Chapter 1019: Going Home

Chapter 1019: Homecoming

The city of Doma.

Beneath the sacred tree, a sea of heads swayed, faces upturned in devotion toward the golden canopy, their silent prayers murmuring in a tongue only they could understand.

The vast psychic energy wove itself into a net.

Though they had not truly communed face-to-face with the Insov Tree, the collective soul of tens of thousands, bound together, rivaled the presence of a deity.

They sensed It.

And were becoming It.

Dora, who had been leading the congregation in prayer, suddenly opened her eyes and rose slowly from the tangled roots.

Saque, who had succeeded to the chieftaincy, had appointed her the new High Priestess. She had not refused, but had set a time with him.

She would lead the forest’s faithful in prayer until the fourteenth sunset.

“…The light-sprites have built their nests in the canopy. As long as you pray with devotion, the golden glow that wraps the tree will never fade.”

These light-sprites were the “fireflies” of the forest.

Though the Doma tribe had yet to grasp the principle, when these tiny beings gathered, they visibly enriched the sacred tree.

Seeing Dora rise, Saque, leaning on his staff, shuffled to her side with trembling steps.

From priest to chieftain, these months had aged him, deepening the furrows of his face.

“Is it time?” the old man asked, his voice tinged with reluctance as he gazed into her eyes.

She was the most gifted temple maiden among the Doma youth, the one he most hoped would inherit his legacy.

He had even thought, when his own life waned, to pass the chieftaincy to her, letting her lead the tribe to further prosperity in these woods.

A pity…

Why did the Progenitor take her of all people?

Seeing the sorrow in the old man’s eyes, Dora nodded gently and spoke in a soft voice.

“The Progenitor calls me. The day of parting has come. I must bid you farewell.”

Saque sighed softly.

“When will you return?”

Dora answered truthfully.

“Perhaps never.”

The Progenitor had said that once she went to the heavens, she must obey the heavens’ rules.

Leaving this place, she would no longer be a Doman, nor even a Gaian.

Saque nodded, and in the end, he did not utter the words of entreaty. Instead, he blessed her.

“May your journey be smooth.”

Dora nodded, her gratitude sincere.

“Thank you for your blessing… Also, I have something to give you.”

She reached into her bosom and drew out a bundle of thin, shaved wooden slips, handing them to Saque.

He blinked in surprise, seeing rows of tiny tadpole-like characters carved into the wood.

“…What is this?” His face was full of bewilderment as he looked up at Dora.

Dora spoke softly.

“This is our script—the most precious knowledge our forebears never had time to pass on. I have tried to complete it, but it is not yet vivid or perfect. The refinement I leave to you.”

“From now on, let our history be carved in stone with these characters.”

She trusted the old man would understand, just as she had understood the symbols left by the Progenitor.

This was the gift of psychic power.

What they must do was to pass on what they grasped through psychic power to those who lacked it—until they found a stable way to awaken it.

Saque solemnly accepted the wooden slips from Dora and tucked them into his robe.

“I will devote the rest of my life to this task. I promise you.”

Dora said nothing, only gave the old man an embrace, then turned and walked away without looking back.

The prayers and rituals were drawing to a close. A new High Priestess would soon be chosen.

The priests and temple maidens prostrate at the tree’s roots gazed curiously at Saque standing on the roots, waiting in silence for him to speak.

When he remained silent for a long time, an elder of the tribe approached him and asked in a low voice.

“Where has she gone?”

Saque answered slowly.

“To another world.”

“Another… another world?” The elder was stunned; it was beyond his comprehension.

Saque himself could scarcely imagine what that world was like, only trying to understand from fragments of the past.

“It is a world of infinite prosperity, where all good people go in the end. She saved the forest. The Progenitor took her. She has ascended… We should bless her.”

Ascension…

That word entered the culture of the Doma for the first time.

Bearing countless good wishes, it would be passed down through generations of those who lived in this forest.

Not only Doma City celebrated her ascension; all the tribes of the forest held grand rituals in her honor.

From then on, the forest people’s calendar gained a new festival.

The day Dora left this land would be called the Festival of Ascension by those who dwelt here…

And as it happened, on the very day Dora departed this world, the Qiu tribe, who had fled into the mountains, finally emerged from the peaks under Qiu Ling’s leadership.

They were famished, battered, but they had not lost their way nor abandoned hope.

