novelsite Chapter 91: New Year's Greetings from the Universe
Chapter 91: New Year's Greetings from the Universe
"That's it!?"
"This ending is quite meaningful and quite good, but it doesn't match the previous publicity campaign."
"After all that fuss, I thought there would be some earth-shattering news, but this is all? What a waste of my mahjong time."
"This is boring, let's go."
"Oh, what a huge disappointment!"
"..."
Just as the audience was discussing this, suddenly, a formation of twelve unmanned near-space dual-purpose payload cabins, all silver-white in color, trailing even and soft pale blue ion tail flames, entered the scene in an orderly fashion along a fixed track.
A short while later, one payload bay after another smoothly passed beneath the camera, speeding away into the depths of space and disappearing from the frame one by one.
Once the last cargo compartment had completely disappeared from view, the camera quickly and smoothly turned, aligning itself with the direction the cargo formation was heading.
Then, all the viewers instinctively held their breath, opened their mouths, and stared blankly at the screen.
Contrary to what the audience expected, the payload formation was not heading to the depths of space, but to a giant space fortress that spanned a kilometer and floated in space!
Its outermost giant closed-loop track is symmetrically extended, and the nested port platforms are arranged in a staggered manner, with clear divisions between berthing areas, operation areas, and supply areas.
At the center of the giant ring, the main tower of the multi-sided prism stands upright, its body a seamless whole, without a single unnecessary protrusion or splicing flaw.
On the tower, bright flags extend naturally along the curve of the tower. The panels are flat and taut, with proportions that meet the standards. There is no fluttering, no wrinkles, and no drooping. It clearly shows to the world which country owns this cosmic fortress.
After the initial shock subsided, the audience predictably became agitated: "Wait, why did they add a CG animation here?"
"The ending was so much better with the open ending. Why did you have to add all this unnecessary stuff? It's ridiculous!"
"I want to know what AI was used to make this, it's so realistic."
"What's the use of being realistic? A fake is a fake."
"Terrible review, absolutely terrible review!"
"Wait, is the Spring Festival Gala starting to pad out the runtime now?"
"Apologize to my brother! How can this thing replace my brother? Girls, boycott the Spring Festival Gala and make them apologize to my brother!"
"Holy crap, is this some kind of AI promotional video from some company?"
"It's possible, after all, only that one company has the capability to create such a large-scale publicity campaign."
"Whatever, I knew it was a lump anyway!"
"This is boring, let's call it a day, let's go wash up and go to bed."
"..."
Yes, no one believed that Tianguan-1 was real.
There's no way around it, Tianguan-1 is just too illogical.
Such a massive construction project requires not only a huge amount of materials, but also a large construction team and a variety of specialized engineering equipment, and it also takes a considerable amount of time.
Before the electromagnetic sled launch matrix was completed, it was impossible to store such a large amount of materials in space, let alone allow a large number of construction workers to live in space for a long time.
As for whether it was built after the electromagnetic skid launch matrix was completed...
They believe they now have the capability to store large quantities of resources in space, and they also believe they can enable a large number of construction workers to live in space for an extended period of time. However, they simply cannot believe that such a space fortress could be built in less than a month!
Therefore, the image must be fake!
However, the slap in the face came so quickly and so unexpectedly.
Suddenly, a piece of text appeared on the screen, then shrank in front of everyone and moved to the upper right corner: [This is a live broadcast].
That wasn't all. After the text appeared, the camera immediately panned to the twelve payload bays that had just arrived.
Instead of uniform, standardized, and template-based docking maneuvers, they were diverted according to the real-time status of the berths in the port area: the six cargo bays autonomously and slightly adjusted their flight attitude, corrected their course and reduced their speed little by little, precisely aligned themselves with the vacant berths in the core operating area, adjusted their tilt angles with millimeter-level precision, and gradually completed the flexible docking and mechanical locking. The whole process was smooth and natural, without any fixed animation rhythm.
The three cargo holds then autonomously turned and sailed toward the supply port area on the side, hovering smoothly and waiting quietly for the rotation operation instructions.
The remaining three cargo bays retreated to the outer buffer track, maintaining a low-speed, stable cruising state, ready to enter the port at any time.
Once all the load compartments in the berth are docked, locked, and stabilized, the idle robotic arms in the core operating area slowly awaken, extend, and begin to operate. They precisely align with the interfaces of the compartments and systematically complete tasks such as material transfer, data synchronization, and status verification.
Through the transparent observation window of the cabin, one can vaguely see personnel on duty inside, methodically checking on-orbit data, registering material information, and carrying out routine duty operations.
For the remaining berths without operational tasks, the robotic arms are folded and stored away, remaining in a dormant state without any unnecessary movements.
At the same time, all the supporting equipment in the entire port area was started and stopped as needed: in the areas where operations were underway, the lighting arrays were fully lit, the radar was scanning at high frequency, and the transmission antennas were operating at full power;
In the vacant areas where there are no tasks, the equipment is in low-energy sleep mode, the lighting is dimmed, and the monitoring system is on low-frequency duty, creating a quiet and orderly environment without any redundant activity.
The combination of movement and stillness, and the balance between density and sparseness, creates a lively and orderly scene without any artificial special effects.
Such a realistic, detailed, and completely unforced scene instantly left most of the audience staring at the screen in disbelief.
At the same time, the same thought came to their minds: Could that space fortress be real?
If it's true, then how do you explain the previous questions?
However, it's unlikely to be fake.
Because no top-tier production company would be so idle as to think they have too much money to burn.
After all, whether it's top-notch human CG rendering or the latest AI generation technology, the cost of replicating those few minutes of footage is almost absurd: they would have to write physical logic and linkage programs individually for every piece of equipment, every cargo compartment, every detail of the port area, and so on.
The costs involved, such as computing power, manpower, time, and technology, are impossible to calculate, and it's simply impossible to recoup the investment, let alone generate any profit.
So, this space fortress is real!?
If that's true, then we're back to the same old problem.
If it's fake, then we're back to the previous question.
For a moment, most viewers were stuck in a vicious cycle, unable to escape.
Just as those people were struggling with their own internal struggles, a clear, calm, and utterly serene broadcast voice, devoid of any background noise, clearly reached the audience's ears through the camera lens: "In a stable orbit around the Earth-Moon L1 northern halo, all officers and soldiers on duty at Tianguan-1 wish the people of the whole country a happy Spring Festival and good health to their families!"