494. Having Done It, There Was No Turning Back

When Lu Ban saw the shelf, his first thought was that the original inhabitants of this planet might have really flown away.

That's clearly a rocket launch platform; the surrounding buildings are for manufacturing and maintaining rockets.

He walked in front, with Frostheart following behind, and the two entered the abandoned city.

Without the robots' maintenance, the place is clearly much more dilapidated.

Lu Ban saw some robots by the roadside. Most of the robots were broken, damaged, and out of power, obviously because the power supply equipment here was no longer usable.

If the solar panels in Future City malfunction, Lin and the others probably wouldn't have been able to hold on until now.

Or rather, it is already a miracle that it has been able to work continuously for hundreds of years in such harsh conditions.

"No insect swarm has been here yet, otherwise they wouldn't have left these metals behind."

Frostheart reached out and touched the head of one of the robots that was no longer moving, muttering to herself.

The robot's eyes were dull, like a corpse. There were many such corpses scattered on the street.

Suddenly, the head made a cracking sound.

Frostheart subconsciously withdrew her hand, accidentally touching the robot's head. The metal lump rolled to the ground, spun twice, and stopped at Lu Ban's feet.

"Wind."

Lu Ban said something.

As the wind and sand blew by, the robot corpses swayed. The head of the robot from earlier made a sound because it was being blown by the wind.

"This must have been some kind of laboratory, but unfortunately the building has collapsed, and the equipment and materials inside are probably long gone."

Lu Ban whispered something and then looked at Frostheart.

"What did you mean when you said the swarm hadn't come?"

"The swarm will also eat metal; they won't let go of metals like this. They will devour everything except Stone and sand on the ground."

Frostheart said with lingering fear.

"So, if there is still so much metal here, it means that they haven't visited the vicinity recently."

"Sparrows eat it."

Lu Ban nodded in agreement. If the insects didn't devour steel, then with the previous level of technology, it would be a piece of cake to create some Terminator-like combat robots. Wouldn't an army of these robots be enough to suppress the insect swarm?

It is precisely because these insect swarms eat everything that humans are powerless to resist them.

Most of the buildings had collapsed. Lu Ban carefully examined the signs that were still intact, and the words on them read things like "Research Institute", "Experimental Center" and "Office".

One can imagine that at that time, the people living in Future City would come here during the day to research ways to save the world, and they would not return even late at night. The artificial plants in the Ecological Park and the music of the robots were perhaps the only Pathway to soothe their souls.

Lu Ban was curious about what exactly they had researched here, and whether the rocket launch center had ever successfully launched a rocket.

He and Frostheart walked towards the launch pad.

The buildings closer to that location are relatively well-preserved, as if they radiate outwards from there.

Lu Ban saw a two-story building that looked precarious and decided to go inside to take a look.

First, while Frostheart wasn't paying attention, Lu Ban used Silver Pen to write down the words on Last Words.

[Sturdy].

Then, while holding onto the wall, he walked in.

The place was in a mess, whether it had been looted or the people who left were in too much of a hurry, most of the papers were rotten, and the electronic devices had lost power. Lu Ban opened the almost broken drawer and found a notebook inside.

Instead of taking it out rashly, Lu Ban wrote some words on it with a fountain pen.

[intact].

He then picked up the notebook.

The notebook contained experimental records. As a liberal arts student, Lu Ban couldn't understand the complex formulas and calculations, but he could tell from the text that it seemed to be about rocket research. Moreover, it wasn't the ordinary calculations needed to leave this planet, but rather some more complex data needed to travel to a farther destination.

He picked up the tablet again and wrote the words "intact" on it.

Suddenly, the tablet computer lit up.

After being silent for hundreds of years, the tablet computer lit up again.

The operation of tablets is similar in many ways, and Lu Ban figured it out after a little study.

The background of the tablet computer showed a little girl with an innocent smile, Lu Ban guessed that she might be the researcher's daughter.

Lu Ban opened the photo album.

The first photo in the album is of a family of three. The little girl is standing in the middle, flanked by a young couple who look somewhat tired, but their eyes still shine brightly.

Following that were some simple everyday photos, mostly of the woman and her children.

It appears that the researcher is the husband.

Next comes the research content.

The formulas on the blackboard, photos of various devices, and images that Lu Ban couldn't understand or knew how they were taken—then, Lu Ban saw a rocket.

It was a rocket with an industrial aesthetic, located on the launch pad, shining brightly in the golden sunlight.

This photo has no special technique involved, yet it is full of power and confidence.

Lu Ban glanced at the apps on the tablet. Besides the usual chat software, there was also a notepad app.

Upon opening it, Lu Ban discovered that there were many audio clips inside.

He started playing the music in chronological order.

[My first day at the base was very difficult; the rooms were so cramped, it felt like being in prison. But when I thought about what I was about to do, nothing else mattered. I knew I could do it!]

The beef noodles in the commercial street taste really good, exactly the same as the ones I had back home. Sigh, the more I eat, the more homesick I become.

The research isn't progressing smoothly. I know the thing is there, but we need more sophisticated instruments to get the data. Tomorrow, we must succeed tomorrow!

[I'm thinking of giving up, let humanity just perish. I heard my colleagues in the biology group made a breakthrough, and maybe policy will shift in that direction. Damn it, what the hell is this?!]

We've already done so much, what else can we do but keep going?

I've realized I've been misunderstanding something all along. We can't just use brute force to send a rocket there; no amount of energy would be enough. What we need to do is build a bridge to connect the two, using the potential energy difference between the two spaces to allow the rocket to move automatically.

My thinking is correct. I believe we have found a way to save humanity. Although it's regrettable that this means we may have to abandon this planet, it's a necessary sacrifice for the survival of humanity.

The second experiment went smoothly as well, but I kept feeling like I heard something. I'm not sure if the other side of the bridge is an open area; maybe there's life there too?

[Xiao Li committed suicide yesterday. He said he couldn't bear the pressure. It's very regrettable. I wrote a letter to his family, hoping they are still alive. The outside world is becoming increasingly desolate, more and more people are getting sick, and our time is running out.]

[I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! We succeeded! We succeeded! We must start the evacuation immediately, at least to get some people out.]

Those damn politicians, even at this point they're still talking about who should die first. If they drag this out any longer, more people will die!

[Tingting, my Tingting, it's all Daddy's fault, Daddy couldn't save you]

It's fucking idiotic to let those shit-brained bastards decide who gets on the ship. I've made my decision, and they can't. I'll be the bad guy and reveal how to build the bridge.

I've revealed the method for building this bridge; it's very simple and only requires some basic equipment. The difficulty lies in the concept itself. I believe that after this, humanity will surely be able to move towards a brighter tomorrow!