Chapter 54: Destination, Mars! (Bonus Chapter—Please Continue Reading)

Jarvis’s calculations rarely went awry, especially when there were no external factors at play.

Just before the approaching Chinese Lunar New Year, Jiang Chen received Jarvis’s report: the first spaceship capable of interstellar travel was complete and had passed its preliminary tests.

The spaceship was entirely black, box-shaped, approximately one hundred and fifty meters long and wide, and fifty meters high. At each of its four bottom corners sat a thruster.

At the rear of the ship was a massive main thruster over forty meters in diameter, serving as the primary power source.

This was a transport vessel, not particularly fast, but boasting a vast carrying capacity and low fuel requirements.

“This time, I’ll only bring a batch of SCVs and trucks,” Jiang Chen informed Jarvis, then instructed, “Allocate a subroutine to pilot the ship, while your main program stays behind to guard the base. According to our previous plan, finish clearing out all of South America as soon as possible. Our next phase will require a large quantity of monster materials.”

“Master, there may be unknown risks in space. It would be best to bring a squad of mechanical guards along,” Jarvis suggested.

After more than half a year of equipment upgrades, Jiang Chen’s mechanical legion was no longer confined to just the Boxer model. There were now four distinct types of combat mechs, each with different strengths and functions.

Other vehicles—armored units, tanks, drones, and more—were also fully equipped, enough to wage a large-scale war.

“There shouldn’t be any life on Mars…” Jiang Chen began, but hesitated, then changed his mind. “Very well, I’ll bring a squad of Rune Mechs with me. The rest of the forces will stay with you.”

Rune Mechs were special models enhanced through alchemical enchantment, possessing combat capabilities far beyond their conventional counterparts.

Even so, Jiang Chen’s forces only included about a hundred of these mechs. Not every king-class monster was suitable as alchemical rune material. Furthermore, to ensure versatility, no Rune Mech had just a single enchantment, which greatly limited their numbers.

Taking a squad meant bringing over a tenth of his total Rune Mechs.

“Yes, Master.” Jarvis swiftly split off a subroutine and integrated it into the ship’s onboard AI.

At present, Jiang Chen had yet to unlock quantum communication or any technology that allowed for instant messaging across any distance. On Earth, it was manageable, but in space, the farther from Earth, the greater the signal delay. Remote control by Jarvis would carry significant risks.

In this case, it was better to use a subroutine for control.

After all, the ship’s onboard AI had computational power rivaling that of a supercomputer—enough for Jarvis’s subroutine to operate at full capacity.

With the Rune Mech squad tucked into his dimensional ring, Jiang Chen boarded the ship with a team of SCVs and a convoy of transport vehicles. He gave a direct order: “Set course for Mars!”

“Yes, engines preheating… Ignition!” No sooner had Jarvis finished speaking than a deep rumble sounded.

The entire vessel trembled slightly. Four jets of flame burst from the bottom, slowly lifting the ship off the ground.

As the ship ascended, its speed continued to surge.

Within minutes, it broke through the planet’s escape velocity and left the atmosphere.

A short while later, having fully escaped Earth’s gravity, the bottom thrusters powered down and the main rear engine engaged, propelling the ship swiftly toward Mars.

Nearly an hour passed before Jarvis’s voice sounded again: “Master, we have reached maximum velocity—one point two million kilometers per hour. The distance to Mars is one hundred and sixty million kilometers. Estimated time of arrival: one hundred and thirty-three hours.”

“One hundred and thirty-three hours… That’s really slow…” Jiang Chen sighed.

The Black Dragon Mountain X81 ship, which would eventually fall into Luo Feng’s hands, could traverse the distance from Earth to Mars in mere minutes.

It could even exceed the speed of light on longer journeys, entering the dark universe for travel.

By comparison, Jiang Chen’s ship, with a top speed of one point two million kilometers per hour, was fast but still far behind the true interstellar vessels of galactic civilizations.

“With more than a hundred hours ahead, I might as well find something to do to pass the time. Jarvis, the ship’s yours. Wake me if anything unexpected happens.”

Having left instructions, Jiang Chen accessed the system and plunged into the library.

Not only did he need to master all sorts of advanced knowledge and technologies to forge powerful war machines to face the Golden-Horned Beast, but he also refused to let any idle moments go to waste if they could be spent leveling up.

Sometimes, it was precisely those marginal gains in strength that tipped the balance when confronting the Golden-Horned Beast or any future enemies.

Over the past half year, Jiang Chen had not stagnated. He had already advanced to Level 5 of the First Tier.

A planetary-level warrior’s mental faculties were already vastly superior—information uptake and memory far exceeded ordinary humans.

With his current attributes, plus the specialties of Hyperfocus and Scholar’s Mind, Jiang Chen’s learning capacity was astonishing.

If he erased his memory but retained his attributes, he estimated he could raise his proficiency in any new subject to Level 15 or higher within a single day.

Of course, every field became more difficult as one advanced; each step demanded more time and effort. Yet over a span of more than a hundred hours—five days—Jiang Chen mastered two new alchemical technologies and increased his levels in Rune Alchemy and Alchemical Materials Synthesis by one each.

Regrettably, as his overall level rose, the difficulty of gaining further levels increased as well. This progress wasn’t enough to push him to Level 6 of the First Tier.

By his estimate, if he spent most of his time immersed in the system library and relaxed his expansion of power in the real world, he could reach the Second Tier—stellar level—before the Golden-Horned Beast emerged.

That is, if advancing to the stellar level still required just one more promotion after reaching Level 9 of the First Tier.

However, precisely because of the looming threat of the Golden-Horned Beast, Jiang Chen was even less likely to focus solely on increasing his own level.

Whether with the system’s assistance or his own expertise, forging a formidable war machine would contribute far more to his combat power than simple level advancement.

Just as Jiang Chen was reaching for a new volume from the library shelves, Jarvis’s voice suddenly roused him.

“Master, we are approaching Mars. Estimated time to atmospheric entry: five minutes!”