Chapter 526: The Ares Returns

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Two months later.

Namibia, Eco Science City.

The sky was clear and sunny. The suburbs of the Eco Science City that were originally sparse and quiet suddenly became crowded with people. Numerous famous media personnel and research teams from various countries had come to the space base of the Eco Science City.

The media members looked excited. They set up their cameras like guns before the tarmac the size of four or five football fields, eagerly and fervently waiting for something.

The research team waited early in the living room on the side. Some of these people came from China, some from the Northern American Continent or the European and the North Sea Continent. Anyone picked out from this crowd would inevitably be a famous authority in the field of biological research.

In addition to this group of people, there were hundreds of Namibian soldiers in the space base. Some of them stood in front of the many reporters to maintain order while others lined up in a row in front of the tarmac, creating a circle to prevent the entry of irrelevant personnel.

A huge podium was built at the very front of the tarmac. Several hosts were testing the wires on the podium and the unusual press conference was ready to start at any time.

The reason for such a grand ceremony was that today or strictly speaking, half an hour later, the Ares spacecraft returning from Mars would reach the earth with various samples from Mars.

Here, Blackwatch Corporation was about to hold a press conference for the successful completion of the Ares Project.

At this time, countless personnel had been looking forward to this moment, waiting for the return of the heroes who had set foot on Mars.

“Hello everyone, this is BBC Science and Technology News. I’m reporter Bob. Now we’re at the space base of the Eco Science City in Namibia. As you can see, there’s already an ocean of ??people today! Besides us from the BBC, there are dozens of media. Today is a special day, that is, the day when the manned spacecraft Ares returns to Earth!

“As one of the most influential companies in the world, Blackwatch has created countless legends that are talked about by everyone, and the one most familiar to everyone is probably the number of age-reversal treatment projects. The emergence of this technology has greatly delayed the aging phenomenon of various countries. They have benefited humankind and the world...

“Now, Blackwatch has achieved a new feat, that is, the Ares Project in cooperation with the four major continents. This is the first time humans have set foot on Mars and it’s also the first time that life on Mars has been discovered. We finally realized that alien life has been so close to us, even existing in our neighboring planet, but now, the Ares spacecraft has brought our neighbors to our Earth. Although they aren’t like us humans who have our own civilization, this still represents a new step for us humans...”

While the BBC reporter’s moving narration was going on, other world-renowned media were also broadcasting the entire event. Almost the whole world had focused their attention here, which was a live broadcast of the scene of Ares returning to Earth, a live broadcast of the important trajectory of mankind...

“The Ares is already close to the outer atmosphere.”

Suddenly, a man’s voice came from the broadcast. “Please stand beyond the tarmac. When the manned spacecraft Ares arrives, please remain in an orderly manner. Don’t enter the tarmac. Repeat. Don’t enter the tarmac.”

About five minutes later, the broadcast sounded again. “Ares has entered the ionosphere. It’s currently 80 kilometers away from the ground surface and will land in about 20 minutes. Please keep order, everyone.”

Hearing these words, everyone suddenly clamored. Many people impatiently looked into the sky but found that there was nothing.

However, this did not affect the excitement of everyone. After all, human beings had never been in contact with alien civilization since their birth and now humans had not only discovered alien life but also brought alien life back to the earth. This appeared to be ordinary but it also represented a truth...

The interstellar era was coming soon...

“Ares has flown into the stratosphere...”

Ten minutes later, the voice continued to announce the location of the Ares at present time. “The personnel responsible for maintaining order, please be ready. Those responsible for building the positive pressure disinfection room, please be ready...”

At this time, a person with a telescope suddenly shouted, “Look there!”

Many reporters hurriedly looked up and those carrying cameras also raised their cameras to aim into the sky. Sure enough, above their heads, a small blue dot shone and flickered, just like a small star in the sky.

However, it was daytime after all, how could there be stars?

That was the Ares that would be landing.

Ten minutes, nine minutes, eight minutes...

As time passed by, the azure blue star became bigger and it was visible in the last five minutes. A small dot the size of a sesame seed was falling and two azure rays of light slowly extended from both sides.

“The Ares has entered the troposphere and is about to land...”

The broadcast gave the last notice.

Following his words, the dark spot grew bigger. With a low rumble, the huge spacecraft had completely reached the sky above everyone and many people even felt that the air currents around them had begun to change.

Three minutes, two minutes. One minute...

When the last minute was up, Ares was already suspended above the tarmac. The huge, streamlined body no longer had its previous luster but was gray as if it had been scorched and some people with good eyesight could even see the scratches on the spacecraft.

Those were the abrasions that occurred when the spacecraft hit cosmic dust while flying in the deep space of the universe.

As everyone whispered, Ares hovered in mid-air and slowly descended. At this time, everyone had felt the heat waves washing over them and many people’s mouths turned dry. Moreover, they were still hundreds of meters away from the tarmac. If the rocket had been right in front of them, the heat flow from the spacecraft’s engine was likely to roast them alive in an instant.

Under the attention of the public, the Ares had landed on the huge tarmac and the engine started to turn off.

Seeing this scene, countless people hastened to cheer. Their voices shook the sky and even overwhelmed the sound of the spacecraft’s engine.

However, not everyone acted like this. At this time, hundreds of people of all stripes gathered outside the gates of the space base. These people held various slogans high in their hands and yelled at the same time, only to be blocked by the Namibian soldiers at the gate, unable to enter.

Some of the placards in the hands of this group of people featured the logo of Blackwatch Corporation, but with a big cross in red spray paint over it. Others spelled out some words and one of them was held by a fan of The Three-Body Problem, which read: “Don’t answer, don’t answer, don’t answer!”

