Circumvention

"...This is the Gemini. We have received orders from headquarters to assist you in executing the Final War initiative. Please lower your deflector shields, guide our lander to dock, and proceed with the operational handover with our personnel." "This is the Orion... We acknowledge your request and are verifying with headquarters..." "...Gemini copies... (static)... Please reply as soon as possible..." "Orion copies... We cannot confirm the legality of this order and request arbitration by the Military Commission..." "...Request denied. We are at war. Our enemy is slaughtering our citizens. We do not have time to wait for arbitration by the Commission. Execute the order immediately!" "...(static)..." "...Calling Orion, what are you doing? Our sensors detect unstable gravitational fluctuations! Disengage your warp drive and deflector shields immediately! Repeat, disengage warp drive and deflector shields immediately and submit to inspection!" "...(static)..." "...Good night." Zhao Tianhe hadn't had many choices. He was almost certain that from the moment he disobeyed orders, the Gemini's neutron torpedoes were already locked onto him and his crew, and they would strike before he could enter the hyperspace lane. If he had chosen to leave things to fate, it would have been tantamount to leading the entire crew of the Orion into suicide and handing the tens of thousands of neutron torpedoes aboard over to that pack of blood-crazed lunatics. For the constitution he had sworn to uphold, and for the survivors down on the surface, he had no choice. At the exact moment he engaged the warp drive, he fired a neutron torpedo from the launch rack at his own allies. It had been his decision alone. Yet it had indeed received the tacit consent of all the officers and crew of the First Department. They were cut from the same cloth as Zhao Tianhe—traditional soldiers among the conservatives who weren't quite so rigid. They would rather turn their guns on themselves than point them at their unarmed compatriots. Masked by the gravitational disturbance, the torpedo struck the Gemini. Constantly accelerating, the torpedo resisted the deflector shield's repulsion field. After the warhead punched through the hull armor, it unleashed a high-energy neutron beam. Three thousand crew members died in an instant. They hadn't even realized they were dying, and there was no pain in the process. Simultaneously, the cruiser Orion jumped into the hyperspace lane. Everything had happened in a split second, so apart from the few crew members involved in the "mutiny," the vast majority aboard knew virtually nothing about it. This was ultimately for their own good. After all, regardless of the reason, it was a cold fact that the Orion had sunk an allied ship. Those were three thousand lives, not something that could be casually brushed aside with an excuse of justifiable circumstances. The person who gave the order and those who carried it out would ultimately face legal judgment, and Zhao Tianhe had never intended to absolve himself of guilt. His only hope was to shoulder as much of the blame as possible on his own, sparing his subordinates so their punishments might be reduced or waived. As for the present, his task was to bring the truth back to the Solar System as quickly as possible and stop the conspiracy that the Aerospace Force high command called the "Final War." It was never a war fought for the future of civilization. It was nothing more than a rehash of Project Torch! That was what had happened before the cruiser Orion entered the hyperspace lane. And what happened afterward was the bizarre anomaly witnessed firsthand by every soul on board. They were trapped in the hyperspace lane... Zhao Tianhe candidly laid out the entire sequence of events to Luo Yi and Wu Xinghuan. Whether the two could emotionally accept it or not, they had no other options now. "...I don't expect my confession to earn your forgiveness or understanding. My crimes will be judged by the law, and I have no intention of running from that. But now is not the time for recriminations. We must unite to overcome our current predicament. "One of you is a known survivor, and the other is the most knowledgeable scholar aboard. You two offer the best hope of breaking this deadlock." At this point, Zhao Tianhe looked at Dr. Wu and said earnestly, "Especially you. I want to hear your counsel... Is the method I mentioned feasible?" "Deceiving the observer who opens the box... There is no precedent for something like this, nor could there ever be any 'successful examples' left behind." Wu Xinghuan rubbed his nose, feeling the tremor in his index fingertip. This would be a massive gamble. Yet it seemed to be their only path to victory. They had to voluntarily surrender everything