606-610

Chapter 606: Meeting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

John had heard of the name Chen Chen before.

Calculating the years, John was now forty years old. When he was in his twenties, he witnessed the rise of Blackwatch. In those unbelievable years, it was this company whose fabled rise kept flooding the headlines of the technology world and the business world.

By the time everyone came to their senses, this company was already on top of the world.

In those years, he had heard this name occasionally. This name was often mentioned along with the topic of Blackwatch. This person was also regarded as a figure of power such as Jack Ma and Musk, but every time this name seemed about to reach the peak of fame, there always seemed to be an invisible big hand pushing things down.

At the time, John felt that this person was simply too low-key.

Time flew by and more than ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. This name had long been buried on the Internet and in reality. Even John had forgotten this name — it was replaced by Qian Wenhuan, Liu Zhijian, Xia Yin, and the other CEOs of Blackwatch across the continents. These people had become mythical figures in the business world and a mere wave of their hand was always enough to cause a huge shock in the business world.

Only now, when the name was mentioned again, was John shocked by this realization. The original owner of the name was always there, but unconsciously or intentionally, there was no more information related to this name across the entire Internet.

A person born in the new generation would not even know that Blackwatch had a founder who was some guy named Chen Chen...

Now that he abruptly heard this name again, John also felt a hint of apprehension as he recalled all this. This guy was overflowing with power and money, yet he would rather hide in plain sight for over a decade. He must not be up to any good...

All this flashed through his mind. When John recovered from his thoughts, the plane was descending toward Walvis Bay International Airport at this time.

After the luxury plane landed on the dedicated runway, waiting in front of John was a stretch car and a group of psionicists.

There were five people in total. The leader was a man whose aura was no inferior to Sarah's. Although the remaining four were slightly weaker, they were Beta-level or higher!

Seeing this group of people, John frowned slightly, thinking that this was truly the headquarters that had invented the L compound. Just among those who came to receive him, there were already five Beta-level psionicists, and they were also the best of that level.

"Mr. Oppenheimer."

The man heading them walked up, stretched out his hand, and shook hands with John with an imposing attitude. "I'm the head of the B.S.S., the Black Security Service. My name is Brando, Clark Brando."

"John Oppenheimer."

John replied casually. Facing this group of people, John could not help feeling a little proud because these people obtained psionic powers through the L compound, but he was different. His psionic energy was later awakened after he was infected with the fusion virus.

Solely in terms of status, John was the only pure psionicist.

It was like when a woman with a 36D bra size bumped into someone with artificial 36Ds in the washroom. When she observed those rock-hard melons that could not even bounce, she would naturally feel a sense of pride.

"Mr. Oppenheimer's psionic powers are very strong."

After a mere shake of the hands, Brando immediately smiled. "No wonder you can kill more than a dozen Beta-level psionicists overnight, yet they don't even know your identity."

"Your psionic powers aren't too bad either."

John replied coolly. He was not jealous of these people who gained psionic powers through the L compound because he knew that the average person could only receive at most three injections of L compound in their life. The first one had a mortality rate of 10%, the second one had 30%, and the third had 50%.

Furthermore, it was not that the more injections one received, the stronger one's superpowers became. The superpowers one awakened were random. There were strong and weak ones. If one was unlucky, one could still end up with only one feeble superpower despite getting three injections of a high fatality rate.

As for the fourth injection? Too bad, according to the known data, the death rate of the fourth injection of the L compound was 100%. The grass over the graves of those who received four injections had grown to more than three meters in height by now.

"Alright, you guys can stop fawning over each other here."

Sarah stepped forward. "The boss has been waiting for a long time. Let's go see him as soon as possible."

Hearing Sarah's words, Brando shrugged and flashed a helpless look at John. Then three people got on the stretch sedan and the other four got into another ordinary vehicle. After that, they drove in the direction of the Eco Science City.

John was no stranger to this world-famous city. After all, as long as one lived on this planet, one would know of this city built by the Blackwatch Corporation alone. The population of this city might not be large, but there was a common joke online: if one went to the streets of the Eco Science City to buy a pack of cigarettes, one would run into nine billionaires, a few of which were politicians of certain countries.

Although this was a bit exaggerated, it went to show the prosperous degree of the Eco Science City. Every day, rich people came here to seek the most superior treatment conditions and there were also international stars who came here to seek the top cosmetic surgery technology. This was the most prosperous city in the entire Earth Federation.

Looking at the traffic lights and billboards formed by countless holographic projections on the street and the sci-fi-style high-rise buildings on both sides of the road, John felt that he had entered a cyberpunk world. However, unlike the descriptions in science fiction movies and novels, there were no slums nor a dark side of the city because poor people and criminals were not qualified to enter here.

Looking at this unique city, John's eyes shone with marvel. Finally, he looked at the driving seat in front.

The driving seat was vacant. Generally speaking, even if it were using automatic driving, there should be a driver sitting in there as a backup to prevent unexpected situations.

"This is no ordinary automatic driving."

Brando seemed to notice John's doubts and could not help but chuckle. "However, the intelligence responsible for the driving isn't in the car, but in the city's smart management center."

"What's there?"

John curiously asked.

"It controls all the electronic intelligence in the city."

Brando replied, "There's a supercomputer that controls every vehicle in the city. The advantage of this is that there will never be a car accident. Not only that, except for private areas, all places in the city are controlled by cameras. There are no blind spots. Even the traffic lights on the road, the giant screen advertisements in the sky, and the electronic signs on the facade of every store are all managed through that center."

"It's amazing."

John could not help nodding.

With Brando taking the initiative to start a topic, John gradually relaxed significantly. During the conversation, the vehicle finally came to the ground floor of the Blackwatch headquarters.

"Click!"

As the car stopped in front of the gate, the door opened automatically, and John then slowly got out of the car.

He looked up and immediately saw this tall building. The entire building was so clean that there was no trace of dust. The floor was smooth and transparent as if the entire building was made of glass and crystal.

At this sight, John could not help recalling a game called Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The high-rise buildings in this city were almost the same as the backdrop of that game.

"Please come with me."

Brando and Sarah took the lead and entered the building. After passing through the vast hall, the three came to the front of a panoramic elevator, where the android in charge of the service had been waiting for a long time.

"Welcome, everyone."

This android woman with beautiful features wore a uniform. Instead of asking which floor the three of them were heading to, she directly pressed the button of the top floor and added. "Mr. Chen has been waiting for you for a long time."

Was he finally going to meet Chen Chen?

Looking at the pedestrians on the ground that were shrinking rapidly under his feet, John's feelings were rather complicated. He could not explain this sensation. Toward this legendary figure, he felt a little curious and a little proud.

He was curious about how this guy who founded Blackwatch Corporation by himself looked like. Even so, he felt a little proud —after all, he was the preeminent psionicist as evaluated by the Earth Federation and this Chen Chen was likely just an ordinary guy. Of those with real power, how many would dare to bet their lives on the mortality rate of the L compound, considering that their lives were as precious as gold?

With such complicated thoughts, the elevator soon reached the top. With a "ding", the elevator door opened quickly.

At the moment when the elevator door opened, John saw only a figure from the back. This man was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, silently looking at everything outside the window, seeming to be watching the teeming crowds at his feet.

Brando and Sarah walked out of the elevator first and then they lowered their heads slightly. Meanwhile, Brando said softly, "Boss, he's here."

Only then did the figure slowly turn around and John instinctively observed this person. However, what he saw was a somewhat handsome man in his twenties.

Still, although the other person's looks were no better than John's, he emanated a strange presence, especially with those dark bottomless eyes. The moment John saw those eyes, he suddenly felt a quivering jolt in his heart!

In an instant, John seemed to see a shattered world. Those eyes were as cataclysmic as black holes. This man did nothing else other than glance at John, but still, John's soul shuddered.

