Chapter 200 - 194 Departing for Battle_1

Exiting the launch center, the stretch of road from the gate to the bus stop at the corner was lined with reporters and media, who nearly occupied all the available space, leaving only the path enclosed by railings open for passage.

The short 20-meter walk took just a dozen seconds, but Lin Ju felt the sounds around his ears become noisy and blurred, receding from him at high speed like background noise.

He thought that must be the first cosmic velocity.

Although the trio appeared the same in front of the cameras—smiling with a mini air conditioner in one hand and waving to either side—Lin Ju knew his steps were becoming lighter.

They boarded the electric bus parked inside the venue—sponsored by Southern Automobile and Xin’an Automobile, featuring the latest generation batteries and integrated chassis control technology, it offered a ride so smooth and stable that you couldn’t even feel the speed bumps.

About 80 years earlier, Howard Hughes, the founder of Hughes Aircraft Company, used to demand his drivers control their speed over bumps because he believed the severe jolting could damage his lover’s bust.

Yet this electric bus, utilizing its heavy adaptive chassis, could glide over speed bumps at 50 kilometers per hour without any sensation, almost making one forget they were in a vehicle.

Lin Ju leaned against the window, spotting the crowds dressed in work clothes bearing the insignia of Xinyuan Company on their chests.

Over 200 engineers and related staff from Xinyuan in Qiongzhou had come early to see him off, with even more wanting to come but were declined.

In a matter of minutes, the bus carrying the crew and staff arrived at the launch tower, and it was now 6:40 am—the sun had fully risen, casting a fiery glow over the sparkling sea.

Lin Ju took one last look at the seaside, drew a deep breath, suppressed the urge to tremble in his legs, and followed Hu Dong and Li Wei into the elevator.

The New Yuan-2/Progress combination stood approximately 90 meters tall, and the elevator ride up took a full minute—a very long minute.

The elevator in the launch tower was semi-open, and Lin Ju was directly facing the white rocket.

He was very familiar with New Yuan-2. Starting from the engines, his gaze ascended past the first and second stages, the fairing and the escape tower, further up to the dark belly of the Progress.

The Progress’s silver-gray heat-resistant tiles sparkled under the scattered sunlight, and colorful patterns were visible through its deep blue portholes.

With a slight drop under their feet, the elevator came to a stop.

Li Wei strode towards the corridor. It was fully enclosed, but the slight vibration as they stepped on it reminded them that they were a hundred meters above ground.

Hu Dong and Lin Ju followed close behind. Watching Li Wei and Hu Dong climb in first with the help of staff, Lin Ju also bent down, let the staff remove his mini air conditioner, and carefully grabbed the temporary supports inside the Progress.

He barely moved, and the well-rehearsed staff expertly placed Lin Ju into the seat, ensuring all three astronauts were positioned correctly before connecting the Life Sustaining System lines. They quickly tidied up, and left the cabin.

Lin Ju couldn’t see what was behind... or more accurately, below him. Sitting angled upwards made him feel slightly uncomfortable and made him want to lift his head. As he made a slight movement, the seat began to track his movement, also lifting slightly at the head.

The two C-shaped structures clamping his legs began to tighten—firmly pressing the space suit against Lin Ju’s legs. Although this was to assist with load-bearing preparation, it gave Lin Ju a great deal of reassurance.

"Bang!"

The hatch of the Progress was closed from the outside. The staff forcefully pulled down the manual valve inside the open operating port. After the indicator light turned green, they carefully closed the operating port, making sure it was sealed before giving a thumbs-up gesture to the people behind them.

Once everyone had exited the corridor, the steel structure of the corridor slowly retracted and moved away, leaving only three control wiring connectors attached to the various stages of the rocket and the spacecraft.

The screen in front of Lin Ju, which was also behind Hu Dong, lit up, and he saw Guo Shen, Androff, the big shots, and many people from the space agency, Sichuan provincial and municipal governments, and the partner schools standing in front of the control console, waving at Lin Ju.

There were too many old acquaintances; Lin Ju couldn’t greet each one individually, so he just smiled and waved back earnestly.

Guo Shen: "Boss, how’s the space suit we made? The version for this mission has been improved again—it’s 7% lighter and fits even better. You’re not sweating, are you?"

"No, I feel very good. You can ask 01 and 02 how they are."

"01 reporting: I feel good, no anomalies."

"02 reporting, I feel great too."

Big Shot: "01, how does it feel to fly again? The live broadcast hasn’t started yet, so you can talk about it."

Li Wei: "I have 600 hours of experience flying the H1 simulator, but I must say, sitting inside Progress is really nice. I feel like I’m truly piloting a spaceship, the kind from cartoons that just shoots up into the sky when you push the throttle."

A few light laughs erupted from the launch control center; Androff stepped forward:

"Captain Li, the Progress-New Yuan-2 combination can indeed be manually launched in special emergency situations, but I wouldn’t recommend you try it. Perhaps in the future, you’ll really be able to fly such a ship from the ground into space."

"Haha, I’m afraid I won’t live to see that day though."

Li Wei made the rare move of self-deprecating, and the others thought Androff was joking too. Only Lin Ju and his team knew it was no joke.

Design work on the XN-90 spacecraft was ongoing; Androff was close to finishing the initial design and about to enter the detailed design phase.

The design work was expected to be completed in less than a year, then another year or so would be spent building the spacecraft.

XN-90 spacecraft... No one knew when it would truly be presented to the world, but if Li Wei and the others still remembered today’s events by then, it would be a must to have Li Wei come and witness it personally.

After that, Lin Ju chatted with some old acquaintances of his, and as 7:30 approached, the news and online broadcasts began simultaneously.

The launch was scheduled for 9 o’clock, still an hour and a half away.

Li Wei remembered this special time: 12 years, 10 months, and 10 days ago, he had also, at this very time, left Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center aboard the Shenzhou-5 to enter space.

Nearly thirteen years had passed, and the excitement in his heart had not diminished one bit.

He gently grasped the joystick, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and his heart rate hardly changed.

The screen in front of Lin Ju switched to a different view; this time the signal came from above.

The second batch of 6 crew members aboard the Tiangong Space Station connected with Progress, and Lin Ju saw System Engineer Ke Yun and Deng Lei.

After the three of them had exchanged greetings, Deng Lei floated alone into the camera’s view, adeptly securing his position.

"Boss, to be honest, when I heard you were coming up in July, I kind of regretted it. If I had known, I would have waited for you to come and be the pilot."

Lin Ju: If it wasn’t for the corners of your mouth cracking open, I’d believe your nonsense!

Who was it that got so excited about a long-term stay in space that they missed their Nth matchmaking session?

The netizens tuning into the live broadcast on the network platform joined Lin Ju in voicing the same denouncement, criticizing the rebellious worker.

The rebellious lad was gently pulled back, and Liu Ming took his place in front of the camera, picking up the camera and pointing the display at the lens.

"Progress crew, this is a photo I took 10 minutes ago when I passed over our country. I saw Qiongzhou and want to share this view with you right away."