Reporting to the Higher-Ups Overnight

Academician Qian Zhenhua's words calmed everyone down. The truth was cold.

Yes, Doomsday had come too fast, too suddenly.

Humanity had never had time to unlock the interstellar travel branch of its technology tree.

"Before this, you could even say that humanity had no future!"

"To seize territory in Antarctica and the Arctic, every country fought until they practically smashed each other's brains out. There were nearly two hundred countries before the disaster. How many are still breathing now?"

"Most countries either collapsed or were annexed. Their elites were divided up and absorbed by us and a few other major powers. The hundreds of millions of civilians left behind could only stay near the equator, digging pathetic holes in the ground and waiting to die in the disasters."

"They're risking their lives for bread and canned food to survive one more day, and still throwing bombs at each other over a few square meters of 'safe zone'!"

Zhao Gang took a deep breath and said excitedly:

"But things are different now. They couldn't dream that we're about to have a passage to an entirely new world!"

"Exactly!"

Academician Liu Chengen slammed his hand on the table, his eyes blazing and his face alight with undisguised fervor.

"To hell with them! A bunch of fools still rolling around in the mud!"

"The World Tree is great. It lets us cling to life underground."

"But the Interstellar Portal!"

He raised a finger and pointed straight at the ceiling, as though he could already see that gateway to a new world.

"It's a stairway to heaven! A new Genesis! A path to rebirth for our Great Xia civilization!"

"Even in the absolute worst case, if Blue Star is completely finished and turns into a ball of magma, we can still take our people and move there!"

"What do you call that? A strategic fallback! The survival of civilization's spark!"

The more Liu Chengen spoke, the more excited he became, his voice ringing with ambition:

"And why not think even bigger? We're not going there as refugees!"

"We're going to expand our territory! To carry out interstellar colonization! To conquer an alien planet!"

"Tell me, who wouldn't want to plant our red flags all over a new planet?"

Boom!

Liu Chengen's words ignited the ambition and passion of everyone in the conference room.

"Well said!"

Zhao Gang's eyes blazed.

"This gateway is our trump card, our future, and a new home for the people of Great Xia!"

Listening from the side, Lin Mo was just as excited. He slapped someone's thigh hard, making the staff officer beside him grimace in pain.

At the same time, he was deeply stunned.

It turned out that the situation on Blue Star was nowhere near as optimistic as the publicity had made it sound.

Only now had he learned the truth.

But that was all right. Things were different now. They had a new way out!

If everyone present hadn't been such a big shot, they probably would have been hugging each other in excitement by now, right?

Everyone spent a while celebrating. All the emotions they had suppressed over the past two years burst out at that moment.

As the atmosphere gradually cooled, the flush remained on Zhao Gang's face, but his gaze had regained its sharpness.

He looked around, his eyes passing over every core member.

"Comrades."

His voice was quiet, yet it instantly brought everyone to attention.

"Effective immediately, all information concerning the portal is classified top secret. Only those of us present may know about it. Understood?"

"Understood!" everyone answered in unison, their voices firm.

Zhao Gang turned his gaze to Liu Chengen, the academician from the Biological Research Institute.

"Liu."

"Present!" Liu Chengen stepped forward.

"You and your team are to draft a biological and environmental risk assessment plan for the Terra Continent immediately."

Zhao Gang tapped his fingers on the table.

"I need to know whether the composition of the air, the microorganisms, and the viruses over there are lethal to carbon-based life from Blue Star!"

"We can't let an alien plague wipe us out before we've even fought a battle."

"No problem!" Liu Chengen's eyes shone, and he licked his lips.

"That's easy!" He turned to Lin Mo, rubbing his hands together.

"Commander Lin, next time you go over, take along the sterile sampling bottles specially made by our lab."

"Once you're there, open the caps and collect some air, then grab a handful of soil and some water, put them in, seal them, and bring them back!"

"As long as we have samples, three days! I guarantee an environmental report accurate down to the molecular level!"

Lin Mo said, "No problem!"

Zhao Gang looked around at everyone.

"You can all make the necessary preparations as well."

"I'll leave for New Kyoto immediately to report to the leadership in person. Until I return, all members of the New Hope team are restricted to this base and will maintain communications silence. No one may leave without authorization or engage in any nonessential communication with the outside world."

His orders were clear and decisive.

After making all the arrangements, Zhao Gang looked at Lin Mo and asked for his approval.

"Commander-in-Chief Lin, what do you think of these arrangements? Is there anything you'd like to add?"

The moment he said that, the atmosphere in the conference room turned strange.

A roomful of top-level figures all turned to look at the young man sitting in his chair.

Only then did Lin Mo realize that he seemed to be this project's... commander-in-chief?

He cleared his throat and leaned back slightly, imitating the manner of senior leaders on television and striking just the right pose.

He spoke in an even tone.

"Mm. You've considered everything very thoroughly. I'm quite satisfied."

"Thank you for your hard work. Off you go."

Zhao Gang: "..."

Everyone present: "..."

Nothing was worse than the air suddenly going silent.

The corner of Zhao Gang's mouth twitched.

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief."

Under cover of night, the runway lights at the secret military airfield in Tianshu Underground City lit up.

An unmarked aircraft landed and its cabin door opened. Zhao Gang hurried down the boarding stairs in the cold wind.

The lights were still on in Elder Zhao's office.

Over sixty years old, Elder Zhao was wearing reading glasses as he studied an encrypted document.

The document was titled "Emergency Report on Eagle Country and Jing Country's Joint Annexation of the Southern Continent Alliance and Forcible Seizure of the B-7 Survival Zone in Antarctica."

His brow was deeply furrowed.

Just then, someone knocked on his office door. Before he could answer, it was pushed open from outside.

Elder Zhao raised his head and was a little surprised to see Zhao Gang.

"My reassuring presence, what's so urgent that you had to come all the way from Bell City yourself?"

Zhao Gang skipped the pleasantries and strode up to the desk. He brought his feet together, snapped to attention, and gave a military salute.

His voice trembled slightly with excitement.

"Sir, reporting!"

"The New Hope team has achieved a major breakthrough!"

"We... we've found a path to a new world!"

Elder Zhao's hand stopped in midair, still holding his teacup.

He read the New Hope project's reports every day. Of course he knew what those words meant.

A path to a new world?!

Could it be... that besides Lin Mo, that special 'singularity,' they had found a way for other people-for Great Xia's army-to set foot on the Terra Continent?

The instant that thought arose, his heart gave a violent jolt.

Zhao Gang did not keep him waiting. As quickly as he could, he recounted the intelligence Lin Mo had brought back.

When the words "Astral Teleportation" and "stable two-way portal" left Zhao Gang's mouth,

Clatter!!

The celadon teacup slipped from Elder Zhao's hand.