Chapter Eight: The Small Nuclear Bomb

As time passed, the atmosphere on Earth grew thinner and thinner. Even though more and more planetary engines were restarted, it was still impossible to halt Earth’s gradual fall toward Jupiter, until its inevitable destruction.

Wang Jing and Li Xen arrived at the Taizhou Aerospace Launch Center. After bidding farewell to Huang Peng, Zhou Min, and the others, they followed the guidance of the launch center staff and boarded the shuttle that awaited them.

Meanwhile, in Wang Jing’s primary world, a small nuclear warhead, strictly escorted, along with its rocket propulsion unit, was delivered. Watching the special container marked with nuclear radiation symbols being hoisted beside the camp’s central clearing, Song Guohua, who had been supervising the operation, finally let out a sigh of relief.

The hoisting was the most dangerous part of transporting the warhead. Although it wouldn’t detonate during this process, a series of inspections and safety assessments could have completely derailed the next phase of the operation. In that case, he would be branded a criminal in this world. Fortunately, everything proceeded smoothly, just as planned.

“Has the engineering team arrived yet?” Song Guohua inquired.

“The engineering corps is here, but all the materials haven’t arrived,” the regiment commander replied.

“How can they not be here yet? So much time has passed. If we can’t finish on schedule, the subsequent plans will be delayed indefinitely,” Song Guohua reprimanded with a frown.

“I’ll go urge them right away!” The commander dared not protest—this was, after all, his oversight.

Back in the Wandering Earth world, Wang Jing and Li Xen rode the shuttle into space. For Wang Jing, it was his first time aboard a rocket, feeling the violent vibrations of the shuttle and the overwhelming acceleration of six to eight Gs—an exhilarating experience. When he saw the gaseous band between Earth and Jupiter, he was awed by the spectacle.

He wasn’t alone in his awe. Together with Qi, seventy billion earthlings watched the same scene, projected onto the sky above Earth.

“Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts. We are about to dock with the Navigator Space Station,” the shuttle pilot announced over the intercom.

Wang Jing returned to his seat and gazed out the window, catching a fleeting glimpse of the colossal Navigator Space Station—the massive rotating habitation module and the enormous hull—before the shuttle adjusted its approach angle and the station slipped from view.

Before long, the shuttle successfully docked with the Navigator Space Station.

As Wang Jing unbuckled his seatbelt, the weightless environment caused him to float upward. He had barely begun to appreciate the marvel of zero gravity when the hatch swung open.

“Hello, I am Zhang Beihai, captain of the Navigator Space Station. Thank you greatly for your assistance.”

“We’re all human beings. Helping each other is only right,” Wang Jing replied with a smile.

Zhang Beihai nodded gratefully. “Come with me. We have prepared a room as you requested, with enough space for the nuclear warhead.”

Following Zhang Beihai, Wang Jing saw many crew members along the way, all of whom regarded Wang Jing and Li Xen with curiosity.

Soon, Zhang Beihai led them to a bare room in a zero-gravity zone. Wang Jing had to hook his foot onto a strap on the floor to stabilize himself.

Glancing around, Wang Jing noticed not even a single power outlet and asked, “Is there a high-voltage line here? I need sufficient energy to traverse!”

“The cables are on their way. For safety, most of the space station’s internal systems use low-voltage DC. Only high-power equipment uses high voltage,” Zhang Beihai explained, just as a technician arrived with a thin cable.

“Captain, the cable is connected. When should we power it up?” the technician asked.

Zhang Beihai looked at Wang Jing, who immediately understood and took the cable. “You can power it up now.”

Zhang Beihai nodded to the technician. “Do as he says.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Thirty seconds later, Wang Jing traversed back. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the small nuclear warhead, half his height and marked with a radiation symbol.

“This is the warhead. Along with it, you’ll need the rocket propulsion unit just behind you,” Song Guohua, who had been waiting nearby, immediately explained.

Wang Jing turned to see the propulsion unit, taller than himself, and asked in surprise, “Is it really possible for me to bring something this large?”

“Don’t worry. We calculated the mass during your last transport. It’s exactly what you can carry—0.98 tons,” Song Guohua assured him.

“How do I attach the warhead to the propulsion unit?” Wang Jing asked.

“He’s the rocket propulsion engineer. Take him with you,” Song Guohua said, pointing to a bespectacled engineer standing nearby.

“Understood.” Wang Jing nodded, picked up the warhead, and traversed with it back to the space station.

The sudden appearance of Wang Jing, carrying a nuclear warhead marked with the radiation symbol, shocked even the battle-hardened Zhang Beihai.

“Wait, there’s also the rocket propulsion unit.” With that, Wang Jing grabbed the cable and traversed again, bringing the propulsion unit over. The sudden appearance of both the warhead and the propulsion unit occupied most of the room.

“There’s still an engineer. I’ll be right back.” With those words, Wang Jing traversed once more, bringing over the rocket propulsion engineer.

Before the engineer could even process the shock of traversal and zero gravity, Wang Jing urged him, “Hurry up and assemble the warhead! We don’t have much time. If we delay any longer, Earth’s atmosphere will be completely sucked away!”

Prompted by Wang Jing, the engineer worked with the space station crew to move the warhead outside the station, where they began assembly and system checks.

There was nothing Wang Jing could do but watch.

Soon, the small nuclear warhead was mounted on the rocket propulsion unit and fixed onto a cargo spacecraft.

Back in the control room, the engineer explained, “Here’s the plan: The cargo ship carrying the warhead will release it thirty thousand kilometers from the detonation point, then change trajectory to land directly at the Australian Space Center.”

“When the warhead detonates above Jupiter, the oxygen-mixed hydrogen will explode, generating a massive thrust to push Earth out of Jupiter’s orbit.”

“Before that, everyone in the southern hemisphere must evacuate to the underground cities, because the shockwave will be tremendous—anyone on the surface at that time will have almost no chance of survival!” the engineer warned gravely.

Zhang Beihai nodded. “MOSS, broadcast a level-one global evacuation alert.”

“Level-one evacuation alert has been broadcast worldwide.”

Turning to the engineer, Zhang Beihai nodded solemnly. “Begin the operation.”