Chapter 384: Setting Sail

Regardless of the interludes that occurred in between, the final decision was that True Man Yuan Hao would board the "Otherworld Inn" together with Xuan Che and travel with Yu Sheng's group to the border "Shu Ji" Star to search for the tracks of Yun Qingzi and those black-robed cultivators.

To be honest, Yu Sheng still held a certain approval and respect for True Man Yuan Hao's "rich experience in navigation accidents."

Although he firmly believed that his own excellent piloting skills and the advanced performance of the Otherworld Inn were sufficient to handle this small border trip, this was after all his first time truly piloting a spaceship to a location tens of thousands of light-years away—the last time he got the ship back to the valley could hardly be called a "voyage"; that was simply opening a door and teleporting the ship over, whereas this time, he would complete a truly complete voyage.

The journey is long, and there is no guarantee that various "practical problems," big or small, won't arise; having an experienced long-distance navigation expert along would at least make people feel a bit more reassured.

With the handover between the Special Operations Bureau technical team stationed on the spaceship and the team responsible for Xinggang finally concluded, the Otherworld Inn had also completed its final preparations before takeoff.

Just as the group was preparing to board, a familiar aura suddenly appeared nearby, causing Yu Sheng to stop his steps.

Following the sensation, he looked in the direction where the aura had appeared and indeed saw several Shadow Wolves leap out from the nearby shadows, with a familiar figure in red riding atop the strongest "Alpha Wolf."

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow: "Why have you come?"

"To see you off, and also to see what a spaceship takeoff looks like," Little Red Riding Hood rode the wolf up to Yu Sheng, a faint smile on her face, "It's not easy to keep Long Fa confined at home."

"I was wondering why that girl didn't come to such a big commotion," Yu Sheng laughed upon hearing this, "If she were here, she would definitely roll on the ground just to get on the spaceship to take a look."

"I know you are going to handle serious business, so I certainly can't let her come and cause trouble," Little Red Riding Hood said casually, "She originally intended to trick everyone into coming to make a scene, even bringing the little ones along to organize some kind of 'Kindergarten Space Study Tour.' As soon as I heard that plan, I had the King summon a few Royal Guards to lock her in her room..."

Listening to Little Red Riding Hood's description, Yu Sheng shivered involuntarily, unconsciously imagining what the scene would be like if Long Fa's girl unleashed her explosive action potential—a group of little ones wearing small yellow hats and carrying small water bottles lining up to board the spaceship under the leadership of another group of thirteen or fourteen-year-old half-grown children, with Long Fa, Bai Xue, and the Mermaid causing chaos in the middle; after departure, it would be a disaster zone. Calculating that one child is equivalent to "a hundred thousand whys," by then he would have to face several million "whys"...

And considering the Otherworld Inn's current state, with all subsystems offline, essentially equivalent to a real washing machine with an engine welded on, his situation at that time would be piloting a washing machine with dozens of human toddlers surrounded by several million "whys" heading to a dangerous and unpredictable border alien star; to be honest, even placing this within the "Inn," it would be a bit too explosive, belonging to the category of complex situations that even a deity like True Man Yuan Hao, rich in accident experience, couldn't handle...

Thinking of this, Yu Sheng broke out in a cold sweat, and the look in his eyes toward Little Red Riding Hood was inevitably filled with gratitude and relief: now that all members of "Fairy Tale" were increasingly letting themselves go, fortunately there was still a mature and steady Little Red Riding Hood to cover for a bunch of naughty children; otherwise, with Long Fa's nature of having three ideas per second and fearing nothing, the entire "Fairy Tale" organization would probably already be beyond saving...

"Be safe on the road," Little Red Riding Hood's voice came from the side at that moment, interrupting Yu Sheng's somewhat wandering thoughts; she sat on the Shadow Wolf, a gentle smile on her face, "If you need help, I am always here."

Yu Sheng came back to his senses, looking at the red-robed girl smiling before him, and a smile slowly appeared on his face as well.

"Alright, then I'm setting off—I'll leave those naughty children to you."

"Okay, bye-bye~"

A gate opened at the bottom of the Otherworld Inn; Yu Sheng and his group stepped inside, their figures disappearing into the depths of the gate.

—Actually, Yu Sheng originally intended to simply open a door directly to the bridge, but thinking that this was at least the first formal voyage, there should be some sense of ritual, so in the end he boarded the ship through the main entrance.

Moments later, the towering Gao Ta standing on the shipyard platform at Xinggang began to emit a low rumble, and the entire "tower" body also began to tremble slightly.

The core system, which had been dormant for many days, woke up again; the reactor gradually shifted from low-power standby to normal operation, and surging energy was injected into the engines and anti-gravity components, causing the entire spaceship's figure to gradually become illusory and transparent.

