The solar system, Starship Base.
In the vast workshop, a brand new warship was undergoing final assembly. Gong Yiding strolled past, and every staff member he encountered immediately greeted him.
Gong Yiding responded to each one, politely and with reserve.
A moment later, Chief Director Gong reached the other side of the workshop, climbed the makeshift iron ladder to a higher vantage point, and leaned on the railing, looking down at the workshop.
A large group of force field robots were busy delivering various parts to their designated locations, where specialized robots would then install them onto the warship.
He surveyed the scene for a while, then let out a long sigh and turned around. The cabin door behind him opened, revealing a small platform of modest size.
Stepping out, the cabin door closed behind Gong Yiding.
Standing on the platform, gazing up at the mysterious firmament, the sun, merely a point of light, was the brightest star in the vast sea of stars.
Beneath the expanse of the starry sky, Gong Yiding's chaotic thoughts finally calmed down a little.
He no longer needed to breathe; his mechanical body did not have this function, but during his last hardware upgrade, he had added the breathing function back.
For a machine, breathing was meaningless, but this useless function served to remind Gong Yiding at all times that even though he had lost his human body, he was still a person—ever since he had switched to a mechanical body, he no longer needed to eat, drink, or sleep; as long as there was electricity, he could operate indefinitely.
Thus, he began to take over the base's various tasks, from the experimental progress of each research group to the daily lives of every researcher, processing a massive amount of information every moment, to the point of becoming an intelligent core.
At first, it was all fresh, but as time went by, he only felt exhausted.
However, what made him uneasy was that not everyone could accept a mechanical body; many even doubted whether soul transfer truly existed.
All of this caused Gong Yiding immense pressure.
He knew he was no longer a human, but in the depths of his heart, he had always believed he was still a person, constantly striving for humanity's resurgence, but what had he ultimately gained?
The whispers behind his back, the stares in public and private, the constant exclusion, even made him feel a tendency for self-destruction—he retained his human thought patterns, and even though his CPU processing speed was comparable to a supercomputer, he couldn't change this.
Moreover, this was not just Gong Yiding's problem; all humans who had switched to mechanical bodies encountered the same difficulties. Even though the mechanical bodies were as similar as possible to human bodies, they couldn't overcome the exclusion in the minds of a few.
He suddenly felt that the human heart was far more profound and complex than any unyielding research.
Lost in his negative thoughts, Gong Yiding suddenly froze, startled to find a wormhole appearing in his line of sight.
He remembered that no warships were scheduled to return at this time. He immediately checked the flight plan, confirming that this was an unscheduled flight.
What was going on?
The next second, the Starship cut through the wormhole.
Before Gong Yiding could relax, the piercing alarm suddenly blared, and Ou Zhanpeng's voice echoed throughout the base: "Attention all personnel, evacuate the base immediately. All items related to the base are not to be taken. Repeat, evacuate the base immediately. No personnel are to take any items related to the base without authorization!"
The entire base was in chaos, and Gong Yiding felt utterly disoriented. He immediately contacted the Starship: "Xiao Ou, is that you?"
"It's me!" Ou Zhanpeng replied.
As Gong Yiding breathed a sigh of relief, he immediately became tense again: "What happened?"
"The Starship has been exposed. I have to take the Starship Base with me, or Earth will be in danger!" Ou Zhanpeng explained the current situation in the most concise and precise terms.
"How much time do we have?" Gong Yiding asked.
He knew Ou Zhanpeng would not act recklessly. At this moment, it was better to trust than to ask too many questions.
"The sooner the better," Ou Zhanpeng said. "Five minutes... ten minutes at most!"
He didn't know where the enemy was, only that shortly after each jump, the enemy would catch up.
"That's impossible!" Gong Yiding immediately rejected Ou Zhanpeng's idea. "There are so many people in the base; it would take at least half a month to evacuate everyone."
"There's no time," Ou Zhanpeng said.
The Starship was already approaching, its warship slowly docking into the base.
"Then there's no need to evacuate," Gong Yiding decisively canceled the alarm and switched to the broadcast channel. "Attention all personnel, hold your positions. We have encountered unprecedented danger. For the safety of Earth, we must leave the solar system immediately. Please hold your positions and ensure the normal operation of the base!"
The base, which had been in chaos moments before, returned to normal almost instantly.
Although the base housed tens of thousands of personnel, every person qualified to enter the base had undergone rigorous vetting by the military. Regardless of background or experience, even the slightest doubt would lead to exclusion from the Starship team.
