Chapter 1617: A Letter From Mars

With the successful completion of the first phase of the project, the second phase of the s.p.a.ce elevator soon began in full swing.

As the main contractor of the entire project, this part of the construction was also the most challenging part for East Asia Heavy Industries.

In this part of the construction, the construction team of East Asia Heavy Industries would put down the 36,000-kilometer elevator from the Nirvana section by section, like a ladder, until it was docked with the central tower on Penglai City.

Large s.p.a.ce stations such as the Lagrange s.p.a.ce base could be used as a reference for the Nirvana s.p.a.ce Station, but there was no past experience to reference for the construction of the elevator section.

Forget about East Asia Heavy Industries.

Even for the entire human civilization, building an elevator of this length was unprecedented…

“In the first phase of the project, we will set down one main rail and four secondary rails and then dock the rails section by section by s.h.i.+fting them downwards until the last section of the track is smoothly docked with the central tower.

“If the safety of the elevator can be ensured, we will gradually expand this number to twelve in the follow-up work, and finally complete all the designs on the blueprint.”

After listening to the specific construction plan described by Chief Engineer w.a.n.g from East Asia Heavy Industries, Lu Zhou nodded after thinking for a moment.

“Good idea, we can try this idea for the time being.”

This was the safest method.

Even after technical demonstrations and computer simulations, the s.p.a.ce elevator was still a risky job for them. Although failures in scientific exploration were common, the collapse of a 36,000-kilometer track was likely to have unpredictable impacts on the ecological environment.

It would be fine if it fell on Earth.

If the wreckage between low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous...o...b..t did not fall down but became garbage in the sky around Earth, it would undoubtedly be a disaster…

After the meeting was over, Lu Zhou left the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences and boarded the maglev car parked at the door.

w.a.n.g Peng drove him to the maglev station.

Although he now had a new job, he was a “homie” from the same era and a partner who worked with Lu Zhou for many years. The relations.h.i.+p between the two had always been good. Hearing that Lu Zhou had come to Beijing, he immediately volunteered to serve as a temporary driver for his old friend.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, how about you?”

“I’m the same.” w.a.n.g Peng, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, grinned and continued, “Maybe I got lucky after I survived a catastrophe. Recently, I feel like things are taking a turn.”

“What do you mean?”

“We set up an investigation team to handle the foundation, right?”

Although w.a.n.g Peng did not specify which foundation it was, as soon as Lu Zhou heard these words, he knew w.a.n.g Peng was referring to the “religious organization” that tried to use the ALPHA virus to control the world but ended up failing miserably.

“Any clues about them?”

“More than just a clue.” w.a.n.g Peng smiled heartily. “Some time ago we found their hidden base in a neutral country. With the cooperation of the Ghost Squad, we successfully managed to defeat them without much effort. A large number of psychotropic drugs and important doc.u.ments used to develop believers were intercepted, then guess what?”

The Ghost Squad was a special marine unit of the Pan-Asian First Fleet. It was different from the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, which was responsible for the frontal battlefield. Although they also handled airborne planetary operations, they were mainly engaged in more technical work.

For example, targeted elimination of traitors or the implementation of some missions that were confidential.

Lu Zhou had heard of this squad before, but he was more curious about the final fate of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

“What happened afterward?”

“Based on the information on those doc.u.ments, we can be sure that the base we destroyed was their headquarters on Earth!”

w.a.n.g Peng happily took out an electronic cigarette and held it in his mouth. However, when he was about to ignite it, he suddenly remembered that Lu Zhou hated the smell of smoke, so he put it back in his pocket, coughed, and continued, “The rest was very simple. Using the doc.u.ments collected from the headquarters, we found a large number of key members of the foundation. Some people have been arrested, and some people are going to be captured soon.”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou showed a gratified smile on his face.

“It seems that this case will be over soon.”

“Over… Not quite yet.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him unexpectedly.

“Weren’t the headquarters taken out?”

w.a.n.g Peng sighed and spoke.

“Yes, but in the doc.u.ments stored in the headquarters, only the names of some members were listed. It is still far from the core layer of the entire foundation. For example, Song Yangwei’s name was not on it.”

“Not one core member was caught?” Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. With a strange expression on his face, he asked, “Are you sure that you found their headquarters?”

w.a.n.g Peng shook his head and said, “I know what you mean. In fact, I have also doubted whether the base we destroyed was just a bait thrown by the foundation. But we investigated it. It was discovered that the core members of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation are connected through the virtual reality network. They have never even seen each other in real life.”

Lu Zhou: “This sounds like a guild for online games.”

“It does feel like it.” w.a.n.g Peng continued, “Their cautious approach has brought great difficulty to our investigative work. If we don’t really wipe out their core management or destroy their sources of funds, no matter how many of their bases are taken, it won’t really hurt them.”

Lu Zhou: “Do you need my help?”

It seemed that w.a.n.g Peng didn’t expect Lu Zhou to say this. After hearing this, w.a.n.g Peng was stunned.

Noting the expression on w.a.n.g Peng’s face, Lu Zhou glanced at him with some uncertainty.

“What?”

“Nothing… Just a bit surprised.” w.a.n.g Peng said with a smile after returning to his senses, “They told me that you’re extremely busy, so I didn’t expect you to offer to help.”

Lu Zhou: “That depends on who needs help.”

“We are appreciative of your offering, but we won’t bother you for this little trouble.” w.a.n.g Peng continued with a smile, “Maintaining social order is our duty. It is irresponsible to involve you in it. Besides, there are more important things waiting for you to do right now.”

After arriving at the maglev station, w.a.n.g Peng and Lu Zhou bid each other farewell.

Lu Zhou sat on the maglev train returning to Jinling. He was thinking about what happened a year ago.

There was no doubt that David Lawrence should be dead. w.a.n.g Peng saw this with his own eyes, and there was DNA testing evidence. However, many secrets were also taken to the ground because of his death.

After returning home, Lu Zhou took a day off before returning to his work. He would either go to campus occasionally to teach 22nd-century college students, spend time in the laboratory and play with the model of the interplanetary highway, or discuss academic issues with his favorite apprentice.

Just like this, the days pa.s.sed by quickly. Soon, it was already the end of the month.

As the summer vacation came around the corner, there seemed to be fewer things that required him to go outside.

However, just when Lu Zhou was thinking about this, he received a special email in his mailbox.

The reason why it was special was that this letter was sent from the Martian colony.

In addition, the mayor’s signature and the red badge of the Tiangong City authorities were also printed on the email. Although he had yet to read the contents, all the signs seemed to indicate that this letter was unusual…