Parallel universe.

In 2161, Halley's Comet's tail swept across the blue planet again after 75 years.

As explained on television, Halley's Comet's nucleus is mainly composed of water ice, accounting for 70%; the tail is simply water, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, etc., which are released from the nucleus... In short, it's similar to air.

So nobody cares.

So when an asteroid hidden in the comet's tail suddenly appeared before humanity, Earth was completely unprepared.

But humanity made a final stand, launching all the ballistic missiles on Earth.

In the atmosphere of Blue Star, asteroids are repeatedly bombarded into fragments by wave after wave of missiles.

"Fragments" are relative to the volume of the blue planet that serves as a background reference; the diameter of asteroid fragments can still reach tens, hundreds, or even thousands of meters.

It rained stones on Earth for several days.

It's like a child throwing pebbles into a lake, creating ripples.

However, this "lake" is called the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean... The small ripples are actually tsunamis hundreds of meters high.

Along with volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis sweeping the globe, it's like a child wiping their beloved glass beads with a wet cloth.

The dust has been wiped clean.

Humanity has become extinct.

...

60 million kilometers away from Earth, in a safe place, Zhang Fan watched all of this as a bystander.

"Good luck."

This was the last instruction Zhang Fan received from Earth while on Mars.

Even disregarding the communication delay caused by 60 million kilometers, to be precise, that was an instruction given 12 minutes ago.

In other words, 12 minutes ago, Zhang Fan became the last surviving human in the solar system...

hehe.

More accurately, he is the only surviving virgin in the solar system.

Holy crap!

Zhang Fan wanted to die.

This was his first thought after confirming that humanity was extinct. As the last surviving human in the solar system, he couldn't think of any reason for himself to live.

Mars astronaut.

It sounds sophisticated, but Zhang Fan knows he's a complete novice.

Zhang Fan is very ordinary. His parents are both ordinary workers, healthy, and free from diseases and cancer. He didn't have any early romantic relationships in elementary, middle, and high school. He attended a second-rate university and was not a very noticeable person in his class. He didn't participate in club activities, didn't drink or smoke, and when taking the class graduation photo, he waited until the very end and stood quietly on the side. He must be the kind of person who is just filling in the numbers.

Zhang Fan also tried his best. At least when he graduated, he sent out countless resumes, hoping that some company would take in this lousy fresh graduate.

Twenty-two years have passed, and I've accomplished nothing. At least I shouldn't be sponging off my parents.

When Zhang Fan returned to his university dormitory with an offer from a technology consulting company, he was at least happy at that moment.

Zhang Fan's best friend and roommate, who was packing his luggage, snatched the offer letter from Zhang Fan, glanced at it, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can.

"Damn it!" Zhang Fan was furious. He was already preparing to leave school, so he didn't need to give the other person any face anymore. "Of course you, a rich kid, don't need to find a job! But I do!"

Zhang Fan grumbled as he rummaged through the trash can and pulled out the offer letter that his roommate had crumpled up, then unfolded it and flattened it again.

"What kind of tech job can a recent civil engineering graduate like you be looking for?" Zhang Fan's roommate rolled his eyes. "Come work at my dad's company for a couple of years to gain some work experience first."

"Who says civil engineers can't find tech-related jobs? These jobs don't require experience; there's training!"

"I'm not kidding you, a recent graduate!"

"The offer letter is already written; this company has big shots to mentor us..."

"That means there are one or two experienced senior employees."

"New employees' monthly salary is between 2,000 and 20,000..."

"That's 2,000 then."

"There is no upper limit to commission..."

"So that means performance evaluation will be required."

"This industry has a market worth hundreds of billions..."

"That means we can't see exactly where the market is right now."

"The key point is that the company doesn't force overtime..."

"So that means you have to work overtime voluntarily?"

"The company also offers a full range of growth opportunities..."

"So that means I'll have to do odd jobs."

"..."

"Can't you even tell the packaging is this shoddy? Are you stupid?"

