67: Romantic ways

Lei Wen used a method akin to a confession to pour out the secret he carried, one capable of overturning anyone's worldview, as if unburdening a heavy load.

After saying all this, he felt like someone standing naked on an endless snowy plain, waiting for a long-overdue judgment.

He had prepared himself for Grey Wind's various intense reactions—shock, confusion, anger, or even the possibility of betrayal.

After all, for any sentient being with independent consciousness, learning that oneself and the world one inhabits might merely be the creation of another world was undoubtedly the most fundamental existential crisis.

However, Grey Wind's reaction was completely beyond his expectations.

After she finished listening to Lei Wen's bizarre tale, she did not say a word.

No intense emotional fluctuations appeared on her face, as Lei Wen had anticipated.

She simply floated quietly in front of Lei Wen, those azure eyes containing the entire sea of stars gazing at him silently.

In those eyes, Lei Wen saw a hint of complex light that he could not understand.

It seemed to be pity, and also seemed to be nostalgia, as if she had already known everything and was just waiting for him to tell the story himself.

She drifted gently in front of Lei Wen.

Before Lei Wen could react, she extended those slender arms made of cold nano-metal and gently pulled Lei Wen's head, encased in a massive spacesuit helmet, into her embrace.

Her body was very cold, possessing none of the warmth belonging to carbon-based lifeforms, with a texture like the smoothest jade.

Although Lei Wen, wearing his spacesuit, could not feel her temperature or touch.

Yet, at that moment, Lei Wen felt an unprecedented warmth and peace of mind.

It was a form of spiritual solace that transcended physical temperature, like a traveler who had drifted in endless darkness for years finally finding a harbor to dock in.

"I really can't do anything with you."

Grey Wind's voice was no longer as crisp and lively as before, but instead carried a hint of an older sister's tenderness and doting.

Her forehead rested gently against Lei Wen's cold spacesuit helmet, her voice transmitted through electromagnetic signals into the communicator inside his helmet, and also into the depths of his heart.

"Who told me to swear to pledge my loyalty to you for five thousand years back then?"

"Alright, alright," her voice carried a hint of soothing comfort, "When you first brought me away from that star cluster that had been silent for millions of years, I decided on you."

"Whether you are a game player, a primitive inhabitant, or the guide of Faleim... you are just you."

"No matter what, I am here."

"I will always be by your side."

"Just like before, every time you encountered trouble, you would select me and send me to attack immediately."

"We will walk together through years even more distant than the first ray of light in this universe."

Lei Wen buried his head in Grey Wind's cold yet incomparably warm embrace, his nerves, tightened for years, finally relaxing completely at this moment.

He felt as if he had transformed back into that ordinary college student who could squander his youth recklessly, leaning back in his chair exhausted after an all-night difficult gaming campaign, enjoying the tranquility after victory.

And this young girl before him, composed of countless nanobots, was his most unbreakable backing, the comrade in this grand and lonely war to whom he could entrust his back without reservation.

"So," after a brief moment of tenderness, Grey Wind released Lei Wen and regained her lively nature. Like a curious hummingbird, she flew around Lei Wen's slightly bulky spacesuit, "What are we doing next? Are we going to rush directly to that Far Star Fleet and tear those ten little broken ships into a pile of scrap metal? Or should we assimilate that little blue ball below first to replenish some materials? I tell you, the material density here is so high, much richer than the place I stayed before!"

"Stop! Absolutely not!" Lei Wen was broken into a cold sweat by her dangerous idea and quickly stopped her, "We cannot do that! Earth is my home planet, we cannot harm it!"

He began to patiently explain to Grey Wind his current plan and the fragile state in which Human Civilization currently found itself.

From the "dome project" to the voyager, to that recently concluded American civil war, and his worries and plans for the future of Human Civilization.

"Oh... so that's how it is." After listening, Grey Wind tilted her exquisite little head and nodded as if she half-understood, "In other words, you don't want to be a god who descends from the sky to solve all their problems, but instead want to be a teacher who guides them to learn to pick up weapons and face challenges themselves, right?"

"That's about the meaning." Lei Wen nodded. He hadn't expected Grey Wind to be able to understand his inner thoughts so accurately.

"Fine, although I think it would be simpler to just clear away all the trouble, since you said so, let's do it your way!" Grey Wind waved her hand dismissively. For an ancient consciousness like her that had existed for millions of years, these complex disputes within humanity were as simple as children playing house, "Then I'll just park my big guy here for now. It's perfect to help you watch the house, lest anything with no eyes pops out from another direction."

"And what about me?" She pointed to her perfect young girl's body composed of nanobots, her eyes filled with anticipation, "Can I follow you back to that planet below in this form? I promise not to run around! I won't assimilate things up there randomly!"

Her azure eyes were filled with anticipation, like a puppy longing to be taken out for a walk by its owner.

Lei Wen looked at her, and a warm current welled up in his heart.

Grey Wind was not just a powerful weapon.

She was also a living "person" possessing independent thoughts and emotions.

She longed for communication, longed for companionship, and longed to escape that long-lasting loneliness.

"Of course you can." He nodded with a smile.

Having received Lei Wen's permission, Grey Wind excitedly spun in the air, her long silver hair tracing a graceful arc.

