10 seconds.
As Su Wu held his breath in anticipation, the time passed.
With the countdown reaching zero.
At the center of the space launch site, the rocket engines ignited.
Fiery flames burned and shot out from the bottom of the rocket, generating immense thrust.
The massive rocket slowly began to rise.
"Successful separation from the launch pad."
"Acceleration normal."
"Current speed 100 km/h, 200 km/h."
On the screen in front of the control panel.
The external camera of the rocket displayed real-time scenes shot downwards.
Surrounding the space launch site were clusters of temporary warehouses, bunkers, and hills made from excavated soil and debris.
As the rocket ascended, these scenes gradually came into view.
Then they slowly shrank.
30 seconds after launch.
The rocket accelerated to 400 kilometers per hour.
Reaching an altitude of two thousand meters above the ground.
The buildings of the rural homesteads below had already become tiny in the camera's view.
As far as the eye could see.
There was nothing but snow-covered mountains and plains.
The location where Jianghe City once stood.
All buildings and ruins had been dismantled and removed.
Now it was completely hidden beneath a blanket of white ice, with no trace of existence to be found.
"Unknowingly."
"Here in Jianghe City, only the rural homesteads still have clusters of surface buildings."
For the first time at this height.
Overlooking the post-apocalyptic Jianghe City.
Gazing at the land that had almost no traces of civilization left.
He recalled the time more than half a year ago when he had just arrived in Jianghe City.
In the entire Jianghe City area, the rural homesteads could be considered remote.
In that moment, Su Wu couldn't help but feel a sense of the vast changes that had occurred.
In such a short time.
The once glorious human civilization had already shown signs of reaching its end.
The massive rocket continued to accelerate upwards.
48 seconds.
At an altitude of 5000 meters.
The view was now obscured by a layer of gray clouds, and no ground conditions could be seen.
In the entire frame, there was only the swirling gray mist.
This thick cloud layer.
Had been hovering above all of humanity since the onset of the apocalypse and the outbreak of global fires.
Whether it was high temperatures, heavy rains, or the current severe cold.
It had never dissipated.
Like a symbol of the apocalypse.
1 minute and 33 seconds.
The rocket accelerated to 2800 kilometers per hour.
At a distance of 22 kilometers from the ground.
At this height, it had escaped the cloud cover.
One could even see the curve of the planet at the edge of the camera.
And it was at this moment.
The communication between the control center and the rocket suddenly experienced inexplicable interference.
The monitoring camera's image became unstable.
The rocket's engines.
No longer operated as smoothly as they had at the beginning.
"Warning, unknown interference detected."
"Engine 7 has gone offline."
"The rocket's flight direction has deviated by 1.2 degrees."
"Initiating backup plan."
"Auxiliary thrusters activated."
The rocket, which had been flying steadily, suddenly felt as if it had entered a turbulent airflow.
Its entire body shook violently.
As if it could lose control at any moment.
A few seconds later.
One of the main engines completely failed.
The Artificial Intelligence monitoring the rocket's operation.
Was forced to activate the backup plan.
It increased the output power of the other rocket engines, allowing them to generate higher thrust to counter the interference.
In the underground control center.
Su Wu couldn't help but sit up straight.
His expression turned serious.
This situation was not anticipated beforehand.
Logically, the environment at that height shouldn't be so harsh.
The heart-wrenching shaking continued for nearly a minute.
Fortunately, the rocket's initial design had left enough room to handle unexpected situations, and its structure was robust enough.
Through the bumps and jolts.
It ultimately reached the predetermined altitude of 70 kilometers.
The massive rocket began to split into two.
The rear half, which had burned most of its fuel, began to decelerate and adjust its direction.
The front half continued to accelerate.
Charging towards a speed of 10,000 kilometers per hour.
"Rocket separation successful."
"First stage rocket begins deceleration and return."
"Second stage rocket successfully enters low Earth orbit."
"Continuing to accelerate."
"Flight trajectory has been corrected."
"Current status normal."
The Artificial Intelligence lifted the alarm.
Reestablishing stable communication with the rocket that had entered space.
On the screen in front of Su Wu.
The image was now split in two.
The left side displayed the first stage rocket returning, which occupied most of the rocket's volume.
