mars Wanderer. It¡¯s not like you have anything. You can¡¯t satisfy it... ¡°Tomcat, regardless if you are dead or alive, and if you are alive, I¡¯ll definitely be dead when you see this letter. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you where to find me. Head east thirty meters from the Eagle. My tomb is there, and I¡¯ll be lying there. However, there won¡¯t be anyone burying me. So if you wish to bury me, do me a favor, alright? ¡°Also, I might look unsightly. I might have to trouble you to be a mortuary cosmetologist. Help me look presentable. If I¡¯m in the pit face down, please roll me over. Let me lie t on my back. I just don¡¯t feel safe with my ass pointing up. In addition, please raise my middle fingers¡ªone of them points to the sky, the other to thend. ¡°That¡¯s my final request for your help.¡± Tang Yue paused. He hadn¡¯t finished writing the letter, but he wished to take a break... Certain words were just too heavy to write, so heavy that the weak pen tip couldn¡¯t bear the weight. ¡°From the moment Earth vanished, the meaning to my existence might have vanished along with it. Whatever I do is pointless. One or two people cannot continue the human race, much less rebuild civilization. I can¡¯t evenplete the historical records of civilization. I can only repeat my fixed chores on a daily basis, numbly and indifferently waiting for death to descend upon me. In the words of Osamu Dazai in his best-selling novel, No Longer Human: Disqualified as a human being. I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.¡± Tang Yue got up from the chair, leaning on the airlock hatch. He stared intently at the pen and paper on the desk. If he had known that the Marsnding mission would lead to this, he wouldn¡¯t have participated in it. Or perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have stayed behind to wrap up the mission. He should have just evaporated along with Earth and Orion I. To disappear in an instant saved him the trouble of suffering through all of his predicaments. How many sols had he spent alone on Mars since the Earth vanished? All this time, he had beenbating hunger, low temperatures, diseases, and loneliness. It was an unprecedentedbat against dire straits in human history. And today, he might have reached his limit. ¡°Tomcat, I might really be attaining enlightenment this time.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s fatigue slowly crept up as his eyelids became heavy as darkness enveloped him. ¡°I wonder if I¡¯ve umted enough merit to be conferred the title of Great Salvation Bodhisattva of Mars.¡± Suddenly, the support he was leaning against was gone. Tang Yue plunged backward uncontrobly, jolting him out of his sleepiness. The airlock¡¯s hatch had suddenly been opened by someone or something. Immediately, he leaned onto a furry shoulder. The coldness it exuded left him trembling as a paw reached out to pat Tang Yue on the shoulder. A familiar voice sounded behind him. It could be imagined that the fellow was smiling with its teeth gritted while panting heavily. ¡°It¡¯s not enough... It¡¯s still too early for that!¡± Chapter 119: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, The Return

Chapter 119: Sol Hundred and Fourteen, The Return

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue was taken aback. The voice was just too familiar to him. He even suspected that he was hallucinating in his reverie. Tang Yue jolted to attention and turned around. Tomcat was standing inside the airlock, sucking in the heat with its cold body. It had clearly just stepped into Kunlun Station¡¯s main entrance. It was covered in dirt, looking extremely wretched. Even the sanitation system hadn¡¯t been able to clean it. Tang Yue reached out to pinch Tomcat¡¯s ears as his fingers trembled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to touch me. It¡¯s real. It¡¯s alive.¡± Tomcat grabbed Tang Yue¡¯s hand and pped thetter in the cheek. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it hurt? You aren¡¯t dreaming.¡± ¡°You... You...¡± Tang Yue turned agape. In that one second, he had a thousand questions to ask, but all of them were stuck in his throat as he couldn¡¯t say a word. Tomcat stepped into the Hab and closed the airlock hatch. Only when the cat walked under the light did Tang Yue realize that Tomcat hadn¡¯t had an easy journey. Before leaving, Tomcat was a white cat with soft and smooth fur, but after its return, it had turned into a stray cat that had rolled in the mud. Its fur was in a mess andrge chunks of it had fallen off, revealing the polymer skin beneath. All its whiskers, that it cherished as much as its life, were gone. It looked like a casualty who had just returned from the front lines. Tomcat panted heavily. It was using the air to disperse the heat to warm its internalponents. This meant that it had all systems turned on at full power, and was close to its limit. Tang Yue stood in front of it, unsure whether tough or cry. However, his eyes turned red. He didn¡¯t know if he should beat it up or hug it. ¡°Don¡¯t cry. How unbing of a man like you to cry.¡± Tomcat waved its paw. ¡°At this time, you should act like those strongmen in the movies, smiling while saying: You¡¯rete.¡± Tang Yue held back his tears and nodded. ¡°You¡¯rete. You¡¯ve beente for days. Do you f*cking know that?¡± Tomcat took a step forward. ¡°Give me your hand.¡± Tang Yue extended his hand. Tomcat ced a tiny ck chip in Tang Yue¡¯s palm. ¡°This is that Intel TCU1524M temperature control processor. It¡¯s thest piece in the world... Keep it well. Make sure to keep it well. Remember to install it in the OGS.¡± Tang Yue nodded. With that, Tomcat hadpleted his mission. It took a step forward and with a thud, Tomcat¡¯s left arm fell to the ground. Following that, Tomcat¡¯s body leaned to the side and copsed. ... ¡°Don¡¯t move. All the fur on the back of your head is gone.¡± Tang Yue held up Tomcat¡¯s head, using a brush to help smooth out its fur. ¡°I¡¯m trying to help you patch up the bald spot... otherwise, it¡¯s just too ugly.¡± Tomcat sat on the chair as it charged itself. It had drained all its power returning to Kunlun Station. ¡°What happened to you? Why were you uncontactable for so long?¡± Tang Yue nced at the mirror. ¡°It¡¯s been so many days. Mai Dong and I were using every means possible to find you such as using the radio telescope. But we just couldn¡¯t find you.¡± Tomcat held the left arm that had fallen off with its right paw as it did an inspection. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. I have plenty of time.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Neither of you could find me because the Mars Wanderer and I weren¡¯t on the surface at all. We were underground,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°I found the Chelomey the third day after I set off, but something happened on my return trip. We encountered a gigantic quicksand pit. The Mars Wanderer and I plunged inside.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°The pit was very deep. The vertical walls were about two to three stories high. The Mars Wanderer¡¯s antenna was damaged during the fall, but it remained mobile.¡± ¡°Then how did you crawl out?¡± ¡°Crawl out? No, I didn¡¯t.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°The Mars Wanderer has no way of climbing out of such a deep and steep pit. I drove the Mars Wanderer underground. Yes, there¡¯s a huge space underground that allowed the Wanderer to pass through. It was like a tunnel or a result of some ancient underground river. Do you still remember the city wall I encountered on the way to Chelomey?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Back then, I believed that it was either formed naturally or it was a sign of intelligent life. If it¡¯s thetter, the underground tunnel might have been one of those constructions,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°However, I was in a rush for time, so I didn¡¯t carefully study the tunnel. After all, I needed to rush back to Kunlun Station, but there were many forks in the tunnel. It was like a massive subterranean tunnel group, or should I say an underground river interwoven together. The pathways wereplicated like a maze. I lost Kunlun Station¡¯s and the satellite¡¯s directional guidance, and could only rely on myself and the data from the Mars Wanderer to roughly determine our direction.¡± Tomcat touched on the recount lightly, but Tang Yue could imagine how difficult it was. To drive a vehicle forward underground inplete darkness could get thempletely lost. It was only because it was Tomcat who didn¡¯t panic. Anyone else would have fallen into despair in such a perilous situation. ¡°Power? What about power?¡± Tang Yue asked. Without any sunlight underground, how did the Mars Wanderer and you recharge? ¡°We relied on the pit holes,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There would often be holes above the tunnels. Sunlight would shine in from above, but we could only get sufficient sunlight at noon. Furthermore, the underground space was narrow, making it impossible to unfold all the sr panels. Therefore, the charging was extremely slow. This is also why I was so many dayste... I had to stop frequently to charge.¡± ¡°You eventually escaped the underground maze?¡± Tang Yue held ab as he slowlybed out the sand that was stuck in the cat¡¯s fur. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s obvious. However, I messed up my direction. I spent two entire days underground and encountering many dead ends before I found an exit,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°However, the exitpletely deviated from the correct direction. It wasn¡¯t on the route from the Chelomey to Kunlun Station, but fifty kilometers northwest of Kunlun Station... I was quite perplexed when I first came out. Later, I relied on the stars for navigation before confirming my location.¡± ¡°That arm...¡± ¡°It was damaged from the fall.¡± Tomcat shook the arm. ¡°It wasn¡¯t too bad when the fall happened. I did some simple repairs, butter, due to the heavy lifting I needed to do, such as moving the sr panels and rocks or pushing the vehicle, the damage was aggravated... Thankfully, it just about survived to the end..¡± ¡°Can it be fixed?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try. I¡¯ll leave it to fate.¡± Tomcat smiled. ¡°However, what¡¯s most important now is to fix the OGS¡¯s temperature control... Is this tent built for those tomato sprouts?¡± ¡°Yes, but it was a failure. All the tomatoes froze to death. If you returned a few solster, I might have left this world to see Buddha.¡± Tang Yue pressed his hands on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders, moved the mirror away and said, ¡°Take a look. How is it?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a clump of fur that¡¯s standing straight upon on the top of my head. What the hell, Tang Yue?¡± ¡°That¡¯s called an ahoge 1.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the hoe!¡± ... ¡°Good morning, Tang Yue. How¡¯s the vernalization of the tomato seeds... Cat... Cat... Cat... Cat...¡± ¡°Good morning, Miss Mai Dong. Heyss, why are you crying? Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry...¡± Chapter 120: Epilogue

Chapter 120: Epilogue

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Two monthster. ¡°Buddy... Buddy!¡± Tang Yue held the red, plump tomatoes with welling tears as he sniffed. ¡°After so long, I¡¯m finally seeing you!¡± Tang Yue carefully yed with the tomato in his hand. It was cold and soft to the touch, and it lived up to being the excellent breed that Mai Dong had selected. The tomato¡¯s color was bright and beautiful, its skin supple, and it gave off a unique freshness that only vegetables and fruits have. Tang Yue was on the brink of tears. To see a fellow buddy from Earth moistened his eyes. ¡°Buddy, you¡¯re truly delicious!¡± Tang Yue took a big bite of the tomato. This was the first time he had eaten fresh fruit since he had been stuck on Mars. The sweetness and juiciness exploded in his mouth, as a refreshing taste filled his heart. He couldn¡¯t help but exim that this was the true meaning of life. He had finally escaped the fate of eating endless amounts ofpressed biscuits. His tongue was swollen from months of eating hard biscuits. Now, just the sight ofpressed biscuits disgusted him so much, he retched. Tang Yue¡¯s tomato nting project had finally seeded. He and Tomcat had used the methane and liquid oxygen from the Eagle¡¯s fuel reservoir to obtain water for the nting of the tomatoes. Tang Yue found every container he could in Kunlun Station and filled them with soil and fertilizer to nt tomatoes. There were a total of thirty stalks, and thankfully, all of them survived. After the OGS¡¯s temperature control was fixed, Kunlun Station had be a ntation that seemed to enjoy spring all year round. Of course, this also drained Tang Yue of all his feces. Tang Yue finished the tomato and he licked his fingers, as though it was good to thest drop. Tomcat sat on the chair, holding a tomato with its head lowered in thought. It was a mystery as to what was on its mind. Something worth mentioning was that Tomcat¡¯s broken arm was fixed back. The joint and bearing had slipped off, so it wasn¡¯t too serious. However, this left arm wasn¡¯t as nimble as before. ¡°Penny for your thoughts?¡± Tang Yue carried a cup filled with brownish-yellow paste. It was the leftovers of the crushedpressed biscuits. Due to his severe ulcers, Tang Yue could no longer eat the hard biscuits, he could only drink them. As Tang Yueforted himself that it was cereal, he drank down the biscuit paste. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about the problem of preserving the tomatoes.¡± Tomcat tossed the tomato into the air and caught it. ¡°Fresh tomatoes can¡¯t be kept for long.¡± ¡°Have you thought of any good solutions?¡± ¡°Based on the present situation, drying them at low temperatures is the most suitable solution. There are negative temperatures outside Kunlun Station, and there¡¯s ack of oxygen, so the fruits wouldn¡¯t be oxidized,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We can store the tomatoes we harvest in the garage. They should be able tost for quite a while... Of course, we can also try pickling them. That way, they will taste better, but does Kunlun Station have sugar?¡± ¡°Would white sugar work? I recently found a bottle of it. I have no idea who left it behind,¡± Tang Yuemented. ¡°I¡¯ve finished half of it, but there¡¯s still half a bottle left.¡± ¡°We shall see.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Using sugar to pickle tomatoes would definitely be tastier than freezing them until they are hard. Have you had breakfast?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then get to work.¡± Tomcat pointed to the door. ¡°Damn it, ordering me around early in the morning.¡± Tang Yue grunted angrily, but he still donned on the Radiant Armor and secured the life support system before stretching his limbs and fingers. After confirming that the EVA suit was fine, he pressed the button on the airlock before opening the hatch. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out.¡± Tang Yue turned around. Tomcat crossed its legs as it leisurely sat on the chair and waved its paw. ¡°Good luck!¡± ... ¡°Hey, Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, about the recording of human history, I think we can start working on it? We don¡¯t have to finish everything. Let¡¯s just do as much as we can. If we don¡¯t know or are unaware of something, we can ask Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I still wish to leave something behind. I don¡¯t want to spend the rest of the time doing nothing.¡± Tang Yue thought for a moment. ¡°I agree. After all, most of the work will be left to Tomcat forpletion eventually.¡± ¡°Actually, it doesn¡¯t matter whether you record this history or not. In this world, information itself is forever indestructible. From the first basic particle created during the Big Bang, until the Universe reaches a heat death or Big Crunch, there has been a pair of eyes silently observing everything,¡± Tomcat quipped. ¡°Whose eyes?¡± ¡°The Universe itself.¡± Tomcat pointed above. ¡°This Universe is the most loyal spectator and recorder. The Earth may have vanished, but if an observer ten light-years away were to observe Earth, Earth would still exist for them. If someone were to observe the Earth from 4.6 billion light-years away, they would find that Earth was just born. ¡°Light carries information into far and unreachable ces. As long as you stand within the light cone, you will see its birth, growth, destruction, and its ultimate fate.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was heavy. It was talking about a reality that was grand and exceeded human imagination, leaving Mai Dong and Tang Yue astounded. The girl fell silent for a moment. ¡°Then, we can do it for ourselves, not for anyone else... This is the only thing I can do now. I don¡¯t wish to waste my time.¡± ¡°Then, what do you prepare to use to record this information?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°We discussed this before. The drafts will be recorded on hard disks,¡± Tang Yue suggested. ¡°We will then transmit them in the form of electromaic waves, turning them into numbers. Then, we will apany it with a Rosetta Stone that allows for interpretation and trantion. How about that?¡± ¡°But electromaic waves would slowly attenuate with distance.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that information itself is indestructible?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°From the moment we had such a thought, from the moment we start writing, and from the moment we send out the information, all the history we recorded would be firmly engraved into the Universe¡¯s massive hard disk, right?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why we don¡¯t have to care about attenuation.¡± Tang Yue sat down beside Tomcat as he exchanged looks with Mai Dong. ¡°What we are recording, is to view Earth and human civilization from a person¡¯s point of view, from the point of view of a human being.¡± Tomcat leaned against the chair and thought for a long while. Finally, it nodded and shrugged. ¡°Alright then.¡± On 6 January 2053¡ªthe 179th sol since Earth disappeared¡ªthe only two surviving humans in the Universe began their recount and recording of the history of the Earth and human civilization. Tang Yue sat at a desk and prepared a pen and some paper. He nned on writing a prologue. Sunlight shone in through the windows. Kunlun Station was silent, apart from the rustling sounds produced by the pen on paper. ¡°While I¡¯m penning these words, I¡¯m on a located more than a hundred million kilometers from my home. The sun here is a little smaller. There are clear skies once again. But with the change in seasons, the atmosphere¡¯s tidal motions will once again stir up gales. ¡°I might be one of the few humans in human history who haspletely transcended territory, nation, country, and even race, to view humans. In the words of a cat, this is a watchman. ¡°I¡¯m different from the ISS astronauts. In their eyes, Earth is a blue they call home. I¡¯m different from the astronauts on Apollo. In their eyes, Earth is a weak but beautiful marble. When I stand on these desert ins, Earth is just a tiny point of light to me. I was shocked by my first realization of the vastness of the Universe because there are thousands of tiny specks of light just like Earth. ¡°I¡¯m thest man in this Universe. ¡°This probably imbues in me a power equivalent to God. I will give a verdict to certain people and certain matters, without giving any chance for an appeal in the future. ¡°I hope I can be fair and objective, at the very least, be fair and objective against my standards. After all, there is no standard of measurement on this uninhabited. ¡°To the Universe, fairness and objectivity probably don¡¯t matter. But to a human, fairness, and objectivity is a form of morals. Such morals are as important as the cosmos. ¡°A human just needs an instant to recognize history, but history needs a thousand years to recognize a human.¡± Chapter 121: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, Evolutionary History of Life on Earth

Chapter 121: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, Evolutionary History of Life on Earth

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Guess how many kilograms I¡¯ve lost.¡± ¡°Fifteen.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re wrong.¡± Tang Yue looked down at the number on the weighing scale. ¡°I¡¯ve only lost 14.5 kilograms.¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the difference? Won¡¯t you have lost fifteen kilograms if you shat out half a kilogram of shit?¡± ¡°Do you believe that I can still raise something as heavy as fifty kilograms?¡± Tang Yue rolled up his robe and flexed his arm, trying hard to squeeze out his biceps. With the warm breeze from the OGS to bathe in, Tang Yue had returned to the days of wearing ancient Roman attire. He wore pants with a thin robe draped over him. The period back when the temperature control malfunctioned felt like a nightmare. Tang Yue didn¡¯t even know how he had survived. ¡°This godforsaken ce has less than 40% of the Earth¡¯s gravity. Something weighing 50 kilograms on Earth only weighs about 19 kilograms here,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I suggest you don¡¯t attempt to move that cab or you might injure your instep. It would be very troublesome if you suffer a fracture. We don¡¯t have enough medicine... You need to realize that your bone loss is like that of a grandpa in his sixties. So Grandpa, please don¡¯t joke around with your body.¡± Living in a low-gravity environment for prolonged periods, along with the severe malnutrition had affected the Tang Yue¡¯s kinesiology. His muscles had atrophied and he suffered from bone rarefaction. Tang Yue had already spent 270 sols alone on Mars since Earth¡¯s disappearance. Even though he had strictly followed his physical training, his body weight had dropped by fifteen kilograms. He was originally seventy kilograms, but he was now fifty-five kilograms. Even his ribs could be seen. ¡°You have to take note not to let your body weight drop any further. If it drops below forty-five kilograms, it might have disastrous effects.¡± Tomcat stared at theputer as it typed on the keyboard. The screen showed a document filled with text. ¡°Mr. Cat, in Earth¡¯s history, what factors determine the size of a creature?¡± Mai Dong asked. She was reading about biological evolution genealogy because chronicling the Earth¡¯s history was one of her and Tang Yue¡¯s goals. ¡°I¡¯m looking at the evolution of creatures over hundreds of millions of years. There¡¯s a trait that stands out. The size of the beasts fluctuated periodically.¡± ¡°Size?¡± Tomcat thought for a moment. ¡°There are quite a number of influencing factors involved. It includes the amount of oxygen contained in the atmosphere, ambient temperatures, the amount of food avable, as well as the beast¡¯s ecological niche. Here¡¯s an example. More than three hundred million years ago, in the Carboniferous period, the arthropods back then were mostly a dozen or dozens of times bigger than their modern-day counterparts. For example, the famous Meganeura could grow half a meter long... The main reason for this phenomenon was the oxygen concentration in the air. The Carboniferous period¡¯s oxygen concentration was the highest in Earth¡¯s history, reaching as high as 35%. ¡°If a particr creature upies the top of the food pyramid, given a suitable environment with plenty of food, their bodies would grow significantly bigger,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°In addition, the creatures in the ocean have the buoyancy of water to prop them up, so they can grow bigger thannd creatures, such as the blue whale. It¡¯s thergest animal known to have existed on Earth. Just its heart alone weighed a ton.¡± ¡°The blue whale is thergest?¡± Tang Yue interjected. ¡°What about the New Zend Giant Ichthyosaur?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention urban myths thatck sufficient evidence.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°In the research of ancient creatures, don¡¯t try hunting for novelty.¡± ¡°Why did whales grow sorge?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because whales are at the top of the food chain. They eat whatever they want. Apart from the bipedal apes that use harpoons to catch them, they have no natural enemies,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Their sharkpetitors¡ªthe Megalodon¡ªwere driven into extinction two million years ago. After that, no creature has been able to nudge the whales off their spot on the food pyramid.¡± ¡°Megalodon?¡± Mai Dong had never heard of the term. ¡°Megalodon, meaning ¡®big tooth,¡¯¡± exined Tomcat. ¡°This shark was one of the most ferocious sea creatures in history. They stood at the top of the food chain and fed on whales.¡± ¡°How did the Megalodon beat the Mosasaurus?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking over this question for quite a while. Which one is more impressive?¡± ¡°The Mosasaurus was a very ancient and primitive ocean reptile. Reptiles aren¡¯t able to adapt to the sea as well as fish, while Megalodons were a highly-evolved predator. Every part of their body was built for hunting. In the same era, the only one that could vie for supremacy with the Megalodons were the giant toothed whales.¡± ¡°The Basilosaurus?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat shook its head. ¡°The Livyatan whale.¡± ¡°The Megalodon still became extinct despite being that awesome?¡± ¡°The more awesome it was, the easier it was to be extinct.¡± Tomcat raised a w. ¡°You have to know that in Earth¡¯s history, nearly allrge-sized predators eventually starved to death. Once the environment changed, there wouldn¡¯t be enough prey, and they would be unable to make up the shortfall. Therefore, the blue whale is smart... It is a filter feeder. Just by opening its mouth, it will eat everything in what seems like a dull but adorable manner. It doesn¡¯t need to worry about not having enough prey.¡± Mai Dong nodded and sighed. ¡°But they are now all gone.¡± She and Tang Yue had organized an evolution genealogy of Earth¡¯s creatures. It was a huge andplicated framework. In the beginning, they had beautiful thoughts about it, but only when they started did they realize how difficult it was. Tang Yue now regretted his brainless idea to start from the Cambrian period. From the Paleozoic Era to the Mesozoic Era to the Cenozoic Era, life on Earth had been on a bumpy road. There had been five major extinctions, all for different reasons. The continuation and evolution of each species were different. The vastness and magnitude were unimaginable. Tang Yue had been overconfident, suggesting that they did it in detail and be precise about the particr species. Three dayster, Tang Yue: Precision at the species level is impossible. Why don¡¯t we be precise at the family level? Six dayster, Tang Yue: Precision at the family level is impossible. Why don¡¯t we be precise at the ss level? A weekter, Tang Yue: Precision at the ss level is impossible. Why don¡¯t we leave the precision to Tomcat? Hence, Tomcat took on most of the work. This was within its expectations for it knew that it was impossible for the duo toplete the monumental task of such magnitude. Over the past three months, the two humans and cat hadpleted the evolutionary history of life on Earth, that had a word count of four million. There was such a voluminous amount of literature that Mai Dong and Tang Yue could onlyplete a hundredth of the work, believing that they had yed a crucial role. They encoded the text digitally and designed an automatic interpretation system. They broadcast it out together. The data was massive, but it wasn¡¯t the biggest. Tomcat had also digitized the famous art pieces like the Mona Lisa and the Sistine Chapel murals. It was a huge amount of data, but obviously, it wasn¡¯t thergest... The Venus de Milo and Discobolus three-dimensional modeling data were the greatest. Mathematics was likely the mostmonnguage in the Universe, so as long as someone received the signal, they could follow the automatic interpretation system to decode the data, restoring the text and images. The drafts were stored on hard disks in Kunlun Station. Tang Yue and Mai Dong didn¡¯t have extravagant hopes ofpleting all the work. Only when they were really standing before the wall of Earth history did they realize how boundless the wall was. It wasn¡¯t a task that could be aplished by human hands. It was impossible even for Tomcat to really finish it. It was a work without end that they would continue until the end of their lives. Tang Yue had already instructed Tomcat that even if he and Mai Dong weren¡¯t around, Tomcat was to continue recording the history. After all, it had nothing better to do. Apart frompleting the two epic tomes of Evolutionary History of Life on Earth and the Developmental History of Human Civilization, another extremely important problem was something that was constantly on Tang Yue¡¯s mind: how to bring down Mai Dong. Chapter 122: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, The Unsolvable Conundrum

Chapter 122: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, The Unsolvable Conundrum

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Over the past three months, Tang Yue and Tomcat had discussed this in private more than once. The United Space Station was ultimately limited in its self-sustenance. Even though it was far from reaching the end of its life, it was unknown how long the space station could endure without any supplies. Leaving Mai Dong alone up there left Tang Yue uneasy. If anything were to happen, neither he nor Tomcat could help her. Another severe problem was Mai Dong¡¯s health. The United Space Station wasn¡¯t a ce suited for prolonged residence. No one enjoyed living in cramped tunnels. If one had ustrophobia, it would be a nightmare. Under these repressed conditions, the negative effects of zero gravity and radiation far exceeded Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s expectations. Mai Dong¡¯s weight was rapidly dropping, and she was even beginning to lose her hair. On Mars, Tang Yue had at least 0.38 G, but Mai Dong had practically zero gravity on the space station. Her environment was a lot harsher. Seeing the girl be thinner by the day, Tang Yue got Tomcat to put their brains together, hoping that they could think of a way to get Mai Dong tond safely on the surface. Tomcat expressed the notion that it waspletely impossible technologically wise. Neither the space station nor Orion was designed to enter the atmosphere. The day they entered the atmosphere was the day they would be dmissioned and destroyed. The United Space Station used argettice-type frame, akin to a massive Lego toy. The structure could only exist stably in zero gravity, and would rapidly copse once gravity or air resistance was applied to it. Be it on Earth or on Mars, re-entry into the atmosphere was the hardest problem in aerospace engineering. It was also the most dangerous stage. Many probes had failed at this step. To re-enter without any driving force, a probe seeking re-entry needed to be designed in the shape of a cone or bell. The Soviets had briefly attempted spherical re-entry modules butter abandoned such ns due to the difficulty involved. ¡°The United Space Station¡¯s average speed is presently 3,500 meters per second. It¡¯s about ten times the speed of sound,¡± Tomcat said in a hollow voice. ¡°Do you know what that means? With just a tick-tock, the space station would have traveled seven kilometers. It only needs five minutes to go from Beijing to Shanghai.¡± ¡°The United Space Station¡¯s total mass is 600 tonnes. You can calcte its kic energy... 2.1 ¡Á 10? kgm/s. That¡¯s a very terrifying number,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°Large amounts of energy are needed to reduce its speed. Hence deceleration is the first obstacle we need to face.¡± ¡°We can use Orion II¡¯s rocket engines to produce a reverse thrust,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I can¡¯t be certain how much fuel is left on Orion II. We had made the space station engage in an orbital maneuver back then, lowering and raising its orbit. That had expended a lot of the fuel.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°But so what if we can lower the space station¡¯s height? That will only be courting death... I¡¯ve said it before. The space station¡¯s framework isn¡¯t able to withstand the overload and high temperatures. When entering the atmosphere, the surface temperatures of the space station will exceed a thousand degrees Celsius. It will be burnt to a crisp.¡± ¡°Is there any module on the space station that can withstand such temperatures?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Perhaps... But even if the module can withstand it, it doesn¡¯t mean the passenger can,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°That module will be a high-temperature container. Anything inside will be cooked just like braising chicken.¡± ¡°Overloading and the high temperatures are the second difficulty we need to face.¡± Tang Yue fell into a long silence. He knew that it was a difficult problem. Years ago, the pioneers of space exploration had racked their brains over the heat problem during re-entry. Finally, it was material science that gave an answer. The engineers covered the surface that heated However, the space station¡¯s outer shell didn¡¯t have such materials. It wasprised of metal, engineering stics, heat instion films, and all kinds of random materials. The irregr shape greatly increased the resistance due to air. At the same time, certain areas would be heat spots; therefore, if the space station were to plunge straight into the atmosphere, the final oue would be akin to throwing a candle into a bonfire. This was practically redoing the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. ¡°Finally, there¡¯s deceleration. Even if you are extremely lucky, allowing you to survive the first few obstacles, the space station would be dropping from the sky at supersonic speeds. Can you guarantee that the passenger won¡¯t die from the fall?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°There¡¯s norge parachute on the space station.¡± Tang Yue grabbed at his hair and took a deep breath. ¡°We still have Orion II¡¯s engine...¡± ¡°It¡¯s only a chemical rocket, not a nuclear-powered one. You have to realize that we have limited fuel.¡± Tomcat cut him off. ¡°That rocket isn¡¯t impressive enough to survive the spacecraft¡¯s atmospheric entry.¡± Tang Yue was rendered helpless. He greatly wished that Tomcat would say a ¡°but,¡± before proposing a workable n. ¡°Therefore, it¡¯s impossible technology-wise to let the space stationnd safely,¡± Tomcat said with certainty. At the end of the day, the human body was just too fragile. Any mistake in a long string of possibilities could be fatal. If the United Space Station wasn¡¯t Mai Dong but Optimus Prime, the problem wouldn¡¯t have been thisplicated. Why was there a need to decelerate? How did overloading matter? Why would high temperatures be a problem? He could just jump down directly. ... Tang Yue was very depressed, even though the oue was within his expectations. He and Tomcat had no way to create a possibility from impossibilities. ¡°Ignoring the supplies and materials, are we not able to bring a human down safely?¡± ¡°Not possible,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Getting a human to safelynd is the hardest. A container doesn¡¯t matter regardless of the shape, whether it¡¯s round or t, but a living person is different from a dead person. Think about the unlucky Komarov. When the rescue team pulled him out of the Soyuz 1, all that was left of him was a charred piece.¡± Tomcat gestured a rectangle about ten centimeters wide with its paws. Tang Yue facepalmed. Back then, he had promised Mai Dong that he would bring her down, but this promise was never going to be fulfilled. All Mai Dong could do was await her death out in space. ¡°Mr. Cat, I¡¯m reading about evolutionary history... What¡¯s the connection between Neanderthals and modern humans? They aren¡¯t our direct ancestors, right?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Strictly speaking, there¡¯s some hereditary connection. Be it Asians or Europeans, they have 3% of Neanderthal genes,¡± Tomcat wore the earpiece and turned around to reply to Mai Dong. ¡°However, Neanderthals and humans¡ªwho are Homo sapiens¡ªare different subspecies. The former isn¡¯t your ancestor. Humans came from Africa, and the first batch that left the African continent was Homo erectus. The second batch that left Africa were the Neanderthals. Only the third batch that left Africa were Homo sapiens, who were the ancestors of modern humans.¡± ¡°So the Neanderthals eventually became extinct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story...¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair, propping up his chin as he stared at theputer screen. On it was a three-dimensional model of the United Space Station. The model was repeatedly spinning as Tang Yue fell into a daze watching it. To sessfully allow Mai Dong tond was truly an unsolvable conundrum. This was different from the sending of supplies. The sending of supplies only needed them to ovee the difficulty of the natural conditions and mechanical malfunctions. The Eagle itself was designed to send goods up, but to get the space station to safelynd was fool¡¯s talk. The space station wasn¡¯t designed with that in mind. Tang Yue suddenly frowned. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue reached out to shake Tomcat. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I... I have an idea. It can ovee the difficulties you mentioned,¡± Tang Yue said slowly. ¡°Perhaps, there might be a chance. See if it will work.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tomcat was astonished. ¡°Eagle.¡± Tang Yue turned his head over as a glint sparkled in his eyes. ¡°The Eagle spacecraft!¡± Chapter 123: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, A Single Person’s Sunset

Chapter 123: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy, A Single Person¡¯s Sunset

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°The Eagle?¡± Tomcat removed the earpiece, unsure what Tang Yue was getting at. ¡°The Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle. The little guy weunched up there. Isn¡¯t it still connected to the United Space Station?¡± Tomcat waved its w. It obviously knew that the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle was still connected to the United Space Station. Back then, both of them had gone to great effort and danger before sessfully sending the Eagle into the embrace of the space station. Looking back, Tomcat felt that it must have been mad to agree to such a risky operation. However, the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle couldn¡¯t be used as a vessel to enter the atmosphere again. It was one-use, havingpleted its mission after it entered orbit. Now, the Eagle was just arge piece of space trash. Logically speaking, it was to be abandoned, but the reason Mai Dong hadn¡¯t abandoned it was because with Earth gone, man-made space trash became rare and precious. ¡°The Eagle no longer has the ability to enter the atmosphere,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s worthless and the propent has beenpletely expended. You want thatss to descend on a condemned spacecraft?¡± ¡°Based on regr flight standards, the Eagle is already condemned. However, it has some redundancy in its design. There¡¯s definitely some room to be squeezed from that redundancy... right?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s pupils dted as he suppressed his voice. Tomcat was rmed to hear that. Tang Yue was using a gambler¡¯s thought process. He wanted to infinitely approach the spacecraft¡¯s design limits, betting that it could survive. This was akin to having a city on the brink of destruction, while you had thest Boeing 737 ne for escaping. However, Boeing had already informed you that the ne had reached the end of its lifespan. At this moment, you¡¯d have to bet that the ne¡¯s designers had left sufficient safety redundancies. Even though the ne was rated for an MTBF of 10,000 hours, you would take the bet that 10,001 hours would be fine. Tomcat and Tang Yue had made such a bet thest time, and thankfully, they had won the bet. ¡°Apart from the Eagle, we don¡¯t have anything else that has the ability to enter the atmosphere. The space station¡¯s and Orion¡¯s structures don¡¯t permit it because they will definitely disintegrate and burn,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°However, the Eagle¡¯s design allows it to enter the atmosphere. It has a lifting body design with its blunt nose, not some fragilettice structure. Therefore, even if the space station can¡¯t withstand the resistance and overload, it will be able to withstand it!¡± Tomcat fell silent in thought. Tang Yue¡¯s idea was very bold and crazy, but he was right. In terms of structure, the Eagle was indeed sturdier than the space station. The space station had no hopes of entering the atmosphere, but the Eagle stood a chance. ¡°If wee up with a way to stabilize thender into an atmospheric entry position, the heat instionyer on its surface might be able to help Mai Dong survive the heat.¡± Tang Yue spoke very quickly without any thought. Clearly, he had been thinking about this problem for some time. The heat-insting material was an advantage unique to thender. The Eagle¡¯s belly was covered with ayer of ck heat-resistant tiles. During the atmospheric entry, it could have this face the ground as it withstood the heat produced by adiabaticpression. Thender¡¯s heat-resistant tiles were the only hope to resist the heat. ¡°The Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles have been exposed to the heat during its firstnding,¡± Tomcat reminded him. ¡°Those people on Earth love to leave at least double the amount of redundancy.¡± Tang Yue raised two fingers. ¡°Do you remember Cryptic Yang? He told me that the heat-resistant tiles on thender can allow for the Eagle to do it three times.¡± ¡°Cryptic Yang?¡± Tomcat obviously remembered the man. His heroics of attempting to mix Sparkling Oldendia Water with Swedish herring canned food was still fresh on its mind. ¡°Wasn¡¯t he involved inpressed biscuits at the nutrition center? What has he got to do with the heat-resistant tiles?¡± ¡°His girlfriend¡¯s brother¡¯s mentor¡¯s eldest nephew¡¯s seventh maternal granduncle was a department head at NASA.¡± ¡°But we have no idea about the situation regarding the heat-resistant tiles on the Eagle. If there¡¯s any damage to it, it will just replicate the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It needs careful inspection.¡± ¡°But at the very least, we have hope.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too early to call it hope.¡± Tomcat wore a serious expression. ¡°Even if the Eagle can withstand the heat, it¡¯s unable to decelerate by itself. When it enters the atmosphere, it will be in free fall. Putting someone in a metal can and throwing them from four hundred kilometers will kill anyone unless they are the Hulk.¡± Tang Yue nodded with a frown. He had tried his best to find viable means to descend, but they couldn¡¯t be built on wishful thinking. Tang Yue and Tomcat were betting, betting on Mai Dong¡¯s life. Considering the sanctity of life, they couldn¡¯t make any mistakes. As long as a single mistake happened during the atmospheric entry, thedy would be vaporized. The major obstacles that Tomcat talked about were the strength of the structure, the high-temperature resistance, and the deceleration. The Earth could only solve the first two problems, but thest problem was an unsolvable stumbling block. Just to have thepletender safelynd, engineers on Earth had to design several deceleration solutions. The JPL eggheads spent six months eating ramen and racking their brains before they came up with an unassable n. Now, Tang Yue only had half thender on hand. Furthermore, it was a shell without any propent. To trynding with an empty shell? That was treating thews of physics and engineering with the greatest contempt. Since time immemorial, all that viewed thews of physics and engineering with contempt had resulted in a bloody oue. Anyone who attempted to go against Newton eventually got hit by Lord Isaac in the face. Tang Yue set up a few tables with white paper. On them were written: ¡°Lord Newton,¡± ¡°Lord Konstantin Tsiolkovsky,¡± ¡°Lord Wernher von Braun,¡± as well as ¡°Lord Sergei Korolev.¡± Then, he began kowtowing on the desktop. ¡°Lords, please show your powers to your followers. If you don¡¯t make your presence felt, humanity will be doomed.¡± ¡°The final problem is navigation. If we were to let Miss Mai Dong descend, we need her tond urately near Kunlun Station,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We do not have any rescue teams or helicopters on Mars. If thendernded hundreds of kilometers away, no one could rescue her in time.¡± ¡°Hey, Mr. Cat, what are you guys being all secretive about?¡± Mai Dong appeared onscreen. ¡°Nothing. Nothing.¡± Tomcat wore its earpiece and said, ¡°I¡¯m only persuading Tang Yue not to hide under his nkets every night watching Japanesenguage flicks. Otherwise, it might lead to kidney deficiency... It¡¯s not like his body is okay to begin with...¡± Tang Yue sat by the side, holding up his head as he stuck out his tongue. With the resources on the space station slowly depleting, Mai Dong¡¯s predicament was exposed once again. If she continued staying there, her physical condition might only worsen. To be frank, even if Mai Dong was brought down, the duo wouldn¡¯t be able to live long. Kunlun Station was equally limited in resources, but at the very least, being together allowed them to help each other. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t really scheming anything. He was in no mood to scheme in an environment where he had little to eat or drink. It was just that being in a dire situation, he would enjoy having another person apany him so they could share in the warmth. Every time he sat at Kunlun Station¡¯s entrance to watch the sunset, Tang Yue would muse about how nice it would be if he had someone with him. That way, he could say to the other person: ¡°Look, doesn¡¯t the sun look like an egg yolk?¡± ¡°Directly using the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle is impossible.¡± Tomcat walked over and pressed down on his shoulders. ¡°But it¡¯s notpletely hopeless.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°You have a solution?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°This matter needs time and we can¡¯t be rash about it. I need to make careful calctions. The Eagle can at the very least help us resist the heat problem. That¡¯s already one big step. The other steps will need nning.¡± Chapter 124: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-One, History Moves Upward in a Spiral of Negations

Chapter 124: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-One, History Moves Upward in a Spiral of Negations

¡°The Roman empire?¡± Tomcat had its head buried in the cab as it tidied it up. ¡°The Roman empire is a ssic case of a centrally controlled ancient empire. Even though its form of government wasn¡¯t as stable as ancient China of the same era, it was one of the few massive nations in history that ruled all of Europe. At its peak, the Roman Empire territories were big enough to make the Mediterranean Sea a continental sea. After ancient Rome fell, until the Earth¡¯s disappearance, Europe has nevere under unified rule again.¡± ¡°The Roman Empire fell in the fifth century.¡± ¡°Yes, in fact, Rome was already splintering in the fourth century. During the invasion by barbarians, the Roman Empire copsed under the hands of the Germanic people, the Xiongnu, and the Goths. That was the firstrge-scale human migration in history.¡± Tomcat ced the bottles on the floor as it continued. ¡°Rome never recovered from that, and Europe plunged into a thousand years of war. Citizens became farming ves, and the Church controlled the thoughts of the people, forbidding the discussion of philosophy and the arts.¡± ¡°Is that considered a retrogression?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°History moves upward in a spiral of negations.¡± Tomcat paused. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, humans can take the wrong path at times, but they will not do so all the time. In engineering, this is called negative feedback control.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the Middle Ages the Dark Ages?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded over thems. ¡°The Church waged wars against enemies of the faith and dered all of them heretics. They were then burned at the stake, isn¡¯t that so? I recall my primary school textbook mentioning Bruno and Copernicus.¡± ¡°In that case, you should learn to stop viewing problems from the angle of a primary school textbook.¡± ¡°Anyway, those cheats didn¡¯t have a good reputation,¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°As a Chinese who follows materialism, I¡¯m innately born with a buff to criticize religion.¡± ¡°The way the school textbooks framed it, makes you view it as a conflict between religion and science, but that¡¯s a very superficial take on matters,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°The Church wasn¡¯t viewing science with animosity most of the time; in fact, it was the opposite. Many of the members of the Church were proficient in both mathematics and astronomy. The most famous and great physicist, Isaac Newton was a theologian himself. Newton spent twenty years working on mathematics, but he spent his entire life studying theology. He deeply believed in the existence of God. ¡°But in that era, few schrs could be free from the Church¡¯s influence because the schools they attended were established by the Church,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°Even in the Middle Ages with wars waging constantly in Europe, themoners received very low levels of education. From an objective perspective, religious organizations took on the responsibility of spreading and proliferating culture... even though they could teach how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.¡± ¡°What use is teaching that kind of stuff?¡± ¡°From the Middle Ages to more modern Europe, there wasn¡¯t anything like the ¡®Strategy of Invigorating China Through Science and Education¡¯ or how development is the cardinal principle.¡± Tomcat got up. ¡°Philosophy and science were only the hobbies of the rich. Apart from helping the king calcte the angle of his garden¡¯s fountain or estimating the trajectory of a cannon, do you think mathematics and physics can be used on potatoes?¡± ¡°Ignorant Europeans.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Asians of the same era were busy studying, hoping to take the imperial examinations. Towards the end of the Qing dynasty, the Empress Dowager even dabbled with horse-drawn railways. Superficially, she¡¯s the earliest Marxist Leninist in China,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°How much better was that?¡± Tang Yue dragged out the sr panels from the garage, while the Mars Wanderer was parked inside for charging. It had fallen into a hole thest time Tomcat had driven the Wanderer out to seek the Chelomey, causing it to suffer major damage. The front of the vehicle had warped, and all the ss had shattered. Now, the Wanderer was like an open car. All that was left of the drivingpartment was a frame. Sitting in the driver¡¯s seat gave a good view, but it was open air. Every day, Mai Dong would discuss history and humanities with Tomcat. They would go from Macedonia to ancient Rome to Carthage. Tang Yue rarely had a chance to interject; after all, he was terrible at history and was only able to apud to liven things up. With Tomcat around, crudely recording history wasn¡¯t a very difficult task. However, once things developed deeper, even Tomcat didn¡¯t have an answer. Most of the outstanding questions in history remained unsolved, and Tomcat wasn¡¯t a historian. All it could do was regurgitate the research findings of others. It was very easy to stump Tomcat. For instance, Tang Yue would often ask such questions: ¡°Was Jianwen Emperor burnt to death? ¡°What really happened with the conspiracy story ¡®shadows by the candle and sounds from an ax?¡¯ Was Emperor Taizu murdered by his brother? ¡°If the peasants didn¡¯t revolt, would the Manchus still be in power?¡± Tomcat would be left dumbfounded. Documents consisting of hundreds of thousands of words had been digitized and broadcast by the space station¡¯s antenna. Digitally encoded information couldn¡¯t contain as much information as text, so the broadcast time spanned an even longer amount of time. As for the automatic interpretation system, it was equivalent to a cipher book that allowed decoding. Just like the Rosetta Stone, beings that received the information could use it to decode the original text. The broadcast information would contain the automatic interpretation system within the content itself. Back when they were designing the automatic interpretation system, Tomcat had considered whether to use Chinese or English. As Chinese had a huge word bank, and logograms made it difficult to divide, to attempt an easy conversion from numbers to Chinese characters with a simple automatic interpretation system was just too difficult. Therefore, Tomcat eventually used the English alphabetical system. This also meant that intelligent lifeforms who received the signal could restore the content in English. After Earth¡¯s disappearance, the finalnguage transmitted into the cosmos was ultimately English. However, the documents stored on the hard disks were in Chinese. Tang Yue and Mai Dong had written the epitaph for the human civilization using Chinese. ... ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you have any free time over the next two days?¡± At noon, Tang Yue and Tomcat were resting inside Kunlun Station. The former was having his meal, and as usual, it waspressed biscuits mixed with some sugar-pickled tomatoes with a cup of water. Mai Dong was also eating. She had a piece of bread. ¡°Oh? Time? How long?¡± ¡°At least four hours,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°We need you to head out to check the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles.¡± Tomcat had epted Tang Yue¡¯s suggestion. The Eagle was the only vessel that wouldn¡¯t disintegrate during the atmospheric entry. In this desperate situation, it was the only hope. However, they needed to guarantee that nothing was wrong with the heat-resistant tiles on thender. Therefore, inspecting them was the first step. It was impossible to do the inspection indoors, so Mai Dong needed to head out. Forced by circumstances, Tomcat was actually going to use a condemned spacecraft. ¡°Check the Eagle?¡± Mai Dong was surprised before she slowly nodded. ¡°Head out? Sure. I¡¯m free to do so anytime. It just so happens that the space station¡¯s S1 sr panel¡¯s revolving mechanism has some problems. It¡¯s not rotating very smoothly, so I¡¯ll be able to solve it at the same time.¡± ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the sr panel?¡± Tang Yue looked up with biscuit crumbs in his mouth as he appeared nervous. ¡°It¡¯s amon malfunction. Theputer has done a self-check. It says that a sensor was disconnected. Changing a wire should do the trick.¡± Mai Dong was also eating biscuits. After taking a bite of thepressed biscuits, she sucked the water blob that was floating in front of her. ¡°It¡¯s a usual case of wear and tear of the wiring. There¡¯s no need to worry.¡± The Mars United Space Station had been in operation for years. There weren¡¯t any major problems, but there was no end to the minor ones. Usually, the astronauts would fix it, heading out to switch outponents and materials. It was considered a daily mission. ¡°Then, you should have a good restter. Ensure you have enough stamina,¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°We will begin twelve hours from now. When the timees, I¡¯ll give you detailed instructions.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Alright, got it.¡± Chapter 125: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-One, The Germans Have Eighty Years of Replacement Parts

Chapter 125: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-One, The Germans Have Eighty Years of Recement Parts

Mai Dong got some sleep after lunch. Extravehicr activity was exhausting work. Furthermore, Mai Dong was only a weak, malnourished girl. She needed to maintain enough physical and mental strength to handle the uing tasks. Tomcat and Tang Yue began their ns. ¡°I¡¯ve just contacted the United Space Station¡¯s system. The self-check report has been sent to me.¡± Tomcat opened the report on theputer. Tang Yue moved a chair over. ¡°The S1 sr panel¡¯s revolving mechanism has malfunctioned. The actual reason might be due to a light sensor.¡± The United Space Station¡¯s main sr panel and heat dissipation board were both installed on a framework. They weren¡¯t fixed in ce but would rotate based on the angle of the sunlight to obtain the greatest amount of sr exposure. Responsible for this was a light sensor. It was a tiny gizmo that was installed on the sr panels. ¡°The source of the malfunction is a disconnection in the control wirebeled C1002. It might be that the conducting wire has been cut or fallen off, but it¡¯s not a major problem. Tomcat entered the Mars United Space Station¡¯s power system and obtained the malfunction spot from theputer¡¯s self-check. As an engineer, Tang Yue instantly understood the cause of the problem. It was indeed a disconnection and solving it was easy. They just needed to swap the conducting wire. ¡°This part was designed by the Germans?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No, the light sensor supplier is a precision instrumentpany under General Electric.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Because if it¡¯s a German product, they would definitely have dug a hole beside it, burying eighty years worth of recement parts.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. To fix such a malfunction onnd would take only about ten minutes. But once such a simple procedure was ced in orbit, it became a rather difficult problem. Extravehicr activity was, to date, a rather dangerous matter. It was usually done by the experienced Commander with many others to provide assistance. Now, with Old Wang and Thomp gone, Mai Dong needed to shoulder this mission alone. As a result, Tomcat and Tang Yue had to do all the preparatory work for her. ¡°The S1 battery bank is here.¡± Tomcat pointed at the block diagram on theputer with its w. ¡°It¡¯s the innermost sr panel of this row of sr panels. It has a straight line distance of only thirty-five meters from the Crystal core module. Using the arm should be enough to send Miss Mai Dong all the way to the malfunctioning area. This is amon repair job. ¡°Swapping the conducting wire requires the dismantling of the sensor¡¯s outer shell. The work involved is a littleplicated. Mai Dong needs to bring along the repair kit.¡± Tang Yue leaned onto Tomcat¡¯s shoulder, rubbed his chin and said, ¡°I¡¯ve done it before, but it wasn¡¯t the S1 battery bank, but S4. Back then, Old Wang and I headed out to swap the aged light sensor. He was in charge of the repair work while I was responsible for handing him the tools... One will need to use a pair of scissors to cut open the lid¡¯s outer skin. There will be four 8.0 mm Penta screws. Removing three of them allows the outer shell to be opened. When doing it alone, it will definitely be quite a frenzy. ¡°Furthermore, the darn screwdriver on the space station sucks, especially when you¡¯re wearing gloves. It easily slips.¡± Tang Yue recalled. ¡°Back then, Old Wang wrapped a band connected to the screwdriver to his wrist; otherwise, the screwdriver would have flown away.¡± ¡°How long did it take you both to swap the sensor?¡± ¡°Two and a half hours.¡± ¡°Make a detailed checklist of the steps involved.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°We shall prioritize fixing the sr panels. Extravehicr activity mustn¡¯t exceed four hours; otherwise, Miss Mai Dong¡¯s body won¡¯t be able to take it. We can do the inspection of the Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tilester.¡± Tang Yue got out a piece of paper and began listing down the detailed steps needed for the repair work based on memory. Mai Dong was only a botanist without any space station repairing experience, so she needed Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s guidance. Humans truly had unlimited potential. A tinydy like Mai Dong was truly capable to handle all kinds of matters, including heavy manual work. ¡°We shall split the repair job into three stages. We will head out not more than four times.¡± As Tang Yue wrote, he muttered. The first extravehicr activity is to evaluate the situation and cut through the skin. This process will take about half an hour... How long will the entire return trip take including the exit and re-entry of the airlock?¡± Tomcat did a count. ¡°Half an hour.¡± ¡°Then this stage will take an hour.¡± Tang Yue tapped the paper with the pen tip. ¡°After this stage ispleted, the space station would have circled behind Mars. Mai Dong can return to the space station to rest before preparing to head out a second time.¡± ¡°Did you take any breaks back when you were swapping the sensor?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Old Wang is a workaholic. We finished the job with torchlights, but Mai Dong isn¡¯t able to do it alone. Without enough help, it¡¯ll be easy to have problems crop up.¡± Tomcat nodded and touched its ear. ¡°After the sun rises, you will head out a second time. The mission is to dismantle the sensor¡¯s outer shell, remove the C1002 conducting wire, which is a dark red wire. It will be rather deep, and above it are two lines¡ªB3074 and B3075. To swap C1002, you need to remove the two wires first. This will be a troublesome process and will take a lot of time. We aren¡¯t in a rush to swap out the wire during this stage. The three wires can be removed and brought back to the space station. ¡°Mai Dong will need to take the repair tools for this job... She will need to use many things. I need to list down a tool sheet.¡± Tang Yue drew a checklist on the piece of paper. ¡°The tools used during the job mustn¡¯t be forgotten. Whatever is taken out needs to brought back in.¡± ¡°You will have to remind her when the timees.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Tang Yue pointed at the back of his hand. ¡°Do you know what we did in the past? We stuck a slip of paper with all the things to take note of on the back of our hands. After finishing the job, we would look through the list.¡± ¡°Before the sun sets, Mai Dong needs to return to the space station and prepare to head out a third time. In this third trip, Mai Dong will take the spare parts, taking the spare conducting wire and B3074 and B3075 to the sensor. Only after installing the conducting wire, closing the lid, and screwing down all the screws, will the job be consideredplete,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°If she fails toplete the job on the third trip, there will still be a fourth... Of course, it will be best if everything goes smoothly and shepletes the mission on her third trip.¡± ¡°Are there any contingency ns?¡± ¡°If the inspection from our first extravehicr excursion is worse than we expected, making it impossible to fix it, we can only abandon the S1 battery bank. We will give up all the ns, and Mai Dong is to immediately return to the space station,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°The United Space Station can still operate normally without the S1 sr panel.¡± Apart from a strategic abandonment of ns, they had no other contingency ns. Tang Yue pushed the piece of paper that was filled with words to Tomcat. Tomcat carefully looked through the form without missing a single word. ¡°OK?¡± ¡°OK!¡± Chapter 126: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Nothing But Bubbles

Chapter 126: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Nothing But Bubbles

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon When Mai Dong woke up, it was forty minutes to the next sunrise. In Kunlun Station, Tang Yue and Tomcat had been discussing in detail every step of the procedure to ensure that they didn¡¯t miss out on anything. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, the detailed repair ns and steps have been sent to you.¡± Tomcat moved the camera over. On Mai Dong¡¯smunications system, a huge cat face appeared. ¡°Please open the message.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± Mai Dong was eating, her mouth stuffed full of food. When the girl opened the checklist, strings of text appeared. Tang Yue had written down everything, no matter how trivial it was. Every point to take note had been listed, including which foot to take first when releasing the catch needed for the extension of the arm. ¡°Okay...¡± ¡°How is it?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, what do you think of the difficulty involved?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Mai Dong slowly nodded as she scanned the document on the screen. ¡°It¡¯s only to fix a sensor, right? No problem. It won¡¯t stump me.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s question and answer time.¡± Tang Yue interjected and pushed away Tomcat. ¡°Mai Dong, you need to carefully read through the procedure and raise any questions. I hope you understand every step in the n so that you won¡¯t be in a fluster when the timees.¡± ¡°Alright. I get it. Let me take a look...¡± Tomcat left its seat as Tang Yue and Mai Dong got down to work. It still had some time, so it went to look after the sr panels in the Battery Farm. The daily moving in and out of the sr panels wasn¡¯t done by Tang Yue alone. At times, Tomcat would help as well, but clearly, it was a lot more rxed than Tang Yue. Tang Yue would pant in exhaustion from the work while wearing the heavy Radiant Armor. He was like andlord¡¯sborer, while Tomcat would stroll through the sr panels, with its paws behind its back, as though it was thendlord. Tomcat opened the airlock, stood at the entrance to Kunlun Station and looked up into the sky. Its eyes weren¡¯t high-magnification telescopes, so it wasn¡¯t able to see the United Space Station. However, Tomcat knew very well that the flying vessel was sweeping across its head every eighty minutes. At night, the space station, which reflected sunlight, would be like the stars in the sky as it moved quickly across the night sky. It would appear very conspicuous in a static starry background. On certain nights, Tang Yue and Tomcat would stand by Kunlun Station¡¯s window and wait until the United Space Station streak across the sky. They would thenmunicate with her telling her that they had seen her. Mai Dong had already lived alone on the space station for more than two hundred sols. Without any backup or resupplies, it would be most harrowing in human aeronautical history. From the moment Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin had carefully stepped into outer space until the entire globe had cooperated for the Marsnding missions, in the middle of the twenty-first century, never had any human faced a situation like Tang Yue¡¯s and Mai Dong¡¯s. As a robot, Tomcat couldn¡¯t help but sigh. God knows how much they had suffered. They were only two young adults who had just participated in the Mars project for the first time as prep crew for the subsequent development of thending project. They couldn¡¯t bepared to Old Wang or Thomp who were calm and experienced. Yet, bad luck had hit them. Mai Dong¡¯s physical condition was worsening. The effects of prolonged exposure to zero gravity and malnutrition were slowly ravaging the girl¡¯s body. Mai Dong had begun wearing a hat when appearing in the camera sincest month. She didn¡¯t give any exnations, but Tomcat knew that it was definitely a result of severe hair loss. The effects of radiation had damaged her hair follicles, killing her epidermalyer. Her hair fell out inrge clumps, a most obvious demonstration of her worsening health. In past missions, the astronauts would take anti-radiation drugs to avoid such situations, but Mai Dong had finished all of hers. Tomcat wasn¡¯t sure how long Mai Dong couldst if they didn¡¯t bring her down. However, worst of all was that the space station didn¡¯t have a vessel that could be used for the descent. Tang Yue had suggested using the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle, believing that its outer shell was able to withstand the heat, that was the only hope. In theory, the Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles were able to resist the high temperatures from adiabaticpression, and even though the Eagle was one-use, the tiles were designed with safety redundancies. The only possibility to ovee the heat problem came from the safety redundancy. The original engineers¡¯ adding of few extra millimeters of heat-resistant material for safety purposes had be Mai Dong¡¯s final straw to clutch at. This was workable logically, and Tang Yue believed that he had resolved the first difficulty, making that delightful first step. This was a good beginning that left one excited. As such, he began racking his brains to consider how he could ovee the subsequent difficulties. When Tomcat walked past Tang Yue¡¯s living quarters, it would hear him muttering words such as a ¡°reverse thrustnding¡± and ¡°air resistance.¡± Clearly, he stayed up at night considering solutions to the safety of thending. It was rare for Tang Yue to be so engrossed over certain matters. His walnut-sized brain was probably upied by this matter. Tomcat leaned against Kunlun Station¡¯s hatch and picked up a t stone by its feet. As it clenched the stone tightly, its eyes darken suddenly. It had taken on the role of a vicious, foul-mouthedndlord with unyielding energy,manding Tang Yue to do all kinds of things as though it held all the chips. But at this moment, the cat¡¯s back was hunched. It didn¡¯t look as domineering or awesome as it usually was. An invisible weight weighed down on its back that prevented it from straightening it. All it could do was slowly sit on the ground. When alone, Tomcat was only a cat¡ªa cat that sat in the desert. ¡°The side with the crack is heads, and the part without is tails. If it¡¯s heads, then, we will both have a good oue,¡± Tomcat softly muttered as it threw the stone in its paw like a coin, caught it, and pressed it down on the back of its other paw. Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°If it¡¯s tails... they would have a good ending,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°It¡¯s fine if I¡¯m a little unluckier.¡± It slowly spread open its ws as the stone sat stably on the back of its paw. Tomcat took a look, cracked open its mouth, and threw the stone far into the distance. Tang Yue was still having beautiful dreams of bringing Mai Dong down to Kunlun Station, and thedy was also excited, believing that she could descend safely. Tomcat really didn¡¯t wish to destroy their fantasies because it was already very difficult for the two of them to survive. All that was left in their lives was hope. When it saw their eyes sparkle, Tomcat eventually swallowed what it wanted to say. It would be too cruel if it were to destroy theirst bit of hope as well. Tomcat knew the situation clearer than anyone. It had considered all viable cases. It was impossible for the Eagle to safelynd. The n wasn¡¯t viable at all, and riding inside the Eagle for an atmospheric entry was no different from suicide. The hope that Tang Yue saw was nothing but a bubble in a sea of despair, bursting with a simple prod. Chapter 127: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Head Out Lady

Chapter 127: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Head Out Lady

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, look... the sun has risen.¡± Mai Dong had the bulky EVA suit pulled up halfway when she looked up. Golden rays of sunlight poured in through the module¡¯s windows,nding on the girl¡¯s pale cheeks. From Mai Dong¡¯s angle, the sunlight drew out a dark, humongous arc¡ªthe ends of Mars. The pitch-ck shadow had hints of red as its thin atmosphere emitted a white luster. The sun¡¯s diamond ring effect disappeared rapidly before its rays shone onto the sr panels that were in the shadows. The United Space Station¡¯srge array of sr panels were slowly spinning like a series of sharp des that sliced the sunlight into particles. Mai Dong squinted her eyes as the light and shadows brushed past her face, outlining her tiny, mellow nose. ¡°To us, the sun has been above us all this time,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I envy you guys.¡± Mai Dong put on her helmet, fastened the buckles, and said, ¡°Be it on Earth or on Mars, the world revolves around the sun. It¡¯s the center of the world and filled with brightness... But on the space station, you can see that... the Universe is too ck and too deep. Even with the sun being a light-emitting star, it is unable to illuminate the Universe. ¡°At times, I believe that humans might not be prepared for long-distance travel.¡± Mai Dong checked themunications system as numbers reflected on her visor. ¡°Humans often try to find something to rely on. In the past, it¡¯s home, Earth, the sun. But once you enter deep space, humans be wanderers without any support spiritually. I believe in the years toe if humans begin interster travel, those souls that vanish in the Universe be able to find their way home.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s Gagarin, Armstrong, Old Wang, Thomp, and us,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Lu Xun once said, ¡®For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made.¡¯¡± ¡°Besides, there won¡¯t be years toe,¡± Tomcat interrupted. ¡°There won¡¯t be people taking the roads you pave.¡± Mai Dong passed through the passage and left the Crystal module, entering the Hub APAS module. Previously, the exit nearest to the arm had been the Dawn module, but it waspletely damaged. Mai Dong could just use the Hope experiment module which had an airlock to enable the extravehicr activities of an astronaut. ¡°The EVA system is normal. The EVA suit is okay. All sections on the space station are normal.¡± Tomcat controlled everything as all theputer screens in front of it lit up. Tang Yue quickly read the draft in his hand as he looked at the time. He needed to ensure that nothing went wrong during the mission. ¡°MSSRMS system connected. Canadarm70 robotic arm is on standby,¡± Tomcat said, as it entered the control interface of the arm. Controlling the arm in the space station was different from doing it from Kunlun Station. The space station allowed an analog control by using a control stick to control its actions, but Kunlun Station only allowed keyboard and mouse input. Using a mouse to control a robotic arm with twelve degrees of freedom was something no one could do except Tomcat. The folded arm slowly extended. Thisplicated and expensive arm was one of the most intricate tools on the space station. It had once saved Mai Dong¡¯s life. ¡°Mai Dong, do an equipment check. Have you brought everything?¡± Tang Yue reminded. ¡°Yes.¡± Mai Dong was inside the airlock awaiting the depressurization. With a beep, the indicator light changed from red to green as Mai Dong took a deep breath. She opened the airlock hatch that led outside. At the instant she exited, she felt a little dizzy. This wasn¡¯t the first time Mai Dong had headed out, but every time she left the space station, it felt as if she was stepping into the abyss. ¡°The time is now fifteen minutes past nine in the morning. Five minutes after we started the mission,¡± Tang Yue stood by the side as hemunicated with Mai Dong through the earpiece as he stared at the time.¡±Mai Dong, are you okay?¡± ¡°Rest easy.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was very staid. ¡°I¡¯m sending Miss Mai Dong over,¡± Tomcat said with a deep voice. The live video from the camera was projected onto the screen as Tomcat specially used a screen to monitor the arm¡¯s operational conditions. The main camera was installed above Mai Dong¡¯s head, allowing Tomcat to see whatever Mai Dong could see. The airlock was about thirty meters away from the S1 sr panels. The arm moved at a speed of half a meter per second, but in Mai Dong¡¯s eyes, the gigantic sr panels were slowly approaching her. Mai Dong pulled down her light-filtering visor as the sunlight was a little blinding. ¡°Another five meters... Three meters... One meter, OK! Secured!¡± ¡°Mai Dong?¡± ¡°OK! I can see the sensor already...¡± Mai Dong raised her hand to push up the light-filtering visor midway. She hid in the shadows of the sr panels to prevent the sunlight from directly hitting her. The S1 battery bank had a total of two sr panels. They were installed on a revolving mechanism, making it one of the main sources of power for the United Space Station. A sr panel¡¯s length reached forty meters and its main body was made out of monocrystalline silicon. The surface wasyered with a protective film, making the blue sr panels look dark brown. The battery bank¡¯s actuator was installed on the frame which was a huge and veryplicated mechanical structure. As for the light sensor, it was an inconspicuous trivial piece of equipment. It was a protruded hemisphere which was only a protectiveyer of stic. Embedded inside was a chip that sat flush with the space station. It was the sensor¡¯s main body. It looked like a surveince camera, except the light sensor¡¯s mission wasn¡¯t to take images but to determine the direction of the sunlight. A battery bank had two sensors that backed each other up. If one was damaged, there was another, but this time, the damage was on the overall control circuit, which was why there was a need for manual repairs. ¡°Locate the spot!¡± Tang Yue indicated. ¡°Do you still remember the steps? Locate the spot, then open the outer shell. Once done, this extravehicr mission will be a sess!¡± ¡°Locate the spot... locate the spot...¡± Mai Dong nodded as she exhaled, forming a vapor that condensed on the visor. The outer shell of the actuator was covered with a fewyers of a firm polymer film. They were for heat instion, so to remove the outer shell, Mai Dong needed to first cut open this material. Mai Dong took out a tiny electric dremel from her tool bag. Tang Yue and Tomcat remained in Kunlun Station as the arm¡¯s four cameras turned towards Mai Dong. The man and cat looked at the white swollen figure clumsily working from different angles. Mai Dong only had her legs secured to the arm while her body was slowly moving around in zero gravity. The tools had slipped away from her hands several times. ¡°Calm down, calm down... Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue held his hand onto the desk as he pressed onto Tomcat¡¯s shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s still plenty of time.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a total of fouryers to the outer cloth,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°I¡¯ve cut through the firstyer, creating an opening that¡¯s forty centimeters wide. Next, I¡¯ll prepare to cut open the secondyer.¡± ¡°Do you need to take a break?¡± ¡°No.¡± Mai Dong exhaled. ¡°I¡¯m not tired yet.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t force it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, fatigue will reduce your efficiency.¡± ¡°I feel like a doctor, operating on a giant.¡± Mai Dong turned her head to look at the massive space station behind her. ¡°When I was young, I had thought of being a doctor... If I had be a doctor, I probably wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Removing the second heat instion material took about ten minutes, and she met with a little trouble cutting through the thirdyer. A metal wire had hindered her progress which was a little unexpected. No one knew that such a wire would appear. Tomcat had suggested that she return to the space station to switch tools to snap it off. When half of the allocated mission time was up, Mai Dong had finally cut through all the stic membrane. ¡°I see the outer shell!¡± ¡°Do you see the maintenance lid?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The four Penta screws?¡± ¡°Yes... That¡¯s right.¡± Mai Dong looked up and smiled at the camera. ¡°You are right.¡± ¡°Next step, remove the screws and dismantle the outer shell! You have fifty minutes.¡± Chapter 128: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, New-Age Celibate Philosopher

Chapter 128: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, New-Age Celibate Philosopher

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong repeatedly took a few deep breaths, sucking in the air inside the helmet before letting it out. She had lowered the temperature inside the EVA suit as the low temperatures allowed her to maintain rity of thought. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, your EVA suit¡¯s temperature is dropping.¡± Tomcat monitored Mai Dong¡¯s situation as it said. ¡°At the same time, your heartbeat is rising.¡± ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s too hot inside the suit. I¡¯m perspiring all over... I definitely have to take a shower when I return. I haven¡¯t had a bath for a long time. I must be stinking.¡± ¡°Is the Water Reimer on the space station still operational?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It is,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°The water and air reimer are operational. The space station is different from the surface station. This kind ofpletely sealed space hardly causes any loss in water... I really miss the feeling of showering onnd. It just feels so great. On the space station, the water doesn¡¯t flow down at all, and all that gets sprayed out is a mist of water that sticks to the skin. The girl grunted. Clearly, she was very displeased with the United Space Station¡¯s bathroom. ¡°I¡¯ve already forgotten what it feels like to shower,¡± Tang Yue said insipidly. ¡°The Kunlun Station¡¯s folding bathroom hasn¡¯t been opened in six months,¡± Tomcat said faintly. ¡°When I was inspecting it yesterday, I found ayer of dust over it.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t showered in six months...¡± The girl clicked her tongue. ¡°Won¡¯t you stink? It wouldn¡¯t feelfortable wearing clothes.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This fellow doesn¡¯t usually wear clothes.¡± ¡°Wow... guys are terrifying.¡± Mai Dong stared at the screwdriver in her hand. She was removing the screws on the outer shell. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine such a life. Isn¡¯t the Kunlun Station like a pile of trash? It¡¯s said that cockroaches will breed if dirty clothes are left there... I need to shower after some time. To save water, I¡¯ve even cut my hair short.¡± ¡°Hey, hey,dy. Not showering while maintaining cleanliness is a talent guys are born with. Even if we don¡¯t shower for prolonged periods of time, we can still remain spotless,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Lin Ching-Hsuan once said, ¡®Spotless doesn¡¯t mean theck of dust, but to let the dust rise while I be my own sunshine.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tomcat shot a nce at him. ¡°You are still pretty philosophical.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a new-age celibate philosopher that¡¯s filled with the fortitude to criticize just like Immanuel Kant,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You are only someone bal...¡± Tomcat sneered. ¡°You¡¯re the balls!¡± ¡°What balls? How crude.¡± Tomcat pretended to wear a nk look. ¡°I was saying that you are only someone balking at depression.¡± F*ck. Tang Yue cursed inwardly. This darn cat was getting smarter. Mai Dong held an electric screwdriver sucking away the third screw as she carefully stored it in her pouch. Due to theck of gravity, everything would float around randomly. The pouched needed to be covered, andrge tools that couldn¡¯t be stuffed into the pouches had to be inserted into protective sleeves to keep them still. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, the outer shell of the sensor has been opened... There¡¯s onest screw left.¡± Mai Dong removed thest screw before storing the electric screwdriver into her tool bag. ¡°The four screws have been removed. I can now open the lid.¡± The girl¡¯s actions were very slow. When Tomcat and Tang Yue monitored her actions through the camera, it felt as if they were watching her in slow-motion. The EVA suit used for spacewalks was even bulkier and heavier than the Radiant Armor. It was thanks to the arm that it saved her quite a bit of effort; otherwise, using the manned maneuvering unit (MMU) or taking one step at a time would be just too time-consuming. Mai Dong removed the outer shell of the sensor, exposing the wiring within. ¡°Mr. Cat, I need to move slightly to the left.¡± Tomcat controlled the arm to move slowly as Mai Dong adjusted her posture. She leaned in close to the sensor¡¯s opening and to prevent any blind spots, she tied a tiny mirror in the middle of her right palm. This was a trick Tang Yue had taught her. By using a mirror, she could look into deeper corners that the human eye couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Mai Dong, adjust the camera down a little. We need to ess the damage to the circuit.¡± Mai Dong nodded as she aimed the camera at the opening. As she moved around, Tomcat and Tang Yue saw the control circuit within the sensor. All kinds ofplicated, different-colored wiring were arranged together. Each circuit had a white number that extended from different areas before heading somewhere else. Mai Dong wasn¡¯t a professional electrician, so she couldn¡¯t understand the letters and numbers on them. Tang Yue sat in front of the monitor as he held the operation ns in hand while instructing Mai Dong to use a pair of tweezers to remove the surface wires and find the C1002 circuit. ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°There¡¯s a disconnection between the data processor and the actuator.¡± Tang Yue pondered for a few seconds. ¡°The best solution is to swap out the wire. Mai Dong, look... Connected above the dark red wire is the sensor¡¯s data processor. Connected below is the actuator¡¯s control unit. Do you see the wire?¡± ¡°I see it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the wire you need to change. I suspect the reason for the malfunction is that the wire core has disconnected. At the end of this circuit is a hexagonal nut. To swap the conducting wire, you need to remove this nut. Likewise for the other end. The work needed requires a lot of precision and will be quite difficult.¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°There¡¯s still another twenty minutes before the sun sets. Do you want to continue or return to the space station?¡± Tomcat took a look at the time. ¡°I can still continue.¡± Mai Dong blinked. Beads of sweat were clinging to her eyshes as she subconsciously wished to raise her hand to wipe it before realizing that she was wearing an EVA suit. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°You have alreadypleted the goal for the first EVA (Extravehicr Activity) mission. What you need to do now is rest. Removing the conducting wire can wait until your second EVA mission. We still have time, so there¡¯s no need to rush it. The sun will set over there soon. It¡¯s inconvenient to work in the dark and it¡¯s prone to problems... Tomcat, pull Mai Dong back.¡± Mai Dong exhaled as she checked all her tools. Then, she leaned against the EVA suit¡¯s internals to rest, awaiting the arm¡¯s movement. She looked up, seeing the towering sr panels standing before her. They were reachable just by extending her hand. These sr panels were as tall as thirteen stories. It was a massive structure that was only second to the main structure. While inside the core module, Mai Dong didn¡¯t find itrge, only when she approached it did she realize the magnificence of the giant. There were a total of eight sr panels and when the eight panels aligned before you, you would feel a deep sense of rm. When you realized that you were in Martian orbit more than a hundred million kilometers away from Earth, you would be shocked. The arm began moving as it took Mai Dong away from the battery bank. Sunlight shot through the gaps in the sr panels as the steel, rectangr structure, and the cylindrical cabins formed aplicatedposition in Mai Dong¡¯s eyes. In the pitch-ck, cold background, humanity¡¯s heavy industry upied most of thisposition. The light and shadows drew a clear outline. It was just a cold machine, a product of physics and engineering¡ªlike a monster born out of the Universe¡¯sws. And the sun was the source of all that was bright. It looked distant and warm. It passed through the void and the machine, tainting the picture with a faintyer of golden luster. Chapter 129: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, The Brawling in the Bathroom and Soap

Chapter 129: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, The Brawling in the Bathroom and Soap

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Half an hourter. Mai Dong was out on her second EVA trip. The mission involved removing the sensor¡¯s control conducting wire. It was a veryplicated procedure. First Mai Dong needed to remove two conducting wires¡ªB3074 and B3075¡ªthat were in the way. After that, she had to remove the cause of the break in the circuit, the C1002 wire that was deep inside. This was a surgical procedure that needed her to use a screwdriver, scissors, and tweezers. However, Mai Dong wore such heavy equipment that her gloved fingers were as thick as sausages. ¡°B3074 has been removed.¡± Mai Dong reported. She felt like a bomb specialist, facing a bunch of red, blue and green wires inside a bomb as she held scissors, unsure which wire to cut first. Mai Dong had watched many movies where the bomb specialist would suddenly gain divine inspiration or recall their family orrades at thest second, and under the halo of being the protagonist, cut the wire decisively as the popcorn-watching crowd sat at the edge of their seats. With a crisp sound, the red liquid disy countdown woulde to an abrupt halt. Later, Commander Old Wang told her that it only happened in movies. In real situations, bomb specialists didn¡¯t care about the wires; they just got a robot to pick up the bomb and throw it straight into a liquid nitrogen cylinder. ¡°OK!¡± Tomcat nodded. He saw the disconnection notice on the space station¡¯sputer system that B3074 had been disconnected. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you need a rest? I see your heartbeat rising.¡± Mai Dong nodded. She was quite tired. An EVA mission might not be much for a strong man like Old Wang, with him spending six to seven hours outside. However, Mai Dong¡¯s stamina could hardly handle it. After the first mission, Mai Dong had some food to eat and rested until the sun rose again. Mai Dong put all the tools in her hand into the pouch and rested in the vacuum. Without gravity, there was no distinction between up and down. It didn¡¯t matter if she stood up ory down. She looked at Mars, which appeared inches away from her, as though she could touch the orange-red world if she just extended her arm. But it was distant like another world. She and the space station were hurtling in orbit at a distance of four hundred kilometers from the surface. This distance was so close that Mai Dong could see the details of the Martian surface with her naked eyes, but thews of the Universe forced her to stay revolving around the. The space station was in flight its entire life, and even though it was flying at a speed of 3 km/s, it wasn¡¯t able to get any closer to Mars. Gravity was a wall that Mai Dong couldn¡¯t breach. ¡°The Isidis nitia... Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, I see the Isidis nitia.¡± Mai Dong saw the tiny ins on the Martian northern hemisphere close to the equator. It would have been easily missed if one didn¡¯t look carefully. She knew that Kunlun Station was on the in, but it was just too tiny for the girl¡¯s eyesight... It was truly a miraculous feeling. You knew that they were there, but you just couldn¡¯t see them. If one had a powerful microscope that could magnify them, you would be able to see Kunlun Station and the tiny human and cat inside. She had the baffling feeling that she was looking at a miniature model. Mai Dong was surprised at her own thoughts. The first thing that hade to mind was a microscope instead of a telescope. It meant that her mind was upied with the concept of size instead of distance. Subconsciously, Mai Dong had treated Mars as a massive body that bordered on being a living creature and a non-living creature. Kunlun Station was only an extremely tiny appendage to this massive body. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, can you see me?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I¡¯m on the same side as you guys.¡± ¡°The sunlight is too bright in the day. We can¡¯t see you,¡± Tang Yue replied. He was speaking the truth for it was impossible to see the space station in the day due to the bright sunlight. ¡°Even if you see her, you won¡¯t be able to precisely track her. Miss Mai Dong, your orbit is too low and you move too quickly on the celestial sphere,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°To keep tracking the space station, we need a high-precision equatorial mount.¡± ¡°If only you guys could see me. It¡¯s different meeting face to facepared to over the camera andputer screen.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart stirred a little. Indeed, the camera and radio allowed them tomunicate by video, but a video call was ultimately behind ayer of ss. Having a pane of ss in between them made it seem as though Kunlun Station and the space station were in two different worlds. However, if he could see Mai Dong on the space station without any obstacles, locking their gazes despite four hundred kilometers in between them, it would make it seem as if the duo had returned to the same Universe. ... Mai Dong carefully put the screwdriver and conducting wire into the pouch, heaved a sigh of relief and said, ¡°B3075 removed.¡± ¡°Next up is C1002. Mai Dong, do an observation first and decide what¡¯s the most energy-conserving method. Don¡¯t be in a rush,¡± Tang Yue advised. ¡°Do it in a way that conveniences you.¡± Mai Dong held the pair of tweezers in her hand as she got Tomcat to slightly adjust the robotic arm¡¯s positioning. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I see it. However, the screw is a little stuck...¡± Mai Dong clenched her teeth and held her breath, hoping that she could wrench it off, but she failed. ¡°I might have to twist it around first, or I won¡¯t be able to exert my strength. So I¡¯ll be switching to pliers. Pliers... Here they are.¡± ¡°Slowly. Slowly.¡± ¡°The gap is too narrow. I can¡¯t insert the pliers. I¡¯ll need to expand the hole a little. Strange... Is this rust? No, it¡¯s just coating that peeled off.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat sat in Kunlun Station staring at the monitor. Mai Dong¡¯s breathing undted over thems, and clearly, she was exhausting a significant amount of her strength. After a short time, Mai Dong had to rest. ¡°It¡¯s exhausting. I never knew that repairing the space station was actually this draining.¡± Mai Dong panted as she rested again. ¡°It¡¯s truly amazing that the Commander and the rest were able to continue working for six hours like this.¡± ¡°How can youpare with Old Wang?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Old Wang and Thomp are men with ripped with muscles. They often brawl in the bathroom, draining even more energy than this; yet, they remained brimming with energy.¡± ¡°Why would they be brawling in the bathroom?¡± Tang Yue thought for a moment. ¡°It was often because of a bar of soap.¡± After about half an hour of struggling, Mai Dong finally removed the C1002 conducting wire. With that, the EVA mission was a sess. Mai Dong was alsopletely exhausted. After returning to the space station, she poured out nearly a liter of sweat from the EVA suit. She was drenched. When she returned to the core module, she didn¡¯t say anything or even wear any noise-canceling earplugs as she fell asleep hugging a pillow and Ah Q. The sunlight slowly receded away from them. In Kunlun Station, Tang Yue and Tomcat were discussing the next step. The line that demarcated between day and night slowly moved across the Martian surface. The United Space Station once again flew to the back of Mars. Mars was still revolving around the sun at 24 km/s. The Sr System was still revolving around the Milky Way¡¯s core at 250 km/s. The Universe was expanding silently. Chapter 130: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Visitor From Beyond the Sky

Chapter 130: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Two, Visitor From Beyond the Sky

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Comet?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. Mai Dong was installing the C1002 conducting wire when she heard Tomcat¡¯s words. She looked up and said, ¡°Aet, like Halley¡¯s Comet?¡¯ ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°But it¡¯s not Halley¡¯s Comet, it¡¯s a brand new one. There aren¡¯t any historical records of it. It¡¯s an aperiodicet, and its orbit isn¡¯t an ellipse but two curves.¡± ¡°When did you discover it?¡± Tang Yue was surprised. ¡°Just. I just confirmed its existence.¡± Tomcat listed the observational data on a monitor. This star has increased seven times in magnitude over the past forty-eight hours, going from a magnitude of 6 to 4. I originally thought it was a variable star, but Iter discovered that it was a celestial body within the Sr System. It¡¯s rapidly approaching the sun at increasingly high speeds.¡± ¡°Does this mean that we can see aet?¡± Mai Dong was pleasantly surprised. ¡°What does this mean for us?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s reaction was tense. The first thing that came to mind was of aet hitting Earth. ¡°There won¡¯t be any danger, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s unknown or the moment. I¡¯ve activated the survey telescope and n on tracking it. I¡¯ll soon be able to estimate it¡¯s trajectory,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Based on the present results, it¡¯s aet that has never visited the Sr System. It likely originates from the Oort Cloud...¡± ¡°Who cares where ites from. As long as it doesn¡¯te to Mars,¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°Will I be able to see it?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Yes, Miss Mai Dong,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°However, it¡¯s brightness isn¡¯t higher than most of the stars in space. But with the passage of time, it will narrow the distance with the sun, and theet¡¯s apparent magnitude will continue rising.¡± Mai Dong straightened her body as she looked around. The constetions that filled the sky emitted resplendent light but she couldn¡¯t find the broom-shaped star that she imagined. ¡°But I can¡¯t find it. Aren¡¯tets like a big broom?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not close enough to the sun, so theet¡¯s tail isn¡¯t obvious. But it won¡¯t be long before you will be able to find it. It¡¯s a rareet. Its head should exceed 280,000 kilometers in diameter,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Do you know what this means in terms of size?¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°Jupiter¡¯s diameter is only about 140,000 kilometers, so its diameter is twice that of Jupiter,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°When Tomcat-Tang-Mai I is at perihelion, it will be the brightest star in the sky. It will also drag out a massiveet tail more than a hundred million kilometers long, sweeping across the entire night sky. ¡°Wait, what did you just say? What¡¯s Tomcat-Tang-Mai?¡± Tang Yue frowned. Tomcat often didn¡¯t speak human. ¡°That theet¡¯s name,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°You previously mentioned that it¡¯s an unrecordedet.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯ve just given it its name.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°ording to the International Astronomical Union, a newet is given the name of its discoverers.¡± Tang Yue ruminated the name a few times before realizing that Tomcat was using their names to name theet. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I. This was probably thestet to be discovered and named in human history. ¡°How long will it take before you can confirm its trajectory?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The space station¡¯s telescope is tracking it. It will be able to estimate the oue in a few days. At present, it can be confirmed that theet will enter Earth¡¯s original orbit, which also means that it will pass by Mars¡¯s orbit. However, it¡¯s still unknown if it will brush past Mars,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°However, you don¡¯t have to worry about this problem. Even though theet appears like a massive, terrifying celestial body, 99% of it is made of thin gas. The real solidet nucleus is only a few dozen kilometers in diameter.¡± ¡°So that means it¡¯s impossible for it to hit Mars?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Impossible. The speed of theet is too high. It far exceeds the escape velocity of any in the Sr System. Unless Tomcat-Tang-Mai plunges straight into the Roche limit between the two bodies and gets ripped apart by the tidal forces, Mars won¡¯t be able to capture it.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We can do a simple calction. Theet¡¯s nucleus is mainly made up of water. Its density is very close to ice, and Mars¡¯s average density is very low. It¡¯s about 4g/cm3. ording to the Roche limit¡¯s equation, d = 2.44R3¡Ì(¦ÑM/¦Ñm), one can derive the Roche limit to be 7,004 km. ¡°That also means that theet needs to approach within 3600 kilometers of Mars¡¯s surface to not be ripped into shreds before smashing into Mars... I¡¯m telling you this, not to keep you on the edges of your seats, but to tell you to remember to watch the show when the timees,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°Theet might be the brightest celestial object of this century. It¡¯s a very rare astronomical wonder.¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief. He¡¯d rather not see any astronomical wonder than have anything unexpected happen. Anyone would feel horrified to have Tomcat suddenly tell them that a celestial body was rushing towards Mars¡¯s orbit at nearly 80 km/s. But in Mai Dong¡¯s eyes, it was a very romantic matter. However, to Tang Yue, it was like an alert of a nuclear strike. ¡°As long as Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9¡¯s incident isn¡¯t replicated. Tomcat, you have to know that humans are fearful of celestial bodies. After all, our ancestors were the creatures that survived from a celestial nuclear strike. If it wasn¡¯t that meteorite that produced the Chicxulub crater in Mexico 65 million years ago, I might have a reptilian face now,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I don¡¯t really care about wonders since I¡¯ve already witnessed the disappearance of Earth. What else can still rm me?¡± ¡°It was Jupiter that ripped apart Shoemaker,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Compared to Jupiter, Mars is still far from that.¡± ¡°Why would there be aet all of a sudden?¡± Mai Dong screwed on the screw and asked. ¡°It¡¯s not sudden. It¡¯s because we just discovered it,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°When it passed by Neptune¡¯s and Uranus¡¯s orbit, it didn¡¯t reflect any light due to its distance. It was why we didn¡¯t see it. In fact, it had long entered the Sr System.¡± ¡°Will it evere back again?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s a wanderinget. It will never return after it leaves. In fact, mostets are like that. They wander around everywhere, getting pulled in by the sun¡¯s gravity, circle around it, and leave, never to return.¡± ¡°Wandering... Wandering,¡± Mai Dong whispered as she screwed in thest screw, installing the C1002 wire. ¡°Where do youe from? And where do you belong?¡± She looked into the distance again, attempting to find the wandering celestial body that had barged into the Sr System. But just as Tomcat said, theet was still too dim. It was like a drop of water that was hidden in the massive sea of stars. It was an ancient starry sky. The youngest light thatnded in the girl¡¯s eyes was four-years-old. Chapter 131: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Long-Distance Interstellar Strike Weapon

Chapter 131: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Long-Distance Interster Strike Weapon

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon On the second night that Tomcat observed Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I again, the point of light had brightened again. Theet¡¯s speed was extremely fast¡ªit was probably the fastest moving celestial body in the Sr System. It could fly more than 70 km/s while ordinaryoids only moved at 20 km/s. In terms of mass, the energy brought by theet was thirteen times that of the asteroid that sted the dinosaurs into extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period. If Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I were to hit Mars, the catastrophe it created would be more spectacr than the fifth major extinction event. Mars¡¯s volume density was much smaller than Earth¡¯s, and theet had enough energy to throwrge quantities of matter into orbit. This would leave a huge impact crater on Mars¡¯s surface while also forming a belt of particles around it, giving it its own ring. Of course, it would be impossible for Tang Yue and Mai Dong to see such a scene. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I came from above the Sr System¡¯s ecliptic ne, so it would definitely hit the northern hemisphere of Mars. It was possible that Kunlun Station would be instantly destroyed upon impact, and the space station would be ripped to shreds from the ejected rubble. ¡°How is it? Thatet?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat moved the monitor towards Tang Yue. On the screen was space. It was a picture taken from the space station¡¯s survey telescope. It had been constantly tracking theet that had barged into the Sr System. To Tang Yue¡¯s surprise, Tomcat pointed at a very faint point of light with its paw. It didn¡¯t stand out among the bright stars,pletely at odds with Tang Yue¡¯s impression of aet. He originally imagined that he would see a brightet with a sweeping tail. ¡°Unfortunately, the Dawn module on the space station has been destroyed. Otherwise, we could have telescopes with bigger apertures and precision. That way, you¡¯d be able to see it more clearly,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This is Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I that¡¯s flying towards the sun at high speeds. In the three minutes you have been staring nkly at the screen, it has already crossed a distance of 12,600 kilometers.¡± Tang Yue stroked his chin. If this were ancient times, thiset would likely bebeled as a ¡°cmity from the skies, an ominous portent.¡± Be it China or foreign countries, the ancients had bad impressions ofets. The Chinese called it a jinx that represented bad luck, while Westerners believed that it was a sign of God¡¯s displeasure and fury. After all, anyone who knew that there was such a huge object approaching from over their heads would feel uneasy, regardless if it was a nuclear bomb or aet. Tang Yue suddenly had a strange thought. ¡°Tomcat, do you think that this is actually an interster missile? Certain civilizations create them as long-range strike weapons. They fly fast just like a missile... Don¡¯t you see the resemnce?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± Tomcat shot a nce at him and shook its head. ¡°ording to the light spectrum analysis, this object is 95%prised of water. The rest is carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ammonia, and methane. Such materials rapidly evaporate when they approach the sun. If it¡¯s a missile, I feel that it should have a ferrotungsten core at the very least, or be a three-stage bomb.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s actually just an interster water delivery boy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°A considerable portion of Earth¡¯s water might have originated fromets. Billions of years ago, when life had yet to be born,rge numbers ofets and asteroids collided with Earth, bringing it rare metals and water, perhaps even organic molecules.¡± ¡°If it hits Mars, and I¡¯m only saying if... with it not affecting Kunlun Station or the space station... does that mean it will replenish us with water? So much, that we won¡¯t be able to finish that amount in all our lives.¡± ¡°Impossible. What is going on inside your head? Do you think it will turn into ake or ocean after the impact?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°All the water contained in theet nucleus will instantly evaporate due to the high temperatures from the impact. They will evaporate into the Martian atmosphere, and you won¡¯t be able to get a single drop of water. Of course, this bit of water won¡¯t moisturize the Martian atmosphere. It¡¯s equivalent to pouring a bottle of mineral water in the middle of the Sahara desert.¡± ¡°I was just fantasizing.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°The only way to extract the water resources from theet is...¡± ¡°What¡¯s it?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°To fly up and stop it just like the Deep Impact spacecraft,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°Then, you can extract however much water you wish.¡± When Tomcat mentioned such tales that bordered on the level of gods, it meant that it was very irritated by one¡¯s extreme stupidity. ¡°Is the result of this object¡¯s trajectory out?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s still under observation.¡± Tang Yue knew that it was impossible for theet to hit Mars... The possibility of having these two celestial objects collide, was lower than having a bullet hit another. However, he couldn¡¯t stop worrying. In the past, Tang Yue definitely wouldn¡¯t have worried over aet, nor was it his ce to worry over it. But ever since Earth had vanished, Tang Yue felt that the Universe was fraught with danger. The vast, pitch-ck night sky seemed to be hiding all kinds of ferocious beasts. Since it could swallow Earth with just one bite, spitting out something to drown you wasn¡¯t unimaginable. ¡°Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, is the light sensor on the S1 battery bank still operational?¡± ¡°Everything is operational. The light sensor is in good condition,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The repair work was very sessful.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s EVA missions hade to a perfect conclusion. She had smoothly swapped the damaged wires and Tang Yue had praised her for her talent as an electrician. Tomcat curled its mouth as it couldn¡¯t be bothered. What kind of talent was needed to be an electrician? Only being Electrician Liu, Liu Cixin, needed talent. ¡°Mr. Cat, I¡¯ve sorted out a portion of the development history of European technology and agriculture. I¡¯ve also briefly mentioned a few key people in Western philosophy,¡± Mai Dong sent the document to Tomcat. ¡°I have St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Leibniz, and Descartes.¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Tomcat nced at it. ¡°Tang Yue, are you done on your side?¡± ¡°Almost. However, for people like Pythagoras and Democritus, do you n on putting them into philosophical history or in scientific history?¡± Tomcat thought and said, ¡°Philosophical history.¡± ¡°After all, the earliest science was the philosophy of nature,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Philosophers were scientists.¡± ¡°But Aristotle was practically an antagonist in secondary physics sses,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°He was criticized in almost every lesson.¡± ¡°The next person is Francis cured meat... Ah, no. Bacon!¡± ¡°Next would be Nik and Bruno.¡± ¡°Going down the list would be Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo... These people should be ced in scientific history. The philosophers worth mentioning here would be Berkeley and Spinoza.¡± Tomcat babbled on and on. They were organizing their records of scientific and philosophical history. They were taking note of all the famous experts in history, while science and philosophy were specially highlighted, cing them on equal ground with the human civilization¡¯s chronicles. Doing so made the presentation more orderly. In addition, agricultural and industrial development was made into a separate book by them. They went from sh-and-burn to the use of fertilizer, going from the first Industrial Revolution to the birth of the semiconductor. Human history was sloshing through this tiny scientific station. ¡°Kant... and also Hegel.¡± ¡°That person is Schopenhauer!¡± ¡°Freud shouldn¡¯t appear here. Let¡¯s mention him when writing about psychology. Don¡¯t forget Nietzsche, heard that, Miss Mai Dong... Nietzsche¡¯s period is wrong.¡± ¡°F*ck, I told you before, Tang Yue. Marx isn¡¯t a Soviet!¡± Chapter 132: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, WARNING

Chapter 132: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, WARNING

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tomcat, Mai Dong... If you were to list the ten scientists who created deep, evesting influence in human history, who would you choose?¡± Tang Yue sat before a table, with a piece of paper in front of him, while he spun the pen in his hand. Ever since they had begun recording human history, Kunlun Station went from a research center of natural science to a social science research center. ¡°Isaac Newton.¡± Tomcat was typing rapidly on the keyboard, muttering without looking up. ¡°... Galois was no doubt a young genius. He deserves to be called one of the greatest mathematicians of the neenth century. Unfortunately, he died young... This warns us not to challenge others in fields you aren¡¯t skilled in. If Galois had engaged in a duel that didn¡¯t involve shooting but in solving equations, we could imagine that Galois would not only win the woman¡¯s hand but also live to a ripe old age...¡± ¡°Albert Einstein!¡± Mai Dong answered. ¡°Galileo Galilei,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°Nics Cage, ah no¡ªCopernicus!¡± Mai Dong added again. ¡°Charles Darwin.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t Te count?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Nik Te.¡± ¡°When you mentioned Te, I thought you were referring to the founder of Te, Inc., Elon Musk.¡± Tomcat stroked its whiskers. ¡°Nik Te might be a rare genius, but he doesn¡¯t deserve to be one of the top ten scientists in human history. You can ce Michael Faraday, James Maxwell, and a bunch of others ahead of him.¡± ¡°Some people call him a god.¡± ¡°There are no gods in academia, just nut cases,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There¡¯s also Max nck!¡± Mai Dong recalled another famous person. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, such a ranking is actually meaningless. I don¡¯t know why you humans like rankings. It¡¯s as though you always have toe up with a top ten, top four, and top three. Humans like to demarcate matters, using ayman¡¯s viewpoint to forcefully separate matters. You have to know that separation is the beginning of discrimination.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Max nck is obviously great, but there are equals such as Niels Bohr, Max Born, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, as well as Louis de Broglie. Just randomly point at a picture of the Fifth Solvay International Conference in 1927, and he would be one of the greatest physicists in the twenty century or even human history. Tang Yue scratched his head. Enjoying rankings was something that was part of his mindset. It wasn¡¯t only him; most Chinese, including Mai Dong, had such a mindset. ¡°We began ranking from a young age,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Tomcat, you haven¡¯t experienced the National College Entrance Examination. We were the students that survived from the hundreds of thousands of students in the entire province. Not only are students ranked, but even schools are also ranked. Peking University and Tsinghua University are the top tier, followed by the five universities in East China 1 as well as the C9 League 2 . There was a 985 and 211 in the past before they came up with the Double First-ss University n. The various fields have their own circles both big and small like the Eight Architecture Universities 3 , the Two Electronic and One Post 4 and the Five Institutes and Four Departments.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Tomcat nced at him. ¡°The university I received my Bachelors from is very ordinary. It was once a 211, butter became part of the Double First-ss University n,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°My Masters was received at the same ce, and you can think of it as scraping by.¡± ¡°Education is really the most severe involution in China.¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°The college entrance examinations must have been highlypetitive, right? Thousands cross a single bridge as they engage in a life-and-death struggle, each strike seeing blood.¡± ¡°But that also has Chinese characteristics.¡± Mai Dong giggled. Tomcat stopped talking as it continued working hard at recording mathematical history. It had just finished writing about ¨¦variste Galois¡¯s life and was preparing to write about Niels Abel, who was also a pioneer in Group theory. After Abel was a list of illustrious names. Henri Poincar¨¦. Without him, there wouldn¡¯t be the theory of rtivity. Georg Cantor. Yes, the Cantor from Cantor Sets. Bernhard Riemann. Riemann¡¯s hypothesis had yet been solved even when the Earth vanished. David Hilbert, an uncrowned king in the field of mathematics. Hermann Minkowski, Einstein¡¯s teacher. Tomcat wrote down these people in chronological order. It would write about whoever it recalled; thus, many famous mathematicians such as Archimedes, Gauss, Euler, Lagrange, G?del, Neumann, and Hardy had already been filed away on Kunlun Station¡¯s hard disk, joining the ranks of the other most illustrious humans in human history. Tang Yue switched on theputer and connected it to the survey telescope on the space station. He continued observing theet. Both Kunlun Station and the space station were tracking Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I and had collected enough data for theputer to calcte its trajectory. The calction was the simplest part of the mission, with the hardest being collection of data. In the past, when observational means weren¡¯t advanced enough, humans had to spend decades or even centuries of observation to predict aet¡¯s orbit period. The Dawn module on the United Space Station had been destroyed, causing Tomcat and Tang Yue to lose most of its remote observation means. This dragged out the time needed. The survey telescope took a picture every half an hour. It was difficult to tell any difference in theet¡¯s brightness in a short period of time, but when Tang Yue lined them up together, he found that theet was moving. It had already taken shape, and he could identify its head and tail from the telescope photos. ording to theputer¡¯s calctions, theet was passing by Jupiter¡¯s orbit and speeding towards Mars at an extremely fast rate. With theet constantly approaching the sun, the gravity exerted on it grew greater, elerating it even more. Tang Yue stared at the photo on the monitor, imagining the celestial body hurtling through space, spewing out evaporating steam and carbon dioxide in its tail. But instead of a tail, it resembled the mes spewed out by a rocket engine. Its tail was big enough toprise all of Jupiter. The Great Red Spot was slowly spinning on Jupiter¡¯s surface as the turbid atmosphere stirred up intense bolts of lightning and storms like a colossal eye. ¡°Tang Yue, where¡¯s Grothendieck... Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he snapped out of his fantasies. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Alexander Grothendieck¡¯s information,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Where did you put it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still on this hard disk.¡± Tang Yue took out a hard disk from the drawer and pushed it over to Tomcat. ¡°Stop dazing around. What are you looking at? Thatet?¡± Tomcat nced at him before ncing at the monitor. Tang Yue nodded. ¡°You said that it wouldn¡¯t collide with Mars, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat wore an odd look. ¡°The probability of it striking Mars is basically zero...¡± ¡°Ding!¡± A pop-up window suddenly appeared on the monitor. It indicated that the calction was done. Tang Yue and Tomcat looked over. The workstation indicated that it hadpleted the trajectory calctions of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I, and it disyed the results. Did it finish that quickly? Tomcat was slightly surprised, believing it would take another two more days. The man and cat looked at the blue curve over the pitch-ck background. It was theet¡¯s predicted trajectory. At its origin was a white point that clearly represented theet. And at its destination was a red circle, with thebel: Mars. There was also a tiny rectangle. Inside the rectangle were English words written in bold. ¡°WARNING: IMPACT!¡± Tomcat was taken aback. Its expression slowly warped as though in slow-motion, looking like a Peking opera marshal with gs sticking out. It grimaced at the gs it had risen. Chapter 133: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Sir, Please Subdue That Malignant Star

Chapter 133: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Sir, Please Subdue That Malignant Star

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue¡¯s expression changed as well. Theputer was probably worried the two fools didn¡¯t understand the result disyed on the monitor, so it had kindly made it more obvious by using bold and striking red text and an arrow to point at the trajectory and the impact point with Mars: WARNING IMPACT! ¡°You... You said that a collision was impossible...¡± Tang Yue muttered as he jumped up the next second. ¡°You just said it¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°Th-th-this... is impossible!¡± Tomcat was stunned as well. It pulled the chair out and sat down, pulling the keyboard towards it. It also ignored the history of mathematics which it had written halfway. It quickly connected the Kunlun Station and United Space Station¡¯sputer system as massive amounts of data appeared before its eyes. ¡°Impossible, impossible. How can this be happening? How can thiset be hitting Mars... Do you know how low the probability is?¡± As Tomcat shook its head, it typed on the keyboard, figures and numbers reflecting into its eyes. ¡°This probability is lower than being hit by a meteorite when walking outside! You shouldn¡¯t have encountered such a situation even if you lived on Mars for another hundred thousand years.¡± ¡°But the problem is that it¡¯sing right for us!¡± Tang Yue pulled a chair over and sat beside Tomcat. ¡°And it¡¯s not a meteorite!¡± ¡°Calm down. Calm down. Let me do a careful check what kind of malignant star this is.¡± Tomcat frowned as it focused. ¡°Logically speaking,s in the Sr System very rarely encounter harassment from outer space. It¡¯s because there are the giants further out to guard against that happening... Jupiter is the greatest source of gravity after the Sun. When revolving around the sun, it would sweep up anything nearby, so if anything were to cause an impact, it would strike it first.¡± Tomcat began studying the various numbers and calctions produced by theputer and the data from the survey telescope. The workstation had made a prediction of theet¡¯s trajectory based on these numbers. Therefore, Tomcat was doing a backward calction to ensure that theputer¡¯s results were right. ¡°Calm down. Calm down... It might be a problem with theputer. The interaction between celestial bodies in the Sr System is veryplicated. It¡¯s a chaotic system. Even aputer can¡¯t give an urate prediction for the famous three-body problem in astronomy. It can only give a result that¡¯s as close to reality as possible,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°It¡¯s just like how it¡¯s impossible to perfectly predict the influence Earth¡¯s disappearance has on the others...¡± Tang Yue leaned in close. Even though he couldn¡¯t understand therge amounts of data on theputer screen, he still tried his best to read the diagrams and equations. After all, he had a heart that was eager to learn. ¡°So are you implying that theputer might just be giving a messed up answer?¡± ¡°Possible. After all, this crappyputer likes to give me a fright for no good reason.¡± Tomcat slowly nodded, its eyes glued to the screen. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing a check... to see if there are any mistakes in its calctions or if it has missed out on any conditions. It¡¯s very easy to make mistakes when predicting chaotic systems. In the past, weather reports were inurate because the observational means and the calction capabilities were out of sync.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare disturb Tomcat. He quietly sat by the side, looking through the numbers. In the past, he had hated it when theputer bugged out, but now, he hoped that it was aputer bug. ¡°Should Jupiter¡¯s gravity be considered here? At this distance, it still hasn¡¯t fully escaped Jupiter¡¯s gravitational influence. Strange... How did the angr momentum here change... ¡°Theet nucleus¡¯ mass is evaporating too quickly. Carbon dioxide evaporates faster than water. The decrease ratio here should be about 0.03. ¡°Light pressure can be skipped. It¡¯s negligible. ¡°This is a parab? No, it¡¯s a catenary.¡± Tomcat kept muttering as its brown eyes widened. No matter what it said, Tang Yue would nod. With the passage of time, Tomcat finished looking through the workstation¡¯s calction as it increasingly furrowed its brow, its expression bing heavier. This was the first time Tang Yue had seen the cat look so profound since Earth¡¯s disappearance. Tomcat pulled the scrollbar to the end and exhaled slowly before reaching out its paw to close the calction interface. ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Was it a bug?¡± If theputer wasn¡¯t malfunctioning, it would be his turn to malfunction. Tomcat shook its head. ¡°I didn¡¯t discover any ws or mistakes. Its predictions arepletely reasonable based on the present situation... Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I will indeed hit Mars. It¡¯s probably the first time in three million years that Mars will suffer a strike from a celestial body with such great mass. Damn it, this is really a malignant star. To think I gave it a name.¡± ¡°Sir, do you have any means to subdue this malignant star?¡± ¡°There are means, but you can¡¯t make bricks without straw,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There¡¯s the Primordial Chaos Zenith Heaven¡¯s Homing Bomb, the Grand Supreme Astral Five Phases Fusion Punishment, and the Twenty-Eight Star Mansion Allheaven Array¡¯s All-Epassing Gilded Glow which can subdue this malignant star... But it¡¯s not like we have them.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s facial muscles began to twitch. After 65 million years, Tang Yue once again experienced the feelings the dinosaurs had back then... Speaking of which, dying this way was like dying with guns zing. He had never expected to be killed by aet strike. It was unknown if the Tunguska event had killed anyone, but if no one died, then Tang Yue might be the only person in human history to be unluckily finished off by a celestial visitor. It would prove to be quite a splendid sight. The only regretful thing was that Tang Yue¡¯s work wasn¡¯t done. He hadn¡¯t finished recording human history. To die just like that, was a letdown of his ancestors. ¡°Will it hit us? Is Kunlun Station doomed? The force of the impact will be much greater than a nuclear bomb, right?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. It¡¯s still too early to determine if Kunlun Station is doomed. I can only confirm that theet will hit the northern hemisphere. But the exact point of impact can¡¯t be determined at the moment. Although the energy released from the impact will be many times stronger than a nuclear bomb, a number far greater than anything humans were capable of, as long as it¡¯s far enough, Kunlun Station still has a chance of surviving.¡± ¡°How far must it be?¡± ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. We don¡¯t know enough about thiset. We need further observation and calctions. However, it will be the worst impact on the Sr System this century. It might even affect Mars¡¯s revolution and rotation.¡± Tomcat still looked very calm as it spoke in an unhurried manner. It was unknown if it was fearless, or if it had given up on hope. ¡°Try out your heaven-defying luck again of being a target of a meteorite strike. And perhaps if we are lucky enough, Kunlun Station might be able to survive the disaster, but...¡± ¡°But what?¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°No matter where theet hits, as long as it hits Mars, the United Space Station will likely be destroyed.¡± Chapter 134: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Killer Litter Weighing 102 Trillion Tonnes

Chapter 134: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Killer Litter Weighing 102 Trillion Tonnes

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°What did you say... Repeat it again?¡± ¡°Once theet hits Mars, the one in greatest danger is the United Space Station,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You can dig a hole in the ground to hide, but the space station has nowhere to hide.¡± Tomcat took out a pen and paper. ¡°ording to the survey telescope¡¯s observations, we can predict the size of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s nucleus. Its diameter is roughly between twenty-eight to thirty kilometers.¡± Tomcat drew a circle on a piece of paper. ¡°It¡¯s mainly made of water, carbon dioxide, and methane. We can roughly estimate its mass by multiplying the volume by density, and the answer is 1.02 ¡Á 101? tonnes. ¡°In other words, 102,000,000,000,000 tonnes.¡± Tomcat wrote a long string of zeros on the piece of paper. Tang Yue took quite a while to count all the zeros. ¡°One... hundred and two trillion tonnes?¡± Tomcat nodded. This was Tang Yue¡¯s first time encountering such arge mass. He couldn¡¯t even imagine it. From Tang Yue¡¯s point of view, the impact of aet on Earth was like the drop of an oil tanker weighing tens of thousands of tonnes. This was because there was nothing bigger to him than that. Anything bigger was impossible for him, as a normal human, to imagine. Oil tankers were the biggest things humanity had created, something even heavier than aircraft carriers. However, Tomcat had smashed his thoughts with a hundred trillion tonnes. This was nothing like the dropping of an oil tanker. It was practically having Mt. Everest copse. This also meant that Tang Yue hadpletely underestimated the impact of theet. He had never seen aet hit a, so the disaster that would result from Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I far exceeded his expectations. ¡°Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I will exceed 75 km/s when it approaches Mars. The kic energy it has would exceed 2.9 ¡Á 102? Joules.¡± Tomcat sensed that Tang Yue was unable to estimate how massive the energy was, so it began using its usual way of analogy. ¡°The atomic bomb that ttened Hiroshima contained about 5.5 ¡Á 1013 Joules. If Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hits Mars, the energy it releases will be equivalent to 5.2 ¡Á 1012 Little Boy atomic bombs. Or in other words, exploding 5,200,000,000,000 atomic bombs at the same time.¡± Tang Yue felt faint. 5.2 trillion atomic bombs. A deep sense of helplessness crept up his spine. He staggered and plopped down into the chair. 5.2... trillion atomic bombs? Tang Yue gave Tomcat a pleading look. Thetter nodded in regret, indicating that there wasn¡¯t any mistake in the results. ¡°Can... Can you confirm that Kunlun Station can escape this disaster?¡± ¡°Kunlun Station has a sound structure. The Martian atmosphere is exceedingly thin, and in a way, it¡¯s what¡¯s saving Kunlun Station. If aet of the same mass were to hit Earth, the immense shockwave would undoubtedly sweep across the entire globe. It would result in an unprecedented hurricane that left nothing but destruction in its wake,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°But it¡¯s very different on Mars. The atmospheric pressure here is less than 1% of Earth¡¯s, so the shockwave¡¯s might will be greatly reduced.¡± ¡°What about earthquakes? Wouldn¡¯t this create earthquakes?¡± ¡°Of course it will. And it will be a powerful earthquake that affects the entire globe.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°However, soil is able to absorb energy better than air. As long as you are far enough... You have to believe that Kunlun Station¡¯s structure is sound; it wouldn¡¯t be destroyed that easily.¡± As a dead, Mars didn¡¯t have any natural disasters that stood out. If Mars were Earth, to get Earth to suffer such a strike, the repercussions would be a lot worse. The shockwave would result in tsunamis that were enough to sweep across allnd on Earth. It might even trigger some super volcanoes into erupting, causing the sinking of certain continental tes. But the volcanoes on Mars had been extinct for millions of years. ¡°Before theet hits, you might be able to survive by digging a pit to hide,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°However, the United Space Station likely won¡¯t have such luck... Once Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I enters the Roche limit, it will rapidly disintegrate, producingrge amounts of debris. Any one of them will pose a lethal risk to the space station.¡± ¡°Can it be dodged?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Orion II still has an engine.¡± ¡°You n on driving the space station like a fighter jet?¡± Tomcat threw up its paws. ¡°There¡¯s no way to predict the fragments and they are exceedingly fast. They would tear you apart before you even had the chance to react.¡± Tang Yue facepalmed as he took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s over... It¡¯s over,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The space station won¡¯t be able to dodge it, and we might not be able to dodge it either. No one knows where thatet willnd. Perhaps it will hit right on our faces. I wonder if dying by aet strike would hurt.¡± ¡°We can imagine the scene at the point of impact. Once Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hits the Roche limit, it will begin disintegrating, producing debris before plunging into Mars.¡± Tomcat painted the scenario during the disaster. ¡°At the instant of the impact, a crater a thousand kilometers across will be formed. The high temperatures and pressures will melt the desert into ss spanning an area of a few hundred square kilometers. ¡°A minute after the impact, the massive force will run through the surface and air, creating a global earthquake and hurricane. The hot air will be elerated to supersonic speeds, and the waves from the impact will circle Mars a few times in a short period of time, shaking the entire atmosphere. ¡°Five minutes after the impact, massive amounts of matter will be thrown into the air and into orbit, covering all of Mars with the hurling winds. For a very long period of time, the entire globe will not see the light of day. And the debris in orbit will form a ring that won¡¯t stably exist. It will slowly fall back into the Martian atmosphere over the next hundred years. ¡°The intensity of the impact will be so huge that Mars¡¯s rotation will speed up. It might even have its axis tilted a little.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was heavy as it spoke very slowly. It was painting an apocalyptic scene, andpared to this, the divine punishment meted by God in the Bible was nothing. A scene that even a disaster film didn¡¯t have would be happening in reality. Indeed, drama struggled to match the absurdness of reality. ¡°You are telling me that Mars will be covered in dust?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°A conservative estimate would be a trillion tonnes of dust will be swept up by a storm in a way far more terrifying than the sandstorms. It will make it impossible to see the Sun across Mars.¡± ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t we be dead?¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no point in hiding. Even if we can avoid the impact, Kunlun Station would be out of power without sunlight.¡± Tang Yue hade to realize the power of the Universe. Compared to this, human strength was just too negligible. Apart from watching this happen helplessly, there was nothing he could do. At this moment, Tang Yue realized how good Superman was. Although this alien with a curl wasn¡¯t great at handling things and was rather wishy-washy and indecisive, he had the powers to resist nature¡ªhe could fly into space to push theet away. While everyone stood helplessly in the face of imminent doom, he was someone they could pin their hopes on. Unfortunately, Superman only lived in the DC Universe. In a world without superheroes, how were humans to save themselves? ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, this is thest part of the history of philosophy...¡± Mai Dong appeared on the videoms. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen?¡± Chapter 135: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Does God Play Dice?

Chapter 135: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Three, Does God y Dice?

