Wei Qingqing was the most important woman in Li Yao's life other than Ding Ling Dong. She was the one who had truly established his belief. Since she was leaving for good, Li Yao would naturally try his best to return to Hundred Flowers City and see her for the last time.
However, when he did return to Hundred Flowers City and met Wei Qingqing, who was doing the final debugging in the Tinder Base, he felt that his mouth was dry, and he did not know what to say.
"Sister Qingqing, do you … really have to go?"
Li Yao thought for a long time and stammered a meaningless question.
Wei Qingqing was still controlling a delicate artificial body in the shape of a bird, but it was displaying a vivid 3D image of the woman who looked like an orchid in a deep valley. She smiled and said, "Of course. This is something that we have dedicated our entire life to and dreamed about for years. How can we give up halfway?"
"But …"
Li Yao said, not knowing what to say. "Professor Mo Xuan was only using the 'Tinder Plan' as a disguise."
"You are wrong about that. I vaguely have a feeling that Professor Mo Xuan was very conflicted in his heart. On the surface, he was using the 'Tinder Plan' as a disguise, but he might have really wanted to see the success of the plan," Wei Qingqing said.
"Perhaps, Professor Mo Xuan was caught in the dilemma of his dual personality at that time, too. On one hand, his personality that was corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils firmly believed that 'full virtualization of human beings' was the right path. On the other hand, his real personality hoped that human beings could escape from the control of the extraterrestrial devils in a certain way and establish a new world billions of years later.
"Now that I think about it, if it were all a disguise, there would have been no need for him to devote so many resources and efforts to push the 'Tinder Plan' to such an extent.
"All in all, I'm still willing to believe that even when the extraterrestrial devils corrupted him most deeply, there was still something beautiful deep inside Professor Mo Xuan's heart. It was the intangible beauty that allowed him to break free from the extraterrestrial devils' control at the last moment, restore his original mind, and shatter the extraterrestrial devils' scheme.
"Now, I'm going to bring him and the 'beauty' of every human being to the universe a long, long time in the future for an amazing journey. Hehe. I can't wait to see it!"
"Then …"
Li Yao felt like crying. He mumbled, "Sister Qingqing, I wish you a smooth journey and a smooth journey to billions of years later. I hope that you will encounter new lives and even create a new civilization."
"Haha, I hope so!"
Wei Qingqing smiled, full of hope. "I also want to travel to the universe billions of years later immediately and encounter all kinds of bizarre lives and civilizations. Some are advanced, some are underdeveloped, some are similar to us, and some are entirely different from us. It is difficult for us to understand and communicate with them.
"However, no matter how difficult it is for us to understand and communicate with them, I will try my best to tell them the stories of human beings, tell them that such a civilization once existed, and tell them everything about the nobility, beauty, purity, and brightness of human beings. Of course, I will not avoid the darkness, evilness, and ugliness. I will tell them the twisted legends and the inspiring heroes. For example, well, the story of 'Vulture Li Yao'.
"Chances are that the unknown life billions of years later will even erect a statue for you after hearing your story!"
"Well …"
Li Yao blinked hard, unable to figure out what it would be like even though he racked his brains.
"However, did you know that I actually have a little bit of extravagant hope, a somewhat selfish longing?"
Wei Qingqing looked at Li Yao with her eyes glittering and said, "I hope that I will not be faced with a dark, cold, and dead universe when I wake up, but a lively, bright world where the civilization of mankind did not perish but joined the 'alliance of pyromaniacs' that you mentioned, surviving stubbornly on the two levels of time and space.
"Of course, human beings at that time will definitely be different from today. They might even be completely melted into the 'alliance of pyromaniacs' and take all kinds of bizarre forms.
"Maybe human beings at that time will grow dozens of tentacles, maybe they will turn into meatballs that can expand and contract freely, maybe they will completely abandon their physical bodies and rely on metal puppets to move around. Maybe they will even be invisible waves that can travel tens of thousands of lightyears through the four-dimensional space in the blink of an eye.
"But no matter what they look like, and no matter what the social form and the relationship between individuals are, they will remember that some of their ancestors fought for certain beautiful and precious things billions of years ago, and they are willing to fight for those things, too. It will be great if I can see such a universe!"
"We will certainly work hard to make such a universe a reality," Li Yao said solemnly.
"Then, keep it up, little brother."
Wei Qingqing suddenly extended her hand and touched Li Yao's head.
She did not have a real body. The so-called 'touch' was just a shiver of waves.
However, Li Yao could clearly sense her temperature and her laughter.
Before Li Yao realized what was going on, Wei Qingqing's light and shadow had already disappeared. The translucent bird slowly landed on the ground, too, losing all its brilliance.
Wei Qingqing's soul left the artificial body and entered 'Tinder One', which was about to be launched.
