Chapter 713: The Beginning of Black Star Research

Despite a few unexpected twists, Yu Sheng still managed to contact the Black Star exploration expert and veteran victim—after clearing things up with Thousand Peaks Spirit Mountain and going over to watch the excitement for five minutes, he directly brought the old handsome guy over from Taixu Lingshu.

Then he immediately contacted his own Bridge research expert and veteran victim—when he arrived, Luo was petting a cat (Momo). As soon as he heard that the Hermit Order's Bridge had exploded and that a Black Star had emerged from the explosion, that golden-haired elf's research passion instantly blazed. He almost jumped out of his chair, grabbed his cat, and followed Yu Sheng to the Mass Effect.

And now the two of them (plus one lab assistant) stood on the bridge of the Mass Effect, staring in stunned silence through the massive observation window at the Black Star floating in space.

They were frozen for several minutes before Yuan Hao Zhenren was the first to break the silence.

"What's the principle behind this..."

"I knew you'd say that," Eileen muttered beside him. "Could you at least change your words?"

"Forget the principle for now," Luo suddenly turned around, his star-fragment-like eyes staring straight at Yu Sheng. "Boss, how did you do it?! This place was supposed to be a planet, wasn't it?!"

Yu Sheng laughed at that, then pulled the golden-haired elf over to the holographic projector on the bridge's main console: "Watch the VCR."

It displayed a first-person recording of the Sacred Ground planet's collapse captured by the Mass Effect—along with some thrilling footage taken by planetary ground troops during their evacuation, showing transport ships weaving through the debris of the disintegrating planet.

Luo's expression throughout was: O～O?

As for Momo, the moment she saw the planet collapse, she had already dived under the table.

Only Old Handsome remained the most calm—but Yu Sheng suspected it wasn't because the handsome old man was well-traveled and mentally strong, but because he had been chased by his confidante for two days and two nights and hadn't recovered yet.

But clearly, Yuan Hao Zhenren was still thinking about serious matters.

"Miss Huli believes that this so-called Black Star is not a real star, but a peculiar phenomenon that appears when conditions are met, is that right?" He turned back, looking at Huli curiously.

Huli nodded like a fox: "That's what I think. And based on the current observations, its parameters really don't resemble a solid planet—the gravity and spectral data are off."

"When I fell into the Black Star back then, my celestial ship malfunctioned, and the recorded data wasn't very useful," Yuan Hao Zhenren said, stroking his chin with a serious expression. "But Miss Huli's words have indeed enlightened me. When I crossed that black barrier, all the scenes I encountered couldn't be explained by common sense. But if they were all hallucinations and temporal-spatial distortions caused by the bizarre phenomenon, then it makes sense... However, the place I ended up in, where I met that being calling itself the 'Emissary' Kong Daman... that remains unexplained."

"What's its current state?" Luo was now in the zone, turning to look at Bai Liqing standing nearby—she had actually wanted to call her 'deadpan' outright, but after seeing the fully armed Borderlands soldiers at the door, she didn't dare.

"Currently the Black Star remains stable. Energy growth has stopped, and its size isn't changing," Bai Liqing nodded. "Also, our antenna system occasionally picks up some signals from the Black Star, but they seem completely meaningless—we can't parse the content. The signal strength, waveform, and even timing of appearance have no pattern at all."

Luo frowned hard, pondered for a moment, then said: "I need data on that 'Eden Gate' and the various energy readings it released before the Black Star appeared. Do we have any?"

"Our antenna system recorded a lot of usable data," Hong said from the side. "But as for close-range parameters and internal operations of the Eden Gate, that's impossible—that thing has already exploded. During the intense battle earlier, we didn't have a chance to go down and collect it."

Luo then turned his gaze to Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then pointed at himself, then at Eileen, Luna, and Huli: "Why don't you take a look at our academic credentials?"

"You didn't snag anything?" Luo said with a hint of suspicion.

"...Well, I did snag something," Yu Sheng scratched his head. "But nothing related to the Eden Gate... No, that's not my fault either. You saw it—at that time, I was in the planet's core, with a Dim Angel who wanted to die with me, the whole planet shattering above my head, the out-of-control Eden Gate devouring everything. In that state, I didn't have any recording equipment on me. Where was I supposed to collect data? Maybe next time I encounter this kind of situation, I'll bring you along."

Luo immediately recalled the VCR he had just watched, and his ears instantly flattened back (Yu Sheng once again saw the elf's airplane ears): "Then forget it. I don't have your tough luck."

"Yu Sheng's life isn't tough," Eileen muttered nearby. "It's mainly about plasticity."

