Doomsday: I Build an Infinite Train.

Chapter 392 Vanguard (1 words!)

Under the blazing sun, the twin towers of Dawn City gleamed. The massive steel metropolis stood like a mechanical heart in the heart of the Yunjiang Plain. This was the capital of the Dragon Kingdom, the hub of its hinterland, the crown of civilization, and the last guardian of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region under the sun of revelation.

The towering hundred-meter-high city wall, like the spine of a giant, is covered with bullet holes and claw marks. Last night's bloody battle has left new scars on the metal. The army is operating mechs and drones to clear the strange corpses along the city wall and collect blood essence.

The Iron Guard soldiers trudged through the bloody mud, silently searching for survivors. A mech kicked open the head of a monster, revealing the face of a young girl with her eyes still open, clutching a crumpled entry permit in her hand, though it was no longer useful after the council was dissolved.

"Damn it!" The soldier stomped on the monster's head with his mech, cursing angrily.

After the construction of City Wall 1 and City Wall 2, Dawn City had never faced such a large-scale attack. The Federal Council was dissolved, panic and turmoil ensued, chaos poured into the outer city, and night fell early.

The polar night attacks from the three Star Abysses, No. 5, No. 7, and No. 8, caught millions of survivors off guard. The night patrols and city defense battalions collapsed and fled. The 13 garrison fought all night and finally held the line with high walls and abundant firepower.

Woo~
Lin Xian landed on the deck of the Zhentian Ship in an aircraft and, led by guards, arrived at Ye Lan's office. The transparent windows offered a panoramic view of the entire Dawn City from high above.

He looked at the devastation outside the No. 1 city wall and the still-lingering smoke, a slight ripple appearing beneath his calm expression.

At this moment, Lin Xian was attracted by a green potted plant on his desk. Several bright red cherry tomatoes were growing on the small plant. Lin Xian reached out, picked one, wiped it on his clothes, and put it in his mouth. It was sweet and juicy, refreshing and looked very tempting.

"They call this cherry tomato. It is self-pollinating and is one of the few varieties that can grow and flower in soil that is exposed to darkness."

A voice came from behind him, and Lin Xian looked in the direction of the sound. He saw Ye Lan taking a book down from the top of the bookshelf. Lin Xian hadn't even seen her when he came in.

"Is it tasty?"

Ye Lan took down the book, turned around, and calmly looked at Lin Xian.

"You look much younger than you appear in the file."

This was the first time she had seen Lin Xian, this young man. He had sharp eyes, a tall and straight posture, and a cautious demeanor when he walked.

"Not bad." Lin Xian was a little embarrassed. He thought no one was around, but he got caught sneaking a bite... Seeing Ye Lan's calm expression, Lin Xian knew she didn't care. So he glanced around the office and found that the interior was very simple, mainly consisting of books, a desk, and a simple single bed.

Ye Lan walked over and placed the book on the table. Lin Xian glanced at it; it was a book titled "The Shining Stars of Humanity".

"The Phoenix Society has reorganized the federal cabinet officials. Some high-ranking officials who colluded with Zhou Mingyuan to persecute survivors have been arrested for crimes against humanity. According to the Nightwalker organization's preliminary statistics, the casualties in last night's attack exceeded 30,000, most of whom were ordinary people from the outer city who were swallowed up by darkness before they could enter the city."

"Is it because of the Dark Mark?" Lin Xian frowned. "The outer city of Dawn City has held out for so long, how could it suddenly suffer such a large-scale attack?"

"That's exactly what we want to know."

Ye Lan sighed and said, "Star Abyss No. 5, Dark Corrosion Cells, and mycelial consciousness are connected. Our battle with the darkness is in a silent and passive state. If we regard the darkness as a kind of civilization invasion, then the war between humanity and the dark civilization has already begun. This is the first time we have faced such an enemy. Only when information is equal can we gain the initiative."

She looked at Lin Xian as she spoke: "Chu Zhaonan was also aware of this, so while fighting a desperate battle, he chose to open the city gates to allow people from the outer city to enter the city for refuge."

“Last night, Crimson World launched a sabotage operation involving Crimson Ghosts and infiltrators. A large number of vehicles were destroyed, resulting in a large number of people being unable to evacuate. This is exactly what Crimson World wanted.”