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Eh? It will hit?¡± Tomcat wore a very heavy expression as it slowly nodded. Tang Yue sat on the chair, grabbing his hair in silence. He needed some alone time. Mai Dong was taken aback. ¡°How much longer? How much longer will it take for theet to hit?¡± ¡°Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I has already moved past Jupiter¡¯s orbit. It¡¯s about 2 AU from Mars,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°At its present seed, it will arrive in forty-seven sols.¡± ¡°If it hits... the oue will be disastrous, right?¡± ¡°It will be equivalent to having 52 trillion nuclear bombs explode at the same time. The force generated is ten times more powerful than the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago,¡± Tomcat said in a heavy tone. ¡°It will rip off half the Martian surface.¡± Mai Dong held her breath. She looked petrified, unsure how she was to face the situation ced before her. She had never received any training on what to do during aet hit. ¡°Will Kunlun Station survive?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We aren¡¯t sure yet. If we are lucky, perhaps; otherwise, it will be a terrible death.¡± ¡°Then... what about the United Space Station?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word as it fell silent for two minutes, shaking its head. Mai Dong knew that Tomcat¡¯s actions meant that Kunlun Station might still survive, but there was no hope for the space station. The United Space Station was just too weak. It had zero mobility, defense, or survivability. Before this terrifying disaster of apocalyptic proportions, it had no chance of being lucky. Once Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit the Martian surface, it would produce debris weighing a trillion tonnes in near-Mars orbit. Being hit by any of this debris was enough to destroy the space station. The United Space Station would lose its attitude. The modules would lose pressure from puncturing. The spacecraft¡¯s fuel would leak. The frame and sr panels would be snapped into pieces. ¡°That also means... I still have forty-seven sols left?¡± Mai Dong floated in front of the camera in her usual attire¡ªa blue work suit with rolled-up sleeves and a cap. Her cor¡¯s zip was pulled up high, revealing only a portion of her fair neck. ording to her, she often didn¡¯t wear clothes underneath to save on water. Tomcat¡¯s and Tang Yue¡¯s silence was an answer. Mai Dong lowered her head as she looked at Ah Q which was floating beside her. ¡°Then I need to make every second count.¡± ¡°Make every second count?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat exchanged looks before looking back at Mai Dong. ¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t we still have plenty of work unfinished? Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Since I only have forty-seven sols left, I should make every second count and finish all the missions I have in hand... I haven¡¯t finished the history of philosophy. Likewise for the history of science. There¡¯s also the first and second Industrial Revolution. Let¡¯s see how much I can finish.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat were shocked. This was actually the first thought she had when stepping at the boundary of life and death. Before everything came to an end, she wanted to leave behind more human legacies for the Universe. ¡°No... No, no, no, no. That¡¯s absolutely not the case. It shouldn¡¯t be like that.¡± Tomcat stood up as it frantically circled the Hab. ¡°I said that the interactions between the celestial bodies in the Sr System are veryplicated. Any minor disturbance can lead topletely different oues. It¡¯s a chaos system. There¡¯s no way of precisely predicting it. It¡¯s still too early to speak of doom!¡± Tang Yue looked up. ¡°There¡¯s still a chance?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But it¡¯s still indeterminable! Are we so certain that the godda will hit Mars once it enters the Sr System? Of course not. Its trajectory is a result of thousands of conditions. A mechanical fate was thrown into the dumpster more than a century ago... Does God y dice? Do you think It will roll a die?¡± Tomcat looked at Tang Yue before looking at Mai Dong. Tang Yue and Mai Dong were taken aback. ¡°I believe It will,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because if It doesn¡¯t y dice,¡± Tomcat pointed at its head, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be born. ¡°Since It ys dice, there¡¯s no way for It to always roll one. As long as It keeps rolling, a six will eventually appear!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice reached a crescendo. ¡°Life is born out of indeterminism. Then perhaps survival is born out of indeterminism as well.¡± Kunlun Station was silent. Mai Dong smiled. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Why were you referring to God with It, and not He?¡± Tang Yue frowned with puzzlement. He often paid attention to the oddest matters. ¡°Are you discriminating against a religion¡¯s god?¡± ¡°Of course not. He is the god of you humans,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°It is the god of us cats.¡± ¡°Listen up... Tang Yue, and Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat stood in front of the airlock, turned around and surveyed the area. Its eyes emitted a shocking glow. ¡°As long as I¡¯m still alive, I¡¯ll guarantee your safety.¡± ... A series of actions to save themselves began. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I still had about forty-seven sols before hitting Mars, which meant about 1,128 hours. Tang Yue andpany were like ants before an impending disaster. They were trying hard to find a small area of refuge in the face of an apocalyptic disaster. For the time being, Tomcat was unable to estimate where theet would hit. It did a careful calction of the impact force andparing it to Kunlun Station¡¯s ability to withstand shocks, it finally determined that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I would destroy everything within a thousand kilometers of its impact point. The high temperatures and pressure would melt the desert into ss. And the powerful shockwave would spread outwards 2,500 kilometers. Beyond this range, the shockwave would reduce drastically. As long as Kunlun Station was beyond this range, there was the basic guarantee that it would remain structurally sound. It was impossible topletely avoid the shockwave as the impact would create a super-earthquake that ran through the entire globe. Thankfully, Kunlun Station¡¯s earthquake-proof properties had been considered during its design. It had a firm frame with a dome structure. It was born to have good anti-earthquake characteristics. As for the outer material and walls, Tomcat and Tang Yue didn¡¯t dare to have any extravagant hopes. They could thank their lucky stars if they survived the apocalyptic disaster. As long as the frame didn¡¯t copse, the roof could be fixed with stic film and tape if it tore away. As for whether Kunlun Station would be destroyed, that depended on luck. After all, Kunlun Station couldn¡¯t be taken away in a pocket. You can run but you can¡¯t hide. In this desert, without the station, running didn¡¯t mean survival. Mars had a total surface area of 1.441 ¡Á 10? square kilometers. The entire northern hemisphere was approximately 7.2 ¡Á 10? square kilometers while Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I couldpletely destroy an area of 19,625,000 square kilometers. This also meant that it would destroy about 27% of the northern hemisphere. The remaining was the chance of Kunlun Station¡¯s survival. As long as they weren¡¯t directly embroiled in the region spanning 19,625,000 square kilometers, Kunlun Station had a chance of surviving the disaster thanks to its sound structure. In addition, the two humans and cat began racking their brains for ideas to save the United Space Station. Under the present situation, Tang Yue and Mai Dong didn¡¯t hold hopes that they could survive the disaster safely. They would save whatever they could, be it Kunlun Station or the space station. Likewise for whoever who could survive. At the very least, they didn¡¯t wish for the godda to wipe out thest of the humans. Chapter 136: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Wallfacer Cat

Chapter 136: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Wallfacer Cat

Tang Yue stared at theet on the monitor. It was a tiny point of light, dim and distant. The picture was almost still, making it difficult to imagine that it was a colossal object weighing 102 trillion tonnes that was hurtling through space at 70 km/s, carrying with it a staggering amount of energy equivalent to more than 5.2 trillion nuclear bombs. Just looking at it like that, Tang Yue didn¡¯t even believe that it could destroy him. It didn¡¯t even seem bigger than his fingernail, with it being just a tiny piece of dust in the starry cosmos. Tomcat had its two paws stretched out as it sat on a chair, crossing its other two legs. Its eyelids were drooped; its thoughts a mystery. In front of it were a keyboard and a stack of paper. ¡°The United Space Station won¡¯t avoid the impact, and the chance of survival is too low. We have to prepare to bring Mai Dong down here.¡± Tang Yue moved his gaze away from the monitor. ¡°There are still about forty sols left. We should make every second count.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tomcat answered indifferently. ¡°The only thing that can be used is the Eagle. We have no other options apart from that.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°The heat-resistant tiles should be able to resist the heat in theory, but the stability of its attitude is a big problem. Without a propent or an engine, the Eagle will not be able to maintain the correct attitude during the atmospheric entry. It will definitely crash.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Apart from saying ¡®yeah,¡¯ can you say something else?¡± ¡°Then stop bothering me. I¡¯m contemting some problems.¡± Tomcat got up and left its chair, walking to the Hab¡¯s wall and facing it. It then leaned its head on the wall. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, this is the part for the history of Western philosophy. I¡¯ve finished organizing it. It goes all the way to Niky Chernyshevsky, Marx, and Engels, There¡¯s also a portion of positivism, structuralism, and existentialism... Eh? Where¡¯s Mr. Cat?¡± Mai Dong sent over a document. Even though the United Space Station and Kunlun Station were about to face destruction, the recording work didn¡¯t end. Of course, this mission was mainly left to Mai Dong. As for the ns to rescue themselves, they were left to Tang Yue and Tomcat. Since Mai Dong couldn¡¯t provide any help, she might as well continue recording and organizing the history of Earth. How much got written was up to fate. ¡°Your Mr. Cat is a Wallfacer now. Are you its Wallbreaker ¡± Tang Yue turned the camera over and made Mai Dong see Tomcat. Thetter¡¯s forehead was against the wall with its paws behind its back, motionless. ¡°Mr. Cat? Mr. Cat? I¡¯ve sent the documents.¡± ¡°Alright, I got it, but The Lord doesn¡¯t care .¡± Tomcat replied indifferently without turning its head or opening its eyes. ¡°Mai Dong, when can you head out again?¡± Tang Yue turned the camera back. ¡°Head out?¡± ¡°Yes, we need you to inspect the Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°We will be bringing you down.¡± ... Mai Dong became rmed and she fell into a long daze. She bit her lip as her gaze darted around before moving back to themunications system. She twirled her hair a little. ¡°But... But the Eagle has already been condemned. Doesn¡¯t itck the ability to enter the atmosphere again? Will there be any problems riding in it?¡± ¡°Yes, it has been condemned.¡± ¡°Yet it still can be used?¡± Mai Dong was somewhat puzzled. ¡°We discovered that its safety redundancy allows it to do one more atmospheric entry. This is the only chance.¡± ¡°That... Does that engine still have fuel? We don¡¯t have a parachute either. How do we decelerate when the timees...¡± ¡°Leave all the problems to Tomcat and me,¡± Tang Yue interrupted her. ¡°You are only responsible for the execution. Can you do it?¡± Mai Dong was still a little hesitant, but she was moved by Tang Yue¡¯s firm gaze. This young man was wrapped in a wrinkled nket with his face thin filled with stubble. He looked like a malnourished tramp. However, deep in his eyes were the glow and look of confidence¡ªjust looking at those eyes made you reach out to grab his hand despite knowing that the chances were slim. Ever since Earth disappeared, Mai Dong had thought that she could never head down again. The Eagle was only a one-time use spacecraft. From its designer to its maker, and to its user, no one had thought of using it for another atmospheric entry. This was because it was suicidal. Taking a step forward would mean plummeting down into a hundred-thousand-feet deep abyss, and the man below was shouting: Jump down. I¡¯ll catch you! Would you close your eyes and do the leap of faith? Mai Dong stared into Tang Yue¡¯s eyes as she suddenly felt that she had never seen cowardice or fear in them. No matter if Earth disappeared or the tomatoes died, Tang Yue would end up disappointed and desperate due to all the difficulties, but he had never felt cowardice or fear... What kind of person was he? He had arduously traversed the dark hurricane, holding up amunications antenna roaring. He sat in the cold Hab, hugging the dead sprouts in his arms with great sorrow. Now, faced with the most terrifying cmity from the skies, he still struggled to get onto his feet to find thatst chance of survival. What exactly prompted him to continue this far? Don¡¯t you know fatigue? ¡°Mai Dong, you have to trust us.¡± ¡°I obviously trust both of you.¡± Mai Dong leaned against the wall as she mmed into Ah Q¡¯s stomach and sighed. ¡°I also really, really wish to head down. You have no idea what it is like to spend so many days in the space station.¡± The girl scrunched her nose, thought for a moment, and added, ¡°It¡¯s like hell. I really wish to leave this ce of misery as quickly as possible.¡± Including the time she had worked on the space station before Earth vanished, Mai Dong had already spent more than a year there. She had tried her best to modify the space station to make it conducive for living. She had covered the sleeping quarters and core module with all kinds of brightly colored paper and hung furry toys and all kinds of trinkets. She kept ying rxing piano pieces and light music to reduce the ice-cold industrial and machinery feelings the space station gave her. Unfortunately, how could a group of tunnels, which had been put together, change the reality that it was a cramped and stifling space? The music couldn¡¯t drown out the constant humming noise either. The space station was ultimately not a conducive ce for long-term habitation. At times, while floating inside the core module, Mai Dong would look at the walls and the dense array of buttons on the control panel, feeling as though she was lying inside a coffin. But to run freely on an open in to see the endless skies was something only possible in a dream. ¡°Listen upss. We will formte the ns,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Arrange your schedule. We need you to head out once to check the Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles. It¡¯s our only hope.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll head out again.¡± ... To examine the Eagle¡¯s situation, Mai Dong needed to head out on an EVA trip. After thest resupply mission, the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle was connected to the Silent multipurpose module. It was where the Orion was docked and was the farthest away from the Crystal core module. To make it easier for Mai Dong, Tang Yue and Tomcat needed to first move the Eagle. They nned on undocking the Eagle from the Silent module before redocking onto the Hope experiment module. ¡°Tomcat! Tomcat,e control the arm. Hear that? Stop being a Wallfacer! Wallfacer Tomcat, I am your Wallbreaker!¡± ¡°I know, but The Lord doesn¡¯t care.¡± Wallfacers and Wallbreakers are a homage to The Dark Forest of The Three-Body Problem trilogy Another reference to The Dark Forest of The Three-Body Problem trilogy in which a Wallbreaker tells his Wallfacer. Chapter 137: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Grandmother to All of Europe

Chapter 137: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Grandmother to All of Europe

Tomcat returned to the desk and quickly connected to the arm¡¯s control system. The arm¡¯s control system looked quite like a remote control game. However, Tang Yue had never touched it before. Before Earth had vanished, he had not been shown how to control the arm. Even the trigger-happy Old Wang hadn¡¯t allowed him to touch it. After Earth had vanished, Tang Yue was even more afraid of touching it. The arm¡¯s structure was intricate and easily damaged. It was veryplicated controlling it. Tang Yue had no way to fix it if he broke it. Tomcat switched on the main camera on the arm. The ck-and-white image appeared on the screen. It appeared to be aimed at a white outer skin, with a series of blurry English letters. The background was pitch-ck deep space, and the sun was too bright that the stars couldn¡¯t be seen. The folded robotic arm, that was leaning against the truss, slowly unfolded. Tomcat was an experienced operator and it had controlled the arm several times. It was very reliable. The Eaglender was docked at the Silent multipurpose module with thetter¡¯s size only second to the Crystal module. It was the secondrgest module on the United Space Station, and it allowed two Orion spacecraft to simultaneously dock at it. To help with Mai Dong¡¯s inspection of the Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle, Tang Yue and Tomcat nned on moving it. The Hope experiment module had a standard APAS that made it very suitable. The picture on the monitor moved as Tomcat focused, staring at the cross-hairs in the middle of the screen. Through the camera, the man and cat soon saw thender. Thetter was docked onto the Silent module, and its white back was illuminated by sunlight. ¡°Thender,¡± Tang Yue whispered. Tomcat nodded. The arm slowly connected to the Eaglender. This was the true grappling method. The way they did itst time during the resupply was a result of thender¡¯s drained propent. It had lost control of its attitude, and Tang Yue and Tomcat had no choice but to get Mai Dong to lunge forward to grapple it. It was against protocol and very dangerous. Normally, a grappling procedure involved both bodies to be still, allowing the grapple fixture at the end of the arm to insert into thender¡¯s notch. Of course, it was nothing like a w machine. The screen indicated that the grapple fixture hadtched on. ¡°OK,tched on.¡± Tomcat pressed a button. Everything was in ce. ¡°Closing hatch. Disconnectingnder from space station¡¯s electrical interface.¡± ¡°Disconnected.¡± ¡°Disconnecting control interface.¡± ¡°Disconnected.¡± ¡°Disconnecting mechanical interface.¡± Just as Tomcat finished its sentence, the picture on the screen shook and thender and space station¡¯s rigid connection had been disconnected. Tang Yue then saw the arm move as it silently and slowly took the Eagle away from the Silent module. Tang Yue sat there, having a baffling feeling that this scene resembled a pair of chopsticks stuffed into a chunk of glutinous rice flour. Damn it, why are my thoughts always rted to food? The arm slowly bent, like praying mantis forearms. Mai Dong floated inside the Crystal core module, watching the abnormally long robotic arm retract from a distance. This scene looked like a mantis shrimp in the deep sea. It would stay motionless at the seabed, attacking when prey swam past. At this moment, the huge space mantis had grabbed its prey, using its sharp forearms to tear through the prey¡¯s body and pulled it towards its mouth. From the thin, jagged, and spike-covered body, the space station did look like a crustacean. She continued her work. She switched on theputer. The documents that had been prepared were lined up on the hard disk as Mai Dong scanned them one after another. ¡°History of the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire.¡± ¡°The Civilization of Ancient Mesopotamia Along the Banks of Two Great Rivers.¡± ¡°Native American Developmental History.¡± ¡°Compendium of Pre-Qin Philosophers¡± ¡°Western Philosophy History and Monographs.¡± They had already reached the Middle Ages and modern history. As the amount of information and the poption of these eras had increased exponentially, Mai Dong¡¯s work had increased significantly. For instance, ancient Egypt and ancient Babylon were distant histories with small poptions. Due to theck of historical records, the trio used whatever was avable. But with the passage of time, this work became more and moreplicated. As government and agricultural technology reached a state of maturity, the world poption began to rise. All kinds of political regimes emerged in the East and West, sprouting like mushrooms after a rain. They hadplicated connections that couldn¡¯t be sorted out. The massive web of familial connections of the European aristocracy was something that even left Tomcat exhausted. Tomcat had indicated more than once that Queen Victoria was the mother of the King of the United Kingdom and also the mother of the German Emperor. At the same time, her grandchildren upied the thrones of Greece, Norway, and Russia. During the outbreak of the First World War, these rtives were on both sides of the conflict. Even Korean dramas couldn¡¯t produce such a contrived plot. Tang Yuemented that this was probably the difference between Eastern and Western thought. Easterners used military and war to establish their grandiose enterprise, while Westerners rather extended their influence by marrying their children. This was ignoring an oddity like the Duke of Valentinois, who used his sister as a tool through her marriage with Giovanni Sforza, aiming to gain Sforza¡¯snds after a divorce. The goal of Easterners was to be an emperor to everyone. The goal of Westerners was to be the grandmother to everyone. Mai Dong did a perusal. The folders on the screen were a few dozen megabytes, making them quiterge documents. The United Space Station was broadcasting them in the form of high-frequency microwaves. Mai Dong only needed to prepare the document, and the encoding and signal modtion would bepleted by theputer before sending them out with the antenna. Taking note of the time, the first batch of electromaic waves that had been sent out had covered 15,594 AU, having long left the Kuiper belt. If the attenuation was ignored, Mai Dong¡¯s electromaic waves were expanding spherically outwards at the speed of light. The boundary of the sphere would be the first words she broadcast. The space station was constantly broadcasting signals all day. The sphere would soon reach the size of the Sr System, bing as big as the Oort Cloud, the Milky Way, and even the Universe. asionally, Mai Dong would have such thoughts. It did sound like a Universe-level of work that God would do. However, Tomcat often said that such broadcasts were meaningless because no one could receive them. The United Space Station¡¯s power level was just too low. The electromaic waves it emitted would have attenuated before reaching Jupiter¡¯s orbit. In this Universe, energy was conserved, and electromaic waves were also a form of energy. How powerful was the space station¡¯s antenna? When spreading it across a sphere with a radius of 15,000 AU, the strength of the signal was, in the true sense of the word, asymptotically zero. To broadcast an interster message to the entire Milky Way, it had to be done at a power level equal to the energy output of the Sun . If they wanted to broadcast to the entire Universe, they needed to convert the entire Milky Way into energy. Human civilization hadn¡¯t reached the point where they could leave their traces in the Universe. Faced with such a rebuttal, Mai Dong¡¯s answer was always: ¡°Lla, I can¡¯t hear you.¡± Tomcat was rendered very helpless. Could you scold such a delightful girl? Reference to the Three Body Problem. Chapter 138: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Your Relatives Cover All of Africa

Chapter 138: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Four, Your Rtives Cover All of Africa

¡°Eaglender dockpleted. Power and air supply connected. Control acquired.¡± Tomcat raised its paws, having seeded in moving the Eagle. ¡°It¡¯s done, Miss Mai Dong. Tang Yue, take note. Thender is now docked outside the Hope experiment module. The hatch can now be opened.¡± ¡°Roger that, Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong gently nudged the wall as her body floated away from the Crystal. She held the hatch as she changed directions to move upwards. Being in zero gravity for so long, the girl had learned how to move in a most energy-conserving manner. She was like a soft mackerel that swam through the passageway, agilely dodging theplicated control panel and electric cables. ¡°Let¡¯s hope thender is reliable. I hope Cryptic Yang¡¯s girlfriend¡¯s brother¡¯s mentor¡¯s eldest nephew¡¯s seventh maternal granduncle didn¡¯t lie to him.¡± Tang Yue pressed his arms on the table as he monitored the closed-circuit cameras in the space station. ¡°Logically speaking, a rtive this close shouldn¡¯t bullshit another rtive.¡± ¡°You call such rtives close?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°The simrity of their DNA exceeds 99%.¡± ¡°The simrity between your DNA and a Ugandan gori¡¯s exceeds 99% as well,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°So are they your maternal granduncle? Or are you their material granduncle? Tang Yue, your rtives really cover all of Africa.¡± Mai Dong was wearing an IVA suit as she opened the hatch and entered the Eaglender¡¯smand module. Themand module was cramped and dark. All the seats were folded and the control panel¡¯s indicators and screens were switched off. The windows were also closed. After the resupply mission, Mai Dong andpany ignored thender, having imagined that its historic mission was done and that it was time to retire with des. No one expected this veteran to be called to the front lines again to turn the tide of battle. Mai Dong looked up to survey the area and think for a few seconds. She then found the various system controls and reached out to turn on the power supply one by one. As a soft hum sounded, the long-silent Eagle reawakened. Red, green, and orange-yellow lights lit up as the screen showed the familiar greeting: ¡°Wee to the Eagle Lander.¡± Mai Dong gently swiped her hand across the console deck which was covered with a dazzling array of buttons andplicated English acronyms. In fact, the manual controls had never been used to date, but every Eagle spacecraft had such aplicated console deck. Mai Dong lifted the Commander¡¯s seat, buckled the seatbelt, and strapped herself to the seat. The anti-re filters slowly activated as the sunlight shone in diagonally. Gradually, the scene before Mai Dong¡¯s eyes brightened. Estimating the temperature to have risen significantly, Mai Dong raised her IVA suit¡¯s visor and called out to Kunlun Station. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, I¡¯m currently in the Eaglender¡¯smand module. The craft is powered and everything is in working order.¡± While docked to the United Space Station, power to the Eagle¡¯s batteries andputers was provided by the space station. ¡°OK. We see it.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat were inside Kunlun Station observing the situation. The Eaglender¡¯s power and control system had already sessfully interfaced with the space station, making it another module of the United Space Station. The man and cat in Kunlun Station took everything seriously. The crappyputer aboard the Eaglender had criminal records. It had bugged out twice and had nearly messed up their resupply mission. ¡°The Eagle¡¯sputer has an automatding control program. All the requirements needed for a safe entry have been written into code by the engineers on Earth. Back when you guys sat in it, there was no need for you to touch the control stick, right?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong answered in unison. The scientific team¡¯s Commander was Old Wang. He was in absolutemand and was equivalent to a ne¡¯s pilot. Once the ne took off, the pilot had the power to make any decision. Old Wang disallowed anyone from fiddling with the Eaglender¡¯s control panel; hence, thending was done by theputer. Everyone else just watched from the sidelines. Clearly, the designers of thender believed thatputers were more reliable than the human brain in highly-dangerous maneuvers, akin to the style of the Airbus. Therefore, the Eagle¡¯s controls only needed a Commander and a dog. The Commander¡¯s mission was to feed the dog while in flight. And the dog¡¯s mission was to bite him whenever the Commander attempted to touch the control panel. ¡°There was a problem with the dockingst time because thender¡¯sputer made an error in determining its speed. I need to see what caused the malfunction.¡± ¡°Is it a very serious problem?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°It might or might not be.¡± Tomcat typed noisily on the keyboard. ¡°If it¡¯s just damage to the rendezvous sensor, we can ignore it. If it¡¯s a bug with theputer itself... it will take some time to squash it.¡± ¡°How long will it take?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It¡¯s been squashed.¡± Tomcat shrugged its shoulders. ¡°Very clearly, it was a result of the rendezvous sensor. We encountered a sandstorm during theunch, and the sand piled up on theser mirror, causing the sensor to make an error in the speed judgment,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°It¡¯s a very minor malfunction,pletely trivial. However, with itcking propent, it bes a very lethal problem.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t affect thending, right?¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The Eaglender¡¯sputer andnding control system is fully operational. Miss Mai Dong, begin your preparations. n your time and we will be heading out in the next nearest window to check on the spacecraft¡¯s heat-resistant tiles.¡± ... Mai Dong found some time to take a shower and change her clothes. The space station had a folding shower unit. It was made from opaque and waterproof polymers. It was inconspicuous when folded, but would appear like a two-meter-tall cylinder when unfolded. It allowed an adult to stand inside, but to ensure one¡¯s footing, one had to wear foot restraints on the floor of the shower. In zero gravity, normal showers were impossible. The shower in the space station could only emte the effects. It sted water from above before sucking it up from below. It used pressure to steer the motion of the floating water blobs while also recycling all the waste-water. Mai Dong had not showered in a very long time. It was rather troublesome showering in the space station. To prevent herself from suffocating due to the water droplets, she needed to wear goggles and a breathing mask, making her appear like a seriously ill person in an ICU. But how could these stop ady from her wish to shower? ¡°Have you showered?¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair as he watched Mai Dong dry her wet hair with a towel. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s right... It feels so good after a shower.¡± Mai Dong nodded as she pulled up her work attire¡¯s cor. ¡°I¡¯ve changed. Can¡¯t you tell?¡± ¡°Is today some festive day?¡± Tang Yue turned his head to ask Tomcat. ¡°International Cat Appreciation Day, Cat Food Shopping Festival, and Cat Owners International Forum,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Do those count?¡± ¡°No.¡± To Tang Yue, showering was an extravagance. The water recycling efficiency in Kunlun Station was iparable to the United Space Station. Showering expended plenty of water, so unless it was some festive asion, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t take a shower. Thest time Tang Yue showered was on Labor Day on 1st May. The next time he showered was likely during the Mid-Autumn Festival in October. He wasn¡¯t going to shower for Children¡¯s Day on 1st June, since he no longer celebrated it. Chapter 141: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Tractors Struck from Hammers

Chapter 141: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Tractors Struck from Hammers

Mai Dong took a file on her second EVA trip. In the beginning, she had her doubts. Wasn¡¯t holding a file to fix the spacecraft¡¯s heat-resistant tiles equivalent to fixing a CPU with an electric soldering iron? ¡°Who told you that thender¡¯s heat-resistant tiles are a CPU?¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°It¡¯s only a tractor. What¡¯s wrong with wielding a hammer to strike a tractor? Back then, the Volgograd Tractor nt workers used the hammers in their hands to produce more than ten thousand tractors... and even more T-34 tanks.¡± Mai Dong gently heaved a sigh of relief. ording to Tomcat, fixing the Eagle¡¯s heat-resistant tiles wasn¡¯t somethingplicated. Laymen often imagined the work to be overlyplex. The protrusion in the heat-resistant material just needed to be filed t, so the only tool needed was a file. ¡°Be careful,ss. Slow down a little.¡± Tang Yue stared intently. ¡°Calm down. Your body temperature and heart rate are rising.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s EVA suit was measuring her physical condition in real-time, presenting her vital stats to Tang Yue and Tomcat. ¡°Got it.¡± Mai Dong leaned to the side and used her back to block the blinding sunlight. ¡°It¡¯s easier than I expected. The outermostyer is a porous foam structure. I thought it would be hard ceramic tiles.¡± Compared to the mechanic repairs, Mai Dong felt that this was more like doing carpentry. ¡°Ding!¡± The workstation indicated that it hadpleted a calction. Tomcat nced at it. ¡°It failed.¡± ¡°What failed?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Two processes. The simtion results of the Eaglender¡¯s entry into the atmosphere without any external force. It¡¯s the sixty-sixth failure,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Another is the attempt to use Orion¡¯s engine. I temporarily ignored the difficulty in terms of effort and technological details. All I¡¯m considering is the viability of it safelynding... In the end, I discovered that not only can¡¯t it descend safely, but it also won¡¯t even be able to maintain the most basic structural integrity.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tomcat took off the earpiece, turned around, and picked up the pen on the table to demonstrate it to Tang Yue. ¡°This is the Eaglender.¡± Tomcat waved the pen cap in its paw. ¡°This is the rocket engine.¡± Tomcat waved the pen. ¡°Now, we will use some unknown alien adhesive to firmly bind them together. Using Iron Man¡¯s superpowers, we dismantle the rocket engine with our bare hands, and then create a set of control systems, allowing the Eagle¡¯sputers to control the engine.¡± Tomcat inserted the pen into the pen cap. ¡°Finally, we throw them into the Martian atmosphere...¡± Tang Yue stared at the pen in Tomcat¡¯s paw. ¡°Do you know what will happen?¡± Tomcat slowly leaned close as its brown eyes reflected Tang Yue¡¯s face. ¡°What will happen?¡± Tang Yue gulped. ¡°Fireworks.¡± Tomcat threw the pen on the table and gestured an explosion with its paws. ¡°This pieced together gizmo willpletely disintegrate once it enters the gravisphere. The fuel reservoir will explode with a hundred percent certainty if it enters in a prone position. The aluminum alloy shell will deform in extreme proportions without any support.¡± ¡°You mean that we have no way of using Orion¡¯s engine?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat answered straightly. ¡°It¡¯spletely unrealistic. It¡¯s best you give up on that idea.¡± ¡°But I still wish to give it a try.¡± ¡°The Orion II is a spacecraft that shuttles between Earth and Mars. It uses nine Raptor 10D high-pressure, fuel-powered engines in parallel. Each engine provides a thrust of 120 tonnes. Only such a thrust can allow the entire United Space Station to carry out an orbital maneuver. However, the Raptor 10D engines aren¡¯t something that can be used by the Eaglender,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°It¡¯s nearly as heavy as the Eagle. Binding it to thender willpletely destroy thetter¡¯s aerodynamic profile. The attitude, which can¡¯t be controlled to begin with, will only be worse. ¡°The design of aircraft isn¡¯t a simple mathematical operation. People at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and Skunk Works know it very well. In fact, you know too... Stop making desperate attempts. There¡¯s no way to save it.¡± Tang Yue cast his gaze to the monitor. Mai Dong was still working hard at fixing the heat-resistant tiles on screen. ¡°Have you done all you can?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried all structures. None of them seeded,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The enginecks the protection of the heat-resistant tiles, so it will be destroyed in the atmosphere.¡± ¡°The Raptor 10D engines thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds one, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°If it exceeds 1, can... can we do a reverse trust the entire time to descend vertically? Just like the Falcon 9 from the past?¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°I¡¯ve simted it many times. Never once has the Eagle passed the 10,000-meter mark intact.¡± ¡°10,000 meters?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°10,000 meters is a threshold. Once the altitude drops below 10,000 meters, the atmosphere will suddenly be dense. The dynamic pressure thender experiences will also increase exponentially... With an engine-bound Eagle, it will immediately lose its attitude. The Eaglender is an Ascent Vehicle, not a ne. It doesn¡¯t have any wings. Once it begins tumbling, there¡¯s no way to stop it.¡± Tang Yue pulled as his hair. Darn it. ¡°Not using the engine spells certain death, but so is using the engine... F*ck, is there really no other solution?¡± ¡°But, using the engine spells certain death is a false proposition. I¡¯m only describing to you the viability predictions the workstation made if the Orion engine descends. In fact, executing it is far more difficult. Miss Mai Dong won¡¯t be able toplete it by herself,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°I¡¯ve said so before. Do you think it¡¯s possible for her to dismantle a corvette with her bare hands?¡± ¡°How do you want me to tell her such things?¡± Tang Yue was vexed. ¡°To tell her that she¡¯s doomed? That the Eagle has no way of descending?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not my job.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve informed you of the results. You decide what should be done. Perhaps you can inform her of the oue and let her decide for herself.¡± Ever since Tomcat knew that aet was hitting Mars, it had adhered to a Buddhist style of desiring Zen-like serenity. In the past, it had been strict on Tang Yue¡¯s daily life¡ªstrictly rationing his food and water and punctually waking him up. Now, Tomcat no longer bothered with such trivialities. Tang Yue could sleep aste as he wished. When Tang Yue asked, Tomcat would often say, ¡°This isn¡¯t my job. You decide for yourself.¡± ¡°Nothing is your job, that¡¯s what the point of having you around...¡± Tang Yue slumped into the chair and let out a long sigh. ¡°I¡¯m useless. I¡¯m useless. I¡¯ll dig a hole and bury myself. Don¡¯t disturb me in the next five hundred years.¡± Tomcat turned around and walked away. ¡°Hey, hey, hey, Sir Cat, please hold back. Why are you treating me so seriously? Thatdy, Mai Dong, is still working. You can¡¯t just cast her aside!¡± ... Mai Dong took a long time to file the heat-resistant tiles t. She carefully inspected the fruits of herbor an inch at a time before putting the file back into her tool bag with satisfaction. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue. The heat-resistant tiles are settled.¡± Mai Dong returned to the space station. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Chapter 142: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, We Only Want Sixty Kilograms

Chapter 142: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, We Only Want Sixty Kilograms

¡°The work that you¡¯ll be doing next will beplicated. I¡¯ll need to exin it to you in detail, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat sat up straight, looking serious. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m listening, Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong floated in front of the camera as she took on the look of an attentive student. Tang Yue sat to the side at a loss for words. He stared nkly at the pen and paper on the desk, knowing that it was hopeless. Getting the Eagle to return to Kunlun Station was impractical. Regardless if a rocket engine was installed or not, thender had no means of a sessfulnding. The Orion II¡¯s Raptor 10D engines weren¡¯t designed fornding. Even Orion II itself wasn¡¯t capable of atmospheric entry. The massive but weak propent reservoir tanks attached to it couldn¡¯t withstand much stress, so it was bound to suffer structural meltdown upon atmospheric entry. As for the thought of dismantling the rocket engine, it was fool¡¯s talk. It was possible with a team with all kinds of cranes. But Mai Dong only had a wrench, so any attempts would appearedic. Orion¡¯s massive rocket engine nozzles were thicker than Mai Dong¡¯s torso. Neither he nor Tomcat could give Mai Dong an answer that wasn¡¯t: ¡°It¡¯s hopeless,dy. We can¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°We still have hope.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. What? He turned his head in a bid to confirm that he wasn¡¯t hearing things. What did that cat say? There¡¯s still hope? What hope is there? It had justpletely denied his n, saying that it waspletely unworkable. Why was it now saying that there was hope again? ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you should have some basic understanding of a spacecraft¡¯s atmospheric entry. In general, it¡¯s a process of deceleration andnding. Even though the masses like to describe it as something veryplicated and dangerous¡ªand of course it is extremely dangerous¡ªit¡¯s essentially a deceleration process,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As long as we sessfully decelerate, lowering the speed to a sufficiently low speed... all the problems will be solved.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. Tomcat didn¡¯t seem as though it was joking. Did it really have a solution? ¡°Deceleration requires power, and only with sufficient power can we very simply and brutally resolve what seems unsolvable.¡± ¡°Are you referring to Orion¡¯s engine?¡± Mai Dong asked. Tomcat nodded. ¡°Tang Yue, you just said that dismantling the engines is impractical!¡± Tang Yue roared. ¡°You said that all your simtions failed. Not a single one of them crossed the ten-thousand-meter altitude!¡± ¡°It¡¯s obviously infeasible to dismantle the engines.¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve seen Orion¡¯s rocket engines, right? Do you think that thing can be dismantled by human strength? You are trapped in a pattern of thinking. It¡¯s true that Miss Mai Dong needs to have the Eagle, but the Eagle isn¡¯t the key... Think about Apollo 13. Was themand module the one that saved everyone¡¯s lives?¡± Apollo 13? Tang Yue was taken aback as his scalp tingled. He had been trapped in a blind spot. Because the Eagle was ander, Tang Yue had subconsciously believed that the Eagle was key to everything. Everything revolved around the Eaglender, so he had the crazy thoughts of dismantling the engines to install on thender; thus, having to rack his brains on how stabilize thender¡¯s attitude. But the one to really save Mai Dong... had never been the Eagle! ¡°What we are dismantling isn¡¯t the rocket engines,¡± Tomcat whispered, ¡°but the Eaglender and Orion!¡± Tang Yue was instantly enlightened. It was a crazy n, crazier than grappling thender with the space station. The failure tond sessfully was ultimately ack of thrust. If the thrust was insufficient, more power could be given. If an engine couldn¡¯t satisfy their requirements, they could use all nine! It was unknown if this train of thought was inherited from the Falcon Heavy or the N1 from years ago. If it were the former, Tang Yue would still feel a little at ease. But if it were thetter... ¡°You said that Orion would be destroyed during an atmospheric entry!¡± Tang Yue stopped Tomcat. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat wore a cold expression. ¡°We want it to be destroyed!¡± A robot was a robot after all; it wasn¡¯t humane at all when it went nuts. Later, Tomcat said, ¡°In human aeronautics, 99% of the problems faced were a result of insufficient power. As long as there was enough power, none of the problems were problems.¡± The final 1% was the fault of conventional frameworks. ... ¡°We all know that if a body is thrown from the sky on Earth, it will be a free-falling body, but it¡¯s not truly a free-falling body.¡± ¡°Because of air resistance?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Yes, this object will keep elerating, but it won¡¯t go on forever,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°At a particr point in its descent, gravity and air resistance will achieve a bnce, resulting in terminal velocity.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong nodded. It was easilyprehensible as it was in high school physics. ¡°This is influenced by the density of the air, and in physics, there¡¯s a term known as the ballistic coefficient. The Martian atmosphere¡¯s ballistic coefficient is extremely low, which also means that the atmosphere can hardly provide enough resistance to achieve a bnce of forces,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If we throw a powerless Eagle down, its deceleration will happen extremely slowly. And when its height drops to 40,000 meters, its speed will still exceed Mach 15. The surface temperatures will rise to 2000¡ãC. This is also why we need the heat-resistant tiles. ¡°In the 20th and early 21st century, many Martian probes perished because of this. The speed was just too fast for them tond sessfully. Tomcat shrugged its shoulders. What was destroyed in the descent was Martian probes. The most ssic example was the European Space Agency¡¯s Beagle 2. The poornder remained in the desert to this day. ¡°Ander¡¯s normal descent is this: It enters the atmosphere from an altitude of 125 kilometers. At this time, its speed should be about 5 km/s,¡± Tomcat used a pen to demonstrate it to the two others. It raised the pen in its paw high before stabbing it down. ¡°85 secondster, it will inte an entry device for the first stage of the deceleration. Within that 85 seconds, its altitude will drop to 90 kilometers, enduring the peak heating. ¡°The entry device will reduce the Eagle¡¯s speed to below Mach 2. This is a Mach number that can withstand the deployment of a parachute. At 10,000 meters, thender will deploy a parachute with a diameter of thirty meters.¡± Tomcat spread its paw above the pen to indicate the parachute. ¡°The parachute will reduce the speed of the Eagle to subsonic speeds until thender reaches a height of 1000 meters. It will then abandon the parachute and activate the rocket engines to change its attitude to begin a powered descent.¡± Tomcat slowly ced the pen vertically on the table. These were things Mai Dong and Tang Yue knew as well. During their training prior to the mission, they had been briefed in detail about the spacecraft¡¯s operational principles. Tomcat was repeating it again today. ¡°Why is the process soplicated?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Why does it need to be soplicated?¡± Before waiting for their answer, Tomcat answered, ¡°It¡¯s because there¡¯s not enough power. Weck the power from rocket engines to provide a reverse thrust the entire time. Chemical rockets are too inefficient,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°A rocket¡¯s thrust is mostly pushing itself, with tonnes of its mass being fuel, and the rounding errors are the load. ¡°In an ordinary descent, it¡¯s not practical to have the rockets produce a reverse thrust the entire time. That will require the Eagle¡¯s cargo andmand module to be filled with propent. Thender will be a flying fuel tank,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°But that¡¯s in normal circumstances. What we are going to do is an abnormal descent... We don¡¯t care about efficiency or cost, nor do we care about the hundreds of tonnes of fuel. All we care about is that rounding error!¡± Tomcat raised its paw and pointed at Mai Dong, enunciating each and every word: ¡°A rounding error of 60 kilograms!¡± Chapter 143: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Battle to Save Mai Dong

Chapter 143: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Battle to Save Mai Dong

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon At that instant, Tang Yue felt as though he had returned to a century ago in the era of Yuri Gagarin and n Shepard. The engineers had given their all to construct aunch pad weighing hundreds of tonnes and used the R-7 and Redstone rockets that weighed nearly thirty tonnes to send a payload of 70 kilograms. That was extremely disproportionate in terms of mathematics and physics, with them spending massive amounts of resources to ultimately concentrate on such an individual. A long period of time had passed, and during this time, humans gained the ability to build space stations, tond on the moon, and to head for Mars. However, they had forgotten that all of that once started from careful micro-steps. In the early days, liquid oxygen and ethanol engines that were sent to near-Earth orbit had a carrying capacity of fewer than three tonnes and the manned spacecraft was only two meters long. However, those were the nascent steps of human aeronautical history. When Tomcat firmly said ¡°all we care about is that rounding error,¡± time seemed to rewind, returning back to the instant when the Voskhod 1¡¯s Chief Designer, Korolev, decided on not wearing spacesuits. It had rewound to the moment when the Kennedy Space Center¡¯s Wernher von Braun gave the order for the countdown. Back then, engineers used tons of scrap paper to calcte every single gram, just for that rounding error. Human aeronautical sess was obtained one step at a time through these tiny rounding errors. ¡°During the atmospheric entry, it¡¯s not only the Eagle but also Orion. Is that right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Orion is the lifeboat, the Aquarius lunar module on the Apollo 13.¡± Orion II was a spacecraft that shuttled between Earth and Mars. It was one of the biggest spacecraft created in human history. The reason it wasn¡¯t the biggest was that Orion I was the same size. Compared to calling them spacecraft, they were more like mobile space stations. To provide sufficient living space for the six-member crew and provide them with enough survival resources, Orion¡¯s structure waspletely different from ordinary spacecraft. Its main body was made of three trusses, making it reach a length of 88 meters. At one end of the truss were the sr panels spanning sixty meters long. It was a module with eight panels that supplied electricity. The middle truss was the central module which was the control center and living quarters. There were a total of eight cabins that were connected to one another in a circle. The other end of the truss was the service module with the massive propent reservoir tanks and the nine Raptor 10D liquid oxygen-methane high-pressure engine. The reservoir tanks could be refilled and the engine could be repeatedly used. Design-wise, Orion was a rather weak structure. It was only a thin rod that seemed skewered together. It was unable to enter the gravisphere of both Earth and Mars. Once gravity acted upon it, the truss would undoubtedly fail to withstand the weight of the central module and engines, warping and snapping immediately. The day it entered the atmosphere, was the day it was dmissioned. Orion was born in space, but it would return to Earth. ¡°You want to let Orion enter the atmosphere with the Eagle?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Is... Is it possible?¡± As someone who knew a bit about aerospace engineering, Tang Yue found the idea crazy. There were too many unresolved problems. Without much thought, it was easily conceivable that the Orion spacecraft would disintegrate at high speeds, burning up and exploding as a result. ¡°At times...¡± Tomcat waved its paw. ¡°The technique involved is the craziest.¡± ... ¡°Orion II is 88 meters long. This is the length of the truss.¡± Tomcat held the pen in its paw as it began exining the n to the duo. ¡°If we...¡± ¡°Throw it down.¡± Mai Dong and Tang Yue knew what the cat was about to say. ¡°... Yes, if we throw it down, right into the atmosphere, it will definitely disintegrate and crash.¡± Tomcat held the pen and ced it horizontally across the table. ¡°It cannot descend in this manner, but if we were to change the orientation...¡± Tomcat held the pen in its paw vertically. ¡°By letting it descend this way, we can guarantee the structural integrity. This is determined by the truss¡¯s materials and structure. When it¡¯s vertical, it can withstand a force five to six times that of when it¡¯s horizontal. When descending, it will be decelerating. The forces acting on the truss arepressive stress not tensile stress... As long as we ensure that it maintains a vertical orientation during the descent, it can go all the way down!¡± ¡°But how do we maintain its vertical orientation?¡± Tang Yue asked. He couldn¡¯t imagine how an eighty-meter-long pole could maintain its vertical orientation at such high altitudes. ¡°Korolev Cross!¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°Or should I say, we mimic a Korolev Cross!¡± Korolev Cross? Tang Yue frowned. He vaguely remembered that this term described a phenomenon when the booster rockets were detached from the rocket. ¡°We have nine Raptor 10D engines with nine gimbaled nozzles. Each engine has enough thrust,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Keeping a pole vertical at high altitude isn¡¯t as difficult as you imagine. Orion¡¯s total mass is 409 tonnes. Out of that 329 tonnes are the propent and engine. In order words, its center of mass is at the bottom because, during the descent, the engine is facing down. ¡°As long as four engines maintain their thrust in four directions, the pole will stand vertically in a stable manner.¡± Tomcat held the pen vertically in its paw tip. ¡°With it being bottom-heavy and top light, this will maintain its stability. If it¡¯s the other way round, that won¡¯t work. Of course, it cannot withstand any horizontal forces during the process. This is also thanks to Mars not having much of an atmosphere. It¡¯s impossible to do it on Earth because any strong gust of wind would doom this n.¡± ¡°What... what about the heat?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°There¡¯s no need to consider the heat,dy.¡± Tang Yue held his chin as he pondered for a few seconds. ¡°This cat wants to descend with a reverse thrust the entire time; thus, controlling the speed of descent. However, is there enough propent on Orion?¡± ¡°Bingo! That¡¯s the crux of the matter.¡± Tomcat snapped its paws. ¡°The propent is key to the entire n. We have a total of nine Raptor 10D engines. Orion¡¯s propent reservoir has a total of 300 tonnes of fuel. If there isn¡¯t enough propent, everything is pointless. Let¡¯s do some ounting.¡± Mai Dong and Tang Yue nodded. All the hope was on the ounting. ¡°A Raptor 10D engine has a thrust of 900 kN in a vacuum, which is 90 tonnes. Nine engines will give a total thrust of more than 800 tonnes,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°On average, a Raptor engine burns through the fuel at 60 gallons a second. In SI units, that¡¯s 227 liters. A mix of 227 liters of liquid methane and liquid oxygen has a total mass of 202 kilograms.¡± Tomcat pointed to the sky. ¡°That is to say that the spacecraft¡¯s engine, a Raptor 10D engine will burn through 202 kilograms of propent a second. And we have a total of 300 tonnes of propent to use. If all nine engines are used together, how long can the propentst?¡± ¡°165 seconds.¡± Mai Dong immediately gave an answer. ¡°Less than 3 minutes.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. 165 seconds was definitely insufficient. To safely descend from an orbit of 125 kilometers, 165 seconds was definitely insufficient. ¡°This is clearly insufficient,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The spacecraft will expend all its fuel at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters. Then, it would crash.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°You said that there¡¯s hope.¡± ¡°We need to thank the designers of the Raptor 10D engines. An engine¡¯s thrust is 90 tonnes. To support a 400-ton spacecraft¡¯s descent, do we need all nine engines to be running?¡± Tomcat smiled. Tang Yue immediately understood. The spacecraft¡¯s total weight was 409 tonnes. An engine¡¯s thrust was 90 tones. With just five engines, it could produce a total thrust of 450 tonnes. ¡°We can use a throttling process to control the engine¡¯s thrust by only activating five engines. Then, do another count,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°How long can the propentst?¡± ¡°297 seconds.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°At least 297 seconds.¡± ¡°Yes, at least 297 seconds. In reality, the number will be bigger than that. This is because Mars¡¯s gravity is only 40% of Earth¡¯s. Therefore, Orion¡¯s 400+ tonnes on Earth would only be about 160 tonnes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Therefore, the engine¡¯s expenditure of the propent will be less than our calctions. In fact, Orion¡¯s propent canst a total of 12 minutes. ¡°In these 12 minutes and at a height of 125 kilometers, we need to have the spacecraft¡¯s average speed of descent to be at 173 m/s. It¡¯s not even at Mach 1.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. Mai Dong¡¯s eyes reddened. ¡°You might be able toe down.¡± Tomcat turned its head and wriggled its ears at Mai Dong as it giggled. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± Chapter 144: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Crossing the River on a Paper Boat

Chapter 144: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Crossing the River on a Paper Boat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Ahh!¡± Tang Yue pointed at the screen as he turned around to shout to Tomcat. ¡°Why are you screaming? Is this a call to arms? Isn¡¯t Lu Xun¡¯s collection done?¡± Tomcat kept typing on the keyboard. ¡°Call to Arms and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk have been sent out, right? Mr. Lu Xun¡¯s words of enlightenment have already been forever engraved in the memories of the Universe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m referring to Munch¡¯s The Scream!¡± Tang Yue sped his cheeks with his hands as he mimicked the figure in the painting. ¡°Is this real?¡± ¡°Are you dumb?¡± Tomcat continued typing. ¡°The genuine piece of work is stored at the National Gallery and Munch Museum in Norway. It vanished along with the Earth. What you have is just a scanned photo.¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking if this is a photo of the genuine piece.¡± ¡°Determine it yourself,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Look at the picture from different angles and directions. If the figure keeps staring at you, it means it¡¯s real.¡± Tang Yue straightened his body as he craned his neck to look at the screen from different angles. Momentster, he was rmed. ¡°Oh my, it¡¯s real! The figure is really staring at me... Damn it, it¡¯s really creepy.¡± Tomcat sighed. In many matters, Tang Yue¡¯s intelligence was definitely not the best in the world. Perhaps having a simple brain was the main reason he had survived to this day. ¡°Any picture with eyes that directs the gaze at someone standing in front of it will appear to you as if it¡¯s staring at you from any angle. This is an optical illusion. It has nothing to do with its authenticity.¡± Tomcat held a piece of scrap paper in its paw. It was covered with equations and numbers that matched the numbers on the monitor. ¡°Hmm... The ballistic coefficient doesn¡¯t exceed 100 kg/m2. This object¡¯s damping ratio at a zero angle of attack is 1.86...¡± ¡°For real?¡± ¡°You can give it a try,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue drew a cat¡¯s face on a piece of paper and drew a pair of big eyes. Then, he moved the paper away from him as it moved it to the sides. ¡°Hey, it really seems to be the case...¡± Tomcat couldn¡¯t be bothered with Tang Yue as it continued its work, handling theplicated data. The work involvedplicated orbital mechanics and fluid dynamics. It needed an immense amount of calction. Tang Yue and Mai Dong naturally couldn¡¯t provide any help, so Tomcat busied itself with the work together with Kunlun Station¡¯sputers. Tomcat was in charge of issuing themands while the workstation would fire up all its cores and work without rest. As for Tang Yue and Mai Dong, they were in charge of recording the developmental history of the human race. The history of art was a veryplex subject. Before beginning, Tang Yue imagined that he just needed to write the story of Leonardo da Vinci¡¯s drawing of an egg. But when the references came into view, Tang Yue was astounded by the massive amount of information. Just the different art movements numbered more than a hundred. There was Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Neo-impressionism, and a huge bunch of names that he had never heard of. Tang Yue scraped a few artist names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Qi Baishi from his memories, but even that didn¡¯t use up his five fingers. He had to admit that he didn¡¯t have any artistic genes in him. ¡°I have topare their parachute deployment Mach numbers. This is 1.1. This is 1.77. This is... 1.57. When a parachute is deployed, the dynamic pressure is between 350 and 750.¡± Tomcat spun the pen in its paw as it muttered. ¡°Then, their vertical descent speed is 2.4, 12.5, as well as 8.0...¡± ¡°Mass! Mass! Mass! ¡°Momentum! Momentum! Momentum! ¡°Speed! ¡°And density!¡± Tomcat bellowed in frustration as it widened its eyes. Numbers and equations ran through its mind. It had told Tang Yue and Mai Dong that there was hope, allowing thetter to use Orion II to proceed with anding, at the cost of abandoning the entire spacecraft, to bring her down. However, it was ultimately a crazy and bold n. It was extremely risky and any tiny mishap would lead to failure. In human aeronautical history, there had never been such an operation. Just the thought of it would seem ridiculous to ayman¡ªa spacecraft with a mass of more than 400 tonnes was to descend into the atmosphere with merely reverse thrusters. This was only something that appeared in science-fiction movies. It was no wonder that Tang Yue¡¯s first reaction was that it was impossible. However, Tomcat¡¯s calctions supported this incredulous idea. It said that at times, its technique was crazier than anyone else. This was the rigidity of mathematics and physics. Even if many believed it impossible and even if it looked incredulous, as long as it was permitted by them, there was a possibility of sess. At times, the rigidws of the Universe could force you into a corner, but at times, it was the safety rope that you relied on for survival. However, Orion was ultimately not designed for atmospheric entry, and although Tomcat¡¯s original calctions were supported, it was only theoretically possible. To go from theory to practice needed many steps and massive amounts of calctions and adjustments. There were also many problems that needed resolving. Tomcat called it crossing a river on a paper boat. Tang Yue asked what it meant. Tomcat folded a piece of scrap paper into a boat and ced it on the table. If you wished to traverse a wide and turbulent river, but only had a tiny paper boat to use, would you dare embark if the mathematical calctions said that the boat would ferry you across the river before it sank? If they weren¡¯t out of options, Tomcat would definitely not taken such a risky step. Orion II was that paper boat that could sink at any time. In theory, it could safely send Mai Dong across the river, but with a bit of wind or a few waves, it would face the danger of sinking. ¡°1, 2, 3, 4... The peak aerodynamic heat will reach 56 W/cm2. Damn it. What¡¯s the material on the surface of the reservoir? SLV-561? No, it¡¯s not.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°OK, this process has ended. The flowputations arepleted.¡± ¡°Hey, Tomcat. I have a question.¡± Tang Yue ced the piece of paper down. ¡°Speak.¡± Tomcat rotated the left monitor. ¡°If we follow your n, allowing Orion¡¯s speed to decrease to zero before itnds, there¡¯s no way tond normally without anynding gear, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Orion will definitely crash. After the fuel is expended, it will smash into the ground. Then, what will happen to the Eagle?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, how do we deal with the final step?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Even if we sessfully survive the first 120 kilometers, what about thest eighty meters? If we assume ideal conditions, and the depletion of Orion¡¯s propent is controlled perfectly, allowing Orion to sessfully hover a centimeter off the ground, it¡¯s still eighty meters tall. That¡¯s thirty stories high. Toe down from that height...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s worries weren¡¯t without reason. Even though a height of eighty meters looked like a negligible number when it came to aeronautical numbers, it wasn¡¯t something that could be neglected for a human. Falling from a height of thirty stories was death. Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s goal was to ensure Mai Dong¡¯s safety. If Mai Dong couldn¡¯t reach the ground safely, all their hard work would have been for nothing. Having worked hard to ovee so many obstacles, they couldn¡¯t trip up at the final step. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to remind me.¡± Tomcat smacked its lips. ¡°I¡¯ve already considered it. A smart cat has nock of ideas.¡± Chapter 145: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Crossing the Final Obstacle

Chapter 145: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Crossing the Final Obstacle

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°What idea?¡± Tang Yue leaned over. ¡°Get lost. Stop disturbing my work. Go write your story about Leonardo da Vinci¡¯s drawing of an egg.¡± Tomcat chased Tang Yue away. ¡°I¡¯m doing the flowputations.¡± ¡°The story about Leonardo da Vinci¡¯s drawing of an egg has been written.¡± ¡°Then draw a duck¡¯s egg. If it¡¯s done, draw a swan¡¯s egg. If that¡¯s done, draw your balls.¡± ¡°Can you just divulge something? Stop leaving me hanging at such a critical moment!¡± Tang Yue held Tomcat. ¡°Mai Dong is also concerned about this problem... Right? Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Huh? Can? What canned food?¡± The girl appeared in the videoms. Mai Dong and Tang Yue had discussed the problem before. Even if Orion could safely decelerate, there wasn¡¯t anding pad on Mars. Orion II didn¡¯t have anynding gear, so if the eighty-meter-tall skewer were to hit the ground, it would likely shatter. It was too dangerous if Mai Dong were to crash down with it. It was a height of thirty stories. There wasn¡¯t a parachute avable on the United Space Station, so the option to eject from the spacecraft with a parachute was unavable. And to jump off a spacecraft that was plummeting at high speeds was an action movie stunt that only James Bond would do. For ady like Mai Dong to do the same was suicidal. To most people, parachuting was a very risky matter. In the earliest days, the Soviets had once attempted to eject the astronauts from the spacecraft during the descent andnd via parachute, but Yuri Gagarin almost had an ident when the parachutes failed to open. The facts proved that using one¡¯s physical body to resist the harsh environments at high altitudes wasn¡¯t a wise choice. The safest ce was forever themand module. Enclosing the astronauts inside a thick metal case sheltered them from the airflow and low temperatures outside. ¡°Mr. Cat, what solution do you have?¡± Mai Dong was also curious as to how Tomcat could resolve the problem. After all, this directly concerned her survival. Tomcat stared at the colorful figures on the monitor while the workstation beneath the desk was humming. The heat-dissipation fans were at full st since a fluid dynamicsputation was intensive work. It curled its lips. ¡°Who told you that it¡¯s a height of over eighty meters?¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong were taken aback. ¡°Isn¡¯t Orion more than eighty meters long? By descending vertically, wouldn¡¯t that make it over eighty meters?¡± ¡°Are you dumb?¡± Tomcat turned around and leaned back, crossing its hind legs. ¡°Who said that we¡¯ll be sending the entire Orion into the atmosphere?¡± ¡°You... You mean...¡± Tang Yue frowned. He had apparently grasped something and had an inkling. ¡°Do you know why Orion¡¯s truss has three modules? It¡¯s because it¡¯s modr by design. The entire spacecraft is built from a power module, central module, and dynamic module. Every module is interchangeable. This was considered during the initial design of the Orion spacecraft.¡± Tomcat raised a w. ¡°What does this mean? It means that it can be dismantled. The engineers had long left behind detachable interfaces... We have no way of dismantling the engines, but we can shorten the entire spacecraft. ¡°The Orion spacecraft is eighty-eight meters in total. At the top is the power module spanning twenty-five meters. There¡¯s no need for us to bring it down at all. Therefore, we can cut it.¡± Tomcat sliced its w horizontally, a ferocious glint in its eyes. ¡°Therefore, I won¡¯t be stupid enough to hold an eighty-meter-long pole, vertically, at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters. That would be too risky.¡± ¡°Sixty-three meters.¡± Mai Dong did the math. ¡°So the spacecraft during the atmospheric entry will be sixty-three meters?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The power module¡¯s truss can be abandoned. That will shorten it by about a third, making it easier to maintain its bnce.¡± ¡°How difficult is it? Will it be difficult to carry it out?¡± Tang Yue recalled Orion¡¯s truss. It was made out of welded reinforced steel. It resembled a tower when raised. Tang Yue¡¯s first thought, when he heard the about dismantling of the truss, was that of a bunch of workers holding cutting torches while scrambling all over it. It sounded like a massive amount of work, and the ns they came up with had to bepleted by Mai Dong alone. For example, dismantling the rocket engines sounded possible in theory, but ifpletely impossible in practice it was of zero worth. ¡°The interface that was left behind are like those that couple trains,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°All you need is a wrench to dismantle them. It¡¯s a lot easier than dismantling an engine. ¡°The second sentence you said ispletely unnecessary. ¡°Of course, dismantling the truss alone isn¡¯t sufficient,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We need topletely dismantle the Orion and Eaglender. We need to empty them out, leaving only an empty shell. We will dispose of all the mass we can! Sr panels, amodation module, service module, stores module will all be abandoned! We only want the nine engines, giving us the greatest thrust-to-weight ratio. ¡°By attaching thender to the Orion, Orion will be the ferry. It will take a trip with thender on a journey spanning more than a hundred kilometers,¡± Tomcat described thending process. ¡°Towards the end of the descent, thender will disconnect from Orion. Orion will crash and thender willnd. ¡°And thender won¡¯t be ced at a high height. It won¡¯t be held at the top of the truss. The Eagle will be connected at the central module, making it a height of thirty-five meters from the engine.¡± ¡°Thirty-five meters...¡± Tang Yue did the math silently. ¡°But thirty-five meters is still quite a distance. That¡¯s still more than ten stories tall.¡± Clearly, by removing a portion of the truss and reducing Orion¡¯s total length by twenty-five meters, it helped in reducing the center of mass and ensure its attitude. The Eagle would be interfaced at a height that wasn¡¯t as high as Tang Yue had imagined, but the final obstacle remained. Even with the height of eighty-eight meters reduced to thirty-five meters, wouldn¡¯t jumping from that height still be fatal? What was the difference between jumping from thirty stories and ten stories? Perhaps the former needed a shovel. ¡°The space station doesn¡¯t have a parachute. How are we to withstand the impact of thending?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Falling from a height of thirty-five meters would definitely be a problem. The Eaglender won¡¯t be able to survive the fall either.¡± Mai Dong nodded as well. ¡°Back in college, I had a senior in a PhD program jump from the tenth floor. He died on the spot.¡± Tomcat silently held its forehead. ¡°People of your generation might not be aware. After all, you were born only in this century. Situations that require the use of this method is unheard of... However, it being unknown doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s unreliable. Certain methods are eliminated from history because of the appearance of better solutions, but they were born from the wisdom of the ancients. ¡°When we can¡¯t find an answer, we can refer back to history. Often, the ancients have given the best solution.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong exchanged looks, finding Tomcat¡¯s words iprehensible. Tomcat sighed gently and leaned back. ¡°Do you know how the first batch of probes came to Mars in thest century and at the beginning of this century, more than fifty years ago? What did these great pioneers rely on to ovee that final obstacle?¡± Chapter 146: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Booby Trap

Chapter 146: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Six, Booby Trap

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Airbags?¡± Mai Dong and Tang Yue nearly answered at the same time. In the early Mars exploration missions, the engineers used a rather simple and crude solution to deal with the final stage ofnding¡ªthest tens of meters¡ªby using airbags. By wrapping the probe in an airbag, they allowed it to crash straight into the Martian surface and decrease its altitude and energy by repeated bounces. In essence, it was no different from the safety airbags in a car. It was ancient and simple, but rather reliable. After the probe was detached from its parachute, it would rapidly pump up an airbag, allowing itself to be wrapped in a protective ball. Before a high-end Martian rover like Curiosity was put into use, many pioneers that headed to Mars had relied on such simple spherical airbags to protect themselves. ¡°Where do we get the airbag from?¡± Tang Yue asked. The United Space Station didn¡¯t have parachutes or airbags. With the Marsnding projects developing deep into the middle of the 21st century, primitive and highly limitednding methods such as decelerating airbags had long been eliminated. An airbag could only protect tiny and lightnders. Withnding missions carrying tens of tonnes, they required parachutes and reverse-thrust rockets. ¡°That¡¯s something we should thank the Russian engineers for...¡± Tomcat said leisurely. ¡°It turns out that they enjoy using intable cabins in their spacecraft and space stations.¡± ... ¡°Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, Oberth, Korolev, Wernher von Braun, as well as NASA, CNSA, RSA, ESA, please receive a kowtow from me!¡± Tang Yue stood in the middle of the Hab looking all reverent as he gave a deep bow at the tablet on the table. ¡°If you can hear me in heaven, please bless thisnding mission with sess. Your children and grandchildren are relying on you all.¡± Tomcat nced at the tablet with the first name being Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. ¡°By writing it that way, the elders won¡¯t be able to read it in heaven,¡± Tomcat said with a curled tongue. ¡°You should write §¬§à§ß§ã§ä§Ñ§ß§ä§Ú§ß§¸§Ú§à§Ý§Ü§à§Ó§ã§Ü§Ú§Û.¡± ¡°Go away. Mind your own business.¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°We already agreed that we are leaving the science to you, and the metaphysics to me.¡± ¡°Do you know how to do divination?¡± Tomcat held up its head. ¡°Try doing one.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done it.¡± ¡°How was it?¡± ¡°Fire on top, water below. The Wei Chi hexagram,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Tomcat shot him a nce. Tang Yue was quite a talent in metaphysics. Not only did he know incantations, but he was also skilled at divination. If he hadn¡¯te to Mars, he might have been a chatan going about scamming others. Tomcat had no idea how Tang Yue had such knowledge. ording to Tang Yue, an old neighbor had taught him when he was young. The old man was skilled and said to have been consulted by members of high society for geomancy-rted matters. He enjoyed eating cuttlefish, so people called him Immortal Cuttlefish. Tang Yue had often visited him with grilled squid. Every time Tang Yue relegated such matters to the realm of absurdity, of superstition, Tang Yue would use the Russians as an example. The Russians had gotten Russian Orthodox Church priests to bless the rockets. ¡± Wei Chi , or Before Completion is a hexagram that says to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves. In other words, it¡¯s nothing but a dangerous booby trap if not handled well.¡± ¡°Booby?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°I¡¯m being serious with you. What the hell are you thinking?¡± ¡°What the hell are you thinking? I¡¯m talking about a booby trap. Booby! Booby! Do you know what that is?¡± ¡°I obviously know what that is.¡± ¡°You silly cat,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Come, repeat after me! Booby¡ªTrap¡ª! Booby¡ª! Get it?¡± Tomcat suddenly shut up as its expression turned solemn before pointing to the table. Tang Yue turned his head over. Mai Dong had a cold expression. Perv! ... ¡°The divination says that it will be dangerous.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°The external forces are plenty and difficult to ovee.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite an urate divination. Isn¡¯t that exactly what we are facing? We are pushed into a corner with despair everywhere.¡± Tomcat ced its chin on the table as the workstation¡¯s monitor flickered. It blue-screened once again as the case fans suddenly went silent. Tomcat kicked the table leg. ¡°Damn it, there¡¯s a segmentation fault again. ¡°It¡¯s an ominous portent that says sess won¡¯t be obtained. I hope no problems happen during thending. ¡°Metaphysics aren¡¯t useful on Mars. Our ancestors tweaked such things for Earth. After all, the gods there aren¡¯t the same gods here.¡± Tomcat restarted the workstation and switched the monitor off and on. ¡°Let¡¯s depend on science. Mathematics and physics are universal... Miss Mai Dong, are you ready?¡± ¡°OK, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°I¡¯ve given you full authority.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± Tomcat connected to the United Space Station¡¯sputer, gaining full control over its systems. This was requested by Tomcat as it made Mai Dong follow the steps to expose the low-level code of the control system. Thus, Tomcat could freely change the space station¡¯s routines. If it so wished, it could even circumvent the astronaut¡¯smands and directly switch off the life support system. If it really did so, all living beings in the space station would cease living in five minutes. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, I¡¯ve already connected to the United Space Station,¡± Tomcat alerted her. ¡°From this moment forth, you shouldn¡¯t randomly change theputer¡¯s operational mode.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± This was a necessary procedure. To allow Orion II to enter the atmosphere, Tomcat needed topletely change Orion¡¯s flight program. This was equivalent to re-writing the low-level software for the spacecraft. During the design stage of Orion II, the engineers had never imagined letting it enter the atmosphere; therefore, theputer systemcked the necessary software to do so. Thankfully, there was sufficient redundancy in the hardware. Orion¡¯s structure and engines allowed for Tomcat to write a new program. To Tomcat, machinenguage was its mother tongue. It needed to design a safe descent trajectory. In the past, such work was done by an entire group formed by many specialized teams. Due to the massive amount of work, the entire EDL process could be split into three segments¡ªEntry, Descent, and Landing. Each segment was a topic worth researching. The problems involved were multifarious andplicated. It involved every piece of hardware on the spacecraft. In addition to the software was the equally troublesome GNC system¡ªGuidance, Navigation, and Control. These were the missions of theputer and sensors, and this also produced huge problems and theses. The EDL system was responsible for a safending, while the GNC system was responsible for navigation. By working together, they would allow for a safending for Mai Dong. In the past, this was probably a project collectively done by more than ten universities and research institutes, ranging from hardware to software. However, all of this was now ced on the shoulders of Tomcat alone. After all, Tomcat was the Universe¡¯s most impressive crosstalk master and programmer. Among crosstalkers, it was the best at programming, and in programming, it was the best at crosstalking. It could drone on and on while typing out control code that allowed for a four-hundred-ton spacecraft tond on Mars. Chapter 147: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Despair Induces Curses for a Cat

Chapter 147: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Despair Induces Curses for a Cat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue pulled his cart, which wasden with sr panels while passing through the Battery Farm. It was extremely arid on Mars. There was no ce on Earth that couldpare with it. In the Isidis nitia, where Tang Yue was, it had not rained once in tens of millions of years. Rewinding the same amount of time on Earth, even the Sahara desert was a green oasis with monsoon rains. Most of the water on Mars was frozen at the poles. In the low-lying valleys where sunlight could hardly reach, the frozen soil that contained moisture didn¡¯t melt for millions of years. This was the most massive source of water, measuring a total of a trillion tonnes. If humans wanted to colonize Mars in the future, that would be the most important source of water. Speaking of which, Mars had plenty of resources. It had water and methane. Unfortunately, humans had short arms that couldn¡¯t reach them. Tang Yue pulled a stand and propped up a sr panel as he grabbed a handful of soil and let it scatter at his feet. Typically speaking, soil contained minute amounts of water. Tomcat had once said that if one could prop up a big enough pot and heat the soil dug from the deep depths, obtaining steam was possible... This seemingly possible solution of obtaining endless amounts of water wasn¡¯t implemented because Tang Yue had no way of finding such a huge pot or collect such thin amounts of steam. ¡°Be it rain or typhoons, or the ocean currents and atmospheric cirction, it¡¯s ultimately a result of heat flow and transfer,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Hot air rises and cold air sinks above the ocean. The steam carriesrge amounts of heat into the atmosphere and gets released due to the low pressure. The engine behind Earth¡¯splicated water cirction process is heat, but Mars is dead. It doesn¡¯tck water and instead,cks an engine to drive all of this.¡± ¡°Is there a way to make this engine run again?¡± Tang Yue asked casually. ¡°The Martian engine is Mars itself, but this engine has stopped working for three billion years,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°You wish to get Mars to start working again? It¡¯s impossible for humans. It¡¯s work fit for God.¡± ¡°I recall using a maic stirrer during chemistry sses in college. Tomcat, have you seen such a thing?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It¡¯s a spindle-shaped metallic lump. When thrown into a solution, it will exert an external maic field, and the stirrer will rapidly spin. By the same logic, if we provide Mars with a sufficiently powerful maic field, will it restart the Martian core? ¡°Once the geological activity is restarted on Mars, the mantle and the gases at the poles will be released. The atmosphere will slowly be denser,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°The Martian environment will improve.¡± ¡°The Martian core is a giant lump of iron with a radius of 1,800 kilometers,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Its mass is 1.9 ¡Á 1020 tonnes. What kind of maic field are you going to use to stir 190 billion tonnes? ¡°If you have that ability, you can start colonizing the Milky Way. Why would you be harping over Mars?¡± Tomcat eventually said, ¡°Stop imagining things. Even if there are a million ways to spark life on Mars, it¡¯s impossible to do so now.¡± Tang Yue held a long shovel as he drew in the sand. ¡°Tang Yue was here. ¡°Human civilization was here. ¡°Earthlings were here. ¡°Intelligent life from the future, if you see these words, remember. Someone was here before you.¡± The sharp shovel drew a deep crevice in the sand, but the shifting sand immediately flowed back in, filling the crevice. Soon, the words Tang Yue wrote were indistinct. Tang Yue threw the shovel to the ground and sat down to rest. In just two minutes, the words ¡°Tang Yue¡± werepletely illegible. This was the force of nature¡¯s way of corroding away the signs of civilization. The indistinct words on the shifting sands were just a miniature of that massive civilization. The natural world took ten minutes to wipe out the deep crevice which Tang Yue dug. If he dug a pit ten meters deep, the natural world would take ten thousand years to level it. Tang Yue wished to leave something behind, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized the difficulty. Time was a leveling machine that slowly and inevitably ttened everything. The best vessel to record civilization was ultimately civilization itself. ¡°Where¡¯s thatet now? How many sols is it from us?¡± Tang Yue looked up at the sky. ¡°Forty sols.¡± Tomcat answered as it spent every moment working. ¡°How¡¯s theet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still being calcted... The darnputer hung again. Are HPputers that crappy? I shouldn¡¯t have given it so many parameters. Miss Mai Dong? Miss Mai Dong, help me!¡± What followed was Tomcat¡¯s and Mai Dong¡¯s gibberish over thems. Orion II¡¯s entry into the atmosphere was far riskier than theunching of the Eagle. Tomcat had imed that if it hadn¡¯t been pushed into a corner, it would definitely not let Mai Dong board that crappy boat that was bound to sink. Despair gives courage even to a coward. Despair induces curses for a cat. Tang Yue returned to Kunlun Station after putting away the sr panels. ¡°F*ck! F*ck you HP for your crappyputers! F*ck everything about you!¡± Tomcat¡¯s hair stood up on its back. ¡°I hope your wholepany f*cking dies! Explode to kingdome!¡± Tang Yue hung the Radiant Armor on the wall for charging and took off his clothes to wear his robe before pouring himself a cup of water. At this moment, Tomcat took out a pole from under the table and threw it over. ¡°Catch this!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Tang Yue caught the pole which was about the length of a cane¡ªsixty centimeters. It was rather heavy and hard thanks to its metallic texture. Wrapped around it was ayer of white paper. Clearly, the paper had been reused. At the bottom of the pole was a paper roll attached to it with transparent tape. ¡°Orion II¡¯s miniature model.¡± ¡°Orion... II?¡± Tang Yue cracked open his lips, not seeing the resemnce at all. Apart from being equally long and thin, it was better to call it a hammer than a spacecraft¡ªthe kind that could smash a person¡¯s head in. ¡°This is the truss.¡± Tomcat pointed at the thin pole. ¡°These are the engines.¡± Tomcat pointed at the paper roll at the bottom. It was sealed tight with tape and weighed a lot due to some unknown weight. Tang Yue slowly nodded. He could see it after Tomcat pointed it out to him. Indeed, it was a model of Orion. Even though it was very abstract and in line with the Impressionist movement, Tomcat¡¯s handiwork was nothing worthy of praise. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it since the conditions are limited,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But I¡¯ve tried my best to ensure the correct weight ratios. Make a better one yourself if you think you can do better.¡± ¡°This is the best! It¡¯s truly extraordinary what kind of art you are capable of!¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t stingy with his thumb. Before the n seeded, he could go from being a broken record to a ttering machine. With the miniaturized model, Tomcat no longer needed to use its pen for demonstrations. Tang Yue ced it vertically in his palm as it stood stable. Tang Yue prodded it gently with his index finger. ¡°It¡¯s very stable.¡± ¡°Most of its mass is concentrated at the bottom. This is why we need to dismantle Orion and Eagle. We need to try our best to reduce the center of mass,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The lower the center of mass, the stabler and safer it is.¡± Tomcat took the model away from Tang Yue and stood it on the table. ¡°I¡¯m resolving the problem of the attitude stability. It needs to descend vertically, and any deviations to the side mustn¡¯t exceed 5¡ã. If an ident happens, causing such a situation...¡± Tomcat flicked the pole and the model crashed to the ground with a thud. ¡°Everything will be over.¡± Chapter 148: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Head out to See the Flying Saucer

Chapter 148: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Head out to See the Flying Saucer

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Tomcat had sounded confident during his briefing. But only the heavens knew if it was it puffing itself up at its own cost. As an electrician and a non-professional astronaut, he had attended sses on orbital mechanics... Even though the sses werepletely Greek to him, with him spending most of the time dozing off, he remembered a few of the teacher¡¯s words. ¡°Do not break the rules! ¡°Make sure not to break the rules! ¡°Under any circumstances, make sure not to break the rules! ¡°As long as you strictly follow the operational manual, the Orion andnder will be able to bring you home intact. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to collect your remains. This is because the strong winds in the stratosphere will blow you everywhere.¡± What did the operational manual say? Don¡¯t touch any button. However, Tomcat was clearly breaking the rules. Not only was it breaking the rules, but it was also overturning all the rules set in the operational manual. Tang Yue erected the Orion model again. ¡°An allowance of only 5¡ã?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s based on my current calctions.¡± Tomcat held up the model. ¡°As you know, Orion has to maintain its vertical orientation when entering the gravisphere. When it descends, the angle of attack cannot exceed ¡À5¡ã. This is because the structure of the engine¡¯s propent reservoir tank is extremely weak. The thinnest part of the tank is only three centimeters thick. To maintain a normal shape, it needs the pressure produced from thebustion within. As an analogy, Orion¡¯s reservoir is like a balloon filled with water.¡± Tomcat began gesturing. ¡°Clearly, we can¡¯t let the balloon shake or it will burst¡ªand we have four of such balloons.¡± How firm did a grip have to be to rapidly descend while holding onto four swelling water balloons without bursting them? Tang Yue wondered if the nine Raptor 10D engines on Orion was able to aplish this goal. He had seen them before, and the nozzles were thick enough to amodate an adult inside. Does such a thick object have such precise requirements of not deviating more than 5¡ã? This was no longer about hitting a hole in one. This was nine golfers dancing ballet while hitting their clubs without falling down. ¡°It¡¯s very difficult.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t mince its words. ¡°The Raptor 10D isn¡¯t meant for such an operation. It isn¡¯t an attitude stabilizer, preventing it from reaching such a level of precision.¡± ¡°Are there any solutions?¡± Tang Yue erected the Orion model as he tilted it, trying hard to simte what it meant to deviate by 5¡ã in his mind. ¡°I can only try my best to raise precision. The rest is all luck.¡± ¡°Luck?¡± ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll be leaving it up to fate.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Luck is extremely important in most situations. As the saying goes, it¡¯s three parts intelligence, seven parts hard work... and the remaining ny parts is up to luck.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you be a little bit more reliable?¡± ¡°And you are able to man this?¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes. ¡°Man!¡± Tang Yue cried out in exasperation. ¡°Alright, you can man it. Tell me how you will be resolving the problem of the engine? How do you maintain Orion¡¯s attitude in the permissible range?¡± ¡°You...¡± Tang Yue nearly choked. ¡°Enough. We can still do our best over the control of the engine, but there are parts that arepletely reliant on luck. For example, theposition of the truss and the strength of the interface. None of this is up to us. We can only pray that nothing happens to them,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°To get Orion to do an atmospheric entry is, in essence, a bet. It¡¯s not something with a high chance of sess. Even if we can ensure that the spacecraft doesn¡¯t have any problems, strong gust headwinds during the descent might doom everything.¡± ¡°Probability!¡± ¡°What probability?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°The probability that you¡¯re best at. Can¡¯t you calcte the probability?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What¡¯s the probability of Orion II¡¯s sessful descent?¡± Tomcat sat in its chair and looked at the monitor in silence before shaking its head. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to count,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We are not trying to guess heads or tails, but trying to figure our way forward. Are you able to calcte the probability of a hole in front of you? We can only take one step at a time. If our luck is good, it will be firm ground, bringing us closer to our goals. If our luck is bad, and it¡¯s empty ahead of us...¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice softened as it stopped speaking. Tomcat was too formidable. That gave Tang Yue a misconception that everything was under control. In fact, they had too little things in their control. Just a loose screw on Orion could spell doom for the spacecraft, but no one knew where that screw was or when it would fall off. Tang Yue cracked his neck and turned around to pick up the Radiant Armor and take down the life support system on the wall. ¡°You¡¯re heading out?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the work outside done?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Why are you heading out again?¡± ¡°I¡¯m heading out for stargazing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not dark yet.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll look at the twilight glow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too faint.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll be flying saucer watching.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any on Mars... Remember to snap a picture if you see one.¡± ... ¡°Tang Yue, are you skiving again?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯ve finished all the work. I¡¯m almost done with the history of arts.¡± Tang Yue leaned against the garage door and sat in the sand. ¡°It can be filed away after some slight editing tomorrow.¡± ¡°Then what are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m flying saucer watching.¡± Tang Yue looked into the sky as he gazed at the blue sky with his visor in ce. ¡°Flying saucer?¡± The girl was astonished. ¡°Yes, I head out every day to look for flying saucers to feel a sense of purpose to life,¡± Tang Yue answered. ¡°Although I haven¡¯t seen one to this day, I believe that if I keep watching, the day wille when I do... My significant other is a heroic saucer that will one day visit me while spewing colored smoke.¡± Mai Dong closed the control panel¡¯s lid in the core module as she worked with Tomcat to adjust theputer system in the United Space Station. ¡°There¡¯s a need to have something to look forward to in life. Otherwise, what¡¯s the meaning of life?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°This Universe¡¯s every day is different. No one made it a rule that the Earth wouldn¡¯t disappear tomorrow, so no one made it a rule that a flying saucer wouldn¡¯tnd before me tomorrow. There is a tomorrow after tomorrow. Time is infinite. Just like if an infinite number of monkeys were left to bang on an infinite number of typewriters, sooner orter they would identally reproduce theplete works of William Shakespeare... Therefore, the appearance of a flying saucer is inevitable.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that such a day wille.¡± The girlughed. ¡°It will definitely happen one day,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°In this Universe, as long as you believe, it will one day happen.¡± Chapter 149: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight, Dismantling Supervisor

Chapter 149: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight, Dismantling Supervisor

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Dismantle! Dismantle! Dismantle everything¡ª!¡± Tomcat waved its paws like a supervisor in charge of dismantling and demotion. ¡°We shall be remodeling this shantytown! Leave nothing behind!¡± ¡°OK!¡± Mai Dong had her head burrowed inside themand module of the Eaglender, a screwdriver held between her lips. A tool bag hung from her as she switched on a torch. ¡°The fourth nut has been removed. It¡¯sbeled MOYU-2A.¡± The girl used her arm to sp the torchlight as she stuffed the floating screw into her bag. This was thest screw on the protective cap. After removing it, she could see the socket that the seat was connected to the floor. Mai Dong was in the midst of dismantling the chairs in the Eaglender¡¯smand module. To reduce as much weight as possible, Tomcat required her to dismantle every nonessential object in the Eagle. Thender¡¯smand module had a total of six seats, and the two seats in front of the control panel were the Commander and co-pilot. The remaining four seats were passenger seats. All Mai Dong needed was one seat; therefore, the other five needed to be dismantled. ¡°Mr. Cat, where do I ce the dismantled seats?¡± Mai Dong wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. ¡°These seats are huge and bulky.¡± ¡°ce them in the Silent module for now. Find something secure them. After you dismantle all of them, we can them outside,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Throw them outside?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Are we just going to push them out?¡± ¡°That will be too dangerous. They might end up colliding with the space station¡¯s sr panels. When tossing out the trash, we need to use the arm to push it far away.¡± Mai Dong dismantled the seat and pulled it towards the spacecraft¡¯s APAS. ¡°A seat is twenty kilograms. Five seats will have a mass of a hundred kilograms. Just rounding things up would be a ton.¡± Tomcat held a pen in its mouth as it leaned back into the chair. ¡°This is quite a considerable number. The Eagle¡¯s Ascent Vehicle has a total mass of fifteen tonnes. That¡¯s reducing it by one-fifteenth.¡± Tang Yue couldn¡¯t be bothered with Tomcat as long as it didn¡¯t round up numbers during its calctions. ¡°After the dismantling work is done, how much lighter will the Eagle be?¡± Tang Yue sat opposite Tomcat and was writing ¡°Contemporary Art Development.¡± Tomcat moved the mouse as it spun the Eagle¡¯s construction model on the screen. ¡°Dismantling what we can, is to reduce its mass. It¡¯s also for safety. When the spacecraft descends, it will definitely experience immense shockwaves. This is like hitting a car in the rear. Just a seatbelt and airbag is insufficient. We need to remove all theponents that might threaten the passenger. Otherwise, a tiny piece of stic at high speeds could be as damaging as a sharp knife.¡± As it used the mouse tobel the different parts of thender¡¯s model red, Tomcat said, ¡°80% of the Eagle¡¯s masses from its structure, which is that shell. In harsh environments, it¡¯s the only shield that can protect Miss Mai Dong. Apart from the shell, everything else is unnecessary. ¡°Twelve tonnes? ¡°Thirteen tonnes, perhaps,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Adding those seats that should add up to a ton.¡± ¡°Are we not keeping things like the controlputer and life support system?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s useless keeping them because the batteries andpression tanks have to be removed. Without any power supply, any electronic product is just a heavy brick. Miss Mai Dong will have to rely on her EVA suit for life support.¡± ¡°But the problem is that the EVA suit can¡¯tst that long. It can¡¯t sustain itself.¡± ¡°Eight hours. As long as she holds out for eight hours,¡± Tomcat said in a deep voice. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to have Orion descend in a radius of thirty kilometers around Kunlun Station. Then, we will dismantle Kunlun Station¡¯s batteries and drive the Mars Wanderer to save her. We need to save thatdy even if we end up destroying the Wanderer.¡± Tang Yue stopped what he was doing. ¡°If we aren¡¯t even able to keep themunications system, doesn¡¯t that mean that once attitude is lost... the risks would be immense?¡± ¡°The entire n is risky to begin with. How does a loss ofmunication matter?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The descent process¡¯s control and navigation are left to Orion¡¯sputer. I believe that it can persist to the end. As for the Eagle, it doesn¡¯t need to do anything. Except protect Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue let out a sigh. ¡°After this n is carried out, we will probably have nothing except Kunlun Station.¡± ¡°This is the cost of saving her. You are using all the resources in hand to exchange for the survival of another person. I¡¯ve told you before what the pioneers from years ago did. They used hundreds if not thousands of tonnes of propent and rockets just to achieve that tiny rounding error,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Life itself is far more important than Orion and the space station.¡± Soon, Mai Dong dismantled the second seat. She was fast and rather efficient, having honed her skills as a handyman over this period of time. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, take note. You must ensure that noponent is missing. Themand module mustn¡¯t have any loose or freeponents. Got it?¡± Mai Dong pushed the seat into the Silent module and turned to enter the APAS. ¡°We are leaving everything behind?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°During the descent, these might be a serious safety hazard. In the final stage of thending, thender will experience a violent impact. A loose screw from the shock can be stronger than a gun¡¯s bullet.¡± ¡°Alright, got it.¡± Mai Dong began dismantling the third seat in ordance with the order given by Tomcat¡ªremoving the seats first followed by the inner lining, and finally theputers and control panel. In extreme conditions, the buttons and switches on the control panel were potential killers that threatened the girl¡¯s life. It was best if Mai Dong could empty out the entiremand module. ¡°Mr. Cat, what about the supplies?¡± ¡°Supplies?¡± ¡°There¡¯s still some food and water in the space station. Also, can I bring the tomatoes and nts I grow along?¡± ¡°Probably not.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, we need to prioritize your life. The rest are secondary... To be honest, we can¡¯t ensure your safety even if we try our best. Bringing along anything else will greatly increase the uncertainties involved. I ask for your understanding.¡± The water and food in the space station couldn¡¯t be brought along. Other than Mai Dong, Tomcat didn¡¯t n on having the Eagle carry any other living beings. There was a strong requirement for Orion II¡¯s attitude stabilization, and any slight deviations might cause a crash; therefore, the spacecraft¡¯s center of mass couldn¡¯t be affected by anything. The food and water inside the cargo bay might sway during the high-altitude descent; thus destroying the bnce. It was during such times that every kilogram counted. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Come on, Tomcat. There¡¯s always room for discussion. Perhaps there we can figure out something.¡± Tang Yue interjected. He knew that Mai Dong had deep feelings for the nts. Getting Mai Dong to abandon ship alone was like a mother abandoning her child. ¡°If it¡¯s really impossible, Mai Dong can bring the remaining seeds down. The mature nts and other things will have to remain, but carrying the seeds in her pocket shouldn¡¯t matter. We can always grow them when they are brought down.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Mai Dong nodded. Tomcat cast an exasperated gaze over the table as it took out its earpiece. ¡°Tang Yue, the safest choice is to not bring anything.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Tang Yue took off the earpiece. ¡°However, the nts are also precious Earthlings. If we can save a life, we should save it. Do you know what I¡¯ve figured out having spent so much time here on Mars?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not more privileged than a tomato. Our value in life is equivalent,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°A nt is only a few grams. Will keeping it in a pocket matter that much?¡± Tomcat observed Tang Yue beforepromising a few secondster. ¡°Alright. It¡¯s true that it doesn¡¯t matter that much... but apart from the seeds, nothing else is to be brought along.¡± Chapter 150: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight, Correct Way of Disposing Space Trash

Chapter 150: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight, Correct Way of Disposing Space Trash

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue nodded, expressing his satisfaction at the oue. If the situation permitted, he also wished to bring the precious food and water from the space station; after all, they were the necessities of life. However, when these resources threatened a safending, Tang Yue didn¡¯t hesitate in abandoning them. Biscuits, however good, weren¡¯t something to covet¡ªotherwise, one would only choke on them. ¡°Is the APAS secure enough to hang a twelve-ton Eagle from Orion?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Once we enter Mars¡¯s gravisphere, the strain will bepletely different in zero gravity. Will it hold?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s worry wasn¡¯t without reason. The only connection between the Eagle and Orion was the APAS. Thender would cling to Orion like a suckerfish, with the APAS as the sucker. However, the sucker was actually very weak. In orbit, these two entities were in zero gravity, but during the atmospheric entry, Orion II needed to produce a reverse thrust to decelerate, cing all of the Eagle¡¯s weight on that frail APAS. If there were any ruptures, the Eagle would crash. Yet, Mai Dong couldn¡¯t use a rope to secure the Eagle to Orion. During the final stages of the descent, the APAS needed to release its grip on thender to eject it from the crashing Orion. ¡°I¡¯ve done the math.¡± Tomcat rotated the monitor around. ¡°Thender and Orion II¡¯s docking mechanisms are a standard APAS-98. It¡¯s mostmon in the United Space Station, and also the strongest kind. I¡¯ve mentioned it before that the engineers on Earth had designed it to be as sturdy as a ship¡¯s anchor.¡± Tomcat erected the Orion II model on the table before sticking a pen cap to it. ¡°During the descent, Orion¡¯s attitude would be vertical. The APAS-98 will experience longitudinal forces and not axial forces. This also implies that the Eagle¡¯s weight won¡¯t be directly acting on the docking mechanism.¡± Tomcat sped its paws together as it exined to Tang Yue. ¡°Six locks are responsible for ensuring thender sticks to the APAS-98. When descending vertically, thender¡¯s weight will be exerted on Orion through these locks, and not pull at the locks in a transverse direction. Therefore, the one bearing the load isn¡¯t the dock,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°In such a situation, the APAS-98 can withstand more than 80 kN, while the Eaglender¡¯s weight due to gravity is only 50 kN.¡± ¡°Just give me the conclusion.¡± Tang Yue looked up. ¡°Give me a tl;dr.¡± ¡°The tl;dr version is the docking mechanism won¡¯t rupture midway.¡± ¡°Then, will it be too tight, preventing it from being released when needed?¡± Tang Yue asked. To experience a longitudinal force of 50 kN, this clearly exceeded the normal operating thresholds. It was hard to tell if aponent might mp up due to the powerful forces, preventing the Eagle from being released from Orion when the time came. Such a malfunction would have Orion pull the Eagle along with it to a fiery crash. ¡°We will not be using ordinary electronic controls during the final release,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°After all, theputers need to be dismantled. The entire set of control circuits will be out ofmission, so we will be using an emergency release system.¡± ¡°Emergency release system? The pyrotechnic fasteners used for emergency evacuations?¡± Tomcat nodded. The docking mechanism uses pyrotechnics for the evacuation system to directly st away the fastener. The activation switch is beneath the Commander¡¯s seat and is simr to a pilot ejection system. It¡¯s purely mechanical and uses steel cables to transmit the force,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s simple but effective. To date... there hasn¡¯t been anytch or hatch that the explosives can¡¯t st open.¡± ... Mai Dong tied up the five seats with tape and along with some of the Eagle¡¯s inner lining material, she packed all kinds of tinyponents together. She spent more than twenty hours dismantling the Eaglemand module, leaving only a seat and console behind. The control panel and theputer system were rtively moreplicated. They weren¡¯t easy to dismantle as there were strict steps to follow. Therefore, Mai Dong decided to throw out the cumbersome trash first before dealing with the control panel that had numerousponents. Typically, the United Space Station wouldn¡¯t throw its trash into orbit as it was one of the safety regtions to uphold; therefore, all consumption trash had to be brought back to Earth and thrown into the atmosphere for burning. Mai Dong wore an EVA suit that didn¡¯t need any oxygen or pressure modtion, making it easy for her to head out. As she pulled at the tied trash, she used the arm to take them to the corner of the space station. Any item became dangerous once it left the confines of the space station. Even though they looked rtively still, they were actually moving at 3 km/s. Once any of them had a change in orbit trajectory or speed, it could result in a collision. Therefore, Mai Dong couldn¡¯t randomly throw them outside. She needed to push the trash far away to ensure that they didn¡¯t threaten the safety of the space station. Mai Dong pulled the trash, that had a mass of more than a hundred kilograms, but didn¡¯t find it heavy at all. She could move them with just a finger prod. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you are now sixty meters away from the United Space Station¡¯s core module.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over thems as the arm came to a halt. Mai Dong came to a stop as well. ¡°Can I push it now?¡± Mai Dong stood on top of the arm as she looked at the massive Mars before her. In near-orbit, direction was quite ambiguous. At times, Mai Dong would find Mars above her, and at other times find it beneath her feet. At this moment, Mai Dong found the red floating before her like a gigantic piece of art. The details of the art piece were vivid. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Mai Dong held the tape with both hands as she slowly exerted her strength and pushed the packed trash towards Mars. When the trash left her hands, they received a slight transverse force as they began to spin slightly. Mai Dong watched them move away from her at a constant velocity as they slowly shrank into the distance. A few minutester, they were the size of a rice grain, but the tape and unknown pieces of matter reflected the sunlight in deep space as they twinkled. ¡°From today forth, Mars has another man-made satellite,¡± Tomcat said. In a sense, Mai Dong¡¯s trash disposal followed the same steps as releasing a satellite from the space station. As long as it was pushed sufficiently far away, it would continue revolving around Mars. ¡°Will it keep revolving around Mars?¡± ¡°Clearly not,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Miss Mai Dong pushed it towards Mars. Without any external forces, it will not have any change in direction and it won¡¯t take long for it to enter the atmosphere to be burned.¡± ¡°It will be destroyed,¡± the girl said softly. ¡°Yes, it will be destroyed.¡± Mai Dong drew a deep breath as she waved at the tiny satellites. ¡°Bye... See you again.¡± Chapter 151: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Bio-communism

Chapter 151: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven, Biomunism

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue nudged the water trough on the rack as he held a pipette to drip water onto the green tomato leaves. Taking care of the nts on Kunlun Station was part of Tang Yue¡¯s daily chores. Ever since the temperature control system had resumed operation, the tomatoes were able to grow healthily. Tang Yue used nearly every vessel he could find to nt a total of fifteen tomato and carrot nts. Now, these luxuriant nts were hanging on a rack while exhibiting vibrant vitality. The farmed tomatoes and carrots became Tang Yue¡¯s staples. Matched withpressed biscuits, these vegetables provided him with sufficient Vitamin C and beta carotene; thetter effectively improved his night vision. At its worst, Tang Yue¡¯s night vision made it impossible for him to find his bed when inside the living quarters. ¡°Hmm¡­ Thirteenth, you¡¯re growing pretty well,¡± Tang Yue whispered to the tomato. ¡°You¡¯ve grown taller than Twelfth.¡± He named the tomatoes and carrots ording tomon practice but decided not to give them human names. Tang Yue suspected that the names he gave were unlucky due to the deaths of the first batch of tomato sprouts¡­ None of the characters that they were named after had a good end, so he decided on giving them numbers as a name. Tomato First, Tomato Second, Tomato Third, Tomato Fourth, all the way to Tomato Fifteenth. Carrot First, Carrot Second, all the way to Carrot Fifteenth. In fact, Tang Yue had nned on naming them after long-lived historical figures but gave up when he realized that few people in human history lived past the threshold he wanted. As for the pioneers who had unfortunately died early due to the low temperatures, Tang Yue erected tombstones for them on the Martian desert with great pain. They were to be the first batch of Earthlings that were buried on Mars. After engraving their names on the alien¡¯s rock, he buried their corpses in the water trough to be used as fertilizer. ¡°Sigh¡­ Twelfth¡¯s leaves are a little yellow.¡± Tang Yue pinched the tomato leaf. ¡°It¡¯scking in potassium? The fertility of the soil is dropping. It¡¯s time to add a little more fertilizer¡­¡± Tang Yue sat in front of a desk as it mmed at it furiously. ¡°Darn it HP! Why are you hanging on me again? I¡¯m going to rip you up today! Tang Yue, I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t try to stop me!¡± ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t.¡± Tang Yue shot a nce at Tomcat as it stamped its feet before he continued watering the nts. Tomcat¡¯s love-hate rtionship with the workstation yed out every day. Even though the tomatoes and carrots effectively increased the number of carbon lifeforms in Kunlun Station, rearing them wasn¡¯t without cost. The greatest expenditure was water. Tang Yue and Tomcat did the math that for every one kilogram of tomatoes and carrots they harvested, they would expend twelve liters of water. This was despite them meticulously rationing the water. Tang Yue¡¯s heart ached when he saw the precious water swish away. The fuel in the Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle had been used up. Tang Yue obtained 440 kilograms of water, and it was used solely to provide for the growth of the nts. ¡°This batch of tomatoes have already borne fruit once,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The next harvest will be some time away.¡± ¡°Will they really be able to bear fruit again?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Don¡¯t tomatoes only bear fruit once a year?¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong said that these tomatoes have the ability to bear fruit a second time. Type 11 tomatoes are especially good to cultivate. All they need is warmth and light with suitable cultivation methods. They can be harvested twice a year in an Earth year,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°They will have a natural death in the second year.¡± Tang Yue clipped the tomatoes¡¯ stems, peeling off the withered leaves and burying them into the soil to be used as fertilizer. ¡°I hope that they can still bear fruit.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t think it will work, you can just bury them and let them ferment before nting new seeds.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tang Yue took a step back and smacked his hands, smiling at the nts on the rack. ¡°It¡¯s good to have them here. It¡¯s not easy for all of us¡­ Both of us, and them as well.¡± Tomcat grunted as it shook its head. ¡°I noticed that you are beginning to adhere to biomunism now that Earth disappeared.¡± ¡°Biomunism? ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The central belief can be roughly described as all life being equal.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t I heard of it before?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Someone actually believes that all life is equal?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you one of the believers?¡± ¡°Excluding me,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I¡¯m only an unknown carbon lifeform in this nameless, deserted.¡± ¡°Then thest person who said that is likely Siddh¨¡rtha Gautama.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Buddha,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯ve always believed that biomunism is the sublimation ofmunism. The advancement in technology might allow humans to asymptotically approach amunist society, but human civilization will forever not transcend to the view of biomunism¡­ This is because those at this level would be gods. ¡°Only a Creator would view all of His creation as equals. In the Tao Te Ching, there¡¯s a saying that heaven and earth are impartial, treating all things as dogs. It means that the world shows no bias to anything in the world,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I believe that no such intelligent lifeform exists in this Universe because when you are impartial to all life in the Universe, your thoughts would be as huge as the Universe. At that point, you would be the Universe itself.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°However, you have given me inspiration,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°To reach this sublime level of thought, perhaps there¡¯s another path to take¡­ When all that¡¯s left in the world is you and a rat, you might be as equally important as the rat.¡± ¡°This is Tomcat¡¯s philosophy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°It¡¯s very normal that you¡¯ve never heard of biomunism because I just invented it.¡± In his state of enlightenment, Tang Yue pointed at theputer behind Tang Yue. ¡°Karl Meowx, yourputer has hung again.¡± ¡­ ¡°Mr. Cat, 001, 002, 023, and 044 are extinguished. 077 and 078 are blinking red. The MotorServo indicator light has been extinguished. The liquid pressure gauge is normal.¡± ¡°Roger that,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°I¡¯ll be cutting a portion of the power connection next, Miss Mai Dong. Stay in the Silent module for the time being. Make sure the hatch is closed.¡± The girl nodded. The final thing that needed dismantling was the Eaglender¡¯sputer. Mai Dong first uninstalled the backup battery but didn¡¯t throw it away. It could still be used by connecting it to the space station¡¯s power system. Tomcat cut off the connection between the Eagle and the space station before shutting down the various modules in the Eagle, turning thender silent. ¡°Switch off the power.¡± ¡°Power switched off. ¡°Mr. Cat, do I need to remove the entire control panel?¡± Mai Dong held a torchlight as she floated in the darkmand module after the power was cut. ¡°Dismantle whatever can be dismantled. We need to reduce the weight as much as we can.¡± Mai Dong held a screwdriver and wrench, and bit by bit, she dismantled the gigantic control panel. The control systems of the Eagle were originally asplicated as amercial ne with a dense array of buttons and indicators. They were dead weight and a safety hazard during the descent. ¡°Make sure not to shatter the ss. The fragments won¡¯t be easy to clean up. Remove them entirely¡­ Prise it from the side, yes. That¡¯s glue.¡± Tomcat instructed Mai Dong over the videoms with the camera located on the girl¡¯s EVA helmet. ¡°What do I do next after I dismantle the Eagle?¡± ¡°Once that¡¯s done, we can deal with Orion. We¡¯ll remove all the excess weight, which is mainly the truss. We need to remove a third of the truss.¡± ¡°Will it be difficult?¡± ¡°No, dismantling the truss doesn¡¯t need you to use a wrench or screwdriver. The trusses are connected by amon berthing mechanism, just like train carriages. To break them apart, all you need to do is pull the hatch. ¡°Eh? Mr. Cat, there¡¯s a switch here¡­ It says ¡°Don¡¯t Touch Me.¡¯¡± ¡°Follow what it says then. Don¡¯t touch it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Smash it.¡± Chapter 152: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Nine, Are You Trying to Anger Me to Death?

Chapter 152: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Nine, Are You Trying to Anger Me to Death?

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong sat in the Commander¡¯s seat with seatbelt buckled. She adjusted the seat as she slowly leaned back into a brace position. ¡°How does it feel?¡± Tomcat asked. Mai Dong cast her gaze at the empty ceiling which was originally filed with control panels and indicators, but they had all been removed by Mai Dong. All kinds of stark holes were left behind, as well as remnant glue stains and messy wires that hadn¡¯t been cleared away. Her next job was to use arge stic sheet to cover up these holes. The girl took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s very dark... very quiet.¡± The Eagle had all its power disconnected. There weren¡¯t any lights, and the only light source was the two LEDmps on both sides of the EVA suit¡¯s helmet. The protection screens outside the window were all extended, making thender a sealed, cramped metal box. A typical person would feel uneasy just being kept cooped up in there, but this sealed metal case was what ensured Mai Dong¡¯s safety. In an intense impact, the harder the case was, the better. The life support system had already stopped working, so there wasn¡¯t the humming from the fans or venttor. Mai Dong wore a noise-canceling earpiece, but the sound of her brushing hair still reached into her ears. She surveyed the area and saw tiny dust particles floating amidst the beam of light produced by the LED. ¡°The Commander¡¯s seat is a bit bigger than ours.¡± Mai Dong patted the armrests. ¡°This is my first time sitting in the Commander¡¯s seat.¡± ¡°Beneath your chair is a red handle,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Can you reach it?¡± Mai Dong turned her head and reached her hand out. ¡°Handle? Oh, I feel it... There¡¯s more than one. They are on both sides. There¡¯s a safety mechanism on them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Try holding it.¡± Mai Dong held the handle in hand. ¡°Will it be hard to exert strength?¡± ¡°Hmm... it¡¯s okay. However, this posture makes it a little strenuous.¡± Mai Dong sat in her seat and tightened her grip in an attempt to exert force. ¡°This is the emergency evacuation switch. It¡¯s purely mechanical, so you will need at least thirty Newtons of force,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°On the left is the docking mechanism¡¯s emergency evacuation switch, and on the right is the switch to the escape hatch.¡± ¡°The left is the docking mechanism¡¯s switch.¡± ¡°Yes, the left is the docking mechanism.¡± ¡°The right is the escape hatch.¡± ¡°Yes. The right is the escape hatch,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The escape hatch is on the wall behind you. These two switches will be used in this order. During the descent, you need to pull the left handle to allow the Eaglender to be released from the crashing Orion. Once yound safely, you pull the right switch to st open the escape hatch to leave thender.¡± ¡°Left then right.¡± Mai Dong repeated. ¡°Left then right.¡± ¡°But how do I know when to pull the handle?¡± Mai Dong asked. The Eagle was in apletely sealed state during thending process, preventing her from seeing anything outside. In other words, Mai Dong had no idea if it was the moment for her to release the docking mechanism. Yet, any dys or premature releases would result in trouble. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about this. Leave it to us,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We will maintain contact with Orion II¡¯sputer. It will inform you when it¡¯s time to release... Miss Mai Dong, during the entire descent, you are only responsible for what I¡¯ve told you. Leave the rest to me and Tang Yue. Everything will be fine.¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Is the seat belt okay?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Thending will be very violent. The seat belt needs to secure you firmly to the seat.¡± ¡°How... how violent will it be?¡± ¡°It will smash straight into the ground before bouncing up, and then smash to the ground and bounce up again,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This will continue until all the kic energy is depleted. Miss Mai Dong, you have to make sure that the safety belt doesn¡¯t choke you and avoids colliding into anything. Make sure to protect your EVA suit. Make sure that there¡¯s no damage to it. It¡¯s your only life support system.¡± ¡°But the EVA suit can only remain operational for eight hours.¡± Mai Dong unbuckled the seat belt as her body left the seat. ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Tang Yue and I will find you within eight hours. I guarantee you on Tang Yue¡¯s life and wealth that we will find you within eight hours, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Mai Dong burst out intoughter. ¡°Why are you using Tang Yue¡¯s life and wealth as a pledge?¡± ¡°Because I have zero wealth.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°But Tang Yue doesn¡¯t have any either,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°As thest human on Mars, he has the right to dere sovereignty over all of Mars. He can even dere sovereignty over the whole Sr System,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°Tang Yue has nothing, but he also has everything. He is the supreme king in a kingdom with zero poption. In other words, he¡¯s thest human.¡± ¡°What kind of king am I? My subjects are fifteen tomatoes and fifteen carrots, as well as a few buckets of fermenting fertilizer. Have you seen any king whose daily job is to stir feces?¡± A particr idiot¡¯s voice sounded in Mai Dong¡¯s earpiece. ¡°Then take good care of those tomatoes and carrots. Once they gain sentience, they can help you stir the feces,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tomcat, are you dumb?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°If the tomatoes and carrots can gain sentience, turning into demon spirits, they will definitely bedies with long beautiful legs with supple skin. How can I get them to stir sh*t? Hehehehe...¡± Mai Dong silently cut off the connection. ... After watering the nts, Tang Yuepleted the editing of ¡°Contemporary Art Development,¡± and pulled the observation data from the space station¡¯s survey telescope. He inspected Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s situation daily. This massive celestial body with a diameter of 30 kilometers would be the most serious collision in the Sr System in the century. Tomcat predicted that it would release the equivalent of 5.2 trillion atomic bombs upon impact. It would simultaneously destroy everything within a thousand-kilometer radius, and the resulting shockwave would rip apart half of Mars¡¯s crust. Mars had not suffered such a violent collision in more than three billion years. The Sr System¡¯s Late Heavy Bombardment had urred about 4 billion years ago. ¡°Has the impact spot of theet been calcted?¡± Tang Yue flipped through the pictures. The survey telescope had continuously taken these deep-field images. At this distance, theet¡¯s tail was beginning to glow, albeit not too obviously. It was like a thin, blurry fog. ¡°Half of the workstation¡¯s resources are calcting that. Otherwise, why do you think it keeps hanging?¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°Currently, theet is 1.7 AU away, making it too far. All we can do is confirm that it will hit the target, but as to where it will hit it, it¡¯s an unknown.¡± ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t smash right into our heads.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unlikely we are unlucky,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You might not be able to hit a target fifty meters away given a gun, much less from 200 million kilometers away...¡± ¡°Stop! Stop raising death gs! Please, shut your mouth. It¡¯s like your mouth was blessed to bring to reality whatever you say.¡± ¡°As long as theetnds more than 2500 kilometers away from Kunlun Station, I have the confidence that Kunlun Station will survive,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What about the disaster that follows?¡± ¡°It will rely on luck.¡± Tomcat spun the pen in its paw. ¡°I¡¯ve told you before that it¡¯s three parts intelligence, seven parts hard work, and the remaining ny parts are up to luck. If you¡¯re lucky, you can live for a while. Shorter if you aren¡¯t that lucky. There are so many ways to die which are up to you to choose. Death from being mmed, smashed, frozen, or dying of hunger, dehydration, or even dying from not p*ssing. Which is your poison?¡± ¡°I wish to die of old age.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, you have grown up. You must learn to distinguish between reality and dreams.¡± ¡°I wish to gorge myself to death.¡± ¡°Head out and eat dirt. As long as you have enough, you will gorge yourself to death. However, constipation is a terrible feeling.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯d rather be angered to death. Tomcat, please do the honors.¡± Tomcat deliberated for a moment. ¡°Tang Yue, you bachelor dog.¡± Chapter 153: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, That Slut of a Computer Asked for It

Chapter 153: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, That Slut of a Computer Asked for It

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°A length of 88 meters. Removing the power module, the truss and engine will be a total length of 63 meters. ¡°The power module has a mass of ten tonnes, taking up 2.44% of Orion II¡¯s total mass. The central module is seventy tonnes, taking up 17.11%. Clearly, these can all be reduced. 80.44% of the entire spacecraft¡¯s mass is concentrated on the dynamic module.¡± Tomcat paced about in the Hab, muttering as it held the Orion model in its paw. ¡°Tomcat, the angle of attack calctions are done.¡± Tang Yue was slumped over the table napping when he woke up in a state of reverie as he looked at the indicator. ¡°It¡¯s all red!¡± ¡°What about the specific thrust... There¡¯s still the engine¡¯s specific thrust data...¡± Tomcat turned around and frowned. ¡°It¡¯s all red?¡± Tang Yue wiped his drool and nodded. ¡°What does it mean? What does it imply? Is it a good thing?¡± ¡°It means it exploded.¡± Tomcat came over to take a nce. Indeed, the numbers on the disy had far exceeded the normal ranges. ¡°It means that if Orion II does the atmospheric entry with a 20¡ã angle of attack, propent tank 3 will be released from the truss, causing the oxygen conduit to crack and leak, creating an explosion... The nine Raptor 10D engines will explode together.¡± ¡°Oh, alright then.¡± Tang Yue pulled at his hair. ¡°Modify the angle of attack and redo the calctions!¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°By how much?¡± ¡°By an arcsecond.¡± ¡°An arcsecond?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Modify it to 19¡ã 59¡ä 59¡±? How different is that from 20¡ã?¡± ¡°None, but it¡¯s worth giving a try.¡± Tang Yue adjusted the numbers as the workstation continued working. A few secondster, a warning window popped up. ¡°ERROR!¡± ¡°It hanged again.¡± Tang Yue silently restarted the process, entering the parameters back into the now empty fields. In recent periods, the HP workstation had been churning through excessive workloads. Even though Tomcat had quite a bit to say about it, objectively speaking, theputer had been working hard. The CPU had fully expressed the spirit of diligence. In calctions like fluid dynamical simtions that contained more than a hundred parameters in the model, it would take Tang Yue a year toplete theputations by hand if not for the workstation. ¡°Tomcat, you must be nicer to theputer. It¡¯s not deliberately hanging. Both of you stem from the same root, so why rush into fratricide?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t speak for it.¡± Tomcat curled its mouth. ¡°That slut of aputer deserves it.¡± ... ¡°... Three, two, one. Engines deactivated,¡± Mai Dong reported. ¡°The United Space Station has entered the predetermined orbit.¡± ¡°Roger that, United Space Station.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat observed the blip on the monitor as thetter entered the predetermined orbit sessfully. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you are now in orbit.¡± This was a routine orbit adjustment. Orion II would use its engines to raise the United Space Station¡¯s height by six meters. The United Space Station needed to have its orbit adjusted periodically, but since itcked the power to do so, it needed Orion to provide the external force to raise its height slightly. At times, this job was left to Orion I, but this time, Orion II took on the burden. Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat. Do we begin dismantling Orion today?¡± ¡°Mai Dong, get some rest now,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Have some food and wait until sunrise.¡± After dismantling the Eagle, Mai Dong¡¯s missions had be more burdensome. To ensure that Orion II could safely enter the atmosphere, the power module and central modules needed to be dismantled to shorten the spacecraft and reduce its weight. The power module was a strong twenty-five-meter-long metal truss. It had eight sr panels as well as a set of service mechanisms. It was sixty meters wide in total, making it the most eye-catching and massive part of the Orion spacecraft. At the same time, it was the part with the lowest mass of ten tonnes. The central module was core to the Orion II spacecraft. It had a total length of thirty meters and eight sections that were connected to one another. It was rather massive in size and was no different from the space station in functionality. However, the usage of the central module on Orion was mainly to support the daily lives of the astronauts. Most of the supplies were stored here while the same part in the United Space Station dealt with the various research projects. A modr design was mainstream when it came to aeronautical development. The Mars project had evoked a new surge of aeronautical technology development, and one of them was themon berthing mechanism. Orion and the space station used such a docking mechanism. After a ferry spacecraft like Orion was put into service, the boundaries between the space station and spacecraft gradually blurred. Any section in Orion could be dismantled and made part of the space station. To expand the space station was as easy as piling on Lego bricks. ¡°Which section do I dismantle first?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°The sr panels? Or the central module¡¯s bay sections?¡± ¡°Dismantle the central module section first before dismantling the power module. However, there¡¯s no need to rush. Doing this will be quite troublesome, especially with the power module. I haven¡¯t thought of an absolutely safe method yet,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°We need to take it as it goes.¡± The power module was a massive twenty-five-meter-long object weighing ten tonnes. Any mistake could cause it to destroy the entire space station. The module modification of Orion may sound like mixing and matching Lego bricks, but in fact, it was more like demolishing a building. It was big, heavy, time-consuming, and dangerous. The United Space Station didn¡¯te equipped with trusses that could be dismantled, and Mai Dongcked the necessary tools and facilities. The power module was simply abination of the truss and sr panels. In essence, it was a bare mechanical framework. Towards such an object without a docking mechanism, the United Space Station¡¯s arm was helpless. After all, thetter wasn¡¯t a true w that could grab the truss like chopsticks. The space station in Earth¡¯s orbit was Orion¡¯s dockyard. All repair and dismantling work was carried out in Earth¡¯s orbit. The new ISS had specially created a fixed frame and anchor lines to deal with the eighty-meter-long behemoth. It allowed astronauts to work safely on the huge metal frame in zero gravity. ¡°There are a total of eight bay sections in the central module. How many need to be removed?¡± The eight bay sections in the central module were located in the middle of Orion¡¯s truss. The most important section was themand module where theputer was. It was the core of Orion. The other seven bays were for habitation, including the living quarters and stores. From Earth to Mars, even with a slingshot at maximum thrust, it would still take more than three months. Orion needed to have enough supplies to support a six-member team. ¡°Apart from themand module, dismantle everything.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°However, they cannot be abandoned. We need to pick out the soft, intable section to be used for the airbag during the final descent.¡± ¡°How are we going to use the intable section as an airbag?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°If I recall correctly, probes in the past were rapidly pumped with air when they were about a hundred meters in altitude. Can this section bay do the same? How do we pump in the air?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We don¡¯t have an air pump.¡± ¡°You want to fill them up with air and attach them to thender before doing the atmospheric entry?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Holy sh*t, you want to let the Eagle drop down with a few airbags? Won¡¯t those airbags burst? Won¡¯t they be blown away?¡± From Tang Yue¡¯s point of view, the filling of the airbags was the final stage that happened when it was less than a hundred meters from the surface. However, Tomcat didn¡¯t share the same thoughts. It nned on letting thender fly down in airbags. ¡°You just need to tie it tighter. If we can do something like getting Orion to descend vertically, what¡¯s so bad about tying on a few airbags?¡± Tomcat was very calm. ¡°Just do it; don¡¯t harp on thoughts of the importance of life and death.¡± Chapter 154: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, You’re a Zap, You’re My Light, You’re My Only Fairy Tale

Chapter 154: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, You¡¯re a Zap, You¡¯re My Light, You¡¯re My Only Fairy Tale

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat said with great aplomb, as though it was filled with confidence. However, Tang Yue felt uneasy. Tomcat¡¯s ns were increasingly unreliable and odd. Getting Orion II to descend vertically was already a crazy idea, and now, Tomcat was letting the Eagle plunge into the atmosphere with the intable service bay attached to it? ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any problem with that.¡± Mai Dong was eating something, having found the rare opportunity to take a break. Ever since they had started carrying out the descent project, Mai Dong had be the busiest person. She was alone on the United Space Station with no one to help her. She had to do everything by herself, causing her to have less and less sleep. She also had little time to take care of the nts on the space station. She forever held some dry rations and wrench in hand, so that she could take a bite when hungry. The United Space Station had an independent kitchen located in the Harmony service module. It had a wide dining table with a heating appliance, an infusion gun, and an oven. The table could seat six. All the utensils and cutlery were made of metal and were fastened to the maic table. When they had sufficient supplies, the astronauts could heat up the food in the kitchen and even have seared beef steak and tuna. However, Mai Dong had no use for them. She sat in a chair with her legs secured with a strap. There were onlypressed biscuits, a sandwich, and a tomato in front of her. ¡°Of course it won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As long as we secure it tight enough, with the rocket¡¯s thrust sufficiently powerful and sufficiently slow descent speeds, the airbags won¡¯t fall off. Do you know the most secure way of tying?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. Mai Dong also shook her head. Tomcat revealed a smug smile. ¡°Look at you two rookies. You are still far inferior to Commander Wang. He¡¯s experienced and knows the most secure way of tying.¡± ¡°What did Old Wang say?¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong asked in unison. Tomcat twitched its ears and recalled. ¡°He said kikkou , a form of Japanese bondage.¡± ... Tang Yue was using a knife to slice the biscuit on his te into cubes. ¡°No matter how you slice it, squid-vored biscuits will still taste like squid-vored biscuits.¡± Tomcat sat to his side. ¡°It won¡¯t turn into red-braised beef.¡± Tang Yue sighed. To him, consuming food was already a burden. He was sick of eatingpressed biscuits. Tang Yue even suspected that his taste buds had perished, making everything taste like wax to him. Kunlun Station had manypressed biscuits of different vors¡ªpickled vegetables, red-braised beef, shrimp, fish, and squid. However, he couldn¡¯t tell the difference anymore. If it wasn¡¯t because he needed to replenish his body with a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, Tang Yue would have no intention to touch them. ¡°How much water do we have left?¡± Tang Yue threw his knife on the te, nning to eat half a tomato first. ¡°1100 liters.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already expended a hundred liters?¡± Tang Yue did a count. ¡°On average, we are losing 0.36 liters of water a sol. It¡¯s not what we estimated previously. I recall you saying that Kunlun Station loses 0.28 liters of water a sol.¡± ¡°Clearly, Kunlun Station¡¯s water recycling situation isn¡¯t as ideal as we imagined. With gravity present, it¡¯s impossible to recycle every milliliter of water,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°In fact, Kunlun Station¡¯s water depletion rate isn¡¯t at 0.36 liters a sol. The reason we still have 1100 liters of water is all thanks to the replenishment the Eagle¡¯s Descent Vehicle provided. Otherwise, we would have a lot less water.¡± ¡°Then at this rate, Kunlun Station¡¯s water can stillst...¡± ¡°3000 sols.¡± ¡°When we did the math six months ago, there were 4000 sols left. Less than 300 sols have passed, and we now only have 3000 sols left?¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°The rate of this water loss isn¡¯t at a constant speed, but at a constant eleration.¡± ¡°It will elerate.¡± Tomcat turned its head around. ¡°With the passage of time, the Water Reimer¡¯s efficiency will keep dropping. You are lucky that the water recycling is very reliable. It hasn¡¯t malfunctioned to date... If a serious malfunction happens, our situation will be worse than when the OGS¡¯s temperature control processor malfunctioned.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the worst malfunction of the Water Reimer?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°A rupture in the water tank,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°1100 liters of water lost.¡± ¡°Then I can prepare to die.¡± Tang Yue finished the tomato in hand. It was unknown when it began, but ¡°death¡± was no longer taboo. In a certain way, Tang Yue was fighting the heavens in his bid to survive. Every day lived was a day earned. ¡°If we can sessfully bring down Miss Mai Dong, Kunlun Station¡¯s water expenditure will only elerate. I estimate that the water left behind in Kunlun Station canst for another 1000 sols at best.¡± Tomcat did the calction. ¡°That¡¯s if Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I doesn¡¯t exist.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. If not for thatet, we could still live another 1000 sols on Mars.¡± Tang Yue threw the biscuit crumbs into his mouth. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that a trillion tonnes of dust will be thrown into the atmosphere when theet hits, leaving all of Mars dark? Kunlun Station¡¯s sr panels won¡¯t be usable after that, right? How are we going to produce electricity? Love?¡± ¡°By using the electrical generator on the gym bike.¡± Tomcat used its hind paws to point at the bike used for physical workouts in the corner. Kunlun Station¡¯s bike was used for physical workouts. Every day, Tang Yue needed to peddle five kilometers on it to prevent his muscles and bones from atrophying. Kunlun Station and the United Space Station were equipped with such exercise equipment, mainly to ensure the physical health of the astronauts. Butter, a particr engineer with the surname Tang felt that it was quite a waste to have the astronauts peddle daily for nothing. Hence, he installed an electricity generator on the pedals. Muscr men like Old Wang could produce enough energy to light up a bulb in Kunlun Station when exercising. ¡°What¡¯s the efficiency of that thing?¡± Tang Yue was appalled. ¡°What kind of electricity can you produce with that? Wouldn¡¯t I be sitting on it all day, pedaling twenty-four hours a day?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an electrician and mechanical engineer. How can this little problem daunt you?¡± Tomcat showed great confidence in Tang Yue. ¡°Just set up some gears, and make a few connected electrical generating units. As long as there¡¯s enough torque, there¡¯s not a single problem with the rotation speed!¡± Tomcat was describing the future for Tang Yue. After theet hit Mars, the world would be pitch-ck with crazy howling winds. It would be as dark as night, and Tang Yue would be sitting on a gym bike, pedaling away with sweat raining down his forehead! The gears and dynamo brush would produce sparks from the friction, producing endless amounts of current to provide Kunlun Station with electricity. As for Tomcat and Miss Mai Dong, they would sit under a warm light, taking in the warm breeze of the OGS while leisurely sipping tea. ¡°Are you using me as some kind of livestock...¡± Tang Yue suddenly thought of a hamster in a wheel. ¡°How can you be livestock?¡± Tomcat waved its paw and said in great excitement. ¡°You¡¯re zap, you¡¯re my light, you¡¯re my only fairy tale! You are our superstar!¡± Chapter 155: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, Calamity Circle

