"I'm sorry, but please understand that if a pair of strangers suddenly break into your house on a snowy night, you'll want to hide and observe them first."

In the corner of the hall, a gentle, old voice came from the direction where Yanagihara's gun was pointed.

Then, an old man in a white coat came out of the cover of the flower garden.

He had a shower in his hand, not particularly straight, on the bridge of his nose, and a pair of glasses that looked a little dull and heavy.

As if he had finally noticed the pistol in Yanagihara's hand, the old man's expression paused, and then he smiled helplessly and said in a calm tone.

"And pointing a gun at an old man like me isn't a way to show kindness, is it?"

"Please put the gun down, maybe we can sit down and talk, do you want tea, or coffee?"

Watching the old man turn his back and slowly begin to lead the way, Yanagihara was silent for a moment, and finally put down the pistol in his hand.

"Are you the only one living here?" Holding Al's hand as if soothingly, Yanagihara led the girl to follow the old man's pace.

The surroundings were quite quiet, and there was no sound other than the wind and snow and the breathing and footsteps of the three people, so Yanagihara would ask such a question.

"If you had been there 20 years earlier, this was still the key research facility of the Central Greenhouse No. 10, and there were a lot of people at that time."

The old man walked unhurriedly, listening to Yanagihara's question, and replied slowly with a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

"But now, I'm really the only one here."

"Why is this happening?"

Yanagihara frowned slightly and looked around.

She still cared a little about the plants in the hall, and the observatory looked so well maintained that it didn't look like it was being tended to by just one person.

"Because the top management of the greenhouse abandoned our research project, we transferred all the researchers back." The old man must have remembered something, and sighed softly.

"If it weren't for the fact that this old man of mine still had a little bit of thin face and kept this research institute, I'm afraid this place would have been emptied and abandoned a long time ago."

Institute?

Noticing the old man's name here, Yanagihara raised his eyebrows and asked pretending to be unintentional.

"What was this supposed to be researching here?"

The old man glanced sideways at Yanagihara, as if he saw Yanagihara's wariness of himself, but he smiled and shook his head absently, and replied in a loud voice.

"Our research project at the time was called the Human Evacuation Program······

"Speaking of which, that was decades ago. At that time, this was a very large project, almost the entire Central Ice Sheet, and we were just a small observatory here. ”

With that, the three of them had already reached the stairs on the first floor.

"The second floor is the living area, let's go up and talk slowly."

The old man said calmly, without the slightest fear of being "hijacked", and walked up the stairs first.

But behind him, Yanagihara's eyes were slightly stunned, because she heard the project that the old man said.

The Human Evacuation Project, which she had heard of, was at the end of the Dark Ages.

At that time, it was speculated that the glaciers covering the surface would not show signs of dissolving and receding for centuries, so such a plan was proposed.

Look outward for a planetary belt with an appropriate distance, where the planets may not be able to fully meet the living conditions of human beings, but they all need to be able to provide a certain resource for human beings.

For example, Planet A needs to be able to fuel a spaceship for humans, Planet B needs to have rivers and water that purifies glaciers and water, and Planet C needs to be rich in shallow minerals that are easy to mine, and then there are Planets D, E, and F······

In this way, humanity will be able to carry out a global evacuation and use this planetary belt as a benchmark to begin a space wander that will last for hundreds of years, and finally return to the Blue Star.

If by then, the dust in the sky has dissipated and the ice and snow on the planet have melted, then humanity can stay and continue to live.

This plan was later known as the human evacuation plan.

However, behind this seemingly feasible plan is the civilization that has been disconnected and the technological productivity that is difficult to carry out space missions.

So, after a period of fruitless research, with the end of the Dark Ages, humanity was given some respite, and they gradually abandoned this project.

What Yanagihara didn't expect was that there would be people who would continue this research.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is completely meaningless.

Because even if you can find a planetary path that meets the conditions, with current technology alone, you can't build a starship that can sail in space.

In this way, it is not for nothing that the top management of the Central Greenhouse No. 10 would abandon this research institute.

It's just that why do they leave an old man here alone?

Yanagihara still doesn't understand this.

In the public hall on the second floor, the empty living area is bright and silent, with about seven or eight rooms on either side, but none of them are occupied.

The floor is clean, but it still gives a sense of detachment, as if it has been abandoned by time.

The old man led the two of them to sit down in the hall, and then prepared a cup of hot water for each of them according to Yanagihara's request.

Looking at the glass of water that was brought to her, Yanagi took a sip before nodding at Al and signaling that she could drink.

Al took a shallow sip of the clean water at the right temperature in his hand, and his weak face finally improved.

The old man made himself a cup of coffee, sat opposite the two, and said with a flat smile.

"So, where do you start?"

"Believe me, it's rare that someone is willing to sit down and have a chat with me, and I'm glad that I'm willing to do so."

"In fact, we are very fortunate to be able to find a warm place to live on such a snowy night."

Perhaps under the influence of the old man, Yanagihara's tone softened a little.

"Well, if you don't mind, tell us a little bit about why you're here alone."

As he spoke, Yanagihara looked at a name tag hanging from the old man's chest.

"Respectfully, Mr. Aztod."

The wind and snow were still howling outside, and it was rare that the night might not be bad.

At least a glass of warm water and a slightly special tea party.