52: Chapter 52 Behind Pluto

...

After Lin Fang instructed Venom to take Orson back to San Francisco first, the evacuation time arrived.

[Evacuation from the Venom Dimension successful. Resources obtained: Albino Bengal Tiger]

[Venom Dimension weight increased. Current weight: 100%]

[Calamity Anchor Point has been transferred]

...

The information that surfaced on the Black Star caused Lin Fang's heart to sink. He had been anticipating what would happen when the weight reached one hundred percent. Frowning, he began to scrutinize it. This was not a good term.

A few minutes later, Lin Fang was speechless.

The good news: a new dimension had unlocked, and it didn't require spending money. Next to the Venom Dimension icon, a new pitch-black icon had appeared, waiting for him to explore.

The bad news: it seemed he had become the fall guy.

On the Venom Dimension icon, two pieces of information that had never appeared before were now displayed: a countdown and something resembling coordinates.

Countdown: 438287:51:06

Coordinates: RA 19h17m34s, Dec -23°42'15"

"Little Black, analyze these coordinates."

Soon, the projection of the little black cat appeared in Lin Fang's field of vision, followed by a diagram of the solar system's celestial bodies.

[Boss, these are astronomical coordinates located at the border between Sagittarius and Capricorn, near Pluto's current orbit.]

In the projection, behind Pluto, a red dot representing the unknown abruptly appeared.

What was behind Pluto?

Staring at the words 'Calamity Anchor Point,' Lin Fang had a very bad feeling. It was definitely not something good.

Although fifty years was quite a long time, Lin Fang, who was always cautious, naturally wanted to understand what was there first. However, he didn't have the ability to observe it.

"Little Black, is there any organization capable of observing this location?"

[The National Aeronautics and Space Administration...]

Little Black suddenly paused at this point, speaking with surprise:

[Boss, someone has already detected an anomaly behind Pluto.]

...

...

Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Location of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

Observation ID: PS1-2025LM3-14

Anomaly Coordinates: RA 19h17m34s, Dec -23°41'15"

Anomaly target magnitude 17.5, persisted for 3 frames before disappearing. Suspected CCD noise.

— Observer Walter Ford

Having completed today's routine observation tasks, Walter stretched in his chair. Since the world's largest telescope began testing, he had to randomly observe dozens of regions every day, making his eyes blur.

Fortunately, today was the last day. Tomorrow, someone else would take over this post. He was already eager to go to the bar for a Margarita.

Should he observe it one more time?

Walter hesitated, looking at the day's only anomaly record on the screen. The manual required it, but just like before, no one would check these boring data.

To hell with it. Walter turned off the screen, picked up his jacket, turned, and walked out the door.

This left Lin Fang, who was on the other side of the continent full of anticipation, dumbfounded. He frowned and said,

"Little Black, send him a news push."

In the parking lot, Walter had just taken out his car keys when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a news notification:

#Shocking! Former ESA Researcher Sued for Overlooking Anomalous Data#

#Shocking! The Discovery of Halley's Comet Was Actually Such a Coincidence!#

...

Why is the date on this news from last year? Walter glanced at it and swiped it away dismissively, then started the car.

On the way to the bar, for some reason, a wave of unease washed over Walter. For a scientist, this was simply fatal.

"Damn it, it's all because of this lousy news!" Walter cursed, then turned the car around and drove back.

—

"Anomaly target magnitude 17.6, persisted for 2 frames before disappearing."

An hour later, Walter swallowed hard, looking at the information on the screen. This anomalous signal had actually appeared again.

Was this really just noise caused by the instrument? Walter himself didn't believe it. He trusted his own judgment more: a new object had appeared behind Pluto and was moving at high speed!

My God, what on earth is that thing?

By the time Thompson, the director of the European Southern Observatory, arrived at the observatory, it was already the early hours of the morning.

Thompson took the report handed to him by his subordinates. By now, they had conducted 16 observations of that region. Without exception, an anomalous signal appeared there every time.

This anomalous object was moving at a high relative speed of approximately 8 kilometers per second,

and the endpoint of its trajectory...

Mathematics doesn't lie. Thompson forced himself to stay calm as he looked at the predicted direction, immediately picking up the phone to contact a few old friends.

Two hours later,

Thompson obtained data from the Subaru Telescope located in another region. After overlaying the overexposed area covering Pluto and comparing it with the ELT data,

a dark spot behind Pluto clearly emerged.

Thompson was instantly filled with despair. Looking at the analysis chart, he fainted. This dark spot was a moving death god with a diameter of about 200 kilometers.

It was eerily bypassing major celestial bodies, racing towards Earth with reckless abandon!

The next day, an urgent report landed on the desks of leaders from major world powers.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined planets. Pluto was removed from the list of the nine planets in the solar system, reducing it to eight planets.

And now, the attention of humanity's upper echelons was once again focused on this celestial body at the edge of the solar system... or rather, behind it.

That afternoon,

NASA temporarily altered the flight path of the New Horizons probe located in the Kuiper Belt.

Two weeks later, several images transmitted back by New Horizons led the five major powers to convene a top-secret meeting.

Unbeknownst to the general public, the Planetary Defense Alliance (PDA) was established globally and began recruiting secretly. However, to cover their tracks, some ambiguous information still leaked online.

Regarding this, Lin Fang, after deleting those images, expressed that he knew nothing about any of it and that it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

In the steaming hot private room of Jinxi Hall, Lin Tianxiong looked at the news with deep concern, his thick eyebrows furrowed.

"Son, do you really think an asteroid will hit Earth in ten years? Should we dig a hole to hide?"

"No, that's fake news."

Lin Fang, standing nearby, stated firmly, "Dad, don't worry about this."

The real one is in 50 years.

"This is called being prepared. What do you know?"

Glaring at Lin Fang, Lin Tianxiong continued scrolling. "The experts also said this 200-meter diameter meteorite has a predicted 2.6% chance of landing in South Africa... Huh? Serves them right!"

Lin Tianxiong set his mind at ease, put down his phone, and turned to another question. "I heard Third-Party Technology has already ventured into short video and reading platforms. So, how's your medicine coming along?"