In the slightly chilly morning breeze, Zhao Watson wrapped his clothes tightly and sat on top of the passenger side of the car.
There was another high profile meeting this morning, even higher than the one yesterday. Not only will the top leaders of the Alliance be present, but also leaders of various departments, fields and scientists. This is a meeting to discuss how human society should respond to the solar crisis. Because of his special status, Zhao Watson, who was an ordinary researcher, was also invited to attend. This was also the reason why Zhao Watson woke up early again today.
Meng Zhuo's driving skills were high. Under Meng Zhuo's control, Zhao Watson once had the illusion that the small family car he was travelling in had been unknowingly upgraded into a luxury car. However, this illusion did not last long, or rather, Zhao Watson's attention did not remain on it for too long. Meng Zhuo was a silent and sensible man, and when Meng Zhuo didn't speak, Zhao Watson didn't speak either. Zhao Watson just put his eyes outside the car.
It's business as usual in the bustling city. The effects of the bizarre change in temperature had yet to spread to the world of ordinary people. The people Zhao Huasheng saw were still in a hurry as before, there were still food carts hawking on the streets, and commuters were still huddled together waiting for buses. At the moment, the sun was dim, but no one would put their attention on it.
Zhao Watson had an additional strange thought in his mind.
"The whole vast human society is like a slow-moving, slow-sensing beast ... which is always slow to respond to external stimuli. When it really feels the bad effects of such changes for itself, it often reaches the point where things are irreparable."
"But ... fortunately for mankind, we have the powerful tool of science. If we were still in the age of obscurantism, I fear that we wouldn't know what the hell was going on until our eventual extinction."
The thought was weird, so Zhao Watson shook it out of his mind in the next moment.
Meng Zhuo sent Zhao Watson to the entrance of the conference room and then waited outside. The meeting started later.
"Firstly, I would like to give the floor to the Ministry of Science and Research." The presiding officer said.
The representative of the Ministry of Scientific Research is a highly respected stellar physicist. Originally, the representative of the Ministry of Scientific Research was supposed to be Richie, but Richie is no longer with us.
"In all this time of observation and research, we have not found any possible cause for the decrease in the level of solar radiation." The scientist said, "It's a bummer, but we have to say this. The only thing we can tell you is that the sun's radiation level is still going down - in the last twenty-four hours it has decreased again by three thousandths of a degree. We don't know how far it will go, or how long it will last, or whether there is any possibility of raising the level of solar radiation to normal in the future - we don't know anything. We can only advise people to be prepared for the worst." The scientist said.
"What does the worst psychological preparation refer to?" The old man who was the head of the Alliance asked.
The scientist was silent for a moment and replied, "The sun is completely out."
"Please tell me the consequences of this situation, and the chances that it might happen." The Führer said.
"I'm sorry, we can't estimate the chances that this might happen, we know nothing." The scientist replied, "As for the consequences ... Do you know about Pluto? If the sun goes out, the Earth will become similar to Pluto. At that point, the surface temperature would drop to over minus two hundred degrees Celsius, all liquids would condense into solids, all the gases that make up the atmosphere would solidify due to the extremely low temperatures, and descending from the sky to the surface, the Earth would lose all its protective layers, and quite a large variety of interstellar radiation, as well as asteroids, would be free to blast the planet ... All life would become extinct."
There was a buzz in the middle of the conference room. The presiding officer of the meeting asked, "So, what's the proposed course of action for your scientific department?"
"If it is possible ..." The scientist hesitated for a moment, then said, "to establish a large number of shelters in the tropics, and converge all the people in the high latitudes and temperate zones near the tropics. The insulating effect of the oceans and atmosphere is limited after all, and the cold and temperate zones will soon become unsuitable for human survival. If we humans are more fortunate and the solar situation does not continue to deteriorate, the tropics may yet be more suitable for human survival. In the meantime, with the greatest energy invested in the process of new energy research and development, if there is a breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion, we will still be able to preserve at least a little of the seed of human civilisation."
"Also, I propose to carry out the latest solar observation programme, launching the most and most advanced solar probes to the Sun in the shortest possible time, and if necessary, we will also carry out a manned observation programme; after all, we can only figure out how to save the Sun if we first figure out what's wrong with it."
The Führer turned his attention to the representatives of the industrial and social sectors: "What is your opinion?"
