Abnormal crossing

Chapter 155 There Are Still Problems (Part 1)

"."

The bowing of Speaker Gray and others eased the tension on Old Berry's face slightly.

He bowed slightly to Speaker Gray, but did not speak. Instead, he helped his wife to Milo's side.

Looking at the crew members whose appearances were clearly different from Mold's, Old Berry stopped, his voice still somewhat hoarse: "Sir, you must be the distinguished alien guest that Speaker Gray mentioned who brought the fleet back?"

Milo nodded: "That's right, I am Milo, captain of the Fluttering Fluttering."

Milo had barely finished speaking.

Old Berry suddenly released his wife's hand and bowed deeply to her.

The bow was slow but deep, and his black hair fell down, covering his wrinkled forehead.

“Thank you,” old Berry’s muffled voice came from his bowed posture, “Please allow me to express my gratitude as a father—thank you for taking my child home and giving our family the chance to see each other again, thank you.”

The old woman beside him also realized what was happening, quickly wiped her eyes a few times, and bowed to old Berry.

As old Berry said.

Although Berry, Joe Cowen, and others have passed away in the real world, their consciousness, or rather their souls, still remain.

The family of three can still meet once a month to catch up on each other's lives—considering the risks the Star Sea Exploration Team has to bear, this is already a reasonably acceptable outcome.

Perhaps for a long time to come.

The Berry couple still need someone to comfort them, and they will still feel grief and heartbreak from time to time, but at least they will not completely lose hope and motivation.

And this barely acceptable situation is precisely what this man in front of us has brought about.

Therefore, Berlusconi can disregard everyone else, but he cannot ignore Milo.

"Please don't do that, please rise," Milo said, quickly helping old Berry up as the couple suddenly bowed to him, while gesturing for Chestnut to help the old woman as well. "It's just a small favor, you're making me feel uncomfortable."

After much persuasion, Milo finally managed to get the old Berry couple to get up.

Looking at their clasped hands, Gu Wei's gaze towards Milo underwent a subtle change.

To know.

Despite appearing to be at least two generations older than Milo, old Berry is actually older than him – according to Milo's initial introduction, he is now nearly two hundred years old.

The average lifespan of the Molde people, converted to Earth's age, is only about ninety years, and old Berry is now only between sixty and seventy.

Not to mention the vast difference in technological levels between the two sides. The fact that Milo was still so polite to the other party under these circumstances clearly reflects his own good manners.

“Captain Milo,” after standing up, old Berry hesitated for a few moments before finally mustering the courage to ask, “Is my son... really unable to come back? — I mean, not back to reality.”

"."

Upon hearing this, Milo turned around and stared at Jin for a few seconds. Jin then took over the conversation with perfect understanding: "How should I put it? The self-referentiality of Little Berry's and your Governor's consciousness has been destroyed. They are like completely open-source code, and all information cannot complete a logical loop."

"For example, suppose you use technology to recreate Berry's physical body in reality. The moment he sees you, all your information will be randomly and disorderly reorganized in front of him—your face will reassemble into the shape of Joe Cowen, your left hand will evolve into your wife's foot, and your right hand will become Gu Wei's head. Then, 0.01 seconds later, it will change into the next set."

"Ultimately, they couldn't pinpoint their own state. The endless reorganization of information eventually led to an overload and crash. Their already incomplete consciousness... boom!"

Old Berry silently lowered his eyelids.

Despite the vast technological gap between Molde and the outside world.

But as an engineer who had participated in the repair of the atmosphere when he was young, Old Berry's knowledge framework was not as primitive as Gu Wei imagined—he had actually taken the Star Ocean University entrance exam, even earlier than Qiao Kewen.

Although Berry Sr., like thousands of his predecessors at Molde, did not achieve any ranking, he was the best among countless peers in his time.

After Jokowi gave back to Molde.

Old Berry's knowledge base was also supplemented to some extent, and he was not completely ignorant of certain concepts.

Therefore, as soon as Jin spoke, he understood what this "little girl," who looked even younger than the neighbor's daughter, meant:
There is absolutely no chance that Berry will ever come back.

Afterwards, Old Berry silently bowed to the group again, and then left the scene with his wife, supporting each other.

In the picture, Berry also gave up his spot.

"."

Watching the departing Berry couple, Milo suddenly sighed: "I thought you would leave them something as a memento—like making up some information, such as a plan to repair the self-referential gap in the six levels or something."

“A meaningless emotional act,” Jin said expressionlessly, crossing her arms as she listened to Milo’s words, her gaze following the hunched back. “A white lie can sometimes bring comfort, but more often it’s just a way for the liar to justify himself—they’re not stupid.”

“Using false hope to mask the cruel reality is merely postponing the repayment of pain—you may have obtained a ‘loan,’ but the injured party will ultimately have to bear the interest, and the pain of repayment will be even greater than before.”

