611-615

Chapter 611: Element 126 Synthesis

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Hm?"

Outside the elevator, Chen Chen sniffed a hint of sulfur in the air.

Turning into a frown, he looked at the elevator that had not arrived yet. It seemed to be where this strange scent came from.

"Ding!"

The display on the elevator call button showed that it had arrived at the current floor. Once the elevator doors slid open on both sides, Chen Chen was greeted by the sight of Shaw scrambling wildly and screaming at the top of his lungs while the two Black Knights held him firmly by his arm.

Meanwhile, the familiar scent of sulfur struck Chen Chen.

Chen Chen was no stranger to a scene like this since most people who had entered the subspace exhibited similar symptoms as well. Without wasting a single moment, he immediately summoned the black slate in his hand and evoked its powers!

Now that Chen Chen was more familiar with the workings of the subspace, he had the black slate thoroughly sweep through Shaw's body right away. In one smooth motion, he had wiped away all of the subspace energy from Shaw.

However, moments before he wiped out the final trace of subspace energy within Shaw, he had a change of heart. He proceeded to leave a tiny trace of subspace energy intact.

"Tss..."

Chen Chen retracted the black slate. By this point, Shaw had stopped screaming and had passed out.

"I left a tiny trace of subspace presence inside him."

Chen Chen remarked, "The subspace is more dangerous than I expected. Unless the afflicted victims can purge their inner demons effectively, the remains of subspace's presence will still follow them even after leaving the subspace itself."

"Speaking of which..."

Chen Chen asked, "What's the story behind his inner demons?"

"Earlier inside the elevator, I heard him crying out the name 'Tina'. I believe it's the name of his late wife."

Nancy replied.

"It looks like he still hasn't forgiven himself for murdering his wife."

Chen Chen deduced. "The remaining subspace energy in his body won't be enough to kill him. It can help build up his resistance to the subspace over time. Nancy, take him back to Earth and arrange some therapist appointments for him."

"Understood, I'll take him back to Earth after he wakes up."

Chen Chen nodded contently and took a lap around the Spire 2 to survey the site. After approximately an hour, Shaw woke up.

"Where... Where am I?"

Shaw could still feel his head spinning. He sat up from the bed and surveyed his surroundings cautiously.

Thankfully, there were no signs of his dead wife around him. It was just the usual darkness.

"You fainted earlier, Mr. Shaw."

Before Shaw could further recollect himself, the door to the ward was pushed open and someone stepped inside. Shaw's vision was immediately swarmed by a dazzling ray like he was staring at the sun itself. He immediately turned the other way so he would not be blinded by it. "You...? Aren't you the leader of Blackwatch?"

"Just call me Chen Chen."

Chen Chen approached Shaw's bed. "How do you feel? Is there still a lingering sulfuric smell?"

"You, you know about that too?"

Shaw was startled and was reminded of the sulfuric smell. He took a quick sniff and commented, "I don't smell it anymore..."

"Chances are it was just the lingering subspace energy in your body."

Chen Chen remarked, "They told me that you saw your late wife moments before you passed out. Let me assure you that it wasn't your late wife. It's just an illusion conjured by the subspace energy. I've removed a large portion of the subspace energy in your body. Only a negligible amount remains inside you now."

Shaw did not know how to respond to this. He sat there like a mute and waited for Chen Chen to continue.

"I know what you're thinking."

Chen Chen smiled gently. "You're wondering why I didn't remove all of the subspace from your body, is that it? Well, I figured you might be returning to the subspace in the near future, so it might be wise to leave some subspace remains in your body to help you build natural resistance. This may make a significant difference in your future ventures."

"I still have to return to that cursed place?"

Shaw froze a moment, then he quickly realized Chen Chen's intentions. "I think I get the point of the experiment now. The reason you put us into the spaceship and shipped us into the spaceship is to see if there's any one of us who can see those things in the subspace not observable to the regular person. You figured you could find a suitable navigator this way, right?"

"That's not all of it, but you more or less have the right idea."

Chen Chen replied. Then, two Black Knights entered the room and helped Shaw off the bed and took him to the teleportation room with Chen Chen.

Shortly after that, Chen Chen and Shaw arrived at the Watchman teleporter.

"We'll be returning to Earth now."

While clumps of water-like substance began to materialize around them, Chen Chen suddenly informed, "Mr. Winfred, I've decided to grant you the freedom as promised. From now on, you're no longer a Delta-level experiment subject of Blackwatch. But since you know about the company's extremely confidential secrets, I'd like to extend an offer to you and hire you as the Blackwatch's subspace navigation consultant with a complementing annual salary of three million U.S. dollars. You'll receive favorable treatment in our company. I hope you'll accept this offer."

"Do I have a choice?"

Shaw asked with a bitter smile. His question sounded more like a statement.

"If you accept these terms, I'll also arrange an operation for you."

Chen Chen enticed the candidate further. "I'm sure you're aware that Blackwatch has developed functional bionic prosthetics a long time ago. If you accept my terms, an operation can be performed immediately and your eyeballs can be replaced with the bionic eyes designed by Blackwatch. This way, you can live a normal life again. The bionic eyes can be removed temporarily when entering the subspace and allow you to regain astral sight so you can help us navigate the dimension. It's a best of both worlds solution."

"You can do that?"

Shaw's breathing quickened. He had to admit that the suggestion of regaining his sight was very tempting, perhaps even more alluring than regaining freedom since he would be able to see the world naturally again.

"I'll join the company!"

At last, Shaw made a decision.

Chen Chen did not provide an audible response. He gave Shaw a gentle shove and pushed him into the mystical current.

"Swoosh!""

In an instant, Shaw's figure was enveloped by the current and vanished!

After that, Chen Chen stepped inside as well and they returned to Earth.

Chen Chen was feeling rather amiable. Acquiring a psionicist that can help him navigate the subspace efficiently was a major step in the right direction. Shaw would be extremely vital to subspace research. To a certain extent, Shaw's value even exceeded that of a billion-dollar asset like the Alpha-level psionicist, John the Guardian.

Upon returning to Earth, the first thing on his to-do list was to inform Little X to scour everywhere for psionicists with psionic abilities similar to Shaw's. Unfortunately, after scrounging the entirety of the registered psionicists database, not a single psionicist with abilities similar to astral sight was identified.

It would appear that such an ability was extremely scarce. Therefore, Chen Chen decided that a suitable approach would be to extract Shaw's DNA to see if it was possible to recreate this ability artificially.

With that, a new psionic research project was launched in the Spire Experimental Base, a research project with the goal of deciphering Shaw's DNA code.

...

The following days were quiet and peaceful. Blacklight Biotechnology and the Earth Federation were engaging in secret competitions with each other both in commercial and colonial sectors. However, both sides exercised restraint and none of their dealings had surfaced to the public as of yet.

The two parties continued to maintain an amicable relationship in the military and aerospace sectors, at least it would seem that way on the surface. On the whole, human civilization was in a happy and harmonious state and civilization was making gradual progress in the right direction.

Three months later, Chen Chen received a piece of delightful news. After more than a decade of work, element 126 had been successfully synthesized by the high energy physics department.

The successful synthesis of element 126 was in many parts credited to the collaborative work of hundreds of scientists, but it also would not have been possible without the ultra-large particle accelerator built under the Erongo Plains located in Namibia. The construction of this gargantuan accelerator started in September 2035 and cost no less than 300 million U.S. dollars. It took four years to complete.

This particle accelerator rivaled even the Large Hadron Collider. It was buried a hundred meters underground below the Erongo Plains and stretched upward of 100 kilometers. It was easily the largest variant of such creation in the history of human physics and was already deemed a historical piece the moment it was constructed. It was up to four times more efficient than Europe's Large Hadron Collider. The implementation of modern technology such as superconducting technology and several other key technologies meant that it completely outclassed the Large Hardon Collider both in terms of precision and overall output.

