108: Chapter 108 Elevator Trial Run! Breakfast in Space This Morning

"Distinguished viewers, dear netizens, and friends watching the global broadcast—today is one of the most important days in human history!"

On the broadcast tower of the Lotus Base Station at the Equatorial Base Station, reporters from 372 mainstream media outlets around the world were packed like sardines.

Unmanned cameras hovered in the air like a swarm of bees, beaming images via holographic projection to every screen on Earth.

It was exactly six o'clock in the morning, Equatorial time.

The sun had just leaped from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, bathing the entire Lotus Base Station in a golden glow.

And that "star bridge" cable, rising from the center of the lotus, emitted a soft glow mixed with orange and gold under the morning sun, like a golden vine growing from the earth and piercing straight into the sky.

Looking up from the ground, the cable vanished from sight at an altitude of about thirty kilometers—because it was so thin; its three-meter diameter was like a strand of hair compared to its length of thirty-seven thousand kilometers.

But everyone knew that at the top of that "strand of hair" was a space platform suspended at an altitude of thirty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-six kilometers—the "Tiangong."

And today, the first space elevator cabin in human history—codenamed "Tianwen-1"—would carry twelve passengers from the ground, traveling along this "star bridge" straight into space.

"Commander, all systems for the 'Tianwen-1' cabin have completed self-checks, and everything is normal. The gravity regulation device has been activated, and the gravity inside the cabin is constant at 1G. The electromagnetic drive system is on standby at full power."

The voice of "Nuwa" sounded in Lin Yun's earpiece, gentle and steady.

Lin Yun stood in the launch control center in the "pistil" area of the Lotus Base Station, facing a massive monitoring wall that displayed all the parameters of the "Tianwen-1" cabin in real-time.

That cabin—or rather, that "vertical spacecraft"—was far more spectacular than anyone had imagined.

It was shaped like a streamlined silver olive, over fifty meters long and twenty meters in diameter, with its surface covered by a protective shell made of materials derived from "star bridge matter."

The interior of the cabin was divided into three levels: the bottom level was the cargo hold, capable of carrying five hundred tons of supplies; the middle level was the passenger cabin, featuring twelve fully enclosed seats, each equipped with an independent life support system and a holographic viewing window; the top level was a small observation deck—a transparent dome that allowed passengers to watch the Earth gradually shrink beneath them during the ascent.

The gravity regulation device was installed in the core position at the bottom of the cabin. It was a cylindrical device about three meters in diameter, its outer surface covered in dense heat dissipation patterns, and the graviton generator inside was emitting a low hum—the sound of the gravitational field being artificially manipulated.

The passenger list for "Tianwen-1" was finalized only after repeated discussions.

Among the twelve passengers, four were top engineers from the "Hive," responsible for conducting technical assessments for the platform expansion after arriving at "Tiangong."

Two were special forces soldiers from the "Civilization Guardian Army," responsible for security.

Three were scientist representatives from different signatory nations—one each from the Dragon Kingdom, the European Union, and the African Union—symbolizing that the space elevator belonged to all of humanity.

Two more were media reporters. One from the Dragon Kingdom's official news agency, and one from the world's largest independent news network.

The final passenger—should have been Song Mingyue.

But because she had given birth to their tenth child less than two weeks ago, Lin Yun absolutely refused to let her go.

Song Mingyue had a huge argument with Lin Yun over this—the most intense conflict since they had met.

"It's the elevator I designed, why shouldn't I be the first to ride it?"

"You just gave birth!"

"I've recovered very well! Professor Zhao said so!"

"What Professor Zhao calls 'recovered very well' and 'being able to withstand space travel' are two different things!"

In the end, it was Shen Ruoxi who stepped in to mediate.

"Mingyue, your body really needs some more time to recover. But for the second official run—I promise, you will be the first one to go up."

Shen Ruoxi's promise, combined with her gentle authority as the "first wife," finally made Song Mingyue reluctantly compromise.

But she set one condition—

"I want to sit in the launch control center the entire time and monitor every parameter. If there is any abnormality, I have the right to call a halt."

"No problem."

So at this moment, Song Mingyue sat at the console next to Lin Yun, wearing her ever-dusty overalls, her hard hat always tilted to one side, holding a portable stress analyzer in her hand—ready to cross-verify the real-time data of the cable at any moment.

The position of the twelfth passenger was ultimately given to an unexpected candidate—

General Li Yunlong.

The old man flew back from the "Guanghan Palace" base on the moon and specifically requested to ride the "first space elevator."

"I've been bouncing around on the moon for three months, and my legs are sore. You're telling me there's something now that can take me from the ground to space in comfort, with gravity regulation, and sitting in it is like riding a high-speed train? I have to experience that!"

No one could stop General Li Yunlong. Even Elder Chen tried, and failed.

"Whether your gravity regulation device works or not, let me test it for everyone first! This is called... testing the law with my own body! No, that's not it—testing the elevator with my own body!"

At this moment, the hatch of "Tianwen-1" had already closed. The twelve passengers were in their respective seats.

