Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 94 Corrosion?

In the instant the incident occurred, the astronauts quickly began a series of actions in this mysterious passage located deep underground on the moon.

Despite its complexity, it was not chaotic at all; it was organized amidst the busyness.

Working together, they used pre-prepared emergency supplies such as tape and vacuum adhesive to quickly treat the damage to their companions' spacesuits.

At the same time, any injuries you sustain will be quickly treated by your teammates.

Just like on the battlefield, everyone can confidently entrust their backs to their comrades.

Among them, Jiang Yang was undoubtedly the most crucial figure. The astronauts even disregarded their own safety and that of their comrades, prioritizing the treatment of Jiang Yang's injuries before even looking after themselves.

Moments later, the white mist stopped emanating from the astronauts, and no more parts fell off.

The situation has stabilized.

But everyone knows that this is only a temporary solution. If they cannot find the root cause of the problem and resolve it completely, the situation may worsen before long.

At this moment, everyone's brain is working at full speed.

Jiang Yang was also thinking quickly.

A damaged spacesuit, thinner steel plates, broken parts, a spacesuit that seems lighter...

A somewhat startling thought popped into Jiang Yang's mind.

corrosion?

Is there some kind of corrosion mechanism in this cave? Is it because of this corrosion that the originally thick steel plate gradually becomes thinner, and the originally intact spacesuit becomes damaged?
Aside from corrosion, there seems to be no other possibility.

However, corrosion is a chemical process that also follows the law of conservation of mass and energy.

The mass before the reaction is the same as the total mass of the products after the reaction; there will be no change.

So now, where did the quality of those spacesuits that were "corroded" away go?

Did it turn into a gas and escape?

Impossible. In a vacuum, these gases would be detected by our side as soon as they appear.

It transformed into other compounds?

However, the passage remained clean and smooth throughout the journey, with nothing but its own material.

Radiation stripping? Is it like how high-energy charged particles in the solar wind add energy to molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere, giving them enough speed to escape Earth's gravitational field?
Perhaps at this moment we are encountering some kind of special radiation, which excites the material particles on the outside of the spacesuit, causing them to "break free" from the material's constraints and disperse into the surrounding space.

This seemed to be the most likely explanation. However, after a moment's thought, Jiang Yang ruled out this possibility based solely on his relatively broad knowledge of physics acquired over this period.

Particle radiation that can act on the material of a spacesuit would inevitably reach the radiometer. Furthermore, the mechanical radiometer carried by our side did not indicate the presence of any unusual radiation in the surrounding environment.

At the same time, radiation inevitably produces a series of subsequent reactions on matter. Just like how high-energy neutrinos in this apocalypse triggered a series of secondary radiations within the human body.

At present, we have also failed to observe the existence of secondary radiation.

Or, setting aside the question of where the byproducts of the reaction go, another question arises: how does this "corrosion" affect our own spacesuits?
Throughout this entire process, no object came into contact with our side!

Jiang Yang thought quickly, but to no avail. He looked at the astronauts and saw that they didn't make any statement either; clearly, they didn't know why either.

Okay, now perhaps we can temporarily put aside what happened and think about what to do next.

As if sharing a telepathic connection with Jiang Yang, astronaut Tong Zheng seemed to have made the same decision at this moment.

He turned around, raised his arm and pointed forward in the direction he had come from.

The order was clear: a temporary retreat. This order was reasonable from every perspective.

When faced with an unknown crisis that cannot be ruled out, isn't it only natural to temporarily retreat, regroup, consider countermeasures, and explore more clues before continuing the exploration?
Anyone with basic tactical skills and judgment would react this way in this situation.

The astronauts were not surprised at all and immediately took action.

They surrounded Jiang Yang again, intending to turn around and retreat.

but……

This is not right!
It is precisely because this judgment is too reasonable and too self-evident that it is wrong!

Since we have encountered this change and made this judgment in this life, what about the previous life?

The astronauts of the previous era most likely, no, almost certainly made the same judgment. But what was their fate?
Jiang Yang clearly remembered that in his previous life, he waited in the control hall until two hours before the end of the world, but no astronauts came out of the passage!

Previously, they had always wondered what had happened to them. Now, Jiang Yang knew he had found the answer.

They must have chosen to retreat after encountering this unknown "corrosion," and then they all died on the way back.

This is a judgment that only someone who has experienced multiple apocalypses in this way could possess. Even outstanding individuals like these astronauts wouldn't have considered this possibility.

This is not a difference in intelligence, but a difference in experience.

Jiang Yang immediately grabbed the astronaut next to him and then quickly waved his hands back.

The astronaut paused for a moment, then immediately notified the surrounding astronauts, gathering everyone around Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang opened the drawing board and wrote only three simple words.

last life.

The astronauts were momentarily stunned, and then, almost instinctively, they moved even closer to Jiang Yang, decisively abandoning their plan to retreat.

Retreat is not feasible. So what should we do next?
All Jiang Yang could do was raise questions, but he had no ability to find solutions.

While thinking quickly, astronaut Tong Zheng stretched out his arm and wrote rapidly on it.

"Why did retreat lead to death in my previous life?"

Jiang Yang waved his hand, indicating that he didn't know.

He only knew the result, but not the process.

Tong erased the previous writing and quickly wrote again.

"Our mission is not to survive, but to explore."

Jiang Yang was slightly taken aback.

Only someone with experience of time loops could make the judgment that "retreat is not feasible".

Under such immense pressure, in such a complex and urgent situation, only the astronauts were able to remain undisturbed and grasp the core of the mission.

Indeed, our mission this time is exploration...

I was so affected by the immense pressure that I instinctively started thinking about how to escape from here...

Since the main task is exploration, even if we know that retreating will lead to our own deaths, we must try to retreat.

(End of this chapter)