253: Victory celebration and the "out-of-control" new body

Salvaging wreckage, data analysis, treating the wounded, system maintenance... In the dozens of hours after the "Homeland" base repelled the "World Devourer," it functioned like a precision machine that had switched from an extreme combat state to a high-efficiency repair state. Every "gear" was spinning at high speed, emitting a low, orderly hum. The air was filled with a mixture of ozone, lubricant, and the faint scent of medical disinfectant. People hurried through the corridors, their faces weary, but deep in their eyes flickered an irrepressible, fiery glow of surviving a catastrophe.

They had won. It wasn't a pyrrhic victory, nor a desperate, bloody repulse; rather, they had defended their "Homeland" in a way that bordered on myth against an enemy strong enough to make the galaxy tremble. And the one who forged this miracle was the boy they had watched grow up, who had just "reborn" from his "slumber" and displayed the might of a god or demon—Excellence. This name was now whispered in every corner of the base, carried with awe, gratitude, and a pride that felt almost like a blood connection.

To celebrate this hard-won victory, and to welcome Excellence back in his truly "complete" form in the warmest way possible, Wang Jianguo overruled all objections—mostly the concerns raised by Su Mu, who argued that "Excellence's physical condition is still unstable and requires close observation"—and decided to hold a simple yet necessarily grand open-air celebration banquet in the dome plaza of the base's central living area. Supplies were not abundant, but hearts needed comfort, and morale needed a boost.

The food was a mixture of nutritionally fortified synthetic paste and "Excellence-brand" modified crops (serene cucumber, moonlight rice, starlight lettuce), with the chefs doing their best to shape them into various dishes; the drinks were light wine and natural fruit juice made from recycled and purified water, served in recyclable metal cups. However, when the simulated night slowly descended upon the giant dome, the soft lights that lit up the plaza, the carefully arranged simple tables and chairs, and the long-lost relaxed laughter floating in the air gathered into a warm atmosphere that seemed capable of dispelling the cold of the starry sky and igniting a warm bonfire in everyone's heart.

Holographic projections slowly rotated in the center of the plaza, playing edited combat highlights that emphasized heroism and the final victory. Whenever Excellence's small but firm figure appeared on the screen, followed by his reality-reversing "Stop," "Turn," and "Order Fists of Collapse," bursts of astonishment and cheers would erupt from the crowd. This was not just a celebration banquet; it was a collective psychological healing, a vivid footnote to the word "hope."

As the undisputed protagonist, Excellence was naturally the focus of everyone's attention. He had taken off his futuristic silver-white energy armor and put on a Deep Blue casual outfit that Evelyn had urgently adjusted and made based on his latest body scan data. The material was a type of high-elasticity, highly breathable bio-synthetic fiber, with a nano-mesh woven inside that could channel and cushion trace energy fluctuations—a combination of science and care. He sat at the core position of the main table, surrounded by Wang Jianguo, Su Mu, Evelyn, and a group of excited high-ranking officers, bridge backbone staff, and core researchers.

Under the lights, Excellence wore a somewhat awkward and embarrassed smile. His new body's Perception was abnormally sharp; he could clearly feel the various complex gazes cast from all directions: reverence, curiosity, gratitude, inquiry... This made him feel somewhat restless, far less composed than when he faced the giant ship in the starry sky.

"Commander Excellence! My god! That punch!" A burly sub-fleet captain with a flushed face, who had clearly downed quite a bit of light wine, squeezed over with a thick tongue, excitedly slapping his fan-like hand onto Excellence's shoulder in an attempt to express his admiration. "I was on the Ark at the time, behind three layers of portholes, and I felt the entire bridge structure trembling along with your fist! That wasn't vibration; it was... it was Resonance on the level of laws! Satisfying! Truly damn satisfying!"

Excellence swayed slightly from the slap, subconsciously tightening his muscles to dissipate the force. He heard the captain let out an "Ouch," grimacing and shaking his hand, looking at his slightly reddened palm with shock and wonder: "Whoa! Commander, your physique... it's harder than battleship armor!"

Excellence quickly apologized: "Sorry, Captain Li, the new body... the reaction is a bit over-sensitive, I haven't adapted well yet." His face felt hot, and he thought to himself that this passive defense counter-shock mechanism also needed to be added to his control training list.