"Hum —!"

Subconsciously, a scarlet light flared in John's pupils. He was about to use his self-defense methods almost immediately!

"John Oppenheimer?"

However, the other party suddenly spoke. In an instant, the invisible terror quickly dissipated and the world emerged again. John suddenly woke up but found that the man in front of him had returned to normal.

It was as if everything before was just an illusion...

"Mr. Chen."

John tucked away the horror in his heart, lowered his head slightly, and immediately responded.

"You did very well."

The man in front of him stood up straight, walked slowly in front of him, and seemed to be sizing him up. "An Alpha-level psionicist, considered by the media to be the strongest in the world. You killed five leaders of enemy forces in one night. You did very well indeed."

"Mr. Chen?"

John raised his head when he heard these words and tried to gauge Chen Chen as well. "I wonder if you have any orders in asking me here?"

"I have an agreement here."

The man smiled slightly. He turned around and handed a few thin sheets of a contract to John. "You should've joined God's Forbidden Zone back then, but because you didn't choose to join the B.S.S., you chose to stand before the public instead. But now that the ten-year contract has expired, you should've a new choice."

"I..."

John frowned slightly. To be honest, although he was also interested in joining God's Forbidden Zone, he did not want to leave his previous job.

This was because, in the past ten years, he had become accustomed to being an influential figure in the eyes of the public. He enjoyed the people's frenzy over him and the admiration and love they had for him. This feeling was intoxicating...

"Don't worry, the new contract won't make you leave the Superpower Combative Police Force."

The man in front of him seemed able to see through his thoughts and only continued to say, "This new contract is also for ten years, but the terms are much more generous than before. Your new position will be the vice president of Blackwatch's Northern American headquarters, second only to Liu Zhijian. At the same time, you'll formally enter God's Forbidden Zone, obtain Alpha-level authority, and enjoy the same benefits."

Hearing this, John's eyes lit up.

He immediately took the agreement and read the terms one by one.

Hearing that John was getting such favorable terms, even Brando and Sarah struggled a little with their emotions. John was flying up the ladder before their eyes.

"I'm willing to sign this agreement."

Soon, John raised his head again and the delight in his eyes was quickly concealed.

"Very well!"

The man burst out laughing when he heard these words. "John, are you willing to fight for the benefit of the company?"

Hearing these words, John's expression suddenly turned dignified. He took a deep breath, and then declared, "It's my duty to safeguard the interests of the company and I'll do my best to fight for the company!"

...

A few minutes later, Brando and Sarah led John away.

However, as soon as the elevator went down, it came up again and Little X walked out of the elevator. "Sir Godfather, John Oppenheimer has left the building. He revealed to Sarah that he'll leave today and return to New York."

Chen Chen nodded without speaking.

"Do you trust this person?"

Little X suddenly became a little curious. "Having given him such superior conditions, will he do his best for the company? Human nature is complicated. Even if you awed him earlier, what if he still betrays us?"

"Then you don't understand this."

Chen Chen shook his head and smiled. "Those tied to the chariot of our interests are naturally part of our team. This has nothing to do with trust. After all, as a shareholder, who would destroy the company they've invested in?"

Only then did Little X nod.

There was a reason she was not at ease, because she was used to using the God chip to control humans. Nevertheless, with a psionicist like John, the God chip was useless.

This kind of chip could only restrain ordinary people and some low-level psionicists at present, but to John the Guardian, who had a near-invincible body, the God chip was no threat at all. Even the implantation could not be performed.

Unless the reality anchor was used to block all psionic powers within the radius of a few kilometers, then the God chip could be temporarily implanted.

However, once the reality anchor was removed, John's spirit form would swiftly recover. Taking out the God chip would be as simple as pulling out a thorn from his flesh.

That was why Little X was a little worried.

"The God chip isn't the only way to control people's hearts." Chen Chen corrected her.

Looking through the glass window at John who had already walked out of the building, Chen Chen could not help displaying a pensive look.

"Let's hope he'll be a good weapon..."

Chapter 607: Subspace Contamination

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After resolving the matter with John, Chen Chen turned his attention to the subspace navigation experiment.

Yesterday's subspace navigation experiment was still running, but the situation was not optimistic.

After sending the Delta-level experimenters to the Courage Voyager for the first time yesterday afternoon, the spacecraft had disappeared for three full hours after entering the subspace.

During these three hours, everybody tried every means but did not find a single trace of the spacecraft.

Just when they thought that the spacecraft was shipwrecked in the depths of subspace, the spacecraft appeared again.

However, the hull of the returning spacecraft had been corroded and was decayed. Not only that, nine of the ten experimenters on the spacecraft went mad and died while the ten Black Knights who were also on the spacecraft were unscathed.

It could be seen from the spacecraft's surveillance feed that the spacecraft originally entered the subspace with no issues, but when it wanted to return to reality, it seemed to become stuck.

The spacecraft was parked in the subspace, unable to return to reality at all for some unknown reason.

Not only that, the experimenters on the spacecraft also began to go crazy as if they had lost their minds. One by one they desperately bashed themselves on the door that detained them, not ceasing even when their heads were bleeding and their brains were splattering everywhere. They only stopped when they were fully dead!

Earlier when John came in, Chen Chen was looking at the report in his hand. At this time, the only surviving experimenter had been sent to the Spire Experimental Base 2 hidden under the north pole of Mars.

After more than ten years of development, the Spire 2 was starting to take shape. The underground space it had was no less than the Spire Experimental Base. Between the two, there was the Watchman teleporter as a connecting channel.

At this time, as Chen Chen flicked his finger, a screen suddenly appeared in front of him. It showed the scene of the surviving experimenter in custody. His hands, legs, and even tongue were all bound to prevent him from going crazy and dying like the other personnel.

Nonetheless, though he was completely trussed up, his eyes revealed an endless source of madness. The pupils were gone, leaving only the whites of the eyes. His forehead was bursting with veins and his physical condition was also in a high-risk state.

"This is all we can do."

Little X responded, "If we don't restrain him, who knows what he might do?"

"Have you tried a tranquilizer?"

Chen Chen asked.

"I have."

Little X pursed her mouth. "It's useless. He'd fall into a coma after the injection, but he'd continue to descend into madness after he regained consciousness again."

Hearing this, Chen Chen could not help feeling a jolt. He lowered his head and looked at the palm of his hand. Suddenly, a palm-sized black stone slab appeared in a whirl.

"Prepare the Watchman teleporter. I'm going to Spire 2 again," Chen Chen suddenly said.

"Yes!"

Little X instantly understood and her eyes lit up. Indeed, the black slate could dispel the subspace countercurrent. If they used this black slate, it might have a miraculous effect.

Chen Chen did not tarry. He went directly to the Spire Experimental Base, then came to the Watchman teleporter and teleported himself away.

A few minutes later, when Chen Chen regained consciousness, he only felt that his whole body was light and floaty. At this time, he had arrived at Spire 2 on Mars.

The main control program of Spire 2 was one of the clones of Little X. It named itself "Nancy", but Chen Chen still liked to call it X-113 out of convention.

"Sir Commander, we welcome your visit."

X-113's sisterly voice sounded by his ears. Chen Chen looked to his side and suddenly saw a beautiful middle-aged woman with blonde hair and dark eyes.

Just like Little X, this was an exclusive body cultivated under the Black Knight system.

X-113 had her own preferences. In addition to naming herself, she also liked to cultivate an aesthetically pleasing body for herself.

Chen Chen nodded and directly ordered, "Take me to see that crazy guy. I have something to ask him."

"Yes."

Faced with the highest authority of Blacklight Biotechnology, X-113 naturally had no reason to refuse. She gestured in invitation and led Chen Chen to the depths of Spire 2.

