Chapter 120: Danger Is Everywhere!

"Engage all power, we must leave immediately! We have to cover one thousand kilometers in under two minutes; we are currently right at the edge of the blast's maximum impact zone!"

Every astronaut was working the controls with intense focus. Only Chu Xiao sat quietly to the side. Wang Yan knew that Chu Xiao was unfamiliar with the spacecraft's systems, so she simply left him to stay out of the way.

"One minute remaining, five hundred kilometers to go!"

Wang Yan’s tone was grim. Covering five hundred kilometers in a minute was already at the absolute limit of their capabilities; whether they would make it out alive now depended entirely on luck.

"Lieutenant General Chu, please contact Director Number One. Explain the situation to him. If we don't make it back, consider this your final message."

Chu Xiao had already steeled himself for the worst, but he hadn't expected Wang Yan’s order to be a directive to leave a final testament. Since she had commanded it, however, he had no choice but to comply.

After establishing a connection with the Director, Chu Xiao briefly explained the situation and requested that, should he fail to return, the Director look after Wang Lulu.

The Director agreed without hesitation. Back on Earth, everyone—including the Director himself—was watching in suspense, sweating for the safety of Chu Xiao and his crew.

"Thirty seconds left, two hundred and forty kilometers to go!"

The atmosphere inside the cabin was suffocatingly quiet. One could hear the sound of every breath; the line between life and death had narrowed to a single moment.

"Ten seconds, ninety kilometers!"

No one was afraid of death itself, but the agony of waiting for it was unbearable.

"Three seconds!"

"Two seconds!"

Everyone held their breath, some unable to stop their bodies from trembling.

With a deafening roar, the spacecraft was shoved forward by the massive shockwave. Having already been knocked off its original trajectory, they now had no idea where they were.

"We made it out! We’re safe, we're safe!"

The astronauts felt as if they had just returned from the jaws of death, overwhelmed with relief. Chu Xiao, too, let out a long-held breath; moments earlier, his mind had been filled with images of Wang Lulu, terrified that he would never see her again. Wang Yan let out a long sigh as well, though she had appeared perfectly calm, her body had been trembling just as much.

"Lieutenant General Chu, to encounter such a peril on your first trip to space—this is the thrill of the cosmos."

They say that the struggle against heaven and earth brings infinite joy; only now did Chu Xiao truly grasp the meaning of that. Had he not experienced it firsthand, he might never have understood.

"Do you experience things like this often?"

"No, this is my first time as well."

Chu Xiao nodded, remaining silent. He thought to himself that for her to be so composed during her first such ordeal, she was truly an ace astronaut. Wang Yan had clearly undergone rigorous special training to handle various emergencies; otherwise, no ordinary person could have acted as she did.

"Have you ever been afraid on the battlefield?"

"To say I wasn't afraid would be a lie. But for the sake of all of Kyushu, for humanity, and for my loved ones, if I can sacrifice myself to secure peace, it is worth it."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yan felt even greater admiration and a touch of reverence for him. She felt that Chu Xiao was very much like her—perhaps even more courageous than she could ever be.

"I heard that Director Number One took an interest in you because of your prophecies, and that they all came true. How did you do it?"

Wang Yan was deeply curious about Chu Xiao’s past. After all, the people of Kyushu spoke of him as if he were a miracle worker, a god descended to earth.

"They did indeed come true, but it was merely based on intuition. I had no real certainty!"

Chu Xiao knew that even if he told her he had returned from the past—from the Great War against the Pluto invaders—she would never believe him. The explanation was simply too absurd.

"Then how did you know there were materials for weapons inside the meteorites?"

Wang Yan seemed captivated by him, firing off question after question, much like a child full of wonder about the world. She kept the conversation going for a long time, intent on learning all she could about him.

"Report, Captain! An unidentified black hole has appeared outside the spacecraft, and it’s pulling us in!"

"Let me see!"

Hearing this, Wang Yan’s expression turned stern. She hurried to the window; this was a first for her as well.

"This must be a spatial rift caused by the explosion. We cannot let the black hole capture us; if we are pulled in, we might be transported to another dimension!"

Wang Yan braced herself as if facing a mortal enemy, her expression grave, beads of sweat forming on her brow.

"Engage full power immediately! Find the nearest planet and attempt to dock!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Everyone resumed their frantic work. Chu Xiao remained where he was; Wang Yan had not assigned him any tasks.

"There is an uncharted planet two thousand kilometers dead ahead. Fly toward it!"

Wang Yan took the helm, pushing the engines to their limit. Behind them, the pull of the black hole grew stronger, and the spacecraft began to slow down significantly.

"We must jettison the second-stage fuel tank, or we will all be consumed!"

Wang Yan assessed the situation: if they didn't jettison the tank, their chances of survival were slim. If they did, whether they could return safely remained an uncertainty. They had to resolve the immediate crisis first and deal with the consequences later. After shedding the second-stage tank, the spacecraft’s speed increased.

They raced toward the unknown world, landing on its surface in just seven minutes.

Compared to Earth, this planet was tiny, roughly one-seventh the size. It possessed a very thin atmosphere, but there was no sunlight, as it was too far from the sun. No vegetation grew there, and the cold was biting.

"Lieutenant General Chu, we are now far off our projected course. We must conserve fuel, or we will never make it back to Earth!"

Wang Yan was at a loss and hoped Chu Xiao might have a solution. Their fuel had been sufficient, but after these two crises, if they couldn't return to their trajectory quickly, they would run out of fuel and drift forever in the void.

"Let’s try to contact the Director first and see if they can pinpoint our current location!"

Chu Xiao hoped to use their coordinates to determine which direction to fly, but after ten minutes of calling, there was still no response.

"We have completely lost contact with the Director. We have to find a way on our own."

The news hit the crew like a hammer blow; their last shred of hope had been severed. Every eye turned to Chu Xiao and Wang Yan—they were the pillars of the mission.

"We cannot just sit here and wait for death, but we also cannot abandon our mission. I will lead a team out to search for meteorites. Captain Wang, you continue to work on a solution!"

With that, Chu Xiao looked at Wang Yan, seeking her approval. After all, she was the captain.