"Chapter 358: I'm Reaching for the Stars (First Update)"
Xia Chujian was puzzled by Huo Yushen's question.
She thought for a moment and said, "Everything happened so fast. The four of us were arranged in a three-dimensional equilateral triangle."
"I was at the apex, and my roommates' three warplanes were on the equilateral triangle plane below."
"Our warplanes were connected by those Optical Fiber Data Cables."
"When that Aurora-class Starry Sky Fighter rushed over, we only had time to avoid a direct hit, letting it pass through the middle of our warplane connections."
"Then we flew past, and it... it just... scattered into pieces..."
Huo Yushen said, "So, you're not sure that your warplanes' connecting lines cut the other warplane."
Xia Chujian wasn't so sure after Huo Yushen asked that.
It really happened too fast at the time. Her intuition told her that it should have been the Nano-level Optical Fiber Data Cable that did the cutting, otherwise, how could it have been such a coincidence? But Huo Yushen's emphasis made Xia Chujian think that there was some truth to it.
Seeing Xia Chujian deep in thought, Huo Yushen said meaningfully, "If you're not sure, don't throw that kind of dirt on yourself."
Xia Chujian understood instantly and said with a smile, "Marshal Huo is right. If you ask me a few more questions, I won't even know what happened."
Huo Yushen nodded and fell into thought.
He knew that thin ropes made of some nano-level materials could indeed have this effect.
But this kind of cutting was only effective against ordinary steel products and could never cut large equipment like Starry Sky Fighters.
But since Xia Chujian said it was possible, Huo Yushen had to investigate whether it was really possible.
He quickly asked, "Where did you get those Optical Fiber Data Cables?"
"The base, or more precisely, the Seventh Material Warehouse at the base."
"Do you have any left?"
"Yes, I still have some in our warplane," Xia Chujian nodded.
"Put them away for me. I want to give them to your Master for research."
Xia Chujian breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay! I'll give them all to my Master."
Huo Yushen asked again, "Besides you and your three roommates, does anyone else know about this?"
"No."
"Don't tell anyone else for now. I need to think about how to handle this."
"Like this, I'll have people from the Cangge Star Special Security Bureau interview your roommates tomorrow."
Xia Chujian quickly said, "My roommates are all honest, ordinary people, not Gene Evolvers. Marshal Huo, you need to send some more considerate Special Security Bureau staff, or I'm worried they'll be scared."
Huo Yushen hummed and said, "Many of the trainees in your batch sent out distress signals, but the Interstellar Airships that went in to pick them up have also temporarily lost contact. The Special Security Bureau will also be involved in the rescue."
Xia Chujian's eyes widened. "What? They've all lost contact? Does that mean there's no competition? Does my score still count?!"
Huo Yushen: "..."
"Your comrades' lives are uncertain, and you're only thinking about your score?" Huo Yushen was faintly displeased, his gaze even colder and more stern.
Xia Chujian: "..."
She was choked for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that her attitude was indeed not right.
Although she hadn't been at this Flying Base for long, her sense of belonging had already begun to develop.
Xia Chujian quickly said, "I'm sorry, I apologize. I can participate in the rescue."
"You rescue? Do you know how you flew out?" Huo Yushen asked calmly.
Xia Chujian shook her head and said seriously, "I really don't know. I just stayed inside for twelve hours, and then the Mechanical Intelligence told me I had arrived. If possible, why don't you take a look at my warplane and study its Mechanical Intelligence? Maybe there will be some discoveries?"
She felt it had something to do with suddenly entering a strange universe and the sudden loss of nine hours.
But how could she say that? She should wait for news from Meng Guanghui.
If Meng Guanghui was okay, she would pretend that nothing had happened.
If something happened to Meng Guanghui, then so be it. She would still confess to Huo Yushen.
In that instant, many thoughts raced through Xia Chujian's mind, and a hint of guilt involuntarily surfaced on her face.
Huo Yushen gazed at her intently and said, "Don't be so reckless. I'm going to point out all the flaws in your explanation."
