Did the world end today?

Chapter 132 The Familiar White Ink, and Landing on Mars!

For a moment, Lin Xu couldn't even tell whether the leader of this ship was Bai Mo or Shen Li.

However, under Bai Mo's strongly worded demands, it only took 2 minutes for Zhuque-1 to lower its orbital altitude and begin to "glide" towards an orbit closer to the surface of Mars.

Sitting in the landing craft, Lin Xu looked down at the dust-filled ground below and couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

Meanwhile, beside him, Bai Mo was still on the phone with Shen Li, making final preparations before the landing ship was launched.

"Zhuque-1 has broken out of its elliptical parking orbit."

"Altitude 22000km."

"It is expected to descend to the 18000km limit distance within 1 minute."

"The landing craft is ready for launch and is conducting a system self-check."

Shen Li's voice rang out from inside the landing ship, and Bai Mo quickly replied:

"Engine self-check complete!"

"Radiation shielding system self-test complete, operating well!"

"Control system self-test complete!"

"Engine warm-up complete!"

"In good condition, ready to launch at any time!"

"Understood, crew, prepare to go."

After speaking, Bai Mo turned to Lin Xu and asked:
"Are you ready?"

"anytime!"

Lin Xu let out a soft breath.

His fingertips were trembling slightly.

At this moment, he didn't know whether he was excited because he was about to land on Mars, or because he was about to see Jiang Xingye in person in this world.

After all, these were both firsts for him.

"Is there no other way for us to contact Jiang Xingye?"

"There is no way."

Bai Mo shook his head and replied:
"This sandstorm was very large, covering an area of ​​nearly 200 kilometers around the Zhurong base."

"The distance from the core area of ​​the base to the rocket launch area is more than 12 kilometers."

“The sandstorm blocked electromagnetic communication between the core area and the launch base. We can contact the core area through quantum communication, but they can’t contact Jiang Xingye.”

“If we were to send a team from the core area to the launch site, it could take them an hour to get there under extreme conditions.”

"Therefore, Jiang Xingye's current location is a temporary Nemo point on Mars."

"Instead of finding land, the fastest way is for us to launch a rescue from low Earth orbit."

"Alright, sit tight!"

As Bai Mo finished speaking, Shen Li's voice came from inside the cabin again.

"Reached the target orbital altitude of 18000 km."

"Speed: 0.7 km/s".

"Reverse ignition".

"We expect to enter the launch window for the landing craft in 20 seconds."

"be prepared!"

"clear."

"receive."

Lin Xu and Bai Mo answered at the same time.

Now, Lin Xu has figured it out.

Not only Bai Mo, but Shen Li also went all out.

What butterfly contingency plan?
Just as Bai Mo said, if there were no contingency plan, wouldn't they have been able to make their own judgments?
In the face of great calamity, all procedures and rules can be broken.

This is very likely the last time Shen Li piloted the Vermilion Bird One.

His overstepping of authority has ruined his future as captain.

But it's okay, you're not going to live much longer anyway, bro!
Lin Xu gripped the armrest tightly, and after a brief 15 seconds, Bai Mo suddenly spoke:

"Deliver!"

"Ignite the engine!"

In an instant, Lin Xu felt an extremely strong push-back sensation.

He was pressed firmly into the seat, his brain was congested with blood, and his vision was completely red.

This is the red-eye phenomenon.

This means that the landing craft was not "slowly landing," but crashing straight into Mars!
Are you kidding me? ?

If the normal Mars landing procedure is followed, it would take at least several weeks and multiple orbital maneuvers to descend from an orbital altitude of 18000 km to a circular orbit of 400 km.

but now.
What Bai Mo is doing seems to be
Directly force a deorbit?
The speed of directly forcing a deorbit is indeed very fast.

To achieve this, the spacecraft's speed change must be at least greater than 5 kilometers per second.

Is this something a conventional nuclear thermal engine can do?

No, nuclear thermal engines can indeed do that.

However, its preparation time is extremely long, just like a car with extremely slow power response. You have to step on the gas pedal hard before you can achieve a sufficiently large acceleration after a period of time.

This process of "stepping on the gas" often takes several hours, but now...
Feeling the intense push from behind, Lin Xu gritted his teeth and asked:
"Last time you told me you were using a nuclear thermal liquid oxygen system, but this landing ship...this landing ship's speed..."

"This is absolutely beyond the capabilities of a nuclear thermal engine!"

Lin Xu's voice was somewhat hoarse, while Bai Mo replied in a calm tone:
"Relax."

"This is just a nuclear thermal-shock detonation dual-mode engine."

"Don't be afraid, the mortality rate of forced orbit deorbiting is very low."

"At least so far, I haven't fallen yet."

???

nonsense!

If you'd fallen before, would you still be sitting here with me?

Lin Xu suddenly felt that getting on Bai Mo's spaceship might not have been the right choice.

She is highly rational, but at times, she is a desperate man.

"Orbital altitude 15000!"

"Excellent surface thermal management!"

"The spacecraft's structure is intact!"

"receive."

Shen Li's voice rang out again.

"You are about to be out of my sight."

