Chapter 426: Rocket Launch |
"Suspending the acquisition?"
Inside the Twin Stars Bar, Black Star sat with Guan Tong at a round table. Hearing Guan Tong say he wanted to suspend the acquisition of Flowable Mind Power, he was slightly surprised.
Nearly two months had passed since the acquisition started, running nonstop every day. Now suddenly stopping it had to have a reason. However, there was no binding contract for this transaction; Guan Tong had never specified he would continue buying indefinitely.
"Barring any surprises, it'll resume next month," Guan Tong said.
Today was the 28th. Tomorrow, he would conduct the exploration experiment.
If everything went smoothly, after the rules ended, he would acquire Flowable Mind Power through Beixing's official channels on one side and through Black Star's Xisiya channels on the other.
"No problem." Black Star agreed immediately. "I'll let the sellers know."
"Mm."
Guan Tong had only come to inform him. After speaking, he stood up to leave, but just then White Star came over from the bar and called out to him.
Guan Tong stopped and looked at her.
Black Star stood up and gently scolded his sister: "White Star, what are you doing?"
White Star said, "Black Star... brother, Aaron doesn't have much time left. I think we need to seek help! I believe this guy is more reliable than the people we were looking for!"
Hearing this, Guan Tong fell into thought.
Last time when he came with Uenoshi, White Star had been hesitant to speak. It seemed this was the same matter as before.
When Black Star heard his sister mention "Aaron," his expression darkened, but seeing her stubborn look, he sighed helplessly after a moment and turned to Guan Tong.
"We really do have something we need help with. I wonder if you could spare some time to listen. If you can help, we're willing to offer all our savings as a fee."
"What is it?"
Guan Tong wasn't very interested in the fee. He was more curious about what could stump Black Star, a well-connected top-tier broker.
If he could help, that would be good too. After all, for a reliable broker like Black Star, doing him a favor was a smart move.
Black Star looked at White Star: "Since you insist on saying it, then you go ahead."
White Star nodded, took a photo from the inner pocket of her denim jacket, and handed it to Guan Tong.
Guan Tong took it and looked. The photo was a group shot of three children—two boys and one girl—who bore a strong resemblance to each other.
One boy and one girl had features that clearly showed they were Black Star and White Star as children. The other was a younger boy with a bright, radiant smile.
"This is a photo of us three siblings." White Star said. "The youngest one is our brother, Aaron."
Guan Tong returned the photo to White Star and asked, "What happened to him?"
Mentioning her brother made White Star's eyes redden: "Aaron... he ran into trouble during the Tenth Rule."
"The Tenth." Guan Tong recalled briefly. "That's the [Five Senses Elimination] rule."
"Right." White Star wiped the corner of her reddened eyes. "At the end of the rule, after all five senses were eliminated, Aaron fell into a coma. Even after the rule ended, he didn't wake up. My brother and I spent those days trying all kinds of items and abilities through Commissions... but nothing could wake him."
"..."
Guan Tong knew that although the [Five Senses Elimination] rule hadn't lasted long, it left permanent scars on many people.
A large number of people developed psychological disorders like claustrophobia because of this rule. The most severe cases, like White Star's brother Aaron, had their senses completely deranged during total sensory deprivation, turning into a vegetative state from which they couldn't wake.
"You're the famous 'Shadow,' and you must know a lot of important people. Is there any way to wake Aaron up?" White Star looked at Guan Tong with hope-filled eyes.
It wasn't just her—even Black Star, who hadn't been keen on her bringing this up, secretly harbored hope that Guan Tong would give good news.
Guan Tong thought for a moment and said, "Since you've already tried all kinds of abilities and items, that means conventional medical methods won't work on your brother."
"That's right." White Star said. "So before, we planned to find another way and approach from the outside."
"White Star." Black Star warned.
"Why can't I say it?" White Star glared at Black Star. "That side didn't ask us to keep it a secret. Besides, Aaron might not last until then!"
"..."
Seeing their reactions, Guan Tong guessed that "another way" must be something very unusual.
White Star was silent for a moment, then explained: "We got in touch with a research lab on Suroma before. They offered a method that could be implemented in the future—using a brain-computer interface to digitize Aaron's memories, upload them, and then load them into an intelligent body. That way, he could regain consciousness in another form and wake up."
Digital memory upload...
Guan Tong asked, "Digital memory backup—isn't that a technology several major countries are currently advancing?"
