[The hyperspace engine is charging... expected to complete in 32 minutes.]

[Progress: 1.1%]

On the bridge of the Orion, Night Ten stood in front of the console, looking at the holographic screen floating before him, a surprised expression on his face.

"Did you change the launch procedure?"

"Just tweaked the UI," Jiang Xuezhou said with a touch of pride, a slight smile on her lips, "The old UI of the United Space Army was too rough; outsiders wouldn't understand it, so I transplanted the shipboard AI from the research ship to the Orion Carrier Server's platform."

"Is this... okay?" Night Ten asked in astonishment, looking at her.

Jiang Xuezhou replied lazily.

"Don't forget I'm an expert in this field. Also, the shipboard system on my research ship was designed by me, and no one knows its capabilities better than I do."

Indeed, the newer waves of the Yangtze River push the old ones.

Night Ten couldn't help but marvel internally, gaining a deeper understanding of her skills.

Dora and Little Koala stood near the floor-to-ceiling window.

Dora's eyes were glued to the window, seemingly wanting to take in the sight of that green planet and etch its magnificent outline into her mind forever.

Little Koala's camera moved slightly, glanced at her, then at the nearby planet.

"It's a very beautiful planet."

Dora was momentarily stunned, not reacting at first, then awkwardly said after a while.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, I genuinely think so."

Little Koala nodded its camera, staring intently at the vast expanse of green, continuing in a casual tone.

"The scenery there should be quite nice, perhaps even unique in this universe."

Dora looked at it in a daze, suddenly blurting out.

"I... suddenly feel like I can sense your soul."

"Really?"

Little Koala turned its camera towards her, surprised and scrutinizing her up and down, seemingly not expecting to hear that.

Dora's face showed uncertainty, as if she wasn't seeing clearly, but after a moment, she nodded affirmatively, speaking in a sure tone.

"I see it, but I'm not sure... if it's yours."

The wall murals can house the creator's soul, and if one can establish a mental connection or resonance with the creator, they can understand the mural's meaning.

This is the most basic usage of "spiritual energy."

And now, the wall murals began to move, behaving like humans.

This was a craftsmanship or form of existence she had never seen before.

Precisely because of this, she couldn't decide if the soul belonged to Little Koala itself or its creator.

But perhaps, it doesn't make much difference.

Who can prove that one's soul has nothing to do with the person who created them?

Perhaps their souls never came from the Tree of Yenshof, but were passed down from generation to generation from the beginning...

Suddenly, Dora seemed to realize something, a hint of understanding slowly rising in her eyes.

After encountering something she had never experienced before, she gained new insight into her abilities and beliefs, moving a step closer to the truth previously realized by "Them".

Little Koala quietly observed her.

Although it did not comprehend her current realization, it was intrigued by what she said.

Seeing an existence in the world of 0 and 1 that it couldn't ascertain was difficult for Little Koala to grasp.

It wanted to help her see more clearly.

"What shape does it take?"

Dora closed her eyes, shook her head, and, after furrowing her brows in deep thought for a while, gave an ambiguous answer.

"I can't quite tell; it's a... very friendly and easy-going person?"

Little Koala asked further.

"Are there more specific features?"

Dora paused for a moment, then continued.

"That's all about him, but there are other things as well... he has some kind of expectation for you, as if he's entrusted a part of himself to you."

"For example?"

The voice seemed to contain a trace of anticipation, although it wasn't easy to detect.

But Dora was certain she heard it.

And it was precisely that hint of expectation that assured her the soul she saw was its own.

At least partially!

"He hopes... you can witness things after he's gone, many things he hasn't seen."

Seemingly reflecting on this answer, Little Koala remained frozen in place for a long time, eventually speaking with some reflection.

"...So that's how it is."

Dora tilted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... just a bit surprised," Little Koala's camera moved slightly, "I thought my mission was over, but apparently his expectations for me are different from what I understood. Thank you."

Dora blinked.

Though unsure of what she had done, she heard the soul residing in the cold steel sincerely thanking her.