destined to be abandoned—and that likely included not just lives, but other things like honor and conviction... And the only return would be allowing "the part that can survive" to live on. In other words, the unobserved part, or the part whose life or death remained undetermined. In all his time serving on this starship, this was the first time he had ever felt such crushing pressure. Facing their focused gazes, he took a deep breath and continued calmly, "First, we must alter the ship's layout, including the exterior coating, the markings... and we must send the box opener away before exiting the hyperspace lane. "However, those are trivial details. We and the Gemini are sister ships; disguising ourselves as them won't be difficult... The real challenges lie in two other matters." Looking at the three people listening intently, Wu Xinghuan held up two fingers and continued in a steady voice. "First, we must understand the Celestials. At present, we only know from the 'box opener's' fragmented remarks that they are a collective of digital life-forms who harbor malice toward the survivors on Earth." Zhao Tianhe frowned. "Is that not enough?" Wu Xinghuan shook his head. "Of course it isn't. To begin with, the 'box opener' is merely one member among the 'observers.' What he knows neither equates to everything known by all observers, nor is it necessarily accurate. "If two puzzle pieces are to interlock seamlessly, every single edge and corner must align... Otherwise, we will run into trouble on the level of causality." Wu Mengke asked thoughtfully, "What kind of trouble on the level of causality?" "That is unknown. Anything is possible; after all, anyone who ran into it wouldn't be around to tell us," Wu Xinghuan said with a shrug. "Perhaps we fall into a black hole, or get pulverized by a meteorite... Though those are child's play. I'm more inclined to believe we'd be trapped in the hyperspace corridor, lost forever in the cracks of time, or become quantum ghosts—visible to some, invisible to others." The three exchanged glances. Such a concept was far too bizarre; they couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of state that would be. In truth, Wu Xinghuan couldn't imagine it either. Everything he said was theoretical conjecture, and the things he described using theory were, by definition, theoretically unobservable. Zhao Tianhe remained silent for a moment, then spoke again. "We could simulate a digital life-form and hide behind it. That isn't difficult... What next?" Wu Xinghuan nodded and continued, "Next comes the critical part. We must send the observer away, and as soon as possible... Only by returning him to his own timeline swiftly and minimizing his observation of us will we have sufficient preparation time to deceive the observers. That way, we can change the future of those of us inside the box without altering the future known to the observer. "During this process, the more he learns about us, the less room we have to maneuver. Conversely... we have to use him. The more we learn through him, the higher our chances of winning." Wu Mengke asked earnestly, "Then the question is, how do we send him back safely?" Wu Xinghuan said with an uncertain tone, "If our hypothesis is correct, we simply need to return him to that research vessel, put him back into the hibernation pod... close the hatch, and vacate that section. When he wakes up next, he should be back in his own timeline." Pausing, he turned to Captain Zhao. "The divergence point is right here. What we brought into the hyperspace lane was supposed to be something else—for instance, the landing craft sent by the Gemini? Didn't you say they dispatched a landing craft to take over our ship? That landing craft must have launched, right?" Zhao Tianhe nodded thoughtfully. "I see... Shut the overturned box, open it again, and we return to our respective timelines." Wu Xinghuan snapped his fingers. "Precisely." Hearing his explanation, the expressions on Zhao Tianhe's and Wu Mengke's faces softened somewhat, as though they were breathing a sigh of relief. Their moods were no longer as heavy as before. Especially the latter. Pressing an index finger to her brow, Wu Mengke said with a wry smile, "Though it's difficult to wrap one's head around, the situation doesn't seem quite as bleak as we thought." Zhao Tianhe nodded as well. "Instead, we've gained revelations about the future from a future observer..." Just then, Luo Yi, who had remained silent all along, raised his hand. Seeing three pairs of eyes turn toward him, he hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. "I don't entirely understand all of this... but I think I grasp the gist. In other words, if we want to survive, we have to become the 'Celestials' that kid talked about?" The