Spending New Year's Day in the Sky

Moscow.

Federal Security Service.

A man in a gray leather jacket sat behind a desk, tapping it with a pen as he read the report in front of him.

A knock came at the office door.

He stopped tapping and looked toward the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a gaunt man walked in.

"The latest report from the Foreign Intelligence Service, along with news from the Federal Space Administration." The gaunt man placed his documents on the desk. "It looks like Hua Nation really did succeed."

The man behind the desk tapped a finger lightly against its surface, picked up the documents, and turned the pages one by one.

About five minutes passed.

He set them down and looked at the agent standing before his desk.

"Is this all the intelligence we have?"

The agent nodded gravely and continued.

"The local military patrols are too tight, and reconnaissance aircraft are patrolling the airspace overhead. Getting any closer would risk exposing us, so we can only observe from a distance."

The man in the gray leather jacket nodded. He did not press his subordinate any further.

After a pause, he slowly rose from his chair and tucked the documents, along with the earlier report, into his jacket.

"I'll report this to Mr. Vladimir. Tell the Foreign Intelligence Service to keep an eye on any news about the Auspicious. If they discover anything new, report to me immediately."

"Especially the propulsion system they're using..."

"I need to know what it is!"

There was one thing Lu Zhou had gotten wrong.

The ground command center had indeed fallen into chaos for a while after discovering he was missing. But once Nie Yun told them Lu Zhou was safe aboard the Auspicious, everyone gradually calmed down.

After all, he was already