Talulah, I'm still a child.

"Coincidentally, today is the day that Christen, the head of Rhine Lab, is giving a speech. I really didn't expect that Columbia and Great Yan would both be heading to the stars. By the way, Mei Xue, do you know what the stars look like?"

Afdokia felt that probably no one in the world understood the starry sky better than Meixue, and the little fox's first task was to construct the position of every star in the world.

"I know. Actually, I put something in Terra's galaxy. Christen and the others will definitely see it when they fly into the sky."

As she spoke, a sly smile appeared on Mei Xue's face, which made Afudoga very curious about what preparations he had made. However, Mei Xue was more interested in seeing what kind of speech Christen would give.

The little fox still admired this old friend.

New World 37. Mei Xue's Other Identity

"Saria, is the moon out yet?"

In the dimly lit office, nothing could be seen except for one voice, a slightly cold female voice. But those who knew her could hear the excitement hidden in that voice. Even Christen, the head of Rhine Lab and the leading scientist in Victoria, could not remain calm in the face of the impending moment.

The starry sky has always been the destination of all of Christensen's wishes.

“We’re out. There’s still half an hour until your speech. Are you sure you don’t need to prepare a script? Muirses has been writing it for you for days.”

Another voice came from the dark room, somewhat indifferent, and perhaps doubtful. Even Saria could hardly say she could see things clearly in such an environment, and could only rely on her Originium Arts to sense what objects were around her.

"No need. I've known what I'm going to say today since I was a child."

"Okay then, but why don't you turn on the lights? It's not like we can't afford the electricity bill."

"...I imagine the starry sky must be this dark."

"And the truth?"

As Seria spoke, she looked in a certain direction. Her best friend, confidante, and closest companion was sitting in that chair. Christensen, she and her friend had met in college and supported each other to this day. They founded Rhine Lab, which has now replaced Loken Water Tank as the largest scientific research institution in all of Colombia. They have also reached a cooperation agreement with Da Yan and are about to kick off the first space exploration of Terra.

"Dorothy forgot to pay the electricity bill last time, oh, she paid it now."

As he spoke, Christen pressed the switch, and the entire office suddenly became bright.

As the head of Rhine Lab, Christen's office was far from clean and tidy as most people would imagine. In fact, it was quite messy, with scraps of paper and drafts everywhere, even on his desk. Sometimes, he would even mix these scraps with the documents he was revising.

"Tonight's press conference will be getting a lot of attention, Christensen. We will face even greater challenges."

Going to the stars is something many people would never dare to dream of, but Christen not only dreamed of it, but was also willing to take action.

“I know, Saria… how many eyes are watching our every move, how many forces are eager to benefit from this plan.”

Christen tapped her fingers lightly on the table. Although she didn't care about these things, it didn't mean she didn't know that exploring the stars was not as simple as it sounded. Even with the data support secretly provided by Rhodes Island and the mysterious creator of the Great Yan, Miss Nian, this project was not as simple as it seemed.

"But you don't care about those things, ever since a long time ago."

Christen is a genius, that's for sure, but she's not qualified to be a commander-in-chief. Even some people within Rhine Labs say she's a commander-in-chief who doesn't deserve the title.

Currently, most of the major and minor affairs of Rhine Labs are handled by the newly joined head of the Astronomy Department, Ms. Horhaya, and Mr. Ferdinand, a company veteran. Christen, as the head of the department, is simply responsible for research. Behind Ms. Horhaya is another major force in Columbia—the Melander Foundation.

Horhys is a new head of the Astronomy Department, but she is very competent, so Saria won't say anything. However, she will not allow any force to corrupt Rhine Lab, and the Ifrit incident must not be repeated.

"Saria, have I ever told you why I yearn for the starry sky so much?"

"...Eight years ago, you said you would tell me today."

"You still remember?"

A rare smile appeared on Christen's face, as did Saria. They both remembered that time when they were full of vigor and ambition.

"Let's go, I'll tell you."

Twenty minutes before the press conference, the central square of RhineLife was packed with reporters who came to cover the event, as well as scientists from all over Terra, numbering in the tens of thousands. It could be said that Terra's most elite scientific researchers were all here.

