Chapter 217: with translation of chapter title

Moving the backup robotic arm into position takes at least fifteen minutes, and the docking window will be missed.

Moreover, the modules are currently in fine-tuning mode; if we pause and then restart, the precision will also drop.

What should we do?

Li Yang looked at the design drawing of the bow module; the position corresponding to that joint is the auxiliary sensor array on the port side of the bow.

He quickly calculated: "If the No. 3 robotic arm fails, the load distribution of the remaining seven arms will change, but theoretically it is enough."

But the docking precision will drop to 1.2 mm.

"This already exceeds the design threshold," Chen Guang reminded.

"But it is still within the structural safety range," Li Yang decided.

"Continue docking, let Torch Dragon redistribute the load, transferring the burden of Arm No. 3 to Arms No. 2, 4, and 7."

The order was issued.

The temperature of the No. 3 robotic arm has risen to 85°C, but it is still persisting in working.

But the force has noticeably weakened.

The joint motors of the remaining seven robotic arms also emitted a faint humming to bear the extra load.

The bow module continued moving.

Last five centimeters.

Last three centimeters.

Finally——

"Contact!"

The bow gently struck the hull.

Under the control of the robotic arms, it precisely mated.

The latch began to rotate.

One, ten, a hundred……

"All in place!"

"Power lines connected!"

"Data link established!"

"Cooling system circulation started!"

The control center burst into deafening cheers.

Wang Hao jumped up directly from his chair, knocking over the water cup beside him.

In space, the outline of Penglai finally became complete.

The 380-meter-long hull slowly rotated in the sunlight, its silver-gray shell shedding a cold luster.

The two characters 'Penglai' on the hull gradually became complete; that was a template hand-carved by Zhao Gong, laser-etched onto the material surface, each stroke reaching a depth of three millimeters, able to remain unfaded in space for hundreds of years.

"System online," Li Yang ordered.

Inside the hull, lights began to light up section by section starting from the bow.

First came the dim blue outline lights, then the white work lights, and finally the red warning lights.

The entire lighting process lasted thirty seconds, like a slumbering giant beast slowly awakening.

Data began to flood into the control center:

Total length: 388.2 meters

Maximum width: 92.4 meters

Empty weight: tons

Fusion core output power: 4 × 350,000 kW (total 1,400,000 kW)

Theoretical endurance: unlimited (within maintenance period)

Maximum speed within atmosphere: 4.2 Mach

Orbital maneuver speed: 0.1 times light speed (sub-light speed cruise mode)

Payload capacity: 36 'Xia'an-3S' mechs, 200 'Kua Fu-3' missiles, 12 'Sword Immortal' aerospace fighters……

Wang Hao stared at those data, suddenly his eye sockets a bit red: "From setting off firecrackers to building this thing… I feel this life is worth it."

Chen Guang, unusually, didn't complain about him; he just pushed his glasses and said softly: "The data look beautiful."

On the ground, the logistics park rest area.

Liu Fang and her coworkers watched the live broadcast, all shocked with their mouths open.

When Penglai appeared in full, the entire rest area fell silent for a few seconds, then burst into cheers.

"It's done! Really done!"

"This ship… is too big, right!"

"An aircraft carrier that can fly in the sky! Our country is really awesome!"

Liu Fang looked at the steel giant on the screen, recalling the custom-made mech from her hometown.

She took out her phone and sent a message to her father: "Dad, have you seen the news? That big ship is the one I built using the mech technology I won in the competition."

Her father quickly replied: "I saw it! The villagers are now crowded in the village committee watching TV! Fang, you have brought honor to the country!"

She smiled, then put away her phone.

This afternoon there are still two truckloads of cargo to unload; life must go on.

But she knew that from today onward, some things would be different.

In the control center, Feng Yan looked at the complete Penglai on the screen, silently calculating in his mind: from project initiation to today, it has been ninety-seven days.

It was eight days ahead of the original plan.

At this moment, the Torch Dragon system popped up a new message: "The docking process has been fully recorded and edited into a three‑minute promotional video. Shall we release it?"

"Release it," Feng Yan said.

"Add a brief caption beside the video, stating that Longguo's Penglai space‑air mother ship has completed orbital assembly and entered system testing phase,"

Three minutes later, the video swept across the global internet.

#PenglaiManifest# instantly topped the trending list on every social platform.

The NASA director smashed a cup in his office.

The European Space Agency convened an emergency meeting.

Eagle Country's defense minister canceled the scheduled itinerary.

Meanwhile, in a certain underground facility of Jiaobenji, the head of the Eight‑Branch Project watched the footage, his complexion turning iron‑blue.

"We must accelerate the schedule," he told his subordinates.

"We must finish our prototype before Penglai's maiden voyage,"

What he didn't know was that, as he spoke, the Torch Dragon system was already performing voice recognition and translation of his sentence.

The information was transmitted in real time back to the Longyin Research Institute.

Chen Guang stared at the alert flashing on the screen: "Accelerate command for the Eight‑Branch Project detected; based on the opponent's development timeline, the prototype may be completed next month."

He looked at Feng Yan.

Feng Yan nodded: "Record it, then send more fresh intel to the Confluence Organization, saying we've discovered the Eight‑Branch Project has accelerated and we're now very nervous."

"How many details should we send?"

"Send enough to make them believe we really have been distracted,"

"Understood."

Chen Guang began the operation.

In another corner of his screen, the surveillance feed showed: through a chip backdoor, technicians of the Confluence Organization were receiving a new encrypted file.

File title: "Emergency Meeting Minutes on Responding to Jiaobenji's 'Eight‑Branch Project' Acceleration."

Inside, it detailed the Longyin senior staff's concerns, strategy adjustments, and internal discussion about the Penglai maiden‑voyage test possibly being delayed because of this.

Although it was entirely false intelligence.

But it was convincing enough to make the other side believe that Longguo's people are now swamped and have no time for anything else.

The second phase of the phishing began.

At 8 p. m., Zhou Ming finished work, changed into casual clothes, and went for a late‑night snack with a few food‑delivery rider friends.

Vendor Lao Wu also wore an exoskeleton—though he'd modified it himself, with the right‑hand mechanical arm he could flip twenty skewers of meat in a single motion.

"Did you see that big ship today?" a rider asked while turning a skewer.

"Seen it, seen it! It was just so cool!"

"I heard it can fly in the sky later; you can go wherever you want!"

"Then can we deliver food up into the sky too?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhou Ming didn't laugh; he just stared at the night sky.

During today's test of the Sky‑Dominating Mech, Li Yang whispered to him: "When Penglai's maiden voyage comes, we may need a batch of reserve crew familiar with mech operation; think about it."

He gave no answer at the time.

But now, watching the smoke rise from the grill and hearing his friends daydream about the future, he seemed to suddenly have an answer.

"Boss, another ten skewers of kidneys!" he shouted.

"Got it!" Lao Wu's mechanical arm deftly grabbed the meat skewers, sprinkled seasoning, and flipped them.

Fireworks on earth, stars overhead.

In the starry sky, a giant ship was adjusting its attitude, its port window slowly aligning toward Earth.