"Mm, anyway, that's how it happened."
Huai Shi slumped in his wheelchair and spoke to Russell's projection. "If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them with the editor in the comments section below."
Behind him, the enormous Nautilus framework still hummed and trembled across the wasteland.
After the cables and instruments taken from the Solar Ship had been connected to the outpost's deep radar array, the Nemo Engine of the Deep Hymn sent a signal toward the Present Realm through the calamity clouds now blanketing the Scar Zone.
Using the Book of Destiny's first authority, it established a secret yet stable communication channel with the Supreme Terminal in the Ivory Tower...
The connection was probably no better than a 128K trickle, but it was still better than nothing, right?
Yet on the other side of the projection, Russell's face, covered in snowy static, remained utterly bewildered.
There was no helping it. There had been too many twists and turns for anyone to process at once.
After a long while, the old man finally sorted through the massive amount of information and figured out what had caused the deep upheaval that had nearly made the Bronze Eye sound the war alarm ahead of schedule.
But he was still a little dazed.
"And then?" he asked.
"And then it broke down and got stranded." Huai Shi spread his hands. "Just as you see now... battered remnants, completely useless. Hey, Raymond, come smile for the principal."
"Huh?"
Raymond, passing by with an iron pickaxe on his shoulder, turned around blankly. The moment he saw Russell, he immediately forced out a fawning smile. "Oh my, Principal, long time no see! How have you been? About that loan I mentioned the other day..."
"..."
In silence, Russell slowly raised a hand and covered