I handed over to another world

Late at night, Chen Lin dragged his tired body back to his home in Shangdu. The various affairs during this period were much more arduous than before, and Chen Lin often did everything by himself, so although he was young, the continuous work made him exhausted.

The smart housekeeper silently turned on the soft light. He took off his coat and rubbed his sore temples. Only then did he realize that he had been working for forty-eight hours in a row.

"dad?"

A childish voice came from the stairs.

Chen Lin looked up and saw his eight-year-old son Chen Xiao standing there rubbing his eyes, holding a copy of "Interstellar Exploration Illustrated Book" in his arms.

"why are not you sleeping?"

Chen Lin walked over quickly, squatted down and touched his son's head.

"I'm waiting for you."

Little Chen Xiao's eyes sparkled. "The teacher said that the Dyson Sphere is the greatest engineering project of mankind, but my classmates all said...it might attract bad things."

Chen Lin's heart was shocked.

Even the children heard the news?
He gently picked up his son and walked towards the children's room on the second floor: "Don't worry, Dad and many powerful uncles and aunts are protecting you."

When he opened the door, he saw his six-year-old daughter Chen Xiao curled up on the bed, holding a small holographic projector in her hand - it was the birthday gift Chen Lin gave her last year. It projected a photo of their family. In fact, Chen Lin was not even involved in this projection. At that time, he was busy with the association's Planetary Development Agency and had not been home for more than three months.

"Dad!" The daughter got up and complained in a baby voice, "You promised to take us to Ocean Park last week!"

Chen Lin smiled bitterly and hugged the two children in his arms.

His terminal was still flashing, displaying more than a dozen unread emergency reports - the preparations for the Andromeda expedition fleet, the progress of cracking the Reaper technology, the latest simulation map of the center of the Milky Way sent by the Morning Star Community...

All kinds of matters eventually came to the hands of Chen Lin, the president of the association. He wanted to be in charge of everything, but human energy is limited after all.

Chen Lin took a look at the terminal and finally chose to turn it off.

"this weekend."

He kissed his daughter's forehead and said, "Dad will take you to see Jupiter's fluorescent sea, and -"

He took out two cards from his pocket like a magician, "This is a coupon for the experience of the mecha test field in Shangdu."

"Wow!!"

The youngest son, Chen Xiao, jumped up excitedly, "Can I ride in a real engineering mecha?"

"Of course, as long as you pass the practice test."

Chen Lin blinked and watched his son immediately rush to the desk and open the learning tablet. Simulation tests are available in various software. Before going to the mecha test field, one must pass the most basic cognitive test, which is basically equivalent to understanding the habits of animals before going to the zoo.

Little Chen Xiao was exactly the same as Chen Lin in the beginning. His favorite things were armor and weapons. Although he couldn't play with weapons yet, he could play with armor.

Therefore, when Chen Lin said that they could go to this mecha testing site, little Chen Xiao was naturally very excited.

The younger daughter beside him was pestering him to tell her stories about "fighting alien monsters", and her little hands were gesturing with imaginary laser guns...

Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief and finally decided to do as his daughter wished.

When the children finally fell asleep, Chen Lin gently closed the door.

His wife Lin Yun leaned against the window in the corridor, the moonlight casting a layer of silver light on her profile.

"Is the Fire Plan going to be advanced?"

Lin Yun asked, Chen Lin glanced at her and nodded immediately: "The fleet will set off in three months, and this time President Zhang may join it."

"He's going too?"

Lin Yun was a little surprised for a moment. Even the previous president of the association was personally boarding a starship to the unknown universe. Naturally, she would not say anything.

Lin Yun was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Remember? Twenty years ago when you were tinkering with quantum computers in a university laboratory, you said that one day humans would reach for the stars and the sea."

She pointed to the children's room. "Now their generation is born as Star Citizens."

"Times are changing, Lin Yun."

Chen Lin continued softly, "Many things happening now were unthinkable a dozen years ago."

After he said this, he was silent for a while. Then he looked at Lin Yun and suddenly felt a little guilty - the last time the whole family went out together seemed to be two years ago.

"I'm not going anywhere these days."

He held his wife's hand and said, "I'll spend some time relaxing with you and the kids."

Lin Yun's eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly put on a stern face: "The president of the association suddenly went on strike, and the vice president must be very anxious."

"Let him dance. It's just physical exercise."

