Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 96 Exclusion
The thin thread connecting Tong Zheng and Feng Lijun was once again severed by an unknown force, and then quickly retracted under the force of the roller.

Tong Zheng wrote on his drawing board again and showed it to Jiang Yang.

"Number 3 sacrificed."

The situation is the same.

The distance is 662 meters.

He walked a few meters further than Zhao Jianguo had. But those few meters are probably not enough to determine the difference.

There could be many factors that affect this distance, such as the inconsistency of the damaged parts of the astronauts' bodies and the differences in their individual physical conditions.

These two distances can be considered to be essentially the same.

Now it is clear that whether we retreat or continue forward, we cannot avoid the accelerated "corrosion" phenomenon, which will ultimately lead to death.

If it stays here and doesn't move, the rate of corrosion will slow down.

So now... what else can we do?
A moment later, Tong Zheng made another signal to the fourth astronaut.

This time, he specifically wrote a single character on the drawing board.

fast.

Jiang Yang understood immediately.

This is to test the relationship between the rate of corrosion and the user's own movement speed.

Astronaut No. 4 immediately stepped forward, reconnected his thin wire to Tong Zheng, and then, without hesitation, rushed towards the entrance of the passage with an even faster jumping speed, almost like a sprint. In the blink of an eye, he rushed into the darkness, and the chemical cold light on his body quickly dimmed.

A moment later, the light disappeared again.

Tong Zheng then presented the drawing board to Jiang Yang once again.

"Corrosion is faster. Total distance 649 meters."

Jiang Yang was taken aback.

Clearly, the faster the astronaut on board moved, the faster the corrosion rate also increased. But the final distance traveled was still a staggering 649 meters, almost identical to the previous two figures?
Tong Zheng looked at astronaut number 5.

Like number 4, he also rushed out at an even faster speed. Of course, this time he rushed deeper into the tunnel.

After a while.

"The corrosion is faster, over a total distance of 658 meters."

Erase the characters and Tong Zheng quickly wrote again: "The rate of corrosion is related to the movement speed, but the total amount is the same."

At a distance of about 650 meters, whether you walk slowly or run quickly, the time it takes will be different, but by the time you reach this distance, the corrosion will be severe enough to completely destroy the spacesuit and cause the astronaut's death.

Jiang Yang kept this in mind.

At this moment, with the sacrifice of 4 astronauts, a total of 9 people remain on our side, including ourselves.

Tong Zheng quickly surveyed his surroundings, then suddenly removed the explosives from his body, walked a few meters away, and stuck them to a wall in the passageway. He then waved to his companions.

The remaining seven astronauts immediately realized what was happening and took out their own explosives, sticking them to the wall.

The mechanical timer was set to detonate simultaneously. The seven people returned, had Jiang Yang lean against the wall, and then surrounded him, forming a shield with themselves.

Jiang Yang knew that Tong Zheng was planning to test something else.

The passage is filled with this unknown "corrosion," but what about outside the passage?
If a gap is blasted open in the wall of the passage, and a person hides inside the gap, will they still be corroded?

Time passed slowly, and after a moment, Jiang Yang felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly tremble.

The human wall dispersed, and Jiang Yang looked over and saw that a few meters away, the originally flat wall had been blasted open, revealing sharp and uneven lunar rocks, large enough for two or three people to enter.

Jiang Yang immediately went over and entered the opening first. Then two more astronauts entered, while the remaining people stood on the outside, sealing the opening with their bodies.

As they waited patiently, a few minutes passed, and Jiang Yang clearly saw white mist suddenly emanating from one of the astronauts beside him.

The group silently dispersed, quickly repairing the damaged area. Clearly, even after leaving the passage, the corrosion would continue.

Jiang Yang's heart sank slowly.

He knew that this experiment had ruled out the possibility of extending into that underground chamber by digging tunnels from other places.

This corrosion seemed to permeate every space surrounding that underground chamber. Anyone who approached it within a certain distance, regardless of direction, would encounter its resistance.

People remained silent, pondering slowly.

After a moment, Tong Zheng made another decision.

He opened his drawing board and quickly wrote: "Number 5 is the core, and numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9 surround it and move forward together."

Five astronauts immediately stepped forward.

Number 5 stood in the middle, while the other four occupied the four positions in front of, behind, to the left and right of him, forming a "ball" with the five of them. The astronaut at the back connected his thin wire to Tong Zheng, and then the five of them began to move forward together.

In the silent vacuum of the moon, Jiang Yang watched once again as the light slowly moved forward, gradually weakened, and finally, the thin thread broke, allowing for rapid retrieval.

"All sacrificed."

641 m.

The corrosion is happening even faster.

Jiang Yang was instantly shaken.

Even though four people were using their bodies as a shield to protect the person in the middle, the distance was still only about 650 meters, without any increase.

How can this be?

Is it...

An idea quickly popped into Jiang Yang's mind.

"The corrosion rate is related to volume? The larger the volume, the faster the corrosion rate?"

It seems there's only one possibility. Otherwise, it's hard to explain why the deaths still occurred at a fixed distance this time.

This would also eliminate the possibility of strengthening one's own "shield," such as by carrying a movable metal box and hiding inside it to get through the obstacle.

At this moment, our side has only four members left.

Tong Zheng waved, and the four of them gathered together in front of the gap that had been blasted open, and began to carefully examine the lunar rocks that had been blasted out.

After observing for a while, Jiang Yang clearly sensed that these lunar rocks had shrunk somewhat compared to before.

His heart felt even heavier.

Clearly, the channels themselves were not corroded, not because of their special material, but for other reasons.

This also blocked their route for collecting materials to make shields.

But if all other methods fail, what other way can we overcome this obstacle?
A white line reappeared. At the same time, an astronaut's spacesuit appeared to be severely damaged, with many parts disintegrating instantly.

This is beyond repair.

He collapsed to the ground, exhausted, struggled silently for a moment, and then fell silent again.

There are only 3 people left.

Jiang Yang knew that his side didn't have much time left.

At the last moment, Tong Zheng got up again and went to the hydrogen bomb cart.

After a few quick maneuvers, he set the timer for the hydrogen bomb to detonate. He then unlocked the wheels of the cart, allowing it to move forward on its own along the slightly downward slope.

The next moment, it disappeared into the darkness.

(End of this chapter)