Forty-eight hours had passed since the collapse of The Gates of Hell, and the sandstorm caused by the earthquake was still raging in the desert outside the base.
The dim sky affected not only the lighting in the planting area but also the morale of all the astronauts in the entire Mars scientific research base. The atmosphere in the base was quite depressing over the past two days. No one had a smile on their face, even if it was just a euphemistic greeting.
Romanov seemed to have not recovered from the shock of the disaster. He had been locking himself in his room for the past few days. Professor Aubrey and Schulz had been close recently. The two seemed to be discussing some problems in topology, functional analysis, and superstring theory.
As for Professor Vernal …
He was probably the most emotionally stable one among all the people who came back from The Gates of Hell.
In his eyes, the sample collected from the ruins was a treasure worth trillions of dollars. The information hidden in it would reveal the secrets of billions of years ago to mankind.
According to him, he was writing a paper analyzing the civilization that occupied this planet 3 to 3.5 billion years ago from a biological point of view, as well as the serious problems they faced at that time.
But no one cared about this except himself.
No matter what they found in the ruins, it couldn't make up for what they lost there …
"How is the situation in the planting area?"
Liang Youcheng sat in the office and looked at Dr. Ming Wenzhe, who came in from outside the door. He stopped writing and asked.
"No problem, it's just that the chip of the ultraviolet lamp main control system in Area A1 was burned. I have replaced it with a new one." Ming Wenzhe found a chair and moved it to the opposite side of the desk. He glanced at the document on the table and raised his eyebrows. "Mental status assessment?"
"Yes." Liang Youcheng nodded and said, "Project 128 has dealt a huge blow to Dr. Fan's mental state, and there is no psychiatrist here who can help him. He is no longer suitable to continue working on Mars. I plan to apply to the ground command center to let him take the next flight back to Earth to rest for a while. "
"Project 128 …"
This was definitely the heaviest loss in the history of China's aerospace industry.
Two team members were missing, one of whom was Academician Lu, the chief designer of the Mars landing plan and the Lunar Orbit Committee. To be honest, until now, Ming Wenzhe didn't feel that it was real. It was as if everything was just a nightmare, or a joke that Academician Lu had played on them.
At that moment, there was a sudden knock on the door. The vice-stationmaster, Han Kangyu, strode in from outside.
Noticing the mixture of anxiety and excitement on his face, Liang Youcheng asked immediately.
"What happened?"
"Someone has been spotted outside the base."
Liang Youcheng pushed the chair away and stood up with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Quick, bring me there!"
…
In the face of nature, human power is insignificant.
Even if he tried his best, with the thin equipment on his spacesuit, there was no way he could dig through the several kilometers long tunnel, let alone the boulders that blocked his way.
Wang Peng once thought about digging with the multi-purpose shovel in his hand. He would either find Lu Zhou or die on the spot. It wasn't until a reminder popped up on the screen of the mask that the oxygen reserve was about to run out that he stopped waving his arms.
This wasn't a problem that could be changed by determination.
Even if he didn't eat or drink and kept digging, with the oxygen carried by Lu Zhou, he wouldn't be able to last that long.
Forget about himself.
Even if he mobilized the power of a division, he wouldn't be able to change anything at all.
After giving up on digging, he began to search nearby. He soon found the oxygen tank and supplies that Fan Tong had left behind, and he was lucky enough to find a wrist-mounted computer with a locator turned on under the sand …
Although the screen was broken, the chip was still inside.
On the side of the wrist-mounted computer, a line of small but clear text was engraved. He could recognize that this was that person's notebook.
[If someone picks up my computer, and it's not on my arm, they won't have to waste their time looking for me. No matter what happens, please bring it back to Earth for me, please.]
It was because of this sentence that Wang Peng changed his previous idea.
And he was standing here …
On the screen, Liang Youcheng looked at the figure walking through the sandstorm step by step, approaching the base. Liang Youcheng's face was full of disbelief.
"This guy … walked back on his legs?!"
No signal.
No navigation.
No means of transportation.
Just relying on two legs and intuition …
How could this be done?!
Han Kangyu was also shocked. He nodded and spoke.
"It looks like it …"
"Open the door!"
"Yes!"
The alloy door slowly opened.
Wang Peng looked at the silently opened door in front of him. He didn't say a word. He didn't even look at the surveillance at the door. He dragged his shaky body and walked in.
Cleaning agents sprayed out from all directions, washing away the sand and bacteria that might be carried on his body.
After changing out of the extravehicular spacesuit, Wang Peng looked at Stationmaster Liang and Deputy Stationmaster Han, who were walking out of the open hatch. He nodded to the two.
