The planet Jiang Ye, which filled his entire vision, suddenly folded into a rippling pattern!
All the stars became long, curved lines, resembling Van Gogh's "Starry Night."
Jiang Ye knew that the warp drive had begun to work, and the spaceship was now within a warp bubble. The original space had been distorted into waves, and the ship was skipping across the crests, moving forward rapidly through space ripples.
Jiang Ye Planet rapidly shrank, becoming an almost invisible speck within seconds.
Absolute silence enveloped all directions!
Jiang Ye understood how the warp drive worked, but he didn't know how the ship achieved it. Seeing the distorted universe outside, he was speechless for a long time, completely stunned.
Occasionally, a planet or asteroid would flash by, folded into strange shapes, with vibrant colors flashing.
Jiang Ye took out his phone to try it, and sure enough, he couldn't connect to the internet. Only a line of text appeared:
【You are currently in a spatial turbulence and cannot provide network services at this time】
Humans are very adaptable. Jiang Ye, initially as excited as his first time on an airplane, soon grew accustomed to it. Such warp travel would take another 20 hours. Standing and watching the scenery the whole time would be exhausting!
He took off his clothes, got into bed, and slept!
...
The 20-hour warp journey was quickly nearing its end.
Jiang Ye took a shower in the bathroom, dried himself, and put on the formal attire he had brought. He even shaved in front of the mirror.
After such a long absence, he naturally wanted to appear at his most handsome.
He opened his suitcase and organized the items he had brought.
A letter to Cen Yemeng, totaling over eighty pages. During this time, Jiang Ye had sat down and written letters whenever he had free time, detailing trivial matters and a lot of mushy words.
A handgun and two magazines. A habit formed in the colonies, he didn't feel safe without a weapon at hand when traveling.
Several sets of clothes, both inner and outer.
A sudden, urgent alarm blared, and red lights illuminated the entire interior of the spaceship.
"Level One Security Alert! The airspace near Node Star has been designated a war zone!"
"Detected a large number of high-velocity weapons in the vicinity!"
"Received military no-fly order. Mil warships detected in the airspace near Node Star, engaging in combat!"
"Recommend returning! Recommend returning!"
Jiang Ye stood up abruptly, looking out the window. The warp drive speed had noticeably slowed. He could see the massive Node Star, with cities on the land twinkling with continuous lights. In the dark space nearby, large swathes of glowing points were moving, thousands upon thousands, like bullets flying erratically in the night sky!
"Return to base?" the spaceship asked loudly.
"Continue forward!" Jiang Ye ordered. "Descend to Basong City!"
"Proceeding will enter the combat zone, with the risk of being hit by weapons. Please confirm whether to continue?"
"Proceed!" Jiang Ye raised his voice.
"Warning, engagement frequency is increasing..."
"Forward! Forward!" Jiang Ye roared. "Basong City!"
"Estimated arrival at Basong City Space Station in 58 minutes."
More light spots appeared within his field of vision, densely packed, at least tens of thousands... no, hundreds of thousands! Like glowing swarms of bees, they flew in a frantic, interwoven pattern, astonishingly fast. Jiang Ye personally saw some light spots streak across the sky above Node Star in mere seconds. He didn't know if those luminous objects were weapons or ships, but hitting them would surely mean death!
"Can you accelerate?" Jiang Ye asked loudly.
"The current spaceship speed is 50% of its maximum speed. This is a safety value..."
"100%!" Jiang Ye shouted decisively.
"Accelerating to maximum speed will cause tremors and severe turbulence..."
"Stop talking so much! I said 100%, so make it 100%! Speed me up to the fastest!"
"Acceleration has begun. Estimated arrival in 29 minutes."
The vibration began immediately and intensified rapidly. Jiang Ye could barely stand, so he quickly grabbed his suitcase and lay down on the sofa.
A magnificent curtain of light enveloped Node Star, with countless light spots sweeping back and forth, like ten thousand machine guns firing in unison on a battlefield. But because they were still in space, there was no sound of battle. All the fierce combat was happening in silence. Jiang Ye honestly felt a chill down his spine, staring wide-eyed at the crisscrossing beams of light, terrified that one might hit him.
It wasn't that he insisted on taking the risk. The Mil people were pushing forward again, which made him feel uneasy. If Node Star were occupied, he had to rescue Cen Yemeng immediately!
If today was the day Node Star fell, and he happened to arrive, it was fate that brought him here to fulfill his mission.
He had to take this risk!
The spaceship vibrated violently. The kitchen was filled with the crisp sound of breaking plates. Then, the refrigerator door burst open, and rows of full liquor bottles slid out, shattering on the floor, sending shards of glass and liquid flying. Jiang Ye was almost thrown off the sofa, his head spinning. He worried about the handgun accidentally firing, so he rotated the suitcase ninety degrees. That way, even if a bullet was fired, it wouldn't hit him.
"Entering the atmosphere!" the spaceship's voice announced.
A howling sound immediately appeared and grew louder. Brilliant streams of fire enveloped the entire spaceship, illuminating Jiang Ye from all sides.
He struggled to open his eyes and look outside. Many shining objects zipped past above the clouds, in formation, like rows of combs plowing through layers of white clouds. Occasionally, a muffled explosion could be heard, ten times louder than a gas station explosion, but it was fleeting.
The liquor from the kitchen had already flowed into the living room, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive alcohol.
No twenty minutes in Jiang Ye's life had ever felt so long.
The longest time before this had been when he was first diagnosed with a terminal illness. His parents were crying in the hallway, and he, holding the diagnosis results, went to the bathroom, locked himself in a small cubicle, and stared blankly at the ceiling. He must have thought a lot then, but now he couldn't remember any of it.
"This is Basong City Space Station Tower! Spaceship tyk-8899, pilot Jiang Ye, can you hear me!"
"I can hear you!" Jiang Ye roared. The noise was too loud; he was afraid they wouldn't hear him if he didn't shout.
"Are you crazy? This is a war zone! Are you sure you want to land immediately?" the tower's voice sounded shocked.
"Confirmed!" Jiang Ye said.
He thought, isn't that obvious? After charging down from outer space filled with gunfire, would he turn around and go back up instead of landing?
"You're insane! Your landing point is number 16. Just tap confirm on the control screen!" the tower said.
Jiang Ye rolled off the sofa. The spaceship was decelerating violently, the vibrations making it impossible to stand. He could only crawl to the control room and tap the confirm button on the screen.
After tapping, he hugged a chair fixed to the floor and took out his phone from his pocket, dialing Cen Yemeng's number.
"Jiang Ye?" Cen Yemeng's voice was full of surprise. "Is that you?"
"Of course, it's me! I'm descending, arriving at Basong City Space Station soon!" Jiang Ye smiled.
"Why are you here now? How can you be here at this time?!" Cen Yemeng immediately became anxious, with a hint of a cry in her voice. "A shelter alert was just issued. The Mil forces are seizing air superiority! In just one hour of fighting, forty percent of our forces have lost combat effectiveness. Node Star is about to be occupied by the Mil!"
"This is precisely the time to come! I'll take you to escape. This planet can no longer be lived on!" Jiang Ye shouted. "Send me your location, pack whatever you need to bring, and as soon as I pick you up, we'll leave immediately!"