Chapter 867: The Shining Stars of Rotten (12) (Patreon)

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"We've only created three mother model cores, so the launch must be flawless..."

General Ross turned his gaze towards the elderly general standing on the stage. The old general spoke with a resolute tone, "Over the past five years, we've invested an immense amount of manpower and resources into finally producing the mother model core, as well as the launch mechanism that can send it to Sunnearby..."

As he mentioned this, Ross noticed that the expressions of the two generals in the front row became somewhat grim.

In truth, Ross knew exactly what was going on.

Redgate Orchidplan claimed to be extinct, but in reality, they were using super weapons as bargaining chips to negotiate with mutants.

Back then, Professor X and Magneto held a significant advantage in terms of power, and the military coveted that strength. However, they couldn't gain any interest from them. In order to change this situation, they decided to create their own bargaining chip.

However, five years ago, humans struggled just to launch a probe to Mars. Developing a launch mechanism that could reach Sunnearby seemed like an impossible dream.

Redgate Orchidplan was proposed under these technological constraints. At that time, the military's maximum estimate for the range of these weapons was the Solar System itself.

They believed that by deploying a super weapon near Sunnearby, they could permanently resolve the mutant problem.

In the first three years of this five-year period, they poured an incalculable amount of wealth and military funding into this endeavor, finally managing to create this exorbitantly expensive equipment.

To understand why it was so expensive, one had to start with the so-called mother model core.

The "mother model" was a super AI developed by the military. They used various means to compel many technically skilled scientists to surrender their expertise, which they then used to create a super AI.

However, even when combining all the AI researchers they could find, they still fell short of someone like Stark. Therefore, this super AI couldn't compare to JARVIS. It had a fatal flaw: it required a special core to carry its powerful processing core.

Although this special core appeared small on the design blueprint, it was about the size of the entire Redgate Orchidbase.

In the design, Redgate Orchidbase was supposed to stably hover near Sunnearby, with a volume approximately one percent the size of Earth.

The core installed inside the base was as tall as a twenty-story building, and most of its components required Vibranium.

At that time, Vibranium was outrageously expensive. The military had to dig deep into their pockets to barely produce three cores, and two of them were simplified versions.

What happened later was known to many. About three years ago, Schiller arrived in this world, and Earth began racing towards an unknown future like an untamed stallion.

Schiller stepped on the accelerator, propelling humanity into the Space Age. Iron Sorcerer further accelerated this process, turning the entire Solar System into accessible human territory.

The military never imagined that their grand plan from the past now seemed like a joke. Initially, they had a clear vision. Given the pace of human development, reaching the Sun would have taken centuries or even millennia. They believed that if they could establish a base near Sunnearby with advanced technology, they could not only threaten mutants but also achieve many other ambitions.

Under the control of this drive, the U.S. military unleashed an endless potential, especially within Tartufaction, whose ideology had always been "the military extends beyond the military."

During the first three years, although their plan progressed like a Golden Beast swallowing them whole, it still went relatively smoothly. The cores were created, the launch mechanism was completed, and then Iron Sorcerer appeared.

From that point on, Stark, plagued by paranoia, suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and began generously sharing his technology for free.

If a rocket couldn't reach its destination, it didn't matter. If it crashed yesterday, the next day, you'd receive a series of design blueprints as a Naturegift. If satellite orbits became unstable, it didn't matter; your responsibility was to launch them, and someone else would take care of maintenance.

In the following period, Stark Incarnation poured in billions of subsidies, regardless of whether you had the capability to explore space. As long as you wanted to explore, he would handle the technical aspects.

After Schiller's Iron Curtain descended, most other countries also realized that if they didn't hurry and grab a piece of the pie, they would be left with crumbs. In the midst of a global space exploration frenzy, humanity reached the moon in a month, explored Mars in three months, and developed solar energy sources in half a year.

In just over a year, human civilization's attitude towards the Solar System underwent a massive transformation. Previously, it was "I belong to the Solar System," but now it was "The Solar System belongs to me."

In this context, throwing something near the Sun was quite novel. However, the countries on Earth had either already done so or were planning to do so. Even if you managed to secure it in place, sooner or later, others would do the same. If you dared to attack, no one would be better off.

What made the military even more heartbroken was that when they created those few cores, Vibranium prices were at their peak. To prevent the effects of rising prices, they stockpiled a significant amount.

Now, due to the widespread use of Molten Steel, producing the same thing cost only a fraction. Additionally, because of the explosive growth in technology, there was a generational gap between the technology from about five years ago and now. This meant they only had confidence in sending their outdated launch and transport mechanisms into their designated orbits.

Moreover, it was not a complete certainty. Ross had to ask his own daughter for Mercury nearby materials to prevent them from being shot down by the weapons guarding the Mercury Base.

And so, the military became the pioneers of human exploration of the Solar System. To call them pioneers might not be entirely accurate; they were the first, but they didn't quite succeed.

