CH 13

"Tell me about them," Zhao Huasheng said forcefully.

"All right," Li Wei recalled, "the conversation went like this:"

"Let me go."

"You want to leave here? Aren't you afraid of starving?"

"If you help me, I can make it."

"Okay, I will help you."

"That's all the dialogue recorded."

The hospital room fell silent again. Zhao Huasheng sank into contemplation with his expression changing constantly. Li Wei looked at Zhao Huasheng with worry, not knowing why these four sentences had such a huge impact on him.

"Are you...sure? Not one word wrong?" Zhao Huasheng asked.

"Not wrong," Li Wei nodded confidently. "My memory has always been good. I remembered this incident very well. You know, I originally wanted to see the conversation between my brother and his beloved, but I unexpectedly saw such a bizarre conversation. So I can't be wrong."

"Meng Zhuo, send this conversation to the psychology research group," Zhao Huasheng thought for a moment and said to Meng Zhuo. Meng Zhuo nodded and simply replied, "Okay."

Zhao Huasheng relaxed again, staring at the pristine ceiling, sinking back into contemplation.

Who is the person that Li Qi is talking to? Li Qi's behavior has changed so much that he is no longer like his former self, and Li Qi obviously has a lot to say but can't say it, and only hints at something through a white paper... Is there any connection between these things and the mysterious person? Did the mysterious person threaten Li Qi in some way?

"Let me think about this from the beginning... From the conversation, the mysterious person seems to be no ordinary person, his views on life and the environment are different from those of ordinary people. He seems to be trapped somewhere and can't come out, and if he comes out, he will "supposedly die.". But Li Qi has a way to help him adapt to the external environment so that he will not die. So did he come out in the end?"

"Maybe he has already come out, and it is because of his presence that Li Qi's actions have been hindered... Hmm, right, Li Qi knew about the Sun Crisis before it erupted, what is the connection between him and the mysterious person? Is it because of the mysterious person's existence that Li Qi knew about the Sun Crisis? Then how did the mysterious person know about it? With human technology, it was impossible to detect this before the Sun Crisis erupted, could it be... that the mysterious person does not belong to the human realm? What is he then? An alien? A ghost? A time traveler?"

"If it is an alien, is there any connection between it and the object similar to Dyson spheres appearing above the sun? Or maybe these objects were made by them, and this alien is a member of a certain group, who was separated from the main force due to some reasons and thus encountered Li Qi on the earth?"

Then what were they making those objects similar to Dyson spheres around the sun for? There are so many stars in the universe, why did they focus on the sun?

This doesn't make sense. We humans have been trying to search for extraterrestrial civilizations, and after such a long time, nothing has been found. The possibility of the solar system being invaded by aliens recklessly is too small. But, but ...

Countless pieces of information were tumbling through Zhao Huasheng's mind, making his brain almost like a pot of porridge. The world Zhao Huasheng saw—the white ceiling, the beakers filled with transparent liquid, Li Wei's worried face beside him, and Meng Zhuo standing in front of the window—suddenly distorted before his eyes, and at the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his head. With a cry, everything went dark and he lost consciousness again.

When Zhao Huasheng woke up again, it was already dark. The milky-white chandelier had been lit, casting Meng Zhuo's still standing silhouette in front of the window and Li Wei's concerned face in its light. In front of Zhao Huasheng stood a doctor wearing a white lab coat.

"Huasheng," the doctor said, you can't go on like this. Your head has been thinking too much, and you now have signs of a nervous breakdown. If you keep this up, you may be at risk of developing a mental illness. Li Wei said sadly, "I'm sorry; if I had known you weren't well, I wouldn't have told you all this."

Zhao Huasheng had already woken up, but his head still felt involuntary bursts of pain. It was a weird kind of pain that would disappear if Zhao Huasheng cleared his mind and stayed calm, but as soon as he thought of something, the pain would come surging back.

It seemed that the doctor had seen Zhao Hua's suffering, and said: "This is the body's stress response. If you continue to think, your brain will be seriously damaged, so in order to avoid harm to you, your brain chooses to use pain to stop you from thinking further."

"Although I don't know what kind of responsibility you bear..." The doctor hesitated and continued, "But I can see that your responsibility is very heavy. It is precisely because of the heavy responsibility you bear that you should take better care of your body. If you fall down, then there will be nothing left."

The doctor then turned to Li Wei: "Are you his loved one?"

"No, I'm his friend," Li Wei replied.

The doctor nodded: "Take good care of him in the coming days. Don't let him be exposed to those things. If he rests well, it should be all right in a month's time."

