It was impossible for W to catch up to Theresa.
The moment she reached the mechanical layer, Theresa sent the three of them a thousand miles away to Trimounts.
Rhine Lab and Thor Industries had already manufactured the anti-ship nuclear missiles the two had ordered, but Theresa's hand-picked escort team was still en route.
After arranging a place for Patriot to stay and wait there, Xing Chen prepared to return to Earth.
He had stayed on Terra for too long in one stretch.
Waking from his dream, his stomach had been rumbling for who knows how long.
“Should we order takeout?” Theresa asked, rubbing her eyes.
“I can’t wait,” Xing Chen patted his stomach, “Let’s just go down and find a stall to grab something quick.”
“Alright.”
After tidying up, the two went downstairs together. It was noon, and the street-side restaurants were a bit crowded.
Xing Chen found a rice noodle shop he frequented and ordered a large bowl of rice noodles for himself.
“Theresa, what about you?”
“I want two large bowls, one hot pot and one spicy, with two extra eggs in each.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen you order so much.”
“Sigh, there’s not much good food on Terra.”
During their time in Ursus, Reunion Movement had indeed provided the best possible living conditions for the two of them, but how should one put it? It was truly just to sustain their vital signs.
And neither of them actually needed to eat.
The rice noodles were quickly served. The owner turned on the TV; if one found it troublesome to eat while looking at a phone, they could watch the TV news for a change of pace.
Xing Chen had almost forgotten when he last watched TV. A year ago? Or two years ago?
In any case, ever since finding any random program required paying for a membership to watch ads, TV had exited his life.
Theresa, however, was watching with great interest, and Xing Chen had no choice but to watch with her.
“Xing Chen, why do your TV programs combine military and agriculture?”
“It’s a system of farming and fighting. When they put down their guns, they’re farmers; when they pick them up, they’re soldiers,” Xing Chen thought the Sarkaz could also consider a military-agricultural system, but developing agriculture on the barren lands of Kazdel would be quite difficult. “You can search online for agricultural drones.”
“Wait a minute, let me see… Isn’t this Ursus’s Artillery Vanguard?”
“No, that’s just for spraying pesticides and spreading fertilizer.”
Theresa put down her phone. Whose agricultural equipment was built to look so much like a weapon?
Xing Chen told her that they also wanted to beat their swords into plowshares, but unfortunately, there were always enemies around who wouldn't let them farm in peace.
So they could only plant all of them into the ground.
“If you ask me, you’re the ones with the strongest destructive urges.”
“Well, you can think whatever you want. But I think we’ve always been quite committed to the development of all humanity…”
Theresa’s two bowls of rice noodles were quickly emptied.
At this moment, the previous program ended, and the next one was related to aerospace.
“Xing Chen, look at that person in the corner, doesn’t he look like Yu Bo?”
“Let me see,” Xing Chen took out his rarely used glasses and put them on, “It really is him.”
The program focused on introducing the research and development of a new type of carbon fiber material.
The performance indicators of this material could make the concept of a space elevator a reality.
Immediately following was an animated demonstration of a space elevator connected to a space station.
Theresa looked at the megastructure in space, even forgetting to continue eating.
She had seen this scene, the one she and Xing Chen had seen in the continuity of civilization.
“I thought this was a miracle that only the Doctor and his team could build.”
“Civilization cannot be forever trapped in its cradle; life will always find a way out.”
“But this requires a lot of resources, right? Can your country support it?”
“This is something we must do; the only difference is the speed,” the space elevator was definitely the most ambitious project Xing Chen had ever seen, consuming immeasurable precious resources. “It’s best if we can pull in friends; if not, we’ll find a way to solve it ourselves.”
However, the release of this project now might just be a move by the Strategic Deception Bureau.
To tell the other two major powers to stop bothering with the trivial matters on Earth and to look further ahead.
If they follow, humanity develops together. If they don't, once I've built it, you'll have no peace.
“Various countries putting aside their hostilities and joining hands to build a Tower of Babel…” As she spoke, Theresa trailed off, “…Your country is so powerful, it should be able to do it, right?”
“Why can’t Terra do it?” Xing Chen smiled. The TV program, considering its audience, wouldn’t delve too deeply into many things.
But in reality, projects like this, involving massive resources and personnel deployment, require extremely complex argumentation. For example, site selection, large-scale life support systems, and protection against miniature high-speed object impacts.
Furthermore, humans staying in a weightless environment for extended periods would experience a decrease in bone density. Of course, this could be solved through rotation, but for many critical technical positions with few personnel, the rotation speed tends to be slow.
Xing Chen wondered if Terrans could be the pioneers, exploring the path ahead?
“You mean you want to help me build another Babel?” Theresa’s voice was filled with anticipation.
“It’s helping Terra, not you, and not the Sarkaz. I’ve even thought of a name: Dijiang.”
“Yay!”
When Endfield would be publicly tested was still an unknown, and Xing Chen didn't want to wait another five hundred years.
The interview with Yu Bo’s team ended; besides throwing out a new type of carbon fiber, there was almost nothing substantial.
Xing Chen felt that this material was more likely to be used in warships or even individual protective gear than in that space elevator.
“Are you two finished eating?” The owner saw that both their bowls were empty and walked over to settle the bill.
“How much?” “Thirty.”
“Okay… I’m sorry, could you wait for me for a moment? I don’t have any money in my wallet.”
His last grocery run for canned goods had emptied Xing Chen’s loose change and everyday cards; he needed to transfer money from his savings card to his everyday card.
However, coincidentally, at this very moment, the school’s six hundred yuan welfare payment arrived.
“Hmph hmph… Hahahaha…” Xing Chen suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
It was the first time the owner had seen such a situation. Even if someone wanted to dine and dash because they had no money, they could just say so. Thirty yuan wasn’t much; was there a need to pretend to be crazy?
Theresa, seeing this, thought he was having an episode again and was ready to immediately restrain him.
“Theresa, I’m fine,” Xing Chen specifically pointed to his eyes for Theresa to see; there were no black diamonds in them. “Boss, QR code? I’ll scan you.”
After paying, Xing Chen stood up, intending to leave. The owner made a gesture, signaling Theresa to keep a close eye on him.
Theresa immediately ran to Xing Chen and hugged his arm. On the surface, it looked like a loving couple, but in reality, she was controlling him.
A large amount of negative emotions surged from Xing Chen, rapidly spreading to the surroundings.
With the help of the continuity of civilization, Theresa could see these emotions. She remembered the last time she saw so many negative emotions—it was on the battlefield of the Kazdel civil war.
So she immediately used emotional absorption, making herself a vessel to absorb all the negative emotions.
However, Xing Chen was like a negative emotion generator, producing them continuously. Black diamonds flickered and changed in his eyes.
“Hahahaha, someone like me, who earns less than two thousand a month, what’s the point of thinking so much…”