Wu Yisi gave him a meaningful look:
"Just cover the basics. Don't give them too much information all at once."
Zhang Tianyuan said, "The KV Virus has already spread across the globe. Its fatality rate is extremely high, and 99.8% of Earth's population has already died from it. Perhaps that's why your countries stopped contacting you..."
"After a certain day, the staff may simply have been unable to return to their posts."
"WTF?" Mike couldn't help swearing when he heard that.
The other two exchanged looks as well.
"How could a virus like that possibly exist?"
"But it does exist."
The trio in the sky were in turmoil.
They had heard ground control mention the virus when the outbreak first began, but none of them had imagined it would become this serious.
"Then can you bring us back to the ground? Which country are you from?" Hill was already clutching at Zhang Tianyuan and his people like a drowning person at a straw, her voice pleading.
But faced with that request, Zhang Tianyuan could only shake his head. He told them where his group was, then said:
"We've only restored a basic capacity to organize and secured some industrial support. But if you need us to build a rocket or direct your landing, you may have to hold on for a very long time."
Zhang Tianyuan put it tactfully.
In truth, given the Legend World's current situation, assembling a spaceflight team was simply impossible.
But watching three astronauts die trapped in space would be far too cruel.
Zhang Tianyuan's conscience would not allow him to watch such a tragedy unfold.
He added, "Perhaps we can think of another way to get you back to the ground, but that's only a possibility. There's no guarantee it will succeed."
He wanted to ask the "2012" world for help, but that was no guarantee everything would go smoothly.
There were bound to be differences between the two spacetimes' aerospace standards.
Even if they were largely similar, minor differences could be worlds apart in a field like aerospace.
The astronauts seemed to see hope and hurriedly asked what the method was.
Zhang Tianyuan merely said he could not tell them yet for reasons of confidentiality.
Otherwise, he would have to explain what the Parallel Spacetime Mutual Aid Society was...
The three might end up thinking Earth had been taken over by cultists.
That would only create unnecessary complications.
Despite his secrecy, the three astronauts remained very enthusiastic.
One after another, they be-
gan offering Zhang Tianyuan every piece of information they could provide:
"In my homeland, there should still be a backup rocket and return capsule. You can look for them there."
That was Padalka speaking.
"Our country still has a space shuttle. Perhaps it can still carry out a mission. If you run into difficulties, you must go take a look!"
That was Mike.
Hill also hurriedly provided the many technical specifications she remembered, from rockets to the dimensions of the return capsule's docking interface, as well as the operational spare parts the space station was short of.
The two sides took the opportunity to discuss the supplies Hill and the others currently needed.
Wu Yisi recorded each piece of information beside him.
"There are a lot of things we need right now, but overall, we can still hold out for a while..."
By the time they finished, the signal was already fading in and out.
The two sides could only agree to talk again in a few hours, when the station next passed overhead.
Listening to the channel turn back into static, Zhang Tianyuan let out a long, misty breath.
"To think there are still people alive up in the sky!"
The discovery deeply shocked Zhang Tianyuan and the others. No one had imagined that, hundreds of kilometers up in space, a few people were still crying out soundlessly.
Humanity's tenacity for survival was truly formidable.
Zhang Tianyuan gazed up at the sky, lost in thought.
He felt more and more strongly that this was a real world.
Situations the film had never even mentioned would arise, and people the film had never mentioned would appear.
In the film's world, those three astronauts' fate had probably been to keep broadcasting until they finally died in despair, trapped aboard the space station.
Perhaps someone had received their broadcasts but could do nothing, or perhaps, faced with their own struggle to survive, no one cared about them anymore...
And were there others in this world quietly living on in forgotten corners?
Zhang Tianyuan felt as though he had grasped something.
Ever since receiving the space station's message, his mind had suddenly opened up...
"President, are we going to rescue those astronauts?" the radio operator suddenly asked.
Zhang Tianyuan said calmly, "United wills form a fortress. Saving lives is the purpose of our Mutual Aid Society."
Of course they would rescue them.
But how to rescue them still required a meticulous plan.
Before the space station's second pass overhead,
Tong Wenshi flew over from the grasslands by heli-
copter.
As soon as he landed, Zhang Tianyuan told Tong Wenshi the news.
Tong Wenshi, whose mood had only recently begun to improve, froze on the spot the moment he heard it.
"There are still three astronauts alive aboard the space station?" His reaction was much like everyone else's.
After the shock, he felt it made perfect sense.
"If there are people alive on the space station, doesn't that mean there could still be people alive elsewhere?"
Zhang Tianyuan immediately picked up the thread, giving an answer he had been pondering for a long time. "The Antarctica Continent!"
Tong Wenshi jolted, even his hair shaking. He slapped his thigh hard and exclaimed, "Yes, yes!"
"Our country still has three research stations in Antarctica, and all of them have people stationed there!"
He stood up and paced rapidly in circles.
The space station was like a key that had suddenly unlocked everyone's thinking.
Before, they had been too busy ensuring their own survival to think much about anything else.
At the same time, they had all naturally assumed that the world had entered the apocalypse and only those with natural immunity could survive.
They had never considered that there were places the virus could not reach at all!
"With the Antarctica Continent's temperatures and isolation, there's no way the KV Virus could spread there!" Zhang Tianyuan was utterly certain.
The various countries' research stations on the Antarctica Continent were all some distance apart, and their personnel did not normally visit one another. Even if the virus had reached a few individual stations, it could not possibly have ravaged the entire Antarctica Continent.
Moreover, Antarctic research stations all had some capacity for self-sufficiency. They had only lost their supplies a little over a year ago, so the people there were very likely still alive!
Tong Wenshi's breathing quickened. The sudden news had overwhelmed him with delighted surprise.
He rubbed his temples, his aged eyes looking expectantly at Zhang Tianyuan.
They had to rescue the people at their country's three Antarctic research stations!
No reason was needed!
But how to rescue them was a difficult problem.
He could only rely on Zhang Tianyuan.
Zhang Tianyuan reassured him, "Don't worry. I'm thinking the same thing you are. We must rescue our compatriots in Antarctica."
"But do you know how many people are at our three research stations? And how many are at the other countries' stations?"
As he spoke,
Zhang Tianyuan narrowed his eyes, seeing a certain possibility:
"Finally, think back carefully-
"When the virus fully broke out, did any senior officials from other countries secretly flee to Antarctica for refuge?"
"Or rather, is that a possibility?"