319: Chapter 319 Lv9

No one asked why, no one asked where they were going; everyone was waiting for his next words.

"Lv9, Deep Space The Ark. After the upgrade, we will enter the otherworld passage and go to another world. The Immortal Realm, a magic world, or something else. The System didn't say, and I don't know either."

Han Yurou held Qin Yue, her voice soft but clear: "Brother Lin, wherever you go, we will follow."

Qin Lin looked at her and nodded.

Qin Lin pulled up the upgrade confirmation interface on the holographic screen. It had a golden border with intricate vine patterns, and a line of large text in the center: [Confirm upgrade to Lv9?]

He reached out his finger and tapped "Confirm."

The text on the holographic screen changed.

[Lv8 → Lv9 upgrade initiated]

[Deep Space The Ark transforming...]

[Estimated time: 72 hours]

The The Ark vibrated gently.

It wasn't the violent, continuous vibration from previous upgrades, but a brief, heartbeat-like pulsation.

Then, purple-gold light surged from every corner of the The Ark—from the walls, from under the floor, from the ceiling—washing over everyone's ankles like a tide.

The light grew brighter.

It shifted from purple-gold to pure gold, from pure gold to incandescent white, and from incandescent white to a pure light that the human eye could not look directly at, as if the sun had been compressed inside the The Ark.

Everyone involuntarily closed their eyes.

Qin Lin kept his eyes closed, feeling the The Ark growing.

Not transforming, not expanding, but growing.

Like a tree growing from a seed into a towering giant, like a flower blooming from a bud, like life itself fulfilling its intended form.

The The Ark's hull lengthened, widened, and rose within the light.

This wasn't a change in physical dimensions, but an expansion of a higher dimension, transcending space.

Intricate patterns emerged on the surface of the hull—not decorations, not energy circuits, but Laws.

The most fundamental Laws of this Universe, which constitute all things, were carved into every inch of the The Ark's metal.

The The Ark's protective shield transformed from a thin film into a solid substance, from a solid substance into light, and from light into... invisibility.

It hadn't disappeared; it was no longer "a layer of shielding," but a part of the The Ark itself.

The protective shield and the hull underwent Fusion; energy flowed through the metal, and the metal grew within the energy, with no distinction between inside and outside, no difference between surface and interior.

The The Ark's thrusters went from four to none.

They weren't gone; they were simply no longer needed.

The Lv9 The Ark no longer generated thrust by ejecting matter; it acted directly upon space, navigating through time and space like a fish swimming in water.

The Deep Space Scanning Array rose from the top of the Observation Tower—not rising in height, but unfolding.

Like a precision instrument waking from a dormant state, every component rotated, extended, and positioned itself, finally locking into a perfect angle.

The detection range expanded from ten light-years to one thousand light-years, and the precision improved from planetary scale to atomic scale.

It could detect the mineral composition on the surface of a planet one thousand light-years away and determine whether there was life on that planet.

The space inside the The Ark also changed.

The Ecological Plantation went from one to three, and the climate simulation area expanded from one mode to over a hundred, capable of simulating any environment from the Ice Age to tropical rainforests.

The medical center expanded from one floor to three, equipped with cross-species medical equipment capable of treating non-human life forms.

The entertainment area added a holographic theater, a virtual reality training room, and an indoor swimming pool.

The number of bedrooms increased from nine to fifteen, each with a private bathroom and a skylight overlooking the starry sky.

The most critical change was in the Bridge.

The Bridge transformed from a semicircle into a sphere.

Qin Lin stood in the center of the Bridge, surrounded by holographic screens on all sides. Beneath his feet was transparent, above his head was transparent—all around, above, and below, it was all starry sky.

Standing here, he felt like he was at the center of the Universe—not because he was important, but because this position allowed one to see everything.

The control console had vanished, replaced by a ball of light floating in mid-air.

Qin Lin reached his hand into the ball of light, and wherever his fingertips touched, the System responded.

There were no buttons, no joysticks, no touchscreens; thought was command.

Qin Lin tried thinking of "Display current position," and the holographic screen immediately displayed the The Ark's 3D coordinates in the galaxy.

He then thought of "Display otherworld passage," and the screen switched to that vortex-like spacetime distortion point; distance, orientation, energy characteristics—all data were clear at a glance.

He withdrew his hand, the ball of light dimmed, and the Bridge returned to calm.

Su Yuling was the first to run in from the corridor.

She stood at the entrance of the spherical Bridge, looking at the boundless starry sky, her mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long time.

"Brother Lin, is this... is this the Drivers Cabin?"

Qin Lin nodded: "The Bridge."

Su Yuling walked in. The transparent floor beneath her feet made her instinctively flinch, but she quickly adapted.

She walked over to Qin Lin, looked up at the starry sky above, spun around once, then spun around again. When she stopped, her face was a little flushed.

"It's beautiful."

Li Ran was the second to enter. She stood at the entrance, looking at the spherical Bridge for a few seconds in silence, then said: "It's like a planetarium."

Su Yuling ran over, took her hand, and pulled her in: "Mom, stand here, don't move."

She ran to the center of the Bridge, looked up at the starry sky, spread her arms, and spun around.

Her skirt fluttered, her hair fanned out, like a white butterfly dancing in the starry sky.

Qin Lin watched Su Yuling spinning in the starry sky, the corners of his mouth curling up.

People arrived at the Bridge one after another: Su Yuran holding Qin An, Lin Wanwan holding Qin Yuan, Han Yurou holding Qin Yue—everyone was there, all the children were there.

The spherical Bridge could accommodate everyone because it was large enough.

Qin Lin switched the holographic screen to the otherworld passage interface. That "eye" hung silently in deep space, the surrounding starlight twisted and stretched, forming circles of light arcs.

Han Yurou held Qin Yue. Qin Yue looked at the vortex on the holographic screen, reached out to grab it, failed, and giggled.

Qin Xu was squirming in Li Ying's arms. Li Ying switched him to her left arm and pressed her right hand on his bottom to stop him from squirming.

Qin Yuan had fallen asleep in Lin Wanwan's arms.

Qin Lin walked out of the Bridge and came to the Observation Tower.

At the top of the spherical Bridge, there was a transparent dome with an unobstructed view.

The The Ark floated silently in the starry sky, purple-gold light flowing slowly across the surface of the hull, like breathing, like a heartbeat.

Han Qing walked up at some point, stood beside him, and placed her hand on her belly.

"Seventy-two hours from now, we will go to another world." Her voice was calm.

Qin Lin nodded: "Yeah."

Han Qing was silent for a moment, then turned her head to look at him and asked: "Are you afraid?"

Qin Lin thought for a moment: "No."