The roar of waves pounded every eardrum. At last, they saw the sea their ancestors had spoken of!

“The sea!”

Qiu Ling, rushing onto the beach, shouted like an ecstatic child to his stunned tribesmen behind him.

“It’s the sea from the prophecy!”

The boundless azure stunned their bewildered eyes; the awe in their hearts needed no words.

Even the most hesitant now believed in the infinitely fertile land their leader had promised—

“We will set up a camp here, gather food! And salt! Prepare to cross into a wider world! Trust me, if we follow the prophecy, even richer lands await us ahead!”

Qiu Ling shouted energetically, directing some to cut wood in the nearby forest, others to search for berries.

He himself sat by the shore, pondering how to haul something edible from the sea.

The sun rose and set, and in the blink of an eye, a day had passed.

Though he had caught no fish from the sea, the clever and quick-witted Qiu Ling was not without gain.

He had successfully roasted a crab!

This was likely the first time the "upright apes" of this planet had tasted the delicacy known as crab.

And these little creatures, with their tender meat, were almost inexhaustible on this bountiful beach—countless in number!

Wispy smoke curled into the sky as Qiu Ren built a campfire along the coastline.

This place was separated from the Forest People's territory by an entire mountain range, impossible for them to see.

At last, they no longer had to worry about attracting pursuers with fire, and they could finally eat cooked food.

Those resting around the campfire sang songs celebrating their victory, and carved the legend of their leader's conquest of the ocean onto the stone slabs they had taken from the Forbidden Forest Valley.

This journey would be longer than any of them could imagine, and the epic carved onto those stone slabs would stretch far beyond their wildest dreams.

Along the way, they would discover new scripts, new words, and new carriers and tools for recording and spreading information.

Some might fall behind, willingly or forced, settling in villages established along the route.

But most would follow their leader onward, to the ends of the world, in search of the legendary homeland...

...

Bidding farewell to her family, Dora returned to her tree hollow to gather some personal belongings and gifts from her tribe, then headed to the research vessel parked on the outskirts of Doma City.

When she reached the vicinity of the research vessel, Ye Shi, clad in powered armor, was dismantling the solar panels and drone charging stations previously deployed outside the ship.

"Are these things being taken down too?" Walking up to the silver machine, Dora bent down and asked curiously.

"Of course."

Lifting the last packed storage crate, Ye Shi replied with a smile.

"Otherwise, in a few thousand years, when your people dig these up, it'll be hard to explain where they came from."

Dora was puzzled.

"Can't we just tell them directly?"

Ye Shi shook his head.

"It's not time yet, and... some things aren't as simple as you think."

In a sense, human civilization had already paid the price for reckless third-contact protocols. The new alliance would likely adhere to a policy of non-interference for a long time, letting these natives evolve naturally in their own way on their own land.

As long as they didn't blow up their own home, the alliance probably wouldn't meddle in their internal affairs anymore.

"Leave those troublesome matters to those who enjoy looking for trouble. We're about to set off."

Carrying the last crate back into the research vessel, Ye Shi stood at the hatch and waved to her.

She followed nervously, stepping through the hatch into the interior of the research vessel.

The silver-white walls were like works of art; everything that met her eyes filled her with wonder and novelty.

"You... live here normally?"

"How could that be?" Ye Shi couldn't help but laugh. "This is called a research vessel. Jiang Xuezhou should have explained it to you."

Dora nodded blankly.

The other Progenitor had indeed told her that this was a ship that could fly in the sky.

But what was a ship?

For the forest tribes, the farthest they had ever traveled was the eastern mountains.

Though there were some wide rivers in the forest, they usually controlled plant growth to form bridges to cross them. So they had no concept of ships, or even bridges.

In a sense, while psionic power had granted them much, it had also limited them greatly.

It was hard to say whether this was good or bad; only further observation could yield conclusions.

Just then, Jiang Xuezhou's voice came through the communication channel, startling Dora, who was examining the research vessel's seat with curious hands.

"Ye Shi! Are you ready or not? If you're ready, I'll take off."

"Already okay."

Ye Shi made an OK gesture at the camera, then signaled Dora to fasten her seatbelt like he did.

"Like... this is enough?"

The tight restraint made Dora feel uncomfortable, but she obediently endured it and didn't undo the belt.

"Yep, that's enough."

Seeing her "uncomfortable" expression, Ye Shi wanted to help her, but remembering that a certain jealous person was still floating in the sky, he silently pretended not to notice.

