Chapter 298 - 291 Coordinate_1

B-level Base, Lin Ju held his phone and gazed at the brightly lit base.

Although New Year’s Day would bring a holiday tomorrow, there were still many people remaining at the base.

Entering the deep night, only the wind and the sound of the clock remained at the base.

Minutes later, the signal from the National Observatory’s time center was sent out, marking the end of the last second of 2016 and the official start of 2017.

In his mind, the system panel immediately updated.

[Annual assessment for 2016 in progress...

Long-term mission: Fly Higher

In the past calendar year, you sent over 100 non-professional astronauts into space and conducted a near-Earth orbital flight mission yourself. Number of registered reserve engineers and reserve astronauts: 6,971, minimum manned spacecraft single-person launch cost about 9.4 million yuan, below 10 million yuan.

Event: Space Race

Registered competing rockets "CZ-10" and "SLS block1" each launched once, with an increase of 2 competing rockets, Space Race Phase One: The Moon officially commenced, mission completion deadline: no later than 2019.

The causes and trends of the event have been confirmed, host influence is extremely high, judged as the instigator, advancing astronautics: +10 (Competing rockets and spacecraft’s new technology ratio is less than expected, please continue to make efforts.)

Annual assessment for 2016 completed, rewards issued: 38% enriched 1977-style Standard Uranium Rods*300; A+ Grade Scientist character card (Legendary)*1, System Research Institute funding: 10 billion yuan (non-withdrawable)

Note: As Space Race Phase Two: Mars is suspected to be starting, based on the host’s good performance, a gift of coordinates provided: Mars, 73 degrees east longitude, 69 degrees south latitude, this as the centroid in a 40 km radius area (Note: Suspected non-natural phenomenon, more information unclear, suggested exploration)]

This time, because the settlement was for two parts and took a longer time, Lin Ju reviewed it several times and still could hardly believe it.

Never mind the 1977-style Uranium Rods, I still haven’t used up the last 100, and with a 38% enrichment, the Uranium Rod content is too high, way beyond civilian range, who would dare use it publicly?

Another A+ Grade Legendary Scientist, although it’s still unclear which historical figure it is, but it’s definitely on the same level as Korolyov, surely not a loss.

But the system’s gift information is too terrifying, what the heck is "suspected non-natural phenomenon"?!

System, explain yourself, what is this situation?!

Is it the mysterious detectors monitoring the Solar System, or unknown space-time disturbances, or perhaps a spacecraft hidden on its way to Area 51?!

"Suspected non-natural phenomenon" doesn’t necessarily mean aliens, but Lin Ju simply can’t help but think in that direction – it’s truly terrifying upon contemplation.

Especially given his unique existence, he’s even more inclined to believe that there really might be aliens in this world.

A gust of wind carrying the fragrance of the woods blew into the room, causing a chicken-skin shudder to run through Lin Ju, who was already creeped out.

The system was too sly, giving him these coordinates was obviously meant to make him clarify the truth. No matter what was there, he had to launch something to take a look, even send people to investigate in detail.

He couldn’t believe that the system would act without purpose. Even if it wasn’t aliens, it was definitely something of tremendous significance.

Lin Ju cursed the damn system in his mind, hoping for more information, but the latter played dead and gave no response whatsoever. In the end, he could only give up.

It was already one in the morning, but Lin Ju felt not the slightest hint of sleepiness. He directly pulled up the existing data on Mars and began searching for a location, then fixated on a spot within a circled mark on the Martian south pole, letting his thoughts run wild.

...

The next day, the Big Shot, who had rarely taken a day off to enjoy the holiday, decided to try the base cafeteria’s breakfast. That’s when he saw Lin Ju emerge, shambling and disheveled, with sunken eyes like a ghost.

His colleagues jumped in shock upon seeing him and hurried over to help. Lin Ju’s eyes were bloodshot, yet he showed no intention of resting, managing a weak smile instead.

"Lin, even though it’s a holiday on the base and everyone has their tasks, you shouldn’t overwork yourself and harm your health. What were you up to last night? Didn’t sleep a wink, did you?"

The Big Shot immediately realized that something must have troubled Lin Ju greatly last night, and it must have been a significant and vexing issue that kept him awake with worry.

This was unacceptable; Lin Ju’s importance could even surpass his own. If anything were to happen to him, they would be in big trouble.

Lin Ju shook his head, "It’s nothing, just got caught up thinking about this year’s space plans and couldn’t sleep... just a small thing. Will be fine with some more sleep."

Perhaps it was the cold damp air of the morning that revived him, but after yawning, Lin Ju seemed much more alert. Seeing this, the Big Shot did not press further, only expressing his thoughts with a few words.

"Indeed, managing such a big company is no small task; although it’s not like government bureaucracy, it still keeps you busy with something or other.

But you still need to look after your health, Lin. You see, you’ve been keeping such irregular hours because you’re alone. If someone were there to manage and care for you, it would be much better. Hey, I have a classmate whose daughter just started her senior year in college, I inquired about her when she visited me the other day, she’s quite pretty and clever..."

The Big Shot had been speaking naturally, when suddenly it occurred to him, how come Lin Ju was still single? He’s 25 now, right?

Not just him, several top technical executives at New Yuan, including Xiao Okada who managed to involve his family affairs, and the renowned Androff, Guo Shen, and Xie Liaofu, none were heard to be married?!

Thinking it over carefully, aside from cleaning and logistics staff, there were pitifully few female employees in the B-level Base, no wonder each visit felt somewhat off.

The Big Shot felt as shaken by this as he was by the Mars coordinates supplied by the system, and it brought a sense of urgency.

So, having weathered a night of brainstorming, Lin Ju was then subjected to experiences of missing paternal love—marriage pressure. Those from the Aerospace Development Committee who came over were all between fifty and seventy years old, some with an age gap enough to be grandfathers, and the entire breakfast unfolded amidst discussions of contributing to the birthrate.

After enduring two spiritual traumas, Lin Ju finally found Xie Liaofu in the office drinking coffee. The latter, having chosen to lazily have his meal delivered by drone, had dodged the bullet.

Hmm, after New Yuan Base switched to computer control, it opportunistically started smart living within the base, applying a plethora of robots for material transport and simple tasks to facilitate management and improve efficiency.

Xie Liaofu too was startled by Lin Ju’s haggard appearance, but before he could ask, he heard the boss speak in a haunting tone:

"Korolyov, do you believe in aliens?"

Xie Liaofu: "...I believe. The universe is so vast; Earth can’t be the only place with intelligent life. Maybe we’ll encounter them in our lifetime."

Lin Ju: "No need to wait that long, they might be right under our noses."

As Xie Liaofu looked on, perplexed, Lin Ju took out his tablet and showed him the Mars star map, highlighting the area indicated by the system.

Then, a thunderclap exploded in Xie Liaofu’s ears:

"Here, there might be traces of aliens."