Chapter 501: Chapter 83 Genius Contest (2.1K Monthly Ticket Extra) Chapter 501: Chapter 83 Genius Contest (2.1K Monthly Ticket Extra) “`
March 27, 2024, 22:43
Off the eastern coast of Mi Country, in the sky, 230 kilometers up in the atmosphere.
The retro thrusters in the front of the Skyspace Aircraft continuously emitted gas, decelerating.
In this thin layer of atmosphere, the pearl-white Skyspace Aircraft seemed to move slowly, but in fact, zoomed swiftly past the coastline of Mi Country, heading for the Atlantic Ocean.
Wei Cheng was utterly focused, exerting his lifetime’s best in piloting this Skyspace Aircraft without navigation, signals, guidance, radar, or positioning.
Since this Skyspace Aircraft had emerged from the factory, he had been the first to sit in it.
That was the name he had given this vital piece of equipment for his country.
“Since it’s a secret, and the real name and model aren’t disclosed, let’s call it Little White!”
That was the offhand comment Wei Cheng made when he first saw the Skyspace Aircraft, and unexpectedly, the name stuck.
Wei Cheng was China’s ace astronaut, who had completed over a dozen space missions.
Aside from spacewalks, he had performed all kinds of space missions and was highly decorated for his exploits.
It was for these reasons, along with his superior flying skills, that he had been selected through a rigorous national process to become the pilot of China’s first Skyspace Aircraft.
It was a unique honor.
It was also a unique responsibility.
He didn’t know how many days and nights he had spent in this cramped cockpit, relying on Little White.
Reliance for survival.
Little White represented the heavy responsibility and expectations entrusted to him by his country.
Little White was his life, Wei Cheng’s very existence!
“Stay steady, Little White.”
Wei Cheng gritted his teeth, his gaze unwavering, looking through the aircraft’s windshield at the dark universe outside, as well as the earthy terrain below that looked like a blend of modeling clay and watercolor—the land, ocean, and clouds.
As professional astronauts and flyers.
Of course, they had to undergo training under various extreme conditions, like bad weather, signal loss, flight without navigation, and flying by sight…
Initially, during recruitment and training at a specialized academy, many classmates complained that training for extreme situations like bad weather or losing navigation was understandable; however, the scenario where all signals were lost, while out in space and all contact was severed, including silence from all satellites and unresponsive ground radio, was simply impossible!
Every space mission was well-prepared by the nation, simulated over and over, with backup plans behind backup plans, and spare equipment behind spare equipment…
Completely losing contact and navigating solely by eyesight had no training value; it was asking the impossible.
The words the instructor said to everyone were what he had said to Gao Yang before this space mission:
“It’s undeniable that 99% of the training we do now is redundant, just like most of what you learn in your textbooks seems entirely irrelevant to life; the nation will never need you to calculate gravity, make oxygen with a Bunsen burner, nor head into battle reciting classical Chinese texts.”
“But life is unknown, who knows what will happen in the future?
99% of the insurance people buy is a waste, 99% of being careful is unnecessary, 99% of medical check-ups are false alarms, and 99% of household medicine expires…”
“Even so, why do we still do these things?
Because it’s that 1% we need to prevent!”
The instructor held up his index finger, his gaze sweeping across the crowd:
“Among you bunch of college students who joined through recruitment, only 1% of you will truly become pilots!
And among those pilots, only 1% will become astronauts!
Most astronauts in China will never get the chance to go to space in their lifetimes, and even among those who do, only 1% get that chance!”
If you’re not diligent, not stronger or better than others, what makes you think you can be that 1%!”
A surge of recoil shock.
At an altitude of 210 kilometers, Wei Cheng’s gaze was as fierce as fire!
Staring at the dark universe and the blue Earth!
He was one who had worked hard!
He had become one 1% after another!
The pilot of the only Skyspace Aircraft in the whole of China!
“I am the chosen one…”
Wei Cheng clenched the control stick tightly:
In the boundless space.
At the very edge of Earth.
In Wei Cheng’s resolute gaze, the Skyspace Aircraft, having lost everything, soared into the sunrise, toward the other side of the Earth.
Towards the visitor from afar, belonging not to this world, this universe, this realm of space and time.
In the equipment bay.
Lin Xian, Huang Que, Gao Yang, and Chu Anqing stood in a circle.
“The Space-Time Particle Mini Tracker that Liu Feng has can be used properly, so we haven’t lost track of the Space-Time Particle, and we now have navigational direction.
This doesn’t affect our original capture plan,” Huang Que said, turning to Gao Yang.
“In a little over an hour, we’ll meet with the Space-Time Particle at the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean.
It appears the minimum speed of the Space-Time Particle is Mach 0.97, and it hasn’t slowed down for a long time.
This speed is very suitable for us.
At that moment, this Skyspace Aircraft will start its material engine and fly parallel to the Space-Time Particle at Mach 0.97.”
“Then it will be your time to shine, Gao Yang.
After all our hard work, whether this plan succeeds ultimately depends on whether you can catch that Space-Time Particle with the rice cooker.”
Gao Yang nodded, giving a thumbs up, indicating he had no problem.