Chapter 1 A Very Distant Starry Sky

Far away from Aquamarine Star, numerous wormholes, large and small, opened and closed, revealing a flowing rainbow of light that painted the dark universe with vibrant colors. These rays of light converged and scattered, resembling shimmering veils, carrying a hazy, psychedelic allure, a rich spectrum of gradients.

At the center of the wormhole cluster floated a large space station, shaped like three skyscrapers stacked horizontally. Various towers extended from the sides and top, some signal towers, some space stabilizers, and others weapon and escort ship hangars.

At the bottom of the space station was a giant white metal sphere, encircled by a ring of faint blue light, resembling the rings of a planet. This was the space station's reactor, the source of its power, and it provided gravity for the interior.

The space station's structure was intricate and precise, filled with technological beauty. The "skyscrapers'" windows were docking bays for spaceships. Without a frame of reference, it was difficult to get a clear sense of the space station's size. A single docking bay could accommodate ships hundreds of meters long, and this space station had tens of thousands of docking bays, resembling a man-made mountain range.

Jubely Hub, the transportation hub of the Jiatun star system.

The surrounding wormholes were stable teleportation star gates jointly built by the various star system civilizations of the Colton Star Cluster, using vast resources in exchange for the assistance of more advanced civilizations. They allowed rapid access to various star systems and jurisdictions within the Colton Star Cluster, greatly reducing interstellar travel time.

The space station constantly processed massive numbers of spaceships, like a hive surrounded by bees. A small, yellow-and-white spaceship entered a docking bay, transitioning from zero-gravity space into a gravity field. The ship shuddered slightly, its bottom locking onto the docking bay's rails, and it moved forward along the rails for three minutes, entering the hangar.

The hangar's interior was blue and white, made of special alloy and polymer composite materials. After a few seconds, a synthesized female electronic voice echoed in the hangar.

"Identity authorization confirmed, docking permitted. Welcome, Godora Seven Hundred and Forty-One Interstellar Investigation Team, Captain Kerlodd."

*Chi—*

The hatch opened, extending a bridge, and a humanoid creature walked out.

This was a male Godoran, with a light-gold complexion and flowing white hair, styled into seven dreadlock-like braids at the back of his head. The ends of the braids were tied with golden spherical ornaments. His appearance was not much different from humans, except that the distance between his facial features was slightly wider. His body structure was similar to that of ordinary humans, with a head, two hands, two legs, and a root, without any extra limbs like tails. He was two meters tall—considered average height for a Godoran.

Kerlodd, affiliated with the Godora Interstellar Investigation Bureau, was an investigation team captain. Although called a captain, he had no subordinates, only standard Godoran investigator equipment and this "Observer"-class small spaceship belonging to the government. The spaceship was about thirty meters long and was a single-person vessel.

Kerlodd was the investigator assigned to investigate the "Evolver" mission on Aquamarine Star.

"Wow, a pure-blooded Godoran, a proud race, rarely seen."

At the door of the hangar, a registration officer in a space station uniform smiled. His appearance was similar to Kerlodd, but he was much shorter, and his complexion was not as golden. He was a half-Godoran, a hybrid with another species.

"Hmph, subspecies." Kerlodd glanced at the hangar staff, his expression disdainful. Godorans valued the purity of their bloodline, a racial tradition, and despised all hybrids, calling them "subspecies"... meaning something like "mongrel," carrying an insulting connotation.

The registration officer didn't mind. "Register quickly. How long will you dock? Where are you going?"

Kerlodd said, "Dock for two days, refuel, then head to the Ninth Star Sector to investigate an anomaly in a low-level civilization."

"The Ninth Star Sector? That's a desolate and dangerous place. Looks like you've got a tough assignment." The registration officer was knowledgeable.

"It's just a low-level civilization making a fuss. The phenomena they can't explain are simply because their technology is backward and they haven't seen the world. I can just investigate it and go back. It won't take long."

Kerlodd raised his head, a look of arrogance on his face, and walked out of the hangar, heading to the space station's central resting area.

After the two left, the hangar door closed.

After an unknown amount of time, a blob of black, viscous liquid crawled out of the docking bay rail, wriggling as if alive. The area of this blob was only about one square meter.

The slime wriggled and slowly climbed onto the "Observer" spaceship, seeping into the gaps in the ship's armor, disappearing from view.

…

Aquamarine Star, a snowy mountain range in the Northern Continent. A black helicopter with a Dark Net logo was parked on a mountaintop.

Han Xiao stood with his arms crossed, gazing at the misty, rolling mountains. Cold air constantly seeped in through his sleeves and collar, but Han Xiao's physical fitness was excellent, so he didn't feel much.

The pilot, wrapped in three layers of cotton clothing, was shivering and asked in a trembling voice, "G-g-g-阁下 (Géxià, term of respect), what are we doing here?"

Han Xiao looked at him in surprise. "New here? Didn't learn the rule of not asking?"

"L-learned..." The pilot's teeth chattered from the cold. "But we've been here for four days. Compared to the rules, I think it's more important to confirm whether I should prepare myself to freeze to death here."

Han Xiao laughed. "What's your name?"

"Huang Jian, just completed pilot training and started working last month..."

Han Xiao啧啧称奇 (zézé chēngqí, clicked his tongue in wonder). "Huang Jian, Huang Jian (黄健黄贱), both yellow and cheap. Just hearing the name, I know you have a promising future and will definitely be a great success!"

When the superior made fun of him, what could Huang Jian do? He felt bitter in his heart and could only pretend not to hear it, asking, "阁下 (Géxià), how long will we have to stay?"

"A day at the shortest, half a month at the longest."

Huang Jian's face twitched. That interval was too long!

After thinking about it, Huang Jian mustered his courage and asked an overstepping question that violated the rules, "What are you waiting for?"

Han Xiao glanced at him. "You'll know when it comes."

There were only two people on the plane. Han Xiao could chat with Huang Jian to relieve boredom while waiting, but most of the time, Han Xiao was watching the competition on the forum. The International All-Star Game was underway, and the regular season point champions from various countries were competing, making the player community extremely lively. Han Xiao treated it as a program to pass the time while waiting.

The players from other divisions in the All-Star Game were all famous and strong teams from various countries, such as the American Devil World, the British Rose Knights, the Korean Kimchi, the French Tulips, etc. Their status in their respective countries was like that of Temple of Gods in Huaxia.

Seeing these powerful teams that he was very familiar with in his previous life, Han Xiao finally remembered that the champion of the first league was the French Tulip team, a very strong club.

The All-Star Game was an opportunity to showcase themselves, and players from various divisions would pay attention to it. The popularity was more than ten times higher than a single division. The regular season champion teams from various countries competed in a friendly manner, showcasing their strength. They praised their opponents at pre-match and post-match press conferences, creating a harmonious atmosphere. This was an exposure opportunity specifically given to the regular season champions, and it was also an operational means to warm up for international events.

The Temple of Gods team from the Aquamarine Star division gained a wave of foreign fans and performed quite well. Li Ge was handling it with ease.

After a three-day break after the All-Star Game, the final rounds of each division began. This time it was one-on-one, a best-of-five elimination system. The Changkong team was lucky, encountering a slightly weaker foreign club team. The powerhouses did not meet each other.

In terms of individual matches, Hao Tian was not so lucky. He met Li Ge in the first round of the Round of Sixteen.

Before the match, Li Ge uncharacteristically made arrogant remarks.

"My first-round opponent in the individual competition is Hao Tian. This is good news for me. I wouldn't dare say I can definitely beat him, but to be modest, my win rate is probably around ninety percent."