Two months later.
Namibia, Eco Science City.
The sky was clear and boundless. In the suburbs of the Eco Science City, the originally sparse and deserted suburbs suddenly became crowded. Countless famous media outlets and research teams from various countries came to the aerospace base of the Eco Science City.
The media looked excited. They set up long and short cameras here and set up cameras in front of a tarmac the size of four or five football fields. They were eagerly waiting for something.
The research teams were already waiting in the reception hall on the side. Some of these people came from the Mainland, some from Northern America, and some from Europe and the North Sea Continent. Anyone would find that these people turned out to be famous experts in the field of biological research.
In addition to this group of people, there were hundreds of Namibian soldiers in the aerospace base. Some of these people stood in front of the many reporters to maintain order, while others lined up in a circle in front of the tarmac to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering.
At the forefront of the tarmac, a huge podium was built. At this time, several hosts were debugging the lines on the podium. The abnormal press conference was ready to start at any time.
The reason why this place was so grand was that today, strictly speaking, in half an hour, the Ares spacecraft returned from Mars and would return to Earth with various samples from Mars.
Here, Blackwatch was about to hold a press conference to announce the successful completion of the Ares program.
At this time, countless people were already looking forward to the moment when the hero who set foot on Mars would return.
"Hello everyone, this is BBC Science and Technology News. I'm reporter Bob. We're now at the aerospace base of the Eco Science City of Namibia. As you can see, there's already a sea of people here today! In addition to our BBC, there are dozens of media outlets. Today is a special day, that is, the day when the manned spacecraft Ares returns to Earth!
"As one of the most influential companies in the world, Blackwatch has created countless legends that people love to talk about. The one that everyone is most familiar with is probably the age-reversal treatment project. The emergence of this technology has greatly slowed the aging phenomenon in various countries. They have benefited mankind and the world..."
"Today, Blackwatch Corporation has accomplished a new feat and that's the Ares Project in collaboration with the four major continents. This is the first time humans have set foot on Mars and it's also the first time we've discovered life on Mars. From this day onward, we finally realized that extraterrestrial life is so close to us that it's even on our neighboring planet. Now, the Ares spacecraft has brought our neighbors to our planet. Although they don't have their own civilization like us humans do, this still represents a new step for mankind..."
While the BBC reporter was giving a moving narration, other world-famous media outlets were also broadcasting the whole process live. It was as if the whole world had focused its attention here, broadcasting the scene of Ares returning to Earth, broadcasting the important trajectory of mankind...
"Ares is approaching the outer layer of the atmosphere."
Suddenly, a man's voice came from the broadcast. "Everyone, please stand outside the tarmac. When the manned spacecraft Ares arrives, please maintain order and do not enter the tarmac. I repeat, do not enter the tarmac."
About five minutes later, the broadcast sounded again. "Ares has entered the ionosphere and is currently 80 kilometers from the surface. It will land in about 20 minutes. Everyone, please maintain order."
Hearing this, everyone suddenly fell into a commotion. Many people could not wait to look at the sky, but found that there was nothing.
However, this did not affect the excitement of the crowd. After all, humans had never come into contact with extraterrestrial civilizations since they were born. Now, not only did humans discover extraterrestrial life for the first time, but they also brought extraterrestrial life back to Earth. This might seem normal, but it also represented a fact...
The interstellar era was coming...
"Ares has flown into the stratosphere..."
Ten minutes later, the voice continued to report the position of Ares at this time. "Personnel in charge of maintaining order, please get ready. Personnel in charge of building positive pressure disinfection rooms, please get ready..."
At this moment, a staff member holding binoculars suddenly shouted, "Look over there!"
Many reporters hurriedly looked up, and those carrying cameras also raised their cameras to the sky. Sure enough, above their heads, there was a small blue dot twinkling, like a tiny star in the sky.
However, it was daytime after all. How could there be a star appearing?
Obviously, that was the Ares that was descending.
Ten minutes, nine minutes, eight minutes...
As time passed, the blue star was getting bigger and bigger. In the last five minutes, it was clearly visible. A sesame-sized dot was constantly descending, and on both sides of it, there were two blue lights slowly shining.
"Ares has entered the troposphere and is about to land..."
The broadcast announced for the last time.
As he spoke, the black dot was getting bigger and bigger. With a low rumble, the huge spacecraft had completely arrived above everyone. Many people even felt that the air around them began to change.
Three minutes, two minutes. One minute...
When the last minute arrived, Ares was already suspended over the tarmac. The huge and streamlined body was no longer as lustrous as before. Instead, it was gray as if it had been burned. Some people with good eyesight could even see traces of scratches on the spacecraft.
Those were the wear and tear caused by the spacecraft hitting the cosmic dust while flying in the deep space of the universe.
In the whispers of the crowd, Ares was suspended in mid-air and slowly descended. At this time, everyone could clearly feel the waves of heat. Many people's mouths and tongues were dry. This was when everyone was hundreds of meters away from the tarmac. If they were right in front of the spacecraft, the heat stream from the spacecraft's engine could probably roast a person alive in an instant.
Under the watchful eyes of the public, the Ares was completely parked on the huge apron, and the engine began to completely shut down.
Seeing this scene, countless people rushed to cheer. The sound was earth-shattering, even drowning out the sound of the spacecraft's engine.
However, not everyone was like this. At this time, outside the gate of the space base, hundreds of people of all kinds had gathered. These people held up all kinds of signs in their hands and shouted at the same time, but they were blocked by Namibian soldiers outside the gate and could not enter.
On the signs in the hands of this group of people, some had the logo of Blackwatch, but there was a big cross with red spray paint on it. Some had a paragraph, which was obviously the sign in the hands of a fan of "The Three-Body Problem", which read: "Don't answer, don't answer, don't answer!"
