Chapter 7: Rescue Operation Commence!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chen Xin also sat in front of the TV and watched the broadcast. After all, it was a life and death situation involving all of mankind and every major news outlet on Earth was reporting the incident around the clock.

Although the meteorite was getting closer to Earth and all countries had issued warnings, the meteorite was only approaching the moon’s orbit. The Earth had not yet been substantially affected. That was why Chen Xin did not hide in the bunker that he dug.

The bunker might be safe, but there was no internet and TV. Chen Xin wanted to understand the situation of the rescue operation, so he chose to watch TV at home.

As for other people in the city where Chen Xin was located, they were evacuated one after another during that period. In batches, they entered bunkers that were mostly remodeled.

If the operation went well, they would leave the bunkers after the meteorite was intercepted successfully. However, if the interception failed, everyone would spend the rest of their lives in the bunkers.

Chen Xin did not live in the city due to personal reasons. Although government workers had urged him to go to the bunker, Chen Xin stayed at home rather than going to the bunker built by the country because he had dug his own bunker.

Moreover, although the country had tried its best to remodel the bunkers and was also trying its best to accommodate everyone, not everyone could enter the refuge. This was due to some of the bunkers not being completed in time and having limited capacity.　　

According to Chen Xin’s prediction, the city where he lived could still manage to handle it because the population was not huge. Most people could still enter the bunker.

However, in terms of the whole country, Chen Xin thought that it would already be remarkable to be able to relocate 80% of the population into bunkers.

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Vermillion and the United States’ spacecraft would set off once again from the Tiangong Space Station and the International Space Station after they had completed refueling.

They would first orbit the Earth and accelerate toward the moon with the help of the Earth’s gravity. Then, they would accelerate a second time with help of the moon’s gravity so that the spacecraft could synchronize with the meteorite’s travel speed. Only then they could accurately land on the meteorite.

Looking at the three spacecraft that gradually became smaller from the camera at the space station, Chen Xin prayed in silence for the warriors on board.

The hope of all mankind rested on them. If the operation failed, mankind would have to face global extinction as the dinosaurs did sixty-five million years ago when the meteorite struck the Gulf of Mexico.

Some people may argue that the cause of the dinosaurs’ extinction could not be identified yet as a meteorite impact. However, Chen Xin could say with full confidence that if the meteorite approaching Earth crashed, ninety percent of living species would become extinct. Whether it was land or sea creatures, they would face the same catastrophe.

Birds, as the last descendants of dinosaurs, might have escaped the previous disaster, but they might not be so lucky this time. The extreme temperatures and toxic gases brought by the firestorm that would sweep the world, accompanied by extremely cold nights would wipe out birds in the skies, large creatures on land, most plants, and all the fishes in the shallow parts of the ocean.

Only tenacious animals such as mice and cockroaches that were good at digging holes could escape this catastrophe, but it was also unknown whether they could survive the extremely cold nights when food was scarce.

As for marine life, there was nothing to worry about. Although marine life ecology in the shallow sea area would be devastated, the marine life living in the deep sea would not go extinct. Even some shallow sea marine life could survive if they were lucky enough.

Humans, on the other hand, would have to depend on their luck.

People who lived in countries where the social order had not collapsed would at least have the government organize an asylum for them. After surviving the disasters following the meteorite impact, there was still a high probability for them to survive and preserve human civilization.

However, people living in countries where the social order had collapsed were not as lucky. If they lived far away from the point of impact, managed to find a solid basement, and stocked up on sufficient food supplies, there was still a chance to survive.

Otherwise, they would very likely die within a few days from the ensuing disasters caused by the meteorite impact. 

Of course, if they were a little unlucky and lived near the point of impact, then they might not be able to even survive for a day. They would die an immediate and painless death.

Although the TV station had been broadcasting live, Chen Xin did not stare at the TV all day long because it would take quite some time for the spacecraft to arrive at the moon’s orbit. Instead, he was doing his final preparations before entering the bunker.

Although Chen Xin hoped that the operation that dictated the fate of six billion people would succeed, he was not optimistic about it.

Vermillion and the United States intended to blow up the meteorite with nuclear bombs, then propel the meteorite away from its impact trajectory with thrusters. That scheme sounded good, and its feasibility was not low. By disregarding the cost, it was indeed possible with mankind’s current technology, but there were also many uncertainties.

For example, before landing on the meteorite, there would be flows of debris around the meteorite which would prevent the spacecraft from landing, or even worse, destroy the spacecraft. Furthermore, there would be a possibility that the meteorite surface was too tough to drill holes into.

A meteorite was not a sphere with a uniform texture. Its irregular shape and uneven texture might withstand the blasts of the nuclear bombs without even breaking apart. Or, it may be blown too wide apart and split into several pieces.

If it was not blown apart, the texture of the meteorite may be harder than expected, which meant its mass would also be much larger. In that case, the heavy spacecraft prepared by Vermillion may not be able to propel the meteorite, or the thrust might be insufficient to completely change its orbit.

In that case, mankind could only rely on the Russians to strike down the meteorite with all available nuclear warheads on earth.

Even so, the world would suffer a huge wave of meteorite showers, causing astronomical losses to human civilization.

If the meteorite exploded into several pieces, that would be the worst-case scenario.

That was because Vermillion had only prepared one heavy-lift spacecraft and could only propel one meteorite at a time.