The cataclysm revealed by Chumagrin's discovery has put humanity in an almost utter hopeless situation. Despair arouses the fierce fighting spirit of mankind and makes the flower of human wisdom bloom brilliantly. At that time, how many geniuses like Tianle thought brilliantly and imagined a whimsical escape path for mankind. It was the era of genius flying, the era of the deification of human nature. Science and technology are advancing rapidly, and the kingdom of freedom is just around the corner...... But from a higher level, these efforts are blind, unconscious, and groping in the dark. No one knows which path leads to victory. The splendid flower of wisdom may not bear fruit, or it may bear fruit in distant time and space, but we have no way of knowing.

Just like the "Condor Egg" plan that was first implemented in that era.

Sometimes I can't help but think of a naughty child's game: draw a circle on the ground with a naphthalene ball and circle the ants. Ants are afraid of the smell of naphthalene and rush around the circle, but they can't find a way out. The deadlock is often broken in such a way that an ant, in utter despair, rushes across the evil white line. It succeeded, but success had nothing to do with intelligence, but depended on blind courage.

——Excerpt from "A Hundred Years of Collecting Shellfish", written by Yu Leshui

1

George Jacoby and his team quickly completed the development of the term "oviparous" – the word "development" was clearly inappropriate for life, but there was no suitable word for human language. It is obviously also inappropriate to use the terms "creation" and "creation", as they are too vast to be used for the precise "biological modification" of such targets. In a word, human language has lagged behind technology. George is an unborn genius, and his team has made a quantum leap in genetic technology in just eight years, which would have taken hundreds of years under normal circumstances. The leap was so fast that George once said to a friend:

"Alex, if the progress of the past eight years is like God's help, I always feel a little uneasy, and I feel that it is 'too smooth'."

Alex laughs and says, "It must be the desperate situation you are facing that triggers your adrenaline rush." George, this is not a joke, I myself think that my brain is much more agile than it used to be, and when a subject is in a mess, it used to take years to figure it out, but now I can often figure out the right thread at a glance. ”

"Yes, that's what it feels like! Perhaps, it is indeed adrenaline that contributes to the excessive burning of the fire of wisdom. ”

Many years later, they learned that their speculation was not true.

Since the "Condor Egg" project is not a pure "aspirin", the incubation of oviparous people must of course be rigorously experimentally verified, which is a standard procedure for "new product development". However, the experiment was conducted in strict secrecy. The death order of absolute secrecy was first proposed by Ji Renrui, and George and others could not understand it at the time, but they understood it later - in the face of a major disaster, a new way of reproduction had to be adopted to make the human bloodline multiply on the wild planet, which the public could understand and psychologically bear. However, if these tough oviparous cubs who are born without milk appear on the earth and appear in the spotlight, it will definitely exceed the psychological tolerance limit of the public and cause unnecessary trouble. On the other hand, this experiment also has its inherent cruelty, because there will be no artificial assistance on the oviparous youngsters, and they will either survive or die on their own. If this situation is stabbed in the media, it will arouse strong opposition from some people. Therefore, if the experiment is disclosed, it will make the "Friends of Music" suffer from left and right.

As a result, they kept the experiment strictly secret, and even within the "Friends of Music" they tried to narrow the scope of insiders. Fortunately, the general public does not know that there is a standard procedure for "new product development", and no one asks about the preliminary experiments.

The choice of the experimental site took George a lot of thought. The site had to be absolutely isolated from the outside world, but not too desolate and harsh. Oviparous humans hatch as toddlers of two years old, and although they are physically strong enough to walk at birth (George is a reference to the genes of herbivorous mammals, which most of them have in order to escape from the clutches of carnivores), they are also unlikely to withstand too harsh environments. Therefore, the positioning of the tolerant environment of oviparous people is: mild climate, basic food and drinking water, and no natural enemies. Savage planets should be able to meet such conditions after they are "fully terraformed".

In the end, he chose a deserted island not far from here, located in the Danjiang Reservoir. The Danjiang Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in Asia with a wide water surface. At the beginning of this century, in order to ensure the water quality of the water source of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, a large-scale migration was carried out, making it basically a no-man's land. The desert island chosen by George is even more uninhabited. The desert island is stony mixed with soil, and the soil is not yet fully weathered white clay with dense thatch. George bought the desert island, imposed a blockade, and then dropped an excess of biological seeds, including microorganisms, insects, wild vegetables, and wilded crops, in the form of fly-seeding. Two years later, the vegetation on the desert island has changed a lot.

In the evening, a small runabout sailed from the vast lake and anchored on the edge of a deserted island. Four guests left the ship and went ashore, including Chu Guifu, Yu Leshui, Ji Renrui and Lin Bingzhang, the current director of He Guoji's office. It has been eight years since Chu Guifu made the donation, and the old Chu is sixty-eight years old, his hair is almost completely white, and the others have not changed much. The speedboat then drove away, leaving a long white wave on the water. The waves transformed from this wave crashed against the shore of the lake from near and far. The pale green water of the lake is extremely clear, and white waterfowl fly in the sunset with their long legs.

The four of them stood on the shore, waiting for the underground laboratory to open. For the sake of secrecy, the rule here is to wait until the speedboat is far away before opening the door. The four of them chatted casually, admiring the scenery of the water and sky. Ji Renrui has been here many times, he is more familiar, pointed to a stone ridge in front of him and said:

"The door is there, but it's so well camouflaged that you can't find it from outside."

As far as the eye can see, the island remains desolate and untouched, with few traces left by man. The half-man-deep thatch shook in the autumn wind, there was no beach on the desert island, the water's edge was the white hard soil washed by the waves, and there were some things like fine sand piled up on the gentle slope, but if you looked closely, it was not fine sand, but shell debris, clay particles and the like. Live shellfish can occasionally be seen in the shallow water, and small fish can also be seen passing by. But the scenery on the island has changed a lot from what Ji Renrui saw last time: there are many dark green patches embedded in the blue-white thatch, and most of them are vigorous wild vegetables or wild-turned crops, such as amaranth, gray cabbage, purslane, broom seedlings, etc. The low soybeans are entangled with the thatch, and the pods have turned from green to yellow. There are also low and small oats, sorghum and millet, most of which have already borne fruit. In the grass, many grasshoppers glide on the tips of the grass and jump in the sparse grass, and the density is quite large. As you know, these are the results of several flights, and they are food for new humans.

You can also see several slender stone pillars in the field of vision, which are somewhat abrupt compared to the surrounding scenery, and the sunset paints them half red, and the camera on the top of the stone pillars is slightly turning. There are twenty-five stone pillars in total, and they are the only man-made objects on the desert island.

The door opened, George beckoned to them, and the four of them walked in quickly, and the door closed. The basement is not too spacious, more than two hundred square meters, and there are only George and a female assistant in the room. At this moment, the female assistant is crouching in front of a giant screen, which is divided into twenty-five screens, showing the scene of the whole island. Most of the pictures are desert islands, with only two white "human eggs" on each of the five screens, some of which are located on the hill slope and some are located at the water's edge. George gestured, and the female assistant switched a split view to the overall picture, and then zoomed in to a close-up. In the shot, two "human eggs" lie flat on a gentle slope at the water's edge, wrapped in a transparent flexible substance, through which the black eggshells can be seen. George Says:

"Now it's a one-to-one picture, so you're seeing a life-size 'human egg'. Removing the light cloud material covering on the outside of the egg, the actual size is about the same as an adult head. "He speaks Chinese. This genius in the field of biology is also a linguistic genius, and his Chinese has been spoken twice as well over the years, and his tone still has a bit of the oily smell of old Beijing.

"Is it black?" Lin Bingzhang asked with a smile, "I always think that eggshells are all white or speckled. ”

"It is incubated by sunlight and uses black eggshells to absorb heat easily. You've come just in time, these two are about to break. They have been hatching for a year and a half. You know, in order to make them strong enough to come out of their shells, I deliberately designed the incubation time to be much longer. So they shouldn't be called fetuses, so I made up a name called a fetus. ”

"I heard that you set an incubation temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius, which is the same as the incubation temperature of eggs. But you rely on sunlight to incubate, you can reach this temperature during the day, and what about at night? Lin Bingzhang asked.

"The transparent, light cloud cladding allows sunlight to penetrate and at the same time prevents heat from escaping, which is excellent for warmth, and when the temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius, the cladding becomes opaque, so it maintains a constant incubation temperature." George smiled and said, "I can't finish talking about the technical details for a while, I'll tell you when I'm free." Anyway, many of the methods are biological patents stolen from platypus, crocodiles, turtles, and black bears, plus some human technology, and come together. ”

Chu Guifu shook his head, "But no animal's eggs need to hatch for a year and a half. How do you make sure that these 'human eggs' don't freeze in the winter? ”

George looked at him appreciatively, "You're asking the point." In winter, the sun is too weak to maintain that temperature even with light cloud cover. However, the actual incubation period of 'human eggs' is actually only 28 days, which is slightly longer than that of birds, and it takes place in the summer. The subsequent incubation process is actually a warm-blooded animal hibernating in an eggshell, relying on the yolk protein in the shell to grow its body and maintain its body temperature. ”

"Oh, yes, you big-headed scientists are amazing."