"And that 'Stop' move! It completely subverted my cognition!" A young astrophysics researcher with glasses and somewhat messy hair squeezed over, his eyes shining behind his lenses as if he had discovered a new star. "We analyzed the residual energy field; it wasn't a simple force field barrier or energy counter-strike, but a forced 'lock' of specific macroscopic quantum states within the target space-time segment! The physical rules this involves... no, no, no, this has already somewhat transcended our existing physical framework! Commander, how exactly did you 'define' that 'Stop' at the time? Was it concept injection or rule overriding? What was the medium of energy transmission? Was it string vibration or..."

He threw out a series of technical terms, speaking rapidly, his eyes burning as he looked at Excellence as if he wanted to put him on an analysis table on the spot. Excellence could only force a laugh and shrink back, looking at Evelyn for help.

Evelyn coughed gently, blocking the overly excited researcher with a gentle but firm gesture: "Dr. Zhang, we can schedule detailed data analysis and theoretical discussion for tomorrow's special meeting. Today, let Excellence relax a bit, okay?"

Dr. Zhang realized his faux pas, scratched his head, and backed away embarrassedly, but his eyes remained glued to Excellence.

"Excellence's final 'Order Chains,' combined with the mysterious strike from White Elder, was the pinnacle of violent aesthetics!" The chief expert of the weapons system, a middle-aged woman with a cold face but shining eyes, commented. "Precise, efficient, achieving the maximum tactical goal with the minimum self-consumption—stripping samples, severely damaging enemy ships, and dispelling threats. Commander, your fine control of power has already shown amazing potential in actual combat."

Excellence grew redder at the ears from the praise and could only wave his hands, saying modestly: "It was luck, really just luck... I haven't even figured out many of the functions of the new body myself; it works intermittently. Being able to win relied on everyone's thorough preparation, the support of the Ark and all defense platforms, and the timely help of White Elder. It wasn't my credit alone."

His gaze drifted unconsciously toward Su Mu and Evelyn beside him, carrying a childish sense of seeking help.

Su Mu was wearing a neatly tailored light beige jacket today, which made her look crisp and capable. She wore a faint smile on her face, responding to the greetings of those around her, but if one looked closely, one could find the trace of worry that hadn't completely dissipated deep in her eyes, like an imperceptible undercurrent at the bottom of the water. Her gaze fell on Excellence most of the time, focusing on every subtle change in his expression and every unnatural limb movement, as if she were guarding a lost-and-found treasure that had become unusually "fragile" (referring to control).

Evelyn sat quietly on Excellence's other side, sipping the clear fruit juice in her cup, her gaze behind her gold-rimmed glasses calm and focused. She didn't wear her emotions on her face like Su Mu, but her habit as a top scientist made her unconsciously treat Excellence's current state as an extremely precious research sample. Her brain, like a high-efficiency database, was constantly recording and analyzing Excellence's breathing frequency, the subtle energy radiation on his skin surface, his pupils' reaction to different lights, and even the tiny changes in the force of his fingertips when holding the cup. This seemingly calm "observation" actually contained her deepest concern—only by fully understanding could she better help him adapt.

White Elder and his two disciples, Qingluan and Black Armor, were also among the invitees. They were arranged in a relatively quiet corner, a bit far from the main table. The old man was still in his simple robe, holding his staff—which was neither metal nor wood—calmly savoring his tea, seemingly blind to the clamor and hustle before him, yet seemingly taking it all in. His gaze would occasionally cross the crowd and meet Excellence's, and each time, the old man would nod slightly, a nearly imperceptible arc of approval and deep meaning appearing at the corner of his mouth. The green-clad woman "Qingluan" standing behind him and the burly, silent "Black Armor" appeared somewhat reserved. Although they were extraordinary, they could not help but show a trace of restrained amazement and curiosity at the technological artifacts and the lively, bustling atmosphere of the "Homeland" base, which was vastly different from the "Lost Star Cluster."

The atmosphere of the celebration banquet gradually reached a climax. Wang Jianguo stood up, his tall figure appearing exceptionally upright under the lights. He tapped the metal cup in his hand with his finger, and the crisp sound gradually quieted the noisy plaza.

"Everyone!" Wang Jianguo's voice was loud and powerful, echoing under the dome. "Today, we stand here, not to taste the most sumptuous wine and food—honestly, our chefs have tried their best, but no matter how you mold this synthetic paste, it won't turn into a grilled steak from ancient Earth!" His humorous self-deprecation drew a burst of good-natured laughter.