"I'm back."
Liang Youcheng's throat moved. He sighed softly and comforted him.
"I have heard about what happened under the ruins. We are all very sad about Academician Lu … Anyway, it's good that you're back."
Wang Peng glanced at him and didn't answer. He just silently handed the wrist-mounted computer with a broken screen to him.
"Send it back to Earth."
The moment Liang Youcheng took the wrist-mounted computer, his heart trembled slightly.
He didn't need to ask to know who this belonged to …
Han Kangyu's Adam's apple moved, and he squeezed out a sentence from his throat with difficulty.
"Lu Zhou, he …"
Wang Peng didn't speak. He didn't even look at him. He walked around the two people standing here and walked away …
…
Earth.
Chang 'an Avenue.
A ministerial-level meeting was going on.
Standing at the conference table, a gray-haired old man with an expression of grief and indignation on his face spoke angrily.
"It was a wrong decision to send him! Now that the mission has failed and he is gone, how do we explain it to the people of the country! How do we explain it to his parents! "
Sitting not far from him, a middle-aged man who looked a little thin coughed and spoke.
"Ahem, Minister Wang, don't be so agitated. No one sent him there, but he insisted on going! We have done so much ideological work with him and his friends and relatives, but there is nothing we can do. If he really wants to go, who else can stop him other than himself? "
The supreme commander of the Mars landing office.
Unless it was an administrative order directly from the highest level of Chang 'an Avenue, no one could control him. This kind of administrative order was not something that could be casually written. In front of the name of the chief designer, anyone who wanted to order him around would be beaten to the point of being a layman ordering an expert.
Knowing that it was useless for him to lose his temper here, Minister Wang sighed and finally sat back in his seat.
The atmosphere at the conference table was quite heavy.
The expressions on everyone's faces were not very good.
The old man sitting at the head of the conference table was silent for a while. He then spoke slowly.
"Things have developed to this point. Even if we argue about this, it won't change anything.
"According to the latest news from the Mars scientific research base, the scientific researchers there found Academician Lu's wrist-mounted computer and have confirmed that he lost contact during the operation … In addition to mourning and remembering this disaster, the only thing we can do now is to continue to move forward along his path and continue to walk unswervingly."
The old man read the heavy expressions on people's faces and the confusion about the future without Academician Lu. He sighed softly and put on a serious look again.
"In contrast, there is a more urgent matter waiting for us to discuss.
"That is, what did Academician Lu encounter in the ruins before he encountered the accident?"
There were whispers in the conference room. The people sitting at the conference table exchanged looks of surprise and confusion in each other's hearts.
In fact, their information was very limited. Even if they wanted to discuss, they wouldn't be able to come up with any results.
As for what Academician Lu encountered in the ruins, they had no clue at all. Even among those who came back alive from the ruins, no one could give a reliable explanation.
The old man looked at the silent conference room and continued.
"It seems that no one has any ideas, so let me say a few words.
"According to the analysis of our astronomical experts, the cooling of the core of Mars is an indisputable fact. An earthquake of such a scale is definitely not caused by simple tectonic movements. If all of this is caused by human factors, then what did Academician Lu discover before he encountered the accident is worth our attention.
"If the accident he encountered is related to the extraterrestrial civilization, and it was because the other party took hostile actions, I think everyone should know what this means."
The conference room was terrifyingly quiet.
The old man did not speak again. He gave the people sitting in the conference room time to think.
Time quickly passed by, and five minutes passed by.
Finally, a middle-aged man in a military uniform with a serious expression stood up and broke the silence at the conference table. He spoke in a sonorous voice.
"If the death of Academician Lu is related to the extraterrestrial civilization, then this brutal killing of our citizens is undoubtedly an act of war! We should fight back! "
The moment this sentence was said, the expressions on the faces of the people sitting at the conference table suddenly became interesting.
Act of war …
And it's with the extraterrestrial civilization …
Because it sounded truly inconceivable, and many people didn't even know what kind of expression they should reveal.
The old man sitting at the head of the conference table nodded slowly.
"This is exactly what I wanted to say."
With a serious expression in his eyes again, the old man looked around the conference table and continued to speak.
"I know this sounds a little unbelievable, but we can't find a more reasonable explanation for such a coincidence. Just when the best scientists of our civilization had just arrived at The Gates of Hell and went to contact them with friendly intentions, such a tragic accident happened!
"Peace is built on the basis of friendship and reciprocity."
"Now that such a tragic accident has happened, we must prepare for the worst."
Lamp Pen
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