Just bear with it.

It'll be over soon.

A soft electronic prompt sounded from the communication channel, and pale blue text scrolled and flickered on the holographic display.

It seemed Jiang Xuezhou had been really bored during his seclusion—she'd even made this passenger takeoff reminder.

Ye Shi rested the back of his head on the safety seat and took a deep breath.

Finally—

Time to go home!

[The spacecraft is entering takeoff preparation phase. Please remain seated with seatbelts fastened—]

[5...]

[4...]

[3... 2... 1—]

[Engine start.]

The instant the electronic prompt ended, a massive thrust surged from beneath the seat, propelling the research vessel skyward.

The violent shaking startled Dora, but seeing Ye Shi calmly closing his eyes, she soon settled down.

The spacecraft flew for a while, nearing the edge of the clouds.

Then, leaning back in his safety seat, Ye Shi opened his eyes.

"Actually, this research vessel wasn't this shaky before... By the way, are you curious what the forest you once lived in looks like?"

Dora nodded hastily.

"I want to see."

Ye Shi traced a line in the air with his index finger, and a pale blue holographic screen soon projected the view beneath the research vessel at its center.

Watching the emerald forest shrink into a curved surface, and the sun that had already set behind the mountains being "pulled" back to the horizon's edge, Dora stared with wide, incredulous eyes, her expression of awe beyond words.

Ye Shi didn't disturb her; he let her watch as the forest grew smaller and smaller, until its edges blurred into the thick atmosphere.

The two of them remained silent throughout the journey.

The research vessel, with its anti-gravity device activated, accelerated along the edge of the atmosphere, leaping into the deep cosmos like a dragonfly springing from the water's surface, and slowly drifted toward the Orion-class missile cruiser hovering in synchronous orbit.

Gazing at the towering steel fortress, Dora's eyes widened as if they might pop out of their sockets, and she exclaimed.

"Heavenly Palace!"

"Another Heavenly Palace... Actually, this one has a bit of a connection to yours," Night Ten said with a smile, his thoughts drifting back two hundred years.

Who would have thought that the Orion and the Gemini, which had annihilated each other two centuries ago, would reunite in such a manner.

Passing through the shattered hull, the Gemini successfully landed inside the Orion.

Seeing Night Ten unbuckle his seatbelt, Dora mimicked his movements, removed hers, and eagerly ran to open the door, but just as she reached the threshold, Night Ten pulled her back.

"Easy now, put on this 'spacesuit,'" he said, tossing an extravehicular suit into her hands.

He then instructed her on how to wear it and how to use voice commands to check the equipment's integrity.

After finally completing the final preparations, he evacuated the air from the cabin and then opened the research vessel's hatch.

Seeing Night Ten standing at the door, Jiang Xuezhou, who had been waiting at the hatch, could no longer contain her longing, and with tears streaming, she threw herself at him.

"Night Ten!"

Her round astronaut helmet collided with his chin, causing him to wince in pain, but he held back his complaints and patted her on the back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Standing beside the research vessel, Dora stared blankly at the embracing Ancestor, then shifted her gaze to the robot with a round belly nearby.

The robot raised its arm and greeted her proactively.

"Hello."

It was just a simple greeting, yet it left Dora frozen in place, a look of fright spreading across her face.

Noticing her reaction, Jiang Xuezhou jumped down from Night Ten's shoulder, cleared her throat lightly, and said.

"It's called Little Koala... it's the child of one of the engineers on this starship."

"Little... Koala?"

Dora stared blankly at Little Koala, and it took her a long while to stammer out a sentence in broken Human Federation language, "Why... can't I feel your soul?"

"Hmm... why indeed?" Little Koala didn't seem too concerned about the question, rubbing its non-existent chin with a clumsy mechanical hand, "Maybe because I'm not human."

"So psychic energy only works on organic beings..." Jiang Xuezhou rubbed her chin, nodding thoughtfully, "Interesting... I wonder if androids have that kind of thing."

"Androids?" Dora tilted her head, looking puzzled.

Honestly, she didn't even understand what "robots" or "machines" were, only thinking they were some kind of powerful magic.

Seeing Dora's confusion, Jiang Xuezhou generously explained.

