The conspiracy theorist

4.2 miles away, at NASA's Launch Control Center.

120 minutes until ignition.

Nearly a hundred launch controllers sat in the main hall, each with a screen displaying real-time data for their assigned systems as they closely monitored every detail of the launch.

The launch control room, also called the firing room, was the mission's command center. It was critical to the launch's success or failure.

Four hours before launch operations began, NASA Deputy Administrator Anderson had ordered a halt to media interviews and devoted himself entirely to launch preparations.

For the launch team present, even the slightest deviation would mean an immediate abort and a fresh assessment of launch conditions.

So far, wind speed, temperature, and the other environmental conditions were all ideal.

What was less than ideal was the shadow that appeared in the firing room doorway.

The shadow slowly entered the firing room, the CNSA observer badge on his chest gleaming conspicuously.

[Chinese observer / Gao Jian]

God, had CNSA invaded?

An uproar swept through the NASA staff. What was someone from the other side doing here? How did that make sense? Where was security? The alarm? The pizza?

"Who are you? How did you get in?"

Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson was the first to react.

At the same time, launch director Blackwell, Artemis Program director Nelson, and SLS project manager Miller-the three other top-tier white executives-rose to their feet and turned toward the uninvited guest.

The sheer presence of these four top-tier white executives inspired a heartfelt thought: No wonder they're the West's finest elite.

Deputy Administrator Anderson had already reached for the emergency alarm button. One press would bring the armed guards stationed at the space center rushing to their aid.

"You haven't filled your propellant tanks," Gao Jian said calmly in English.

"What?" The words left many of them bewildered.

Anderson's expression changed. Staring at the man's badge, he demanded:

"You're the observer Gao Jian? How did you get in?"

I flew here on a sword.

Ignoring the deputy administrator, Gao Jian continued, "I checked. The liquid hydrogen tank stopped filling at 63 percent, and the liquid oxygen tank at 61 percent. Loading stopped before either propellant tank was full. Insufficient propellant means insufficient delta-v. Without enough velocity change, the Orion spacecraft aboard the SLS rocket won't reach the Moon at all. Are you amateurs?"

That last question was a bombshell. The room erupted.

Someone from CNSA had mocked them.

NASA's engineers felt insulted. The propulsion systems lead glanced at his screen, which showed the tanks were full. Nothing was wrong.

He stood and said indignantly:

"Sir, you are not authorized to interfere in our launch mission's core telemetry and control procedures, much less dismiss our standard operating procedures on the basis of subjective speculation. Furthermore, I don't know how you illegally entered the firing room, a level-one restricted area, but your actions may already constitute a criminal offense..."

"But the tanks really aren't full," Gao Jian said earnestly.

The deputy administrator clearly had no interest in discussing propellant with this intruder. The former Air Force colonel cut off the supervisor's questioning and snapped, "Where is security? Why isn't security here? Escort him out!"

The security personnel were standing dutifully at their posts in the corridor.

The entire room had already been sealed by a Soundproofing Formation. No sound below 120 decibels would escape.

Gao Jian interrupted him. "Stop shouting and fix the propellant problem. Either scrub the launch or fill the tanks. Are you running some backstreet workshop? As a fellow professional, I'm ashamed!"

His words came from the heart: anguished, sincere, forceful, and piercing.

Anderson's face turned livid. He tried to press the button, but Gao Jian's gaze suddenly sharpened. The overwhelming pressure of a mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator bore down on him like a vast mountain slowly descending.

The instant the phantom mountain touched his brow, the pressure vanished.

That brief, terrifying suffocation shattered the battle-hardened former colonel's nerve. By the time the pressure dissipated, he was drenched in cold sweat.

He opened his mouth but could not utter a word. He wanted to summon security, but his limbs had gone limp. He could not even press the button and nearly collapsed to the floor, his expression filled with nothing but terror.

The people around him had no idea what had happened. Most exchanged bewildered looks.

Gao Jian remained where he stood, his expression earnest. "Sir, with the current tank levels, the RS-25 Main Engines' burn time during ascent will be drastically reduced, and the velocity and altitude at core-stage separation will fall below design values. Even if the solid rocket boosters operate normally, the Orion spacecraft won't reach its target orbit. The best-case outcome is an elliptical orbit lower than planned, followed by an emergency return under ground control. But aren't you supposed to be going to the Moon?"

Gao Jian pointed at his CNSA observer badge and said:

"Or could it be..."

His brow furrowed slightly as he dropped another bombshell. "NASA actually has no ability to land on the Moon? That the Moon landings were fake, just as the hoax theories claim? You deliberately left the tanks underfilled to deceive us, the way you deceived the Soviet Union with the Star Wars Program?"

Those words insulted practically everyone present. No spaceflight professional could hear "Moon landing hoax" without seeing red.

A young engineer slammed his hands on the desk and shot to his feet. "Are you a conspiracy theorist? Get out of this room! Take that nonsense to a circus! This is ridiculous!"

Of course the Moon landings were real!

To return the United States to the Moon and give its tottering imperial hegemony another shot in the arm, they had driven themselves relentlessly, working day and night for three years. They had finally prepared to return to the Moon, only for this CNSA colleague to dismiss all their efforts with a single remark?

But Gao Jian kept attacking without bothering to defend himself:

"If you won't land there, plenty of others will. Since you have no intention of going to the Moon, I should call my colleagues and tell them the good news."

With that, Gao Jian took out his phone and answered an alarm.

With Deputy Administrator Anderson completely incapacitated, launch director Blackwell stepped forward.

