Chapter 121.2 – The Heart of the Universe
Shi Yuan covered his eyes. The trembling stopped after a long time. He felt that the brightness had dimmed a bit, so he looked outside. There was nothing left where the star had been just moments ago.
As they continued deeper, such phenomena became more frequent.
Dazzling brilliance and bursts of energy intertwined with turbulence, causing the escort ship to be tossed upside down—no matter how sturdy the alloy or powerful the thrusters, they seemed as fragile as paper under this force.
Some of the monsters that came too close were directly torn apart.
“What the hell is this?!” All the data readings went haywire, showing a sea of red. Qi Hong tightly held onto the control lever, sweating profusely. He dared not loosen his grip even a bit. “Explosions are happening everywhere!”
Another round of blinding light.
Suddenly, Lu Tinghan said, “It’s the collapse and supernova explosion of stars.”
Qi Hong was momentarily stunned, understanding it now.
Emission, collapse, explosion, turning into a black hole or a neutron star—this was the life of a star. In the natural world, this process would typically take millions to billions of years, but in the heart of the abyss, it could be completed in just tens of minutes, with much less energy.
They were descending into a space of constant death, rebirth, and ever-changing transformations.
As they reached a depth of -210 kilometers, they encountered infected and collapsed miniature stars everywhere.
The escort ship navigated through them, being swayed by turbulence, and Shi Yuan saw something outside the hull constantly trembling. In another round of turbulence, it was shredded to pieces and flew upward rapidly, disappearing without a trace.
On the control panel, the model of the ship displayed a red mark, indicating the loss of “External Turret No.3.”
This was just the beginning.
They lost four or five more external turrets in succession. When they reached a depth of -250 kilometers, Ke Zhengrong completely lost consciousness, closing his eyes. Only the data on the screen indicated that he was still alive.
“8 o’clock direction,” Lu Tinghan said.
Shi Yuan turned around.
A massive star.
It suddenly appeared in the black fog, radiating a dazzling light.
The previous collapsed stars were only as big as a fist, yet they were capable of damaging the ship. But this new star was at least the size of a city. If it exploded, there was no way they could survive.
Qi Hong’s face turned pale as he accelerated the descent. Zhou Qian asked him, “Can we escape its explosion radius?”
Qi Hong replied hoarsely, “I don’t know.”
In reality, everyone understood that they were doomed this time.
Their journey might come to an end here. They had prepared so much, but ultimately couldn’t anticipate the true situation.
The situation grew worse as the turbulence turned the escort ship upside down. They drifted up and down, carried by the currents.
Zhou Qian gripped the handrail tightly, closing her eyes to endure the discomfort. Qi Hong clenched his teeth, maneuvering the escort ship as they passed by one star after another.
But the escort ship couldn’t hold on any longer.
A spark silently exploded, tearing a hole in the back half of the ship. Red text appeared on the screen: “Warning! Thruster No. 2 malfunction!”
In this situation, they had to close off the compartments and determine whether to abandon certain areas depending on the circumstances.
Qi Hong tapped the screen a few times, but there was no response. His heart chilled, and he shouted, “The control system is malfunctioning! We need to manually open the isolation door for compartment 2!”
Zhou Qian wasn’t in good condition, and Lu Tinghan still needed to command. Time was of the essence. Shi Yuan unfastened his seatbelt and floated towards the manual operation box for the isolation door.
Lu Tinghan had taught him the basic structure, and his tail gave him good balance, enough to reach the destination.
He quickly found the operation box, opened the protective cover, and was dazzled by the array of buttons and circuits. Fragments of the ship kept flying outward, and the metal plates were being crushed like paper balls. Flames burned fiercely, nearing the cockpit!
“Hurry!” Qi Hong roared, “Faster!”
The turbulence attacked the escort ship, catching Shi Yuan off guard, and he banged his head against the wall. It was a heavy blow, but he shook his head vigorously to regain clarity. He quickly scanned the buttons, recalling what Lu Tinghan had taught him.
