324: Chapter 318 The Heart of God

A cosmic landlord?

This title was both absurd and incredibly fitting.

Yang Yueqi blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering, as she finally regained a shred of sanity after processing that astronomical amount of territory.

She carefully leaned toward Song Yang, reached out a finger to poke his arm, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

"Brother Song Yang, is that ten light-years much bigger than the Sun?"

Her question was innocent and naive, yet it made both Bai Jie and Zhang Xinmei twitch uncontrollably at the corners of their mouths.

This girl's way of thinking really was different from a normal person's.

"Silly girl, never mind the Sun; even if you magnified the entire Solar System ten thousand times, it still wouldn't be enough to fill it."

Zhang Xinmei rubbed Yang Yueqi's head, caught between laughter and tears.

"The point is the one percent tax right! My god, Song Yang, do you know what this means? It means you'll have an endless stream of income coming in—you'll never be able to spend it all."

Bai Jie appeared much calmer, though her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, a trace of worry on her face.

"This reward is too valuable."

"The Federation has handed you such immense power and wealth so easily—could there be conditions we aren't aware of?"

Having experienced betrayal and schemes, she instinctively harbored a shred of wariness toward such good fortune falling from the sky.

This calmness caused the excited Zhang Xinmei and Yang Yueqi to quiet down.

That’s true; there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Just then, Liliya, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.

"Sister Bai Jie, this isn't a trap; it's an investment."

This alien girl from the depths of the star sea showed no trace of shock in her emerald eyes; instead, there was a calm, knowing look.

She stood up, her long, snow-white hair shimmering with a moonlight-like radiance under the lights.

"To the Galactic Federation, the birth of a genius is worth far more than these territories and money. These basic rewards are meant to ensure you have no worries."

Liliya walked to the spot where the light curtain had disappeared and pointed her slender finger into the air.

"The true core reward is the third item."

"The qualification to relocate to the 'Heart of God'."

Her voice carried a tone of almost devout yearning.

"The 'Heart of God' is the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, the absolute core of the entire galaxy's politics, economy, culture, and cultivation."

"It gathers the top geniuses, the most powerful legacies, and the most abundant resources from the hundreds of billions of civilizations across the entire Milky Way Galaxy."

"You might not understand, but for the countless civilizations living on the edge of the spiral arms, merely obtaining a temporary residence permit for the 'Heart of God' would be enough for a royal family to pay any price."

"And what Song Yang has obtained is permanent residency, A-class citizenship, and the highest level of treatment, with the Federation equipping you with every resource."

Liliya turned around and looked at Song Yang earnestly.

"Song Yang, the bet the Federation is placing on you is in the hope that you can represent the Milky Way Galaxy and achieve great results in the higher-level Cosmic Peak Competition, so they will cultivate you regardless of the cost."

"Compared to this investment, that ten-light-year inspection zone and the one billion star coins are merely pocket money."

Liliya's words unveiled a brand new, more magnificent world for everyone present.

If the previous rewards had left them shocked, Liliya's explanation helped them understand the true significance behind that shock.

Song Yang was no longer struggling to survive in the small pond that was Earth.

He had ascended to the heavens in a single leap, stepping directly onto the most prestigious stage in the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

The living room fell silent once more, but this time, the atmosphere was completely different.

It was no longer filled with dazed shock, but with a complex mix of excitement and yearning.

Song Yang had been listening quietly the whole time, without interrupting.

It wasn't until Liliya finished speaking that he slowly nodded.

"Liliya is right."

"Staying here, my strength might still increase, but the pace will only get slower. To become stronger, to go further in the future Cosmic Peak Competition, and even... to truly protect Earth, I must go to the 'Heart of God'."

After saying this, he looked at the three women gathered around him: Yang Yueqi, Bai Jie, and Zhang Xinmei.

"I want to go to the 'Heart of God'."

He paused, looking earnestly into each of their eyes.

"What about you? Are you willing to come with me?"

This question made the hearts of the three women skip a beat.

"Go! Of course we're going!"

The first to jump up was Zhang Xinmei.

