335: The return journey plan and the "unexpected emergency landing"

The process of escaping from the core of the Star Devourer Royal Court was, in Zhao Iron Pillar's words, like 'having ten thousand lit firecrackers chasing after your backside.'

The 'Qianlong' flew almost pressed against the shockwaves of the exploding energy conduits, and several times the ship's tail was nearly ripped off.

By the time they finally rushed out of the Star Devourer Royal Court's outer perimeter alert zone and re-entered a relatively calm Star Domain, the ship's hull was covered in scorch marks from energy burns, the stealth System was completely totaled, and the engines were barely running at half power.

'Report the damage.' Wen Youyi slumped in the pilot's seat, feeling like his bones were falling apart.

'The stealth System... is gone, completely fried.' Aila checked the console, her indigo face wearing a rare look of distress. 'The phase shift generator has melted into a lump of metal. The shield generator is overloaded and needs major repairs. The engines can still work, but the output power can only be restored to sixty percent at most.'

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, which had a crack across the lens: 'The main power is at thirty-seven percent, barely enough for us to fly back to the Return to Ruins—if we don't encounter any trouble on the way.'

Zhao Iron Pillar dug a few bags of emergency nutrient paste out of the storage locker and tossed them to everyone: 'Eat something to cushion your stomachs and calm your nerves. I almost thought my heart module was going to jump out just now.'

Wen Youyi took the nutrient paste—it tasted like chewing wax, but it quickly replenished energy. He took a bite and looked out the porthole.

In the distance, in the direction of the Star Devourer Royal Court, that dark golden radiance was extinguishing in large patches, flickering like a broken lamp. Every now and then, flashes of explosions could be seen; those were out-of-control Star Devourers ships colliding with each other or self-destructing.

'So... did we really 'cure' the big boss of the Star Devourers?' Zhao Iron Pillar asked while eating. 'Where is that big guy now?'

Wen Youyi took the pure white imprint from his bosom. The imprint lay in his palm, warm and jade-like, emitting a gentle light. 'It's here,' he said. 'The Guardian's consciousness is very weak now and needs time to recover. But it has indeed woken up and found itself again.'

'What about the seventh fragment?' Senior Brother Zhang asked. 'Wasn't it supposed to be inside the Dominator?'

Wen Youyi flipped the imprint over and found a tiny groove on the back. He tried to pry it with his fingernail, and a small, fingernail-sized fragment shimmering with seven-colored light fell out—that was the last star key fragment, smaller than any of the previous ones, but with a more refined energy fluctuation.

'So it was hidden here.' Aila carefully took the fragment and scanned it with a portable scanner. 'The energy signature matches the master key perfectly; it's the real deal.'

Wen Youyi embedded the fragment into the master key. The seven fragments were finally complete. The master key emitted a pleasant humming sound, its length fixed at two feet and eight inches, its entire body flowing with a warm, silvery-white light.

The star map on its surface was fully lit—it was a vast map of the Universe, with countless stars twinkling. Among them, some light points were particularly bright, marking relics left by the Star People, resource points, and even a few places labeled as 'habitable sanctuaries.'

'Now we have a map.' Wen Youyi looked at the star map, his eyes shining. 'And it's the most complete map of the Universe.'

'Don't get too happy too soon,' Aila poured cold water on him. 'We have to survive and make it back first. In the current state of the 'Qianlong', we'll be done for if we encounter any trouble.'

Indeed. Without the stealth System, they were as conspicuous as a Firefly in the dark.

Although this Star Domain was out of the direct control of the Star Devourer Royal Court, who knew if there were still patrols or out-of-control Star Devourers units wandering around?

Wen Youyi called up the star map and calculated the route back to the Return to Ruins. The shortest path required passing through an area marked as an 'unstable gravity well,' which was high risk; the other route was a detour, but relatively safe.

'Take the long way,' he decided. 'We can't afford any more trouble right now.'

The 'Qianlong' adjusted its course and, dragging its half-crippled hull, slowly flew toward the Return to Ruins.

The next three days of the voyage were nerve-wracking.

On the first day, they encountered a squad of out-of-control Star Devourers frigates—three ships flying around in the starry sky like headless flies, shooting at anything they saw.

