Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 198 Ethanol Diluted with Water
At this moment, everyone knows in their hearts that death is inevitable.

The plan to end the apocalypse using hydrogen bomb constellations has completely failed, and the dawn has been extinguished.

But... so what?
The faint glimmer of dawn disappeared, but a bright sun rose slowly.

That's right, that's the conclusion people have reached right now through analyzing the data from those telescopes.

There is no hope in this life, but there is still hope in the next life, and it is much greater than in this life.

If in the next life we ​​send some hydrogen bombs into the path of this black hole and detonate them, the major planets in the solar system, as well as the sun, will automatically take over the task of reversing the black hole in place of human civilization.

Then death, which is already predetermined in this life, doesn't seem so terrible.

"The only slight regret is that although the accuracy of the black hole orbit data detected by the telescope in this life has improved a lot compared to before, it is still not high enough."

"Searching for that black hole in the next life will require a considerable amount of detection power..."

The expert shook his head and said with a smile, "But let's leave these things to our next life."

With the World Government involved, I'm sure there'll be a way.

From now on, the lunar base will only have one mission left.

Let Jiang Yang remember this data, which was obtained at the cost of the entire civilization, and carry it with him into the next life.

This only took a few minutes, because the amount of data was really small. For Jiang Yang, who had already mastered many rapid memorization methods, it was nothing.

There are approximately 9 hours remaining.

After the initial excitement subsided, people fell silent again, staring at each other in bewilderment.

For the last nine hours of this life, people were completely idle.

People at this moment need not worry about the future, because the future is already predetermined.

There's no need to feel lost now, because the possibility of hope has already been confirmed.

People can do anything, but they are now more aware that doing anything is meaningless, useless, and will not change the future in the slightest.

This almost forced state of idleness is a rather peculiar experience.

The slight tremor beneath our feet has returned. Clearly, Earth's matter has been torn apart by the black hole, an accretion disk has formed, and violent radiation energy has been poured onto the moon.

The lunar rocks are melting, which in turn is causing a series of tremors on the surface.

Jiang Yang knew this wasn't fatal. After some time, once the Earth's matter had been swallowed by the black hole and ejected mostly through the jets, the tremors would stop.

After a period of calm, the tremors will reappear. That will signify the end of the moon.

"After being busy for so long and under so much tension, I never imagined that I would be able to completely relax in the final moments of my life..."

A scientist muttered to himself, looking at the astronaut in charge of logistics at the base: "Do we have any alcohol at the base? We've got nothing to do anyway, how about a drink?"

The astronaut was in an awkward situation. He seemed to have recovered mentally from his tense state, but his body was still instinctively maintaining its previous state: "Alcohol? That's contraband, we don't have it."

The scientist muttered, "There's not even any alcohol. Sigh. Ever since my wife found out I have liver problems, she won't let me drink. It's been five or six years."

Another scientist suddenly had a bright idea: "We don't have alcohol, but we have ethanol, the kind that's used as emergency fuel. We can dilute it with some water..."

"Old Zhou, are you crazy? That kind of ethanol contains methanol. Aren't you afraid of going blind if you drink it?"

"Exactly, it's high in fusel oils. It'll give you a headache, even if it doesn't blind you."

Old Zhou glared and said, "Damn it, we're not going to live to see the next day, what's there to be afraid of? Come on, let's go, Old Sun."

"Yeah, right... count me in."

"And I!"

"Old Sun and I will go get the ethanol. Old Li, bring over all the vegetable packets and heat them up quickly. Old Wei, get the cutlery. Old Zhang, set the table. Old Wu! You're a chemist, you're steady. Go get the measuring cup and dilute the alcohol with water!"

Set it to 36 degrees Celsius, it'll taste better!

"give it to me!"

A group of scientists, all at least 40 years old, were busily working together, each with their own tasks, full of energy. Only Jiang Yang and the other astronauts stood there helplessly, unsure whether to stop them or what.

This situation is a serious violation and is absolutely unacceptable on the lunar base!
But, but...

Astronaut Captain Zhuo Fangting clutched his chest and looked at Jiang Yang with a pleading expression.

Jiang Yang smiled and shook his head: "Let them be. Old Zhuo, shall we have a drink?"

Zhuo Fangting looked at Jiang Yang in disbelief, wanting to say something, but in the end he could only weakly say, "Comrade Jiang Yang, I'm going to rest for a while. Call me if you need anything."

He hid in the nearby lounge, seemingly unable to bear witnessing what was about to happen.

In the main conference room of the lunar survival base, the long folding conference table was cleared of microphones, control consoles, and other equipment, and in the blink of an eye, bags of pre-made meal packages were placed on it, steaming from the open bags.

One by one, cups were placed on the table. A white-haired, spirited elderly scientist walked over alone carrying a large bucket and slammed it down on the conference table: "The wine is here!"

