As he spoke, the star had obscured half of the sky, and the ship's direction had been slightly corrected, locking the planet Gliese581g in the center of the map. In the blink of an eye, the planet also rapidly expanded, obscuring half of the sky. The ship stopped firing and came to a clean stop. Emma laughed and complained:

"The speed of the boat is so fast that I don't have time to finish the guide. Grandpa Chu, now that the spaceship has entered the gravitational range of Xiyang Star, your spaceship is on fire and ready to enter orbit. ”

The two old astronauts had already put on their space suits, and at this time they went out through the airtight door, flew to the "Chu's", and entered the command module. Originally, the "Chu's" did not have a manual piloting system, so they brought a miniature bridge with them and connected it to the spacecraft's computer. Previously, during the march, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen had been pumped to the "Chu's" by pipeline, ten half-empty fuel tanks were filled, and the latter's isotope batteries were replaced with the latest models. After a while, a blue light appeared from the tail of the cricket of the "Chu's", and it left the "Pegasus", and then gradually accelerated, entering the orbit of the star Xiyang. The conventional power on the Pegasus was also ignited at the same time, tailing the former.

Now, they can look down on the planet. This planet is basically a wild version of Earth. Most of the planet's surface is water, with about one-third of the land on it, and there are many large lakes on it. The river system is not yet mature, there are no large rivers, only short, thin rivers flowing to the lakes, and there are also beaded lakes strung by sections of rivers that extend to the ocean. Volcanic activity is quite intense, and dense clouds of smoke from volcanoes can be seen everywhere on land, and even black smoke is emitting from many places in the ocean. The vicinity of the volcano is mostly covered with thick clouds, and lightning flashes frequently in the clouds.

"Grandpa Chu, please fasten the seat belt on the seat, the 'Pegasus' is ready to land, it is to land by excitation, we want to test its landing function, and I would like to ask you to step on the ground of the Rest Star yourself."

At this time, the spacecraft was basically in a weightless state, and Ji Jichang pressed Grandpa Chu on the seat and carefully fastened his seat belt. The crew also inspected various items, which should be firmly fastened. Landing a ship in a wormhole creates a new problem: gravity does not increase gradually, but appears suddenly, which may cause some minor problems.

The Pegasus accurately measured the distance from the spacecraft to the ground, which was the most critical step in the process of "wormhole landing". If the landing distance is too short, the spacecraft may be suspended after exiting the wormhole, and fall in a sudden gravity, causing the hull to collide with the ground; If the landing distance is too long, a hemispherical hole will explode in the ground of the planet. The real ** sub Capdevilla adjusts the excitation parameters according to the measured distance, and then lands to the ground. Since the gravity of the star was still isolated during the landing, the landing was very easy, only a fraction of a fraction of a second. Then, it "suddenly appeared" in a flat area of the planet, and the space scenery outside the ship changed to a terrestrial view in an instant. At the same moment, the gravity of 1.1g suddenly overwhelmed the weightless spacecraft. The occupants all felt a blackness in front of their eyes, which was caused by the sudden appearance of gravity and blood loss in the brain. The spacecraft also clanged at the same time, which is the sound of various artifacts "landing", although they have been tied and fixed in weightlessness, but they are not necessarily attached to the ground or table. Overall, though, the landing went smoothly. Previously, the Academy of Friends of Joy had worried that the "sudden appearance of gravity" might cause unpredictable physiological reactions, after all, this is a phenomenon that humans have never experienced before (in any case in the past, gravity was created gradually), and now it is reassuring.

