As soon as Cao Liangcai stepped out of the laboratory, he saw Lü Yongchang staring at a holographic projection, his expression grim and his brows tightly furrowed.
"Professor Lü?"
Cao Liangcai called softly.
Lü Yongchang withdrew his gaze and turned toward Cao Liangcai.
"Cao."
Lü Yongchang's voice was heavy. "We have a serious problem."
The muscles in Cao Liangcai's cheeks twitched violently twice, and his lips trembled as he spoke. "Professor?"
"Didn't you just say..."
Lü Yongchang slowly shook his head.
"That was only to keep everyone calm."
"We just won the war, and everyone finally has a little hope. If something else goes wrong, I'm afraid..."
Cao Liangcai understood.
Lü Yongchang continued, "From what we can see, Ross 154's condition closely resembles that of the Sun and Proxima Centauri."
"It looks as though something is absorbing vast amounts of energy from it."
"That caused violent fluctuations in its chromosphere, triggering an extremely abnormal flare."
"Then... could we choose another stellar system?" Cao Liangcai asked quietly.
Lü Yongchang shook his head.
"Ross 154 is the stellar system within fifteen light-years best suited to humanity's development."
He added, "Given our spaceflight capabilities, it's also our only option."
Cao Liangcai's expression immediately darkened.
"I called you out here mainly for one thing."
Lü Yongchang lowered his voice. "Build two sets of Interstellar Probes."
Cao Liangcai paused in surprise. "Two sets?"
"To improve our chances of success?"
He could not quite understand Lü Yongchang's approach.
"No."
Lü Yongchang quickly shook his head. "One set won't need much in the way of detection capabilities."
"It will be sent to the Solar System to serve as an information relay."
"We can't expose our coordinates again."
"If there really is an advanced civilization at Ross 154, let it go looking for us in the Solar System."