Tiangong Plan

"Has everything been settled on Thor’s end?"

Back in China, Chen Mu asked Xu Jia beside him in the compound.

"Yes. He was recommended to the military. Thor is currently being assigned to the Tibetan Military Region, in the Himalayan Foothills, where conditions are the harshest."

Good grief, they sent him straight to a brutally harsh plateau region. Thor had been stripped of his divine power, and his body was barely stronger than an ordinary person’s now. Tossing him over there really was making things hard for him.

"Queen Frigga had originally said she wanted Thor sent somewhere with the harshest conditions. After discussing it for a long time, the military decided on this place."

Xu Jia pursed her lips in a smile and continued, "The place he’s being sent to is also a border defense unit. He’s on his way there now."

The area bordering India and three other countries?

Fine, the conditions might be harsh, but it would also temper Thor. Wasn’t that exactly what his parents wanted?

Thor had lived for over a thousand years for nothing. He was still as reckless as a child, making his parents, who were thousands upon thousands of years old, worry themselves sick over him.

"Thor’s Hammer Mjolnir was sent to the military region with him. Thor can try to lift the hammer again whenever he wants."

Poor kid. Even Mjolnir, which had been with him for over a thousand years, had abandoned him now. It was truly ridiculous.

Chen Mu was currently studying the Destroyer.

He did not know whether Odin was unaware of it, but the thing had been sent to Chen Mu for study two days ago. Odin had not sent anyone to retrieve it, and Chen Mu had already mastered all the technology on the Destroyer during that time.

"As for this material, we might as well melt it down and make it into Thor’s Spear."

The production of Thor’s Spear had now hit a bottleneck, mainly due to a lack of core materials.

The previous Thor’s Spears had primarily used vibranium as their main material, but very little of it circulated on the market. Chen Mu had only managed to make a few after melting down one of his own suits of armor.

Now, they could use the Uru alloy from the Destroyer instead. That would allow its quality to truly rival Mjolnir’s.

"Oh, right. The Tiangong Plan is about to be carried out. Today is the launch day for Shenzhou-8, and the Aerospace Administration invited us to attend the ceremony."

Xu Jia’s eyes filled with pride as she continued, "The Tiangong Space Station will enter space alongside Shenzhou-8. It will be China’s first step toward having a space station."

"So it was finally beginning?"

A flash of delight crossed Chen Mu’s eyes. China’s space development plan was finally about to truly begin!

Shenzhou-8 would be the last rocket launched by the Aerospace Administration, because the astronaut on this mission was Zhai Gang from the God Spear Bureau. This time, he would bring several devices with him. The large portal among them would be placed directly in space. In the future, cargo spacecraft would no longer be needed. Anything they needed could simply be sent through the portal!

Moreover, Zhai Gang had brought several Space Expansion Devices. One of them already contained a fully completed Tiangong Space Station, which could be taken out directly once he reached the destination.

The space station had been built directly on the ground and then stored inside a Space Expansion Device, so construction had been incredibly fast. It had taken only two months to complete, and Zhai Gang would bring it into space on this mission.

The existence of portals meant cargo spacecraft were about to become history.

The Tiangong Plan was the first step, and also an extremely important one. Once the space station was successfully established, the next step would be the South Heaven Gate Project: building a Space Fleet, the most crucial part of China’s defense and offense.

After that would come plans to develop the Moon, Mars, and more, all launched one after another without delay.

"Come on, come on! I can’t wait any longer!"

After hearing that, Chen Mu lost all interest in studying the Uru alloy and urged Xu Jia to lead the way.

"Let’s go. This launch is at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and it’ll happen in half an hour. I’ve been there before, so I can open a portal directly."

With that, Xu Jia opened a portal to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and Chen Mu eagerly stepped through it.

"General Chen Mu, you’re here."

At that moment, Zhai Gang, the astronaut, was undergoing his final physical training. When he saw the portal open and Chen Mu and Xu Jia emerge, he immediately gave a military salute.

"Brother Zhai, don’t do that. I only hold a nominal position."

Chen Mu scratched his head. Honestly, he was only in his early twenties. People saluted him so often that it made him a little embarrassed.

"How are the preparations going this time?" Xu Jia asked curiously.

"The storage devices and portal devices will be given to me shortly. The Tiangong Space Station is also fully prepared."

Zhai Gang explained, "Over the past few days, I’ve familiarized myself with all the space station’s functions. I can already operate it by myself."

"It’s fine. As long as you send the portal into space, your mission will be complete."

Chen Mu smiled. "Once you arrive, just take out the space station. More staff will enter it directly through the portal afterward to maintain it. You can also return to the ground through the portal whenever you want."

With a portal, getting to the space station would be as easy as stepping into one’s own backyard, wouldn’t it?

"True."

Zhai Gang smiled. "The pressure on me isn’t too great this time. As long as we successfully enter space, it will be a true leap forward for our nation’s aerospace industry!"

Of course. Once this succeeded, China would be able to travel between the ground and space whenever it wished. All launch vehicles could probably be phased out in the future.

"All right, it’s about time. I still need to go take the oath."

After chatting for a while longer, Zhai Gang took his leave. This mission was not particularly dangerous for him. All he needed to do was board the spacecraft and get into space. It was that simple!

"Five, four, three, two, one, ignition!"

After waiting for a moment, Chen Mu and Xu Jia arrived at the launch site and watched the rocket launch from afar.

When the time came, the rocket ignited and lifted off on schedule. Watching the Long March Rocket soar smoothly into the sky, Chen Mu’s lips curved upward.

In this world, he had actually been fortunate enough to take part in the space program. This was his honor.

The launch of Shenzhou-8 was being broadcast live across the country. When people saw the rocket successfully rise into the sky, they all cheered with joy.

For China, developing its aerospace industry had truly been extremely difficult. Foreign technological blockades had forced China to start almost from scratch, and everything had to be explored on its own. Every rocket launch was an exceptionally severe challenge for China.

P.S. I didn’t get the top-tier certification yesterday, so I don’t have to push myself so hard today.

Oh, right, Unlimited Firepower has opened. I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself, so I’ll try to do five updates today.