Something's wrong! Professor Lü is missing.

In response to President Albert's question, Morton shook his head with a pale face.

"No... I don't know."

"The Hall thrusters previously developed by NASA definitely didn't have such a large thrust!"

"How about... I ask Professor Austin, who was in charge of the Hall thruster project before?"

Albert glared at Morton resentfully and roared in a low voice, "Why don't you go ask right now?!"

Morton's face turned bitter, and a hint of grievance appeared in his eyes.

"At first, you clearly said there was no need to ask that professor..."

"Hmm? What did you say?" Albert's face immediately darkened.

Morton didn't dare to answer back. He could only silently take out his phone and dial Professor Austin's number.

The phone was quickly answered.

"Professor Austin, this is Morton."

As soon as the phone was connected, Morton turned on the speakerphone and asked straightforwardly, "I want to ask, can the thrust of a Hall thruster reach 50 tons?"

There was no sound coming from the receiver.

Morton frowned and asked softly again, "Professor Austin, are you there?"

Professor Austin's faint voice came from the receiver, "Director Morton, are you kidding me?"

"This isn't funny at all!"

Morton glanced at the president beside him with an embarrassed look, coughed softly, and said, "Ahem! Professor Austin, the president is beside me."

"I hope you can think it over carefully!"

After a moment of hesitation, Morton added, "Xia Country already has a Hall thruster with a thrust of 50 tons and has installed it on a spaceplane."

"What?!! This, this is impossible!" Austin's exclamation came from the other end of the receiver. "The power of the current generators definitely can't support such a Hall thruster!"

Morton's eyes moved slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "What if... Professor Austin, I mean what if Xia Country combined a small - scale nuclear fusion with the Hall thruster?"

Austin fell silent.

From this silence, both Morton and Albert got the answer they wanted.

"Okay, Professor Austin, I understand. That's it..."

Morton hung up the phone feebly, then turned to look at Albert beside him. "Mr. President... Perhaps, in this competition, we've completely lost."

"No!" A look of unwillingness appeared in Albert's eyes. "We still have the Pathfinder Plan!"

"As long as we take over Mars first, we haven't lost yet!"

...

Inside Xuannü - 1.

Bai Yixuan and the other two, wearing flight suits, sat quietly in their respective pilot seats.

On the console in front of them, various complex indicator lights were flashing with their unique lights.

"Whoosh..."

Hong Fan, sitting in the left co - pilot seat, let out a deep breath.

"What? Nervous?"

Bai Yixuan's voice came from the side.

Hong Fan shook his head with a bitter smile. "Brother Xuan, aren't you nervous?

"This is the first time we're flying a real aircraft!"

Bai Yixuan shrugged and said indifferently, "Not really. In the simulation training, I've never had an accident."

Hong Fan's face suddenly became a bit stiff.

His simulation training...

Although he only crashed once, the sense of powerlessness from that crash had left a huge psychological shadow on him.

"Come on..." Xia Wanyi, sitting in the right co - pilot seat, chuckled. "This is different from the simulation training. We're flying together now. Nothing will go wrong!"

"Right, even if you don't trust yourself, you should trust my skills." Bai Yixuan said seriously. "After this successful return, I'll..."

"Shut up!"

Before Bai Yixuan could finish speaking, Hong Fan and Xia Wanyi stopped his "jinxing" (making potentially bad - omen statements) in unison.

Bai Yixuan, realizing what he'd done, flashed an embarrassed smile. "Ahem, I didn't mean to..."

"Xuannü - 1, attention. Ten - minute countdown to take - off!"

Just as the three of them were chatting, Cao Liangcai's voice came through the built - in earphones in their helmets.

Bai Yixuan's expression turned solemn, and he immediately pressed the radio switch to respond, "Xuannü - 1 copies!"

"Now start the small - scale fusion reactor!"

As he spoke, Bai Yixuan toggled several buttons on the console in front of him.

The fusion reactor needs a certain amount of pre - heating time before startup.

Therefore, Xuannü - 1 needs to start the small - scale fusion reactor ten minutes in advance.

After finishing the operation, Bai Yixuan suddenly realized a problem.

"Where's Professor Lü?"

"Why isn't Professor Lü in charge of the command?"

Hearing Bai Yixuan's question, a hint of confusion also flashed across Hong Fan's face.

"Hey, now that you mention it, I also noticed."

"Wasn't this kind of thing usually controlled by Professor Lü? Why isn't he in command at such an important moment today?"

...

At the same time.

In the temporary command center of the research institute.

Cao Liangcai gently covered his right eye.

For some reason, his right eye had been twitching since a few minutes ago.

Left eye twitches for fortune, right eye twitches...

Cao Liangcai shook his head, trying to shake off the previous thought.

Bah!

All superstitious nonsense!

"Are all the data of Xuannü - 1 normal?"

Cao Liangcai asked the staff beside him restlessly.

"Everything is normal. The fusion reactor is pre - heating and is expected to start within five minutes."

"What about the ground crew?" Cao Liangcai pondered for a moment and asked loudly.

The next moment, a voice came, "Everything is normal!"

"The fuselage of Xuannü - 1 is in good condition. The ground crew has checked it twice!"

Cao Liangcai's right eyelid twitched twice again.

"There are still a few minutes. Go and check it again."

"Make sure there are no mistakes!"

As he spoke, he raised his wrist and looked at the time.

Eight minutes left.

"What on earth is Lv Yongchang up to..."

"At such an important moment, he actually went to the toilet?!"

Cao Liangcai frowned tightly and turned to a researcher beside him. "Go, go and get Professor Lü here!"

"Even if he's in a hurry, he has to wait until Xuannü - 1 takes off before he goes to the toilet!"

"He's the person in charge of this project after all. What does it look like for him to just leave at such a crucial moment!"

Hearing Cao Liangcai's scolding, the researcher's face turned bitter, and he quickly turned around and ran towards the toilet of the research institute.

Five minutes later.

The researcher ran back in a flurry.

"Cao, Academician Cao, something bad has happened!"

"What's so bad?" Perhaps because Xuannü - 1 was about to take off, Cao Liangcai's temper was also short. "Xuannü - 1 is about to take off. Don't say such discouraging things!"

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

The researcher stammered, "P, Professor Lü, he's missing!"