What? My cheat code is making my own gold coins explode?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Business trips are such a torture. It involves on-site inspections, driving, and drinking with the boss. After dinner, I even have to go for a walk in the mall. Tonight, I woke up suddenly at 2:30 in the morning before I started writing. I drank a liter of red wine. I'm a superhuman for being able to sober up.

There's one more thing: Einstein was also a mother (serious face).

Chapter Seventeen: Breaking Through the Atmosphere! (Setting Modification)

时间：2000年2月10日，19:32

Location: Yellowstone Anti-Entropy Headquarters, USA

Ten minutes before the launch of the Titan carrier rocket, everything was ready.

The lunar journey is expected to take 48 hours. Carrying both Alahatto and Gundam Exia simultaneously puts a significant strain on the rocket. However, the two doctors from Anti-Entropy cleverly arranged for Gundam Exia to activate inside the rocket. The drifting GN particles are guided around the rocket using external equipment, achieving an effect similar to applying a GN field to the rocket.

This event is also documented on the CBS-70 Ptolemy.

Zhao Si had previously described the general operating principle of the Celestial Mothership to the two doctors, and then after modernization, he created the Hercules launch vehicle, which has some anti-gravity effects.

As for the side effects of GN particles blocking communication, we can only say that we will try our best to mitigate them.

"Siegfried, Zhao Si, have you both fastened your seatbelts?"

"No problem, the tightness is just right."

"Nothing is obstructed."

The control cabin contains three seats arranged in an equilateral triangle, perpendicular to the rocket, which also means parallel to the ground.

Walter Young was in the first position, with Siegfried and Zhao Si on his left and right sides.

With some time still available for pre-launch adjustments, the three, having nothing else to do, started chatting about what happened before boarding the rocket:

"Wow, Walter, you actually danced with Dr. Tesla? That's so romantic. After you get through the second Honkai, you'll have to get married right away. I'll bring my wife and daughter to the event to support you."

"You're dreaming, Siegfried. The Honkai hasn't been eradicated yet, and his fate is uncertain. How could I dare to make a promise to Tesla?"

A married man was advising another man with a partner to get married. Zhao Si didn't say anything, but just listened to Walter being tormented.

"Pah! What kind of logic is that? If you don't give Tesla a proper title, do you expect her to hold your ashes as her widow?"

“I have experience in this area. You have to listen to me. You have to think, ‘I must go back to see my wife.’ Do you feel a surge of energy coming out of your limbs?”

"Love can make people achieve things that were otherwise impossible... Ah, there are always some things that seem pale and powerless in the face of absolute power. In the end, we will have to confront the Honkai head-on."

"Oh……"

Walter shook his head, rejecting Siegfried's theory. The latter, somewhat lacking confidence, did not dare to continue.

Even among law enforcers, there are differences in strength, let alone between law enforcers and ordinary people.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the control room fell silent, and even an optimist like Siegfried lost his smile.

"I will make sure you all get back to Earth safely."

At this moment, Zhao Si suddenly spoke, his tone quite serious.

Siegfried and Walter turned to look at him, said nothing, and simply nodded with smiles again.

"Countdown begins. Internal automatic control system activated. Return control ready. Guidance control ready. Flight dynamics control ready. Handing over to internal control. Countdown 27, 26, 25..."

The process was just like reciting a menu. Sitting in the control cabin, Zhao Si was lost in thought. He looked out the window and saw night falling and stars twinkling. He couldn't help but swallow and his hands and feet were sweating.

“Tesla.”

During the countdown, only one name came out of Walter's mouth: he listened to Siegfried's words and his gaze became more determined than ever before.

As for the fact that the sounds inside the rocket were heard by the launch pad staff, he couldn't think of it for the moment. However, Dr. Lobster Head, who had heard the whole process, had his face turn as red as a lobster.

“Cecilia, Kiana.”

Siegfried's greatest concern was always his wife and daughter. In the pre-launch call, he promised Kiana that he would bring back a moon stone for her to play with, and he also confessed the whole process of the plan to Cecilia.

Cecilia offered Siegfried her strongest support: "No matter the outcome, I will stand with you."

The two men, who had read out the names of the people they cared about most, looked at Zhao Si, who was gazing out the window, once again. Zhao Si felt their intense gazes and dared not turn his head back.

We've both said everything, so you can't escape now.

Thanks to Dr. Einstein's comforting pat on the head before leaving, Zhao Si became even more nervous.

Some people have expectations of themselves, but even in their past lives, these expectations were unrealistic. They didn't know what level of achievement they would need to reach to deliver a satisfactory result to the other party.

[Host, all you need to do now is tell me who you miss the most; don't overthink it.]

Yes, I shouldn't have been overthinking things.

“Exia, Gundam Exia.”

Zhao Si spoke in the gentlest of tones about the machine that he cared about most.

The thought of Exusiai's inevitable demise on the moon dispelled Zhao Si's lingering reluctance.

This was followed by another silence in the control room, with only the roar of the engines audible inside.

Two adults doing this to a child is just ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Einstein, inside the anti-entropy launch pad, could only manage a wry smile. The child was carefree; why were those two adults making such a fuss?

"Come back and give Siegfried and Walter another talking-to," Einstein murmured.