Chapter 155: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, Cmity Circle

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°First, we need to dismantle the damaged Dawn experiment module.¡± Tomcat used the mouse to circle the module at the end of the United Space Station. The Dawn module was still connected to the Crystal module, but it had long been abandoned, with its power and controlpletely severed. Mai Dong carried a notebook in her arms as data cables floated around her. She squeezed herself betweenyers of control panels as her face was illuminated by the screen¡¯s white backlight. ¡°Mr. Cat, the hatch ispletely sealed. The system¡¯s self-checks are done. Everything is normal in the space station and Orion II.¡± ¡°This is Kunlun Station. I copy you five-on-five.¡± ¡°Countdown to igniting the generator,¡± Mai Dong reported. ¡°Raptor-02 on standby. Three, two, one... Ignite.¡± The space station trembled slightly as Mai Dong looked up. The tremors were being transmitted from the cabin walls to the data cables as the forces passed through the long ck power cables. The floating paper and pen slowed down significantly. They continued floating gently in midair, with almost zero interaction between the items and the space station while in zero gravity. In a certain sense, they were all non-interacting bodies that moved at an average speed of 3 km/s. Orion II¡¯s rocket engines were once again ignited as it nudged the space station slightly into a spiral. This was an attitude adjustment meant to detach the Dawn experiment module. ¡°United Space Station¡¯s rollpleted. Attitude stable. Raptor-02 switched off.¡± Mai Dong switched off the engine. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°OK, well done. You are now a very skilled spacecraft pilot, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The arm is in ce. All stations be on standby... Detaching mechanical connection.¡± Just as Tomcat said that, Mai Dong felt the core module tremble slightly. This meant that the Dawn module had officially detached from the core module. Following Tomcat¡¯s severing of the power and controls nine months ago, the final mechanical connection was also severed. This pioneer module, that had existed from the United Space Station¡¯s beginning, had finallypleted its historic mission in life, and could now retire in peace. The arm swept past the windows, with the Dawn module attached to it, as Mai Dong watched it disappear behind the sr panels. ¡°Mr. Cat, have you released it?¡± ¡°It has been released. It will continue orbiting Mars for about three months,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Then, it will crash into the atmosphere.¡± The girl closed the notebookputer in her hands and pulled out the data cables. Not far away, the arm began folding. ¡°Will I still be able to see it in ny minutes?¡± ¡°What I know is that it will definitely return, but Miss Mai Dong, you might not be able to find it... After all, it¡¯s just too small.¡± Mai Dong nodded in silence. The first step pertaining to the modification of the United Space Station had beenpleted. ¡°Next, we will modify Orion and the United Space Station! After removing the Dawn module, the spot left behind will be used to attach the Orion spacecraft. It might sound simple, but the same work will take at least half a month in Earth¡¯s orbit.¡± Tomcat paced about on Kunlun Station, its mind highly focused. As it ensured that the logic was wless, it described the steps involved. ¡°In Orion II¡¯s central module section, apart from themand module, there are seven other sections that need dismantling.¡± Tomcat sat in front of the desk as it held a monitor, showing the schematics to Tang Yue and Mai Dong. ¡°The best n is as follows: First, remove the ¦Á service bay section in the central module, connecting it to the Crystal module. Second, remove the ¦Â service bay section, and connect it to the Hope module. Finally, the ¦Ã service bay section will be connected to the Discovery module!¡± Tomcat moved its hind paws on the screen as the touch screen gave the oue of the connection. ording to Tomcat¡¯s n, the United Space Station would have an additional nine sections after the modification. ¡°Why are the Orion section bays using Greek letters? Don¡¯t they have their own names?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat nced at him. ¡°I¡¯ve just forgotten them.¡± ¡°What about the airlock?¡± ¡°Without a doubt, the airlock needs to be dismantled first before the docking.¡± Tomcat looked at Mai Dong. ¡°This will take significant amounts of time. It will be tedious and will require many EVA trips, Miss Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°We need to make every second count.¡± Tomcat held the monitor. ¡°The four remaining section bays on Orion are intable. We will empty out these four section bays and pressurize them, before tying them to the hull of the Eaglender.¡± ¡°As airbags.¡± ¡°Yes, as airbags for thender during thending process.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°At this step, Orion II¡¯s central module will only have themand module that will bear the responsibilities of control andmunications during thending...¡± ¡°Tomcat. It¡¯s all red again!¡± ¡°Change it.¡± ¡°The current angle of attack is 12¡ã 37¡ä 55¡±. Do I reduce it by one arcsecond?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°There¡¯s a data overflow.¡± ¡°Smash it!¡± Once the modification work for Orion began, theck of manpower instantly showed itself. Kunlun Station¡¯s HPputer and the space station¡¯sputer were running at full speed with all cores utilized. Every monitor in front of Tang Yue had figures and numbers depicted on them. He recorded the numbers with pen and paper. Tomcat paced about on Kunlun Station, like an animal trapped in a zoo enclosure. With a pen in one hand and the other hand on the keyboard, Tang Yue worked busily as if he was having a convulsing fit. ¡°Tomcat, Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s first prediction is out!¡± Tang Yue suddenly stood up and waved the scrap paper in his hand. The space station¡¯s survey telescope had finally gathered enough data for the workstation to carry out aputation based on the observations. It had made a preliminary prediction based on a remote distance of 1 AU. ¡°It will hit the northern hemisphere,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡± Tomcat pulled a chair over and pulled out the prediction results. The simtion in a visualized format was very easy to understand. A terrain map, with different colors, was shown. Red represented hignds and blue represented t ins. There was a blinking red circle on the Martian surface that was blinding. ¡°This is theet¡¯snding zone. Based on all the data gathered to date, theputer can only be precise to this level.¡± Tang Yue maximized the Martian terrain map as his hand trembled slightly. The workstation indicated Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s possible impact zone. It was a massive ellipse with a semimajor axis of 3,000 kilometers and the coordinates of the center of the ellipse being 18¡ãN, 45¡ãE. Tomcat fell silent for a moment. ¡°This zone is too wide. It nearly covers half the Arabia Terra and the entire Terra Sabaea hignds.¡± Tomcat pointed at the map. ¡°Look, we are located in the Isidis nitia. West of us is the massive Terra Sabaea hignds. You have to understand that it¡¯s 4,700 kilometers in width. Further west of the Terra Sabaea is the Arabia Terra. Its east-west length spans 3,000 kilometers. ¡°The center of the ellipse is in the middle of the Terra Sabaea, but its semimajor axis is 3,000 kilometers. That also means that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I cannd anywhere in this area exceeding 28 million square kilometers.¡± Tang Yue stared at the red ellipse for quite some time before extending his hand to point at the tiny ins on the map. Thetter was also in the huge ellipse, meaning that theet could also smash right into Kunlun Station. ¡°Kunlun Station is inside this circle.¡± ¡°The Isidis nitia is just too small. What we are looking for isn¡¯t the probability of theet hitting the Isidis nitia... The prediction zone¡¯s center is 2,500 kilometers from Kunlun Station. If it happens tond at 18¡ãN, 45¡ãE, then Kunlun Station will be destroyed.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Kunlun Station¡¯s survival depends... on it being more than 2,500 kilometers from the impact point.¡± ¡°That also means that if theetnds west of the ellipse center, Kunlun Station will be able to escape the disaster,¡± Tang Yue said. Tomcat nodded. ¡°If itnds east of the center, then Kunlun Station¡¯s distance from the impact point will be less than 2,500 kilometers. Everything would be over.¡± ¡°A fifty percent chance?¡± Tomcat slowly nodded.¡± Roughly speaking, it¡¯s fifty percent.¡± Tang Yue looked up and took a deep breath. ¡°In that case, Kunlun Station has a cmity circle over it. What we will be watching out for is how this circle shrinks. If it shrinks to the west, Kunlun Station will be fine. If it shrinks to the east, we will be embroiled in an apocalyptic cmity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Continue collecting observation data.¡± Tomcat pressed down on Tang Yue¡¯s shoulders. ¡°We will need to see in which direction the circle shrinks.¡± Chapter 156: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, A Human with No Origins and Place to Return To

Chapter 156: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, A Human with No Origins and ce to Return To

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat turned around to continue directing the work that needed to be done. A prediction with an area exceeding 28 million square kilometers was meaningless. Tang Yue stared at the map on the screen. Over the past couple of days, Tang Yue¡¯s heart was hanging in midair. The Sword of Damocles, in the form of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I, was hanging over his head, making him feel like a convict awaiting judgment. The court could absolve him or pass the death sentence, leaving him uneasy. Now, the judgment was passed. However, it involved throwing a die. He would be spared if it was even, and death if odd. On the Martian map, the Isidis nitia was a tiny in with a radius of 700 kilometers and was close to the equator. The Martian northern and southern hemispheres were very different. The northern hemisphere was mostly covered with smooth, low-lying ins, while the southern hemisphere was pockmarked with all kinds of hignds and covered with countless craters. As for the Isidis nitia, it was a in in the northern hemisphere that protruded out towards the south. West of the Isidis nitia was the famous Syrtis Major num. It appeared pink in terms of elevation because this elevation was over a thousand meters. But in fact, this was actually a huge, dark region on an actual map. The color it presented was because of the exposed basalt. West of Syrtis Major num was Terra Sabaea. This was one of thergest hignds on the Martian surface. Its east-west distance spanned 4,700 kilometers and it was covered with meteorite craters. Heading further west from Terra Sabaea was the equally wide Arabia Terra. Based on the predictions of the Kunlun Station¡¯sputer, the impact of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I could be there... It was a massive ellipse with a semimajor axis exceeding 3,000 kilometers. It spanned the entire Terra Sabaea, westwards towards the Arabia Terra, and eastwards towards the Isidis nitia. ¡°Life to the left, death to the right.¡± Tang Yue pressed his palms together. ¡°God of Fate, you mustn¡¯t screw up! You must throw a six for me!¡± ¡°Has the impact spot of theet been predicted?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°It has been predicted, but theputer gave a huge prediction area of 28 million square kilometers.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s meaningless.¡± ¡°28 million square kilometers.¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s bigger than thebined area of Russia and China.¡± Tomcat continued pacing around in the Hab. ¡°Thatet can m into any spot in that area.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, what if... I mean what if...¡± Mai Dong hesitated for a few seconds. ¡°What if Kunlun Station is destroyed by theet?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°The decision lies in your hands, Miss Mai Dong. Now, we are the only three left in this world. No one can force you to do anything. I respect and will abide by any decision made by you and Tang Yue. If theet really strikes us, you will not survive, even if youe down. ¡°You can abandon thending n. I will forever provide you a n B to choose from.¡± ¡°n B?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°What other choices are there?¡± ¡°Leave the orbit of Mars,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Orion II still has enough propent to send you away from near-orbit, and enter the orbit of the Sun, allowing you to leave this fatalet.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, you want me to flee alone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not considered fleeing.¡± Tomcat enunciated each word with a deadpan expression. ¡°Faced with an unavoidable disaster, I have an obligation and responsibility to ensure your survival within my means. Miss Mai Dong, you also have an obligation and responsibility to ensure your survival.¡± ¡°I object to it.¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t dare imagine how lonely and despairing her life would be if she abandoned Tang Yue and Tomcat on Mars as she ventured into the Universe forever. Compared to such a dark and lonely life, death seemed more eptable. ¡°I will not abandon you to flee alone. I¡¯m not leaving. Mr. Cat, it¡¯s just us dying together. I¡¯m not afraid of dying.¡± ¡°I know you aren¡¯t, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcatughed. ¡°In such a perilous situation, living is something that requires courage.¡± Mai Dong silently floated in the windowless service module. The cabin walls were covered with soft white inner lining. She had dimmed the lights significantly as she held a book titled ¡°Mars United Space Station System Maintenance Manual.¡± This was one of the few physical books in the space station. If she really left near-orbit, Orion II would be a satellite that revolved around the Sun. It would fly aimlessly for billions of years as Mai Dong would be a human with no origins and ce to return to. Then, she would slowly die without anyone knowing. The girl shivered. This was the worst oue¡ªKunlun Station being destroyed by theet while Orion vanished into deep space. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s tone suddenly turned stern. ¡°You mentioned that you would respect and abide by all my choices.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°Yes, as Kunlun Station¡¯s assistant, my job and responsibility are to help the astronauts carry out their work, and ensure their safety in necessary situations.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll be requesting that under no circumstances do you change the Orion II spacecraft¡¯s flight control program without my knowledge, making it leave near-orbit around Mars.¡± Mai Dong enunciated each and every word in a bid to prevent any loopholes in logic. This was the first time she was using such an official tone and attitude to speak to Tomcat. ¡°Also you are not to bypass my authority, without my knowledge, to directly control the spacecraft to leave near-orbit around Mars.¡± After Mai Dong said that, she carefully considered if there were any loopholes in what she had said. ¡°In addition, Tang Yue has no right to request you to vite my aforementioned requests. Nor are you allowed to control Orion II to leave near-orbit around Mars on your own ord...¡± ¡°Alright, alright, alright. I get it. Miss Mai Dong, you don¡¯t have to keep emphasizing it.¡± Tomcat was quite taken aback. ¡°I respect your views. If you don¡¯t wish to leave, no one will force you to leave. You just need to be responsible for yourself. I will not bypass you in the control of Orion.¡± Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief. She was very worried that Tomcat and Tang Yue would control Orion II to ensure her safety. She was afraid that she would one day awaken to no longer be able to see Mars. ¡°Sillyss.¡± Tomcat sighed secretly as it looked at Mai Dong¡¯s face. Thetter was biting down on her lip with a steadfast look in her eyes. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you not trust me?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± Tomcatughed. ¡°If so, is there a need to say it so formally?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°Theet might not hit us. The chances of Kunlun Station surviving are still quite high. We¡¯ve been unlucky all this time, so we should be lucky this time, right? As long as Lady Luck doesn¡¯t have facioplegia, she will smile at us at some point in time!¡± Tang Yue said loudly from the table. ¡°As long as the die keeps being cast, there will be one day when a six will appear!¡± ¡°Heard that?¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Mr. Cat, let¡¯s quickly modify Orion andplete all of this as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°OK. OK. However, this matter cannot be rushed... We have to do it step by step.¡± Tomcat nodded and erected the Orion model on the table. ¡°Using Orion II for the descent is a highly risky endeavor. Any mistake will cause an ident. Tang Yue and I wish you toe down safely... Do you need to take a break? It will be EVA work next.¡± Chapter 157: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, Crash

Chapter 157: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty, Crash

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon That very night. Tang Yue rolled about in bed as he suffered from insomnia. Outside, he could hear Tomcat typing and banging on the desk. It was filled with all kinds of profanities that Tang Yue didn¡¯t understand. Unsurprisingly, theputer was bugging out again. It really is a fiery-tempered and profanity-filled robot cat. Tang Yue thought silently. Recently, Tomcat had often worked overnight. It would send Tang Yue to bed as it stayed in front of the workstation to handle the data. Tang Yue was always sent back when he got up to help. In Tomcat¡¯s words, not exhausting himself to death was the greatest help. ¡°Lass, are you asleep yet?¡± Tang Yue whispered. ¡°Not yet,¡± Mai Dong replied from the earpiece. ¡°It¡¯s not sleeping time. The sun outside is still bright, so I¡¯m eating something.¡± ¡°Every time I talk to you, you are either eating or finding something to eat.¡± Tang Yue adjusted the earpiece¡¯s angle and used his arm as a pillow while staring at the white ceiling of his living quarters. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m hungry.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was unclear, a result of her chewing on something. ¡°To ensure sufficient strength, I need to replenish my energy when hungry. That¡¯s what Mr. Cat advised.¡± After Mai Dong said that, she gulped down a mouthful of water. It left Tang Yue envious. ¡°Where¡¯s Mr. Cat? Is it sleeping?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Tang Yue turned to look through the curtains. The light was seeping from the gap. ¡°It¡¯s still fighting with theputer. Recently, Tomcat has been working until daybreak with the power cable connected to it. For Orion II to have a safe atmospheric entry, the difficulty involved is just too great. There¡¯s so much data involved. The HP workstation breaks down because of all the calctions.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, I watched a movie today,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Roman Holiday.¡± ¡°Is that the movie with Audrey Hepburn?¡± Tang Yue knew little about the old, artistic movies from the previous century. He was more of a fan of thrillers and films with special effects. For example, he liked the constantly rebooted Transformers franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that were beginning to turn into fantasy. However, he knew the famous Audrey Hepburn. This actress had astounded the entire world for a century and was one of the few western actresses Tang Yue knew by name. The others were Marilyn Monroe and Vivien Leigh. Tang Yue could remember the names of actresses, but he couldn¡¯t remember any actors. To be frank, he felt that all the western actors from the previous century looked like rk Gable. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°The female lead is Audrey Hepburn.¡± Reading and movie-watching were two of the few forms of leisure for the two of them. Compared to reading and watching movies, games expended more time and energy. Mai Dong wasn¡¯t too interested in games, and after Tang Yue hadpleted The Elder Scrolls V Definitive Remake Edition, he stopped ying games. As there wasn¡¯t anyone else, all Tang Yue and Mai Dong could do after watching a movie was to share their thoughts about it. Mai Dong would tell Tang Yue about My Fair Lady and The Shawshank Redemption, while Tang Yue would tell her about Transformers: Optimus Prime vs Primus and Resident Evil: Leon S. Kennedy¡¯s Revenge. All they would do was nod and tersely acknowledge. ¡°How was the movie?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay attention.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t pay attention?¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention to the movie¡¯s plot.¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t paying attention to the plot, what were you paying attention to?¡± ¡°Sunlight, air, streets, trees, cities, and the pedestrians,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°Rome is a really pretty city. Tang Yue had never been to Rome, nor had he watched Roman Holiday. He wasn¡¯t sure if Rome was pretty, but he knew that Audrey Hepburn was pretty. ¡°At times, I wonder if I became a tree, growing in a valley covered in lush green grass and bathing in sunlight, would it really be a satisfying feeling?¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Do you know that poem from San Mao? If there¡¯s a next life, be a tree. Stand there for eternity without happiness or sorrow. ¡°Half of it buried peacefully in soil, ¡°Half of it flying freely in the wind. ¡°Half of it providing shade, ¡°Half of it bathing in sunlight. ¡°Very silent, very proud. ¡°Never relying on others, never searching for others.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was very light, as though she was a soul that had nowhere to go in the wind. ¡°Such movies are too artistic, so they don¡¯t suit me,¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°I enjoy something thrilling. Mai Dong, have you watched ¡®Saw?¡¯¡± ¡°A horror film?¡± ¡°Not really. It¡¯s a rather old franchise. However, a new one was produced just two years ago. Mai Dong, I¡¯m telling you that this movie is really the best!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°In this franchise, there are many scenes that are filmed as though tomato ketchup is free. It stters everywhere!¡± ¡°Tomato ketchup?¡± Mai Dong was taken aback. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of tomato ketchup?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll watch itter.¡± ... Tomcat was cross. ¡°You tricked thatss into watching ¡®Saw?¡¯¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°And then?¡± ¡°She keeps saying that she feels like she¡¯s not alone in the space station.¡± ... ¡°Mai Dong, are you asleep?¡± ¡°No, what about you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same for me.¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m probably suffering from insomnia.¡± The moment Tang Yue closed his eyes, the scene of the approachinget and plummeting Orion II would surface in his mind. He didn¡¯t dare to raise gs, but Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to stop his mind from having wild thoughts. He even dreamed of a burning Orion as it plummeted. In the dream, Tomcat had made a calction mistake, and the engine had malfunctioned. The propent reservoir tank had leaked and exploded, and despite Mai Dong¡¯s pleas for help through thems, there was nothing he could do. He could only watch helplessly as the mes engulfed the spacecraft and thems became silent. A gigantic ball of me disintegrated as it plummeted, its fragments scattering across the Martian desert. Finally, he awoke from his nightmare, his body covered in a cold sweat. Every time, Tang Yue would subconsciously cry out for Mai Dong, only feeling at ease when she replied. ¡°I slept for a short while, but I woke up in terror,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I had a dream.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± ¡°I... I dreamed that our n failed. Orion crashed.¡± Mai Dong was silent for a few seconds. ¡°I was sitting in the Eaglender, and there was fire everywhere. I saw Orion¡¯s engines burning as it plummeted outside the window... I tried to establishmunications with you and Mr. Cat, but themunications were severed. I couldn¡¯t contact anyone. I didn¡¯t know what to do and could only keep plummeting.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was filled with a deep sense of fear. ¡°It was only a dream.¡± Tang Yue tried to cate her. ¡°It¡¯s fine,ss. It¡¯s only a dream. Have a good sleep. You still have work to do tomorrow when you wake up.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t speak further as she tried to fall asleep. Tang Yue had his eyes open as he tried to coax Mai Dong to sleep. However, he wasn¡¯t able to sleep himself as he nced outside the curtain. He could still hear Tomcat. ¡°Hanging again!? Dammit! You are hanging again!?¡± Chapter 158: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, First Mock

Chapter 158: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, First Mock

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next day. Tang Yue, Tomcat, and Mai Dong spent hours modifying Orion¡¯s sections, but thanks to the advanced design of the United Space Station, most of them used the standard docking mechanism. Be it the mechanical or power and control connection, they were all plug and y like a USB drive. The Mars project¡¯s executivemittee had done something worthwhile after all, having spent tons of money. ¡°Alpha. Alpha, take note!¡± Tomcat stomped its foot on the chair as its left paw grabbed the earpiece while its right paw held a pen. It issued amand like an operationsmander. ¡°The old ISS has already been dmissioned,¡± Tang Yue saidnguidly. ¡°Tomcat, are you calling out to the ISS in heaven?¡± ¡°Alpha section ready to go,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The docking mechanism is fully operational. Computer self-checks are a-okay. Same for the control system and the circtory system.¡± ¡°Beta. Beta, take note!¡± ¡°Beta section ready to go.¡± Mai Dong sounded experienced. ¡°Gamma, take note.¡± ¡°Gamma section ready to go.¡± The Orion II spacecraft¡¯s reorganization n proceeded in step as sections were detached. The arm moved them to their new docking spots as Mai Dong wore a heavy EVA suit to help Tomcat out in space. Each EVA trip took two hours before she returned to the space station to rest, switch batteries, and air tanks. ¡°Axial velocity of 0.35. I repeat, axial velocity of 0.35! Mr. Cat, take note of the deceleration. The radial deviation has reached 0.22 meters. I repeat, the radial deviation has reached 0.22 meters.¡± ¡°OK! Roger that.¡± Tomcat controlled the arm¡¯s deceleration. ¡°Section has been grappled. Seals a-okay. Arrester a-okay! Damper a-okay!¡± Tang Yue wore an earpiece as he spoke quickly and typed. ¡°The three-axis attitude angle measurement shows no errors.¡± ¡°Mai Dong, take note. You still have 27% battery left. Mai Dong, take note. Your life support system only has 27% battery left. Prepare to use the backup batteries.¡± Tang Yue had three monitors in front of him and he felt tense. Tomcat was in overallmand while Mai Dong did the EVA work. As for him, he was in charge of monitoring everything. ¡°The carbon dioxide concentration has risen by 0.3%. Water vapor concentration has raised by 0.09%. Mai Dong, you are currently producingrge amounts of sweat.¡± ¡°Roger that. I¡¯m indeed sweating because I¡¯m a little tired.¡± ¡°How much water do you have left in your bag?¡± ¡°About half.¡± Mai Dong could drink from the water bag using a straw to hydrate herself. ¡°It¡¯s enough.¡± The massive ¦Â service module slowly approached the Hope experiment module. The former was a huge cylindrical object more than four meters in diameter and it was made of hardposite materials. The astronauts on Orion spent most of the time there. The Orion series spacecraft also had a simr life support system to the space station. It even had enough space for a small card room that allowed the astronauts to y mahjong. The ¦Á, ¦Â and ¦Ã sections, which Tomcat removed, were all service modules. After docking with the United Space Station, their life support system could be used as a backup for the space station. Mai Dong tethered herself to the service module¡¯s wall with a safety belt as she moved with ¦Â. Not far ahead was the Hope service module, and the docking preparations were already underway. The ¦Â service module¡¯s hull was painted with huge blue English text: PEACE. It was just beneath Mai Dong and could just be seen by lowering her head. She had no idea that it had been given a name. After careful thought, be it the Mars United Space Station or the Orion spacecraft, every section had been entrusted with the beautiful expectations of its name. They gave these sections names such as Hope and Peace before using rockets to send them up into space and to Mars... Humans had sent the best ideals more than a hundred million kilometers to an alien world, hoping that these ideals could escape the harshness of reality. They wanted them to sprout and bloom on another. This is probably why I¡¯vested so long. Mai Dong thought silently. Peace and Hope made contact, sending a slight tremor. ¡°¦Â section has been grappled. Seals a-okay. Connection lock a-okay! Establishing mechanical connection!¡± Tang Yue hurriedly reported. ¡°Power connected. Computer self-checks a-okay!¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s a-okay.¡± Mai Dong observed the scene. She was tethered to an EVA rope as she climbed forward. Mai Dong had to remove the safety harness after every step she took to hook them onto the cabin wall ahead. It was rather exhausting to partake in EVA work. Even though the body no longer had any burden due to zero gravity, it was the zero gravity that brought about many more problems. For example, it wasn¡¯t easy to control one¡¯s body and one¡¯s tools often floated away randomly. Gravity brought about stability. A chair wouldn¡¯t move if ced on the ground, but in zero gravity, this stability one took for granted wouldn¡¯t exist. Mai Dong was constantly in motion, and she spent most of her energies maintaining her bnce and stability. With the ¦Â section¡¯s sessful docking, the United Space Station¡¯s length grew again. From then on, the Hope experiment module was no longer the boundary of the space station. Peace had a greater capacity than Hope, allowing Mai Dong to tumble about inside freely. Following that, Tomcat turned its attention to the ¦Ã service module¡ªin actuality, the Alliance service module and the Discovery module. With a clicking sound, the United Space Station¡¯s internal volume expanded by a third. ¡°OK, OK. Everything is going smoothly ording to n.¡± Tomcat pped. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, you did well.¡± At this moment, three of the service modules of the Orion II spacecraft had been removed. After the modification work of the United Space Station, the four remaining intable modules wouldn¡¯t be connected to the space station. They would be tied to the Eaglender as airbags, and this would be the third step. Everything was proceeding one step at a time. ¡°The flight control program has been modified. This crappyputer hanged seven times, but it ultimatelypleted the mission.¡± Tomcat patted the workstation¡¯s chassis. Tang Yue sat beside it as he cast a look of empathy towards theputer that had gone through theborious work. Tomcat was andlord who made the masses toil for it. ¡°Next, we will begin our simtion test. This is the most critical step in the descent. We need to verify if our method really works.¡± ¡°Simtion test?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Just like the one we did back on Earth?¡± Before the actualunch, the astronauts on Orion I had participated in the training. Jiuquan was one of the main training centers in the Mars project. It had a full set of facilities for the simtion and a 1:1 scaled Orion spacecraft and United Space Station; making it span a huge area. Back then, Tang Yue andpany wore heavy EVA suits and floated in water, repeatedly opening the hatches as practice. Surface training was a necessary step in any aeronautical project. Different people were trained on different topics. Professional astronauts like Old Wang and Thomp, who weremanders, were tested on the most topics. However, these were experienced and had been in space several times. Therefore, it was all very familiar work for them. ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Apart from letting Orion really enter the atmosphere, we will fully simte the entirending process. We will start with the engine¡¯s control, the stabilization of the attitude, and then thending conditions. We will simte everything from start to finish, resolving any problems that arise during the process, as well as create some contingency ns.¡± ¡°Looks like you¡¯ll be in for more tiring work.¡± Tang Yue sighed. Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not tiring.¡± ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t talking to you, greatndlord... I¡¯m speaking to it.¡± Tang Yue pointed at the HP workstation¡¯s chassis. ¡°Lord Cat, where did you get the shame to say that you aren¡¯t tired?¡± ... Tomcat waved the pen and paper and put in the earpiece. ¡°Come! All stations! Everyone to their stations. We are about to begin the first descent! We shall try letting Orion do an atmospheric entry. Let¡¯s see how long it canst! ¡°This will be the first simtion test. ¡°In short, first mock 1 !¡± Chapter 159: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Goddard’s Wall

Chapter 159: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Goddard¡¯s Wall

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong crawled into the Eaglender, closed the hatch, and sat at the Commander¡¯s seat. She buckled her seatbelt and lowered the window filters. Instantly, it became dimmer. ¡°Mr. Cat, do I wear an IVA suit for the simtion?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll wear an IVA suit for the first mock,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°The current n is rather rough, and there are still many details that need modifications and adjustments. You will switch to wearing an EVA suit for the second mock.¡± ¡°I get it.¡± Mai Dong leaned into the seat, tightened her seatbelt, and said, ¡°Then, what do I need to do?¡± ¡°Wait for our good news,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, this is the only thing you need to do.¡± In the actual descent, 90% of the work was done by theputer and Orion. The remaining 10% was left to Tang Yue and Tomcat. All Mai Dong needed to do was stay inside thender and try her best to protect herself. Without a doubt, the flight control program, that had just been produced, was still in its nascent form. Tomcat didn¡¯t expect it to seed in one shot either. The simtion test was to trial for errors, and only by repeatedly finding the errors and fixing them would it be able to shoulder the responsibility of bringing Mai Dong down safely. Tomcat had its paws to its back as it stood facing the wall. Half of Kunlun Station¡¯s inner walls were covered with paper. Written on them were all kinds of calctions and diagrams. It was the fruit of Tomcat¡¯s and Tang Yue¡¯s work. In the past few days of finalizing the descent ns, Kunlun Station had be an aeronautical research facility. The man and cat debated vigorously on every detail in the n, often causing them to curse each other. They would draw diagrams and do calctions on the white paper before pasting them on the wall. Just a triviality could be debated untilte into the night. If anyone were lucky enough to visit Kunlun Station, they would see equations everywhere. It would almost undoubtedly convince them that a scientific madman was living here. Later, Tang Yue called the wall ¡°Goddard¡¯s Wall.¡± Mai Dong had never seen this wall because all the sweat and tears were literally hidden behind the camera. Tang Yue hadn¡¯t studied physics with such ferocity since his graduation. He had also brushed up on orbital mechanics, just to understand what the darn cat was saying. In the beginning, he would be crushed by Tomcat¡¯s equations. Now, Tang Yue was finally able to parry an equation or two, before being crushed by Tomcat again. Knowledge changed fate. The ancients didn¡¯t deceive me. Money is useless and life is fated. Even more so that the ancients didn¡¯t deceive me. Tomcat reached out its paw and tore off a piece of paper. ¡°The Bernoulli differential equation.¡± It folded the piece of paper into a paper ne and threw it out. The white paper ne flew up under the lift provided by the OGS, spiraling once around the Hab as it slowly decreased in height. It silently passed the chairs on the ground, the messy tables with all kinds of monitors on them, and the workstation¡¯s chassis. In Tomcat¡¯s eyes, this manifested as the Orion spacecraft. It was moving at supersonic speeds of 3 km/s, traversing the Martian horizon and flying towards the light! Tomcat dered. ¡°The first simtion test of the Orion descent project begins now!¡± ... ¡°This is Orion Descent Project Command Center. Lander, please answer if you copy.¡± Tang Yue sat squarely as he called out to the spacecraft. Even though Kunlun Station only had two personnel, it still had the tension found back on the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center¡¯s Command Center. Perhaps it was because the Hab was crammed with all kinds of misceneous items, it appeared rather repressive. ¡°This is Lander. Copy.¡± The Eagle¡¯smunications system had beenpletely dismantled, so Mai Dong was relying on the Orion spacecraft tomunicate with Kunlun Station. During the descent, it was the onlymunication channel between both parties, and it would continue until Orion crashed. ¡°How¡¯s the signal? Do you copy me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very clear,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°OK. Mai Dong, I¡¯ll be repeating what¡¯s required for you. Before the countdown, there¡¯s nothing you need to do,¡± Tang Yue instructed. ¡°There¡¯s nothing for you to do in the 745 seconds after the countdown. At the 745th second, we or theputer will instruct you to begin the release protocol. Do you still remember the key steps?¡± ¡°Left then right.¡± ¡°Yes, remember. Left then right.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°If theputer screws up, you have your own timer that will count down in synchronization. You have to take note of the time.¡± Mai Dong lifted her right hand as the digital watch on her wrist counted down the seconds. ¡°I¡¯m wearing it.¡± ¡°Very good. At the 745th second, I will indicate the release. If you do not receive any instructions when the timees, remember to release by yourself five secondster!¡± ¡°Five seconds.¡± ¡°Five seconds,¡± Tang Yue repeated. ¡°You are already aware of all the steps. Next, we will have you enter the atmosphere. Lass, here¡¯s wishing you good luck, and also wishing us good luck.¡± With that said, Tang Yue switched frequencies and got busy. ¡°Orion system in EDL mode. ¡°GNC system operational. ¡°Engine conditions operational. ¡°Supply systemponent¡¯s failure distribution at 66.47%. Thermalponent¡¯s failure distribution at 12.80%. Control and regtionponent¡¯s failure distribution at 2.17%. Gas generator¡¯s failure distribution time at 0.02 seconds. Error-free rate: 0.9995. Initial reference parameters supplied.¡± Based on the workstation¡¯s calctions, the entire descent took 12 minutes and 56 seconds. It would cover a distance of 127 kilometers, and descend at an average speed of 160 m/s. It wouldn¡¯t reach Mach 1, making it an eptable speed. The Orion¡¯s dismantle work hadn¡¯t beenpleted. To date, Mai Dong had only removed three of the service modules from Orion, but in the simtion test, the descending spacecraft was in its final form. It would have all the service modules and power modules removed as it began its descent while traveling light. It would face the harshest challenge in perfect form. Tang Yue and Tomcat had already finished inputting the parameters. This simted spacecraft formed from code and data would endure the test of an atmospheric entry. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yea.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Raptor-05 activated. Engine throttling.¡± Tomcat tapped on the keyboard. ¡°Orion turning and reducing speed.¡± In the HP workstation¡¯s internal storage, Orion II and the Raptor engine had ignited. Methane and liquid oxygen were beingbusted as the nozzle spewed high-temperature jets. The spacecraft was beginning to turn and decelerate. ¡°Orbit altitude at 375,512 meters! ¡°Orbit altitude at 370,470 meters! ¡°Orbit altitude at 368,953 meters!¡± Sitting in thender, Mai Dong found her surroundings silent. There wasn¡¯t any vibration or humming. The United Space Station was still operating as per normal in orbit. Only Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s anxious voices sounded from her earpiece. They were like voice actors in a radio broadcast as they narrated a tense story. For some baffling reason, Mai Dong felt at ease. That man and cat were using their shoulders to lift up the entire weight of Orion for her. It could be imagined that Tang Yue and Tomcat were filled with anxiety inside Kunlun Station as they tried their best to control Orion. Even though it was only a simted spacecraft, it was burdened with the importance of life. ¡°Combustion pressure of 40 MPa. Nozzle¡¯s pressure has decreased to 24.7 MPa. Pressure sensors a-okay. ¡°Mixing ratio of 3.12. Methane flow at 7.24. Cont flow at 8.2... Pumping power decreased by 10%.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat sat on two sides, with the two of them monitoring the various dataing from Orion. In the simted environment in the workstation, this spacecraft was lowering its orbit and preparing for atmospheric entry. The monitor didn¡¯t have any visual aids. There were only rapidly changing numbers that Tomcat and Tang Yue stared at intently as they imagined the spacecraft¡¯s attitude. Orion was slowly lowering in altitude. Seconds ticked down on the clock. Mai Dong sat in the Commander¡¯s seat, looking at the darkness in front of her. She imagined the spacecraft engine¡¯s fiery tail and the vast Martian surface. ¡°135,670 meters above sea level,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°128,012 meters above sea level. Speed at 4,965 m/s. Orion has entered the entry corridor, passing by the first waypoint. All stations, take note. Tomcat, take note!¡± ¡°Roger that. Throttles a-okay, pressure sensor a-okay. fluid cirction a-okay. Raptor-01, Raptor-03, Raptor-05, Raptor-07, and Raptor-09 on stand by¡ª¡± ¡°127,989 meters above sea level. All stations, take note. Orion has entered the entry corridor and has sessfully entered the second waypoint.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice grew louder. ¡°Raptor-01, Raptor-03, Raptor-05, Raptor-07, and Raptor-09. Ignition countdown¡ª!¡± ¡°127,746 meters above sea level! All stations, take note. Orion has entered the entry corridor! It has passed the second waypoint!¡± ¡°127,300 meters above sea level!¡± Tang Yue stared at the screen as the height of the spacecraft dropped. He tensed up as he broke out into perspiration. There were still 300 meters left. The first mock was crucial. In China, the results of the first mock test were very close to the actual results at the National College Entrance Examination. Tang Yue didn¡¯t know if the results of this test would represent the final results. Inside thender, Mai Dong raised her right hand as her digital wristwatch emitted blue light in the darkness. She adjusted a knob as it began counting down. ¡°120,700 meters above sea level! Tomcat!¡± ¡°All stations, fire rockets! Commencing 776-second countdown!¡± Tomcat pressed the ignition button and issued the activationmand to the engine. In the simtion, there wasn¡¯t any dy in the signal transmission, so at the instant Tomcat issued themand, Orion¡¯s five engines roared as they produced tremendous amounts of thrust to change its attitude. Orion entered the Martian atmosphere vertically and headed for the predeterminednding spot¡ªthe Isidis nitia¡¯s Kunlun Station. Chapter 160: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Am I Still Alive?

Chapter 160: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Am I Still Alive?

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The five Raptor 10D engines could provide more than 400 tonnes of thrust, and after the dismantling, Orion had a mass of 330 tonnes. Based on the conservation of momentum, the rocket engine had to expel enough high-speed mass to effectively reduce Orion¡¯s high speed. Orion¡¯sputer precisely controlled the engine via a flight program that Tomcat had written. However, to reduce the errors in the Raptor 10D¡¯s thick nozzles to the level of millimeters was impossible. Their original use case was not meant for the vertical descent of the spacecraft. For instance, the rockets that allowed the Falcon 9 to descend vertically relied on sensitive sensors and specialized feedback control mechanisms. Tomcat didn¡¯t have any of this, so it could only use the most brutal and simplest method. It directed the rocket engines¡¯ nozzles outward to their maximums, crazily pushing the safety redundancies to the limits. This allowed Orion to hang in midair like a tumbler. At this moment, if someone looked up from beneath the spacecraft, they would see the rocket¡¯s exhaust drawing a gigantic cross in midair. This was a Tomcat Cross. In the final twelve seconds before the atmospheric entry. ¡°Flight-path angle adjusted again! Angle of attack leveled!¡± ¡°Raptor-05 at 85% thrust. The trajectory of flow increase for 01, 03, 07, and 09 is going as expected,¡± Tang Yue reported. ¡°Orion¡¯s speed at 4872.23 m/s... The pressure on the engine is too great. It¡¯s just too fast.¡± ¡°Tomcat?¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was heavy. ¡°I¡¯m monitoring it.¡± The workstation¡¯s heat-dissipating fans began to whirl crazily as the CPU fired up all its cores to indicate that not only was Orion under stress, it was also being stressed. The five curves on the monitor rose, indicating that the five Raptor engines were increasing their thrust. To save propent, Orion¡¯s nine engines were ignited at different stages. If this was the true descent, Orion would be hanging 12 kilometers high in the sky. It would decelerate by relying on the rocket engine¡¯s reverse thrust while stabilizing itself. Once it left orbit and began an atmospheric entry, there was no turning back. Tang Yue and Tomcat stared at the monitor. At this point, they could do nothing but stare. Once the atmospheric entry began, most of the control was in the hands of Orion¡¯sputer. Mission Control couldn¡¯t easily intervene, nor could they do so in time. Hold it. Hold it. Tang Yue whispered. 35 seconds into the atmospheric entry. The Orion stably descended. Kunlun Station remained silent in the heavy atmosphere. Only Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s hurried, terse voices would asionally sound. ¡°Take note, the IMU¡¯s 1 errors are umting. The gyroscope drift has deviated beyond our initial estimates. ¡°The wind-facing surface¡¯s atmospheric density is increasing. The resistance numbers are rising.¡± As the atmosphere thickened, the situation faced by Orion and the workstation becameplex. Flight in a vacuum and in an atmosphere werepletely different. The air didn¡¯t provide any deceleration properties to Orion and only made the environment more thorny. For the workstation, the fluid dynamical simtions were taxing, and the CPU was slowly unable to keep up. Tang Yue swept his gaze across every number on the monitor. The numbers and diagrams that didn¡¯t look obvious on the surfacebined together to form aplete spacecraft that flew in his mind. The altitude indicator on the monitor kept jumping. If it were a mechanical watch, the spinning gears might even produce sparks from the friction. Instead of describing the Orion asnding, it was more like a crash. A controlled and deliberate crash. The HP workstation was unable to precisely simte the environment of Orion¡¯s atmospheric entry. Orion¡¯s massive body, spanning tens of meters long, made the force distribution and work environment extremelyplex. It was truly difficult for the workstation to simte reality. After all, it wasn¡¯t a supeputer that physically upied more than a hundred square meters. In fact, Tomcat had simplified the workstation¡¯s workload. Certain details were temporarily reced with fixed ideal values that would be tested individually in the future. This wasn¡¯t safe or precise, but it was a choice made from not having any options. Otherwise, theputer might really explode in protest. ¡°The GNC system probably still needs to raise its adaptability and robustness.¡± Tomcat frowned as it rapped the table. ¡°The RCS tri-axial attitude stability can still be optimized. It can still be optimized further...¡± Seventy-five seconds after the atmospheric entry. Mai Dong sat silently in her seat, raising her hand from time to time to look at the time. Tang Yue had told her that the atmospheric entry would be a terrifying period of sharp deceleration during the real descent. The immense pressure would press her down against her seat, preventing her from moving. During this period of time, she wouldn¡¯t be able to raise her arm. Only after the deceleration wasplete, allowing the spacecraft to reach a uniform speed would she be able to move her body. That six minutes of deceleration was a critical period that determined life and death. If any problems were to happen to Orion, it would most likely be then. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Yea,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Am I still alive?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You are safely descending. Currently, you are at a height of 35,887 meters.¡± ¡°I heard you both mention that 10,000 meters is a chasm of difficulty?¡± ¡°Tomcat said that below 10,000 meters, the atmospheric concentration would rise, making the environment veryplex. That¡¯s extremely disadvantageous to the spacecraft¡¯s attitude stability,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. Orion has the ability needed to maintain stability... We still have plenty of fuel, and the engine is very reliable as well.¡± ¡°Raptor-01, 03, 07, and 09 deactivated! Take note, Raptor-01, 03, 07, and 09 are deactivated! Computer self-checks a-okay. All stations take note!¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°02, 04, 06, and 08 activated!¡± Just as Tomcat said that, the system indicated the shutdown of four engines. At the same time, the other four engines were ignited. It was time for the ry to happen. For Orion¡¯s Raptor engines, this descent of 120 kilometers was a ry race. The first batch of engines hadpleted its mission and could take a well-deserved rest. They passed the baton to let the second batch of enginesplete the final part of the 30,000 meter descent. ¡°If this simtion test seeds, I¡¯ll probably regret it,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Why will you be regretting it?¡± ¡°I feel regretful that I didn¡¯t really head down.¡± The girl smiled. ¡°The chances of sess are so low, and for it to actually seed against all odds, wouldn¡¯t it be regretful that it was only a simtion and doesn¡¯t count? Anyone would have such thoughts... Ah, if only I had headed down using this opportunity, right?¡± ¡°No simtion test can represent the actual situation. The workstation is limited in its ability, and is unable to fully simte reality.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Orion¡¯s flight control system still has many ws and drawbacks. Under such a situation, we cannot rashly let you descend...¡± Just as he said that, the monitor in front of Tang Yue suddenly had a pop-up window appear. It was a jarring red that rmed him. ¡°Code 1028 alert! ¡°Code 1029 alert! ¡°Code 1170 alert! Tomcat!¡± ¡°Copy.¡± Tomcat glued its eyes to the monitor. ¡°Copy... 1029 is a warning about the structural robustness. 1170 is the attitude stabilization warning. Damn it. Something¡¯s wrong. Something is wrong with Orion.¡± ¡°Something is wrong?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. In less than half a minute of the warning pop-up window, the screen was covered in red warning numbers. He couldn¡¯t react in time at the speed they were popping up at. ¡°Tomcat! All systems red!¡± Tang Yue shouted. ¡°It¡¯s all red over here too.¡± Tomcat typed on the keyboard rapidly, making it evident that its monitor was also covered in red alerts that tinged its face red from the monitor¡¯s light. ¡°Orion¡¯s RCS attitude stability has errored out. It¡¯s giving theputer incorrect information, causing theputer to instruct the engine¡¯s nozzles to rotate away in an attempt to stabilize Orion. The spacecraft is deviating from the central axis, and I¡¯m trying to find the problem at its source. I¡¯m trying to find the problem at its source!¡± The most worrisome matter had happened after all. The spacecraft was unable to stabilize its attitude and it was beginning to topple. Before the test, Tomcat had emphasized that the spacecraft couldn¡¯t deviate more than five degrees, because once that happened, Orion¡¯s weak truss might break down as a result. At that moment, the spacecraft was gradually reaching the five-degree limit. ¡°Can you stop it?¡± Tang Yue bellowed. ¡°Deviation of 2¡ã 30¡ä!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± Tomcat said fiercely. ¡°Deviation of 3¡ã 50¡ä! 3¡ã 52¡ä! Haven¡¯t you found the problem?¡± ¡°I¡¯m checking through the program and sensors for any bugs, and am also fixing the engine¡¯s controlmands...¡± ¡°Deviation of 4¡ã 47¡ä! 4¡ã 50¡ä! 4¡ã 55¡ä!¡± Tang Yue broke out into a sweat. ¡°The truss¡¯s robustness is approaching its limits. The spacecraft can¡¯t maintain its integrity any longer!¡± Mai Dong silently listened to Tang Yue and Tomcat shout over thems as she raised her hand to look at the time. 267 seconds had passed since the atmospheric entry. Based on the expected stages, this was the period when the spacecraft approached an altitude of 10,000 meters. Even though the personnel on Mars were in a frenzy, thender remained pitch-ck and silent. ¡°The deviation has reached 5¡ã 13¡ä! Structural coefficient at 77%! Tomcat, if you don¡¯t hurry, the spacecraft will crash! The spacecraft is about to crash!¡± ¡°5¡ã 27¡ä. Structural coefficient at 80%!¡± ¡°5¡ã 43¡ä. Structural coefficient at 88%!¡± ¡°6¡ã. 93%! 95%... 97%! 98! 99!¡± ¡°Found it! F*ck, it was a tiny logic problem! When the system rectifies¡ª¡± Tomcat mmed on the table as it stood up. Tang Yue had done so at the same moment as he pushed the keyboard and cut Tomcat off. ¡°Orion¡¯s truss cracked and has disintegrated.¡± Chapter 161: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Becoming a Repairman

Chapter 161: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, Bing a Repairman

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon There was silence over thems. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The simtion test has ended. You are free to move about.¡± Tomcat pushed the keyboard away as the monitors in front of it switched off one after another. The workstation had ended the simtion and was beginning to exit the various programs. In the HP workstation¡¯s internal storage, Orion II stopped its descent at an altitude of 11,657.3 meters. Due to the spacecraft¡¯s loss of attitude, the spacecraft had snapped with the excessive stress. Following that, the propent reservoir tank¡¯s ruptured causing the explosion to go from soup to nuts. Tomcat and Tang Yue didn¡¯t need to watch any further. An explosion at this altitude could only be survived by the Hulk. 10,000 meters was a chasm that Orion II couldn¡¯t cross. Tang Yue slumped into his seat as he hung his hands down by his side, looking up at as he sighed. ¡°Am I still alive?¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t move. ¡°Of course you are, Lady,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You are talking to me at this very moment. You can try touching your face if you doubt me. See if it¡¯s warm.¡± ¡°I¡¯m wearing a helmet.¡± ¡°Then take it off.¡± Mai Dong raised her hands, utched the helmet, and took it off. Nudging it gently with her index fingers, the spherical ss helmet slowly floated away and the girl¡¯s short ck hair fluttered in zero gravity. There wasn¡¯t a heater in the Eagle, so the temperature was a little low. The breath Mai Dong exhaled condensed into a white mist. Thender¡¯s protective screens at the windows shuttered open, allowing golden sunlight to beam in. Outside the window was Mars¡¯s dark red surface. She was still in orbit at a height of 300 kilometers. Mai Dong sat in the Commander¡¯s seat for some time in silence. She knew that the simtion test had failed. She had been listening in on themunications between Tang Yue and Tomcat, and Tang Yue¡¯s final words were: ¡°Orion¡¯s truss has cracked and has disintegrated.¡± If this had been a real descent, Mai Dong would already be dead. The girl wriggled her fingers. The simtion hadn¡¯t been anything intense, nor were there any actual sensations. From start to end, the only thing she did was sit in the seat and look at the time. No matter what Tang Yue or Tomcat shouted¡ªdeviations or loss of control¡ªthe Eaglender remained in silent orbit around Mars. Tomcat and Tang Yue had gotten her to experience the full descent process ahead of time, but the oue was that of a crash and death. ¡°I¡¯m still alive. It¡¯s just a little cold in here.¡± Mai Dong touched her cheek. ¡°Thender doesn¡¯t have a heater since I dismantled it. I shouldn¡¯t have dismantled it so early.¡± ¡°You are still in thender?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± The girl nodded. ¡°The Commander¡¯s seat is ratherfortable. It¡¯s wide and soft, so I wish to stay here a little longer.¡± ¡°Are you fine in zero gravity, Lady? Is the seatbelt buckled on too tightly?¡± ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Lady, what¡¯s up? Tell me.¡± ¡°Nothing. I just wanted to say your name.¡± Mai Dong removed her seatbelt. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue! Tang Yue! Tang Yue! Tang Yue!¡± Tang Yue was baffled. Tomcat grabbed Tang Yue and whispered to him, ¡°Thisdy is under too much stress.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. As a straight, insensitive man who had an engineering background and had not had any interaction with members of the opposite sex for twenty-six years¡ªother than the auntie at the cafeteria¡ªhis ability to detect what was on a girl¡¯s mind was inferior to a cat¡¯s. Indeed, Mai Dong had been under too much stress. She had been fighting alone in the space station all this time, and no matter how much work or how tedious it was, thedy had shouldered it. Mai Dong¡¯s EVA frequency and hours were catching up to Old Wang¡¯s. Tomcat had also quipped that this was a workload that could break any person. If anyone else were to do such work, they would have gone on strike. Yet, Mai Dong had gritted her teeth to persist... Every time she returned to the space station, she could pour out two liters of sweat from her EVA suit. She had no choice but to persist because this was to save herself. At the same age, other girls would be surrounded by flowers and gifts, being protected by her family, school, and others like a princess. But now, Mai Dong had be a miserable and exhausted repairman. With the first simtion failing and Orion II crashing, Tomcat wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Mai Dong broke down. Tomcat even wished that she could vent out by crying. ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yeah? I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°I heard you. What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Nothing. I just wanted to say your name,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. You don¡¯t have to keep calling my name...¡± ¡°Whatever you do is meaningful.¡± Mai Dong was taken aback. ¡°We will be seeding soon. Now, we are just short of the final step. We have ovee so many difficulties and obstacles. This is all the fruit of yourbor. Now, we are just one step away from final sess,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°As long as you take that one step, we will clinch ultimate victory! You have to be confident! The Party and People believe in you!¡± Mai Dong burst out intoughter. ¡°Are you a politicalmissar?¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t able to say anything moving. All his words of encouragement often sounded like Stalin¡¯s urging of soldiers to be cannon fodder during wartime. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be depressed. The test¡¯s failure was within expectations. The first mock¡¯s goal is to gather data and correct the program. There¡¯s no insistence that it seeds in one go. We got plenty of feedback.¡± Tomcat patted its paws and got up. ¡°Based on the goals of the mission itself, we have perfectlypleted the first simtion test. It¡¯s something worth celebrating!¡± Tomcat began pping its paws as it raised them high, gesturing to Tang Yue to p with it. It had a look that depicted: ¡°Let¡¯s party!¡± Tang Yue coldly swept a nce at the cat before ignoring it. Encouraging Mai Dong was something, but to apud and celebrate a test failure was something he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do. Realizing that it had been given the cold shoulder, it sat down and turned a monitor to Tang Yue. On the monitor was a list that Tang Yue couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°These are the problems discovered in the simtion. I¡¯ve already coted them and will begin modifying the Orion II spacecraft¡¯s system. I¡¯ll tweak the details that couldn¡¯t be determined previously,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There¡¯s a total of 1842 articles.¡± ¡°When¡¯s the next simtion?¡± ¡°Once I fix theputer control system. Many problems were exposed during this test. Many details have proven that our expectations werepletely erroneous. After I fix the program, we can try the second test,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It will be finished by tomorrow at the earliest. The second mock will definitely allow Orion II to pass the chasm of 10,000 meters and allow it to safelynd.¡± ¡°Can the second mock seed?¡± Tang Yue darted his eyes to the side. ¡°Massive confidence.¡± ¡°How massive?¡± Tomcat pondered for a moment and drew a huge circle on a piece of paper. ¡°This big.¡± Chapter 162: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Two Broken Records

Chapter 162: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Two Broken Records

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat stood high up on a chair as it lifted the Orion II model above its head. Tang Yue sat opposite it, facing up with his body sprawled out. ¡°At an altitude of 125 kilometers, Orion II begins changing its attitude. It will decelerate like this... Whoosh¡ª!¡± Tomcat tried hard to mimic the sound with its voice while spinning the model in its paws. ¡°The first simtion¡¯s failure proved that our calctions were erroneous. I changed the perturbation guidance calctions, narrowing thending error of the spacecraft to an oval that¡¯s 30 km by 30 km. ¡°This is the entry point. I¡¯ve recreated an atmospheric model and Orion II¡¯s aerodynamic modeling. Look... This is the entry point.¡± As Tomcat said, it lowered the model. ¡°Boom¡ª! Whoosh! Adjust the flight-path angle and angle of drift! Whoosh¡ª! ¡°39 seconds after atmospheric entry, Raptor-05¡¯s thrust will rise to 85%, and the GNC system will control the RCS to equilibrate Orion...¡± Tang Yue was dozing off from hearing all the jargon. If Tomcat wasn¡¯t producing all that onomatopoeia, he would have fallen asleep long ago. Every time he was about to doze off, Tomcat would produce a sound like ¡°boom,¡± as though the engine had exploded. He was also exhausted. As Tomcat was fixing Orion II¡¯s flight control program, Tang Yue helped Mai Dong in continuing the modification of the spacecraft. The intable section on Orion II had beenpletely cleared before binding them onto the hull of the Eaglender. The amount of work involved was much greater than dismantling the Eaglender. Theponent list was a three-meter-long list. After Mai Dong saw the list, with more than ten thousand articles, she mmed her head into Ah Q¡¯s tummy and sighed, wondering out loud if Tang Yue was trying to kill her. Tang Yue was rather exasperated as well. The work was done by the duo, so it couldn¡¯t be considered voluntary manughter. At best, it was an internecine oue. The intable section was mainly used as a cargo hold in Orion II. It was used to store supplies and experimental samples. This section was ratherrge in size with a length exceeding ten meters. Its diameter was only six meters, and it had a holding capacity of 250 m3. However, it had a very low mass. The intable section¡¯s greatest advantagepared to a hard shell was its foldability and light mass. Orion II¡¯s intable section used a multyer design, and its main material was aposite material made up of polyamide, polyethylene, and ker. This thin, soft hull was only a few millimeters thick, and although it looked extremely weak, its strength far exceeded that of steel. Tomcat nned on using them as the final cushion when thendernded. As these balloons were big and resilient enough, carbon fiber reinforced polymers were the main material used for the inner lining. The tensile strength exceeded 1 GPa. The four intable sections when bound all around thender¡¯s hull were practically imprable. They could provide effective protection for thender, so regardless of the angle in which itnded, the first to make contact was the airbag. As long as it didn¡¯t burst upon contact, the soft wall would absorb most of the kic energy and ensure Mai Dong¡¯s safety. Tomcat had done the math that thender could be dropped from rest at a maximum height of two hundred meters. As long as the Eagle was released from Orion II at a height of less than two hundred meters, the airbags wouldn¡¯t burst. Any higher, and the impact¡¯s dynamic pressure would exceed the airbag¡¯s pressure valves, and the air inside the airbag wouldn¡¯t be released in time; thus, causing the airbags to burst. Therefore, Orion II needed to drop when it was under two hundred meters from the surface. Under Tang Yue¡¯s instructions, Mai Dong cleared out all nonessentialponents from the intable section. Even the aluminum alloy inner shell framework was removed. After a series of dismantling, all that was left was the airbag¡¯s basic structure. This took them an entire day. From four in the morning to five in the afternoon, the duo didn¡¯t deal with the intable section as they knew nothing about the structure. Even the detailed schematics and maintenance manual was found thanks to Tomcat. The involved work had certainponents that just couldn¡¯t be removed. These were frustrating problems that left Mai Dong seething. In response, Tang Yue worked hard to stop the girl from using her teeth to bite down at theponent and coaxed her to sleep. Then, page by page, he flipped through the maintenance manual and asked Tomcat before finding the solution. After clearing the intable section, the problem of binding the ten-meter-long airbag was tricky. There was a long discussion between Tang Yue and Mai Dong about which was the most secure way of binding. They had also rejected Tomcat¡¯s suggestions. The kikkou bondage method was definitely not right. Mai Dong and Tang Yue spoke over a videoms until they fell asleep. No one knew who slept first¡ª ¡°I knew it. Such a tying method is definitely not secure...¡± ¡°Then how do you think we should be tying it...¡± ¡°How... should it be tied?¡± ¡°How should it be tied...¡± ¡°About how it should be tied... Uh...¡± ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Regardless of who slept first, there was definitely one side that just kept repeating first. Following that, the other would be a broken record that droned on, and the two would begin this endless cycle of repeating until they drained all their strength. Since the first simtion test, yesterday, Tang Yue and Mai Dong hadn¡¯t had any rest. Tomcat had seized every moment to modify the program and began abusing theputer. During this time, Tang Yue took a short nap, sleeping from midnight to four in the morning. Without even four hours of sleep, he got up to see that Tomcat was still abusing theputer. Humans weren¡¯t made of steel after all. After long periods of intensive work and high stress, Tang Yue and Mai Dong were no longer able to take it. Mai Dong even felt her spirit weakening. ¡°I¡¯ve modified the three-dimensional guidance calctions. As Orion doesn¡¯t have a geodynamic radar, we still need to rely on inertial navigation. The GNC system is of utmost importance.¡± Tomcat held the model up as a demonstration, but nothing it said was understood by Tang Yue. Tang Yue used his fingers to prop open his eyelids as his mind turned adrift. ¡°With 78 seconds left, Orion II will begin descending at a uniform speed. After my modification of the flight program, it¡¯s speed should be 119.5 m/s.¡± Tomcat crouched down on the chair as it lowered the spacecraft models. ¡°After the end of the flight at a uniform speed, the spacecraft will begin the second stage of deceleration... Tang Yue? Do you hear me?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Yue yawned. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Tang Yue jolted awake as he opened his eyes. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The engine will be in full reverse thrust, hovering at a distance of five meters from the ground. Within three seconds, thender will be released.¡± Tomcat slowly erected the model on the desk and with a clock, it stood erect and stable. ¡°Landing sess.¡± ¡°This is the result of the second mock?¡± Tang Yue rubbed his eyes. ¡°Yes, this will be the results of the second mock!¡± ... The next day. Tang Yue held the resulting printout of the second mock in his hand, looking ashen. The only thing that was right about Tomcat¡¯s prediction regarding the second mock was the ¡°boom!¡± The Orion II had failed to cross the 10,000-meter barrier once again. The propent reservoir cracked and the exposed fuel produced an explosion from soup to nuts. ¡°Tomcat...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say anything! Hush! I don¡¯t believe it... How can I, the number one crosstalk master and part-time data architect and part-time aeronautical expert, the bestedian among felines, the only feline amongedians, not be able to resolve this problem?¡± Tomcat said fiercely. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! The second mock was just for data collection. From the mission¡¯s goals, we have achieved a perfect sess! There¡¯s no need to be sullen! Third mock! The third mock will definitely seed!¡± ¡°How confident are you of the third mock?¡± Tomcat drew a huge circle on the ground with its hind leg. ¡°This big!¡± Chapter 163: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Confidence This Big

Chapter 163: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Confidence This Big

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue typed one character at a time on the keyboard: ¡°In the middle of the fourteenth century, Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, created the famous long poem, Divine Comedy. He was the first person that brought light to the dark Middle Ages that eventually developed into Renaissance humanism. In this long poem, Dante¡¯s first personfsuzkvbcc...¡± ¡°Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat lifted Tang Yue¡¯s face off the keyboard and pped him in the face. ¡°Get some rest if you¡¯re too tired.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s fine. I can take it.¡± Tang Yue rubbed his eyes and shook his head as he yawned. He continued typing: ¡°Dante¡¯s first person narrative tells of his journey from Earth to Mars...¡± Tomcat shook its head, pressing Tang Yue against the chair and moving theputer away. If this continued, Dante might end up bing the first Earthling tond on Mars. It made Tang Yue sit at the side to rest and gather his senses. Tang Yue¡¯s mind had recently been filled with Martian orbits and Orion to the point of being possessed. At night, his sleep talking would involve the mass of thender, and how a hundred tonnes added to a hundred tonnes equaled three hundred tonnes. ¡°How many?¡± Tomcat raised one w in front of Tang Yue. ¡°One.¡± ¡°How many?¡± Tomcat raised another w. ¡°Two.¡± Tomcat suddenly raised four ws. ¡°What¡¯s one plus two?¡± ¡°Four.¡± ¡°Look at you. Your mind is in aplete mess. You can¡¯t even do simple addition. Tang Yue, don¡¯t do anything for now. Have some rest. Miss Mai Dong needs some rest as well. The two of you need to relieve your pressure as well; otherwise, your bodies won¡¯t make it.¡± Tomcat waved its paw and returned to its seat in front of theputer and stared at the monitor¡¯s data. The second mock had failed, pping Tomcat in the face. Even at this moment, his face was still burning in pain. Tomcat had no idea what had gone wrong either. It was indeed unreliable to rely on the rough simtions of the workstation. It needed a wind tunnel, a fatigue test, a structural integrity test, and a lot of specialized test machines. Each machine was huge, and Kunlun Station had none of them. Tomcat really wished to stuff the entire Orion II spacecraft into the assembly factory and test all of its parameters in detail. ¡°When can the third mock proceed?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How confident are you?¡± ¡°The fourth mock ended five minutes ago,¡± Tomcat answered. Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°What was the result?¡± ¡°I created the biggest fin stabilization armor-piercing sabot in history,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°The sixty-meter-long truss sessfully liberated itself from all its burdens and charged down at Mach 7. It was a spectacr sight. I believe that it could easily prate an Iowa-ss battleship¡¯s armor, and also skewer the Gerald R. Ford-ss aircraft carrier in passing.¡± ... ¡°Tomcat, tell me honestly. Are those darn simtions ever going to seed?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°You told me previously that Orion II can descend vertically. Were you just bullsh*tting me?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Look me in the eye and say it again.¡± Tang Yue sat straight. Tomcat stared at the monitor as its paws and slowly stopped. It fell silent for a second before turning its head. ¡°If I were to say that Orion II wouldn¡¯t be able to descend at all, would you give up?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then why ask such a question?¡± Tomcat folded its arms. ¡°Orion II¡¯s vertical descent is possible in theory. Do you know what it means by ¡®in theory¡¯? A high school student who fails all his subjects can, in theory, get epted by Tsinghua University. It can happen as long as there are favorable conditions, with the entire world revolving around him. As long as he works hard enough, allowing his results to improve significantly, and that he happens to spot all the questions on the exam.¡± Spot the questions on the National College Entrance Examination? As someone who had been through the exam, Tomcat¡¯s analogy was something Tang Yue was very familiar with. The question setters of the China¡¯s National College Entrance Examination im: I¡¯m not bragging, but if millions of you can spot our questions, count it as us losing. ¡°As long as Orion II doesn¡¯t have any idents during thending¡ªthat the engine or the attitude control doesn¡¯t malfunction, that the guidance system works normally, that the truss doesn¡¯t suffer from excessive stress, that the seal of thender¡¯s docking mechanism remains intact, that the atmosphere doesn¡¯t have any anomalies¡ªand every detail perfectly matches our expectations, it will be able tond safely.¡± ¡°Do you believe what you just said?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. It didn¡¯t show any expression, looking like it firmly believed in the fulfillment of everything it said. It really believed that the Orion II spacecraft couldnd without any problems. ¡°Even if it¡¯s a one in ten million chance of sess, I¡¯m still willing to believe in it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I know you¡¯re very worried, but we only have one path to take. We should be thankful that there¡¯s a possibility of sess. Think about it. If Orion II cannot evennd in theory, what would you be doing now? Sitting there in despair? The fourth mock failed, but there¡¯s the fifth mock. If the fifth mock fails, there¡¯s still the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth mock! We can keep testing until it seeds.¡± Tang Yue suspected the veracity of Tomcat¡¯s words, but he wasn¡¯t able to verify if it was lying. Perhaps Orion II just didn¡¯t have any chance ofnding sessfully. The so-called ¡°in theory¡± was something Tomcat had fabricated to foolypeople like them. It was doing this to give them false hope before theet arrived. It was to prevent Tang Yue and Mai Dong from falling into utter despair for thest few days of their lives. If the cat was really acting, Tang Yue and Mai Dong definitely couldn¡¯t tell. Tomcat did have such motives. In a perilous situation, it was obligated to protect the safety of Tang Yue and Mai Dong. ¡°I guarantee you that before theet hits Mars, I will definitely think of a way to get Miss Mai Dong down.¡± Tang Yue observed Tomcat¡¯s face. It was as calm and unperturbed as it usually was. To be honest, it was impossible to tell anything from the facial expressions of a robot cat, so Tang Yue had no idea how much of what Tomcat said was true. Tang Yue sighed. ¡°Three mocks after the third mock. If this mocking continues, theet will be hitting us in mockery, Boss.¡± ¡°You should have some confidence in me.¡± Tomcat patted itself on the chest. ¡°I¡¯ll be doing the fifth simtion in a while. Do you believe that I¡¯ll definitely seed this time?¡± ... Five hourster. ¡°Failure is the mother of sess.¡± Tomcat sat squarely and said in all seriousness. ¡°I told you during the ninth failure. The explosion was earlier than the previous ones.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°After failing so many times, is your sess suffering a difficultbor?¡± ¡°Rest easy. I guarantee you that the next test will be a sess.¡± Tomcat had originally nned on pledging its character as a cat, but recalled that it had used it in the previous simtion. The oue¡ªOrion II exploded seventy seconds after atmospheric entry. ¡°Mr. Cat, how confident are you that the next test will seed?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, look out the window,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What do you see?¡± ¡°Mars.¡± ¡°That big.¡± Chapter 164: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Kunlun Station

Chapter 164: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Kunlun Station

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Press F to enter the tank... Ah no, to enter thender.¡± Tang Yue held his head up feeling bored stiff. The eleventh simtion had happened today. Tomcat had bet everything it could bet. It went from its character as a cat to the water cup on the table. ¡°I swear in the name of this cup that the next test will seed!¡± However, confidence as big as Mars failed to allow Orion II tond safely. Tomcat was repeatedly defeated as the spacecraft exploded into fireworks again and again. ¡°Mai Dong, remember. Pressing the Tab button calls out the menu, and pressing M opens the map...¡± Tang Yue began speaking nonsense. ¡°Got it. Pressing Tab calls out the menu, and pressing M opens the map.¡± Mai Dong also began theic dialog. Due to the repeated failures, with not a single instance of them descending beneath the height of 10,000 meters, Tomcat had started doing some fixing and modification at an even deeper level. It began to analyze its n from the beginning, and as it designed the program, it carried out tests, constantly spewing vulgarities as the keyboard tapping sounds went on like a machine gun. As for Tang Yue and Mai Dong, the two of them took Tomcat¡¯s advice to rest. Mai Dong used the break to take care of her nts in the space station. The tomato and prickly lettuce were growing luxuriantly in an incubator, but they were destined never to be brought out of orbit. They could only remain in the United Space Station. Mai Dong had no idea how long they could survive with no one taking care of them. The incubator could operate automatically, with the light and watering set ahead of time. If there wasn¡¯t any problem with the power or water, they would likely live to natural death. ¡°Ah Chang... Your leaves are falling again.¡± Ah Chang was an old tomato nt. It had borne fruit twice, and even for a normal lifespan, it was in its advanced years and was about to approach the end of its life. ssics and Zha were as old as Ah Chang. They were old nts whose vitality was waning. They couldn¡¯t bear any more fruit, but Mai Dong continued rearing them. In the space station where resources were worth their weight in gold, they alreadycked the value to continue being taken care of. Tomcat had once suggested cutting their nutrition source and using their corpses as fertilizer. However, Tang Yue said that the meaning of life couldn¡¯t be that utilitarian. By letting them live to the end of their lives was the basic respect a carbon lifeform had for one another. ¡°There¡¯s a need to live with dignity. What do you think separates us hairless apes, tomatoes, and prickly lettuce from nonliving items like rocks?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It¡¯s the respect thates with life.¡± Mai Dong adjusted the incubator¡¯s lighting. If Mai Dong were to leave the United Space Station, she would shut down all nonessential systems, reducing the power output of the life support system to ensure that the nts could live. ¡°I might be leaving all of you, Ah Chang, ssics, and Zha,¡± the girl said to the tomatoes softly with a pane of ss between them. ¡°You must live well.¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t know if she couldnd safely, but if she were to leave the space station, it was bound to be an eternal farewell. Tomcat had once said that theet¡¯s collision had a hundred percent chance of destroying the space station, but all Mai Dong could pray for was that the space station could escape the cmity. At the very least, she hoped that things couldst until the tomatoes and prickly lettuce died a normal death. ... ¡°Kunlun Station Earthquake Mitigation and Disaster Preparation Guide...¡± Tang Yue frowned as he looked at the list in his hands. ¡°You wrote this?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat stared at the monitor as it crossed its forearms and hind legs. ¡°We can ensure the Kunlun Station remains safe using this?¡± Tang Yue scanned it as the list listed down more than a hundred measures to take in detail. He didn¡¯t know when Tomcat had finished it since it had been focused onnding Orion II the past few days. Multitasking was a basic feature that Tomcat came equipped with. It could use its front paws to do the math and its hind paws to write history. After all, it was a cat, and there was no rule forbidding a cat from holding a pen with its hind legs. ¡°By following it, we can maximize the chances of Kunlun Station¡¯s survival,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tang Yue, you have never seen the resulting impact terrain of aet thirty kilometers in diameter, right?¡± ¡°You sound as though you¡¯ve seen it before.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t either. To be precise, no Earthling has seen it before. The asteroids that thest batch of lucky ones saw hitting Earth are nothingpared to the behemoth we are facing.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°However, we have maths and physics. We also have an HP workstation that can make predictions.¡± Tomcat pointed at the piece of paper in Tang Yue¡¯s hands. ¡°If we are lucky enough, theet will fall somewhere more than 2,500 kilometers away. Then, Kunlun Station won¡¯t be destroyed immediately upon impact... We need to endure a series of chain reactions and secondary disasters. What do you think is the most destructive secondary disaster?¡± ¡°The shockwave?¡± ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Tomcat waved its paw. ¡°I believe the energy from the collision will elerate the speed of air to Mach 8 and 9, but this is Mars. The atmosphere is too thin, so no amount of wind can affect Kunlun Station.¡± ¡°Earthquake?¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± Tomcat snapped its paw. ¡°That¡¯s right. Without any tsunamis, earthquakes will be the disaster that brings about the greatest damage. The collision will trigger an unprecedented earthquake. It¡¯s definitely a brand new edition that you¡¯ll never have seen before. The Richter scale that you humans often use is no longer suitable. If you really want to use it, then the earthquake¡¯s magnitude will be a 17 on the Richter scale... Yes, that¡¯s right. Don¡¯t stare at me. It¡¯s 17.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s hand trembled. He was still lost in the dream that 8 or 9 on the Richter scale was already the limit. At the instant of the collision, the earthquake will be transmitted from the rock underground and the longitudinal wave will move very quickly. 357 seconds after the collision, the longitudinal wave will reach our feet. The longitudinal wave is a trantion wave, so it will make the ground ebb up and down.¡± Tomcat pointed down. ¡°How high will the ground undte?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done a rough model.¡± Tomcat lifted one w. ¡°At a distance beyond 2,500 kilometers, the surface will ebb up and down by at least a meter.¡± ¡°A meter?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°It will raise Kunlun Station by a meter? Won¡¯t it just copse?¡± Kunlun Station¡¯s flooring wasn¡¯t directly in contact with the Martian surface. It was actually propped up by six feet and was roughly tens of centimeters off the ground. The design of Kunlun Station¡¯s frame had taken into ount dampening and anti-quake measures, but the engineers absolutely never considered an earthquake that measured 17 on the Richter scale. ¡°Don¡¯t rush to conclusions. After the longitudinal wave is a transverse wave. It will be slightly slower than the former and will arrive at our feet 625 seconds after the collision. The transverse wave is a shearing wave, so it will rip the ground up in all directions. This is something I can¡¯t simte. Different soil conditions will lead to different oues,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°However, there¡¯s one thing we can confirm that under normal circumstances, there¡¯s no way for Kunlun Station to withstand the st. It will absolutely crumble.¡± ¡°What can we do then?¡± Kunlun Station was the home that Tang Yue¡¯s survival depended upon. If it were to be destroyed, Tang Yue would be dead. ¡°Trying to forcefully withstand the quake is unrealistic. We can¡¯t sh head-on with the Universe as that¡¯s simply having a death wish... But five thousand years ago, Yu the Great told us that it¡¯s better to be the flow. The wisdom of the ancients is universal,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Since Kunlun Station will definitely crumble, why don¡¯t we crumble it ahead of time?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he raised the Kunlun Station Earthquake Mitigation and Disaster Preparation Guide that had a huge striking word: ¡°Dismantle!¡± Chapter 165: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, The Way to Keep Kunlun Station Safe

Chapter 165: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, The Way to Keep Kunlun Station Safe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Dismantle! Kick! Smash! Smack! Tomcat¡¯s methods were always that straightforward, one that reached straight to the heart. The first line in the Kunlun Station Earthquake Mitigation and Disaster Preparation Guide in Tang Yue¡¯s hand was surprisingly about dismantling Kunlun Station. ¡°None of Kunlun Station will survive the earthquake. We have no way of ensuring the airtight seal of the Hab. Once any ripping happens, fixing it will be very troublesome.¡± Tomcat pointed at the ceiling above them. ¡°If Kunlun Station were to lose its seal, it¡¯s hard to tell how much longer we would survive.¡± ¡°I think Kunlun Station wouldn¡¯t only be the one being ripped apart. We would as well.¡± Tang Yue found an earthquake that measured 17 on the Richter scale inconceivable. He had never heard of an earthquake reaching 17. If such a powerful earthquake were to happen on Earth, it might directly rip apart the Eurasian continental te. Even the Arabian Penins would sink into the sea. Every difference in magnitude of 2.0 is equivalent to a factor of 1000 in the energy released. The strongest Earthquake in human history was the Great Chilean Earthquake in 1960 which had a magnitude of 9.5. This disaster led to two million homeless, and the strong quake resulted in three volcanoes erupting. The quake passed through the entire Pacific Ocean and caused a massive tsunami on the west coast of Japan and the Philippines. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s collision with Mars would result in an earthquake that exceeded 17 on the Richter scale. The energy released was almost 1,000,000,000,000 times higher. Tang Yue even wondered if he could survive such a rapturous disaster. He was just too shocked by the fact that it would be a magnitude 17. ¡°Why are you dazing?¡± Tomcat looked at the dazed Tang Yue as it waved its paw in front of him. ¡°Penny for your thoughts?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to imagine what it means to be a magnitude 17 earthquake... If it happened on Earth, would it st and sink the Eurasian te?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be that ridiculous. Magnitude 17 is just a rough estimate. The actual earthquake will definitely be smaller. This is because the energy from the earthquake is external, and not from the crust,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°When theet hits the surface, it will be ripped apart by Mars¡¯s gravity. There¡¯s a high probability that it won¡¯t beplete, and might shatter into many pieces. When its internal gravity isn¡¯t able to withstand the tidal forces, theet will crack. ¡°When the impact happens, the energy brought by theet will be released in all kinds of ways. A part of it will be in the form of high temperature. It will melt the desert spanning hundreds of kilometers into ss. A portion of energy will be used to throw objects high into the sky or even send them to orbit. After this collision, Mars will have a ring. The rest will spread outwards along with the crust and powerful quakes,¡± Tomcat then continued. ¡°I estimate that the actual quake¡¯s magnitude will be roughly between 15 and 17 on the Richter scale.¡± ¡°The difference between magnitudes 15 and 17 is just 1,000 times.¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Can¡¯t you be more precise?¡± ¡°Sorry, there¡¯s no way to make an urate prediction.¡± Tomcat threw up its paws. ¡°We don¡¯t even know where it willnd to date. Differentnd conditions will result in different oues. Certain ces have hard and dense basalt, while other ces are soft and loose. The pain that results from kicking a steel te and a sponge is different. ¡°Strictly speaking, this ispletely unpredictable. This is because the ground beneath our feet isn¡¯t uniform. Kunlun Station¡¯sputer doesn¡¯t have the ability to simte such matters. I could give it a try if you were to bring me aputer the size of the Pentagon... But based on my present observations, if itnds in the Terra Sabaea, I expect the quake to be a 16. If itnds in the Arabia Terra, the quake will likely be a 15.5. If itnds in the Syrtis Major num... then there¡¯s no need to do the prediction.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we will be dead.¡± The Syrtis Major num was a neighbor of Isidis nitia. If theet were tond there, the entire Isidis nitia would be wiped away from the Martian map by the malignant star. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I was mainly made of ice and carbon dioxide, so it would quickly evaporate after the collision, leaving behind a massive crater. This would be the biggest crater left on Mars this century. ¡°You don¡¯t have to bother about the magnitude of the quake. After all, we don¡¯t have any high-rise buildings. No matter how big it is, as long as it doesn¡¯t directly uplift the crust, we don¡¯t have to be afraid of it.¡± Tomcat suddenly took on the vibe that: he who down needs fear no fall. ¡°We will just lie in the ground like it¡¯s a bouncing bed. If it is strong, let it be, we are the cool breeze that brushes against the hill; if it is domineering, let it be, we are the bright moon that illuminates the great river.¡± Tang Yue began to imagine the scene. One man and cat on the ground facing the sky with their limbs spread out, moving up and down amidst the intense quake. It did sound quite perverted. ¡°What about Kunlun Station? What about it?¡± ¡°Store it away.¡± Tomcat got up and circled the Hab. It reached out its paw to touch the inner wall. ¡°Before the collision happens, we should break it down to its elements. How we originally put it together will be how we dismantle it now... After dismantling it into a pile of frames and cloth, what can the quake do to us?¡± Tang Yue looked up and surveyed the area. Kunlun Station¡¯s ceiling was more than two meters tall. Its interior was made of whiteposite material, and the curved panels joined together to form the inner wall of the Hab. The inner lining was fastened to the light skeleton with screws. The half-metallic and half-carbon fiber frame was the foundation of Kunlun Station, and in between that was heat-instion foam. ¡°The instation of Kunlun Station happened during the seventh or eighthnding mission. I heard they took quite a while back then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I wasn¡¯t around.¡± Tomcat shrugged.¡±I can dismantle this house into a pile of junk in sixteen hours... Don¡¯t look at me like that. You can do it as well. Kunlun Station itself is a simple modr design. Back then, the engineers on Earth were just short of designing a one-button instation and uninstation feature to reduce your workload. The two of us, no¡ªthree can easilypletely dismantle Kunlun Station within eight hours.¡± Tang Yue understood what Tomcat was getting at. ¡°We will reinstall it after the quake is over.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the only thing we can do.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Otherwise, how are you going to withstand an earthquake that measures 16 or 17 on the Richter scale? Use our heads?¡± ¡°From the moment we dismantle Kunlun Station, I will have to stay inside an EVA suit, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°You will have to don the EVA suit until Kunlun Station is rebuilt. The power charging, water supplies, andpressed air tanks will need to be worn by you when the timees.¡± Tang Yue suddenly thought of something, ¡°What about food?¡± Without Kunlun Station, how was he to eat? There was no way he was opening the visor to eat, right? ¡°Will you starve to death if you skip a day¡¯s meal?¡± Tomcat twitched its ears. ¡°Water can be replenished, but you can forget about food. Eat your fill before the work starts.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipped a beat. The tone Tomcat had used was as though it was telling him to have a goodst meal before his death. The subsequent content in the Kunlun Station Earthquake Mitigation and Disaster Preparation Guide was about personal mitigation and preparation measures. Tomcat had written: ¡°When the collision happens, get shielded. Crouch down on hands and knees facing an obstruction or, if possible, drop t on the floor. Bury face in arms to protect eyes.¡± Tang Yue found the description somewhat familiar as though he had seen it somewhere before. ¡°Tomcat.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you know how you should protect yourself when near a nuclear explosion?¡± ¡°When a nuclear st happens, get shielded. Crouch down on hands and knees facing an obstruction or, if possible, drop t on the floor. Bury face in arms to protect eyes,¡± Tomcat said without any thought. Tang Yue mmed on the guide in his hands in front of Tomcat. ¡°You actually copied the National Primary and Secondary School Students Safety Education Handbook?¡± Tomcat cast its gaze aside ...I know nothing. I¡¯m just a poor and weak broken record who knows nothing. Chapter 166: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Legend of Obasuteyama

Chapter 166: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Two, Legend of Obasuteyama

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ording to Tomcat, to survive the intense quake that would envelop the northern hemisphere of Mars, Tang Yue needed to dismantle Kunlun Station and break it down to its elements to roll with the punches. Once the quake was over, they could rebuild Kunlun Station. Tang Yue had never attempted to dismantle Kunlun Station before. This massive tent was indeed modr in design, the designers had racked their brains to reduce Kunlun Station¡¯s weight and reduce theplexity involved. Otherwise, the astronauts from the seventhnding mission wouldn¡¯t have been able to set it up with their hands alone. However, the engineers on Earth had probably never considered the problem of dismantling. Kunlun Station was going to be a permanent base that would sit there from the day it was built until the day it was abandoned. No one had expected to dismantle it. Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor and headed out to circle around Kunlun Station. The Hab¡¯s perimeter exceeded fifty meters and had vertical walls that were more than two meters tall. Printed on the hull were huge blue words: Kunlun Station. Further up was a dome that resembled an inverted wok. It was mostly made from ss fiber reinforced PEEKposite. It felt smooth and firm to the touch, and ording to the maintenance manual, the hull¡¯s tensile strength was four to six times that of steel. However, its mass was only a tenth of thetter. The hull was the main structure of Kunlun Station. It was very thin, only a few millimeters thick. Yet, it was mostly thanks to this paperlike hull that Tang Yue could survive. The hull guaranteed Kunlun Station¡¯s airtightness and shielded most radiation. It isted the harsh Martian environment outside, propping up the scientific research station with the aluminum alloy frame underneath its skin. The hull¡¯s inner lining was made of thermal instion and airtight foam. If any dismantling was necessary, everything needed to be dismantled, leaving nothing untouched. ¡°The batteries, OGS cab, and the water tank. These are the worst of all.¡± Tang Yue stood far away in the desert with a starry sky over his head. The sky had already darkened after simting an entire day. Time flew quickly with each failure. ¡°How do we ensure that nothing bad happens to them?¡± Tomcat sat in its chair. ¡°The batteries and OGS cab are rtively simple. After cutting the power, we will wrap them up and ce them inside the garage... As for the water tank, it¡¯s best we dismantle it ahead of time and freeze it by cing it outside. Once it¡¯s frozen into a block of ice, we don¡¯t have to worry about it leaking. ¡°The water tank won¡¯t crack, right?¡± ¡°The water tank has plenty of excess space inside. It will be fine,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°In the past, Kunlun Station would be shut down in between missions, so the excess water in the tank would remain in a frozen state. ¡°Then the tomatoes I¡¯ve grown probably won¡¯t live.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very sorry,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We¡¯ll have difficulty surviving ourselves, so there¡¯s no way we can find a way of protecting them. nts are just too fragile. Once they leave the protection of Kunlun Station, they will die. You can only give them have a meaningful death. ¡°Cut them up and let them rot to be fertilizer. Let them provide nutrients for newborn seeds. I believe they will agree to it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no world for the old,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Have you heard of the Japanese legend, Obasuteyama?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Legend has it that in a mountain vige in Japan¡¯s Nagano Prefecture that due to poverty, it cannot support that many people. Aged vigers will be taken to the mountainside after their seventieth birthday and abandoned,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°Elderly women would be carried up the mountain by their children on a cold winter day, then left to die. That¡¯s also why the mountain is called Obasuteyama, literally ¡®the mountain for abandoning grandmother.¡¯¡± ¡°For real?¡± Tang Yue was rmed. He imagined that such an act in China which extolled the need for filial piety would be universally condemned. ¡°In situations when resources for survival are limited, systematically abandoning the old and weak is a necessary measure that a group has to take,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Think about it. In the legend of Obasuteyama, most of the people are aged. They might volunteer to head up the mountain, leaving the resources they took up for newborn children. And when the children grow old, they too will volunteer to head up the mountain to open up a spot for the next generation.¡± Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°What a tragic story.¡± He didn¡¯t know if this was an extreme cold or extreme warming act, whether it was an act of extreme rationality or extreme emotion. ¡°After this batch of tomatoes dies, the next batch of tomatoes will be born,¡± Tomcat said softly. ¡°Every life is precious; only life can bring about life.¡± Tang Yue slumped down on the ground, looking at the dark, distant desert. The resplendent Milky Way was rising above a sand dune, spanning across the entire horizon. The ancients called it a road of milk, but Tang Yue felt that it was more like an irregr rift in the pitch-ck sky. It was like a bottomless abyss where countless stardust fell. It was very difficult to see such a starry sky on Earth. This made Tang Yue recall bonfire night back in Lop Nur. He and Old Wang had burned dried desert por and camelthorn and huddled around it for warmth. Based on Tomcat¡¯s exnation, the night sky on Mars was very simr to Earth, but there were minute differences. For example, Mars¡¯s celestial sphere didn¡¯t have Pris forever hanging north. Tang Yue nced at the temperature reading. It was ¨C20¡ãC. Tomcat had opened the airlock¡¯s hatch and walked out as well. In the cold, thin air, it shook its fur. It walked to Tang Yue¡¯s side andy down on the sand, resting on its paw and crossing its hind leg. ¡°Is the test done?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°The eighteenth simtion. I seeded in getting Orion II to descend to 3,700 meters.¡± Tomcat nced into the sky. ¡°Unfortunately, the workstation went on strike. I¡¯m restarting it.¡± ¡°Sess is at hand?¡± ¡°Almost.¡± Tomcat leisurely shook its hind leg. ¡°I¡¯vebed Orion¡¯s control program again and fixed 873 bugs. We will let itnd sessfully during tomorrow¡¯s simtion.¡± ¡°How much confidence do you have?¡± Tomcat gestured at the Milky Way. ¡°Then, let¡¯s wish us luck.¡± Tang Yue raised his fist. ¡°May we have good luck.¡± Tomcat fist-bumped him. Tang Yuey down as well, leaning against Tomcat, using his arm to prop up his head. He subconsciously tried to search for where Earth once was, but it was still a deep, empty space. ¡°Do you know what that star is?¡± Tomcat raised a w into the night sky. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡± ¡°You have probably been told before.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve forgotten.¡± Tang Yue was thick-skinned. ¡°I might have, but you need to know how long it has been. I¡¯ve long forgotten everything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Ursa Minor, or the Little Bear constetion. That dipper-like star is Alpha Ursae Minoris. It¡¯s moremonly known on Earth as Pris.¡± Tomcat pointed into the sky and said their names one after another. ¡°The constetions on Earth can also be seen on Mars. This big cross is Cygnus. The very bright star is Deneb, and next to it is the Cephus constetion. There¡¯s also Aquarius...¡± Mars didn¡¯t have any light pollution or bright moons. Even the atmosphere was very thin, so on a clear night, the stars appeared extremely bright. Tang Yue could see more than three thousand stars simply with his naked eye. It felt as though the gods had poured diamonds onto velvet that emitted dazzling glimmers. ¡°Penny for your thoughts?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°This world is beautiful,¡± Tang Yue said, ¡°but it¡¯s also very cold and harsh.¡± Chapter 167: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Ten Thousand Meters

Chapter 167: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Ten Thousand Meters

The next day. The twentieth simtion test. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, I¡¯m in position.¡± Mai Dong donned an EVA suit and sat back on the Eagle¡¯s Commander seat. She buckled her seatbelt and lowered thender¡¯s protective shutters. ¡°This is Kunlun Station. Roger that,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Ensure smoothmunications. ¡°Orion II¡¯sputer offline. ¡°Atmospheric modelingplete. Lander fluid dynamic modelingplete. Navigational errors corrected. ¡°Engaging EDL mode. GNC is a GO. Guidance control strategy installed. GNC data will be updated three minutes prior to atmospheric entry. Radial height of 125,000 meters. ¡°COMM link for atmospheric entry is a go. UHF signal is a go. X-ray signal is a go.¡± Tomcat sat in front of a desk with monitors and keyboards circling it. It was using all its limbs as it sat with its buttocks nted. The chair in front of it had a keyboard meant for its hind legs. Tomcat began a massive showcase of yoga as it easily typed on the keyboards. ¡°IMU is a go. T-minus five minutes until despinmand is issued.¡± ¡°Mass bnced, flight-angle path adjusted. Angle of attack adjusted. ¨C5¡ã.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat¡¯s voices sounded one after another on Kunlun Station. In Tomcat¡¯s words, there was a high chance for the test¡¯s sess. It had spent plenty of time debugging the Orion II¡¯s control program and hadn¡¯t rested for days¡ªall to ensure that every detail was wless. Theycked the conditions to do an actual physical simtion, so they could only rely on virtual software simtions. Tomcat had set the harshest test environment to ensure that Orion II had enough redundancy for error. Tomcat had done its best, and it was unsure how it could do any better if it failed again. The cat and man believed that since it was possible in theory, it meant that there was a possibility of sess. No matter how low the probability, even if it were a million in one, as long as it existed, no one was going to stop them from repeating the trials and test for errors to approach the limits. No matter how low the probability was, there was a limit to it. But human subjectivity was infinite. This was a belief of Marx. Tomcat¡¯s critique was that he was only partially correct. This was because a cat¡¯s subjectivity was also infinite. ¡°Inertial coordinates established. Kunlun Station is a go. Orion II systems all good. Raptor-01, 03, 05, 07, and 09 are GREEN. Ready tounch. All stations on standby¡ª¡± Tang Yue looked up and looked across the monitors at Tomcat. Tomcat had its head buried in between the monitors, slowly nodding when it noticed Tang Yue¡¯s gaze. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± The girl nodded. Tomcat and Tang Yue stood on two ends of the table as they stared at the monitor screens. Tang Yue raised four fingers as he did a silent countdown. Four! Tomcat raised three ws. Three! Tang Yue raised his index finger and middle finger to his head as he roared inwardly. Two! Tomcat raised its deww. One! Ignition! Commencing 745-second countdown! Orion II, a spacecraft that shuttled between Earth and Mars was entering the simted atmosphere for the twentieth time! The five Raptor engines ignited as mes spewed out, streaking a de-like mark in pitch-ck space. The intense vibrations passed through the fuel tanks¡¯ hull as Orion II¡¯s massive body began to decelerate. It followed a predetermined flight trajectory in its descent as the truss suffered from immense stress. Thankfully, theputer¡¯s control was precise enough, preventing its medial axis from deviating from the preset angle. Gravity and the engine¡¯s thrust were directed onto the spacecraft longitudinally which was a tremendous challenge for its structural integrity. With the spacecraft being so thin and long, it could easily snap in an extremely weak gravitational field. Therefore, Tomcat needed to have all the forces applied along the vertical axis. It could withstandpression, but not shear forces. Orion II¡¯sputer began sending alerts. All the sensors on the spacecraft were reporting the situation the force had on them. In the simtion, these numbers were provided by Kunlun Station¡¯s workstation. Tomcat had tried to make it as realistic as possible so that the descent would also encounter simr situations. In Tang Yue¡¯s words, Orion II was in a critical condition. It couldn¡¯t suffer any disturbance, and no one was to touch it. Otherwise, the hanging strand of hair that hung a heavy load would snap. ¡°118,774.6 meters above sea level. 4727 m/s! ¡°115,054.9 meters above sea level. 4591 m/s!¡± ¡°106932.2 meters above sea level. 4378 m/s!¡± Tang Yue put his hands on the table. He could no longer sit, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was stare intently at the spacecraft¡¯s conditions. Tomcat had told him that this was the simtion that held the greatest hope as it had designed a wless program. There weren¡¯t any problems to be found. Hence, if the test were to fail again, there was nothing Tomcat could do. Orion II¡¯s altitude dropped rapidly and nearly every sensor was sounding an rm. The forces directed on the sensors had already far exceeded the design limit. ¡°Atmospheric density raising. Take note of turbulence¡ªexcellent! Excellent! RCS stabilized. The situation is within expectations!¡± Tomcat pumped its paw. ¡°Steady... Steady, you b*stard...¡± Orion II needed to decelerate sufficiently before the atmospheric density rapidly rose. Otherwise, the intense adiabaticpressions would destroy the spacecraft. ¡°97,335.4 meters above sea level. 3945 m/s!¡± Tomcat stared at the temperature and pressure sensors. The temperature had already reached 300¡ãC, and certainponents that weren¡¯t heat-resistant had begun melting. However, they were still within the spacecraft¡¯s tolerance limits. In the workstation-created world of math and code, Orion II was stably descending. ¡°GNC numbers have been updated. Mass bnced. Flight-path angle adjusted!¡± ¡°Code 1027 alert! ¡°Code 1160 alert!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s forehead was covered with cold sweat. He and Tomcat were powerless at changing Orion II¡¯s fate. Its survival was in its hands. He and Tomcat watched as the spacecraft descended tens of thousands of meters. Even though the atmospheric entry to thending didn¡¯t take more than twelve minutes, every second was excruciating for Tang Yue. He was afraid that theputer would produce a problem the very next second, telling him that the spacecraft had crashed. Orion II descended with a zing trail. With almost zero oxygen in the Martian atmosphere, the material that was emitting light was, in fact, the melting material on the spacecraft¡¯s hull. There was constantly paint orponents being ripped apart due to the intense tremors, but thankfully, that didn¡¯t affect the spacecraft¡¯s stability. The air waspressed into a shockwave under the high speeds, and during the descent, this sma body would screen away electromaic waves, cking out anymunication. It was called the ckout Problem, but as Orion II¡¯s speed was strictly controlled, the ckout wasn¡¯t anything serious. ¡°35,783 meters above sea level. All stations, be on standby. Entering high heat zone.¡± At an altitude of about 30,000 meters, Orion II would experience a danger zone. At this height, the spacecraft¡¯s external temperature reached its peak. In the past ten or so simtions, half of them had failed at this stage. The structure and materials differed across Orion II. Some parts of the dynamic module could withstand more than 2000¡ãC, but themand module could only withstand 400¡ãC. In such a situation, the weakest link decided life and death. Once Orion II¡¯smand module exceeded 400¡ãC, it would immediately burst into mes and be destroyed. ¡°Altitude of 32,580 meters,¡± Tomcat reported. ¡°Temperature sensor alert. The heat dissipation of theputer is abnormal.¡± Tang Yue sounded out. ¡°The external temperature is at 332¡ãC. ¡°Altitude of 31,932 meters. ¡°355¡ãC. ¡°Altitude of 31,541 meters. ¡°362¡ãC. ¡°Altitude of 30,274 meters! ¡°375¡ãC!¡± Orion II passed through the atmosphere, despite the hot airflow, while its roaring engine tried its best to decelerate. ¡°Altitude of 29,289 meters! ¡°388¡ãC! ¡°393¡ãC! ¡°395¡ãC!¡± The temperature sensor¡¯s numbers were rising sharply. ¡°398¡ãC! ¡°400¡ãC!¡± The temperature had reached the critical temperature as it touched a red threshold. Tang Yue¡¯s heart mped up. ¡°Orion II has sessfully decelerated and has exited the high heat zone!¡± Tomcat¡¯s words were one second dyed as the cat and man held their breaths. Kunlun Station fell into a deep silence as the monitor¡¯s symbols blinked rhythmically. Even though the spacecraft had exited the high heat zone, the temperature had reached its limit. Disaster could be brewing in that silence, and no one knew what kind of structural changes like melting or embrittlement could happen. Such changes could result in disintegration, and no one knew if Orion II would encounter any problems, or have an alert pop up the very next second about a crash. Tang Yue clenched his fists. Tomcat pressed down on its earpiece. Half a minuteter. There weren¡¯t any alerts or crashes. Tang Yue and Tomcat watched as the temperature rapidly dropped while Orion II¡¯s self-checks reported that everything was normal. The spacecraftnded stably. ¡°Orion is descending... It¡¯s descending! It survived! It survived! Tang Yue got up and pressed down on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders in excitement. As he looked into the pair of cat eyes, heughed. ¡°Hahahaha! That baby survived!¡± 300 seconds into the atmospheric entry. Orion II had sessfully crossed the ten-thousand-meter barrier. Chapter 168: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, You’re Still Alive

Chapter 168: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, You¡¯re Still Alive

Orion II had finally broken past the ten-thousand-meter barrier. It had endured the most dangerous stage and its eternal temperature was dropping. The engine¡¯s thrust was still working normally, and the situation was basically stable. Theputer began guiding the various modules on the spacecraft as it worked in a prescribed order. Tomcat had said that he had the confidence of the Milky Way for this simtion. Based on the current situation, it really had it in the bag. The workstation began whirring away as doing a full simtion of Orion II pushed it to its limits. The chassis was already scalding to the touch, so much so that Tang Yue had to get some ice to cool it down. ¡°IMU data refreshed. Radio altimeter normal. Orion II passing through the ninth waypoint. Landing ellipse set at 30 ¡Á 30km. Landing altitude predicted at 1.3 km.¡± ¡°Mass bnced, flight-angle path adjusted. Throttle control, normal.¡± ¡°Dynamic pressure: 880 Pa!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart tensed up again. He watched as Orion II¡¯s altitude gradually dropped as it was poised to enter thending stage. His heartbeat raced involuntarily as the massive spacecraft, with a mass of hundreds of tonnes, exceeded human imagination. It plunged down from an orbit of more than a hundred kilometers, passing through the ckout and mes, oveing one fatal obstacle after another. If there was any trip that was so close yet so far, it would be the Orion II¡¯snding. He, Tomcat, and Mai Dong had been working so hard for this very moment. ¡°Altitude of 6457.3 meters. ¡°Altitude of 5107.9 meters. ¡°Altitude of 4826.0 meters.¡± Tomcat would report on the Orion II¡¯s situation at periodic intervals. The altitude was rapidly changing as Orion II reached uniform speed. Its speed had decreased to less than 100 m/s. ¡°Altitude of 3989.4 meters.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was deep and steady. Tang Yue sat in his chair, palms covered in sweat. The closer they were to sess, the more nervous he became. Tang Yue could no longer face staring at the monitor¡¯s numbers. Those changing numbers had already lost meaning to him. His mind was filled with prayers that the test would seed. Tang Yue had the Orion II model erected beside him. He sped it with both hands and muttered, ¡°God, please throw a six.¡± Orion II¡¯s altitude entered the final thousand meters. It was in the final stage of the descent, thending process. There was little left of the fuel in the propent tanks. The Raptor 10D engine rockets were fuel-guzzling beasts¡ªthe five engines burned away 300 gallons of fuel every second. Theputer adjusted the rocket¡¯s flux and increased the thrust as Orion IImenced a final deceleration. It was moving at 87 m/s and, before thending, needed to reduce its speed to zero. ¡°Miss Mai Dong!¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°Roger that,¡± Mai Dong replied. She lifted her wrist to look at the time. It was 720 seconds after the atmospheric entry. ording to the n, she needed to be released from Orion II at the 745-second mark. Tomcat¡¯s n was extremely urate, and every second was on point. The Eaglender was bound with airbags and attached to the central module of Orion II. Thender¡¯s release limit at rest was two hundred meters. In other words, being released at any height below two hundred meters ensured that the airbags could protect Mai Dong. But to Tang Yue and Tomcat, two hundred meters was too risky. The most ideal and safest height was thirty-five meters. This was because thender¡¯s docking mechanism was thirty-five meters from the spacecraft¡¯s bottom. This also meant that Orion II needed to hover at almost zero altitude before thender could be released for a safending. The dismantled Eagle was a twelve-tonne behemoth. Even under Mars¡¯s gravitational field, it was still something akin to five tonnes. To smash down from a height of two hundred meters involved too many unpredictableplications. Besides, thender¡¯s airbags had suffered a catharsis of 400¡ãC. Tomcat and Tang Yue were worried that the airbags¡¯ robustness might have decreased drastically. The lower the release happened, the better. Mai Dong looked at the time on her wristwatch. 740 seconds. Orion II was a hundred and twenty meters off the ground. ¡°GNC system normal. Radio altimeter normal. UHFms link normal. X-rayms link normal. Orion II¡¯snding speed at 20 m/s. Entering final stage ofnding sequence. Arriving at predeterminednding point! Miss Mai Dong, stand by. Commence release countdown!¡± 741 seconds. Orion II was a hundred meters off the ground. ¡°Target attitude stable. RCS normal. Altitude of 100 meters. There are weak side winds. Angle of attack has been rebnced!¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue gathered in front of the same monitor. The workstation had already summarized all the data here. Many sensors were sounding alerts as Orion II was already worn out by the time it had ovee all the obstacles to reach this point. It was like a warrior that was covered in wounds after passing through a firing line. It was on its final legs. The propent tank had less than 5% of its fuel left and could onlyst another five seconds. 742 seconds. Orion II was eighty meters off the ground. ¡°Code 1260 alert! ¡°Code 1280 alert! ¡°Code 1320 alert!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat tightened their grip at the same time. It didn¡¯t matter how many alerts appeared. Orion II¡¯s historic mission was on the brink ofpletion. It just needed to survive another three seconds and it would enter the annals of history in glory. It would be one of the greatest and most legendary spacecraft in the world, to be remembered by human civilization and all of the Universe. 743 seconds. Orion II was sixty meters off the ground. 744 seconds. Orion II was twenty meters off the ground. 745 seconds. The monitor showed the spacecraft¡¯s symbol slowly make contact with the ground. ¡°Zero altitude!¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue roared in unison. ¡°Now¡ªrelease!¡± Mai Dong used all her strength as she pulled the handle beneath the Commander¡¯s seat. The steel wire triggered a signal as the pyrotechnics in the docking mechanism exploded! The weak explosion sent it escaping the crashing Orion II as the Eagle followed a downward parabolic trajectory. Orion II was to stay in midair for the final second until all its propent had been expended, killing the engine. It was like a mother that had protected her child in her embrace, passing through all kinds of deadly obstacles before gently releasing her arms when they arrived at the shore. Thender mmed heavily into the Martian desert before bouncing up. It bounced far away as the airbags provided good protection. Theypressed upon contact with the ground, absorbing the kic energy from the collision. Theputer-guided the Raptor rocket¡¯s nozzles to turn directions the moment before all the fuel was expended, causing Orion II¡¯s massive body to topple in the opposite direction as thender. ¡°SAFE LANDING.¡± A window popped up on all the monitors. The simtion had ended. Tang Yue took a step back as he slumped into his chair. He was drained and was in a daze. ¡°We seeded.¡± ¡°Yes, we did it.¡± Tomcat turned its head around and smiled. ¡°We really did it.¡± Tang Yue looked up at Kunlun Station¡¯s white ceiling. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted tough or cry, nor did he know what to say. His eyes turned red as he had wished to get up to hug Tomcat, but his limbs werecking the strength. All he could do was mutter, ¡°We seeded.¡± They had finally seeded. Lady Luck had finally thrown them a six. Mai Dong silently sat in thender¡¯s Commander chair, blinked and asked softly, ¡°Am I still alive?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still alive. Lass, you¡¯re still alive.¡± Chapter 169: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Burning Whale

Chapter 169: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Burning Whale

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The simtion had finally seeded. When it came to sess, it was either having no sess or having infinite sesses. The twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth tests, were all sessful. Tang Yue had been unlucky for so long, and finally, they were having their luck turn for the better. Lady Luck had smiled at them, repeatedly rolling out a six. Tomcat and Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief. They finally felt a little confident. If Orion II couldnd safely under Tomcat¡¯s harshest of conditions, then it had a rather high chance of seeding for the atmospheric entry. Tomcat was no doubt an extremely strict invigtor. It even required Orion II tond in a sandstorm, and thankfully, thetter didn¡¯t let it down and sessfully brought the Eagle to an altitude of a hundred meters. Towards the end, Tomcat would even confidently hit itself in the chest to say that there was a hundred percent chance that Orion II¡¯snding would be sessful... Tang Yue lunged forward and stopped it from speaking. He absolutely couldn¡¯t allow for the cat to randomly raise any gs. ¡°What other work is there left to do?¡± Mai Dong was engaging in EVA work, andpleting a spacewalk that was rather far from the core module. She was headed for the Orion II¡¯s dynamic module to modify its wiring. ¡°Of course, Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat moved the mouse and swept its gaze onto the schematics. ¡°Take note. Circuit C523, which is also that red line, shouldn¡¯t be touched... Hmm, yes. Next, we will need to raise Orion II¡¯snding precision. Orion isn¡¯t designed with the ability for atmospheric entry; therefore, itcks the sensors needed fornding as a descent imager, Doppler altimeter, orser radar. At present, we are only using an IMU and a radio altimeter to guide the spacecraft tond within a range of thirty kilometers. ¡°It also means that Orion II mightnd anywhere within a radius of thirty kilometers of Kunlun Station. This is toorge an area, making it inconvenient to do a search and rescue,¡± Tomcat leisurely crossed its hind leg as it spun its hind paw. Just as it said, Orion II¡¯s descent was a controlled crash. The danger involved was immense, and they couldn¡¯t guarantee that no ident would happen. Therefore, it was best if they could rescue her as quickly as possible. The closer Orion II crashed to Kunlun Station, the faster Tomcat could find Mai Dong and rescue her. Mai Dong wouldn¡¯t be bringing anything along with her, and the Eagle was just an empty shell. Her only life support system would be the EVA suit she wore. The Z-9 pressurized EVA suit was different from the Radiant Armor meant for surface operations. Z-9 EVA suits were meant for work in zero gravity environments. It was a lot heavier and bulkier than the Radiant Armor. The Z-9 EVA suit didn¡¯t allow for more than eight hours of EVA work. Within eight hours, Tomcat had to find Mai Dong. Under ideal conditions, Tomcat hoped that Orion II wouldnd at Kunlun Station¡¯s doorstep, with Tang Yue and it just needed to walk five hundred meters to carry the girl out from thender. ¡°Every meter counts. After all, Mars Wanderer is slow.¡± Tang Yue sat by the side as he wrote ¡°First Industrial Revolution and Societal Development.¡± ¡°Lass, you have to wear a bit more clothes in the EVA suit. Kunlun Station doesn¡¯t have any additional female clothes. Of course, you can wear my clothes if you don¡¯t mind... Tomcat, is there really no way to bring the food to the space station down?¡± Tomcat shot a nce at Tang Yue and shrugged. ¡°Can¡¯t we buy a ticket for thepressed biscuits to hang onto the hull?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t be able to survive the high heat zone. They will burn,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, next up is Circuits D336, D337, and D452. Follow thebels on the schematics. Make sure not to mistake them.¡± Tang Yue truly found it a pity for the resources on the space station. With survival resourcescking on the Martian desert, every piece of biscuit was infinitely valuable. However, Mai Dong¡¯s safety was also infinitely important. Mai Dong was infinitely more valuable than the biscuits. ¡°Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, when do we official descend?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s wait until all preparations are made. We shouldn¡¯t rush such matters,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°We need to do it under perfect conditions for the best results. There is no repeating a real battle.¡± Ever since the simtion achieved sess, Tang Yue felt as if he was on cloud nine as though a weight had been lifted off his chest. His anxiety was mostly relieved and he walked with a bounce. Even when he was writing an insipid historical treatise of the ¡°First Industrial Revolution and Societal Development,¡± he couldn¡¯t help but wear a smile. Mai Dong would asionally fantasize about her life after heading down. She didn¡¯t have to live alone in the cramped space station any longer. Being able to step on hard, solid ground was like a dream to Mai Dong. She had dreamed of endless ins multiple times and towering mountains that reached high up into the clouds, and the horizon that stood at the ends of the world. However, all she faced when she woke up were the repressive cabin walls and control panels. The stark difference was enough to drive her mad. Even though two people would drastically reduce the resources in Kunlun Station, it was better than dying alone. All men must die. There was more courage facing it together than alone. Mai Dong didn¡¯t wish to ask how much water Kunlun Station had left, nor did she ask how much food it had. She and Tang Yue had consciously or unconsciously avoided the topic. It wasn¡¯t because death was a taboo, but that they didn¡¯t wish to make it something that had to be shared. ¡°I believe we should free up a room for Miss Mai Dong. From today, shouldn¡¯t the Hab have a curtain hung up to partition the area? After all, we need to respect thedy¡¯s privacy...¡± As Kunlun Station¡¯s butler, Tomcat was already preparing to wee Mai Dong. ¡°Also, Tang Yue, you can¡¯t run around naked once Miss Mai Donges down.¡± Kunlun Station was designed to amodate six people. There were six cabins, but they weren¡¯t upied most of the time. In past Marsnding missions, there would often be team members who remained in the space station. Now, all the other cabins had been used by Tomcat and Tang Yue as storerooms. Now that Mai Dong wasing down, they needed to free up space for her. ¡°First, I need to correct your mistake. I¡¯ve never run around naked in Kunlun Station. I wear boxers! In addition, there are only two humans left in the whole Universe.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°Is there a need to worry about such things?¡± ¡°I believe that human character, values, morals, and shame are the base rock of human society. By having it carried out to the very end, means that human civilization can continue on to the final moment,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Of course, there aren¡¯t any rules that you have to abide by, and you can abandon them all. Actually, as long as you don¡¯t twirl around a particr organ of yours, I have zero objections.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m still an ordinary person, alright? Why do you make it sound like I¡¯m an immoral person? I¡¯m someone who received an advanced education, and thanks to more than a decade of education from school and society, I have a very normal character that remains impregnable.¡± ¡°People with normal characters were gone the moment Earth vanished,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You¡¯re just crazy.¡± ... That very night. Tomcat continued working as Tang Yue got some rest. He could finally sleep now his body and mind were rxed. But for some unknown reason, Tang Yue had the same nightmare again. He dreamed that Orion II would plummet amidst mes in a lead-gray sky. Mai Dong¡¯s signal would vanish amidst static and he and Tomcat would begin a desperate pursuit in Mars Wanderer, but fail to catch up to her. It was as though the spacecraft had plummeted to the ends of the world. Tang Yue clearly remembered his limbs cramping up as he was unable to move. He wanted to shout out Mai Dong¡¯s name but was unable to make a sound. All he could do was helplessly watch as the spacecraft¡¯s massive, warped body slowlynded beneath the horizon like a dead whale. However, this whale was covered in mes as hot gases inundated him. Before Tang Yue could jolt awake from his nightmare, he was pped awake. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of bright cat eyes in the darkness. Tang Yue was just about to grumble about the darn cat¡¯s disturbance for no good reason when he was stunned by the stern look in Tomcat¡¯s eyes. He reeled in his stupor for a long while before asking, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tomcat stood by Tang Yue¡¯s bed and enunciated each and every word. ¡°The cmity circle has shrunk.¡± Chapter 170: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Zero

Chapter 170: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Zero

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue put on his clothes, got out of bed, and followed Tomcat into the Hab. His mind was nearly nk. The workstation had given a prediction. After days of constant observation and calctions, it had already narrowed down Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai 1¡¯snding point to a circle that measured 600 km ¡Á 600 km. It was a lot more precise than the massive ellipse that covered 6,000 kilometers. Tomcat sat in the chair and turned the monitor around. It still showed the familiar map of Mars with a red circle over it. It covered an area in the northern hemisphere near the equator like a nuclear strike warning. However, this was a lot more severe than a nuclear strike. This circle represented the area where 5.2 trillion atomic bombs would explode simultaneously. Tang Yue found his lips parched as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva. He turned around to pour himself a cup of water and downed it immediately. To Tang Yue, this red circle was a seal of doom imprinted by Death on the map. ¡°These are the results of thetest predictions. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I willnd somewhere within this region. At its closest, it will be eight hundred kilometers from Kunlun Station, and at its farthest thirteen hundred kilometers,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Unfortunately... the cmity circle has shrunk right above us.¡± Tang Yue held his forehead, momentarily at a loss for words. Thest prediction gave them a fifty percent chance of survival. This was a very high chance of survival¡ªreally, really high. Compared with the Eagle¡¯s probability of a sessful docking being less than 5% and how Orion II¡¯s safending was 0.001% or even lower, this was a lot higher. However, Lady Luck didn¡¯t cast a six again. Based on Tomcat¡¯s calctions, theet needed tond somewhere more than 2,500 kilometers away from Kunlun Station for thetter to survive. But now, theputer¡¯s predictions was only a distance of 800¨C1,300 kilometers. At this distance, the disaster brought about by theet was no longer just a quake. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai 1 was a behemoth with a diameter of 30 kilometers. Its impact wouldpletely change the face of Syrtis Major num and Isidis nitia. It would wipe the two areas out of existence on maps. Dismantling Kunlun Station and reducing it down to its elements, to roll with the punches, and let it be strong, was now meaningless. This was akin to strictly abiding by the advice listed in the National Primary and Secondary School Students Safety Education Handbook only to have the nuclear bombnd a hundred meters away from you. At such short distances, the impact¡¯s strength would obliterate everything. ¡°What are the chances of survival?¡± Tang Yue asked with a hoarse voice. ¡°Zero.¡± It was rare for Tomcat to answer in such a straightforward manner. It wasn¡¯t ¡°close to zero,¡± or ¡°probably zero,¡± but ¡°zero.¡± ¡°Is there nothing else that can be done?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tomcat shook its head. Even if theet were tond at the farthest predicted spot, it would still be 1,300 kilometers from Kunlun Station. There was still another 1,200 kilometers to be out of reach of the disaster. The Radiant Armor could only work for eight hours, and the Mars Wanderer could only travel thirty kilometers a day. Tang Yue had no means to make a long-distance trip from Kunlun Station. ¡°Then, what about digging in to hide...¡± Tang Yue hoped that he could still put up a fight. Tomcat silently shook its head. It was impossible for anyone to imagine what kind of disaster Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I would bring. In fact, any forces that humanity could muster in front of such a cmity would be puny. The only thing that could save them was distance, and as long as they were far enough, the energy released from the impact would be borne by Mars itself. Beyond the threshold, Mars itself was the strongest shield; otherwise, all human effort was nothing but a joke. Tang Yue fell silent as he reached his hands into his hair and yanked at their roots. ¡°Thatss doesn¡¯t know yet, right?¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°I came looking for you the moment the predictions were out.¡± Tang Yue looked down at his hands and feet. They still worked normally, so he wasn¡¯t having a dream. ¡°Tang Yue...¡± Tang Yue raised his hand to stop Tomcat from speaking. ¡°I need some time alone. I need to digest this.¡± Tomcat nodded and sat on the chair, looking at the young man bend his back and hold his head, taking deep, hard breaths. Tang Yue rubbed his temples with his thumbs, wishing to jolt his frozen brain into working again. ¡°Don¡¯t let here down,¡± Tang Yue whispered. ¡°Halt the descent project.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°The descent project will be halted.¡± ¡°Is there any other way to save thatss¡¯s life?¡± ¡°While designing the descent control system, I had additionally written a flight program for her to escape Mars orbit and begin orbiting the Sun,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Orion II still has enough propent, allowing it to avoid the impact from theet, but Miss Mai Dong has overruled this choice.¡± ¡°I would¡¯ve have objected to it if I were in her shoes,¡± Tang Yue said. To escape Martian orbit and enter the vast Sr System would turn Mai Dong into a lonely wanderer in the future. It would be impossible for her to encounter any others for the rest of her life, and she would die in despair in the infinite void. It was better to die from the impact of theet than living like that.¡± ¡°When do you n on telling Miss Mai Dong about this?¡± ¡°When day breaks.¡± Tang Yue let out a long sigh and revealed a bitter smile that looked worse than crying. ¡°I never expected that human civilization, that hassted tens of thousands of years, would end with me.¡± ¡°Do you find death a form of release?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Once youpletely ept it and acknowledge its existence, then facing it isn¡¯t actually that difficult,¡± Tang Yue said as he extended his hand out to Tomcat. ¡°Ever since Earth vanished, haven¡¯t I always been struggling on the borders of death? To me, it¡¯s like an old friend... Buddy ol¡¯ Pal, our work together will soon be ending. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.¡± Tomcat went over and shook Tang Yue¡¯s hand before hugging him tightly. ¡°It was my pleasure working with you, Tang Yue. Likewise with Miss Mai Dong. I had nned to say this when we were back on Earth... but now, we will all be dying.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue stroked Tomcat¡¯s protruded furry ears. ¡°The only one dying is me, not us.¡± Tomcat was taken aback, confused as to what he meant. Tang Yue pushed down on its shoulders and squatted down. He then looked deep into Tomcat¡¯s eyes. ¡°Tomcat, leave this ce! Take the sr panels. Take everything you need. Take the Mars Wanderer with you. Leave this ce immediately! The faster you go, the better. The further you go, the better. Theet still has another forty days or so before it will hit Mars. The Wanderer can travel thirty kilometers a day. Forty days is enough for you to escape theet¡¯s impact! You still have a chance of surviving!¡± Chapter 171: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Our Eyes

