"Eh!"

Huang Que had just stepped out of the passenger cabin into the equipment compartment.

Chu Anqing, who had been hiding behind the door eavesdropping, jumped up like a startled rabbit.

"..."

"..."

The two women's eyes met.

Huang Que turned her head, strode forward through the equipment compartment, and headed towards the cockpit.

*Whoosh.*

Chu Anqing, relieved that her eavesdropping had been discovered, breathed a sigh of relief.

She pushed up her visor and cautiously entered the passenger cabin, looking at Lin Xian, who had just been at loggerheads with Huang Que.

"Lin...Senior Lin Xian, don't argue..."

She said softly, walking up to Lin Xian and taking his hand.

"I know the situation is dangerous right now, and everyone is nervous. I don't understand much...but I believe that Coach Wei Cheng and Sister Huang Que will make the right decisions. They are both professional astronauts, and they have more experience than us in space."

"Coach Wei Cheng also told us that in their pilot training, there was also a simulation of visual piloting. Although we have lost guidance, navigation, and information transmission from the ground control center, all systems on the spaceplane are normal, including the theodolite, altimeter, and direction indicator... Wei Cheng said he can complete the piloting task."

"Senior Lin Xian, let's trust Coach Wei Cheng and Sister Huang Que! Even without ground communication data, as long as Liu Feng can track the location of the space-time particle and Senior Gao Yang can operate the robotic arm, it won't affect our capture of the space-time particle."

"A-Although I don't know what I can do, I will definitely work hard! I will definitely help everyone, help you and Liu Feng catch that space-time particle!"

Lin Xian lowered his head.

Looking at Chu Anqing, who squeezed out a smile.

He could see clearly just now...

When the loud and small explosions came, and the smell of burnt wires filled the air, Chu Anqing's face turned pale with fright.

A 19-year-old girl, in space.

How could she have such composure and stress resistance? Surely her smile now was just a forced one, without the crescent-shaped eyes, without the faint dimples, without the refreshing and gentle feeling she used to have.

"Don't worry."

Lin Xian smiled.

"We weren't arguing, just exchanging ideas a little intensely, nothing serious."

Chu Anqing looked at Lin Xian.

She nodded silently.

She didn't mean to eavesdrop just now...

She just noticed that the two of them were missing from the equipment compartment and seemed to be arguing over here, so she wanted to come and mediate.

But.

After listening for a while, she realized that both of them were very calm, so she stood outside the door and didn't go in.

"Hehe, it's good that everything is okay."

Chu Anqing giggled.

"It's good that everything is okay."

...

Ground, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Main Control Room.

Now.

It was a complete mess here.

People running back and forth, papers flying and falling to the ground, various flashing alarm lights, shouts from various channels:

"Still no connection? Is there a signal from the relay satellite? Beidou! Capture the spaceplane signal from the Beidou satellite in reverse!"

"Calling! Calling! Pilot Wei Cheng! General Commander Huang Que! Please respond! Please respond!"

"It's not working... we can't connect at all. It's like we've completely lost contact. We can't contact the spaceplane no matter what method we use."

"It's not just communication. We can't even transmit the most basic signal, feedback, or response! This is too strange... The spaceplane has all kinds of communication equipment, and there are three sets of backup systems alone. How could they all fail!"

"Yes, what's more, all communication equipment failed at the same time. This... this is impossible no matter how you think about it. Even if something really happened! We should be able to contact the wreckage of the equipment... It's too strange that all communication equipment has failed!"

The ground commander wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This situation.

Had never happened before in the history of Long Country's spaceflight.

All kinds of contingency plans had been tried, but... none of them succeeded.

Judging from the signals from the observation satellites, the spaceplane was most likely traveling normally, without any malfunctions, explosions, collisions, or other serious accidents.

Then.

Only one possibility remained—

[The spaceplane chose to cut off all signal networks and communication channels itself.]

But that didn't make sense either.

Because the highest control over the spaceplane's communication channels was on the ground. Even if the spaceplane unilaterally shut it down, the ground control center could open it.

