232: Chapter 231 The First Road Home, The Lonely Little Cabbage and a Trembling of Light

The Night Before Departure: The Last "Sight"

The road home for the energy civilization has been solved.

Chen Mo lay in the optical-electrical hybrid computing center for three days and three nights, finally delivering all the parameters for the first navigation equation to the Hive.

Now, that golden light cluster—the testament of the energy civilization—was trembling slightly in the fusion chamber, preparing for the "homecoming" it had waited for countless eons.

Chen Mo stood outside the chamber, watching that light.

Three days ago, when he had just completed the fusion with it, it was merely a "civilization," an existence that needed to be "carried."

But now, after three days of symbiosis, he "knew" its name—at least, in its own language, they called themselves "Liuli."

It wasn't because they resembled glazed glass, but because their mode of existence was like the countless colors refracted when light passes through glazed glass—each individual was a beam of light, and the entire civilization was that ever-changing, flowing rainbow.

"Liuli," Chen Mo said softly, "it's time to go."

The light fluctuated slightly, transmitting an image: it was the appearance of their star system—a cooling neutron star surrounded by several planets illuminated by it.

Once, countless light-based lifeforms flowed through the interstellar space there, weaving epics with resonance. Now, only a silent graveyard remained.

But Liuli wanted to go back. It wanted to take one last look at the place where it was born in its final moments.

Chen Mo took a deep breath and asked the question that had been buried in his heart for a long time: "After you go back... will you disappear?"

Liuli was silent for a long time.

Then, an image was transmitted: a grain of sand falling into the ocean, merging, disappearing, but the seawater remembered the position where it once existed. The ripples would continue to spread, forever.

Chen Mo understood.

They would disappear. But before disappearing, they would use their final energy to carve a beam of light into that silent star system. That light would exist forever, telling future visitors: Here, a civilization once existed.

He turned away, no longer looking at the light. Because he knew that if he kept looking, he would cry.

But he could no longer cry. Three days ago, he was no longer Chen Mo the human, but Chen Mo, the bearer of "Liuli." He needed to remember everything for it, and then, send it off.

Launch Site: The First Beam of Light Home

Three in the morning, at the Cradle Node launch site.

There were no massive rockets, no roaring engines. The homecoming of an energy civilization did not require these. Their existence itself was light; they only needed a "channel"—a "Gate of Homecoming" opened by the Hive that folded spacetime.

Zhou Zhe stood at the edge of the launch site, his all-white Poem Markings glowing faintly. Behind him were Lin Shen, Chu Yunshen, Zhao Yan, Ashes, and all the Inheritors who could make it. Further away, the lights of the canteen were still on, and Great Strength stood at the door, holding a bowl of freshly cooked "self" noodles.

The golden light cluster slowly floated out of the fusion chamber, hovering above the launch site.

It was brighter than it had been three days ago. Not because its energy was stronger, but because it "knew" it was going home.

Zhou Zhe stepped forward and said something softly to the light. It was a sentence that could not be translated into the languages of the thirty-three civilizations, something only a "Bearer" could understand:

"Safe travels. We will remember."

The light fluctuated slightly, as if responding.

Then, from the direction of the Hive, a warm "light of resonance" shot toward the launch site, slowly opening a "gate" in the sky. It was not a gate in the physical sense, but a "channel" composed of folded spacetime—on the other side of the gate was a cooling neutron star dozens of light-years away.

The golden light cluster rose slowly, drifting toward the gate.

At this moment, Chen Mo suddenly rushed forward a few steps and shouted to the light:

"Liuli! I have remembered your name! I will pass it on!"

The light paused for a moment at the gate, and then, transmitted a final image—not language, but a beam of light. The light shone on Chen Mo, and on everyone present.

The meaning of that light was:

"Thank you for existing."

Then, it drifted into the gate and disappeared.

The gate closed slowly, and the sky returned to normal.

No one spoke.

