Chapter 96: Elimination
That thin line connecting Tong Zheng and Feng Lijun was once again severed by an unknown power, then quickly retracted under the power of the wheel.
Tong Zheng wrote on his drawing board again and showed it to Jiang Yang.
“Number 3 sacrificed.
Situation consistent.
Distance 662 meters.”
The distance he walked was a few meters more than Zhao Jianguo’s before. But these few meters probably could not serve as a basis for judgment of difference.
Factors influencing this distance could be many, such as inconsistencies in the damaged parts of the astronaut, differences in personal physical quality, and so on.
These two distances could basically be considered consistent.
So now it could be determined that, at this moment, whether retreating or continuing forward, the phenomenon of accelerated “corrosion” could not be avoided, ultimately leading to death.
Staying here motionless would slow the speed of corrosion somewhat.
So now… what else could their side do?
In a moment, Tong Zheng signaled to Astronaut Number 4 again.
This time, he specifically wrote a single character on the drawing board.
Fast.
Jiang Yang understood in his heart.
This was to test the connection between corrosion speed and one’s own movement speed.
Astronaut Number 4 immediately stepped forward, reconnecting his thin line with Tong Zheng, then charging toward the passage entrance direction with faster bouncing speed, almost like sprinting, without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, he rushed into the darkness, and the chemical cold light on his body quickly dimmed.
In a moment, the light disappeared again.
Tong Zheng presented the drawing board to Jiang Yang again.
“Corrosion faster. Total distance 649 meters.”
Jiang Yang was stunned for a moment.
Clearly, Astronaut Number 4’s faster movement also accelerated the corrosion speed. But the final movement distance was still about 649 meters, no different from the previous two figures?
Tong Zheng looked toward Astronaut Number 5.
Like Number 4, he also rushed out at a faster speed. Of course, this time toward deeper into the passage.
A moment later.
“Corrosion faster, total distance 658 meters.”
Erasing these characters, Tong Zheng quickly wrote again: “Corrosion speed related to movement speed, but total amount remains the same.”
Around 650 meters distance, whether walking slowly or running quickly, although the time differed, the corrosion would always reach a level sufficient to completely destroy the spacesuit at this distance, leading to the astronaut’s death.
Jiang Yang firmly remembered this point.
At this moment, with the sacrifice of 4 astronauts, their side including himself had a total of 9 people left.
Tong Zheng quickly observed the surroundings, suddenly removed the explosives from his body, walked a few meters away, stuck them on a wall of the passage, then beckoned to his companions.
The remaining 7 astronauts immediately understood, each taking out their own explosives and sticking them on that wall.
Setting the mechanical timed detonation device to explode simultaneously, the 7 returned, had Jiang Yang lean against the wall, then the seven surrounded Jiang Yang, forming a shield with their bodies.
Jiang Yang knew this was Tong Zheng planning to test another thing.
The passage was filled with this unknown “corrosion”, but what about outside the passage?
If a gap was blasted in the passage wall, and people hid inside the gap, would they still be corroded?
Time passed bit by bit, a moment later, Jiang Yang felt the ground under his feet suddenly vibrate.
The human wall dispersed, Jiang Yang looked over and saw that the originally flat wall a few meters away had been blasted open with a breach, revealing jagged moon rock, its size fully sufficient for two or three people to enter.
Jiang Yang immediately walked over, entering the breach first, then two more astronauts entered, while the remaining few stood on the periphery, sealing the breach with their bodies.
In the slow waiting, after a few minutes, Jiang Yang clearly saw white mist suddenly spraying from the body of an astronaut beside him.
Everyone silently dispersed, quickly handling the damage at this spot.
Clearly, even leaving this passage, the corrosion would continue.
Jiang Yang’s heart slowly sank.
He knew this experiment had eliminated the possibility of their side excavating a passage from elsewhere to extend to that underground chamber.
This corrosion seemed to fill all space around that underground chamber. As long as approaching within a certain distance, from any direction, it would encounter obstruction.
People fell silent, slowly thinking.
A moment later, Tong Zheng made another decision.
He opened the drawing board, quickly writing: “Number 5 as core, Numbers 6, 7, 8, 9 surround him, advance together.”
Five astronauts immediately stepped forward.
Number 5 stood in the middle, the other four occupying his front, back, left, and right positions respectively, the five hugging into a “ball”. The astronaut at the rear connected his thin line with Tong Zheng, then the five began advancing together.
Under the silent moon vacuum, Jiang Yang watched this cluster of light advance slowly, weaken slowly, and finally, the thin line broke, quickly retracting.
“All sacrificed.
641 meters.
Corrosion faster.”
Jiang Yang’s heart shook instantly.
Clearly four people using their bodies as shields to protect the one in the middle, yet still only around 650 meters, not extended at all?
How was this possible?
Could it be…
An idea quickly emerged in Jiang Yang’s mind.
“Does this corrosion speed also relate to volume? The larger the volume, the faster the corrosion speed?”
It seemed only this possibility remained. Otherwise, it was hard to explain why they still died at the fixed distance this time.
In that case, it also eliminated the possibility of their side thickening the “shield”, such as bringing a movable iron box, then people hiding inside the iron box to break through this obstacle.
At this moment, their side had only 4 people left.
Tong Zheng beckoned, the four gathered together at the previously blasted breach, beginning to carefully observe the moon rocks blasted out.
After observing for a while, Jiang Yang clearly perceived that these moon rocks had also shrunk somewhat compared to before.
His heart grew heavier.
Clearly, the passage itself not being corroded was not due to special material, but based on other reasons.
In this way, the route of their side collecting passage material to make a shield was also blocked.
But if various methods all failed, what other way did their side have to break through this obstacle?
A white line appeared again. At the same time, an astronaut’s spacesuit seemed to have reached extreme damage, parts instantly disintegrating in large quantities.
This could no longer be repaired.
He collapsed weakly to the ground, struggled silently for a moment, then went still.
Only 3 people left.
Jiang Yang knew the time left for their side was not much.
At the final moment, Tong Zheng stood up again and came before the Hydrogen Bomb board cart.
After quick operation, setting a timed detonation for the Hydrogen Bomb, he unlocked the board cart wheels, letting the board cart roll forward on its own along the slightly downward slope.
The next moment, it disappeared into the darkness.
