Huang Que's inspiring words rang through the radio communicator.
They were currently 70 kilometers above the Earth's atmosphere.
Looking down, they saw the azure-blue planet. Looking up, the pitch-black expanse of space.
In this breathtaking suborbital space, the six of them were about to execute a mission unprecedented in human history—
**Capturing the Chrono Particle!**
......
Lin Xian and Chu Anqing exchanged glances, nodded, and stepped away from the cockpit, heading toward the rear.
Before leaving, Lin Xian patted Liu Feng on the shoulder:
"Good luck."
Liu Feng nodded solemnly and gripped Lin Xian's hand:
"Thank you, Lin Xian. For bringing me this far. I feel... I really feel like this is the closest I've ever been to the cosmic constant. Once we capture the Chrono Particle, we can calibrate my Chrono Clock. Then, the space-time curvature, the cosmic constant—everything might just fall into place!"
"I truly can't thank you enough, Lin Xian. Without your help, I’d never have made it this far. Qiqi... in her final moments, she made a wish under your meteor shower. I think... you’re the one who made that wish come true! Lin Xian, you are the wish Qiqi made for me!"
Facing the emotional Liu Feng, Lin Xian smiled and squeezed his hand:
"You don’t need to thank me, Liu Feng. Helping you is helping myself. I called you all the way from Xi'an for a reason. The cosmic constant is your obsession, but it’s just as important to me."
"It’s been over a year since we first met, hasn’t it? After all this effort, we’re finally seeing some results. As you said, we’re on the verge of unveiling the secrets of the cosmic constant. Maybe... this really is the final step."
"Good luck, Liu Feng."
Lin Xian released his hand:
"Guide us... to the right path!"
He turned and walked toward the passenger cabin.
Not a single person sat in the seats there. Only Chu Anqing stood rigidly in the center, straight as a rod.
"L-Lin Xian... Senior!"
Seeing Lin Xian approach, Chu Anqing couldn’t help but tense up. This space journey was far too thrilling and nerve-wracking for a 19-year-old college student:
"W-what exactly... am I supposed to do?"
She asked.
Well...
That question stumped Lin Xian again.
He had previously speculated about many reasons why Huang Que brought Chu Anqing along.
For instance—
**Was the Chrono Particle drawn to Chu Anqing?**
That theory had long been debunked. Right now, the Chrono Particle outside the spacecraft was darting around like a rabbit, teleporting nonstop... It clearly had no interest in Chu Anqing whatsoever.
If not for Liu Feng’s guidance and Wei Cheng’s piloting, that little blue electric orb would have vanished long ago.
Another thought Lin Xian had—
**Did Chu Anqing have some special role in the capture mission?**
But that didn’t seem to hold up either.
Huang Que had never given Chu Anqing any specific task.
Even now, she was just left in the passenger cabin.
Sure, it sounded nice—Huang Que claimed Chu Anqing could "stand in the middle to relay communications between the cockpit and equipment cabin."
But Wei Cheng’s restrictions had already been lifted.
Everyone was on the same radio channel, free to communicate.
What need was there for Chu Anqing to act as a messenger?
The two in the cockpit handled navigation. Lin Xian, Huang Que, and Gao Yang in the equipment cabin operated the robotic arm.
So what was Chu Anqing supposed to do in the passenger cabin?
At this point, she really was just... a mascot.
Finally, Lin Xian wondered—
**Was Chu Anqing actually some kind of lucky charm?**
Did bringing her along increase the mission’s success rate? Boost their luck?
That was just too absurd.
Huang Que wasn’t exactly young...
But she wasn’t some superstitious old-timer who believed in omens and fortune-telling either.
So...
Lin Xian squeezed past Chu Anqing and glanced back at her:
"Huang Que must have her reasons for placing you here. After all, the spacecraft has three cabins. Someone needs to keep watch in each, right?"
"Actually, you’ve got the best view here. There are two large windows on either side. The equipment cabin has smaller windows—four in total, but they’re tiny compared to yours."
"So consider this the premium observation deck. Seeing a Chrono Particle is rarer than becoming an astronaut. Until Huang Que gives you a task, just sit back and enjoy the show."
"O-okay."
Chu Anqing nodded blankly:
"It really is... so beautiful. That Chrono Particle looks like a little ball of lightning, with threads like electric currents weaving into a delicate sphere. And that blue... it’s so mesmerizing. Crystalline, translucent, deep, radiant—almost like..."
She suddenly paused, then looked up at Lin Xian:
"Almost like Sister Huang Que’s eyes!"
Lin Xian tilted his head.
Hmm.
Now that she mentioned it...
That was oddly accurate.
Since the Chrono Particle had no physical form and floated like a ball of lightning or electric charge, Lin Xian had never made the connection.
But Chu Anqing’s comment made him realize—
That unique, crystalline azure glow... really did resemble Huang Que’s pupils.
After all, it was now almost certain that Huang Que was a time traveler from the future.
And the Chrono Particle also came from another time and space.
**Time.
Space.
Time and space.**
Could it be...
**[All things that don’t belong to this era, to this timeline—do they share this same blue luminescence?]**
Lin Xian nodded slowly.
This deduction might very well be correct.
Huang Que’s eyes—sapphire-blue, crystalline, with a flowing, glass-like shimmer.
The Chrono Particle—electric blue, pulsing with internal currents, even brighter.
But with only two "extratemporal" entities to compare, the conclusion wasn’t yet solid.
If a third such object appeared, also glowing blue, then it’d be undeniable.
"I’ll head over now."