"We are standing here to celebrate! To celebrate that we just won a hard battle, a hard battle when the most powerful enemy came knocking at our most difficult time!" His voice became passionate. "We held on! We defended the 'Homeland,' we defended the spark of civilization that we have been in exile for hundreds of years and finally reignited! This victory belongs to everyone here! It belongs to the operators holding their posts on the bridge, to the engineers working desperately to repair in the hangar, to the doctors and nurses saving lives in the medical bay, to the scientists analyzing data until their eyes are blurred in the lab, and even more to all the ordinary people who have contributed silently in their respective posts and laid the cornerstone for this victory!"

Applause thundered, and many people's eyes welled up with tears.

Wang Jianguo paused, his gaze turning to Excellence, his eyes becoming incomparably gentle and proud: "And leading us, tearing through the darkness at the most critical moment, and bringing the decisive victory, is the child we watched grow up, who endured hardships, and who has finally truly 'come home'—Excellence!"

Everyone's eyes focused on Excellence again, and the applause became even more enthusiastic, mixed with whistles and cheers.

"Today, we don't just celebrate the victory; we celebrate that our hero has come home!" Wang Jianguo raised his cup high, his voice piercing the clouds. "Let us, together, toast to Excellence! Toast to our protector! Toast to our family! Cheers!"

"To Excellence!!!"

"To the Homeland!!!"

The mountain-shaking response almost lifted the dome. Countless metal cups were raised, reflecting a sea of swaying light under the lamps.

Excellence stood up hurriedly, picking up the drink in front of him that Su Mu had strictly limited to pure fruit juice. He looked around, looking at those excited, trusting, hopeful, and warm faces, looking at Su Mu's reddened eyes, looking at Evelyn's encouraging smile, looking at Wang Jianguo's heroic figure, and thousands of words were stuck in his chest, his nose feeling a bit sour. Those profound "Order" authorities, the unpredictable threats of the future, and the troubles of body control seemed to have temporarily drifted away at this moment. What remained was only a heavy, warm current called "belonging."

He took a breath, raised his cup, and his voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears: "Here, is my home. You, are my family. You were before, you are now, and you will always be in the future." His gaze swept across the crowd, his eyes clear and firm. "Protecting the Homeland, protecting my family, is what I should do. Today, we won, but the road ahead is still long, and the storm may become more violent. However—" He raised his volume, with a firm conviction, "As long as we are together, thinking in one direction, and exerting strength in one direction, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome, and no enemy that cannot be defeated! For the Homeland, for the future, cheers!"

"Cheers!!!"

"For the Homeland!!!"

The cheers reached a climax again. At this moment, the barriers and class differences seemed to be melted by this shared emotion, and everyone was immersed in pure joy and unity.

However, at this most enthusiastic moment, when spirits were most relaxed, Excellence's new body, which was still undergoing deep integration with his consciousness and contained infinite power, began to show some laughable, small symptoms of "not adapting" to daily life. These accidents, like a few ice cubes thrown into boiling water, did not destroy the atmosphere, but in a strange way, narrowed the distance between this "god-like" young hero and his ordinary "family."

It started with a malfunction in tactile feedback. An elderly researcher, who had participated in the early construction of The Weave architecture, walked over shakily carrying a cup, tears streaming down his face before he could even speak.

He tightly gripped Excellence's free left hand, his palm, covered in age spots and wrinkles, trembling with force. He choked out words, recounting the hardships at the beginning of the exile, the sorrow of losing companions, and the excitement he felt upon seeing Excellence's heroic figure today—as if he were witnessing the dawn of civilization reappearing.

Excellence was deeply moved and subconsciously squeezed back, wanting to convey his respect and comfort. He believed he had been very, very careful in controlling his strength.

"Crack." A slight, yet at this moment, quite clear sound of breaking came from between their clasped hands.

The old researcher's voice came to an abrupt halt.

The emotion on Excellence's face instantly froze.

People around them looked over curiously.

The old researcher slowly loosened his hand, looked down, and stared blankly at the portable data pad stylus with an alloy casing that had accompanied him for many years in his palm. At this moment, this sturdy pen had a clear indentation in the middle, matching the curve of Excellence's fingers; the pen body was slightly bent, and the surface coating was cracked.

The air was silent for a moment. Excellence's face flushed red instantly. He opened his mouth, stammering, "I—I'm sorry! Elder Chen, I... I didn't mean to! This... the tactile feedback of this new body has a bit of a delay; I thought I hadn't gripped it firmly yet..."

