Near the engine room on the lower deck.

Orange holographic isolation zones float in the corridor, encircling a large quarantined area.

This is where the collision incident occurred.

A lifeboat-class civilian spaceship crashed through the hull of the Orion Missile Cruiser, lodging half of its body directly into the cruiser.

Even in the relatively brief history of human space travel, this is considered a rather explosive accident.

What is particularly puzzling is how this small boat managed to penetrate the defenses of the deflection shield and break through the nearly impervious hull.

Fortunately, the impact zone was the gym in the living area on the lower deck, and because the ship was about to enter the hyperspace passage, such recreational facilities were in lockdown, so no one was injured.

This was also the reason why many people later ran there to watch.

The safety and maintenance department immediately closed the ventilation system in the damaged area and isolated the damaged area according to the contingency plan in the safety handbook.

Although the actual damage was only to one not-so-large cabin, the safety director still sealed off the entire related area based on the assessment report by the four engineers.

At this moment, engineers wearing space exoskeletons stood around the isolation zone, operating the tablets in their hands.

Seeing Luo Yi approaching, one of the engineers stepped forward and said.

"Hey, this is a controlled area, you need to put on a space suit to come in."

Luo Yi hung the respirator around his neck and showed his ID of the third department.

"My modified prosthetics have a low-pressure environment resistance function, are there risks of a secondary explosion?"

The engineer turned around and exchanged glances with his colleague standing next to the isolation zone, then looked back at him and replied.

"No, we have already shut down the reactor and chemical batteries of the offending spaceship."

"That's good, I'm just looking from the outside to understand the situation here," Luo Yi patted his shoulder and passed through the isolation zone, walking up to the room door labeled [Under Repair].

The alloy door was tightly sealed, with layers of folded titanium alloy reinforcement plates attached inside and out.

The worker standing next to him handed him a tablet, whose screen was connected to the camera of a repair robot.

Through the screen on the tablet, Luo Yi saw the situation inside the room. The gym equipment had been blown into a corner by a colossal impact force, and the spaceship's hull had been smashed inward, forming a hole with a radius of about 1 to 2 meters.

The scene was simply tragic.

Luo Yi frowned.

Honestly, this didn't look like damage that could be caused by a lifeboat-class civilian spaceship.

"It almost seems like an explosion occurred, doesn't it?" The engineer looked at him, shrugged, and grinned, "But actually, no, we didn't find any armor-piercing warhead on the spaceship. This really is a scientific expedition-use civilian spaceship, and the surface of the ship has clear evidence of an oxidizing atmosphere... which suggests that this ship typically operates within the atmosphere."

The worker next to them also added.

"Regardless, we rescued the person immediately. The other damage cannot be handled with the ship's repair tools and must be addressed by the construction personnel at Star Harbor."

Luo Yi nodded, recorded the information on the storage chip, and continued to ask.

"The child you rescued said that there was another person in this... scientific team, a little girl, did you find her?"

The worker at the door exchanged a confused look and then looked at him with a strange expression.

"How can that be?"

"The rescue team from the eighth department rushed in directly, and the whole ship only has one sleep cabin."

"Did he get his brain damaged?"

Luo Yi didn't speak, tapping twice on the screen with his index finger, controlling the repair robot to move a few steps forward, focusing the camera on the deformed cockpit.

There was indeed nothing there.

While he was pondering, the engineer standing beside him suddenly spoke.

"Speaking of which, something strange happened."

Luo Yi looked at him.

"What's strange?"

The engineer continued.

"Some people heard the explosion, others didn't."

Luo Yi was taken aback.

He remembered hearing it, so he rushed to the scene immediately.

But indeed there were people who didn't hear it, like his comrade Xiao Yong, who only came after hearing the alarm.

This was truly odd, as the alarm should have gone off immediately when the explosion occurred, but it malfunctioned and wasn't triggered until the unit on the lower deck reported the damage information to the first department, at which point it was manually activated.

This was also the main reason why people gathered at the time.

