232: Chapter 232 Countdown Reaches Zero! Nantianmen Fleet, All Forces Launched!

sentry ship arrival countdown, twentieth day.

The assembly workshop of Kaitian Base entered a crazy 24-hour shift rhythm.

Three hundred Xuan Nu, twelve White Emperor, six Mingdi Interceptor, and ninety-six Mecha.

Two Zhulong were producing the final components, swallowing massive amounts of special alloys, and spitting out the bones and flesh of war machines.

The entire industrial system of the Dragon Kingdom was making way for the assembly of these five ultimate pieces of equipment.

At 10 PM, Su Che returned to the courtyard in the Third Ring.

Pushing open the door, the living room lights were on.

Two figures stood up from the sofa.

Lin Waner and Jiang Yingxue.

They were a bit thinner, but their eyes held the clear brightness of someone who had just finished a major project.

"You're back." Lin Waner walked over and naturally took the coat from his hands.

"Yeah, is the experiment over?" Su Che's movements while changing shoes slowed by half a beat.

"We just came out this afternoon and came straight here." Jiang Yingxue stood a few steps away, still in her capable combat uniform, just without the previous tension.

That night, Su Che slept in the study.

A few days later, the three of them were sitting at the stone table in the yard eating breakfast, the atmosphere a bit strange.

Having stared at the production line with high intensity for several days, on the night Su Che returned, he drank two extra cups of the celebratory wine specially approved by Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang.

Jiang Yingxue accompanied him to proofread the final batch of Mecha synergy data; in the lounge of Pangu Laboratory, neither left, and neither let the other leave.

Alcohol mixed with the fatigue accumulated over several months, and some things just happened.

Su Che finished the porridge in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, and looked at Lin Waner opposite him.

"Waner, there's something, I'm sorry to you."

Jiang Yingxue's fingers holding the bowl tightened slightly, but she didn't look up.

Lin Waner pushed a small dish of spiced beef toward him and took a bun to eat slowly.

"Is it about Yingxue?"

Su Che was stunned.

"She told me in the middle of the night yesterday."

Lin Waner swallowed the bun and took a sip of soy milk.

"She said she likes you, and it hasn't been just a day or two. She also said that you were both drunk that night, she couldn't hold back, but she doesn't regret it."

Su Che looked at Lin Waner, not knowing what to say.

Lin Waner broke off another small piece of bun, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed a few times.

"Yingxue and I are best friends now; she tells me everything."

She looked up, her eyes very bright. "She said she wouldn't fight with me over anything, as long as she can stay by your side and help you, she's satisfied. I think that's pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Su Che doubted he heard correctly.

"Fertilizer doesn't flow into outsiders' fields. Instead of letting some flashy, cheap woman from who-knows-where take advantage, it's better to let my own husband benefit."

Lin Waner said righteously, "Besides, Yingxue can help you handle so many things, while I only know how to cook for you. With an extra person in our family to share the burden, I'll be more relaxed too."

Su Che was completely speechless.

He looked at Jiang Yingxue, who was bowing her head, her ears red enough to drip blood.

To have such a wife, what more could a husband ask for.

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, twelfth day.

A taxi stopped at the entrance of the alley and was stopped by security personnel.

Su Pingan jumped out of the passenger seat, wearing a brand-new thick cotton coat, carrying two heavy snake-skin bags.

"I'm looking for my son! Su Che!"

When Su Che got the news and rushed to the gate, Su Pingan was staring eye-to-eye with Qin Lan.

"Dad, why did you come here?"

"Can't I come to see my son?" Su Pingan put the snake-skin bags on the ground. "I brought you some local eggs and cured meat from the village; you can't buy such authentic stuff in the city."

"Thanks, Dad. Why didn't you tell me before you came? I would have sent a special plane to pick you up!"

Su Che picked up the snake-skin bags and led Su Pingan inside.

"Why bother with all that fancy stuff? Your old man has hands and feet. It was me who refused the state's arrangements and told them not to tell you in advance."

At the dinner table, Su Pingan looked at the two girls sitting opposite him, holding his wine glass for a long time without putting it down.

"Dad, tell you something. Besides Lin Waner, Jiang Yingxue is now my girlfriend too." Su Che introduced, biting the bullet.

The two girls said in unison: "Hello, Uncle."

Su Pingan downed a cup of white liquor in one gulp, his face turning bright red.

"Good, good!" He slapped his thigh. "Che'er, you've got guts! Better than your old man! Back in the day when your mom was around, I had to kneel on a washboard just for saying a few extra words to Widow Wang in the village!"

Su Che: "..."

"Dad, I've agreed with Waner that we'll get married after this busy period. Yingxue... she will always be by my side."

Su Pingan poured another glass of wine, looking at the two girls.

"Don't treat them poorly." He drank the wine dry. "The men of my Su family must have a sense of responsibility."

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, eleventh day.

Longmai Base, special care ward.

Su Che, Su Pingan, Lin Waner, and Jiang Yingxue, the family gathered around the medical life-support pod.