More than ten minutes later, Chen Chen passed through a long and narrow passage and then took the elevator down again for over a hundred meters before reaching the bottom of Spire 2.

A prison was built here.

Unlike ordinary prisons, this was more like a restricted living area. What one would see were two rows comprising more than a hundred rooms with tungsten alloy fences. The dark corridor extended all the way to the end, but in such a large-scale prison, there was only one guest.

The guest was detained in the first cell with his hands and feet tied up, and his body was also chocked full of life-saving equipment. Without such equipment, he would have lost control of his emotions and died of endocrine disorders.

Outside his door, there were two heavily armed Black Knights standing guard.

Seeing Chen Chen, the Black Knights saluted immediately, then opened the door of the cell without any second thoughts and invited Chen Chen in.

As Chen Chen stepped into the cell, he could not help raising his eyebrows when he saw the experimenter.

The eyes were rolled back and the veins were bursting at the temples. The aura of insanity was far more violent than seen in the video.

Not only that, Chen Chen clearly detected a familiar smell after entering the cell.

He could not tell what it was because this smell was not something his nose had picked up but a psionic sensation. If he must describe it physically, it was an odor similar to sulfur...

This was not an intense smell, but when Chen Chen "smelled" this, he was taken aback.

It was because he had detected this before only when he entered deep into the subspace.

"A being that enters the subspace will be contaminated with the presence of the subspace?"

Chen Chen tilted his head. He silently opened his right hand. Suddenly, a black slate appeared out of thin air on the palm of his hand. In the next second, an invisible wave rolled out in all directions. The wave was so subtle that even the fine sand would not be blown away. Nonetheless, it dispelled all the surrounding subspace energy in an instant.

At the same time, it also refreshed Chen Chen's spirit.

"It works."

Chen Chen's eyes glimmered with glee. He looked at the experimenter again, only to find that the other person's expression had eased up a little bit. At the same time, the other person's heartbeat dropped from more than one hundred and fifty times to one hundred times per second and then continued to fall.

"His emotions have begun to stabilize."

Nancy's voice came from his side. "But his consciousness seems to be in a coma. Should we wake him up now?"

"That's not needed."

Chen Chen shook his head. He walked straight forward, took off the person's gag, and then placed the black slate in his hand in front of the person.

The black stone slab was at once suspended in the air, spinning silently at an extremely slow speed, looking very mystical.

"Baruch."

Chen Chen had read the man's information. He naturally knew the man's name. At this time, there was only the sound of Chen Chen gently saying, "Baruch, you're very tired now.

"You're sinking bit by bit, sinking into the deep sea of ??the subconscious, but you don't have to be afraid because the ocean of your origin is there, where your consciousness will be free and liberated..."

Chen Chen's voice seemed to come from a distant horizon and at the same time, it reverberated slowly in the small quiet room. Soon, the mind and body of this experimenter entered a state that was half asleep and half awake.

"Now please tell me, what did you see on the Courage Voyager spaceship?"

Chen Chen asked suddenly.

"I... I saw many people like me and they were all taken aboard the spaceship. I found out from others that the name of this spaceship is the Courage Voyager..."

Baruch's voice was very hoarse. After all, he had not eaten food or drink water for a whole day, relying on drips to maintain his energy.

"Very good."

Chen Chen nodded and said again, "After you've waited for a while, you can feel that the spacecraft has already set off and is sailing to the depths of the universe. You're a little nervous because you don't know what it is you have to face in the future..."

Suddenly, Chen Chen's tone changed and asked, "But at this moment, you suddenly feel a tremor in the spacecraft. Do you know what has happened?"

"It's... It's the space warp."

Baruch's voice was low and hoarse. "I heard the broadcast, which told us that the spacecraft is going to make a space warp, so we should be prepared... I don't know what a space warp is, so I just grabbed something next to me to prevent the accelerating spaceship from tossing me around..."

Chen Chen continued to inquire encouragingly, "Next, what did you see?"

"I saw that the spacecraft had sailed into a hazy world."

Baruch continued. "It was a weird world. The windows were all red and blurry and a special kind of fog was permeating the outer space. I had never seen such a weird cosmic space and... I felt that, when I looked out the window, there seemed to be countless pairs of eyes, staring at me closely..."

"Staring at you?"

Chen Chen rubbed his chin. Indeed, it fitted the characteristics of the subspace very well. In the subspace, it was necessary to close one's eyes but because these people were in the spacecraft, they were not attacked by the subspace even though they did not close their eyes.

However, if things were that simple, Chen Chen would not be standing here right now. At this time, he continued to ask, "What next? What happened next?"

"Next..."

Baruch's voice suddenly slowed down and his body began to tremble gradually as if something was about to gush out of his body. Not only that, but Chen Chen also smelled the energy of the subspace again.

The energy this time radiated from Baruch's body...

"What happened next?"

Chen Chen continued to ask as he looked at the man's face that was turning ferocious again. There was a vague sense of urgency, so he accelerated the speed of his questioning.

"It's the eyes!"

Suddenly, Baruch widened his eyes. He seemed to be looking at Chen Chen but his eyes were not focused at all. He just wailed mournfully. "The eyes, I saw countless eyes, they... They were watching me too!"

Chen Chen frowned when he heard these words. He was about to continue asking something, but a large gust of subspace energy began to emerge from Baruch's body. At the same time, Baruch's body began to decay at a speed visible to the naked eye!

First were his eyes, which changed from black and white to a blood-red mass, then to black again, before finally transforming directly into black juice that flowed down his face!

Then, his cheeks, body, and limbs began to rot rapidly, just like a piece of rotten meat that had been left out for hundreds of years. Still, in this decaying, an eerie vitality was revealed!

Before Chen Chen, Baruch was turning into an unknown life form!

Seeing this scene, Chen Chen quickly backed away. At the same time, with a single gesture, the black slate flew back to his palm through the air and then a more intense wave surged out on the black slate again!

"Boom!"

The fluctuations swept across the cell in an instant. At this moment, Baruch suddenly widened his mouth and erupted in a heart-piercing roar. Meanwhile, his body melted rapidly in the fluctuations as if he had encountered sulfuric acid. He turned into a pile of scattered ash in an instant, hovering thickly in the entire cell!

Baruch was dead.

After all this, Chen Chen's expression became completely serious. He stretched out his other hand slightly and watched the ash land on his palm. Even so, Chen Chen's face was very solemn.

"The subspace is indeed more terrifying than I thought..."

Chen Chen frowned. "The black slate can dissipate the presence of the subspace but it can't save the lives of ordinary people? Also, what caused that zombie-like transformation? Why was his body filled with the subspace energy?"

Nancy beside him also wore a silent expression. She was just a larger clone of Little X after all. Although she was not inferior to humans in terms of intelligence, she was still significantly inferior to Little X. She was also at a loss when faced with these questions.

Chen Chen frowned and walked out of the cell. He looked back at the cell again and then a lightbulb suddenly flashed in his mind. "The spaceship will be corroded when it enters the subspace. The Black Knights can enter the subspace without any problems and ordinary people will end up like Baruch. What about psionicists?"

Psionic energy was a power that could come in touch with the subspace, unlike Field energy. Chen Chen's Field energy could not be utilized in the subspace at all, but psionic energy could penetrate the fog of the subspace and be used as a way of exploring one's surroundings instead of eyes.

In this case, if a psionicist entered the subspace, would there be a different outcome?

This thought quickly flashed through Chen Chen's mind and he immediately gave an order, "Nancy, send a message to X and tell her to send ten psionicists immediately. The stronger the psionic power of these psionicists, the better."

"Yes."

Nancy nodded and agreed.