In the global broadcast, the silver, streamlined cabin of "Tianwen-1" hung quietly at the bottom anchor point of the "star bridge" cable.

The cable ran through the top of the cabin, extending upward and disappearing into the end of the blue sky.

The equatorial sea breeze blew gently, causing the deep blue flag of the "Earth Civilization Community" on the Lotus Base Station to flap loudly.

"Commander, all systems are green. Ready for launch."

Lin Yun took a deep breath.

He glanced at Song Mingyue beside him.

Song Mingyue stared at the data on the console without looking up. But Lin Yun noticed that her fingers, gripping the analyzer, were turning slightly white.

"'Tianwen-1'—"

Lin Yun's voice was transmitted through the all-channel broadcast, reaching the entire base station and every terminal of the global live broadcast.

"Liftoff."

Hum—

A low, resonant sound, like the bass string of a cello, emanated from the electromagnetic drive system at the bottom of the "Tianwen-1" cabin.

The cabin began to ascend.

The speed was very slow—for the first few seconds, it was less than one meter per second.

But the speed was climbing rapidly.

Ten seconds later, ten meters per second.

Thirty seconds later, one hundred meters per second.

One minute later, five hundred meters per second—already exceeding the speed of sound.

But there was no sonic boom. Because the acceleration curve of the electromagnetic drive system was precisely controlled within a range that the passengers could withstand, and the gravity regulation device perfectly compensated for the effects of acceleration on the passengers' bodies.

Inside the cabin, the twelve passengers could barely feel that they were moving.

Only the altitude data on the holographic viewing window was jumping wildly—

One thousand meters.

Five thousand meters.

Ten thousand meters.

The scene outside the window was changing rapidly. The blue sky deepened. The clouds were left beneath them. The Lotus Base Station on the ground turned from a flower into a dot, then disappeared into the azure surface of the Pacific Ocean.

General Li Yunlong sat in his seat, his hands gripping the armrests tightly, his old face flushed red—not from nervousness, but from excessive excitement.

"Damn! This is more exciting than riding the 'Luan Bird'! When that 'Luan Bird' thing takes off, it shakes like an earthquake, but this is as steady as sitting on my sofa at home!"

The special forces soldiers beside him remained expressionless. They were already used to General Li's "battlefield profanity" at any time and place.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief! Current cabin altitude—twenty kilometers! Speed, eight hundred meters per second! Everything is normal!"

Lin Yun's gaze was fixed on the data on the monitoring wall.

Song Mingyue's analyzer was also running synchronously, and the real-time stress data of the carbon nanotube cable in the section the cabin was passing through was being recorded and compared millisecond by millisecond.

"Stress distribution is uniform. No abnormal concentration points. The performance of the 'star bridge matter' is perfect," Song Mingyue reported in a low voice.

Thirty kilometers.

Fifty kilometers.

The sky outside the window had shifted from deep blue to a rich indigo.

The curvature of the horizon began to become distinct—the Earth is round, a common knowledge learned from textbooks since childhood, was now presented to every passenger with an unprecedented visual impact.

Seventy kilometers.

The sky turned ink-blue. The sun became more dazzling. The first batch of stars began to be faintly visible in the "daytime" sky.

Eighty kilometers.

Near the Kármán line—the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The speed of the "Tianwen-1" capsule began to slow down—not due to lack of power, but because it had entered the preset "scenic deceleration segment."

The speed dropped to one hundred meters per second.

The holographic viewing window automatically switched to maximum transparency mode.

Twelve passengers, for the first time in this manner—not through a small spacecraft porthole, not through an astronaut's helmet visor—but through a massive panoramic glass, like a theater's floor-to-ceiling window—saw space.

Saw the Earth.

It was a blue planet, covered in swirling white clouds, looking like a giant glass marble.

It hung quietly in the pitch-black void, half-lit and half-dark by the sun's rays.

The bright side was day, where one could faintly see the outlines of continents and the textures of the oceans.

The dark side was night, where city lights looked like golden diamond dust scattered on black velvet.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

So beautiful it made one want to cry.

In the global live broadcast, the comment sections of all channels in the same second—were all flooded.

"My god... is this our home?"

"Blue... ten thousand times more beautiful than any photograph..."

"I am standing on my own balcony, looking up at the lights of the 'star bridge,' knowing that someone above is looking down at the Earth—this feeling is too magical!"

"Lin Yun, awesome! Humanity, awesome!"

General Li Yunlong let go of the handrail.

This old general, who never shed a tear on the battlefield, was biting his lip hard at this moment, his eye sockets red.

"Damn... so beautiful." His voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"No wonder that kid Lin Yun insisted on moving his home up to the sky."

"If it were me, I would move too."

One hundred kilometers.

"Tianwen-1" broke through the Kármán line and officially entered space.

The gravity regulation device inside the capsule continued to work, stabilizing the internal gravity at 1G—the passengers' feet remained on the floor, the water in the cups stayed obediently in place, and there was no discomfort from weightlessness.

This moment was defined by global media as—"The first step for humanity to enter space using an elevator."

