Chapter 47: New Stars (Two-in-One)
Mingyu: “…”
It’s not that Mingyu forgot that there was an extracurricular practical test tomorrow, but he simply didn’t know about it.
He was confused for a moment, and then remembered that when he was designing the starship a few days ago, he blocked all the notifications because the trivial notifications that popped up disturbed his thoughts.
Mingyu quickly took out the communicator.
He had a ton of course notifications piled up. He'd taken five courses this semester, and aside from the quiet Film Appreciation class, the remaining four classes had notifications crammed together, racking up over 99 unread messages. Mingyu glanced at the number of views, finding them mostly notifications about homework releases, homework due reminders, course answer key releases, and extension class activities. He clicked on Star Navigation Designer and, as expected, saw a notice for an extracurricular practical exam.
The release date was a week ago, the exam location is the Capital Starship Museum, and the exam time is tomorrow.
The exam meeting time was 7:00 AM at the South Gate Square of Capital University, where students boarded the school's aircraft for the trip. Upon arrival at the Starship Museum, students were free to form groups of 1-3 people. Each group was given an observation report, which required them to find the relevant exhibition hall according to the name of the starship displayed on the report, take photos, identify the starship's unique features with illustrations, and list its strengths and weaknesses.
Mingyu: “…”
This famously strict teacher really wanted his students to be fully familiar with the famous starship types in history. Mingyu suspected that even the basic starship identification courses at Xinghang University were not taught as seriously as his teacher.
This course was the only one Mingyu studied hard this semester. Even if he skipped a class, he would go online to review the teacher's notes and read the relevant chapters of the textbook.
For Mingyu, this exam is a free visit to the Starship Museum.
It's quite exciting.
The next morning at ten minutes to seven, Mingyu arrived at the school's south gate square.
The square's suspended platform is large, with a bronze statue in its center depicting the university's founder. It's a full-length statue, and the female president sits atop a bronze chair, her long hair combed back. She wears glasses, a smile on her face as she gazes gently at the students in the square.
However, at seven in the morning, there were very few students in the square. They were all poor students who had chosen the History of Space Design and had to get up early for their exams.
Mingyu sat down on the steps below the principal's statue, his chin drooping. Many waiting students noticed him and exchanged glances, but no one came up to greet him.
In fact, when he first entered school, some people came to Mingyu to try to establish connections with him, hoping to use him to establish connections with the Ming family. After Mingyu rejected them several times, both openly and secretly, no one came anymore.
After he sat down, the two classmates standing next to him looked at him intentionally or unintentionally.
Mingyu wore a simple white monogrammed sweatshirt, and because it was chilly that morning, he threw on a black jacket. It was a very ordinary outfit, but paired with his delicate features, it looked like a high-end item worth thousands of dollars.
He had gotten up a little late that morning and had run all the way from the dormitory to avoid being late. His cheeks had a healthy flush from the exercise, and his short, slightly long hair had been blown a bit messy by the wind from running, but it added a youthful energy and genuine radiance to him.
"He has no mental strength, can't even study, is a complete loser, and only his face is acceptable." Boy No. 1 paused the Star Navigation Competition replay screen in front of him, glanced at Ming Yu, and complained, putting his arm around his friend's shoulder, "He's still acting so high and mighty. Warning, don't try to get close to the Ming family through him... Pah! I think he has no status in the Ming family at all!"
"Hush, don't say that. I heard the Ming family still dotes on him and gives him plenty of pocket money!"
"That's nothing. Raising a kitten or puppy these days costs a fortune! I just keep it like that... well... even if it's trash, I still have to keep it..."
He was talking happily with his companions when he suddenly saw Mingyu turning towards him out of the corner of his eye.
Mingyu: "What?"
His voice was clear and his eyes were bright and direct. "If you want me to hear you, come over and stand in front of me and talk. If you want to discuss it privately, stay away."
"It's so unclear and half-hidden, it's ugly."
Boy: “…”
Boy No. 1's face suddenly turned red.
"I! I was just giving you face..." He argued, striding towards Mingyu, as if correcting himself according to Mingyu's request, and shouted, "I said you can't do anything..."
Mingyu saw the image on the light screen floating beside him.
