Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"Carbon will be made into carbon nanotube transistors and graphene substrates, while the source stone particles will become circuits, gold will become capacitors, lead will become shielding meshes, and finally, polymer ceramic materials will become resistors and other components. In this way, this thing can be quickly produced into most of the currently known general-purpose electronic parts, and carbon nanomaterials themselves can also be made into protective plates, building materials, etc."

Will there be any residual radiation?

"No, the energy from the overcharged Originium will be separated out in the first step of the manufacturing process to charge the manufacturing machine itself. However, while this makes it more convenient to use, it also increases the energy consumption of manufacturing several times and requires a large amount of high-quality Originium minerals."

“If the target planet doesn’t have Originium, you’ll have to find another way.” Old Xia pushed the cube to the center of the table. “Also, a word of caution: although this thing looks quite unique, I still don’t recommend using it as a decoration, because it’s really radioactive.” “Then could it be used as some kind of new battery technology?”

"Ah, you guessed right, that's right." Old Xia then took out a new cube, which was a bit longer and thinner than the previous one. "Ah, this is a model. The real thing is about 3 meters tall, with a base length of 50 centimeters. Including the base, it's a standard golden ratio cuboid."

"Um, does it have any special significance?"

"No, it's just more aesthetically pleasing." Lao Xia explained that the proportions are actually adjustable, but to avoid a large number of strangely sized products during transportation and storage, which would make it difficult to use them uniformly, he ultimately decided on this standard.

So-called standards are often just like that, especially when it comes to something completely new. It's like the railway: the world has been suffering from the "two horses' butts" for a long time, but it's all for naught, and we still have to grit our teeth and keep using it.

It's estimated that in the future, all batteries in the Terran civilization will be based on this block design. Otherwise, it would be like replacing all industrial batteries, charging interfaces, cables, and bases worldwide, just like replacing global railway tracks.

"Essentially, it's still the same thing. It contains overcharged Originium particles and a diamond structure. The Originium energy inside can be guided out using a special discharge port. By the way, this technology comes from the lab where Columbia University graduates graduated. It's their field-effect energy transfer system, which can directly input the Originium energy inside this pillar into a special magic-like device to power all the surrounding receivers."

"So how do you charge it?"

"It's disposable and doesn't need charging. However, I've exchanged patents with RheinLife, so I'll leave the subsequent development of the charging version to them."

Old Xia said that he is not a professional energy industry expert. He is just using the existing technology to make a simple building block game. The general direction has already exhausted his imagination and basic knowledge. As for more professional development and improvement, he would leave it to the professionals.

"You gathered everyone here today just to announce this?" While the new battery and material standards are indeed a big deal, there's no need to call everyone over.

"No, I wanted to talk about something else. The reason I brought this up first was just to give you a heads-up." Old Xia shook his head. "The reason I called you all here is that the expedition team has lost contact. Well, I wouldn't say they've lost contact; all their responses are now automated."

"Is it possible that they've already left and only left you with an answering machine?"

"It's possible, but if that's the case, it means our express delivery business will be completely impossible. Without the opening of the superfluid channel over there, our spacecraft will have to fly by itself, and even with the warp drive running, it will take several years to fly. Considering engine overheating, if we have to stop midway for cooling and maintenance, it may actually take about 10 years to fly." Lao Xia said that if the scientific expedition team leaves, the situation will be even more complicated.

"Then, perhaps something has happened?"

"If that's the case, the good news is that the spaceship over there is still there and can still provide basic response and navigation guidance. However, receiving and sending cargo and small spaceships will be almost impossible." Old Xia also discovered this because his unmanned delivery boat had not arrived for a long time.

"Is there any way to contact the other party and verify the problem?"

There's really no way. This isn't a simple car accident on the road that you call the police. While these kinds of organizations and departments can receive and send emails, and Lao Xia can send packages and deliver express mail without any problem, it's almost impossible to find them when something really happens.

Even if nothing happens, if the other party is unwilling to help, all you can find to find their communication address and receiving unit is a string of proxy email addresses and empty numbers—forwarded and received by certain units and automatic devices, without any direct communication or contact method—at least no channel that someone of Lao Xia's level could find and use.

In other words, Lao Xia couldn't even report the incident to the police on the public internet, because he didn't even know the specific unit name or code name of the scientific expedition team, nor did he know their real mail and mail addresses. What's more troublesome is that if it really was a secret expedition, apart from the relevant personnel, no one else could ask or ask.

In other words, even if he reports it to the police, the relevant air traffic control department will contact the Star Alliance department, and they will only give a formulaic reply of "no such matter found." Of course, on the other hand, such actions are carried out through regular communication.

