"Psionics... this, this is simply unbelievable."
Inside the reading room on Floor B4 of Shelter 404.
Having finished reading the report sent from five light-years away, Yin Fang set down the tablet in his hands, his face a portrait of disbelief.
To tell the truth, Chu Guang had been no less astonished when he first saw the report. He had even briefly suspected that Ye Shi was just trolling, putting up some smoke and mirrors to mess with the other players on the forum.
Yet as time went on and more and more clues were added to the forum thread, that possibility dwindled to practically nothing.
The kid was a terrible liar; if he had made it all up, he would have blown his cover within three sentences at most.
To have typed out so many words without slipping up once—even leaving him, the Administrator, thoroughly stunned—meant it could only be the real deal.
Setting down his black tea, Chu Guang said with a subtle expression, "You might not believe it, but the very information you're reading right now... was transmitted from five light-years away through a similar method."
Yin Fang froze in place, speechless for a long moment, before finally letting out a deep sigh.
"It seems there are still far too many things in this world that we don't understand..."
"But it's also very exciting, isn't it?" Chu Guang offered a faint smile. "A civilization thousands or even hundreds of millions of years ahead of us has unveiled these mysteries for us. As long as we follow the clues they left behind, perhaps we can go even further than they did."
The existence of the players was the best proof of all.
The first-generation manager of Shelter 404 had clearly found a way to pierce the fourth wall, establishing something akin to an 'information webway' based on the morphogenetic field.
Although the Alliance's exploration of the morphogenetic field was still in its early stages, Chu Guang was confident that they would eventually unravel all of its secrets.
Heya stood nearby with her arms crossed over her chest, suddenly remarking with keen interest, "I'm quite curious about that child from planet Gaia... Do you think this psionics could be related to some special pheromones or neurochemicals in the pituitary gland?"
Seeing her enthusiastic expression, Yin Fang involuntarily shivered.
Chu Guang cleared his throat. "When it comes to intelligent extraterrestrial beings, I favor a policy of non-interference... What's more, human blood flows through their veins as well. Certain things are strictly forbidden."
"I know, I just want to borrow a little DNA for research... Could you not make it sound like I'm going to vivisect her?" Heya grumbled at Chu Guang's dubious look.
Those barbaric research methods belonged to centuries ago.
Chu Guang's expression remained subtle as he replied, "I'm merely giving a reminder, nothing more."
Just then, Yin Fang thought of something and spoke up: "Speaking of which, according to this report, the residents of Shelter 404 themselves possess a certain trait on the 'psionic' level, don't they? That ability to transmit information across time and space..."
"Is there a problem with that?" Chu Guang asked, looking at him.
"I just find it a bit strange," Yin Fang gave a slight shrug. "After all, the genetic sequences stored in this shelter are open research projects, but all this time... I haven't heard of the Institute of Biological Research finding anything unusual."
This time, Heya furrowed her brow as well, sinking into thought. "It really is a bit strange..."
If psionically awakened individuals exhibited distinct biological traits compared to others, she should have noticed long ago.
That left only one explanation.
The difference did not manifest at the biological level...
Chu Guang pondered for a moment before offering his own perspective: "I don't know much about academic research, but could it be possible... that 'psionics' and the 'morphogenetic field' describe the very same phenomenon from different disciplinary angles, like two sides of the same sheet of paper?"
Yin Fang's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting..."
Heya remained silent for a long time before letting out a sigh. "...It seems this can only be left to the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Social Sciences to figure out."
...
Alpha Centauri, planet Gaia. Deep within the Forbidden Forest Valley, an unremarkable cave lay nestled among the rolling mountains.
The mountain path leading to the cave's mouth was virtually swallowed by dense foliage. From the distance came occasional cries of wild beasts and pterosaurs, while rustling sounds hinted at dangers lurking in the shadows.
Without a guide leading the way, even a seasoned explorer would inevitably get lost here.
Yet Ye Shi, walking through in his power armor, seemed as though he were strolling through his own backyard, showing not the slightest sign of being hindered by the dense forest.
This was not due to the superior performance of his power armor, but rather because psionics granted him the ability to communicate with the Tree of Ein Sof. Every insect and every leaf here served as his eyes.
Rather than an explorer intruding into the forest, he was more like an honored guest of the woods.