"That's true, but Aaron's condition is getting worse. The doctor in charge of life support said it's not equipment issues—it's Aaron's own will to live declining more and more. If this continues, digital memory technology might not be mature enough before Aaron can't hold on anymore. They'd have to operate early! But doing it early carries such a huge risk..."
So that's how it was. Guan Tong understood.
"So, you were planning to gamble on this immature technology."
"Yes." Black Star took over. "We know the technology is still very immature and the risk is high, but Aaron can't wait any longer. The surgery was scheduled for the end of next month, but... White Star felt you might have another way, but I didn't have much hope."
Black Star, as a broker who had dealt with thousands of Ascendants, saw things more clearly and deeply than his sister White Star.
He knew that although Ascendants had all kinds of bizarre abilities and items, there was one fundamental truth that almost never changed—it was very difficult to alter the consequences rules imposed on humans.
"Rules can't be reversed; that unwritten rule has shown itself many times. Like parasitized forms can't be turned back into humans, Liars can't tell the truth after the rule ends. Maybe Aaron..."
"That's not absolute." Guan Tong disagreed. "For example, the Mind Lock can be broken through with Mind Power Flow."
White Star strongly agreed: "Exactly! Brother, you're too pessimistic."
Black Star was noncommittal. White Star asked Guan Tong again: "So..."
Guan Tong was silent for a moment before saying, "I might be able to help with your brother's situation."
"Really?!"
White Star was overjoyed, and even Black Star was surprised.
"How about we go see him now? Aaron is in a room in the back!" White Star's voice trembled with excitement.
Guan Tong shook his head. "When I say I can help, I mean I can ask someone to try. I don't have any healing abilities myself."
The person he was referring to was naturally Shi Jingyi.
Shi Jingyi's mastery over Mind Power was extraordinary. She had used it before to heal Guan Tong's body. If that Aaron was affected by rule power, perhaps she could use fine manipulation of Mind Power to break the root cause.
"Is that so..." White Star was slightly disappointed. But Black Star immediately said, "Then please act as an intermediary to communicate. Whether it succeeds or not, we'll provide a fee."
"Wait until April," Guan Tong said.
He had the exploration experiment tomorrow. It was too late to ask Shi Jingyi for help now.
Leaving the Twin Stars Bar, Guan Tong used Body Swap to return to the Pinglu mountain valley.
As if sensing his scent, Coal Ball soon rushed out from the forest, ran up to him, wagged its tail, and rubbed its head against him.
Guan Tong patted Coal Ball's head. Seeing its fur was glossier than before, he smiled. "Looks like nature suits you better."
After deciding last time not to lock Coal Ball in the shelter, he had let it live in the wilderness. Now it seemed that was the right call. For animals, nature was the best way to release their instincts.
"I'm going to space tomorrow," Guan Tong said. "Even I find it a bit unbelievable."
Zhang Minglu's suggestion was a bit crazy, but it wasn't without reason.
If Guan Tong's experiment failed and he lost control, space was naturally the safest place—the safest for the humans on Tianshui Star, that was.
Although Zhang Minglu thought this, Guan Tong knew that his Body Swap ability had no distance limit.
This meant that as long as his Mind Power creations existed on Tianshui Star, even if he was in space, he could return without using a spacecraft.
But to put Zhang Minglu and the others at ease, he agreed anyway.
It wasn't just out of selflessness. In fact, selfishness was the bigger reason—going to space was a dream of his.
...
Two days ago, Zhang Minglu and Gao Liangwei had a conversation.
"You're saying to send him into space using the Empire Pioneer manned rocket?" Gao Liangwei was somewhat surprised by the suggestion after hearing Zhang Minglu's report.
"That's right!" Zhang Minglu said. "Earlier, when Robert from Dream Boat One sent a distress signal, the Suroma Space Agency already had a launch plan and contacted our Space Agency Director Chen Shi. He even came to the research lab back then. It was only because they weren't sure about Robert's situation that the rescue plan was temporarily suspended."
"Are you suggesting Guan Tong carry out that plan on the side? How is that possible? He's not a professional astronaut, and he probably wouldn't agree to do anything beyond exploring the rules."
"That's not what I mean. Director, what I'm saying is that since Suroma has a launch plan, it means their manned rocket is already fully assembled. It can be used to send Guan Tong into space. Suroma will definitely agree because they'll want the exploration results too."
Gao Liangwei thought about it and said, "Wouldn't this put the astronauts going with him in danger?"
"That's exactly the point. I think we should have Suroma send intelligent robots with him!" Zhang Minglu said. "After the space migration plan failed last time, Suroma decided to replace human astronauts with robots. That way, danger can be avoided. Once the robots establish safe alien bases, humans can be transferred there to settle."