"Damn it!" Zhang Fan crumpled the offer letter in his hand into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

"Forget it." His roommate patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder. "Come intern at my dad's company. Even though it's all hard-earned money, at least they won't exploit a lousy fresh graduate like you."

After four years of university friendship, Zhang Fan knew that his roommates genuinely cared about him, but he couldn't let go of the last bit of pride he had left.

Zhang Fan slumped down in front of the computer, opened a job search website, didn't even look at the content, directly selected "all," clicked "send," and sent his resume to every company. Then he climbed onto his bunk and fell asleep...

The day I left school.

Shenyu Group.

As one of the world's leading multinational corporations, Shenyu's presence can be seen in every cutting-edge field on Earth, and those who can join Shenyu Group are all outstanding talents.

Zhang Fan had also fantasized about working for Shenyu, just like when he was a child he worried about whether he would go to Tsinghua or Peking University when he grew up.

Upon seeing the minimum requirement of "postgraduate degree or above," Zhang Fan, at least until today, did not think he would have any connection with Shenyu Group.

But now that Zhang Fan has received an offer from Shenyu Group, he even doubts if he's still asleep.

When Zhang Fan put the offer in front of his roommate again, he would never forget how his roommate's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Zhang Fan was overjoyed.

On his last day at school, Zhang Fan became a popular senior, and even the school's wall of honor for outstanding graduates featured his photo.

Although Zhang Fan looks like a dork in the photo because it was taken in a rush, he's still a great dork, right?

Many junior students come to ask Zhang Fan how he got hired by Shenyu Group. Zhang Fan always humbly says it's just luck, that he's just an ordinary person.

In fact, Zhang Fan truly earned his offer from Shenyu Group through his own abilities, the abilities of an ordinary person.

Shenyu Group is developing an "interstellar travel" project, the first phase of which aims to enable human travel to Mars.

The potential customer base for this project consists of wealthy individuals who enjoy adventure, seeking the limelight, and have too much free time, since the cost of traveling to and from Mars is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The project is technically sound; the only obstacle is how to allay the concerns of the wealthy and ensure their safe return after being sent to Mars.

Zhang Fan graduated with a degree in civil engineering and has no professional knowledge in space. The relevant work experience listed on his resume is that he has read "The Three-Body Problem". His special skills are listed as "reading books, watching movies, and playing games". His awards and punishments are listed as "none".

While waiting for his interview in the corridor, watching graduate students, doctoral students, double doctoral students, student union presidents, and leading figures walk past him one by one, Zhang Fan felt that the HR of Shenyu Group must have made a mistake, and that an ordinary person like himself should not be here.

Then.

Zhang Fan was accepted.

...

What could dispel the concerns of the wealthy more than sending an ordinary person, as ordinary as they come, to Mars and bringing them back safely?

Zhang Fan relied on his abilities as an "ordinary person" to defeat those outstanding competitors and get an offer from Shenyu Group.

Then Zhang Fan received a brand new title: he will become the youngest "astronaut" in human history to land on Mars.

This title once again made Zhang Fan the focus of the news media. Interviews and special interviews were scheduled from morning till night without stopping.

Many people are curious about how Zhang Fan was selected by Shenyu Group to become the youngest astronaut in human history to land on Mars.

This certainly cannot be attributed to him being an ordinary person, a guinea pig about to be sent to Mars. Shenyu Group's public relations department had already prepared a set of statements, and a physical education teacher provided one-on-one guidance to Zhang Fan on how to repeat them naturally and with a smile in front of the camera.

In the public eye, Zhang Fan is an excellent student with a dream of becoming an astronaut since childhood, representing the epitome of "someone else's child." Zhang Fan's parents would often point to the television screen and enthusiastically share their parenting experiences with relatives and friends.

Zhang Fan is their pride.

Zhang Fan spends most of his time learning how to behave naturally and appropriately in front of the media, subtly promoting and selling the "interstellar travel" project.

The advertising effect is undeniable; Shenyu has already received numerous potential orders from wealthy individuals.

Only the little time left after completing various interviews is the time Zhang Fan has to study space-related knowledge.