Chen Lin made a rare joke and sent a message to Vice President Li: [Family affairs, three days off - don't look for me if there is any non-civilization destruction level incident.]

After sending it, he directly turned on the communication blocking mode.

The next morning, when the two children woke up and learned that their father was taking them on a trip, they were so excited that they didn’t even have a good breakfast.

Chen Xiao flipped through a bunch of interstellar travel brochures and poked at the various scenic spots in the holographic projection with her little finger: "We want to go to Jupiter to see the Great Red Spot! And we want to go skiing on the rings of Saturn!"

Chen Xiao was more pragmatic. He pulled up the holographic map of the mecha test site and pointed to the red area marked "Heavy Engineering Area": ​​"Dad, can I try that? The teacher said it's used to move asteroids!"

Chen Lin looked at his son's expectant eyes and couldn't help laughing: "That won't work. You don't even have a basic mecha license."

"but……"

He lowered his voice mysteriously, "We can go to the 'Thunder-III' training cabin, which is used by the reserve cadets at the Mars base."

"Although it can't move asteroids, it can move super-large mechas!"

Chen Xiao's eyes instantly lit up like two small stars. At this time, Lin Yun came over with a cup of coffee, smiled and shook his head: "You two should stop focusing on the mecha."

"Xiaoxiao, mommy will take you to a place——"

She also brought up a holographic image, with countless transparent domes floating on the blue sea. "This is Neptune's 'Deep Blue City', where there is the largest marine life museum in the entire solar system."

"I want to see the glowing jellyfish!" Xiao Xiao cheered, and Chen Lin looked at the information closely, and suddenly frowned: "Wait, Neptune? Doesn't that mean we have to cross the asteroid belt? Will three days be enough?"

Lin Yun showed two electronic tickets in good preparation: "The Aurora's new quantum leap sightseeing route only takes three hours from Shangdu to Neptune. Here are the family welfare coupons Zhang Fengwu gave me last month. I wanted to use them on your birthday."

"Besides, don't you still have a portal?"

Upon hearing Zhang Fengwu's name, Chen Lin's expression became subtle for a moment - this director of the Planetary Development Agency always seemed to be able to "show his presence" in various ways, and he had a pretty good relationship with him. Someone in the association had already proposed that this guy should join the top management.

In fact, Zhang Fengwu, as the director of the Development Agency, is considered one of the association's senior executives. After all, the Planetary Development Agency is a unique behemoth for the association, and no other department can compare to the real power held by Zhang Fengwu.

Three days later in Neptune's orbit, the Aurora hovered over the Deep Blue City like a streamlined crystal.

Through the transparent floor of the observation cabin, you can see groups of glowing comb jellies forming changing galaxy patterns in the huge ocean dome below.

Xiaoxiao pressed her whole face against the glass: "Dad! The purple one is singing!"

Chen Lin was about to explain that jellyfish cannot make sounds when he suddenly discovered that his daughter was wearing the neural headphones provided by the zoo - they can convert the electromagnetic signals of marine life into music. At this moment, the melody flowing in the headphones is ethereal and distant, and it vaguely sounds like the code of some interstellar civilization.

This thought triggered his occupational disease, and he subconsciously wanted to touch the terminal. However, when he touched the terminal in his pocket, he laughed at himself and picked up his daughter: "Let's go feed the jellyfish!"

At the same time, there was an exclamation from the mecha experience area.

Chen Xiao was seen wearing a micro neural link helmet, operating a two-meter-tall training mecha to complete a standard combat start.

Although his movements were still a little clumsy, his sense of coordination with the machine made the surrounding Martian reserve cadets whistle.

"As expected of Chairman Chen's son!"

The coach gave a thumbs up.

Lin Yun quietly held Chen Lin's hand: "Look, how many moments like this you have missed."

Chen Lin looked at the children's smiling faces and suddenly found that the operating interface of little Chen Xiao's mecha looked familiar - it was clearly a simplified version of the "Xuanyuan" shipborne system.

He turned his head sharply to look at his wife: "You taught me?"

"The children's open class at the Mars base..." Lin Yun blinked. "By the way, Xiaoxiao used her biology homework to hack into the kindergarten's smart irrigation system last week - because you promised to take her to see the flowers but didn't go, she decided to build a garden herself."

Chen Lin was both proud and sad. Every day he was absent, the children were growing up at an astonishing rate, and this growth trajectory was full of the imprint of the interstellar era.

