Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

Inside the small world, it was still a scene of vibrant life, yet eerily quiet.

The sky here is a strange pale blue, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, yet a soft and even light shines upon the earth. The light seems to come from all directions, permeating every inch of the space, illuminating every corner without being glaring, making one feel very comfortable.

In the distance, rolling green hills stretched out, covered with lush, unidentified trees, their verdant greenery occasionally punctuated by the clear chirping of birds. At the foot of the hills lay a vast plain, where twenty enormous gold bricks were neatly stacked, resembling a miniature golden mountain. Bathed in soft light, they reflected a dazzling, almost blinding brilliance. Beside the gold bricks lay piles of weapons and supplies seized from Japanese spies.

He Damin stood on the plain and took a deep breath. The air here was unbelievably fresh, carrying the fragrance of soil and the scent of grass and trees, with a faint hint of spiritual energy. Inhaling it made every pore feel open, and his spirit was refreshed, as if all the fatigue of the past few days had been swept away.

Not far away, Kobayashi Masao, Matsui Kenji, and another captured Japanese engineer were busy in a makeshift factory. The factory, constructed from trees from the small world and some materials they had brought with them, was rather rudimentary. They were assembling a fiber drawing tower designed by He Damin, preparing it for fiberglass production. At that moment, the faint clanging of metal and low murmurs of conversation broke the tranquility of the small world.

But He Damin's goal today is not there.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky.

A silver-gray flying saucer floated silently in the sky.

That was the Voyager 7 research vessel, which had helped him survive the tribulation of lightning atop the Taihang Mountains. It wasn't particularly large, about thirty meters in diameter, and perfectly disc-shaped. At this moment, it hovered silently a thousand meters in the air, its silver-gray outer shell smooth as a mirror, gleaming with a cold yet gentle metallic sheen under the soft light of the small world, like a work of art from outer space. Since recognizing its master, it had remained here, like a loyal guardian. He Damin had only occasionally used his divine sense to probe its exterior before, never truly entering its interior.

Today, the time has come.

He Damin's eyes narrowed, and with a swift movement, he appeared beside the flying saucer as if by teleportation. He reached out and gently pressed his hand against the smooth, mirror-like outer shell. It was cool to the touch, with the distinctive texture of metal.

Divine consciousness surged in like a tidal wave.

The next moment, the scene before his eyes changed, and he was already inside the flying saucer.

The interior space is much larger than it appears from the outside, completely disproportionate to its visual size, clearly indicating the use of some kind of space expansion technique.

This was a circular main chamber, approximately twenty meters in diameter. In the center of the chamber was a massive circular platform, shimmering with a faint blue light, seemingly running some complex program. The surrounding walls were not solid; they appeared to be composed of some kind of energy flow, covered with densely packed patterns and symbols he couldn't decipher at all. These patterns glowed faintly, like living blood vessels, emitting an eerie blue light that illuminated the entire chamber like a scene from a science fiction movie.

He Damin carefully scanned the entire cabin with his divine sense and quickly found what he was looking for.

On one side of the cabin, there are three tightly closed metal doors.

There were no words on the doors, only simple and abstract graphic symbols. On the first door, there was a glowing square, which looked like some kind of storage device; on the second door, there was a humanoid outline, which should be related to a creature or a robot; on the third door, there was a humanoid figure wearing armor, who seemed to be holding a weapon, which was obviously related to weapons and equipment.

He Damin walked to the first door, stretched out his hand, and pressed it on the glowing square symbol on the door.

Without a sound, the door slid open silently to both sides, like melting water, revealing the space inside.

Inside was a room that wasn't very large, densely packed with countless glowing cubes. These cubes were only the size of a palm, completely transparent like crystal, with a slow, flowing blue light inside, appearing mysterious and beautiful. He Damin casually picked one up and probed it with his divine sense—

boom!

Instantly, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind like a burst dam! Various complex formulas, data, drawings, texts, images… flashed through his consciousness like a revolving lantern. He felt as if his head was about to explode, but his mental strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. He forcibly stabilized this information and began to organize it.

These cubes contain all the data of the Voyager 7 research vessel! Navigation logs, energy system principles, protection system composition, detection system parameters, weapon system operation... even complete manufacturing blueprints and core technical data of this flying saucer!

