Peace has set sail.
It should have been a moment filled with ceremony.
After all, at this very moment, the historical significance represented by Peace far surpassed Armstrong’s small step.
But out of fear of being caught in an explosion, most of the strategists had slipped away to a safe distance.
As a result, the send-off beneath Peace was sparse, with barely anyone present.
“So realistic.” Miss Nuo was quite displeased, “Not a bit of adventurous spirit.”
Wu Xiaomi timidly raised her hand.
She wanted to ask: Captain, can I get off the ship? I actually didn’t mean to get on just now…
“I don’t want my crew to be like those cowards, clearly possessing the chance to become pioneers, but lacking the courage to move forward. If anyone on my ship wavers and shakes the crew’s resolve, I’ll personally execute her… By the way, Xiaomi, what is it?”
The girl’s face turned pale.
With trembling hands, she wrote: [I just wanted to ask, what’s for lunch?]
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of supplies, and we have an ecological circulation system. Even if we break down halfway, we can maintain our food supply for several months.”
Oh…
“Let’s go, let’s leave the Solar System first.”
Miss Nuo sat down in the captain’s seat.
She pressed the launch button.
The Earth gradually receded into the distance.
Inside Peace, space was abundant, and with the Artificial Gravity Device, there was no need to worry about the troubles of weightlessness.
The principle behind this Artificial Gravity Device was actually quite simple—
It was an infinitely rotating, giant Ferris Wheel.
The crew activity area, including the Captain’s cabin, was located on the Ferris Wheel.
Through the Ferris Wheel’s self-rotation, the resulting centrifugal force kept all objects pressed tightly against the outer wall.
This force simulated gravity.
Though Wu Xiaomi was quite amazed by this idea, Miss Nuo was unimpressed.
“Have you seen Interstellar? Even if you haven’t, you’ve at least heard of it, right? Haven’t you ever wondered why the spaceships in those movies are always spinning? It’s to simulate gravity.”
“This concept was proposed long ago, nothing too technical about it. What’s truly high-tech is the Warp Engine.”
“When do we start warp travel?” Bai Xiaozhi asked curiously.
“Hold on, we’ll first move a little farther away at Sub-light Speed, so the Antimatter Explosion doesn’t blow up the White Space.” Miss Nuo replied calmly.
“……”
“……”
Wu Xiaomi leaned against the transparent window, watching as the White Space had already turned into a distant white sphere.
[It really looks like the Moon!] She excitedly waved a slip of paper.
Bai Xiaozhi stood by the girl’s side, gazing at this dazzling cosmic view together.
Wu Xiaomi had already forgotten her fear by now.
With no atmosphere or clouds to obscure it, the starry river was clearer than ever before.
This sight alone was worth risking a sixty percent chance of sudden death.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, this is just the beginning.”
Miss Nuo pushed the Engine lever.
A slight feeling of being pressed back came, Peace’s speed increased, and in the blink of an eye, they had already moved far away from the White Space.
In the view ahead, a beautiful yellow planet appeared, surrounded by huge yellow-and-blue rings.
“How lucky, we just happen to be passing by Saturn. This is the only planet in the Solar System with a permanent ring.”
Miss Nuo also leaned by the window, actually just as amazed and excited as Wu Xiaomi, though she tried to restrain herself, murmuring, “It’s too beautiful.”
Indeed.
It was stunning.
The blue and yellow rings, made of a mix of rocks and ice, reflected a crystal-clear glow.
At that moment, Wu Xiaomi suddenly jumped up, anxiously pointing at the edge of the rings.
Unable to speak, she could only tap the glass in a hurry.
“A satellite? An artificial satellite?” Bai Xiaozhi also noticed the object.
How could there be an artificial satellite all the way out here?
Could it be aliens?
“Don’t panic, that’s the Cassini probe, launched from Earth in 1997 to orbit Saturn and investigate its environment.”
Miss Nuo returned to the cockpit. “Let’s go, let’s keep heading out of the system.”
She pulled the control lever again.
Because the other planets weren’t as beautiful, and Peace didn’t pass through their orbits, this time there was no slowing down.
After about twenty minutes, just as Wu Xiaomi’s eyes were beginning to ache,
Miss Nuo suddenly slowed Peace down.
[Warning, an artificial metallic object detected ahead, powered by a nuclear battery.]
On Peace’s Electromagnetic Radar, an obvious light spot was displayed.
This time… was it really aliens?
Wu Xiaomi became a little nervous.
“It’s not aliens,” Miss Nuo directed Peace to slowly approach the object.
Wu Xiaomi also looked through the window and saw it clearly.
It was a huge metallic spacecraft, with a massive white signal dish on top.
Only, it looked… rather battered.
The big white dish was broken, and the fuel generator had been damaged by something unknown.
“Looks like we’ve reached the edge of the Solar System—this is Voyager 1.”
Miss Nuo tapped the control panel.
A hatch on Peace opened, a mechanical arm extended, and grabbed Voyager 1.
“This is the Voyager 1 probe, launched September 5, 1977. Its mission was to leave the Solar System and search for other civilizations.”
Though Voyager 1 was quite large, compared to Peace, it was as small as a baby.
The mechanical arm successfully brought Voyager 1 aboard Peace.
Then Miss Nuo took Wu Xiaomi, Bai Xiaozhi, and Ah Lei to the room where Voyager was held.
After a quick pressurization, radiation check, and disinfection, the doors opened.
Everyone approached Voyager 1.
Up close, Wu Xiaomi finally saw clearly—a gaping hole had been cut in Voyager 1.
The hole went straight to its core.
The edge of the hole was perfectly neat, clearly cut by someone.
Someone had cut open the shell and taken what was inside.
At this, Miss Nuo’s expression grew grim.
[What’s wrong?] Wu Xiaomi asked, [What was stored inside?]
“Voyager 1 completed its mission.” Miss Nuo sighed and sat down. “You’ve probably heard of its famous reputation in your textbooks—
Voyager 1 carried a gold-plated copper Golden Record and a Diamond Stylus, with all sorts of Earth’s sounds, human languages, and images of humanity recorded on it.”
“The people who launched it thought this would show another civilization the beauty of Earth, hoping for peaceful exchange. Now it seems, the other side didn’t choose peaceful contact. The sender’s foolish decision ruined the entire Earth.”
Does that mean…
Could it be…
Could the world-ending meteor have come because of this?
Because of the Golden Record on Voyager 1?
“Maybe. In any case, we can’t afford to delay—we must leave here as soon as possible.”
Everyone hurried back to the cockpit.
“Those unknown existences may still be nearby. We must immediately enter high-grade warp and head for Nerrifa!”
The control lever was pushed to its limit.
[Look behind! Look behind!] Wu Xiaomi jumped up in alarm.
In the void behind them, a point of light was rapidly expanding, charging toward them with unstoppable force.
It was a planet.
No…
Looking at those familiar patterns, and the blue-and-yellow rings swirling beyond its surface—
Wasn’t that Saturn, the very one they’d just seen?!
How could it be following them??