The Chronicles of the Flying Dragon Herding Stars

Written by from Liu Yiduo

In 4040 AD, the Gengchen year of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Flying Dragon soared in the heavens.

Silicon-based alien warships tore through the atmosphere, unleashing biochemical capsules carrying corrosive agents—all intercepted by the "Dongfeng" Type 1 nanometer nuclear bombs. Yet acid rain continued to gnaw at our world. Once-crystal-blue oceans churned with murky foam; lush forests withered into charred wastelands. The blue planet that once saw men "reach for the moon" was now shrouded in smoke, scarred beyond recognition.

In this critical hour, the descendants of the Dragon stepped forward.

The Acid Rain Strikes

On No. 55 Street, in the penthouse’s floor-to-ceiling windows, a general in full military uniform had just finished drafting the Feasibility Analysis Report on the Construction of the Orion Interstellar Communication Base. He signed his name: ‌Liu Wei‌, Chief Designer of China’s "Herding Stars" Project and Director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory.

Beyond the pure titanium alloy door, a nanomaterial corridor glowed with cold light. A dark shadow clung to the wall—resembling a giant spider. It was Liu Wu, Liu Wei’s son, dozing as he clung to the surface with hands and feet, looking every bit a "Spider-Man."

"Ring, ring—"

A shrill alarm shattered the silence. Outside, red lasers wove a net across the sky: "Residents of Block 5, City A30021, take note! Biochemical Capsule No. 30 is descending! Close doors and windows immediately—guard against poison and acid!"

Instantly, every window lit up. No. 55 Street transformed into a river of stars.

Meanwhile, 180 meters beneath the surface of Block 5 in City A30021, within the underground command hall of the Earth United Government’s local office, tension hung thick. Staff in white lab coats, gloves, and goggles clustered around Liu Wei and Liu Wu, who had just slid down an emergency chute.

"Activate the border quantum wave defense shield," the general ordered. Without waiting, he pried open a bright yellow metal cover and slammed a red switch.

A muffled thud shook the ground. At 1,000 meters altitude, a pale blue defense wave rippled outward like water.

Acid rain, 97.9% concentrated, slammed into the wave, billowing pungent white mist. On the spectrometer, ripples of decomposed acid molecules rippled outward.

Liu Wei frowned at the radar display: "That area’s severely corroded. Surface biological index near zero… We’ll have to airdrop seedlings to rebuild."

"No time for coordination," he growled, voice low but resolute.

Liu Wu shot to his feet, eyes sharp as blades: "I’ll go. Dad, this mission’s mine."

Let’s Row the Boat

"Climbing, climbing, climbing—" Liu Wu scaled the 40-step gangway, his combat boots clanging sharply against the metal steps.

In the dual-core powered space-air transport’s cockpit, a levitating pheromone energy sphere flared to life. As his iris scanned through, a stream of consciousness alert pinged: "Liu Wu, interstellar travel expert and nuclear physicist. The Transportation Commission of Block 5, City A30021, reminds you—"

"Got it—no driving after drinking, no drinking if you’re driving!" Liu Wu chuckled, tapping the air as he guided the VR orb. Two radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) roared to life, and the transport surged forward, a dragon emerging from the sea.

"Let’s row the boat—the little boat pushes the waves…" Liu Wu activated the surround sound, switching the transport to AI pilot mode. Its destination: Block 9 of City D23465, 18,000 kilometers away. Ten thousand poplar saplings in the cargo hold would be planted around the Khufu Astronomical Observatory Tower.

Twenty minutes later, the transport touched down at Bubruo, a Berber oasis settlement northeast of the Sahara Desert under the Khufu Tower’s jurisdiction. Ten Type CN5288 β-ray heavy defense cannons stood ready, guarding the land.

A multidimensional stream of consciousness unfolded in Liu Wu’s mind: Decades of alien biochemical attacks had mutated Sahara species—vultures twice the size of orcas circled the skies; swarms of red ants could gnaw tanks to scrap…

He checked the onboard weapons: two Type 5PRO hybrid solid-state lidars, one SkyShield CC2168 200mm rapid-fire cannon, 450 laser femtosecond-guided expanding rounds.

"Using anti-aircraft guns to shoot mosquitoes? Doesn’t matter—better to prepare," Liu Wu muttered.

Outside, sparse poplars wilted under acid rain. Liu Wu gazed at the 10,000 saplings in the cargo hold—wind-sand resistant, radiation-tolerant "space-bred babies." Whether Bubruo became an oasis in three years depended on them.

Then, a dust devil struck. The transport retracted its wings, settling like a turtle on the ocean floor.

Once the storm passed, it rolled on tracked armor into the desert depths. Suddenly, the neural interface blared: "Enemy attack!"

Liu Wu looked up, pupils constricting. A mutant centipede—long as a truck, with a purple-black, metallic exoskeleton and scythe-like antennae—stung toward him. "Laser sword!" Liu Wu yelled. A ring-shaped laser on his right index finger flared pale blue. He rolled sideways; the blade sliced through the antennae, which snapped with a "crack." Purple-black fluid sizzled on his suit. Venom seeped into his skin, a sharp, piercing pain.

Liu Wu leapt to the cabin roof, grabbing the 200mm cannon. Expanding rounds poured down like rain. The centipede thrashed, smearing the windshield with blood. The cockpit reeked of foul mist.

