Ou Zhanpeng was completely stunned, scarcely believing his eyes.
Ling Xiao gaped like an idiot, his mind reeling as if experiencing a magnitude-ten earthquake: "How can there be a black ship in this place?"
"I'd like to know the answer too," Ou Zhanpeng clicked the edge of the star chart, intending to shift the focus of the holographic projection to get a clearer view of the black ship. However, the projection merely flickered and did not switch content as he expected.
What was going on?
Disbelieving, Ou Zhanpeng tried several more times, but the result remained unchanged. From beginning to end, only half a warship was visible in the projection.
"It won't work," Ou Zhanpeng frowned, "It must be beyond the star chart's detection range."
"You don't say?" Ling Xiao finally closed his mouth. "This place isn't far from us, how could it be out of range?"
Ou Zhanpeng drew a circle on the star chart: "This is the effective range of the star chart." He then lightly tapped the edge of the star chart: "This is not."
Ling Xiao immediately deflated. Such a short distance, yet he could see nothing. He felt as if he had a nest of mice in his chest, scratching his heart out, wishing he could dive into the star chart and see what was happening outside.
Ou Zhanpeng tapped lightly, projecting the asteroid back into the center of the cabin. At this moment, the warships orbiting the asteroid were so glaring: "Do you think that black ship might be orbiting the asteroid too, just like these warships?"
Ling Xiao paused: "What do you mean? There's more to what you're saying, isn't there?"
"I don't want to suspect anyone, but look, there aren't just broken ships here, but also a black ship. You think the previous two were sent to Earth by the mysterious entity?"
Ling Xiao desperately wanted to say impossible, but the words wouldn't come out: "What's the reason? What's he trying to achieve by doing this? Is he just looking for a thrill? Is this guy crazy?"
"I don't know if the mysterious entity is crazy, but this news must be transmitted back to Earth immediately!" Ou Zhanpeng opened the communication system. "Bridge, come in if you can hear me!"
"This is the Yunhe, please proceed!" Li Keke's voice.
"Listen to me now. Every word I say from now on is very serious, with no hint of a joke!" Ou Zhanpeng briefed everyone first.
Li Keke's heart sank: "Bridge received, please proceed!"
"Ling Xiao and I are trapped, and we can't find a way out, but we've discovered a black ship on the other side of this asteroid!" Ou Zhanpeng's voice was low. "The situation is very complicated now, and it's not something that can be explained in a few words. I order you to transmit the news back to Earth immediately. From now on, you no longer need to worry about our safety. If you detect any abnormal situation, evacuate and return immediately!"
At these words, the six people on the ship froze.
Xu Qing snatched the microphone: "What about you two?"
"We can't get out," Ou Zhanpeng uttered with difficulty. "We can't let everyone be lost here."
"I can't leave you," Xu Qing's heart trembled, but she remained calm. "I can't leave you... what about you?"
The first sentence was to Ou and Ling, and the second was to the others on the ship.
"Of course not!"
"The captain is too unfeeling, what does he take us for!"
"Exactly, what is this!"
Everyone chimed in, expressing their opinions.
The military had never abandoned its own. It was easy to abandon comrades, but what about afterward? It would not only leave a lifelong stain but also condemn them to live with indelible guilt.
"Stop talking, this is an order," Ou Zhanpeng said decisively, cutting off communication without hesitation.
He was afraid that if he spoke further, his resolve would waver.
Xu Qing glanced at the microphone, then at the reset signal, pursed her lips, and raised her head: "I don't know what they've encountered, but I know they're in danger... You execute the order and return, I'll go down to find them."
Her voice was so calm, it was as if she wasn't talking about herself.
Although their relationship hadn't been filled with grand gestures over the years, they had long since become the most important people in each other's lives. How could she abandon Ou Zhanpeng and flee alone?
The crowd was stunned again. Looking at Xu Qing's unperturbed expression, they suddenly gained a different perspective on life.
Those who talked about living and dying together every day might not actually die together when the moment of life and death arrived. And those who seemed to get along plainly might not have shallow roots, but rather a deep foundation for future growth.
Just like Xu Qing at this moment.
That composure in the face of danger and death was more shocking than heart-wrenching cries.
