When the flying transport first took off, the apprehensive enlistees heaved a sigh of relief and thought, It's just so-so. It's just like taking off and landing in a flying car.
But they soon realized that they had been too naive!
As the flying transport rose rapidly, Kevin Lin's face turned paler and paler.
Rumble — —
There seemed to be a deafening roar coming from outside. Outside the windows was a sea of red. The cabin they were in was shaking violently as if it had encountered a malfunction. Their internal organs were resonating, and the low-frequency vibrations increased the load on their bodies, making them feel extremely uncomfortable. Some of them howled in pain and cried for their parents. Although the others did not howl as fiercely, they were definitely not better off than the former.
Only now did the enlistees deeply experience the feeling of having their souls leave their bodies that the military officer had described. Their organs were about to shatter, the fear of dying the next moment, and the hopelessness of struggling was futile. They thought they were really going to give up their lives here.
In another cabin not far away from the enlistees, the "special population" cabin where the scientists and engineers were located was as calm as if it was another world.
The cabin's soundproofing was very good, but they could guess what was happening there. This was something every one of them had experienced. Some of them looked at the cabin with nostalgia and rejoiced that they would not have to go through such a terrifying process again.
"How pitiful!" A scientist sighed. No one knew if he was lamenting the young enlistees suffering physical and psychological torture or if he was lamenting his former self.
"Kevin Lin is even more pitiful," a mining engineer said.
Among this batch of enlistees heading to planet Baiji, only Kevin Lin had to suffer a second round of "torture."
"Speaking of which, this is also Little Fang's first time experiencing it. I wonder how he is now," an engineer over 100 years old said.
Many of these people had received help from Fang Zhao, especially the oldest scientists and engineers. At this moment, their eyes were filled with worry. They only hoped that Fang Zhao would not be traumatized by this.
What was happening in the enlistees' cabin was just a simulation. It was a simulation of the early days when humans were exploring space and technology was not mature enough.
This was not specific to Fang Zhao or a few people, but an unwritten rule of the entire military service system. One was to let the rookies experience what their predecessors had gone through, so that they could personally experience the suffering of those pioneers who had once made contributions to the great cause of mankind, struggling on the edge of death. This was a form of tribute to those pioneers.
The second was to sharpen the temper of this bunch of young people who had just come of age. I'll torture you until you're half dead. No matter how rampant you are at home, you'd better keep your claws when you leave the planet. Otherwise, I'll make sure you suffer!
This was the first tribulation that the conscripts had to face, and it was also a tribulation that most conscripts had to go through. In the future, they would turn pale at the mention of it.
Even if some of the enlistees had already learned about it through information on the internet, or some of their relatives and friends had told them about it, they still felt indescribable pain when they truly experienced it.
Fortunately, this only happened for half a minute. After that, the cabin slowly calmed down.
Half a minute, 30 seconds, but under that kind of extreme pain, every second was torture!
The young enlistees who had finally endured those 30 seconds felt as if they had been given a new life. When the cabin finally calmed down, they were at a loss as if they didn't know what year it was.
At times like this, the difference between the strong and the weak became apparent. Those with stronger physiques looked much better than those with weaker physiques. Some of those with weaker physiques had already fainted. Those who were slightly better did not faint immediately, but their nostrils and mouths were bleeding. Their eyes were bloodshot as they sat there in a daze.
A month of military training might not have made them undergo a complete transformation, but their physiques had definitely improved a little. If they had been subjected to this without military training, there would probably have been even more people lying on the ground.
The emergency personnel calmly walked into the cabin and treated these people. They could obtain data on each enlistee's physical condition through the monitoring equipment on their seats. They knew that their lives were not in danger, so they were not in a hurry. They had seen this sort of thing many times. It happened every year in April and October.
Kevin Lin's face was deathly pale, as if he had encountered a major accident, but at least he was better off than those who were weaker.
"Drink some?" Fang Zhao handed Kevin Lin a bottle of water.
"Thank you." Kevin Lin's mind was still not fully awake. When he heard Fang Zhao's words, he took the opened bottle and hurriedly took a few mouthfuls. But very quickly, Kevin Lin stopped drinking and turned his head to look at Fang Zhao beside him. His gaze scanned Fang Zhao back and forth a few times, as if he was sizing up an alien he had never seen before.
Fang Zhao's complexion could not be considered rosy, but he was not considered pale either. He did not look much different from his usual self. He did not look like someone who had just gone through that ordeal.
"You... have been sitting here all this while?" Kevin Lin asked uncertainly.
"Mmhm." Fang Zhao nodded.
Kevin Lin opened his mouth, many questions swirling in his mind. Finally, he asked, "How do you feel now?"
Fang Zhao thought about it seriously and replied, "A novel experience."
Kevin Lin: "..." He had never heard anyone describe that kind of painful experience in such a fresh and refined manner.