When his vision returned to normal, Emma helped Chu Guifu out and let him be the first to step on the land of Xiyang Star, followed by Yu Leshui, Ji Jichang, biologist Tan Yuzhang and planetary geomorphologist Sen, followed by Kang Ping, Avalev and others. When Armstrong first set foot on the moon, he famously said: One small step for one, one giant leap for humanity. Today should be a greater moment, but the famous quote left by Chu Guifu is:

"Holy shit! This scenery is weird! ”

He looked around curiously like a child. The gravity here is slightly greater than that of Earth, but it doesn't affect walking yet. The dim red sun hangs on the horizon. The water is extremely clear and empty – of course, there are no aquatic plants, fish and shrimp here. Chu Guifu's eyes were rolling in his helmet, watching with great interest, perhaps he was imagining the scene here in 10,000 years, 100,000 years from now. Tan Yuzhang and Sen told him that although the "planet hunters" on Earth have discovered tens of thousands of planets, this is the first time they have set foot on a planetary field trip. Unfortunately, if the living conditions of life on Earth are taken as the standard, the natural conditions of most planets are too harsh, such as no liquid water, no atmosphere, high radiation, extreme cold and heat, and so on. Only a few planets are in slightly better condition, such as the star of Rest. Although it is not suitable for life at the moment, it is very similar to the original topography of the Earth, and its atmosphere is similar to the early atmosphere of the Earth, that is, it has at least the possibility of developing into the modern Earth. Sen smiled and said:

"Chu Lao, I am more optimistic about the conditions for the existence of life, I think that as long as there is energy - not necessarily sunlight, for example, there is life that lives on chemical energy near the earth's deep-sea hydrothermal vents - there is liquid water, life may exist. I believe that with the current conditions of the Rest of the Star, as long as the appropriate and mature life template is entered, it will definitely become a paradise of life within 100,000 years! ”

Tan Yuzhang said: "It won't take that long. Before we set off, we formulated the 'Life Acceleration Plan', and its operation mechanism is very simple - after sowing the seeds of life on a certain planet, we add an artificial gain program, that is, every few years, we send people to screen out those microorganisms that can survive and have strong vitality, and then artificially multiply, and spread them to the whole planet again, and then screen and sow them again, and repeat. With this intensification, the planet's ecosystem could be established within 10,000 years. Of course, this requires the 'Auntie team' to be stationed in advance, so well, Old Chu, maybe the earth will send someone in twenty years, and you can come with you at that time." ”

Emma smiled and said, "It's just that the rhythm of time here is hard to get used to, a day is relatively long, twelve days on earth, but three days is a year!" It's a rush of time, but it can also be said to be 'like a year'. Also, it's a pity that there is no moon here. Grandpa Chu, your oviparous cub will never be able to fall in love under the moonlight, it's a pity! ”

Yu Leshui smiled, "Emma, your grandfather Chu doesn't like such petty bourgeoisie. ”

"You're right. In such a wild world, as long as the cubs don't starve to death, can grow up, and can give birth to cubs, how can they have the leisure to fall in love! ”

The crowd laughed. Ji Jichang asked, "Grandpa Chu, do you like this planet?" If not, let's look elsewhere. ”

Chu Guifu said decisively: "Don't pick anymore, that's it!" I know that there is no Garden of Eden in the universe, and it would be nice to find such a planet with water. The best thing about this place is that it is close to the earth, so it is easy to take care of and it is easy to visit relatives. ”

"You've decided?"

"It's decided."

"Okay, then we'll start the placement."

Ji Jichang notified the "Chu Family". Two veteran astronauts drove the "Chu's" to a low orbit, and soon the outer armor of the "Chu's" automatically fell off under the action of gravity and fell to the ground. They rubbed against the atmosphere during the fall, and the temperature rose rapidly, and the light cloud material ejected out at the high temperature to wrap the armor, forming a white belt tens of thousands of kilometers long behind the spacecraft, encircling the entire planet. The belt staggered down, detached as it fell, and scattered on land and in the sea. "Chu's" orbited the different latitudes of the planet more than a dozen times, and the seeds of life were also sown throughout the planet, and the anaerobic microorganisms in it will soon awaken and metabolize with the outside world, thus opening the first step of the planet's life cycle.

