Chapter 134 Who Preaches (Part 5) Dedicated to Sylvia...

What is all this?

Stepping out of the classroom and into the aviation laboratory, Du Yu should have been internally criticizing this absurd scene.

But for some reason, the back of my head, which had been aching since entering this space, hurt even more after entering this laboratory. It was as if a long-forgotten seed was buried in my cerebral cortex, and under the stimulation of sunlight and rain, it finally remembered its instinct to grow, frantically absorbing nutrients and taking root, trying to break through that thin "barrier".

"Where is this... Du Yu, are you alright?"

Gu Tu looked at everything in the laboratory with suspicion and uncertainty. Several researchers in white coats hugged and wept. In the midst of the joyous atmosphere, she shrank back and felt a strange chill rise from her heart. She subconsciously looked at Du Yu, but was startled by his pale face.

"fine."

Du Yu lowered her head slightly and pressed her temples hard, trying to suppress the pain that felt like it was tearing her brain apart. She took a step back to avoid Gu Tu's outstretched hand, not caring whether Gu Tu's eyes showed more panic or probing. She subconsciously looked around, trying to find something to distract herself, and unexpectedly met a pair of clear golden eyes.

Those eyes had a rounded curve, long and thick eyelashes, and pale golden pupils that resembled top-grade citrine, giving the illusion of shimmering even indoors. The moment Du Yu met that golden gaze, he seemed to hear a crisp "ding" sound in his ear, like a white dove gently pecking at the top of a clock tower.

The pain and confusion remained. Du Yu gasped for breath, his face still pale, but the veins on his forehead had stopped throbbing violently and had calmed down considerably. Strangely, even though there was no fluctuation of spiritual energy, that golden light had a comforting quality that soothed his pain.

Moreover, Du Yu was quite certain that she had never seen this woman in front of her before, who was wearing a white lab coat typical of researchers, with her blonde hair casually tied up and golden eyes. But the moment their eyes met, Du Yu felt a strange sense of familiarity with her.

As Du Yu frowned inwardly, trying to recall where that subtle sense of familiarity came from, the blonde woman who had unintentionally met her gaze shifted away without noticing, looking at the image on the huge screen. For some reason, Du Yu saw a hint of unease and melancholy in the slightly pursed corners of her mouth.

"Honey, what are you thinking about? We successfully launched G021, aren't you happy?"

Unbeknownst to Du Yu, a tall figure emerged from the researchers who were cheering, embracing, toasting each other, and forming a huge vortex of joy. On his handsome face, a pair of naturally affectionate eyes gazed worriedly at the blonde hair hanging down the woman's cheek.

"I……"

When the woman saw him, a smile appeared on her lips, but then the curve of that smile was flattened by confusion. She shook her head, then simply hugged the man who was close to her, resting her chin on his shoulder. In the warmth of her lover's body, she squinted her eyes slightly wearily, her gaze drifting hazily towards the display screen and the cheering researchers below it.

"Of course I'm very happy."

The woman's voice was very soft, as if she didn't want a third person to hear, "But sometimes I wonder, do we really know what we're doing? That strange energy does come from the far side of the moon, but do we really have the ability to study it now..."

"In classical mythology, the woman named Pandora was also overjoyed when she opened the box."

The man didn't ask the woman how she came up with her baseless guess. He tilted his head slightly, rubbed his head against her fluffy, shiny blonde hair, and kissed her forehead. His voice was frank: "I don't know, nobody knows, whether there was a living cat or a raging flood inside that box before it was opened."

"So, should we open that box or not? And who among us has the right to decide whether or not to open it?"

As the man spoke, his voice lowered, clearly engrossed in the two questions. The woman, on the other hand, looked bewildered for a moment before suddenly laughing out loud. She reached out and touched the man's hair, ruffling his neatly styled hair into a mess.

"In your Eastern parlance, were we just worrying unnecessarily?"

“Sylvia, your Chinese is getting better and better.”

The man sighed, unable to escape the woman's clutches to free his hair. He looked up and gazed at the image on the giant screen with the woman. Stars twinkled, the universe was vast, and this world never operated according to human will.

"The sun is decaying for unknown reasons, and we are helpless against that strange energy. The suspected same energy on the far side of the moon is our last hope. We have never had the choice of whether or not we can open the box."

"Before the final outcome arrives, all we can do is open every box we can, and then—"

"Then?"

Sylvia looked at her boyfriend with suspicion, wondering what he was up to. The man sighed and shrugged nonchalantly. “Then—we prayed to the gods, and our desperate, blind struggle worked. Or, to be more ideal, an omnipotent and merciful god descended from the heavens and used His power to save humanity from suffering.”

