The air was deathly silent, the crowd who had been whispering like watching a monkey show completely lost their voices.

Wu Xinghuan was momentarily frozen in place as if his brain had crashed, Xiao Yong, who was holding his arms, slightly frowned, and Luo Yi fell into deep thought.

As for Koala, scratching his head as before, those bewildered beady eyes were becoming more like a real koala.

Your graves...

After a long pause, he broke the silence and said.

"So... are we already dead?"

"Yes." Night Ten replied with his eyes closed.

"Then how did we die?" Koala asked, still unwilling to give up, "There must be a reason, right?"

"How should I know how you died," Night Ten looked at him incredulously, speaking with justified certainty, "It's not like I'm in the grave yet."

"Hiss... That's right," Koala seemed convinced, scratching the back of his head and muttered to himself, "You haven't gone in yet."

Having long given up on commenting on the recruitment standards of the United Space Army, Night Ten sighed deeply, eyes turned towards the ceiling.

His mind was now a mess, like a ball of yarn, with no end to find.

Blame the game for being too realistic, right? It doesn't even have a menu interface; without the VM or logout function, he couldn't tell whether he was in the game or had genuinely transmigrated.

He of course hoped it was the former.

Since even if transmigrating, no one would hope to end up in a grave mound.

Besides, he's quite satisfied with his current life and doesn't want to experience a new environment all over again.

But if he's in the game, he couldn't understand why he couldn't log off, and even feared for his physical body in reality.

Since he first fainted till now, many hours, maybe even dozens of hours, had passed.

Jiujiu hadn't barged in to wake him up yet; possibly something had indeed gone wrong, preventing him from waking up in reality.

Thinking about these things, Night Ten's head started hurting again.

The only good news now was, just before waking up, he heard the voice calling his name once again.

Also, that adorable "Achoo."

Without a doubt, it was Jiang Xuezhou's voice.

It's truly a complex feeling; the person he wants to save has instead become his only comfort.

At least she's still around here...

"I think he's probably gone mad." Xiao Yong standing at the door put down his crossed arms, shook his head and walked away.

Luo Yi did not leave, still watching him in deep thought, seemingly recalling something.

Beside the treatment bed, Lin Youyou gently placed her hand on Night Ten's forehead, her face showing a hint of worry.

"Your heart rate is unstable and metabolism level is low, better lie down and rest..."

"I don't need rest," Night Ten muttered, not quite comfortable with such meticulous care, he moved aside, "...I also don't need you to worry, you'd better worry about yourselves."

No idea if these people are overly thick-skinned, so calm about the news of their deaths.

Sure enough, it might just be that they see him as entertainment, like players sometimes view exaggerated NPC experiences as amusing diversions.

Initially, he worried these people couldn't accept the brutal truth of their deaths, but it seemed like he was overthinking.

Watching this sulking young man, Lin Youyou gently smiled and withdrew her hand.

"We'll take good care of ourselves, and of course, we'll take care of you, after all, you're the patient."

"I'm not sick."

Night Ten replied weakly.

He didn't want to repeat this phrase anymore.

Especially since this person seemed to treat him as if he hadn't grown up, making him feel uncomfortable regardless.

Then, crouching beside the treatment bed, Dr. Wu suddenly raised his head unexpectedly.

"I think I might be sick..."

Seemingly having finally returned to his senses, he muttered some gibberish and stood up from beside the treatment bed.

Lin Youyou raised her eyebrows looking at this mumbling guy, and oddly said.

"Why don't you lay down for a while too?"

"No..."

Leaving this sentence behind with the bewildered Night Ten, Dr. Wu pushed through the crowd and quickly left.

Lin Youyou sighed, raised her index finger pressing against her brow, and spoke to the crowd gathered at the door of the medical room.

"My patient needs rest, if you're not here for medical attention, disperse."

It was obvious that residents of Prosperity Epoch had generally high quality.

Though the gawkers still hadn't had their fill, and just reached an intriguing part curious about the subsequent development, most of them heeded the doctor's advice, no longer crowding at the medical room door, dispersing quickly, leaving only Luo Yi standing at the door.

Lin Youyou stared at him.

"What about you? What's your issue?"

Luo Yi pointed at his freshly operated arm, looking at the on-duty doctor in front of him and said.

"I'm here for medical attention, and to chat a bit with the patient... Don't worry, I won't disturb his rest."

Lin Youyou didn't speak, just inquiringly looked at the patient lying on the treatment bed.

Yet the latter didn't look at her, just stared unwaveringly at the door, stubbornly repeating what he had said before.

"I'll say it again, I'm not sick."

"That's not for you or me to decide, it's up to the doctor."

