277: Chapter 277 Looking Up at the Stars

Chen Fan stood on the side of a street in the south of the city. Chen Haoyu handed him a red confidential mobile phone. The screen lit up. It was a top-secret report fifty pages long. Tables were densely arranged. The core conclusion was marked at the very top: The ignition test of the Pangu System No. 3 controllable nuclear fusion miniaturized engine was fully compliant.

Chen Fan finished reviewing the last set of plasma confinement time data. He pressed the lock screen button and handed the phone back to Chen Haoyu.

Beside them, Chen Xingchen was still wearing that fluorescent yellow reflective vest covered in dust and dirt, clutching a water bottle tightly in his hand. A day of high-intensity labor had smoothed out his young master temper.

Chen Fan turned his head to look at Su Wanqing. "Take them back to the hotel," Chen Fan said in a steady tone. "Wash your faces and change your clothes. Notify the airport to prepare for takeoff. In half an hour, our whole family will depart for the Northwest Aerospace Launch Center."

Four hours later.

Huihuang Group's private jet landed deep in the Northwest Gobi Desert. Violent winds whipped up coarse sand, blowing across the runway. The Huihuang Aerospace Launch Center covered thousands of acres. The perimeter was surrounded by high-voltage electric fences, with fully armed security personnel standing guard with guns.

Chen Fan held Su Wanqing's hand as he walked down the boarding ramp. Chen Muyang followed behind with the three children. The group boarded a bulletproof shuttle bus and drove toward the core area.

The hundred-meter-tall "Nüwa" deep space probe stood in the center of the launch gantry. Its silver-gray shell used the latest high-temperature resistant and radiation-proof alloy developed by the Academy of Sciences, its surface reflecting the sunlight of the Gobi Desert.

The group entered the main control hall. Hundreds of supercomputers were arranged inside the hall. The cooling system emitted a low hum. Three hundred researchers wearing anti-static suits sat at their workstations, typing on keyboards to debug the final stage of the launch code. The giant electronic screen was divided into twelve sections, scrolling through real-time data such as telemetry, weather, and orbital calculations.

Chen Muyang, holding a tablet computer, walked quickly to Chen Fan's side.

"Dad." Chen Muyang handed over the tablet. "There is movement outside. Led by North America's Ares Heavy Industries and the European Starlink Consortium, the six remaining veteran aerospace oligarchs have jointly issued a public statement."

Chen Fan looked at the screen. The entire statement was written in English. The other party insisted that, given the limitations of Earth's existing basic material science, miniaturized nuclear fusion technology was absolutely impossible to achieve at this stage. They accused Huihuang Group of falsifying all the released test data, claiming this was a capital game to swindle international investment.

"It's not just issuing a statement." Chen Muyang's voice was heavy. "They are using their remaining influence in the International Space Agency to forcibly block four key international deep space exploration communication frequency bands. They intend to cut off our telemetry signals during the ignition phase to create the illusion of a launch failure."

An international media observation area was set up on the perimeter of the command hall. Dozens of invited foreign reporters received the joint statement from the oligarchs sent by their headquarters.

The press area began to stir. The sound of whispering grew louder and louder.

Three white reporters ignored the security regulations, pushed aside the guardrails, and rushed toward the main console area while holding equipment with cameras. Security personnel quickly stepped forward to block them. Physical shoving broke out between both sides.

"Mr. Chen!" A blonde female reporter thrust her microphone forcefully toward Chen Fan, her voice sharp. "The Western Aerospace Alliance accuses your company of committing the fraud of the century! Please give a direct response!"

Another male reporter followed closely behind, loudly questioning: "Are you planning to launch an empty shell probe that doesn't even have an engine? The communication frequency bands have been blocked across the entire network—can you still keep up this charade?!"

Camera flashes went off frantically. The atmosphere at the scene was tense. Staff from several domestic media outlets looked at each other in dismay. The scene descended into chaos.

Chen Fan ignored the clamoring reporters. He turned his head to look at Chen Haoyu.

"Enable the highest authority of the Pangu Computing Center." Chen Fan issued the order. "Forcibly cut into the global mainstream media network. Take over the live broadcast signals of all news channels."

Chen Haoyu took out a military terminal device, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screen.

Ten seconds later.