Yu Leshui suddenly said: "Look, this 'human egg' is moving!" ”

George said: "I have been moving a lot for the past two months, and we call it sleepwalking. It's about to burst, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm scared of it now. Even though my designs were very strict and careful, even though they did hatch normally according to the procedures I designed, and even though the X-rays showed that the shells were normal human bodies, I still had no bottom in my mind. For example, after he was born, did he not walk on two legs but only crawl? Know that they won't have adults to teach them to walk, and the animal genetically has a more powerful program for four-legged crawling. I can't even guarantee whether they will drink water after they are born. ”

Chu Guifu said unceremoniously: "It's a living creature that knows that it's thirsty and drinks water, or just let it die." ”

George smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, Lao Chu, you are right, every living being has this instinct. But in the eyes of biologists, all 'instincts' are ultimately guaranteed by technical means, and it should be a set of rigorous procedures hidden in the DNA, including the continuous monitoring of the state of water deficiency (thirst) in body fluids, including the identification of the physical properties of water, including the linkage between 'thirst' and the act of drinking, and so on. Such biological programs certainly exist, but modern science has not yet deciphered them in detail. Life is the treasure of nature, and after four billion years of tempering, science is far from discovering all its secrets. I'm a daredevil, brazenly tampering with God's original design, and it's really unknown whether or not I inadvertently ruined the original 'drinking program' during my restructuring. ”

Ji Renrui said with a smile: "George is deliberately alarmist, a typical pre-exam nervousness syndrome. ”

Yu Leshui can feel George's psychological vein. In essence, his words are consistent with the young Chu Tianle's obsession with "a big soap bubble should burst, but why does it turn into a small bubble". These stupid questions actually reflect the deeper thinking of geniuses, and it is not easy for ordinary people to understand. She smiled and reassured: "Don't worry too much, everything will be fine." ”

"Thank you. However, I have to warn you in advance that these young children are not allowed to be rescued, and you must be hardened when observing the experiment. George said.

Yu Leshui said bitterly: "I know this rule, I will abide by it." She knew the criteria set by the George project: if the survival rate of the oviparous child was not less than 10 percent, without artificial assistance at all, the technology would be considered successful and the follow-up work could begin. Ten percent. In other words, in a single batch of ten "human eggs", nine children may die. It was so cruel that she really couldn't guarantee that she would be able to watch indifferently.

Chu Guifu asked: "What are these babies going to do with the babies who survived the earth experiment?" ”

George couldn't help but shake his head and said, "Lao Chu, you are really honest in appearance, and you ask tricky questions." These surviving oviparous people are indeed difficult to deal with. I don't want them to enter normal human society, the reason, Ji Renrui said; Of course, they can't be strangled to death. Fortunately, with the energy that can be used for 500,000 years, it is also possible to make a cryonics device with a working life of 500,000 years - freezing in space does not consume energy, but if you want to revive the cryonics, you can't do it by sunlight alone, so you need ultra-long-life energy. We are going to equip the Chu's spacecraft with a small number of refrigeration devices with energy to place the surviving children from the ground experiments in it. When they arrive on a new planet, at the moment of the birth of a new human being, it should be more conducive to their survival to have a few big brothers and sisters involved. Of course, this kind of freezing and waking program is purely artificial, not as fast as God's program, and its reliability is relatively low, so whether the frozen people can be successfully revived depends on the protection of the gods - if the mana of the gods of the earth can be extended to dozens of light years away. ”

Chu Guifu was very interested, "Oh, it turns out that in addition to the 'human eggs', how many frozen people do you have to send?" You should have told me about such a big change, and don't forget, this ship is called the 'Chu Clan'! ”

Over the years, George has become a little fond of this vulgar guy, but he still can't help but stab him twice when he has the opportunity: "That's right, the name of this ship is 'Chu's", but legally speaking, you are neither the owner nor the captain of the ship, I don't need to report everything to you, right?" ”

Chu Guifu ignored this prickly sentence, pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "What is the survival rate?" I mean, after 500,000 years of frozen people, how many people will wake up and survive. ”

"As I said earlier, if the mana of the human gods could extend ......"

"! Don't give me any mana, I want a scientist's estimate. ”

His attitude was very serious, and George also stopped laughing and thought about it seriously, "It should be forty percent...... No, I'm trying to get to fifty percent. ”

Chu Guifu muttered and repeated: "Fifty percent." Then he was silent and asked no more.

The female assistant suddenly said, "It's starting to break the shell!" It's the boy! ”

On the screen, one of the two "human eggs" is shaking violently. Switching to an X-ray camera, you can see that the little guy in the eggshell is awake, but he doesn't open his eyes, yawning lazily, and his outstretched body is pushing against the eggshell - just like Pangu waking up and holding the egg of heaven and earth. The eggshell made a clattering sound, and the crack was pushed out, and the crack was expanding. But the little guy encountered a new problem that Pangu did not encounter: although the light cloud cover on the outside was very weak, it was elastic because of its network structure, and the cracks opened when the inside was forced, and the cracks closed when it stopped, and this process was stalemate for a long time, and the little guy began to become agitated, and the people in the basement were anxious for him. George suddenly picked up a pair of scissors, opened the door and rushed out. He immediately appeared on the screen, used scissors to cut a tic-tac-toe exit in the light cloud cover, and quickly ran to another "human egg" to do the same, and then disappeared from the screen. Lin Bingzhang in front of the screen asked puzzledly:

"Didn't George say that manual assistance is not allowed?"

Yu Leshui explained: "That's a two-level thing. It is not possible to rescue the viviparous children in their natural state in order to verify their ability to survive in the environment of the new planet; But the trouble caused by the light cloud is a technical error that can be changed. The purpose of the experiments was to find flaws and to achieve technical perfection in order to maximize their chances of survival after 500,000 years. ”

"Oh, that's right."

George hurried back to the basement and said to his assistant, "Remember, there will be a tic-tac-toe opening for future light cloud coverings." The assistant nodded. On the screen, the little cub finally broke through the eggshell and exposed his head. His eyes opened, and he cast his first glimpse out into the outside world in confusion. The little head turned, blankly turning in the direction of the camera, and the old and new humans looked at each other for the first time. This is the peering that transcends time and space, the created and the creator (the God of the new man?) His bright gaze made several people in the basement feel like thunder. At this moment, everyone in the basement (except for Chu Guifu, who had been in a daze alone) was drumming in their hearts with the sound of Huang Zhong Dalu's heavenly sound. Especially Yu Leshui is the most emotional, she has tears in her eyes, and her heart is full of strong maternal love.

Unfortunately, the oviparous cub couldn't actually see the person here, and his blank gaze immediately slipped in other directions. He may have been frightened by the world outside the shell and retracted back into the eggshell. But it didn't take long for the little head to tentatively show itself again, then the arms, shoulders, and finally half of the body. Half of the broken eggshell was toppled over. The cub fell out of the gap and fell to the ground.

The little cub was crying. The cry was not particularly sad, but rather like a ritual that had to be done. The eyes of the people in the room were moist, and they imagined that some planet in 500,000 years would have such a cry echoing in the wilderness. Yu Leshui wiped away his tears and smiled:

"That's right, despite being an oviparous, he is indeed a cub of our humans. Listen to the cry! ”

The newly hatched cub already has a body that is nearly two years old, and when it cries, it shows two rows of tiny white teeth. He stopped crying for a short time, and began to tentatively try to stand up, his legs disobeying, and he fell to and fro, but it only took him a few minutes to stand firm, and he began to stumble and walk. Yu Leshui smiled:

"George, look, he's not a reptile, you just bothered about it." She sighed softly, "But he's not exactly human, he doesn't need his parents to teach him to walk." ”

George didn't speak, his attention was all on the screen. The little cub, who was obviously hungry and thirsty, saw the surface of the water, staggered to the shore, and looked at it in bewilderment. He watched for so long that George really suspected that the God program of "drinking water when thirsty" was ruined. But at last the little cub lay down, crouched on the water, and drank like a puppy. A few people in the basement breathed a sigh of relief.

The zoomed-in footage shows mussels crawling around the water's edge. The little cub stared at it in confusion for a long time, and stretched out his little hand to play with it. The frightened mussel closed its shell and stopped moving. However, the little cub did not recognize that it was food and left the water's edge. Subsequently, his attention was drawn to another "human egg", which was shaking violently at the moment. The little cub was a little frightened and watched from afar. The "human egg" stopped shaking at this time, he overcame his fear, approached the "human egg", touched it, smelled it, stretched out his tongue to lick it, and tilted his head in a daze. No one knew what he was thinking at this moment, anyway, he began to bite the light cloud covering of the "human egg" with his teeth-Yu Leshui suddenly subconsciously grabbed Ji Renrui's arm beside him. Ji Ren glanced at her sharply, and keenly guessed her thoughts at this time: she was worried about whether the oviparous cubs wanted to eat this "human egg" as their first meal after birth, and she was worried that the oviparous humans also inherited the cannibalistic habits of the creator (in the era of ignorance). Over the years, Ji Renrui knows her very well and can see her inner thoughts from her body language. This woman's heart is transparent, full of holiness such as love, kindness, and compassion, and has a natural resistance to evil. But - the essence of survival is black.