The right side showed the second stage rocket, still ascending, carrying the Eden satellite.
At this stage.
It could basically be confirmed that the launch had been more than half successful.
Meanwhile.
At the moment of the rocket's successful separation.
The commotion it caused high above the Earth.
Had truly caught the attention of major powers around the globe.
They traced the rocket's flight path.
Identifying its initial origin.
And began to focus their attention on the location of Jianghe City.
For the first time, Jianghe City, and the Southeast Alliance it belonged to.
Received unprecedented attention from the entire world.
Zhenhai City.
Office of the Chairman of the Federation Council.
Ping Yuhan received a communication from the federal high command.
"Assistant Kahn, long time no see."
Since the tsunami submerged the city, a large number of wealthy individuals and high-ranking government officials had led a massive exodus of strategic resources inland.
The overall strength of Zhenhai City had significantly diminished.
It had been a long time since they received greetings from the federal high command.
Although no one explicitly stated it, Ping Yuhan and many council members and elites in Zhenhai City were well aware.
They had been abandoned by the federation, downgraded to one of the many ordinary cities in the East Continent.
"Jianghe City? It is a member of our alliance."
"Its research capabilities and medical technology are quite strong."
"Its industrial system is also well-developed."
Ping Yuhan replied calmly, simply responding to a few inquiries about Jianghe City.
Then he listened quietly for a while.
Nodding.
"I will convey your congratulations on your behalf."
"I will also pass your proposal to them."
After ending the call.
Ping Yuhan opened the latest intelligence regarding Jianghe City on his office computer.
There, prominently displayed, was a photo of the space launch site at the rural homestead.
Su Wu had not kept the rocket launch a secret.
Many pieces of information could be found on his internet.
Thus, the intelligence department of Zhenhai City had long known that Su Wu would conduct his first rocket launch today.
However, none of them could have imagined.
That this first launch would actually succeed.
And it seemed to be heading straight for the most challenging synchronous orbit.
Staring at the enormous rocket standing quietly in the photo.
After a long while, Ping Yuhan let out a soft sigh.
"I still underestimated them."
In the underground control center of the rural homestead.
Su Wu remained fully focused on the rocket's launch situation.
8 minutes and 12 seconds after the rocket took off.
The returning first stage rocket.
Appeared above the surface of the rural homestead.
Then it slowly decelerated and came to a steady stop on the launch pad.
This represented the successful completion of the recovery phase.
From now on, Su Wu would be able to utilize this first stage rocket.
To conduct multiple launches.
With costs only a fraction of the first launch.
Meanwhile.
The second stage rocket, carrying the Eden satellite.
From the moment it entered a low Earth orbit at a distance of 160 kilometers.
To entering a synchronous orbit at a distance of 35,000 kilometers from the surface.
The entire process would take about two to three hours.
During this time.
The Eden satellite within the second stage rocket.
Was awakened and entered a pre-boot state.
Its internal radar scanning components began to automatically detect the surrounding environment.
And sent data back to the control center of the rural homestead.
Thus, for the first time, Su Wu obtained intelligence from the space level.
From this intelligence.
He discovered that most of the satellites in low Earth orbit.
Seemed to be in a state of shutdown or destruction.
The number of those still operating normally was less than thirty percent of the total.
This was clearly not a normal statistic.
It indicated that those satellites had likely encountered severe attacks.
"So the space after the apocalypse."
"Isn't safe either."
Realizing this, Su Wu found himself not surprised.
He was just relieved that he hadn't insisted on developing satellites himself.
Choosing instead to use Survival Points for upgrades.
At least this ensured that the satellites sent into space had sufficient self-protection capabilities.
And wouldn't be at risk of unexpected incidents at any moment.
Two and a half hours later.
The Eden satellite, having detached from the second stage rocket.
Reached the predetermined synchronous orbit.
It began to unfold into its true form.
Unlike traditional rectangular or cylindrical satellites.
The unfolded Eden satellite.
Consisted of multiple rings of varying sizes, constantly rotating at a uniform speed, and 1000 square meters of flexible solar panels that could gather and spread at any time.
From a distance, it resembled a space city with enormous sails on both sides.
"Eden has been deployed."