Furthermore, the total construction cost and upkeep cost was more affordable than that of the Large Hadron Collider.

This monumental creation was greatly coveted by the Earth Federation. Ever since its emergence, Chen Chen had been receiving persistent requests from scientists all over the world to contribute the machine to the world so that a collaborative effort could be made to study the Higgs boson. Unfortunately, Chen Chen would not entertain their requests and instead leveraged the machine to recruit all of the best high-energy physicists all over the world.

By the time Chen Chen arrived at the high energy physics department, the scientists and physicists were already celebrating. The atmosphere made the laboratory seem more like a carnival than anything else.

"Not bad at all."

Chen Chen's appearance was probably the only thing in the world at that moment that could quell the collective exhilaration of these members. They greeted and regarded Chen Chen with respect upon his arrival. Then, the professor who headed the entire operation, a gray-haired elderly man, stepped forward.

"Professor Otmar."

Chen Chen regarded the professor with a polite smile. He held a deep respect for every single member in this laboratory. For individuals such as these, subjects like nationalities and social class were irrelevant. Their qualifications gave them the most proclaimed respect wherever they went, as long as the hosts were aware of the value of their knowledge.

On the contrary, it was the scientists themselves who decided where they wanted to ship their talents. They heavily favored having a supreme research environment, which was why the Central Continent always had a hard time attracting these savants.

This man Chen Chen assigned as the leader was Professor Otmar Babel. He was the best professor at Munich University. There was not a single soul in the scientific world that was not familiar with the name. Chen Chen's offer for his employment not only included access to the greatest particle accelerator in the world, but also special access to great technologies such as the anti-aging reversal treatment and many more.

The combination of all these elusive offers supplied by Blacklight Biotechnology managed to sway the great scientist to discard his home country and join Chen Chen's faction.

"Sir Chen Chen."

Professor Otmar shook Chen Chen's hands the way only close friends would. Then, he led Chen Chen to a large isolation chamber. He gestured at the glass shielding the isolation chamber. "At long last, we've synthesized element 126."

Chen Chen approached the glass. It was a ZF6 grade heavy lead protective glass, which was used to resist extreme ionizing radiation. He looked inside the chamber and observed the seemingly regular contents inside – a lump of metal shaped like a block of iron.

The surface of the block of iron was irregular and had odd bumps sticking out its corners. It seemed to resemble a poorly formed iron ingot. The general rule was that elements on the periodic table after lead had radioactive qualities and this element 126 was no exception. This was why radiation obstructing protective glass was required to contain it.

"After all these years and the vast amount of funds poured into research, we've finally synthesized this magical element."

Professor Otmar's voice was colored with many emotions while he beheld the element inside the chamber. "A general observation is that elements in the later end of the periodic table tend to have a shorter half-life (TN: a radioactivity measurement referring to the interval of time required for one-half of the atomic nuclei of a radioactive sample to decay). It's no exception for element 126 as well. To synthesize element 126, we had to synthesize element 125 first and to do so, we had to first synthesize element 124, and so on... It proved to be a rather daunting task when the half-life reaches as low as mere nano-second intervals."

"And yet, you succeeded."

Chen Chen remarked, not holding back his fascination and praises, "Isn't element 126 supposed to be a stabilized element? Why is it radioactive?"

"Before we had succeeded in synthesizing it, that's what I assumed as well."

Professor Otmar replied, "According to the island of stability theory, the stability of the nucleus should see a relative increase until the number of nuclei in an element reaches a certain yet-to-be-determined threshold. With that said, I'm sure you also notice the specific use of the term 'relative' in this situation."

Chen Chen nodded and expressed thoughtfully, "In other words, element 126 is a superheavy element in a relative state with a longer half-life."

"Something along those lines."

Professor Otmar agreed. "The specifics will still require a bit more research. With that said, I'd still like to extend my thanks to you, Sir Chen Chen."

Professor Otmar proclaimed, "Synthesizing element 126 marks another major milestone in human history. Back in 2006, the world could barely synthesize any elements passing element 118. Synthesizing heavier elements required a greatly improved particle accelerator, which was simply not achievable at the time, not until Blacklight Biotechnology stepped in and made a difference."

"You flatter me, Professor Otmar."

Chen Chen received the professor's appreciation warmly. "None of this would've been possible without the right person to utilize the tools and that's where you come in. At the end of the day, a large part of this must be attributed to the combined effort of yourself and all the scientists and physicists we have here."

Professor Otmar glowed upon hearing this. Since Chen Chen would put it this way, it implied that he did not intend to reap the glory for himself and instead would dedicate a large portion of the credit to the professor and the research team.

"Sir Chen Chen..."

Professor Otmar choked up slightly. His beard was still unkempt from all the late-night labor in the laboratory. He bowed. "Thank you for your graciousness. You've done us as much service as you've done for the entirety of mankind. Your name will be etched in the history books for your contributions!"

Chen Chen smiled.

After many more gestures of profuse gratitude to Chen Chen, Professor Otmar finally left with the research team. Chen Chen remained by the chamber and looked at the hosts of scientists departing the laboratory as a profound smile surfaced on his lips.

"Sir Godfather, I believe he's suggesting that you'll go down as one of the greats like Newton and Isaac!"

Little X remarked candidly through the earpiece.

"Etched in history books, he says?"

Chen Chen chuckled lightly and proceeded to correct the statement. "I want more than just having my names etched in history books, my very being will... Triumph over what we know as history!"

Chapter 612: Moon Rabbit Space Station

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The night of the first of October 2040, a particular clip was uploaded onto the largest video streaming platform in the world, YouTube.

It was only a three-minute-long video and the video production process was completely rudimentary. The entire clip was probably edited on a phone. However, the impact of the video on the Earth Federation was formidable.

The video took place in a residential building at midnight.

The video began with the person filming the interior of his house briefly, then the camera was pointed to the window where a common astronomical telescope could be seen set up on the side table.

It was midnight and the sky outside was pitch-black. The person filming the video seemed to be filming in the outskirts of the city. Due to the light pollution in the metropolis city, the outskirts or countryside were the most ideal locations for such telescope setups.

The Youtuber then zoomed in on the lens of the astronomical telescope.

This was when the video got intriguing. The object of interest appeared through the lens of the telescope – zooming into the vast, midnight sky, a gigantic spacecraft could be seen hovering in the void of the universe. It was a bow-shaped spacecraft, imagine a regular curved bow, except without bowstrings attached. The inner sections of its curve were lined with what seemed like rows of teeth. There were approximately twenty to thirty such peculiar shapes.

There were smaller model spaceships mounted to these teeth-like installations. The entire sight seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Since the astronomical telescope used was a basic telescope, the spaceship was only displayed in black and white. Furthermore, the quality of the image was poor as it was both distorted and fuzzy.

Despite the jarring quality, the spotting of this bizarre, alien spacecraft successfully attracted the attention of plenty of astronomy enthusiasts online. In time, the video had entered the trending section on YouTube.

When the video surfaced on the trending radar, it immediately started an Internet phenomenon. Some people speculated it was digitally-altered footage while some people deduced that it was an alien invasion. They claimed that this spacecraft was evidence of aliens monitoring the earth.

To prove the authenticity of this video, the YouTuber who submitted this video disclosed the coordinates of his house and soon enough, many other people were able to spot this mysterious aircraft as well.

The video quickly went viral.

The entire ordeal soon entered the national scope and drew the attention of Blacklight Biotechnology. The corporation immediately made an announcement to clarify that this was not an alien invasion of any sort. It was the recently launched space station named "Moon Rabbit". Certain non-sensitive details of the space station were further revealed as well.

This announcement shocked the world to its core.

[Secret space station exposed by astronomy enthusiasts. How long was Blackwatch intending to conceal it from the public?] – Wall Street Journal.