Xia Chujian was still a bit unconvinced. "I'm all ears."
Huo Yushen said, "First, if your scenario is true, traversing the entire Asteroid Belt in twelve hours, a distance of twenty-one million kilometers, would require your Warplane to travel at a speed of thirty thousand kilometers per minute."
Sang Yadi had already calculated this, so Xia Chujian was prepared. She opened her mouth, attempting to reason.
Huo Yushen raised a hand to stop her. "Let me finish before you start arguing."
Xia Chujian: "..."
What arguing? Why does he have to put it so harshly? No wonder he has no friends...
Xia Chujian grumbled inwardly, but she didn't try to interrupt again, listening to Huo Yushen continue.
Huo Yushen went on, "At a speed of thirty thousand kilometers per minute, even our Beichen Empire's highest-grade Breaking Sky-class Starry Sky Fighter can't reach that speed, not even a fraction of it."
"It's not the pilots' lack of skill, nor the engine's inefficiency, nor is it theoretically impossible. It's simply that we haven't yet developed Warplane materials that can withstand such speeds without disintegrating."
"So, if this speed of thirty thousand kilometers per minute is real, how did your Warplane withstand it without falling apart?"
"Your roommates' three Warplanes are just entry-level Thunder Starry Sky Fighters. Forget thirty thousand kilometers per minute, even two thousand kilometers per minute might cause them to fall apart."
"Second, in the past twelve hours, the Sest Asteroid Belt experienced intense Magnetic Field Storms, causing huge energy fluctuations. You four Warplanes were linked together, so why was only the monitoring equipment affected by the Magnetic Field Storms? What about the other electronic devices? Don't tell me the other electronic devices were all normal."
Xia Chujian realized then that her seemingly reasonable explanation was full of holes.
But she didn't know whether she should explain the truth to Huo Yushen, especially during this remote video call.
Even if Huo Yushen said that this quantum entanglement encrypted video call mode couldn't be eavesdropped on by third parties, she was in a detached villa in the Quan Family's mansion. What if they had extraordinary people with extraordinary skills?
Of course, most importantly, when she almost blurted it out earlier, her Other Shore Flower pendant suddenly emitted a faint electric current, pricking her.
That pendant was the dwelling place of her Shao Siming Mecha.
And that Shao Siming Mecha's Mechanical Intelligence seemed to have something to say.
Before contacting Su Buyan, Xia Chujian didn't dare to speak carelessly.
Therefore, she only said softly, "I really don't know what happened. If you don't believe me, you can inspect our Warplanes, tow them away for research, anything."
Then, she hesitated and said, "Actually, there's one more thing I don't know if I should say."
Huo Yushen frowned. "...Speak."
Xia Chujian said, "I don't know if I'm dreaming, hallucinating, or if it's real, but I saw a Star Chart on one of the screens of my Warplane... a Star Chart of the Asteroid Belt."
Huo Yushen suddenly looked up. "What did you say?! A Star Chart of the Asteroid Belt?!"
Xia Chujian shrugged. "I know it's impossible, so I'm not even sure myself. Because before we set off, Chief Instructor Pei said that due to the severe Magnetic Field interference in the Asteroid Belt, navigation couldn't be used, we couldn't contact each other, and there were no Star Charts. We could only rely on ourselves, using relative coordinates to determine the direction of travel."
"When I saw the Star Chart on one of the Warplane's screens, I was very surprised and even took a picture of it with my Smart Bracelet."
As Xia Chujian spoke, she sent a copy of the Star Chart she had taken to Huo Yushen's Quantum Optical Brain number.
This was currently the only piece of evidence proving that the Star Chart had existed.
Anyway, she knew that Meng Guanghui's Quantum Optical Brain was with Huo Yushen, so she wouldn't bother sending it to Meng Guanghui's Quantum Optical Brain.
Moreover, it was safer to send this level of information directly to Huo Yushen.
Huo Yushen's mood upon hearing this was not just shock, but... a renewed assessment of Xia Chujian.