"Initiating the first performance test."
"Current energy reserve at ninety-seven percent."
"Expected energy consumption for the test at ninety-five percent."
Accompanied by a series of event prompts.
The screen in front of Su Wu refreshed.
In the synchronous orbit 35,000 kilometers away.
The unfolded Eden satellite's surface began to emit a white glow.
This light started off faint.
Then gradually intensified, covering the satellite's original color.
Then it swelled.
Forming a pure white light mass.
"Energy shield deployment successful."
"Stable energy supply detected."
"Preparing to initiate the next phase of testing."
The pure white light mass pulsed slightly.
Then, like flowing water, it quietly flowed along the satellite's rotating body.
Towards the two large solar sail panels that had spread out.
Seconds later.
The dark sail panels were completely transformed into a pair of pure white light wings.
Unleashing endless radiance in space.
At that moment.
On the side of the Earth facing the Eden satellite.
In any area where it wasn't snowing and the clouds were slightly thin.
One could see the traces it left behind.
Those traces.
Were like the only shining star hanging in the dark firmament.
"Maximum carrying capacity normal."
"Confirmed capability to activate space-based weapon strike."
"Test concluded."
The enormous light wings in space continued to unfold for 10 seconds.
Then gradually dimmed.
Returning to the original black appearance of the solar panels.
At the same time.
A brand new communication network.
Began to silently spread towards the East Continent and its surrounding oceans.
From this moment on.
All shelters within the East Continent that had signal receiving devices.
Would be able to connect to the internet via the Eden satellite.
Ordinary people within these shelters, or those who stepped out of them.
Would also be able to freely use the satellite network.
In the underground control center of the rural homestead.
Su Wu, filled with curiosity.
Was experiencing the functions of the Eden satellite.
He discovered that the network transmission speed of the Eden satellite was not inferior to that of communication signal towers.
It just lacked the latter's ability to penetrate underground.
As for the coverage area, it was far superior to the latter.
"Although it only supports 100 million people online at the same time."
"The standard for normal operation is smooth video browsing."
"If we slightly limit the individual internet speed."
"It should be no problem to meet the internet needs of over 4 billion people in the East Continent."
Glancing at the backend data.
In the short ten minutes after opening the satellite network.
Tens of thousands of people had already accessed his internet through the Eden satellite.
It was foreseeable.
Once the news spread.
At the latest by tonight, there should be a peak in the number of visitors.
However, by then.
Even in the most extreme scenario.
The number of people online would not reach the 4 billion Su Wu envisioned.
The population reduction due to various disasters in the apocalypse, the loss of mobile phones, the lockdown of shelters, and so on.
All these factors would greatly limit ordinary people's ability to use the Eden satellite to connect to the internet.
Ultimately, having one-tenth of the pre-apocalypse population of the East Continent online would already be quite impressive.
"After the network is established."
"The most important thing remains promoting the game and harvesting Spirituality."
"From this perspective."
"While limiting individual internet speed, we can add a dedicated data package for the game."
"Allowing ordinary people to enjoy maximum speed when downloading the game."
"Reducing their entry costs."
"Then there's the need to set up a store."
"Allowing players to cash out their in-game currency."
"Ensuring they have a continuous motivation to enter the game."
In an environment lacking jobs in the apocalypse.
As long as it was guaranteed that in-game currency could be exchanged for survival resources.
There would be no worry about them not playing the game.
This effectively provided them with a job opportunity.
However, figuring out how to cash out the in-game currency was a challenge.
After thinking for a long time.
Su Wu ultimately focused on the Bio Printer.
"We can offer hi
gh-end medical services to the wealthy upper echelons of the shelters."
"By spending a certain amount of in-game currency."
"They can enjoy medical services here in Jianghe City, including cures for cancer and other terminal illnesses
."
"If they are willing to spend enough in-game currency."
"Sending a Twin-Winged Helicopter to personally transport patients, as well as extending patients' lifespans, is also possible."
This external high-end medical service would undoubtedly be very expensive.
After all, not long ago, Yu'an City had used the resources of an entire province.
To exchange for just a few treatment and lifespan extension quotas.
If Su Wu set the price too low, it would be difficult to explain to them.
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