Reboot the Galaxy

Chapter 6 The First Interstellar Voyage

"Where did Quilt go?" asked Leo Novak, whose skin was bronze.

“Who knows, even I can’t control him.” Carlson Mephisto, standing in front, sighed softly. “That’s just how he is; the more you try to get him to obey, the more he rebels. Not to mention someone like Xavier.”

"But given his strength, the rebels couldn't possibly kill him."

Leo's lips tightened into a thin line, his eyes gradually hardening as he began to scan the people around him.

"I think so too. He probably upset someone again."

Carlson lowered his gaze, his face calm and composed. "Whoever it is, I will find him."

The brief meeting consisted only of Li Guangyu's criticisms and the final instruction to stand by; nothing more was said, and everyone was quickly dismissed.

Di Yan and He Xu exchanged a glance and were about to walk back together when suddenly someone patted their shoulder from behind.

It was Han Qinghe. He and Di Yan were already familiar with each other, and he greeted them with a friendly smile: "Captain Li is looking for you. Thank you for making the trip."

"You go back first," Di Yan said to He Xu, then followed Han Qinghe to Lieutenant Li Guangyu.

"Di Yan, you did a good job."

At this moment, Li Guangyu, contrary to his strict and capable style, suddenly became humble and gentle, and his gaze was full of appreciation.

Di Yan's eyes were slightly languid, revealing no emotion: "I was just following orders."

"We know you have strong professional ethics, so there are some things I'm only telling you," Han Qinghe said, his tone both gentle and serious.

"Actually, this battle was commanded by Captain Li."

Di Yan's heart skipped a beat. He looked at Lieutenant Li Guangyu and saw that the other party was smiling and nodding, which was considered as acknowledging this statement.

"But from what I've observed, the only one commanding the battle is Xavier..."

"It was indeed Xavier who gave the order, but all the operational arrangements still fall under Captain Li's purview. You'll understand that later." Han Qinghe's explanation only confused Di Yan more.

Li Guangyu gave the command, and Xavier gave the order.

Di Yan didn't raise too many questions, taking it as a "black technology" from military-grade Xavier.

"About Naquit?"

"That was my idea too." Li Guangyu nodded.

Di Yan took a deep breath, feeling a weight lifted from his heart, but not completely.

From the moment he followed Quilt, he had been suspicious of Xavier's intentions. Afterwards, he even felt that Xavier had acted on his own initiative, secretly using instructions to deliberately arrange for his teammates to kill each other.

"But that was very dangerous." Di Yan recalled the situation at the time, "He almost killed me."

"That's why we're here to talk to you now," Han Qinghe said, "because you passed the test."

"An assessment? Arranged for me?" Di Yan was quite surprised.

Li Guangyu looked at Di Yan with satisfaction: "Yes, that's why your mission is much more important than others, and I also hope to train you into a subordinate I can absolutely trust."

"After all, you saw it yourself. Quilt's actions today were extremely dangerous. Openly defying Xavier's orders is tantamount to disobeying military orders," Han Qinghe said in a very soft tone.

"So today I played the role of an 'executioner'," Di Yan tried to summarize.

"Yes, that's why I'm telling you this in private. If we make it public, people will know that you did it, which will be extremely detrimental to your situation." Li Guangyu looked at Di Yan with great appreciation.

Di Yan covered his mouth and thought for a few seconds: "So, there might be more 'execution' missions like this assigned to me in the future?"

Lieutenant Li Guangyu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled: "Yes, there might be more. But you have the right to refuse, so I'm asking for your consent now. We've been honest with you about everything; are you willing to do this for us?"

"I do."

Di Yan agreed without hesitation, which shocked the two officers opposite him, who exchanged a glance.

"Di Yan, do you want to think this over carefully? This is different from your previous assassination missions. After all, you will be facing elites from all over the world. Dangerous situations like today could happen again in the future." Han Qinghe's tone seemed to be advising Di Yan not to agree.

But Di Yan was adamant and still agreed: "I just simply like this kind of thing."

He smiled. "Killing someone on a secret commission—isn't that what I often do?"

Li Guangyu and Han Qinghe looked at each other again, their expressions becoming slightly more serious.

"But what I'm curious about is, since Quilt disobeyed military orders, why didn't you discharge him from the military or subject him to military law?"

"This matter involves deeper secrets, and I can't tell you about it for the time being," Li Guangyu said sincerely.