[Blackwatch secret exposed, rival to Area 51?] – BBC headlines.

[The raging silent battle between Blackwatch and the Earth Federation may be taken to space!] – Associated Press News.

[Blackwatch Aerospace once again astounds the world. Why is there such a tremendous gap between Northern America and Blackwatch?] – Reuters News.

At this point, it could not be any more apparent that Blacklight Biotechnology claimed aerospace superiority over the Earth Federation. The international media started to catch on to the implications of this and soon enough, many controversial articles were put up to stir the hearts of the people. The people took the bait and began forming discussions questioning the intentions of Blacklight Biotechnology.

[What? When did this happen? Why is it that none of us are notified of Blackwatch's space station launch?]

[A private enterprise just stealthily launched a space station. It's about time we ask ourselves this: Is a private enterprise supposed to hold so much power?]

[Do you people have any idea about the business sectors monopolized by Blackwatch? Biology, medicine, natural resources, military industry, aerospace... And many more to count! There has never been a company of this scale in history. To be honest, I won't be surprised if they wage a war against the Earth Federation. They have more than enough capital...]

[Blackawtch claims that this space station is 500 meters long, 80 meters wide, and 60 meters tall. How was it that this behemoth was launched under our nose?]

[Who cares how they launched it? The point is that Blackwatch is the greatest!]

[Don't you understand the implications of this? I admit that Blackwatch is powerful, but it may be a little too powerful now. I'm worried about the position of the Earth Federation in the grand scheme of things. The world isn't big enough for two to reign, I doubt there's any peaceful arrangement for these two factions...]

The nature of many of these articles and discussions drew Chen Chen's attention that there was now rising hostility against his faction in the international scope. This meant that the Earth Federation was beginning to feel threatened.

Something similar could be observed in the Blacklight Foundation Lilith Assembly. Although the four members would not admit it, Chen Chen could sense the weariness in their tone. This watchfulness only grew in magnitude as Blacklight Biotechnology continued to strengthen itself.

From what was once a leech in Namibia, Blacklight Biotechnology had grown into a Herculean force that overshadowed its previous host, Namibia. The Earth Federation had watched everything unfold.

Now, the Earth Federation was worried about being subjected to the same fate as Namibia!

Blacklight Biotechnology was simply too powerful by this point and had encroached into every sector it could. When it came to biomedicine, they had developed anti-cancer and anti-Alzheimer's drugs as well as curing many more diseases that were once considered incurable. Biomedicine was Blacklight Biotechnology's fundamental sector and they had effectively found a cure for the vast majority of illnesses known to mankind by this point.

When it came to energy, nuclear fusion innovation was Blacklight Biotechnology's forte. Each of the major continents had certain facets of nuclear energy application which they excelled at as well. For instance, the Central Continent was proficient at nuclear power generation technology where its power generation efficiency out leveled that of all other countries.

The Northern American Continent excelled at nuclear power engine technology where it claimed automotive superiority over the other countries.

Similarly, the North Sea and European Continent each had the specialized sector that gave them an edge over the competition.

Trumping over all of them was none other than Blacklight Biotechnology that was adept in every single aspect imaginable. It could very well muscle the others out of their respective sectors if it wanted to.

There was hardly room for debate in the industrial and aerospace sectors. It was Chen Chen himself that took to the initiative to offer the innovative industrial and aerospace technology for the four major continents together to propose the formation of the Blacklight Foundation.

When it came to the military sector, the XTN robots and electromagnetic weapons invented by Blacklight Biotechnology were staple overseas exports. Blacklight had effectively squeezed the Earth Federation out of the market. There was even a popular saying that "Blacklight is the platinum to the world's diamond".

Furthermore, branch companies of Blacklight Biotechnology were existent in almost every country in the world. The corporational expansion scale made it difficult to put a definite number to its market value. This behemoth of a corporation had inserted its roots into so many facets of society that to disrupt its operations would cause a major social upheaval as well.

Poking the bear would immediately trigger a social and economic crisis, and in drastic scenarios may even lead to World War Three...

Chen Chen took very little interest in this international media slander since it was pretty much a monthly routine at this point. This was merely the opponent's way of probing him and also a silent protest of sorts.

Chen Chen knew that the Earth Federation was holding out hopes that he would yield his empire to the Earth Federation, all for the good of mankind. He was not stupid enough to do something like this. These politicians could bicker all day and he would continue ignoring them.

At this hour, he was looking at the blueprints of the newest spaceship design sent by the aerospace department.

The spaceship was designed like a shuttle. The front portion was shaped like the head of a drill with a triangular tip. The back portion, which was its rear, was designed like a fortress. There were numerous windows, some with cannons and laser weaponry prodding out of them.

This was the newest spaceship model designed for traversing the subspace. Chen Chen noted that the dimensions of this spaceship were marked at 500 meters long. Even the most advanced aircraft carrier currently known to mankind only measured at 300 meters. The behemoth warship could carry up to five thousand passengers at a time.

If this was the finalized blueprint, it would be more appropriate to define this spaceship as a space fortress.

"A larger hull and thicker fortification can make it more resilient in the subspace."

Little X explained, "A lot of the problem that the subspace poses can be solved with an increased hull size. For example, the reason the subspace vortex and the vines Shaw describes can hinder the previous spaceship so much is because of the size difference. A lot of these problems can be alleviated simply by using a larger spaceship with high-offset fortification installed at the bow of the ship to overcome whatever obstacles stand in its path.

"The reality anchor is also a key factor since it can limit the subspace airflow, essentially serving as a protective buffer. This was the exact thing that saved Shaw's life back then in the subspace.

"Of course, our subspace navigator Shaw is the asset that ties everything together. From what we've discovered in the previous voyage, it seems that he can perceive dangers hundreds of thousands of kilometers away in the subspace. He's an indispensable part of the subspace expedition."

Chen Chen rapped his knuckle against the table and considered these factors.

After some time, he raised his head and stated, "These are very good points, but there are still some adjustments I'd like to make, especially regarding the size of the spaceship."

"Oh?"

Little X seemed to not take to the suggestion kindly. "But these are the ideal dimensions to survive the subspace. I'm afraid that shrinking it would cause..."

"I think you misunderstood."

Chen Chen remarked, "I never said anything about making the spaceship smaller. On the contrary, I believe we should make it larger."

"What?"

Little X was startled by this. "You want to enlarge our current design?"

"Of course."

Chen Chen nodded. "We already have a preliminary understanding of subspace so the next step is to increase our range. We're not only planning to navigate the solar system, we want to go further. If the Milky Way was an ocean, then the solar system is merely a tiny island in this vast ocean. We need to plan far into the future when mankind inevitably wants to expand its scope further. This is why the spaceship has to accommodate these future ventures. It needs to have the capacity to fulfill these grand ambitions."

"How large should it be?"

Little X asked, her voice filled with excitement.

"Nothing too extravagant yet considering we're still in the trial phase. Let's go with one kilometer."

Chen Chen considered a while before supplementing. "There must be at least some resemblance of a habitable ecosystem in the spaceship. I mean commodities like parks, processing plants, and warehouses. This way, even if the spaceship encounters some unprecedented problems, the crew can be self-sufficient for a while at least."

Little X was impressed by Chen Chen's foresight. In truth, the crew onboard should spend the majority of their time in the cryogenic chambers. They would enter a hibernation state for months, even years, until they reach the appointed destination. However, there were many unprecedented factors in space navigation that may lead to a range of accidents. Therefore, it was wise to prepare facilities ahead of time to address certain crises so that the crew could survive until rescue arrived.

These facilities should accommodate the most basic needs for survival. This meant food and basic living conditions in the spacecraft to save themselves. Even in the direst situation, the crew should be able to manage for several months on board by optimally conserving and rationing their resources. It was better than descending into a hopeless panic right away.

