Across the Threshold

"... No, what kind of ridiculous tasks are these?! How about we go back to the days of fish farming? I promise I'll feed your carp until they're big and fat, okay?!"

Despite his strong opposition, Li Fan still came to help Moon Worship that night. After all, it was an orbital cannon; he didn't distrust the system, Li Fan just wanted to see what it was like.

When Li Fan opened his eyes this time, he found himself standing on the surface of a spaceship again. However, it wasn't the same ship. The last one was full of science fiction style, shining with a silver sheen, while this one looked a bit outdated. Its outer shell was made of an alloy similar to legion armor, and it was square and rectangular like a shipping container. It was like the difference between atomic punk and cyberpunk.

Seriously though, couldn't they at least give him a seat? Why is he always lounging outside the spaceship? Don't temporary workers have any rights?

"The reconnaissance ship supporting you is a state-of-the-art drone, but it's not designed with a pilot's position."

"This is a civilian vessel that was brought in from nearby. The Public Security System will check the onboard video footage when it passes through the gate, so please bear with it."

Before Li Fan could ask further questions, a hatch opened on the hull in front of him, and a spider-like drone with thin legs popped out. The spider's eyes flashed, and it played holographic images, constructing a three-dimensional star map.

Using a stellar coordinate system, the relative positions of the rocky planet and the spacecraft were marked. Then, the mines on the surface of the rocky planet were identified and scanned, and in the parallel orbit of those mines, there was a satellite-like artificial celestial body.

Then the camera zooms in, revealing a scan and analysis of the satellite. Its core is a spherical object, surrounded by multiple circular metal orbits. These orbits intersect like a net, enveloping the sphere. Flashing markers indicate six nodes on the orbits, presumably artillery emplacements. The estimated range, painted red, almost completely covers a large area of space near the mine, indicating no blind spots in its defense.

"So this is what... what... ODS cannon? It looks like a ball..."

"It's not an ODS cannon, but a near-Earth orbital turret with an added ODS orbital defense system. Strictly speaking, it's an ETG, a modified electromagnetic railgun. Its core is artificial plasma, which is a reactor, and the outer coils are confining magnetic fields. The nodal part is a plasma acceleration orbit, which is the turret."

"The reactor can power the turret, and the ionized plasma on the surface can be used as projectiles, so the energy and ammunition of this turret can be considered inexhaustible."

"Besides serving as a defensive plasma turret, it can also be used to blast mine pits or adjust its power to remotely charge the mining equipment inside. This should be its primary application."

"Moreover, it comes with its own independently operating ODS system. Although it's outdated junk from the previous generation, it's still military equipment, typically used to protect space colonies and orbital factories."

"These independent systems, which are not online, cannot be hacked from the network, and can resist remote ECM interference to a certain extent. As soon as a target enters the detection range, it will lock on immediately, identify the attack trajectory of meteorites, spaceships, mines, and shells, and automatically shoot down any incoming threats."

As Li Fan listened, he glanced at the star map and couldn't help but ask,

"But your equipment should be a bit more advanced than the junk from the last generation, right?"

They scouted so thoroughly from so far away, even marking out where the gun emplacements and tracks were. Couldn't they have just used a laser cannon or something to snipe him out?

"Therefore, as I said, our ship is a registered merchant vessel, civilian level VI. Although we have nuclear warheads and ECM weapons obtained from the black market, we only have civilian-grade warhead launchers."

"We call this a drone mine; you can also think of it as a torpedo missile used in space warfare."

"The sub-light speed engine signal of civilian mines is too strong and too easily identifiable. Their range and acceleration are also limited. To military systems, it's like a child throwing a baseball; they can intercept it in less than half a second."

"Moreover, the red area marked on the screen does not refer to the weapon's effective range, but rather the theoretical target-locking range of the previous generation ODS system in the database. It is only for reference. In case the legion has also installed hidden radar stations nearby, simply using the ODS system for target acquisition and trajectory analysis can significantly increase the railgun's attack range."