Di Yan thought it over again, deciding that this was a rare opportunity to talk, so he asked the question that had been on his mind: "There's another question: can I go back to Earth?"

"Are you worried about Jeremy Godwin?"

Han Qinghe was in charge of negotiating with Di Yan at the time and was well aware of the deep friendship between the two. "Don't worry about that. We made some minor changes to his identity. He is now completely clean and can live peacefully on Earth while waiting for you to return."

"So, there's a chance?"

"Yes, but it might take at least a few years..."

Di Yan raised his head and sighed, "Fine, as long as I don't spend my whole life in space."

On his way back to the dormitory, Di Yan was lost in thought.

What if he hadn't defeated Quilt? Would Quilt have been labeled as the murderer of his teammate, and Xavier have then ordered others to execute Quilt?

That's very likely.

"That's really brilliant..." Di Yan couldn't help but admire the wisdom of the scholars who developed the military-grade Xavier.

Arriving at the elevator lobby, I experienced the "zero-gravity elevator" again, and it still felt very novel.

People were chatting in the corridor, which was no longer as deserted as yesterday.

Di Yan placed his hand on the arched cabin door, and the door immediately opened, as a burst of wild laughter suddenly rushed into the dormitory.

He Xu was laughing so hard he almost cried. When he saw Di Yan come in, he rushed over to him, laughing so hard he almost cried: "Di Yan, let me tell you something funny... Hahahaha..."

Although he didn't know why the other person was laughing, Di Yan was already infected by this "depressing" laughter, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up: "What's wrong?"

"Come here, come here quickly."

He Xu held a tablet in one hand and pulled Di Yan inside with the other, arriving at a bedside.

Di Yan recognized the person on the bed as one of the four people he had rescued.

The four men all had dark skin and broad foreheads, and appeared to be local Africans. They were all injured and had received basic medical treatment.

He picked up the tablet and started asking the black man in front of him, "Dude, say your name again. My friend just rescued you guys and hasn't had a chance to get to know you yet."

After he finished speaking, he handed the tablet forward, and Xavier's voice came from it, translating He Xu's Chinese into an African dialect that Di Yan couldn't understand.

After a series of rapid-fire speech, the black man immediately understood, grabbed Di Yan's hand and rubbed it vigorously, showing great enthusiasm, and then pointed to his chest and said a lot of things.

Di Yan frowned deeply and shook his head to indicate that he did not understand.

He Xu pulled the tablet back, suppressing his laughter as he held it out to Di Yan so he could hear it.

Xavier said the following in the tablet:

"Ah, my dear friend, it was you who rescued us! It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Mphoent lelelomfa nelengwele thukutheli mphofuthe, and it's an honor to be your friend!"

"Uh... so, what's his name?" Di Yan's expression was slightly embarrassed.

"Didn't he already say that his name is Mpuentelelai..." He Xu looked at Di Yan and couldn't help but laugh again.

Di Yan scratched his head, feeling that He Xu's sense of humor was indeed strange, so he took the tablet from He Xu's hand and said, "Then how about I call you 'Mpuent' from now on?"

As Xavier translated, Mpuent nodded happily, his two rows of large white teeth looking comical and endearing against his dark skin.

The simplicity and honesty of the Africans were on full display at this moment. Even someone like Di Yan, who disliked socializing, had to admit that he felt quite fond of these dark-skinned people.

However, due to the language barrier, all communication had to be done through Xavier's translation, and since the headset had been taken away, they could only rely on the tablet in their hands.

After a difficult exchange, Di Yan roughly learned the names and backgrounds of the four people.

They were all from Elmen, originally part of an extremely elite special force that the government army had desperately built. However, when the government army was completely defeated, their unit lost contact and was eventually captured and imprisoned by the rebels.

Listening to Mpuente's narration, Di Yan covered his forehead.

The government forces formed a unit to resist on the front lines, only to be wiped out themselves – it's absurd and laughable.

However, it is understandable. Elmendo is a high-risk area, and together with Congo and South Africa, it is known as one of the "three nightmare war zones in Africa". It is located in the northern, central and southern parts of the African continent, respectively. It is not surprising that something could happen.

Mpuente was the captain of the four men. Their squad originally had twelve men, but the rest had all died in battle.

Di Yan listened quietly, rarely interrupting him.

His words were filled with longing for his hometown and hope for the future, but Di Yan didn't dare tell him how unattainable these thoughts were.

The bed next to me was empty; it should have belonged to that mysterious Westerner, but I don't know where he went.

Further inside is Ahn Jae-in.

