With a flash of light, the starfield that had seemed to be racing past them abruptly vanished. In its place, a black, dimly lit metal spacecraft silently appeared before them. It looked like a corpse left lying there for ages, floating through space in silence and solitude.
"Gasp... Is that the Ark?"
Theresa sucked in a breath as she looked at the ship before them, while Cang Xuan nodded with a complicated expression.
"That's right. This is... the Ark."
As she said that, both Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu wore complicated expressions. Although neither of them had been responsible for the Ark Project, they had still hoped, more or less, that it would succeed. Sometimes, they wondered whether those who had escaped Earth might truly have taken root and survived on some distant planet.
But unfortunately, reality was often cruel.
Of Doctor MEI's four plans, it now seemed that the Ark, Fire Moth, and Stigma had all failed, while the Constant Sand Project remained nowhere in sight...
"Leander, scan the entire warship."
Fang Zheng had no time for their melancholy and simply gave the order calmly. Soon afterward, a beam of light emerged from Leander and scanned the entire ship from end to end.
"Reporting to Commander, no life signs detected."
"What about energy readings?"
"None either."
"Hmm..."
Upon hearing Leander's answer, Fang Zheng raised a hand to stroke his chin, frowning as he stared at the ship before them.
"Something's not right."
"Not right?"
Welt Yang walked over as well and looked toward Fang Zheng.
"What isn't right?"
"This ship flew too far."
Fang Zheng answered without turning around.
"According to the data Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu gave me, the Previous Era civilization never unlocked faster-than-light technology. So it's rather surprising that this ship ended up this far