212: Chapter 212 Login

The Engineering Ship was relatively slow compared to the aerospace carrier, and with the Soul Blades following behind, the Kunpeng had to reduce its speed...

Chu Ge and Commander Wang were currently inside the aerospace carrier's flight control center. Flight officers were constantly reporting data to the various captains.

The First Captain, Captain Wu, accompanied Chu Ge and Commander Wang.

"Captain Wu, it seems you're planning to be a hands-off manager just like the two of us."

Chu Ge glanced at the data. The fleet was about to enter lunar orbit, yet Captain Wu remained by their side; it seemed he intended to let the other captains handle the docking.

"Haha, General Chu, rest assured. Any one of our four captains is more than capable of commanding the takeoff and landing of this aerospace carrier. Although I, as the First Captain, supervise them, I can't always keep the command of takeoffs and landings in my own hands."

Chu Ge and Commander Wang nodded, then continued to look at the large screen.

The Second Captain was currently confirming navigation coordinates with the navigators, inputting landing coordinates, and activating the auxiliary engines for the landing.

Chu Ge listened carefully for a while; the orders were decisive and accurate. It seemed Captain Wu wasn't boasting.

A few minutes later, a mechanical broadcast echoed through the hall: the Kunpeng was preparing to land on the moon.

"The ship is about to enter lunar orbit. Landing site data confirmed. Adjusting ship attitude."

"Auxiliary landing engines are in position. Landing support plates have separated. The ship is about to enter docking mode."

"Internal air indices normal, temperature normal, atmospheric pressure normal. Gravity sensors are adjusting. All crew members, please fasten your seatbelts. The ship's acceleration is about to reach zero; you will experience a brief state of weightlessness..."

Chu Ge, Commander Wang, and the others found seats and fastened their seatbelts. Several indicator lights in the control center turned from green to flashing yellow...

Yellow indicator lights also began flashing in every corner of the ship. Yan Tianhao and the others had been debugging experimental equipment when they heard the warning over the broadcast.

He and Li Gang hurriedly found seats and buckled up. The brightness of the lighting in the experimental module dimmed significantly, making the yellow warning lights even more prominent.

Yan Tianhao glanced at the information display on his arm, which showed various data points.

"Air composition: Nitrogen 78.59%, Oxygen 21.1%, Carbon Dioxide 0.039%, Water 0.003%. Normal."

"Vital signs: Body temperature 36.5, pulse 68, respiratory rate 54, blood pressure 122/85. Normal."

"Temperature: 19 degrees Celsius, Humidity: 55%, Pressure: 1.013*10^5pa. Normal."

Then there was the flashing yellow gravity value, which was abnormal but dynamic, showing a steady increase.

"Group leader, we should be at the moon. All values are normal, only the gravity is low, but it's being adjusted."

Yan Tianhao reported to Li Gang. The rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief; the tense atmosphere created by the flashing warning lights dissipated instantly.

"I was wondering why I felt heavy one moment and light the next."

"Haha, that's normal. Just now, it was a process of the gravity from the ship's uniform acceleration and the gravity from the ship's own accelerators canceling each other out. The values are dynamic, so your sensations will vary as well."

Yan Tianhao, the human encyclopedia of physics, began to display his expertise again. Just as he finished speaking, the warning lights returned to green and the broadcast stopped.

"We're here? I didn't feel much..."

In the navigation command room, the mechanical prompts continued.

"Gravity values restored to normal. The ship has safely landed at the designated location..."

Chu Ge looked at the massive screen in front of him. It felt like playing a game—simple enough, but a bit surreal. He unbuckled his seatbelt and strode to the very front, near the viewport.

"If I remember correctly, it should be daytime on the moon outside. So what are we waiting for? Navigator, retract the armor on the command deck and the living quarters. Let's give everyone a surprise."

"Yes, General Chu."

The navigator responsible for the operation began inputting commands. Commander Wang walked over to Chu Ge's side and looked out the viewport with him. It was currently covered by armor and insulation layers, showing only pitch black...

From the bow of the Kunpeng, along the central axis to the stern, the armor outside all viewports began to rise slowly. The scene was like a beast with hard plating gradually revealing its soft, transparent belly.

Standing not far away, the Soul Blades watched this shocking scene with curiosity...

Yan Tianhao was about to continue organizing the experimental module when the yellow warning light above his head began to rotate again. The lighting in the module dimmed accordingly. He looked up and frowned.

"Again?"

He was answered by the 'clack-clack-clack' sound of mechanical transmission. Although it wasn't loud, everyone heard it because it felt like it was right beside them. Li Gang followed the sound toward one side.

First, a crack appeared, then it grew wider. Yan Tianhao and the others walked over, staring blankly at the scene before them.

"Is this... a curtain? Is it dawn?"

When the gap reached about thirty centimeters, Yan Tianhao couldn't wait any longer. He lay on the floor to look out through the crack and was instantly stunned. The others followed suit, all lying down.

A few minutes later, everyone stood up. Outside the massive viewport, a world both strange and familiar unfolded before their eyes.

Against a background of ink-deep space, a surface composed of grayish-yellow rocks and soil stretched far into the distance. The ground was not flat, appearing pitted and uneven.

A massive impact crater sat abruptly not far away, surrounded by many smaller craters, some even connected. The dark lava flows inside had long since dried up, yet their traces were still faintly visible.

In the distance, there seemed to be a slightly rising hillside, hazy and dappled with light and shadow. Although there was no dust or water vapor in the lunar air to block the view, visibility remained low; anything slightly further away became blurred, leaving only a gray gloom.

The reflectivity of the lunar surface is extremely low, only slightly higher than that of old asphalt, so the surface appeared dark and murky.

Yan Tianhao looked from left to right, top to bottom. The scenery was monotonous, the colors so drab they were unsettling. The only variation was the rising and falling, the craggy and furrowed topography.

This was the moon: a place of deathly silence and ultimate desolation.

In the distance, slanting in the sky, the sun looked a size larger than it did from Earth, hanging there particularly conspicuously. However, its surroundings remained pitch black; the scene was like hanging an incandescent bulb in the middle of a wilderness on a starless night.

"So this is the moon? Why does it feel different from how it looks from Earth?"

A girl couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, this is the true face of the moon. There is no Moon Palace, no Change, and no bright exterior. All that remains is darkness and desolation."