Strange.

Too strange!

"Report! Anomaly detected in outer space orbit!"

Suddenly!

Another worrying report sounded. A staff member came to the commander.

"Commander, according to our observations! In the entire orbital range... more than 20,000 Starlink satellites! Are simultaneously retro-thrusting and reducing speed! The altitude orbit is rapidly decreasing!"

"What!?"

The commander opened his eyes wide, thinking he had misheard.

"More than 20,000!! All Starlink satellites? All Starlink satellites have malfunctioned!"

"No, it doesn't seem like a malfunction."

The technician who reported shook his head nervously.

"If it were a malfunction, how could they be retro-thrusting and decelerating so uniformly? And their orbital change direction seems to have a target... the target is over the Atlantic Ocean!"

The Atlantic Ocean.

International waters.

The commander couldn't figure it out. What was the purpose of this?

A mass failure of Starlink satellites?

Could this be related to the spaceplane's low-orbit mission simulation?

He didn't know.

Because the secrecy of this spaceplane launch mission was extremely high. Even he only knew that it was roughly to perform a low-orbit satellite interception simulation, but the specifics... he wasn't qualified to know at his level.

The higher-ups only required them to fully cooperate with General Commander Huang.

"Report! Starlink satellite company, Space-T, issued an official statement! Saying that all Starlink satellites in Earth orbit! A total of 22,467 satellites, have all been hacked! And are now completely out of control! And reminding all countries to immediately adjust spacecraft orbits to avoid collisions!"

The commander's eyebrows twitched.

He hurriedly ran over and looked at the statement issued by Space-T, the space exploration company of the world's richest man, Musk.

He read it carefully.

Indeed...

The Starlink satellite system had been hacked, and control had been completely seized and locked, and even Space-T was powerless!

"Kevin Walker..."

The commander gritted his teeth, looking at the name at the bottom of the statement.

Space-T emphasized at the end of the statement—

[Our company has conducted technical investigations and source tracking! It has now been confirmed that the culprit of hijacking 22,467 Starlink satellites is the genius teenager known as the strongest hacker on Earth—]

[Kevin Walker!]

*Bang!*

The commander slammed his fist on the table.

"It's this kid again! Are Musk's satellites even reliable? They get hacked every other day! If they work, they work, if they don't, they should come down earlier! Don't keep causing trouble for others!"

As early as before.

These 20,000-plus Starlink satellites often rushed around in Earth orbit, and many times there was a risk of colliding with weather satellites and space stations.

For this reason, countries around the world, including Long Country, often had to start the space station's propulsion system to adjust the space station's altitude to avoid the rampaging Starlink satellites, wasting a lot of fuel in vain.

Except for the US, almost all countries in the world scoffed at Musk's Starlink plan. The technology wasn't that advanced, it caused a lot of trouble, and it occupied a large amount of low-Earth orbit, tantamount to space junk!

"The Atlantic Ocean..."

The commander raised his head, looking at the predicted trajectory of the spaceplane on the large screen on the wall.

When contact was lost, the spaceplane was at an altitude of 240 kilometers, crossing the US East Coast.

Beyond the East Coast was the Atlantic Ocean!

"We must find a way to notify the spaceplane, to notify General Commander Huang! To have them terminate the mission!"

"We tried! Still no response!"

"What about Musk's side? Can't they get back control of the Starlink satellites? Aren't those their own satellites!? How can they not control their own satellites!" the commander roared.

"No, Space-T has already said that they can't." The reporting staff member was sweating profusely.

"And... moreover, at the same time as Space-T issued the statement, the US government issued a《Global Wanted Order》! A《Global Wanted Order》targeting Kevin Walker! Still the highest level of wanted order, regardless of life or death, or even whether he is intact... The reward is as high as 1 billion US dollars!"

"Report, international organizations have also issued statements! Condemning Kevin Walker's hacking behavior, and claiming that his behavior has endangered the safety of the whole world, and also issuing a warrant for his arrest for crimes against humanity!"

"Aiya!"

