"wait!"

Xiang Wan's words were concise and to the point, surprising everyone. Even Rose, who had unconsciously called her "Captain" earlier, felt that her question had been somewhat unfair.

"What are you waiting for? This isn't a bomb, are you expecting it to explode on its own?"

Rose couldn't resist pinching his waist muscles hard because of his sharp tongue, which made the big guy cry out in pain.

"Could it be that it's waiting for its energy to be depleted to a level we can withstand?"

After thinking about it, Song Yang realized that this was the only reasonable explanation.

A massive energy crystal, capable of maintaining the Red Star's gravity for nearly a century, must contain an immense amount of energy. Removing it rashly and placing it on a ship might cause an explosion due to energy overload, resulting in more harm than good.

He's a ship repairman, and he knows more about this than anyone else here.

"When will we have to wait? That loud noise we just heard wasn't a good thing."

Takagi frowned, looked down at his injured foot, and found a place to sit down and half-lie down.

"We're all tired, let's take a break."

It was rare to hear Xiang Wan say such understanding words, so I couldn't help but want to tease her again, but Rose glared at me and stopped me.

The backpacks were still there, but there wasn't much food left. The group shared some food and water, then scattered around the ship, some sitting and some lying down.

George walked over to Xiang Wan, pursed his lips, looked up and saw Xiang Wan staring directly at him, then swallowed back the question he wanted to ask.

Although he was still a child, he knew how dire the situation was outside. He shouldn't have asked; Lacey, oh no, Captain, wasn't much older than him, just a big kid, but she was far stronger than him.

“George, you’ll grow up eventually.”

Such old-fashioned words, coming from Xiang Wan's mouth, made Song Yang and the others around her feel inexplicably sad.

The disaster struck so suddenly that it gave no one a chance to grow. These adults were caught off guard, yet a child, barely a teenager, had to grow up so quickly that he could protect himself, and even others. In comparison, they were the ones who seemed more like teenagers.

A rare hint of embarrassment appeared on Rang's face, but he quickly concealed it.

Everyone fell silent, making the surroundings exceptionally quiet.

"Boom, boom, crackling—"

The ball beneath my feet went from trembling slightly at first to now lifting me several centimeters into the air.

"What happened?"

Everyone stood up and turned to look at the source of the sound.

There was nothing there except a smooth dome.

“George, three days.”

Xiang Wan stared intently at the little boy and held up three fingers.

George gazed at Xiang Wan, his eyes gradually filling with tears.

Some things don't need to be explicitly stated to be understood.

"What kind of riddles are you playing? Captain, cough, explain yourself clearly, what three days?"

Under Xiang Wan's unusually calm gaze, he had no choice but to change his tune and press her about the "three days" matter.

Rose and Takagi looked over curiously. Only Song Yang kept his head down and remained silent.

"For three days, we became the only ones."

Having successfully satisfied everyone's curiosity, Xiang Wan began to ponder what to do next.

The chip left to her by her original parents was currently hanging around her neck. Because its shape resembled a child's pendant and it had nothing particularly outstanding about it, it looked like a very cheap item, so no one was interested in it.

In their past lives, the original owner of this body followed them, leading them by chance, into the outermost layer of the Genesis Experiment Base. There, they found an intelligent robot capable of reading this outdated chip, learned the truth about why Red Star had been chosen as the experimental base, and their last will to survive was extinguished. In the end, although they survived the attack of the giant beasts, they perished at the hands of their own humans—no wonder they resented it.

Looking up at the energy crystal in the very center, I saw it flashing faster and faster until the outermost layer turned to dust and dissipated into the air.

"We'll have to wait a while longer, Lacey. Can you tell me about your parents?"

Takagi leaned against the ship and said to Xiang Wan with a hint of curiosity.

Xiang Wan didn't turn around, still looking at the crystal, and said calmly, "Just like you, I do research."

Why did they come here?

"It was fate."

How long have you been here?

"you guess."

"I used to long for life here, to be free and unrestrained, no longer subject to those pointless regulations. Unfortunately, I was too naive. If only I had known it was so dangerous here..."

"You won't come?" Xiang Wan asked back.

Takagi smiled and said self-deprecatingly, "I'm afraid I won't waste these years."

Then he looked up and around and said, "Lassie, sometimes I feel like you're not a kid your age."

"A lifelike robot? I'd like one too."

If the original owner was indeed a lifelike robot, then Xiang Wan wouldn't have been involved.

As human beings, we have emotions, and we must experience pain to grow quickly. A life of smooth sailing will only make us like lambs in a greenhouse, but perhaps that is the happiest way to live.

"Boom boom boom!"

Another noise came, this time even louder than the last.

The energy crystal's light flickered even faster, and a large circle of powder was shaken off.

"Soon."

Xiang Wan glanced at the crystal again, then had everyone carry their weapons on their backs and tie all the ropes around the ship to their waists.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!