Extra: True Farewell
Countless large and small, oddly shaped rocks form a belt, floating in the vacuum of the universe, rotating around a distant star at a nearly uniform speed. Over a long period of time, these rocks have been constantly colliding, forming many pits and cracks on their surfaces. Sometimes, large rocks will disintegrate themselves during rotation and split into a large number of fragments.
On the largest planet in the asteroid belt, there was a spaceship almost as big as it. There was no sound in the silent vacuum, and one could only see that the spaceship seemed to be covered by an invisible layer of protection, which dissolved all the large and small meteorites approaching it into fine gravel and dust. There was a gap between the bottom of the spaceship and the surface of the planet. Through the gap, one could see a deep pit under the spaceship, in which many mechas shuttled up and down, and some vehicles that looked like spiders were busy transporting something.
Inside the spaceship, watching the boxes being transported in continuously, Parry, who looked like an octopus, waved his tentacles happily and said in a muffled voice, "Great! I didn't expect that there would be a large amount of precious cyanide ore in such a desolate place. It's really unexpected. With these ores, I can modify all our mechas, and the defense can be at least doubled, and the agility can be increased by about 15%. The captain is really amazing, he can find such a place! No, I have to tell him that he must leave 80% of these ores for me, and they can't all be wasted by those guys in the laboratory... Amy, where is the captain?"
Next to Amirida, who had grown to a height of two meters and five and exuded maturity, Pari, who had just reached adulthood, was only as tall as her waist. The octopus man had no choice but to wrap one of his tentacle around her calf and asked with his head raised.
Amirida was originally watching the data changes on the monitoring screen. Upon hearing this, she lowered her head, smiled and said, "He went to visit his hometown."
Whenever she saw little Pari, she would think of Paco, the Pichu star who had left a mark in her memory with his life, even though they had only been together for a short time. Even though decades had passed, the emotion and heartache she felt at the time were still as if it were yesterday. A few years ago, their spaceship passed by Pichu Star again, and he and Rong Yuan found that the Pichu Star Administration had cleared Paco's name, and there were statues of the three of them in the Hero Hall of the capital.
In addition, they also discovered this little octopus, whose skills were better than his uncle's, but who was unwilling to live under the heroic halo of his uncle Paco and was eager to create his own adventure legend. Rong Yuan, who was already famous in the Milky Way at that time, took the little octopus with him and spent a lot of effort to train him. Now he has become the leading technician in the spacecraft manufacturing department. Because of Paco, Emilida has always taken good care of Pari, and the two have a good relationship.
"The captain's hometown?" Parry blinked his big eyes and asked curiously, "Where is that? Why have I never heard of it?"
"It is said to be a primitive star, but the captain never mentioned it, so you'd better not ask too much." A black shadow suddenly hung down from the roof, two pairs of sparsely feathered wings spread out behind him. His tone of voice was a little eerie, and his expression was very cold, but everyone who had been with him for a long time knew that this guy was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, so even the newcomers were not afraid of him.
"The original star that cultivated the captain? I really want to know what it looks like." Wenda said with great longing.
Wenda is the newcomer who just boarded the ship. He has a pair of big ears, a long pointed nose, and a long furry tail. At first glance, he looks like a fox that has not yet been transformed into a human. He has not seen Captain Rongyuan in person, but he has a lot to say about this captain.
"You know I'm a big fan of the Captain? I grew up listening to his stories - and of course yours. The destruction of the ruthless galactic giant Kayul Corporation, the 30,000-light-year bloody battle to escort Princess Serinda, the prevention of the war between the Hume Nebula System and the Dazhi System, and the saving of the Fantasy Sand Star that was almost destroyed by a meteorite impact..."
Wenda chattered endlessly about every deed worthy of being recorded in history by this fleet that did not belong to any force in the Milky Way but had made a great reputation. Many stories had been exaggerated to an incredible degree in the process of being passed down, but he firmly believed in them and was extremely excited about them. The old crew members on the spaceship looked at each other, feeling both amused and proud, and sometimes couldn't help but interrupt to correct Wenda's statement... Well, most of them tried to exaggerate the role they played in various major events.
Dunke, who was squatting in the corner like a huge rock, was the most calm. He was not affected by the discussion. He knew from previous experience that Rongyuan would come back before the ore was mined out. They needed to prepare for the next voyage before then. He whispered to Emilida: "Did the captain say where we should go when he comes back?"
"I heard him mention that he was planning to go to the Pillar of Creation."
Before Amirida finished speaking, the cabin, which had just been filled with laughter and voices, suddenly fell silent. After a few seconds, Wenda held her face and screamed, "The Pillar of Creation? The Pillar of Creation, the first of the ten most dangerous places in the Milky Way?"
"Ha!" The upside-down black shadow suddenly laughed coldly and hoarsely, and asked, "Why, are you scared?"
Wenda didn't hear his deliberately lowered voice at all. His face flushed, his whole body trembled, his tail wagged vigorously behind him, and he spoke excitedly and incoherently: "I... I knew it! This is the legendary Feiyan Team! This is the Feiyan Team! Ahhh... I knew that my life would be different! Oh my God... Pillars of Creation! Mom, I'm going to the Pillars of Creation! Gods..."
