Mystery: The New Black Emperor Descends

Chapter 764 Extra Chapter 2: Pollution on the Moon

Spacetime outside of the extraordinary universe.

September 12, 2030, Wenchang Space Launch Site, Hainan.

According to the weather forecast, the next few hours will be a rare launch window.

As the three astronauts boarded the spacecraft via an elevator inside the over 140-meter-high "mobile launch platform," the lunar landing program officially entered the launch phase.

Command Center: "Now entering the launch countdown, ten, nine... three, two, one, ignition!"

Rumble~

With a tremendous roar, the Shenzhou-10 carrier rocket, standing over 100 meters tall, successfully ignited its five high-powered aerospace engines at the tail. Amidst the dazzling light and cheers from the crowd outside the launch site, the rocket quickly ascended into the sky.

The first-stage rocket accelerates to 9300 kilometers per hour, and the engine shuts off at an altitude of 70 kilometers, at which point the first-stage rocket separates.

The second stage rocket then ignited, accelerating to 25000 kilometers per hour in 6 minutes and 30 seconds, and separating at an altitude of 175 kilometers.

Finally, the third-stage rocket ignited, operating for only about two minutes, sending the spacecraft into Earth orbit.

At this point, Commander Yin Xuejiang reported to the command center: "The launch operation was a complete success."

Applause came through the communicator from the command center, but this was only the first step of the operation, so after a brief clap of celebration, everyone remained on high alert.

After orbiting the Earth three and a half times, the spacecraft found a suitable switching position, the third-stage rocket ignited again, and the spacecraft left Earth orbit and headed for the moon.

At this moment, the protective shield at the very front of the rocket opened, revealing the "Dreamship" spacecraft used for this lunar landing mission. The spacecraft detached from the rocket and headed to its destination alone.

The speed of "Dreamboat" has reached about 4 kilometers per hour, but it still needs three days to reach Earth's only satellite: the Moon.

Onboard the spacecraft, the three astronauts finally breathed a sigh of relief. For the next three days, all they had to do was keep checking the orbit and maintain contact with the command center.

These tasks can be completed by one astronaut, so they can take turns resting.

The youngest astronaut, Ma Shen, was the first to leave his seat. In the weightless state, he looked out at space through the porthole and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful!"

Outside was a deep, dark starry sky, seemingly filled with boundless tranquility and profound peace.

There is no light pollution or atmospheric obstruction here, so the view is very clear. As long as you are not facing the sun, you can see a beautiful sea of ​​stars.

However, this sea of ​​stars seemed to be immersed in a distant world, appearing very deep and somewhat different from the sea of ​​stars seen on Earth.

Thus, after more than two days of continuous monitoring, the moon had occupied a large part of the field of vision. At this point, through the porthole, several huge craters on the lunar surface could even be seen.

At this moment, "Dream Boat" made an attitude adjustment, turning 180 degrees so that the nose of the spacecraft was facing the Earth.

After thorough preparation, the "Dream Boat" spacecraft, with its tail at the front, ignited its thrusters to slow down and successfully entered lunar orbit.

Because the moon's gravity is weaker, its orbit is much lower than Earth's. At this time, "Dream Boat" is only tens of kilometers above the moon's surface, orbiting the moon.

They will make final adjustments in lunar orbit before officially commencing the lunar landing operation.

As usual, Ma Shen used his break time to lean against the porthole and look at the scenery outside.

It was a desert-like planet, seemingly devoid of any life.

Suddenly, something seemed to move inside one of the craters. Ma Shen quickly adjusted his position to find the moving object.

Nothing was found.

Soon, the "Dream Boat" spaceship circled the moon again, and Ma Shen went to examine the crater again, but still found nothing.

Ma Shen wondered if he had just hallucinated.

Suddenly, a hand patted Ma Shen, startling him.

Turning around, I saw Commander Yin Xuejiang: "Boss, you scared me to death!"

Yin Xuejiang laughed and said, "So timid? Go to the service cabin and bring box number six."

The "Dream Boat" spacecraft mainly consists of three modules: the lunar landing module, the command module, and the service module.

