mtl008 Chapter 4391 Project Farstar (9)
Chapter 4391 Project Farstar (9)
Chapter 4391 Project Far Star (Part Nine)
When Bruce walked in with the documents, he glanced at them but didn't say much. He projected the design onto the screen and said, "First, we need a space station."
“That’s why I said Hal came at the right time,” Bruce said. “You and Carroll must have quite a few friends in the aerospace industry, right?”
Hal took a sip of coffee, nodded, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Do you want to take over the International Space Station, or do you want to build a new space station?"
"Of course, I'll build a new one. But I'll use entirely new technology and materials that can meet the needs of superhumans. It's just that there might be some issues with the approval process..."
“I’ll contact Carol’s father.” Hal seemed to be in better spirits. After thinking for a moment, he said, “This might increase your budget, but it should eventually be possible.”
“How long will it take?” Bruce asked.
“It depends on how much of the budget you’re willing to increase,” Hal said. “Generally speaking, it’s not difficult. It just requires getting us all certified for space operations and making a few minor modifications to the physical data…”
The two of them began to discuss this issue. Diana was clearly very sleepy; as she listened, her head started to droop, and she slumped onto the table. But she only slept for a few minutes before suddenly waking up.
"Ah!" she exclaimed briefly.
Bruce looked at her with concern and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I probably just... yesterday..."
“You were injured yesterday, weren’t you?” Bruce asked. “Go back and rest, ma’am. I’ll have Victor send you the meeting recording later.”
Diana nodded, not putting on a brave face, and turned to leave. Bruce also looked at Arthur, whose complexion wasn't good, and said, "You should go back too, Arthur. Go back and get some sleep, and come back when you're rested."
Arthur nodded. He wasn't actually that sleepy, but he genuinely didn't understand the technical details. A vague unease crept over him; he wanted to go back and call his father, so he left.
But the rest of the people couldn't leave. Bruce looked at Victor, who also looked unwell, and said, "I've heard that you can create or erase objects directly at the data level."
Victor wasn't injured, he had just used up some energy and hadn't slept well the night before. After drinking coffee, he was much more awake. He nodded and said, "Yes, erasing is simpler, but creating requires extremely precise data."
"Take a look at this, can you build it?" Bruce handed him a blueprint. Victor looked at it and said, "No problem, but you need to prepare the materials."
"Isn't it created out of thin air?"
"Creating something out of thin air?!" Victor exclaimed, his eyes wide. "I'm just a hacker, not God. No one can create matter out of thin air. What you saw as erasure was just me moving the data to another place. Creation is simply using existing materials, changing their physical form, and then combining them."
“Actually, even if you don’t prepare the materials, I can borrow them from elsewhere, but these aerospace materials are quite important. If I accidentally dismantle a critical part of a rocket while moving them, it could be fatal. So you’d better prepare them in advance.”
Bruce nodded and said, "Okay, I'll prepare the materials for you. May I observe the creation process?"
“What do you mean ‘can you just stand by?’ You have to stand by! I’m not a student in this field, so I can only get a general idea of the design. You have to adjust the details,” Victor said, spreading his hands.
"Approximately how long will it take to complete?"
“If the two of us work well together, it will probably take about a week,” Victor said. “This thing is big and complex, and everything is interconnected. To ensure accuracy, we can’t go any faster.”
Bruce seemed satisfied with the speed. He then turned to Ron and asked, "I heard that the Martian civilization wasn't completely wiped out; there might be some useful things on there. Can we go and look for them, Ron? Ron?"
Rong En suddenly woke up, then nodded and said, "Oh, sure, take anything you need."
"Alright, I have no more questions. Hal, you stay here. Let's confirm the launch details one last time."
Arthur and Diana, who went back to rest, didn't get much rest either. They lay in bed for a while, but couldn't fall asleep because of all sorts of worries. By lunchtime, they still looked terrible.
Hal tentatively asked, "Why don't you go to the hospital to get checked out too?"
Both of them shook their heads at the same time. Diana said with some helplessness, "We are a demigod and a half-sea creature, so human doctors probably can't solve our problem."
"Don't you have any doctors in your tribe?" Hal asked.
“Amazons generally use traditional herbal remedies,” Diana said after a moment’s thought, “because the gods are very healthy and rarely get sick, and they recover quickly from injuries, so their medicine is very advanced…”
“I haven’t been back yet, but Mera told me that the people of Atlantis rarely need treatment, or that the seawater itself can heal our wounds. I’m going to go for a dip in the sea later.”
While everyone was chatting, Diana heard her phone ring. She answered it and then jumped up from her chair.
