Earth, Huaxia Country, Jiangnan Base City, atop a rarely visited mountain.
A cluster of ancient-style palaces stood on the mist-shrouded summit, looking like a fairyland from afar.
Luo Yuan and Jiang Fang stood in a pavilion that towered into the clouds, overlooking the mountains and rivers below.
"How long will you be gone this time?" Jiang Fang leaned into Luo Yuan's arms, paying no mind to his restless hands.
"Three years each way, and thirty years in the Initial Universe, which translates to a hundred years in the Original Universe," Luo Yuan said, reluctant to leave.
"Hmm?" Luo Yuan felt the embrace around him tighten and could not help looking down at Jiang Fang in his arms. Dressed in a thin dress, she was hugging him tightly, reluctance in her eyes.
"All right, be good. We can see each other often in the Virtual Universe. The Virtual Universe Network is a one-hundred-percent simulation, so it's no different from meeting in reality. I'm taking that metal plate you found with me." Luo Yuan gently stroked Jiang Fang's back.
They talked about a great deal, about every little moment from their first meeting to becoming a couple. They even flew away from the summit to visit many other places on Earth.
They went to Egypt to see the pyramids, visited the ancient Great Wall, looked around some ruined cities in the Wilderness Zones where they had once left their footprints, and strolled along the streets of the Elite Training Camp.
September 18, 2071.
Luo Yuan and Luo Feng, the pinnacle experts of Earth's humanity, boarded a spaceship and left Earth as well. They would be gone for a very, very long time, and by their return, the world would have changed beyond recognition.
Bailan Star.
An ancient, entirely black