The Far Travelers Guided by the River of Light

In the third month, as the River of Light extends into the unknown void, the first "Voyager Squad" has already traveled three light-years along the Lightgrass Star Map. The squad consists of new runes from the Star Orbit Root Network, warm orb cubs from the Flame Root Network, Fragment Messenger of the Intermittent Shadow, and dotted-line guides from the Phantom Root Network. Their Symbiosis Mark form a "flowing golden ribbon" across the River of Light, like an "umbilical cord tied between the Sea of Stars and the void," constantly conveying the "warmth of home."

The transparent tree of the seed stores the team's journey within the Memory Light Stone. On its branches extending towards the River of Light, each Xinye is "engraved with the team's coordinates." When the team encounters void turbulence, the leaf corresponding to that coordinate will "tremble slightly"; when they discover a new energy source, the leaf will "glow with a warm light." The travelers are not solitary explorers, but rather those who see the world with the eyes of all existence. The roots of the transparent tree "grow continuously" along the trajectory of the River of Light, weaving an "invisible safety rope" in the void. The light particles on the rope "flicker once" every 0.1 seconds—that is "home saying 'We are here.'"

Luoyu's sketchbook became a "traveler's log." The Star Orbit New Rune used geometric symbols to "draw a star map of the void," marking "suitable flat zones to stay in" and "energy vortices to circumvent"; the Flame Warm Ball Cub used warm colors to "record the colors of light encountered," with crimson for "active energy clouds" and indigo for "tranquil Stardust Sea"; the Fragment Messenger of Intermittent Shadow used "broken lines" to outline "the contours of unknown existences," incomplete yet revealing "friendly curves."

"They are teaching us 'how to read the void.'" In the blank space of her journal, she compared the outline drawn by the fragments with the gap in the Symbiosis Stone, discovering an outline with spiral patterns, the shape of which subtly matched the scar on the Angular Nebula. "Perhaps it's a 'lost family member.'" She drew a star next to the outline, as if marking the traveler's anticipation of an encounter.

In the "Journey Melody" that Qingxian composed for the travelers, she added "echoes of the void." She allowed the music to intersperse "faint overtones" within a "steadfast main theme"—the "live sounds" transmitted by the team using Symbiosis Mark: the "Star Orbit Rune calibrating coordinates, the "hum" of Flame Warmth Orb adjusting temperature, the "trembling" of Fragment Messenger greeting unknown beings. When "unfamiliar frequencies" appeared in the overtones, the melody would "automatically slow down," as if saying, "Don't rush, listen to the other's story first."

"Music is a 'safety code' for travelers." Qingxian watched as the cool tones representing "caution" and the warm tones representing "friendliness" alternated in the melody, recalling the agreement the team had made before setting off to communicate their status using specific musical scales—this was not a "restraint," but a "tacit understanding of mutual protection."

Beside Yanche's future prediction device, a "Traveler Support Station" has been added. The Star Core Stone instruments inside the station can "allocate resources in real time" based on the data transmitted back by the team: when they encounter a low-temperature zone, they remotely activate the "heat storage module" of the Flame Warmth Orb; when precise positioning is needed, they "push the latest star map algorithm" to the Star Orbit Rune; most thoughtfully, there is an "emotional soothing system" that plays "the rustling sound of transparent trees" and "the sound of wind in the meadow" to help travelers "alleviate the fluctuations of homesickness".

"The courage to explore needs the warmth of support." Yanche looked at the screen; the team's Symbiosis Mark patterns remained "above a safe level," and even when encountering "hostile void spores," the patterns only "darkened briefly" before "lighting up again" with the injection of support energy. On the wall of the support station was the team's oath at the start. "No matter how far we go, our roots will always be here."

On the fiftieth day after their departure, the Voyager Squad encountered their "first new existence" in a "Stardust Sea." It was a "Light Vortex with a spiral notch," its edges shimmering with a "warning, cold light," while its center held a "faint warmth"—like a "soft child wrapped in a hard shell."

The Star Orbit New Rune didn't "approach rashly," but instead followed the "rules of encounter," first releasing "a geometric signal with Symbiosis Mark," the gap in the signal maintaining a safe distance from the spiral gap in the Light Vortex; the Flame Warm Ball Cub adjusted its temperature to a "friendly value of 37.2℃," forming a "circle of warm light mist" around it; the Fragment Messenger gently swayed its body, using broken lines to "piece together the shape of half a flower"—a "universal greeting" from the Root Network Sea of Stars.

The Light Vortex remained silent in the Stardust Sea for three whole days. At times it contracted into a sharp spiral, as if in defense; at other times it stretched into a gentle arc, as if observing. On the morning of the third day, it suddenly spit out a Stardust Pearl with spiral patterns, pointing towards the Fragment Messenger —the bead had a tiny notch at its center, its shape complementary to the notch in the fragment.

"It's a 'gift from our first encounter'!" The Fragment Messenger gently touched the Stardust Pearl, and golden light immediately "burst forth" from the gap between them, like "a key being inserted into a lock." The Light Vortex "gradually faded," revealing "a tenderness hidden deep within"—its spiral gap was "a mark torn by stardust at its birth while protecting its companions," sharing a similar story with the scars of the Angular Nebula.

The Star Orbit New Rune immediately relayed this discovery back to the support station. Within the Transparent Tree's Memory Light Stone, the image of the Light Vortex and the record of the Angular Nebula played side-by-side. Though their wounds differed in form, they perfectly overlapped in their essence of protection. "All the gaps conceal a similar tenderness." The Transparent Tree's branches swayed gently, carrying this resonant energy "across the River of Light to distant places," letting the travelers know that "their encounter was not accidental."

In Luo Luoyu's log, a new Root Language appeared next to the outline of the Light Vortex — Fragment Messenger's interpretation of the Light Vortex's inner thoughts through the Symbiosis Mark: "I thought my wounds were 'proof of being an outsider,' until I saw your fragments, I realized that 'pain can also be a bridge of connection.'" Next to this, she drew "two clasped hands," one with spiral patterns, the other with fragment marks, the gaps in their fingers "tightly interlocked."

The Boundless Wind swept through the azure Stardust Sea, carrying the warmth of their first encounter, blowing towards the Root Network Sea of Stars and the distant void. Hidden within the wind was the "wisdom of encounter," the "resonance of the gap," and the first report relayed by the Voyager Squad:

"At the edge of the Sea of Stars, we found 'another self'—he bore different wounds, yet, like us, he was waiting for 'someone who understands'."

The Symbiosis Mark of the Light Vortex and the Voyager Squad have been "slowly Entanglement" in the Stardust Sea. Although the gaps in the spiral and the fragments are "not completely aligned," new light moss "grows" at the point of contact, like a "symbiotic poem that has just begun." The supporting energy from the Root Network Sea of Stars "constantly surges" along the River of Light, "Infusing this new encounter with warm power."

The travelers' journey did not cease; carrying the Stardust Pearl of the Light Vortex, they continued their trek towards the "deeper void." For they knew that each new encounter with a new gap was a "new rhyme in a symbiotic poem," and the meaning of this journey was to allow "the wounds of loneliness" to find "the warmth of mutual understanding."

The wind keeps blowing, the road keeps going, and encounters keep happening. The story of Root Network Sea of Stars, in the footsteps of travelers, leads to a more expansive future.