In the desolate starfield, a spaceship that had made an arduous journey for thousands of light years activated its hyperspace engine again.
In the spaceship, a group of about four to five people was silent.
After a long time, one of the members said, "From the time we set off from the mother planet, we have already passed through 25 star fields and explored 2330 planets in 156 galaxies. Excluding the planets that we think are worthless, we have explored at least 1500 planets... So, Cooper, where is the ancient ruin you mentioned?"
The atmosphere of the whole team seemed to have turned cold because of this man's words. The other members also looked expressionlessly at the protagonist of these words, a creature with a green body, bulging muscles, and surprisingly big eyes.
All these characteristics showed that he came from a new interstellar race, the Laborns.
However, it was quite obvious that the other members would not give him any special treatment just because he was of a different species. The Laborn, Cooper, still had to give them an explanation.
Thus, after a moment of silence, Cooper slowly voiced his thoughts, "I know you're not happy, but you've all read my father's research manuscript. At that time, everyone thought it was worth a try. Now, we're not even halfway through the exploration, and you've decided to go home? "
"But there has to be at least something to look forward to, right? We haven't even found a single strand of hair in these two years, let alone hope. How are we going to explain this when we return?"
"Hmph, you don't even have the slightest bit of patience. I really don't know how you got into the United University..."
"What did you say?"
Seeing that the argument was getting increasingly intense, the person who seemed to be the leader of the team suddenly said, "Alright! Be quiet!"
The entire meeting room immediately fell silent, but from their unconvinced expressions, it was clear that peace was only temporary.
Seeing this, the leader rubbed his glabella and said helplessly, "At that time, we unanimously voted for it. It's indeed too early to go back now."
Hearing this, Cooper's big eyes were filled with hope.
However, the next sentence was like a bucket of cold water poured on him.
"But we can't waste time searching endlessly. How about this, we'll go back after we've finished exploring all the galaxies in this star field."
"Professor! This..."
"Cooper," The professor leading the team said tiredly, "I'm already old, and I don't have much time to research new things. Only for your father's sake was I willing to drive this research spaceship and accompany you to explore one planet after another."
"But I still have my own things to study. If we can really find the ancient ruin as mentioned in your father's manuscript, then it's fine, but in terms of probability, you should know that the chances are infinitely close to zero. So listen to me this time, okay?"
Looking at the old man who was almost like his other father, Cooper opened his mouth but could only nod in silence.
As for the young man who had a dispute with him before, he showed a mocking smile as if he was incomparably happy to see Cooper suffer.
At this time, the spaceship's hyperspace engine had been fully charged, pushing the spaceship to the next galaxy at superluminal speed.
...
"Lilian! Where's your daily prayer?"
"S-sorry, Lord Administrator... I... I overslept..."
In the artificial forest, Li Wenyuan was controlling a synthetic humanoid who was now holding a branch that he had picked up and lecturing Lilian, who had gotten addicted to games.
The artificial forest was Lilian's residence. According to her, it was because "the environment here is very similar to that of my hometown. I like it a lot."
The artificial forest also produced synthetic fruits and clean water every day. Since he didn't have to worry about Lilian's survival, Li Wenyuan just let her be.
However, the game console that he had given her before was indeed quite good, or perhaps it was too good.
When Li Wenyuan found out that the Czero income was decreasing every day, he sent a synthetic humanoid to the artificial forest to find the only producer of Czero, Lilian.
Then, he saw Lilian sleeping in the tree hole.
"...So, you were too engrossed in the game that you didn't get enough sleep every day, and thus simply used the prayer time to make up for it?"
"Y-yes..." Lilian knew that she couldn't hide it from the Administrator and nodded honestly.
Li Wenyuan, on the other hand, took out the game console she had hidden in the tree hole with a stern face. Then, he poked her head with a branch and said, "You want to play?"
"Yes..."
"Do you know why I'm letting you play?"
"...Because I can provide that purple gas..." At this moment, Lilian suddenly recalled that the Administrator was an existence that killed without blinking.
If she lost her value, then her fate...
The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became. She immediately knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "I'm, I'm sorry! I will not make the same mistake in the future! I beg you, please don't kill me..."
This scene was beyond Li Wenyuan's expectations. He originally only wanted to clarify the supply and demand relationship between them and let Lilian understand that she could play games, but at least make sure that her prayers went on normally.
He didn't expect Lilian to think that he was going to kill her and make her scared out of her wits.
"It seems that I was too exaggerated before..." Li Wenyuan felt a headache coming on as he looked at the female furry who was trembling in front of him. He had no choice but to squat down and stroke her head with a synthetic humanoid's hand.
He had never thought about killing Lilian, the only living creature on this planet. This was not only because she could produce Czero, but also because her biological form was very similar to that of a human, which attracted his attention and gave him a sense of familiarity.
To be honest, even if Lilian couldn't produce Czero, Li Wenyuan would still protect her until he had the ability to set foot in interstellar space.
He didn't believe that there would be a second fish in the Milky Way that could evolve to survive on land, survive one major extinction after another, and go through one life-and-death battle after another to evolve flexible limbs, develop an appearance that was similar to that of humans, and finally reach the top of the food chain before finally creating a civilization.
In Li Wenyuan's heart, he had always believed that Lilian and her race were the products of humans. Worse come to worst, they should at least be closely related to humans. One day, he would go to Lilian's home planet sooner or later and search for traces of humans there.
When the time came, Lilian would be the best guide.
So, he squatted and comforted her.
Perhaps it was because his comforting was effective, Lilian finally lifted her head, but her cat ears were still drooping, making her look pitiful.
Li Wenyuan sighed and handed a new game console to Lilian, "This is a new game console. There are more games in it, as well as varieties. In the future, just pray whenever you remember it. It doesn't matter if you don't want to pray, either. The Czero supply is enough for now. Cats don't have to go to work, anyway, so why live to be so tired?"
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something and warned, "In the future, don't leave this forest if there's nothing else. There's enough food and water in there anyway. I still don't understand the defense system of some ancient ruins outside. If you accidentally run in and die, I won't even have a person to talk to."
"That's all then."
Perhaps the kindness in his words was too obvious, or perhaps the sense of alienation made Lilian feel uneasy, but just as Li Wenyuan was about to leave, she stood up and stopped the synthetic humanoid.
"Umm... Lord Administrator! Lilian will work hard! So, so ... Please don't chase me away, okay?"
Lilian's pleading words stunned Li Wenyuan, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She had been so scared just now, so why wasn't she scared anymore? And when did he say that he wanted her to leave?
"When did I say I wanted to... Forget it, don't worry. As long as you're still on this planet, I won't let you go. Also, don't lose the earmuffs on your head. Otherwise, I won't be able to contact you. Sigh... It's a little troublesome that the aborigines don't know how to talk. I should arrange for a synthetic humanoid to teach her some lessons..."
Although Lilian didn't understand the meaning of having lessons, she felt that it was a good thing and finally smiled.
Little did she know that this would be her nightmare for a long time to come.
At this moment, a spaceship suddenly appeared at the edge of the solar system.
There were only a few people on the ship, but when they noticed the scene inside the galaxy, they all widened their eyes in unison.
"This place is..."
A flame burned in Cooper's eyes. His instinct told him that he had found the right place.