Chapter 141: Lin Mo Steps onto the Light Track |
As if that farewell figure was still turning back in the light halo, Lin Mo stepped onto the light rail, each step stirring up fine light particles, like walking on his younger brother's unfinished words. The robot's optical lens turned eastward, where the light rail was climbing upward along the fault line, and the star chart pieced together on the cliff face suddenly lit up with new bright spots, as if someone had lit a lamp in a distant time and space.
"It's the resonance signal from the star crystal monument." Lin Mo's communicator suddenly popped up with a notification, the waveform dancing on the holographic interface gradually overlapping with the memory of his younger brother's heartbeat frequency. He recalled that stormy night three years ago, when the young man crouched deep in the mining tunnel, clutching a piece of broken star crystal, saying he wanted to make Harmony Dust Star's light more reliable than any navigation system. Back then, in the mine lamp's halo, the young man's eyelashes were still dusted with stardust powder, like scattered crushed diamonds.
The outline of the outpost gradually sharpened in the morning light, the rusted iron door entwined by light rails into a golden net, the carved "732" on the lintel seeping with light fluid, spreading into a winding river on the wall. When Lin Mo pushed the door open, the screeching sound of metal friction startled a swarm of light butterflies—creatures formed from Stardust Flower pollen, now circling the operation table, their wing fluttering sounds eerily similar to his younger brother's soft noises while adjusting instruments.
The star chart on the operation table was already covered with light rails, the outermost blank area pressed down by half an eraser still bearing the young man's tooth marks. Lin Mo reached out to trace those glowing tracks, his fingertips touching still-wet carvings—small characters scratched with star crystal fragments: "Brother's birthday, make up on light rail segment 17." He suddenly remembered last year's birthday, when his communicator only picked up static; he thought it was storm interference at the time, but actually the young man was lying in a minus thirty-degree mining tunnel, using body heat to melt star crystal fluid.
The robot's storage compartment suddenly made a soft sound as a tin can labeled "Lin Mo's Pillow" rolled out from the bottom layer. When Lin Mo opened the lid, the fragrance of Stardust Flowers suddenly overflowed—the bottom was lined with dried Stardust Flower petals, embedded with a crescent-moon-shaped polished star crystal containing a faint glow: it was his own image dozing off during late-night drafting, secretly captured by the young man with a pinhole camera and preserved in crystal with star crystal fluid.
"So you knew everything." Lin Mo's thumb brushed the star crystal surface, where the light suddenly pulsed intensely, reflecting the young man's figure huddled by the mine lamp. In the image, the young man was injecting light fluid into the star crystal, his protective suit torn to reveal skin reddened by cold, yet he smiled at the camera saying: "When brother comes, he can sleep pillowed by starlight."
The light rails outside the window suddenly lit up collectively. When Lin Mo looked up, he saw Stardust Flowers blooming simultaneously across the wasteland, light fluid converging underground along root systems, spelling out a massive character for "home" on the surface—exactly the pattern the children had made with stones. The old man stood holding the children's hands at the character's center, the little girl with pigtails holding a star crystal fragment, gesturing toward the light rails as light particles cascaded from her fingertips like scattered stars.
The communicator suddenly vibrated—it was the Star Alliance's response signal. When Lin Mo opened the interface, the holographic projection displayed the Alliance headquarters' dome, where the celestial star chart was gradually aligning with Harmony Dust Star's light rails. "Coordinates received," a familiar voice mixed into the mechanical tone—it was the Alliance observatory director. "Your brother submitted an application three months ago, saying he'd open the coordinates once light covered the planet, along with a Stardust Flower cultivation manual."
Lin Mo's gaze fell on the manual's final signature—the young man's handwriting blurred golden by stardust fluid, a crooked smiley face drawn beside it. He suddenly remembered the young man always saying light remembers everything. Now every crack in the outpost was seeping light; inside the operation table's drawer, that worn-out star crystal cultivation notebook automatically opened, stardust sap between pages connecting into lines, Piecing together the young man’s outline in the air.—wearing a protective suit with worn-out elbows, holding a complete star crystal, smiling brighter than the sea of light.
Wind blew from deep within the mining tunnel, carrying Stardust Flower fragrance across the wasteland. Lin Mo turned toward the operation table, connecting the Star Alliance's response signal to the light rail system. Instantly, Harmony Dust Star's light rails collectively brightened, piecing together a beating heart in the cosmos, as if telling all lost travelers: There is light here, this is home.
On the distant ridge line, children's laughter drifted along the light rails as the old man watered newly planted Stardust Flowers, the seedlings in tin cans already half human height, golden petals stretching toward the sun. Watching those light rails extending toward the horizon, Lin Mo suddenly understood his younger brother never left—he simply became Harmony Dust Star's light, forever guarding this wasteland he illuminated with his life.
Deep in the mining cave at the light rail's end, the star crystal monument's glow connected with celestial light bands, each name on the monument lighting up like countless eyes watching the dawn. Lin Mo raised his hand to touch his chest logbook, where light resonated with the light bands in his veins, projecting an entire star chart onto his skin.
"We're home." He whispered into the empty mining tunnel as ripples suddenly appeared on the light rails behind him, like someone gently patting his shoulder. When Lin Mo turned, morning light was spreading across Harmony Dust Star's wasteland, Stardust Flowers blooming sequentially along light rails, weaving an eternal star sea across the surface—the homecoming path his younger brother had paved for him over three years.