Chapter 200: The Terror of Longguo Infrastructure! Crazy Launching!

Tuesday at 4:00 AM, a launch site in the northwest.

Wang Hao had two huge dark circles under his eyes, clutching half a can of Red Bull, staring at the giant screen in the center of the command hall.

On the screen, the "Qingyun" No. 3 rocket stood on the launch pad, the dragon pattern paint on the arrow body gleaming coldly under the searchlights.

"Thirty minutes to countdown." A calm female voice came from the speaker.

"Director Wang, why don't you... sit for a while?" A young commander next to him whispered, "This is the eighth one you've watched."

"Sit? Sit what? Brother Hao is full of energy!" Wang Hao gulped down the Red Bull.

"This is just the beginning, three launches today! Three launches, understand? In the past, that would have been enough for a quarterly quota!"

Low laughter erupted in the hall.

Over the past half month, the entire launch site had become accustomed to this "rocket maniac" from the Longyin Research Institute.

Sleeping six hours a day, the remaining eighteen hours were spent either changing code or urging progress, his mantra being "it can be faster."

It wasn't that Wang Hao was urging blindly, it was really... the demand was too great.

Ever since the "Xuanwu-Fusion" core passed the test, the space infrastructure plan had been like opening an accelerator.

The "Deep Sea Dragon Palace" space station project, originally planned for five years, was forcibly compressed to fifteen days.

Fifteen days, from the first module going to heaven to the completion of a large space station capable of accommodating twelve people for long-term residence.

It sounds like a fantasy.

But when you have near-infinite energy, rockets that can be recovered and reused in three days, and ground fully automated production lines working 24 hours a day to build modules...

Fantasy becomes KPI.

"Ten minutes to countdown."

Wang Hao walked to the console and pulled up the real-time data of "Qingyun" No. 3.

This rocket was executing its seventh mission, yes, the seventh time.

With the addition of fusion propellant, the rocket was no longer a one-time consumable, but like a bus, traveling between heaven and earth.

"Payload status?"

"No. 12 experimental cabin module, self-weight eight tons, internal equipment pre-installed, can be docked directly after entering orbit." The operator reported.

"Also carrying supplementary components for four 'Heavenly Clerk' mechanical arms."

"Heavenly Clerk" mechanical arm, a robot designed by Li Yang's team specifically for space construction.

Each has three seven-meter-long mechanical arms, which can work in coordination like an octopus.

There are currently eight in orbit, plus these four...

"That's twelve mechanical arms working at the same time." Wang Hao grinned.

"How is Brother Li's side prepared?"

"Director Li's team is already on standby in the Dragon Palace temporary control cabin, and they will start work as soon as the docking window opens."

4:30 AM.

"Ignition!"

The pale blue fusion tail flame spewed out from the bottom of the rocket, accompanied by a low, continuous energy hum.

"Qingyun" No. 3 left the ground steadily and accelerated toward the night sky.

Wang Hao stared at the rising curve, muttering: "This recovery must break the record... must break the record..."

Fifty-two minutes later.

"Rocket first and second stage separation successful, third stage ignition, entering transfer orbit."

"Payload cabin released, docking procedure started."

The screen in the hall switched scenes; in the pitch-black space, a silver-white cylindrical module slowly approached the "Deep Sea Dragon Palace" which was already taking shape.

The main body of the space station had already built a skeleton, like a giant steel centipede floating in orbit.

"Docking locked!"

Almost at the same time, the four "Heavenly Clerk" mechanical arms that had been on standby nearby started simultaneously.

They stretched out from different positions of the space station skeleton, grabbed the new module, and moved it to the designated position with millimeter-level precision.

"Start welding."

The end of the mechanical arm switched tools and sprayed a special welding beam.

There was no sound in space, only the blinding white light and splashing metal particles on the monitoring screen.

"Welding complete, airtightness test passed."

"Power-on test normal."

"Life support system online."

A series of reports came from the "Dragon Palace" temporary control cabin; it was Li Yang's voice.

Wang Hao glanced at the time: from docking to completion, it only took nineteen minutes.

"Awesome!" He slapped his thigh hard.

"Brother Li's craftsmanship, in ancient times, he would definitely be Lu Ban reborn!"

An old engineer next to him sighed: "I've been in aerospace for forty years; in the past, to install an experimental cabin, astronauts had to work outside the cabin for a week."

"But now... just twenty minutes."

"Times have changed, old master." Wang Hao laughed.

"What we are doing now is not aerospace, but playing with building blocks, and fully automated ones at that."

In the following days, the launch site entered a crazy rhythm.

"Qingyun" No. 4, No. 5, No. 6... at least two launches every day, and the busiest day saw four rocket launches.

The sky in the northwest had pale blue trajectories across it from morning to night; nearby residents went from shock at the beginning to habit later.

Now some people have even opened live streaming channels specifically to track rocket launches.

Jokes have appeared on the internet: "What is Longguo Aerospace doing recently? Rockets are being fired as if they don't cost money."

"The person above doesn't understand, this is called space Didi, here whenever you call."

"I guess they are playing Lego in the sky."

"What kind of Lego, that's called Deep Sea Dragon Palace! It is said that it will be built in half a month, what day is it now?"

"The seventh day, one-third has already been put together."

The seventh day is indeed a node.

Li Yang was in the Dragon Palace temporary control cabin, looking at the main structure of the space station that had already taken shape, and smiled.

Twelve "Heavenly Clerk" mechanical arms danced in space, like a group of steel ballet dancers, precisely splicing, fixing, and welding each module.

"Director Li, the core energy cabin is ready for docking." The voice of the ground control center came from the communicator.

"Received."

An hour later, the most important module arrived, the "Xuanwu-Space" fusion core cabin.

This cylinder, six meters in diameter and fifteen meters long, will be responsible for the energy supply of the entire space station.

The docking process was extra cautious.

Four mechanical arms held the cabin body from four directions simultaneously, moving slowly at a speed of centimeters per second.

It took a full thirty minutes for the cabin body to be steadily embedded in the core position of the space station.

"Docking complete."

"Energy line connected."

"Start test."

Li Yang held his breath.

On the monitoring screen, the energy output curve began to climb—10%, 30%, 50%... 100%, and then continued to rise.

150%, 200%, 300%.

Finally stabilized at 350% of the rated power.

This is not the limit, just 3.5 times the current demand of the space station.

"All system power supply normal." Li Yang reported.

"Redundant energy is sufficient, can support future expansion modules."

Applause erupted in the ground control hall.

Deputy Minister Liu was also at the scene; he stared at the space station that was already quite large on the screen and muttered: "Seven days... seven days."

"Actually, it could be faster." Wang Hao leaned over at some point.

"Mainly because module production can't keep up; Brother Li's design is too fast, and the factory can't keep up even with three shifts."

"The production capacity problem is already being solved." Feng Yan walked over.

"Three new modular factories will be put into production next month, and the speed of space construction will double by then."

Deputy Minister Liu turned to look at him: "Director Feng, your rhythm... will it be too fast? I mean, international reaction..."

"It has to be fast." Feng Yan said calmly.

"By the time they react and want to stop it, we have already finished building it; this is called a fait accompli." ===== CHAPTER 201 =====