Chapter 385: Hyperspace Illusion

Yu Sheng felt that the two handsome guys on the spaceship had a deep misunderstanding and prejudice regarding his piloting skills, and he had proof.

But he could not refute it.

Because he indeed lacked practical experience—though, come to think of it, which veteran driver didn't start as a novice!

Although starting out by directly piloting a main battle capital ship was indeed a bit rare... but regardless, relying on special and quite effective piloting techniques, the Otherworld Inn did move under Yu Sheng's control and began accelerating continuously.

This "Gao Ta," resembling a flying cathedral perched atop, gradually passed the "Near-Star Domain" surrounding the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot; as power output increased, the numerous energy-discharge grids on the middle and rear sections of the Gao Ta grew increasingly bright, some "Secondary Towers" orbiting the main tower were also lit up, shields activated and adjusted to warp-preparation status, and on the images returned by external monitors, the last "Immortal Palace" located in the high orbit of the planet was rapidly receding behind the Otherworld Inn, gradually turning into a dim speck of light near the Tai Xu Star.

Yu Sheng sat in the captain's chair, slightly narrowing his eyes.

His perception merged with the spaceship; the starship's powerfully surging reactor seemed to synchronize with his own heartbeat; he could feel every energy conduit, every engine, every compartment, and the dim starlight shining on the spaceship's armor.

Bathed in this distant starlight hiding countless secrets, in a trance, he even seemed able to hear the mysterious whispers and low hums between the stars—

Yu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, as if waking from a brief and false dream, looking somewhat startled and uncertain at the vast, profound deep space beyond the observation window.

A furry big tail instantly draped over his arm; Hu Li leaned in: "What's wrong, Benefactor?"

"... I almost fell asleep just now, felt like I heard something, but it seems it was just tinnitus," Yu Sheng shook his head lightly, recalling that strange sensation of seemingly listening to the stars' whispers that had inexplicably arisen while he bathed in starlight and gazed at the deep space, then suddenly frowned, turning to the side, "I heard that the Algrede people know how to listen to the voices of the stars—they believe the universe's stars are all whispering, containing the power of truth and guidance?"

"There is such a saying," Zheng Zhi, sitting slightly behind and to the side, nodded—he was also riding a spaceship for the first time, his excitement hadn't actually faded, but upon hearing Yu Sheng's words, he immediately became serious, "They seem capable of precisely perceiving subtle changes in many stars regarding spectra, magnetic fields, etc., using this to guide daily life; it is said that precisely because of this ability, the proportion of 'Star Readers' among them far exceeds that of other races... the kind of awesome people who don't need navigation computers and can directly calculate star charts with their brains to navigate the spaceship."

Speaking of this, he paused, then continued speaking while recalling what he had seen in the data back then: "Of course, exactly what 'the stars' whispers' means, I'm afraid only they themselves can understand; this is a 'cognitive talent' highly dependent on racial characteristics, just as some people are born with an extra type of color receptor cell, and ordinary people, no matter how much they understand the theory, cannot imagine what the world looks like under such circumstances—the universe in the eyes of the Algrede people will forever have more colors and sounds than in the eyes of other races... anyway, whatever they say, we can only listen, after all, they really can predict many things just by observing the night sky."

Yu Sheng listened thoughtfully, not speaking for a moment.

Although lacking evidence, he felt that what he had just "heard" did not seem to be the same thing as the "stars' whispers" described in the legends of the Algrede people.

He exhaled lightly, looking up at the vast starry sky beyond the observation window.

Regardless, what he felt during that brief trance just now seemed to hold no danger or malice.

New data and graphics popped up on the holographic projection nearby; the auxiliary piloting system reported the spaceship's current position and status, and indicated that warp preparation was complete.

"We are entering warp," Yu Sheng reminded, "there may be some shocks during the entry and exit of hyperspace; stay seated."

Erin, who had been darting around the hall, instantly zipped back, whooshed over to sit on the chair on Yu Sheng's other side, then imitated Yu Sheng's action to activate the seat's safety lock function.

However, the safety locks on both sides of her seat only poked out slightly, and a line of red text popped up on the holographic projection in front of the armrest: "Warning, occupant not detected, safety lock cannot close—please sit down immediately."

The little doll, sitting excitedly in the middle of the chair waiting for the spaceship to enter warp, instantly froze, looking at that glaring notification message with a somewhat dazed expression.

Two seconds later, the little thing flew into a rage: "I @#%&* this thing #&%..."

In an instant, the person who designed this chair lost his ancestors and all his friends and family, and even the neighbor's dog failed to save its parents...

