There were many strange areas aboard the spacecraft, but Carl and Diwan didn't explore them in depth. The ship was simply too vast for just the two of them to truly inhabit.
Those strange sections also contained materials that were difficult to understand, but neither of them paid much attention to them.
"It's been almost two months… why haven't I seen a single person?!"
There was no sunset in space. Everything was simulated by Diwu, who adjusted the lighting on the mothership. Otherwise, it would be impossible to keep track of time.
Fifty days had already passed.
Diwan had once been an ordinary person. In his previous life, let alone space travel—even going to the moon was impossible. And now, he was drifting through the universe, commanding a massive warship.
Something that had been completely unimaginable in his past life—even now, it still felt unreal.
The mothership was traveling at sub-light speed, without using space jumps. This would only happen within the Alpha Centauri system, where no alien life existed.
"In about five years, you'll reach the nearest habitable planet," Carl explained as he handed Diwan her clothes. "If you're lucky, you might even encounter it halfway."
"Five years?!"
Diwan forgot to take the clothes, irritation rising."Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
"I can initiate a space jump now."
Carl put away her skirt and turned to leave.
"Wait… no," Diwan stopped him. "Forget it. Let's keep going like this. I want to calm down in this environment."
Carl glanced at her."You're the most contradictory person I've ever met."
He sat back down and helped her get dressed like he was taking care of a child. Though it felt a bit overly intimate, Diwan had already gotten used to it.
"My Black Raven Stone… it's gotten darker recently."
After getting dressed, Diwan took the stone from her chest and showed it to Carl.
Sure enough, it looked slightly darker.
Carl only glanced at it briefly."Put it away. Don't take it out casually. No matter what changes in the future, as long as it hasn't turned completely black, you must not show it."
Diwan nodded."This thing is too valuable. If someone knowledgeable sees it, they'll definitely try to take it."
"嫂子,我们必须进行空间跳跃," Carl said, pinching her cheek lightly. "There's an asteroid belt ahead. If we want to get through it, we have to jump. The nearest jump point is about a hundred miles away. If we miss it, we'll have to force our way through."
Diwan got out of bed and stood by the glass window, looking outside.
Ahead lay a massive, endless asteroid belt blocking their path. If the ship forced its way through, it would definitely be damaged. Without a space jump, the risk simply wasn't worth it.
"This is an insult," Diwan pouted. "I already said I don't want to do a space jump."
Carl ignored her and left the room, heading to the control area to prepare for the jump.
The jump point was located inside the asteroid belt. Preparations had to be perfect—it was extremely dangerous. If the ship wasn't strong enough, it wouldn't even reach the jump point.
This asteroid belt probably once belonged to a star system, though no one knew why it had turned into debris.
The mothership surged forward, breaking through the asteroid field. Carl poured energy into the power core, activating the shields to ensure Diwan barely felt any turbulence.
Soon, they reached the jump point.
It was like entering a hive—flying into one opening and emerging from another.
In the vast universe, time was the least valuable thing.
Even light could only dream of reaching the far end of the cosmos.
Time here was merely relative. In one place, a year might pass—while elsewhere, it could be only a day… or even a second.
The universe was truly mysterious—unless you could surpass the speed of light and escape the limits of distance.
For example, now that Carl and Diwan's ship had exited the jump point, time in this region flowed extremely slowly. They couldn't feel it, but compared to other places, the difference was immense.
Carl could clearly sense that this jump point was unusual.
It felt as if they had crossed at least a thousand star systems… reaching the other side of the galaxy.
There were very few planets around—only a handful, all seemingly dead.
The region looked desolate.
Only a single light source remained—not far away.
A massive star.
The heat radiating from it was rapidly draining the ship's energy. Just this encounter had already consumed half of their reserves. Without Carl supplying energy, the ship would have already been devoured by the star.
Carl pushed his power to the limit.
He boosted the ship's propulsion, gradually escaping the star's gravitational pull, while maintaining the shields at maximum output. Otherwise, the heat alone could destroy the entire vessel.
This had to be intentional.
This jump point was clearly abnormal—someone didn't want others using it.
"Are you okay?"
Diwan walked in, glancing at the massive star outside, concern flashing in her eyes.
Even though she knew Carl would be fine… she still worried.
Carl clenched his teeth, his expression strained."Quick… kiss me… or I won't make it."
Diwan took off her slipper and threw it straight at him."Are you serious? I'm going to eat breakfast. I'll be right back."
She tossed the other slipper aside and walked out barefoot, the scene oddly alluring.
It would take about half an hour for the ship to escape the gravity field using its own power—but that was fine.
Carl himself was the energy source.
A power greater than the Infinity Stones.
Soon, Diwan returned with breakfast. Seeing Carl still at the controls, she quietly placed the food in front of him.
"It'd be nice if you just pushed Wan'er out instead," she joked.
She picked up a piece of omelet and fed it to him.
"Peace" was the name Diwan had given the ship. Carl didn't mind—in fact, he found it somewhat amusing.
"This isn't urgent," Carl said, taking a bite.
He pulled her onto his lap and pointed outside."Let me show you how amazing a star looks up close."
Not far away—by cosmic standards—
A battle was unfolding on Ego.
The Guardians of the Galaxy were fleeing, while only Peter Quill remained, fighting his Celestial father, Ego.
Yondu hid nearby, ready to intervene at the critical moment.
The entire planet was in chaos. Once beautiful, it was now scarred and collapsing, earthquakes tearing it apart.
"How's Peter?" Gamora asked.
Rocket said nothing. He pulled out a timer… glanced at it… and shook his head.
"I'm not leaving him," Gamora said firmly, grabbing a weapon.
Rocket stunned her with a shock."I really don't want to lose another friend today…"
At the planet's core—
"You're a god!" Ego shouted."If you kill me, how are you any different from humans?!"
Peter replied coldly:"So what?"
The bomb detonated.
Ego collapsed into dust… vanishing from existence.
Peter fell to his knees, staring blankly as everything burned around him.
Then—
Yondu appeared.
"He may have been your father……but he wasn't your daddy."
He placed the spacesuit on Peter.
Peter's eyes widened."What are you doing?!"
Yondu didn't answer.
He only smiled.
"No… NO!!"
Peter screamed.
But Yondu was already freezing.
Dying.
Just then—
A massive spaceship appeared above them.
A beam of light descended…
Enveloping both of them.
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