Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 211 Lighting a Lamp

The familiar feeling of weightlessness returned. Jiang Yang knew that he had once again entered space.

After leaving the spaceship and entering the corridor of Earth 6 space station, Jiang Yang looked at the distant sun.

Through multiple layers of green light goggles, Jiang Yang could clearly see what the sun looked like at that moment.

"Damn it, it's getting bigger and bigger."

With a muttered remark, Jiang Yang and the scientists filed in.

The Earth VI space station, which has undergone emergency renovations, is now very different from what Jiang Yang remembers.

Its main body still resembles a central axis with a huge ring, but it can no longer generate artificial gravity through rotation.

Because the space between the ring and the central axis has been filled with numerous facilities and equipment added later.

Hundreds of huge solar panels and heat sinks also take up the space that was originally intended for it to rotate.

At this moment, its total length has reached more than 200 meters, and its total mass has skyrocketed to more than 20,000 tons.

In the zero-gravity cabin, Jiang Yang saw Zhuo Fangting again.

"Comrade Jiang Yang, fellow scientists, I am the astronaut team leader in charge of this mission."

Next, we will be responsible for the maintenance, control, and security of the space station.

Looking at Zhuo Fangting's serious face, Jiang Yang's mind was filled with memories of his previous lives.

"sorry to bother you."

"Please fasten your seatbelts. In ten minutes, the space station will perform an orbital lift maneuver."

Following Zhuo Fangting's instructions, everyone secured themselves to their seats.

Jiang Yang was somewhat puzzled: "Orbital lifting? Isn't the departure scheduled for tomorrow?"

Zhuo Fangting said, "It's just maintaining the normal orbit. The space station is currently at too low an altitude."

Jiang Yang seemed to be deep in thought.

Through the porthole, he looked down at the azure planet and the gas that enveloped the Earth.

Jiang Yang knew that the Earth's atmosphere was actually constantly losing mass.

The upper atmosphere is affected by solar winds, resulting in an average daily loss of about 200 tons.

The mechanism is quite simple: high-energy charged particles in the solar wind, through collisions or magnetic fields, give molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere higher kinetic energy.

Once their speed exceeds Earth's second cosmic velocity, they will naturally break free from Earth's gravitational field and never return.

And now, the rate of atmospheric loss has probably skyrocketed to tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of tons per day...

The sheer number of gas particles greatly increases the collision rate with orbiting celestial bodies, continuously reducing their speed.

That's why the Earth VI space station needs to continuously increase its altitude.

It is likely that before long, the rate of gas escape from the Earth's atmosphere will surge again to millions or even tens of millions of tons per day, or even higher, causing all satellites and space stations operating in low Earth orbit to crash.

The ultimate outcome will be the stripping away of Earth's entire atmosphere by the solar wind. The oceans will dry up, all water resources will be lost, and Earth will become like the moon.

Moreover, this time will not be too long.

Putting aside his heaviness, Jiang Yang followed Zhuo Fangting's instructions and waited patiently.

After completing the orbital lift, Zhuo Fangting introduced the upgraded facilities inside the space station to the passengers.

"The most important part of this renovation is to move a specially made supercomputer into the space station for subsequent observation data analysis."

Its computing power is far inferior to that of supercomputers on Earth, but it should be sufficient.

To support its operation, we also moved two nuclear fission reactors to the space station.

This is an optical telescope used for searching for asteroid belt objects. In addition, there are infrared telescopes and other types of telescopes, totaling eight.

This is a starch synthesis device.

Our space station is too small for crop cultivation and animal husbandry, and it can't carry too many supplies. Therefore... from this moment on, a rationing system will be implemented on the space station, with 80% of the food replaced by starch.

……

The next day, hundreds of thrusters newly installed on the Earth VI space station simultaneously began to accelerate it slowly.

After six days and hundreds of orbits around the Earth, it finally reached the required speed and began its journey to the moon.

Yes, it doesn't fly directly to the asteroid belt, but first to the moon.

After orbiting the moon once, it will fly back to Earth and orbit the Earth once more.

The reason it's so complicated is because it's too big and too heavy. Only by using the orbits of the Moon and Earth to accelerate it can it reach a faster speed.

The Earth is gradually shrinking, while the Moon is gradually growing.

Standing beside the familiar moon once again, Jiang Yang felt a mix of emotions.

After quickly bypassing the moon, the space station flew back towards Earth.

