Riot

After the ocean of light swept past, there came a Mass Ejection traveling at one-tenth the speed of light. The ejected stellar matter would sweep across the entire planetary system, pass Jupiter in seven hours, and spread into the endless universe.

Jupiter shielded the survivors of Callisto Base from it all.

"Conspiracy! It's all a conspiracy!" An abrupt voice rang out from the orderly crowd evacuating to the lower levels of the base.

The people turned toward the voice. Seeing that he had drawn everyone's attention, the man immediately shouted, "We've all been deceived! Think about it—how could the Sun suddenly undergo a Supernova Explosion? Yue Yuan lied to you! He wants to betray humanity! Don't go down to the lower levels! Once you're down there, your lives will be in someone else's hands!"

As he spoke, the man pointed at Yue Yuan, who was giving a speech on the television screen. He looked furious, as though Yue Yuan owed him money.

The confused crowd immediately came to a halt.

They had only trusted the base out of habit. When they saw everyone packing up and heading for the lower levels, they followed along. Besides, the news that both the Sun and the Centaurus Trinary Star System had exploded was simply too shocking. They were still drowning in shock and grief and had not given it much thought.

Now that someone had shouted this out, some people who considered themselves clever began to have doubts.

"Yeah! The Sun going supernova at the same time as the Centaurus Trinary Star System? How could there be such a coincidence? That story is full of holes, and I almost believed it. What the hell!"

"Exactly! What kind of absurd lie is that? Even if aliens really existed, it couldn't be that coincidental. Rather than believe this nonsense, I'd rather send Qin Shi Huang fifty bucks!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment before voices of sudden realization began to ring out.

Of course, there were also opposing opinions.

"Trust science! They've shown you the images, and you still don't believe them? Besides, there's a whole group of scientists here. Do you think the Base Chief is stupid enough to make up such a lie?"

The opposing voice was immediately met with a sneer. It was the voice of the man who had first raised the alarm. "Heh, of course he isn't stupid. He's actually very clever. Otherwise, how could he get so many experts to back up his lies? Think carefully—if it weren't for those experts behind him, if it weren't for Dr. Gan De, would you have believed him right away?

"What is this? He's exploiting your habitual way of thinking. You think astronomers must be trustworthy? What you don't know is that Yue Yuan has already controlled those people. They're all endorsing him now!"

"But the videos can't be faked!" someone argued hesitantly. Anyone could tell from his voice that he had already begun to waver. After all, he truly did not want to believe that the Sun was simply gone.

"Heh, images and videos? Think about it. If you only saw those scattered clips, and no one told you it was the Sun exploding, how would any of you know it was the Sun?

"To put it bluntly, aren't there plenty of technologies for generating videos and images now? They could casually make images of similar stars, and no one would know. Think about it—why is Dr. Gan De here? If they have an astronomer under their control, what kind of similar star can't they produce?"

"That's true. And what does a Supernova Explosion have to do with all humanity dying? It's not like Earth exploded," someone in the crowd chimed in. Clearly, this person had no real understanding of supernovae.

In fact, there were quite a few people like that in the base. If Yue Yuan had not repeatedly mentioned the Centaurus Trinary Star System in the video, such people would not even have known what it was.

Of course, that only meant they did not know much about astronomy. It did not mean they were useless.

Those who could come to Callisto Base generally possessed some skills. At the very least, they had jobs here. They were not that incompetent; it was simply a matter of specialization.

Just then, a shout came from behind the crowd. "What's going on with the line up ahead? Don't crowd the passageway! The people behind can't move! Grab your belongings and catch up with the main group!"

As the voice drew closer, a soldier in a Security Department uniform could be seen hopping toward the congested area.

Callisto's gravity was approximately one-eighth of Earth's gravity. Soldiers who had stayed here for a long time knew how to walk faster without falling over.

"What's going on?" the soldier asked again after arriving at the scene.

His question silenced the crowd that had just been yelling and echoing one another. No one seemed willing to stick their neck out.

Still, this group was rather amusing. None of them wanted to take the lead, yet all of them turned their eyes toward the man who had started it.

Seeing this, the Security Department soldier followed their gazes and found a bespectacled man standing at their focal point. He appeared to be around forty, dressed in a suit and tie, looking refined and polite.

"Are you the one causing trouble?" The soldier hopped over and asked.

As he spoke, he tapped the device on his left forearm several times, then aimed the raised camera at the man and snapped two pictures.

Clearly, he was collecting the man's facial information and sending it back to the system's mainframe to retrieve his records.

"Hahaha, what a serious accusation. You slap me with a charge of causing trouble the moment you arrive." Rather than being afraid, the man burst out laughing. "Yes, I told everyone to stop, but I wasn't causing trouble. I was telling everyone the truth, exposing Yue Yuan's absurd lie about the end of the world."

"Han Dongxu, shareholder of Jiuhe Trading Group. Arrived on Callisto three months ago for trade." The soldier read the information he had found, then said sternly, "I don't care who you are, and I don't want to waste words on you. I can tell you that your current actions have already constituted the crime of disturbing public order. It can be treated lightly or severely. During this extraordinary period, you could receive at least three months of detention.

"If you refuse to heed warnings and delay the evacuation, causing harm and losses to the public when disaster strikes, you could receive at least seven years in prison. I hope you know what's good for you."

"Heh, trying to scare me with the law? Do you think I was raised to be scared?" Han Dongxu was not afraid. Instead, he shouted, "Don't let them fool you! Yue Yuan is anti-humanity, and these people are his lackeys!"

"Heh."

That shout actually amused the soldier who had come to maintain order. Anti-humanity? Lackeys? The man had truly lost his mind.

Yue Yuan held great prestige among the Security Department soldiers and was also very popular on Callisto. Yet now he was being called anti-humanity and accused of deceiving the public. The soldier almost felt like laughing.

Of all the excuses he could make up, he chose this one.

"Everyone, keep moving. Don't delay the evacuation." The soldier shook his head and loudly urged the crowd to speed up. Then he turned to Han Dongxu and said, "No one is forcing you to go down. If you don't believe it, turn around and go back up. There are Spacesuits in the lockers on the left side of the upper level. Go outside the base and see for yourself. Oh, right—don't blame me if you die."

"Alarmist nonsense." Han Dongxu snorted but did not move.

"Xiao Sheng, what's going on here? Why has it been blocked for so long? The people behind have been waiting for over twenty minutes." Just then, another call came from farther back in the line.

"Team leader? Some guy's causing trouble. I'll handle it right away." The soldier called Xiao Sheng responded. Then, before his team leader could hop over, he immediately lunged forward, braced one foot against a protrusion in the floor, grabbed Han Dongxu's arm, and yanked him out.

Under a Gravity Environment of one-eighth Earth gravity, Han Dongxu was yanked into the air in a single pull, then slammed onto the floor with a smack.

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