Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"Where's your daughter? And Beatrice?"

“They’ve all been injected, and you’ve all been injected too. I can’t guarantee that the next leader will be the same as the current one, so I can only guarantee that the current group will live to be a hundred years old.” Old Xia didn’t care at all about the possibility of these people changing their ways in the future. Whether they were wandering the stars or calling for help, the iron fist and continuity of the policy had to be maintained.

Compared to the life and death of a race, all sorts of other rights, including human rights, can be abandoned. After all, the living can survive until the establishment of a new society and become human again, but the dead certainly don't have human rights and can only be eaten clean by snakes, insects, and rats.

If the Covenant rescue team arrives in the end, according to what Lao Xia knows, the normal resettlement policy will not leave them any leadership positions. In other words, they will directly purge or resettle all the middle and upper-level managers of Terra at that time, and then the lower-level managers will be gradually replaced to ensure that the Covenant's policies can be fully implemented.

Old Xia, who was born during the colonial restoration era (around the time of the end of Star Wars), had the following experience and insight: "Don't try to fool a group of young ladies who may turn into hardened exterminationists at any time. They are really capable of deploying an orbital strike cruiser to carry out things like going door to door to arrest and shoot reactionaries, and they are also really capable of injecting surveillance micromachines into your body to ensure initial security."

"What are some ways to maintain a certain degree of autonomy for Terra?" The doctor was more concerned about this question.

"Don't argue with those stubborn young ladies. Just do what you're told, that's all." Old Xia shrugged.

"Then it's about learning to use our management system and getting used to the limitations on power, which will ensure considerable autonomy. In fact, the Covenant will not interfere with the specific development trends and policy details of each colony, so the autonomy is still quite high—provided that you really get used to our transparent government system."

"I don't know what the consequences of covering things up are in other civilizations, but where we're from, the end result is always terrible. Seriously, don't think you're as clever as the 'Three Sages' and can prevent them from finding out what you've done—their 'brains' are three times bigger than your cities. Deceiving your superiors and subordinates will only lead to your death."

In the process of taking over the colonies, there were some who refused to believe in the power of the enemy, and of course, the result was that they got what they asked for.

"I don't think any noble would accept this treatment." Now that the Starry Sky Project has begun, it means that we do need to consider the Star Alliance's situation.

"There's no way around it. It's impossible to maintain that kind of privilege and inefficient management. On the other hand, why do you think they'll reason with you instead of just treating you as 'resources' and 'parts' to be allocated, and then picking out the 'defective' products to destroy?"

"So let's focus on the plans at hand. If I had a choice, I still wouldn't want your country to get involved in Terra's affairs."

“In fact, this is indeed a good option.” Old Xia nodded. It was true. The Star Alliance generally wouldn’t forcibly incorporate this kind of “self-reliant” human civilization or colony. Anyway, the universe is cruel enough. Let’s wait two years and see.

Either they change their mindset on their own, or they're already on the verge of collapse, so why should I be the villain?

Do you really think the Great Filter is just for show, allowing any Tom, Dick, or Harry to survive in the universe and become a new interstellar civilization without making sacrifices or choices?

In that case, you could see eight stargates moving around in orbit as soon as you step outside. How could the universe be so quiet and lonely?

"However, let me be clear from the start: I will definitely prioritize the distress signal and get back to my hometown. I will only choose to travel with you if all else fails."

"That's reasonable, but what about your daughter and wife?"

"Are you stupid? Even a small rescue ship like ours can easily carry dozens or hundreds of people back."

"What I mean is, once you go back, your daughter and wife will be out of touch with that society. How will they survive? Will your salary be enough?" That's what the doctor was asking.

"...According to our laws, as a pioneer, I can claim a share of Terra's Originium and various mineral mining, as well as the biological and mineral information I've collected. Are you stupid? Why would I worry about that? As for being socially disconnected...finding a beautiful, idyllic planet for agriculture or fishing to retire on is no different from here!"

"..." Suddenly, I realized that the social structure and level of civilization on the other side were completely different.

"Boss, are you still accepting citizenship applications over there?" Ling asked decisively. "Is it too late for me to switch jobs now?" For a stay-at-home daredevil like her, her biggest dream is to find a beautiful place to retire in.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Space Promotion

Chapter Ninety-Three

Terra, the moon, is a desolate, grayish-white world. The undulating dunes composed of Originium particles and titanium iron sand have a sticky and heavy texture that is completely different from ordinary sand. Dust and soil several kilometers thick envelop a solid Originium shell and a solidified nickel iron core.