Luo Yi shrugged, assuming this meant he agreed to chat, and thus walked inside the medical room.

He pulled a chair from the side, sat down next to the treatment bed, and stared at the young man lying there.

"You seem to know me... or should I put it this way, you know me from the future?"

"Yes." Night Ten nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Luo Yi. Although his gaze was still full of vigilance, he wasn't as quick to act as before.

Thinking calmly, regardless of the situation he's facing, one thing was certain.

This is definitely not the "Hunter" cruiser he encountered in the Wasteland Era of 215.

Even if he kills him, it would be useless, perhaps even causing some messy time paradox that he couldn't return from.

The possibility of this isn't zero.

Just like the theory of his own "time travel."

The most important thing now is to stay calm.

And to gather as much information as possible to understand the current situation.

At this moment, Luo Yi, who didn't know what the child from the future was thinking, looked directly into his eyes and suddenly said,

"You have good skills."

Night Ten smiled faintly.

"You're too kind."

Luo Yi smiled and said,

"Not at all, when I was your age, I was still figuring out which school to apply to. I had no idea about killing skills, hadn't even touched a gun, let alone seen one."

Not opposed to some casual chatting with this guy, Night Ten casually said,

"So you joined the military academy?"

Luo Yi shook his head.

"No, I ended up choosing environmental modification engineering. Joining the forces was something that came later."

Night Ten: "…What is environmental modification engineering?"

"It's a piece of crap."

Luo Yi grinned and continued,

"Back then, our relationship with the colonies wasn't that tense yet. We were still thinking about how to transform Gaia into Earth, and also using the technologies from the colonies to make other planets in the Solar System earth-like… But it turned out that major was a dead end."

Night Ten suddenly nodded in understanding.

Got it.

Simply put, it's 22nd-century biology.

Luo Yi looked at him and asked,

"What about you?"

Night Ten candidly replied,

"The 24th century... probably? According to our calculations, it's the Wasteland Era of 215."

Luo Yi laughed and said,

"Didn't expect the apocalypse to last for so many years."

Night Ten thought for a moment and said,

"About two hundred years or so, but it's almost over now."

Luo Yi asked curiously,

"Ended by that... Alliance?"

Night Ten said,

"Sort of, but it's not just the Alliance, many, many people contributed a lot... But honestly, since the Alliance is a coalition of all survivors, obsessing over who ended the Wasteland seems pointless."

Luo Yi nodded and suddenly sighed,

"When I first heard that you guys had been languishing in the wasteland for over 200 years, I felt a heavy heart, because my family is still on Earth, and they'll never see the peaceful era in their lifetime. But thinking that these 200 years have passed and the future holds promising young men like you, I feel somewhat comforted... Maybe the future isn't as bad as I imagined."

After a pause, he sincerely said,

"That's good, really... That's good."

His words were heartfelt, devoid of any pleasantries.

Their civilization wasn't destroyed, and it became younger and more united under the trials of the apocalypse.

That's actually meaningful.

If before starting his journey home he still had doubts about the outcome of the three-year War, fearing he'd face nothing but ruins, now he harbored no worry or unease about the future.

Though the process was full of twists and turns, ultimately all of their futures are bright.

Night Ten chuckled.

"Right? I think it's pretty good too... It was supposed to be pretty good."

Luo Yi raised his eyebrows, half-jokingly asked,

"And then you met us?"

"To be precise, I met you," Night Ten stared into his eyes and spoke bluntly, "You alone wiped out an Academy squad, albeit with your teammates' help."

Luo Yi bashfully laughed,

"Didn't think I had such a skill… then what happened? Did you pursue me, who lived for over 200 years, all the way into space?"

"That sounds absurd enough..."

Lin Youyou pressed her brow, a look of disbelief on her face.

She's more inclined to trust her own common sense, believing this guy was brain-damaged due to entering a sleep cabin without following strict freezing procedures.

Time travel?

That's just too absurd to believe.

However, Night Ten, lying on the treatment bed, nodded and said simply.

"That's right... Actually, this matter isn't really under our jurisdiction, but you took the Academy's research ship directly through the space debris to enter the synchronous orbit, then returned to this already destroyed missile cruiser. We received intelligence that this cruiser stored a hundred thousand neutron torpedoes, or even if not that exact number, it wouldn't be far off... Do you know? We just finished the final war and were preparing to celebrate our civilization entering a new epoch, and then this happened."

Luo Yi stared at him blankly, his expression gradually turning serious.

"Did I ever say what I am supposed to be doing?"

Night Ten curled his lips.

"Do you even need to say it? You joined an organization called the Celestial Beings, which is a group of lunatics hiding at the Lagrange Point Space Station along with kb radicals. Like the Enlightenment Society, they think about nothing but blowing everything on the surface just to restart."

