Homo Sapiens

Year 22, January 6th.

Within the borders of Qin State, in the Southwest Region of Hongsawaddy.

On a highland near the center of the Longlang Mountain Range, concealed by the Green Umbrella system, a behemoth was undergoing its final inspection.

This was Launch Site No. 3, part of the Gold Mining Town Aerospace Base.

Li Qingye, who had recently come to Hongsawaddy for an inspection tour, was also present.

Base Commander Wu Gang and Dr. Buer, the chief engineer of the Longge Lang Giant Cannon project, accompanied Li Qingye as they gazed at the behemoth before them.

The behemoth resembled an upscaled battleship turret. Its 800-millimeter caliber barrel measured 80 meters in length.

Li Qingye calmly gazed at the long barrel. "Doctor, what are your chances for this test?"

"Around fifty percent. This is the first live test, after all," Dr. Buer said, not feeling very confident himself.

Their project had borrowed a massive amount of data from the former "Barbados Cannon" project and run a series of supercomputer simulations.

But the super-cannon before them had an 800-millimeter caliber and used an unprecedented 100-caliber barrel.

If not for Homo Sapiens Company’s biometallic alloy integrated-forming technology, it would have been impossible to produce such a powerful cannon.

"Chairman, we should head to the control room," Base Commander Wu Gang suggested, his expression tinged with concern.

Although everyone on the base was either a New Human or a Soldier, with no one hostile to Li Qingye or Homo Sapiens Company, that didn’t mean Wu Gang was without worry.

The main issue was the extreme danger of the cannon’s propellant.

"Alright, let’s go to the control room." Li Qingye was not the type to be inconsiderate of his subordinates. He knew that as long as he was here, Wu Gang wouldn’t dare have his men prepare the propellant.

On the way to the control room,

Li Qingye asked, "Doctor, is the cannon’s propellant still unstable?"

Dr. Buer shook his head. "It must be kept at cryogenic temperatures to ensure safety. And even then, that only extends its shelf life."

The propellant they were discussing was, in fact, metallic hydrogen.

Of course, the metallic hydrogen produced by Homo Sapiens Company was actually a semi-finished product.

Its core technology was a variant of the Crystal Sponge—the Hydrogen-Storing Crystal Sponge.

The process involves placing the Hydrogen-Storing Crystal Sponge in liquid hydrogen, introducing fullerene as a catalyst, and applying an electric current. Once saturated, the sponge is subjected to a pressure of 500,000 atmospheres, yielding a block of impure metallic hydrogen.

However, this substance must be kept below negative 175 degrees Celsius to maintain a stable form. If the temperature rises above that, it will detonate instantly.

Even in an environment of negative 175 degrees Celsius, it can only be maintained for 230 to 270 hours.

During this period, the metallic bonds between hydrogen atoms gradually break down, releasing heat and hydrogen gas. This process simultaneously destroys the Crystal Sponge’s lattice structure, ultimately rendering it a useless waste material.

In other words, from the moment it is created, this unstable metallic hydrogen enters a state of continuous decay.

Typically, within the first day of its creation, the concentration of metallic hydrogen within the sponge is at its highest, generally maintained above 90%.

Therefore, this metallic hydrogen crystal sponge is best made and used on the spot to achieve maximum energy density.

This was the operational plan the base had chosen to adopt.

That was why Wu Gang had insisted Li Qingye go to the secure control room. After all, the control room had the protection level of a nuclear bunker; even if an accident occurred at the base, the control room would be unaffected.

Once Li Qingye and his group arrived at the control room, Wu Gang immediately ordered the base’s hydrogen plant to begin producing metallic hydrogen.

「Meanwhile.」

Inside the cannon’s chamber, a "shell" with a diameter of 804 millimeters was loaded. The reason the shell’s diameter was larger than the barrel’s caliber was primarily for sealing purposes.

After the shell was loaded, the explosion chamber at the rear of the barrel was filled more than halfway with liquid oxygen. At the same time, the external cooling systems activated, rapidly lowering the internal temperature to negative 180 degrees Celsius.

「Half an hour later.」

In the control room.

"Report: the metallic hydrogen propellant has been prepared."

Wu Gang turned to look at Li Qingye.

Li Qingye waved his hand, signaling him to proceed according to protocol.

"Begin loading propellant."

"Roger."

The cannon’s explosion chamber and the barrel itself were not a single piece. They featured a split design to facilitate the loading of the metallic hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

After a specialized machine loaded the metallic hydrogen, the connection port was sealed with a thin steel film similar to Invar steel.

Then, the barrel and the explosion chamber were connected in a sleeve-like fashion, locking the two components together completely, and the joint was reinforced with a super-alloy.

"Begin vacuum evacuation."

"Roger."

The cannon’s muzzle was covered with a special cap, which was then locked and sealed. A small tube, designed into the inner wall of the muzzle, was used to begin the evacuation process.

Because the shell’s diameter was larger than the barrel’s caliber, the vacuum suction held it firmly in place without causing it to slide forward.

Once the vacuum was established, the special nanomembrane on the muzzle cap was sucked inward several centimeters by the negative pressure.

"Begin adjusting firing parameters."

"Roger."

KA-CHUNK... Various mechanical parts moved slowly. The giant cannon’s muzzle tilted, aiming at a 45-degree angle toward the southeastern sky, relative to sea level.

The southeastern direction was chosen to take advantage of the acceleration from Earth’s rotation.

Wu Gang checked the time. "All departments, attention. Proceed to the safe zones immediately."

"Roger."

The base personnel quickly entered the safe zones, which offered an extremely high level of protection.

Wu Gang had the head of each department reconfirm their status before announcing, "Launch countdown, T-minus 60 seconds!"

"59..."

"10..."

"1... Fire!"

As the button was pressed, the temperature inside the explosion chamber rose rapidly. The moment it reached negative 165 degrees Celsius, the metallic hydrogen finally entered its volatile state.

BOOM! A terrifying explosion erupted in the chamber. Even through 1.5 meters of super-composite alloy plus 0.8 meters of reinforcement, the structure emitted a piercing roar.

The shell was instantly forced into the barrel. Then, under the combined effect of the vacuum and the explosive shockwave, it instantaneously pierced the membrane at the muzzle.

BOOM! With a muzzle velocity of 8.6 kilometers per second, the shell slammed into the air, creating a terrifying sonic boom. At the same time, the intense frictional heat made the shell’s surface appear as if it were on fire.

A dazzling meteor shot into the sky above Southeast Asia at a 45-degree angle.

The ablative layer on the shell’s surface peeled away, layer by layer, from the intense heat of air friction.

By the time the shell penetrated the atmosphere and crossed the Kármán line, about one-third of its ablative layer remained.

The moment the shell crossed the Kármán line, its rocket booster engine ignited, accelerating it toward a higher orbit.

The Southeast Asia Radar Station, Palawan Island Radar Station, Cianlan Island Radar Station, and a communications radar ship near Nauru Island—all responsible for monitoring and tracking—quickly reported the shell’s position to the Gold Mining Town Aerospace Base.

seconds later.

The shell reached an altitude of 650 kilometers in low Earth orbit. Its rocket engine then adjusted its trajectory, turning the shell into an artificial satellite orbiting Earth.

The shell had a total weight of 7.3 tons. Excluding the burned-off heat-resistant layer and the methane-liquid oxygen fuel, its payload of various instruments and equipment weighed about 2.8 tons.

The satellite currently had 1.93 tons of fuel remaining.

After deploying its solar panels, the artificial satellite, named "Hongsawaddy I," officially entered low Earth orbit.

And in those 163 seconds, the entire world was left stunned.