Earth Era

Hearing what Wang Tang said, Zhao Huasheng didn't react at all. Wang Tang paused, observed Zhao Huasheng's reaction, and then continued: "You know, the Scarlet Heart spacecraft carries the hope of our human civilization to a certain extent, and every second of its observation time is very precious , we don’t have the capital to waste them.”

"I won't go, and I won't say why I did this." Zhao Huasheng shook his head, "But I will go to meet the head of state and tell the head of state why I did this. Let the head of state decide what to do afterwards." Make a decision."

Zhao Huasheng's inference is too amazing, and Zhao Huasheng will not announce it until the most important evidence is obtained. Because if it is announced in advance, it will bring many unexpected troubles, and may even cause panic.

"If you insist on doing this." Wang Tang shrugged his shoulders, "but you'd better hurry up. Your observation mission is seriously consuming the energy and time of the astronauts. Although they didn't complain, the people in the medical department There have been warnings and protests against this. They believe that this will have a serious impact on the health of the astronauts."

"I know." Zhao Huasheng nodded, "I have already made an appointment for tomorrow morning. In tomorrow morning, I will meet with the head of state and tell all my reasons and reasons without any reservations."

"Although I'm curious about what your reasons and inferences are, I think...you probably won't tell me them. So be it, good luck, young man." Wang Tang patted Zhao Huasheng on the shoulder , turned and left.

Wang Tang, who opened the door and left, let a chill invade Zhao Huasheng's room while leaving Zhao Huasheng's residence. Zhao Huasheng couldn't help shivering.

The weather is getting cold. Even if he stayed indoors, Zhao Huasheng had to turn on the heating and air conditioning to the maximum. Even, people have measured the latest low temperature record at the equator, which is minus fifty-seven degrees Celsius.

The scientific research robots left behind at the north and south poles also reported the lowest temperature record in the polar regions, and that figure was... minus 203 degrees Celsius.

The oceans are already covered in thick ice sheets, so shipping has come to a complete halt. Apparently, no ship could break through such a thick ice sheet. For today's human society, sea transportation is responsible for at least 40% of the material transportation volume.

If the supply line is cut off, many people in Equator City will die due to lack of energy. If there is no energy, there will be no electricity, and if there is not enough warmth, the factories that produce the materials necessary for human survival will stop working, and hundreds of millions of people will die of cold and hunger.

But that didn't happen. Although sea transportation was forced to stop completely, another mode of transportation has quietly emerged. Because the ice cover is extremely thick and extremely strong, large trucks weighing more than 100 tons can also safely drive on it. And the ice is smooth, almost comparable to a road. As a result, people built many observation stations and supply stations above the sea, and determined countless ice road routes that can be safely used by large trucks. Petroleum, coal, steel and other materials produced in various places on the earth came to Equator City continuously through such lines. Its transportation efficiency is even higher than the original sea transportation. Even, if it is not that the ice is not suitable for building railways, the people in the engineering department even plan to lay all the railways on the ice.

But ice is not a road after all. The invasion of sea water, the movement of the earth's crust, and even the gravitational pull of the moon may cause the ice surface to break. It is also too slippery, and a truck traveling at high speed is prone to accidents. According to statistics from the Crisis Prevention Department, at least a thousand people die every day on this nutritional artery that supports the entire human society. There are various causes of death, some were killed by a truck running out of control, some drowned when the ice surface broke, and some were frozen to death by low temperature...

However, human society is still increasing the volume of cargo transported on ice roads. This is because the human government has no other option other than taking human lives to pay for it. So far, truck drivers have surpassed the left-behind people in non-equatorial areas and become the most paid ordinary jobs in human society.

They supported more than 30% of the energy and material consumption of Equator City. Zhao Huasheng knew this very well. Zhao Huasheng knew that a large part of the clothes he wore, the food he ate, the appliances he used, and the heating were supported by these people with their lives.

So Zhao Huasheng always had a sense of urgency in his heart. But this sense of urgency has not spread throughout human society. On the next morning, on the way to the head of state's office, looking at the empty streets, Zhao Huasheng felt that there seemed to be a cloud covering Equator City. The name of that cloud is despair and numbness.

