Chapter 41

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Chapter 41: A Bright Future

"Oh? A biologist?" Ji Shu perked up with interest. "What area of research does she focus on?"

Luo Yu furrowed her brow, recalling a time years ago when she saw a huge pit filled with smoke from a plane. After a moment of pause, she replied, "I heard she was involved in biomedical research, working on a classified project. I never knew the exact details, and by the time I found out, she had already passed away."

Thinking about her niece’s need for medicine, Ji Shu realized that their world’s asexual reproduction was still in its early stages. Seeing Luo Yu’s sad expression, she guessed a bit and asked, "Your little niece must be very clever. Do you have any footage of her? I’m curious about what she looks like."

"I do." Luo Yu raised her hand and pulled out a necklace from inside her collar. The necklace had a vintage oval pendant that opened to reveal a photo. Ji Shu leaned in to look and saw an older woman holding a little girl.

"Is that your mother in the back?"

"Yes." Luo Yu nodded. "This was taken when my niece was three years old; she’s five and a half now."

"How cute! What’s her name?"

"Her nickname is Hai Kui."

Ji Shu studied the photo for a moment and then asked, "Is she a single child?"

"Yes, my sister has only this one daughter."

"That’s quite rare in our family," Ji Shu said with a smile. "My aunt also has only one daughter, but her daughter ended up having twins."

While they were chatting, they suddenly heard the excited cheers of the two boys in front of them. It turned out the moon had risen high enough for stargazing.

While eating earlier, Luo Yu had heard them mention the custom of counting stars for children’s birthdays. On their birthday, after the moon rises, the birthday child counts up to the number of stars equal to their age around the moon, marking them down on their star plate. The arrangements would automatically match to a blessing in a birthday calendar.

Each of the two elderly ladies had a child in their arms, helping them count stars. Whenever they chose a favorite star, they would mark it on their star plate.

Luo Yu and Ji Shu joined them to watch the children select stars. The two kids, clearly picking stars back to back, surprisingly chose almost identical positions and sequences.

Ji Shu laughed as she watched, saying, “My sister and I did the same when we were little. We would pick stars back to back, and it was always almost exactly the same. Then we both insisted the other must have peeked at our choices.”

After finishing counting stars, everyone snacked on fruits in the starlight, chatting for a bit while admiring the shimmering river outside the courtyard, until it was late enough to head back to the lounge and prepare for Luo Yu’s departure.

She bid farewell to the two elderly ladies and the boys in the lounge, and Ji Shu walked her outside the cliff dwelling. “I heard from Mo Chuan that your simulator is all set up, and communications have been restored. You’ll probably be heading back soon. When we were at Qingqiu Mountain, you asked about the radiation-resistant agents. Our laboratory has begun to prepare them, and they should be ready in about three days. I’ll arrange for a delivery robot to send them to you then.”

Luo Yu had also been thinking about this matter. The last time at Qingqiu Mountain, she casually mentioned to Mo Chuan that she wanted to bring back some ready-made agents, just in case. She hadn’t expected them to take it seriously and tailor them using Luo Yu’s genetic samples from her time-space.

Thinking of this made her quite touched, but she couldn’t find the words to express her heartfelt gratitude right away. After a moment, she just nodded slightly, saying, “Thank you, Professor.”

Ji Shu smiled and patted her shoulder. "You’re welcome."

At that moment, an aircraft in autopilot mode landed on the helipad outside the cliff dwelling. Luo Yu boarded the aircraft, sat down, and waved at Ji Shu, watching her figure turn into a small black dot under the moonlight before turning back to gaze at the river.

The night grew deeper, and the moon shone even brighter, casting a silvery glow on the river surface, which shimmered like starlight falling into the water.

After watching for a while, Luo Yu looked down and realized that the pendant she had shown Ji Shu earlier was still outside her clothing. She reached out to touch it and then tucked it back inside her collar, feeling the coolness of the pendant against her chest.

About ten minutes later, she got off the aircraft at the entrance of the ninth cliff dwelling. When she returned to the cave villa, the lounge was quiet. She asked the in-house housekeeping system and learned that Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao had not yet returned. Noting the time, she estimated they would be back soon, so she ordered a drink and sat on the soft cushions, waiting for them to arrive.

Seeing the history book that Ying Zhao had been holding for the past few days on the round table, she picked it up and flipped through it. She began to understand why Ying Zhao liked to wake up early to sit here for meals and read; sitting here alone in the lounge was indeed quite pleasant.

After sipping two drinks and reading for about half an hour, she heard the sound of the door opening. It was Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao returning.

Tonight, Ao Ci was hosting a music banquet, and with the children from the family there, Luo Yu thought they wouldn’t drink much. However, seeing Zhu Huai enter with an excited expression, she turned to Ying Zhao and asked, “Did she drink too much again?”

Ying Zhao glanced at Zhu Huai and replied with a smile, “Not tonight; she didn’t drink alcohol. Today, Huan Jie showed up and amazed us! I had no idea she could play string instruments. She even improvised a few pieces for us, and they were beautiful.”

“That’s no small feat,” Zhu Huai said with satisfaction. “I completely captured the little ancestor tonight, and Wanhua even came over to ask me for the sheet music.”

Luo Yu tilted her head in thought. “Wait, isn’t the string instrument in this world different from the ones back home?”

"Generally similar; the principles are pretty much the same." Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao sat down on the soft cushions and each ordered a drink. Zhu Huai propped her feet up and leaned back. "After all, there are just a few strings—three, four, five strings. A few strums and you’ll get the hang of it."

"Oh, I understand now," Luo Yu placed the book back on the table. "This stuff is just about being versatile."

