The stars, but they become the gray wind

"So this is the alien lady from another universe?" After her madness finally ended, Anna extended her right hand to Luoying who was standing in front of her with a very polite expression.

"Um... My name is Luo Ying. You are Elena's sister, right? Thank you for your help during this period. If it weren't for Elena, I probably wouldn't be able to adapt to this unfamiliar environment."

Luo Ying subconsciously reached out and held Elena's right hand, and the two greeted each other in a friendly manner.

"I'm also very happy to meet you, Miss Luoying. Your existence is now known to everyone. Almost all of our compatriots in the entire Sky Galaxy are keeping an eye on you through various means."

"And the phenomenon of you being integrated into our mental network is something we've never seen before."

"And the way you look now... you look cute in every way." Anna praised Luoying with a mature smile.

"Oh... Thank you for the compliment..." Unlike Anna in front of her who was obviously a veteran lesbian, Miss Luoying, who had almost no experience, did not realize that Anna was trying to flirt with other girls.

"Okay, okay... Let's talk about getting to know each other later... Let's get on the boat first." Elena saw that her sister Anna was planning to tease Miss Luoying, the alien friend from another world whom she had just met. In order to prevent Miss Luoying, a newbie, from being taken advantage of by her sister, the experienced driver, Elena interrupted their conversation without hesitation and urged them to get on the boat quickly.

.........

Elena's spaceship is equipped with a small degenerate artificial gravity device, which can adjust the artificial gravity in different areas of the spaceship. It can automatically adjust the gravity in different areas of the spaceship between 01000G according to actual needs. Although the entire spaceship is not large in size, it has almost all the facilities including restaurants, bathrooms, lounges, etc. Life in this spaceship is almost no different from that on the surface of the planet.

Elena led the two all the way to the bridge at the front of the spaceship. After sitting in the captain's chair, Elena pressed the holographic touch device on the armrest of the chair. With a low humming sound, the entire spaceship seemed to come alive. The holographic projection image of Xiao You also appeared beside Elena. As the spaceship started, a series of holographic interfaces popped up in front of Elena.

[Kerr-Newman black hole reactor is starting up... starting to inject material], Shan

【事七零八焐榴拔妻奇君羊件视界物质注入中,吸积盘摩擦稳定,反应堆引力势能转化装置启动……效率6%…8%…12%…20%…28%…35%…42%。】邻

【Confirm that the mass-energy conversion efficiency has reached the highest level】

[All systems are starting up... Each system is self-checking.]

[Self-test complete... All systems normal... Ready to sail at any time.]

"I remember it's been several years since I last touched this spaceship, right?" Elena said to herself.

"It seems that neither of us has touched this spaceship since mother and mom left a few years ago." Anna replied very calmly.

"Leave? Your parents? Sorry... I didn't know..." Luo Ying, who didn't understand the situation, obviously had some misunderstandings about this.

"???" After hearing Luoying's words, Elena and Anna turned around and looked at Luoying with question marks on their faces. Luoying looked apologetic.

"Did you misunderstand something? The Sky Aliens are a species that never dies. They just had a sudden idea a few years ago to take an interstellar spacecraft to a binary star system ten light-years away to study the stars there. It's not what you understand." Elena covered her mouth and laughed.

"Uh... so that's how it is. I thought your parents had done that?" Luo Ying touched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"But if we go to a galaxy ten light years away, even if Sky Star's interstellar spacecraft can travel at a speed extremely close to the speed of light, it will still take at least 20 years to go back and forth, right?" In order to ease the embarrassment, Luo Ying tried to change the subject.

"That's not really a problem. The Sky Star people have a near-infinite lifespan these days, and with the psychic network, we won't die. If it's 20 years this year, that's not a big deal."

"And the most crucial point is that since the interstellar spacecraft of the Sky Star civilization generally travel at speeds extremely close to the speed of light, they will produce a very serious relativistic effect. At this speed, the passage of time on the spacecraft will slow down. From the subjective time reference system of the spacecraft crew, the time required to complete an interstellar voyage may only be a few months. So for them, it may be a long-distance journey of only a few years at most. For the current people of Sky Star, this time is really short and negligible."

"Although from our starting point's time reference system, at least 20 years had passed by the time they returned."

