Chapter 277: Regression

"Dr. Yi, Deputy Director Tan Xin wants to see you."

The sudden voice made Dr. Yi, who was in a daze, snap back to reality.

In front of the third-floor glass observation room, Dr. Yi had been sitting on the floor for who knows how long. He moved his gaze away from the empty sleep pod, slowly raised his head, and replied hoarsely:

"...I understand."

"He wants you to hurry... it’s urgent."

He stumbled to his feet, steadied himself with the help of others, and walked toward the outside of the base.

The Aurora Base had already returned to its original order, but the third-floor laboratory was completely ruined. Dr. Yi returned to the surface, where a black vehicle had been waiting at the entrance for a long time.

At the same time, Dr. Yi couldn't help but shiver.

"So cold... has the temperature on the surface reached this point?"

The biting cold wind cleared Dr. Yi’s brain for a moment. He realized that this temperature seemed unusually low, and then, as if realizing something, he frowned and looked toward the direction outside the city walls.

As it turned out, Tan Xin was indeed in a hurry this time; the vehicle’s speed had been increased to the limit, driving straight toward headquarters.

Within ten minutes, Dr. Yi arrived at the door of Tan Xin’s office and pushed it open.

"You’re finally here."

Tan Xin’s voice rang out. At this moment, he was standing by the office window, pouring a pot of boiling hot water over the glass sealed by frost. The white mist steamed for no more than a few seconds before dissipating completely.

Taking advantage of this brief warming, Tan Xin closed the window tightly and looked at it as it was sealed again the next moment, letting out a long sigh.

"...Yeah." Dr. Yi lowered his head and replied dully.

"I’ve heard about what happened at the Aurora Base," Tan Xin said, turning around. "In your opinion, how much time does Aurora City have left?"

Dr. Yi was silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "If Lord Aurora were still asleep, there would probably be less than forty days left... But now that he has awakened, his organs will age at an alarming rate. I can't estimate exactly how fast, but it definitely won't exceed three days."

"If we find him, is it possible to make him go back to sleep?"

"No," Dr. Yi decisively rejected the idea. "We don't have the technology from over three hundred years ago, and even if we did, given the rate of his physical regression, it wouldn't extend his life by more than a few days."

A complex look flashed in Tan Xin’s eyes. He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, and after an unknown amount of time, he nodded.

"That’s true. Even if he hadn't awakened today, Aurora City would only be lingering on its last breath... Now that he’s awakened early, it’s actually a good thing; it saves us from long nights and many dreams."

"So, you agree with the Leader’s 'Reappearance' plan?"

Tan Xin paused slightly upon hearing this. He didn't answer directly but asked calmly:

"How many years has it been since you last returned to the surface?"

"About fourteen or fifteen years."

"Coming up this time, did you feel anything was wrong?"

"Yes," Dr. Yi glanced at the window sealed by frost. "The temperature on the surface is too low... In my memory, Aurora City has never had a temperature like this. Is it because the aurora is weakening, causing the low temperature of the Forbidden Sea to invade the city?"

"Exactly."

Tan Xin pointed to the thermometer on the desk. "The current outdoor temperature is approaching minus forty degrees, and it’s still dropping at a rate of 1.5 degrees per hour..."

"Minus forty degrees? That’s enough to freeze a person to death." Dr. Yi’s brow furrowed tightly. "You must not walk around outside at this temperature, otherwise, after a long time, people will die from hypothermia... Staying in a room with heating should be fine."

"That’s the problem. Aurora City’s centralized heating system... has completely failed."

"What??" Dr. Yi’s face was full of shock. "How could this happen?"

Tan Xin took a deep breath and slowly spat out four words:

"Scientific regression."

"Something else has failed? What failed this time??"

Tan Xin opened a drawer and placed an item on the desk. The moment he saw it, Dr. Yi was stunned.

"...A pump?"

"To be precise, an electrically driven pump." Tan Xin pointed to the water pump on the desk, his voice extremely grave. "Countless things like this make up our centralized heating system, responsible for pressurizing the hot water produced by the boiler plants in each district, ensuring that the hot water can cover every building in the district through the pipe network... and now, they have all failed.

Although the boiler plants can still produce hot water normally, without pressure as a drive, the coverage area is extremely limited. About seventy percent of Aurora City cannot be heated... which means the temperature in their homes is exactly the same as the outside..."

Dr. Yi swallowed hard and muttered to himself: "Pump... damn it... how could this happen..."

"Dr. Yi, you are Aurora City’s top scientific talent. Do you have a way to fix it, or find something else to replace it?"

"Let me think... don't rush me! Let me think!!"

Dr. Yi began to scratch his head frantically, pacing back and forth in the room, his eyes bloodshot with anxiety. "The working principle of a pump is quite simple; it just pressurizes liquid through a screw or impeller... So where is the problem... That’s right, where the hell is the problem?!

Is it a problem with the electric drive? But the elevator works, so why doesn't it work when moved to a pump?? This is simply unscientific!

It’s like this again... it’s like this again!! This damn world simply doesn't follow science at all!!!"

"Dr. Yi! Calm down!"

"Calm... I can calm down... let me think again... The main problem now is pressurizing the water flow. Even without an electric drive, it can be replaced by something else... for example, replacing pressure with gravity circulation, using the height difference to let the water flow through gravity... but Aurora City is just a plain, and it’s too late to build temporary scaffolding... Then change the drive method? Change to human power? No... no, there aren't enough people to output enough pressure to cover Aurora City... Steam engine? Right! Steam engines can still be used! We can replace all the pumps with steam drives!"

Dr. Yi slammed his hands on the desk, a faint light appearing in his eyes.

"Give me an hour... no! Half an hour... fifteen minutes!!" Dr. Yi said excitedly. "Give me fifteen minutes! I’ll draw the modification blueprints for the water pumps right away! As long as we change their drive method, they can definitely be fixed!"

Tan Xin looked down at the time, opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately didn't say it.

Dr. Yi couldn't wait for his reply and turned to run wildly. This was the first time in so many years he had run so fast...

Watching his departing back, Tan Xin sighed helplessly.