“That’s impossible!”

Wei Cheng’s shout came directly through the radio channel.

“The spaceplane isn’t equipped for extravehicular activity! Besides, you haven’t had any training. It’s extremely dangerous to exit at high altitude! We’re not in the weightlessness of space. We’re in the atmosphere at 40,000 meters! There's wind, gravity, and it's an ultra-low temperature environment out there.”

“Exiting is absolutely impossible! It’s suicide! Even if your physical balance and coordination training scores are very high, no one has ever done extravehicular work in the atmosphere at 40,000 meters! No astronaut or pilot has ever been able to do it! Especially not from a spaceplane!”

“But! We have no choice right now!”

Chu Anqing's voice trembled slightly.

“We... we can’t just stand by and watch the space-time particle disappear!”

*Click.*

She flipped up her spacesuit helmet visor, looking at the shocked faces in the cabin.

“Everyone has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to catch this space-time particle… but I'm the only one who hasn't done anything, hasn't been able to help at all… Now, I finally have a use. This is the only thing I can do!”

Chu Anqing turned to look at Liu Feng.

“Professor Liu Feng, remember when you told me in the Donghai University lab? You said… don't easily deny your own value. It’s just that the time hasn’t come for you to play a role yet. Sometimes, it doesn't matter if you're wrong your whole life. Some crucial things only need to be right once in a lifetime.”

“You told me that there must be something in this world that is prepared for me, born for me, that only I can do. No one else but me.”

She looked at the speechless, stammering Liu Feng.

“Professor Liu Feng, I think… now is the moment you were talking about, the moment for me to realize my life's value and play my part. Going out there to catch that space-time particle is the one thing in the world that no one but me can do!”

With that,

Chu Anqing turned to Lin Xian.

“I’m sorry, Senior Lin Xian. I overheard what you and Sister Huang Que were saying… You said that if we don't catch this space-time particle, this world, everything, will become a thousand times, ten thousand times worse than it is now.”

“If… if this space-time particle is really that important, and I’m the only one on the spaceplane who can see it… then it's my responsibility. I can’t… I can’t always hide behind you, just cheering you on, just being a mascot, right?”

“Earlier, you and Professor Liu Feng were fighting to touch the space-time particle. Isn't that more dangerous than going out there to capture it? But you weren't afraid. So I'm not afraid either! Just because I'm young and a girl… doesn't mean I can always cower behind you, doing nothing, right?”

Finally,

She turned again, looking at Huang Que.

“Sister Huang Que…”

She bit her lower lip, her expression complex, looking at Huang Que.

“Please, let me go. Wasn’t this… wasn’t this what you brought me here for?”

Huang Que closed her eyes tightly, frowning.

Finally, she nodded.

“Prepare… for exit!”

“Hey, wait! Are you crazy!” Gao Yang walked directly over from his control chair, pointing at Huang Que.

“I’ve always thought you were too cold-blooded! You don’t care about us at all! All you care about is the space-time particle!”

“That’s enough.”

Lin Xian held Gao Yang back, stopping him from lashing out at Huang Que.

It was true that Huang Que only had eyes for the space-time particle. She had even calculated VV's disappearance in order to capture this particle at all costs.

She had concealed many truths, deceived many people, and tacitly approved of many things, knowing full well what was happening.

But…

At the end of the day,

[I’m the one who wants the space-time particle.]

Just as Huang Que had said, this group of people had gathered together today not for Huang Que, but for themselves… Naturally, that included Huang Que herself, who was also doing it for herself.

“I've been thinking about it carefully.” Lin Xian turned back to look at Liu Feng and Gao Yang.

“The spaceplane isn't really equipped for extravehicular activity, but I have experienced… no, I understand what it feels like to be exposed at 30,000 or 40,000 meters. It is dangerous, but it's not that terrifying.”

