??Chapter 495: 494. Already done it_1
Chapter 495: 494. Already done it_1
When he saw the structure, Lu Ban’s first thought was whether the natives of this planet had actually flown away.
It was clearly a rocket launch platform, surrounded by buildings ant for manufacturing and maintaining rockets.
He walked at the forefront, with Shuangxin following behind, as they entered the abandoned city.
Without the maintenance of robots, the place was evidently more dilapidated.
Along the roadside, Lu Ban saw several robots that were mostly broken, damaged, with their power depleted—it was clear that the energy supply equipnt here was no longer usable.
If the solar panels in Future City had any issues, it’s likely that Lin and the others wouldn’t have been able to hold out till now.
Or rather, to be able to work continuously for hundreds of years under such harsh conditions was already a miracle in itself.
“This place must not have been visited by the insect swarm, or else these tals wouldn’t have been left behind,”
Shuangxin touched one of the silent robots’ heads and muttered to herself.
Its eyes were dim, like those of a corpse, and there were many such corpses scattered about the streets.
Suddenly, the head made a creaking sound.
Shuangxin instinctively retracted her hand, accidentally knocking the robot’s head, which then rolled clumsily to the ground and ca to a stop at Lu Ban’s feet after spinning a couple of tis.
“The wind,”
Lu Ban remarked.
As the wind and sand blew over, the corpses of those robots swayed, and the head of the robot from before made noise because it had been moved by the wind.
“This must have been so kind of laboratory, but it’s a pity that the building has collapsed, and the equipnt inside is probably long gone,”
Lu Ban murmured, then turned to Shuangxin.
“What did you an by saying the insect swarm hasn’t co here?”
“The swarm also devours tal. They wouldn’t pass up tal like this. Aside from the ground’s rocks and sand, they consu everything else,”
Shuangxin said with lingering fear.
“So, if there is still so much tal left here, it ans they at least haven’t visited the vicinity recently.”
“Bird’s fodder,”
Lu Ban nodded in agreent. If the insects didn’t eat tal, then with the previous level of technology, it would have taken re minutes to create sothing like Terminator-style combat robots, and wouldn’t such an army of robots be able to suppress the insect swarm?
It was precisely because these swarms ate everything that humans were powerless to resist.
Most of the buildings had collapsed, and upon closer inspection of the less eroded signs, Lu Ban could make out words like “Research Institute,” “Experint Center,” “Office,” and the like.
One could imagine that in those days, the people living in Future City ca here during the day to find ways to save the world, and even at night they did not return ho; perhaps the artificial vegetation of the ecological park and the musical lodies of the robots were the only solace for their souls.
Lu Ban was curious about what they had researched here and whether the rocket launch center had ever successfully launched.
He and Shuangxin headed toward the launch platform.
The buildings closer to it were relatively well preserved, as if radiating outwards from the center.
Lu Ban saw a two-story building that looked precarious and felt compelled to go inside.
First, while Shuangxin wasn’t paying attention, he used the silver steel pen “Testant” to write on it.
“Sturdy.”
Then, holding onto the wall, he entered.
Inside was a complete ss, whether it had been ransacked or the people had left in too much of a hurry, most of the papers had decayed, and electronics had lost power. Lu Ban opened an almost shattered drawer and found a notebook inside.
He didn’t rashly take it out; Lu Ban used a pen to write more text on it.
“Intact.”
Then he picked up the notebook.
The notebook contained so experintal records. As a liberal arts student, Lu Ban could not understand the complex formulas and computations, but from the text, he could tell that it seed to be research on rockets—moreover, not the ordinary calculations required for leaving this planet, but rather so kind of more complex data needed to venture to even farther destinations.
He then picked up the tablet and wrote “Testant” on it.
Suddenly, the tablet lit up.
After lying dormant for who knows how many hundreds of years, the tablet lit up once again.
The operation of the tablet was more or less the sa, and after studying it for a bit, Lu Ban figured it out.
The background of the tablet was a picture of a little girl, smiling with naive innocence. Lu Ban guessed that this might be the daughter of the researcher.
Lu Ban opened the photo gallery.
The first photo in the gallery was of a family of three, with the little girl standing in the middle and a young couple on each side. They looked sowhat haggard but still, sparkled with life in their eyes.
After that ca so simple life photos, mostly of the wife and child.
It looked like the researcher was the husband.
Further on were the contents of his research.
The formulas on the blackboard, photos of various pieces of equipnt, so images that even Lu Ban could not understand how they were captured, and then—Lu Ban saw the rocket.
It was a rocket full of industrial beauty, poised on the launch pad, gleaming in the golden sunlight.
There was no technique to speak of in this photo, yet it was full of power and confidence.
Lu Ban checked the apps on the tablet; apart from the regular chat software, there were also notes.
He clicked on it and discovered many audio clips inside.
Following the chronological order, he began to play them.
“It’s the first day at the base, and I’m not used to it. The room is so cramped, it’s like being in jail. But when I think about what we’re going to do next, nothing else matters. I can definitely do it!”
“The beef noodles on the comrcial street taste really good, just like the ones I had back ho. Ah, the more I eat, the more I miss ho.”
“The progress of the research isn’t going smoothly. I know that thing is right there; we must use more precise instrunts to gather data. Tomorrow, tomorrow must be a success!”
“I want to give up. Let humanity perish. I heard that a colleague in the biology group has made a breakthrough. Maybe the policies will shift in that direction. Damn it, what the hell is this!”
“I’ve done so much, what else can I do? Just keep at it.”
“I realized that I’ve been wrong about sothing all along. We can’t just rely on brute force to launch the rocket. No matter how much energy we have, it won’t be enough. What we need to do is build a bridge, to connect the two places and use the potential energy difference between the two spaces to move the rocket automatically.”
“My idea is correct. I believe we have mastered the way to save humanity. Although it’s a pity, it ans we might have to abandon this planet, but for the survival of humanity, it’s a necessary sacrifice.”
“The second experint went well too, but I always feel like I’m hearing sothing. I’m not sure if the other side of the bridge is an empty space, or maybe there is life there?”
“Xiao Li committed suicide yesterday. He said he couldn’t handle the pressure. It’s a sha. I wrote a letter to his family, hoping they are still alive. The outside world is becoming more desolate, the sick are increasing, and we don’t have much ti left.”
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, we succeeded, we succeeded. We must start the transfer imdiately, to at least get so people out.”
“Damn those politicians, they are still fucking discussing who should go first at this ti. If we delay any longer, more people will die!”
“Tingting, my Tingting, it’s daddy’s fault that I couldn’t save you…”
“Waiting for those shitheads to decide who gets on the ship is just so fucking stupid. I’ve decided if they can’t decide, I’ll be the bad guy. I’m going to disclose the thod of building the bridge.”
“I’ve made it public. The thod to build the bridge is simple; it just requires so basic equipnt. The hard part is just the mindset. I believe, after this, humanity will surely move towards a brighter tomorrow!”
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