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墨書 Inktalez
In the void of space, surrounded by a chaotic darkness, there was only a distant flicker of light. In Ye Yu's consciousness, there remained just one thought: to run toward that glimmer.
Thus, Ye Yu kept running. Soon, he felt as if his legs were weighed down with lead; each lift of his foot required immense effort. Yet, Ye Yu refused to give up. He continued to push forward, feeling as if fire was rising in his throat, but he still could not relent.
He ran on, to the point where his body felt alien to him, as if only his soul was propelling him forward. However, that flicker of light remained far away, always out of reach.
"Ah—" Under the extreme pressure, Ye Yu finally shouted. The moment he did, the light before him suddenly expanded infinitely.
After a long while, Ye Yu finally regained his senses or perhaps remembered what had happened before. But this was no longer the small asteroid he had just escaped from; he now lay on a dilapidated spaceship. The damaged areas of the mech had sealed themselves again, but aside from the life support system still functioning, all other systems were completely broken.
The spaceship was not one he recognized from the Federation nor any imperial ship he had seen before. Its design was flat and circular with an extremely low height; neither Federation nor imperial personnel could move freely within it.
A massive gash had been torn into the belly of the ship, allowing starlight from the cosmos to filter in and barely illuminate its interior structure. The overall impression was one of extreme simplicity, resembling an empty shell. Only a solitary round pillar stood in the center. Surrounding it were patches of material corroded by time, resembling rust; however, upon closer inspection, it was evident that the ship's structure was exceptionally well-crafted, with faint glimmers occasionally flashing along its inner walls.
"It seems like I'm still in the Demon Realm Asteroid Belt," Ye Yu murmured to himself. The mech's power system had failed, and he could not even open the hatch.
"Zhou Hongwu..." Recovering himself, Ye Yu attempted to call out for Zhou Hongwu but found only static in response.
"Zhou Hongwu..."
At that moment, a voice echoed in his ear—an identical call that matched his own!
Ye Yu shook his head vigorously, thinking he was hallucinating.
"Private Ye Yu calling Arrow of Justice! Calling Arrow of Justice!" He switched the communication channel to that of the transport ship, but all he received was a cacophony of noise.
"Private? Ye Yu? Arrow of Justice?"
Suddenly, a strange voice rang in Ye Yu's ears again; this time it carried a tone of inquiry as if someone were softly whispering beside him.
"Who is it?"
Ye Yu tried to stand up, but in the cramped cockpit of the mech, which was tilted at an angle, his efforts were in vain.
"I cannot answer that question; I have forgotten who I am," a stiff voice in Federation Language echoed in Ye Yu's ear at that moment.
Through the mech's visual interface, Ye Yu saw nothing but emptiness around him; there was no one in sight.
"Come out, or don't blame me for being rude!"
Ye Yu gripped the Phase Gun at his waist, nervously scanning his surroundings. The mech's power system was completely damaged, leaving him unable to control it for combat.
"I just saved you; otherwise, you would have collided with a piece of meteorite."
The stiff voice in Federation Language sounded again. This time, Ye Yu noticed a faint blue glow flickering above a cylindrical object nearby.
He aimed his gun at the blue light and continued, "Whoever you are, if you don't come out now, I'll shoot!"
"I am a lover of peace," the stiff voice replied earnestly. "If you shoot, you'll breach your mech. At that point, the oxygen you rely on—yes, oxygen—will dissipate, and you won't survive."
"Hmph! You're from the Blue Seal Empire, aren't you? Stop pretending! We can perish together!" Ye Yu ultimately refrained from firing; he knew that if the other party wanted him dead, they could have done so while he was unconscious.
"Blue Seal Empire? I hear they are your arch-enemies!" At that moment, the blue light that had been hovering near the pillar suddenly detached and floated closer to Ye Yu.
Now Ye Yu could see that the blue light was actually a chip about the size of an adult's palm commonly found in the Federation. However, this chip had an ethereal quality to it, as if it were made of water, with shimmering light flowing within. Upon closer inspection, it possessed a unique charm.
"You... you're an artificial intelligence?" Ye Yu asked as the chip hovered before him, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
"Artificial intelligence? Of course not. To be precise, I am one of countless beings in this universe, just like you!"