Ji Renrui comforted Xiaoyu in a low voice: "Don't worry, it shouldn't be." ”

This sentence is clueless, but Yu Leshui understands it. She found herself clutching Ji's arm, smirking self-deprecatingly and letting go. There, the oviparous (George said the second fetus was female) finally broke through the eggshell, sticking her little head out of the gap in the light cloud cover, and giving her first blank glance at the world. She immediately spotted her kind, and the two stared at each other for a long time.

This is Adam and Eve's eye contact, taking place in a man-made Garden of Eden. The "gods" in the basement watched with bated breath.

The oviparous woman wrenched herself from the eggshell, rolled to the ground, and cried for a while, before stumbling to her feet. The other guy stared blankly and didn't respond. It is not surprising that, although their bodies are already two-year-olds, they are actually newborn and do not have any clear consciousness other than instinct. After a while, he left the girl and staggered away. Perhaps according to the instinct of a social animal, she cried and chased after her. Two figures disappear from the camera.

For the observer in the basement, and especially for Yuleshui, this is a very complete development. Several people clapped their palms and hugged each other, then eagerly returned to the screen, waiting for the two cubs to emerge from another shot. Chu Guifu patted George on the shoulder:

"Hey, I have a new idea." The addition of cryonics to the Chu's spacecraft will certainly cost a significant increase. I'm going to sell my last villa, maybe a billion dollars, and I'll give you the money. ”

George looked back at him suspiciously, and said sarcastically, "I can imagine that you must have asked for something in your generosity." "This is a repetition of what Chu Guifu himself said when they first met." Tell me, what's the hell in your head that's different from everyone else? ”

Chu Guifu didn't think it was wrong, and said with a smile: "Look, I've been with my old Chu for a long time, and I've turned you into a happy person." He whispered a few words in George's ear. George was obviously extremely shocked, staring blankly at the white-haired old Chu for a long time. At this time, the female assistant said:

"It's out! In District Four! ”

The figure of the cub appeared on the screen in Area 4, and then the girl also followed. George hurriedly turned around to watch, and said to Chu, "I'll talk about that later!" But he looked at it for a while, and couldn't help but turn back and say:

"You sell the last villa too, where do you live with your family?"

Chu Guifu said simply: "You don't have to worry about this, Lao Chu, I can survive if I find a kennel." ”

George shook his head, stopped talking, and turned his attention to the screen. Over there, the two oviparous pups were instinctively looking for food. The others didn't have time to distract themselves at this moment, and they didn't pay attention to the conversation between George and Chu. Only Ji Renrui knew Chu's new plan just now, and he was as shocked as George, he still turned his gaze to Chu from time to time while watching the screen nervously, and Chu Guifu also nodded at him with a tacit smile.

2

The "Chu's" starship has made rapid progress, exceeding people's expectations. Twelve years after the Condor Egg program was proposed, the huge starship was successfully assembled in synchronous orbit. Subsequently, the "Chitu" cargo spacecraft took off several times, carrying 501 dome capsules (one more than the original plan of 500) and interstellar spacecraft fuel. On the second day of the second lunar month of the second lunar month of the following year, the day when the dragon raised its head in Chinese legend, the "Red Rabbit" cargo spacecraft took off for the last time to refuel the "Chu's". The "Chu's" will set sail immediately, carrying the genes of two million species of life on Earth, including human genes, to begin this long journey that will last for hundreds of thousands of years.

The last delivery of the "Red Rabbit" will carry a group of human representatives to see off the "Chu's" in synchronous orbit. Due to limited space, no more than eight people can be seen off. Therefore, during this period of time, the selection of the send-off representative was Ji Renrui's biggest headache, and he once said with a smile: It is no less difficult than making the decision to "start the Condor Egg Plan" back then.

The first representative was, of course, Chu Guifu, who built the spacecraft solely and named after him. There is a small tidbit that outsiders don't know: in fact, Chu's original intention was not to donate naked, although he donated 20 billion, he originally hoped to be able to exchange for 1 million tickets, how could he sell 10 billion, or even more. This little abacus of the rich man is ridiculous, and it also shows that the ideological realm of this nouveau riche is not high. But when Ji Renrui categorically rejected his condition, he still decided to donate 20 billion naked, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people. The naked donation of 20 billion yuan really bankrupted his family, making him "fall back to forty years ago", leaving only a manor for the whole family to live in.

The second representative was Zhang Mingxian, an astronaut who presided over the "Condor Egg" program, and he made great contributions to the smooth implementation of the program. At the Laojieling meeting that year, Zhang Mingxian seemed rigid and rigid, leaving a rather bad impression on everyone. But the stiff technologist is at home in his field, and it can be said that he has squeezed out the last trace of potential in chemically powered rockets. Coupled with the fact that the spacecraft did not need to consider a safe landing (for reasons to be discussed later), there was no need to consider the return journey, so the ratio of the initial mass to the final mass of the spacecraft reached an astonishing fifty, thus increasing the top speed of the spacecraft to nearly forty kilometers per second. In terms of the progress of the implementation of the project, he also squeezed out the last drop of oil, and it took only 12 years for the "Chu's" spacecraft to be designed, manufactured, and assembled. Insiders know that Zhang Mingxian's exploits can only be described as great when so much oil can be squeezed out in a technology that has been developed to perfection. But even so, it only shortened the original planned journey of the "Chu's" spacecraft from 600,000 years to 450,000 years -- it was still a terrible long time.

In God's kingdom, human effort is too small.

The third representative, biologist George Jacoby, is also a major contributor to the project. He was responsible for the design of the new home ecosystem, including the design and manufacture of "human eggs", including the collection of biological DNA. According to the latest estimates of the scientific community, there are nearly 8 million species of organisms on Earth. Of course, it is impossible and unnecessary to collect the genes of so many species, and George has collected two million of the most vigorous species (mainly microorganisms and lower organisms), which can ensure the construction of a complete ecosystem on the new planet. He also presided over ten hatching experiments for oviparous people, perfecting the technique. The experiment was carried out in extreme secrecy and was unknown to outsiders.

There is another secret reason why the above three representatives were selected first, Ji Renrui did not plan to keep them a permanent secret, and it will be announced after the spacecraft sets sail.

The fourth delegate was an uninvited guest – six months before the scheduled departure date of the spacecraft, the Church of Rome sent a euphemistic letter to the "Friends of Joy Foundation", asking if it was possible to reserve a seat for Pope Benedict XVII, since "religious representatives cannot be absent at such a historical moment". This letter surprised the "Friends of Music". Although the Vatican has become more and more enlightened over the past half century, they have kept pace with the times and embraced many scientific ideas (such as the Big Bang theory); But on the other hand, the Holy See has always been very careful to distance itself from occasions where "too much technical power is shown". The reason for this is actually quite simple - when a human ship roars into space, the direction of the Garden of Eden will not be marked in the ship's navigation map. When science and technology show their power, it will inevitably impact the belief in God, not to mention that this spacecraft launch is still in an atheistic country.

Therefore, the Holy See's initiative this time was somewhat unexpected. Ji Renrui did not hesitate, and immediately replied with an enthusiastic letter, inviting the Pope to participate in this grand event as "one of the representatives of mankind", as long as the Pope's body can adapt to space navigation. It's just a pity that he can only leave a place for the Pope and can't bring his entourage. The Holy See fully understands this. After months of busyness, the sixty-five-year-old Pope successfully passed the physical examination and accelerated training in space, and the place was confirmed for him.

The fifth representative is Chu Tianle, he is undisputed as a representative, and the problem is also his body. After careful examination and space training, the final result is gratifying. Although he is sick and frail, it is strange that he is not as sensitive to overweight and weightlessness as ordinary people, that is, he has a greater tolerance for space flight. The number of delegates was decided.

The sixth place was also determined - Yule Water. She is not only a representative of the "Friends of Joy Foundation", but also a health doctor for the Pope and Chu Tianle, an interpreter for the Pope, and a photojournalist on board (the photography outside the cabin is taken care of by a nearby geostationary satellite).

The seventh is Lin Bingzhang, the representative of China's first and the current director of He Guoji's office.

The eighth is the representative of the United Nations, SCAC Secretary-General Abikar. Abikar served two terms as Secretary-General of the United Nations and was instrumental in the world's efforts to save the world. Finding that the SCAC's "rotating chief executive committee" organizational model was too inefficient to meet the needs of the situation, he led to the SCAC setting up a civilian permanent secretary general under the five military executive committees, without term limits – these rules were later said to be purely tailor-made by him, and when he stepped down from the post of secretary general of the United Nations, he deigned to be transferred to the post of secretary general of the SCAC, not caring at all about the "big and small" position. He is still very strong in this low-level position, and it is said that in the special situation of the cataclysm, the role of this "little secretary-general" is actually no less than that of the "big secretary-general".

