Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 415: Red Moon, Dark Moon, Light Moon

"The three moons, according to their orbit and distance from the planet as well as their own geological quality, have different appearances if seen from the planet itself. One of them is bloody red, another one is inky black, and the last one is shining bright.

"According to the ship-wide vote last week, they are respectively named Red Moon, Dark Moon, and Light Moon. And now we're landing on the moon closest to the planet, the Light Moon."

The Hope had been idling above the Light Moon for more than a week now. It was not that the Hope wanted to stop there, but for the sake of absolute safety, they had to carry out plenty of calculations, exploration, and detection before they could allow the Hope to land on it.

The Hope now was no longer the same ship that left Earth. It had reached the peak of level 2 space civilization and was brushing up against level 3 space civilization. It also had supplies that would last the ship for at least 10 years as well as the elite group of Black Star Troopers. Humanity was no longer a rookie in space.

In this one week, the thorough exploration of the Light Moon had been completed. Information like the components of its core, its geographical layer's structure, internal environment, and the types of minerals harvestable had been known. It was then that the Hope finally landed on the Light Moon. Even the landing spot had its own criteria. First, the place had to be a piece of smooth plateau near deposits of minerals that would be instrumental to forming the New Solar System.

It was worth noting that these minerals were more abundant on the asteroid clusters and mining would be easier there. Some asteroids were formed completely of the metal and they could be used after being smelted down. However, traversing to and from the clusters was not easy. Even with the Hope's maximum speed, it would require at least 8 days to complete the journey. If added the consideration of processing time and arrangement of various materials, a single trip would have to be as long as half a month. Thus, it would be easier if they mined the stuff on the planet or the moon itself.

"This is the Light Moon, the moon closest to our target planet, and it is also the final defense line of our home planet in the future. We will transform this place. Of course, the first thing to do is build a metal processing plant worthy of a level 2 space civilization. Then, with the plant as the center, we will expand into modernized processing factories. This moon will be humanity's city of minerals and productivity in the future. Things like farming tools, machines, space jets, mining equipment, weapon, space armors, and even spaceships and battleships will be assembled here in the future!

"This way, the issue of a clean environment on our future home planet will be resolved. Of course, we will also build a large residential area here for the factory workers. If possible, we will transform residential areas beyond a certain size into a holiday retreat. Of course, those are concerns for the future. The most important thing now is to construct the foundation of an industrial system!"

When Yao Yuan finished his speech and left the stage, the room erupted in camera flashes. At the same time, his speech was broadcasted throughout the Hope via the ship's internet server. Be it the 3D images on the streets or the private 3D televisions at home, his message was relayed, and at the same time, many people cheered.

While Yao Yuan was in the middle of giving his speech, a Black Star Trooper unit accompanying a Defense Unit ten times its size as well as four Space Combat Jets and plenty of transport shuttles carrying thousands of workers left the Hope. They had with them the rudimentary blueprints and the base model that was constructed on the Hope. They would be responsible for starting the home base on the Light Moon.

Travelling along with the group was Yun Si, who had to be there as the vice-captain of a Black Star Trooper unit and Yue Xuan, who was tagging along as an apprentice engineer. They had been in a romantic relationship for more than a year and, technically speaking, they should be happy about this "coincidence" that both of them were sent on the same mission. However, only Yue Xuan felt that way. Yun Si had a heavy feeling pressing down on his heart.

(Could it be that Bo Li or even Yao Yuan suspect that the control system was Yue Xuan's design and it was me who helped her deliver it to Bo Li? Impossible, I've checked the area closely and even went through the Hope's internal design. I'm sure that I've evaded all the surveillance cameras, and even if there was a hidden camera, it couldn't have known it was me. Furthermore, even if it did, they wouldn't have been able to link it to Yue Xuan… But why would they send both of us on this mission then? Is it just a coincidence?)

