Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 186 Solar Ring (2-in-1, please vote with monthly tickets!!!)
Under the vast starry sky, surrounded by countless stars, Zhuo Fangting floated silently.

He has participated in many spacewalks in the past. The experience of being "immersed" in the stars while wearing a spacesuit is not uncommon for him.

But in every previous mission, he was surrounded by many companions and the spacecraft, which is the most important thing for astronauts, so he could return to the spacecraft at any time.

But now, I have nothing around me.

Even the miniature rocket that had sent him into space had vanished into the vast starry sky and could no longer be seen.

In a daze, he felt that he was not in space, but like when he went out to sea more than ten years ago, when he was alone on the sea under the cover of night.

The same starry sky, the same boundless expanse, it seemed as if he was the only one left in the universe, and no matter what happened, he could not get any outside help.

Boundless loneliness, and the fear instinctively born from loneliness and darkness, instantly assailed me.

After a brief moment of distraction, Zhuo Fangting quickly regained his composure and banished all negative emotions from his mind.

Once he regained his composure, he turned his head again, surveying his surroundings as he began searching for that familiar figure.

At a speed of approximately 1.7 kilometers per second, he could clearly see a large number of stars rising from below the horizon of the moon in front of him, while behind him, a large number of stars were rapidly sinking below the horizon, as if time had been accelerated.

On the lunar landscape below, familiar terrain appeared one after another, only to disappear quickly.

Ocean of Storms, Tranquil Sea, Tycho Crater, Zhang Heng Crater...

Etc., etc.

With his excellent field of vision, he could see at least ten thousand stars with the naked eye.

But... there is no Earth.

He knew that among all the stars in the sky, the sun, the earth, and the moon were the three most prominent celestial bodies. He knew he couldn't possibly miss them when they appeared in space; he was certain he would see them.

They were too big and too bright. Like an elephant in a room, they couldn't be ignored.

Since I didn't see it, it can only mean one thing.

The Earth has truly disappeared.

With a soft sigh, he turned his head and looked at the bright star that had never existed before, but had suddenly appeared near Earth at this moment of apocalypse, and was now moving closer and closer to the moon.

Although no one knows what it is at this moment, everyone, including Zhuo Fangting himself, is certain that the disappearance of the Earth is definitely related to it.

At that moment, he felt neither fear nor anger, but rather a strong impulse surged within him.

He desperately wanted to have some kind of weapon on him—whether it was a cold weapon like swords and daggers, or a firearm, artillery, or even a nuclear bomb, anything would do.

All he needs is a weapon. Then, no matter what that star is—whether it's an unimaginably advanced Reaper civilization spaceship or a gigantic, ferocious monster beyond human comprehension—he will grab his weapon and charge towards it without hesitation.

Even if death is inevitable, even if my attack is destined to be ineffective, I will still deliver a full-force blow to it, a mere human, before I die.

Unfortunately... at this moment, I can't even change my own trajectory.

It cannot stop, cannot accelerate, and cannot move.

The only thing it can do is to orbit the moon again and again, under the control of its initial velocity, initial orbit, and the moon's gravity.

If there is no external interference, this will continue until the end of the universe, until the end of time.

He withdrew his gaze, composed himself, and watched as the landscape of Moon City Canyon gradually appeared on the horizon. He slowly straightened his body and brought his arms together at his sides.

At a distance of tens of kilometers, the once enormous canyon appeared as tiny as an earthworm in Zhuo Fangting's eyes.

The canyon was pitch black, and Moon City was nowhere to be seen.

The next moment, his figure passed over the canyon, the small Moon City Canyon disappearing in an instant in his eyes.

"They should have seen me by now."

With this in mind, Zhuo Fangting looked ahead again and began a second round of searching, which he knew was unlikely to succeed, but which he still had to carry out.

……

Jiang Yang, dressed in a spacesuit, stood quietly at the bottom of the canyon outside the base, looking up at the sky.

Beside him, a dozen astronomers, telescopes in hand, carefully observed the sky, searching for any possible changes.

In a daze, Jiang Yang seemed to see a dim star appear in the sky above the right side of the canyon, and then slowly move to the left.

Jiang Yang squinted, trying to see the bright spot clearly. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make it out.

Nearby, astronomers' telescopes also captured that faint bright spot at that moment.

Based on the width of the canyon and the distance of the astronaut Zhuo Fangting from the ground, calculations show that at the astronaut's operating speed, it would take about 20 seconds to fly to the other side of the canyon and then leave their field of vision.

Twenty seconds is enough time for astronomers to lock onto him and clearly see his physical form at that moment.

Time passed slowly, and Jiang Yang watched as the bright spot moved to the left side of the canyon and eventually disappeared.

The astronomers also put away their telescopes.

The group returned to the base's conference room.

"What was the result? Did Comrade Zhuo Fangting find Earth?"

All eyes were on the astronomers who were participating in the observation.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, an astronomer whispered, "I see Comrade Zhuo Fangting with his arms together."

"Me too."

"I didn't see it clearly."

"I also saw the arms together."

Of the 16 astronomers in total, 3 reported that they could not see clearly, while the remaining 13 all reported the same result.

Then there's no doubt about it.

Astronaut Zhuo Fangting used his own eyes and body to truly obtain the answer to that question.

Earth... has really disappeared?

It didn't come to the far side of the moon or anywhere else; it just disappeared because it was obscured.
Upon confirming this intelligence, everyone in the meeting room felt their hearts sink.

Sun Changhe resolutely looked up: "In that case, I'm afraid the moon will suffer the same fate as Earth, and will eventually disappear because of that bright star of unknown origin."

Our mission in this life is to find out why the Earth and the Moon disappeared, what the underlying principles were, and where they went.

