Launch Failure

The next day, in a secret valley on the outskirts of Eastsea City, at Dark-Gold Heavy Industries' Launch Pad No. 1.

It was a cloudless, sun-drenched day. Golden light poured unobstructed into the valley, illuminating the towering dark-gold warship until it looked like something out of myth, radiating an even more dazzling yet austere brilliance.

The atmosphere around the launch pad was solemn and tense. Di Tian, Bi Ji, Zi Ji, Myriad Demon King, Scarlet King, and Bear Lord had all changed into matching custom-made dark-blue work uniforms and white safety helmets bearing the "Dark-Gold Heavy Industries" logo. They actually looked somewhat like professional engineers. Divided into several groups, they held various Soul Tool testing instruments as they carried out the final comprehensive pre-launch inspection.

"Shock-absorption base energy buffer readings are stable. No abnormal fluctuations." Di Tian's voice came through the internal communications Soul Tool. He was crouched beneath the massive launch gantry, inspecting the web-like network of energy conduits and hydraulic devices.

"External hull Soul Tool matrix integrity confirmed. Energy flow is smooth, with no leakage points." Bi Ji and Zi Ji hovered in midair, slowly circling the warship's midsection as the instruments in their hands scanned every scale-like armor plate.

"Pressure is normal at all nodes in the internal air circulation system. The ecological maintenance units have started properly. Oxygen concentration is stable at 22%." Myriad Demon King stood before an open maintenance hatch, carefully comparing the dense readings on the instrument panel.

"Fuel line pressure checks for the main engine compartment, reserve engine compartment, and all auxiliary thrusters are complete. Seals are intact, with no leaks." Scarlet King's three heads each watched a different monitoring screen, making him astonishingly efficient.

"The external cooling spray system, internal fire warning system, and automatic fire-suppression Soul Tool arrays are all ready! This old bear checked them three times—I guarantee not even a spark will pop out!" Bear Lord thumped his chest, his booming voice echoing out. He was responsible for several systems most vital to "safety."

Yet the star of this flight—the Golden Dragon King, Jin—appeared especially "relaxed." Sitting in the safety observation area far from the launch pad, he had a small table before him piled high with all kinds of grilled fish Huo Yuhao had specially prepared. The aroma filled the air. With a cumin-grilled eel in his left hand and spicy grilled herring in his right, he ate with great enthusiasm, mumbling through a mouthful, "Mmph... everyone... burp... make sure you inspect everything carefully... Tighten every single screw! My hide may be thick, but I don't want to become an 'airborne performer'—especially the smoking kind..."

Dark-Gold Dragon King, Dark Gold, had no time to pay him any attention. Wearing a slightly oversized safety helmet that apparently did not fit quite right, he held a thick Soul Tool engineering logboard, his expression exceptionally grave. He continuously recorded incoming data and occasionally gave orders through the intercom. "Fine-tune Pressure Valve No. 3 in Zone C by 0.3 standard units... recalibrate the bow trim module once more... watch the thruster fuel mixture ratio..."

Huo Yuhao and Demon Spirit were in the central control room. The huge light screen before them had been divided into dozens of smaller windows, displaying real-time data and Soul Tool footage from every crucial section inside and outside the warship. A faint golden glow flowed deep in Huo Yuhao's eyes. His spiritual power spread over the entire vessel like the most precise detection net, sensing the slightest energy flow and structural stress changes. Demon Spirit's fingers flew across the control console as she monitored the automated program sequence for the entire launch process.

"Final confirmation of internal facilities and emergency life-support systems complete." Di Tian emerged from the ship's interior and removed his slightly oil-stained gloves.

"External inspection complete!" The other ferocious beasts reported in turn.

"All preset inspection points have passed!" Dark Gold marked the last check on his logboard and let out a long breath. Then he raised his head, his gaze passing through the observation window to settle on Jin, who was still gnawing on fish bones in the distance. His voice boomed through the loudspeakers. "Jin! Stop eating! Prepare to board! The final inspection is complete. It's up to you now!"

At that, Jin reluctantly put down the half-eaten grilled fish in his hand, licked his fingers, stood up, and brushed off dust that did not exist. "All right, all right. For grilled fish... no, for science and exploration!" He changed into a dark-gray pressure-resistant flight suit custom-made by Dark-Gold Heavy Industries, one that balanced comfort with a certain degree of protection. After putting on his helmet—then adjusting its angle several times in annoyance—he gave a thumbs-up to his companions waving hard at him from the distant safety zone and strode toward the slowly opening airtight hatch.

"Good luck, Uncle Jin!" Demon Spirit shouted through the communicator.

"Be careful. If anything feels wrong, activate the escape protocol immediately!" Huo Yuhao warned him.

"Boss Jin, we'll drink when you get back!" Bear Lord yelled.

