Chapter 439: Chapter 381: Where Does Hope Truly Lie?

The whole world is almost in panic.

Even though the situation is slightly better domestically, there are still some rumors floating around.

For instance, at this moment, Lu Li had just seen off Gu Wei and was preparing to assemble a few more “Savior” mechas, when many relatives and friends began calling or messaging to inquire about the situation.

Beep beep.

Shen Xia’s message was straightforward: “Everything outside must be rumors, right?”

Lu Li sensed the global situation.

Of course, he knew what she meant by saying that.

He replied, “Yeah, rumors. Don’t take them seriously.”

Shen Xia: “I knew they were rumors. They’ve never interacted with you, don’t know what kind of person you are, and think you’re terrifying. But in my mind, you’re a really kind and easygoing person. I don’t believe the rumors.”

Lu Li: “Just focus on your ’Volcanic Ash Rock’ thesis, don’t worry about other things.”

…

Brother-in-law Liu Ke Ping called.

“Mr. Lu, are you busy?”

“Brother Liu, it’s so late, what’s up?”

“Nothing much, I just heard some chatter outside saying you want to rule Earth. I specially called to express concern. If it’s rumors, I’ll try to suppress the news, but if it’s true… we’ve always stood by you anyway.”

“Haha, Brother Liu, you’re the ’Crown Prince’ of the Liu Group, isn’t it tiring to manage a large multinational corporation with hundreds of thousands of employees?”

“It is tiring, every day I’m exhausted, but there’s no choice, it’s the family business. Why do you ask?”

“Managing hundreds of thousands is already tiring, ruling Earth means managing eight billion people. Do you think I have that kind of leisure?”

“Alright, I understand.”

…

Qin Liang, who had always had a good relationship, also called.

“Mr. Lu, I heard a lot of talk just now, they’re saying you’re preparing to rule Earth. I believe you have the capability, but I don’t quite believe you’d actually do it. So I’m calling to ask how to handle these rumors? Should I use some influence to suppress those discordant voices? Otherwise, these rumors could hurt your personal reputation.”

“I don’t care about so-called reputation, besides, there’s no panic domestically, aren’t people still quite encouraged, hoping I could rule globally?”

“Uh, you really want to rule Earth?”

“Haha, do you think it’s possible? What would I want to rule Earth for? Am I lacking food or resources?”

“Then… hiss, a gamma-ray burst is about to visit the solar system, is this… true?”

“It’s indeed possible, but don’t worry too much, I’m trying to figure out a solution. If a solution can’t be found, then when the time comes, gather your whole family, and I’ll take you all off Earth to survive.”

“Thank you, thank you, Mr. Lu.”

“No need for thanks between us. Just to be clear, when the time comes, I can’t take many with me, you can only bring direct relatives, nothing more.”

“I know, I know, I won’t make it difficult for you.”

…

Peng Erping, who had just gone on a business trip, also called.

“Mr. Lu, if you need anything, just let me know. If you need supplies or manpower, I’ll try my best to figure something out for you. No matter what you do, I’ll support it wholeheartedly.”

“Old Peng, you wouldn’t also believe that I want to rule Earth, would you?”

“Uh, that’s what everyone is saying, so I came to ’show loyalty’.”

“Haha, you’re quite amusing, there’s no such thing.”

“Alright, I got it.”

…

Then there was the long-unheard-from Li Yajing.

“Brother Lu, are you busy?”

“What, haven’t seen me in a while, miss me?”

“I do miss you, and you never come to see me.”

“You didn’t call just to express how much you miss me, did you?”

“Expressing that I miss you is the main thing, but I also wanted to ask, are those rumors online true? Personally, I feel they’re false. Brother Lu, you’re such a nice person in normal times, and I’ve caused you so much trouble in the past, yet you never held it against me. It’s impossible for you to want to rule Earth for no reason, it’s obviously someone stirring up trouble and making false accusations.”

“As long as you know it’s a rumor. Once I’m done with what I’m handling, I’ll come see you.”

“Okay, let me know in advance, so I can prepare well to see you.”

…

After receiving several consecutive calls.

Lu Li felt increasingly annoyed.

He was just about to switch off his phone.

Suddenly, another call came in.

If it were any other number, he definitely wouldn’t pick up, but this number he couldn’t ignore.

Because it was his mom calling.

Lu Li sat on the sofa answering, “Mom, what’s going on in the middle of the night?”

Mom’s loud voice said, “Your dad saw online that people are saying you want to become an emperor, he wanted me to ask if it’s true.”

Lu Li was speechless, “Who wants to be an emperor? What age is this, still talking about emperors?”

Mom snorted, “I knew it, it’s a bunch of schemers spreading rumors, slandering my son’s reputation. I can’t let it go, I have to go online and scold them.”

Lu Li, amused and helpless, said, “No, mom, don’t bother, just go to bed early with dad, don’t worry about it.”

