Chapter 54

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Chapter 54: The Endpoint of the Cycle

The deep blue sea shimmered with scattered light. In the footage, there seemed to be a leaf floating on the ocean. As the camera gradually zoomed in, everyone could see the details of that "leaf."

Colorful entertainment facilities, sliding tubes, a Ferris wheel, open-air restaurants, and small black dots in clusters were all bustling crowds enjoying themselves. It was as if this was a miniature kingdom, floating above the ocean.

Seeing this, the group realized that this "leaf" was actually a giant cruise ship.

In the historical time period two thousand years forward from the Ponsuo Tribe, signs of higher civilization emerged once more.

This time, they were mentally prepared and didn’t find it surprising like when they first saw the highways from ten thousand years ago. However, the footage still rendered them silent.

The footage lasted about a minute before disappearing. Ti Ran raised her hand to press replay, and the people in the research room watched the latest footage three times. At this moment, Ying Zhao murmured, “Exactly ten thousand years, the cycle of reincarnation is exactly ten thousand years.”

Hearing her words, Luo Yu and Zhu Huai exchanged glances, recalling Wanhua’s comments yesterday about this cycle period. Ti Ran, sitting across from the long table, also heard this and nodded slightly. “Yesterday, we were analyzing the points of discontinuity in civilization; it should indeed be once every ten thousand years. Today’s footage also confirms this pattern.”

Mo Chuan’s expression turned serious as she looked over at Ti Ran. “I believe it is still necessary to request the exploration team to increase the observation tasks near the discontinuity points. We need to know what exactly happened there. Are the coordinates of the discontinuity point easy to locate?”

The six observation point coordinates set for this exploration team had been pre-calculated by the time travel center, and the route was planned before their departure.

Ti Ran and several nearby experts discussed quietly for a few moments before looking back at Mo Chuan. “We are already calculating this; we will have results by today. However, we still need to ask the elders in the assembly for their opinions, and we’ll need to see how the team members are holding up.”

According to the initial mission plan, the expedition team was to complete observations of the last two coordinates tomorrow and then return home. Suddenly saying they would increase their workload at this moment would likely not be well-received by the elders in the assembly, especially since visiting six observation points in succession was already a highly intense task. Even with rotating rest, the three members of the exploration team should be beginning to feel fatigued.

“Coincidentally, I have a remote meeting with the assembly in a bit. I will ask,” Mo Chuan assertively said. “This discovery is crucial; we must clarify the situation at the discontinuity point as soon as possible.”

Luo Yu and her companions shared a silent glance, understanding Mo Chuan’s urgency. Given that ten thousand years marks one cycle, the Ponsuo Tribe was nearing the endpoint of their cycle, and certainly, Luo Yu’s world was also approaching the brink of an ending.

For everyone in the room, the status of the discontinuity point was vital, as it concerned the fate of all those across time and space.

Ti Ran said no more; she just nodded at Mo Chuan and motioned for the other experts in the research room to look into the calculation of the discontinuity point coordinates.

At that moment, Mo Chuan’s wristband buzzed with an incoming remote meeting alert from the assembly. She stood up to bid farewell to everyone and turned to leave the research room.

The others in the research room gathered at the computers lined against the wall and began calculating the specific coordinates for the discontinuity point. Ti Ran also asked Ying Zhao for help in reviewing the calculation logic.

Seeing that she and Luo Yu weren’t needed for now, Zhu Huai pulled on Luo Yu’s arm, “Let’s not add to the confusion here. How about we go for a walk?”

Luo Yu glanced at her, realizing she had something to say, so she told Ti Ran and the others and stepped outside with Zhu Huai.

“Your return plan coincides with these new discoveries. In my opinion, it might be better to wait and clarify everything to have a good countermeasure,” Zhu Huai suggested, trying to soften her tone. “Otherwise, if we return in a haze, what will it matter if the world meets its end?”

Luo Yu listened quietly, finally responding after a moment, “I also want to understand the situation regarding the cycle, but the time constraints for the time channel are real. I can’t miss my chance to return for something that remains uncertain.”

Zhu Huai opened her mouth to persuade further, but thinking of what Ying Zhao had said before and Luo Yu’s niece’s situation, she realized if Luo Yu did miss this return opportunity, her niece might truly be beyond help. After hesitating for a long moment, Zhu Huai sighed, “Sigh.”

As they spoke, they aimlessly wandered until they unknowingly reached the entrance of the time capsule exhibition hall they had visited before. The guiding robot, mistaking their stop for an intention to enter, walked forward to open the door.

The exhibition hall was quiet, displaying various models of time capsules from different eras on the stands. They looked around the entrance one by one. Though they had visited this place before, revisiting brought many new discoveries.

“I think this model’s power chamber is particularly well-designed. Look, there’s a fuel recovery device underneath that can be repurposed for oxygen production.” Zhu Huai stood in front of a time capsule model from fifteen years ago, explaining the intricate details to Luo Yu.

As they wandered through the hall and examined each time capsule, Zhu Huai also explored the operational logic on the control panels of various generations of time capsules. Thanks to the detailed explanations in the exhibition hall and the guiding robot supplying additional information, Zhu Huai thoroughly understood the modification ideas for several generations of time capsules.

Luo Yu observed from the side and also noticed many functional layout details on the control panels were quite similar to the aircraft designs, all facilitating rapid learning and adaptability.

After exploring the exhibition hall for quite a while, the guiding robot received a notification and said to the two of them, “Professor Mo Chuan’s meeting has concluded. Please return to the research room.”

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai followed the guiding robot back to the meeting room, where Mo Chuan was already seated with a displeased expression.

