The World Needs Building Blocks

The Fire Moth Space Agency's predecessor was the United Nations Space Agency. In this era, the Fire Moth gradually transitioned from a special military organization to a vast, bloated political entity, mastering politics and economics, though the territory it ruled was constantly shrinking. The United Nations Space Agency was also taken over by the Fire Moth. The original UN emblem was a blue Earth with a rising rocket etched in the center. After the UN Space Agency transformed into the Fire Moth Space Agency, its emblem also changed, becoming a moth with outstretched wings resting upon the Earth.

Socioeconomics were in freefall, yet the Space Agency's missions were more demanding than during the UN era. This was because, in wartime, everything had to make way for technology and the military. The massive lunar project had pushed the Space Agency's budget to its peak.

Siberia, whether in the previous or current civilization, has always been a desolate place. Originally, the Fire Moth's launch site was in Kazakhstan, but due to the expanding reach of the Honkai, it was relocated to within Siberia. The climate 50,000 years ago made Siberia even colder than it is now, so the threat of Honkai Beasts was almost nonexistent.

At this time, the Northern Hemisphere had entered winter. The evening sky was half-covered by dark clouds, and the orange sunset could not penetrate them to illuminate the rocket below. Heavy snow fell straight down, as described by Xie An's nephew, Xie Lang: "Scattering salt in the air is quite fitting," covering the entire land.

In the 10,000 to 20,000 years before the previous civilization, the climate had temporarily stabilized with the onset of the last glacial period. At this time, the large ice sheets in North America even melted due to global warming. However, even with that, the current climate was still significantly colder than in later generations.

The blizzard raged. Through the falling snow, the colossal structure standing in the human world revealed half of its form. The sunset illuminated the silvery snow, reflecting light onto half of the rocket's body, making the Space Agency's emblem shine brilliantly. It carried the core module of a space station. This module was the prototype of the space station, its most fundamental part. All subsequent modules would be added starting from this point.

A space station is essentially built like a set of building blocks. The first module launched can be considered the "first block," serving a very basic function, and it is called the core module. The core module serves this purpose—it is the most basic part of the entire space station. All subsequent modules will be stacked starting from this point, so the core module's position is often at the core of the space station. For the same reason, the core module typically has docking ports pre-reserved for connecting subsequent modules.

Weather conditions did not pose a significant threat to the launch mission. During the UN era, space rockets already possessed all-weather launch capabilities; to be extreme, they could even be launched underwater.

The supervisor entered the command center. A massive screen displayed the status of each stage of the rocket, with numerous numbers fluctuating within safe parameters. Below the main screen were rows upon rows of smaller electronic displays, where technical experts intently monitored them, a mix of tension and excitement on their faces.

The supervisor asked a nearby staff member, "Are the safety checks complete?"

"They are."

"Liquid oxygen and fuel?"

"Almost done. Personnel will be withdrawn shortly."

"Begin once it's finished," the supervisor said, sitting down to await the completion of the fueling process.

"Report, fueling is complete," another staff member entered, saluting the supervisor.

The supervisor returned the salute, picked up the microphone on the desk, and read off the checks one by one.

"Flight dynamics control, guidance control, overall control..."

"Normal."

"Telemetry electronics bay external control, guidance navigation control..."

"Normal."

"Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

"Ignition sequence initiated."

A cloud of smoke swept across the land, and the snow was blown away by the rocket's exhaust. Silver snow fell upon the earth, and the white rocket ascended into the sky.

The rocket pierced through the dark clouds that the sunset could not penetrate. The flames it spewed burned brighter in everyone's hearts than the sun ten thousand miles away. It was an arrow carrying humanity's hope and hatred, shot towards the heavens to slay the unjust gods. Simultaneously, it was the dwindling twilight of humanity in this era.

The former Central African Space Center is now Africa's main base. Its area has tripled, covering nearly 2,000 square kilometers. The expansion primarily consists of manufacturing plants and research centers. The old launch pads and rocket factories were not demolished; instead, they have been fully repaired, and the Deep Space giant rocket has been moved into storage. Deep Space will not be launched in this epoch; it is too late, and it cannot escape the pursuit of the Herrscher of the End.

Although the rocket launch sites and factories had not been utilized, that was about to change. In the coming months, the launch site here would no longer be empty.

The morning sky was clear and blue, but it was raining with sunshine. The raindrops, neither large nor small, pattered against the bodies of the engineering robots, creating countless silver ripples. The wind was light. An orange rocket stood on the launchpad, as large as the Saturn V moon rocket. It carried the energy module, a segment equipped with a large Honkai energy reactor.

Engineering robots were performing the final inspection. Once completed, the inspection platform returned the engineering robots to the ground. The rocket could launch as soon as the engineering robots responsible for fueling liquid oxygen were also withdrawn to the standby hangar.

Thick smoke billowed from the rocket's base, and a rumbling sound echoed throughout the launch site. The rocket gradually lifted off from the top of the launch tower. Orange debris detached from its body, and under the gaze of the golden sun, it ascended into the sky, reaching the blue firmament, and finally the edge of Earth's cradle.

It was the first spacecraft not manufactured or launched by humans, and it would certainly not be the last.

How to kill the Eleventh Law-Ruler? The method is very simple: convert gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy. There was once a concept popularly hyped by self-media called "space-based weapons," but this is a highly impractical weapon. Regardless of the technical difficulty, its destructive power alone is far inferior to conventional weapons, and its cost is exorbitant.

However, in the world of Honkai, the feasibility of this weapon has increased significantly. While technical difficulty and cost remain challenges, the existence of Soul Steel guarantees the destructive power of space-based weapons. During the Second Honkai Eruption in later generations, the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, hurled Soul Steel from outside the atmosphere towards Earth. One piece struck the Mariana Trench, causing a tsunami that affected the entire western Pacific, while another piece hit Moscow, causing 31% destruction. This indicates that the material loss caused by the atmosphere during the process of Soul Steel falling from outer space to the surface is within acceptable limits.

PS: Here it comes.