On the return spaceship, Xiaoxiao fell asleep in his arms, holding a luminous jellyfish model in her hand.

Chen Lin opened the terminal that had been closed for three days and saw, as expected, 99+ messages from Vice President Li.

But at the top is a red message:
[Morning Star Community Emergency Contact: Hyperspace fluctuations detected in the center of the Milky Way, the characteristics are 99% consistent with Devourer! Attached observation data...]

Chen Lin's finger hovered above the screen, but he was hesitant to click it.

Outside the porthole, the blue of Neptune was gradually replaced by the dark deep space.

He knew that the bonfire would eventually attract wild beasts, but Chen Lin no longer had the anxiety and worry he had before. He knew that his was a civilization that came from the Earth, and the entire Red Dragon Association was also the representative of this civilization. In order to allow human civilization to continue to move forward, Chen Lin had no room for retreat.

Lin Yun noticed Chen Lin's thoughts, and after he reacted, Lin Yun asked quietly: "Is it about the association?"

Chen Lin nodded slightly, and said to Lin Yun: "No matter how busy I am this time, I don't know when it will end. Maybe I can only wait for a few years to retire before I have time to run around and have fun."

"You are so young, I am afraid the association will not allow you to resign so easily, right?"

After hearing what his wife said, Chen Lin was speechless for a moment - yes, according to the current progress of the association, if there is another person like Li Tianyun or Zhang Shouren, it would be somewhat conservative.

What's more, they are older.

Chen Lin's finger finally hovered over the close button.

He gently put the terminal back into his pocket and looked down at his sleeping daughter in his arms.

Xiaoxiao's eyelashes trembled slightly under the starlight coming through the porthole, and the jellyfish model in her hand was still emitting a faint blue light.

"Not replying to messages?"

Lin Yun handed him a cup of hot tea and lowered his voice.

"Let's talk tomorrow."

Chen Lin took the teacup and felt the long-lost warmth coming from his fingertips. "At least tonight, let me be an ordinary father."

The spaceship passed through the asteroid belt amid the hum of the quantum engine. Chen Xiao had slipped into the cockpit at some point and was lying on the back of the co-pilot seat, staring intently at the navigator operating the holographic star map.

“Dad!” Seeing Chen Lin approaching, the boy waved excitedly, “The navigator uncle said we can take a detour to see Saturn’s rings!”

Chen Lin caught a glimpse of the navigator's embarrassed expression, smiled and ruffled his son's hair: "Not this time, Mom promised Xiaoxiao that she would rush back to watch the jellyfish feeding tomorrow."

Seeing his son's face fall instantly, he changed the subject, "But...if you can complete the mecha theory test within an hour, I will take you to visit the cockpit of the Xuanyuan after returning to Earth."

Chen Xiao's eyes immediately lit up again, and without saying a word he took out his study tablet and started doing exercises.

Chen Lin looked at his son's focused profile, and vaguely saw himself at work 20 years ago...

When the spacecraft landed at the Shangdu Spaceport, the first rays of dawn were breaking through the clouds.

Chen Lin bent down and kissed the two children on the forehead, watched Lin Yun take them to the hovercraft to go home, and then reopened the terminal.

Above the 99+ unread messages, a message from Vice President Li stood out: [Important question, hurry up.]

Chen Lin looked at the Dyson sphere relay station flickering in the morning light. The energy grid that wrapped around the sun now looked like both a shield of civilization and the most conspicuous bull's eye in the dark forest.

"father!"

The hovercraft, which had already traveled a hundred meters, suddenly stopped. Chen Xiao leaned out of the window and shouted, "I passed the test! Don't forget the visit you promised me!"

Chen Lin waved his hand in response, then turned and walked towards the association's special car that had been waiting for a long time.

The in-car AI automatically brought up the holographic conference interface, and Vice President Li's exhausted face appeared in it: "President, the Morning Star Community has just sent a final warning - the Devourer is not a beast, but a harvesting tool of civilization. They are now swimming along the energy ripples of the Dyson Sphere like sharks that smell blood."

Chen Lin fastened his seat belt, his voice so calm that even he was surprised, "As expected... prepare to evacuate all residents in low-Earth orbit, and activate the solar system defense matrix at the same time. This problem will not be solved and will not be displayed." (End of this chapter)