The old researcher looked up, saw Excellence's face full of embarrassment and self-reproach, then looked down at the deformed pen again. The blankness on his face slowly dissolved, and then, he suddenly grinned, letting out a loud and hearty laugh: "Hahaha! Good! Good lad! That's more like it! With this kind of strength, you'll be able to crush all those malicious monsters!"

He patted Excellence's shoulder hard (this time deliberately lightening his touch) and treasured the deformed pen as he put it into his pocket. "I'll keep this pen, old man! It's the best victory souvenir! Much more precious than all those data reports of mine!"

The people around also reacted, bursting into a round of good-natured laughter. Excellence breathed a sigh of relief and scratched his head awkwardly, though he mentally raised the priority of "fine tactile control" even higher.

Next came the auditory overload. The plaza's background music, the laughter and chatter of people, the clinking of cups and plates, the faint humming of maintenance robots in the distance... these sounds, which had originally blended into a lively background noise, began to be gradually separated, amplified, and parsed within Excellence's highly sensitive, newborn auditory system.

He could clearly distinguish the whispers of a couple thirty meters away about the "texture of the serene cucumber salad"; he could "hear" the frequency differences, so subtle they were almost ultrasonic, produced when fingertips tapped against metal cups of different thicknesses; he could even vaguely capture the rhythmic, extremely low-frequency pulsations of the Ecological Garden's water circulation system further away, as well as the almost negligible "biological sound waves" released by the chloroplasts of "starlight lettuce" leaves as they performed weak photosynthesis...

Information flowed in like a tide. Although his brain's processing power seemed to have increased accordingly, causing no confusion or pain, this constant, overly clear "panoramic sound" experience made him frown slightly, feeling a kind of mental "noise" and fatigue.

He subconsciously reached out to grab the metal cup on the table, wanting to drink some cool fruit juice, perhaps to slightly "suppress" these overloaded senses.

His fingertips had just touched the cold cup wall, not even having gripped it with force—

Hum!

An extremely slight humming sound, as if from a minor disturbance in an energy field, rang out.

With the point of contact of his fingertips as the center, the pale yellow, slightly sloshing fruit juice in the cup underwent an unbelievable change within one ten-thousandth of a second. It didn't freeze, nor did it boil; instead, it instantly lost all fluidity, turning into a crystal-clear, gelatinous solid that looked like top-grade amber!

The surface was as smooth as a mirror, and the interior retained the original color of the juice and the suspended state of some fruit fibers. Even in the very center, a small air bubble remained, eternally frozen in place. A layer of faint white light of Order—almost invisible to the naked eye but perceptible to those with keen senses—flickered across the surface of the "jelly" and vanished.

Excellence's fingers froze in mid-air.

Su Mu, sitting opposite him, stopped the motion of raising her cup to her lips.

Evelyn, next to him, reacted extremely quickly, leaning over almost the moment the anomaly occurred. The multi-functional scanner on her wrist emitted a soft blue light, quickly scanning the cup of "solid juice."

"Molecular thermal motion has been forcibly reduced to near absolute zero levels, but the molecular bonds have not broken, and the chemical properties remain theoretically unchanged." Evelyn's voice remained calm, carrying the precision of a researcher. "It is a 'macroscopic quantum state freezing' based on a high-Order Order force field. Excellence, the intensity of your unconscious radiating Order field is about 0.3 Orders of magnitude higher than our estimated baseline. Furthermore, it seems to be highly coupled with the minute fluctuations of your own emotions or concentration."

Excellence looked at the "amber juice," which appeared somewhat fantastical under the lights, and felt like crying without tears. He really just wanted to drink some water to alleviate his "auditory fatigue"!

Now, more people nearby had their attention drawn over. Curious, surprised, and amused gazes focused on that cup of "jelly" and the embarrassed Excellence.

"Yo! Did Commander Excellence show off another trick? 'Turning water into gel'? A newly developed non-combat skill?" a cheerful engineer teased.

"Can this be eaten? How's the texture? Will it chip a tooth?" This was a sincere question from a certain "foodie" researcher.

"Excellence, it seems your title as a 'walking human rule modifier' is well-deserved!" Wang Jianguo couldn't help but laugh and join in the teasing.

The flush on Excellence's ears spread to his neck. He looked at Su Mu for help, his eyes filled with "I didn't mean to" and "What do I do."