Seeing this, Yu Sheng quickly reached out, picked the little doll up from the chair, and casually tossed her to the fox Miss on the other side: "You hold her."

Hu Li went "Oh," then held the little doll who was still spewing profanities in her arms; Erin obviously felt this was a bit embarrassing and struggled fiercely on the spot—but Yu Sheng knew the grip strength of a Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit; those two arms, looking thin and small, clamped shut like a vice; Erin flailed a couple of times in Hu Li's arms and then stopped moving, starting to brood there in sorrow...

The ship-wide broadcast began issuing warp reminders; a moment later, the phase engines activated.

This was the first time Yu Sheng activated this thing.

He felt massive energy surge into the power array; the phase engines, like a black hole, instantly swallowed nearly one-third of the ship's total energy output, and then a "Boom" of illusory roaring sound came to his ears; the entire spaceship seemed to shake violently in the real universe, then immediately lost mass and substance, "falling" into a space bubble enclosed by warped space.

The starlight outside the observation window suddenly twisted, blurred, and was infinitely stretched; the stars, in this infinite stretching, became an endless tunnel impossible for the naked eye to capture or distinguish, and then even this tunnel disappeared; outside the Otherworld Inn, only a spectrum gradienting from red to blue remained—the entire observable universe was compressed within this thin light curtain surrounding the spaceship.

The artificial gravity in the hall failed briefly, then gradually recovered.

Erin, who was being held in Hu Li's arms at this moment, seemed to have forgotten the sorrowful brooding from just now; the little doll widened her eyes in wonder, looking at the wonderful red-blue light film outside the observation window that seemed to compress endless stars, slowly opening her mouth: "... Wow!"

Luna, sitting behind Yu Sheng, also gently tilted her head back; the light and shadow of hyperspace reflected on this Artificial Saint's alloy shell; after a long while, she uttered a soft exclamation: "Very, beautiful."

"Grand Master, it seems quite smooth," Xuan Che whispered to Yuan Hao Zhenren, "and the big spaceship is quite stable, much more stable than the small shuttle I rode last time."

Yuan Hao Zhenren thought for a moment: "Once my Immortal Vessel malfunctioned, right when entering warp..."

But just as the old handsome guy started, Erin glared angrily at him from the side: "Shut up!"

Yuan Hao Zhenren was somewhat regretful: "I still have a long story after that."

Yu Sheng heard these conversations coming from beside him, but he did not speak.

He remained seated in the captain's chair, but at this very moment, most of his mind and perception were placed on the Otherworld Inn—highly synchronized with the ship, breathing with it, moving forward with it, together... immersed in this "hyperspace" that transcended the material universe and surpassed the light-speed limit.

In a trance, he felt his perception seemed to have transcended his physical shell, even transcended the steel body of the ship; he felt himself traversing the stars in an instant, wandering within a certain "construction layer" of this world that was more essential and more "fundamental."

He did not know if this was a normal phenomenon, nor how much difference there was between this and the world as seen by the Algrede people—because there was probably no second person in this world who, like him, could synchronize with a spaceship in a warp state to observe this material universe from a faster-than-light perspective.

Rapidly flowing starlight streamed beneath his feet; Yu Sheng looked around among the stars; he saw two faint beams of light in the infinitely distant place, which seemed to be the oldest celestial bodies in this universe, shining brilliantly deep within the stars;

He also saw a strange star; that star and its planetary system were located in a corner of a distant galaxy, hiding in the shadow obscured by dust clouds; at regular intervals, that star would turn a peculiar pink;

He also saw quasars erupting at the boundaries of gravitational rifts; magnificent flashes and violent energy releases filled the space of several light-seconds; a piece of inexplicable "information" directly imprinted itself into his mind; he learned the name of this spectacular sight—the Universe's Great Firework.

Strange name.

Strange and fleeting thoughts flowed through Yu Sheng's mind; from time to time, he would also hear messages transmitted to him by the stars, understanding some nonsensical "knowledge" that could not be called corruption but also seemed to have no damn use.

Then he stopped his steps again amidst a field of starlight; deep within the starlight, he saw more tiny "flashes."

Those flashes were like individual "footnotes" on the foundation of the world, shining brilliantly in the cosmic background radiation.

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then tried to extend a "hand" to touch those "information clusters" permeating the cosmic background radiation.

New information directly flooded into his mind; he "saw" illusory flames rising; starlight permeated the flames; the starlight whispered to him, telling him certain secrets somewhere in this universe—

"This segment of laws relies on this BUG to run; do not touch."

Yu Sheng instantly withdrew his "hand."

"...?"

(End of Chapter)