He was different from others. As the highest leader of the Special Security Bureau, he knew many things that others, including the top Nobles, didn't know.
It could be said that some things even the Emperor might not know.
But he knew.
For example, the matter of the Sest Asteroid Belt Star Chart.
Almost everyone thought that the Sest Asteroid Belt had no Star Chart.
But Huo Yushen knew that a long, long time ago, the Sest Asteroid Belt did have a Star Chart...
His heart suddenly became uneasy.
But after receiving it, she discovered that the star chart was not high-definition at all.
It was just a picture about twenty square centimeters in size. If you wanted to zoom in to see it clearly, it would blur, making it impossible to distinguish anything.
However, if you looked at it as is, without zooming in or out, you could roughly make out the location of that Asteroid Belt.
Huo Yushen couldn't make out any specific content in the star chart at all.
He wondered if using Mechanical Intelligence to analyze it could restore it to a high-definition original image. If so, he could send it to the Special Security Bureau's most mysterious Star Gazers organization for careful examination...
Huo Yushen's expression was very serious as he said, "...You flew across the Asteroid Belt following the route indicated by this star chart?"
Xia Chujian corrected him, "I flew across the Asteroid Belt according to this star chart, using the shortest route I chose myself."
Huo Yushen said, "The shortest distance between Kanli Star and Cangge Star through the Asteroid Belt is also twenty-one million kilometers. Even if you went in a straight line, you would have to travel twenty-one million kilometers. How is that shorter?"
Xia Chujian frowned and said, "Then how should I explain it so they'll believe me?"
Huo Yushen glanced at her, then lowered his eyes and said softly, "We received information that in the past twelve hours, the Asteroid Belt between Kanli Star and Cangge Star experienced the largest Magnetic Field Storm in history. The storm caused violent energy fluctuations, leading to the formation of a new, small Wormhole in the Asteroid Belt..."
Xia Chujian's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "That makes sense! We must have accidentally entered this small Wormhole, which allowed us to fly across the Asteroid Belt and arrive at Cangge Star in twelve hours!"
Seeing a rare smile on Huo Yushen's face, Xia Chujian knew she was in the clear.
Now that a Wormhole had appeared, their twelve-hour flight across the Asteroid Belt was no longer worth mentioning.
But then again, was this Wormhole related to that "Tayam"? Xia Chujian wondered in her heart, then added, "The monitoring systems on all four of our Warplanes malfunctioned. Would you like to have someone take a look and see what's going on?"
Huo Yushen said, "I will send someone to look. Is there anything else?"
Xia Chujian, having found a sufficient reason for her actions, felt a sense of relief.
She first reminded Huo Yushen, "Marshal Huo, if you have any news about my leader, please be sure to tell me. Without a leader, I feel anxious... What if I encounter more trouble at the Flying Base? What if I'm bullied by the Noble students and Instructors again? I can't always come to you, can I?"
Huo Yushen: "..."
His expression visibly froze: "...Coming to me is beneath you?"
Xia Chujian quickly shook her head, beaming, "Of course not! I'm reaching for the stars! It's what I'm hoping for! It's just that I'm embarrassed, you're so busy, every minute is spent on national affairs! I'm worried about disturbing you... But since you've taken the initiative to agree, I won't be polite. I'll still come to you when I need to!"
Huo Yushen: "..."
He felt like he had been tricked.
He thought, is that how "reaching for the stars" is used? He couldn't even look at the phrase "reaching for the stars" the same way anymore.
This is the first update. The second update will be at 1 PM.
Yesterday's big chapter at noon broke the record for chapter comments on Qidian, hahaha. I felt everyone's enthusiasm~~~ Thank you, thank you~~~ Yesterday, this interstellar novel gained a new Alliance Master. Congratulations to book friend "Wang Yihan" for becoming the new Alliance Master of "I Rewrite the Classic of Mountains and Seas in Space"! (It's already noted in my little notebook. The new Alliance Master will have two bonus chapters, and I haven't even finished the bonus chapters for the previous Alliance Masters yet. ())
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