“The winds in the stratosphere are mild and the airflow isn't turbulent. We're flying with the wind, so the wind speed and the plane's speed cancel each other out. The wind speed outside the spaceplane isn't that high. As for the ultra-low temperature problem, we're wearing spacesuits, and the equipment inside is very advanced. It can maintain body temperature and pressure, so we don't need to worry about that.”

“Besides, we studied that robotic arm compartment on the ground. It's recessed, more than a meter deep. As long as Wei Cheng flies steadily, standing in that robotic arm compartment will be like riding a hot air balloon. There are many people in the world who have ridden hot air balloons to 30,000 or 40,000 meters. Plus, we have safety ropes that we can lock onto the interior wall. It's safer than those extreme sports athletes.”

“Bullshit!” After hearing Lin Xian’s flowery words, Wei Cheng, who was piloting the spaceplane, got angry.

“Lin Xian, you’re all theory! Have you ever practiced it? Do you know what it means to work at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters?”

Lin Xian sighed inwardly.

How could he not know?

In the third dream, didn't he fly to an altitude of 20,000 or 30,000 meters in a helium balloon every day, then jump down in a spacesuit to invade Sky City?

Although he was definitely bolder in the dream, and didn't have to consider the consequences of failure.

But currently, whether it was from what he learned from Huang Que, or from the behavior of Jask and Kevin Walker, it all indicated that this space-time particle was definitely not simple.

On the ground, they had studied the structure of the spaceplane’s equipment compartment.

In fact, the compartment above that stores the folding robotic arm is connected to the equipment compartment where they are currently standing, separated by a compartment door.

According to the original, smoothest plan,

After Gao Yang captured the space-time particle with the rice cooker, the robotic arm would retract, then refold back into the compartment, and the outer hatch would close.

After that, the air pressure would equalize, the inner compartment connecting them would open, and they could directly retrieve the rice cooker from the equipment compartment.

“I’ll go with Anqing.”

Lin Xian said.

“I definitely won’t let Anqing go alone. The robotic arm compartment can hold two people. We’ll go together.”

“That way, when Anqing is holding the rice cooker to capture the space-time particle, I can hold her from behind, helping her stabilize her body, which is safer.”

Finally…

Even though Wei Cheng strongly objected,

Huang Que was the commander-in-chief, and he had to obey her orders.

“Close the connecting door between the equipment compartment and the passenger compartment. Everyone, put on your spacesuits, make sure the internal air pressure is stable, and lock your helmet visors to avoid accidentally opening them.”

Huang Que directed everyone to lock their helmet visors.

“The air pressure inside the equipment compartment is normal atmospheric pressure, but outside, at an altitude of 40,000 meters, the atmosphere is thin and the air pressure is extremely low. If anything unexpected happens, the huge pressure difference could suck us all out of the spaceplane and throw us into the high altitude, which would be dangerous.”

“So, from now on, everyone activate all the functions of your spacesuits. We will actively reduce the air pressure in the equipment compartment to match the outside, so that when Lin Xian and Chu Anqing exit from here later, even if the inner and outer compartments are connected, there won’t be any air pressure turbulence.”

“Of course, this is preparing for the worst-case scenario. The things I’m talking about may not happen, but we must prepare for the worst and fasten both of the spacesuits’ fixed ropes onto the fasteners in the compartment.”

……

Above the equipment room, the compartment where the robotic arm was stored was about two meters long, one meter wide, and about one and a half meters deep.

If it were the robotic arm, it could definitely open the outer hatch and the inner hatch intermittently, so that there wouldn’t be any air pressure imbalance or turbulence.

But now Lin Xian and Chu Anqing were going to exit at the same time. They were much bigger than the robotic arm. Not to mention that the robotic arm was also folded in the compartment, taking up a lot of space.

Therefore,

There wasn’t much room for Lin Xian and Chu Anqing to move around.

They could only open the inner compartment door and the outer compartment door at the same time, directly connecting the inner and outer space, allowing Lin Xian and Chu Anqing to climb up.

If they didn’t equalize the air pressure inside and outside in advance, there would definitely be big problems.