To whom it truly belonged seemed irrelevant from the start.

It's all the same, really...

...

The 32-minute countdown finished.

At the instant the hyperspace engine finished charging, the entirety of the battered starship suddenly experienced a slight tremor.

Standing beside Jiang Xuezhou, Night Ten suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand without warning.

Jiang Xuezhou's hand shook slightly, a bit bashful, avoiding him, but didn't withdraw her hand from his palm.

"Wh-what are you doing..."

Hearing the quiet whisper, Night Ten's face turned bashful as well.

"Nothing, just afraid of losing sight of you again by accident."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xuezhou's heart felt sweet, and she softly hummed.

"That's impossible; I'm a genius..."

She wasn't boasting.

If given enough time and resources, she could even upgrade this old relic beyond its original capabilities.

[Charging completed, entering hyperspace passage...]

Pale blue text appeared on the holographic pop-up, and the brilliant Star River was instantly reflected on the pitch-black floor-to-ceiling window.

At the same time, the myriad glittering stardust transformed into dazzling blue-white trails in an instant, casting a bright white glow across the entire bridge.

This is Night Ten's first time to enter the Hyperspace Passage while conscious.

At the same time, it's also the most breathtaking experience he's had since he put on the Game Helmet and entered this world.

The universe shrinks into a single point before him, and then infinitely expands.

In that instant, he seems to tear through space, leap from his original dimension, heading to a world he cannot see or touch.

It happens in an instant.

Just in the blink of an eye, his physical body has crossed five light-years, following the Orion together from South Gate Two to the Solar System.

"It's truly incredible..."

Staring at that familiar Sun and the blue planet, Night Ten remains dumbfounded for ages, finally uttering a heartfelt exclamation.

After three Earth months, they have finally returned to the familiar vicinity of the Earth-Moon System.

And as heroes who saved Earth!

Not just him but also Dora, who stands before the floor-to-ceiling window, exhibits an expression of disbelief.

Her eyes widen, hands clutching the window, nose wanting to poke through.

Suddenly, she turns her head, casting her shocked, excited gaze towards the two Ancestors.

"Is that... your homeland?"

Night Ten nods his head, smiling as he speaks.

"That's right, its name is Earth."

Dora tilts her head, showing a confused expression.

"But... it seems there's more water?"

Night Ten: "Uh... that's quite normal, after all, we live on the ground."

Dora makes an enlightened expression, nodding thoughtfully.

"Ah, I see, but speaking of which... doesn't this mean our planet could also be called Earth?"

Night Ten chuckled and said.

"You could say that, you've already developed your own culture and language... But no matter how you refer to your home planet, we'd probably translate that word to 'Gaia'.

As the two communicated, Jiang Xuezhou, who was sitting at the console, suddenly became tense.

"Wait, there seems to be something on near-Earth orbit... It's a steel structure about 500 meters long and 50 meters thick in the center. No... where has the space debris gone?!"

Looking at the situation on near-Earth orbit, Jiang Xuezhou was utterly bewildered, completely unclear about what was happening.

Night Ten, however, was not surprised in the least, jokingly saying.

"Did you forget about the Gravity Well incident?"

Jiang Xuezhou was stunned, squeezing out a sentence from her mouth after a while.

"It has... been successfully deployed?!"

Night Ten nodded.

"That's right, and that was two weeks ago."

Two weeks ago, the Gravity Well deployed in the Southern sea area was officially activated, pulling the debris from near-Earth orbit into the atmosphere and guiding it to crash in the Southern sea area vicinity.

According to players on the official Forum, the space debris falling from the sky looked like a meteor shower, forming burning trails in the sky, as if putting a ring around Earth.

The entire process lasted ten full days!

Whether it was players in Yavente City or players in City of Dawn, they clearly observed the dense asteroid belt-like orbital debris falling from the sky.

Honestly, Night Ten felt somewhat regretful for not seeing that spectacular meteor shower.

But he quickly realized that witnessing the rise and fall of civilization was far more awesome than a mere meteor shower, thus eliminating his sense of regret.