After all, based on past experience, if the alarm didn't sound, it meant the situation wasn't severe, so wanting to check it out was very normal.

What was abnormal was that some people heard the explosion, while others didn't.

Luo Yi carefully recalled the scenes at that time; there were indeed not many people in the room, only dozens.

Compared to the thousand people on the lower deck, this number was indeed quite small.

"Is there any pattern here?"

"I can't see it," the engineer shook his head, "I was hoping you might have some insight."

The worker next to them joked with a smile.

"You know, this should be the fifth department's work, the war is over, that department should be useful."

"Didn't that guy say it, time traveler."

"Haha, according to his words, we should quickly buy ourselves personal accidental insurance."

"Personal accidental insurance is okay, should the 'Alliance' compensate?"

"Hahaha."

Clearly, no one believed that the child came from the future, after all, the fact that they were all still alive was undeniable.

At this moment, the engineer suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

Luo Yi, lost in thought, looked up.

"Can't you say it all at once?"

"I just thought of it..." The engineer glanced at the adjacent rooms, pointing to the end corner, "Over there is the cafeteria in the living area, there were a few people inside at the time, but their reaction was not hearing it, they only reacted after our people went in and told them something happened."

Luo Yi was stunned again.

His duty room was quite far from here, yet he heard the violent explosion sound, while people near the center of the explosion heard nothing?

"It's strange isn't it? The sound insulation there isn't actually very good, more than once someone has complained about the dining noise there," the engineer shrugged playfully, "maybe we should get a real pastor."

"Makes sense."

Luo Yi nodded, handed the tablet back to the staff member beside him, and then looked seriously at the engineer.

"This piece of information is very important... I want to identify the people on the lower deck who heard the explosion and those who didn't, and then also mark what they were doing and where they were at the time of the explosion. This might help us solve the predicament we're facing now."

"Good idea," the engineer snapped his fingers, "Go and discuss it with the people from Section Eight, it's their work."

Section Eight is the ship's security and maintenance department, essentially the law enforcement department of the entire starship, including the security chief, security officers, and emergency response teams, among others.

Although the name of Section Four (Engineering and Maintenance Department) also contains "maintenance," it mainly deals with equipment upkeep and outer space operations, among other technical tasks.

The starship, with its 3,000 crew members, is like a small town sailing in space, with almost everyone assigned specific duties.

However, sometimes Luo Yi couldn't help but complain that they had too many departments, and even they needed a moment to figure out who was responsible for what.

But fortunately, everyone was very responsible. At most, there wasn't enough work to go around, but no one shirked their duties.

Luo Yi noted down the gathered intelligence and nodded with brisk decisiveness.

"I'll go."

...

As for Section Three, the weapons and defense department is the quasi-combat department of the Orion Missile Cruiser as well as the emergency response department.

Although ordinary security incidents are handled by Section Eight, for major accidents that are severe enough to damage the hull, threaten the lives of all crew members, and have uneliminated suspicions of terrorist attacks, Section Three usually also intervenes.

As a professional soldier, Luo Yi acted swiftly, checking the accident scene and the torpedo library before immediately heading to Section Eight for an intelligence exchange and retrieving access records from various functional facilities.

Through this method, it is easy to determine everyone's position at that time.

Section Eight placed considerable emphasis on the intelligence provided by Section Three, dispatching almost all security personnel to interview and investigate all 1,600 crew members on the lower deck.

The results of the investigation surprised everyone. Only a little over two hundred people heard the explosion, but since the alarm didn't go off, most people didn't take it seriously.

In Section Eight's meeting room, a three-dimensional holographic image of the lower deck of the Orion Cruiser hovered over the conference table.

According to the suggestions of Section Three's combat personnel, the areas where people heard the explosion were marked in red, while areas where people didn't hear it were marked in yellow.

The light blue holographic image was almost filled with red and yellow colors, with the winding red resembling a giant dragon extending along the inside of the hull, albeit with no apparent pattern.