Jin waved without looking back, and his figure vanished into the hatch.

"Warship No. 1, prepare for liftoff. All systems, switch to final pre-launch status." Dark Gold's voice rang out simultaneously in the main control room and over the external broadcast. There was a faint tremble in it, nearly impossible to detect—excitement, and nerves.

With a deep mechanical roar, the heavy alloy protective cover atop the launch pad slowly slid apart to either side, revealing the pristine blue sky above. Dozens of high-precision Soul Tool recording instruments set up around the valley adjusted their angles at the same time, locking onto the warship. To maintain maximum secrecy, high-powered signal-jamming and optical-camouflage generators had long since been activated over the valley. From outside, everything appeared normal, with only the occasional bird passing overhead.

Eastsea City Academy.

The morning physical training class had just begun. The students of Class One, Year One, were doing warm-up laps around the enormous circular Soul Tool simulated training field. Tang Wulin ran near the front of the group, his breathing even and steps steady. Na'er followed not far behind her brother, her little face slightly flushed. Xie Xie tried to show off with flashy footwork, while Zhou Changxi panted as he lagged behind. Yun Xiao struggled to keep up with the main group. Gu Yue, meanwhile, ran in the middle of the formation, appearing somewhat distracted as her gaze occasionally drifted toward the outskirts of Eastsea City.

"...Seven, six, five..." The electronic launch countdown echoed through the valley.

"All personnel, withdraw to the final safe distance! The launch sequence is irreversible!" Dark Gold's voice was firm and decisive.

"...Three, two, one! Launch!"

An incomparably thick azure beam, as blazing as a volcanic eruption and mixed with orange-red exhaust flames, abruptly rose from somewhere in the outskirts—visually distorted and blurred by the camouflage—and shot straight into the heavens! At the base of the beam, endless billowing clouds of milky-white high-pressure steam surged and violently spread outward like a gigantic flower of death in bloom. Even from so far away, the brightness of that pillar was impossible to look at directly, while a deep, continuous hum filled the air.

At the distant end of the horizon, near the ground, an incredibly bright silver point of light suddenly appeared without warning. It was like a star that had risen ahead of schedule, briefly outshining even the morning sun!

"Huh? What's that?" A sharp-eyed student pointed in that direction and cried out.

Immediately afterward, the point of light began to move. It did not rise steadily; instead, it climbed with an all-or-nothing momentum, dragging a long, solid white trail behind it. It drew a clear path across the blue Skyveil, like an exclamation mark written by a god with light as a pen.

"Is that a Soul Tool aircraft? It's so fast!" Tang Wulin noticed it too. He could feel the immense energy contained within that point of light.

Gu Yue narrowed her violet eyes as she stared at the ascending trajectory. She could faintly sense that familiar, powerful dragon aura—the Golden Dragon King—as well as the tremendous thrust restrained and unleashed by the Soul Tool apparatus. So it had begun after all...

Watching the point of light grow smaller and faster as it dragged its long white condensation trail behind it, she silently calculated. First step: break free of the atmosphere... It looks like the next phase of the plan can begin soon.

However, just as that point of light reached a certain altitude and was about to become difficult to see—

A sudden change erupted!

The once stable, bright point of light flickered violently and abnormally, then swelled outward!

Like the fatal convulsion of a heart.

Then, without warning, it transformed into a chaotic, violent giant fireball of blazing crimson and dark gold that instantly expanded in all directions!

BOOM—!!!

Only then did a dull, distant yet clearly discernible explosion roll in like a belated funeral bell, sweeping over the city and reaching everyone's ears. The sound had weakened greatly over the long distance, but the explosive force contained within still made hearts tremble.

They saw the explosion before they heard it.

The training field erupted into an uproar.

"It... it exploded?!" Xie Xie gaped.

"Did the experiment fail? That explosion was terrifying..." Yun Xiao covered his mouth.

Zhou Changxi stared blankly at the cloud of smoke and scattered firelight slowly spreading and falling from the sky. "How huge would a Soul Tool have to be...?"

Tang Wulin frowned deeply. He thought of the white trail he had seen earlier. That was definitely not something an ordinary Soul Tool could produce. Na'er instinctively moved closer to her brother, worry written on her little face.

Gu Yue watched the smoke and fire that proclaimed failure. A flicker of understanding passed through her eyes. She gently shook her head and murmured softly, as though analyzing a technical problem. "As expected... During the first extreme operating-condition test, either the cooling system or structural resonance issue still broke out. Looks like I'll need to find time to discuss the data with them." Her reaction was more like a technical review of an expected outcome than shock.

Almost at the exact moment of the explosion, on the top floor of the Eastsea City branch of the Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yaozhu stood at the window with a cup of clear tea in hand. The unusual flash in the outskirts and the muffled blast that followed made her lift her eyelids slightly.