For a long time, Great Strength, holding the bowl of noodles that had already gone cold, walked over to Chen Mo and handed them to him: "Eat. It won't taste good if it gets cold."

Chen Mo took the noodles, bowed his head, and began to eat them in large mouthfuls. He didn't know what the noodles tasted like. He only knew that he had to eat. Because Liuli was gone, but he was still alive. To be alive was to eat, and to continue.

Lin Shen stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the gate that had already disappeared.

His eyes remained calm, but his hand, in a place no one noticed, tightly clutched a small, shimmering crystal—it was his own "emotion storage device."

At the very moment Liuli disappeared, he made a decision.

He did not strip away the memory of Liuli. He let it remain in his heart. Even if the dull pain of "remembering a civilization leaving" would stir a faint but real ripple in his already dulled emotions.

This was a gift he gave to himself. And also to Liuli.

"Safe travels," he said softly.

Fusion Chamber No. 12: A New Mission

Su Kun was still lying down.

Ever since she "saw" the truth about the Reapers that day, she had never left the fusion chamber. Not because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to.

Because the "Thank You" civilization, after she had "seen," began to actively "show" her more things—not memories, but "understanding."

It taught her how to "listen."

Not with ears, but with "existence." Listening to those silent, forgotten things that could not make a sound. Listening to the sigh of a grain of sand, the loneliness of a star, the weariness of a beam of light.

Su Kun realized she was becoming a "Listener."

Not a Bearer, not an Inheritor, but a more subtle existence—someone who could hear "all the silence in the universe."

Today, when Liuli left, she "heard" the final meaning of that light. She also "heard" the faint ripple in Lin Shen's heart as he held the crystal at the back of the crowd. She also "heard" the little cabbage on Mars asking, "Am I a person?"

She opened her eyes and said to the β-2 beside her:

"I'm going to Mars."

β-2 was stunned: "Why?"

"That little cabbage is asking, 'Am I a person?'" Su Kun said, "I'm going to tell it that it's not."

Mars: The Lonely little cabbage

Mars potato field.

The little cabbage had already grown four true leaves. On the crimson wasteland of Mars, its tender green existence seemed exceptionally lonely.

The projection of the Potato Chief hovered above it, having not moved for a whole day.

It wasn't because it didn't want to move, but because the little cabbage had just asked it a question:

"Am I a person?"

Potato Chief didn't know how to answer.

Biologically speaking, it was "a" little cabbage, so of course, it was "one." But that wasn't what the little cabbage was asking. It was asking: Am I "unique"? Am I "lonely"?

Potato Chief remembered the vegetable patch on Earth, the person who planted it, and that bowl of "self" noodles in the Cradle canteen. It wanted to tell the little cabbage, you are not alone. Someone remembers you, someone is waiting for you to grow up, someone will sing for you.

But it didn't know how to translate these into a rhythm the little cabbage could understand.

Just then, a small shuttle landed next to the potato field.

The hatch opened, and Su Kun walked out.

She walked up to the little cabbage, crouched down, reached out, and gently touched its leaves.

The little cabbage trembled slightly, transmitting a faint signal:

"Who are you?"

Su Kun closed her eyes and began to "listen" to the little cabbage in the way the "Thank You" civilization had taught her.

She "heard" all its memories from seed to sprouting—the soil of Earth, Old Zhang's hands, the sunlight of Mars, the "chorus" of the potatoes. She also "heard" its current feelings—that faint loneliness of growing up alone on a strange planet.

Then, she spoke, using a human voice, but in a way that the little cabbage could "understand":

"You are not alone. The potatoes are with you. Humans are waiting for you. There is a person named Old Zhang on Earth who is also planting your brothers and sisters. They all remember you. They are all waiting for you to grow up."

The little cabbage was silent.

Then, its leaves trembled slightly, transmitting a signal:

"Thank you. I will grow up."

Su Kun smiled. She stood up, nodded to Potato Chief, then turned and walked toward the shuttle.

