Every trade has its master

"Who? How could there be someone out there?"

"Oh my God, was he burned to death by the engine?"

"Call the ground and ask them what the hell is going on!"

"Fucking Donald Trump above, protect me."

All four astronauts in the command module were thrown into confusion. Gao Jian frowned as he listened to their conversation. What was going on? From the sound of it, had the external imaging system caught him on camera?

Surely not. He had maintained the hand seal for the Invisibility Art the whole time, keeping himself optically invisible. Could it have happened when the EUS upper stage engines ignited? The flames had engulfed him then, hitting him as hard as a third-tier flame talisman. His Invisibility Art had failed for a moment amid the flames. Had that been when it happened?

Gao Jian's Divine Sense quickly locked onto the blurry photograph.

"They really did catch me."

Fortunately, it showed no clear view of his face, only a blurry black silhouette from the side.

After a moment's thought, yellow light flashed in Gao Jian's hand, and he took eight dark yellow immobilization talismans from his Storage Bag. These inferior products did not even qualify as first-tier talismans. He had made their all-natural yellow paper himself from young moso bamboo and green bamboo fibers native to this world, soaking, steaming, pounding, and hand-forming the pulp into sheets before dyeing them with natural turmeric dye. Then he had imbued them with spiritual energy and personally crafted the talismans.

He liked making little handicrafts.

Gao Jian was a typical jack-of-all-trades cultivator in the Immortal Cultivation World. His founding patriarch had once teased him, "Spend less time dabbling in all those Immortal Cultivation crafts. With your talent, you might already be attempting to form your core at this age."

His master had clicked his tongue instead. "Learning a few crafts is a good thing. Better than those blockheads on Spirit Sword Peak."

But Gao Jian was glad he knew a little of every Immortal Cultivation craft. It meant that as long as he had a spiritual vein, he could build an entire cultivation system from nothing. Pills, talismans, formations, spiritual plants-he could develop them all himself.

The eight dark yellow talismans, wreathed in yellow light, flew into the depths of space at dozens of meters per second. Moments later, they drifted back, approaching from blind spots in eight different directions and affixing themselves to every external sensor head.

"Freeze!" Gao Jian shouted softly. The cameras were instantly locked at their current angles, unable to turn anymore.

From now on, as long as he maintained the Invisibility Spell's hand seal and stayed out of the cameras' direct line of sight, he should be fine.

On the ground, at the Kennedy Space Center.

"Who sent that image without my permission?" Director Jasade asked calmly.

"I did." The flight director stood.

"Why did you disobey my orders?"

"The astronauts have a right to know. We can't leave them in danger without knowing what they're facing."

"A very responsible reason, but you're fired. Pack your things and get out with Anderson. Sign the nondisclosure agreement before you go," Director Jasade said coldly.

The flight director sighed and began packing his belongings. He had known this day would come, but he felt he had let his children and wife down... Mortgage payments, tuition, retirement insurance, and all his other bills weighed on his shoulders like mountains.

Even his back seemed to stoop a little more.

What am I going to do now?

Just as the flight director sank into utter despair, someone held out a business card.

"SpaceX has hired you."

The flight director looked up and saw Elon Musk's brilliant smile.

An... angel has come to me?

He took the card and stood there, at a loss.

"Two million dollars a year. You'll have to make do for now," Elon Musk said.

The flight director nodded emphatically. "Thank you, Mr. Elon."

Elon Musk waved a hand. "You're welcome. SpaceX needs responsible employees like you."

A bodyguard beside him immediately fetched a SpaceX employee jacket and draped it over the competent flight director's shoulders.

This was hardly appropriate. How could he so brazenly switch employers in front of all his former colleagues? The flight director fumbled as he tried to refuse.

But the bodyguard was simply too strong.

The fabric of the new jacket felt very comfortable.

Wearing his new jacket, the flight director smiled so broadly that every crease on his face opened up. Seeing that smile, many NASA employees looked at him with envy.

NASA employees were United States federal civil servants. Most engineers were paid under the GS system, with a salary ceiling. An ordinary engineer could earn no more than $200,000 a year. His salary had just increased tenfold.

Seeing this, former Deputy Director Anderson also looked at Elon Musk with a hint of hope-he had a mortgage, children, and a family too. Having failed to stop the lunar mission, he certainly would not receive what the Zion Elder had promised him. Now he had lost his job as well.

His professional skills were actually quite good. If Elon Musk could let bygones be bygones...

But Elon Musk ignored Anderson's gaze.

In the end, Anderson could only lower his head awkwardly.

He wanted to leave, or find a hole to crawl into. It was all that lunatic Jasade's fault. He had ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to seal off the entire launch control hall. Not even an ant could get out.