This matter was not complicated. Nancy only needed to transmit Chen Chen's order to Earth and Little X would receive it within a few minutes. Then, the psionicists could be transported over by teleportation.

The only shortcoming might be that it could take a lot of time to find high-level psionicists.

After they were sent here, Nancy could use the launch vehicle to send these psionicists to Mars orbit and dock with the Courage Voyager there to continue the next subspace experiment.

Chapter 608: Shaw

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There was a fifty percent chance across the board for the felon experiment subjects to have their psionic potential awakened with just a standard vial of L compound injection.

Psionicists were not worth too much. It was the L compound that was considered valuable.

Following Chen Chen's orders, ten psionicists were transported to Spire 2 with the Watchman teleporter. Upon their arrival, they threw up all over the place like they just stepped off a roller coaster. This was the side effect of interplanetary teleportation.

These psionicists were not particularly powerful. They were made to stand in a line by the Black Knights for Chen Chen to evaluate them. With a glance, Chen Chen quickly noted that the strongest of the bunch were the three Gamma-level psionicists while the remaining seven were all of the lowest Delta-level. Even mere Gamma-levels were considered elite among this group.

These felon subjects were also fitted with a custom-made tungsten collar around their necks. At Gamma-level, they did not yet possess the strength to resist the explosive capabilities of these tungsten collars, not even with spirit form since it would only be at novice level, therefore it was easy to keep them in line this way.

Their psionic manifestations were relatively common as well. Among the three Gamma-level subjects, two of them acquired steel body fortification which was as common as they come while the other one was fortunate enough to attain a power known as "astral sight".

After the L compound injection, the person's eyes turned into a fogged mirror-like his iris had developed cataracts. There was no cure for this symptom, even if the help of the reality anchor was employed. If not for the psionic presence in his body, any observer would think that he was a regular person plagued with a cataract.

The only function of this ability was that he could detect the presence of other psionicists...

What a strange power...

Chen Chen stepped in front of the psionicist with cataracts. The psionicist had his eyes shut tightly. Since his vision was clouded by this ability, he always had his eyes shut like he was a blind man.

Chen Chen sized up this weakly looking man who was still trembling with fear. An idea sparked within him and he proceeded to ask, "What's your name?"

"Shaw Winfred."

The man shuddered when he heard Chen Chen's voice, his voice quivering. "You can just call me Shaw."

"So, your ability allows you to identify psionicists, will you tell me how that works?"

Chen Chen asked casually.

"I, I just need to open my eyes and if there's any psionic presence nearby, I can see them..."

Shaw trembled like a feeble branch disturbed by a storm. "Well... I can only see a luminescent silhouette of psionicists with my eyes, I can't see regular people at all..."

"You're afraid?"

Chen Chen suddenly shifted the topic and looked straight into Shaw's eyes. "Why are you shaking? What are you afraid of?"

"I..."

Beads of sweat trickled down Shaw's forehead relentlessly. His legs gave out under him and he tumbled onto the floor.

Chen Chen winced at this sight and became even more perplexed. "I've looked up your information. Based on your background, I made you out to be quite competent, what makes you so terrified?"

"Sir, it's... I'm blinded by this dazzling light..."

Shaw buried his head into his chest. "Even with my eyes shut, I can still see the radiant sunlight stubbornly penetrating the gaps between my eyelids..."

Chen Chen raised an eyebrow and seemed to understand what Shaw was suggesting. "You mean you can see me?"

"Yes, I've never seen anything so bright in my life..."

Shaw saying something like this could easily be mistaken as a pathetic attempt at shining Chen Chen's boots, except it was an honest statement because this was Chen Chen he was dealing with.

Could this imply that Shaw's true ability was gauging the psionic potential of a person?

A blind man who could measure psionic level?

It was a profound idea. Chen Chen had an inkling of suspicion that this person called Shaw could offer some surprisingly meaningful contribution to his subspace navigation technology...

With that, Chen Chen moved on from Shaw and turned to the others. "All ten of you have had your task relayed to you earlier but there's one more term I'd like to add – if you can survive this experiment, I promise to grant you freedom."

These psionicists were shocked to hear of such a grand promise. They exchanged glances with each other as their eyes flickered with excitement.

"This person here is the supreme leader of Blackwatch."

Nancy stepped forward and added. "You can trust him."

This further riled their spirits.

"Provided that you can offer your cooperation in this experiment."

Chen Chen added, his voice symbolic as ever. "If you don't abide by the orders issued from the spaceship just so you can keep yourself safe, I promise that you'll face severe consequences when you come back alive..."

This threat was extremely effective and quelled whatever ideas they were conjuring in their minds.

"Alright, get ready to depart."

Chen Chen shot an intense look at Shaw one last time before leaving the teleportation hall.

After leaving, Chen Chen looked up Shaw's information again on his wristwatch.

Shaw Winfred, thirty-five years old, born and raised in Sydney. This was a man with powerful conviction.

The reason Chen Chen evaluated him so was that years ago, Shaw had chanced upon his wife cheating on him with another man. In a fit of rage, he murdered the two of them then fled to Gambia, Africa.

Unsurprisingly, he had a hard time finding a place for himself in Gambia and resorted to the life of a nomad, seeking food and shelter everywhere he went. One time, he accidentally killed a local civilian in his frenzy for food and shelter and was sentenced to thirty years in prison by the Gambia officials. This was how he came to be sold to Blacklight.

This was a summary of Shaw's life.

Chen Chen looked at Shaw's psionic powers documentation. The nature of his psionic manifestation was queer, to say the least, and would not give him a respectable placing in Blacklight Biotechnology. Despite these setbacks, he worked himself off night and day and honed his power as close to perfection as he could until he was finally promoted to Gamma-level. If not for the work he had put in, he would never see the light of day nor be brought to Chen Chen today.

Ten minutes later, Nancy reported again, "The transport rocket has successfully docked with the Courage Voyager. All ten psionicists have entered the transport."

"Give them a rundown of the safety precautions."

Chen Chen replied with a quick nod then diverted his full attention back to the current experiment.

...

Shaw always felt his life was separated into two distinct halves – one plagued with more misfortune than the other.

He was born in a wealthy family and things went just as well as they could for him during an early age. His parents loved him and he was relatively bright compared to most of his peers. He managed to enroll in the university of his choice. His venture in business after university went well and he even met the girl of his dreams.

Everything went downhill after he married her...

It was a regular day. He remembered some trivial incident had happened at work that day so he got to head home early. He wanted to give his beloved wife a surprise but life had a way of irony at times because he was just as surprised as his wife when he came home to what he saw.

In an instant, he went blind and senseless with rage. All the reasoning in the world went out of his mind. The only thing in his mind was a voice screaming at him to kill this person!

By the time he came back to his senses, he was sitting in a pool of blood joined by two puddles of blood, and feeling the cold steel of the gun in his arms.

To escape the judgment of the law, he had to escape his family, friends, and everything he acquired in his life to that point. He got in touch with a friend familiar with underground dealings and got himself ferried to Africa.

Things went well enough till the point when he arrived in Africa. That was when things went south again. It turned out that the friend that shipped him to his destination was never on his side to begin with. As soon as they arrived, he was stripped of all his possessions and abandoned in a fishing village somewhere in the region.

With that, his life took another sharp turn as if things were not terrible enough as it was.

Someone who was once in the IT industry himself quickly realized that there was no demand for his talents here. He became homeless and would spend his days hiding in the reefs on the coast and venturing into the village at night to steal food from the fisherman's homes.

One day, during one of his many thieving episodes, a large, vicious man caught him in the middle of the act. They struggled for several minutes on the ground and Shaw accidentally killed the man with a brick.

Only this time, there was no way for him to escape and he was soon arrested by the local authorities.

What followed after was several months of prison before circumstances changed again.