"I'm going too!" Li Keke stood up abruptly, her eyes firmer than ever.
Zeng Qiao also stood up: "We go together, or we stay together!"
"Yes, we go together, or we stay together!"
Xu Qing still wanted to persuade everyone, but Zeng Qiao's words convinced her: "Whether we go or not isn't up to us; it depends on whether the mysterious entity lets us go!"
Everyone fell silent. Xu Qing also changed her mind: "Alright, in that case, we have a few things to do now... Keke."
"Yes!"
"Immediately send a message, package all the information we have and send it back to Earth. Repeat it every half hour until Earth confirms receipt."
"Understood!"
"Secondly, prepare for rescue. Zeng Qiao, get ready to bomb the asteroid. If necessary, I need you to blast it open in the shortest possible time!"
"No problem."
"Finally, we must figure out what that black ship is all about!" Xu Qing said, her face turning serious.
A moment later, the Yunhe quietly started up, slowly turning towards the side of the asteroid for a closer look at its rear.
In the control room, Ling Xiao thought of a possibility and scratched his chin: "Hey, do you think that black ship is a practice target that the crazy guy arranged for you?"
"Practice?" Ou Zhanpeng looked bewildered. Where did that idea come from?
"Yeah!" Ling Xiao said matter-of-factly. "Look, you've finished learning, right? After elementary school, students still have final exams. If you don't show your learning results, how will anyone know if you've learned it or not? Blast that black ship with a shot, and the crazy guy will see that you've learned well, and maybe he'll open the door for us!"
He didn't believe these words himself, but at this point, it wasn't about treating a dead horse as if it were alive, but rather treating a horse's bones as if they were alive. As long as there was a sliver of possibility, they had to try!
"But he can't even fire that cannon?" Ou Zhanpeng said.
"Hey, that's simple. If a distant target won't work, try a closer one. What if it works!"
Ou Zhanpeng felt this possibility was very, very, very low, but he still nodded in agreement: "Let's try!"
The star chart was positioned, the 'vase' activated. While not exactly proficient, it was not chaotic. In terms of operation alone, even if not excellent, it was at least good!
But when it came to locking on, it couldn't proceed. The black ship's position was outside the star chart, and the target couldn't be locked at all!
Moreover, this system required locking on first; there was no way to directly aim and fire into empty space. What kind of system was this?
It was understandable, after all, with the vastness of the universe, having a clear target made firing easier. Otherwise, a 0.01 degree deviation in angle would result in a miss.
Ou Zhanpeng was furious. He tried to find something suitable nearby for an indirect aiming shot, but naturally, he found nothing.
At this point, even the usually optimistic Ling Xiao was on the verge of despair: "If they don't leave us a front door, at least leave us a back door!"
Ou Zhanpeng didn't know what to say. He repeatedly moved the controllable projections, hoping for a lucky fluke to accidentally open the door.
Ling Xiao looked utterly dejected: "If you ask me, that crazy guy did it on purpose, just to see if you would be cautious or impulsive when faced with a door. As a result, the two of us were locked in! So, careful planning before action is the most important thing!"
Ou Zhanpeng's movements paused: "This time, it's my fault."
"Forget it!" Ling Xiao waved his hand weakly. "What are we to each other? It's just that I think your mentality is wrong. Why did you lose your usual caution when encountering the mysterious entity?"
Ou Zhanpeng really wanted to retort: I have communed with that mysterious entity in my dreams for a long time!
But this was still top secret, absolutely not to be revealed. He could only keep his words bottled up.
Beep—A communication alert sounded. Ou Zhanpeng opened the communication: "This is Ou Zhanpeng!"
"Captain, you absolutely won't believe what we've discovered!" Li Keke's voice was strange, with a suppressed panic, like a little girl being chased by thugs, hiding under a bed and secretly calling the police.
Ou Zhanpeng asked curiously: "What did you see?"
"This!" Li Keke transmitted a data packet. Ou Zhanpeng clicked it open, and a deep starry sky appeared on the screen.
Ling Xiao curiously poked his head over: "There's nothing special about this."
"Why are you so impatient!" Li Keke's tone was unfriendly, but the sense of suppression was even stronger.