Su Mu managed to hold back from spitting out the juice in her mouth. She put down her cup, pulled the "amber cup" in front of herself, extended her index finger, and curiously poked the Q-elastic, hard surface. "Confiscated! Until you can perfectly control your own 'hedgehog skin'," she lowered her voice, glaring at Excellence with a mix of annoyance and amusement, "you are forbidden from touching any daily objects that haven't been specially reinforced! Including but not limited to tableware, stationery, doorknobs, and other people's hands!" Pausing, she keenly noticed Excellence's slightly furrowed brow from earlier, "Are your ears uncomfortable? Do you feel it's too noisy?"

Excellence nodded hurriedly as if granted amnesty, complaining in a low voice: "It's not uncomfortable, it's just too 'clear.' It feels like listening to hundreds of radio stations at once, and it can even automatically translate and analyze..."

Hearing this, Evelyn immediately took out a silver flake from her tool pouch that was only the size of a button and as exquisitely crafted as a work of art. "Temporary sensory filter, non-invasive patch." She signaled for Excellence to turn his head and gently applied the flake to the skin behind his ear; the flake instantly blended with his skin tone. "It can help you filter and integrate the overloaded sensory information, especially auditory and certain energy Perceptions, adjusting them to be close to the 'normal range in your memory.' However, this is only an aid; you need to learn to autonomously close or regulate these sensory channels as soon as possible."

Almost the moment the patch took effect, Excellence felt the world "quiet down"—restoring that familiar "normal" hearing with reasonable background noise. He let out a long sigh of relief and cast a grateful glance at Evelyn.

However, the new body's "little temper" seemed determined to make an appearance tonight, giving him a complete "wake-up call." Perhaps the consecutive embarrassments had caused a trace of imperceptible emotional fluctuation, or perhaps this highly energized body was still fine-tuning itself in the complex environment of social bio-electric signals. Excellence suddenly felt a slight, continuous itching sensation on his back, just below the shoulder blades, as if a hair had fallen onto his skin.

He subconsciously, while controlling what he believed to be an "extremely slight" amount of force, raised his right hand and used the back of it to rub the itchy spot through his clothes.

Zzzzt—!

A sound, clearer than before, like a high-voltage static discharge or the slight cracking sound of some high-energy fabric being instantly carbonized, rang out.

Excellence's body froze instantly, his arm suspended in mid-air.

Su Mu, Evelyn, and the few people closest to him cast their gazes toward his back in astonishment.

They saw that Excellence's specially made dark blue casual wear, which claimed to be able to buffer trace energy fluctuations, now had two palm-sized scorched marks symmetrically appearing in the general area corresponding to the shoulder blades on his back! The edges of the marks were not neat, presenting a radial carbonized pattern. The center was the darkest, and one could even see the underlying inner lining mesh, which was also slightly charred but clearly more heat-resistant. Most amazingly, at the center of the two scorch marks, a few wisps of silver-white electric sparks, as thin as hair, remained, dancing for a moment before dissipating. An extremely faint scent, similar to ozone, permeated the air.

And Excellence himself, in that instant, clearly felt a strong surge of energy from deep within his shoulder blades, a mix of numbness and stinging pain, as if something was struggling to emerge from beneath his skin and between his bones, carrying an instinctive urge to "unfold" or "release." This impulse came and went quickly, subsiding rapidly as the electric sparks dissipated, leaving only a faint, warm lingering sensation under his skin, along with those two impossible-to-ignore scorch marks.

The entire main table area instantly fell into an eerie silence. Everyone looked at the two symmetrical scorch marks on his back, emitting wisps of blue smoke (actually, tiny scorched particles drifting away), with strange expressions.

Excellence remained in the twisted, reaching posture, stiffly and bit by bit turning his head back to look at Su Mu, who was already dumbfounded. He squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying and full of ingratiation, his voice dry: "Squad leader... if I say... I just felt a bit itchy on my back, really... I just rubbed it lightly... do you... believe me?"

Su Mu's gaze shifted from his innocent (and terrified) face to the two fresh "masterpieces" on his back, and then back to his face. The corners of her mouth twitched a few times, as if she wanted to maintain seriousness, but in the end, an absurd feeling overwhelmed everything.

"Pfft—hahahaha!!!"

Su Mu suddenly burst into an earth-shattering laugh, laughing until she swayed back and forth, slapping the table without any regard for her image, tears streaming out. "I believe you! How could I not! Hahaha! Oh, Excellence, Excellence! Is this really a new body? You're more like a 'walking human destruction machine,' aren't you? You break everything you touch! You melt everything you stroke! Now look at this, you can even burn two symmetrical holes in your clothes just by scratching an itch! Hahaha! Shouldn't you be thankful you didn't set the sofa on fire?!"