After finishing the sowing, the "Chu's" climbed higher again and was positioned in the far space orbit, where it will stay for a period of time, waiting for the arrival of the "aunt team" on the earth. Now the Pegasus is ready to take off from the ground, still using the wormhole method. In the excitation region of the bow, tachyon particles drive away still air atoms or molecules, bursting into a continuous faint flash of light, creating a dynamic vacuum channel in the atmosphere of the star. Finally, the first particle collision was realized, and a cloud of white light erupted from the bow, and the ship was instantly surrounded by chaos; Gravity also suddenly disappeared at the same moment, and the occupants all had a "red vision". A few microseconds later, the spacecraft "suddenly appeared" in far space orbit, and the ground landscape outside the capsule instantly switched to space.

The take-off was thus completed, and Yu Leshui couldn't help but think of the "magnificent scene" when the spacecraft took off in the past - in the thunderous roar, the bright tail flame of the spacecraft illuminated the sky and the sky, and the burning of hundreds of tons of fuel was difficult to lift the spacecraft up slowly. And now, it's really "as easy as a snap". The power of science and technology is as awe-inspiring as nature is to awe.

The spacecraft released a "little bee" and picked up the two old astronauts from the "Chu's". Ji Jichang smiled and said to Chu Guifu:

"Grandpa Chu, say goodbye to your oviparous cubs." The Pegasus is about to return to Earth, sending you, the thirteen toddlers, Aunt Yu, and the two old astronauts back to Earth. Don't be reluctant to let these people go, anyway, with the Mach 100 million spaceship, it's only a matter of a moment if you want to come and visit. ”

He said as he quietly looked at Chu's expression. Before the spaceship left the earth, his father said that according to his estimates, Chu would not return to the earth with the spacecraft, he belonged to the kind of "tendon" nature, and would only break forward, not backward. Since he had done this with the rest of his life and all his financial resources, he had tied himself tightly to five million human eggs, and it was unlikely that he would have left them behind and returned to Earth alone. But Ji Jichang couldn't bear to leave a seventy-two-year-old man in a desolate place, and wanted to persuade the old man to go back as much as possible, coaxing him back. When he persuaded, Chu Guifu did not refuse, Ji Jichang took it as a default, and immediately ordered the "little bee" to fly over again, ready to pick up the thirteen hibernating young children, and then the "Tianma" set sail immediately, lest he change his mind again. However, as soon as the "little bee" took off, Chu Guifu said calmly:

"Let the 'little bee' come back and send me back to my old place."

Ji Jichang was greatly disappointed, "What's wrong?" Didn't you promise to go back to Earth to play chess and fish with my father? ”

Xiao Doudou said: "Grandpa Chu, my grandfather has explained, let me definitely pull you back to Earth." ”

Chu Guifu grinned, "It's a pity, I'm afraid I don't have this blessing in this life." ”

Ji Jichang said: "You can't break your word. You also said that you want to go back to the earth to go to the grave of the old man Zhang Mingxian. ”

"Trouble Lao Ji to go for me, I won't go anywhere before I stretch my legs, just guard my human eggs. The thirteen children did not go back, but followed me whether they were dead or alive. ”

Emma, Tian Mi, and Kang Ping on the side also came to persuade the old man. Although they are about to embark on a circumnavigating the world, it is also a journey of life and death, and it is likely that they will never return, but after all, they have two thousand companions around them, and there are Mach 100 million spaceships with excellent performance, at least psychologically. And the old man Chu Guifu is lonely guarding a broken spaceship that is slower than a snail, which can't help but make people feel pity. Everyone persuaded for a long time, but the old man just shook his head. In the end, Yu Leshui sighed:

"Forget it, don't persuade it, you can't persuade it. Let's make his wish come true. ”

She got up and hugged the old man goodbye. When hugging, Chu Guifu whispered: "Leshui, you also want to open up to Tianle, so follow his wishes." ”

Yu Leshui whispered gratefully, "Thank you." I can think of it. ”