"Enough!"

Gao Jian silenced his phone.

Blackwell's face was dark as he said coldly, "Sir, out of respect for your position, we will verify the propellant issue shortly. This launch is important to us too. But you must explain how you got here. If you cannot provide a reasonable explanation, I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to spend some time in an interrogation room."

With that, Blackwell slammed the security alarm button!

He then turned to the propulsion lead. "Recheck the propellant loading."

Gao Jian immediately called out, "My friend, don't just look at the level sensor readings. Level sensors can fail."

The propulsion lead's hand paused. Almost despite himself, he followed Gao Jian's suggestion and ran another check. The results came back quickly.

The loading curve showed a period during which the flow rate had dropped sharply. Flow through the loading lines had fallen from several thousand gallons per minute to fewer than a hundred, barely a trickle.

Yet the level sensor readout did indeed show the tanks were full.

He cried out in surprise.

The propulsion systems lead was not the only person authorized to run the check. At least a dozen engineers performed similar checks on their screens. They all saw the anomalous curve, and the hall erupted.

Judging by the data plot, the level sensor system had probably malfunctioned.

The pale-faced Deputy Administrator Anderson glanced at Blackwell.

Blackwell fell silent for a moment, then softened his tone. "The level sensor system may have malfunctioned. We will suspend this launch. As fellow professionals, we thank you for the warning. But as I said, you must still explain your presence here..."

"I brought him."

A voice suddenly rang out.

Every gaze instantly shifted to the man in the doorway. He leaned casually against the doorframe, a languid smile on his lips.

The founder of SpaceX.

Elon Musk.

Of course, he had plenty of other titles:

Owner of the prime contractor for the Artemis HLS lunar lander, a key partner in NASA's lunar program, overall head of Starship, Falcon 9, and Starlink, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a foreign member of the Royal Society, and so on.

What was he doing here?

In truth, despite being a NASA partner, Elon Musk had never gotten along particularly well with NASA itself. He had accepted the invitation to watch the launch mainly because of the publicity surrounding humanity's "return to the Moon" after half a century.

Deputy Administrator Anderson had finally recovered from that inexplicable terror, only to feel his temples throbbing again. He called out hoarsely:

"Elon? You? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said, Deputy Administrator Anderson."

Under everyone's gaze, Elon Musk walked over to Gao Jian and patted his shoulder. "Mr. Gao is my guest. Please don't let his affiliation bother you. The universe has no national borders. Since we're all in the same field, I thought I'd bring him in. I just didn't expect him to discover a prelaunch hazard. I think we should all thank him."

Only then did the guards outside hurry in. They stood behind Elon Musk, nodded to the deputy administrator and launch director, and confirmed Musk's account.

The lieutenant in charge hurriedly said, "Oh, sorry. Mr. Gao did indeed pass through our security checks under Mr. Elon Musk's name. We failed to notify you promptly. You can switch off the alarm now. This was an oversight on our part, and we apologize."

Naturally, that was a lie. They had no idea when Gao Jian had entered.

But Mr. Elon had offered far too much.

Gao Jian studied the world's richest man in surprise.

Musk gave him a friendly smile.

Gao Jian had left the mountain several times to gain experience and had dealt with a few mortal dynasties. He was no naive novice cultivator, but he genuinely could not see why Musk was helping him. They had never had any dealings before.

And why had he appeared at this particular moment? Was it a coincidence, or...?

Elon Musk leaned closer to Gao Jian and whispered, "Some of my employees work here. You know, talented people can hold positions at both NASA and SpaceX. They messaged me, so I heard what happened."

Gao Jian raised an eyebrow.

But Anderson clearly had no intention of letting this absurd farce end just like that. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he demanded, "Elon, do you realize what you're saying?"

Blackwell frowned as well. "The firing room is a level-one restricted area, Mr. Elon. You aren't authorized to bring outsiders in either."

"I know." Elon Musk shrugged. "That's why I came to turn myself in. But Charlie, before you start assigning blame, shouldn't you deal with the rocket first? There are less than two hours until the launch window. If you start refueling now, you'll just have enough time."

That hit the mark.

They had spent far too long preparing for this launch, and the new president had repeatedly insisted that it must not be delayed. Nobody wanted to suspend it. If they postponed it now, with NASA's administrative efficiency, who knew how long they would have to wait for another launch?

If the delay dragged on and CNSA, working day and night across the ocean, caught up and landed on the Moon first, the empire would lose its last shred of dignity. No one could shoulder that responsibility.

Ensuring the United States landed on the Moon first took precedence over every other political consideration.

Blackwell looked at Anderson.

In the end, Blackwell made the decision. "Notify the loading team. Resume loading immediately and investigate the level sensor fault at the same time. Cross-check all sensor readings and confirm they're correct before conducting the final inspection. We can push the launch back a little, but we must have enough propellant."

He paused and looked at Gao Jian and Elon Musk, his expression conflicted. "As for you two, please leave the firing room. Security will escort you to the viewing area. We'll address the aftermath of this incident once the launch is over."

Elon Musk seemed utterly unconcerned. He gestured for Gao Jian to go ahead. "Looks like we've been asked to leave."

Gao Jian said nothing. His gaze moved between Anderson and Blackwell before he followed Musk out.

The instant he stepped outside, his Divine Sense once again blanketed the launch site 4.2 miles away. Large numbers of workers were driving engineering vehicles back to the fueling area, and propellant loading had resumed.

Gao Jian breathed a sigh of relief.