His voice was serious: "Only by figuring this out can we hope to find a real way to fight the apocalypse!"

The tremors on the lunar surface beneath our feet continued unabated, and their intensity had increased significantly compared to before.

Looking at the screen beside him, Jiang Yang saw that there were still about 3 hours left before the vibration level increased to "destructive level". "Professor Lu, Professor Chen, Dean Li..."

Sun Changhe read out one name after another: "At this stage, what other ways do we have to obtain more information?"

The group exchanged glances and then all shook their heads.

After a moment of silence, Professor Lu Zhaoming said in a hoarse voice, "We have almost no way to obtain any more information."

At this stage, there's probably only one thing we can do...

Let's launch Comrade Jiang Yang into space as well, so he can witness firsthand the destruction of the moon.

It can only be Jiangyang, and only Jiangyang.

Even if the others were launched into space, and they did discover some crucial intelligence, the information would not be able to be transmitted to him due to the current electromagnetic environment.

Sending the rest of the people into space would be pointless.

So……

Jiang Yang stood up and said in a steady voice, "Okay."

But instead of going directly to the launch bay, he looked at the geologists who were constantly analyzing Earth's data.

"Have you gotten any results from the analysis of that data?"

Hundreds of scholars participated in the data analysis. For the past dozen or so hours, most of them remained completely undisturbed, fully immersed in the task.

but……

"The amount of data is too large; we can only conduct some general analysis."

The leading expert quickly stated, "Preliminary analysis results indicate that some of our previous understandings may be incorrect."

"Oh?"

"We cannot be certain about changes outside the Earth. What we can be certain of at this moment is that the energy that is causing such dramatic changes on Earth does not only come from the mantle, but... the entire globe."

Jiang Yang knew that the data he brought back from his previous life, after being analyzed by geologists and geophysicists, ultimately led to the conclusion that the main driving force behind the massive global earthquakes on Earth came from the mantle.

Regardless of whether the force driving such changes in the mantle actually comes from the sun, the mantle is the most crucial link in this process, serving as the intermediate link between "external forces" and "global high-intensity earthquakes".

However, with more detailed data analysis, experts now seem to have rejected this mechanism.

"Yes, it's global! The process by which that force caused massive global earthquakes simultaneously disturbed the entire Earth—including the core, mantle, and crust—not by disturbing the mantle first and then transmitting the disturbance to the crust!"
Throughout this process, the mantle did not play a crucial role in the energy conversion; it was merely an ordinary structure that was disturbed.

Jiang Yang frowned slightly.

This fundamentally negates the apocalyptic scenario that our side had previously speculated upon.

But what does this specifically mean?
"This means that the mechanism by which external forces act on the Earth is fundamentally different from what we previously guessed, and the nature of the energy is also completely different."

Based on this, some energy interaction mechanisms that we had previously ruled out can now be reconsidered, such as electromagnetic waves and gravity.

We cannot determine the specific type of energy at this time.

He looked away from the screen displaying numerous complex data, lines, and charts, and turned to Jiang Yang: "Let's take these conclusions to the next life. In the next life, we'll have more time. I believe that in the next life, we can, we can, produce even more results."

We have no time left in this life, no more…

Jiang Yang solemnly said, "Professor Sun, please rest assured."

After ending his conversation with Professor Sun, he turned to look at other leading figures in the scientific community.

"Is there any information you need me to convey to the next life?"

Professor Chen Yusheng said in a low voice: "These are some engineering optimization solutions that we have summarized during the process of large-scale reusable rocket launches, space station transit terminal mechanisms, and lunar city construction."

If you can still remember it, then carry it with you to the next life. If we need to undertake such a large-scale engineering project again in the next life, it will save us some time, resources, and manpower.

Jiang Yang took the document and saw that it contained only four concise points, totaling no more than 150 words.

After a quick glance, Jiang Yang said, "I have memorized the main points."

After some experts submitted some simple information to Jiang Yang, there was no more information worth carrying into the next life.

Turning around and entering the launch bay, the familiar scene reappeared before Jiang Yang's eyes.

It was still the same few rocket engineers, and still that small, pocket-sized rocket.

After a short while, Jiang Yang, having completed his preparations, stepped onto the ground that resembled the trembling planks of a ship beneath a giant wave, and stood before Zhou Yu.

"See you next time."

Zhou Yu gave Jiang Yang a gentle hug, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and answered as calmly as possible: "Okay, see you next time."

Jiang Yang turned around and climbed to the top platform of the rocket without looking back, letting people secure him with ropes.

The tremors beneath his body intensified. The next moment, immense overload pressure struck, and his vision rose upwards.

The massive Moon City base below shrank, and the familiar figures of scientists, astronauts, engineers, and others with whom he had spent more than a month vanished instantly.

Suppressing the unease in his heart, he looked away and gazed at his side and above.

Let me see with my own eyes how you destroyed the Earth and the Moon...

Jiang Yang saw the gray-black cliffs, the desolate and lifeless lunar landscape, the vast starry sky, and that bright star that emitted a faint and mysterious light.

Because of the change in altitude and field of vision, Jiang Yang also saw the sun.

Bright and dazzling, too bright to look at directly.

but……

The sun's shape seems somewhat different from usual at this moment. It appears to be changing.

Ok?
Jiang Yang manually adjusted the light filtering settings on his space helmet, carefully observed the sun, and watched as it slowly changed from a disc shape to a ring shape.

Yes, a ring.

In the center is a bright spot, surrounded by a shiny but somewhat distorted ring, with some cross-like structures faintly visible inside.

At that moment, Jiang Yang froze, feeling his heart pounding uncontrollably.

At this moment, he understood everything.

That's fucking amazing, it's an Einstein ring!

(End of this chapter)