As Marcus watched the crowd grow larger and larger, he became increasingly anxious. If this continued, Austin was sure to give him a severe scolding!

He immediately yelled at the top of his lungs, "Quiet! Everyone quiet down... Fall in! Attention!"

The soldiers, being a highly disciplined group, had undergone rigorous training. Upon hearing Marcus's shout, they instantly fell silent. They reacted to their superior's orders with a conditioned reflex. This reflex applied at all times, even during their breaks.

Hearing Marcus's roar, they all quickly snapped to attention. Some were still eating, but they didn't care; they simply stuffed the rest of their food into their mouths and swallowed it whole.

Seeing this, Marcus was quite satisfied; his rigorous Federation-style special forces training had finally paid off.

He thought for a moment, then mimicked Jason's tone and barked, "Listen up! I have two things to say. First, we might be tasked with the initial vanguard missions. I don't need to lecture you on physical conditioning; the gravity on that uncharted planet's surface is about 1.3 to 1.4 times that of Earth. You all know what that means, right?"

"Your bones, internal organs, and muscles will all feel heavier! It's the equivalent of carrying an extra twenty kilograms of dead weight!"

"So, anyone with poor physical fitness or who fails to meet the training standards will be cut! Weaklings can stay behind on the Precursor ship and babysit!" Marcus said bluntly.

"Secondly, our roles will become much more specialized moving forward. Whether it's driving tanks, piloting starships, conducting field repairs, or operating combat drones... you will need solid theoretical knowledge!"

"There will absolutely be exams! Don't say I didn't warn you. If you fail the written tests, well..." He chuckled darkly.

"Alright, that's all. Dismissed!"

As Marcus finished speaking, even he felt the itch to pilot everything, starships, tanks, mechs! However, each person could likely only specialize in one area. What to choose? Could he just pick them all?

Marcus's words might have seemed like a reality check, but they indirectly confirmed the rumors: the scientists were indeed pouring resources into developing new equipment!

The soldiers cheered, already pondering which specialization they should choose. As for the theoretical exams? They'd worry about that headache later!

While the troops celebrated, the attendees in the main conference room were locked in constant discussion, occasionally escalating into loud arguments. They were incredibly busy.

Jason was exchanging ideas with various Senior Scientists and research groups. He didn't even have time for a proper meal, managing only a few hurried bites.

The uncharted planet had already been named. It was called "Nyx," meaning "eternal night," named after the goddess of the night in ancient mythology.

"The planet Nyx is located too far from its two central stars. The light emitted by the binary system is insufficient to warm it. Therefore, it is highly likely to be a frozen ice world, shrouded in perpetual darkness."

"I must emphasize that all our machinery will require extreme cold-resistance capabilities. Everything must remain fully operational in environments dropping as low as minus two hundred degrees Celsius."

The speaker on stage was the head of the Astronomy and Meteorology Department. She was a petite woman whose exact age was impossible to guess, thanks to modern stem cell therapies. However, she was highly renowned in her field and was the natural choice to lead the department.

Within the Federation, age and gender were irrelevant; only talent and merit mattered.

She continued, "We plan to launch thirty artificial satellites within the next three years to establish a comprehensive orbital scanning network. This will allow us to map Nix's geological structures, including highlands, mountain ranges, basins, and plains. We will also utilize geological remote sensing to pinpoint mineral deposits."

"...On terrestrial planets like this, the probability of an atmosphere existing is higher than it being a vacuum. If the planet's atmosphere is too dense, it will be extremely difficult for the Precursor ship to safely land."

Having delivered her report, she gave a curt nod and stepped down from the podium. Her words gave everyone a great deal to consider.

The overall density of the Precursor ship was so low that it naturally floated in dense atmospheres. This was a double-edged sword. To successfully land, they would need to attach massive external weights to overcome the atmospheric buoyancy. A thin atmosphere, like the one on Mars, was manageable, but an Earth-like atmosphere posed a massive logistical nightmare.

According to Archimedes' principle, descending through an Earth-like atmosphere would require an external ballast of over two billion metric tons to counteract the buoyancy! The higher the atmospheric density, the more dead weight they would need to attach to the hull.

However, humanity's total transport capacity didn't even come close to that figure. The vast majority of their mined resources required immediate processing and couldn't just be bolted on as giant anchors.

"We could use the refined slag; we produce a massive amount of it, and it's incredibly dense," one scientist suggested.

"If the atmosphere is thick, we could construct massive dirigibles to ferry resources between the surface and the ship. Atmospheric transport would be highly cost-effective," another pointed out.

The attendees debated extensively, brainstorming dozens of potential solutions. Ultimately, this was just a minor logistical hurdle compared to the other issues at hand. The planning committee had already encountered far too many roadblocks. To these brilliant minds, problems with a clear solution weren't real problems, it was the insurmountable challenges that kept them awake at night. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Jason frowned. He had believed that their technological progress was staggering, but in the face of the cosmos, it was still woefully inadequate.

He watched the head of the Geology Department prepare to speak. The middle-aged man hurriedly conferred with his team members before rushing up to the podium.

"Our department is responsible for geological surveying and resource extraction. I strongly advise that all our current excavators be entirely redesigned and rebuilt. Nix's gravity is significantly higher than what we experienced on Mars. Due to material stress limits, our older excavators will buckle under their own weight, let alone when fully loaded with ore in that kind of high-gravity environment. A complete redesign is mandatory."

"Another crucial point regards methane lakes. On an ultra-cold planet, there is a high probability of finding liquid methane lakes or massive deposits of combustible ice, similar to the permafrost at Earth's poles. I propose we prioritize the extraction of these organic compounds to resolve the Precursor ship's ongoing organic matter shortage."

Jason listened patiently, realizing it all boiled down to the same conclusion: they needed to develop even more new machinery.

A dull headache began to throb behind his temples, and he shook his head slightly. He glanced at the massive display screen behind the podium, which was filled with a seemingly endless list of necessary research and development projects.

Two to three hundred of them were highly complex, Class-A engineering challenges, not to mention the countless minor tasks attached to them.

He seriously doubted whether the engineering and science divisions could actually complete all these projects within the three-year window. Yes, their technology was advancing at a breakneck pace... but wasn't this workload a bit absurd? Could they really manage it all? Were the Senior Scientists losing their minds?

By comparison, their previous Mars landing seemed like a reckless, amateurish scramble. They had practically charged in blind. Fortunately, while they had paid a price in blood, it had been a bearable one. He couldn't help but feel that the council was becoming overly cautious, jumping at the slightest shadow.

Jason ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Whatever. Even if we don't end up needing all this tech immediately, we'll need it eventually.

Scientific research, as long as it yielded tangible results, was never a waste. Anyway, once they touched down on Nix, they would have access to all the raw materials they could ever want. Burning through their current resources to prepare was acceptable. They could afford to deplete even 70% of their strategic reserves if it guaranteed survival!

Jason reminded himself that even if the next few years were agonizingly difficult, it wouldn't matter; the long-term payoff would secure their future.

The collective mentality was like that of a prospector who had just discovered the motherlode, they no longer cared about the few pennies left in their pockets. If they were about to mine mountains of gold and silver, what did it matter if they spent everything they had to get there?