Dark Age

This celestial simulation system used the Sun as its reference point, so the rapidly changing numbers clearly indicated that the planet was moving rapidly relative to its original position around the Sun. That was normal—but Callisto was not.

For a clearer view, Gan De gestured for Xiao Yu to zoom out further until most of the Solar System was visible.

"We've been flung away!!!" Yue Yuan finally saw it clearly.

"According to the observational data, that is indeed the case." Gan De fell silent for a moment before saying as calmly as he could, "As we can see, the immensely powerful shockwave produced by the Sun's explosion, along with the reduction in Gravity caused by its loss of most of its mass, directly altered Jupiter's original orbit.

"At the same time, Callisto and Jupiter's other moons that had not yet been destroyed by the shockwave were all scattered by this series of complex forces. Jupiter eventually became a Rogue Planet after losing the Sun's Gravity."

"Callisto, where we are, was initially protected by Jupiter, but its surface temperature still briefly exceeded 2.5 million degrees Celsius. With temperatures throughout the Solar System soaring, not a single planet could escape unscathed."

Gan De continued explaining the conclusions drawn from the observational data. "Fortunately, Callisto Base was sturdy enough and buried deep enough. Otherwise, we would never have had another chance to return to the surface."

Yue Yuan knew that. He nodded and added, "I heard the first group of staff who went up said that when they set foot on the surface, there was still molten lava everywhere around the entrance. If the engineers hadn't calculated everything so precisely, we would have faced the risk of lava flooding back in as well."

"Yes. If even one link in the chain had gone wrong, we would have been doomed beyond redemption." Gan De sighed.

As he spoke, he straightened his somewhat aching back and remarked that old age had truly taken its toll on his body before continuing, "Callisto has now broken free of Jupiter's gravitational range and is heading into the dark universe at an angle of 17.3 degrees to the Sun's ecliptic plane.

"Not only Callisto—several moons that survived the disaster, such as Saturn VIII, Saturn XVII, and Saturn XXXI, were also flung out of the Solar System."

At this point, Gan De could not hide the lingering fear on his face. "In fact, we were quite fortunate. Many moons fell toward Jupiter during this process and were torn to pieces when they crossed Jupiter's Roche Limit. Heaven watched over us; we were lucky not to share their fate."

Who could have imagined that, without even realizing it, the surviving humans had escaped another catastrophe?

Logically speaking, with such a drastic orbital change, the humans on Callisto should have been able to detect it through their instruments. But at the time, in order to conserve energy, nearly all scientific detection equipment had been shut down.

However, according to estimates, when the great disaster struck, the violent shockwaves threw the Solar System into tremendous chaos. Under the influence of the chaotic Gravity Fields, the orbits of the celestial bodies underwent a series of complex changes and chain reactions, resulting in the current situation.

"Does that mean Callisto will become a Rogue Planet, and we'll fall into that vast, dark universe along with it?!" Yue Yuan murmured. It sounded like a question, but it carried far more shock than inquiry.

"Yes. At Callisto's current relative velocity and position, it will cross Uranus's original orbit in three years and completely leave the original Solar System in thirty years." Gan De gestured at the screen as he spoke.

"In other words, we will drift farther and farther from the stellar remnants until we can no longer receive even a trace of light. No—that is not quite right. We are already in darkness. The Sun did not become a White Dwarf Star; it was blown apart into a Nebula. So, clearly, like the many planets in the Solar System that have not yet vanished, we are still within this cooling remnant Nebula."

What utterly dreadful news!

The Sun had been blasted into a Nebula. The entire Solar System would never be the same again. Without enough Gravity to bind the surviving planets, those planets would gradually go their separate ways as well.

This meant that the surviving humans would enter a Dark Age. For a long time to come, humanity would be unable to obtain even the slightest bit of energy from a star, and before long, they would face a true energy crisis.

They might even wither away alongside Callisto in the frigid universe, perishing in some unknown corner of space.

That was the fatal part—the outcome Yue Yuan could already foresee.

Because humanity did not possess the capability for interstellar voyages.

Humanity might have been able to build such a massive base on Callisto before this, but the distance from Earth to Jupiter was not a distance at all on the interstellar scale. There was simply no comparison.

Truly, when it rained, it poured; when the ship was late, it met a headwind. Misfortunes never came alone.

"What direction is Callisto heading in?" Yue Yuan asked only after a moment of silence, his voice full of hope.

Gan De gave a bitter smile. How could he not wish for a Star System to lie in Callisto's path? But the Solar System was already in a remote backwater of the Milky Way Galaxy, and even the nearest Centaurus Trinary Star System had been destroyed. The chance of Callisto, randomly flung away amid the chaos, heading toward a Star System was nearly zero.

"There is no Star System. Based on Callisto's current direction, we will eventually pass through the empty space where Van Maanen's Star, Epsilon Indi A, and the GJ9066 Star System are located. But this is only a preliminary analysis. More accurate data will have to wait until the ejected matter from the Centaurus Trinary Star System sweeps past us."

Because this was Gan De's field of expertise, he did most of the talking.

Perhaps from standing too long, Gan De's feet had grown tired. He pulled over a chair from the side and sat down before continuing, "The diffuse remnant gas cloud formed by the Mass Ejection from the Centaurus Trinary Star System will probably encounter us in thirty-three years. But I don't think the impact will be too great. The distance is already considerable. With our technological capabilities, at worst we can hide farther underground on Callisto for a while. Mm, electronic equipment may be affected, though. We'll need experts in the relevant fields to think of a solution."

Yue Yuan understood that Gan De was doing his best, from the information he possessed and from his own perspective, to remind him that the disaster was not over.

"Mm. I'll have experts from every field gather to discuss it later. There's nothing wrong with preparing for a rainy day." Yue Yuan readily accepted Gan De's meaning.

He also knew that Gan De would not be mistaken. The Sun had been blown apart so thoroughly that it had not even qualified to become a White Dwarf Star. The Centaurus Trinary Star System presumably would not be an exception.

"The good news is that after Callisto was heated, we won't need to worry about energy for the next few decades," Gan De said again.

Before Yue Yuan could rejoice, Gan De opened his mouth and delivered another piece of bad news. "But precisely because of that, we may need to worry about other resources."

"This... shouldn't be much of a problem." Thinking it was something more serious, Yue Yuan let out a breath of relief.

"Oh?" Gan De had not expected Yue Yuan to say that the problem he was worried about was not much of a problem.

"We have Callisto." Yue Yuan smiled.