"My privileges are about to be suspended by Yinghuo Palace. Good luck to you!"

After saying this, Bai Mo was stunned for a moment.

Then, she spoke again:
"Take this opportunity to find a way to establish contact with Yinghuo Palace."

"Once we enter the circular orbit, you can activate the butterfly contingency plan."

"Let's test it and see where the problem is."

"If it really is a problem with the butterfly contingency plan, next time we can completely abandon this plan!"

After Bai Mo finished speaking, Lin Xu's gaze towards her changed somewhat.

This is the Bai Mo I know.

Decisive and ruthless, advancing regardless of the cost.

Try every possible means!
They're back, they're all back! Bai Mo's presence was barely noticeable during the first two times he entered this bracelet world.

Lin Xu even began to doubt whether this person was really Bai Mo, and whether she was just an empty shell.

But now, the answer is obvious.

She is still her.

She simply forgot about herself.

But it doesn't matter. No matter how many times you forget, the people you know are still there!

Including Qi Yuan.
-
So, is his wife alright?
Did they finally live happily together in this world?
Perhaps next time I go in, I should try to ask him.

Lin Xu's thoughts drifted away.

Just then, an urgent warning sounded in the cabin.

"High alert! High alert!"

8000km.

7000km.

6000km.

The spaceship was still accelerating its descent, and Lin Xu glanced at the time.

I have 26 minutes left.

It was clearly taking longer than Bai Mo had anticipated.

But, this is enough.

"Prepare to slow down."

Bai Mo also gripped the armrest tightly.

next second.

The shock engine starts, and the reverse thrust is violently activated.

Lin Xu's vision went black.

Literally, it means going completely dark.

Almost all the blood in his body rushed to his feet, and he fainted briefly.

In his dazed state, he felt as if the entire starry sky was falling towards him.

Then, at a certain moment, he suddenly woke up.

"Entering circular orbit, preparing for landing."

Bai Mo's voice rang out in my ears, muffled and indistinct.

The spacecraft was still decelerating, and after entering the Martian atmosphere, the intense friction caused the temperature to rise significantly.

Outside the cabin, everything was a fiery red, and Lin Xu felt as if he had fallen into a pool of lava.

"The intensity of the sandstorm has not decreased."

"We're going to make a blind landing."

Bai Mo's voice was calm.

It could even be described as somewhat indifferent.

"Countdown to 40 seconds."

"Altitude 20km."

"Turn on HIAD."

"Altitude 5km."

"Open the parachute!"

The massive supersonic deceleration parachute deployed, instantly reducing the landing ship's speed to below 100 m/s.

"Prepare to start the engine to slow down."

"10 seconds!"

Lin Xu had completely come to his senses by this time. He adjusted his posture slightly and looked out the window, where the sandstorm had engulfed everything.

But amidst the swirling dust, he could vaguely see a massive, indestructible launch pad standing on the ground.

That's what's known as the launch site.

Human exploration of Mars has reached this level.

"boom!"

The landing engine ignites.

The landing craft's speed dropped to below 2 meters per second.

Subsequently, amidst the fierce winds, the spacecraft's powerful control system helped it hover stably in mid-air before gently landing.

"Put on your clothes and helmet, and prepare to exit the spacecraft!"

Without a second's hesitation, Lin Xu immediately put on the helmet as instructed by Bai Mo.

Immediately afterwards, the landing ship's hatch opened, and Bai Mo slid down, grabbing the handrail outside the hatch.

Lin Xu followed closely behind, and the two of them struggled to make their way towards the distant launch pad amidst the sandstorm that blotted out the sky.

Bai Mo's voice came through the headphones.

"Less than 500 meters. Run faster!"

"They should be underground!"

"understand!"

Lin Xu also wanted to run fast, but his body was really not up to par.

It took the two of them a full four minutes to finally reach the launch pad.

Lights shone faintly from a low building nearby. Bai Mo skillfully entered the password, opened the isolation door, and led Lin Xu inside.

Passing through two isolation doors, the storm outside was instantly shut out, and all was quiet.

But there was no one inside.

"Underground, it should be underground."

Bai Mo took off his helmet and strode towards the entrance of the underground passage.

How large is the underground space here?

"Not very big."

Bai Mo answered casually:
"This is not the core area; the underground space is only used as a temporary shelter and temporary warehouse."

"But according to the basic evacuation procedures, when such an uncontrollable storm occurs, everyone should go underground to take shelter."

"Let's go, Jiang Xingye should be inside."

"clear."

Lin Xu followed Bai Mo as they opened the isolation door leading to the underground bunker and descended the stairs. Bai Mo spoke first:
"There are people inside, I can hear them."

"They should."

"boom!"

Before Bai Mo could finish speaking, a bullet suddenly pierced her forehead.

Lin Xu froze for a moment, then almost instinctively fell to the side.

But, it's too late.

The bullet swept past and pierced his body.

He tried to open his eyes wide to see who fired the shot, but all he could see was a blur.

Instead, the thing behind that person was clearly visible under the light.

That is
Jiang Xingye's corpse!

(End of this chapter)