章 24: Chapter 24 — Rocket
At a height of over a hundred metres tall, the rocket glistened in the bright daylight. The launch site was empty, and a reinforced command room was located in the distance. In it, Konrad was there, wanting to see the results first-hand.
The mission control room was incredibly high-tech. Rows of flight controllers, scientists and support personnel sat in front of computers, and a large screen in the front was displaying the status of the rocket and the view from cameras mounted on it.
The design of the rocket was inspired by the Saturn V rocket of Earth. Most of the rocket consisted of fuel storage, and the different stages of the rocket were designed to withstand pressures up to the height where they would detach. The module at the very top had the highest pressure resistance, being built out of Adamite and Mithril and being built with the peak of technology. Magic had been used extensively to enchant the rocket, namely lightness magic. Originally designed to make armour lighter, it would now achieve great success in boosting the efficiency of the rocket. Other magic enchantments were also used to improve the efficiency and strength of the rocket.
In the mission control room, the final checks of the rocket had been finished. The rocket was fully operational, and the weather was clear.
[Launching in 5]
[4]
The rocket started smoking as the giant engines started heating up.
[3]
[2]
[1]
The rockets burst into flame, gradually increasing in power. Their loud roar deafened all birds in a mile radius.
[0]
[Lift off!]
Spewing giant clouds of smoke and fire, it slowly lifted off the launch platform, clearing the tower. The slender and pointy white rocket shot into the sky and broke the sound barrier in under a minute, surrounding itself with small condensation clouds.
[All systems stable, Stage 1 separation in 2 minutes 30 seconds, 67% fuel remaining]
Cameras mounted on the rocket showed the land getting further away. With a bang, the lower half of the rocket separated as it ran out of fuel and the rockets of the second section started.
[Stage 2 separation in 14 minutes. All systems normal]
The rocket continued on, turning into a small dot in the sky. At this moment, sensors in the hull went off as they detected stress.
[The pressure on the hull is increasing. The air pressure is… lower? How is that possible?]
Despite the rocket being put under increased pressure and stress, the air pressure did not increase. In fact, it started decreasing. However, this made no sense. If it wasn't the air pressure increasing, then what was causing the pressure? And this pressure was making it harder for the rocket to move! The rocket's acceleration started slowing down the further up it went.
Regardless of the intense discussions going on in mission control, the rocket continued its journey. The second stage separated, leaving a small rocket continuing its journey. If it started out as an angry roaring beast, then now it was a small and calm predator, speeding forwards. The pressure was now incredibly high, creaking the sturdy body of the rocket.
It was now higher than all previous attempts, and the high-definition camera captured the view of leaving the planet. The sky's blue had long faded as the rocket left the atmosphere and had been replaced with a cold darkness. Now at a height of over 100 kilometres, a breathtaking view of the world was taken, and…
[How is this possible? There's no curvature?!]
[This is impossible! It can't be true!]
From the rocket's perspective, the planet had no curvature. It was just a flat world that stretched endlessly. With the super-high-resolution cameras, countless humongous continents were captured, far away from each other. However, the view was blurry due to an unknown interference.
No matter how many cameras were checked, the world showed no curvature. The scientists were forced to accept the fact.
[This planet is humongous! It's at least hundreds of times larger than Earth! How is the gravity so low?]
[Does that mean the world is too big to show curvature, or is it really flat?]
[If it is flat, then what does the edge look like? It can't possibly just fall off into the void, can it?]
At this point, the third stage separated and only left the strongest section. The rocket's speed fell as the rockets struggled under the incredibly high pressure. The pressure was so high that even the strengthened rocket built using Mithril, Adamantine and the most advanced smithing technology was failing. Alarms went off as the hull was put under critical pressure. Deadly micro-cracks started forming.
[It's obviously a vacuum, but there's so much pressure! The hull integrity is rapidly falling, estimated to collapse within 20 seconds!]
[We have no other choice! Detonate the nuke!]
In addition to expending the wealth and power of the country to build the rocket, a final card was installed in the rocket. In the event of critical hull failure, a move had been designed as a final option. A nuclear warhead was installed in the base of Section 4, and a probe with an outwards-facing bowl shield was located at the top. Inspired by Earth's Project Orion, the nuclear explosion would propel the probe deep into space at extremely high speeds. Konrad had spent countless source points creating the probe as hard as he could with his current stockpile of energy points.
High in the sky, a giant nuclear fireball bloomed, shooting a small probe at unappareled speeds.
The probe had no camera as there was no way to install one without creating a weak point. It shot off into space at a speed of over 80 kilometres per second. Alarms went off as the pressure on it rapidly rose to become critical, signifying that it wouldn't last much longer.
[The radar on the probe has detected a large wall in front! It will collide at any moment!]
The signals from the probe instantly ended. On the screen, a computer-generated image emerged of its last transmission. Everyone in the room took a breath as they saw the final radar map: a giant wall. A smooth wall stretched for as far as the signal could reach. An invisible wall in the sky, preventing anything from leaving.
[How is there an invisible barrier…]
[Does this mean that the world exists in a bubble?]
[What is outside of the barrier? Is that the edge of the universe?]
[What about the sun and moon?]
It seemed like the world existed in a box, a flat world that was enclosed. In the back, Konrad thought of what he had read in fictional books on Earth; that there were multiple worlds with different levels of powers. Perhaps this was one of those worlds, just drifting endlessly through the void, sustaining itself due to its magical nature.
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