The main operations of the spacecraft are carried out in the command module. The service module consists of two parts: one part contains the aircraft engines and fuel tanks, gain antennas, four-way thrusters, oxygen tanks, etc., and the other part contains some necessary supplies and resupply.

When Ma Shen brought over container number six, Commander Yin Xuejiang said to another astronaut on duty, Luo Rui, "Temporarily shut down all communication devices."

Luo Rui was slightly taken aback, but still immediately carried out the order.

After all the communicators were switched off, Yin Xuejiang said, "Before you rest, I need to relay a top-secret document to you and explain Order Zero!"

Ma Shen and Luo Rui were slightly taken aback, and immediately realized that there was a secret mission involved in this lunar landing operation.

Yin Xuejiang began his narration: "During the Chang'e-3 mission, the camera captured an object moving at high speed on the lunar surface."

"Because the image was blurry and fleeting, it was uncertain whether it was an extraterrestrial civilization, so the news was not released to the public."

"Therefore, both the Chang'e 4 and 5 missions included the task of searching for high-speed moving objects."

"During the Chang'e 5 mission, the follow-up satellite finally observed the object again, and we named it the 'Lunar Moving Object'."

"After 48 seconds of observation, it was basically determined that the object had no intelligence, but it was very destructive. If the lunar spacecraft were to be hit by it, it would suffer very serious damage."

"Therefore, if we are to launch a lunar mission, we must first investigate what it is and how to solve the problem."

"Then another problem arose: people who repeatedly watched the videos sent back by the satellite all developed mental problems to varying degrees, and some even went insane two weeks later."

"It can be basically confirmed that the mental problems they have are caused by watching videos about 'lunar objects'. The appearance of the other party may have caused unknown psychological damage."

"Ultimately, the space agency determined that the information and the video were not suitable for public release."

Ma Shen and Luo Rui were both somewhat surprised, as this type of cause was something they had never heard of before.

The commander continued, "At this point, the space agency established contact with NASA and asked if they had encountered a similar situation during their moon landing in the last century."

NASA did not respond.

"After repeated inquiries, NASA finally replied: 'Why do you think we stopped the lunar mission?'"

Luo Rui realized: "They encountered the same problem."

"Obviously," the commander said. "And clearly they failed to solve the problem, and as a result, the lunar landing program was interrupted, and they were unable to establish a temporary base on the lunar surface."

"So we had no choice but to solve this problem ourselves. We launched three artificial satellites in succession to monitor the 'moon moving object' in turn and conducted a more detailed analysis of it."

"First, researchers discovered that the 'moon moving objects' have illusory characteristics, often appearing as if they are not in the real world."

"At the same time, satellites have made many attempts, but conventional weapons, electromagnetic weapons and radiation weapons have had almost no effect on them."

"For a time, it became the biggest problem for the moon landing mission, and we made no progress in our research on it."

Yin Xuejiang took a deep breath and continued, "At this time, a civilian named Zhou Mingrui said that he knew exactly what it was."

"Initially, the space agency did not pay much attention to the other party's remarks, but because they could not find a solution to the problem, they invited Zhou Mingrui to join the research group."

"His proposed solution was also very strange; it was to launch a copy of the Constitution that we are currently using at the other side."

Ma Shen opened his mouth: "It's the Constitution, not the scriptures?"

Luo Rui also laughed and said, "I also think that launching a Buddhist scripture would be more reliable."

Yin Xuejiang smiled and said, "This is indeed a strange suggestion. Three months after the suggestion was made, and still no solution had been found, the space agency decided to try anything as a last resort. While conducting other experiments, they also carried a copy of the Constitution on the experimental spacecraft."

"The result was surprising. The same batch of weapons used for the experiment still yielded no results, but when the Constitution was fired at the other side, the other side clearly made an evasive maneuver."

"To verify the results of this experiment, we sent several copies of the Constitution to the moon again, and the 'lunar moving object' made an evasive maneuver each time."

This time, Ma Shen's mouth opened even wider, and Luo Rui was also quite surprised.

Yin Xuejiang said, "Only then did the space agency begin to take Zhou Mingrui's proposal seriously, and the director even personally went to consult him about the underlying principles."

According to Zhou Ruiming, the monster on the moon is a projection of another cosmic monster.