Under the supervision of FBI agents, everyone had surrendered their phones and other communication devices and was signing nondisclosure agreements with the highest level of secrecy.

The scene of someone being blasted away by flames aboard the SLS rocket had to remain absolutely secret.

But who was he?

The angle of the RL-10 engine nozzle was too awkward for the external cameras to capture clearly. All anyone could see was a blurry image: a human figure blasted away amid the flames, then disappearing into the darkness.

There were no details of his face or clothing. They could barely estimate his height and build.

At the main console, Blackwell started the replay, advancing it frame by frame.

The figure had spent roughly one second at the edge of the nozzle, completing three movements in that second: kicking off the casing, launching himself away, and crossing his arms over his chest before the flames completely engulfed him. He had even turned his head to glance at the camera.

The final frame froze on the image of a blue-green Tortoise Shell Shield appearing in front of him.

But the figure was too small, occupying only one percent of the camera image. Even enlarged, the pixels were extremely coarse.

On the control center's display.

Beneath the overexposed white light, Gao Jian's profile was extremely blurry, but this was already the clearest frame they could find. Compared with his indistinct face, the blue-green shield of light before him was strikingly conspicuous.

Blackwell narrowed his eyes and beckoned Jasade over.

Director Jasade strode over, but he could not recognize the man engulfed in fire, nor could he understand that phantom shield of blue-green light. Judging by the limbs, torso, and head, however, the figure was more likely human than alien.

But that was even more frightening.

Finally, a Federal Bureau of Investigation official spoke. "What the fuck is that thing?"

No one answered.

Sitting in a chair, Elon Musk took a sip of coffee to ease his fatigue. "Can I take a look too?"

Blackwell wanted to refuse, but Jasade spoke first. "Elon, come over if you want to see."

Elon Musk signaled for his bodyguards not to follow and walked toward the console. Along the way, he glanced at Nelson, the man in charge, and project director Miller, ignored Anderson, who looked like a beaten dog, and went straight to the central control console.

Jasade stepped aside and pointed at the blurry image.

"Elon, do you know this man?"

Elon Musk looked at the indistinguishable mess of an image and took a deep breath. "Even the porn my father filmed was clearer than this."

"Your father certainly has a wide range of talents."

"Every trade has its master. He has to be good at something."

Jasade took a deep breath. He did not want to hear Elon Musk's routine complaints about his family. He simply dragged the progress bar back and forth, watching every frame repeatedly.

Trying to identify someone from a video lasting less than a second was pure fantasy. Amid the violent ignition, all they could see was a blurry human outline.

Blackwell, however, felt that the blurry outline looked somewhat familiar. Suppressing his doubts, he asked with studied casualness, "Elon, where's that friend of yours?"

Elon Musk asked in return, "Which one?"

Blackwell said, "The CNSA observer, Gao Jian."

Elon Musk sneered. "He already returned to the embassy with Counselor Wan. He's flying out tomorrow morning. If you want to see him, contact the embassy yourself."

Blackwell fell silent.

He did not have the nerve to demand someone from the embassy.

Hearing this, the Federal Bureau of Investigation official beside them said anxiously, "How could you let him return to the embassy? We haven't finished investigating him. He's suspected of stealing United States national security secrets..."

Elon Musk spread his hands. "Go on, take your guns and storm in to grab him. I'm sure you'll succeed. The FBI can search even the president's office. What's one little embassy?"

The Federal Bureau of Investigation official opened his mouth, then stopped.

Director Jasade already knew that the CNSA observer had entered the ignition chamber, but this clearly was not the time to pursue that matter. He offered his analysis. "There's absolutely no way someone could survive riding the rocket up after ignition. The most likely possibility is that he hid inside the rocket beforehand, in the command module or somewhere else, then left during EUS ignition to conduct extravehicular activity."

Miller shook his head. "That's absolutely impossible. Technically impossible."

As director of the SLS project and chief designer of the SLS rocket, Miller knew very well that this was impossible. Leaving aside whether someone could hide in one of the rocket's compartments, getting out of the rocket to conduct extravehicular activity was out of the question.

Extravehicular activity could only be conducted after the rocket docked with the lunar orbital module. At present, the SLS rocket's only hatch was on the Orion spacecraft mounted at its tip. The rest of the cylindrical structure had no openings. How could he have climbed out?

Jasade demanded, "So he went up clinging to the rocket?"

Miller shook his head even more frantically.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation official spoke up. "Could he have been hiding in low Earth orbit all along, then attached himself to the rocket once it entered orbit?"

Elon Musk's face was expressionless. "Henry Cavill must really have a lot of free time." (Note: the actor who played Superman.)