"Takeover complete. Firewalls have been breached," Chen Haoyu reported.

The image on the giant electronic screen in the main control hall changed directly. The main section, which had been broadcasting the live scene, switched to the monitoring perspective inside the "Nüwa".

High-definition images of the actual Pangu System No. 3 engine were displayed before everyone. The circular tokamak device occupied the core position, and the superconducting magnet coils shimmered with cold light while in operation. On the right side of the screen, the complete test logs spanning several months were simultaneously released.

Massive amounts of basic physical data scrolled rapidly across the screen. Plasma temperature, confinement magnetic field strength, energy output conversion rate. There was no textual embellishment, just underlying physical formulas and operational code.

The foreign reporters' questions stuck in their throats. The hands holding the microphones stopped in mid-air.

Across the ocean, the computer screens of all the top physicists around the world watching the live broadcast were forced to lock onto this set of data. No one raised any objections. The logic was self-consistent, and the formulas were rigorous. No one could fabricate such a perfect plasma operation model out of thin air.

The accusations of fraud were directly crushed by this hardcore data. The previously noisy questions in the hall completely disappeared. The reporters stared at the giant screen, speechless.

Ten minutes left until launch.

The red communication light on the main console lit up. Formal congratulatory messages from the high-level officials of various friendly countries, bypassing the blocked public frequency bands, were connected one by one to the command hall's broadcast system via Pangu Computing Power's encrypted dedicated lines. The oligarchs' frequency band blockade on the perimeter completely became scrap paper.

Chen Fan turned around and looked at Chen Muyang. He didn't speak, but stepped back two paces to the left, yielding the area of the red master button that controlled the launch on the main console.

"You press it," Chen Fan said, looking at his eldest son.

Chen Muyang's hands were sweating. He walked to the main console, his gaze locked on the screen.

The countdown numbers on the giant screen began to tick.

Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Chen Muyang raised his right hand and slammed down on the red button. The console emitted a command confirmation sound.

A highly penetrating low-frequency vibration emanated from outside the hall. The explosion-proof glass resonated along with it.

At the bottom of the "Nüwa", there were no flames or billowing thick smoke like traditional chemical fuel rockets. The ring-shaped nozzle erupted with an extremely blinding, pure blue light. The immense energy generated by the fusion reaction was converted into terrifying thrust. The probe, weighing thousands of tons, overcame gravity and smoothly detached from the metal gantry.

The speed was extremely fast. It broke the sound barrier within two seconds. The probe shot straight into the sky, carving a straight blue trajectory above the Gobi Desert.

Thunderous applause erupted in the hall. The researchers stood up and cheered. Some hugged each other, while others had red-rimmed eyes. Global social networks were completely ignited by the footage of the actual engine ignition. Humanity had truly stepped into the era of interstellar travel.

The "Nüwa" successfully broke through the atmosphere. The various telemetry data on the main control screen remained in a green light state. It was operating smoothly.

Chen Fan turned his head to look at Su Wanqing beside him. He reached out and wrapped Su Wanqing's palm in his own. His palm was warm.

"The rules of Earth have been reshaped," Chen Fan said, looking at the starry sky on the screen in a steady tone. "The road ahead is up there. Our journey is the sea of stars."

Su Wanqing squeezed his hand back and nodded firmly.

The screen in the center of the main control hall flickered and switched. The "Nüwa" entered its predetermined orbit and adjusted its flight attitude. The deep space exploration optical lens turned on. The probe transmitted back the first high-definition photo of deep space.

The giant screen displayed a large area of black background, with celestial bodies glowing.

Chen Haoyu stared at the screen for a second, then walked up quickly. He raised his right hand and pointed his finger toward the edge area in the upper right corner of the screen.

"Boss. Look here." Chen Haoyu's voice changed pitch.

Chen Fan looked in the direction of Chen Haoyu's finger.

Against the deep, pitch-black cosmic background, a huge shadow area with an extremely unusual outline appeared. The shadow completely blocked the starlight behind it. The edges presented an absolutely straight, geometrically cut form, with obvious metallic reflective characteristics.

This was not a meteorite, and it was definitely not a natural celestial body.

The cheers in the hall came to an abrupt halt. Everyone's gaze was fixed firmly on that shadow. It was a giant man-made object that exceeded the common sense of human cognition.