And this ruin buried deep in the forbidden forest had already been waiting for him for a long time...
"This is it... the final ruin on this planet. The makeshift laboratory left behind by Dr. Qiu Shiye of the Fifth Department of the Human Alliance Aerospace Force missile cruiser Gemini.
"Barring any surprises, the missing reactor should be right here."
No remains of Qiu Shiye had been found in the wreckage of the Gemini, and the poem carved upon the ruins had mentioned a labyrinth and clouds.
Combining that with the profound words left by It, Ye Shi had reasonably deduced that Dr. Qiu Shiye must have dismantled the reactor and hauled it somewhere into the forest.
In fact, what had been dismantled wasn't just the reactor, but also experimental equipment from the Fifth Department.
In his subsequent investigation, Ye Shi had used the trees' growth cycles to pinpoint the final location of Dr. Qiu Shiye's activities—which was this very cave situated halfway up the mountain.
This place had once served as a sacrificial site for the Qiu People, only to be abandoned later due to natural causes.
As for the purpose of their rituals, there was clearly only one conceivable reason...
Namely, that their Progenitor had once rested here eternally.
To tell the truth, Ye Shi was rather surprised that Jiang Xuezhou had missed these clues.
With her competence, she shouldn't have hit a dead end after excavating around the bridge and failed to find any leads to push forward.
Of course, everyone slips up sometimes.
Besides, he had relied on psionic shortcuts to locate this cave suspected of being the lab entrance, so he had no right to tease her.
Finally reaching the cave entrance, Ye Shi deployed a radio beacon at the mouth, then did a final check of his expedition gear.
Right then, a soft huff came through the comm channel.
"Hmph..."
Hearing that faint, cold huff over the channel, Ye Shi, who was just about to enter the cave, pulled a helpless face and sighed.
"My respected, dearest Captain... may I ask how I have offended your esteemed self this time?"
Silence lingered in the comms for several moments before a voice came through, teeth audibly gritted:
"...You know very well what you did."
'You know very well what you did,' sure.
Hearing her petulant response tinged with a hint of grievance, Ye Shi couldn't help but smile.
Yet that barely audible chuckle instantly infuriated the jealous girl who was already fuming.
"! Wh-What are you laughing at?!"
Ye Shi teased, "Nothing, just thinking... a certain someone pouting in silence is acting just like a little kid."
Jiang Xuezhou puffed up angrily: "You're the kid! You're the biggest kid here!"
The reason she was angry now wasn't even that this guy had taken it upon himself to let someone come aboard; it was that his nonchalant attitude made it seem like she was the one throwing an unreasonable tantrum.
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm the kid, so why don't you cut me some slack?" Ye Shi chuckled, pausing for a moment before continuing, "In truth, deep down, you wanted to bring her along too, didn't you?"
Jiang Xuezhou: "!?"
Seeing that the other end had gone dead silent, Ye Shi teased with a smile, "Did I hit the nail on the head?"
After about half a minute, a tiny voice came over the comm channel: "Is... is this psionics?"
Ye Shi thought for a second and replied, "While two hearts beating as one might be a kind of telepathy... I suspect this level of connection is a bit different from the psionics you have in mind."
Jiang Xuezhou bared her teeth and snapped, "Who has two hearts beating as one with you?!"
Ye Shi burst into laughter and said smugly, "Me, of course! Who else could it possibly be?"
He didn't keep teasing Xuezhou.
Reaching this point, he paused, his tone turning earnest: "I'm sorry I didn't discuss Dora's matter with you beforehand. But... honestly, I really didn't expect you to get jealous over her. If you really mind, I'll explain things to her for you, and she can just disembark once we get back to Earth."
Bringing a "Gaian" representative back to Earth was indeed necessary, and it happened to be one of the side missions he had received.
Whether for scientific research or inter-civilizational exchange, the Alliance hoped he could bring one or a few individuals back.
Either through friendly persuasion or negotiation.
With Dora voluntarily choosing to leave her world, nothing could be better.
As for any romantic tension between a man and a woman, that was completely out in left field.
Setting aside how absurd the idea was, she hadn't displayed the slightest hint of romantic feelings toward him in the first place.
Her reverence for ancestors and deities, combined with her thirst for truth, differed markedly from ordinary worldly affections.