Many people thought that the practice of bringing back Martian microbes would bring a huge disaster to mankind. Some thought that alien creatures also had human rights and bringing them to Earth was disrespectful to them. Others thought that they should follow the dark law of the jungle and directly use nuclear bombs to destroy all creatures on Mars. Otherwise, if the creatures on Mars evolved into humans in the future, and after a few more technological breakthroughs, it would be humans who died...
Just like what Lu Xun said: "The joys and sorrows of human beings are not the same, I just think they're noisy..." This time, everyone had different ideas about the Ares Project, and everyone had their own understanding.
And this group of people was opposed to the practice of Ares bringing creatures back to Earth. They even formed the Ares Project Opposition Alliance, flew to Namibia at their own expense, and came to the space base on this day to gather a crowd to demonstrate.
However, the opinions of this group of people were destined to be unknown to the public. Based on the current influence of Blackwatch Corporation in the world, none of the well-known media would risk universal condemnation to report these matters. Only small media that wanted to attract attention would occasionally report on these matters, but these sporadic objections were like pebbles thrown into a lake. At most, they could only cause a few ripples, but they could not set off any waves.
At this time, as the spacecraft gradually turned off, the surrounding air gradually returned to its previous temperature. At the same time, on the right side of the tarmac, the rescue team, who had already been prepared, quickly drove two trucks to the side of the spacecraft's hatch. Then, under the busy work of hundreds of people, a huge negative pressure isolation room was built at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Finally, the passage of the isolation room was completely connected to the spacecraft's hatch. At this point, everyone in the spacecraft could come out.
At this time, at this time, hundreds of meters away, the reporters could not wait to rush forward, but they were firmly blocked by a group of soldiers outside the tarmac, so they could only watch helplessly.
In this way, about half an hour had passed. Finally, at the other end of the negative pressure isolation room, the first person who had completed internal disinfection and put on an isolation suit walked step by step toward the podium under the protection of the soldiers.
Seeing this, countless reporters finally let out an earth-shattering cheer.
This person in the isolation suit was a middle-aged white man. After coming to the podium, he first waved to the crowd. Amid countless warm applause, the man spoke. His voice was transmitted through the isolation suit into the microphone. "Thank you, Earth Federation, thank you, Blackwatch...
"I'm Captain Zhou Xiong of the Ares and also an employee of Blackwatch. What I can tell you is that we've defeated Earth, deep space, and countless difficulties. We... have returned from Mars!
"Next, I'm going to be quarantined for three months, but before the quarantine, I can accept three questions. No matter what the question is, I'll answer it truthfully."
The man named Zhou Xiong showed a trace of mischief. "Of course, it must be related to Mars. I'll state in advance that I have a wife and I won't accept questions about marriage."
"Hahahaha..."
The crowd suddenly chuckled, and then countless reporters raised their hands high, eager to ask questions.
"You, you'll be the first to ask a question!"
Zhou Xiong pointed to a blond man in the first row.
"I'm from ABC Radio in Northern America. May I ask what you brought back from Mars this time?"
The man asked with an excited expression, "I heard that there's life on Mars, right?"
"Uh, yes!"
Zhou Xiong nodded. "We brought back soil samples, rock samples, air samples, and water samples from Mars. Of course, there are also biological samples... Okay, next, that beautiful lady over there."
Then, he selected a reporter from Mainland China again.
"Hello, I'm Wang Bing, a reporter from Mainland China TV. May I ask if you'll encounter danger on Mars?"
"Danger?"
Zhou Xiong smiled. "No, I shouldn't say the word danger because we're dealing with death all the time."
As soon as this sentence came out, many people suddenly whispered.
"The average temperature on Mars is about minus ninety degrees. The air there is thin and the oxygen content is less than 0.1%. Humans can't survive without wearing any tools. Every time we go out, it's a test of life and death because no one knows when the sandstorm on Mars will blow us away or tear our protective suits..."
Zhou Xiong smiled faintly. "But now we've successfully built a life cycle scientific research station on it. With the scientific research station, it's equivalent to having a foundation and our survivability will be greatly improved."
Many people nodded secretly. Indeed, this group of human pioneers was indeed dealing with the Grim Reaper. Not to mention Mars, even this journey back and forth between planets could lead to accidents at any time. Whether it was a space meteorite or a solar storm, the probability of an accident was much higher than the probability of a car accident.
"Okay, now's not the time to talk about this. Next."
Zhou Xiong finally pointed to a black lady, but before the black lady could speak, a man on the side suddenly spoke first. "Are the alien creatures you brought back dangerous? Will it lead to species invasion or even the extinction of mankind? "
"Absolutely not!"
Zhou Xiong's expression darkened, then he shook his head and said, "We did find Martian microbes, but those microbes live in water. There are no microbes in the Martian air and soil.
"As for species invasion, it's even more impossible because we'll isolate them well, such as the level-four biosafety laboratory and so on, not to mention leading to the extinction of mankind. Alien creatures can't do this at all, you can rest assured!"
After saying this, Zhou Xiong left under the protection of several bodyguards without looking back.
"Mr. Zhou Xiong!"
"Mr. Captain, please wait a moment..."
There was a sudden commotion in the crowd. Many people wanted to chase after him but were mercilessly stopped by soldiers armed with live ammunition.
In the end, this group of people could only return in disappointment.
On the Ares spacecraft, all kinds of samples from Mars were secretly transported to the Spire Experimental Base, except for the four major continents who took one portion, and the remaining portion was secretly transported to the Spire.
The exploration of extraterrestrial life had officially begun.
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