Chapter 1 The Spectacle of a Thousand Soldiers and Horses Stuck on the Mana Bar

The magnificent sight of a thousand soldiers and horses stuck on the mana bar didn't last long. It was just that staring at the progress bar made time seem to pass slowly. The entire conversion process took less than seven minutes. As the Gate to the World emitted a soft light, the entire fleet was transferred to another universe.

The Gate to the World on the home front was as lively as ever. The area around the gate was filled with busy transport fleets and brightly lit space structures. As soon as Hao Ren led the fleet into view, he received at least a few hundred signals from private tour groups eager to offer their services, all wanting to take people to various parts of the universe. This bustling scene was in stark contrast to the desolate area around the lonely gate on the other side of the universe. However, the private fleets that had gathered quickly dispersed. The gleaming imperial insignia on the Tortoise Rock Stage and the huge immigrant fleet behind it made the ships in the port realize that this was an imperial official ship on a mission. Before Hao Ren could even send out the pre-stored clearance announcement from the ship's mainframe, he found that the surroundings had quieted down. The transport fleet following the Tortoise Rock Stage immediately started spamming the public channel in a chaotic manner: "Make way, make way, imperial mission, imperial mission..." "The fleet in front, please give way. This ship is performing special duties. 'Far Planet' is undertaking an imperial mission..." "This ship is the imperial official partner 'Shining Dragon,' give way ahead..." "883 passenger-cargo transport ship, a trusted brand for a hundred years..."

Hao Ren pointed at the circle of ship captains standing behind him, jumping up and down, "What the heck are you guys doing?"

883 chuckled, "Don't look at me, this doesn't violate any rules..."

Hao Ren had the data terminal set the destination to Bean Planet and activated automatic navigation. The Tortoise Rock Stage led the huge immigrant fleet and left the Gate to the World star system. Lily happened to stroll back to the bridge. Hao Ren saw that Hesperide wasn't with her and asked curiously, "Where's Hesperide?"

"In the cargo hold, telling stories to a bunch of kids," Lily yawned as she climbed back into her chair. "I really don't know what's so interesting about the shape of mountains, rivers, and clouds. I was so bored listening that I came back."

Hao Ren felt a sense of understanding and could somewhat understand Hesperide's thoughts. He just smiled and didn't say anything.

After a period of hyperspace navigation, the immigrant fleet finally arrived at its destination with a cold, emotionless electronic voice from the ship's mainframe: "Automatic navigation terminated." It was a habitable planet with a large ocean area, dense forests, and abundant resources, still in a primitive state.

In the synchronous orbit above the planet, brilliant rays of light appeared one after another. The huge immigrant fleet jumped out of hyperspace one by one and then floated quietly in space. Along with them appeared those special force field barges—these advanced ships had brought eleven Irim floating islands, including Darklight Island, to the sky above the new planet. Now these huge space cities began to orbit the planet like satellites.

"Hmm... this mass has a negligible impact on the planet's orbit, so it looks like no additional adjustments are needed," the data terminal opened the dedicated equipment on the Tortoise Rock Stage, detected, and calculated the impact of those space floating islands on the planet. "Then, first, we need to send advance outposts and initial supplies to the surface... large ships are not easy to land, so let the Tortoise Rock Stage take the lead. The landing site will be on the beach we visited last time, there's plenty of space there."

The Tortoise Rock Stage slowly accelerated and left the fleet formation. Hao Ren turned on the ship's broadcasting system, preparing to notify the passengers of their arrival. However, before he could speak, Lily jumped up, and the husky girl's energetic voice echoed in the cargo holds filled with elves: "Hello everyone, this is Lily, the first mate of this ship! The voyage has ended, and this ship will now land on the surface of the planet. Passengers, please confirm your luggage, children, and wives. Please pay attention to order and line up to disembark later, no ticket inspection needed!"

After broadcasting, Lily patted her chest contentedly and grinned at Hao Ren, "Oh, that was satisfying. I've always felt that the people in the broadcast station were so cool..."

Vivian scoffed at Lily's behavior: "Look at your ambitions."