If someone were to drop a bomb here at this moment, Terra's civilization would likely regress by decades.

"What a magnificent scene! Great Yan, Columbia, Ursus Integrated Federation, Kazimir... even our Agor allies have come. Tsk tsk, looking at this scene, don't you feel your heart pounding?"

With her tail curled up, she picked up a book and placed it beside her. Looking out through the one-way transparent floor-to-ceiling window, Holhaia nodded, quite satisfied with the scene.

Beside Horhys, a mechanical tin man watched this scene. As fellow members of the Melander Foundation, their relationship wasn't exactly close. Beneath the tin man's exterior lay the soul of an ancient Sarkaz fire demon, and generally, he preferred to stay by the side of the girl named Ifrit.

The girl was implanted with a fragment of the Balrog and was gradually assimilated into the new Balrog. The Tin People regarded her as their brethren and taught her how to control her flames, after all, Ifrit was the last bloodline of the Balrog.

But today, seeing this scene before him, even the mechanical heart of the Tin Man began to beat.

"Your commander... is a remarkable person."

"Who says otherwise? To actually think about exploring the stars, really."

Exploring the stars is not easy. To date, the countries of Terra have only sent thirty-five satellites into space, eighteen of which were launched by Great Yan and Columbia.

The financial and material resources required for exploring the stars are three times higher than the total cost of launching the previous thirty-five artificial satellites. This is a cost that Rhine Lab cannot afford on its own. Therefore, Saria and Ferdinand chose to have Horhyah join Rhine Lab as the head of the Astronomy Department as a demonstration of the funding from the Melander Foundation and the Colombian government.

Aren't you going to stop them?

"What's there to stop? Let's go to the stars... If the candidates hadn't been announced yet, I would have applied to go myself."

"You think you won't get shot down by the observer?"

"So what?"

Holhaya closed her book and looked at the sea of ​​people and the flashing lights in front of her. Ever since that Great Flame Fox Immortal performed an earth-shattering feat a thousand years ago, who dares to say that the observer's eyes are still watching this planet? Even if they are, it doesn't matter.

"If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening." This is my favorite saying from the Great Yan Dynasty.

"Look, our commander, the first person to explore the stars, has arrived."

Tonight, compared to Rhodes Island, Rhine Labs is the place that is truly receiving worldwide attention. Every television station across Terra is broadcasting news from here, and even the most extravagant and decadent Kazimierz has unusually turned off all its commercials.

Everyone knows that this press conference will become another milestone in Terra's history, comparable to the founding of the Terran Union Council, and its significance far surpasses that of any war.

"I thought you would go, Dr. Kal'tsit."

Finding Mei Xue was no easy task. Chen Huijie and Kal'tsit walked down the street, watching the footage being broadcast on the television screen.

Chen Huijie knew very well that Kal'tsit was fully qualified to participate in this press conference with her abilities. In order to make Rhine Lab's plan go more smoothly, Rhodes Island provided all the data they needed, and Great Yan provided the most crucial material part.

"I don't belong there; I'll just watch from here."

As they spoke, Kal'tsit and Chen Huijie stopped in their tracks, and the bustling crowd on the street also stopped.

The traffic lights changed, and it seemed as if the world had been paused, because what was displayed on the screen was the commander-in-chief from Rhine Lab.

At Afudoga's house, Meixue hugged her tail and watched the live broadcast with her. The little fox was only hiding here temporarily. Nian and Xi would come looking for her sooner or later, but they could go back after dinner.

Talulah was the only one who wasn't affected. She didn't care about exploring the stars; she just wanted to know where her little fox was. Although she had regained a year's worth of memories, she still couldn't understand why her little fox had run away. Did someone want to eat him?

Even if someone did that, wouldn't Talulah protect Mei Xue? I really don't understand why this little fox wanted to run away.

Doctor and Precy were also watching this scene. Out of respect, Rhodes Island sent three elite operators to participate in the press conference speech of Rhine Lab. But in reality, for Doctor and Precy, the starry sky was not unknown, and it could even be said that it was not their future, but their past.

