"Welcome aboard the North Star. I'm Timas, the ship's AI."
Once everyone had taken their seats, Timas's voice sounded throughout the ship, and a woman's face appeared on the wide screen.
Mikita ordered the ship to take off, then selected its coordinates. The ship officially began its journey.
"Hum!"
A faint sound rang out. Everyone aboard felt the slightest vibration, and assumed the ship had started moving.
But the ship's thick metal hull kept them from seeing outside with the naked eye, so they had no idea what was happening beyond it.
"Buddha Lord, shall I activate the exterior simulation?" Mikita turned to ask. "At 100% simulation, you'll get a better view of the stars and the universe."
Qi Tian had long known about the ship's exterior simulation feature. Now that he had a chance to experience it, he naturally wouldn't pass it up.
"Turn it on."
Qi Jingshi and the others had no idea what exterior simulation was. They watched as, after Qi Tian agreed, Mikita gave Timas the command to activate it at 100%.
"Whoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, the control panels, seats, and floor in the captain's cabin all vanished.
A hazy layer of atmosphere surrounded them.
The sudden change startled Qi Tianshou. Looking down at the deep-blue Gold Soul Planet beneath him, he reflexively stood up and tried to manipulate his magnetic field to float.
But the next moment, he felt the solid floor beneath his feet and realized he was still standing on the ship's deck. Only then did he relax a little.
Qi Jingshi and Qi Shangye were startled as well, but they were steadier by nature. The instant the ship's surroundings changed, they released their wills and sensed that everything inside was still there; only its appearance had been concealed.
"Sit down already. Don't embarrass yourself." Qi Jingshi pulled Qi Tianshou, who had jumped to his feet in fright, back toward his seat.
Qi Tianshou pouted and sat down again. He didn't think he'd embarrassed himself. The changes were simply so novel that they had overturned decades of what he thought he knew.
As the ship pulled away from Gold Soul Planet, they saw obstacles the spacecraft passed close by as it traveled through the universe.
Some were enormous rocks floating motionless in space; others were chunks of ice trailing gas as they hurtled past. They had never seen anything like them before.
It was as if they were floating in the stars themselves. Without the feel of the seat beneath them, they might even have started to believe their bodies were flying through space.
Qi Tian watched for a while. Once the novelty wore off, he asked Mikita to lower the exterior simulation's intensity.
Mikita relayed the command to Timas, and after the adjustment, the simulation was reduced to 10%.
As soon as the command was given, the stars around them faded until they looked like a hazy shadow.
The floor, chairs, control panels, lights, and everything else in the control room reappeared.
Once Mikita had finished adjusting the settings, he began explaining their destination to everyone.
"Following Buddha Lord's wishes, we've chosen Mengyu Planet, a major commercial planet in the Beihua Empire, as our destination."
"It's the territory of a powerful Domain Lord, who is reportedly also a member of the Beihua Empire's royal family. The planet is hundreds of times more prosperous than Jirong Planet."
"As one of the Beihua Empire's ten most important commercial planets, Mengyu Planet has service centers for the five major powers of the Human Race. We can take care of all the services we need there."
Qi Tian nodded. Mikita was really telling Qi Jingshi and the other two all this.
Qi Tian already knew most of it; he was just unfamiliar with some of the details.
Still, after spending the past few days cramming on basic knowledge about the universe, he had learned quite a bit about the power structures and how to deal with them.
After Mikita finished explaining their destination, the ship's AI spoke again.
"Captain, the ship is about to reach the speed of light. Countdown: 10... 9... 8..."
As everyone listened to Timas's countdown, the view beyond the ship had already grown blurry, gradually sinking into darkness. Even the ship's exterior simulation could barely pick up any images.
"3... 2... 1!"
As Timas's gentle countdown came to an end, the North Star, racing through space too fast to make out, vanished from its original location in an instant, causing a slight ripple in space.
"Boom."
Everyone aboard felt a slight tremor. The blurry scene of space around them had gone completely dark, with only the ship's dim screens and lights still glowing faintly.
"Turn off the exterior simulation."
At Mikita's command, the darkness receded. The simulated view of the universe disappeared, and the ship's metal hull returned to sight.
"Buddha Lord, the ship has entered the Dark Universe. The estimated travel time is fifteen days. There are sleeping quarters aboard; feel free to choose one if you'd like to rest."
Qi Tian nodded. No one needed to pilot the ship during the rest of the journey, and sitting around in the captain's cabin would be pointless. He went to find a room where he could continue contemplating the threshold of the Origin Law of Gold he had just begun to grasp.
During those three days, Qi Jingshi and the other two had only managed to learn the basics of the Universal Language, and they still weren't very fluent. They also hadn't fully grasped many basic facts about the universe, so they went back to their studies like obedient pupils.
Mikita was the only one who could log into the Virtual Universe Network. He connected to his Consciousness Sensor and entered the Virtual Universe to check his bank balance.
He would have to pay for all their future expenses, but he had already spent a fortune activating the secret-realm coordinate token. There wasn't much cash left in his account.
"I still have three life planets. One is my main planet, and I can't risk my foundation. If I need to, I can sell the other two."
He then used his Optical Computer to contact some planet traders and ask about current prices.
He also messaged some old mercenary friends to ask if any of them wanted a life planet. After all, someone looking for one privately would probably offer more than a planet trader.
Half a month passed quickly. As they neared their destination, Mengyu Planet, Mikita informed everyone that the ship was about to arrive.
Once everyone had gathered in the captain's cabin, Mikita checked the real-time coordinates and itinerary provided by the ship's AI, Timas, then said to Qi Tian, "Buddha Lord, we'll reach Mengyu Planet in ten minutes."
Qi Tian sat in the captain's seat. Hearing Mikita, he gave a slight nod and said, "You handle it."
Mikita nodded and turned his attention back to the control panel. Before long, Timas's countdown sounded from the screen again.
"The ship is about to initiate Cosmic Shuttle... Cosmic Shuttle successful. The ship has returned to the Original Universe."
Everyone felt another slight vibration from the ship. After it lasted for more than ten seconds, it stopped. Mikita then issued Timas a new command.
"Exterior simulation, 100%."
"Whoosh!"
The surroundings changed instantly, and they seemed to be standing in the vastness of space.
Far ahead of them, a planet appeared, as deep blue as Gold Soul Planet, but shrouded in enormous swathes of white clouds.
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