Damn it!

Lu Yongchang angrily reached out and slammed his hand on the desk in front of him.

The icy touch stung his palm deeply.

"Zero, call Fang Xu over here!"

He whispered.

But he quickly shook his head: "No, send him to the conference room."

"Notify everyone, including Parliament, to convene an emergency meeting immediately!"

This matter involves too many lives; it's not something he or Fang Xu can decide on their own.

After saying that, he reached out and unfastened the electromagnetic adsorption device on his seat, stood up with a solemn expression, and walked straight toward the office door.

"Received. The meeting will begin in thirty minutes."

As the synthesized electronic voice faded, the office door opened, and Zero's virtual image dissipated into the air as particle effects.

...

[Earth], Conference Room.

On either side of the conference table, the expressions on the faces of the people were all different.

That's roughly the situation.

Lu Yongchang raised his hand and gently rubbed his temples: "Tell me, should we change the implementation area of ​​the [Tail-Cutting Plan]?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Fang Xu and Hong Qiming not far away.

Fang Xu remained silent, but Hong Qiming spoke first.

"Professor, I need to confirm one thing."

Lu Yongchang raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly: "Go on."

Hong Qiming's eyes narrowed, and he asked in a deep voice, "Can we still make contact with the human civilization on Proxima Centauri?"

"Or to put it another way, can Zero remotely control that weak artificial intelligence over there?"

Without any hesitation, Lü Yongchang shook his head and said, "Impossible."

"Ren Feng and Zhang Zhengqing physically cut off all external network connections. Currently, Proxima Centauri is like an isolated island, unless the other side actively restores the connection, or we send a starship to Proxima Centauri b."

Hong Qiming took a deep breath, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was admiration, but also regret.

Hong Qiming pursed his lips tightly: "Just as Ren Feng said, no matter what we do, the countdown to the extinction of the Proxima Centauri human civilization has already begun."

"This leaves us with only one option."

"We can't just let the civilizations of Proxima Centauri die in vain, can we?"

"Moreover, the [Tail Cutting Plan] does have flaws, and Proxima Centauri can perfectly fill in the gaps in this plan."

"In addition, there is one more point."

"Proxima Centauri and our target star system are in almost opposite directions."

"This can significantly increase the success rate of the 'Tail-Cutting Plan'."

A soft murmur arose in the meeting room.

Judging from the expressions of the crowd, most people agreed with Hong Qiming's statement.

But Fang Xu raised an objection: "I have a question."

How can we be sure that Ren Feng and Zhang Zhengqing's plan has been successfully implemented?

“Professor, they have already deployed the military. If, and I mean if, their plan fails, then the ‘Tail Cutting Plan’ will also fail completely.”

"In this way, not only will the human civilization of Proxima Centauri perish, but we will also..."

The room fell silent as soon as he finished speaking.

...

Since this concerns the continuation of civilization, Lü Yongchang must be extremely cautious.

Fang Xu's question was like a sword of Damocles, hanging high over everyone's heads.

The meeting lasted for three full days.

During the meeting, under Zero's control, the "Tail-Cutting Project" and the "Interstellar Voyage Project" continued to proceed in an orderly manner.

But this meeting, which would determine the fate of countless people, came to a standstill.

Over the course of those three days, proposals were put forward one after another, only to be rejected.

No one can guarantee, and no one dares to guarantee, that Ren Feng and Zhang Zhengqing's plan will be successfully implemented.

After all, within the context of the Proxima Centauri civilization, their actions were tantamount to making enemies of the entire civilization!

The resistance involved is unimaginable to ordinary people!

Lu Yongchang sat exhausted in his seat, staring at the voting results in front of him with great distress.

This is the tenth time that all members have voted anonymously.

But the result was still unsatisfactory.

51.2% voted in favor, 44.1% voted against, and 4.7% abstained.

Although the number of votes in favor exceeded half, it did not reach the two-thirds majority threshold for voting rights, therefore, the vote was meaningless.

"drop!"

A sharp alarm sounded.

"Professor, communications with Proxima Centauri b have been restored."

Lu Yongchang's eyes widened suddenly.

He instinctively braced his hands on the conference table in front of him, straightened up, and shouted, "Quick! Establish a communication connection for me!"

A huge holographic projection appeared above the conference table, and a line of faint text appeared before everyone's eyes.

[Connection established...]

Proxima Centauri's corresponding speed is very fast.

Almost without any waiting, a faint "Successful Connection" message appeared, and then the holographic screen displayed a real-time view of Proxima Centauri b.

Ren Feng's eyes were sunken, his gray hair was extremely messy, and his face was full of exhaustion.

But his eyes were incredibly bright, even carrying a faint smile.

"Hello, Professor."

Ren Feng spoke first, greeting everyone as if the incident from a few days ago had never happened.

"Ren Feng, you..."

Looking at Ren Feng's appearance, Lü Yongchang was at a loss for words.

"Professor, I've come to report on the progress of the plan." Ren Feng said in a low voice, a tired smile playing on his lips.

"As of now, the total number of people awakened on Proxima Centauri b is 3,147."

"They are all staunch supporters of the tail-cutting plan, but to prevent any accidents, all personnel, including myself, will gradually go into hibernation."

"All unrelated personnel on Proxima Centauri b have entered hibernation. According to the pre-programmed procedure, they will awaken in 50 years and face the final moment."

"At the same time, all restrictions have been lifted at the five social care centers, and they have begun operations."

"To ensure the successful execution of the plan, all humans born from the incubation center will directly enter a state of mild hibernation."

"According to the experimental data provided by Zhang Zhengqing, mild hibernation does not affect their normal growth and development."

At this point, Ren Feng took a deep breath, his expression becoming much more serious: "Professor, all preparations have been completed."

Have you thought it through?

Just as Lü Yongchang was about to speak, Ren Feng added with a smile, "By the way, Professor, Zhengqing has only restored this one external communication link so far, and he can physically cut it off again at any time."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yongchang's expression changed slightly.

Left with no other choice, he swallowed the sentence he originally intended to say and changed it to something else.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the eleventh secret ballot."