Even though only part of the station had been completed, what already existed was larger than the entire Jade Chamber.
And far more shocking— tons of construction materials were assembling themselves at impossible speeds, interlocking, extending, fusing— building the station in a way that defied common sense.
At this rate, Ningguang estimated:
In one week at most, the entire space station would be complete.
"This… is the world beyond our world?"
Though the station was impressive, Ningguang's eyes were completely absorbed by the view outside—
the boundless cosmos.
Dark.
Mysterious.
Deep.
Infinite.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"So different from what I imagined…"
Yae Miko was equally enthralled.
As the chief editor of Yae Miko Publishing House, she had read countless books claiming to depict "other worlds," but most were just Teyvat in different costumes.
This— this was the real thing.
A universe vast and unknowable.
A black sea dotted with brilliant color.
Terrifying yet mesmerizing.
New. All of it.
"Can't imagine what kind of life exists out there…"
Yae Miko murmured, tails practically wagging in excitement.
"Feeling fear?"
Su Ran leaned close behind Raiden Ei, his lips grazing her ear as he whispered:
"Compared to the boundless cosmos, can you feel how small you really are?"
Ei didn't answer.
She simply stared wordlessly at the foreign sky.
"We've been living on a world that is only one star among uncountable billions in the universe.
Our eyes limit our perception— so let me show you another way to see."
Su Ran raised his right hand.
A holographic projection unfolded in the air.
The others snapped out of their cosmic trance and focused on his demonstration.
The first image showed the portion of the space station they were in.
With a swipe of his hand— the image zoomed out.
Teyvat appeared.
Then Teyvat shrank.
And shrank…
and shrank…
Until it was no larger than a grain of sand.
In its place, enormous and blazing, floated a brilliant sphere of golden fire.
"The sun…"
Ayaka whispered before turning away— even a projection was too bright to look at for long.
"This is… the universe?"
The sheer size difference— from the massive station to the tiny dot that represented their entire world to the overwhelming sun—
blew apart every notion they had of "large."
Millions of Teyvats—
perhaps tens of millions—
would not match the volume of that single star.
The scale crushed them.
Their understanding shattered like porcelain.
Seven nations had once felt so vast.
Yet in the universe, they were not even a speck of dust.
Ningguang felt her heart sink.
The Jade Chamber, the pinnacle she once dreamed of casting her shadow across all seven nations— seemed laughably small now.
Su Ran appointing her as station master…
She suddenly felt like she was being kept.
Elevated far beyond what she deserved.
You and I… share a mind?
I used to think I could challenge you with strategy…
How embarrassing.
"You think that's the end?"
Su Ran smiled and flicked his hand again.
The projection zoomed out—vastly more than before.
The sun vanished instantly.
The screen expanded until a massive spiral galaxy filled the view.
"This galaxy contains over 500 billion stars— each one a sun like yours.
As for planets… countless.
Many harbor intelligent life, just as Teyvat does."
None of the women could speak anymore.
Their minds were overflowing— unable to keep up with the scale of reality being forced upon them.
The phrase "frog at the bottom of a well"
had never hit so hard.
They had lived their entire lives as frogs who didn't even have the privilege of seeing the real sky above the well.
Without Su Ran— they might never have seen this.
"What's wrong?
So shocked you can't even talk?"
He teased lightly.
"…Don't tell me," Yae Miko finally croaked, "that this still isn't the whole universe?"
Even her well-read, curious, bold felt her mind locking up.
Her thoughts were simply too full to process.
Ei's brain had already gone blank.
Makoto felt that everything in Teyvat's history
now seemed trivial.
Ningguang once full of ambition now felt small, truly small, her confidence shaken to its core.
Ayaka, who had never even left Inazuma, had no thoughts left at all.
Only a tiny whisper inside:
"I want to see more…"
"Sigh… if you're already like this, how can I bring myself to show you the next part?"
Su Ran sighed dramatically and dragged his finger across the projection.
Instantly—
the galaxy shrank.
And—
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Hundreds of thousands of galaxies filled the projection.
The women: "…"
"Aiya~ looks like my hand slipped."
His tone made his intentions obvious—
He absolutely did it on purpose just to watch their worldviews crumble.
Of course he did.
Breaking their perception was far easier than explaining the universe.
—------------------------------
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