Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Just after Vera’s flight left the Tianzhou Space Station, the expert team of the Space Elevator Construction Committee arrived nearby at the Nirvana Space Station.
The spindle-shaped spire pointed towards the Earth was connected by a thick track, and the arc-shaped spiral arm connected to the other end had also begun to slowly rotate under the drive of nuclear energy.
From a distance, the entire space station was like a flying kite that was floating above the blue planet.
Standing next to the porthole, Professor Ge Huaizhi looked at the silver-white bright spot outside the window, which was the Tianzhou. He showed a look of fascination on his face.
After digesting his thoughts, he spoke.
“This space station has been in operation for more than half a century. It is finally about to retire.”
“Yes, it’s the end of an era.”
Academician Zhu Haiqing, standing next to Professor Ge Huaizhi, looked at the shuttle flying away from the space station. He said emotionally, “I am afraid that this scene will only be seen in future documentaries.”
Yesterday, while the media reported the research breakthrough for the civilian deployment of faster than light technology, the tower that connected the sky and Earth had finally completed the final stage of construction.
As the Redwood Elevator and the tower of Penglai on the sea steadily docked together, human civilization had entered a new era.
They would be the ones to present this new era.
“How long until the experiment begins?”
“About 30 minutes left.” The staff standing next to the two experts glanced at his watch. He continued in an excited tone, “The freight elevator track has been installed, and the technicians are making the final inspection of the track.”
“This part of the job is the most important.” Professor Ge Huaizhi spoke to the staff in a serious tone, “Especially the safety equipment on the freight elevator. Don’t make any mistakes. Even if no one is on the freight elevator, make sure there are no safety issues!”
The staff member stood up straight and replied sonorously, “Yes, sir!”
On the other hand, at an orbital astronomical observatory not far from the Nirvana Space Station, more than 20 high-resolution cameras were aimed at every section of the space elevator from head to toe.
Inside the control room of the observation station, the researcher Field and his assistant Johnny stared intently at the picture on the holographic screen. The rigid and sharp lines of the elevators seemed to pop out from the screen.
After about 5 minutes, Field quickly made a judgment and spoke.
“They are about to start a trial run.”
“Trial run?” Johnny was stunned. His face was full of anxiety as he asked, “But… why didn’t we receive the news here?”
“Are you dumb?” Field continued angrily, “Those Pan-Asian people are not our employees, so why should they report to you what they are doing? And if they are really disclosing things to us, do we need to stalk them from over here?”
After taking a deep breath, Johnny rubbed his fingers anxiously and spoke.
“What should we do?”
“What should we do? Ask the space agency. We are only responsible for the observation, not helping them solve problems. I don’t know what to do either,” Field said as he stared at the silver tube connecting the sky and Earth. Although he was annoyed, there was still a trace of envy on his face.
In less than a year, they built the space station, the city floating on the sea, and all of the elevator sections…
How are these Asians doing this?
“I have sent the report… There is no response yet.” Looking at the dead silence on the communication channel, Johnny cast his gaze on Field. “What’s next?”
Field didn’t bother to respond to this guy. He stared at the space elevator and gave a short answer.
“Wait!”
Even though he was their opponent…
As an engineer, he did not want to miss this historic moment.
He didn’t want to miss even a single second!
At the same time, at Mars, which was three astronomical units away, Lu Zhou and others stood in a conference room. They were also paying attention to this historic moment.
Although there was a delay of nearly 20 minutes, as the chief consultant, this did not affect his attention to the project.
In the headquarters building of the Mars branch for East Asia Heavy Industries, Lu Zhou obtained the live broadcast transmission authority through the head office and borrowed a conference room from the Mars branch to watch the real-time live broadcast of this historic project.
Other than him, standing here were Wang Peng and President Zhong of the AIIB Mars branch.
When he looked at the 36,000 kilometer-long track in the holographic screen, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
Wang Peng said, “This is definitely a miracle in the history of human engineering… Prior to this, I never thought that one day we could build an elevator to the sky.”
“One step at a time, I never thought it would be so fast either.” Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him, smiled and continued softly, “Until I discovered it.”
Wang Peng: “It?”
“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded. With a confident smile on his face, he continued, “The ultimate material that connects the sky and Earth.”
In the broadcast on the holographic screen, the staff standing in the central tower of Penglai used heavy engineering equipment to put the huge freight elevator into the booster frame. They then connected the side ends to the thick and long tracks.
“Attention, all units, begin inspection!”
“Yes, sir!”
Wang Peng looked at the video on the holographic screen. His face was obviously excited, and he couldn’t help but clench his fist tightly.
“I didn’t expect this to actually happen…”
Looking at Wang Peng, whose face was full of excitement, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone.
“When have I ever lied before?”
Standing next to the two of them, Zhong Ziyu, who was also invited to watch the live broadcast of the space elevator test run, also had an expression of excitement and shock on his face.
After a while, he spoke emotionally.
“The citizens of Tiangong City have experienced a blessing in disguise. Although they had an evil mayor, the space trade activities of the entire solar system will increase exponentially after the completion of the space elevator.”
“Haha, maybe.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “But one thing for certain is that we have entered a new era.”
On the live broadcast screen, the inspection of the equipment had been completed, and the test would start in less than 10 minutes.
Lu Zhou, with his hands behind his back, seemed to suddenly remember something. He walked to the door behind him.
Zhong Ziyu cast a curious look at his movements.
“There is still 10 minutes, aren’t you going to watch till the end?”
Lu Zhou smiled faintly and didn’t look back. He responded in a puzzling manner, “No need, I have already watched it.”
Zhong Ziyu: “…?”
Lu Zhou left the room and walked in the direction of the elevator without explaining himself.
