Chapter 312: Area 51
Chen Chen had originally thought that such a collision only occurred during midnight. Its second appearance had effectively thrown off Chen Chen’s current hypothesis of its pattern.
Besides, Chen Chen was not in a room but inside a s.p.a.ceship. Or could this mean that the trigger condition was not limited to a room, but just any enclosed s.p.a.ces?
With this in mind, Chen Chen checked his watch and saw that the time now was ten-thirty in the morning. He suddenly asked, “X-112, what were you doing one minute ago?”
“Me?”
X-112 appeared somewhat confused but still looked up its activity log following Chen Chen’s orders. It answered shortly after, “Sir Commander, please take a look. I was operating all this time.”
“Did you not hear a knock outside the door?”
Chen Chen asked.
“No...”
X-112 went to inspect the s.p.a.cecraft and quickly noticed the marks left on the door, “That’s not right, when did this mark show up? Even the live surveillance footage of the s.p.a.ceship didn’t show anything...”
“The s.p.a.ceship is monitored?”
Chen Chen lit up at the prospect. If there was surveillance footage, that meant he may get a glimpse of what the owner of the pale white palm looked like.
“Yes, the s.p.a.ceship is equipped with holographic projection surveillance which covers all angles. I should be able to notice any notable changes on the s.p.a.ceship.”
X-112 a.s.sured promptly.
“Then please rewind to the footage from one to two minutes ago.”
Chen Chen gave the order. Immediately after that, X-112 produced a projection of the holographic three-dimensional image of a miniaturized version of the s.p.a.ceship that stood at the height of a regular person’s waist. There was even a display on its side indicating the time of the event being ten twenty-eight and zero seconds.
It would appear that this was the live footage of the s.p.a.ceship at the time.
Viewing from the hologram, there was nothing in view in the s.p.a.ce surrounding the s.p.a.ceship.
However, when the clock ticked to twenty-eight minutes and forty seconds, the entire hologram suddenly turned blurry appearing as if the projection was disrupted. What was originally a high-resolution hologram suddenly turned into a chaotic splatter of colors.
This condition persisted for thirty-five seconds. When the clock ticked at twenty-nine minutes and fifteen seconds, the hologram had once again reverted to a normal state.
When this happened, a new mark left behind by a collision appeared on the gulf-wing door of the s.p.a.ceship.
“The mysterious phenomenon had occurred again just moments ago?”
Upon seeing this footage, X-112 expressed its confusion, “But I didn’t notice anything at all.”
“I understand.”
Chen Chen remarked solemnly, “Based on your activity logs we can also see that your program is running just fine in this thirty-five-second span. The reason you were not able to notice it is because the problem lied with the s.p.a.ceship and myself...”
“If that’s the case, then why was I able to notice something being off yesterday?”
X-112 was a little perplexed.
Chen Chen ruminated on this for a moment before turning to Yoru Kamidera who was in the s.p.a.ceship. “Because just now, it was only me and Yoru Kamidera who encountered the ‘mysterious phenomenon’.”
When Chen Chen considered this, he further instructed, “X-112, update the data on ‘sound of impact’.
“Based on the second experience of the infected codenamed ‘O5’ with the mysterious phenomenon, the findings are – the ‘sound of impact’ may only occur in fully-enclosed s.p.a.ces and isn’t limited by time, meaning that it may occur during both daytime and nighttime. As of now, we’re unable to determine the trigger condition for the ‘sound of impact’, but we can conclude that any other living being in the same room as O5 can detect the same impact as well...”
Chen Chen quickly added. “Apart from that, upon triggering the second ‘sound of impact’, O5 saw a palm appearing. At the time, O5 was inside the Bugatti s.p.a.ceship and saw the shape of the palm through the semi-transparent cabin window. So far, we can conclude that the palm is connected to the ‘sound of impact’...”
After updating the a.s.sociated data, Chen Chen could not help but steal another glance at the cabin window of the s.p.a.ceship.
The structure of the window was extremely st.u.r.dy and was built into the door of the s.p.a.cecraft.
Although the quality of the s.p.a.cecraft did not appear particularly outstanding in the movie, the fact that it could remain intact after experiencing a crash at supersonic speed was a fine indicator of its superior quality.
It should be safe to say that the Bugatti s.p.a.ceship had no problem holding itself against regular bullets. Even a sniper rifle may not be able to shatter its windows.
“It may appear that the cabin windows just saved my life.”
Chen Chen reflected thoughtfully. “If the windows were built using ordinary engineered plastics or gla.s.s instead of extremely resilient material designed to withstand the atmospheric pressure of outer s.p.a.ce, I may be long dead already.”
After all, the appearance of the palm was far too outlandish, Chen Chen no longer felt comfortable with relying on his luck.
His gut was telling him that one of these days, he would be in big trouble if the owner of the hand somehow broke through the barrier between them...
After that, Chen Chen did not return to the s.p.a.ceship right away. Instead, he continued issuing orders outside the s.p.a.ceship. Within an hour, the three Black Knights had found the server room of the military base by utilizing the unmanned drones. They started setting up the diesel generators.
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 s.p.a.ceship 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 ent.i.ty 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 s.p.a.ceship was capable of flight in s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.ses.”
“Understood.”
X-112 took note of that. After Chen Chen boarded the s.p.a.ceship, they went to the military base to pick up the three Black Knights.
After everyone returned to the s.p.a.ceship, the Bugatti s.p.a.ceship immediately took flight, aiming to exit the atmosphere. It continuously climbed upward at a slanted angle.
“The s.p.a.ceship will be entering a state of supersonic flight.”
There was a fierce eruption of acc.u.mulated air as the s.p.a.ceship 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 s.p.a.ceship has exceeded Mach 10 and has broken into the middle section of the atmospheric layer. Current alt.i.tude 50,000 meters above sea level.”
As the Bugatti s.p.a.ceship ascended to greater heights, the surrounding air had become thinner as well, causing the s.p.a.ceship to accelerate faster.
The body of the s.p.a.ceship 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 pa.s.sed, X-112 reported again, “The s.p.a.ceship has reached Mach 20. We’re currently breaking into the ionosphere, the current alt.i.tude 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 s.p.a.ce.
Shortly after that, the s.p.a.ceship had surpa.s.sed an alt.i.tude of 110,000 meters, breaking the world record for aircraft alt.i.tude. However, this was not surprising. With the advanced structure of the Bugatti s.p.a.ceship, it could effortlessly take on the fifth-generation combat jets of North America while flying upside down. Ascending to an alt.i.tude exceeding a hundred thousand meters was child’s play for it.
“The s.p.a.ceship has pa.s.sed Mach 20!”
It was then when X-112 suddenly announced again, “Current alt.i.tude 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 s.p.a.ceship 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 pa.s.sed again, X-112 reported again, “The s.p.a.ceship 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 s.p.a.ceship with its glowing red hot body began altering its course in s.p.a.ce. 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 s.p.a.ceship followed its charted course, Chen Chen saw dark orange-red flames glowing around the sh.e.l.l of the s.p.a.ceship. Not only did the kindle of flames not disintegrate as the s.p.a.ceship descended, but the scorching flames also grew brighter.
“What astounding technology.”
Inside the s.p.a.ceship, 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 s.p.a.ceship. As it turned out, the s.p.a.ceship’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 s.p.a.ceship 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 s.p.a.ceship 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 airs.p.a.ce above North America, less than a thousand 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 s.p.a.ceship 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 s.p.a.ceship 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.