"Have you sent any probes into it?" Luo pretended not to hear the little one's muttering and turned to ask again.

"Two unmanned probes disappeared at the observable edge of the Black Star," Hong nodded slowly. "The moment they crossed the boundary, communication was lost. They didn't send back any useful information. Considering this thing 'transformed' from the Eden Gate, we held off on sending a second batch to avoid accidents."

"I think we need to set up a long-term observation station here—if this Black Star can remain stable," Luo said immediately. "We've never had a stable observation of this thing before. This is a golden opportunity. Also, we need more effective detection methods—the unmanned probes you people in the Borderlands use are too outdated. I know those old models. I'll get you a batch of good ones later, just at cost price..."

Bai Liqing silently stared at this golden-haired elf.

Luo bristled on the spot: "Be reasonable, okay? You have to pay at least the cost price! I just restarted a few of my factories, and raw materials cost money—my current boss doesn't even pay me a salary, and my trade routes have to give him dividends..."

Bai Liqing: "..." Yu Sheng: "..."

"As you wish," Hong finally spoke. "The Borderlands can station a mobile star fortress here for you to use as an observation station. It might not compare in scale to that ridiculously large Black Rock space station of yours, but its structure is sturdy and its shields are strong—it can handle ordinary cosmic phenomena disasters. However, there is a precondition: all observation data and research results must be shared with us. The mobile star fortress itself is only lent to you free of charge, and we will take it back when the project ends."

Luo immediately turned to look at Yu Sheng, and only after seeing Yu Sheng nod did she also nod.

As a result, Bai Liqing also looked at Yu Sheng.

"This... don't snag it, okay?" she said softly.

Yu Sheng: "..."

He wanted to righteously point out that this was a stereotype and retort, 'What do you take me for, Yu Sheng?' but because what she said was too accurate, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

After all, he was an open and upright person.

Luo let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

"I'll also return to Thousand Peaks Spirit Mountain and bring some disciples over," Yuan Hao Zhenren said immediately. "And some detection artifacts I designed after encountering the Black Star back then."

As he spoke, he turned his head, his gaze quietly settling on the dark 'celestial body' in space.

"...Last time I let you get away, but this time I'm determined to find out what you really are."

But upon hearing Yuan Hao Zhenren's words, Yu Sheng's focus clearly fell elsewhere: "You have disciples?!"

Yu Sheng was genuinely surprised. After all, the old handsome guy's usual personal deeds and behavior patterns didn't look like someone who could regularly attend his sect. On odd-numbered days he went down the mountain to party, on even-numbered days he encountered his confidante, and on Sundays he was tied up in a cave as a captive Dao partner—did his disciples have full-time self-study seven days a week?

Then he saw the old handsome guy pull out a fan and wave it in front of himself, looking inscrutable: "I can poach people from Junior Brother Yuanling."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Anyway, regardless, this matter was settled.

That pitch-black 'cosmic void' still floated quietly where the Eden Gate had been. Although its own mass seemed to be zero, it still orbited the local star along the same orbit as the previous Sacred Ground. It seemed it would remain stable for a long time, and Luo and Yuan Hao Zhenren's research work would thus become a long-term project.

For others on this 'battlefield,' many tasks were just beginning.

After all, although the battle was fierce, what Yu Sheng and his team had dealt with was only the Hermit Order's home planet—they had chopped off the head with a single strike. Next, they had to find a way to deal with the monster's still-twitching corpse that was oozing filthy blood.

In this Order's Nation, surrounded by gravitational faults, there were still 11 habitable planets, plus an uncertain but definitely existing number of resource and industrial planets.

Because in the mid-battle, the Combined Fleet and the rebelling Holy Maiden Knights had successfully cut off all communications from the Sacred Ground planet, the other planets in this star sector should not yet know about the fall of their home planet. There might even be convoys of support fleets arriving from various places, ready to save their 'church brethren.'

Of course, if those support fleets did arrive, they would be in for a huge surprise—

"Where's my homeland? Where's my huge homeland? What's this black ball? .JPG"

"Our engineers are urgently exporting the star map data recorded in that star gate," Bai Liqing said to Yu Sheng in the corridor after leaving the bridge. "Fortunately, our fight on the star gate went smoothly. Those cultists didn't have time to destroy the star map server. Soon we'll be able to figure out the locations of the other Hermit Order colony planets in this sector. The enemy's strongest forces have already been wiped out on the home planet, and the defensive forces on the other colony planets are nothing to fear."

Yu Sheng nodded lightly, then glanced at Luna, who was walking silently beside him, and that artificial angel.

"Focus on finding a planet called Pasture Planet," he said. "Then... liberate it as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I understand."

(End of chapter)