Chapter 122: Kuiper Station
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
They followed the directions given by the MDT. Hao Ren’s eyes were busily darting about like some country bumpkin. Yet, he managed to keep his gracelessness unnoticed. After they left the teleportation platform, they moved to the other section of the hall where the silver, white columns stood. In front of every column was a floating, round crystal plate which emanated a bluish, white glow. The glow would intensify every time Hao Ren came closer to it. As he did, he would hear a crisp sound like that of a wind chime in his head.
"Focus your mind on the plate," the MDT suggested. "It’s interface is limb-free and brainwave-activated. It was designed with species that have no hands and legs in mind."
Hao Ren did not care about how things worked around the place. He was not interested. He just went along. As he focused his mind on the plate, the sound of wind chimes resonated at an even higher pitch, like his phone ringtone. Then, the column before him lit up. A light curtain popped up. It warped and flickered a bit before a tall and slender young lady emerged from it.
She was a fair-skinned, tall, slender and beautiful lady. She donned a strange-looking, light green dress which was probably made of smooth leather.
"Hi, how are you?" The young lady was very polite as she bowed to address Hao Ren. "I’m your guide at Station No. 10. Are you Mr. Inspector?"
Hao Ren was in a daze. "Ehh.. ya! By the way, I was wondering, you look like a human!"
But he quickly realized he made a mistake; he was being rude. The MDT kept nudging his arm however, he was sincere. He was curious about this lady: he heard about Kuiper Station being manned by some alien species. His mental picture was that of little, green people roaming around in their little spacecrafts. But, she was nothing like of them. She was almost human and best of all, she was beautiful. He was totally blown away. Where were the little, green people?
"I come from the Mosa Morbec Civilization Sphere." The young lady was not offended. She kept a professional smile as she introduced herself. "We do share a similar look with humans in the solar system but then again, don’t most intelligent beings have the same kind of look?"
The MDT quickly spoke into Hao Ren’s mind, "Haven’t you realized that Madam Raven also looks human? I tell you what, it was the result of information disturbance. The original one who existed in the void had the exact same image. After that, information disturbance spread over to subsequent universes which came after it. More than half of the intelligent beings evolved into humans or humanoids as a result. The legend that man was made in the image of God originated from this. So, for the same reason, werewolves, vampires, sirens and even demons have a complete set of limbs."
Out of everything the MDT said, only one thing stood out. "What’s information disturbance?" Hao Ren asked.
"It’s something beyond your understanding." The MDT sounded cocky but still, it kept on explaining, "In simple words, it’s the Extension Theory of the Grand Unified Theory. According to the Grand Unified Theory, everything in the universe is constructed out of information. There is no boundary between material and energy, abstract and tangible. Information is the raw ingredient of materials, quality, temperature, density, hardness and colors which forms things. Everything from a molecule to an entire universe is a holograph. This is the Grand Unified Theory. Based on this theory, an information disturbance powerful enough, could exert a surreal influence over an entire universe or even several universes. Think of what would happen if you have a high powered magnet in the field? When the oldest celestials chose their appearance, more than half of the world was influenced. Since then, the human template became widespread. Feeling dizzy? Good. Let’s get back to business."
Hao Ren nodded but his mind went blank. He thought it was best not to delve into the topic anymore. Aliens could have whatever appearance they liked. After all, it was God who decided everything including their skin color for free but, without consultation...
The guide was waited patiently as Hao Ren’s thoughts drifted into space. Then, she broke silence. "Now, shall I bring you to your connecting flight? We have a space vessel docked and ready for you at Connection Port No. 4."
"Oh ya, let’s go." Hao Ren nodded as he began to return from space.
The guide smiled as she raised her hand and made some weird gestures. Suddenly, Hao Ren felt a sense of weightlessness. His surroundings began to warp and wrap around him before he reappeared in a long and wide corridor.
"Whoa, that was amazing! They even use spatial shifts to move around here." Nangong Wuyue sounded really impressed.
"Not really. Only for cross-zone movement," the guide explained. "Kuiper Station’s a discreet space port which was built along the asteroid belt. It’s divided into several zones. There once was a huge asteroid but it disintegrated for some unknown reason. The remnants of the asteroid which stayed closely together became the perfect base for the space port. The space port complexes are scattered on some of the bigger chunks and connected via guide-beams or connecting walls. You’ll see them once I open the shutters. You’re now walking on the external corridor, where you can glimpse at 60% of the space port."
