Guanghan Palace

Everything is developing in a positive direction.

Soon, the transport boat finished its acceleration phase, and the engines shut down. The transport boat would then drift towards the Moon by inertia, and after reaching the predetermined distance, it would reverse its engines to decelerate, then dock and berth with the Queqiao Transfer Station in lunar orbit.

Yue Yuan would be waiting there to switch vehicles again.

Yes, it was that troublesome. With humanity's current technological level, although it was possible for the transport boat to land directly on the Moon, the nuclear fission it used posed too great a radiation risk, making it essentially only suitable for use in space.

Shenzhou Spaceplane, Tiangong Space Station, Queqiao Transfer Station, Yutu Return Vehicle, Guanghan Palace Moon Base – Yue Yuan relied on these creations, which technology had turned from myth into reality, to reach the lunar surface.

Guanghan Palace wasn't a palace, but the name of a base composed of multiple tall buildings clustered on the lunar surface. Its full name was Guanghan Palace Base, though people generally preferred to call it Guanghan Palace.

Perhaps it was due to the beautiful vision of the Moon in their hearts.

After undergoing a safety procedure and sterilization, Yue Yuan and his party of four boarded a moon buggy and immediately headed towards their target individual.

The moon buggy was electric, equipped with solar charging panels, and of course, had wired charging ports. It was larger than a typical car, and carrying four people felt far from crowded.

Due to frequent vehicle traffic, a smooth road had been formed from the landing field to Guanghan Palace. The moon buggy soon reached a fork in the road. To the right was Artemis Base, and the moon buggy turned left here.

Although the base locations were different, the landing fields were shared.

Soon, the Guanghan Palace complex came into Yue Yuan's view.

The entire Guanghan Palace was situated within a massive lunar crater. Viewed from a distance, rows of solar panels were arranged in a circular array on the periphery, while interconnected, curved buildings were located in the center. In the spaces between the buildings and the solar panels, radar dishes shaped like pot lids were scattered.

Yue Yuan's moon buggy drove into the base through a U-shaped entrance among the solar panels. He didn't disembark outside the buildings; the moon buggy drove directly into the protruding building at the front.

This was the moon buggy parking bay.

Yue Yuan saw that after the moon buggy entered, the outer airlock door automatically closed, followed by an airlock door slowly closing with voice announcements.

Yue Yuan was very familiar with this process. Next, the parking bay would be filled with air to equalize the pressure. Once that was complete, he could open the car door and get out. At this point, the airlock door leading to the main base building would open.

If one were traveling by moon buggy, this process would be reversed.

It was similar to astronauts exiting their spacecraft in the last century, except the spacesuit was replaced by the moon buggy.

It happened to be the end of the workday. After navigating through the base, Yue Yuan and his party finally found the pre-arranged appointment, Doctor Yi.

Doctor Yi's name was Yi Kai. He held a doctorate in genetics and cellular dynamics, was an academician at the Biological Gene Research Institute, president of the Cell Biology Society, and was currently the head of the Gene Recombination Research Group at the lunar base.

When Yue Yuan found him, he had just emerged from the laboratory.

"Doctor Yi, we finally found you." Seeing the doctor, whose hair was already half white, Yue Yuan approached him with a smile.

"You are... Major General Yue?"

Doctor Yi's face first showed a look of confusion, but then his eyes widened, transforming into an expression of surprise and sudden realization.

Seeing that Yi Kai was about to call out his name, Yue Yuan quickly placed his index finger on his lips, interrupting him, and said, "Doctor Yi, may I speak with you privately?"

"Of course." Doctor Yi adjusted his glasses frame, nodded, and made a gesture to invite him. Clearly, he had received prior notification from his superiors and was aware of the general situation.

This reaction suggested he hadn't expected Yue Yuan to come in person.

Indeed, as soon as the two entered the meeting room, Yi Kai said with a smile, "Major General Yue, I am truly honored by your personal visit. To be honest, I was planning to depart for Callisto tomorrow."