Fortunately, the 'Qianlong' was small, and Aila promptly shut down all non-essential energy output, disguising it as a piece of space junk, which allowed them to avoid their indiscriminate strafing.

On the second day, the ship's air circulation System malfunctioned, and the carbon dioxide concentration exceeded the limit at one point.

Senior Brother Zhang and Zhao Iron Pillar robbed Peter to pay Paul, dismantling the spare life-support module and reassembling it, struggling for four hours before barely fixing it.

After it was fixed, a strange burnt smell filled the ship's cabin, reportedly caused by burning an insulation wire during welding.

On the third day, the worst-case scenario occurred: the main engine started making ominous 'creaking' sounds.

'The bearings are excessively worn,' Senior Brother Zhang said with an ugly expression after inspecting it. 'It must have been caused by the overload when we escaped. Now we can only reduce the power to forty percent; any higher and it could seize up at any moment.'

Forty percent power meant the speed was halved again. The original five-day journey would now take at least ten days.

Even more troublesome was that the energy reserves were bottoming out.

'Fifteen percent left,' Aila looked at the gauges. 'If we maintain the current speed, we can fly for at most two more days. Two days later, we'll be drifting in a vacuum.'

The cabin fell into silence. Two days was nowhere near enough to reach the Return to Ruins; they wouldn't even cover half the distance.

Wen Youyi stared at the star map, his brain racing. His programmer's instinct kicked in, and he began searching for 'available resources nearby'—just like finding supply points on a map when running out of ammo in a game.

There were a few markers on the star map. The closest one was... an abandoned 'Star People observation station,' about a day and a half's journey from their current position.

The label indicated: This observation station has backup energy reserves and basic maintenance facilities, but the 'status is unknown, possible danger exists.'

'Danger is better than waiting for death.' Wen Youyi pointed at the spot. 'Change course, go here. Hopefully, the Star People didn't take all the backup energy with them back then.'

The 'Qianlong' adjusted its course again. Now its speed was as slow as an old ox pulling a broken cart, and the engine would 'cough' every few minutes, making people anxious.

A day and a half later, the observation station appeared in their field of vision.

That was a uniquely shaped structure: the main body was a disc with a diameter of about five hundred meters, with six slender 'tentacles' extending from the edge of the disc, each with a polyhedron crystal at the end.

The entire structure was silvery-white, covered with a thin layer of cosmic dust, shimmering dimly under the starlight.

'No energy reaction,' Aila said after scanning. 'Looks like it's been powered down for a long time.'

'Is there an entrance?' Wen Youyi asked.

'There's a docking hatch at the bottom of the disc, standard Star People design; it should be openable with the master key.'

The 'Qianlong' approached slowly. When the distance closed to one hundred meters, the disc suddenly reacted—the crystals at the ends of the tentacles lit up with a faint blue light, as if 'waking up.'

Immediately after, the indicator lights on the docking hatch lit up one by one, and the hatch slowly opened.

'The automatic welcome System is still working,' Senior Brother Zhang said with some surprise. 'It's been hundreds of thousands of years.'

'Star People stuff is just good quality.' Zhao Iron Pillar sighed. 'The hoe back in my hometown needs replacing after three years, and this thing of theirs still works after hundreds of thousands of years.'

The 'Qianlong' drove into the docking bay. The lights in the bay turned on automatically, the air circulation System started, and a fresh but slightly stale airflow poured into the ship's cabin—the observation station still retained an atmosphere; although the composition needed adjustment, it was at least breathable.

The four of them put on simple protective suits (to prevent abnormal air composition) and, carrying tools and weapons, walked out of the ship.

The interior of the observation station was cleaner than imagined. The corridors were made of silvery-white metal, with glowing blue stripes embedded in the walls to guide the way.

They first went to the energy control room—a large hall filled with crystal consoles.

Wen Youyi used the master key to activate the console. The System response was a bit sluggish, like someone who had just woken up, but the functions were basically normal.

He brought up the energy status: the backup energy pool still had forty-two percent capacity, enough to recharge the 'Qianlong' three times; there were even a few automatic maintenance robots in the maintenance workshop that were still working.