Lin Xian looked out the window at the vast city of Dawn and asked, "Professor Ye, with so many people, is there enough time to evacuate?"

“If we can’t evacuate all at once, we’ll have to mobilize in multiple batches and race against time,” Ye Lan said. “The garrison and the Iron Guard Brigade will continue to be stationed in Dawn City until everyone has been evacuated.”

Lin Xian's fist clenched slightly upon hearing this, for the situation before him was exactly the same as it had been at the airport.

“My convoy can help with the transfer if needed.”

Ye Lan looked at Lin Xian: "I called you here to talk to you about the Crescent Moon Project."

Lin Xian frowned: "Project Crescent Moon has failed. Julius himself at the Mount Targon launch site is dead. He may know some information, but he obviously doesn't want us to get it."

"Have you ever thought about why he doesn't want us to have it?"

“Because he’s a pervert, a piece of trash.” Lin Xian smiled coldly.

Ye Lan remained silent.

"Using human beings for experiments, creating some kind of new world civilization, burning vehicles, and leaving these people to die here—I don't think perversion needs a reason." Lin Xian couldn't control his emotions and sat down on the sofa. "Perhaps they haven't obtained any information at all and are just playing us. Placing our hopes on this kind of judgment is probably meaningless!"

"Judging from last night's unusual attack, breaking through the celestial curtain and connecting with the darkness must have had an impact on Xingyuan," Ye Lan said calmly.

"But why me?!" Lin Xian suddenly shouted.

"Such an important mission, always talking about the survival of human civilization, what humanity's last chance is, what does this have to do with me, just because I'm a mechanical superhuman?!"

Ye Lan calmly watched Lin Xian vent his anger. Lin Xian seemed to see the young faces of the Crescent Moon Operation again, and he saw Chu Yan's eyes looking at him before she died. His heart was heavy.

The office was quiet, and there seemed to be a pleasant scent of books in the air. Lin Xian took a deep breath, and his restless emotions gradually calmed down.

"Of course they don't want us to get it. They want to conduct experiments and all that. They'd love for humanity to die out quickly so that these self-proclaimed 'new civilizations' could... be free, right?"

Ye Lan observed Lin Xian's expression and said...
"We cannot regard the enemy as a madman, nor can we regard the darkness as a pure disaster."

Lin Xian pondered those words, his gaze tightening.

"Either Julius knows nothing, or he needs to protect this information, to protect their 'god'?"

Lin Xian let out a heavy sigh: "Fine, I know that Crescent Moon's actions were on the right track, but now that things have turned out this way, what else can we do?"

He looked out the window at the sky and said with a bitter smile, "I don't know whether we should be happy or more desperate after the success of the Pioneer Project. There's a feeling of being abandoned. I just don't understand why she said those words to me at the end, telling me not to give up on her."

"Whether to give up or not depends on our own perspective," Ye Lan said, pressing a control button on the table.

Chi.

At that moment, an automatic door next to the office opened, a rush of cold air emanated, and a cryogenic chamber slowly flew out.

Lin Xian's gaze immediately sharpened, for lying inside the cryo-chamber was none other than Chu Yan.

Although she showed no signs of life, the bloodstains on her body had been cleaned up, and she lay there quietly, as if asleep.

"As a psychic, Chu Yan has achieved remarkable results in countless battles against the Crimson World." Ye Lan looked at Chu Yan in the cryo-chamber and said to Lin Xian, "Before this operation, she talked to me about the mental link she had with you. She said that it made her somewhat anxious and fearful, whether because of her identity in the operation or because of her identity as a woman, it made her unable to face it calmly."

“When I discussed Operation Crescent Moon with her, she also raised this question: we cannot determine the true target, or whether the information about the target is valuable. But the anomalies in the three great abysses show that the impact of consciousness connecting with darkness exists. Therefore, we must strive for this information, which may be of great significance to the survival of human civilization.”

Lin Xian shrugged helplessly and said, "But what other options are there?"

"Do you know?" Ye Lan looked at Lin Xian and said to him with a serious expression, "Chu Yan cannot invade the consciousness of two people at the same time."

Lin Xian was taken aback upon hearing this, his face full of confusion.
"What do you mean? She only hacked into the real Julius?"

“I trust Chu Yan. She has always been very clear about the situation, so I’m curious to know what you communicated and saw before she died, and why she made that choice?” Ye Lan said.