It was no exaggeration to say that only the most dedicated researchers and the most loyal soldiers were present here.
Gong Yiding ran towards the nearest teleportation point as if flying. At the same time, he activated the remote communication equipment to contact Earth, briefly explaining the situation and requesting Earth to prepare for any unexpected events immediately.
Although time was short, he had understood Ou Zhanpeng's intention: the aliens' target was the Starship Base. As long as the base left, the aliens would have a very slim chance of targeting Earth.
However, no one dared to guarantee such a thing, so it was better to inform Earth.
He hoped that after the Starship Base left, the aliens would not vent their anger on humanity.
The Starship was fully embedded in the base, and Ou Zhanpeng was ready to depart, but he did not set off immediately. Instead, he waited patiently.
Ling Xiao, puzzled, urged, "Let's go, what are we waiting for?"
"We must let the aliens see the base leave with their own eyes," Ou Zhanpeng said. "We must attract the enemy's attention. Only then can we ensure Earth's safety!"
Before he finished speaking, a row of wormholes opened simultaneously, revealing the characteristic twin nostrils poking out of the openings.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately activated the weapon system, and the base unleashed a sudden volley, causing the enemy ship's shields to flash.
The Starship Base was indeed a super warship left by the prophet. As long as it maintained its firepower, destroying the enemy ships would not be a problem.
But the enemy was not limited to these few warships. If they destroyed the enemy ships in the solar system, it could potentially bring endless trouble to humanity!
Ou Zhanpeng forcefully suppressed the idea of destroying the enemy fleet, activated the jump drive, and opened a wormhole to leave the solar system.
A moment later, the Starship Base appeared in an unfamiliar star system, with a relatively small gas giant planet not far away.
The base moved directly towards it and activated its equipment to replenish fuel.
There was still a lot of fuel in reserve, but the subsequent journey was uncertain. It was safer to refuel as they went rather than wait until they ran out of reserves and then figure something out.
It was only then that Gong Yiding hurried to the bridge: "Xiao Ou, what exactly is going on..."
As he was speaking, he suddenly saw a palm-sized little person squatting in the corner of the bridge. The person wore very advanced and avant-garde clothing, was plump, and looked very cute and cartoonish.
The little creature seemed to notice Gong Yiding's gaze, turned around, and waved its hand in a friendly manner.
The rest of Gong Yiding's words got stuck in his throat, and his voice suddenly rose by two octaves: "Rolans?"
"Hello, you can call me Xiao Luo," the Rolan introduced himself frankly, his pronunciation surprisingly standard.
Gong Yiding paused for a moment and managed a strained smile: "Hello, you can call me Lao Gong."
Ling Xiao's cheeks twitched; he almost burst out laughing on the spot.
The expressions of the others were also contorted; they wanted to laugh but dared not, holding it back with great difficulty.
Ou Zhanpeng couldn't help himself: "Then you can't call him Xiao Luo, you have to call him wife!"
Gong Yiding's face darkened. He then realized the problem with his words: "Lao Gong, just call me Lao Gong!"
Xiao Luo was very curious: "Why can't Lao Gong be called? And what does 'wife' mean?"
Ou Zhanpeng suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and nodded towards Ling Xiao: "It's up to you."
Ling Xiao sighed resignedly, moved to the corner, sat down cross-legged, and began to explain what husband and wife meant.
He originally thought it would be a simple explanation, but this small Rolan was a curious baby. Before one question was fully explained, he would digress and ask a host of other questions.
Ling Xiao grumbled resentfully: Children, the most annoying things!
Gong Yiding then approached Ou Zhanpeng and quietly asked about the previous events.
Ou Zhanpeng briefly recounted the events, and Gong Yiding couldn't help but cast his gaze towards Xiao Luo.
There was more than just Xiao Luo in that escape pod; there were over a dozen other Rolans, housed in other cabins.
Ou Zhanpeng hadn't intended to pay attention to this group of Rolans, but this Xiao Luo had strongly requested to meet Ou Zhanpeng, which was why Xiao Luo was now on the bridge.
After hearing the cause and effect, Gong Yiding finally understood what had happened and couldn't help but show a worried expression: "What do we do now? We can't just keep running like this, can we?"
As he said this, he didn't try to avoid the Rolans, but he switched from Mandarin to the Huaxiong dialect.
He was not from Huaxiong, but his mechanical body gave him infinite possibilities. Let alone his own dialect, even foreign dialects were no problem for him.
