“Kane! Run!”

  ...

  “Run!”

  “Kane! Run!”

  ...

  “You only have 15 seconds left! Run!”

  ...

  It was the weekend， so Kane spent almost the entire night jumping between the bracelet world and the real one.

  He’d become the most dedicated visitor to the Aether Technologies exhibition hall. The second he entered the bracelet world， he did three things and three things only:

  strip off his gear， head to the exhibition hall， and study the displays.

  In the bracelet world， he couldn’t bring anything back with him. All he had to rely on was his own memory.

  So he had to seize every single second， writing down everything he saw before the memory faded.

  The bad news: the more times he entered the bracelet world， the more his energy drained， and the worse his memory got.

  The good news: the StarVoyager 1 project presentation in the exhibition hall was designed to be educational for customers in the first place. Everything he memorized， he could copy and use directly.

  After nearly 8 hours and 5 repeated trips into the bracelet world... Kane had finally copied most of the StarVoyager 1 master design plan.

  By now， his computer document was filled to the brim with notes.

  Next step: organize all this into a document that looked halfway decent.

  “Structural systems... airframe design...”

  “Carbon fiber composite materials used for lightweight， high-rigidity components such as fuselage frames， to reduce weight while increasing structural strength...”

  “Aluminum alloy used for fuel storage tanks， TC4 titanium alloy for high-temperature， high-pressure components...”

  “Propulsion system... main engine uses variable cycle engine or air-space dual-mode staged combustion cycle engine， model... model omitted.”

  “Solid rocket boosters... carry over Test Craft-003 design， using recoverable booster rockets...”

  “Thermal protection...”

  “Navigation， guidance， and control systems...”

  “Avionics and communications...”

  “Life support...”

  “Payload capacity...”

  Kane went through the StarVoyager 1 design plan he’d copied from the Aether Technologies exhibition hall 20 years in the future， line by line.

  He had to admit， the thing was unbelievably complex.

  He’d picked up some knowledge of overall framework design since getting into the industry... but if he’d been on his own， he never would have been able to put something like this together.

  No one was good at everything， after all.

  He knew flight control inside and out， had a passable understanding of avionics and communications， but when it came to rockets and engines? He was completely lost.

  Obviously. Those were two entirely different fields of study!

  Even at the same university， those two majors were worlds apart.

  And as far as Kane knew...

  In the entire history of humanity， no one had ever mastered both rocket engine design and flight control.

  To reach the level of chief engineer， you relied on massive resources， knowledge bases， and think tanks to support your design decisions for the project.

  Kane clearly didn’t have that.

  But the bracelet was his knowledge base.

  After another two hours， Kane had organized the design plan into something polished and coherent.

  Honestly， it was still a long way from a true preliminary master design plan， but the framework was solid.

  If he could get enough engineers to fill in the gaps in the framework， there was a good chance they could put together a complete plan in a short time.

  Kane looked at the finished plan on his desktop with satisfaction， hit save， and opened the internal chat app to send it straight to Stella.

  [File: StarVoyager 1 Preliminary Design Plan has been received]

  The notification popped up， and Kane jumped slightly.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  She was still up?

  It was almost 8 AM.

  Wait， had she pulled an all-nighter too， just like him?

  He was about to send a message to check in， when Stella’s reply came through instantly.

  “??”

  “You made this??”

  “Yeah.”

  The second Kane sent those two words， Stella called him immediately.

  “Wait， Kane， are you serious? Where the hell did you get this?”

  “...I told you I hacked NASA. You believe me?”

  Kane rubbed his throbbing temple and asked， “So? Is it usable?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Stella clicked her tongue in amazement.

  “This is still a long way from a real master design plan. For starters， there’s no feasibility analysis.

  Second， the overall rocket layout is way too rough， and there are gaps in the propulsion system design.

  Air-space dual-mode engine? Even if those exist， we can’t get our hands on one.

  And the flight control and navigation? The tech you listed isn’t exactly easy to implement right now...

  Overall， this isn’t a master design plan.

  It’s a collection of fragmented ideas.”

  “So it’s useless， then?”

  Kane felt a twinge of disappointment.

  But the next second， Stella said， “Quite the opposite. It’s incredibly useful!

  The process for designing rockets and spacecraft is already fully mature. For an experienced engineer， putting together a master design plan isn’t hard.

  What they lack is ideas! A direction!

  And this thing you made? It gives us exactly that direction!

  There are problems， sure， but problems can be fixed!

  Don’t worry about it. I already sent it to Chen Yan. He’s in a meeting with the boss and the chief engineer right now. Let’s see what they say!”

  “...Alright.”

  Kane collapsed back onto his bed.

  “I’m gonna sleep. Pulled an all-nighter， I can’t keep my eyes open.”

  “Fine. Sleep well.”

  Stella yawned.

