CHAPTER 217: CHAPTER 215 THE MAN WHO FELL FROM THE SKY

The orange-red firelight illuminated the sky, and a gigantic fireball streaked across the sky like a meteor, falling downwards.

The long-darkened sky lit up again, as if the sun had risen anew.

The earth, after many months, was once more illuminated, and the vast field of snow-covered expanse reflected the orange-red light, as if everything was shrouded in flame.

Chen Xin sat in the driver’s seat, having already hammered the plow under the car into the ground, hoping to stabilize the vehicle.

Such a massive fireball, once it crashes to the ground, is sure to cause an immense impact, and Chen Xin could only hope not to be blown away.

However, to Chen Xin’s surprise, the fireball was descending slowly, even very slowly, so much so that the drone he had released earlier had returned to the vehicle, and yet the massive fireball had not yet landed, seemingly decelerating.

Chen Xin was utterly astonished, staring intently at the enormous fireball, feeling that it might not be a meteorite.

Realizing this, Chen Xin hurriedly took out his binoculars, looking towards the firelight, wanting to see what exactly this fireball was.

The orange light enveloped the object within the fireball, making it difficult for Chen Xin to discern what it was. Coupled with the low magnification of the binoculars, it was hard for Chen Xin to make a judgment, but by its shape, it definitely didn’t look like a meteorite.

"Could it be some kind of satellite or something? But why is it decelerating?" Besides meteorites, the only things that could fall from the sky would be spacecraft or something similar.

If it was a spacecraft, then deceleration would not be surprising. Some spacecraft with a return program would decelerate when entering the atmosphere to avoid burning up, both to prevent severe friction between the surface and the air, leading to high temperatures, and to avoid too rapid a descent causing a collision.

And the ability to decelerate meant that the object might still be functioning properly.

Realizing this, Chen Xin felt relieved, thinking there was no need to brace for the impact, which also allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Having confirmed he was out of danger, the fire on the surface of the spacecraft in the sky was also continuously weakening, indicating its speed was gradually decreasing, and Chen Xin watched it with keen interest through the binoculars.

Many people may have seen rocket launches, but not everyone has the fortune to witness a spacecraft returning from space and landing on the ground like this.

Yet Chen Xin still found something strange; logically, a spacecraft wouldn’t land in Xiang Province or another region like this, as there are too many mountains, lacking substantial flat areas, unsuitable for spacecraft landings.

In Flame Country, spacecraft returning from space generally land at sea or in the deserts or wilderness of Meng Province or Jiang Province. These vast environments facilitate recovery and effectively minimize potential damage in case of an accident.

As for landing in Xiang Province or another region now, it could only be due to an accident or unexpected situation.

Thinking of this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but feel a bit worried, considering this was a spacecraft still operational and able to return to the ground by itself, even though he didn’t know why it landed here.

Should he go and have a look? Such a massive spacecraft, surely there would be people coming to recover it, wouldn’t there?

With this thought, Chen Xin adjusted the car’s radar, aiming it at the spacecraft that was gradually decelerating and whose firelight had significantly dimmed, to see where it would land.

However, the radar on Chen Xin’s vehicle wasn’t powerful enough, or the descending spacecraft wasn’t within its scanning range, so Chen Xin had to abandon using the radar to track the spacecraft, instead observing its fall trajectory with the binoculars.

When he looked through the binoculars at the spacecraft again, as the flames on its surface had significantly diminished, Chen Xin could finally see that it was a re-entry capsule.

Chen Xin was something of an astronomy enthusiast, quite familiar with Flame Country’s spacecraft.

Given the extensive reports after all countries had joined forces to stop a meteorite from crashing half a year ago, the design of the return capsule in front of him was indelibly impressed upon Chen Xin’s mind.

Astronauts returning from space? Chen Xin felt his mind go a bit numb; could the astronauts actually be returning now, and landing here in the province?

Chen Xin had thought that since the attempt to prevent the meteorite fall had failed, the astronauts had already sacrificed themselves!

