Chapter 140: A Wonderful World
The periphery of the Jupiter Ring consists of two micron-scale dust particle belts made up of only tiny substance particles, resembling thin veils.
Further inward lies the brightest part of the ring system.
It is also known as the main ring.
Within the main ring, there is another ring 30,500 kilometers wide and 12,500 kilometers thick.
These form a vast ring celestial system, utterly mesmerizing.
“Exit autopilot!”
‘Autopilot disengaged. Please control manually.’
A mechanical voice sounded, and Fan Ren placed his left hand on the control stick while lightly pushing the thrust lever with his right.
The spaceship tilted its nose upward slightly and flew directly above the Jupiter Ring.
Collecting peripheral substances held little significance; his purpose was the ring zone in the middle, where various block-shaped objects existed.
“Second Brother, be careful.”
Liu Jun instinctively gripped the handle, the massive Jupiter before him suddenly evoking fear like a giant beast.
“Relax, this is the geostationary orbit on the periphery of Jupiter, still 130,000 kilometers from Jupiter’s center.”
Fan Ren smiled and explained to him. In truth, Liu Jun already knew all this; it was just to reassure everyone.
Indeed, Jupiter’s enormous volume was overwhelmingly shocking.
The spaceship’s speed was not fast, taking several hours to reach the brightest central area.
Here, the density of the Jupiter Ring below was visibly increasing to the naked eye, making it impossible to see the universe beyond.
Fan Ren maneuvered the spaceship so its bow aligned with the rotation direction of the Jupiter Ring, then re-engaged autopilot.
He stood up and walked to the window, his gaze falling on the endless Jupiter Ring below.
Here, chunks of various stones of different sizes could be seen floating within the substances.
“Boss, keep an eye on the spaceship. I’m going for sampling.”
“I’ll go. You stay here and operate.”
Li Jian was shocked upon hearing this. This was Jupiter territory—outside temperatures were over minus 130 degrees, and who knew what conditions might arise.
“Ah? You misunderstood. The mechanical arm will do the sampling. It’s at the back.”
Fan Ren waved it off with a smile, though a warm current flowed through his heart.
The Boss was still the same, exuding that familiar fatherly care.
He exited the cockpit and immediately sealed the cabin door, a nano-coat materializing over his body.
Fan Ren did not get overconfident; he grabbed a thick safety rope from nearby, secured himself, and then donned the oxygen mask.
“Attention, opening the cabin soon!”
He called out to the communication system, warning those in the cockpit. The outer cabin was already in negative pressure state.
A ‘hiss’ sounded immediately, followed by silence after the cabin’s oxygen leaked out.
“Temperature minus 130 degrees, vacuum. No other unusual conditions detected.”
Fan Ren muttered to himself, gripping a fixed rail with one hand as he leaned out the cabin door.
Below, in the Jupiter Ring, dark black stones occasionally flashed with reflected light.
Fan Ren felt a slight thrill; ideally, these were ice cubes reflecting sunlight, solving the hub’s short-term water resources supply.
He did not linger on the beautiful twinkling lights, pulling his head back and grabbing an operation panel from nearby.
“Mechanical arm operation starting. Boss, keep the spaceship moving by inertia. If the reaction force from the mechanical arm causes large angular deviation, correct it then.”
“Li Jian received, over.”
In the cockpit, Li Jian focused intently, his responses turning formal. Liu Jun thought it looked particularly cool.
“Second Brother, need help? Over.”
He felt he should contribute something too.
“Stay put. Over.”
“Liu Jun received, over.”
He grinned broadly, feeling satisfied.
From the spaceship’s belly, the long mechanical arm slowly extended under Fan Ren’s control.
At the end of the mechanical arm, a several-meter-long claw-like object with hooks opened simultaneously.
Fan Ren peered down through the cabin, his gaze locking on a suitably sized dark ore, then controlled the mechanical arm toward it without hesitation.
As expected, with the spaceship and Jupiter Ring in relative stationary speed, the operation was extremely simple.
As the mechanical arm swung, the ore was delivered into the cabin.
Fan Ren caught the half-human-sized ore; through the nano-coat, he felt nothing.
In zero gravity, he could not sense its weight anyway.
However, the ore’s dark surface prevented detecting its contained elements for now.
Fan Ren secured it nearby, then scanned the dense array of blocky substances below again.
Soon, a transparent object flashing with light caught his eye. Though he had guesses about the substance, curiosity got the better of him, and he directed the mechanical arm toward it.
The mechanical arm firmly grasped the unidentified object and delivered it back into the cabin.
Fan Ren took it, curiously examining the highly transparent ‘stone’ before him, about half human-sized.
Could this be a diamond?
Similarly, he could not test its composition now. Though intrigued, he set it aside and resumed searching for targets.
Soon, the cabin was packed full of various stones grabbed by Fan Ren via the mechanical arm.
During this, several ice cube-like substances were also retrieved.
All would need testing back at the Blue Star Hub.
Below, the stones were mainly those dark black ones—Fan Ren’s most important purpose this time.
Sampling complete, Fan Ren retracted the mechanical arm and sealed the cabin.
After wrapping the ores in radiation-proof foil for preservation, Fan Ren began repressurizing the cabin.
“Boss, turn around. Accelerate steadily toward the preset Jupiter-Mars Lagrange Point.”
Fan Ren spoke into the microphone, then felt the spaceship’s hull twist slightly before entering a very smooth acceleration state.
‘Hiss’
The cockpit cabin door opened, and Liu Jun poked his head in from the doorway.
“Put on your nano-coat!”
Fan Ren shouted, and immediately, gray nano-coats materialized over everyone in the cabin, enveloping them.
“Take a look at this.”
Seeing that the group was temporarily safe from potential unknown factors, Fan Ren smiled and uncovered a corner of the foil.
It was the massive transparent stone he had grabbed out of curiosity earlier.
“Holy crap, this thing isn’t a diamond, is it?”
Liu Jun was stunned. Good grief, how big was it? Over 1.5 meters long and wide.
“Can nature produce a diamond this large?”
In the cockpit, Li Jian could not help turning to glance at the huge transparent object.
“Don’t know. We’ll test it when we get back and find out the result.”
Fan Ren smiled, covered the foil, then pushed Liu Jun into the cockpit and sealed the cabin door behind him.