  “...Can you stop with the weird innuendos? I’ll actually come downstairs to your place if you keep this up.”

  “In your dreams!”

  Stella scoffed. “If you’re tired， drink some of that goji berry and ginseng tea. My water bottle’s still with you， remember?”

  “Alright， I’m going to sleep. Bye!”

  The call ended. Kane tossed his phone aside and closed his eyes.

  In mere seconds， he was fast asleep.

  Meanwhile， in the chairman’s office at Aether Technologies headquarters.

  Chairman Ren Jian sat across from Chu Xu， the chief engineer of the Test Craft-003 project. Chen Yan sat in the corner， presenting the results from the project kickoff meetings over the past two days.

  “...So based on the feedback and suggestions from the team... we can tentatively conclude that everyone is very supportive of the chairman and chief engineer’s vision for interstellar travel.

  The team has said this vision aligns with why they chose to get into the civilian aerospace industry， and it’s reignited their passion for their work.

  There are still many technical challenges and hurdles ahead， but we all believe that with Aether Technologies’ growth， we’ll overcome them in time.

  Project pushback has been mostly eliminated. I believe the conditions are met to officially launch the project.”

  When he finished speaking， the two leaders across from him nodded in unison.

  “That’s good to hear. Young people have drive.”

  Ren Jian turned to Chief Engineer Chu Xu and smiled. “Chu Gong， when we were their age， would we have ever dared to suggest something like this?

  Space tourism... we wouldn’t have even dared to dream about it， let alone try to build it!”

  “Times have changed.”

  Chu Xu spread his hands.

  “These days， building an aerospace project is about as hard as building domestic cars was for the first generation of entrepreneurs in this country.

  Someone has to blaze the trail. And since we’re the ones paving the way， it’s only right we take a few extra steps forward.”

  “Exactly.”

  Ren Jian nodded in agreement.

  “Shame the kids haven’t come up with many concrete ideas， though.

  I was hoping this would get them thinking， so the project would run smoother once it got off the ground.

  But it looks like that expectation was a little misplaced.”

  Chu Xu flicked ash from his cigarette and nodded. “We’ll take it slow. Young people don’t have much experience， and they’re cautious. We...”

  Ding!

  Before he could finish， a notification pinged from Chen Yan’s computer.

  All three men’s heads turned toward the screen. Chen Yan awkwardly closed the pop-up， explaining， “One of the team members sent me a file...”

  “I saw it.”

  Ren Jian leaned forward， suddenly interested.

  “StarVoyager 1? That was the filename， right?

  What is it? Open it up， let’s see.”

  Chen Yan waved his hands quickly. “It’s just something a kid on the project team put together. I’ll polish it up and show it to you later.”

  “Why later? Let’s see it now!”

  Ren Jian insisted， and Chen Yan feigned hesitation.

  “It’s just not very polished yet， I’m afraid you’ll...”

  In reality， he was already secretly gloating.

  He’d seen Stella’s message， knew this was the so-called “plan” Kane had put together.

  Wow. He’d accepted the challenge yesterday， and he was already handing it in today?

  Something thrown together in one night couldn’t possibly be any good.

  He couldn’t wait to open the file for the boss to see. The more unpolished it was， the better.

  The rougher the document， the more it would prove this kid was reckless and impulsive... and give him all the excuse he needed to push him out later.

  Honestly， he had nothing against Kane personally.

  He just didn’t want a troublemaker popping up in his project team.

  So the kid would just have to take the fall.

  He saw the chairman’s brow furrow slightly， and quickly opened the file Stella had sent.

  “I haven’t even read this myself， I don’t know if it’s appropriate to show you...”

  “Let’s look at it together. It’s the weekend， what does it matter?”

  Ren Jian cut him off， and Chen Yan fell silent obediently.

  The three men read through Kane’s plan in silence. At first， Ren Jian and Chu Xu joked and teased lightly... but as they kept reading， Chen Yan noticed something was very wrong.

  They’d stopped talking entirely.

  The only sound in the spacious office was a single， monotone voice.

  “Next page.”

  “Next page.”

  Chen Yan’s eyes went wide.

  He could tell the two senior leaders were completely absorbed.

  What the hell?!

  This thing was actually readable??

  Well， it was a 10-plus page plan thrown together in one night. Even if it was all garbage， it was worth a glance.

  But it didn’t look like these two thought it was garbage at all.

  They finally reached the last page of the document.

  Ren Jian let out a long breath and turned to Chu Xu. “Chu Gong， what do you think?”

  Chu Xu’s eyes were shining.

  He said， “It’s rough. It’s simplistic. It’s even a little naive.

  But the thinking behind it， the ideas， the sharp eye for new technology... it’s remarkable.

  What’s this kid’s name again? The document says Kane?”

  “Ren， can you set up a time? We’d like to meet him... face to face.”