The commander scratched his head anxiously.

"Wanted! Wanted! It's all too late to issue a wanted order! If they could really catch this Kevin Walker, many countries would have caught him long ago! Aren't there few countries that have issued wanted orders for him?"

"The important thing is! How do we contact General Commander Huang and them to let them avoid the risk immediately! Now... since all communication equipment and network signals can't contact them, it means that all radar and detection equipment on the spaceplane are also damaged!"

"Unless a satellite falls on their heads, otherwise that spaceplane is like a blind man, they can't see anything! They can't hear anything! It will be too late when they get hit!"

"Quick! Think of another way!"

...

USA, Texas, Space-T Starship Launch Site.

Observation Tower.

The secretary pushed up her slipping red-framed glasses, took the phone handed over by Musk, put it in her pocket, and asked in confusion.

"What did you just do?"

"【Virus】."

Musk said calmly.

"I planted a virus specifically targeting super artificial intelligence in the global internet. This virus is extremely advanced and is the product of technology far beyond our understanding... Seriously, I can't understand it either, but I believe in its effect."

The secretary blinked.

"You... you want to kill all the artificial intelligence in the world?"

"It's super artificial intelligence." Musk emphasized.

"As you just said, current artificial intelligence is nothing more than big data, puzzles, and searching. In essence, it is no different from the previous smart homes. It's just that technology has developed now, and computing power has increased, so quantitative changes have led to qualitative changes."

"But... super artificial intelligence is different. These things are still very annoying and difficult to control. In a modern city like this, the existence of super artificial intelligence is really worrying."

"So, this virus is only for super artificial intelligence. In the next few hundred years, this virus will not be discovered, will not disappear, and will not be cleared. It will just lurk in the network world... hunting down any super artificial intelligence that exceeds the 【baseline test】."

"I am not against simple, mindless, and obedient artificial intelligence to change people's lives, but super artificial intelligence is still out of the question, it is too much in the way."

He smiled slightly, raised his hands, straightened his chest, and looked at the magnificent Starship rocket launch center in front of him.

"【From today onwards, for hundreds of years, there will be no super artificial intelligence in the world! This virus has locked this possibility!】"

"That's great, hahahaha, that's great."

Musk smacked his lips with lingering interest, shook his head.

"As I said just now..."

"I don't like artificial intelligence."

...

The secretary listened to her boss's inexplicable remarks with her mouth half-open.

But she was already used to it.

If this tall and strong man in front of her wasn't the richest man in the world, he would probably be considered a madman, a liar, or mentally ill and be sent to a hospital for treatment.

Musk leaned back on the iron railing of the observation tower, pressing his whole weight on it, and watched the Starship rocket restrained in the rocket launch tower.

"Go find Supervisor Mike now."

"Mike?"

The secretary raised her head, and the red-framed glasses on her face slipped down again.

Supervisor Mike.

He is the highest manager of the entire Starship rocket launch center. Mike is responsible for the usual rocket launches and satellite launch projects.

"What am I going to do with him?" the secretary asked.

Musk pointed to the rocket in the middle of the launch base, poised for launch on the rocket launch tower.

"Tell Mike, launch the rocket!"

"Huh?"

The red-framed glasses that the secretary hadn't had time to push up slipped down again.

"No, why so suddenly? Isn't this rocket scheduled for testing in half a month? It hasn't started preparing yet!"

"It's okay, it can fly with a little fuel. Rockets aren't that complicated."

"But!" The secretary finally pushed up her red-framed glasses.

"But! There's nothing in that rocket at all! What are we launching? Where are we launching it to? Y-You-You... You can't always do things on a whim!"

Musk shook his head.

"You just need to tell Supervisor Mike, and he will naturally know where to launch it. A few days ago, I explained it all to him on this iron tower."

After saying that.

He raised his head and looked at the blazing sun in the sky.

Looking to the east...

The distant US East Coast line.

"A turtle in a jar, no support from the sky. Lin Xian..."

He chuckled, squinting his eyes.

"We'll meet in the sky!"