The professor in charge of teaching Zhang Fan about space-related professional knowledge was a woman named Su Muran.

Zhang Fan dared not underestimate her. Although Su Muran was only two years older than him, she was a returned overseas student with two doctoral degrees and numerous award-winning papers. Compared to him, a mediocre undergraduate, he really couldn't understand how this female academic genius had managed to study.

Besides basic common sense such as how to eat and sleep in space, Zhang Fan summarized the professional knowledge that Professor Su taught him into two sentences: "Don't touch this" and "Don't touch that".

In short, aside from eating and sleeping, he should do nothing and not touch anything. This is what the expert team of Shenyu Group repeatedly told Zhang Fan.

The advanced technology and automation of the Mars probe Firebird, along with the professionalism of the project's expert team, make the probability of the "interplanetary travel" plan failing even lower than the probability of a Boeing 797 passenger plane crashing while traveling to and from the Pacific Ocean.

Computers are far less likely to make mistakes than humans. The number of jobs that advanced technology can replace is far greater than Zhang Fan imagined.

After Professor Su Muran's patient guidance and careful instruction, Zhang Fan finally understood that he was the biggest potential risk factor that led to the failure of the "interstellar travel" plan.

Damn it!

On the day the "interstellar travel" plan was launched, Zhang Fan walked proudly in front of the 10 astronauts, smiling and waving to the crowds on both sides of the red carpet, receiving a shower of flowers and cheers, as well as the long lenses and flashes of reporters.

The moment the space shuttle hatch closed, the atmosphere inside the cabin began to liven up.

What should we eat for dinner?

"Save me a steak; I hate liquid food."

"Hahaha……"

The 10 astronauts chatted casually and skillfully operated various instruments according to their assigned tasks, preparing for the launch.

But Zhang Fan was not part of this lively atmosphere; he quietly walked to the back and fastened his seatbelt.

The titanium alloy metal hatch shut out the surging noise and crowds outside, and Zhang Fan felt the darkness inside the cabin enveloping and eroding him.

Through the special tempered glass porthole, Zhang Fan looked at the tiny, ant-like crowd in the distance, trying to find his parents' figures again.

The view outside the window was shaking. The space shuttle had already ignited. Zhang Fan turned his head and tensed his body, bracing for the impending G-force.

Rumble rumble rumble—

The G-forces generated by the space shuttle's acceleration caused insufficient blood supply to Zhang Fan's brain, making his consciousness somewhat blurred.

The astronaut sitting next to Zhang Fan looked at the monitor in front of him, paying attention to the vital signs of the "cargo".

Zhang Fan is this cargo.

In addition to completing their planned scientific research tasks, the 10 astronauts also need to safely transport this "cargo" to Mars and then safely return it.

Goods it is.

Zhang Fan thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, "After all, it's a 3 million yuan item. I don't have to do anything; I can just take a free trip and get 3 million yuan for nothing."

I can make this business bankrupt!

However, the round trip takes a year, so this trip is indeed a bit long.

Zhang Fan turned to look out the window. Of course, he couldn't see his parents outside; in the dark night sky, the Tiangong International Space Station floated silently in front of him.

Father, Mother, am I still your pride?

The space shuttle successfully docked with Tiangong, and the 10 astronauts, including Zhang Fan, transferred from the space shuttle to the Firebird Mars probe.

With the help of the other astronauts, Zhang Fan and the remaining eight astronauts lay down in the hibernation pod. The two remaining astronauts will wake up the next pair of astronauts on duty a month later. After all, the interplanetary journey between Earth and Mars takes five months.

Zhang Fan doesn't need to take turns on duty; by the time he wakes up, he should already be in Mars orbit. According to Professor Su Muran, Zhang Fan's mission is the easiest; it's like taking a high-speed train sleeper berth—he just sleeps and arrives on Mars.

Click.

The "Firebird" disconnected from the "Tiangong" space station and, with the help of its boosters, slowly moved out of its berth. Its solar panels fully deployed, the main thrusters activated, and a deep blue flame propelled the "Firebird" into the endless depths of space…