Lin Xian waved at Chu Anqing and walked toward the equipment cabin.
"Okay, Senior."
Chu Anqing nodded softly:
"I’ll hold the fort."
......
Entering the equipment cabin, Lin Xian found Huang Que briefing Gao Yang:
"Gao Yang, Liu Feng already emphasized this—**the Chrono Particle doesn’t need to be fully sealed inside the 'rice cooker' to be captured.** The containment field works even if the lid is open."
"So this mission isn’t about trapping it like a bug in a jar. Think of it more like catching a fish with a net or a butterfly with a trap. **As long as the inner chamber of the rice cooker envelops the Chrono Particle, it’ll lose its activity.**"
"That’s so counterintuitive!"
Gao Yang frowned:
"You’re sure just 'scooping' it is enough? What if the rice cooker tilts and the particle just... rolls out?"
"Classic Gao Yang."
Liu Feng’s voice crackled through the radio:
"After all my explanations, you still didn’t absorb a single word, huh?"
"Because you never explain things clearly!" Gao Yang shot back.
"Can’t you dumb it down? What does 'losing activity' even mean?"
With Wei Cheng now able to track the Chrono Particle’s movements visually, Liu Feng no longer needed to guide him.
So, with patience, Liu Feng re-explained:
"**Activity refers to the Chrono Particle’s instability.** Right now, it’s teleporting wildly because its internal energy is chaotic. I can’t analyze why without capturing it first."
"Conversely, if we stabilize its energy, it’ll stop blinking around like a strobe light."
"And the best way to stabilize it? **The Chrono Particle Capturer—** fine, the 'rice cooker’s' containment field. It suppresses the particle’s activity, forcing it to stabilize."
"Plus, I suspect once it’s inactive, it’ll start obeying our universe’s laws. It’ll respond to external forces, follow physics, and behave predictably."
"So, in short—"
"**Priority one: Scoop the particle with the rice cooker’s inner chamber. That’s enough to immobilize it.** Even if you flip the cooker upside down, the particle won’t fall out. Don’t worry about that."
"**Priority two: Close the lid.** That’s just a backup—in case the now-physical particle gets blown away by wind currents."
"Clear now? **Trying to press the lid down like swatting a fly won’t work—it’ll just phase through.** The correct method is **scooping, not sealing.** The lid is just insurance."
"**Worst-case scenario—if the inactive particle does get blown away, it’s fine! Once deactivated, it stays deactivated forever. No more teleporting.**
We can track it down on land, in the ocean, wherever. Annoying, but it’s not escaping Earth."
Gao Yang scoffed:
"See? Was that so hard? So as long as we 'scoop' it, mission accomplished. Even if it drifts off, we can hunt it down later."
"Ugh, you take forever to explain anything. You should enroll in my college—full of talent, everyone speaks clearly, and it rhymes—"
"Enough."
Huang Que cut him off sharply:
"Focus."
**Creak—**
The spacecraft’s robotic arm extended from its compartment, unfolding in three segments.
At its tip, where a claw would normally be, sat the modified "rice cooker" capturer—lid open, poised like a hungry maw eyeing the approaching Chrono Particle.
"Altitude: 62 km above sea level. Speed: 0.97 Mach. Closing in. Manual speed stabilization. Distance to target: 20 meters... 15... 10..."
Wei Cheng’s voice reported through the radio:
"Almost there! 5 meters! Holding distance! Commence capture!"
At the signal, Lin Xian and Gao Yang turned to the monitor—showing the robotic arm’s first-person view.
**So close!**
Just meters away, the Chrono Particle’s details were vividly clear.
Just as Liu Feng described, it looked **unstable—** like a screaming infant, a raging beast, a bomb about to explode.
Its surface crackled with violent currents—like lightning, or thousands of writhing blue worms.
Inside, it was even wilder.
A bright blue core thrashed like a caged animal, slamming against its electric shell. Each impact flared the particle’s glow before dimming again—over and over, too fast to follow.
**It really did look ready to burst.**
Then, as Lin Xian stared—
**Flash!**
It vanished, reappearing farther away.
Gao Yang adjusted the arm to follow—
**Flash!**
This time, it blinked **right in front of the camera—** so close the electric tendrils were visible.
Before Gao Yang could even yelp, it zipped away again, this time faster. Though once distant, its teleports slowed slightly.
"This is impossible!"
Gao Yang groaned:
"It’s too erratic! We need to predict its pattern, but there **is no pattern!** Let me try!"
Gritting his teeth, he maneuvered the arm like a fencer—lunging, swiping, striking.
Yet each time, the particle dodged at the last second, evading the cooker’s grasp.
Gao Yang’s eyes burned with determination:
"Little brat! I’ll pin you down yet!"
He watched the particle like a hawk, subtly adjusting the arm’s position—waiting, waiting...
**"Now!"**
**Whoosh!**
Gao Yang seemed to predict its path—aiming the cooker at empty space to the particle’s right.
And just as the arm shot forward—
**Flash!**
The particle appeared **exactly where he’d aimed!**
But the alignment was slightly off. The cooker’s chamber grazed past it, the lid phasing harmlessly through the particle’s form.
"Hell yeah!"
"Did you see that?!"
Lin Xian cheered; Gao Yang roared like he’d scored a pentakill.
Even a near-miss was a miracle against this hyperactive particle.
**If they could touch it, they could catch it.**
Victory was in sight!
"Wait!"
Liu Feng’s voice suddenly crackled through the radio:
"Something’s wrong! The particle’s energy is fading!"
"What?"