With this, the design was reworked entirely, with new implementations such as yards, in-house ecological gardens, and circulation systems. The botanical garden would also double as an ecological system provider with the right air circulation distributed over the spaceship. At the same time, it could provide food for the crew.

The processing plant would synthesize meat and protein to sustain the crew. In cases of an extreme shortage of resources, organic excrement could be utilized as a final resort for protein synthesis.

Furthermore, the spaceship could ferry hundreds of smaller scout spaceships and its very own battle fleet. The ferried spaceships could each serve different purposes as they would adopt an advanced modular design where parts could be substituted with different modules to perform different tasks which the situation called for.

For example, a resource-gathering ship's excavation module could be substituted with electromagnetic weapons and be repurposed as a combat spaceship.

After a strenuous round of redesign, the total capacity of the spaceship remained more or less the same, in the range of three to five thousand. However, the spaceship itself was at least four times larger than before and its total interior area had increased by close to ten folds.

When Little X presented the revamped blueprint to Chen Chen, he clapped the table with his palms and exclaimed energetically, "This is the one."

"I'm afraid the current Moon Rabbit Space Station doesn't have enough space to build a spaceship of these proportions."

Little X said, "We'll need to expand the Moon Rabbit Space Station."

"That's a given."

Chen Chen agreed. "I plan to continuously expand the Moon Rabbit Space Station until it's ten times its current size. It should be achievable considering our resources."

Chen Chen had been regularly shipping construction materials to the Moon Rabbit Space Station with the precise goal of expanding it in mind. As if two Gantz spheres were not enough, he shipped an additional Gantz sphere to the space station. All three Gantz spheres were used simultaneously for shipping materials and the space station expanded rapidly from thereon.

Little X even quipped that at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Moon Rabbit Space Station was visible from the earth.

While the Moon Rabbit Space Station expansion was underway, Shaw also cooperated with the company and allowed further research of his psionic ability.

The procedure involved was identical to the process of extracting the L factor from Chen Chen's blood to manufacture the L compound. Chen Chen planned to extract the corresponding gene from Shaw's blood and replicate his psionic powers.

Shaw was only one person and it would not do to only have one navigator for the space fleet in the future. Chen Chen needed hundreds, even thousands of navigators with abilities like Shaw's. Only then could mankind overcome the obstacles in the subspace and populate the galaxy...

Chapter 613: Commencing Galaxy Colonization

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Time flew.

The Moon Rabbit Space Station continued expanding over time. In just a year of development, the structure had gone from one that was only observable with a telescope to a phenomenal landmark with a magnificent presence. At night, people along the southern atmosphere could see the bright lights the structure emitted that made it seem like a miniature sun.

"05, this is overdoing it."

At the Lilith Assembly, 01's figure rose from the seat. He hammered his fist on the table, furious, his body still quaking with rage as he rebuked, "The Moon Rabbit is no longer just a simple space station. You could tell me it's a fort and I'd believe it. Also, do you have any explanation for the battle spaceships docked on the Moon Rabbit Space Station that aren't registered with the Earth Federation? We only granted the Blackwatch Company permission to colonize, but there has never been an agreement about forming the foundation of a legion!"

"01 is right, I'm afraid that even I cannot defend your actions this time."

's voice was composed as ever, but not without a clear tone of accusation. "You're making a serious threat to the status of the Earth Federation. Isn't this the same thing as forming your own militia? We agreed to your proposal of establishing the Blacklight Foundation, we've also tolerated your exploitation of space resources and its impacts on the global market. We then went on to allow your establishment of the first permanent colony on Mars and you're just going to form an interstellar space fleet on the planet? Don't forget, you're not a country, but an enterprise."

"That's right..."

"I agree..."

02 and 03 chimed in as well.

Flanked from all sides, Chen Chen remained seated calmly with his arms folded as he answered with fixed composure, "Your point being? Human beings will leave Earth and venture into the solar system one way or another. It's never been a matter of if, just a matter of when. The discovery of life on Mars is the first alarm sounded for mankind. Why should we wait to establish a space fleet?"

"Those are the matters of the Earth Federation, not one for you to be concerned about!"

01 belted angrily. "You're stepping out of line for just being a mere enterprise. Do you truly intend to oppose the Earth Federation?"

Chen Chen could no longer stifle his laughter upon hearing this. He smacked his palms together to produce a single clear clap. "As I said before, I'm not interested in gaining power nor will I ever be interested in it in the future. The reason for my establishment of a space fleet is as a cautionary measure in case we stumble into hostile forces as we venture outside the solar galaxy."

"What?"

This remark raised an alert so 02 promptly enquired, "Venture outside the solar galaxy? You mean that you've already developed the technology to do so?"

"Wormhole navigation? Warp drive?"

03 asked solemnly.

"You never mentioned anything like this before."

"I know you're wondering about where I got this technology from."

Chen Chen set things straight immediately. "This technology is one I developed myself, only it comes with certain side effects."

This seemed to quell the restless crowd.

Whether they believed Chen Chen's claims did not matter. Chen Chen was telling the truth. This was a technology he had developed after receiving certain "inspirations".

"Could... Could you tell us more about it?"

's tone turned from stern and commanding to slightly awkward. This was especially embarrassing considering just a minute ago, he was furiously accusing Chen Chen of his actions and now his attitude had completely shifted around. Here he was, trying to flatter Chen Chen shamelessly. Even the other seasoned politicians felt embarrassed for him.

"This technology is related to subspace."

Chen Chen had nothing to hide. Besides, the technology would be figured out by the Earth Federation in the future so he was not worried about disclosing it prematurely. "Navigating in subspace greatly shortens the distance between two points in the real universe. This new navigation method we developed takes advantage of this characteristic of the subspace. Even if the space of the spacecraft itself remains the same, the distance covered by the journey is magnified by ten thousand folds. This means that a year of navigation in subspace is comparable to that of ten thousand years in the real world."

"Does the subspace truly exist? Isn't it merely a theory of Einstein?"

01 enquired, "And even if this subspace exists, how do you tear through the fabric of reality and enter it?"

"By using the subspace space warp engine of course."

Chen Chen claimed with a simple shrug. "Don't bother asking for the details, you know that I won't disclose them anytime soon. You're better off researching it yourself, but be warned..."

Chen Chen suddenly lowered his voice upon this mention. "There's a terrifying existence surpassing the realms of belief inside the subspace. Even if you manage subspace travel, I'd advise you to tread carefully. This is all I can tell you."

With that, Chen Chen rose from his seat and prepared to take an early leave from the Lilith Assembly.

"Hold on!"

There was an air of urgency in the air as the others clamored and tried to pry more out of Chen Chen. "Is there any chance that we can obtain this technology? Or better yet, we can exchange it with other technologies. How does our nuclear fusion engine optimization technology sound?"

"We can negotiate the price, it's..."

Without realizing it themselves, they had all risen from their seats in agitation.

They of all people knew that there was a significant gap in their aerospace technology and Blacklight Biotechnology. While Blacklight Biotechnology was already carving out new lands in the galaxy, they were still wasting time dallying around on Earth. They were desperate for a breakthrough.

"Don't bother."

Chen Chen shook his head, canceling whatever hopes they had. "Let's be frank if you were in my place. Would you ever consider auctioning off this technology?"

With that, Chen Chen's figure vanished without a proper farewell!

When they saw the figure in the seat labeled 05 vanish, they slid back into their seats, wholly dejected...

This explained why Blacklight Biotechnology never bothered itself with the authorities on Earth. They had already set their sights on things beyond Earth and humans!

The Lilith Assembly members understood Chen Chen's motivation now and could not suppress the intense jealousy boiling inside of them. All this time, Chen Chen was not merely putting on a front. He simply did not see a reason for engaging in the power struggle on Earth. All he needed to do was to continue expanding beyond the stars and in time, the Earth Federation would have to succumb to his feet...

