Chapter 1451 - We Need A Mascot

Mars.

In the rift valley near The Gates of Hell, the sky was covered with an oppressive haze.

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

In this harsh and dangerous weather, even criminals hiding in the desert would choose to sit at home and wait for the weather to improve before coming out for a stroll.

However, at this moment, outside the Hiddell Mining Company mine, there was a desert-colored Mars rover that was parked abnormally.

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

“Oxygen cylinders, compacted tire marks, and scratches... The travel time is estimated to be within one month.” Using the reality augmentation system, the scene from a month ago was restored. The younger man who was squatting on the ground stood up, looked at the person behind him, and said, “They should have entered from here... Liu Dui, what do you think?”

The man, who was slightly taller, spoke after thinking.

“My opinion is basically the same as yours. The only doubt is that they seem to be amateurs.”

The slightly younger man shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

“It’s quite amateur... Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left such things on the scene.”

He opened his right hand.

A silver-white metal strip about the size of a piece of chewing gum laid on the palm of his hand.

When he looked at the letters on the surface, the man frowned.

“... Mammoth Mining Company?”

Do mammoths dig holes?

This is not the important point.

He had a hunch that he could unearth something unusual from this “Mammoth Mining Company”.

He put away the metal strip. He was about to explore the mine when the voice from the communication channel stopped him.

“Wait a second.”

The man standing at the entrance of the cave turned his head.

“What?”

Liu Dui glanced at the sky and spoke in a deep voice.

“The collection of material evidence is almost done, enough for today.”

As a trace of confusion appeared on his face, the man asked inexplicably, “But... We are already here, are you sure you don’t want to go in and have a look?”

“Because we are all here, we should be more cautious.”

Liu Dui looked at the bottomless mine. He was standing next to the rover. He then narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, “The instructions given to us are to report the progress of the mission in real-time and to report every detail. Obviously, they have their own opinion on this matter.

“In that case, we just need to do what we should do.

“As for whether or not to continue the investigation, leave it to them to judge.”

...

Earth.

In the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group, inside the meeting room at the Pan-Asian Cooperation Headquarters, a round table was placed in the center of the room. There were only two people sitting at the conference table, one of them was Secretary-General Wu Shuhua while the other was the current Chairman, Li Guangya.

As the world’s largest regional alliance and economic consortium, the main role of the Secretary-General was to coordinate the relations between member states and to represent the collective participation of Pan-Asian Cooperation in world political activities. The function of the chairman was more to deal with the internal affairs of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“How is the situation with the UN? Is there any new progress?”

“Three meetings, none of them have good news.”

Sitting on the opposite side of the conference table, Wu Shuhua, Secretary-General of Pan-Asian Cooperation, looked a little tired. She continued as she pinched her eyebrows, “55% of the representatives support our proposal on the space elevator, but there are still 45% objections, which even includes our allies and even the inside of our alliance.”

“What are their demands?”

“Environment, safety risks, costs and benefits, and the distribution of profits... In short, they are all problems that have yet to been discussed.”

About five years ago, the “New Route” plan proposed by the Pan-Asian cooperation pushed the wave of the era of space navigation to its peak.

According to the voting results of the representatives of the member states within the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the Pan-Asian Cooperation would create a “new space industry” production system from the Earth-Moon system to the Kuiper Belt within one hundred years. The route established by the system was expected to spread the fire of civilization to more distant places.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, Pan-Asian Cooperation had not only formulated a colonial development plan for Europa and Titan, but it also sent a powerful fleet to clear the space pirates in the asteroid belt.

The proposal to build a space elevator on the equator was also submitted to the UN conference hall by the representatives of Pan-Asian Cooperation for discussion by various regional alliances.

However, the results were predictable.

This proposal, which sounded almost “horrifying”, had encountered considerable resistance since it was proposed.

The resistance not only came from other regional alliances but also from non-governmental environmental protection organizations and even internal voices in the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

After all, making a hole in the ozone layer and inserting a pipe into a geosynchronous orbit didn’t sound like a good idea. If this project was successful, all of mankind would benefit from it.

However, if this project failed, the whole world would pay for the consequences of this reckless behavior...

Although the Pan-Asian Cooperation had the idea of circumventing other regional alliances and building this space elevator alone, and although the Pan-Asian Cooperation had land on the equator, it was still in the Pacific Rim seismic zone, which was accompanied by strong monsoon activities.

Not to mention the diplomatic risks, hidden dangers to national defense, and so forth.