Afterwards, the energy release grids at the rear of the "Otherworld Inn" lit up one by one, and the large triangular emblem in the middle of the ship lit up accordingly. Without deafening roars or earth-shaking air jets, this starship built with the dark technology of the Holy Ascetic Hermitage began to slowly rise from the platform, accompanied by the low, solemn hum emitted by the anti-gravity device; it rose higher and higher, gradually approaching the "Sky Threshold" of this valley's alien realm.

At this special altitude, the spaceship turned into a phantom image; subsequently, a "gate" like a spatial rift suddenly appeared inside, and the entire ship instantly flipped and twisted around the rift, silently disappearing from Little Red Riding Hood's field of vision.

After an instant barely perceptible to human senses, the "Otherworld Inn" had entered the real universe, arriving at an empty space near the Grand Void Nexus as if appearing instantly.

This was exactly the place Hu Li passed through when Yu Sheng's group went to "Tai You" before—because there was nothing nearby, Yu Sheng chose this location as the "exit port" to "release" the Otherworld Inn.

"Control system normal, reactor normal, energy management and feedback mechanism normal, energy network load... 30%, engine normal, hull perception system partially offline, all subsystems offline..."

In the bridge hall located at the top of the "Giant Tower," the spaceship's control system began to report various parameters after this awakening.

A low humming sound echoed in the hall; control seats activated one by one from dormancy, and holographic projections in front of numerous seats lit up one by one, presenting dazzling data and graphics. On the other side of the bridge, the giant observation window had opened; the protective armor outside the window retreated, and beyond the light-blue observation window emitting a faint field glow lay the slightly shimmering horizon of the Grand Void Nexus and the distant, deep, endless stars.

Erin ran through the control hall like a little rocket, climbed onto the platform at the inner edge of the observation window, and almost pressed her face against that layer of ultra-high-strength charged polymer: "Wow! Wahahaha, it's space!"

Yu Sheng's voice came from not far away: "It's not the first time you've been to space, is it worth getting this excited?"

"It's different!!" Erin excitedly darted back and forth on the observation window platform, her small face almost glowing, "This thing really flew! Our own spaceship! Not rented, not borrowed, not hitched!"

"Alright, alright, I understand what you mean, but can you stop jumping in front of me? I'm already dizzy," Yu Sheng stood behind the captain's seat, looking helplessly at the little doll who had gotten too excited, "Luna, grab her down and control her."

The next second, Erin's scream rang out in the hall: "... Type C buckle! I'll fight you to the death!"

Then she didn't win, and the bridge finally fell silent.

Yu Sheng exhaled, struggling to recover from the brief dizziness caused by releasing the spaceship into the real universe, and then began to calm his mind, further synchronizing his will with the Otherworld Inn.

Hu Li stood beside him, a look of worry on his face: "Benefactor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy, but much better than last time," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "Mainly, when pulling this ship out of the alien realm, we could only do it through teleportation; essentially, it was opening a super-large door to get it out, but because I was one with this ship during the teleportation process, there was an illusion of myself constantly 'flipping' from the inside out..."

Hu Li thought seriously for a moment, his ears twitching: "Didn't understand."

"No big problem," Yu Sheng smiled, reached out to pet the fox's head, then sat down in the captain's seat, casually pulling out a thick manual from the side, "Next, let me see how to do this; what does the traffic regulations say... Hmm, first start the conventional engine, add thrust to escape the planetary gravity circle... Safety Navigation Rules, Article Thirty-Six: The warp engine must only be activated in areas far from Xinggang facilities and the near-star deceleration zone..."

While speaking, he raised his hand again, slowly rotating his palm as if sensing something, and gently clenched it.

Then the navigation lights of the Otherworld Inn turned on.

"Turn on lights before accelerating; if other space vessels are nearby, additionally activate anti-collision outline projection and presence indicators..."

Yu Sheng held the manual and chattered while controlling the spaceship, then suddenly stopped, looking up toward a corner of the hall: "Hey, Expert, what is a presence indicator?!"

Several Special Operations Bureau technicians were sitting at the monitoring seats at this time; hearing Yu Sheng's call, the one with the least hair immediately raised his head: "This ship doesn't have a presence indicator—that's for small spaceships. For a starship as big as the 'Otherworld Inn,' as soon as the engine preheating starts, the noise alone is enough to have a presence."

"Oh, got it, it's like those several-meter-high flagpoles tied to the small carts in the mines, right—then big ships really don't need them," Yu Sheng nodded, then activated the conventional thrust engines of the Otherworld Inn. Accompanied by a low vibration coming from the depths of the hall, he picked up the manual again, looking very serious, "Next, let me see the next page..."

Xuan Che, sitting not far away, had his expression freeze upon seeing this scene; after a long while, he turned his head and looked at True Man Yuan Hao beside him: "Grandmaster Uncle..."

"Che'er, do not panic," True Man Yuan Hao's face also looked a bit stiff, but at least he was calmer than Xuan Che, "Your granduncle has very rich experience in navigation accidents... Wilderness survival works too."

(End of Chapter)