The moment the Morning Star broke through the clouds, Lin Xia felt her entire body tremble. The windows of the main control cabin were bathed in a faint reddish haze, the color of Earth's atmosphere stained by the red mist, like a peeling scab. She gripped the joystick tightly, her fingertips digging into the leather grain—the altitude on the instrument panel pulsed at a triple-digit rate per second, far surpassing the roar of the ground.

"Synchronous orbit insertion angle 17.3 degrees, within the allowable error range." Chen Ye's voice was electric. On the holographic screen before him, the curve of the Earth gradually unfolded into a complete blue sphere. However, the blue had long since faded, and large reddish-brown patches, like spreading rust, covered the former oceans and landmasses.

Lin Xia's fingertips traced the control console, calling up the communication channel list. The base frequency was still flickering, but only a crackling noise remained. "There's no response from ground control." She pressed the encrypted call button. The signal strength bar, like a dying fish, rose and fell faintly at the bottom of the screen. "Have you confirmed the last coordinates received?"