At the research base.
Elder Wang swayed.
His entire body was trembling.
Twenty times the speed of sound had already shattered the limits of his understanding.
Now there was an afterburner mode, too.
The world's advanced fighter jets also had afterburner modes.
Once an engine's afterburner was engaged, it meant the aircraft would unleash its full potential and push its speed to the maximum.
An ordinary supersonic fighter could potentially break twice the speed of sound after engaging its afterburner.
But the problem was that this mech was already traveling at twenty times the speed of sound.
What would happen if it engaged its afterburner on top of that?
While Elder Wang stood lost in a daze.
Elder Hua beside him happened to see the data panel in the lower-right corner.
[Current mode: King + level 1 afterburner] [Combined thrust: kilonewtons+; low-thrust data unavailable in King mode] [Hull temperature] [Speed: Mach 43] [Assessment: Everything normal!]
Elder Hua's eyes suddenly bulged to the size of eggs.
His mouth opened wide enough to fit a fist.
He panted rapidly, "Hah, hah."
He looked about to croak.
His eyes kept rolling upward.
Tong Yao was the first to notice something was wrong with Elder Hua and was startled.
She hurriedly steadied him and shouted,
"Quick! Give Elder Hua a fast-acting heart relief pill!"
Someone beside him frantically fished a little yellow bottle out of Elder Hua's Zhongshan suit.
They tipped out a little black pill and gave it to Elder Hua.
The sudden situation also snapped Elder Wang out of his astonishment.
His eyes, too, happened to catch the data panel in the lower-right corner.
He noticed that the speed displayed there had already changed to Mach 45.
"Gah-"
He failed to catch his breath, and his entire body convulsed.
He shook like chaff in a sieve.
The researchers immediately scrambled in panic.
"What's wrong with Elder Wang?"
"Elder Wang, don't scare me!"
"..."
Cries of alarm rose one after another.
Alarmed but composed, Tong Yao shouted,
"Hurry and give Elder Wang a fast-acting heart relief pill, too! Any later and it'll be too late!"
The two elderly men were helped into chairs nearby.
Each was given a little pill.
Both were fitted with nasal oxygen tubes.
The horror on their faces had not faded in the slightest.
They understood the unit Mach all too well.
Never mind a mech-even a fighter designed entirely according to fluid dynamics faced enormous difficulty breaking twice the speed of sound.
Having participated in the development of the K-Series Fighter Jets, they knew this better than anyone.
The hardships involved were impossible to sum up in a few words!
Yet something so difficult seemed to be no trouble at all for Xu Fan.
A five-meter mech should weigh fifteen tonnes, even by a conservative estimate.
And you were telling him this enormous thing had flown at forty-five times the speed of sound?
He wouldn't fucking believe it even if he gouged his eyes out!
Had he not seen the data panel with his own eyes, he would absolutely have thought anyone saying that was insane.
The two elderly men leaned back in their chairs in a daze, sinking into profound doubts about life.
Through the audio system, Xu Fan heard the panicked voices on the other end.
Knowing there might be some emergency over there, he paid no further attention and focused on piloting the mech.
Wang Yixue's holographic helmet beside him was designed for the copilot and had no function for connecting to ground audio.
So she had no idea what was happening.
Besides, he had only just adjusted to their current tremendous speed and was still gasping for breath.
As the moon drew closer and closer, his expression gradually grew excited.
Many years ago, Arms had set foot on the moon.
He had left a footprint there.
And he had declared that it was one small step for him, but one giant leap for mankind.
Now the two of them were approaching the moon once again.
Even if they failed to set foot on its surface, it would still be something to take pride in.
Wang Yixue's feelings at that moment were beyond words.
There was a sense of being moved, a wealth of emotion, and an excitement she could barely contain.
Just then, Xu Fan suddenly said to Wang Yixue,
"We're close enough now. Time to slow down. Get ready-decelerating feels just as awful as accelerating!"
"Okay, I'm ready!" Wang Yixue took several deep breaths.
She gripped the safety buckles with both hands, her muscles tightening as well.
Her chest heaved violently; clearly, she was not as calm inside as she appeared.
"Ka-dunk!"
Working both controls with his left and right hands, Xu Fan flipped the entire mech around.
He pointed the engine nozzles on its back toward the moon and turned engine output up to maximum.
Crimson Sky No. 1, which had been hurtling along at forty-five times the speed of sound, was instantly engulfed by an immense opposing force.
Xu Fan's and Wang Yixue's eyeballs were almost completely pressed back into their sockets.
All their blood was flung toward the backs of their heads and their backs.
A terrifying sensation of suffocation swept over them.
"Thump... thump..."
Under the tremendous pressure, their hearts were almost squeezed flat.
