“Really, do I not need to send some materials up?”
Before stepping into the return capsule, Lind looked at Lena, who still maintained a form of 550C.
“After all, your maintenance log has started showing signs of component wear and tear.”
The entire space station actually had quite a few things that had fallen off, but compared to the long duration of time, these items were not numerous, and most had been consciously collected by the Tower. The only significant impact was probably caused by those two Divine Revelation Lanterns.
The Lantern Dream had almost inflicted a psychological shadow on 550C without it realizing.
“The durability of the Tower of Babel is very precious, and there’s no need to use it on such matters.”
550C’s tone seemed to indicate careful consideration: “As long as the Tower remains, you do not need to worry about this issue, and I believe that humanity will step out of this cradle before then.”
“There is still plenty of time, so please do not worry. Even if problems arise in the space station again, I have the capability to resolve them.”
Artificial intelligence does not force itself, and Lind was well aware of this. After taking one last look at the blue planet shrouded in the “Fog of War,” as well as the boundless universe, Lind suited up in his return spacesuit and stepped into the return capsule.
If it were possible, Lind would want to completely repair this space station, and even look into the space stations in other places. However, according to 550C, to prevent contamination from spiraling out of control in other areas, space stations do not connect with one another along the route from the Tower of Babel to the space station. Once Lind established contact with 550C, the binding had already been completed.
After helping 550C repair and reboot some systems and clear outside contamination, what Lind needed to do next was to help 550C open the Fog of War below. He needed to thoroughly explore the Solun Continent on the “neighboring hospital bed,” especially since the Solun Continent now had a real impact on the historical process of M Continent, and it must be included in 550C’s monitoring range.
Not only that, but Lind also enabled 550C’s camera and weapon usage permissions.
Although that noble and the Gray Robe National Master said that besides using Supremacy Magic, the Solun Continent was at a normal level of fantasy medieval, going there now would indeed be somewhat of a dimensional suppression.
As for other isolated areas, although 550C did not recommend it, Lind still wanted to cross the Sea of Instability to take a look, after all, if dragons could break out of prison, there was no reason Lind could not. He even speculated that this non-rigid isolation mechanism was designed to filter out humanity, only allowing humans to reconnect once they reached a certain level.
The twisted technology tree of the dragons merely exploited loopholes, nothing more.
Following the black cable, the return capsule plummeted straight down to the ground. After detaching from the black cable, the return capsule began to shake. However, just as 550C calculated, there were no significant vibrations outside of that throughout the process.
Outside the capsule, in the deep blue cosmic background, countless cold stars sparkled, gradually pulling away from the blue planet. Through the viewport, Lind felt the planet beneath him gradually becoming clearer from a magnificent blue to white clouds floating like whirlpools. The fog barrier still existed, and the Sea of Instability was still turbulent. Lind finally re-entered this world that was both familiar and strange.
As he entered the atmosphere, bright light began to illuminate around the capsule, and the friction of the air ignited a hot layer of flame, dancing like fire around the capsule and illuminating the entire metal shell of the return capsule. However, the ice shield outside the capsule blocked the leaping flames.
On the ground, almost everyone was gazing at the meteoroid falling from the sky.
Some silently prayed, others looked ecstatic, and within the Tower, Lilith had already received the news and was manipulating the automatic receiving system of the Tower with Anastasia.
The Tower of Babel lit up with bright navigation beams, blue and white lasers cutting through the night sky, guiding the return capsule’s descent.
Amidst a bout of turbulence, the return capsule smoothly entered the floating rings of the Tower of Babel and gradually slowed down, being securely received by the eight spires.
Watching the material of this return capsule, all the craftsmen present held their breath. Some craftsmen even began to understand why those cultists would obsessively pursue knowledge, as the cold alloy texture reflected the blue glow of the tower with an incomprehensible strength right before their eyes.
As the heat dissipated, the temperature of the return capsule gradually cooled down. Once the hatch opened, Lind, wearing a brand-new spacesuit, stumbled out of the return capsule.
Earlier, while commanding the Lars Knights to proceed with the cleanup outside the Tower, Lena, who had just received news and hurried back, saw this familiar figure and immediately rushed forward to knock Lind to the ground.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t! This spacesuit is going to get damaged! This thing is very precious! Calm down, calm down!”
Although she said this, Lind held tightly onto Lena with the last bit of strength in his body. As the visor opened, even though there was a faint bloody scent on Lena, when combined with the familiar scent of soapberries on her, it actually relaxed Lind’s weary body.
This was not an illusion made by 550C based on its memories, but a lively Lena.
“I’m back.”
Lind said softly.
“Welcome back.”
…..
After flying into space in such a short time while wearing a hazmat suit to watch a “movie” and then flying back from space, Lind was not Superman; his current body still required a certain degree of recovery training.
Holy Light was not omnipotent. Although Lind’s daily life would not be affected, he still needed to exercise more, according to 550C. However, looking at the glistening and smiling Lena beside him, Lind felt he might have overdone the exercise.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. During this time, Lind and Lena had almost been together every day, although it seemed they used to be like this too.
After demonstrating the miracle of the orbital cannon, the entire continent temporarily fell quiet. The Tower also lifted its administrator mode and reverted to its original state.
Although the discussions at the space station with 550C involved complex issues like nuclear fusion, cosmic waves, Outer Gods, and the Sea of Consciousness, after returning to the ground, Lind’s attention had to focus on the most fundamental issues before him—post-war reconstruction of the continent and stabilizing ships that could cross the Sea of Instability.
All previous technologies had been almost entirely geared towards military service, and now the technologies, including communication tech, could gradually be rolled out and allocated to the public.
As Lind said at the space station with 550C, let’s prioritize crossing the Sea of Instability before talking about the stars and the ocean. Even though Lind joked that the neighboring Solun Continent was still at a medieval level, in reality, most of M Continent was not much stronger either. The explosion of technology in Cape’s Northern Border was indeed abnormal, and Lind would need plenty of time to integrate the whole continent and lay a foundation for future generations to explore the stars and the ocean.
Currently, all the enemies on the continent had been nearly exterminated. The Solun Dragon herd had taken several hits from orbital cannons along with the Demon Clan, and both the lead dragon and Demon King Antipa had already died without a trace. The remaining dragons and Demon Clan had lost their ability to resist, so it was sufficient to let the army clean them up slowly.
An Zhu could no longer compete with Lind. Rather, after witnessing the power of the orbital cannon, no one had thoughts of resistance.
According to the agreement with Alberto, Lind did not resort to violent conquest against An Zhu, but simply inquired whether An Zhu was willing to merge into the new Empire.
The envoy from An Zhu appeared to be frightened before Lind. Although Lind’s demeanor was quite kind, in the eyes of An Zhu’s envoy, it would be more appropriate to say he was “devastatingly kind.”
Originally, An Zhu’s acting monarch had been a compromise between the nobles within An Zhu and Lind that both could accept. If Lind were to directly annex An Zhu, those nobles might resist.
However, after witnessing the devastating blast that obliterated the Demon God’s remnants, who would dare to lead a rebellion? The person suggesting such would likely be tied up and thrown before Lind by the next day; what good was it to be alive?
The nobles of An Zhu even thought Lind seemed somewhat too kind, having such methods and still wanting to compromise with An Zhu. They felt like crying.
The annexation was completed very smoothly. The royal bloodlines of An Zhu, Ferdinand and Augustus of Cape gathered in the capital of Cape.
The old era had ended.