For those who must survive in this desolate world, the meaning of day and night is completely opposite to that of people living on planets. Daytime is a time to avoid, as direct sunlight can heat metal to a temperature that can ignite paper in a very short time.

At night, without the protection of the atmosphere, the temperature drops rapidly. Compared to heat dissipation, keeping warm is obviously easier. Johnny only prepared his spacesuit for extravehicular activity after the sun gradually disappeared on one side of the lunar horizon.

Thanks to the existence of the small processing station, his living area has expanded several times over, and it already has the feel of a complete lunar base, a semi-subterranean structure consisting of four enclosed pipes, a main base station, and four domed spheres.

The upper half of the dome is exposed above the ground and has a rotating, openable outer shell. This area serves as both a power generation and planting area. It is opened during the day to generate electricity and closed at night to protect the outer shell from damage by small meteorites and meteors.

The lower half is buried deep underground and connected to the main hall by underground enclosed pipes. This area houses the living area, processing area, and storage area, reducing heat loss at night and minimizing heating energy consumption.

"Hiss!" The airtight gate opened, revealing a pitch-black night sky and a desolate white world outside. "Detection poles, road sign poles, small superconducting batteries and folding solar panels, and a folding canopy, all ready."

Johnny checked the equipment, among which the cloak was more important than anything else. This could unfold into a tent-like arc structure on the lunar surface, only large enough to accommodate one person, creating a safe shadow zone.

Otherwise, far from the base, the scorching sun would quickly dry out the coolant in the extravehicular activity suit, and then you'd be ready to eat raw human flesh.

This is why proper lunar bases are built inside craters and close to the crater walls as much as possible. On the one hand, it is to facilitate the mining of lunar rock resources, but more importantly, it is to use the shadowed areas of the craters to obtain ice and avoid the base being burned.

The ice on the moon is mostly likely the result of impacts from comets and icy asteroids. This water would quickly disappear under the high temperatures of direct sunlight, with only a small portion remaining and stored deep in lunar rock crevices and dust.

Johnny's job was simple: first, he had to travel about 20 kilometers to a discovered moon ice mine to collect ice. The ice there was running low, so after collecting the ice and replenishing fresh water and oxygen, he needed to explore further areas.

Fortunately, he found quite a few usable parts and odds and ends in the wreckage of the Black Mole and Windrunner that had crashed earlier. If he had to say, he might have had a more abundant supply of star-level materials and processing resources than Old Xia on the ground.

After all, Lao Xia had to collect carbon materials and synthesize and manufacture his own dome, while he only needed to use a cutting knife to cut the fragments or a welding torch to dismantle the debris and assemble a base from the complete plates.

Comparatively speaking, the production load pressure on the equipment is much lower, and his equipment only needs to be supplied to him alone.

The lunar ice mine is already a small site. Like all lunar sites, it has a hemispherical dome as the entrance and electrolytic desalination chamber, a tool room on the lower level, and the lunar ice mine itself on the lower level.

The remnant of a comet was deeply embedded in the lunar soil, turning into a mass of ice minerals about 200 meters in diameter, composed of ice, graphite, titanium dust, and silica. The mining station blocked the mine tunnel that Johnny had dug earlier. He had forgotten about it, and when he came the next day, the surface ice had been completely evaporated by the sun, resulting in a loss of hundreds of cubic meters.

Upon entering the mining station, I changed out of my spacesuit and checked the coolant and battery. While waiting for the batteries to recharge, I ate lunch. The food was very simple: a salad of carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes, plus a vegetarian meat patty made from soy protein. This vegetarian meat patty was made possible thanks to the synthesis machine found in the bottom of the Black Mole's living quarters.

After the Covenant popularized tissue-cultured meat, the synthesis machine that used soy protein and insect protein to synthesize vegetarian meat patties to provide the crew with the necessary protein became obsolete. However, for Johnny, who had neither insects to raise nor tissue culture machines, it was an unexpected bonus.

Because in that era, aerospace was still considered a cutting-edge industry, and astronauts were still elites selected through multiple rounds of screening, rather than high school students like him who could get on board and do odd jobs after only three months of short-term training. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of related equipment was generally not a major consideration.

In other words, these devices are not modern emergency equipment—emergency equipment only considers how to provide the maximum amount of nutrition when needed, without taking taste into account.

"Hey, ground station, I've arrived at the collection station." It was a routine call, and it didn't really mean anything, but for Johnny, who was all alone on an alien planet, this action was less about hoping that the so-called ground station would provide any advice, and more about making himself feel alive. Otherwise, in a place where there wasn't a single insect, let alone a human, he would go crazy sooner or later.

