Chapter 1 Hao Ren Leaves Tana Guse and Transports to Kuiper Space Station

After leaving Tana Guse, Hao Ren didn't return home directly but teleported to the Kuiper Space Station. He docked his ship in his private port and watched the busy port workers registering entries and exits and preparing the facilities through the external monitor. A translucent figure stood beside him, a curious expression on her face. "So this is my home port?"

The translucent figure was Nolan. After staying at the Crystal Core Research Station for over a week to adapt to her new "body," she learned a great deal about the daily operations of the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace. Though still not proficient, she was now basically a qualified co-pilot.

Mastering such complex knowledge in a week was thanks to Nolan's current life form: her learning ability was no longer confined to human limitations. The Data Terminal helped unlock the Ai girl's performance shackles. With the help of the shipboard mainframe, Nolan mastered new knowledge rapidly. Most of the past week was spent adapting to her new life.

"When I'm not on a mission, you'll basically be parked here," Hao Ren pointed to the port outside. "Do you remember the previous docking procedures? Don't forget to send the identification code and receive the guide signal. You're an Imperial government ship. Any mistakes you make will cause big trouble."

"Got it, you've said it several times," Nolan said, hands on her hips. Then, with an expectant expression, she looked towards the starry sky at the other end of the port. "But staying in the port will be boring…"

"Want to go out?" Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. After spending over a week together, Nolan was no longer as cold and distant as when they first met. It was easy to guess some of her thoughts. "How about this, within the Milky Way, don't go too far—I need to be able to call you back anytime when I'm on a mission. There's a galactic power distribution map and civilization list in your navigation star chart. Don't mess with their order… Well, there are safety protocols watching anyway, so you can't mess it up even if you wanted to."

Nolan blinked. "Within the Milky Way… you call that not too far?!"

She never expected Hao Ren to agree so readily: she originally thought she could only wander around a hundred or so light-years.

Before Hao Ren could say anything, the Data Terminal muttered from the console, "For your current performance, that's just a stroll. Most of the universe is empty. After you go out, you might not even hit anything after a few light-years with one step on the gas."

Nolan said "Oh" and a longing expression appeared on her face. "I haven't experienced real space yet. When I was at the Crystal Core Research Station, I only ran around the star's gravity circle a few times… Ah, I'm suddenly looking forward to it!"

The Data Terminal chuckled. "Heh, get used to it as soon as possible. You have to get used to being a ship—this machine also tossed itself around a lot when it adapted to being human. The worldview is really a wonderful thing…"

"Say less, no one will think your sound card is broken," Hao Ren casually pulled the Terminal out of the slot in the console and waved goodbye to Nolan. "Then I'll go back to Earth first. If you have any problems, just contact me."

After Hao Ren led his people out of the teleportation room, Nolan was left alone on the deserted bridge. However, only her holographic image stood there. Nolan couldn't feel any first-person sensations from the image. Her real senses came from the ship—this hundreds-of-meter-long metal beast was suspended in the port of the Kuiper Station. Nolan concentrated and once again experienced the strange feeling this still-unfamiliar body gave her. She could feel the vast space she was in, sense the humans and robots walking around not far away, perceive the energy turbulence in the nearby port facilities, and even sense another ship leaving the port tens of kilometers away.

Nolan almost greedily sensed all this, imagining her body immersed in the information surge of the real world. She "opened" her "eyes" and used the ship's countless external monitors to watch the scene before her, confirming the place again and again.

This was the real world, without reincarnation, without virtuality, without scripts. The entire universe was truly operating around her. Everything was so real and credible, and there was no need to worry about them suddenly disappearing. Nolan, the girl who had experienced ten thousand years of reincarnation, finally ushered in what she had dreamed of countless times: waking up from a dream and facing reality.

However, she had lost the ability to touch this real world. All she could feel were precise, cold numbers: 0.96g, 27c, 96.35kpa… These numbers came from the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace's countless sensors, each more precise and complex than biological nerves. She browsed these data and felt no temperature or weight. Her only judgment of them was "normal" or "abnormal."

"I have to adapt to living as a ship," Nolan sighed, or rather, the holographic projection made a sighing motion. She focused her attention on the distant starry sky. "I'll go look at the stars."

The Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace sent a departure signal. After the Kuiper Station's automatic response system responded, it floated lightly towards the starry sky outside the port. Several port workers busy in the distance curiously watched the ship's movements, wondering why it was leaving only a few minutes after docking. At this time, Nolan's voice echoed in the airport: "I'm going for a walk. Please help me prepare some polishing wax and wax my lower armor when I get back."

Nolan decided to start working hard to be a good ship from today, starting with focusing on self-maintenance.

The port workers looked at each other. A young employee pressed his hat. "Gosh… the inspector's ship didn't used to talk, did it?"

"Don't ask too much," an old employee coughed twice, a serious expression on his face. "Imperial things all have personalities. Hurry up and prepare the polishing equipment!"

Two days after returning to Earth from the Dream Plane, Hao Ren's life returned to its original track, as did the tenants in his house. These people, most of whom had experienced great storms, had a calm demeanor, regardless of how big the event was outside, they could always quickly continue their lives after returning home. But it wasn't as if there was no change: the Zorm incident left a deep impression on everyone, and they were still talking about it these days.

One Zorm had appeared, would there be more Zorm-like planets protected by the guardians in the Dream Plane universe?

Hao Ren lay on the table, fiddling with the Data Terminal. Raven 12345's figure was displayed on the terminal's holographic projection. He reported his experiences in the Dream Plane, and now the two's communication was coming to an end.

"Preserving the diversity of civilizations is also a routine task for inspectors," Raven 12345 said with a smile on her face, looking very happy. "And the more civilizations that are preserved, the easier it is to find clues to that Creator Goddess."

"Next, I plan to expand the search scale in the Dream Plane. Perhaps there are other guardians who have maintained their sanity. I want to gather them together and, if possible, rebuild the guardian team of the founding star," Hao Ren said about his grand idea. Although these ideas seemed too illusory at the moment, he was full of confidence. "The guardians who have maintained their sanity have all accepted the Creator Goddess's orders. Whether they have complaints or not, they will help stop those crazy First Born and mind monsters, so if we can rebuild the guardian legion, it should make the Dream Plane safer."

"Hmm… and maybe some guardians will know the situation of the Wall of Reality," Raven 12345 nodded. "You can handle this matter yourself. You've proven your ability. You're simply a heaven-sent talent for dealing with this kind of mess."

Hao Ren opened his mouth, thinking that the goddess sister's way of using words was still as vigorous as ever. The sand content in her words could even grind your teeth.

"Ahem, thank you for the praise," he coughed twice. "Is there anything else to instruct?"

"Yes—next time, can you please stop your daughter from jumping around in front of the camera? It makes me dizzy."

Hao Ren expressionlessly lowered his head and glanced at Dou Dou, who was jumping on the table. The little girl occasionally looked up at Raven 12345's face floating above, but spent more time focusing on the Data Terminal: the little guy was waiting for Dad to finish talking to Raven so she could continue pushing the terminal around the room.

Hao Ren waved to Raven 12345 and hung up the communication. The terminal let out a sharp whistle the moment the communication ended. "This machine has something to talk to you two about…"

It only had time to shout half a sentence before it was taken away by Dou Dou, who put it on her head.

Hao Ren smiled and watched Dou Dou happily playing with his big toy not far away, then leaned back in his chair.

"Rebuilding the guardian team… isn't it a little too early to think about this now?"