"A type of robot that's almost no different from humans—not just in appearance, but even capable of thinking like a person... Don't worry, I'll teach you the meanings of some technical terms. Hey, first tell me your thoughts—how does it feel to be up in the sky for the first time? Is it what you imagined?"

As she spoke, Jiang Xuezhou's eyes sparkled with keen interest, leaning in as if she had discovered some fascinating specimen.

Dora smiled sheepishly, turned her gaze to the porthole, and after a moment, voiced her thoughts.

"To be honest... it's quite incredible."

"For example?"

"For example... it's so dark."

Withdrawing her gaze from the deep, dark void, Dora looked back at the Ancestor in the round helmet and thick suit, and said shyly, "I thought the stars would be brighter... Do you usually live here?"

"Of course not, we live on another star five light-years away," Night Ten interjected with a smile, patiently explaining, "As for the darkness... it's because we're too close to this star; the light from other stars is obscured. It'll be better once we move farther away."

Dora nodded blankly, her eyes fixed on the emerald-green planet.

So she had always lived on a star, and the star she lived on was just one among countless in the sky.

"What does 'five light-years' mean?"

"It means light takes five years to travel... Ah, by the way, 'year' here refers to an Earth year, not your local year," Night Ten suddenly remembered that the orbital period here differed from Earth's, so he added a clarification.

"I see..."

Dora was silent for a long time, then let out a soft sigh, "I never imagined the forest we lived in was so tiny, and we never even realized that the ground beneath our feet was spherical... I always thought it was flat."

Jiang Xuezhou teased.

"It's normal that you don't understand—barring any surprises, it would take you a few hundred or even a thousand years to figure that out."

Dora said nothing, just stared intently at the emerald-green planet, her heart half-filled with the joy of knowing the truth, half with worry.

All those questions she couldn't understand or fathom before were suddenly answered the moment she stepped into the stars.

Yet what saddened her was that her people would still wander in this maze for a very long time...

Not just her people, but also the Qiu who had left the forest.

She remembered the young man's name was Qiu Ling; he had sworn to measure the earth beneath his feet with his own steps. She wondered how far he had traveled.

If the world was a sphere, then didn't that mean there was no such thing as "the edge of the world"?

He had been doing something destined to be fruitless from the start, and he would probably keep walking that path until the end of his life.

How pitiful...

Seeing Dora lost in thought, Night Ten casually asked.

"What are you thinking about?"

Dora was silent for a moment, then looked at the two Ancestors and spoke with a hint of confusion.

"I was thinking... why can't we tell them all this? That the world is vast, that we live on a star, that the ground is round..."

Night Ten and Jiang Xuezhou exchanged glances.

The latter wore a subtle expression, scratched her helmet, and after a moment, said.

"Do you feel like you've been kept in the dark?"

Dora quickly replied.

"I never thought that, I just thought... maybe we could join you. Even though we're still ignorant and weak for now, we can learn from you, and sooner or later, we'll be able to help."

Jiang Xuezhou said patiently.

"Actually, we've considered the issue you're talking about, but it's still too early to discuss it now."

Dora asked, stunned.

"Why?"

"Why? How should I put this..." Jiang Xuezhou was a bit flustered and looked to Night Ten for help.

Seeing that Jiang Xuezhou couldn't continue, Night Ten thought for a moment, looked into Dora's eyes, and answered.

"Because... the universe is darker than you imagine. You just happened to see the beam of light that entered your field of vision, so you mistakenly thought the whole universe was bright, but it's not."

"If I told you that our world isn't as wonderful as you think, that we have problems that give us headaches, and I'm sure you couldn't solve them, just like you couldn't digest the technology we give you... Are you sure it's a good thing to bring your people fully into our fold?"

Dora was momentarily speechless.

This was indeed beyond her realm of knowledge.

And she discovered, bewildered, that reality indeed seemed to be so; even before she had arrived at the world of the Progenitors, just standing in the sky, she already felt disappointment.

Perhaps summoning the Progenitors might not necessarily be a good thing after all.

In this regard, the Progenitors saw much further than she did.

“...You actually have the potential to nurture your own civilization, and even inspire us to solve the problems common to both of us. But if you intend to skip these steps and become us directly... I think that might not be a good thing for either of us.”

Looking at Dora, who seemed to have understood, Ye Shi continued.

“You can take this question to our world. Once you arrive on the wasteland, you will naturally understand what I mean.”

“Also, by then someone will discuss with you the question of how the two worlds should coexist...”