Lin Xian shook his head, his expression grave, and said as he recalled the events.

“We determined that Julius’s true form must be among them, because in order to control the Heart of the Galaxy in Dawn City, he uploaded Crimson III to the intranet, waiting for the Gray Mist Messenger’s launch port to open, thereby taking over the entire city’s central network. The root server system at the Mount Targon launch site requires his identification and authentication. Chu Yan determined that Julius wanted to protect the dark information, so she used this to find his true form, completed iris recognition, captured Crimson III, and regained control of the Heart of the Galaxy.”

"So Chu Yan's choice was random?" Ye Lan suddenly asked a question that puzzled Lin Xian.

“No, the difference in mental energy fluctuations between the two Julius is not significant. Chu Yan believes that the other party may have undergone some kind of training, or…”

Lin Xian opened his mouth, but his expression suddenly changed as he recalled Chu Yan's words.

"I can scan the differences in mental energy fluctuations between individuals. The clones will be different due to time and training, but these two seem to have undergone the same training, or rather, neither of them is Julius himself."

Thinking of this, Lin Xian suddenly became puzzled.
"If neither of them is Julius herself, then she did indeed choose randomly."

"No," Lin Xian retorted, pinching his brow. "I forgot one thing. She said that it's impossible to steal thoughts from a target who is awake."

"But this won't work..." The more Lin Xian thought about it, the stranger it seemed: "Back then, those two Julius..."

"Stealing minds is a very dangerous thing. Even if you manage to capture a target, you have to do it while the other person is unconscious. A conscious person has a very strong mental strength, not to mention that human mental strength is constantly increasing. So the most I can do is give you a headache. Only in dreams is my domain."

Lin Xian's expression was solemn. If Chu Yan could not steal thoughts from conscious people, then the mental attacks she used on the two Julius were feints, intended to expose their weaknesses and let Lin Xian know that the one who was killed was the real target for iris recognition.

The contradiction is that if Chu Yan did not steal minds, how could she have died after her target was killed?

"This doesn't make sense!!"

Lin Xian looked at Chu Yan lying in the cryo-chamber, his expression urgent, and said to himself, "Why, why did you die?!"

"Perhaps you've overlooked something," Ye Lan said calmly, looking at Lin Xian.

"Impossible! I saw her die with my own eyes!"

Lin Xian paced back and forth, his gaze never leaving Chu Yan, the words Chu Yan had said to him echoing in his ears.

"The most important objective of Operation Crescent Moon is to obtain information, and that is my primary focus."

"Listen to me, I'll take control of Julius in a moment, and you scan his iris right away."

"Even if his brain dies, the brain cells will not immediately lose their activity. The micro-electrical signals of each neuron will be completely cut off, and all 'thoughts,' 'memories,' 'judgments,' and 'organ perceptions' will remain for a few minutes..."

"This is...the only...choice...Lin...don't...give up on me..."

Chu Yan's dying cry echoed in Lin Xian's ears like a resounding bell. Lin Xian's lips were dry, and he stood there stunned.
What did I miss?

"What did I miss?!?!"

Lin Xian stopped in his tracks.

Boom!
In an instant, Lin Xian's pupils suddenly widened, and the scene in the office before him was like a black hole tearing and stretching the light. All the fragments of memory kept rewinding, back to the launch of the Vanguard Project before dawn, back to the weapons going offline in Dawn City and the panic throughout the city, back to the blood-red flowers blooming on Chu Yan's face before her death, back to the white hall where hundreds of Julius' clones floated, time kept rewinding before his eyes, back to the thunderous explosion in Jin Hai!

Ding Junyi told him, "Humans can now separate dark energy from cold dark particles. This is essentially a form of energy conversion from the invasion of darkness. You can think of it as a higher purity cold dark reagent that humans can absorb. According to Shinji Mochizuki's calculation formula, 18% is currently the limit of human energy conversion. This limit is also a critical value for the evolution of superhumans. So, in principle, apart from the human body forcibly filtering it, there is currently no material on Earth that can isolate or store this energy."

Shinji Mochizuki told him, "Judging from those armor suppressors and restraint devices, the Crimson World was tailor-made for it, but this monster is inanimate. Why do you think they would put these things on it?"