'We're saved now.' Senior Brother Zhang let out a long sigh of relief. 'Not only can we fix the engines, but we can also replenish our energy.'

"But don't get too happy yet," Aila pointed to a warning sign on the console. "The System log shows that the observation station was invaded by 'unknown energy lifeforms' thirty thousand years ago. Although they were repelled, the core database was partially damaged. There might still be... 'unclean' things left in the station."

"Unclean?" Zhao Iron Pillar gripped his heavy sword. "Are they ghosts?"

"More troublesome than ghosts," Aila pulled up a blurry video record. "They are a type of energy parasite that can attach to mechanical equipment, interfere with their operation, and even control them to attack living things. The records show that in order to clear them out back then, the observation station lost seventy percent of its automated units."

Wen Youyi frowned. "In other words, those maintenance robots might be parasitized?"

"There's a high probability."

This was troublesome. They needed the robots to help repair the ship, but if the robots were parasitized, they would become a threat instead.

"Scan the entire observation station first," Wen Youyi decided. "Find the locations of the energy core and the maintenance workshop, and assess the risks. If there are any parasitized units, just... dispose of them."

The four of them split into two groups: Wen Youyi and Aila went to the energy core, while Senior Brother Zhang and Zhao Iron Pillar went to the maintenance workshop. They agreed to meet in the control room in two hours.

Following the indicated route, Wen Youyi and Aila soon found the energy core—a massive spherical space with a blue energy crystal ten meters in diameter suspended in the center, surrounded by complex energy conduits. The space was very quiet, with only the faint hum of energy flowing.

"It looks normal," Aila checked around with a scanner. "No abnormal energy fluctuations detected."

However, Wen Youyi stared at those energy conduits, feeling that something was wrong. He approached a conduit and discovered a thin, translucent, gelatinous substance attached to the pipe wall, which was slowly wriggling.

"Aila, look at this."

Aila came over to look, and her expression changed. "It's the dormant state of the parasites! They are absorbing radiation from the energy crystal to sustain their lives!"

As soon as she finished speaking, those gelatinous substances suddenly began to wriggle violently! They detached from the conduits and condensed in the air into a humanoid outline. The outline had no facial features, only two glowing red dots that looked like "eyes."

[Intruders... Expel...] A harsh sound, like metal grinding against metal, rang directly in their minds.

"It's awake!" Wen Youyi pulled Aila back while pulling out an energy disruptor—this was a spare one Zhao Iron Pillar had stuffed into his hand before they left.

The energy disruption beam hit the humanoid, and it shuddered, but it didn't dissipate. Instead, it split into three smaller humanoids that lunged from three directions!

"This thing isn't afraid of energy attacks!" Aila analyzed while dodging. "It might require physical means!"

Physical means? Wen Youyi looked at the energy disruptor in his hand, then looked around—got it! He rushed to a fire extinguishing device on the wall (a Star People version, looking like a crystal bottle), grabbed the bottle, and threw it at the parasites.

The bottle hit a parasite and shattered, and the white, foam-like substance inside sprayed out—that was a high-efficiency fire extinguishing agent from the Star People era, possessing extremely strong adhesion and insulating properties.

The parasites were wrapped in the foam, their movements immediately becoming sluggish, and the light on their surfaces dimmed. It worked!

"Use this!" Wen Youyi grabbed a few more fire extinguishing bottles, and working with Aila, they covered all three parasites until they looked like "snowmen." The foam-encased parasites struggled for a while before finally collapsing to the ground, turning into a puddle of harmless gelatinous substance.

"Finally solved." Wen Youyi wiped his sweat. "This thing is even more troublesome than the Star Devourers."

On the other side, the situation in the maintenance workshop was even more exciting.

As soon as Senior Brother Zhang and Zhao Iron Pillar entered, they were surrounded by five maintenance robots. These robots should have been friendly assistants, but now their mechanical eyes flashed with ominous red light, and the welding torches and cutters on their arms were aimed at the two.

"I told you we couldn't trust these hunks of iron!" Zhao Iron Pillar swung his heavy sword, sending the nearest robot flying with a sweep.

Senior Brother Zhang hid behind a large machine tool, trying to hack into the robots' control System with his data pad. "I'm trying to overwrite their commands... it needs time!"

