Chapter 4: The Greatest Fun of the Amber Era

Chapter 4: The Greatest Fun of the Amber Era

[In your daily interactions, you noticed that Ah Ruan's interests were quite different from others. She preferred seasonal pastries, classical poetry, and traditional opera. Perhaps influenced by her, you also developed an interest in these delicate pastries. Among them, you particularly liked lotus leaf cakes, plum blossom cakes, and glutinous rice plum blossom cakes. Sometimes, you would add small tangyuan, dried fruits, pine nuts, and various jams and bean pastes to the plum blossom cakes, creating a diverse range of styles with exquisite appearances and rich flavors.]

[Ah Ruan was amazed by your craftsmanship when she tried your creations. Occasionally, she would ask you for advice on how to make these pastries.]

[As time passed, Ah Ruan's nineteenth birthday arrived.]

[You had been waiting for this day for a long time. Whether your feelings started from the day she saved you on the battlefield or from the moment you first saw her, you were unsure.]

[But that no longer mattered. At Ah Ruan's birthday party, you confessed your feelings to her. The result was a vague response.]

[Ah Ruan did not give a clear rejection, but she also did not accept.]

...

Aboard the spaceship stationed at Moon IV of Milian.

The girl removed her sleeve and placed her delicate hand on the cold porthole.

The reflection in the lens showed her beautiful face.

Although the reflection showed no expression, she felt her heart was slightly unsettled.

She wasn't sure whether to attribute this to his confession or to the secretion of phenylethylamine and dopamine.

With her deepening research into the nature of life, she realized that she had indeed neglected to understand certain things.

...

[Your confession received no response, but you did not get discouraged.]

[You decided to deeply immerse yourself in life science research, aiming to catch up with Ah Ruan's pace in the future and then express your feelings to her once again.]

[During this year's research, you happened upon a manuscript at an auction on a certain planet. The manuscript was by Elia Salas, the second president of the Genius Club #56.]

[Having heard of the Genius Club's reputation, you initially regarded the manuscript, bought for 10,000 credits, as a forgery. However, during a leisurely moment, you examined the manuscript and found that the concept of "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" seemed to have potential.]

[Amidst your scientific expeditions, you began researching the manuscript on "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing." Yet, the genius's thought processes were too unconventional, and despite a year of research, you made no progress.]

[At twenty, you remained dedicated to life science research and did not abandon the manuscript.]

[At twenty-one, after more than two years of exploration, you seemed to have discovered the path to "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing." After three months of intense seclusion, you successfully created a degraded version of the "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" technology.]

[This product was soon tested in scientific expeditions. You achieved communication with other personnel aboard the spaceship even during field investigations. Other researchers quickly recognized the utility of this product, and with mass production, it was distributed to all personnel, greatly facilitating scientific work.]

[After receiving positive feedback on "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing," you decided to continue improving it and apply for a patent, intending to promote it across all star systems.]

However, the technology was hastened into production due to a significant upheaval in your life.

[At twenty-two, one day, the spaceship carrying scientific personnel entered an unknown star system. You received an alert; the spaceship was being drawn into an unknown gravitational field, and under current circumstances, it could be pulled into the field within a week. You tried to use "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" to call for help, but the signal was blocked within the gravitational field.]

[After discussion, you decided to deploy a probe to observe the source of the gravitational pull and find a way to escape.]

[One day later, the probe transmitted images. When you saw the astonishing pictures, the meeting room fell into a long silence.]

The images showed a planet made of flesh and blood, or rather, a fleshball, a monster. This monster appeared as a planet with a giant blood-red eye, wandering through space, attracting and devouring everything around it, assimilating it into its own flesh and blood.

[All the scientific personnel fell into despair. You looked at their expressions and remembered the exploration in the "Land of No One" when they saw the awakening of the frozen monster. But this time, there was no escape.]

[Without hesitation, you returned to your research room and locked yourself inside. To others, this seemed like an act of cowardice, but no one blamed you; after all, you were still a young man.]