If nothing else, Dora acted the exact same way toward Jiang Xuezhou—surely that wasn't romantic love either.
And as for Ye Shi himself, that went without saying.
Impressive proportions aside, and shocked as he might have been, he truly had never harbored any thoughts along those lines.
As for why, that circled right back to how absurd the notion was.
Still, he understood that young girls in love and older women going through menopause were equally sensitive.
Xiao Jiang was undoubtedly the former.
Hearing Ye Shi lay it all out so bluntly, Jiang Xuezhou, up in geosynchronous orbit, turned bright red like a lantern and jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Wh-Wh-Who's jealous?! D-Don't flatter yourself! Why would I ever be jealous of a primitive?!"
The corner of Ye Shi's mouth curled into a grin, easily volleying the wobbly ball right back to her court. "Oh? Then it seems I was flattering myself. Pray tell, respected Captain, where exactly did I fall short to offend your esteemed self this time?"
Caught completely off guard and never expecting the ball to be bounced right back, Jiang Xuezhou stammered for a good while before finally biting the bullet and forcing out a flimsy excuse: "Y-You acted on your own... letting someone aboard without this captain's consent!"
Ye Shi said with a laugh, "She isn't on board yet, so it's not too late to back out. Should I tell her to leave? We can just find someone else."
"Ugh—"
Sitting in front of the terminal, Jiang Xuezhou seemed to choke on her words, flushed and tongue-tied.
After a long while, she muttered under her breath, "You... I swear you feel like a completely different person lately."
Ye Shi smiled and said, "People grow up, after all... How about you? Feeling a bit better?"
"Not at all! I'm even angrier!" Glaring daggers at the hologram screen showing the smug rascal, Jiang Xuezhou snapped contrarily.
In truth, she had already realized that she had been throwing a bit of a petulant tantrum, which was uncharacteristic of her former self.
Most of the time, she was supposed to be the reliable one, yet this time things had completely reversed.
It was all this damned guy's fault...
With crimson cheeks, Jiang Xuezhou took a deep breath to steady her wavering emotions and redirected her focus to the task at hand.
"I'll leave exploring the ruins to you... Be careful up ahead."
"Roger that."
Raising a hand toward the sky in a salute, Ye Shi stowed his inspected gear and strode purposefully into the depths of the cave...
...
The nameless cavern was pitch-black and deathly quiet, making the sound of footsteps on loose gravel stand out with stark clarity.
The comm channel was completely silent, without the slightest peep.
Walking through the cavern, Ye Shi suddenly remembered that Jiang Xuezhou seemed to be terrified of the dark.
He wondered if she was gouging her fingernails into the armrests of her chair right now.
Or had simply switched off the camera feed.
Thinking this, Ye Shi navigated around a cluster of greasy-looking stalactites and finally spotted traces of human presence near a slope.
It was a crooked set of stairs, the squared-off steps clearly hewn by human hands.
The scratches along the adjacent incline looked very much like scrapes left from hauling heavy equipment.
"This cave is surprisingly spacious."
Ye Shi swept his flashlight around. Beside the surprise on his face, a glimmer of excitement flared in his eyes.
Traces of deliberate excavation were visible not just on the stairs beneath his feet, but across the flanking rock walls as well.
'So that's how it is. The Qiu People's skills in mining, digging wells, and building houses—after all this time, it turns out they honed them right here in this cave!'
An instinctive premonition told Ye Shi that the destination of these ruins lay just ahead.
"I'm heading down to check it out."
Leaving this message over the comms, he crouched down and slid along the incline toward the expanse below the stairs.
With a harsh rasp of metal against rock, his feet touched down, landing him in a vast cavern chamber.
The area was expansive, looking like an original natural cavern that had been broadened.
Ye Shi raised his flashlight, peering ahead, and soon spotted an alloy door.
Or rather, instead of a door, it was more like a steel plate bolted across the opening.
And clearly, it was a plating salvaged from the wreckage of a starship.
A hushed gasp echoed through the comm channel: "You actually found it..."
Hearing her incredulous gasp, Ye Shi curled his lips into a smug smirk.
Without saying a word, he stepped forward and pulled away the severely rusted steel plate, flakes of corrosion crumbling off under his grip.
"If it was just for experiments, he shouldn't have needed much fuel..."
Hopefully, there's still some left.
Chapter 1017