Chapter 277: Regression

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

The sudden voice jolted Dr. Yi from his daze.

Dr. Yi had been sitting on the floor in front of the three-story glass observation room for an unknown period. He shifted his gaze from the empty hibernation pod, slowly raised his head, and replied hoarsely:

"…I understand."

"He asked you to be quick… it's urgent."

He stumbled to his feet, barely steadying himself with the help of others, and headed out of the base.

Aurora Base had now restored its original order, though the third-floor laboratory was completely defunct. Dr. Yi returned to the surface, where a black vehicle had been waiting at the entrance for a long time.

Meanwhile, Dr. Yi couldn't help but shiver.

"It's so cold… Has the surface temperature dropped this low already?"

The biting cold wind cleared Dr. Yi's mind for a moment. He realized the temperature seemed unusually low. Then, as if something dawned on him, he frowned and looked towards the direction beyond the city wall.

It turned out Tan Xin was indeed in a great hurry this time; the vehicle's speed had been pushed to its limit, driving directly towards headquarters.

Within just ten minutes, Dr. Yi arrived at Tan Xin's office door and pushed it open.

"You're finally here."

Tan Xin's voice rang out. He was standing by the office window, pouring a kettle of boiling hot water over the frost-sealed glass. The thick white mist evaporated after only a few seconds, then completely dissipated.

Using this brief warmth, Tan Xin forcefully shut the window tightly. Watching as the window instantly froze over again, he let out a long sigh.

"...Mm-hm," Dr. Yi mumbled, looking down.

"I heard about what happened at 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, then slowly spoke, "If the Aurora Lord were still asleep, we would have less than forty days… But now that he's awake, his organs will age at an astonishing rate. I can't predict exactly how fast… but it definitely won't be more than three days."

"If he's found, is there any way to make him go back to sleep?"

"No," Dr. Yi flatly denied. "We simply don't have the technology from over three hundred years ago. And even if we did, given the rate of his physical degeneration, it wouldn't extend his life by more than a few days."

A complex emotion flickered in Tan Xin's eyes. He tapped his knuckles lightly on the desk. After an unknown amount of time, he nodded.

"You're right. Even if he hadn't woken up today, Aurora City would only be lingering on… His waking up early might actually be a good thing, preventing further complications."

"So, you've agreed to the leader's 'Reappearance' plan?"

Tan Xin paused slightly at the question. He didn't answer directly but instead calmly retorted:

"How many years has it been since you were last on the surface?"

"About fourteen or fifteen years, I guess."

"Did you notice anything unusual when you came up this time?"

"Yes," Dr. Yi replied, glancing at the frost-sealed window. "The surface temperature is too low… In my memory, Aurora City has never experienced such temperatures. Is it due to the weakening of the Aurora, allowing the cold from the Forbidden Sea to invade the city?"

"Precisely."

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

"Minus forty degrees Celsius? That's cold enough to freeze someone to death," Dr. Yi frowned deeply. "At this temperature, one absolutely cannot move around freely outdoors, otherwise, prolonged exposure will lead to death from hypothermia… Staying indoors where there's heating should be fine."

"That's precisely the problem. Aurora City's central heating system… has completely failed."

"What?!" Dr. Yi's face was filled with shock. "How can that be?"

Tan Xin took a deep breath and slowly uttered four words:

"Scientific regression."

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

Tan Xin pulled open a drawer and placed an item on the desk. The moment Dr. Yi saw it, he froze.

"...A pump?"

"To be precise, an electrically-driven pump," Tan Xin said, pointing to the water pump on the table, his voice exceptionally solemn. "Countless units like this form our central heating system. They are responsible for pressurizing the hot water produced by boiler plants in various districts, ensuring it can be distributed through the pipe network to every building within each district… And now, all of them have failed.

Although the boiler plants can still produce hot water normally, without pressure to drive the system, the coverage area is extremely limited. Approximately seventy percent of Aurora City cannot be heated… This means the temperature inside their homes is exactly the same as outside…"

Dr. Yi swallowed hard and mumbled, "Pumps… Damn it… How could this happen…"

"Dr. Yi, you are Aurora City's foremost scientific talent. Can you fix them, or find another way to replace them?"

"Let me think… Don't rush me! Let me think!!"

Dr. Yi frantically scratched his head with both hands, pacing back and forth across the room, his eyes bloodshot with urgency. "The operating principle of a pump is quite simple; it just pressurizes liquid using a screw or impeller… So where's the problem… Right, where the hell is the problem?!

Is it an issue with electrical power? But elevators are clearly still working, so why can't it be used for the pumps?? This is completely illogical!

It's happening again… it's happening again!! This damned world just doesn't follow any logic!!!"

"Dr. Yi! Calm down!"

"Calm… I can calm down… Let me think again… The main problem now is pressurizing the water flow. Even without electrical power, we could switch to something else… for example, replacing pressure with gravity circulation, using differences in elevation to allow water to be transported by gravity… But Aurora City is completely flat, and it's too late now to construct temporary elevated structures… So, how about a different driving method? Manual labor? No… that won't work, there aren't enough people to generate enough pressure to cover Aurora City… Steam engines? Yes! Steam engines still work! We can replace all the pumps with steam-driven ones!"

Dr. Yi slapped the desk hard with both hands, a glimmer of light appearing in his eyes.

"Give me an hour… No! Half an hour… Fifteen minutes!!" Dr. Yi exclaimed excitedly. "Give me fifteen minutes! I'll draw up the revised pump schematics immediately! As long as we change their driving mechanism, they can definitely be fixed!"

Tan Xin glanced down at the time, opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately held his tongue.

Dr. Yi didn't wait for a reply. He turned and sprinted out the door, running faster than he had in years…

Watching his departing figure, Tan Xin sighed helplessly.