If they don't raise any alarms internally, it means the operation is still under control and there's no need to pay attention to this investigation. If something really happens and regular communication is lost, then their relevant agencies will start their own secret investigation and handling, and there's no need for Lao Xia to overstep his bounds.

"Then, check the ship's information?" Kal'tsit offered a completely unhelpful suggestion. The reason it was unhelpful was that such ship information could definitely not be found on the public internet.

"Forget about it, I don't even know what their ship is called."

"Isn't that the Little Wildcat?"

"That's the ship's registered name. This name is only updated in the records when the owner changes. In reality, the name on the registration form and the name they claim to have, as well as the name painted on the hull, may be completely different." It may have changed more than a dozen names, not to mention the countless duplicate names.

"What we really need is their unique registered hull number, the kind that starts with SS. Think back, did they tell us their hull number from the beginning?"

Covenant ships are numbered according to different rules based on their type. Scientific ships start with SS, the second letter indicates their purpose, for example, SS-D is a data collection type scientific ship, followed by a string of numbers, and the last few letters represent the place of registration.

By looking at the serial number, you can quickly identify what kind of ship it is, what it's used for, and where its main area of ​​operation is. The troublesome part is that this is the kind of publicly available information. If, as Lao Xia suspected, it is some kind of spaceship with a certain degree of secrecy...

The numbering system following SS is completely different, and it is encrypted. Only professionals can identify what the spaceship does and where it operates.

"The reason we didn't call everyone up immediately is partly because it's a confidential scientific expedition, and it's normal to temporarily cut off contact." Moreover, the other party obviously had no obligation to inform us, so it's completely unclear whether their loss of contact was "planned" or "unplanned."

What if they were on edge for a while, only to find out it was a normal, in-depth exploration, with everyone going down to the planet's surface and only basic duty personnel on board, or perhaps they flew into some area with communication barriers? And this plan had already been communicated and approved by their superiors—it was just that there was no need or obligation to inform Lao Xia, which could have caused a misunderstanding.

"Also, there's nothing we can do, so just knowing this is enough. It means that the external aid we receive will be further reduced." Whatever the situation, it means that they can't spare the resources to deal with Terra.

"And we have to speed things up. The situation with the expedition team is unstable. You don't want to fly halfway and then lose the damn navigation signal, do you?"

"But the Ark..."

"We can't speed things up over there, but we can shorten the preparation time."

"Start now? That's far too dangerous." Building a ship while simultaneously loading it with loads is even more dangerous than the previous rough repairs to the power grid system.

"What else can we do?" Things have come to this point, and we have no choice but to face the danger head-on, because it is just danger, not certain death. But if we don't do this, then we are certain death.

"Furthermore, all of Terra's self-produced equipment is now handed over to Terra's companies and manufacturers. As long as the quality and production capacity meet the requirements, that's fine. We don't need to consider anything else." For example, if the performance parameters are insufficient, we need to add more materials to solve the problem. Or, for example, some subsequent structural adjustments, etc.

"And I've only been producing one thing here recently," that is, transport spaceships. Moreover, Lao Xia is planning to improve the most critical engine production line. This is not because he has the ability to improve the efficiency of this part, but because he plans to cut a lot of unnecessary material processing and quality inspection procedures.

The entire hull sacrifices all performance aspects, including durability, stability, and safety, in exchange for gains in carrying capacity and manufacturing speed that outweigh the losses.

"Another thing is to urge other countries to build their launch sites as quickly as possible, and the launch sites themselves should be as economical as possible." Of course, doing so will result in many workplace injuries, and there is a high probability of accidents in the future.

But even the most serious accident would only result in the death of a few hundred people on a ship, and for that, three or four times more spaceships could be produced, sending thousands more people on board in the shortest amount of time. At this point, the loss of life could only be accounted for in this way.

Not to mention, accidents are just a matter of probability. If you're lucky, accidents might not happen so frequently. As for the future, what future is there? These spaceships just need to hold out until the "Great Transfer" is completed, and that's all that matters.

In contrast to the tension and pressure on the Kazdel leadership, Xingyuan, who was visiting space for the first time, was in a carefree state of ignorance and fearlessness.

"Hahahaha!" The little bluebird spread its arms in mid-air, forming a cross, and slowly rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, emitting cheerful laughter.

"Ms. Elena, stop playing around and come down to help move the boxes." There aren't many people allowed to go to the Ark Lab, so they can't exploit the interns. Interns want to go to the space station lab? You're dreaming!

Therefore, Xingyuan also needs to help with these non-physical tasks. Here, there is almost no gravity. The artificial gravity inside the Ark has been removed. In the doctor's words, it's like saying, "Osteoporosis or being crushed to pieces, choose one."