"Pfft, Bai Haoyan, weren't you always unhappy about my religious beliefs? How come you, an atheist, have betrayed me now?"

Du Yu looked at Sylvia and Bai Haoyan, who were smiling at each other, and a flash of inspiration seemed to pass through his mind—if compared individually, they seemed to have no resemblance, but if you put Sylvia's eyebrows, face shape, Bai Haoyan's features, and their hair and eye colors together...

It was as if Xiao Yi was standing right in front of me.

Are these two Xiao Yi's parents?

Du Yu hesitated for a moment. Genetics were the best evidence, but Xiao Yi's age didn't match...

Regardless of what Du Yu was thinking, the two of them bickered for a few moments, and then Sylvia suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, "Whether we should be happy for the success of the plan or not, we'll only know later, but I have something to say now that I'm sure you'll be happy."

"Oh? What do you mean by that with such certainty? In my hometown, people who boast get their noses grow longer."

Seeing that Sylvia had finally come to her senses, Bai Haoyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sylvia whispered something in the man's ear, and Du Yu saw her eyes crinkle into crescent shapes as she smiled, as well as Bai Haoyan's eyes widen in shock, and then an uncontrollable silly grin spread across his handsome face.

Perhaps the space was unstable, or perhaps Sylvia's voice was too soft, but Yu couldn't hear the woman's whispers clearly. However, it was enough to deduce the content of the conversation from the man's reaction.

“Really? Really?...Oh my God, thank God, thank Johnson, thank Yueyuan...Oh my God, I still can’t believe it. Oh, of course, darling, I don’t doubt you…”

The man rambled on with thanks, his earlier confidence completely gone. His words were disjointed and he nearly bit his tongue several times. Finally, looking at Sylvia, whose smile had grown even brighter as she lowered her hand, he reached out and carefully placed his hand on her lower abdomen, a flush of intoxication rising on his face.

"I'm really going to be a dad?... Thank you, thank you..."

Sylvia chuckled and nudged the ecstatic Bai Haoyan. Just as she was about to say something, the woman who had been eavesdropping for a while finally stepped forward, placing one hand on Sylvia's shoulder and the other disdainfully nudging Bai Haoyan's shoulder:

"I objected to you pursuing Sylvia in the first place, and I was the one who found out she was pregnant first... So, how are you going to thank me?"

Bai Haoyan rambled on incoherently, repeating himself incoherently. In the end, Sylvia couldn't stand it anymore and helped the short-haired woman get what she wanted.

"Okay, it's settled then. After the baby is born, you'll have to let me, Li Yueyuan, be the godmother."

Li Yueyuan walked away with one hand in her pocket. The researchers behind her, having overheard what had happened during the conversation between the three, rushed over and surrounded the two. Sylvia received a warm greeting from a group of female researchers, while Bai Haoyan was punched hard on the shoulder a few times in celebration by several burly researchers of Slavic descent.

The laboratory was filled with a joyful atmosphere once again, but this time the joy was not so fervent, showing a touch of gentle warmth. Several female researchers gathered together to come up with a few alternative names for the child.

Sylvia touched her still flat stomach, her golden eyelashes drooping. "I've already decided. I'll call her Icaria."

"Icaria?"

Those who could enter this laboratory were naturally highly educated individuals; none of them were unaware of the famous myth of someone who died chasing the sun. One researcher paused for a moment, then tactfully advised:

"Isn't this name a bit unlucky...?"

"No, even knowing that she would perish by falling into the sea, she still chose to chase the sun. It's a very good name, Sylvia. I can't think of a better name."

Bai Haoyan finally broke free from the excited group of colleagues. His hair and shirt were all disheveled. He looked at his lover first, his face still flushed with excitement, his dark eyes bright: "Let's call him that. I have a feeling that he or she will be a brave child, just like this name."

"It is said that this was the happiest moment of her life, and also the last happy moment of her life."

A familiar voice suddenly came from behind her. Du Yu looked around sharply. The cat whiskers who had led her in, Gu Tu who seemed to be up to no good, the high-tech laboratory, and the excited researchers had all disappeared. She was back in a familiar cave. She turned her head slightly and saw a familiar figure.

A black-haired, golden-eyed man stood barefoot deep inside the cave, seemingly having waited for a long time. Du Yu felt that Icaria's words were loaded with meaning and couldn't help but press for details, specifically regarding Sylvia, whom he had only met once in his memory:

Why do you say that? What happened next?

"Later, she became the sun."

-----------------------

Author's Note: The power went out halfway through writing, but I managed to finish it with great difficulty. If there are any typos, I'll fix them tomorrow. My eyes hurt from writing with a flashlight [crying emoji]