Chapter 16

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Chapter 16: Cross-Time Communication

“Is there still exploration of historical parallel time spaces in this world?” Luo Yu asked curiously.

Yesterday, when Lei Ming came to help them in the hangar operation room to formulate the repair plan for the Shan Hai Jing, they had asked about the level of space technology here. As expected, it was much more advanced, and they were able to traverse historical time periods, but due to time constraints yesterday and Lei Ming’s lack of detailed knowledge, they hadn’t discussed it further.

“Very rarely,” Ti Ran replied. “This is related to the entanglement in time and space that I just mentioned. We don’t want to conduct excessive exploration in historical time periods because it might affect our own historical progression. After confirming some historical connections, we basically stop time travel to preserve the independence of each parallel space and avoid mutual infiltration.” She paused for a moment and added, “However, since you arrived here, we have begun considering the possibility of exploring future time spaces. Of course, as you may know, this is quite difficult.”

Luo Yu and Ying Zhao nodded. Although they could traverse between multiple historical time periods, traveling to the future was nearly impossible, which contradicted their current understanding of the laws of the universe.

The Time Bureau had previously conducted experiments that allowed the exploration team to return from historical time periods with a set of local insects and items, but when the time capsule entered the time tunnel, those insects immediately disintegrated into ashes, while the items remained intact.

For living beings, only those that originally belonged to future time spaces could return through the time tunnel.

The Time Bureau attempted this several more times, but all living beings rapidly aged and turned to ashes without exception. As a result, the Time Bureau had to abandon plans to explore future time spaces, and even the more advanced Ponsuo Tribe had not developed the technology to travel to future time spaces.

Noticing their contemplative expressions, Ti Ran smiled again, “If there’s a chance, I can invite you to see the historical time spaces we’ve explored. Oh, but…” She glanced at Lei Ming. “This may require the approval of the elders in the assembly hall.”

“I don’t think that’ll be an issue. Let me first talk to Professor Mo Chuan,” Lei Ming said, looking at Ti Ran. “However, right now their primary concerns are the repair of the time capsule and the communication and return route. If these issues can be addressed, we can further discuss these matters before their return.” After saying that, she turned to glance at Luo Yu.

Luo Yu responded seriously, “Yes, we need to return to the starting point within the validity period of the channel. Thank you, Professor Ti Ran, for confirming that we indeed have a bit more time than expected. It’s just that we don’t know if there will be any variables in that.”

Ti Ran simply smiled and nodded, not saying anything more. Then, Ying Zhao asked her how micro light particles were discovered, and so they started enthusiastically discussing a series of discoveries in cosmic physics.

As Ying Zhao introduced Ti Ran to M-theory and various string theory concepts, their conversation deepened, and the topics began to go beyond Luo Yu’s understanding. She turned to Lei Ming and noticed she seemed to struggle to keep up, so the two of them moved back a little and quietly discussed the follow-up arrangements for the time capsule repair.

They had previously mentioned adding three engineering assistant robots, and Lei Ming had already applied for them. She just received news that they were expected to be in place by tomorrow. Luo Yu calculated the timeline and saw that the cabin repair seemed to have no major issues. Even if they needed to modify the power compartment, they still had enough time.

Regarding communication coverage, the communication device on the Shan Hai Jing control panel hadn’t started repairs yet. If they could indeed receive some technical support, as Ti Ran mentioned, they could overhaul the entire communication system. Lei Ming agreed and said that before they left, she would ask Ti Ran to recommend an engineering team so that she could coordinate this matter with Mo Chuan when she returned.

The three of them sat in the room for a while longer. Ti Ran and Ying Zhao found common interests and became increasingly enthusiastic. Later, she took them on a tour around the treehouse, revealing that the large tree hollow connected to another tree hollow behind it, linked by a long corridor made of a thick trunk and vines.

Ti Ran led them to the corridor and turned back with a smile, saying, “This area is my guest room and studio, and over there is my bedroom and entertainment room.” After finishing, she pointed off in the distance.

Following her gesture, Luo Yu looked north, beyond the towering redwood trees, and vaguely saw a slightly concave gray-black mountain peak.

“Our particle collision laboratory is on that mountain. I go there every few days. On the day of the assembly hall meeting, I happened to be busy inside, so I could only attend remotely.”

Ying Zhao’s face lit up with excitement. “Can we visit it?”

“Of course! I can decide that. Whenever you finish your tasks and want to come over, just let me know,” Ti Ran agreed readily.

While they were talking, Lei Ming’s wristband received a new message. She raised her hand to check and saw it was from Zhu Huai via the hangar robot: “I ran into a little trouble. When will you be back?” She quickly showed the message to Luo Yu and Ying Zhao.

