Die on Mars - Chapter 230

c229 Day 332 (4) Hope or death

Tang Yue stared blankly at the letter in Old Mao’s hand, then suddenly shook his head and sneered.

“Why did this thing come now? What does it want to tell me? The disappearance of the earth is just a trivial accident? Let us live if they want to live, let us die if they want us to die? Are we just tiny ants? Our Existence is actually meaningless?”

The old cat stared at him.

Tang Yue became angry. He grabbed the letter paper from the old cat’s hand, crumpled it into a ball and smashed it on the floor, “Compensate me with an earth? Compensate me with 7 billion people? There are so many lives on the earth, what’s wrong with them?” Are they just like toys? Human civilization is not worth mentioning. If I break one, I will pay you one?”

In Tang Yue’s view, this letter was full of contempt and contempt from the inside out.

Look at this rhetoric and tone. The disappearance of the earth was just an operational accident. There are 500 million planets that evaporated together with the earth. How big a deal is this? If not, I’ll just pay you one.

“Then who am I? Who is Ophiopogon japonicus? What does all the suffering we have suffered…” Tang Yue slowly squatted down, covered his face, his voice choked, “We have worked so hard to live until now, for What, what’s the point…”

“No.” Old Mao came over, stood in front of Tang Yue, held his cheek, and collided with his forehead, “Tang Yue, it’s not like this, it’s not like this.”

Tang Yue raised his head.

“This is meaning.” The old cat’s big eyes shined brightly in the shadows.

“significance?”

“Yes.” Old Mao forced Tang Yue’s head into his arms, “If you hadn’t persisted in living until now, then this letter would undoubtedly be a piece of waste paper. No matter where it came from, it was exactly Because you have seen it, it has practical significance. Its appearance does not tell us what advanced civilization exists in this universe, nor does it tell us how advanced and powerful the other party is, nor does it tell us that the existence of the earth and human beings is worthless. .”

Tang Yue leaned his head on the old cat’s arms and asked in a low voice: “Then what is it talking about?”

“It tells us…” Old Mao hugged Tang Yue tightly and rested his cheek on his forehead, “Whether it’s you or Miss Maidong, your existence, your persistence, your struggle, your Efforts… are all meaningful, Tang Yue, everything is meaningful. We have worked so hard and desperately to survive until now, we have overcome so many difficulties, and all the disasters and sorrows we have experienced will eventually have results. and giving back.”

“It does not deny the value of our existence. Because you are still alive, there is hope for the future.” The old cat said softly, “This is what this letter says.”

Tang Yue opened his mouth.

“Does my life have meaning?”

“Yes.”

“Is the life of Ophiopogon japonicus also meaningful?”

“Yes.”

Tang Yue’s body trembled. He buried his face in the cat’s fur, held its shoulders hard, and gritted his teeth to prevent himself from crying.

“I…we are not worthless reeds? Are we not just lingering cupboard garbage? I…our existence is meaningful?”

“Yes, Tang Yue, Miss Maidong…” The old cat slowly patted Tang Yue’s back and said softly, “Our cry for strength… has been heard by the world.”

·

·

·

On the cold eve of despair.

Tang Yue burst into tears.

This cold and merciless universe finally leaned down to hug this man gently, kissed his forehead, and said to him:

You have not been forgotten by the world.

·

·

·

“88.2°E, 17.6°N.”

“Eighty-eight degrees east longitude, 17.6 degrees north latitude. This location is in the Ixi Plain. It is very close to us, very close, very close.” Old Mao found the coordinates on the map and buried himself in measuring with a ruler. ” It’s almost at our doorstep, northeast of Kunlun Station, in the direction of Utopia Plains.”

The old cat turned around and found the northeast direction, stretched out his paw and pointed.

“It’s right in that direction.”

“How far away are we?”

“The straight-line distance is about…” Old Cat calculated, “Two hundred and eighty kilometers.”

“Be more precise.”

“I am using the three-dimensional modeling map of the Yixi Plain left by Lao Zheng. Fortunately, the Yixi Plain does not have major terrain undulations, and the calculation result has a small error…the exact distance is 283.1 kilometers.” Lao Mao quickly gave He came up with an accurate figure, “If we want to reach this position by taking a Martian stray dog, the disabled dog can only travel an average of thirty kilometers per Martian day, so the minimum time required is nine days.”

“We’ll set off tomorrow.” Tang Yue didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Not tomorrow.” The old cat shook his head, “We need a day to prepare. We need to repair the Martian stray dogs, dismantle and empty the experimental cabin, bring enough food supplies, bring enough fresh water, and bring solar panels. Finally say goodbye to Kunlun Station.”

What the old cat said made sense, but Tang Yue was too impatient. The distance of 280 kilometers was indeed at the doorstep of home on a cosmic scale, but for them this was an unprecedented far journey. With the speed of a stray dog ​​on Mars, It took nine days of slow climbing to reach the destination. From the beginning to the end, there was no help from anyone. Any accidents had to be solved by oneself. Moreover, Tang Yue had to go with him this time, so the preparations had to be complete and sufficient.

Tang Yue put his palms against the inner wall of the Kunlun Station hall and let out a sigh of relief.

Both he and Lao Mao knew it tacitly. In fact, they knew deep down in their hearts that they would never come back. This was destined to be a one-way journey with no return.

There are a total of six units of emergency oxygen generating devices in Kunlun Station. The average maximum usage time of one oxygen candle is forty hours. The six candles can be used for a total of 240 hours, which is less than ten Martian days. . In other words, Tang Yue’s oxygen reserves were seriously insufficient. At most, he could barely sustain himself until he reached his destination, but there was absolutely no extra oxygen to return to Kunlun Station.

Neither he nor Lao Mao knew what would be at this coordinate. Would there be a spaceship waiting there? Or is there an office with a sign? Or maybe it’s all empty, and this letter is just playing tricks on them – this is an adventure, and once you start, there is no way out.

Tang Yue asked Lao Mao to bring a shovel. If they unfortunately lost their way and missed their target, or there was nothing at the coordinates, Lao Mao could dig a hole on the spot and bury Tang Yue’s body there.

No matter from which angle you look at it, this will be the last journey of Tang Yue’s life. He sets off in a completely unknown direction, holding a one-way ticket in his hand, towards an unknown destination.

No one knew what exactly was waiting for him there.

hope.

Or death.