One by one, the prison inmates were drugged and secretly shipped off to a secret institute. In this place, Shaw and the rest of the inmates were well fed and taken care of for the better part of the year until one day, he was injected with a mysterious substance.

Shortly after that, he was blinded. He lost his regular sight and the only thing visible in his lens were luminescent objects.

Since he had been stripped of his freedom already, what difference was losing his sight was going to make anyway?

The trials and tribulations did not end there for he was further subjected to many inhumane experiments like a discardable asset. In time, he found himself put into a rocket and transported to outer space against his will.

"I wonder how many people can say that they have lived a life like mine..."

Stepping into the spaceship, Shaw broke into a sour smile while he contemplated everything he had been through so far.

Some time ago, Shaw had realized that there was no hope left for him in this sorrowful life and there was no point in preserving anymore. However, with a strange twist of fate, this person whom they call to be the boss of Blackwatch just extended a chance at freedom to him, provided that the experiment was a success.

Although this promise was merely a faint mirage yet to be realized, he had to admit that it gave him strength.

Perhaps this was not another attempt at swindling him...

Shaw reflected while the Black Knights ushered him to his isolated room.

Upon entering the room, he inspected his surroundings by using his palms to feel the walls. He found out that he was now locked in a single room only roughly three square meters large. There were only the bare necessities here which were the bed and a toilet.

Shaw sighed and slowly settled himself into the bed. After so long, he had grown accustomed to life without regular vision so he honed his senses in other departments such as hearing and touch.

"Good afternoon, Delta-level research subjects."

In the midst of Shaw's silent contemplation, a broadcast broke his stream of thoughts. He was startled by the suddenness of it and could tell that this was an electronically synchronized voice of a female.

"As participants of today's subspace navigation experiment, there's one thing that you are to keep in mind."

The voice said with fixed composure, "You all are familiar with the term 'psionic' by now. You've been injected with the L compound and thus successfully gained psionics abilities. The reason for your participation in this experiment today is that we have specifically chosen you as the suitable candidates.

"In one hour, the spaceship will embark to perform a crucial task. Your only responsibility during the course of the experiment is to await orders and shut your eyes when you're instructed to do so."

"Shut my eyes?"

Shaw frowned at this mention, what sort of crucial task was this supposed to be?

"Due to the significance of the experiment, your full cooperation is requested, otherwise, you'll be stripped of your rights to freedom after the experiment concludes..."

"Rights to freedom..."

Shaw's breathing accelerated when he heard this. As cynical as he tended to be these days, he was certainly moved by the prospect of freedom. Though he was still skeptical, he was willing to hold on to the slightest slither of hope!

"This is all that is needed of you all."

The voice went on. "After you shut your eyes, there's a small possibility that I may issue further orders. The only thing you should keep in mind is that you must follow whatever orders I provide. Once the experiment is completed, you'll regain freedom!"

This final declaration marked the end of the announcement.

"Phew..."

Shaw tried to contain his anticipation with a dragged-out sigh. He clenched his fist and felt something warm and fuzzy burning inside. He dearly wished that these people would fulfill their end of the promise.

Then, Shaw felt the floor beneath his feet trembling vividly. He felt his balance being slightly thrown off. It was an extremely subtle sensation and he only managed to feel it because his blindness had sharpened his other senses.

"This... Has the ship taken off?"

Shaw quickly understood what was happening. A faint smile formed on his lips. With how things had worked out for him since adulthood, he never expected himself to be able to board a spaceship at any point in his life. Yet, it seemed the impossible had happened.

In time, he felt the spaceship's gradual acceleration. The acceleration was rather tepid. There were hardly any signs of acceleration apart from the first slight turbulence he had felt. At one point, he even began to doubt if it was all in his head.

However, by the one-hour mark, another broadcast confirmed his suspicions.

"All participants, the Courage Voyager will be preparing for space warp. Please shut your eyes immediately."

Space warp? Did it not only exist in sci-fi novels?

Shaw was perplexed by the usage of this queer term. He was aware that humans were now in the era of space travel but based on his understanding, they were still eons away from achieving something like space warp.

The gap between current technology and space warp was like comparing wooden gears to modern machinery.

"I repeat, please shut your eyes immediately. Your cooperation will determine the outcome of this experiment!"

Shaw found this prompt almost insulting and shook his head. He was a blind man and he did not need anyone to tell him to shut his eyes. They were already shut in the first place.

"Space warp countdown: Thirty seconds..."

"Ten seconds...

"Nine, eight, seven...

"Three, two, one!"

Nearing the end of the cooldown, Shaw's heart was thumping like he had just ran a marathon. A second the end of the countdown, he took a deep breath. The entire spaceship suddenly jolted violently. His ears were filled by the vicious roar of gushing currents.

"Swoosh..."

Shaw listened to the sound of this strange, vicious current. It was around the same point when he smelled something obscure in the air. The reason it carried such an obscure quality was that it did not exactly feel like something he "smelled" with his nose. It was closer to an unplaceable awareness of its existence.

"Is this sulfur? Or biogas?"

Shaw found the experience disorientating. He even tried to sniff it deliberately but something in his mind recognized that this did not exist and that it was just conjured by his mind.

While this odd sensation continued to arrest him, the spaceship shook again. The jolt this time was so strong that it nearly threw him off the bed. He was taken aback by this. How could a spaceship in the void of the universe possibly encounter anything that would cause it to quake so greatly?

Unless it collided with something in the middle of the space warp...

Chapter 609: Sobbing

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

How could a spaceship in the void of the universe quake so viciously? It must have hit something in the middle of the space warp...

Only seconds later, Shaw debunked this theory in his mind.

It was an illogical assumption in the first place. After all, this was not any ordinary vehicle but a spaceship coursing at extraordinary speed. Any collision would have torn it into pieces. How could he still be sitting here in one piece?

If the spaceship had not collided into anything, could it have been obstructed by something else?

While Shaw was rummaging his mind for an explanation, he suddenly heard a muffled, soft whimper.

It sounded distant. It seemed to travel to his room from the furthest end of the corridor outside. It was a hoarse sound and he could not make out the gender of the person.

Shaw frowned.

Who was this? Could it be one of the ten members participating in this experiment? Based on his recollection, there was not a single female among them.

If it was not any of the ten subjects, then it could be the original crew members of the spaceship.

Shaw contemplated briefly before brushing it aside. What piqued his curiosity now was why did the spaceship in the midst of space warp suddenly come to a screeching halt?

Shaw's polished senses recognized that the spaceship was idle now. This was not a good sign considering that they were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the vast universe.

Since it could not have collided into something, was it a case of the engines stalling? Could nuclear fusion engines encounter such issues in the first place?

Shaw was puzzled and grew increasingly concerned.

"Uuu..."

Shaw's stream of thoughts was once again interrupted by the muffled sob from before. There was no mistaking it. It was growing louder, even if just slightly.

At the same time, the faint smell of sulfur that seemed like a mere illusion was growing stronger...

Shaw was feeling unsettled. He felt as if some dark entity had its sights on him. He tweaked his hips and moved closer into the bed.

Was it all in his head? Why did that voice sound so familiar?

Shaw could not fling these thoughts out of his mind. Then, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

The thump of feet stomping against the floor was heavy and solemn. It echoed along the narrow corridor and carried with it a sense of melancholy.

There were more than one footstep...

It was an extremely odd sensation. With Shaw's sharpened sense of hearing, he could tell that more than one person was walking. Only their footsteps were so synchronized and stacked on top of one another it sounded like there was only one steady thump of footsteps. There must have been at least two people approaching.

Was it the person sobbing earlier?

Shaw was getting agitated by this point. He turned to the entrance and concentrated on the sound of these footsteps drawing closer.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

At last, the series of footsteps arrived at the entrance then came to a stop. It was soon followed by several knocks and the creaks of the door unlocking.

