Everyone nodded in agreement.
While Ji Yuntian was briefing everyone on the Space Suits, Ren Yuanyang had already reinforced the eight suits.
[Reinforcement successful. Extravehicular Space Suit defensive capabilities doubled, endurance doubled...]
"Alright, all aspects of these Space Suits have had their performance doubled. They should be able to protect you much better on this space journey!" Ren Yuanyang said to Ji Yuntian.
Ji Yuntian nodded slightly. "Thank you, Chief!"
Ren Yuanyang waved his hand. "I just hope you can return triumphant as soon as possible! Don’t forget your phone. As long as you can land on Blue Star, we’ll definitely be there to rescue you at the first opportunity."
"Yes, sir! I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Ji Yuntian saluted and replied in a solemn voice.
"Remember, safety first!" Ren Yuanyang urged.
Ji Yuntian nodded. "Yes, Chief!"
At that moment, the manned Spaceship was also ready. Ren Yuanyang had reinforced its defensive capabilities, stability, and maneuverability as well.
Even the rocket that would carry the Spaceship into orbit was reinforced.
Various supplies had already been loaded onto the Spaceship. Ji Yuntian, wearing an intravehicular Space Suit, saluted everyone before climbing inside.
Through the joint efforts of everyone at the Astronomical Research Institute, the manned Spaceship ignited its engines and launched at twelve o’clock midnight!
Everyone stared nervously at the rocket, watching it disappear into the dark clouds. The chief engineer spoke up, "The launch should be a success. The rest is up to General Ji himself!"
The rocket delivered the manned Spaceship precisely into its designated orbit.
Inside the Spaceship, Ji Yuntian was utterly shocked. During the acceleration phase of the launch, he had felt almost nothing!
’Is it because I became an Evolver and my body is stronger, or is it because this Space Suit is just that powerful?’
’Whatever the reason, it’s a good thing for me.’
Ji Yuntian didn’t dwell on the question. He unbuckled his seatbelt and floated over to the viewport to observe the situation outside.
Outside the Spaceship’s location, it was pitch black. The sunlight was completely blocked by Blue Star.
Ji Yuntian was truly flying blind. He didn’t even know in which direction the space station might be.
Meanwhile, Ren Yuanyang and the others were still in the control room.
"The Spaceship should have reached its designated orbit by now, right?" Ren Yuanyang suddenly asked.
"Barring any accidents, it should be in orbit right now," the chief engineer replied, glancing at the time.
Ren Yuanyang immediately took out his phone, found Ji Yuntian’s contact, and initiated a video call.
Seeing Ren Yuanyang’s actions, the people around him were all stunned.
"Don’t tell me that unknown software can even contact friends in space!" Qin Haonan’s eyes widened.
"Why not?" Lu Jiamei retorted. "If that unknown software was possibly made by a High-level Civilization, then it just might work!"
Hope ignited in the others as well, and they all stared intently at Ren Yuanyang’s phone.
In the Spaceship, Ji Yuntian was observing the conditions outside when he suddenly heard his phone ring. He froze for a moment, then hurriedly floated over to find it.
The screen showed that Ren Yuanyang was requesting a video call.
Ji Yuntian excitedly tapped "Accept."
The next moment, Ren Yuanyang and Ji Yuntian appeared on each other’s phone screens.
’It really works!’ Ren Yuanyang thought to himself.
Ji Yuntian, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Chief, we can actually contact each other by phone! Thank goodness you told me to bring it!"
"The thought just occurred to me as well. Initially, I only told you to bring your phone so we could find you more easily when you returned to Blue Star," Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile.
"This is great!" The chief engineer at his side was just as excited. He immediately asked, "General Ji, can you share your real-time location? Let’s see if we can confirm your current position on the map!"
Ji Yuntian nodded and enabled location sharing.
The map that came with the unknown software on the phone was extremely advanced. When Ren Yuanyang opened the shared location, the map immediately transformed into a three-dimensional space.
"Check it against our projected position immediately!" the chief engineer commanded.
Soon, a staff member nearby reported, "Reporting to the chief engineer, it’s far off from our projected position! Based on our calculations, the manned Spaceship should be behind the space station’s orbital path!"