"I'll buy you time!" Zhao Iron Pillar was like a humanoid tank, charging rampantly through the workshop. His heavy sword slashed into the robots, sparking a shower of sparks. But these robots were very durable; they would get back up after being knocked down, unless they were completely dismantled.

The battle lasted for ten minutes. Zhao Iron Pillar had already smashed three robots, and Senior Brother Zhang had finally successfully hacked into the System.

"Command overwrite complete!" Senior Brother Zhang pressed the confirm key.

The red light in the eyes of the remaining two robots extinguished, returning to their normal blue glow. They lowered their weapons and emitted a friendly electronic tone: [Welcome to use maintenance services. Please give instructions.]

Zhao Iron Pillar panted, looking at the parts all over the floor. "It would have been better if it was like this sooner..."

Two hours later, the two groups met in the control room and exchanged intelligence. There were at least a dozen more parasite gathering points in the observation station, but the threat was not significant and could be handled with the fire extinguishing agent. The maintenance robots had been controlled and could help repair the "Qianlong."

Over the next two days, the observation station was a scene of busy activity. Under Senior Brother Zhang's command, the robots dismantled the "Qianlong's" engine, replaced worn-out parts, and repaired the shield generator. Wen Youyi and Aila cleared out all the parasites, ensuring the safety of the observation station. Zhao Iron Pillar... Zhao Iron Pillar was practicing throwing the fire extinguishing agent at moving targets, saying this thing was more fun than a sword.

On the third day, the "Qianlong" repairs were completed, and the energy was replenished. The roar emitted during the engine test run was steady and powerful, and the blue light of the reactivated shields was reassuring.

"Time to go," Wen Youyi looked at the refurbished ship. "They must be waiting anxiously over at the Return to Ruins."

The four of them boarded the "Qianlong" and sailed out of the observation station. Before leaving, Wen Youyi left a "thank you letter" program on the console—if other civilizations came here in the future, they would receive greetings and star map data from the successors of the Star People.

"Now we have seven fragments," Zhao Iron Pillar asked on the return journey. "What's next? Go back to the Return to Ruins and have a celebration feast?"

Wen Youyi shook his head, his gaze looking toward a distant light point in the star map—that was where they had set out from, the Ranch World.

"The fragments are collected, and the heritage of the Star People is already in our hands," he said. "It is time... to go home."

"Go home?" Aila was stunned. "You mean..."

"Back to the Ranch World," Wen Youyi's voice was firm. "To rescue our compatriots who are still being harvested, tell them the truth, and then... take them with us to see this true starry sky."

The ship's cabin was quiet for a few seconds.

Then Zhao Iron Pillar grinned widely. "I've been waiting for this day! Let those brothers who are still trapped in the spirit net see how big the world outside is!"

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his newly replaced glasses (the old ones were broken by the robots). "But the road back is very dangerous. The Creation Heavenly Court won't easily let us in, and even if we get in, taking so many people out will be as difficult as..."

"As difficult as reinstalling a Windows System while backing up all files," Wen Youyi continued, his programmer occupational disease acting up again. "But as long as there are the right tools and plans, there is nothing that cannot be done."

He looked at the master key in his hand. The seven fragments were complete, and the star map was lit up. What the Star People left behind was not just a map, but also the coordinates of those "habitable sanctuaries"—those places could become the New Homeland for the compatriots of the Ranch World.

"First return to the Return to Ruins and rendezvous with the hope," Wen Youyi formulated the plan. "Then use the resources of the Return to Ruins to upgrade the hope into a true ark. After everything is ready..."

He paused and stated the goal they had been striving for for so long:

"We will fight our way back to the Ranch World and pull out that damned 'harvesting System' by the roots."

The "Qianlong" carved a silver trajectory in the starry sky, heading in the direction of the Return to Ruins, and also toward the starting point of a new journey.

And in the observation station behind them, the screen on the console suddenly lit up, displaying a line of Star People text:

[The successors have passed the final test. The 'Return Journey Project' is authorized and opened. May the starlight guide you to bring back those children lost in the cage.]

The screen went dark.

The observation station fell back into slumber.

Waiting for the next traveler in need of help.

(End of chapter)