Chapter 171: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, Our Eyes

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat was stunned. However, it immediately understood what Tang Yue meant. The location of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s impact was at most 1,400 kilometers from Kunlun Station. Tang Yue was doomed, but Tomcat still had a chance of survival. Tomcat didn¡¯t need a life support system or oxygen, neither did it need food or water. It could travel light, taking along with it sr panels and the RTG as it drove away from Kunlun Station. Theet wouldnd east of Kunlun Station, and if Tomcat were to drive west and travel thirty kilometers a day, it would be a thousand kilometers away within a month. ¡°Leave with me!¡± Tomcat grabbed Tang Yue¡¯s hand. Tang Yue shook his head with a wry smile. ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡± Tang Yue knew very well that if Tomcat took him with it, it would have to waste time modifying the Mars Wanderer, adding a life support system to it. To do so meant dismantling the OGS and taking alongrge amounts of resources and replenishments. Just the thousand plus liters of water in Kunlun Station had a mass of a ton. It was impossible to move it long distances. By driving alone, Tomcat still had a chance of escaping the cmity circle before theet hit. If the two were to leave together, neither of them could survive. Tang Yue was destined never to be able to leave Kunlun Station. He didn¡¯t have the ability to survive outside¡ªa limitation of Earthlings. ¡°Take all you need and leave,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Buddy ol¡¯ Pal, you¡¯ve already tried your best. You can¡¯t save me or Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue stroked Tomcat¡¯s head, ruffling its ears. To be honest, ruffling a cat¡¯s ears was rather stress-relieving. However, there wasn¡¯t much chance of doing that in the future. ¡°Let me think of another solution... Let me think of another solution.¡± Tomcat leaned its forehead on Tang Yue¡¯s body as it closed its eyes and whispered. Tang Yue didn¡¯t say a word as he ced his hand on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders. Thetter¡¯s voice slowly softened. It was thinking¡ªit had been constantly thinking. From the moment Kunlun Station¡¯sputer produced the oue, Tomcat had been desperately thinking of solutions, but all the ideas it hade up with were dismissed by it. All of the preparations capable by humanity were nothing but a joke in front of the level of energy released for such a hugeet¡¯s impact. How could a nest built by ants be able to withstand the thrashing of a tsunami? Tomcat, who always had a n B, was out of ideas. In front of that massive celestial body spanning thirty kilometers across, Tomcat could do nothing. There was a sense of helplessness about watching the world crumble before you. There wasn¡¯t any n B this time. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Tomcat closed its eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t save you, nor can I save Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue smiled as he crouched down and pressed his hands on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders. ¡°You have already saved me, as well as Mai Dong,¡± Tang Yue said, ¡°Mr. Station Commander.¡± Ever since Earth disappeared, Tang Yue had entertained thoughts of the way he would die. He believed that he would die at some point in time due to theck of food, but Tang Yue had no idea when that would happen. To him, death was a fuzzy concept. Every night, Tang Yue¡¯s sleeping was like sleeping with Death. He had his face stered against Death, but he was unable to make out Death. At this moment, he finally saw what death looked like. Tang Yue still had 37 days left to live. Tomcat took a step back and gloomily sat in its chair. It ced its paws on its hind knees. Tang Yue appeared quite at ease. He sat a few meters in front of Tomcat and stretched his limbs. ¡°Leave. You are the final witness of human civilization. If you have the chance of meeting other intelligent life forms in this Universe, please tell them...¡± Tang Yue turned his head to look out. ¡°That there once existed such a species. They had all the best qualities in the Universe. They loved life, freedom, and peace. They were moral people, rich with curiosity and empathy. They were willing to sacrifice their lives for more sublime goals. Among them were geniuses, great people, believers, and heroes.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice turned soft and ethereal as though he was reciting a poetic song. ¡°Such a species once existed as well. They had all the worst qualities in the Universe. They ostracized one another, engaged in civil wars, and belittled the value of life. They were immoral people, short-sighted and filled with lies. Their hands were covered with blood and would harm others for their own interests. Among them were idiots, devils, criminals, and cowards,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°They were veryplex, very great.¡± Tomcat fell silent. ¡°It¡¯s too long. I can¡¯t remember that.¡± ¡°Then tell them: ET scum, this was once human territory!¡± ¡°What if I don¡¯t bump into them?¡± ¡°Then tell it to the Universe.¡± Tang Yue sat in his chair, looking up as he stretched his limbs. ¡°Only now do I realize why the first homo sapien walked out of the African continent on a warm, starlit night two hundred thousand years ago.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because it wished to tell the Universe that we were once here,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°All development of civilization ultimately wishes to leave their footprints in this river of time, to prove that they once existed. Perhaps it would be the final question that all civilizations have to face near the end.¡± ¡°How do you know that the first homo sapien walked out of Africa on a warm, starlit night?¡± ¡°Because I see it.¡± Tang Yue closed his eyes as his lips pursed into a faint smile. ¡°It jumped across shallow rivers, its eyes as resplendent as the stars in the sky.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t believe that Tang Yue really could see homo sapiens from two hundred thousand years ago. As for jumping across shallow rivers, that was probably Tang Yue¡¯s own imagination. ¡°Do you know, Tomcat? In these two hundred thousand years... Compared to the homo sapien, there are many things about me that are different from it. It ate raw meat and drank blood, draped itself in animal hide, holding wooden clubs, and living in the savanna or forests. As for me, I¡¯m wearing a spacesuit with aputer beside me, sitting in a scientific research station on Mars... But there is still one thing that¡¯s identical,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°That¡¯s our eyes.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. Tang Yue¡¯s words had shocked it. After two hundred thousand long years, the eyes of humans had never experienced any changes. ¡°Even though the path was filled with twists and turns, with obstacles in the way, we are forever looking forward.¡± Tang Yue kept speaking. ¡°It¡¯s forever filled with hope and brightness, as well as an infinite curiosity towards this world.¡± Tomcat followed Tang Yue¡¯s train of thought. If that first homo sapien who had stepped out of Africa really jumped over shallow rivers on a dark, star-filled night, running towards the vast and endless world two hundred thousand years ago, then would it see another pair of eyes a hundred million kilometers away at the end of time when it did its jump towards the future? Tomcat looked up. ¡°What do you n on doing in the next thirty days?¡± ¡°Make every second count and finish all the unfinished work.¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes and said, ¡°Before theet hits, I want to finish the history of humans entering the space age. That way, if some creatures were to receive our radio transmissions, they will be able to see our history and not think of us as savages that didn¡¯t even manage to step off our home.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat sat in the Hab, waiting for the night to pass and for the sun to rise. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat? Good morning.¡± Mai Dong hade online. ¡°You are up early today.¡± Chapter 172: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Don’t Press the Red Button

Chapter 172: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Don¡¯t Press the Red Button

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Eh? Theet willnd... at a distance of... eight hundred kilometers?¡± Tomcat nodded. Tang Yue nodded as well. Mai Dong slowly took a step back and she collided with the wall behind her. It was hard to tell if the look in the girl¡¯s eyes was shock or despair. Her gaze was nk and chaotic, filled with the horror that an animal would produce. Mai Dong nced around but saw nothing. This was because her eyes weren¡¯t able to focus at all. She had woken up early in the morning, excitedly prepared to continue her work and perfect thending ns. Yet, Tang Yue and Tomcat had clubbed her with a piece of news that left her stunned. ¡°What would the oue be?¡± Mai Dong asked cautiously as she held onto thest sliver of hope. ¡°Kunlun Station will bepletely destroyed,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Theet willpletely wipe us off the map. No one will survive.¡± ¡°Are there no other solutions?¡± Mai Dong looked at Tomcat. Tomcat shook its head in silence. ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Mai Dong felt helpless. She knew very well of the consequences if Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit Mars. It was an apocalyptic disaster that could produce a whole new geologic period. ced on Earth, it could destroy all of human civilization. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, Kunlun Station can¡¯t run. The oue is fixed, but Orion II still has a chance. Over the past week, I¡¯ve been writing two sets of flight control programs. They are stored on the spacecraft¡¯sputer. Please connect to the control system on Orion II.¡± Mai Dong followed the instructions and opened her notebookputer and connected to Orion II¡¯sputer via a wireless connection. The map-like interface popped up two buttons¡ªone red, one blue. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, the red button is the button that initiates the atmospheric entry. The blue button sends you out of Martian orbit,¡± Tomcat exined to her. ¡°If you press the red button, the spacecraft will enter preparations to begin the descent. If you press the blue button, the spacecraft¡¯sputer will execute the mission for orbital maneuver and to leave orbit. We will not force or direct you to make any choice. The choice is ultimately in your hands.¡± Mai Dong hugged the notebookputer. The choice Tomcat had given her was easy to understand. There weren¡¯t any lines ofplicated code. There were just two square buttons. The left one was red and the right one was blue. The girl looked up at Tang Yue. Her eyes seemed to say that she wasn¡¯t afraid of death. Tang Yue slightly shook his head and used the same look as a response: I don¡¯t wish for you to die here. For a long time, Mai Dong stared at the two buttons on the screen. The twopletely different paths withpletely different oues were in the form of buttons in front of her. If she pressed the red button, Orion II would enter the Martian atmosphere. But at that moment, Kunlun Station was no longer a sanctuary, but a trap that was on the brink of destruction. If she pressed the blue button, Orion II would stop orbiting and distance itself from theet threat. It wasn¡¯t that Mai Dong had never considered the possibility that Kunlun Station might really suffer destruction. But she¡¯d still rathere down on Orion II from orbit and die together. Big deal. ¡°I choose red...¡± ¡°Leave,¡± Tang Yue interrupted her. ¡°Don¡¯t die here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll die sooner orter.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t die now,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You still have sufficient water and food, enough electricity and fuel. Leave, go as far as you can. Don¡¯te down... Please, don¡¯te down. Coming down will only mean utter despair.¡± ¡°Drifting alone through space would be even more painful.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about loneliness. You won¡¯t be alone. Tomcat will apany you.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat?¡± Mai Dong was somewhat surprised. ¡°There¡¯s still thirty-seven days before theet hits. I will get Tomcat to leave Kunlun Station with the Mars Wanderer at the fastest speed possible. Perhaps it can reach a safe distance before the collision happens and survive. Its ability to survive is far better than ours,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°Therefore, even if you leave Martian orbit, you won¡¯t be drifting alone. There will still be Tomcat apanying you in the Sr System.¡± ¡°Tomcat and the Mars Wanderer will have amunications system with them. The space station will be the ry. If the space station is destroyed, the geosynchronous satellites will be the ry. As long as Orion II remains in the Sr System, Tomcat will be able to contact you and converse with you. It will stay with you to the end.¡± Mai Dong was somewhat in a daze. Tang Yue had already considered everything. He wanted her out of near-orbit and Tomcat to leave Kunlun Station. This was to minimize damages. If she chose to enter the atmosphere, the oue would be that the cat and two humans would perish together about thirty dayster. Yet, at such times, Tang Yue became more rational than anyone. He had discussed many ns with Tomcat and had chosen to maximize the safety of them all. Orion II¡¯s atmospheric entry was already deemed a dead end. Mai Dong¡¯s only chance of survival was to leave. Tomcat and Mai Dong had a chance to survive. Only Tang Yue didn¡¯t. He was trying his best to push for the departure of Orion II from Mars to ensure Tomcat¡¯s and Mai Dong¡¯s lives. From the most rational and objective point of view, this was no doubt the most reasonable n. It was to prevent thest enve of humanity to be wiped out at once by theet. ¡°Theet still has thirty-seven days before hitting... What about you? Tang Yue, what do you n on doing during this period?¡± Mai Dong muttered. ¡°Continue our unfinished work. After all, there¡¯s a ton of material that¡¯s awaiting my editing,¡± Tang Yue said with a smile. ¡°I want to use my limited life to serve the people infinitely.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll head down and help you,¡± Mai Dong blurted. ¡°You can still help me withouting down.¡± Tang Yue rejected the offer. ¡°If I don¡¯t head down, won¡¯t all our hard work for the past few days been for nothing?¡± ¡°That hard work was to ensure your safety. If your life is threatened, we have to abandon it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about the threat!¡± ¡°I care.¡± Tang Yue was very calm. ¡°The ultimate goal for letting you descend was to protect you and not send you to your death. Under the present circumstances,ing down has lost its meaning.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m willing to head down!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes were red. Almost yelling, she said, ¡°I really, really want to head down. I really want to see you and Mr. Cat!¡± It hadn¡¯t been easy for her toe this far. Now that she was just a step short away, how could a time out be given out of the blue? The girl broke down. Tang Yue almost failed to keep his deliberateposure intact, but he still worked hard to maintain his poker face. He didn¡¯t break down or let his emotions get the better of him. Otherwise, the two might end up a sobbing mess across a screen. Then, as they cried, they would agree on the descent. ¡°Life is very precious. Think about those nts of yours. Do your best to live on. Do the best you can to preserve humanity¡¯s inheritance¡ªyou are the most precious inheritance of humanity. Therefore, you must protect yourself. In addition, we still have plenty of work we haven¡¯tpleted. Humanity¡¯s glorious history has yet to fully unfold. We definitely won¡¯t be able to finish it in thirty-odd days. I¡¯ll still have to rely on you and Tomcat to finish it in the future.¡± Tang Yue stared at Mai Dong, trying his best to make his tone sound rxed so show it wasn¡¯t a life-and-death parting. However, he knew that this was forever. There was no way they could meet again. All Tang Yue could do was to give his best well-wishes for the future to thisdy who was about to embark on a distant voyage. ¡°Of course, if you do not wish to leave Mars, you can try to raise the orbital altitude... Tomcat, will raising the orbital altitude avoid theet¡¯s impact?¡± ¡°I did the calctions. There are no guarantees.¡± ¡°Alright then, it¡¯s best you leave Mars. Do note down for any reason.¡± Tang Yue had a stern expression. ¡°Do not press that red button.¡± ¡°You said that... you wouldn¡¯t force me to make any choice.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not forcing you.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he revealed a lonesome look. ¡°I¡¯m just requesting that you do so.¡± Mai Dong really wished to be willful for once. She wanted to ignore whatever Tang Yue was saying and press the red button. She was a youngdy and a girl had the right to be willful. But a darn sense of responsibility bound her hands and feet. Mai Dong looked back and could see the billions of life on Earth, the glorious history of human civilization that spanned thousands of years. She felt that her life didn¡¯t belong to her, but to all of humanity. She had no right to use her life in exchange for something she wanted. If only she were a little more obstinate. If only she were a little fiercer. If only she were a little more unreasonable. That way, she would have immediately pressed the red button the moment she opened the notebookputer. She wanted to head down even if the sky copsed. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat.¡± The girl¡¯s eyes welled with tears as they turned red. ¡°I... I... wish to hug you.¡± Tomcat smiled. Tang Yue smiled as well. ¡°Lass, we wish to hug you as well. To say it shamelessly, I wish to do it even in my dreams. However, things in this world often don¡¯t go ording to one¡¯s will. We might obtain sess at times, but face failure at other times. Lady Luck doesn¡¯t always throw a six.¡± Tang Yue got a hold of his emotions as he took a deep breath and stood up straight. ¡°Comrade Mai Dong, the Party and People will finally give you an extremely massive and difficult mission. You mustplete it.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Mai Dong asked subconsciously. ¡°Live on filled with hope, strength, and optimism. Live to thest day of your life.¡± Chapter 173: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, What’s There to Be Afraid of Infinite Truth

Chapter 173: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, What¡¯s There to Be Afraid of Infinite Truth

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Orion II¡¯snding project came to a halt. Mai Dong listened to Tang Yue¡¯s advice and gave up on descending. However, she didn¡¯t leave Mars¡¯s near-orbit. A spacecraft¡¯s orbital maneuver didn¡¯t need much time and there were still more than thirty days left until theet arrived. Mai Dong wished to stay until the final moment. Tomcat had the same excuse as well. It said that it was a robot with steel for bones. It didn¡¯t need oxygen or supplies and was insensitive to the changes in the environment. Therefore, it too could push back its departure and spend more time with Tang Yue. Tang Yue frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you guys are staying behind to have an internecine oue with me... Ah no, live and die together?¡± Tomcat shook its head. Mai Dong also shook her head. The human and cat looked at Tang Yue as though he was in need of hospice. It made Tang Yue feel as though he was a terminal patient that didn¡¯t have long to live. Tang Yue was agreeable to everything and he ate and drank freely. However, Kunlun Station really didn¡¯t have anything nice to eat. Tang Yue was so sick ofpressed food. Just the sight of it made him want to vomit. Lord Cat had lowered itself by serving tea itself. This waspletely unimaginable in the past. In a blink of an eye, Tang Yue had be the lord. ¡°Ear.¡± Tomcat would move over. Tang Yue smiled as he ruffled the cat¡¯s ears. However, Tang Yue didn¡¯t have the mood to enjoy life. He needed to seize every second toplete the remaining work he had. It was a race against time. He wanted to produce aplete record of human civilization before theetnded... Perhaps there would be missing information or mistakes, but at the very least, there would be an ending. ¡°One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. These eight document folders have been sent to Mai Dong. The remaining twenty documents are still being edited. ¡°OK! The information has been queued for broadcast. ¡°Has the information on The Trantion Movement in the Nahdah beenpleted? Tomcat?¡± ¡°It¡¯s already done. A total of two hundred thousand words.¡± Ever since he had known the day of his death, Tang Yue had seemed rather relieved. Even though he had no means to change the ending or escape, instead of sobbing andmenting his poor fate, he might as well direct his strength into his work. He wanted to use the limited time he had to serve the people. Tomcat¡¯s calction of the precise time of theet¡¯s impact was 37 sols 5 hours and 37 minutes. It also meant that there were 55060 minutes or 3,303,600 seconds. 3,303,600 seconds. That was the amount of time that Tang Yue had to live. He had set a countdown and time passed as the numbers counted down. In this limited period, every additional character he typed left an additional two more bytes for the Universe. ¡°Tang Yue.¡± Tomcat sprawled on the table and turned its head. However, its hind paws were rapidly typing on the keyboard underneath the table. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I can stay behind to apany you. As long as you give the nod, Miss Mai Dong and I will stay behind with you.¡± ¡°The two of you need to leave,¡± Tang Yue said without a thought. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to shoulder the responsibility towards humanity by yourself. Furthermore, you now represent all of humanity. You have the right to make any choice.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already made my choice.¡± ¡°Is the heritage of civilization more important than civilization itself?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°To be honest, Tomcat, if this were Earth, and I knew that I still had thirty-seven days to live, I would definitely settle in my family and friends first. Then, I would do everything I had always wanted to do and not leave any regrets. However, I¡¯m on Mars.¡± Tang Yueughed. ¡°I once thought of going up to the Burj Khalifa to do a bungee jump, but you should give me the conditions to do so. ¡°From a very young age, our teachers taught us the need to have a collective sense of honor. What¡¯s that? It¡¯s when in school, you represent your ss. Outside school, you represent your school. Outside the country, you represent the Chinese,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If I¡¯m on Mars, I¡¯ll feel like I¡¯m representing all of humanity. Therefore, I would unknowingly straighten my back... There might not be that many great people in history, but when they are pushed to that spot, they too would turn into a great people.¡± ¡°Hard times create heroes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not discussing serious questions about politics or history,¡± Tang Yue said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not a hero or a great person. I¡¯m just saying that Mars is too boring, so I need to find something to do. I can¡¯t just sit idle and await death, right? This has nothing to do with responsibility.¡± ¡°But the remaining time isn¡¯t enough for you toplete all the work.¡± ¡°So be it. In the words of the Chinese philosopher, Hu Shih¡ªdon¡¯t be afraid of the infinite truth; there¡¯s always joy in every step taken.¡± Tang Yue was very open-minded. ¡°Besides, aren¡¯t there the two of you? Both of you can continue and finish the work.¡± Tomcat leaned back into the chair as its hind legs typed rapidly. ¡°I saw the will you wrote.¡± Tang Yue paused. He knew what Tomcat was referring to. Back when Tomcat drove out to seek out the Chelomey probe, it had fallen into an underground dried river bed. Tang Yue had been alone in Kunlun Station and his physical condition had been terrible. To ensure his safety, he had written a will and left it in the station. ¡°After the impact, if I¡¯m still able, I¡¯lle back.¡± ¡°To collect my corpse?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t have your corpse strewn over the desert. If you are unfortunately reduced to pieces, I¡¯ll find them all and set up a tomb for you.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was very calm. Tang Yue wore a calm expression as well. It was as though they were talking about someone that had nothing to do with them. ¡°So it¡¯d be a good idea if you could install some positioning device on your torso and limbs. That will make it more convenient to find you. I don¡¯t want you to end up like Osiris.¡± ¡°Osiris?¡± ¡°The Lord of the Underworld in Egyptian legend. Legend says that he¡¯s an Egyptian pharaoh who was killed by his brother and his body was split into fourteen pieces,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°That cruel?¡± ¡°Therefore, I wish that your corpse doesn¡¯t get reduced to pieces. If the fragments are smaller than a fingernail, it will be too difficult to gather them.¡± Tomcat shrugged. Tang Yue shrugged as well. ¡°What kind of sight would it be if aet with a diameter of thirty kilometers smashed down?¡± ¡°It will be big,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°How big? As big as an E?¡± ¡°Very, very big. If you are near enough, it will upy your entire vision. If you stand underneath it, you might even believe that the sky was copsing... However, theet¡¯s impact point will be about a thousand kilometers from Kunlun Station. Theputer just did another more precise calction of the impact point,¡± Tomcat answered. ¡°You will see it burning as it streaks overhead beforending near the horizon.¡± ¡°What will happen at the instant of impact?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. But you can imagine the oue of five trillion atomic bombs exploding at the same time.¡± ¡°How much time do I have left after seeing it hitnd?¡± ¡°The shockwave will reach Kunlun Station within twenty seconds.¡± ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll still have the time to express my thoughts. I can say something like ¡®Ah! Holy sh*t,¡¯ then describe to you the spectacr sight of the impact.¡± Tang Yue did a count with his fingers. ¡°Twenty seconds. Considering how I can say two words a second, I will have a total of forty words to say. ¡®Ah! Holy sh*t, this is freaking awesome. Theet is huge! The mes are brighter than the sun. I¡¯m telling you that it¡¯s definitely the greatest regret not to see it with your own eyes. The smoke columns that are produced are at least hundreds of thousands of meters tall. Theypletely blot out the sky and sun¡¯... No, that won¡¯t work. I¡¯ve exceeded my word count. ¡°Then what about this: Ah! Holy sh*t, this is freaking awesome. Theet is huge! The mes are brighter than the sun. I have to tell you that it¡¯s definitely the greatest regret not to see it for yourself. The smoke columns that are produced are at least hundreds of thousands of meters tall. Theypletely blot out the sky and sun...¡¯ No, that won¡¯t do either. There¡¯s too much nonsense. It¡¯s not sinct enough and there¡¯s too little useful information.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Ah! Holy sh*t, this is freaking awesome. Theet is huge! The mes are brighter than the sun. The smoke columns that are produced are at least hundreds of thousands of meters tall. Theypletely blot out the sky and sun...¡± ¡°You have never seen aet collision before. What¡¯s the point in thinking of your speech now?¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°I think when the moment reallyes, the forty words you have will be...¡± ¡°What would it be like?¡± ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Let me take a breath! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Let me take a breath! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!¡± Chapter 174: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Buttocks and Thermal-Resistant Belly

Chapter 174: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Buttocks and Thermal-Resistant Belly

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Late into the silent night. Tang Yue had his eyes open. In the darkness, he was unable to see his own hand in front of him, yet there was a dark red light blinking. It was the digital clock beside his pillow. He reached his hand out to pick up the clock to take a look at the time. The numbers on the LCD were 3,284,429. The number was changing every second. Faint light seeped in through the gap between the curtains in his cabin. He could barely make out the sound of keyboard typing¡ªTomcat was still working overnight. Today, Tang Yue had only slept five hours while Tomcat hadn¡¯t rested at all. All of them wanted to finish as much work as possible before theet hit. Tang Yue threw the clock to the side and pulled his nket up to cover his face. He closed his eyes, hoping to just fall asleep, but he just couldn¡¯t. The clock bounced onto the bed as the light of the countdown blinked through the gap in the nket. In the past twenty-plus years, Tang Yue had never experienced such a moment. He could clearly sense the passing of time... It slowly and silently passed through the night, like flowing sand or river waters. It was like a neutrino that barely interacted with any other matter. In ssical physics, time was a description of change in matter. It was a set of agreements based on human experience¡ªnot something material that could be touched or energy. However, thermodynamics had used the concept of entropy to describe the passing of time. This scale was objective and measurable. It wasn¡¯t an illusory quantity created by our sensual and psychological experiences. Entropy always increased in the Universe; therefore, time could never be reversed. Tang Yue took a nce at the countdown. 3,284,352. ¡°Mr. Cat... I...¡± There was the faint sound of a girl¡¯s croaking voice outside. It sounded like she was sobbing. Mai Dong never cried in front of Tang Yue. Even though she and Tomcat knew that Tang Yue was about to die, the human and cat continued their day-to-day living and work. Mai Dong still introduced the nts she reared to Tang Yue, described the stars she saw with the telescope or grumbled to him that the incubator had malfunctioned again. But in fact, thisdy wasn¡¯t someone good at hiding her inner feelings. Her smile would suddenly turn down as her eyes welled with sorrow. Tang Yue pulled off the nket as he draped some clothes over him and came out of his living quarters. The Hab was dimly lit since no lights were switched on. The only light source was theputer monitor on the desk. ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Tang Yue pulled a chair over and sat down. He nced at thems. ¡°Where¡¯s Mai Dong?¡± ¡°She fell asleep after crying,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°She¡¯s trying to find a way to save you, but nothing works. She ended up wallowing in despair once again.¡± ¡°Thisss sure is obstinate.¡± Tang Yue smiled. Even though Mai Dong looked like a weak, frail girl, she was quite a stubborn person... This could be seen from her determination to join the Marsnding project. Everyone had advised her against it, but Mai Dong clenched her teeth as she crossed the Rubicon. She was prone to crying, but she was also stubborn. After crying and wiping her tears, she continued forging forward. ¡°She really wants to save you,¡± Tomcat repeated. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°I know.¡± There were very few things in the world that left one so obstinate, so unyielding even in the face of death. It either had to do with whether one could live on, or had to do with why one lived on. ¡°However, you have no idea how crazy she is. Miss Mai Dong even suggested using the space station or Orion II to m into theet to change its trajectory,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Thess is really bold and spirited. She is willing to pay any price to achieve her goals.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the result?¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°I told her that it was impossible. Be it Orion II or the United Space Station, the mass is just too tiny. It will be far from sufficient to change theet¡¯s trajectory.¡± Tang Yue nodded. It was what he had expected. Orion II and the United Space Station didn¡¯t have abined mass exceeding a thousand tonnes. However, theet¡¯s core mass exceeded 102 trillion tonnes. The former¡¯s mass was a hundred billion times smaller than thetter. The ratio was even more ridiculous than the difference between an ant and a whale. How could an ant¡¯s collision change a whale¡¯s direction? However, this ant was the only trump card that Mai Dong and Tang Yue had in hand. ¡°Are you unable to sleep because of anxiety?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°I only want to watch the sunrise. After all, I only have thirty-six more times to see it. Each one counts... Thirty-six solster, the sun won¡¯t see me again. I¡¯m feeling sorry for it.¡± ¡°Apart from watching the sunrise, don¡¯t you wish to try out any of the other novel ideas you once had?¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Such as defecating outside with your pants off.¡± Tang Yue jumped in shock. ¡°I¡¯d still like to live a few more days.¡± ¡°Then you can choose to pull your pants down and defecate at the instant theetnds...¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This will help in maintaining the integrity of your remains.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°When you bend your body, your buttocks will face theet¡¯snding point. You will be using your body¡¯s strongest part to withstand the most intense shockwave. This is like a spacecraft¡¯s reentry module¡¯s thermal resistant belly. Think about it, don¡¯t you see the resemnces? Your glutes will have pulses running through them as the st streams down your back. This will significantly reduce the forces your body has to experience.¡± Tomcat spoke nonsense. Tang Yue was left agape. ¡°Then why don¡¯t I just dig a pit and lie in it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s clearly because a prone position isn¡¯t cool enough,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Since you will die, you might as well die in a way that will surpass the ancients and galvanize the world... It¡¯s just like the eruption of Mount Vesuvius years ago. There was the man in Pompeii who wanted to masturbate just before his death. The volcanic ashes immortalized his heroic position in the rivers of time. Peopleter noted that he ¡®held on to the end¡¯ and died ¡®holding his loved one.¡¯¡± ¡°If you died lying down, people who dig you up will only say: ¡®Oh, this is a person who died from theet hit.¡¯ ¡°But if you were to raise your ass against theet, people who dig you up will say in amazement: ¡®Heavens, this guy was offering his ass in weing...¡¯¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Tang Yue cut if off. Who knew what sort of sacrilege Tomcat would say if it was permitted to continue on. What the heck did Old Wang teach it? ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out to see the sunrise.¡± ¡°There¡¯s still another three more hours before sunrise.¡± Tomcat pointed at the airlock¡¯s hatch. ¡°Then I¡¯ll head out now to wait.¡± Tang Yue got up, took down the Radiant Armor from the wall and climbed into it. Tomcat came to help him as Tang Yue struggled to get into the EVA suit¡¯s helmet. Tomcat helped pull up his zipper, installed the life support system, and patted the Radiant Armor¡¯s limbs. The green indicator lights lit up one after another, indicating their operational states. ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Tang Yue patted Tomcat on the shoulder. ¡°I hope to see you return.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Good luck.¡± Chapter 175: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Before the Comet Arrives

Chapter 175: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Before the Comet Arrives

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue passed through the airlock and left Kunlun Station. The ck desert unfolded before him. The Isidis nitia was originally a crater caused by the impact of a gigantic projectile. It took form 3.9 billion years ago and had existed for a very long period of time on Mars. But in thirty-plus days more, it would be covered by another huge crater. As he looked at the distant horizon, Tang Yue once again recalled the time he and Old Wang had set up a fire on the dune during his training. They were discussing the Chinese biochemist and explorer named Peng Jiamu. The desert at night suddenly had a lethal form of attraction for Tang Yue. He imagined himself like Peng Jiamu walking through the desert, abandoning everything behind him. It was an exploration with no return. Where he went didn¡¯t matter because he knew there was only one end. Death might not be a wall that obstructed everything, but an endless desert. In a sense, death was akin to one extinguishing the lights in a harsh, cold winter night, opening the door, pulling up one¡¯s cor, and walking into the distant horizon while trembling and puffing out warm air, never to return. ¡°Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece, disrupting his thoughts. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tang Yue snapped back to his senses. He suddenly felt worried that he couldn¡¯t control his legs and would ignore everything and walk forward into the desert. This urge was akin to the sudden urge to jump off a cliff¡ªhigh ce phenomenon. The Eaglender¡¯s Descent Vehicle was still standing not far away from him. It was like an ancient tower under the starry sky. The other striking object was the Chelomey probe. Tomcat had pulled back the Chelomey a while back and had left it on Kunlun Station. This aged probe was still working. Although it had lost half of its functionality after having its temperature control processor removed, it still assiduously sent its greetings to Earth daily. Tang Yue took out a long shovel from the garage and circled around thender and Chelomey. After bidding them farewell, he found the spot where he had previously dug a tomb for himself. This was a shallow pit, just enough to amodate Tang Yue if hey t. He began shoveling and deepening the pit. Tomcat had said that the impact would generate a massive shockwave that couldpletely rip him apart; therefore, Tang Yue wanted to ensure that his corpse remained as intact as possible. He changed his will and saved it in Kunlun Station¡¯sputer. On the day theet hit, theputer would send an email to Mai Dong and Tomcat. In his will, Tang Yue wrote: ¡°Death is the fate that no one can avoid. No matter what kind of person you are¡ªrich or poor, politician or prisoner¡ªyou will be equal before death. But this doesn¡¯t mean death isn¡¯t terrifying. If you were to ask me if I fear death, I would answer you without a doubt that I fear death. I¡¯m morbidly afraid of death. ¡°But I¡¯m unable to get to the source of this fear. Apart from a living creature¡¯s instinctive avoidance of harm, living alone on Mars is actually worse than death, but deep in my heart, I still fear death. I¡¯ve tried my best to survive even though I knew that there wouldn¡¯t be a favorable oue even if I were to pull through the hardships. ¡°A long, long time ago, I watched a ssic movie, Buried. I¡¯m not sure if you have seen it before, but the movie only had one person in the entire movie. He was a person buried underground who needed to use the limited time and limited tools he had to escape while oveing his horror and despair. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m also a person buried alive. ¡°You can escape the coffin, but I can never escape the Universe.¡± Tang Yue diligently dug the grave. ¡°When I was young, I read Lord of the Rings. J. R. R. Tolkien who exined that ¡®I have always been impressed that we are here, surviving, because of the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t believe that fear and courage can¡¯t coexist. A person can be weak, timid, cowardly, but he can also be courageous and fearless. In the long history of mankind, there has been no end of countless small, courageous people who advance for lofty ideals. This is the most glorious and greatest part of human civilization. Courage is born out of fear, and it is not that the brave know no fear, but that they had beat fear. ¡°As thest human on this, I would like to ask myself at the final moment of my life: Have I be a courageous person? ¡°I wish that at that moment, a voice would answer: ¡°Yes, you are very brave.¡± Another shove suddenly stabbed into the soil in front of Tang Yue. He looked up and found Tomcat holding a shovel as well. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Grave digging,¡± Tomcat replied as it dug out the soil inside the pit. It was widening the boundaries of the grave. ¡°Why are you digging such a big one for?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t lie in it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s too much of a squeeze for two.¡± ¡°Get lost. Why are you even snatching a grave from me? Can¡¯t you just give me a solo mausoleum? It¡¯s not like you will be lying here. Quickly scram.¡± ¡°But I¡¯ll return sooner orter. It¡¯s naturally best I reserve a spot first.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t budge an inch as it widened the pit. Then, it threw the shovel and jumped in, lying t. It even patted the area beside it, gesturing for Tang Yue to lie down with it. Exasperated that there was no way to chase the cat away, Tang Yue could only stab the shovel into the ground and lie down beside Tomcat. Lying down with the Radiant Armor on was terribly ufortable¡ªthe life support system behind him was huge and hard. Tang Yue fidgeted a little to make his position morefortable. Humans are truly strange creatures to hope for a little morefort even before death. Tang Yue mused to himself in silence. This was like a prisoner on death row not wishing for the rope to pull at his hair because it would hurt. The two stared at the sky. ¡°Can I see theet?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I can see it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But you won¡¯t be able to because it¡¯s still too far away.¡± ¡°What does it look like?¡± ¡°A faint speck of light,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s very, very small.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s bodypletely rxed. He had a feeling that he had merged with thend. He closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to course freely through time. He saw homo sapiens who still ate raw flesh and drank blood pursuing their prey on the African savanna. He saw workers using wooden logs to drag massive stone blocks to build the magnificent pyramids in the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. He saw the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire st the city walls of Constantinople with cannons. He saw Columbus set sail from Palos de Frontera on the Santa Maria. He saw Galileo move away from his telescope on a tower as he recorded down the fourth moon of Jupiter. Human history shed past his eyes. Tang Yue opened his eyes and saw Tang Yue¡¯s paws on his visor. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Yue turned his head. ¡°Are you afraid of dying?¡± Tomcat opened up its arms. ¡°If you¡¯re afraid, I can give you a hug.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Tang Yue pushed away its paws. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it will hurt when I die. I¡¯m afraid of pain.¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely instantaneous,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s like hugging a nuclear bomb.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that vaporize me?¡± Tang Yue frowned. ¡°At this distance, you won¡¯t be directly vaporized,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If it falls a few hundred kilometers nearer, you might be vaporized upon impact... So this distance is the best. You might not instantly die if it¡¯s any further. You would die in pain due to suffocation. Now that we¡¯re talking about it, it seems you have quite good luck. If this is a death sentence, you are basically having the VIP spot at the execution.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Then I should really thank the heavens for reserving such a good spot for me. I should thank all my ancestors.¡± ¡°You are calmer than I expected. I thought you would be wailing away.¡± ¡°I wanted to, but thatss has already done it for me,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The number of tears I shed in my life can¡¯t evenpare to the amount she shed today.¡± ¡°We are about to die.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right... We are about to die.¡± ¡°As a materialistic atheist, shouldn¡¯t you feel regretful at times like this?¡± ¡°What should I be regretful of?¡± ¡°Feeling regret that there¡¯s no world to go to after death,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If you were a Christian, you could probably console yourself that this is a path to Heaven. If you were a Buddhist, you could hope for your next reincarnation. A Daoist would take this opportunity to ascend to Heaven and be immortal. However, what lies before you is just a nk void and darkness.¡± Tang Yue thought for a moment before shaking his head. He didn¡¯t count on religion. He didn¡¯t hope for the next life. He had a clear conscience. He wasn¡¯t afraid of the dark. The broadmindedness and unconcern when faced with death was probably thest bit of dignity humanity had in this Universe. Chapter 176: Epilogue

Chapter 176: Epilogue

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue lugged the sr panels onto the Mars Wanderer¡¯s trailer. The RTG and backup batteries were also ced on the vehicle. Tomcat was about to set off on a long-distance trip. Thetter didn¡¯t need any food or supplies, but power was necessary. He had given all the batteries and sr panels that the trailer could take to Tomcat. It could be foreseen that when Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit Mars, it would trigger an extremely serious cataclysm. Tomcat might survive the shockwave and subsequent quakes, but therge amount of matter that would be tossed up into the sky from the impact would plunge Mars into endless darkness. The dust that blotted out the sky would cut off any sr power. This was the main problem that Tomcat faced. Therefore, Tang Yue had installed the batteries on the vehicle, afraid that Tomcat would suffer from ack of power. Tomcat consoled him by saying that the Martian atmosphere was too thin and the wind was weak; hence, the dust wouldn¡¯t stay too long in the sky. At worst, it could switch itself off and enter hibernation mode. It could then live through the darkest period just like the Chelomey once had. Humans couldn¡¯t survive without three minutes of breathing, but Tomcat could hibernate for a very long time and reduce its energy consumption to a minimum. Tang Yue circled around the Mars Wanderer, patting its drivingpartment and wheels. Tomcat and Tang Yuecked the tools needed to repair the Wanderer; therefore the vehicle remained covered in damage. Back when Tomcat had plunged into an underground river ruin, the driver¡¯spartment had been ttened from the impact. The windows were already shattered. Previously, the Wanderer could be considered a husky. But now, it was more like a bulldog. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy on you.¡± Tang Yue held his palm to the vehicle. This vehicle was originally pale yellow and white in color. It looked highly spirited, like a young adult who had stepped into the adult world. But now, it was covered in dirt. Its paint had peeled, and the rough scratches on it went from head to tail. This young adult was now a battle-hardened elder. ¡°You¡¯ll be following Tomcat in the future. Leave this ce. Go as far as you can. Try to cover the entire before your death.¡± Tang Yue used a rope to tie down the sr panels. The Wanderer pulled a trailer that was filled with luggage of all sizes. ¡°It¡¯s all secure.¡± Tang Yue nudged the batteries on the trailer to ensure that they wouldn¡¯t fall off. ¡°Say goodbye to Kunlun Station, you silly dog.¡± Tomcat wore an IVA suit and sat in the driver¡¯s seat. In its arms was a ss helmet. It turned its head to look at Tang Yueing and going, dexterously packing the luggage. Tang Yue repeatedly went between the garage and the Wanderer, cing the heavy batteries onto the trailer. ¡°He wasughing,¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°Should one beughing when parting?¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, if he were to bid you farewell crying...¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Would you not leave?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t leave,¡± Tomcat ced the helmet on the table and replied without thought. ¡°But that fool just doesn¡¯t cry. For the past couple of days, he has been smiling at me with a grin every time I look at him. He has kept urging me to leave and not stay behind to be killed.¡± Tomcat pressed down on its head and mmed its forehead onto the table. ¡°If he had shed just one teardrop in front of me, I would have told him that I wouldn¡¯t be leaving. I would rush out to dismantle the Wanderer¡¯s tires and pull out the battery cables, rip it to pieces, and swallow it. But he refuses to say anything. That punk just grins at me and tells me to quickly scram and not stay behind to kill myself.¡± ¡°F*ck. Why can¡¯t he just cry once?¡± Tomcat smacked the table as it cursed. ¡°I¡¯m a f*cking stationmander. Kunlun Station¡¯s stationmander! I¡¯m a highly experienced senior assistant and guide of the Mars scientific expedition. I¡¯ve resolved a cumtive total of 167 minor and major problems! I¡¯ve saved 13 lives! To have a rookie die before me... Do... Do... Do you think I don¡¯t want to uphold... my reputation?¡± Tomcat turned its body around as its voice lowered in a stato, its shoulders trembling. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong was gloomy. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Sorrow is the enemy of humanity,¡± Tomcat said out of the blue. ¡°It is also the enemy of cats.¡± ¡°Do cats also feel heartbroken?¡± ¡°Of course. Cats also feel sad.¡± Tomcat had its back facing Mai Dong. ¡°If one¡¯s owner isn¡¯t around, a cat will be very, very sad. It will wander about the spot where its owner once lived, then jump up onto a climbing rack and while chewing some fish, staring nkly at the empty room.¡± Mai Dong hugged Ah Q tight. She didn¡¯t know how to console this sad cat. Cats were always solitary and cold creatures. If they became sad, they would shed away their mischief and turn into wandering ghosts. However, a fat cat like Tomcat probably couldn¡¯t wander about. Garfield had already been expelled from being a cat. Tang Yue stepped onto Kunlun Station with his EVA suit still cold before he took it off. He had been busy the entire morning. He had moved the sr batteries and RTG onto the vehicle and had ced the hard disk that stored the developmental history of human civilization in the vehicle. These things were to be taken away by Tomcat as he couldn¡¯t allow them to be destroyed together with Kunlun Station. ¡°Phew... That was tiring. I¡¯ve finally packed everything.¡± Tang Yue poured himself a big cup of water. ¡°How¡¯re the preparations? Tomcat, can you leave yet?¡± Tomcat shot him a nce. Tang Yue¡¯s tone was the same as usual as though everything was fine. It was as though the one leaving wasn¡¯t Tomcat but him. ¡°I¡¯ll sit here a little longer.¡± ¡°You said that three days ago. And three days before that, you said the same thing. You have sat all the way to today. Any longer and theet will hit,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Every second you sit here is one less second for you to go.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You know sh*t.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need you to remind me when I should leave.¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t remind you, you¡¯ll be sitting here until the end of the world. Do you think you are Bodhidharma?¡± ¡°Do you believe I won¡¯t leave?¡± ¡°You dare?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, I¡¯m telling you. I¡¯m Kunlun Station¡¯s Station Commander in the true meaning of the word. It was determined by the Secretary-General of the United Nations!¡± Tomcat yelled. ¡°You have no right to order me around.¡± ¡°The Secretary-General of the United Nations doesn¡¯t care about this. The role he gave you doesn¡¯t have any legal effect. Don¡¯t you try to appeal to authority. Kunlun Station¡¯s Station Commander is the Commander of the standing mission. Therefore, it¡¯s Old Wang,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You are only a cat.¡± ¡°So what if I¡¯m a cat?¡± Tomcat red. ¡°Even worse, you¡¯re just a fake cat.¡± It hit a soft spot. Tang Yue¡¯s remark was precise and urate. ¡°A fake cat is still a cat!¡± Tomcat roared. ¡°Since you¡¯re a cat, be obedient.¡± Tang Yue stepped forward and hugged Tomcat¡¯s shoulders and said heavily, ¡°Let¡¯s put the sophistry on hold. Go, buddy ol¡¯ pal. Hurry up and leave. You won¡¯t have any more time if you don¡¯t... You can¡¯t save me, so why struggle?¡± The words Tomcat yelled instantly lost their voice and weight. It fell silent. Regardless of what Tomcat did, it couldn¡¯t save Tang Yue. Stalling for time was useless. Thatet would ultimately hit the Martian surface. This was an oue that couldn¡¯t be changed. ¡°If neither of you is around... Is there any meaning to my existence?¡± ¡°Mai Dong will still be around, ¡°Tang Yue said. ¡°Take good care of her.¡± Tomcat slowly nodded and hugged Tang Yue tightly. It took ast picture with Tang Yue in front of a camera, saying that hanging it up above the dashboard could be used to ward off evil. Mai Dong also took a picture and sent it to Tomcat, saying that it was for remembrance. Mai Dong didn¡¯t mention when she would leave herself, but it was quite obvious from her actions that she would stay until the moment theet arrived. Tomcat took a step back, clicked its heels together, stood at attention, and raised its paw in a salute. ¡°Comrade Tang Yue, Comrade Mai Dong. Mars Landing Project Senior Assistant and Guide, Employee Number UNMEP360037A, Tomcat, bids you farewell! Take care!¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong wore stoic expressions as they raised their hands to return the salute. ¡°Comrade Cat, Mars Landing Project Payload Specialist, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Employee Number CNMEP390012C, Tang Yue, bids you farewell! Take care!¡± ¡°Comrade Cat, Mars Landing Project Payload Specialist, Botanist and Agrotechnician, Employee Number CNMEP390022C, Maidong, bids you farewell! Take care!¡± Tomcat wore its helmet and took one final nce at Tang Yue and Mai Dong before turning to step into the airlock. With a click, the hatch closed. Tomcat had left. It wasn¡¯t returning. The sternness and coldness that Tang Yue tried hard to maintain instantly crumbled. He took one step back at a time before sitting down on a chair. ¡°Tang Yue, are you not going to send off Mr. Cat?¡± Tang Yue had his back facing Mai Dong as he shook his head. ¡°Mai Dong, do you know why I can¡¯t head out? Be... Because I¡¯m afraid that if I head out... it... it wouldn¡¯t... wouldn¡¯t be able to leave...¡± ¡°Is it because Mr. Cat doesn¡¯t wish to leave?¡± Tang Yue shook his head as he fell silent. Mai Dong¡¯s eyelids drooped. She watched as the man¡¯s shoulders shook uncontrobly. This was probably the one time in his life that he had sobbed so sadly. ... Ten minutester. Tang Yue was slumped over the table with his head turned sideways, staring nkly at theputer monitor. Kunlun Station was silent, and Mai Dong was still online, but she didn¡¯t say a word. On the screen was a picture from Mai Dong. It was a selfie she had taken for Tomcat as a memento. She was facing the camera, wearing a blue worker¡¯s uniform and cap. She had a faint smile just like a passport photo. Her background was a control panel and all kinds of monitors. She had wanted to take a yful picture but just couldn¡¯t face it, with the parting happening. Tang Yue moved his mouse, his thoughts an unknown. Deciding to stay behind alone to face death was a courageous act. However, Tang Yue was the only one who knew what he was feeling inside. The long inaction had ced theputer in standby mode. The monitor cked out as Tang Yue continued staying slumped on the table and closed his eyes. He wished to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a click. Tang Yue looked up. The airlock¡¯s hatch had been pushed open. Tomcat was there, having returned unexpectedly. Tang Yue and Mai Dong were stunned. At the same time, they were overjoyed. It felt like seeing a lost one return. ¡°W... Why are you back?¡± Tomcat wore a heavy and anxious expression. It brought with it a gust of wind as it ignored Tang Yue¡¯s question. It didn¡¯t even greet Tang Yue and Mai Dong. It didn¡¯t even take off its IVA suit and walked straight forward, pushing Tang Yue aside and sitting in front of theputer. It brought theputer out of standby. Tomcat looked at the picture on the screen. It was the selfie that Mai Dong had taken for Tomcat. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Can you hear me? Miss Mai Dong!!¡± ¡°Mr. Cat... What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say a thing. Don¡¯t say anything... This was a picture you just took and sent me, right? This was a selfie you just took, right!?¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was trembling. Its paw that held the mouse was trembling. Tang Yue and Mai Dong sensed that something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat zoomed into a monitor in the background of the girl¡¯s picture. It showed the pitch-ck starry cosmos. The picture appeared blurry, perhaps an observation image from the space station¡¯s telescope. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Is what¡¯s shown on this monitor the star-searching system of the United Space Station¡¯s survey telescope?¡± Mai Dong was puzzled as she nodded. ¡°You got the telescope to constantly track thatet?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue was at a loss. ¡°Shut up! Hold your tongue! Don¡¯t interrupt me,¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°It stared at the picture intently. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, in this picture of yours, how many celestial bodies can you see approaching you?¡± ¡°How many celestial bodies are approaching me in this picture?¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t understand the reason for Tomcat¡¯s question. She opened her notebookputer and loaded the observation data from the survey telescope. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious. There¡¯s only one¡ªComet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I... Wait, what¡¯s that?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s final question puzzled Tang Yue. He didn¡¯t know what was happening, but it was clear that something extraordinary had happened. ¡°That¡¯s not right. How would it be here? It shouldn¡¯t be here at this time! How can it be possible? This isn¡¯t it¡¯s trajectory!¡± Tomcat quivered in excitement as it pounded the table with its clenched paws. ¡°Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! This ispletely impossible. It¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Tang Yue came over. Tomcat turned the monitor around and zoomed into theplete observation picture. At first nce, it didn¡¯t look any different from the other pictures produced by the survey telescope. Tomcat pointed at a blob on the left side of the picture. It could be clearly seen through the telescope¡¯s optics. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± ¡°Aet?¡± Tomcat nodded before slowly moving its w. ¡°Then what about this?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. On careful look, he realized that there was another bright blob amidst theet¡¯s glow. What was happening? Was this also theet¡¯s core? Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had two cores?¡± ¡°This... is also theet¡¯s core?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s not. In fact, it¡¯s not inside theet. The shooting angle just makes it seem like the two are together...¡± Tomcat paused. ¡°It¡¯s Deimos.¡± ... Mars II, Deimos. It was the smallest moon in the Sr System. It was about 23,000 kilometers from Mars¡¯s surface. It had a diameter than exceeded 12 kilometers. In Greek mythology, Mars II, Deimos, was the son of God of War, Ares, and Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. This tiny moon was orbiting Mars at 1.35 km/s,pleting an orbit once every thirty hours. As it was just too small, it had little presence in the grand scheme of things. asionally, Mai Dong would discover a tiny point of light hurtling past in deep space twenty thousand kilometers away. It was extremely inconspicuous amidst the sea of resplendent stars. ¡°I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s here. Deimos¡¯s orbital inclination should be 0.93¡ã to Mars¡¯s equator and 1.79¡ã to the local Lace ne! How did this fellow end up here? It¡¯spletely impossible for it to appear here!¡± Tomcat typed rapidly on the keyboard. ¡°This moon has been in a stable orbit for billions of years. Why would there be a sudden change?¡± The workstation was working at full load, downloading the massive amounts of data from the space station. As Tomcat kept saying that it was impossible, it stamped its feet. it was creating a model, and using an urate prediction model to simte theet¡¯s trajectory. Tang Yue and Mai Dong anxiously watched. ¡°We didn¡¯t consider Mars II previously because its orbit wasn¡¯t on the same ne as theet at all. Its orbital period is incorrect as well. When theet hits the surface, the little guy should be chilling behind Mars!¡± Tomcat was extremely excited as it spoke like a machine gun. ¡°Human observation has shown the same oue for more than a century. No change has ever happened before! ¡°But the United Space Station¡¯s observation and Miss Mai Dong¡¯s picture just told me that its orbital trajectory has changed... Damn it. This fellow went off-track! How is this possible? How can a massive object with a mass of 1.4 ¡Á 1012 tonnes so easily change its trajectory? Who could have pushed this much mass? Could it be some unknown force that nudged it? Or did something happen to Mars itself? No... That¡¯s not right... That¡¯s not right...¡± Tomcat muttered to itself, shocked by its own theory. All the clues were being processed by its brain and finally, an answer was produced. It slowly widened its eyes. It wasn¡¯t that some unknown force was doing something behind the scenes. Nor was it because something had happened to Mars. ¡°The dynamics of the celestial bodies in the Sr System are chaotic. There are many influencing factors, making it difficult to urately pinpoint the reason. One trigger might change the entire system. An object with a mass of about six trillion trillion kilograms and more than a hundred million kilometers away has suddenly vanished for no good reason. As such, this little guy¡¯s orbit has been affected! In front of this true giant that is Earth, Deimos is just too light and tiny. That¡¯s why the influence so quickly showed...¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong were stupefied. They never expected that their home which had long vanished would save their lives in such a way. Neither dared to say a word, afraid that they would disturb Tomcat. It had rushed back after traveling for five minutes because of something important. Perhaps, the hopeless situation could be reversed. The mathematical model¡¯s construction was done. Tomcat tapped ¡°Enter¡± with great force. The code vanished as the monitor dimmed. Theet¡¯s trajectory was represented by a blue line. Mars remained a huge red circle. At the present distance, Kunlun Station¡¯sputer could very precisely predict theet¡¯s flight path. ¡°Tang Yue! Miss Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s cast the die onest time. Do you think we will get a six?¡± Tomcat asked. On the screen, Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I slowly moved, drawing a blue curve. ¡°What¡¯s the possibility of throwing a six?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Very, very tiny. A slimmer chance than theet hitting Mars,¡± Tomcat answered. Tang Yueughed. ¡°But the problem is that theet is already about to hit Mars.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat nodded as it grinned. ¡°Theet is already about to hit Mars.¡± At that instant, Tang Yue looked up. He could sense a particrly potent force and repressioning for him from deep space. It was unprecedented as Tang Yue clearly sensed the existence of Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I. It was as though someone had given him God¡¯s view, allowing him to see the giganticet tumbling and evaporating in deep space, dragging with it a tail made up of steam and carbon dioxide. Tang Yue suddenly realized why some people believed in determinism. The Universe was a massive machine and the Sr System was a gear. Mars was one of the teeth on the gear, and theet was the crank axle or link lever that kept moving back and forth. Everything was working in precision. Based on the Ptolemaic geocentric theory, the revolutions of thes were epicycles and deferents. They were like gears that clung to each other. This extremelyplicated theory entuated the simplest deterministic mathematics at its deepest core. Would Deimos save their lives? Tang Yue didn¡¯t know either. ¡°Roll it boldly!¡± The blue curve slowly approached Mars on screen. This prediction was identical to what the workstation predicted previously. It would thennd on the Syrtis Major num, destroying everything. Tang Yue clenched his fists. Mai Dong hugged Ah Q tightly. On the boundary of the screen, a white curve suddenly appeared. It was the orbital trajectory of another celestial body! Tiny Deimos suddenly charged into the vision of everyone. In the previous calctions and predictions, Tomcat didn¡¯t add Mars II into the simtion because it had been excluded from the beginning. A moon with a fixed orbit had the most predictable position. Based on the data it had, theputer took a second to predict that it wouldn¡¯t have any effect on theet. Deimos had kept to its orbit for billions of years. No one knew that it would silently change position. Mars II¡¯s speed was much slower than Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I, but the white trajectory unhurriedly extended. Even a blind person could tell that it would block theet if it continued its trajectory. Tang Yue grabbed Tomcat¡¯s shoulders as Tomcat pressed its paws on the back of Tang Yue¡¯s hand, gesturing for him to stay calm. However, Tomcat itself wasn¡¯t able to. Its hind legs were already shaking intensely under the table. The two humans and cat stared at the two curves on the monitor. This was the scene of a space collision. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I was a huge truck that moved at 70 km/s and had lost control. It was bound to wipe out anything that came in its path. It was about to smash straight into a residential estate across the road. Deimos was a Chery QQ that didn¡¯t know any better. It was slowly driving towards the intersection. Whether the two humans and cat in the residential estate could be saved depended on this Chery QQ¡¯s ability to push away the racing truck. This possibility was, yet again, theet hitting an object, but this time Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had be the object. Hit it! Hit it! Hit it! Hit it! Hit it! Ruthlessly hit it! Hit it as hard as you can¡ª! Tang Yue clenched his fists, his face flushed red. He was like a spectator watching a ser match. With both sides in a draw, the end of the match was just thirty seconds away. However, the team one supported had just brought the ball to the enemy¡¯s defense. A kick had been made and a sessful goal would mean immediate victory! Mai Dong hid her face into Ah Q¡¯s stomach, afraid to take another look. Tang Yue didn¡¯t know how long it was. It could have been about ten seconds or it could have been a few hours. Time seemed to pass like a year or even an entire lifetime. At the instant the two trajectories crossed, there was a beep as arge series of numbers appeared. A red window popped up. IMPACT! Just before the match ended, one¡¯s team had scored a goal! A decisive victory! In the two seconds after the collision, theputer gave a result. Deimos, this Chery QQ, had rushed over from the rear and stabbed with a pole. To be honest, Deimos was lost and innocent. It didn¡¯t know how it ended up colliding with a massive object. It was a truly surprising disaster. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had collided with Deimos at a very small angle. The collision caused a change in the trajectory between the two. It was like two billiard balls hitting one another. Via the conservation of momentum, both bodies changed directions and speed. Deimos had been pushed forcefully, causing its trajectory to be a tten ellipsis. As for Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s core, it received an impulse that sent it flying away from Mars. Its closest distance to Mars was lifted by 10,000 kilometers, making it brush past Mars. Tomcat pushed theputer and chair away with great force and turned around to hug Tang Yue tightly. ¡°Hahahaha, it¡¯s a sess! Hahahaha, We¡¯ve seeded! Tang Yue, Miss Mai Dong! We can all live! Hahaha!¡± ¡°Hahahahaha! Hahaha! We can live! We can live! Mai Dong, we can live!¡± ¡°Hahahaha, we are saved!¡± The human and cat hugged each other as they cried tears of joys, jumping and cheering. ... No one really saw the actual collision. When Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit Deimos, it was during the day at Kunlun Station. As for the United Space Station, it was behind Mars. To make sure that nothing went wrong, the space station had folded all the sr panels and heat-dissipation panels to prevent any fragments from the collision ruining them. In fact, this space collision happened 23,000 kilometers away. The fragments that it produced could hardly ruin the space station. Tomcat observed using a telescope and discovered that the number of fragments was less than it expected. After all, Deimos didn¡¯t directly hit theet, but simply brushed past it. Deimos was a massive rock spanning twelve kilometers in diameter. It¡¯s hardness and density far exceeded the brittleet core. The collision was like throwing an egg at stone, but in this case, the bigger one was the egg. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I was mainlyposed of water, methane, and dry ice. The shattered dry ice quickly evaporated under the sunlight. Indeed, a devil could only be driven out by a devil. A huge celestial object like Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I was not something humanity could deal with. It could only be subdued by heaven. The space station and Orion II were antspared to the whale-likeet, but Deimos was also another whale. Only a whale could move another whale. Night fell. Tang Yue and Tomcat went out to take a look at theet. Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had been tripped by a rock at Mars¡¯s doorstep, saving Tang Yue and also itself. Theet had brushed past Mars at an extremely close distance before leaving Mars¡¯s orbit at 60 km/s as it headed for the Sun. Tang Yue had the fortune to see the most spectacret of this century. Apart from probes, there had never been anyone in human history that had seen aet so close. It dragged its two long tails as it hurtled across the celestial sphere. The gas from theet¡¯s evaporated core ionized thanks to the sr winds, emitting blue and red lights like the skirt of a goddess. There was nothing at that moment that could suppress her resplendence and beauty. She was the most striking girl on the dance floor, attracting the sights of everyone around. ¡°Strictly speaking, we are currently inside theet.¡± Tomcat leaned against Kunlun Station¡¯s wall and sat on the sand. It leisurely said, ¡°Theet¡¯s head is hundreds of thousands of kilometers in diameter and its tail is more than a million kilometers long. The entire of Mars is actually inside theet.¡± Tang Yue sat down beside Tomcat and looked up at theet in the sky. ¡°How long will it stay?¡± ¡°Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s trajectory is a parab. It will stay within Mars¡¯s orbit for about a month before leaving from the other end of the Sr System, never to return.¡± ¡°Will it note back again?¡± ¡°Never.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite a pity and kind of regretful...¡± Tang Yue hugged his arms. ¡°That¡¯s what I think.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a pity?¡± ¡°It was aet we named after all. It even came to the Sr System, meaning that it¡¯s fated with us. It came all this way to meet us, and it¡¯s really not easy to encounter something in this massive Universe. If it were to return to visit us again in the future, we probably wouldn¡¯t be around anymore.¡± Tang Yue felt that some rtionship between him and theet that nearly destroyed everything had formed. This connection was ethereal, simply because it hade to the Sr System and because it had been named by them. But even so, this fragile connection was especially precious in the vast Universe. It was so precious that you could reconcile with it, ignoring any animosity or sorrow. ¡°Your divination skills are stillcking,¡± Tomcat suddenly said. Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Your divination was the Wei Chi hexagram. You said that it was a dangerous booby trap,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°In fact, Wei Chi doesn¡¯t mean really mean an impasse. Just as it means Before Completion, it also means that before thingse to an end, there is still hope hidden within the despair. After breaking out of the impasse, there will be clear skies... That Immortal Cuttlefish enjoys eating cuttlefish, but you kept giving him squid. Clearly, he didn¡¯t teach you his true techniques.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°Is that so?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°I¡¯m thinking that thiset was nothing but a passerby to us,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If it was destined to hit Deimos the moment it entered the Sr System, then it never actually held any threat towards us.¡± Tomcat was surprised. In a sense, what Tang Yue had said was right. They had been gripped with anxiety as if they were facing the greatest enemy of their life, simply because Tomcat had made a wrong calction of Deimos¡¯s trajectory. If they had detected that Deimos¡¯s orbital trajectory had changed, theputer would immediately have given the result that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I would have collided with Deimos. This was from start to end the trouble of one¡¯s own imagination. Tang Yue stood up and walked out into the desert. Then, he waved his hands at the sky, facing theet that was gradually distancing itself and shouting, ¡°Hey¡ª! See you again¡ª! All the best! Goodbye¡ª!¡± ¡°Goodbye¡ª!¡± Tomcat sat therenguidly as it observed the young adult waving at the stars in the direction of theet. In Tomcat¡¯s eyes, Tang Yue¡¯s tiny figure was like a man standing alone on a sand dune conversing with the Universe itself. Tomcat didn¡¯t know if the radiance that sparkled around Tang Yue¡¯s body was a result of the stars or because of themunication between human and god. Suddenly, there was a meteor shower overhead them. Chapter 177: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty, Tomorrow’s Tang Yue Will Still Rise As Usual

Chapter 177: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty, Tomorrow¡¯s Tang Yue Will Still Rise As Usual

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Theet had gone. Tang Yue packed up as he prepared to head home. ¡°We really have a second chance in life.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat walked alongside each other, strolling through the desert. Above their heads was a sky filled with shooting stars. They were therge number of tiny ice crystals that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had sent into the atmosphere. ¡°A six was thrown at the most critical moment.¡± ¡°If there is a god in this world, what do you think it¡¯s currently doing?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It might be stroking a cat,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°I think God is a cat person.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t He be a dog person?¡± ¡°Because all the dog people in the world have died.¡± ¡°I suddenly kind of understand theists. If I were a Christian and encountered something like that, I¡¯d definitely kneel down crying to thank the Lord for His grace and salvation... There will always be a million believers in this world who will pray to God for help in times of adversity, all but a hundred of them will get no response. There will always be a hundred who experience something out of sheer coincidence,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°That final one hundred cases will then be called miracles.¡± ¡°Survivorship bias?¡± Tang Yue thought and nodded. ¡°Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hitting Mars and Deimos hitting theet¡ªthese two matters were very low probability events for us, but to that entity above us...¡± Tomcat pointed at the sky. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how low the probability is; to the Universe, everything is mediocre. That is the mediocrity principle.¡± ¡°Mediocrity principle?¡± ¡°We find Deimos hitting theet incredible because the probability is just too small, but in fact, the probability of Deimos appearing anywhere is equal. Its orbital inclination to the local Lace ne can go from 1.79 to 1.80, and then 1.81 before finally reaching 1.82. Every oue is mediocre.¡± Tang Yue asked casually, ¡°So we too are mediocre?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Yes, both you and I are mediocre.¡± ¡°This sounds a little disappointing.¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°You have to understand that everyone has once fantasized about being the center of the Universe.¡± Tomcat took off its helmet and threw it into the air and caught it. ¡°There is no conflict between the two. If you wish to sound more important, you can use the anthropic principle to verify this point.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, this is United Space Station.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°Can you copy? Is the signal okay?¡± ¡°I hear you loud and clear. Lass, are you okay?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Was the space station affected by theet?¡± ¡°Everything is fine here.¡± Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I¡¯s collision with Deimos happened at an orbit of twenty thousand kilometers. This formed a very sparse ring¡ªone that was simply in name since it couldn¡¯t even be seen with a telescope. Tomcat said that if the matter in the ring would be evenly distributed in orbit, then two ice particles that exceed one millimeter in size would be more than four thousand kilometers apart from each other. Tomcat estimated that theet had left about half a trillion tonnes of matter in orbit, with most of it being thin gases. This faint ring had zero influence on the space station¡¯s near-orbit. The only thing that was affected was the ry satellites. The three ry satellites were located at an orbit of 17,000 kilometers; therefore, Tomcat and Tang Yue were worried that they would be damaged by the collision. But thankfully, their worries didn¡¯te to fruition as they continued working as per normal. ¡°Lass, we are having a meteor shower over here.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°How big are they?¡± ¡°Very, very big!¡± Tang Yue drew a deep breath. ¡°This is definitely the most spectacr meteor shower that humanity has ever seen. It doesn¡¯te from any particr constetion... It covers the entire sky.¡± The girl eximed over thems. She couldn¡¯t see the shooting stars from the space station, nor had she ever seen a meteor shower before. Hence, she found it impossible to imagine what kind of scene the most spectacr meteor shower in human history would look like. This was fate¡¯s gift to them¡ªin the form of fireworks¡ªfor surviving the cmity. ¡°In the face of the most shocking scene of nature, humannguage if often that clumsy. Your brain capacity is insufficient, making it impossible to contain the greatest creations in the world. Your vocabry iscking, making it insufficient to describe the vast powers of the world. All you can say is big, very big, very, very big,¡± Tomcat quipped. ¡°But cats are different.¡± ¡°What would a cat say?¡± ¡°Cats will say...¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Meow.¡± Tang Yue opened the hatch to the airlock as Tomcat entered. Tang Yue followed closely behind and shut the hatch behind him. He stood in the lit Hab. On the table were monitors and in front of the table were two swivel chairs. It was still quiet and warm. Tang Yue stepping into the Hab felt as though he had returned home from a cold, rainy winter night. He would put away his wet umbre as he enjoyed the fire in the firece. The hot st of air would heat his cheeks up as firewood crackled amidst the mes. Tang Yue took off the Radiant Armor, picked up a cup of water and stood in front of the rack to greet his tomatoes. ¡°Children, Daddy came back alive again.¡± Tang Yue squeezed on a pipette as he watered them one nt at a time. ¡°Are you happy?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°What... What do I do next? Do I still head down?¡± Theet was no longer a threat to the space station and it was in a rather safe situation at present. It wasn¡¯t imperative that Mai Dong descended. ¡°Do you wish toe down?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still the same as in the past. We will not force or direct you to make any choice. The choice is ultimately in your hands,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You can choose to remain in the space station and you can also choose tond, but I have to warn you... Miss Mai Dong, you have to consider the risks behind the choice you make.¡± Staying in orbit was undoubtedly the safest. Using Orion II to forcefullynd was an extremely risky endeavor. Tomcat had originally decided to use such a procedure because Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I had a hundred percent chance of destroying the space station. Under the pressure of theet, they had no choice but to do all they could to save Mai Dong. It was the lesser of two evils. But now, theet had gone. Mai Dong could use theet¡¯s arrival as nothing but an interlude. She could live on as she had in the past. ¡°But... But didn¡¯t our simtions seed?¡± Tomcat secretly sighed. They had nted a seed in Mai Dong¡¯s heart, telling her that she had a chance ofnding sessfully, causing her to be unable to live the same way as she had previously... Once you gave a cornered person another path, an ethereal hope, a promise that seemed usible, it was impossible to have that person sit willingly in their original spot. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, the surface simtion doesn¡¯t tell us anything. There were so many idents in history. Which one of them didn¡¯t obtain sess from a surface simtion? Yet, the ident still happened,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Since the threat of theet no longer exists, you don¡¯t have to make this dangerous choice.¡± ¡°I...¡± ¡°I agree with Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue stood in front of the rack. ¡°Landing on Orion II is too dangerous. Lass, there¡¯s no need to make bets with your life.¡± ¡°What if I insist oning down?¡± Mai Dong bit her lip.¡± ¡°Is this decision very selfish?¡± Tomcat was taken aback. Tang Yue was taken aback. All of themughed. ¡°No, no, Miss Mai Dong. You have the right to make any decision and bear the consequences yourself. It¡¯s only a choice; there¡¯s no right or wrong. No one can me you,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If you insist oning down, we will activate the ns fornding.¡± Tang Yue finished watering the tomatoes as he sat on a chair with a nket draped over him. ¡°A brand new day has arrived once again. I¡¯m really happy for the Sun.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because it can see me again. I believe the Sun likely heaved a sigh of relief when it saw theet leave Mars¡¯s orbit. It also expressed such a poignant thought: Tomorrow¡¯s Tang Yue will still rise as usual.¡± Chapter 178: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Lonely Spring

Chapter 178: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Lonely Spring

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The sun rose as Tang Yue dragged his cart through the Battery Farm. There was a saying that those who survive a catastrophe were bound to have good forter on, but Tang Yue didn¡¯t see any fortune. Of course, Tomcat would say that stirring feces from nine in the morning to nine at night, six days a week was a fortune. In response, Tang Yue mused if he should thank theet for giving him a chance to continue stirring feces. Tomcat raised its deww. Tang Yue arranged the sr panels in the desert and carefully flicked away the sand on them. He looked up at the sky, but Mars didn¡¯t have any concept of weather since itcked aplex water cycle. With 687 sols a year, it was daytime most of the time. asionally, there would be sandstorms and tiny amounts of dust would be pulled into the atmosphere, making the sky turn dusty. Sometimes it looked like orange smog. Back when theyunched the Eagle, the sandstorm they encountered had been a rare instance. Usually, the sandstorms on Mars were rted to the seasons. As Mars was much farther away from the Sun than Earth was, the entric ratio was greater. Therefore, seasonal changes on Mars were more obvious than on Earth. The ice caps at the two poles would undergo a startling change. Of course, this was a change that Tang Yue didn¡¯t notice. Be it summer or winter, the temperature outside Kunlun Station was the same to him... Its atmospheric pressure was 1% of Earth¡¯s and the temperature at night reached ¨C45¡ãC. It was forever dry and dust-filled. Death was certain if the Radiant Armor had any problems. Tomcat mentioned that the hurricane they had encountered was a small-scale typhoon, a normal atmospheric process. The most terrifying and fatal of them all was a global super hurricane. Such hurricanes happened once every three Martian years which meant six to eight Earth years. There was nothing that could be done if Kunlun Station encountered such a super hurricane. Even a legendary senior like the Opportunity perished under such a global hurricane. Tang Yue and Tomcat could only pray that such a storm came aste as possible. Tang Yue patted away the sand on his body and dragged his cart back to the garage. The temperature today was ¨C20¡ãC. It was windless and sandless, making the air quality excellent. 95% of the air was pure carbon dioxide and 3% of the air was nitrogen. Just taking a breath would cause a heart seizure. After counting the days, it was supposed to be 11 July 2053 A.D. on Earth. On Mars, it was the period between winter and spring. The mostmon sight these days was dry and windless clear skies. Kunlun Station was situated in the northern hemisphere, and over there, the spring and summer were forty sols longer than winter and autumn. The Isidis nitia was about to embark on a long six month spring season, and Tang Yue could only hope that even if there weren¡¯t any birds chirping in this long spring, that everything would be at peace. At some point in time, peacefully passing every day became a difficult-to-fulfill dream. ¡°Tang Yue, you¡¯re getting slow.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded in the earpiece. ¡°In the past, you only need two hours to finish your daily chores. Now, you take two and a half hours. Are you unable to move due to age?¡± ¡°When did I be slow? I¡¯ve always been fast, alright?¡± Tang Yue pushed the cart into the garage and came out. He used an old brush to clean the Chelomey. ¡°What time are you using? Standard Earth Time? Or Coordinated Martial Time?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s Standard Earth Time,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°A second is defined as the time that pses during 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation produced by the transition between two levels of the Cesium-133 atom.¡± Kunlun Station had two time-keeping systems. Apart from Standard Earth Time, there was one for Coordinated Martial Time. Coordinated Martial Time rescaled a sol into twenty-four hours; therefore a second in Coordinated Martial Time was 2.7% longer than a normal second. This form of calction was typically only used for the astronaut¡¯s daily use. ¡°I¡¯m only twenty-seven years old. Strictly speaking, I¡¯m still a young adult, alright? I haven¡¯t reached the age where I¡¯m automatically retired from the Communist Youth League of China.¡± Tang Yue carefully maintained the Chelomey probe, cleaning away the dust particles from the gaps in its hull. ¡°But it might be that your overall lifespan will only reach thirty,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t a twenty-seven-year-old be someone having one foot in the grave?¡± ¡°Can you say something nicer?¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes. ¡°Isn¡¯t saying that you will live to thirty-something nice?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. On careful thought, what Tomcat said wasn¡¯t wrong at all. ¡°OK, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m old.¡± Tang Yue sat on the ground and threw the brush in his hand. ¡°I ept my oldness. From today, all daily chores shall be handed to you, Tomcat. An aged person like me shall just lie in bed to await death...¡± ¡°What are you saying, young man!¡± Tomcat roared and interrupted him. ¡°You are still young. How can you be so bleak? You haven¡¯t reached the retirement age of the Communist Youth League of China. You are also the sessor of Communism! As the 6.5 billionth sessor of socialism with Chinese characteristics, you shoulde to your senses! ¡°Did the capitalists have the same expression as you are wearing now when they exploitedbor two hundred years ago?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Capitalists wear such expressions when they are exploiting workers no matter when it is,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You¡¯ve read so much history recently, so you should be aware of this point. They will draw a huge pie on a piece of paper to encourage the workers, but when this pie is created, the capitalists will not hesitate to stuff the pie into their pockets, and all the workers get is the oil stains from the makings.¡± ¡°You exploitive cat.¡± ¡°At such times, you shouldn¡¯t use ss struggle as your banner. Besides, when have I ever exploited you? Our rtionship has never been one of employer and employee because I¡¯ve never paid you for the work you do.¡± ¡°You have already been promoted fromndlord to ve owner. Lord Cat, I think a ssical Chinese attire suits you.¡± Tomcat imagined the situation. ¡°Suits worn by those rich, old officials in Beijing?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re more like an alcoholic, failed schr who frequents the tavern.¡± Tang Yue patted the Chelomey and got up with the brush in hand. ¡°That reminds me of how the failed schr asked the tavern owner the ridiculous question of how the four ways ¡®exploit¡¯ in exploitation is spelled.¡± Tang Yue looked into the distance. It was the grave he had dug for himself, one that he nned on lying in to receive death. But ultimately, when theet hadn¡¯t hit Mars, the grave wasn¡¯t put to use. However, Tang Yue didn¡¯t fill the pit. He knew very well that although theet had left, death had never left. That invisible spirit was floating in the desert in front of Tang Yue like vultures waiting for their prey to die and rot. They were spiraling in the air, and Tang Yue could see their shadows. ¡°Tomcat.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°When will Orion II¡¯snding happen?¡± ¡°When Miss Mai Dong and I finish making the final preparations,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s estimated to be around twenty hours.¡± Tang Yue opened the hatch to the airlock and entered it with his back hunched. The heavy, air-tight hatch locked behind him with a click, isting him from all the desteness outside. On the desert outside Kunlun Station, a silent spring was arriving quietly. Chapter 179: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Seven Kilograms of Thrust

Chapter 179: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Seven Kilograms of Thrust

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue entered Kunlun Station and took off the life support system. Tomcat was wearing an earpiece hugging its hind feet as it sat on a chair. It was looking free and easy. When Tang Yue took off the Radiant Armor, he heard Tomcat singing ¡°God is a Girl.¡± But when he listened carefully, the lyrics were different. ¡°God is a cat, ¡°Wherever you are, ¡°Do you believe it, can you receive it?¡± It was actually singing, ¡°God is a Cat.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, take note. You are sixty-six meters from the core module. You are a little too far.¡± Tomcat nced at the image on the screen as it gave a warning. ¡°You should start heading back.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong sounded to be in a bit of a predicament. ¡°I¡¯ve just released the anchor cable, but I can¡¯t reach the handle.¡± ¡°OK, don¡¯t panic... I¡¯ll switch on the cable hoist to pull you back,¡± Tomcat looked up and saw Mai Dong helplessly floating two meters from her working position. She was desperately trying to reach her hand out for a handle on the wall. Tomcat remotely switched on the power and the safety tether on Mai Dong¡¯s EVA suit tightened as she was pulled back towards the space station. This continued until the girl grabbed onto the maintenance handle on the space station¡¯s outer walls again. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, hold tight next time.¡± Mai Dong nodded and hooked the anchor rope onto the wall. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Yue hung up the Radiant Armor as he walked over with a cup of water. ¡°Another repair?¡± ¡°The Hall-effect thruster,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s a 600 kW Hall-effect thruster, SPT276, that was reced from the Hayabusa III asteroid probe during thest Mars mission.¡± ¡°Hayabusa III?¡± Tang Yue tried hard to recall. He had heard of that name and it was apparently something from the Japanese. In the past few decades, the Japanese have be rather enamored with making asteroid probes. Each one of them surpassed their predecessor in terms of distance traveled. ¡°It¡¯s an asteroid probe, so shouldn¡¯t it be in the asteroid belt? Why is it in the space station?¡± ¡°But it won¡¯t be in the asteroid belt forever. The Hayabusa III probe will pass by the United Space Station in its forty-fourth orbit during its mission. Therefore, the space station¡¯s upants will do some maintenance on it when that happens,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°But that probe¡¯s propulsion device has malfunctioned, so it¡¯s been dismantled and ced in there.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the probe?¡± ¡°It flew off,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The probe malfunctioned and dyed the mission, so the probe¡¯s exploration ns were abandoned. Therefore, Mission Control decided to make it a deep-space probe. It was sent out with a gravitational slingshot thanks to Jupiter. By now, it should have already gone past Jupiter¡¯s orbit.¡± ¡°Why are you fiddling with it?¡± ¡°We¡¯re trying to see if we can fix it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If it can be repaired, the space station¡¯s attitude adjustment won¡¯t require the Orion II¡¯s Raptor rockets. This will maximize the space station¡¯s lifespan. Even if Miss Mai Dongnds, the space station will continue staying in orbit for a very long period of time.¡± ¡°You know how to fix that gizmo?¡± Tang Yue was somewhat puzzled. He pulled a chair over and sat beside Tomcat. ¡°If I recall correctly, a stationary sma thruster and a chemical rocket¡¯s structure arepletely different.¡± Tang Yue looked at the schematic on the monitor to the left of Tomcat. The Hayabusa III asteroid probe SPT276 stabilizers and stationary sma thruster was a cylindrical body with a diameter spanning more than a meter. It resembled a spotlight and it was installed on the space station¡¯s truss. During thest Mars mission, the astronauts had dismantled it from the Hayabusa III and ced it there, perhaps to take it back on the next mission. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°It¡¯s slightly bigger. The Hayabusa III probe SPT276 is currently the biggest stationary sma thruster in service.¡± ¡°How big is it?¡± ¡°Its thrust reaches a terrifying...¡± Tomcat said with utmost seriousness, ¡°70 N!¡± Seventy Newtons? Seven kilograms? An engine rocket with a total thrust of seven kilograms? Tang Yue was somewhat puzzled. ¡°A rocket with a total thrust of seven kilograms can push a four-hundred-ton space station?¡± ¡°At most, the eleration will be small. It will eventually move as it¡¯s pushed,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°No matter how small the force is, an electric rocket¡¯s advantage is its high impulse!¡± Mai Dong was following Tomcat¡¯s instructions to repair the thruster. The huge item, with a diameter spanning more than a meter, brought certain conveniences to the repairs. The Hall-effect thruster¡¯syout was rtively simple. It was a lot easier than a chemical rocket. SPT276¡¯s malfunction wasn¡¯t serious; therefore, when the asteroid exploration ns were shelved, Mission Control had thrown Hayabusa III out the Sr System while keeping the thruster behind. Mai Dong carefully dismantled the thruster¡¯s hull. Unlike traditional chemical rockets, SPT276¡¯s internals didn¡¯t have any reservoir tanks or turbopumps. Nor did it have anyplicated, twisted pipes. In their ce were dense electromaic line circuits andyers of instion walls. Such a stationary sma thruster used Xeon ions as its thrust and electricity as its energy source. It didn¡¯t needrge amounts of methane and oxygen. Mai Dong felt as if she was repairing an electrical appliance, such as an induction cooker. ¡°With this thruster, we can at least extend the space station¡¯s lifespan by a third.¡± Tomcat was pleased. ¡°It will live for another six years. Ideally, it might even work for ten years.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t care about the United Space Station¡¯s lifespan. After all, he didn¡¯t have that long to live. Nor did Mai Dong. With him and Mai Dong dead, the uninhabited space station was no different from a tomb. Tomcat seemed d that it was extending the lives of every human relic, extending them from three years to six years, or six years to ten years. However, Tang Yuecked interest in such actions. Deep down in his heart, he viewed it with numbed coldness. Everything would fade away. Death waited at the end of every road for everyone. ¡°I only wish to know when Orion II cannd.¡± Tomcat and Mai Dong were taken aback. ¡°I also wish to know when Orion II can begin thending,¡± Mai Dong whispered as she stopped what she was doing. ¡°I¡¯ve mentioned it before. It¡¯s estimated to be about twenty hours from now... Thending needs to have all the preparation workpleted before it can begin,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°However, Miss Mai Dong, I have to remind you once again that it¡¯s extremely dangerous for Orion II to enter the atmosphere again. The chances of failure are high. There¡¯s actually no need for you to do it...¡± Mai Dong had already lost count of the number of times Tomcat had reminded her of the risks of descending. It was quite obvious that Tomcat didn¡¯t have confidence in a safending. Tomcat had gone for broke due to theet¡¯s threat. To rally their morale, it had said to Mai Dong and Tang Yue that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. But now, Tomcat had already lost the reason to lie. It had transformed back into the cold, rational scientific station¡¯s assistant that measured the pros and cons of everything. From its point of view, the best choice for Mai Dong was to stay put. ¡°I know,¡± Mai Dong cut it off, ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was very soft and slow, but it was said in an irrefutable manner. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of death, but I don¡¯t want to die in the space station,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°If I have to die... I hope to die on Mars.¡± Chapter 180: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Project Landing

Chapter 180: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Project Landing

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat fell silent before it smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to say such things, Miss Mai Dong.¡± It didn¡¯t wish to touch on topics regarding death, especially at such times. Reality had proven that Tomcat¡¯s raising of gs often came true; therefore, it was best it shut up before the beginning of every major operation. Compared to Mai Dong¡¯s decisiveness and resoluteness, Tomcat appeared somewhat apprehensive and indecisive. But this was its duty. As an assistant on Kunlun Station, it had an obligation to ensure the safety of the team. Mai Dong naturally had the right to make any decision with her own life. No one had the right to question her. Orion II¡¯s atmospheric reentry was definitely the most dangerousnding mission in human aeronautical history. Tomcat¡¯s worry and unease weren¡¯t without reason. If thending failed, it would be equivalent to it and Tang Yue sending Mai Dong and Orion II to their deaths. Putting aside what Tomcat would feel, Tang Yue would probably suffer a mental breakdown. For Tang Yue, the best choice was for Mai Dong to safely stay in the space station, but for some unknown reason, he was supporting Mai Dong¡¯s decision. ¡°Tang Yue, what happens if thending fails? Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Then why are you insisting on letting Miss Mai Donge down?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯ll support her every decision.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that this decision might lead to a disaster?¡± Tang Yue cocked his head and gazed at the Orion II model, suddenly effusing a look that Tomcat couldn¡¯t read. He took a deep breath. ¡°On a night after we confirmed that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I would hit Mars, I had a chat with Mai Dong... I asked her why we had lived up to now. Was it an innate desire for survival? Simply inertia for survival? Or was it responsibility and duty?¡± Tang Yue slowly said. ¡°We have lived out days like walking zombies surviving in this remote and secluded corner. I think if this continues, we will one day lose our right to be humans, turning into something no different from a rodent.¡± ¡°The desire for survival is the means and not the end. Living isn¡¯t the meaning behind living,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°Therefore, Mai Dong and I decided that Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I was the end to everything. Our responsibilities and duties ended with it. All our identities would be wiped out by theet¡¯s impact, be it inheritors of human civilization, watchmen, or grave diggers. Tang Yue and Mai Dong would die here.¡± ¡°And then?¡± ¡°Then... if we were to survive theet¡¯s impact and somehow survive, we wouldn¡¯t pursue to extend our lives for the continuation of human civilization. We would let life regain its true meaning. From that moment forth, I¡¯m just an ordinary person. Likewise for Mai Dong. The only difference is that the ce we live in is different from others.¡± Tang Yue smiled but the smile slowly faded as he changed his tone. ¡°Mai Dong told me that she was in great pain.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°She wishes to change the kind of life she has no matter what it takes.¡± ¡°So neither of you care how much time you have left?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s how we live that takes priority, and the length of life bes second,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°We were very worried that we would transform into people who ended up being unscrupulous in order to survive. Bit by bit, we calcted the little amount of time we have left, being calctive about every second and minute. We would greedily and crazily use every resource that can extend our lives... Only at thest moment when we turn around and look ourselves in the mirror do we realize that we are no longer human.¡± Mai Dongpleted her job and returned to the space station¡¯s core module. Tomcat began a test run of the SPT276, and the maintenance work had been very sessful. The thruster spewed out high-speed Xeon ions that appeared blue in space. This gigantic stationary sma thruster could provide the space station with seven Newtons of force. This force against the space station that had a mass exceeding four hundred tonnes was undoubtedly minuscule, but in zero-gravity, even an ant could move a whale. As long as there was sufficient time, any tiny amounts of eleration could bring about a sufficient change in speed. After Orion II left the space station, SPT276¡¯s thruster was the only thing that could move the space station thus, greatly extending its lifespan. It was quite obvious that Tomcat didn¡¯t wish to lose Orion II and the space station. There was nothing that could be done about Orion II¡¯s crash, but it was bent on keeping the space station operational as long as it could. ¡°I have no right to interfere with your choice. It¡¯s just my duty to remind you both,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As long as you are still lucid and mentally sound enough to understand the risks behind the operation before making the decision, I will do my best to support you.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, then can I activate it now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Orion II and Kunlun Station are already prepared. You can activate it at any moment.¡± Mai Dong opened the notebookputer in the core module and entered Orion II¡¯s control system. It was still that familiar interface. A red button and a blue button. The girl looked up at Tomcat and Tang Yue with an inquisitive look in her eyes. ¡°You can press the red button,¡± Tomcat said, ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tang Yue stared at the girl¡¯s eyes and nodded. Mai Dong took a deep breath as she extended her finger and gently pressed the screen. Under the pressure, the current under the screen changed minutely. At the moment the skin on Mai Dong¡¯s index finger touched the screen, the electric signal reached the United Space Station and Orion II¡¯sputers. Silently, Orion II¡¯s flight program waspletely changed as massive amounts of data pumped through the circuits. The thousands of sensors on the spacecraft received newmands as the mission clock started from zero. Theputer had entered itsnding mode. It was to be the most massivending device in human history. Mai Dong looked around. Nothing had changed on the space station or to the spacecraft after she had pressed the button... It was a little different from what she had expected. The girl even thought of prodding the screen a few more times. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that, Miss Mai Dong.¡± A pop-up window appeared on the monitor in front of Tomcat. Large amounts of data was being updated. ¡°Orion II has enterednding mode. It will begin twenty hours from now. There will be three attitude adjustments before it does the atmospheric entry... The estimated time for entry is Coordinated Martian Time, 3:20 p.m. tomorrow.¡± ¡°Tomorrow at 3:20 p.m.?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Before the descent officially begins, you still have twenty-eight hours. Have a good rest... Tang Yue, you should get some rest as well.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t move as he turned his head over and smiled. His eyes said silently: ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t have a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not just worried about thatdy. If thending fails, what will happen to you?¡± ... Late into the silent night. Tang Yue went to have some rest. Tomcat entered its sleep mode, likewise for Kunlun Station¡¯sputer since there wasn¡¯t any work for it to do. Mai Dong was tond tomorrow. Tang Yue tried hard to sleep, but his anxiety and nervousness left him awake. Just the closing of his eyes would make him see the ming Orion II crashing. This was a scene from his nightmare. It was so realistic that it left him horrified as it imprinted deep in his consciousness. Therefore, Tang Yue¡¯s brain had remembered it, reying it every night to him. Finally, Tang Yue opened his eyes and stared at the pitch-ck ceiling. ¡°Are you asleep? Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded from the earpiece. ¡°No,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± Mai Dong said faintly. ¡°Let¡¯s have a chat? If thending fails tomorrow, this might be ourst night chat...¡± ¡°What nonsense are you saying?¡± Tang Yue frowned as he cut off Mai Dong with a stern tone. ¡°It won¡¯t be thest. We will be chatting face to face tomorrow night!¡± Chapter 181: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, HELLO MARS

Chapter 181: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, HELLO MARS

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The girl giggled. ¡°I guarantee you that you and I will have dinner together on the same table tomorrow night. Tomcat and I will serve you Kunlun Station¡¯s valuable stash of red-braised beef biscuits and tomatoes.¡± ¡°It will be that grand?¡± ¡°Obviously, Miss Mai Dong. You are a VIP. I¡¯ve stashed away all the red-braised beef biscuits. I¡¯ll share them with you when you¡¯re here,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I¡¯ve been eating salted squid biscuits all day now. It¡¯s torture.¡± ¡°Is that a promise?¡± Mai Dong asked softly. ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°We will definitely get you down safely... We have already done all the preparations. Orion II will definitelynd safely. Tomcat guaranteed it.¡± ¡°Pinky promise?¡± the girl said. ¡°Pinky promise.¡± The two extended their pinkies. ¡°Anyone who breaks this pinky promise is a puppy!¡± Mai Dong giggled. ¡°Hey, Tang Yue. How many sols has it been?¡± ¡°321 sols,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°About 320 sols have passed since Earth disappeared.¡± ¡°Ah... It¡¯s already been 321 sols. It¡¯s almost a year.¡± Mai Dong blinked. ¡°But if you think about it, the days feel so long. It¡¯s as if many years have passed. Life on Earth feels like something from another lifetime.¡± Indeed, it hadn¡¯t been a year since the two were left stranded around Mars, but it felt like a lifetime. The lives they had before leaving Earth felt like another lifetime away. Tang Yue could remember his family, friends, colleagues, and teachers, but those memories were fragmented and blurry. It was more like the life of a person named Tang Yue more than a hundred million kilometers away. At times, Tang Yue would let his thoughts stray, wondering if he was born on Mars and if there was another Tang Yue who shared the same name and looks as he did on Earth. ¡°I still remember... that before I left, Mom came to send me off at the center. She told me to wear more clothes because it would be cold and to remember to eat breakfast daily. She said that it¡¯s not good to skip breakfast. She reminded me to call back home regrly or send a video. I was told to drink warm water because I have a cold constitution.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart stirred. Before leaving, he¡¯d had a phone conversation with his family. His mother had repeatedly exhorted the same things such as be safe, eat well, wear more clothes to not get sick, and to have good rtionships with his colleagues. As for his father, he was listening by the side urging his wife to stop. ¡°Enough, enough. Do you think a grown-ass man like him doesn¡¯t know how to take care of himself? He¡¯s an astronaut. An astronaut, got it? The country will take good care of him.¡± His mother was a ssic working woman. She was one of the ordinary members of the country¡¯s 1.4 billion citizens. She hadn¡¯t received any higher education, having graduated from junior college. She wasn¡¯t an entrepreneur with her own business. The highest-ranking member in society she came across was the police inspector at the station across the street. The furthest ces she had been were Thand and Singapore. All her life, Mars was nothing but a term she had read in books or the news. It was never a reachable ce. She didn¡¯t have a clear concept of what it meant tond on Mars, nor could she imagine a massive spacecraft weighing thousands of tonnes. It was only when she checked Wikipedia that she realized that a return trip took two years. She was shocked, surprised that it was such a distance away! At that moment, his father grunted. ¡°Of course it¡¯s far. It¡¯s Mars. Do you know what Mars is? The distance between Earth and Mars is at least... Son, how far is it?¡± Tang Yue had already gone too far, so far that it was as though he had reached the stars in the sky. ¡°My dad stood by the side with a nasty look on his face. It¡¯s because he didn¡¯t support my decision toe to Mars. He said that I was too young, that such work should be left to older people,¡± Mai Dong continued. ¡°I quarreled with him over this. He even went to the director and mmed on his desk saying, ¡®My daughter is only twenty-five. Can you take the responsibility if anything happens to her by sending her to somewhere so dangerous?¡¯ Later, he was dragged out by Mom... This was something Mom told me via emailter. She said that my dad had caused a fuss at the director¡¯s office.¡± ¡°What happened after that?¡± ¡°Later, I participated in the training. Slowly, my dad stopped saying anything.¡± Mai Dong smiled. ¡°My dad is a stiff, conflicted man. The hardest thing for him to do is to bow his head to others... But he eventually came with Mom to send me off. He only said one thing throughout the entire process.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± ¡°Be safe,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Momter sent an email telling me that my dad cried the entire way home on the bus.¡± ¡°Your father¡¯s attitude ispletely different from my dad.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°Indeed, a daughter is a treasure, but a son is nothing.¡± ¡°What did your father say?¡± ¡°Son, you are going to be an astronaut. This will bring glory to our ancestors! Go without any worries. I¡¯ll take care of your mom!¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°I told him that it was risky! That I might not return! Guess what he said?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That clueless dad of mine said that he had also risked his life when he was young. He fought someone who held a knife on the street and was stabbed in the back. Thankfully, he was fast to react, or the knife would have hit his head,¡± Tang Yue said gloomily. ¡°Injured, he ran far away and hid in an abandoned car, scaring ady who happened to walk past. Later, thatdy became my mom... My dad often said that I wouldn¡¯t exist if he hadn¡¯t risked his life.¡± Mai Dong hugged her stomach as she keptughing until she was out of breath. ¡°Tang Yue, you have so many stories.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I was never considered a good student from a young age. I had all sorts of riffraff as friends. I relied on being smart, by having pretty good scores simply by working hard just before exams. I always was within the top ten for exams.¡± Tang Yue hugged his arms. ¡°That¡¯s why the teachers never cared about me. I¡¯m different from brainy students like you.¡± ¡°But that life is very boring. I¡¯m so envious of you.¡± Mai Dong sighed. ¡°When I was young, my dad was very, very strict with me. After I got home from school, I¡¯d have English lessons and piano lessons. During piano lessons, he would stand beside me with a cane in hand. If I were to be distracted, he wouldsh at the floor. On weekends, I still had mathematics enrichment sses. I basically never had any free time.¡± ¡°You know how to y the piano?¡± ¡°A little.¡± Mai Dong hesitated. ¡°I passed Grade 10 during the graduation of middle school.¡± Tang Yue whistled. Strictly speaking, Tang Yue and Mai Dong had very different families. Tang Yue was born into a normal household. People from that ss were often humble but wed, kind but cowardly. They were tenacious. As for Mai Dong, she was the ssic example of a daughter from an intellectual family. She had the reservations and discipline that stemmed from being from a family of schrs. ¡°It¡¯s not early,dy. It¡¯s time for you to sleep. ¡°Tang Yue said. ¡°Have a good rest. Make sure you have enough energy to deal with tomorrow¡¯s work.¡± ¡°Tang Yue... Will we be able to meet tomorrow night?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Yue said firmly. ¡°We¡¯ve pinky promised.¡± ¡°Yes, we did.¡± Mai Dong felt at ease as she closed her eyes in satisfaction. Momentster, she opened her eyes. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± ... Kunlun Station became silent. Tomcat was curled in a bundle beside a wall with its eyes closed and ears drooped. When sleeping, it looked no different from an ordinary cat apart from its size. Of course, a certain fat orange cat was about the same size. Suddenly, the monitor on the desk silently lit up. In the darkness, the cat¡¯s ears pricked up. Themunications system popped up a window as the disy showed a message reach Kunlun Station. ¡°HELLO MARS!¡± Chapter 182: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Ship to Mars

Chapter 182: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-One, Ship to Mars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The Hab didn¡¯t have its lights on. The monitor¡¯s white background light illuminated two faces. A human face. And a cat¡¯s face. The two faces had a look of nervousness and excitement. Their brows were furrowed together in unease as though they were two dads waiting for the birth of their children outside a delivery ward. Tomcat¡¯s eyes widened as its paws hung over the keyboard, trembling. Tang Yue moved a chair over, his eyes wider than Tomcat¡¯s. ¡°Is that it?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice trembled as he gulped a mouthful of saliva. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It needs confirmation,¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°But it¡¯s highly likely to be it.¡± Ever since Earth vanished, nothing had excited them more than these two words on the screen. This was the first time Kunlun Station had received a message that hadn¡¯te from the United Space Station. After Tomcat discovered the ¡°HELLO MARS¡± on the screen, it immediately rushed over to kick Tang Yue awake. ¡°Give it a try.¡± Tang Yue nudged Tomcat. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s see what it is!¡± Tomcat typed on the keyboard as it nodded. Three secondster, the page refreshed. Kunlun Station¡¯sputer quickly gave a report. It had responded at its fastest possible speed to establishmunications with the visitor. Amunication mechanism was set up, allowing all its more intimate details to be exposed to Kunlun Station. Tang Yue and Tomcat saw its stats. It was a white spacecraft that was twenty-two meters long. It looked simr to the Eagle, like a fat rod. It had a white back and ck bottom, but it didn¡¯t have an upper and lower vehicle or any windows. This was a disposable unmanned spacecraft. On the sides of the spacecraft were the gigantic words andbel: CNSA and a red g. ¡°Incredible. This little guy actually escaped the cmity and found its way here... It didn¡¯t even have any control or coarse-adjustmentmands from Mission Control. It has flown for so long and such great distance without getting lost.¡± Tomcat shook its head as it gasped. Tang Yue¡¯s grip on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders suddenly tightened as his eyes turned red. The thirteenth cargo spacecraft for the Mars Landing Project from the People¡¯s Republic of China. Tianzhou 37. This cargo spacecraft had beenunched the day before Earth vanished. It was to send supplies for the next Marsnding mission and also to start the second phase of Kunlun Station upgrades. This spacecraft carried fifteen tonnes of supplies, includingrge amounts of food, water, medicine, daily necessities, fuel, and electronicponents for maintenance and upgrading. Kunlun Station¡¯s second phase of upgrades was key to the expansion of the Mars Landing Project. In the three-phase Mars Landing Project, Tang Yue¡¯s and Mai Dong¡¯s thirteenth scientific mission was thest step of the first phase. The second phase was about to begin to test the technology of setting up a Mars base. It included long-term farming, sealed ecospheres, as well as extraction of methane and water from Mars¡¯s surface. Tianzhou 37 was the bell that signified the beginning of the second phase. ording to the original n, the second year after Tianzhou 37 wasunched, Tianzhou 38 and Tianzhou 39, as well as the brand-new Orion III spacecraft would beunched to begin humanity¡¯s full colonization of Mars. ¡°Tianzhou, this is Mars Landing Project Payload Specialist, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Employee Number CNMEP390012C, Tang Yue. Do you copy?¡± Tang Yue sent the greeting. Momentster, themunications window presented the spacecraft¡¯s reply. ¡°Specialist Tang Yue, this is Tianzhou 37. I wish you a happy life.¡± Tang Yue was so excited he nearly smashed his keyboard. This was an unexpected surprise. No one knew that deep in space, there was a spacecraft that had survived... This lone survivor had been flying for nearly a year without anyone knowing about it. It had finally contacted Kunlun Station today. Tang Yue actually knew of Tianzhou 37¡¯sunch, but he didn¡¯t hold out any hope for it. When Earth vanished, it had swept away 99% of all man-made spacecraft. As Tianzhou 37 wasunched shortly before Earth¡¯s disappearance, Tang Yue believed that it would have vanished along with Earth. After all, they hadpletely lostmunications with Orion I which was still near Mars. Even if Tianzhou 37 escaped the cmity, it didn¡¯t receive anymands from Mission Control after Earth vanished. If any error happened to its flight program, it would lose sight of its target. Even Tomcat didn¡¯t believe there was hope for the Tianzhou 37. It believed that it had either disappeared like Orion I or would deviate too much and miss Mars before flying into endless deep space. However, this tenacious spacecraft had managed to arrive on schedule. Itsputer system had blindly cruised a distance of more than a hundred million kilometers and had arrived at its destination with inexplicable precision. ¡°This is Kunlun Station. Tianzhou 37, do you copy me!?¡± Tianzhou 37 wore the earpiece andmunicated with it via voice. ¡°Answer if you copy!¡± ¡°This is Tianzhou 37. I copy you. I wish you a happy life.¡± A gentle female voice sounded over thems. ¡°This is Kunlun Station. Tianzhou 37, do you copy me!?¡± ¡°This is Tianzhou 37. I copy you. I wish you a happy life.¡± ¡°This is Kunlun Station. Tianzhou 37, do you copy me!? Tianzhou 37, do you copy me!?¡± Tang Yue was exhrated. ¡°Why are going on and on like a broken record?¡± Tomcat nced at him. ¡°The other party is a true-blue recorded message. All its replies were preset. All it will do its wish you a happy life. Why are you so happy chatting with aputer?¡± ¡°Where is it now?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°How far is it from us?¡± ¡°Twenty sols,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°I¡¯m establishingmunications with Tianzhou 37 and connecting to its navigation controls. I¡¯ll guide it and adjust its trajectory... This spacecraft is more tenacious than we imagined. Without any guidance from Mission Control, it relied on the backup system to adjust its flight path and wandered all the way here.¡± ¡°Backup system?¡± ¡°Yes, the sun and the stars.¡± Tomcat nodded. It¡¯s really impressive. The Tianzhou series of spacecraft is really the most reliable one I¡¯ve ever met. If it were the Cygnus series from Northrop Grumman, it would probably have drifted all the way to Jupiter... OK! The path has been set. It will enter Mars¡¯s orbit in twenty sols.¡± ¡°Excellent! Excellent!¡± Tang Yue cheered in excitement as he pumped his fists. ¡°What does it mean to have the heavens help me? This is it!¡± Tianzhou 37¡¯s appearance was undoubtedly timely. It was an unmanned cargo spacecraft that was filled with precious supplies. The goods on Tianzhou 37 were enough to support Tang Yue and Mai Dong for several years. Tang Yue could finally be free from a life of endlesspressed biscuits. He could finally eat noodles and vegetables and drink fruit juice and coffee. He could even have frozen dumplings. There were also antibiotics, multivitamins, as well as anti-radiation pills. Even hair loss could be curbed. Most important of all, Tianzhou 37 could dock with the United Space Station. Mai Dong could ride the cargo spacecraft andnd safely. The level of safety was a lot higher than the unreliable Orion II. Tianzhou 37¡¯snding was as stable as a Boeingmercial ne... Without any exaggeration, Tianzhou 37 was a lifeboat. It carried with it a new lease of life, plenty of it. It hade at thest minute before Orion II¡¯s descent, leaving hope to live on in the hands of Tang Yue and Mai Dong. If the cargo spacecraft was here, Tang Yue wished to give it a deep kiss. It would be his first kiss. Chapter 183: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Reboot

Chapter 183: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Reboot

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next morning, Tang Yue and Tomcat informed Mai Dong of the news, moments after she woke up. ¡°Tianzhou... 37?¡± Mai Dong was surprised. ¡°It¡¯s still alive?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Tianzhou 37 wasunched before Earth disappeared, but for some reason, this spacecraft escaped the misfortune of vaporizing with Earth. Furthermore, it very urately found its destination. It will arrive on Mars twenty days¡¯ time, ording to n.¡± ¡°I recall that Tianzhou 37 is a cargo spacecraft.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue had spent hours to calm his excitement to make himself lookposed, but he still wasn¡¯t able to repress the joy in his eyes. ¡°Just on food alone, that spacecraft has five tonnes worth. There¡¯s fruit, vegetables, beef, fish, and even Australian lobster canned food!¡± He handed the inventory list to Mai Dong. Mai Dong began scanning through it. ¡°44 kinds of I-type food, 23 kinds of IM-type food, 9 kinds of NF-type food, 54 kinds of R-type food, 27 kinds of T-type food... It includes raisins, oatmeal, yogurt, preserved apricot, dried pear, Russian ck bread, shrimp with mixed vegetables, steak, sausage pie, fish-skin peanuts, burritos, dehydrated mushroom soup, spaghetti bolognese... Wow, breading pudding, beef noodles, mushroom tenderloin... Wow¡ªvegetable sd, diced meat rice...¡± ¡°Lass, your saliva... your saliva!¡± Mai Dong wiped away her drool as her eyes turned feverish as they burned with a glint. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I... I¡¯ve seen heaven.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°That is heaven.¡± Mai Dong hugged her plush toy, Ah Q, and buried her face into the furry dog¡¯s stomach as she groaned. Soon the groan turned intoughter as she tumbled about inside the module. ¡°Fabulous! Just fabulous! This is great news!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat exchanged looks. Tomcat shrugged. Your earlier reaction wasn¡¯t necessarily any better than Miss Mai Dong. Tang Yue cleared his throat. ¡°Lass, the supplies aren¡¯t the most important thing. Most important of all is that we need to change thending ns. Tianzhou 37 has a very safender. You cane down on Tianzhou, and we don¡¯t have to make Orion II descend.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Mai Dong nodded. ¡°That also means I just need to wait another twenty days on the space station.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°After Tianzhou enters Martian orbit, we will let it dock with the United Space Station. You can bring all you need into the spacecraft, bringing with you all the excess goods and those nts of yours together... Tianzhou has the ability to let yound safely. Furthermore, it will uratelynd at Kunlun Station¡¯s doorstep. I guarantee that the entire process will be very stable and safe.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± The girl¡¯s ck eyes darted around before she smiled. ¡°Butst night, you said we would be having dinner together tonight. Does that promise not count?¡± ¡°Of course it does,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It will just be pushed back twenty days. When the timees, I¡¯ll entertain you with Australian lobster.¡± ¡°On ount of the lobster...¡± Mai Dong grunted. ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you for standing me up.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat moved over and pushed Tang Yue away. That put an end to the idle chatter for important matters were next. ¡°I¡¯m here, Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°You are now aware of the present situation. As Orion II¡¯s descent has been abandoned, we need you to switch offnding mode.¡± Tomcat crossed its paws and held them to its chin. It sat squarely as it looked at the operational state of Orion II on the monitor. The eight engines were in shutdown mode, but the Raptor-05 rocket in the middle wasbeled red. ¡°It¡¯s indicated here that Orion II is beginning its second attitude adjustment. Raptor-05 is sending pulses at the moment.¡± Mai Dong floated to the window and looked out. At this moment, the United Space Station was located behind Mars. Orion II was carrying out an attitude adjustment. In Tomcat¡¯s descent program, Orion II needed to carry out three attitude adjustments before officially beginning the atmospheric entry. Looking from afar, the Raptor engines in Orion II¡¯s dynamic module were blinking with a light-blue glow in the darkness. The blinking was like a beacon light or candlelight that was wavering in the wind. This wasn¡¯t a normal job for the Raptor engine, but a pulse program Tomcat had designed. It would ignite the rocket at a graded frequency to save propent. Methane was burning with oxygen and the exhaust was a bright blue color. The Raptor-05 engine was nudging the spacecraft into slowly changing the orbit and attitude. ¡°Yes, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong replied. She once again saw the control panel. ¡°Orion II¡¯s engine is in operation. Status is normal.¡± ¡°Shut it off,¡± Tomcat indicated. ¡°Directly?¡± ¡°Directly.¡± Mai Dong opened her notebookputer, connected to the control system, and pressed the ¡°Cancel¡± button. ¡°Mr. Cat, there isn¡¯t any reaction.¡± Mai Dong said as she pressed the button a few more times. ¡°Another bug?¡± Tomcat scratched its head. Mai Dong had pressed the button, but Orion II¡¯s engine remained blinking. Clearly, one of the links that controlled the spacecraft¡¯s engine from Mai Dong¡¯s notebook had bugged out. After all, this wasn¡¯t the default program of the spacecraft, but something Tomcat had written up at thest minute. It wasn¡¯t odd for a bug to appear. ¡°But it¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s just a small problem... Just reboot it.¡± Rebooting could resolve 99% of all program errors. The final 1% just needed multiple reboots. ¡°How do I reboot?¡± ¡°Use the circuit breaker,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Break the circuit for the control system. That¡¯s the easiest way to reboot.¡± Mai Dong pulled down the operator on the meter panel and after a few seconds, the control panel¡¯s indicator lights dimmed. She then pushed the operator up to the end. ¡°Try switching off Raptor-05 again,¡± Tomcat instructed. Mai Dong leaned onto the window as she held the notebookputer and pressed the ¡°Cancel¡± button. It worked this time. Theputer screen popped up a notification window: Raptor-5 shut down. Landing Mode terminated. Following that, a second notification window popped up: Orion II in ordinary flight mode. Tomcat received the notification immediately as the nine engines on Orion II werebeled red. Mai Dong clearly felt a tremor run through the cabin walls. This was the system igniting all the engines on Orion II. The propent and oxidizers were burning intensely in thebustion chamber. The tremors had run through the space station¡¯s truss all the way to Mai Dong. After canceling the descent, the Raptor rockets had to push the United Space Station back into normal orbit. The girl looked out. In the dark shadow of Mars, the nine Raptor engines suddenly sted out mes that could rival the Sun¡¯s brightness and heat. Orange-red mes seemed to instantly light up the entire world. Mai Dong floated in the warmth of the light as though she was seeing the setting sun the final moment before it set. The girl¡¯s fairplexion with the clear and distinguishable fine hair was dyed red by this picturesque scene. Chapter 184: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Crumbling World

Chapter 184: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Crumbling World

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon At that instant, Mai Dong felt the area around her warm up as though she had been immersed in warm water. This made her recall Earth¡¯s sunshine. Mars never had such sunshine. As it was a lot farther from the Sun than the Earth, the Sun was nothing but a light-emitting light bulb to Mars. It was bright, but it didn¡¯t bring any warmth. Mai Dong leaned against the window and looked far out at the golden glow in the darkness. She suddenly smiled. The sun was setting. The magnificent mes disappeared into the darkness as the mountain-like shadow seemed to slowly rise in front of Mai Dong. It slowly and silently flew across Mai Dong¡¯s head like an extraterrestrial spacecraft that suddenly descended. It was like a long, dull de that carried with it an indomitable strength that came sweeping over. It sliced through the space station¡¯s truss, sr panels, intable module, and the arm. Shrapnel scattered everywhere as it tumbled outside the space station, reflecting the fiery red glow like flying snowkes above a massive fire. It was clearly a violent and rming collision, but what Mai Dong saw seemed like a movie ying out in slow motion. It was a silent film. Sound couldn¡¯t be transmitted in a vacuum, nor was it able to transmit time for some odd reason. Everything seemed to happen beyond time. Time seemed to drag as the boom and tremors of the collision lumbered across the metal frame. The earpiece, pen, and paper in the core module continued their trajectory based on their momentum as snow-white hull fragments floated in a pitch-ck background. The girl stared in a daze at the mes in front of her. They were snaking through the fissures in the white hull, the leaking oxidizers a fatal attraction for them. The blue word ¡°Orion¡± had been scorched ck and yellow from the mes. All of this was separated from her only by a window. Loneliness and sorrow effused in the girl¡¯s eyes. This was an extremely beautiful scene. It was like a crystal pce that was copsing in an inferno. It was a grand yet tragic death. However, her sadness prompted her to cry. The next second, the loud boom and tremors entered the Crystal module. This was a result of the truss snapping. It was the first thing Orion II hit. Everything in the core module was shaking. The dashboard and control panel were uprooted from the walls as power cables were torn. The girl¡¯s tiny teardrops left her eyes as they formed spheres due to surface tension. The crystalline water beads traversed across the core module thanks to its momentum, passing through the messy power cables, paper, and notebookputer. Affected by the turbulent air, it began turning as it wobbled. The breeze imbued it with extremely little kic energy as it spun to fly towards the ss window. Looking out through it, everything around her was distorted. Light had been refracted by the water bead and in the distance. There was another explosive me that only appeared like a bright ring thanks to the teardrop. This ring expanded from one end of the teardrop to the other until thetter hit the ss. With a soft sttering sound, it broke apart into countless tiny droplets. They then formed into tiny spheres that appeared like golden beads amidst the mes. Following that, an even more massive force hit the core module. Even the metal frame was cracking from the tremors. The core module¡¯s walls let out a sharp groan as it was pushed to the brink of death. Mai Dong¡¯s body flew backward as she mmed heavily into the hatch, her vision turning ck. The entire world was spinning and tumbling. She watched as the leaking high-pressure steam condensed in the vacuum¡¯s low temperatures, crystallizing into shimmering ice crystals. The space station couldn¡¯t withstand such a blow and had begun disintegrating. Through the window, Mai Dong saw a damaged module she couldn¡¯t identify hurtle past until it mmed into the truss and snap. When she saw fragments from the incubator scatter, she knew that it was the Hope module. At the instant the module lost pressure, all the nts inside must have frozen to death. The core module was once again illuminated by a blinding light. Mai Dong saw the spacecraft¡¯s propent tanks smash into the intable module at the end of the space station. They were easily identifiable with their orange-yellow cylindrical shape. There were a total of four of them, and they were installed on Orion II. But at this moment, Mai Dong could only see two tanks. Two had already disappeared. The remaining two left a wake of fiery mes as they mmed into the intable module, ttening it instantly. The fire immediately intensified as the leaking methane and oxygen caused another explosion. It turned out that only an explosion could be this bright¡ªas bright as the sun. The entire world was burning. With the light from the explosion and mes, Mai Dong could see that the Silent multipurpose module had be detached, half a broken sr sail had sliced through its hull. The Harmony service module had been punctured by the chaotic fragments and the broken arm had crashed into it. The water tank¡ªmost of her resources for survival¡ªhad ruptured. Nearly all of the batteries in the space station had been disconnected, turning into blue shattered ss. There were countlessponents and fragments that enveloped the space station. They were slicing through its hull at high speeds, reducing the space station to a sorry mess. The world Mai Dong was in was undergoing destruction. She stood in the middle of this world as everything around her was burning, crashing, copsing, and burying each other. The entire world was spinning. The explosion drained Orion II of all its propent. It had flown far away after mming into the intable module, leaving a trail of mes that extinguished a few minutester. Comically, the Eagle was still hanging onto it, such a violent collision was not able to knock it off. This was evidence that Mai Dong had secured it very tightly. Orion II had disappeared and couldn¡¯t be seen. Mai Dong couldn¡¯t hear a thing. The loud booms from the explosion and collision had made her temporarily lose her sense of hearing. Her ears were constantly buzzing as her head ached. She wasn¡¯t able to see anything as the strong collision sent the space station and core module into a rapid spin. If there wasn¡¯t an additional force to withstand this torque, it would continue spinning forever. After the leaked oxidizers outside were expended with all the mes extinguished, the world plunged back into darkness. She didn¡¯t know if the core module had lost pressure, nor did she know if the space station was plummeting. She didn¡¯t even know if she was alive. The lights inside the module had gone out and the system had long stopped working. There weren¡¯t any warnings and she couldn¡¯t even see her fingers. The entire world was already dead. In Kunlun Station, Tomcat¡¯s and Tang Yue¡¯s smiles were still frozen on their faces. They were just about to discuss Tianzhou and the descent with Mai Dong. The man and cat looked at themunications system in a daze. There was a deathly silence. None of this took more than two minutes. From the moment Kunlun Station¡¯s system warning ¡°WARNING: COMMLINK DISCONNECTED¡± to the screen showing the notification ¡°MARS UNITED SPACE STATION CRASHED,¡± none of that took more than two minutes. Chapter 185: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Say My Name Again