"Ground station received." That was the short automated reply, but it was enough. He changed into the support suit, which he had found in Black Mole's warehouse. After a very difficult remote repair, it was at least more reliable than the life-saving extravehicular activity suit he was wearing.

Climbing down the ladder into the mine and turning on the lights, a world resembling a crystal cave unfolded before us. The soil and rocks reflected dazzling light, but most of them were useless diamond and graphite crystals, and some were titanium dust nodules, strange things composed of titanium-iron ice.

Passing through the sloping mine tunnel, we arrived at the bottom mining face, where only a thin layer of ice remained. The ice and graphite dust mixed together, looking like some kind of turbid grayish-white crystal, reflecting a strange pale blue luster under the light.

Low-gravity ice harvesting and rubber harvesting are similar in principle. An inclined trough is connected to an ice bucket. Johnny aims the thermal drill at the mining face, and a high-temperature ion pulse jet penetrates and breaks the ice surface. The ice fragments and turbid water flow slowly condense under low gravity, fall into the inclined trough, and finally slide into the ice bucket.

Soon, the standard square ice bucket, which was one cubic meter in size, was filled, and only a small part of the mining face remained, which was soot-colored. Johnny did not let go of even this small amount of residue, and he did not stop until only dark gray rock remained.

One bucket of high-quality moon ice, three buckets of murky moon ice, and as many as five buckets of something that could almost only be called semi-solidified mud.

If we include the dew collected by the condensation net at the mine pit exit, we collected less than 5 cubic meters of fresh water today.

High-quality lunar ice is sent to the desalination chamber, where it is filtered and then sent to the electrolysis chamber to be converted into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is then compressed into a liquid oxygen tank and sent back to the base through pipelines laid by Johnny over a year, becoming part of the oxygen reserves in the storage chamber.

The turbid mixed moon ice will undergo processes such as filtration, evaporation, and condensation, and the remaining residue will be further dissolved in water, gradually precipitating out trace amounts of salt.

Finally, the remaining mud could only be dumped into the upper evaporation tank. The evaporated water vapor was collected using a condensation net, and then the remaining dried mud was discarded to extract as much moisture as possible. The mud was then sent back to the base through the same pipes.

"This is the ground station, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, what happened?"

"Here's the thing, we might need to launch a rocket soon, and you'll have to cooperate."

“Okay, no problem. Do you need me to provide a landing guidance signal?” Johnny said happily. This meant that there would be a large supply of materials, and it might even be possible to launch new personnel, so he wouldn’t be so lonely.

"That's not what I meant. How should I put it? What I mean by 'cooperating' is that regardless of whether we succeed or not, you have to pretend that we succeeded."

"Huh?" Johnny looked bewildered. What did he mean by "faking it was successful"? Could something like that even be faked?

"In short, I'll send you the detailed shooting schedule and script in a bit. Can you help me set up a set?"

"Settings? What sets?" Johnny was completely confused.

"In short, I'll send you the blueprints and designs for the lunar set in a bit. Just make sure it looks like something. As for the interior, you can clear out some space in your own living quarters to make it look like a set."

"Making a movie?"

"That's about it, anyway."

What's the point of this?

"If you don't want to die alone on the moon and want to eat proper food, then it makes a lot of sense." Johnny, who had no idea what the ground station was up to, had no choice but to agree in order to get some proper food as soon as possible.

Back in the base cabin, Johnny, following the set design instructions, moved out the ship planks dismantled from the warehouse, pulled out the parts with text and patterns, leaving only the most ordinary carbon material whiteboard.

"This won't hold up, will it? Oh well, it's just a set anyway." He didn't follow the proper construction manual. Since there was no wind on the moon, he simply used cable ties, aluminum alloy rod frames, and sheet metal to assemble a hemispherical cabin of about twenty square meters.

Then they simply pressed the airtight hatch that had been removed from the spaceship onto it and left it there. If you looked closely, the gaps on this thing were big enough to fit a finger inside.

To solve this problem, Johnny simply found a roll of carbon fiber cloth and pasted a layer from the inside out. This made the gaps between the panels look more like armor plates. Then he removed the portable solar panels and placed them outside, without connecting the wires. He scooped them up with two shovelfuls of lunar soil and covered them with the exposed part, making it look like an underground power station with wiring.

Next up are the antenna, water tank, and lunar rover. He had already prepared these items for exploring the next area of ​​lunar ice. The most crucial thing is to extract deuterium fuel so that he can find a way to ignite the engineering vehicle inside the Black Mole. This way, he can try to cut open the Black Mole's compartments and drag the wrecked spaceship compartments to the base for simple repairs.