"Who's that?"

Shaw exclaimed as loud as he could to hide the shakiness in his voice.

"They are sent here to collect you."

Before the sudden visitor could form a response, the broadcast system turned on and announced. "Mr. Shaw, please relocate to the bridge immediately. We have a task for you."

Shaw felt two people approaching him and they held him up by his shoulders. When he felt their iron grip on him, he immediately noted that these two were extremely large and strong. His heart drummed against his chest repeatedly.

Just like that, Shaw left the room with his escorts.

"What's going on?"

Sensing something off with the situation, Shaw could not resist the urge to ask, "Didn't you mention that we were performing a space warp? How come..."

"The Courage Voyager has completed space warp."

The same robotic voice of the broadcast came overhead. While Shaw continued his advance down the corridor, the voice followed him. "However, there were some issues with the spaceship. The commander has instructed us that should the spaceship encounter any issues, we're to call for you to see if you can come up with an appropriate solution."

"Spaceship issues?"

This only further confused Shaw as he answered irritably, "I want to help you guys too but I'm not a mechanic. You're looking for the wrong person for the job."

"These are the direct orders from the commander."

The voice continued. "I'm the artificial intelligence system of this spaceship and have been pre-programmed to act according to preset procedures."

"What?"

Shaw was startled by this discovery. He was once in the IT industry so he was very familiar with the subject matter. He raised his head in disbelief and questioned, "You mean to say that you're not talking to me using the built-in communication systems?"

"I'm afraid not."

The reply came swiftly, "I'm the artificial intelligence of this spaceship or also known as the main control systems. I'm not a human."

"How, how is this possible..."

Shaw shuddered involuntarily. If this was not some kind of ridiculous prank they were trying to pull on him, then it would imply that Blackwatch had developed some ridiculously potent artificial intelligence.

In the current landscape of artificial intelligence, the Androids and XTN model robots were still considered low-level artificial intelligence. These systems could only communicate with humans dynamically by utilizing the cloud server processing engines. Outside of the cloud network, this low-level artificial intelligence could hardly accomplish most basic tasks.

High-level artificial intelligence, on the other hand, was a different subject entirely. These were full-fledged independent systems with distinct personalities and emotions. To a certain extent, they could even be described as sentient life forms!

"No such thing as impossible. Based on my knowledge, my mother system has been developing since more than a decade ago."

The artificial system continued. "But this isn't the time to discuss these matters. Mr. Shaw, we need your help."

Shaw took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "What do you need me to do?"

"The Courage Voyager seems to be tangled by some kind of entity."

The artificial intelligence stated, "This is the third time we've performed subspace space warp experiments. The first time proceeded without any hiccups. The second time, something similar to what we're experiencing now happened as well. It took us five hours to wring ourselves free."

"How did you do it that time?"

Shaw digested this information as well as he could and asked.

"Based on what we've collected so far, this bonding state isn't permanent. In time, it will loosen on its own and allow the spaceship to exit the subspace."

"Then, why can't we just wait idly like the last time?"

Shaw was perplexed.

"Because the longer we remain in the subspace, the higher the chances of the crew members dying are."

The artificial intelligence stated calmly, "The subspace airflow is corrosive. Staying here for an extended period will expose the hull to these corrosive currents. There's no telling if the spaceship can preserve long enough to escape the subspace since there's a risk of it falling apart in this environment."

Shaw tightened when he heard this. "What do you mean the longer we stay here, the higher the chances of crew members dying? What is this subspace you speak of?"

"What we refer to as the subspace is a dimension that doesn't belong to the real universe."

The artificial intelligence explained patiently, "The unique quality of the subspace is that it greatly shortens the distance between points of the real universe. The ratio is roughly ten thousand to one. This means that every kilometer traveled in the subspace equals ten thousand kilometers in the real universe. This is why we're capitalizing on this quality to greatly improve the efficiency of space travel. If used correctly, the duration of space travel can be reduced dramatically and can be conventionalized."

"I see..."

Shaw was truly awed by this. Before he could follow up with anything else, the artificial intelligence went on. "But subspace navigation isn't without its dangers. The risk subspace navigation carries is severely greater than in the real universe. The last time when we only stayed in the subspace for five hours, nine out of ten crewmates lost their minds and died in the duration."

"It's... it's more dangerous than I thought..."

Shaw quickly realized the urgency of the situation over the course of this conversation. Meanwhile, he could tell he arrived at his destination because the firm grip placed around his shoulder finally gave him some breathing room.

"This is the bridge of the spaceship."

The artificial intelligence informed, "And your task is to open your eyes."

"Open my eyes? Do you mean that there's some psionic presence in this sub..."

Despite his confusion at this request, Shaw decided it was easier for him to just do as he was instructed.

The moment he opened his eyes, his voice was latched in his throat. His eyes expanded wide as he beheld what he saw before him.

There were two panels of floor-to-ceiling windows in front of Shaw. Outside the windows were nothing but a pitch-black sheet of nothingness, that was, for the regular person. Shaw's eyes saw something different amid this ocean of darkness, something that circled the ocean and seemed to stretch endlessly...

"What is this..."

Shaw shuddered and took two steps backward.

"Tell me, what do you see?"

The artificial intelligence prompted.

"Can't, can't you see it?"

Shaw looked pale and distraught, his eyes skirted around the view outside. "There are so many things shaped like vines surrounding this spaceship, they entwine and move like cell tissues..."

The artificial intelligence kept silent for a while before it broke its silence. "No, I cannot see it. Not only myself, neither any other people nor the most sophisticated camera lens can see these vines you mentioned. The only thing we can see is an endless mist of sulfur..."

"What, why..?"

Shaw was startled by this and asked.

"It must've something to do with your psionic powers."

The artificial intelligence said, "Inside the subspace, only those who have lost their vision can observe the ongoings in the dimension. With the added facet of your astral sight, you can see the true form of the subspace."

"The true form..."

Shaw could not find the words to express what he was feeling.

Suddenly, Shaw heard a muffled sob coming from behind him. It made him shudder again and he quickly turned around only to be greeted by the usual, vast nothingness.

The world outside the spaceship, separated by the window and the space inside the spaceship were completely alternate worlds as far as Shaw was concerned. While he could see the intricate workings of the subspace dimension outside, his vision rendered him blind to anything inside the spaceship...

Shaw's erratic behavior piqued the curiosity of the artificial intelligence. "Mr. Shaw, when you turned around just now, I noticed that your heart rate has increased by eighty percent and your blood pressure has increased by fifty percent. Why is that?"

"Can't you hear it?"

Shaw asked, "Is there a female crew member on board? I heard her crying just now, a rather harrowing cry."

"..."

There was silence from the artificial intelligence before it spoke again, "There are no female crew members on board. There are only ten Black Knights and ten psionicists subjects on board, including yourself of course."

"What?"

Shaw's pupils dilated. He looked behind him again at the field of darkness. The artificial intelligence noticed this and enquired, "You keep looking behind you. Is that where this voice you speak of comes from?"

"Yes... I'd say it's only around twenty to thirty meters away."

Shaw nodded in response and gauged the distance.

"The spaceship is only thirty meters long, Mr. Shaw."

The artificial intelligence stated, "Two meters behind you is the buffer gate of the bridge. It's tough enough to withstand low-caliber pulse rifles and it has excellent sound muffling capabilities. You wouldn't hear a cannon fired on the other end of this door."

"Are, are you kidding me?"

Shaw grew restless. Based on what he was told so far, he deduced that prolonged exposure to the subspace was highly dangerous. Although he had determined the reason the spaceship was held in place, there was nothing he could do to alleviate the situation. The only option is to sit idly and wait...