"So... as expected, the relativistic effect of slowing down the spacecraft's time reference frame caused by interstellar travel is still unavoidable?" Luo Ying asked curiously.

"At this point, there's no way... Neither the sublight-speed warp drive nor the tidal stacking inertia-free propulsion system equipped on this ship can avoid the relativistic effects of near-lightspeed travel. As the speed approaches the speed of light, the slower the passage of time within the ship becomes."

"At the scale of the universe, within the light cone, time is not absolute. With current technology, the time difference effect caused by traveling at near-light speed is almost inevitable. If we want to avoid this effect, the only effective way is to reduce the speed and make the relativistic effect less obvious."

"The generally accepted speed at which relativistic effects are largely absent is around 0.25°C. Most of the time, this speed is sufficient for intragalactic navigation. Occasionally, under certain special circumstances, acceleration to above 0.5°C is necessary. As speeds increase to between 0.5°C and 0.7°C, relativistic effects become increasingly pronounced."

"In almost all cases, intragalactic travel speeds will never exceed 0.9°C. After all, by the time you reach speeds above 0.9°C, the time difference caused by the time dilation effect has already doubled."

"Only interstellar near-light-speed spacecraft that cross vast distances between star systems can maintain a cruising speed of more than 0.9°C for a long period of time."

"Although completing an interstellar voyage at near-light speed might only take a few months for the people and objects aboard, the destination would have to wait for decades for a ship to arrive. This level of logistics and passenger transport is clearly unacceptably slow. Therefore, to date, the Sky Star civilization and its 5000-plus surrounding colonies remain highly dispersed. While there is superluminal communication based on the principles of quantum entanglement, the inter-galactic logistics system is essentially non-existent. Even if the Sky Star inhabitants had a lifespan close to infinity, they would not accept such a tortoise-like logistical efficiency."

"But, Elena, this huge time difference during interstellar travel really won't cause any other problems?"

"There is indeed a problem... Every time a spacecraft completes an interstellar voyage like this, it must recalibrate the time based on the time reference system of the destination it arrives at."

"Okay, let's not talk about these topics for now... Luoying, tell me where you want to go first?" Elena raised her hand, and a holographic star map showing all the celestial bodies in the sky galaxy appeared in front of the three of them.

"Hey, what is this?" After seeing the holographic galaxy map, the first thing Luo Ying noticed was some kind of strange ring-shaped man-made object next to the outermost gas giant planet.

"That? This is a massive ultra-relativistic electron accelerator orbiting a gas giant. It's primarily used by our compatriots for scientific research. It's approximately 80 kilometers long. Of course, while it's called an electron accelerator, it can do more than just accelerate electrons. If necessary, it can also be used to accelerate larger and heavier atomic nuclei or protons and neutrons."

"Uh... a particle accelerator with a length of 80 kilometers... so... how fast can this thing accelerate particles?"

"Then they launched that pile of molybdenum nuclei towards a nearby uninhabited asteroid with a diameter of about 5 kilometers. The asteroid instantly turned into a large nuclear fusion fireball after being hit. According to subsequent inspections, it is said that the asteroid, which is mainly composed of titanium and iron, seemed to have undergone a proton chain nuclear reaction with other substances in the asteroid directly on a microscopic scale at the moment of being hit because of the speed close to that of light. The destroyed asteroid almost blasted out a complete periodic table of elements. It seems that even color-force fusion was created by the molybdenum nuclei at extremely close relativistic speeds?" Elena recalled the video information of the experiment she had seen.

"Pfft!!! Is this so outrageous? This experiment is too violent! A complete periodic table of elements was created by knocking out an asteroid?!"

"And are you sure this thing is really just a scientific research device? And not some interstellar strike weapon?" Luo Ying complained crazily.

Chapter 128: A Strange Spaceship with a Retro Style? (6000 words)

In an inconspicuous starport on the ring of stars in the sky, a small spaceship slowly drove out of the spaceport, passed through the airtight shield at the entrance of the airport and glided for a distance by inertia. The temperature of the heat dissipation grille device at the tail of the spaceship gradually increased. As the temperature of the rear area of ​​the spaceship increased, an invisible asymmetric gravity field was formed in front and behind the spaceship, followed by a weak gravitational wave spreading outward with the spaceship as the center. Under the inertial propulsion of the asymmetric gravity field, the spaceship began to sail towards the dark universe ahead with extremely high acceleration. If it were not for the zero-inertia propulsion provided by the tidal stacking gravity engine, then at this time, the passengers in the spaceship would be subjected to a terrifying gravitational acceleration of more than 500G, and instantly turned into a pool of meat pressed against the warehouse wall.

