Smooth communication greatly shortened the distance between the two parties, and by the time all the unloading began, Zhang Tianyuan had become much more familiar with everyone on site.
Later, representatives from the freight truck fleet delivered samples of dried earthworms: a red and blue resealable bag, simply sealed with a thermoforming machine, and printed with a model of the Wandering Earth.
Against the backdrop of a fiery red sun, Earth recedes into the distance, bathed in the blue flames of its Planetary Engine.
There is another sentence below:
"Special Products of No. 3 Spacetime "
On the other side is printed the Mutual Aid Society's mission statement.
[United we stand, we help each other]
Below that is information such as production and material sources.
Yuan Heguang opened a sample package and, along with the others, took out a dried earthworm and chewed it, immediately becoming somewhat surprised.
Surprisingly, it didn't taste strange at all; it was just like ordinary food, and even had a faint sweetness.
"If you didn't tell me this stuff was made of dried earthworms, I probably wouldn't be able to guess what it's made of!"
An elderly man held a dried earthworm in his hand, chewing it as he sighed.
Zhang Tianyuan also picked one up and put it in his mouth; it was pineapple flavored... This was a new flavor.
He chuckled and said, "I recently heard from the branch in No. 3 Spacetime that they've been improving the flavor of the dried earthworms, removing the earthy taste as much as possible. This should be the latest batch."
In the past, dried earthworms wouldn't have received this treatment. At most, they would be sprinkled with some seasoning, and then you would just close your eyes and swallow them.
It wasn't until this stuff was exported to Finch Spacetime and the shipment volume increased that Wandering Spacetime began the improvement work. But now, it has even come out with a fruit flavor, which is still somewhat unexpected.
Fifty thousand tons of dried earthworms wouldn't amount to much; they would only fill less than a quarter of the space in this warehouse.
But for Yuan Heguang and his team, it was a ray of hope breaking through the darkness. From unloading the cargo to the verification and the convoy's return, he and the others witnessed the entire process firsthand.
It's like watching a superb movie; you can't bear to look away for even a second.
Other elderly people at the scene were also moved to tears, their emotions palpable.
For the entire morning, Yuan Heguang and the others didn't move an inch, just stood there happily gazing down from their high vantage point.
Only after all the vehicles had returned, Yuan Heguang was preparing to go back to a meeting with the others, did Zhang Tianyuan bring up another matter with him.
" President Yuan, we are currently preparing a rocket and a probe to send to the wormhole. We need your assistance with this work."
"No problem, do you need us to provide the technology?"
"That's not necessary. We just need the data and information about the wormhole, to know where to attack and what kind of spacecraft can transmit the message back."
Yuan Heguang thought for a moment, then said, "In recent years, we have been focusing on recuperation and development, and many of our space teams have been disbanded. However, we still have the complete framework for the teams related to the wormhole project, so providing you with this information is definitely not a problem."
Wormholes signify the future.
Yuan Heguang was merely accumulating strength before; it doesn't mean he was giving up on the future.
"Now is a good opportunity. I will be reorganizing the space agency in the next couple of days, and then the data the chairman needs will naturally have dedicated personnel to handle it..."
Zhang Tianyuan also stated that the launch rockets from other timelines should arrive within the next few days.
This exploration of Saturn's wormhole is once again heavily supported by Wandering Spacetime; the rocket itself was built by them.
Sun Deyi was eager for the Interstellar evacuation operation in No. 7 Spacetime, so he directly mobilized the backup rockets prepared on the ground for the Navigator Space Station in order to send the probe to the Saturn wormhole as quickly as possible.
In the city.
Beneath the blanket of yellow sand, a three-story building stands on the ground, with a simple, dusty sign hanging outside the door:
Aerospace Science and Technology Research Institute
The small building is surrounded by a cluster of empty, low-rise buildings. A kilometer away, you can see a unique tower-shaped structure that is now covered in rust and mottled.
Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, looking like a disheveled middle-aged man, Zhou Kun sat in front of the table, yawning. In front of him were papers covered with pencil drawings, some of which were carefully arranged and weighed down with blue and white rocket models.
Bored, he turned around, behind him...