The PRTS system on Rhodes Island still preserves star maps left behind by ancient civilizations during their interstellar travels. It's estimated that those star maps won't become unusable for another 100,000 years.

"I always felt that they were really amazing."

As Precys spoke, she and the Doctor were now about to witness the nascent civilization embark on this path.

"After thousands of years, we've finally left the starting village, or something like that?"

As a game enthusiast, Ms. Doctor gave a very vivid example.

"That should be called the end of the first version of the story."

As Dr. Mei's best friend, Precys provided a good example. The two smiled at each other, not in a hurry to find Mei Xue, but instead looked at the report on the big screen.

There were more people than Christine had imagined. Apart from the podium where she was to stand, the venue was already filled with scholars, journalists, and representatives from various factions from all over Terra. In fact, tourists were the fewest group of people.

When Christensen and Saria appeared, all the cameras were pointed at them. The spotlight made Saria somewhat displeased, but she didn't say anything. She needed to be vigilant. Although anyone who dared to disrupt this meeting would become an enemy of all Terra, it couldn't be ruled out that someone wanted to use today to cause trouble.

"General Command".

"Ms. Christine!"

People watched as Christensen walked away, making way for him to walk more easily to the podium.

Back at Aphrodite's house, she put the ring on the middle finger of her right hand, signifying that she had found someone she loved, then lay back on Mei Xue's lap, watching this scene with the little fox.

"Mei Xue, in the history of this world, you led those giant beasts away more than a thousand years ago, creating three days of eternal sleep in all of Terra. What lies behind the starry sky of Terra?"

As one of the few who remembered the old world, Avdoga could tell by comparison. Even Shuiyue had told her that there were always eyes watching over this land behind the stars of Terra.

"Project Ark".

The little fox uttered these four words, swallowed the apple, and gently rubbed his head against Afudoga's cheek.

"Sister Aphrodite, you should know that many years ago, there was an ancient civilization in this world."

“I know that. I also know that Miss Doctor and Precys are from a previous civilization.”

Beneath the Akahura Forest in the Old World, artifacts from a previous civilization were once unearthed, along with video footage left by Haro. Aphrodite knows more than others, and at least she can determine the identities of the Doctor and Precys.

"Well, you should remember that both Doctor and Precys were able to continue their lives to this day by being sealed in sarcophagi and sleeping. Although Kal'tsit said it was a home physiological repair device, it was actually a supporting facility of Project 'Preserver', one of the means used by the previous civilization to avoid 'Observers' and continue their bloodline."

"Sister must have guessed it, the Observer refers to those guys in the Terra universe."

"Through the preservation device, a considerable number of humans can be put into hibernation and sleep, quietly waiting for the day when human civilization is reborn while avoiding observation."

“Before that, the entire facility will be managed by the custodian. In order to prevent the single artificial intelligence system from being hijacked and countered by the observer, the custodian is a half-artificial intelligence and half-human consciousness being. He will have his own rationality and thoughts.”

Mei Xue gently twirled Aphrodite's pink hair with her fingers. It was clear that Aphrodite had put a lot of effort into taking care of it. Her hair was very smooth. Mei Xue learned this hobby from Talulah and the Doctor, who both liked to play with her hair like this.

"To prevent the resurgence of pre-human civilizations, the observers have kept their eyes on these planets. Apart from Terra, many other civilizations have also been imprisoned in the cradle of these planets."

"So... if we put them together, what happens after Rhine Labs' rocket takes off?"

"It will be shot down, it will turn into a meteor, and if nothing unexpected happens, it will also activate the methods left by the observer."

Why are you so sure?

Faced with this question, Mei Xue twitched her fox ears, lowered her head, and gently bit Afudoga's ear.

"Because I was once one of the observers too."

New World March 8th. Christine's Speech

When Christensen stood on that stage, the entire room fell silent. The previous noise disappeared, and only the sound of camera shutters and their own heartbeats could be heard.

"Everyone, no matter which faction or academic institution you represent today, whether you are a Sarkaz or a Vayvan, today, at this moment, we are all Terrans!"

Christine's words were like throwing a fire into a warehouse full of fireworks, instantly igniting the passion in everyone's hearts.

"Ohhhhh!"