Now, six of the eight delegates from China have gathered at the Beijing airport and will fly to the Wenchang Launch Center on Hainan Island.

Entering the airport VIP lounge, among the waiting crowd, they first saw a wheelchair with an old man sitting on it, and the wheelchair was pushed by He Zizhou, who was already 23 years old. Yu Leshui hurriedly pushed Tianle's wheelchair and sped up, the two wheelchairs stopped face to face, Tianle got up and held the old man's hand tightly:

"Old He, I haven't seen you for a few years, and I haven't been able to go to your ninetieth birthday. You shouldn't have come here with a sick day. ”

Although the old man was frail, he was in good spirits, and his eyes were as bright as ever. He smiled and said, "How could I let go of this opportunity?" To be honest, when the Condor Egg Project was launched, I didn't expect that I would live to see the spaceship in the sky, so do you think I'll let go of today's opportunity? It's a pity that the body is not angry, otherwise Xiaolin's ship position should be mine. He said to Lin Bingzhang with a smile.

People on both sides met each other and hurriedly talked a few words. He Lao still keeps an eye on current affairs, knowing that the hypothesis of "local space contraction" proposed by Chu Tianle 14 years ago continues to be supported by observations, the blueshift central ring zone and the blueshift boundary have migrated outward (expanded) for more than ten light-years, and the blueshift of the stars closest to the earth is increasing, which is in good agreement with the theoretical values. I also know that the "02 Project" under the United Nations SCAC has made a breakthrough, and cold fusion has been achieved in the laboratory, and it can be used in engineering within ten years; also knew that Tianle's condition had stabilized after the new treatment, in fact, the fact that Chu Tianle could live to the age of thirty-six was already a big victory in itself, but it was a pity that the Chu couple still had no children. He Lao asked:

"When will the next seeding ship hit the road? Of course, it must be driven by nuclear fusion. ”

"Yes, it's fusion-driven. The maximum speed of the ship should be 1.5 percent of the speed of light. The spacecraft will definitely be in space within 15 years, and strive to be within 10 years. ”

"Then I'm going to have to try to live a few more years. Xiao Yu, Xiao Chu, when the next spacecraft sets sail, I will not be satisfied with seeing off here, I will also go to the synchronous orbit, and by the way, I will celebrate my 100th birthday there. You'll have to reserve a spot for me on the Red Rabbit in advance. ”

Tianle smiled: "A word is a certainty." He asked He Zizhou, who was pushing a wheelchair, "Yangyang, have you finished reading the doctorate?" ”

"It's going to be over right away. I'll report to you when I'm done. ”

"Welcome. Yangyang, do you still remember those problems you had more than ten years ago, and the ambitions you set? Over the years, I've come to have a little bit of an idea about the 'energy of the vacuum' you talked about, and we'll talk about it when you come. Let's be honest, this thing is waiting for you, and you will start researching it as soon as you come. ”

"Great! It just so happened that I also had some ideas, which I discussed with Changchang. "Ji Renrui's son Ji Jichang is in the same school as him, two terms lower than him.

There were too many people waiting for them, and they didn't have time to talk more, so they hurriedly said goodbye to He Lao and continued to walk inside. In front of him was Chu Guifu, who had just arrived on another flight. Chu Tianle has not seen him recently, and when they first met, they couldn't help but sigh that this predator in the financial world who "fell back to forty years ago" in terms of financial resources seems to have "fallen back to forty years ago" in terms of dress. His clothes were very low-grade, Chinese cardigans, Chinese trousers, round cloth shoes, his bare head, and the thick gold ornaments on his neck and fingers were all gone; His skin was dark and rough, with deep wrinkles, and at first glance, he was completely a coolie in the construction team. Tianle and his wife looked at each other, and couldn't help but respect Chu Guifu, feeling that the scar on his face was not so hideous. In the past two years, Ji Renrui has talked about him many times with respect, saying that although Chu Guifu has gone bankrupt, he will not be so poor that he can't maintain his personal enjoyment. The key is that Chu has "self-exiled" in his state of mind, repositioning himself as the "poor", and sharpening his mind with the living standards of the poor. In this way, he can have no distractions, dung and money, and bite his life goal without letting go. And he only had such a simple life goal in his later years:

Keep the bloodline of the Chu family and send them outside the cataclysmic area.

After watching the hatching experiment, he did what he had promised, auctioning off the only remaining property for the whole family to live in to fund an additional secret project. In his words, his wife has already gone to heaven, and he himself will go to heaven soon, and there is no need to leave another nest on the earth. Ji Renrui once said with emotion that this most selfish vulgar guy in the world is really a hero and a martyr.

Only a handful of relatives came to see him off today: his eldest son, daughter-in-law and two-year-old grandson. This is also his youngest grandson. The grandson obviously loved him very much, hugged his neck without losing his hand, and put his tender face on his wrinkled old face. The Chu couple walked over to shake hands with him, and Yu Leshui asked with a smile:

"Hello Mr. Chu. What about your family, why didn't they come to see you off today? I still remember the first time we met, your left wife and right concubine hugged each other. ”

Chu Guifu was very straightforward, "You mean my four little wives." Damn, after I donated naked, they couldn't endure hardship, and they were sad every day, and it was rare to see a trace of a smile. I'm annoyed, so I let them fuck off with their children and marry whoever they want. Anyway, I'm worthy of them, and I bought everyone such an expensive ticket - a billion yuan each! ”

Over the years, George had actually developed a lot of respect for this vulgar fellow, and he quipped in his Chinese dialect: "It's a pity that after they remarry, will those children of yours no longer have the surname Chu?" ”

Chu Guifu grinned and said: "Not surnamed Chu is also my species, I only care about real things, not fame." ”

The crowd laughed.

It's time to board the plane. Chu's family said goodbye to him at the boarding gate, and the little grandson shouted crisply: "Goodbye, grandpa!" It is said that Chu kept the secret plan from his family, so the children and grandchildren did not know that this birth and death were death. Chu Guifu smiled and waved goodbye to them, turned around and entered the gangway. The seventy-two-year-old man was in good health, walking with a clattering sound, and his face did not show any sadness. The people in the crowd who knew about the secret plan, like Zhang Mingxian, George, and the Chu family, couldn't help but secretly exchange glances behind him, their eyes full of admiration.

Of course, Chu's parting sorrow is still there, in the two hours of flying to Sanya Airport, Chu Guifu is not as talkative as usual, and he does not tell his best meat jokes, but sits quietly in the first-class cabin, staring out the window with blazing eyes. Chu Tianle and the others also deliberately did not bother him.

When they arrived at Sanya Airport, they rushed to Wenchang by car, and the other two representatives and Ji Renrui were already waiting at the Wenchang Launch Center. From a distance, the group saw the towering "Chitu" cargo spacecraft, next to which were the tall spacecraft assembly and testing plant and the filling and fairing assembly plant, like three pillars rising from the ground. Thousands of reporters were waiting on the side of the road early, and their cameras and camcorders were like a dense jungle. The convoy slowly moved forward in the sea of people, and when they arrived at the VIP room, Yu Leshui pushed her husband out of the car in a wheelchair. Ji Renrui was waiting at the door, and next to him was an old man wearing a white short cloak with a hood and a white skullcap, which was very conspicuous in the crowd. Yu Leshui whispered to her husband:

"Pope! Let's hurry up and greet him. ”

Chu Tianle had already seen it, and before the wheelchair arrived, he had already gotten up in the wheelchair. But Pope Benedict XVII hurried over, pressed Chu Tianle's body back into his wheelchair, and then—the Pope crouched down so that he could speak to Chu at the same height. Of course, the reporters who have been flocking to it for a long time will not let go of this precious lens and take pictures one after another.

Unfortunately, the reporters were separated by the guards and could not hear the conversation between the two, otherwise they would have come up with sensational headlines.