Seeing that Fang Zhao did not seem to be faking it, Kevin Lin muttered, "Is his physique that strong?" However, when Kevin Lin thought about how Fang Zhao usually carried those slightly older technicians on his back, he felt relieved. That's right, Fang Zhao's physique seems to be pretty good.
Very quickly, Kevin Lin once again lamented his wise decision. Luckily, he had made preparations and had not planned on broadcasting the entire process of "going to heaven." Otherwise, he would have lost a lot of face! Even without watching the surveillance footage in the cabin, he knew what kind of state he had been in. He reckoned that he had been scared out of his wits before the process had even begun. He had no image to speak of.
In the control room of the flying transport, two colonels in charge of transporting the enlistees stood in front of a screen. They had seen the situation in the enlistees' cabin through the surveillance footage.
"This batch of people isn't bad," a lieutenant colonel said with satisfaction. He was also the one who had told the enlistees to "send you all up to heaven and enjoy the out-of-body experience."
Although among this batch of enlistees, there were still some who had fainted in that short 30 seconds because their bodies could not take it or because they were under too much psychological pressure, the number was still acceptable. Overall, it was considered pretty good. Of course, the Yanzhou military instructors felt that this was the result of their "proper teaching."
"Not bad." The colonel standing at the side did not have much emotion on his face, but when he saw Fang Zhao's position on the screen, his eyebrows twitched, and he pointed to the screen. "Is this kid really one of the five stars of Project Starlight?"
"That's right, it's him. I originally thought that he was just a small celebrity with good luck. Never would I have imagined that he would actually have some ability."
They all knew that during Fang Zhao's previous month of military training, he had been with those scientists and engineers. The amount of training definitely could not compare to that of the other enlistees. Logically speaking, the results of this month's training and the degree of improvement in his physique definitely could not compare to that of the other enlistees. But now, it seemed that being able to endure that 30 seconds of "torture" showed that his physique was much better than the others.
"Actually, it is understandable. After all, he is also someone who received an 'excellent' grade in his physical examination."
"That's true. I just hope that he performs well later on and does not embarrass our Yanzhou. "
The two of them did not discuss this matter too much. They were only responsible for sending this batch of Yanzhou enlistees to the space station. After that, their mission would be complete and they could return directly to Earth.
As for how Fang Zhao would perform after that, they actually did not have high expectations. Among the five stars of Project Starlight, Fang Zhao was at a huge disadvantage. Don't think that he had attracted a bunch of middle-aged and elderly audiences. Who could say how things would develop in the future?
Generally speaking, it was much harder to get money from the middle-aged and elderly audiences than to coax donations from the easily agitated youngsters.
So what if there were more audiences? If there were not enough donations and military expenses could not be raised, wouldn't he still be inferior to others?
However, in their expectations, as long as Fang Zhao did not get left too far behind by the other four, it would be fine. After all, Fang Zhao's age and status were there, and he did not know how to coax fans. It was better not to have too high of an expectation.
Inside the enlistees' cabin.
After being treated by the medical staff, the previously pale people finally felt better.
"We are already out?" a youngster asked.
"Yes."
"We can see Earth from the window," a few people replied weakly.
They had seen what this planet looked like countless times, whether it was for extraterrestrial travel or other means of transportation. They had long since lost their sense of novelty. Even for first-time enlistees, the novelty only lasted for a moment before they lost the mood. Nowadays, images were rampant, and they had seen too many.
They were a little homesick, not just for their own families, but also for their homeland. They always felt that on this planet where they had grown up, no matter where they were, whether it was their own continent or another continent, it was still Earth. They were stepping on solid ground, and whenever they wanted to go home, all they had to do was book a plane ticket and they would be home.
But from now on, they had to distance themselves from this familiar planet. They felt like their feet were suspended in the air, and their hearts were suspended. After all, they were still young, and this was the first time they were so far away from home. When they thought about the year of arduous military service ahead of them, they felt a little sad. The cabin became silent and a little stifling.
Amidst this silence, Fang Zhao walked over to the window and looked outside.
Kevin Lin was about to say something to Fang Zhao when he saw Fang Zhao's gaze soften as he looked out the window, as if he was looking at a peerless treasure.
Fang Zhao stood by the window, his gaze piercing through the transparent window, shocked and persistent.
The azure blue planet seemed so small in the vast universe, yet it carried so many emotions and memories.
Not from holographic images, not from important scientific news, but from his own eyes. Separated by this window, he clearly and attentively looked at the planet where he had been born, grown up, struggled, and fought. The entire sphere shrunk into his field of vision, dominating the focal length. The distance was so close that it seemed as if he could touch it with his hand.
This was the planet 500 years after his death. It was familiar yet strange.
It had recovered. Although it was a little different from its appearance during the Old Era, at least it was a healthy color again. How rare!
The sudden surge of complex emotions made Fang Zhao's eyes burn.
Looking down, it was the azure blue planet. Looking up, it was the endless starry sky.
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