Murphy was too young to feel the sorrow in his father's words, but he instinctively felt that he shouldn't continue on this topic.
"I'm sorry, Dad."
Cooper forced a smile, "It's okay, it's not your fault."
The family returned to normal and continued eating.
Grandpa Donald brought up the parent-teacher conference at the right moment. The two children were now attending the same school, and the conference was today, requiring both parents to attend in person, so he, an old man, couldn't help.
Cooper took a breath, nodded in agreement, and after the two children finished eating, he temporarily put aside his planned work for the day, got them into the car, and prepared to go to school.
Cooper, who was traveling with two children, couldn't resist his childlike instincts and ran to catch a butterfly.
A solar-powered drone from Asia that has been flying in the sky for ten years.
Its solar cells can power the farm.
They captured the thing on their computer, then secured it securely to the back of the pickup truck. Only then could they, one adult and two children, finally manage to drive the truck to school with great difficulty.
Cooper walked into the principal's office alone, only to receive bad news.
His son Tom, didn't meet the academic requirements and had no hope of going to college.
That wasn't the end of it. Murphy's teacher also reminded him to be mindful of Murphy's behavior, as bringing old versions of textbooks to school for other students to read was not allowed.
Because there's too much "fake news" on it.
For example, the moon landing was actually a conspiracy driven by political needs, yet these older textbooks present it as a true story...
The series of bad news and setbacks were suffocating Cooper; he even lost his temper and argued with the principal and teachers.
The aerospace elites and engineers of a decade or so ago are no different from a redneck farmer today.
However, it was all in vain.
Such are the times.
Even as the protagonist, Cooper couldn't change any of the facts.
His son Tom had no other choice; the university wouldn't accept him, and he would only be able to become a farmer in the future.
In a moment of impulse, Cooper decided to temporarily suspend his daughter Murphy's education...
Things have become a complete mess.
Fortunately, although Murphy complained to him a lot on the way home, everything else went smoothly. He returned home and began to handle farm affairs.
But as he approached the cornfield and looked at the green stalks covered in soil, he couldn't help but think of Tom, and how Tom would one day be buried in this lush yet eerie cornfield just like him, and a sense of oppression would rise in his heart.
Ever since he left NASA, he has come to realize one fact: to survive, he has no choice but to farm. It is the only way for his family to make a living and ensure that they will not starve to death in this era.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this former astronaut and engineer will spend the rest of his life in this cornfield.
He accepted this harsh reality.
But just because he's willing to farm to survive doesn't mean he can accept his children having to farm to survive in the future...
The already harsh reality has now dealt him an even crueler blow.
Although Tom is indeed a skilled farmer, he is both talented and hardworking in this field.
But no parent wants their child to spend their entire life buried in the fields, especially someone like Cooper who was once full of a spirit of exploration.
But no matter how much he suppressed his feelings, Cooper couldn't change the established facts...
The sky was getting dark.
In an inconspicuous spot nestled among the mountains, there is a fence.
The area within the fence was eerily quiet, making it impossible to discern what it was protecting.
Few people know that hidden beneath this unassuming land lies a massive underground base, a remnant of the last century.
Even fewer people know that this superbase has now been transformed into a space research base.
Or rather, it is being transformed into a space station.
Dr. Amelia Dr. Brand stood in the launch room.
In front of her, in the center of the launch chamber, stood the launch vehicle ready for its launch mission, with a Rover spacecraft visible on top of it.
The rocket is surrounded by the launch area, and outside the launch area are closely integrated engineering areas, work areas, and even living areas.
This is an unprecedented base.
Rocket training, launches, research, and even manufacturing and modification all take place at this base.
Finish.
If this underground base hadn't been built during a special period and hadn't covered such a vast area, it really wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many functional areas.
Dr. Brand looked up, her gaze wistfully sweeping around the launch chamber. It was a huge cylindrical space; the rocket looked enormous before her, but then it appeared tiny in the face of this even larger launch chamber.
Sizzle--
A sound came from above.
There were workers building some very unusual structures, so unusual that they seemed familiar at first glance, yet it was impossible to identify what kind of buildings they were.
In fact, those buildings are common residential buildings, schools, hospitals, and other public buildings.
The reason why these buildings are not easily distinguishable at first glance is due to the angle at which they were constructed.
All of these buildings under construction are built with the inner walls of the launch chamber as their base.
In other words, these buildings are parallel to the ground.
Many construction workers don't understand why so many strange buildings are being constructed at this time.
Even the workers' managers who had been there for a long time didn't know.
" Dr. Brand, I've wanted to ask this question for a long time. What role do these... um, 'devices' above the launch chamber play in rocket launches?"
Brand held a document in his hands, a slight smile appearing on his beautiful and delicate face:
"What would you think if I told you this is a building that will only be used after we send this base into space?"
The management was completely dumbfounded.
Brand didn't say much, but simply turned his gaze back to the buildings under construction.
In fact, she wasn't lying.
These structures were built in advance so that this "space station" could be put into normal use after it enters space in the future. Xxs-②
When the launch chamber is converted into a space station, its inner walls will become the ground on which humans depend for survival. At that time, the space station will be like a horizontally placed roller, constantly rotating in space.
In this way, humans can stand and walk on the inner wall of this giant cylinder.
This insane plan was never publicly announced at the base.
Or rather, even if they leaked the plan, people wouldn't believe that something made of cement and steel could fly into space.
How could there possibly be an engine in the world capable of propelling such a massive building into space?