Chu Yan told him, "So the S-class beings we see are like gods to the Crimson World. And if they want to connect with such gods and peer into a completely unknown life form and civilization, they would never allow ordinary people or experimental subjects to do it."

KIKI told him, "I understand. Just like the Red-Haired Ghost, their connection with S-class beings isn't just about exchanging information; they want to use this method to become S-class beings themselves?"

His memory flashed back to when he and KIKI took off, looking at the giant bio-armored corpse beneath the Jin Hai. The armor, completely devoid of power output, only contained bio-armor suppressors and restraint devices, and…

Mycelial Brain-Machine Device!

"I know what I've overlooked," Lin Xian said slowly, his expression now completely lost in his composure.

"The Curtain Breaker was launched as the first sequence of the Vanguard Project to revive or reconnect that S-class action brain. Their previous tests only connected half of the action brain. Julius said that 145 clones died in this attempt alone. I've been wondering about something: no matter if the Crimson World is competing with us for the Heart of the Galaxy, the so-called Dark Information, or even kidnapping the entire city and destroying vehicles, it has never threatened to sabotage the Vanguard Project. So why is Chu Zhaonan so certain that Julius will ensure the successful launch of the Gray Mist Messenger?"

"Because... Julius himself is on the Gray Mist Messenger!"

Lin Xian swallowed hard, his gaze falling on Chu Yan, and he sighed softly.
"Your only choice at the time was because after the launch was initiated, you detected Julius's mental energy fluctuations as he ascended. So what you actually invaded was the Gray Mist Messenger!"

call……

Lin Xian took a deep breath and sat back down on the sofa, somewhat incredulously.

Even with only half of his brain connected, he could kill 145 people in an instant. He finally understood how the powerful Chu Yan could have died in that instant. Before assisting Lin Xian in completing the feint attack on Julius, she had already determined her possible fate: not to be killed by the red-light man, but to be swallowed by the gray mist.

Thinking of this, he looked up at Ye Lan and said with a complicated expression, "You thought of this a long time ago?"

Ye Lan said, "Chu Yan told me that if the operation fails and she can't get any information from Julius, she will use hacking into the S-level action brain as a follow-up plan. She is not afraid of death, but she is worried about how to transmit the information she obtains."

“So she chose me,” Lin Xian said. Ye Lan looked at Lin Xian: “She said that you only connect with her consciousness when you are on the verge of death, which may be a common trait.”

Lin Xian got up and walked to the window, looked up at the blue sky, and smiled bitterly: "There is only one way to verify this."

After saying that, Lin Xian immediately turned around, his eyes resolute: "There are still some unfinished small starships in the starport, right? Let's borrow one!"

Ye Lan did not stop him.

He then arrived at the starport and found an unfinished Ray-class starship on the construction site. This starship was 4 tons, but only the main frame was completed. Lin Xian directly raised his hand to activate the Black Star Forge, and the violent mechanical space gate opened wide, slowly swallowing the starship.

Lin Xian gritted his teeth. With a great deal of energy drained away, he looked at the massive space of the Black Star Forge, his breathing becoming increasingly heavy. He didn't consider whether he could complete the transfer, nor did he know if it would be successful.

He was now on edge, his heart pounding with anxiety. He had to see if the woman was still alive!

Empty!
The hydraulic columns in the berth area hummed as Lin Xian directly transferred a massive starship into the Black Star Forge. After the mechanical door closed, Lin Xian was covered in cold sweat, and finally, everything went black as he slowly collapsed.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

The hollow sound echoed and reverberated in the skull, as if one were in an endless, vast, empty, cosmic abyss.

Lin Xian tried to open his eyes, but found he couldn't do anything. He felt a dull earthquake deep inside his head, and a huge sense of being ripped out came over him.

After getting used to it for a while, he was finally able to feel his own presence, so Lin Xian opened his eyes.

In an instant, his pupils contracted sharply!

He was standing on the head suppressor armor of the Gray Mist Messenger. This S-class flesh-and-blood bio-armor, hundreds of meters tall, was covered with a thin layer of white frost and floated boldly in the pitch-black space.

The sun's radiance, like a golden wheel, stung Lin Xian's eyes, making them burn. He raised his hand to shield them, only to find a figure drifting past him amidst a shower of debris.

