Chapter 144: Lin Mo's Fingertips |
Lin Mo's fingertips still rested on that fluorescent light band in the notebook when he suddenly heard the rustling sound of fabric friction behind him. He whirled around and saw golden pollen clinging to the torn edges of his work pants drifting down in flurries. The youth's figure gradually solidified within the web woven by light trails, pollen from his hair tips falling to the ground and actually sprouting tiny Stardust Flower seedlings.
"Your badge has been polished until it shines." Xiao Yuan reached out to touch the metal on his chest, but his fingertips stopped just before making contact, instead grabbing star crystal fragments from the ground. The fragments swirled with silver-blue light in his palm. "The purification solution only succeeded on the 172nd attempt. Brother, you're still as stubborn as ever."
Lin Mo's throat tightened when he noticed the mining lamp protruding halfway from the other's work pants pocket, its glass cover cracked with spiderweb patterns—the very lamp he had personally repaired three years ago when Xiao Yuan had run off with it. "After the mine tunnel collapsed, I followed the Stardust Flower roots very far," the youth suddenly laughed, his canine teeth pressing into his lower lip. "Their roots grow toward where star crystals gather densely, just like people always move toward light."
Before his words faded, the console's alarm suddenly intensified. On the robot's screen, three newly generated mineral vein branches glowed with piercing red light. "High-purity star crystal resonance detected. Mineral veins may experience chain reaction." Just as Lin Mo was about to rush over to adjust the light trail parameters, his wrist was gently grasped. Xiao Yuan's palm carried the slight coolness of Stardust Flower stems, yet felt more real than any memory.
"Follow the light trails." The youth pulled him charging deep into the mine tunnel. Those originally winding light trails suddenly straightened, like silver threads combed by invisible hands. The engravings on the rock walls began to grow hot, and from the earliest crooked little flower pattern, golden liquid droplets actually seeped out, falling to the ground and instantly growing into half-person-high flower plants.
"When the star crystals here formed, they encapsulated Tongchen Star's earliest magnetic field," Xiao Yuan's voice mixed with the mineral veins' vibrating hum. "Back then at the collapse site, I discovered star crystals replicate life signals they've contacted—just like now." He pointed at Lin Mo's chest badge, where two light bands overflowed from the metal edges, intertwining with the red light from the mineral vein depths to form a net.
Only then did Lin Mo understand—those day-and-night purification efforts, those life waveforms recorded by the robot, had never been his efforts alone. Within the silver light of the 172nd purification solution hid three years' worth of countless nights, the star crystal energy the youth had transmitted through rock layers.
"Core resonance is about to activate." Xiao Yuan suddenly stopped walking, turned around, and pressed that star crystal fragment into his palm. "The star gate needs a stable energy source. Only your badge can guide the frequency." The fragment burned astonishingly hot in Lin Mo's palm. He saw the youth's figure begin turning transparent, strands of light mist drifting from the torn parts of his work pants.
"Don't go!" Lin Mo reached out to embrace him, but only caught armfuls of light particles. Those light particles climbed along his arms to his shoulders, condensing beside his ear into the youth's final words: "Brother, when the Stardust Flower seeds burst open, remember to make a wish."
When the star crystal fragment embedded into the control console, the entire mine tunnel suddenly fell silent. Lin Mo heard the crisp sound of Stardust Flower seeds bursting open surging from all directions, like countless tiny blessings. He looked down at the two badges on his chest. On the back of the new "guardian" badge, the edges of two names were seeping golden light, blooming into small light halos on his protective suit.
Children's exclamations came from the distance. When Lin Mo looked up, he saw Tongchen Star's dome cracking open with a light fissure, the two entwined stars in the star map slowly rotating within. Countless light butterflies drifted down from the light fissure, each wing imprinted with different patterns—the old man's metal bucket, the little girl's hair tie, and Xiao Yuan's cracked mining lamp.
The robot handed him a cup of tea brewed with Stardust spring water. Water droplets condensed on the cup's surface rolled down, growing into entwined flower vines on the table. Lin Mo suddenly remembered how Xiao Yuan always said Tongchen Star's water remembers everyone who ever came here. He sipped the tea, his tongue tip blooming with the clear sweetness of star crystals, like that snowy night years ago when the youth rushed into the outpost clutching warm roasted sweet potatoes, light dancing in his eyes.
When all the starship hatches opened, Lin Mo saw Alliance scientists marveling at the engravings on the rock walls. He walked to the mine tunnel entrance, gazing at the Stardust Flowers covering mountains and fields, then suddenly bent down to pick one. The petals turned into light particles in his palm, drifting with the wind toward distant places, like carrying some youth's unspoken wish, flying toward vaster cosmos.
The badge on his chest grew completely warm. Lin Mo knew some goodbyes were never endpoints. Just like Tongchen Star's light would always remember two youths who had been here, using three years of waiting and perseverance to grow a sea of flowers connecting the stars.