Chapter 30: Terrifying White Dwarf Gravity

Piloting Mimas I, we rapidly approached Sirius B. This time, Zhang Xingxing did not hesitate and brought the ship to the critical distance of 5 billion kilometers away from the star. After arriving, we released several probe robots to assist us in our search for the prophesied spatial tunnel.

After 72 hours, when I felt like we had searched everywhere we could within this distance from the star, we found nothing. Team Leader Chen Qiang had not been able to find anything either. However, he did transmit one important piece of information to us. Landing on Sirius I would be possible after fulfilling certain requirements. 

They were planning to land directly without relying on wormhole transportation and then search for more clues. Meanwhile, our party had found zero clues and had no plan as to what to do next. Thus, for our search, we decided to open a meeting between us.

"We have searched the entire area within this distance. No spatial tunnel or wormhole was found. I want to hear everyone's thoughts. I’ll start. I want to get closer than 5 billion kilometers from the star," said Zhang Xingxing.

The three of us jumped at her proposal, especially Zhang Bao'er.

"That won't do! That won't be a rescue mission anymore. It'll be suicide!" he shouted.

"You must stay calm," I said. "If there is proof that going farther will be beneficial, we will be willing to make the sacrifice. But we got nothing! We can't throw our lives away for nothing," I said.

"What else can we do, then?" said Zhang Xingxing, her face turning disheartened. My heart ached when I saw her expression.

While everyone was at a loss, Old Du spoke. "I suggest that we withdraw our probe robots. Let's have the robots go first. If there are signs of the spatial tunnel we seek, we can then muster our courage and take the risk."

"Good idea. Old Du, you make complete sense," I praised.

"But we also need to be ready for the destruction of all our robots. The white dwarf might be able to absorb all electromagnetic waves. We will wait at each search area for 30 minutes. If the robots do not return and no signs of the tunnel are found, we will think of our next course of action," said Old Du.

Everyone agreed with Old Du.

Dodo was the only one to speak. "See how great us machines are? My fellow brethren are always the ones to make the first sacrifice."

It was obvious the android still held a grudge against me for what I said earlier. 

Having decided on a plan, we put it into motion. We might have worked for 72 hours straight, but the sense of excitement kept up stimulated.

'After all, we're the pioneers of actual white dwarf exploration in the league. If we are able to discover something major, I might even be able to get an actual medal after this,' I thought to myself smugly.

Soon, the calculation for the ten optimal search areas was completed. We went to the first spot and launched our first probe robot. The moment the robot surpassed the boundary of 5 billion kilometers, it accelerated rapidly. On our screen, the robot looked like a comet, flying with a trail of light behind its path. The white dwarf had showcased its powerful gravitational pull the moment the robot went over the critical range.

"So this is the prelude to a black hole, something that would eventually possess such powerful gravity that not even light and time would be able to escape it," remarked Dodo.

After ten seconds, the robot vanished from our vision. After 30 seconds, we lost all connection with the robot. The powerful gravitational force had severed all connections we could think to establish between us and the probe robot. Even after 30 minutes, we received no feedback.

"If it doesn't work here, we'll move to the next spot," said Dodo.

We moved according to our plan and released the probe robots at all the determined spots. As a whole, we spent over 30 hours just to gain nothing. A sense of defeat and hopelessness gradually enveloped us.

At this point, we're left with our final probe robot. We arrived at our final spot, which was between the two stars of the system. The surface of the massive Sirius A churned and roiled, seemingly telling us that this was a sacred place that could not be violated. The star's gravity pulled at our ship with enough force that we could feel it. At this point, everyone was already exhausted and demoralized while Dodo was busy preparing to launch the final probe.

Suddenly, Zhang Xingxing said, "Let me do it."

Dodo moved aside, allowing Xingxing to press the button carrying her final hope. In truth, we had already given up since nine probe robots had vanished without fail. The repeated failures had erased all our hope. Unsurprisingly, we lost all connections after 30 seconds. And after waiting for 30 minutes, we received no feedback like all the other previous probes.

