Chapter 133: Stardust Returns Home |
As dusk deepened, the searchlights from the Alliance engineering team pierced the night sky, illuminating the workshop ruins as bright as day. A scrap-collecting robot crouched beside the wreckage of the black spacecraft, carefully peeling off surface armor with a laser cutter. Its optical lenses occasionally glanced at the star crystal badge in Lin Mo's hand, its mechanical arms still stained with uncleaned metal debris.
"The radiation levels from these wreckages have dropped to safe ranges." Lin Mo pinned the star crystal badge to his chest, its blue patterns shimmering under the searchlights. "But the core components should be left for Alliance analysis. The Obsidian Legion's energy weapon technology is worth studying." The robot's processor emitted a cheerful hum as it suddenly pointed a mechanical arm at the sky—three silver-white Alliance battleships were descending slowly, their "Star Alliance Exploration Team" insignias particularly conspicuous against the night sky.
An investigator stepped off the battleship on a hover platform, her military boots making crisp sounds on the metal floor. She took the data chip Lin Mo handed her, and a holographic projection immediately displayed Stardust's flight path in the air: "The remnants of the military faction have all been eliminated. The High Council has decided to restart the Subspace Corridor project, with you as the chief technical advisor." She pointed at the twinkling star chart in the projection. "These undisclosed exploration coordinates will become the starting points for new routes."
Lin Mo's mechanical arm lightly touched a particular star in the projection: "This is Chenxing, my brother's favorite observation point." The hologram suddenly switched, showing star chart records from twenty years ago—young Lin Chen had written in the logs: "When the Subspace Corridor is completed, children on every planet will be able to see Chenxing's auroras." Beside the handwriting was a crooked smiley face, as if defying the loneliness of the universe.
A metallic scraping sound suddenly came from the ruins of the underground mechanical warehouse. The scrap-collecting robot issued an alert: "Energy fluctuations detected!" Lin Mo quickly activated his analyzer, the screen displaying a peculiar energy resonance—the energy ring from Stardust's wreckage was vibrating in sync with the badge on his chest. From cracks in the distant ruins, faint blue light particles continuously surged out, gathering in the night sky to form a phantom image of Stardust's hull.
"It's responding to the badge's energy frequency." Lin Mo removed the badge and raised it overhead, the patterns on his mechanical arm aligning with the phantom in the air. "Stardust's AI core wasn't completely destroyed—it backed up the data in subspace fragments." The phantom suddenly emitted a bright light, countless particles scattering like fireflies and landing in everyone's palms—these were Stardust's flight log data, memory fragments existing as energy forms.
I opened my palm as the light particles formed a line of text: "Brother, remember our promise." The moment the handwriting dissipated, the holographic projection automatically updated the star chart. The newly added route network resembled a silver spiderweb, connecting previously isolated planets. The investigator's communicator suddenly rang, and her eyes glistened with tears after hearing the report: "The High Council just passed a bill naming the new interstellar route system 'Stardust.'"
The scrap-collecting robot suddenly jumped up—its trailer was somehow filled with repaired parts: "Can these trade for a new airship?" Lin Mo smiled and tossed it an energy crystal: "Enough for an automated navigation collection ship." The robot deftly caught the crystal with its mechanical arm, then suddenly scanned the night sky with its scanner. "Subspace Corridor activation signal detected! Coordinates recorded!"
Three days later at the opening ceremony, Lin Mo stood on the newly built spaceport control tower, the star crystal badge on his chest gleaming in the sunlight. The first civilian passenger airships slowly entered the subspace channel, their exhaust flames marking safe routes across the starry sky. On the ground, children cheered while waving flags with Stardust's image, their glow sticks forming a flowing river of light reminiscent of Stardust's former trajectory.
The scrap-collecting robot became a special employee at the spaceport, maneuvering its modified collection ship through the corridors to collect space debris. Its cockpit was plastered with Stardust route stickers, and it would sound its horn in tribute whenever passing Chenxing. Lin Mo occasionally received messages from it, attached with photos of newly discovered star crystals—always with a crooked smiley doodle in the corner.
As sunset dyed the spaceport red, Lin Mo placed two bouquets of astral flowers—the brothers' favorite interstellar plants—before the memorial. The monument was engraved with Stardust's route chart, inscribed at the bottom: "Exploration is not conquest, but connection." In the distance, subspace channels glowed blue as new airships embarked, their exhaust trails stretching across the twilight like writing an eternal promise in the cosmos.
The night breeze brushed by as the star crystal badge on his chest grew slightly warm. Lin Mo seemed to hear Stardust's engine roar transcending time, intertwining with the new corridor's energy pulses into a song. Those scattered fragments had finally been pieced together; those silent memories shone anew. Among the sea of stars, there will always be beacons lighting the way home, and stories continuing to spread across light-years.