It was the same feeling as last time.
His consciousness felt like it had fallen into a boundless abyss. In a world where he couldn't feel gravity, it felt like he was falling into an endless abyss.
Perhaps because of the large amount of information, the "loading" time was a bit long.
Just when Lu Zhou's patience was about to run out, a rice-sized light spot finally appeared in the dark abyss.
He quietly waited for it to approach him, waiting for the light spot to gradually enlarge.
Then, a powerful gravitational force came from the source of the light and pulled him in.
The shining light came in, and Lu Zhou subconsciously closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the boundless darkness had faded from his field of vision, and in its place was a vast and unfamiliar space.
His five senses returned, and his feet touched the ground. However, the feeling of gravity was quite weak.
Lu Zhou looked around. Based on his intuition, he guessed that this was probably the cabin of a spacecraft. Outside the porthole on the wall, there was a deep and dark starry sky.
Apart from him standing there, there were 25 other "people" who were dressed the same as him. Even their heights were uniform.
Judging from their temperament, they should be soldiers.
The streamlined exoskeleton armor exuded a murderous aura, and there was an angular stick-like object hanging in front of their chest. It should be something similar to a rifle.
For some reason, Lu Zhou suddenly remembered the game he designed in the virtual reality world to test the performance of the system.
He couldn't help but have a strange expression on his face.
Could it be that he had made a mistake?
"Xiao Ai …"
He called out softly, but there was no response.
Lu Zhou frowned, and he gradually had a bad feeling in his heart.
Did the virtual reality device not activate successfully?
Or did the dream not synchronize?
Or … it was synchronized, but because the neural demodulator he made was too simple, the stimulation intensity was weaker than the "system" that surpassed the technological level of human civilization, his simple device couldn't interfere with the dream at all.
In other words, there was no way to cheat here.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhou's frown deepened.
For this plan, he had prepared for a period of time, but he didn't expect it to be so bad at the beginning.
"… I can only take it one step at a time."
With that in mind, Lu Zhou began to carefully observe the surroundings, especially the soldiers who were armed to the teeth.
Because of the mask, Lu Zhou couldn't see their faces clearly. He wasn't even sure if they were 'people' or what language they were using.
However, at this moment, the voice that sounded in the communication channel dispelled his concerns.
The language that appeared in this "memory" was translated by the System into Mandarin that he could understand.
"We're here."
Almost at the same time, the spaceship that was caught by the gravitational field trembled slightly.
After a century of darkness, a glimmer of light finally appeared outside the porthole.
Then, Lu Zhou saw the most spectacular and shocking scene he had ever seen in his life.
That was not Reach Star.
But —
"Welcome to the center of the Empire, this is the 'capital' … probably the most prosperous place in this constellation. After all, until now, there has been no evidence that aliens have visited us. "
This sentence was said in a joking tone, and the atmosphere in the cabin became a little more relaxed.
Unfortunately, Lu Zhou didn't get the joke.
Although this joke wasn't funny, the real reason was that at this moment, his attention was completely taken away by the world outside the porthole.
It was a huge metal ring, and he couldn't see the end of it. He could only see the star in the center. Countless spacecraft shuttled around it, witnessing its prosperity.
The civilization that created this ring had emptied all the planets in this solar system and used these materials to create this ring-shaped world along the habitable zone, where they lived and multiplied.
It was hard to imagine just what kind of power they possessed to accomplish all of this.
At least, in terms of technology, they had far exceeded the scope of human civilization.
"… Unbelievable."
As if someone heard his soft murmur, or maybe because he was the only one whose eyes were completely glued to the porthole, there was a slightly mocking chuckle in the communication channel.
Unlike the previous voice, this voice seemed to come from a private communication channel.
"Everyone who arrives at the 'capital' for the first time will have similar exclamations. I've seen too many country bumpkins from the border planets, and I've even hit my chin on the window. Where are you from? An industrial planet? Or an agricultural planet? Don't tell me it's a mining station. "
Lu Zhou opened his mouth but didn't speak.
Because he didn't know how to answer this question, and he didn't expect that this memory fragment would be so "fireworks" and a sense of participation. These NPCs were like living people, and he didn't enter this world as a bystander, but as a soldier participating in the "plot" …
The soldier standing next to him seemed to have lost interest in this "country bumpkin". He quickly looked away as if he had given up and ignored him.
At this moment, the hatch in front of them suddenly opened. A tall and burly soldier, also wearing an kinetic skeleton, stood in front of them.
At the same time, the voice that previously mentioned their "arrival" sounded in the communication channel again.
"Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I am your commander, Ince, from the capital's Section C-12-27 defense station."