"As for you, you didn't even waste words with us, and we could guess with our toes what you're trying to do, which is nothing more than continuing the incomplete orbital bombardment task from over 200 years ago, to do a thorough cleansing against the mucor nest and the Wasteland Wanderers, and then rebuild the homeland you imagine."

Luo Yi's face changed completely.

"Orbital bombardment? I never heard about that."

Lin Youyou gave him a peculiar look, then turned to Night Ten.

"I can testify, the fleet's work schedule is open, such a thing could never escape our attention."

"Or maybe you all just didn't know?" Night Ten snorted through his nose, "Even our Managers wouldn't tell us everything, right?"

Luo Yi placed his hand on his chest and looked at him earnestly.

"I swear on my character, even if we take a step back and there was indeed such a situation that we were executing a task without being informed, or even have unknowingly committed an unforgivable crime... I would never continue to be an accomplice once I became aware of it."

Night Ten chuckled.

"Who knows what you would think 200 years later."

Luo Yi remained silent for a moment before speaking quietly.

"... You're making a good point, people do change, but I don't believe I would change like that."

"I'm just telling you what I saw, whether you believe it or not is up to you," Night Ten said casually while looking at the ceiling, "Of course, I actually believe what you're saying. After talking to you for so long, I don't think you're the kind of person who would do such a thing. Perhaps there's some misunderstanding in this."

"Thank you for believing in me," Luo Yi nodded, "But honestly, I understand your anger. Standing on the same ground, if I traveled to the past and saw a future war criminal in front of me, I might also hesitate about whether to strangle him first... even if he hadn't done anything at the time."

Night Ten looked at him with interest.

"By the way, aren't you scared?"

Luo Yi asked.

"Scared of what."

Night Ten reminded him.

"I said very clearly just now, you are already dead. The clearer the boundary between you and the 'Luo Yi' I was talking about, the lower your chances of still being alive. He's either your clone or some android."

"Two centuries have passed, it's normal to be dead," Luo Yi shrugged and continued, "Besides, you only saw the wreckage of the Hunter, that doesn't prove anything. Maybe it was something that happened many years later? We're not always serving on this ship, let alone, we still haven't figured out what's going on with you here."

Night Ten looked at him in surprise.

"You guys are pretty optimistic."

Lin Youyou placed her hand on his shoulder and said in a teasing tone.

"After all, we're not dead yet, it's impossible to scare ourselves just because of something some kid said."

"My view is the same as Dr. Lin's."

Luo Yi nodded and looked at the boy lying on the medical bed, continuing.

"My last question, why did you get into the sleep cabin? Or rather... what happened before you passed out?"

No matter whether Dr. Wu's speculation is correct, instinct tells him it all relates to their ability to escape the current predicament.

A moment of confusion flashed in Night Ten's eyes.

"I... frankly, I'm not sure."

Luo Yi was taken aback, exchanging a glance with Lin Youyou, then looked back at him and asked.

"What do you mean by not sure?"

"Just not sure, I think I passed out then."

Night Ten patted his own head, a distressed expression on his face.

"In my memory, there isn't any part about how I got into the sleep cabin. We were hit by a neutron torpedo then, right as the shield's energy was depleting, I didn't even know if I held up, and then we collided with the lower part of the Hunter's wreckage."

"Right, there was another person in the cockpit then, she was a girl around my age, named Jiang Xuezhou... did you see her on that research ship?"

Even though he knew it was slim, Night Ten still cast a hopeful glance at the two of them.

However, their response made his mood sink instantly.

"If we're talking about the same ship, then you were the only one on it," Luo Yi looked at him seriously and said in a deep voice, "There was only one sleep cabin, and you were the one lying in it."

"But that is indeed strange, if you were unconscious, how did you get into the sleep cabin?"

Lin Youyou pinched her chin with her thumb and forefinger, pondering seriously.

"Either your brain had a memory lapse in the collision, not remembering how you climbed in. Or, as you said, there was indeed another person on the ship, but we just couldn't see them."

The medical room fell silent.

Night Ten suddenly felt a chill in the air around him, like it was haunted.

Wasn't there no metaphysical setting in this game?

Yet he truly couldn't explain what was happening in front of him with common sense, nor could he explain why he couldn't log off.

"In any case, we've now obtained two important clues. First, you collided with a neutron torpedo, then crashed into our ship... the ship of our future."

Noting down these two clues, Luo Yi stood up from his chair.

As he watched Luo Yi get up to leave, Lin Youyou raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you going to see the doctor?"

"Already done."

He has two things to do now.

One option is to take another look at the explosion site, and the other is to visit the torpedo cabin.

