Chapter 12

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Chapter 12: The Mark of Vitality

"Do you think they will really support us in repairing the time capsule to return home?"

Seeing that it was still early, the three decided to go back into the hangar to check what parts of the Shan Hai Jing needed repair. The time travel passage usually lasts for fifteen days; if it exceeds this time, returning home will become significantly more difficult, and the timeline may also shift. If that happens, by the time they get back, their world might have moved on by ten or twenty years, so they had little time left to fix the time capsule.

Zhu Huai still had many doubts about what happened today, so she asked the other two as they walked into the hangar.

Luo Yu looked serious: "It’s hard to say; it depends on whether they can come up with any results in the next few days. If things go poorly, they might decide to keep us here too, so we need to hurry."

After saying this, she strode into the hangar. Despite the uncertainty about the relative distance and return route of this time period, and the truth behind the Shan Hai Jing’s malfunction still unknown, they had to return.

The hangar housing the time capsule remained as quiet as ever, with the sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty hall. The hangar robot silently followed them, waiting for instructions.

Zhu Huai opened the operation room door, activating the engineering assistant robots. She issued commands for them to scan the exterior and interior of the Shan Hai Jing, creating a three-dimensional model to send back for her assessment of the repair plan.

Once the robots went out, the three closed the door to the operation room. Zhu Huai approached the maintenance station, checking the control panel that had just been repaired yesterday, and then started restoring the log backups for the displacement detector, trying to roll the data back.

Luo Yu and Ying Zhao went to the handwritten board on another wall to discuss the time localization.

"Honestly, I’m very curious about the space technology level here. Maybe once I finish calculating, I can find an expert to help me look at it," Ying Zhao said while writing. "Even asexual reproduction technology is advanced, so space technology shouldn’t be lagging."

"Right, look at how smoothly their vehicles take off," Zhu Huai added from the other end. "If they really want to help us, maybe they could even upgrade the Shan Hai Jing. I could write ten papers with that."

Luo Yu leaned against the edge of the handwritten board, resting her chin on her hand, listening intently as they speculated about the space technology. After a while, she said, "I’ve also been thinking that they don’t seem very shocked by our appearance from another timeline. They are just a bit surprised and curious about the era we come from. I guess they must have similar historical time exploration but just haven’t told us."

After saying this, she remembered that the Shan Hai Jing had only been here for four days, and both sides were still trying to understand each other. If they could get more help from them later, then the time gap should not be an issue.

While Luo Yu was contemplating the time localization, the other two started discussing their visit to the Biological Research Station. Zhu Huai asked in confusion, "So, what’s the deal with asexual reproduction? What’s the principle?"

"It’s pretty common in nature. Some use self-cloning, and others replace gametes with polar bodies from egg cell division, but these only occur in non-mammal species," Ying Zhao squinted her eyes. "From my guess, they are using some kind of artificially reconstructed genome technology while providing the body with a large amount of enzymes to repair broken DNA, integrating some foreign genes to ensure genetic diversity."

As she spoke, Ying Zhao’s expression became a bit lonely. "I once knew a biologist who led a team to develop this technology in the federation ten years ago. The experiments were in the later stages, and they had already proven that asexual reproduction in mammals is feasible. But then, because of budget overruns, the higher-ups abruptly halted it. She wasn’t satisfied, so three years ago, she took her project team to the Northern Continent. Just as they managed to secure funding to continue their experiments, they encountered regional warfare, and the entire laboratory got bombed. The local officials later explained it as a missile misfire." She scoffed, "Misfire? It’s hard to believe that it could be that precise when the whole three-story lab plus two basement levels turned into a ten-meter-deep pit."

Zhu Huai clicked her tongue in surprise; despite always surfing the internet intensely in the office, she had never heard of this news.

The Northern Continent is made up of several small countries, and over the years, the situation has become increasingly chaotic, with internal wars never ceasing. Various news often circulate online, but a major event like this surprisingly had gone unreported, which seemed to indicate some intentional suppression.

As Luo Yu listened to Ying Zhao talk about this, she pressed her lips tightly together and clenched her fist without saying a word.

The three fell into silence, the operation room suddenly calm. At that moment, the displacement detector on the control panel emitted a notification. Zhu Huai turned around and looked, "Rollback successful! Backup log restored; fortunately, I left a backup in the code."

Ying Zhao quickly put down her pen, walked over to look at the results, then transcribed the before and after displacements when they docked in the time gap back to the handwritten board, preparing to plug the numbers into the formula again.

Meanwhile, outside the operation room, the engineering assistant robot announced that the scanning of the Shan Hai Jing was complete. Luo Yu walked over to open the door and saw it and the hangar robot carrying a tray with three snacks and drinks.

After placing the snacks down, the hangar robot left, while the engineering assistant robot stayed, projecting the scanned 3D model onto a special display shelf in front of the maintenance station. The projection showed all the locations and extents of damages on the Shan Hai Jing’s exterior and interior, along with specific data.

Zhu Huai and Luo Yu stepped forward to examine it closely, listing the areas that needed repair, while Ying Zhao densely calculated on the handwritten board for the two walls. The three remained busy in the hangar until dusk.

It wasn’t until the hangar robot came for the third time to notify them of serious overtime that they finished organizing everything, leaving the hangar together under the bright moonlight, returning to the ninth cliff dwelling.