There were only three ideal construction sites, one was on the African continent, the other was in the mid-Atlantic, and finally the open Pacific Ocean.

From a realistic point of view, the 36,000-kilometer highway hung directly from the geosynchronous orbit. This was not a project that could be completed by one regional alliance alone.

Even if it was the strongest in the world.

After seeing the tired expression on Secretary-General Wu’s face, Li Guangya smiled lightly and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Let’s talk about something good. I just received a call from the Security Bureau. Our detectives deployed in Tiangong City discovered a mine entrance left by the Hiddell Mining Company beside The Gates of Hell mountain range. Signs of rover activity were found. According to the scene restoration analysis, an archaeological excavation team had been there about two weeks to a month ago. It was probably the team led by Professor Leonard.”

Wu Shuhua raised her eyebrows. “So, Professor Lu is probably real?”

“Maybe, maybe not, it’s like Schroedinger’s cat.”

After putting down the teacup in his hand, the expression on Chairman Li Guangya’s face did not change much. He continued with a relaxed tone, “If we continue along this clue, we may find the dormant capsule that has been buried for billions of years. This may be able to reveal a big story; a dormant capsule that has been able to function normally for billions of years or Professor Lu being resurrected after a century of death. Which one do you think is more likely?”

Wu Shuhua frowned slightly.

“I don’t understand what is worth discussing... Compared to whether a person who has been dead for a hundred years is still alive, I am more concerned about whether the space elevator proposal can pass. We need to open up the pathway from the ground to outer space. If we can’t do it, we won’t be able to develop Europa and Titan, and we’ll be stuck on Mars forever.”

Regardless of whether Academician Lu was still alive or not, that was the last century’s story.

She admitted that he had made many outstanding achievements in that era, but it was now the 22nd century; a hundred years had passed since the era Lu Zhou was familiar with.

Time was always ruthless.

This was like those old frozen people who were sent to the future in the name of “reinforcing the future” but couldn’t find a position that they could fill and couldn’t solve any future problems. She didn’t think that an academician from the 21st century could bring any practical benefits to the Pan-Asian Cooperation, except for “symbolic significance.”

To be honest, if it wasn’t for the reason that he saved the flight, she wouldn’t even be interested in seeing him. After all, her current job was busy enough.

As for things like money and property...

The Pan-Asian Cooperation didn’t care about those little things.

Li Guangya smiled lightly.

“The two things are not contradictory. It just depends on how you look at this issue.”

“What does that mean?”

“People need confidence. The approval of our plan does not depend on the space elevator itself. The key lies in whether people can believe it is safe, reliable, and can bring us a bright future.”

Li Guangya paused for a moment before continuing, “In that case, we just need to give them what they want.”

Wu Shuhua was slightly stunned.

“You mean...”

Li Guangya nodded lightly.

“We need a mascot, and he just happens to be suitable.”

“There are obvious loopholes in your plan.” Wu Shuhua questioned, “What if he opposes us? Assuming that he is real, he is from a hundred years ago after all. Even if we are on the same path, it is difficult to be in agreement completely. Similar things have almost destroyed our achievements over the past half a century!”

Li Guangya said bluntly, “When the time comes, we can continue digging. The ruins is there, so we can continue digging at any time. We can make him real, and we can make him fake.”

“A person from Mars who successfully deceived everyone, that will become the biggest joke of this century.”

Chairman Li Guangya smiled faintly and said, “If this joke can help our cause, I am willing to accept his help.”

Wu Shuhua went silent for a while. Her shoulders relaxed slightly after a while.

“Since you say so, I have nothing to refute. It’s just that in my opinion, I still tend to adopt a conservative strategy. This is an uncontrollable factor; it is a time bomb.”

“A conservative strategy? Haha, this is the most interesting thing I’ve heard today. Think about it. Is there a more radical strategy than the space elevator?” Li Guangya smiled and continued with a relaxed tone, “In fact, you don’t have to have such big prejudices against the dormant. I took modern history as an elective in college and went deep into research about him.

“A person who can raise a torch in the dark must have a bright heart. Regardless of whether he and our ideas are completely consistent, at least I believe that our starting point is the same. We want everyone to have a brighter future.

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

Wu Shuhua didn’t say anything. She just sighed.

“I don’t want to argue with you about the dormant. I don’t want to intervene with the work of the household registration department... If you find him useful, you can handle it yourself.”

Chairman Li Guangya looked at the holographic image gradually disappearing across the conference table, and he nodded gently.

“Ok, leave it to me.”

This was his plan from the beginning.