Chapter 64 I order you to return to base immediately!

"What did you say?!"

That single exclamation, "He is still alive," was like a thunderclap that exploded within the deathly silent Command Center!

Everyone, like robots whose start buttons had just been pressed, snapped awake from their desperate, dazed state!

"A signal?! Where is the signal coming from?!"

Academician Wang was the first to react. With a carp-like leap, he sprang up from the ground, his movements so agile they didn't resemble a scholar's at all.

He covered the distance in two or three strides, rushed in front of the young technician, snatched the headset from his hand, and put it on his own head!

"Crackle... crackle... Lin Yuan... this is... Academician Wang... can you hear me?!"

His voice trembled violently with excitement, accompanied by heavy static interference.

The next second, a voice that was slightly distorted but incredibly clear and full of familiar vigor came through the headset.

"Academician Wang?! Damn! Finally, contact is established! Is everything okay on your end?!"

It was Lin Yuan!

It was really Lin Yuan's voice!

"We're fine! We're fine!" Academician Wang's eyes instantly turned red, and two streams of hot tears gushed out uncontrollably. "You... you brat! You're still alive! You're actually still alive!"

Overcome with emotion, he hugged an equally stunned old professor beside him, crying and laughing like a child who had just received a beloved toy.

"He's alive! He's still alive!"

"Comrade Lin Yuan didn't sacrifice himself!"

"A miracle! This is simply a miracle!"

After a brief silence, the entire Command Center erupted into a roar more earth-shattering and hysterical than any before, sounding like a tidal wave of cheers!

Everyone jumped up, hugging each other and roaring, venting that ecstatic joy—so intense it was almost enough to make one faint—of being instantly pulled back from the eighteenth level of hell to heaven!

Li Na lifted her tear-streaked face, looked at the green dot on the main screen representing the "ghost" that had lit up once again, and smiled through her tears.

Chen Weiguo also leaned back against his chair and let out a long, long sigh of relief.

He felt his heart, which had almost stopped beating, fill with strength once more.

He picked up the communicator and tried his best to make his voice sound less shaky.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, report your current status!"

"Reporting to the Chief!" Lin Yuan's voice also carried a hint of excitement. "The "ghost" is operating normally, aside from high energy consumption and minor damage to the left armor! I... am also doing just fine!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Chen Weiguo repeated the word "good" three times. "Come back! Return immediately! I order you to return immediately!"

Right now, he didn't want any treasures anymore. He only wanted Lin Yuan, this country's only hope, to return safely.

"Uh... Chief," Lin Yuan's voice sounded a bit embarrassed, "this... I'm afraid I can't return just yet."

"What?!" Chen Weiguo's heart jumped back into his throat. "What happened?"

"It's not really a big deal," Lin Yuan explained. "It's just that... I was blindly maneuvering to escape earlier, and now... I seem to be lost. Also, the "ghost" has less than 60% energy left, which isn't enough to support the return procedure."

"Lost? Not enough energy?"

Upon hearing these words, the atmosphere in the Command Center, which had been jubilant just a moment ago, instantly became tense again.

"Don't worry!" Lin Yuan quickly added. "I've already activated the "Gravity Singularity Beacon Positioning" and am recalculating the coordinates. Also, I seem to have... done some jungling and looted some equipment earlier. It should... be able to solve the energy problem."

"Jungling? Looting equipment?"

Everyone in the Command Center was stunned by what they heard. Was this a video game?

"You brat, what exactly did you do?" Academician Wang snatched the communicator and asked anxiously.

"Hehe, Academician Wang, it's a long story." Lin Yuan cleared his throat, and then, in a tone that was as matter-of-fact as possible while still unable to hide his pride, recounted his entire series of flashy maneuvers—from "stabbing the BOSS in the rear" to "using poison to fight poison to refine divine gear."

When he described how he piloted the "ghost" like an armor-piercing spike, ruthlessly driving it into the blood-red eye of that "Stitched Monster," there was a collective gasp in the Command Center.

Everyone looked at him as if he were a madman, trying to imagine the scene. It was just too damn... fierce!

When he described how he used the "box of miracles" as "fuel" and the "deep blue star" as a "detonator" to conduct an "energy hedging" experiment inside that makeshift "pressure cooker," all the scientists in the Command Center were dumbfounded.

You could actually do that?!

Using the energy from a medical kit to neutralize Void Energy? This line of thinking, this level of imagination, was simply outrageous—it was the peak of absurdity!

And when Lin Yuan finally mentioned that he had successfully extracted the "void crystal core," and had also received an SSS-rank rating, 5000 access points, and a god-tier passive skill, the entire Command Center completely exploded!

"SSS-rank rating?! 5000 access points?!"

"My God! The "void crystal core"! He... he actually managed to get his hands on the core of the "Void Devourer"?!"

""Void Affinity"?! Reduces the probability of being discovered? Improves understanding of spatial technology? This... this is a god-tier skill!"

Academician Wang held the communicator, his hands trembling. He felt that the scientific worldview he had built over decades was being ground into the dust, over and over again, by this brat Lin Yuan.

This was no longer science. This was damn metaphysics! It was theology!

"Lin Yuan... you... you..." Academician Wang was so excited that he couldn't even finish his sentence. "You wait there! You just sit tight and stay safe for me! Even if we have to risk our old lives, we will fish you out of that hellhole!"

He turned to the Technology Department.

"pangu system! Connect to the coordinate data transmitted by Comrade Lin Yuan! Plan a new route home for him as quickly as possible!"

"And!" He looked at the energy team, "Immediately formulate a plan—no! Ten! A hundred!—on how to utilize the properties of the "void crystal core" to replenish the "ghost"'s energy!"

"If it's a thing that can devour space, I don't believe we can't squeeze a bit of value out of it!"

At this moment, Academician Wang was like a madman pumped full of adrenaline. And his madness infected everyone present.

Hope!

Unprecedented, immense hope enveloped the entire Command Center. They hadn't just found their hero. Their hero had also brought back a gift from the gods... one capable of changing everything!

...

In the dark chamber where the "ghost" was located, Lin Yuan ended the communication and let out a long sigh of relief. Having reported his safety to his family, he felt much more at ease.

He glanced at the system interface.

[Coordinates are being re-positioned... Estimated time: 30 minutes.]

"Alright then, I'll just wait a bit longer." Lin Yuan wasn't anxious anymore. He had plenty of time now to study these "treasures" he had just acquired.

First, he spent 3500 of his 5000 access points to install the "Short-Range Spatial Warp" and "energy weapon" modules. He left the remaining 1500 points untouched for the time being, saving them for any unforeseen needs.

Then, his gaze fell on the brand-new passive skill.

["Void Affinity"]. "Reduces the probability of being discovered by 30%... This is some good stuff."