Interestingly, there was no situation where, in the same area, some heard the explosion while others didn't.

In other words, there wasn't a third possibility between the red and yellow.

"It seems the problem lies in space," Luo Yi said thoughtfully, looking at the map covered with markings, "I think we should focus on inspecting these rooms marked in red."

The security chief of Section Eight stood to the side, his face, covered in stubble, showing a subtle expression.

He seemed to have thought of something, but it also seemed too far-fetched, yet he coughed and eventually said,

"Do you know what I thought of?"

All eyes around the conference table turned to him, and Luo Yi voiced the question on everyone's minds.

"What?"

The security chief immediately replied.

"Schrödinger's cat."

Murmurs spread around the table, with some people showing agreement with this idea.

Looking at the silent Luo Yi, the security chief continued uncertainly.

"Aren't we stuck in a hyperspace passage now? And then this weird thing happens... Could it be we're trapped in something akin to a quantum space?"

Disliking such ambiguous statements, Luo Yi asked seriously.

"What is quantum space? What's the specific definition?"

The security chief was momentarily speechless and rubbed his finger over his stubble, smiling bitterly.

"I'm really just guessing, I'm not into physics... I studied logistics management."

The security officer standing by whistled and teased.

"Looks like our ship's got no one in the right field."

"Isn't that guy from Section Five in the right field?"

"In the right field, but can't be of use."

Not expecting someone here to hassle Dr. Wu as well, Luo Yi made a helpless expression.

"I plan to ask him about it later... about the quantum space you mentioned."

The security chief coughed awkwardly.

"That was just a name I made up...but the implication is similar, so go ahead and ask him."

A joke is a joke.

After all, that guy is a top student.

Despite his teasing, he actually trusted Dr. Wu's professional knowledge and credentials.

After the meeting ended,

Luo Yi hurried to Section Five, only to find Dr. Wu wasn't there; only an intern he brought along was on duty. After a few inquiries, he learned that guy went drinking again.

The research and technology department had too little work, functioning as a completely useless and marginal department, and the people working there were mostly laid-back, being accustomed to laziness.

With no other choice, Luo Yi contacted a friend in Section Eight and eventually found the drunken guy in a bar tucked away in a corner of the mid-deck.

Seeing Dr. Wu slumped over the bar, Luo Yi sighed, walked over, and sat next to him before looking at the bionics robot bartender in front of him.

"Two glasses of lemon water."

"Would you like it iced or at room temperature?"

"One iced, one at room temperature."

"Very well, sir."

The bionic robot responded gently, and before long, two glasses of water with lemon slices appeared on the table.

Pushing the hot one in front of Dr. Wu, Luo Yi picked up the glass with floating ice cubes and took a sip.

From standard time 8 AM to now, after work ended, he'd been busy for a whole ten hours without a bite to eat.

But it wasn't entirely because of busyness; it was also partly due to a lack of appetite.

Watching Wu Xinghuan reach for the glass, he casually remarked,

"Is it appropriate to drink on duty?"

"Doesn't matter..."

Wu Xinghuan grabbed the glass and took a sip, realizing it had no alcoholic taste and was hot, and then frowned.

Noting his laid-back attitude, Luo Yi raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by 'doesn't matter'? Didn't you discover new physics, talking about how we'd miss the 'you' with the bottle glued to your hand?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Xinghuan let out a self-deprecating chuckle, swirling the lemon water in his hand as he cast a distant gaze at the liquor cabinet before him.

"It doesn't matter anymore...No one will remember us, I haven't discovered any new physics, the old edifice hasn't collapsed, it's even more stable. We're still in our cage, just like the hamster that happened to stop on the wheel."

This guy is obviously drunk; Luo Yi didn't understand what he was saying at all, he just heard him seemingly deny the previous conclusion.

"So... now you think that guy isn't a time traveler anymore?"

"Is it really that important?" Wu Xinghuan shook his head and took a sip from his cup.

Luo Yi frowned and stared intently into his eyes.

