Chapter 142: Lin Mo's Fingertips |
Lin Mo's fingertips traced the final command across the control panel when the light rail system emitted a resonant hum, as if countless strings were vibrating in harmony within Tongchen Star's crust. In the holographic projection, the Alliance's starship fleet followed the guidance of the light rails, their searchlights piercing through nebulae and casting golden bands of light beyond the atmosphere, intertwining with the starmap on the planetary surface.
"Brother, look at that biggest one!" For a fleeting moment, he seemed to hear the excited voice of a youth leaning over the control console. Three years ago on that snowy night, his younger brother had pointed at the Alliance flagship on the starmap, saying that one day he would make it stop for Tongchen Star. Now the shadow of the starship fell upon the rock wall at the mine entrance, resembling a metal bird spreading its wings, with light particles cascading from the wing edges and spiraling together with Stardust Flower pollen.
The robot suddenly rotated its mechanical arm, pointing toward a hidden compartment beneath the control console. When Lin Mo bent down to open it, rows of labeled glass tubes glowed with fluorescence in the light rail's illumination—"172nd Star Crystal Purification Solution," "Stardust Flower Cold Resistance Gene Samples," "Revised Light Rail Conduction Formulas." In the bottom-most tube floated a rusted badge, the "Guardian No. 732" emblem the youth had forged from mining slag when he first arrived at the outpost, with two crooked characters engraved on the back: brothers.
He pinned the badge to his protective suit's chest, and the metal's cold touch suddenly turned warm, as if a small flame danced within it. Just then, children's shouts came through the communicator—the little girl with pigtails ran across the light rails holding star crystal fragments, light particles crushed beneath her heels clinging to her hair ends, looking from afar like she wore a glowing dandelion crown.
"Uncle Lin! The Stardust Flowers have seeded!" She stood on tiptoe holding up a golden seed pod, the grains inside emitting faint cracking sounds. Wherever each seed landed, tender shoots immediately emerged, madly growing along the light rail's patterns. The old man followed behind, his metal bucket swaying and scattering fine light particles. He said these days, every time he watered the soil, new light rails would emerge, as if someone was secretly laying paths underground.
Lin Mo crouched down to catch the drifting seeds. The moment the light bands at his fingertips touched the seed coats, the shells cracked open, revealing curled sprouts inside that surprisingly resembled miniature starmaps. He suddenly remembered what his brother had written in his notes: Stardust Flower roots grow along star crystal patterns, just as human hearts always beat toward the light.
From deep within the mine tunnel came the soft sound of rolling stones. The robot's optical lens detected unusual movement near the star crystal monument—the light rails there suddenly arched upward, lifting a half-buried metal box from the soil. Lin Mo pried open the corroded lid to find thirty-seven star crystal bottles neatly arranged inside, each engraved with a date at the bottom. The earliest one was from that stormy night three years ago, the bottle still retaining the warmth of the youth's fingertips.
"37th attempt, light rail can circle half the mine tunnel." The writing on the bottle surface was blurred by stardust fluid, yet one could still sense the excitement in the youth's pen strokes. Lin Mo brought the bottle close to a light source, and the light within suddenly awakened, climbing up his wrist to his shoulder, forming transparent wings behind his back that strikingly resembled light butterflies taking flight.
Just then, the Alliance communication came through again, the director's voice choked with emotion: "We received the last starmap transmission he sent. In the star crystal monument's interlayer, there's a letter for you." In the holographic projection, yellowed letter paper drifted out from the monument's cracks, the handwriting enveloped in light particles that somehow carried the youth's tone: "Brother, when light rails cover the entire planet, remember to look up. I'll be waiting for you at the brightest point of the starmap."