Everyone was amused by his appearance, and their original nervousness suddenly disappeared, and they began to look forward to this journey that was destined to become a new legend. Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Emilida couldn't bear to tell them that because the star field where the Pillar of Creation was located was too dangerous, Rong Yuan would only lead the fleet to explore the periphery, and he would only take Wandou and the others with him to the really deep part.
She knew that Rong Yuan had a very magical power, so he could do things that many people could not do. For example, now, their fleet was stationed at least ten light years away from the earth, and there were no wormholes that could be used around, but Rong Yuan only needed one or two months to easily make a round trip.
Aimirida sighed softly and thought wistfully: When will Rongyuan be able to trust her as much as he trusts Wandou?
…
The drizzle was falling, and the dark blue tombstone stood quietly, ordinary and plain, without any special decorations because of the identity of the person represented by the tombstone. In addition to a few lines of words, there was only a palm-sized black and white photo. The person in the photo was still smiling warmly, but he had passed away.
A bunch of white flowers was placed on the stone platform in front of the tombstone. Raindrops hung on the delicate petals, like a string of tears. The strange humidity in the air made people feel sour and painful every time they breathed.
A man was squatting in front of a tombstone, staring at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the photo, and suddenly he felt so painful that he couldn't breathe.
As his mind lost control, the old appearance that controlled the body cells suddenly blurred, the white hair turned black, the wrinkles were smoothed, the brown spots on the skin disappeared, the protruding blood vessels on the back of the hand calmed down, and the slightly cloudy eyes regained clarity. In the blink of an eye, the old man in front of the tombstone who originally looked like he was about to die suddenly turned into a young man in his early twenties, but he himself did not notice this at all.
He stared at the photo, and Jin Yun's words echoed back and forth in his empty heart.
"My father died three years ago."
"He passed away without pain."
"One moment he was lying in a rocking chair basking in the sun, saying that the forget-me-nots in the yard were blooming especially well this year and he wanted to take a picture of them for you to see when you came back, and the next moment he stopped breathing."
"There was only a set of old clothes in the tomb, and the ashes... According to his will, the ashes were scattered into the sea after cremation."
"My father once said that if he died, he would give this box to you. He said... children and grandchildren have their own blessings. He knew that you would never agree to take this thing back while he was alive, but after he died, he hoped that it would be a force to protect you. The road you are walking on is very dangerous, so I hope you take care of yourself."
"He left...very hastily, and other than that, he didn't leave any words behind."
His body swayed, but soon stabilized. Rong Yuan closed his eyes, shielded himself from the rain, and carefully opened the box.
On the top was the leaf vein bookmark that he had given to Jin Yang as a companion artifact to the Merit Book, and below that were some odds and ends, including letters he had written, a watch he had given as a birthday gift, and so on. Rong Yuan flipped through them one by one, and his past memories gradually came back to him. He had almost forgotten some of the gifts he had given out for the craft class, but he hadn't expected Jin Yang to have kept them all. Even so, this small box was not yet full.
At the bottom of the box, there was a thumb-sized, badly faded, cheap blue plastic dolphin. Rong Yuan was startled, and the past came flooding back to him.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Jinyang, you can call me Yangyang."
"Don't leave me alone... Xiaoyuan! Xiaoyuan! Don't go..."
"You are my best friend! One-of-a-kind! No one can compare to you!"
"We are brothers in this life. No matter whether you are a good person or a bad guy, I will always protect you in this life - after all, you are one month and one day younger than me!"
"You're not eating again! Please, can't you take good care of your body? Can the experiment be more important than your own life?"
"Have you been in any trouble recently? If there is anything I can help you with... I don't need you to explain the whole truth to me, just tell me what to do."
"I believe you. If I can't even trust you, there's no one I can trust in this world!"
“I really hope that one day I can see the same scenery.”
"This is my son. Isn't he cute? Come here, hug him... Don't be afraid... Hold him by the neck... Doesn't it feel wonderful?"
"Xiaoyuan, have you ever thought about getting married and having children? Well, I know you don't have this idea, but... you know what? The moment I saw this child, I felt that the whole world was different. I hope you can know this feeling too. Family, family members, and children are not as dispensable as you think. When you really have it, you will know how much difference life makes."
"I'm worried about you, Xiaoyuan."
"Live well, don't die!"
"Welcome back. Haha, I haven't seen you for ten years. I've aged a lot. Do you think I'm a little unrecognizable?"
"Long time no see...Xiaoyuan, why do I feel like you're getting old so fast?"
"Wow! You suddenly appeared and scared me! I just cut the watermelon, do you want a piece?"
"If I die one day, don't forget to send me a bouquet of flowers... Are you so heartless? Don't even drink the tea, give it back to me!"
"How long will it take you to come back this time?...Be safe and don't take your life lightly."
"Goodbye... Hey, I noticed that you never said goodbye to me once, this is not fair!... Huh? And it means 'never see you again'? Hahahaha... As smart as you are, when did you start to believe such nonsense on the Internet? Okay... I forgive you... Hahaha..."
The last part of the memory is frozen on a playground on an afternoon in the past. The boy was sweating profusely, but his smile was as bright as the morning sun.
The rain stopped without us noticing .
Rong Yuan covered his eyes with one hand , tears already streaming down his face.
(End of the book)
