232: Chapter 232 Chu Ge's Plan

After confirming that the headcount was correct, Chu Ge arranged for himself to go up last.

When they were 500 meters from the lunar surface, Chu Ge saw Captain Wang's construction team; their progress was not slow.

Upon arriving at the lunar surface, Captain Wang and his team crowded around.

"Captain Wang, have the wounded been sent back to the aerospace carrier?" Chu Ge asked immediately after ascending.

"Yes, they've been sent off. They returned via carrier-based aircraft, but Captain Gong is still here."

As the two were speaking, Captain Gong walked over.

"General Chu, I'm fine. I'll go with you!"

Captain Gong spoke with a resonant, powerful voice. Chu Ge looked at him, and Captain Gong nodded firmly, his eyes resolute.

"Very well. Captain Wang, have the team members still working come up. Prepare to return to the aerospace carrier."

"Academician Chu, I feel we can still hold out for half a day."

"No. This isn't Earth, after all. You need to go back and get some proper rest. The work here will not stop."

"I will arrange for another construction team to take over your work. You two groups will operate on a 24-hour continuous construction schedule."

"Yes, sir!"

Seeing that Chu Ge was firm, Captain Wang did not insist further and walked to the side to gather his team.

During the ascent, Chu Ge had already drafted a plan; the project here had to be completed as soon as possible.

If there weren't enough construction personnel, he would even temporarily reassign workers from the Lunar Base to ensure the progress here.

Only then could he implement his subsequent plans.

Thinking of this, Chu Ge walked over to [Soul Blade].

"[Soul Blade], summon your other two companions as well. The three of you will keep watch here."

[Yes, General Chu. What about the Lunar Base?]

"Don't worry. There's an aerospace carrier there. I believe this place is the most dangerous spot on the entire moon right now."

[Yes! Arranging it immediately!]

Chu Ge looked toward the construction team, where Yan Tianhao and Zheng Jun were arranging for the experts and engineers to board the vehicles.

Captain Gong was leading the security soldiers to stand guard around the perimeter.

Turning back, [Soul Blade]'s companions had already arrived, landing steadily behind [Soul Blade].

"[Soul Blade], I'll leave this place to you. After I return to the aerospace carrier, I will arrange for another construction team to come and take over Captain Wang's work."

"You must ensure their safety and report to the Flight Control Center at any time if there is a situation!"

[Yes!]

[Soul Blade] spoke as it saluted Chu Ge, and [Red Armor] and [Demon Teng] behind it also turned to face Chu Ge and saluted.

Chu Ge straightened his uniform and returned the salute solemnly.

[Soul Blade] and its companions then took flight, quickly disappearing from Chu Ge's field of vision.

Chu Ge withdrew his gaze and walked quickly back to the convoy, seeing that everyone was ready.

Upon Chu Ge's order, the two dozen tracked vehicles carrying personnel all started up and drove toward the Lunar Base.

[Soul Blade] circled the anomalous area once and then followed far behind the convoy.

Only when the convoy reached a place not far from the aerospace carrier did it turn around and retreat.

...

Inside the aerospace carrier,

Upon seeing Chu Ge, Commander Wang finally felt the weight lift from his heart, which had been hanging by a thread.

"General Chu, we need to go to the conference center in a while. Elder Long and the others are waiting."

"Alright."

Chu Ge knew that their discovery in the underground cavern would definitely alarm the bigwigs back home, but he hadn't expected Elder Long himself to come.

"Captain Gong, you can go to the medical bay for a check-up now, right?"

Before leaving with Commander Wang, Chu Ge did not forget to remind Captain Gong once more.

"Yes."

"Captain Gong was injured too?" Commander Wang finally remembered that Chu Ge had mentioned three people were injured, but the carrier-based aircraft had only brought back two.

"Commander Wang, I'm perfectly fine. It's just that General Chu insisted on forcing..."

Captain Gong stopped speaking because he saw Chu Ge's sharp gaze. He immediately saluted the two of them and turned to run away.

"Captain Gong should be fine."