It was simple. The first person to venture out of the solar galaxy represented the entirety of mankind and planet Earth.

"Nobody can stop him."

01 suddenly mumbled to the air, his voice turned several decades older in minutes, "Even if we unite the entire Earth Federation, we might still fail to put up a worthy battle."

"Doing that means inciting World War Three."

03 stated, "Besides, how can you be so sure that he doesn't have other cards up his sleeve?"

The rest of them glanced around the room, sensing each other's wavering confidence.

All 03 could do was to shake his head and scoff at their poor circumstances. The Earth Federation had become the plaything of this powerful enterprise. To think that just two decades ago, Blacklight Biotechnology was just a humble little business started by one man, that was when even the Namibia government could crush it if it wanted to.

In five years, Blacklight Biotechnology had displayed magnificent growth and rays of its brilliance began to shine underneath its polished surface. Even so, any officials who wanted to could have destroyed it before it could unleash its potential.

After another five years, Blacklight Biotechnology had placed itself on the same level as the four major continents. The brilliant enterprise countered whatever offensive maneuver the four major continents took by forming alliances trading all kinds of advanced technologies.

Again, in five years, Blacklight Biotechnology's total capital rivaled that of the Earth Federation.

In the present day, even if the Earth Federation concentrated all of its forces and started an all-out war, it would only result in both sides being crippled. It was a senseless approach that only a madman would take. The cold hard truth was that the Earth Federation could no longer hinder Blacklight Biotechnology.

After departing the Lilith Assembly, Chen Chen pondered for a moment then mentioned, "X. From here on, don't bother reminding me to attend the Lilith Assembly if their planned agenda for the meeting is nothing of importance."

"Understood."

Little X sympathized with Chen Chen's frustration. Recently, each Lilith Assembly felt one and the same. It was always a circle of pointless debates and jabs revolving around Blacklight Biotechnology. It was a poor use of Chen Chen's time.

"To be fair, it's natural they would respond this way, seeing that their prided power is slowly slipping away from their hands."

Little X remarked, "They'll get used to it soon enough."

Chen Chen was not interested in this topic and averted the subject. "How's the spaceship construction coming along?"

"We're around eighty percent through."

Little X waved her hand and summoned a holographic projection in front of Chen Chen. Most of the surface of the three-dimensional spacecraft model was highlighted in green, with only some minor sections highlighted in bright red. "It'll be completed in about three months. Who do you think you'll send on our very first extrasolar expedition?"

Chen Chen stopped for a moment and briefly considered. "I'm thinking that if the trial run is a success, I'd send myself."

"Sir Godfather..."

Little X uttered but seemed like she had trouble finding the correct words, "Earth and its inhabitants still need you."

"That's true."

Chen Chen assured. "Don't worry, I won't be traveling outside the solar galaxy for now. What I'm mainly interested in is the subspace."

"What's so interesting there?"

Little X remarked with a quick pout. Over the last year, Chen Chen concentrated his efforts on miniaturizing the space warp engine to prototype new spaceship models of the same size as the Courage Voyager. These spaceships would usually deploy with Delta-level experiment subjects or psionicists as its passengers, sometimes without any passengers.

The findings from these experiments were quite remarkable. The spaceships without passengers boasted the highest success rate of emerging from the subspace. Trailing after it were spaceships with regular human passengers while psionicists passengers seemed to regularly encounter trouble in the subspace.

It would appear that the subspace had a great effect on psionicists. Occasionally, the spaceships with psionicist passengers managed to return from the subspace but even so, the passengers on board would be dead already. Furthermore, the returning spaceships would be tainted with a significant amount of subspace remnants that had to be purged off using the Civilization Monolith.

If the subspace remnants were not taken care of properly, the events in Event Horizon may be brought into the real world.

"The subspace energy is a presence that can corrode the human body as well as the human psyche."

Chen Chen stated, "Most of the people affected by the subspace pollution end up losing their minds and dying while onboard the spaceship. The ones that manage to survive the initial symptoms don't have it any better either. Their features become distorted beyond recognition and their minds become corrupted evil... This subspace presence is as mystical as it is powerful, and till now there is only one person that can observe the true nature of the subspace."

Little X understood that Chen Chen was referring to Shaw.

Shaw's psionic manifestation rendered him a one-of-a-kind individual. Not only was he able to see the true form of the subspace, but he could also look further into the depths of the subspace, into the deep unknown.

"He says that there are four large continents in the subspace."

Chen Chen turned to Little X, his eyes glowed with deep desire. "I want to know what exactly they represent. Perhaps these four continents in the subspace contained the secrets of the dimension..."

Little X's eyes widened when she heard Chen Chen say this. Right as Chen Chen uttered these words, faint ripples in between seams of reality appeared behind him, distorting space and time with its existence. At the same time, the steel walls and coverings under Chen Chen's feet groaned underneath the pressure...

"But it won't be possible yet."

Little X intentionally interrupted Chen Chen's stream of thoughts. "Have you forgotten about the unknown entity lurking inside the subspace? The cosmic entity that may destroy every trace of mankind, an existence potentially hundred times more powerful than the Consciousness Stealer!"

A bright look returned to Chen Chen's eyes when he heard this. He smiled and agreed. "You're right, not yet."

With that, he turned the other way, but not before mentioning to Little X, "Let's speed up the construction progress. I'd like to see the first interstellar spaceship completed as soon as possible."

Little X looked at Chen Chen's figure from behind, still feeling unnerved by the strange aura seeping from Chen Chen's body earlier. The almost negligible amount of aura unleashed from his body was enough to completely deform the corridor. Every surface of the corridor had become distorted and shaped into wave-like patterns. Certain sections seemed like they had caved inward by an unlikely force...

"Ever since Sir Godfather began absorbing psionic powers from the dead psionicists, his power has grown by terrifying proportions..."

After a while, Little X managed to shake off the weary look from her eyes and trailed after Chen Chen. Shortly after their departure, a crew of Androids was sent to repair the destroyed corridor.

...

Three months later, the first major spaceship in the history of mankind that was capable of traversing across the galaxies was finally completed.

The spaceship was built in the Moon Rabbit Space Station. It was parked at the central dock of the space station. It was an enormous creation befitting of the behemoth space station.

"1121 meters long, 245 meters wide, and 360 meters tall."

Little X looked at the image of the spaceship shown on the display and admired the sheer scale of it. "Sir Godfather, you shall have the honor of naming the spaceship."

Chen Chen did not give it too much thought. "Just call it Blacklight. How are the preparations coming along on Shaw's end?"

"After more than a year of intense training, Shaw is now an extremely qualified navigator."

Little X remarked and proceeded to switch the image on the display with a simple gesture. The display now showed Shaw who was wearing a tight-fitting uniform, entering the new spaceship branded by Chen Chen as the Blacklight. He entered the spaceship via a special access tunnel in the Moon Rabbit Space Station. Although he was still feeling anxious, he did well enough at hiding the anxiety in his eyes and pulled off a convincing determined expression.

"Shaw will assume the role of the subspace navigator and he'll be assisted by two thousand Android engineers, a thousand Black Knights, and two thousand prisoners. The gender distribution of these prisoners is split evenly."

Little X added. "We've also brought the latest rendition of basic commodities and agriculture blueprints. Upon arriving at the destination, our two thousand prisoners can build a permanent colony and begin setting up an agriculture system for long-term sustenance."

Chen Chen nodded contently. Everything seemed in place for a successful expedition. Advanced spaceship, space warp engine as well as a custom-made extra-large reality anchor, and Shaw was the final piece to complete this puzzle. All these arrangements were made specifically to colonize the planet Chen Chen had set his sights on.

The planet was none other than Kepler-642b. It was the planet that most resembled the conditions of planet Earth which Blacklight Biotechnology discovered after its takeover of NASA'S Kepler Project.

