Chapter 338 - Chapter 338: Why Are We on Mars?
Chapter 338: Why Are We on Mars?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After a ten-minute video explanation, the boss began to speak.
The essence of his message was simple: it wasn’t time to give up yet, as they were currently making final preparations.
Even if the leaders of other countries had fled, they would not abandon Earth.
At the last moment, if it truly couldn’t be saved, they would inform everyone and would not hide anything.
For now, everyone should continue their work and life peacefully.
Don’t think too much.
That was essentially the message, asking everyone not to do anything extreme and to calmly wait for news.
“Red Lotus, how long until the fleet reaches Mars?” Tang Rui asked, continuing to monitor the fleet after watching the news.
“Master, the fleet is expected to reach Mars by tomorrow noon,” Red Lotus replied.
“Is everything ready on Jupiter?”
“Everything is completely finished, just waiting for the arrival of the scientific research ship.”
“Recalculate the data for the black dwarf star.”
“Okay, master.”
Red Lotus recalculated the black dwarf star data.
This was not just idle tinkering but was very necessary.
Previously, the black dwarf star was too far away, and many data calculations were not very accurate.
So Red Lotus’s simulation data had a hard time reaching a seventy percent probability, but as the black dwarf star got closer, the monitored data became more comprehensive, and the simulation results became more accurate.
Over an hour later, Red Lotus finished the calculations.
The result was an eighty-three percent success rate.
This was 0.7 percentage points higher than the last simulation, but such a result was somewhat meaningless.
Since the internal situation of the black dwarf star was unknown.
So the calculated probability was basically stuck here, difficult to improve further.
However, Tang Rui didn’t care.
He had not prepared just one plan, but three.
If all three plans didn’t work, he had plenty of source points to directly create a powerful weapon and destroy the black dwarf star.
Confident, to say the least.
“Master, the Space Command Center has sent a communication request, do you want to connect?” Red Lotus asked at this time.
“Connect.”
Tang Rui knew this was to inquire about the situation.
For the next two hours, he discussed the implementation of the plan.
Talking until it was time to sleep.
The next day, the fleeing fleet reached Mars’ orbit.
Tang Rui, while the fleet was accelerating using Mars’ orbit, let Red Lotus control the spacecraft.
Eight of the transport ships directly left the fleet in Mars’ orbit, staying on Mars.
Most of the people on these ships were scientists, engineers, and top talents from various industries of various countries.
They could be said to be the essence of Western society.
As for the ships continuing towards Jupiter, they carried politicians, capitalists, military experts, and loyal soldiers from various countries.
Whether Earth was in chaos or not, these people had the final say.
But that was in the past.
Now Earth had nothing to do with them.
“Red Lotus, eject the capsules, first drop the supplies, then build a simple
Martian base, and then drop off the personnel.”
“Okay, master.”
Under Red Lotus’s control, capsules containing building materials and life supplies were dropped.
After landing, some of the capsules opened.
Robots inside activated and began to build the Martian base.
It was the tent type.
But the material used was nano-material, very sturdy. As long as it wasn’t hit by a meteorite, there would basically be no problems with Mars’ conditions.
The only downside was that it wasn’t as advanced as the Moon base, and not as comfortable.
However the people on these ships were top talents in various fields, Including many scientists. As long as they had production equipment, they could build their own Martian base.
A few hours later, a Martian base capable of accommodating fifty thousand people was built by robots.
After all, all materials and equipment were ready.
The reason it took so long was mainly to inflate the base.
You could think of this base as a super large bouncy castle. If it was also equipped with some advanced equipment, calling it a bouncy castle wouldn’t be much of a problem.
“Red Lotus, deploy the scientists and engineers.”
“Okay, master. The life support capsule K-003 is being deployed. The retro-thrust system is activated, and it’s landing smoothly.”
After the life support capsule landed.
The robots transferred all the hibernation pods inside the capsule to the Martian base and then woke the occupants.
Hisss…
The hibernation pods slowly opened.
The people inside opened their eyes, looking at the cold light on the ceiling, all confused.
They all got up and looked around.
They looked at each other, not understanding the situation.
“Have we arrived at our new home?”
“Why aren’t there any staff members?”
“It seems something is wrong. Look at the time on your watches.”
They were all highly educated talents, no fools.
