Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

The entire capital was in an uproar on the day the Explorer returned.

As the spacecraft passed through the atmosphere, it left a long trail of fire in the sky, like a shooting star flying backwards.

The ground command center was packed with people, and the technicians stared at the data on the screens, barely daring to breathe.

When the parachute opened and the spacecraft landed steadily in the designated landing area, deafening cheers erupted in the control room.

Faced with this historic moment, the emperor personally went to the landing site to welcome the arrival of the emperor.

He stood at the front of the crowd, wearing a gold tuxedo that he rarely wore, with five key ministers and a line of armed guards behind him.

The area was packed with reporters and onlookers, and countless cameras were pointed at the still-smoking spaceship.

The hatch opened, and five goblins climbed out one by one.

They were wearing bulky spacesuits, their faces were pale, their steps were unsteady, but their eyes were frighteningly bright.

After a full month of space travel, these little goblins had lost a lot of weight, but they were full of energy.

Grimm walked in front.

He is the captain, the person in charge of this spacecraft, and the most senior astronaut.

When it landed, its legs went weak and it almost knelt on the ground, but it was supported by the assistant next to it.

After he regained his footing, he took off his helmet, took deep breaths of the air on the ground, and his eyes instantly reddened.

It still feels more comfortable to be down-to-earth.

"We're back," he said, his voice hoarse.

The emperor stepped forward and shook his hand. "Welcome home."

The flashes of light went off in a flurry.

Next came a grand welcoming ceremony, during which the five astronauts were escorted into an open-top car and paraded around the main thoroughfare of the imperial city.

The streets were packed with people, some waving national flags, some scattering flower petals, and some holding up signs.

The children rode on the adults' shoulders, waving their hands frantically.

The spacecraft was towed into the research institute's hangar, and the scientists pounced on it like a pack of hungry wolves.

They removed the recorder, took out the data storage core, and carefully carried it into the laboratory.

Those instruments recorded a month's worth of data from the Explorer's voyage, making them one of the most valuable assets in the history of goblin spaceflight.

The next part of the ceremony was for the astronauts to share their spaceflight experiences.

The makeshift studio was packed. The emperor and his ministers sat in the front row, followed by scientists from the research institute and celebrities from all walks of life, and the back was crowded with reporters.

The lights were on brightly, and the camera was pointed at the podium.

Grimm was the first to go on stage.

He stood in front of the microphone and cleared his throat.

"Fellow countrymen, a month ago, we left Gruul and flew into the unknown universe."

His voice carried throughout the hall through the loudspeaker.

"This past month has been filled with things you can't even imagine, but today, all I want to tell you is that the universe is much bigger and more mysterious than we ever imagined."

He paused, then pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket—notes he had written on the spaceship.

"We originally thought that the farther away from the home planet, the weaker the gravity, the faster the flight speed, and the less energy consumed."

"This is what Ludson told us, and it's also a physical law we've been studying for hundreds of years."

He raised his head and his gaze swept over everyone present.

But that's not the reality.

The hall fell silent.

Grimm's voice deepened: "When we had traveled about 300,000 kilometers, the spaceship began to slow down."

"It's not that there's a problem with the engine, it's not that we don't have enough fuel, it's that something is stopping us, something we can't see or touch."

"The further out we fly, the greater the resistance becomes. By 500,000 kilometers, the spacecraft's speed had dropped to half of what it was at launch, and by 800,000 kilometers, we were practically crawling."

"But there's clearly nothing outside," a scientist couldn't help but interject.

Grimm looked at him: "Yes, there's nothing there, but the resistance is definitely there. We checked all the equipment, ruled out all the faults, and finally came to a conclusion—"

He paused.

"This world has a boundary."

Whispers filled the hall.

"Just as an egg has a shell, and a city has walls, our world also has a shell."

Grimm continued.

"It's invisible and intangible, but it's there. The farther we fly, the more we can feel its presence. It's like it's protecting us, but also like it's... imprisoning us."

These words caused an uproar among the crowd, except for the old emperor and the five core ministers, who were moved by the thought.

The old emperor had heard that "god" say that there was a barrier beyond the world, which served as both protection and constraint...

It seems this barrier has blocked the path to interstellar travel, and also stifled the goblin race's vitality...

At that moment, a reporter raised his hand: "Mr. Grimm, do you mean we're locked in a cage?"

Grimm paused for a moment: "I'm not sure if it's a cage or a cradle, but I know that getting out won't be easy with our current technology."

Another reporter pressed further, "Did you see the universe? Did you see other planets?"

Grimm nodded, his eyes brightening slightly.

"We saw it! Through that shell, we saw the endless starry sky, the magnificent universe!"

"I believe that, given the speed of our goblin race's development, we will be able to completely conquer that starry sea within a few decades!"

When Grimm delivered his impassioned speech, he expected applause from the crowd, but no one clapped; everyone looked gloomy.

Decades? Will there still be goblins by then?

The astronauts were unaware of what was going on. Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Grimm briefly offered a few suggestions on star observation and spacecraft improvements before hastily ending his speech.

Next, other astronauts will share their experiences.

Some people say they saw colors they'd never seen before in space.

Some people say that the feeling of weightlessness and floating in a spaceship is amazing.

Some say that seeing Gruul shrink little by little through the porthole, turning into a blue bead, is a feeling that is both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

Zik was the last to go on stage.

He stood in front of the microphone, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "There's something I've been unsure whether I should say."

Grimm, sitting in the audience, frowned. Zeke hadn't mentioned anything special on the spaceship.

"On the second day after we set off," Zeke said, "I looked out the porthole and saw someone outside."

There was a moment of silence in the hall, followed by a buzzing sound.

"Who is it?" someone asked.

"A person in a black robe." Zeke's voice was somewhat weak.

"It was floating outside the spaceship, watching us. I thought I was seeing things, so I called Grimm to come and see, but he didn't see anything. I never mentioned it again after that."

"It might be a hallucination," someone in the audience said. "Hallucinations are common after long periods of space travel."

Zik shook his head: "Maybe. But I always feel that it's not an illusion."

The host tactfully smoothed things over, steering the conversation back to aerospace technology.

Zik didn't insist any further. He chatted with the host for a few minutes about suggestions for improving the spaceship, and then stepped down from the stage.