After running several rounds of thorough examination, it was discovered that this planet held up to ninety-eight percent resemblance to the conditions on Earth. It was nearly sixty percent larger than Earth and an annual cycle on this planet took twenty days longer than it did on Earth. It was roughly 1115 light-years away from Earth.

Liquid and atmospheric components were detected on the planet. However, since the planet's rotational axis was not deflected, there would not be any changing of the season over the years.

The star which the Kepler-642b orbited around was a class-G star just like the Sun seen from planet Earth, except that this star was about 1.5 billion years older than the Sun, but it was still at the prime of its eons-long life cycle.

This was the most ideal, habitable planet discovered by Blacklight Biotechnology after taking over the Kepler Project. Everything seen so far seemed highly promising...

Chapter 614: Birth

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

This historical migration would take between two to three years.

The maximum speed achievable by Blacklight Biotechnology's nuclear power engine could accelerate the spaceship to one-tenth the speed of light, which was equivalent to thirty thousand kilometers per second. The distance between the two designated points was 1115 light-years, which meant close to eleven thousand years of journey.

However, the existence of the subspace greatly cut short what would be an eleven thousand years trip to Kepler-642b from the earth by close to ten thousand times. Under the distorted time-space law of the subspace, it would only take up to two years for the Blacklight spaceship to reach Kepler-642b.

It was a terrific speed.

The diameter of the Milky Way was roughly measured at one hundred thousand light-years. A thousand light-years would be equivalent to one percent of the diameter of the Milky Way. To travel such a distance in just two years was completely unfathomable for mankind even several years before this. It was more than an astronomical feat.

Furthermore, as the Blacklight Biotechnology research team gained a further understanding of subspace, they also discovered two peculiar coordinates in the dimension, what was known as the "Mandeville Point".

The coordinate was discovered by a subspace scientist named Mandeville. The tabulated mass of the solar system was calculated into the relative geographic location of the Milky Way and at last, substituted into a formula known as the "Mandeville Subspace Equation". This equation calculated the influence factor of the subspace corresponding to the real universe to obtain a specific coordinate.

This coordinate pinpointed the safest location for entering or exiting the subspace.

A stable and safe subspace entry and exit position were present in each galaxy. When entering or jumping out of the subspace in these exact positions, the gravity of the subspace mass and concentration became nullified, thereby creating an ideal location for maneuvering in and out of the subspace with minimized risk.

There were two such Mandeville Points located in the solar system, one of which was located near the orbit of Uranus while the other near the orbit of Pluto.

Since it was Mandeville who formulated this equation, it was thereafter named after him while the produced coordinates following this equation were labeled as the Mandeville Points.

Upon learning of this, Chen Chen suddenly understood why Pluto was specifically chosen as the starting point for performing subspace space warp in the movie Event Horizon.

It was because the Mandeville Point was located precisely on the orbit of Pluto.

Having gained this knowledge, it was relatively easy to progress from here on. Without informing other parties of this exciting discovery, Blacklight Biotechnology conducted two trial runs secretly. All of the required preparations were made. The trial run for future galaxy colonization was underway...

"Blacklight departing port A...

"Releasing porting module A...

"Activating engines, the Blacklight will be reversing, please take caution...

"The Blacklight is departing the port..."

Shaw sat at the head of the spaceship's bridge and listened to the routine notice of the artificial intelligence systems.

Shaw's overall presentation had undergone a drastic transformation over the last year. His entire persona had become weathered and stoic, his cheeks were sunken and the texture of his skin turned coarse and tough. It seemed as if he had aged by decades.

The most notable transformation was that he had shaved his head bald. There were jet-black things that looked like large buttons fixed into the sides of his polished scalp. It was a device known as a brain-machine interface.

This drastic transformation was required to build up his resistance against the harmful qualities of the subspace. As Chen Chen did not purge all of the subspace presence in his body a year ago, he had been plagued by nightmares all year round.

The subspace energy chipped away at his psyche gradually, but it also served to harden his mental psionic strength, beating it into tempered steel over time.

Three months ago, with the help of a team composed of the world's best therapists and psychologists, Shaw managed to overcome his inner demons and finally got over the death of his wife. Seeing this, Chen Chen deemed that he was now worthy of a central role in the galaxy migration project.

Accompanying Shaw were two other members, a male and a female respectively.

The man was in his mid-twenties. Moments before the spaceship commenced launching, he was still stricken with nerves and agitation while the woman beside him who seemed to be in her thirties was cool and collected.

All three of them were bald and fixed to their seats. To be precise, they were practically chained to the seats.

The seats of the trio were arranged in a triangular pattern. Shaw's seat was positioned closest to the window and at the sharpest angle of the triangle, clearly indicating that he was the one in command.

"Establishing a connection to the life support system..."

The artificial intelligence system broadcasted another notice to the crew members again. Shortly after that, a large tube appeared overhead and quite rudely inserted itself into the mouths of the crew members. Then, a soft hose extended from inside the tube and explored the insides of their mouths before stretching all the way down their throat.

"Hnnghh..."

The other two members could not stop themselves from retching at this gross sensation.

Shaw ignored them and did what he could to relax and let it pass silently. He felt the hose reaching deep into his stomach region. A similar procedure was repeated, this time, with a tube built into the seat coming from underneath them that prodded into their rectum region.

This was not the end of it. It was quickly followed with several inserts into the veins in their limbs. Upon its completion, they were fixed to their seats without any escape.

"Establishing a connection with the brain-machine interface..."

Several ports appeared overhead and latched themselves into black buttons that were the brain-machine interface specially fixed into Shaw's head. Shaw instantly felt his vision turning pitch-black. His bionic eyes were temporarily shut off.

Although his vision was gone, he could sense that his brain was now directly connected to the central systems of the Blacklight. From here on, his brain had become the interface itself and every thought he formed was issued as commands that would be performed without any delay.

This was the specialized role that Chen Chen had created – Subspace Navigator.

Shaw of all people was aware of the dangers subspace travel entailed. The navigator needed to be cautious at all times as the slightest distraction could yield fatal results. Therefore, the navigator had to be bound to the seat for however long the journey may take. Basic human needs such as eating, drinking, and organic excretion would be taken care of by artificial intelligence.

Remaining seated for an extended period may cause long-term health issues such as poor blood circulation or muscle necrosis. Blacklight Biotechnology had factored this into their blueprints and the navigator's seat was fitted with an elaborate massage system working at all times to keep blood circulation flowing. Simulation of the nerves was performed with mild electric pulses. One could remain in this seat for decades without worrying about body functions degenerating.

Of the three subspace navigators, it was undoubtedly Shaw who assumed the central role in the operation. The other two were merely his assistants that Blacklight Biotechnology had assigned him. These navigators gained their abilities artificially by receiving an injection formulated using an extract from Shaw's blood. However, there was a distinct gap between their astral sight and Shaw's naturally acquired astral sight. The range of their observation only reached up to several thousand kilometers so the best they could do was serve as assistant to the more qualified Shaw.

"Brain-machine interface connection complete.

"Preparing for launch... Destination, Uranus orbit...

"Beginning acceleration..."

The artificial intelligence system continued issuing notices into Shaw's mind. Although Shaw's bionic eyes had been deactivated, the connection established between the nerve center in his brain to the spaceship central system meant that his so-called "mind's eye" was open. There were a lot of things he could do and many entertainments at his disposal. He could play games, chess, watch movies, and many more activities to spend the next millennium leisurely.

Though the subspace dimension was a perilous world, not a single person in the world could be expected to remain vigilant at all times, especially not for months, even years. This was where having two assistants came in handy. Iit was so that the navigators could take shifts and take a break whenever needed.

This system ensured a proper balance so that the navigators could function in a healthy state of mind without suffering from fatigue.