Lin Xian was shocked to find that this was actually a young man dressed in a starship suit, who was now dead. As far as the eye could see, more and more dead crew members appeared in front of Lin Xian. In the space around the gray mist messenger, countless starship fragments floated. Looking up, in front of him, the wreckage of four 30-ton starships, like toys crushed by gods, were scattered in the void of near-Earth orbit.

The bridge of the Shepherd was broken in two, the exposed keel gleaming with a cold, hard metallic luster like a torn fishbone. The fusion reactor of the Ark was completely pierced, and the molten armor solidified into a hideous black mass, like a charred heart. The engine array of the Starship completely disintegrated, and tens of thousands of thruster nozzles floated silently...

Countless modules, corpses, and shattered structures drifted about, resembling the horrific aftermath of an interstellar war. The edge of the atmosphere glowed with a blood-red light, the result of burning debris falling from orbit.

Lin Xian turned his body, then froze.

people.

Tens of thousands of corpses floated in the vacuum, like a strange deep snow. Among them were many people who had died in the hibernation pods. The youngest one was a red-haired girl who looked no more than eighteen years old. Her braids were loose, and her hair swayed slowly like the tentacles of a jellyfish. These people were all elites selected for the Vanguard Project. They were the seeds of human civilization, young and energetic. They were pioneers and trailblazers, as well as martyrs of exploration.

It was hard to imagine what had happened here just a few hours ago. Further away, Lin Xian saw a super-large starship that had completely disintegrated. It was the Civilization Vanguard. At this moment, the space propulsion section at the rear had all broken off, and the supply propulsion compartment was gone. The huge bow was still pointing towards the distant star orbit, and there was a deathly silence.

Lin Xian turned around. Blue Star was suspended below. This huge planetary home was dazzlingly blue in the sunlight. Storm clouds swirled over the Pacific Ocean. The outline of the continent was still clear. He could even recognize the former city clusters. But at this moment, on the continental shelf of Asia-Pacific, several 'scars' that looked like black holes were occupying this planet.

The closest one is Star Abyss No. 5, which looks like a black tumor growing on a planet. The black curtain spreads out in waves, even swallowing up the atmosphere and clouds!
This was the first time Lin Xian had seen the full view of Xingyuan. The terrifying scene made his teeth chatter. At the same time, in the direction of the dark sky, where it was pitch black and empty, there seemed to be some kind of mournful gaze from the darkness, as if it completely surrounded the entire blue planet, cold, empty, like an abyss!

"Lin Xian!"

Lin Xian suddenly heard a voice, and he was absolutely certain that it was Chu Yan's voice!
Turning around, he saw a woman's silhouette, standing silently on the same suppressor device of the Gray Mist Messenger.

"Thank you for not giving up on me."

Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian, her eyes filled with barely concealed excitement. However, Lin Xian could also see that Chu Yan's consciousness was extremely unstable at this moment, pale and flickering, as if it were about to disappear at any moment.

"Actually, it's Professor Ye..."

Lin Xian chuckled self-deprecatingly, thinking to himself, "I've already put you in a body bag."

Chu Yan shook her head: "Listen to me, Julius's original consciousness has been uploaded into the Gray Mist's action brain through the mycelium. Although it is he who is linked, it actually needs to be controlled by the mainframe of Crimson III. This mainframe, like your Grace, is named 'Viola'. Now I have used my mental power to directly seize control of him and steal all his most secret information about connecting with the Dark and even including the Crimson World organization."

"But what is the price?"

"It's not important!" Chu Yan said to Lin Xian, "Listen carefully to what I'm about to say, remember everything, and pass it on to Professor Ye and General Xu!"

"Okay, I'm listening." Lin Xian's gaze was serious.

"The Crimson World connects to the S-level brain through mycelium, but what it obtains is not information, but a signal. This signal is extremely complex. Through analysis of human experimental data from 'Viola' and the Crimson World, it has been discovered that this signal may be an emotion!"

"mood?"

"Yes! There are two emotions, or rather, wills, emanating from Xingyuan: the first is fear, and the second is doubt!"

"What are you afraid of?" Lin Xian asked.

"Without a subject, this fear comes from human experiments. In the Crimson World, the invasion of darkness is considered a force of fear, which makes sense in the context of how humans undergo mutations after a mental breakdown. However, the problem is that it is impossible to determine whether this fear is humans' fear of darkness or darkness's fear of humans."

