The flood began in the middle of summer. Now, almost six months had passed, and the temperature still hadn’t dropped.
"If this continues, won’t Blue Star just keep getting hotter?" Ren Yuanyang’s brows were tightly furrowed.
The chief engineer replied, "It’s very likely. But right now, we can’t directly monitor the sun, so we can’t confirm the actual situation."
"No wonder that unknown software warned us we only have five months. They must have discovered this long ago!" Qin Haonan said suddenly.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then they nodded.
For a moment, an air of despair filled the astronomical research institute.
When they first received the warning from the unknown software, they had assumed it was just about the various natural disasters on Blue Star. Under their current conditions, they believed that with enough effort, they might still be able to survive them.
But none of them had expected the problem to be with their star system’s sun.
A problem with the sun... that was completely beyond human power to solve!
Ren Yuanyang immediately clapped his hands and said, "This is all just speculation for now. Maybe there aren’t that many Ice Crystals moving toward the sun. Everyone, pull yourselves together!"
"Master is right! We don’t need to focus on things we can’t change. Let’s first focus on what we *can* do, do it well, and do it to the best of our ability. We’ll leave the rest to fate!" Wang Jun added.
A sense of purpose seemed to return to their bewildered eyes, and they all nodded.
"Continue analyzing these images and summarize the experience from this launch. We need to try and launch a few more satellites. We still know too little about what’s happening out there!" Ren Yuanyang ordered.
The chief engineer nodded. "Yes, Leader!"
Ren Yuanyang led his people out of the astronomical research institute.
Once outside the institute, Qin Haonan spoke again. "Leader, is Blue Star going to be baked dry by the sun?"
Ren Yuanyang glanced at him and retorted, "What? Are you scared?"
Qin Haonan shrugged and replied, "When it comes to death, I don’t think anyone is fearless. Besides, I’ve already lived this many extra days, so I’ve had a good run. I’m just curious about how we’ll end up."
Ren Yuanyang looked at the endless curtain of rain and sighed helplessly. "I don’t know what the end will look like either. Let’s just take it one step at a time."
At that moment, Wei Jing, captain of the Iron Wing Fleet, suddenly sent a message to Ji Yizhi. "I heard you launched a satellite," he asked. "Did you get any information on the situation in outer space?"
Seeing this message, Ji Yizhi frowned slightly. "Master, Wei Jing is asking about the situation in space. Should I tell him?"
Ren Yuanyang pondered for a moment before replying, "Tell everyone. Make them all understand that only by working together do we have a chance of survival. It’s time they put aside their petty schemes."
Ji Yizhi was taken aback for a second, then said, "If we announce this, won’t some people just give up completely?"
"Then we’ll completely exclude those who give up from the Dragon Base. If we get the chance to leave Blue Star in the future, we will absolutely not take those people with us!" Ren Yuanyang replied in a low, firm voice.
"I understand," Ji Yizhi nodded and said.
He immediately replied to Wei Jing’s message: "We got lucky and it succeeded, but the current situation in space captured by the satellite is very strange. There are Ice Crystals everywhere, and these Ice Crystals are constantly moving and entering Blue Star’s atmosphere."
Seeing Ji Yizhi’s reply, Wei Jing was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected the other party to share the satellite’s findings so readily.
But in the next moment, he was utterly shocked.
"Are you saying that a large amount of water has appeared in space?" Wei Jing asked again to confirm.
Ji Yizhi replied, "According to our analysis, that is correct."
"How could this be?" Wei Jing’s face was full of disbelief.
"To find the answer to that question, we might have to travel outside the star system," Ji Yizhi said, shaking his head.
Wei Jing nodded slightly. "I understand. Thank you for telling me this."
Ji Yizhi continued his reply, "You’re welcome. Our Master has already decided to announce this discovery."
Wei Jing was stunned again. "Aren’t you afraid of causing a panic?"
"Master hopes all of humanity can cooperate and work together, instead of wasting energy on internal strife," Ji Yizhi replied.