"Just a month ago, the security department received news that Professor Lane of Section C-12-01 Research Institute was persecuted by an unidentified terrorist organization. His life is currently in danger. The reason is said to be because of a physics experiment related to the secrets of the empire."
"Putting aside those insignificant matters, as soldiers, it is our duty and obligation to defend the order of the empire. If someone tries to play with fire under our nose, then we will extinguish it! Our mission is to escort Professor Lane from his hiding place to the empire's council hall and eliminate possible attackers. "
"The disclosed information has been uploaded to your mission briefing. From now on, you are under my command."
"Let's go!"
The group of people stepped out of the cabin in an orderly manner with a sonorous and forceful response.
While following the footsteps of the officer named Ince, Lu Zhou opened the mission briefing through the AR interface of his helmet.
There was very little information that could be disclosed.
In short, a physicist named Ryan discovered an amazing secret in a physics experiment, and this secret may affect the future of the empire for the next hundred years, or even longer than that.
This secret was codenamed "Oracle". It was impossible to guess what it was just by looking at the name.
As for Professor Lane, who had enough power to affect the future of the empire, he was naturally summoned by the parliament. They hoped that he could go to the empire's council hall to elaborate on his findings and debate for his own views.
Even though it was the empire, the system here was quite open-minded.
Unfortunately, this kind of open-mindedness was only reflected on the surface. There were still turbulent undercurrents flowing behind the scenes. For some reason, it seemed that some people didn't want Professor Lane to go there, or rather, they didn't want him to convey the "Oracle" to the political center of the empire.
Professor Lane?
Who is he?
What is the "Oracle"?
Also, what is the physics experiment he is doing?
Lu Zhou silently remembered this name and the scattered clues. He then closed the mission briefing.
His intuition told him.
The physicist named Lane should be the key to this memory.
If he wanted to collect information from this memory, he had to contact Professor Lane and figure out what the "Oracle" was.
Fortunately, he was now playing the role of a bodyguard to send this VIP off.
If everything went according to plan, he should be able to meet this professor. Maybe he could even chat with him for a while. Maybe they could even discuss academic problems.
Of course, Lu Zhou didn't have high hopes for the latter. The probability of the system letting him take advantage of this loophole was too low.
If Professor Lane's memory did not contain those obscure physics theories, he might not be able to learn the secret to surpassing the speed of light, or the physics knowledge that only advanced civilizations had mastered.
The spaceship docked at the spaceport.
The soldiers walked through a narrow corridor and boarded an elevator that looked like a train.
The people around them looked at them in awe and kept a certain distance from them.
Lu Zhou looked around nervously and finally saw what the residents here, including himself, looked like.
Generally speaking, the appearance of these residents was quite similar to humans. They all had two arms, two legs, and even five fingers. The only difference was their blue skin and slightly narrow facial features.
Lu Zhou was curious about this magical similarity. However, just as he was about to take a closer look, the elevator stopped.
"Here we are."
The concise order told him to catch up with the team. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lu Zhou didn't stay in the elevator. He left with the team and came to an empty and magnificent building.
This should be the world on the surface, or the world on the "ring".
The atmosphere here was quite lively. People came and went in the hall, either passing through the security entrance to board the "elevator" to the space station, or standing next to a long and narrow assembly line waiting for their luggage.
Through the glass window on the side of the corridor, Lu Zhou saw the world outside the building.
The complex buildings stretched to the end of the horizon like a maze. The endless stream of vehicles sped through the air at a speed that made people worry about crashing into them.
In addition, what really interested Lu Zhou were the buildings here.
Perhaps it was to cater to the "efficiency first" aesthetic of this civilization. Except for a few decorations on the surface, most of the buildings here were square.
Compared to the houses on Earth that were built with bricks, they were more like "standardized modules" produced by the assembly line of a factory. They were stacked in a specific pattern, like pieces of building blocks that were pieced together, layer by layer, to the height they were at now.
This sounded a bit strange, but if you thought about it carefully, it didn't seem to be a big deal.
After all, the entire world was a huge man-made object. All the buildings located in this ring world could be abstractly seen as expansion capsules on the space station.
If they were still built in the primitive way, it would be incredible.
After passing through the security channel, Lu Zhou felt more directly how large the population of the Empire was.
If it weren't for the people next to him, it would take a lot of time to walk out of this transportation building.
Through the panoramic screen hanging in the hall, Lu Zhou also learned an unexpected piece of news. This kind of elevator similar to the Tower of Babel, in each section of the entire ring world, there were one to two. The "ring" and the space station were commuted through the elevator, and the commuting between sections relied on the vacuum tube train located in the center of the ring.
