Chapter 1884: The Last Mission at the Edge of the Cosmos
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Wei Qingqing was the most important woman in Li Yao’s life other than Ding Lingdang. She was the one who had formed his belief for him. Now that she was about to embark on a journey with no return, Li Yao naturally returned to Hundred Flowers City and bade her farewell.
However, after he did return to Hundred Flowers City after an exhausting trip and met Wei Qingqing who was running final tests in the Tinder Base, he somehow felt that his mouth was dry, and he did not know what to say.
“Sister Qingqing, do you really… have to leave?”
After thinking for a long time, Li Yao only came up with a useless question.
Wei Qingqing was still controlling a small, bird-shaped artificial body, but it shot out a vivid holograph, which was still the woman who looked like an orchid flower in an unvisited valley. She smiled and said, “Of course. It is the work that we have been dedicated to for years. How can we quit halfway?”
“But…” Li Yao blurted, somewhat recklessly. “Professor Mo Xuan only used the ‘Tinder Plan’ as a disguise.”
“I’m afraid that you’re wrong. I vaguely have a feeling that Professor Mo Xuan’s heart was actually quite self-contradictory. On the surface, he did use the ‘Tinder Plan’ as a disguise, but it was not entirely unlikely that he wished for the plan to succeed, too,” Wei Qingqing said. “Perhaps, Professor Mo Xuan was also caught in the warfare of the dual personality at that time. His personality that was corrupted by the extraterrestrial devil believed that ‘human virtualization’ was the correct path, but his real personality hoped that mankind could get away from the extraterrestrial devils in a certain way and establish a new world millions of years away.
“In retrospect, if everything had been a disguise, it would’ve been unnecessary for him to devote so many resources and so much energy to push the ‘Tinder Plan’ to such an extent.
“The bottom line is, I’m still willing to believe that something wonderful was hidden deep inside Professor Mo Xuan’s heart even when he was most corrupted by the extraterrestrial devil. It was because of the flickering wonderfulness that he was able to break free from the extraterrestrial devil’s control and regain his original self-awareness, shattering the enemy’s scheme.
“Right now, I’m going to bring the ‘wonderfulness’ of him and all human beings to the universe a long, long way in the future on an amazing journey. Hehe. I almost can’t wait anymore!”
“In that case…” Li Yao felt that his nose was itchy. He mumbled, “Sister Qingqing, safe journey. May you drift millions of years away swiftly, encounter a new life, and even create a brand-new civilization.”
“Haha. I should hope so!” Wei Qingqing smiled, full of hope. “I would like to travel to the universe millions of years away right now, too. I may encounter all kinds of bizarre lives and civilizations. Some of them may be advanced, some underdeveloped. Some of them may be similar to us, and some may have entirely different life forms, which will make it practically impossible to understand and communicate with them.
“But no matter how difficult it is, I will try to tell them the stories of mankind. I will tell them that such a civilization once existed. I will describe the wonderfulness, pureness, and brightness of mankind and will not avoid the darkness, the evilness, and the ugliness. I will tell them the staggering legends and the soul-stirring heroes. For example, well, the tales of Vulture Li Yao.
“Chances are that the unknown life in millions of years will make a statue for you after hearing your story!”
“Well…” Li Yao blinked hard, finding it hard to imagine what such a picture would look like.
“However, did you know? I actually have a small, selfish dream.” Wei Qingqing stared at Li Yao and said, “I hope that when I wake up again, I will not be faced with a cold, dark, and dead universe but one of liveliness and brightness where the civilization of mankind did not perish but joined the ‘alliance of arsonists’ that you described. I hope that it survives stubbornly on the level of both time and space.
“Of course, mankind will be vastly different from what it is today. Chances are that it will have been completely merged into the ‘alliance of arsonists’ and changed into bizarre forms.
“Maybe human beings will grow dozens of tentacles by then, or turn into meatballs that can expand or shrink freely, or have completely abandoned their bodies and move around in metal puppets, or have transformed into invisible waves that can travel thousands of lightyears in the blink of an eye through the four-dimensional space.
“But whatever they have become, whatever the social form and the relation between individuals are, they will remember that some of their ancestors fought for something wonderful and precious millions of years ago, and they are willing to fight for those things, too. If I can see such a universe, it will be so great!”
“We will work hard to make such a universe a reality,” Li Yao said solemnly.
“Then, keep it up, little brother.” Wei Qingqing suddenly extended her hand and touched Li Yao’s head.
She did not have a real body, and the so-called ‘head-touching’ was nothing more than the shaking of some waves.
But Li Yao could clearly sense her temperature and her giggle.
Before Li Yao gathered himself, the light and shadow of Wei Qingqing were already gone. The delicate little bird also landed on the ground slowly and stopped moving, losing all the color that it had before.
