Mars, treehouse.
Zhang Fan carried a bow and arrows as he walked through the underground passageway of the lair.
The feeling of walking here is completely different now. Before, I felt like I was walking through an insect's nest, but now I realize that many of the traces are left by human ancestors.
Some passages are lava tubes, some were dug by insects, and others, touching the traces of "trees," seem to allow one to feel the footsteps of ancestors who once walked them.
rustling sound—
Zhang Fan stopped and stood still, his eyes fixed on the insects in front of him, without taking off the bow and arrows from his back.
The insect raised its head, twisted its antennae, glanced at Zhang Fan a few times, then lay down on the ground and crawled away through another side path.
So Zhang Fan continued onward.
There seems to have been a tacit understanding between him and the insects; they each live in peace and do not interfere with each other.
It's also possible that after spending a long time together, the insects have already excluded him from the category of "food".
Of course, there were also those who were blind and were taken away by Zhang Fan with a single arrow.
Is this also a result of natural selection? The foolish insects all died, and those that remained were naturally sensible and obedient.
After returning to the treehouse, Zhang Fan removed his equipment and logged into the game on time.
Now he doesn't go too far each day so he can return on time. The area has been explored to a great extent, and unless he can get back to the surface, there's not much point in continuing to explore.
A flash of white light appeared, and Zhang Fan appeared next to the teleportation stone, where Liao Changtian was already waiting for him.
"How have you been lately?" Liao Changtian walked over, his dark elf aura making him look truly handsome.
"Still the same. Nothing special happened. Yesterday, a few stupid bugs wandered into the dome and ruined my cornfield, but I chased them away."
"Is the loss significant?"
"It's not a big problem. I've already harvested some of the corn, enough to last until the next planting."
"That's good."
"Then..." Zhang Fan paused for a moment, looked up at the sky, then at the ground, before saying, "How...how has she been lately?"
"who?"
"I...Ivanka, you mean Ivanka?" Zhang Fan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
“Oh, she’s doing well. She just finished her inauguration ceremony and is now the most popular woman on Earth.” Liao Changtian smiled. “And the most powerful woman as well.”
"She is truly strong and decisive, leading a country to recover its vitality so quickly." Liao Changtian nodded in admiration.
“She’s always had a good head for business,” Zhang Fan nodded in agreement.
“It’s not just about the economy.” Liao Changtian shook his head. “If it were just about reviving the economy, I would consider her a qualified economist, but…”
"Her strength lies in her ability to lead a country to quickly regain its confidence."
"Why do you seem to admire her so much?" Zhang Fan looked at Liao Changtian with some disdain. "Let me tell you, the prettier a woman is, the more likely she is to lie."
"Hahaha!" Liao Changtian laughed loudly, "It's not what you think, it's that I'm working for her now."
"Huh?" Zhang Fan exclaimed in surprise, "You work for her? What does that mean?"
“One of my proposals has been approved for implementation, but completing this proposal requires the allocation of resources worldwide, so this proposal is being carried out under the leadership of a global coalition government.”
"A world united government?"
"It sounds a bit like the United Nations of the past, and it was indeed born from the United Nations, but the two are not comparable in importance," Liao Changtian explained. "The World United Government is a powerful organization whose power comes from the management of 'Phoenix'. Due to the special nature of 'Phoenix', no single country can possess it alone, so it is managed by the World United Government and shared by all mankind."
"The coalition government has set up a special leadership group to be responsible for the implementation of my plan, and President Ivanka... is the head of this group."
"Why was she chosen?" Zhang Fan asked, puzzled. "In my opinion, isn't Director Xiao Yimin more suitable to be the team leader?"
"Haha." Liao Changtian laughed, "Because everyone else sees my proposal as a hot potato, not only because it's technically difficult, but also because it costs money, a lot of money!"
"It was President Ivanka who volunteered to be the team leader; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to start implementing this unwanted plan so quickly."
"Where did she get so much money?" Zhang Fan frowned. "The United States is in dire need of reconstruction, and there are countless places that need money. Does she have spare money to go crazy with you?"
“She doesn’t,” Liao Changtian paused for a moment, “but you do.”
"Me?" Zhang Fan's eyes widened.
“Yes.” Liao Changtian nodded. “You have a bank account held in trust by the IMF, and you’re spending the money from there now.”
"What? No!" Zhang Fan snapped out of his daze. "This isn't about money. Even though I'm not on Earth, shouldn't you get my permission before spending my money?"
"You agreed."
"Bullshit! When did I agree to that? I don't know anything about it!" Zhang Fan roared. "Where's the evidence? Show me!"
"Do you remember that you once authorized your parents to use the money in the account?"
"Of course I remember," Zhang Fan said, puzzled. "But you told me that the two elders didn't touch a single penny."
"The two elders have given President Ivanka the right to use the account," Liao Changtian said, spreading his hands. "You see, you authorized the two elders to use your account, and the two elders gave the account to President Ivanka. Doesn't that mean you agreed?"