The screen was in follow mode, following the boy's footsteps and drifting to Mingyu's side. The boy was watching a replay of the Star Navigation Competition with his friends, and without privacy mode, Mingyu glanced over and saw the scene clearly.
A silver starship was sailing in the starry sea where the black tide had erupted. It was wrapped with golden mental threads and had a bright blue tail trailing behind it.
Mingyu: “…”
"Are you watching the Star Tournament?" he asked curiously. "Which team are you supporting?"
Boy: “…”
He didn't know why the other person suddenly changed the subject when he was clearly arguing with him.
He had a sour face, but since he was talking about his favorite topic, he still replied: "Of course it's a unique and powerful team!"
"I don't support your Ming family's team!" the boy said provocatively, "Even if my brother likes Ming Yan, I won't support Ming Yan just because the Ming family used backdoors to get you into a comprehensive university!"
Mingyu uttered an "oh," and was very satisfied with his statement that he didn't support Mingyan. So he slowed down his tone and said seriously, "I got in through the exam myself."
"I don't believe it..."
"What was your score on the last midterm exam?" Mingyu recalled and reminded, "You were the one scolding me in the Chuan Chuan Xiang cafeteria, weren't you? I told you not to pass the exam, so stop talking nonsense."
As he spoke, he showed his light screen, which not only displayed the scores of the last starship design history test, but also his personal ranking.
A huge "1" was shining behind Mingyu's score.
"You said that the history of starship design only requires rote memorization." Mingyu, who has a good memory, repeated what he said last time, "How come you're not as good as me at rote memorization?"
"So, your back door is wider than mine, right?"
The boy's face turned purple.
"These are two completely different things...!"
Mingyu was too lazy to listen to his excuses and interrupted, "So which team do you support?"
Boy: “…”
He was choked by Mingyu's words, but seeing Mingyu's sincere inquiring eyes, he didn't know why and changed the subject, saying, "Ranger!"
"Of course it's Senior Mulian's team!" He said that, then continued in a self-deprecating manner, "And there's the Slayer! It looks cool in combat! And it's colorful! That devouring ability that can absorb the black tide is so cool!..."
Mingyu's eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement: "I like colorful things too."
Boy: “…”
He was deflated.
"Why are you so weird..." the boy muttered, "Don't think I'll change my opinion of you just because you and I like the same team...! It's not like we're wronging you. Compared to the others in your family, you're..."
"Excuse me." A slightly cold voice sounded.
Mulan looked indifferent and stood behind the boy.
Boy: "... Mu... Senior Mu Lian?!"
The boy was a loyal supporter of Ranger. Seeing Mulan, he couldn't help but get excited and almost shouted. But then he realized the displeasure in the other's eyes and quickly shut up, "Sorry... I'm sorry..."
Mu Lian: "I'm looking for Mingyu."
Boy: “……???”
Mulan passed him.
Mingyu also looked a little surprised.
He and Mu Lian were not as familiar with each other as Cui Xiaoduo, so he did not expect that the other party would come directly to him after arriving at the square. He looked at Mu Lian sitting down next to him and said in surprise, "Good morning?"
"Good morning." Mu Lian replied Mingyu, then turned to the boy who was still standing on the side.
Mu Lian: "Anything else?"
Boy: “…”
"No...no..." The boy looked confused. He looked at Mingyu, then at Mulian, and turned and walked away like a sleepwalker.
The capital planet had just entered autumn, and the weather was not too cold, but Mulan was wearing especially much. She was wrapped in a knee-length black down jacket with a fur collar. There was also a round cartoon squirrel print on the chest beside the zipper of the down jacket.
Mingyu couldn't help but suspect that it was Cui Xiaoduo who chose it for him.
Mu Lian: "The Ming family shouldn't have allowed outsiders to talk about you in the first place."
He was in poor health and his voice was a little weak. He stopped talking after saying one sentence.
He knew that this was Mingyu's family affair.
It's just that rumors tend to get distorted the longer they spread, and the longer they spread, the more twisted they become. No one is perfect, and we shouldn't seize on even the smallest flaws to constantly magnify and slander them.
Mu Lian: "Besides, mediocrity is not a mistake." He looked up at the boy who was still looking over here, "Character is more important than talent."