It was an old acquaintance Yi Yehua. He was sitting by the window with a homemade fishing rod next to him, propped up on the windowsill. A line was hanging from the other end of the rod, dangling straight down to the ground floor.
You can't see the person's face from behind, but you can see his most prominent feature—
That hairstyle is unique to the strong.
Zhou Kun looked at his shadow reflected on the back of Yi Yehua, then ran a hand through his thick hair and continued yawning:
" Yehua, stop fishing and close the window. Your brother Zhou is sweating from the heat and it's so annoying! Anyway, you won't catch anything..."
Yi Yehua didn't turn around, holding a book in his hand and reading it, and said calmly, "What do you know? Fishing isn't about catching fish; it's about the enjoyment itself."
"Uh... have you forgotten? We drained that pond once when we were starving two years ago, and all the fish in it ended up in our stomachs..."
"Ahem!" Yi Yehua coughed twice. "Go draw your rocket. Wouldn't it be more satisfying if I could catch fish in a pond where there aren't any?"
"Bullshit!"
Zhou Kun stood up and was about to go over and close the window.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and a young man poked his head in: m.
"Chief, we have a job!"
Zhou Kun still looked sleepy. He turned his head away and asked, "What kind of work?"
"I don't know, but someone's already here, probably with a project!"
With a thud, Zhou Kun straightened up, his eyes snapping open and staring wide-eyed behind his glasses like copper bells.
"Quickly, quickly, get everything ready for us. Let the guests see the style of our establishment. We've been so idle these past few years, we're practically going crazy."
After Zhou Kun finished speaking, he quickly walked towards the door, needing to take care of his short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
But then he suddenly remembered something, turned around, walked to Yi Yehua who hadn't reacted, and snatched the fishing rod back:
"This is inappropriate! Confiscated!"
Just three minutes later, Zhou Kun was already in the bathroom, dressed in a formal suit, combing his hair in front of the mirror, showing no trace of his earlier dejection.
When Zhang Tianyuan arrived at what is possibly one of only two space research institutions on Earth, he almost didn't recognize it.
Not only were the conditions terrible, but there were also very few people around.
Even after searching the entire space base, the list still couldn't reach three hundred people, and it even included people from a Wormhole Physics Research Institute.
It's fair to say that this place has completely lost its ability to launch rockets; even the launch tower is rusted...
"There's nothing we can do about it; our last spacecraft launch was nine years ago."
"The main function of this space base has now shifted to become a satellite control center, where the older satellites that are still in operation are all controlled."
The person who brought Zhang Tianyuan here explained it this way.
Zhang Tianyuan also brought his people, all of whom were aerospace experts and physicists from other timelines.
Everyone came with high expectations.
But seeing the base in such a dilapidated state, everyone immediately lost confidence.
The group arrived in front of the three-story building and opened the iron gate with the sign " Aerospace Technology Research Institute " on it.
The first thing you see is a well-dressed, energetic middle-aged man who seems out of place amidst the surrounding yellow sand. This man, so out of place, greets you while introducing himself.
Zhou Kun is the director here.
The bald man dressed in casual clothes next to him was Yi Yehua.
"He was in charge of research on wormhole physics; we were all part of the original wormhole exploration project."
Zhang Tianyuan understood; this was the key figure in wormhole exploration that Yuan Heguang had mentioned before.
Besides these two, the researchers standing behind them were in a state of mixed emotions, some dejected, others excited and expectant.
He shook hands with Zhou Kun Yi Yehua, greeted them, and then explained his purpose, "We've come here today hoping to get your help."
"Help?" Ignoring Zhang Tianyuan's youth, Zhou Kun's eyes widened again behind his glasses, and his previous drowsiness was completely gone.
This is the essence of the project!
It's been idle for over a decade, is it really time to bring it back to life?
Yi Yehua also perked up and listened intently.
The official next to Zhang Tianyuan said, "Chief Engineer Zhou, it's like this. Based on the organization's latest research, we believe it's necessary to restart research on wormholes. We need to find new, suitable..."
A new home suitable for human habitation.
This short sentence caused a huge uproar among the crowd on the other side.
Zhou Kun Yi Yehua stood there, blinking, as if they couldn't believe it.