Zhao Huasheng clearly felt this. Since the last large-scale riot, no major turmoil has occurred in human society. People just live numbly, work numbly, and rest numbly.

Although the turmoil is cruel, it also means people's urgent desire for a better life and their own interests. But now, there is not even turmoil in human society.

Lifeless, like a pool of stagnant water.

It has been more than half a year since the sun crisis broke out. During these six months, the surface temperature of the sun dropped from 6,000 degrees Kelvin to 4,500 degrees Kelvin. A full twenty-five percent reduction. And, no one knows if the temperature of the sun will continue to drop.

"Under this freezing cold, people are already desperate." Mengzhuo said, "They can't see the hope of the future, and they don't know why they are still alive. The reason why the order in human society has not collapsed is probably because Because the government and violent institutions still exist, and the minimum standard of living can still be guaranteed. I bet that as long as the convoy passing through the Pacific and Atlantic disappears for a day, the order in Equator City will collapse instantly."

"This is already the worst case." Zhao Huasheng said softly. But Mengzhuo obviously didn't hear the implication of Zhao Huasheng's words. He was still driving quietly and pulled Zhao Huasheng to the location of the head of state's office.

The car drove directly into the parking lot, and then Zhao Huasheng took the elevator to an office. Meng Zhuo waited outside the door, while Zhao Huasheng opened the door and walked in. In the office, the old man was already waiting there.

Zhao Huasheng closed the door gently, so that no sound in the office would be transmitted outside the door.

What Zhao Huasheng and the old man said, only these two people know. When Zhao Huasheng opened the door of the head of state's office and walked out, Mengzhuo looked at his watch and found that only twenty minutes had passed. And through the temporarily opened door, Mengzhuo saw the old man's face.

On the wrinkled, skinny old face was a slightly strange expression, which seemed to be sad and angry, but not quite like it. After trying to search in his mind for a while, Mengzhuo found the most suitable words to describe this expression, confused.

That is the entire human civilization, a full seven billion—of course, this number has now been reduced to six billion two billion, and it is still decreasing rapidly—the leader of mankind. Mundo couldn't deny the old man's ability. It was under his strong leadership that even if human civilization fell into such a crisis, it could still maintain basic living guarantees so as not to collapse. Without him, the number of deaths in human society would not be only 800 million.

Mengzhuo stayed with the old man for a long time. In fact, before coming to Zhao Huasheng, Mengzhuo had served as the old man's bodyguard for four consecutive years. Mengzhuo thought he knew the old man very well. I have seen the old man make many decisions. Every word in those decisions may affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but the old man has always been calm and confident. It seemed that no danger, no tribulation would bother him. He can always find the optimal solution to any difficult problem in the shortest time, and an expression like confusion should not appear on his face.

But now, the old man is confused, and it is the deepest confusion. That kind of confusion is even worse than the confusion of the most numb, ignorant, and hopeless people at the bottom of society that Mengzhuo has ever seen.

Zhao Huasheng's expression remained calm. After walking out of the old man's office and closing the door, Zhao Huasheng said softly to Meng Zhuo: "Let's go, let's go back."

Even with Mondro's professionalism, he couldn't restrain his inner curiosity. Very unprecedented, Meng Zhuo asked: "What did you say to the head of state? What was the head of state's answer?"

"The head of state promised to continue the observation operation on the Scarlet Heart spacecraft." Zhao Huasheng said softly, "As for what happened... If my guess is not wrong, you will know soon. Not only you, The entire human civilization will know."

Monjo realized his gaffe as soon as the question was asked. But Zhao Huasheng's answer at this moment made Mengzhuo couldn't help asking the second question: "The head of state decided to announce the truth of the sun crisis to the whole society?"

Zhao Huasheng replied lightly: "Yes. If my speculation is really verified, the head of state has decided to announce the results of my speculation."

"Why? Isn't the head of state worried about causing chaos?" Mundo asked again.

Although he didn't know what the result of Zhao Huasheng's conjecture was, Meng Zhuo could still know that it must be an extremely shocking and astonishing answer. And to announce such an answer to the society...is it really appropriate?