Putting that aside, how was it that he was the only person to hear this strange sob?

This sobbing, this sobbing...

It felt like something had been injected into the deepest crevice in his mind. It overlapped and fused with his existing memory. At this point, he heard the same sobbing again!

"Uuu..."

Shaw's hair crawled up his back. He felt like was losing his mind. This eerie voice was drawing closer to him, no more than ten meters away now!

It was drawing closer!

Shaw felt a chilling bite crawling into his spine as he stumbled backward and fell on his hips. His eyes fixed on the deafening darkness in front.

"Mr. Shaw? Mr. Shaw!"

The voice of the artificial intelligence echoed in his mind. It's tone was dragged out and slowly faded out like a mirage.

Shaw seemed to see something faintly conjured in his vision. He continued to fix his eyes on it. Somewhere in the profound darkness, what seemed like a human silhouette appeared.

This figure was stark naked with what seemed like blood all over it. Its posture made it seem like a corpse...

How could a corpse materialize out of nowhere in a blind man's sight?

The corners of Shaw's mouth twitched involuntarily. His vision turned clear unexpectedly and he recognized this corpse as the body of his late wife!

"Clack..."

Its wrists moved. The corpse made an extremely subtle movement that seemed to evoke a chain reaction in Shaw's body as well and made him jump!

What happened after that was similar to what was only seen in horror films. One by one, the corpse began to move its limbs. It dragged the heavyweight of its body across the floor and crawled toward Shaw like a zombie!

Every ounce of strength had been drained out of Shaw's body. All he could do was lean against the window behind him and stare at this demon approaching him...

"Shaw, Shaw, Shaw..."

The corpse muttered Shaw's name endlessly. Its joints clicked loudly in a disturbing fashion as it approached Shaw, then it raised its head mechanically...

Moments before Shaw broke down, he smelled a sharp scent of sulfur probing into his nose...

Chapter 610: Subspace Navigation Experiment Success

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Zoom!"

Moments before Shaw would be devoured by these sensations, a whirlpool suddenly appeared around him. A tide of what seemed like faint electric currents of some sort circled him, taking on strange, magical forms amid the darkness.

"Hiss..."

In the midst of the frenzy of this whirlpool, the haunting figure in front of Shaw vanished. Suddenly, he felt the touch of a pair of powerful hands on his shoulder that pulled him up off the ground!

"Huff, huff..."

Shaw blinked rapidly, trying to steady himself from the fright he received. Sweat rained endlessly from his forehead.

"What did you see?"

The artificial intelligence asked several times before Shaw registered the question.

Shaw felt entirely drained. His spirits had not yet recovered from the shock. "It, it was my wife, she came back to haunt me..."

"Rest easy Mr. Shaw, it was just an illusion."

The artificial intelligence offered words of comfort, "I can assure you that nothing appeared in front of you earlier."

"But..."

Shaw tried to refute this claim. The previous image flashed in his mind again and sent shivers across his body. Part of him wanted to believe that it was nothing at all but another part of him was convinced that there was more to this.

"The reality anchor has been activated."

The artificial intelligence informed, "It can stabilize reality and prevent the intrusion of the subspace currents."

Shaw nodded but his mind was somewhere else.

After this short exchange, Shaw looked around himself wearily and noticed the vines that once tangled the spacecraft were slowly pulling back and away from the spacecraft.

"The vines... Are loosening?"

Shaw was surprised. "Is this the work of the reality anchor?"

"It does seem so..."

Even the artificial intelligence was unsure of this. The spacecraft rumbled ever so slightly several times after that and began to accelerate again at a steady pace.

Ten kilometers per second, twenty kilometers per second, thirty kilometers per second...

When Shaw was certain that the spacecraft was on the move again, he took a sigh of relief and politely pushed himself away from the palm of the Black Knight holding him steady.

Then, he turned to look outside and address the artificial intelligence. "You say that this world outside is known as the subspace, that it doesn't belong to reality?"

"That's right, you can think of this as a mirror dimension of the real universe."

The artificial intelligence responded, then followed up with a question of its own. "Just as you described, the spacecraft had escaped from whatever was tangling it earlier. Did you notice anything peculiar?"

"I..."

Shaw took a deep breath, his cataract-blurred eyes revealed a hint of emotion for the very first time. "I saw a vast empty space. It was distorted and gave off a very majestic impression. It seemed unbound to the laws of reality as it operated on a set of rules of its own... It seemed like a dream...

"The place was completely unlike the universe in our dimension. I saw countless balls of light that words, so radiant that mere words cannot do them any justice... These balls seemed like living beings. I felt like they were trying to communicate something to us...

"Then I saw... In the vast emptiness ahead, what seemed like a continent dyed in stark red... This land was far off in the distance... It's even beyond the solar system... No!"

There was an indescribable look in Shaw's eyes. He suddenly frowned and leaned forward. "There was more than one continent. Earlier, to our left, there was another large, dark continent ... One, two, three, four...

"God, there are four continents in this space! Each one of them multitudes larger than the earth... Artificial intelligence, your suspicions just might be correct. Perhaps my powers were destined for this place. Though my eyes are useless in the real world, they can see past the boundaries of time and space, observe things light-years away from us..."

The artificial intelligence did not know what to make of Shaw's incessant ramblings. Was this a madman's delirium speech or did he truly see something that ordinary beings could never behold?

The spacecraft continued accelerating for more than ten minutes after that when Shaw suddenly perked up with alert. He promptly informed the artificial intelligence, "Take a sharp turn here."

"What is it?"

Though the artificial intelligence was unsure of what motivated Shaw to say so, it did exactly as it was told since the commander had authorized Shaw to navigate the spacecraft. The Courage Voyager swerved several degrees to the right...

"There's another ocean of vines several hundred thousand kilometers down where we're heading."

Shaw stated calmly, "If we don't turn when there's still time, we'll ram straight into it and get tangled in it again..."

The artificial intelligence scanned the location Shaw pointed out but could not see anything in that precise location. Apart from the same mist of pale-yellowish sulfur, there was nothing else notable to be seen.

The spacecraft continued accelerating...

Truthfully speaking, after wringing itself free from the previous predicament, the spacecraft's artificial intelligence could very well perform the space warp process now to take the spacecraft back to reality. The trouble lay with the fact that a set of stringent formulas had to be calculated before leaving the subspace to calculate the spacecraft's coordinates in the real world. If not done correctly, the spacecraft might collide right into another planet or asteroid in the real world and the consequences would be catastrophic.

Another reason that an early escape from the subspace was deemed not necessary was due to the importance of completing this experiment. As it was, the spacecraft was still slowly approaching the appointed coordinate. "Swerve fifteen degrees to the left..."

After some practice, Shaw was getting better at using his abilities. He started to manually navigate the spacecraft proficiently. His vacant eyes were fixed on the window and scanned every crevice of the subspace in front of him like a radar. "There's a group of what seems like jellyfish to our right, we better keep our distance..."

"Oh no! Those things are coming after us!"

Shaw brushed the sweat pooling on his forehead. "Are those things sentient? It's... They look like the creatures I saw in a vision earlier!"

Just like before, the artificial intelligence surveyed the location Shaw was referencing, only to see the usual yellow mist. There was nothing that even remotely resembled jellyfishes.

The spacecraft continued accelerating from there on. The second half of the journey went past in almost the blink of an eye. Seeing that the spacecraft was about to reach the pre-determined coordinate, the artificial intelligence promptly activated the space warp engine. It summoned a cloud of black bubbles out of thin air that instantly encircled the entire spacecraft!

An outside observer at this moment would see the spacecraft engulfed in what seemed like a black hole. The giant black hole expanded and contracted periodically until moments later, it completely vanished along with the Courage Voyager...

"Swoosh..."

