Chapter 604 - 592 Fuel

"That’s very normal, actually I think it’s mainly because of using missiles for launch. If it was airdropped or detonated at a fixed location, it might be much better."

Shen Zuozhou nodded, but the fear in his heart had not completely dissipated:

"Nuclear war... it’s too terrifying. I can’t imagine if a hydrogen bomb exploded here... Peace, especially in a nuclear-armed world, is too important."

Never had he so strongly wished for war not to happen. The thought of the scientific essence that had created countless industrial miracles, produced the most powerful rockets, and the most advanced chips turning into ash was unimaginable—the descent of civilization beyond comprehension.

"Of course, no one wants these to happen. If..."

Xiao Okada was speaking when suddenly a loud noise interrupted him. He looked out the window in astonishment. This was the family compound of the Aerospace bureau, close to the inner ring of the Capital, but what was with the fireworks outside!

They seemed very close to his location, almost filling up the entire night sky.

But then came the piercing sound of alarm bells. Whatever the case, if a fire broke out in the Capital because of this, it would be a serious matter!

However, the vast number of talented people, just like after the Moon landing operation in July, how did they manage to get these things past all the security checks?!

The sudden fireworks seemed to be the start of some kind of signal, as beautiful fireworks began rising sporadically throughout the city, and even the screens on the distant skyscrapers displayed the same.

Shen Zuozhou’s originally stiff expression finally relaxed, pulled back from the brink of nuclear annihilation to reality:

"Regardless, we have harnessed this power... Old Xiao, we need to do our job well and make our country stronger and stronger."

Xiao Okada nodded vigorously:

"Those who offend our mighty nation, no matter how far away, will be punished."

"Ah... I almost forgot, we need to rest early. The Chapter 9 is landing on the Moon tomorrow; we can’t afford any mistakes."

"Chapter 9 has been orbiting the Moon for a day already, right? I knew we should have launched a day early; I guess everyone is not really in the best state now."

"You shouldn’t worry too much about that; the intelligence technology of New Yuan is so strong, and since we can’t intervene remotely anyway, we should trust the science."

...

"Oh!"

Feeling the morning sunlight from the Imperial Capital seeping through the gaps in the curtains, Yu Man turned over reluctantly, then heard an annoyed exclamation from the person beside her.

She snuggled up skillfully and said softly:

"What’s wrong?"

Lin Ju had been acting a bit off since yesterday, upset over the loss of a satellite, then happy about a breakthrough in laser technology, and it had started again early this morning.

She felt Lin Ju turn to face her, then place his hands on her cheeks.

"I suddenly remembered something I forgot to tell you, I should have told you yesterday!"

"What is it?"

Yu Man, eyes still closed, still mumbled cooperatively.

"I remembered a plot from a romance novel for women that I read before... it’s the kind with an overbearing CEO, you know? The male lead celebrates for the female lead by setting off hundreds to thousands of atomic bombs as fireworks. This time, it could indirectly be counted as me setting them off, right?"

"..."

Yu Man finally opened her eyes, stared at Lin Ju’s face filled with regret for a few moments, her eyes mostly rolling back, and then she fell back asleep.

Even though she knew that the person beside her was a reborn individual, possibly a time-traveler or some other alien, such a leap in thinking was still startling.

Lin Ju sat up slapping his thigh in regret. This was such a perfect opportunity to come close to the overbearing CEO trope!

But before he could continue wallowing in his chagrin, the sound of an alarm jolted him back to reality, reminding him of today’s plans.

Yu Man heard the sound of clothes being put on hastily. By the time she opened her eyes again, Lin Ju had already pushed the door open:

"I have to go to the space agency, Chapter 9 is about to land on the Moon!"

...

"Hello Vice Chairman Lin, I am Zhong Cheng."

When Lin Ju finally arrived at the command center after hurrying over, he was greeted by the new Director of the Space Agency, Zhong Cheng, who welcomed him in a friendly manner.

"Hello, hello, I’ve long admired your renown."

Lin Ju replied politely out of habit, then noticed Zhong Cheng’s expression turning quite peculiar.

"If I were that famous, I’m afraid the Security Bureau would have to take action."

"..."

This caused Lin Ju to regard his identity with an added level of respect; evidently, the rumors were true—the new big shot had worked in no ordinary place before this.

Without further pleasantries, the time was already beyond 9:30 AM. Chapter 9 had begun its deceleration, preparing to land on the Moon.

This landing was not broadcasted publicly, possibly to ease the workload pressure on the Aerospace Development Committee.

In front of the command hall stood Academician She and Ye Changsi together, and despite their huge age difference, they appeared to get along extremely well from others’ perspective, like peers.

Both of them acknowledged Lin Ju’s arrival with a simple greeting and continued to focus on Chapter 9.

At over 300 tons, Chapter 9 was the largest and heaviest single spacecraft ever created, and also the largest and heaviest lander, almost ten times larger than the previous record holder in this domain.

It should have become the center of worldwide attention, but now the two hydrogen bombs in Fukushima had stolen all the spotlight, temporarily causing everyone to forget about the existence of this epoch-making ship.

The spacecraft was currently utilizing its two rear engines for the first stage of deceleration; hydrogen-oxygen engines produce almost invisible exhaust in space, and it’s only by observing from a distance that one could see the incandescent blaze in its combustion chamber.

Such a colossal vessel demanded an exceptionally high landing precision. Robots near Krum Impact Crater had been working day and night to clear a space as large as a soccer field, creating a landing site with fewer rocks and solid ground.

After all, the four engines of Chapter 9 during its landing would exert a thrust of over 100 tons—kicking up rock debris which could potentially damage the craft would be troublesome.

Such precision could only be met by a computer; a human astronaut would likely be inadequate, unless extremely agitated.

"It weighs more than everything humanity has ever launched to the Moon combined," Academician She suddenly remarked.

"I think we can set the launch date for the first landing crew on the 26th. The first fuel storage is still several days from being ready."

Although Chapter 9 came loaded with a full set of automated equipment to produce liquid hydrogen fuel, its output was ultimately limited; initially, it relied heavily on fuel launched from the ground.

The Black Rabbit Space Station had a massive fuel storage specifically for refueling Chapter 9 just enough for one fill.

The first fuel module destined for the Black Rabbit Space Station had been prepared last month—essentially a rudimentary tank, which was constructed alongside the tanks for the CZ-18’s fueling ship.

But the launch of CZ-18 had temporarily exhausted all of the country’s liquid hydrogen reserves, and it would take several days to replenish and fill the new fuel storage.

Lin Ju certainly had no objection to this, but he felt that constantly shipping disposable fuel tanks to the Moon was quite troublesome. It would be about another year before the Moon Base could autonomously produce its fuel. The thought of always launching these one-time-use fuel tanks felt somewhat wasteful to him.

He suddenly thought of Musk’s Starship, which, to be honest, seemed very viable for fuel transport: great capacity and low cost.