Mars.

The rift valley near Hell's Gate is already filled with oppressive haze.

According to the weather forecast, a sandstorm will soon sweep the area.

In this bad and dangerous weather, even the criminals hiding in the desert wilderness will choose to squat at home to wait for the weather to improve before they come out.

However, at this moment, outside the mine with the Hidder Mining Company's brand name, it was quite unusual to park a desert-painted Mars rover.

Two men in space suits stood near the entrance of the cave, holding professional equipment in their hands, as if investigating something.

"Oxygen bottles, compacted tire marks, and scratch marks ... The travel time is initially judged within one month," through the custom function of the augmented reality system, the one a month ago, the one squatting on the ground The slightly younger man stood up, looked at the man behind him, and said, "They should be coming in from here ... Liu, what do you think?"

The man who frowned, looking slightly higher, said after a moment of contemplation.

"My opinion is basically the same as yours. The only doubt is that they seem to be amateurish."

Shrugging, said the slightly younger man.

"It's quite amateur ... otherwise, they wouldn't leave such things on the scene."

Then, he spread his right hand.

As the grit gradually shook off, a piece of silver-white metal about the size of a chewing gum piece lay on his palm.

Looking at the letters with a few scratch marks on the surface, the man's mouth twitched slightly.

"... Mammoth Mining Company?"

Will mammoths make holes?

However, this is obviously not the point.

As a valuable clue, he had the hunch to find something unusual from this "mammoth mining company".

Put away the metal bar, he was preparing to explore the mine, but at this moment, the sound from the communication channel stopped him.

"Wait."

He stopped, and the man standing at the entrance turned back.

"what happened?"

Liu team glanced at the sky and said Shen Sheng.

"The physical evidence is almost collected. Let's get here today."

There was a hint of confusion on his face, the man wondered.

"But ... we're all here already, are you sure you're not going in?"

"Because we are all here, we should be more cautious."

Looking at the bottomless mine, Liu team standing beside the Mars ruffled his eyes slightly and continued.

"The instructions given to us are to report the progress of the task in real time and report every detail without any detail. Obviously they have their own views on the outcome of this matter.

"In that case, we just need to do what we do."

"As for whether to continue the investigation, just leave them to judge."

...

Earth.

In the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, in the conference room of the Pan-Asian Cooperation Headquarters, a round table is placed in the center of the room. There were only two people sitting at the conference table. One was Secretary-General Wu Shuhua, and the other was the current Chairman Li Guangya.

As the world's largest regional alliance and economic union, the main functions of the secretary-general of Pan-Asian Cooperation are to coordinate relations among member states, and to represent Pan-Asian Cooperation as a collective participant in world political activities. Prefer to handle internal affairs of pan-Asian cooperation.

"How's the situation over the United Nations? Are there any new developments?"

"Three meetings, none of them is good news."

Sitting across the conference table, the secretary-general of Pan-Asian Cooperation Wu Shuhua looked a little tired, and her forefinger continued to press her brow.

"55% of the delegates support our proposal for a space elevator, but there are still 45% of objections, including even our allies, and even within our alliance."

"What about their claims?"

"Environment, security risks, costs and benefits, and the distribution of benefits ... In short, these are old-fashioned questions that have not been discussed."

About five years ago, the "New Route" plan proposed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation pushed the tide of this era of space navigation to the top.

According to the voting results of the representatives of the member states within the Pan-Asian Cooperation, Pan-Asian Cooperation will build a "new space industry" production system from the Earth-Moon system to the Kuiper Belt in the solar system within one hundred years, and a production system around the production The route established by the system is intended to spread civilized tinder to more distant places.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, Pan-Asian cooperation not only formulated colonial development plans for Europa and Titan, but also sent a powerful first fleet to clear up the air thieves on the asteroid belt.

As a crucial part of the plan, the proposal to build a space elevator on the equator was also logically submitted by the representatives of Pan-Asian cooperation to the United Nations conference hall for discussion by the regional alliances.

However, it is almost foreseeable.

This proposal, which sounds almost as "horrifying", has encountered considerable resistance since it was proposed.

The resistance is not only from other regional alliances, but also from private environmental protection organizations, and even the voices within the Pan-Asian cooperation.

After all, opening a hole in the ozone layer and inserting a root tube into the synchronous orbit can be determined by not just tapping your head. If this project is successful, it will be excellent, and all humanity will benefit from it.

However, if this project fails, the entire world will pay for the consequences of this reckless act ...

Although Pan-Asian cooperation has also tried to bypass other regional alliances and build this space elevator alone, it is helpless that although Pan-Asian cooperation owns the land located on the equator, the exception is that it is in the Pacific Rim earthquake zone. And accompanied by intense monsoon activities.

Not to mention the series of troubles such as possible diplomatic risks and hidden dangers of national defense.