"I suggest that our first stop be the space habitat city cluster at the Lagrange point of Sky Star?" Elena asked Luoying in the bridge of the Runner.

"Well... I have no objection." Luo Ying was still concentrating on observing the various celestial bodies on the star map of the sky galaxy, and agreed to Elena's suggestion without thinking.

"Me neither." Anna on the side did not express any objection.

"Okay then... The first stop of our space journey is the fifth Lagrange point space city cluster, 1.5 million kilometers from Sky Star. Xiao You, set the navigation coordinates and activate the inertia-free thrusters."

"Route planning completed... Destination coordinates confirmed... Estimated total flight time: eighty-three minutes and sixteen seconds."

Just as the Runner began to slowly accelerate, another peculiarly shaped cylindrical spaceship also sailed out of the spaceport where the Runner had previously been docked, and headed towards the accelerating Runner. This spaceship, which was trying to catch up with the Runner, was naturally discovered by the Runner's sensors, and Xiao You, the artificial intelligence assistant who was controlling the spaceship, naturally noticed the spaceship that was following her, but after Xiao You carefully observed the spaceship, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

"Elena...I have a little...problem."

"Ah? What's the problem?"

"A spaceship has followed you from the spaceport where you were docked earlier."

"Spaceship? What kind of question is that? Maybe one of our curious compatriots is curious about the alien lady on my ship? That's why she followed us?"

"No... it's the shape and model of this ship... Forget it, I'll show you, and you'll understand." Xiao You snapped his fingers, and a holographic picture taken from the perspective outside the cabin was projected in front of the three of them. The strange-looking cylindrical spaceship in the picture, after leaving the spaceport, headed towards the location of the Runner. Luo Ying, who was standing aside, always felt that the appearance of this spaceship seemed a little familiar after seeing the shape of this spaceship. There was a strange metal disc at the tail of this spaceship, and there was a hole in the center of the disc. This strange sense of familiarity made Luo Ying a little confused, until the spaceship ejected a round spherical object backwards from the hole in the disc at the tail, and a huge nuclear explosion occurred behind the disc. Luo Ying suddenly realized why the spaceship in front of him looked so familiar.

"Pfft! Is this an Orion nuclear pulse propulsion ship?" Luo Ying's jaw dropped as he watched the live footage of a cylindrical spacecraft continuously ejecting nuclear bombs from the holes in its disk, creating a series of nuclear fireballs. (Note 1)

"Whose classic car is this... Could it be from a museum? In this day and age, there are still people driving this kind of obsolete spaceship?" Although Anna's reaction was not as big as Luo Ying's, she was still a little surprised that people were still using this nuclear pulse propulsion spaceship that had been eliminated tens of thousands of years ago and could only be seen in places like museums and historical materials.

"This...could it be some 1:1 replica of a vintage piece made by a fellow collector?"

"It's hard to say... I heard there's a group of retro art enthusiasts in the Sky Galaxy who like to collect all kinds of old spaceships. Maybe they're doing some kind of retro space performance art?"

"How about sending a message to ask that ship?" Anna suggested.

"By the way...isn't their acceleration a bit too fast? Is this the acceleration that nuclear explosion propulsion can achieve?" Luo Ying, who had finally recovered from the shock, twitched his mouth when he saw the real-time acceleration measurement data of the ship in the upper left corner of the screen.

"Hey, the acceleration is almost over 12G. How can this be achieved by nuclear explosion propulsion?" While Elena and Anna were chatting, Luoying noticed that the acceleration of the ship seemed a little unusual.

"Uh... wait a minute... it seems like there's a slight gravitational wave signal around this ship when it's sailing? Did they... even stuff a stacked tidal inertia-free drive on board?"

"Ah? We already have an inertia-free propulsion engine installed, so why do we need to put a nuclear pulse propulsion device at the stern to drop nuclear bombs backwards?" Luo Ying obviously couldn't understand this bizarre design.