The representative of the industrial sector said, "With the industrial base of our human civilisation at the moment, we have the ability to build a large number of shelters near the tropics within a short period of time, as well as the ability to tilt all our industrial resources towards scientific research, as long as you order us to stop all the rest of the non-essential construction works. As for the possible social impacts of stopping the rest of the non-essential engineering construction, this will be left to the social sector to study and resolve."
The representative of the social sector said, "There is no problem with that. Just that we have a suggestion, we suggest that the real situation of the crisis at this moment should not be disclosed to the public for the time being. Premature disclosure of the truth could easily lead to social unrest, which would not be conducive to the scheduling and conduct of subsequent programmes."
The representative of the agricultural sector interjected: "If rationing were to be introduced, we would have enough food reserves to feed all of humanity for three years. But after three years, we will face the risk of food scarcity. Therefore, we request that a portion of our scientific research resources be tilted towards agriculture, and we ask the scientific research department to expeditiously develop highly cold-resistant types of food, as well as develop soil-less and indoor cultivation techniques."
"This is what we should do," said a representative of the Central Academy of Sciences' agricultural research department.
...
After the representatives of the scientists told the truth about the current crisis facing human civilisation and made their claims, the specifics of how to deal with it were left to the relevant departments to discuss in detail. The meeting was a long one, and Zhao Watson had no say in these matters. Even the fact that Zhao Huasheng was able to attend this meeting was due to his special status.
Amidst the constant speeches and discussions, Zhao Watson's thoughts gradually drifted into the distance. Once again, Zhao Watson's shadow surfaced in his mind, the goodbye that Li Qi said before he died, and the last piece of white paper that he left for himself.
In the midst of Zhao Huasheng's thoughts, that ordinary white paper seemed to suddenly possess some kind of magical magic, and although it was blank, it seemed to carry a thousand words that Li Qi wanted to say on it.
Richie knew all about it, but Richie didn't say anything.
Zhao Watson knows that his identity is very special, knows that he is very important, but Ren even Zhao Watson himself does not know where exactly he is special, where he is important.
"Hello." Right at this time, a young woman sitting next to Zhao Watson greeted Zhao Watson. Zhao Huasheng came back to his senses from his delirious wanderings and also gave a slight nod to the young woman, also saying, "Hello."
"My name is Li Wei, I'm Li Qi's sister." The young woman said, "I'm currently working at the High Energy Laser Research Laboratory of the Optical Research Institute under the Alliance Central Academy of Sciences. I've heard my brother mention you. He said that you are a very diligent and intelligent young man."
Li Wei would not be older than twenty-five at most this year. At the moment, she was sitting in her seat so she couldn't see her height, but Zhao Huasheng could tell that she had a very slender figure. A delicate face with a head of long soft hair looked exceptionally moving. It was just that Li Wei's eyes were slightly red and swollen, and even with the make-up she had put on, it didn't hide the redness.
Hearing Li Wei say this, Zhao Huasheng also went down gloomily, "Brother Li is a very good person, he takes care of me."
"I heard that my brother used to drink with you on his last night before he died?" Li Wei asked.
"Yes." Zhao Watson nodded, "If I knew he would have an accident ... that night, even if it made him angry, I would have stayed with him all night."
Li Wei lowered her head, took out a tissue from her bag, and gently wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to blame you." After a moment, Li Wei calmed down, "No one would like to see such an accident happen. It's just that I have some questions I want to get answered from you."
"Go ahead." Zhao Watson said.
"My brother left you the only relic ... that was a blank sheet of paper? My brother also said that you could clear up all our doubts?" Li Wei asked.
Zhao Huasheng was slightly surprised, surprised because Li Wei even knew about these highly confidential matters. However, thinking about Li Wei's identity, Zhao Huasheng was relieved.
Zhao Watson nodded, confirming these things.
Li Wei moved her eyes away from Zhao Watson, and her thoughts seemed to have drifted to a far away place, "I understand my brother ... He is a person with a strong sense of planning and self-discipline. Ever since I can remember, I don't remember him doing a single thing that didn't make sense. That's why ... I believe in those last words my brother left behind. He would have had his own reasons for choosing to do this. I have a premonition that in the midst of this solar crisis, all of our human endeavours will fail, and the ultimate hope, as my brother said, lies in you."