Bai Yixuan and the other two were suddenly stunned.

The next moment, they understood what Lü Yongchang meant.

Bai Yixuan suppressed a laugh and nodded vigorously: "Professor Lü, you're right!"

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Lu Yongchang in the command center straightened his expression. "Five minutes until takeoff, get ready!"

"yes!"

...

"Hello everyone, there are five minutes left before the launch of Xuan Nu II."

Bingbing's slightly sweet voice rang out in the live broadcast room: "We just received some information from NASA about Xuan Nu II."

"Xuan Nu II has a fuselage length of 60 meters and a payload of 80 tons."

"The longest flight distance is 6.68 astronomical units, and the highest flight speed is 167 km/s."

At this point, Bingbing added, "Although the top speed reached 167 km/s, this was after full acceleration."

"Considering the acceleration and deceleration time, it will take about fifteen days for Xuan Nu II to successfully reach Mars orbit."

"In addition, with the help of the second-generation Hall thrusters, the Xuan Nu II takes off and lands vertically."

As Bingbing finished speaking, two beams of dark blue flames shot out from the bottom of the Xuan Nu No. 2 in the live broadcast!

Propelled by two Hall thrusters, the Xuan Nu II slowly ascended into the air.

Holy crap! Holy crap!

"Wife, come out and see God!!"

"Wow, vertical takeoff and landing! This technology... Did China steal a UFO??"

Amidst the gasps of the crowd, five dark blue nozzles gradually appeared at the tail of the Mysterious Maiden II.

The next moment, Xuan Nu No. 2, trailing a long tail of flame, flew straight into the azure sky!

"Hmm?? Why do I feel like Xuan Nu No. 2 isn't very fast?"

"I felt it too. This speed... it doesn't seem much different from that of a regular passenger plane."

"Would NASA have submitted false data?"

Through the screen next to her, host Bingbing immediately noticed the various doubts and criticisms in the live chat.

She quickly explained, "Due to the shape of the fuselage, the Xuan Nu II does not fly very fast within the atmosphere."

"The top speed is only about Mach 0.7, which is not much different from that of a regular passenger plane."

...

The second Xuan Nu.

The three astronauts looked utterly bored.

"Captain, I still prefer Xuan Nu No. 1."

Hong Fan leaned back in his chair, his eyes vacant, and said, "This thing is too slow..."

"Mach 0.7...that's slower than the plane my grandma flies!"

"Pfft! Cough cough cough!" Xia Wanyi choked on her own saliva and glared angrily at Hong Fan.

"That's true..." Seeing Xia Wanyi's reproachful look, Hong Fan chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "At this speed, it would take us quite a while to leave Earth, wouldn't it?"

Faced with Hong Fan's complaints, Bai Yixuan twisted his body, which was firmly restrained by the seat belt, and a bitter smile flashed across his face.

Not to mention Hong Fan, even he thought this thing was too slow!

But as the team leader, he still had to do a good job of reassuring the team.

"Stay calm, stay calm."

"Once we're high enough and the air is thinner, we can accelerate!"

Hong Fan stared blankly at the clouds ahead and sighed deeply.

...

Ground command center.

Looking at the series of data transmitted back by Xuan Nu II, Lü Yongchang slowly breathed a sigh of relief, and the tense expression on his face relaxed a lot.

"Yongchang, I have a letter for you!"

Just as Lü Yongchang was about to turn around and leave the command post, Fang Xu's voice came from the side.

He turned around, looked at the two letters Fang Xu was holding, and a look of doubt appeared in his eyes.

"My letter?"

As he took the envelope, he frowned and muttered to himself, "What era are we living in? People still send letters?"

"By the way, have you checked these two letters? Are they alright?"

Fang Xu said with a somewhat strange expression, "Don't worry, if there's anything wrong with these two letters, our Xia Kingdom is probably finished..."

Lu Yongchang was stunned for a moment, then quickly looked at the signature on the envelope.

Xia Kingdom Academy of Sciences

Xia Guo Science and Technology Awards Office

Lu Yongchang's eyes flickered slightly, and he quickly turned his head to look at the calendar next to him.

2031.9.5

He suddenly realized something.

Is this year the year for electing academicians?

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's question, Fang Xu smiled and nodded slightly: "Congratulations! In a few days, we should start calling you Academician Lü!"

Lu Yongchang's lips curled up slightly.

Although he knew that this title was just a dispensable one for him, he still had a certain obsession with it as the highest academic title in science and technology in Xia Kingdom.

"How come the results are out so quickly this year?"

As Lü Yongchang opened the letter from the Academy of Sciences, he said, "Didn't the results usually take until around November?"

In his memory, academicians in Xia State are elected every two years, and each election takes place from the beginning of the year to the end.

Only by going through layers of screening and evaluation can one stand out from hundreds of candidates and become an academician.

Fang Xu rolled his eyes in annoyance: "That applies to normal people."

"Don't you even look at how much you've accomplished this year?"

"If it weren't for some procedures that I had to go through, I reckon those old guys at the Chinese Academy of Sciences would have elected you as an academician by the beginning of this year!"

This isn't something he made up.

He had heard some rumors as early as the beginning of the year.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences even held a special meeting for Lü Yongchang's academician selection.

During the meeting, the review team had a heated discussion about when to award Lü Yongchang the title of academician.

According to the review team, the sooner the academician title is awarded, the better!

After all, given his current achievements, if Lü Yongchang doesn't become an academician, there won't be many people left in the Chinese Academy of Sciences who are qualified to be called academicians.

However, in order not to break the rules, the time was still delayed until September, just over two months earlier.

"Congratulations, Professor Lü Yongchang..."

A smile appeared in Lü Yongchang's eyes as he read the words in the letter.

A year after his rebirth, he once again became an academician of the Xia Kingdom.

It's a pity that no one has contacted him yet; otherwise, he might already be the so-called chief scientist.

Thinking of this, a hint of interest appeared in Lü Yongchang's eyes.

How about we find an opportunity to bring up the SUPP issue with the Speaker of Parliament?

After all, Xia Kingdom's current strength is enough to suppress those countries that like to engage in underhanded tactics!

"Why don't you take a look at the other letter?"

Fang Xu's voice interrupted Lü Yongchang's thoughts.

"Huh? What's this?" Lu Yongchang was stunned for a moment, then opened another letter.

"Xia Kingdom's Highest National Science and Technology Award?!"