Pope Benedict XVII smiled and said: "It is an honor to meet my friends who God has made for many years, Ms. Yu and Mr. Chu. ”

"Your Excellency, my wife and I are also honoured." Chu Tianle said earnestly, "I sincerely thank Your Excellency for rushing to the synchronous orbit to see off the 'Chu'. ”

"I should have come, and I would like to thank you. You are acting on behalf of the Lord, creating life in the Lord's distant land. You are writing a new book of Genesis. ”

Chu Tianle was stunned for a moment, the religious meaning of this sentence was too heavy, and it could not be connected with the rational thinking he was usually used to for a while. The "Chu's" spacecraft did not create life, but only spread "existing life" to the wild planet; Moreover, the "distant lands" dozens of light-years away do not seem to be under Jehovah's jurisdiction, and the old man in the robe does not have a spaceship as a means of transportation. Yu Leshui knew her husband's recklessness and innocence, and quietly touched his back, and Ji Renrui on the side was also busy glancing at Chu Tianle. Chu Tianle smiled slightly at the two. The two of them were too worried today, even if there was no reminder from the two of them, Chu Tianle would not be rude on such an occasion. Following the Pope's words, he respectfully said:

"Thank you for your high regard. We try to do what is satisfying the Lord and want Him to bless us with success. ”

With his temperament, it is not easy to speak such a proper diplomatic language. Yu and Ji were relieved and smiled at each other. But none of the three expected the Pope's reaction, only to see the Pope shake his head and say frankly:

"The Lord does not interfere in the earthly world. You will succeed, but success depends only on science, on your genius and hard work. But you are indeed writing a new book of Genesis. The Lord will rejoice inexplicably, and the robe will live forever in your cause. ”

Chu Tianle was taken aback by these words, and he also secretly respected, feeling that the hearts of the two of them were suddenly closer. He recalls the introduction of Benedict XVII in the sources, saying that he had long been president of the Pontifical Bible Commission and chair of the International Theological Commission before his accession to the throne, but he was never enthusiastic about the discussion of theological issues. He has repeatedly stated that the study and belief in Scripture is important in "understanding the righteousness," but in acknowledging the "allegorical nature" of the Bible. For a pope, such an insight is extremely profound and courageous. Chu Tianle wondered how much difference could such an enlightened religious belief (the Lord do not interfere with the earthly world and recognize the allegorical nature of the Bible) and atheistic faith? It should be said that there is no difference in essence. It can even be said that the Pope's assessment of the Condor Egg project, although religious, is actually more profound than that of the scientific community. Scientists are immersed in concrete matters all day long, thinking only of "great engineering", not realizing that its significance has long gone beyond the level of engineering. They are indeed creating a new world (in place of God), and if they are fortunate enough to succeed in cultivating new humans on a wild planet dozens of light-years away, then for the latter's mind, the "Condor Egg" project can only be understood as divine power and divine action.

Now he understands why the Pope took the initiative to see him off.

The Pope looked left and right and asked, "Didn't Mr. Ma come?" ”

"Nope. He has been in poor health recently, and my mother-in-law and sister have not come, so they stay in the mountains to accompany him. Yu Leshui said.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet this philosopher." He looked at Yu Leshui, "I read your report from fourteen years ago. I still vividly remember Mr. Ma's discourse on 'living' in the article, which is so incisive that it should be engraved in gold on the top of the Caucasus Mountain. ”

"Thank you!" Yu Leshui said happily, "I will convey your words to my father-in-law. He will be very happy. ”

There was no time to talk about it on such occasions, so the Pope stood up, dusted his knees, and said goodbye to the two men. Abikar, the UN representative in the back, greeted everyone and shook hands with everyone, and said with a smile:

"First of all, congratulations on your success. Especially you, Mr. Ji Renrui, my junior classmate, you have expanded the technical success of the 'Chu's' spacecraft into a more successful public relations operation, which has effectively channeled social emotions. He looked directly at Chu Tianle and said frankly, "But I would prefer to carry out the real human escape as soon as possible." ”

Chu Tianle looked at his wife and Ji Renrui, and the three of them nodded silently, and increased the strength of their hands to shake Abikar. They all understand the weight of this statement. Although the Condor Egg Operation is no longer a pure "aspirin", strictly speaking, it is still more comforting than practical, and no one dares to pack a ticket for what will happen in 450,000 years, so whether or not the life on the earth, especially the blood of human beings, can be spread to a certain planet is still a matter of divine blessing to a large extent. Even if fusion spacecraft are able to take to the skies after that, there is still little certainty that the escape method as a whole will be successful, as the cataclysmic area has been expanding at the speed of light, and unfortunately, there is no sign of significant reduction in intensity so far. This is not in line with the original estimate of the "Friends of Joy". Then, in this case, even if the ship can reach 1.5 percent of the speed of light, it will not be able to escape from the cataclysmic area. Chu Tianle sighed lightly and said in a low voice:

"As you know, Mr. Abigar, a true human escape can only expect a major scientific breakthrough, including a complete understanding of the nature of the cataclysm, or a revolutionary leap in spaceship technology. However, scientific breakthroughs must have a gestation process and cannot rely solely on oxytocin injections. ”

"But the situation forced us to give birth! With the financial, material and intellectual resources of all mankind, he urged the fetus to be born as soon as possible, and he couldn't wait to use caesarean section. Otherwise, ......" he shook his head and didn't finish his sentence, "Chu, I put more hope for a breakthrough on the 'Friends of Joy', I think that in your wild mixed forest, the fruit of wisdom is most likely to bear fruit." So," he reproached, "On a show like today, it's enough to have idlers like me and Ji Renrui to participate, you shouldn't come." I know how important it is for a super genius like you to have a calm mindset to get inspired. ”

Chu Tianle was shocked in his heart, and couldn't help but look at this black politician with admiration. He was absolutely right that inspiration requires dedication, and that such social activities would certainly interfere with his thinking. He remembered the night he spent at the crematorium, when every pore of his body was connected to nature and he could sense the rhythm of the universe, and it was in that calm state of mind that he made that breakthrough. He smiled at Ji Renrui and shook his head, and said helplessly:

"Look, another whip of God." In fact, he was grateful for Abikar's reproach, and even a little confused, "Well, Mr. Abikar, I must remember your words." We also hope to continue the fruitful cooperation between Friends of Joy and SCAC." ”

Abikar smiled and looked at Ji Renrui: "This is nature. ”

Over the years, especially after Abikar became the secretary general of the SCAC, the cooperation between the two companies has been very close. In the middle, Ji Renrui and Abikar's personal relationship played a big role. These two Peking University classmates from different classes have similar personalities and the same goals, and they have reached the level of heart-to-heart in more than ten years of communication. Abikar attaches great importance to working with the "Friends of Music" for obvious reasons – when he wants to promote something at the United Nations as a "little secretary-general", there are too many people on it and too much resistance. However, if we can do this first with the strength of "Friends of Music", and then turn it into SCAC action, then it will be twice the result with half the effort. In the same way, the "Friends of Music" also attaches great importance to the cooperation with Abikar, after all, the power of a non-governmental organization is limited, and if it can "transfer thousands of pounds" and promote the implementation of the "Friends of Music" in the first place, it will also be the best result.

Ji Ren urged them: "It's time for you to wear space suits, and I should also go to face the camera." There must have been seven billion viewers on today's live broadcast, and oh my God, maybe I'll have stage fright. He smiled, turned back to Chu Guifu and said, "As for that news, it will be announced after the 'Chu's set sail'." Lao Chu, my old friend, let's say goodbye in advance. ”

The two hugged each other tightly, and the hug lasted for a long time. The Pope and Abikar, who didn't know the inside story, were a little strange - their farewell seemed too solemn, and as a send-off, Chu was only going to take a short two-day flight.

Ji Renrui's speech spread to every corner of the earth with the radio waves:

… The final liftoff of the Chitu's cargo spacecraft is about to begin. The cargo ship is carrying eight delegates, who will reach the synchronous orbit to see off the 'Chu' starship on behalf of all mankind. The live broadcast will continue until the Chu's set sail and the Chitu cargo spacecraft returns to Earth.

"As the public has known for a long time, the 'Chu's' spacecraft carries the genes of two million creatures on Earth, including five million human fertilized eggs, which represent the genes of 10 million people. It is estimated that the spacecraft will escape the cataclysmic area after 450,000 years and drop the seeds of life on a suitable planet. As for the reproduction of life, especially the reproduction of human beings, it will be a long journey of hundreds of thousands of years. ”

"Although it has been a long time, we are sure that this plan of sowing life will be successful in the end, and since all mankind has poured so much effort and wisdom into this action, and has injected so much deep emotion and prayer, I believe that our wishes will be heard by heaven. It is protected by the gods of mankind, whether it is Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Odin, Zeus, Jupinor, or the Jade Emperor. In the vision that modern technology can reach, life on Earth is the only fruit in the universe. It was born in the poisonous miasma of the primitive earth, and has experienced various catastrophes such as volcanic eruptions, land subsidence, glacial periods, and meteorite impacts, and has survived with great difficulty to this day. It will surely survive this astronomical catastrophe! ”

Hundreds of millions of viewers burst into tears.

The cargo spacecraft "Red Rabbit" lifted off in flames. It first entered a circular orbit 200 kilometers above the Earth at a speed of 8,000 kilometers per second, and then flew unpowered for an hour. The spacecraft then ignited again and entered an elliptical orbit at a speed of nearly eleven kilometers per second. When it climbed to the apex of the ellipse with this muzzle velocity, the ship's velocity dropped to about 1.6 kilometers per second. Then it ignited for the third time and entered a synchronous circular orbit at a speed of 3.1 thousand meters per second. Since the Wenchang launch center is not on the equator, some attitude adjustments were also made, and finally entered a synchronous orbit over the equator. It's a procedure it's already familiar with.

Now, in a synchronous orbit over the equator, the "Red Rabbit" slowly caught up with the "Chu's".

