Day 1 (3) Survive

However, today Tang Yue has already waited for a day, and the Jiuquan Center has not responded.

"Because... because there was a sudden issue with the supplies on spacecraft No. 1, which were insufficient to support the return of all personnel, the commander decided, after communicating with the ground, to have me stay behind for a few days," the girl replied. "Once Mr. Tang Yue completes his work, we will return together on spacecraft Orion No. 2."

Tang Yue reflects on this statement, even if you are the President of the United States or the world's richest person, what does it matter? In this vast and ethereal universe, you are still just a speck of dust

In other words, it takes four minutes for electromagnetic waves to travel the entire distance at the speed of light, thus the communication delay is eight minutes

Tang Yue has employed all available means to contact Earth, and the distance between Earth and Mars is at its closest 0.5 astronomical units, approximately 4 light minutes

On Mars, the only ones that could be older than the old cat are the distinguished rovers such as Curiosity and Opportunity, which landed several decades ago

How to determine whether the Earth has truly disappeared? Regarding this question, Tang Yue consulted Old Cat.

A man, a girl, and a robot; these are all that remain of Earth's civilization. Mai Dong is now at a loss, and Tang Yue must become the backbone.

This young woman was remarkably composed, exceeding Tang Yue's expectations.

"Do you still want to live?" The old cat grabbed Tang Yue by the collar and pointed outside the cabin with one hand, "If you want to die, then open the cabin door and jump out. I guarantee you won't survive for five seconds!"

According to my observations with the old cat, the Earth has indeed disappeared

"Mr. Tang Yue, what should we do next?" Mai Dong asked

What else can we do? First, we must survive

Now the Earth has inexplicably vanished, and Tang Yue, a lifelong bachelor, is just a corporate worker waiting for death, which is naturally not a great loss. However, this young woman still had a bright future ahead of her, and she too has evaporated.

"Then why didn't I know?" Tang Yue exclaimed, "No one informed me."

Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds

Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds, contemplating how to articulate the words needed to reveal this terrifying truth to the young woman in her twenties

"Mr. Tang Yue, has the Earth really disappeared?" the girl asked cautiously

This can be physically determined to be nonexistent

Ancient people often said that the affairs of the world are unpredictable

But for some reason, this girl is still on the space station

These three satellites are quite reliable, having never experienced a disconnection in the past decade, even maintaining communication during solar storms

The scientific research station on the surface of Mars relies on signal relay satellites for communication with Earth. Three relay satellites operate in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 17,000 kilometers, effectively covering the entire planet of Mars

The people at the Jiuquan Center are truly a bunch of chatterboxes, sending emails for everything and nothing. They even feel the need to inquire about whether I've had breakfast, what I ate, and how long it took, resulting in my inbox being flooded every day. The email notifying about the change in plans has been completely buried under this junk.

"Miss Mai Dong, why are you still on the space station?" Tang Yue asked, "Are you waiting for me to take responsibility for escorting the samples from Orion back together?"

The group of astronauts has already returned to Earth aboard the Orion 1 spacecraft, while Mai Dong was supposed to have left with the team two days ago

The omnidirectional UHF antenna carried by the relay satellite can achieve a transmission rate of 200 kb per second. If a directional high-gain antenna is used, the data transmission rate can be increased to 2 m per second

Such an important matter, why can't those people send a video file

The old cat is a resident robot at Kunlun Station, having worked here for several years. With extensive experience, it belongs to the level of a senior astronaut who serves as the commander of multiple exploratory missions, far surpassing a novice like Tang Yue.

Tang Yue clicked open and glanced casually, feeling so angry that he wanted to curse.

Mai Dong nodded silently

Coming to Mars is a challenging task, and everything has only just begun

Did you change the plan temporarily

It is evident that this is nonsense

"What nonsense!" The old cat slapped him and said, "Hurry up and check the remaining supplies, then think about what to do next!"

"So what have you been doing these past two days?" Tang Yue continued to ask, thinking to himself, haven't you been in the space station for such a long time without reaching out to yourself?

I... I have been sleeping..." the girl said softly

Since learning of the Earth's disappearance, his state of mind has ascended to a new level, with a clear heart and an empty mind, achieving the ancient pursuit of unity between man and nature. One could say he loves freely and is indifferent to the world, unafraid of the boiling water, or one could say he has become detached from life and death, seeing through the mundane and the worldly.

Tang Yue ultimately chose to respond with plain words, as the disappearance of such a large planet is evident to any discerning person; one cannot hide fire with paper, let alone conceal the Earth.

Another method is observation

Tang Yue was suddenly surprised by the thoughts that had arisen within him

Even the Earth is gone

It was gone as soon as it was mentioned

On this desolate planet, devoid of any life, there exists nothing but a small joint space station and an even smaller Kunlun Station. Tang Yue experiences delays of several dozen minutes even when sending an email, spending ninety percent of the time in a confined space of just a few dozen square meters, and a round trip takes at least two years.

At its farthest, it is 2.6 astronomical units, approximately 20 light minutes, which means the communication delay is forty minutes

Tang Yue slowly sat down, glanced up at the old cat, and then looked at the Mai Dong on the screen

Currently, there are two spacecraft between Mars and Earth, Orion 1 and Orion 2. Both spacecraft lack the capability to enter the atmosphere and serve merely as shuttles between the Mars Joint Space Station and the International Space Station (ISS) on Earth

If you were to throw ten thousand yuan in front of me, I wouldn't even bother to bend down to pick it up

Tang Yue felt that he was on the verge of becoming a Buddha

Notification... The notification was sent a long time ago. The girl said, "Mr. Tang Yue, didn't you see it?"

Tang Yue was taken aback, opened the email on his computer, scanned up and down, and indeed found an unopened email among the numerous work emails.

What should I do? Cold mixed.

"My decision to stay was temporary. In order to reduce the energy consumption of the space station, I turned off most of the cabin functions and crawled into my sleeping bag to sleep. However, the space station's computer suddenly lost contact with the ground not long ago, and it triggered an alarm to wake me up," explained Mai Dong. "Then... then I realized that the Earth was gone"

Mai Dong nodded slightly

Without the selfless spirit of dedicating youth to scientific research, it is indeed true that most young people are reluctant to come here

Even if the Earth and Mars are located at opposite ends of the solar system, separated by a sun, Tang Yue can call the Jiuquan Center from the Kunlun Station, and he can receive a response in forty minutes

She neither cried nor made a fuss, but the light in her eyes suddenly dimmed, as if a candle had been extinguished, losing all its vitality

Unable to observe, unable to contact, unable to exert interference

The old cat's opinion is to establish contact and increase observation

Tang Yue felt a bit heartbroken; Mai Dong was the youngest girl in the scientific research team. Having graduated with a master's degree not long ago, she was assigned as a botanist on the ship to Kunlun Station to conduct research on the adaptability of Martian soil and vegetation

The old cat activated all the telescopes on the Mars United Space Station, observing across various wavelengths from far infrared to visible light. Ultimately, it confirmed that Earth was no longer visible in any wavelength; the area where Earth once existed was now merely an empty vacuum.

This is also why Tang Yue was unexpectedly delighted to learn that there were still others present, as per the original plan, he was the last person to leave Mars

Tang Yue silently supported his forehead

This is probably what is referred to as sudden enlightenment in Zen Buddhism