"This..." Zhang Fan stared wide-eyed, "What kind of spell has Ivanka cast on my parents?"
"No way!" Zhang Fan said anxiously, "I've experienced it firsthand, Ivanka's level of deception is just too high! Aren't you going to do anything about it? I think this is blatant fraud against the elderly, okay? At least warn my parents, right?"
"I forgot to tell you, your parents were taken away by President Ivanka and they are now living in the United States."
"..."
"Don't worry, your parents are doing well. They went there voluntarily."
Zhang Fan felt a headache coming on. He knew his parents were extremely attached to their homeland and had never left the province in their entire lives. Good heavens, Ivanka had only been there for two days, and not only was she gone, but all their money was gone too.
"How did she convince my parents?" In Zhang Fan's view, it was simply a fantasy to get the two elderly people to go abroad, and willingly at that.
"You'll have to ask President Ivanka yourself about that."
"Then why didn't she show up?" Zhang Fan hesitated for a moment. "I mean, showing up here to meet her shouldn't be too difficult, right? It wouldn't take up too much of her time."
"President Ivanka is not available right now... You'll meet later." Liao Changtian seemed unwilling to say more.
"What did you do with my money? Shouldn't I at least know?" Zhang Fan said angrily. "It's my money after all!"
“There is a lot to do. Although you have a lot of money in your account, it is really just a drop in the bucket for us,” Liao Changtian said earnestly. “At present, it is only enough for the initial start-up funds of the first phase of the plan.”
"What kind of plan is that? Spending so much money and it's only enough for the initial launch?"
"What do you think is the biggest obstacle to humanity's exploration of the universe?" Liao Changtian suddenly asked.
"Obstacles to exploring the universe?" Zhang Fan pondered for a moment. The scope was too broad, and he didn't know where to begin.
"Gravity," Liao Changtian answered himself. "Universal gravitation binds humanity to the ground."
"We launch a rocket, but can only send a few tons or even a few kilograms of payload into space. This is not worthwhile, which makes space exploration a losing proposition that no one is willing to do."
"The first phase of my plan is to reduce the cost of human exploration of the universe, and to make it as common as taking a bus to go to geostationary orbit on Earth."
"Are you crazy?!" Zhang Fan looked at Liao Changtian as if he were a mental patient. "You want humans to leave Earth as easily as taking a bus? Wouldn't that mean we'd have to wait at least several hundred years?"
"No, no, no." Liao Changtian shook his head. "This stage is already in the trial operation phase and will soon be ready for official operation."
"No?" Zhang Fan stared in disbelief. "What exactly did you do?"
"Simply put, we've dug a hole between the North and South Poles." Liao Changtian drew a diagram on the ground with his finger, trying to make his explanation as simple and direct as possible. "This is a passage connecting the North and South Poles. For example, if an astronaut jumps down from the hole in the South Pole, he will be accelerated towards the Earth's core by gravity."
"After the astronaut passes the Earth's core, he will continue to rise due to inertia. Then he will decelerate due to gravity. When the astronaut reaches the North Pole, his speed will be zero, and he will fall back to the South Pole. Without external intervention, he will swing back and forth between the North and South Poles for more than 12,000 kilometers."
"But we have wrapped a tight electromagnetic coil around the outside of the tunnel. After the astronaut passes through the Earth's core, he will continue to accelerate under the electromagnetic effect. Eventually, he will cross the pole exit and fly into space at the second cosmic velocity."
"Look, it's like this," Liao Changtian said with a smile. "If we want to send astronauts or supplies into space, we just need to drop them off at the North or South Pole, which is almost zero cost."
"..." Zhang Fan stared wide-eyed with his mouth agape, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.
"But don't worry," Liao Changtian continued, "we've placed a 'net' above the poles. Astronauts flying out from the poles will be caught in the net and won't fly out of space."
Holy crap, is that what I was worried about?
"How far along is your plan?" Zhang Fan pressed.
"The professional astronaut test has been successful. We are currently recruiting volunteers from the general public, hoping to realize the commercial operation of civilians freely entering and leaving space as soon as possible."
"So fast!" Zhang Fan was stunned. He felt like he was falling behind the pace of Earth. "No, even if you were just digging a hole from the South Pole to the North Pole, wouldn't it take you several years?"
"Burn the engine." Liao Changtian looked at Zhang Fan as if he were a country bumpkin, seemingly finding the other party's reaction somewhat exaggerated. "Have you forgotten?"
"This..." Zhang Fan paused for a moment, then continued to press, "What about the materials? How do you solve the problem of such high temperatures at the Earth's core?"
“Element X,” Liao Changtian answered matter-of-factly. “The alloy material with element X added has already solved the problem of high temperature and high pressure resistance.”
Zhang Fan was completely dumbfounded; he felt like a complete country bumpkin.
"By the way, what do you call this thing?" Zhang Fan asked finally. "I'll definitely ride this thing when I have the chance to go back to Earth."
"Space elevator".
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