Yanhuang Calendar, Year 245.
Ye Chen was handling state affairs in the palace when he suddenly heard Yuan Lan's report.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Academy of Sciences has sent word that the Solar Flare Project is about to be completed. Testing can begin next month."
Hearing this, Ye Chen set down what he was holding, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The completion of the Solar Flare Project marked the Yanhuang Empire's official entry into the nuclear age. Its significance was extraordinary.
Although the Yanhuang Empire no longer had any enemies on Yanhuang Star (Blue Star), the Solar Flare Project still had to continue.
After all, this weapon was the most powerful weapon in the Home Star Civilization. At the very least, before the Yanhuang Empire stepped into the stars, it absolutely could not do without such a weapon.
Because this was the most basic guarantee of an empire.
A month passed quickly.
In the empire's largest desert, yellow sand filled the sky, yet a massive research base stood there.
Ye Chen descended from the sky. People had already been waiting for him there.
"Greetings, Imperial Sovereign. May the Imperial Sovereign live ten thousand years."
"All of you may rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After arriving, Ye Chen followed everyone into the base. The others changed into protective suits before proceeding to the test detonation zone.
As for Ye Chen, he had no need for that sort of thing.
Upon reaching the test detonation zone, Ye Chen stood in the air and looked at the enormous object below. He could clearly sense the terrifying energy and threat contained within it.
But it was only a threat. With his current strength, so long as he was not standing at the center of the explosion, the shock waves and radiation at the periphery could not kill him.
"Begin."
Ye Chen spoke into the communicator on him.
After hearing Ye Chen's order, the person in charge of the control center below did not hesitate and pressed the button directly.
As for Ye Chen's safety outside, he had never worried about it in the slightest. In his heart, Ye Chen was an omnipotent god.
As he pressed the controller, Ye Chen saw a sun appear in the sky. Its dazzling radiance caused waves of stinging pain in his eyes.
Fortunately, this pain was merely uncomfortable to him.
Immediately afterward, he saw the ground tremble as layers of visible energy shock waves spread wildly outward.
Everything in their path was destroyed and reduced to nothing. The previously tranquil desert instantly erupted into a sandstorm.
Only a few seconds later, Ye Chen felt a powerful wave of heat rush toward him. Even from several thousand meters in the air, he could still feel the searing heat.
With a wave of his hand, Ye Chen blocked the approaching heat wave and calmly watched the enormous mushroom cloud rise in the distance.
The following day, the Imperial Daily went all out in reporting on the incident.
As a result, countless citizens across the empire's major cities discussed it animatedly.
Two different factions gradually emerged among the people. One believed there was no need to manufacture such a terrifying weapon.
In their view, the realm was now unified, the people lived in peace, and the entire Yanhuang Star belonged to the Yanhuang Empire alone. There could be no more wars in the future.
Therefore, using such vast resources to manufacture and research this terrifying weapon was completely unnecessary.
The other faction held the opposite view. They believed that although the empire had unified Yanhuang Star, it would sooner or later advance into the stars. No one knew whether danger existed out there.
Therefore, this terrifying weapon not only had to be manufactured, but even more resources had to be invested to find ways to research more powerful weapons.
Only then could the empire's foundation be secured. Only then, even if it encountered civilizations in the stars, would the empire not be powerless to fight.
The core value embraced by this hawkish faction was: "Peace exists only within the range of artillery."
In short, they were a group of people suffering from a fear of insufficient firepower, along with enthusiasts who loved exploring extraterrestrial civilizations.
They loved the stars and longed to verify that other civilizations existed within them, yet they also felt an inexplicable fear of the beautiful starry sky.
As the era developed, especially once the Yanhuang Empire reached this stage, war disappeared and everyone's lives improved. In their spare time, the people began letting their minds wander and exploring the stars.
This could be said to be an inevitable trend for every civilization that developed to a certain point.
This matter was collected by the people below and submitted to Ye Chen.
After reading the submitted contents, Ye Chen shook his head helplessly. "Are these people all really so idle? They actually started arguing over this matter, and some even came to blows because of it.
"Looks like we need to speed up our research into the internet. The online world is huge. When the time comes, they can argue however they like. At least they won't be able to fight through a network cable."
Afterward, Ye Chen thought for a moment and instructed Yuan Lan to have the propaganda department guide public opinion on the matter.
With the completion of the Solar Flare Project, Ye Chen turned his attention to the empire's aerospace technology sector.
As for aerospace technology, the Aerospace Department had conducted some research before the war began. However, preparations for the subsequent war caused its development to be somewhat slow.
Now that the war had ended and vast resources were being gathered, its development had accelerated dramatically.
In just a few years, many satellites had been launched, but there had not been a single manned spaceflight.
Yanhuang Calendar, Year 250.
On this day, the empire's first manned spaceflight conducted its test flight.
On this day, many citizens gathered at the Yan Chen Aerospace Base, and reporters had come from every continent.
After all, this was the empire's first manned spaceflight.
It was a moment worthy of being recorded in history.
Yan Chen Aerospace Launch Center.
"Hello, everyone. I am Xu Xin, a host from Tianxuan TV Station, and I am currently standing at the Yan Chen Aerospace launch site.
"From my position, everyone can see the Soaring Dragon One manned rocket in the distance. In a moment, we will hear Soaring Dragon One roar like a dragon as it carries our aerospace hero, Zhao Yunlei, toward the beautiful and profound starry sky..."
"Everyone, listen closely. The launch countdown has already begun at the Yan Chen Aerospace site. Let us count down together and witness this historic moment."
"10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1!!"
"Ignition!!"
"Rumble!!"
"I can already feel the violent shaking of the ground.
"Look, everyone. Under the tremendous thrust of its boosters, the Soaring Dragon One manned rocket is slowly charging into space, taking the first step toward the Yanhuang Empire's journey to the sea of stars..."
Xu Xin looked at the manned rocket slowly rising in the distance, tears filling her eyes as she spoke passionately and loudly to the countless viewers in front of their televisions.
At this moment.
The giant dragon soared, its roar shaking the land in every direction.
The first manned spaceflight in the history of the Yanhuang Empire was like a colossal white dragon. Amid a series of dragon roars, it burst through the thick atmosphere and headed toward the pitch-black expanse of space.
Inside the Soaring Dragon One manned spacecraft.
Zhao Yunlei quietly listened to the countdown coming through his earpiece. As the seconds passed, he took a deep breath to calm himself.
He tensed every muscle in his body with all his strength, making himself as rigid as a piece of iron compressed to its absolute limit.
This was the empire's first manned spaceflight, and also its most dangerous.
Although he had long been mentally prepared to sacrifice himself, he still could not help feeling somewhat nervous at that moment.
When the countdown ended, at exactly nine o'clock in the morning, the rocket ignited. A tremendous roar immediately erupted from its tail.
In an instant, hundreds of tons of high-energy fuel inside the rocket began to burn.
Immediately afterward, the eight rocket engines began spewing scorching flames.
At the same time, the flames gushing from the rocket instantly evaporated the thousands of tons of water beneath the launch platform into steam.
At that moment, the manned rocket launched.
As the manned rocket slowly rose, Zhao Yunlei, seated inside the cockpit, surprisingly did not feel the slightest discomfort.
At that moment, he actually felt it was even "steadier" than riding an elevator.
Zhao Yunlei had not expected the pressure inside the rocket to be far less than he had imagined during his usual training. He immediately felt much more relaxed, and his tense muscles slowly loosened.
"Launch escape tower separation..."
"Booster separation..."
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