Mars, the "Bird's Nest" base.

Zhang Fan sat on a chair near the door in the No. 2 living cabin.

The two remained silent for a long time.

“Now I understand why you were able to suppress Katerina,” Zhang Fan broke the silence. “Although I don’t know how you did it, I believe you really have the ability to do it.”

Ivanka sat on the edge of the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head buried in her knees, still silent.

"Don't you want to know about the current situation in the United States?" Zhang Fan asked.

Ivanka shifted slightly, but kept her head down, and asked in a low voice, "Can we contact them directly now?"

“A month ago, they built a solar power station in the desert of Northwest China. At night, the photovoltaic panels of the station will flash at a fixed frequency, with each flash occurring 10 seconds apart,” Zhang Fan said. “Morse code, you should be able to understand it now, right?”

“Oh.” Ivanka nodded slightly.

"Although the communication efficiency is not high, it takes more than twenty minutes to go back and forth between questions and answers, but at least we can have a simple conversation."

“If you have any questions for them, I can pass them on,” Zhang Fan said. “But we are currently using this simple communication line to feed back the civilization memories backed up by ‘Phoenix’ to humanity. This is a slow and lengthy transmission process, so I don’t have much time to use this line for private conversations.”

"With the help of 'Phoenix,' human civilization after the disaster will enter a stage of rapid progress. I believe that in the near future, we will be able to establish practical connections with them."

"So, how's the United States doing?"

"The first thing I need to tell you is that you are no longer the 'First Daughter'."

“Oh, that’s good.” Ivanka looked up, forced a smile, and then buried her head in her knees. “I really think it’s good.”

"The U.S. government has been dissolved, and a coalition government composed of countries around the world is in charge of U.S. domestic affairs. The military has been disarmed, and the number of police and security forces has been strictly limited. Now peacekeeping forces are stationed in key cities in various states."

"Oh," Ivanka responded softly, without much change in emotion.

"I, I..." Ivanka raised her head, speaking for the first time that evening, "How is my father?"

“He has also lost his personal freedom now.” Zhang Fan looked at Ivanka, “but don’t worry, he has not been treated unfairly or abused.”

"Thank you." Ivanka buried her head in her knees again.

The two remained silent for a long time.

“I don’t know how to face you.” Ivanka lowered her head and hugged her knees tighter. “It started on the train station. I don’t know how to face you.”

“I can’t look you in the eye. Just seeing you makes me feel so ashamed.” Ivanka lowered her head even further, her ears turning bright red. “Even just letting you look at me feels like your gaze is cutting into me.”

"You didn't wrong me, you just did something that wronged all of humanity..."

"Then why don't you kill me?" Ivanka raised her head, her face unusually calm. "I committed a serious crime, and even I think you should kill me."

“I don’t have the right to kill you.” Zhang Fan shook his head. “Even if this were Mars, I still wouldn’t have that right.”

“You are!” Ivanka said. “Not only on Mars, but even in the hearts of humanity, you are now a supreme being! Humanity will not blame you for killing a sinner; they will even be grateful to you!”

“No, you’re wrong. I’m a human being, not a god. As a human being, I must abide by human laws,” Zhang Fan said. “Perhaps one day you will be brought to an international court and sentenced to death, but the person who kills you will definitely not be me.”

"The human world is already so corrupt, is there still any need to obey the law?"

“It is precisely because the human world has fallen into such ruin that it is even more necessary to abide by the law.” Zhang Fan sighed. “And I must take the lead in abiding by the law. Only when humanity discovers that even someone as transcendent as myself cannot be above the law will human society truly restore order.”

Ivanka smiled, a desolate smile: "Then I should be grateful that this is Mars, otherwise I would be despised by everyone and nailed to the pillar of human shame to die."

"You really went too far this time."

“Fan, you always surprise me.” Ivanka glanced at Zhang Fan, then turned away. “You have a maturity beyond your years. Sometimes I even feel that you have a quality that is incongruous with your human identity.”

"Heh." Zhang Fan chuckled. "I'm just an ordinary person, otherwise I wouldn't have come to Mars for this."

“We’ve had enough time to chat.” Zhang Fan glanced at his watch. “According to the laws there, each visit to a prisoner serving a life sentence in ‘prison’ cannot exceed 10 minutes.”

"Um."

"Don't you have anything to say?"

“Keep an eye on Katerina while she’s out there,” Ivanka said, looking up. “Don’t let her strong personality fool you; she’s just a pitiful woman. We have similar backgrounds, so I can understand many of the things she does.”

Okay, I understand.

“If you like Yui, give her a proper status as soon as possible.” Ivanka’s face showed a rare smile. “I’ve always treated her like a younger sister. I can tell that she’s made up her mind about you. Once she’s made up her mind about someone, she’s completely devoted to them. She’s beyond saving.”

"But my sister also has a flaw: if someone touches her sore spot, her reaction can be terrifying. In this respect alone, she is much more terrifying than Katerina."

“Didn’t you say I could suppress Katerina? But I really can’t suppress my own sister’s backlash.”

"Uh... yeah, I'll be careful."

"Stop being so coy! A real man should act like a man!" Ivanka said, a little annoyed. "Every time I see you two putting on an act, it annoys me. Who are you two trying to impress on Mars? You even have to sneak around when you kiss!"

"Ah, this—"

"You're the only man on Mars, and she's set her sights on you, yet you still want to separate them into two different living pods?" Ivanka snapped. "Do you expect a girl to take the initiative all by herself?"

Zhang Fan quickly grabbed a towel from the side to wipe his sweat.

"You're both old enough, so this doesn't violate any of those laws you mentioned."

Zhang Fan quickly drank some water to calm his nerves.

"If that's still not enough, you can bring Katerina along. You're the only man on Mars, she has no choice, you're getting a good deal. Besides, it's not against the law in Ross, they encourage childbirth there..."

puff--

Zhang Fan spat out a mouthful of water.

"Don't worry, what I meant by my sister's Achilles' heel is not this."

"I'd better leave now." Zhang Fan was in a real bind; he couldn't stay any longer if he didn't leave.

"Fan, don't come to see me anymore." Ivanka regained her previous calm and indifference, turning to look out the window.

"Huh? Fan, am I seeing things?" Ivanka stared out the window.

It's raining outside.

Zhang Fan stood up and walked to the window of the living quarters.

A light drizzle was falling outside the window.

but.

This is Mars!

Why does it rain on Mars?