Lin Xian frowned: "Darkness can also frighten humans?"

"Don't interpret it from a subjective perspective." Chu Yan looked at the huge abyss on Blue Star: "From the perspective of civilization, if we observe from inside the abyss, humans are also an incomprehensible and unknowable existence to the dark creatures. They don't understand us, and we don't know how they exist or how they were born. It's a relationship that can't be communicated or proven between us."

Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian: "Do you know about the Rosetta Stone?"

"know."

"When two completely unfamiliar civilizations communicate without translation, there are generally two ways. The first is to use hieroglyphics, which doesn't work between us and the darkness. The second is through behavioral logic chains! It was through this that we discovered the Dark Marker, you know that, right?"

Lin Xian nodded.

Chu Yan continued, "So if there's only one signal, that signal has no reference value because it's uncertain whether it's from human experimentation or from darkness. It can't form a logical coordinate system. But the most crucial thing is the second signal!"

"I'm puzzled," Lin Xian said.

"Yes!"

“The Crimson World discovered this, so they determined that the source of the signal was either a dark life form or a Star Abyss. If we apply this signal to the changes in the Gray Fog and the current Star Abysses 5, 7, and 8, this behavior is very likely because the Star Abyss discovered the existence of Dawn City by connecting with this consciousness, and this discovery is not as simple as just the Dark Coordinates!”

Lin Xian frowned: "So last night's Black Tide attack was very likely not just because of those carrying the markings."

“Yes! If it were just marking, Dawn City’s firepower could have cleared it out long ago, but the dark uprisings in the three Star Abysses lasted all night!” Chu Yan said in a cold voice, “This means that the Star Abysses are suspicious and testing us!”

Lin Xian felt a chill run down his spine: "So the expansion speed of Xingyuan is actually..."

"It can be unrestricted." Chu Yan said seriously, "It won't take a year, it won't take four months. As long as they find the coordinates, they can cover the entire Blue Star in just one night!"

Lin Xian's eyes widened in astonishment: "No wonder Star Abyss No. 5 is acting strangely. Star Abysses all over the world are accelerating. Is this some kind of coordination?!"

"Have you ever experienced a power outage?" Chu Yan continued, "When the room is pitch black, if you're not familiar with the area, you can only rely on your hands and feet to feel your way around, which can be very slow. But if you turn on the lights, or if you're already familiar with the location, you'll get there quickly!"

"So the monsters used dark markers to locate humans. No wonder after the Black Tide attack last night, large numbers of S-class monsters and corpse drivers were discovered in all three Star Abyss directions." Lin Xian looked helpless. "We're doomed. We thought we'd have plenty of time to evacuate the people in the city. It seems we might face annihilation from the corpse drivers and S-class monsters tonight..."

“Julius knew this, which is why he wanted to use the entire Dawn City as a testing ground for the Apocalypse. They wanted to research the true evolution mechanism as soon as possible, and transforming themselves into monsters and human monsters was actually a second choice. There is also an important piece of information, which is that the original purpose of the Crimson World was not this.”

Chu Yan said to Lin Xian, "The original purpose of the Crimson World was to provide a path for digital life and mechanical ascension. However, the Crimson World later began to develop out of control, heading in the direction of superpowers, bio-armor, God's Chosen, and angels. The organization that first established the Crimson World was called the SIID Foundation. This was an extension of the Lofi Group, which was the largest conglomerate in the world at the time. It controlled a large part of the Federation's economic lifeline. You may have heard of it."

Lin Xian was stunned for a moment: "I've not only heard of them... but I've also had contact with 'them'."

"Lin Xian, you must inform Professor Ye and General Xu of the situation immediately, or it will be too late!"

Lin Xian looked at himself upon hearing this and shrugged helplessly: "You know perfectly well that I can only see you when I'm completely exhausted and can't control myself from waking up."

"What should I do?"

“What else can we do…” Lin Xian smiled bitterly: “I’m thinking, even if the whole city knows about this news and we escaped, according to this theory, once Xingyuan’s test is successful, it will be meaningless for us to escape to the polar regions. We might even be able to escape Xingyuan’s expansion speed.”

Chu Yan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and then stood there with a disappointed expression.

"Lin Xian."

"Ok?"

"If the world were to end tonight, would you be afraid?"