Her unreserved laughter was like a key, instantly opening the valve of suppressed tension in the entire room.

Evelyn was stunned at first, then couldn't help but smile, shaking her head while quickly operating her wristwatch to record: "Unconscious energy leakage, high intensity, local outbreak, concentrated at potential high-energy convergence Nodes—the shoulder blade area. This form... could it be a natural extension point of the energy conduction structure? Similar to the energy wing bases of certain cosmic creatures? Or... is it a prototype of some high-Order energy radiation organ? This is so interesting..."

Wang Jianguo and the other onlookers, officers, and researchers, after a brief moment of stunned silence, also burst into even louder and more unbridled laughter. The previous awe and sense of distance were shattered by these successive, comical "accidents" full of life. So, this young hero, who could stop light with his bare hands and crack giant ships with his fists, would actually have all sorts of ridiculous and laughable blunders in private due to failing to control his "overly lively" new body! This contrast, far from weakening his image, made him appear more real, vivid, and approachable, as if he had stepped down from an unreachable altar and had become the familiar, occasionally slightly clumsy Excellence they knew.

In the midst of the laughter that almost threatened to lift the roof off, Excellence wished he could bury his entire head under the table. His exposed ears and neck were so red they seemed capable of dripping blood. But at the same time, a strange warm current quietly flowed through his heart. He keenly sensed that in all that laughter, there was not a trace of mockery, fear, or alienation, only pure goodwill, understanding, and a kind of... affectionate intimacy, like a family member laughing at a child who had caused trouble, feeling both annoyed and amused.

"Um..." Excellence took a deep breath, trying to calm the heat on his face, and looked up, attempting to save face, but his bright red ears betrayed his embarrassment. "I might need... a little time to adapt. This body... well, it's a bit too 'enthusiastic' and 'direct'."

"Understood! Totally understood!"

"Hahaha! Commander Excellence, we've all certainly felt your 'enthusiasm'!"

"It's fine! Take your time! Our base doesn't have much, but we have plenty of reinforcement materials! We'll upgrade your room to the highest specifications tomorrow!"

[part:deepseek-chat]

Good-natured teasing and laughter swelled even more. Even the White Elder, who had been sitting quietly in the distance, wore a genuine and gentle smile on his aged face. He watched as Excellence, caught in the friendly 'siege' of the crowd, gradually relaxed from his initial extreme embarrassment, and even ended up giving a helpless, lopsided grin. A look of relief and satisfaction shone in the White Elder's eyes.

"Qingluan," he called softly, his voice barely audible.

The green-robed woman standing nearby immediately bowed slightly. "Master."

"Do you see?" The White Elder's gaze remained fixed on the lively center in the distance. "Absolute power does not inevitably create absolute isolation. A sincere nature, immersion in the mundane world, openly acknowledging one's own imperfections and adjustment period... these are the true cornerstones for uniting all beings, stabilizing one's Dao heart, and dispelling suspicion. This child's temperament has grasped the essence. It is rare and precious."

He paused, his tone growing more serious. "Send a message back to the Lost Star Cluster. The seed has sprouted. Its vitality far exceeds expectations. Designate it as the highest-priority observation target. Also, upgrade the risk level of the warning regarding the world devourer possibly ending its deep slumber prematurely due to stimulation from a potent Order coordinate to 'Crimson'."

Qingluan's expression turned solemn. "Yes, Master. However... will a 'Crimson' warning cause unnecessary panic?"

The White Elder shook his head gently, his gaze distant. "The storm will come sooner or later. The 'coordinate' light radiating from this child is brighter, and more... 'appetizing'... than we initially projected. For those who crave to devour Order, it is akin to the brightest beacon in the darkness. It is better to plan early than to be caught unprepared."

The celebration continued amidst laughter and a constant stream of minor incidents. Excellence became the focal point of the entire gathering, subject to intense 'protection' and 'observation'. Su Mu exercised her authority as 'drill instructor', strictly forbidding him from touching any non-specially-made items; Evelyn transformed into a 'personal medic', periodically scanning him with a portable device to record his energy fluctuations. He himself was on high alert, meticulously controlling every muscle movement and every flow of thought, striving to contain and retract his external energy field again and again. He was like a baby just learning fine motor skills—clumsy, earnest, and with a touch of adorable frustration.

He ate the rice ball Su Mu had specially prepared for him—a mixture of serene cucumber and moonlight rice (using specially-made, crush-proof utensils). The taste was refreshing and sweet. He ate with extreme slowness and concentration, successfully preserving the integrity of the utensils.

