86: The starship flew away!

The moment the words fell.

The 38 Raptor Engines at the bottom of the starship spewed out columns of orange-red flame.

Terrifying heat waves kicked up dust from the ground.

The gigantic, iron-barrel-like starship slowly lifted off the launchpad.

Its speed gradually increased as it ascended toward the sky.

Sunlight shone on its pure steel exterior, reflecting a blinding glare.

Inside the starship's astronaut cabin.

The three astronauts stared intently at the instrument panel.

Tom Rui, 58, with a full head of white hair, had previously performed multiple space station missions.

Lucy, 48, female, had been to the International Space Station twice.

Jack Li, 35, a young astronaut, was performing his first deep space mission.

Seeing the starship slowly lift off, Tom Rui couldn't help but smile:

"It succeeded! We really lifted off!"

"This maiden flight of our starship is definitely going to be successful."

Jack Li's eyes flashed with excitement: "This is the most glorious moment of my life!"

Lucy: "Cheer for the glory of our Eagle Country Empire!"

The three exchanged smiles, their eyes filled with excitement.

They seemed to already see themselves soaring freely through space.

As the starship continued to ascend.

Ground Observation Deck.

Opden suddenly stood up.

Waving his hands vigorously:

"It's flying!"

"Our starship is flying!"

Durutt was flushed with excitement, "Mr. President! We did it! This is a milestone for humanity!"

Musk's tense body relaxed.

He let out a long breath.

But there was still a trace of unease in his eyes.

But it was quickly masked by excitement:

"That's great... At least nothing went wrong."

The surrounding staff cheered joyfully.

Some even embraced one another.

The entire launch center was a scene of jubilation... In the global live stream.

The bullet comments scrolled madly.

Eagle Country Netizens were completely ecstatic:

"Oh my god! This is the strength of our Eagle Country!"

"The starship is so cool! Saint Ma is awesome!"

"Just wait! The Moon will be ours soon!"

"Not just the Moon, Mars will be ours too!"

"Even the entire cosmos will become our backyard."

"..."

At this very moment.

All Eagle Country citizens began to celebrate wildly.

Even drinking beer in the street, which was usually forbidden.

Was permitted at this moment.

There were also some Black Brothers who, to celebrate the successful starship liftoff.

Went straight out for massive zero-dollar shopping sprees (looting) to celebrate.

At the same time.

Sakura Country Netizens also joined the frenzy:

"Yoshi! Eagle Country Daddy is too amazing!"

"Great Xia Country? How can they catch up to my great Eagle Country Daddy?"

"If Eagle Country succeeds, we succeed!"

"..."

In the eyes of the Little Baga.

As long as Eagle Country succeeded.

They would also benefit later on.

On the other side.

South Korea Netizens were also unwilling to be outdone:

"aishibal! This is true technology!"

"Great Xia Country, can you steal this black technology?"

"Great technology will always be held in the hands of us developed nations."

India Netizens were even more excited:

"The components we provided are indeed reliable!"

"Without us, Eagle Country wouldn't be able to do it either!"

"Haha! From now on, our India will be the world's number one manufacturing powerhouse!"

Great Xia Country Netizens watched the live broadcast screen.

They weren't paying much attention originally.

But when they saw the bullet comments posted by India Netizens.

They instantly burst out laughing.

"Holy crap! Eagle Country dares to use components processed by India?"

"It's settled! Eagle Country's starship is definitely going to have problems this time."

"Haha! I thought Eagle Country was going to succeed this time, but they used components processed by India? Then they're screwed!"

"..."

It wasn't that they looked down on India.

It was just that India had a record!

Their own rocket launches.

Had many accidents just because of issues regarding component processing quality.

Even their missile tests were enough to scare neighboring countries into activating their air defense systems.

This shows how poor they are in precision manufacturing!

Facing the comments from Great Xia Country.

Eagle Sauce Alliance Netizens furiously refuted them.

Directly stating that the Great Xia Country Netizens were just jealous of them.

Great Xia Country Netizens smiled without saying a word.

They sat back and waited for the show!

...The starship continued to ascend.

The altimeter showed that it had already surpassed 3,000 meters.

Inside the cabin, Tom Rui was preparing to report the situation to the ground.

Suddenly.

A piercing alarm sounded.

Red warning lights flashed wildly.

"Warning! Warning! Helium leak! Helium leak!"

"Warning! Energy system anomaly! Energy leak!"

The cold electronic prompt echoed in the cabin.

The smiles on the three people's faces instantly vanished.

Tom Rui's expression changed drastically, and he quickly checked the data:

"fuck! What's going on?"

"Why is there a helium leak?!"

Lucy operated the control panel rapidly with both hands:

"Energy output is unstable!"

"We are losing power!"

Jack panicked, his voice trembling as he called for help:

"Ground! Ground! This is the starship!"

"We are experiencing helium and energy leaks! Requesting emergency assistance!"

Ground Launch Center.

The previously cheering atmosphere instantly solidified.

On the monitoring screens, the starship's various data points began to fluctuate abnormally.

"This is bad! starship helium pressure is abnormal!"

"The energy system has malfunctioned! The leak rate is very fast!"

The technician's shouts made everyone's hearts jump into their throats.

Opden's smile froze, and his pupils contracted sharply:

"How could this happen?!"

"Didn't they say everything was normal?"

Durutt panicked and quickly grabbed the communicator:

"starship! starship! Stay calm! Try to seal the leaks!"

Musk's heart sank. He suddenly thought of something, his voice trembling:

"It's... it's the components from India!"

"Those valves..."

He had worried before that the components from India might have problems, and now, sure enough, something had gone wrong!

...Inside the starship cabin.

Tom Rui operated with all his might: "It's no good! We can't seal it! The leak rate is getting faster and faster!"

He had flown into space so many times.

This was the first time something like this had happened.

Before, the worst was an engine malfunction.

There had never been an issue with the valves.

Lucy's eyes reddened: "Energy output is only 30%! We are going to lose control!"

She was completely panicked.

She had originally thought this mission would go very smoothly.

But now... Jack cried out into the communicator:

"Ground! We cannot control the starship!"

"Requesting instructions! Requesting instructions!"

The starship began to shake slightly, and the rate of altitude increase slowed noticeably... Ground Observation Deck.

Opden stared intensely at the screen, veins bulging.

He had originally thought that the starship launch would be the most glorious moment of his tenure.

But now, it had turned into a nightmare.

Durutt was sweating profusely, yelling at the technicians:

"Hurry! Find a solution quickly! We can't let the starship crash!"

The technicians were flustered and helpless.

Data showed that the starship's helium and energy leaks were already uncontrollable.

In the live stream room.

The cheers of Eagle Country Netizens instantly disappeared.

The bullet comments' tone abruptly changed:

"What's going on? What does the alarm mean?"

"Helium leak? Energy leak? Is something going wrong?"

"Don't scare me! The starship can't fail!"

Sakura Country and South Korea Netizens also panicked:

"How could this happen? Is there a problem with the starship?"

"It won't crash, right? That would be too embarrassing!"