Zhu Huai was at the operation room checking the recovery panel today. The “little trouble” she referred to must be related to the overflow of the live screen deployment. Luo Yu furrowed her brow at this thought, and Ti Ran, who saw the message nearby, smiled, “If you have matters to attend to, go ahead. If you need anything later, feel free to contact me.”

After speaking, Ti Ran turned and went inside, bringing out a holographic model, which happened to be the micro-light particle universe they had seen today. She preserved it in a replicated format.

With one hand holding the model, Ti Ran pointed out two small spheres marked for special attention. “The angle of these two parallel micro light particles in the cultivation body perfectly corresponds with your and our time spaces. You can take this back to confirm, and both the communication and return route can reference this model for the design.”

Ying Zhao carefully took the model, examining it closely. Indeed, it contained the universe they had seen today, only capturing a small segment from its peak period, with the large sphere densely populated by parallel time spaces that were slowly and continuously rotating, seemingly never having annihilated.

They thanked Ti Ran and were escorted downstairs by Niu Niu to the lounge, where they donned their wing suits from earlier and exited the tree hollow that resembled a castle.

After taking off, the three of them looked back. Ti Ran stood on the corridor, her pale white hair shimmering lightly in the slanting sunlight. She waved at them, and they also waved farewell before turning southward to return.

On the way back, they encountered a flock of geese returning to their nests in the same southern direction, so they accompanied them for a while until they could see the summit of the ninth cliff dwelling from a distance. They then broke away from the flock and diverted towards the hangar.

Upon landing on the helipad, before Lei Ming could speak, her wristband chimed in: “Today’s work is about to exceed the time limit. Please take note to arrange for rest.”

She smiled down and then looked at Luo Yu and Ying Zhao. “Do you need my assistance with anything?”

The live screen matter was confidential, and even though it had already been leaked, Luo Yu still preferred not to involve too many locals in this issue. So she shook her head with a smile, “Let’s go inside first. If we need help, we can ask you another day.”

Lei Ming understood and didn’t press further. After saying goodbye to them, she took a graceful step back and spread her wings, leaving the helipad. They watched her fly off before turning toward the hangar, where the hangar robot awaited them at the entrance.

As Luo Yu walked, she removed her wing suit. Since Ying Zhao was carrying the micro-light particle universe model with both hands, Luo Yu handed her suit to the hangar robot and then walked behind her to help her take it off.

“At first, it didn’t feel heavy, but now it seems quite weighty,” Ying Zhao noted. She hesitated to hand the model to the hangar robot, so even as it extended its arm, she didn’t let go of the model, only asking Luo Yu to help her remove the straps little by little.

By the time they managed to get their wing suits off, they reached the door of the operation room. As they pushed the door open, they saw Zhu Huai leisurely sitting opposite the maintenance station, her feet propped up on a shelf, listening to the engineering assistant robot—singing?

“Hey, you’re finally back!” Zhu Huai remarked lazily as the robot stopped singing when it heard the door open. She turned to greet them as they entered.

Ying Zhao couldn’t help but smile, “Sister Huai, you sure know how to have fun.”

“What’s the occasion? You urged us to come back in a hurry, and I thought something big had happened,” Luo Yu approached the maintenance station and glanced at the control panel, where the recovery panel lay quietly, looking fine.

“I said it was a ‘little trouble,’” Zhu Huai lowered her legs and got up, stretching lazily. “This little thing kept reminding me to rest, and then I hit a technical snag with no clue how to proceed. It was frustrating, so I let it sing to me. Not bad, actually.”

Luo Yu frowned as she looked at the engineering assistant robot and then glanced at the hangar robot still standing at the door of the operation room. She turned to the hangar robot, saying, “You all can go outside for now. Help us prepare some food, and I’ll call for you later.”

The hangar robot responded, “Okay,” and called the assistant robot over. Watching the assistant robot leave, Luo Yu felt like she saw a relieved expression on its display screen.

“Hey? What’s this?” Zhu Huai noticed the model Ying Zhao had placed on the maintenance station and leaned in to take a look.

Ying Zhao excitedly recounted the experiences they had today, and as Zhu Huai listened, she circled the model twice. “Amazing! This place is truly remarkable.”

After discussing the model, Luo Yu continued, telling her about the modifications to the communication device.

Zhu Huai thought for a moment and said carefully, “Are we directly asking them to help us with the modifications? Could there be any risks?”

Luo Yu paused before answering, “There may be risks, but I want to seize this opportunity to establish a cross-time signal, bypassing the space station and directly sending messages back to the ground.”

“Are you saying…” Zhu Huai looked at Luo Yu with narrowed eyes, sensing that their recent incident likely had a significant connection to the space station.

Luo Yu returned her gaze calmly. “Don’t worry. I just want to verify a guess and provide an additional layer of security for our return.”