Chapter 25
Earth, Earth, Can You See Us?
“Uncle Da, help me adjust the route and time that Xiaotian is dragging White Rabbit Nine back…”
Zhao Yu was still worried about one thing, and that was whether the scientists and politicians on Earth could deduce the approximate range of his base based on what the three astronauts knew!
In the past few days, Xiaotian had captured many probe vehicles launched from Earth, which pretty much gave its location away to Earth.
Uncle Da was very smart. He had already guessed Zhao Yu’s thoughts and came up with a solution to his concerns.
” Xiaotian came back through the entrance of Base 24. You can order it to go somewhere else the next time it leaves…”
“To confuse the Earthlings, we can take the three astronauts and White Rabbit Nine to go in circles outside the base…”
“Alright, you’ll be in charge of the route. Just make sure that the Earthlings won’t deduce the location of the base from this!”
Zhao Yu thought for a moment, “There should be satellites sent from Earth above the moon. Is there any way to find out where they are?!”
“We can build a satellite remote sensing device to detect and receive all the satellites operating in moon orbit…”
“They won’t find out about this, right?!”
“We can add camouflage to the device…”
“Of course!” Zhao Yu nodded and asked, “Do you think Earth has other ways to investigate us?!”
“According to the information obtained from White Rabbit Nine, we are on the back side of the moon. If they want to obtain information about this place, they will need to launch a transit satellite or a ground exploration vehicle …”
“Can people on Earth use astronomical telescopes to see us?!”
“No, they can’t!”
Zhao Yu went to the control room of the base again.
He found a satellite remote sensing device. It was pretty cheap. The cost was about 50 technology points. Just like he had done to all his other facilities, he added a camouflage function to the satellite remote sensing device.
[Do you wish to spend 50 Technology Points to exchange for a satellite remote sensing device (Camouflage)?]
“Yes!”
Since this wasn’t the first time he’s used the camouflage feature, it didn’t cost him any technology point to add camouflage to the satellite remote sensing device.
“Please choose the location of the factory and the first satellite remote sensing device (camouflage).”
A 3D model appeared in front of him. It was a map of the whole moon base. It was shaped like a beehive. There were 180 floors in the base, and every ten floors had one or more pa.s.sages that could lead to entrances disguised as volcanic craters or meteorite craters.
At the bottom of the beehive, there was a pa.s.sage that went down ten thousand meters. This was the basic pa.s.sage for the expansion of the base, and it was also the emergency escape pa.s.sage that Zhao Yu had prepared for himself. It led to other places.
In the 3D model, the first 176 floors were all red. Only a few places were green, indicating that they could be placed.
“The 177th floor!”
Zhao Yu moved the building model of the satellite remote sensing device and chose a location to the side.
Then, he chose a crater with a large opening angle on the ground. It was far away from the base, but it was within Xiaotian’s range of activity, so he decided to place the first satellite remote sensing device here.
Come to think of it, Zhao Yu had never yet thought about building a satellite or a s.p.a.ceship. The base car was simply too big to be moved around. It needed to be deployed on the ground, and if he was to place any facilities, he’d have to build them far away from the base car.
Other than that, he would be able to build another sub-base if the base car reached level 2. Once that happened, he was planning to build the sub-base on his newly-built s.p.a.ceship so it wouldn’t matter if his moon base got destroyed.
[Satellite Remote Sensing Factory Remaining Time:00:19:48]
It would take only 20 minutes to build something that cost 50 Technology Points. The satellite remote sensing device on the ground would only be in place after the factory was built.
Zhao Yu walked out of the control room and asked Zhang Yi Xia about the progress.
“I’ve already guided the three astronauts…”
“Okay, keep an eye on Ba Jie. Don’t let him say or do anything unnecessary. Bring them around in circles after 20 minutes…”
“Yes, sir!”
Zhao Yu suddenly thought of something and asked, “Uncle Da, if my plan succeeds, who do you think I should send to Earth as my representative?”
“At present, Zhang Yi Xia is the most suitable candidate…”
“Is it possible for the earthlings to find out that she is an android? You know, by collecting her hair or something.”
Although Zhang Yi Xia was an android, the interior was still mechanical. Her appearance only looked like a human because of bionic technology. Zhao Yu could try to craft more human-like androids in his base, but right now, he didn’t have technology points to spare for such an expensive task.
When Zhao Yu created the androids, he just wanted to find someone to chat with. That was why he chose the most cost-effective method to do so, which was to combine mechanical cores with bio-inspired technology. Since he’s already spent technology points to create robot armies before he made the androids, the only price he needed to pay for the androids were materials for their bionic skins.
“The possibility of being exposed is extremely high…”
Zhao Yu nodded slightly, coughed, and said casually, “Uncle Da, what do you think about me making a trip to Earth?!”
“No!”
Uncle Da’s voice was very tense, “You are the reason that this base functions at all. You are our core and the highest commander. If anything happens to you, what is the point of our existence?!”
