by <unknown>
Everything progressed without a hitch after that.
Within half an hour, the server units that had been retired for more than five years began operating again. Although there were security preventative measures such as firewalls, they hardly stood a chance against X-112. After thorough scanning, X-112 extracted all the secret information.
However, these secrets and news of scandals had long lost any relevance or significance following the demise of human civilization. What Chen Chen was after was information related to the Gantz sphere.
This time, it took X-112 longer to scan.
Chen Chen waited for more than three hours before X-112 finally brought news. "Sir Commander, I've verified the location of the production workshop of the Gantz sphere. Originally, there were only three production facilities. One was located in German, the other in North America, and the final one in the Mainland.
"After the great calamity, the production of the Gantz sphere was practically completely halted, but the research wasn't suspended and was only conducted in secret instead. Based on the current information, the known position of the North American research center is inside the Area 51 military base."
"Alright, then let's get ready to depart."
Chen Chen ordered, "I think for this spaceship of ours, it shouldn't take too long to travel from the East China Sea region to North America."
"Traveling in the atmospheric layer of the Earth should take approximately four hours. If we exit the Earth atmospheric layer and aim for North America in a pattern akin to ballistic missiles, it should only take one hour and twenty-five minutes."
X-112 replied.
The described ballistic missile flight method was the application of vertical take-off to help exit the earth's atmosphere, then flying along a predetermined path toward a set location.
Due to the absence of air resistance in a vacuum environment, the missile could reach a tremendous speed. Under such conditions, a ballistic missile could advance toward its target at a speed of up to Mach 24.
It was a devastating speed. By the time it reentered the Earth's atmospheric layer and began approaching its target, there was not a single entity in the world that could obstruct it in its path.
This was what a ballistic missile was capable of.
To be clear, such flight methods were not only constricted to missiles but it was achievable by aircraft as well. Each major country in the world had been fervently working toward developing aircraft of such level. This aircraft advancement was known as supersonic aircraft.
The current Bugatti Spaceship was capable of flight in space as well. With X-112 at its helm, it could also achieve such a flight method.
Chen Chen considered this for a moment. Since X-112 took the initiative to suggest incorporating this flight method, that meant projections had been run to determine that using such flight methods would not pose any risk. With this in mind, he nodded. "In that case, let's go with ballistic missile guided flight. We need to find the technology for the Gantz sphere as soon as we can. I suspect that the mysterious phenomenon surrounding me grows stronger as time passes."
"Understood."
X-112 took note of that. After Chen Chen boarded the spaceship, they went to the military base to pick up the three Black Knights.
After everyone returned to the spaceship, the Bugatti Spaceship immediately took flight, aiming to exit the atmosphere. It continuously climbed upward at a slanted angle.
"The spaceship will be entering a state of supersonic flight."
There was a fierce eruption of accumulated air as the spaceship began to speed up exponentially. A fearsome force forcefully pushed Chen Chen and Yoru Kamidera into their seats and held them in place.
"We've entered the stratosphere and are still accelerating, current speed Mach 3!"
X-112 continuously provided the latest status report for Chen Chen to allow Chen Chen to issue new orders at first notice whenever needed.
"Mach 5!
"Mach 7!
"The spaceship has exceeded Mach 10 and has broken into the middle section of the atmospheric layer. Current altitude 50,000 meters above sea level."
As the Bugatti Spaceship ascended to greater heights, the surrounding air had become thinner as well, causing the spaceship to accelerate faster.
The body of the spaceship was coated with a high-temperature coating layer capable of withstanding temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Celsius. Even when flying into the atmosphere, it could maintain a high speed without fear of being burned.
After three minutes had passed, X-112 reported again, "The spaceship has reached Mach 20. We're currently breaking into the ionosphere, the current altitude is 80,000 meters!"
Chen Chen looked out the window to inspect the view outside. He saw that the pale blue sky outside had turned into a condensed and dark tint, it was the color of space.
Shortly after that, the spaceship had surpassed an altitude of 110,000 meters, breaking the world record for aircraft altitude. However, this was not surprising. With the advanced structure of the Bugatti Spaceship, it could effortlessly take on the fifth-generation combat jets of North America while flying upside down. Ascending to an altitude exceeding a hundred thousand meters was child's play for it.
"The spaceship has passed Mach 20!"
It was then when X-112 suddenly announced again, "Current altitude 150,000 meters!"
At this point, even Chen Chen could not resist holding his breath.
Although he was well aware of how capable the Bugatti Spaceship was, he had never imagined it reaching Mach 20. Such speed was equivalent to gliding at 7 kilometers per second, which was ten times the speed of regular bullets.
To the current day, only a handful of guided ballistic missiles could achieve such speed. With that said, it was clear that this was not the limit.
After another ten minutes had passed again, X-112 reported again, "The spaceship is currently flying at 230,000 meters above sea level, the speed has equalized at Mach 23. Pushing any higher than this may be risky. Should I proceed with further accelerating?"
