The ring-shaped passage slowly retracted, closing into a metal sphere several dozen cubic meters in volume, which the warship drew back inside like bait swallowed into a giant fish's belly.
The Stellar Core Fleet Insignia painted on that warship flickered in and out of view under the light of a distant star.
Watching the warship slowly leave, then turn into a stream of rainbow light and vanish into the universe, Jing Jiu remained by the window, seemingly lost in thought.
Flower Creek pushed the Medical Pod out of the room and began making tea for him, asking casually, "Still worried?"
Thinking of what Xilai had just said, Jing Jiu looked at the faintly glowing ring, unsure when Ran Handong would send back definite news. "I want to know everything that happened to Xilai."
Flower Creek did not innocently pretend to know nothing as she had before. Looking at the faintly red patterns on the iron kettle's surface, she said softly, "You actually care about other people's affairs?"
"Other people's affairs are often your own," Jing Jiu said.
Flower Creek fell silent for a while, then said, "Military Command keeps those secret bases under very tight guard. I'll need some time."
Several days later, the Blazing Sun Warship returned to the space at the outer edge of the 857 Star System. As before, it did not approach the dim gray planet. Jing Jiu returned to the Ring-Shaped Base with Flower Creek. The young Biochemical Human officer was not waiting for them in the suite; there was no knowing where he had gone.
Monotonous footsteps sounded through the quiet ring-shaped passage.
He walked deeper into the base. Passing the floor-to-ceiling windows, he glanced at the alloy wall and saw no trace of anything.
The balding Professor Long was gone; there