The buffer parachute opened at the moment of contact with the atmosphere. After crossing a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers, Ares safely landed on the surface of Mars, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The lock on the cushion seat popped open, and the astronauts fixed on it stepped on the bottom of the cabin.
The moment they felt gravity return, everyone cheered excitedly.
"We did it!"
"We landed successfully! Ohhhhh! "
"…!"
Ten minutes ago, they were still staring at the radar dial in fear, worried that Celestial Trade would suddenly fire a bomb at them by mistake. However, what they didn't expect was that Celestial Trade didn't interfere with them in any way, and they didn't even plan to talk to them. They just stood quietly on the side and watched them land …
This is too strange.
Didn't they notice us? But how is this possible!
While he was overjoyed, Bris also gradually felt a trace of uneasiness.
For some reason, he always felt that the people on that spaceship were watching them. And in the indifferent gaze, it was neither surprise nor surprise, but mockery and ridicule, as if they were watching a good show …
I hope it's just my illusion.
Bruce shook his head and squeezed a smile on his face. He high-fived his teammates in celebration and blended into the jubilant atmosphere.
The radio transceiver poked out from the top of Ares and aimed at the satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Their signal would be connected to the ground command center far away in B City through the satellite that acted as a communication relay.
Because of the communication delay of a few minutes, everyone only had a chance to say a word.
Brace picked up the walkie-talkie and exchanged excited glances with his teammates. He took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and put on a serious expression. He looked at the camera and pressed the button.
"Calling the command center, this is Ares, we have landed successfully!"
There was still a lot to say, but Bris saw the excitement on the faces of his teammates, so he ended the communication and handed the intercom to the nearest teammate.
"We did it! We did it! " The beautiful astronaut with blonde hair leaned in front of the camera and shouted excitedly, "We are on Mars now! The desert here is like fire. This is probably the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. "
"The weather here is very clear. We are very lucky that we did not encounter a sandstorm." A Jewish astronaut said, "This is a good start. God will bless us and the United States of America for a long time to come."
"I feel like I've returned to my hometown. This place is just like the desert in California! It's just that it's a little cold here. The temperature outside is about -50 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, there's an air conditioner in the Ares. Hahaha … "
"…"
Communication resources were quite precious, and there was only half a minute left for everyone to perform. In less than five minutes, the eight astronauts stood in front of the camera and greeted their hometown tens of millions of kilometers away.
This video would be broadcasted by all the major TV stations in the United States, so that all Americans could see this exciting moment.
After the call ended, Braith turned off the camera, compressed the video, and clicked send.
At this time, a few of the more active members of the team immediately made a ruckus.
"Kane, take out the champagne from the fridge! We have to celebrate this great moment! Hahaha! "
"Let's not celebrate first. We have to decide who will be the first American to set foot on Mars."
"Same old rules, draw lots to decide!"
"Draw lots? Let me wash my hands first … "
Braith looked at his excited teammates and the corners of his mouth curved up.
But for some reason, the uneasiness in his mind became stronger and stronger.
Before he came, he did plenty of homework.
For creatures like Devil Worms, the mainstream view of the UA biology community generally believed that their threat was only an inferior hype by Celestial Trade to monopolize the colonization of Mars. Without actively harming them, they would not be attacked.
Otherwise, why would Celestial Trade only be attacked by this Martian creature this year after landing for so long? If it weren't for the fact that Celestial Trade drilled five kilometers underground and poked a hole in their nest, why would the insects living in the mantle come to the surface to attack you?
As long as you don't do anything stupid, you won't be attacked.
This was also NASA's advice to the "Mars climbers".
However, all of this was just the speculation of the UA biology community.
No UA citizen participated in the research of the Devil Worm. Even the most knowledgeable scholars only watched through the transparent display case with the tourists. Were the habits of insects on Mars the same as those on Earth?
It was hard to say.
After all, there were no insects larger than humans on Earth.
Just as Braith was muttering to himself, the drawing of lots was already over.
The lucky man was a white man with blond hair.
His name was Sean, and he was from California. When he found out that he had won, he was so excited that he almost jumped up.
Walking to the buffer cabin, he put on a heavy spacesuit with the help of his teammates. After confirming that all the data in the spacesuit was normal, he solemnly took the star-spangled flag from Captain Braith's hands. He watched the inward hatch close and waited for the outward hatch to open. Then, he gently jumped out of the desert outside of Ares.
Inside Ares, Braith prayed in his heart and turned on the camera. Several other teammates also excitedly took out their phones and other camera equipment to record videos to commemorate this great moment.
With his feet on the sand, Sean carried the star-spangled flag and waved to his teammates behind him.
Looking at the thumbs up from his teammates, he turned around in excitement and walked to the nearby dunes with the star-spangled flag.
Ten meters away.
The flag of the UA would fly on Mars.
Celestial Trade's monopoly on Mars would end …
At this moment, he suddenly felt a slight tremor under his feet.
"An earthquake?" Sean frowned.
He was a geologist and had done relevant research before coming here. In his memory, the geological environment of Mars was quite stable, so stable that it was almost dead. There was no volcanic activity or plate drift, so how could there be earthquakes?
"Is it another sandstorm?"
Muttering, he took a step towards the direction of the sand dune.
However, this kick did not land.
Boom!
There was no warning at all.
A twenty-meter-long giant worm suddenly drilled out of the ground and knocked the astronaut more than ten meters into the air.
He didn't even have time to scream before the pair of sharp incisors snapped together at lightning speed, cutting him in half at the waist. His flesh and intestines sprayed into a bloody mist in the air, soaking the dry land.
"Ahhh –!"
Faced with the bloody scene in front of them, there were shrill screams inside Ares. Some people were stunned, some people began to vomit, and some people sat in the corner and prayed …
The camera in his hand was slowly put down. Brace stared blankly out the window, watching the Devil Worm that began to skillfully suck the flesh and blood inside the spacesuit. He watched it move its countless long legs. His lips trembled and he couldn't say a word. He even forgot to turn off the power of the camera.
It was not that they hadn't seen Devil Worms before.
On the way to Mars, they saw photos of Devil Worms from the ground command center and were told not to provoke them and not to approach their nests.
However, it was the first time they saw a moving Devil Worm …
What made them panic and puzzled was that they didn't do anything.
Why were they targeted by this monster?!
From the geosynchronous orbit, the Expedition captured this cruel scene.
The captain of TS Expedition stared at the worm in the picture coldly and reported the situation to the Space Command Center.
Soon, a report about the entire incident was placed on Jiang Chen's desk.
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