Of the eight people in the cabin, only Zhang Ming had a space experience, and he served as a safety supervisor and narrator during the journey. He said excitedly:

"Now please unbuckle your seat belts and go to the porthole to enjoy the majestic posture of the 'Chu's'. We're going to dock with it soon. During the refueling period, I will take you into the 'Chu's 'Chu' for a fancy visit, but at that time I will not be able to see the full picture of the 'Chu's'. ”

Everyone unbuckled their seat belts and flew to the porthole to look out. The "Red Rabbit" was now under the "Chu's", and its speed was slightly faster than the synchronous speed, so it seemed to be crawling slowly compared to the "stationary" ground below and the "stationary" "Chu's" above. Beyond the "Chu's" is a canopy that rotates in its entirety, with the sun and the stars rotating in reverse direction relative to the observer, like a super kaleidoscope in God's hands. It was dawn, and the sunlight on Earth had formed a bright blue crescent, but much more than a real crescent. In the crescent moon, you can see the golden Pacific Ocean, and you can also see the belly of the Chinese rooster located in the easternmost part of the Asian continent. The line of light and dark progressed smoothly to the west, and the crescent moon gradually plumped up, soon bathing the whole of East Asia in the morning light.

Zhang Ming first asked everyone to look overhead, and everyone sighed in surprise. At this time, the "Chu's" was very close to the head of the "Red Rabbit", which was extremely huge and imposing. Several passengers had appreciated the majesty of the "Red Rabbit" when they were at the launch site, but if the "Red Rabbit" was a giant beast, then the "Chu's" was a big mountain. Lined with the dark sky, the "Chu's" reflected the sunlight and looked dazzling. Zhang Mingxian explained that the surface of the "Chu's" is a mirror with extremely high reflectivity, because the genetic resources it carries need to be stored at low temperatures, and the severe cold of space can ensure the low temperature of the "Chu's" spacecraft, but there must be times close to the stars during the journey, and then it is necessary to rely on the reflection of the outer surface to prevent the temperature in the cabin from rising. The overall shape of the spacecraft is very peculiar, Zhang Mingxian said, it is also a "strapped" spacecraft, but the bundling method is the opposite of the usual way - the drive is in the center, and the cargo compartment is tied around. The tail nozzle sticks out of the center of the aft end, which is very thin and disproportionate to the size of the ship. This is because the "Chu's" does not need to overcome the earth's gravity when it sets sail (the earth's gravity is already very small in the synchronous orbit), and it only needs very little power to continue to advance during the long journey without gravity and friction. During this 450,000-year voyage, the acceleration factor was completely ignored, and the maximum speed of 40 kilometers per second could finally be reached. The ship's interface is at the front of the hull (open, without airtight doors), behind which is the command bay.

"Red Rabbit" gradually surpassed "Chu's", the scale of the latter slightly smaller, but the luminosity is stronger, because the angle at this time is more conducive to the reflection of sunlight, so it becomes a transparent and brilliant giant diamond, lined with the vast sky and the sparkling blue waves of the earth, constituting an incomparably magnificent space beauty, beautiful like a myth. It intoxicates and shocks the viewer, and arouses strong religious emotions in their hearts. There was a moment of silence in the cabin.

Yu Leshui fulfills the duties of a photojournalist, photographing the scenery outside the window and the people in the cabin. These images are synchronously transmitted to the ground. She smiled and said:

The host of the live television broadcast asked each of the eight human representatives to say a word. Please, start with Mr. Chu. ”

Chu Guifu, who had been silent, said with a smile: "After watching this spaceship, my money was not spent in vain!" He then added, "I have never been in vain in my life!" ”

"Tell the Pope."

"I am fortunate to have been able to realize in my lifetime the gaze of God overlooking the world," the Pope said with emotion. ”

Everyone else spoke in turn. Abikar sighed, "What a beautiful space, it shouldn't collapse." Chu Tianle said: "May we be able to perceive the rhythm of the universe with a calm mind." Lin Bingzhang, China's ** representative: "You can see the Great Wall in space, but you can't see the national border." Zhang Mingxian smiled and said, "Lao Chu just said what I wanted to say first, so I'll change it." The birth of the 'Chu' was also the funeral of the chemical-fueled spacecraft. I call for tomorrow's ship. George simply shouted, "Long live life!" ”

Yu Leshui smiled and said, "Do I need to say something too?" Then I'll have a sentence that is shorter than George - alive! ”

After a slight delay, Ji Renrui's voice came from the ground: "Thank you for the words of the eight human representatives." Now, the 'Red Rabbit' is starting to dock with the 'Chu'. ”

The attitude adjustment nozzle of the "Red Rabbit" began to breathe fire, and the space background outside the porthole slowly rotated. The "Red Rabbit" drew a semicircle in space and jumped to the front of the "Chu's" spacecraft, with the tail in front of and behind the tail. The tail nozzle was sprayed forward, slowing down the hull until it was precisely synchronized with the "Chu's". Then, with a gentle impact, the butt was completed. The crew began to connect the fuel lines, preparing to fill the fuel. Zhang Ming first carefully checked the spacesuit for everyone, put on the helmet, and turned on the wireless intercom in the spacesuit. Due to the special nature of the "Chu's" spacecraft (only biological cells in the frozen state are transported), the interior of the spacecraft is not sealed, and there is no room temperature environment, and visitors can only rely on the life support system in the spacesuit.

The double-sealed door of the "Chitu" spacecraft was opened, and Zhang Ming first guided everyone into the "Chu's", which was actually an open space environment. In general, the "Chu's" is a large cylindrical frame, and ten fuel tanks of sector cross-section are fixed on the inside of the frame, which are assembled into a huge cylinder. Ten giant cargo compartments are bundled into the outer ring of the fuel tank, which are also fan-shaped in cross-section, and five hundred dome tanks are packed into them. The outermost layer is covered with a scale-like reflective surface, totaling more than 10,000, and these scales are hollow, and the hollow part encapsulates the DNA of lower organisms.

The center of the "Chu's" is a circular corridor, which is enclosed by the inner side of ten fuel tanks. There is a longitudinal pipe handle on the wall of the road, and people pull it to float forward. The tunnel is not sealed, and through the gap in the fuel tank, you can see the dark cosmic canopy, and you can see the stars on the canopy and the blue crescent of the earth, which are still rotating in reverse. To everyone's surprise, the spacecraft materials are extremely thin and lightweight, even if they are titanium alloy or carbon fiber materials with excellent performance, they are too slim. Compared to the sheer size of the ship, they look like a straw-woven frame with a can-like cabin attached to it. Zhang Mingxian saw everyone's surprise and said with a smile:

"In order to maximize the thrust-to-weight ratio of the spacecraft, we have made the most stringent weight reduction on the spacecraft. However, you don't have to worry, unlike the 'Red Rabbit', the 'Chu' takes off and accelerates under gravity-free conditions, and the acceleration is very small, so the force is very small. On the way, only in the acceleration phase with the force of star gravity is there a large acceleration, which can reach thousands of g. However, when the gravity accelerates, the spacecraft is in free fall and does not generate internal stress. Due to these reasons, the stress of the 'Chu's 'Chu' during the whole voyage was far better than that on the ground, so such a slender and thin structure was enough to be competent. ”

Lin Bingzhang said: "But it can't withstand the impact of meteorites, right?" ”

"The chances of hitting a meteorite in space are slim. Did you know? Macroscopically speaking, space is a network with a large void. The route we chose was through the cavity, which made it less likely to be hit by a meteorite. ”

"But this is a voyage of hundreds of thousands of years, and no matter how small the odds are multiplied by such a long time, it can happen."

Zhang Mingxian nodded, "You're completely right. But if the spacecraft were designed to withstand a meteorite impact, the total weight of the spacecraft would increase by several orders of magnitude, which would be completely unrealistic. We had to simply adopt an undefended design and use a decentralized structure to minimize losses. As I said earlier, the ship's compartments do not need to be sealed, even a hole in it will not cause disaster, and the five hundred dome compartments are independent of each other, and they will only be damaged if they are directly hit. This will ensure that after 450,000 years of voyage, most of the 'human eggs' will be safe. He sighed, "Of course, this is an inherently unsafe design, and there is inherent cruelty, but with the technical level of the chemical ship, we can only do this." In the case of a fusion spacecraft, there are a lot of protections that can be employed. ”

Abikar asked, "Why don't you put the cargo compartment on the inner deck?" At least some protection can be carried out by fuel tanks. ”

Zhang Ming looked at him first, "No, the loss of hitting the fuel tank is greater - no, it's not that I'm afraid of explosion, the fuel and oxidizer are stored separately, even if it is hit by a meteorite, it won't explode, but even if the fuel loss in a cargo tank, the spacecraft can't afford it." ”

Everyone was silent, and now they really understood what Zhang Mingxian called "inner cruelty". What he actually said was that the ship's design was designed to use the "passengers" (the scale armor that encapsulates the biological cells and the dome chamber that encapsulates human eggs) as two layers of "human shields" to protect the fuel tank, which is diametrically opposed to the design concept of a normal spaceship, but it is completely reasonable in this special case.