No wonder Wei Cheng would oppose this plan so strongly…

Right now,

Every step they took was like licking blood from a knife's edge.

*Psssh————*

The ear-piercing sound of venting air.

The spacesuits on everyone's bodies slowly bulged up like balloons, and everyone looked chubby like the Michelin Tire mascot.

This was caused by actively reducing the air pressure in the equipment compartment.

Now, the inside of the spacesuits was at standard atmospheric pressure. But the equipment compartment and the connected external space, the atmosphere at an altitude of 40,000 meters, had only one percent of the standard atmospheric pressure, so like a balloon effect, the spacesuits bulged up directly.

“Senior Lin Xian, let’s go.”

Chu Anqing's voice came through the radio communicator inside the tightly fastened space helmet.

At this moment, Chu Anqing was standing in front of Lin Xian.

Two fixed ropes connected the two spacesuits together. After they actually exited and stood above the spaceplane, they would each have two more ropes to secure them to the inner wall of the robotic arm compartment, ensuring everything was foolproof.

“Okay, let’s go.”

The two spacesuits were close together, one in front of the other, walking up the steps of the equipment compartment, entering the inner compartment, and arriving at the compartment where the robotic arm was stored.

Looking up…

Above, it was still the pitch-black cosmic background, the stars still there.

In the third dream, Lin Xian had ridden a helium balloon to a maximum altitude of 35,000 meters in the atmosphere. The current altitude of the spaceplane was around 43,000 meters.

It was a few thousand meters higher, but the feeling wasn’t much different.

Fortunately, the wind in the stratosphere was smooth enough, and the spaceplane was flying with the wind, so the perceived wind speed was only a dozen meters per second, which wasn’t too fast.

*Click, click.*

Lin Xian fastened the ropes on the two spacesuits to the locks on the inner wall.

“Okay, we’re safe now, at least we won’t fall. Let’s start capturing the space-time particle.”

Now,

Lin Xian and Chu Anqing stood one behind the other in the robotic arm compartment.

Lin Xian's thighs and the area below Chu Anqing's waist were inside the compartment, while their upper bodies were exposed to the atmosphere.

Chu Anqing held the open rice cooker in both hands, while directing Wei Cheng to pilot the spaceplane in the radio communication, and staring at the approaching space-time particle in front of her…

Like a frog about to stick out its tongue to catch a fly, the arrow was on the string, ready to go.

Lin Xian held Chu Anqing from behind.

This scene…

Although it was inappropriate to think about this at this time,

Lin Xian felt that this scene was very similar to the scene in the movie "Titanic" where Jack and Rose stood on the bow of the ship, facing the wind.

It was also…

The picture that VV had sent to his mobile phone when the two of them stood on the roof of the Aman Hotel in Manhattan, New York, facing the world, and Chu Anqing shouted the line "You jump, I jump!"

At that time, VV kept urging him to quickly hug her from behind.

Unexpectedly,

Now the drama queen VV's wish had come true, and it was a high-end version of the Titanic, on a spaceplane 40,000 meters above the ground… but VV was gone, and didn’t see the scene it had hoped for.

“Coach Wei Cheng, please move a little to the left, a little more to the left… too much, to the right, okay, left and right is okay, a little higher, I can't reach it, a little higher, slower…”

In the radio communication, Chu Anqing, as the only one who could see the space-time particle, was directing Wei Cheng to operate the spaceplane, getting as close to the space-time particle as possible.

Lin Xian looked up, looking at the empty sky.

Although it was still pitch black,

A mere 40,000 meters was far from being called space.

Looking down,

Looking down at the Earth from this height was completely different from space.

He could hardly see the curvature of the Earth, and the lights, mountains, and rivers on the surface became faintly visible.

Along this turbulent journey,

They had actually ridden a rocket to Earth's orbital space, and traveled all the way down, from an orbital altitude of 300 kilometers to the current sky of just over 40,000 meters.

He couldn't believe it.

“There! Hold this speed and direction, don’t move!”

