Half an hour later.
In the center of the spaceship, Cao Ge and the other three stood beside a rectangular table, silently watching Dr. Mann, who was seated on the table, drenched and shivering under his thermal radiation coat.
"Dr. Mann, tell us about your planet," Dr. Brand said, glancing at the other three before taking the lead in questioning Dr. Mann.
Dr. Mann's hands clung tightly to the metallic paper garment that draped over his body, his breath forming mist, and his hair a disheveled mess. The spaceship's various systems had become problematic due to prolonged use, including the temperature control system.
Although the spaceship could still generate some heat, it was far from a comfortable temperature.
Moreover, having just come out of the water, Dr. Mann felt an icy chill to his very bones.
This bone-chilling cold made his mind somewhat sluggish.
Shivering, Dr. Mann turned his gaze to Dr. Brand, hesitated for a moment, and then finally began to speak in a trembling voice, "As for the condition of this planet, I think you have seen it yourself. Its day lasts sixty-seven hours and the night is the same, making a day a total of one hundred and thirty-four hours long. Moreover, it is extremely cold, with temperatures dropping to as low as minus fifty-seven degrees Celsius and only rising to minus twenty-three degrees at the highest. The atmospheric environment contains dangerously high levels of ammonia and chlorine gases—it can be said that the surface of this planet is not suited for human habitation."
"However, at a hundred meters underground in caves, the conditions change: temperatures rise, the content of toxic gases in the air drops sharply, and organic matter appears in the soil, making it suitable for human habitation," Dr. Mann continued.
"Really? How large are these caves?" Dr. Brand and the others asked excitedly.
Dr. Mann replied with a smile, "They are vast, and there are many such caves on this planet. The area of the caves ranges from one square kilometer to several hundred square kilometers—more than enough for our use."
"That's fantastic, Earth is saved," Kupa exclaimed with joy.
"The question is whether Old Brand has worked out the formula yet," Kupa said, his face alight with happiness, as he walked back and forth in the spaceship, struggling to contain his excitement.
"Wait, what did you say? Earth?" Dr. Mann interjected, frowning suddenly, puzzled.
"Yes, Earth. Is there a problem?"
Dr. Mann was taken aback. He looked around at the four people, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "You're not telling me that you came here in search of a new home for human civilization, are you?"
"If not that, then what?" Luomi asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Didn't Old Brand tell you?" Dr. Mann inquired.
"Tell us what?"
The three exchanged puzzled looks, indicating they had no idea what Dr. Mann was talking about.
Dr. Mann let out a laugh and shook his head, "It seems he really didn't tell you?"
"But Miller, you must know what I am talking about, right?" Dr. Mann suddenly turned his gaze toward Cao Ge, who had been maintaining a distance from the affair.
As Dr. Mann said this, Kupa and the other two turned their gaze toward him as well.
Meeting the eyes of the four, Cao Ge finally nodded reluctantly.
"I know."
"Dr. Miller, what exactly is Dr. Mann talking about?" Dr. Brand pressed.
Cao Ge looked into Brand's eyes and then said, "Your father, Dr. Old Brand, lied to you? I no longer have a chance to return to Earth, and we didn't come here to find a new home for Earth. Instead, we brought human civilization in search of a new home, bringing with us the three hundred thousand fertilized eggs in the space station to find a new homeland and establish a new human civilization."
"Why would you say that? Haven't we found a planet suitable for colonization?" The three of them asked, looking at him, puzzled.
Because they had already found a planet suitable for colonization, why couldn't they bring all of humanity to colonize this planet.
"Do you still remember the formula that Dr. Old Brand was constantly calculating before you left?"
"I do, it's the gravity formula that could allow all of humanity to traverse space," Brand replied offhand.
The reason he could answer so quickly was that his father had spent decades working on that formula, and it was one of the essential conditions for humanity to colonize the stars.
"Did Old Brand tell you that he was close to solving it?"
"Correct, he mentioned that by the time we found a new colony, he should have been able to solve it."
Dr. Mann smiled, then continued, "Your dad, he deceived you. That formula, he had already solved it before we left. The result was that he lacked several key pieces of data, but because of these missing pieces, the formula was useless."
"So there never was a Plan A. From the very beginning, you've been carrying out Plan B, to extend the spark of human civilization," said Dr. Mann.
"Dr. Miller, is what he is saying true?"
By the side, Kupa's face was already one of anger.
Although Cao Ge really didn't want to admit it was true, he still nodded.
Hearing Miller confirm it was true, Kupa exploded with rage, shouting at Brand, "You lied to me, tricked me into leaving my family, wasting my time here."
The reason he was so upset was that Kupa never cared about the destruction of humanity or not; what mattered to him was whether his family could still be alive, whether his daughter could still be alive. He had promised Old Brand to traverse tens of millions of light-years to come here so that his daughter could survive into the future. But now it turned out they were bringing the last of humanity into deep space to develop a new human civilization, completely abandoning Earth, which was the exact opposite of his original intent. Naturally, he was furious.
"Fuck!" Kupa violently pushed the table in front of him and then left the spaceship, wearing his spacesuit, to the world engulfed in ice and snow.
Inside the dilapidated spaceship, only four people remained.
Cao Ge looked at the three of them and said nothing because he had known all along.
Dr. Mann also had no reaction because he knew as well.
But the emotions of the remaining two, Luomi and Brand, suddenly erupted.
Luomi looked upset but remained silent, while Brand started crying loudly.
Cao Ge and Mann exchanged glances and then left the place, going to the cockpit of the spaceship to check the condition of the ship.
About fifteen minutes later, the ship's door suddenly opened again, and Kupa, dressed in his spacesuit, quickly walked back in and said, "Dr. Miller, what was the data you were talking about just now? Is there any way we can get it?"
Cao Ge stopped what he was doing, looked back at Mann, then urgently back at Kupa, and slowly walked over, saying, "There might not be a way because the missing data can only be observed at the singularity, which means that the missing data can only be found inside a black hole."
"But due to the special nature of black holes, once we enter, we cannot transmit information outwards. So even if we could safely enter the black hole and observe the missing data, it would be useless because we couldn't transmit it to the outside world."