"Oh? That was a little louder than expected." Her tone was calm, even carrying a hint of unruffled foreknowledge. As someone in the know—Gu Yue had previously given her a brief report under the excuse of "friends conducting a high-risk Soul Tool thrust experiment," obtaining a certain degree of tacit approval—she was not surprised. She merely offered a small assessment of the scale of the blast. "It seems the 'research' at the Agricultural Meteorological Research Platform encountered a minor setback." She lightly shook her head, set down her teacup, returned to her desk, and continued handling documents. So long as city safety was not endangered and no core rules were violated, she was willing to give Gu Yue and her "friends" some room for trial and error.

The duty officers at the Federation East Sea Soul Tool Monitoring Station were similarly "calm."

"Report: At coordinates XXX, YYY, the scheduled experimental project, 'Deep Space Explorer Phase One Thrust Test Platform,' has experienced an abnormal energy release. It matches one of the preset models for 'experimental failure—propulsion system overload explosion.'" An officer calmly reported as he watched the flashing alert and the pre-entered filing code on the screen.

"The energy level is within the estimated range. Predicted trajectories of explosion fragments will not enter the city alert zone. The shielding system is operating normally, and external observation will be severely disrupted," another confirmed.

The person in charge, seated at the head position, nodded and glanced at a document prepared long ago. "Mm, record it. Handle it according to protocol. Notify the relevant departments to watch for any scattered harmless fragments that may fall, strengthen patrols around the perimeter of that area, and prohibit unauthorized personnel from approaching. As for the public... use the unified explanation they themselves applied for: 'an accident during a new Soul Tool engine ground test.'" He paused, then added, "Send Dark-Gold Heavy Industries a routine inquiry letter urging them to strengthen their safety measures. After all, we still need to put on a show."

Clearly, in the eyes of the upper levels, this earthshaking failed launch was merely a registered, tacitly approved, controllable "experimental accident." The enormous commotion itself was part of the plan, intended to test and collect data, while the subsequent "cover-up" and "explanation" had long been agreed upon behind closed doors.

Dark-Gold Heavy Industries Valley, launch pad area.

The deafening blast and flash had passed, but the air was filled with the pungent odor unique to scorching, molten metal, and overloaded Soul Tool units. The once neat launch pad was now a complete mess. Cooling water mixed with oil flowed everywhere, while parts of the ground had been scorched black and cracked by extreme heat.

But the soul beasts moved with astonishing speed, without the slightest panic.

"Rescue!" Di Tian was the first to transform into a streak of black light and shoot into the sky, heading straight for the largest falling fragments that might injure someone. His dragon claws slashed out, and arcs of black blade-light accurately cut the still-burning wreckage into smaller, more manageable pieces. He then guided them with gentle force toward designated impact-buffer zones.

Bi Ji and Zi Ji followed closely behind. Bi Ji scattered emerald life radiance from her hands. Wherever it passed, the harmful residual energy and scorching heat in the air were swiftly purified and cooled. Zi Ji unfolded a deep-purple protective force field, shielding key undamaged ground facilities and falling fragments of precision components to prevent secondary damage.

Myriad Demon King and Scarlet King directed the engineering Soul Tool machinery prepared in advance within the valley—much of it made by Bear Lord's Dark-Gold Heavy Peak—to rapidly clear the route and begin recovering relatively intact small and medium fragments with analytical value. Bear Lord himself roared as he used his massive palms and sturdy back to forcibly catch several burning armor plates the size of doors as they came howling down. He hurled them into specialized isolation containers with loud clanging crashes.

Dark Gold wore a high-speed flight Soul Tool pack on his back and shot toward the airspace below the explosion's center like an arrow leaving the bow. His target was clear—find the figure blown away by the blast.

"Ah—! Help—! I'm falling—! Huo Yuhao, I haven't finished your grilled fish yet—!" Jin's screams came from afar, drawing closer. Smoke rose from his whole body, his formerly stylish flight suit blown into tatters, his face streaked black and white. He spun through the air like a human cannonball as he fell. Though he looked miserable, his voice remained full of vigor, making it clear that he had not suffered any real injury.

Dark Gold accelerated into a dive, precisely positioning himself beneath Jin. He spread his reinforced arms and caught him by the narrowest margin. The force of the fall dragged them down another several dozen meters before they finally stabilized.

"Cough, cough... ptooey, ptooey!" Jin spat out a mouthful of black smoke, then staggered to the ground with Dark Gold's support. Still shaken, he patted his chest. "That scared the dragon out of me... This was more exciting than fighting the Asura God in the Divine Realm back then! At least those guys' moves looked good. This explosion... was way too crude!"

By then, Huo Yuhao and Demon Spirit had already hurried over. Huo Yuhao held a portable Soul Tool analyzer, his brows tightly furrowed. Demon Spirit's eyes were slightly red. She had clearly been frightened by the explosion, but she forced down her emotions.