air around the bar counter went still. Faced with this question, all three fell into silence. To become the Celestials... That meant going out to destroy the world two hundred years from now. Yet just a short while ago, they had sunk the Gemini specifically to stop the destruction of the world. If they were going to do the exact same thing as the Gemini, why bother sinking them in the first place, only to wait two hundred years to commit the act? Zhao Tianhe couldn't answer that question. He could only shelve it for now, speaking after a pause. "Two hundred years from now is too far away. I still lean toward believing we exist in different parallel worlds; our fates may not be bound entirely together." Pausing, he made his decision. "Let us first verify Dr. Wu's conclusion and extract information regarding this Celestial organization. "And then, send that boy home." *** Whether it was because people from the Era of Prosperity lived in such pampered luxury, Ye Shi couldn't help but feel these guys were a bit too thick-skinned and carefree. Here he was—a guy who had rammed a "civilian craft" into a restricted military zone, equipped with combat cybernetics, and nearly wounded active-duty service members. Not only was he spared a stint in solitary confinement, but he was also allowed to swagger around the ship with utter freedom. Well, roaming everywhere wasn't quite accurate; there were places he couldn't go. For example, the other decks and the site of the collision. Conversely, outside of those restricted zones, he could wander the lower deck's various sectors at will, with virtually no one shadowing him. On top of his freedom of movement, his other basic rights were safeguarded to the fullest extent, almost on par with the crew living aboard the warship. Before even determining his background and allegiances, they first recognized his identity as a human being and treated him accordingly. Taking his unique circumstances into account, the ship's administration had even arranged a private single-occupancy cabin for him and handed him a meal card operating on a ledger system. As the staff member who issued the card had put it: if he truly came from the future, this debt would probably be wiped out by inflation in the distant future anyway, meaning he wouldn't need to repay it. If he wasn't from the future, they would hand him a bill after disembarking, and he could find a job back on Earth to pay it off gradually. While his lack of formal academic credentials was an issue, plenty of research institutes would likely be very interested in him. Every time he thought of that staff member who had looked out for him in every possible way, Ye Shi, holding his meal card, couldn't help but marvel. Call this conservative? This was further left than Ideal City, for crying out loud! He even began to wonder just how radical the colonial rebels had to be for these kind-hearted folks to be labeled conservatives by comparison. On the other hand, the crew's attitude toward him was also quite amusing. Some thought he was talking out of his ass, while others believed what he said. But whether they believed him or not, they all showed tremendous enthusiasm toward him, eager for him to share more about the future. In the lower-deck bar. Ye Shi sat at the counter, surrounded by a ring of people. In terms of both crowd size and noisy bustle, this place far outstripped the refined, elegant lounge on the middle deck. Listening to this self-proclaimed time traveler from the future talk about what was to come, the crew members gathered around him stared with wide eyes, their faces filled with utter disbelief. "Yunjian Province became the most prosperous region?! That old industrial zone?! That's... unbelievable!" Sipping a drink someone had bought him, Ye Shi said casually, "Well, the Zhiyuan landed there. They were practically running cheats right from the start. Put me in that position and even I could pull it off." A busty woman crossed her arms and shook her head. "The Wilante... Sounds like the Post-War Reconstruction Committee wasn't any good either, resorting to slavery of all things." Ye Shi replied, "You have to look at the historical context... Whatever, I don't know them personally, so I'm not gonna bother defending them." Another young fellow stared blankly for a long time before suddenly snapping out of it, shouting, "Wait, I've been meaning to ask... You mean people are living in Brahma Province again?! What about the animals?" Ye Shi shrugged. "Who knows? When humans can barely survive, who cares about animals? But thanks to a colleague of yours named Rowell, a true environmentalist, that place is still basically a zoo, not much different from the old days." "That's wonderful." The young man let out an obvious sigh of relief, but Ye Shi couldn't help rolling his eyes. *How the hell is that wonderful?!