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CHAPTER 4 Breaking Through This Universe
🕑 Added 2025-04-14 18:10:16 +0000 UTCA soft melody pulled Tang Xiao from his sleep. He opened his eyes and looked around at the familiar surroundings, letting out a bitter smile.
[Administrator, sorry to bother you, but there's something important that needs your decision.] Qi Jian's voice came through the nearby communicator.
"Whatever it is, it can wait!" Tang Xiao hauled himself off the bed, marched to the bathroom, and ordered the central brain to make the water ice-cold before splashing it roughly on his face.
He gripped the edges of the sink, staring at his pale reflection, and clenched his teeth. After a long moment, he suddenly straightened up, threw on his clothes, slammed the door, and strode out. "Central brain! Take me to the bridge!"
"I apologize for disturbing your rest, Administrator." On the command bridge, Qi Jian gave Tang Xiao a respectful salute.
"Just tell me what's going on." Tang Xiao responded coldly.
"The engineering team has set up two mining stations near the gas giant. While you were resting, two shipments of helium-3 were collected and refined. We can now launch more vessels, especially the transports we need to shuttle goods between Leeming Star and the mothership." Qi Jian reported.
"Go on."
"And... the reconnaissance team sent back their report. They've identified 17 potential landing sites. We can select one to begin the colonization process." Qi Jian's voice trembled slightly as he pulled up a display for Tang Xiao to review.
"Just handle it however you think best." Tang Xiao waved his hand dismissively.
Qi Jian looked surprised. "Administrator, this first colony could become our capital someday. I... I wouldn't dare make such an important decision myself."
Feeling irritated, Tang Xiao turned back to look at the screen. He'd planned to just pick any spot randomly. He raised his finger, about to point, but then caught Qi Jian's expression.
The man's eyes were filled with hope, pride, and a touch of anxiety. His fists were clenched at his sides, trembling slightly as he fought to contain his emotions. And it wasn't just him—everyone on the bridge had that same look.
Tang Xiao sighed and examined the screen carefully. The knowledge that had been uploaded to his brain suddenly clicked into place like floodgates opening.
Drawing on this information, he selected a region near mountains and water with a large grassland. He pointed to the location and said, "We'll settle here. The latitude is moderate, and there's a water source nearby. There's also a small mountain about 1,000 meters above sea level that could serve as a defensive position. Send 20 marines down first. Once they secure the perimeter, start building the residential areas."
"Yes, Administrator! This will be our first colony! The first step in our journey into this universe!!" Qi Jian couldn't contain his excitement as he immediately started organizing the work.
With the landing site confirmed, everything sprang into action.
Soon, a transport ship carrying 20 marines and 50 construction workers launched from the mothership and touched down on Leeming Star. The marines fanned out to clear away any wildlife and set up a positioning beacon, while the construction crews prepped their mechanical exoskeletons for the heavy work ahead.
"Beacon signal is strong and stable, Administrator. The mothership can enter synchronous orbit now," Qi Jian confirmed after checking the readings.
Tang Xiao nodded and instructed the bridge operators, "Move us into synchronous orbit over Leeming Star, keeping the mothership directly above the beacon at all times. Central brain, assist with the calculations."
[Understood.]
The Kushan mothership, its massive 41,300-meter frame dwarfing everything around it, began to move forward under the power of its enormous engines. It gradually descended into Leeming Star's outer gravity well and matched its rotation speed with the planet below.
As the mothership approached its target orbit, its incredible mass triggered several earthquakes ranging from 3 to 5 on the scale, along with underground water geysers erupting across the planet's surface.
Once it reached the designated position, the centrifugal force and inertia from the planet's rotation allowed the mothership to maintain its course with minimal energy input. It stayed perfectly synchronized with the beacon on the surface. A hatch on the mothership's underside slid open, and an orbital drop capsule launched toward the planet.
The capsule tore through the atmosphere, friction igniting the air around it. From the ground, it looked like a meteor plummeting toward the surface. Just before impact, the capsule's reverse thrusters fired, shooting out flames that slowed its descent for a controlled landing.
The construction workers, already waiting, rushed to the capsule and quickly opened it. They began assembling modular housing from ultra-light materials, using the capsule's outer shell as part of the building's exterior wall. In less than 20 minutes, they'd completed a two-story structure.
The mothership continued dropping more buildings at a rate of one every 10 minutes - housing units, solar and wind power facilities, water purification systems, and more.
Tang Xiao also started waking up farmers and maintenance workers from among the 600,000 frozen residents, sending them down to Leeming Star on transport ships. From this group, he picked a man named Gulahan to serve as the village chief.
With these initial steps taken, everything began to run smoothly.
Tang Xiao stretched and stood up, watching the busy workers below, his mood still dark despite the progress.
Gazing out the side window at the vast cosmos, Tang Xiao unconsciously drifted closer to the glass and stared at the distant stars, wondering if they had anything to do with the strange dream that might have brought him here. Anger bubbled up inside him, his teeth grinding together. His fists clenched tight before he slammed them hard against the thick window.
He growled like a wounded animal, "Fate, goddammit!! Choice, my ass!! Do you even know what that means?! I just want to go home! You think this is some kind of game? Fine! I'll tear this whole damn universe apart and show you! Then maybe you'll let me go home!! DAMMIT!!!"
BOOM! He struck the window again, reopening the injury that the nurse had bandaged earlier, blood seeping through.
For a moment, his eyes blazed with intensity! But soon they turned eerily calm—unnervingly calm.
"Central brain, get the nurse to patch me up again," Tang Xiao said flatly. "And pull up the necessary documents. I've got a lot of work to do."
[Understood, Administrator.]
At this point, he was finally accepting his situation, vaguely sensing that he might never return home. If that was true, then continuing to wallow would only ensure that his colony remained vulnerable when the inevitable starships arrived.
Plus, after seeing the hopeful expressions on Qi Jian and the others' faces earlier, he understood that he couldn't let them down. If he failed them, how long would he really keep this position? Hard to say.
Human society was incredibly complex, built on countless interconnected interests. Even though the central brain claimed it wouldn't matter if he ordered the mothership to self-destruct, Tang Xiao knew damn well that if he actually tried it, the first thing he'd have to worry about would be his own crew turning against him.
Tang Xiao settled back into the command chair on the bridge and opened the colonization plan to review it carefully. He needed to understand exactly what challenges they faced and how to overcome them.
He was a pragmatic person by nature. Since he'd decided to take this seriously, he would make sure he understood what needed to be done and how to do it properly. He wasn't the type to get distracted daydreaming about futuristic battleships from video games. Instead, he focused on the concrete tasks at hand.
And right now, the most important thing was figuring out how to build a functioning colony.
In an unknown environment, rapid development and establishing a solid power base was always the smart play.
Especially now, when people's true intentions were hard to read. As someone dropped into this world, he deeply understood that he was probably the most isolated person here. And who could guarantee this wasn't just some elaborate "Truman Show" scenario?
Pushing down his confusion and unease, Tang Xiao opened the "Interstellar Colony Construction Guide" and began studying the documents.
