Jody held the itinerary in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "Do we have to follow this itinerary?"
Zhou Kun paused briefly, then said, "If you don't want to participate in some of the activities, you are free to move around the area accompanied by our personnel. We will not interfere in principle, as long as you do not enter classified areas."
He then briefly explained which areas were classified—in layman's terms, the entire space base was classified.
In other words, they can freely visit all areas except the space base area where they are not allowed to wander around.
Jody understood this perfectly. He was happy to be able to move around freely. He didn't insist on staying within the space base. Being able to move freely meant he would have the time and space to talk to Zhou Kun privately.
That makes things much easier...
During their free time, Jody and Amelia toured the space center, with Zhou Kun also having plenty of free time to accompany them.
The more they visited, the more of a dreamlike feeling arose in the hearts of the delegation members.
Because this place really looked no different from the space base before the riots, with even a lot of decorative fake trees planted on the ground, it immediately reminded the people in their forties and fifties in the visiting group of the past.
Some people even cried while watching, reminiscing, creating a poignant scene.
However, despite Zhou Kun's accompaniment, there were still some areas within the space base that the visiting group was not allowed to approach.
That's the vertical assembly plant for rockets.
Because inside is a new rocket pulled from the Wandering Spacetime, a backup for the spaceship currently flying in space. It will be launched in a few days, at which point both spaceships will fly towards the wormhole simultaneously.
That way, even if one of them encounters an accident, it won't cause too much delay.
The visit continued until evening. After a dinner consisting of corn and military rations, the delegation settled into their accommodations at the space base and began their rest.
Then Jody called Amelia, and the two of them, accompanied by base personnel, strolled around until they found Zhou Kun outside.
After announcing to the person outside the door, the two waited for a while before Zhou Kun, dressed neatly, came and opened the door.
Zhou Kun was not surprised to see the two arrive, and calmly invited them in to sit down.
Jody spoke first:
"Mr. Zhou, Amelia and I would like to discuss the future of humanity with you."
Zhou Kun remained calm, as if he had expected them to say this. He said directly, "I know your general thoughts, and we have been paying attention to your efforts over the years."
Amelia asked impatiently, "Is there any possibility that we could...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Jody grabbed her shoulder and interrupted, "Actually, our recent projects have run into difficulties. We're currently lacking experienced astronauts..."
Jody stared intently at Zhou Kun, observing his expression. Sure enough, she noticed a slight flicker of interest in Zhou Kun when she mentioned "astronaut."
Zhou Kun knew more than Chen Jianzhou; at least he knew that there were indeed astronauts still serving in China, and that those astronauts had been recalled one after another.
but...
After a moment's thought, he shook his head. "According to our current plan, all astronauts have their own arrangements, and I cannot change this plan."
Jody's eyes dimmed, and Amelia, standing beside her, said at the opportune moment, "Actually, we brought a gift."
Zhou Kun looked over curiously.
Amelia stood up and asked Zhou Kun to follow her.
The three of them left the office and headed to the luggage storage area.
A small, self-powered cryogenic storage device was located here. Amelia opened the device and took out one of the steel cylindrical containers with a glass window, briefly showing Zhou Kun the fertilized eggs inside, which were contained in a glass bottle.
"We have a Plan B, solely for the continuation of human civilization, and that's it."
"Here are five thousand carefully selected human fertilized eggs. The entire setup weighs less than nine hundred kilograms. Once sent to a habitable alien planet, they will hatch and allow for the construction of a colony of several hundred people within thirty years..."
Jody then explained what Plan A was.
However, Zhou Kun was already aware of Plan A, since it had been in place for over twenty years. There were similar plans in China, but they had been shelved for the past decade or so.
Zhou Kun listened patiently to Jody's explanation, then asked, "You want us to accept this device and become a backup for your Plan B?"
Amelia stared at Zhou Kun, her heart pounding but her face serious. "It's not a backup, it's a gift, a gift that concerns the future of humanity..."