As she spoke, she tilted her head, walked to Gu Wei's side, and, while Gu Wei looked completely bewildered, grasped his left hand, lightly scratching his arm with her nails.

A small wound appeared on Gu Wei's arm.

Gu Wei: "??????"

Then, Jin waved her hand, and the wound began to heal and scab over rapidly under the influence of some special substance: "See? Some wounds must be exposed to the air to truly scab over. A race that can thrive in the harsh environment of the Auraro Maze is perhaps much stronger than you imagine." Gu Wei continued, "."

Sister, I understand the logic, but could you please stop using my buddy as a guinea pig?

But soon.

Gu Wei noticed that Gray, Elliott, and the others not far away all had thoughtful expressions on their faces.

He glanced at Jin again and guessed the girl's intention.

Her words were probably not meant for Milo or herself.
So he suppressed his initial loud voice, which he had intended to use to argue his point, and quietly pulled Jin aside: "Jin, it's fine if you want to preach, but could you at least let me know next time?"

Gu Wei only got halfway through his sentence.

Jin interrupted him: "Fifty Alliance Coins, Meimei will transfer them to you when we get back—by the way, what were you trying to say? What did you want to tell you?"

Gu Wei, who had originally intended to protest, suddenly changed his tone: "What I mean is, next time you should let me know in advance so I can eat more blood-nourishing foods and spray more."

Meanwhile, Gu Wei and Jin were whispering to each other.

Meetings between family members and crew members at the metal plate site continue.

With the Berry family leading the way, the impact of the subsequent rounds of talks was relatively less significant.

These family members include sailor parents like old Berry, sailor uncles and aunts, or spouses and descendants, etc.
One of the crew members, named Salin, had a daughter who was only fifteen years old when she left. Now she is a mother of two. Salin smiled happily in the video as she watched her bloodline continue.

He was also the only crew member who could laugh heartily.

Other than that.

On Joe Cowen's side, there was also the youngest crew member who refused to see his family—or rather, refused to accept the fact that he had been devoured by the Erasers. So he applied to Joe Cowen for indefinite cryogenic hibernation, and there wasn't much anyone could do about it.

Predictably so.

As time goes on, the number of crew members applying for hibernation may increase.

After all, in order to ensure that nothing unexpected happens in the Eraser World, the movement of Joe Cowen and the others was forcibly restricted to a fixed area.

Although there is internet access, no one can say for sure how long a person's will can last in this fictional world.

Gu Wei also noted that...

Neither the earlier Berry, nor Salin's daughter and wife, nor the families of the other crew members, expressed any dissatisfaction with Jokowi—or rather, the Federal Parliament—in their grief.

At most, she would just blame herself like Berry's mother did, saying things like, "Why didn't I keep you here?"

Gu Wei had seen this kind of spirit or awareness in China before his transmigration, but he never expected to see something similar on the other side of the Milky Way.

Different starry skies, the same unwavering commitment.

"So, how does it feel? You're quite moved, aren't you?"

Watching those figures gradually disappear, Milo walked to Gu Wei's side with deep emotion: "Resilience and ability are actually two completely different concepts in the Star Sea. The resilience of a civilization often lies not in the height it climbs, but in its attitude when it encounters difficulties."

"Some civilizations, even if they can build colossal structures that span galaxies, will tear each other apart when disaster strikes, while other civilizations, even if they have only just mastered interplanetary travel, are all willing to burn themselves for their people and even sacrifice their lives."

"Life and civilization are truly subtle."

As Milo spoke.

A gentle breeze that swept through the passageway blew across the mooring area, scattering a few petals from the wreath woven by Salin's granddaughter.

The falling petals traced shimmering blue trails in the light, like miniature meteor showers.

Gu Wei opened his mouth slightly, but ultimately remained silent.

He simply stared silently at everything before him.

As Milo said.

The quiet sorrow of the Molds contained a depth of civilization that transcended the level of technology.

After a while.

All family members finished communicating with the crew members and left the scene in an orderly manner under Hina's guidance.

The rest of the crew in the Eraser world also disappeared from the screen, leaving only Jokowen.

This was also a suggestion made by Jin.

After all, the more people in the picture, the greater the amount of information entering and leaving the picture—although theoretically this amount of information will not cause a crisis, in view of the actual situation, stability will definitely be the priority.

“Captain Milo,” then Speaker Gray paused, about to speak, “continue.”

However, he hadn't even uttered the word "come".

A strange figure hurriedly appeared in another passage not far away, and as soon as he appeared, he called out urgently:
"Speaker Gray, I heard Uncle is back?"

Note:
This chapter was originally supposed to be posted together with the previous one on Qingming Festival, but due to health reasons, I've reached my limit for updates. Please understand.
(End of this chapter)