"We don't know how effective the Legion's radar is, or whether it can detect stealth, but no matter how stealthy it is, the greater the speed and the farther the distance, the worse the stealth effect and the greater the chance of being detected. So the worst-case scenario is that we are detected and intercepted as soon as we launch the first batch of missiles, and then our launch platform is also detected by the fire control radar. If things go smoothly, it will only take a few dozen seconds in total before we are done for."

Li Fan was speechless. "Oh... I see... No, why did you call me here after all this? Do you think I can take more hits than a cruiser or something?"

"Yes. Theoretically, you can withstand nine shots."

Damn, Li Fan wants to go back.

"Don't worry, don't worry, we've got everything planned out."

The spider drone's eyes gleamed, adding another bunch of line diagrams to the star map.

Li Fan glanced at the highlighted area on the star map, zoomed in, and thought, "A meteorite?"

"Yes, the main purpose of the railgun is to clear away surrounding celestial bodies and prevent mining equipment from being damaged by meteorites. However, even with unlimited ammunition, it's impossible to shatter meteorites into too many pieces. Usually, once it's confirmed that the meteorite's trajectory has deviated or that the fragments are not large enough to cause damage, firing will cease."

At this point, the hatch at the front of the hull opened, revealing a quadruple vertical launch port.

"We'll use drones to propel meteorites as camouflage, bringing them into range and passing near the railgun. We'll detonate them periodically to create the illusion of a fragmented meteorite, altering its trajectory. You need to blend in with these meteorites and suddenly land on the railgun platform."

"Although there is some danger, the Thousand-Faced Immortal Body you are currently using is only the size of a human body, and it can only detect carbon, so it will be ignored as stardust and will burn up upon entering the atmosphere. The ODS system will not fire directly at you. Just be careful not to be injured by the surrounding meteorite fragments."

Oh, right, the Thousand-Faced Immortal...

Li Fan then realized that he was still in the Thousand-Faced Immortal's black charcoal humanoid Dao body. His Tai Su Dao Body inherently possessed multiple lives, and the railgun wouldn't directly attack him, so he did indeed have a chance of winning. However...

"What good would it do if I suddenly landed on a gun emplacement? Do you expect me to dismantle it with my bare hands?!"

The system paused for a moment, as if the two had discussed it before finally revealing the truth.

"Li Fan, there are living people on that gun emplacement."

Holy crap?

At this point, the spider also marked a red dot on the railgun platform.

"The previous generation experienced an AI crisis, so intelligent assistance like the system was created to prevent AI from rebelling again."

"Military-grade systems have hard-coded underlying code, requiring final instructions from a human. Therefore, remotely operated unmanned devices can only support up to civilian level 6 at most."

"In other words, the host of the ODS system must be a living person, possibly an apostle of the Legion, an illegal clone, or even a brainwashed citizen."

"In short, once you've cleared out all the living creatures on the facility and confirmed that the host is brain dead, the orbital turret will naturally become useless."

"Don't worry, they're mostly engineers, maybe a few mercenaries at most. Even if there are Martian girls, you won't have much trouble dealing with them."

Now that you mention it, it really is a minor issue...

"That's right, hurry up and get on the mine, it's about to launch."

"Your energy recharge for the lottery is full again, huh? Once this batch is sorted, we'll get you something cool to play with."

These two tried to reason with him while also tempting him with benefits, so Li Fan hesitantly walked to the vertical launch hatch and took a look at what he called a mine.

It looks like a smaller spaceship, survival pod, or shuttle, a bit bigger than a truck, with just one engine and one warhead.

"... No, you're just going to ride on it like that? Won't you get thrown off during launch?"

"Don't worry, we have studied this. The body of the Thousand-Faced Immortal is a bit strange. It can be regarded as a carbon-based nano-robot. Did you see that one of the warheads is black? It is a specially replaced graphite material. If you can escape, you can try to 'escape' into the warhead."

