Chapter 147: Chapter 128: The Second Explosion Plan t
Translator: 549690339
Everyone stopped arguing and entered the medical cabin.
In the center of the spacious, bright, and high-tech medical cabin was a transparent box about a meter in size.
The box was filled with a light yellow life-sustaining fluid, with countless tiny bubbles rising from the bottom.
Needham Brown’s eyes were closed, as if he was in a deep sleep.
His neck and below had been seamlessly connected with biological materials.
If one didn’t know it was a living person, they might mistake him for a specimen.
With this sight, everyone who walked in was briefly silent.
Even though the emotions of people today fluctuate very little and they’re not very good at sympathizing, they still felt a sense of empathy.
“I feel pretty good actually, what are you all doing here?”
An electronic synthesized voice came from a nearby speaker, it was Needham Brown.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Harrison Clark really wanted to give him a thumbs up.
You’re seriously just a head now, and you still feel good.
Congratulations, you’ve just lowered the standard for feeling good.
“Forget it, don’t be like this, anyway, we’ll all die together soon, there’s no need to be sentimental. Such emotions are pointless.”
A leader of the escape faction spoke bluntly.
Indeed, the atmosphere quickly relaxed.
Harrison Clark seized the opportunity, “Exactly! Look at yourselves, you all know that rushing against the barrier means certain death, so why not listen to me? What’s wrong with dying a month later than planned?”
“You’re just talking nonsense! Do you think we just decided to die on a whim? You don’t know anything! According to our calculations based on the fluctuations of cosmic background radiation, the strength of the barrier will be affected by sunspot tidal waves. Whenever a sunspot eruption occurs, the intensity of background radiation will slightly fluctuate. Next month, the sun’s surface will have a major sunspot outbreak, and we’ll just happen to rush across at the fastest speed, giving us a chance to escape!”
Harrison Clark spat, “You think I haven’t seen the data? Sunspot changes occur every eleven years. The one that happened forty-four years ago was the strongest in a thousand years. But the spaceship that was exposed back then still got instantly decomposed into its fundamental particles, didn’t it? Can this sunspot eruption be stronger than the one forty-four years ago?”
“The spaceship back then didn’t have the new force field shield either! Our current force field shield is twenty-two times stronger than theirs! Our energy reserves are also twenty times theirs! How do you know for sure that we’ll fail!”
Great, the argument which had been paused due to Needham Brown’s “awakening” had erupted again.
“Everyone, give me some face, please be quiet, I have something to say.” Needham Brown spoke again.
At first, no one paid attention to him as Harrison Clark and the escape faction members continued to argue forcefully.
“Stop arguing! I only have one face right now, won’t you all give me some face?”
Needham Brown seemed to have run out of patience.
He continued to speak, and even the emotionless electronic voice somehow carried a hint of anger.
Finally, everyone quieted down.
Needham Brown persuaded Harrison Clark and the others to leave the medical cabin, leaving only a few leaders of the escape faction.
He said, “Harrison, I trust you absolutely. Let me talk to them.”
Returning to the command cabin, Harrison Clark and the others didn’t have much time to rest.
The spaceship was about to fly out of the atmosphere.
Outside the atmosphere, several gigantic objects could be seen converging in space.
These gigantic objects were The Main Ship.
Surrounding The Main Ship, numerous medium and small-sized spaceships were amassed.
The Main Ship was the main force of humanity.
“Report! The military is requesting communication!”
The communications officer shouted loudly.
The leaders of the escape faction were still on Needham Brown’s side, so Harrison Clark and Nora Camp took the initiative, “Accept the call.”
A middle-aged man’s face flickered on the screen in front of the command cabin.
“Hello, Harrison Clark. We need to talk.”
Harrison Clark showed no emotion, “Keep it short.”
“I believe that you already know that the behavior of the escape faction has little meaning, and the chances of survival are not high. We don’t care about their well-being, but you, Nora Camp, and Martha Owen are all important talents that the military has cultivated with enormous resources. We may have had some misunderstandings before, but as long as we share the same goal, these misunderstandings can be cleared up.”
“We hope that you will carefully consider and return to the military. Each of you is a highly skilled individual who can make a difference. We need you, and humanity needs you as well.”
Harrison Clark thought this was ironic.
Did these people not think that humanity needed Nora Camp when they decided to execute her without any proof?
However, times have changed since then, and there was no need for him to bring up these cliche arguments.
He simply refused, “What if I don’t agree?”
“Then, what are your plans?”
Harrison Clark replied, “I plan to join the escape faction and leave for somewhere beyond the Solar System. As you said, our chances of survival aren’t high. So I pose no threat to you, why not just part ways and forget about each other?”
The other party was silent for ten seconds.”Fine, as long as you don’t make any more inappropriate moves, we won’t interfere with you.”
With that, they hung up.
