Chapter 700: Ignition! Take off!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“5
“4
“3
“2
“1
“Ignite!”
The circulating liquid lithium began to tumble in the reactor.
A series of dense bubbles were injected, and the energy of a star was ignited in the invisible atomic nuclei. The moment the solid-state xenon in the working medium compartment was injected into the ionization chamber, the high-temperature plasma began to emit light and heat. While constrained by the magnetic field, the plasma was sent to the engine exhaust nozzle...
A light blue arc could be seen from the bottom of the space shuttle, pushing the giant space shuttle forward...
The speed gradually became faster and faster, and the tires left the runway as the landing gear retracted into the space shuttle.
That blue arc of light represented humans’ vision of space. The silver bullet disappeared into the clouds, heading toward space...
The technicians standing near the runway were watching the whole thing unfold as they cheered and threw their hats into the sky, celebrating with excitement.
At the same time, in the ground command center less than 500 meters away from the runway, sounds of cheering were heard.
As Hou Guang listened to the deafening cheers, he took a deep breath and took off his headset. He wiped the tears from his eye.
It had been so many years.
His dream finally became a reality.
At last, he didn’t disappoint his teachers...
Those designs that were considered useless at the time, was finally reborn.
Outside the launch site.
The soldiers guarding the launch site also saw the blue arc of light disappearing in the clouds.
Even though their jobs didn’t allow them to show excitement, everyone’s face was full of pride and joy.
Regiment Commander Dai looked into the direction the blue light disappeared to, and his expression didn’t change much. He silently raised his right hand and did a military salute.
God bless this country.
May you return safely!
...
Meanwhile, outside the launch site.
An SUV came to a stop.
Yuan Huanmin, who was authorized to enter the site, quickly walked toward the main entrance of the launch center. Secretary Yu followed him closely.
The security staff at the entrance noticed the two men approaching, and he immediately stopped them.
“Stop right there, this is a restricted area!”
Secretary Yu immediately presented their authorization documents.
“This is our authorization documents from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, get out of the way.”
The security guard took a close look at the documents, then returned the documents to Secretary Yu.
“Sorry, this authorization is only a permit to enter the perimeter, you can stay in this area, but you may not enter.”
Yuan Huanmin squinted his eyes and said, “What do you mean?”
The security guard said, “This is a private area.”
Secretary Yu’s eyes widened. “What!”
This was correct.
Even though this was a controlled airspace area, the land was ultimately owned by Star Sky Technology. The documents from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology allowed them to pass through the restricted area, but if they wanted to enter the private area, they would have to have a court warrant or authorization from a special department...
Suddenly, there was a commotion on the launch site.
A team of army soldiers ran across the launch site, toward the command center.
The security guard was stunned. He obviously didn’t know what was going on. He saw Regiment Commander Dai and Chief Engineer Hou Guang walk out of the launch site.
Yuan Huanmin noticed the commotion, and he immediately asked Regiment Commander Dai.
“What happened? Is there an accident?”
Regiment Commander Dai was about to speak, but Hou Guang shook his head and spoke first.
“Not quite, the launches have been successful, it’s just...”
Secretary Yu gulped and said, “Just what?”
Regiment Commander Dai sighed and said, “Professor Lu has disappeared, and we’re not sure why. We’re trying to find him. If you guys have any clues, please tell us as soon as possible...”
“Disappeared?” Yuan Huanmin had his mouth open, and he asked, “Where is he?”
“He was just on the launch site a second ago... maybe...”
Hou Guang suddenly had a strange expression on his face.
Regiment Commander Dai noticed his change of expression, and he immediately asked, “Maybe what? Where is he now?”
Hou Guang still had a strange expression on his face.
“I’m not sure, but maybe, and just maybe... He’s on the flight.”
1Yuan Huanmin: “???”
Secretary Yu: “???”
Regiment Commander Dai: “???”
The soldiers on duty: “???”
On the space shuttle?
F*ck!
...
Meanwhile, above the clouds.
Nie Yun was sitting in the cockpit. His entire hand was shaking.
He looked at Lu Zhou, who appeared out of nowhere, and asked, “Why are you here?”
Lu Zhou leisurely made himself a cup of coffee. He said while sitting in the crew seat, “It’s my plane, why can’t I be here?”
Nie Yun: “...”
Nie Yan: “...”
Lu Zhou did seem to make sense, so they didn’t know how to respond.
Nie Yan looked at Lu Zhou’s coffee and couldn’t help but ask, “Is now the best time for coffee?”
“It’s the only time for coffee.” Lu Zhou stirred his cup with a spoon and said, “Once we fly to the stratosphere, I won’t be able to drink anything.”
Ion thruster propulsion acceleration was much slower than chemical propulsion. Even under ideal conditions, it would take two hours to reach orbital velocity. Using the wings to provide an upward force in the ozone layer meant a stable flight.
Because of this, he could enjoy his cup of coffee while they were still in the ozone layer.
Also, carrying one extra person wouldn’t impact their safety. The Skyglow was designed for a maximum capacity of ten people. They could have seven more people on this flight if they wanted to.
Nie Yun and Nie Yan looked at each other. They gulped and communicated with their eyes.
“Brother, what do we do?”
“I don’t know! Should we go back?”
“But the launching cost is probably astronomical, we can’t just go back...”
“But think about how much Lu Zhou is worth?”
Nie Yun began to clench his teeth.
This guy...
Has no awareness regarding how important his safety is.
Honestly, the moment Nie Yun stepped on the space shuttle, he was putting his life at risk. He even placed his own testament in his drawer. But now, failure wasn’t an answer.
He had to do everything to land this spacecraft safely.
Nie Yan, while sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, looked at her brother.
“You’re right... I’ll talk to ground command.”
Lu Zhou saw the siblings communicating with their facial expressions, and he could probably guess what they were planning, so he coughed and said, “I know what you guys are thinking, but I advise you against it.
“If we land now, not only will that destroy thousands of researchers’ efforts over the past year, the entire project will also be at risk of bankruptcy.”
Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, “Also... I didn’t just come here for fun, I have my reasons.
“No matter what the reasons are, you guys are soldiers, right? So you will listen to orders. The military sent you guys to me, so you have to listen to my orders. Right now, I want you guys to concentrate on completing your own tasks. Don’t worry about anything else, don’t worry about me. I run for an hour every single morning, and I’m in better physical shape than you think. Just pretend like I don’t exist.”
Is this about physical health?
What do you mean to pretend like you don’t exist?
Nie Yun hesitated for a bit and decided not to land this flight.
Like Lu Zhou said, his mission was to follow orders.
The moment his senior officer sent him here, Lu Zhou became his superior. Even though Lu Zhou was not a soldier, he still had the power to command him.
Therefore, even though there were a million reasons to land this flight, he had to follow orders...
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