Chapter 251: I came back

Time passed day by day, and every day Yunxiao would wait beneath the voyager's dome, only to return each time with eyes full of disappointment.

The Intelligent Machine Empress also dared not play games, spending all day timidly watching Yunxiao, fearing she would take her anger out on her.

At the same time, the Intelligent Machine Empress still couldn't figure out why such a problem had arisen, even though everything had been perfectly calculated according to the formula—why did it turn out this way?

As time passed day by day, the estimated date of leaving the black hole had already exceeded half a year, and many within the Federation began to worry.

Here, there are no extra material supplies; if they cannot escape the black hole, they will starve to death here.

Yunxiao had to step forward to calm everyone; as the Federation's chief, various pressures and doubts began to pour in incessantly.

On one side were doubts, on the other worries about 118; Yunxiao only felt that her pressure over this period was rising in a straight line.

What had she done wrong? In the face of the endless insect disaster, did she have to fill it with human lives? Consume them?

For such a bloodless method, now that such a huge problem has arisen, who should be blamed?

Blame her for trusting the Intelligent Machine Empress too much?

118's life or death outside is unknown now, and he isn't even clear how long he should keep waiting—who should be blamed for this?

Blame her for trusting 118's calculations too much?

Now, the energy is still sufficient, but the food can only last another half year or so.

To survive, and also to see 118 again, Yunxiao must stabilize the situation.

"What will 118 do?"

Thinking this, Yunxiao quickly issued a series of orders, forcibly conserving food and energy, attempting to obtain black hole material, etc.; Yunxiao must prepare for a long stay here.

Another half year passed, and this already exceeded the planned date by double.

And before anything worse arrived, the upheaval that everyone had been longing for finally came.

Boom!!!

The vibration lasted a full hour; while everyone worried about the voyager's integrity, they also looked forward to the future world.

"Finally..."

Yunxiao's expression was excited as she gazed at the silver-white dome, her heart having waited for a day she could no longer measure how long.

Afterward, it was just a matter of waiting for the material to stabilize, then they could open the Black Hole Voyager and witness the future world.

Yunxiao was still anxiously waiting; now, due to the high temperature and radiation from material decompression, the outside environment had not yet subsided, but Yunxiao could wait no longer.

She had only waited an hour; when the outside environment barely reached her body's tolerance limit, she rushed out.

What met her eyes was a sky filled with incomparably brilliant stars, and Yunxiao momentarily halted her steps.

Starlight... was so brilliant, compared to the former void of the universe it seemed like a different world.

But Yunxiao would not linger for their brilliance; she wanted to find her own star.

"118... where are you?"

Behind her, the material released by the black hole was slowly gathering; Yunxiao passed through these materials, searching for 118's silhouette, but found nothing.

Could it have been blown far away by the shock released when the black hole decompressed?

Yunxiao searched everywhere, her inner unease becoming increasingly apparent; she grew somewhat anxious.

Helpless, she could only begin calling the Intelligent Machine Empress, asking her to try using computational power to calculate where 118 might now be.

But just after contacting the Intelligent Machine Empress, she received yet another despairing piece of news.

At this moment, the time was already thirteen hundred thousand years after they entered the black hole!

"Thirteen... hundred... thousand... years?"

Yunxiao muttered to herself, her eyes hollow as she gazed into the distance, unable to imagine what 118 had endured.

She fell silent for a moment, gritted her teeth, and still asked.

"Can we find 118?"

From the other side's channel came the sound of flowing data; after a while, the Intelligent Machine Empress replied.

"I... I can't detect 118's signal."

"But... I can calculate his approximate position; give me some time."

"Hmm."

Yunxiao softly hummed, taking advantage of the gap, and began to more carefully survey the surrounding starry sky.

Mysterious, splendid, it was a scenery Yunxiao had never seen before.

The Intelligent Machine Empress's chattering calculation sounds came through; she used the surrounding starlight to calculate their current location, which was an extremely peripheral place.

If their current position lies within a supergalaxy rotating around a giant black hole at its center, then 118 is very likely to be lost in the universe, unable to be found or calculated.

Fortunately, their current position is not affected by any massive gravitational source, so 118's position remains within the calculable range.

After a period of waiting, the Intelligent Machine Empress finally gave the possible locations of 118, each extremely far from here.

Moreover, there was another point that Yunxiao cared about deeply: the Intelligent Machine Empress's some strange assumptions.

For example: under the premise that 118 has halted operation for 70,000 years, it might be at the XX position.

There were many such assumptions, but Yunxiao could wait no longer; she directly returned to the Black Hole Voyager, fetched a set of mecha, and began piloting it.

"The time span is too long; if 118 hasn't been worn away by time, then it must have ceased operation."

The Intelligent Machine Empress comforted Yunxiao, but the other party did not respond.

What 118 is really like can only be known upon seeing it.

Half an hour later, whether due to good luck or the Intelligent Machine Empress's accurate calculation, Yunxiao, at the first possible location of 118, saw from afar that hundred-meter mecha.

It simply waited there silently in the void, gazing toward the direction Yunxiao came from, like a solitary watcher.

Yunxiao's heart involuntarily began to beat; she continuously drove the ether within her body, the rear engine once again increased power, and she flew swiftly toward the mecha.

Yunxiao wore a set of armor, slowly disengaging from the cockpit.

"I found you...."

She couldn't help calling out, slowly embracing that somewhat blackened body.

118 could no longer be seen in its original form, due to long exposure to space, countless stellar radiation and cosmic rays had ravaged his body; space was also not a stable environment.

"Brother.... I've come back....."