Chasing after rising prices and falling markets was inherent to human nature. This time, the military's launch was like chasing ducks onto a shelf. Launching now at least allowed them to appease the factions among the mutants who were reluctant to participate in the Solar System construction plan. Gaining their favor might help recover some losses.

Ross thought ruthlessly, when negotiating with those annoying mutants, they must make them bleed heavily. Otherwise, how could they recoup the military's losses?

On the day of the launch, New York was cloudless, and all the generals gathered at the launch center, standing behind the glass wall of a high-rise building, watching the large monitor displaying the launch progress. A researcher approached and said:

"We've already launched a satellite in advance, and it's monitoring the equipment's status in the nearby flight orbit. Once the rocket successfully lifts off, you generals will be able to see the equipment's flight trajectory."

The senior general nodded and turned his gaze back to the screen. As the countdown completed, the rocket roared into the sky.

Although in this era, this technology was no longer considered cutting-edge, it was vastly different from traditional rockets. The ignition process was shorter, but the speed was faster. In almost an instant, the rocket disappeared from the screen.

The screen shifted to the view of Earth's orbit, with the distant image of the rocket speeding away. Several young generals were exhilarated, but the more experienced ones in the front row furrowed their brows.

"What's that thing in the upper right corner of the screen? Is the screen dirty?... No, it doesn't seem like it. Why is it still moving?"

"That... it looks like a sphere, doesn't it? Am I seeing things, or is it still glowing?"

"The rocket! The rocket is heading towards that sphere! No, the sphere seems to be blocking the rocket's path. Move it out of the way!"

With the final roar, the screen briefly brightened and then gradually dimmed as an explosion lit up the sky, scattering rocket fragments in all directions.

In that moment, the fiery explosion illuminated the pitch-black night sky, and Space was filled with shining stars of Rotten.

"What's going on?"

The leading senior general roared, "Why did the rocket collide with something? Why did it disintegrate? Why didn't the equipment disengage in time?"

Soon, a pale-faced researcher rushed over and said, "I'm... I'm sorry, General! There was space debris that we didn't detect, likely left behind by rockets launched by various countries."

"This space debris was compressed from some special equipment, and its gravitational anomaly prevented our equipment from safely disengaging, so... so..."

The senior general glared at him with widened eyes and asked, "Are you saying that our expensive core has been completely destroyed?"

The researcher's legs started to tremble, but ultimately, he reluctantly nodded and said, "Yes... but fortunately, we intended to send up a simplified scouting version first, so the damaged core was not the most important one, and it has not been launched yet."

The senior general's expression improved slightly, but he still maintained a stern demeanor. He said, "If such a situation occurs again, you should be aware of the consequences. Redgate Orchidplan cannot afford to fail. Continue preparing for the launch!"

After about another week of preparations, the rocket was launched again. This time, it approached Mercury smoothly along its designated orbit, heading closer to the Sun.

When the generals saw this progress on the monitor, their expressions finally improved. Ross heard his colleagues whispering, "Since it has reached this point, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

"Is the equipment preparing to deploy? I think this distance should be just right. Look, there's Mercury Base over there..."

"The equipment is coming out; hurry, hurry! As long as the base can anchor, the plan is already more than halfway successful..."

Amidst a murmur of voices, the last section of the launch pod's shell fell away, and the equipment began its initial deployment.

However, just as everything was progressing smoothly, a conspicuous laser beam appeared out of nowhere, as if it had split the screen in half.

The generals instinctively shielded their eyes with their arms, and when they looked again, the equipment, which had begun to deploy, had disappeared.

Everyone stood there in shock. After a while, a researcher shouted, "We've been attacked by unidentified weapons! Someone has destroyed our research equipment! This is an attack! This is an attack!"

"What's going on?!" The senior general roared, "Who attacked our equipment? Is it Stark? Contact him immediately!"

After a while, a pale-faced researcher ran over and said, "General, our equipment was attacked by unidentified weapons. According to our observations, it wasn't Stark's equipment, and the defense weapons on Mercury Base didn't even activate..."

Ross quickly stepped forward and spoke, "It couldn't have been the defense weapons above Mercury Base. We obtained the authorization codes in advance and avoided the main weapons' firing range. There's no way they could have silently shot us down..."

"Then what do you think happened?!" The senior general's chest heaved rapidly, and he was starting to lose his composure.

After all, as the proposer and executor of this plan, he knew better than anyone how much money they had lost in those few seconds.

"Find out who fired at us!!" The senior general's voice almost broke through the glass wall as he said, "They must pay the price, and they must understand what foolishness they've committed!!"

"Yes, they must pay tenfold or a hundredfold for this!!" someone echoed.

"We need to find out immediately! Go and find out who did it!"

"We declare war on them!!"

At that moment, another researcher rushed over and said, "According to the signals sent back by the Black Box, the energy fluctuations from the equipment's destruction were very similar to the Bifrost that appeared on Earth earlier. We suspect it's the Asgard fleet's weapons..."

The generals, who had just been indignant, fell into silence in an instant.

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