The chip clearly disapproved of Ye Yu's description and flickered slightly in annoyance. However, as it claimed to be a lover of peace, it merely flickered without further aggression.
"Biological? There are beings like Chip?" Ye Yu pointed at Chip in astonishment. To be honest, it was the first time he had encountered a piece of Chip claiming to be a living entity. Even now, Ye Yu had yet to figure out how it communicated with him.
"What you see now is merely an information block composed of countless tiny particles; this can be considered my true form. Of course, we refer to it as Core!" Chip displayed an unexpected level of patience, not at all irritated by Ye Yu's "irrational" questions.
Ye Yu furrowed his brow slightly, but lowered his weapon and asked, "So what form do you usually take to exist?"
"In my memory, my kind can assume any form. However, most of us maintain a more rational appearance, similar to yours, with limbs, a body, and a head."
Chip seemed to blink, its flowing light swirling within it, adding a gentle beauty to the dim area around them.
"Which civilization do you come from? Based on what we know of the civilized worlds, you shouldn't belong to any of those we are familiar with." Ye Yu had already deduced that the other party hailed from an unknown civilization and felt compelled to uncover more about it. After all, when two different civilizations collide for the first time, there is a high chance that conflicts arise over resource competition.
This time, Chip did not respond but fell silent instead. The previously flickering light of pale blue dimmed significantly.
After a long pause, just as Ye Yu was about to lose patience, Chip finally spoke up: "Since I awakened a hundred years ago, I have been pondering this question. However, my memory has suffered severe trauma. All I can recall are some basic facts about my kin—knowledge that has seeped into my very genes.
Beyond that, I don't even know my name or where I came from. There is so much I have forgotten."
Hearing Chip's account made Ye Yu feel a pang of discomfort in his heart. It was as if he were witnessing someone losing their memory and facing the loneliness of a new world. In that moment, Ye Yu developed a sense of kinship with Chip.
"Then why have you been here all this time?" Although Ye Yu couldn't determine the level of development of Chip's civilization, it certainly shouldn't be so poor as to remain trapped here indefinitely.
"Energy..."
Chip's tone carried a hint of bitterness. Floating in the void for a century was an excruciating ordeal for any being.
"When I awoke, energy was already scarce; I could barely keep my consciousness alive. Just now, when the asteroid exploded and you nearly collided with the meteorite, I expended almost all my energy to pull you onto the ship. Now..."
As Chip spoke these words, its color grew even dimmer, resembling a flickering candle that could extinguish at any moment.
Ye Yu's heart skipped a beat; he felt that Chip was not lying. However, the ten years spent in the Arrow of Justice had forged his iron will, but it had also dulled the compassion he once had as a human.
"First of all, I thank you for saving me, but I remain skeptical about what you said!" Ye Yu's hand did not leave the Phase Gun. As a dark force within the military, he had to stay vigilant.
Chip's glow dimmed further, resembling distant starlight that could extinguish at any moment.
"For the past hundred years, I've watched you all fight and kill, and I can't understand why you can't work together for development. This universe is so vast; what are you spending all that energy on? Has it led to this distrustful nature in each of you?
What I say is the truth. Even if my energy is low, I won't truly perish; at most, I'll enter an indefinite slumber. But without energy replenishment—yes, what you call food—you won't survive seven days!"
It was only then that Ye Yu noticed the oxygen levels displayed on the monitor were critically low. This place had gone undiscovered for a century, meaning no one would come to rescue him anytime soon.
Ye Yu looked up at Chip and quickly made a decision.
"What are the conditions?"
"I need energy. Give me the Energy Gemstone from your mech, and I'll take you to the nearest planet!" Chip moved closer, but Ye Yu still couldn't understand how he was able to move freely.
"The Energy Gemstone from my mech can power such a massive ship? This vessel looks like it's at least a star system-class ship!"
Ye Yu questioned, not being a natural skeptic, but his experiences over the years forced him to consider these issues carefully.
"Whether it's your Federation or that Empire, both are wasting resources. I can unlock the true potential of the Energy Gemstone!"
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