Chu Ge watched Captain Gong, who had disappeared in the blink of an eye, and smiled.

"He is the all-around champion of our Northern Theater Command; his physical fitness is beyond reproach."

Commander Wang looked in the direction Captain Gong had left and said leisurely. It seemed he was quite familiar with Captain Gong's past.

"By the way, Commander Wang, how is that unconscious soldier?"

"The doctor checked him briefly when he got off the aircraft. He said that, judging by his vital signs, there shouldn't be any major problems."

"For the specifics, we'll need to wait for a scan from the medical bay's fully automated diagnostic equipment."

"Mm, alright then. Let's go. Don't keep the leaders waiting too long."

Chu Ge checked the time; it was already 8:30 PM Beijing time.

When Chu Ge and Commander Wang walked into the conference room, three people were already sitting inside: Captain Wu, the first captain of the "Kunpeng," and two other captains.

"Captain Sun needs to oversee the Flight Control Center."

Captain Wu explained to Chu Ge, seeing his slight confusion.

This conference room was not large, but it was a top-secret facility on the entire ship, mainly because whenever this room was used, it was generally for matters requiring absolute confidentiality.

This was also the place where the mothership commander conducted video conferences with high-ranking military officials on Earth.

Chu Ge looked at the online video feed; Elder Long, Academician Chen, and a group of high-ranking military officials he was familiar with were all there.

"Apologies for keeping everyone waiting." After sitting down, Chu Ge looked at Elder Long and the others and said.

"Chu Ge, how are you? You weren't injured, were you?" Academician Chen asked first.

"I'm fine. It's shameful to say, but this mission should have been carried out by me and Elder Huang, but Captain Gong..."

"Captain Gong did nothing wrong. This is his duty. Chu Ge, I asked Commander Wang to relay the military's advice. Did he?" Elder Long asked.

"Yes." Chu Ge nodded, then looked at Commander Wang, who was sitting there with his head lowered.

It seemed that before he arrived, Commander Wang had already been reprimanded.

"As a result, not only did you not listen, but going down was one thing, and you were also preparing to fight to be the first on the front line?"

Chu Ge also lowered his head. Elder Long's words were very stern; Chu Ge knew he was genuinely angry.

As the leader of the Chinese military, when Elder Long got angry, ordinary people had to behave, including the commanders of the major theater commands.

Chu Ge and Commander Wang held their breath and kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. The temperature in the entire room seemed to drop several degrees.

"Enough. Let this be the last time. Now, tell me about the situation there. How did you get injured? What did you find?"

After Elder Long scolded Chu Ge lightly, he immediately entered the main topic of the meeting.

"The light source discovered earlier has been confirmed to be the energy core of a crashed alien spacecraft, and Captain Gong and his team were injured by it."

Just this first sentence made everyone present gasp, including Commander Wang of the aerospace carrier and the several captains.

The situation was urgent, and Chu Ge hadn't had time to explain the details of the underground space to Commander Wang.

"An energy core?" Academician Chen asked, somewhat confused.

"Yes, similar to a glowing energy crystal. We don't know its size yet, but I guess it should be spherical. We hadn't had time to investigate further before it released some kind of electric current."

"Fortunately, we were all wearing protective suits, otherwise..."

"Also, we generally circled the spacecraft wreckage and discovered a piece of equipment that is extremely important to us."

"A Warp Engine!"

Seeing Elder Long, Academician Chen, and the others widen their eyes, Chu Ge didn't drag it out and directly spat out these four words.

Elder Long and the others didn't express an opinion immediately after hearing this.

It seemed the amount of information today was a bit overwhelming; they had absolutely no contingency plan.

"Finally, I suggest adjusting the Lunar Base plan, allocating a portion of our strength to utilize that hidden underground space to build a secret base around the spacecraft wreckage."

Chu Ge finished speaking. The last sentence was what he really wanted to express, and it was also what he had been planning all day.

Chu Ge felt that if everything went smoothly, this secret base might become a key to the fleet's future journey into the Milky Way...