Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 145

Chapter 145: A Sense of Danger
The excavation had been going on for about 3 months.
Thanks to the anti-gravitational units, the excavation had seen a tremendous increase in progress. The use of explosives without the fear of landslides sped up the progress by a lot. Today, the Hope was only 2,000 meters away from the surface. They expected there to be 3 more months before the Hope could break through the planet’s crust.
Simultaneously, as the Hope got closer to the surface, the better its surveillance became. By this time, almost the whole planet had been fully scanned.
The planet was about 3 times bigger than Earth. One day on this planet lasted 25 percent longer than a day on Earth, while one year passed by slightly faster. Its gravity was 1.2 times greater than that of Earth’s. The added pressure might cause light-headedness for the more feeble among the Hope’s citizens, but it wouldn’t have any effect on the physically fit individuals.
According to their surveillance, the planet was basically a primeval version of Earth when it was still untouched by human hands. Water took up 62 percent of planet's surface, while its land mass was mostly covered by jungle with several isolated pockets of dry deserts. The animals had only evolved to a reptilian stage.
No matter what, based on the surveillance results thus far, the planet was all the people of the Hope could hope for. There was no need for terra-forming because it was a perfect planet waiting for human colonization!
All of these results were published on Hope Weekly, which only added to the public’s hype to get to the surface. There was an increased demand for the excavation to go faster.
Incidentally, Yao Yuan too felt the need to increase excavation speed. However, it wasn’t because of the public pressure but because he was feeling restless due to a pervading sense of danger.
He intended to check with Zhang Heng that day. He had asked for Zhang Heng to meet him at his office after lunch even though Zhang Heng already had plans with Ning Xue and Mao Miao. Due to the seriousness of the issue, Yao Yuan demanded Zhang Heng change his plans.
"…The feeling of danger wouldn’t disperse. Even though I have no clue what it is pointing towards, I’m sure something awful is going to happen," Yao Yuan confessed as he stared directly at Zhang Heng, waiting for his comment.
Zhang Heng nodded imperceptibly as if confirming Yao Yuan’s fear before replying, "…To be honest, I’ve sensed this danger as well, but it is extremely light and doesn’t feel as ominous as it was on the meteorite base. However… the feeling has been getting stronger the closer we get to the planet's surface. A few days ago I saw Saburo’s article in the Hope Weekly talking about the possibility of dangerous viruses in this planet’s air and his demands for the Hope’s public to go through a stringent immunization regime before the Hope opens its doors to the planet's environment. I can’t help but wonder whether my feeling of danger is related to this issue. Then again, since we have to break into the surface no matter what, I didn’t bring this up to you."
Yao Yuan paused to think it over before nodding. "I feel the same way. The feeling does get stronger the closer we get to the surface. Perhaps you’re right that it’s related to the microbes in the air, since the bigger organisms of this planet don’t appear to be able to pose any harm to us. In any case, I hope you’ll come to me, no matter what I’m doing or where I am, should you feel things changing."
Zhang Heng stood up and saluted. Before he left, Yao Yuan added jokingly, "By the way, who do you actually prefer out of Ning Xue and Mao Miao? I don’t remember allowing polygamy on the Hope."
Zhang Heng laughed awkwardly as he scratched his head. "Honestly, they’re both fine. One’s passionate and affectionate, while the other’s meek and gentle