He is now awake and looking at a tablet, with several bandages on his face to help his wounds heal.

He Xu introduced Di Yan to An Zaiyin, who nodded slightly with a polite but forced smile. Di Yan could read a hint of panic in his eyes.

He didn't have the composure and ruthlessness one would expect from a seasoned veteran; he looked like an ordinary office worker in the Korean district. His appearance was also quite ordinary, with ordinary hair; he could easily be lost in a crowd.

"When we found him on the battlefield in Iraq the day before yesterday, he was lying among the rubble, covered in wounds, and it looked like his hiding place had been blown up," He Xu explained. "He was an excellent sniper who was carrying out a decapitation strike alone, which had obviously failed."

Ahn Jae-in noticed the two men talking about him. Although he couldn't understand Chinese, he still raised his eyelids, his gaze shifting between Di Yan and He Xu: "Is there something you need?"

"We were discussing how you got injured. How are you feeling now?" He Xu naturally expressed his concern.

Ahn Jae-in nodded: "I hope to leave here after I recover, but they brought me here without my consent."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." He Xu raised an eyebrow.

Ahn Jae-in's expression darkened: "But I miss my family."

"There's still a chance to come back," Di Yan said, "but it might take a few years."

"How many years...?" Ahn Jae-in suddenly put down his tablet, got out of bed, and walked towards the door.

"What are you doing? You're still injured," He Xu called out loudly.

"I'll go ask if I can video chat with my family once." Ahn Jae-in had already opened the door and left.

He Xu shrugged and went back to bed: "Aren't you going to go ask too? Maybe we can actually video chat."

"I have no family." Di Yan's tone was devoid of emotion.

"Feel sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. I've never even met them, so there's nothing to miss." Di Yan lay back down on the bed, took out his tablet, and started using it.

"So, did you grow up in an orphanage?"

"A military compound," Di Yan said. "My maternal grandfather raised me. When I was little, he told me that my parents went to space, but he didn't know what they were doing. I've never met them."

"And your maternal grandfather..."

"He passed away eight years ago, when I had only been in the army for two years."

Why not speak again?

The dormitory suddenly became much quieter, with only Mpuente and his teammates occasionally talking in hushed tones.

The walls and floor emitted a soft light, and the tranquil environment blurred the boundaries of time. Di Yan was also immersed in the world of books.

This is a fantasy novel that tells the epic story of how many civilizations in the universe have irreconcilable conflicts due to their conflicting ecological niches, leading to a grand struggle between them.

After an unknown amount of time, Xavier's voice suddenly came from the tablet: "We have reached the L4 Lagrange point of the Sun-Jupiter system. The ships have been rejoined the fleet, and the internal time has been calibrated."

? ? ? !

Di Yan sat up abruptly, only to find that the other people in the dormitory had also sat up in surprise.

Xavier used different tablets to inform everyone of the J-45's current location in different languages.

Ahn Jae-in and the mysterious Westerner had already returned, and even they were now showing expressions of disbelief.

"How much time has passed?" Di Yan swiped the tablet and found that the time had changed to 3:49 AM.

He swiped to the reading time statistics, which clearly showed that he had been reading for 3 hours and 32 minutes.

It turns out that from the time they returned to J-45 to when this voice message came, it was less than four hours in total!

In just four hours, they actually flew from Earth to the Lagrange point between the Sun and Jupiter!

What kind of speed is that?!

"It seems a bit fast." He Xu forced a calm smile, but his voice trembled with insecurity.

This is more than just "a little fast".

Roughly calculated, the J-45's flight speed over the past three and a half hours has been at least 20% of the speed of light!

This is based on constant speed flight. If acceleration and deceleration time are taken into account, the result will only be faster.

But they didn't feel any acceleration at all from beginning to end, and they were completely unaware of the situation outside!

In just a few hours and with a single voice message, they traversed a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers.

Even having experienced a zero-gravity elevator, Di Yan couldn't help but be astonished by the current situation.

To be honest, he had already prepared himself to live on this spaceship for several months...

The J-45 not only possesses a speed comparable to the speed of light, but also utilizes sophisticated gravity manipulation technology to balance the acceleration of the starship's motion. Under the principle of equivalence, the crew inside the starship never even felt the ship move.

Everyone feels the same way as Di Yan right now, with a sense of existential doubt.

While Di Yan was still questioning his existence, Xavier said again, "The ship is now anchored. All crew members, please assemble in the assembly hall within ten minutes."