Chapter 1: Countdown to Death
The morning light struggled to penetrate the thick haze, casting its feeble glow upon the desolate ruins of Los Angeles. Yang Hao sat up from his tattered blanket, rubbing his bloodshot eyes as the old radio beside him crackled to life.
"There are only 72 hours left until the neutron star collides with the core region of the Solar System. Repeat, 72 hours... All global shelter quotas have been filled. Unregistered civilians, please remain in place..." The emotionless voice of the announcer struck Yang Hao like a heavy hammer. He got up and walked to the window, looking out at the desolate streets. Once a bustling metropolis, the city now lay in ruins, with only a few wisps of smoke rising from between the collapsed buildings - the struggle for survival of those who, like him, had nowhere else to go.
"Is there really no hope for this life?" Yang Hao muttered to himself, his voice filled with exhaustion and resentment.
At that moment, a rapid knock echoed at the door. Yang Hao cautiously gripped his self-made iron rod and approached the door slowly. "Who is it?"
"Hao, it's me, Li Qiang!" A familiar booming voice came from outside.
Yang Hao opened the door to see Li Qiang carrying a large bag of supplies, his face beaming with excitement. "Hao, look what I found!"
The two entered the house, and Li Qiang dumped the bag on the table, revealing several expired cans of food, a bottle of water, and a few tattered books. "I found this in the basement of an abandoned supermarket. That place was almost picked clean, but I managed to dig these out after a lot of effort," Li Qiang said, gasping for breath.
Yang Hao picked up a can, looking at the blurred production date, and smiled bitterly. "I don't even know if these are still edible."
"Who cares? It's better than starving," Li Qiang said nonchalantly as he tore open a package and started eating heartily.
While eating, Li Qiang suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, I came to tell you that Lin Xiao seems to have made a new discovery. She wants us to come over right away."
The two set off immediately, navigating through the ruins with difficulty. Along the way, they saw collapsed skyscrapers, abandoned vehicles, and traces left by those who had committed suicide out of despair. The once-lively streets were now filled only with the howling wind and occasional gunshots.
Finally, they arrived at a hidden underground bunker. At the entrance, a slender woman was pacing anxiously. Upon seeing Yang Hao and Li Qiang, she hurried over. "You're finally here."
This woman was Lin Xiao, once the youngest physics doctorate from Stanford University, now a survivor struggling to stay alive in the apocalypse.
The three entered the bunker, which was filled with various instruments and books. A large star map of the Solar System hung on the wall, with a red dot representing the neutron star rapidly approaching the Solar System.
Lin Xiao walked to a computer and called up a set of data. "I decrypted some encrypted files left behind by the military and uncovered a shocking secret." She paused and took a deep breath. "Ten years ago, the government discovered the threat of the neutron star, but they concealed the truth and secretly launched a project called 'Project Ark.'"
"Project Ark? What is that?" Yang Hao and Li Qiang asked simultaneously.
Lin Xiao continued, "In simple terms, it's about building a super spaceship to carry a portion of humanity and a gene bank of species, escaping the Solar System, and finding a new home."
"Do we still have a chance to board the spaceship?" Li Qiang asked eagerly.
Lin Xiao shook her head. "According to the files, the spaceship was secretly launched three days ago, and only a handful of politicians, scientists, and billionaires were eligible to board it."
Upon hearing this news, Li Qiang angrily slammed his fist on the table. "Those bastards! They abandoned us all!"
Yang Hao fell into deep thought. "Wait, if the spaceship has already launched, why are they still hiding the truth from us? Why not just tell everyone the truth and let us die with some understanding?"
Lin Xiao pushed up her glasses. "I've been thinking about this question too until I discovered another hidden encrypted message in this file." She operated the computer again, and a blurry video appeared on the screen.
In the video, a man in military uniform stood in front of a massive spaceship, his expression solemn. "Although we successfully launched the Ark, this is just an uncertain gamble. The spaceship's energy system and navigation system still have serious flaws, and we can't be sure if we'll be able to find a planet suitable for human survival in the universe. So, just in case, we left a backup plan on Earth."
"Backup plan? What backup plan?" Yang Hao stared intently at the screen.
The man in the video continued, "In a secret laboratory in Los Angeles, we preserved a relic of an alien civilization with unimaginable power. If Earth truly faces annihilation, this relic may become humanity's last hope."
The video ended, and Yang Hao, Li Qiang, and Lin Xiao looked at each other in silence. After a while, Yang Hao broke the silence. "It seems we have to pay a visit to this secret laboratory.