Seeing that the two team members did not understand what he meant, he further explained: "You should have all heard of this hypothesis."

"The universe we live in is actually a projection of another higher-dimensional universe."

"It's like taking a picture of a three-dimensional object with a camera and then displaying it on a screen as a two-dimensional image."

"The projection of that monster is similar to this theory."

According to Zhou Mingrui, in another universe, this monster is on the moon, turning it red.

"Because it is so powerful, by some chance, it left a projection on the moon in our universe."

"In another universe, the hero who defeated this monster used abilities including 'the power of order'."

"The Constitution, which we have been using for decades, has already acquired an abstract power of 'order,' so when this monster saw the Constitution, it instinctively dodged."

The two astronauts had many questions, and after the commander finished speaking, they both raised their hands to ask.

Ma Shen asked, "Boss, could Zhou Mingrui also be from another universe?"

Luo Rui then asked, "Commander, what is the other universe like?"

Yin Xuejiang said, "That's a higher level of secrecy."

Both astronauts smiled helplessly.

The commander continued, "With Zhou Ruiming's participation, we have devised a solution to deal with that monster."

"Because it is just a projection, it can be contained in a mirror with a dark color."

"Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 have proven that this method is indeed feasible, but because there is a signal delay between the lunar rover using mirrors and the ground, we have tried several times but have not been able to solve the monster."

"However, those experiments made us realize that it's almost impossible for intelligent robots to complete such complex operations, which led to Command 0 for this operation!"

Yin Xuejiang's expression immediately turned serious: "The above content is top secret!"

The two astronauts immediately stood at attention in the weightlessness: "Yes, sir!"

Then Ma Shencai said, "It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel."

Yin Xuejiang said, "Currently, human probes have not yet left the solar system, so we don't really know what the universe is like."

He then added, "Order 0 states that the most important task of this lunar mission is to contain the monsters on the moon, laying a solid foundation for our future establishment of a lunar base."

He paused and then said, "I want to remind you that there is a high probability that you will go insane within two weeks after getting close to a monster."

"So you can choose whether or not to carry out the mission. If you do not wish to carry out the mission, you can stay in the command center."

"I selected this mission before the spacecraft launched from Earth; now it's your turn!"

Ma Shen smiled and said, "I was originally going to land on the moon anyway, so count me in."

Luo Rui added, "I never thought I'd be able to land on the moon and carry out a mission, so I definitely have to go."

The original plan was for the commander and Ma Shen to travel to the moon aboard the lunar lander "Lanyue" to carry out a series of missions on the lunar surface.

Luo Rui will remain in the service module in lunar orbit, and after the lunar mission is completed, he will dock with the "Upgrade" of "Lanyue".

However, the docking process can also be completed using a smart computer. Leaving Luo Rui in low Earth orbit is just in case. The lunar lander is not very crowded, and there is enough fuel to carry three people to and from the lunar surface.

After confirming that the other two were willing to carry out Command 0, Yin Xuejiang opened Box 6 and took out three small boxes from it.

Each small box contained a somewhat dark-looking mirror and a brand-new copy of the Constitution.

Yin Xuejiang said, "There is a fastener on the left chest of our spacesuit, which is used to secure this copy of the Constitution."

"As long as this Constitution exists, the monsters on the moon cannot harm us."

"After successfully using the mirror to contain the monster, you must put the mirror and the Constitution back into the box. Under the effect of the Constitution, the monster will remain sealed inside the mirror indefinitely."

"Take the box into lunar orbit for further processing."

Ma Shen suddenly realized something: "Commander, does that mean if we hang a copy of the Constitution on the outside of our lunar lander, our lunar lander won't be attacked by the monsters?"

"Yes."

Ma Shen paused for a moment, then asked, "Then, why is it necessary to take in that monster? This mission sounds very dangerous."

Yin Xuejiang smiled slightly: "How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed!"

Ma Shen smiled and said, "I have no problem."

The "Dream Boat" spacecraft then reopened its communication system. After the three people took turns resting, the lunar lander separated from the spacecraft and began the lunar landing operation.

The "Lanyue" lander is mainly divided into two parts: the ascent stage and the descent stage.