After all, they had landed on the meteorite’s surface to detonate it and alter its trajectory, but their return speed couldn’t match that of the meteorite itself. By the time they reached Earth, the meteorite had already collided, causing global disaster.

The orbits near the Earth were likely full of meteorite fragments, and the spacecraft they were in was very likely directly struck and destroyed by those fragments.

Even if they miraculously avoided the meteorite debris, the harsh surface conditions rendered them unable to return, leaving them little choice but to stay in space or attempt a forced entry through the dust- and debris-filled atmosphere, gambling on whether they could successfully land on the ground.

Successfully returning to the ground wasn’t especially strange, given that with sufficient luck and high-quality spacecraft, return could be ensured.

As for why they landed in the province, with Earth’s surface now covered in dust and debris, the entire surface would appear cloaked in dust from outer space, and managing to land on Flame Country’s territory under insufficient reference points was already a miracle.

The only thing Chen Xin found strange and couldn’t understand was why they were returning now, over half a year later.

How had these astronauts survived all that time? The spacecraft couldn’t carry that much food; what did they eat, what did they drink?

But Chen Xin quickly set this question aside, because the flames on the spacecraft’s surface were extinguishing, and it was decelerating further, about to land.

Seeing this, Chen Xin hastily retracted the plow under the vehicle, restarted the car, and drove towards the direction where the spacecraft would land.

No matter why the astronauts were returning now, or why they landed here, now that they were back, Chen Xin felt he needed to help them, and he had the ability to do so.

Driving as fast as he could towards where the spacecraft would land, Chen Xin continuously watched the spacecraft in the sky, simultaneously setting the radar’s power to maximum to scan the surroundings for other people.

With such a commotion earlier, Chen Xin found it hard to believe anyone would overlook it. If someone else had spotted the spacecraft and was also heading this way, things could get complicated.

Helping people would be well and good, but if ill-intentioned individuals were also arriving, it would not bode well for astronauts who had struggled so hard to return to the surface.

With that thought, Chen Xin hesitated briefly, glancing at a red switch on the control panel, which would raise the heavy machine gun on the car roof when pressed.

However, seeing nothing else detected on the radar, Chen Xin didn’t raise the gun.

As Chen Xin kept approaching, the spacecraft was about to land, and three massive parachutes opened atop it, further decelerating it.

Chen Xin, chasing after the spacecraft’s position, could drive at a considerable speed, but still could not catch up to its descent. Before he reached where the spacecraft was landing, it had already grounded.

Seeing the spacecraft land, Chen Xin couldn’t help but feel tense. He activated the radio, trying to contact the spacecraft, hoping to connect with the astronauts as he approached as fast as he could.

Yet, no matter how he called over the radio, the other side remained unresponsive, causing Chen Xin to feel nervous and worried.

Fortunately, just as Chen Xin nervously drove near the spacecraft, he finally saw the hatch opened from the inside, and an astronaut in a thick spacesuit crawled out and collapsed onto the snow.

Seeing this, Chen Xin quickly stopped the car, donned his protective suit, and got out, running a few steps to the astronaut’s side. Chen Xin patted his shoulder, shouting asking, "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

The astronaut raised his arm slightly, nodding at Chen Xin through his visor, indicating he could hear him and also pointed to the spacecraft beside him, as if signaling that there were others inside.

Seeing the astronaut in seemingly good condition, Chen Xin finally eased up, running towards the spacecraft. Peering inside the hatch, he saw two more astronauts trying to exit.

One astronaut showed a delighted expression upon seeing Chen Xin and was about to remove his helmet when Chen Xin hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Don’t remove your helmet, it’s minus forty degrees outside! Give me your hand, I’ll pull you out!"

With Chen Xin’s help, the two astronauts finally clambered out of the spacecraft.

Looking at the three astronauts lying on the ground, Chen Xin felt a bit troubled. He was alone, and pulling the two astronauts from the spacecraft had already taxed him greatly; moving them to his car wouldn’t be easy.

After pondering a bit, Chen Xin told them, "Wait here, I’ll bring the car over."

With that, he ran back to the car, drove back, and then supported one astronaut’s arm, helping him stand, and carried him to the car.