Chapter 229 - Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Humanity’s Joy and Sadness Aren’t Interlinked (1/2)

Chapter 229: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Humanity’s Joy and Sadness Aren’t Interlinked

Tang Yue and Tomcat sat back to back on a rock as they looked up at the sky.

“I feel as if we are Gypsies,” Tang Yue said softly, “carrying a huge covered truck as we wander about.”

Overhead was the pitch-black sky that seemed to be made of velvet. The starry sky seemed to encase them at the bottom of an overturned bowl. The rocks and desert under the night sky had a red glow as though they were silently burning embers.

This was a grand vista that struck deep into one’s heart. Beneath the cold night sky was a glowing-red planet.

Here, the small was small and the big was even bigger.

“I’m not a Gypsy.” Tomcat held the star chart as it counted the stars in the sky. “I’m a Gypsy cat… Have you swapped your pressurized canister?”

“Did so some time ago.” Tang Yue patted the life support system behind him. The Radiant Armor’s compressed air canister had ended its historic duty that evening. After the oxygen had been depleted, Tang Yue switched the emergency oxygen unit. The Radiant Armor EVA suit had an oxygen candle interface that allowed Tang Yue to carry it on his back.

The emergency oxygen system was a long rectangular body sixty centimeters long. It was highly integrated as solid alkaline perchlorate salts were sealed in a cylindrical metal vessel. Together with an electrical ignition switch and a gas compression filter, the design was rather compact. As long as Tang Yue opened the protective seal and used his strength to pull the pull tab at the bottom of the lid, the chemical would produce oxygen under the effects of the catalysts. The oxygen would then be moisturized and filtered before entering the Radiant Armor’s helmet.

The carbon dioxide that Tang Yue breathed out would be absorbed by the lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The carbon dioxide absorption system’s condition would directly be displayed on the Radiant Armor’s wrist terminal. Green indicated good conditions and red indicated that the chemicals were almost depleted.

“Have you found them?” Tang Yue asked

“I’ve found them.” Tomcat looked down at the star chart and drew a tick.

“Are we heading in the right direction?”

“Of course,” Tomcat replied. “We will have to continue traveling northeast for thirty kilometers tomorrow morning. We will correct the deviations tomorrow evening to ensure that we arrive at the given coordinates.”

“When I was on Earth, I learned how to read the stars, but I’ve already forgotten them all,” Tang Yue said. “Old Wang said that it doesn’t matter since we have long stopped using such primitive means to determine direction… In fact, it wasn’t difficult either. We just needed to find Polaris.”

“However, Mars doesn’t have an obvious marker like Polaris,” Tomcat languidly leaned against Tang Yue’s back. It stretched out its front paw and pointed at the sky. “Do you see that huge cross?”

“Huge cross?” Tang Yue turned his head.

“Left of your sky. Do you see it? That bright cross is Cygnus. The most famous massive black hole, Cygnus X-1 is there. It emits copious amounts of extremely powerful X-rays. It’s a spinning lighthouse of the Milky Way.”

Tomcat pointed it out to Tang Yue as he traced the direction of Tomcat’s claw. Amidst the stars, he made out a distorted cross.

“Form a line with Cygnus’s head with the closest star of Cepheus. The midpoint of this line is north,” Tomcat said. “We are currently facing north, making our left west. Kunlun Station is towards our southwest… See that rock? Kunlun Station is in that direction. If you somehow get lost on Mars, walk in that direction all the way and you will return home.”

Tang Yue sighed. “Tomcat, we no longer have a home.”

Tomcat blinked.