Chapter 416

Chapter 416: Weightlessness Training

Lin Mo had only revealed his terrifying punching power once. As for the other physical fitness data, it remained a closely guarded secret among the 52 remaining candidates after the first week of eliminations.

The first week of physical fitness tests had eliminated seven individuals, including three pilots and four technical experts, one of whom was a woman. The physical fitness levels of technical experts couldn’t compete with those of pilots; if they wanted to go to space, physical fitness was a must. Otherwise, they could pay with their lives.

Despite their reluctance to leave, especially the three tough pilots who couldn’t hold back their tears upon hearing they were eliminated, the reactions of the leaders at the aerospace training center were entirely different. The potential of this carefully selected group of astronaut candidates was quite impressive.

When others saw Lin Mo again, they felt something strange.

What was strange? Oh right, this guy had added a satchel, filled with space energy bars that looked like grenades. Did he think of these as standard equipment? Wasn’t he afraid of overindulging?

Dragon Knight was busy, following the doctors and physiologists from the training center for health checks and physical tests in the morning, and training with all the candidates in the afternoon.

He was like a gem, shining brilliantly no matter where he was placed.

This challenge was bound to arise.

During the pilot selection, in the extensive aviation medical evaluations that included 116 major categories and thousands of minor items, Lin Mo’s indicators had not been this exaggerated; even before entering Team 7759, his evaluation was only A+.

The aerospace training center was curious about Lin Mo’s physique, quickly organizing a meeting with experts from the fifth training center and the astronaut center for a consultation.

It was normal for pilots to have exceptional physical fitness, but being able to destroy a punching power test machine with a single punch seemed to indicate something beyond a simple A+ rating in fitness on paper.

As the tests progressed, Lin Mo’s astonishing potential was gradually uncovered, leaving many in awe.

As Major General Sun and others had predicted, Lin Mo indeed possessed a unique set of striking techniques — a complete set of combat skills. This was understandable; his unit did not lack such lethal combat techniques and relied on them for their livelihood.

The Night Special Forces was a high-efficiency military unit skilled at killing, and it was no surprise that they had mastered several refined combat techniques. For these covert operations, the state’s resources invested were just slightly less than those in the Aerospace Department.

This little phenomenon caused a delightful misunderstanding. No one would have suspected that Lin Mo’s martial skills did not belong to this world.

Realizing his burst of strength exceeded the limits of humanity in this world, Lin Mo no longer dared to unleash his full power. He had finally learned to be discreet.

The reason was simple: he didn’t want to become a stallion soldier.

Director Nie’s words seemed prophetic, even Lin Mo hadn’t expected it.

Despite this, Lin Mo was registered for genetic records for future research, leaving things for the future. Many of the test indicators were still astonishing but no longer shocking.

His punching power seemed like a fleeting personal talent, perhaps akin to spontaneous energy or something unexplainable by science; there were so many things beyond scientific explanation. The training center still meticulously took samples for future research.

After all, Lin Mo was not a volunteer prototype; he was an astronaut candidate—an ACE—that wouldn’t allow the medical experts to conduct deeper live research.

While it wasn’t the kind of dissection that common people would imagine, a comprehensive biological profile was established for him, detailing over 100,000 indicators, including muscle and gene sampling.

The Aerospace Department boasted the best medical and biological experts in the country, resulting in considerable injury for Dragon Knight.

Originating from fighter jet theory, Dragon Knight’s injury caused a nutritionist to defect, and aerospace-grade concentrated energy bars were suddenly accessible to Lin Mo.

The high-calorie food could quickly replenish energy consumption; this type of food nearly became one of the standard supplies for Dragon Knight, almost on par with the Light Mirror Technique.

With these 4-centimeter diameter, 30-centimeter long packages resembling advanced relay batons in athletics, Lin Mo no longer needed to consume large amounts of food. Although it lost some taste and dining enjoyment, for a high-level warrior, it became an essential item for home and travel, as well as for killing and destruction.

…

Upon reaching an altitude of 13,000 meters, the Y-20 (Yun-20) large transport aircraft began its descent, and the speed countered gravity so perfectly that it felt like being in space. Anything not secured would float inside the cabin, creating a near-zero-gravity environment, just like fish swimming in water.

As the large transport aircraft specially equipped for the aerospace training center, it could carry up to 65 tons. The cabin’s simulated weightlessness area was padded with soft foam blocks and equipped with rope nets, just enough to accommodate the 52 candidates and more than ten staff members, including Major General Sun.