"Hmm... I've heard that those of us who like to collect vintage spaceships occasionally come up with designs that are quite advanced on the inside, but look quite retro on the outside. Given their style... it's not impossible for them to come up with a nuclear pulse propulsion spaceship that's capable of zero-inertia travel but looks rather tacky on the outside."

"For example... this spaceship looks like a long-obsolete classic car to us. They say they're really fond of this style of design."

"Although from my point of view... this type of spaceship is really tacky, and the simple and crude nuclear pulse propulsion that directly drops nuclear bombs backwards and the most advanced inertia-free propulsion are placed on the same ship. I always feel that there is something... awkward." Elena looked at the spaceship in the picture that was still dropping nuclear bombs backwards and was full of performance art style with a sense of embarrassment.

"Is your artistic style... all so... abstract?" Luo Ying obviously couldn't understand this weird habit of stuffing an inertia-free engine and a nuclear pulse engine onto a spacecraft that should have been put in a museum long ago.

"In their words... it's probably about: a combination of retro aesthetics and advanced technology, resulting in a creative and unique product that has both the brutalism of early technological development and the advanced technological style aesthetics of mature technology..."

"Uh... I think this art form, which I will drop a nuclear bomb on later, is still a bit beyond my comprehension." As a time traveler and a newcomer to the half-Sky Star, Luo Ying once again felt that his three views had been severely impacted, among which his aesthetic view seemed to be tainted.

"Xiao You, can you help me contact the people on that ship? I'm quite curious about what kind of person is driving such an old-fashioned-style spaceship and following our compatriots?" Unlike Luo Ying who stood there in a daze, staring at the screen and letting her aesthetic sense be forced, Elena was quite calm and instructed Xiao You to send a greeting message to the spaceship.

Within seconds, a communication signal came requesting access to the Runner's bridge.

After Elena agreed to the incoming communication, the face of a young cat girl with orange cat ears and hair appeared on the screen.

"Hello... I'm Captain Fran of the Big Bang. Everyone aboard the Runner, are you also planning on participating in the Retro-style Spaceship Racing Competition held at the L5 Lagrange Point?"

"The name of this spaceship really suits its name." Luo Ying complained speechlessly after hearing the self-introduction of the other party.

"Retro-style spaceship exhibition racing competition? What is that? Why haven't I heard of it?" Elena asked puzzledly as she looked at the cat girl Loli who was greeting her in a friendly manner on the screen.

"Ah...it's normal that you all don't know...After all, this is the first time such a large-scale event has been held. Previously, it was only held within the galaxy. The small-scale events held in other locations didn't attract many people."

"In short, this event is a gathering for retro-style spaceship enthusiasts. There's also a speed race taking place alongside the gathering. So, aren't the people on the Runner, including this alien lady from another world, going to the gathering?"

"Of course not... I just planned to take Luoying on a short space trip within the galaxy, and the first stop just happened to be the L5 Lagrange point."

"Oh, I see... But since your first stop is the L5 Lagrange point, why not take part in this event? I promise it will be fun." The cat girl with long orange hair in the picture recommended it to Elena and the others in a sweet voice.

"At that time, everyone who attends the party will drive their own retro-style spacecraft to the Alpha VII space city at the L5 Lagrange point. In addition to providing various leisure and entertainment activities, we will also hold a speed race starting from Alpha VII and circling the three Lagrange points of Sky Star, L5, L4, and L3. The prize for the top three is a sticker with the mermaid sisters who hosted the event."

"As for participating in the event, it's no big deal...but racing is... woooo?" Before Elena could finish her words, Anna suddenly covered her mouth.

"We are going to participate in this speed racing competition! Little sister Fran, you said the event will be held at Alpha Seven, right?" After hearing the prizes for the top three winners mentioned by Fran, Anna, who was covering Elena's mouth, had her eyes shining and an expression of impatience on her face.

"Well... yes, but... your sister seems reluctant."

"Wuwuwu!!!" Elena, with her mouth covered, protested silently.

"Really? Of course not. My sister and I have always been on the same page." Anna, filled with lust, ignored Elena's resistance and spoke shamelessly.

"Uh... well... you can sign up online when you get to Alpha Seven. I suggest you build a retro-style spaceship yourself."

"In addition, the race also stipulates that space-based propulsion methods such as inertia-free propulsion engines or curvature engines are not allowed to be used during the competition. Remember not to break the rules when the time comes." Cat Girl reminded everyone on the Runner in a kind tone.

