Chapter 143: Stardust Flowers Planted by Hand |
The Stardust Flower that the youth had personally planted was now shaking off particles of light from its entire form. The bud at the very top suddenly bloomed, revealing layer upon layer of petals floating around a semi-transparent crystal shard, as if containing the light of an entire galaxy. The moment Lin Mo reached out to catch it, the crystal shard suddenly transformed into flowing fireflies that slipped through his fingertips into his protective suit, gathering into a small ball of light over the position of his chest badge.
"Brother, look—I found the core of the star crystal."
The youth's voice was no longer just an echo in his memories, but clear as if he were leaning right over his shoulder, carrying the distinctive dust-filled air of the mine tunnels. Lin Mo whipped his head around, and there in the shadows beside the control console stood a half-grown figure, with worn-out holes at the knees of his work pants and golden pollen from Stardust Flowers still clinging to his hair tips—exactly how he looked that snowy night three years ago when he ran out to search for the star crystal vein.
"Xiao Yuan?" Lin Mo's voice caught in his throat, the light-trail commands at his fingertips suddenly going haywire as the starship fleet in the holographic projection began to tremble slightly.
The youth called Xiao Yuan however grinned, revealing his canine teeth, and raised his hand to shake the star crystal fragments he held. "I told you there were good things hidden here. Look how far the light trails have grown along the roots—won't this make the Alliance starships able to land now?" As he spoke, he moved to pounce forward, but his figure faded upon touching Lin Mo's sleeve, like smoke scattered by the wind.
"Xiao Yuan!" Lin Mo reached out to grab him, but caught only a handful of light particles. Those light particles fell upon the Stardust Flower's leaves and suddenly converged along the leaf veins into thin lines, forming winding patterns on the ground—exactly the mineral vein map Xiao Yuan had drawn before his disappearance three years ago, with three entire additional branches beyond the version in the Alliance database, each endpoint marked with a flickering asterisk.
The robot's sensors went wild, the life signal waveform on the screen growing increasingly clear, gradually synchronizing with Lin Mo's heartbeat rhythm. In the hidden compartment beneath the control console, that row of glass tubes began to resonate, the 172nd purification fluid glowing with silver-blue light that climbed up the Stardust Flower's roots and stems along the light trails. Lin Mo suddenly remembered that night when Xiao Yuan last transmitted data—only static and intermittent coughing came through the communicator, he said the mine tunnels were collapsing, yet the star crystal sample in his hand shone astonishingly bright.
"Uncle Lin! The flower buds are blooming again!" A little girl's shout came from the mine tunnel entrance. When Lin Mo turned, he saw the entire rock wall covered with Stardust Flower vines, golden blossoms spreading along the light trails all the way to the dome ceiling, illuminating the mine tunnels bright as day. Hanging from the thickest vine was a familiar canvas bag—exactly the one Xiao Yuan always carried on his back, with a polished star crystal fragment pinned at the zipper.
He reached out and opened the canvas bag, from which rolled out a rusted metal canteen and a notebook swollen from being soaked in stardust fluid. The handwriting on the last page was blurred by water, but he could clearly see two little figures holding hands drawn at the end, with stars colored above them using fluorescent marker. As Lin Mo's fingertips brushed over the paper surface, the ink suddenly came alive—the figures gradually clarified, one of them reaching out toward the other, the light band extending from its fingertips connecting with the real-world light trails.
In the holographic projection, the largest flagship began to descend slowly, its searchlights perfectly illuminating the rock wall at the mine tunnel entrance. Only then did Lin Mo notice that the rocks illuminated by the light trails were covered with dense markings—records of Stardust Flower growth data that Xiao Yuan had documented over the years, with the earliest date being exactly when they first arrived at the outpost, alongside a clumsily sketched little flower.
As the starship's hatch opened, children came running holding Stardust Flower seeds, while the old man's metal bucket contained glowing spring water that sprouted new tender shoots immediately upon touching the ground. The badge on Lin Mo's chest suddenly grew scalding hot. He looked up toward the dome ceiling, where Tongchen Star's starmap grew increasingly distinct in the cosmos, another slightly dimmer star gradually appearing around the brightest one, their light bands intertwining like two tightly clasped hands.
"Brother, look—we did it."
The youth's voice sounded again, this time not fading away. When Lin Mo looked down, he saw a small light butterfly resting on the Stardust Flower's petal, the patterns on its wings exactly matching the badge Xiao Yuan had forged. The light butterfly fluttered its wings, circled around him three times, then suddenly shot toward the dome ceiling, transforming into the light band connecting the two stars in the starmap.
The robot handed him a new badge engraved with "Guardian of Tongchen Star," two names nestled closely together on its back. Lin Mo pinned it on his chest, overlapping it with the original badge, the cold metal finally turning completely warm. In the distance came the roar of starships landing, children's laughter mixing with the crisp sound of Stardust Flower seeds bursting open, like a ballad soaked in light.