Without gravity, a heavy box on the ground only needs a little force to slowly float towards its target. However, once it starts to slide, controlling its direction and speed becomes much more difficult.

"How many more boxes do we need to move?"

“A whole ship!” Saria said in a harsh tone. Compared to her, Dorothy didn’t have the same strong presence she had in the lab. She held onto Xingyuan’s hand and whispered something.

A few people carried aluminum alloy boxes into the empty laboratory warehouse. Inside were experimental equipment and consumables, as well as laboratory animals, including Originium Bugs and Flower Bugs in cages.

"Don't let these little things get out, or the control center will shut down our airlock." Just kidding, once things like Originium Bugs lay eggs and hatch inside the Ark and spread, the maintenance department's workload will explode.

"Not even flower beetles?"

"No, not flower beetles either!" These small beetles have an amazing reproductive rate, just like cockroaches on Earth. Once a few escape, they will soon be everywhere on the ark.

"And these life science labs need mammals and fish."

Why are there fish?

"They want to study the effects of the space environment on the sea cells we collected. This research has been approved by the management committee, and Agor Life Laboratory will be working with us." No one is comfortable letting Rhine Life do this alone, so it is reasonable and reliable to have several people supervise each other and check for problems.

"Will they also shut off the air brakes if something goes wrong?"

“No,” Saria glanced at the indifferent researchers around her and said coldly, “They’ll use a big enough bomb to blow us all out, people and facilities, before these things leak and infect, regardless of whether there are still people inside.”

"If you don't want to be inexplicably influenced by your colleagues, ending up floating in space like a coffin, suffocating to death after taking your last breath, then you'd better focus half your attention on things other than the work at hand, especially the safety measures."

"However, I won't give you a chance. From today onwards, if any security personnel discover any non-compliance, even just once, you will be sent back, and your project will be frozen. This is the board's requirement." More than 200 billion has been poured in and only a ripple has been seen. The board doesn't want this thing to be blown into a pile of space debris before it even recoups its investment.

"I'll sing you a farewell song then," Xingyuan said gloatingly.

"Singing them to their funeral?" Saria glanced at her. "Mind your own business. The Kazdel Institute has almost twenty complaint letters to you." The main point is that this guy is a bit idle, wandering around everywhere. Although he's become a familiar face, he's also caused a lot of trouble.

Chapter Ninety-Four: The Full Picture of the Plan

Chapter Ninety-Four

In the Ark, at the Rhine Lab, in the residential area, a blue-haired girl floats in mid-air, rotating slightly in the weightless environment. She seems completely unaffected by this, holding a folder in her hand and reviewing her upcoming work.

How to conduct electricity using the silver fluid developed by Dorothy and the nanofluids outsourced on the Ark involves her previous main project in the Energy Department, namely the remote Originium energy transfer experiment. However, because there are many new materials and technologies, she also needs to keep abreast of the latest developments and available technologies.

In fact, this experiment does not necessarily need to be carried out on the Ark. A significant portion of the work is done on the ground. It is only because on the ground, due to gravity, the fluid can form a continuous silver thread. However, in a weightless environment, the problem is how to prevent these nanofluids from turning into countless liquid water droplets.

Furthermore, in a zero-gravity environment, it is difficult for particles to be squeezed together due to gravity. So, whether the particles can still work stably when the actual energy transfer distance between particles increases by 2 to 3 times and the gaps are unstable needs to be determined in a zero-gravity environment.

In addition, this circuit system also needs to be tested to see if it can work properly under the high-energy particle radiation of space. If not, then what materials are needed for shielding? Therefore, Little Bluebird needs to work hard during this period.

Testing, recording, changing materials, processes, structures, and even deep protocols, then testing and recording again—it's a painstaking process. However, compared to materials science, it's quite interesting. At least, she only needs to test a few types of materials, and more importantly, she needs to test various structures while simultaneously advancing theoretical research.

"Okay!" Little Bluebird closed the folder. "That's all for today's work. Time for bed!"

Like most Liberians, her daily routine is affected by the Ark's spin, making her sleep and wakefulness very unstable. However, compared to Himeru and White Owl, who need to consume caffeine every day, she is considered to have a healthy and regular lifestyle.

Just as I finished putting away my folder and was about to go to bed, a fleeting shadow appeared outside the porthole. Another Ghost Shark approached Ark Station, slowly moving along the repaired side harbor into the first sector harbor where Star Source was located.

