Su Huilan leaned against the gunwale, gazing at the distant scenery.
To be honest, if we disregard everyone's current situation, the scenery here is indeed more beautiful than any other place she has ever been. But the thought of a distance of a thousand light-years inexplicably gave rise to a sense of fear.
Is it really possible to go back?
She felt the hope was extremely slim. Even if the altar was activated, Ramla might not be able to be controlled by them.
Su Huilan's trip was originally intended to investigate the Awakeners' Alliance and everything related to her father. She wanted to know the truth, to know who the person etched into her dreams was, and to know why her father placed his hopes for rebuilding the Alliance on her and that person.
Now she knew the truth, or at least part of it. She had also met that man, a man so handsome that he could make all women infatuated and all men feel inferior. Of course, she also knew that this handsomeness stemmed to some extent from his spiritual influence; that powerful spiritual aura was irresistible. In reality, however, he was just an old man who had lived for nearly a century.
Of course, if they continued to stay in Ramla, she would soon become an old, immortal being like that too. How many years have passed on Earth now? She wondered, looking at the three Sun in the sky.
Alice and Mrs. Larry were resting in the command cabin on the bridge, with only Hanran keeping her company as she lazily lay on the deck Sun, like a cat.
It only cares about how many fish it will have for dinner, and doesn't care how many Sun are in the sky!
Looking at the cat, and then remembering the bird, a smile appeared on Su Huilan's face. Living like this forever probably wouldn't be so bad!
But she knew it was impossible. The instability of the Ramla Space made it impossible for them to live in a paradise. Before long, they would become like the Itza People, bare-chested, wearing grass skirts, searching for food in the damp, dense forests, kneeling and praying when natural disasters struck, and fleeing when fog rolled in, and then going through the next cycle.
We have to go back!
I never really appreciated how wonderful Earth was before, but now that I'm so far away, I realize it truly is humanity's best home.
Humans are strange creatures; they miss home as soon as they leave home; they love their country as soon as they go abroad; and only when they step into space can they see the beauty of Earth.
Su Huilan turned her head to look towards the valley, wondering how their negotiations were progressing. She hoped everything would go smoothly; activating the altar was imperative for the sake of returning home. If the negotiations didn't go well, she feared only force would be the solution.
To be honest, she still felt sympathy for the savages, but if there was a conflict of interest, especially a major conflict concerning the fate of humanity, she would not hesitate to shoot them.
She silently calculated the current balance of power between the two sides.
The three Itza priests possessed formidable Mental Power, though the exact extent of their power remained unknown, as they had never faced each other one-on-one. However, Su Huilan believed they were no stronger than Qingmu and Situ. Now, with the three scepters in their hands— Qingmu, Situ, and Duwa wielding Petru scepters, along with herself, Petru (who possessed half a scepter), the Boss Coal, and Hanran —they held an absolute advantage in mental combat.
In terms of physical combat, the savages outnumber them by hundreds, so close-quarters melee must be avoided. Fortunately, the savages' weapons are primitive, and without the scepter, they have lost the systematic tactical advantage of integrated combat. On the other hand, we already had several guns, plus the machine guns we salvaged from the Apache helicopter. As long as we don't get surrounded and engage in hand-to-hand combat, and make good use of our weapons, our advantage is still quite obvious.
The only thing to worry about is their Mental Power Formation. The power of that Group Dream Realm was too great; it pulled everyone into the dream in an instant, and even Su Huilan almost didn't react in time. If it weren't for the scepters that Qingmu and Situ had, it's hard to say whether they could have escaped.
When Su Huilan was a child, her father mentioned Group Dream. The combined Mental Power of dreams is greater than the sum of its parts, but this effect requires many people to manifest, and the more people involved, the more pronounced it becomes. However, the savages only numbered a little over a thousand. Could the collective Mental Power of just over a thousand people really be that strong?
She had a vague feeling that something was hidden behind this power, and it must be related to that altar.
A scream suddenly came from the bridge.
The cat lying on the deck suddenly jumped up, staring nervously towards the bridge, wondering what had happened.
Su Huilan recognized Alice's voice; it was filled with terror, as if she had just woken from a nightmare.
"Let's go take a look." She bent down, picked up Hanran, and walked towards the bridge.
Alice huddled in a corner of the cabin, shivering. Mrs. Larry was crouching beside her, gently patting her back, as if comforting a child in a dream.
"She's probably too tired and having nightmares," Mrs. Larry said as she saw Su Huilan walk in.
"No, it's not a nightmare! I saw it!" Alice clutched her chest tightly with both hands.
"What did you see?" Su Huilan asked.
"That person! I saw him!"
"Who?"
"That's him! That... Captain..." Alice mumbled, then pointed, "There! He's sitting right there!"
Su Huilan was startled and looked in the direction Alice was pointing. There was the command console by the window. When they first discovered the Swordfish, Captain Halsey was sitting in the chair by the window, in the same position as before he died, staring out the window. He didn't move until the Swordfish fell out of the Spacetime Stasis Zone.
The chair was now half-broken and leaning precariously to one side. Lieutenant Colonel Halsey's body had been disposed of by Boris and Ivan, probably dumped in the hold to reunite with his soldiers.
" Alice, there's no one there!" Mrs. Larry said. "You're having a nightmare!"
"No!" Alice screamed, shaking her head, her voice trembling with a mixture of hysteria and grievance, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not a dream! Just now... just now he really was sitting there!"
Mrs. Larry pulled Alice's head into her arms and gently comforted her, "Oh, it's alright, it's alright, Alice. I'm here, and look, Professor Su is here too. We're all here."
"Waaah... Madam... I'm so scared... I really saw it..." Alice sobbed, her back trembling uncontrollably.
While comforting Alice, Mrs. Larry said to Su Huilan, "We were all resting just now. Alice was here, and I was leaning against that side. We were all asleep when I heard Alice scream... but I didn't see anything."
"I understand, Madam," Su Huilan said.
She also thought Alice was dreaming. Lieutenant Colonel Halsey was already dead, which everyone had confirmed. No matter how bizarre Ramla was, she couldn't possibly bring a dead person back to life.
Alice mistook her dreams for reality because she had just experienced several forced lucid dreams sustained by external Mental Power. She likely maintained a lucid state within her dreams, and lucid dreams easily cause ordinary people to confuse dreams with reality.
Su Huilan walked to the window and circled the collapsed chair.
She suddenly had a strange feeling, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Even though there wasn't a breath of wind in the cabin, it felt as if a cool breeze was blowing across her skin, instantly giving her goosebumps.
Alice had just calmed down, suddenly tensed up again. "Madam, Madam, did you hear that? Someone, someone is walking!"
Before Mrs. Larry could react, Su Huilan had already bent down, her ear pressed against the ground.
She heard a faint clattering sound coming from the bottom of the cabin, like leather shoes stepping on the deck.
It let out a Hanran meow, arched its back, and fluffed up its fur.