Chapter 185: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Say My Name Again

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue wasn¡¯t surprised or shocked. His brain was nk; his emotions yet to register. After he saw the words ¡°MARS UNITED SPACE STATION CRASHED¡± on the monitor, the first thing he did was crouch down to smack the workstation¡¯s chassis. He believed that theputer must have bugged out again because he had been chatting with Mai Dong just two minutes ago. Thedy was still hugging her furry dog,ughing and tumbling about. Why would the screen suddenly inform him that the space station had crashed? Had he identally skipped an entire season? Or had there been some frame skipping? ¡°Tang Yue, what¡¯s wrong with this crappyputer? Did it hang again? Also, why are thems down?¡± Tang Yue crouched beneath the desk as he prodded the chassis and turned to look over. ¡°Tomcat,e over and take a look.¡± He suddenly froze. Tomcat was standing there motionless with its eyes widened. It was staring at the monitor with the crazy warnings popping up. Its expression was aplex mixture of surprise, rm, and disbelief. The cat eyes were effusing a gray sense of despair that left Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipping a beat. ¡°Tomcat? ¡°Tomcat... Tomcat?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t move or make a sound. ¡°Tomcat... What¡¯s wrong with you? Come over and take a look at this buggyputer? Haha... It¡¯s trying to scare us again... Ha...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s smile gradually disappeared as he stood up in unease. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tomcat remained silent. The workstation was still crazily producing warnings as if it had been hit by a virus. Never in its life had it popped up as many warning windows as it popped up today. Tang Yue¡¯s heart slowly sank. ¡°Tomcat? Say something. Tomcat?¡± Tomcat turned its face away. Tang Yue ignored it as he grabbed the earpiece and opened themunications systems. He called on the United Space Station on all frequencies as his hand trembled excessively. He even repeatedly fumbled by pressing the wrong buttons. ¡°This... Kunlun Station to United Space Station! United Space Station, please answer if you copy! ¡°Kunlun Station to United Space Station! Kunlun Station to Alpha! Kunlun Station to Alpha! Please answer if you copy! Mai Dong, do you hear me? Mai Dong! Mai Dong, answer me! ¡°Mai Dong! Can you hear me? Mai Dong!¡± Tomcat slowly sat down and hugged its head as Tang Yue¡¯s frantic roars and theputer¡¯s ring sirens mixed together. The former¡¯s efforts were destined to be futile as the monitor¡¯s ¡°NO SIGNAL¡± blinked on the monitor. The bright red words were especially jarring to the eyes. It suddenly understood what the bleakness of how inconsistent the affairs of the world were. Reality was at times more dramatic than drama. It and Tang Yue were like the spectators who sat at Cape Canaveral watching Space Shuttle Challenger¡¯sunch. They were excited, thrilled, and cheering, filled with exuberance about the impendingunch of this massive space shuttle. Even at the moment of the disaster, no one realized what had happened. This was because the tragedy only happened for a second. And before that second came, no one believed that it would truly descend. Tang Yue was still yelling for the space station at the top of his lungs. As seconds turned into minutes, Tang Yue gradually came to realize what had happened. His red eyes were welling with tears, but the only response he got was the mechanical ¡°NO SIGNAL¡± on the monitor. ¡°Why can¡¯t it be contacted?¡± Tang Yue threw the earpiece onto the table. ¡°Why!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the space station has crashed.¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± Tang Yue grabbed Tomcat¡¯s shoulders in anger as he roared. ¡°How could it crash for no good reason? There wasn¡¯t a single problem just two minutes ago! None! Two minutes ago! There wasn¡¯t a single problem!¡± ¡°The problem wasn¡¯t with the space station.¡± Tomcat had an ashen expression. ¡°It was Orion II.¡± ¡°Orion II?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Its dynamic module experienced an explosion, making it escape control. The docking mechanism was damaged, so the space station and spacecraft collided,¡± Tomcat replied. It had already determined what had happened in orbit based on the warnings provided by theputer. The sensors on the space station had sent the data to Kunlun Station before they stopped functioning. ¡°Orion II¡¯s truss sliced through the space station like a de.¡± Based on Tomcat¡¯s reenactment, the first to explode was the Raptor-05 engine that was carrying out the attitude adjustments. It ignited Propent Tank 3, and the leaking methane and liquid oxygen exacerbated the fire. The inferno devoured both Tanks 3 and 4, and its first explosion caused Orion II to spin before yanking away from its connection with the space station. Having lost control, Orion II followed its momentum and sliced through everything that stood in its way, including the space station¡¯s truss, sr panels, and the arm. After colliding with the space station, Orion II¡¯s attitude experienced a change. Its truss simrly buckled from the impact and began spinning like a nunchuck. It then mmed straight into the intable module of the space station, causing a second explosion. Tanks 1 and 2 were vaporized in the ensuing explosion. Tomcat didn¡¯t know what happened next. At this point, the space station¡¯sputer had stopped working. Themunications system and sensors were offline. Hence, Kunlun Station¡¯sputer had determined that the space station had crashed based on these conditions. ¡°But why would Orion II¡¯s engine explode?¡± Tang Yue yelled angrily. ¡°Why would it explode? Was it some bullshit Single Event Effect again? Is it some effect of Earth¡¯s disappearance? Which ridiculous celestial body is it this time? Wasn¡¯t it fine all this while? Why weren¡¯t there any signs?¡± Tang Yue panted in his hysteria. He was furious and reeling in despair. It felt as though the entire world was at odds with him. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a natural disaster,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s a man-made disaster.¡± ¡°Man-made disaster? Who did it?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Tomcat lowered its head. ¡°This is all my fault. Orion II¡¯s malfunction was a result of me modifying its flight control program... I shouldn¡¯t have designed a pulse program. By repeatedly igniting the rockets, it resulted in a turbine surge. In fact, it didn¡¯t matter if we saved that bit of fuel as it doesn¡¯t affect the oue. Orion II is an old spacecraft that¡¯s decades old. It can¡¯t handle such stress... It was my sense of self-importance and arrogance that resulted in what we have before us. I¡¯ll have to take full responsibility for it.¡± In hindsight, the final straw that broke the camel¡¯s back was Mai Dong¡¯s pull on the circuit breaker¡¯s operator. After the circuit was broken, the engine¡¯s turbine cracked and the fragments passed through the pipes andbustion chamber. When the girl failed at switching off the engines via the control system, clearly, the engine had already malfunctioned. Tang Yue released his grip on Tomcat as he staggered backward, slumping into a chair. He buried his face deep into his hands. ¡°So you mean that it was a problem with your program?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then if Mai Dong had really descended with Orion II, wasn¡¯t she definitely doomed?¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Based on the present oue, yes.¡± ¡°But our simtions were all sessful!¡± ¡°The simtions don¡¯t reveal all the problems, nor are they able to predict all the oues.¡± Tang Yue drew a deep breath. ¡°If I had detected the problem earlier. If I would have written a more perfect control problem. If I had been a little more dependable...¡± Tomcat muttered. ¡°Tang Yue... I¡¯m very sorry.¡± Tianzhou 37¡¯s appearance had not only sent Tang Yue into a delirious fit of excitement, but it had also affected Tomcat¡¯s judgment. Even with it being a meticulous cat, it had been careless. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s not your fault. Don¡¯t talk to me...¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Give me some quiet time. Give... me some quiet time.¡± Tang Yue wished to cry, but he couldn¡¯t because the sorrow hadn¡¯t hit him. Tang Yue wished to cry or he would only end up choking in tearster. He nced at the monitor through the gaps in his fingers. From this day forth, there wouldn¡¯t be someone appearing there, smiling at him and greeting him, ¡°Hi, Tang Yue.¡± Was this a joke? An hour ago, she was still there, alive. Half an hour ago, she was also there, alive. Ten minutes ago, she was there, alive. Why would she be gone now? Where did a breathing human just go? Tang Yue sat there in silence, looking nkly at the earpiece on the table. His heart felt empty as he silently said to himself, Lass, give me another greeting. Just one would do. Just one. Please, I beg you. Lass, say my name again. Tell me that you¡¯re still alive. Tang Yue used his strength to blink his eyes as his tears blurred his vision. I beg you,ss. ¡°Tang Yue... can you hear me?¡± Chapter 186: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, An Electrical Engineer Saving the World

Chapter 186: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, An Electrical Engineer Saving the World

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon An extremely weak voice sounded over the earpiece. Tang Yue and Tomcat jolted to attention as they lunged forward to grab the earpiece. ¡°Tang Yue... Mr. Cat? Can you hear me?¡± The girl¡¯s voice was very weak. The signal was unstable with lots of static. ¡°Yes, yes, yes! Mai Dong, we can hear you! We can hear you!¡± Tang Yue was overjoyed as he trembled with excitement. He and Tomcat had believed that the space station must have crashed. ¡°Wh-wh-what¡¯s the situation on your side? Are you alright? How¡¯s the space station?¡± Tomcat took up position and got into the zone. It stabilized themunications signal. Clearly, Orion II¡¯s collision had nearly destroyed the entire space station. On the ground, theputer had even determined that the space station had crashed. But thankfully, the Crystal core module wasn¡¯t on the same nar axis as Orion II. After losing control, Orion II had begun spinning and sliding, equivalent to hurtling across space from above Mai Dong. Hence, the Crystal had survived the disaster. ¡°I... I¡¯m fine...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice was intermittent. Mai Dong had regained consciousness some time ago. When she woke up, her surroundings were almost pitch-ck. Theputers on the space station had stopped working and the temperature in the module was extremely low. Furthermore, there was a slightck of oxygen as well as the pungent smell of smoke. Perhaps the life support system had gone offline, leaving zero venttion in the module. But thankfully, there wasn¡¯t a loss of pressure. The Crystal was the most important and also the heaviest module of the space station. It had a fully metallic inner shell, making it extremely resilient. Items were flying around at random in the darkness. Cables, pen, paper, andputers had hit Mai Dong on the arms and head. She moved away the damaged indicator panel that was floating in front of her and found her way to the emergency toolbox to take out a tiny torchlight. With the torchlight, she activated the independent backupmunications system. This was a low-powered, half-duplexmunications system. It came with independent batteries and was the size of an ordinary phone battery. It didn¡¯t rely on the space station to provide its power. Under such circumstances, it was the only tool that could be used tomunicate with Kunlun Station. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, please give a sitrep of the space station.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was heavy and solemn. Its mistake had indirectly caused the present situation. Now, it was trying its best to redeem it. ¡°It¡¯s very dark in here... All the systems are offline... Theputer... There¡¯s no reaction from theputer...¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you make the signal more stable?¡± Tang Yue leaned over. ¡°There¡¯s no way of making it more stable.¡± Tomcat clenched its teeth. ¡°This is a problem with the space station. All systems are now offline. We have already lost all control of the space station. Nomand is of use.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat... Cat...¡± The signal was intermittent and the static could at times drown out Mai Dong¡¯s voice. The quality of transmission was terrible. ¡°Mai Dong!¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat yelled at the same time. ¡°Mr... Mr. Cat... What should I do? I...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice vanished in the static once again. ¡°Damn it!¡± Tomcat pped its thigh in anger. ¡°Miss Mai Dong! Can you hear me? Miss Mai Dong?¡± There were a few seconds of static before Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded again. ¡°I can hear you.¡± ¡°Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. You need to reboot the space station¡¯sputer system! You have to reboot theputer system. Only with it operational can the other systems be restored to normal. We need to be able to interface with the space station¡¯sputer to determine the damages.¡± Tomcat was nearly shouting through the microphone, afraid that Mai Dong couldn¡¯t hear it. ¡°Do you copy?¡± ¡°Roger that. But how do I reboot it?¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue were taken aback. ¡°Long press the reboot button.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s that, but... I can no longer find the button.¡± Mai Dong raised the torch as the white light swept across the darkness. From time to time, strange shadows would flit past the light cone. The girl felt as though she was sitting at the bottom of the ocean. The weak light from the torch couldn¡¯t reach far into the dark seawater. And those random items that didn¡¯t seem to follow any pattern or shape were the deep-sea fish that were loitering about. They looked ferocious and terrifying. Mai Dong had lost her bearings. The core module¡¯syout had beenpletely destroyed by the ident. Nearly all the control panels were damaged from the violent impact. Mai Dong could find the control panel of theputer system, but at that moment, all that was left was a bunch of broken power cables. Tomcat and Tang Yue were taken aback. This oue was reasonable, but it wasn¡¯t something they had expected. To the astronauts on the United Space Station, the terminal instrument was the only way to control theplicated system that was the space station. A button corresponded to a subsystem. Theplex array of control logic had been hidden underneath the panel by engineers, presenting a clean and minimalistic option that was obvious at a nce. This was akin to Windows personalputers. Without the Graphical User Interface, 99% of the users in the world would be left helpless in the face ofplicatedmands. Mai Dong was facing such a situation. The dummy-proof Windows system wasn¡¯t avable. All that stood before her was a mess. She took a deep breath before breaking out into a violent fit of coughing. The oxygen in the Crystal module was thinning. She had no choice but to take deep breaths to replenish the oxygen her body needed. However, the air was filled with smoke. The more she breathed, the worse it was for her respiratory tract. ¡°Mr... Cat? Tang... Tang Yue?¡± Tomcat sat in front of theputer, staring nkly. If the space station¡¯sputer system couldn¡¯t be rebooted, then the follow-up rescue and restoration work couldn¡¯t unfold. It never expected to reach an impasse at the first step. Tomcat was desperately thinking of a solution. Mai Dong was gasping over thems as her coughing worsened. Her voice was bing weaker and weaker. Damn it! Tomcat clenched its paw. Is there really no solution? Think of something! Quick! Think of something! There won¡¯t be any time left if you don¡¯t! ¡°Get lost!¡± Tang Yue carried arge stack of paper in his arms as he rushed over and kicked Tomcat away. Thetter was sitting on the chair as it spun far away. Tomcat turned its head in puzzlement. ¡°Tang Yue? What are you... Can you reboot the system?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget what¡¯s my job!¡± Tang Yue shot a nce at it, his gaze filled with contempt. He mmed the paper heavily on the desk and said, ¡°Mai Dong! Listen to my instructions from now on!¡± ¡°You are only a mechanical and electrical engineer,¡± Tomcat said in a daze. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t a programmer. He was basically aputer idiot, so how was he to resolve the problem? ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! What¡¯s wrong? Are you looking down on a mechanical and electrical engineer? I don¡¯t understand the logic behind theputer, but is its electrical control logic any different from a Volkswagen Passat?¡± Tang Yue wore the earpiece as he held a pen in his mouth. Heid out the paper on the desk. ¡°What do you do when a Passat stalls? What do you do when the space station has a broken circuit... Lass, listen to me. I¡¯ll teach you a way to reboot theputer without needing to long-press a button!¡± Tang Yue paused. This was what he was best at. ¡°Hot-wiring!¡± Chapter 187: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, The Mathematical Problem in the Aviation Disaster

Chapter 187: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, The Mathematical Problem in the Aviation Disaster

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Hot-wiring? Mai Dong frowned. She wasn¡¯t a professional electrical engineer. Upon hearing the word, her first thoughts were scenes of the pressing moment in Hollywood movies where the protagonist would smash open a car dashboard, pull out two thin wires, touching them together to produce a spark, allowing the car¡¯s engine to be started. This was using the momentary current to jump-start the car¡¯s engine. Could the booting up of the space station¡¯sputer be done in such a simple manner? ¡°Listen to me! Lass!¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tang Yue stared intently at the circuit diagram on the monitor. The two monitors on either side were also disying theputer system schematic of the United Space Station¡¯s core module. Tomcat had even found the assembly diagram for him. The cat knelt on the desk, peeking its head out from behind a third monitor it was carrying over. Tang Yue quickly scribbled on a piece of paper, his pen tip producing a rustling sound. His forehead began oozing a cold sweat. Although doing such an analysis was part and parcel of his job, theplexity of the space station¡¯s system far exceeded his imagination. Since he had graduated from university, it had been years since Tang Yue had touched such basic systems. Even during his surface training and daily work, there had been no need for him to dismantle the entire core module. Kunlun Station didn¡¯t have any EDA software, so he could only use pen and paper. ¡°IC780... IC780... Amplifier? Triode? Yes, it¡¯s a triode. There are one, two, three, four, five, six¡ªsix element circuits. STO5347 oscitor... Is this an open collector or open drain? I need to see if it¡¯s started from an external circuit and that it has nothing to do with the IC internals. Using low-level logic to control high-level... Overall variable-frequency! Variable-frequency! Goddamn variable-frequency!¡± Tang Yue felt as though he had returned to his days as a student just before he sat for an exam. Calm down! Calm down! I¡¯ve seen this before! Calm down! His heart raced as the pen in his hand kept trembling. This was akin to being on a flight that was about to crash. But at that moment, someone threw an advanced math question at you and demanded you to solve it in five minutes to save the ne. Large beads of sweat rolled down Tang Yue¡¯s cheeks. Mai Dong was still waiting for his instructions. Tomcat held its head above the monitor, looking down at Tang Yue. ¡°TC88604¡¯s pin 13 because it¡¯s a time-varying element,¡± Tomcat said out of the blue. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°You know this?¡± ¡°Not as well as you.¡± Tomcat turned its head, lifting the monitor. ¡°I know a little.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Yue pushed the stack of papers over. ¡°Help me find the method to drive voltage into USP7540! Remember not to vite Kirchhoff¡¯sw.¡± Tomcat extended one paw to grab a piece of paper. The paper was filled with messy lines as Tomcat narrowed its eyes slowly. ¡°Oh... You are leaving the hardest part for me? This is a nonlinear time-varying system. I need to solve a very long nonhomogeneous linear differential equation.¡± ¡°Then hurry up!¡± ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± Tomcat stretched its neck and picked up a pen from the table. Unhurriedly, it wrote the answer. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Lass!¡± Tang Yue threw the pen in his hand and received the final result. ¡°Lass! Lass, can you hear me? Lass?¡± The darn half-duplexmunications system didn¡¯t allow for both parties to speak at the same time. When one person spoke, the other party could only listen. ¡°Lass! Lass! Pick up the phone... Pick up the phone...¡± After saying that, all Tang Yue could do was wait nervously for a response. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± ¡°OK! Lass, listen carefully. I¡¯ll teach you how to reboot the system!¡± Tang Yue stared at the paper in his hand. ¡°Under the present conditions, a direct reboot is impossible, or should I say, I haven¡¯t found a way. However, we can indirectly reboot it... By short-circuiting the overload protector.¡± ¡°Overload protector?¡± Mai Dong raised the torch, feeling somewhat confused. She knew nothing about electronics. ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The overload protector has the authority to shut down or start modules of the system. When it detects that the current in certain circuits exceeds a threshold, it will shut down the corresponding module to protect the system from melting down. It will then carry out a self-check! During this process, it will reboot theputer system!¡± But how do we know if the overload protector is still operational?¡± Mai Dong looked around as she covered her mouth and nose. It was pitch-ck all around her. ¡°I¡¯mpletely out of power... Will it still be effective?¡± ¡°The overload protector doesn¡¯t use power.¡± Mai Dong was surprised. ¡°It doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yes. An overload protector is just an air switch or fuse. It doesn¡¯t rely on electric circuits. It uses the physical characteristics of what it¡¯s made of! The overload protector uses the Hall effect. As long as the current exceeds the threshold, the protector will generate a potential difference,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°This weak potential difference will trigger the reset switch of theputer system. It¡¯s as simple as the reaction of a rubber ball¡¯s bounce. It¡¯s very reliable!¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°First, we need to confirm that the system is connected to the power source,¡± Tang Yue instructed. No matter what method was used to reboot the system, they needed to ensure that it was powered. There couldn¡¯t be any disconnection with the batteries. When the United Space Station was hit by Orion II, the sr panels were pretty much destroyed. Even if there were parts of them left, there was no way they could still be used. Thankfully, the core module hadn¡¯t suffered any destruction. This meant that there was a high chance for the physicalputer and batteries to have survived the collision. ¡°Mai Dong, is the subpanel still around?¡± Mai Dong turned her head. ¡°It¡¯s still there... But it¡¯s a little nted from the tremors.¡± ¡°Alright, listen to me. The switch on the subpanel¡¯s second row has abel ¡®PIN-B.¡¯ There are a total of three ck switches. Push them all to 2.¡± Mai Dong executed the instructions, pushing them all up. ¡°The third row has a ¡®PIN-C¡¯ switch. Push them all to 2.¡± Mai Dong pushed each switch up. ¡°Tang Yue, there¡¯s a green light.¡± ¡°Very good. It means that the batteries still have power in them!¡± Tang Yue clenched his fists. ¡°I¡¯ve designed four hot-wiring reboot methods. Let¡¯s try each one of them.¡± Mai Dong nodded. She held the torch in her mouth as she began tidying up the wires that were exposed after the main control panel was damaged. Every hole had two to three wires of different colors protruding out. They were originally connected to different switches or valves, but now, they were bundled together. ¡°Find the white conducting wire with thebel ¡®H.D.¡¯ It should be on the leftmost side of the first row.¡± Mai Dong leaned in close to do a careful search. The cables here were only one to two millimeters thick. In the smoke-filled core module, Mai Dong found it difficult to read the words. ¡°The white one?¡± Mai Dong coughed again as she spoke. ¡°Tang... Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Yes, white.¡± ¡°I found it,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°A white H.D. conducting wire.¡± ¡°Find a red conducting wirebeled ¡®P¡¯ it¡¯s on the second row.¡± ¡°P... P... Red wire...¡± Mai Dong kept coughing, nearly loosening her grip on the torch. Tang Yue¡¯s heart was in his mouth when he heard the violent coughing and gasping over thems. ¡°Lass? Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m... fine.¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve found the wire.¡± ¡°Short circuit the two wires together.¡± Mai Dong cocked her head to hold down the torch, using her teeth to peel off the stic on the outeryer of the conducting wire. Then, she coiled the two wires together. ¡°Tang Yue... There¡¯s a green light on the subpanel.¡± ¡°Well done...¡± Tang Yue stared at the circuit diagram on the piece of paper. ¡°Lady, well done. Next, find the red conducting wire with thebel ¡®H.D.¡¯ Make sure not to find the wrong one. It¡¯s red!¡± ¡°It¡¯s beside the white wire. I see it.¡± ¡°Now, move the switch in the middle of the subpanel¡¯s second row to 1. Then, short-circuit the white and red wiresbeled H.D.¡± This was the most effective method of rebooting theputer he coulde up with. By manually producing a short circuit, it would trigger the overload protector. Thetter would then activate the Reset switch for theputer. Mai Dong pressed the two wires together. ¡°Anything?¡± Tang Yue felt his heart in his mouth. ¡°Nothing happened.¡± Mai Dong turned her head to look around. The space station remained pitch-ck and there wasn¡¯t a single stir. Tang Yue¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Try it again. Separate the two conducting wires and short-circuit them... Try it again.¡± Mai Dong held one wire with each hand before touching them gently. The instant contact was made, the wire produced a tiny spark. Following that, Mai Dong heard a whirring sound. Something had started up. The sound grew louder and soon she was surrounded by it. The girl looked up and saw the lightse on one by one. The monitors that weren¡¯t damaged lit up as well. The core module lit up section by section as the Crystal module started working once again. Chapter 188: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Incredible Engine

Chapter 188: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Incredible Engine

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The venttion system began working as the exhaust fan sucked out the smoke from the core module. The air inside the module gradually became clear as the system once again had control over the Crystal after the reboot. At first, Mai Dong wasn¡¯t certain about the extent of damage the United Space Station had suffered. This was the second time the space station had been in an ident. Butpared to the Eagle¡¯s collision from half a year ago, that was nothing. Orion II and the Eagle were different. The Eagle was only half ander. It had low mass and slow speeds, but the Orion II was a gigantic spacecraft about the size of the space station. The result of its collision was the near destruction of the entire space station. The Crystal had survived thanks to its solid body, but apart from the Crystal, the United Space Station had almost nothing left. Mai Dong wore an IVA suit and began shutting down the alerts. The system was probably at a loss having woken up to find itself paralyzed. Most of the functionality in the space station had been put out of service. As the control panel had been destroyed, Mai Dong could only connect to the core module¡¯s wirelesswork with her notebookputer. She then used it to control theputer. ¡°How¡¯s the OGS?¡± Tang Yue asked. Without a doubt, the OGS was a crucial part of the life support system. If anything happened to it, the situation would be extremely thorny. Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°No good. The OGS is gone.¡± The OGS was located in the Harmony service module. Mai Dong didn¡¯t know what the situation regarding the other modules was at the moment. After the ident, all hatches were shut tight, but Mai Dong vaguely remembered that she had seen the Harmony service module being destroyed by a spacecraft fragment. Regardless of its situation, the system was unable to connect to it. Without the OGS, the air and water cirction in the space station would be a problem. Mai Dong could only activate the emergency oxygen system in the Crystal. This system was simr to the one on Kunlun Station. It used the thermal dposition of perchlorate salts to generate oxygen and lithium hydroxide to absorb the carbon dioxide. However, it was a lotrger than the one on Kunlun Station. It was a cylinder the size of a water barrel. To put it simply, it was an extremelyrge oxygen candle. Each module was equipped with one in the emergency cab. After activation, it could generate enough oxygen to support six people for 72 hours. A rough calction showed that it could work for 432 hours to support just one person. That meant eighteen sols. ¡°Then what about themunications system? Can themunications system be restored? Can it establish a data connection with Kunlun Station?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I¡¯m trying...¡± Mai Dong pressed her back to the wall as she attempted to reboot the space station¡¯s mainmunications system. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to work. The antenna was damaged.¡± The notebook screen kept disying ¡°ERROR.¡± There was another piece of bad news. The liaison system between the space station and Kunlun Station wouldn¡¯t be restored to normal. They could only rely on the weak, emergencymlink to pass data. However, the emergencymunications system was of terrible quality and the signal was rather unstable. ¡°Water... How much water do you have left?¡± ¡°Hmm... I still have...¡± Mai Dong replied, ¡°Three liters.¡± The United Space Station had lost all its water facilities. Now, Mai Dong only had three liters of water on hand. This was found in water pouches in two spacesuits. Tang Yue sat in his chair. Three liters? What could be done with three liters of water? Even though Mai Dong had survived Orion II¡¯s collision, she was still far from safe. At present, the condition of the space station was still unsettling. Tomcat was analyzing the space station¡¯s condition. Through the emergencymlink, Kunlun Station had established a connection with the space station¡¯s system. Thetter had transmitted the data and Tomcat was going through the damage. The situation was worse than it expected. The United Space Station¡¯s damage had exceeded 63%. In other words, more than half the space station was damaged. Excluding the intable module that they had docked, the space station had six modules originally. Four of them were lost. Amongst them, Silent and Harmony had their mechanical connection severed. They were both lost in space. The Discovery experiment module and Hope experiment module had ruptured and lost pressure. Thetter had snapped into two. Only the Crystal core module and the space station¡¯s central Hub CBM module remained firm. The truss had snapped. The arm was gone. The eight sr panels were gone as well. Out of the other eight sr panels on the other side, only four of them could be connected. The Crystal has two batteries.¡± Tomcat frowned as it pointed at the schematic on the screen. ¡°Thankfully, the two batteries remain operational. The primary battery is at 40% charge. The secondary battery is at 60% charge. It can provide electricity to theputer, but only four of the sr panels are operational... What¡¯s problematic is that the space station is spinning out of control. In such situations, there¡¯s no way to effectively charge the batteries or establish a stablemunication signal.¡± The United Space Station was spinning out of control amidst plenty of fragments. Mai Dong had to lean her back to the wall while working to curb the influence brought about by the centrifugal force. But this situation couldn¡¯t continue for long. No one could survive in a constantly spinning space. ¡°It needs to be corrected!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The problem is that the space stationcks any dynamic system.¡± Tomcat pondered. ¡°Orion II has gone. The space station itself doesn¡¯t have an engine.¡± In zero gravity, if there wasn¡¯t an external force to change one¡¯s movement, one was unable to do a thing. All the strength in the world would be useless as one continued spinning far into the distance for eternity. Tang Yue thought of an idea. ¡°Can we produce momentum by reverse releasing the modules?¡± By releasing damaged modules in the opposite direction of the spin, it would generate a force on the space station. Force was mutual. This was aw determined by Newton years ago. It was something the entire Universe followed. At this juncture, all Tang Yue could do was pray to Newton for his blessings. Tomcat thought for a moment and did the calctions. ¡°It won¡¯t work. The torque generated is too weak. It would be insufficient to reduce the angr velocity.¡± ¡°Then... Let Mai Dong head out? Can she try nudging it manually?¡± Tang Yue was desperate. ¡°Is there a Manned Maneuvering Unit for spacewalks that can produce a thrust?¡± Tomcat continued shaking its head. ¡°Impossible.¡± Tang Yue frantically looked around, scanning everything he could see, hoping to find the inspiration that could save Mai Dong¡¯s life. He wanted to find a way to save the space station, but all he had on hand were these pathetic items. You can¡¯t make bricks without straws. ¡°We need a source of power.¡± Tomcat stared at the monitor. ¡°An engine.¡± ¡°Engine... Engine, engine, engine... Th-that... thing, is it still around?¡± Tang Yue suddenly pped his head as he spoke so quickly that he began stammering, even to the point of nearly biting his tongue. ¡°What are you referring to?¡± ¡°That thing!¡± ¡°What thing?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°That thing! That thing!¡± ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Damn it, I can¡¯t remember its name,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°That incredible engine that can produce seventy Newtons of thrust!¡± Chapter 189: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Where There Are People, There are Programmers

Chapter 189: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Where There Are People, There are Programmers

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Stationary sma Thruster, SPT276. The electric rocket with the strongest thrust in the world, a product of JAXA and its prime contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It had a thrust as high as 70 N. ¡°Is it still around?¡± Tang Yue had a deep impression of this rocket. It was an engine that had been removed from the Hayabusa III asteroid probe years ago. It was presently kept inside the space station and had been sessfully repaired by Mai Dong. ¡°See if it was damaged in the ident.¡± ¡°I¡¯m checking... But the data transmission isn¡¯t stable.¡± Tomcat stayed in front of theputer, its brows furrowed tightly. ¡°This darn transmission speed is like Baidu Cloud when you aren¡¯t a paid member. What crappy speeds.¡± Tang Yue wanted to talk to Mai Dong but was stopped by Tomcat. ¡°Cut the chit chat. Don¡¯t take up bandwidth. All that¡¯s connecting us to the space station is a thin thread.¡± The space station¡¯sputer was uploading the data at full speed. It was a massive amount of data, and what Tomcat was doing was equivalent to using a telephone wire to download a 4K high-definition movie from the Inte. Tang Yue was filled with agony. The space station could encounter a change in situation at any second while in orbit, and here he was, limited by hiswork speed. ¡°How much more time is needed¡± ¡°We are now using a road the width of an alley, but it requires a width that allows an aircraft carrier to pass through. How long do you think is needed?¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°Let me take a look. The total amount of data to be sent exceeds 88 GB. The average transfer speeds are 200 KB/s. That means a total of 128 hours are needed... 5 days.¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°That will be toote!¡± ¡°I know! Shut up! I need topress the data. I need topress the data...¡± Tomcat also began to break out in a figurative sweat. ¡°I need to write apression algorithm for the slowputer on the space station so that it can filter the data and send it down in apressed archive! The data connection probably still has room for improvement... There¡¯s still room for improvement. I need to do some frequency spectrumpression just like the seniors at IEEE did in the past!¡± Tomcat¡¯s paws moved at the fastest speed ever, hitting the keyboard so quickly that it nearly broke apart. ¡°How¡¯s that? Does it work?¡± ¡°Hehe...¡± Tomcat grinned, revealing its white teeth. ¡°Tang Yue, do you know how they did the live broadcast of the Apollo moonnding?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Coding monkeys have infinite wisdom. Where there are people, there are programmers.¡± Tomcat moved its paws rapidly. ¡°Do you know who said that?¡± ¡°n Turing?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°John von Neumann?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°ude Shannon? Moore? Bill Gates?¡± ¡°Wrong!¡± Tomcat hit the ¡°Enter¡± button. ¡°Is there a need to guess? Of course, it¡¯s Lu Xun!¡± In heaven, Lu Xun said, ¡°...¡± ¡°OK! The filtering is done. Thepression is done! The total data only weighs in at 36 MB! The average transfer speeds have reached 3 MB/s! It¡¯s estimated to take twelve seconds! 10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Transferplete! Commencing dpression and restoring of data¡ª¡± Tomcat was like an auctioneer as it shouted out those numbers. The screen in front of it rapidly refreshed as a string of processes waspleted quickly. The screen popped out a schematic of the United Space Station. It was then zoomed in. ¡°SPT276 is operational!¡± SPT276 was installed on the left of the space station¡¯s truss. There was a tiny tform there that could be used tounch satellites. With the United Space Station in the middle, the right truss had been sliced through by Orion II and could be considered a lost cause. However, the left truss remained intact. Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief when he learned that SPT276 could still be used. There was finally a piece of good news. After Orion II had exploded, making the spacecraft lose its stability on all three axes, this electric rocket was the only driving force. ¡°In preparation to change the spin!¡± The United Space Station had left the shadow of Mars, allowing Mai Dong to see sunlight once again. The Sun and Mars moved at blistering speeds past her eyes. The space station was spinning once every six seconds, giving it an average angr velocity of 60¡ã/s. The sun flew past the window, only to fly past again six secondster as it repeated without end. As for Mars, it was revolving around it. The entire world seemed to be a wheel that spun. Mai Dong felt as though she had been ced in a huge can by someone before the person crazily tossed it around. As a trained astronaut, Mai Dong¡¯s bnce and sense of direction were better than the average person. However, it only made it worse in such situations. She had no choice but to shutter the window and secure herself in a corner. The centrifuge they had used during her training had a time limit. However, the spinning of the space station knew no end. Only when the space station reached the back of the Sun was Mai Dong able to observe the damage of the United Space Station. She was surrounded byrge amounts of fragments and space trash. At that moment, the space station looked like the scene of a terrible ident. These fragments came from the space station itself and Orion II. The small ones were about the size of a fingernail, while the big ones were as big as a basin or a manhole cover. They too were spinning at the same speed and direction as the space station. ¡°Miss Mai Dong? Please answer if you copy.¡± ¡°Copy.¡± The girl¡¯s face was pale. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, are you alright?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Still alright,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°But to be honest... I¡¯m feeling terrible. My head hurts and my entire body aches.¡± ¡°Please secure yourself, Miss Mai Dong. What we will be doing next is abandoning the damaged Hope and Discovery modules. There will be some slight tremors and impact.¡± SPT276 only had 70 N of thrust. To receive a significant speed reduction, the lower the mass of the space station, the better. Orion II had practically halved the mass of the space station, so with Tomcat abandoning the damaged modules, the Mars United Space Station would be left with the Crystal core module and the Hub CBM module. The total mass would only be a third of its original. Just as Tomcat said that, the space station trembled. Mai Dong looked out of the window and saw the remaining half of Hope distancing itself from her. She imagined that Discovery had been detached on the other side. These two modules would continue on their kic state and keep moving towards infinity. Mai Dong looked at the Hope module¡¯s white hull as she recalled the nts she had grown. ¡°Next job will be to fold up the heat dissipation board and sr panels.¡± Tomcat folded the remaining four sr panels. They were the lifeblood of the space station, so it absolutely couldn¡¯t allow anything to happen to them. ¡°Initializing SPT276.¡± Once the thruster was initiated, the space station would gradually decelerate, but the items around it wouldn¡¯t. Therefore, there was a risk of further collisions. At such times, all they could do was pray that the Crystal remained resilient. ¡°Mai Dong, we will be with you always.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. ¡°Always, forever.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Mai Dong nodded and closed her eyes. Chapter 190: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Stare at the Sun

Chapter 190: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Stare at the Sun

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Coordinate system established. ¡°Coupling model established. ¡°With the origin as the target¡¯s center of mass, the core module will align with the x-axis, and the y-axis will be conar with the core module. The z-axis and y-axis will remain perpendicr... The intermediate axis angle of the space station is 14¡ã 25¡ä 37¡±. ¡°Attitude control modelingpleted! ¡°Obstacle-avoidance modelpleted!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat were very careful. Using SPT276 to stabilize the space station wasn¡¯t an easy task. This engine had once been installed on the Hayabusa III asteroid probe. Due to the long-distant orbital maneuver, it wasn¡¯t originally part of the attitude stabilizer on the space station. Even the control data link was added at ater date. The space station¡¯s three-axes stabilizer had already been ced out ofmission from the collision. ¡°The United Space Station has angr velocity in all three axes,¡± Tang Yue said. Based on the data transferred from the space station, the space station wasn¡¯t just spinning simply. It was rotating while tumbling about. ¡°I see it.¡± Tomcat stared at the slowly spinning space station model. ¡°SPT276 has very limited degrees of freedom. The velocity along the x-axis can be resolved. But it will be much moreplicated for the z-axis... Miss Mai Dong, do you copy me? Miss Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, I copy you.¡± ¡°Listen to me. Can you see the Sun?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Tomcat wore a heavy expression. ¡°The sensors on the space station are basically out ofmission. We have to find a reliable reference point. The best reference point is the Sun. We will be aligning towards the Sun.¡± ¡°Mai Dong, stare at the Sun,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The Sun, the window, and your eyes will form a line. This line is the baseline... Get it? Mai Dong, you must stare at the Sun.¡± Mai Dong looked up. The bright sunlight was passing through the ss window into her eyes. But soon, it flew across the window. The star was more than two hundred million kilometers away. Even photons took thirteen minutes to cover this long distance. In the void, they drew out the straightest lines in the universe¡ªif one didn¡¯t consider the influence of gravity. Light would propagate in a straight line, something even the straightest ruler could not reproduce. Light would draw out their reference line. As long as Mai Dong stared at the Sun. ¡°Next, we will have to shut down the space station¡¯s system and most of its functionality. I¡¯ll redirect all the power to the SPT276.¡± Tomcat sat there and began adjusting the space station¡¯s power allocation. SPT276 was the strongest electric rocket, but simrly, it was an electricity guzzler. The power expenditure was rming. Back on the Hayabusa III, it¡¯s true name was ¡°five-hours of charging, two hours of work.¡± Due to the short endurance it had, the Hall thruster¡¯s advantage couldn¡¯t be brought out. However, this was a product of JAXA, and the Japanese often had out-of-this-world ideas when it came to aeronautics. The United Space Station¡¯s battery reserves far exceeded those of the Hayabusa III asteroid probe, but it still couldn¡¯t handle its peculiarities. Just as Tomcat said that the LED light above Mai Dong¡¯s head died out. Tomcat had remotely switched off the space station¡¯sputer, diverting all the power to the engine, leaving only themunications system operational. ¡°Miss Mai Dong,munications system test.¡± ¡°Copy.¡± ¡°Its thrust is only seventy Newtons.¡± Tang Yue bent down. ¡°How long do we need to stabilize the space station?¡± ¡°Although it¡¯s only seventy Newtons, its advantage is that the moment of force is high enough. This is because the SPT276 is installed on the truss. Even though the truss is small, we don¡¯t have to worry about the torque as long as the length is long enough. In addition... I expect that the present United Space Station¡¯s overall mass is less than a hundred tonnes.¡± Tomcat was connecting the backup batteries to the super-capacitor. SPT276 was a 600 kW stationary sma thruster, so the energy density it could release instantaneously far exceeded the space station¡¯s battery. Therefore, there was a need to store up energy before initializing the SPT276. The item responsible for that was a capacitor. It was called a super-capacitor by everyone. This capacitor was, in fact, the reason the SPT276 was so big. It was extremely fast, allowing the engine to take precise control at the millisecond level. ¡°The super-capacitor is charged up. The primary battery has 2% capacity left. The secondary battery has 33% left.¡± The two batteries of the United Space Station¡¯s core module were solid-state batteries. The power density exceeded 400 Wh/kg. ¡°How long does each release take each time?¡± ¡°Five minutes. While the pulses ur, the actual speed reduction will take forty minutes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°We should be able to reduce the space station¡¯s spinning to an angr velocity of 7¡ã/s.¡± ¡°And then?¡± ¡°Then wait for the next recharge.¡± Tomcat looked at the time. ¡°The next recharge will end about six hourster. Then, we can begin our second attitude adjustment.¡± ¡°Another six hours?¡± At this critical juncture when a second determined one¡¯s fate, Mai Dong¡¯s life was hanging on a thread. Yet, the rescue provided by the surface was like a turtle¡¯s crawl. ¡°It¡¯s because the sr panels are gone,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°After all, we only have four panels left. All stations! Commencing initialization of SPT276!¡± Tomcat switched on the Hall-effect thruster on the truss, causing the Xeon ions to elerate in the electric field. The high-speed sma spewed out doing work on the space station. However, Mai Dong didn¡¯t feel a thing. The core module was still spinning with the asional dull thud sounding from space station fragments hitting the Crystal. The electric thruster¡¯s thrust was just too small, and with Tomcat¡¯s precise control, the time it took to slow down took more than forty minutes. After losing power, the Crystal was nothing but an empty shell. Mai Dong looked out of the window and the fragment closest to her was floating just meters away from her. It was probably the hull of a module and it was about the size of the incubator. It was deformed, with one side covered in a white membrane, while the other side was silver metal. It was slowly spinning, reflecting the sunlight as it spun. Mai Dong was extremely thirsty, but she didn¡¯t dare drink any water. There were only three liters of water left in the core module. It was all stored in the spacesuits¡¯ water bags. The girl knew that she needed to rely on this pittance to hang on for a very long period of time. She had already lost the OGS, preventing the oxygen and water from being recycled. Water and oxygen were no longer renewable resources. There was another soft, dull thud. Clearly, some object¡¯s fragment had hit the core module. Thankfully, their rtive speeds weren¡¯t too great. ¡°Is there anything I need to do,¡± Mai Dong asked, ¡°apart from staring at the Sun?¡± ¡°Lass, just protect yourself. Leave the other problems to us...¡± Tomcat suddenly cut off Tang Yue. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, if you wish, sing a song.¡± Sing? Tang Yue and Mai Dong were taken aback as thetter fell into a daze for a few seconds before giggling. ¡°Alright. What should I sing?¡± ¡°Sing...¡± Tomcat stared at the space station on the monitor. ¡°God is a Cat.¡± Chapter 191: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, The Last Party Branch in the Universe

Chapter 191: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, The Last Party Branch in the Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat and Tang Yue sat in front of theputer for a full six hours until the sunset and the dark, starry sky arose. In these six hours, the man and cat didn¡¯t even dare take a breath. Although the space station¡¯s attitude adjustment was an extremely slow job, Tang Yue was unable to see any shrinking in angle with his naked eye, this stemmed from the fact that the United Space Station was facing the greatest crisis ever since its establishment. In these six hours, the United Space Station had orbited Mars nearly seven times. Mai Dong could finally fix the Sun in the middle of a window¡ªstabilization of the space station¡¯s attitude needed it to be done in all three axes. The first x-axis was now stable. What was left was to resolve the tumbling along the z-axis. ¡°This is very problematic...¡± Tomcat¡¯s paws hovered over the keyboard as it typed over the air without pressing down. ¡°SPT276 doesn¡¯t have enough degrees of freedom. The thrust is unable to fully align with the direction of spin. There will be additional velocityponents.¡± Tang Yue stared at the space station on the monitor. In short, the United Space Station was in an extremelyplex state of motion after the collision. Orion II had nearly torn the space station apart. Thetter¡¯s center of mass had undoubtedly suffered a tremendous change. Worst of all, Tomcatcked the effective means to make measurements. All it could do was adjust the engine¡¯s thrust by trial and error. ¡°How much more propent does SPT276 have?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°27%.¡± ¡°We might not be able topletely stabilize the space station¡¯s attitude.¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°Based on the present situation, and hoping that there not being any additional impetus, we will only be able to reduce the space station¡¯s tumbling speed to 3¡ã/s. That is the optimal solution.¡± Once SPT276 was initialized again, it would be its final mission. After stabilizing the space station¡¯s attitude as best as it could, SPT276 would be drained of all its substance, ending its historical calling. It was born in a manufacturing environment at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries. It wasunched into space at the Tanegashima Space Center with the Hayabusa III probe by an H3A rocket. The farthest it had been was the asteroid belt two AU away. Its journey spanned four billion kilometers and it would eventually have its eternal rest on the Mars United Space Station. Sunlight beamed into the window. This circr window was probably the only thing in the Crystal that maintained rtive stillness with Mai Dong. The other things were slowly spinning. The randomponents that had been floating in the module had been put away by the girl, securing them to the walls and drawers. Together, they began tumbling along with the space station. Mai Dong and the core module didn¡¯t have any physical contact. She could maintain a straight line with the Sun and Mars, but this put her in a state of motion rtive to the space station. Mai Dong inhaled gently as water vapor condensed on the ss visor. The core module¡¯s walls were sweeping overhead. The core module¡¯s current temperature was ¨C11¡ãC. The temperature control had been put out ofmission. The Crystal¡¯s temperature would decline drastically once it came to the back of Mars. It would slowly rise a little when it faced the Sun. She held a straw in her mouth, taking a small sip to moisturize her dry throat. The remaining three liters of water were all in the water bags of spacesuits. The two IVA suits in Crystal, each contained 1.5 liters of water. There was a greaterck of food than water. All Mai Dong had was two pieces ofpressed biscuit. These two pieces had happened to survive because of Mai Dong¡¯s work habits. As she had been tirelessly modifying Orion II, she often carried with her a wrench, screwdriver, and biscuits. Later, it became a habit, often having food in her pockets¡ªa piece of biscuit in the pocket on each side. These two pieces of biscuit had survived the disaster with Mai Dong. As for the rest of its own kind, they had long been scattered into the vast deep space. ¡°Tang Yue... do you hear me?¡± The emergencymunication system¡¯s control panel swept past Mai Dong¡¯s eyes. Only the red indicator light was blinking once every second. Tomcat¡¯s speed reduction had worked. The space station¡¯s spin had clearly slowed down. ¡°Yes? Lass? I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Can the space station be saved?¡± Mai Dong¡¯s tone was very calm. ¡°If it can¡¯t be saved...¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! Yes! Don¡¯t worry, it absolutely can! The space station can be saved. We will immediately stabilize the space station¡¯s attitude!¡± Tang Yue hurriedly cut her off. ¡°Tianzhou 37 is on the way! Just hold on. It will be able to safely bring you down! You have to believe the Party and the People!¡± ¡°You ask me to believe in the Party and the People every single time.¡± Mai Dong smiled faintly. ¡°But there isn¡¯t even a party branch here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll now develop Tomcat into a party member!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°This way, we¡¯ll have a party branch. The organization has already studied and decided on a method of rescue! The lifeboat ising! Tianzhou 37 will be reaching you soon!¡± ¡°But it will still take twenty days before it arrives,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I only have three liters of water and two biscuits. It won¡¯tst that long.¡± ¡°We will elerate it! We will get Tianzhou 37 to ignite its engine and rush over at the fastest speed possible!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice sounded very calm. ¡°Right... Tomcat? The Party Branch Secretary is asking you. Get Tianzhou 37 to initiate its engine rockets. Speed it up!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten Tianzhou 37 to turn on the engines.¡± Tomcat took off its earpiece and replied softly. ¡°The estimated time of arrival is 251 hours, or in ten sols.¡± ¡°Get it to be faster! Thatss only has three liters of water and two pieces of biscuit.¡± Tang Yue had a nasty look as he moved away from the microphone to prevent Mai Dong from hearing him. ¡°Apart from the fuel needed for the descent¡¯s anti-thrust, use up all the propent!¡± If he hadn¡¯t deliberately suppressed his voice, he would have been yelling. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to remind me about such matters!¡± Tomcat returned with the same tone. ¡°But how much propent you use to elerate means the same amount of propent to decelerate! Otherwise, not only will the descent be impossible, even entering orbit will be a problem! Ten sols are the limit. Any shorter and it won¡¯t be able to be captured by Mars¡¯s gravity. It will brush past Mars, truly dooming everything.¡± Tomcat had a fierce look as its fur stood on end. It was as though it had encountered a stray dog that was trying to steal its food. Tang Yue and Tomcat stared at each other for quite a while before they each took one step back. Their quarreling didn¡¯t help matters. The oue wasn¡¯t affected by the victory of either side. Tang Yue¡¯s anxiety had gotten the better of him. Tomcat was right. Tianzhou 37 couldn¡¯t elerate without limitations. It needed to reserve enough fuel to carry out a deceleration to enter orbit. Tang Yue pressed down on his forehead as he sat down. ¡°Lass, there¡¯s another ten sols. Justst another ten sols and Tianzhou 37 will arrive. Although the food and water are a littlecking, making it a little hard on you... you must have confidence.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Apart from food and water, the greatest problem is the space station¡¯s trajectory,¡± Tomcat interjected. ¡°The explosion of Orion II¡¯s propent tank and collision has drastically lowered the space station¡¯s altitude. This is the worst thing of all. Before long, the Mars United Space Station will plummet through the atmosphere.¡± ¡°How many more sols before that happens?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. Ick the space station¡¯s detailed orbit data. It¡¯s impossible to make an urate estimate,¡¯ Tomcat replied. ¡°Besides, the space station itself isn¡¯t in a stable situation. Manyponents are on the brink of disintegrating. Based on the present situation, the remaining lifespan of the United Space Station is probably seven sols...¡± Seven sols*?* Tang Yue¡¯s heart mmed up. Tomcat stared at the monitor before finally adding, ¡°...to eleven sols.¡± Chapter 192: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Law of Tomcat’s Flag-Raising

Chapter 192: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Two, Law of Tomcat¡¯s g-Raising

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Probability?¡± ¡°No, there isn¡¯t a probability. This isn¡¯t a probability question about dice throwing.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We are unable to precisely predict the time of the space station¡¯s crash only because we do not have its detailed orbit numbers. If the space station¡¯s system hadn¡¯t been put out ofmission, we would have been able to predict the time of the crash to the minute... Tang Yue, this isn¡¯t a bet. Its destiny was fixed in ce the moment the ident happened. It¡¯s just something we aren¡¯t aware of.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback before he understood what Tomcat was saying. What they were facing wasn¡¯t dice that hadn¡¯t been rolled, but an oue that had already been determined. They didn¡¯t know because they were blind. For some baffling reason, Tang Yue recalled Schr?dinger¡¯s cat. If one didn¡¯t observe it, then one wouldn¡¯t know if the cat was dead or alive. But the United Space Station was different from that Schr?dinger¡¯s cat. Based on the Copenhagen interpretation, the cat in the chamber was in a superposition of life and death. By observation, its state would copse into one of the two oues. As for the space station, its life and death had been predetermined. It didn¡¯t matter if anyone observed it. Even if Tang Yue blindfolded his and Tomcat¡¯s eyes, it would still crash at a specific moment. Tomcat watched as SPT276 slowly drained its mass. It pushed the desk with force, sending its seat rolling away from the monitor. ¡°From this moment forth, we have lost all ability to affect the United Space Station. We can¡¯t do a thing.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We are in the true sense of the words, having our hands tied. Even if it were to crash tomorrow, all we could do is helplessly watch it happen... It¡¯ste. Get some rest.¡± ¡°Roger that,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± Tomcat drooped its ears as it walked to the recharging point in the corner, but was pulled back by Tang Yue. ¡°Is there really nothing we can do?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tomcat shot him a nce. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing. It¡¯s useless, no matter how fast your brain races, smarty-pants.¡± In a way, Tang Yue and Tomcat could just calm themselves and not be anxious, nervous, or frantic. They didn¡¯t even need to put in any more effort. This was because it would all be futile. They were always anxious because there was hope, struggling because of the possibility of sess. But with the ground losing all means to interfere with the United Space Station, the only contact Kunlun Station had with the space station was via radio waves. Tomcat freed itself from Tang Yue¡¯s grasp, walked to the corner and silently plugged itself in. ¡°Are we really doing nothing?¡± Tang Yue asked loudly. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we do something? Anything?¡± ¡°Eat and sleep.¡± Tomcat turned its head to Tang Yue, the former¡¯s indifferent, cold gaze chilled Tang Yue¡¯s heart. Those eyes seemed to say: What gave you the right to imagine that hope forever exists? ... ¡°Mai Dong.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to Tomcat¡¯s nonsense. It¡¯s just filled with pessimism and defeatism. Wait up there for the rescue. In ten sols time, Tianzhou 37 will arrive. The space station will definitely be able tost to that moment,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It¡¯s just ten sols. The United Space Station has been in orbit for more than ten years. What¡¯s another ten more sols?¡± ¡°But Mr. Cat said that the space station canst at most seven sols.¡± ¡°It¡¯s seven to eleven sols,¡± Tang Yue corrected her as he enunciated each and every word. ¡°It¡¯s not at most seven sols. The difference between the two phrases is like night and day...¡± ¡°I know,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°But I find Mr. Cat¡¯s words reasonable. Not every problem has a solution. There aren¡¯t that many miracles in the world. Lady Luck won¡¯t keep showering her blessings on us.¡± ¡°When has that darn Lady Luck showered her blessings on us?¡± Tang Yue took off his shoes and retracted his feet onto the chair as he hugged his knees. ¡°What were you referring to? The Eaglender¡¯sunch and docking? That was three parts destiny and seven parts hard work, alright? It had nothing to do with Lady Luck. If I hadn¡¯t braved the hurricane and stayed outside holding the antenna, who knows where the Eagle would have flown to. ¡°As for Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I... It was never going to hit Mars to begin with. We were made so anxious because of our miscalction of Deimos¡¯s orbit. The culprit is Tomcat and its workstation. In fact, thatet had nothing to do with us. No matter what the roll of our dice was, it wouldn¡¯t have hit us.¡± Tang Yue grumbled. He found himself unlucky with Lady Unlucky constantly haunting him. However, this also made him understand why the average human lifespan in the Stone Age was just twenty years. In an extremely harsh environment, with ack of resources, any trivial problem could develop into a major problem. In modern times, being cut by a de just meant heading to the hospital to have a few stitches, but in ancient times, this could result in a lethal infection. Tang Yue¡¯s living conditions were worse than the cavemen who had lived during the Stone Age. Even though the chances of being infected inside and outside Kunlun Station were small, if Tang Yue was to unfortunately fall and suffer a fracture, it also meant that his life would being to a close. ¡°We are really using our lives to verify Murphy¡¯sw,¡± Tang Yue said with a bitter smile. ¡°Murphy¡¯sw?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s that famous, or should I say infamous statement: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. In aerospace engineering, it¡¯s any technological risk that can go from a possibility to a sudden ident,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°Every engineer in the world knows thew of the jinx.¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s another corory.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Mr. Cat... isn¡¯t beside you, right?¡± ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue turned his head and took a nce. Tomcat had already curled into a ball, sleeping as it charged. Its face was buried in its paws with its two ears drooping. ¡°It¡¯s asleep.¡± ¡°Thew of Mr. Cat¡¯s g-raising,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°As long as Mr. Cat raises a g, it will definitely be made into reality.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Tang Yue smacked his head. ¡°I know why Earth vanished!¡± Mai Dong was taken aback. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because Tomcat had previously mentioned that it wasing to the end of its service and that it would be retiring soon. It had told us in idle chat: ¡®Once this Mars scientific mission is over, I¡¯ll return to Earth to get married.¡¯¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°Hence, the g was raised, breaking thew of causality. It was fine, but Earth ended up gone.¡± Mai Dong burst out intoughter. ¡°Is it alright to speak badly about Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Tomcat is no different from the dead once it begins charging.¡± He then turned to nce at Tomcat. The white, fat cat had turned into a furry bundle. It even seemed as if it could be flowing across the floor. Cats were indeed liquid. They could be as round or t as they wanted. ¡°Mai Dong, how will you be sleeping tonight?¡± ¡°How else?¡± The girl sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll just sleep in the IVA suit. It¡¯s not like I dare to take it off.¡± The United Space Station only had the Crystal module operational. There weren¡¯t any sleeping facilities, so Mai Dong could only make do. Tang Yue got up, switched off the lights in the Hab, and entered his sleeping quarters. He too was exhausted. ¡°Uh... Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It feels ufortable sleeping like that.¡± Mai Dong opened her eyes a few minutes after she closed them. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep at all. Why don¡¯t you have a chat with me?¡± ¡°Sure?¡± Tang Yue copsed into bed as he hugged the soft pillow and closed his eyes. ¡°What do you want to talk about? I¡¯ll join you...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice slowly softened and soon, there was the sound of rhythmic breathing. Clearly, Tang Yue had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He was exhausted, having pushed both his body and mind to the limits. Mai Dong didn¡¯t say a word as she listened to the breathing. The sun was setting, ushering a brief night. However, she didn¡¯t know if she would see the rising sun after the night. Chapter 193: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Three, Predator at the Top of the Mars Desert Food Chain

Chapter 193: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Three, Predator at the Top of the Mars Desert Food Chain

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The next day. Tang Yue left on the Mars Wanderer, taking with him a shovel and stic sample box for soil samples. Periodically he would head out to dig suitable soil meant for the nts¡¯ substrate. Now, the creation of soil substrate for nting in Kunlun Station wasn¡¯t as difficult as it originally was. The already fermented feces were used as fertilizer due to the sufficient number of activated microbes. It was like adding some old yogurt to fresh milk when creating yogurt as a primer. ¡°Tomcat, how many liters of soil do I roughly need this time?¡± ¡°Not much. It¡¯s up to you,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°After Tianzhou 37 arrives, you won¡¯t need to rely on nting vegetables to provide nourishment for yourself. The spacecraft has soft-packaged canned peaches and oranges. ¡°What about Mai Dong... We have three seeds that are nned to be activated. There are also five tomatoes that have begun their second round of fruit-bearing. How much fertilizer and soil would be sufficient? Mai Dong?¡± There was no response over thems. Tang Yue smacked the Radiant Armor¡¯s visor. ¡°She entered the no-signal zone again?¡± When the United Space Station¡¯smunications system had been destroyed during the ident, Tang Yue and Tomcat had spared some time to attempt a repair, but it was unfortunately fruitless. The presentmlink between the space station and Kunlun Station was still rather unstable. When the space station was behind Mars, it wasn¡¯t able to receive Kunlun Station¡¯s signal, which meant that for half a day, every day, the space station was in a no-signal zone. During such times, Tomcat and Tang Yue would losemunications with Mai Dong. Furthermore, there was nothing they could do to ameliorate the situation. In Tomcat¡¯s words, the United Space Station and Kunlun Station could onlymunicate with one another when there was line-of-sight. If they wished tomunicate, they had to wait for the space station to circle around the back of Mars and rise from the horizon. However, once the space station was below the horizon, themunications would be severed. ¡°I¡¯ll have to wait another thirty minutes.¡± Tang Yue sat in the desert with the shovel and box on his legs. Ahead of him was an endless rock patch that was covered in a thinyer of sand. It was mostly transported over by atmospheric activity while the rest was a result of rock weathering. Beneath the sand was rock and soil. Mars didn¡¯t have any vegetation cover or sufficient water. Therefore, it didn¡¯t have the soil environment brought about by an ecosphere over the span of millions of years. The soil here was dry and coarse, a mixture of gravel and sand. Under Tang Yue¡¯s feet, there was at least a meter worth of soil of the same type. Only on Mars did Tang Yue realize the staggering effects life had on the environment. Darwin¡¯s theory of evolution believed that natural selection determined the evolution of creatures, but in fact, creatures and their environments were influencing each other. The reason Earth could form the natural conditions of the modern-day could be traced back to the mass proliferation of blue-green algae 3.5 billion years ago. If blue-green algae hadn¡¯t appeared, Tang Yue might not have been a creature breathing in oxygen. ¡°Tomcat, can you contact the United Space Station?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The subscriber you have dialed is not in service.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really because of the bad signal.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°Make sure to let them know that I¡¯ll be lodging aint about them when I¡¯m back! I¡¯ll report to the authorities by dialing 95598!¡± ¡°95598 is for electricity and the Inte. Why are you lodging aint to them instead of the mobilepany? Are you hoping that they will cut the station¡¯s power?¡± Tang Yue used the shovel to dig away the gravel and sand. He extracted soil from a particr spot every time. He would erect a tiny g, saving him the time to search for it. Mai Dong had already taught him how to find suitable soil and how to mix feces and soil to cause dposition. Having spent so much time personally nting tomatoes and carrots, Tang Yue had already transformed from an electrical engineer to a qualified farmer. He poured the soil mixed with gravel and sand into the container. After closing the lid, he gently hit the container walls and shook it forcefully like he was rolling a die. The motive for doing this was to let the tiny particles sink, and when doing so, they would fall to the bottom of the container through the gaps in the gravel. This would leave the gravel as the upperyers. Large pieces of basalt couldn¡¯t be used for nting tomatoes, so Tang Yue needed to sieve them away. He opened the lid and grabbed a handful of gravel. Then, he began a second round of soil extraction and filtering. His actions suddenly slowed down. ¡°Hey, Tomcat.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I see a small typhoon.¡± ¡°A small typhoon?¡± Tomcat frowned. Tang Yue nodded. A small swirl ten meters in front of him was sweeping by. It didn¡¯t look more than half a meter tall and had been dyed light brown by the sand. It kept wobbling and moved at an extremely slow speed. This wasn¡¯t Tang Yue¡¯s first time encountering a typhoon on the desert, but this was the first time he had been in such close proximity to a small one. This kind of small typhoon was typically born behind a sand dune¡¯s sun-facing side. It would follow the sand dunes and mountain ridges andst for a few short minutes. They usually had a strange feature. Once anyone approached, they would dissipate even faster. Therefore, few people ever had any close contact with them. On Mars, seeing them was like seeing a sea lion sunbathing in the north pole¡¯s ice. The typical person would give it a few curious looks, but one couldn¡¯t exclude the possibility of someone with pent-up anger suddenly smacking the back of the sea lion¡¯s head. Tang Yue pushed the sample container filled with soil into the Mars Wanderer¡¯s drivingpartment and secured it in the seat. He then brought the remaining empty containers down and threw them on the ground. ¡°Shh~ Look, what did I discover? There is a small typhoon that is alone. We can attempt to capture it. One small typhoon can provide us with days of energy. They are rich in protein and a single unit of a small typhoon contains more protein than beef. However, it is not easy to deal with. We should approach it slowly from the back. Be careful not to make any noise.¡± Tang Yue muttered a meme from back on Earth as he filtered the soil. ¡°I caught it. It¡¯s struggling vigorously! We just need to twist its head once and we can then pull its innards out. The other parts can be eaten raw. Of course, if time isn¡¯t tight, we can first roast it.¡± Tomcat was taken aback before it rolled its eyes. Congrattions Mr. Tang Yue. After arduously surviving on Mars for nearly a year, your efforts haven¡¯t been in vain. You have finally gained enlightenment and acquired inedia. You can obtain the energy to live by simply drinking the wind. From this day forth, I suggest that as the predator at the top of the Mars desert¡¯s food chain, you should go about hunting typhoons. Tomcat painted a scene for Tang Yue: A man running on the desert with all his limbs like a dog chasing after a typhoon. His eyes were red and drool gushed out from his mouth. From south to north and from west to east, he would chase unceasingly. In a day, he would run across the Isidis nitia thrice. ¡°Isn¡¯t that rabies?¡± asked Tang Yue ¡°Sir, it¡¯s more like mad cow disease.¡± Chapter 194: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Three, God of All Things—Windseeker

Chapter 194: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Three, God of All Things¡ªWindseeker

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue took two seconds to recall what mad cow disease was. It wasn¡¯t a disease that humans could be infected with. And cows that got hit with it had their brain and spinal cord destroyed. This eventually led to mental problems and death. Tang Yue ruminated over this for a moment and realized that the cat was just secretly cursing it for being a stupid cow without brains. ¡°I suspect that you are cursing me, but I don¡¯t have the evidence to do so.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not cursing you,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Think about it carefully. Doesn¡¯t bing a traveler that chases sandstorms over the vast desert on this sound romantic? I will record this down, and in billions of years, you will be a god that is worshiped by intelligent Martian life. You will be like what Tolkien once said: ¡®History became legend. Legend became myth.¡¯¡± ¡°Another Great Salvation Bodhisattva of Mars?¡± Tang Yue stood under the lead-gray sky. ¡°Garfield Shaman Ritual.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat said a series of hard-to-understand words as though it was a curse. ¡°It¡¯s KeLuoCiFeiErTe-JieKaBu Dizisi PeiShenTe.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. What was that? ¡°Whichnguage are you speaking?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the ritualistguage used by the Wani tribe in South America¡¯s Ecuador. They once lived in the dense tropical forest and lived by hunting. The tribe believes that there¡¯s a spirit in all things. They call their god KeLuoCiFeiErTe,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°KeLuoCiFeiErTe-JieKaBu Dizisi PeiShenTe¡¯s meaning is the God of All Things¡ªWindseeker.¡± Tang Yue was stunned by what he heard and was rather amazed. ¡°How do you know such things?¡± Tomcat actually knew a long-disusednguage in a minority tribe in a South American country? Was this part of the knowledge needed foredic crosstalk? For example, reciting the dish names from a certain South American jungle¡¯s primitive tribe? Tang Yue imagined Tomcat wearing a robe with two old Beijing cloth shoes. It had colorful peacock feathers protruding from its war-painted head. It would then clear its throat and greet the audience with its paws cupped before reciting the long list of dishes: Steamed jaguar, steamed sun bear, steamed anteater, fermented viper, roast anaconda, roast pary, fried dwarf musk deer, fried bat, fried Spanish people... ¡°I¡¯m not that well-learned on cavemen. It¡¯s something I learned when editing anthropology. You have to know, there¡¯s nothing new under the sun. Such polytheism and animism are basically the same. Be it in Ecuador or Namibia,¡± Tomcat said with confidence. Tang Yue slowly nodded. He felt that discussing anthropology on Mars was studying a race that had nothing to do with him. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had such a feeling of distance. Being on an alien for extended periods of time had slowly changed his psychology. Back when Earth and the expedition team were around, Kunlun Station was a miniaturized version of human society. Even though the mission was long, the members were able to ensure a healthy psychological state. But after Earth vanished, Tang Yue was the only person left on Mars. Despite humans being social animals, he had lost the societal environment he relied upon for survival. Tang Yue was very worried about such changes. If he were to really live on Mars alone for ten years, it would be hard to tell how he would end up after ten years. ¡°...Tang... Tang Yue? Mr. Cat? This is United Space Station... Kunlun Station, do you copy me?¡± ¡°Copy. Lass, you have left the no-signal zone?¡± Tang Yue subconsciously looked up. Being able to receive Mai Dong¡¯s signal meant that the United Space Station had already flown above the horizon. If his vision was good enough, he should have been able to see the United Space Station hurtling past his head. When they heard each other¡¯s voice, the two heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯ve left the no-signal zone. I¡¯m eating my meal for today.¡± In the Crystal, what Mai Dong could do was limited. Apart from eating there was only sleeping. She actually wished to do something, but the Crystal was at present a flying tin can that couldn¡¯t change its course. It had lost nearly all its functions, and Mai Dong was just a girl floating within the tin can, holding two pieces ofpressed biscuit. The United Space Station fortunately still had four sr panels left. They were the final source of power and could barely support the work of theputer andmunications system. Mai Dong had split thepressed biscuits into seven sets. The shattered crumbs were floating in the air. Previously she had often eaten things like that. She would let the food and beverage float in midair freely. Then, she would suck it into her mouth like a big fish eating small fish. This was a game the old crew on the space station had taught her. As long as one used a bit of force in the space station, bread could be pushed very far. They would often push food to each other to feed one another. Old Zheng and Thomp even enjoyed a particr game. Old Zheng would float at the end of the module with his mouth open while Thomp would strike a chocte ball with a stick. He would score if the chocte entered Old Zheng¡¯s mouth. Old Wang often emphasized that doing so resulted in food waste! It would result in floating crumbles that could get stuck in the venttor! Of course, everyone ignored him. Eventually, Old Wang joined the game, obtaining the top score and breaking the record. ¡°Are you out soil-extracting? Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I¡¯ve extracted about two liters of dry soil. If it is all made into fertilizer...¡± ¡°That will consume water.¡± ¡°I know. Tianzhou 37 will bring a ton of water here. Our shortage of our water will bergely alleviated,¡± Tang Yue said. Tianzhou 37 was no doubt a savior. It would deliver food when they were hungry, water when they were thirsty, pillows when they were sleepy. Whatever wascking was provided. Anything could be found on Tianzhou 37. On second thought, it was truly bliss to be under someone¡¯s management. After all, Tianzhou 37 was only the first cargo ship for the next stage in the Mars mission. If Earth hadn¡¯t disappeared, there would be Tianzhou 38 and 39 immediately following it. Even Orion III would embark on its journey. Earth was gone. They didn¡¯t have parents or anyone to care about them. ¡°In history, every sentimental hero was someone who wasn¡¯t loved by his family. I¡¯m probably such a person as well. I¡¯m a survivor of the previous civilization and a pioneer of the next civilization.¡± Tang Yue stood on a hill feeling wistful as he looked at the vast desert. ¡°A billion yearster, there will definitely be intelligent life standing here, sighing how Lord KeLuoCiFeiErTe-JieKaBu Dizisi PeiShenTe was standing here on this holy altar...¡± ¡°Tang Yue, what did you just say?¡± Mai Dong frowned. She had noticed the long and strange term. ¡°KeLuoCi... Fei... ErTe?¡± ¡°KeLuoCiFeiErTe-JieKaBu Dizisi PeiShenTe,¡± Tang Yue said with a deep voice. ¡°You don¡¯t understand? This is thenguage of the Wani tribe in Ecuador. It means God of All Things, Windseeker.¡± Mai Dong nodded thoughtfully, but after a moment, she added, ¡°This term sounds familiar.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. It wasn¡¯t a surprise that Tomcat knew some primitive tribe¡¯snguage from South America¡¯s Ecuador since it was a robot and had an eidetic memory. But how was a researcher in agriculture like you also aware of such a primitive religion? ¡°I¡¯ve never studied anthropology, nor do I know about primitive tribes in Ecuador,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°But... Isn¡¯t that clearly something in English? KeLuoCiFeiErTe-JieKaBu Dizisi PeiShenTe is likely Creutzfeldt¨CJakob disease patient. I¡¯ve seen it before while handling the records on medical history.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. He tried hard to recall the pronunciation of the words and realized that Mai Dong seemed right. ¡°Wait, what did you say again?¡± ¡°It means Creutzfeldt¨CJakob disease patient.¡± Tang Yue was left agape. Patient? Chapter 195: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Four, Desert, Loneliness, Shit-Stirring Stick

Chapter 195: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Four, Desert, Loneliness, Shit-Stirring Stick

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The girl took off her helmet and her short, ck hair floated up. She extended her index finger and gently tapped apressed biscuit crumb. Thetter slowly moved back under the nudge, colliding with a second piece of biscuit. The second spun and hit a third piece. Six pieces of biscuit lined up like dominoes. Each biscuit would hit the biscuit after it after every connection as kic energy kept passing through them. However, the biscuits were ultimately items that were nonuniform and easy to crumble. Unable to move regrly like Newton¡¯s cradle, they soon scattered and flew in different directions. Mai Dong breathed out a white fog as she reached out to stop them. The Crystal¡¯s temperature was very cold at around ¨C4¡ãC. This was when it faced the Sun and had the sunlight hit upon the walls. When the space station went behind Mars, its temperature would drop further, reaching its lowest just before sunrise at a low ¨C10¡ãC. Currently, the only thing that could maintain Mai Dong¡¯s temperature was the IVA suit she was wearing. It used the Crystal¡¯s backup batteries as a power source. The data wire that connected the IVA suit to the core module also doubled as a power line. The suit¡¯s heating mechanism would raise the temperature to 25¡ãC. Last night, Mai Dong had curled inside it to sleep, wearing her helmet with the visor down. The suit practically isted her from the outside and had rather effective thermal instion. However, she had no choice but to remove the visor during meal times. The pressure in the Crystal was normal, and the emergency oxygen system was providing oxygen to the IVA suit as well as the Crystal. Mai Dong shot a nce at the emergency oxygen system¡¯s remaining levels and pressure gauge. Inside the heavy metal cylinder, the alkali metal perchlorate salt was stably being dposed and releasing oxygen. Thetter could at most work for 380 hours, a full sixteen sols. Having enough oxygen was truly a blessing. It could have been worse. It had been three sols since the space station had faced destruction. There were another eight sols before Tianzhou 37 arrived. On Mars, Tang Yue and Tomcat were continuing their feces-stirring work. If there was any more pressing work that required their attention, they wouldn¡¯t be sitting inside the garage stirring feces. But at this moment, there was really nothing more important on Kunlun Station. This didn¡¯t mean that stirring feces was important, but once the man and cat lost every means to interfere in the space station, all they could do was wait for news from the space station while stirring feces. Even if they were like a cat on hot bricks, all they could do was sit in the garage, mixing and ttening the feces. If there was even a slim possibility, no matter how tiny, to raise the altitude of the United Space Station by a millimeter, Tomcat and Tang Yue would have put in all their efforts and more. But now, the fact that they could only stir feces implied how helpless they were. With nowhere to vent his anger, Tang Yue began venting it on the feces in the container. The feces were decimated as they suffered heavy pounding to the point of being squashed. ¡°Brother Tang.¡± Tomcat pressed his shoulders, speaking sternly in principle. ¡°Why do you need to take it out on the feces. They are innocent.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was slowly and deep. ¡°What has this got to do with you? Who are you to them?¡± Tang Yue questioned coldly. Tomcat said firmly, ¡°Their guardian.¡± ¡°What nonsense. These feces were produced by me. When and how did you be their guardian?¡± Tang Yue got into a de-drawing stance as he slowly pulled out a rolling pin from the bucket. He slowly got up and held his hands to his back, standing there sternly like a proud piece of bamboo that faced the tempest. Opposite him, Tomcat took out a sh*t-stirring stick from the bucket beside it. There was a sharp glint in its eyes. A breeze passed through the area between the two of them, stirring up fine yellow dust. Stick. Wooden stick. Cylindrical wooden stick. Desert Smoke Stick. ¡°The sword crossed 30,000 li,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The de freezes neennds,¡± Tomcat replied. The man and cat frowned together. There was a murderous aura. In a split instant! Tang Yue yelled, ¡°The windows frame the snow-crowned Western Mountain!¡± ¡°Beyond the door moor east-bound ships!¡± Tomcat yelled in retaliation. ¡°When asked where a tavern bower could be found.¡± ¡°A cowboy points to yonder vige of the apricot flower.¡± ¡°When asked by folks back home.¡± ¡°Tell them my heart remains crystal clear.¡± ¡°The four-hundred-eighty temples of the Southern Dynasty!¡± ¡°In the mist and rain, their many towers can be seen!¡± The man and cat were gasping for breath. ¡°As expected of the model worker of Mars, the sh*t-stirring sage of Kunlun. You are my equal.¡± Tomcat took a step back as its expression was tense, but it continued wearing aposed expression. ¡°A victor might not emerge through our battle today.¡± ¡°Eunuch Cat...¡± Tang Yue lowered the rolling pin in his hand with the coolness of sheaving a de. ¡°You have impressive and profound skills. You live up to your reputation.¡± ¡°What are you role-ying today?¡± Mai Dong asked with augh over thems. ¡°Some Chinese poetry meet?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat sighed in unison as they returned to stirring the feces. ¡°It¡¯s the New Kunlun Inn,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°It¡¯s Dragon Gate Flying Cat,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°I thought it was Dumb and Dumber.¡± With Kunlun Stationcking in manpower, Tang Yue and Tomcat could only spar with words, no matter how creative they were. They couldn¡¯t put on anyrge-scale performance. In the words of Tomcat, it had an epic script much grander than the Oscar-winning Ben-Hur. Unfortunately with acking cast of only a man and cat to y it out, it could only rey the scene of Titanic¡ªstanding at the end of Mars Wanderer shouting, ¡°You Jump, I jump.¡± If it were given an entire group of actors, it could do the movie, Alexander. Tang Yue quipped that if they had the manpower, was there a need to do Alexander? We could y out what happened at Nanniwan, just like how they improved productivity and became self-sufficient in the 40s. As the proletariat, we will transform the Isidis nitia into a safe and peaceful paradise. ¡°Lass, quicklye down... Once you are down, we can act out the Chinese opera, The White Haired Girl.¡± Tang Yue pounded the feces bucket. ¡°Tomcat will act as the despotdlord, Huang Shiren.¡± ¡°Why am I acting as Huang Shiren?¡± Tomcat threw a feces ball over. ¡°If I¡¯m acting as Huang Shiren, who will you be acting as? The penniless father, Yang Bao?¡± ¡°I will not shirk responsibility by being the male lead. Look at Kunlun Station. Is there anyone else that can take on this important role?¡± Tang Yue picked up the feces ball and threw it back. ¡°Tang Yue is the male lead, and I¡¯ll act as the neighbor, Auntie Wang,¡± Mai Dong said with a chuckle. ¡°Auntie Wang?¡± Tang Yue red. Aren¡¯t you the female lead? How did you be the middle-aged woman from next door? Also, when did this character exist? The mother of Old Wang from next door? ¡°Then who¡¯s the female lead?¡± ¡°Female lead...¡± Mai Dong scratched her head. ¡°Find a rotting tomato?¡± ... Tomcat wore a look of pity. Heard that, Tang Yue? Thatdy is telling you to be together with a rotten tomato! Chapter 196: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Four, How to Enter the Two-Dimensional World

Chapter 196: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Four, How to Enter the Two-Dimensional World

Trantor: CKtalon ¡°Fine, so what if I¡¯m paired up with a rotten tomato? It¡¯s better than being alone.¡± Tang Yue packaged the curry-like feces and ced them in a warm spot to ferment. Then, he stepped out of the garage, frowning as he looked up at the dark sky. The role-ying was bing a bore. However, the cargo spacecraft was still nowhere to be seen. Tomcat was someone without much artistic sense. Despite confidently iming that it could y out Alexander, it was nonsense. All it could do was repeatedly act out a few old Hong Kong movies. Apart from New Kunlun Inn and Dragon Gate Flying Cat, there was Infernal Affairs. It would mimic Tony Leung and Andy Lau¡¯s gunfight at the rooftop. Tomcat yed Lau Kin-ming while Tang Yue yed Chan Wing-yan. One said, ¡°I had no choice before, but now, I want to turn over a new leaf and be a good cat.¡± In response, the other said, ¡°Good. Try telling that to Judge Fish. See what he has to say.¡± No matter how the script developed, it revolved around cats. Tomcat walked over from the garage and stood beside Tang Yue. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± ¡°Finding the cargo spacecraft.¡± Tang Yue cupped his eyes. ¡°How much further is it from us?¡± ¡°Seven million kilometers,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°If it was a powerful torch, its light would take twenty seconds to reach your eyes.¡± ¡°I used to find the speed of light fast, but now, the distances that we cover require light to take seconds or minutes. In retrospect, the speed of light is just too slow,¡± Tang Yue said. Tomcat nodded. Formunications, the speed limit of the Universe, the speed of light, was beginning to affect human work. The dy betweenmunications of Earth and Mars ranged from ten minutes to half an hour. ¡°Think about it. If two people are separated at the two ends of the Milky Way, and one of them sends a message to the other, it would take ten thousand years. You can press that button and look up into the starry skies, only to have the radio wave reach its destination ten thousand yearster. It would take another ten thousand years for you to receive a reply.¡± ¡°This might very well be the longest and most circuitous message sent in the Universe. All themunication base stations on the entire Orion II¡¯s cantilever need to help send it out,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What kind of message is worth waiting ten thousand years?¡± ¡°Such as...¡± Tang Yue sat down cross-legged and thought. ¡°You don¡¯t have to wait for me anymore.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. It also sat down, turning to look at Tang Yue. Thetter¡¯s eyes were peeled to the front, what he was looking at a mystery. ¡°But you¡¯ve already made the person wait so long. Wouldn¡¯t sending such a reply be a little toote?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°The reply takes another ten thousand years. The person who sent the message probably isn¡¯t alive anymore. At best, there will be a tombstone left... What kind of reply will the tombstone see?¡± ¡°If it were me...¡± Mai Dong said over thems, her voice crystal clear. ¡°Probably, ¡®got it.¡¯¡± Tomcat was somewhat caught by surprise before itughed. This was truly a fairytale¡ªjust like The Little Prince with his unique loneliness. If the world really had two such people, spending twenty thousand years to exchange two sentences, with one being ¡°you don¡¯t have to wait for me anymore¡± and the other was ¡°got it,¡± what kind of emotion that could transcend time in such a manner... ¡°Love.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°In the past, life was short. The speed of light is slow, but the stars are very old. The person you see will forever be fixed, only changing after ten thousand years.¡± ¡°But for radio waves, subjectivity is only an instant. It sees the you from an instant ago. What it sees the next instant when it returns is nothing but a tomb,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Under the speed of light, time dtion will reach its limits. Time will stop flowing, and any beam of light will see the end of the Universe the next instant.¡± ¡°Then, in the eyes of light, what does the world look like?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Quickly changing without any form?¡± ¡°From the point of view of light, the world doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°They were born from the Big Bang, and in that instant, the Universe ended.¡± ¡°Therefore, the best way to pass through time is to speed up.¡± Tang Yue looked up. ¡°This is also the only way to resist time... If we put the remains of humans into a box and then boost it to close the speed of light, perhaps it will be able to be preserved to the end of the Universe.¡± ¡°But that energy needed is unimaginable.¡± ¡°How much is needed?¡± Tomcat thought and said, ¡°That will depend on how heavy the box is. If we were to preserve a box with a mass of a kilogram to the end of the Universe, allowing time for it to dte to ten billion times slower than us, then in the process of elerating it to close the speed of light, its mass will rise sharply to 1020 times its proper mass. That would make it a hundred million billion tonnes. ¡°To elerate such a box to near-light speed will roughly expend more than 102? Joules of energy,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°And the amount of energy the Earth expends a year is 1021 Joules. Therefore, the energy to elerate that box is enough tost seven billion people on Earth for a hundred thousand years.¡± ¡°Storing a box outside time needs to spend a hundred thousand years worth of energy?¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Rtivity sure is strange and terrifying.¡± ¡°What¡¯s strange isn¡¯t rtivity,¡± Tomcat pointed above. ¡°What¡¯s strange is time itself.¡± ¡°If we had this capability, I wish to elerate the United Space Station to near the speed of light,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°At the very least, I want to let humanity see how the United Space Station ends.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t elerate the space station. I don¡¯t want to head there.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°That would be the end of the Universe.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wish to see the end of anything.¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°Be it the heat death of the Universe or the Big Crunch, it¡¯s an ending with no life. Why would I cross twenty billion years to see the Universe¡¯s corpse?¡± ¡°What Miss Mai Dong says makes sense,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I always believe that the present Universe is in its prime because it has given birth to life. In a way, it can be as big as life and as small as a seed. However, there is one simrity. That is it will only sprout in the most suitable environment. You and my existence are proof that the present Universe is irreceable.¡± ¡°Alright. Lass, don¡¯t worry. We don¡¯t have the power to do so either.¡± Tang Yueughed. ¡°elerating a one-kilogram box requires the energy expenditure of humanity for a hundred thousand years. elerating the United Space Station would probably require the whole of Mars to be converted into energy... If there¡¯s anything to be elerated, it should be Tomcat.¡± ¡°If you really elerate me to those speeds, I¡¯ll be t,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°t?¡± ¡°Based on length contraction, the faster I am, the longer I¡¯ll be in the direction of travel. Finally, I¡¯ll shrink to the thinness of a piece of paper.¡± Tomcat gestured as it brought its paws close and smack them loudly at the end. ¡°I¡¯ll be a paper cat.¡± Tang Yue was confused. Not only did light conceal the method of traveling through time, but it was also the door to the two-dimensional realm. Unfortunately, the physics sses on Earth never promoted such ideas. Otherwise, with the strength of the otakus, they might swarm over to solve this major conundrum in order to meet their two-dimensional waifus. Unfortunately, the people who researched physics were normal, straight men. All they had on their minds were grand endeavors like heading out into the cosmos. How could the ethereal and infinite cosmos be as good as having a waifu? As long as you elerate, elerate, and keep elerating! Once you reach 99.999999999999999999% the speed of light, you would be able to meet your waifus! Tomcat smacked its ass as it got up, carrying the containers to the nearby Kunlun Station. ¡°I¡¯ve seen things you people wouldn¡¯t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannh?user Gate.¡± Tomcat walked as it chanted. ¡°All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.¡± Tang Yue rested on his arm while leaning in the garage, somewhat in a daze. ¡°Time to die.¡± Chapter 197: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, If You Were Given Three Sols to Live

Chapter 197: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, If You Were Given Three Sols to Live

Trantor: CKtalon The fourth sol after the space station¡¯s incident. There were another seven sols before Tianzhou 37 arrived. Tomcat had been staring at the monitor early in the morning, tapping rapidly on the keyboard. When Tang Yue came out of the living quarters, it wasmunicating with the United Space Station. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, what can you see?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Yue had a towel over his shoulders as he was still lost in his reverie. ¡°What happened?¡± Tomcat raised a w to request for silence. ¡°It¡¯s too far. It¡¯s too dim. I can¡¯t see it... But I can hear something,¡± Mai Dong replied over thems. ¡°What do you hear?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very rhythmic,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°It sounds like a clock¡¯s second-hand ticking away. However, it sounds every few seconds. Tick-tock... Tick-tock... Tick-tock.¡± ¡°It¡¯s vibrating.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded heavy. ¡°In fact, the vibration is happening at a higher frequency than you can hear. It¡¯s happening at a rather high frequency. What you hear is probably the collision of some looseponent.¡± Tang Yue was very confused. He still wasn¡¯t sure what had just happened. Tomcat frowned and rapped the table as its ears turned around in frustration. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes looked to the side. ¡°The space station is disintegrating.¡± The girl had already taken off the spacesuit¡¯s helmet as she stuck her ears to the exposed metal wall of the Crystal. She closed her eyes and listened. Although a vacuum didn¡¯t transmit sound, the vibrations could be transmitted via the space station¡¯s structure. The core module was silent, and all the systems had already been made to stop working. This was the best noise-insted in the world. Any bit of sound would attract one¡¯s attention. Mai Dong left the wall and leaned in front of the window, trying hard to look outside. There were still plenty of fragments floating outside, but the area had mostly been cleared out since the collision. Orion II¡¯s collision had caused the leak of water and gases which froze under the low temperatures. This enveloped the space station in a huge fog, making it difficult for the sunlight to prate it. After three days, the icicles had gradually evaporated away under the sunlight, allowing the area outside the Crystal to turn clear again. Most fragments weren¡¯t moving at the same velocity as the Crystal. After ten orbits around Mars, most of the space trash had distanced from the space station. The huge truss swept overhead Mai Dong. At the end of it were four remnant sr panels which were reflecting sunlight. The soft sound was transmitted through the metallic truss. It resembled a snake in the shadows as though the space station was striking the kneel before its death. Mai Dong wasn¡¯t sure where the vibrations came since the source could be anywhere when she surveyed her surroundings. ¡°The space station is disintegrating?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What¡¯s happened!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an expected scenario,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Expected scenario?¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°So it means it¡¯s nothing serious?¡± Tomcat shot a nce at him, looking at him like he was an idiot. ¡°If I were to stab you, you will be in great pain and suffer from severe blood loss in the next three minutes before dying. That¡¯s also an expected scenario. Not dying will be unexpected,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The space station was smashed by a huge sledgehammer like Orion. It disintegrating is an expected scenario.¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± Tang Yue trembled. ¡°Damn it... Perhaps it¡¯s gravity. After the collision, the stress within the United Space Station¡¯s internal structure has been umting. Then, due to the disparate temperature differences, there is expansion and contraction. The space station has been constantly suffering damage to its structure.¡± Tomcat ground its fangs. ¡°The space station didn¡¯t begin disintegrating today. It had begun doing so at the moment of the collision. The effects only became obvious today.¡± Mai Dong heard Tomcat. The United Space Station was in fact slowly disintegrating. They had only discovered it today. That was an expected scenario. The collision between the United Space Station and Orion II was the worst space disaster in human history. It finished off two super space vehicles, destroying the alien base which humans had arduously spent more than a decade to build. Now, if things continued developing without any intervention, the United Space Station would ultimatelypletely disintegrate. ¡°How many more sols before that happens?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know... Miss Mai Dong, I don¡¯t know,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say which will first happen¡ªthe crash or disintegration. They might happen at the same time as well. Once there¡¯s sufficient atmospheric resistance, the space station which is already on the brink of copse will bepletely destroyed. I do not know the speed of the space station¡¯s disintegration, but it¡¯s definitely not going to happen after the crash.¡± ¡°How can it be prevented?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Formte a n! Formte one! We¡¯ll resolve the problem.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way to prevent it from happening.¡± Tang Yue was rmed. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°There¡¯s just no way. We have no ns. We have no way to resolve any problem,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I already told you that we have already lost all means to intervene with the United Space Station. Have you forgotten?¡± Tang Yue red with widened eyes, momentarily at a loss for words. Tomcat had indeed mentioned that they had lost all means to interfere with the space station. However, he hadn¡¯t taken it to heart. In his subconscious, problems with no answers or solutions didn¡¯t exist. Having been left stranded on Mars for so long, he had been through so many obstacles and difficulties. They had ovee each and every one of them with their own might. Regardless of the difficulty, as long as they were sufficiently calm, intelligent, and professional, there was a way to find the key to resolving the problem. They could then formte a n and work together to ovee it. There was always a n. There was a n B if n A didn¡¯t work. ¡°We have already lost all means to interfere with the United Space Station,¡± Tomcat repeated itself. ¡°To us, the space station is in another world. Where there is a will there¡¯s a way no longer works here.¡± Tang Yue slowly sat down. Tomcat turned its head and continued monitoring the data. As it shook its head, it mumbled, ¡°Subjective initiative can only be employed in situations where motion is possible. We no longer can move.¡± ¡°What about heading out... Can Mai Dong do an EVA trip?¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°The entire space station is disintegrating. This isn¡¯t something she can resolve with a soldering iron Besides, we don¡¯t even have a soldering iron. Miss Mai Dong is physically very weak. She doesn¡¯t have the stamina needed toplete an EVA trip. Besides, she doesn¡¯t have an EVA suit with her.¡± Tang Yue sat in the chair, his limbs feeling cold. He couldn¡¯t help his palms from sweating. Tomcat was right. He was a smart aleck, but there was nothing he coulde up with even if he racked his brains. ¡°Then what do I do?¡± Tang Yue looked up. ¡°Just wait?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to wait. You can still eat and sleep.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tang Yue, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong said. She was floating within the Crystal, caressing the core module¡¯s inner walls with her hands as she inspected inch by inch. The disintegration won¡¯t happen that quickly. The Crystal is very strong. There are no signs of damage or cracks. It will definitely be able tost to the point of the crash.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt the Crystal¡¯s strength. It was able to survive Orion II¡¯s violent collision after all,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There¡¯s no module in the world that¡¯s harder than it. Before it wasunched, it had been blessed by the Eastern Orthodox Church¡¯s Patriarch.¡± ¡°That makes it impressive.¡± The girl squinted her eyes into crescents as sheughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It will be fine.¡± Tang Yue wanted to say something but paused. He was being vicarious. Mai Dong, who was in a sinking ship, was the one consoling him. ¡°Alright... Stay in contact. Keep monitoring. Lass, report any situation in a timely manner.¡± ¡°OK.¡± Tomcat continued monitoring the United Space Station¡¯s condition. As the space station¡¯s system had lost most of its functionality, the only way to monitor it was through Mai Dong¡¯s eyes. However, there was little left of the space station to monitor. The massive modr, permanent spacecraft had turned into a simple single-manned station like it was a hundred years ago with the Salyut 1 and Skb. In his mind, Tang Yue was praying to the ancestors to watch over them¡ªdimir Solovyov, Alexei Leonov, and Pavel Belyayev. Their heroic souls that remained in the ether would forever bless their sessors¡¯ safety. ¡°Hey, Tang Yue, I have a question.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to ask... If you were given three sols to live, what would you do?¡± Chapter 198: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Let’s Play

Chapter 198: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Let¡¯s y

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Why are you asking such a question?¡± ¡°Just asking,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Didn¡¯t Mr. Cat say that the space station is about to crash? It has only seven to eleven sols to live... If the space station really crashes on the seventh sol, wouldn¡¯t that mean that I only have three sols left to live? In three sols, what can I do?¡± Tang Yue frowned. This wasn¡¯t anything positive. With regards to Tianzhou 37 still needing seven sols to reach Mars, Tang Yue was on tenterhooks. He basically counted downtime by the hour, staring at the clock in the Hab for prolonged periods of time. Every minute that passed meant that Tianzhou 37 had inched closer towards Mars. No one knew if Tianzhou 37 would arrive in time; therefore, Tang Yue and Tomcat had made it taboo to talk about this topic. They didn¡¯t dare mention failure, afraid that this irreversible oue would be reality from the mere mention of it. However, the girl¡¯s tone and casual words just couldn¡¯t anger him. It was as though the topic she was talking about wasn¡¯t death or crashing, but a question of where to go on a lovely, bright, breezy afternoon. Tang Yue hesitated for a moment. All his words about pessimism and defeatism transformed into a ¡°well... get some rest¡± when spoken. They no longer had a family to reunite with or friends to bid farewell to. If one only had three days left to live, all they could do was enter an eternal sleep amidst the stars. ¡°We¡¯ve woken up early all our lives. Finally, we can have a good sleep,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°To sleep to whatever time I want is the life I was most envious of when I was young.¡± Mai Dong and Tomcat were somewhat surprised. ¡°You only have thoughts of sleeping during yourst three sols?¡± Tomcat carried a fertilizer bucket and walked past Tang Yue. ¡°Have you a see-through life, or are you numb to everything? Or were you severelycking in sleep in your previous life? In life¡¯s final moments, don¡¯t you have something to say to me? There¡¯s also Miss Mai Dong. Don¡¯t you want to say something to her?¡± ¡°To you?¡± Tang Yue slit his eyes, looking full of contempt. ¡°You and I have been through thick and thin; yet, you have nothing to say?¡± Tomcat felt heartbroken. It felt that it had all been one-sided, all his deep feelings nothing but a waste. ¡°What a heartless and single wretch.¡± ¡°The saliva I waste from talking to a talkative cat like you takes up 90% of my daily water ration. What else do you want me to say to you?¡± Tang Yue was unmoved. ¡°If I¡¯ll die in three days, I have one thing to say to you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You have no chance in this life. Perhaps you can be human in the next one.¡± Tomcat ced the fertilizer bucket on the rack. ¡°What about Miss Mai Dong? What do you have to say to her?¡± ¡°Mai Dong...¡± Thems fell silent, but there was the rhythmic sound of breathing. Clearly, the girl was listening. Tang Yue wasn¡¯t in a hurry to give an answer. He leaned against his seat, sighing slightly. He turned his head to look at Tomcat to see that it understood. What can I say to her? In thest three sols of her life, nothing seemed appropriate. After Earth vanished, Tang Yue and Mai Dong had be thest two humans in the Universe. The connection between them was special and was the most special connection in history. In human history, never had there been two such people. They were like two fundamental particles interacting with each other. No matter how far the distance, their connection was strongly tied. Tomcat had once crossed its legs saying, ¡°You are thest pair of socks in the world. You are the left one, and she¡¯s the right one. Both of you prove the existence of the other.¡± What could Tang Yue say to her? Live on for the Party, for the nation, for humanity? What bullsh*t. ¡°There¡¯s nothing special to say. What should be said has been said,¡± Tang Yue said after a long silence. ¡°If there¡¯s something that needs to be said... it¡¯s sayonara.¡± Sayonara. When you had nothing else to say to someone, saying this couldn¡¯t be wrong. Sayonara was the word to say during separations. Mai Dong held a hemisphere-shaped ss helmet. The IVA suit was tethered to the Crystal at her waist, making her look like a baby floating in her mother¡¯s womb. When she slept, she would maintain a motionless state to conserve strength and to reduce energy and oxygen expenditure. At a nce, it was impossible to tell if she was sleeping soundly or awake. Only her thick eyshes would slightly tremble. She curled up into a tiny bundle, wearing the bulky spacesuit. Mai Dong removed the IVA suit¡¯s gloves and stuffed them into her pocket, revealing her fair, slender hands. Her bones seemed pronounced, a result of her prolongedck of nutrition. Her weight had already dropped to less than 45 kilograms. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat. Both of you are really gloomy people. Why are you sending me into the coffin before I¡¯m dead?¡± The girl leaned her head on the helmet. The ss was ice-cold to the touch. ¡°If I¡¯m given three final sols to leave, I¡¯ll definitely not stay at home to sleep. I¡¯ll head out and party crazily with my friends. I¡¯ll party from day to night, all day. I want to y all the games I never managed to y before. I¡¯ll eat everything I was forbidden to eat before. I¡¯ll curse everyone I didn¡¯t dare curse before. I¡¯ll let myself loose until the sun sets on the final sol. Then, I¡¯ll head home to have dinner and sit on the balcony to stargaze.¡± This question was akin to Helen Keller¡¯s ¡°Three Days to See.¡± Darkness and death forever stood waiting on the night of the third day. No matter what you saw in the three days, the darkness would ultimately descend. ¡°What a crazyss.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°I thought someone like you would probably spend thest moments of your life reading a few more books...¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t understand me well enough. I¡¯m not as goody-two-shoes as you deem me. I¡¯m actually quite wild. Darkness and death will ultimately arrive. They are waiting for me in three sols.¡± Mai Dong smiled. ¡°Do not go gentle into that good night.¡± At this point, Tang Yue found his thoughts a little adrift. He was suddenly shocked by Mai Dong¡¯s words. It¡¯s true he didn¡¯t understand this seemingly fraildy. Perhaps deep in her heart, Mai Dong was like him¡ªshe had the courage to watch all things end in the eye. Furthermore, she was not one to silently walk into the endless night. They would roar, angrily roar. They would burn their lives just to produce their final cry. ¡°Impressive, Lass.¡± Tang Yue suddenlyughed. ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y!¡± Mai Dong pushed a wall to straighten herself. She pushed the helmet to the other end of the Crystal and held the notebookputer. Her voice suddenly became excited. Tomcat and Tang Yue were rmed, finding it odd. This request was truly out of the blue. ¡°y? What do we y?¡± The girl giggled over thems. ¡°Let¡¯s y ¡®Fighting the Landlord!¡¯¡± Chapter 199: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Master’s Diary

Chapter 199: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Master¡¯s Diary

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°It¡¯s my turn...¡± Tang Yue nced hesitantly at the screen. He only had three cards left¡ªa Queen of Hearts, a Ten of Clubs, and a Seven of Diamonds. Tang Yue thought for a few seconds before throwing out his biggest Queen of Hearts. ¡°Queen of Hearts! Anyone want it? Anyone?¡± ¡°Of course! King of Spades!¡± Tomcat hurriedly followed. ¡°Crush him! Lass, stop it! Don¡¯t let that cat escape! It has nothing in hand! Lass, use your biggest card!¡± Tang Yue advised. This match wasing to an end. All three of them had few poker cards left in their hands. By throwing out his Queen of Hearts, all he had were two negligible cards that made blocking Tomcat an impossibility. All he could hope for was that Mai Dong had kept a sufficiently powerful trump card. Mai Dong and Tomcat each had two cards in their hands. With Tomcat having just thrown a King of Spades, Tang Yue had the vague notion that there was still a 2 that hadn¡¯t been thrown. It was likely Diamonds or Clubs. In Fighting the Landlord, 2 was the third biggest card. As long as the 2 was in Mai Dong¡¯s hand, she could finish off Tomcat at the final step. ¡°Block it... Block it... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...¡± The girl looked around. ¡°Ace of Hearts!¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Ace of Hearts? That big a card? Miss Mai Dong, you frighten me.¡± Tomcat pricked up its eyes, revealing a smile that kept everyone guessing as it revealed a shiny fang. Tang Yue had an ominous feeling. Could the 2 be in Tomcat¡¯s paws? ¡°Two of Diamonds.¡± Tomcat slowly showed its card, crossing its hindlegs like it were a god at gambling. It was just short of sunsses and a cigar in its mouth to pull off the look. ¡°Game over, my friends.¡± With the game ending, the system gave Tomcat victory. Tang Yue and Mai Dong watched as their monitors popped out a ¡°LOSE¡± window. Thisndlord cat had once again clinched victory. The final card that decided victory was in its paws. Without the Jokers, no one could beat it, and it was a helpless endeavor for Tang Yue and Mai Dong. Tang Yue looked at the Happy Beans on his ount being swept away as the number beneath Tomcat¡¯s name rose sharply. Asndlord, it had won the game, receiving double the winnings. Therefore, it had made a killing. After a series of tinkling sounds, Tang Yue¡¯s Happy Beans finally fixed at 80,000. Mai Dong was worse than him, having only 40,000 left. Indeed, ying cards with a robot cat was futile. Tomcat could remember all the cards, allowing it to remember all the cards that had been yed. It maintained its status as thendlord, wiping clean the two peasants¡ªTang Yue and Mai Dong. ¡°Tang Yue, you are a spectator; yet, you are providing unsolicited advice to Miss Mai Dong.¡± Tomcat held a paper roll in its mouth as it cocked its head. ¡°In the previous, previous round, you shouldn¡¯t have been in a rush to throw out the ck & White Joker. It made the 2 in my paw be the biggest card. Otherwise, there was still a chance for you to win that round.¡± ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, don¡¯t listen to Tang Yue the next time,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You will lose without knowing why if you follow his advice.¡± ¡°She will lose terribly if she doesn¡¯t listen to me.¡± In terms of card-ying skills, Tomcat was better than Tang Yue who was better than Mai Dong. Mai Dong rarely yed cards, and her skills were basically at the beginner level. Among Orion II¡¯s astronauts, the experienced gamblers were actually Thomp and Max. Despite being two Caucasians with their blonde hair and green eyes, they were enamored by the Sichuan style of mahjong. Furthermore, they were strong supporters of including Sichuan mahjong and poker in the Olympics. ¡°Another round!¡± ¡°Again. Shuffle the cards.¡± They were ying another round of Fighting the Landlord. Kunlun Station¡¯sputer had it installed. Many people could connect to it, providing the astronauts with some entertainment during their leisure time. However, Old Wang andpany didn¡¯t have much time to y games while they were around. Compared to poker, the astronauts preferred mahjong. They had even brought in a set of mahjong tiles with them. After Tang Yue finished his daily routine, he would sit in front of theputer and begin the game with Mai Dong. Years into the future, if any intelligent life were to dig out Tang Yue¡¯s diary, they would probably see such a description: ¡°Earth 1 June 2053 A.D. Weather is clear. Nothing happened. yed cards.¡± ¡°Earth 2 June 2053 A.D. yed cards.¡± ¡°Earth 3 June 2053 A.D. Weather has turned a little chilly. yed cards with Tomcat and Mai Dong.¡± It resembled the style of the respected masters while China was still a republic. Tang Yue recalled reading the university diary entries of Ji Xianlin while he was schooling, hoping that he could glean the amazing achievements of a master. He wanted to emte the schrly gentleman¡¯s attitude towards studies in his youth, while also curious as to how such an amazing person¡¯s daily life was different from his. He wanted to know if the man would memorize the numbers of pi when eating... However, when he flipped open the diary, the first bombastic words he saw was: ¡°Today, I deeply understand the insipidness of exams. It¡¯s all a bunch of nonsensical lecture notes that we are required to memorize!¡± This stunned Tang Yue. Following that, there were the words which were filled with aplomb: ¡°Didn¡¯t do anything meaningful. F*ck these bastard professors. All they know is to have tests every day. If it¡¯s not this subject, it¡¯s another one. What the f*ck are they testing us on?¡± At that moment, Tang Yue seemed to feel a spiritual resonance that reached deep into his heart. ¡°I have no other wishes left in life. All I hope is to see more women over the days, having more interaction with women from differentnds.¡± When Tang Yue saw such a description, he was overwhelmed with admiration and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. A master was truly an unbridled youth when he was young. At this moment, Tang Yue felt that he had the potential to be a master. Tomcat retorted that he had none of that. The only resemnce Tang Yue had with Master Hu was in ying cards and Master Li¡¯s ability to curse. He had none of their actual skills. ¡°Who¡¯s thendlord this round?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Who got thendlord card?¡± There was silence in Kunlun Station for a few seconds. Tang Yue nced at Tomcat who rolled its eyes. ¡°What are you looking at me for? I¡¯m not thendlord this time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m... thendlord,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I got that card.¡± ¡°Mai Dong is thendlord?¡± Tang Yue was surprised. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s finally Mai Dong¡¯s turn to bendlord. I love bullying youngdies who are newbies.¡± Tang Yue arranged the poker cards in his hand as he rubbed his hands in glee. ¡°I¡¯m going to turn this around! I¡¯ll win back all the Happy Beans I lost. Lass, this will be a fair fight. I won¡¯t be going easy on you... Watch my skills as the Kunlun Gambling Saint.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not some newbie. You think of yourself as the Kunlun Gambling Saint?¡± Mai Dong carried her notebookputer. ¡°I¡¯m also a gambling saint, the United Space Station Gambling Saint. It¡¯s a battle between gambling saints.¡± There was nothing wrong with what she said. No matter how unskilled Mai Dong was, there was no one better than her at cards in the United Space Station. ¡°Gambling Saints... Stop pecking at each other.¡± Tomcat slowly andnguidly looked up, done with the arranging of the cards in its paws. ¡°If you drag this on any further, I¡¯ll be summoning Exodia the Forbidden One.¡± Chapter 200: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Do Not Disturb My Cards

Chapter 200: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Do Not Disturb My Cards

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°A pair of 8s!¡± ¡°A pair of 10s!¡± ¡°Slifer the Sky Dragon!¡± ¡°Three 7s with a pair of Qs. Want them?¡± ¡°Of course, three Js with a pair of 6s.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my turn. Obelisk the Tormentor! Want that?¡± ¡°...Tomcat, why does it seem like we aren¡¯t ying the same game here?¡± The two humans and cat were in an intense match on a figurative card table. Although Mai Dong was thendlord with Tang Yue and Tomcat being peasants, thetter two weren¡¯t united. The cat and man fully showcased how the Chinese were experienced at internal strife, but inexperienced at fighting their real external enemies as the two peasants began fighting over trivialities. Tang Yue had useless cards¡ªa 3 and a 4. Looking up at the cat¡¯s face, thetter wore an unperturbed and unfathomable expression. It was the most terrifying matter to y cards with an opponent like Tomcat. This was because it could backstab you regardless if you were an ally or not. It all mattered if it was happy, and you never knew what was on its mind. Yet, its ability to memorize cards were extraordinary. It basically knew which yer had which card towards the end of the game. You couldn¡¯t control it, but it could see through you. Tang Yue¡¯s biggest card was the ck & White Joker. This was his trump card. He believed that all of them had rather scattered cards, so the possibility of a Bomb existing was very low. There was no other card that could beat his ck & White Joker. ¡°A pair of Ks.¡± Mai Dong threw a pair of cards. ¡°Tang Yue, do you think we are nuts?¡± ¡°A pair of Ks... I want it. A pair of As!¡± Tang Yue struck the screen and threw out two As. ¡°Why do you say so?¡± ¡°The space station is about to crash, and here we are ying Fighting the Landlord.¡± The girl giggled. ¡°An analogy would be a cruise ship finds itself leaking in the middle of the ocean and about to drown, but the sailors just gather together to y cards the entire time. Anyone will find this crazy, isn¡¯t that so?¡± ¡°In essence, card games are mathematical games¡ªat least to me. This is apetition and deception based on probability. Since time immemorial, humans have had a soft spot for such games. Do you know in which era such simr games first appeared?¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°It happened more than two thousand years ago during the Pre-Qin period. Its name is Liubo, literally ¡®six sticks.¡¯ In a certain sense, it¡¯s one of the first card games in human history.¡± Tang Yue pricked his brows up. ¡°To humans, such entertaining activities are very widespread and they are infatuated with them. From the Arctic Circle¡¯s Greend to South America¡¯s Peru, as long as there are people, there will be ying cards. No matter what difficulty or disaster you face, no matter how pressing the situation is, to the point of being on the brink of death, you will sit down and say to anyone in front of you...¡± Tomcat said, ¡°Let¡¯s have a game of Gwent.¡± As Tomcat nagged on, it threw a pair of 2s, preventing Tang Yue from continuing. Finally, Tomcat went easy on Mai Dong. This cat was an ingrate, an enemy spy who would reach deep into the working ss. It didn¡¯t seem to care that it should work together with Tang Yue to defeat thendlord. It attacked whoever it wanted, making it exasperating for its teammate. ¡°So we aren¡¯t mad,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We are Archimedes.¡± ¡°Archimedes?¡± Mai Dong didn¡¯t understand what he meant. ¡°It¡¯s said that Archimedes died under the de of an ancient Roman soldier. Back then the soldiers had charged into Archimedes¡¯s residence while he was contemting a mathematical diagram. Thest words attributed to him is ¡®Do not disturb my circles!¡¯¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°If the Universe were to be destroyed the next second, what would you say?¡± The girl thought for a moment. ¡°Do not disturb my cards!¡± ¡°Do not disturb my fish!¡± Tomcat threw out a card. ¡°Do not disturb my police!¡± Tang Yue was never one to go with the flow. The two humans and cat kept throwing out cards one after another, and soon, Tang Yue had few cards left. He still had a few single cards, including a pair of 4s which he hadn¡¯t found a chance to discard. In addition, he had a ck & White Joker. The Colored Joker had yet to appear and its owner was a mystery. Of course, Tang Yue felt as though everyone was an enemy with that most powerful trump card in the hands of any one of them. Mai Dong still had five cards. Tomcat still had three cards. Tang Yue frowned. If he could clinch victory this round, he could recoup most of the Happy Beans he had previously lost. If he lost this round, his already broke ount would only turn for the worse. Tomcat clearly didn¡¯t care about the oue. It was the realndlord, with hundreds of thousands of Happy Beans. Losing a few rounds wouldn¡¯t leave a dent. ¡°Tang Yue, it¡¯s your turn,¡± Mai Dong urged. ¡°What are you doing? Why are you in a daze?¡± Tang Yue looked at the screen in front of him. There were a total of four cards, two 4s, and a single Eight of Spades, and a ck & White Joker. He was in deliberation. This might be his only chance to throw the pair of 4s, but the pair was just too weak. If the rest had a pair, they could immediately break his flow, and that would doom Tang Yue, preventing him from using his trump card. Nearing the end of the match, it was clearly unwise to throw something this weak. F*ck, damn Tomcat. I¡¯m not only dealing with Mai Dong. I still have to be careful of Tomcat¡¯s attacks, making them gang up against me. Should I throw it? Should I make a bet? Should I bet that Mai Dong and Tomcat don¡¯t have any pairs and are unable to trump my pair of 4s? If I don¡¯t throw the pair of 4s? If I don¡¯t, there will only be the Eight of Spades and the ck & White Joker... I¡¯ll first throw the Eight of Spades before the ck & White Joker? Tang Yue overruled the choice. After the ck & White Joker was thrown, he would be under the mercy of his opponent¡¯s Colored Joker. Once he was blocked, he would hold the two pathetic 4s to death. ¡°A pair of 4s.¡± Tang Yue threw his cards. Tomcat nced at it and shook its head. ¡°I can¡¯t take it.¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice sounded after it. ¡°Neither do I.¡± Sess! Tang Yue was delighted. Mai Dong and Tomcat didn¡¯t have any pairs in their hands after all. He wanted to throw his Eight of Clubs next, holding a ck & White Joker in his hand. The victory was at hand. It was in the bag! ¡°Eight of Clubs!¡± ¡°Colored Joker.¡± The Colored Joker was indeed in Tomcat¡¯s hand. After it threw out the Colored Joker, it had two cards left. Furthermore, they weren¡¯t the type that could be thrown out at once. In terms of single cards, nothing was bigger than the ck & White Joker in Tang Yue¡¯s hand. Mai Dong and Tang Yue passed as Tomcat threw a Queen of Hearts, leaving one card in its hand. Following that it was Mai Dong¡¯s turn. No matter what she threw, there was nothing that could stop Tang Yue. With victory in the bag, Tang Yue could already see the Happy Beans flowing into his ount. ¡°Five of Hearts.¡± Mai Dong threw a card out. Tang Yue was stunned. Tomcat had thrown a Queen of Hearts. But you threw a 5?¡± Following that, Mai Dong continued throwing out cards. ¡°Five of Diamonds. ¡°Five of Spades.¡± ¡°Five of Clubs.¡± ¡°Finally, a 10.¡± Mai Dong cleared all her cards and pped. ¡°Mr. Kunlun Gambling Saint, I¡¯ve won.¡± Chapter 202: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Mutation

Chapter 202: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Mutation

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Fifth sol after the space station¡¯s incident. There were another six sols before Tianzhou 37 arrived. Tomcat had finished the usual work of moving all the sr panels. When it entered, it found Tang Yue sprawled on the table, sleeping as he drooled over the keyboard. ¡°Wake up, wake up Tang Yue.¡± Tomcat ced the items in its paws on the table, then prodded him. ¡°Your drool is about to drip onto the floor.¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes, looked up, and gazed around in a daze. Half his face had the red imprint of AWSD. ¡°Why are you so tired?¡± Tomcat held a pipette and stood in front of the rack to take care of the tomatoes. It rotated the containers to allow the nts to receive uniform lighting. ¡°Eight, Ten, and Eleven... are growing well. Grandpa is very happy.¡± ¡°We yed toote into the night.¡± Tang Yue yawned as he rubbed his aching neck. ¡°Where¡¯s Mai Dong?¡± Last night, the trio had yed till half-past one in the morning. Ever since graduation, Tang Yue hadn¡¯t pulled such a stint. Over an intense night, he had consecutively lost dozens of matches. It was the same with Mai Dong. Eventually, the two were bankrupt, leaving Tomcat the big winner. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± the girl replied. She too was yawning. ¡°I¡¯m tired too... I¡¯m tired, cold, and hungry.¡± There were only two pieces ofpressed biscuit left. Mai Dong ate a tiny piece of the biscuit once a sol and tried her best to maintain her strength. Now, her daily routine was to sleep most of the time and eat a little. Tomcat remarked that she was like sleeping beauty inside a coffin, but there was no prince to kiss her. As for Tang Yue, he called her a fat hamster curled up in its cage. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Tang Yue noticed the items that Tomcat had brought back. It was a stic container with one palm-sized ss petri dish. Tang Yue took out the petri dish from the container and studied it out of curiosity. At the bottom of the was ayer of translucent gtin. It was like a colorless jelly that had random specks of different colors. The biggest one was the size of an adult¡¯s thumbnail which upied an oval area itself. The smaller ones were like scattered grains of rice. Some even had thin ¡°hair¡± growing from them. ¡°Rotten jelly?¡± ¡°A bacterial colony I reared.¡± Tomcat turned to nce at it. ¡°I have to leave behind some seeds to life for this world, right?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°This bacteria is the seeds to life? You want to scatter them and let them evolve into higher-order lifeforms?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Tomcat carefully watered the tomatoes. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you humans were once such simple lifeforms. Given enough time, they will one day be able to create a miracle.¡± ¡°But we took three billion years.¡± ¡°The Universe will give them three billion years.¡± ¡°Where did you get the bacteria from?¡± Tang Yue asked. Tomcat turned around and gestured at Tang Yue with its chin. The meaning was clear: Who else on Mars could be the source of bacteria contamination? ¡°I used thepressed biscuits and fertilizer as a nutrient substrate. Then I used agar as the cultivation medium. The bacteria basically came from you. The bacterial colony here includes Staphylocus epidermidis, Staphylocus aureus, Streptocus, Veillone, and E. coli.¡± Tomcat walked over and took the petri dish. It then observed it against the window. ¡°Ites from your skin, respiratory tract, and intestinal tract.¡± ¡°Intestinal tract?¡± Tang Yue was rmed as he subconsciously held his ass. ¡°What did you do to me while I was asleep?¡± ... ¡°After spending so much time on Mars, even bacteria seems cute.¡± Tang Yue held his head as he slowly spun the petri dish. ¡°How many different kinds of bacteria are there?¡± ¡°The number of bacterial colonies is the number of different bacteria,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Those light yellow or white circr ones are Staphyloci. The other opaque grayish-green circr ones are Veillone... I ced them outside to test their endurance in a Martian environment. But most of the bacteria died. Only a few anaerobic bacteria survived.¡± It was a ratherplicated task rearing bacterial colonies on Earth. It needed strict sterilization processes to prevent contamination. However, doing so on Mars was a lot simpler. As long as Tomcat left Kunlun Station and Tang Yue¡¯s vicinity, it would be able to avoid nearly all kinds of interference. It could use anywhere on Mars, and it would far exceed the clean rooms on Earth in terms of cleanliness. Tang Yue stared at the bacterial colonies in the petri dish. These microbes weren¡¯t growing well. Most of them were on the brink of extinction. Perhaps it was due to theck of nutrients in the environment Tomcat created, or perhaps it was because of the harsh Martian environment. However, they still tried their best to spread, trying hard to cover every millimeter of the substrate. ¡°If they can really be spread, the ecosphere they ultimately form will bepletely different from Earth¡¯s,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The ones that can survive are anaerobic bacteria. Then, the creatures they eventually form will not need oxygen. They will be a brand new life form.¡± Life¡¯s appearance was determined by the most basic energy utilization. Most of the life on Earth relied on breathing to provide them with energy. Breathing was an oxygenizing reaction, turning glucose into pyruvic acid before turning into adenosine triphosphate. This energy chain existed in almost all creatures; therefore, there was a need for a respiratory system to circte the energy. ¡°Then you will be God,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°They will be the grand legends like Pangu¡¯s creation of the Universe and N¨¹wa¡¯s creation of humanity... But who could have imagined that such a legend started off on an ordinary afternoon when a man got some saliva from his mouth to ther over a petri dish.¡± ¡°No matter how drastic the turn of events is, they were just normal days,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°After all, life doesn¡¯te with background music.¡± He looked up and felt that the wheels of history were rumbling over his head. ¡°It sounds magical, but it¡¯s nothing like that,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Do you really think these bacteria colonies in the petri dish can be the origins of the next civilization? Even if they do not rely on oxygen, they were a result of evolution on Earth. Marscks sufficient opportunity, so bacteria from the human body has no way of surviving... To survive in this godforsakennd, what¡¯s needed is anaerobic bacteria, such as sulfur-reducing bacteria or other ancient bacteria.¡± In response, Tang Yue frowned. ¡°You just mentioned that they were the seeds to life?¡± ¡°It was just utter nonsense,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I have no ns on producing the next civilization with some bacteria. My lifespan isn¡¯t that long. It¡¯s just a small experiment I did to see how radiation on Mars affects human bacteria.¡± It walked over and picked up the petri dish and observed it. It pointed out the bacterial colonies on the substrate to Tang Yue and said, ¡°Oh... See, these Staphyloci are about to die. The colony is shrinking. It was about twice the size yesterday. Half died in twenty-four hours. The Streptoci are about to die as well. This color isn¡¯t healthy. There¡¯s also the Mssezia. They can¡¯t even be seen. Clearly, they have be extinct. ¡°Then what about this?¡± Tang Yue pointed at a ck colony on the petri dish. It wasn¡¯t the biggest one, but it didn¡¯t show signs of decline. It was still rtively active. ¡°This seems to be growing really well.¡± Tomcat stared at the oval spot and rubbed its chin as it frowned. ¡°This is Candida albicans? Or is this Pseudomonas? No... That¡¯s not right...¡± Tomcat slowly shook its head. ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It mutated. It¡¯s likely a mutation.¡± Tomcat eventually passed judgment. ¡°It¡¯s a mutated bacterial strain.¡± Chapter 203: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, The Flocking Amoeba

