Chapter 456: Departure
Everyone was stunned and excited! The howl of the wind was drowned by the noise of chatter all around.
"Is this the Glassian spacecraft?" the voices questioned.
Bi Jianping who was avoiding small talk with Luo Yuan after the awkward moment they shared, ran forward to keep up with him. He had fallen behind while admiring the spaceship.
As compared to the mothership, the spaceship seemed insignificant.
Although insignificant in size, as a rescue spacecraft, it was the Glassians’ last resort at escape during a crisis. It was a spacecraft that had the ability to perform interstellar travel. To be able to do that, not only would it require a strong driving force, but also massive amounts of fuel and supply storage space.
Following the principle of momentum, the spacecraft’s flight capabilities was mainly designed to move at high speeds. Interstellar travel was calculated at one light year per unit fuel burnt. Based on the figures, the amount of fuel needed for the journey was immense. Moreover, besides the resources found in the stellar system, there was a blank space along the planned path where no habitable meteorites or water could be found. That said, without a gigantic supply cache stored in the spacecraft, it would be impossible to accomplish interstellar travel.
The spacecraft was 200 meters tall with a radius of 600 meters. To be precise, it was as tall as a 70-storey skyscraper and five football fields side-by-side.
It was massive. Standing next to such a huge object, a human looked as tiny as an ant. It was quite a spectacular moment to have been standing underneath it. Moreover, it was created by aliens and everyone in the vicinity was awestruck by it.
"This is a small transport ship and is considered as a backup spacecraft. There are much bigger ones in space." Luo Yuan said and chuckled.
"The alien’s technology is mind-blowing!" Bi Jianping said in wonder.
As a senior member of the civil service, he had many years of experience under his belt and had seen many things in his lifetime. But with the current state of human technology, it was impossible to even envision, let alone build such a monstrous creation even if all forms effort and resources were invested into it. Aside from a spacecraft that was capable of interstellar travel, the outer shell alone would stump any human being foolish enough to attempt such a feat. What amazed him more was how Luo Yuan managed to defeat the civilization that created this extraterrestrial spacecraft?
"I will open up the spacecraft’s storage compartment while you instruct the staff to move the supplies into it," Luo Yuan said while walking towards the spacecraft.
"Yes, sir!" Bi Jianping said.
Apart from the people, the migration initiative included the moving of food and daily necessities, as well as lab equipment. Before figuring out the production of synthetic food, those were mandatory for the initial phase of survival during the migration.
In the beginning, it required a little effort to boost production numbers as the facilities were run by highly skilled robots. However, the connection within the spacecraft had been destroyed by Luo Yuan, and the same had happened to the mothership. Therefore, everything had to be done manually.
"Permission verification, I am boarding the spaceship." Luo Yuan said as he entered the spacecraft. He then turned around and continued, "Open up all the cargo holds."
With the advanced detection system on the spaceship, it could pick up commands from over 10 million kilometers away. Just when Luo Yuan gave his command, the 60 meter tall cargo doors on the lower middle part of the spaceship were opened. Strips of conveyor belts rolled down from the doors to ease loading effort.
While the rest were stunned, Luo Yuan walked into the spaceship and headed to the control room.
"Welcome aboard, Captain. Ready for your orders!" said the computer.
"Permission granted for the civilians to board the spaceship." Luo Yuan said.
"Temporary access granted. To achieve official access, DNA verification is required. Shall we begin?"
"There’s no need!" Luo Yuan responded hastily.
"That was close!" he muttered to himself. Luo Yuan realized that the gravity on the Glass Planet was different from that of Earth. The composition of air was different too where the oxygen on the planet was only 60% of the Earth’s air. The rest of the air was distinctly different too, especially with components of sulfur dioxide, which occupied 12% of the air that caused a foul stench on the spaceship.
As an interstellar life-form, Luo Yuan could withstand the environment and he did not make any changes to that, but to ordinary people, the composition forementioned was fatal! He instantly corrected the readings. "Computer, adjust the air content and gravity on the spaceship to match Earth’s air. Also, adjust the temperature to 30 degree Celsius!" he commanded.
The most suitable temperature for the human body was 23 degrees Celsius, but since the apocalypse, people got used to high temperatures, which made 30 degrees Celsius the most comfortable temperature.
"Yes, sir!" The robotic voice complied.
Soon, the gravitational pull in the spaceship stabilized and as the air content was being adjusted, a gust of wind began blowing through the compartments to purge out the initial stagnant air. Standing in the wind, Luo Yuan frowned. "How long does the air content adjustment take?" he inquired.
"Sir, it will take one hour!" The computer replied.
"That’s too slow, bring on the full force!" he said.
"That will be harmful to you sir, I suggest you leave the spaceship." The computer warned.
"There’s no need for that, adjust the air content adjustment to full force now!" He barked. Luo Yuan then laughed at the computer’s reaction to him. He was not some weak Glassian. With his body, it would be ridiculous if a tiny bit of wind in the spaceship could harm him.
"Yes sir!" the computer complied.
Then, a strong wind rushed into the spaceship. Each and every air filter in the spaceship ran at full force. It was like a grade nine hurricane in there!
Fortunately, there was nothing fragile on the spaceship as everything was solid metal and extremely heavy, or else it would have been chaotic.
Half a minute later, the wind stopped.
"Captain, the air content adjustment is done. Same goes for the gravity and temperature. Is that all, Sir?" The computer questioned.
"Computer, perform similar adjustments for the mothership!" Luo Yuan ordered.
"Permission pending. Permission granted, sir!"
...
On the other hand, the moving had begun. Many were carrying gunny sacks while some were carrying machines and electrical components. With excitement in the air, they placed the supplies carefully onto the 60 meters wide conveyor belts into the cargo hold, ensuring everything was packed in safely as the Captain instructed.
The disembarking was estimated to take an hour. 50,000 people of the first batch entered the spaceship in an orderly fashion.
Since it was just a temporary transition, Luo Yuan did not let them enter the residential area just yet. Right after all of the people entered the spaceship, Luo Yuan ordered the computer to close the cabin doors without hesitation. Soon, the spaceship trembled and slowly lifted off the ground. After a brief systems check, it flew off into space at the speed of light!