“Earlier in the remote meeting, I had the staff on this side contact the exploration team,” Mo Chuan said slowly after they sat down. “The elders in the assembly are not in favor of temporarily increasing the workload. They believe we should wait for the team to return before determining the next departure time and specific plans. The situation with the exploration team is also not optimistic—they encountered tailwind from a flying dragon on their way out from the last time-space, and one of the backup fuel tanks leaked. Now, the remaining fuel is only enough to return directly without adding any observation points.”

Ti Ran pointed to the panel in her hand, projecting the latest calculation results above the long table. “We have already calculated the coordinates for the discontinuity point. Is there a possibility of sending another team there to observe in the next couple of days?”

Mo Chuan gently shook her head. “I asked, and the time travel center has only one backup pilot on standby. To send out another time capsule, we would need at least two main pilots to reach ten thousand years ago. It’s mid-summer, and many people have scheduled vacations. Even if we send out messages now, rounding up the team would take time. The other option is to wait for the exploration team to return, rest thoroughly, and then depart again, which would take at least seven to eight days.”

Ti Ran nodded in response. “This matter is indeed important, but we aren’t at the point of crisis yet. According to preliminary estimates, even though our civilization is closing in on this round’s ten-thousand-year demarcation, we still have at least a hundred years to respond.”

However, sitting across from them, Luo Yu frowned deeply after hearing their discussion. If it would take seven to eight days to send someone again to the discontinuity point, she wouldn’t learn the truth about the cycle’s endpoint before returning.

Her insistence on returning was for family, but if the abyss was already looming on the horizon, what good would it do to return simply to deliver medicine?

Meanwhile, Mo Chuan was still discussing the observation task arrangements for the discontinuity point with Ti Ran. Mo Chuan remained steadfast, asserting they should send someone there promptly. As they were discussing this, Luo Yu, sitting opposite, spoke up, “I can go.”

Mo Chuan and Ti Ran both looked up in surprise, “What?”

“Professor Mo Chuan just mentioned that to send someone else, at least two main pilots are needed. However, there’s only one spare pilot here,” Luo Yu stated earnestly, “I can be the second main pilot and I can depart for the discontinuity point today.”

Zhu Huai and Ying Zhao, sitting beside her, turned to look as well. Ying Zhao asked, “Can you operate the time capsule here?”

“I’ve reviewed the function of the control panel, so it shouldn’t be a problem. There’s also a channel simulator here; we can do a practice run before the official departure,” Luo Yu replied confidently.

Zhu Huai clapped her thigh, “Then I’ll go too! I’ve also figured out the design inside and out, so I can be the engineering assistant for the team.”

Seeing Zhu Huai stepping up to join, Ying Zhao hurriedly said, “Then I’ll go with you. The area around the discontinuity point has fluctuations in the gravitational field, and I can help adjust the flight path using real-time data.”

Seeing the three volunteers, both Mo Chuan and Ti Ran felt a mix of surprise and excitement. They indeed wanted to learn more about the discontinuity point as quickly as possible, and this was the fastest plan to get underway. So everyone unanimously agreed; Mo Chuan immediately got up to explain the situation to the assembly elders, while Ti Ran contacted someone to activate the time travel center’s simulator.

An hour later, Luo Yu and her companions exited the simulator. They saw Ti Ran waiting at the hatch with a smile, saying, “The success rate for the three rounds of simulations was one hundred percent. I believe this journey will go smoothly.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Mo Chuan entered the room. “The assembly elders did not oppose this temporary mission entirely. After negotiations, they finally agreed. This trip will only proceed to two discontinuity point coordinates to conduct remote observations without entering the atmosphere; it will be a quick in-and-out.”

Luo Yu and her companions nodded in understanding, “Understood.”

Once everything was set, everyone took the cave train to the launch pad in the west. Today’s temporary team consisted of five members: the spare pilot and Luo Yu as the main pilots, Zhu Huai as the engineering co-pilot, along with a senior engineer sent from the time travel center, and Ying Zhao continuing as the accompanying scientist.

The five of them settled into a state-of-the-art, disc-shaped time capsule. They observed the status of all launch preparations from the ground control center and upon reaching the scheduled time, a tremendous thrust propelled them upwards, swiftly escaping the grip of Earth’s gravity and merging into the orbit designated by the full orbital monitoring station, heading towards the nearest time channel.

This time capsule’s power system was far more advanced than that of the Shan Hai Jing, and its speed was also quicker. Following the navigation, they reached the first discontinuity observation point in just two hours, which marked two thousand years forward from the Ponsuo Tribe’s time.

They traversed through two thousand years of time around the discontinuity point and did not see any of the potential disasters they had envisioned that might reset human civilization. The nearby planets appeared calm. Just as they reached a certain juncture in the middle, the time capsule was suddenly engulfed in darkness for ten minutes. When the black fog dispersed, everything outside remained just as peaceful.

Ying Zhao looked gravely at the coordinate monitor. “In that ten minutes of darkness, we passed through two thousand five hundred years. It seems we cannot observe the time period near the discontinuity point.”

Luo Yu also watched the pitch-black playback, frowning. “Let’s proceed to the next discontinuity point and bring the footage back for analysis.”

The time capsule circled around a gravitational field and soon adjusted course towards the nearby time channel, heading to the second discontinuity point, one thousand years prior to the Ponsuo Tribe.

When they arrived at the designated coordinates, just as they exited the time channel, a bright light shone in from outside, and all five of them hurriedly stretched their necks to look out, only to see an astonishing scene unfold before their eyes.