"That won't be necessary, safety first. Start altering the course now."
Chen Chen made a waving gesture.
Following Chen Chen's order, the spaceship with its glowing red hot body began altering its course in space. It lined itself up along the trajectory of the Earth, aiming at the North American continent located on the other side of the Earth.
What followed after was another round of acceleration.
In this round of acceleration, as the spaceship followed its charted course, Chen Chen saw dark orange-red flames glowing around the shell of the spaceship. Not only did the kindle of flames not disintegrate as the spaceship descended, but the scorching flames also grew brighter.
"What astounding technology."
Inside the spaceship, Chen Chen could not help but marvel at the wondrous charm of technology. Technology was what brought humans to a never-before-explored territory. Technology was responsible for expanding human's footmarks beyond the Earth and into foreign, unprecedented lands…
Furthermore, Chen Chen barely felt the slightest rise of temperature inside the spaceship. As it turned out, the spaceship's thermal insulation coating perfectly isolated the heat produced by constant friction against the atmosphere. The insulation coating was very durable and was hardly affected even though the spaceship had been flying for nearly an hour.
Unlike Chen Chen, Yoru Kamidera kept a stoic, blank expression appearing as if he was uninterested in the voyage. It was his tightly clenched fist that gave away the nervous emotions swelling inside him.
Needless to be said, he was someone with very limited experience boarding airplanes even before the calamity.
The spaceship maintained its course this way at breakneck speed for twenty minutes. By this point, it had re-entered the atmospheric layer and was starting to slow down due to friction against the air.
"We've arrived at the airspace above North America, less than a tho
usand kilometers away from our point of destination. Beginning deceleration…"
After remaining silent for twenty minutes, X-112 announced again, "Current flying speed Mach 15, a hundred kilometers above sea level.
"Continue decelerating…"
Chen Chen turned to look outside the spaceship upon hearing this. He watched as the radiant yellow glow slowly transitioned into a bright red, the contrast of the red spark slowly deepened as they descended.
"Current speed Mach 12, 80 kilometers above sea level…
"Mach 10!
"Mach 5!"
By this point, the sparks outside the spaceship were extinguished. A rush of pale blue tint started to paint themselves over the previous indigo sky as bright white clouds began to appear outside the window again.
They were less than 10 kilometers above sea level at this point. When Chen Chen looked out the window, he saw the landscape covered in lush greenery. Unlike the world Chen Chen came from, this dimension was overtaken by bright green fauna.
Perhaps instead of needing several centuries or even millennia, all of the prints left behind by humans on this Earth would be cleansed by nature in just a matter of decades, with not so much as a trace left behind.
Perhaps after several millennia, a new intelligent civilization would re-emerge and reach the summit of the current human civilization. When they began uncovering the underground archaeological remains, they may very well find memoirs of the previous civilization.
Chen Chen took the time to reflect on the novel idea before he started to see gigantic structures coming into view on the plains up ahead.
This was yet another military base. It was also the motivation for Chen Chen embarking on his current trip – the famous air force base located in Lincolnshire, Vada, of the North American region.
North America, Area 51.
Chapter 313: Under Attack |
When they were only approximately ten kilometers away from Area 51, the urgent sound of the alarm system blared across the spaceship. X-112 announced simultaneously, "Sir Commander, detected radar scanning at 12 o'clock!"
"There's someone at Area 51?"
Chen Chen was immediately taken aback by the completely unexpected news. Who would have thought that the North American Continent still had an assembly of troops even when human civilization was facing extinction?
"We detected a strong continuous radar frequency. Sir Commander, our position has been compromised by the Area 51 military operation."
X-112 further cautioned. "The opposition has no interest in communicating with us. That's not all, our omnidirectional infrared detector has detected an object approaching at high speed. It seems to be a surface-to-air missile!"
"Can we dodge it?"
"There are three ways we can dodge it. For the current situation, we'll use electromagnetic cloaking."
X-112 answered.
After several seconds, X-112 informed again, "The missile had lost sight of its target. Sir Commander, should we continue infiltrating the military base."
"Forget it, the military base is manned."
Chen Chen gathered his thoughts for a moment before he dismissed the idea. "First, let's figure out the situation and see if there's a way we can communicate with them. If it's only a small doomsday squad consisting of several hundreds of members of scattered troops, then we can launch a direct attack. If it's a properly established army, we can sit down and discuss terms with them."
"Understood."
X-112 responded before turning the spaceship around to retreat from the airspace of the military place. Then, it landed on top of a hill on the edge of the area.
When the spaceship had landed, Chen Chen dispatched three Black Knights to survey the surrounding area. After ensuring the hill was a safe area, he asked again, "X-112, can we contact Area 51?"
"I've relayed a radio message but they're not responding to us yet."