There are only three ideal locations for construction, one on the African continent, one on the central Atlantic Ocean, and the expansive Pacific high seas.

Moreover, from a practical point of view, the 36,000 km highway hangs directly from the synchronous track, which was not originally a project that can be completed only by a certain regional alliance.

Even if it is the strongest in the world.

Looking at the tired expression on Secretary Wu's face, Li Guangya smiled lightly and said easily.

"Then let's talk about something happy. I just received a call from the Security Bureau. The agents we deployed in Tiangong City found that the entrance to a mine hole left by the Siddell mining company next to the Hell's Gate Mountains, Signs of Martian rover activity were found. According to the scene restoration analysis, an archaeological excavation team has been there in about two weeks to a month, and it is likely to be the team led by Professor Leonard. "

Wu Shuhua raised her eyebrows: "So, Professor Lu is probably true?"

"It's half and half, like Schrödinger's cat."

Putting down the tea cup in his hand, the expression on Chairman Li Guangya's face did not change much, and he continued in a relaxed tone, "If we continue to follow this clue, we may find that one that has been buried for billions of years can still The dormant capsule of the normal working Martian may tear through a certain big lie. I am also curious to say that I put the dormant capsule that can work normally for billions of years, and Professor Lu who was suddenly resurrected in situ for a century Which one do you think is more likely? "

Wu Shuhua frowned slightly.

"I don't understand what is worth discussing ... Compared to whether a person who has died a hundred years is still alive, I am more concerned about whether the space elevator proposal can be passed smoothly. The development of Europa and Titan It requires us to open the corridor from the ground to outer space, and if it is not possible, let alone move towards a more distant world, we may still be peeling off some trivial matters and fellow citizens on Mars in the next century. "

Whether or not Academician Lu is still alive, that is a matter of the last century.

She acknowledged that he had made many outstanding achievements in that era, but it is now the 22nd century, and a hundred years have passed since the era he was familiar with.

Time is always ruthless for everything.

Just like those old antiques who were sent to the future under the name of "reinforcing the future", but could not find any capable positions and could not solve any future problems in this era, she did not think that an academic from the 21st century World leaders can bring any real benefit to pan-Asian cooperation other than "symbolic significance".

Otherwise, this "stupid plan" will not be stopped in the 1970s.

To be honest, she wouldn't even be interested in seeing him if it wasn't for the fact that he saved the flight, after all, her current job is already a headache.

As for things like fortune or fortune ...

In front of the volume of pan-Asian cooperation, what is that thing?

Looking at Secretary-General Wu, Li Guangya smiled slightly.

"The two things are not contradictory, it just depends on how you look at the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"People need confidence. The success of our plan does not depend on the space elevator itself. The key is whether we can convince people that it is safe, reliable and can bring us a bright future."

Having said that, Li Guangya paused for a moment and continued.

"That being the case, we just need to give them what they want."

Wu Shuhua froze slightly.

"You have to mean ..."

Li Guangya nodded slightly.

"We need a mascot, and he happens to be more suitable."

"There are obvious loopholes in your plan," Wu Shuhua questioned. "What if he is against us? Assuming he is true, it is from a hundred years ago. Even if we are on the same path, it is difficult to protect our ideas. It ’s exactly the same. It ’s not like this has n’t happened. It almost ruined what we have achieved in half a century! ”

Li Guangya said very simply, "At that time, we will continue to dig. It will be there anyway. The ruins are there, and we can continue digging at any time. We can make him real, and naturally make him fake."

"A stowaway from Mars, who successfully deceived everyone, will be the biggest joke of this century."

Chairman Li Guangya smiled lightly and said, "If this joke can help our cause, I am willing to accompany him to talk, it is not harmful anyway."

Wu Shuhua was silent for a while, her shoulders slightly relaxed.

"Since you have said so, I have nothing to refute. However, in my opinion, I still tend to adopt a conservative strategy. This uncontrollable factor is better to start with than to make it a time bomb. It's better not to take it into account. "

"A conservative strategy? Haha, this is the most interesting thing I heard today. Think about it. Is there a more radical strategy than a space elevator such as a grand plan?" Li Guangya smiled and continued easily. He said, "In fact, you don't need to have such a big stereotype about the dormant. I took modern history as an elective in college, especially the part about him.

"A person who can raise a torch in the dark must have a bright heart. Regardless of whether he and our ideas are exactly the same, at least I believe our starting point is the same. People who want to live on this land can Have a brighter future and future. "

"I believe this journey may be full of twists and turns, but he will definitely make the right choice."

Wu Shuhua wasn't saying anything, she just sighed.

"I don't want to argue with you about reusing dormant people, and I'm too lazy to get involved in the work of the household registration department ... if you find it useful, then you can handle it yourself."

Looking at the disappearing holographic image across the conference table, Chairman Li Guangya nodded slightly.

"Well, leave it to me."

Originally, that was his intention.

Light pen