With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

Once the lists for the five groups were finalized, the atmosphere in the meeting room finally lifted from that box of dirt.

Old Gao tapped on the table.

"The first and most crucial matter today is this: Director Jiang can build a tunnel between Earth and the Moon, but where the tunnel ends will land is not up to us; it must be based on scientific evidence. How should we choose the landing point on the Moon and the tunnel entrance on our side in China?"

...

The old professor, who specializes in astronomy, cleared his throat and spoke first.

"Let me start with some basic information. The moon has no atmosphere. During the day, the sun shines directly on it, and the surface temperature can reach over 120 degrees Celsius. At night, without an atmosphere to keep it warm, the temperature can drop to minus 170 or minus 180 degrees Celsius. Moreover, it rotates once every month, meaning that one day on the moon is equivalent to fourteen Earth days, and one night is also fourteen days."

"Fourteen days of daylight, fourteen days of darkness," someone repeated, their face grim. "How can we treat the living like this?"

"So temperature is the first hurdle," Jiang Zhiyu continued. "The place I landed this time is on the lunar terminator, the line between day and night. It's neither too hot nor too cold there, the temperature is just right, similar to spring and autumn on Earth, so I won't get sunburned or frostbitten."

"But the terminator is constantly moving," the astronomy professor frowned. "The moon rotates, and that line follows the sun, sweeping across the entire lunar surface once a month. The speed isn't fast, but the problem is that the place where people stay is static, while the line is dynamic."

"So what we're looking for isn't a line, it's a point," the veteran geologist tapped the table, "a point where you can hide someone and where the temperature stays stable."

The intelligence team members had been silent until now, when they slowly spoke up.

"Let me give you a heads-up. While you're thinking about how to survive, you also need to think about how to avoid being seen. There's no air on the moon, it's pitch black. Anything we cover or disturb on the lunar surface will cast a clear shadow in the sunlight. The ground-based telescopes of the US and the Soviet Union are constantly monitoring it. Any unusual movement on the lunar surface—dust, reflections, heat sources—could be detected by them. They landed on the Apollo missions several times; their lunar photographic data is far more extensive than ours."

After he said that, the room fell silent for a few seconds.

"We absolutely cannot do it, at least not from the very beginning," the intelligence team member said. "Building a base on the moon with great fanfare is no different from shouting 'I'm here!' through a megaphone."

The old geologist suddenly smiled, stood up, walked to the table, dipped his finger in some tea, and drew a hole on the table.

"Then God left a way for us. There are traces of ancient volcanic activity on the moon. Lava flowed out, cooled and solidified on the surface first, and the lava inside continued to flow forward. When it ran dry, it left a channel called a lava tube. Over time, some parts of the top of these channels collapsed, exposing an opening, like a skylight. Many such suspected craters have been observed on the lunar surface."

He pressed down hard at the entrance of the hole.

"What are the advantages of living inside a cave? First, there's a layer of rock tens of meters thick overhead, blocking out the sun and preventing cold air from penetrating, resulting in a stable temperature year-round, eliminating the need to endure extreme temperature fluctuations of 300 degrees Celsius. Second, cosmic rays, solar storms, and micrometeorites are all blocked by the rock layer. Third, and most importantly..."

He looked up and glanced at the intelligence team.

"The entrance to the hole is just an inconspicuous crater on the lunar surface. We can move around inside it, but from the outside, we can't see anything."

A buzz of discussion erupted in the room. The engineering and infrastructure team's eyes lit up. The existing cavern provided the outer shell, insulation, and radiation shielding all in one. They only needed to work on the interior of the cavern, saving a significant amount of work.

"Moreover, lunar soil itself can be used as building material and a shielding layer," the veteran geologist added. "When lunar soil is compacted, its radiation protection performance is quite good. If you seal the entrance and fill it with air, it becomes a ready-made sealed space."

The female doctor on the medical team, who had been taking notes with her head down, looked up at this moment.

"Let me add another perspective. The radiation dose on the moon is hundreds of times higher than on Earth. Without protection, a person staying outdoors for an extended period would experience problems with their hematopoietic and reproductive systems, making long-term residence impossible. The caves can suppress radiation, and for our medical team, this is the key difference between going there and not going there."

"There's also gravity; the moon's gravity is one-sixth that of Earth. Short-term stays aren't a big problem, but long-term residence could lead to bone density loss and muscle atrophy, so contingency plans are needed. Once inside the cave, at least there should be facilities for training and rehabilitation."

The old astronomy professor stroked his beard and turned the conversation back on track.

"Then the conditions are clear. First, the location must be within the latitude zone swept by the terminator to ensure the temperature. Second, it must be a natural cave, preferably a lava tube, which can shelter people, block radiation, and retain heat. Third, it must be on the near side of the moon, always facing the side of Earth."

"Why must it be on the front?" someone asked.

"Communications," the old professor said. "The far side of the moon always faces away from Earth, so radio signals can't get through. If you're on the far side, you're completely cut off from home. We can talk about other things later; the first priority is stability."

Jiang Zhiyu had been listening the whole way, and that's when she spoke up.

"I've noted down all the conditions: terminator, frontal view, natural caves, concealed entrances. Here, you can compile the desired locations and conditions into a map, and I'll go and survey them first. I can go almost anywhere on the moon; I can visit many points in a day. Leave the exploration to me. Once I find a suitable entrance, I'll mark the location, and then you can discuss it further."

Old Gao slammed his hand on the table.

"Alright! It's settled then. Each of the five groups will develop their own proposals and submit the technical requirements for the site selection to Director Jiang within three days."

Old Li added a comment from the side.

"We also need to select a site for the passageway on the domestic side, and submit a plan for that as well. The requirements are the same: it must be inaccessible and unthinkable to outsiders, with stable geological conditions, and it cannot be too far from the research base, nor too close."

Amidst the rustling of notes being taken, the astronomy professor suddenly looked up, stared at Jiang Zhiyu, and asked the question that everyone in the room wanted to ask.

"Director Jiang, I just have one question. Is the sky dark on the moon?"

Jiang Zhiyu thought for a while.

"It was dark. The stars were densely packed, nailed to the black curtain, not twinkling. The Earth hung in the sky, a deep blue-white, motionless, much larger than the moon as we see it from Earth."

Everyone in the room fell silent, and the grip on their pens tightened.

Mr. Gao closed his notebook and stood up.

"Let me reiterate before we adjourn: once you leave this room, whatever happened today, keep it to yourself."

The alloy gate reopened, sunlight streamed in, and the experts walked out one by one, their steps unsteady. The elderly geologist walked last, and as he passed Jiang Zhiyu, he suddenly stopped and bowed deeply to her.

Jiang Zhiyu was startled and quickly reached out to help.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

The old man straightened up, his eyes red-rimmed.

"I've dedicated my entire life to geology, and I've always dreamed of touching rocks from beyond Earth. Director Jiang, thank you."