Following the instructors’ instructions, everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and began to try various movements, such as crawling, moving through the air, and rolling their bodies to gain some understanding of the weightlessness they would experience in space.

"Boss, can you stop eating? Look at the time; you still have such a good appetite," Meng Yinan said as the Y-20 (Yun-20) large transport aircraft simulated weightlessness during its dive. Floating in mid-air, she was unable to touch the ceiling or the floor, sensation of weightlessness washing over her for the first time. Even in the cockpit of a fighter jet, where she was strapped in, she rarely experienced such a feeling.

As the aircraft’s dive speed reached certain standards, the cabin was almost in free fall, and gravity disappeared completely; she could simply loosen her seatbelt and float up.

This boss had destroyed a testing machine and now spent all day munching on a Concentrated Energy Bar, thoroughly enjoying it. For an ordinary person, they might manage only a bite or two before being unable to swallow, but this seemed to agree with him perfectly.

What a match of equals; this might be Lin Mo’s greatest gain since arriving here.

"If I don’t eat, I’ll get hungry. Don’t worry; my nutritionist has legally added extra meals for me. Eating this is much better than chewing on canned luncheon meat; there’s no canteen here! I have to have my afternoon snack," he replied.

Even in this weightlessness simulation training, he sat cross-legged in the cabin, chewing on his energy bar, seemingly unaffected. Not even the lack of gravity could diminish his appetite.

He had a water bottle at his waist, filled with fructooligosaccharide syrup, and he sipped from it now and then to aid digestion.

"…" Meng Yinan realized she couldn’t stop this boss from becoming a glutton.

No one in the cabin stopped Lin Mo from indulging in his eating habits; this behavior was perfectly normal in a weightless environment, as eating space food was one of the training exercises.

Besides learning how to move inside the cabin, future training would include eating, drinking, dressing, using the restroom, and sleeping in a weightless environment. This truly became Lin Mo’s perfect excuse to eat alone.

Meng Yinan clung to a rope to steady herself but saw Lin Mo pull out an energy bar and offer it to her.

"Want a bite?" Lin Mo tempted her, holding out a beef-flavored energy bar that suited his taste. He still had chocolate, tuna, and tomato-flavored bars in his bag.

His ability to eat and drink in these conditions was enviable, making him seem perfectly suited for activities in space.

"Ah! Uh! Okay, okay!" Meng Yinan surrendered; it wasn’t admitting defeat but rather accepting a challenge.

The pilot of the Y-20 (Yun-20) was bold, refusing to stop the dive until they reached an altitude of 1,000 meters, then climbing back up to 13,000 meters. This exhilarating roller coaster ride repeated several times was quite a thrill.

Even though the fighter pilots initially maintained their composure, soon they joined the candidates from technical backgrounds in a wave of nausea.

When they returned to the ground, most people were weak and unsteady, and so were some of the training center staff. They were risking it all for their colleagues, and that high salary was truly hard-earned.

Number two, Wang Xuejun, leaned against the ladder, retching a few times, his complexion pale, lacking his usual vigor and appearing completely drained.

Number four, Wei Yuni, also looked pale as someone helped her down.

Others didn’t fare much better.

If they kept spinning like this, they might even regurgitate last night’s dinner. For pilots, getting airsick was incredibly embarrassing.

"Help! These damn pilots, are they not going to die?" Meng Yinan rolled on the grass beside the runway, unwilling to get up.

To her, even now, the sky was spinning, and the ground was swirling; everything in front of her was a blur.

Among everyone, the two who seemed unfazed were Major General Sun and Lin Mo. Major General Sun was a veteran astronaut; although he had never truly gone into outer space, the training he had undergone was almost indistinguishable from that experience.

Only Lin Mo was accustomed to flying the Giant Dragon, repeatedly climbing and diving in the sky, so this roller coaster felt trivial to him.

The agility and endurance of the Giant Dragon outmatched that of the transport aircraft; in combat, it was effortless to navigate the sky. If one didn’t have a strong sense of spatial awareness, one could easily lose direction in an instant.

As for weightlessness, Lin Mo was very familiar with that floating sensation from high-speed impacts on ground targets.

This familiarity fostered Lin Mo’s exceptional spatial awareness; no matter how much he spun, he could still discern up from down, left from right, and forward from backward.