Red button, green button, black wires…
K20, K21, A11, A02…
His gaze fell on the railing with “Z02” written on it. That was it! Compartment 2 isolation door!
Another round of silent explosions, and the ship trailed a long tail of crimson red as it plunged deeper into the stars.
Behind them, the massive star began to collapse.
Shi Yuan pulled the lever!
Whether damaged by the turbulence or not, the railing got stuck halfway.
Stuck firmly.
No matter how much he manipulated it or pressed it downward, it wouldn’t budge, stuck in mid-air.
Qi Hong shouted, “Hurry! The fire is approaching!”
It was difficult to exert force in zero gravity. Shi Yuan gritted his teeth and changed his angle, pressing downward with all his might.
It wouldn’t move.
No matter how hard he pressed, it wouldn’t move!
Shi Yuan grew anxious and broke out in a sweat. Stars exploded around them, casting a dazzling light on him and outlining the lines of his clenched hands. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t make it move.
Until another pair of strong hands covered his.
“Together,” Lu Tinghan whispered in his ear, “we’ll do it together.”
The two of them understood each other perfectly, their hands overlapping as they exerted force together, pressing downward simultaneously!
“Clang—”
Reluctantly, the lever finally moved.
The compartment 2 isolation door closed with a resounding crash, cutting off the flames. The compartment had been shredded by the turbulence, and Qi Hong made a quick decision to completely abandon compartment 2!
Each compartment was independent. Zhou Qian leaned forward and quickly pressed the command, ejecting that section, which disappeared rapidly in the explosion’s light, vanishing without a trace. Before everyone could even breathe a sigh of relief, they saw that the massive star had turned into a tiny dot—
It was on the verge of completing its collapse.
It was about to experience its most beautiful death in the explosion.
Before Shi Yuan could react, Lu Tinghan grabbed him.
Another surge of turbulence arrived, and the creatures seemed to sense something was wrong. They became restless and ran toward the distance. They didn’t have time to return to their seats. Lu Tinghan pulled temporary safety ropes from both sides and secured both himself and Shi Yuan.
From that point on, there was nothing they could do.
Except to face this catastrophe and judgment together.
Lu Tinghan said, “You’ll turn into black mist later.”
“Okay,” Shi Yuan said, “I can do it.”
“…Shi Yuan,” Lu Tinghan said again.
The chaos reigned outside, but there was peaceful tranquility inside the cabin.
Shi Yuan raised his eyebrows in response.
Lu Tinghan said, “I’ve always wanted to tell you that there’s no one else in the world like you. You’ve been by my side wholeheartedly, accompanying me without reservation. Before meeting you, I never thought I would experience so much with another person—watching stage plays, seeing wheat fields, climbing energy towers to gaze at the night view, sitting on a carousel in abandoned city districts.” He smiled. “We even went to the Imperial Capital together and saw the sea and the aurora.”
Shi Yuan listened quietly, looking into those familiar gray-blue eyes.
Lu Tinghan continued, “The luckiest thing in my life was finding the lonely you on that snowy night. It’s truly been an incredible journey, and I’m glad to have you with me.”
He took a deep breath and then said, “When I was young, I swore to dedicate myself to humanity and the city, and now I can proudly say that I’ve done it without any regrets. But if I had a choice, I would like the opportunity to not carry so much responsibility and to love you more simply in the next era, in a more stable and peaceful time.”
He said, “That’s all I wish for. I hope that the next time I look back, I can still see you.”
Shi Yuan smiled, his eyes curving.
He said, “Lu Tinghan, I love you too.”
Behind them, the star exploded with magnificent brilliance.
The world became bright, as if in an ancient cosmic explosion, resounding loudly, creating countless new lives, making the galaxy full of light.
Hand in hand, they descended amidst the burning starlight!
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