"Listen, you're the only one on the ship that has a chance to help us understand our current situation. We need to know what exactly has happened to us. I don't know what issues you've encountered in your research, but I hope that at least now, you can pull yourself together!"

This remark seemed to have some effect; Wu Xinghuan looked up at him, staring directly into his eyes.

"Let's make a hypothesis then."

Luo Yi looked at him, signaling him to continue with his eyes.

Wu Xinghuan placed the cup on the table, picked out two seeds from the lemon slice, and threw them in.

Watching the lemon seeds sink, he said slowly.

"There is a video game with many, many people in it... Let's assume there are 10 billion."

Luo Yi frowned.

"And then?"

Wu Xinghuan continued to speak.

"Our eyes have limits, of course, the camera does too. Now let's assume this camera can only see 100 million people; our console supports a screen with 100 million people."

Without waiting for Luo Yi to question, he continued.

"Then the question arises, where did the 9.9 billion people outside the camera go?"

Stumped by this question, Luo Yi froze for a moment, and replied with a strange expression.

"Of course they're outside the camera view."

"Smart!" Wu Xinghuan gave a thumbs up and grinned, "But you've only seen the surface... The truth is, they're all in a quantum state."

"You know they exist, the console assumes they do as well, even the name of each one is recorded, but they actually haven't been directly generated in our program, have they? Or rather, they're stored in the cache, only generated in real-time and seen by us when we move the camera over."

"People from the old era made games at low cost using this method. As long as the perspective was limited to a certain range and clever use of graphic loading was applied, an entire planet could be created with just a few textures."

"I can somewhat understand what you're getting at," Luo Yi said, frowning, "but what does this have to do with the situation we're facing now?"

Wu Xinghuan did not answer directly, instead knocking over the glass on the bar.

Looking at Luo Yi's astonished expression, he slowly said.

"Now an explosion has occurred outside the camera, and it indeed happened. You've even seen the number of casualties, the aftermath of the explosion, and the subsequent impacts... But did the explosion really happen?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Luo Yi looked at him puzzled, "You yourself said there was indeed an explosion there."

"I'm the host; I'm the narrator. The explosion is what I told you," Wu Xinghuan said with a smile, staring into his eyes, "But you should be clear that before you moved the camera over, the explosion effects, people's screams, and what some person saw or did before dying weren't actually generated in my program, were they?"

"Perhaps when the explosion happened, some guy was flipping the middle finger at you from outside the game. I bet you'd be astonished to see it because some NPC not only awakened self-awareness but also broke the fourth wall... But you didn't have the chance to see it because when you moved the camera over, you might not even find their body anymore."

Luo Yi stared blankly at him, vaguely seeming to understand something.

"Horizon," Wu Xinghuan slowly uttered a word from his mouth, then continued, "We call the spacetime interface where an event can just be observed the 'horizon,' and in this exaggerated example, the edge of your camera is what I mean by the horizon."

"And for those of us sitting here, we're precisely outside the 'horizon' while on the hyperspace passage. Including that misguided kid as well, we're all in a black box that cannot be penetrated by the outside. Our outcome for him is a foregone conclusion, while his outcome is irrelevant to us because no matter what he tells us or what happens in the future, we've already died in his timeline."

At this point, Wu Xinghuan chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"The universe is much crueler than we imagined, isn't it? According to this theory, whatever we're doing right now is meaningless. Even if we engrave words all over the wall, recounting our legendary experiences, what's meant to be erased will still be erased."

"Perhaps we've encountered countless time travelers in history... But without exception, they're just like that NPC standing outside the camera flipping the middle finger at players; no one knows he's broken the fourth wall. When the god overlooking us comes back to consciousness, he's already been thoroughly erased. And the reason is exactly what we see... Because we've never heard of this time traveler."

Luo Yi involuntarily held his breath, slowly speaking after a long while.

"But... how did we get in?"

Was it just because of hyperspace travel?

But since this war began, there have been countless hyperspace travels, and never has a starship encountered such...