So, after waking up, they didn’t cause a commotion but observed their surroundings to assess the situation.
They quickly noticed a problem.
The time was wrong.
It had only been two days since they left.
Did they pass through a wormhole?
It couldn’t be.
In two days, they couldn’t even reach Jupiter, at most only Mars.
“We may have a problem here,” someone said, walking to a nearby window. Looking outside, he spoke with a hint of panic.
Everyone rushed over.
The sight of the red soil outside left them all dumbfounded.
They had arrived at Mars.
To avoid disaster, they had fled from Earth to Mars… but what was the point? It would have been better to stay on Earth.
“This is a newly built base. Let’s find some communication equipment and inquire about the situation.”
“There’s a map here. We are in the living area. If we go through the A5 passage, we can reach the work area. There’s a command center there where we can probably contact the outside.”
They hurriedly made their way to the work area.
Inside the command center.
“Welcome, everyone. I am C Rui, happy to serve you all once again,” the base’s Al mainframe greeted them, somewhat foolishly.
“C Rui, why are we on Mars?”
“Sorry, there were some problems with our escape plan. Just one day after we left, we encountered a strong solar storm, causing damage to the spacecraft’s internal equipment.
Unable to replace the equipment, the spacecraft could only dock in Mars orbit and then use supplies to build a Martian base. This was the best option. Continuing to escape would have given us less than a one percent chance of survival.”
After hearing this explanation, everyone was upset.
Who would have thought?
Just one day after leaving Earth, they encountered such an incident, leading them to be stranded on Mars.
“Can we contact the outside world now? Either the fleet or Earth.”
‘Yes, Earth has already made contact before you woke up.”
“Contact Earth immediately.”
“Okay, please wait.”
Soon, the video call was connected.
Tang Rui appeared on the big screen.
“Professor Tang, you’re on Earth?”
The group of scientists was stunned. They recognized Tang Rui, so they were somewhat baffled by the current situation.
Supposedly, wasn’t Professor Tang also on the spaceship?
How come he was on Earth?
“Yes, I just got married yesterday. Then we encountered a severe solar flare, and seven ships were damaged.
We had no choice but to turn back to Earth for repairs, so I’m currently on Earth,” Tang Rui said helplessly.
“Then what should we do now?”
“I’m working on dealing with the black dwarf star because we can no longer escape. This is yesterday’s observation result. The black dwarf star was accelerated by the sun’s gravity.
And its trajectory is heading directly towards Jupiter. Even if we leave now, we won’t make it in time.”
“What about the fleet? Can they change their course in time?”
“No, I can’t contact the fleet now. I don’t know if it’s because of the solar storm or some other reason, but communication with the fleet has been cut off.”
After hearing this, everyone was overwhelmed by the successive bad news.
“Professor Tang, do you have a solution for the black dwarf star?”
“I have an idea that we can try, but whether it will succeed is uncertain.”
“Given the current situation, no matter what the success rate is, we have no other choice.”
“I’m sorry, but all my efforts are focused on dealing with the black dwarf star, so I can’t divert resources to rescue you.”
‘We understand. We’ve checked our supply reserves, and they’re very ample, enough for everyone.
We will expand the Martian base ourselves, so we won’t trouble you. Actually, once the base is built, we can completely repair the spacecraft ourselves.”
“How about this. When my ship passes Mars, I’ll drop off a batch of supplies for you. List what you specifically need within three days, and I’ll do what I can. That’s all I can offer.”
Tang Rui said this with a shrug, displaying a somewhat regretful expression.
“Thank you. We’ll check and make some preliminary plans, then send you the list.”
“Alright, let’s leave it at that. I have other matters to attend to.”
“Thank you very much. We won’t keep you busy any longer.”
They ended the communication.
Tang Rui’s expression finally relaxed.
Sending them to Mars, and they still thanked him.
But it was a situation with no alternatives.
It was all part of the act.
After all, these people were elites. As long as they had equipment and supplies, by the time a ship was sent to pick them up, they might have already built the Martian base.
Picking up a fully-built Martian base later would be a big gain.
Tang Rui thought about this happily for a while and then stopped worrying about Mars. Those people didn’t need his concern.
They were the seeds for rebuilding human civilization.
Even on the barren Mars, they could live well, so he didn’t need to worry about them.
The main issue at hand was the black dwarf star..