Wei Qingqing’s soul had left the artificial body and entered ‘Tinder One’, which was about to be launched.
When ‘Tinder One’ took off and its colorful exhaust flames danced vigorously inside Li Yao’s eyes, Li Yao was still unable to free himself from the feeling of loss.
Touching his head where Wei Qingqing’s temperature still lingered, Li Yao suddenly recalled the experience of Helian Lie’s daughter.
Nobody was an island entirely of itself. Everyone’s fate was like a line that joined each other and outlined the general picture of the entire civilization.
As it was the case for individuals, was it the case for civilizations, too?
The universe was a vast place, but no civilization could live on their own however powerful they might be. They were bound to be influenced by other civilizations and then influence even more civilizations, leaving their mark on the universe in such a way.
Even if the civilization of mankind was truly destroyed one day, the marks that they left behind would affect thousands of future civilizations, creating or changing the fate of countless species.
Whether Wei Qingqing was to see a dark, cold universe or a lively, comfortable one in millions of years’ time perhaps truly depended on their hard work today.
So, that was all the more reason to work harder!
Looking at ‘Tinder One’, which had already turned into a star, Li Yao waved his fist hard.
“It never occurred to me that anyone in the real world would actually cheer themselves up by waving their fist for nothing. You are truly a narcissistic guy,” Long Yangjun said from behind him.
“Huh. Why are you here?” Li Yao was rather shocked.
“Please. I’ve always been here, alright? Wei Qingqing and I spent such a long time in the investigation team for the extraterrestrial devils. As a friend, isn’t it perfectly normal for me to see her off?”
Holding her arms and leaning against the wall, Long Yangjun rolled her eyes at Li Yao. “You were so attracted to the big sister that you would’ve neglected Ding Lingdang, too, if she were standing here. It is needless to mention unimportant small fries such as myself.”
“Enough of the cr*p. What nonsense are you talking about?”
Frowning, Li Yao eyed Long Yangjun up and down and said suspiciously, “Why do I have a feeling that there is something you want to say to me and that you are not very happy about it?”
“Of course there is something I want to say, and I am not in the best mood!” Long Yangjun said. “You haven’t forgotten our deal, have you?”
“Well…”
“You truly have!” Long Yangjun exclaimed.
“How is that possible? However, if you could drop me a hint…”
“I’m talking about the deal we reached in the Nuwa warship, wherein I help you get the Ancient Sages Sector and you will help me repair the Nuwa warship and find the secrets deep inside it with all the available forces of the Star Glory Federation!” Long Yangjun said. “Hey, hey, hey. You can’t have forgotten all that and think that I’m here to work in the Star Glory Federation for free, right?”
Li Yao blinked quickly and coughed hard.
Speaking of which, the Nuwa warship in the Ancient Sages Sector was truly one of the most critical parts in the Star Glory Federation’s grand strategy.
Although the federation had defeated the Black Wind Fleet, it was still at an absolute disadvantage faced with the two behemoths that were the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance. The only thing that could make up for the gap in the comprehensive national power was the primeval technology under their control.
The primeval technology had two sources, one being Kunlun and the other being the Nuwa warship and the Pangu laboratory deep inside the Ancient Sages Sector. The two sources could be cross-examined and studied together.
It was not hard to estimate that once the intact Nuwa warship and Pangu laboratory below the ice were fully under the federation’s control, together with Kunlun, the federation’s capability would certainly soar and even undergo a qualitative change.
It would be the trump card for them to compete in the universe.
However, in the past half a year, they had been occupied with the problems left by the Black Wind Fleet. Also, because of the long distance and the harsh sailing routes, the federation had never had enough time and resources to bother with the Ancient Sages Sector, which was deep inside the dark nebula. That was why the issue had been postponed for so long.
After the ‘battlefield uprising’ of the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet, the war that had lasted a whole year had finally ended. The federation was finally able to summon the most elite forces and the full resources to dredge the sailing routes in the dark nebula and embrace the Ancient Sages Sector!
It was also the last mission for Li Yao at the edge of the cosmos before he set off to the center of the cosmos to search for Earth.
“Rest assured. How could I possibly forget that?” Li Yao said. “An enormous fleet is being gathered in the federation. The specialists of the primeval civilizations who have spent decades on Kunlun have been summoned. Meng Chixin, Han Baling, Yan Liren, and other fellow Cultivators have dropped their work and are planning their grand return to the Ancient Sages Sector. If everything goes well, we will be able to take off within one month.
“This time, we have the precise information of the sailing routes deep inside the dark nebula and the coordinates of the Ancient Sages Sector. With the support of the advanced cruise technology and starships of the Black Wind Fleet and Firefly, we will definitely be able to return to the Ancient Sages Sector in a year and a half.”