He knew that this brief separation from Earth would be a final farewell—at least a final farewell to the Earth and the people of this life.

Jiang Yang was a little better off, since he knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would most likely have another life.

Zhuo Fangting and the other astronauts showed no unusual symptoms. Perhaps they had already mentally prepared themselves for any possible outcome. Their mental fortitude was also sufficient to allow them to maintain emotional stability.

At this moment, the 150 scientists couldn't help but fall into a slump.

Human civilization will perish after we leave.

Everything we know will be destroyed.

The small park next to my home, the research institute where I've worked for decades, the small restaurant I've been to hundreds of times...

And our family, our friends, our loved ones, our children...

We won't even be able to be there for them when the end of the world comes.

Jiang Yang didn't know how to comfort them. Perhaps any words of comfort would be superfluous at this moment.

These emotions can only be processed by oneself.

Earth drew closer and closer, eventually filling the entire field of vision.

At this moment, it is only about 700 kilometers away from Earth.

The flight takes only an hour.

They seem so close, so within reach, but everyone knows that the distance between them is an insurmountable chasm.

The space station has been accelerated to a relative speed of 13 kilometers per second. At this moment, no one can stop it.

The side of the Earth that was in daylight was quickly bypassed, while the side that was in darkness, completely black and devoid of any light, was revealed to people.

People had already moved to the underground city. Those who hadn't moved were relocated, under the unified organization of the World Government, to completely enclosed underground parking garages, stations, and other places, in an attempt to survive longer in the apocalypse.

The city is now deserted, and the brightly lit scene of the past can never be seen again.

“It’s so dark…”

A scholar in his forties gazed at the Earth and murmured a sigh.

But at that moment, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared on the pitch-black Earth.

The light was initially very faint, and seemed like it might go out at any moment, but it quickly stabilized.

On a pitch-black earth, it is like a candle flame in the wind and rain; though faint and insignificant, it can bring people a sense of peace.

When a traveler in the wind and rain sees a light, he knows that there are other travelers ahead, and that he has escaped danger.

At this moment, this single light on Earth seemed to possess a magical power, instantly warming people's hearts filled with dejection and confusion.

A sound that was not smooth and clearly showed signs of interference entered people's ears.

"Hello, Comrade Jiang Yang, Comrade Astronaut, Comrade Scientist."

I am Sun Changhe, the chief consultant for the Doomsday Project.

In the time to come, Earth and our human civilization will face extinction. You, as the last survivors of humanity, will carry the hopes of all of us as you journey into the vast depths of space to search for a final glimmer of hope for our civilization.

I know that in this situation, living is harder than dying.

You will be isolated and helpless, you will no longer receive any support from our homeland, you must continue to walk alone, carrying the hopes of the entire civilization, until death comes.

Those of us who remain on Earth, dying alongside civilization, cannot demand anything of you. I will not make any specific demands of you, nor do you need to accomplish anything to prove yourselves heroes, because from the moment you accepted the call and embarked on this journey, you were already undeniably heroes.

All we can do is light this lamp so that you can see it when you turn around and look back at our Earth home in the vast depths of space.

We have taken the most comprehensive protective measures, and we believe that even if civilization perishes, it can still keep us lit for a long time.

We only hope that this light from our hometown can bring some support and comfort to your hearts, so that you will not be troubled by confusion and bewilderment when you are in deep space.

This lamp carries the blessings of all humankind and the wishes of our planet Earth.

Heroes, I wish you a safe journey.

Sun Changhe paused for a moment, then suddenly became serious: "Attention, all! Salute!"

salute!

salute!

These salutes seemed to come not from one place, but from many places, overlapping and lingering for a long time.

Silence reigned within the Earth VI space station.

Jiang Yang turned his head and stared intently at the lamp through the porthole.

As the distance increases and the Earth rotates, the light dims while gradually approaching daylight.

Jiang Yang knew that it would soon disappear from their sight. But after a while, it would definitely reappear.

After a long while, Jiang Yang withdrew his gaze and looked ahead.

The universe remains vast and tranquil. Countless stars continue to shine silently.

Time flew by, and due to the further deterioration of the space environment and the ever-increasing distance, the Earth VI space station had lost contact with Earth.

At this moment, even the Earth appears as a dot-like star in people's eyes, and no details can be seen anymore.

But through a telescope, people can still clearly see that single light shining alone in the darkness.

(End of this chapter)