Chapter 203: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, The Flocking Amoeba

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Mutated bacteria?¡± Tang Yue took the petri dish from Tomcat. ¡°You mean that they have mutated?¡± ¡°Bacteria are considered prokaryotes thatck full cellr structure. The stability of their DNA is rtively weak. Under the radiation on Mars, mutation is amon oue... I¡¯ve been rearing these bacteria for some time. I dare say that every time they replicate, there will be a mutation.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°However, most of the mutations lead to a dead end. Gene mutation is like shooting with your eyes blindfolded. It¡¯s very rare to hit the target.¡± Tang Yue curiously observed the mutated bacteria in the petri dish. The bacterial colony was a dark-colored oval with a smooth surface. He didn¡¯t know which bacteria it mutated from, but this was the first life he discovered to be born in a Martian environment¡ªeven if their parents came from Earth. Mai Dong had already woken up and heard the conversation between Tang Yue and Tomcat. ¡°Mr. Cat, you reared bacteria?¡± The girl was very curious. ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°These bacteria are my pets. I¡¯ve just brought them in from the radiation exposure. I discovered that one of the bacteria, perhaps bacillus, has mutated.¡± ¡°Why do you expose it outside?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t thismon when rearing pets?¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°You humans walk dogs, I walk my bacteria.¡± ¡°The mutation has allowed it to adapt to the Martian environment?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°You can¡¯t call it adaptation to the Martian environment.¡± Tomcat shook its head, clearly disinterested in the mutation. It then turned around and continued taking care of the tomatoes. ¡°They have merely adapted to the environment inside the petri dish. If you opened the lid and poured them onto the sand outside Kunlun Station, I believe they wouldn¡¯t survive for more than twenty-four hours.¡± ¡°I was still hoping that they would produce the next civilization.¡± Tang Yue leaned in close to the petri dish and observed it. The bacteria were spreading on the substrate, but they had no idea that there was a pair of eyes looking at them from above. ¡°Although I have no interest in ying God, I do wish to know what a brand new ecosphere would look like.¡± ¡°Think about how sulfur bacteria survive. For example, anaerobic purple sulfur bacteria. If they sessfully evolve into higher-order lifeforms...¡± Tomcat hypothesized. ¡°Then, they might be massive, slow-crawling creatures. They will be like reptiles that resemble amoeba. Their bodies will be translucent, and they will move by lying on the ground. However, their bodies will be much bigger than reptiles, spanning several meters.¡± Tomcat¡¯s description immediately made Tang Yue imagine a nasal mucus. ¡°They will form swarms as they travel across the Martian desert. They will have mouths that resemble shovels, moving dirt as they travel. They will survive by consuming the sand on Mars because it will be rich in ferrous iron. These super worms will obtain energy from the microbial oxidation of ferrous iron to ferric ion,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°Their translucent bodies will have massive amounts of churning liquid that¡¯s filled with sulfuric acid as they will be responsible for oxidizing and vulcanizing. Apart from sulfuric acid, oxidation will also generate sulfates, leaving behind a long trail of their excrement on the desert to mark their activity.¡± ¡°Why would their bodies be translucent?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It¡¯s to let light in,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°A portion of their energy sourcees from photosynthesis, so sunlight is essential. These creatures¡¯ internals will be filled with acidic photosynthetic pigments. The sulfuric acid inside the liquid will be able to provide an acidic environment.¡± ¡°What about living in swarms?¡± ¡°They live in groups to withstand the harsh survival conditions. Not only will they live in groups, but they will also enter hibernation periodically to avoid the global hurricanes that sweep through the globe,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Once the wind starts up, these worms will burrow into the sand to hibernate until the hurricane passes.¡± ¡°Will they create a social structure?¡± ¡°Any creature will have a social structure if they swarm together,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Every Martian amoeba-shaped worm might have a leader and it will follow a matriarchal society. Then, the leader will be the only queen that possesses the ability to reproduce. Since there¡¯s a queen, there¡¯s nothing stopping us from making further inferences. The Martian amoeba¡¯s swarm will have the worker ss, and it might even have specialized workers... They will be specially made as energy stores; thus, making them bigger than other amoebae. Their mission every day will be to eat and drink. Their only value to provide the hibernating swarm with energy during a hurricane. Tang Yue imagined the honeypot ants on Earth. These strange ants used their bodies as a vessel for food, and they spent their days gorging on food to be living food storage. When the ant swarm faced ack of food, they would eat up the honeypot ants. This was an evolution that a creature from Earth took to resist the environmental changes. What means the creatures on Mars used to resist hunger was still an unknown, but based on the principle of mediocrity, whatever showed up on Earth could equally likely appear on Mars. ¡°Will they have sight? Will they have hearing?¡± ¡°Sight isn¡¯t something especially important. They can evolvepletely different sensual organs from Earthlings. For example, they could produce strangely long tentacles that crawl underground,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°These tentacles could reach out into different directions and be used to find underground food, or in other words the abundance ratio of Iron(II) and Sulfide.¡± ¡°As for hearing, they crawl on the ground, using their bodies to sense the vibrations of the ground. It could even be their form ofmunication. By hitting the ground, vibrations of different frequencies are generated,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°What about a brain? Will they have a highly developed central nervous system?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s possible. Tang Yue, everything is possible.¡± Tomcat said as it turned around. ¡°Time gives them everything.¡± Tang Yue stared at the bacterial colony in the petri dish, unsure if what Tomcat said would be reality. Billions of yearster, Mars might be a bustling with life. These bacteria could mutate to form amoeba that would form groups as they crawled across the desert. Their translucent bodies flowed with sulfuric acid, and as they walked, they shat, and sunbathed, in pursuit of the mineral elements underground. They would leave behind beads of sulfur. That would truly be a ridiculous and amusing world. Even if the prophecy came true, it would be billions of yearster. Time was truly something that created miracles. After Tomcat finished watering the tomatoes, it walked over to take the petri dish away. In its words, it was unknown if these mutated bacteria posed any security risks. Therefore, it was best if Tang Yue didn¡¯t stay too close to them. To ensure that it was 100% safe, this petri dish should have been ced in a P4boratory¡ªeven if its threat to Tang Yue¡¯s life was infinitely close to zero. Chapter 204: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Rescue Failed

Chapter 204: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Rescue Failed

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue didn¡¯t know where Tomcat had hidden the petri dish away. It might even have thrown out all the bacteria, allowing those microbes to fend for themselves in the harsh Martian environment. Under normal conditions, this was a contamination of the environment, but no one cared anymore. Whether the mutated bacteria could really evolve into Martian amoebas was left up to fate. ¡°How much longer before Tianzhou arrives?¡± Tang Yue slumped on the table as he pressed on the keyboard again and again in a listless manner. ¡°140 hours,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°In the past three sols, you have asked this question 167 times. That was the 168th time.¡± ¡°How much longer can the space stationst?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve no idea,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Perhaps an hour, or maybe 150 hours. You have asked this question equally as many times as thest one.¡± When Mai Dong was online, Tang Yue and Tomcat never discussed the lifespan of the United Space Station. The man and cat would appear rather calm, ying cards and engaging in nonsense as they usually did, as though they were certain that Tianzhou 37 would arrive in time. However, once the space station entered the no-signal zone, Tang Yue¡¯s worry and unease would immediately show. He was like a cat on hot bricks, he was almost hopping. Yet, he had to force himself to remain calm. Tang Yue literally asked about Tianzhou and the space station every few minutes. Tianzhou 37 was in a race against time, but this was a participant who couldn¡¯t be whipped. Tianzhou needed to reserve enough propent for its deceleration and descent. Apart from that, Tomcat had used all the propent to elerate it. It was already going at its fastest speed, and it couldn¡¯t go any faster. ¡°Strictly speaking, whether the cargo spacecraft can save Miss Mai Dong is a fixed oue. There aren¡¯t other variables in it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°That¡¯s because Tianzhou¡¯s time of arrival is fixed. Likewise for the space station¡¯s time of crash. If the former is before thetter, we can save Miss Mai Dong. But if thetter is before the former...¡± ¡°That would be game over, right?¡± Tang Yue threw up his hands. ¡°In the past three sols, you have told me the same thing 167 times.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because, in essence, we are the same,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°A broken record?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We are all trying to find hope in a dire situation... Listen to me, Tang Yue, we need to have the greatest determination and confidence, but also make ns for the worst.¡± ¡°That the rescue fails?¡± Tomcat walked over and pressed Tang Yue down into his chair. ¡°Yes, we need to make ns for the failure of the rescue. Tang Yue, you need to think it through carefully. If the United Space Station can¡¯tst until Tianzhou arrives... How are you going to face that reality?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. If Tianzhou didn¡¯t arrive in time, it meant that the United Space Station would crash. The crashing of the United Space Station meant Mai Dong¡¯s death. Mai Dong¡¯s death meant that he would be thest human left in the Universe. ¡°You have given me a conundrum,¡± Tang Yue said sullenly. ¡°Even if I don¡¯t face reality, reality will seek me out. The cruelest part about reality is that you have no way of escaping from it. As thest human in the Universe, what can I do? Stand in the middle of the desert to kowtow in every direction, thanking all my ancestors for their blessings for being thest one standing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m being serious here.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Tang Yue scratched his head and sighed. ¡°I will not joke about such matters, but do you know what it means by asking me this question? You are asking me what will I do if the world were to be destroyed tomorrow... What can I do?¡± He turned the monitor around to show it to Tomcat. Tomcat looked up and frowned. ¡°What¡¯s this? The historical information you¡¯ve edited? Or your mission log?¡± On the monitor was an open document filled with text. ¡°It¡¯s a story I¡¯ve written over the past two sols when I had the time.¡± ¡°Story?¡± Tomcat was somewhat puzzled. He didn¡¯t realize that Tang Yue had such a trait. ¡°The story is very short, and the writing is bad. Just make do with it. The plot is about a sea disaster. The cruise ship that the male lead and female lead are on board capsizes and sinks to the bottom of the sea. The female lead fails to escape in time and is trapped in a sealed cabin at the bottom of the sea. Although she doesn¡¯t die immediately, with the constant depletion of oxygen, she only has a few hours to live.¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°In the cabin filled with seawater, there is no means tomunicate with the outside world apart from using her cell phone to contact the male lead.¡± ¡°That female lead¡¯s cell phone can still be used despite being soaked in seawater?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°It¡¯s a China-made waterproof imitation, so it can be used normally even in the Mariana Trench,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The girl got through and the male lead consoles her by telling her that he had managed to escape and made contact with the search and rescue team. The team is about to arrive and he gets her to describe her surroundings and exact location to him to enable the rescue team to find her by opening the hull.¡± ¡°And then?¡± ¡°As the ship¡¯s sinking was a chaotic situation, the girl doesn¡¯t remember where she exactly is. Therefore, the two keep talking to one another, but it¡¯s fruitless. With the passage of time, the remaining oxygen gets less and less, while the girl finds it harder to breathe. Yet, the rescue team is unable to find her,¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°Later, the male lead gets angry, calling her stupid with only boobs and no brains. He says that she¡¯s better off dead.¡± ¡°What happened in the end?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Was the girl sessfully rescued?¡± ¡°The girl failed to remember where she was to the very end. By the time the rescue team cuts open the hull and finds her, it¡¯s already toote,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°She had been speaking to the male lead with a phone, so the more they conversed, the more oxygen she used. By the time the rescue team arrived, the girl had already suffocated to death.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the ending to your story?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°The girl dies?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the story¡¯s ending. The girl dies. She really dies at the bottom of the sea.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Finally, the female lead drowned in the cabin filled with water. This oue was within expectations, but as a story¡¯s ending, Tomcat found it too insipid. ¡°But this is only one of the endings,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°This story also has another ending.¡± ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°The female lead recalls her location and tells the male lead where she is. The rescue team quickly finds and rescues her. But when she reaches the sea surface, she doesn¡¯t find the male lead. When she asks the rescue team about him, they are shocked as well. They inform the girl that they had expected the person they were rescuing to be a man.¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Is there a third ending?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°I think the first ending is more reasonable. If a cruise ship sinks, the people who are trapped underwater have a very low chance of survival because it¡¯s just too difficult to save them.¡± Tomcat straightened its body and walked to the airlock. ¡°Most people are unable tost until help arrives.¡± ¡°Tomcat,¡± Tang Yue shouted at it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You got me to make ns for the worst,¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Is it because you have already determined that the rescue will be a failure? You have already calcted the oue, but have chosen to keep it from me?¡± Tomcat paused for a moment and shook its head. ¡°No.¡± It turned its head. ¡°I¡¯ve told you before that weck the detailed orbit data of the United Space Station. We arepletely unaware of its present situation; therefore, there¡¯s no way to calcte its trajectory. Even I do not know how long the space station canst.¡± Chapter 205: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, How Should A Wedding Photo Be Taken

Chapter 205: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, How Should A Wedding Photo Be Taken

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Mai Dong reached out her hand and drew a curve on the ss windows that had frosted up. It ovepped with the Martian equator in the distance. The United Space Station¡¯s altitude was constantly dropping, but Mai Dong didn¡¯t know the exact number of kilometers herself. However, she could somehow sense that Mars was getting nearer. She could see more of the details of the Martian surface, but perhaps that was just a mistake on her part. At that height, Mars was forever a dark orange curve that she could see but not touch. However, because she couldn¡¯t fully ce this gigantic curve within her sights, she subconsciously felt that her altitude had indeed decreased significantly. With the horizon¡¯s curvature bing smaller, the gigantic sphere slowly turned into a t ne before her very eyes. The girl drew a tiny person on the window before adding a smiley face to it. ¡°Screw it in a little tighter. Use more strength. Kunlun Station doesn¡¯t have any more acetylene welding torches... How troublesome. Look at this screw. It breaks with just a little force.¡± Over thems, Tang Yue and Tomcat were busy at work. They were dismantling the foldable bed in the living quarters and refurbishing it as a stretcher. ¡°Tomcat, have you screwed it in tight?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Then let me sit on it. This thing needs to withstand at least fifty kilograms...¡± With a crisp sound and a momentary deep silence, Tang Yue¡¯s cries emptied out all the air in his lungs for the next five seconds. Following that, there was a breathless whimpering sound, one so tragic that it left one trembling. Mai Dong found it difficult to imagine which body part had been injured to make Tang Yue cry out so painfully. ¡°Tang Yue, why were you in such a rush? There were two screws that I hadn¡¯t screwed in. This steel rod is loose... Forget it, you should just lie in bed and have some rest. Stop rolling underneath the table. Don¡¯t bite my knee. Don¡¯t hit your head on the wall.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Is it that painful?¡± ¡°Hiss¡ª You... don¡¯t... have... them... You... know sh*t... Heavens...¡± Even though Tomcat had asked Tang Yue to make preparations for the worst, the man and cat still made preparations for Mai Dong¡¯s descent. Tomcat had headed out to check on the Mars Wanderer¡¯s condition and confirmed that its batteries were full and ready to answer to any mobilization emergency. If Tianzhou had any deviation in itsnding process, they could drive the Mars Wanderer out to rescue her. On the other hand, they had prepared a living quarter on Kunlun Station for Mai Dong. They had freed an empty cabin for the girl, and Tang Yue had even added a lock to the zip. Tomcat had nned out a recovery n based on the resources on the cargo spacecraft to ensure that Tang Yue and Mai Dong would have their levels of nutrition recover to normal levels within two months. ¡°Tang Yue... Are you alright?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°I¡¯m still okay. It¡¯s fine... Damn it.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was faltering and weak. ¡°We were making a stretcher for you. There¡¯s 0.38 G of gravity here, so we are afraid you won¡¯t be able to limatize when you are here.¡¯ ¡°Where will the Tianzhound?¡± ¡°If there aren¡¯t any idents, fifty meters in front of Kunlun Station,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°If an ident happens, fifty-one meters from Kunlun Station.¡± ¡°I can walk that fifty meters,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°It¡¯s only 0.38 G.¡± ¡°We have enough manpower. Why do we need to get you to walk over? You should lie down when you should. Why stand on ceremony?¡± Tang Yue crawled up to tighten the screws. ¡°Lass, you¡¯ve been through so much, don¡¯t you deserve a break?¡± ¡°It was harder on you guys.¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine. I¡¯m a man after all. As for Tomcat... It¡¯s a male cat.¡± Tang Yue held a screwdriver in his mouth and received a wrench from Tomcat, using it as a hammer by mming it against the steel rod. ¡°What day and age is it? Why do you still have such male chauvinistic views? Why should man be the one to prop up the world? Don¡¯t you know that modern people prefer fair and gentle young men? Especially women. They like men who slowly twist a bottle cap together with them, saying things like ¡®I¡¯m not twisting open the cap, but your heart,¡¯¡± Tomcat said. ¡°As for those grease monkeys, mechanics who can finish off an aircraft carrier with a hammer, the picture on their wedding certificate will simply be taken with a wrench.¡± ¡°But none of them have survived,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Only I¡¯ve lived to this day. The facts have proven that a grease monkey is tenacious when ites to living.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why your wedding photos will have to be taken with a wrench.¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± Tang Yue sneered. ¡°Why would I have a wedding photo with a wrench? It fails to meet my standards of aesthetics. Even if I were to take one, I¡¯d take something that looks good, such as an electric screwdriver...¡± ¡°Take it with me,¡± Mai Dong suddenly said out of the blue. Tang Yue and Tomcat were taken aback. ¡°Lass... What did you just say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking about the wedding photo. If you wish, you can take it with me. Don¡¯t I look prettier than an electric screwdriver?¡± The girl giggled softly. ¡°Of course, if you find an electric screwdriver more suitable, I don¡¯t mind. But that way, I¡¯d be thest woman in the world to be rejected...¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, for your safety, please immediately take back those words of yours. What you just said is very dangerous. This will activate a bachelor¡¯s hunger mode that hasid hidden and dormant for years,¡± Tomcat warned in all seriousness. ¡°This might result in a dangerous oue that¡¯s beyond control. It will severely threaten your physical and mental wellbeing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too dangerous.¡± Mai Dong burst out inughter. ¡°But I¡¯ve already said it. What do I do?¡± ¡°I suggest immediately raising the DEFCON level to DEFCON 1. ording to the Kunlun Station Astronaut Safety Protective Act, as long as you authorize me, I, as Station Commander, will disarm Tang Yue who has atent risk in a manner that doesn¡¯t harm him...¡± ¡°What are you saying? Tomcat, what nonsense is that?¡± Tang Yue mmed the metal frame with the screwdriver in hand. ¡°What do you mean to activate a bachelor¡¯s hidden and dormant mode? Am I such a person? I¡¯m telling you, Tomcat, I, Tang Yue, am well-known to be a gentleman. I¡¯ve never spit, and I frequently help grannies cross the road. When I pick up cash, I hand it to the police. Apart from not daring to help elders who fall down in unmonitored 1 ces, what good deed have I never done before? ¡°I¡¯m a person with principles. Whatever I do needs to follow my values in life,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t all those years of studying be for nothing?¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes, its meaning evident. In front of Miss Mai Dong, all those years of studying were for nothing. You have perverted thoughts, but youck the guts to act on them. Even if Mai Dong reallynded, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t dare do anything indecent. This had nothing to do with principles or morals, but a pressing problem about survival. From a most rational point of view, with the conditions of survival ced before them, it was destined that Mai Dong and Tang Yue had no means of reproducing a species. Not only were they unable to procreate, but even the most basic pregnancy might also be a lethal killer. Kunlun Stationcked the necessary medical facilities. If Mai Dong really got pregnant, it might very well lead to both mother and child dying. They couldn¡¯t have kids, nor did they dare to. There was no way to rear one anyway. This was something Tang Yue knew very well. Therefore, he didn¡¯t truly have any improper thoughts, nor did he dare to have any improper thoughts. To be such a gentleman, perhaps even the man of eminent virtue in ancient times, Liuxia Hui, was inferior to him. They were not Adam and Eve, but two survivors that had reached the end of the road. ¡°Tang Yue, you haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± Mai Dong said. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°What question?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s prettier, me or the electric screwdriver?¡± Mai Dong asked. Tang Yue scratched his head. As a person who had dedicated his life to the grand industry of machinery and electronics, his answer should have been an unhesitant: You with a screwdriver in hand. Without a chick, what use was a screwdriver? ¡°How should a wedding photo be taken? Just a picture taken together? Is taking a wedding photo equivalent to being married? What¡¯s the process? Is a ring needed?¡± Tang Yue asked Tomcat in a seemingly calm manner as he suppressed his voice. He knew nothing about such matters. ¡°Do they need my identity and proof of residence? Do I need to hold my identification card in hand? Do I need to get approval from the Bureau of Civil Affairs? But where do you have one now? Is it not legally valid if approval from the Bureau of Civil Affairs isn¡¯t received? If there¡¯s no legal validity, does it still count? Also, isn¡¯t such a development too fast?¡± ¡°If you find the development too fast, you can always take the picture with me,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I have no qualms about that.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong whispered. ¡°Yes?¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat looked up. The girl looked at the distantnd through the window and said in an empty tone, ¡°I seem to be one step closer to you.¡± Footnotes: Ch 205 Footnote 1 In China, there are cases of unscrupulous elderly deliberately falling down and demandpensation from anyone whoes to help. In this case, closed-circuit cameras will show that it¡¯s a clear case of racketeering. Chapter 206: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Eye Estimation and Orbit Altitude

Chapter 206: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Eye Estimation and Orbit Altitude

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue stopped the work he was doing. ¡°Lass, you need to trust us. Help...¡± ¡°Help will definitely arrive in time, right?¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°You have already said that many times.¡± Tang Yue was speechless. He had indeed said it several times. He no longer knew if the statement was to boost Mai Dong¡¯s morale or to encourage himself. No one knew if help would arrive in time. Based on the usual Hollywood troupes, the cargo spacecraft would definitely arrive in time. Furthermore, it would always arrive at thest critical moment¡ªjust as the space station was about to crash¡ªand save the female lead. The leads would reunite and usher in a perfect ending. But reality wasn¡¯t a movie. It didn¡¯t have a script that had arranged a perfect ending. The principle of mediocrity existed everywhere in the Universe. Any oue was considered normal and reasonable. Tomcat silently used some pliers to hit the stretcher. It didn¡¯t wish to say anything since not making any promises meant not needing to be responsible for any of them. However, Tang Yue had kicked it. ¡°Ahem... Miss Mai Dong. I¡¯ll teach you a rough way to estimate your altitude.¡± Tomcat cleared its throat. ¡°Can you see the Isidis nitia now? Or can you see the Endeavor crater? What about the Victoria crater? It doesn¡¯t matter which crater you use. Find a reference point that you can see.¡± ¡°Hmm... Endeavor crater... Endeavor... Let me look for it. It should be around the Meridiani num. Around the equator where the Meridiani num is... I can see it. I can see the Endeavor crater, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°Mr. Cat, do you copy?¡± ¡°Copy, Miss Mai Dong. Do you have a pencil or ruler with you? If not, taking off the IVA suit¡¯s glove and raising your thumb would do.¡± Mai Dong looked around and reached out to grab a pencil that was floating past her. She removed the pencil cap and said, ¡°Mr. Cat, I have a pencil in hand.¡± ¡°Alright, listen to me. Follow my instructions. Stretch out your right arm in front of you and hold up a pencil,¡± Tomcat instructed. ¡°Then close your left eye. Stare at the pencil tip with your right eye. Let the tip be aligned to the left of the Endeavor crater. Make sure that the crater, pencil and your right eye forms a straight line. Heard that? They need to be on the same line.¡± The girl followed Tomcat¡¯s instructions and held the middle of the pencil. She stretched out her arm and held it straight in front of her. She closed one eye and slowly spun her body, making the pencil tip align with the crater¡¯s shadow on Mars. ¡°It¡¯s done, Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°Now, open your left eye. Keep your body still. Do not move your arm or pencil. Close your right eye and use your left eye to look at the pencil tip,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tell me where the pencil tip is.¡± ¡°Hmm... It¡¯s slightly halfway across the Endeavor crater.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good enough.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Alright, Miss Mai Dong, you can open your eyes. The United Space Station is presently at a height between 110 to 120 kilometers.¡± Tang Yue and Mai Dong were taken aback. Tang Yue stood by the side observing Tomcat¡¯s instruction of using a pencil and the closing of one¡¯s eye to determine the space station¡¯s altitude. He couldn¡¯t help but be curious about it. ¡°How does this work?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a very old way to determine distance. Before modern-day optics and radar were invented, this method was the standard method artillery troops used to determine the distance to their targets,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°The principle is very simple. It¡¯s to form a triangle with one¡¯s eyes, pencil, and the item to observe. An ordinary person¡¯s eyes are separated by six centimeters or so. And the human arm is about sixty centimeters. This is a triangle with a base-height ratio of ten to one. A simr triangle¡¯s base-height ratio is also ten to one. ¡°By using the Endeavor crater as a reference point, with its diameter being 22 kilometers. The pencil¡¯s tip moved slightly more than half the distance of the crater, which is 11¨C12 kilometers,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°This triangle¡¯s base is twelve kilometers. Then, it¡¯s height is 120 kilometers... This is the distance Miss Mai Dong is from the surface.¡± Tang Yue was somewhat astonished, not with the method, but that the cat actually could derive the United Space Station¡¯s altitude. It always knew of this method to measure the altitude but hadn¡¯t told him. ¡°Currently, the United Space Station¡¯s altitude is in the Martian atmosphere, which is beneath the ionosphere,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I¡¯m already within the atmosphere?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°In name. In fact, it¡¯s no different from a vacuum,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The atmosphere¡¯s density will rise sharply only below an altitude of sixty kilometers. Therefore, this height is still rtively safe. There¡¯s still enough buffer. I believe the space station canst until Tianzhou 37 arrives.¡± Tomcat¡¯s promise was often more assuring than Tang Yue¡¯s. This was because Tang Yue¡¯s encouragement was fundamentally relying on blind confidence, including but not limited to ¡°destiny is in the hands of man,¡± ¡°where there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way,¡± and ¡°human subjectivity is the driving force to determine history,¡± and other philosophical thoughts of the ancients. They were fine using it as a mantra, but using it on orbital mechanics was nothing but craziness. However, Tomcat was different. Whatever it said was definitely established on rigorous mathematical and physical calctions. What Mai Dong needed now wasn¡¯t some mantra, but hard mathematical calctions. The girl silently heaved a sigh of relief. Even though the method of measuring distance was ultimately crude, it was a way to ease her mind when they were at the rope¡¯s end. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Cat.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word as it continued tightening the stretcher¡¯s screws. The strength it used was so great that it fastened the screw so tight as though it had a vendetta with it. Then, Tomcat pressed down on the stretcher¡¯s frame with all its strength, confirming that it could withstand an adult¡¯s body weight without copsing. ¡°I told you. Help will definitely arrive in time.¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief as well. Now, what he said had a tinge of confidence. ¡°You still have a long life ahead. Lass, you still have many things to do. You can fully possess a blissful and meaningful life. Your future might be very boring and nd since Kunlun Station isn¡¯t the best of ces, but I am confident that you can still find happiness on it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on your well-wishes.¡± Mai Dong smiled. ¡°If I can get down, I¡¯ll take a wedding photo with you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not joking.¡± Tang Yue curled his lips. ¡°You can stop joking about the wedding photo.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not joking either.¡± Tang Yue paused, feeling suffocated. ¡°I¡¯m serious. I¡¯m being serious...¡± The girl looked at the Martian surface beneath her and raised the pencil in her hand, closing one eye. Using a cheeky tone, she said, ¡°Tang Yue, when I safely reach the ground, let¡¯s get married.¡± Chapter 207: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, That’s My Ideal Life As A Cat

Chapter 207: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, That¡¯s My Ideal Life As A Cat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Sixth sol after the space station¡¯s incident. There were another five sols before Tianzhou 37 arrived. Before dawn, Tomcat and Tang Yue got up to continue the preparatory work for Tianzhou 37¡¯snding. It was during this moment when the space station establishedmunications with Kunlun Station. Mai Dong informed them that the Hub CBM module had vanished. ¡°The Hub¡¯s gone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡± Mai Dong leaned against the window as she looked out. The spherical module which was connected to the core module had already vanished. ¡°The docking mechanism broke off.¡± Tomcat was very calm. It took out two steel rods from below the table and tapped on them likely. ¡°It was weak to begin with. For it to havested this long shows how resilient it was. It¡¯s not a surprise for it to break down.¡± After the collision ident, the Hub and Crystal modules were the only two modules left. However, no one knew how secure their connection was. For safety reasons, Tomcat had shut down and sealed shut the hatch between them, disallowing Mai Dong from entering the Hub. Tomcat originally wanted to sever the connection and release the Hub, but the docking mechanism was already out of order and not under its control. After repeatedly trying, it could only give up. It wasst night when the docking mechanism between the Crystal and Hub had finally broken down. When everyone was sleeping, the Hub had left the United Space Station, leaving Mai Dong to find the Crystal module the only remaining module of the United Space Station when she woke up. As for the Hub CBM module, it could very well have fallen into the atmosphere by now. ¡°Is it serious?¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair, removed his earpiece, and asked Tomcat. ¡°It¡¯s normal.¡± Tomcat seemed indifferent as it wore a deadpan expression. It struck the ground with the steel rods. ¡°It was only a matter of time before the Hub fell off.¡± ¡°Lass, how¡¯s the space station¡¯s attitude? Was it affected?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I can¡¯t tell,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°The Crystal is spinning constantly. The difference in angr velocity doesn¡¯t seem great.¡± ¡°What about the altitude?¡± Tang Yue asked again. ¡°Can you do a rough measurement of your current altitude?¡± Mai Dong raised the pencil, closed one eye, and found a reference object on the Martian surface. She had already learned the method to estimate distance. If this were two centuries ago, she would definitely make a good artillery soldier on the battlefield. ¡°Uh...¡± The girl muttered over thems. ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue grasped the earpiece tightly. ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°How is it? What¡¯s your present altitude? Has it dropped below a hundred kilometers?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°Lass?¡± ¡°Hey, stop rushing me, Tang Yue. Don¡¯t mess up my thought process. Shut up. Shut up.¡± Tang Yue obediently shut his mouth. Half a minuteter, the results were out. ¡°Tang Yue, my present altitude is... Hmm, about 112 kilometers.¡± ¡°112 kilometers! The United Space Station¡¯s present altitude is 112 kilometers! Tomcat!¡± Tang Yue immediately removed the earpiece when he heard the result and shouted at Tomcat. ¡°Is this altitude safe enough? Can itst to Tianzhou¡¯s arrival?¡± The crouching Tomcat had its back facing Tang Yue as it connected the steel rods. Without turning its head, it raised its deww. Tang Yue wore his earpiece. ¡°Lass, Tomcat says you are very safe.¡± ¡°An altitude above 100 kilometers is safe. At this altitude, the atmospheric density is not enough to greatly decelerate the United Space Station. The space station can maintain a rather stable state. At 80 kilometers, that will be a warning zone as that¡¯s the middle of the Martian atmosphere. Once it drops to that altitude, the atmospheric resistance will rise sharply, rapidly siphoning away the space station¡¯s energy. 60 kilometers is the crashing altitude. This is already the entrance to the troposphere. Once it reaches this altitude, it crosses the chasm of no return,¡± Tomcat muttered behind Tang Yue, ¡°112 kilometers. There¡¯s nothing much to be worried about... Nothing much to be afraid about...¡± It got up, held the two steel rods vertically in front of it and measured it with its paws to ensure that they were the same height. Tomcat was 1.5 meters tall, and the two steel rods were nearly its height. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Making a crutch,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Why?¡± Tang Yue was confused. Tomcat leaned the two steel rods against the wall and turned to rummage through the junk pile to find some foam and cardboard. ¡°We aren¡¯t aware of Miss Mai Dong¡¯s present physical condition. Preparing a crutch for her is just a precaution. It will allow her to move about when shees down. After all, it takes time to recover... You can¡¯t be carrying her around, right?¡± ¡°As long as she¡¯s willing...¡± Tang Yue said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s some improvement. So you aren¡¯t some desert wolf anymore?¡± Tomcat grinned as its eyes turned into a slit. ¡°We agreed to be single all our lives. Yet, you secretly got your marriage registered. Find a mirror and look at your silly grin.¡± Tang Yue picked up a mirror on the table and touched his cheeks, feeling baffled. ¡°I¡¯m not smiling.¡± ¡°The smile in your eyes is almost overflowing.¡± Tomcat began twistingsciviously in front of him again. ¡°You are now like a feral cat on heat. You can¡¯t sit still and it¡¯s written all over your face, ¡®Ah, I¡¯m finally not single,¡¯ ¡®Ah, this is bliss.¡¯ Indeed,pared to women, human civilization and its thousands of years of history is nothing, right? Don¡¯t think I¡¯m not aware of you secretly sniggering away in bed.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback as he looked into the mirror. ¡°Is it that obvious? Besides, I slept the moment I hit the pillowst night... You heard me snoring, right?¡± ¡°Humans are indeed crass,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Humans were crass to begin with.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not against being crass. To be honest, on this godforsaken, the joy of being with you and Miss Mai Dong is infinitely more important than human civilization and its thousands of years of history. There is nothing in this world that is more important than your own lives. Seeking happiness is never something crass.¡± Tomcat grabbed some foam from a drawer. ¡°If the two of you can have a perfect ending, then human civilization will have a perfect ending. ¡°If it weren¡¯t the prevailing conditions that prevent you from doing so, I would be happy to see you and Miss Mai Dong have a litter of kids. I¡¯d help you raise them, giving them aplete education and care, nurturing them into mathematicians, physicists, chemists, biologists, historians, writers, artists... When those kids grew up, they could continue having kids,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°When the two of youplete a blissful and full life, I¡¯d bury the two of you in the empty plot ofnd in front of Kunlun Station and raise a tombstone and continue bringing up the kids of the kids of the kids until I break down from age.¡± ¡°Hey, hey, that is incestuous,¡± Tang Yue reminded it that its ideas were contrary to human rtions. Just the tone and way Tomcat described it sounded more like it was rearing pigs instead of children. Tomcat ignored him as it carried a pile of foam and stood there looking out the window, its gaze distant. ¡°That¡¯s my ideal life as a cat.¡± Chapter 208: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, World’s Richest Cat

Chapter 208: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, World¡¯s Richest Cat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°You¡¯ve already done very well.¡± Tang Yue looked at the cat¡¯s tiny back. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tomcat shrugged and didn¡¯t say another word. It crouched down to roll the foam in cardboard before tying it tightly to the steel rod. It had used the remaining scrap metal from dismantling the foldable bed to make a pair of crutches. Having been stranded on Mars for so long, Tang Yue and Tomcat were experts at recycling. They used thender¡¯s peeled-off fusge skin and fairing to make tables, chairs, and stools. There were also boxes of varying sizes. ¡°Without you, Mai Dong and I wouldn¡¯t have lived to this day.¡± Tomcat had its back facing Tang Yue as its ears moved, but it didn¡¯t stop its work. ¡°It¡¯s part of my job,¡± it muttered. As an in-name assistant on Kunlun Station, it was practically a Station Commander and was also responsible for the safety of the astronauts. It was in charge of helping them and protecting them. After Earth and Orion II had vanished, all that Tomcat needed to protect was Tang Yue and Mai Dong. This cat was actually due for retirement. It was really an old cat, being a decorated astronaut from the first stage of the Mars Landing Project. After Tomcat retired, it would receive a hero¡¯s treatment. All the space museums in the world would open up exhibitions about it, putting up a life-sized replica of it. There would be a que engraved with its great achievements. As for Tomcat itself, it would lead a leisurely life of a retiree. It would sit in the alley in front of the yard¡¯s entrance,nguidly taking in the sun and ying chess with elderly men while giving some advice. It would have a lifetime supply of fish. Such a life was indeed something to look forward to. Without a doubt, Tomcat was an aeronautical hero. Its ce in history was no lesser than Opportunity or Cassini¨CHuygens, but it had never buried itself in cold space like its ancestors. It could have a good ending. It could return to the vige where it started off after experiencing tribtions, watching its sessors step onto their own paths in a carefree manner. ¡°My retiree life...¡± Tomcat sighed. ¡°It has gone up in smoke with the Earth.¡± ¡°Your retirement was nned to be after the end of the next mission, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What did you n on doing after retiring?¡± ¡°If the Earth hadn¡¯t disappeared, I would have retired at the end of the next mission. I¡¯d have returned to Earth on the newlymissioned Orion III,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°After retirement, my n was to tour around, meeting the American President, Canadian Prime Minister, and German Chancellor to have drinks. Then, I¡¯d live in my manor in New Zend.¡± ¡°A manor in New Zend?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. What kind of afterworld was this? Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be ying chess with elderly men in an alley? Why did it suddenly be capitalistic? Tomcat nodded. ¡°The New Zend government promised me earlyst year that they will give me a manor that¡¯s fifteen hectares.¡± ¡°A fifteen-hectare manor?¡± Tang Yue was rmed. At the same time, he recalled that the cat wasn¡¯t a Chinese citizen, even if it spoke very fluent Chinese. ¡°How much is that worth?¡± ¡°Perhaps fifty million pounds? Or sixty million?¡± Tomcat tried recalling. ¡°I¡¯m not too caught up with such numbers. If it¡¯s converted to fish... Perhaps 15,000 tonnes?¡± Tang Yue gasped in astonishment. ¡°You are actually that rich?¡± He had lived for twenty years, but at the end of the day, his total wealth didn¡¯t even hit a percentage of the cat¡¯s wealth. All those years were for nothing. ¡°That manor is not resaleable. I have the rights of usage, but not the right to transfer.¡± Tomcat waved its paw. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not only New Zend. A total of twenty-four countries in the world have expressed their desire to give me some property and residence. And they don¡¯t mind me having multiple citizenships. At thetest count, I have a total of 46 fixed assets across the world. The biggest one is in Nauru. They gifted me an ind. The most expensive one is a hundred-square-meter apartment in Beijing¡¯s Tongzhou District.¡± Only then did Tang Yue realize that he had been spending more than a year with the world¡¯s richest cat. Although this cat usually appeared free and easy, without any worries about life, to his surprise, it was a billionaire. Even though they were strange creatures of unknown origin when on Mars, Tomcat¡¯s wealth would be far greater than thousands of Tang Yue¡¯s once they returned to Earth. ¡°Do you like houses?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Objectively speaking, young Chinese people, my age, love houses.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, Earth is gone. Otherwise, I could gift you one when I got back. I could gift you the most expensive one.¡± Tomcat found it difficult to understand Tang Yue¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The most worthless thing in this Universe is actuallynd. Now, the entire Mars is yours. Yet, you still can¡¯t forget an apartment spanning a hundred square meters on Earth.¡± ¡°No, the most valuable thing in this Universe isnd,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Space that is suitable for living on is priceless.¡± ¡°But from the looks of that apartment in Beijing...¡± Tomcat mumbled, feeling perplexed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s a space suitable for living.¡± ... After Tomcat finished with the crutches, it got Tang Yue to give them a try. ¡°After you retire, who will rece you?¡± Tang Yue hobbled in the Hab on the crutches as he asked in passing. ¡°My recement will be someone higher performant, stronger, and hardy.¡± Tomcat stood beside him. ¡°Compared to the scientific research and observation required from the first stage, the second stage requires a lot more work to be done. There will be a bunch of construction workersing. Orion III and IV will be twice the size of Orion I and II. They will bring plenty of materials. Kunlun Station will be expanded. There will be exploratory sampling for water and methane resources. There will also be tests for the technological viability of a farm and a self-sustaining ecosphere. There will be even more astronautsing. Therefore, the Kunlun Station Commander will no longer be a cat.¡± ¡°If not a cat, what will it be?¡± ¡°A dog.¡± Tomcat suddenly seemed pissed. ¡°A dumb dog. Perhaps an Eskimo Dog, a Samoyed, or even a Huskie.¡± ¡°Why will it be a dog?¡± Tang Yue imagined a dog walking on its hind legs as it wore an earpiece to guide a spacecraft¡¯snding. Will this really not cause the spacecraftmander to notugh to death at the cockpit? ¡°It¡¯s because the Mars Project preparatorymittee¡¯s dog people finally beat the cat people.¡± Tomcat¡¯s rage erupted. ¡°Those dumbasses said at the meeting that ¡®the first animal sent to space by humanity was a dog. How can we forget their great contributions? How many years has it been since they sacrificed themselves in space? Have you forgotten? That dog named Laika is watching you from behind!¡¯ Hence, the next Kunlun Station Commander was determined to be a canine.¡± Chapter 209: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Only Method

Chapter 209: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Only Method

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat left the crutches with Tang Yue and got him to make slight adjustments for Mai Dong¡¯s height. As for Tomcat, it headed out to check on thending zone. The Isidis nitia was t, so Kunlun Station¡¯s surroundings was a naturally goodnding zone. The Mars Landing Project had demarcated fivending zones with Kunlun Station in the center. They were designated L1 to L5. In the past, thender and cargo spacecraft could directly descend onto the desert. With the Mars Landing Project having gone on for a few decades, there were a dozen disposable spacecraft in Kunlun Station¡¯s vicinity, causing three of the fivending zones to be abandoned. Tianzhou 37 was tond at L4, neighboring the Eagle, fifty meters in front of Kunlun Station. ¡°Mr. Cat went out?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s inspecting the cargo spacecraft¡¯snding zone.¡± Tang Yue turned to sit on a chair. He ced the two crutches level across his knees and said, ¡°Lass, can you estimate your present altitude?¡± ¡°But I just did it the previous orbit.¡± ¡°That was the previous orbit,¡± Tang Yue emphasized. ¡°The altitude of the previous orbit and the present orbit will be different. Every orbit might lead to changes. We need to monitor the United Space Station¡¯s altitude in real-time.¡± ¡°Okay... Wait a moment.¡± Thems fell silent for a few minutes. ¡°Approximately 110 kilometers. It¡¯s still the same. There haven¡¯t been any changes.¡± ¡°Remember, 100 kilometers is the safety threshold. 80 kilometers is the danger threshold,¡± Tang Yue reminded her. ¡°But Mr. Cat said 60 kilometers is the danger threshold.¡± ¡°60 kilometers isn¡¯t the danger threshold. It¡¯s the point of no return!¡± Tang Yue corrected her. ¡°No matter what, you can¡¯t let it fall to 60 kilometers.¡± ¡°But what can we do?¡± Tang Yue was stumped. How are we to ensure that the United Space Station maintains a sufficiently safe altitude? This was an unsolvable problem. Regardless of 80 kilometers being the danger threshold or not, or whether 60 kilometers was the point of no return, even if they could sense that the space station was about to crash ahead of time, there was nothing they could do to save it. Tomcat had already told Tang Yue that from the moment the electric rocket expended all its propent, the space station¡¯s oue was destined. This was akin to having handed in one¡¯s test script after the end of a test. Before the results were announced, no action could influence the final results. Under such circumstances, the best choice of action was to sleep all day until the results were released. It saved one from suffering prolonged anxiety. The two fell silent before the girl broke the silence. ¡°Today is the sixth sol.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the sixth sol today,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It¡¯s already the sixth sol...¡± The girl sighed softly over thems. ¡°My watch here is broken. I don¡¯t even know what time it is. In less than an hour, the sun will rise and set... Also, I¡¯m starving...¡± ¡°How much food do you have left?¡± ¡°Thest biscuit.¡± ¡°How do you have such an appetite?¡± ¡°I... I... There weren¡¯t a lot of biscuits in the space station to begin with. I¡¯ve been rationing it properly, alright?¡± The girl didn¡¯t give in. ¡°Yesterday was the worst. I was so hungry I couldn¡¯t sleep. When I woke up this morning, I no longer felt anything other than feeling dizzy. Perhaps it¡¯s a result of low blood glucose... Tang Yue, you need to realize you are speaking to a patient with hypoglycemia.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you need to be sweeter with your words!¡± ... ¡°I say, Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Mr. Cat say that the remaining lifespan of the United Space Station is seven to eleven sols?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Tomorrow is the seventh sol.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It will be fine,¡± Tang Yue consoled her. ¡°Based on your present estimated altitude, the United Space Station¡¯s descent is slower than we expected. Not only will it be okay tomorrow, but it will also be fine the sol after tomorrow. It might drop to 80 kilometers on the tenth sol. But by then, Tianzhou 37 will have arrived. We can¡¯t save the space station, but we can save you.¡± ¡°Can it still be saved beneath 80 kilometers?¡± ¡°Yes! Don¡¯t even say 80 kilometers! Even 60 kilometers will do!¡± Tang Yue took out a few pieces of paper from the stack in front of him. He unfolded them onto the table. On them were equations and numbers. ¡°I¡¯ve done the math... Tianzhou 37 has the ability to safely enter the atmosphere. As long as we are gutsy enough and we control it precisely enough, we can dock during a high-speed plummet!¡± ¡°Is... it possible?¡± The girl was somewhat rmed. ¡°Of course! Of course! Lass, listen to me, listen to me...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, go ahead.¡± ¡°Tianzhou¡¯s body is strong enough. And the Crystal module is the strongest module in the United Space Station. At an altitude between sixty and eighty kilometers¡ªif the atmospheric conditions are idealistic enough... If the atmospheric conditions are idealistic enough because, at this altitude, it hasn¡¯t really reached an entry altitude...¡± Tang Yue took out a pen and quickly wrote on the paper. Over the past two nights, apart from ying cards, he had been considering this problem. He had racked his brains, losing copious amounts of hair in the process. Even though Mai Dong couldn¡¯t see the content on Tang Yue¡¯s paper, he reproduced his calctions to boost his confidence. He had made a rigorous calction and was not simply relying on empty mantras. ¡°Without a doubt, the United Space Station¡¯s attitude ispletely out of control, but Tianzhou can be controlled. Our only hope is in Tianzhou! We can control the spacecraft to approach the Crystal, and choose a docking orientation with the head facing front... It might sound incredible and fantastic, but my calctions support this oue. This operation will be extremely difficult, but it¡¯s doable. I definitely can¡¯t, but Tomcat probably can. ¡°We have all of Tianzhou¡¯s data. During this process, as long as the temperature doesn¡¯t exceed 1000 K, and the heat density doesn¡¯t exceed 300 KW/m2, it will have zero effect on the spacecraft. Based on past data, this stage¡¯s highest temperature is actually only 800 K. We canplete the rescue before the space station reaches 60 kilometers. As long as you work with us, the entire process won¡¯t exceed three minutes.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s pen moved swiftly as he spoke so quickly that he was almost rambling incoherently. Thankfully, the messed up order didn¡¯t affect the message he was trying to convey. ¡°The real heat zone is at an altitude below 40 kilometers, but by then, Tianzhou will have already rescued you. Following that, Tianzhou will immediately begin normalnding procedures. At forty kilometers, it will enter the Martian atmosphere. The empty United Space Station will then burn up in the atmosphere while the cargo spacecraft willnd you safely! The only problem is that the propent has been greatly expended, so Tianzhou¡¯s final descent will be rather fast. It might damage thending gear. ¡°There¡¯s a problem that doing so might not guarantee that yound near Kunlun Station. However, Tianzhou has sufficient resources. You can stay in there eating and drinking while awaiting rescue.¡± Tang Yue regurgitated his entire n in one go, leaving him somewhat breathless as he waited for Mai Dong¡¯s reply. The girl held her breath. ¡°You calcted this by yourself?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Does Mr. Cat know?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t had the time to tell it.¡± ¡°Tang Yue... You are only a mechanical and electrical engineer.¡± ¡°So what?¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, a proper aeronautical engineer wouldn¡¯t dare to, but I dare!¡± ¡°Because doing so might destroy Tianzhou.¡± Mai Dong instantly noticed the crux of the issue. ¡°It¡¯s too risky.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s idea was indeed out of this world. He wanted Tianzhou 37 to dock with the Crystal under extremely unstable conditions. It was extremely risky. Any mishap would cause them to suffer a double loss. ¡°But this is the only way of saving you,ss,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°What we should care about is not the risk, but hope. As long as there¡¯s a sliver of hope, it¡¯s worth it to put in 100% of the work or more.¡± Chapter 210: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Plaques of the Three Chiefs

Chapter 210: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, ques of the Three Chiefs

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue had been very excited when he finished the calctions, believing that he had grasped fate by its handle. Tomcat had once said that the United Space Station¡¯s oue was already determined, just that they were unable to see it. But now, Tang Yue could see it. He had done an extremely crude calction, and this calction contained hope. As long as there was hope, he could turn hard work into reality. ¡°Tang Yue, you and Mr. Cat are getting crazier,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°It was already a bold idea to use Orion II as ander; now, you are steering the cargo spacecraft as a fighter jet. In between the lines, it meant that their shenanigans were way over the top. Orion II and the United Space Station had been destroyed because of such shenanigans. ¡°If it loses control, we will be consigning ourselves to perdition...¡± Mai Dong voiced out her worries. ¡°We are already in perdition. Every day we live is a day earned.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. True to his heart, he was more concerned about Mai Dong¡¯s life than the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. If thetter couldn¡¯t safelynd, he didn¡¯t care if the spacecraft exploded. It was not like he liked lobster. ording to Mai Dong¡¯s repeated measurements of her altitude, the United Space Station was constantly in a descent. Furthermore, its descent speed was elerating. The results of the workstation¡¯s model were that it would descend to a region 100¨C110 kilometers on the seventh sol. On the eighth sol, it would fall below the 100-kilometer mark, and on the ninth sol, it would maintain an altitude of above 90 kilometers. It would fall below 80 kilometers on the tenth sol. This speed of descent was slower than Tomcat¡¯s predictions. This was because the northern hemisphere had ushered in spring; thus, changing Mars¡¯s orbit. The atmospheric activity at lower altitudes gradually intensified, dropping the temperatures at higher altitudes and sinking it. Hence, the atmosphere¡¯s periphery had be sparser, creating less resistance on the space station. However, atmospheric activity waspletely random. No one could precisely predict it. Tianzhou 37 would arrive on the tenth sol. Then, it could dock with the space station at an altitude of 80 kilometers. Unfortunately, the method to determine distance by eye wasn¡¯t urate. In an extremely difficult maneuver of docking, a mismatch of a few centimeters was enough to throw everything into disarray. The numbers Tang Yue had on hand might have errors on the order of several kilometers; therefore, the calction needed to be made more precise. ¡°Hmm, this is the best I can do. Any further calctions will require even moreplicated mathematical models... They exceed my capabilities...¡± Tang Yue held the pen in hand, staring at the equations on the piece of paper and scratching his head. When he truly encountered a tough problem, his traits of being quite a bad student were exposed. He repeatedly checked his calctions to ensure that there weren¡¯t any mistakes. ¡°I can attempt to make it a little more precise. That should still be possible. I scored 138/150 on Math and 96/150 for Physics at the National College Entrance Examination. I still have quite a solid foundation.¡± Tang Yue picked up his pen again and frowned. ¡°Next should be... Next...¡± ¡°Next should be handed to Tomcat.¡± ... Tomcat returned after its inspection of thending zone. Tang Yue handed over the rough paper in his hands. Tomcat took it, pricked up its brows and scanned it with narrow eyes. ¡°These are the results of your work from the past two sols? You didn¡¯t even eat to do this... The United Space Station¡¯s predicted orbit trajectory...¡± Tomcat suddenly chortled. ¡°Tang Yue, you are only a mechanical and electrical engineer.¡± ¡°So what?¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t pleased with Tomcat¡¯s tone. ¡°So what if I¡¯m just a mechanical and electrical engineer?¡± ¡°Fine, fine, fine. There¡¯s nothing stopping you from doing so. Not only can you calcte this, but you can also calcte the lifespan of the massive ck hole in the middle of the Milky Way... Let me take a look. Let me take a look.¡± Tomcat put in its earpiece and pulled over a chair. It crossed its hind leg and stared intently as it scrutinized Tang Yue¡¯s calctions. ¡°Let me see...¡± Tang Yue felt a little nervous. It felt as though he had just handed over his homework and his teacher was grading it. He believed that he hadn¡¯t made any mistakes in his calction, but only with Tomcat¡¯s acknowledgment could he be certain of his results, turning it into effective proof. ¡°How is it?¡± Tomcat remained silent for a long while. It flipped the papers in its paws again and again before casting its gaze up to graze past Tang Yue. At that moment, it even looked like a teacher who was grading homework. ¡°Based on your calctions, the United Space Station will fall to an altitude of 80 kilometers on the tenth sol,¡± Tomcat said with a questioning tone. ¡°Do you know what it means to get Tianzhou to approach it in such a scenario? ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You know sh*t.¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes. ¡°Think about it. You want to open the cockpit of a fighter jet that¡¯s flying at supersonic speeds while getting the pilot to crawl into another ne. Do you think you are filming Mission Impossible? Do you think the one trapped in the space station is the veteran action star, Tom Cruise? ¡°Tianzhou is just a huge chunk of metal without any pneumatic steering. How are you to precisely control it to dock with the space station in the atmosphere? ¡°The United Space Station is moving irregrly, so how are you going to control its attitude? What if it¡¯s orientation is too odd? ¡°If the two spacecraft collide, do you know what that implies?¡± Tomcat¡¯s questions were pointed as it posed them one after another. It ruthlessly left Tang Yue speechless. ¡°Your idea is against humanity and society. There¡¯s a 99% chance of failure.¡± Tomcat eventually smacked the piece of paper. The calction was one thing, but actually doing it was another. ¡°If... If mine doesn¡¯t work, why don¡¯t youe up with a n?¡± Tang Yue became anxious. ¡°What use is it to pick a bone with it?¡± ¡°This is my n.¡± Tomcat returned the stack of papers to its owner. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°My n is actually identical to yours. I had nned on informing you of the detailed steps tomorrow. But since you¡¯ve calcted it yourself, there¡¯s no need to wait until tomorrow.¡± Tomcat¡¯s stern face suddenly rxed. ¡°It¡¯s just that your calction is overly crude. This result cannot be used to guide the implementation of the operation. We need even more urate data to perfect it.¡± ¡°So you mean it will work?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that failure is at 99%...¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about the viability.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°If the conditions permit, we¡¯ll do it. Without conditions, we¡¯ll create the conditions and do it. Since the n permits it, we should do our best to squeeze Tianzhou of everything it¡¯s got... Although it wasn¡¯t blessed by the Patriarch, the chiefs will bless us from heaven.¡± ¡°We can set up three ques for the chiefs. The chief engineer will bless that the spacecraft¡¯s program operates smoothly andpletes themands. The chief designer will bless that the spacecraft can have perfect pneumatic maneuvering without errors. The chief technologist will bless that the spacecraft is big enough without any slip-up,¡± Tomcat continued. ¡°That¡¯s your forte, Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Can you do the maneuvering?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat was extremely direct. Chapter 211: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, You Gave Me Life

Chapter 211: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, You Gave Me Life

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not omnipotent.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Although I also wish to take out a remote control that guarantees sess from a four-dimensional pocket, allowing the cargo spacecraft to dock perfectly with the space station with a press of the button... the 22nd century isn¡¯t here yet.¡± It sat on the opposite side of the table as it began typing. Theputer chassis under the table began to whirl as the heat-dissipating fans spun. ¡°What did Mr. Cat say?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°It said that its n is identical to mine,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°But even so, it is unable to perfectly dock Tianzhou 37 with the space station.¡± Even though Tomcat had severely criticized Tang Yue¡¯s ideas, it had still used this meritless n. This was also because the cat was out of choices. ¡°Even Mr. Cat can¡¯t do it?¡± Mai Dong gently sighed as water vapor condensed on her visor. ¡°Back when Earth vanished, this same cat said it was impossible. It was also the one who said it¡¯s impossible when weunched the Eagle.¡± Tang Yue strained his neck and peeped. Tomcat was sitting behind the monitor, its eyes reflecting the backlight of the screen. ¡°Regardless of what it says, just take it in the opposite manner.¡± As Tang Yue spoke, the workstation at his feet began humming, spewing out hot air as though it was hiding a turbojet engine. Clearly, Tomcat was up to something. ¡°Tomcat, what sort of shady website did you visit? Did theputer get hit with a virus?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, a website Old Zheng rmended me before leaving...¡± Tomcat just spoke randomly. ¡°Exciting cat videos, with hundreds of categories¡ªsexy Persian cats, Siamese cats, Ragdolls, and Scottish Folds. Oh... This is too hardcore. This is a leopard cat. Heavens, look at its stripes. It¡¯s so wild.¡± Tomcat continued spouting its nonsense, leaving Tang Yue at a loss. ¡°Alright, what exactly are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine-tuning the entire process. What you showed me was like a crappy straw hut... To be honest, this is an impossible mission. We know nothing about the United Space Station¡¯s condition¡ªits speed, its altitude, its attitude. We don¡¯t know its docking mechanism¡¯s orientation, nothing,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We are ying golf blind. And we need to do a hole in one. Worst of all, this hole is randomly running everywhere.¡± ¡°You definitely can resolve this problem.¡± Tang Yue gave a thumbs up. ¡°As for the docking, can we get Mai Dong to provide any guidance?¡± ¡°The precision of the eye is not sufficient. The distance you estimate is often further or nearer than the actual distance.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t believe Miss Mai Dong to have sufficient physical and mental strength to do so.¡± ¡°By speaking to me so calmly, it means you have already thought of a solution.¡± Tang Yue was full of confidence in Tomcat. As long as it wasn¡¯t worried, he didn¡¯t need to worry. ¡°It might also be because I¡¯ve given up myself to despair. Everything is destined, so let it be.¡± Tomcat cocked its head, stuck out its tongue, looking like it had died. ¡°No way?¡± Tang Yue stared with widened eyes. ¡°Count yourself lucky, punk.¡± Tomcat retracted its tongue and stretched its neck. ¡°The United Space Station is out ofmission, but Tianzhou 37 ispletely fine. We can use Tianzhou 37 to initiate the dock, using its docking system to do a remote observation. It¡¯s just that their rtionship will be overturned. Usually, it¡¯s the space station that¡¯s tracking the spacecraft, with the cargo spacecraft being the target. Now, the space station will be the target, and Tianzhou 37 will be the tracker.¡± Under normal circumstances, a dock was a mission that required both parties to work together. However, the space station was now out ofmission, so all they could do was rely on Tianzhou 37. Instead of calling it docking, it was more of a grappling. Tianzhou needed to grapple the United Space Station. ¡°Apart from this problem, are there any other difficulties?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t ask. Just maintain your present state of mind,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to resolve the problems with the workstation while also resolving your psychological problems. That will be too troublesome.¡± ¡°I mean if there¡¯s anything I can help with...¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Tomcat cut him off. ¡°Spend time chatting with Miss Mai Dong. She¡¯s now considered your fianc¨¦e, but you don¡¯t know much about her. You don¡¯t have much time left, and if you don¡¯t take this chance, there may not be any chances left.¡± Upon hearing the word ¡°fianc¨¦e,¡± Tang Yue¡¯s heart stirred. Having been single all this time, hearing this term made him feel like it was referring to someone else. ¡°Fianc¨¦e...¡± Tang Yue slumped on the table. ¡°Isn¡¯t one called a fianc¨¦e only after an engagement?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Miss Mai Dong agree to marry you? That¡¯s considered an engagement, she¡¯s naturally your fianc¨¦e,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Tang Yue, what did you do to have thedy make the first move. If it wasn¡¯t because Earth vanished and every man in the Universe is dead, would something like this happen to you?¡± Tang Yue was momentarily unable to retort. If Earth has not vanished, he would have followed the schedule to return. It was unlikely he would have kept any deep ties with Mai Dong. Everyone knew how well-liked Mai Dong was at the Center. As for Tang Yue, he was just an ordinary mechanical and electrical engineer. After the mission to Mars ended, the former would return to school toplete her studies. After graduation, she could enter a relevant organization for work. Yearster she would be promoted to management, while Tang Yue would remain at the Center. His future would just be endless wrenches. If Earth hadn¡¯t disappeared, Tang Yue would most likely be forced to go on a blind date. The date might be the daughter of his mother¡¯s former ssmate who was roughly of the same socioeconomic status. They weren¡¯t a Princess and her Prince Charming, so if they found each other okay, without any strong positive or negative feelings, they would probably lead the rest of their lives together. They would then start worrying about their housing loans and their children¡¯s education. Fifteen yearster, Mai Dong and Tang Yue might reunite, perhaps in some hall. Mai Dong and Tang Yue would shake hands warmly, with Mai Dong looking beautiful and sharp in a suit while balding Tang Yue wore a huge red flower ribbon on his chest. Behind the two of them would be a striking banner saying: Warm wee to the representative of the Aeronautics Science Co.¡¯s management to our senior technicians! When Earth vanished on an ordinary night, their fates werepletely changed. ¡°I¡¯m just an ordinary person,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°An ordinary person without any capabilities, talents, or looks. My youth was mediocre and I basically scraped through my thesis to get a university degree. I managed to be recruited into the Center through some connections. Even joining the Mars Landing Project was a fluke... To be honest, I never thought I¡¯d really be selected.¡± Tomcat nced at him. ¡°It¡¯smendable that you realize your limitations.¡± ¡°People my age actually know our limitations,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°They know what kind of person they are, as well as their standards. They no longer fantasize about themselves being the center of the world.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I think,¡± Mai Dong suddenly said. Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°I don¡¯t have such thoughts, Tang Yue...¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Without you, I wouldn¡¯t have lived to this day. You have given me life.¡± Chapter 212: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, I’m Going Back On My Word

Chapter 212: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, I¡¯m Going Back On My Word

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue was somewhat surprised. He never expected Mai Dong to give such an answer. The present situation had the two of them supporting and relying on each other. Helping the other was, in fact, helping themselves. Tang Yue believed he was doing what he had to do. He had to make the optimum choice at every key node, the same choice anyone else would make. However, Mai Dong had elevated him to the savior of her life. He didn¡¯t know how he deserved such an appraisal. I gave you life? It should be your parents who gave you life. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. If not for you and Mr. Cat, I would be alone on the space station after Earth vanished. Even if I had sufficient resources, how long could I have lived?¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°In the beginning, I believed I could live on until my material resources were expended. This is because I¡¯ve been a person who could withstand loneliness from a young age. I could spend a long time alone with just a book. ¡°Butter, I got sick of all the movies, music, and games in the space station¡¯s library. The cosmos outside are nd and uninteresting. Every day, I wake up, my only hope is to see the sunrise so that I can see you and Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong continued. ¡°When that happened, I realized that my ability to handle loneliness was not as great as I imagined. The reason I can live on in the space station is that I know that you¡¯re there. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t speak, contact me, or appear in a videoms, I can still sleep in peace... It¡¯s because you are always there.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t say a word. Tomcat who was seated opposite him had stopped typing at some point and was eavesdropping. ¡°The loneliness in space can really drive one crazy... Tang Yue, if not for you and Mr. Cat, I¡¯d probably be dead.¡± ¡°Therefore, Miss Mai Dong, the reason why you agreed to marry this punk is to thank him for saving you?¡± Tomcat suddenly interjected. ¡°We have to abandon such thoughts that don¡¯t belong in this modern day. Even if human civilization has reached its end, there¡¯s no need for you to marry someone you don¡¯t like... It¡¯s not like you can have children. There¡¯s no need to have any rtionship with him. You can leave together as good friends.¡± Tang Yue red at the cat. Why did it have to stick its nose in the matter? It wasn¡¯t his ce to say anything; otherwise, he could easily be misconstrued as a pervert with unclean thoughts. ¡°I strongly believe in the need to protect everyone¡¯s fundamental rights,¡± Tomcat said righteously. ¡°Of course, Tang Yue is at the very least someone with principles. As long as you aren¡¯t willing, he won¡¯t force you to do anything.¡± ¡°Ah...¡± The girl suddenlyughed. ¡°Mr. Cat, do you mean I can go back on my word?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Tomcat answered on Tang Yue¡¯s behalf. ¡°As long as you haven¡¯t registered your marriage, any verbal promisecks legal validity. You have to put serious thought into something as important as marriage.¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Mai Dong seemed to be in thought. Tang Yue sighed. He didn¡¯t say anything. Who knew if Mai Dong¡¯s feelings for him were a result of misattribution of arousal, in which people mibel physiological responses rted to fear as romantic arousal. This girl had woken up to find Earth gone. She was alone and helpless. And it was at this point in time when Tang Yue had suddenly appeared. It was very normal for Mai Dong to form a dependence on him. Tomcat was right. Since they couldn¡¯t have children, making it impossible to carry on the human race, there was no need for him and Mai Dong to get married. Whether they entered into a marriage or not, they were the only two humans left in the Universe. As friends, colleagues, or even dorm mates, as long as they could support each other and live on, the rtionship between them didn¡¯t matter. Under such a situation, marriage was simply symbolic. Her agreement to marry Tang Yue was only a deration and promise. A deration that she loved him. A promise that she would trust him unconditionally and spend the rest of her life with him. Tang Yue thought of himself. There was really nothing about him that attracted women. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been single for more than two decades. He was the kind of person who didn¡¯t stand out in a crowd. There were people taller and shorter than he was, fatter and skinnier than he was, more handsome and uglier than he was. Perhaps only during a blind date would ady give him a second nce. ¡°Can I really call it off?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°I support your every decision just like Tomcat.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Mai Dong ground her teeth. ¡°I¡¯m calling it off. I don¡¯t want to marry you, not at all.¡± Tang Yue nodded. This was an expected oue. Although it sounded very depressing, Tang Yue didn¡¯t wish to speak, seemingly at a loss. He had no idea where to put his raised hands and finally decided to put them on his knees, feeling disappointed and embarrassed. ¡°But Tang Yue... You can marry me!¡± Mai Dong¡¯s words took a turn. ¡°Marry me! Marry me! Marry me! Marry me! Marry me! Marry me!¡± Tang Yue was stunned. This was an unexpected oue. There was half a minute of silence over thems before the girl roared withughter. Tang Yue could imagine her hugging her abdomen,ughing in a fit. ¡°Hahaha, Tang Yue, were you frightened by me? Did you feel at a loss after hearing I didn¡¯t want to marry you? Hahahaha...¡± Tang Yue cracked opened his mouth. He had been left agape again. As a clumsy grease monkey, an insensitive man, Mai Dong had him under her thumb. Why hadn¡¯t he been able to tell earlier that Mai Dong was such an imp? He even thought that she was an introverted silly flower vase... Tang Yue cast his gaze at Tomcat who turned away. Written on its face was: ¡°Why are you looking at me about something between the two of you?¡± ¡°Marry me, Tang Yue. Lad, you caught my eye. Follow me.¡± Mai Dong had turned serious as she even deepened her voice to make it sound like a man¡¯s. It was a mystery where she learned such strange talk that sounded like a ruffian. It was like a vige belle catching the fancy of mountain lord and made to be his wife. ¡°Are you willing to marry me? I¡¯m giving you two choices. One, I do. Two, yes.¡± ¡°Are you going to provide for me if I marry you?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Mai Dong harrumphed. ¡°It¡¯s really the case that if one is not in someone else¡¯s situation one cannot understand that person¡¯s troubles. You eat ready-made food up there. Do you even know the pain of stirring feces down here?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m the one mostly stirring the feces. Iplete at least 70% of the work.¡± Tomcat objected, displeased that Tang Yue was trying to steal the credit. ¡°Most of the feces were stirred by me!¡± ¡°But they were shat by me!¡± Tang Yue rolled his eyes in a retort. Tomcat widened its mouth but was rendered speechless for a rejoinder. ¡°Fine, you win.¡± Chapter 213: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Reuniting With You In Another Universe

Chapter 213: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Reuniting With You In Another Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat waved the scrap paper in its paw and sat back. Clearly, Tang Yue was proud of being a feces-creating machine. He was the only working fertilizer generator on this barren. Just on this point alone, his importance made him unparalleled. Tang Yue had finally found himself a domain in which hepletely beat Tomcat¡ªdefecating. However, Tomcat didn¡¯t wish to vie for supremacy in such a meaningless domain. It only mattered if Tang Yue¡¯s feces could evenly cover the entirety of the Isidis nitia; otherwise, it was meaningless towards the environment and ecosphere. Tang Yue took out a piece of biscuit from the cab, poured himself a small cup of water, and circled behind Tomcat. He bent down and looked at the screen. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the diagram on the screen. There were brownish-yellow and ck blurry spots which he couldn¡¯t identify. ¡°A remote sensing image of the Martian surface?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Something more beautiful.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tomcat moved the mouse and zoomed out of the picture. Tang Yue finally identified it. It was a leopard cat in a sultry pose as ity on a boulder, looking back at the camera. ¡°Why are you looking at something like this at such times? Shouldn¡¯t you be refining the docking n? Aren¡¯t you doing calctions?¡± Tang Yue was appalled. ¡°You¡¯ve been looking at this female cat all this while?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a male leopard cat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s even a male!?¡± Tang Yue felt as though he was suffering from a cardiac arrest. ¡°Why are you making such a fuss. This is myputer¡¯s screensaver. The picturees from National Geographic. The workstation is carrying out calctions in the background.¡± Tomcat casually tapped the keyboard and a series of numbers and diagrams appeared. ¡°But this is an extremely difficult job. I¡¯ve designed many different ns. In terms of viability, they were rejected at the verification phase... I have to say that your wedding is probably the hardest one in human history. The most difficult-to-traverse hundred kilometers.¡± Tang Yue sat down with his lunch, peeling open the vacuum pack and took a nibble. ¡°Lass, have you eaten?¡± ¡°A little,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°I¡¯m not too hungry.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the oxygen and water?¡± ¡°There¡¯s 280 hours of oxygen left. There¡¯s still enough water,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me. I can definitelyst until Tianzhou arrives.¡± When she said so, the United Space Station was hurtling past the Martian surface. The blinding sunlight burst out from the horizon behind her. It was another dawn, but half an hourter, the sun would set. In near-orbit, dawn was forever chasing after dusk. With the space station¡¯s altitude lowering, dawn could finally reach dusk¡¯s tail. ¡°Tang Yue, do you believe in parallel universes?¡± ¡°Parallel universes?¡± ¡°Yeah. Long ago, I read Stephen Hawking¡¯s The Universe in a Nutshell and A Brief History of Time. The books describe the Universe as not being the only one. There are many, many parallel universes in this world. Some universes might be identical to ours,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Do you think there will be a universe where the Earth didn¡¯t vanish?¡± Tang Yue took a bite of the biscuit. No one knew if parallel universes existed. There was no way of proving it, nor was there any way of validating it. ¡°I believe they do.¡± Since it was just a theoretical hypothesis, he might as well be a little more romantic. If Earth was really skewered by some alien civilization, could there be a situation in another universe where the shot missed? If the muzzle was off by just a few arcseconds, the bullet would brush past Earth. Tang Yue continued letting his mind wander. Since there was a universe with a perfectly fine Earth, there was bound to be such a situation: A universe with a quarter of Earth obliterated. A universe with half of Earth obliterated. A universe with three-quarters of Earth obliterated. At the same time, Earth would be obliterated infinitely many times in infinitely many universes. As for Tang Yue and Mai Dong, there were situated in one of the infinite universes where the Earth had beenpletely obliterated. ¡°If a universe with an intact Earth really exists, we could be back on Earth in that universe,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°We could head home to our own mothers.¡± If Earth hadn¡¯t vanished, the rtionship between the two of them would end with the conclusion of the mission to Mars. ¡°No, no. We can think about the time before that. Assuming that parallel universes are born from choices, such as you using your right hand to pick up a cup of water, the universe will splinter at that moment, producing another universe. In that universe, you¡¯d have used your left hand.¡± Mai Dong shook her head. ¡°Your every choice will give birth to many, many parallel universes... So there will be one such universe that we will meet again.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°I was born in Guangzhou. Tang Yue, where were you born?¡± ¡°Anhui, Hefei.¡± ¡°Alright. So I¡¯m in Guangzhou and you¡¯re in Hefei.¡± Mai Dong extended her finger to tap in midair as though she was tapping on an invisible map. One point was for Guangzhou, the other Hefei. They were two cities separated by 1,200 kilometers. ¡°Then... I studied in a primary school at Yuexiu District in Guangzhou. Where was yours?¡± Tang Yue tried to recall. ¡°Luyang District.¡± ¡°When I was in primary school in Yuexiu, you were at Hefei City¡¯s Luyang District. We were both students, carrying backpacks while heading to anding back from school. You didn¡¯t know me, nor had I ever seen you. We were twoplete strangers.¡± Mai Dong giggled. ¡°After primary school, I went to Huafu for secondary school.¡± ¡°I was at Hefei¡¯s 45th Secondary School. Besides, I¡¯m one grade higher than you.¡± ¡°Then at that time, we were both secondary school students. Did you ever travel far while in secondary school?¡± Mai Dong asked. ¡°Did you ever go to Guangzhou?¡± ¡°I went to Sanya.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been to Qingdao. Tang Yue, do you believe that we might have brushed past each other?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. He didn¡¯t know the exact date of Mai Dong¡¯s visit to Qingdao. However, going from Guangzhou to Qingdao was a northbound trip, while his visit to Sanya was a southbound trip. Who knew if they had been on the same rail track? Tang Yue recalled how he had sat on the chair in the high-speed rail in his youth. He had curiously leaned against the window to look outside as pearly-white high-speed trains rushed past him. Perhaps in one of the carriages of those iing trains, there was also an equally youngdy who was leaning against the window looking at him. ¡°Later, it was the National College Entrance Examination. My first choice was Zhejiang University,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I also applied to it, but I wasn¡¯t epted.¡± ¡°There will definitely be a universe where you listened attentively in the lessons you fell asleep in. The homework you failed to finish was finished by him. Every question you made a mistake was done correctly by him. Then, he seeded in being admitted into Zhejiang University,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°That¡¯s too low a possibility.¡± Tang Yue scoffed. ¡°But it still exists.¡± Of course it existed. Life was filled with infinite forks. You would always be able to find a path that reached the destination you longed for. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t help but let his thoughts wander. His unexpected encounter with Mai Dong in another universe could be apletely different story... They might not even join the mission to Mars as astronauts. He might be a senior who helped in the orientation of the freshman, standing at the school gates, receiving material that a short-haireddy frantically passed to him. Then, he would pat her on the shoulder as a wee. He might even head out for a walk one afternoon when there weren¡¯t any lessons. Without watching his step, he bumped into a person of unknown gender carrying a backpack. ¡°Are you blind?¡± ¡°But you were the one who bumped into me!¡± The wind rustled in the willows as a pair of clear, light-brown eyes were revealed under the short ck hair. Across a sea of 1.5 billion people, over a distance of more than a thousand kilometers, and after billions of forks, there were finally a Tang Yue and Mai Dong who had made all the correct choices to meet in a particr universe. Chapter 214: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, It Has to be Done

Chapter 214: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, It Has to be Done

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon No one could prove that a parallel universe existed. If something was unprovable or could not be validated, as long as one believed in its existence, it would exist. Therefore, there could be one such universe where Earth was safe, and Tang Yue and Mai Dong were able to lead a peaceful and happy life. That was what Tomcat said. It also said that if there were really an infinite number of parallel universes, not only would Tang Yue and Mai Dong encounter each other once, they would encounter each other across the time at every nck second. ¡°Then... Will they have kids?¡± Mai Dong asked softly. ¡°If your reproductive abilities are normal, you will clearly have children.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not us...¡± Mai Dong corrected, trying hard to maintain her tone. After all, no one could see her face flushed red in the space station. ¡°It¡¯s them.¡± ¡°They are you,¡± Tomcat corrected. ¡°Then... How many children will they have?¡± ¡°How many children do you wish to have?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°I already said it¡¯s them! Them, not us!¡± Mai Dong took off her helmet and buried her head in her spacesuit. Her cheeks were burning in the cold air. Tomcat was baffled. Wasn¡¯t Mai Dong in a parallel universe Mai Dong? ¡°Alright, then how many children do the Mai Dongs want to have? Miss Mai Dong, as their representative, please answer the question.¡± Tomcat changed the way it asked. ¡°Two, a boy and a girl,¡± Mai Dong replied. ¡°It¡¯s best if the boy is the older one. That way, he can protect his younger sister. The other way works too actually... But an elder sister will bully her younger brother.¡± Tang Yue sat by the side sneering. How naive. It was clear that Mai Dong had never had an elder brother. Who said that an elder brother would protect his sister? For Tang Yue, he was never the one protecting his younger sister. She was the one protecting him. ... ¡°Hmm... Hmm... Hmm.¡± Tomcat muttered behind the monitor. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Yue looked up and asked. Tomcat reached out its paw onto the monitor and curled its w. ¡°Tang Yue, I¡¯ve sent theplete orientation dynamics n to you. Do a calction using pen and paper.¡± Tang Yue was rmed by the various symbols and Greek letters on the screen. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you getting the workstation to do the calction?¡± As Tang Yue asked, he took out a stack of scrap paper. ¡°It¡¯d be done with a simple tap of the keyboard.¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t trust it.¡± Tomcat bent over and continued working. ¡°This workstation has been having problems recently. It keeps giving me erroneous results. It¡¯s more stupid than you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ignore thatst line. You want me to calcte something soplicated with pen and paper...¡± Tang Yue uncapped his pen and scanned the screen of equations. ¡°If you want me dead, you can just stab me with a knife.¡± ¡°Oppenheimer also used pen and paper when he calcted the critical mass needed for the uranium fuel back then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Oppenheimer!¡± ¡°But you are standing on the shoulders of giants.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll be taller than giants by standing on their shoulders.¡± Tang Yue copied down the screen of equations and slowly began doing the math. Although the equations wereplicated, they weren¡¯t anything that tested his intellect. All he needed to do was some matrix transformations. It didn¡¯t require more than college mathematics. It was just hard work.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, I¡¯m suddenly reminded of an old Soviet joke. It says that hell has a rule. Whoever kills the innocent will be drowned by the victim¡¯s blood in hell. One day, God was inspecting hell and found that blood was only reaching Beria¡¯s legs. God was curious and asked Beria why the blood only reached his legs despite him killing so many people back when he was alive. Beria replied...¡± ¡°Attitude equations of motion.¡± Tomcat sent him another set of equations and nced at him. ¡°Take note that q is a quaternion.¡± ¡°They are Euler parameters, right? Got it.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s continue that joke. God was curious and asked Beria why the blood only reached his legs despite him killing so many people back when he was alive. Beria replied...¡± ¡°Here are two results of the simtion. The first one ignores the effect the flexibility of the sr panels has on the spacecraft. The second result considers the effect.¡± Tomcat sent anotherrge chunk of terrifying math and diagrams. ¡°Why are you sending me this?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°Check it through. See if there are any problems.¡± ¡°Buddy ol¡¯ Pal, the problem is that I don¡¯t understand any of this. Are you taking me as Ramanujan... A master who didn¡¯t receive any formal training in mathematics?¡± Tang Yue scrolled through the document and frowned. Continuing the calctions, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s continue the joke. Beria replied...¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m standing on the shoulders of Stalin.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Why do you insist on telling me that? This old political joke¡¯s age is about as old as your grandfather.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°What? Standing on Stalin¡¯s shoulders?¡± Tomcat was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Beria replied that it¡¯s because anti-coagting agents weren¡¯t added to the blood. Therefore, he was standing on hard blood cells, and all God could see was the topyer of blood serum. This was a joke from my biology teacher in secondary school. He was giving a lesson on blood and serum.¡± ... ¡°Listen up. This is the n. It¡¯s the rendezvous with a non-cooperating party and docking method, as well as the steps needed for the control. We all know that the United Space Station ispletely out of control. Under such circumstances, a direct docking is no doubt extremely difficult.¡± Tomcat sat on the edge of the table and ced its arm on the monitor. ¡°Therefore, we need to set a berthing point at a suitable distance, allowing Tianzhou to observe and analyze the space station from there.¡± ¡°How far must it be?¡± Tang Yue doodled with his pen as he kept calcting. ¡°No idea. I¡¯m still doing the calctions.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Miss Mai Dong, are you there?¡± ¡°She¡¯s in the no-signal zone.¡± ¡°Tianzhou is an unmanned spacecraft. The most important point of getting an unmanned spacecraft to dock with an out-of-control spacecraft is self-adaptation. Our remote interference has a dy, so it¡¯s definitely not going to be in time,¡± Tomcat said directly. ¡°The entire n is split into three majorponents... First is the analysis of the rtive motion. This is the premise for a rendezvous. Tianzhou has to urately analyze the space station¡¯s attitude, trajectory and state of motion to make a judgment.¡± ¡°Can it be done?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°That¡¯s why it will be done by us. That includes thending zone. We have to make the spacecraftnd as close to Kunlun Station as possible, but once it makes the atmospheric entry, it¡¯s impossible to drastically change thending point; therefore, this needs to be measured ahead of time.¡± Tang Yue put down the pen in his hand and fell silent for a moment before saying, ¡°It¡¯s tooplex.¡± Even though Tang Yue was ayperson, he could sense theplexity of the n. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of theplexity,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°No matter howplex andplicated a dead knot is, it¡¯s formed from a simple rope. As long as you find the correct angle of attack, the problem will be solved easily. Besides, this is the easiest of the threeponents.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the secondponent?¡± ¡°The secondponent is the autonomous control,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You are a mechanical and electrical engineer. You know the basic fundamentals of autonomous control¡ªnegative feedback. Tianzhou needs to adapt itself to the United Space Station¡¯s attitude and state of motion... This is key to everything. Based on the microwave radar and the docking sensor¡¯s data, it has to adjust its orientation. It needs to keep correcting itself and this requires extremely high precision, extremely, extremely high, extremely, extremely, extremely high precision.¡± Tomcat used a total of six ¡°extremely¡± to emphasize the strict requirements. ¡°Can it be done?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°That¡¯s why it will still be up to us to resolve it. Lady and gentleman, let¡¯s try something crazy with the workstation. Let¡¯s remove the chassis and prepare enough ice to lower its temperature. Even if it were toter die, it wouldn¡¯t be in vain. It would be for a good cause. ¡°The third part is the rendezvous docking, or should I say, grappling,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°If the first two steps seed, Tianzhou will grapple the United Space Station in the final stage and dock with thetter. It will then pick up Miss Mai Dong and quickly leave. After adjusting its attitude, it will enter the atmosphere. The entire process will be done byputer. It has to be clean and done in one go without any mistakes. Any mistake would doom both spacecraft.¡± ¡°Can it be done?¡± ¡°It has to be done.¡± Chapter 215: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Make Sure You Don’t Sleep

Chapter 215: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Make Sure You Don¡¯t Sleep

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had a younger sister.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I mention it before?¡± Tang Yue pulled out a piece of scrap paper and handed it to Tomcat over the monitor. ¡°Old Wang and the rest knew about it... Tomcat, there¡¯s no way to calcte this. Can you do some preliminary cleaning up for me before giving it to me? This string of numbers is longer than your tail. This darn thing needs repeated expansions. Even theputer is suffering from an overflow.¡± Tomcat took the paper, nced at it, and handed it back. ¡°The answer is 42.¡± ¡°You never mentioned it to me,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°I thought you were an only child.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not an only child. My sister is three years younger than me. She¡¯s extremely terrifying and foul-tempered,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°At a young age, she was sent by my mom to study Taekwondo. After Taekwondo was Wing Chun. There was also boxing, grappling, and all kinds of MMA. In my mom¡¯s words, a girl is naturally physically weak, so she needs to learn how to protect herself... Heavens, she¡¯s considered weak? Thatss dared to stop an entire ss in their tracks back in primary school.¡± Mai Dong was taken aback. She never imagined that she would have such a powerful sister-inw. ¡°Ever since we had a fight over the television remote during summer holidays where she pummeled me to the ground, she realized that I wasn¡¯t her match. From that moment forth, she no longer showed me any fear. I lost all my dignity as her elder brother...¡± Tang Yue spoke about the tragic history of him being trampled by his sister. It was heart-wrenching. ¡°Tomcat! Look at this! Theputer is warning me... What¡¯s this? Modified Rodrigues parameters...¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tomcat tersely answered. ¡°Leave the rest to me.¡± Tomcat took control. ¡°My sister isn¡¯t the most terrifying when she¡¯s in a bad temper. What¡¯s more terrifying is my parents indulging her. She yed with boys her own age when she was little, often beating them up and sending them scurrying like chickens.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°My mom even said that she was a weakdy, so she needed to eat more. But have you seen a weakdy with abs more developed than a man¡¯s? Her one punch could cleave apart two solid bricks. I think one of her punches would kill me...¡± Mai Dong giggled. She had never met Tang Yue¡¯s sister, but for some reason, a blurry female¡¯s figure naturally surfaced in Mai Dong¡¯s mind. She was filled with the valor of a male, active, clean and sharp. If Mai Dong had the chance of meeting that girl, she would probably match her imagination, right? ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Mai Dong whispered. ¡°I now often console myself that Earth is still around. That my family and friends are still around, that everyone is still around. It¡¯s just that we can¡¯t see them.¡± Tang Yue touched his chest. ¡°That hot-tempered sister of mine is still living with my parents. After all, she hasn¡¯t graduated.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s a fact that the Earth is already...¡± ¡°I still need to give myself a reason to live on. I often encourage myself that as long as I live well, there wille a day when Earth will appear again,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°A life without any goals is no different from prison. That will be true despair.¡± He turned to look out. The Sun had already set and it was pitch-ck outside. The day was over. Tang Yue had sat in his chair doing his calctions without realizing that he had been working an entire day. Tomcat kept throwing work at him, leaving him in a high-stressed state. The only thing that eased his mind was Mai Dong¡¯s voice. He had been chatting with Mai Dong since morning, leaving his throat dry. He had no choice but to drink more water. However, the United Space Station would enter a no-signal zone in a periodic fashion. During this period, no one would speak to Tang Yue. Furthermore, once Tomcat was in work mode, it stopped being talkative. Tang Yue stared at the equations on the paper alone as his eyelids grew heavy. Every time he almost fell asleep, he would hear ¡°Tang Yue, can you hear me¡± to jolt him awake. ¡°Orbit-attitude spin-coupling modelpleted.¡± ¡°Commencing simtion.¡± ¡°Second simtion.¡± ¡°Give me the control moment curve.¡± Tomcat¡¯s big eyes moved back and forth as it muttered. It had be one with theputer. Tang Yue was very gratified that the workstation was able to cooperate with Tomcat despite all the abuse it had suffered under Tomcat. With the HP workstation followed proletarian ideology to a tee, the cat andputer brought about an immense increase in efficiency that Tang Yue had no choice but to focus to work with them. Tang Yue didn¡¯t even have time for dinner. ¡°Tang Yue, give me ¦Á¡¯s number.¡± ¡°¦Á?¡± ¡°The semimajor axis. In addition, give me the K1 parameter¡¯s sine and cosine values.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± ¡°Attitude deviation?¡± ¡°The deviation has been reduced to zero.¡± ¡°urate ¦¸ value. Give me it¡¯s expected value.¡± ¡°Which ¦¸? There are four ¦¸s.¡± ¡°The right ascension of the ascending node.¡± ¡°Right ascension of the ascending node... OK!¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue¡¯s cooperation was highly effective and tight. ¡°What other data do you need? The argument of periapsis? The orbital inclination angle?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need for that for the time being. Tang Yue, there¡¯s nothing needed of you for now,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Is Miss Mai Dong still there?¡± ¡°I am, Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong replied over thems. ¡°However, the space station is about to enter the no-signal zone.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need for me now? Do you mean I can finally rest... I¡¯m so sleepy and exhausted.¡± Tang Yue yawned. He could finally rx his tense nerves. All his strength seeped away with his sweat. ¡°How terrifying. I¡¯ve been wrangling with mathematics the entire day.¡± ¡°Orbital mechanics is physics.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s still mathematics at the end of the day.¡± Tang Yue lowered the pen in his hand and tidied up the messy table. ¡°The differential equations were each longer than thest. The matrices were each bigger than thest... I didn¡¯t know how I managed to list down a matrix with a dimension exceeding 5,000. Damn, that was terrifying.¡± ¡°But you did it wrong.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not you. I¡¯ll definitely make mistakes doing math questions the entire day. My brain feels as though it¡¯s about to explode. My eyes are filled with blood and my fingers are numb. I can¡¯t even hold a pen... We clearly finished work that would usually require a team of engineers. The amount of work I¡¯ve done today can probably hold up a tent, right?¡± Tang Yue stretched his numbed fingers. ¡°Isn¡¯t it faster with me?¡± ¡°We were indeed doing the work that¡¯s required of a team.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°However, you finished a single person¡¯s usual workload. As for progress, the rough framework is done. What¡¯s next is to refine the details.¡± Tang Yue stretched his limbs as he nced at the clock, only to be rmed. ¡°It¡¯s already half-past eleven. I¡¯ve been sitting here for fifteen hours straight... Have the sr panels been stored away? If not, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to do it.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you do it yourself?¡± ¡°I have osteoporosis and a slipped disc. Will you believe me if I say that I could die right in front of you the moment I head out?¡± Tomcat pushed the keyboard away and got up to head out. It took on the task of storing away the sr panels. It entered the airlock, closed the hatch with a dull click. Tang Yue was the only one left in the Hab. Tang Yue rubbed his stiff neck and exhaled lightly. ¡°Tang Yue,¡± Mai Dong suddenly called out. ¡°Yeah? Lass, you¡¯re still there?¡± ¡°Of course. Can you tell me your childhood stories? I... I still want to know more about you.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll definitely not hold back. I¡¯ll tell you everything you¡¯d like to know. After all, Tomcat wants us to know each other better.¡± Tang Yue yawned. ¡°But I¡¯m really too sleepy. Why don¡¯t we chat tomorrow... There¡¯s plenty of time tomorrow.¡± Sleepiness was really something he couldn¡¯t hold back when it hit him. He felt he could plunge head down on the desk even if there were nails on it. ¡°Are you really that tired?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m really tired.¡± ¡°Then... spend another ten minutes with me?¡± Mai Dong hesitated. ¡°Five?¡± Tang Yue smiled as he tried to pump himself up. ¡°Tell me whatever you want to say. I¡¯ll give up my life to spend all day with you until tomorrow morning. I¡¯ll just not sleep tonight.¡± ¡°Okay. You promise me to stay with me until morning.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue yawned. ¡°Tell me more about your sister.¡± ¡°Her? She¡¯s a really terrifying violent woman. She¡¯s the kind of person who can punch through a door.¡± Tang Yue sat on the chair, leaning his back against it with his legs bent to his chest. He looked up at the dim and gentle light. To him, it had only been a year or two since those matters happened, but his memories felt extremely distant. For some reason, Mai Dong was suddenly very interested in his stories. Tang Yue began telling her about all the dumb antics he had done when he was young. For example, copying from the student sitting beside him during a primary school exam, only to realize that there were two sets of exam papers with a different ordering. In secondary school, he ced sodium in his pocket and ended up setting his clothes on fire. During an English listeningprehension exam, he finished all the questions while the instructions were still being yed. Mai Dong keptughing as a result. ¡°Tang Yue, I see the Sun. The space station is about to enter the no-signal zone.¡± Mai Dong restrained herself fromughing as her voice turned garbled. The signal was possibly getting unstable. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you to return.¡± Tang Yue rubbed his eyes. ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Since we have already decided to get married, you haven¡¯t expressed...¡± Mai Dong said, ¡°It¡¯s always me who mentions it first.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback, feeling a little embarrassed. Being silent and introverted were one of the excellent qualities as someone who was forever alone. ¡°Eh... You want to hear the three words? Four? Or is it five?¡± ¡°Is five the most you can do?¡± the girl narrowed her eyes and scoffed. ¡°No, the most is five hundred words. Let me prepare myself...¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath. ¡°Hold it. Not now. Say it when I¡¯m back,¡± Mai Dong cut him off. ¡°So... Don¡¯t you sleep before I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t sleep...¡± The girl¡¯s voice was drowned by the static, and momentster, thems were cut. The United Space Station had entered the no-signal zone. After an unknown period of time, thems fell silent. Tang Yue held his head looking at the digital clock in front of him. It was already midnight. The red number was ticking away the seconds. How long does it take for the United Space Station to get out of the no-signal zone? Thirty minutes? Twenty minutes? I don¡¯t remember... Tang Yue stared nkly at the time. His brain seemed to process his thoughts, but it was also seemingly mixing into mush. He wanted to think of something to dispel his sleepiness, but he was just too sleepy and tired. The numbers in front of him gradually distorted as Tang Yue suddenly found himself unable to identify them. He stared at them intently but was unable to figure them out. Tang Yue knew that his brain had gone on strike, and his recognition abilities were gone. The signals his eyes sent were rejected by the brain as his eyelids seemed to weigh a ton. Don¡¯t sleep. Make sure you don¡¯t sleep. You agreed that you wouldn¡¯t sleep. Who can p me? Where¡¯s Tomcat... Tomcat isn¡¯t back yet. Why isn¡¯t it back... Why would it take so long to move the sr panels... As fatigue overwhelmed him, Tang Yue was certain that he had never been this exhausted before. As everything before him turned into a blur, the rest of his body began going on strike after his brain. Vaguely, he seemed to hear someone calling his name. Tang Yue... Tang Yue! Is that Mai Dong? He didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion or a dream. Tang Yue began making his final struggle as he pinched his cheeks hard, hoping to keep himself awake. But it was ck the next moment. The world had plunged into pitch-ck darkness. Chapter 216: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, The Final Sol

Chapter 216: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, The Final Sol

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Lass!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s muscles twitched as he suddenly lifted his head. It was already bright outside. The bright sunlight was prating the windows onto the ground. The air was swirling with floating dust particles. Tang Yue blinked his eyes as he surveyed the area. It was twenty minutes to ten in the morning. He was the only one in the Hab. Tomcat had likely headed out to move the sr panels. Half of Tang Yue¡¯s face was numb. He had drooled over the table. Clearly, he had slept the entire night on the table. As for Tomcat, that bastard hadn¡¯t woken him up to sleep in the bed. Tang Yue recalled hisst conversation with Mai Dong... She had asked him not to sleep regardless of anything, that he wait for her to return. Upon realizing this, Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipped a beat. No good, he had stood her up. Damn it. From the current situation, it was obvious that he had failed tost until the space station left the no-signal zone. He had slept the entire night like a pig. Tang Yue picked up the saliva-soaked scraps of paper and threw them aside. He then put in his earpiece and called out to the United Space Station. He was wondering how he could apologize to her. There was only static in the earpiece. Taking it off, he smacked at it, but there was still no signal. Themunication quality between Kunlun Station and the United Space Station was deteriorating with each sol. Recently, even the most basic voicemunication couldn¡¯t be guaranteed... Tang Yue took a look at the time. It was possible that the United Space Station was in a no-signal zone at this time. He had a quick wash and began having breakfast. Using this period, he needed to think of a good way of exining himself to Mai Dong. I¡¯m sorry. I was just too tired, so I couldn¡¯t hold out? This is all the fault of my eyelids. They refused to obey the orders from my brain and closed themselves? Sorry, I identally fell asleep. Aspensation, all the lobster on the cargo spacecraft is yours? As Tang Yue slowly chewed on the biscuits and waited for the space station to enter the signal zone, he wondered if lobster could cate her. If lobster didn¡¯t work, he would raise the stakes with canned fruit. With a click, the airlock¡¯s hatch opened. Tomcat walked in with heavy footsteps before locking the hatch. It turned to nce at Tang Yue without a word. It then walked straight to the wall and ced the tools hanging from its body on the rack. Then, it sat back down beside the table. ¡°The sr panels have been taken out?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Is Wanderer working?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What work do we have to do today? Continue refining the rendezvous program?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Themunications with the space station are worsening.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tang Yue shot a nce at Tomcat. The cat seemed more depressed than usual. ¡°Is the earpiece broken? It¡¯s only emitting static the entire time. Can you fix it?¡± Tang Yue took off the earpiece and shook it. ¡°The earpiece is fine,¡± Tomcat said softly. ¡°Then there¡¯s something wrong with themunications system?¡± Tang Yue frowned. Tomcat looked up and stared at Tang Yue intently. It was hard to tell the look in its eyes. It looked like it was prating Tang Yue¡¯s body, leaving him stunned and creeped out. ¡°Why... Why are you giving me such a look?¡± ¡°Are you waiting for Miss Mai Dong?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right...¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°She¡¯s likely in the no-signal zone. In a while, she¡¯ll...¡± Tang Yue was suddenly stunned as the rest of his sentence was stuck in his throat. He had been waiting for Mai Dong since he woke up. He had washed, eaten breakfast, finished his daily chores, and even Tomcat was back. Yet, the United Space Station remained uncontactable. If she were in the no-signal zone, she had been in there for way too long. With a thud, the earpiece fell onto the table as Tang Yue suddenly felt at a loss. ¡°Don¡¯t wait any longer,¡± Tomcat shifted its gaze away and said gently. Tang Yue was confounded. He immediately understood what Tomcat was saying, but he couldn¡¯t believe it. How was this possible? The United Space Station was clearly still at a safe altitude. It was clearly still at a safe altitude! Tang Yue sat down, switched on theputer andmunications system. He crazily searched for the United Space Station¡¯s signal, but his hands were trembling. Following that, his body began to tremble. When he moved the mouse to click something on the desktop, he needed to do it several times before hitting the icon. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me... Don¡¯t scare me... Lass, don¡¯t scare me...¡± Tomcat sat across him in silence, watching him doing everything possible to contact the space station. It watched him slowly stop his trembling hands only to have them tremble again. It watched him trying to speed up his actions only to slow down. It watched him push away all the usable tools aside. Finally, it watched him sit on the chair, motionless like a statue. ¡°Wasn¡¯t... Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be eleven sols...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s throat moved, his voice hoarse. He had never felt as helpless as he felt today. He looked around, but couldn¡¯t find anyone he could seek help from.¡± Wasn¡¯t it supposed... supposed to still be at a hundred kilometers...¡± ¡°Put in the earpiece.¡± Tomcat threw the earpiece over into Tang Yue¡¯s chest. Tang Yue was stunned as he wore the earpiece. There was no longer static in the earpiece. It was very silent, with the light breathing of a girl. Tang Yue felt a current run through him as he jolted in pleasant surprise and looked at Tomcat. Tomcat shook its head and pointed at theputer. ¡°It¡¯s a recording.¡± Before Tang Yue could say anything, he pressed down on the earpiece and held his breath, waiting for the earpiece to produce a human voice. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong began speaking. It was still that familiar clear voice. Tang Yue¡¯s body palpitated. ¡°Miss Mai Dong.¡± It was Tomcat¡¯s voice. ¡°Is Tang Yue asleep?¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s sleeping on the table. He¡¯s dead asleep,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I gave him three ps and even kicked him in the ass, but he¡¯s still sleeping like a dead pig.¡± The girl gave a wryugh before sighing. ¡°Then let him sleep. He¡¯s tired.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Tang Yue said that he wouldn¡¯t sleep, but he ended up sleeping. He still owes me many stories,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Things like; was the ss monitor who beat up the teacher in his secondary school expelled, did his physical education teacher and art teacher end up together? There¡¯s also the question of whether the school guard is the principal¡¯s rtive... He didn¡¯t tell me the answers.¡± ¡°There will be a chance in the future.¡± ¡°Mr. Cat, it¡¯s the seventh sol.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The space station¡¯s lifespan ising to an end.¡± ¡°No, the space station¡¯s remaining lifespan is seven to eleven sols...¡± ¡°Mr. Cat,¡± Mai Dong cut it off. Tomcat fell silent. It wanted to say something but was unable to say anything. It was useless no matter what it said. ¡°I¡¯m looking at Mars beneath me now. I can feel it getting closer to me. I¡¯m on the space station, and being on it for so long, I know best,¡± Mai Dong said softly, her tone faint but stable. ¡°This is a tiny boat that¡¯s about to sink. It¡¯s an elder who¡¯s old and suffering from a terminal disease. Every day, I watch its life pass bit by bit. Like us, it has been working hard to live...¡± ¡°Live...¡± The girl¡¯s stable voice suddenly cracked. ¡°Live... ¡°Live... Live...¡± Mai Dong¡¯s voice was trembling. ¡°Live on.¡± She bit her lip as she tried hard to hold back her tears, finally seeding in finishing her sentence. ¡°But Mr. Cat... I... I also wish to live on... I really do. I really want to meet you. I wish to marry Tang Yue. I wish to have my own children... ¡°Why... Why can¡¯t I have my own life... Why must I face such a fate...¡± Mai Dong could no longer control her emotions as she hugged herself tightly, breaking out in a sob. Her body trembled as she cried, her tears floating and tumbling inside her ss helmet. ¡°What did I do wrong... What did I do wrong... that something like this would happen to me...¡± Tomcat was silent. ¡°Damn it! Damn it... Damn... it...¡± Mai Dong struck the Crystal¡¯s inner wall as her body turned limp from her crying. Tomcat remained silent. It was indeed a b*stard. Likewise for Tang Yue. All of humanity were b*stards. There were so many people, such a massive civilization; yet, they couldn¡¯t protect the happiness of a youngdy. Mai Dong had never cried like that before. The irrepressible sorrow was heavy, so heavy that it could crush. After some time, the girl¡¯s weeping gradually calmed down. Mai Dong sniffed andposed herself. ¡°Sorry, I was such an embarrassment, Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°No, I should apologize. Tang Yue and I should apologize to you.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Sorry, Miss Mai Dong. We couldn¡¯t save you.¡± We couldn¡¯t save you. There was a long silence over thems. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Mr. Cat.¡± Mai Dong raised her head amidst the sunlight. ¡°I feel sad for Tang Yue... Tomorrow when he wakes up and learns of this news, what will happen to him... You will take good care of him, right? Mr. Cat?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m assured,¡± Mai Dong said. ¡°Please take good care of him.¡± ¡°Miss Mai Dong, do you have anything you would like me to say to Tang Yue?¡± Mai Dong leaned against the core module¡¯s wall. She could sense the intense vibrations of the Crystal. The truss was already beginning to produce sharp cries. At this altitude, the adiabaticpression of the air was beginning to rip the space station apart. The girl looked at the distant Sun which was about to set. She closed her eyes and shook her head. ¡°Mr. Cat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°The Sun is about to set. I¡¯ll be entering the no-signal zone again.¡± The golden sunlightnded on the girl¡¯s face. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll get to see the next sunrise?¡± ¡°Yes, you will. Miss Mai Dong,¡± Tomcat replied, ¡°you definitely will.¡± Themunications came to a halt. The recording ended. On the seventh sol after the United Space Station¡¯s ident, the space station crashed. Chapter 217: Epilogue

Chapter 217: Epilogue

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Three dayster. The Tianzhou 37 cargo spacecraft slowlynded on the desert as its reverse engine roared sent sand flying into the sky. Fifty meters from Kunlun Station, sounds from the rocket engines should have sounded like a thunderp, but due to the thin atmosphere, they sounded like a two-wheeled tractor in Tang Yue¡¯s ears. He turned to look out. The cargo spacecraft¡¯s white, circr body looked extremely striking in the brownish-yellow sand. Tang Yue could even see the blue acronym stered across the fairing: CNSA. He even saw Tomcat¡¯s tiny figure standing amidst the sand, guiding the spacecraft¡¯snding. Its fur was being ruffled by the strong airflow. This was the first time Tang Yue had seen a man-made object after Earth¡¯s disappearance descend on Mars. Tianzhou 37 was no doubt a beautifully contoured spacecraft with a huge bullet head. It was one-use, and couldn¡¯t fly again afternding. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t split into an Ascent and Descent Vehicle. The white, smooth fairing reflected the sunlight as the spacecraft slowly unfolded itsnding gear. A few millimeters fromnding, it cut the engine¡¯s power as it stablynded. Everything was perfect. The spacecraft had traveled more than a hundred million kilometers with no human guidance, finallynding five meters away from its originally schedulednding zone. Tomcat lowered the spacecraft¡¯s amodationdder and elevator before unloading its cargo. They had waited for this spacecraft for far too long. It brought all the hope that Kunlun Station needed for survival and continuation. Tang Yue should have been happy. He had eaten more than half a year ofpressed biscuits and tomatoes. Now, he could finally eat canned beef and Australian lobster. If this were any time in the past, it would be like the festive New Year. But when he watched Tianzhou 37nd, there wasn¡¯t so much as a ripple in his heart. He had even declined Tomcat¡¯s invitation to unload the cargo with it. It was not as though he even liked lobster. Tang Yue sat in his chair, his gaze on the monitor on his desk. He was in a daze. This wasmon for him over the past three days. His brain was just too tired to process anything. Theputer was still showing the orbit equation he had calcted three days ago. He had tried everything to design a rescue n, but fate didn¡¯t give him a chance to carry it out. He couldn¡¯t understand why the space station would crash. Tomcat said that he needed to discount the numbers Mai Dong gave by 30%, and even that would be an overestimate. This cat knew everything, but it didn¡¯t say anything. This was the way artificial intelligence worked. It forever maintained rationality, forever choosing the optimum solution. Tomcat had probably estimated the oue on the sol the space station crashed. It was the one who peeped inside the dice container. However, it had told Tang Yue that it didn¡¯t, leaving him unaware of the oue inside. When Tomcat was designing the rescue n, what was it thinking? It was usingpletely fake numbers to construct a n that couldn¡¯t be carried out. Then, it put on a show to do one calction at a time, making sure that it was airtight, giving Tang Yue the confidence that everything was real. It had probably long given up. Far earlier than any one of them. Tang Yue continued maintaining his habit of wearing the earpiece. He had repeated the final recording over and over again, listening silently with a deadpan expression. Tomcat didn¡¯t disturb him, allowing him free reign to do whatever he wanted. Tomcat knew very well that such low spirits were only temporary. Time could wash away everything. No matter how important or impressionable a person was, given time, it would eventually blur under time. This was a self-protection mechanism of the brain. Unfortunately, Tomcat didn¡¯t have such a mechanism. No matter how long it was, the crash of the space station would appear as though it was yesterday. Every sol, it would wake up from its sleep, able to recall what Mai Dong said to it like it was yesterday. To take good care of Tang Yue. Therefore, it had to take good care of Tang Yue. With a click, the airlock¡¯s hatch opened. Tomcat dragged a heavy crate in, then tore off the seals. The crate was filled with soft-packaging canned food. Tianzhou 37 had brought plenty of supplies to them. It had carried a load enough for six people. From food to water to medicine, there was everything. It was enough for Tang Yue to eat for a very, very long time. Tomcat returned to unload. It stacked the crates in thending zone and went back and forth with a tiny cart. It did so in a regr and unhurried manner. Apart from food and water, the rest was stored in the garage. ¡°A-type canned food... Sixty sets.¡± ¡°C-type canned food... Eighty sets.¡± ¡°E-type reconstituted food, thirty kilograms.¡± Tomcat held a tiny notebook as it took stock. It resembled a farmer¡¯s gathering of the harvest. Tianzhou hadnded at ten in the morning. It had begun work then, all the way until half-past eight in the evening. It went back and forth between the spacecraft and Kunlun Station, watching the supplies in the Hab pile up. It didn¡¯t feel any fatigue until its power had nearly depleted. Tomcat plugged itself in. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was hoarse. He hadn¡¯t spoken the entire day. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very tired.¡± ¡°Have some rest then,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t live on.¡± The young man turned to look at Tomcat, leaving thetter rmed. Tang Yue¡¯s face was pale. It looked like he had lost weight. Something in him had copsed. ¡°Tomcat, I think... this is the end.¡± Only God knew how Tang Yue had endured this long. Earth had vanished. If any other person was in his shoes, they would probably suffer a mental breakdown. However, Tang Yue had pumped himself up to face a life that had only grown worse. Whether it was him having a strong, optimistic will or him having a screw loose, he had ultimately relied on himself to support this tiny abode on Mars. But now, Tang Yue had reached his limit. The space station had crashed. Mai Dong was dead. His only pir of support had copsed. Everything was bleak and he was the only person left. He wasn¡¯t one who would live for the sake of living. Under such situations, living on was just endless torture. Tomcat fell silent. It looked at the wealth of supplies on the floor. Mai Dong had once told it to take good care of Tang Yue, but if Tang Yue had given up on living, what could it do? It couldn¡¯t tie Tang Yue up and daily stuff food into his mouth. ¡°Is the grave we dug still there?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°It¡¯s still there.¡± The conversation came to an end. Neither one spoke again as Kunlun Station fell deathly silent. Only the clock was ticking the seconds away. Tang Yue sat on the chair, the lights above him casting his shadow onto the floor. He was thest human being in the world. Outside the window were the stars slowly moving across the sky. The world was very lonely. Knock! Knock! Knock! Three dull knocks suddenly broke the silence. Tang Yue, who had been in a daze all this time, was taken aback. He momentarily failed to realize what it was or where it hade from. The next second, he believed that he was hearing things because when he subconsciously traced the sound, he realized that it came from the airlock¡¯s hatch. And in the next second, Tang Yue turned back to look at Tomcat. At the same time, Tomcat had turned its head to stare at Tang Yue. The man and cat confirmed that the other party was in the room. Both of them were stunned as they widened their eyes. They silently and rapidlymunicated with their eyes. Tang Yue: An illusion? Tomcat: An illusion? Tang Yue: An illusion! Tomcat: An illusion! Just as Tang Yue and Tomcat were staring at each other, there was another knock on the airlock. One knock after another. Knock! Knock! Knock! Chapter 218: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Airlock

Chapter 218: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Airlock

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon There was dead silence in the hall. Tang Yue heard it clearly this time. Something was really knocking the door from the outside. Furthermore, it was knocking on the inner hatch of the airlock... He originally imagined that it could have been a rock hitting Kunlun Station as a result of a strong gust of wind. It was said that such things often happened on the high teau radar stations on Earth. A sudden sweep of the wind could send rocks mming into the walls or doors, creating knocking sounds. However, Tang Yue quickly eliminated this possibility. Mars¡¯s atmosphere was thin, making it impossible to lift rocks no matter how fast the wind speed was. He paused for a few seconds. His brain raced, but he couldn¡¯t find amand to issue to his limbs. Tang Yue had been trained, but never once in his training was he taught what to do if someone knocked on the door outside Kunlun Station. Back when Neil Armstrong went to the Moon, his mission manual definitely didn¡¯t have a scenario stating: ¡°What do you do when you open the hatch not to see a barren lunar surface but a contingent of people giving you a VIP wee.¡± Tomcat reacted faster than him. As it picked up a steel rod, gripping it tightly in its paws, it yelled at Tang Yue, ¡°Radiant Armor! Tang Yue! Put on the Radiant Armor!¡± Tang Yue jumped up and ran to don the Radiant Armor. Tomcat lunged forward to protect Tang Yue, one paw holding a steel rod, the other paw holding canned food as though it was facing the greatest adversary in life. From its stance, it looked like it was about to ruthlessly throw the canned food out the moment the hatch was pushed open. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t abat-type robot; otherwise, it might have been able to produce an AKM rifle. Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor in a fluster,tching on the life support system, and connected it to the oxygen supply. In such a sudden turn of events, protecting himself was forever top priority. Even if Kunlun Station were to be damaged and lose pressure the next moment, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t immediately suffocate. The Radiant Armor¡¯s protection could provide him with enough buffer. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tomcat pointed behind Tang Yue and whispered, ¡°Retreat.¡± There weren¡¯t any other sounds outside the hatch as Tomcat stared at it intently. It didn¡¯t know what had knocked, nor did it know if it was still outside. ¡°Take another step back,¡± Tomcat instructed Tang Yue to retreat further. Tang Yue retreated all the way to the wall. Tomcat gently removed the IVA suit from the wall and crawled into the visor with all four limbs. It turned its head to nce at Tang Yue. ¡°I¡¯ll head over and take a look. Stay there.¡± Tang Yue nodded. Tomcat gently ced the canned food in its paw onto the table, changed the paw that gripped the steel rod before inching towards the hatch. The air pressure gauge beside the hatch indicated that the airlock¡¯s pressure was far below standard atmospheric pressure¡ªless than 1%. It was the Martian atmospheric pressure¡¯s numbers. This meant that the airlock had been connected to the outside which also meant that something had opened the outer hatch. Whatever it was, hade from outside. The cirction system began to inject air into the airlock as the pressure slowly rose, reaching an equilibrium with the Hab. At the same time, Tomcat grabbed the wheel in the middle of the hatch. Exerting its strength, it slowly turned it. It didn¡¯t use the electric lock and had manually opened the hatch because it could stop midway if there were any unforeseen developments. With a click, the heavy bolt slowly retracted. Tomcat¡¯s expression was solemn. It nudged the hatch with the steel rod, slowly pushing it open. Tang Yue craned his neck to look out of curiosity. To humans, this might be a historic moment. The significance was in no way lesser than Gagarin¡¯s flight into outer space, Armstrong¡¯snding on the moon, and Kunlun Station¡¯s construction on Mars. There was the possibility that Tang Yue would be the first human in Earth¡¯s history to make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Of course, he could possibly be thest as well. Tomcat¡¯s brows were furrowed tightly. A lot more things were going through its mind than Tang Yue. Of course, it was also more flustered, itsposure a farce. When the knock on the inner hatch sounded, Tomcat¡¯s understanding of the world crumbled. It was something the engineers that created him had imbued him with. Behind it was all the knowledge of the observable Universe to humanity. It was strict, reliable, and infallible¡ªbuilt from impregnable physics and mathematical logic. But in that one second, what human civilization took more than a thousand years to establish, as well as humanity¡¯s narrow viewpoint, had beenpletely destroyed. Even if humanity had been looking up at the stars for millennia, chatting incessantly of extraterrestrial civilization for more than a hundred years, such thoughts were essentially no different from primitive people¡¯s belief in pantheism¡ªa product of one¡¯s projection that one was the center of everything. This was a self-centeredness that humanity was born with. But at this moment, human thought inevitably had to suffer the removal of self-centeredness. The world had widened in an unprecedented fashion. Tomcat originally imagined that what it knew was impregnable because at its core was math, inference, and logic¡ªthat one plus one equals two. As long as there wasn¡¯t any fault in the conclusion, it would never be wrong. Tomcat could give a hundred and one reasons why extraterrestrial civilization couldn¡¯t be observed, with each reason irreproachable. But to prove that extraterrestrial civilization existed, there was no need to say anything. Just getting them to knock on Kunlun Station¡¯s hatch would do. In Tomcat¡¯s words, that gentle knock was as terrifying as the Universe¡¯s Big Bang. The Universe was far moreplicated than humans could imagine. The hatch opened. Tang Yue took a deep breath and widened his eyes, prepared to wee the historic moment. He had already prepared his lines. It was a rather formal diplomatic sentence. ¡°China firmly opposes any falsehoods raised against us...¡± Wrong script. ¡°That¡¯s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.¡± The first thing that entered their sights were the pure white walls. The circr airlock¡¯s walls had circles of reinforced frames. The airlock¡¯s top had LED lights and the ground had tiny sand particles. Right in front of Tomcat and Tang Yue was the circr outer hatch. In the middle of the hatch was a manual wheel simr to the door to a safe. The outer hatch was closed and the indicator light was red. It meant that the hatch had been sealed shut. Tang Yue and Tomcat darted their eyeballs around, sweeping every corner in the airlock only to be simultaneously taken aback. There was nothing in the airlock. Nothing. Tang Yue came forward and stood beside Tomcat in front of the hatch, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s empty?¡± Tomcat lowered the steel rod and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s empty.¡± It secretly heaved a sigh of relief. The airlock was empty of anything. Then, am¡¯s razor could easily tear through the origins of the sound from before. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t knocking but the sound produced by Kunlun Station¡¯s structural vibrations or something else. It was a natural phenomenon, and not aliens knocking at the door. Tomcat¡¯s world view was no longer crumbling. ¡°What was that sound from before?¡± Tang Yue looked up, observing the area. ¡°Perhaps the hatch¡¯s hinge was loose and collided with something,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It might also be the sound of aponent falling off.¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t satisfied with the exnation. The sound was still fresh on his mind. Tang Yue could confirm that it was definitely not the falling off aponent. Instead, it was someone curling their finger to rap on the hatch. However, Tomcat¡¯s exnation was most realistic. In real life, how could there be so many bizarre, inexplicable matters? After this false rm, Tomcat turned around, intending to put the steel rod back. At this moment, Tang Yue suddenly pulled at its arm. ¡°Tomcat...¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tomcat turned its head. ¡°Tomcat... Look... Look... L-l-l-look at...¡± Tang Yue pointed at the ground. ¡°Look at the ground!¡± Chapter 219: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Come Out

