254: Chapter 254 The Great Wall of Steel in the New Era!

The next second after the words fell, a burst of wild cheers erupted within the heavy preparation workshop, nearly lifting the roof off.

Hundreds of engineers, technicians, welders, assemblers...

Everyone who participated in the entire process of bringing "Xuannü" from blueprint to reality completely released their long-suppressed emotions at the same moment.

Lin Yuan stood in the center of the crowd, watching the excited faces, a gentle smile spreading in his eyes.

He did not interrupt their catharsis.

For he knew how much effort these people had put in for this day.

...

Half an hour later.

Xishan Base, Main Control Command Room.

The heavy explosion-proof isolation doors were tightly closed, the indoor lighting deliberately dimmed. Red and green indicator lights flickered frantically on rows of instruments, and the air was thick with an adrenaline-pumping sense of tension.

Yang Tongan, Shen Changhe, and several core military industry experts with graying hair were already lined up in front of the main control console.

Everyone's gaze was fixed like nails onto the massive display wall directly ahead, made up of dozens of high-definition LCD screens.

In the center of the screen was a real-time high-definition feed of the test flight site.

On the vast, flat, high-grade alloy tarmac.

The "Xuannü" Aerospace Fighter, pure white and with lines of extreme sharpness, sat there quietly.

Yang Tongan stood at the very front with his hands behind his back.

His gaze fell upon the steel behemoth on the screen, and he spoke in a raspy, low voice.

"Is this the 'Xuannü', one of the two major Aerospace Fighters in the south heaven gate project?"

"Yes, Elder Yang."

Lin Yuan stood beside Yang Tongan and nodded slightly.

His gaze also fell upon the pure white steel behemoth on the screen as he spoke at a steady pace.

"The 'Xuannü' is positioned as an unmanned Aerospace Fighter."

"It doesn't need to account for the physiological limits of a human pilot, nor does it need to carry life-support systems."

"This is also why the Xuannü Aerospace Fighter was manufactured before the White Emperor!"

"There's no need to wait for the long training cycle of professional pilots. Once it's off the production line, it can form a substantial strike capability in any airspace on the Blue Planet at the fastest possible speed."

Yang Tongan nodded heavily in agreement after hearing this.

With such a killing machine that could perform extreme missions around the clock without worrying about pilot casualties, Xia Country's confidence in handling any sudden situation would explode exponentially.

Then, Yang Tongan composed himself, his expression turning solemn. He picked up the intercom microphone, his voice steady and filled with decisive determination.

"All units, attention."

"Final check of all preparations."

Inside the Main Control Command Room, the fingers of dozens of operators turned into afterimages on their keyboards, and a series of crisp reports rose and fell.

"Space-based satellite array quantum data link connected normally, full signal, zero latency!"

"Power system self-check complete. The miniature Controlled Nuclear Fusion reactor is in good standby condition, energy output is stable!"

"Feedback from all fuselage sensors is normal, no abnormal stress alarms, superconducting lines are clear!"

"The test flight airspace has achieved the highest level of clearance. Meteorological conditions perfectly meet takeoff standards!"

Hearing the confirmations one after another, Yang Tongan took a deep breath. His eyes were like torches as he stared intently at the white behemoth on the large screen.

"Ignite!"

The next second after the command was given.

In the footage on the large screen.

"Buzz—"

An extremely low roar sounded.

On the belly of the Aerospace Fighter, the originally dark-gold plasma engine nozzles suddenly lit up with a piercing, ghostly blue light.

Immediately after, supported by that immense thrust, the steel behemoth weighing dozens of tons rose vertically off the ground.

The moment it left the ground, it did not hesitate or pause.

The fuselage suddenly pulled upward, its posture rapidly shifting from hovering to high-speed thrust.

In just a brief moment, it turned into a bolt of white lightning, trailing a long ghostly blue flame as it shot straight into the clouds!

It was so fast that it even created a visible, violent sonic boom cloud in the low-altitude area above the tarmac.

On the data panel to the right of the large screen, the altitude numbers were rolling and climbing at a frantic pace.

3,000 meters.

5,000 meters.

9,000 meters.

At the same time, on the other side of the screen, the scanning interface of the base's top-tier anti-aircraft radar was completely blank.

The green scanning line rotated round after round, capturing nothing.

Seeing this, Yang Tongan narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't speak, but simply gave a heavy nod.

"Report!"

"Takeoff time: one minute and thirty seconds! Current altitude is about to reach the lower layer of Near Space!"

Immediately after, in front of the monitoring console, a technician suddenly raised his voice, which was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

Only a minute and a half.

It had shot straight into the sky.

Then, another engineer stared intently at the holographic data stream and added loudly.

"Switching to trans-atmospheric transition flight attitude!"

"Cutting from the lower atmosphere into Near Space..."

"Switching complete!"

"The high-temperature resistant skin on the fuselage surface shows no signs of overheating, no deformation in the internal stress structure, plasma engine output power is stable, and all parameters are normal!"

Inside the Main Control Command Room, everyone's eyes grew brighter as they heard this series of reports.

Twenty kilometers!

This was the current altitude ceiling for all mainstream top-tier fighter jets on the Blue Planet!

Once this altitude was exceeded, the thin air would cause the engines to stall from severe oxygen deprivation, the wings would lose lift, and the jet would eventually fall like a piece of scrap metal.

But now, the various data transmitted back by the "Xuannü" on the large screen were outrageously stable.

However, everyone present, who had long since seen the data documents, knew better.

For those old-era fighters using traditional aero-engines, twenty kilometers was an impassable dead line.

But for the Xuannü Aerospace Fighter equipped with a miniature Controlled Nuclear Fusion reactor...

This altitude... was merely a warm-up!

"The air superiority theories from The Other Side of the Ocean can be thrown into the trash heap of history starting today," Yang Tongan murmured in a raspy voice.

The altitude data on the screen continued to soar frantically at a scalp-tingling speed.

Less than another minute passed.

"Report! Altitude has broken fifty kilometers!"

"About to enter the upper layer of Near Space!"

The technician's report rang out again.

Fifty kilometers.

The upper layer of Near Space.

There were no clouds here, no weather changes. The sky was no longer azure but a deep, boundless dark black.

In the footage sent back by the high-definition camera on the large screen, the azure curvature of the Blue Planet could even be clearly seen.

This was an absolute forbidden zone where aircraft couldn't fly up to and spacecraft couldn't descend into.

Seeing the Xuannü's flight attitude on the screen, still stable as if it were taking a stroll in its own backyard, Shen Changhe swallowed hard, his old face flushing red.

"Fifty kilometers high... full stealth... a cruising speed of over Mach 3..."

"In this situation, it's only a matter of Xuannü hitting others!"

"Fighter jets from other countries probably won't even be able to touch Xuannü's exhaust!"

Inside the Main Control Command Room, everyone was ignited by Shen Changhe's words, their eyes filled with fanaticism and pride.

This was Xia Country's south heaven gate!

This was the Great Wall of Steel belonging to the new era!

As long as this fighter jet hung overhead, any military threat from The Other Side of the Ocean would become a pale and powerless joke!

However, just as the entire Main Control Command Room was plunged into excitement.

Lin Yuan looked at the deep Near Space background on the screen, let out a light laugh, and spoke.

"Don't be in a hurry."

"It hasn't reached its limit yet."