33 Seconds Between Life and Death: A Mysterious Voice in the Universe?

As the voice of the command center came through his headset, the rocket began accelerating gradually.

At the same time, Zhao Yunlei felt the pressure on his body slowly increasing.

However, this pressure was slightly less than what he usually endured during training, so he felt he was in good condition and did not find it unbearable.

But as the rocket rapidly ascended and reached an altitude of thirty to forty kilometers above the ground, Zhao Yunlei suddenly felt the rocket and the spacecraft vibrating violently.

The resonance-frequency waves made Zhao Yunlei frown involuntarily.

At that moment, he felt as though his internal organs were about to shatter. The frequency resonance continued in a wave-like pattern.

The sensation caused wave after wave of pain. Fortunately, as an astronaut trained by the empire, he received a certain quota of Longevity Liquid every year, so his physique was not weak.

At present, he could still endure the pain and pressure by gritting his teeth.

According to scientific research, the human body was highly sensitive to frequencies below ten hertz. Resonance at such frequencies would cause the internal organs to resonate as well, which was extremely painful.

Of course, the resonance itself was not the main problem.

The main issue was that this resonance would add an extremely heavy burden to the internal organs.

As each second passed, the pain surged in wave after wave. These brief few seconds felt to him like years.

At that moment, Zhao Yunlei clenched his teeth tightly. The veins bulged on his neck, and his eyes were flooded with bloodshot streaks.

At that moment, his mind held only his love for the empire and the promise he had made to the Emperor before setting out—the mission to complete this glorious task.

The intense pain and his unyielding will kept him exceptionally clear-headed.

Time passed: one second, two seconds, three seconds... thirty-two seconds, thirty-three seconds.

After the pain continued for thirty-three seconds, Zhao Yunlei, whose head had already grown somewhat hazy, suddenly felt a burst of relief—relief like never before.

It was like suddenly putting down an object weighing a thousand jun.

Those thirty-three seconds between life and death had nearly made him think he was about to sacrifice himself.

As the rocket stabilized and passed through the atmosphere, the fairing outside the rocket was jettisoned. In an instant, a blinding ray of sunlight shone in from outside.

The dazzling sunlight made Zhao Yunlei blink involuntarily.

Yan Chen Space Command Center.

Seeing Zhao Yunlei's face suddenly freeze on the screen, everyone in the command center held their breath.

Zhao Yunlei's signal had suddenly cut out just moments ago. The command center immediately knew that something had gone wrong during the flight, causing everyone's hearts to clench.

After all, billions of ordinary citizens were watching this mission.

At that moment, people around the world watching the live broadcast on their televisions also held their breath, silently praying for Zhao Yunlei.

At the same time, at the aerospace department's research center.

Zhao Yunlei's sudden disconnection left the countless scientists involved in the mission extremely anxious.

For a time, the research center's staff became frantically busy.

After those thirty-three seconds between life and death passed and the signal successfully reconnected, Zhao Yunlei blinked on the frozen screen, and the entire world erupted.

"He just blinked! He blinked! He's still alive, still alive..."

"That's wonderful..."

Yan Chen Space Command Center was likewise filled with jubilation.

Immediately afterward, everyone heard Zhao Yunlei's voice.

"Tenglong-1's Zhao Yunlei reporting to ground command. The rocket's fairing has opened normally."

"Good!!"

Zhao Yunlei's voice was like a clear spring, soothing the worry in everyone's hearts.

After the spacecraft broke out of Yanhuang Star's atmosphere, Zhao Yunlei, seated in the cockpit, suddenly saw a beautiful azure arc through the cabin.

Zhao Yunlei felt that the beauty of this arc surpassed everything in the world. It ranked first.

At that moment, Zhao Yunlei saw specks of dust drifting outside through the porthole. He controlled his floating body and moved closer, pressing himself against the porthole as he looked out at the dark, deep reaches of outer space.

An immense sense of emptiness and loneliness surged into his heart.

In this vast universe, humanity was far too small. Yanhuang Star was far too small as well, tiny as a speck of dust.

Looking at the specks of dust slowly drifting past him, he saw that some appeared as small as grains of rice, while the larger ones were about the size of fingernails.

This made him realize that space was not nearly as clean as everyone imagined.

Next, Zhao Yunlei would spend three days orbiting Yanhuang Star.

As the spacecraft flew around Yanhuang Star and passed over the capital, Chang'an City, Zhao Yunlei could not help widening his eyes as he looked toward the ground.

Before coming, he had wondered what he would be able to see with the naked eye from space when looking at Yanhuang Star. He had imagined many, many things.

He had thought he would be able to see the majestic Mount Tai, the sprawling Taihang Mountains, the Great Wall winding like a dragon, and the splendid Chang'an City.

However, the truth was that even after opening his eyes as wide as possible, he still could not see the things he wanted to see.

From his position, he could only make out the general outlines of the continents and some of the provinces upon them.

Not finding the things he wanted to see left him somewhat disappointed.

"Knock knock... knock... knock knock..."

On the spacecraft's eighth orbit, Zhao Yunlei, who was recording flight data, suddenly heard a series of knocks. He could not help freezing for a moment.

Stopping what he was doing, Zhao Yunlei steadied his mind and listened carefully for the sound he had just heard.

However, it did not appear again, as if the sound just now had been an illusion.

As time passed, the spacecraft reached the side facing away from the sun.

The knocking sound came again. The moment he heard it this time, Zhao Yunlei sped toward the porthole and pressed himself against it, looking outside.

However, there was only the cold, silent darkness outside. There was nothing else.

"Knock knock knock... knock knock knock..."

The sound came again. This time, it was somewhat more rapid, but after ringing for only a few seconds, it disappeared.

Recalling the sound from before, Zhao Yunlei's brows furrowed tightly. He tried hard to remember it, but could not describe it accurately, which frustrated him greatly.

"Zhao Yunlei, what happened on your end?!"

Zhao Yunlei's actions just now immediately attracted the attention of the ground command center.

"Reporting to command, I just heard a sound coming from the spacecraft. It seemed as though something outside was knocking on the spacecraft, but I neither detected nor saw anything there."

"Something outside was knocking on the spacecraft?!"

Zhao Yunlei's words were like a stone thrown into calm water, sending up enormous waves.

"Zhao Yunlei, can you describe the sound you just heard?"

The ground commander quickly asked the question, while the specialists beside him recorded it.

This was the Yanhuang Empire's first manned mission into space. No one knew what might happen in space.

The butterfly effect triggered by the protagonist had arrived. A new civilization meant both opportunity and crisis.