Chu Guifu's eyes were filled with tears, and he hugged her for a long time. For the rugged and domineering Chu Guifu, this is a rare expression of warmth, and it seems that even the hideous scar on his face has become gentle. Yu Leshui felt pain in his heart, and said with a smile:

"Uncle Chu, since you have decided to stay, then don't rush over yet. We'll stay with you one more day. Although the earth will send someone to see you in the future, we will definitely see each other for the last time. ”

Chu Guifu was obviously a little hesitant. Of course, he attached great importance to this final reunion, but in the end he waved his hand and said: "Forget it, don't delay your trip, what you should talk about has already been discussed, there is no feast in the world that will not be dispersed." Besides," he laughed, "I'm afraid I'll persuade me to change my mind if I stay a little longer." No, my human eggs can't live without me. ”

Several people in the command cabin hugged him goodbye in turn. They put on a space suit for Chu Lao and sent him to the airtight door. In the hall, Ji Jichang had already commanded 2,000 crew members to line up to see him off. Everyone shouted in unison:

"Salute to the forerunner Chu Lao!"

The old man smiled and waved to everyone, and there was no sadness on the surface. Yu Leshui, Ji Jichang, Emma, Xiao Doudou and several others sent him back to the freezing device of the "Chu's", said goodbye to him again, and watched his smile freeze into eternity.

2

Bidding farewell to the Chu's, the Pegasus immediately turned around and locked Arcturus in the center of the chart. They are going to start a second mission - to find "Noah" and tell them the exact cycle of expansion and contraction of the universe. "Noah", which has entered the state of blind flight, is actually in another universe with different phases, and it is difficult to find it, and it is even more difficult to break the barrier of phase space and establish contact with it. However, before the departure of the "Pegasus", the Academy of Friends of Music had already conducted sufficient research and developed the corresponding technology. Despite this, success depends on the courage and luck of the crew.

The Pegasus still flies intermittently. Since the task after that was a difficult search, the ship flew slowly, only a thousand Machs. The large field of view of the bow of the ship is always embedded with a clear star map. In the past few decades, Yu Leshui has been very familiar with various constellations, but she is completely unfamiliar with the current star chart. This is not surprising. The star map on the Earth is drawn with the Earth (the Sun) as the center, and each constellation is actually a superimposed projection of the cosmic depth in a certain radius direction on the "sidereal sky", and the stars in the same constellation are tens of thousands of light-years apart in the radial direction. Now, the spacecraft is flying from a star in the constellation Libra 20 light-years from Earth to Arcturus in the constellation Arcturus, 36 light-years away from Earth, basically in a circumferential direction centered on Earth, so the familiar constellation map is completely distorted and distorted. At this point, the concept of constellations is useless, and the spacecraft computer can only bite a certain star as a target to guide the flight.

At this moment, the lookout Ma Ming became the central figure of the whole ship, and the 2,000 crew members also entered the working state for the first time. Ma Ming divided the starry sky into (40×50) cells, and let each crew member be responsible for observing a part of it, so that it would be easier to spot the "Noah". "Noah" has long been flying in a continuous wormhole, it can't see outside the hole, and it can't see it outside the hole, but this invisible wormhole will obscure the starry sky behind it, like a slender opaque barracuda swimming by at high speed. The scientists of Friends of Joy are accustomed to calling it the "Chaos Fish" because it is chaotic and its edges are blurred. The diameter of the "Chaos Fish" is only 1,000 meters, and the length is 10,000 meters, which can only be discovered by careful observation. What's more, the "Pegasus" is also flying faster than light, and once an abnormality is found, the spacecraft may have flown millions of kilometers.

The search process is relatively long, and these days the fish are fine, and they have been immersed in the sentimentality of parting. She cherishes the lonely Chu Lao very much, and the softest place in her heart always hurts. The old man had a bad record in the first half of his life, but when he was somewhat accidentally involved in a great project, his personality changed, as if he had undergone a "restructuring at the atomic level", from a black and dirty mess to a transparent and crystalline neutron-like state. His ruthlessness of "biting the target and not letting go" is especially admired by Yu Leshui.