As she spoke, she ran to the side, dragged out a large box, and opened it directly.
Inside were a large number of files and hard drives, all neatly organized and stacked.
"If you are concerned about errors in our embryo selection process, we have also brought a complete set of techniques that you can refer to if needed."
Zhou Kun sighed silently.
He could sense that Amelia really wanted him to accept the gift.
Unfortunately, their wormhole project had already been decided long ago, and there was no room for this device in the plan.
If the plan needs to be modified...
The situation inside the base is very complicated right now.
In the past, there was a saying that actors could bring their own funding to join a film crew.
But he never imagined that someone would bring a rocket into the aerospace team.
That young man and the expert who appeared out of nowhere were like that; they brought the rocket directly into the team, and the entire space base was filled with their people. He was now completely on the sidelines, unable to say a word at all...
However, he did feel that Plan B was feasible to some extent, and at least worth modifying the rocket payload arrangement to include it.
This is strong insurance.
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Kun finally made up his mind. "How about this, I'll take you to meet the other people who made the plan, but I can't guarantee whether we can persuade them to accept this gift."
Amelia was puzzled, but she and Jody followed anyway.
The three of them soon arrived at another office.
Amelia took a closer look; this office was different from the others.
The nameplate above has no Chinese characters, only two symbols.
One is a bright red national flag, and the other is some kind of special symbol, resembling the "yin-yang fish" in Eastern culture, or two hands clasped together, full of artistic style and a dynamic, rotating quality...
thump--
Zhou Kun knocked on the door, and Amelia and Jody followed him inside.
Several desks were placed opposite each other in various corners of the room, and a number of people, representing three generations, were gathered together. They seemed to be having a brief meeting. Some were sitting in chairs, some were lounging at their desks, and some were even leaning against the wall. Everyone looked very relaxed.
Amelia narrowed her eyes and quickly noticed that there was a subtle center in the positions of these people.
And the person who occupies that central point—
It was actually a young man leaning against the desk?
Zhang Tianyuan glanced at Zhou Kun who walked in, then his gaze naturally slid over the two unfamiliar foreign faces Amelia and Jody.
They weren't exactly unfamiliar faces.
At least he remembered Amelia's face; she was the female lead in the movie.
The moment Zhang Tianyuan saw her, he knew that although he had not actively influenced North America, the plot had definitely been completely distorted by the butterfly effect he had created in East Asia.
Otherwise, this movie star should still be training for space travel, why would she travel all this way to visit?
Something must have happened to higher-dimensional humans.
The causal chain has already affected them.
A thought flashed through Zhang Tianyuan's mind, and his gaze returned to Zhou Kun: "President Zhou, what's wrong?"
In recent days, Zhang Tianyuan has appeared at the aerospace base quite often, and Zhou Kun knows that this young man is capable of making decisions.
"Comrade Chairman, the situation is like this..." He cleared his throat and explained in detail the gifts Amelia had brought.
"Overall, I think our previous plan was a bit too radical, leaving little room for flexibility. This device can serve as a perfect complement to our plan."
The plan devised by the Mutual Aid Society experts was simple: launch a rocket into the wormhole, and once the Spacetime Tunnel was successfully opened, then dispatch probes and astronauts with the Spacetime Tunnel as the center.
A very direct, yet highly effective plan.
Of course, this version cannot be told to Zhou Kun and the others.
The plan Zhou Kun heard was that they would continuously launch rockets and astronauts, relentlessly attacking the wormhole from the center of the Earth.
This plan sounds incredibly rigid and inflexible, with no backup plan whatsoever. If any step goes wrong, it could ruin the entire plan.
If Zhou Kun weren't being ignored by everyone, this plan would never have passed.
Zhou Kun believed he had been very tactful in his words.
At least it wasn't said that this was a plan devised by an idiot.
Zhang Tianyuan also didn't expect that Amelia would reside there.
