All-rounder Artist

Chapter 1300: Chapter 1084: Master Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, and You’ll Have No Fear Traveling Across Mars

Wei Continent.

Shen Zong was engrossed in reading “The Martian”.

As a renowned science fiction author from Wei Continent, Shen Zong was shortlisted for the Best Medium-to-Long Science Fiction Grand Prize at this Galaxy Awards.

He had thought he would win the award.

Unexpectedly, a novel from Qin Continent snatched the grand prize away.

Truth be told.

Shen Zong was somewhat unwilling to accept this.

Shen Zong believed that the other two shortlisted contenders probably felt the same unwillingness, which is why he immediately purchased “The Martian” upon its release to thoroughly understand where he had fallen short.

…

This novel fit the criteria for a medium-to-long work perfectly.

The story originated from the Wei Continent Space Bureau’s series of Mars landing missions called Ares—the God of War.

The protagonist, Mark, was one of the six astronauts of the third landing mission.

On the sixth day of landing, they encountered a huge sandstorm. Mark, unfortunately struck by an antenna and separated from his crewmates, couldn’t be rescued despite their best efforts; his teammates had to return to the Messenger spacecraft in orbit using the only escape pod.

Everyone thought Mark was dead.

After receiving the news, the Wei Continent Space Bureau held a press conference to announce the failure of the Ares III mission and the sacrifice of astronaut Mark.

That was the setting of the novel.

…

After going through the background introduction, Shen Zong raised his eyebrows slightly.

He didn’t expect that the story background of Chu Kuang’s book would take place in Wei Continent.

It seems that Chu Kuang was really targeting the readers from Wei Continent this time.

However, this setting was not abrupt.

Given the high level of technological development in Wei Continent of Blue Star, it could nearly rival that of Zhong Continent.

Moreover, many authors on Blue Star do not necessarily use their own continent as the background for their stories for the sake of plot development, as the characters are unified across all continents, which is acceptable to readers from all continents.

In addition.

Concerning the depiction of aerospace technology in the novel, Shen Zong couldn’t find any flaws.

Chu Kuang’s knowledge base in this area even surprised Shen Zong, a science fiction writer from Wei Continent.

After all, it had beaten him.

Indeed, it had some substance.

But just this level was of course not enough for Shen Zong to be truly convinced.

Dipping his finger in saliva, Shen Zong turned the page to continue reading.

In the book.

Of course, the protagonist Mark wouldn’t die. He was impaled in the abdomen by an antenna, causing his spacesuit to leak.

“Oxygen crisis?”

Shen Zong subconsciously thought this, but as he read on, he could not help but feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment.

He was contradicted.

Mark wouldn’t run out of oxygen.

On the contrary, Mark was worried about too high an oxygen concentration.

One of the important functions of the spacesuit is to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide produced from breathing.

It first uses a simple chemical device to absorb carbon dioxide, and when the absorber is exhausted, it will automatically open a vent valve in a ‘bloodletting’ mode. Although this gets rid of carbon dioxide, it also reduces the pressure inside the suit. To maintain pressure, the suit will automatically inflate. When the limited supply of nitrogen is depleted, it will use pure oxygen for pressurization.

You must know, the concentration of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere is only 21%, which is comfortable for respiration.

High concentrations of oxygen can burn a person’s nervous system, lungs, and eyes.

Shen Zong naturally understood this.

It’s just that Shen Zong evidently lacked understanding of this function of the spacesuit.

Struggling back into the undestroyed Hab, Mark finally took off his helmet and breathed deeply the air inside.

Thus began the daily life of a human botanist and mechanical engineer on Mars.

After checking all the equipment, Mark concluded through calculations:

The food he had left could sustain him for less than a year at most, while the earliest ground rescue would not arrive on Mars for another four years.

He had to solve the food problem!

Reading up to this point, Shen Zong smiled; he already guessed what the protagonist was going to do.

There is a science fiction novel from Wei Continent called “Mars Base Project”.

In it, the protagonist experiments with hydroponic cultivation of vegetables using his knowledge to create a food source on Mars.

Chu Kuang’s protagonist will definitely do something similar!

As expected.

The following plot unfolded just as Shen Zong had anticipated.

The protagonist thought of using hydroponic cultivation to solve his food problem.

However, in the next instant, Shen Zong’s smile disappeared.

He was contradicted by the ideas in this book again!

In the book, Mark quickly dismissed the idea of hydroponics on the grounds that it requires a large amount of nutrient solution.

The nutrient solution in the Hab was nowhere near enough for Mark’s experiment.

