After the commendation meeting, the expedition team continued their recovery and recuperation, with each day passing by intensely and fulfillingly.
Ouyang Zhanpeng, however, was different. He was as strong as an ox and had nothing to do with recovery. Every time he appeared on the training ground, he would crush a large group of people with his overwhelming presence.
This situation was reported to Shan Qiuyu, and Director Shan also felt that it was no longer beneficial to keep Ouyang Zhanpeng on the training ground. It would only dampen the confidence of others and make him the biggest destabilizing factor in the expedition team.
Therefore, Ouyang Zhanpeng was called away by Shan Qiuyu and assigned to his own team, holding the title of Confidential Staff Officer. He spent his days holed up in the office, helping to handle various miscellaneous tasks.
More accurately, he was handling various documents.
Dealing with paperwork day in and day out was extraordinarily tedious. Although Ouyang Zhanpeng felt uncomfortable, he gritted his teeth and persisted. Before long, he had organized all the work in an orderly fashion.
Pilots were not only superior in physical fitness but also outstanding in their knowledge. This kind of work was a piece of cake!
If it were Ling Xiao, with his good looks but dull mind, he would have treated Shan Qiuyu's arrangement as a burden. But Ouyang Zhanpeng did not think so. Being asked to help process documents, was that a burden?
Quite the contrary, it was trust, it was recognition, it was cultivation, and even more so, it was an opportunity!
If it were someone he looked down on or someone incapable, even if they eagerly offered to help, Shan Qiuyu wouldn't even spare them a second glance.
Within a few days, Ouyang Zhanpeng became acquainted with several high-ranking officials at the base.
One afternoon, after finishing his paperwork, it was still early before dinner. Bored and with nothing to do, Ouyang Da Shao also organized the previous documents and inadvertently discovered a unique proposal: the Europa Colonization Plan!
Huo!
Ouyang Zhanpeng became interested at once. Seeing that the cover did not have any classified markings, he eagerly opened it to read.
As stated on the cover, this was a feasibility study for colonizing Europa. The general content was to infer the problems and solutions that might be encountered in colonizing Europa based on the various data detected by Expedition Two.
The plan listed four favorable conditions: first, the existence of islands; second, high sea level pressure; third, suitable temperatures; and fourth, being within Jupiter's magnetic field protection range!
These few conditions alone put Mars far behind.
There were also several unfavorable conditions: first, the ice layer was melting, and the geological structure was still unstable; second, the surface radiation was relatively high; third, the situation with the "brain fish" was uncertain; and fourth, there were neither mineral resources nor land, making it difficult to form a self-sufficient situation.
The final conclusion was that a permanent, fully enclosed settlement could be established for scientific research or monitoring the "brain fish." However, for a considerable period, none of those moons were suitable for large-scale colonization. It was recommended to artificially intervene in the environment of Jupiter's moons.
Finally, it was emphasized that the possibility of native organisms existing on Europa was very low, but artificial intervention would certainly attract the attention and opposition of environmentalists.
in their eyes, introducing Earth microorganisms to other planets was equivalent to contaminating other planets with Earth's organisms, which must be opposed and absolutely unacceptable.
Every time Ouyang Zhanpeng saw such rhetoric, he felt utterly speechless.
How bored were these people? Humans hadn't even figured out how to live properly yet, and they were already concerned about the survival of alien life?
Even if native species existed on Europa, so what? It was already contaminated by "brain fish." Adding some Earth organisms would be like adding another shovelful of mud to a cesspool. What was the big deal?
If it were only like this, it would be fine. Ouyang Zhanpeng could have anticipated much of the content in the report.
The key point was that at the end of the document, there was a handwritten notation: "Forward to the Expedition Three Project Team!"
This was somewhat horrifying. Ouyang Zhanpeng immediately searched for related documents and opened them after confirming their security level.
The result showed that Expedition Three was not only a warship but also a scientific research vessel. The ship carried various detection equipment, including dozens of satellites, and even two unmanned submarines capable of diving to a depth of ten thousand meters.
In addition, the ship also had a specialized biological cabin, preserving extremophiles, including radio-trophic fungi, which would serve as the vanguard and assault force for humanity's intervention on Europa.
Not only that, but the ship also carried a batch of bacteria specially developed for alien species, with the intention of releasing them into the oceans of Europa, Enceladus, and Ganymede, to see if alien species could be completely eradicated through biochemical means.
Note that all samples were not naturally produced but were artificially created non-natural microorganisms by studying the physiological characteristics of "brain fish" and other alien species.
They did infect alien species in the laboratory and caused illness, but whether they were fatal, what the course of the disease was, and whether they could be cured were all unknown.
However, what did it matter? Biochemical weapons were known as the "poor man's atomic bomb." They didn't require much manpower or resources. Even if they couldn't do anything to the alien species, there wouldn't be much loss. If a virus could kill alien species, it would be a huge profit. It was simply too cost-effective.
However, this plan also had many problematic aspects. Europa's environment was special; could these microorganisms survive? If they could survive, how long could they last? Without intermediate hosts, how could they infect the "brain fish"?
Before one problem was solved, a whole host of derivative issues emerged.
Therefore, Expedition Three also carried many marine biological samples. The first phase of the plan was to deploy zooplankton, phytoplankton, and some marine plants that were more adapted to extreme environments, allowing the creators to gain a foothold on the moon first.
After the success of the first phase, small marine animals such as small fish and shrimp would be deployed to form a rudimentary ecosystem.
Once the populations of fish and shrimp reached a certain number, more large-bodied creatures would be released.
In simple terms, through continuous investment, the ecological circle of those moons would be gradually enriched until a natural, balanced ecosystem was formed.
It was a very bold plan, and it would definitely be a very, very, very long process.
But what did it matter? As long as Expedition Three implemented the first phase of the plan, it would be tantamount to sowing the seeds of life on those moons. Even if no further investment was made, these organisms would continuously evolve over long periods.
Countless years later, intelligent life might even emerge on these moons, and humans would be their creators!
Even if it wasn't for dealing with alien species, it was a good choice to change the lifeless appearance of those moons.
Thinking of this, Ouyang Zhanpeng felt a great sense of accomplishment, but then he was filled with regret: if only he could implement this plan himself!
He instinctively ignored the possibility that alien species had already landed and brought alien microorganisms, firmly believing that only organisms from Earth had the right to take root and sprout on those moons.