Chapter 843

"AG-99 moves to Runway 1."

"Woo! Woo! Woo!"

Amidst the urgent alarm, heavy rumbling sounds came in bursts, the lock cores spun out, and the hangar protective door leading to the universe opened slowly.

At that moment.

The air inside the hangar surged outward from the passage, exposed to the vacuum, quickly boiled and evaporated, and quickly lost temperature and condensed, sticking a layer of white film on the gate.

"Fixing device released."

Jiang Wenhan noticed that there were many connection points under AG-99, locking the fuselage firmly to prevent the leaking gas from taking it away together.

With a crisp click, the fixing device separated, and the mechanism on the shell of AG-99 deformed slowly, covering the dents that had destroyed the integrity of the appearance.

"Launch preparation completed!"

Zhang Hanyu: "Enter the launch countdown."

"Electromagnetic catapult preparation!"

As the instruction was issued, a new device rose from the ground under AG-99 and connected to the fuselage.

In outer space, whether there is a catapult start or not doesn't have much impact.

It can fly, and there is no fear of crashing.

But having it is better than not having it.

Moreover, the electromagnetic catapult track and the energy consumption required are not much for such a huge space station.

The low-frequency buzzing sound emitted by charging grew stronger, conducted into AG-99 along the ground, and then was heard by everyone in the command center.

"8!"

"7!"

Jiang Wenhan held his breath, his heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the rhythm of the countdown, and his eyes were locked on the aircraft that was about to set sail.

All the searchlights in the hangar were turned on, and the tail of AG-99 also faintly emitted a cyan-blue light.

"2!"

"1!"

"Launch!"

Instantly, the catapult device started, and the tail of AG-99 also instantly burst into dazzling light.

The aircraft took off from the hangar of the Space Academy, aimed at the direction of Earth, and flashed away like an arrow from a bow, until it disappeared from view and could no longer be seen.

Instantly.

Thunderous applause erupted in the command center, and Jiang Wenhan's clenched fists finally relaxed, his pale knuckles gradually turning ruddy.

Amidst the cheers of the people, Zhang Hanyu walked to Jiang Wenhan's side and patted the other's shoulder:

"One more day, and it will be time to witness history with our own eyes."

"Yeah." Jiang Wenhan nodded heavily, also waving his arms excitedly, joining the celebration.

……

Watching AG-99, which could no longer be found after an instant, the audience breathed a sigh of relief in unison.

"Why make the launch program so exciting... It's like the 'Antimatter Legion' invaded and the Foundation fleet was dispatched..."

"Ha... It's hard to imagine that in today's world where interstellar travel is commonplace, I can actually feel my blood boiling watching such an ancient launch program..."

"There is an ancient aesthetic."

"Ritual is a necessary part; in case this universe has a Machine God, it wouldn't be good if the necessary steps were missing."

"No way, you listen to that string of subsystem names, and you can probably guess that the cost of AG-99 is also quite high for the Foundation... Another piece of evidence is that if AG-99 could be mass-produced at will, Jiang Wenhan wouldn't have been rejected twenty-six times in a row."

"It's estimated that AG-99 is still an experimental machine, the kind that is modified while executing missions."

……

【According to calculations, it will take about twenty-four hours for AG-99 to reach the Earth-Moon orbit.】

【The entire waiting process in the middle was a bit interesting at first, but as the identical communication content kept sounding, my spirit became a bit trance-like, as if entering an endless time loop.】

【Zhang Hanyu saw my boredom, so he found a young man who was equally bored to send me to my residence, and wait until the next day when AG-99 crossed the Mars orbit to call me over.】

【"Boredom and monotony are the best results for us; there are no accidents, no thrills, and everything goes according to plan," he said to me before leaving.】

【About a day later, AG-99 sailed into the Earth-Moon orbit and turned on the optical stealth system, and I also returned to my seat at this time.】

【And on the big screen in the center of the monitoring hall, the scenery seen by AG-99 also began to be projected.】

【Zhang Hanyu had been sitting in the general commander's seat for a long time, looking a bit tired, as if he hadn't slept all night in the command center.】

According to the display on the screen, AG-99 had already exited faster-than-light cruising and entered normal-speed cruising mode.

Looking at the Earth that was gradually getting larger on the screen, Zhang Hanyu took a deep breath and picked up the microphone:

"This is the command center, this is the command center. AG-99, please reply if received."

A young voice came from the broadcast: "Command center, AG-99 has received."

"AG-99, please report your current coordinates."

"Classic Earth latitude and longitude coordinates: North Latitude 31.4, East Longitude 112.2. Have arrived at the target airspace. Flight altitude confirmed as 10,000 meters."

In the screen, one could vaguely see the mountains and plains below, but more of them were the layers of drifting clouds covering this land.

Like a white wilderness, or like a city of white jade.

"Very good," Zhang Hanyu nodded, "Is the optical stealth equipment working normally?"

"Already checked. Everything is normal."

"Have you discovered any suspicious targets that could be suspected as 'SCP-C-1559'?"

"The top and side monitoring devices have not found anything. Switching to the bottom monitoring device."

As his voice fell, the screen switched to a top-down view.

In the screen, one could see the outline of a large settlement; there was no doubt that it was an ancient city.

As the lens zoomed in continuously, streets, houses, and other typical urban buildings appeared in the screen, as well as pedestrians like black ants.

Chu State before King Huai's period... Jiang Wenhan made a judgment in his heart, and his heartbeat became more and more intense.

AG-99: "The bottom monitoring device did not find any suspicious targets. Human activities in the target area are unaffected."

Zhang Hanyu: "Continue monitoring."

AG-99: "Received. Continuing to cruise."

For a period of time that followed, no anomalies appeared.

Until the time reached 18:04 local time, the people in the screen suddenly became excited.

Subsequently, the lens pulled back a little, and only then did the crowd gather toward the west side of the city, everyone looking up, pointing and gesturing at the distant horizon.

At this time, everyone in the command center realized.

The "Blue Bird" might be coming.

The voice of the AG-99 operator also carried a trace of trembling, but his professional quality and every experience in the past allowed him to successfully restrain himself:

"Discovered abnormal human activity. Humans in the target area are gathering toward the west of the city; suspected appearance of 'SCP-C-1559'."

Zhang Hanyu was equally excited: "Turn the flight direction immediately."

【When the image of Yan Capital appeared on the screen, I felt as if I had stopped breathing, and all my attention was focused on that inconspicuous, gray-toned regular geometric figure in the background of the green land.】

【That was humanity's original home, which I hadn't returned to for fifty-five years.】

【Earth.】

【That was the place where my ancestors once lived and recorded the 'Blue Bird.'】

【The old capital of the Chu State.】

【People's lives were as usual, until night began to fall.】

【The flow of people in the city suddenly seemed to notice something, and began to gather toward the west of the city in a bustling manner.】

【I began to tremble all over and had to hold the pen in my hand tightly to calm myself down.】

【I knew that the 'Blue Bird' I had waited for all my life was about to appear.】

As the screen shifted, the target in the imagination still did not appear. Zhang Hanyu suppressed his temper and said steadily:

"Have you discovered any suspicious targets?"

"No abnormal targets meeting the requirements found..."

As soon as the voice fell, the sound transmitted back by AG-99 increased sharply, as if he had seen something far beyond his expectations.

"Wait, an unidentified flying object appeared at 42 degrees north-northwest. Focus observation immediately!"

Immediately, the screen completed the adjustment. ===== CHAPTER 845 =====

Immediately, the image finished adjusting.