Chapter 219: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Come Out

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Spade.¡± Tomcat crouched down at the hatch, its brows furrowed. It extended its paw like a surgeon. Nurse Tang crouched beside it, putting the spade into Tomcat¡¯s paw. ¡°What... is this?¡± Tang Yue whispered. ¡°A postcard? An envelope? An advertisement pamphlet? Which¡¯s delivery system is that ridiculously advanced? It even managed to send something all the way to Mars?¡± The airlock didn¡¯t have the Martians as he imagined, but there was a t white card on the ground. It looked more like a postcard or envelope. It sat silently to the side of the hatch¡¯s sill, but in Tomcat¡¯s eyes, it was as terrifying as a nuclear bomb. Clearly, it didn¡¯t belong to anyone from Kunlun Station. ¡°It¡¯s probably not. Have you seen delivery people send pamphlets? They would usually print their telephone numbers on the wall. From the way they knock on the door and run, it¡¯s likely a pamphlet for sexual services.¡± Tomcat carefully used the spade to lift up the suspicious card. Flipping it onto the other side, there wasn¡¯t a striking delivery notice, nor was there a sexily-posed female green-skinned alien. This made Tang Yue and Tomcat heave a sigh of relief. If human civilization¡¯s first contact with aliens was by such an advertisement, it would be such a harrowing experience. Having a Star Destroyer appear would make more logical sense. ¡°It¡¯s an envelope,¡± Tang Yue said. Tomcat nodded. Upon scrutiny, it was indeed an envelope. There just weren¡¯t any words on it, nor was there a stamp. In this day and age, envelopes were rare antiques. This was because no one used primitive means like mail formunication. Only the postal service still maintained the business of delivering letters. ¡°Specimen bag.¡± Tomcat raised its paw again. Tang Yue handed it the stic specimen bag. Tomcat stuffed the envelope into the specimen bag and ced the bag into a box. Tomcat was rather cautious when it came to handling a suspicious item of unknown origins. Even as a robot cat, it had worn an IVA suit. Unfortunately, Kunlun Station didn¡¯t have a bullet vest; otherwise, Tang Yue believed it would have worn one. ¡°Before confirming that it¡¯s absolutely safe, no one is to directly make contact with it,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°A safe distance needs to be maintained.¡± Tang Yue nodded. He was the only one on Kunlun Station now. How could there be anyone? Tomcat carried the specimen box and left Kunlun Station, heading straight for the garage. It wanted to carefully analyze the origins of the envelope. Perhaps the instruments in the Mars Wanderer¡¯s experiment module could be of help. Tang Yue also followed it. Tomcat had originally wanted him to stay as far away as possible, as no one knew what material the envelope was made of. It could bring with it lethal viruses or high radiation. It could even be formed of antimatter. If the envelope contained antimatter weighing about ten grams made contact with any matter in the Universe, that bit of mass when converted to energy had the might of ten atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima. Therefore, Tang Yue didn¡¯t run. It was useless running. If the alien civilization had the ability to casually seal antimatter and allow it to stably exist, destroying him was just a matter of a snap. Tomcat sealed itself in the geb. Before closing the door, it warned Tang Yue that the work that followed could be annihtive. If he didn¡¯t wish to die, it was best he left as far as possible. However, Tang Yue refused to leave. Tomcat eventually allowed him to do as he wished in exasperation. After the geb closed its door, the light lit up. Tomcat started work in full battle order. Tang Yue leaned against the garage as it watched Tomcat¡¯s shadow. Tomcat took over three hours. Just the time taken didn¡¯t make it seem simpler than surgery. It eventually pushed open the door and jumped out. It had one paw holding its IVA suit helmet and the letter in the other. Tang Yue had been sitting outside for three hours. The moment he saw Tomcat exit, he rushed over. ¡°What is it?¡± Tomcat pushed him. ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we are back.¡± ... Tomcat and Tang Yue each held a torchlight, resembling archaeologists who were studying some ancient relic. The envelope was left on a te. The specimen box and bag that sealed it had been removed. The envelope was ced on the table lookingpletely normal. ¡°What material is it made of?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What¡¯s its origins?¡± ¡°Based on analytical spectroscopy, it¡¯s mainponents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It¡¯s mostly made up of hydrogen, and has almost equal amounts of oxygen and carbon,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°There are also extremely tiny amounts of sodium and sulfur.¡± ¡°Speak human.¡± ¡°Sugar,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s mainly made up of sugar, a type of carbohydrate.¡± ¡°Sugar?¡± Tang Yue was rmed as he subconsciously asked, ¡°You mean this thing can be eaten?¡± ¡°Eat? Why is the only thing on your mind eating?¡± Tomcat shot a nce at him. ¡°This is cellulose, a type of sharide. It¡¯s the mainponent of wood from nts. Would you eat tree bark? Inmon pance...¡± Tomcat pulled out a used piece of paper from under the table, waved it and smacked it beside the envelope. ¡°Both of them are made of identical materials. There¡¯s almost no difference. Cellulose is the mainponent of pulp... This envelope is the mostmonly seen and most ordinary paper envelope on Earth. There aren¡¯t any viruses or radiation. Nor is it antimatter.¡± Tang Yue was somewhat surprised. He had just encountered the second most bizarre encounter in human history. The first was when Earth vanished. Therefore, Tang Yue was already mentally prepared. Regardless of how strange and crazy it was, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised. However, Tomcat was now telling him that it was just a very ordinary envelope, no different from the paper-based envelopes he had seen back on Earth. ¡°Identical to the envelopes on Earth?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. He was taken aback as he hurriedly jumped up. He didn¡¯t even care that he had knocked down a chair. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± Tang Yue ignored Tomcat as he pushed open the airlock¡¯s hatch and staggered as he charged out. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat grabbed the envelope and ran out. Tang Yue was wearing the heavy Radiant Armor as he pushed open the hatch. As he stood in front of Kunlun Station, panting. He faced the pitch-ck desert and the starry sky above the horizon. ¡°Hey¡ª!¡± Tang Yue took a deep breath and roared. ¡°Come out¡ª! Come out¡ª! ¡°I know you are there¡ª! Come out¡ª! F*ckinge on out¡ª!¡± Tang Yue shouted hysterically. ¡°Come out¡ª! I¡¯ve found you! Don¡¯t f*cking hide! Come out¡ª! I beg you... I beg you toe out... ¡°Please... I beg you...¡± Tomcat stood inside the airlock, looking at the man desperately shouting, trying hard to transmit his voice to the whole world. But his shouts didn¡¯t go far before being drowned out by the thin, cold air. Tang Yue slowly bent his back, his face flushed red as he gasped for breath. Finally, he sat on the hatch¡¯s sill. ¡°Please... I beg you...¡± Tang Yue muttered to himself as tears streamed down. Tomcat sighed before walking over. It patted his shoulder and handed him the envelope. Tang Yue turned his head over. ¡°Open it... Whatever is inside is probably for you.¡± Chapter 220: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Letter

Chapter 220: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Letter

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue silently took the envelope and tore it open. Inside was a folded piece of A4 paper. Tomcat was right. It was the mostmonly seen and ordinary white paper. It was everywhere on Earth. But now, it had appeared outside the Mars Kunlun Station. It was the most abnormal thing in the world. Tang Yue unfolded the paper and used the LEDmp on the Radiant Armor to illuminate the letter. On it was neatly typed Chinese words. It was even in regr script. ¡°Dear Earthling Mr. Tang Yue, ¡°Hello there. ¡°First and foremost, we would like to convey our sincerest apologies. Due to an operating error by a rail transport operator, the released energy had a deviation of 10?1? arcseconds, causing 78,496,322 stars, as well as seven times the number ofs in the Laniakea Supercluster to be instantly destroyed. After verification, we have determined that Earth was one of thes that suffered this disaster. ¡°After the ident, the operator in question immediately reported this for emergency handling. This letter was sessfully sent out two nck seconds after Earth was vaporized. Please remain calm. ¡°Due to the unclear situation in the Second Ring Road and how it happens to be peak hour, there will inevitably be traffic congestion. This letter you have received might be slightly dyed. We kindly ask for your understanding. The notice in this letter will be based on the time of receipt of this letter. ¡°Dear Mr. Tang Yue, you have automatically been made the legal inheritor and sole possessor of Earth and all its anciry items. This includes (but are not limited to) all living creatures and all their derivatives, all man-made objects, and their derivatives. Towards your personal losses, you have thewful right and interest to file awsuit through the Department of Justice to request forpensation. ¡°Upon receipt of this letter, you are to head to the designated location, within sixty sols, in person. We will aid you in filing thewsuit against the operator in question and ensure that all relevantpensation ording to the prevailingws will be made to you.¡± Written below was a string of numbers, clearly geographical coordinates. ¡°88.2¡ãE, 17.6¡ãN.¡± It was finally signed off as: ¡°Yours sincerely, ¡°Pan-Three-Dimensional Industrial Composite Community.¡± ... ¡°Impossible.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s the twelfth time you¡¯ve said impossible.¡± Tomcat sat on a chair. ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything else to say?¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Thirteenth time.¡± Tang Yue raised the letter against the light and narrowed his eyes. It was really an ordinary and unremarkable piece of paper. He originally imagined that he could ept anything after surviving all kinds of tribtions. Even if the one who had knocked on the door was a glowing little green man, he could calmly shake hands with it to express this historic and meaningful meeting. It was the grand beginning of two species and two civilizations entering a win-win cooperation. However, there wasn¡¯t a little green man or an Avatar outside. There was only a tiny envelope. A mostmonly-seen and most ordinary object had appeared in the most impossible ce via the most incredulous and unimaginable manner. That letter was sitting at Kunlun Station¡¯s doorstep as if it was only right. It appeared that openly without hiding away, almost to the brink of arrogance. All of this was to tell them that this waspletely reasonable. It was as though a mailman had really opened the airlock¡¯s hatch, ced the envelope gently on the ground, patted its clothes, and left, vanishing into thin air as though it was just doing a routine job. But this was Mars. Heavens! My Armstrong! This darn ce is the Isidis nitia on Mars! Tang Yue waspletely confused. He no longer knew if the appearance of the envelope was considered normal or not. ¡°Tomcat, p me. I want to see if it hurts.¡± Pa! ¡°Does it hurt?¡± ¡°Ouch¡ªCan¡¯t you hit me lighter?¡± This oddness of this world still exceeded his imagination. If this wasn¡¯t Mars, Tang Yue would have imagined that this was some prank by some *sshole. However, when he rushed out, all he could see was a barren desert. Without the Radiant Armor¡¯s protection, a normal person exposed to the external conditions couldn¡¯t live for more than five minutes. ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°Fourteenth time.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat sat in a daze for more than an hour, their eyes staring at that letter. Its appearance was stunning. The man and cat were at a loss for words, with too many questions on their minds. They were momentarily unsure of where to start. ¡°This isn¡¯t something you cooked up, right?¡± Tang Yue asked softly. ¡°You tell me. How did I knock on the hatch while sitting in the Hab?¡± Tomcat asked. Tang Yue and Tomcat continued their silence. ¡°If this letter is real¡ª¡± ¡°I know you find it very difficult to believe this reality, but there¡¯s no way you will find it more unbelievable than me...¡± Tomcat stared with big eyes that were filled with helplessness and perplexity. For the first time, it doubted what it knew. ¡°But I can¡¯t find any points of suspicion. I can¡¯t find the proof needed to overturn the ridiculous exnation in this letter. It¡¯s ridiculous! Just ridiculous! But I can¡¯t disprove it.¡± Tang Yue mused that it finally understood what those people who studied quantum mechanics were thinking about. ¡°Then what do we do?¡± ¡°Burn it!¡± Tomcat wore a fierce look. ¡°Burn it. Pretend that nothing happened. The Universe is still that Universe. The world is still that world. Humanity is still that humanity.¡¯ Tang Yue was taken aback. He grabbed the letter from the table. Having suffered a blow to its world view, it was hard to tell what kind of extreme actions Tomcat would carry out. It couldpletely destroy the evidence. Then, it would bury its head in the sand. That way, the Universe would still be the same Universe it knew. Everything would still adhere to its understanding of logic. ¡°If what this letter says is real, we now know the reason for Earth¡¯s sudden disappearance. A road roller identally squashed an ant¡¯s nest while doing its job,¡± Tang Yue said. His eptance of the reality was far faster than Tomcat. After all, he was now alone without any connections tethering him to the world. Even if the letter told him that the Universe was to be destroyed tomorrow, he could still face it in aposed manner. Tomcat nodded. The letter had said that due to the carelessness of an operator, a deviation of 10?1? arcseconds caused 78,496,322 stars and 500 millions to vaporize instantly. The dismissive tone used was akin to saying ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I identally ttened a few ants.¡± Earth was one of the 500 million innocents that had been wiped out, just like the other 499,999,999s. It was no wonder Tomcat¡¯s world view had been turned on its head. ¡°The key point is...¡± Tang Yue enunciated each and every word in the letter. ¡°Ensure that all relevantpensation ording to the prevailingws will be made to you. What does this mean?¡± ¡°What it literally means. They say you are the only legal owner of Earth. If an ant¡¯s nest is squashed, and you are thest surviving ant, they willpensate you an ant¡¯s nest. With Earth destroyed, they willpensate you the Earth,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Compensate me the Earth?¡± ¡°Not only will theypensate you Earth...¡± Tomcat took the letter from Tang Yue¡¯s hand and frowned. ¡°They will alsopensate you seven billion people, the ecosphere, the millions of tons of trash from daily life, an Orion I spacecraft, as well as a Mars United Space Station.¡± Chapter 221: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Hope Or Death

Chapter 221: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Two, Hope Or Death

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue looked at the letter in Tomcat¡¯s paws in a daze before he suddenly shook his head and sneered. ¡°Why is it only appearing now? What is it telling me? That Earth¡¯s disappearance is just a trivial ident? Whether we live or die is simply based on their whims? That we are puny ants? That our existence actually has no meaning?¡± Tomcat stared at him. Tang Yue red up in anger. He grabbed the letter from Tomcat¡¯s paws, scrunched it up and threw it to the ground. ¡°Compensate me the Earth? Compensate me seven billion people? There were so many lives on Earth, and to them they were no different from toys? Human civilization is nothing worth mentioning? They¡¯ll justpensate me for spoiling it?¡± From Tang Yue¡¯s point of view, the letter was filled with contempt and scorn. Look at those words and tone. Earth¡¯s disappearance was only an operational ident. There were five hundred millions that were vaporized along with Earth. What¡¯s the big deal? We¡¯ll justpensate one to you. ¡°Then what am I? What is Mai Dong? What about all the suffering we endured...¡± Tang Yue slowly crouched down, covering his face as his voice choked. ¡°We worked so hard to live on. What was it for? Was there any meaning to that...¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat walked over and stood in front of Tang Yue, held up his cheeks, and collided its forehead with his. ¡°Tang Yue, that¡¯s not how it is. That¡¯s not how it is.¡± Tang Yue looked up. ¡°There¡¯s meaning.¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes were shining amidst the shadows. ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tomcat stuffed Tang Yue¡¯s head into its chest. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t held on to live to this day, that letter would undoubtedly be worth nothing. Regardless of where ites from, it¡¯s because you¡¯ve seen it that gives it meaning. Its appearance isn¡¯t to tell you that they are some advanced civilization in the Universe, nor is it telling you that they are far more advanced and powerful than us, much less are they saying that Earth and humanity ispletely meaningless.¡± Tang Yue leaned his head against Tomcat¡¯s chest and whispered, ¡°Then what is it saying?¡± ¡°It¡¯s telling us...¡± Tomcat hugged Tang Yue tight, putting its cheek against his forehead. ¡°Be it you, or Miss Mai Dong, your existence, your perseverance, your struggles, your hard work... have meaning. Tang Yue, all of this is meaningful. We have worked so hard, struggling so long to live to this point. We overcame many difficulties and experienced so many disaster and sorrow, and now, all of that has borne fruit to pay us back. ¡°It¡¯s not denying the value to our existence. It¡¯s because you are still alive that there¡¯s still hope for the future,¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°That¡¯s what the letter is saying.¡± Tang Yue turned agape. ¡°Is there meaning to my life?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Was there meaning to Mai Dong¡¯s life as well?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s body trembled as he buried his head in the cat¡¯s fur, cing all his weight on its shoulders as he gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying. ¡°We... We aren¡¯t weeds of no value? We aren¡¯t space trash that has been lingering on ourst breaths? Our... Our existence has meaning?¡± ¡°Yes, Tang Yue, Miss Mai Dong...¡± Tomcat slowly patted Tang Yue on the back and whispered. ¡°Our hard work, our cries... have been heard by this world.¡± ... On the cold night just before he fell into utter despair, Tang Yue broke down and cried. This cold and emotionless Universe had ultimately bent down to huge this man, kissing him on the forehead and telling him, You haven¡¯t been forgotten by the world. ... ¡°88.2¡ãE, 17.6¡ãN.¡± ¡°This location is within the Isidis nitia. It¡¯s very, very close to us.¡± Tomcat found the coordinates on the map. It began measuring the distance. ¡°It¡¯s almost at our doorstep. It¡¯s northeast of Kunlun Station, in the direction of the Utopia nitia.¡± Tomcat turned and found northeast as it extended its w to point. ¡°In that direction.¡± ¡°How far is it from us?¡± ¡°A straight line distance of about...¡± Tomcat did the math. ¡°280 kilometers.¡± ¡°Be more precise.¡± ¡°I¡¯m using the Isidis nitia three-dimensional map left behind by Old Zheng. Thankfully, Isidis nitia doesn¡¯t have much topographic relief. The calction won¡¯t be too off... The exact distance is 283.1 kilometers.¡± Tomcat quickly gave an urate figure. ¡°If we want to reach this location, it will take at least nine sols on Mars Wanderer, considering how it can move a maximum of 30 kilometers a sol.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s set off tomorrow.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t wish to wait a sol longer. ¡°It won¡¯t do tomorrow.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°We need a sol to prepare. We need to inspect and repair Mars Wanderer, remove the experiment module, bring enough food supplies and enough water. We need to bring the sr panels and finally bid farewell to Kunlun Station.¡± What Tomcat said made sense. Tang Yue was being too eager. A distance of 280 kilometers was indeed akin to being on their doorstep when it came to astronomical scales. But to them, it was an unprecedented trip. With Mars Wanderer¡¯s turtle crawl, it needed nine sols to reach its destination. There wouldn¡¯t be any assistance along the way, and any idents had to be resolved by themselves. Furthermore, Tang Yue had to go along this time. It was imperative that they made ample preparations. Tang Yue held his palm against the Hab¡¯s inner wall and exhaled lightly. He and Tomcat knew very well deep down. It was almost impossible for them to return once they set off. It was destined to be a one-way trip. Kunlun Station had a total of six units of emergency oxygen equipment. On average, each oxygen candlested forty hours. Six of them provided 240 hours, less than ten sols. This also meant that Tang Yue¡¯s oxygen reserves were severelycking. They were barely enough for him to reach his destination, but there wouldn¡¯t be any excess oxygen for him to return to Kunlun Station. He and Tomcat didn¡¯t know what to expect at the coordinates. Would there be a spacecraft waiting there? Or would there be an office with a signboard? Or would it be a barren piece of desert with the letter simply a hoax? It was a risk that they couldn¡¯t turn back once they set off. Tang Yue got Tomcat to bring a shovel. If they were unlucky enough to get lost, missing their destination or if there wasn¡¯t anything at the coordinates, Tomcat could dig a pit to bury Tang Yue inside. Regardless of the oue, this was the final stretch Tang Yue would take his life. He was heading out into theplete unknown, with a one-way ticket in hand, walking towards an unknown destination. No one knew what was waiting for him there. Hope. Or death. Chapter 222: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Unverifiable

Chapter 222: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Unverifiable

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon The first thing that needed handling was food and water. After being resupplied by Tianzhou 37, Kunlun Station¡¯s food reserves were rather plentiful. However, the Mars Wanderer had limited capacity. Tomcat and Tang Yue were unable to take all of it along. In the morning, just as the Sun rose, Tang Yue and Tomcat got up and began preparing. ¡°Tang Yue, how much food do you need?¡± In front of Tomcat was a mountain of soft-packaging canned food and reconstituted food. It was at a loss, having the desire to take everything but being limited by the capacity. It was a worry worth being happy about. Compared to the earlier days when Kunlun Station only hadpressed biscuits for survival, there wasn¡¯t any choice. ¡°Fifteen days of food will do.¡± Tang Yue was outside the garage. The geb had been removed from Mars Wanderer. He was clearing out all the apparatus in theb. Theb was Kunlun Station¡¯s only mobile airtight module. It came with four wheels and could move by being attached to the Wanderer. Based on the coordinates, they needed at least nine days. Most of the time, Tang Yue would be wearing the Radiant Armor, but he also needed to eat, drink, and defecate. ¡°Only fifteen days?¡± ¡°There¡¯s only enough oxygen for nine days.¡± Tang Yue threw the heavy spectrophotometer as it mmed into the sand. ¡°Fifteen days of food is enough. The dead can¡¯t eat. Since I¡¯m not returning, having plenty of food is meaningless. It will only add to the weight and slow down the Wanderer.¡± ¡°What about vors?¡± ¡°Anything will do except salted squid.¡± Tang Yue turned around and entered the geb. Soon, there were clunking and knocking sounds. Finally, he took out aputer monitor and threw it outside. Tomcat took stock of each item while Tang Yue perspired heavily inside the garage. Thetter had once again regained his strength and drive. He did things swiftly,pletely unlike the three sols after the space station crashed. Tang Yue had lived those sols like a walking zombie. He had sat there in a daze with a nk expression, neither eating or drinking. In a sense, this letter of unknown origins had extended Tang Yue¡¯s life, giving him a purpose to keep living. ¡°One... Two... Three... One sol, two sols, three sols... No salted squid. No salted squid...¡± Tomcat counted, trying its best to select tiny, light, and high-calorie foods. For water, it took bottles. Each bottle contained 600 milliliters of water. Under normal circumstances, two bottles of water were enough for a day¡¯s consumption. Just like food, fifteen days of water was prepared. That meant thirty bottles. The water in Kunlun Station¡¯s water tank was precious, but at this stage, all of that was to be abandoned. Tomcat separately packed the food and water, rather carefully arranging Tang Yue¡¯s daily menu beforebeling them. ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re willing to wait, I can make the trip first. It will take at most a month and I¡¯ll be back. After I confirm that it¡¯s safe, I can return to take you over...¡± ¡°I¡¯m not willing to wait.¡± Tang Yue was squatting, dismantling the screws from the table¡¯s legs. ¡°Got it.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t make another mention of it again. Having cleared the geb outside the garage, Tang Yue began moving the sr panels. The sr panels were the main source of power for the Mars Wanderer and Tomcat. Thest time Tomcat headed out to find the Chelomey, it had taken thirty sr panels with it. It spent nearly ten hours a day recharging. This time, they nned on taking all the sr panels to shorten the amount of recharging every day. However, these things were bulky and heavy. They could only be bundled together and ced on the trailer. The final form of the Mars Wanderer was like Thomas the Tank Engine. It hauled the geb with the trailer behind. Food and water were stored in the geb, while the sr panels were ced on the trailer. This was in a way an overload for the Mars Wanderer, but this was the final mission of its life, so it was only an inconvenience for that final haul. After Tomcat tidied up all the supplies, it stepped into the garage and saw that not far away, Tang Yue was sitting against the Wanderer¡¯s wheels. He was looking up with his hands on his knees. It was unknown what he was looking at. ¡°You got a cigarette?¡± Tang Yue knew that Tomcat wasing over. Still sitting motionless, he asked in passing. ¡°You smoke?¡± ¡°No, none of us smoke. The Orion astronauts are forbidden from smoking,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Smoking is bad for your health.¡± Tomcat sat down, leaning against him. Looking in the direction where Tang Yue was looking, all it saw was a gray sky. ¡°I know it¡¯s bad for your health. My dad forbade me from smoking. He once said that he would break my legs if he caught me smoking, but he smokes like a chimney in a way far worse than anyone,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Now I know why no one in the world would really like smoking, but at times, what can we do apart from smoking? All I can see is a powerless and lost self.¡± ¡°Cigarettes are nothing. I can rmend you something more hardcore.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Do you see the hydrogen-oxygen tank on Tianzhou 37? The nozzle is a meter thick with more than a hundred tonnes of thrust. That¡¯s hardcore enough. Bro, you can try that.¡± Tang Yue chuckled silently. He took out the letter from his pocket and stared at it nkly. He had already read the letter more than a hundred times. He could even memorize its contents, but Tang Yue still had no idea if it was authentic. It imed to be from an incredulous advanced civilization. But there was nothing about it that proved this. If it could emit light and speak or fly in the sky, Tang Yue would have acknowledged the ridiculousness of it all. But it was just an ordinary piece of paper. It was unable to prove that it came from an alien civilization, nor could it prove that it was something that came from an Earthling. In Tomcat¡¯s words, if there were such intelligent lifeforms in the Universe, creating pulp to make paper and learning the humannguage was likely trivial to them. Now, if such a person were to p a piece of paper like that in front of you, saying that they came from the other end of the Milky Way, you had no way of verifying their ims no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Of course, this might also be Tomcat¡¯s way of creating an illusion. Tomcat wasn¡¯t one to always speak the truth to Tang Yue. Back when the space station crashed, it had hidden the truth to protect him. It could do anything... For example, fabricate a letter from alien civilizations,ing up with a nonsensical coordinate, iming that Earth could be restored, giving the dispirited Tang Yue the motivation to stand up on his feet again. If it were really a ploy by Tomcat, it had undoubtedly seeded. It had seeded in extending Tang Yue¡¯s life by at least nine sols. ¡°Tomcat... Do you really believe everything that¡¯s written in this letter? Do you really believe in such an advanced civilization? Do you believe Earth can be restored?¡± Tomcat received the letter from him. After a few minutes of silence, it shook its head. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Chapter 223: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Captain Cook on Mars

Chapter 223: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Captain Cook on Mars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Upon hearing this answer, Tang Yue was slightly taken aback. However, it was to be expected. ¡°That¡¯s right... I don¡¯t believe it either.¡± He took out the piece of paper from the envelope. Based on the letter¡¯s contents, he was about to head out to file and fight an unprecedentedwsuit. He wanted to requestpensation from an incredulous civilization, to get them topensate the human civilization of all its losses. Tang Yue had never been in awsuit before. He had never filed it against humans, much less aliens. He didn¡¯t even know what his opponent would be like. Just based on the tone of the letter, the culprit that sparked off everything had the ability to instantly vaporize millions of stars in an instant. To the humans on Earth, they were no doubt a godlike existence. And Tang Yue was about to face the gods alone, to sue god in court. This sounded akin to an African gori¡¯swsuit against a particr human constructionpany, requesting that theypensate it for the destruction of tropical rainforests. Humans would probably imprison the gori in the zoo and let it tour the globe as a spectacle. Tang Yue folded the letter into a paper ne and threw it out. ¡°Cut the bullsh*t¡ª! Scram, go back where you came from¡ª! Whoever believes you are stupid¡ª!¡± ¡°Wait and see! *ssholes¡ª! None of you are going to f*cking run away! I¡¯ll sue the pants off you¡ª!¡± Tang Yue roared at the horizon with all his might. ¡°Bastards¡ª! F*ck you¡ª! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck your mother¡ª!¡± Tomcat sat by the side, watching the paper ne draw out a trajectory like a rock before falling onto the sand. Tang Yue¡¯s vulgarities had been epted by the world, but unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t any reply. Exhausted from his shouting, he turned to pat Tomcat on the head. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s mealtime.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to eat.¡± ¡°Then return to have a recharge.¡± ... Tomcat was bent over the desk. With a scratch, it drew out a sixty-degree-angled curve on a piece of paper. Then, it cut out the fan-shaped cutting and used a ruler and pen to mark fine markings in it. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°A sextant.¡± Tomcat pulled out a thread from the drawer. Biting through it using its teeth, it pulled straight and measured its length. ¡°Sextant?¡± Tang Yue wasn¡¯t too familiar with the term. ¡°An antique from centuries ago. None of you use it these days, but at the beginning of the century, learning how to use a sextant to determine one¡¯s location was a requisite for pilots and astronauts.¡± Tomcat tied one end of the string to a screw as a weight. It raised it up high and shook it a little. ¡°We will be traversing hundreds of kilometers of desert. Using a sextant will allow us to urately determine our longitude andtitude. Of course, the premise is that the sextant is precise enough.¡± Tang Yue opened a packet of beef. Turning his head to nce at the crude tool in Tomcat¡¯s hand, he realized it was made of easily obtainable materials in Kunlun Station¡ªpaper, pen, screws, nails, pen container, thread, multipurpose glue. No matter how he looked at it, it looked crude and simple. He couldn¡¯t help but worry over its precision. ¡°The simpler something is, the more reliable it is. It¡¯s because often, such simple-looking tools are based on the most basic and stringent mathematical calctions and physicalws. And they do not have any bugs in them.¡± Tomcat narrowed one eye, using a needle dipped in ink to draw markings on the piece of paper. It held its breath and focused as it drew the lines meticulously. It was as though it was about to carve out a flower from random trash. ¡°Don¡¯t we have any other means of navigation?¡± ¡°Such as?¡± Tomcat slowly wrote down a tiny 51.000. This number¡¯s length didn¡¯t exceed a millimeter. ¡°GPS?¡± Tang Yue thought for a moment. ¡°How would there be GPS on Mars? There¡¯s no GPS here, no BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, no GLONASS, no Galileo.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°There¡¯s also no China Mobile, China Tel, or China Un... Think about it. To not even have those, how can there be GPS?¡± ¡°Then what did we rely on for navigation in the past?¡± ¡°We have never gone that far out before. To head 300 kilometers into the desert alone would be akin to suicide under normal circumstances. Back when Old Wang and the rest were still around, the geological inspection never exceeded fifteen kilometers,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Back then, our navigation relied on the United Space Station.¡± Tang Yue silently chewed on a mouthful of beef. ¡°Since time immemorial, navigation has been an extremely difficult task. Despite proliferating on Earth for more than ten thousand years, it was only in recent years that youpleted the means of urate global positioning. So what gave you the illusion that it¡¯s easy? That determining your location is a simple matter?¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°Even though we have the ability to escape Earth¡¯s gravitational reach, and have the ability to fly more than a hundred million kilometers, we will still need to use the wisdom and experience of our ancestors on such matters.¡± Tang Yue finished drawing the markings on the fan-shaped paper. It raised it to show Tang Yue. ¡°In an era without radio and GPS, Captain Cook had relied on this thing to urately determine his direction to cross the Pacific Ocean.¡± Tang Yue turned his head to look at Tomcat. This cat had one foot on the chair, holding the tiny piece of paper with its two paws high. To it, this was the fruit ofbor deserving of its pride. At this moment, Tang Yue also noticed that the in its hand was a protractor, a protractor made of white paper. A sextant was an angle-measuring tool, in essence, a protractor. Highly precise angle measurement allowed one to urately determine one¡¯s longitude andtitude. It wasn¡¯t that Kunlun Station didn¡¯t have one, but those tools meant for drawing figures weren¡¯t of any use. It was because their precision wascking. Tomcat had to do everything itself. Tomcat and Tang Yue were heading for their destination with this sextant. Isidis nitia looked like an endless desert without anyndmarks. Getting lost meant death; therefore, Tomcat¡¯s drawing of the markings was crucial. It was why it had spent so much time and effort to produce the tool. Tang Yue suddenly found it embarrassing and ridiculous. So all their seemingly miraculous advanced technology was nothing but a farce. The moment Earth vanished, they had been thrown back to their primal states, having to use the most ancient means to solve problems. They were Captain Cook on Mars. ¡°What are youughing at?¡± Tomcat rolled its eyes. It carefully sped the paper-made protractor with a book. ¡°Don¡¯t look down on its simplicity. This thing is now the most precise angle-measuring tool in the Universe. Whether we can urately arrive at our destination all depends on it... The Wanderer had something better, but when its head was squashed t, all of that was gone.¡± Tomcat sighed. Thest time it had driven the Wanderer out, it had fallen into an old underground river on its trip back. The vehicle had plunged headfirst, and the husky became a bulldog. Nearly all the equipment at the front of the vehicle was put out ofmission. After Tang Yue finished the beef, he drank a cup of orange juice. Kunlun Station now had a pile of food that he couldn¡¯t finish. It was enough for a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, but he didn¡¯t have the appetite for it. The Radiant Armor was hung on the wall for charging. Thepression air canisters were already prepared. When they set off tomorrow, the Radiant Armor¡¯s air canister would provide him for eight hours of air. After it was depleted of its oxygen, he would switch to an emergency oxygen-creating unit. ¡°I¡¯ll do another check on the oxygen.¡± Tang Yue got up. ¡°When shall we head out tomorrow?¡± ¡°Your choice.¡± Tang Yue stood there for a few seconds. ¡°Let¡¯s do it at dawn then.¡± Chapter 224: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Eve

Chapter 224: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Three, Eve

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon That night. Tang Yuey in bed, clinging tightly to his nket with only his head peeking out. The rotation of the fan des produced a soft hum that sounded like a mosquito. The temperature in the living quarters was maintained at 20¡ãC, but the temperature outside had already dropped to ¨C60¡ãC. There was a pale yellow light seeping in through the gap of the curtains. Tomcat wasn¡¯t resting yet. It was still making preparations and packing for tomorrow¡¯s expedition. Tang Yue listened to the familiar noises. Tomcat was rolling up maps. With the Mars Wanderer heavily damaged, it didn¡¯t have a single intact monitor. They had no choice but to use paper maps. Tang Yue looked at the tiny lights on the ground. They seemed to jog memories of his youth. When he returned home during summer break, he would live in his old bricked house. Every night, the young him would lie in bed wrapped in nkets. The warm light would seep in through the gaps in the door and asionally his grandparents would tiptoe over to cover him. Whenever that happened, he would immediately close his eyes to feign sleep, opening them again when the elderly person had gone. He didn¡¯t know why he would recall these. The old house had already been demolished, and his grandparents had passed away when he was in college. Now, even Earth was gone. No one was around to prove that they had once existed. All of that only existed in Tang Yue¡¯s memories. Tang Yue repeatedly ruminated over these memories that ran from childhood to adulthood. It went from the television and ice popsicles he had at his old house in the vige to the time he was training in Lop Nur with Old Wang at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. He tried hard to confirm each and every detail¡ªthe opening theme to Young Justice Bao that was reyed year after year, the words on the paper used to wrap the ice popsicle, Old Wang rummaging through his backpack beside the bonfire only to take out two secretly stashed Qingdao beer. Tang Yue was afraid that he would one day forget these people. Unfortunately, memories were the hardest thing in the world to solidify. One could try hard to mold them into the image of someone, and no matter how lifelike it was with each strand of hair defined and clear, they would still slowly lose their definition like sand. Eventually, all that was left was a smooth, featureless blob. Even if one stared at it all day, nothing could be gleaned from it. Tang Yue closed his eyes, whispering, ¡°Are you still there?¡± There was silence. A cup of water was ced beside Tang Yue¡¯s bed. Beside it was a wooden frame with a picture inside. It was a group picture of the astronauts of Orion I before they set off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Commander Old Wang and Thomp stood in the middle at the back. To their sides were Old Zheng and Max. Tang Yue and Mai Dong were crouched in front, with all six of them holding each other by the shoulders smiling. The girl had one hand holding down the hair at her ear due to the strong winds. Old Wang¡¯s eyes were squinted due to sand. He bared his teeth and was just about to curse, but before he could break out into expletives, the camera had fixed that moment forever. In the distance was the hugeunchpad under the blue, sunny skies. The manned spacecraft was still being assembled. On the floor beside the bed was a pair of slippers. In the corner of the room was a stic trash can. Hanging on the wall were pants, shirts, and empty hangers. Tang Yue¡¯s room was very simple. He didn¡¯t have much he needed to take with him. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue pulled out his arm from under his nket, using it as a pillow for his head. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± A cat¡¯s head peeped in through the curtains. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you sleeping? We will be setting off early tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t sleep,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Nervous?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Anxious?¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°Terrified?¡± Tang Yue continued shaking his head as he looked at his hand. ¡°Do you know that human emotions are built on the fact that one is alive? Only with life will there be emotions... But I¡¯m no longer able to find the reality of life for myself. At times, I suspect I¡¯ve be a puppet who doesn¡¯t sense or know anything. I don¡¯t feel any temperature when I touch myself. Compared to you, I¡¯m more like a robot...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t doubt yourself.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°Don¡¯t doubt yourself,¡± Tomcat repeated. It walked over to hold Tang Yue¡¯s hand. The paw¡¯s meaty part was pressed against his palm. ¡°Look, how is there no temperature? Never ever doubt the value and meaning to your existence, no matter how dire the situation is. Even if no one in the entire world admits it any further, even if there¡¯s no witness or recording of it, you have to firmly believe that your life is the most precious thing in the Universe... You have to believe that you are unique in all of the Universe. You can live on. You have to live on.¡± Tang Yue slowly nodded. ¡°Whenever you encounter an uncrossable chasm, tell yourself that.¡± Tomcat smiled. ¡°It¡¯s because in this world, no one else will believe in you except yourself.¡± ¡°Sleep well. If you can¡¯t sleep, count sheep.¡± It released Tang Yue¡¯s hand, turned, left the sleeping quarters, and drew the curtains along the way. ... Tomcat sat on the table piled high with paper and charts. The long numbers were dazzling to the eye as if they were some cryptic code. Tomcat was like an astronomer in ancient times, doing something no one understood. Beforerge-aperture telescopes andputers were invented, the daily work of astronomers was math. They would use pen and paper to calcte, handling massive amounts of observation data before finding a brand new celestial body in the massive amount of data. Toypeople, astronomers of that day and age were mysterious and unfathomable. People even believed that they could see the future. This was because the numbers on these people¡¯s scrap paper could predict full sr eclipses. Tomcat was doing something simr at the moment. Using a sextant allowed it to obtain thetitude, but it wasn¡¯t able to directly observe the longitude. To obtain one¡¯s longitude, other methods were needed. Tomcat was going through an extremely precise star catalog. This thing helped prevent them from getting lost in the desert. ¡°11... 261.233.541... 155.355.715...¡± ¡°12... 200.351.547, 399.241.955...¡± Tomcat sat in its chair motionless. It held a pen in its paw with a charging cable connected to its back. Its furry body was curled into a ball as its long fur was fluttering in the breeze. ¡°12, 26.413.273...¡± ¡°12, 274.360.669...¡± It muttered softly and calcted as it wrote inside a chart. The clock was ticking away. There was silence from the sleeping quarters since Tang Yue had finally fallen asleep. Deeper into the night, the amount of paper piled on the desk became taller than Tomcat. These papers had numbers that were the results of a calction and not the calction process. Without Tang Yue, Tomcat didn¡¯t need to show its work to anyone. It did all the calctions mentally, but due to the massive amounts of data, there was not enough white paper. Eventually, it had to reuse some of the scrap paper. Tomcat tidied the data and stacked them together before cing them into a drawer. If there wasn¡¯t an ident, these sheets of paper would stay there till the end of the world. ¡°SUN, 10:00, 102.543.027... ¡°FRIDAY. ¡°01, 02, 03, ..., 23. ¡°Next is SATURDAY. 00, 102.548.227, 104.424.152, 212.240.270, 01... ¡°195.544.473. ¡°01, 25, 02, 52, 03, 45. ¡°Next is SUNDAY. ¡°SUNDAY. ¡°Sunday... Sunday, where is it on Sunday?¡± After an unknown period of time, Tomcat put away its pen in satisfaction and exhaled, dering that everything was a sess. The sunlight beneath the horizon had already illuminated the sky. Chapter 225: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Goodbye, Kunlun Station

Chapter 225: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Goodbye, Kunlun Station

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Airtight seal is working fine. Internal pressure, 42 kPa.¡± Tang Yue turned the seal on his wrist as it produced a light click. The glove was locked in ce, indicated by a green light. ¡°HUT fully operational. Shoulder joints a-okay. Elbow joints a-okay. Wrist joints a-okay. Lower limb joints a-okay. LTA fully operational. ¡°Life support system a-okay. Liquid cooling a-okay. Average heat dissipation, 300W. Internal temperature 22¡ãC. Oxygen cirction at 17 l/min.¡± Tang Yue tapped the control terminal on the back of his hand as the ss visor reflected figures that rapidly changed. Tang Yue reported them as they shed past. ¡°Remaining battery capacity, 97%. ¡°CCA a-okay. Communications a-okay.¡± He reached out his hand and pressed the opening button on the airlock hatch. A soft fan whirred into action as the airlock pressure began rising. Finally, it was in equilibrium with the Hab. The bolt retracted as the hatch slowly opened. Tang Yue turned around and gave Kunlun Station one long look. The Hab was tidied neatly, with the workstation chassis ced under the table. It had been switched off and its plug pulled. It had finally escaped the devilish ws of Tomcat. No one would squeeze everything it had again. Theputer monitors were ced with their backs facing each other on the table. The chairs were lined up against the wall in a row, and all the paper had already been put inside drawers. The table was clean. Even the cups and clock were lined in a row, just like an inspection at a military retreat. The OGS remained switched on, but it was running at its lowest power output. Tomcat had mentioned that it couldst fifteen years, something Tang Yue wasn¡¯t too sure of. However, as long as the OGS remained operational, all life on Kunlun Station would continue to survive. The nts were sitting high on the racks. Tang Yue and Tomcat had used a rubber tubing to make a drop dispenser. The water inside Kunlun Station¡¯s water tank would be drawn to water the nts. They had also filled the containers with soil and fertilizer, greatly broadening the tomatoes¡¯ lifespans. Tang Yue cast his gaze on the tomatoes with lush leaves. He paused at each nt for quite some time. The most luxuriant one was First. Beside it was Second. There was Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh. Daddy will be going on a faraway trip. I¡¯ll be going somewhere very, very far away, to fight a very, very difficult war. You have to take good care of yourselves. Make sure to take good care of yourselves. Be good. ¡°This is Mars Wanderer. Copy.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. Tang Yue stepped into the airlock as the hatch closed behind him. With a click, it was sealed shut. Step after step, he walked through the six-meter-long cylindrical room before pressing the button that opened the outer hatch. The air inside the room was rapidly emptied and the moment the hatch opened, Tang Yue said to the Martiannd that greeted him, ¡°I¡¯m out. It feels alright.¡± Tang Yue had already moved all the necessities onto the Mars Wanderer. Now, it was truly like Thomas the Tank Engine. Behind it was the geb with food, oxygen, and water inside. Behind the geb was a trailer that had sr panels tied to it. This was all of Tang Yue¡¯s and Tomcat¡¯s luggage. Tomcat sat in the driver¡¯spartment to check on the Mars Wanderer¡¯s condition. It was already in a bad state, with its front smashed t. Its frame was warped and all the ss had shattered. The driver¡¯spartment was an airy broken shack. The only thing still usable was the steering wheel, elerator, and brake. Tang Yue had seen manual tractors used by farmers in a museum, and he had mused that they gave off vibes of Dieselpunk. They were purely mechanical without any liquid crystal ss. Now, the Mars Wanderer had also turned into a genuine manual tractor. Tomcat stuffed the map underneath the dashboard and the letter in the sun visor. Then, it turned the steering wheel and pressed the elerator, only to be stunned. There was something in the glovepartment. Tomcat took it out. It was a wooden frame. It smiled and propped the frame up, carefully cing it on the Mars Wanderer¡¯s dashboard. ... Tang Yue buried a portable hard disk into a pit, the same pit that he had dug for his grave. In it was a copy of humanity¡¯s developmental history while the original copy was stored on Kunlun Station. He had built a tomb for the departed human civilization before the sun rose. Amidst the darkness of pre-dawn, he shoveled the soil and buried the hard disk bit by bit before stabbing the shovel in. Mars wasn¡¯t the Moon. The footsteps on the Moon could be preserved for hundreds of millions of years, but the sandstorms on Mars would change the terrain. It was unknown how long this tiny tomb couldst, but if everything went as expected, this shovel was the destination of humanity. Tang Yue took a step back and stared at the shovel¡¯s handle before bowing. ¡°Tang Yue, the Sun is about to rise,¡± Tomcat reminded him. ¡°I know.¡± Tang Yue circled around Kunlun Station and patted the Chelomey probe which was still sitting in the sand. It had its sr panels extended as its indicator lights blinked once a second. Even though it had been robbed of a temperature control chip by them, it didn¡¯t seem to mind. Every day, the Chelomey watched the Sunrise and watched it set, just like an elder who had experienced the vicissitudes of life. ¡°We are leaving. I¡¯m sorry we can¡¯t take you along.¡± Tang Yue stood in front of the Chelomey. ¡°Bid us farewell. Blink if you are saying goodbye.¡± The Chelomey¡¯s faint light blinked. ¡°Goodbye.¡± Tang Yue took a step back as he waved. He passed by the garage, and inside were the stacked containers used to contain feces. Tomcat had even arranged them neatly. All the tools were stored away in boxes or hung on the walls. Tang Yue closed the garage door and pushed the bolt closed. Tang Yue had onest hug with the Descent Vehicle of the Eagle. It was this spacecraft that had saved Mai Dong back then. Every day he went out on a stroll, he would often visit the Eagle to have an idle chat with it, talking about anything under the Sun. The Eagle was an excellent listener. It never interrupted him no matter what he said. From today on, no one would approach it to speak to it. Looking at it sitting alone in the barren desert, it was a mystery if it would feel lonely. Tang Yue finally stood in front of Kunlun Station¡¯s Hab. For more than three sols, this had been his only home on Mars. It had be a habit for him to finish his daily chores, return to sprawl against the chair, ordering Tomcat to pour him water. Tomcat would at times help him and at times stay on a chair opposite him, motionless. Any urging would only make it re-up. As for Mai Dong, her appearance on screen was like a ghost¡¯s. One never knew if she was there. At times, she wasn¡¯t in the core module and at times, she wasn¡¯t willing to appear within the camera despite being there. Tang Yue reached out his hand, cing his palm onto the Kunlun Station walls. For the first time, he felt regret that he had to don such a heavy, bulky Radiant Armor. He could only make contact with Kunlun Station via a fewyers of airtight, temperature insting material. If not for his gloves, he might be able to take in the smoothness, hardness, and warmth of Kunlun Station. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving.¡± Tang Yue leaned his helmet on Kunlun Station¡¯s wall as he closed his eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving.¡± Behind him, the Sun had finally risen above the horizon. Golden sunlight instantly tore through the mountains and desert, casting a shadow of Tang Yue¡¯s torso onto the Hab¡¯s outer walls. ¡°Goodbye.¡± Chapter 226: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, He Said This Bit of Roughening up Is Nothing

Chapter 226: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, He Said This Bit of Roughening up Is Nothing

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue got on the Mars Wanderer, sat in the front passenger seat, and buckled his seatbelt. ¡°Time to leave?¡± Tomcat held the steering wheel, its gaze straight ahead. ¡°Time to leave.¡± Tang Yue pressed the engine ignition and stepped down on the elerator. As the Mars Wanderer started, its wheels trembled across the desert. They had already determined their direction. It involved traversing half of the Isidis nitia to reach their destination. The Isidis nitia¡¯s east-west breadth wasparable to the Tarim Basin, but it¡¯s north-south length was twice thetter. This also meant that Tang Yue and Tomcat needed to traverse a superrge version of the Tarim Basin desert and not get lost midway. The Wanderer slowly raised its speed as it drove stably. Tang Yue sat in his seat, the rubble on the desert beneath him sweeping by. The driverpartment didn¡¯t have any ss windows to block out the wind or any doors. All that was left was a warped frame that made it look like a convertible. ¡°Are you not going to turn back for a nce?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to see.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°We are the ones going to war.¡± He pulled out the letter from the sun visor, pinching it in between his thumb and index finger. ¡°I¡¯ve never fought awsuit my entire life. What kind of dispute would awsuit involving the entire Earth be considered? A civil case or a criminal case? Is it toote for me to memorize the General Principles of the Civil Law and the Criminal Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China?¡± ¡°The Criminal Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China has a total of 10 chapters and 452 articles. The General Principles of the Civil Law has a total of 9 chapters and 156 articles. It¡¯s toote to memorize them now. If you have the ability to do so, why be a grease monkey? You could have been awyer and embark on a path to life¡¯s pinnacle.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Besides, how do you know that this is a case that involves criminal or civilw? Who knows, it might be Road Traffic Safety Law or Economic Law.¡± Tang Yue gave a wry smile. As a man with a STEM background, nothing was worse thanplicated and long windedw articles. ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m doomed to failure?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the oue for failure?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Denial forpensation?¡± ¡°If you lose thewsuit, wouldn¡¯t that mean that they can decline to makepensation?¡± Tomcat hugged its forearms and used its hind legs to hold onto the steering wheel. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense that theypensate you despite winning thewsuit. There aren¡¯t any phnthropists in the Universe.¡± ¡°But ording to the letter, Earth was vaporized because of them.¡± ¡°Lawyers can twist anything. You can call it an oversight on their part, thus causing the Earth to be vaporized, but they can im that Earth was jaywalking for not following the traffic lights,¡± Tomcat said ethereally. ¡°Who knows if they have the strongest legal department in the Universe?¡± ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t I be doomed? What¡¯s the point of going?¡± ¡°Chill. It¡¯s not necessarily that you are doomed.¡± ¡°What? Wise Old Cat, do you have some ace up your sleeve?¡± Tang Yue was surprised. ¡°Aren¡¯t you justcking awyer?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°I have a clever trick to teach you... When you really go to court, draw Mickey Mouse on the table. Then dere to all the creatures present that this cartoon image¡¯s intellectual property is yours. After that, you will receive formidable backup.¡± Tang Yue let out a sigh. Making idle talk was one thing, but both he and Tomcatcked confidence. The situation they were facing was something no human in the past ten thousand years had ever encountered. The path ahead was a blur and they didn¡¯t have any experience to reference. Tang Yue didn¡¯t know if the letter was real and he doubted Tomcat¡¯s ims. He knew that the cat¡¯s acting skills were deserving of an Oscar. Although it pretended to look clueless on the surface, it was possible that it knew everything deep down. Describing it as a war wasn¡¯t wrong either. It could be foreseen that this would be an unprecedented journey of immense difficulty. Even Tomcat was of no help. Tang Yue was destined to face the battle alone. The Mars Wanderer proceeded forward on the desert as Tang Yue cocked his head to look into the distance. They had been heading west the entire time and the terrain was t. There was almost nothing that allowed Tang Yue to focus his eyes. Soon, they were exhausted. He had no choice but to retract his gaze and blink. On the other hand, he was rmed to realize that he had underestimated the desert. Without any precise navigation, just turning him three rounds on the spot was enough to make him lose his bearings. ¡°Want to listen to some music?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°You brought a music yer?¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°y any song as long as it¡¯s pleasant to the ears. The kind that can relieve stress.¡± Tomcat began humming an old song, Sailor, by Zheng Zhihua. Clearly, the music yer it mentioned was itself. ¡°The feeling of bitter sand blowing painfully against my face, ¡°Like a father¡¯s scolding and a mother¡¯s crying, I can never forget, ¡°The young me loved going to the seashore alone...¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was like a busted gong. Singing Sailor with its tone-deaf voice sounded like ghost wails. However, it sang with emotion, akin to Old Wang who always hoarded the microphone at KTV sessions. ¡°Stop! Stop!¡± Tang Yue tried to stop it. Its voice was in no way better than nails scratching against a chalkboard. ¡°Change to another song! Change the song!¡± Tomcat ignored him. As it sang, it released its hindfoot from the elerator, slowing down the Mars Wanderer. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°We can no longer see Kunlun Station.¡± Tang Yue was rmed as he subconsciously released his seatbelt and sat up. He leaned out half his body from the driver¡¯spartment and tried his best to look into the distance. Tomcat was still singing by itself. ¡°Always dreaming of another world at the end of the ocean. ¡°Always admiring the intrepid sailor as a real man, ¡°Always weak and frail, ¡°They bullied me, always hearing the sailor say: ¡°He said this bit of roughening up is nothing...¡± On the distant horizon, Tang Yue could still vaguely see Kunlun Station¡¯s figure. The white, dome-shaped building was reflecting the bright sunlight. Like it, the Eagle could barely be made out with the Descent Vehicle sitting alone there. As for the Chelomey and garage, they had already exceeded the limits of his vision. Tang Yue felt a baffling sense of pain. He suddenly regretted not taking one more look at them, but the Mars Wanderer didn¡¯t stop. It continued cruising ahead, opening up the distance. Kunlun Station was getting smaller and smaller. At that instant, a sorrow that never existed suddenly erupted in Tang Yue. He didn¡¯t even know where it had been hiding; thus, he was left at a loss when he was suddenly awash with such feelings. All he could do was watch as Kunlun Station gradually disappeared from his sight. From today, Tang Yue might never be able to see them again. This was a farewell in the true sense of the word, but he was powerless to change this reality. He would be rootless duckweed, a wanderer no one knew of. Tang Yue slowly bent his back and leaned against the vehicle¡¯s roof. Tomcat wore a deadpan expression without even turning its head to look back once. It continued singing, ¡°He said this bit of roughening up is nothing? ¡°Dry your tears, don¡¯t be afraid, at least we still have our dreams, ¡°He said this bit of roughening up is nothing? ¡°Dry your tears and don¡¯t question why...¡± Chapter 227: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Star Chart

Chapter 227: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Star Chart

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon After Tomcat had finished singing Sailor, it sang Stars Lamp, followed by Familial Love, Path to Heaven, and Tibetan teau. It was like a retro radio, but Tang Yue didn¡¯t have the power to choose the songs he wanted. All he could do was put up Tomcat¡¯s hoarse voice that sounded like a defunct recorder. As it drove, it kept belting out songs. And when Tomcat reached the lyrics refrain¡ª¡±This is the Tibetan teau¡ªOhhhhhheeh!¡±¡ªTang Yue had no idea how he resisted the urge to jump off and escape. After Tomcat finished singing Tibetan teau, Tang Yue imagined that it was finally going to stop. But it began humming again. Just as Tang Yue was about to say something, he was taken aback. He was very familiar with the tune hummed by Tomcat. Tang Yue nearly hummed along with it as it was Tomorrow Will Be Better. ¡°Your singing has crossed a distance of 30 AU in two minutes. It¡¯s 114 times faster than light,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely the fastest in the Milky Way.¡± The Mars Wanderer continued driving for half an hour until Tomcat stopped pressing down on the elerator. It braked and switched off the engine. The Mars Wanderer only had 5% of its power left. ¡°That will be all for today. I¡¯ve already driven for thirty kilometers. What¡¯s next is to allow the Wanderer to be recharged.¡± Tomcat jumped off the vehicle and looked at the Sun before circling around to the trailer to unload the sr panels. Tang Yue got off the vehicle and stood beside the Mars Wanderer¡¯s wheels and surveyed the area. On a boundless desert covered in saline-alkali soil, there was nothing. He couldn¡¯t even find a ce to hide from the Sun. Thankfully, this was Mars. If this were Earth, he would definitely have suffered from dehydration and heatstroke. They thankfully had the Wanderer. A transportation device in the desert was like a rescue raft; otherwise, it was nearly impossible to walk out of this dry sea of death by human means alone. He couldn¡¯t see Kunlun Station anymore. Tang Yue only knew the direction where it was, but despite looking far into the distance, all he saw was a dark gray horizon. Tomcat unfolded the sr panels one after another and set them up on the ground. The forty sr panels they had, covered an area spanning half a ser field when fully set up. The entire day was left to recharging. It was fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, and until the Sun set, Tang Yue and Tomcat would stay here, waiting for the charging toplete. Tang Yue connected a transformer to the backup battery, pulled out a power cable and attached it to the Radiant Armor. Not only did the Wanderer need to be charged, but so did Tomcat and the EVA suit. The man and cat finished setting up the sr panels, and finally, Tomcat seemed to pull a magic trick, pulling out two campstools from the geb. Tang Yue and Tomcat each had one as they sat there with ck power cables attached to their backs. ¡°When do we set off again?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The charging needs at least ten to twelve hours. I estimate that we will set off at seven in the morning tomorrow. We will then head northeast another thirty kilometers.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t steer off course, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s inevitable to go off course, but it will be fine as long as we correct it in time.¡± Tomcat returned to the driver¡¯sponent and rummaged for a chart which it gave Tang Yue. Tang Yue nced at it and found it filled with numbers. He didn¡¯t understand anything other than the shortened English words: ¡°Mon,¡± ¡°Tues,¡± ¡°Wed,¡± Thur,¡± ¡°Fri,¡± ¡°Sat,¡± and ¡°Sun.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°A star chart,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Those numbers are the coordinates on a celestial sphere and theybel the positions of the celestial bodies. ¡°Star chart?¡± ¡°The sextant can only determine ourtitude. It can¡¯t give our longitude directly,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°We have to use other means to determine our longitude. The most direct way is to look at the time. Earth has time zones, and knowing which time zone you are in allows you to know your longitude.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s too crude.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s too crude.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Determining longitude based on time is, in essence, observing the Sun¡¯s height and location. At the same time but at different longitudes, the Sun¡¯s position on the celestial sphere is different. However, to ensure uracy, it¡¯s best we don¡¯t use the Sun. We should use celestial bodies that are smaller and more precise.¡± Tang Yue unfolded the chart over his knees. The bottom even reached the floor. It was an extremely long andplicated chart. Each number was precise to four or five decimal ces. It made Tang Yue recall of a table of natural logarithms attached to the end of his high school math textbook. ¡°Celestial bodies that are smaller and more precise?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat pointed up. ¡°We won¡¯t use the Sun as a reference point. We will be using Deimos and Phobos.¡± ¡°I know these names...¡± Tang Yue recalled the meaning of these two names. ¡°The moons of Mars, Mars I and Mars II?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We will use the two moons of Mars as a reference. Kunlun Station has very detailed trajectory data, and they are excellent reference points. The start chart you have indicates the celestial sphere¡¯s coordinates when observing the moons from Kunlun Station.¡± Tomcat pointed at the chart. ¡°Now that we have left Kunlun Station when we observe Deimos and Phobos at the same time, the location will be different from what¡¯s written on the star chart... We can then know our longitude and the longitudinal distance from Kunlun Station.¡± Tang Yue paused for a second. Tomcat¡¯s description was overly simple. He had failed to digest such massive amounts of information in a short timespan. ¡°Give an example.¡± ¡°Alright. For instance, at half-past seven in the evening, when you observe Deimos from Kunlun Station, it¡¯s at 1.00,¡± Tomcat borated. ¡°Then at the same time, we will observe it from here. Deimos¡¯s location is 1.01. The difference in the location is obvious because we are observing it from two different locations... This difference is equivalent to the time difference on Earth. ¡°Once you know the time difference, you can determine the longitude.¡± Tang Yue slowly nodded. Tomcat really wasn¡¯t joking when it said that they were Mars¡¯s Captain Cook. Now, its words were validated. Determining one¡¯s location via celestial bodies and time was an extremely ancient method. Centuries ago, ships that crossed the ocean would even carry sufficiently precise navigation clocks for such calctions. Now, all he had in hand was a star chart. He didn¡¯t have a cellphone, a mobile connection, GPS, or anyplicated navigation equipment. All he could rely on was time, stars, and math. ¡°How urate is this?¡± Tang Yue asked. He was a little worried about the uracy of the navigation. ¡°Don¡¯t forget we are on Mars. The beneath our feet is only half Earth¡¯s diameter. The total surface area is only equivalent to thendmass on Earth,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°A distance of three hundred kilometers on Earth is negligible, but here, it¡¯s enough to entuate the differences... As long as we calcte it precisely enough, we will be able to determine a longitude value very reliably.¡± ¡°But how do we use this?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll teach you when it¡¯s nighttime. This can¡¯t be used in the day.¡± Tomcat put away the chart and looked up at the Sun which was creeping over their heads. It then turned around and took out the simple sextant. ¡°What we will do next is to determine ourtitude.¡± Chapter 228: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Waiting For Gold Hoe

Chapter 228: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Waiting For Gold Hoe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Measuringtitude in the day and measuring longitude at night. Tang Yue sat on the tiny campstool and cocked his head as he watched Tomcat hold the sextant as it kept walking around. Thetter looked up at the Sun, pulling a thin thread against the protractor, carefully measuring the Sun¡¯s elevation angle. A weak gust of wind swirled dust across Tang Yue¡¯s feet. He moved his gaze away from Tomcat. Behind thetter¡¯s back was the ck, barren soil that exposed dark-colored base rocks. Having never experienced such a moment, Tang Yue had a deep understanding of what it meant to be in ¡°no man¡¯snd¡± as the three words seemed to inundate him. Mars was probably the biggest no man¡¯snd in the human world. No matter which direction one took for ten thousand kilometers, one wouldn¡¯t bump into a second person. This wasn¡¯t loneliness. It was deste. ¡°Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue looked down at his feet as he kicked a rock around. ¡°Do you know of a y named ¡°Waiting for Gold Hoe?¡± ¡°Waiting for Gold Hoe?¡± Tomcat turned its head. ¡°What¡¯s that? Why would one wait for snot, even if it¡¯s gold?¡± ¡°It¡¯s aedy that¡¯s very famous. It¡¯s about two people sitting under a tree waiting for something.¡± Tang Yue thought and said, ¡°They keep waiting and waiting, and in the end, the thing they were waiting for doesn¡¯te.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Waiting for Godot, a tragedy y written by Samuel Beckett. It has great significance in the world of arts.¡± Tomcat shook its head in exasperation. ¡°What do you mean Waiting for Gold Hoe?¡± This wasn¡¯t the first time Tomcat was worried about Tang Yue¡¯sck of culture. ¡°Alright, alright. Godot then.¡± Tang Yue felt that he and Tomcat were like two desert travelers waiting for a public bus. Just like dimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot, they were sitting at a bus stop at the ends of the world. On one side was the road and on the other side was an endless desert. The bus stop indicated that the bus would pass by, but no one knew when the bus woulde, or what kind of bus it was. People didn¡¯t even know if the bus existed. The bus might appear across the horizon the next second, but equally, it might never appear. The letter of unknown origins that Tang Yue was holding had prompted him to take this trip of no return. It was all for that speck of hope. ¡°They say they can restore Earth...¡± Tang Yue asked, ¡°but how are they going to do it?¡± ¡°Perhaps they will replicate Earth based on all its data,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°There will always be such intelligence in the Universe that can perfectly record all the data of the fundamental particles on Earth and then replicate them in their original states.¡± ¡°But wouldn¡¯t this vite the most basic principle of physics?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Heisenberg¡¯s uncertainty principle,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°An observer is unable to determine the location and speed of a fundamental particle at the same time.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Tomcat pondered. ¡°To be honest, this question exceeds what I know. I have no idea what the most fundamental matters that line the Universe are. After Earth vanished, human physics came to aplete stop, but advanced intelligence might have gone further than humans had. They might have made even greater breakthroughs and had obtained the microscope God used when creating the world.¡± ¡°Microscope used during the Creation?¡± ¡°A method unknown to humans, one that can peep into the deepest secrets of the Universe.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°I believe it will definitely be more advanced than a primitive tool that only relies on elerating particles.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping us from being bold in our imaginations. Perhaps they arepletely in a dimension above us? If they have the ability to enter a higher dimension, then time is just a piece of paper they can easily manipte.¡± Tomcat pointed at the letter in Tang Yue¡¯s hand. ¡°Towards such a civilization, we are like fixed frames on a table. They can casually take out one frame and change the instantaneous reality of a particr moment.¡± ¡°They can rewrite history?¡± Tang Yue couldn¡¯t help but shiver. ¡°Perhaps they don¡¯t even have the concept of history.¡± ¡°Unimaginable.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even bother trying.¡± Tomcat put away the sextant. ¡°I don¡¯t suggest you try inferring that to the owner behind the letter. The human brain is unable to formte something that exceeds your knowledge.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°No matter how strange and odd an entity your imagination can produce, it¡¯s still a result of the known elements in your brain. Think about all the monster and supernatural movies you¡¯ve watched; they are all modified and merged from Earthlings,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Ancients say that the way a dragon is drawn is to have a camel¡¯s head, deer horns, snake¡¯s neck, tortoise eyes, fish scales, tiger paws, eagle talons, and ox ears. It¡¯s the same rationale. ¡°To date, extraterrestrial intelligence that humans can imagine and draw can¡¯t escape this framework. Regardless of you imagining that aliens have four heads and eight arms, whether a sr year is 480 days, whether they will circle around a mushroom god at the end of the year celebrating the rise of the third moon, they are just a projection and modification of human society,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue widened his eyes as he slowly nodded. He wasn¡¯t sure what he could say. It wasn¡¯tmon for him to let his imagination go wild usually. In his mind, extraterrestrials were probably like James Cameron¡¯s Avatar. They were tall with blue skin as they rode on chariots, using spears and arrows to fight battleships. As such, Tang Yue¡¯s imagination of thewsuit was of the defendant sitting there alone¡ªa beautiful blue-skinned person with patterns drawn across its body in preparation for war. On its back were a bow and arrows. ¡°That¡¯s why I think that all works that try to caricature another lifeform are pointless,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°With the creator being human, it can never escape the human imagination. You can only use what¡¯s at your fingertips and try your best to make it look odd. But no matter what you do, it¡¯s actually just another version of yourself.¡± But Tomcat shattered Tang Yue¡¯s imaginations. It told Tang Yue that such poor imagination was toocking. ¡°This means... I¡¯ll be fighting awsuit against apletely unknown existence?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already going to engage in a battle with so little preparation, and now you¡¯re telling me that the enemy is apletely unimaginable existence? What about know the enemy and know yourself?¡± Tang Yue widened his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the point in fighting then? Even if I drew Mickey Mouse and get assistance, there¡¯s no way I can beat them. We¡¯re doomed.¡± ¡°Doom isn¡¯t necessary.¡± Tomcat gently twirled its whisker. It only had one whisker to twirl. ¡°Sir Cat, do you still have any other wise strategies?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°You have to teach me how to defeat the enemy.¡± ¡°Lean your ear over.¡± Tomcat beckoned with its paw. Tang Yue leaned in. ¡°If Mickey fails, draw Mario on the table,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Then, dere to all the living beings present that this cartoon image¡¯s intellectual property belongs to you.¡± Chapter 229: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Humanity’s Joy and Sadness Aren’t Interlinked

Chapter 229: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Humanity¡¯s Joy and Sadness Aren¡¯t Interlinked

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue and Tomcat sat back to back on a rock as they looked up at the sky. ¡°I feel as if we are Gypsies,¡± Tang Yue said softly, ¡°carrying a huge covered truck as we wander about.¡± Overhead was the pitch-ck sky that seemed to be made of velvet. The starry sky seemed to encase them at the bottom of an overturned bowl. The rocks and desert under the night sky had a red glow as though they were silently burning embers. This was a grand vista that struck deep into one¡¯s heart. Beneath the cold night sky was a glowing-red. Here, the small was small and the big was even bigger. ¡°I¡¯m not a Gypsy.¡± Tomcat held the star chart as it counted the stars in the sky. ¡°I¡¯m a Gypsy cat... Have you swapped your pressurized canister?¡± ¡°Did so some time ago.¡± Tang Yue patted the life support system behind him. The Radiant Armor¡¯spressed air canister had ended its historic duty that evening. After the oxygen had been depleted, Tang Yue switched the emergency oxygen unit. The Radiant Armor EVA suit had an oxygen candle interface that allowed Tang Yue to carry it on his back. The emergency oxygen system was a long rectangr body sixty centimeters long. It was highly integrated as solid alkaline perchlorate salts were sealed in a cylindrical metal vessel. Together with an electrical ignition switch and a gaspression filter, the design was ratherpact. As long as Tang Yue opened the protective seal and used his strength to pull the pull tab at the bottom of the lid, the chemical would produce oxygen under the effects of the catalysts. The oxygen would then be moisturized and filtered before entering the Radiant Armor¡¯s helmet. The carbon dioxide that Tang Yue breathed out would be absorbed by the lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The carbon dioxide absorption system¡¯s condition would directly be disyed on the Radiant Armor¡¯s wrist terminal. Green indicated good conditions and red indicated that the chemicals were almost depleted. ¡°Have you found them?¡± Tang Yue asked ¡°I¡¯ve found them.¡± Tomcat looked down at the star chart and drew a tick. ¡°Are we heading in the right direction?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°We will have to continue traveling northeast for thirty kilometers tomorrow morning. We will correct the deviations tomorrow evening to ensure that we arrive at the given coordinates.¡± ¡°When I was on Earth, I learned how to read the stars, but I¡¯ve already forgotten them all,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Old Wang said that it doesn¡¯t matter since we have long stopped using such primitive means to determine direction... In fact, it wasn¡¯t difficult either. We just needed to find Pris.¡± ¡°However, Mars doesn¡¯t have an obvious marker like Pris,¡± Tomcatnguidly leaned against Tang Yue¡¯s back. It stretched out its front paw and pointed at the sky. ¡°Do you see that huge cross?¡± ¡°Huge cross?¡± Tang Yue turned his head. ¡°Left of your sky. Do you see it? That bright cross is Cygnus. The most famous massive ck hole, Cygnus X-1 is there. It emits copious amounts of extremely powerful X-rays. It¡¯s a spinning lighthouse of the Milky Way.¡± Tomcat pointed it out to Tang Yue as he traced the direction of Tomcat¡¯s w. Amidst the stars, he made out a distorted cross. ¡°Form a line with Cygnus¡¯s head with the closest star of Cepheus. The midpoint of this line is north,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We are currently facing north, making our left west. Kunlun Station is towards our southwest... See that rock? Kunlun Station is in that direction. If you somehow get lost on Mars, walk in that direction all the way and you will return home.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°Tomcat, we no longer have a home.¡± Tomcat blinked. ¡°We are aliens,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We are stranded on Mars, strange creatures from an unknown alien. No one can discover us, hear us, or understand us.¡± ¡°Humanity¡¯s joy and sadness aren¡¯t interlinked.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Back when I was letting my imagination run wild, I thought how nice it would be if one¡¯s emotions could be shared. That way, no matter how sad something is, as long as it¡¯s equally distributed across ten thousand people, a hundred thousand people, or a million people... each person will on average experience a millionth of the sadness. If that happened, the world wouldn¡¯t see tears again.¡± ¡°But there wouldn¡¯t be smiles either.¡± Tang Yue looked nkly at the starry sky. asionally, he still imagined that the United Space Station was above him, hurtling across his head. ¡°It¡¯ste. It¡¯s time to rest.¡± Tomcat nudged Tang Yue. ¡°You can sleep for seven hours. The Radiant Armor can operate normally for eight hours, so you need to wake up an hour in advance to charge it... The time now is ten. You will have to wake up before five tomorrow to recharge it.¡± Tang Yue yawned and stole a nce at it, ¡°What about you? Do you need to recharge tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll continue stargazing.¡± Tomcat sat on the rock. Tang Yue got up and headed back to sleep. The geb on the Mars Wanderer had a sleeping bag, but it was only used to line the floor. Tang Yue had no way of crawling into it while donning the Radiant Armor. They couldn¡¯t sleep outside as the temperature at night would keep dropping until it reached ¨C80¡ãC. Such low temperatures drastically wore on the temperature control, causing the power needed to increase. They had brought the RTG along, and it was able to maintain the geb¡¯s temperature at around 0¡ãC. In contrast with the outside world, this was undoubtedly a paradise in spring. Tang Yue crawled into the geb and closed the hatch. Tomcat sat on the rock, the star chart t across its knees. This cat sat there like a statue for a very long time. Cats were strange creatures. At times, they would sit by the window motionless, a glint in their eyes suddenly appearing without anyone understanding why. Perhaps it was a baffling sense of mncholy or a strange level of silence. At times, one would suspect that they possessed simr amounts of intelligence as humans. They often traversed the walls and rooftops, looking down from above at human society. Tomcat naturallycked the ability to jump onto a roof or its short and fat body would probably smash through the roof. Cats would believe that a meatball chariot had fallen from the sky before being sent into a tizzy. However, it felt that it was just like the other cats; they were all pixies. A short and fat pixie was still a pixie. It didn¡¯t ept any ims against that! A meteor suddenly streaked across the sky, brightening for a short instant. Tomcat blinked. It was about time for it to rest. The temperature was dropping and it too found low temperatures a hazardous environment that would drastically shorten its lifespan. Tomcat got up and returned to the geb¡¯s outer hatch. The airtightb had two hatches just like the airlock. Tomcat crawled in and closed the outer hatch before opening the inner hatch. The cramped geb was dark due to ack of light. It was nearly pitch-ck apart from the faint green light emitted from the Radiant Armor indicators. Tang Yue was sitting against the wall sleeping, his head bent. He didn¡¯t spread the sleeping bag against the floor but instead hugged it tightly. When Tomcat entered, it turned around to seal the hatch before snuggling close to Tang Yue. Slowly, it curled into a huge furball and closed its eyes. Chapter 230: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Five, Greatest Sinner in Human History

Chapter 230: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Five, Greatest Sinner in Human History

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Let¡¯s paddle together and the boat will push away the waves¡ª¡± The Mars Wanderer was driving across the desert as Tomcat belted out its high notes. Even the thin Martian atmosphere could hardly stop Tomcat¡¯s demonic voice from drilling into one¡¯s head. ¡°Shut up!¡± Tang Yue roared angrily. Tomcat shot a nce at him and continued looking ahead. ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to be disturbed by anything, the best way is to be part of it. Sing with me. You know the lyrics, right? All Chinese can sing this... The beautiful white tower is reflected on the sea, green trees, and red walls all around¡ª! The boat floats on the water, and a cool wind blows against our face¡ª!¡± Tang Yue made his contempt obvious, adamant about not lowering himself to be on Tomcat¡¯s level. ¡°Get lost, I won¡¯t sing along with you!¡± ... Ten minutester. ¡°Even if fate wanders! ¡°Even if fate is full of twists and turns! ¡°Even if fate makes life nd from threats! ¡°Don¡¯t cry or abandon yourself. I will be with you forever¡ª!¡± Tang Yue stood on the front passenger seat, waving his arms like a conductor of an orchestra. He was bellowing out at the world with his crazy-like voice. ¡°Ahh¡ªohhhhhhh¡ª¡± He sang Hacken Lee¡¯s Red Sun with gusto as though he was a superstar on tour. He crossed the desert with the Mars Wanderer and although there wasn¡¯t a single soul, Tang Yue seemed to see crowds of people standing to the sides as they roared with excitement. ¡°Fell I did, tears hidden by the rainy night! ¡°I¡¯ve survived all the twists and turns of life!¡± Tang Yue sang loudly, but it wasn¡¯t obvious whether he was singing Cantonese or Japanese. As Tomcat shook its leg and sang as an apaniment, their voices were a perfect match. The man seemed to be scratching a ckboard while the cat seemed to be hitting a gong. They were reveling in high spirits. Finally, Tang Yue finished thest line with his croaking voice as Tomcat gave a loud round of apuse. ¡°I told you that you had talent.¡± It was the second sol since they had left Kunlun Station. Based on Tomcat¡¯s estimation of distance, the straight line between them and Kunlun Station was about fifty kilometers. Early in the morning, Tang Yue and Tomcat had woken up to pack up. They recharged the Radiant Armor and Tomcat before moving the sr panels onto the Mars Wanderer. The path they drove on was uneven and bumpy. With the Wanderercking any suspension, Tang Yue suffered intense vibrations while sitting in the front. Tang Yue took out the map from apartment and unfolded it. No matter which angle he looked at it from, he couldn¡¯t understand a thing. The map drawn by Tomcat was something only it could understand. ¡°Is this a map of the Isidis nitia?¡± Tang Yue pointed at the distorted lines on the map. ¡°What are these lines? Contours?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You are holding it upside down.¡± Tang Yue turned it around. He still couldn¡¯t make it out. ¡°You should at leastbel a direction and have a legend and scale. A usable map also needs a coordinate grid and numbers used for orientation,¡± Tang Yue frowned as he grumbled. He surveyed his surroundings, hoping to find some noticeablendmark. ¡°But what the hell did you draw...¡± Tomcat took a side nce. ¡°Oh, you got the wrong thing. That¡¯s not a map. That¡¯s the oue of a simtion result.¡± ¡°Simtion? What does it simte?¡± ¡°The distribution of the United Space Station¡¯s fragments after it crashed,¡± Tomcat said softly. Tang Yue¡¯s hand trembled. ¡°A massive object like the United Space Station wouldn¡¯t bepletely vaporized in the atmosphere. There will berge amounts of fragments that fall to the ground. I¡¯ve thought of gathering the remains and at least give it a home,¡± Tomcat added. ¡°But unfortunately, the spot it crashed is just too far from us. We have no way of finding it.¡± ¡°When... did you draw this?¡± ¡°Second sol after the space station¡¯s crash.¡± Tang Yue stared nkly into the distance. On the horizon beyond his sights, the space station¡¯s charred remains were scattered across the desert. ¡°If I can win thewsuit... Will the United Space Station return?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°That letter said that they willpensate me for all my losses if I were to win. The United Space Station is definitely counted as well? Every living and non-living object in the United Space Station is counted, right?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°That godlike higher-dimensional intelligent beings can extract the United Space Station the moment before it crashes and rewrite history, am I right, Tomcat?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Tang Yue... Don¡¯t ask me. I know nothing.¡± Tomcat was clearly feeling down. Tang Yue was somewhat disappointed. He knew that Tomcat couldn¡¯t give him an answer to his question, but he still hoped for one. However, Tomcat could only be honest. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Tang Yue. I¡¯m unable to give you any answers. You are Estragon and I¡¯m dimir. We have been waiting for Godot, but none of us knows what Godot is.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Godot in Waiting for Godot hope?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It was never hope.¡± Tang Yue leaned back into his seat and stared nkly ahead. All he saw was rocks and sand that repeated endlessly. They were inching closer to their destination, but whaty waiting at the destination of the Mars Wanderer¡¯s journey? Tomcat was unable to give him an answer. Even if the contents of the letter were authentic, Tang Yue had to face a godlike intelligent civilization and defeat it. The former sounded incredulous while thetter sounded like fool¡¯s talk. What could Tang Yue rely on to defeat a powerful intelligence that had the ability to interfere and even control time? This was probably a trip destined to failure¡ªTang Yue was mentally prepared for that. He believed it was the same with Tomcat, but neither one of them said it out loud. ¡°If I fail, will I be the greatest sinner in human history?¡± Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You could vindicate me a little at such times.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s because there¡¯s no one to me you. There¡¯s no need for you to be responsible to anyone. With regard to this question, unless you can sessfully save the Earth, anything you do makes you a sinner. You could have ignored the letter and lived your days. By burning that ridiculous letter, the world would immediately be restored to normal. Have you heard of the trolley problem?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°The one with a trolley barreling down tracks and on the tracks there¡¯s an innocent person tied to it, and on the other track are five brats. And it happens that you have a plunger to switch the set of tracks?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Unless you are Superman, capable of lifting the trolley and throwing it away; otherwise, anything you do is wrong. Inaction is also wrong. When that happens, what should you do?¡± ¡°What can I do...¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°I¡¯d probably return home to unclog my toilet.¡± Chapter 231: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Five, Gandalf Standing Above the Dunes

Chapter 231: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Five, Gandalf Standing Above the Dunes

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat suddenlyughed. ¡°Indeed, a passerby who is preparing to unclog the toilet is suddenly given a decision to save the world. What can he do?¡± ¡°If you gave me a howitzer, I might still be able to st them to kingdome,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Unfortunately, all I have is a toilet plunger.¡± ¡°Then plunge them to kingdome.¡± ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Then use it on yourself.¡± ... On the evening of the second sol, the Mars Wanderer suffered its first malfunction. This damaged and decorated old dog finally couldn¡¯t hold on. Its entire life had been dedicated to the Mars Landing Project. For more than ten years, the Mars Wanderer had been the most able assistant to the expedition team. It had contributed much, but it was already nearing its retirement age. Its recement had already been designed. It was a bigger, faster, more advanced, and higher endurance vehicle. It was said that a single charge could allow the vehicle to travel at 45 km/h for two hours. It was far greater than what the Mars Wanderer was capable of. Once the new vehicle arrived, the old vehicle was bound to be abandoned. It wasmon for people to abandon the old for the new. Tang Yue had once stroked the Wanderer¡¯s wheels and said poignantly that the pioneers were ultimately buried by history. Who would remember this lonely old dog years into the future? However, Tom said that it was a good thing. If people from the future kept remembering them, it meant that they had nothing to look forward to. We risked our lives to pave the path for future generations, not for them to stand there remembering us. Tomcat sat in the driver¡¯spartment as it peeked its head out and asked, ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue was the one who found the malfunction. It was almost evening and Tang Yue wished to move the Mars Wanderer to somewhere a little more elevated, but when the elerator was pressed down, a strange, soft sound was heard. It alerted the man and cat as they stopped all their attempts to start it and began doing an inspection. Tang Yue was crouched beside the Wanderer¡¯s wheel. He had a maintenance panel open in front of him and an open toolbox beside him. ¡°It¡¯s a slight malfunction. The driveshaft is a little loose. Just tightening it will do. It¡¯s not a serious problem. Be it man or machine, problems arise once you grow old...¡± Tang Yue used a wrench to hit the Mars Wanderer¡¯s hull and moved away the power cables underneath to nce inside. As a mechanical engineer, repairing the Mars Wanderer was part of his job. He knew the old dog better than anyone. ¡°Can you fix it before we set off tomorrow morning?¡± Tomcat sked. ¡°No problem. I¡¯ve done the checks. There shouldn¡¯t be any malfunctions any time soon.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°However, we still have a long distance ahead. Let¡¯s hope it canst until we reach our destination... Wanderer o¡¯ Wanderer, we¡¯ll be relying on you to walk out of this desert alive. You must stay reliable. If you want to die, die after youplete the mission.¡± Unfortunately, the vehicle couldn¡¯t open its mouth. Otherwise, it would definitely snap the man¡¯s throat apart. ¡°We have to avoidplicated terrain, especially steep slopes and cliffs. From the present situation... The transmission drive is very worn out. The Wanderer no longer has the ability to climb up slopes. It¡¯s best we don¡¯t meet that ancient long wall you encountered thest time.¡± Tang Yue sat on the ground. ¡°Otherwise, we¡¯ll definitely have to get out and push it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The wall is west of Kunlun Station,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We have been heading northeast. It¡¯s impossible we will meet it.¡± ¡°Who knows?¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°What if the wall, built by a bunch of super-ancient Martians, was built as a circr enclosure? It circles the entire Isidis nitia to withstand against any invasion from gigantic enemies.¡± ¡°Cut the nonsense,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The wall was naturally formed.¡± Tang Yue was stunned. ¡°It wasn¡¯t built by super-ancient Martians?¡± ¡°Of course not. Mars has probably never had any intelligent civilization in the past. It might have had life in the very distant past, but they didn¡¯t produce advanced intelligence. The ancient wall I encountered might seem fascinating, but it¡¯s, in fact, a work of nature,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°After I returned to Kunlun Station, I spent a long time analyzing the reason for its formation. I also used the workstation to run simtions. The calctions told me that the greatest possibility is due to geological activity and weathering.¡± ¡°Just that?¡± ¡°Just that.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Most of the things in this world aren¡¯t as fascinating as you imagine. Some things might appear unbelievable, but there¡¯s a rather simple reason behind them. ¡°Ipared the remote sensing data from past years and discovered that the two sides of the wall are geologically different. It¡¯s actually the demarcating line of two huge rockyers. They will shatter under weathering and gravity, just like the rtionship of icecaps and ice mountains. And the region that¡¯s geologically low has water gathered in it. At low temperatures, water will freeze into ice that will reduce friction. This causes the rock to easily move and stack up. This process is extremely slow, but after tens of millions of years, enough rock will be stacked up high. After being weathered, they be city walls. Tang Yue was somewhat disappointed. Tomcat was often this way. It clearly exined the reasons behind a question without leaving any room for doubt. Without a doubt, one naturally couldn¡¯t have wild imaginations. Tang Yue once imagined that Mars was the massive ruins of a civilization¡ªa very romantic fantasy. Every inch ofnd he walked on had once been walked on by intelligent lifeforms millions of years ago. They had built grand walls that went as far as the eyes could go. There were also massive and flourishing cities with streets running across them and extending into every corner of the world. This great civilization might have been lost to time, but just a glimpse of their remains was enough to stir one¡¯s heart and fill it with respect. However, Tomcat¡¯s analysis quickly pulled him back to reality. There had never been any Martians. Nor were there any high walls or cities. Much less a grand civilization. There were only rocks and sand. ¡°Can¡¯t you leave me some room for imagination?¡± ¡°I did,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The simtion results are 99.7% identical to the actual situation. You still have a 0.3% chance that Martian civilization exists.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Do you believe that with such a high probability is enough to give birth to a Middle Earth?¡± ¡°Gandalf the Grey?¡± ¡°Yes, Gandalf the Grey?¡± Tang Yue casually pointed at a distant sand dune. ¡°150 million years ago, in the distant Third Age, Gandalf the Grey stood on that dune raising his staff high up and looking west. He discovered Sauron¡¯s army. From that moment, it drew the curtains of a grand and circuitous epic.¡± Chapter 232: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Six, Tomcat’s Vehicle Pushing

Chapter 232: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Six, Tomcat¡¯s Vehicle Pushing

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Come¡ª! On your mark!¡± ¡°One! Two! Three¡ª! Heave! Ho¡ª!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat held their shoulders against the Mars Wanderer as they exerted their strength together. The man and cat gritted their teeth, groaning away as though they were suffering from constipation. Their four hind limbs were slipping across the ground. ¡°Heave¡ª!¡± Tang Yue growled. ¡°Ho! A little bit more! Just a little bit more!¡± The vehicle finally budged as the wheel that had fallen into a pit slowly crawled out. ¡°Just a little bit more...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s face was flushed red as his head was perspiring profusely. He had used all his energy in that final push. ¡°It¡¯s about toe out! Almost!¡± ¡°You sh*t it out?¡± Tang Yue felt all his strength drain from him as he nearly fell to the ground. He was unable to hold the heavy vehicle in ce as it slowly rolled back into the pit. It was all for nothing. ¡°Will you die if you don¡¯t say something obscene?¡± Tang Yue sat down and panted while leaning against the Wanderer¡¯s wheel. He red fiercely at Tomcat. He was rather pissed. This tiny pit had dyed them for more than an hour. When Tomcat drove, it did its best to avoidplicated terrain, but it was inevitable that it missed a few sand pits. The Wanderer was really not an all-terrain vehicle. The grip on its wheels and the torque of its engine were greatlycking. When Tomcat depressed the elerator all the way down, it would hear the wheels spinning inside the pit. ¡°That¡¯s not obscene. I¡¯m just expressing my concern for you. Your life and work bnce are highly imbnced and you eat irregr meals. I¡¯ve no idea if your digestive system and bowels are still fine.¡± Tomcat sat down and, using a tone as though it was asking about Tang Yue¡¯s family, asked, ¡°Does Brother Poo leave on time every day?¡± ¡°He meets me daily at the same time! You don¡¯t have to worry about it!¡± Tang Yue replied grumpily. As a normal person, eating, sleeping, defecating, urinating, and sleeping were ordinary biological requirements. The most troublesome part was defecating. Urinating was, in fact, rather convenient. The Radiant Armor had a urine collector that had specialized male and female types. They were removable and could contain a total of 1.5 liters. Everyone¡¯s urine on Mars was recycled and reused. After leaving Kunlun Station, Tang Yue didn¡¯t need to recycle it anymore. All the urine stored in the container was cleared away daily. During the trip, when Tang Yue suddenly called for Tomcat to stop and got down to stand on the ground, he would stand there for half a minute motionlessly... Tomcat would thus know what Tang Yue was doing. Even though the urine collector¡¯s design guaranteed that it wouldn¡¯t leak regardless of the pose, the users didn¡¯t trust it and would stand instead of sit. Defecation was a lot moreplicated. Tang Yue couldn¡¯t just stand motionlessly for half a minute and clear his bowels as the Radiant Armor didn¡¯t have a feces collector. If he did that, he was bound to sh*t his pants and the Radiant Armor would be unwearable. Kunlun Station had a toilet and it could extract all the water from the feces, sterilize them, and package them. It was a one-stop service. However, the Mars Wanderer didn¡¯t have such a facility... Therefore, Tang Yue¡¯s saviors were empty containers. This was a ratherplicated process. First, Tang Yue had to enter the geb and seal the hatch. After confirming the airtightness, he would take off the Radiant Armor. Wearing an oxygen mask, he would prepare an empty box and stic bag, cing them stably on the geb¡¯s floor. During his defecation, Tang Yue had to be very careful not to flip over the container. Everything was over if he did. Finally, Tang Yue would seal the container of ck mush before throwing it forever into the uninhabited Martian desert. ¡°How far have we traveled?¡± ¡°79 kilometers.¡± ¡°There¡¯s still another 200 kilometers to go.¡± Tang Yue looked down at the control terminal on the back of his EVA suit. He prodded it and saw that the pressure and temperature figures were normal. ¡°This is such an endless stretch.¡± ¡°You shoulder the load, I walk the horse. We wee the sunrise and send away the sunset...¡± Tomcat hummed a tune that Tang Yue had never heard before as it circled the wheels and looked around. It picked up gravel to fill the pit. Today was the third sol. The past three sols had been smooth. The Mars Wanderer hadpleted its daily mission without any problems arising. As an old but tenacious old dog, it could be said to be one that gave its all until itsst breath. It exemplified its seniors like Curiosity showcasing its tenacious spirit. The sr panels were still in good condition as well. ¡°I say, Tomcat. Is there a way to make the Wanderer go faster?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The Wanderer can only go thirty kilometers a sol. There are only twenty-four hours in a sol and most of the time is wasted by us. Can we think of a way to make it travel forty kilometers a sol or even further? That will greatly shorten the time it will take us.¡± ¡°Why are you asking me this question?¡± Tomcat crouched beside the wheel. ¡°You¡¯re the engineer. No one knows this old dog better than you.¡± Tang Yue bit on a straw as he slowly sucked the water from the water bag. ¡°It¡¯s because I can¡¯t think of a solution. What limits the Wanderer¡¯s daily range is the batteries. There¡¯s no way to increase their capacity, so there¡¯s no way to change the engine.¡± ¡°Since you¡¯re already aware of the answer, why ask me?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s not as if I¡¯m capable of changing thew of conservation of energy. Before setting off, I had suggested we bring Kunlun Station¡¯s backup batteries along. That could have increased the Wanderer¡¯s daily range, but you rejected the idea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because they aren¡¯tpatible at all.¡± Tang Yue threw up his hands. ¡°The parameters are all different.¡± ¡°I believe that¡¯s a simple problem for you to resolve.¡± ¡°If we had moved the backup batteries from Kunlun Station onto the vehicle, Kunlun Station¡¯s life support system would be finished,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°There¡¯s so little life on this.¡± ¡°But we took away all the sr panels,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Without any replenishment for the backup batteries on Kunlun Station, the life support system won¡¯tst long either.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there still the RTG?¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°The RTG¡¯s tiny output ispletely insufficient to maintain a human¡¯s survival, but it should be barely enough for some tomatoes. I did the math. If I didn¡¯t make any mistakes, the tomatoes should be able to live until they reach a peaceful death... Even if the nts fail to survive, there are still the microbes.¡± Tomcat shot a nce at Tang Yue whose tone was stable and unperturbed. It was an attitude as though he had set everything in order. He had buried human¡¯s history, closed Kunlun Station, adjusted the life support system, and settled the nts. He had even made precise calctions to ensure that they couldst without any human interference. Then, he left without anything holding him back. ¡°Done resting?¡± Tomcat stuffed enough gravel into the pit and smacked its ws. ¡°If you¡¯re done resting,e over and push the vehicle. This time, we have to push it out in one fell swoop.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tang Yue got up and stood beside Tomcat. Using their shoulders and palms, they exchanged looks. ¡°On your mark¡ª!¡± ¡°One! Two! Three¡ª! Heave! Ho¡ª!¡± ¡°It¡¯s out! It¡¯s out! It¡¯s finally out¡ª!¡± ¡°You sh*t it out?¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± Tomcat, will you die if you don¡¯t say something obscene?¡± Chapter 233: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Six, Raising Flags Across the Universe

Chapter 233: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Six, Raising gs Across the Universe

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue sat on the Mars Wanderer¡¯s geb, watching the setting sun fall below the horizon. In the same direction, the night sky and starry sky were slowly rising. Tang Yue had heard of the legend of Guixu. In an era when sea navigation and cosmology were underdeveloped, the ancients believed thend to be t. They believed that at the end of the world was an unending huge waterfall that went over the edge. Boundless amounts of seawater would cascade down from the cliff into an endless void. That was truly an unimaginable spectacle. He had tried imagining Mars to be a massive ne. If that were true, Tang Yue would be able to see the resplendent Milky Way rise from beneath his feet simply by standing at the edge of thend... If only Mars were t, that could save him the trouble of looking up to face the Universe. Looking up just stressed the neck too much. Tomcat crawled up from the side and sat beside Tang Yue. The man and cat sat beside each other. ¡°How far have we traveled?¡± ¡°95 kilometers.¡± ¡°How much farther do we have to go?¡± ¡°180 kilometers.¡± ¡°There¡¯s still such a long distance... This is really the longest route I¡¯ve taken in all my life,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°What do you think is driving us to continue this trip?¡± ¡°Hope?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not hope,¡± Tang Yue shook his head and muttered. ¡°What hope is there? Actually, I know how unreliable this letter is. Even if it¡¯s real, it¡¯s impossible for me to win thewsuit. I¡¯m not awyer. This battle is just doomed for failure. There¡¯s no chance of Earth being restored.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s inertia,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Humans are like wheels. You can push a wheel ahead with all your strength. Even if it loses its driving force, it will continue rolling until all its energy is used up and it copses. I¡¯m now like a wheel without any driving force, but I¡¯m still rolling ahead. I¡¯ll stop rolling when I hit an obstacle and that will be the end.¡± Tang Yue sighed as he looked up at the sky andy down, stretching out his limbs. Tomcat alsoy down and spread out its limbs. ¡°Look at the sky... Is that a cloud?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Under the pitch-ck sky, Tang Yue saw a very faint and sparse white cotton-like object. It emitted a weak glow and was slowly moving across the sky at a rate nearly indiscernible to the eye. ¡°There are clouds here? That¡¯s rare.¡± ¡°The Martian atmosphere obviously has clouds... It¡¯s just something you don¡¯t usually notice. After all, there are small amounts of water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The clouds you see are likely ice crystals of frozen water or dry ice formed from carbon dioxide. However, they are much higher than the clouds on Earth,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°They are distributed in the upper atmosphere above forty kilometers.¡± Tang Yue looked at the translucent, cotton-like clouds and suddenly felt that they were egg whites mixed into the ck jelly-like Chinese medicine, Tortoise Jelly. He couldn¡¯t be med for not noticing them. These clouds just didn¡¯t stand out. It was only against the pitch-ck background that Tang Yue barely noticed them. These extremely sparse clouds which floated tens of kilometers above the surface only became striking enough from reflecting sunlight. In the day, the sunlight was too strong, preventing anyone from discovering them. The changes in the Martian weather were often small and slow. If there was a weather forecast here, it would be a forecast of clear skies to cloudy. Clear skies. Clear skies. Clear skies. Clear skies. Clear skies. Clear skies. Tang Yue suddenlyughed. He found such a weather forecast amusing for some baffling reason. A single phrase could be used for ten thousand years. ¡°It might not always be clear skies. There are hurricanes.¡± Tang Yue suddenly recalled the possibility. The global hurricanes on Marssted months or even half a year. They left a deep impression on him. ¡°The hurricane we met thest time won¡¯t happen again, right?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tomcat categorically rejected the notion. ¡°The one we met was a very rare, small-scale, strong convection current. Such strong hurricanes can be counted on one hand in history. The conditions for their formation are very stringent. The chances are lower than winning five million on the lottery. You will only see it once your entire life. If you were to meet it again, you would be the Chosen One. The important task of rescuing the world would definitely be yours if that was the case.¡± ¡°Then what about a global hurricane?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about global hurricanes as they are periodic. They follow very strictws of physics.¡± Tomcat scratched its ears. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared by the word ¡®hurricane.¡¯ The strength of sandstorms on this godforsaken is very weak. It can¡¯t evenpare to Beijing¡¯s smog.¡± Compared to the convection current that came suddenly, global hurricanes were much milder. It often came and went slowly, gentlying and going. When they descended, they were like Beijing¡¯s smog. For a Chinese citizen who was used to such situations, a mild Martian sandstorm was really nothing. ¡°The Martian weather is strongly periodic. Let¡¯s use an extreme example. If such a strong hurricane stirred this year, it will happen at the same time and ce next year, one of the same scale,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Do you get it? As global hurricanes are periodic, we can estimate when they start and end.¡± ¡°When will the next global hurricane start?¡± ¡°A global hurricane happens roughly once every three to four Martian years. The next hurricane will happen in spring a Martian yearter, which means two Earth years. The earliest will be in two years¡¯ time, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Tomcat was extremely confident. There would only be a hurricane in two years and from Tomcat¡¯s point of view, it wouldn¡¯t affect Tang Yue. By that time, Tang Yue would have already left or be dead. After they were dead, who cared what happened. It didn¡¯t matter even if the strong hurricanes peeled off the crust. Therefore, Tomcat freely raised gs. It happily raised it high above Olympus Mons. It wanted the whole Universe to see it! ¡°But...¡± Tang Yue hesitated. ¡°But what?¡± It could raise the g firmly without any fear, and nobody could have any thoughts of uprooting it. This was because backing behind this g were Newton, Joule, Pascal, and Helmholtz! Predicting hurricanes was, in essence, a climate problem. It was thermodynamics research. It wasn¡¯t like metaphysics such as astrology or divination, but something that strictly adhered to physics and relied on reliable data. Therefore, Tomcat boldly dared to raise gs to show it to the Universe! ¡°But... that¡¯s data from past observations, right?¡± Tang Yue voiced out his worries. ¡°After Earth vanished, wouldn¡¯t Mars¡¯s orbit be affected? Would the atmospheric heating and cirction conditions still be the same as before?¡± Tomcat paused. It widened its eyes. Holy sh*t! I¡¯m wrong! I¡¯m wrong. I¡¯ll immediately take down the g on Olympus Mons! Chapter 234: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven, Threshold

Chapter 234: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven, Threshold

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue sat cross-legged inside the geb. He held a packet of food with one hand as his body swayed with the vehicle. He was like a manualborer eating a boxed meal on a train. The packet contained beef, top-quality Qinchuan beef. It was a variety specially prepared by the Northwest A&F University for the Mars Landing Project. It was specially prepared and non-purchasable. The meat was fresh, juicy, and rich in nutrients. Compared to thepressed biscuits and tomatoes, this was a king¡¯s treatment. If this were two months ago, Tang Yue would have sold Tomcat for a single packet. Wait a moment. Swapping Tomcat for a packet will be a loss. Perhaps two packets were better. Tang Yue took off the heavy Radiant Armor. He only had that small amount of time when he could be free of the airtight turtle shell during mealtime every day. The Radiant Armor was lined internally with cont tubes in a dense mesh. The cont was used to dissipate heat. If theyers of mesh were ced side by side, the total length might even exceed twenty kilometers. Under most conditions, the Radiant Armor wouldn¡¯t feel hot internally, but even so, it was still stuffy. The oxygen produced by the emergency oxygen system came with the smell of burnt stic. It was unknown where the smell came from. Even the lithium hydroxide monohydrate was unable to absorb the smell. The smell inside the Radiant Armor was enough to suffocate Tang Yue. He tore open a packet of Kobe beef. As widely known to many, Kobe beef was a top-quality delicacy that was expensive. One had to find an old store in Tokyo or Osaka with a history of nearly a century. Matching it with alcohol as rmended by the boss with two thin medium-rare slices to enjoy it was best. One couldn¡¯t eat too much of it or the cloyed taste of meat would be overwhelming. It was unknown which culinary god had turned Kobe beef into canned food. Each packet was the size of a palm. It was probably meant to adorn the main meal, but Tang Yue didn¡¯t seem to care that he was dealing with something high-end. He tore open the packet and poured it all into his mouth, chewing with great force as though he was matching abalone and loach together with tofu for a stew. It was an utter waste of good food. After having dinner, Tang Yue was licking his fingers when he suddenly recalled that he had just cleared the urine receptacle in the Radiant Armor. He instantly paused as half his ring finger remained in his mouth. Tang Yue thought for a few seconds. There was still half a finger left. To lick or not to lick? That is the question. ... Tang Yue drank a huge cup of orange juice before burping satisfactorily. At that moment, the Mars Wanderer shook and came to a stop. Tang Yue looked out the window and pressed down on the earpiece. ¡°Tomcat? Why did we stop? Did the wheel get stuck again?¡± ¡°No,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Come down and take a look.¡± Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor, stuffing the trash into a stic bag before opening the hatch. He then threw all the trash outside. Tomcat had already alighted and was standing in front of the vehicle, its back facing him. The Mars Wanderer wasn¡¯t stuck in a pit and everything seemed normal. Tang Yue went forward and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why did you stop?¡± Tomcat raised its paw and pointed at the horizon ahead. ¡°That¡¯s our destination.¡± Following that, it turned around and pointed in the direction where they hade from. ¡°That¡¯s Kunlun Station.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°What are you getting at?¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word as it used its w to draw a line beside the wheel. ¡°We are currently 140 kilometers from our destination. We are also 140 kilometers from Kunlun Station.¡± Stunned, Tang Yue immediately understood the meaning of the line. It was the threshold. This was the final threshold before Tang Yue could regret it. This line was 140 kilometers from their destination and 140 kilometers from Kunlun Station. It was the midpoint between their origin and destination. ¡°We reached here so quickly?¡± ¡°This means that our attempts have been effective. We managed to advance 40 kilometers today.¡± Tomcat gestured its mouth at the Wanderer. They had hung sr panels all over it, greatly slowing down its speed while letting it recharge. This extended the distance it could travel every day. The facts proved that Tomcat and Tang Yue¡¯s calctions were urate. The power expenditure and power charging speed of the Mars Wanderer had reached an intricate bnce. It significantly decreased the battery¡¯s power expenditure, and although the Wanderer continued creeping forward like a turtle, the distance it could cover every day had been extended. ¡°Tang Yue... It isn¡¯t toote to regret it yet.¡± Tomcat turned around. ¡°If you turn back here, we still have enough resources to support your return to Kunlun Station. Once we pass this line, we can no longer turn back.¡± This was the midpoint, the midpoint of the entire journey. It was also the midpoint of the expended resources. As long as Tang Yue turned back and decided against continuing, Tomcat could immediately turn the Mars Wanderer and return to Kunlun Station where they could lead days of eating and drinking. They could ignore the letter and the coordinates. They could die for all they cared. Tang Yue stood beside Tomcat, looking at the shallow gully at his feet. As long as he took a step forward, it was a trip of no return. The remaining resources wouldn¡¯t be enough to support his return to Kunlun Station. He could only be as stubborn as a mule and continue all the way. ¡°Tang Yue, go back. Forget that darn letter,¡± Tomcat muttered. ¡°No one will me you for not going. You don¡¯t have to be responsible for anyone. Stop waiting for Godot. Godot won¡¯t appear, even if you wait.¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t say a word. ¡°We still have sufficient survival necessities, food and water, and power. If you return, you can lead a very full andfortable life. The nts in Kunlun Station are still waiting for you to take care of them...¡± Tang Yue clenched his fists as he took a few slow, deep breaths. ¡°There¡¯s no hope taking this road. You will only die silently on the desert ins. You will painfully suffocate to death because of theck of oxygen. Do you understand?¡± Tomcat watched Tang Yue as he began shaking. It took a step closer and grabbed Tang Yue¡¯s hand. ¡°I don¡¯t wish to see you in pain, much less have to take your corpse back.¡± ¡°Thank you for taking care of me, Tomcat.¡± Tang Yue shrugged off Tomcat¡¯s paw. ¡°But I¡¯m only a wheel.¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°A wheel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a wheel that¡¯s rolling forward thanks to inertia. Have you seen such a wheel turn back?¡± Tang Yue took a step forward before following up closely with another step before crossing that line. Then, he continued moving forward one step at a time. ¡°I¡¯m as free as the wind.¡± Tang Yue walked as he spread out his arms, shouting into the sky. ¡°My soul is as free as the wind.¡± Tomcat looked at this young man¡¯s departing back when it suddenly realized that Tang Yue had never cared if the letter was real. Nor did he care if winning thewsuit could lead to theplete restoration of Earth. He was just walking one step at a time, firmly and resolutely walking towards his end and death. Chapter 235: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Don’t Abandon Me

Chapter 235: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Don¡¯t Abandon Me

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Fifth sol after leaving Kunlun Station. Tang Yue walked briskly across the desert, but it was more like a stroll. As he walked, the sunlight drew out his long shadow. Tang Yue would often walk around after sitting for too long. After all, the Mars Wanderer wasn¡¯t fast. It would simply follow closely beside him at the same speed as his walking. Tomcat sat in the driver¡¯s seat and had its hind legs crossed. ¡°I think you should learn how to use the sextant to determine direction. It¡¯s a very practical technique. I actually did not agree with the removal of this technique from your training,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Even if there¡¯s no way to do it as precisely as me, you will be able to determine your rough location.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I still have you?¡± Tang Yue narrowed his eyes as he imagined a line drawn in front of him that extended into the distance. He was following that line forward. ¡°You just need to confirm it. Your observation precision is far higher than my naked eyes. If I were to do the navigation, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d throw myself into a ditch.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying when I¡¯m not around.¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you be around?¡± Tang Yue turned to nce at Tomcat. Tomcat was taken aback as it leaned back into the seat and pondered for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯m saying... I¡¯m saying that in the event that I¡¯m not around? Learning more skills can¡¯t be wrong. It won¡¯t hurt after all. From today on, in this darn world, you will always encounter situations where you can¡¯t find someone to help you.¡± Tang Yue was puzzled, unsure why Tomcat was suddenly mentioning this. How many more days did he have in his life? Why would there be a situation that required him to obtain help from others and not find any? This was akin to telling a terminally-ill patient with only three days to live that he ought to study and enrich themselves to lead a better life in the future. The dying person would probably sit up in fright. Future? What future? ¡°There¡¯s no future.¡± Tang Yue looked down at his feet. ¡°Every step taken on this path is one fewer step to take.¡± ¡°You are a man. I forgot who said it... To a man, there are certain wars in this world that require you to face it alone.¡± Tomcat didn¡¯t reply to Tang Yue directly as it continued speaking, its body shaking with the vehicle. ¡°No one knows what the future entails, but no matter what happens, even if you are the only one left, Tang Yue, even if you are alone... I hope that you can recognize the correct direction and continue proceeding down firmly.¡± Tang Yue was somewhat rmed before he smiled. ¡°To say something like that, does it mean Lord Cat is going to abandon me?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll apany you to the final moment, as best as I can... If you don¡¯t abandon me, I won¡¯t abandon you. Even if you abandon me, I won¡¯t abandon you.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Come on up. That should be enough for an after-meal stroll. We need to speed up.¡± Tang Yue leaned against the Mars Wanderer, raised his foot onto a step, exerted his strength, and burrowed into the drivingpartment. Once he was in the front passenger seat, Tomcat floored the elerator and began speeding up. ¡°The atmospheric monitors are beginning to sound alerts. The density of the carbon dioxide is rising.¡± Tang Yue prodded the control terminal on the back of his hand. There was a tiny exmation mark blinking. The emergency oxygen system onlysted a maximum of forty hours when used for a single person, but in fact, it hadn¡¯t reached that figure. Tang Yue was using the third canister. At this moment, the oxygen candle had reached the end of its life. Tomcat took out a brand new emergency oxygen generator (EOG) from behind the seat, patted Tang Yue¡¯s shoulder, indicating that he faced his back to it. ¡°This is the fourth one.¡± ¡°Yes, the fourth one.¡± There were only a total of six units of the emergency oxygen generating system. They had already used half of the oxygen. Tomcat removed the lock and removed the expended EOG from the Radiant Armor. The expended oxygen candle felt hot to the touch to the point of scalding. This was because the dposition of the alkali metal perchlorate salts was an exothermic reaction. Of course, Tomcat didn¡¯t care about that. ¡°Humans have a natural fear of suffocation.¡± Tang Yue took the expended oxygen candle from Tomcat¡¯s paw. He slowly fiddled with it. ¡°When on Earth and on Kunlun Station, I¡¯ve never felt that oxygen was a valuable resource. The most worthless thing in the world is air that can be found anywhere... But when you package it and tell me that every use means one less of it, I can¡¯t help but feel worried and horrified.¡± The EOG had English instructions on its surface. There were also tiny diagrams. Tang Yue did a simple sweep of it, but only remembered the word ¡°Oxygen¡± from it. ¡°I don¡¯t need to breathe, so I probably can¡¯t empathize with you.¡± Tomcat removed the safety catch of the EOG and pulled the switch. ¡°Then imagine oxygen as electricity and the oxygen candles as batteries,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If you were left in a world that doesn¡¯t have any electricity generators and you only have onest battery in paw, with every bit used meaning one bit less, can you understand now?¡± Tomcat held the EOG and considered for two seconds before inserting it into the Radiant Armor¡¯s interface. ¡°Roughly, but I will switch myself off when I only have a little bit of power left.¡± Tomcat finished installing the brand new EOG and carbon dioxide collection canister. With a click, the Radiant Armor indicated that the EOG had been installed sessfully. The helmet¡¯s venttion system began working, blowing air rich in oxygen into the helmet. Tang Yue took a deep breath before looking at the control terminal. The carbon dioxide in the EVA suit had dropped to a normal level. ¡°Tomcat.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Tomcat tightened the carbon dioxide collection canister and began inspecting the Radiant Armor¡¯s life support system. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to fight this battle alone. If you aren¡¯t beside me, I won¡¯t even be able to swap the oxygen generation system and the carbon dioxide collection canister.¡± ¡°Not necessary,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°You can swap it yourself inside the experiment module.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s no way for me to drive the Wanderer alone. It¡¯s not something I can deal with. It goes on strike at random.¡± ¡°You are a mechanical engineer. You can fix anything. It¡¯s part of your job.¡± ¡°Then... Then I have no way of navigating. I¡¯m unable to determine the correct direction alone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I hope that you can learn to use the sextant and read the stars. As long as you learn that, you can head in the correct direction.¡± Tang Yue fell silent. Every reason he came up with didn¡¯t hold. ¡°Tang Yue, you have to believe that if you are strong enough, the environment can¡¯t defeat you. Loneliness cannot defeat you. This world cannot defeat you either, regardless if you are just one person...¡± Tomcat finally said, ¡°you will still be able to reach your destination.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t not have you,¡± Tang Yue said softly. ¡°Without you, I won¡¯t even be able to continue down this path. So, don¡¯t abandon me.¡± ¡°Why would I abandon you?¡± Tomcat was taken aback as it sighed. ¡°I¡¯m existing because of you.¡± ¡°Then regardless of the path in the future, you have to stay by my side and walk with me to the end.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°No matter whatys ahead, I¡¯ll stay by your side and walk with you to the end.¡± Chapter 236: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Universe’s Roving Court

Chapter 236: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Universe¡¯s Roving Court

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue dragged a power cable and climbed up a hill. Standing at a striking spot under the setting sun, the horizon connected to the light brown sky waspletely t. Tomcat said that the Isidis nitia was originally a meteorite crater, having been hit by a huge meteorite 3.9 billion years ago. Its diameter exceeded 1,500 kilometers, and there were hundreds of thousands of craters of varying sizes on Mars. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for anything suspicious.¡± Tang Yue extended his arm and pointed ahead. ¡°Our destination is in that direction, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat took a nce ahead. ¡°But it¡¯s still a hundred kilometers from us. What do you expect to discover? The distance has long exceeded the limits of a human¡¯s naked eye.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Mars is a sphere. Even if a Burj Khalifa stood at the given coordinates, it would be below the horizon. We wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything that far even if we had the Hale Telescope.¡± Tomcat shrugged. Tang Yue was somewhat disappointed. Despite traveling in the desert for so long, there was only an unchanging sea of dunes and desert ahead; there wasn¡¯t anything that could garner any excitement. A building like the Burj Khalifa naturally didn¡¯t exist on Mars. If it really existed, it would have long been discovered by humans. In the past few decades, humanity had sent numerous probes. Perhaps even humanity didn¡¯t realize that the satellites that the Mars Landing Project took with it could be counted in sacks. Back then, sack after sack of space trash was thrown out of Orion in Martian near-orbit, with the fate of each probe tied to the graduation theses of thousands of postgraduate students. ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to be fighting awsuit with them?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Could our destination be a court?¡± It was impossible to have such lofty courts on Earth, so Tang Yue was more of the opinion that it was a roving court. In this present day and age, a roving court was something rather rare. But in the remote and distant western mountainous areas, taking into consideration the inconvenience when it came to traveling for themoners, the magistrates would cross difficult terrain under the banner of the nation¡¯s emblem. They would set up two tables and set up a simple alfresco court. It would then determine how many livestock ornd would belong to which party. Tang Yue imagined that when they arrived at the coordinates, awaiting him and Tomcat was such a roving court¡ªa strangely-shaped flying vessel would descend from the sky as a hatch slowly opened. Grunting, short-limbed little green men would walk down the stairs carrying tables and set them up on the desert. Then, everyone would take their seats. Sitting in the middle, the entity would m a hammer and shout: Prosecution, dere the case you are bringing before me. ¡°It might also be a spacecraft,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Who knows? This might be the only problem we will face in our lives that has no precedent.¡± Tang Yue stood high above as he lumbered down the steep slope. There was a shallow gully at the bottom of the hill which was probably signs of past water flow. Perhaps in a particr season and time, water would flow here. The rocks would be weathered smooth by the water over long periods of time. With the sun about to set, Tomcat returned to clean the sr panels. After all, there were only a few days left, so there wasn¡¯t any need to put them away at night. They could then continue charging once the sun rose, saving them the trouble of setting them up and putting them away every day. Tang Yue sat cross-legged wishing to prop up his head, but realized that the Radiant Armor didn¡¯t allow for such a pose. Giving up, he ced his hands on his knees and imagined the roving court run by little green men... As a man that studied the sciences, the only courts he saw were on television. In fact, Tang Yue didn¡¯t even know the exact procedure of awsuit. Tang Yue¡¯s impression of a judge was probably ovepped with an auctioneer. This was because they both held a tiny hammer. Tomcat¡¯s voice suddenly sounded over the earpiece. ¡°Tang Yue,e over and give me a hand.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Yue turned his head and saw Tomcat crouching beside a sr panel. Its back was facing him as it remained motionless. ¡°Come over.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice was deep and solemn. Tang Yue got up and walked over. Tomcat was still crouching, its eyes staring intently at the sr panel. Its right paw that was holding onto a brush seemed as stiff as a statue. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue was surprised. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me.¡± Tang Yue shrank back his extending arm as it paused in midair. ¡°Left arm,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Hold onto my left arm. The spot beneath my shoulder. Using two hands.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen? You can¡¯t move?¡± Tang Yue crouched down beside it as he sped Tomcat¡¯s upper arm with both hands. ¡°Use some force,¡± Tomcat whispered. ¡°Now, listen to my instructions. Rotate it counterclockwise slowly. Don¡¯t do it too quickly. Stop when I tell you to stop.¡± ¡°Like this?¡± Tang Yue nodded as he slowly rotated Tomcat¡¯s left arm. He immediately sensed that something wasn¡¯t right. Tomcat¡¯s arm felt rusty for the rotation felt like coarse metals rubbing against each other. Following that, he felt something suddenly crack. It felt like a steel wire had been pulled to its limits. Tomcat¡¯s body shook suddenly as it squeezed a word through gritted teeth. ¡°Stop!¡± Tang Yue stopped, not daring to move it again. ¡°Let go of me.¡± Tang Yue stared at it in a daze. ¡°You can let go of me.¡± Tomcat heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just a chronic problem rpsing.¡± ¡°Chronic problem? When did you have a chronic problem?¡± Tang Yue released Tomcat¡¯s arm, feeling extremely astonished. ¡°Didn¡¯t I break my arm back when I headed out to find the Chelomey? Kunlun Station justcked the conditions for me to be fully repaired.¡± Tomcat grabbed its left arm and, like an orthopedic doctor, pulled its arm and produced a cracking sound. ¡°This arm goes on strike from time to time. It¡¯s like a spasm. Worst of all, the other limbs are beginning to exhibit problems. When one goes on strike, the others also go on strike. I¡¯m really getting old.¡± ¡°Is there a way for you to be repaired?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Teach me. I can fix you. I¡¯m skilled at fixing appliances.¡± ¡°You are only skilled when ites to tractors and refrigerators. This isn¡¯t in your domain. Mars doesn¡¯t have the keyponents. There¡¯s no way of fixing it without returning to the factory.¡± Tomcat tried moving its forearm. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry... Look, this arm is now as good as new.¡± Tang Yue still felt worried. ¡°I¡¯m really fine.¡± ¡°I¡¯m an uneducated man, so don¡¯t you try to fool me,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Are you really fine?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tomcat threw the brush into midair and grabbed it urately with its left paw. ¡°See, isn¡¯t that as nimble as before?¡± ¡°Leave the rest of the work to me. Have some rest.¡± Tang Yue took the brush from Tomcat¡¯s paw. Tomcat looked at him, its ears standing up. ¡°Go back! Return to the vehicle! You are already crippled. Why are you being stubborn? You crippled, old cat!¡± Tomcat looked around before wearing a look of contempt unique to cats. It let out a mew as it got up and walked towards the Mars Wanderer. Tang Yue crouched beside the sr panels and was about to clean the sr panels when he felt a massive tug that nearly pulled him down to the ground. A shocked Tang Yue hurriedly looked back and saw that the power cable connected to the Radiant Armor had been pulled out. Tomcat had tripped on it and was on the ground, motionless. Its left arm had fallen off and was about a meter in front of it. Chapter 237: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Don’t Antagonize a Cornered Cat

