Jinling Aerospace Launch Center.
The second batch of Colonial Modules and assorted equipment bound for Mars was being packed and loaded onto the space shuttle.
Although the roster for the second scientific expedition to Mars had yet to be announced, and the public knew nothing of Lu Zhou's upcoming itinerary, his insistence had all but set the trip in stone.
Even though the authorities on Chang'an Street hoped he would exercise more caution, the relevant departments ultimately refrained from forcibly keeping him behind, given his determination.
However, the budget for this launch had been doubled, and much of the equipment originally scheduled for the third launch to Mars had been moved forward to this one.
Although Lu Zhou felt that making such a solemn affair of putting his safety first was somewhat backward, he said nothing more in light of the departments' insistence and quietly accepted their goodwill.
On the third day of launch preparations, Director Li arrived at the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center with someone Lu Zhou had not expected.
Lu Zhou stared blankly at Scholze, who stood before him, his expression rather strange. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, even forgetting to say hello.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Director Li gave a dry cough and addressed Lu Zhou, whose expression remained odd.
"Let me introduce you. This is the representative sent by Germany, Professor Scholze from the mathematics department at the University of Bonn... Never mind. I imagine you already know each other, so I'll spare you the introductions."
Lu Zhou said, "...What are you doing here?"
Scholze sighed. "It's a long story... I didn't want to come in the first place."
In roughly five minutes, Scholze gave a brief account of what had happened over the past few days. First, Professor Faltings had