39 Humanity's Last Hope, Dashed?

The countdown for the launch of the unmanned probe began in the observation hall.

All the workers at the scene looked at the giant rocket erected on the launch site.

This was the latest rocket developed by the Federation. It had a capacity of 180 tons, which was the largest rocket that humanity could produce at present.

The reason why such a large rocket was built was that the rocket contained six unmanned probes from the Federation and the Allied countries.

The mission to explore the alien starship this time was also the first time mankind had discovered unknown alien technology.

At this time, the countdown in the hall had entered the last 10 digits.

Among the scholars and staff present, only one person was not paying attention to the rocket launch.

This person was George. Although his eyes were also looking at the huge screen, his brain was still working on the mathematical formulas.

Since his arrival at the observation hall more than an hour earlier, George felt that the intensity of his brainwaves had increased by a lot, but he still did not receive any signal from the alien starship.

At this moment, the countdown for the last three seconds of the rocket launch sounded in the hall.

"3,2,1... launch!"

Following the command of the field commander, the screen instantly lit up with a dazzling light. It was the orange flames produced when the rocket thrusters started working.

Rumble!

The rocket, which was nearly 100 meters high, was sent high into the sky by four high-thrust thrusters.

At the same time, a large number of people gathered on the square in the city center. They were all looking at the giant rocket that was shown to be constantly rising into the sky on the screen.

In the crowd, some began to clench their hands in front of their chests, praying and blessing the giant rocket.

On the screen, the giant rocket continued to climb. After a few minutes, it disappeared from the sight of the crowd, which meant that the rocket launched by the Federation had successfully passed through the atmosphere and entered outer space.

Next, the giant rocket's four big thrusters separated from the rocket, and the second stage thruster in the middle of the rocket began to activate.

The giant rocket had already entered its predetermined orbit in space by this time, and the second stage thruster would continue to push the rocket to the designated location.

Thirty-six minutes had passed on Earth. The scientists and citizens who were keeping an eye on the progress of the rocket were about to see the images of the unmanned probes separate from the rocket on the screen.

In the observation hall, the voice of the commander rang out again.

"Everyone, the six unmanned probes are starting to separate from the rocket. In two minutes, you will see the six unmanned probes through the surveillance camera of the International Space Station!"

This was the procedure that NASA had already announced for their plans on the exploration of the alien starship.

The commander brought it up again to remind the scientists and scholars present to begin the next phase of their work.

This would involve the operation of the unmanned probes and the sampling of the probes.

Soon, the screen was switched to the perspective of the International Space Station.

The ISS was equipped with state-of-the-art space telescopes that could track the trajectory of the six unmanned probes continuously.

On the giant screen, one could see six similar-looking unmanned probes that belonged to the Federation and its Allies.

The six unmanned probes flew from their orbit near the International Space Station to the Lagrange point where the giant alien starship was hovering.

The National Space Administration broadcast the images from the International Space Station live around the world.

All the major internet platforms and online TV stations around the world had suspended their scheduled programs and were broadcasting the images from the International Space Station.

Billions of people around the world were paying attention to the historic scene.

On the screen, the six unmanned probes would be seen to fly separately before they approached the alien starship, a strategy that had been planned by the Federation and the Allied countries.

The six unmanned probes would put some distance between each other whilst getting close to the alien starship to minimize any predictable danger.

After all, people could not predict the danger of unknown technology. The only thing they could do was to take precautions under the given conditions that they thought would make the plan the safest.

One and a half hours had passed on Earth. The telescope on the ISS that was used to monitor the unmanned probes continued doing its job.

The people watching from the ground saw a huge object appearing in front of the Federation's unmanned probe. In the pitch-black universe, the surface of the huge object reflected the light of the Sun.

Seeing that the unmanned probe was about to touch the alien starship, the tension of the viewers who were watching the live broadcast was at its peak.

"Oh my God, this is the first time that we humans have ever come into contact with alien technology!"

"All the best, humans! As long as we stay united, we will definitely have alien technology too!"

"Hmph, you guys are too naive. This is an invasion by a high-level alien civilization. Don't expect the high-level civilizations in the universe to help us!"

"I agree with what the person above has said. Alien civilizations will not develop a favorable impression of Earth's ecology. They are only here to invade our home!"

"I think the Federation should send all the scientists to the International Space Station by rocket. They are humanity's last hope!"

"F*ck that. How can the International Space Station fit all the scientists? That's simply a fantasy!"

"Stop arguing. Look at that unmanned probe. Why is there a dazzling light?"

Just as the people were expressing their opinions, they could see on the screens that blue light had suddenly appeared on the surface of the Federation's unmanned probe.

Everyone watching the live broadcast was horrified to see that the unmanned probe, which represented humanity's highest technology, was instantly destroyed by an unknown force after the blue light lit up. The debris from the explosion was like lit fireworks in the pitch-black universe.

At this moment, all the humans globally lost their voices at the same time.

The scientists in the observation hall were the fastest to react. Time was of the essence, so they could not panic. They could only rely on the variables that they had deduced previously to start the alternative plan.

All of a sudden, the observation hall was filled with noises.

"The ground monitoring station's remote sensing signal has failed!"

"No. 01 unmanned probe is out of contact!"

"No. 04 unmanned probe is out of contact!"

"Oh my God, the six unmanned probes we launched are all out of contact!"

"Quickly contact China and Russia and ask how their probes are doing!"

"Professor, there's no need to ask. The International Space Station has just sent back a message. All probes launched by humans have been destroyed!"

When they heard the news that they dreaded to hear the most, the scientists and scholars in the observation center were in a state of panic.

However, no one in the observation center noticed that the corner of a young man's mouth was slightly curled up.

At this time, George, who had not given up on increasing the intensity of his brainwaves, finally received the detection signal from the alien starship.