Three astronauts were conducting landing operations during the ascent stage, while the descent stage's main function was to decelerate during landing and provide a launch platform for the ascent stage.

After completing its mission on the lunar surface, the ascent stage and descent stage separated. The ascent stage's engines started working, and under the relatively weak gravity of the moon, the ascent stage was sent into lunar orbit to dock with the "Dreamboat" spacecraft.

With the skillful operation of the three astronauts, the "Landing for the Moon" spacecraft successfully landed.

The lunar mission is about to begin. Yin Xuejiang ordered, "The three of us will split into two groups: one group will stay behind, and the other will go outside the spacecraft."

"Luo Rui and I will conduct the first extravehicular activity, while Ma Shen will stay behind."

Ma Shen, who was about to put on his spacesuit, asked in disbelief, "Why?"

Luo Rui smiled and said, "Because you are the youngest."

Yin Xuejiang took a deep breath: "That's right. If we both went crazy during the mission, it proves that we must have had close contact with the monster."

"Ignore us, retrieve the mirror that contained the monster, and immediately use the 'Upgrade' to return to near-Earth orbit. The follow-up mission outline is in folder number 10 of the 'Dream Ship'."

Ma Shen paused for a second or two before replying, "Yes!"

So Yin Xuejiang and Luo Rui put on their spacesuits and began their first spacewalk.

The first person to step off the landing gear was Yin Xuejiang. After taking a few steps on the moon, he said, "After 56 years, humanity is visiting the moon again."

"This time we will bring new surprises to the moon. After that, we will systematically build temporary and permanent bases. In the future, we will also grow vegetables on the moon."

At this moment, in the command center of the Wenchang launch site, all the staff members stood up excitedly and applauded. Although they smiled, most of them had tears in their eyes.

There was a time when we could only watch others travel through space, land on the moon, and explore deep space.

Now, those who set off early are still standing still, while this giant dragon from the East is catching up quickly and steadily.

After that, a series of activities such as sampling, photography, and preliminary geological exploration began, but no monsters were encountered on the moon.

The first round of extravehicular activity lasted four hours. After returning to "Lanyue" to rest and replenish some food and water, the second round of extravehicular activity began.

When the mission was basically completed, the alarms worn by Yin Xuejiang and Luo Rui suddenly went off.

Ma Shen, the commander of the "Lanyue" mission, reported: "According to satellite monitoring, the 'lunar monster' is heading this way. Its estimated trajectory is about eight kilometers away from you. Please move north immediately!"

Yin Xuejiang and Luo Rui immediately stopped what they were doing, quickly boarded the lunar rover, and after checking the compass and confirming their direction, they immediately began their operation.

After about ten minutes, the lunar rover had traveled about six kilometers, and they could already see a shadow moving rapidly in the distance.

Without satellites calculating their trajectory in advance, they would have no chance of encountering the monster unless it was charging straight towards them.

The moment they saw that shadow, the two of them felt a chill run down their spines, as if their minds had been shaken.

Fortunately, it was just a projection; if they had seen the real bodies, they would have already lost control and died.

The two immediately got out of the car, and while opening the box to take out the mirror, they surrounded the monster from two directions.

As for the Constitution, they had already placed it on their chests long ago.

But they soon realized something was wrong; the monster was changing direction.

The two immediately realized that the monster feared the Constitution and was trying to escape in another direction.

Astronaut Luo Rui immediately made a decision. He threw the Constitution in the monster's new direction and shouted, "You little brat, come here to grandpa!"

The monster seemed to understand Luo Rui's humiliation and actually came towards him.

Yin Xuejiang, from another direction, tried his best to rush over, but the moon's gravity was not strong, making it very difficult to move, and it was clear that he would not be able to get there in time.

Luo Rui held the mirror horizontally in front of him, staring intently at the monster before him.

As the monster drew closer, his mental activity intensified, and he was on the verge of losing control of his emotions, but he still managed to keep the mirror firmly in front of him!

In the blink of an eye, Luo Rui seemed to have entered a dreamlike space.

He saw a huge, all-encompassing figure standing on the horizon. Suddenly, the figure collapsed, and part of it formed the shadow in front of him.