"Jin, are you all right?" Huo Yuhao looked him over from head to toe.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My clothes are just ruined. What a waste of my newly styled hair." Jin wiped his face, only making his hand even blacker.

"Forget your hair for now." Dark Gold set Jin down, his expression grave. "Start wreckage analysis and data recovery immediately! We have to find out what went wrong!"

The group swiftly moved into a temporary analysis tent. Outside, Di Tian and the others had already gathered most of the valuable wreckage into several small mountains. Some of the metal still glowed red with heat.

At the center of the tent, a huge light screen lit up. It began displaying synchronized data and footage extracted from the warship's black box—an enhanced version—the external monitors, and Jin's memories from the final moments.

Everyone gathered around, the atmosphere solemn.

Huo Yuhao pointed to a rapidly replaying segment of internal surveillance footage from before the explosion. "Look here. The explosion began in the upper main energy-storage tank array. Abnormal energy overload fluctuations triggered a chain detonation." In the footage, the readings of several red-marked energy units instantly surged beyond the danger threshold before their signals were lost.

Demon Spirit brought up the automated control logs, her little face tense. "We found the problem! Three seconds before the explosion, according to the preset program, the auxiliary cooling Soul Tool arrays for Main Thrusters Three and Four should have activated peak cooling. But the logs show that the order was sent, while the feedback signal was 'device unresponsive.' Right after that, the core temperatures of those two thrusters surged by 300% in 0.5 seconds!"

Dark Gold picked up a twisted, warped metal plate and pointed to an inward dent with torn edges. "This is a shell fragment from Thruster Three. The explosion went from the inside out—a classic overload rupture. The shockwave tore it apart, then triggered the chain reaction..."

Jin rubbed his still-ringing ears and added, "I felt it most clearly inside. When the countdown ended and full thrust kicked in, the vibration was unbelievably intense, like ten thousand armored rhinos were jumping around in my stomach. Then, maybe a dozen seconds after liftoff, there was suddenly an incredibly violent shake in every direction. It felt like the whole ship was about to come apart. Then—bang! Everything went dark, and I flew out."

Myriad Demon King retrieved the remaining structural stress sensor data. Some sensors had been destroyed in the explosion, but fragments had still been transmitted back. "Preliminary calculations indicate that under maximum thrust, the overall structural stress on the warship was 15% higher than our estimates. In particular, the connection between the midsection and the thruster compartments had a resonance amplification effect we failed to fully account for. Excessive vibration loosened some precision circuit connections, shifted components, and even damaged them. That was likely the direct cause of the cooling system failure."

Di Tian summarized, "In short, there are several core issues. First, the warship is still too heavy. To gain enough initial velocity to leave the atmosphere, the main thrusters were forced to remain at extreme power for an extended period, placing enormous pressure on heat dissipation. Second, the cooling system has design flaws or insufficient component reliability, making it prone to failure under extreme conditions and abnormal vibration. Third, the overall shock-absorption design needs optimization. It failed to effectively suppress and transfer the complex vibrations generated during extreme acceleration. Instead, it formed harmful resonance that damaged the fragile internal systems."

Scarlet King looked at the consolidated data on the light screen and sighed. "So it wasn't a problem with any one component. Several systemic risks were triggered at the same time under extreme conditions, creating a fatal chain reaction."

Dark Gold recorded rapidly on his engineering board. Though his face was heavy, his eyes remained resolute. "A valuable failure. The data is complete, and the problems are clear. Weight, cooling, shock absorption, component reliability... all of these can be improved. Next time, we'll definitely do better!"

Jin changed into the new clothes Dark Gold had thrown him and leaned in to examine the complex data curves and structural diagrams on the screen. Though he could not understand much of it, he grasped the general idea. He patted Dark Gold on the shoulder, then looked at their companions, exhausted but still burning with fighting spirit. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth that stood out especially clearly against his soot-blackened face.

"All right, all right, stop hanging your heads! Failure is success's mother! At least we proved this thing has enough thrust to get into the sky, didn't we? Its way of getting up there just wasn't very graceful... Next time, next time will definitely work! But for now..."

He rubbed his stomach, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Huo Yuhao.

"Boss Huo, after a fright that big, shouldn't I get some 'trauma-relief grilled fish' to calm my nerves? I think I can eat thirty!"

Jin's joking instantly lightened the tense, heavy mood in the analysis tent. Huo Yuhao laughed and shook his head, while Demon Spirit smiled through her tears. Di Tian and the others exchanged glances, and fire rekindled in their eyes.

A failed launch that had shaken East Sea and alerted the Federation was swiftly absorbed and reviewed within Dark-Gold Heavy Industries, becoming a sturdier stepping stone for their next charge toward the sea of stars.