"A photon computer..." He Damin murmured to himself, a look of shock flashing in his eyes. This was something countless times more advanced than the most advanced electronic computers currently available to humankind! It used photons as its computing medium, its computing speed was tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions of times faster than that of electronic computers, and it generated almost no heat, allowing it to run indefinitely!

With these tools, he could calculate any data he wanted in a very short time. From the optimal route for laying transoceanic fiber optic cables to designing the most complex banking system software, to predicting the global economic trend over the next few decades, and even deducing various complex chemical reactions and physical models... everything would become simple and efficient.

He Damin put down the photon computer cube in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the rows of neatly arranged cubes, his heart filled with joy. This was simply a huge treasure!

He exited the first door and walked towards the second. The symbol on the door was a human silhouette.

The door slid open silently as well.

Behind the door was a space resembling a laboratory or repair workshop. Inside, a dozen or so… “people”?

No, it's not human.

They were humanoid, with heads, torsos, and limbs, roughly the size of an adult human. But their skin was a silvery-gray metallic texture, and their eyes were two pure black crystals, expressionless, standing there motionless like a group of sleeping silver statues.

robot!

He Damin walked up to one of them and examined it closely. The robot's craftsmanship was extremely refined; the joints were cleverly designed, each joint moving freely, and the dexterity of its fingers seemed indistinguishable from a human's. Its body lines were smooth and exuded power. On its chest, there was a recessed circular area, which appeared to hold something, such as an energy core or control module.

He tried to probe the core of the robot with his divine sense.

hum-

A soft hum rang out, and the robot's eyes suddenly lit up, turning a soft blue light. Its stiff body twitched slightly, and it slowly turned its head, its black crystalline eyes looking at He Damin.

"Temporary captain privileges detected." A completely emotionless, purely mechanical voice emanated from within it. "Service robot number 0037, on standby. Please provide instructions."

He Damin paused for a moment, then smiled. It seemed these robots could be activated.

He counted them; there were twelve robots in total. Eight were the standard service robots he'd just seen, probably responsible for routine maintenance, repairs, and miscellaneous tasks. Three were slightly different, their arms seemingly equipped with various testing instruments and tools; these were likely research models. And one, noticeably larger than the others, standing over two meters tall, with thicker armor and what appeared to be hidden weapon interfaces on its shoulders and arms—this was a combat model!

He Damin walked up to the combat-type robot. Its chest wasn't dented, but rather a single, thick armor plate with intricate patterns. Its arms were thicker than those of a regular robot, and its hands could deform—He Damin could even see the muzzles of small energy cannons hidden in its knuckles, as well as sharp alloy blades that could pop out from the outside of its arms.

"Good stuff," he murmured to himself. With these robots, many things would be much more convenient.

He took a moment to activate all twelve robots. The service and research robots had blue eyes, while the combat robot had red eyes, giving it a more intimidating appearance. They all stood silently, awaiting commands.

He Damin nodded in satisfaction and walked towards the third door. This door depicted a human figure in armor; what could be inside?

The door slid open, and a chilly aura rushed out.

Behind the door was a huge warehouse, or rather, a hangar.

Inside the warehouse, twelve mechs were neatly arranged!

The mechs were about five or six meters tall, entirely black, reflecting a cold, metallic luster under the eerie blue light emanating from the warehouse ceiling. Their designs were simple yet powerful, with streamlined armor covering their entire bodies, outlining lines full of explosive force. Long limbs, a stable base, and deployable wings on their backs—they looked like war machines straight out of a science fiction novel.

He Damin walked to the nearest mech and placed his hand on its leg armor. It felt cold and hard to the touch, with a heavy texture, clearly indicating extremely strong defensive capabilities.

He carefully probed with his divine sense and quickly located the cockpit entrance of the mecha. The cockpit was located in the mecha's chest area, cleverly designed to be almost invisible without close inspection. He tried issuing a command to "open the cockpit," and the armor plate on the mecha's chest silently slid open, revealing the cockpit inside.

The cockpit was small, only big enough for one person. It was densely packed with various control devices, buttons, and displays, with complex symbols and data flashing on the screens, similar to the symbols on the walls of the flying saucer, none of which he could understand.

"It seems it will take time," he muttered to himself.

These things all require time to study. The massive amount of data in the photonic computer, the detailed operating methods of the robots, the piloting techniques and combat skills of the mechs... each one requires him to invest a great deal of energy to learn and master.

But it's okay.

He has plenty of time.

He Damin exited the flying saucer, and in a flash, landed on the plain.