Chapter 34: Arrival on the Lunar Surface!

Fang Jing could not recall how he had endured the past three days. It was a cocktail of excitement, insomnia, and anticipation.

Deep within the Xishan Base, Fang Jing used his administrative credentials to monitor the feed from the lunar spacecraft. On screen, the three astronauts were chatting and laughing. Their ship was massive, featuring a vast living space within the module, complete with ample safety redundancies and a full year’s worth of food supplies. To stave off boredom during their journey, there was even a small treadmill in the rest cabin.

While the trio remained lighthearted, the entire nation of China, including Fang Jing, was consumed by overwhelming anxiety. It was a peculiar feeling—Fang Jing likened it to the way a mother feels when her son goes on a long journey; the son is having a grand time, while the mother is a nervous wreck. Yes, that was exactly how they felt.

In the base, not just Fang Jing, but Zhou Yuan and others, including Zhao Guangyao, had set aside their work to gather around the television in the lounge. Naturally, at this moment, every Chinese citizen was watching.

Amidst this nationwide tension and collective focus, the 16th finally arrived—a day destined for the history books.

The moment the livestream began, hundreds of millions of users flooded in. The screen was so thick with comments that it was terrifying; many feared the stream would crash at any second. Yet, a miracle occurred. Despite traffic levels that would rival the chaos of a national holiday travel rush, the servers miraculously held firm.

In the server center, researchers watched the fans spinning wildly and let out long, collective sighs of relief. "It held! Thanks to the new algorithm, it actually held!" One researcher wiped away tears; heaven knew how stressed the team had been when they received this assignment. This was a monumental event that had captivated the country. When the task was first assigned, the team had been tempted to visit the local Qingcheng Taoist Temple just to have the servers blessed. No server on earth could typically handle such an instantaneous surge of users. Fortunately, the higher-ups understood the difficulty and provided a new, advanced algorithm along with the mission.

"This new algorithm is incredible. To think it could handle this—whoever developed it must be a genius," the researcher muttered, looking at the server racks that showed no signs of overheating or failure. The logic behind it was so advanced it felt as if it didn't belong to this era of human technology. It was too pioneering. Some of its concepts had never even been proposed in global network technology circles before. It was as if this technology had simply appeared out of thin air.

The researcher monitoring the stream couldn't help but joke, whispering to himself, "Could this be alien technology?"

***

At noon on the 16th, in Shanghai, Zhou Zhiyun, an employee at a tech company, was supposed to be working. However, as an aerospace enthusiast, his mind was far from his tasks. The office was quiet, with everyone appearing to work diligently. He carefully glanced at the manager’s office, and seeing no signs of movement, he breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly pulled out his phone, connected his Bluetooth earbuds, and opened the official livestream of the National Space Agency.

"Phew, perfect. It hasn't started yet!" Zhou Zhiyun stared at the screen, excited even by the black screen.

"Why hasn't it started? I'm so anxious, I feel like I have ants crawling all over me!"
"If you can't handle it, go take a shower. We'll tell you the result when you get back," a reply quipped.
"Hahaha, I'm so excited! I haven't slept for two days!"
"Same here, it's hilarious, I just can't fall asleep."
"I'm at the Nanhai launch site right now. Thousands of us are pulling an all-nighter together."
"Wow, I'm so jealous!"

Cowering in his seat, Zhou Zhiyun read the comments, his own excitement growing. He didn't dare make a sound, given how quiet the office was. He rubbed his hands together, and suddenly, the phone screen flashed to life, displaying the view from the command center.

"It's here! It's here!"

Zhou Zhiyun took a deep breath. On the screen, the primary focus was the perspective from the lunar spacecraft. Most importantly, the three astronauts were now at their stations, ready for action. The ship had reached lunar orbit. Outside the portholes, the moon, bathed in silvery light, was visible. Its cratered surface looked as cold and stern as an ancient deity, quietly watching the visitor from Earth that had traveled so far. The backdrop was the vast, pitch-black void of space—deep and mysterious.

The spacecraft had entered the descent trajectory.

"Spacecraft preparing to descend. Expected landing site: the Ural Crater!"
"Spacecraft is descending!"

The resonant voice echoed through the stream. The camera angles shifted, showing the ship moving steadily toward the lunar surface. Without a reference point, many viewers couldn't judge the distance and began to panic, fearing something had gone wrong. Just as the anxiety peaked, that calm, steady voice spoke again:

"First stage of descent complete. Reached lunar landing orbit. The spacecraft is automatically searching for a landing spot."
"Radar is scanning the lunar terrain. Dong-Yao, report status."

*Static crackled over the radio.*

Then, the voice of astronaut Zhai Gang, call sign Dong-Yao, echoed in the command hall: "Wenchang, Wenchang, this is Dong-Yao. Radar is functioning normally. A suitable landing site has been identified."
"Coordinates transmitted. Requesting approval for automated landing sequence. Dong-Yao, out."

After verifying the data, the flight controller responded: "Wenchang verified. Data confirmed. Dong-Yao, you are cleared to land."
"Wenchang, copy that, Dong-Yao out!"

It wasn't over yet. Zhai Gang’s optimistic, humorous voice rang out again: "Haha, Moon, here I come!"

"Pfft!" Zhou Zhiyun couldn't help but chuckle. Old Zhai was truly a comedian of the cosmos. In the control center, the observing researchers also shared a smile, though they quickly returned to their serious expressions. The spacecraft continued its descent, drawing closer and closer to the landing site.

"Two hundred meters to the surface!"

The final two hundred meters. Zhou Zhiyun straightened up instinctively, his eyes glued to the screen, cold sweat breaking out on his back. The final two hundred meters—everything hung in the balance. At this moment, the eyes of the entire nation were unified as one.