This experience was worth it!

Jiang Xuezhou looked at him blankly, her mouth slightly open.

"Can you really establish contact with Earth from here?"

Night Ten shrugged.

"I already mentioned before, I've always had contact with Earth, didn't I also help you convey some words to the Academy over there?"

Regarding the celestial beings issue, the Alliance and Academy have signed an intelligence-sharing agreement, so even matters happening five light-years away were not kept secret from the Academy, and they even shared insights with the Academy's researchers.

He also heard on the official website that the Academy was quite shocked upon understanding the existence of the Morphogenesis Field, even briefly suspecting the Alliance's researchers were joking.

But now there's probably no debate anymore.

Once the Orion Missile Cruiser sailed in front of all of them, all doubts were dispelled.

Although this wasn't really something to boast about.

Dora was staring blankly in this direction.

Even though she didn't understand what the Academy meant, she was nevertheless shocked by his words.

The Doma Tribe has made considerable achievements in the study of Spiritual Energy, even becoming the most direct reason for Tunnan's attitude towards the Ancestors changing from initial respect to later arrogance.

However, even though they have significant insights into Spiritual Energy, communication of information must happen face-to-face, far from achieving such long-distance remote exchanges.

The gap between them seems bridged by a small river but actually spans five light-years or even farther.

"Amazing..." Dora sincerely admired in her heart, her awe and reverence for the Ancestors increased by a measure.

This is unbelievable!

"But... wait, weren't you still not awakened to Spiritual Energy back then?! Why... my brain is a bit muddled, let me sort it out..."

Jiang Xuezhou took a deep breath, wrapping her hands around the rolling helmet, but the more she thought, the more confused she became.

Especially when thinking about the previous wager, her whole face turned red as a lantern.

Watching the tongue-tied Xiao Jiang, Night Ten smiled and said.

"It's not due to any Spiritual Energy that I can establish contact with Earth five light-years away... emmm... although it's hard to say for sure. Morphogenesis Field might just be another explanation for Spiritual Energy, at least that's my personal understanding."

More professional matters should be left to the professionals to worry about.

"That, that... what's the deal with this steel structure?!" Frantically avoiding bringing up the bet, Jiang Xuezhou hurriedly changed the topic, using her finger to operate the holographic screen, dragging that distant, peculiar-shaped thing close.

Seen from afar, it seemed like a steel plate spanning near-Earth orbit, with its central axis straightly pointing towards the Earth's core.

Upon closer inspection, that steel plate was embedded with porcupine-like steel needle turrets facing the star sea beyond the atmosphere.

According to other players on the official Forum, this defensive platform of 0.25 square kilometers was equipped with fifty electromagnetic accelerators, constructed from four connecting panels, installed on near-Earth orbit through the Anti-gravity system raised from the ground.

It is said these electromagnetic accelerators are all modeled after the Anti-ship electromagnetic gun in No.60 Shelter's inventory, requiring merely three rounds to overload a Frigate level Deflection Shield.

As for the Missile cruiser level's carrier shield, although no specific tests have been done, it seems to be an issue of just one volley.

The Alliance has already grasped the means to defend near-Earth orbit, so even if the celestial beings from the Lagrange point still hold other cards, the survivors on the Wasteland are fully confident in handling it.

Neutron feather streams are not as threatening as imagined.

As long as they are destroyed before entering the atmosphere, Earth's magnetic field barrier is sufficient to reduce their power to almost harmless levels.

"That is our near-Earth orbit defense platform... a planetary level defense facility completed collaboratively by the Alliance and its allies, along with corporations and yourselves."

"Unless the pioneers return from another universe, I can't think of anything that can breach its defense... unless it's aliens who have mastered interstellar travel capabilities like us."

Seeing the astonished Jiang Xuezhou, Night Ten said with a smile.

"Let's head straight over, stop in the synchronous orbit... my good brothers have been waiting for us back there."

——

(Thanks for the reward from Alliance leader "Tomato Beef Stew with Superb Reviews"!!!)

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