"What?! He went to the Amazon???"
After hanging up the phone, Diana's face turned even paler. In a trembling voice, she said, "Steppenwolf has gone to the Amazon! I have to go back right away!"
“We’ll go back with you,” Ron said. “We have to find a way to get him off the planet, or everyone will suffer.”
The group immediately set off, arriving in the Amazon as quickly as possible. By then, battle had already broken out. On the Amazon coast, vast numbers of Parademons were fighting against Amazon warriors.
Parademons are winged monsters covered in mechanical armor. Individually, they are less powerful than the female warriors, but their sheer numbers have completely surrounded the Amazon coastline. Diana was on the verge of collapse at the sight.
“I’ll go back to Atlantis right away and get help,” Arthur said, patting Diana on the shoulder. “You guys hold off Steppenwolf for a while, I’ll be back soon.”
Diana steadied herself and nodded. She knew that the Amazon's biggest problem was a lack of manpower; even with a population of soldiers, there weren't many. And the number of Parademons was too great; they needed a large enough army to withstand the onslaught.
Diana flew over the Amazon and began searching for Steppenwolves. Her worst fears came true: the Amazon queen's palace was in ruins.
"Mother!!!" Diana screamed and flew over. Sure enough, she saw Steppenwolf standing on the ruins, seemingly directing Parademons to search for something.
She rushed forward and punched Steppenwolf in the back. Steppenwolf was caught off guard and staggered a couple of times, but quickly regained his balance and looked at Diana with disdain.
"Where is my mother?!" Diana exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.
Steppenwolf grinned cruelly, then said, "She's dead. I killed her because she wouldn't tell me where the Mother Box is..."
“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Rong En quickly flew over and said, “He hasn’t found your mother yet, and he’s trying to find her.”
Steppenwolf suddenly turned around and stared intently at Ron. He realized he had been mind-read, so he ignored Diana and focused his attack on Ron.
Ron wasn't afraid of him either. The two clashed in close combat, exchanging blows in the air, neither giving an inch. Although Ron couldn't shake Steppenwolf, Steppenwolf was also helpless against Martian Manhunter's ethereal form, and for a time they were locked in a stalemate.
Arthur's journey to Atlantis was also hindered. Although he had ascended to the throne, the seven sea tribes were quite dissatisfied with him. On the one hand, he was an illegitimate child and a half-blood, so even if he defeated Prince Orm, his claim to the throne was not entirely legitimate. On the other hand, he had not returned since his ascension and had stayed on land every day. Who could accept him?
Therefore, when Arthur offered to send troops to help the Amazons, most of the kings refused. But Arthur wasn't Orm; he couldn't simply destroy them because they refused. He had no choice but to turn to Mera.
Mera's kingdom of Xebel was quite supportive of him, since if Mera married Arthur, they would become the queen's maternal clan. However, the power of one kingdom was too weak. So Mera suggested that they seek help from the Trench tribe.
The so-called Trench Tribe is actually a gathering place for the sea creatures that were transformed into monsters when Atlantis crashed into the sea. Other kingdoms ostracize them. But Mera knows that those monsters are not as savage, cruel, and irrational as many people imagine; on the contrary, some of them are kind and have a simpler nature than other sea creatures.
“I once wandered into that place when I was a child,” Mera said as she swam with Arthur into the deep sea. “I was terrified when I first saw those monsters, but I was brought back by a very ugly four-legged fishman. That’s when I learned that it’s wrong to judge others by their appearance.”
"Really? What do you think of my appearance?" Arthur asked.
Mera looked at Arthur with some confusion. Logically, his words carried a hint of ambiguity, but having spent some time with Arthur, Mera knew he wasn't the type to flirt regardless of the occasion or location. With a formidable enemy at hand, he shouldn't be in the mood for such things, but Arthur seemed determined to find something to talk about before saying those words.
“You are certainly very good,” Mera said. “In fact, part of the reason I didn’t want to choose Orm was because he wasn’t strong enough, and his hairstyle was just too ridiculous, like a bald catfish. I really didn’t like it. I prefer the hairy kind.”
Mera's words were almost a direct indication. Arthur, however, only nodded absentmindedly. Mera instinctively felt some displeasure, but she was mostly worried.
"Are you alright, Arthur?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just feel a little restless, probably because I didn't sleep well last night. Sorry."
“No need to apologize,” Mera shook her head and patted his back, a gesture of comfort in Atlantean etiquette. Arthur shook his head as well, clearing his mind of the jumbled thoughts, and looked up to see the pitch-black trench.
"We've arrived."