For example, the worker in charge.
He snapped out of his daze and immediately shook his head and laughed, "You're so funny."
"If this base can fly into space, then I'd rather believe that aliens will come to save Earth..."
Brand gave him a meaningful look, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Perhaps."
Aliens really do exist.
Dr. Brand stayed outside for a while, then went into a room that belonged to her father, Professor Brand, who was also the main person in charge of the entire space station escape plan.
John Brand looked like a pot-bellied old man, balding, wearing glasses, and not caring about his appearance—a typical scientist.
"Dad, has there been any new progress on the plan?"
"I saw from outside that the spacecraft had already been loaded into the rocket."
John Brand looked up at his daughter. "No, the new astronauts are still in training, and we haven't found a suitable candidate yet."
"The equation of gravity?"
The old professor shrugged, his meaning clear without a word.
Brand fell silent; the gravitational equation she was referring to was a study that stemmed from Saturn's black hole.
Forty-eight years ago, after those "aliens" placed the wormhole near Saturn, they soon began this research.
If they can crack the equations, they can unlock the secrets of gravity, and the resulting theories can provide new guidance for science and enable the creation of new devices to alter gravity.
In this way, they could easily send the space station under construction beneath their feet, as well as countless other space stations of equal weight, into space by altering gravity.
Then these space stations will carry humans from Earth through the wormhole to their new home...
That's what they've always been planning.
But decades have passed since then.
"Dad, will all of this really come true?"
Brand couldn't help but feel skeptical; progress on the equations of gravity had been minimal for decades, and the longer it went on, the more they felt the difficulty involved.
"The whole world is either in chaos or suffering from famine."
Frustratingly, we are the only ones left with the capability to explore space, yet we have made absolutely no progress...
She became increasingly anxious as she spoke, and her breathing became labored.
Old Brand raised an eyebrow, seemingly displeased with his daughter's attitude. "What are you doubting? We will succeed in the end. Instead of wasting your time on pointless suspicion, why don't you do me a favor?"
As he spoke, old Brand gave his daughter a task: to find a certain student.
Brand nodded and left.
She didn't see it; she had just stepped out the door, and behind her—
Her father, who had always been full of confidence and fighting spirit, suddenly became gloomy and even desperate...
At the same time.
The sun has already risen on the other side of the ocean.
The message that Instructor Yin sent yesterday, along with the water he brought, has been passed up the chain of command.
The transmission continued until it reached Yuan Heguang before stopping.
"You mean, yesterday an organization of unknown origin proactively expressed its willingness to communicate with us?" After listening to his assistant's report, Yuan Heguang, with his square face, felt a little surprised.
No other information?
The assistant shook his head. "They said they currently have a large quantity of fresh water, but nothing else. They seem unwilling to reveal much information, and we know nothing about the source of the water."
The bottled water that Instructor Yin brought yesterday was still on the desk.
Yuan Heguang opened the bottle himself, then leaned over to smell it. There was no strange smell. He then tapped the outer shell of the plastic bottle with his finger, watching the purified water inside ripple.
"Has this water been sent for testing?"
"It's been delivered."
"What's going on?" Yuan Heguang sat back down in his chair.
"It can be confirmed that this is mineral water produced through standard industrial processes, and the bottle analysis shows that both the bottle and the bottle are new, ruling out the possibility of it being from stock."
Mineral water?
After listening, Yuan Heguang fell into deep thought.
In this day and age, having access to tap water is already a great blessing.
As for purified water, Yuan Heguang is quite certain that there are no longer any factories producing purified water in China.
Because there is no longer any demand.
When people can't even get enough to eat, will anyone still buy tap water?
It's already quite good if you can boil the water before drinking it.
Therefore, the water production and sales industry has been naturally eliminated.
Not to mention, this is supposedly mineral water...
Yuan Heguang couldn't remember how many years it had been since he'd heard of this product.
"These people have sent us a batch of luxury goods!"
"To be able to produce something like this at a time like this, they must have already established a foothold overseas, right?"
The assistant smiled.
" Mr. Yin is very keen to meet with you. Would you like me to make arrangements?"
"Make the arrangements. I want to see how they plan to do charity."
at this time.
Instructor Yin was outside, communicating with Zhang Tianyuan through the system panel.
He reported everything he had learned about yesterday, including all the events that had occurred.
The emphasis was on how smoothly their current operations are progressing.
The people of No. 7 Spacetime took the news they brought very seriously.
Due to the widespread impact of desertification, this area is indeed severely short of water. Unwilling to give up any hope, the truckloads of purified water they brought yesterday, or rather, the news they brought, caused a sensation throughout the entire system from top to bottom.
Special measures are always taken during difficult times, Yuan Heguang is currently facing what can be described as the most difficult period.
So now Instructor Yin is waiting with his men.
He wasn't in a hurry at all. He had already met with many people from various levels who had come to see him yesterday, and he already knew whether Yuan Heguang would meet with him.
On the contrary, Zheng Xu, who was next to him, seemed quite nervous.
As Mutual Aid Society First Division, he had little experience of the world, and this was even his first time entering another dimension.
He, who was previously in charge of time-space migration, had never even personally visited the Legend Spacetime.
Finally, just as the young man was growing increasingly impatient, his assistant approached them and offered to show them the way.
The three of them walked out of the room, then walked around for another minute before the assistant stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary room and personally opened the door for them.
Yuan Heguang was sitting behind his desk in the room waiting for them. Instructor Yin thanked him and then led Zheng Xu inside...