"Yes, doctor. Thank you," Li Wei said, standing up to thank him.

The doctor looked at Zhao Huasheng, sighed, and left the room.

Li Wei helped tuck Zhao Huasheng in the blanket, and comforted him softly: "Rest well for a while; don't think about anything. Don't worry, it's all under control. The research department and psychological research team of the Crisis Coordination Center are all paying attention to these matters."

"But the key is with me, only I can unlock the mystery, and only I can stop the disaster that is about to befall us humans. Li Wei, do you know that they are all the same as us? They have joy and sorrow; they have love and family; they are living people... If the disaster cannot be stopped, they will all die. Our civilization will collapse, and the traces we leave on this earth, as well as the stories that have happened, will be gone and no one will ever know." Zhao Huasheng spoke weakly.

"But now your body..." Li Wei's worried words were cut off by Meng Zhuo before she could finish.

"Zhao Huasheng," Meng Zhuo said, "there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead," Zhao Huasheng replied.

"After assessment by a team of psychologists, your current mental state is no longer suitable for this kind of high-intensity thinking. The doctor was right; if you continue like this, you may suffer a mental breakdown and become insane."

Zhao Huasheng gave a bitter smile.

The psychological experts' team decided to temporarily suspend your work, and they suggested that you go out for a trip to relax yourself. After you adjust, you can start working again. During this period, unless you ask me proactively, I won't tell you any information about this event.

Meng Zhuo said faintly that, although the word "suggestion" was used in the words, this sentence still sounded like a command no matter how it was heard.

"Well." Zhao Huasheng nodded a little sadly.

"Where do you want to go?"

Zhao Huasheng had a distant look in his eyes. After a brief pause, he said, "Let's go to the North Pole first. I want to see it."

"Alright. I'll arrange it," said Meng Zhuo.

"Can he handle it in his current state?" Li Wei asked urgently.

"I'll make sure to bring a professional medical team and the most advanced medical equipment so there won't be any problems during the trip. You don't need to worry about that." Meng Zhuo replied calmly, "Are you going with him?"

Li Wei hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "No, I won't go."

Meng Zhuo said, "You should go. No one in this world understands Li Qi better than you. You should stay with Zhao Huasheng, so he can ask you his questions whenever he has them."

"Alright," Li Wei said.

Meng Zhuo nodded, "Go back and prepare now. I will take care of your work matters."

Li Wei stayed in the hospital until late into the night and only left after Zhao Huasheng had fallen asleep. Meng Zhuo remained at the window, motionless, as if he were a mountain.

At the crack of dawn the next day, Meng Zhuo left the hospital with Zhao Huasheng who was still somewhat weak. A car had already been waiting at the hospital entrance. Meng Zhuo and Zhao Huasheng got into the car, and the driver drove off without saying a word. After picking up Li Wei, in just a short while, the group arrived at an empty space where a helicopter was already waiting.

"Our destination is the Longshan Research Station in the Arctic. But before we reach the station, we will stay in the town of Kewis in the north for five days to rest. We will stay at the station for three days. After three days, we will evacuate the Arctic with the station personnel. Of course, if you have any special requests, I will still arrange personnel to ensure your safety in the Arctic," Meng Zhuo said.

"Alright," Zhao Huasheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "Evacuate? Are the station personnel going to evacuate the Arctic?" Meng Zhuo said, "Yes, because the Arctic is no longer suitable for humans to stay there. It's summer in the Arctic Circle now, the season of melting ice and snow. But just yesterday, the staff at Changshan station measured the lowest temperature in history: minus 93 degrees Celsius. The government's resources are being tilted toward the equatorial project, and the government does not have enough energy to transport too many special survival supplies to support Arctic scientific research. If the scientific research personnel continue to stay there, there may be unexpected injuries."

"Of course, after the personnel evacuation, robots will replace humans to stay in the Arctic. However, if they are damaged, there is no way."

Zhao Huasheng, Meng Zhuo and Li Wei took the helicopter together. The helicopter took off with a roar, flew for a while, and then landed in the valley. Here, Zhao Huasheng changed to a large jet and, together with Meng Zhuo, Li Wei, and a medical and security team of about twenty people, flew northward. 

It took more than ten hours for Zhao Huasheng and his team to finally reach their destination. Keweis Town was a world covered in ice and snow, but at this moment Zhao Huasheng had no time to appreciate the scenery. After entering his room, Zhao Huasheng fell asleep without even washing his face.