The so-called repairs were simply plugging the leaks, sealing off the other openings, and connecting them to the main body of the base with pipes. In any case, the complete spaceship cabin with its thick, impact-resistant structure was much more durable than his own rudimentary lunar base.

Moreover, the living comfort in the actual spaceship's living quarters seems to be much better. After that, the disassembly of the Black Mole continued, and the electronic components, ancient tools with repair value, and damaged power equipment inside were all dragged over one by one.

The so-called antenna is just a titanium alloy frame. There are plenty of antenna remnants on the spaceship wreckage. Just find these electronic wastes and assemble them. Although it looks a bit like a wasteland, it is normal for it to look rudimentary given the technological level of Terrans' first moon landing. If it looked like a mass-produced industrial product, it wouldn't be able to fool people.

Next is the interior set design. A living pod is cleared out, the high-tech holographic panels are turned off, and the high-tech products and production machines that are not suitable for this place are also removed, leaving only a coffee machine, a space bed, a storage cabinet, and a folding table.

There was also a completely broken tablet that we got from the black mole. We put it on the bedside table, and then the printer printed several books according to the blueprint provided by Lao Xia and piled them on one side.

Of course, there are also some Originium devices unique to Terra. They don't need to be actually useful; they just need to look similar. There are plenty of Originium deposits in the lunar rock layer, so Johnny doesn't need to spend any time finding the materials.

After the set was basically completed, the ground station indicated that they were ready to launch.

This plan was conceived by the doctor. Given that the Vault project was progressing rapidly, but the End of the World project was still just on paper, it was necessary to give everyone some reassurance.

"Tell me honestly, did you use the same method to fool investors back then?" Swire looked at the doctor, convinced that this guy must have used the same method to fool investors back then.

"How can you call space exploration a hoax? Don't you think there are bases on the moon?" Yes, there are bases on the moon, but they have absolutely nothing to do with you, Kazdel.

"I didn't say it was related to us. I just told them at the right time after the promotional videos about our launch plan and future lunar plans were played that there is a habitable base on the moon. As for how they interpret it, that's their own business."

Moreover, the probability of being exposed is really low. Unless the other party has a high-ranking spy in Kazdel Space City, the base is real, Johnny is real, and life on the moon is real. In that case, the probability of this propaganda video being exposed is infinitely reduced.

At Kazdel Space Launch Site, no journalists or representatives were allowed into the launch area because the exhaust flames from the rocket launch are extremely destructive. In order to prevent sabotage, everyone was kept in the viewing area, where they could see the towering rockets and the experimental model aircraft on the launch site.

"It looks like they're courting death by launching a payload-free space shuttle right off the bat, but in reality..." It's just launching a rocket without a payload. Why attach a model aircraft, and why is the model's engine real? This relates to a lack of confidence in the rocket.

According to Lao Xia, as long as it doesn't explode directly on the launch pad or at a distance where everyone can see it, even if it explodes later, it can be pushed onto the separated rocket body and spaceship. Anyway, the Terrans don't have tracking stations or satellites, nor do they have space stations to further observe whether the spaceship has really been pushed up.

If you're lucky, you'll find a pile of debris in orbit; if you're unlucky, it'll just explode. Just say it's the spaceship separating its load. It's normal if someone finds some fragments; no further explanation is needed.

This combination of rocket and space shuttle from the outset is no different from launching a satellite with a regular rocket to the Terrans—their experience in the aerospace industry is virtually zero, and they cannot distinguish the difference in technical difficulty.

If any fool thinks Kazdel is a good option, they can give it a try themselves. Trying to take on this high-difficulty challenge right off the bat is likely to result in losing everything – I'm talking about you, Victoria!

"Countdown 3, ignition, 2, 1, launch!" The rocket ignited successfully. As a member of the Retro Rocket Club, this kind of scene was nothing to Lao Xia. The probability of it exploding on the launch pad was extremely small. He had launched more than one or two rockets.

The rocket slowly ascended, and reporters and observers stared wide-eyed as the colossal structure, as tall as a skyscraper, accelerated its way into the sky, soon becoming a tiny blue flame at the edge of their vision.

"Separate!" The operator pressed the button. This wasn't just for show; the operation was real, and the separation was real. "Bang!" With a thunderous sound, the four points of light separated in a cross shape. The doctor's cheek twitched slightly, but no one noticed. Even if they did, they would assume it was just nervousness.

"Separate the spaceship!" Old Xia calmly pressed the self-destruct button, otherwise the model spaceship would have fallen down and caused another explosion.

"Switch to sea tracking station!" If it's successful, it will switch to mountain tracking station. If it switches to sea tracking station, it means it has failed and will switch to the backup performance route.