Chapter 1 Departure

"Breaking news from our station, the Silver Wind Star immigration fleet set sail today, carrying the eleventh batch of immigrants to a new planet. Li Cheng, the Star Governor of the Red Capital Republic stationed on Silver Wind Star, attended the departure ceremony, extended his regards to the immigrants and the immigration fleet staff, and delivered an important speech. Star Governor Li Cheng emphasized that interstellar immigration is the only route to achieve the great rise of human civilization and an important guideline for promoting the construction of an interstellar society. All immigrants are meritorious officials who have made noble contributions to human civilization..."

The TV in the living room was broadcasting a major news flash. Zhou Wei'an and his family sat quietly at the dining table, watching.

In the live footage taken by the media's unmanned aerial vehicle, rows of highly mechanical, silver-gray spaceships were lined up on the docking platform, like steel behemoths, awe-inspiring and majestic.

Rows of open-air gangways, like bridges, extended from the spaceships, connecting to the separately configured waiting towers next to each ship's port.

The gangways were densely packed with immigrants. Some looked around, while others walked with their heads down, carrying large and small bags. The dark mass of people slowly poured into their respective spaceships.

At first glance, each gangway looked like an oil pipeline, fueling the spaceships.

Beneath the waiting towers stood many family members of the immigrants, waving towards the gangways above. As the camera switched, everyone sending off their loved ones seemed to be smiling and beaming with joy.

"Today is the day the third child boards the ship... Are we really not going to see him off?"

Zhao Jing looked at the news footage and said in a low voice.

Zhou Wei'an held a cigarette between his fingers and shook his head. "I originally wanted everyone to take two days off to see him off together, so he wouldn't be lonely, but he refused, so forget it."

Everyone was silent.

Since Zhou Jing moved out, he had basically not contacted them. He didn't reply to messages, didn't say anything when asked about his situation, and seemed to be refusing to communicate. They didn't even know which immigration spaceship Zhou Jing was boarding or what his flight number was.

It was only because Zhou Wei'an was worried that Zhou Jing might go back on his word that he had secretly called the Immigration Bureau a few times to confirm that he wouldn't come looking for trouble. Only then did he feel a little relieved.

The eldest brother waved away a puff of smoke and sighed. "Speaking of which, we won't see the third child again in the future. I wonder how he'll be doing on the new planet?"

"What's there to worry about? The country takes care of the immigrants, so his life definitely won't be bad," Zhou Wei'an said casually.

The second brother stared at the TV screen, his tone somewhat emotional. "I'm a little reluctant to see the third child go."

"There's nothing we can do about it. That's the immigration policy. Even if the third child doesn't want to go, he can't make the decision. Besides, he's the most suitable candidate in our whole family."

The eldest brother spoke while shaking his head helplessly, revealing a look of regret.

The younger brothers and sisters sitting obediently at the table looked at each other, confused, and couldn't help but ask, "Where exactly is Third Brother going?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jing turned her head and forced a smile. "Didn't we explain it to you? He's going away for a long time for work."

"When will he be back?" the youngest brother asked curiously.

"He'll be back when he wants to come back. It won't be too long," Zhao Jing told a lie.

"Oh..." The three younger siblings seemed to understand.

Just then, Zhao Jing's phone, which was on the table, rang, and she received a message.

She lit up the screen and looked at it, her expression changing slightly.

"What's wrong?" the eldest brother asked curiously when he saw this.

"It's a message from the third child."

Zhao Jing's tone was complicated as she showed the phone screen to everyone.

When it was Zhou Wei'an's turn, he held a cigarette in his mouth, picked up the phone, squinted, and was immediately a little surprised.

The sender was Zhou Jing, and the message content was very short:

[I'm leaving. Take care of yourselves in the future.]

After reading the content at a glance, Zhou Wei'an put down his phone, exhaled a puff of smoke, and looked emotional.

Because Zhou Jing had been expressing his dissatisfaction by refusing to communicate, Zhou Wei'an thought that he wouldn't even send a message on the day he boarded the ship, but he didn't expect him to send one, and it was a greeting that seemed to be relieved.

Zhou Wei'an was both surprised and satisfied. In his opinion, Zhou Jing finally wasn't so "rebellious" at the last moment.