"No sword in hand, but sword in heart!" Liu Wu roared. The laser pierced the centipede’s compound eyes. The beast shrieked, collapsing onto the sand as its exoskeleton convulsed.

The Floating City

The alarm shattered the night at 1:19 AM.

A blood-red warning blazed on the holographic screen of the Earth United Government’s City A30021 command hall: "Mutant creature swarm detected on the outskirts of City D23465! Size: three standard combat units. Moving toward the city!"

Liu Wei stared at the time in the monitor’s bottom-right corner: 03:17:24. Liu Wu’s transport was scheduled to arrive at 03:19:10.

"General!" The sergeant trembled. "The swarm’s vanguard has breached the antimatter barrier—they’ll reach the city in 17 minutes!"

The holographic sandbox flared orange. Liu Wei saw writhing dark purple spots—mutant clusters, each the size of a truck, oozing fluorescent green mucus from their exoskeletons. Where they passed, green smoke billowed; even reinforced concrete sizzled and dissolved.

"Activate the energy shield," Liu Wei enunciated. "Cover the entire city."

"But Major Liu Wu—"

The sergeant’s shout was cut off by the alarm. A split-screen displayed: Left, Liu Wu’s transport trajectory—a silver dot ripping through the atmosphere at sublight speed. Right, the shield’s countdown: "00:01:43."

Liu Wei’s vision blurred. Memories flooded in—a winter night three years prior, when 16-year-old Liu Wu had curled up on his office couch, watching Interstellar on a tablet. "Dad, will you be proud if I become an astronaut?" He’d ruffled his son’s hair. "Awesome!"

Now, that teenage hero was racing home across 30,000 kilometers of stardust. His neurotoxin levels had just dropped in the medbay; his suit still bore traces of the mutant centipede’s venom. But he’d surely kept his communicator glued to his ear, listening to colleagues wish him "Safe travels."

"All units, activate the controlled nuclear fusion levitation device," Liu Wei said, his voice as calm as the stars. "Lift the city to 600 meters. Execute immediately."

Three seconds of dead silence. "General!" The engineer screamed. "It needs 30 minutes to warm up—the swarm arrives in seven!"

"Use emergency mode." Liu Wei tore open his collar, revealing an old scar beneath his collarbone—burned by acid while saving a comrade two decades prior. "Max the anti-gravity helipad power. Divert all backup energy to the levitation system."

The hologram flashed wildly. The energy bar jumped from 15% to 30%, then 47%. His gaze locked on the clock: 03:18:05, 03:18:04…

The transport’s engines pierced the clouds. Liu Wu’s voice boomed over the comm, crackling with static: "A30021! I see the city! The helipad’s green light… it’s on! Ha—"

The alarm spiked. On the monitor, Liu Wu’s transport plunged downward at a near-vertical angle, its silver fuselage carving a tragic arc across the night sky.

His finger hovered over the red "Abort Levitation" button, knuckles white as ice.

Love Is Eternal

"Liu Wu!" Liu Wei roared into the comm. "Turn left 20 degrees! Repeat—"

"Dad, I see the green light!" Liu Wu’s laughter mixed with static. "Told you you hid something good… When I land, let’s get congee with preserved egg and pork, sprinkled with scallions…"

The energy bar hit 62%. The swarm’s vanguard grazed the shield’s edge, dark purple mucus corroding honeycomb holes. Liu Wei watched the transport’s tail fin scrape the shield; the metal screech felt like a knife on his heart.

"Dad, the saplings… I protected them all," Liu Wu said softly. "The poplars are in the innermost hold—radiation levels normal… You promised, when they grow up…"

The bar reached 78%. The levitation device roared, the city trembling upward. The transport shook violently; a purplish-black tentacle pierced the cockpit glass—an escaped mutant nymph.

"Liu Wu!" His shout bounced off metal walls, stinging his eardrums. He pressed "Abort Levitation," but the device’s energy had exceeded critical levels. The city ascended faster; the helipad’s light died. The transport’s signal vanished.

Liu Wei rushed to the observation window. Under the moonlight, the city floated like an island. Below, the mutant swarm surged like a tide, dissolving into blue smoke at the shield’s edge. Above the smoke, where a silver dot should have glowed, there was only empty darkness.

"Report!" The sergeant sobbed. "Transport wreckage located… at the shield’s edge. Major Liu Wu’s spacesuit… is still there."

Liu Wei trembled, gripping the windowsill. There, on the charred earth, lay the suit, its chest emblem glinting faintly. The man inside was frozen forever on the journey home—the comrade who joined him in triathlons, the teen who’d wanted to teach him starship simulators, the child who’d never gotten to wish him a happy birthday.

His voice drifted from afar: "Plant the saplings…"

The hologram’s clock hit 03:19:10—exactly Liu Wu’s scheduled arrival time.

Everlasting Life

Three months later, as the first poplar sapling sprouted new shoots under the Khufu Tower, Liu Wei stood before the glass curtain wall of the "Herding Stars" Project Memorial Hall. In the display case, Liu Wu’s suit still bore purple-black stains. Beside it, an electronic screen looped surveillance footage—ending with Liu Wu grinning into the comm: "Dad, I see the green light!"

Sunlight broke through clouds, falling on newly sprouted grass. Liu Wei touched the military medal on his chest, pressed that morning from poplar leaves by children. The wind lifted his sleeves, and he heard a young voice proudly singing in the breeze:

"Let’s row the boat—the little boat pushes the waves…"