The chief engineer nodded slightly and said, "General Ji, you need to start the engines and increase the Spaceship’s speed. Share your position in real-time, and we can help you confirm if you’re heading in the right direction!"
"Understood!" Ji Yuntian replied.
With the map function of the unknown software, Ji Yuntian finally had a pair of eyes. He was now much more confident about finding the space station.
Not only that, but the Astronomical Research Institute could also monitor the Spaceship’s altitude, flight direction, and so on in real-time, gathering more data to prepare for future Spaceship launches.
After all, conditions in space were different now, and many parameters needed to be readjusted.
"Assign someone here to maintain contact with Ji Yuntian," Ren Yuanyang ordered.
"Yes, sir!" The chief engineer nodded and immediately took out his own phone.
Ren Yuanyang disconnected from Ji Yuntian. The chief engineer then connected and projected his phone’s screen onto the large monitor for everyone to see.
Following the chief engineer’s instructions, Ji Yuntian slowly increased his speed, and the Spaceship’s orbit gradually rose.
"Cut the thrusters. Maintain current velocity!"
Ji Yuntian did as the chief engineer instructed.
After maintaining his current velocity for about twenty minutes, the chief engineer issued another command: "Decelerate and lower your orbit. Be extremely careful not to collide with our space station!"
"Yes, sir!"
While decelerating, Ji Yuntian carefully observed the feed from the external cameras.
"According to the last data feed from the satellite, our space station should be operating in this vicinity. Search this area first!"
"Understood!" Ji Yuntian replied.
The Spaceship’s orbit had now lowered somewhat. Ji Yuntian kept his eyes glued to the monitor, occasionally glancing out the viewport.
The Dragon Country’s space station was huge. As long as his Spaceship got close, he should be able to see it.
Just then, a flash of red light appeared among the Ice Crystals surrounding the Spaceship. It vanished in an instant.
But the fully focused Ji Yuntian managed to catch it.
He immediately maneuvered the Spaceship toward the location where the red light had just appeared, saying at the same time, "There was a flash of red light over there! I’m going to check it out!"
"Okay, be extremely careful!" the chief engineer warned.
Before the sound of his voice had faded, there was a loud CLANG! Ji Yuntian was thrown to the other side of the Spaceship, and his phone floated away.
Evidently, the Spaceship had hit something and decelerated, and he had been flung forward by inertia.
Although sound can’t travel in space, it could inside the Spaceship. Ji Yuntian could still hear the noise of the impact’s vibrations.
Likewise, everyone in the Astronomical Research Institute heard it too.
"General Ji, what’s your status? Are you injured?" the chief engineer asked anxiously.
Inside the Spaceship, Ji Yuntian quickly stabilized himself, grabbed the phone that was bouncing around the cabin, and replied, "I’m fine. I think I hit a solar panel. Judging by its shape, it must be one of ours from the space station!"
After replying, Ji Yuntian immediately took a careful look outside. He soon spotted the Dragon Country’s space station, appearing and disappearing amidst the dense field of Ice Crystals.
The station’s warning light would only flash a faint red glow after long intervals.
"I’ve found our space station!" Ji Yuntian’s voice was filled with excitement and exhilaration.
And back in the Astronomical Research Institute, everyone immediately erupted in cheers.
"Fantastic! We did it!"
The chief engineer was also thrilled, but he immediately said, "General Ji, space is filled with Ice Crystals right now, so docking will definitely be extremely difficult. You might even need to perform an EVA to clear the docking port!"
With no resupply for so long, and with the constant bombardment of those Ice Crystals, the vast majority of the solar panels were damaged. The station’s power must have been depleted, so the automatic cleaning procedures probably couldn’t even start. It would be up to Ji Yuntian to go out and clear it manually.
"I understand!" Ji Yuntian replied as he was already putting on his extravehicular Space Suit. He secured his phone to the suit and then entered the airlock.
The Spaceship’s hatch opened. With a safety tether attached, Ji Yuntian slowly floated out of the cabin.
He saw the solar panel he had broken off. Its surface was densely covered in tiny craters.
Even though the Ice Crystals didn’t seem to be moving fast, the continuous impacts had still damaged the solar panel.
’However, the space station hasn’t been knocked into a lower orbit. The astronauts inside must have activated the attitude control system to maintain this altitude.’

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