. I don’t mind either."
"You lucky kid." Yao Yuan smiled as he shook his head. "But keep your hands clean. If anything were to happen, understand that I will always stand on the law’s side. We already have one Wa Luo in the Black Star Unit, we don’t need another."
The mention of Wa Luo piqued Zhang Heng’s interest. He considered himself a member of the Black Star Unit, so he asked, "What’s wrong with Wa Luo? I haven’t heard anything improper about him from the rest."
Yao Yuan looked left then right, making sure Barbie wasn’t in earshot, before whispering, "Let’s just say there’s a reason why he’s known as the team player… if you catch my drift."
"Huh?"
They then had a laugh about it. After Zhang Heng left, Yao Yuan asked to see Saburo. "Professor Mitsuda, I have to know, what is the percentage of the possibility for this planet’s microbes to be harmful to human beings? And how fatal would they be if that were the case?" Yao Yuan questioned.
Saburo approached Yao Yuan’s table and respectfully accepted the water Yao Yuan offered him. After a sip, he answered, "Captain, it is impossible for me to confirm whether the harmful viruses, if any, would be fatal to human exposure, because that is not how our biology works. Human genomes are wildly different from one another. Every one of us has 23 sets of chromosomes, and even though about 99 percent of them are similar, there are still enough variances between each one of us to ensure a different manifestation of facial features, height, sex, and even life expectancy. Similarly, each one of us has a different immunity system that responds to the threat of viruses differently.
"For example, AIDS. Even though it has no known cure, there have been people who were completely immune to it in the past. They were carriers of the virus without the virus posing any harm to their bodies. In other words, it is impossible for a natural virus to completely wipe out a civilization, because a section of it is bound to gain a resistance against it. The survivors will procreate, and the gene that is responsible for the immunity will be transferred to future generations, ensuring their survival.
"Therefore, with the right immunization, the virus shouldn’t be an issue."
Here, Saburo stood up and bowed. "On that note, I hope Captain will first dispatch a unit to collect the planet’s microbial samples before the planet is opened to the public. This will give us time to prepare a vaccine."
Yao Yuan motioned for the professor to sit down, before adding, "Professor, please don’t stand on ceremony. So, a dispatch unit, huh?"
After Saburo left, Yao Yuan called Bo Li and the excavation team over. He relayed Saburo’s concerns.
"I know this will eat into the excavation progress, but is it possible to first create an opening for a dispatch unit to go up to the surface? This is regarding the safety of our future home, and I will not risk the lives of 18,000 people!"
The few leading engineers glanced at one another before one of them responded, "We could try digging through one of the more fragile spots, but because of the horizontal direction of the project, it is impossible for us to use explosives for fear of damaging the entire structural integrity. Even though the anti-gravitational units can prevent a landslide, that doesn’t prevent us from being buried. The layer of debris is still going to end up hovering above us… This is going to be hard."
Bo Li, who had been silent, suddenly added, "What about a supermagnetic field?"
"Supermagnetic field? What’s that?" Yao Yuan asked, as he went through all of the 4th revolution inventions in his mind.
Bo Li narrowed her eyes at Yao Yuan. "I’m sorry, but I remember writing a proposal to build a supermagnetic field generator about 3 months ago. It came back with a giant, red REJECTED stamp, so I thought you were already familiar with the technology."
Yao Yuan laughed awkwardly. "That’s because the amount of supplies you asked for was too astronomical. Granted it’s more economical than the Hadron Collider, it's not by much. Your proposal said the machine would occupy ¼ of a whole level, so how could I possibly approve it? Regardless, what is this supermagnetic field?"
Bo Li rolled her eyes. "This is a technology inspired by my power when I was flipping through the alien scriptures. We will have access to manmade gravity at the end of the 4th revolution, and this supermagnetic field is its byproduct. The supermagnetic field could lock objects within a limited area in stasis. However, it requires a large amount of energy, one not even the polymerized reactors could provide, so this technology hasn’t been available to the aliens either. One thing to note is that this technology is different from our anti-gravitational technology; it is much more primitive."
Yao Yuan’s interest was raised, so he asked hurriedly, "But how could that help? Are we going to manually remove the debris bit by bit?"
"No, we use something more direct." A mischievous glint flashed in Bo Li’s eyes. "With the anti-gravitational units keeping the debris afloat and the supermagnetic field locking it into place…
"We’ll blow through it with a shot from the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon! That’ll be our ticket to freedom!"

Chapter end