“No way! I can’t stand it if I don’t scold them!” Mom said stubbornly, “I have to defend your reputation!”

After saying that, mom hung up with a smack.

Lu Li sweated a bit, knowing that mom would follow through, she definitely went online to scold them.

Honestly, after receiving so many calls from family and friends, he felt quite moved inside.

At the very least, he knew that everyone was concerned about him, constantly watching the situation.

But the rumors circulating outside indeed brought some minor troubles to his life…

Perhaps not troubles, really.

Anyway, it just made him even more agitated about the impending gamma-ray burst heading towards the solar system.

Lu Li had been pondering how to protect Earth, but the internet was spreading rumors about him, even causing family and friends to call him.

How could one not be annoyed?

Lu Li knew that if this continued, more and more calls would certainly come in soon.

So he simply turned off his phone.

After all, the entire Earth was under his perception.

If anything were to happen, or if someone needed him, he would completely sense it.

The moment he turned off his phone, Lu Li immediately felt much more at peace.

“I don’t have time to deal with those rumor-mongers for now. I’ll first create a few more ’Savior’ mechas and think about other ways to handle this situation.”

Lu Li glanced towards West Mountain near Taihu Lake and then began long-distance mecha formation.

Well, although this Chinese-style courtyard is quite large, the mechas are also big, standing fifty meters tall, and if all were piled up in the yard, not many could fit.

He naturally needed to find a sparsely populated place, where mechas could be stored without drawing attention, before Gu Wei arranged a “base.”

Although West Mountain was a scenic area, typically few people were there at night.

Thus, Lu Li could safely and assertively form some mechas to place there.

Now with the power to explode stars, the speed of forming mechas was very rapid.

One mecha was swiftly completed.

As he began forming the second ’Savior’ mecha, Lu Li said to the AI assistant, “Nuwa, continue calculating how to resolve the gamma-ray burst issue.”

Nuwa responded, “Yes.”

The next moment, the artificial intelligence resumed its calculations.

Lu Li knew that with enough time for himself or sufficient time for “Nuwa,” simulating and calculating a solution for the gamma-ray burst was not impossible.

The issue was that time was too pressing.

Lu Li estimated that thirty days might not be enough for “Nuwa” to compute.

The reason he still issued such an order was merely an extra hope, not relying on “Nuwa” for anything special.

“I will form mechas while attempting simulation deductions to see if a method besides energy counteraction can be found to resolve the gamma-ray burst.”

Lu Li believed in energy counteraction as a correct method.

But again, time was too tight, and even if he spent over thirty days forming mechas, gathering enough for an energy counteraction against the gamma-ray burst would still be unlikely.

Therefore, under the premise of ensuring at least one usable method, he would continue simulations to seek better methods.

After a brief moment of thought, the second mecha was also completed.

While forming the third mecha, Lu Li activated the simulation deduction function.

Simulating how to counter the gamma-ray burst traversing the entire solar system.

The powerful computational ability kept simulating various methods.

Soon, several potential gamma-ray burst blocking methods emerged from his simulations.

The first Lu Li had once considered was creating a gigantic, adequately thick lead plate to block the gamma-ray burst’s advance.

“This method won’t work. I’ve already thought of it.”

While forming the third mecha, Lu Li continued to form the fourth while further simulating.

A second method was swiftly simulated, similar to Lu Li’s previous ponderings.

It involved creating enough spaceships with thick protective layers to transfer Earth’s life forms to relatively safe areas.

In short, space migration.

Learning the simulation result, Lu Li shook his head helplessly.

This method was theoretically feasible, but the problem was he hadn’t found other habitable planets for humans, nor could he instantly form enough spaceships to resist the gamma-ray burst on a small scale. One or two ships weren’t a problem, but thinking of thousands was unrealistic, so this method was only theoretically feasible and practically inoperable.

The third…

The fifth…

By the time Lu Li had formed over twenty mechas, more than a dozen methods were simulated, including energy counteraction.

When these simulation results fully appeared before him, Lu Li let out a heavy sigh.

Though the methods emerged and were theoretically feasible, like before, they couldn’t be applied to Earth’s current technological level.

Unless Earth’s current technology reached a stellar civilization, those methods to resolve the gamma-ray burst would be possible.

Sadly, Earth’s current technological level doesn’t even reach the planetary civilization of a Type I civilization.

So those methods became tasteless.

Eating them was insipid, yet discarding them was regrettable.

A dead end!

Everywhere was a dead end!

Lu Li used the simulation function for half a day, and with mecha formation included, half of the energy was expended, yet no method emerged to truly resolve the gamma-ray burst and save the Earth.

It seemed this time, the arrival of the super cosmic disaster left no hope for survival.

No way!

There must be!

As the saying goes, heaven has the virtue of looking after life.

Everything leaves a ray of life.

How could there be no way out?

Lu Li felt he had overlooked something; thinking it through, there had to be a solution.

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