Although Cui Xiaoduo was usually chatty, he never told anyone what he had promised Mingyu not to tell others. Therefore, Mu Lian didn't know that Mingyu had awakened his spiritual power and was the designer and observer that many people were looking for in Wucailan.
Mingyu couldn't help but smile.
He was very close to Cui Xiaoduo, but had only met Mulian once. But today he understood why Mulian and Cui Xiaoduo were good friends.
They are similar in their inner selves, and have a scale for the world that is not disturbed by the mainstream.
The designer nodded seriously, looking innocent and well-behaved.
"Okay," he said. "I think so."
At exactly seven o'clock, the aircraft responsible for carrying them arrived on time.
Teaching assistant Luna used her special privileges to log into the aircraft information system. After verifying the information, she called everyone in the square to board the bus. Standing by the door, she checked the number of people on the list one by one. She saw Mu Lian and Ming Yu boarding the bus side by side at the end of the line and cast a curious glance at them.
She and Mulan were in the same class and had a decent relationship. She knew that this school-famous ship-type awakened human had a rather aloof personality and didn't like socializing. She hadn't expected that today, she would be walking with Mingyu, who was also school-famous but not so well-known.
It was a medium-sized aircraft, with two rows of seats on each side. She watched Mingyu board the vehicle and take a seat in the back row. Mulian followed him, sitting directly next to Mingyu even though there were plenty of empty seats around.
There was complete silence in the aircraft for a moment.
Just like the last exam, when Mulan arrived, everyone's eyes were on him, watching his actions. So everyone in the class also saw this scene.
After a few seconds of silence, the car was once again filled with subdued whispers.
"...What's going on...Why is Senior Mu Lian sitting next to Ming Yu? Do they know each other?! Don't the Mu family and the Ming family have a bad relationship?!"
"Oh my God... Could it be that Senior Mu Lian is attracted to Mingyu's face? Although I admit that Mingyu is indeed good-looking..."
Mu Lian frowned and glanced at the last teaching assistant who came up.
The blonde senior rolled her eyes and gave him a look that said, "You don't need to remind me." She closed the side door of the aircraft, took off the microphone in front, and said loudly, "Quiet—"
"If I were you, I would choose to use the last hour to thoroughly review the course materials instead of wasting time on useless chit-chat." She glanced at the men and women in the car. "As everyone knows, this course is required for the Star Navigation History major, and it also has the highest failure rate. I hope you will treat it with caution."
Mingyu looked at Mulian beside him.
The aircraft was very warm. Mu Lian took off his coat and put it on, then reclined his seat a bit, as if planning to catch up on some sleep. But before he went to sleep, he had something else to discuss with Ming Yu.
Mu Lian: "Are we in the same group today?" He put his hands together, made a familiar gesture of request, and said expressionlessly, "Is that okay? Thank you."
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu's premonition came true.
He didn't refuse, but just grumbled quietly, "Senior, are you here to get points from me? You asked Cui Xiaoduo to remind me yesterday, worried that if I didn't come today, you would get zero points."
Mu Lian: "..."
Mu Lian did not refute, but pulled her coat higher, closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you. Xiaoduo will treat you to dinner."
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu sent this message to Cui Xiaoduo.
Cui Xiaoduo didn't get up until an hour later, responding with a ridiculously angry squirrel emoji, though he didn't seem genuinely angry. The aircraft had already landed on the museum's parking lot. Mingyu and Mulian were standing in the museum lobby, looking at the aircraft's name on the observation report while searching for the relevant exhibition hall on the museum map.
The museum boasts ten floors, a dizzying array of exhibition halls. Visiting them one by one would take four or five days to complete. The halls are divided by starship function, development region, and development timeline, and they need to identify the hall they are looking for by the name of the spacecraft.
"Z778, a modern exploratory aircraft from the Central Star Region, should be on the third floor." Ming Yu took an electronic pen and recorded the locations of the aircraft listed in the observation report one by one. "Flame Tongue 08, manufactured in the Southeast Star Region, is a very early warship. It should be on the seventh floor."
"Levin K90, a Southeast Star Region battleship, should also be on the seventh floor..."
