"Dr. Chang'e, is this okay?"
"Stop calling me Chang'e, didn't I tell you not to?" An Rong looked exasperated. She was the first woman on the moon, and with her pretty looks, everyone naturally started jokingly calling her Chang'e. She'd corrected them countless times, but no one could break the habit. Even staff back at Kunlun Mountain Base were calling her Chang'e now.
There was no helping it. Myths and legends had left a deep mark on people's hearts. An Rong just happened to match the image perfectly—elegant, delicate, and adorable. If there was a Wu Gang on the moon, how could there not be a Chang'e? With Chang'e here, it felt like they could declare the moon had always been an inseparable part of China.
Liu A'dou had joined in the lunar construction too. The first task was to build a base. Most of the main equipment came from technologies he'd provided, from oxygen production to artificial sunlight. For now, they still relied on solar power for batteries. The fusion batteries were still in development. Once helium-3 could be mined, the batteries could be mass-produced, and then the moon's power supply would be strong enough to run much larger machines.
They assembled high-strength lightweight plastic piece by piece to build the structures. This time, they were constructing a large base that could house 200 people. The order of operations was to lay out the solar panels and set up the batteries first, then start building rooms. Until the rooms were finished, everyone would keep living inside the Wu Gang.
The planned schedule called for 20 days of work. It was mostly assembly, but the moon's one-sixth gravity was tricky at first, slowing everyone down. Once they got used to it, their work speed improved dramatically.
The seven engineers who came were all top military technicians, and the construction method was the same as the army's standard modular system. The only difference was they had to ensure everything was airtight.
"Liu A'dou, pull the cables over so we can charge the Wu Gang's batteries," An Rong ordered.
"Got it," Liu A'dou called back. He bounced over, dragging the power cables behind him, leaping several meters in the low gravity. "Where's the port?"
"Underneath," she replied. The landing gear still had wheels. Even though the Wu Gang could land vertically, wheels let it adapt to more terrains, and in case of problems, they could even glide in for a landing.
"Found it, plugged in—how's that?"
"All good."
Her voice crackled over the headset confirming it. Liu A'dou hopped away again. On the moon's low gravity, he was by far the most active one, and he got the most work done.
Everyone had to admit they were impressed with his physical abilities.
Building materials had already been unloaded and stacked to the side. The camp was being set up a short distance away. The Wu Gang itself had maneuvering thrusters, but on Earth they were useless—too weak. Only in the moon's low gravity could they move the Wu Gang without needing the main engine, which would risk damaging electronics nearby.
Electronics hardened against nuclear pulses hadn't been developed yet, so they had to make do with what they had.
Liu A'dou looked over at the forming base. Since there were no foundations, the buildings weren't tall. They were laying power cables now. All the materials had been precisely calculated ahead of time, and the entire base was designed back on Earth. Their job was just to assemble it. Once they had power, they could set up the oxygen systems. When oxygen levels inside reached safe levels, they'd all move in and start working.
Everything was going smoothly.
"Bet you didn't expect we'd get this much done this fast."
Out of the corner of his eye, Liu A'dou saw An Rong sway slightly before she stood steady. "What's this, our Chang'e taking a break already?"
"I told you, stop calling me Chang'e. I'm still charging the batteries," An Rong replied. "Honestly, I'm shocked too. Just five months ago, I was at the research institute designing lunar rovers. I never thought that five months later, I'd actually be standing on the moon."
Liu A'dou nodded. "Yeah, it's amazing. I thought it'd take two or three years before we could start developing the moon. But it's only been half a year, and now we've even launched a month ahead of schedule. Saying I'm not surprised would be a lie."
An Rong thought to herself that the key factor was the technology Liu A'dou had brought them. She said, "First, thank you for what you provided. But second, our top leadership has put huge priority on space development. Right now, the international situation isn't in our favor. With American superheroes popping up, their talents and power make people outside the U.S. feel totally unsafe. Especially the superheroes educated in America—they may protect humans, but they also spread America's strong ideology and values. The so-called 'universal values' America pushes are basically hollow words, used to advance their own interests. With superheroes as their megaphone, their influence is overwhelming. Other countries struggle to get any footing. It's like every nation is stuck under America's shadow. That's why our leaders decided to push the space program hard, to get ahead of the U.S. and rebuild our own values."
"I see… so will there be publicity about this moon landing?" Liu A'dou asked.
"The original plan was to release everything after the Wu Gang's mission concluded at the end of the year. Over the past five months, military photographers have been documenting Kunlun Mountain Base. But since we launched early, the plan might change."
Liu A'dou understood this way of doing things. Big announcements only came when results were certain.
"You don't need to thank me," he said. "If our country hadn't been working so hard already, even if I handed over tons of tech, we'd never have achieved so much in just five months." He wasn't just being humble—he was telling the truth. Without a solid space program, industrial base, and talented experts ready to step up, the technology he provided would have been as useless as a moon reflected on water.
But things were finally moving in the right direction. "Where did it all start?" Liu A'dou wondered, remembering the humiliating history from a century ago. Back then, countless people had fought and sacrificed for the nation. Even now, those with ambition hadn't changed. A hundred years ago, it was for national sovereignty. Now, it was for the dream of a strong and powerful country.
It wasn't perfect—but then, what ever is? All he could do was believe things would keep getting better.
An Rong watched the profile of Liu A'dou's face behind his helmet visor. She could only see a faint outline and had no idea how much he was thinking. She didn't know he was imagining how this world of superheroes would only get more exciting.
Of course, while some people were doing great, others were having a terrible time. First, five U.S. space fighters had been damaged by what looked like a satellite-sized spacecraft. Then came a report of an alien ship blasting off from Earth. America's intelligence agencies were in chaos.
But this time they couldn't blame it on their usual shadowy agencies. The Kunlun Mountain Base's launch had been way too sudden and fast. Even America's spies in China had only just noticed something strange, but they couldn't connect it to a full-fledged spaceship.
Could it really be aliens? For now, that was the assumption. The U.S. simply couldn't believe another country had beaten them to building a spacefaring vessel. Absolutely impossible, they thought. Back in World War II, America had scooped up countless scientific geniuses and advanced rapidly, hoarding loads of black tech. The idea that anyone else could master core technologies before them was laughable. But in this strange world, nothing was certain anymore—because having a cheat wasn't America's exclusive privilege.