217: Chapter 217 A typical day on the moon

Chu Ge slept quite well during his first night on the Moon; in fact, the scenery outside the aerospace carrier hadn't changed much from start to finish—it was still daylight.

At Commander Wang's suggestion, they had to use the raising and lowering of the Kunpeng's armor plating as an external peripheral for the crew's biological clocks.

Otherwise, looking at the unchanging scenery outside, it would be easy for people to experience a sensory temporal confusion.

As the aerospace carrier's armor plates rose piece by piece, the cratered lunar landscape reappeared before Chu Ge's eyes. He watched the desolate scenery outside while washing up.

Chu Ge's room could be considered a luxury VIP suite. Most of the other crew members stayed in enclosed dormitories, and such suites were extremely rare; after all, space on an aerospace carrier was worth its weight in gold.

The design of this living area had been partitioned off separately. Whether the designers had received instructions from the military or were simply being creative, they had produced this suite that could truly be called luxurious.

The suite was fully equipped with various facilities and even included a control terminal connected to the carrier's systems.

This was clearly prepared specifically for Chu Ge...

After finishing his morning routine, Chu Ge walked to the Flight Control Center. Construction of the Lunar Base had not stopped; it was a 24-hour continuous operation.

Looking at the five bridge cranes rising from the ground outside, he nodded with satisfaction. At this rate, by this time tomorrow, the dock construction would be basically complete.

Three of the five bridge cranes had already begun unloading construction materials from the Engineering Ship. They never rested for a moment, executing the established processes perfectly.

"General Chu, how did you sleep last night?"

"Not bad, I didn't have any trouble adjusting. What about you?"

"Same here. I actually slept even more comfortably than I do on Earth."

"Haha, the air composition of the aerospace carrier is modeled entirely after Earth's atmosphere. The humidity is moderate, the temperature is constant at 19 degrees Celsius, the pressure is just right, and there are appropriate negative ions. The entire environment simulates the most perfect Earth conditions."

"You can imagine yourself waking up in a primeval forest every morning—no pollution, fresh air, and a concentration of negative oxygen ions much higher than in an urban environment. Theoretically, it really should be more comfortable than sleeping in our old places."

This was also why Chu Ge preferred to define the Kunpeng as a research vessel or a 'nanny ship'.

The environment it provided for the crew was superior, allowing humans to stay in space for long periods. As long as supplies were maintained, one could theoretically stay for a lifetime without worrying about any health issues.

"Will the future Lunar Base be able to achieve this effect as well? I'm getting a bit impatient."

Commander Wang asked from the side.

"It should be able to simulate it even better, because the Lunar Base will have several additional systems, such as a VR imaging system. It can realistically mimic the dynamic scenery of nature, giving you an immersive feeling."

"It won't be like now, where the outside is so monotonous it makes one anxious. Furthermore, my long-term plan for the Lunar Base is to establish its own small-scale ecosystem."

Chu Ge gave Commander Wang a brief introduction to some of the Lunar Base's functions, which piqued the Commander's interest so much that he wished he could go down and join the construction crew himself.

"Report! The ship's system shows that another Lunar Satellite has changed its orbit. According to the calculations after the maneuver, it will arrive over our landing zone in one hour."

A loud report from a flight officer interrupted the conversation between Chu Ge and Commander Wang.

"Is there no end to this? From now on, there's no need to report. Until the Lunar Base construction is finished, this airspace must achieve absolute clearance. No satellite is allowed to pass through here."

"Yes, General Chu."

"Aren't there just 14 of them? I'll cut them all down for you. If they have the money, they can keep launching new ones," Chu Ge said, staring at the digital simulation orbital screen in front of the navigation officer.

"Wait, two of those 14 satellites are our own," Commander Wang said, tugging at Chu Ge's sleeve.

"Er, 12 then. No, after cutting today's, there will be 9 left. Honestly, these people are so stubborn. I've already planted the flag here, yet they insist on coming over to join the 'fun'. The near side of the moon is so bright; isn't that enough for them to study?"

"Haha, the old rules were set by the West. Now, it's time for someone else to set the rules. It's better if they all come at once; the Soul Blade is quite busy, and we have to find time for it to do this dirty work."

Commander Wang had no objections at all today.

The matter of those two satellites yesterday had already been reported to the military, and the military supported them. Elder Long's stance was that even if there was no evidence, they could just say it was accidental damage—wasn't that the West's standard operating procedure anyway?

Since Huaxia had already shown its hand, it would no longer hide its light under a bushel. It would act entirely according to its own judgment, and some of the old orders needed to be changed.

The far side of the moon was thus declared a restricted zone by Huaxia; no aircraft or satellites were permitted to enter.

Chu Ge and Commander Wang had priority decision-making power. In short, any decision beneficial to the Lunar Base, the Interstellar Fleet, or the nation would be supported by the military.

This notification deeply moved Chu Ge and Commander Wang; the military was supporting them without reservation.

Chu Ge walked to the viewport of the Flight Control Center. There were significantly more construction teams outside than yesterday. In addition to the group at the bridge crane dock, seven or eight other small-scale teams had been dispatched.

"Are they preparing to install the lighting arrays?" Chu Ge asked Commander Wang, who was standing beside him, as he watched the teams.

"Yes. They're starting with the reclamation work for the searchlight bases. Once the foundations are done, they can assemble the light poles directly when the heavy equipment arrives."

"It seems a lot of projects are waiting for the next batch of equipment. Is the Dockyard Base ready?" Chu Ge suddenly asked, looking at the busy construction teams outside.

"The Dockyard Base is ready. There are 2 sets of surveying equipment totaling 30 machines, 178 heavy crawler-type engineering machines, and several small to medium ones. They are all specialized equipment: driverless, electric-powered, all-terrain, and matched with highly intelligent remote operating systems."

"Regarding the human-machine interface for the engineering machinery, we tested it back at the Dockyard Base, and the results were good. The data for the Engineering Department's consoles has long been prepared; we're just waiting for the Engineering Ship to bring them up."

Chu Ge nodded and shifted his gaze toward the transport Engineering Ship. The deficiency of having only one Engineering Ship was becoming apparent, though fortunately, it looked like a lot of materials had already been unloaded.

The temporary platform cleared out at the dock was densely packed with engineering supplies.

"Commander Wang, once the surveying equipment arrives, I want to go down and walk around. I've been here for a day and haven't truly felt what it's like to walk on the lunar surface yet."

"Also, regarding that area with the anomalous magnetic field, I want to lead a team to survey it personally."

Chu Ge paused and added.

"Alright, but you must stay safe. You are the Commander-in-Chief here. To be honest, I want to go down and walk around too, haha."

Commander Wang replied honestly.