"Jianhao?!"
"Teacher?"
It was an awkward reunion. Old Li had deliberately kept his departure a secret so his student wouldn't worry or get dragged into this. He didn't want to affect Jianhao's future. But to his surprise, his own student had arrived at the base before him.
It turned out Jianhao had already agreed to join the project even before the conference. He'd only stayed behind to accompany his teacher on the trip. As soon as he got off the plane, he contacted the base liaison and came straight to the Kunlun Mountain base.
"You little rascal," Old Li sighed, "doesn't this mean your sense of duty is stronger than your old teacher's?"
"I wouldn't dare say that," Jianhao replied quickly. Like Old Li, he was still in awe of everything he'd seen at the base, but seeing his teacher calmed him down a lot.
Old Li let out a long sigh. He realized he'd worried too much. With young patriots like Jianhao, who would never pass up a chance to serve their country, the future was in good hands.
"Teacher, did you see the Wugang on your way here?" Jianhao asked, trying to change the subject so his teacher wouldn't dwell on him.
"I saw it," Old Li said. "But I can't imagine what kind of fuel could launch something like that. Don't tell me the military cobbled it together without knowing what they're doing?"
"No way," Jianhao replied. "I heard it was designed by Academician Dong's student, and it uses a controlled nuclear fusion pulse engine."
"Nuclear fusion?" Old Li was stunned. That was one of the hardest problems in the world. He never thought he'd see such cutting-edge technology with his own eyes. "A nuclear pulse means generating energy from small nuclear explosions. So inside that spaceship, they'll set off a series of nuclear blasts to propel it? My god, am I dreaming or have I gone crazy?"
"Teacher Li, you're not crazy. We've mastered the nuclear pulse engine. The first test launch will happen by the end of this year."
"Aha, it really is you!" Old Li turned to look at An Rong. "I knew it. Among all of Academician Dong's students, only you were smarter than any of mine. Is this Wugang your creation?"
"I designed it together with my teacher," An Rong said modestly.
"Incredible, truly incredible." Old Li looked at the Wugang with genuine admiration. "That old fox Dong didn't tell me about something this important. I'll have to give him a piece of my mind."
Meanwhile, the younger members went to the training room, which was buzzing with energy. Liu A'dou was accepting every challenge thrown his way, no matter the event or form. Since it was a competition, there had to be stakes, and the prize this time was a spot in the upcoming test flight of the space fighter.
If Liu A'dou won, he'd replace one of the astronauts and get to fly the space fighter himself. He felt a little bad for the original pilot, but he wanted this chance so badly that he was willing to compete for it. It wasn't unfair because he faced a group in a rotating challenge—it was unfair because an ordinary person could never beat Liu A'dou.
An Rong arrived with Jianhao and asked the onlookers, "What's the situation now?"
"That guy is still undefeated," someone answered. "He's amazing. Even our elite pilots can't beat him."
An Rong had been away for a while, but nothing had changed. Liu A'dou was still winning every match. They heard him say confidently, "Just give up. I'm definitely going to space this time." He'd been to the moon once via teleportation, but he wanted to experience spaceflight like a real astronaut.
Groans rose from the crowd. How could one man be this unbeatable?
"You monster! You're a total monster!"
"Haha!" Liu A'dou just laughed triumphantly.
The general returned to find out about the gambling challenge and was caught between laughter and frustration. He barked sternly, "What do you think you're doing? This is a matter of national security, not a game! All of you—run thirty laps around the base!"
"General, does that mean the bet is off?" someone asked timidly.
The general glared. "Why wouldn't the bet count? If you lost, you face the punishment. This mission will be carried out by Liu A'dou." Actually, he had his own reasons. Liu A'dou was so capable that if something went wrong during the test, he'd probably survive. The chance of problems during a first test was high, and sending Liu A'dou kept everyone else safe. "Stop wasting time. Go run."
Liu A'dou looked at the others with pity. This base was huge—thirty laps would leave them all flat on the ground. "General, you don't seem like a general. You're more like a political commissar."
The general replied seriously, "That's because I am a commissar. 'General' is just my codename."
…
An Rong introduced Liu Jianhao to A'dou, then couldn't hold back anymore. "Exactly how much more technology do you have? Spill it all at once!" It was obvious she'd dragged someone along to pressure Liu A'dou into revealing everything he knew.
The three of them walked outside, enjoying the gentle evening breeze as they strolled up the palace steps. The white jade stairs weren't cold at all—instead, they felt perfectly comfortable. Liu A'dou looked up at the moon in the sky, still finding it hard to believe any of this was real. In just a few months, his homeland had made astonishing progress, far beyond what he'd expected.
Sometimes, technology really was like a thin piece of paper—once you pierced it, everything else came quickly. That's why people spoke of "technological explosions."
The moment Liu A'dou handed over his files, they'd attracted immediate and serious attention. From there, research teams worked around the clock. Actually, "research" wasn't the right word; "verification" fit better. The technologies were so comprehensive and directly relevant to what the country most needed: new materials and advanced processing techniques. With those two alone, building engines and other high-tech components wasn't hard.
The material formulas covered everything from refining raw resources to the exact conditions needed for shaping them. It was like a complete, step-by-step kit. Even the manufacturing equipment specs were included—a foolproof manual. All of this was thanks to Liu A'dou, who had carefully selected and recorded the data, turning what should've been a nightmare into an easy walkthrough.
"I've already given you everything I have," Liu A'dou said helplessly.
An Rong shot back, "What about electromagnetic shields? That's not some super-advanced thing. With controlled nuclear fusion, we can definitely build it ourselves. So it doesn't count."
Women really could be unreasonable sometimes. Liu Jianhao was a bit lost. He'd met An Rong before at conferences, and since their teachers were old friends, he wasn't a stranger. "Mr. Liu, where exactly did you get all this tech? Not even NASA has anything close to it."
"No, they don't," Liu A'dou said. "But don't underestimate America. They have a training platform in space too, built with black technology they captured from superheroes. That orbital station is huge, with thousands of people working on it and training space fighter pilots. Compared to them, we're still playing catch-up."
"Then on your mission, will you run into American space fighters?"
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," Liu A'dou replied. "As for where the tech came from… I don't really know. I just passed it along. Maybe it's from aliens. Maybe black technology. Maybe it's relics of some ancient civilization. Who knows?" He brushed it off casually.
The stars twinkled above them. The universe held countless planets and endless life. Humanity was only beginning to explore it, and it might take dozens or even hundreds of centuries to reach the center of the galaxy. But that didn't matter. As long as humanity kept moving forward step by step, one day the universe would look on in awe. Liu A'dou firmly believed in that, proud to be human.