It was a policy regulation, and letting you take his place was everyone's helpless move. No matter how rebellious you are, you can't change it. It would have been better if you had been so sensible earlier...

Zhao Jing hesitated to speak, unable to help but ask, "Should we give the third child a call? He should pick up now, right?"

Hearing this, Zhou Wei'an waved his hand dismissively.

"Then call him and ask..."

Before he could finish speaking, his phone suddenly rang, and there was an incoming call.

"Oh, it seems we don't need to. The third child is calling us..."

Zhou Wei'an chuckled, took out his phone, and was immediately stunned.

The caller ID on the screen was not Zhou Jing. It turned out to be his big boss, who was several levels above him. With his level, he almost never had the opportunity to interact with the other party at work. The number was added at a department banquet a long time ago, and they basically never contacted each other privately.

Zhou Wei'an subconsciously stood up, quickly raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then quickly answered the call, his tone immediately becoming enthusiastic:

"Hello, Chief Wang! Why are you suddenly calling me?"

A similarly enthusiastic voice came from the other end of the phone, laughing loudly: "Hahaha, Little Zhou, what are you saying? Can't I call you if there's nothing going on?"

"Of course not, of course not... I'm truly flattered to be remembered by Chief Wang."

Zhou Wei'an was secretly delighted, but also confused, not understanding why the big boss suddenly called him, and with such a good attitude.

Could it be... that the news about his family having an interstellar immigrant has already reached the big boss's ears, and he's specially calling to express his condolences and praise?

Zhou Wei'an's eyes lit up, and he became excited.

This was the opportunity he wanted. As long as he was remembered by the big boss, even if he didn't rise to the top quickly, his career would definitely be better than it is now!

At this moment, the big boss said with a smile, "I just received a notice from the Superpower Bureau that I know about your family's situation. I'm calling you this time mainly to congratulate you on having a superpower user in your family who is willing to contribute and actively participate in interstellar immigration. Your awareness is very high, Little Zhou, you've done a great job in educating him."

Zhou Wei'an wanted to be friendly, but he was stunned when he heard these words:

"A superpower user? Where did my family get a superpower user from?"

"Hmm? You don't know?"

This time it was the big boss who was stunned.

"That... is there a mistake? My family does have an interstellar immigrant, but no superpower user..." Zhou Wei'an asked cautiously.

The big boss uh-ed, his tone a little strange:

"Don't you have a child named Zhou Jing? He awakened as a superpower user more than a month ago and actively signed up to be an interstellar immigrant. Just now, the Superpower Bureau called me and asked me to take care of the family of the superpower immigrant... You don't know about this, do you?"

The families of superpower immigrants would receive extra care, which was a benefit everyone had. Even if he didn't mention it, the Superpower Bureau would take the initiative to handle it.

The big boss was a little speechless. It was understandable that he had just found out, but you, as a father, didn't know anything... What kind of father is that?

Realizing that the situation seemed to be different from what he had judged, the big boss coughed lightly, said a few perfunctory words, and quickly hung up the phone.

Zhou Wei'an, however, was not in the mood to pay attention to the big boss. His expression instantly froze, and he was completely dumbfounded.

His mind was buzzing.

The third child, Zhou Jing... became a superpower user?!

He didn't know anything about it!

The others present also heard the conversation between the two and widened their eyes, shocked.

"The third child actually awakened and became a superpower user?!"

The second brother exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.

"How could this be..." The eldest brother muttered to himself, his mind blank.

This news was like a bolt from the blue, scaring the whole family.

They didn't expect that more than a month ago, Zhou Jing had quietly become a superpower user without telling them. They were still in the dark until just now.

While shocked, everyone suddenly thought of something.

They originally thought that Zhou Jing had accepted the forced immigration and had no choice but to leave... But after becoming a superpower user, he seemed to be able to refuse forced immigration, so no one in the family would have to leave.

However, Zhou Jing not only didn't do this, but also actively declared himself an immigrant... He simply didn't want to stay here?

For a time, everyone's faces changed, and an indescribable emotion welled up in their hearts, filled with loss and guilt.

Zhou Wei'an trembled, his heart filled with anger and anxiety, and regret swept over him like a tide.

