Chapter 46: Satellite_1
Jiang Yu smacked his lips and said, "Perhaps the Three-Body Star System once had a Gas Giant Planet that later disappeared.
"The planets of the Three-Body Star System are the kind that 'run wild' throughout the system, and it's very possible that they inherited some of the 'legacy' from those planets."
Yang Dong nodded, "Your idea is very imaginative!"
Jiang Yu thought to himself, "It's not me who's imaginative; this imagination is an authentic 'Da Liu production.'"
Yang Dong pondered for a moment, "It's very likely the case. Generally speaking, at the beginning of a star system's formation, there are always some leftovers that form multiple planets."
She then asked, "But where did all those planets go?"
Jiang Yu spread his hands, "Maybe they thought their home was too chaotic and ran away from home!
"If we compare stars to the parents in a family, this star system has three of them. Whether it's two dads and one mom, or two moms and one dad; in any case, it must be a family with a story."
Yang Dong shook her head with a smile, then said seriously, "It's very likely that they were destroyed by these three stars!
"At the beginning of a star system's formation, the orbits of planets are not stable.
"The three stars of the Three-Body Star System would greatly amplify this instability.
"Their changing orbits, along with the tug of three gravitational sources, could easily lead to their destruction in collisions."
"Maybe," he was just a hair's breadth from guessing the truth.
Jiang Yu didn't continue with the "spoilers," instead, pointing at the snow on the ground, he asked, "If they keep throwing ice into the atmosphere, could it lead to an excess of water on Trisolaris?"
Yang Dong nodded, "Many Trisolarans have already realized this problem, but they are currently focusing all their efforts on developing the space industry.
"The space industry needs a massive population to support it, and a massive population needs enough food. They must ensure that the 'Twilight Belt' has a sufficient food supply.
"So even though they have discovered the problem, they haven't yet found a solution.
"So far, the cost of dropping ice from space into the atmosphere has been much lower than transporting ice and snow from the Eternal Night Side to the Eternal Day Side.
"The temperature on the Eternal Night Side is too low, and the ice and snow there are frozen solid, making it difficult to mine and transport."
Jiang Yu glanced at the sky where two shooting stars were dancing a strange dance, "I'm very curious about how far they've developed their space industry."
"I'll show you later," Yang Dong said with a smile. "Do you see that snow-capped mountain?
"That is the highest peak on Trisolaris, over 17,000 meters tall.
"The average altitude of this entire snowy region is around 10,000 meters, creating a vast plateau of ice and snow."
The mountain was not alone; there were many peaks around it.
They stood silently amidst the endless snowfall as if they were guardians of this white land.
Jiang Yu could vaguely see the monotonous, lifeless layer of white snow on the dark ground, reflecting a weak starlight.
Yang Dong increased the speed of their flying craft, and after what felt like an eternity of darkness, Jiang Yu finally saw a faint light on the horizon.
They had traveled halfway across the planet, and when they passed the "Twilight Belt" again, the greenery here was so soothing to the eyes.
The Eternal Day Side had little to offer in terms of scenery, only barren, scorching land.
There was almost no wind on the surface, as heat was the dominant theme here, with wind only present at the "Twilight Belt," where heat and severe cold met.
The only sign of life on this side was the occasional archaeological team.
Yang Dong said that the archaeology team on the Eternal Day Side was more active, as they could work just by wearing heat-insulating suits that were nearly as thick as astronaut suits.
It was different on the Eternal Night Side, where a heavy snow or strong wind might bury the entire archaeology team.
As they left the sun behind them, Yang Dong activated the spacecraft's sky mode.
The spacecraft continued to ascend, Jiang Yu felt lighter and lighter, the environment around him became darker, and the sun felt more tangible.
Finally, after crossing through the atmosphere and flying through the empty darkness for a while, Jiang Yu saw a spherical celestial body that was rapidly growing larger.
Yang Dong said, "That is the Trisolarans' Space City. The spacecraft we are currently in can only perform atmospheric flight. To go to the Trisolarans' 'Distant Space Fleet', we have to transfer to another spacecraft at the Space City."
"This game basically complies with all the laws of physics, but there is too much secrecy in the technology of the Space City and the space fleet."
"Clearly, the technology not solved on Earth can only be resolved in the game in such a manner."
Jiang Yu thought to himself, "This must be because the Trisolarans are afraid of leaking aerospace technology to Earthlings, so they only provided descriptions of space civilization, without giving away any technology."
The Space City was spherical and as large as a mountain, which immediately reminded Jiang Yu of the Death Star from 'Star Wars'.
Except the Death Star was the destroyer of planets, whereas this Space City was the hope of the Trisolarans.
The two of them did not enter the interior of the Space City. Yang Dong said she had never been inside either, as it was off-limits to anyone.
Yang Dong had always assumed that the game's creators simply did not design the interior of the Space City.
Because the game seemed to always be infinitely close to reality. If the game staff had managed to design a Space City that conformed to reality, that team would likely have been poached by space agencies from all over the world long ago.
Jiang Yu, who knew some of the inside story, thought to himself: These Trisolarans are really stingy, not even showing the structure of the Space City.
They transferred to a spacecraft capable of long-distance flight on the landing pad. After taking off from the Space City, Yang Dong said, "Let's not speed up the game for now. First, tell me your thoughts on the Trisolarans' space civilization."
Jiang Yu said with a smile, "The Space City is so big, it should be able to house quite a few people, right?"
"What else?"
"Even if a huge disaster happens again on the planet, the people in the Space City can be preserved, increasing the Trisolarans' chances of continuing their civilization."
"What else?"
Jiang Yu was taken aback, "What else is there?"
Yang Dong prompted, "Haven't you considered where the resources to build this Space City came from?"
"Of course they came from the surface," Jiang Yu said with a laugh. "Unless it's..."
He stopped mid-sentence, as if he kind of understood what Yang Dong was getting at, but the thought that suddenly appeared in his mind wasn't quite clear yet.
Yang Dong continued, "Yes, they came from the surface! To build this Space City, the residents of the Twilight Belt endured centuries of intensive labor, with the entire population involved in the production of the space industry!"
"They had to build a large Space City in space because only then could they manufacture large spaceships in space!"
"Now the Twilight Belt has completely become the logistics base for the Trisolarans' space endeavors, continuously providing food and various resources."
"All Trisolaran spaceships have to refuel here, but they still dare not fly too far because small asteroids drifting in the star system can't be used to establish forward bases, so their flight radius has always been very limited!"
Jiang Yu finally understood Yang Dong's point: "Trisolaris has no satellites, no Moon!"
"Exactly!" Yang Dong looked into the distant starry sky and said, "The Moon is like a ladder delivered right to Earth's doorstep, yet we hesitate to climb it."
"But the Trisolarans lack such a ladder and can only hop and leap vigorously to get a little closer to the lofty hopes above."