As the spaceship took flight, Shaw communicated to his two assistants by directly conveying his thoughts to them through the brain-machine interface, "Gordon, Marcy, let's work well together over the next few years. Let's accomplish our tasks dutifully. If this voyage is successful, we'll have achieved something grand and have a bright future ahead of us."

"Understood, Captain."

The two of them responded to Shaw's speech enthusiastically. Just like Shaw, they were felons acquired by Blacklight Biotechnology from other countries through underground networks. Though they could not secure their freedom yet, they were lucky enough to emerge among hundreds of candidates and graced with abilities like Shaw's.

The current voyage was their lifeline at achieving the long-sought-after freedom. If they could see this voyage to its succession, they would be offered the choice of freedom.

Shaw was satisfied with their response. As the spaceship took off, he took a look at the deeper sections of the spaceship where two thousand occupied cryogenic chambers were situated. The passengers were all put in a cryogenic state to conserve the limited supplies in the spaceship and also to protect themselves from the dangerous subspace energy.

Granted that no accidents occur, they should find themselves on Kepler-642b upon waking up.

Shaw was designated the highest authority level on this spaceship, second only to the artificial intelligence system. This essentially meant that he was the captain of the spaceship. As the captain, he had access to the information of all the passengers on board. While they were still on the way to the subspace, he decided to go through the report of these two thousand passengers just as a means of killing time.

Just to be on the safe side, Blacklight Biotechnology would wait for another ten days for conditions to stabilize before entering Jupiter's orbit. From there on, the spaceship would perform a gravitational acceleration and bound for Uranus. The spaceship would accelerate gradually until reaching the maximum speed which was one-tenth of the speed of light until arriving at the discovered Mandeville Point located along the orbit of Uranus.

The entire journey was estimated to take up to a month. This meant that Shaw along with his two assistants had a month to prepare themselves for the most challenging part of the journey, which was inside the subspace where their powers would be called to use...

...

Just like that, the Blacklight had departed from the geosynchronous orbit of the earth and ventured into the vast expanse of the universe.

This shocking maneuver alarmed the Earth Federation. Tens of thousands of astronomical telescopes all over the world zoomed in on the magnificent wonder that was the departure of the Blacklight while the Earth Federation was completely ignored on the sidelines. The representatives of the four major continents immediately called for a Lilith Assembly, but Chen Chen's shadow was nowhere to be seen during the assembly.

This blatant disrespect greatly angered the four major continents. The masses began slandering Blacklight Biotechnology for not honoring their end of the agreement. Initially, the Blacklight Foundation was founded to form a global alliance but now it would seem that Blacklight Biotechnology had completely discarded its initial promises. It would appear that Blacklight Biotechnology was starting to exact its will whimsically now that it was powerful enough to overpower the Earth Federation!

It hardly mattered how much they tried to ridicule and provoke Chen Chen. He already decided a long time ago that he would not entertain them any longer.

A month later.

Chen Chen strolled in the Ares Science City all by himself.

The Ares Science City was the first and also currently the only human colony built on Mars. Based on Chen Chen's drafted plans, this planet would become the first industrial-focused planet. He planned to relocate a large portion of the manufacturing industry to Mars to alleviate the environmental pollution burden on Earth.

This was why hundreds of thousands of factories belonging to Blacklight Biotechnology were erected near the borders of Ares Science City. An industrial park even larger in scale than the Eco Science City was taking shape here on Mars.

After two years, the initial hundred thousand people who migrated to Mars from Earth had gotten accustomed to life on Mars. Furthermore, a second and third batch had been transported to the planet, raising the total population on Mars to near half a million.

Observed from space, the surface of the once barren planet had been transformed into lush patches of oasis. Tardigrade moss now dominated the local ecosystem, constantly producing oxygen into the ozone, restoring the planet's atmosphere organically.

Meanwhile, the dwarf planet Ceres that was also the Mar's variant of the Moon continued orbiting around Mars from thousands of kilometers away. Its presence allowed Mars' planet core to restore its magnetic field over time until it could withstand the Sun's solar wind.

Chen Chen sensed the weaker gravitational force on Mars with every inch of his body. Then, he observed the masses of Mars inhabitants traveling across the city, all occupied with their day-to-day tasks. Most of the crowd were Androids since the social system of Mars was designed in a way that most of its inhabitants were well-off and could afford fine luxuries. While the employment of Androids was scarce on Earth, it could be seen everywhere on Mars.

The human residents were usually at work in their offices or staying at home, taking care of their children. Every day after office hours, the city would be filled with the hustle and bustle of real humans.

"Excuse me, sir..."

"Hello, sir..."

Chen Chen walked amid the stream of Androids. They would politely file out of the way when Chen Chen stepped into their path since they were programmed to do so. These Androids were non-hostile and would never harm humans. Even if they were directly threatened by a living person, they were programmed to escape instead of defending themselves. Soon, Chen Chen arrived at the entrance of the city's central hospital.

Upon his arrival at the hospital, he suddenly perked up and narrowed his eyes that were beaming with concentration.

Moments after that, he unleashed a ripple of Field that immediately enveloped the hospital compound. It effortlessly seeped through the windows and explored every nook and cranny of the hospital.

In one of the operation rooms, Chen Chen heard the energetic cry of a newborn baby.

Chapter 615: Ominous Signs

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Wah... Wah..."

The sharp cry of a newborn pierced through Chen Chen's ears. He stood at the entrance of the hospital and gazed at the hospital building. Moments later, the paint of the building began peeling off to reveal the dirty concrete underneath. The entire building began corroding.

In the blink of an eye, the hospital turned into a decrepit state that seemed like it had been abandoned for centuries.

In the midst of this transformation, the sky took on a pale yellow texture. An ominously dark shadow stirred over the hospital. A subtle breeze scratched Chen Chen's face. It was uncomfortably hot and carried a sharp stench that reminded him of blood and fire.

Chen Chen immediately felt the razor-sharp sting of a thousand pairs of eyes fixed onto him.

An inexplicable feeling was roused from the deepest pit of his heart!

Riled by this uncomfortable feeling of someone spying on him, Chen Chen continued listening to the cries of the baby. He took a deep breath, then took slow, steady steps into the hospital, and at the same time, tapped a button on his wristband. He only managed several steps before he came to a startled stop.

The hospital reverted to its normal state. The sky was the same dark blue as it had always been. It would seem that what he saw was a mere illusion. There was never any dark shadow nor a breeze that carried the stink of blood. The suffocating feeling departed without a trace as well.

Chen Chen looked around himself in disbelief. The people nearby were minding their usual business. None of them seemed to be fazed by the stark transformation the hospital took earlier. Everything he saw just now was merely a figment of his imagination...

"Sir Commander?"

Nancy's voice sounded through the earpiece. Earlier, Chen Chen triggered the distress signal on his wristband. Nancy was the clone of Little X that was charged with overseeing all of the ongoings in this district on Mars.

Chen Chen did not answer. He looked at the newborn again with his Field. It seemed like an ordinary newborn that was still loudly crying the way newborns usually do. The ominous feeling had left him as if it had never even been there in the first place.

"Delivery room 301..."

Chen Chen took a look at the sign outside the delivery room. He remained rooted to his spot by the entrance of the hospital.

"What's this about 301?"

Nancy asked curiously.

"Tell me about delivery room 301."

Chen Chen commanded, "Immediately."

"Understood."

Nancy replied dutifully.

Nancy did wonder what would prompt Chen Chen to request such an odd detail but she still did as she was told without asking unnecessary questions. She went over the enormous database on Mars and found what she needed immediately. "Delivery room 301 belongs to the obstetrics and gynecology wing of Ares Science City Central Hospital. It's primarily used to accommodate patients in labor. The lady giving birth today is called Heather Shirley. She's a spiritual psionicist and her husband is Wallace Ashburn, who is also a spiritual psionicist.

"The doctors and nurses in charge are..."