Wait.

Maybe they haven't encountered it.

A drop of cold sweat slowly rolled across Luo Yi's forehead, dripping onto the bar counter at the bar.

Perhaps someone did encounter it, but just nobody knew about it.

Just like how no one knows what happens in the afterlife, whether it's reincarnation or a place called Paradise.

The only piece of information they left for the world—or "within the horizon"—is one statement.

And that is the indisputable death.

"How did we get in? Haha, only heaven knows how we got in." Wu Xinghuan laughed aloud, looking at the seemingly enlightened Luo Yi, and said leisurely, "These things don't matter at all. Maybe a big explosion killed us instantly, and we just don't know..."

At this point, he hiccupped, gazing drunkenly into Luo Yi's eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"So why do I say you're doing something meaningless? Because that guy is telling the truth! We may have already... No, it's not possible, it's certain!"

"We are already dead!"

"And sitting here, you and I... are just ghosts."

Silence enveloped the bar beside the counter.

Only the bionic robot skillfully wiped glasses, making a squeaky sound.

Luo Yi blankly stared at Wu Xinghuan, staring at that face for a long time before finally looking at the robot bartender.

"...Two glasses of 'Fountain of Life'."

The bionic bartender spoke in a gentle voice.

"I don't recommend drinking on duty, especially strong cocktails."

"But you gave him one." Luo Yi pointed to Wu Xinghuan sitting next to him.

A troubled expression floated to the robot bartender's face.

"But this gentleman says he's from Division Five, and you all say Division Five doesn't need to work..."

Luo Yi's brow twitched a little, but he still said unchanged in expression.

"I asked for it for him."

This statement seemed to gain the robot bartender's approval, and two glasses of clear, transparent strong liquor were promptly placed on the bar counter.

Luo Yi pushed one of the glasses in front of Dr. Wu, then sprinkled a few grains of salt into his glass.

"Everything you've said is just your inference. I can also speculate that we're actually on different timelines... Just like that parallel universe theory or whatever."

Wu Xinghuan shrugged.

"You don't understand what parallel universe theory is at all. If you really understood, you'd know it's actually no different from what I'm saying. The fate of this part of spacetime of ours is determined, almost determined—"

"I think there is a difference. And the difference is, I'm still breathing, my heart is still beating. At least for now, I'm still alive." Luo Yi stared unwaveringly into his eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately, "Living people should do what living people do, and as for things after death, let other living people think about them."

"But I must apologize for my previous prejudice against you. You have not done nothing; in fact, you've done far more than any of us."

In front of Dr. Wu's surprised face, Luo Yi downed the strong liquor in his glass in one go, stood up with both hands on the table.

"I still have things I can do, though it might seem meaningless to you, but I don't want to give up just like that."

Just as he was about to leave, monotonous applause suddenly came from the entrance of the bar.

Including the android behind the bar, the three of them simultaneously looked towards the entrance, only to see their captain standing there.

"Hello, Captain." The android bartender smiled and greeted.

As for Wu Xinghuan, he awkwardly hid his wine glass behind his back, then slid off the bar stool.

Because standing right behind the captain was his cousin, Wu Mengke.

He could already feel that sharp gaze staring at his drunken self.

"Well said."

Zhao Tianhe lowered his hands from clapping, nodded to the android bartender, and then smiled as he looked at the two standing in front of the bar.

"This is the attitude that a United Human warrior should have, never give up until the last moment."

"You flatter me..." Luo Yi said modestly, saluting.

Zhao Tianhe returned the salute simply, then looked at someone who couldn't stand straight because they were drunk, and continued smiling.

"Dr. Wu, I noticed that when you mentioned 'our fate is destined,' you used the word 'almost.'

"That's right..." Wu Xinghuan said awkwardly, dodging Wu Mengke's sharp gaze, rubbing his nose.

Zhao Tianhe smiled and said.

"So there's actually a way to change it, isn't there?"

Wu Xinghuan was taken aback.