Although it was just some insignificant knowledge, it also gave Lu Zhou a deeper understanding of the development of this civilization.
Here, all the problems of food, clothing, housing, and transportation seemed to be perfectly solved.
People didn't need to work hard; as long as they boarded this ring, they could live a good life.
This capital …
It was like a utopia …
Although Lu Zhou was very interested in the form of this civilization, unfortunately, he had a mission to complete. Commander Ince didn't give them time to sightsee at all.
After leaving the transportation building, they got on the flying car parked at the door and merged into the endless flow of traffic. After flying for about half an hour, they soon arrived at their destination.
Seven pitch-black flying cars with the Empire's military insignia stopped in front of a square building.
Lu Zhou followed the soldier next to him and got off the car. He noticed a thin man in a white coat, who looked a little flustered, walked out of the open metal door with a small leather bag.
"I'm being watched, I feel like someone is following me!"
After seeing Commander Ince, the scholar immediately trotted in front of him and expressed the panic in his heart with a terrified expression.
The burly warrior quietly listened to his words, and then used a gentle voice to appease him.
"Don't worry, Professor Lane, you are now under the protection of the Empire army. We will escort you safely to the Empire council hall."
Perhaps because of the high status of the army in the Empire, this comforting sentence seemed to work. Professor Lane's expression softened a little, and he quickly calmed himself down.
"Let's go, it's getting late."
"Okay." Commander Ince nodded and gestured with his eyes. He pointed at the flying car in the middle of the queue and said, "Please get in the car."
The VIP car was successfully retrieved, and the group of people continued their journey.
Lu Zhou really wanted to sit in the same car as Professor Lane, but unfortunately, his car was at the back of the queue.
Even though he was a little anxious, he had no other choice but to wait patiently.
If he did anything unnatural at this time, he would be suspected of having ulterior motives, and it would be even more difficult to get in touch with Professor Lane.
The seven flying cars slowly rose into the air and returned to the high-speed track.
The journey was peaceful, and the bored Lu Zhou could only look at the scenery outside the window to kill time.
However, suddenly, something strange happened. There was a violent explosion behind them, and a crimson flame was reflected in the rearview mirror.
Lu Zhou's heart suddenly tightened, and he subconsciously clenched the rifle hanging in front of his chest. Almost at the same time, a voice came from the communication channel.
"Vehicle No. 7 was attacked, 95% damage, crew killed."
"Team A, continue to move forward. Team B, descend and fight on the ground."
"Roger that."
It was as if he was talking about something ordinary. The voice that came from the communication channel was so calm that it made people's scalps go numb.
Lu Zhou didn't know if it was the unique culture of this civilization, or if they had unlocked the transcendental philosophy of life and death, they didn't show any anger toward the death of their comrade.
However, this calmness in the face of danger gave them strong combat effectiveness.
The moment they were attacked, all the combat units reacted like gears on a spring, quickly reacting.
Blue bullets flew in the sky, weaving a net of firepower in the air, biting toward the fragile chassis of the vehicle behind them.
Due to the deterrence of firepower, the pursuing vehicle was forced to descend together with the vehicle Lu Zhou was in and landed on the empty metal ground.
"Prepare to fight!"
Under the leadership of the officer, the well-trained soldiers quickly rushed out of the car. They used the vehicle next to them as cover, set up the rifles in their hands, and began to fire back at the attackers.
Even though Lu Zhou didn't really want to fight, in order to not be seen through, he bit the bullet.
Mimicking the actions of the others, he opened the safety and desperately tried to recall the half-baked skills that Doctor Yan had taught him at the training base. Using the safest shooting posture, he poked the muzzle out of the cover and pulled the trigger to provide suppressive fire for his teammates around him.
As for whether or not he could hit anyone, it didn't matter at all.
If it was a fixed target, it would be fine. However, in such a complex battlefield environment, he had no combat experience, so his marksmanship wasn't accurate at all.
The blue bullets almost filled the entire area of the crossfire, leaving potholes on the ground and the surrounding walls. However, surprisingly, the vehicles that were used as cover were still in good shape.
It was as if a special force field covered the surface of the vehicle shell, defusing the terrifying energy of the rays.
The muzzle made a sizzling sound of overheating.
Lu Zhou, who quickly emptied a clip, hurriedly copied the movements of other soldiers to reload.
However, at this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the empty battery that was dragging a trail of hot white smoke as it was ejected from the barrel of the gun.
His pupils contracted slightly, and a sense of déjà vu suddenly crawled into Lu Zhou's heart.
This battery …
Did I see it somewhere before?
Lamp pen
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