* In a sense, he had become a celebrity in this "town of three thousand." Ye Shi quite enjoyed their adulation, answering all their questions without reservation. He chatted all the way from the eastern side of the Mid-Continent to the west, even talking about the South and North Poles and the new continents where he had never personally set foot. Other players had visited those places, though they hadn't stirred up any major waves. Those journeys had been written up as travel-guide-style walkthroughs and posted on the official forum. If he survived this crisis, he would probably write up his own experience on the forum as well. He had sat in the bar of a Human Alliance starship from two hundred years ago, shooting the breeze with ancient people. Yet how to put it? His mindset was roughly like chatting with dead people to pass the time—holding court while fishing for some intel along the way. Beyond that, there was nothing more, and he didn't take these people's plight too heavily to heart. After all, from his perspective, weren't these people living over two hundred years ago already dead? Even without an accident, they would have died of old age by now! "The so-called Alliance... is just an alliance of survivors banding together. There was nothing mysterious about it at first. We aren't as noble as you think. We didn't set out with grand ideas of saving the world; we just didn't want to get eaten by marauders." The busty woman blinked with curiosity. "Eaten?" The slightly eccentric young man also asked with an uncertain tone, "Do you mean eaten in the literal sense? Or... a broad metaphor for territory annexation?" Ye Shi chuckled. "Annexation? You mean like being swallowed into someone's stomach?" Hearing this, gasps rippled through the surrounding crowd, and many faces showed shock. A few individuals with weaker stomachs turned pale, making one wonder how such softies had ever made it into the military. "Marauders eat people...?" "Those bastards... Did they ever stop to think that they're human too?" Listening to that idiotic question, Ye Shi replied offhandedly, "You'd have better luck expecting slime mold to think of itself as human than expecting marauders to understand that... Cough, though speaking of which, we actually did run into that kind of slime mold. By the time it finished mimicking, it had completely taken our shape, looking even more human than actual humans." The crew members around him looked at one another. A burly man shook his head and said, "I still can't believe our children... the people of the future could be so savage." Ye Shi took a sip of his cocktail and sighed leisurely. "Human... that concept is too broad. People are different from one another, and the definition of a human changes with the era. That's why I say the Alliance isn't particularly noble; it's just relatively normal. You guys would probably be better suited for life in Ideal City, though plenty of people from Ideal City join us because they can't stand it there." The busty woman whistled and teased, "So you won." Ye Shi shook his head. "I wouldn't dare claim that, but we did get through the immediate crisis. You could say it's the result of mutual compromise between several major factions." Humanity and Gaia could no longer keep fighting. The same went for the survivors and the Wilante. And the same held within the survivors' own ranks. These three conflicts had a progressive sequence, together forming the main storyline of the Wasteland Era. And once all of them were resolved, the Wasteland Era would naturally come to an end. Ye Shi often felt that he was somewhat superfluous. His role in driving history was far inferior to Brother Fang Chang's, and their combined impact was more like a catalyst than the fuel itself. Yet thinking it over, that was only natural. Everyone played a different role in the tides of the era. Some shouldered a little more responsibility, others a little less, but no single person was entirely expendable. Fang Chang couldn't have carried the show all by himself, and neither could the Administrator whom countless wastelanders revered as a deity. Together with the survivors of the wasteland, they had forged this epic, fit to be sung by future generations. Glory belonged to every survivor. Just as the crowd was about to ask more questions, Luo Yi pushed his way through the gathering. "Pardon me, everyone. I need to borrow your star for a moment." A burly man looked at him and let out a whistle. "Haven't you two fought enough?" Luo Yi shrugged. "Our misunderstanding was cleared up long ago. There are just a few matters I need to discuss with him. It's very important to him." The man placed a hand on Ye Shi's shoulder, patted it, and