Earth Era - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Bewilderment

Upon hearing what Wang Tang said, Zhao Huasheng had no reaction at all. Wang Tang paused, looking at Zhao Huasheng’s reaction, before continuing: “You know, the Crimson Heart aircraft carries the hope of our civilization up to a certain extent, and every second of its observation is very precious; we cannot afford to waste them.”

“I won’t go, and I won’t explain why,” Zhao Huasheng shook his head, “but I will go meet the leader, and tell him my reason. After that, I’ll leave the decision to him.”

Zhao Huasheng’s inference was too shocking, and he wouldn’t make it public before obtaining the most important evidence. For if he did, it would bring unexpected troubles and even lead to panic.

Wang Tang shrugged and said, “But you’d better hurry. Your observational mission is severely draining the astronauts’ energy and time, and although they have no complaints, the people from the medical department have already warned and protested against it. They think it can have a serious impact on the astronauts’ health.”

“I know,” Zhao Huasheng nodded, “I have scheduled a time tomorrow morning to go and meet the leader and put forward all my reasons and arguments without any reservations.”

“Although I am curious about what your reasons and arguments are, I guess you won’t tell me.” Wang Tang patted Zhao Huasheng’s shoulder and left.

As Wang Tang left Zhao Huasheng’s residence, a chill seeped into the room. Zhao Huasheng couldn’t help but shiver.

The weather is getting colder and colder. Even if he stayed indoors, Zhao Huasheng had to turn the heater and air conditioner up to the maximum. Even on the equator, the latest record low temperature has been measured at minus fifty-seven degrees Celsius.

Robots left behind by the North and South Poles have also reported the record lowest temperatures in the polar regions, which were minus two hundred and three degrees Celsius.

The oceans have been covered by a thick layer of ice, so maritime transportation has been completely stopped. Obviously, no ship can break through such thick ice. For the human society now, maritime transportation accounts for at least 40% of the total cargo volume.

If the supply line is cut off, many people in the equator city will die from lack of energy. Without energy, there is no electricity and no adequate warmth; factories producing the necessary materials for human survival will be closed, and hundreds of millions of people will die of cold and hunger.

Although sea transportation was forced to come to a complete halt, another form of transportation quietly arose. Due to the extremely thick and sturdy ice sheet, heavy trucks that weighed over one hundred tons were able to travel safely on it. The ice surface was so smooth that it was almost like a highway. Consequently, many observation and supply stations were built on the sea surface, mapping out countless routes on the ice surface that were safe for heavy trucks to travel on. Resources such as oil, coal, and iron produced from all over the earth were continually transported to Chiquiao City via these routes. Its transportation efficiency was even higher than the original sea transportation. If the ice surface was not unsuitable for building railroads, the engineering department even planned to lay the railroads on the ice sheet.

Although ice roads are not highways, the invasion of seawater, the movement of the earth’s crust, and even the pull of the moon can all cause the ice to break. It is also too slippery to drive on, and freight trucks can easily be involved in accidents. According to statistics from the Crisis Prevention Department, at least a thousand people die every day on this major artery that sustains the entire human society. The causes of death are varied, including accidents caused by out-of-control trucks, drowning due to ice cracking, and freezing to death from low temperatures.

Nevertheless, the human society continues to increase the amount of freight transported on the ice roads. Because, apart from sacrificing lives, governments have no other solutions. As a result, truck drivers have become the most highly paid ordinary job in the human society, surpassing even those stationed in the non-equatorial regions.

They supported more than thirty percent of the energy and material consumption of Equator City. Zhao Huasheng was very aware of this and knew that the clothes he wore, the food he ate, the appliances he used, the heating, were all supported by the lives of these people.

So Zhao Huasheng always had a sense of urgency in his heart. But this sense of urgency did not spread throughout human society. On the way to the Prime Minister’s Office on the morning of the second day, looking at the empty streets, Zhao Huasheng felt as if there was a layer of cloud covering Equator City. The name of that cloud was despair and numbness.

Zhao Huasheng clearly felt this. Since the last major riot, there has been no major disturbance in human society. People just live numbly, work numbly, and rest numbly.

Although the disturbances are cruel, they also mean a desperate desire for a better life and their own interests. Now, there is not even a disturbance in human society.

The atmosphere is deathly still, like a stagnant pond.

It has been over half a year since the solar crisis broke out. During this time, the surface temperature of the sun has dropped from 6000 Kelvin to 4500 Kelvin, a reduction of 25 percent. And no one knows if the temperature will continue to drop.

“Under this chill, people have become desperate,” said Meng Zhuo. “They can’t see any hope for the future and don’t know why they are still alive. The order in human society has not collapsed, probably because the government and the forces of violence are still in place and the minimum living standard is still guaranteed. I dare to bet that if the convoy that shuttles between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans disappears for one day, the order in the equator city will collapse instantly.”

“This is already the worst case.” Zhao Huasheng said softly. But Meng Zhuo obviously didn’t hear the hidden meaning behind Zhao Huasheng’s words, he still quietly drove the car, taking Zhao Huasheng to the office of the head.

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

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

What Zhao Huasheng and the old man said, only the two of them knew. When Zhao Huasheng opened the door of the office of the head and walked out, Meng Zhuo looked at his watch and found that only 20 minutes had passed. And through the temporarily opened door gap, Meng Zhuo saw the face of the old man.

The weathered and gaunt face bore a strange expression that seemed to be a mix of sadness and anger but not quite either. After a moment of searching for the right words to describe it, Meng Zhuo found the most apt one: confusion.

That was the leader of the entire human civilization, all seven billion people—though now the number has decreased to six point two billion and is still dropping rapidly—of humanity. Meng Zhuo couldn’t deny the power of this elderly man; it was under his strong leadership that despite the calamity, humanity still managed to maintain basic living standards and didn’t collapse. If not for him, the death toll among human society would not have been as low as just eight hundred million.

Meng Zhuo and the elder had been together for a long time. In fact, before coming to Zhao Huasheng, Meng Zhuo had been the elder’s personal bodyguard for four consecutive years. Meng Zhuo felt he was very familiar with the elder and had seen the process of many decisions made by the elder, decisions that could affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Yet, the elder was always free and easy, with everything planned out. It seemed that no danger or hardship could affect him. He could always find the best solution to any problem in the shortest time. Such confusion should not appear on his face.

However, now the elder was in the deepest confusion. The confusion was greater than the numbness and ignorance at the bottom of society that Meng Zhuo had seen.

Zhao Huasheng’s expression was always calm. After leaving the office of the elder and locking the door, Zhao Huasheng said softly to Meng Zhuo: “Let’s go back.”

Despite his professional demeanor, Meng Zhuo couldn’t contain his curiosity. Unprecedentedly, he asked, “What did you and the head talk about? What did the he say?”

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“The head agreed for the observation mission on the Crimson Heart to continue,” Zhao Huasheng said quietly. “As for what happened… if my speculation is correct, you and the whole human civilization will know soon enough.”

Meng Zhuo noticed his slip of the tongue when the question came out. But Zhao Huasheng’s answer made him ask a second question: “The head has decided to reveal the truth about the Solar Crisis to the whole society?”

“Yes,” Zhao Huasheng replied. “If my speculation is verified, the Sovereign has decided to publicize the result of it.”

“Why? Doesn’t the head worry about causing chaos?” Meng Zhuo asked again.

Although he does not know what Zhao Huasheng’s conjecture is, Meng Zhuo can still tell that it must be an answer that is extremely shocking and astounding. Is it really appropriate to make this answer public in our society?