418: Can't we build a space elevator if we're not at the equator?

The speed at which zombies multiplied out of control was very fast; in just one week, the global zombie population surged to tens of billions. The main elements composing these zombies were comparable to the elemental proportions of the Earth's crust.

Limited by living space, zombies crowded together and devoured each other, which to some extent slowed down their infinite reproduction and replication. Overall, after losing their intelligence, although the zombies were enormous in number, their threat was considerably reduced.

As long as a horde of zombies appeared around the base, a volley of rocket launchers and a few rounds of saturation fire could eliminate most of them. It was originally thought they would infiltrate the base, but Tian Ming's worries were completely unfounded; these creatures, having lost their intelligence, simply did not understand what stealth meant. Let alone infiltration or sneak attacks, they were completely incapable.

Although it was safe inside the base, it was not outside. While there was internal competition and attrition among the zombies, their overall numbers were still growing. Apart from the East Sea City Base, all other places were overrun by zombie hordes. Satellite images of the Blue Star showed the zombie hordes like patches of black mold clinging to the vast land.

According to the simulation performed by Tianquan, within one year, the surface of Blue Star would be almost entirely covered by zombies, and it was likely that there would be zombies even in the oceans. This would lead to a severe ecological disaster; the environment of the entire planet would rapidly deteriorate, making it no longer suitable for human survival.

The speed of ecological degradation would be very fast. For example, the oxygen content in the air: most of the oxygen in the atmosphere actually comes from the ocean, followed by forests and green plants. Once zombies cover the entire land, the living space for both animals and plants will be squeezed out, causing catastrophic biological extinction.

Even if the surviving human bases could defend against these zombies, the overall ecological deterioration would still affect the bases, such as declining oxygen levels in the air, abnormal weather, and so on. Moreover, the deteriorating ecology would directly impact the entire globe within one to two years.

Not much time was left for the base; the construction of the Space Station only had one to two years. However, the East Sea City Base had over two million people. At this time, the Space Station plan had already changed; after several meetings, the plan had been upgraded to the Space City plan.

The Space Station's orbit at three to four hundred kilometers high was no longer useful; for the Space City, the orbit was too low. The location for the Space City was also quickly determined: at a Lagrange point.

There are five Lagrange points, which are gravitational equilibrium points between celestial bodies. However, time was urgent, so the chosen location was L1, the point between Blue Star and the Sun.

Compared to the mass of a planet, the mass of a Space City with a capacity of two million people is almost negligible.

This position does not require extra energy to maintain its orbit. It would be built in a disk shape, generating centrifugal force through self-rotation to simulate gravity.

Initially, it was estimated that the Space City, designed for two million people, would have an initial hardware scale with a total mass of at least eighty million tons. This is a super-large structure, like a bicycle tire floating in space, with people living on the inner wall of the tire.

This matter could not be resolved by Tian Ming alone. Although he was fast, if he carried materials and flew to a point over a million kilometers away, he could not carry much. And if he carried equipment, he could not fly fast.

Therefore, the base needed a relay platform. Equipment manufactured on the ground would be assembled into super-large components in space via the relay platform or the Space Station, and then these components would be pushed to their designated location.

The initial idea for this plan was to use a space elevator, but that would require going to the equator, where zombies were everywhere, making the space elevator plan somewhat impractical. Even if it were built, the transport route would become longer, and there would be more variables.

In the base's conference hall, management and experts argued endlessly over this, as stability, efficiency, and low cost were red lines that had to be maintained.

Tian Ming sat there idly. The automated factory was already producing space capsules, but here, they couldn't reach a conclusion on the transportation issue. The transport volume was too large; relying solely on Xinghuan One to transport everything would take forever.

Meng Xian slammed his hand on the table and said, "You've been arguing for days. Esteemed leaders, can you please come up with a reliable plan already?"

The conference room instantly fell silent, and everyone remained quiet. Most people, in principle, agreed with the space elevator because of its stable carrying capacity and large transport volume. Only a space elevator could transport enough materials into space before Blue Star's ecology completely deteriorated.

However, the East Sea City Base is not at the equator. Due to the planet's rotation angle, a space elevator cannot be installed anywhere other than the equator. But if it were built at the equator, the equipment produced would still need to be transported thousands of kilometers to the equator.

The base's security issues already required four million mechanical legions and dozens of tons of ammunition daily to clear the encroaching zombie hordes. Setting up a space elevator at another location would not only add thousands of kilometers to the transport line but also require building an intelligent system to protect the space elevator, which would be unbearable for the base.

Tian Ming tapped on the table and cleared his throat twice, saying, "Everyone, please quiet down. Let me say a few words. Can the space elevator not be installed at the equator?"

All eyes in the conference room focused on Tian Ming. As the base's leader and strongest individual, his opinion naturally held decisive influence. The atmosphere in the conference room also became solemn due to his speech.

Tian Ming stood up, looked around at everyone in the conference room, and then slowly began, "The space elevator doesn't necessarily have to be built at the equator. We can consider building a vertical space elevator near the base."

He paused, scanned the expressions on everyone's faces, and continued, "We can use the buoyancy of air to create a floating platform above the base. This platform would be at an altitude of twenty thousand to thirty thousand meters. Below the platform, we would build an elevator to transport goods up to the platform."

As soon as Tian Ming finished speaking, a ripple of murmuring spread through the conference room.

Meng Xian frowned deeply and looked at Tian Ming, saying, "Boss, this plan is feasible, and its implementation difficulty is not high, but only transporting to an altitude of a dozen kilometers above the ground doesn't seem very useful, does it?"

"At this altitude, using launch rockets to push all these things into low-Earth orbit should be significantly easier than from the ground, and the carrying capacity would also be large. The floating platform is essentially treating the air as water and the platform as a boat, or more accurately, an island. It's simple to set up; just use helium balloons. The platform can be fixed to the ground with carbon fiber to prevent it from drifting. At tens of thousands of meters high, at the edge of the atmosphere, air resistance is minimal."