The other specialists also looked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation official as though he were an idiot.

His face flushed. "It's already this unbelievable. There's nothing wrong with considering the most unbelievable explanation... I'll report this to the president."

Just then, the control center received a report from the four astronauts. To prevent leaks, it had cut off other NASA personnel's communications with the crew, so only the few people at the console could see this report.

Commander Robert: "Houston, this is Orion. We regret to inform you that all eight cameras in the VIS launch vehicle imaging system have suffered mechanical failures and cannot execute rotation commands.

"The four in the engine compartment are facing forward, locked in position to observe spacecraft docking. The two in the intertank section are facing aft, locked in position to monitor solid rocket booster separation. The two on the upper-stage adapter are locked in position to observe core-stage and upper-stage separation.

"We've tried several methods to fix the failures, but all have been unsuccessful. We haven't found any clues concerning the figure. God above, I truly hope the simultaneous failure of all eight cameras is just a coincidence."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"That much of a coincidence?" Miller murmured.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation official could no longer keep his composure. He turned and left to find somewhere to give President Vance a confidential report.

After obtaining Jasade's permission, Blackwell ordered the Moon Landing Crew to keep trying to observe the situation. If necessary, they could station someone by a window to watch with the naked eye.

Jasade ordered Orion to establish a stable video link with the ground. From that point on, every movement of the Moon Landing Crew appeared intact on the ground control center's screens, with relatively little delay.

Despite the stable video signal, the Moon Landing Crew still looked tense. Everyone was gripped by fear of the unknown. Though no one said it aloud, they were clearly starting to think of rumors about aliens.

Commander Robert even went to a window himself and watched for a long time, but found nothing.

The ground could do nothing either, merely repeating instructions for the Moon Landing Crew to stay calm, recheck their systems, and keep watching outside.

At that moment, specks of static suddenly appeared in the previously stable video feed.

The static rapidly increased, and the image of the Moon Landing Crew blurred visibly.

"What's happening?" Jasade asked.

Blackwell told the technical team to investigate, but before their results came back, the video image abruptly collapsed like an avalanche. Usable image data was rapidly swallowed up as intermittent static became nothing but noise.

Commander Robert's voice transmission was cut off midsentence as well.

In the southwestern corner of the launch control hall, the space radiation analysis team responsible for monitoring the spacecraft's radiation exposure around the clock suddenly reported, "Sir, we're detecting a rapid rise in radiation readings..."

"How much of a rise?" Jasade immediately asked.

Elon Musk's heart rose into his throat too.

The radiation team's leader shouted incoherently, "It's off the charts! God, the high-energy particle flux is rising exponentially, but we haven't detected any sunspot activity at all... It looks like a geomagnetic storm is forming. Yes, it's a geomagnetic storm!"

Elon Musk's heart jolted at those words, and he turned to Blackwell.

Blackwell sneered. "Isn't that monitoring system you spent a fortune on supposed to be highly accurate?"

"Did you do this?" Elon Musk demanded angrily.

Blackwell said, "You guessed it. I'm Henry Cavill."

Elon Musk: "..."

Meanwhile, the other technical teams in the hall reported their live updates. At that very moment, not only NASA's deep-space radiation monitoring team, but NOAA, the European Space Agency, the China Space Early Warning Center... every public data source had abruptly erupted.

One minute and forty-five seconds later.

The fastest to respond, NOAA's SWPC Space Weather Prediction Center, issued a worldwide G5 geomagnetic storm alert.

Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds later.

NOAA's G5 geomagnetic storm alert was revised to Carrington-class.

Ten minutes later, the world's major nations had all issued Carrington Event-level geomagnetic storm alerts. All space activities were urgently halted, commercial airliners made emergency landings at the nearest airports, satellites in low Earth orbit switched to safe mode, and national power grids began protective shutdowns one after another.

Across the night hemisphere, sprawling clusters of cities went dark in vast swaths.

By then, every command from Houston on the ground had become meaningless.

The immensely powerful geomagnetically induced currents surging from deep within the Earth's crust, together with the violently active Van Allen Radiation Belt, had disrupted all electromagnetic waves. The storm of high-energy particles indiscriminately subjected every orbiting spacecraft to lethal bombardment.

Director Jasade picked up the communicator and ordered, "Orion, terminate the lunar mission immediately. Shut down nonessential electronics and initiate an emergency return during translunar transfer..."

An emergency return during translunar transfer involved firing the Orion service module's main OMS engine to execute a turnaround maneuver, shifting the spacecraft from its lunar-bound trajectory to an Earth-return trajectory. But carrying out that command depended on the OMS system still functioning normally amid the geomagnetic storm.

All that answered Jasade was the blank hiss of static.