In the radio communication, Chu Anqing shouted loudly, Lin Xian came back to his senses, and tightly supported Chu Anqing's waist, protecting her safety.

“Hup!”

Chu Anqing lifted her toes and reached forward.

In Lin Xian's view, she had missed, because he couldn’t see the space-time particle.

“How was it?”

“I didn't catch it, it’s still too far.”

Chu Anqing bit her lip, looking at the empty air to the left.

“Wait a little longer.”

Then—

“Hyah!”

She jumped hard, holding the rice cooker and thrusting to the right.

But it still looked like she had missed. She continued to bend her back, the helmet above her orange spacesuit, like a chicken pecking rice, bit by bit, left and right. She must have been chasing the constantly flashing space-time particle with her eyes.

“There!”

Chu Anqing shouted with great confidence!

She saw it!

This time, the space-time particle flashed in a very opportune location! It was right above the rice cooker!

Huang Que had already told her that she only needed to use the inner pot of the rice cooker to catch the space-time particle. She didn’t need to put the lid on, and it didn't matter even if the rice cooker fell! They could slowly find it!

The opportunity was rare!

Chu Anqing gritted her teeth, quickly assuming a horse stance and bending her waist, then suddenly jumping up—

“I caught it!!”

However!

The fixed cable that secured her body to the inner wall of the compartment tightened! It directly pulled Chu Anqing, who had jumped into the air, down!

Her body tilted, and the rice cooker-shaped object, which should have perfectly caught the space-time particle, suddenly slanted, and the space-time particle directly penetrated through her spacesuit, through the spacesuit in her hand!

Lightly,

Without any feeling.

Without any real sense of contact.

The small, ghostly blue ball, the space-time particle, passed silently through her palm!

“Damn it!”

Chu Anqing gritted her teeth.

“It was so close——”

*Bang!*

Her eyes widened!

*Bang!*

Another violent heartbeat!

Chu Anqing felt like she had been shot! Dizzy! The world was spinning!

*Bang!*

Like a headshot to the skull! Chu Anqing lost her balance! She fell backwards directly into Lin Xian's arms!

At the moment her palm touched the space-time particle, countless images were forcibly stuffed into her head—

[Bridge Top hat Clock tower Camellia Curtains Pencil Ring Little finger Podium Photograph Hook Steel cable Lollipop Car White dress Maple leaf Crutch Blue eyes Graffiti Tape Hairpin Train Ice cream Moon Sneakers Oil paint Carriage Banquet Navy Coffee Teacup Cinema Code Suitcase Scarf Beard Fireworks Gun Old man Newspaper Telescope Portrait Steamboat Violin Red wine Badge Candle——]

“Anqing!”

Lin Xian quickly supported her.

*Clang, gurgle, gurgle…*

Chu Anqing, whose hands had lost their strength, failed to grab the space-time particle capture device. The rice cooker-like object directly hit the outer shell of the spaceplane, rolled around a few times, and fell from the high altitude.

In the blink of an eye, it had already fallen freely and disappeared.

“What’s wrong?” “What happened?” “Lin Xian! What’s wrong with Anqing!”

Worried voices came from the radio channel.

Lin Xian quickly squatted down, shaking Chu Anqing, whose eyes were wide, her body trembling, and her eyes were dull.

But there was no response.

“Anqing!”

Lin Xian shouted her name.

Suddenly!

Chu Anqing seemed to have suddenly come back to her senses. Blood directly flowed out of her nostrils, instantly splashing across half of her face!

She closed her eyes tightly!

Her hands pounded on her helmet like crazy.

“Ah——————————”

She screamed!

Her expression was extremely painful!

“Come back quickly!”

Huang Que's anxious voice came from her ear.

“Open the inner hatch door of the robotic arm compartment directly! Quickly! All members, hold on tight!”

*Boom.*

A muffled sound.

The hatch door connecting the robotic arm compartment to the equipment compartment opened directly, and Lin Xian and Chu Anqing fell straight down, suspended in mid-air by the ropes locked to the inner wall of the compartment.