"Commander, 'Tianwen-1' has successfully broken through the Kármán line. All systems are operating normally. Passenger vital signs are normal."

"Nuwa's" report came through.

Lin Yun's heart finally settled.

But his mission was not over yet.

"'Tianwen-1,' continue ascending. Target: Synchronous orbit 'Tiangong' platform."

"Estimated arrival time: Five hours and forty-two minutes."

Over five hours.

From the ground to synchronous orbit—a distance of thirty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-six kilometers—taking the elevator, it only takes less than six hours.

"While the passengers are waiting—" a smile appeared on the corner of Lin Yun's mouth, "start the in-capsule buffet."

"A buffet?" Song Mingyue turned her head, looking incredulous.

"You installed a buffet in the space elevator capsule?"

"I did. There are also shower rooms and private bedrooms." Lin Yun said righteously, "It's six hours, after all, we can't just let people sit there."

The corner of Song Mingyue's mouth twitched violently.

"Is this a space elevator or a luxury cruise ship?"

"In my view, the journey to space should not be painful." Lin Yun said, "Astronauts in the past had to endure high-G acceleration, weightless vomiting, and the torture of narrow sealed capsules to enter space. This should not be the norm."

"Space should be like a park, accessible to everyone. The process of going there should be like riding a train—comfortable, safe, and even a bit boring."

"Only when space travel becomes 'boring' can it be considered truly successful."

Song Mingyue looked at him and was silent for a long while.

"Your vision... is indeed bigger than mine."

"That's for sure. I am the person who is going to build a lunar city for one hundred thousand people."

"You should focus on managing these ten children on Earth first."

"Tianwen-1" continued to rise steadily.

In the live broadcast from the Equatorial Base Station, people all over the world watched that silver capsule, like a slowly rising silver pearl, moving away from the ground inch by inch along that golden "star bridge."

Six hours later.

In the holographic viewing window of "Tianwen-1," a shimmering space platform appeared in the passengers' field of vision.

"Tiangong"—the synchronous orbit space station.

Its shape was like a giant silver snowflake, composed of six symmetrical "petal" modules, each with a small anti-gravity dome. The central core module was the anchoring point for the cable and also the docking port for "Tianwen-1."

The "Tianwen-1" capsule slowly decelerated and precisely aligned with the docking port of "Tiangong."

The moment the sealed cabin door opened, a rush of fresh air with the scent of plants flooded into the capsule—"Tiangong's" ecological circulation system was already running.

General Li Yunlong was the first to step out of the capsule and onto the metal floor of "Tiangong."

He stomped his feet—the gravity regulation device was working here too, and the feeling under his feet was exactly the same as on Earth.

"Great! I finally made it to space in a normal way! No need to wear that crappy spacesuit, no need to chug anti-nausea medicine, and I even had a buffet in the elevator—"

General Li Yunlong turned around and gave a big smile to the reporters following behind.

"From now on, going to space will be as convenient as going on a business trip to the next province!"

"Everyone, when you departed from the ground, it was six in the morning."

"Now—"

General Li Yunlong glanced at the timer on his wrist.

"Twelve noon."

"Had breakfast on the ground in the morning—having lunch in space at noon."

"This is the space elevator."

The comment section of the global live broadcast—exploded again.

Meanwhile, in the control center of the Equatorial Base Station, Song Mingyue watched the screen showing the successful docking of "Tianwen-1" and "Tiangong," finally putting down the stress analyzer she had been holding for six hours.

Deep marks were left on her fingers.

"It's a success." Song Mingyue's voice was very soft, as if she were speaking to herself.

"It's a success." Lin Yun answered her.

The two exchanged a glance.

"The second trip tomorrow—" Song Mingyue said.

"You go." Lin Yun nodded.

The corners of Song Mingyue's mouth lifted slightly.

Then her expression suddenly changed.

"Wait a moment."

She picked up the analyzer again and pulled up a set of data she had just marked as "pending review."

"At the thirty-two thousand kilometer altitude segment of the cable—more than three thousand kilometers away from 'Tiangong'—a set of abnormal micro-vibration data appeared."

"What kind of abnormality?" Lin Yun's nerves immediately tightened.

"The frequency is very low, the amplitude is very small, and standard equipment cannot detect it. But my analyzer's sensitivity is three orders of magnitude higher than standard equipment."

Song Mingyue frowned.

"The frequency characteristics of that set of micro-vibrations—"

Her phoenix eyes widened suddenly.

"Are... completely identical to the gravitational waves emitted by the fifth channel of the 'Moon Gate'."

Lin Yun's pupils shrank.

"That means—"

"Something is exerting influence on our 'star bridge' cable through the fifth channel of the 'Moon Gate'."

Song Mingyue's voice was very low.

"Mr. Lin, that thing... is testing our 'space ladder'."

"Just like a person plucking a string with their finger—listening to its timbre—testing its structural strength."

Lin Yun clenched his fists.

"Who is plucking it?"

"I don't know."

"But it chose to act at the very moment 'Tianwen-1' successfully operated—"

Song Mingyue's gaze turned cold.

"It means it has been watching us all along."