As Lu Yongchang's voice fell, many councilors' faces turned grim.

What's this?

Did they come to the meeting just to hear a notification?

"Cough cough!"

Sensing that the atmosphere in the meeting room was somewhat off, Representative Lee, who was sitting in the main seat, coughed lightly twice.

Seeing that all the councilors were looking at him, the old man said slowly, "I think Professor Lü is right."

"Humans no longer have the opportunity to try and fail."

"Now that we have confirmed the existence of a civilization on Proxima Centauri, 4.22 light-years away, we must begin preparing for the war that is not far off."

"Remember, you are part of humanity!"

"I don't want anyone to take a wrong stance on such a major issue of principle!"

Faced with Representative Li's stern rebuke, the faces of the representatives who had originally advocated cooperation with the Proxima Centauri civilization changed drastically.

I sat on the wrong side...

In the current context, this is tantamount to a crime against humanity!

Seeing the cold glint in the old man's eyes, all the councilors present subconsciously swallowed.

...

The information transmitted by the Proxima Centauri civilization makes the future of human civilization seem increasingly elusive.

Before even leaving the solar system, humanity already possessed a potential mortal enemy.

No, to be precise, there should be two.

There is another civilization that caused the solar anomaly, but so far no trace of it has been revealed.

Thinking of this, Lü Yongchang returned to his office and sighed silently.

We're surrounded by enemies!

This universe is fucking dark!

As the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly. Just as Lü Yongchang was feeling troubled, Ling's voice added another layer of gloom to his mood.

"Professor, I have bad news."

"What's wrong?" He took a deep breath, sat up straight in his office chair, and asked the holographic projection in front of him with a serious expression.

"Professor, based on the current construction progress, our ore resources will be completely exhausted in two weeks."

"How could this be?" Lu Yongchang frowned immediately. "Aren't there many robots mining?"

"Professor, the easily accessible surface veins have been largely exhausted." Zero controlled the holographic projection, displaying scene after scene. "The remaining veins are mostly located deep within the mines, making them more difficult to extract."

Looking at the massive sinkholes in the images, Lü Yongchang fell silent.

Although the Lunar Palace project has been completed, the entire moon is now filled with automated mining factories of all sizes.

However, Earth remains the primary source of minerals for humankind.

If we want to easily obtain large quantities of ore, perhaps the only way is to find a way from the sky.

Lü Yongchang looked out the window at the endless sky.

Within our solar system, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, lies a vast asteroid belt.

asteroid belt

Of these, approximately 500,000 asteroids are bound by the gravity of the Sun and Jupiter, obediently orbiting within a region of 2.17–3.64 astronomical units from the Sun.

These 500,000 asteroids contain a wealth of mineral resources!

However... given the current technology, mining in the asteroid belt seems like an impractical option.

Perhaps, once we reach Mars, asteroid mining technology will be put on the research agenda in earnest.

Equally important as this technology is the development of weapon systems.

We can't just go to Proxima Centauri and then continue to attack it with nuclear weapons, can we?

Unlike nuclear bombs detonated in the atmosphere, nuclear bombs in space, lacking an atmosphere, do not produce the most destructive shockwaves after detonation. Instead, they release only small-scale high temperatures, intense light, and electromagnetic radiation.

This is tantamount to reducing the power of a nuclear bomb by countless times.

Therefore... the starship's weapon system will probably have to be designed from scratch.

Lu Yongchang slumped in his office chair, staring blankly, as countless thoughts raced through his mind.

etc……

Nuclear bomb?

Nuclear bomb!!

Lu Yongchang's eyes lit up, and he quickly straightened up and asked Zero, "Zero, if we use blasting methods for destructive mining, how long can the Earth's mineral resources last?"

After a brief wait, Zero gave an encouraging reply.

"If we disregard the amount of explosives used, destructive mining alone is sufficient to meet current construction needs."

"However, we don't have that many explosives right now."

"Who said there isn't?" A crazy smile crept onto Lü Yongchang's lips.

...

The office of the Speaker of Parliament.

"Speaker, Professor Lü has arrived."

As the sound of zero rang out, the door to the Speaker's office quietly opened.

“Yongchang?” A hint of doubt flashed in Councilor Li’s eyes when he saw Lü Yongchang standing at the door.

"Any new information from Proxima Centauri?"

Lu Yongchang shook his head and stepped into Councilor Li's office.

He then quickly closed the door.

Seeing Lü Yongchang's unusual behavior, Councilor Li's eyes showed even more doubt.

"Yongchang?"

Seemingly influenced by Lü Yongchang's cautious movements, Councilor Li subconsciously lowered his voice and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

After closing the door, Lü Yongchang gave a slightly embarrassed smile: "Speaker, I've come to borrow something from you."

Representative Lee: "???"

"Borrow something?"

"Why are you being so cautious when borrowing things?!"

The old man suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back in his chair, and said, "Speak, what do you need to borrow?"

"...nuclear bomb."

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