As the guide explained, she touched the corridor wall slightly with her hand. A very minor but discernible vibration could be felt under their feet. Then, the alloy wall slowly came down. To Hao Ren’s amazement, there was another transparent layer of barrier behind the wall. It was not solid but more like a kind of energy shield.
But before this happened, something else caught Hao Ren’s attention. "Do you two understand each other?"
He was in awe as he pointed at Nangong Wuyue and the guide.
He was sure as hell that the guide was not speaking any earth language. Since Nangong Wuyue had just arrived at his home, it was unlikely that she would have any translation plug-in with her. Nonetheless, somehow the two were able to communicate. He was flabbergasted.
"What do you think Madam Raven was doing when she appeared in Nangong’s dreams for half a month? Just to say hello and goodnight?" said the MDT. "Because the siren was such a laggard, Madam Raven had to make alterations on her by appearing in her dreams. To the goddess, this is just a small feat."
"Oh, my god!" Nangong Wuyue held her head in horror. "What did you guys do to my head?"
Hao Ren was startled. He knew Raven 12345 was reckless but, he did not expect the goddess was such a kamikaze. No normal human being would be able to comprehend her sense of logic.
For Hao Ren, the real fuss was: why did he have to lie in the bioenhancement coffin when clearly, Raven had such an efficient way to achieve the same thing?
"There’s nothing to worry about." Seeing that Nangong Wuyue was on the verge of tears, Hao Ren moved closer and tried to comfort her. "She just implanted some foreign language skill in your head. Hey, you’re so much luckier than us, you know. We all laid in that casket just to get some gadgets like yours."
Nanyong Wuyue was puzzled.
Suddenly, a broadcast interrupted their conversation. "Attention, please. The corridor shutters are about to open. The corridor shutters are about to open. Those with kids please, hold on to them. Those who have heart disease please, have your medication on standby. Those who have a phobia of open spaces please, turn away from the lookout window. Thank you for your cooperation. We are only a small time business. We will not be able to respond to any kind of complaints."
Hao Ren was left speechless.
"Well, the station master is a funny guy." The guide smiled awkwardly. "He likes to prank people."
Hao Ren did not say a thing. His eyes were on the view outside.
The boundless, deep space was just outside the window. Kuiper Station was scattered throughout several zones and floated around in the dark. Just as the guide had described, the space port was built on asteroids which were close enough with each other to form what looked like a group of islands. The buildings were alloy structures of silvery white or silvery grey but, no two buildings were the same. Every single one of them was custom-built based on the size of the asteroid. The remnants of the asteroid belt would have drifted away into deep space on their own if not for the bright guiding-beam or gigantic alloy wall which held them together, forming a loose structure.
Kuiper Station dotted the space like an island chain. It was bigger then what Hao Ren had imagined.
"The dock is just behind us, shrouded by a protective, alloy shield. So, it isn’t visible from here." The guide touched the lookout window and the shutters rolled up slowly, closing the window. "Let’s move. Your departure is soon approaching."
Hao Ren knew he had to leave and he would have another chance for a revisit. He dragged Nangong Wuyue, who was still clinging onto the lookout window along with him and followed the guide closely. They hustled past a long stretch of corridor with many twists and turns before they arrived at the dock, Connection Port Number 4.
"Holy moly..."
Despite a conscious effort not to overreact, Hao Ren could not hold himself back when he stepped into Connection Port Number 4.
"This place is absolutely massive!"
The connection port was rectangular in shape. Everything there was in a mammoth scale. Hao Ren had a hard time gauging how long, how high or high wide the dock was. The whole dock was constructed of silver, white alloy. There were pieces of large equipment at one end where a gate and personnel platform were at. Whereas, the other end stretched outwards towards the open space where millions, if not billions, of bright stars could be seen. It did not take long for Hao Ren to realize that the open end was actually shielded by some kind of protective barrier before he could worry about being sucked out into the void.
Waiting on the dock was a light blue space vessel.
Beneath the spacecraft, people were busy at work. Hao Ren let out a long sigh for at long last, he finally saw the little, green people.