Ou Zhanpeng remained silent for a good while before saying, "We'll take it one step at a time. First, we lure the enemy away, then find an opportunity to shake them off... No, we can't shake them off. They've been to the solar system, so we must annihilate them completely. Not a single one must be left behind."
Gong Yiding nodded: "Where should we engage?"
"Further away," Ou Zhanpeng's mind raced. "I think Cygnus X is a good choice. Even if there's a follow-up fleet, after discovering that the vanguard fleet has been destroyed there, they should not continue to pursue, much less chase us back to the solar system."
Gong Yiding looked at Ou Zhanpeng: "Do you have confidence?"
Ou Zhanpeng shook his head sadly: "I have no confidence at all, but staying in the solar system is of no benefit. Leaving is the only option... To be honest with you, Lao Gong, I'm truly afraid I'll never see Earth again when we return."
Gong Yiding sighed: "Actually, I expected this day would come, I just didn't expect it to arrive so soon."
Ou Zhanpeng looked up at Gong Yiding with hopeful eyes: "Then do you have any plans?"
Gong Yiding shook his head: "For a short-term plan, we can only eliminate this enemy force. If we can find the enemy's home base and give them a good blow, that would be even better. As for a long-term solution... First, I agree with your idea. The universe is too dangerous, and it's best not to be associated with Earth anymore. Second, find a place the enemy can't find and restart from scratch. When we've developed enough, then we'll make a comeback."
A comeback?
Ou Zhanpeng sighed: "Easier said than done!"
"As long as we strive, there is always hope," Gong Yiding said. "The base lacks nothing, and there are tens of thousands of people. One day, we will be able to digest all the technology left by the prophet."
In reality, his heart was equally pessimistic.
But the atmosphere in the bridge was already very bleak. If he were to say there was no hope now, wouldn't that be pouring salt on the wound?
Therefore, even if the hope was slim, he could not tell the truth.
Ou Zhanpeng curled his lips, but he couldn't manage a smile: "Technology requires not only time but also inspiration. Breakthroughs can't be achieved overnight!"
Just as Gong Yiding was about to speak, the alarm suddenly sounded, and a row of wormholes opened in the distant sky.
Ou Zhanpeng glanced at the time and let out a soft breath: "Earth should be fine. Let's go!"
The base immediately halted its absorption operations and opened a wormhole to continue its transfer.
Gong Yiding, however, was not as optimistic.
Both sides could maneuver through wormholes, making it a cat-and-mouse game. Only by attacking the enemy's vital points and striking at their core could this endless escape and pursuit be stopped.
He immediately reminded: "Don't jump too many times, or the enemy might lose patience. If they decide to turn back, it would be bad."
"I understand!" Ou Zhanpeng piloted the warship through the wormhole, and upon reappearing, they had already reached Cygnus X.
He had no intention of continuing to flee. The base had just stabilized when he immediately sounded the battle alarm.
Xiao Luo in the corner couldn't help but be startled and wanted to speak, but Ou Zhanpeng politely escorted him out of the bridge.
He didn't mind the Rolans knowing what was happening on the bridge, as, apart from himself, no one else could operate the Starship.
However, he did not intend to let the Rolans witness their combat process.
Before leaving, Xiao Luo suddenly stopped and turned back, seemingly wanting to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he swallowed it back.
Shortly thereafter, a wormhole opened, and a group of pig-nosed warships appeared.
The two sides faced each other again, but the Starship no longer fled. Instead, it immediately concentrated its fire on the foremost enemy ship, causing the opponent's shields to flash wildly.
Before the other pig-nosed warships could attack, Ou Zhanpeng had already activated a space-time bubble, trapping the enemy ship within his domain.
There was very little special energy left, but opening a small-scale space-time bubble to deal with a few enemy ships was still not a problem.
The opponent had never expected the Starship, which had been fleeing continuously, to dare to counterattack. For a moment, they seemed bewildered. Faced with the Starship's full-force attack, they merely defended and did not attack, relying entirely on their shields to block.
A flash of inspiration struck Ou Zhanpeng, and he suddenly exclaimed: "They dare not fire, they dare not fire!"
The enemy's target was the Starship Base. Therefore, they had to capture the base rather than destroy it.
Thus, the base was invincible from the very beginning!
Since that was the case, what was there to hesitate about?
Ou Zhanpeng simply canceled the space-time bubble and launched a desperate counterattack with the most violent firepower.