Hao Ren hadn't even reacted yet: even he, the captain of the Tortoise Rock Stage, was just a decorative display for warding off evil spirits. When did Lily self-appoint herself as the first mate?

The ship quickly landed smoothly on the new planet. Hao Ren and the others left the ship first and ran outside. Izhaks took a deep breath of the salty sea air: "It's the same as when we left... ha, look over there, the place where we made a fire last time is still there."

The cargo hold's special gate hadn't been opened yet, but the elves were already prepared behind the gate to leave the ship and step onto the new world. However, before that, there was still the most important step to confirm: Hao Ren had Hesperide gather some Irim volunteers during the three days of preparation. These volunteers had undergone comprehensive and detailed body scans in the medical bay of the Tortoise Rock Stage, and now the results of this scan would be used for the final comparison with the local environment.

Although it had been compared with historical data a few days ago, doing another test at this time was a technical requirement, and an extra layer of insurance was always a good thing.

The data terminal monitored the surrounding environmental parameters, including the local microbial environment: "Hmm... consistent with the previously recorded results, the environmental compatibility is above eighty percent. There may be some troublesome local diseases bothering the new immigrants in the short term, but as long as the control is effective, there won't be any major problems."

Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief: "Open the gate!"

The cargo door at the rear of the Tortoise Rock Stage opened silently, but Hao Ren waited for a long time and didn't see anyone come down.

He ran in to check the situation and found a large group of elves standing properly in the corridor between the gate and the cargo hold, lined up neatly but no one moving a step. Seeing this, he immediately called out: "What are you waiting for? Come out—this is your home now!"

Hesperide also walked out from the back of the crowd, encouraging the elves standing at the front of the line: "Don't be nervous, everyone, come out—it's all real."

Encouraged by Hao Ren and Hesperide, an elf finally hesitated and took the first step. After the first leading example appeared, everyone moved.

The sunlight outside was a bit dazzling.

The elves who left the ship stepped onto the alien land in confusion. Some people raised their heads in bewilderment, seeing the high blue sky that surprised them, even made them uneasy.

The distant majestic mountains.

The endless ocean in front of them.

The lush primitive jungle.

It was all real.

Many of the elves who first left the ship inevitably fell into a daze. Their footsteps stopped involuntarily, and they only walked forward blankly, pushed by the people behind them, constantly falling while walking because they were staring intently at the distant scenery or lost in thought. This scene could almost be described as bizarre. And soon more and more elves made the same movements: they looked up at the sky, swaying in the dazzling light, and then many suddenly closed their eyes in fear, lowered their heads, or even simply squatted on the ground, as if the blue sky and white clouds were something terrible.

"What's going on?" Hao Ren looked at Hesperide beside him strangely.

"We have never seen the real sky," Hesperide said calmly. "Everyone only knows what the dome looks like from birth. Even if we see the scenery of our former homeland in video materials, we cannot truly experience what kind of scenery it is—I had the same reaction when I first saw the sky, so vast, so high, just like an endless inverted abyss, it feels like you're going to fall into it with just one glance... it's hard for you to understand this feeling, right?"

Hao Ren was speechless.

"They will adapt soon, they must adapt," Hesperide quietly looked at the elves who showed fear of the sky. "From now on, we will not live with our heads down."

The waves lapped against the beach. The sounds of nature, the wind, and the water echoed in the ears of these elves who were stepping on the earth for the first time. Finally, some people recalled the rituals and traditions passed down by their ancestors, remembered the historical heritage from the planet era that had long been weathered away with the glorious Irim era of abundance. Some people sang ancient ballads, some people bent down to kiss the earth covered with rough gravel, they blessed and thanked the earth that was about to start nurturing them. And the elves who initially lowered their heads due to "sky phobia" mustered up their courage and raised their heads, beginning to move supplies under the dispatch of the pre-arranged team commanders, preparing to establish a simple camp.

Hesperide stood on a reef by the beach, staring into the distance in a daze. Even as a Saint, she still felt her heart filled with excitement.

"The first dynasty of Irim established its first city by the sea," she turned around and said to her gathered subjects. "Then let us build a new capital here, named after our savior."

Hao Ren nodded with emotion, and then suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Hold on! You should think of another good name!"