While Lena basked in the envy of others, William paid no attention. He knew his mother was neither as kind nor as harmless as she appeared.
For example, she had already rallied the loyalists of Henry Devonshire to her side and, following Pierce's suggestion, secretly recruited nearly a hundred operatives from Tianchao, ostensibly as restaurant staff, but really as informants and bodyguards.
When Lena discovered that Selene and Nyssa were vampires, she was initially shocked and panicked. However, by the next evening, she had calmly suggested to William that they exploit the vampire blood oath to turn certain trusted individuals into vampires, thus securing their loyalty.
William rejected the idea outright. Doing so would inevitably make the Devonshire family the enemy of the entire world.
The spacecraft left Earth in just ten minutes, accelerating toward the Moon. Every country capable of satellite monitoring was stunned to see the ship's speed in space, reaching the publicly claimed 100,000 kilometers per hour.
Moreover, the data suggested that this was its cruising speed—its maximum speed in emergencies could far exceed that.
In the spacecraft, William unbuckled his safety harness and ignored the warnings from ground control. Grabbing a spherical live-streaming camera fixed to the cockpit, he smiled into it and began addressing his audience:
"Hello, everyone. I've officially left Earth and am approximately three hours and twenty-six minutes from reaching the Moon.
It's a long journey and could get a bit dull, so I thought I'd conduct some critical experiments. These tests will prepare us for potential emergencies and help develop effective response protocols."
He released the camera, allowing it to orbit him. After a few rotations, William continued:
"As we all know, there's no gravity or pull in space. My first experiment will test whether the artificial gravity between this spacecraft and my spacesuit functions correctly.
If the design works as intended, I'll be able to walk freely on the spacecraft's exterior.
When I jump, the gravitational pull between the suit and the ship should bring me back to the hull, just as if I were on Earth.
Of course, this gravity is only between the ship and the suit. Otherwise, the spacecraft would be a giant magnet for meteors, dragging debris along its path."
Pausing for a moment, William chuckled before addressing another topic:
"Many of you might wonder about meteors. Looking at diagrams of the solar system, the asteroid belt seems dense with debris.
How, then, does this spacecraft fly so fast without any protective energy shield?
Isn't it at risk of colliding with a meteor or some other fragment?"
After a brief pause, William explained:
"We've all been misled by those diagrams. While the asteroid belt does contain countless meteors, its width spans tens of millions of kilometers.
According to observational data and verified reports I've obtained, the distance between meteors large enough to damage the spacecraft is at least 40 kilometers.
So, while it's not impossible to encounter a meteor, the odds of a 30-meter spacecraft colliding with one are exceedingly slim."
William entered a small chamber within the spacecraft, sealing the door behind him. Turning to the camera, he said, "All right, I'm ready for my first EVA. Wish me luck."
The hatch to space opened, and the blue lights on William's suit activated, establishing a gravitational link with the spacecraft.
To the astonishment of viewers worldwide, William walked steadily along the ship's hull as if he were on solid ground.
Despite the spacecraft hurtling toward the Moon at 100,000 kilometers per hour, William remained stationary relative to the ship.
He casually leaped into the air, and as expected, the gravitational pull brought him back to the hull.
As he gazed into the vast, silent void of space, William raised his hands and instructed Sunday, "Deploy the tether."
"Understood, Sir."
A tether automatically extended, magnetically attaching itself to the back of William's Mark IV spacesuit.
After a few taps on his wrist-mounted computer, William disabled the gravitational link between his suit and the spacecraft.
Then, with a powerful push, he launched himself into the emptiness of space, tethered only by the cord.
The sight of William floating hundreds of meters away from the spacecraft caused countless Earthbound viewers to gasp in horror.
Many crossed themselves, whispering prayers as they watched nervously.
It wasn't until they saw the tether securely reeling him back toward the ship that their tension eased.
Thrill-seekers, however, were captivated. To them, William had just invented space bungee jumping.
After ten minutes of enjoying the exhilarating freedom of space, Sunday interrupted:
"Sir, Lady Lena is very upset. I suggest returning to the spacecraft immediately."
Reluctantly, William acknowledged the warning. But before heading back, he decided to indulge a bit longer.
He instructed Sunday to reassure Lena that the tether could easily support the weight of a truck.
Half an hour later, William re-entered the spacecraft, ending the livestream and beginning his second experiment.
By this point, the spacecraft had traveled over 100,000 kilometers from Earth. William tested whether a single-person escape pod could automatically return to Earth from this distance and land safely.
He planned to release additional pods at distances of 200,000 and 300,000 kilometers, with all pods targeting a recovery site in the Sahara Desert.
Sunday had already set up a secret base in the desert for rapid recovery operations.
After deploying three pods, Sunday reported that the spacecraft was just 30 minutes from reaching the Moon. William returned to the cockpit to prepare for landing.
When the spacecraft was two kilometers above the lunar surface, it flew along the terrain at low altitude.
Every 100 kilometers, it deployed spherical probes, which would serve as signal relays and solar-powered charging stations.
After releasing hundreds of probes and several relay stations, William initiated the livestream once again.
Under the watchful eyes of billions, he manually piloted the spacecraft toward its predetermined landing site.
As the ship passed over a ringed mountain range on the Moon's far side, viewers held their breath in anticipation.
Suddenly, William's startled voice rang out:
"Damn it! What the hell is that thing?"
(End of Chapter)
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