Additionally, these two clues need to be given to that guy named Wu.

Although that guy has never been reliable, he is still the only physicist aboard this ship.

If even he can't figure it out, I can't think of anyone else who can.

Surely, they can't expect someone like me, who graduated in "environmental modification engineering," to handle this, right?

Night Ten lay on the medical bed, eyes shut tight, with a slightly pale face.

The voice appeared again.

And it was still those four sentences—

"Night Ten..."

"It's so cold here..."

"Achoo!"

"I..."

...

The security office on the lower deck.

Several senior officers of the first section stood in front of the surveillance, fixated on the situation in the medical room.

Among them were Captain Zhao Tianhe, second-in-command Wu Mengke, and the navigator, among others.

Respecting the doctor's opinion, they did not stimulate the patient but instead arranged for Luo Yi from the subordinate space combat squad to tactfully gather the information they urgently wanted to know.

The two talked for a long time, from the future to the present.

What they said was unintentional, but it sent a chill down the listeners' spines.

The Hunter did not in fact carry out an orbital bombardment plan, but the ship's command did receive a request for support from the Lagrange Point Space Station.

Intelligence reports indicate that most of the surface area has already been covered by the mutant mucor mother nest. Without a more thorough purification action, within the next ten years at the latest, the mucor will spread to areas near the Antarctic and Arctic circles.

Under such circumstances, rebuilding civilization is nearly impossible. Human civilization might not even have the opportunity to rebuild before being wiped out by Gaia's children.

Now that the space elevator has been destroyed and the Endeavour Colonization Ship has abandoned its plan to colonize alien star systems, human civilization has approached the brink of destruction.

The meaning from the Lagrange Point Space Station is clear. Since the doomsday plan has been initiated and the nuclear option has already been used, the majority of surviving civilians on the surface are unlikely to survive, so why not just press the pedal to the metal?

From the perspective of civilization, this is trying to preserve the spark for civilization's survival as much as possible.

However, this act itself has already shaken the foundations of civilization.

Therefore, whether to take this step is not agreed upon within the United Human and among the high ranks of the Air and Space Army, with even severe disagreements present.

These disagreements did not arise today; they existed much earlier.

Including but not limited to the core disputes of the entire war.

Some people believe the enemy in this war is the rebel faction, while others believe that Gaia is the real enemy.

Disagreement is inevitable.

Whenever two people stand together, they will inevitably divide; let alone a group.

Though this ultimate war was provoked by the radical faction, it was only the most radical subset of them.

And as the colony split, internal contradictions turned into external ones, naturally causing the conservative faction, which held an absolute advantage within the high levels of the United Human, to create new divisions based on the existing agenda. For example, those leaning right became the new conservative faction, while those leaning left became the new radical faction.

From the latter's standpoint, the war is over, the rebels have been eliminated, and now it's time to deal with the aftermath and establish a new order.

This order could include mutant mucors, as it's practically impossible to eliminate them entirely.

However, from the former's standpoint, the imperative is to eradicate all surface mucors at any cost, making any sacrifices necessary.

Zhao Tianhe actually wasn't interested in political matters.

He had a clear understanding of his role. He was a professional soldier and should be loyal to the law... even if the majority of the Air and Space Army leans toward the former side.

However, even if he doesn't want to choose sides, when the torrent of history sweeps by, he and his subordinates are forced to get involved and make a choice.

After all, when he received orders from the command center at the Lagrange point, only two starships in the entire Air and Space Army, and indeed the United Human, retained the capability for interstellar navigation.

The Hunter and the Gemini.

He had the most remaining munitions, while the Gemini's neutron torpedoes should have been mostly expended in the previous orbital bombardment of Gaia Planet.

In other words, only they are capable of executing the doomsday plan.

There was no one else...

And there was nothing to say about his choice.

He would rather aim his gun at himself or at his allies than at the civilians he had devoted his life to protecting.

If he really did that, the three-year war would be for nothing.

Wu Mengke, standing in front of the surveillance terminal screen, looked worriedly at Captain Zhao Tianhe beside her.

"This kid knows about the information from the Lagrange Point Space Station. I think it's no coincidence; he might indeed come from the future."

Zhao Tianhe stared intently at the screen, slowly nodding.

"Hmm."

Wu Mengke moved her gaze away, a complex expression on her face, and inadvertently gripped the armrest of the chair.

"Then we..."

Knowing what she meant to say, Zhao Tianhe shook his head and kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Hard to say."

"No matter how we cut it, it's undeniable that you and I are still alive, and our enemy has absolutely no chance of turning the tables."

"I actually tend to think he doesn't come from our future."

"But from the future of 'another timeline.'"

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