In the image, a cursor circled a point in the starry sky, then zoomed in, circled again, and zoomed in again. After repeating this several times, Ou and Ling finally saw the complete black ship.
Not just one, but a total of four!
Besides the black ships, there were six other strange gray-white warships. The two sides were in a standoff, faint light and shadow interweaving in the void. In front of one black ship, there was a half-open wormhole.
The two were both shocked and delighted. Ling Xiao excitedly exclaimed: "Is this a divine fleet intercepting aliens?"
Ou Zhanpeng felt the urge to roll his eyes again.
Well, just now he was crazy, and now he's a god. Your face changes too quickly, doesn't it?
Before he could speak, Ling Xiao complained again, dissatisfied: "Hey, why don't you send the video? What's the point of just sending a photo?"
"This is live broadcast, synchronized."
What?
Ling Xiao's mind was full of question marks. It wasn't April Fool's Day today, was it? Besides, no matter how unreliable Li Keke was, she wouldn't joke at a time like this.
Ou Zhanpeng continued to zoom in on the image and immediately confirmed this statement.
In the image, the stern trails of both sides' warships were spewing out, and there were muzzle flashes and explosions from hits, all clearly visible.
Zooming in further, he even saw the explosion's light reflecting a human silhouette, presumably an unfortunate soul caught in the blast.
But then again, if this scene were just a photo, it would be one thing, but how could it be live broadcast?
Ling Xiao suddenly pointed to a gray-white warship: "Look here, this emblem!"
That warship had a very abstract galaxy emblem on its surface, with a lightning bolt passing through the center of the galaxy.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately recalled seeing the same emblem on the plaza when they first entered the asteroid.
"I told you it was a divine fleet, right! Exactly!"
The situation was very clear. The black ships were enemies, and the white ships were friends. If it weren't for the distance and the inability to leave, Ou Zhanpeng would have gone closer to get a good look.
"Bridge, can you film it more clearly? Don't forget, all data must be synchronized and transmitted to Earth!" Ou Zhanpeng said.
"We're still transmitting!" Li Keke replied.
"Can you film it more clearly? If not, launch another satellite and get closer to film."
"We found this!" Xu Qing's voice came from the radio.
Ou Zhanpeng looked and was momentarily dumbfounded.
The image showed the artificial satellite that had flown past the asteroid. It was currently at the edge of the battlefield but showed no signs of advancing, frozen in the void just like the warships on both sides.
"We've tried many times, but we can't get any satellite signal," Xu Qing said.
Ling Xiao suddenly thought of a possibility: "Could it be that the mysterious entity solidified the battlefield with a force field?"
"What?" Ou Zhanpeng was full of admiration. "Are you starving yourself silly? Even if the mysterious entity's technology is advanced enough to solidify space with a force field, what about the wormhole? Is the half-open wormhole also solidified by a force field?"
Ling Xiao then noticed the wormhole: "Don't tell me, this is solidified time!"
"Other than that, I can't find any other reasonable explanation!" Ou Zhanpeng said. "And the countdown, the black ship must have wanted to use the wormhole to go directly to Earth, so the mysterious entity issued a countdown warning... Xu Qing, calculate it immediately!"
"Okay!" Xu Qing agreed and immediately began calculating.
It was impossible to test the opening speed of the wormhole, but this didn't stump Xu Qing: the countdown had been ongoing for over a year, with more than a year left; and the wormhole was exactly half-open. The time for it to fully open was basically the same as the countdown's end time!
Having obtained the definitive answer, Ou Zhanpeng showed a hint of a smile: "That's right, so that's not some force field, but a temporal lag. See this membrane? Our satellite is at this location, so this membrane is the dividing line, or the temporal boundary membrane!"
His expression changed drastically: "Bridge, absolutely do not approach the battlefield!" Fortunately, they had only observed from a distance. If they had flown closer and accidentally entered the temporal boundary membrane, it would have been completely over!
Ling Xiao's mind suddenly became hazy, and his face changed.
He could understand space confinement, and force fields were like force multiplied by bricks flying – as long as there was enough energy, solidifying a region of space was like wrapping an insect in crystal resin, easy to understand.
But to even lag time, that was simply too exaggerated!