The map screen hovered in the center of the museum hall. Dozens of students craned their necks to watch, chattering and scratching their heads. Mingyu wrote rapidly, one by one, until his electronic pen finally paused at the end.
Mingyu: "...Dawn?"
Mulan turned her head.
"A highly autonomous special starship," he said. "It was supposed to be Ming Zhuofeng's warship, but before it could be put into use, Ming Zhuofeng died."
"The battleship's design and construction were led by his wife, An Qiu. She passed away shortly thereafter, and the project stalled, unable to resume. Ten years ago, the Ming family discussed the matter with the military and ultimately decided to donate the unfinished battleship to a museum. It should be in the special exhibition hall on the tenth floor."
Mingyu: “…”
As a member of the Ming family, he was unaware of the existence of this battleship.
Mingyu slowly realized that to his parents, Ming Zhuofeng's name was only mentioned on more "important" occasions, such as public speeches or official memorial services.
But on Mingzhuo's memorial day or Qingming Festival, no incense was ever lit at home, and there was never a trace of mourning on his parents' faces.
Mingyu frowned and suddenly had an idea.
His parents didn't seem to want to think about this guy at all.
"An Qiu is from the North Star Region. She and my mother are good friends." Mu Lian said.
Mingyu nodded.
The design and manufacturing methods of the Highly Autonomous Special Warship are unique. Developed by the Northern Star Region, these ships are extremely rare. Following the destruction of the Northern Star Region, the technology was lost, leaving only three extant, and no new special warships have been produced.
Mu Lian's gaze moved and fell on another starship that Ming Yu had no idea about.
"New Star." Mu Lian paused for a second and subconsciously lowered her voice, "'The King's Mount'."
Mingyu was stunned for a moment: "What kind of middle school..."
He paused, swallowed the rest of his words, and said suddenly, "The warship piloted by the last Celtic king?"
The Central Star Region doesn't like to publicize the last Celtic king. The niche starry sky art film I watched in a film appreciation class a while ago was a rare film that portrayed the Celtic king.
It’s just that the name of this starship is not mentioned in the movie.
Mulian: “Yes.”
"Few people know the name of this starship, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it."
"A highly autonomous special starship, also on the tenth floor," he whispered. "But the real new star has been submerged in the black tide, so the ones listed here are probably just models."
"The proportional model, restored according to the data, is still very impressive, unlike the ones in the movies." The blonde senior Luna had been standing next to Mu Lian. When she heard what he said, she leaned over and whispered, "Also, Mu Lian, these two are supplementary questions. They're not in the textbook or the handouts. The old man is deliberately trying to make things difficult for you. Are you taking shortcuts by relying on your family's origins in the Northern Star Region?"
"You're truly knowledgeable, junior. When I graded your paper, I felt you were different from the rumors." She turned to Mingyu, glanced at the position record at the back of the report, and gave him a wink. "I'm optimistic about you. But remember to hand in your homework. The deadline is today. Even if your grades are too low, you still need to raise your GPA."
Mingyu: “…”
"Thank you, senior!" Mingyu opened the school notice again and said sincerely, "I will hand it in today!"
He turned to Mu Lian and asked, "Then, senior, shall we go to the tenth floor first?"
The other party nodded without objection. The two of them walked into the elevator and went straight to the top floor.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the museum had just opened, and the first visitors to enter were students taking the exam today. Most of them started with the first one on the list of starships in the observation report, and hadn't noticed the last two "additional questions". Therefore, Mingyu and Mulian were the first visitors to enter the tenth floor exhibition hall today.
The height of the Starship Museum is more than ten times that of an ordinary building, and the height of the tenth floor reaches nearly fifty meters. The exhibition hall designed as a docking port appears outside the elevator door. When Mingyu walked out of the door for the first time, he thought he had traveled through space and stepped from the museum into the starship parking cabin in the docking port.
This exhibition hall is cleverly designed, even the identity verification equipment at the parking bay door is included. When you turn on the light screen, it shows the background introduction of the exhibition hall on the tenth floor.
"A highly autonomous special starship, also known as a bio-powered starship, has a psychic fusion device called the Box of Destiny within its mechanical heart."
"They choose their own pilots and observers, and absorb their mental energy into their heart tissue, thus becoming linked to their fate and becoming one with them."