His family had finally produced a superpower user, but he had left this planet!

Although the families of superpower immigrants also received extra benefits, no matter how he thought about it, he felt that it was a huge loss.

—If Zhou Jing hadn't left and stayed locally, then after becoming a superpower user, the impact on his family would be even greater. The future benefits that his family could enjoy would definitely be dozens or hundreds of times stronger than the so-called extra benefits now!

This was picking up sesame seeds and losing a watermelon!

Zhou Wei'an's face twitched, and he roared in his heart.

If he had known that he would awaken, then how could he have let Zhou Jing take the forced immigration spot?!

Superpower users are the most useful to the family. He would have made one of the eldest or second child take the forced immigration spot no matter what!

No... that's not right! If there was a superpower user in the family, no one would be forced to immigrate at all! If there had been no "breakup" in the beginning, how could Zhou Jing have chosen to actively immigrate and leave?!

"Quick! Quick, call him!"

Zhou Wei'an was extremely anxious. He didn't know if it was too late, but he wasn't willing to give up like this. He was already incoherent.

However, Zhao Jing frantically dialed Zhou Jing's number, but only got a busy signal with no signal.

Everyone froze, subconsciously looking back at the TV.

On the screen, the immigration fleet had already taken off and was slowly ascending, flying farther and farther away.

With a thud, Zhou Wei'an collapsed into his chair, his entire body losing its energy, looking lost and dejected.

The whole family silently looked at the beeping phone, their moods complicated.

They knew very well that as the spaceship ascended, this number in the phone book would never be dialed again.

The number was the link between people, and the person represented by this number... would disappear from their lives forever.

The morning sun of West Sea City shone in through the window, and the plastic green water lilies on the table were dyed a golden color.

The sunlight was soft and warm, but in everyone's eyes, it felt incredibly glaring.

After a long time, Zhao Jing finally let out a long sigh:

"What a sin..."

...

The Sternwake spaceship flew higher and higher, breaking through the atmosphere, and converged with immigration spaceships from various countries and regions in outer space, forming a complete immigration fleet that sailed together towards the deep space universe.

At the viewing window at the rear of the cabin, all the superpower immigrants gathered here, looking at their homeland, Silver Wind Star, which was getting farther and farther away.

No matter how lively they usually were, they were all silent at this moment, and an indescribable feeling flowed in their hearts.

Zhou Jing silently watched the planet he had lived on for twenty years receding from view, and a slight sadness and reluctance still arose in his heart.

"Leaving my homeland and heading to the distance, so this is how it feels..."

Zhou Jing touched his heart, feeling a sense of emptiness as if a corner was missing.

Pa.

At this moment, Zhou Jing suddenly felt a white and tender palm on his shoulder.

Turning his head, he saw Li Xiaoyin hooking his shoulders in a carefree manner and raising her chin.

Xu Lingyun next to her smiled, and Zhang Xiao also shook his eyebrows at him.

Zhou Jing withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and smiled, his empty heart suddenly filling up a lot.

Although he was leaving his hometown, he had friends by his side, as if he belonged wherever he went.

The bright light of the star, which could be called sunlight, shone on everyone from afar through the silhouette of Silver Wind Star.

The sunlight was warm, like the hope of new life.

Zhou Jing exhaled a mouthful of stale air, looked at his departing hometown again, and suddenly felt a heartfelt relaxation from the inside out.

It was as if he had unloaded invisible restraints, producing a sense of indescribable freedom, and his heart was filled with clear emotion.

In this era, there are many people who teach you how to be a good and needed qualified part, but few teach you how to pursue the life you want.

If one day, you no longer exist for the things you were born without choice and must dedicate yourself to, but can give for the people and things you truly love or agree with, choosing what you truly belong to, and truly deciding your own life... perhaps it is also a rare freedom.

Three years, five years, ten years later... where will I be standing? What kind of things will I be doing, what kind of life will I be living?

Star Realm Transmigration, a superpower user's life... there are countless possibilities, and the future is vast and broad.

Zhou Jing took a deep breath, his spirits lifted, and his mood was full of expectation and longing.

—From now on, the past is left behind, and only the future is in front of him.