"Exactly."

Luo Yu chuckled softly, "It’s great! You can stay here and become both an engineer and a string instrument performer. Perhaps you could also work as a wild fruit forager or something."

"I’ll explore my talents fully," Zhu Huai said, bouncing her foot. "I think I have even more undiscovered skills."

"I’ve recently developed an interest in history," Ying Zhao remarked from the side. "I’ve decided to explore the mysteries of the Shan Hai Jing in conjunction with global history. Of course, I will also research the mysteries of human evolution with Professor Ti Ran."

"Sounds good!" Luo Yu raised her cup. "We all have a bright future ahead."

After they clinked their glasses, Zhu Huai turned to Luo Yu and said, "But don’t worry, that’s all for later. We’ve discussed it; for the next few days, we will still go with you to the simulator, helping you with the Return Simulation. We will definitely take care of you."

"Thank you both for your great support."

"After all, you have to go all the way," Zhu Huai said. "Once we’ve made sure you’re set, we can think about our personal development paths."

Luo Yu scratched her cheek. "That sounds a bit awkward."

"Don’t say that," Ying Zhao laughed and nudged Zhu Huai. "Quick, say ‘bah’ three times."

“Bah bah bah.” After Zhu Huai finished, she turned to look at Ying Zhao. "Wait, aren’t you supposed to be a materialist?"

Before Ying Zhao could reply, she continued, "I get it; the end of science is metaphysics. That’s not entirely false."

After joking around in the lounge for a while, they realized it was getting late. They had the in-house housekeeping system clear the cups from the table, and after saying goodnight to each other, they returned to their rooms.

After her shower, Luo Yu lay on her bed, gazing at the moonlight on the wall. She felt completely relaxed. Many issues had already been resolved: the time capsule was repaired, communications were restored, and the threat behind the celestial barrier had been eliminated. Her return journey looked promising, which made her sleep deeply and peacefully that night, waking up to a bright new morning.

The three of them had breakfast together in the lounge as usual and were about to head to the hangar when a message panel on the round table popped up with a note from Ti Ran. She mentioned that she had organized a research team and would soon resume exploration of historical time periods to probe some laws of human evolution, including studies on the strange beasts in the Shan Hai Jing. She asked Ying Zhao if she had time to visit her.

Luo Yu quickly said, "That’s important too! You should go. Zhu Huai and I will manage at the hangar."

Ying Zhao thought for a moment and replied, "Okay."

After finalizing their plans, the three of them changed into wing suits in the room, exited the cave villa through the soft glass, and split up outside, heading in different directions.

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai landed on the helipad at the mountain top and walked to the entrance of the channel simulator. The hangar robot was already waiting for them, knowing they would be coming today, and stepped forward to report the data about the hangar’s status.

As they entered the door, Lei Ming arrived, having come at the time they had agreed upon when they left yesterday. Along with Lei Ming was the space engineering expert introduced by Professor Ti Ran.

The group gathered next to the Shan Hai Jing, and Lei Ming introduced everyone to the control room nearby. Inside, there was a console that adjusted the gravitational field of the channel simulator, accompanied by recording equipment to observe the operation status of the Shan Hai Jing within the simulator in real time, automatically conducting data analysis and generating reports.

After listening to Lei Ming’s explanation in the control room, Luo Yu stepped outside alone and entered the time capsule, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. She then gestured toward the monitor inside the capsule.

Upon seeing this, Lei Ming in the control room activated the channel simulation device. The entire hangar immediately darkened, and oxygen in the space, excluding the control room, began to evacuate. Three minutes later, the simulator was set to a zero-gravity vacuum state.

As gravity gradually faded away, the Shan Hai Jing began to float slowly. Luo Yu grasped the control stick, feeling that familiar sensation return.

Today was the first use of the simulator. Luo Yu’s testing task was to drive manually from the starting point to a specified coordinate point without navigation assistance.

In the first three tests, which involved short distances, she completed them successfully, but the later coordinates extended the distance and increased the complexity of the gravitational field environment simulation. Without a co-pilot, it was tough for her to monitor external gravitational shifts while driving, resulting in her overshooting or undershooting turns, leading her to journey much longer to reach her target than anticipated.

In a real driving environment, this would greatly waste fuel in the power compartment, especially since the actual route to the communication boundary coordinate involves multiple gravitational fields, with more challenging angles than today’s tests.

Luo Yu practiced in the simulator for over two hours before stopping for a break. Although the latter part of her performance wasn’t as good, she was not discouraged as she walked back to the control room. "It’s no big deal. I just need to practice more."

Today, Zhu Huai also watched Lei Ming operate the controls and learned how to use the control room, so when Lei Ming takes a day off, she could come here with Luo Yu for simulation practice.

After saying a few more words in the control room, they heard the reminder for a break and walked out of the simulator hangar together. Lei Ming told them to head back to rest for now, and if they wanted to practice again later, they could come anytime.

Once Luo Yu and Zhu Huai saw Lei Ming and the expert leave in their aircraft, they put on their wing suits and returned to the cliff dwelling.

Having not concentrated on flying the time capsule for quite some time, Luo Yu felt a bit tired that day. After getting back, she ate a light meal and told Zhu Huai she was going to take a nap.

Once inside her room, Zhu Huai remained seated on the soft cushions in the lounge, deep in thought. Just then, Ying Zhao returned and noticed her serious expression. "What’s wrong? Did today’s simulation not go smoothly?"

Zhu Huai looked at Ying Zhao. "Without navigation mode, she’s on her own, not even a co-pilot; it’s practically impossible for her to make it back."