Mingyu: “…”
Some weird and immature people.
Because this part of the technology has been lost, there is not much popular introduction to highly autonomous starships in the central star field. Although Mingyu has seen related terms several times before, he has never clicked on them.
"What does it mean that our destinies are connected and become one..." Mingyu couldn't help but mutter.
"That is, you and the starship have merged in a certain dimension," Mu Lian whispered. "If the starship crashes, you must retrieve its mechanical heart and the Box of Destiny and rebuild the hull. Otherwise, part of your consciousness will float in the universe with the starship... If the mechanical heart is damaged, your spiritual realm will also be damaged and die."
Mingyu: “…”
"But the power of biological starships is also extremely formidable. They increase the pilot's mental strength by nearly a hundred times more than ordinary starships... The most outstanding biological starship, the New Star, when its weapons are fully activated, can unleash energy exceeding the hottest sun in the human star domain."
"And Dawn was originally the most likely biological starship to catch up to New Star in terms of performance."
The closed silver-gray passageway before them sensed the presence of visitors and opened to the sides. This door, while imitating the passageway door in the docking bay, was not the heavy, thick metal door of a real docking bay. It opened silently, without a sound, not even the rasping noise of a mechanical arm pushing or pulling a heavy object.
It slid to both sides, and Mingyu subconsciously held his breath the moment his eyes fell on the situation in the exhibition hall.
The exhibition hall behind the door does not continue the bright industrial style of the harbor.
It was dark, with four pitch-black walls and a vaulted ceiling, and bright stars flickering and flowing, just like the boundless universe. And the large dark red starship suspended in the universe occupied Mingyu's entire field of vision.
The ceiling light shines down from above the starship, making it the most conspicuous presence in the exhibition hall.
Its hull had smooth curves, shimmering with a cold, inorganic glow under the light. Three rows of engine thrusters sat at the rear of the starship, each circular thruster surrounded by a peripheral energy exhaust duct, each more than a meter tall in diameter. Up close, the ship felt overwhelmingly oppressive.
Its symmetrical arc-shaped hull is stacked up, and the central bridge is propped up, like the raised head of a giant beast.
This ferocious behemoth had yet to be equipped with its weapons systems, and the starship's tail and midsection were not yet fully connected, suspended in the exhibition hall by two separate robotic arms. Because the starship hadn't yet been fully assembled, Mingyu had a clear view of Anle's dense network of arm-thick mental power cables protruding from the connectors.
Deep in the area where the pipelines gathered, there was a sunken gap in each of the two separated parts of the starship, which was supposed to be filled with the mechanical heart of the starship.
A mechanical heart, nearly a man's height, based on the brain of a white beast, sat in a transparent display case, directly beneath the red behemoth. A spiral staircase led down from Mingyu to a separate exhibition booth on the tenth floor. The soles of his shoes made a subtle sound on the soft carpet of the exhibition hall.
Mingyu stood in front of the booth. Under the light from the shopkeeper's room, every structure of the mechanical heart was extremely clear.
Dense, complex wiring and metal structures were built on the silver-gray biological tissue. The end of the pipeline that was supposed to be connected to the starship was empty. In the center of the mechanical storage, a row of transparent pipes wrapped around a palm-sized copper rhombic dodecahedron.
That was the box of destiny that Mulan mentioned.
The information screen beneath the booth lit up as it sensed a visitor approaching. On the narrow horizontal screen was a brief description of the mechanical heart, even less detailed than Mu Lin's. A photo hovered next to the description.
She was a young-looking woman with short chestnut hair, almond-shaped brown eyes, and a bright smile. She looked as if she could pass for Mingyu's classmate just by wearing a school uniform.
Her name is displayed below the photo: An Qiu.
"I haven't seen her." Mulan said standing in front of the photo.
"My mom said An Qiu used to visit my house often. Later, she married Ming Zhuofeng and moved to the Central Star Region, but she would return to the Northern Star Region every year. She was a very talented starship designer. Xiao Duo's grandfather, who was decades older than her, had already made a name for himself in the design department of the Central Star Region, but he only heard her speak once at an academic conference and insisted on becoming her apprentice."
