The old man stood up and looked around the room, his voice somber. "Human civilization is now facing the most serious challenge it has ever encountered in history. We have not yet developed the wings to fly, not even to land on Mars. I can understand how ridiculous and difficult it is to rely on human civilization to change the sun. But we have no choice. We must face the crisis and continue our civilization, or else we will be destroyed. Fortunately, our technology has developed, although it is difficult, there is still a little hope."
"I order that from this mont on, the Human Union enters into a warti ergency stage, and we will mobilize all available forces to face this crisis. All scientists, engineers, politicians, workers, businessn, and people from all walks of life must unite. Only then do we have a chance of victory."
"Dismiss everyone...except Huasheng and ng zhuo, the two of you stay," the old man said.
People gradually dispersed, leaving only Zhao Huasheng and ng zhuo in the large conference room.
"I have seen your information," the old man glanced at Zhao Huasheng, "From elentary school to joining the Stellar Physics Institute, you have always shown an unusual talent, you are very smart and diligent."
Zhao Huasheng felt okay when there were many people around, but now, only facing this elder alone, he felt imnse pressure. This elder before him was the highest leader of the Human Federation, a figure that Zhao Huasheng would never have the chance to et.
Faced with the elder's praises, Zhao Huasheng didn't know what to say.
The elderly man slowly said, "You don't have to be too hard on yourself because you are indeed very smart and hardworking. However...in the scope of human civilization, your intelligence and diligence are still within the normal range. You have not shown any extraordinary ability. Even in the field of science and even in the Stellar Physics Institute, your qualifications are not top-notch, at most, it can only be considered upper level."
"Many people are smarter than you, and many people work harder than you. So, Huasheng, I'm curious, why did Li Qi choose you in the end to take on this most difficult task? Can you tell why?"
"I...I don't know." Zhao Huasheng thought for a while and eventually had to admit this fact. Because the reality is indeed like this, although the old man's words were cruel and did not take into account his own self-esteem, they are all true.
The old man sighed and stood up, going to the window to look down at the bustling city below, leaving only a slightly hunched silhouette for Zhao Huasheng and ng Zhuo.
"Huasheng, to be honest, I don't have much confidence that we can overco this crisis," the old man said. "The sun's mass is more than a million tis that of the earth's, and we are already so powerless against a small planet, let alone the sun. But you know as well as I do that these words cannot be said in public. All I can do is try to allocate resources in this direction and let scientists and engineers represent humanity and seek a faint glimr of hope."
"To be honest, when I first received this news I almost felt desperate. But luckily, I imdiately received the next ssage and I knew that Li Qi had already known all these things, that he had left the only relic to you and that you could answer all our questions... I had contact with Li Qi and I know what kind of person he is. So if he says that you can answer all our doubts, then you must be able to do it. In this matter, if I say that my confidence in our human civilization's technology is only one percent, then my confidence in Li Qi is at least twenty percent."
"So...Huasheng, now I am putting twenty percent of my hope on you. The old man turned around, his serious gaze fell on Zhao Huasheng. I know you are also confused and don't understand what is going on, but since Li Qi has done this, then he must have his own reasons. Li Qi believes in you, so do I. "
"Huasheng, I will provide you with all the resources you need. Whatever you think is necessary, if you think it will help you understand Li Qi's aning, even if you need to go to the moon, I can satisfy you. The old man ca over and patted Huasheng's shoulder, and said softly: "Whatever you need, you can tell ng zhuo, he will handle everything for you. That's it, Huasheng, rember, you hold the fate of mankind in your hands."
The old man turned and left, leaving only Zhao Huasheng and ng Zhuo in the conference room.
Zhao Huasheng leaned back in his seat, his hands covering his face, his mind racing.
"Why ...? Why ? Brother Li, why did you choose in the end?"
"From now on, for the sake of better understanding and communication between us, I will call you Number One." ng Zhuo said coldly, "You can call Number Two."
Zhao Huasheng forced a smile: "There's no need to be so troubleso; I'll just call you by na."
"All right." ng Zhuo still had a cold expression: "Number One, please give instructions for the next step."
"Let's go ho, ho...Let rest for a bit." Zhao Huasheng reluctantly stood up and walked towards the door of the eting room.
The car was still driven by ng Zhuo, and Zhao Huasheng sat in the copilot's seat; his thoughts had already flown to who knows where. Even Zhao Huasheng felt that the world he saw was so unreal; the flow of people, the long line of vehicles, the tall buildings, and even the slightly dim sun in the sky all revealed a false aning.
"How could it be like this? How could it be like this?" This sentence kept circling in Zhao Huasheng's mind.
Since the birth of the Sun from primordial interstellar gas, it has been steadily burning for more than four billion years. Compared to this ti scale, the five thousand years of human civilization recorded in writing can almost be said to be a mont of a finger snap. But in this mont of a finger snap, the Sun underwent dramatic changes. And it just happened to be in this mont of a finger snap that human civilization developed and acquired so preliminary inter-stellar exploration capabilities.
Within six hours of the Sun's dramatic change, an integrated agency comprising of crisis managent, scientific research, and psychological intervention departnts was established. This agency was nad the Sun Crisis Coordination Processing Center, with the human alliance leader personally serving as the director of the processing center and the elders personally empowering it to coordinate and regulate the rest of the departnts during the crisis.
The Sun Crisis Coordination Center has two duties: the first is to explore the underlying physical chanisms behind the solar changes and find solutions, and the second is to find ways to pass on human civilization in the event that the crisis cannot be resolved. The matters between Li Qi and Zhao Huasheng were not made public. Those who knew about it were limited to the top scientists who attended the morning eting, as well as a few senior mbers of the Human Alliance. As the old man said, "I put my greatest hope in you and gave you the greatest powers and resources, but these things cannot be said in public."
Zhao Huasheng understood this point.
The first day of the weekend passed in this strange situation. Zhao Huasheng stayed at ho all day without eating or answering the phone. He just sat there motionless.
ng Zhuo just stood beside Zhao Huasheng, like a sculpture.
After only one day, Zhao Huasheng had already beco deeply exhausted. Until night ti, Zhao Huasheng sighed and said in disbelief with a hoarse voice, "ng zhuo, go to the guest room and sleep." After settling ngzhu, Zhao Huasheng also went to bed. But even in his dream, Zhao Huasheng couldn't find peace. He kept dreaming of the endless cries, tall buildings collapsing, the land covered in ice and snow, and countless people dying. Sotis he would even dream of Li Qi and the last thing he said to him before leaving, "Goodbye."
Zhao Huasheng knew that from that day forward, his life had changed drastically. This change began from the mont Li Qi invited him for a drink and left him his only possession.
The sky gradually brightened. Even though he was exhausted, Zhao Huasheng still woke up in the early morning.
Today was the second day since the solar crisis. As Zhao Huasheng had predicted, the temperature today was lower than yesterday and the sun was much dimr. Zhao Huasheng had to take out his long-sleeved shirts and long pants, which had been stored away, and put them on in the middle of sumr.
The temperature would continue to drop, and there was no stopping it. Even though water has a high specific heat, even though more than 70% of the earth's surface is ocean, and even though the planet has a thick atmosphere that can retain heat, it was still not enough. When the root cause of sothing changes, even if there are many branches, they can only slow down the developnt of the event. In this solar crisis, the decrease in solar radiation was the root cause.
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