Before he could speak, the captain paused for a moment and continued.

"For example... keeping the predetermined future unchanged, only altering the unknown part."

Wu Xinghuan said with a bitter smile.

"But how is that possible..."

Zhao Tianhe looked at him and said.

"The Gemini is the sister ship of the Orion, we share the same blueprint."

Wu Xinghuan looked at the captain with a peculiar expression.

"You mean..."

Zhao Tianhe stated logically and clearly.

"The spaceship that collided with us doesn't have interstellar cruising capability. We reasonably suspect the accident occurred near Earth... at least, in a place reachable by an engine with propellant."

Wu Xinghuan glanced hurriedly at Luo Yi standing beside him, saw the latter nod, and then whispered.

"It seems... that's the case."

Without noticing his small actions, Zhao Tianhe continued.

"And we are in the hyperspace passage. From what I understand, the hyperspace passage shouldn't have terminal points in the classical spatial sense, only terminal points in the temporal sense... Am I right?"

"Not exactly, but that's pretty much the idea. We can't calculate our distance relative to two massive celestial bodies... wait, you mean—" half-way through speaking, Wu Xinghuan's eyes suddenly widened, looking at the captain in astonishment.

Zhao Tianhe watched him, voicing his hypothesis.

"Could there be a possibility that the so-called time traveler aboard the Orion, actually doesn't know whether they're on the Orion or the Gemini?"

Luo Yi furrowed his brows and asked.

"But didn't the Gemini already return—"

Zhao Tianhe raised his hand to interrupt him.

"They were sunk, and it was by our hands."

An eerie silence fell over the bar.

Luo Yi and Wu Xinghuan were both stunned, then the former subconsciously looked at Wu Mengke standing behind Zhao Tianhe—the second in command of this starship, the administrative officer.

That face was expressionless, without a hint of surprise.

It was clear the captain wasn't making things up.

Luo Yi's Adam's apple moved, incredulously staring at Zhao Tianhe, this officer he once deeply respected.

"...Why?"

Zhao Tianhe looked at this young soldier, sighed slowly, and said in a complex tone.

"Because... we had no choice."

"You... killed..." Wu Xinghuan was in shock as he looked at his cousin, pushing out the last half sentence from his trembling lips, "...three thousand people?"

His eyes stared directly at her, but this time she turned her gaze away, not looking at her brother.

Zhao Tianhe coughed lightly, breaking the awkward atmosphere that filled the air.

"We had to stop the Air and Space Army from committing crimes, as for the specific process... it's all recorded in the black box. When we return to the space station at the Lagrange Point, I will surrender and explain my actions to the military court. Besides, this was my decision alone, and has nothing to do with any of you."

"In any case, there's a lot beneath the surface of this 'accident.' I don't want to tarnish my honor, but we had to make a choice. If we didn't act, not only we, but also many others would die, including many survivors who've barely made it through these three years..."

Luo Yi stared blankly at the captain, unable to accept this careless explanation.

The Gemini is the sister ship of the Orion, and personnel frequently rotate between the two; there were quite a few people he knew on that ship too.

Yet now, his most respected officer was telling him... those guys were all dead.

And it was their doing.

Without the knowledge of the vast majority of people...

Wu Xinghuan took a deep breath and worked to pull himself out of the shock of the bad news.

Indeed, he saw a glimmer of hope—

Muttering in a voice that no one else could hear.

"There are two cats in the box... only one is dead, the other is still uncertain."

"We saw the person opening the box, but the person opening the box only saw one dead cat... as long as they die, we live."

Luo Yi couldn't hear what he was saying, nor did he have the mind to listen.

Looking at this young man adrift, a weariness that he had never shown before surfaced on Zhao Tianhe's slightly haggard face, and he spoke slowly.

"I will explain later about the Gemini and the orders from the space station at the Lagrange Point. For now, let's focus on discussing how to deal with the immediate issue."

...

(Thanks to "Aurora_" for the generous reward!!!)

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