She has already said goodbye to Chu Lao, and soon it will be goodbye to Changchang, Emma and others, a second goodbye to Yangyang and Liu Ye (if you can find them), and especially a goodbye to her husband and Cao'er. But these are all unavoidable sufferings that must be endured in order to live. The open-minded and cheerful Yule Shui can treat these with a view, but to be honest, today's Daguan is very different from the youth, when the Daguan had the slight sweetness of morning dew, and today it is soaked in bitterness.

Changchang is very understanding and often finds time to accompany her these days and chat with her. Yu Leshui teased him, saying that he was naughty when he was a child, and he also bit the hands of the kindergarten director's aunt, and asked him if he remembered these glorious deeds. Ji Jichang said with a smile:

"Good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles. But I've long since changed my ways. He said abruptly, "Aunt Yu, there is a saying that juniors should not say, but I've always been a person who doesn't care about the wind, so I'll just say it, okay?" But you have to make sure you don't get angry. Ji Jichang stared at her playfully.

"Well, I'm not angry. If I shouldn't, I'll forget about it. ”

"Aunt Leshui, according to my feelings, you have a lot of weight in my father's mind. Very heavy. To put it to the extreme, my mom is my father's wife in life, and you are his lover in the spiritual world. He smiled and said, "It should be beaten, Uncle Tianle must have slapped me in the left when he heard it; My mom heard that and slapped me on the right again. ”

Yu Leshui's heart suddenly stirred up waves. She calmed down and said with a smile: "Okay, then I will also say something that the elders should not say: your father is also very important in my heart, not only for work, but also for personal relationships." Changchang, we almost became lovers, but in the end we kept it in the spiritual realm. ”

Ji Jichang looked at his aunt in surprise, and said with a smile: "Thank you Auntie for being so honest with me, it seems that my feelings are very accurate." Auntie, I, Emma, Doudou, Uncle Tianle, and Cao'er are all in heaven, you and my parents go back and forth more and comfort each other. ”

"That's nature. Go your way in peace and don't worry about us. ”

Suddenly, the alarm bell sounded, and a square on the grid map flashed red. A crew member reported:

"X35/Y49 squares found anomalous!"

The spacecraft immediately stopped excitation, stopped instantaneously. The square was quickly enlarged, and when enlarged, it could be seen that the square was not a "chaos fish", but gaseous interstellar matter. Ma Ming denied the alarm, and the "Pegasus" resumed flight. After that, there were two more calls, and Ma Ming still made the same judgment. The spacecraft has been flying for ten days, which is a very long time for a spaceship capable of reaching 100 million times the speed of light. Now the spacecraft is very close to Arcturus, and the North Sky Bright Star on Earth is already the size of an orange, and its brightness has caught up with the brightness of the full moon, except that it is not the silver-white of the moon, but orange-red. During this flight, the Pegasus gradually turned its direction from the "circumferential direction" relative to the sun's orbit back to the "radial direction", and the constellation Pasturius returned to its original appearance, and several of its children were still arranged in a pentagonal shape, either pale yellow or pale blue, which was very beautiful. Suddenly, the alarm bell rang again, and the red light flashed in another square, this time found by Kangping. The Pegasus stopped instantly. Ma Ming called up the relevant parameters of the square, looked at it again, looked at it again, and then raised his head and said excitedly:

"That's right, that's it! Kangping, you have made the first contribution! ”

Kang Ping was very modest: "It's nothing, people say that people who go to the casino for the first time are the most lucky." ”

This is the "Noah". It has been away from Earth for twenty years, briefly returning, and is now only a few days away from Arcturus. Based on these parameters, its speed must be higher than the original Mach 1.8, roughly Mach 2.5, and it seems that Alex and He Zizhou have found some way to increase the speed of the ship. When the Noah was found, it had been thrown behind, but the moment the Pegasus was grounded, a "Chaos Fish" with blurred edges caught up with it like lightning, swept over it like lightning, and disappeared in the starry sky ahead. The Pegasus immediately ignited, adjusted its speed to slightly greater than that of the Noah, and pursued it closely.