"What do you mean, 'truly honored'?" Yue Yuan rolled his eyes. He looked at the doctor, who was nearly seventy but still very robust, and said, "Please don't offer such flattery. I've heard you're not usually like this."

"Hahaha!" Yi Kai laughed heartily, pulled over a nearby chair, leaned back slowly, and then looked at the standing Yue Yuan with raised eyebrows, continuing, "That depends on the person. Major General Yue, at such a young age, has managed the Callisto Base so successfully. He is a leader in the new era, deserving of a few words of flattery from this old man."

"Uh... when did he switch from 'Yi' to 'this old man'?"

Yue Yuan had heard that this old man was from the last century and had hibernated twice for some unknown reason, which was quite intriguing. This was because the use of hibernation had strict review mechanisms; not just anyone could undergo it.

What was even more impressive was that after waking from hibernation, he still stood firm in the forefront of scientific fields through his own excellent abilities, essentially supporting the future.

This information wasn't on his resume, but Yue Yuan deduced that Yi Kai should be from the legendary "Zero Zero Generation," as hibernation technology had only approached maturity in the latter half of the last century.

The law stipulated that the duration of hibernation was not counted towards age progression.

"Doctor, you're a straightforward person. However, it's best to clarify a few things beforehand. Do you know that after going to Callisto, the time of return to Earth is truly uncertain?" Yue Yuan reminded him.

He knew that people from the last century had a very strong sense of homeland, to the point of wanting their ashes returned to Earth even in death. Therefore, he offered a reminder, as this trip might mean dedicating the rest of his life there.

However, after saying that, Yue Yuan felt a bit strange. He was supposed to be escorting Yi Kai to Callisto, but it had turned into him trying to dissuade him. Moreover, he himself was also a person from the last century.

"Damn, uh..." Yi Kai habitually uttered a certain catchphrase from his era, showing no signs of being a seventy-year-old man. However, he quickly corrected himself: "Well, wherever the country needs me, I'll go. Besides, to be able to go to Callisto, the forefront of space exploration, is truly something I couldn't ask for more."

"That's excellent. However, before that, I hope you'll take a good look at these..." Yue Yuan reached behind him and took out a special internal mobile phone. After a few taps on the illuminated screen, he handed it to Yi Kai. "If there are no issues, I'll have Pi Te bring the formal documents for you to sign later."

Regarding the non-disclosure agreement, Yi Kai knew the general content of the phone when Yue Yuan said that. After all, he had signed quite a few of them.

He knew that different projects had different levels of confidentiality. However, as he casually glanced at the content, his expression became solemn.

After a while, Yi Kai, who had finished reading the content with a serious look and a trembling beard, looked up at Yue Yuan, only to find that Yue Yuan had walked to the meeting room window at some point and was looking at something.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Yi Kai murmured.

He hadn't expected that the project he was about to participate in was classified as top secret, and specifically emphasized, meaning the confidentiality period wasn't twenty years but lifelong.

Yue Yuan's ears were sensitive and he heard it. He turned around and smiled, "It's not exaggerated, it's normal procedure."

"The project..."

"I can only tell you the project details once we reach Callisto. What do you say, are you still going?"

"Yes, absolutely... uh, I must go!"

"Pack your things, we leave precisely at 7:30 tonight."

Seeing how direct and resolute Yi Kai was, Yue Yuan wasted no more words and finalized the itinerary.

Actually, if he hadn't seen in the files that Yi Kai was quite old, he wouldn't have come down to pick him up personally. Since the appointment had already been made, he could have just waited at Callisto Base.

It's just that this project was rather special. It genuinely concerned him, and he absolutely had to participate in it. Therefore, Yue Yuan felt it would be better to meet the main person in charge of the project first.

After all, while he didn't mind giving the serum for research, it would always feel more comfortable to give it to someone he understood better.

This simple meeting left Yue Yuan with a good impression of his future project leader. Despite his age, he was a man of character.

Having received notice earlier, Yi Kai quickly wrapped up the last of his affairs and, with clean efficiency, followed Yue Yuan, embarking on their journey to Callisto.