"Of course not. Thanks for the reminder, Sister Fran." Anna said with a smile to the orange-haired, cat-eared loli in the picture.

"Okay, see you at Alpha Seven. I'll hang up first." Fran said as she hung up the communication with the Runner.

Elena, who was gagged by Anna, finally broke free from Anna's clutches. She turned around and glared at Anna.

"What the hell are you doing?" Elena hit Anna on the head without mercy.

"Don't be angry..." Anna casually dodged Elena's knife and comforted her sister.

"This is a great opportunity to hang out with the mermaid ladies who are hosting the event. How can we miss it?"

"I think you're being lustful. Let me make it clear... I'm not a good rower."

"The important thing is to participate... maybe you'll win... and then you might even get to hang out with the beautiful mermaids."

"Even if I don't win... I'm sure I'll get to meet a lot of other pretty girls who are also participating in the competition. If I can pick up one, it's a win. If I can pick up two, it's a win. If I can pick up three or more, that would be even better!"

Anna said without any shame.

"How can you be participating in the competition? Your purpose of participating in this party and competition is simply to find an opportunity to pick up girls." Elena showed no mercy to her sister and directly exposed her sister's fundamental purpose of participating in this event.

"Isn't it enough that you're hanging out with those pretty girls in the bar every day? You're also thinking of going to events like this to pick up girls?"

"I know all those girls in the bar like crazy, but I need a change of pace every now and then..."

"And you know... those girls in the bar are all veteran drivers and they're acquaintances. Whether they're giving me benefits or sleeping with me directly, it feels like we're an old married couple. I could take this opportunity to participate in this kind of event and meet some new girls, wouldn't it be better?" Anna said, licking her lips.

"Even by the standards of the Sky Star people, sister, you are considered a lesbian and a big scumbag. Linger is like three or eight..."

"No way! I just want to give all the girls a warm heart and a safe haven."

"Besides... I'm also quite fond of that adorable little girl, Fran... This event is a great opportunity for us to get to know each other better. Maybe I can even bring a little girl like Fran home to sleep with me?"

"Such a cute little Loli, I really want to love her well." Anna showed a silly look on her face.

"Haha... when I was a kid... you ate me up thoroughly, that time was not gentle at all..." Elena complained with a dark face. Miss Luoying, who was listening to the conversation between the two sisters, was once again shocked by what Elena said.

"Wait wait... Elena, what did you just say?!"

"She was taken advantage of by that scumbag sister Anna..." Facing the jaw-dropping Luo Ying, Elena didn't care about it at all.

"This Anna... when I was little, she kept saying that sisters should be closer, and then she took advantage of the situation and became more and more demanding. By the time I came to my senses, I had already been taken advantage of by this irresponsible and scumbag sister." Elena glanced at Anna with a reproachful look.

"That's too much... My dear sister... How can you say that you took advantage of me? Isn't it normal for sisters to be closer? I was just loving you as your older sister."

"Love is bullshit... How could a sister be so affectionate as to strip someone's clothes off and even take their virginity? Not to mention this irresponsible sister who tried to lift her skirt to deny them afterwards."

"You didn't recognize me after lifting my skirt... Mingwu, I'm so sad when you say that. After all, I had a date with other girls the next day, and I accidentally spent too much time with you. I almost missed the date with the other girl the next day, so I was a little anxious afterwards and didn't have time to comfort you properly..." Anna explained, pointing her index finger.

"Hehe... You just stole your sister's first time the night before, and the next day you're going on a date with another girl as if nothing happened, right? Sister, from every perspective, you're truly a master of time management..."

"Thank you for the compliment." Anna replied shamelessly about her own bad behavior.

"So... girls can be like this?" Luo Ying, who was standing by, was already dizzy and her cheeks were flushed with sweat. Anna's concept of love was really too shocking to the inexperienced Miss Luo Ying.

Earth, February 8, 1909, Taylor Island Ground Control Center

"How long will it take before we can set sail?" Aze, who was wearing headphones in the command center, asked Renlong.

"It's almost done. There's just a little finishing work left. It will all be finished in a few days at most. We can set sail anytime then."

"Finishing work? What finishing work?" Aze asked curiously.