When 'Tinder One' soared into the sky, and the colorful exhaust flames were bouncing unpredictably deep inside Li Yao's eyes, he was still mired in frustration, unable to free himself.
Rubbing the top of his head that still carried Wei Qingqing's warmth, Li Yao suddenly recalled what happened to Helian Lie's daughter.
Nobody was an island that could be self-sufficient. Everybody's fate was like a crisscrossing line that outlined the vast panorama of the entire civilization.
It was the case for individuals. Was it the case for civilizations, too?
The universe was a vast place, but even the strongest civilizations could not survive on their own. They were always influenced by other civilizations and influenced even more civilizations. In such a way, they left their mark in the infinite time and space.
Even if the civilization of mankind was truly destroyed one day, the mark they left would still influence thousands of civilizations in the future, creating and changing the fate of countless species.
Billions of years later, would Wei Qingqing see a dark and cold universe or a lively one? Chances were that it would really depend on their efforts today.
So, keep it up!
Looking at 'Tinder One', which had turned into a star, Li Yao waved his fist hard.
"I didn't know that somebody in the real world would cheer themselves up by waving their fists for no good reason. You are quite narcissistic."
Long Yangjun's voice came from behind him.
"Huh. Why are you here, too?"
Li Yao was rather shocked.
"Come on. I've been here the whole time, alright? Wei Qingqing and I have been in the investigation team of extraterrestrial devils for such a long time after all. We are friends. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to see her off?"
Holding her arms, Long Yangjun leaned against the wall and rolled her eyes at Li Yao. "You're the one who has devoted all your attention to the big sister. I'm afraid that you can't even see Ding Ling Dong standing here, much less an insignificant person like me."
"Don't talk nonsense. What kind of nonsense is that?"
Li Yao frowned. Eyeing Long Yangjun up and down for a while, he asked suspiciously, "Why do you seem to have something to say, and you are very dissatisfied with me?"
"Of course I have something to say, and I'm very dissatisfied!"
Long Yangjun said gloomily. "You haven't forgotten our deal, have you?"
Li Yao: "Well …"
"You have indeed forgotten it!"
"How is it possible?" Li Yao: "However, if you can remind me of something …"
"It's the deal we reached in the Nuwa warship. I helped you get the Ancient Sages Sector, and you would mobilize all the forces of the Xing Yao Federation to help me repair the Nuwa warship and find out the secrets deep inside the Nuwa warship! Hey, hey, hey. You haven't really forgotten everything and think that I'm here to do voluntary labor in the Xing Yao Federation, have you? "
Li Yao blinked his eyes quickly before he coughed loudly.
Speaking of which, the Nuwa warship in the Ancient Sages Sector was indeed the key to the great strategy of the Xing Yao Federation.
Although the Federation had defeated the Black Wind Fleet, it was still at a disadvantage when faced with the two behemoths, the Imperium and the Holy League. The only thing that could make up for the gap in comprehensive power was the primeval technology under their control.
The primeval technology had two sources. One of them was the Kunlun relic, and the other was the Nuwa warship and the Pangu laboratory deep inside the Ancient Sages Sector. The two sources were actually overlapping and could be analyzed and verified.
It was not hard to predict that, once the Nuwa warship and the Pangu laboratory that were still intact below the ice were completely under control, together with the Kunlun relic, the capability of the Federation would certainly soar and undergo qualitative changes.
It would be their trump card for the competition of the universe.
However, because of the problems left by the Black Wind Fleet in the past half year, and because of the long journey and the dangerous sailing routes, the federation had never had enough time and resources to pay attention to the Ancient Sages Sector deep inside the dark nebula. That was why it had been delayed until today.
After the 'battlefield uprising' of the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet, the war that had lasted almost a year had finally come to an end. The Federation was finally able to summon the most elite forces and the most abundant resources to clear the sailing routes in the dark nebula and bring the Ancient Sages Sector into the arms of the Federation!
It would also be the last mission that Li Yao left at the edge of the cosmos before he set off to look for Earth at the center of the cosmos.
"Rest assured. How could I have forgotten?"
Li Yao said. "The enormous fleet on the Federation's side is already gathering. The specialists of the primeval civilizations who have spent decades on the Kunlun relic have also gathered into an enormous team of specialists. Meng Chixin, Han Baling, Yan Liren, and the other fellow Cultivators have dropped their work and are planning their grand return to the Ancient Sages Sector. It is estimated that they will set off in one month at the earliest.
"This time, we have the precise sailing routes deep inside the dark nebula, the coordinates of the Ancient Sages Sector, and the advanced navigation technology and starship support from the Black Wind Fleet and Firefly. If everything goes well, we will definitely be able to return to the Ancient Sages Sector in a year and a half."
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