He clinked cups (filled with juice) with a few familiar comrades who had also participated in the early maintenance of The Weave. His movements were as light as a feather brushing past; the metal cups remained unscathed, not even making much of a clinking sound.

Even under Simon's instigation, he followed the rhythm of a slow-paced folk song from the old era playing in the square. Under Su Mu's amused gaze, he swayed his body with an extremely slight motion, almost only his shoulders moving—causing no spatial distortion or energy anomalies. Excellent! Control was showing significant improvement!

The night deepened, and the clamor gradually subsided. The simulated starry sky twinkled on the dome ceiling. People in the square began to disperse in twos and threes, wearing satisfied smiles and a tipsy contentment. Flanked by Su Mu and Evelyn as if under 'escort', Excellence left the still brightly lit square, passed through quiet corridors, and returned to his newly assigned quarters within the base—a specially reinforced suite with energy-buffering and absorption layers embedded in the walls and floor, equipped with an independent basic training area and round-the-clock life monitoring facilities.

The thick alloy door closed silently behind him, completely shutting out the last vestiges of noise from outside. Excellence almost immediately shed all his forced 'composure'. He let out a long, deep sigh, his entire body collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut onto the large, specially reinforced sofa in the center of the living room—a sofa capable of withstanding the weight of heavy engineering machinery. A groan, half relief and half exhaustion, escaped him. "Whew... More exhausting than fighting that black ship... The mental toll is huge..."

Su Mu locked the door behind her, then crossed her arms and walked leisurely to the sofa. She looked down at him with a sidelong glance, a smile playing on her lips. "Now you understand how difficult it is? Will you still dare to show off and play the hero before you're fully adapted?"

Evelyn went straight to the small workstation within the suite. She turned on the light screen and called up the massive data stream remotely monitored during the celebration concerning Excellence, quickly scanning through it. "Overall performance is trending towards stability," she analyzed without looking up. "The peak frequency of unconscious energy leakage showed a significant downward trend as the banquet progressed and your subjective control intention strengthened. The intervals between loss-of-control incidents are also lengthening. However," she turned to look at Excellence, her gaze behind her glasses calm and professional, "the amplitude of your energy fluctuations remains highly positively correlated with your own emotional shifts. Subtle embarrassment, tension, gratitude, relaxation... all trigger corresponding ripples in your energy field. You need systematic adaptive training, and you also need to learn more efficient emotional management and psychological regulation techniques. The unity of mind and body is especially crucial for your current highly energetic form of existence."

Excellence sat up straight on the sofa, rubbing his still slightly warm cheeks. Looking at the two women closest to him and most familiar with his condition, his expression became serious and frank. "Squad Leader, Sister Evelyn, I know I worried you both again today. This body... the level of power is indeed high, but controlling it is really like... like piloting a super star cruiser to thread a needle, or wielding a warhammer capable of splitting stars just to swat a mosquito. Too light and you feel nothing; too hard and it's just obliterated. The feedback is too vague, too 'delayed' or too 'preemptive'." He extended his hands, examining them closely. The lines on his palms were clear, and beneath the skin, faint, flowing light was vaguely discernible. "And, I always feel... there seem to be many 'rooms' inside this body that haven't been opened, many 'function buttons' that aren't lit. What I can use now—Order Fists of Collapse, 'words become law'—these might just be the most basic operational interface."

His fingertips moved slightly. A strand of silvery-white Order energy, finer than a spider's silk yet incredibly dense, wove, coiled, and transformed into simple geometric shapes between his fingers with astonishing agility, like a living serpent. It displayed his remarkable potential for exquisite micro-control over the energy itself.

"I can sense it's like a newly activated terminal, equipped with over-spec hardware but with an incomplete system and missing drivers," Excellence said, manipulating the energy thread while searching for the right words. "Many ports are dark, many pathways are blocked, many 'applications' are grayed out. That impulse from my back today... the desire to 'unfold' was very clear, very instinctive, but it was blocked by a 'membrane' or a 'lock'. The itch was probably just a trigger."

Evelyn nodded in agreement, projecting several sets of graphs from the light screen into the air. "The data supports your feeling. Your Order Origin core output is stable and nearly limitless, but over sixty percent of the energy circulation network within your body is in a 'low-power standby' or 'physically sealed' state. This is likely an evolutionary protective mechanism, preventing your newly formed, not-yet-fully-synchronized consciousness and body from prematurely bearing and invoking more complex or powerful functional modules that may exceed your current control limits. You need time, you need gradual training, comprehension, and you may even need specific 'triggers' to gradually 'awaken' and 'unlock' them."