Several meters away, Jiang Yang could smell a pungent odor of alcohol, completely devoid of the mellow aroma of fine wine.

He couldn't help but grin: "This guy can drink a lot, damn it?"

The scientists' eyes lit up, as if beggars had spotted a feast: "This wine is excellent, very flavorful!" "Give me a glass first!"

"Don't rush! Xiao Wang, bring the water bottle! There are many of us, so let's not all crowd onto one table. There are other seats over there, aren't there? Spread out! There are seats available!"

Amid the crowded scene, jugs filled with diluted ethanol were scattered across the tables. Of the 200 staff members at the lunar base, more than 130 scientists, in addition to dozens of astronauts, were all present, filling five large tables. The atmosphere was so lively and cheerful that it almost seemed to lift the roof off.

"Jiang Yang! Come on, have a drink!"

Jiang Yang smiled and shook his head: "I won't."

"You little rascal, you're not as uninhibited as us old folks."

People shouted and cheered, and amidst the tremors under their feet, they began to toast and exchange drinks.

The conference hall was bustling with activity. After some time, a scientist suddenly called out to Jiang Yang, "By the way, Comrade Jiang, I remember you said that when you died in the last cycle, you were torn apart by a black hole?"

Jiang Yang recognized the scientist; he knew his surname was Zhou and that he was an astrophysicist.

"Yes, Professor Zhou."

He checked the time: "Our moon will be here soon too."

"I really envy you, being able to personally experience what it feels like to be torn apart by a black hole."

His tone was full of envy: "I've been working on black holes for over a decade and I've never experienced one."

"Old Zhou, if you want to experience it, go for it! We still have a rocket, don't we?"

"correct."

Old Zhou slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot about that. Comrade Xiao Jiang, could you send me to lunar orbit?"

Jiang Yang instinctively tried to stop him.

Although the average life expectancy is now over 100 years, and seventy-something isn't considered too old, it's still not as old as for younger people. Besides, he's drunk now…

But then Jiang Yang thought about it again and said, "Okay."

Unexpectedly, this immediately sparked a wave of enthusiasm among the people: "I'll go too!"

"Count me in!"

"Old Wu, you're a chemist, what are you looking at, black holes!"

"Why can't chemists look into this? Black hole chemistry, you understand? It's a cutting-edge research area!"

"That's utter nonsense. Don't you know there's no chemistry around a black hole?"

"You, a math major, aren't you joining in the fun too?"

"Black hole models don't require mathematics? Don't pretend you know what you're talking about!"

Of the more than 130 scientists, except for a dozen who were already drunk and sprawled on the ground, they all started to jeer.

Jiang Yang said with a wry smile, "We only have 4 rockets in total. After deducting my spot, there are 3 slots left. Why don't you guys discuss it yourselves?"

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, this is where you're wrong. At a time like this, don't you know how to give way to the older comrade?"

"Are you drunk, Old Wu? If Comrade Xiao Jiang stays at the base, and dies, the cycle will start immediately. What kind of black hole will you be able to watch then!"

"Well, that makes sense. That's fine too. Anyway, I have to be one of the remaining three spots."

After a noisy and chaotic day, three astrophysicists finally secured these spots.

Jiang Yang got up and knocked on the astronauts' rest room door. He saw Zhuo Fangting and dozens of other astronauts sitting there dejectedly, looking utterly powerless.

"Um... Captain Zhuo, Xiao Wang, Xiao Liu, I'll have to trouble you with this matter again..."

Zhuo Fangting sighed and stood up: "Alright."

At this moment, the first round of tremors had almost subsided. Jiang Yang knew that the second, and final, round of tremors was about to begin.

The astronauts quickly and efficiently handled the rocket, and soon, a total of four people, including Jiang Yang, were strapped to the platform at the top of the rocket.

The scientists watching were overjoyed, cheering one after another.

Blazing flames erupted from the rocket's tail once more, and Jiang Yang's vision rose accordingly. Within minutes, the familiar feeling of weightlessness had enveloped his entire body.

He knew that he had once again begun his lunar orbit at a speed of nearly 2 kilometers per second.

In the distance, the bright star still floats silently. Beneath our feet, three points of light appear one by one, slowly rising higher.

The three scientists also went into space, and soon disappeared from Jiang Yang's sight.

As time flew by, the moon was torn apart once again, and Jiang Yang once again arrived near the black hole.

Surprisingly, he was able to see the figure of a scientist by using the light from the black hole's accretion disk.

He was wearing a thick mechanical spacesuit, and he stretched out his arm toward the black hole, as if he wanted to really touch this celestial body that contained the deepest mysteries of the universe.

The excruciating pain of being torn apart returned. The next moment, Jiang Yang lost consciousness.

(End of this chapter)