Finally, everyone decided to set out to find Kaka.
Back on the dilapidated spaceship, they flew back in the direction they came from.
Having gone through a major battle with the criminal organization, fierce combat with the demons, and finally a nuclear explosion, the spaceship was already riddled with holes and could barely maintain its flight capabilities.
This made Xia Yubing heartbroken. She resolved to repair it properly and replenish all the expended ammunition once they returned.
The group searched the vast sea of suffering. They flew farther and farther, searched more and more places, but found no trace of Kaka.
Three days passed, and they had searched all the areas within the blast radius, yet they could not find him.
"Is Kaka dead? Wuwuwu... that big idiot was a good Weiyang tribe member..."
Bao Bao experienced the pain of losing a comrade for the first time, even though this comrade had been an enemy only a few hours ago.
Even though this comrade was just a clumsy, gluttonous, fat person.
But after all, they had fought side by side, and he had saved them.
"He probably won't die. His special meme is quite resilient, able to contend with the whole world. Perhaps he went to find food elsewhere. Let's go."
Squirrel comforted them.
"Alas, let's go. We'll meet again if fate allows."
Wan Lei nodded as well.
Everyone felt a sense of loss. After all, even a powerful demon god had been blasted to smithereens; how could a meme like Kaka possibly survive?
With heavy hearts, they headed towards the military base they had seen earlier.
This military base was not large; it was merely an advance base for the bitter sea frontier, but it did have a space jump point.
There were countless such advance bases in the bitter sea.
It was rumored that at the center of the bitter sea, there was the main logistical base of the prime plane, and that base was even larger, spanning an entire continent.
After identifying themselves, Squirrel directly ordered the army here to activate the space jump point.
Wan Lei curiously observed these soldiers.
The expeditionary forces here also wore partial armor, but their armor was covered in scars and rust, far less glamorous than that of the defense forces.
However, everyone knew that in terms of combat effectiveness, the battle-hardened expeditionary forces could easily overwhelm the defense forces who had not seen much combat.
Although the people here were disheveled and weary, their sharp eyes, like a wolf's gaze, warned enemies not to provoke them easily.
The space jump point activated, and the spaceship shot into it.
The dim and yellowed world of the bitter sea disappeared, and the bright and resplendent Five Elements Hall appeared before them.
"We're finally back, home."
Bao Bao jumped up happily. After more than a year away, they, the young ones, had experienced so much, and their transformations had been immense.
They had transformed from children who dared not kill, who only knew how to bicker and play, into hardened warriors who killed without batting an eye.
"Our mission is complete. Father and mother asked us to kill ten thousand people each, but we have killed at least hundreds of thousands combined."
"Mission accomplished, and then some!"
"Let's go home."
"Let's go get the spaceship repaired first."
Xia Yubing frowned, looking at her damaged spaceship with concern. Then, she piloted the spaceship directly towards the armory north of the Five Elements Hall.
North of the Five Elements Hall was a vast area responsible for producing weapons for the entire prime plane's army. It wasn't too close or too far from the Five Elements Hall, but rather a bit closer to Chang'an City.
In the distance, countless spaceships were neatly parked on the vast open spaces of the armory. Within the factories in other areas, spaceships, weapons, and various munitions were continuously being produced.
"So many new spaceships, how much would one cost?"
Wan Lei had long wanted to own his own spaceship. After all, what man didn't dream of piloting a spaceship through space?
Squirrel glanced at him and scoffed.
"A top-tier spaceship like ours has an external price of two hundred billion spirit stones, one hundred billion within the Five Elements Hall, or one hundred thousand merit points."
"...Never mind."
Wan Lei had neither a hundred billion spirit stones nor a hundred thousand merit points.
Even if he had enough merit points, he wouldn't buy one, as his merit points had other important uses.
Upon reaching the repair shop, Squirrel directly swiped his identity token.
Yes, free repairs were possible.
"Remember to replenish all the weapons and ammunition after it's fixed," Xia Yubing called out loudly.
"Got it, got it. By the way, what did you guys do? How did a perfectly good top-tier spaceship end up like this? The repair costs are almost half the price of building a new one."
The repairman shook his head, marveling.
"We annihilated hundreds of thousands of demons."
Xia Yubing said proudly, tilting her head back.
"Oh, then you are great heroes, amazing, amazing."
The repairman smiled, then took out an instrument, projecting a light screen to scan the spaceship.
"Let me check the specific damage... Huh? There's still a person inside?"
"Someone else?"
Xia Yubing looked at everyone. The four youngsters, Dada, Wan Lei, Fang Xiaoyu, and Squirrel were all there. Where was another person?
"It's in that secluded storage compartment. Go and see."
Upon hearing this, everyone rushed in. After winding through many turns, they finally arrived at the cabin where the person was hidden.
In this cabin, a person was fast asleep.
"Kaka!!!"
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, shouting in unison.
Perhaps because their shouts were too loud, Kaka suddenly woke up, quickly sat up, and looked at them blankly.
"Hungry..."
You idiot...
Everyone was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Wan Lei squatted down and asked,
"Kaka, how did you get here?"
"Me?"
Kaka blinked in confusion, then pointed at Wan Lei.
"What do you mean?"
"You, have food."
"Because... I have food, so wherever I go, you follow? I came back to the spaceship, and you came back with me?"
Kaka nodded vigorously.
"No, we've been on the spaceship all along. When did you get on?"
Kaka blinked in confusion again, then spread his hands apart, making a "bang" sound with his mouth, and then widened his hands further.
Then, he gestured as if he were flying, then gestured something about being very, very big, and then said words like "lying down... open door..."
After Kaka's dual description, involving both spoken words and sign language, everyone finally understood what had happened.
First, there was the nuclear explosion, which blew Kaka away with its shockwave, directly in the direction the spaceship was flying. Then, he clung to the bottom of the spaceship. When everyone opened the cabin door to vomit, he quietly sneaked in, found this room, and fell asleep.