They actually sent over the Population Bomb that appeared in the movies...
She really seems to have a special connection with this thing.
At the end of the movie, she arrives on a new habitable planet with this device and begins a life of solitude there.
Oh, right.
Zhang Tianyuan suddenly remembered that there was another astronaut on that planet who had gone there ahead of time to scout ahead, and that person was Amelia's boyfriend, Edmunds.
However, this unlucky guy was crushed by a huge rock along with his hibernation pod after entering hibernation.
In the end, it was Amelia herself who dug up his remains.
And if I remember correctly, that guy had already met with an accident a year before the story officially began.
In other words, he is no longer alive.
Thinking of this, Zhang Tianyuan couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy when he looked at Amelia.
Just then, Amelia also looked over, and their eyes met. She immediately realized that this young man of special status seemed to be pitying her.
Zhang Tianyuan pulled himself out of his reverie and said to Zhou Kun, "Mr. Zhou, we appreciate the kindness of these international friends, but our situation is special, and we don't need this kind of device as a final precaution."
"Rest assured, we have always had full confidence that we can accomplish the mission of saving the country and all of humanity."
"And that day isn't far off. I'll see it, you'll see it, and these two international friends will see it too."
Zhou Kun opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but Zhang Tianyuan patted him on the shoulder:
"Mr. Zhou, please go back first. I know you're feeling uneasy right now, but there are some things I can't explain to you clearly because of your confidentiality agreement. However, I believe that day will come soon, and once you understand everything, you won't worry anymore."
Zhou Kun stood there, unsure how to respond. Finally, he suppressed his doubts, gritted his teeth, and said "okay." Then, he took Amelia and the other woman away.
The two, who couldn't understand Chinese, followed behind Zhou Kun, having already guessed the outcome from the expressions of the others.
Amelia hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped herself.
That " Population Bomb " didn't cost any money; they gave it to us for free!
Why is it so difficult for her to send something away?
She really doesn't understand...
In the office, after seeing Zhou Kun off, Zhang Tianyuan turned back to continue the meeting.
They are currently discussing the launch of the second rocket. For experienced experts who also possess the advantage of Spacetime Tunnel, a new launch is not a big deal at all.
After all, as long as the rocket doesn't explode in mid-air, the launch is considered a success.
Soon, everyone agreed to launch the second rocket a week later, and they also discussed Zhou Kun's situation.
An elderly expert opened his thermos, took a sip of water, and said, "During this time, I've seen President Zhou unable to help or get involved, and it's been quite distressing for him."
The others also agreed.
"If President Zhou and the others are unaware of the situation, it will definitely have some impact on our work."
After listening to everyone's opinions, Zhang Tianyuan finally said, "I will communicate with President Yuan here about this matter. The current situation in this spacetime is very special and fragile, and we cannot act rashly for the time being."
For the next three days, the delegation attended a variety of academic conferences.
These academic conferences are designed for experts and scientists who have been reinstated, allowing them to review or exchange previous knowledge.
After all, many people's knowledge has been neglected for nearly ten years, and they are now somewhat rusty when they try to return to their old professions.
Moreover, these academic conferences also provide learning opportunities for the younger generation who lack knowledge and experience. As a result, over the past few days, hundreds of academic exchange conferences of all sizes and industries have been held across the country.
The experts who have been rehired have also sensed the recent changes in the country; a sense of vitality is spreading throughout the region...
Zhou Kun also occasionally appears at these academic conferences; he has been waiting for this for the past few days.
He'll wait for Zhang Tianyuan to tell him the day he learns everything.
Finally, on this day, he suddenly received a notification.
Yuan Heguang arrived at the base and specifically requested to see him...
------Aside------
Finally, I've reached 10,000 subscribers! Although it'll probably drop again in a few days, it's still a new milestone in my writing career. Lastly, today I was assembling something and needed to tighten a screw, but it stripped. The sharp end of the small wrench pierced my left thumb; it's so numb...