Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

Mars.

On the surface.

After driving the spare Mars rover to the destination, two scientific research personnel wearing spacesuits quickly jumped out of the car.

“I have reached the target location…” As Han Kangyu looked around, his face was full of seriousness. He opened the communication channel and reported to the base station, “Dr. Fan and his rover are missing.”

This was 15° south latitude and 128.1° west longitude, which was the position declared in the last message that Dr. Fan sent out before disconnecting.

Forget about Dr. Fan himself.

Even the tire marks left by the rover were not visible here.

Soon, a calm voice came from the communication channel.

“It may be because he moved to another location while avoiding the sandstorm. The positioning system caused an error due to the influence of the sandstorm… Search the nearby area.”

“Okay.”

After receiving instructions from Captain Liang Youcheng, the two immediately aimed their eyes at the nearby mountain called The Gates of Hell. If the goal was to avoid sandstorms, this was undoubtedly the best choice compared to the sand dunes in open areas.

The two immediately began to get to work and found new clues.

“The rover is here…”

The rover used by Dr. Fan was found next to a steep rock wall. Ming Wenzhe glanced at the car door, frowned slightly, and said, “No one is in the car, the toolbox is not there.”

Han Kangyu quickly walked to his side and looked at the empty driver’s seat. Cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.

He punched the tall rover tires and cursed.

“Sh*t… Where did this guy go?”

He was the deputy captain of the scientific research team that headed to Mars. If something happened on Mars, he and Liang Youcheng would bear the brunt of the responsibility.

Of course, compared to a human life, the responsibilities were trivial.

If someone died here, it would undoubtedly give those with ulterior motives who were jealous of China’s achievements an excuse to attack them. It would be a huge blow to the entire Mars colonization plan!

And now, they didn’t even know what happened to the guy.

Ming Wenzhe, who was standing at the door of the car, suddenly spoke.

“There is a possibility.”

Han Kangyu immediately looked at him and asked, “What possibility?”

“According to his message on the rover… Before losing contact, he should have witnessed the disappearing fracture structure near here. Considering the sandstorm that occurred during that time, the visibility outside the vehicle was not high and the location of the crack should be far from here. It won’t be very far.”

Ming Wenzhe went silent for a while, then continued to speak the difficult-to-accept truth.

“But now, the crack is gone.”

“So what you’re saying is, he jumped under the crack by himself, then the crack closed quickly after he went down?”

Ming Wenzhe nodded silently.

“That’s the only possibility.”

Although Han Kangyu knew that this was the most likely scenario, he couldn’t help but argue.

“What kind of structure moves so fast that it closes in an instant? Is there no chance to climb up?”

“I don’t know, I’m not doing geological research.” Ming Wenzhe’s expression showed a bit of bitterness. He said, “To be honest, I feel a sense of evil around here. Is it because it’s called The Gates of Hell? How about we rename this mountain range?”

The two people were on the public communication channel.

Liang Youcheng, who was standing in the base communication room, had been listening to the exchanges between the two.

After thinking for a moment, he gave an order in a deep voice.

“It doesn’t help to be anxious.

“Let’s take a wild guess, if the crack appears randomly around the Outlier 128, there should be a large space below this area. If Dr. Fan fell, it is likely he is still alive. Of course, I am not an expert in this area, so I can only say that I think about everything in the most optimistic direction.

“Expand your searching range and search along the edge of the mountain. If he is still alive, he will certainly not sit down and wait to die. Maybe he has already gone to the opening of the next earthquake crack, waiting for rescue.

“Also, I will apply for support from the ground command center.

“… Regardless of the final result, we have to bring him back.”

It might not be difficult to drill through a rock on the surface of Mars, but it was still quite difficult to dig through a rock formation more than 20 meters deep and grab someone from below.

There might be such engineering equipment on the Moon, but it was impossible to transport it here, so all they could do was to apply for support.

In fact, applying for support was just for comfort’s sake.

Even if the support from the Moon Palace really came all the way and brought reliable excavation equipment, all they could do was collect his body for him.

As Han Kangyu listened to the captain’s instructions from the communication channel, he clenched his fists and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he loosened his fists and sighed.

“… That’s the only option.”

Ming Wenzhe suggested, “I want to apply for permission to use Xu Fu’s optical observation module.”

Liang Youcheng: “It has been assigned to you. We will also help you observe whether there are new ground cracks nearby. Remember, if you find that… abnormal crack again, you must not act rashly, downward exploration is forbidden!

“Regardless of his current situation, we can’t afford more losses.”

…

As soon as Liang Youcheng transmitted the distress message back to Earth, the entire ground command center had entered a state of emergency due to the sudden situation.

An astronaut was missing!

Such a serious matter happened less than a week after the landing of the colony capsule. This was not just a simple space accident, but a serious political accident.

The whole country was still celebrating the success of the Mars landing.

If this news spread out, what would happen to the staff at the Mars landing office?

Inside the office.

After Lu Zhou heard the situation reported by Director Chang, he was stunned.

Although he had considered the possible risks of the “Outlier 128” project, he really did not expect this to happen.

The crack closed after the person went down?

It sounded like he was “eaten” by something alive.

After a long silence, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but ask.

“Is he still alive?”

“His status is uncertain.” Director Chang continued with a bitter expression on his face, “The problem now is that the Mars base has sent a signal for reinforcements, but even if we send rescue now, I am afraid it will not help.”

This was indeed a problem.

Even considering the most optimistic situation, Dr. Fan Tong’s supply could only last for about three days at most. Even if their Magpie Bridge was departing from the Moon Palace now, it would take at least two weeks to reach Mars.

Not to mention whether or not they could save him, even with the additional supplies.

After all, the environment on the Moon was completely different from that on Mars. Engineering equipment tailored for the Moon might not be perfectly compatible on Mars.

After thinking about it for a moment, Lu Zhou made a decision and spoke.

“Don’t send reinforcements for now.”

“But—”

“I know what you’re worried about.” Lu Zhou continued calmly after seeing the worry on Director Chang’s face, “The worst-case scenario is that we made a mistake.

“Since he is only missing, it has not been confirmed that our astronaut has died, so don’t publicize this matter for now.

“At the same time, let our outpost on Mars use all available resources to search and rescue the missing astronaut.

“If it turns into an irreversible situation in the end…

“I will take all responsibility.”

After hearing this, Director Chang’s shoulders trembled; he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

After a while, he nodded his head.

“… Okay.”

The office door closed.

Lu Zhou was the only one left in the spacious room.

Lu Zhou listened to the sound of footsteps fading away outside the door. He went silent for a while, then finally sighed and turned his eyes to the smartphone on the desk.

“Xiao Ai.”

The signal light flickered slightly; a message appeared on the screen.

[Master, are you calling me? o(
’▽’
)o]

“You should have heard the conversation just now?” After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, “Connect to the Crawler for me and search for the missing astronaut.”

In less than a second, the chat popped up again.

[Yes, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]