Zan Ti stood dazed in the doorway. Fortunately, his roommate kept explaining:
"I read the news. Though much of it is speculation, some parts are pretty accurate. For example, you've always wanted to transfer into the Regular Army so you could extend your service term and wait for the Hyperspace Probe to send back information, earning military merit before you retired... But how could those explorers who caught wind of it, even interstellar pirates and the like, possibly wait obediently for the probe to return?"
"Not wait for it to return?" Zan Ti murmured. It was impossible to tell whether he was responding or talking to himself.
"It says so right there. Time is money, and the God of Wealth's spirit of adventure is greater than the Lord of Dawn's... Ahem, what I mean is, everyone knows Yi ShiJia worships the God of Wealth. He may wear a cold face, but legend has it that he'll stop at nothing for money."
Zan Ti's head buzzed, and for a moment, he could not make a sound.
His roommate continued, "From all the signs, there's a good chance he sold this information. It says that twenty weeks ago, a medium exploration vessel passed through from the Engineering Management Office's side. That ship seemed to be headed in the same direction as the Hyperspace Probe..."
"Twenty-five weeks."
"Huh?"
Zan Ti's unfocused eyeballs finally regained some light as he stared at his roommate. Bloodshot veins gradually spread through his small eyes. "That medium exploration vessel crossed over twenty-five weeks ago, less than a week after I submitted my report. And it paid a huge price to come through a Star Gate that had not even fully taken shape."
His roommate felt his heart tighten beneath Zan Ti's stare, and was stunned by his words.