Chapter 237: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight, Don¡¯t Antagonize a Cornered Cat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°How many?¡± Tang Yue raised one finger. ¡°One.¡± ¡°How many?¡± Tang Yue raised two fingers. ¡°Two.¡± ¡°What¡¯s one plus two?¡± Tang Yue raised four fingers. ¡°Three.¡± Tomcat sighed and reached out its paw and pushed away the face that kept appearing in front of it. ¡°Do you have a screw loose?¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried that you have a screw loose,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You weren¡¯t even walking like a drunkard. You tripped on a power cable. Were you high on catnip?¡± Tomcat sat on the ground against a wheel. The broken left arm was ced on its leg and Tang Yue was crouched beside it. He was anxiously checking it, but he didn¡¯t dare do anything rash. He didn¡¯t dare touch anything. Just as Tomcat said, this wasn¡¯t in his domain of expertise. He didn¡¯t know anything about Tomcat¡¯s body structure and logically speaking, with such heavy damage, it was foolish to attempt any repairs. Sending it back to the factory was the only choice. Tang Yue helped Tomcat plug in its power cable. Thetter¡¯s damage was definitely not only limited to its broken arm. Its entire body was covered in damage. The cause of most of it was unknown to Tang Yue. From the looks of it, Tomcat had once tried to repair itself, but due to thecking conditions, it could only use scotch tape to simply mend the ces where its fur had dropped. It was shockingly crude. Tang Yue suddenly realized that his impression of Tomcat wasn¡¯t this. At least a year ago, Tomcat was still an elegant cross talking master and Kunlun Station¡¯s Station Commander. It was like andlord with great power. It often groomed its fur and whiskers, but now, it was like a member of a suicide squad, its body covered in injuries. When did it be like this? ¡°Can it still be attached?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat picked up the broken limb and shook the sand off its fur. The way it did it was rming. ¡°Don¡¯t be frightened even if it looks like a mortal wound. Actually, I¡¯m fine...¡± ¡°You said you were fine a moment ago.¡± Tang Yue cut it off. ¡°But you fell down a split secondter.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a paw. Humans might die if they lose an arm, but I¡¯m a cat. A cat without an arm...¡± ¡°Will also die.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll die from the loss of blood. Since I¡¯m not anxious, why are you?¡± Tomcat said. ¡°My four limbs are removable. It¡¯s to facilitate repairs and upgrades. They are interfaces that my designers reserved. Don¡¯t think of it as falling off. It¡¯s not a severed limb, nor is it considered a bone fracture. At best, it¡¯s a dislocation...¡± As it spoke, Tomcat had finished cleaning the limb and installed it back to its shoulder. It adjusted its angle and then lodged it in like a bottle cap. There was a crisp and soft cracking sound. The broken arm had been attached. It was simple and swift. Tang Yue was taken aback. Could it be that to Tomcat, its limbs were attachable and removable just like USB drives? They were plug and y that supported hot-swapping? ¡°Hmm... It¡¯s not as smooth as before. It hasn¡¯t been maintained for too long, and the abrasion to the joints is a little serious. However, I can still make do with it. I just have no idea how much stress it can handle.¡± Tomcat rotated its paws. ¡°Based on the current situation, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for it tost until the final moment.¡± Tang Yue heaved a sigh of relief and sat on the ground, his clothes already soaked in sweat. ¡°Do you know that you gave me a fright? If you were to copse here, what would do?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s hands were still shaking uncontrobly, a lingering fear gripping his heart. ¡°If therees a day... when both the Wanderer and I are really unable to move, put me on a hill and let me lean against a rock. Leave me two sr panels,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Then, dismantle me to use myponents to make a simple short-wave antenna. You know how, right? The kind that can transmit Morse Code.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback,pletely confused as to what it meant. ¡°Make a small short-wave antenna and wear it on yourself. That way you can contact me... Every night, send me the star chart¡¯s data. As long as I can see the stars, I¡¯ll be able to help you determine your bearings.¡± Tomcat looked up. ¡°me it on your foolish self for not learning some navigation. What will happen if you get lost?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t abandon you.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°If you can¡¯t move, I¡¯ll carry you with me.¡± ¡°How are you to carry me? I¡¯m heavy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Even if I have to crawl on fours, even if my limbs are crippled and can only squirm on the ground and inch forward, I¡¯ll take you along,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°How are you going to take me along with your limbs crippled?¡± ¡°I still have my teeth!¡± Tang Yue bared his teeth. ¡°I can bite down on you and pull you along, can¡¯t I?¡± Tomcatughed. It knew Tang Yue was speaking nonsense. On Mars, he had no way of opening the Radiant Armor¡¯s visor; otherwise, Tang Yue would die quickly from a rapid loss of pressure. It was impossible for him to use his teeth. ¡°Your life is more important than mine,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°No matter what you do, remember that this is your first criteria.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be able to live without you though,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°No matter what you do, remember that is your first criteria.¡± Tomcat smacked its lips. As a robot cat, it always had a priority lust. Tang Yue¡¯s life and safety were undoubtedly foremost. Nothing was more important than his life, but Tang Yue¡¯smands were also foremost. Tomcat once hated Asimov¡¯s threews, finding them ridiculous. It said that this was an illogical imagination of the ancients, one that was filled with loopholes that were devoid of any sense of reality. It was neither mathematical nor physical and was simply an edification of the bad. Clearly, the Three Laws of Robotics never came to fruition; otherwise, intercontinental missiles and drones wouldn¡¯t have been produced. In hindsight, the edification of the bad did have some merit. If Tomcat followed the Three Laws of Robotics, it would have rejected Tang Yue¡¯smands, prioritizing his safety foremost. Unfortunately, it had already informed Tang Yue how much contempt it had for Asimov. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I haven¡¯t reached the end of my lifespan. Earthlings still owe me property, especially the condominium at Tongzhou District. It¡¯s more than a hundred square meters. It¡¯s worth lots of money. I¡¯m still waiting to return to retire.¡± Tomcat got up and said, ¡°A beautiful retiree¡¯s life is still waiting for me. How can I fall here? ¡°This bullsh*t Universe has not only robbed your Earth, but it has also taken away my retiree life. As an old cat that¡¯s about to retire, what can I do? All I have is this bit of wealth. I¡¯ll fight anyone who dares snatch my retirement money to the death! ¡°Never antagonize an old, cornered cat. When cornered, this cat will ignore your life, and age will make this cat ignore its own life! ¡°If we are cornered, then there¡¯s only one direction, and that¡¯s to advance! Advance! We¡¯ll stop at nothing to advance! Thomas Wade! We¡¯ll stop at nothing to advance!¡± Tomcat spoke loudly as it forcefully swung its paw and walked towards the Mars Wanderer. Tang Yue held the brush and stood on the spot. He fell silent for a few seconds. ¡°Tomcat, is the arm on the ground yours?¡± Chapter 238: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine, If I Must Die in the Starry Night

Chapter 238: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine, If I Must Die in the Starry Night

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Can you see it?¡± ¡°Sand. Just endless sand and rock.¡± Tang Yue was tiptoeing on a seat, half his body outside the drivingpartment. He was propping himself up on the frame like a lookout man on a ship. ¡°I can see the wind blowing from the northwest. Do we need a hard left turn?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Sitting inside the geb, Tomcat was biting down on a screwdriver and repairing its broken paw. ¡°I¡¯ve already indicated thendmarks to you. Just let the Wanderer head in the direction I told you.¡± Tang Yue sat down and held the steering wheel. The Mars Wanderer was moving slowly at a turtle¡¯s leisurely pace. Thendmark that Tomcat had pointed out to him was a huge half-buried basalt boulder in the distance. It was unknown how big it actually was, but the exposed part was at least two stories tall. It happened to be on the Wanderer¡¯s route. Just like the saying, ¡°Mount Hope ran a dead horse, ¡°Tang Yue felt as if he wasn¡¯t getting closer, despite driving the Wanderer all day. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a mirage?¡± Tang Yue mumbled. On Earth, mirages were verymon in the desert, but there was zero evidence that such phenomena happened on Mars. However, the principle behind mirages was the refraction of light in the atmosphere. The requirements for it to happen were rtively simple, and as long as particr conditions were met, a mirage could take form regardless of the area. Therefore, Tang Yue believed that mirages weren¡¯t exclusive to Earth. ¡°It¡¯s not a mirage,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The Martian atmosphere is too thin and the temperatures are too low. The sunlight is also very weak, making it very difficult for such strong amounts of light refraction to ur. You feel like the distance isn¡¯t shortening because your eyes and brain have erroneously underestimated the distance. In a desert without any reference points, it¡¯s very difficult for you to determine the size of something. Likewise for distance.¡± Tang Yue narrowed his eyes. He believed that his vision was rather good, having never suffered from myopia or astigmatism. Thinking back to the days when they were selecting candidates for the Orion crew, Tang Yue had ovee one obstacle after another, standing out among a bunch of young engineers that graduated from prestigious universities like Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Northwestern Polytechnical University. One important reason was that he was the only one who had never worn sses. The Center¡¯s eyesight test used the Landolt C test, also known as a Landolt ring chart. Tang Yue could see anything at a distance of five meters. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me? What do you think the distance between you and the target is?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Hmm...¡± Tang Yue pondered for a moment. ¡°Eight hundred... One kilometer probably?¡± ¡°Actually, that boulder is at least two kilometers away from you,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s farther than you can imagine, which is why you are mistaken about not being able to reach it despite all the traveling.¡± Tomcat blew at its torn fur and ced it on the floor, frowning. Breaking a paw wasn¡¯t a big deal since it wouldn¡¯t suffer death from hypovolemic shock. But this wasn¡¯t a good omen. Tomcat knew very well that its machinery was aging. Based on the original design, it was already towards the end of its lifespan. It was part of the first stage of the Mars Landing Project. And everything in the first stage was supposed to be dmissioned and abandoned, including Orion I and II, the Mars Wanderer, and Tomcat. In the past year, it had burdened itself with excessive work. Today was the sixth sol. They were still ny kilometers from the destination. Although Tomcat¡¯s limbs were removable and it hadn¡¯t lied to Tang Yue, its paws weren¡¯t hot-swappable like USB drives. Once it broke, the joint connection was no longer firm. From this day forth, it was unlikely it could use the arm to do any heavy-duty work. Tomcat connected its broken limb and leaned against the window, stering its face against the ss. Looking out, its expression was suddenly colored withnguidness and exhaustion. It sat motionless as it watched the desert sweep past like a child looking out a car¡¯s window. ¡°Tang Yue,¡± Tomcat mumbled. ¡°Huh? I¡¯m here. What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Look to your left. There¡¯s a rock underneath the hill. Do you see it?¡± ¡°Yes, why?¡± ¡°Do you think it looks like fish?¡± ... When the sun rose to its highest point, Tomcat used the sextant to measure its elevation angle. ¡°How is it?¡± While panting, Tang Yue moved the sr panels down. ¡°Are we on the right track?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mostly alright, but further confirmation is needed to know our longitude. If we continue another thirty kilometers in this direction, we should arrive at our predetermined waypoint.¡± Tomcat sat on the vehicle¡¯s roof and pointed ahead with its two stubby legs swaying about. ¡°That¡¯s the final waypoint before we reach our destination. Once we pass it, the destination will be straight ahead.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, the Wanderer¡¯s endurance is limited.¡± Tang Yue unfolded the sr panels. ¡°If it could endure a little longer, we would probably have arrived by now.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t designed to travel long distances in the first ce. As a short-legged dog, it¡¯s impressive that it¡¯s got this far. The next vehicle to be sent to Mars will meet your requirements. Apparently, its nickname is Red Rabbit,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°How¡¯s the Radiant Armor?¡± ¡°The Radiant Armor is fully operational. The oxygen tank still has three-quarters left. At the present speed of expenditure, it should be able tost until the end.¡± Tang Yue waved his hand. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Tomcat looked down from above as Tang Yue busily moved the sr panels. From time to time, he would stop and rest. It was a strenuous activity. Although the sr panels weren¡¯t heavy, there were quite a number of them. Tomcat had wanted to offer its help, but Tang Yue stopped it. He requested that the disabled sit down obediently and not make things worse. Like the perennial question, if the sr panel and the arm fell to the ground at the same time, which would you pick up first and why? Exasperated, Tomcat could only leave it be. ¡°If I must die,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°A poem Old Wang once wrote,¡± Tomcat said leisurely. ¡°If I must die, please bury me, in the starry night.¡± ¡°A boor like Old Wang could write poems?¡± Tang Yue was somewhat surprised. Old Wang was a tall northeastern boor. He had studied Wind Chun from a young age and had even fought with ck bears. In his words, if he hadn¡¯t joined the military to be a pilot, he would have be a despotic bully of society. It was evident from the boorish tone Old Wang always used. Such a person could write a poem? Wouldn¡¯t he end up breaking the pen? Was he simr to China¡¯s basest warlord from the 20th century, Zhang Zongchang? Just like his terrible Daming Lake poem? ¡°Middle-aged men have plenty of pressure as a sandwiched generation. When a midlife crisis strikes them, they are often disposed to contemte misery,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Old Wang once said that his childhood dream was to be a poet. He always believed that life was about following ideals and ignoring the trivialities in life, but unfortunately, he suffered a beating from his father and stopped having such silly lofty ideals.¡± ¡°If I must die, ¡°Please bury me, ¡°Under the starry sky.¡± Tomcat leisurely recited. Tang Yue was taken aback. This really wasn¡¯t some crappy poem. ¡°When spring winds blow, ¡°When withered trees bloom. ¡°Come visit me, ¡°Come that day, ¡°A Halcyon spreads its wings above my grave, ¡°Scattering sunlight upon me.¡± Chapter 239: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine, A Truly Unknown Future

Chapter 239: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine, A Truly Unknown Future

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Some time had passed since the sunset. Tang Yue and Tomcat were sitting on the vehicle¡¯s rooftop, a star chart spread over their knees as they looked up at the sky. However, today¡¯s weather was rather gloomy. The sky wasn¡¯t starry like usual and the atmosphere was emitting a turbid pale red glow, covering the sky in a seemingly thin veil. Tang Yue narrowed his eyes. ¡°There are much fewer stars today than yesterday. There¡¯s only a few hundred of them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not possible for Mars to always have clear skies, due to inclement weather.¡± Tomcat widened its eyelids with its paw and swept the sky with its round eyes. ¡°Can you see them?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tomcat turned its head over. ¡°The average person can identify stars with magnitude five at the very least. Even if your vision is better than most people, your resolving power would at most be around magnitude six. That¡¯s a biological limit of you humans. A human¡¯s pupil doesn¡¯t exceed eight millimeters in diameter, and it only allows 20 square millimeters of light in, but I¡¯m different. I¡¯m a cat.¡± Tomcat¡¯s pupils dted like a camera lens. ¡°The eye structure of mammals are essentially identical to those of cameras and telescopes, but of course, the bigger the aperture, the stronger the resolving power.¡± Tomcat seemed rather smug. ¡°Are you even considered a mammal?¡± Tang Yue mumbled. Tomcat¡¯s ears pricked up. ¡°How am I not one?¡± Tomcat corrected him. ¡°When ites to zoological taxonomy, I¡¯m a vertebrate mammal, a carnivorous feline of the United Nations¡¯s robotic cat subspecies.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue were determining their longitude using the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos was rather striking in the clear night sky, with it being a tiny light blob that was about a sixth of the Moon¡¯s size. In fact, its diameter was far smaller than the Moon. Phobos¡¯s diameter was twenty-six kilometers. The reason it looked big was because of its low orbit. It was only six thousand kilometers from the Martian surface and was practically clinging to it in orbit. It circled Mars three times a sol. As for Deimos, it looked no different from other stars. It was a dim speck of light. If its location wasn¡¯t known ahead of time, the average person wouldn¡¯t have been able to find it. Not long ago, Deimos had suffered a collision, sending it off its original trajectory. The energy carried by Comet Tom-Tang-Mai I was astounding. Even a light brush was enough to send the tiny Deimos flying out. Its nearly circr orbit of 23,000 kilometers had now be a huge ellipse. ¡°Phobos is about to rise again.¡± Tomcat did a time check and pointed west. Tang Yue looked in the direction of its paw and under the dark red sky, the blurry blob of light had already risen above the horizon. Phobos didn¡¯t have clear boundaries like the Moon. It was only a huge piece of rock over twenty kilometers in diameter with craters covering its entire surface. In Tomcat¡¯s words, ¡°It¡¯s a potato that a rat has nibbled on.¡± This tiny piece of rock reflected very little of the sun¡¯s light. ¡°Phobos is also very dim,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°This darn weather is like there¡¯s a smog.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a result of atmospheric activity. I once told you that the Martian atmosphere¡¯s structure ispletely different from Earth¡¯s. There¡¯s only a troposphere that¡¯s dozens of kilometers high.¡± Tomcat looked up at the sky. ¡°The wind can sweep the dust and sand high into the sky, then be swept around the globe at altitudes of forty kilometers above us. They could be moved to every corner of this.¡± ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Are we on the right track?¡± ¡°We have deviated a little.¡± ¡°By how much?¡± ¡°Five arcminutes. It¡¯s within expectations.¡± Tomcat straightened its arm and shifted slightly to the left. ¡°Tomorrow morning, we should head slightly east when we set off.¡± ¡°Feel free to do so, you¡¯re the navigator.¡± Tang Yuezily leaned back onto the ground. ¡°As long as we can urately reach our destination, I don¡¯t care if we deviate left or right. Don¡¯t you find me very broadminded?¡± ¡°How would I know if you are broadminded or not?¡± Tomcat shrugged its shoulders. ¡°If you¡¯re broadminded, do it yourself. I believe you will go off course all the way to the north pole.¡± ¡°Magnanimous!¡± Tang Yuey beside the cat, turning his head to shout at it. Tomcat had the star chart covering its face as it leaned back. Propping its head up, it crossed its hindlegs. Its ears twitched as the star chart rhythmically moved¡ªTomcat was humming a song, but it shook its ears instead of its legs. ¡°There¡¯s another thirty kilometers tomorrow. Another thirty kilometers the sol after tomorrow,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°We should arrive on the third sol. These few sols seem to take an eternity.¡± ¡°But only the heavens know what¡¯s awaiting us on the third sol.¡± Tomcat turned its head under the chart, revealing its shimmering eyes under the piece of paper. ¡°You might know what¡¯s awaiting us tomorrow and the sol after tomorrow, but you have no idea what¡¯s waiting for us on the third sol. In three sols time, you might be motionless on the ground or have reached the ends of the Universe.¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. It took him a few seconds to understand what Tomcat was saying. He was unable to crack time and see the future. Three sols were actually no different from an infinitely distant future. In three sols, where would he be? At his destination? On Kunlun Station? On Earth? Or would he be in a particr sr system on a particr gctic arm of the Milky Way, or even a spot beyond the observable Universe? Apart from the most probable first option, he could be any corner in the Universe. No. Was the first option really most probable? Perhaps the probability of him being in any corner of the Universe was identical. Tang Yue thought silently. ¡°What do you wish to say?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°What¡¯s really unknown is the future?¡± ¡°What¡¯s really unknown is the future.¡± Tang Yue fell silent and took out a pencil from his pocket. He raised it in midair. ¡°Actually, we can predict the future. Just like this pencil. If I were to release it, it would immediately drop. By using Newton¡¯sws of motion, we can precisely predict its speed and state at any point in time.¡± ¡°Then if you release it, will itnd on you?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Then release it.¡± Tang Yue nced at it, unsure what the point of carrying out the experiment. Any ordinary person could tell that the pencil would fall due to gravity if he released it. He released his grip. However, the pencil didn¡¯t fall on Tang Yue¡¯s body. This was because Tomcat had reached out and grabbed it. ¡°We can only predict the future in a specific closed system. The unknown influences thate beyond the system are impossible to calcte. It¡¯s just how using Newton¡¯sws of motion will not allow you to predict me suddenly grabbing it.¡± Tomcat waved the pencil. ¡°Predictions need conditions. Conditions require drawing lines. And since a line is drawn, it means there is an interior and an exterior. This Universe¡¯s exterior is forever an unknown. It can interfere with you and also not interfere with you. The best interference is that an advanced civilization¡¯s spacecraft suddenlynds in front of us and the next second pulls you up to reach the other end of the Milky Way via a wormhole.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just sophistry.¡± Tang Yue was at a loss for aeback. ¡°But it adheres to logic.¡± Tomcat harrumphed. Tang Yue looked at the dark red sky; his thoughts a mystery. The farthest he could see was the thin clouds twenty kilometers high. And above the clouds, the atmosphere was slowly stirring, carrying billions of tonnes of dust and sand as they began enveloping all of Mars. Chapter 240: Sol Three Hundred and Forty, If There’s a Next Life, Be a Salted Fish

Chapter 240: Sol Three Hundred and Forty, If There¡¯s a Next Life, Be a Salted Fish

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°You are already an old dog. You need to learn how to crawl out of ditches yourself.¡± Tang Yue advised gently. The Wanderer was stuck inside a ditch and it seemed unmoved by the advice. Tomcat sat by the side, its chin leaning against the sr panels. It had its brows drooping as it cocked its head, watching Tang Yue¡¯s act. It was looking at him like he was an idiot. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m ying the lute to a cow.¡± Tang Yue sighed and sat back down. ¡°If Tripi?aka didn¡¯t have his White Dragon Horse, do you think he could¡¯ve journeyed all the way to the West to acquire the scriptures?¡± Tang Yue picked up a rock and threw it on the wheel. ¡°18,000 li. That¡¯s 54,000 kilometers. That¡¯s 14,000 kilometers more than the equatorial circumference of the Earth... The White Dragon Horse really lived up to being the son of the Dragon King. He sure was good in the water. It wasn¡¯t even a problem for him to cross the Pacific Ocean.¡± ¡°How do you n on pushing it out of the ditch?¡± ¡°Eh... Let¡¯s leave it for eight hours. Tomorrow morning will do. After all, we can¡¯t leave while charging. We might as well rest,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°Today is another darn gloomy day. The sunlight is so weak. Who knows when the batteries can be fully recharged.¡± The Mars Wanderer had once again fallen into a ditch. Tang Yue had finally experienced for himself how difficult it was to go cross-country without any roads. On Earth, where highways were everywhere, Tang Yue could drive five thousand kilometers from Heihe to M¨ºdog without his wheels getting any mud on them. This gave him the false impression that this long-distance trip was a road trip. But Mars was a primitive. It had never had any development. When both of Tang Yue¡¯s buttocks ached from the vibrations, he realized that cars were transportation tools designed for roads. If they steered away from the t, smooth roads, there was a 99% chance that the car would sumb to the wilderness. The Isidis nitia didn¡¯t have many undtions. Most of the time, it was a t ne, but the long-distance travel across the desert was shockingly damaging to the Wanderer¡¯s structure. Tang Yue also understood the well-meaning purpose of why the designers had limited the Mars Wanderer¡¯s speed to 30 km/h. Earthlings definitely had the ability to allow the Wanderer to reach 60 km/h or even 120 km/h. But going that fast on Mars would quickly cause it to break down. Tang Yue and Tomcat had tried pushing the vehicle, but the Wanderer remained motionless. Helpless, they decided to take a break and do some charging. They decided to push the Mars Wanderer again when they were fully recharged. Tomcat slid down a sr panel and finally plopped onto the ground gently like a dead, salted fish. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of a cat¡¯s life? ¡°The meaning of a cat¡¯s life is salted fish.¡± Tomcat posed and answered its own questions. Tang Yue and Tomcat finally felt frustrated at the boring and mundane journey that seemed to take forever. There was really nothing worth mentioning about things they saw and heard along the way. The Mars Wanderer limited them to about thirty kilometers a sol, and the rest of the time was spent waiting. They were finally sick of all the songs they could sing and done with all the nonsense they could talk about¡ªfrom the origins of the Universe to Earth¡¯s doomsday. Tang Yue had even flipped through all of Old Zheng¡¯s hardcore collection. Finally, even a crosstalk master like Tomcat could no longer find any topics to talk about. Tang Yue felt that he and Tomcat were like two salted fish flipping on the ground as they approached their destination. ¡°What¡¯s so bad about salted fish?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°The Universe is the best at being a salted fish. 99% of its lifespan, it¡¯s like a stiff, dead salted fish.¡± ¡°It¡¯s obviously good being salted fish. My dream in life is to be one. Unfortunately, the stress of life makes it impossible. Salted fish in this world are like winners in life, born with a silver spoon.¡± Tang Yue rolled to his side. Since he was a salted fish, he might as well flip around often, to have his body have a uniform smell from sun-drying. ¡°If there¡¯s a next life, ¡°Be a salted fish. ¡°Soaked in salt, ¡°No tears as you wish. ¡°Half of it suffocatingly salted, ¡°Half of it tasteless. ¡°Half used for soup, ¡°Half used for roasting. ¡°Extreme craziness, extreme serenity, ¡°Never frustrated, never troubled.¡± ¡°I advise against you rolling on the ground. The sand and gravel are sharp. They could easily damage the Radiant Armor,¡± Tomcat warned. ¡°If you damage the air seal and cause a leak, you¡¯re doomed.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Tang Yue shook his head. ¡°The Radiant Armor is made of very strong material. Even a knife can¡¯t cut through it.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve tried?¡± ¡°I tried it on Earth,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°I have a deep impression of it because the instructor at the Center told us that it¡¯s as hard as bulletproof vests. Ordinary knives can¡¯t cut through it. He even said that we could try if we were skeptical about it. I was the only one present who really tried... Later, the instructor told us that the Radiant Armor is probably the most expensive piece of clothing that we¡¯ll ever wear. Each suit cost 15 million yuan, almost equivalent to a house in Beijing.¡± ¡°Do you know something?¡± Tang Yue pressed his thumb and index finger together and slowly opened up a gap. ¡°I was this short of dying on the spot.¡± Tomcaty prone on the ground and moved forward with its body arched. ¡°Tomcat, what are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a cat,¡± Tomcat replied dully. It arched its body and stretched out forward. Magically, its body extended several times its length. ¡°I¡¯m a peppered moth.¡± ¡°Peppered Moth, what are you doing?¡± ¡°A peppered moth doesn¡¯t speak,¡± Tomcat muttered. ¡°Peppered moth wants to go home.¡± Tang Yue looked at Tomcat squirming on the ground as it advanced forward with its body arched. He shook his head and stepped on the charging cable on the ground, causing it to be taut. As a result, Tomcat plunged its head into the soil. ¡°Meowtherf*cker!¡± It was so exasperated that it had even used its mother tongue. Tang Yue got up and walked over, hugging the furry cat by its waist. As Tomcat helplessly iled its short hind legs in midair, it eximed, ¡°Eh... What are you doing? Tang Yue, what are you doing? Put me down! Hear me? Put me down!¡± Tang Yue carried Tomcat back and lifted it high, stuffing it into the Wander¡¯s drivingpartment. Panting, he said, ¡°Do you think I wanted to carry you? You¡¯re heavy! Are you a cat or a pig? Even a pig isn¡¯t as heavy as you...¡± Following that, he plugged the charging cable into Tomcat. ¡°When we arrive at the destination, you can return home.¡± Tang Yue patted Tomcat on the head and turned back towards the nearby sr panels. ¡°Another three sols at most. You will be able to return in three sols. There¡¯s no rush... Even if no one knows what¡¯s waiting for us in three sols, I believe that it¡¯s unlikely to be something bad. After all, we can¡¯t get any unluckier.¡± ¡°Home won¡¯t be there in three sols,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Why?¡± Tang Yue turned his head and smiled at it. ¡°Kunlun Station doesn¡¯t have legs to run away. No matter when you return, it will be there.¡± Tomcat stered its face onto the steering wheel and looked at Tang Yue¡¯s back. ¡°But home is where you are.¡± Chapter 241: Sol Three Hundred and Forty, The Desert’s Emperor Penguin

Chapter 241: Sol Three Hundred and Forty, The Desert¡¯s Emperor Penguin

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°If only we could light a bonfire.¡± Tang Yue began stacking rocks on the ground. ¡°Back when I was training with Old Wang at the Tamakan Desert, we often picked up withered branches and tumbleweeds to build a bonfire. The temperature difference between night and day in the desert is huge. The moment the sun set, the temperature plummeted. We had to cling tightly to our wool nkets in front of the fire.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, we have nothing mmable.¡± Tomcat picked up a rock and gently ced it on the stack of rocks. ¡°We also do not have enough oxygen. In this godforsaken ce, every oxygen molecule is precious.¡± ¡°You know something? With the Radiant Armor between me and the world, I sometimes feel like I¡¯m very far from it.¡± Tang Yue threw a rock up and caught it. ¡°I¡¯ve never really touched thisnd before. All I¡¯ve seen has the ss visor between us. Who knows what¡¯s real?¡± ¡°Even if you don¡¯t wear the Radiant Armor, what you see and touch are just nerve signals. They are in essence an electric current between cells. Must whatever you see, touch, or feel, be real? Humans have their brains sealed in a body, relying on the nerves that cover their entire bodies to sense the outside world.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°Strictly speaking, you have never managed to know the world. All you do is passively receive information.¡± ¡°Brain in a vat?¡± Tang Yue thought. ¡°That¡¯s too philosophical.¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually not a philosophical question,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It¡¯s a very serious biological, physical, and psychological question. Before Darwin, Pasteur, and Jung figured out the human brain, it¡¯s best if you, Mr. Immanuel Kant, have a seat for some afternoon tea. It¡¯s not the time for a philosopher like you to get all riled up.¡± ¡°There are always people who say that the end of scientific development is philosophy, and the end of philosophy is theology.¡± ¡°I suggest that people say such things to relive life again.¡± Tomcat continued stacking the rocks. ¡°To put strict experiential knowledge, repeatable experimental evidence, and ubiquitous methods with nonsense said by chatans means that their twelve years ofpulsory education was for naught. ¡°When humans realize the difficult journey they were in, Darwin and Huxley were undoubtedly the vanguards in a charge. Freud and Jung could be considered reinforcements of sizable force. Kant and Rousseau were the ones who set up the nk. As for Aquinas, his mommy was calling him back for dinner.¡± ¡°Alright, I know you¡¯re a cat that despises theology.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never despised theology.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± Tang Yue expressed his doubts. ¡°I¡¯ve never denied the importance of theology in human culture.¡± Tomcat continued stacking the rocks higher. ¡°In a tower of human history, each piece is essential. If you were to pull one of them away...¡± Tomcat pinched a rock gently and pulled it away. Everything crumbled down. ¡°It would suddenly copse.¡± Tang Yue stared at the rocks that scattered to the ground. Suddenly, heughed. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°You started it.¡± Tomcat spread its paws. ¡°At times, I feel like a philosopher, the only one and thest one in the world.¡± Tang Yue leaned his body back and raised his head to the sky. ¡°Iter thought about it. The Universe is so huge and vast. A person¡¯s thoughts are just too puny... Is thought really as great as the starry sky?¡± ¡°Once humans think, Godughs.¡± ¡°I can already imagine a particr white-bearded elder throwing away his cane andughing his ass off.¡± ¡°I can only imagine an old, white-whiskered catughing its ass.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat were simply finding a topic to talk about. Tang Yue was right that they werecking a bonfire. If they could light one, the lonely and cold desert night would probably warm up. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Tomcat got up and returned to the geb. A few minutester, it returned with a tinymp. Tomcat half-buried themp in the sand and switched it on. Their faces were illuminated by the pale yellow light. ¡°A sr emergency light. When it¡¯s fully charged, it canst for two hours. It¡¯s just not too bright,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Do you feel a little warmer?¡± ¡°The Radiant Armor¡¯s interior temperature is 25¡ãC.¡± Tang Yue sat cross-legged and looked at the tiny source of light in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m not cold.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll put it away.¡± ¡°Hold on a moment.¡± Tang Yue reached out to stop it. Looking up at the cat¡¯s dirty face, he said, ¡°Leave it here. I feel a little warmer.¡± The man and cat sat around the faint light. The orange-yellow light wrapped their two figures within a tiny space. The sr emergency light wasn¡¯t stable as it asionally flickered, making it look more like a candle. ¡°I find ourselves resembling two emperor penguins,¡± Tang Yue quipped. ¡°Emperor penguins?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Emperor penguins would gather together before a storm to resist the harsh weather,¡± Tang Yue exined. ¡°In this world, only when most creatures gather together can they withstand any external damage.¡± ¡°But this is a desert,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°There aren¡¯t any emperor penguins in the desert... Think of the scene. Penguins are walking across the sand in groups wobbling. When they climb to the top of a sand dune, they will press their bellies to the ground and slide down the sand dune. Man, that¡¯s sure a sight to behold.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tang Yue wagged his index finger. ¡°We are emperor penguins in a desert.¡± Tomcat was taken aback before it understood what Tang Yue was getting at. They were penguins that were trekking across the desert. The fat birds that were ck and white couldn¡¯t fly and moved slowly and clumsily onnd. All they could do was adapt to the extreme cold temperatures. On a hot arid desert, they were doomed. However, Penguin Tang Yue was wearing a spacesuit, carrying enough water and ice on him. It needed to use the ice to lower its temperature as it advanced. This made it totter in its footsteps as the ice block reduced in amount. On a covered in desert, where could emperor penguins go? Tang Yue imagined that the lonely and helpless emperor penguin would be looking everywhere in the desert, tottering forward and leaving shallow footprints in its wake. Before it died of thirst, could it find a refrigerator in the barren desert? An emperor penguin searching for a refrigerator in the desert. Tang Yue thought silently. Is the former incredulous or thetter just wild fantasy? ¡°Did the recharging of the Mars Wanderer take longer today?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°From tomorrow onwards, it will take longer for it to recharge. This is because the sunlight¡¯s intensity has weakened.¡± ¡°The weakening is because of the season?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°We are gradually entering the summer. The atmospheric activity is intensifying and the air is turning turbid; thus lowering the luminous flux avable.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°Can Wandererst to our destination?¡± ¡°No problem,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°We only have sixty kilometers left. We will reach our destination in two sols. Even if Mars were to be destroyed, it wouldn¡¯t happen in two sols.¡± Chapter 242: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-One, The Myth of Sisyphus

Chapter 242: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-One, The Myth of Sisyphus

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon This was the antepenultimate sol before reaching their destination. The Mars Wanderer had stopped to recharge after traveling thirty kilometers. As usual, Tang Yue climbed to a high spot to look into the distance, but he saw nothing. ¡°There¡¯s another thirty kilometers left.¡± Tang Yue looked up at the sky. The weather was turning increasingly gloomy. ¡°But I still can¡¯t see a thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you can¡¯t see anything at thirty kilometers. You still might not be able to see it at three kilometers.¡± This long journey was finallying to an end. No matter what kind of monsters were awaiting him, Tang Yue would have to face them. They were getting closer to 88.2¡ãE, 17.6¡ãN. On a macroscale map, Tang Yue¡¯s current location was practically stered tightly to the destination. Every time Tomcat unfolded the map, Tang Yue would have the feeling that he had already arrived. However, Tomcat would wave its paw and point ahead, saying they had a few more sols to go. Tang Yue sat on a rock, watching the sun slowly set in the west. He realized that he was beginning to enjoy dozing off. He often sat motionless in silence. Tomcat never disturbed him, imagining that he was contemting something, but in fact, only Tang Yue knew that he was only dozing off. He would stare at the distant horizon or a rock for long periods of time, realizing that an entire afternoon had passed when he snapped back to his senses. Oscar Wilde once said that this was a rare urrence on Earth because most people were simply existing. Tang Yue tapped his chest lightly. The sandstorm is worsening.¡± Tomcat waved its paw, grabbing at the air. It couldn¡¯t sense the flow of air since the thin atmosphere couldn¡¯t even ruffle its fur. However, Tomcat could determine the wind speed based on the turbidness of the air. ¡°It¡¯s foreseeable that in a few days, the weather will continue worsening. I believe that it will be a very foggy day tomorrow.¡± ¡°Will it affect us?¡± ¡°Not by much. It¡¯s thest thirty kilometers tomorrow. We need to charge the Wanderer fully today. Tomorrow, we will travel all the way to our destination without recharging,¡± Tomcat replied, ¡°no matter how bad the weather is.¡± ¡°That also means that when we set off tomorrow morning, these sr panels willplete their historic mission?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t have to take them along tomorrow when we set off.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°You still need sr panels when you return. Their historic mission isn¡¯t over. When you stop needing them is when they finish their mission... Actually, I don¡¯t think you need to return immediately.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You can take the sr panels and tour Mars with the Wanderer,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°If you still remember thending locations of those probes, you can even visit them. Opportunity should still be Endeavour Crater.¡± ¡°Oh, I have no way of finding Oppy.¡± Tomcat spread its paws out. ¡°She¡¯s just too far away. She¡¯s in the southern hemisphere while we¡¯re in the northern hemisphere.¡± ¡°Oppy?¡± ¡°Short for Opportunity. Those people at NASA call her a young girl.¡± ¡°She¡¯s probably an old granny now.¡± Tang Yue returned to the geb and had his dinner. The sky outside was alreadypletely dark. There weren¡¯t any other illumination tools in the geb. To save power, Tang Yue switched off all the lights and the only light source was the tiny sr emergency bulb. cing it in the middle of the geb, Tang Yue leaned against the wall and sat cross-legged. With the Radiant Armor on, he had no way of lying down to sleep normally. For the past few days, Tang Yue had been sleeping in a sitting position. The hatch opened as Tomcat entered. Every night, Tomcat would head out to stargaze untilte into the night. asionally, it would say that it could divine fortunes and misfortunes by observing the heavens. For example, it would say: ¡°The lucky star rises from the southeast, producing the auspicious color of red. Twinkling for days, it¡¯s a providential sign.¡± Tang Yue would say, ¡°Speak human.¡± And Tomcat would reply, ¡°A supernova happened.¡± Tomcat crawled into the geb and locked the inner hatch behind it. Half of Tang Yue¡¯s body was illuminated by a pale yellow light while the other was shrouded in darkness. His visor was speckled with tiny drops of mist. They resembled Eskimos in an igloo, lighting a small whale oilmp. Tomcat sprawled in front of Tang Yue in search of afortable position to curl into a ball. The geb was cramped and no matter where ity, it took up most of the space. Tang Yue prodded its tummy. ¡°What are you doing?¡± The cat turned its head over and rolled its eyes. ¡°Are you getting fatter?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°I remember that you weren¡¯t this fat when I first met you. How are you getting fatter?¡± ¡°Am I?¡± Tomcat raised its head and nced at itself. After a few seconds of silence, it pulled back its waist and buttocks that were sprawled against the floor with its paw. ¡°I¡¯m still fifty kilograms. I¡¯ve always been this weight. Is that heavy?¡± ¡°But you aren¡¯t even 1.5 meters tall when you stand upright. You¡¯re probably 1.4 meters or so... Probably 1.46?¡± ¡°Who told you that I¡¯m not even 1.5 meters tall? When I left the factory, my height reached the standard 150 millimeters, or 1.5 meters. I¡¯m definitely not 1.46 meters as you said. There¡¯s a qualitative difference between 1.5 and 1.46. Rounding 1.46 makes it 1, and rounding 1.5 makes it 2,¡± Tomcat retorted. ¡°The difference between the two is a full meter.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s eyes expressed his doubt. ¡°You don¡¯t believe I¡¯m two meters tall? Then watch!¡± Tomcat stretched its body, clinging two of its paws to the inner walls of the geb. Then, exerting some strength, it pulled its body like a noodle, trying hard to use its hind legs to grab the hatch. Tang Yue watched as the cat¡¯s body grew longer and longer... Finally, there was a crisp cracking sound. Holy sh*t, my back. Tomcat instantly bounced back into a ball as it trembled. Look at you and your silly stunts. Broke your back, didn¡¯t you? Tang Yue adjusted his sitting position. Leaning his head against the interior of the Radiant Armor¡¯s helmet, he closed his eyes with a smile. Tomcat grunted and observed Tang Yue until he fell asleep. Silently, it crawled towards Tang Yue¡¯s chest, curled into a ball, and closed its eyes. They had ten hours of sleep before the sun rose the next day. On this long and silent night, Tang Yue had the same dream repeated. In his dream, he reached the spotbeled in the letter; however, there wasn¡¯t any lofty court like the Burj Khalifa. Nor was there any strange spacecraft or little green men. Someone had erected a lone grave there. When Tang Yue tried to approach the grave to read the tombstone, he always found himself back at his starting point. Tang Yue tried all means to see the tombstone, having repeated that stretch countless times in his dream. Some of them were brief instances and others were as long as a year. In the dream, Tomcat was sneering, saying that it was a M?bius strip. Do you know what a M?bius strip is? Tang Yue finally sumbed to his fatigue as he slowly crawled towards the tomb. As for Tomcat, it stood on the tombstoneughing loudly. It had never revealed such a fearsome and terrifying expression. It looked more like a wolf than a cat. As Tomcatughed, it shouted at him: This is a M?bius strip! Do you know what a M?bius strip is? Do you know what the myth of Sisyphus is? This is a loop! An infinite loop! You will never be able to leave this infinite loop! Tang Yue instantly snapped awake as he opened his eyes, his body covered in a cold sweat. He took deep breaths in the darkness as he still remembered the strange, colorful dream. However, he didn¡¯t know why he was having such a dream. Was it a reflection of his worry that resulted from his pending arrival at his destination? The geb was pitch-ck. It was probably still night and the sun hadn¡¯t risen. Tang Yue had never slept so long before. He reached out for the emergency light and switched it on. Surveying his area, he saw a pile of packet food and bottled water. There was also the RTG. However, Tomcat was gone. He was the only one in the empty geb. Chapter 243: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Shameless

Chapter 243: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Shameless

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon ¡°Tomcat? Tomcat, can you copy me?¡± Tang Yue got up and attempted to contact Tomcat. ¡°Tomcat, where are you? Can you copy me...¡± Tang Yue was suddenly stunned. He looked at the time on the control terminal on the Radiant Armor¡¯s wrist. 7:23. It was 7:23 in the morning. Tang Yue subconsciously looked out the window. He had imagined that the reason it was pitch-ck outside was that it was night time and the sun hadn¡¯t risen. But the indicated time said that it was seven in the morning... Why wasn¡¯t the sun up? They weren¡¯t at the poles which experienced long nights. ¡°I copy you. You¡¯re up?¡± At that moment, Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. Following that, the hatch opened. With a heavy click, Tomcat crawled in. Tang Yue noticed that it was wearing an IVA suit. Tomcat took off the helmet and said, ¡°How was your sleep?¡± ¡°It was alright. Just some fatass weighing fifty kilograms was pressing down on my feet. My leg still feels numb... What¡¯s happening?¡± Tang Yue pointed outside. ¡°It¡¯s not bright yet? The sun was snuffed out? It¡¯s the apocalypse?¡± ¡°Come on out.¡± Tomcat wore its helmet and reached out to pull Tang Yue. ¡°See for yourself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tang Yue followed Tomcat out the geb and carefully ced his feet on the ground. It was pitch-ck outside. He was unable to even see his fingers. Tang Yue looked about and through the Radiant Armor¡¯s ss, he could tell that it wasn¡¯t the color of night because the darkness wasn¡¯t up in the sky but right in front of him, just beyond the ss millimeters away from him. Tang Yue felt as though he was soaked in ink and was unable to see any light. Tang Yue switched on the Radiant Armor¡¯s heamp, its beam failing to shine beyond five meters. The pitch-ck air was a turbid reddish-brown under the light¡¯s illumination. Dust was being stirred violently in midair. ¡°This is the smog you were talking about?¡± Tang Yue looked around him. ¡°Eh... Heavy smog,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Today¡¯s air quality is indeed a little bad, worse than I imagined.¡± ¡°Are the other smog you are acquainted with all like this? Blotting out the sky so that you can¡¯t even see your hands?¡± Tang Yue red. ¡°Do you live in a chimney?¡± ¡°You just realized? I told you before that I¡¯ve had a hard life since a young age. Before I was even five months old, I was sold as a ve to Shanxi 1. I was made to ve away and the evil boss didn¡¯t even feed me...¡± ¡°Say something useful!¡± ¡°Alright, to be honest, I never expected it to be this serious. The sky is blotted out and there¡¯s zero sunlight. I woke up half an hour earlier than you and have tested the sr panels.¡± Tomcat stood beside Tang Yue. ¡°Clearly, the sandstorm hit us while we were sleepingst night. It brought with itrge amounts of sand and dust, cloaking the surface of Mars like a nket thirty-kilometers-thick. Sunlight can¡¯t even prate through.¡± ¡°How long will thisst?¡± Tang Yue reached out his hand and spread his palm in the darkness. ¡°I can¡¯t sense the wind at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s hard to tell. It might be a global hurricane, not happening once in three years, but once it happens, itsts for half a year,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s normal that you can¡¯t feel the wind. The sandstorm spans a wide area, but it doesn¡¯t mean a high wind speed. Wearing such thick gloves in such a thin atmosphere prevents you from feeling a thing.¡± Tomcat and Tang Yue groped their way forward with the help of the Mars Wanderer. Tang Yue switched off the Radiant Armor¡¯s heamp while Tomcat held a tiny bulb in its paw, lifting it above its head, letting it emit its faint light. ¡°What do we do?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°We do everything ording to n.¡± Tomcat walked ahead. ¡°I told you that the weather conditions won¡¯t affect our progress. We will just have to travel in darkness.¡± ¡°You can navigate in such poor visibility?¡± Tang Yue was somewhat surprised. ¡°You speak as though we can navigate even with good visibility,¡± Tomcat grunted. ¡°Since we were already groping blindly, what difference does it make?¡± Tomcat finally exposed its unreliable side. Whatever sextant and star chart he was using to determine theirtitude was simply to trick ayman like Tang Yue. It was always a blind cat searching for a dead rat in the desert. Tang Yue was left agape. ¡°You! You! You! You! You!¡± ¡°What?¡± Tomcat threw up its paws and gnashed its teeth. ¡°That darn letter randomly threw some coordinates at us, asking us to seek it out in the vast desert. It¡¯s hundreds of kilometers. Without any reliable navigation equipment, how are we to find the precise location? We are just trying out luck... If we are lucky, we will encounter it. Otherwise, we won¡¯t.¡± It was shameless. Tang Yue could do nothing about Tomcat. He knew that it was speaking the truth. Be it the sextant or the star chart, they could only determine a general direction based on sight. It was impossible to reach the precision of GPS. This whole trip, they were relying on the measurements seventy percent of the time, intuition for the next twenty percent, and luck for thest ten percent. Tang Yue and Tomcat came to the front of the vehicle and crawled into the driver¡¯spartment. The driver¡¯spartment, which was fully ventted, made it no different from a convertible. Tang Yue found his seat and buckled his seatbelt. By cing the tiny bulb on the dashboard, Tomcat illuminated the wooden frame. Tang Yue took another nce at it. The astronauts on Orion had bright smiles across their faces, but that was such a distant thing. Tomcat started the Mars Wanderer¡¯s engine and the control panel¡¯s indicator lights turned on. It indicated that the Mars Wanderer¡¯s batteries were fully charged with 96% left. ¡°Do you know where we should go? This darn weather...¡± Tang Yue couldn¡¯t even see his palm if he stretched his arm out. It felt as though he was extending his arm into a miasma. How was one to drive in such visibility? Would they end up driving into a ditch? ¡°Drive ahead,¡± Tomcat said indifferently. ¡°Why do you need to worry when I¡¯m driving?¡± The next moment, the Mars Wanderer¡¯s lights lit up. Two light beams tore through the darkness like a sword. The momentary blinding light narrowed Tang Yue¡¯s eyes. He was slightly rmed. He had never carried out missions at night, nor had he switched on the Wanderer¡¯s headlights. He never expected Earth to equip this old dog with such powerful eyes. ¡°When have I ever crashed?¡± Tomcat looked straight ahead with a deadpan expression. Depressing the elerator, Tomcatpleted a smooth series of actions. It did seem like an experienced driver of bumper cars. The Mars Wanderer jolted slightly as it began elerating. ¡°Eh... Wait! Stop! Tomcat, stop the vehicle!¡± Tang Yue suddenly recalled something. ¡°The sr panels! The sr panels are still on the ground. We didn¡¯t collect them!¡± ¡°I know. We¡¯re abandoning them.¡± Tomcat held the steering wheel and continued elerating. ¡°Abandon all that can be abandoned to lessen our load. After all, this hurricane willst half a year. It¡¯s useless keeping the sr panels. We shall travel light for thest thirty kilometers! We shall head straight for the enemy¡¯s den!¡± Chapter 244: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Wanderer Eloping at Night

Chapter 244: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Wanderer Eloping at Night

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue sat in the front passenger seat as the Mars Wanderer advanced amidst the darkness. To be honest, Tang Yue didn¡¯t have any confidence. At the very least, he had lost all his bearings. With one¡¯s vision hindered, no one could urately determine their bearings. In the beginning, he still knew where north and south were, but after taking two bends in the darkness, Tang Yue waspletely lost. However, Tomcat appeared fully confident. It didn¡¯t show any hesitation when making turns. The Mars Wanderer could only illuminate about five meters ahead of it in the sandstorm, and they were still at least thirty kilometers away from their destination. ¡°Ditch!¡± ¡°I see it.¡± Tomcat gripped the steering wheel tightly. ¡°However, it¡¯s not too deep. We can run over it.¡± The Mars Wanderer was moving at its fastest speed in the pitch-ck sandstorm. This was a nearly crazy action. In a situation where Tang Yue and Tomcat couldn¡¯t even see past five meters, they were unable to react in time to any obstacle they met with the clumsiness of the Wanderer. ¡°Why don¡¯t your eyes have night vision? Are you a beggar¡¯s version? Wasn¡¯t it installed on you when you came out of the factory?¡± Tang Yue asked loudly. ¡°Cut the nonsense!¡± Tomcat pointed at its eyes. ¡°This pair of eyes are much better than yours! They are Carl Zeiss lenses! Those found on the Huawei P400! High-performance low-light night vision!¡± ¡°Then why can¡¯t you see a thing!?¡± ¡°In this kind of goddamn weather, any form of night vision equipment is useless!¡± Tomcat shouted. ¡°This is a sandstorm! The air hasrge amounts of dust suspended in it. It¡¯s basically blocking out all the light! Night vision is useless!¡± ¡°Ditch! Ditch!¡± ¡°I see it!¡± Tomcat roared as it abruptly turned the steering wheel. The Mars Wanderer immediately drifted horizontally, dodging the deepest part of the ditch in a rather harrowing manner. When the wheel hit the sunken area, it immediately bounced up, lifting Tang Yue off his seat and causing him to hit the roof. ¡°Have you never read Wang Xiaobo¡¯s Hong Fu Eloping at Night?¡± Tang Yue held onto the vehicle¡¯s frame and shouted. ¡°Why are you thinking about Hong Fu Eloping at Night? Can¡¯t you read the situation? It¡¯s the Wanderer Eloping at Night!¡± Tomcat yelled as it mmed on the brakes and switched directions. A huge basalt boulder over two meters tall had suddenly appeared in the lights, giving Tang Yue and Tomcat a ghastly shock. If they had collided with it, it would be a repeat of the Titanic tragedy. The Mars Wanderer showed how reliable it was, using its powerful tires to grip the ground as its tail swung out. The old dog had seemingly learned new tricks. ¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s no Hong Fu or Li Jing here. Nor are there any eloping stories. There¡¯s only a man, a cat, and a vehicle who are in dire straits!¡± Tomcat avoided the obstacles en route and continued elerating. The Wanderer dashed forward amidst the hurricane. They were advancing with strong headwinds as the sand inundated them. Thankfully, the Martian atmosphere¡¯s density was not enough to produce any obvious air resistance. As for the Mars Wanderer¡¯s turtle speed, it didn¡¯t need any streamline designs to reduce the resistance. ¡°I¡¯m saying we can pray to Mr. Wang Xiaobo to bless us! He will definitely bless us!¡± Tang Yue held onto the vehicle frame. If not for the seatbelts securing him tightly to his seat, he would have long fallen out. For some reason, Tomcat had selected a path filled with potholes. The Mars Wanderer bounced the entire way, to the point of having all four wheels lift off the ground at times. ¡°Downslope! Downslope¡ª!¡± The Mars Wanderer¡¯s head suddenly plummeted as Tang Yue widened his eyes. There was a steep slope ahead of them once again. It was unknown how long it was since the lights weren¡¯t powerful enough to tell them. The Wanderer dashed down with him and Tomcat. ¡°Shut up. Be careful you don¡¯t bite your tongue!¡± Tomcat replied with gritted teeth. ¡°Mr. Wang Xiaobo probably can¡¯t help you at this moment in time.¡± ¡°Then pray to Lu Xun. He once said that Tang Yue and Tomcat would definitely reach their destination sessfully!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The six literary masters, Lu, Guo, Mao, Ba, Cao¡ªone of them¡ªwill definitely bless us.¡± ¡°When did Lu Xun say that?¡± ¡°2 p.m., 20 October 1892. Lu Xun said it on the Hundred-nt Garden while skipping ss from the Three vor Study!¡± ¡°How do you prove it?¡± ¡°How do you prove me otherwise?¡± The Mars Wanderer dashed down the steep slope before reaching a t in. Tang Yue noticed that the gravel on the ground was bing less as the vehicle vibrations also declined. ¡°Do you know how far we have been running?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been driving the Wanderer like a roller coaster. How would I know how far we¡¯ve gone.¡± ¡°Five kilometers,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Five kilometers have passed since we set off. To be precise, 5.25 kilometers. We are still 24.75 kilometers away from our destination. The coordinates should be 15¡ã east from where we¡¯re facing. That¡¯s why we need to steer slightly right.¡± Tang Yue was surprised. Tomcat spoke confidently. It had calcted the remaining distance rather urately and didn¡¯t appear as though it was bluffing. But how did it do it? In such harsh weather conditions and bad terrain, they could neither see the sun, stars, or even their fingers. With the sextant and star chart useless, any precise measurements were just guesses. ¡°A ruler we have ourselves. The wheels,¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°The Mars Wanderer¡¯s wheels have a diameter of 0.75 meters. One revolution is 2.36 meters. As long as you know how many revolutions it has made, you will know how far it has traveled. And the Mars Wanderer will tremble slightly once every fifteen revolutions. Pay attention. Three... Two... One! Listen!¡± Tang Yue sat in his seat, and just as Tomcat finished its sentence, he heard a faint bumping sound. It sounded like a spring had beenpressed to its limits before bouncing up instantaneously. This sound wasn¡¯t transmitted over the air, but through the vehicle¡¯s metallic frame into his ears. It was extremely soft and almost undetectable. Tang Yue focused and found that the sound was very regr. ¡°Since we set off, Wanderer¡¯s wheels have rotated 2,244 times. Ignoring the bends we took and the course corrections, it¡¯s five kilometers.¡± Tomcat exined. ¡°The Wanderer¡¯s batteries are at 70%. It should barely be enough to get us to our destination.¡± ¡°Are the headlights heavy on power consumption?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°Quite.¡± ¡°Can you switch off the headlights?¡± ¡°We will fall into a ditch if we do so.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°That pair of eyes is the only thing that allows us to deal with the sandstorm. In this darn weather, even night vision equipment is useless. Infrared is useless, so is low-light imagery. What we need are bulbs! Huge bulbs! The bigger the better! With enough brightness, any type of weather will sumb to it. God said let there be light!¡± Tang Yue looked down at his Radiant Armor. The battery¡¯s indicator was still green. The EVA suit could work for eight hours independently, so in those eight hours, he needed toplete his mission. Otherwise, he would die when the EVA suit ran out of power. Chapter 245: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, All the Insolent Life in the World

Chapter 245: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, All the Insolent Life in the World

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon No one knew if they could arrive at the coordinates within eight hours. Under normal circumstances, the working hours of the Wanderer didn¡¯t exceed two hours daily. Tomcat had an optimistic attitude towards this. After two hours on the Wanderer, it believed that the remaining six hours were enough for them to reach their destination. Tang Yue monitored the time and power, but the Radiant Armor wasn¡¯t the only thing that consumed power. Tomcat consumed power as well. To them, the amount of charge left in the batteries was like a health bar in games. Reducing it to zero meant ¡°Game Over.¡± If this were a game, it was undoubtedly ¡°hell¡± mode. ¡°Our present speed is 27 km/h. On average, we cover seven meters a second. Every beat of your heart means an of advancement of six meters.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. Even though it was sitting beside him, Tang Yue couldn¡¯t see its face. The massive amounts of dust in the air had screened out all light. ¡°Then will increasing my heart rate make the vehicle run faster?¡± ¡°Clearly not. Although the heart is a powerful driving force, it¡¯s, unfortunately, unable to drive the Wanderer¡¯s engine.¡± Tomcat¡¯s eyes glowed in the dark. ¡°Six kilometers! We have just passed thest millimeter of the six-kilometer mark! We are only twenty-four kilometers from our target!¡± Tang Yue was gripping the vehicle¡¯s frame tightly as the digital watch on his wrist was counting away the seconds. There was a low-frequency venttion noise inside his helmet. He was counting silently. The Mars Wanderer covered seven meters every second. Tomcat¡¯s driving style was brutal, clearly squeezing every bit of performance out of the Wanderer. It mmed straight into a sandpit with them aboard before charging out of it at extremely high speeds. The flying sand and gravel smacked Tang Yue¡¯s visor noisily. ¡°Seven kilometers!¡± ¡°Seven kilometers.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice followed almost immediately. ¡°There¡¯s another twenty-three kilometers left.¡± ¡°Power?¡± ¡°There¡¯s plenty of power left,¡± Tomcat replied as it slightly adjusted the headlights¡¯ brightness. ¡°I¡¯m asking about yours!¡± Tang Yue said loudly. Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°I have plenty of power as well. I can definitelyst longer than the Radiant Armor. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°Since you canst longer than me, I¡¯ll entrust you with something! Listen!¡± Tang Yue turned his body and leaned into Tomcat¡¯s ear, shouting in an attempt to suppress the noise with his voice. ¡°If I fail to make it to the end, either because the Radiant Armor is out of power or our failure to find the target, I¡¯ll have to trouble you with the rest.¡± ¡°Cut the nonsense! You are the intiff! I¡¯m just the driver! Have you seen a driver rece the intiff in awsuit?¡± Tomcat rejected the notion. ¡°This is your responsibility. Don¡¯t you push that responsibility on me! My responsibility is to take you to the destination safely! Your responsibility is toplete what you need to do!¡± ¡°But the intiff is about to die midway!¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°If the intiff dies, the driver needs to take his ce. Also, how are you a driver? You are awyer! You just happen to be awyer who drives. Your work just happens to be driving. It just happens that you are awyer who has been driving your entire life!¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you. If an animal quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it is a duck!¡± Tomcat yelled. ¡°My job is to drive. Since I¡¯ve been driving all my life, I¡¯m just a driver!¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t avoid reality. Tomcat. Look me in the eye. You are awyer!¡± ¡°You are the one who needs to face reality. Tang Yue, I¡¯m only a driver! I don¡¯t even remember thew...¡± ¡°Slope! Sloppppeee¡ª!¡± Tomcat mmed the brakes, but it was toote. Tomcat drove up a slope, rushing up to its peak as all four wheels flew into midair. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going when driving!¡± ¡°You were the one who wanted me to look you in the eye!¡± Tomcat red in rage. The Wanderer followed a parabolic trajectory before hitting the ground heavily. It nearly overturned and due to theck of any suspension system, its entire body groaned sharply from the impact. Tang Yue¡¯s innards were in turmoil from the vibrations. ¡°You can draw Mickey Mouse and Mario. As long as you draw it, you are a goodwyer,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Listen, the letter said that I have to be there in person. None of us knows if they will admit to it if a cat like you goes. We don¡¯t know the exact process either. Therefore, you can take my corpse along... If you find me heavy, you can remove the Radiant Armor. If they refuse to acknowledge my corpse, leave my corpse at their door to bring them bad luck!¡± ¡°Where did you learn this from?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve even thought of the slogan: Ruthless aliens exploit the innocent. I live and die with Earth. Return me my life! I want it in both English and Chinese.¡± ¡°If the Radiant Armor¡¯s power is depleted, the amount of power I have left will only be enough to dig a pit for you to prevent your corpse from being left exposed to the wilderness. I¡¯ll probably be unable toplete such aplicated procedure.¡± Tomcat shook its head. ¡°Don¡¯t imagine things. There aren¡¯t so many what-ifs. We will definitely arrive at those darn coordinates... Eight kilometers! We are twenty-two kilometers from our destination!¡± The weather was worsening. The air seemed to turn into a miasma as Tang Yue held the tiny emergencymp in his hand. He looked around, only to see a pitch-ck world. He couldn¡¯t see the sky or the ground. It was as though they were running inside an impressionist oil painting. The artist had given up all precise forms and distilled the majesty. He had used ck ink to scatter it freely, producing sharp, crude, and crazy lines. That was the hurricane. If there really was such a picture, Tang Yue and Tomcat probably couldn¡¯t see it. The only thing the audience could see was the wind that had been frozen upon the piece of paper, the sharpness of the sand, as well as the faint pale yellow lights of the darkness. In the tiny palm-sized region in which the lights illuminated, there was the silhouette of a shadow raising one hand high. ¡°Nine kilometers! There are twenty-one kilometers left!¡± ¡°Ten kilometers! Twenty kilometers!¡± ¡°Eleven kilometers, neen kilometers left!¡± Tang Yue yelled loudly the lyrics to Wild Child. ¡°However cruel the wind is, the more my heart quivers! Just like a speck of dust, dancing freely in the wind!¡± ¡°I need to tighten my grip on determination, and my wavering courage! I will turn into a giant! Standing on my strength, on my dreams!¡± ¡°Twelve kilometers! Eighteen kilometers left!¡± ¡°Thirteen kilometers, seventeen kilometers left.¡± ¡°Keep blowing, my feet are bare and unafraid! Keep blowing, for I care not for the disturbance!¡± Tomcat hummed along. ¡°Look at me smiling bravely. Look at me bravely waving my hands!¡± ¡°Fourteen kilometers!¡± ¡°Fifteen kilometers!¡± ¡°Sixteen kilometers!¡± ¡°Seventeen kilometers!¡± ¡°All the insolent lives in this world shall be released in this hurricane,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Eighteen kilometers!¡± ¡°Neen kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty-one kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty-two kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty-three kilometers!¡± The Mars Wanderer advanced through the hurricane as the remaining charge rapidly declined. At that moment, the temperature had dropped to ¨C60¡ãC. Ultra-low temperatures were obviously not good for batteries. The battery indicator went from green to yellow and finally to red. The dashboard was beginning to send warnings, but Tomcat continued having the elerator pedal depressed. It was obvious that Tomcat was squeezing thest bit of performance out of the Wanderer. It kept lowering the headlight¡¯s brightness, but it wasn¡¯t willing to reduce its speed. It wanted to be as close to their destination before the Wanderer died. ¡°Twenty-four kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty-five kilometers!¡± ¡°Twenty-six kilometers!¡± Tomcat gritted its teeth. ¡°A hundred meters! Two hundred meters! Three hundred meters! Two hundred and fifty meters!¡± The Mars Wanderer was on itsst legs. It had been operating for too long under cold, harsh environments while bearing excessive loads. The battery¡¯s charge indicator was almost bottoming out. Even the axles and engines were emitting strange sounds. It was crawling forward in steps of hundred meters. This old dog, that had done plenty, had reached the end of its lifespan. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t return to a perfect home or receive a perfect ending. It could only be abandoned in an endless pitch-ck storm, to be eventually buried by the sandstorm. It slowly stopped in the dark as the bright headlights gradually extinguished. Tomcat undid its seatbelt and patted Tang Yue on the shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re here. Get off!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the coordinates?¡± ¡°No, the Mars Wanderer has reached its terminal station. We need to make a transfer.¡± Tang Yue was surprised. Transfer? To what? ¡°Transfer to human-powered transportation!¡± Chapter 246: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Travel the World With the Cat

Chapter 246: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Travel the World With the Cat

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tang Yue unbuckled his seatbelt and stuffed the photo frame on the dashboard into his pocket. Following that, he hopped off the Mars Wanderer¡¯s drivingpartment with Tomcat waiting down below to hold his hand in the darkness. With the weather they were facing, they couldn¡¯t afford to lose each other. However, they didn¡¯t use a safety rope to tether themselves together. Tomcat could only hold Tang Yue tight. Tomcat¡¯s paw held the small emergency light as he waved it in front of Tang Yue. ¡°Follow me closely! Tang Yue, can you hear me?¡± Even though the man and cat were inches apart, the quality of the radioms was suffering terribly. Therge amounts of dust and static suspended in midair interfered with the radio signals. ¡°I copy you.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Loud and clear!¡± ¡°We are only 3.5 kilometers from our destination. It¡¯s in that direction... We need to walk straight in that direction for 3,500 meters.¡± Tomcat stretched out its paw and pointed ahead. ¡°How are you? How¡¯s the Radiant Armor? How much oxygen and power do you have left?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good. I had a filling breakfast and am filled with energy.¡± Tang Yue brushed away the sand and dust from the disy terminal on the Radiant Armor, allowing its faint blue light to show. ¡°The Radiant Armor¡¯s internal pressure is normal. The EOG still has ten hours left. The EVA¡¯s batteries canst another six hours.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll walk ahead. You take my six. Put your arms on my shoulder.¡± Tang Yue ced his hands on Tomcat¡¯s shoulders, taking one step whenever Tomcat took one. He moved his left foot when Tomcat moved its left foot, likewise for the right foot. It was like the zombies of legend in the Qing dynasty. To cover 3,500 meters in six hours would have been a piece of cake for Tang Yue under normal conditions. He could probably cover that distance hopping on one leg in six hours. However, the sandstorm made things a lot moreplicated. To them, the distance was a secondary concern. The greatest problem was the determination of their direction. If they ended up getting lost, the time they wasted in the sandstorm would be greatly extended. ¡°Humans are unable to strictly guarantee a straight line with their footsteps, which is why you need sight to correct your path. In darkness without any references, you will only walk in circles,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Many a time, you might believe that you are walking straight, but you might be deviating from the correct direction without realizing it.¡± ¡°Coriolis force?¡± Tang Yue looked down, taking steps with his eyes closed. His tottering steps resembled an emperor penguin¡¯s steps. Since he couldn¡¯t see anything, Tang Yue decided to close his eyes, leaving the navigationpletely to Tomcat. He was like a blind man with his guide dog. ¡°The Coriolis force is just one of the reasons. The main reason is that humans aren¡¯t able to guarantee that each stride is identical.¡± Tomcat wore an IVA suit and walked equally carefully. Without the light¡¯s illumination, even its night vision was useless. Tomcat could only grope its way forward. ¡°Most people have stronger right legs, so their right stride is often bigger than their left. This difference is extremely tiny, and you wouldn¡¯t notice it usually, but when covering long distances on a desert, this tiny difference would cause you to deviate left without you realizing it. Eventually, you wouldplete a huge circle and return to your starting point.¡± ¡°So your left and right strides are the same?¡± Tang Yue asked ¡°Yes,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s strictly set to be 0.4 meters.¡± ¡°You sure have short legs.¡± Tomcat led Tang Yue forward, leaving deep footprints in the thickyer of drifting sand that probably reached Tang Yue¡¯s ankles. When he turned his head again, he could no longer see the Mars Wanderer. The old dog had vanished into the darkness and Tang Yue knew that there was no chance of meeting it ever again. While Tang Yue tightly gripped Tomcat¡¯s shoulder, it couldn¡¯t see its back. All he could see was the light in its paw. Tomcat had raised the small emergency light above its head, making it the only source of light in the hurricane. Tomcat suddenly stopped. Tang Yue came to a halt as well. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I need to determine if I¡¯ve deviated.¡± Tomcat stood in its spot. ¡°I¡¯m blind just like you. If I just walk without any corrections, we will deviate all the way to the south pole.¡± ¡°But you have a map inside your brain.¡± ¡°A map needs something to reference to be of use.¡± Tomcat slowly crouched down, grabbing a handful of sand. ¡°Tang Yue, did you notice? The drifting sand at our feet is thickening.¡± Tang Yue crouched down. The sand which reached his ankles had now reached his calves. ¡°What does this imply?¡± ¡°It implies that we are leaving the Isidis nitia,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°The terrain is undergoing obvious changes.¡± ¡°Does this mean we are walking in the correct direction?¡± ¡°No, no matter which direction we take, we will be leaving the Isidis nitia... Alright, we can continue walking. I¡¯ve figured out where we are.¡± Tomcat straightened its body and said a string of numbers. ¡°130.8, 158.4.¡± ¡°130.8? 158.4? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Our current coordinates. I¡¯ve set the Mars Wanderer¡¯s location as the origin and set up a Cartesian coordinate system. I just told you that a step is 0.4 meters, so every step you take is 0.4 meters,¡± Tomcat exined. From the moment we set off, I¡¯ve already taken 512 steps, a total of 204 meters.¡± ¡°Then where¡¯s our destination?¡± ¡°Its coordinates are approximately (2498.2, 2506.6).¡± ¡°Is it urate?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the best I can do.¡± Tomcat shrugged. ¡°There will always be umted errors from inertial navigation.¡± Every five minutes, Tomcat would stop to get their bearings. Its stride could, in theory, guarantee that it was walking straight. However, the reality was far moreplicated than theory. The undting terrain and obstacles would force Tomcat to circle around from time to time. Tang Yue also kept a mental count. He followed Tomcat with his eyes closed, incrementing the counter with every step he took. However, this counter always hit a snag at a certain number¡ªperhaps a result of encountering a boulder or ditch. When that happened, Tomcat would turn its head to warn him. It would then think of means to circle the obstacle. And by the time all of that was done, Tang Yue would have lost count of his steps. In the dark world, he couldn¡¯t even sense himself advancing. He had lost count of his steps, causing him to lose a sense of distance. ¡°Tired?¡± ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± Tang Yue panted. ¡°How far have we walked?¡± ¡°Six hundred meters.¡± ¡°Only six hundred meters?¡± Tang Yue was somewhat surprised. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I felt as though we¡¯d already walked six kilometers,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°Strange... Why do I feel so tired despite such a short distance?¡± ¡°Mental stress,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°When ordinary peoplepletely lose their vision, they will suffer considerable mental stress. You aren¡¯t a blind person, so it¡¯s difficult for you to get used to this state in such a short period of time.¡± The sand at their feet was piling up. When going upslope, Tomcat and Tang Yue would be sliding downwards. When they crawled up a high sand dune, the higher they went, the steeper it was. Towards the end, this man and cat had no choice but to use all their limbs to proceed forward. Tang Yue would grab Tomcat by its hind legs as he crawled up the sand dune, his four limbs sinking deep into the sand. It was extremely inconvenient walking on drifting sand. There wasn¡¯t anything for them to exert their strength against. No matter how Tang Yue opened up his stride, he was walking on the spot. Sand would flow away from him as if he was having swimming lessons as a beginner. Tomcat wasn¡¯t in a much better state. It was struggling in front of Tang Yue. And when it took three steps forward with great difficulty, it would slide back to its original spot, tumbling into Tang Yue. Tang Yue grabbed it as they slumped onto the sand, panting. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Yue¡¯s visor made contact with Tomcat¡¯s helmet. He switched on the Radiant Armor¡¯s internal lights, illuminating his face. ¡°Were you damaged?¡± ¡°No. Just a system breakdown,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°My left arm was disobeying mymands and couldn¡¯t exert any strength... This arm of mine is about to expire.¡± ¡°How¡¯s your current state?¡± Tang Yue knew that Tomcat had an old injury in its left arm. The problems kept showing itself during their trip and the symptoms seemed to worsen. Tomcat tried moving its limbs and after thinking for a few seconds, it shook its head. ¡°Not too optimistic. The four limbs are stiff. I¡¯ve stayed too long in the hurricane. I¡¯m suffering from stiff joints due to the low temperatures.¡± ¡°Then shall we take a break?¡± ¡°No, the more we drag this out, the worse it bes. I might need some heating to raise my internal temperatures,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°But we clearlyck those conditions.¡± Trying to raise temperatures was an impossibility. What theycked most was electrical power. Tang Yue¡¯s Radiant Armor had heat instion and heating capabilities, but Tomcat¡¯s IVA suit didn¡¯t have that. The IVA suit it wore was only to shield it from the sand. It didn¡¯t even have a battery in it. Tang Yue fell silent for a moment. ¡°Listen, Tang Yue. If you have to go it alone...¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Tang Yue cut it off. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to raise your temperature. Do you know how friction generates heat? Mechanically convert it into potential energy. Yes, rub your paws. When we are outside during winter, we rub our hands to gain warmth. As for Old Wang and Thomp, they would rub their naked arms against each other for warmth, making you think they were gay... Now, begin rubbing your paws! Rub! Rub as hard as you can!¡± Tomcat was taken aback. ¡°As for traveling, I¡¯ll do the thinking. Don¡¯t even think of having me abandon you here...¡± Tang Yue bent down to pull on Tomcat¡¯s forelimbs. He wrapped them about his shoulders and neck and with a low grunt, lifted it up. Finally, using all his remaining strength, he straightened his body, tottering to an upright position. ¡°Don¡¯t even think of having me abandon you here! Don¡¯t even think of it... If you can¡¯t move, I¡¯ll carry you!¡± Chapter 247: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, 2053’s First Snow

Chapter 247: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, 2053¡¯s First Snow

Tang Yue pulled his left foot out of the sand and attempted to take a step forward to confirm that there was solid ground beneath the sand. As he secured his footing, the drifting sand immediately drowned his calf. Without being able to see anything, he had no idea if it was t ground beneath the sand or a hole. Therefore, every step was taken with great caution. ¡°Are we in the correct direction?¡± Tang Yue stopped to take a break as he panted. ¡°It will be fine as long as we maintain a straight line.¡± Tomcat moved around on his back. ¡°Why do you keep moving?¡± Tang Yue turned his head. ¡°You¡¯re heavy, you know that? As a cat, you weigh as much as a pig.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to generate heat by rubbing. Didn¡¯t you tell me to do it?¡± Tomcat was rubbing its limbs. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you are walking straight. I¡¯ve told you that humans will find it difficult to ensure a fixed direction in the dark. You might be deviating left without realizing it. I can¡¯t see a thing and cannot determine your direction either.¡± ¡°Deviate left¡­ Alright, I¡¯ll take note.¡± Tang Yue redistributed Tomcat¡¯s weight on his back as he lifted it up. Carrying it whilst wearing the Radiant Armor was very inconvenient. This was because the life support system was in the way and Tang Yue¡¯s hands weren¡¯t long enough. ¡°My every step is also about 0.4 meters. From the moment I started carrying you, I¡¯ve walked 1,123 steps¡­ 1,124 steps. We¡¯ve walked a total of 1,450 meters.¡± ¡°Can you continue?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. He bowed his head as he proceeded forward. Without Tomcat to guide him, Tang Yue could only do it himself. ¡°Back on Earth, I could easily run five kilometers without even panting¡­ There are only a mere two kilometers left. It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing.¡± Before he could finish his sentence, Tang Yue¡¯s body suddenly nted to the side. He had stepped onto something, causing him to lose his bnce. He staggered for a moment and nearly fell. ¡°Tang Yue?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine.¡± He took another step to adjust his center of mass. He subconsciously grabbed Tomcat with his hands and took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡± He tried his best to ensure that he kept his direction straight, but Tang Yue knew that he had no way of guaranteeing it. He kept stumbling along the way, even tumbling several times. If it wasn¡¯t for Tomcat, Tang Yue would have already lost his bearings. ¡°2,128 steps.¡± ¡°2,129 steps.¡± ¡°2¡­ 130 steps.¡± Tang Yue took a look at the time: 11:33 a.m. The distance of just over a thousand meters had taken him two and a half hours. To conserve power, Tang Yue had reduced the Radiant Armor¡¯s heating output to its lowest. His limbs were numb from the cold and he felt as though his toes were breaking off. The temperature indicator indicated that it was ¨C79¡ãC. Furthermore, it was still rapidly falling. Realizing that it was about to drop below ¨C80¡ãC and that the sandstorm hadpletely screened out the sunlight, the temperatures would drop to something terrifyingly low. ¡°Are you cold?¡± Tang Yue asked. ¡°That crappy IVA suit of yours doesn¡¯t provide any heat. In hindsight, we should have kept an EVA suit on Kunlun Station, just like the Z-9 suit on the space station.¡± ¡°I¡¯m able to resist the cold better than the average person. I can still handle this temperature.¡± Tomcat was curled behind Tang Yue with its eyes closed. Since the wind was blowing right at them, Tang Yue¡¯s body helped it block out most of the strong winds. ¡°The Z EVA suit series is even bulkier than the Radiant Armor. It¡¯s almost impossible to walk in that.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°The batteries might not be able to take such extreme temperatures.¡± ¡°I have a low-power radioisotope battery. Its main purpose is to ensure that the main batteries work normally,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°It can also be said that I have a heat-generating heart.¡± ¡­ 12:40 p.m. ¡°3,507 steps.¡± Tang Yue took a step forward as he drew a deep breath. He ced Tomcat on the ground and sat there. He was exhausted. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt so tired running two five-kilometer rounds¡­ F*ck.¡± Tang Yue stretched his fingers which were no longer responding. The Radiant Armor¡¯s batteries were at 50%. ¡°2,000 meters. We¡¯re halfway there. There¡¯s only thest kilometer¡­ Tomcat, can you determine the direction?¡± Tomcat sat by his side, curled into a ball. At such low temperatures, it had to think of a way to maintain its internal temperature. The temperature indicator¡¯s value was fixed at ¨C89¡ãC. This temperature had already exceeded the lowest temperature on Earth. If not for the Radiant Armor, Tang Yue wouldn¡¯t survive a minute if exposed to the outside world. ¡°Walk straight,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°Keep walking straight.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even feel my toes.¡± Tang Yue reach out to pinch his feet. ¡°They are like rocks. I believe I can even pluck my toes out.¡± ¡°Is the Radiant Armor still functioning normally?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What about the battery and oxygen?¡± Tomcat asked again. ¡°There¡¯s still enough.¡± Tang Yue coughed as he bit down on a straw to suck up thest bit of water in the water pouch. Following that, he got up. ¡°Get up. It¡¯s time to go. Let¡¯s continue advancing.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t resting any further?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have the time. There¡¯s still another kilometer to go. Every second wasted is a second gone.¡± Tang Yue mustered his strength to lift Tomcat. ¡°Furthermore, the more I rest, the more exhausted I be. If I sit down again, I might not be able to move again¡­ You know about mountain climbers, right? They can¡¯t stop when climbing up or going down the mountain. Stopping will just freeze them to death.¡± .. 2:00 p.m. Tang Yue staggered across the sand, each step he took almost to the point of falling down. However, he soon found his footing. The sand had now reached his knees, and Tang Yue could no longer remember how many steps he had taken. It might be 4,500 steps or 4,600 steps. He no longer counted the distance. As long as his direction was right, it was only a matter of time before he saw his destination. ¡°Tang Yue, can you still take it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°How far have we gone?¡± ¡°2,700 meters,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°There¡¯s less than a thousand meters left.¡± ¡°Good¡­ Good¡­ Less than a thousand meters.¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was hoarse as his dry throat was burning. Every word he said took a lot from him. Tang Yue could no longer feel his limbs. The Radiant Armor¡¯s interior was as cold as an ice cavern, but even so, it was still higher than the temperature outside. The temperature had been dropping over the past two hours and had already dropped to ¨C90¡ãC. Tang Yue¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t seem to contact his limbs. The extreme cold and the fatigue had frozen everything, including Tang Yue¡¯s brain. He felt like a robot without any thoughts or memories. He only had one program drilled into his head¡ªwalk, walk straight, keep walking straight. His brain was unable to issue anymands to his body or limbs, but his legs continued walking forward robotically. He had no idea where he got the strength to do it. It was like a reflex. ¡°Tang Yue, you aren¡¯t doing great. Why don¡¯t you take a rest?¡± ¡°No¡­ There¡¯s no need to. There¡¯s not much time left.¡± Tang Yue broke out into a coughing fit. He had shortness of breath and his chest felt heavy. His lungs burned with pain and his throat was blocked by sticky mucus. He couldn¡¯t cough it out or swallow it down. The Radiant Armor¡¯s life monitoring system kept issuing warnings as Tang Yue¡¯s heart rate raced. It had already exceeded a hundred beats per minute and was still rising. Tomcat raised the tiny emergency light high, illuminating the sand and dust in the winds. ¡°Tang Yue.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Look, it¡¯s snowing.¡± ¡°Snowing?¡± Tang Yue looked up. Indeed, he saw white snowkes dancing amidst the light. At some unknown point in time, there were snowkes mixed in the sand. Theynded on his visor and shoulders without immediately melting. Soon, they umted a thinyer. ¡°These snowkes are made of dry ice. The atmospheric temperature has already reached the freezing point of carbon dioxide.¡± Tomcat looked up and whispered. ¡°It¡¯s why they are crystallizing.¡± This was the first snow on the Isidis nitia of 2053. It happened one long night at the cusp of spring and summer. ¡°It¡¯s snowing¡­ That¡¯s nice. We can make a snowman¡­ and have snowball fights¡­¡± Tang Yue muttered without thought as he crossed the sand dune¡¯s peak. Just as he was about to head down, his legs went limp. This time, he failed to maintain his bnce because his brain and limbs were extremely sluggish. Tang Yue nted down to the ground, his cheeks hitting the Radiant Armor¡¯s visor. It left him seeing stars while flinging Tomcat away. The man and cat tumbled down the sand dune until they reached its bottom. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue! Where are you? Can you copy me?¡± Tomcat was left stunned by the throw. It shook away the sand on its body and raised the emergency light. It got up shouting. It had lost Tang Yue. They might be a few meters apart, but they couldn¡¯t see each other. ¡°Yes¡­ Yes¡­¡± Tang Yue¡¯s voice was very weak. ¡°Can you see the light in my paw?¡± Tomcat asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Yue switched on the Radiant Armor¡¯s internal lights. The white light lit up a few meters away from Tomcat. ¡°Tang Yue, how are you?¡± Tomcat groped its way over to him. Thetter was motionless on the ground. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not too well.¡± Tang Yue gasped for air as he muttered,¡± Tomcat¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t feel so good¡­¡± Tomcat helped him up. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Tang Yue was gasping heavily for air as the color in his face drained. It was as though he had contracted an acute disease. He widened his mouth and eyes with a grimacing expression. ¡°I can¡¯t breathe. I¡­ I¡­¡± Tomcat was astonished. Tang Yue raised his hands to grab at his throat, but his visor was blocking him. All Tang Yue could do was reach out to grab Tomcat¡¯s shoulder. The other hand kept tugging at the Radiant Armor as though he was trying to rip it apart. There was horror and helplessness in the young man¡¯s eyes as his muscles began convulsing in pain. ¡°Tom¡­ Tomcat¡­ Help me. I can¡¯t breathe. Help me¡­¡± Tears streamed out of Tang Yue¡¯s eyes as he tried his best to pull Tomcat, his fingers lodging deep into the creases of the IVA suit. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Tang Yue didn¡¯t make another sound as the strength in his hands gradually receded. The expression on his face froze as his pupils dted. The Radiant Armor¡¯s life monitoring system beeped. Tang Yue¡¯s hand limply fell to the ground as he stopped breathing. Chapter 248: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Breathe Hard

Chapter 248: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Breathe Hard

¡°Tang Yue? Tang Yue¡ª!¡± Tomcat yelled. It lifted Tang Yue¡¯s torso and leaned him onto its legs. Tang Yue was inside the Radiant Armor with his eyes wide open. Blood vessels pumped with blood covered his eyes as his mouth was slightly open. His facial muscles were frozen, wearing a look of horror and incredulity. He looked like a drowned victim. ¡°Damn it. Damn it. Damn it... Tang Yue, wait for me. I¡¯ll save you now. I¡¯ll save you right now...¡± Tomcat removed its helmet and reached out to the life support system behind the Radiant Armor. It opened the lid and pulled out the EOG before grabbing the oxygen-transmitting pipe and took a deep breath. Following that, it pulled Tang Yue¡¯s wrist over and tapped the control terminal on Radiant Armor. ¡°Open the visor!¡± The Radiant Armor refused the order, sending a warning message: Warning! Hazardous environment detected! ¡°Open the visor!¡± The Radiant Armor continued refusing the order. ¡°F*ck, what¡¯s all this bullsh*t... Enter emergency control mode! Don¡¯t you understand cat speak? Override safety protocols! Open the visor!¡± Tomcat tapped on the terminal frantically. ¡°Warning! You are attempting to open the visor. It might lead to a loss of pressure. Proceed?¡± ¡°Proceed!¡± Thetch on the Radiant Armor opened and Tomcat immediately pushed the visor up. In those short few seconds, all the air inside was sucked out. Tomcat reached its paw into the Radiant Armor and pressed down on Tang Yue¡¯s chest¡ªthe Radiant Armor was a semi-hard structure; thus, the torso was a hard shell. Tomcat lifted up the back of Tang Yue¡¯s head with its other paw. Pinching his nose, it bent down and covered his mouth. Breathe! Breathe! Tang Yue, breathe! Breathe hard! Tomcat blew the oxygen into Tang Yue¡¯s respiratory tract as it pressed down on his chest. As a robot cat, the venttor fan in its body that was used to dissipate heat and circte air was much stronger than a human¡¯s lungs. It quickly injected the oxygen it had sucked into its body into Tang Yue¡¯s lungs. Tomcat sensed Tang Yue¡¯s heartbeat. It was still beating weakly. As it tried to restore the lungs to working condition, it worked hard to stimte the heart¡¯s beating. Every time it pumped hard, it would send blood back to the heart ventricle. Breathe hard! Breathe as hard as you can! Breathe! Breathe! Tomcat sucked another huge mouthful of air and lowered its head again. The strength it used to press on the chest grew for it didn¡¯t rest for a moment. Tomcat could sense the young man¡¯s vitals weakening. His life was slipping away from his paws. The Radiant Armor had lost pressure. Temperatures of ¨C90¡ãC was beginning to sap away the EVA suit¡¯s warmth, along with Tang Yue¡¯s temperature and life. The low temperature was as lethal as theck of oxygen. ¡°Breathe! Tang Yue, breathe... Breathe, god damn it!¡± ¡°Breathe! Please, breathe!¡± Tang Yuey motionless inside the Radiant Armor. The water vapor in it had frozen into ayer of white ice seconds after the loss of pressure. Tiny icicles began forming on Tang Yue¡¯s hair and beard, making it seem as if he had aged forty years in an instant. The snowkes formed from carbon dioxidended on his face and Tomcat¡¯s shoulders and quickly produced a white swath. Tang Yue¡¯s body temperature was dropping, and Tomcat couldn¡¯t keep doing CPR on him. Tang Yue would freeze to death if this continued. Tomcat gritted its teeth. It had pumped 120 times within a minute, averaging twice a second. Yet, there was no reaction from Tang Yue. Tomcat looked at Tang Yue¡¯s lifeless eyes and suddenly realized that he was subconsciously unwilling to wake up. Waking up only meant that he had to face the harsh reality of coldness and despair. He would have to put up with the torment of being thest human while continuing his trudging through the darkness. Compared to suffering such inhuman pain, he might enjoy his eternal peace. To him, living was the source of pain. Tomcat gradually slowed down the rate at which it pumped. It hesitated, unsure if it should pull Tang Yue back to this hell on Mars. He was already exhausted enough. He had been in enough pain. Why not let him have a good sleep. ¡°If anyone¡¯s to me, me Asimov. He told me that I can¡¯t sit idle when human life is under threat.¡± Tomcat muttered. It took another deep mouthful of oxygen and injected it into Tang Yue¡¯s lungs. Then, using immense force, it pumped his chest to circte it. Finally, he raised his paw and pped Tang Yue heavily in the face. ¡°Earth is restored! Old Wang and Mai Dong are back! Bastard,e back to life¡ª!¡± Tang Yue¡¯s limbs twitched as his facial muscles moved. His pupils suddenly constricted as he snapped awake from his deepa. Then, he began coughing violently. Tomcat hurriedly stuffed the EOG¡¯s tube into Tang Yue¡¯s mouth and pressed down on him. ¡°Don¡¯t move! Don¡¯t move! Listen to me. Take a deep breath! Take a deep breath!¡± Tang Yue hugged the oxygen candle and sucked at it with all his might. As he took deep breaths, he shivered from the cold. Tomcat got him to hold his breath and stuffed the EOG back into the Radiant Armor. Then, it closed the visor and raised the Radiant Armor¡¯s air cirction and temperature control to its highest output. Tang Yuey slump on the ground, drained. He rested for quite a long while before he had the strength to speak. He had just gone to hell and back, surviving a life-threatening disaster. Tomcat heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Carbon dioxide poisoning,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°The Radiant Armor¡¯s carbon dioxide collection canister was used up, causing the EVA suit¡¯s interior to be full of umted carbon dioxide. When ordinary people are exposed to such concentrations of carbon dioxide, they will suffer a hypovolemic shock and stop breathing within thirty seconds.¡± Tang Yue silently sat on the ground. ¡°Without the carbon dioxide collection canister, we have to ventte your suit every now and then to release the thick carbon dioxide out,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°When the carbon dioxide concentration reaches 5%, you have to take note. Anything above this will lead to poisoning.¡± ¡°How... far... do we have left?¡± Tang Yue asked softly. ¡°Not much further,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°Less than a kilometer.¡± ¡°Good... Good... Let¡¯s continue...¡± Tang Yue pressed his hands to the ground in a bid to stand up. However, his knees buckled and he sat back down. He wasn¡¯t able to muster any strength from his body. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± Tomcat crawled over and ced Tang Yue¡¯s arm around its shoulder. Thetter leaned against Tomcat as he slowly straightened his body. He slipped several times on the sand but eventually managed to find his footing. ¡°Is... the direction... correct?¡± Tang Yue had his head bowed, his voice weak. ¡°It¡¯s correct.¡± Tomcat held onto Tang Yue as they proceeded forward with tottering steps. ¡°We¡¯re almost there. Tang Yue... Just a little bit more. This is the final leg! At such a close distance, we can reach it even by crawling.¡± Chapter 249: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Don’t Die on Mars

Chapter 249: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Don¡¯t Die on Mars

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon 3:15 p.m. Tang Yue and Tomcat had lost count of the number of times they fell. Tomcat was too short, and holding up Tang Yue meant a high center of mass. A slip by Tang Yue was enough to pull Tomcat down. As they stumbled their way forward, Tang Yue had already lost his bearings. ¡°Five meters! Four meters!¡± ¡°Three meters!¡± ¡°Two meters! Two meters!¡± ¡°One meter... We¡¯re there!¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat copsed to the ground. Tang Yue breathed heavily as he opened his eyes. It was still pitch-ck in front of him. He still wasn¡¯t able to see anything. ¡°We¡¯ve walked a total of 6,475 steps. That¡¯s the effective step count. We aren¡¯t counting the times we rolled and fell to the ground.¡± Tomcaty beside Tang Yue. Its body was snow-white in color. ¡°Based on the distance, it should be here.¡± Tang Yue struggled to turn his body to face up. After resting for half a minute, he found the strength to speak. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing at all...¡± They had arrived at their destination, but there was nothing. There wasn¡¯t any huge Roman court or little green men. There wasn¡¯t even a simple roving court. Apart from the howling wind, sand, and snow, there was no sign of light for as far as they could see. ¡°That¡¯s right... there¡¯s nothing at all here,¡± Tomcat said. Tang Yue remained silent for a very long time before he suddenlyughed. As heughed, he coughed. ¡°Tomcat, tell me. If those darn alien b*stards are that advanced and powerful, why must they make us go through all this hassle? They could have directly sent us a spacecraft, couldn¡¯t they? Getting on a spacecraft to court and hire awyer should be a one-stop service. It would be easy... Why did they have to make us travel all this distance?¡± ¡°Maybe because they are an insurancepany,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°All the insurancepanies in the Universe are probably the same. They try to pay the least they can pay. It¡¯s best if they pay nothing,¡± Tomcat said. ¡°They will find some leeway in interpretation to reduce their damages based on the permissible limits. They would then push the me. Think about it. If you were to die midway, there wouldn¡¯t be anywsuits. Then, they wouldn¡¯t need to make anypensation. They don¡¯t even need to shoulder any responsibilities. You are thest Earthling. If you were to die, no one will remember the Earth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s despicable.¡± ¡°They are capitalists after all.¡± Tang Yue sighed. ¡°You are framing the question with an Earthling¡¯s point of view. In fact, who knows what¡¯s on their minds?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right...¡± Tomcat nodded. ¡°Who knows what¡¯s on their minds.¡± Tang Yue and Tomcat fell silent before they broke out intoughter simultaneously. Indeed, there was nothing. That letter was a joke, a farce. It had given them coordinates that had nothing. To Tang Yue, this was something expected. When he left Kunlun Station, he had already foreseen such a scene. Tang Yue no longer cared if the coordinates on that letter were genuine. He only wished to find somewhere to rest in the vastness of the world. And the coordinates gave him a possible direction. It was silent all around. It was unknown if the wind was just too weak or if something had gone wrong with his ears. While lying on the ground, Tang Yue faced up. He once thought that he might die under the starry sky. That way, he could embrace the Universe and allow his soul to swim with the stars. Unfortunately, the heavens were unkind to him. There was a blizzard and a sandstorm. The darkness and oppression felt like a coffin¡¯s cover. Tang Yue took out the photo frame from his pocket and adjusted the Radiant Armor¡¯s heamp. He stroked the photo, flicking away the snow and sand on it and sweeping his gaze across the faces. This was Tang Yue¡¯s only group photo. They were the only evidence that Old Wang, Thomp, Old Zheng, Mai Dong, as well as Earth once existed. Before Tang Yue managed to take a careful look, the heamp extinguished. Tang Yue patted his helmet gently, but the light didn¡¯te back on. He felt a little regret that his nce had been his final goodbye to the world of light. The charge on the Radiant Armor¡¯s battery had dropped to the red warning threshold. To ensure Tang Yue¡¯s safety, it had prioritized the power to the life support system. All other power-consuming devices were cut. But no matter how hard the Radiant Armor tried to raise the temperature, it was futile. Tang Yue was constantly losing heat and he was beginning to show signs of hypothermia. ¡°Did you bring the shovel?¡± Tang Yue pressed the photo frame to his chest, his eyelids growing heavy. ¡°No,¡± Tomcat replied. ¡°It¡¯s too heavy. I threw it midway.¡± ¡°Then forget it...¡± Sleepiness was creeping up to him and Tang Yue couldn¡¯t be bothered about the shovel. To be precise, his brain had already lost its ability to think. Tang Yue didn¡¯t feel cold and even found his body warm. It felt like he was snuggling in bed on Kunlun Station or soaking in a bathtub. It was serene and tranquil. Howfortable. It¡¯s reallyfortable... Tang Yue slowly curled up and closed his eyes. ¡°Tang Yue! Tang Yue!¡± Tomcat crawled over and smacked Tang Yue¡¯s visor. ¡°Ah... What are you doing?¡± Tang Yue opened his eyes and saw the huge cat face stered on his visor. ¡°I¡¯m so sleepy. I need some sleep. Don¡¯t disturb me.¡± ¡°Tang Yue, listen to me. We deviated slightly from the correct direction! I just realized that we need to head fifty meters east! Heard that? We need to walk fifty meters east!¡± Tomcat roared as it shook Tang Yue as hard as it could. Thetter looked at him nkly, his eyes zed. He felt that its voice was indistinct and distant as though there were thick walls and ss between them. ¡°Heard that? Tang Yue!¡± ¡°Okay, I got it.¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°Then get up! Get up and walk! Fifty meters!¡± ¡°Nope. I can¡¯t even walk five meters. So what if we deviated? I don¡¯t care.¡± Tang Yue slurred and turned around. ¡°I¡¯m exhausted. I can¡¯t move... I¡¯m not even moving if Godes. I¡¯m not going to move for the rest of my life.¡± ¡°Come on! Get up!¡± ¡°I want to sleep...¡± Tang Yue¡¯s brain was rejecting everymand as his rity of thought turned murky. ¡°Don¡¯t you sleep!¡± Tomcat tried to help Tang Yue up again, but its repeated attempts all ended in failure. Tang Yue¡¯s body was slumped on the ground like a bag of heavy mud. Helpless, Tomcat could only ce his torso over its hind legs. Then like a lone soldier on the battlefield, it moved backward, dragging a casualty away from the front lines. ¡°Don¡¯t you sleep! Tang Yue! Make sure you don¡¯t sleep! If you sleep, I¡¯ll strip you naked and put you on Olympus Mons!¡± Tang Yue was slightly jolted awake. ¡°But I¡¯m too sleepy...¡± ¡°Recite some poems if you are sleepy!¡± Tomcat crawled one step forward and pulled Tang Yue along. ¡°Repeat after me! Repeat whatever I say!¡± ¡°Okay... I¡¯ll repeat... whatever you say...¡± ¡°When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on man!¡± Tomcat grabbed Tang Yue by the neck with one paw as it used another paw to reach deep into the sand as it tried its best to crawl forward. Tang Yue¡¯s body was limp. He tried moving his arms to aid Tomcat, but they were like noodles. He wasn¡¯t able to exert any strength at all. It was as though he was boneless¡ªperhaps a nice description of a woman to describe their soft hands, butpletely odd for a man. ¡°When... heaven... is about to... confer a great... responsibility on man...¡± Tang Yue muttered. ¡°It will exercise his mind with suffering!¡± Tomcat yelled. ¡°It... will exercise... his mind... with suffering...¡± Tang Yue repeated after it. ¡°Subject his sinews and bones to hard work!¡± ¡°Subject his... sinews and bones... to hard work...¡± ¡°Expose his body to hunger!¡± ¡°Ex... Expose... I¡¯m so hungry...¡± ¡°Expose his body to hunger! Do not go gentle into the night!¡± ¡°You are messing up your lines, Tomcat...¡± ¡°Do you still remember what Miss Mai Dong said to you? If you were given three sols to live! Darkness and death will ultimately arrive. You should angrily raise your torch with a roar and face it!¡± Tomcat dragged Tang Yue, passing through the sand and blizzard, yelling furiously, ¡°Listen up, Tang Yue... No matter what, no matter what happens, don¡¯t you die on this goddamn Mars¡ª!¡± Chapter 250: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, It is Home

Chapter 250: Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, It is Home

Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Tomcat didn¡¯t move. Tang Yue didn¡¯t move either. The cat and many on the ground for a very long time. ¡°Tomcat?¡± Tang Yue tried hard to turn his head to see if Tomcat was dead. ¡°Hehehehahahaha...¡± Tomcatughed on the sand as its body shook. ¡°Tang Yue, weren¡¯t you convinced that I was the one who wrote that letter? Didn¡¯t you believe that this was something I cooked up? That it was a farce I designed? That it was done to extend your life?¡± Tang Yue was taken aback. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you. It¡¯s really regretful. What a shame. I¡¯m telling you, Tang Yue. This time... you were wrong! Especially wrong!¡± Tomcat shook its head as itughed with gritted teeth. It then reached out its paw. In the darkness, it had touched adder. ... ¡°One! Two! Three¡ª! Put some strength into it! Go on up!¡± Tomcat pushed Tang Yue up the amodationdder with all its might. ¡°Grip it tight! Use all the strength you have and grip it tight! Use all your strength!¡± Tomcat roared. ¡°Raise your left foot! Left foot! One, two, three! Step onto it¡ªGood! Got your footing!? Now, raise your right foot! Right foot! Which is your right foot?¡± Tang Yue was in a half-conscious state. His mind was a turbid mess and his eyes were zed. Following Tomcat¡¯s instructions, he reached out to hold onto thedder. The connection between his brain and limbs was weak and adrift. Themands issued by his brain were only received by his arms asionally and not at other times. He felt that his nerves were as useless as Kunlun Station¡¯s radio¡ªdata transmissions were filled with lost packets. Tomcat got him to use all his strength, but Tang Yue felt that he had none of it. ¡°It¡¯s... It¡¯s here?¡± ¡°Yes! Continue¡ª! One, two, three! Up!¡± Tomcat clenched its teeth as it pushed Tang Yue up one level with all its might. Thetter along with the Radiant Armor weighed nearly a hundred kilograms, and it was bearing all the weight. It too was almost at its limits. Logically speaking, Tomcat should have run out of power as well. But for some reason, it still had plenty of strength. It was pushing Tang Yue up one level at a time. ¡°What¡¯s it... A spacecraft?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Tomcat pushed him up one more level as it panted heavily. Its body¡¯s heat dissipation was overloading. ¡°Yes... Do you still remember the thing I saw when I was out? I thought I was seeing things, but I wasn¡¯t at all. This was exactly what I saw! It¡¯s right above us now! It¡¯s floating in midair! It¡¯s hovering very low!¡± ¡°How... low?¡± ¡°Less than three stories!¡± Tomcat climbed up the amodationdder and rested for a moment. To reduce its weight, it had taken off the IVA suit. Its fur was covered in icicles. ¡°It¡¯s lower than a helicopter hovering height... F*ck. It¡¯s really not man-made. I don¡¯t see any engines, propellers, or exhausts. It doesn¡¯t emit anything at all. How does it float there? Is it non-Newtonian?¡± Tang Yue tried hard to look up and immediately his eyes cked out. His dizziness nearly made him fall back down. Tomcat was propping him up from below, using its shoulders to hold Tang Yue¡¯s Radiant Armor up as it slowly exerted strength. The next moment, there was a crisp cracking sound as Tomcat slid. Tang Yue and Tomcat fell suddenly, but thankfully, thetter grabbed onto the amodationdder at the final moment, preventing him from falling while holding onto Tang Yue. The two of them were like mountain climbers in a blizzard. Without any safety rope, all they could do was rely on each other when scaling a steep icefall. ¡°Steady¡ª!¡± Tomcat squeezed the word through its clenched teeth. Bit by bit, it pushed Tang Yue back on track, allowing him to grab onto thedder. ¡°How... are you? Tomcat... Tomcat?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°I just heard...¡± Tang Yue turned his head, trying to look down. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tomcat¡¯s voice sounded over the earpiece. ¡°Keep climbing up... Climb! Keep climbing up!¡± Tang Yue said that the spacecraft was hovering at a height of less than three stories, which meant it wasn¡¯t more than nine meters. However, Tang Yue subjectively believed that he was scaling the Burj Khalifa. ¡°I can¡¯t take it, Tomcat...¡± Tang Yue stopped as he leaned against thedder, exhausted. All he could do was maintain his position on thedder using all his strength since the Radiant Armor wasn¡¯t meant for climbing to begin with. Tang Yue didn¡¯t have any excess strength to climb further. His hands and feet had long frozen so badly that he couldn¡¯t bend them. Even speaking was an arduous task. ¡°I really can¡¯t take it.¡± He was at the end of the rope. So was the Radiant Armor. Its power and oxygen levels were already at rock bottom. Tomcat didn¡¯t say a word. Replying to him was a massive force. That force held up Tang Yue¡¯s thighs and back as he was forcefully pushed up. He was surprised as to where Tomcat had obtained such strength. Just as he was about to ask, Tomcat¡¯s shouts made him hold his tongue. ¡°Shut up! Left! Take a firm step!¡± It was another tremendous amount of strength. ¡°Right!¡± ¡°Left!¡± ¡°Right!¡± ¡°Left!¡± Finally, Tang Yue¡¯s hand touched the hatch as he grabbed its boundary. ¡°Tomcat... I felt it.¡± Tang Yue was pleasantly surprised. Tomcat stopped as it held onto the amodationdder and bent down. It opened its mouth, emitting heavy panting sounds mixed with sharp noises of friction. ¡°Tang Yue...¡± Tomcat softly said. ¡°Best of luck.¡± It shouted in a hollow manner before using its final strength to push Tang Yue up. With its strength, Tang Yue climbed into the hatch and tumbled to the side. Hey on the spacecraft¡¯s floor, panting. Tang Yuey here, his limbs seemingly detached from his brain. Upon sensing that the environment around him was habitable, the Radiant Armor quickly activated the cirction system. Surprisingly, the air here was breathable and the temperature was afortable 25¡ãC. The cirction system injected air into Radiant Armor and the nearly suffocating Tang Yue finally recovered some of his strength. He struggled to get up and crawled over, reaching out for the hatch. The furry paw was still holding onto the amodationdder. ¡°Tomcat... I¡¯ll... I¡¯ll pull you up... We¡¯ll go... go together...¡± Tang Yue grabbed the paw and pulled it up. Tang Yue was stunned. It was only a broken arm. .. Tang Yue weakly slumped on the floor and before he fell unconscious, he saw the dark hurricane beneath him turn brownish-red. It was only at that moment that he realized that he was rising. After he had boarded the spacecraft, it had silently and rapidly raised its altitude. It flew extremely stably and quietly without any noises or vibrations. It had risen at a uniform speed, giving Tang Yue the impression that he had been stationary. The air gradually thinned. Likewise for the sandstorm. The sunlight gradually prated the sandstorm, effusing a faint brownish-red light. The spacecraft tore through the hurricane and atmosphere with Tang Yue aboard. He had his eyes half-open when bright sunlight suddenly shone on his face. He had finally seen sunlight again. The sun was rising from the ends of the clouds. It felt like the first ray of sunlight shining on his face after a train left a long tunnel, bringing along with the leaf shadows in the woods. Tang Yue looked down. The dark brown sandstorm was churning like a boiling pot of soup. The distance between them was widening, and soon, the ground no longer looked t. It gradually turned into a massive arc and the sand and the atmosphere was just a thinyer that epassed that arc. Right on the heels of that, they slowly converged in Tang Yue¡¯s eyes as he saw the distant horizon¡ªit was a fiery-red. Tang Yue could once again take its entirety into his eyes. On the 342nd sol of being stranded on this alien, Tang Yue once again saw it in its entirety. It was a beautiful but cruel red. The where he lived, hated, felt pain, and escaped. Mars! Mars! Tang Yue struggled to turn his body as he faced the sky where the stars were resplendent. He hugged the cat¡¯s paw and photo frame tightly in his chest. He opened his mouth, wishing to say something, but his parched throat couldn¡¯t make a sound. Tang Yue¡¯s lips were cracked as blood trickled into his mouth. Tears welled and streamed down into the corners of his eyes. Tang Yue closed his eyes. If I must die, Please bury me, Under the starry sky. Ask not where I¡¯m from, For it is immensely far. Ask not where I¡¯m headed to, For ahead is infinitely far. Do not feel sad, do not weep. There wille a day, When spring winds blow, When withered trees bloom. Come visit me, Come that day, A Halcyon spreads its wings above my grave, Scattering sunlight upon me. Come that day, Please take my eyes, And cross the gctic rivers, Till the end of the Universe, Where a faint blue dot lies. Put to rest my soul Herein where I lie. If you wish to ask, Where this is? Vastnds without ends I see, I shall say, It is home. Chapter 251 (END) - Final Epilogue Chapter 251: Final Epilogue Trantor: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon Two yearster. Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. New Main Building meeting room. ¡°Eh, Mr. Tang Yue... We all know that you were an engineer for the thirteenthnding mission. You and Miss Mai Dong are to date, the youngest payload specialists tond on Mars. Now that the first stage of the Mars Landing Project hase to an end, Orion I and II have been dmissioned.¡± A female host sat there interviewing. ¡°Orion III and IV have already been put into use. In the future, there will be younger peoplending on Mars. Perhaps at this moment, in this very meeting room, the students sitting below us might have someone who mightnd on that in the future. To this student, do you have any word of advice?¡± Tang Yue sat on a chair, looking down at the swath of youths. He held a microphone in his hand and thought for a few seconds. ¡°All of you wish to go to Mars as well?¡± ¡°Yes¡ª!¡± ¡°Then, let me tell you a secret.¡± The bright meeting room instantly fell silent. The twittering of the birds outside was crisp and clear. ¡°Study well and train your body.¡± Tang Yue smiled. ¡°There will be more people, much younger people tond on Mars in the future. The second stage has just drawn its curtains, and Kunlun Station will be expanded. They have already begun building vegetable ntation tents on Mars... In the next ten to twenty years, Mars will need more talents. It will be the golden heyday for biology, chemistry, environmental science, and material science.¡± Tang Yue continued. ¡°And relevant institutes of higher learning will be preparing to jointly nurture talents to promote excellent graduates to head to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for training. The first batch of people in this n includes some from Beihang University and Harbin Institute of Technology. So if you wish tond on Mars, study hard.¡± The meeting room instantly became rowdy. The youths began whispering amongst themselves. Tang Yue sat behind the podium and saw hope in these vibrant youths¡¯ eyes. The youngest among them had just started schooling, and the oldest was about to graduate with a Master¡¯s degree. It could be foreseen that among these youths, it was inevitable that someone would step onto thatnd a hundred million kilometers away in the next ten to twenty years. ¡°Next up, we will open the floor. If you have any questions, please raise them.¡± The female host requested silence. ¡°Teacher Tang, I have a question!¡± ¡°I have a question!¡± ¡°I have a question too!¡± The students eagerly raised their hands. ¡°There¡¯s no need to call me teacher. Do I look that old? I¡¯m not that much older than you guys. Just call me Brother.¡± Tang Yue smiled as he waved his hand. ¡°Brother Tang! I have a question...¡± The person stood up and received a microphone. ¡°I study psychology at Beijing Normal University. I came here especially to attend your lecture. I wish to ask your views on the question of the psychological effects of being in a sealed and isted environment for extended periods of time. We all know that it takes months to go from Earth to Mars at the very least. If we were to head for furthers in the future, such as Jupiter or Saturn, the return trip will undoubtedly be longer. How are astronauts to endure such prolonged bouts of loneliness? Will he change because of the environment? Or to rx the scope of the question... Are humans who have left Earth for too long still considered human?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Tang Yue pondered for a moment. ¡°Your question is not only a psychological problem. It¡¯s also an engineering problem. It takes months to go from Earth to Mars, so we need to enhance our spacecraft and rockets. We need to shorten the time taken as much as possible. As for your final question, I believe humans who have left Earth for long periods of time are still human. Do they be monkeys as a result?¡± There was an uproar ofughter. ¡°I personally take an optimistic view. I believe that only humans who really leave Earth will be aplete species. They will recognize themselves better and be considered true humans,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°One day in the future, when you are aboard a manned spacecraft and you fly out into space, allowing you to take in Earth in its entirety, you will realize... how all the conflicts that humanity have embroiled themselves in are all so puny, trivial, and not worth mentioning. The ancients shed blood to upy a piece ofnd, but in your eyes out in space, that piece ofnd isn¡¯t even bigger than your fingernail.¡± ¡°Brother Tang, I would like to know what sort of hardship you encountered during your Mars mission. How did you ovee them?¡± Tang Yue turned to look out the window. The sunlight was prating the lush green leaves, leaving mottled shadows on the window ledge. A sparrow perched on a branch flew down as it hopped around. ¡°Hardship...¡± Tang Yue suddenlyughed. ¡°Of course I did. There were many that no one knew about. I had once even fallen into despair, believing that I couldn¡¯t continue.¡± ¡°Then what drove you to continue on?¡± ¡°It¡¯s this world and the beautiful things that make us human,¡± Tang Yue replied. ¡°In your heart, there will always be something or people who are worth carrying on for regardless of what you¡¯re facing.¡± ¡°Brother Tang, can you tell me how you got that scar?¡± ¡°Uh... I identally fell down.¡± ¡°Based on our present level of technology, heading to Mars is a very dangerous mission. Mr. Tang Yue, have you ever thought of the possibility of an ident happening?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Yue shrugged. ¡°If we unfortunately die, I hope that people can ept it. If something unexpected happens to us, I hope it doesn¡¯t dy the continuation of the project. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.¡± ¡°Brother Tang... Do you believe in extraterrestrials?¡± Tang Yue held the microphone and smiled. ¡°Yes.¡± ... Tang Yue hurriedly passed through the corridors as he brushed past the shoulders of passersby and ran down the stairs. He had lost track of time. There had been too many questions during the lecture and the event had overrun by half an hour. Only when the bell rang did he realize that he waste. Tang Yue rushed out of the building¡¯s foyer and in the distance, he saw a slenderdy standing under a tree by the road. Dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans, she was wearing a thin hoodie. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and her hands were behind her back. Her eyes were looking at the distant building as she hummed a tune. Her soft ponytail shook along with the rhythm. I¡¯m doomed. Tang Yue¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he silently covered his face. The girl turned her head over and noticed Tang Yue at the bottom of the steps. Her eyes lit up before her brows pricked up. They had arranged to meet at half-past ten in the morning at the metro entrance, but she had waited all the way to eleven with no sight of him. He didn¡¯t pick up her phone calls; hence, the girl hade to find him. She went around Beihang University¡¯s campus and asked around before finally seeing the poster pasted to the wall and knew where Tang Yue was. When it came to beingte and standing her up, this wasn¡¯t Tang Yue¡¯s first time. Mai Dong knew this better than anyone. ¡°I was wrong. I admit my fault. It¡¯s my bad. I¡¯ve let down the People for beingte again...¡± Tang Yue believed that admitting to his mistake first was the best choice. ¡°Too many questions again?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°The event dragged out again?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°You use the same excuse every time. Can¡¯t you fabricate something that sounds more usible? Something like a traffic jam or you missing the train...¡± ¡°But it¡¯s the truth. I¡¯m going to decline such activities and nominate Old Wang in the future. I won¡¯t be participating in them ever again.¡± Tang Yue felt rather helpless. ¡°How was your defense.¡± Mai Dong walked ahead of him and turned around as she back stepped. Cocking her head, she revealed a brilliant smile as her ponytail hung down. ¡°What do you think? ¡°I passed. ¡°Of course, it was unanimous. I¡¯m a genius. From today, you will have to address me as Dr. Mai!¡± ¡°Alright, Lass.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Doctor!¡± the girl corrected him. ¡°Alright, Dr. Lass.¡± Tang Yue walked on the pavement as young adults came and went across campus. He had dressed simply and didn¡¯t stand out. Even though he was an astronaut for the Mars Landing Project, he really wasn¡¯t someone everyone knew. May was the season of nt growth and the magnolia flowers nted on the side of the road were in full bloom. There was even a strong floral fragrance in the wind. Mai Dong walked in front of him as her ponytail swayed about. The girl¡¯s footsteps suddenly paused as she hung the foot she was about to ce forward in midair. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I nearly stepped on it.¡± Mai Dong pointed down at her feet. There was a tiny pale-yellow flower growing out from the cracks of the road tiles. Having spent a few hundred sols on the space station alone, Mai Dong had the nts in the incubator apanying her. This made her have deep feelings for nts. Thisdy often said to Tang Yue that if she hadn¡¯t joined the Mars Landing Project, she would have dedicated her life to a career dealing with environmental conservation and the protection of endangered animals. Perhaps everyone that had gone to space had a deep sense of the beauty of Earth and how fragile it was. The girl carefully circled around the nt. ¡°Did Mr. Cat contact you?¡± ¡°It?¡± Tang Yue grinned. ¡°Do you even call that contacting me?¡± Tomcat had be more garrulous than ever. It would use the public mailbox of the Mars Landing Project to send all kinds of spam to Tang Yue. Most of it was meaningless chatter. ¡°Tang Yue, have you married Miss Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, why haven¡¯t you married Miss Mai Dong?¡± ¡°Tang Yue, I¡¯ve thought of a name for your future child. Tang Mai.¡± ¡°What do you think of Tang Mai?¡± ¡°Is little Tang Mai born?¡± ¡°Why isn¡¯t she born?¡± ¡°What? You aren¡¯t married yet?¡± ¡°Is Mr. Cat returning to Earth soon?¡± Tang Yue nodded. ¡°After this mission, it will officially retire. It will return to Earth on Orion III and then lead the retiree life that it has been looking forward to.¡± ¡°Will it retire in China?¡± Tang Yue pondered for a moment as he stroked his chin. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. It has given me the apartment in Tongzhou District, so where will it stay?¡± Therge screen on the streetside was reporting the afternoon news. The female reporter was bundled tightly with only her eyes exposed. Behind her was a clean room of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The white Tianzhou 40 cargo spacecraft was being constructed. It was a brand new second-generation Mars cargo spacecraft. ¡°The fifteenthnding missions are beginning the recruitment. Tang Yue, are you nning on joining?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Yue said. ¡°The moment I left Mars, I had made up my mind that there would be a day when I¡¯d return again.¡± Mai Dong held his hand as she looked at the faint scar on it. No one knew what Tang Yue had experienced. No one on Earth knew what happened. Likewise for Mai Dong. Even Tomcat had no idea. There was only one thing with great certainty¡ªhe had won the battle alone. Every time Mai Dong asked what happened after the space station crashed or what happened after he left Mars, Tang Yue would sweep the matter under the rug in a vague manner. He would say how it hurt to look back and that those memories were painful, hoping that no further questions would be asked as it would only cause him a mental breakdown. ¡°Even though so much happened?¡± The girl hugged him gently, cing her head on his chest. Tang Yue ruffled her hair and kissed the girl on the forehead, saying softly, ¡°Don¡¯t be bound by the past. That way, we can go further. That¡¯s what you taught me.¡± Mai Dong lowered her head and fell silent for a few seconds. Then, she took a step back and looked up at him. ¡°What about you, Lass? Will you still go?¡± Tang Yue asked. Mai Dong locked her gaze with his for a long while as the breeze blew her fine hair. She suddenly smiled and skipped about, tightly wrapping her arms around Tang Yue¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯ll go wherever you go.¡± ... The End The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!