"What kind of cargo is this?" The porter pressed a button on the automated logistics system screen, and the pitch-black hull of the giant ship opened, releasing one after another opaque, emerald-green pillars onto the transport tracks. Every ten pillars were fitted into a prefabricated alloy frame and then transported along the tracks to the transport area, or warehouse area, at the rear of the ark. This transport process had been going on for quite some time.

"Who knows? Maybe some animal embryos or plants," the foreman said nonchalantly. "Didn't Rhine Lab and Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals send up quite a few similar things before?"

In the transport module area, the main structure has been completed, and the hexagonal prism structure composed of six modules is completely enclosed by a protective shell. Workers are now installing a ring force field generator and a protective deck on the two outermost track supports.

It also extends outwards with slender rotating arms, the ends of which are the logistics docking bays between the navigation equipment and the transport area.

Near the main body of the ark, the workboats gradually connected the individual spherical chambers to the main trunk. These spherical chambers contained various liquefied gases, including oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and compressed carbon dioxide.

Further afield, much smaller than the massive main engine, only about half the size of the column is fixed to the main support. Officially called the Ark's fuel tank and auxiliary power compartment, it is actually a separate propulsion engine used for separation from the Ark, and also includes a deceleration function.

"Buzz!" The drone flew around the outside of the transport cabin, and three smaller ring-shaped structures were taking shape, located at the beginning, end and middle of the hexagonal prism.

The overall outer ring structure looks like an independent space station, and in fact it is. It includes an independent attitude control system, life support system and a large number of electronic facilities.

"The End of the World Project is divided into five phases," the Doctor projected five images onto the panel. "Phase One: Ark Docking."

"The entire Ark orbit insertion process is divided into three steps. First, after arriving at the target star system, the main body is separated and the main launch vehicle is put into orbit. Second, the various sectors of the Ark body are separated, with the material storage area directly entering the atmosphere and the remaining monitoring sector remaining in orbit. Finally, after confirming that the first two stages are completed, the Ark core Sail constellation is separated and put into a synchronous orbit."

The doctor pointed to three structural blueprints on the whiteboard. The first was the fully deployed main body of the launch vehicle, the second was the compartment including the Ark core system, and the third was the separable structure with six sectors.

“I’ve named them Tar-1, Tar-2, and Tar-3,” the doctor continued. “Tar-1 is the core station, the Sail constellation. It’s responsible for preserving all of Terra’s historical data and science and technology. This is our foundation. It will provide a range of services and functions in orbit, including terrain scanning, mineral exploration, and communications relay, all controlled by the Sail constellation core.”

“Tavia is a colony station where more than 90% of the colonists are in a state of hibernation. It is divided into six layers and six areas, with one administrator in each area. They are awakened one by one. In other words, if all the administrators are awakened, it means that either the colonization plan has been completely successful or it has almost completely failed.”

"Finally, there's Titan III, which consists of the six sector structures on the Ark and various auxiliary facilities of the Ark that are launched. Most of the supplies in the storage compartment will be released into the atmosphere in the second phase, while the rest will operate in orbit under the control of Titan I, providing supplies for subsequent plans or... serving as simple backup supplies." The remaining Ark structures and thrusters will have to be abandoned, left to drift further into space.

"In the second phase of the End of the World, deploy Antares II, awaken the first site administrator, and under the guidance of Antares I and Sailboat, awaken and deploy exploration operators. After identifying colonizable areas, deploy the integrated industrial core to establish an initial colony camp."

The images show numerous conceptual diagrams of colonial camps and the general process of deploying industrial cores.

"After determining that the camp can accommodate more residents and manpower, awaken more necessary personnel and exploration agents, expand outward, and establish more small colonial camps. When these camps are connected to form a large city, the third phase begins."

The image projected by the doctor was a conceptual colonial city, resembling a structure made up of large and small hemispherical tents. This was just a concept image; the specific design would have to wait until the launched probe reached its destination. Even using jump warp, it would take several years to reach the target point.

Fortunately, this probe was launched from the initial research team's location, and it should be able to enter the target system in about one or two months. Then, it will take several weeks to jump to the target planet and begin observations.

"The third phase will involve awakening ordinary Terran refugees and gradually settling them on the surface of the target planet until saturation is reached. Then, subsequent administrators will be awakened to establish a second colony hub. Once all six colony hubs are completed, the plan will enter the fourth phase."

"The last two phases are actually quite simple. The fifth phase is to ensure the Terrans' fertility and reproductive capacity on the target planet. In order to reduce the risks of ground colonization and potential mutations and pollution, large-scale breeding activities are not allowed in principle during the first four phases to avoid genetic mutations caused by environmental radiation or the collapse of the entire society in a short period of time due to a rapid increase in population."