"Sending Guan Tong into space with some intelligent robots? Will he agree?"
"It should be fine. He's been to Suroma's cities and seen how advanced their intelligent robots are. Without labels, you can hardly tell them from humans. Plus, the robots' data will be transmitted in real time, so if anything goes wrong, the ground space center can make remote corrections."
Gao Liangwei shared that feeling.
He still remembered the first time he went to Suroma for a Human Consortium meeting. From the driver to the restaurant waiters, all were intelligent robots. It had impressed all the committee members from various countries.
If Suroma could train intelligent robots to drive and serve as waiters, why couldn't they train them to be astronauts? Maybe astronaut training was even easier, since no matter how complex rocket operations were, they couldn't match the intricacies of human social interaction and unexpected situations in real life.
"Let's do it that way. Since it involves a rocket launch, I'll report to the Higher-ups. They should approve."
After the decision was made, the Beixing leadership quickly approved it. Zhang Minglu then contacted Suroma as a representative, and they agreed almost immediately.
First, they also wanted the exploration results. Second, after the earlier scandal, the Senate was eager to restore the country's image. This operation was undoubtedly an opportunity.
And just as the Beixing side expected, Suroma had indeed already built a batch of "astronaut robots." But unlike the humanoid ones used for driving and reception, these space robots were all designed like "multi-tentacled octopuses."
That wasn't surprising.
Robot appearance was designed to serve the application scenario. Robots for greeting and interacting with people were made humanoid to facilitate contact. For space use, there was no need for humanoid forms—being functional was most important. Compared to humanoid forms with only two hands and ten fingers, freely extendable multi-tentacle robots were obviously better suited for operating manned rockets.
After both sides agreed, they pushed forward the plan in secrecy to prevent external sabotage.
Over the three days, the Beixing side's Countermeasures Research Office was responsible for collecting Flowable Mind Power for Guan Tong's reserves, while the Suroma side debugged and optimized the manned rocket and robots.
...
On the morning of the 29th, Guan Tong arrived at the Suroma Rocket Launch Center.
Since the entire experiment was confidential, few people knew about it. The launch center only had a handful of essential staff.
Before boarding the rocket, several professionals explained some key points to Guan Tong.
"Space is different from the near-Earth orbit sightseeing that rich people like. From selection to going to space, an ordinary astronaut needs at least half a year of training, including various physical adaptation tests, medical checkups, and such. There's no time for that now. But luckily, you're a powerful Ascendant, so your physical condition absolutely meets the requirements. Skipping a lot of training won't cause any real harm."
"Riding the rocket with you will be six space-oriented multi-functional robots. They can handle all necessary work, so you won't need to touch any operating buttons inside the rocket. The robots will do it all. If you need anything, just speak to them in natural language, and they'll understand. If there's danger, they'll immediately guide you to the rescue capsule."
Guan Tong nodded.
Zhang Minglu had already told him about this. He had no problem going into space with robots.
Even if some danger outside the rules really occurred, he could immediately use his Body Swap ability to return to Tianshui Star. There was no need to worry too much.
"Finally, we all wish you the best of luck," the professional said earnestly. "We know you're taking risks for humanity, and that's very worthy of respect."
"Thank you," Guan Tong said. "I also hope this trip yields some results."
Once everything was ready, he followed a guide to the tower and took a dedicated elevator up to the orbital capsule platform.
Below the platform, several key personnel from Suroma and Beixing stood watching. Zhang Minglu, as the initiator of this plan, had also come from Beixing. Gazing up at the high platform and seeing Guan Tong in a pressure suit enter the capsule, he thought silently: It has to succeed!
After entering the capsule, Guan Tong immediately smelled a complex, slightly sweet metallic odor. The experience was entirely new to him.
"Hello." A space robot shaped like an octopus with twelve slender metal claws gave a reminder. "Please take your seat and connect to the various devices."
Guan Tong sat down and connected the oxygen hose, ventilation tube, and telemetry cable for medical monitoring from the ground.
"Monitoring confirms astronaut seated. Capsule self-check begins."
"All equipment checks complete. Communications normal."
"Capsule door closed."
Accompanied by the space robot's prompts, Guan Tong closed his helmet visor and quietly waited for the final launch.
Outside, the launch tower's rotating platforms, which wrapped the rocket, opened layer by layer, like a giant steel lotus awaiting its final bloom.
About twenty minutes later, everything was ready. The Director of the Suroma Space Agency pressed the red button on the control panel as planned.
"Ignition!"