The lunar lander touched down smoothly, and its hatch slowly opened outward.
Cold, lifeless moonlight greeted them. There was no sound of wind.
The five stepped out of the lander one after another. The moment their feet planted firmly on lunar soil, every one of them truly felt how utterly different the Moon was from Earth.
As far as they could see, the lunar surface was scarred and battered. Countless overlapping craters of every size filled their view.
The dull gray lunar soil was soft and fine, offering a faint resistance underfoot. The world around them was vast, empty, and frighteningly quiet, as though they had entered a desolate realm forgotten by time.
This was Li Xiang's first real experience of the Moon's near-weightlessness.
Her body felt light and buoyant. A slightly forceful step would lift her off the ground. With gravity only one-sixth of Earth's, every movement carried a light, floating sensation, strange and unfamiliar.
She raised a hand to steady herself, then carefully took a small, neatly folded red flag from the equipment pouch she carried close to her body.
It was small, but its colors were vivid. The brilliant red field and five neatly arranged stars belonged to Flower-Country alone, a mark of identity etched into her very bones.
Li Xiang brushed her fingertips over the smooth flag, solemn warmth in her eyes, then firmly planted it in the lunar soil beside the lander.
The tiny flag stood on the desolate lunar surface, dazzling against the silent expanse of stars.
This was a selfish wish of hers.
No.
More accurately, anyone who shared her identity would have done the same.
After establishing a watch and checking their equipment, the five steadily advanced toward the precise coordinates previously marked by the satellite.
Ryusui was bursting with excitement, and