Mingyu: “…”
He couldn't help but add white hair and beard to the Cui Xiaoduo in his mind, and imagined him chasing after a young designer to become his apprentice.
There is no disobedience.
Mu Lian whispered, "Until the Battle of Dawn."
For the Mu family, who immigrated from the Northern Star Region, that battle was a scar etched in their flesh and blood that could not be ignored.
He stared at the starship in front of him in silence. Mingyu left quietly without interrupting his thoughts.
He first took pictures of the Starship Dawn in the exhibition hall, then walked around this special mechanical heart, taking careful photos of it from every angle.
He then placed the display case containing the mechanical heart and returned to the upper exhibition hall. The black starry sky walls surrounding the exhibition hall were also equipped with sensor screens. When they sensed Ming Yu approaching, a series of introductions to the materials used to build starships would appear.
"Because it has to withstand the powerful mental force of the Alienation-class ship, the hull of the special starship is coated with several layers of Osside's special structural membrane to reduce the speed of energy particles and prevent the mental force overflowing from the barrel from damaging the starship's hull."
"At the same time, the Kanxiu light ore used for the starship's hull has an extremely high energy durability threshold without increasing the starship's weight..."
Mingyu continued forward, and the next light screen showed an introduction to the background of the starship's construction, as well as several photos taken in the starship design room at that time.
At the very end of the exhibition hall is a row of small display cabinets, which display a number of starship parts labeled with numbers. These were all parts that were once used on the Dawnbreaker, but were later replaced because they did not match the overall performance requirements.
As a starship designer, Mingyu carefully read all the information in the exhibition hall and took photos to record it.
The museum industry is not very profitable, and the money spent on maintaining the items is almost as much as the money spent on ticket sales. Therefore, no one has invested in building virtual models of the exhibits in these museums and uploading them to the Star Network. There is no complete virtual exhibition hall construction, and you have to see it with your own eyes.
Mingyu walked to the end of the long and narrow exhibition hall and stopped in front of the door leading to the next exhibition room.
The silver-grey metal door, which also looked heavy but was actually light, opened to both sides.
He was caught off guard and saw a dark golden behemoth.
Its hull was sharp, with sharp angles at the bends extending upward and downward from the horizontal centerline. Like the Dawn, the bridge, running vertically through the hull from bottom to top, resembled a narrow-bladed knight's dagger. A precious, translucent gemstone was even inlaid above the cross-shaped hilt.
Mingyu blinked.
It was not a gem, he immediately realized, but a very common mental weapon transmission device, installed at the end of a large number of mental weapons and connected to the pipelines inside the starship.
He was keenly aware of what this symbolized and could not help but utter an indecipherable exclamation.
The starship's bridge was also a powerful psychic weapon. Mingyu couldn't imagine what it would look like when firing at full power, and he subconsciously recalled the scene he had seen in film appreciation class a few weeks ago.
The director of the starry sky art film restored the breathtaking scene based on the survivors' description.
It was like a never-ending, gushing golden flame.
A golden giant that appeared out of nowhere in the universe.
A golden spear that will split the world in two.
And the afterglow of the next fifty years has not faded.
Until this moment, the afterimage of that throw still remains in the universe, turning into the golden star line outside the human safety star field.
The Dawn War marked a turning point in humanity's counterattack against the Black Tide creatures.
It is the burial place of new stars.
It is also the starry sky funeral of the Celtic King, a mark left by the most glorious moment of his life.
Although Mingyu had never seen the Celtic King, he was already excited and couldn't help being a little absent-minded when he stood in front of the starship model.
Whether it's the Celtic King or Ming Zhuofeng...
If he could travel through time and space, he really wanted to see what the heroes who piloted these starships looked like.
Mulan approached from behind.
He stood at the entrance of the exhibition hall, looked up, and stared at the proportional restoration model of the new star in the exhibition hall. For the first time, his eyes revealed clear emotions and expressions.
That is a deep awe and yearning.
Mingyu stood with him at the entrance of the exhibition hall. In the darkness, a strange association suddenly came to his mind in a flash.
He thought of the black-rimmed emerald contact lenses worn by the actor who played the Celtic King in the Starry Sky art film.
And that dazzling gold.
He thought of Mu Baixing.
Mingyu's heart suddenly started beating wildly.
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