“Wei Cheng! Close the outer hatch! Pressurize the equipment compartment! Add air pressure!”

*Boom.*

Another muffled sound.

The outer hatch door of the robotic arm compartment closed.

Completely isolating the spaceplane from the external high altitude.

*Psssh——————*

A large amount of air poured in, the air pressure in the equipment compartment rose rapidly, and the orange spacesuits of the crowd, which were like bulging balloons, quickly caved in.

Which meant that the air pressure inside and outside the spacesuits was the same, and they could safely open their helmets.

*Click, click, click, click!*

A sound of helmet visors being opened quickly.

Lin Xian, Gao Yang, Liu Feng, and Huang Que quickly surrounded Chu Anqing and opened her visor.

“Anqing! Breathe deeply! Breathe deeply!”

Huang Que shouted, taking a tissue from the side and wiping the blood from Chu Anqing's face.

*Drip…*

*Drip…*

*Drip…*

Huang Que was stunned.

Everyone was stunned.

They saw that Anqing had regained consciousness and was blinking her eyes regularly, but every time she blinked, teardrops slid from the corners of her eyes.

The tears formed beads.

She was silent, but she was crying so sadly.

“What’s going on?” Gao Yang looked at Lin Xian in confusion.

Lin Xian was also confused, squatting down.

“Anqing… what’s wrong with you?”

However,

Chu Anqing didn’t look at Lin Xian, but looked at Huang Que with an almost pleading, begging look.

Her vision was blurry.

Tears flowed non-stop.

“Sister Huang Que…”

She cried with grievance.

“Is this… is this all real? Waa… is this all… real?”

Huang Que hesitated.

Several times she bit her lip, her expression grave.

“You… you know everything?”

“Is this all real?”

Chu Anqing's eyes were full of pleading and despair, clutching Huang Que's arm tightly, her lips trembling.

“Sister Huang Que!!”

Huang Que clenched her teeth…

Finally,

She nodded.

Chu Anqing couldn’t hold it back anymore and wailed.

She threw herself into Huang Que's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Huang Que held Chu Anqing in her arms, saying nothing, just holding her, holding her.

“What the hell is going on?”

Lin Xian was confused.

What was going on? Why had they all become riddle-makers!

“Anqing.”

He squatted down, next to Chu Anqing.

“Anqing, what happened just now? What did you find out? What happened just now?”

Chu Anqing looked up.

Her tearful eyes looked at Lin Xian, her mouth twisted.

“Senior Lin Xian! We——”

Suddenly,

She stopped sobbing.

She froze there.

She blinked rapidly.

She stopped the words at her throat, as if she was choked.

Gradually,

She closed her mouth.

Her emotions also calmed down.

After a few deep breaths, Chu Anqing took the tissue from Huang Que's hand and wiped the blood and tears from her face.

Then,

She turned her head and looked at Lin Xian calmly.

“Senior Lin Xian, do you remember that night when you told me about the question you couldn’t figure out the answer to?”

“Huh?”

The sudden turn of events caught Lin Xian off guard.

“That’s right, on your birthday night, in the training room.”

Chu Anqing stabilized her breath, sniffing.

“You told me that you wanted to write a [small note] and put it in the safe.”

“You said that this small note wasn’t afraid of others seeing it, not afraid of others copying it, not afraid of others opening the safe before you… as long as you saw this small note, you could immediately understand whether the world was real or fake.”

“At that time, you were troubled for a long time, not knowing what to write on the small note, not knowing what kind of content could deceive the enemy, deceive the director, deceive the whole world, but only you could understand.”

Lin Xian nodded.

He remembered it.

That was true.

But… why was Chu Anqing suddenly bringing this up here?

“Get me a piece of paper, and a pen.”

Chu Anqing threw away the paper in her hand that was covered with blood and tears.

She stood up and looked down at Lin Xian.

“[I’ll write it for you!]”