Then, one twisted and crazy thought after another appeared in Luo Rui's mind. Finally, he tilted his head and fainted.

But he remained standing, with the mirror held steadily in front of him.

Not far away, Yin Xuejiang, who was also under immense mental pressure, saw the huge shadow enter the mirror, which was about the height of his forearm, through his heavy breathing.

At this point, the immense mental pressure disappeared.

Luo Rui slowly fell to the ground.

Yin Xuejiang scrambled over as fast as he could and grabbed the mirror. But the mirror didn't reflect his image; it only showed a blurry black shadow.

He immediately stuffed the mirror into the box, then put the copy of the Constitution he was wearing on his chest into the box, and locked the box.

Yin Xuejiang went to check on Luo Rui's condition. His face was pale, and he seemed to have stopped breathing.

At this moment, Yin Xuejiang felt as if tears and snot were flowing from his nose. When he reached out to wipe them, he realized that he couldn't wipe them through the helmet at all.

Actually, it wasn't snot or tears, but blood flowing from the nose and corners of the eyes.

He had been too close to the "moon monster" just now, and his body and mind had suffered incurable damage.

Yin Xuejiang quickly went back and drove the lunar rover over. Then, with blood still flowing from his nostrils, the corners of his eyes, his ears, and the corners of his mouth, he placed Luo Rui and the small box on the lunar rover.

As the lunar rover returned to Earth, Yin Xuejiang felt his mind becoming somewhat hazy, but his last shred of consciousness kept him operating the rover towards the moon.

Suddenly, Yin Xuejiang saw a figure appear in front of him. Yes, there was a person! A person who wasn't wearing a spacesuit, but rather Earth-themed clothing!

He was a young man with short hair, unremarkable features, and a rather refined appearance.

The only thing that was impressive was that he looked both young and experienced, which seemed somewhat contradictory.

Yin Xuejiang, who was already somewhat dazed, looked for three or four seconds before he seemed to come back to his senses: How could there be someone dressed like this here?

This is the moon! This is outer space! Even disregarding the temperature here, it's a place without oxygen or humidity. If you were exposed to it, you would die instantly and become a dried-up corpse.

The young man slightly raised his hand, and for a moment, Yin Xuejiang's vision seemed to become somewhat unreal.

At this moment, their fate was "fooled," and all the mental and physical harm they suffered was "transferred" to the surrounding rocks.

When the illusion disappeared, he seemed to suddenly come back to his senses, and the discomfort in his body and mind simply vanished.

Yin Xuejiang quickly went to search, but where were there any young men around?

At that moment, he suddenly remembered that the young man from earlier was Zhou Mingrui! As the commander, he had met this "civilian".

Just as Yin Xuejiang was wondering if he had been hallucinating, Luo Rui's voice came through the communicator: "Commander, we succeeded."

Yin Xuejiang turned his head and saw through the helmet visor that Luo Rui had woken up. His face was rosy and his voice was strong, so he seemed to be fine.

"Yes, it was a success." Yin Xuejiang still found it somewhat unbelievable. He had just made up his mind to die, planning to get off the lunar rover once he was close enough to "Lanyue" and have Ma Shenlai retrieve the briefcase containing the mirror and the Constitution.

He took a deep breath and said to Ma Shen through the communication system, "Begin preparations for returning to lunar orbit!"

On the "Dream Ship" is a launcher that pushes the boxes containing the monsters away from the moon, eventually leaving the solar system and drifting in the quiet, dark universe forever.

More than an hour later, Zhou Mingrui, who was standing on the lunar surface watching the "Dream Boat" spacecraft take off, whispered, "Not having extraordinary power may not be a bad thing."

After saying that, he disappeared from the surface of the moon and from the universe.

Four days later, the "Mengzhou" spacecraft successfully returned to Earth, marking the complete success of China's lunar landing mission. None of the three astronauts who carried out Command 0 experienced mental breakdowns.

Later, these three astronauts witnessed the construction of the lunar base, the breakthroughs in technologies such as using lunar soil to produce pure water, and the beginning of migration to the moon.

The era of exploring the solar system has begun.

(End of this chapter)