Hey, you know what, it actually works!

Damn, the tasks I've completed are so ridiculous that even I, the braggart behind them, find them absurd...

So Li Fan hid inside the warhead, was carried by the mine, and launched out through the spaceship's ejection system.

These mines are also drones. They are launched first using electromagnetic catapults, then carefully accelerated, followed by a maneuvering curve to conceal the spaceship's location, circled behind a nearby meteorite, and then automatically towed and attached to the meteorite. The meteorite is then used as a camouflage to change course, carrying Li Fan to attack the orbital gun emplacement.

These remote operations were all done by the system, while Li Fan crouched inside the warhead and waited.

Fortunately, they were lucky and didn't encounter the worst-case scenario, where they were discovered immediately and eliminated in a second.

"With no hidden radar stations and absolutely no reaction, we've basically won."

... That's how you win?

Li Fan was able to detect the minefield and capture the meteorite, and then began disassembling and assembling the engine with the assistance of the drone.

After all that talk, it turns out it's just a minor issue? Seriously, couldn't you have used some drones or robots to carry out this surprise decapitation strike?

"Killer drones are also considered semi-military technology. We'll be using them to transport ore later, which requires a connection to the public network. Once a drone is detected to have a history of killing life signals, a mechanism will be triggered to report it to the Public Security System for review."

"If any members of the legion are pirates carrying bounties, the security company's fleet might just jump over here. That would be suicide..."

"Yes, yes, we are law-abiding and peace-loving businessmen. How could we do anything that involves fighting and killing? Besides, offending the legion would lead to retaliation!"

Damn... so all the dirty work, hard work, and scapegoating are done by temporary workers, right?

However, this task was not difficult at all. Li Fan even gradually grasped the characteristics of this Thousand-Faced Immortal Body while waiting.

If before he was only using a layer of 'skin,' now it was skin, bones, flesh, and blood, all composed of a blackish-gray, charcoal-like substance. This Dao body, which Li Fan had exchanged for 1200 points, had never changed in the Taiji Realm. Moreover, to be honest, he didn't understand the composition of this body at all, nor did he know how it should change; it was all automatically transformed when he was pulled onto the system's spaceship. Perhaps it was some kind of agreement between the Thousand-Faced Immortal and the system?

When using this body, Li Fan's feelings were very subtle. It was as if he was in a state of using escape techniques the whole time, and his perception of time and space was very different from that of a human body. He couldn't feel speed or acceleration at all. It was as if he was walking in another dimension, manipulating his dark humanoid puppet with some kind of third-person perspective, like a marionette.

Moreover, the longer the time goes on, the fainter the sense of time becomes, as if one is becoming detached from the whole world and the entire universe. Thoughts also gradually change, as if one is listening to people talking while drunk, and information is transmitted through a thin mist, which is a novel perception that has never been seen before...

"Ready! Here we come!"

The system's voice seemed to come through the noisy curtain of water.

Although the distance was the dark depths of space, Li Fan could simultaneously 'see' a ripple-like wave in the distant universe. Then, a blue star suddenly flashed in the depths of space.

The light flashed only once, and in the next instant, the meteorite exploded silently, shattering into fragments that shot off in disarray.

Li Fan stepped out of the warhead and walked onto the fragment of the meteorite where he was.

The fragments were spinning rapidly. A normal person would have been dizzy and vomiting by now. But Li Fan felt perfectly calm. Although nebulae and starlight were spiraling and flashing before his eyes, he felt no dizziness at all, and instead felt that nothing had changed.

The order of the universe is stable; the Tao is the Tao. Weapons such as mines, railguns, plasma, and meteorites can only change the instantaneous form of matter, but they have no effect whatsoever on the rules of space or the order of time.

However, he is able to influence.

So Li Fan stopped waiting and took a step forward, taking half a step.

