"...Yesterday, the United Nations held an emergency meeting in New York and agreed on a response plan for the global crisis posed by the invasion of Martian bacteria. A research team comprising scientists from several countries will arrive aboard the Moon Palace spacecraft's space station within a week to conduct joint research on the bacteria."
"Meanwhile, following deliberations by the International Health Organization, the bacteria have officially been designated X-0172."
"Reporting for Hua Nation News."
The report on the Martian bacteria ended, and the television moved on to the next news story.
Sitting at the dining table and quietly enjoying his breakfast, Lu Zhou glanced at the calendar on his phone and murmured to himself.
"Eighty-seven days left."
Time was running short...
Picking up the remote, Lu Zhou switched off the television, pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth, then pushed back his chair and rose from the table.
"Xiao Ai, sorry for the trouble, but could you clear the dishes?"
A quadrotor drone with a small television hanging from it wobbled out of the kitchen.
[Yes, Master. Leave it to me! ?(????????)?]
After leaving the dishes and the table to Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou picked up a coat by the door and put it on, then called Wang Peng.
Soon, a black Red Flag pulled up outside the villa and took him from his doorstep to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Strictly speaking, research in biology was not the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study's strong suit.
This was especially true of astrobiology, an obscure branch of an already obscure field. Not only did the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study lack anyone researching it, but even among the country's top five comprehensive national universities, there were few people working in that direction.
Still, research at the