Again, Shaw heard the terrific sound of water current echoing in his ears. His vision turned into the all-too-familiar pitch-black canvas again. They had returned to the normal world as he knew it.

Surprisingly, Shaw felt a tinge of sadness upon realizing that they had returned to the normal world.

However, this sadness was quickly replaced by a swarm of joy. He remembered the promise made before the experiment began, that the participants would be granted freedom upon the successful completion of the experiment!

Freedom...

Shaw repeated the elusive words to himself. He felt two people approaching from and at the same time, heard the artificial intelligence speaking through the broadcast system again, "Congratulations, Mr. Shaw. You're the only surviving experiment subject in this experiment while playing a vital role in its success. I'm sure that after a short review session, the ones in charge will consider granting you your freedom."

"Hold on, what was that?"

Shaw was just about to enquire about his leaving when the sudden mention captured his attention. "What did you mean that I'm the only surviving experiment subject?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

The artificial intelligence answered without a change in tone, "The first time you experienced a panic attack, the other subjects went through similar episodes as well. It does appear that psionicists like yourself are more susceptible to the corruption of the subspace. I couldn't save them even by urgently activating the reality anchor."

"Is, is that so?"

Shaw felt sweat pouring down his back again.

Before he could provide any further input, the two Black Knights had taken him away.

...

"The spaceship appeared!"

Nancy's broadcast echoed across the Mars Spire 2 base just three minutes later. "After disappearing for two hours, the Courage Voyager has reappeared along Jupiter's orbit in the appointed coordinates!"

"It returned?"

Chen Chen's heavy expression gradually subsided. "What's the damage? Did Shaw survive the trip?"

"It seems like your gut feeling is correct."

Nancy was delighted when she informed, "Just as you predicted, Shaw was the only one of the ten experiment subjects that survived. The mission report also states that he has made a vital contribution!"

"Just as I thought..."

Chen Chen was even surer of his initial suspicions now. Shaw was a blind man and that gave him a definite advantage in the subspace. This was something that Chen Chen had more or less proven as well based on his previous experiences in the subspace.

However, Shaw was more than just any blind man. He was also gifted with the psionic manifestation known as the astral sight that granted him special sight abilities. This gave him a unique advantage in the subspace that no other living person possessed.

"Navigation, huh?"

Chen Chen looked at the report Nancy provided and found it very intriguing. According to the mission report, Shaw was a vital part of the mission's success. His precise navigation of the spaceship kept the spaceship away from all the hidden dangers in the subspace dimension. He had proven himself to be an exemplary subspace navigator.

"That's not all, it also seems like your hypothesis was correct."

Nancy added. "The reality anchor is only useful to a certain extent. It's not viable as a defensive measure since it can only barely suppress the subspace current flow into the airship at most. I think that the black slate you control would be more effective at neutralizing the effects of subspace."

"Neutralizing is a generous term."

Chen Chen shook his head. "Previously, I managed to destroy the black slate inside the subspace and strip it from Zhao Shanhe's hands. If I can destroy it, so can the subspace. At best, it can only function as an extra safety measure when entering the subspace."

Chen Chen raised a palm and summoned the black slate. Then, he inspected it briefly before retracting it into his body. "Tell the Courage Voyager to return to the base. Also, make sure Shaw is ready for a short meeting with me."

"Understood."

Nancy replied dutifully as always.

...

Mars was about 550 million kilometers away from Jupiter. It would take any spaceship more than a month of constant travel to reach from one planet to the other. That was, provided that the spaceship could maintain constant acceleration.

Although the distance between Earth and Mars was only one-eighth of the distance between Mars and Jupiter, it would still take a week to travel between the two destinations. In theory, a nuclear fusion engine could achieve constant, gradual acceleration for several years until it reached a maximum speed of one-tenth the speed of light.

This meant that the farther the distance between the two destinations, the higher the average speed of the spaceship since it would have more time to build up toward the maximum speed of one-tenth the speed of light.

However, with the newly implemented space warp navigation technology, it only took two hours to travel from Mars to Jupiter. And this was factoring in the interruption encountered in the subspace, otherwise, the entire journey would only take no more than ten minutes.

The Courage Voyager did not encounter any unforeseen incidents on its way back. It quickly exited the subspace and reappeared on the orbit of Mars where Shaw was transported back to the mars base.

Words could not express Shaw's relief upon landing on the surface of Mars, returning to the comforts of a safe planet.

There was no denying that he was delighted to regain his sight in the mysterious subspace dimension. However, considering all the dangers lurking in the subspace dimension, he would still choose blindness in the real world over dwelling in the subspace any time of the day.

Upon his arrival, he was ushered by two Black Knights to an unknown destination. He tried to ask them where they were headed but the Black Knights behaved like robots and hardly made an effort to entertain his efforts.

"Ding!"

The sharp ding of an elevator gave Shaw a slight clue of where they were headed. Upon entering the elevator, he immediately sensed that something was off.

The temperature inside the elevator was distinctly lower than that of the temperature outside. Also, he could sniff a faint scent of the familiar sulfuric air in here, although he was not sure if it was his mind playing tricks on him.

Safe in the confinement of the elevator, the two guards seemed to lower their guard slightly, knowing that Shaw could not escape anywhere. They released their firm grip on him.

"Hey officers, could I at least know where we're going?"

Shaw asked again. It was not so much that he was trying to get on their nerves with his persistent questioning. This was merely his attempt at gaining more information via other methods. Ever since losing his sight, he had become adept at obtaining information using other means. It was the only way to gain some form of assurance amid this world of desolate darkness.

Unfortunately, his persistent effort still yielded no meaningless result as he was rewarded with stoic silence again.

Nothing but the suffocating silence all around him.

Shaw licked his lips nervously while he evaluated his situation.

Hm? This was strange...

Shaw perked up suddenly. This tranquil space amplified his sense of hearing and it was now when he realized that this entire time, he could not hear the sounds of a heartbeat coming from these two officers.

Or perhaps they were not in the elevator? Speaking of which, the elevator did not seem to be ascending or descending. The entire time he was here, he did not sense the altitude shifting...

Shaw began to experience mild panic as he sensed that something was off.

Left without any option, he began to back away slowly. If he was in an elevator, there should be a wall only several paces behind him. At least having a wall behind him would offer him some sense of security in this space.

"Creak..."

As soon as he took his first step, he heard a strange sound and felt a strange sensation. It seemed like he stepped on something accidentally when he stumbled backward.

What seemed like the toe of a person...

"Zoom!"

Shaw's heart skipped a beat. He soon heard the chaotic buzzing of the elevator light above him flickering on and off in sporadic patterns. There seemed to be an electric current overflow. It was at this point when he realized that the scent of sulfur was growing stronger!

"Could this be..."

Shaw clenched his fist and mustered the courage to pry his eyelids open. What he saw horrified him!

A woman stood eerily still inches away from where he stood. She had a bullet-sized hole in her face. Though there was no way to make out her features, Shaw could tell she was staring right at him.

"Shaw, I don't want to lose you."

The woman's haunting voice flowed into his ears. It sounded like she was holding back tears. "Even if you killed me, even if you put a bullet through my mouth, I can't fathom losing you..."

She took several slow, heavy steps forward. Her lifeless limbs rested themselves on top of Shaw's shoulders. The gruesome wound in the center of her face emitted a blinding beam of sharp white lights!

"Ahhh!!!"

Shaw howled and struggled but his deceased wife's hands remained latched to his shoulders. Her face was still inching closer toward his face!

Shaw shut his eyes, feeling like he was about to lose his mind. "D*mn it, what do you want with me Tina... What do you want with me!"

The bloodied face drew itself right next to Shaw's face. He heard a harrowing whimper that sounded like it originated from the depths of hell.

"Come. Fuse. With. Me..."