"Dear passengers, The Pioneer has entered the uniform cruise phase, and you can now unfasten your safety belts and move freely within the cabin. It is recomnded that you first return to your living quarters and check for any personal belongings that may have been collided or damaged during takeoff. If you have any issues, please contact the captain’s room." The synthetic female voice echoed leisurely in the spaceship, making people feel wonderful after hearing it.
Chishiki was in no hurry to return to her room. She first took out her smart screen, which integrated all the functions of phones and computers of the past era and was made completely transparent, with no casing. In her hand, it was a thin, feather-light panel, as if holding a sheet of paper.
Not having left the Moon yet, the internet was still smooth, and Chishiki could browse people’s comnts from around the world about The Pioneer’s launch.
Thanks to advanced push technology, 3.5 billion people from around the world watched the entire launch process of The Pioneer simultaneously.
News topped the front page and ranked first in all major dia, with people vying to understand the details of this major event.
"Pioneers of humankind: The bravest batch of people has left the atmosphere today, embarking on a starry sea expedition."
"Redefining human potential, interstellar travel has finally been achieved!"
"A small step for The Pioneer, a giant leap for the entire species."
"Breaking resource constraints, a bright future begins today by colonizing peripheral worlds!"
"This is a victory of the human spirit!"
People praised this magnificent initiative, leaving Chishiki blushing from their comndations.
So also ntioned that Xu Yang and his daughters willingly risked entering the cosmos, which was especially comndable. Should The Pioneer crash and perish, the entire family would vanish without a trace, lost beyond the skies!
Chishiki didn’t feel it before, but now she also started getting anxious.
Farosa’s Law of Recovery has a range limitation. If disappearing 360 trillion kiloters away, how could it recover? They would truly perish!
Just thinking about the risks undertaken on this journey made Chishiki feel terrified. Dad was too brave, or rather everyone in this batch was too brave, as the first adventurers to explore the universe from the entire world, truly deserving of the title "Brave!"
Chishiki jumped off the seat and road about in the cabin.
At this point, Xu Yang’s personal report also began to deliver, he himself was the captain.
"Dear passengers of The Pioneer, we have embarked on the route to Proxima Centauri B! Thanks to the universal trail left by the forr civilizations, coupled with the dual-core fusion reactor providing power, we will accelerate to 0.001 tis the speed of light within 7 days and arrive at the Jupiter Planet, also known as Sol-5 Planet, located 640 million kiloters away in 592 hours, i.e., 24 days. There, we will use the Star Gate to traverse to Proxima Centauri B. Please enjoy this journey, but take note:
Zones marked with a green cursor are safe, indicating that this cabin is specially treated, ensuring all activities of the occupants are under the protection of the life support system. If an occupant inadvertently enters a zone marked with a yellow or red cursor, please imdiately retreat to a safe range.
Passengers with neural implants can now register to join the flight tuning system. The Nestor navigation system combines data from the onboard astronomical database with real-ti sensors, enabling you to monitor spaceship readings at all tis and enjoy the external scenery through synchronized sensors.
Our spaceship is equipped with comprehensive radiation shielding, protective covers, point defenses, and basic stealth systems. Though encountering enemies inside or outside the solar system is almost impossible, we must still remain vigilant. Even if artificial intelligence alerts every abnormal situation, human factors remain crucial, and each occupant’s judgnt, intuition, and flexible response ability are invaluable.
The spaceship has provided a sustainable long-term living supplies self-sufficiency plan, as well as a complete life seed reserve and giant ecological cabin. Thanks to advanced recycling and regeneration technology, we can maximize resource savings, reduce losses, and improve the self-supporting capacity of this ship in deep space. Even in the worst environnts and most horrific conditions, this ship can maintain a ’wander’ state for 100,000 years.
Therefore, feel rest assured to move freely on the spaceship, looking forward to the scenery of Proxima Centauri B!"
Listening to Xu Yang’s broadcast, Chishiki felt that Dad was both serious and humorous.
Serious because the task carried by this spaceship was of great significance, humorous because his nature was unrestrained, even if the spaceship actually broke down in space, he still had the confidence to "survive" a while until the rescue arrived.
Ah, Dad, Dad, really don’t know if he’s super reliable or super unreliable.
Chishiki went to the viewing cabin, where many crew mbers were already there, all curiously using the observation mirror to appreciate the beauty of the starry sea.
She herself also found a suitable spot, placed her eyes up to watch the dark universe.
Without the obstruction of the atmosphere, stars appeared one after another in her view; they beca so clear when viewed from space. Those familiar constellations now gained fresh depth and splendor.
The Sun itself was not large and gradually shrank, forming a bright sparkle, indicating that it was also just one of countless stars in the universe. Chishiki felt all of this like a dream, as if she were floating in the night ocean along with the waves; in reality, they were indeed drifters among the galaxy.
Their destination, Sol-5, Jupiter Star, looked like a wooden ball dressed in several colorful ribbons, brown-yellow and brown-yellow, surrounded by so huge black buildings. It’s said those were the Star Gates and residential stations built by the ancients ten thousand years ago. Back then, the ancients had colonized the entire solar system, Centauri, Draco, Luman Galaxy...
Chishiki suddenly loved watching galaxies, searching for beautiful stars in the universe, they shone like gems in the dark deep space.
The universe has over 200 billion star systems, each star system having 100 billion to 1 trillion stars, Chishiki could no longer count, she could only know it was infinite, infinite, infinite!