Many people believed that the act of bringing back Martian microbes would cause a huge disaster to humankind. Some believed that aliens also had human rights and that bringing them to the earth was disrespectful to the aliens. Others thought that the dark law of the jungle should be obeyed and humanity should use nuclear bombs to extinguish all creatures on Mars. Otherwise, if the creatures on Mars evolved into humans in the future, there would be several technological explosions and the ones who were then wiped out would be humans...

Just like Lu Xun’s words: “The sorrow and happiness of those people aren’t related. I only find them noisy...” Toward the Ares Project, everyone had different ideas and everyone had their own perceptions.

This group of people was those who had opposed the practice of bringing living things back to Earth by the Ares. They even set up an alliance to oppose the Ares Project. They took a plane to Namibia at their own expense and came to the space base to gather in crowds to demonstrate on this day.

However, the opinions of this group of people were destined not to be known to the public. With the influence of Blackwatch in the world today, all well-known media would not risk opprobrium to report these things. Only those who wanted to attract attention like small media groups would occasionally report, but these sporadic objections were like stones thrown into the lake. At most they could only stir up a few ripples, but could not set off any storms.

At this time, as the spacecraft gradually shut down, the surrounding air slowly returned to its previous temperature. At the same time, the rescue team that had been preparing on the right side of the tarmac drove two trucks quickly to the side of the spacecraft door. As hundreds of people worked busily, a huge negative pressure isolation room was built at a visible pace.

Finally, the passage of the isolation room was completely connected to the spacecraft’s hatch. At this point, everyone in the spacecraft could come out.

At this time, the reporters hundreds of meters away could not wait to rush forward, but they were blocked by a group of soldiers on the tarmac, and they could only stare from afar with mouths agape.

In this way, they waited for about half an hour. Finally, at the other end of the negative pressure isolation room, the first person who was disinfected inside and had put on an isolation suit walked toward the podium step by step, accompanied by a guard.

Seeing this, countless reporters finally let out a burst of cheers.

This man in the isolation suit was a middle-aged white man. After he came to the podium, he waved to everyone. After warm applause from the endless crowd, the man spoke, and his voice was transmitted into the microphone through the isolation suit. “Thank you, Earth Federation and thank you, Blackwatch...

“I’m Zhou Xiong, the captain of Ares, and an employee of Blackwatch. What I can tell you is that we have conquered the earth, the deep space of the universe, and have overcome countless difficulties. We... Have returned from Mars!

“Next, I’ll be quarantined for three months, but before the quarantine, I’ll take three questions, and I’ll answer truthfully no matter what they are.”

The man named Zhou Xiong showed a hint of mischief. “Of course, it must be related to Mars. I declare in advance that I have a wife and will not accept any marriage inquiries.”

“Hahahaha...”

The crowd suddenly chuckled and then countless reporters raised their hands, eager to ask questions.

“How about you, you can be the first to ask!”

Zhou Xiong pointed to a blond man in the first row.

“I’m from ABC Radio in Northern America. What did you bring back from Mars this time?”

The other party asked with delight, “I heard that it’s life forms from Mars, right?”

“Erm, yes!”

Zhou Xiong nodded. “We brought back soil samples, rock samples, air samples, and water samples from Mars. Of course, there are biological samples too... Okay, next one, that beautiful lady over there.”

Then, he once again selected a reporter from Mainland China.

“Hello, I’m Wang Bing, a reporter from China TV. Did your team encounter any dangers on Mars?”

“Dangers?”

Zhou Xiong smiled. “No, the word ‘dangers’ shouldn’t be used because we were grappling with death all the time.”

As soon as this sentence was said, many people suddenly started murmuring in low voices.

“The average temperature on Mars is about minus 90 degrees. The air there is thin and the oxygen content is less than 0.1%. Humans cannot survive without wearing any equipment and every time we go out, it’s a test of life and death. Because no one knows when a sandstorm on Mars will blow us away or tear off our protective clothing...”

Zhou Xiong said with a faint smile, “But now we’ve successfully built a life cycle research station on Mars. With a research station, it’s equivalent to having a foundation and our survivability will be greatly improved.”

Many people nodded silently. This group of human pioneers was indeed facing death. Even putting Mars aside, just this journey back and forth between the planets might be plagued by accidents at any time, whether it was a space meteor or a solar storm. Plus, the probability of such an accident was much higher than the probability of a car accident.

“Alright, now isn’t the time to talk about these. Next one.”

Zhou Xiong finally pointed to a black lady, but before the black lady spoke, a man on the side suddenly spoke first, “Are the alien creatures you brought back dangerous? Will it result in species invasion and even the extinction of humans?”

“Absolutely not!”

Zhou Xiong’s expression sank, then he shook his head and said, “We did find Martian microbes but those microbes all live in water. There are no microbes in the Martian air and soil.

“As for species invasion, it’s even more impossible because we’ll isolate them well such as using level-4 biosafety laboratories and so on. And forget about the extinction of human beings. These alien creatures cannot do this at all. Everyone, you can rest assured!”

After saying this, Zhou Xiong left without looking back under the support of several bodyguards.

“Mr. Zhou Xiong!”

“Mr. Captain, please wait...”

There was a commotion in the crowd. Many people wanted to catch up to him, but they were stopped mercilessly by soldiers with guns and live ammunition.

In the end, these people had to return in disappointment.

On the Ares spacecraft, all of the various samples from Mars were taken by the four continents, except for one set, which was secretly transported to the Spire Experimental Base.

The exploration of extraterrestrial life had officially begun.