"I was a little scared at first." Lin Xian looked up at the starry sky and smiled smugly. "Now I'm not so scared anymore. I guess I've been an astronaut for once in my life."

Chu Yan admired his optimism, but sighed helplessly.

Seeing Chu Yan's current state, Lin Xian simply sat down and said, "Since we can't go back, let's chat."

"What to talk about?"

"For example, are you really dead?"

Chu Yan's expression was complicated: "My mental consciousness is currently invading Julius's body, using his life force to survive. He is preserving himself in an advanced life pod. I will survive in this state for a short period of time, but after my mental power disappears, I will completely perish."

Lin Xian opened his mouth, then suddenly smiled.

"why are you laughing?"

"I was going to say that I didn't know if there was any other way to save you, but then I thought, tonight might be the end of the world, and maybe none of us will live as long as you."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yan smiled inexplicably. She glanced at Lin Xian with bright eyes, and after a long while, she spoke.
"Thank you, Lin Xian."

"What's there to thank me for? You helped me seize the Heart of the Galaxy, saved the entire city, and even sacrificed yourself. What do you need to thank me for?"

"Thank you for appearing in my consciousness, for being able to complete this mission with me, and for being here to talk to me..." Chu Yan said.

Lin Xian sighed deeply: "It's a pity that our consciousnesses are entangled, otherwise, it would be great if we could have a drink in this situation."

Looking at the starship wreckage and countless martyrs of the Vanguard Project, Chu Yan said to Lin Xian, "By the way, there is another very important piece of information. After the Vanguard starships broke through the Heavenly Curtain, I received a message from Captain Chu Jing of the Civilization Vanguard over Dawn City through the Common Star Channel. But at that time, this place was swept by the Dark Energy Storm Zone, and all the information could not be sent out."

"what's the message?"

"It was through the Dark Corrosion Cell Activation Monitoring Experiment Device that the Civilization Vanguard successfully obtained data on the energy absorbed by the Dark Corrosion Cells when it broke through the celestial curtain. If the Dark Corrosion Cells are used to convert the potential energy of this dark invasion, we can filter and purify water 100% like the dark creatures. If we use a device of similar potential to stimulate this energy microwave, we can also help humanity completely shield against the dark invasion and solve the mutation disaster!"

Lin Xian's expression changed upon hearing this. Wasn't this his Heterogeneous Rubik's Cube? Moreover, it was even more powerful than the Heterogeneous Rubik's Cube because it could filter out the darkness invading from the water!
"So that's what that device was for!"

Chu Yan then earnestly told Lin Xian, "When the Vanguard Fleet encountered the dark energy storm, the [Civilization Vanguard] was actually the only starship that could escape the storm. However, a large-scale anomaly occurred on the [Civilization Vanguard], so Chu Jing ultimately chose to launch the only two remaining supply and propulsion ships to push the [Natural Selection] and [Deep Blue] out of the dark energy storm zone, and prepared to turn the [Civilization Vanguard] back..."

"He wants to send the data back to Dawn City!?" Lin Xian asked in surprise.

Chu Yan nodded.

"He wanted to leave humanity with hope for survival."

"He doesn't want to abandon humanity."

Afterwards, Chu Yan recounted to Lin Xian how, after her consciousness invaded Julius, she broke through the invisible celestial curtain from the perspective of the first ship of the Broken Curtain Project. From Chu Yan's description, Lin Xian seemed to witness the epic and magnificent scene firsthand: seven doomsday starships carrying tens of thousands of people, plus human frozen embryos and the Civilization Treasury, rushed at full speed toward the celestial curtain that could directly destroy them. In the 30 minutes after encountering the dark energy storm, how the captains of the seven ships desperately escaped.

It was an incredibly tragic yet resolute scene, with countless young lives vanishing in the cold expanse of space. Lin Xian could hardly imagine how Chu Jing, knowing full well that he could survive, made the heartbreaking decision to launch the supply propulsion ship to send the [Natural Selection] and [Deep Blue] away. Perhaps it was the same resolute and unwavering determination he showed when commanding the Civilization Vanguard to charge at the forefront of all starships.

Lin Xian looked at the distant starry sky, where the massive, fragmented 'Far Star' class starship, a symbol of the glory of human technological civilization, was floating silently in the vacuum, its bow raised high.

Like a dazzling banner.

(End of this chapter)