Before leaving the earth, Chu Tianle had carefully explained to Yu Leshui the method of catching up with the "Noah", and the group of yuppies of the Friends of Joy Academy nicknamed this method "pickpocketing trains". The key to this method is that when the "Noah" flew in a wormhole, it dragged a trumpet-shaped "local space" behind it, which was about ten times the length of the hull, and then it was gradually invaded and assimilated by the non-native space. Because the Pegasus is much faster than the former, it can easily catch up with it even when flying intermittently, that is, maintaining its vision, just like a supercar can easily catch up with a train. But the last step is the most difficult - the Pegasus must accurately "jump on the train" in the last jump, that is, enter the trumpet-shaped native space towed by the former, and then stop excitation, and be dragged forward by this space, thus becoming relatively stationary with "Noah". However, when the Pegasus was excited for the last time, it had to keep a safe distance from the former, otherwise the spacecraft in front of it would be destroyed instantly. The difficulty is that even if the "Pegasus" is close to the tail of the "Chaos Fish", it is impossible to clearly observe the "Noah", and can only indirectly determine the actual position of the former by the degree of spatial disorder of the tail of the "Chaos Fish". To do this in faster-than-light motion is a severe test of the navigator's judgment and the captain's piloting skills.

Moreover, the safety of this operation depends not only on the "Pegasus", but also on the agility of the "Noah". The latter can't see the outside when the wormhole is flying, but Noah should be able to see it when the Pegasus enters the junction of the two spaces. What do they do when they are pleasantly surprised to find a chaser? Hurry up and stop and wait? That's the end of it. In the final jump, the ship behind will pass through the hull of the former, leaving a shiny wormhole inside, and the thousand Noah's crew will be reduced to a flat figure on the mirrored surface. Therefore, the "Noah" must maintain its original constant speed in order to allow the people behind it to smoothly "pick up the train".

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Alex, He Zizhou, and Liu Ye, will they have time to make the right response? Chu Tianle firmly believes that they will, because their "meditative" thinking has surpassed the scientific and technological development of the earth. And at the end of the day, it's the only way to break down the barrier of phase space. Yu Leshui can only pray for the "Noah" in his heart.

There was not a single murmur in the command module of the Pegasus. Ji Jichang was concentrating on maneuvering the spacecraft, and the trainee navigator Tian Mi whispered the relevant parameters: the distance from the "Noah", the error of the longitudinal axis of the two ships, the speed difference between the two ships, and so on. Ji Jichang gave a short order, and the actual deputy Capdevilla skillfully operated the electronic steering wheel. Suddenly, the chaotic vision in front of them changed, and a vague image of a huge object appeared, which should be the huge tail antenna of the "Noah", which was only about ten kilometers away from them. The Pegasus has entered the junction of the two spaces! Captain Ji ordered:

"One last jump!"

The Pegasus performed its last spatial excitation, and after a cloud of white light, the fish's tail in front of it came closer to nearly a kilometer. The Pegasus ceased to excite and came to rest for a split second - but it was already stationary in Noah's native space, trailing the former at Mach 2.5 (relative to non-native space). Both ships start calling and receiving calls at the same time, and now, in the same space, radio waves can travel freely!

"'Noah', I'm 'Pegasus', please answer when you hear it!"