Whether it was the dream of an immortal frontier or the admiration and awe for the vast universe, all perated Chishiki’s heartstrings. She truly felt it was unbelievable; all of this seed like a miracle.
Moving forward under the miracle.
With great enthusiasm, Chishiki diligently adjusted to life on the spaceship.
Every day, her private cabin simulates the light of dawn, and the cabin lights gradually brighten, sa as the diurnal rhythm previously in the base; the environnt is adjusted to microgravity, not enough to make people float around, but walking feels very easy.
Chishiki would exercise for a while, then have a simple al. Most space food cos in boxes or in the form of food pellets, thereby saving ti. They are embedded with virtual information chips that, when read by the virtual helt, can simulate a sumptuous feast.
During her shift, Chishiki mainly monitors the systems and navigational equipnt of The Pioneer, ensuring optimal performance during long-distance travel and optimizing efficiency. The Nestor navigation system occasionally requires adjustnts and manual verification to resolve anomalies beyond the scope of artificial intelligence programming.
The life support system also needs close monitoring to maintain the balance of resources and the environnt, preventing system failures.
When off duty, Chishiki feels much more at ease. In this void, she feels unrestrained and becos enamored with classical music, starting to play the violin. At least it’s sothing that would move Kojima Kanako. Her daughter, despite being rebellious, occasionally respects high culture.
Every day ends with Chishiki returning to her room to rest on ti. She has practically beco the ship’s little alarm clock. When people see Chishiki heading back, they imdiately realize it’s ti to rest.
Chishiki would lie on her bed, covered with a delicate and soft quilt, and fall asleep within 15 seconds.
Her sleep is even more efficient than on a planet because here, sleeping is simply enjoyable. The ship sails quietly through the Starry Sea, emitting a series of gentle humming sounds, which serve as the best background music for sleep. Her daughters’ rooms are very close, and Chishiki often dreams of a white, ever-changing Giant Tower which she never approaches.
Thus, the days passed relatively peacefully, each hour bringing them closer to Sol-5.
A month later, The Pioneer began to decelerate and attempted to dock with the Star Gate system.
The massive "Star Gate" space station gradually appeared before them. It was a technological creation left by an ancient civilization, a celestial body floating in Sol-5’s orbit, resembling a tilted black crown.
Chishiki leaned forward and looked out from the observation cabin’s side porthole. Its dinsions might be up to a thousand kiloters wide, a true interstellar ga-structure.
Laila whistled next to Chishiki, "Wow! Look at the size of that thing. This ’Star Gate’ better live up to its na and take us across the solar system."
"Learn, learn," Bubble tiptoed to comprehend.
"The technology behind these feats remains unknown to us," Chishiki nodded thoughtfully, "and we truly do not know if it’s reliable."
Xu Cheng, with her hands in her pockets, gazed at the Star Gate itself through her sunglasses. It was too spectacular. Her scanning visor knew nothing about it, completely outside the scope of the database.
"If the Star Gate has a flaw, are we going to be stuck midway, and will the ship snap in half?" Laila pondered.
"Don’t say such frightening things," Chishiki was startled.
Indeed! What if the Star Gate can’t operate or encounters an incident?
"Fortune favors the bold," Xu Cheng gave Chishiki a thumbs up.
"Hmph..." Chishiki turned away her gaze, her expression mixed with anticipation and fear, wholly unprepared for the miracle about to occur.
The Star Gate itself hadn’t operated for at least tens of thousands of years, but the tal structure remained intact. It seed indestructible; Sol-5’s orbit also held so truly forgotten habitation stations and orbiter bases, which had beco ruins.
Chishiki dared not imagine the fate of those habitation station residents over millennia, with no signal coming out—they had long perished.
But what worried Chishiki was when their connection with the ancient civilization’s mother civilization got cut off? And once discovering they could no longer return from Sol-5 to the ho planet, how did those tens of thousands of forgotten people spend their last days on the habitation stations?
Were they like interstellar orphans, how did they allocate the last limited resources, strive for self-rescue, and work to prevent internal chaos, exposed under the universe’s cold gaze? Didn’t they tremble?
These issues alone could fill several thick books and produce dozens of films.
But regardless of historical truth, before Chishiki lay only nurous giant remnants of artificial celestial bodies and destroyed orbits, in stark contrast to the still magnificent and eternal Star Gate beside them.
Old vessels undoubtedly reached here ti and again, but for the small human-Witch civilization, it was the first ti. Chishiki took a deep breath; they had co where no one had co. Hopefully, Xu Cheng was right—fortune favors the bold.
Xu Yang entered the observation cabin and prompted, "We should go."
"Go? Where?" Chishiki turned her head.
"Look at this Star Gate; doesn’t it feel like sothing’s missing?" Xu Yang pointed to the massive black ring.
"If this gate is to generate a wormhole and ’warp’ us to Proxima Centauri B, shouldn’t it at least be humming?" Laila asked.
"Perhaps its operating chanism goes beyond our current understanding," Bubble said calmly.
Xu Cheng remained silent, turning her gaze to the Star Gate. This colossal interstellar construct glead slightly under Sol-5’s brownish-yellow light, like a slumbering steel beast. Behind its indifferent tal facade, what kind of miracle or misfortune lay hidden in its dark heart?
"I’m going to activate it, Xu Cheng, help prep the ship," Xu Yang said.
"Huh?" Xu Cheng quickly turned her head.
"Dad, how are you going to start it?" Chishiki was startled.
"I don’t know; I have to try," Xu Yang replied.
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