Artemisia argyi slept soundly and deeply.

Since she came into this world, she hasn't had a good night's sleep. Even when she regains consciousness, the system reports a dozen sleep logs, but she takes it all in stride.

"Good evening, Ai Cao." Nana's tone was gentle, and you couldn't tell that she had just set the alarm. "We have now reached the jump point. Please prepare to get up and jump."

Ai Cao yawned: "And you guys?"

“Xia Moli is already in the control room,” Nana said gently. “Nana is in the control room too.”

When he said the last few words, a subtle, playful emotion crept into his usually flat, mechanical voice.

Ai Cao rubbed her eyes, splashed some cold water on her face, and then yawned as she went out the door.

She didn't even glance at the little robot that was broken into pieces beside her bed.

With a piece of bread in her mouth, Ai Cao rushed into the control room.

The scenario the system had envisioned—a head-on collision—did not occur. In the control room, Nana, a young woman whose skin had not yet turned a honey tan, was arguing with Xia Moli, who was standing in front of her, with her hands on her hips.

"Hmph, it seems the growth potion has been completely absorbed," Ai Cao thought to herself.

She stood to the side eating bread, watching the two argue.

"I told you! Your mental strength is already very strong!" Nana shouted. "You don't need to train your mental strength any further!"

“But my physical abilities can’t improve rapidly.” Xia Moli’s tone was calm, but it revealed an undeniable firmness. “I want to fight alongside you.”

"Wouldn't it be better if you were in logistics?"

"not good."

The argument between the two remained unresolved for the time being, with both staring intently at each other, trying to find enough flaws in the other's previous words.

The mental strength of 5S is actually comparable to the operating speed of a machine.

Ai Cao marveled as she ate her bread.

But if things continue like this, we won't find a breakthrough. Ai Cao touched her chin and wiped the little breadcrumb from the corner of her mouth.

Ai Cao interjected, "Hey Nana, can mental energy be used to exercise the body?"

“Sure,” Nana replied quickly. “Based on current records, both star clusters and alliances prioritize members with high mental strength.”

“Generally speaking, mental strength is an innate ability that cannot be improved through effort,” Nana added. “But physical strength can.”

"Then how about this," Ai Cao pondered for a moment, "can you teach Xia Moli how to kill someone using mental power?"

Nana shook her head: "I am an artificial being, I have no mental power, so I have no way to teach Xia Moli how to use mental power."

"Then, you fought with Xia Moli, forcing her to use her mental power to improve her physical fitness?" Ai Cao asked again.

“…That’s fine.” Nana bit her lip. “But I can’t confirm Xia Moli’s mental state, so I can’t start a fight without any assurance.”

“I’ll make sure.” Ai Cao pointed to herself. “Although my mental strength is only D, it’s better than nothing.”

"...Really?" Nana looked at the mugwort, then turned to Xia Moli. "Do you really want this?"

“I do,” Xia Moli said earnestly, “I want to fight alongside you.”

After a stalemate much shorter than the previous standoff, Nana raised her hands in surrender:

"good."

Xia Moli cheered, "Great!" A smile bloomed on her face as she happily hugged Nana, then hugged Ai Cao, "Thank you so much—"

"You're welcome." Ai Cao patted her shoulder and looked at Nana. "I need to train too, Coach Nana."

“…Everyone train, everyone train.” Nana’s dark eyes were filled with helplessness. “Let’s talk about the jump.”

Upon hearing Nana mention leapfrog, Xia Moli released the mugwort, her smile faded, and she stood up straight with a serious expression.

"Nana, what did that guy say?" Xia Moli asked.

“He said he needed to show up at the jump point and hoped we could guarantee his safety and leave him there,” Nana said calmly. “If we agreed, he promised to let us through the jump point.”

"What about the realism?" Ai Cao asked.

“I tested his brain and body and can confirm that he was not lying.”

"If only we could peel off that face, we could use it ourselves..." Ai Cao sighed, "Could we also extract his identity information?"

“I’ve already done that.” Nana held out her hand. Ai Cao then turned her gaze to the delicate silver bracelet hanging on Nana’s wrist.

“I copied a part of him and stored it in this bracelet.” Nana shook the bracelet. “But according to him, the previous star cluster leader activated the biometric system of this jump point when we left him. Only the star cluster leader himself can remove the restrictions on the jump point.”

"Understood." Ai Cao nodded. "Is there any way to prevent him from running away?"

“Multiple psychological suggestions, altering some memories, and a micro-bomb under the skin.” Nana’s smile was sincere but tinged with sarcasm. “I think erasing his memories of us and sending him back to the star cluster to be our informant is a good option.”

"Wow, that sounds pretty good." Artemisia blinked. "Jasmine, what do you think?"

“I have no objection,” Xia Moli said calmly.

The control room's display screens had been switched to transparent. Xia Moli's calm gaze pierced through the screens, landing on the massive jump site outside.

The outer layer of the jump point consists of scattered platforms, while the inner layer is a sphere so dark that not a single ray of light can be seen, wrapped in layers of rotating metal plates.

“Then let’s do it,” Xia Moli said.

In the control room, they watched as the fully dressed current star cluster commander entered the warp point. The instant his figure was swallowed by the warp point, the entire warp point "came to life."

Metallic flesh emerged from the center of the jump point, a place so dark that not a ray of light could be seen. The swollen lumps of flesh devoured everything in their path.

But after looking at it for a while, Ai Cao realized that these chunks of meat were not being swallowed, but rather being vomited.

The fleshy mass retreated back into the sphere, revealing the star cluster leader, who was still fully dressed but appeared to be unconscious.

"Wow, is this a biometric system?" Ai Cao asked in surprise.

The silver bracelet on Nana's wrist shimmered slightly.

“The biometric system has stopped,” she said. “Should we start the warship now?”

"Start it," Xia Moli said.