The post-apocalyptic world has a space full of supplies.

Chapter 199 East China Space Research Institute

DAY135

Everyone enjoyed the farewell dinner the night before, especially Ji Lang, who got completely drunk. Lu Yuan guessed that he probably didn't want to face the separation from Yang Xiao directly.

In the early hours of the morning, after everyone else had finished packing and gone to sleep, Lu Yuan and Yang Xiao quietly woke up the bewildered Zhong Qiang, and the three of them quietly left the building.

"Why do we have to leave quietly? Can't we leave after we wake up?" Zhong Qiang had also drunk quite a bit tonight. After all, it was the national liquor that he couldn't afford. He felt like he was missing out if he didn't drink even a sip.

“Speaking of this, Lu Xiaoyuan. Didn’t we agree that the data couldn’t be handed over casually?” Yang Xiao was still a little upset about Lu Yuan giving Ji Lang and the others everything he had taken from the research institute. Although Lu Yuan said there were backups, he didn’t want that old fox Jiang Xing to get what he wanted.

"So we need to hurry and head to the East China Space Research Institute." After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the three of them boarded the self-driving helicopter in an orderly fashion.

"East China Space Research Institute?" Yang Xiao muttered to himself, then suddenly realized, "You mean, all the data from that institute is completely useless?"

"It's not like it's completely useless." Suddenly, the mechanical voice of the system sounded simultaneously from inside Yang Xiao and Zhong Qiang's protective masks. Zhong Qiang, who had never used Lu Yuan's starship system before, was startled.

"Hi, Xiao Yang. Hi, Xiao Zhong. Dr. Lu, do you need to grant Xiao Zhong synchronization authorization?"

"Simultaneous authorization," Lu Yuan replied.

"Holy crap, what kind of AI is this? It's so intelligent!" Although AI robots had become widespread in China by 2074, Zhong Qiang and his colleagues had only encountered functional AI robots in their daily lives. He had never seen a personal AI robot like this before.

"Hello, Xiao Zhong, basic authorization has been granted for you." The mechanical voice sounded again.

"Can't Ji Lang and the others hear us talking like this?" Yang Xiao remembered that Lu Yuan had said before that as long as they wore these protective suits, they could stay in touch. So before Lu Yuan left, he specifically left protective suits for Gu Nanfeng, Pei Sihao and the other three who were still at the base, for Ji Lang to pass on.

"Don't worry..." Before Lu Yuan could answer, the system preemptively replied:

"As an advanced intelligent starship system, Memory knows exactly when to synchronize which messages to whom. For example, right now, Memory has synchronized Xiao Yang and Xiao Zhong's basic information to Dr. Lu's fiancé."

"What! Fiancé?" Zhong Qiang was shocked to hear such news. When did Lu Yuan get a fiancé? He had no idea.

"I'd like to know too, please tell me in detail." Yang Xiao hadn't figured out his fiancé Lu Yuan last time, and now that the system had brought it up again, he had to get to the bottom of it.

"No! Don't say that! I don't have any damn fiancé!" Lu Yuan genuinely didn't understand why this damn starship system was so annoying, constantly bringing up his unheard-of fiancé.

"Oh~ Dr. Lu's fiancé is a very accomplished scientist, he..."

"Don't tell!"

Lu Yuan originally thought he couldn't stop this damn system, but then the system suddenly stopped, followed by the crackling sound of the signal being affected.

"What's going on?" Yang Xiao was a little confused. He had prepared the table and stools, but the melon was gone.

"If this system goes down, will our helicopter be affected?" Zhong Qiang thought that the helicopter they were in was controlled by this system, and at this moment he was particularly worried that because the system went offline, they might face the fate of crashing the helicopter and losing their lives.

"Don't worry, the helicopter is fine." Yang Xiao patted Zhong Qiang on the shoulder to reassure him. Then, amidst the crackling noise, the system's mechanical voice began to appear intermittently again.

"Affected by...a geomagnetic storm...information...information...cannot...synchronize...to...the...system..."

"Your system is pretty good; it keeps talking even after disconnecting." After all, this system was just a gossip generator for Yang Xiao, not really important. He turned back to Lu Yuan and continued asking about the research institute, "What do you mean by saying the research institute's data isn't completely useless?"

“Back at the research institute, I didn’t put the things directly into my spatial storage; instead, I put them into the starship first.” Lu Yuan was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to explain clearly if he started from the middle, so he began to tell Yang Xiao from the beginning.

Because these documents were first placed inside the starship before being stored in its spatial storage, the starship's system could scan all the files and analyze them one by one according to Lu Yuan's initial requirements without touching them at all. In other words, even if these materials suddenly disappeared, the starship would have already made a complete backup and compiled a summary, which would then be transmitted to Lu Yuan synchronously via the mech.

"Great job, Lu Xiaoyuan. I was worried we wouldn't have enough time to look at these materials beforehand, but you've already arranged for your system to scan them first." Yang Xiao praised Lu Yuan after hearing his explanation. "So, this lab is just conducting a seed cultivation project for the 'Star Sea Project'?"

"Hmm." Lu Yuan nodded helplessly. None of them expected that the information they had searched for so desperately would be completely useless. "The office next door that is buried by the desert may be the real target office."

"So, Ji Lang and the others might have to go on another mission?" Yang Xiao suddenly remembered Ji Lang, who was completely drunk last night. Of course, Yang Xiao, being the shrewd person he was, understood Ji Lang's thoughts perfectly well. If they stayed safely at the South China base, he wouldn't mind having a beautiful love story.

but now……

"Actually, I think Captain Ji is a pretty good guy." Zhong Qiang's sudden voice startled Yang Xiao from his daze. Sometimes you really feel like this guy's brain doesn't connect when it comes to important things, but when it comes to matters of the heart, he can get straight to the point immediately.

"I think so too." Lu Yuan nodded. He couldn't let others have his own gossip, but he was quite happy to have other people's gossip.

“Who doesn’t think so?” Yang Xiao shook his head, then seriously brought the topic back: “Then we can only go to the East China Space Research Institute to find data. Hopefully, it hasn’t been swallowed up by the desert.”

"You've been talking for so long, but you still haven't explained to me what we're looking for. Why did you run away from the base? What exactly are they talking about regarding defection and kidnapping?" Getting back to the point, Zhong Qiang finally remembered the questions he had wanted to ask but hadn't had a chance to.

"It's a long story..." Lu Yuan and Yang Xiao smiled at each other and, taking advantage of a break in the flight, recounted all their experiences over the past few days.