Chapter 697: Return

4:55 PM, March 16, 2017, Zhengguo Celestial Capital Standard Time.

「The Moon, Nuhai Moon Base.」

The Moon Base, located in a stable region of Nuhai on the Moon’s Far Side, was first established twenty-seven years ago during the Golden Era of space exploration. Back then, every country in the world was engaged in a space race. They scrambled to launch rockets and satellites, terrified of falling behind the times if others seized the initiative in the future.

However, even with technology advanced enough to send people to Mars, the resources and techniques required to build a permanent research base on the Moon Surface were far beyond anyone’s imagination. At one of Zhengguo’s year-end conferences, the Central Committee flatly rejected the Aviation Administration Bureau’s funding request after learning the projected cost of the plan.

Yet, the benefits of establishing a base on the Moon were extremely clear. Both the well-known helium-3 and the next generation of spacecraft that could be built in low gravity were worth a nation’s investment.

Therefore, using intelligent robots to construct a base on the Moon in place of humans—a slow process that took more than a decade—became the most crucial part of Zhengguo’s lunar development plan during that era.

Twenty-seven years later, the Moon was now home to numerous research stations from various countries on its surface. Even the Moon’s Far Side had a large number of simple base facilities. And because of the various alien spaceships on the Far Side, most of these Moon Bases were located near clusters of shipwreck remains. This ensured safety while also allowing stationed personnel to reach their research sites in the shortest possible time.

Now, there was Professor Su Zhou. He had achieved the three great accomplishments of ‘Subduing the Continuous Prayer Meeting,’ ‘Annihilating the Spirit Summoning Association,’ and ‘Erasing the New Dawn Association.’ He had completed the ‘Three Great Mysterious Organizations Grand Slam’ and earned the platinum trophy for Earth Online.

And he was currently in the Nuhai Base, enthusiastically cultivating algae.

The Nuhai Base was a metal structure shaped like an inverted saucer. More than twenty intelligent robots of various types operated within it, handling expansion and maintenance work. The base was constructed from parts cannibalized from Moon Landing Shuttles and the robots’ own components. Initially, it lacked an internal ecological cycle and could only serve as a place for Far Side exploration equipment to recharge and self-repair.

However, several years ago, Zhengguo’s government, preparing in advance for the Spiritual Energy Revival, launched a series of rockets. The various resources they carried allowed the intelligent machines to significantly advance the Nuhai Base’s construction. So, by the time Su Zhou and the others moved in, the Nuhai Base was already a medium-sized facility capable of supporting a team of about five for around thirty days. The food supply, however, meant that this duration was essentially the limit.

But this problem was now on the verge of being solved.

Inside a milky-white greenhouse, a certain young man could be seen. He was using his Water Assistance Power to control the water flow in the numerous independent tanks, testing the water quality to ensure the algae within were growing properly. The exceptionally thick greenhouse film had an automatic filtering function for intense light and radiation. It isolated the interior from the outside environment while also maintaining a stable temperature inside.

The topic might have taken a sharp turn from space exploration to agriculture—growing vegetables on an Alien Star—but this was a transition the Zhengguo People were likely very familiar with and accustomed to.

As for why Su Zhou was the one cultivating algae, the answer was simple. To facilitate continuous research and analysis of the alien spaceship wreckage in the future, it was absolutely necessary to expand the Nuhai Base and establish its ecological cycle. While intelligent robots and other astronauts could accomplish this, their pace was far too slow. With a Transcendent like Su Zhou, who could walk freely on the Moon, the preparatory work could be completed years ahead of schedule.

Although Su Zhou would have much rather planted potatoes than algae, when it came to efficiency and survivability, algae were clearly superior on the Moon—a place with extreme temperature fluctuations, no atmospheric protection, and high levels of cosmic radiation. Granted, algae-based nutrient paste didn’t taste good at all, but at least it could supply the body’s nutritional needs.

“13 kilocalories… So low, but it’s not bad. At least the foundation is solid.”

Surveying the tanks, now full of dark green algae, Su Zhou was very satisfied with the fruits of his labor. “Once the Transcendents from the Ministry of Agriculture get to the Moon, we can expand the lunar ecosystem even further.” He added, ‘I talked with Zhou Buyi for ages about this, but in the end, I made it to the Moon before he did. It’s pretty ironic when you think about it.’

Ultimately, Su Zhou was not a professional plant-based Cultivator, let alone a Druid who could rapidly accelerate crop growth. While he had no problem building a cultivation greenhouse on the Moon, when it came to actually farming algae or planting potatoes, he was still not a professional.

Three days had passed since he killed the unknown Slime Monster, and Zhengguo’s second wave of lunar rockets was about to arrive.

During these three days, besides cultivating algae, Su Zhou had also collected numerous hull samples from the alien spaceships. He also photographed and used his Spiritual Power to sense the structure of their internal equipment, preparing to bring it all back to Earth.

Within those three days, they had also returned to the site of the nuclear explosion once. They confirmed that the spaceship belonging to the alien faction known as the ‘Xiu Ge Military Industrial Complex’ had indeed gone completely silent, showing no signs of re-emitting its Spiritual Power Beacon.

At that moment, Su Zhou gazed at the battered wreckage of the spaceship and couldn’t help but click his tongue. “Back in the day, the Immortal Gods must have been seen as a cosmic scourge by other Aliens,” he mused. “From the messages they left behind, it sounds like they declared our entire sector of the galaxy a restricted zone.”