Chapter Fifty-Nine: Traversing the Universe

Luo Yuan had just finished signing the documents when he suddenly received a notification from the smart shuttle: Babata was requesting a communication link.

"Accept!" Luo Yuan commanded with his mind.

"Connection established!"

"Babata, what's the matter?" Luo Yuan asked calmly.

"The systems of the Heilongshan X81 spaceship are almost fully repaired. Just one more day, and once I finish installing the auxiliary propulsion system, you’ll be able to board the Black Dragon ship and travel through the universe, soaring across the vast cosmos and witnessing the countless races that inhabit it!" Babata was positively elated.

"Interstellar travel, journeying across the universe?" Luo Yuan, too, felt a surge of excitement.

"Exactly, exactly!" Babata was beside himself with enthusiasm. "Luo Yuan! If Earth is ever discovered by other adventurers or nations from the universe, the consequences would be dire. So you must integrate into the universe as soon as possible. Only then can Earth hope to survive in the future." Babata added, eager to leave Earth himself—it was simply too small for him.

"To integrate with the universe, the most important step is to register with the 'Virtual Universe Network.' This way, you can enter the virtual universe and communicate with countless other species," Babata explained rapidly.

"Well done, Babata. Go and notify Luo Feng. In one day, we'll set off and march into the universe!" Luo Yuan said excitedly, his thoughts already drifting among the mysterious and boundless stars.

One day later, in the wilderness.

High in the sky, a massive, black, saucer-shaped spaceship appeared. Its outer hatch opened, and Luo Yuan and Luo Feng swiftly flew inside. The hatch closed, and the ship soared into the void, breaking through the atmosphere toward outer space.

Inside the control room of the Black Dragon ship.

Luo Yuan, clad in a dark-golden combat suit, and Luo Feng, dressed in blood-red armor, sat before the control panel. On the screen appeared the devilish face of Babata, who grinned, revealing his fangs. "Gentlemen, the ship has left Earth. Our destination is Qiu Long Star."

"External view, full simulation," Luo Yuan commanded.

With a swish, the entire control room vanished from sight. Standing on what felt like solid ground—though nothing could be seen with the naked eye—they looked around. An endless, majestic starry sky surrounded them. Turning back, they saw behind them the enormous blue planet—Earth!

"Sigh, this is my first time leaving Earth for another inhabited planet. I just can’t seem to calm my nerves," Luo Feng confessed.

"Hahaha, Luo Feng, what’s there to fear? Just think of those bizarre-looking aliens as monsters from Earth," Luo Yuan said with a laugh.

On the screen, Babata munched on an apple, chuckling. "It’s only natural. As you say in your language, 'Granny Liu visits the Grand View Garden,' or 'A country bumpkin’s first time in the city'—it’s the same idea! This is your first time leaving Earth for a prosperous and powerful planet like Qiu Long Star—it’s only normal to feel nervous!"

"But you don’t seem at all nervous," Luo Feng teased, glancing at Luo Yuan.

"I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but being nervous is pointless. Here, take a look at this," Luo Yuan said, handing Luo Feng a book.

"'The Actor’s Guide to Self-Cultivation'? What kind of book is this?" Luo Feng asked curiously, flipping it open. Luo Yuan didn’t explain, only smiled—he’d read it several times, and found it rich in theory.

"Babata, hasn’t the ship reached light speed yet?" Luo Yuan suddenly asked.

"If this were the Meteorite Star, we’d reach light speed in no time. But this is only a C5-class vessel," Babata replied with a dismissive shake of his head, then grinned. "Still, for the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, a C5-class ship is considered rather high-end. Even some cosmic-level warriors only have ships like this."

"The Black Dragon ship accelerates quite well. If you were on one of those mass-produced fleet ships, then the acceleration would be truly sluggish! Some low-grade junk ships generate such massive acceleration that passengers must enter 'safety pods'—otherwise, they could die from it.

That’s the benefit of a high-end vessel: this ship features an automatic gravity regulation system, which maintains a steady internal gravity. Right now, gravity inside the ship is set at one Earth gravity," Babata explained.

"That’s right," Luo Yuan could only agree—after all, he was just a country bumpkin.

"Twelve seconds to light speed!" Babata called out.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

On the screen, Babata’s expression turned serious as he counted down.

"Eight!"

"Seven!"

...

Luo Yuan looked outside. It was now impossible to distinguish any planets—only a blurred starfield, which gradually darkened.

"How strange," Luo Feng whispered, holding his breath.

"Three... two... one!" Babata shouted.

...

In the vastness of space, the dark ship had already grown indistinct. Suddenly—

Space rippled gently.

The ship vanished!

This was not simply vanishing from sight by exceeding light speed—it had truly disappeared from this universe.

...

Boom!

The ship shook gently for about ten seconds. All around was utter darkness, then everything stabilized.

"Interstellar jump successful. We have entered the 'Dark Universe,'" Babata announced on the screen. "Disabling external simulation."

"Dark Universe?" Luo Feng asked with great curiosity. "Babata, what is the Dark Universe like?"

"Right now, we’re flying at light speed, so external visuals can’t be captured," Babata replied. "We’d need to decelerate for that, but accelerating and decelerating consume a great deal of energy. I’ll simulate some scenes of the Dark Universe for you."

Before their eyes, a screen appeared out of thin air.

On it, brilliant scenes unfolded: a vast expanse filled with countless glowing points of light, like fireflies—a sea of luminous dots. Aside from their beauty, there was nothing else in this boundless space. Oh, and of course, their ship!

"The Dark Universe corresponds in coordinates to the 'Original Universe' we live in," Babata explained.

"But if you travel, say, 'thirty light-seconds' in the Dark Universe, then jump back to the Original Universe, you’ll find you’ve covered 'ten million and eighty-one thousand times thirty light-seconds.' The correspondence ratio between the Dark Universe and the Original Universe is 1 to 10,081,000."

So, flying at light speed in the Dark Universe for a year covers only one light-year, but when you traverse back, you arrive 10,081,000 light-years away in the Original Universe.

"Amazing," Luo Yuan couldn’t help but marvel.

"In the Original Universe, matter cannot exceed the speed of light. Once you reach light speed, you will shift into the Dark Universe. But in the Dark Universe, you can surpass light speed," Babata said. "The Black Dragon ship is now steadily accelerating. Its maximum speed is 1.5 times the speed of light, but for energy efficiency, we’ll cruise at 1.2 times light speed."

"Estimated arrival at Qiu Long Star: nearly ten days. Take this time to rest or cultivate as you please."

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