“Perhaps, after I die, you will be free and become real people…”
Zhao Yu waved his hand after he came back to his senses. He smiled and said,”I’m just saying. Don’t mind me!”
Through the surveillance camera, Uncle Da watched Zhao Yu’s back as he left with mixed feelings.
According to the comparison and calculation, the possibility of Zhao Yu being an Earthling was 97.25%.
He had been alone on the alien planet for more than five years. Now that he suddenly realized that he was not far from his hometown, he must have had a strong desire to go back.
But he was still a little afraid.
It wasn’t because they were afraid of the strength or potential of the Earthlings, but because they were of the same race as Zhao Yu.
He was afraid that he and the other nine would be abandoned by Zhao Yu…
..
“Sister Xia, are you really not coming with us this time?”
Liu Ning put on the s.p.a.cesuit again. Together with Zhang Tao and w.a.n.g Dong Dong, they looked at Zhang Yi Xia with reluctance.
“There’s no other way. Our a.s.sessment hasn’t ended yet. But don’t worry, the watches I upgraded for you have ultra-long-distance communication functions…”
“I’ve asked the technical department. The Earth is only 380,000 kilometers away from the Moon. There shouldn’t be a problem for us to contact each other!”
“That’s great!”
“However, I might be a few days late before I can contact you!” Zhang Yi Xia smiled. “Because you’re from Earth. We can’t let you use our communication channel. The higher-ups said that they want to build a new communication channel. It should be done in a few days…”
These words made it seem as if they were the ones who managed Earth and could build whatever they wanted…
The corners of Zhang Tao’s mouth twitched, but at this juncture, he did not say anything unnecessary. He was afraid that after he said it, the aliens would go back on their word and not let them go, although the possibility of this was extremely low.
“Bye bye ~~!”
Both parties waved goodbye.
The three astronauts and White Rabbit Nine sat on an underground transport train. The surroundings were sealed without windows, so they couldn’t see what was outside. They could only feel the train moving at a rapid speed.
The moment he left the platform, Zhang Tao quickly got into White Rabbit No.9 and began to check.
“Earth, Earth, this is White Rabbit Nine. Please respond if you copy!”
”
Sizzle
~~~!”
“The equipment seems to be working, but I can’t contact Earth. The signal seems to be blocked…”
“We just need to leave the base for the signal to connect, right?”
Zhang Tao suddenly thought of something. As he pressed the timer, he quickly found a level and shouted at w.a.n.g Dong Dong, “Take a gravity measuring instrument and see if we’re rising…”
In the underground base, the gravity was almost the same as Earth’s, and walking was very comfortable to do. However, this was the moon, and the reason why they could do this was definitely because the aliens had some kind of gravity environment simulation.
Once they left the base and reached the moon’s surface, the gravity would return to the moon’s normal level.
“Activate the sensor…”
After thinking about it, White Rabbit Nine did not move. It was being pulled by someone else’s train. The effect of activating the sensor was limited.
Zhang Tao continued,”Remember how your bodies feel now. The important thing is to get a sense of direction…”
As he spoke, he quickly found a pen and paper and drew a three-dimensional coordinate. He was trying to get a grasp of his current position from the movement of his body. While this was not an accurate way to measure which direction his body was oriented towards, he really had no other choice. The thing was, he didn’t even know where he was located.
“If only the moon’s magnetic field had an even-level magnetic field…”
The compa.s.s could not be used in s.p.a.ce. Instead of using a compa.s.s, they usually used the Earth or a celestial body as a reference to establish a three-dimensional coordinate axis to determine the direction, or use the sun’s position and Earth’s time to determine the direction.
These were all methods they used when they were in s.p.a.ce or on the surface of the moon. When they were underground, the only thing they could do was remember the time and their body’s feelings.
Thirteen minutes later, the trembling stopped. The train stopped and the cabin door opened.
Then, the rails under their feet moved, moving White Rabbit Nine and the three of them out.
Above his head was the dark starry sky of the universe, and beneath his feet was a shallow crater.
After sending them to the ground, the pa.s.sage at the bottom of the crater disappeared and was replaced by the same appearance as the other moon soil.
“It’s out!”
The three of them were extremely excited. They hugged each other and cried tears of joy.
In the underground base, although they talked and laughed together, they still felt uneasy deep down.
At night, they would also have conversations about how their colleagues and family members on Earth would react when they disappeared.
“Brother Tao, look at that!”
Liu Ning suddenly noticed that there was something similar to a moon exploration vehicle not far ahead.
Zhang Tao turned his head and was completely stunned.
“A moon probe. This is a moon probe made by our country. They didn’t give up on us!!!”
In an instant, his tears flowed down.
The three of them hopped to the side of the moon probe and waved at the camera.
“Earth, Earth, we are the members of White Rabbit Unit 9. Can you see us?”