[In the following days, all the spaceship personnel began to consider countermeasures. Some proposed using several tons of explosives to bombard the monster when approaching, then using the recoil to escape the gravitational field, but the success rate was less than 1%.]

[Others suggested supplying fuel to small spacecraft and having them rush out of the gravitational field at full speed. However, they soon found that the small spacecraft, having left the main ship, would quickly be dragged to the center of the gravitational field.]

[Three days passed, and the pressure of the gravitational field became increasingly intense, almost tearing you apart. In less than three days, all the scientific personnel aboard the spaceship would become the monster's first victims.]

[On this night, you finally left your research room. Amid the chaos on the spaceship, no one paid attention to this small matter. You silently went to the spaceship's kitchen, kneaded dough as usual, and made a box of ordinary plum blossom cakes with preserved plum, lotus leaf, glutinous rice, and frost sugar, then wrote a letter and placed it in the wooden box.]

The next day.

When Ah Ruan opened the door to the cabin, she found the wooden box placed in front of the door.

She seemed to realize something and opened the box, seeing the delicate plum blossom cakes and the letter inside.

Ah Ruan picked up the letter, which read:

"Dear Sir/Madam: The plum blossom season has arrived again, but unfortunately, we cannot share it together. I offer this poem to you:

Waiting for the plum spirit, in the twilight with a faint moon, whispering deep affection.

Do not worry. — Bai Heng"

The girl's hands began to tremble as she held the letter. She ran to the control room, her eyes reddened, and asked with an uncharacteristic emotional outburst, "Father, Mother, have you seen where Bai Heng went?"

The already stressed couple looked at each other. They had been trying to find a way to escape and hadn't paid attention to the boy.

After hearing Ah Ruan's question, they checked the surveillance and found that Bai Heng had privately boarded a small spacecraft and left the main ship the previous night.

Ah Ruan's suspicions were confirmed. She opened "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing," found Bai Heng's contact information, and tried to call.

Fortunately, the monster had only blocked external communications and had not cut off internal ones.

The communication device connected, and Bai Heng's calm voice came through.

"Hello."

"Bai Heng?"

"Mm... Is the plum blossom cake still good? The ingredients were a bit lacking, and the plum was not freshly picked, so it might not suit your taste..."

"Is this really the time for such discussions!"

On the other end of the communication device, Bai Heng chuckled softly:

"It's rare to see you so emotional. I used to think that the Ah Ruan I knew had turned into a cold, unfeeling block of wood. But seeing you angry, I'm relieved."

"I…"

"Don't speak yet, there's not much time left."

Bai Heng interrupted her and looked at the now vaguely visible outline of the fleshball, slowly saying:

"When I was a child, a fortune teller said that I was destined to have a short life, not living long."

"But unfortunately, those around me kept leaving me one by one."

"Perhaps, I was meant to die on the battlefield... But you pulled me back from the gates of hell. Over these years, I've seen landscapes I never saw before, experienced adventures I never had, and that has been enough for me…"

[End of communication]

Bai Heng pushed the spacecraft's power to the maximum, greatly slowing its approach toward the fleshball.

In the remaining time, he assembled the modified "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" and waited to reach the monster's maximum distance.

"Three, two, one."

[You activated the modified "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing," sending your coordinates and message to the universe at maximum frequency.]

[However, even if "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" broke through the gravitational field and transmitted your message and coordinates to the outside, it wasn't enough for the entity to hear.]

[Just as you were being consumed, you seemed to see several clown masks.]

[The "Joy" Star Deity Ah Ha felt great amusement at the sight of a "Guardian" of destiny, facing death, receiving a glimpse from the "Erudite Honor" and falsely claiming to be a "Bountiful" citizen, challenging the "Hunting" entity and attempting to use its power to destroy the "Greedy" ancient beast. Hahaha, this is truly entertaining.]

[Ah Ha helped transmit the signal and coordinates of "Hyperspatial Remote Sensing" to every corner of the universe. At the same time, everyone's ears heard a phrase.]

"I, Bai Heng of the Bountiful, summon the 'Demon Bow Ancestor' to draw the bow!"