The eight of them continued to float forward with the round handle. Chu Tianle has been sitting in a wheelchair for ten years, and at this time, he has also entered a state of freedom like everyone, flying freely, which makes him feel the double ease of mind and body, and inexplicable joy seeps out of his heart. This short experience was unforgettable for him, and even affected his life choices in the second half of his life.

Yu Leshui has been there to take care of him, as well as the elderly Pope. They had already flown two or three hundred meters, and there was still the same distance ahead, which showed the sheer size of the spaceship. The Pope suddenly remembered and asked:

"Mr. Zhang, you said that the spacecraft was slightly forced, but what about when landing? Wait until it finds a planet with the right conditions—a planet that is likely to have the gravity of Earth, or even greater. How can such a fragile giant ship land safely? ”

"No, it doesn't need to be 'safely landed' at all." Zhang Ming said first.

"Don't need to land?"

"Yes. After the spacecraft enters the gravitational field, the outermost hollow scales containing the DNA of lower organisms will first fall off due to gravity, and during the fall, its shell will heat up due to atmospheric friction, and when the temperature exceeds 500 degrees Celsius, the small holes in the shell will eject a substance we call 'light clouds', which will quickly solidify after ejection, turning into a huge bubble that encapsulates the scales inside. This large bubble will keep the falling speed and temperature within a safe range. The scales are brittle and shatter when they hit the ground, scattering the seeds of the lower organisms in the interlayer onto the ground, and then the life process begins. As I said, it is estimated that the 'terraforming process' of a new planet will be completed in tens of thousands of years because of the sowing of mature biological templates. ”

"And then?"

"For tens of thousands of years, Chu's has been revolving around the new planet, and the air resistance will make its orbit lower and lower, and the gravity will become stronger and stronger. At some point, the fragile structure of the ship will disintegrate, and the five hundred dome capsules will be scattered and landed, still protected by light cloud materials during the landing. Once on the ground, the dome pods, also made of brittle materials, will break, and the 10,000 'human eggs' encapsulated in each pod will roll to the ground, which will then automatically hatch in the right sunlight. ”

"Oh, yes, that's an ingenious design." Pope Francis said.

Zhang Mingxian said with a wry smile: "They were all forced out in order to squeeze as many drops of oil as possible in the ability of chemically driven spaceships." In Chinese parlance, this is the poor man's solution. ”

They approached the spherical command module, which was noticeably different from the others. The command compartment was small, completely sealed, and the outer walls were wrapped in thick metal armor. A pedestrian walkway leads around the outside of the command module to the rear of the ship. Zhang Ming first opened the sealed door of the command cabin, and there was almost no space inside, crowded with strangely shaped instruments and equipment. But unlike the normal command module, there is not a single instrument, not a single indicator light. "Chu's" has no human pilot, so the coordinated control of the spacecraft does not need to be displayed to the outside world, and is hidden in cables and integrated circuits, which is manifested as the flow of electrons. Such a construct makes it more like an amplified human brain than an ordinary command pod. Zhang Mingxian said:

"This is the ship's brain, so it's the only one that's heavily protected. It relies on isotope batteries to work and can last for half a million years. After the ship flies out of the cataclysmic area, it will automatically detect the external environment, select the appropriate planet, and then select a latitude on the planet that is suitable for incubation, and guide the ship there. When the ship disintegrates in the gravitational field, its mission is complete, but it will still exist. After breaking away from the framework of the original spacecraft, it will gradually increase its orbit by its own power, and eventually become a satellite of a new planet. It will spin forever, overlooking the fate of the new humanity on the planet. ”

"It's like an eye of God." The Pope said calmly.

Several people looked at each other, smiled and nodded. Yes, the Pope's words are very pointed, and the preservation of this command module is meaningless, because it is impossible for it to have any interaction with the ignorant new humanity. In the extremely rigorous weight-reducing design of the "Chu's" spacecraft, all functions with low practical value were ruthlessly cut, and only the function of "permanent preservation of the command module" was based on psychological reasons - in order to ensure that when those descendants of mankind were struggling in ignorance and harsh environments, there would be a "wise thing" in the sky to accompany them silently.

After another 100 meters of the command module, the tunnel came to an end, and through the gap in the rear frame of the spacecraft, you could see the slender tail nozzle, which was as slender as a cricket's tail whiskers, and it seemed incredible that such a huge spacecraft would accelerate. Zhang Ming first let everyone visit here for a while, and then led everyone to turn around and turn to a fork in the road. After walking a short distance, he opened a door and led everyone into a large fan-cylindrical cargo hold, one of the ten. What catches your eye is a series of dome-shaped landing pods, which are placed upright, the length of the long axis is four stories high, and the diameter of the middle of the short axis is about six meters. Everyone looked up at these majestic dome-shaped landing capsules, and a sense of awe was in their hearts. Looking closer, the shell of the dome cabin is a ceramic material, hard and smooth, with countless fine holes on it, which is the orifice that Zhang Mingxian said that the "light cloud" will eject out. The eight of them watched in silence, imagining what would happen next: the Dome Cabins had a long voyage...... Entering a planetary orbit with a spaceship...... The landing module dives away from the ship and towards the ground, the hot air currents scorching the shell, and then light clouds erupt, enveloping the Dome Chambers into even larger bubbles...... The dome cabin smashed on the ground, and 10,000 "human eggs" slowly rolled out, bathing in the sun...... The first villain crawled out of the eggshell and looked at the sky and the earth with confused eyes. He wants to cry for a while, but when the cry doesn't call for food and caresses, he will instinctively start looking for food......

The men were silent, and Yu Leshui's eyes were red.

Zhang Ming coughed first, "It's a pity that all the dome-shaped landing capsules are sealed and can't be opened to let you see the 'human eggs' inside." However, there is a smaller giant egg cabin here, which was built with the last billion yuan donated by Mr. Chu, and there are thousands of 'human eggs' in it. I'll show you. ”

He led everyone to the smaller Dome Chamber, which was about half the size of the other Dome Chambers. It was placed horizontally, and there was a hatch in the middle that had not yet been closed, and Zhang Ming led everyone in first. Inside, there are "human eggs", which are isolated and fixed by soft materials. The eggs were deep-frozen, but visitors were wearing space suits and did not feel the cold, and there were no signs of frost or freezing from the appearance of the eggs.

Yu Leshui gently touched her husband beside her, "Tianle, do you know what I thought of at this moment?" I remembered the nests of dinosaur eggs in their pristine state that I had seen at the West Gorge Dinosaur Museum. ”

Chu Tianle looked back at his wife and said with a smile: "I hope these 'human eggs' are luckier than them." I think so, given the extraordinary effort we made. ”

Zhang Ming led them to the back of the cabin, where there were fourteen devices lying side by side, also egg-shaped, but a few sizes larger than the other "human eggs". The housings of these devices are made of different materials and are metal. Since these metal devices entered the field of vision, the eyes of the six people, Chu, Zhang, George, Chu, Yu, and Lin, became solemn and solemn, and even the Pope and Abikar, who didn't know the inside story, felt the abnormality of the atmosphere and looked at them suspiciously. Zhang Mingxian coughed lightly, and introduced to the two in a desolate voice:

"These are fourteen cryonics units. The main purpose of building this small Dome pod is to load them. At this moment on the ground, Mr. Ji Renrui is announcing the news about it to the public, and I will tell you two as well. He paused, "There's thirteen oviparous toddlers in there. ”

"Toddlers?" The Pope asked, shocked. Because according to the previous publicity, the spacecraft is loaded with "human eggs", which will be frozen for 450,000 years and will only begin to hatch after landing on a certain planet. Why did thirteen toddlers suddenly appear now?

Zhang Mingxian explained, "In order to ensure the reliability of oviparous technology, it is necessary to conduct incubation experiments in a simulated environment on the earth beforehand. We did it ten times, and the thirteen toddlers were the survivors of the hatching experiment. But for conceivable reasons, these experiments are kept in absolute secrecy. The children will make this voyage in a frozen state, and will also land on the target planet using the method of 'light cloud protection'. The device will then automatically thaw them, waking them up. In this way, the hatched oviparous people will be led by thirteen older brothers and sisters. ”

The Pope and Abikar calmed down from the shock. "May God bless them," the Pope muttered. May they fulfill their responsibilities as brothers and sisters. ”

Abikar even joked: "It will." I believe that '13' must be an auspicious number on the new planet. ”

But the bigger shock was yet to come. Zhang Mingxian said: "The secret I want to reveal is not finished yet. These installations will also be Mr. Chu," he said, referring to Chu Guifu, "the home of hundreds of thousands of years to come." He will depart with the spaceship and will not return to Earth. He volunteered to travel with these descendants of humanity to the depths of the universe and protect them for the rest of his life. Of course, "his desolation turned to sadness," provided that the aged Mr. Chu could survive in that wild land. ”

The Pope and Abigar, who had just calmed down, were once again overwhelmed by the tide of shock, staring at Chu Guifu in amazement, unable to say a word for a long time. It doesn't take much imagination to paint a picture of Chu's future: the land is desolate, alone, in a completely unfamiliar environment, and the spiritual loneliness is more than the physical suffering, because his "roots" are forever cut off. At this moment, Chu Guifu looked calm, but his heart must be turbulent. With tears in his eyes, the Pope flew straight over, hugging Chu tightly through the spacesuit. His voice was hoarse, revealing the excitement in his heart:

"Chu, you are a brave and benevolent man, with a great compassionate mind. I can't express the admiration in my heart. He sighed, "I've always advocated the allegorical nature of the Bible, but you've made the allegorical nature of the Bible true." ”

The depth of these words shocked everyone else, and the Pope almost said: Chu Guifu, who volunteered to go to the savage planet to protect the oviparous human race, is the God of the flesh, and he does the work of God. The Pope's praise of Chu Guifu sounded a little funny to others, because, although their impression of Chu had changed greatly in recent years, they also knew Chu in the first half of his life. But perhaps the Pope's assessment is the most accurate, and perhaps a distant observer can identify a great man, because distance can hide minor imperfections. Yu Leshui smiled and translated the Pope's words for Chu, and Chu grinned:

", you've powdered me. You tell the pope that I'm not that noble, to put it bluntly, I spent a billion dollars to buy a chic cemetery and held a space burial for myself in advance. If I can wake up on a new planet and live a few more years, I will earn it, and I will not regret that I can't wake up. In this life, I have suffered enough and enjoyed all the blessings I deserve; I have made enough money, and I have tossed it all; The wind has flowed, and the blood has been left with enough—not only on the earth, but also in the heavens. What do you think I can't let go of in this world? It's better to gamble with the remaining years of my life and go to the sky. ”

Yu Leshui translated his words for several foreigners. Everyone laughed, threw away the sadness just now, and said goodbye to Chu in turn. Chu Guifu said:

"By the way, there is something I need to explain to you, lest anyone think too badly of me. I didn't go to the new planet to take care of my own children and grandchildren - I couldn't do that if I wanted to, I didn't know what the 'human eggs' with the Chu family's genes were. George said that he must be in the same cabin as me anyway, and there is not much chance of meeting me on a new planet in the future, and even if I do, I can't tell who is the Chu family's species based on my appearance alone. Damn, this ghost George cut off my selfishness beforehand, I have to just learn to be noble, and be a selfless good godfather, I will treat five million 'human egg' cubs equally. ”

Everyone laughed.

"Speaking of which, I have to reveal a secret, this secret was previously known only to me, Ji Renrui, George and Zhang Mingxian, and even Chu Tianle and Yu Leshui did not know." He looked at Chu Yu and the others, and the two of them were a little surprised, and listened to him with a smile. "The secret is the genes of the 'human eggs' in my pod," he said, pointing to the "human eggs" around him, "not randomly selected by the computer, but designated by me." However, I didn't resell the tickets, I named the people who contributed the most to the Condor Egg project, including all the Friends of Joy and their descendants. Chu Tianle and Yu Leshui were taken aback and turned their gazes to Ji Renrui, but Chu Guifu intercepted their questioning in advance, "Xiao Chu Xiaoyu, listen to me finish speaking." I don't blame Brother Rui for this, I forced him to do it. At that time, Brother Ji said in an interview with reporters that all the 'friends of music' are not special and will not ask for ferry tickets for their descendants, such a decision is very noble - but is it fair? According to my Lao Chu's rules, it is unfair, very unfair, and those who contribute a lot deserve to be rewarded accordingly. Xiao Chu Xiaoyu, no matter what you think about this matter, anyway, the wood is already in the boat, so let's talk about it. ”

Chu Tianle shook his head secretly, he really didn't know about it, but he didn't believe that only four people knew about such a big action. In the execution process, someone must know, or at least see the clues, but they all quietly cover up the secret. The reason is very simple, he and Ji Renrui once advocated fairness to the whole people, but Chu's approach is another kind of fairness, fairness to the meritorious. Therefore, this approach is easy to resonate with the "meritorious people". Chu Tianle didn't want to break his promise to the people, but it was useless to say more at this moment, it was impossible to throw these "human eggs" out. So he looked at his wife and said cheerfully:

"Okay, let's not talk about that. Uncle Chu, these people are entrusted to you. ”

"I didn't say it, I said I wanted to be a good godfather. Xiao Chu, let me shake out all the secrets - there is also the blood of you and Yu Leshui, and you ask me how I did it. He said proudly, "Xiao Chu, I heard that you resolutely do not leave offspring, in order not to let bad genes spread, don't blame Uncle I speak straight, your idea is really crazy, confused and blinded." According to me, as long as you can give birth to a genius brain like you, it is worth it even if you are terminally ill. I won't say how much you have done for everyone, I think that on the new planet, you will also need a genius like you to show everyone the way. ”

Yu Leshui knew how Chu got the genes of the two - with his own help. However, at that time, Chu Guifu only said that he wanted to help Chu Tianle leave offspring, and did not say that he would send it to space, he used the principle of "genius is greater than terminal illness" to persuade him, and persuaded himself. She also felt that her husband's decision was a madman, and she thought that her husband's overly rational decision, which was completely contrary to instinct, was actually more reasonable than following instinct. Chu Tianle looked at his wife and said happily:

"Don't talk about it, don't talk about it. Uncle Chu, good luck! ”

Time is very tight, and everyone is not allowed to say goodbye calmly. Zhang Mingxian had already adjusted the quick-freezing device, Chu Guifu waved goodbye to everyone, walked in, and closed the transparent door. Inside, he took off the helmet of the space suit, lay down, smiled calmly, waved to everyone again, and said:

"I'm ready, let's get started."

Zhang Mingxian did not immediately press the start button, but walked over and bowed solemnly in front of Chu Guifu. Six others repeated his actions, including the Pope, who blessed Chu. Chu Guifu inside changed his usual humorous temperament, clasped his hands into fists, and solemnly returned the salute one by one. Finally, Zhang Mingxian Zhuang Rong said:

"I'm going to start. Mr. Chu, farewell. ”

"Farewell!"

He pressed the button, and the invisible cold instantly filled the cavity of the device, and Chu's smile quickly froze, freezing into eternity on the wrinkled, scarred face.

At least 450,000 years of eternity.

Eight people when they came became seven. They returned to the "Red Rabbit" and closed the sealed door. The "Red Rabbit" detached from the engaging state, slowly retreated, and then made a reverse space leap and repositioned itself in orbit below the "Chu Shi". A nearby synchronous satellite sent the images of the "Chu's" to the ground simultaneously, and the "Chitu" also received these images. Now, the seven stared at the screen, which showed an extraordinarily long, silent shot. On the dark sky, the "Chu's" waited quietly. In the quick-freezing device in the "Chu's" cabin, Chu Guifu and thirteen young children fell asleep quietly. On the ground, under giant screens that broadcast live in real time, the crowd quietly stared upward. finally came Ji Renrui's voice:

"A great moment in history has come. ' The Chu's spacecraft carries the information of life on Earth, including human life, including a brave guardian and thirteen young children under his wing, and is about to embark on this long journey of 450,000 years. Seven billion pairs of eyes are looking at them, and seven billion hearts are beating for them. Now I announce: 'Chu's has set sail'. ”

The tail nozzle of the "Chu's" tail nozzle, which was as thin as a tail whisker, spewed out blue flames. Against the backdrop of the vast canopy of the sky and the huge "Chu's" spaceship, the flame was too small and faint, like a firefly pushing an airplane. But the "Chu's" still slowly gained speed, slowly left, gradually moved away, and finally disappeared into the dark sky.

Billions of people cheered on the ground, but there was desolation in the cheers.

The acceleration of "Chu's" is only an insignificant 0.001 meter per square second, but just like a Chinese saying: not afraid of slowness, only afraid of standing, "Chu's" used this snail-like acceleration to approach the third cosmic speed in half a year. Then it temporarily stopped accelerating and flew towards Jupiter at this speed. Nearly two years later, it flew to Jupiter, 700 million kilometers away, increasing its speed to 20 kilometers per second in Jupiter's powerful gravitational field, and making a sharp turn in course. It then activates its own drive and flies into outer space in an accelerated state. It was relatively close to Earth for a part of its voyage after the turn, and the large-aperture astronomical telescope could see the faint glow of the tail nozzle of the "Chu's" in the dark sky. At that time, all the television stations on the planet were broadcasting pictures about it. But the light was too faint and quickly faded away.

The "Chu's" is not equipped with high-power communication devices, which is to use every drop of energy for the acceleration of the spacecraft. In fact, the more important reason is that human beings cannot control the "Chu's" spacecraft dozens of light years away and hundreds of thousands of years later, and the relationship between mother and child will be broken sooner or later. After three years, the radio signal of the "Chu's" could no longer be received. The ship is completely free from the fethers of Earth, and its unknowable fate guides its subsequent voyage. In addition to praying for the good luck of the "Chu's", the people began to turn their eyes to the second spacecraft, which will be a nuclear fusion-powered spacecraft.

At that time, the public did not know that the geniuses of the "Friends of Joy Academy" had already looked beyond the nuclear fusion-powered spacecraft and set their sights on a completely new driving method, which was based on a completely new theoretical system.