grinned. "If this guy gives you any trouble, just let me know." Ye Shi didn't know this "fan's" name, but he still said, "Thanks," hopped down from the bar stool, followed Luo Yi out of the crowd, and walked into a room at the far end of the corridor. Once the door was shut, Luo Yi looked at Ye Shi. "I have good news. We've found a way to help you go home." Ye Shi couldn't shake the feeling that this dungeon wouldn't be that simple. Still, to advance the plot, he crossed his arms, leaned against the table, and played along. "Let's hear it." Luo Yi recounted the method Dr. Wu had devised. As expected, after hearing it, the young man perched on the table wore a peculiar expression. Guessing what he was thinking, Luo Yi coughed softly. "I know you want to say it sounds too stupid." Ye Shi shrugged. "You took the words right out of my mouth... But I'm willing to give it a shot with you guys. It's not like I have anything to lose anyway." Surprised by his cooperation, Luo Yi gave him an unexpected look, paused, and continued, "I'm glad you're willing to cooperate. Furthermore... we want to work with you." Ye Shi raised an eyebrow. "Work together on what?" Luo Yi laid out everything he had previously discussed with the captain and the executive officer. "The scientists in our Fifth Department believe there must be a reason you arrived in our timeline, and that Celestial organization might be an important clue. Therefore, I want you to tell us everything you know about the Celestials." Pausing, he added, "This is critical. Perhaps we can help you, and together we can face this... Celestial faction." Ye Shi eyed him suspiciously, sensing that this guy hadn't told him everything, and that there might be deeper secrets hidden behind it all. Yet at the moment, none of that mattered. What mattered was that he didn't believe these people had any way to overturn a predetermined fate. "You're already dead. I think I've made that clear enough, unless you can change what has already happened." Luo Yi didn't argue. He simply looked him in the eye and said, "Have you heard of the Gemini?" Ye Shi frowned. "...What's that?" Luo Yi explained patiently, "That's another cruiser. It was built from the exact same blueprints as ours; in fact, we were completed on the very same production sequence." "Wait... my head's spinning," Ye Shi held up a hand to cut him off, staring at him in bewilderment. "You mean... there was another Orion?!" Luo Yi said solemnly, "To be precise, you thought you boarded the Orion, but in reality, it was the Gemini." Ye Shi interrupted without hesitation, "That's impossible. I saw the name Orion painted right on the hull with my own eyes." Luo Yi continued, "A few lines of paint on a hull prove nothing. They could easily pose as us to do the dirty work we refused to do." Ye Shi furrowed his brow. "The dirty work you refused to do?" Luo Yi didn't conceal the truth. He nodded and said, "We rejected the order from the Lagrange point regarding the 'Final War.' And I suspect... the Celestials you speak of are connected to that Final War plan." Ye Shi stared at him blankly. "What is the Final War...?" He had never heard the term before. Yet that was only natural; even though he came from the future, he couldn't possibly know every single event that had transpired in the past. Seeing that Ye Shi was completely in the dark, Luo Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps that drunkard's plan really could succeed. Beyond the "event horizon," there was room to maneuver history—and the room left to them appeared quite substantial. "Headquarters at the Lagrange point truly had a plan to thoroughly purge the surface. In their view, this would help the shelters rapidly complete post-war reconstruction... But we refused them, and launched a neutron torpedo at the Gemini. "So while others don't believe you come from the future, we do... And according to what you said, this war never ended; it has continued all the way to two hundred years later." Walking up to the stunned Ye Shi, Luo Yi placed a hand on his shoulder and said in an earnest tone, "This is our war. We will not abandon you. We will continue moving forward on our timeline, while you return to yours. "We will rendezvous two hundred years from now. "To that end, I need you to hold nothing back and tell me everything you know about the Celestials." Looking into those resolute eyes, Ye Shi ultimately swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and nodded slowly. No matter how fantastical this plan sounded, no matter how slim the odds— For the sake of their determination, he was willing to take this gamble with them. And what if it actually worked? Not only would Jiang Xuezhou be saved, but the Alliance would also gain an immensely powerful ally! "I agree."