"The Pegasus! I saw the name of the bow. Welcome! Noah's interface is temporarily unavailable, so please put on a space suit! ”

The people here can't help but be surprised: the "Noah" docking port can't be used, could it be that there was some accident on the way? But the tone of the conversation didn't look like something unusual. The "Pegasus" started its conventional power and slowly advanced in the local space. Now they could see clearly that behind the massive tail antenna of the "Noah" was a long thing in tow, about the length of the hull, with a strange silver glow throughout. If you look closely, it is hollow, with an open opening and no airtight doors. There are several figures in space suits in the silver cavity at this moment, waving eagerly to greet the guests. The space suit was also put on here, and Ji Jichang pushed Yu Leshui to the front, so that she could be the first to meet her relatives. Out of the airtight door, a woman on the opposite side pounced, and her cheers could be heard in the spacesuit intercom - it was a forty-one-year-old Liu Ye! She recognized her sister-in-law and hugged Yu Leshui tightly through the spacesuit. Yu Leshui crossed her shoulder and saw He Zizhou behind her, and asked anxiously:

"Yangyang, just before our last jump, did you find out that there was a boat? Are there any plans to stop the ship and wait for us? ”

Fifty-one-year-old He Zizhou came over, took his wife and sister-in-law in his arms, and said with a smile: "I found out, but of course I didn't plan to stop the boat, we also studied this method of 'picking up the train' and knew how to deal with it." However, you should ask this question to Willow Leaf, now that she is the captain. Seeing his sister-in-law's puzzled eyes, He Zizhou said self-deprecatingly, "The 'Noah' is now a matriarchal society. I was a captain for eight years after Alex abdicated, but then the Willows chose me as a macho captain. ”

Liu Ye said: "The men on the 'Noah' are rare animals and must be protected, so the women are willing to work more than a little more. ”

She affirmed the fact that He's captain had been chosen.

"My current job is as a spaceship horticulturist, and when you enter the Noah, you'll see a lot of green, which I cultivated from the willow branches that I gave me from the willow leaves." Yangyang said.

The core members of the "Noah" came one by one, seventy-two-year-old Alex, one of his wives Margaret, He's other three wives Oprah, Kemdora and Qi Lichen, mathematician James and his family, etc. They meet with people here, introduce each other, hug and cheer. Yu Leshui didn't see Barrow, and asked Liu Ye, who said sadly:

"He died of cancer and was the only crew member on the Noah."

The excitement of the meeting calmed down a little, and the host led the guests forward through the void. It is surrounded by silvery cave walls, but the walls are rough and irregularly shaped, and it is clear that they were hastily processed under "wild conditions". Ji Jichang kept staring at the cave wall in fascination and asked:

"Metallic hydrogen?"

He Zizhou replied: "Yes, it is metallic hydrogen, which we have decided to harvest before entering a continuous flight." The Noah's fuel tank was not designed to cover 130 years of continuous flight, so we had to make this extravehicular auxiliary fuel tank simple - no, there was no fuel tank, only metal hydrogen itself, similar to the no-cartridge casings in modern firearms**. Fortunately, the cold of space can maintain the stability of metallic hydrogen, and the wormhole can play an ideal insulating role, so it is not afraid to approach the stars during the trip. It's just that it blocks the stern counter, and until it is used up, the counter is unusable. ”

He spoke plainly, and the visitors were in awe—another invention of the century. Metallic hydrogen is one of the holy grails of the geoscience community, and with it, at least hydrogen-fueled vehicles (referring to fuel cells rather than fusion) could easily replace gasoline or even electric vehicles. Hydrogen fuel vehicles can be said to have advantages in the whole body, such as no pollution, high energy-quality ratio, cheap, lightweight, etc.; The only drawback is the inconvenience of hydrogen storage. But with metallic hydrogen, this disadvantage no longer exists. He Zizhou said embarrassedly:

"We should have informed Earth about this, but we were too busy to forget about it before we decided to go into continuous flights. I'll give you a detailed technical description later. In fact, it only takes eight words: space cryogenic plus miniature nuclear explosion. ”

Ji Jichang thought for a while and said, "Yes, I already have a rough idea. ”