Bleak and Desolate

As the first hibernation candidate took the hibernation drug, as the first Hibernation Pod slowly closed, as the first hibernation room shut its doors.

Humanity's great hibernation began.

Apart from the factory workers involved in spaceship construction, essential engineers, and the minimum personnel required to maintain the new government, everyone else entered the Hibernation Pods.

They included scientists, engineers, and ordinary people.

Fifty-nine-year-old astronomer Gan De, forty-six-year-old materials scientist Xu Zhenyi, fifty-three-year-old physicist Liu Miyan, thirty-two-year-old engineering mechanics Doctor Yu Nanfeng, and many other leading figures from various industries, as well as key members of the new government, all entered hibernation. Besides people, many machines and facilities also entered a state of dormancy.

Callisto Base seemed to transition from bustling activity to desolate silence overnight.

In this state, the new government's workload suddenly decreased, so much so that Yue Yuan, who was used to being busy, felt somewhat unaccustomed.

It was as if his chest was filled with a sudden sense of emptiness after being suddenly idle.

This made Yue Yuan feel out of sorts.

In this state, everything felt annoying, so Yue Yuan simply left his office and wandered around.

However, this wasn't Earth, and there wasn't much to wander around, so he just aimlessly strolled within the base.

Now, Callisto Base not only had its original underground section but also many newly built structures on the surface from the period of great construction. These buildings were scattered around the underground section and connected by a series of semi-circular tunnels.

Yue Yuan left his office and first came to the activity square.

The activity square, as the name suggests, was a place for office workers to exercise and relax. It was originally brightly lit, but now it had become very dim.

Yue Yuan hesitated, the dim light making his figure somewhat blurred. Unknowingly, he found himself in front of a huge screen.

He looked up.

Dark.

The screen had been powered off.

It was originally a screen that constantly displayed scenes of landscapes from all over Earth, such as the sea, forests, and sky, to soothe the minds of the surviving humans on Callisto.

Now, it had also entered a state of dormancy.

There were many screens like this, and besides the square, they were installed on the walls of various main passages, but now they had all gone out like this large screen.

Yue Yuan had the authority to turn this large screen back on and look at the beautiful nature to soothe his mood, but he didn't do so. Instead, he turned around and stepped into the cold passage.

"The Astronomical Observatory!"

Crossing the passage, a familiar curtain wall pattern came into view. Yue Yuan knew that he had arrived at the Astronomical Observatory.

It was called the Astronomical Observatory, but in reality, it was a building, a building with a skylight. Its dome was semi-circular, and inside was a huge optical telescope. The middle layer contained various devices connecting to satellites and radio telescope signals from various locations, and its outer walls were made of special glass.

The Astronomical Observatory, like other facilities, had also entered a state of dormancy, but it had not been completely shut down, because it was humanity's eyes, the only eyes looking out at the dangerous universe. Humans were hibernating, but their eyes still had to be open.

"Oh, it's Chief Yue. Are you here to see Chief Zhu?"

As soon as Yue Yuan entered the Astronomical Observatory, he saw a young staff member come over to greet him.

"Uh, yes, where is he?" Yue Yuan naturally couldn't say that he was just wandering around because he was in a bad mood, so he asked along with the question.

There was only one chief with the surname Zhu in the entire Callisto Base, and that was Zhu Pete, whom Yue Yuan had pushed to become the chief of the Security Department.

Yue Yuan knew that Zhu Pete would not go into hibernation until three years later, but he didn't know that this guy had actually come to the Astronomical Observatory.

"He's on the Observation Deck," the staff member replied.

"Okay." Yue Yuan nodded to express his thanks, then headed for the elevator.

The Observation Deck shouldn't have been called the Observation Deck in the first place, because its original intention was not to be built for viewing scenery. However, since it was the top floor, people on this floor could just see all the other buildings of the base outside through the glass after it was built, so it was later simply renamed the Observation Deck.

Yue Yuan walked out of the elevator and saw a figure leaning on the railing in front of the glass in the distance, seemingly gazing into the distance.

Near the elevator exit, there were two guard soldiers standing.

"Commander Yue!"

The opening of the elevator allowed the two soldiers to see Yue Yuan at the first moment, so they immediately saluted.

Yue Yuan didn't say anything, just nodded to indicate, and then turned back to give the two Security Department soldiers who were following him a look, meaning to let them stay here as well. However, this movement was also noticed by Zhu Pete, who was leaning on the railing.

"Commander Yue, why are you here!" Zhu Pete, in his uniform, immediately greeted him and gave a military salute.

"No need for formalities," Yue Yuan raised his hand in a return salute, then walked towards the railing and said, "Pi Te, shouldn't you be on duty at the Security Department? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, it's just that so many comrades have gone into Hibernation Pods, making the Security Department feel deserted all of a sudden. It's got me feeling a bit down, so I came here to clear my head." Zhu Pete took off his military cap, scratched his increasingly bald head, and turned to lean against the railing as well.

Zhu Pete, who had been following Yue Yuan since the Earth era, knew that his old superior wasn't really criticizing him for being absent from his post, so he spoke casually.

Yue Yuan, who had also come to relax, smiled when he heard Zhu Pete's words and said, "Well, I don't see your mood improving. It looks like you've lost a few more hairs."

"Tell me about it! I wonder when we'll have hair regeneration technology. If this keeps up, I'll be saying my prayers." Zhu Pete lowered his hand from his head, found another hair on his hand, and lamented with a heartfelt "Amitabha."

Yue Yuan smiled and then looked out the window, watching the scattered lights from the other buildings of Callisto Base, and said, "I heard Doctor Yi Kai say that in his era, this was a hairstyle of the strong."

What hairstyle of the strong? I'm almost out of hair, okay? Zhu Pete's face twisted in embarrassment, and he complained inwardly, then sighed, "Commander Yue, that old Doctor Yi Kai is really something. I reckon he's infected the whole Life Genetics Research Institute. I went there once, and the way they talk, it's like the Renaissance of the twenty-first century all over again."

After exchanging a few jokes with Zhu Pete, Yue Yuan felt much more relaxed. He chuckled and scolded, "Watch your words. Doctor is Doctor, not 'old man.' Be careful he doesn't make things difficult for you when he wakes up."

He knew that Zhu Pete often went to the Life Genetics Research Institute because of his hair loss.

Besides, you can't just call people 'old man,' or in a few decades, these guys will be secretly calling me an old man behind my back.