After walking a few steps, she turned back and said to the little cabbage:

"When you grow up, I'll come and eat you."

The little cabbage's leaves trembled again, as if saying "Okay."

Potato Chief stood by, silently watching all this. Then, it used the rhythm of the potatoes to say softly:

"We will also be with you."

In the potato field, the firefly ones emitted a soft "chorus" in unison, and the song drifted slowly across the wasteland of Mars.

Earth: Old Zhang's Premonition

Earth, a small town in the south.

Old Zhang crouched in the vegetable patch, looking at the land where the Mars potatoes were planted.

It had been six days. The "heartbeat" was becoming clearer and more regular. He knew they were about to sprout.

He reached out to touch the soil; it was warm and carried a strange "sense of life." It wasn't the feeling of "there are seeds in the soil" from when he used to farm, but something more direct, as if something in the soil was "responding" to him.

"You're coming out soon," he muttered, "Wait a few more days."

He stood up, brushed the dirt off his hands, suddenly remembered something, turned, went back into the house, and brought out a flute.

It was the flute he had played in his youth; he hadn't touched it for over thirty years. He didn't know why, but today he just wanted to take it out and play a tune for this land.

He tested the notes; the flute sound was hoarse but still audible.

Then, he closed his eyes and began to play.

The tune was simple, an old folk song his mother had taught him when he was a child. The melody was long and drawn out, carrying a hint of faint sadness, yet also a warm anticipation.

As he played, he suddenly felt the "heartbeat" in the soil rhythmically pulsing along with his flute music.

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the land.

In the soil, countless tiny heartbeats were pulsing in unison with his flute music.

He smiled and continued to play.

Solar System Entrance: A Tremor

That beam of light that had been silent all along trembled slightly at the moment Liuli entered the Gate of Homecoming.

It was very slight, almost imperceptible. But the monitoring equipment of Ashes still captured it.

The tremor lasted less than 0.1 seconds, then returned to calm. But in that 0.1 seconds, the light emitted an extremely faint signal toward the direction of the Cradle.

The signal was only one character. No, not a character, an "image":

"Look."

Zhou Zhe captured this image in the all-white Poem Markings. He was stunned.

"Look"? Look at what? Look at Liuli leaving? Look at humans sending the first civilization home? Look at that lonely little cabbage? Look at that old man playing the flute on Earth?

He didn't know. But he knew the Reapers were "watching."

They had always been "watching." From the day of "qualification," they had always been "watching."

Watching how humans faced choices.

Watching whether humans would become the "next Reapers" or become "Thank You."

And now, Liuli had left. The first road home had been opened.

The tremor of that light might have been a signal, or perhaps, just a deep breath.

Night: Chen Mo's Noodles

Late at night, in the canteen.

Chen Mo sat in the corner, with a bowl of "self" noodles that had gone cold in front of him.

He didn't eat. He just watched.

Great Strength walked over, sat down opposite him, was silent for a while, and then said: "It won't taste good if it gets cold."

Chen Mo looked up, his eyes red, but there were no tears.

"Master Wang," he said softly, "Liuli is gone. I sent it off. The last thing it said to me was, 'Thank you for existing.'"

Great Strength was silent for a long time, then got up, took away the bowl of cold noodles, and replaced it with a new, steaming bowl.

He placed the noodles in front of Chen Mo and said:

"Then live well for it."

Chen Mo looked at the bowl of noodles, looked at the poached egg lying in the noodles, looked at the few green onion sprinkles, then suddenly picked up the bowl and began to eat in large mouthfuls.

The noodles were very hot, so hot they made his tongue ache. But he didn't care.

Because to be alive was to be able to feel the heat. And to feel the heat meant he was still alive.

Outside the window, deep in the starry sky, the light of the Hive remained warm. At the entrance to the Solar System, the light of the Reapers remained silent.

But tonight, the first road home had been opened.

Of the thirty-three civilizations, one had already set foot on the road home.

There were thirty-two more, waiting.