Not sure if it was due to being too busy today or thinking about too many things, as Luo Yu emerged from the mountain elevator, she began to feel something was off on the way back to the dwelling. She felt lightheaded, and her steps felt somewhat unsteady.

She thought she might just be tired, so she didn’t say much on the way. Once they returned to the cave villa, they didn’t linger in the lounge, exchanging greetings before each going to their own rooms.

After taking a hot shower, Luo Yu felt somewhat better. She crawled into the large, soft cozy nest and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, a soft beam of sunlight shone on her face, waking her. She blinked, propping herself up, and stared at the faint sunlight on the floor, lost in thought. It was the fifth day since the crash of the Shan Hai Jing.

She intended to sit up right away, but suddenly a wave of dizziness hit her, forcing her to lie back down. Then she began to feel a dull pain in her abdomen, and she frowned, calculating the dates; it couldn’t be that unlucky, could it?

Since the three of them moved into the dwelling, Ying Zhao had always been the first to get up, followed by Luo Yu, while Zhu Huai was always the last one out. But today felt different; Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao were sitting in the lounge already having finished breakfast, yet there was still no sign of Luo Yu.

"Should we go check on her?" As Zhu Huai prepared to get up, they suddenly heard the archway door open. They turned to see Luo Yu walking out in her pajamas, looking exhausted.

Ying Zhao hurried over to support her: "Sister Yu, what happened?"

"I’m on my period," Luo Yu leaned against the soft cushions, glancing at Ying Zhao with frustration. "It hurts a lot. Do you have any painkillers here? Please get me some."

Ying Zhao quickly replied and headed to the main control desk to order. Zhu Huai brought over a cup of warm water to Luo Yu. Soon, Ying Zhao returned after placing the order. "I saw on the menu that there are nutritious meals for menstrual periods. I ordered one. I also asked the housekeeping robot if there was anything to relieve menstrual cramps, and they should be delivering it soon."

Luo Yu weakly nodded while holding the water cup.

"Well, looks like Luo Yu is out of commission today," Zhu Huai joked as she sat down beside her. "You should rest at home. Later, Ying Zhao and I will head to the hangar."

"Not really," Luo Yu replied with a muffled voice. "I’ll be fine in about three hours. After I eat something, I should take another nap, and I’ll be okay."

Ying Zhao joined her at the side. "I didn’t expect that someone as strong as you would still have menstrual cramps."

Luo Yu forced a smile and shook her head. While the three chatted, they heard the sound of the robots outside the door. Ying Zhao thought it was the delivering housekeeping robot and opened the permissions, only to have three robots enter, also bringing in a Mobile Bed.

The leading one was the butler robot from the cliff dwelling, which approached and asked, "Which one of you is experiencing menstrual cramps?"

"Uh… me," Luo Yu slowly raised her hand. "No need for such formality; I just need a few painkillers."

The butler robot spoke in a monotone voice: "Professor Mo Chuan is on her way here; she heard someone was experiencing menstrual cramps and asked me to take all three of you to the gynecology center."

After saying this, it used its built-in detector to scan Luo Yu, which showed that her condition was indeed poor. Without further explanation, it instructed the two nursing robots to lift her onto the Mobile Bed and took the three from the cliff dwelling’s back platform to the aircraft. Ten minutes later, they landed at the foot of a mountain.

There was a huge natural cave entrance. The butler robot led the three inside, where they saw people coming and going at the entrance. Once inside the hall, they spotted Mo Chuan walking out. Seeing Luo Yu lying on the Mobile Bed, she gave her a nod. "Alright, let’s see what’s going on."

As they walked deeper, the three kept looking around. The hall had numerous paths, each labeled: Cycle Management Department, Blood Volume Management Department, Premenstrual Relief Department, Emotional Comfort Department, Meridian Massage Department, Sleep Regulation Department, etc.

Under the large signs were smaller labels that classified the issues, such as Early Menstrual Office, Peak Menstrual Office, Late Menstrual Office, and further subdivided into phases: Premenstrual Phase, Menstrual Phase, and Postmenstrual Phase.

Soon, they were guided by the robots into a room where an elderly lady with a wrinkled face sat. Luo Yu looked up and realized she must be the specialist.

"It’s been years since I’ve seen someone with menstrual cramps; let’s see what’s wrong," the old doctor said as she approached Luo Yu with a handheld device for a scan. As she examined the results, her brow furrowed. "This child is far too thin; muscle content is acceptable, but the fat layer is too thin—body fat percentage 17.7%. Malnutrition, no wonder it hurts."

Meanwhile, Zhu Huai was softly murmuring to Ying Zhao, "I thought technology here had solved issues like menstruation."

Unexpectedly, the elderly doctor overheard and turned: "Why would we want to solve menstruation? It is our connection to nature. Not only is it a mark of our creative ability, but it also grants us strong adaptability and rapid self-healing. Every menstrual period provides an excellent opportunity for cellular repair and reshaping. Our brain neurons recover and grow during this time, and any diseases in our body heal faster. Why would you view this blessing as a nuisance?"

After finishing her explanation, the doctor asked Luo Yu a few more questions before returning to sit behind a large desk. She instructed the assistant robot beside her, "First, take her to the therapeutic pod to lie down. After that, I’ll prescribe some nutritional supplements."

Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao followed the assistant robot out. The old doctor shook her head, sighing lightly at Mo Chuan, "Such poor children, completely ignorant of menstruation."