Launching the rocket

"Minister, should we proceed with the rocket launch?"

"Zhang Ming entered the mangrove forest... surely that shouldn't delay the launch."

Li Xianfeng checked the weather readings on the large screen and nodded slightly. "Proceed. The Mysterious Zone and our location aren't even in the same space. As long as the wind here isn't too strong, we can launch."

"Everyone, are you ready?"

"Ready!"

With that, the massive, hundred-thousand-ton warship started its engines and slowly sailed into the Mysterious Zone, carrying a small rocket.

A thick steel cable was secured to the warship's stern, connecting it to several large ships outside.

This would ensure that the ship entering the Mysterious Zone would not lose its bearings.

As the great ship entered the Mysterious Zone, it seemed to pass through a thin "soap bubble," sending wave after wave of watery ripples through space. The sunlight refracted strangely, and even the temperature dropped by two or three degrees.

Everywhere they looked, there was nothing but a deathly still sea, black tinged with blue.

Empty. Desolate.

It felt as though they stood before a boundless, primordial world.

A profound sense of unease surged in from every direction. The psychological phenomenon described in the investigation report had appeared.

Everyone felt the forlorn sorrow of a traveler leaving home. It was so intense and distressing that anyone lacking sufficient willpower might burst into tears on the spot.

With time, people might grow accustomed to this loneliness, but the sense of loss would never disappear. It would only continue to build.

"Some kind of spatial phenomenon?"

"Without that cable, it really would be easy to lose our bearings and never find our way back." Li Xianfeng drew a deep breath, suppressing his anxiety.

Looking along the steel cable, they could see its length suspended in midair, while its far end seemed to simply "vanish."

From within the Mysterious Zone, they actually could not see Earth!

Of course, Earth had not disappeared.

The other end of the cable was still secured on Earth's side.

If they retraced their route along the cable, they could indeed pass through that layer of "spatial ripples" again and return to Earth.

"What principle could explain this strange spatial mechanism?" Li Xianfeng could not help asking.

A professor explained, "We don't know yet. Our current understanding of physics can't explain it. According to certain idealist interpretations, Earth may be 'deliberately' hiding itself."

"We are Earth's children. Once we leave our world, naturally we feel lonely and homesick."

"Earth is hiding itself?"

"It's only one possible explanation..."

Li Xianfeng did not dwell on things he could not understand. He spoke into the communications channel in his headset. "Comrades, according to the Americans' investigation report, after entering the Mysterious Zone, there's roughly a one-in-ten chance of awakening a superpower."

"You should all know how precious the opportunities to awaken superpowers are."

"If you experience a rise in body temperature, a racing heartbeat, rapid breathing, chest tightness, or shortness of breath, these may be signs of a superpower awakening. Please go to your quarters and rest immediately, and report whatever ability you acquire."

"Keep watching our surroundings. If anything goes wrong, we'll return to Earth at once."

"If nothing unexpected happens, prepare to launch the rocket!"

"Thirty minutes to launch!"

In the quiet wait, those thirty minutes felt agonizingly slow.

For most of them, this was their first visit to the Mysterious Zone. They were intensely curious, and even more eager to know what remote corner young Zhang Ming was trapped in.

Yet no one dared neglect their work for even a moment. Inside the hastily converted command center, only the tapping of keyboards could be heard.

Everyone was making the final preparations.

When the time came, Li Xianfeng loudly gave the command: "Ignition!"

With a thunderous boom, a powerful jet of white-hot flame blasted into the cooling pool on the deck, sending up enormous clouds of white vapor.

The rocket climbed steadily, its tremendous roar echoing across the entire sky.

"Pitch program!"

"Two-way spacecraft acquisition!"

"Telemetry signals normal!"

"Optical and USB radar tracking normal!"

"Optical radar tracking normal!"

As he watched that bright speck of white light recede into the sky, Li Xianfeng's heart began to race.

The entire country's industrial capacity had now plummeted. If this rocket launch failed, producing another one in a short time would be next to impossible.

He could not help asking a white-haired elder, "Academician Ge, how's the rocket doing? Can it get above the Mysterious Zone's atmosphere?"

The engineering academician stared at the screen, his expression grim. He said nothing until he suddenly blurted out, "The rocket's flight speed is lower than expected!"

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Li Xianfeng's forehead.

"Drag during ascent is higher than expected."

The many staff members around them grew busy as well, filling the room with the rapid clatter of keyboards.

"Professor Ge?" Li Xianfeng asked again.

The ill-tempered Academician Ge looked utterly grim. "To be honest with you, things aren't looking good!"

"On Earth, atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, but the atmospheric depth here is strange. The air seems to be distributed uniformly."

"There's too much drag. The rocket can't climb any higher."

"And... there seem to be powerful winds up there?" Academician Ge frowned and repeated his calculations several times.

"You mean the rocket has climbed several hundred kilometers and still hasn't left the atmosphere?" Li Xianfeng's expression darkened too.

"Yes, that's very likely. Heaven knows how deep the atmosphere here is. It could be tens of thousands of kilometers! This is only a small launch vehicle. It was only designed to send satellites into low orbit in the first place. Now the rocket hasn't even left the atmosphere. Once its fuel runs out, it'll soon fall out of the sky!"

Cold sweat dripped from Li Xianfeng's forehead onto the floor.

The very thing he had feared had happened.

The satellite launch had failed.

Academician Ge smoothed the white hair at his temples. "There's only one option now. Activate all the satellite's functions as quickly as possible and collect whatever information we can. Forget about a successful launch. The satellite is certain to crash!"

There was no time to hesitate. Li Xianfeng gritted his teeth.

"Do as Academician Ge says. Activate all the satellite's detection systems and prepare to jettison the fairing. Collect as much data as possible!"

The fairing was a device at the top of the launch vehicle that protected the spacecraft during its flight through the atmosphere

by streamlining airflow and insulating it from heat. Once the rocket left the atmosphere, there would be no air and therefore no air friction, making streamlining and heat insulation unnecessary.

But something abnormal had happened. Once the fairing was jettisoned, friction with the air would generate heat, and the satellite would not last long.

After a few seconds, or perhaps a few dozen, the satellite would burn up and crash.

"How much longer can the rocket fly?" Li Xianfeng glanced at the large screen, which was almost overflowing with abnormal readings.

"The fuel will run out in ten seconds!"

"There's no time... jettison the fairing immediately!"

Once the fairing was jettisoned, all the satellite's detection equipment activated, bringing the Mysterious Zone into full view!