"I... I didn't hear wrong, did I? You just said you're going to restart the wormhole exploration project?"
"Yes," Zhang Tianyuan continued, "But we'll be in charge of this work for the time being."
Zhou Kun calmed down a bit. He looked at the people behind Zhang Tianyuan and immediately felt a mysterious, unsettling feeling—
These people are in the same industry.
The experts behind Zhang Tianyuan then gave brief self-introductions, omitting their affiliations and backgrounds and only stating their names and areas of expertise.
This further confirmed Zhou Kun's suspicions.
But that shouldn't be the case...
Now, almost all of China's aerospace experts and engineers are based at this base. Where did these people come from?
After thinking for a while without finding a solution, Zhou Kun simply stopped thinking about it and nodded directly, "That's no problem, I can give up command of this project."
As he spoke, he hurriedly pulled Zhang Tianyuan and a group of experts into the building. "Regarding rockets, we've developed quite a few ideas over the past few years; you can all take a look."
As Zhou Kun spoke, he opened the cabinet, moving as if on fast forward, taking out stacks of design drawings wrapped in transparent paper bags. In less than a minute, he had created a small mountain of drawings, even taking the pile of papers that had been pressed down on his desk by the rocket model.
"These are all designs I haven't had time to input into the computer yet. You can take a look first; they're all designs I think are pretty good. I'm going to develop the motors now, and then I'll turn on the computer..."
Zhang Tianyuan and the other experts stared in astonishment at the mountain of paper. Seeing that Zhou Kun was about to leave again, they quickly grabbed him.
An expert from the Mutual Aid Society said, "Mr. Zhou, there's no need to rush the rocket issue. We have existing ones; there's no need to redesign and remanufacture them."
Zhou Kun, who had been pulled back, was surprised, puzzled, and somewhat disappointed. "A ready-made rocket?"
"Yes, yes," the expert nodded, and now it was his turn to show Zhou Kun the data. "This is the data for the rocket selected to carry out the mission."
Looking at the rocket data in front of him, Zhou Kun asked in surprise, "What year was this rocket launched?"
Zhang Tianyuan coughed and stepped forward, saying softly, "President Zhou, all you need to do now is cooperate with us in carrying out the mission. Your current doubts will be answered later."
Zhou Kun looked at the official next to him, who also agreed with Zhang Tianyuan's statement and advised him to cooperate. Zhou Kun could only scratch his head and carry the rocket data back into the cabinet one by one.
Zhang Tianyuan and the others helped move it. Several experts who were also chief designers in the Wandering Spacetime opened the stack of scattered design drafts, glanced at them, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although it was just a few design drawings, in their opinion, Chief Designer Zhou's designs were quite remarkable and his skill level was probably quite high.
It seems that the foundation of this spacetime hasn't completely collapsed; a spark has still been preserved.
With this in mind, many experts quickly obtained the necessary data from Zhou Kun and gained a preliminary understanding of Saturn's wormholes.
Zhou Kun found the origins of these experts increasingly strange. In today's conversation, he could clearly sense from some details that these experts seemed somewhat "out of touch with reality" and completely unaware of the current situation in China.
Wait until the next day.
What surprised Zhou Kun even more was that a number of strange black trucks suddenly entered the base, and engineers in uniform black uniforms jumped down and began a thorough cleaning of the entire base. They also conducted a thorough inspection of various equipment, repairing what needed repairing and scrapping what needed to be scrapped... m.
The base, which had been quiet for more than a decade, suddenly became noisy and bustling, a rare sight to see some activity.
After that, the base began to change every day.
On the fifth day, the base inspection was completed, and at the same time, the convoy responsible for transporting the rockets drove in from outside.
A large rocket of a completely unfamiliar model and design was sent into the final assembly workshop, accompanied by a professional technical team.
Zhou Kun couldn't understand where these people had come from.
On the sixth day, repairs began on various facilities at the base.
On the tenth day, the maintenance work was completed, the base was restored to normal operation, and the rust on the launch tower was completely removed, meeting the standards for undertaking launch missions.
On the eleventh day, the rocket was fully assembled and pushed into the launch site...