Suddenly, Zhang Xingxing broke out in tears. She shouldered too heavy a burden. From what we could see, it seemed unlikely that we would be able to find her father. Old Du and I hurriedly tried to comfort her. All of us felt dispirited—we no longer had a backup plan. Our only course of action after this was to return and put an end to this rescue mission.

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Dodo did not press the return button because we intended to let Zhang Xingxing spend a little bit more time here at the place where she had lost her father. We took the chance to take a rest. After all, we had been working continuously for over a hundred hours, fueled only by hope. But the moment we lost hope, weariness overcame us. I fell asleep before I knew it.

Pa! I felt a burning pain on my face. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Dodo had slapped me.

"Have you gone mad?" I cursed.

"Hehe, I was worried that I couldn't wake you up," said Dodo.

"You're using this as a pretext to take your revenge on me! Do you want me to take you apart?" I said while acting as though I was going to pry Dodo's head open.

"Canyue, over here!" Zhang Xingxing suddenly called.

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Only then did I notice that everyone was gathered before the display screen. I hurried over.

"There is feedback from the robot!" Old Du said in excitement. "We were all asleep when it came. About an hour after the probe was launched, we received a transmission from the robot. The signal is extremely weak, with the very end of the waveband barely reaching the shuttle. Dodo was the one who noticed it. In other words, if we had returned, we would have missed the transmission!"

It was as though everything had been arranged by fate, making the ancient prophecy seem even more divine than it was. Due to the powerful gravitational force, the signal was extremely weak. But according to Dodo's analysis, the signal came from somewhere 100 million kilometers from Sirius B. That was a death zone, a place where failure would guarantee our deaths. It was time to make a decision.

"You can all return. I'll go with Dodo," said Zhang Xingxing. "I'll take the escape pod. You can meet up with Chen Qiang and the others. There is no need for all of us to go."

Zhang Xingxing sounded earnest.

"That would be the right choice in accordance with the league's principles of optimal selection. According to the risk evaluation, the risk level is too high for all of us to go," said Dodo.

"Screw the league's principles," I said.

True, there was no need for all of us to take this risk. But at a time like this, a new principle was blooming in my heart, the principle of heroism.

"I have no issue. I'll go with you. You two can return," I said firmly.

"I can go, too!" said Old Du.

And then, silence reigned. I gazed at Bao'er, hinting at him that he could choose not to go.

He felt insulted, so he loudly said, "I'll take the lead!"

The spirit of brotherhood bloomed, and we embraced each other. Having decided on a new course of action, Dodo transmitted our new plan back to Saturn. Surprisingly, Captain Angela rejected the plan and commanded us to return. According to her, going as close as 100 million kilometers from the star was far from our original plan. The risk level was too high, and we would most likely perish from the plan. That was something the league could not accept and was definitely not in accordance with the league's principles.

As members of the fleet, we were required to obey her every command. Otherwise, we were punishable with permanent exile from the Milky Way Galaxy. Zhang Xingxing did not expect the veto, so for a moment, she was completely at a loss. She had been encountering setback after setback in the search. Now that new hope was finally visible, yet another setback had come to extinguish that final spark of hope.

We did not know if the wormhole would move. It hadn't been easy for us to find it. If we do not act immediately, we might miss out on something that could very well be the discovery of a century. Everyone sank into silence, not knowing what to do.

At this time, I felt my blood rushing to my brain as I stood up, stepped forth, and turned off our communication with the mothership. I, Li Canyue, was destined for a greatness that would shake the universe!

"Depart!" I commanded coldly.

Looking at the look of adoration in Zhang Xingxing's eyes and the encouraging look of Zhang Bao'er and Old Du, I grew even more determined. Even if I had to die, I would go out with a bang. Even Dodo was convinced by my heroic charisma. The android did not say anything and immediately prepared to set off.

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