The next instant, 'Li Fan' disappeared from the meteorite.

The next instant, the 'Thousand-Faced Immortal' appeared inside the railgun platform.

This is the core equipment room, filled with wiring and cables. Pipes and wires are inserted into the core alloy cabin, and inside that cabin is a cylindrical jar containing a brain and nerve tissue filled with tubes in a green fluid.

Then the 'Thousand-Faced Immortal' reached out, seemingly ignoring the alloy hatches, glass containers, and pipes, and lifted out the brain. After examining it carefully, he suddenly grinned and turned to smile at Li Fan.

Li Fan suddenly opened his eyes, breaking out in a cold sweat.

But he soon realized he wasn't dreaming.

In that instant, he traversed countless kilometers and stood where it was probably the core control room of the railgun emplacement. His hands were still wet, maintaining the lifting posture, but they were empty, and the container in front of him was also empty.

The brain in the vat was taken away by the Thousand-Faced Immortal.

"Li Fan! What just happened?!"

"Your mood! Your mood has plummeted to rock bottom! Think about something happy!"

Huh, your mood?

Li Fan then came to his senses. Oh dear, he remembered that he had been eating octopus and cultivating, and his mood had reached 6k, but now it had plummeted to the bottom, down to '0.1k/6k'!

Damn... I think I was just possessed by the Thousand-Faced Immortal... and he even took my brain away.

"I bet it was this one! Holy crap! This thing actually managed to bring a living person right through the door!!"

"This is outrageous... At least ODS is offline. We're on our way. Li Fan, be careful. There are other people on the space station who will come to restart the system."

At this moment, Li Fan also noticed that the space station had started sounding an alarm. Clearly, the Legion's system had also momentarily malfunctioned. Where's your brain, which you've been keeping in its ivory tower? Where's your brain? Where's your brain??

However, Li Fan had just witnessed the Thousand-Faced Immortal's moves and had gained some insights. While the feeling from earlier was still lingering, he tried to recall that feeling.

Although he only glanced at it for a fleeting moment as he passed through the door, he had a photographic memory; once he saw it, he understood it.

So Li Fan took a step forward.

The moment he took that step, it was as if countless doors opened before Li Fan. He couldn't see most of them clearly, nor could he cross them, but fourteen doors were relatively clear, so he crossed them.

Then Li Fan was confused to find that his vision had also been divided into fourteen, just like the extra clones that appear when he was knocked into his second state.

"Holy crap, come look at this..."

"... Holy crap... Damn, my whole body is cracking open."

What's the meaning?

Li Fan turned his head and then understood what the system meant.

It simply means what it literally means.

The fourteen people in the orbital space station were probably Legion Apostles. Some wore spacesuits, some wore military uniforms, and some wore engineering clothes, but without exception, their entire bodies were torn apart. Their bones were gone, and all their flesh and blood had turned into black charcoal, like falling black sand, slowly gathering around Li Fan.

Behind them was only a pile of blood-stained clothes torn along the center line. Due to the weightlessness caused by the shutdown of the orbital space station, they did not fall to the ground. Instead, they stood upright and swayed slowly like transparent human figures, as if they were still maintaining the movements of these people in life.

It was as if Li Fan had just opened doors directly from their bodies and stepped out.

Li Fan stared at the screen filled with bright red, feeling a chill run down his spine and a headache.

The next instant, he opened his eyes again and woke up to find himself under a False Moon, his entire body soaked in sweat and blood.

The blood was his own, because he had swum over from the Weak Water Formation and his skin and flesh hadn't fully healed yet.

But this isn't a dream within a dream; it's another universe where something real is happening.

The Legion Apostles on the orbital platform are probably all dead, because he took that one step...

Li Fan's spirits plummeted, his physical body was ravaged, and even his accumulated True Essence of Returning to Emptiness was completely depleted. He was utterly exhausted.

But he learned it.

The method to cross the 'door' to the other side.