Hao Ren regarded himself as a man of knowledge. Well, that was subjective, but he was indeed a man of vision.
He had made some arrangements the last time he left the Plane of Dreams. However, he never expected that these arrangements would one day be used to find someone. At that time, in order to explore space in the Plane of Dreams and draw a star chart, he ordered the Petrachelys to send out a batch of self-multiplying probes. These probes could continue to replicate themselves as needed and think using their super-light antenna network. They could plan their best exploration routes on their own, continue to move deeper into space, map all the objects they encounter along the way, and build a small observatory station at certain intervals to form an advanced drone network.
The operating protocol of the probes was to first send a group of high-speed units to rapidly scan the space. They would then dispatch high-precision units to gradually fill in the details so that Hao Ren could grasp the distribution of celestial objects in the Plane of Dreams.
After some time, the drones did come back with a set of preliminary star charts, which only included the distribution data of major celestial bodies within a certain range. To find out if these celestial bodies had signs of life, specific scans were needed, and they were not so easy to do. It required subsequent slow-speed probes to make accurate observations. So far, the drones dispatched by Hao Ren were still conducting preliminary charting works. After that, they would carry out the life detection stage. It was not until a few days ago that the drones returned the first star chart. The star chart was now coming in handy.
The fastest probes had now completed mapping the stars that were billions of light-years from Holletta.
The MDT then retrieved the preliminary star chart. It tried to find if there was a point within its range that observed the same starry sky, which coincided with the memory of the vengeful spirit.
Nangong Wuyue waited anxiously during the process. Meanwhile, Nangong Sanba was done with the memory extraction procedure. He joined his sister in keeping an eye on the search progress. He was fortunate enough to escape her mega-windmill punishment this time. Hao Ren consoled them, “Don’t worry; those drones are on the way into outer space. They’ve covered a vast area of it, and sooner or later, we’ll find your parents.”
Wuyue gently poked Hao Ren in the leg using her tail. “It’s okay. After all, we’ve been waiting for over a hundred years.”
The lab door silently slid open and Lily sneaked in with the freshly cleaned cat. The dumb cat’s hair was still a little wet, and both of their clothes were almost soaked… Yeah, it was truly not easy to bathe a cat.
“What are you guys doing?” the husky sensed the serious atmosphere and immediately swallowed her words before she asked Hao Ren in a whisper.
Rollie cleaned her face with her paws and said, “Surely they’re looking for a way to get me some dried fish.”
Hao Ren patted Rollie on the head. Just as he was about to say something, the MDT interrupted. “…I’ve found what highly seems to be the place, but…”
Nangong Sanba chimed in immediately, asking, “But what?”
The MDT retrieved the hologram, which showed an empty space; a probe had sent in the visual from the Plane of Dreams. “A drone drew the chart while it passed through the spot in space. The location and characteristics of these stars are the same as those in the vengeful spirit’s memory. However, the problem is… there are no celestial bodies in this spot.”
“No celestial bodies?!” Nangong Wuyue shouted. Then something crossed her mind. “Have my parents been sent into space?”
The MDT wobbled a little and said, “Logically speaking, this shouldn’t happen. Teleportation usually requires objects with mass as the destination. This is caused by gravity’s disturbance to space. Right now, this location is a bit strange… There’s nothing there, no celestial body, only a cloud of debris, which suggests that there was a big explosion many years ago. The information returned by the drone is limited. That’s as much as I can tell.”
Hao Ren’s mind was blank and he remained silent for a long while before he finally patted Wuyue on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, at least your parents weren’t sent to the sun…”
Lily shot Hao Ren a sideways glance. “How many times has Battie reminded you; don’t console anyone if you don’t know what to say. You really need a good beating for that.”
Embarrassed, Hao Ren said, “Okay, let’s not think about that for now. Shall we go check out the actual situation? The star chart won’t lie; the vengeful spirit has certainly been there. Let’s go back and talk to the others. We need to set off to the Plane of Dreams as soon as possible.”
The Nangong siblings said nothing but nodded silently. They were not in the mood at that moment.
The tense atmosphere even made the dumb cat quiet down. She found an inconspicuous spot and squatted there, carefully rubbing her face with her paws while muttering, “Big Boss Cat is not happy. I don’t want any dried fish now…”
No one spoke a word after that. Hao Ren picked up the radio and told Galazur about the situation. Then, they went back to Earth through the space warp.
When they finally got home, it was already midnight on Earth; Y’lisabet and Y’zaks were sleeping soundly. Vivian was the only one still staring at the idiot box, singing and knitting her scarf. When the vampire maiden saw them coming out of the basement, she greeted them with a big smile. “Ahh, you’re back! Have you had your dinner? I made some sticky soup in the evening.”
Hao Ren waved his hand as if to say that they already had their dinner outside. He then sat down next to Vivian. “We’ve cracked the code of the vengeful spirit’s memory, which may lead us to the Nangongs’ parents.”
“Really? That’s good.” Vivian stopped the work in her hand as she sensed that there was something more. “Is there an issue?”
“They could be somewhere in the Plane of Dreams. The drones I dispatched before happened to find a highly probable star region,” Hao Ren told her about the situation. “…The problem is, there aren’t any celestial bodies there.”
“That can only be verified by going there,” said Vivian, rubbing her fingers against her chin. “Can we leave tomorrow?”
Hao Ren looked at the Nangong siblings. “Let’s have a good rest tonight. We’ll depart tomorrow.”
The next day, Y’zaks and his daughter learned about the vengeful spirit’s memory and volunteered to go with them. Taking into account that they were travelling by spaceship this time, someone may need to stay back on board when needed, Hao Ren decided to bring along everyone in the family, including the cat and the fish. So, he did not have to worry about the two making a mess at home while he was away. He called Raven 12345, and confirming that she had no new mission for him, he set out with his own team.
The Petrachelys flew through the vast expanse of space. The spacecraft glowed in a faint light as starlight shone on its silvery-white body. Flying along the drone’s flight path, the spacecraft knew that it was fast approaching its destination.
At 0.3 light-years from the target, the spacecraft decelerated temporarily for the first time as it jumped out from a space warp and moved closer to a silver-white structure in space.
The structure was small, only one-third the size of the Petrachelys. It looked like a section of a short and thick tower in space. Suspended above it were four symmetrically distributed crystal plates. There were also some small, floating bastions around the structure. The bastions contained the small outpost’s defensive weapons, which were powerful enough to deal with any wandering celestial objects and invaders (if any). In the case of greater threats, the entire outpost would just move away. After all, it was just a broadcast antenna; it did not have to fight with the enemy head-on.
This outpost was one of the results of the drones released by Hao Ren. While the drones continuously moved into deep space, they were also building a huge network along the way. They could multiply themselves and look for suitable celestial bodies in the universe to build production bases. They would also build signal relay stations in space, which was the current structure according to a blueprint.
Together, these things formed an autonomous drone cluster. Although there were not many things the simple, low-tech drones could do, they played an important function in helping inspectors with their exploratory mission.
A light beam connected the Petrachelys to the outpost’s structure as the Petrachelys read the latest observation data from the structure. The crystal plate at the top of the structure turned to face deep space; it was contacting the drones that were hustling through space, and relaying information back to its owner.
On the flight deck of the Petrachelys, the MDT relayed the observation report from the outpost. “Two probes have been ordered to return, providing us with more precise navigation of the constellations in this area. There are no celestial bodies in the target area… only a pile of ashes.”
“Ashes? What ashes?” Vivian asked curiously.
“Solar ashes.”