Chương 39: Three Conditions To Save Earth
Biên tập viên: Dragon Boat Translation
"Countdown to impact by the star destroyer cannon: 7 minutes..."
"Countdown to impact by the star destroyer cannon: 6 minutes..."
The Earth Alliance Defense Agency staff broadcasted the update every minute.
Based on calculations, the impact was expected to generate a strong shockwave that could disrupt radio signals.
Liu Ning's hands were sweating as she, along with Chief Engineer Yang and Colonel Chu, closely monitored their watches, waiting for a call from the moon.
She couldn't help but think selfishly, if the moon didn't call within the next 6 minutes, could she sneak away to the underground shelter and hide?
"Beep!"
Finally, the watch rang. The call from the moon had finally come.
"Quickly answer it!" Colonel Chu urged.
Liu Ning pressed the answer button and selected the full-environment mode, which allowed the other party to see everything on their side.
"Swish!"
A projection appeared, and to her surprise, there was a stranger stood beside Zhang Yi Xia.
"Sister Xia, how did the discussion go?" Liu Ning hurriedly asked.
Zhang Yi Xia looked a bit reserved, forced a smile, and turned her palm towards Zhao Yu, introducing him, "This is Zhao Yu, the person in charge of liaising between our Moon base and Earth. He'll speak to you next."
"The person in charge of liaising with Earth?!" Everyone was surprised and stared at Zhao Yu.
But Colonel Chu couldn't care less and hurriedly said, "Hello, Mr. Zhao. My surname is Chu, and I'm the person in charge of liaising with your side on behalf of Earth. At this critical moment, forgive me for being blunt, but how is your discussion going to save Earth?!"
Zhao Yu nodded slightly and said, "Hello, Mr. Chu. Time is limited, so I'll be brief."
"We can change the asteroid's trajectory, but we need you to agree to three conditions."
"What are these three conditions?!" At this moment, not to mention three, even thirty conditions Colonel Chu would have to agree, but he still held back and decided to hear what Zhao Yu had to say.
Zhao Yu listed the conditions, "First, Earth must unconditionally open up trade ports and allow our goods to enter the Earth market."
"Second, Earth must not engage in any plans or actions that are detrimental to us."
"Third, the ultimate interpretation of the above two clauses belongs to us."
Trade and self-defense?
Colonel Chu felt relieved upon hearing Zhao Yu's conditions. He was afraid that the other party would enslave Earth, which would be difficult to decide
Although the third condition was a bit risky, he had no choice but to agree. "I can guarantee these conditions in the name of the Earth Alliance Defense Agency," he assured Zhao Yu.
"Well, I don't need your guarantee!"
Zhao Yu let out a small laugh and said, "If we can move the asteroid away from Earth, we can surely bring it back too. And in case you breach the contract, we'll redirect the asteroid to its original path."
"You have your rules, we have ours. Good faith is the premise of cooperation. If you don't keep your promise, we'll deal with it our way."
The person in charge of negotiating with Earth seemed to be very uncompromising.
The message conveyed in these two sentences was crystal clear. They were basically warning Earth that they couldn't afford any equipment failures similar to the one that caused the rocket to crash into the Moon base entrance, or else Earth would face destruction. The explanation was straightforward and the solution was crude.
Colonel Chu's heart raced. He couldn't help but missed of Ba Jie.
He solemnly nodded and said, "Mr. Zhao, you have our word. We will never break the contract. Now, please save Earth!"
"Mm!" Zhao Yu nodded and continued, "I will visit Earth in a few days, and we can discuss the trade in more detail then."
After the call ended, Colonel Chu slumped into the chair, drenched in sweat, as if he had just finished a sauna.
His heart was pounding.
That phone call had just determined the fate of the 8 billion people on Earth and trillions of creatures.
The pressure was unbearable, causing his adrenaline to surge, and his whole body to go numb.
"Colonel Chu, are you okay?" Chief Engineer Yang asked, patting him on the shoulder with concern.
Colonel Chu was surprised by Chief Engineer Yang's action, not understanding when he had changed his attitude.
Chief Engineer Yang understood his expression and smiled. "You know, when you said you were doing this for the people and the country, I wasn't fully convinced. But now, even though you clearly have the right to enter the underground shelter, you still chose to stay on the surface."
Colonel Chu proved his words with practical actions, and Chief Engineer Yang was impressed.
As Colonel Chu caught his breath, Chief Engineer Yang asked, "So, should we tell the people in the shelter to come out?"
Colonel Chu shook his head, took a few deep breaths, and replied, "No, let them stay there until we know for sure that the asteroid won't hit Earth."
He paused for a moment.
Earlier, Zhao Yu had mentioned a threat looming over the people on Earth in a casual tone. The Moon base could cause the asteroid to strike the Earth again at any time.
This meant that they might have to build a real underground city, allowing a group of humans to become subterranean dwellers, preserving the spark of civilization no matter what the future holds.
But those were distant concerns. The priority now was to prevent the destruction of Earth. Colonel Chu didn't dwell on it and got up with the help of Liu Ning.
"What's the trajectory of asteroid KADP-45788?" Colonel Chu asked.
"It's still heading towards Earth," the technician replied.
"How's the star destroyer cannon?" Chu asked.
During the negotiations, he had avoided asking about the cannon. Mainly because it was related to their failure to blow up the alien base and thus, they were at fault first. The other party's action could be seen as a response. Therefore, he had no right to ask them to cancel the shot. As long as the Earth was not destroyed, accepting a small tremor was necessary.
"The star destroyer cannon will hit Earth in one minute," the technician replied.
The power of the cannon was equivalent to the explosion of one billion tons of TNT. Colonel Chu didn't know how powerful that was. The largest nuclear bomb that had exploded on Earth was only equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT. The difference in power, 20-fold greater, was unknown in terms of its consequences.
One minute later, the control room was plunged into chaos. Most of the electronic devices had been affected and the screens went black due to the electromagnetic interference produced after the explosion. The speed of transmission was close to light speed.
"Report, the satellite signal has been cut off !"
"Report, the radio signal has been cut off !"
The technicians announced, one after the other, indicating that the star destroyer cannon had hit Earth.
Colonel Chu took charge of the situation. "Silence!" he shouted. "How fast is the speed of the shock wave?"
"The P-waves travel at 5-7 km/s, and the S-waves at 3-4 km/s," the technician replied.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing and find a secure position to brace yourselves," Colonel Chu ordered.
The power of the cannon was equivalent to one billion tons of TNT exploding. It would definitely cause a significant earthquake, and might even reach their location.
The staff immediately followed his instructions and found ways to secure themselves. Colonel Chu also found a rope and tied himself to a wall corner.
Suddenly, his head spun and he felt the world turn upside down.
"Thud!"
Several people fell to the ground, unable to maintain their balance.
"Earthquake!" they shouted
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