Chapter 157
This is an extremely quiet city.
Perhaps, it's too quiet.
The white hemispherical buildings are scattered irregularly on both sides of the road, like a handful of chess pieces scattered by someone, looking quite cute.
Even the windows on the scattered buildings are irregular, in shapes of round, square, heart, fan, diamond, polygon, and many look like they were scribbled by naughty children, forming a crooked square. The wonderful shapes, combined with the colorful crystal surfaces on them, construct a fairy-tale world.
Behind those windows full of childish atmosphere, there are all kinds of things decorated like an ordinary home - some are colorful flower pots, some are large and small jars, some are books, some are soft pillows, and some are placed with food, as if someone is sitting by the window eating.
But at this moment, everything was quietly and normally placed. The branches were swaying, a wind chime hanging on the door made a pleasant sound, and the pages of an open book on a bench on the street made a rustling sound in the wind, but there was no human figure in sight.
Everything seemed to have stopped in an instant.
On the roads, in the squares, and even on the roofs, you can see hovercrafts lying all over the place. They lose power and fall from the air. The final safety braking system barely allows them to land steadily on a solid surface , but they can no longer reach their destination.
The cleaning robots that were originally responsible for urban sanitation were scattered here and there, and some were even lying on the garbage dump, with a broken bottle still grasped in their small mechanical claws, giving people the feeling that they were still insisting on completing their mission at the last moment of their life, which inexplicably gave people a sense of tragedy.
Rong Yuan walked on the quiet and desolate street, taking a detour from time to time so as not to disturb those lying on the ground.
Although now, they will no longer be awakened by being disturbed.
Men, women, old people, children, some look strange, while others are not much different from humans on Earth. In the past, they might have been mayors, drivers, students, doctors, racing drivers, musicians, fathers and mothers, hungry children... But now, everyone has turned into mummies lying on the ground, with curled hands and feet, hunched bodies, and faces like dry branches that have been drained of moisture. These dark brown, root-like remains are wrapped in bright and beautiful clothes, which look so weird and terrifying.
Some important departments in the city, such as the power supply station, the hovercraft control center, the airport, etc., have turned into large black pits. Fires are still flickering in some places, and the molten iron condenses into black stains on the ground, as if these are the last tears the city sheds for itself.
Suddenly, Rong Yuan stopped and his eyes fell on a sphere in front of him that was made up of countless polygonal facets and had a mechanical texture.
This metal ball is only about two people tall. It is not very large in size and can be carried in a slightly larger vehicle. However, it is one of the most precious treasures of this planet and an important symbol of its membership in the Interstellar Alliance.
This is a quantum communication base station.
It is also the only quantum communication base station operating in synchronous orbit around this small habitable star.
With the existence of this base station, people on this planet can log on to the star network, communicate with people on other planets without obstacles, and have their voices heard by the entire interstellar alliance.
This base station is also necessary so that the spacecraft can accurately locate the position of the planet and, under the guidance of navigation, go to the planet for repairs, transportation, trade, tourism, replenishment of supplies, etc.
If the base station is destroyed, people on the entire planet will not be able to contact the outside world; at the same time, various spacecraft will not pass by here. They may leave a trace of flight from several light years away, but they will not even glance here; and because various machines have lost power, it is impossible for people here to escape to the dark space.
They could only wait for the long-planned massacre to come like lambs to be slaughtered, without any resistance.
The Interstellar Alliance is so large that there are always planets that accidentally damage precious communication base stations. For this, there is a special early warning mechanism in the star network. Once a base station is found to have lost contact , the nearest planet or government spacecraft will send people to check it out. If the base station is found to be damaged beyond repair, there will also be a special person to recycle the damaged base station and replace it with a new one. Of course, it is very expensive.
But this planet has no such opportunity.
Because in the Star Network, all the information about this planet has turned gray, which represents death. At the top of the information page, a line of black font reads: [This planet was destroyed by space turbulence , and none of its residents survived. We mourn.]
After that, netizens on the Starnet spontaneously organized a series of words and activities such as mourning, remembrance, and blessings. However, except for those who have relatives or friends on this planet who will still be immersed in grief for a while, most netizens, after a brief moment of sadness and being moved, quickly downplayed the impression of this incident and began to focus on more important things to themselves - such as I have gained weight recently, I have an exam soon, I have a scratch on my finger, I like him but he doesn't seem to like me, etc.
After the official confirmation that the planet no longer existed, the routes leading to the planet were deleted from all star navigation maps. The star field became an empty and dark area, and was marked with "Suspected space turbulence, danger, no entry".
So even if relatives and friends are on this planet, no one would think of crossing the space distance of light years to hire a private spacecraft to investigate and confirm this star region with nothing but danger. After all, the dead can no longer come back, but life must go on. People can indulge their sadness, but real life is more about trivial matters such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, without as much romance and determination as in the story.
The announcement of planetary destruction was released seven days ago.
Three days ago, Rong Yuan's merit search locator suddenly popped up countless prompts without being turned on. The instrument kept buzzing while shaking, as if countless people were wailing in despair. The invisible force gushed out like a tide and even shook the locator far away!
However, when Rong Yuan was rushing to the planet, all the prompts and buzzing sounds suddenly stopped, and the positioning device turned back into a quiet compass like a pocket watch.
One day ago, Rong Yuan came to this planet.
This planet has become extremely quiet, as if it is completely dead.