Nancy provided the information of the mentioned delivery room 301 and the members inside it. After that, Chen Chen seemed to be pondering these details.

It would appear that it stemmed from the newborn baby.

Logically speaking, it would trace further to the baby's parents. Coincidentally, both of his parents were psionicists.

With this in mind, Chen Chen took a look at the newborn and immediately sensed a faint psionic presence. The newborn inherited his parent's psionic qualities!

Chen Chen was astounded by this discovery.

Psionicists had been thriving in human society for more than a decade by now and the total population of psionicists had reached up to five hundred thousand. Although it was not a staggering amount when put in comparison to the scale of the total human population, it was still a significant size.

In the past decade, there had been several instances of pairs of psionicists copulating and birthing children. However, in all of these instances, the children were born as ordinary humans without psionic abilities. This was more so the case with relationships where only one of the parents was a psionicist.

In other words, for the last decade, psionicists were only produced artificially via L compound injection. Never had there been any natural-born psionicists.

This was something Chen Chen had been perplexed about for some time. He had already figured out the L compound achieved its effects by altering the human DNA and that these traits had a chance of passing to the next generation organically. However, up till this point, all of the children of psionicist parents were born as ordinary humans.

Either it was sheer bad luck or that the L compound was flawed.

Just as Chen Chen was about to lose hope, a psionicist was suddenly born in this hospital on Mars!

What was even more unexpected was that the newborn baby seemed to conjure an illusion in Chen Chen's mind just as he passed by the hospital.

Not, it was something more than a mere illusion...

Chen Chen further dissected the matter. He was well aware of his mental psyche. If even the subspace was unable to impose its effects on him, how was it possible for a newborn to strike him with such a powerful illusion?

If it was not a mere illusion, then what did it imply?

"All of the existing psionicists so far have had their psionic abilities artificially injected, so this makes this child the first, and also the only psionicist with natural psionic abilities."

Chen Chen muttered to himself. Was this the explanation for why he saw what he saw earlier?

Again, he recalled the images that he saw earlier, of the ancient hospital and the looming shadow. The entire imagery suddenly reminded him of something vaguely familiar.

He had an inkling suspicion that the presence he felt earlier was something he had experienced before. It was almost a decade ago but the sheer remembrance of it sent shivers down his spine.

There was no bout about it, what he sensed just now was the presence of the subspace.

"Why would I feel the subspace's presence when the world's first natural psionicist was born?"

Chen Chen could tell that he was very close to grasping the truth. Though he was still several pieces away from solving this puzzle, one thing that he could declare with complete confidence was that this was a bad omen of things to come.

"Sir Commander."

While these puzzling thoughts were still swirling in Chen Chen's mind, Nancy suddenly reported to him, "I just received news that just half an hour ago, the Blacklight had broken through the Mandeville Point and entered the subspace."

Chen Chen's furrowed brow took on an even more pronounced shape upon hearing of this news. If not for what he had just experienced, he would have regarded this piece of news with mild interest. However, the uncanny timing of the two events suggested it was more than a coincidence.

Could it be that the Blacklight entering the subspace had something to do with the birth of this child?

It proved difficult to grasp the connection between these two events. It would appear that apart from the uncanny timing, nothing else noticeable connected the two.

Eventually, he decided to take a harsh approach. "Nancy, send the Black Knights and take away the baby. I know there's something major we can discover from the baby. I can't let this opportunity pass."

"Understood."

Nancy answered dutifully. It was cruel to take a child away from a mother, but this was not the time to question the ethics behind it. The existence of this child could potentially be a gigantic threat. Chen Chen had to address it as soon as possible. If he allowed himself a moment of weakness because of concern for the mother, he might come to regret it later on.

Chen Chen had lost interest in touring the Ares Science City from thereon and headed back to the Spire 2 base. Within half an hour, a Black Knight came to him and presented a barely an hour old newborn baby to him.

Chen Chen slowly took the baby from the Black Knight with a grave look in his eyes. He saw that the baby boy's body was flushed with red and wrinkled. He looked like a tiny old man.

This was nothing out of the ordinary. Newborns usually looked like this and in several days, the boy would look like a healthy little toddler.

Chen Chen took another look at the baby in his arms and proceeded to use Field to inspect the baby, but managed to find nothing worth noting. Then, he used his psionic energy instead to perform a similar inspection and this time, he sensed faint traces of psionic energy inside the baby.

It would appear that the baby's psionic class was spiritual as well, which was not surprising since it was inherited to him from his parents. The psionic energy in the infantile body was extremely weak, even weaker than the initial psionic concentration of the individuals who received the L compound injection. However, there was also a vibrant liveliness brewing underneath...

A natural psionicist.

Chen Chen took a deep breath and had the Black Knight take the newborn baby from him. The constant movement seemed to have spooked the baby and he started crying again.

"Let's not shelter this boy in the base. Take him somewhere safe in the Ares Science City."

Chen Chen darted one final glance at the baby before noting, "Make sure he receives proper nutrition and create a convincing family background for him. The Black Knights can pose as his parents. I want to know every single thing there's to know about him as he grows up such as his mental state, physical growth, everything."

"Got it."

Nancy answered, but seemed puzzled by Chen Chen's motivations. "But why are you doing this..."

"All I can tell you is that this has something to do with the subspace."

Chen Chen answered without providing much detail, then left promptly.

Everything that occurred today raised an alarm in Chen Chen.

Although delving into the subspace was highly beneficial for the progress of mankind's galaxy colonization, it was not without its drastic drawbacks as well.

What happened today was the first of many dangers to come. The birth of this child seemed closely related to the existence of the subspace.

There was no telling what the consequences of this would be and even now, Chen Chen was only acting based on his instincts. What he knew as a certainty was that something was lurking inside the subspace that could wipe out mankind in a split second and he could sense something similarly ominous in the baby,

If his gut did not deceive him, this was something almost apocalyptic.

Chen Chen thought about this for some time and relayed his thoughts to Little X upon returning to Earth.

Although Little X was mature enough now to make a vast majority of decisions independently, it was still a long shot to expect her to understand something so profound and without established rules such as this. After all, she was a programmed AI, not a carbon life-form like humans.

"One way or another, we'll have to approach this with extreme caution."

Chen Chen added. "I also need you to keep your eyes peeled on other married psionicists couples out there. There's a likelihood that their children will be natural-born psionicists as well. There's no guarantee about this. Perhaps I'll feel a similar suffocating aura if they give birth to more natural psionicists?"

...

The days went by in the blink of an eye. Shaw had spent more than half a year in the subspace by this point.

Shaw's days filled with nerves and agitation slowly transitioned to unwavering confidence on the job. Unfortunately, this also meant that his initial fixed concentration was muddled with mild moments of complacency. Now that he was accustomed to his job, he would navigate the spaceship while making small talk with his assistants.

"Captain, there's a bright ocean three hundred thousand kilometers ahead of us."

Marcy's voice sounded like fresh dew in the middle of a desert. She gazed at the distant glittering spots a great distance ahead of them. These strange white spots glittered constantly and rolled around the subspace like tiny little fireflies.

"We can pass straight through them, they can't hurt us."

Shaw gave the order. The spaceship cut straight through this so-called bright ocean without pause.

There was no telling what these strange glittering entities were, but what was evident was that they could not harm the Blacklight. They scattered into all directions when the spaceship passed through them without resistance. Some of them vanished into thin air but were quickly replaced by new glittering spots appearing almost instantly after.

Although this enchanting ocean stretched for a great distance, the spaceship coursed through it in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a torrent of subspace streams in its tracks.

"Have we documented these things into the database?"

After passing through the ocean, Shaw asked his assistants.

Gordon replied dutifully, "Yes Captain, there are already several entries of this phenomenon in the database already."

Shaw smiled. He enjoyed being captain of a spaceship. "Alright, let's keep pushing on."