Su Changshan was already able to sit up, wearing an upgraded Brain-Computer Interface on his head, chatting with Su Pingan via terminal.

When he learned from Su Che that he might have two granddaughters-in-law in the future.

The old man typed a line of text on the terminal.

[Both are good, both are good! Hurry up and give me great-grandchildren, two each, the more the better!]

[As for who you finally marry, that's your young people's business, I only care about holding my great-grandchildren!]

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, fourth day.

Lin Waner and Jiang Yingxue were leaving.

They had received a new mission, a longer-term classified physics experiment, expected to last at least one year.

At the entrance of the courtyard, Su Che watched them board the Ministry of State Security's special vehicle.

"Wait for me to come back, and we'll hold the wedding." Lin Waner said through the car window.

"I'll wait for you." Su Che nodded.

Jiang Yingxue sat next to her, waved at Su Che, said nothing, but her eyes held everything.

The car drove away.

Su Che stood at the entrance for a long time.

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, second day.

Near-Earth orbit, Luan Niao Mothership docking port.

Three hundred Xuan Nu, twelve White Emperor, and six Mingdi Interceptor, like a returning swarm of bees, rose from the assembly base one after another.

Through the giant lifting platform in the belly of the luan bird, they entered their respective hangar slots.

On the ground, ninety-six Mecha were disassembled and packed, transported to the space base in batches by Yun-20B, and then ferried by large transport ships into the landing combat cabin of the luan bird.

On the 1,100-meter-long hull, all weapon hardpoints and hangar doors were completely filled.

All the assets of the second phase of the Nantianmen Project were fully loaded onto the ship.

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, first day.

Luan Niao Mothership, bridge.

Su Che sat in the commander's seat, with Qin Lan and Gao Jian standing behind him.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang, Liu Huaqiang, as well as Zhao Mingyuan, Academician Zhang Weide, Academician Sun Qiwen, Wen Bo, Academician Li Zhengyang, Academician Qian Zhenhua, Academician Chen Shian, and others were all in position at the technical command seats in the rear.

The deep space technical team and engineers were ready at their respective stations on the luan bird.

Outside the porthole, the blue Earth was slowly shrinking.

"Report! Luan Niao has left near-Earth orbit and is moving toward the preset position at the L3 point."

"Report! The entire set of carrier aircraft and combat units have completed self-checks and are ready to deploy at any time."

Su Che looked at the main screen.

That light spot representing the alien sentry ship was decelerating and cutting into the ecliptic plane of the Solar System at a speed of 800 kilometers per second.

"All combat units, enter Level 1 combat readiness."

...

sentry ship arrival countdown, zero.

Deep space.

An alien ship with a peculiar shape and a dark silver body appeared on the high-definition imaging screen of the Quantum Radar on the luan bird.

It had no smooth lines, looking more like a piece of metal ore cut irregularly, its surface covered with various incomprehensible protrusions and antennas.

It was less than four hundred meters long, two-thirds smaller than the luan bird.

It stopped at a safe distance of five million kilometers from the Nantianmen Fleet and did not advance further.

Almost simultaneously, all defense nodes in the Earth-Moon system entered the highest state of alert.

Neither side opened fire immediately.

On the main bridge screen, a communication request popped up, originating from that sentry ship.

"Connect." Su Che ordered.

After a burst of incomprehensible noise, like metal friction, a male Chinese voice, processed by a translator and devoid of any emotion, rang out on the bridge.

"This is the 'Tayake Civilization', First Outpost Fleet, sentry ship 'the observer'."

"According to the High-Dimensional Cleanup Protocol, your civilization has been marked as a 'potential threat'. Immediately cease all research on interstellar technology, hand over all technical data on aerospace weapon systems, and await further processing by the fleet."

Su Che leaned back in the command chair and picked up the communicator at his side.

"Just because of your broken ship that doesn't even have space jump capabilities, you want us to give up resistance?"

He chuckled.

"Do you still think we are the 'interesting... insects' you spoke of a year ago? If you have the guts, bring it on, and let you see the power of the so-called insects you speak of!"

There was silence in the channel for three seconds.

"Stupid low-dimensional lifeforms." That voice rang out again.

"Before arriving, I had already sent the coordinates and technical level information of your civilization back to the mother fleet via a faster-than-light beacon."

"Although the signal's journey takes time, by now, the mother fleet should have received it."

"Perhaps, they have already activated space jumps and are on their way to the Solar System."

"However, before that, I don't mind giving you a small lesson first, to let you thoroughly recognize your status as insects."

The communication was cut off.

On the main screen, on the surface of that dark silver sentry ship.

Dozens of hatches opened simultaneously, and dense weapon muzzles extended from them, flashing with dangerous energy light.

Su Che's gaze turned cold.

He gave the first attack order since the birth of the Nantianmen Project on the full channel.

"Mingdi Interceptor formation, full speed ahead 500,000 kilometers, enter firing position, lock onto enemy power modules and weapon arrays."

"White Emperor formation, follow and provide cover, main fleet maintain formation distance and advance synchronously."

"Entire fleet, activate quantum stealth shields, Level 1 defensive posture."