The helium-3 harvesting ship in the holographic projection slowly orbited Jupiter.
The laboratory was silent. Everyone frowned, seemingly digesting the proposal Lü Yongchang had just outlined.
After a long while, Cao Liangcai shifted slightly, and the chair beneath him made a faint scraping sound.
When the others turned their eyes toward him, Cao Liangcai cleared his throat. "I think this proposal is feasible to some extent."
"However, some of the details still need careful consideration."
"For instance, how will this pipe, over a hundred thousand kilometers long, overcome Jupiter's gravity and draw the helium-3 up through it?"
Lü Yongchang fell silent for a moment.
That was precisely the problem he had been considering.
Overcoming Jupiter's terrifying gravity would require an incredible amount of suction.
"Professor, why don't we mine helium-3 on other asteroids?" Tao Yuda, seated beside Cao Liangcai, asked quietly.
Lü Yongchang pointed at the calendar to one side.
"It's simple. Time."
"The destruction of the automated lunar mining base has significantly delayed our resource stockpiling."
"According to the plan, we need to leave Mars in 2042. We currently have four years left."
"During those four years, we have to build enormous starships and collect all the resources we'll need for interstellar travel."
Lü Yongchang sighed softly. "Actually, developing the technology to mine gas giants was part of my original plan, too."
"But that was something we would only consider after successfully taking control of the Proxima Centauri system."
"Now, it seems we have no choice but to solve this problem ahead of schedule."
Everyone present looked slightly dispirited.
That firm four-year deadline weighed like a mountain on every researcher's shoulders.
As Lü Yongchang looked at the holographic image before him, a trace of wistfulness entered his eyes.
Without Zero, humanity might not be able to carry out such