Wei Jing was visibly shaken. He nodded. "The leader of the Dragon Base truly has great foresight."
While Ji Yizhi was chatting with Wei Jing, Wang Jun had already sent the satellite photos to all the various channels and announced the Dragon Base’s speculations.
All the survivors were stunned when they saw the news, and they immediately began to discuss it.
"No wonder it’s been raining every day. So water really has been invading our atmosphere this whole time!"
"See! I said it a long time ago! Our star system must have entered a region full of water vapor! This discovery by the Dragon Base just proves my prediction. Call me a prophet!"
"If that’s the case, does this mean the rain will never stop?"
"We have the Duckweed Continent, so it doesn’t matter if the rain stops or not. The biggest problem now is the sun! According to the Dragon Base’s speculation, the sun will get stronger and stronger. It might actually bake Blue Star dry!"
"Then what do we do? Are we going to be baked dry too?"
"If Blue Star gets baked dry, there’s no way we’ll be spared!"
"We’ve struggled to survive for so long... is death still inevitable in the end?"
"Sigh, it would have been better to die at the beginning. Waiting for death like this feels even worse!"
"I’m not trying anymore. We’re all going to die anyway. Might as well just laze around and wait for it."
Just then, the Dragon Base issued another notice.
"The Dragon Base is working hard to research space technology. In the future, we will be able to leave Blue Star, and even this star system, to find a new home. When that time comes, the Dragon Base will give priority to those who have contributed to the base and worked hard. We will absolutely not take anyone who just lazes around waiting to die or has given up!"
Seeing this notice, all the survivors were stunned for a moment before bursting into discussion again.
"That’s right! The base hasn’t given up, so how can we!"
"I believe that under the Dragon Base’s leadership, as long as we all work together, we can definitely survive!"
"Humanity always finds a way!"
"You guys are way too optimistic! Let’s not even talk about how the flood almost completely destroyed our infrastructure. Even if it hadn’t, do you have any idea how many people current technology can even take to space?"
"Even if we got to space, how would we live? How would we get supplies? How would we navigate? These are all huge, fundamental problems. If we can’t solve them, going to space is just another way of waiting to die! It might even be a more miserable death. We’d be better off just staying on Blue Star!"
"I heard astronauts need special training just to live in space. Eating, drinking, sleeping—it’s all completely different from on Blue Star. We normal people probably couldn’t adapt to a zero-gravity environment at all!"
"In space, you also have to worry about oxygen. That’s something we never even think about on Blue Star. If something goes wrong with the oxygen, we’ll all suffocate to death!"
"Don’t think so far ahead, everyone. Right now, we have no way of sending a lot of people into space for interstellar travel! According to the notification on our phones, we have about four months left. It’s impossible to research and build a large-scale manned spacecraft in four months!"
"Hearing you all talk like that makes the future feel instantly bleak."
"Humanity on Blue Star is basically GG. No point in struggling."
"I don’t think so! Four months is definitely tight, but scientists today are different from before. The scientists at the Dragon Base are all Evolvers who have used the Evolution Potion. You can’t measure their current research speed by pre-flood standards!"
"That makes sense! And the Dragon Base has so many unusual plants and animals. That stuff could totally support us in space. The problems you guys mentioned might not even be problems!"
"I don’t understand any of that aerospace theory stuff, but I know I need to follow the Dragon Base’s lead. I’ll listen to the Dragon Base. Whatever they say to do, I’ll do it. Why think so much? It’s not like you can change anything!"
The debate between the two factions in the channel didn’t stop.
One side insisted on following the Dragon Base’s lead and never giving up until the very last moment.
The other side felt it was pointless to struggle, that it was impossible to escape a natural disaster of this magnitude, so they might as well just give up.
"There’s no need for everyone to waste time arguing. If you think trying is meaningless, then go ahead and give up," Wang Jun said, putting a stop to their debate.
Just then, a survivor suddenly asked, "Excuse me, Captain Wang, will the Dragon Base refuse to trade with those who have given up?"

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