And in Lei Wen's heart, there was an even bolder decision.

Grey Wind's arrival did not just provide him with a powerful aid capable of opposing the Far Star Fleet.

More importantly, she gave Lei Wen an ultimate trump card that could flip the entire table.

In the past few years, Lei Wen had always been like an acrobat walking on a tightrope. He had cautiously played the two roles of Leidian Company owner and StarRiver.

Through "white flower" and Paradox Technology, he had revealed future technologies to this world in a half-hidden manner, guiding the development direction of Human Civilization.

Everything he did followed one principle—being half a step ahead is a genius, being one step ahead is a madman.

He previously dared not make all the truth public because he feared he would be treated as a complete madman, feared his actions would trigger uncontrollable social unrest, and feared he would be treated as a lab rat that could be dissected and studied by those greedy power institutions.

But now, he no longer needed to be so cautious.

Now, he already possessed a pivotal social status and powerful economic strength in the human world.

In his hands, he controlled Paradox Technology, which was capable of influencing the global economic trajectory and possessed powerful armed forces. Behind him stood the knowledge manager who had already gained control of the American political situation and Elon, who followed his every word. He had also established a close and mutually trusting cooperative relationship with China's highest leadership.

By his side, there was also Grey Wind, who was comparable to a natural disaster.

He had already moved past that stage of "being considered a madman if one step ahead."

The power he held in his hands was already sufficient to allow him to transform from a "the guide" into a "rule maker."

The timidity and caution belonging to an ordinary college student deep within Lei Wen's heart were being replaced by a sense of determination and boldness.

It was time to completely lay some things out in the open.

In order to let this civilization, which was still exhausting itself over various petty gains, step into the starry sky with a unified stance, he would personally step into the arena and use the most direct method to force the pace of the entire Human Civilization to become more consistent.

To let all countries and forces on Earth make a final choice—

Either immediately set aside all narrow national and ethnic conflicts and contradictions, move towards true unity with an unprecedented stance, jointly build a unified Human Civilization, and let Human Civilization walk its own path in the sea of stars.

Or undergo a forced integration filled with blood and fire in the face of the absolute power held by him and Grey Wind.

Those who follow me shall prosper, those who oppose me shall perish.

This time, he would no longer leave them any room for negotiation.

"Alright, we should go back." Lei Wen glanced at the time display on his spacesuit, "The transport ship I took when I arrived is still waiting for us on the landing pad."

"Transport ship?" Grey Wind showed an expression of disdain upon hearing the word, "My sensors have already scanned all the vehicles here. How boring it would be to take that slow and clumsy iron can back! The engine structure of that thing is simply even simpler than the cell structure of the most primitive space amoebas I've ever seen!"

"Then what else?"

"I'll take you flying back!" Grey Wind said matter-of-factly, "I guarantee it will be in a way more romantic and exciting than you have ever experienced!"

Before Lei Wen could react to the meaning of her words, Grey Wind's body, composed of nanobots, suddenly transformed into a stream of silver light, instantly enveloping Lei Wen entirely.

That layer of silver halo was like a living membrane, perfectly adhering to the surface of Lei Wen's spacesuit, forming a second skin resembling liquid metal.

He could even feel a faint flow of energy continuously injecting into his spacesuit's life-support system.

Immediately after, Lei Wen felt as if he had been lifted up by an irresistible force, his feet slowly leaving the ground of the landing pad, flying out towards the vast, empty space of the universe.

Babel Space Station's magnificent ring structure became smaller and smaller beneath his feet, like a silver ring moving away.

And that azure planet became larger and clearer before his eyes.

"Stretch your body, relax!"

Grey Wind's loud, excited shout rang out in his communication channel.

"As a member of a primitive civilization born at the bottom of a gravity well, you must have never tried a romantic freefall from synchronous orbit towards your home planet, right!"

"What!?" Before Lei Wen could fully grasp the meaning of her words, he felt the layer of silver halo around his body suddenly change its form.

Behind his back, two massive wings made of pure silver light, with a wingspan exceeding ten meters, suddenly unfurled! The form of the wings was not that of bird feathers, but closer to energy wings composed of countless constantly changing geometric light flakes of some fantasy creature.

Then that pair of massive light wings flapped violently!

Lei Wen felt as if he were a stone shot from a slingshot, transforming into a silver meteor with terrifying acceleration beyond imagination, falling straight towards the beautiful blue planet below!

"Ahhhhhh——!!!"

Lei Wen's scream, filled with terror and excitement, echoed in his transparent helmet; if there were a medium for sound in space, it could have even resounded throughout the entire space station.

He felt as if his soul had been left behind, pressed tightly against an invisible backrest by the tremendous acceleration.

In his rapidly contracting pupils, the magnificent scene of the azure planet was rushing towards him in an unprecedentedly shocking manner.

The outlines of continents, the waves of the ocean, the undulations of clouds, and he could even see a massive typhoon slowly rotating over the Pacific Ocean...

Everything was becoming clearer and larger before his eyes.

He felt as if he were falling into his mother's embrace, about to merge with her.

The sensory impact brought by this extreme experience of shuttling at high speed between the grand and the minute made him temporarily forget all his worries about the Faleim People and the future of Earth.

In his heart, only one thought remained—

This feeling...

It feels damn great!