The battleship array outside the atmosphere had stopped approaching and began to retreat, making room for The Main Ship.
Harrison Clark waved his hand toward space, intending to give the order for the spaceship to accelerate full speed ahead.
“Wait!” Nora Camp suddenly interrupted, not waiting for Harrison Clark to ask what’s going on, she quickly gave her command, “Immediately turn 90 degrees! Do not leave the atmosphere! Lower the flight altitude! We’ll cruise within the stratosphere!”
The pilot didn’t react, looking toward Harrison Clark for confirmation.
Harrison Clark didn’t hesitate, “What are you looking at me for? Just do as she says!”
The pilot quickly adjusted the parameters.
Almost a hundred side thrusters on the spaceship fired up, spewing particle flames.
The massive spaceship creaked and groaned as it tilted, changing from its previous upward trajectory to a parallel course with the ground.
It was a massive undertaking to turn such a huge spaceship so abruptly.
Moreover, at this time, they were still within the range of Earth’s gravity, and the sudden change in direction caused chaos on board.
About a minute later, the situation stabilized.
Harrison Clark looked at Nora Camp with a puzzled expression.
He needed an explanation.
“Normally, the Executive Council makes decisions quickly. They waited a full ten seconds before saying they would not interfere with us just now. The battleships didn’t turn around but instead maintained their original course while retreating. Therefore, I believe that the Executive Council and the military are lying! Once we leave Earth’s atmosphere, they will not hesitate to destroy us!”
Harrison Clark instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
That was a close call.
In this era, traditional moral values were inapplicable.
It was only natural for the military to lie.
“Maintain a cruising state for now and don’t give them any opportunities. I’ll think of a solution.”
Harrison Clark instructed.
The door to the Medical Cabin opened again, and the members of the fugitives filed out.
They were well aware of what happened outside.
Harrison Clark thought that they would blame him again or even ask to expel him and his companions, but the fugitives didn’t say anything and seemed willing to cooperate with him.
Needham Brown’s persuasion must have worked—it was unclear how he did it.
Now, they were in a stalemate.
Stay on Earth and wait for the two-month deadline? Then all their efforts so far would have been in vain.
Break through? Harrison Clark had no confidence in the giant ship breaking through the blockade of The Main Ship and the Sky-based Cannon on the space station.
Negotiation was their only option.
Having been deceived once in the negotiations, Harrison Clark was reluctant to trust the military again.
“There must be a way to keep them from firing on us.” Harrison Clark asked the fugitives, “Do you have any leverage on them?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Harrison Clark asked again, “What if I sneaked in and attacked the space station alone? Subdue them all?”
Martha Owen immediately denied, “The space station is not like Earth’s capital; their defense forces aren’t even on the same level. You have no chance of getting close to the space station.”
“So there’s no solution?” Harrison Clark felt desperate.
Suddenly, Nora Camp turned to the leader of the fugitives and asked, “Is it true that the founder of the fugitives once had a top-secret diary personally written by Dr. Sergey?”
The fugitives nodded, “It is true.”
“Where’s the diary? Does it mention the Earth’s Core Quark Bomb?” Nora Camp speculated, “As we all know, Dr. Sergey set up a mechanism to detonate the bomb in order to prevent his successor from closing the way for the lower class to rise. We know that this backdoor mechanism is hidden deep within the Central Intelligence’s algorithms and will be activated when the conditions are met. However, I want to know if there’s a second plan for detonation.”
It took a long time for someone from the fugitives to speak up.
Finally, one of them admitted in a low voice, “Yes, there is.”
Nora Camp grinned, “I knew it! That’s Dr. Sergey’s style! Since he knew that humanity had little chance of winning and planted a bomb, it wasn’t just to threaten the Earthlings! He must have considered the situation after defeat! If humanity wants to cut off hope and leave no survivors for the invaders, then we’ll blow up our own planet! The invaders want the Earth, right? Then let’s blow it up! Although it may not be a complete loss for them, it definitely won’t make them happy.”
Harrison Clark thought about it, “Your analysis is reasonable, but…”
Nora Camp immediately shook her head, “There are no ‘buts’! I am sure! I’ll bet that within the entire military, I am the person who has studied Dr. Sergey the most in-depth! Because he was the first one who had no interest in chess and then inexplicably started loving it!”
The leader of the fugitives nodded, “You’re absolutely correct. The second detonation plan is recorded in the diary. The diary is stored in that room, sealed in a password-protected box. If the wrong password is entered, the box will explode, and a miniature nuclear fusion bomb is inside.”
As the others went to fetch the password box, Harrison Clark asked what the password was.
“Among our explorers, every few decades, the most outstanding and determined person is selected to inherit the diary. The inheritor of this generation is Needham Brown.”
Harrison Clark was speechless, “So, Needham Brown is actually your highest leader?”
“In a way, yes..”