Even though calculations had confirmed that humans could withstand such an immense force.
Xu Fan still felt as though he were dying.
At that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to Xu Fan.
If I get the chance in the future, I need to develop a drug that can strengthen the human physique.
Even now, Crimson Sky No. 1 had not reached its most powerful state.
The limits of the human body's endurance were the greatest shackles holding the mech back.
As the suffocating pressure eased, the mech finally hovered above a vast, desolate celestial body.
It was a period of continuous daylight, and all they could see.
Was a bleak expanse of gray.
As though it represented death.
"So this... is the moon!" Shaken, Wang Yixue murmured in a daze.
"Come on, let's go see the lunar landing monument and Arms's footprint!"
Xu Fan pulled the control stick.
The mech plunged into the moon's gravitational field.
Though they were still far away, the quantum phased-array radar system had already located the remains of Lunar Sea Base, left behind when Arms landed on the moon.
On Earth, at the research base.
After breathing oxygen for a while, and with the medicine taking effect, Elder Wang and Elder Hua had largely regained their ability to move.
The first thing they did was pick up the phone Wang Yixue had left behind.
The phone was successfully unlocked with its password.
The researchers all gathered around as well, looking at the phone's screen. They saw the mech rapidly plunging toward the lunar surface at a speed of Mach 5. Yet everyone actually felt this was perfectly normal. Flying at just Mach 1 or 2 really wouldn't have been Xu Fan's style. After the baptism of Mach 45, the research base's experts had all toughened their nerves. "It's already making its lunar landing!" Elder Wang exclaimed, his palms breaking out in a cold sweat. Beside him, Elder Hua's eyes were also bloodshot, his breathing rapid. If Xu Fan landed successfully, the significance would be extraordinary! He represented not only himself, but the entire Xia Nation. The blood of their Xia Nation flowed through his veins. "Elder Wang, should we report this to the higher-ups? After all, this is worth celebrating nationwide!" Tong Yao reminded him from the side. "Let's watch for now. Even if we report it, it can't be made public." Elder Wang said solemnly, "Whether it's this mech or Xu Fan himself, what they need most is protection!" Everyone nodded in wholehearted agreement. Whether a major invention or a genius inventor, either would face unimaginable danger once exposed to the spotlight. Above the moon. As the mech plunged downward at high speed, the uneven, grayish-brown lunar soil grew clearer and clearer. "I see it!" Xu Fan shouted, overwhelmed with excitement. Lunar Sea Base was already close at hand. The attitude-control vectoring nozzles activated. They adjusted the mech's attitude in every direction, and its speed plummeted immediately afterward. Wang Yixue in the copilot's seat.
The researchers all gathered around as well, looking at the phone's screen.
They saw the mech rapidly plunging toward the lunar surface at a speed of Mach 5.
Yet everyone actually felt this was perfectly normal.
Flying at just Mach 1 or 2 really wouldn't have been Xu Fan's style.
After the baptism of Mach 45, the research base's experts had all toughened their nerves.
"It's already making its lunar landing!"
Elder Wang exclaimed, his palms breaking out in a cold sweat.
Beside him, Elder Hua's eyes were also bloodshot, his breathing rapid.
If Xu Fan landed successfully, the significance would be extraordinary!
He represented not only himself, but the entire Xia Nation.
The blood of their Xia Nation flowed through his veins.
"Elder Wang, should we report this to the higher-ups? After all, this is worth celebrating nationwide!" Tong Yao reminded him from the side.
"Let's watch for now. Even if we report it, it can't be made public."
Elder Wang said solemnly,
"Whether it's this mech or Xu Fan himself, what they need most is protection!"
Everyone nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Whether a major invention or a genius inventor, either would face unimaginable danger once exposed to the spotlight.
Above the moon.
As the mech plunged downward at high speed, the uneven, grayish-brown lunar soil grew clearer and clearer.
"I see it!"
Xu Fan shouted, overwhelmed with excitement. Lunar Sea Base was already close at hand.
The attitude-control vectoring nozzles activated.
They adjusted the mech's attitude in every direction, and its speed plummeted immediately afterward.
Wang Yixue in the copilot's seat.
And the countless people at the research base.
All held their breath tightly.
Not daring to blink even once.
They stared fixedly at the mech's final touchdown on the lunar surface.
"Rumble-"
Amid a bout of earth-shaking tremors, the mech landed steadily.
Both feet sank slightly into the lunar soil.
And its right foot seemed to have stepped on something.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was that he was about to see the lunar landing monument, and humanity's first footprint on the moon in front of it.
"Yixue, hurry and help me look around. Where's the monument?"
As Xu Fan spoke, he remained completely oblivious to Wang Yixue blinking her large eyes and looking at him with a strange expression.