Su Mu walked over and sat down beside Excellence. This time, she just gently patted his arm, her touch mild. "It's okay, don't rush. We'll take it step by step." Her voice softened, carrying a reassuring firmness. "Think back to when we were first exiled, learning Energy Programming and maintaining The Weave from scratch. Weren't we completely in the dark, having to figure everything out as we went? Now, at least we're starting at max level, even if the control panel is a bit complicated. The foundation is solid! Don't be afraid. I'll train with you! We'll start from the very basics, just like before."

A wave of warmth washed over Excellence's heart. The faint sense of frustration born from poor control was instantly dispelled by this familiar support. He nodded firmly. "Mhm! I'm not afraid of difficulty. It's just... I'm a bit afraid of making a fool of myself again, of causing trouble for everyone."

"A fool? What about today counts as making a fool of yourself?" Su Mu deliberately put on a stern face. "This is called 'An Intimate and Down-to-Earth Documentary of Commander Excellence Enjoying the Festivities with the People'! Excellent material for boosting morale! Relax, everyone laughed, but they understand in their hearts, and they feel for you too. No one thinks it's trouble."

Evelyn also put away the light screen and walked over, a faint but genuine smile appearing on her face. "Yes. On the contrary, today's 'little accidents' might actually make people feel more at ease than if you had effortlessly controlled everything. It proves you're still you. The power changed your capabilities, but not your essence. That does more to unite people than any speech."

Looking at them, the last trace of anxiety in Excellence's heart vanished like mist, replaced only by overwhelming warmth and motivation.

"However..." Su Mu's tone shifted, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes as she crossed her arms again, adopting her 'drill instructor' demeanor. "Until you can perfectly control this 'unstable large-scale friendly (?) rules-based weapon' of yours, reasonable restrictions and guidance must be placed on your 'destructive potential'. I hereby announce that starting tomorrow at 0600 hours, the 'Excellence New Body Adaptive Training Plan' officially commences!"

She stood up, cleared her throat, and imitated Wang Jianguo's pre-battle mobilization posture. "Phase One: Basic Living Skills! Training Objective: Master basic life skills such as eating, drinking, dressing, walking, sitting down, shaking hands, and scratching an itch, ensuring no unnecessary property damage, personnel fright, or environmental anomalies! Training Duration: Determined by mastery! Head Instructor: Su Mu! Technical Advisor and Data Monitoring Officer: Evelyn! Trainee: Excellence! Any questions?!"

Excellence looked at Su Mu's deliberately serious face, which couldn't completely hide her smile, and then at the 'wait-and-see' glimmer in Evelyn's eyes. He couldn't help but laugh himself. He nimbly sprang up from the sofa, stood at attention—though his posture wasn't exactly standard, his attitude was utterly earnest—and responded clearly, "Yes, Instructor! I will complete the mission! I will resolutely overcome the 'porcupine' attribute and strive to become a qualified Homeland member who can safely use utensils!"

The three looked at each other, and cheerful laughter echoed through the specially reinforced suite, dispelling all the previous tension and awkwardness, leaving only warmth and hope.

Outside the window, the simulated night of the Homeland base was gentle. Countless windows emitted warm light, interweaving with the simulated starlight on the dome ceiling, creating a scene of tranquil peace. But Excellence knew this peace was a hard-won respite after repelling a powerful enemy, and it might not last long. That icy will of 'the true self arriving in person' hung over civilization like a sword of Damocles, ready to fall at any moment. And the secrets hinted at in the White Elder's words—the Lost Star Cluster, the primordial web, The Great Fracture—as well as that higher-level, broader, yet inevitably more dangerous stage... all awaited him in the future.

But for now, he only wanted to immerse himself in the warmth and tranquility of survival after catastrophe and reunion with loved ones. He clenched his fist, clearly feeling the vast, powerful energy flowing within his new body—both unfamiliar and yet seemingly innate—and also sensing the 'wildness' that still needed careful taming and mastery. His eyes were clear and determined.

"The road is long, and the challenges are many. But at least now, I can finally truly, with my own hands, learn to take control, shoulder responsibility, and protect everything I want to protect."

And the first step, starting tomorrow morning, was to learn to control his strength, steadily pick up an ordinary cup, take a sip of water, and not turn it into anything strange.

Hmm, a long and arduous road lay ahead, but it was worth anticipating.