"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The primary school students with bright red blush on their cheeks parted into two rows, exhibiting eerie smiles while bouncing up and down with flowers in hand. Crown Prince Hamand, with one hand on the railing, greeted the welcoming crowd with the other.

It was a sunny day, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling of a chill down his spine, as if he had stepped into some dangerous territory.

But as soon as Hamand turned around, he cast that thought aside. His status was unassailable, and he was in the safest country in the world. How could there be any danger?

Seated in a brand-new Red Flag car that had just been air-shipped from Beijing, Crown Prince Hamand also began to wonder what New Yuan Aeronautics was really like.

Despite the new money aura that clung to Saudi Arabia, they were keenly aware of their role as cash cows, "willingly" buying hundreds of billions of America’s national debt every year and still smiling about their "profit."

And hadn’t the experts claimed that oil was finite? With thousands of princes in the royal family, how would their livelihoods be arranged when the oil ran out?

So, on one hand, Saudi Arabia vigorously developed its tourism industry, and on the other, it invested heavily in high-tech ventures without fear of losses—after all, it was nothing that cutting oil production and raising prices couldn’t solve!

Although New Yuan Aeronautics had only become famous recently, it had already shown formidable strength, particularly in the prestigious field of space exploration, which naturally interested Hamand.

Nevertheless, under the arrangements of the local government, he first visited the historical sites, revolutionary landmarks, and experienced the unique cultural customs of New Yuan City. Only after those visits was he scheduled to go to the New Yuan Company.

On October 26th, a long motorcade composed of police motorbikes leading the way and black sedans guarded by police cars slowly arrived at the gates of New Yuan Aerospace Power Company, formerly the New Yuan Town tractor factory.

And then the leadership was stunned.

There was no red carpet or baskets of flowers, no welcome banners or banners, and no employees in neat squares clapping enthusiastically.

There was only Lin Ju and a few high-ranking managers unconcerned with technology, joined by the publicity department to make up the numbers, all clad in business suits, exuding a composed and aloof demeanor.

The accompanying officials cursed under their breath. It was all agreed upon ten days in advance, and Lin Ju had readily agreed, yet this was the reception, and they were still worried about image?

"Your Highness, it might be that it’s a working hour, and New Yuan Aeronautics is very busy. Perhaps our scheduling conflicts a bit," they explained.

"No, no, no, King, this is good. I don’t need them to welcome me too warmly. I just want to see China’s most advanced private space enterprise. They have the right to be proud of their strength," Hamand dismissed the concern casually.

Crown Prince Hamand didn’t mind the lack of fanfare at all; in fact, he found it quite novel.

On past visits to various research units, it seemed people would abandon their work just to receive him, which meant he saw none of the specific tasks he wished to see—as if he had simply toured a high-tech park with little to gain.

He saw Lin Ju at the forefront smiling yet maintaining proper decorum, and as he approached, Lin stepped forward to shake hands,

"Welcome, Crown Prince Hamand."

"I am also delighted to meet you, Lin, the youngest head of China’s most advanced space company. I hope my visit hasn’t disrupted your work."

Listening to the translation with a side ear, Lin Ju adjusted his expression with a hint of pride:

"Not at all, because I am not a scientist. They all have very busy tasks to do and are still working hard."

Lin Ju didn’t indulge in further pleasantries, merely gestured and led Crown Prince Hamand straight toward the assembly workshop cum hangar.

Even from the outside, the nearly fifty-meter-tall white hangar was immensely impressive, with a giant spaceship logo drawn in simplistic strokes at the center.

Hu Bo stepped forward, signaling everyone to keep a distance from the forty-meter-high doors, then whispered a few words into the walkie-talkie.

"Crown Prince Hamand, we are very pleased with your visit, so I’ve decided to show you the most advanced and confidential project that New Yuan Aeronautics is working on."

"Confidential?"

Looking at the enigmatic Lin Ju, Hamand grew even more curious, which spurred the accompanying city leaders to peep eagerly toward the large doors.

"Kang, kang..."

The massive and weighty assembly hall doors moved softly with the clanking of gears, making the ground tremble in a steady pattern.

It resembled the grand accompaniment to the unrolling of a scroll, mechanically tapping into people’s souls.

As the gap in the center of the hangar widened slowly, the interior scene began to gradually reveal itself.

Crown Prince Hamand’s mouth slowly opened as he muttered in his native language, "God bless."

The eyes of the other attendees were wide as saucers, shocked to the point where they could have fit eggs in their mouths.

"This, this... space shuttle?!"

In the vast hangar, one large and one small silver-painted space shuttles hung half-suspended in the air, covered in scaffolding and machinery, with hundreds of workers busy at various points, the bright lights of welding sparks twinkling like stars.

Lin Ju strode forward, turned around, and raised his hands:

"To my left is the H1 model small space shuttle, 13 meters in length, with an approximate wingspan of 5.5 meters, a takeoff weight of 21 tons, it can carry 6 people and 2 tons of cargo, using a central-lift body and blended wing-body design.

On the right is the H2 model large aero-space plane, 61 meters long, with a wingspan of 22 meters and a takeoff weight of 130 tons, available in both passenger and cargo versions.

The former can accommodate 50 passengers, while the latter can carry 4 astronauts and 85 tons of cargo!"

Overcome with excitement, Crown Prince Hamand took several steps forward, standing beneath the soaring nose of the H2 space shuttle, looking up to see the black heat-resistant underbelly and the light blue portholes.

Underneath the nose, where an opening was, several workers, using an electric utility vehicle, were busy installing landing gear, with a dense mass of lines, thicker than a person, hanging down together, and engineers in white hats and gray uniforms were connecting them to computers, ceaselessly adjusting something.

"Hey, don’t cross the line!"

A worker shouted at him, then hurried past.

Although Hamand didn’t understand Chinese, he followed the sight of the yellow line on the ground and realized this was a working area, busy with activity, and entering would surely disrupt their workflow.

Just then, Lin Ju, blocking the light from the doorway, approached leisurely. The excited Hamand asked:

"Lin, are you building space shuttles? Can they fly?"

"Of course, but the H2 is currently a 1:1 ground model used for testing electrical routing layout and seismic resistance, the next phase of production will be capable of flight; however, the progress is somewhat slow, it will take two years before the first flight.

But the H1 has already entered the aerodynamic testing stage, and is a genuine prototype capable of flight, very close to the final goal. It will go offline as soon as the first half of next year, equipped with rockets to launch into space.

The H2 will be the largest space shuttle ever made by humankind, while the H1 is at the cutting-edge of aerodynamic technology."

As he spoke, Lin Ju signaled Hamand before the translation was fully conveyed, leading him toward the H1 space shuttle, while three system engineers approached from the opposite direction.

The three introduced themselves one by one, and when Hamand heard they were senior designers from America, Russia, and the European Space Agency, he immediately felt that the level of technology here had climbed a notch.

They all helped Hamand put on shoe covers and entered the H1 space shuttle’s exposed cargo hold.