Yun Si was greatly bothered, but he didn't let it show on the surface. Yue Xuan was too innocent to worry herself about these things. On their journey to the moon, she found an excuse to worm her way into the midst of the Black Star Troopers. The unit knew that she was their vice-captain's girlfriend, so they cleverly cleared a private space for the little couple.

The first thing out of Yue Xuan's mouth was, "Yun Si, you have been extremely busy when I came to find you for these few days. Before that, you were busy exploring the New Jupiter. How is it? Is the planet pretty upon closer inspection? By the way, have you seen the flight experiment of the Steel Ball prototype that happened a few days ago?..."

Before she could finish, Yun Si was spooked and he immediately closed the voice recording system in the Space Armor. Then he signaled for Yue Xuan to do the same. Then the two of them communicated via a private channel. "Haven't I told you not to bring those things up when we're not alone?"

Yue Xuan immediately looked around, patted her chest, and sighed. "You scared me. Thankfully, there are only the two of us around here… Where was I… yes, that psychological control system was certainly impressive, it is truly a design that made me faint. Isn't your wifey impressive?"

Yun Si felt a headache coming, but he still said, "Yes, yes, you are the most impressive, but you better not talk so much about this in the future."

Yue Xuan grumbled with dissatisfaction, "Why? This is a cross-generation design! Alas, the design is still not complete. When I saw the video of the trial several days ago, I had a new idea regarding the design. If only I was given a chance to improve upon it. This is a control system meant for Homo Evolutis, and I believe it is entirely possible to simplify it to be used by normal human beings. However, the technology required for all that is too great, it needs a large amount of modern devices to be used in calculation and experiments. If only I could join Professor Bo Li's lab. I hear it has the latest scientific-use technology and it even has products from level 3 space civilizations. Thinking about it is quite exciting… but this Chancellor sure is biased. We're both Whisperers, but he is only good to his wifey…"

Yun Si's headache turned worse. In fact, after they got to know each other better, he realized that Yue Xuan was a quintessential chatterbox; her lips would rarely close after she started talking. However, thanks to her innocent nature, her chatter would rarely be construed as annoying, but as her boyfriend, he would still occasionally find himself as her nagging victim.

"You two are different," Yun Si explained, "After all, she is a well-known Whisperer. About 70 percent of high tech weapons on the Hope came from her, and you're still relatively unknown…"

Yue Xuan grumbled instantly, "That is all your fault for telling me to keep a low profile. Honestly, my designs are not worse than Professor Bo Li's. Even though… most of them are weapons for Homo Evolutis, that is already good enough. For example, when I saw the Steel Ball trial several days ago, I was struck with inspiration. The updated control system and psychokinetic floating cannon are all wonderful design. Of course, there are still improvements to be done, but those are there because I don't have the necessary technology to design them. If I had the same resources as Professor Bo Li, hehe…"

Yun Si scratched his head, and after some time he added, "So be it. It might not be so bad if we're discovered…. You might get the fame you need, but now is still not that time. In fact, we might need your help to get the members from the Noah One closer into the inner circle…"

(But I have to admit that Yao Yuan's government is transparent and fair. This human government has no dirty skeletons in its closet, so being discovered wouldn't be a bad thing. After all, it was due to kindness that I volunteered that control system… Sigh, maybe I should find a suitable opportunity to explain everything…)

As Yun Si chatted with Yue Xuan, the group finally landed inside a large crater on the Light Moon. They started assembling the devices and the AI robots that tagged along started operating. They took over the jobs that needed brute strength. In fact, with the increase in technology, the productivity also increased exponentially. In just one afternoon, about 5 hours to be precise, the first base was already half-finished. All the quarantine rooms had been built and these isolated rooms would be resting the depots. This meant that they didn't need to return to the Hope every time they needed to rest.

With a speed that was observable to the naked eye, a silver base started to appear beside the cluster of rocks not far away from the Hope.

The first supermagnetic smelter was built on the fourth day of landing. Tons of minerals were pushed into it and the manufacturing process officially started.

The number of workers outside of the Hope had reached more than ten thousand, and the number was still slowly climbing…