As the countdown ticked away, she shouted as it reached zero:

"ignition!"

Einstein's ignition command echoed across the Anti-Entropy base launch pad, and the engines of the Titan transport rocket ignited immediately, spewing out orange-yellow flames accompanied by large amounts of smoke and steam, the intense light illuminating the surrounding facilities in an instant.

The shockwave generated when the rocket ascends vertically creates visible ripples on the ground and in the air. These ripples spread outwards from the rocket, creating long trails of smoke.

The goal is to penetrate the atmosphere and reach the moon.

As Zhao Si took off, he felt the intense pressure from the acceleration. This force pressed him tightly against the seat, and he couldn't help but grip the seat handles tightly. The violent vibrations and roaring sounds in his ears caused his heart to beat faster and faster, and he immediately started breathing heavily through his mouth and nose.

This is the effort humanity has made to escape Earth's gravity...

Before the rocket even broke through the atmosphere, Zhao Si's still-adult body began to struggle with the pressure of liftoff. Even the incorporation of a small amount of GN particles into the control cabin could not alleviate his pain.

There is no other way but to tough it out.

After reaching the target altitude, the Titan launch vehicle performed a programmed turn to reduce atmospheric drag and separated the boosters and fairing to reduce weight.

Are we about to pass through the atmosphere?

Zhao Si felt the high temperature generated by the pneumatic heating and the turbulence caused by atmospheric friction, which made him feel more uncomfortable and nervous than before.

But the universe is right before our eyes.

As the rocket passes through the edge of the atmosphere and enters the inertial flight phase, the third-stage engine ignites for a final acceleration until it reaches the predetermined orbital velocity.

"The rocket fairing has detached. According to the plan, Zhao Si, please return to the cockpit of the Gundam Exia as soon as possible. Once Zhao Si is back in position, the Alahato power engine will ignite, and the Gundam Exia will head to the moon at the same time."

Yes, it was only then that Zhao Si realized he had broken the sound barrier and broken out of the atmosphere. The gravitational pull that was trying to pull him back to the earth disappeared, and the surrounding environment became unusually quiet, with only the faint sound of Alahato and the ticking of the instruments accompanying him.

Alahato and Gundam Exia have entered Earth orbit.

After adjusting his Celestial Combat Suit and confirming that the oxygen supply was normal, Zhao Si activated the simple jet propulsion device on his back and easily flew into the cockpit that Veda had already opened for him.

As he pushed the joystick, Zhao Si adjusted the head monitor to record the azure water star at that moment.

That was a view Zhao Si had never seen before; it was a deep, vibrant blue.

When Zhao Si stood on Earth, he constantly thought about going to outer space to see the vast and desolate universe—because he was an MS pilot, he felt he had to go to space.

However, when Zhao Si arrived in space, his body, lacking foundation and support, was calling out to him again:

Earth is a wonderful place, come back to Earth!

Yes, when Zhao Si looked at Earth from another perspective, he discovered how beautiful, majestic, and mysterious it was.

"Gravity seems to really be able to pull a person's soul underground..."

Yes, right? Is that really the case?

Zhao Si didn't know for the time being, but he knew what he should do.

This beautiful place is under threat of collapse.

A flame ignited in his chest, his blood flowed excitedly, and a strange, ambiguous feeling swept over his entire body, starting from his feet, spreading to his waist, covering his hands, and rushing straight to his brain.

Subsequently, Zhao Si could sense that even though they were 356,400 kilometers away on that moon, a malevolent force so immense it could engulf the entire Earth was emanating from just one person.

but……

"I will do it, I will defeat the Honkai." Zhao Si murmured to himself.

For a blue and pure Earth.

Zhao Si extinguished the fear in his heart after realizing his own insignificance.

He pushed the control stick forward with both hands with all his might, and the Exia Gundam caught up with Alahato, which had already warmed up and started up.

Once Alahato ignites all its power engines, the 40-meter-tall machine can easily travel through space at a speed of around Mach 6.5.

In space, speed becomes a relative concept. As a semi-perpetual motion system, the GN propulsion system of the Shinroku can theoretically continue to accelerate beyond the third cosmic velocity, even in its normal form without activating the three red arrows, given enough time. Of course, the machine will be destroyed by then, which is another matter.

"Why not just install a handrail and fly together?"

Zhao Si's request was easily met. The two doctors from Anti-Entropy had already installed two sturdy handrails on Alahato's back to address this situation. The 18-meter-tall Exia could lie on them, hold onto the handrails, and also use GN particles to lighten Alahato's load.

In appearance, it looks like a cosplay of the combined Heaven and Earth Dragons, except that the blue-toned "Earth Dragon" is on top of the red-toned "Heaven Dragon".

"111, Zhao Si, how's the signal here? Can you hear me clearly?"

Contact communication can avoid the side effects of GN particles, and Siegfried's voice, which had become more active, came from Zhao Si's cockpit.

"No problem at all, everything is normal. Hopefully, Alahato has enough fuel."

"You don't need to worry about that. It uses Honkai energy. The amount needed for the round trip and the battle on the moon has been calculated. Even if it's not enough, we still have the Herrscher of Reason here. She can easily replenish Arahatto's energy, right?"