This consumable couldn’t fundamentally solve the problem.

The correct solution for food on Mars was:

Growing potatoes!

Shen Zong’s eyes widened!

Because not only had Chu Kuang contradicted him, but the food solution in “Mars Base Project” was also negated by this book!

And yet, Shen Zong had to admit:

Mark’s idea was even more feasible, and the reasons he gave were impeccable!

Without water, Mark utilized his chemistry knowledge to produce water.

Potatoes were readily available, vacuum-packed; famously easy to grow and quite productive too.

Feces.

Urine.

The fertilizer produced by Mark himself was the perfect “nutrient solution” for growing potatoes!

“Impressive!”

Having his face metaphorically slapped twice, Shen Zong became serious. He wasn’t angry, only marveled at Chu Kuang’s vast knowledge!

And the plot that followed left Shen Zong even more in awe:

Every operation in Mark’s Mars survival was incredibly logical and feasible!

The breadth of knowledge involved was so extensive that even Shen Zong, the science fiction writer, felt his knowledge was limited!

And Chu Kuang wrote this process with thrilling ups and downs.

For example, during the process of making water, Mark overlooked the imbalance in oxygen concentration from his own breathing, resulting in an explosion.

Or…

When the potatoes finally yielded a harvest after a long time, an unexpected air pressure imbalance occurred in the habitat module, leading to the death of all potato sprouts!

And by then, Mark no longer had the conditions necessary to grow potatoes.

The food crisis re-emerged.

What to do now?

Shen Zong didn’t realize he was utterly engrossed in the storyline, eagerly wanting to see how Mark would continue his journey of survival!

In the continuation of the plot.

A dramatic turn of events took place.

The Blue Star Space Bureau’s headquarters discovered that Mark was still alive.

At the same time.

Mark was also trying to contact the Space Bureau.

He actually found a rover sent to Mars by Wei Continent Space Bureau decades ago, which possessed communication functions!

The machine was malfunctioning, so he repaired it himself.

This process wasn’t glossed over; it detailed Mark’s specific operations.

For example, how Mark used solar energy and nuclear reaction technology to create his own transportation vehicle, and so on.

A series of slick maneuvers!

Shen Zong was astounded by the display!

And the imagination behind this book didn’t stop there.

Mark didn’t know that everything he did on Mars was being broadcast live globally, and his communications with ground control were peppered with profanity and crude jokes, leaving the entire ground Space Bureau bewildered…

Science fiction component.

Dramatic component.

Both cranked up to the max!

Even the character development of the protagonist Mark leaped off the page; the way he optimistically tackled the numerous challenges on Mars endeared him to Shen Zong as a reader!

Not to mention.

There were scenes in the story that brought a knowing smile.

For instance, when Mark found his teammate’s music player, which only contained Xian Yu’s songs.

So, the music that kept Mark company through his solitude were Xian Yu’s songs.

Some of these songs, Shen Zong had heard before; after all, Xian Yu became world-famous at the Blue Songlympics, and many sought out his works for appreciation.

As for the story’s ending…

That was the part that moved Shen Zong the most.

Mark’s teammates took certain risks, with some possibly facing court-martial, yet they decisively flew back to Mars in a spaceship!

They were there to rescue Mark!

The novel didn’t end in tragedy.

After enduring great hardships, Mark successfully boarded his teammates’ rescue ship.

And with that.

Mark had survived alone on Mars for a total of 549 Martian days!

“Awesome!”

His knowledge was so profound it could be described as encyclopedic!

Shen Zong couldn’t help but wonder if Chu Kuang had worked at the Space Bureau?

The detailed data on professional space machinery in the book couldn’t be found just by searching on the internet!

Yet amidst a wealth of knowledge, the novel never felt dull; the protagonist’s flexible application of his knowledge was admirable, and his various savvy moves were so brilliant that he practically lived as the “King of Mars”!

It makes one involuntarily sigh:

With a good grasp of science and mathematics, you can face the universe unafraid!

The entire narrative of the novel was nothing short of spectacular!

There were thrilling moments!

There were humorous moments!

And there were touching moments!

Having spent the whole morning reading the novel, Shen Zong was overwhelmingly impressed!

The Galaxy Award.

Shen Zong was wholeheartedly convinced by his defeat!

————————

ps: Surprise, there’s another chapter, after all, I mentioned it yesterday. However, this novel is really too long, so I can only briefly cover it to give everyone an idea of what the book is about. Those interested can watch the movie adaptation, which isn’t vastly different, just with more dramatic conflict, making it quite interesting to watch.