Without a second thought, she firmly grabbed Song Yang's arm, her face filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"I've always wanted to see what life is like at the center of the universe! Can you buy bags made of neutron star material in the luxury shops there?!"

Her focus was always so unique.

No sooner had she spoken than the personal terminal on Song Yang's wrist emitted a soft "beep."

A light curtain automatically projected, displaying a newly received email from the Galactic Federation's central system.

Song Yang casually tapped it open.

[Respected Inspector Song Yang, your inspector authorization has officially taken effect.]

[The exclusive jump channel to the 'Heart of God' has been opened for you. Coordinates: (771, 493, 1108). The channel will remain active for 72 standard hours; please depart as soon as possible.]

[Note: Your exclusive cultivation planet, 'Chixiao Star,' is ready. Relevant data has been synchronized to your file and can be accessed upon arrival at the 'Heart of God.']

[Additionally: In accordance with the A-class citizen preferential treatment regulations, you may bring up to one hundred immediate family members or designated attendants to relocate with you.]

[Please submit the list of accompanying personnel via the Federal Citizen System as soon as possible to process their identity documentation.]

The email's content was concise and clear, yet it caused the people in the living room to catch their breath once more.

An exclusive jump channel!

An exclusive cultivation planet!

Chixiao Star!

Each of these terms represented supreme glory and privilege.

...

An hour later, everyone boarded the silver-white spaceship, which was brimming with a futuristic, sci-fi aesthetic.

The spaceship slowly ascended, piercing through the thick clouds and reaching low Earth orbit.

"Coordinates (771, 493, 1108) locked,"

Zeus's voice echoed in the cockpit. "Calibrating spatial parameters. Arrival at the jump point is expected in ten seconds."

The spaceship's engines emitted a low hum as it began a short-range spatial jump through the universe.

The stars outside the windows were instantly stretched into countless streaks of light, only to return to their original state a second later.

When the spaceship finally came to a steady halt, everyone held their breath, stunned by the scene before them.

In the expanse of space directly ahead of the ship, there were no giant star gates or spectacular wormholes like those seen in sci-fi movies.

That patch of space looked no different from anywhere else; it remained a deep, profound darkness, dotted with distant starlight.

But the very next moment, that space began to twist.

It wasn't tearing or opening; it was a "folding" of three-dimensional space into a higher dimension, something impossible to describe in words.

The starry sky ahead seemed to turn into a flat painting, then was gently pinched in the center by some unseen force, causing countless rays of light and stars to collapse and converge toward that central point.

A pure "point" that reflected no light appeared.

Around that point, space-time exhibited eerie ripples, as if a stone had been cast into a calm lake.

"This is the Federation's exclusive jump channel..."

"To establish a shortcut that 'doesn't exist in the reality dimension' directly between two points separated by such a vast distance—what a massive undertaking."

Liliya exclaimed.

"Prepare to enter the jump channel."

Song Yang issued the command.

The spaceship's engines fired at full power, turning the vessel into a streak of light that shot straight toward the constantly twisting and folding space-time singularity.

The moment it made contact with the singularity, the entire spaceship didn't make a sound. Like a drop of water merging into the ocean, it was instantly swallowed by the folded space and vanished without a trace.

Inside the ship, no one felt any violent turbulence.

Outside the windows, there was no longer a starry sky, but a strange, iridescent corridor. Countless incomprehensible runes and ribbons of light flashed past; time and space seemed to have lost all meaning here.

This marvelous journey lasted for an unknown duration—perhaps a second, perhaps a century.

Suddenly, a blinding white light appeared ahead of the spaceship.

The spaceship plunged straight into it.

The next second, everyone felt their bodies sink slightly. The spaceship had exited the jump state and was now hovering steadily amidst a brand new, incomparably vast starry sky.

Before anyone could recover from the brief sensation of weightlessness, a crisp electronic chime rang out through the ship's public channel, reaching everyone's ears.

[Detected arrival of A-class citizen 'Song Yang' and his entourage.]

[Welcome to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy—the 'Heart of God.']