X-112 answered, "I'm not sure why, but they appear to be extremely hostile."
"There are only two possibilities."
Chen Chen said after brief consideration, "The first one is that they've identified us as some kind of enemy. Or better yet, as an eternal foe that they'll do whatever it takes to destroy us upon finding us.
"Second, this is essentially an act stemming from their shame and guilt."
"Shame and guilt?"
"Because they aren't the original owner of the military base. Out of fear of being kicked out of the place by its rightful owner, they resort to killing."
Chen Chen deducted. "Which means that there's a healthy chance that the army camping inside Area 51 isn't any regular army, but an independent rebel force formed after the collapse of the North American government. For the sake of holding onto their current position, they refuse any means of communication with the officials. There's a strong chance that they've mistaken us for those officials."
"Which possibility do you think is more likely?" X-112 asked.
"Probably the latter."
Chen Chen thought for a moment. "Or maybe it's a combination of both possibilities. Perhaps the rebel army inside this military base had already battled with the government, this might explain why they attacked us on sight.
"Of course, it doesn't matter which one it is. What interests me more is how they were able to hide from the mysterious phenomenon occurring all over the world."
"That's true, it's no small feat upkeeping an established army in the end times, it's almost impossible."
X-112 agreed. "Based on the ruling principle of the spread of the mysterious phenomena, it can be observed that the rate of infection increases in densely populated areas. It's basically like a contagious disease in this sense. It doesn't make sense that the military camp would become a safe harbor from the ongoing mysterious phenomena.
"This is why we have to investigate the place. If for anything else, just to figure out the logic behind this."
Chen Chen gave an affirmative nod. "Dispatch the drones to investigate first, we have the cloaking devices after all. Besides, the radar cannot detect us if we're flying at low altitudes. We don't have to perform a thorough investigation, just get an approximate idea of how many people are in the military base and what weapons they have."
"We can have the Black Knights bring wireless receivers with them. If I can infiltrate into the military base web server using an extension server, I can immediately figure out the situation in Area 51."
X-112 suggested as well.
"Excellent, then we shall execute both plans simultaneously.
Chen Chen gave his approval with a nod. Four unmanned drones and a Black Knight were then dispatched together to the military base in the distance.
Meanwhile, X-112 continued trying to communicate with them via radio but to no avail.
While all this was happening, there were a dozen or so middle-aged men and women dressed in military uniforms gathered in a conference room in a special section deep under the Area 51 Military Base.
There was a tinge of sadness in all of their eyes. Some of them constantly sighed while others seemed to be thinking about something. Now and then, a flash of anger would appear in their eyes, disrupting their stream of thoughts.
Seated on the head of the conference table was a white-bearded elderly man. A badge on his shoulder indicated that he was a major general. He wore sunglasses although the room was dimly lit. There was also a cigar he hung by the corner of his lips. The major general spoke suddenly.
"I believe every one of you has received the news as well. Just ten minutes ago, an unknown flying object swept down from the skies above and appeared to be aiming straight for our military base…"
"Word is you issued an order to intercept them with the Sidewinder surface-to-air missile but they managed to slip away."
The first man on the major general's left said with an unchanging expression. There was also a badge on his shoulder reflecting his rank of colonel in the North American military structure.
"Perhaps th
e missile has degraded over the years."
The white-bearded elderly man made a waving gesture with his hands. "As you all are well aware of, the count of survivors in the world continuously trends downward. Some time ago, the North American government had tried to reclaim their territory but before it even got started, they were crushed by an instance of level-A mysterious phenomena. When I received the news, I nearly choked on laughter."
The general suddenly switched his tone when he mentioned this, "In other words, there aren't many chances of us finding a qualified engineer to maintain our facilities these days."
"But listen to me, aren't they trying to communicate with us?"
The first member on the right side of the table was a blonde-haired lady in her forties. Despite being a woman, her posture was the most authoritative of all the people present here. There was always a fierce spark visible in her eyes and a militaristic quality about her movements.
"Yes, that's the reason I called for this meeting."
The white-bearded elderly looked over the people present, both rows of his teeth still firmly gripping the cigar. "The origin of that aircraft is still unknown. Based on its flight pattern it should be one of those supersonic aircraft secretly developed by the government. If it weren't for it decelerating upon approaching us, it'd be nearly identical to a guided missile."
"But by the looks of it, the aircraft seems to be carrying passengers…" The white-bearded elderly added.
"Impossible!"
The middle-aged colonel frowned and raised his objection. "It's impossible for an aircraft of such speed to carry passengers. When flying, it generates more than 10 G's of net gravitational acceleration. Such velocity would turn the brain of its passengers into a pulp!"
"Perhaps the aircraft has a built-in specialized buffer system?"
The blonde-haired lady refuted before turning to the elderly man. "But this isn't the time for us to discuss this. What I'm more curious about is what did they send to us?"
