Suddenly leaving home for an entire month naturally caused concern among his wife and parents. Luo Feng found it quite troublesome. Afraid that his family would worry, he could only lie and say that he was going into secluded cultivation in a secret location.
The next morning.
Luo Feng ate breakfast with his family. After this meal, he would leave Earth, leave the Milky Way, and head for a distant planet far beyond it, Qiu Long Star.
“Brother!”
Luo Hua walked in from outside.
“I heard you’re going away for a month? You didn’t even tell me. If Mum and Dad hadn’t informed me, I wouldn’t have known.”
“I was planning to tell you before leaving,” Luo Feng said while drinking his porridge.
He had no choice.
In fact, he had not planned to inform his younger brother, nor his two elder brothers, Hong and Thunder God. After all, explaining it would be troublesome. With Luo Feng’s current speed, he could circle the Earth in less than a day. If he was going away for a whole month, what could he possibly be doing?
Saying he was entering secluded cultivation might fool his family.
It would be much harder to fool Hong and Thunder God.
“Xiao Hai, Ping Ping.”
Luo Feng picked up his two children.
“Daddy, kiss.”
His elder son Luo Ping stretched out his little face and kissed him. Beside him, little Hai immediately puffed out his own cheeks and stretched his face forward as well.
However, Xu Xin, his parents, and his younger brother all looked somewhat worried.
“Don’t worry. There’s nowhere in the world that can threaten me now. This secluded cultivation is simply very important. I can’t be disturbed by anyone, and the environmental requirements are extremely strict. That’s why I have to leave for a while.”
Luo Feng comforted his family.
“Xiao Xin, while I’m away, take care of Mum and Dad. If Hong or Thunder God call, just tell them I’m in seclusion and cannot be disturbed.”
“Alright.”
Xu Xin nodded.
“Then I’m off.”
Luo Feng set the two children down and smiled as he walked outside.
The whole family, including the two children, followed him into the courtyard.
“Goodbye, Daddy.”
The two children called out sweetly.
“Goodbye.”
Luo Feng waved with a smile as he slowly rose into the sky.
His family watched him ascend higher and higher until he disappeared from sight.
High in the sky.
A gigantic black saucer shaped spacecraft appeared. Its outer hatch opened, and Luo Feng quickly flew inside. The hatch then closed.
Immediately afterwards, it shot through the atmosphere towards outer space.
…
Inside the Black Dragon spacecraft’s control room.
Luo Feng, dressed in a blood red combat uniform, stood before the control screen. Babata’s little devilish face appeared on the display.
Babata bared his fangs proudly.
“Luo Feng, the spacecraft has left Earth.”
“External view, one hundred percent simulation,” Luo Feng ordered.
Whoosh!
The entire control room vanished from sight.
Fortunately, he could still feel the floor beneath his feet.
Looking around…
An endless and boundless starry sky.
Turning around, he saw the enormous blue planet behind him.
Earth.
“Babata, this is my first time leaving Earth and travelling to another inhabited planet. I can’t seem to settle my mind.”
Luo Feng could not help saying.
“It’s just like your university entrance exams back then. That’s called nervousness.”
On the screen, Babata took two bites from an apple and chuckled.
“In your Chinese sayings, it’s like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, or a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time. Same principle. You’re leaving Earth and heading to a powerful and prosperous planet like Qiu Long Star. Of course you’re nervous.”
Luo Feng nodded slightly.
The main reason was that, according to Babata, Qiu Long Star was over a hundred times more prosperous and powerful than even the capital planet of the Silver Blue Empire, the cosmic elementary civilisation that controlled eight star systems.
Luo Feng had never even visited the Silver Blue Empire before.
Now he was going directly to Qiu Long Star.
How could he not be nervous?
Fortunately, as a Spirit Reader with powerful consciousness, he quickly adjusted his emotions.
“Babata, hasn’t the spacecraft reached light speed yet?” Luo Feng asked.
“If this were the Yunmo Planet Ship, it would reach light speed very quickly. But this is only a C5 class spacecraft.”
Babata shook his head disdainfully.
Then he grinned.
“Of course, a C5 class spacecraft is already considered fairly high grade in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. Some Universe Level experts only drive spacecraft like this.”
“The Black Dragon spacecraft accelerates quite well. Those standard interstellar fleet vessels accelerate much more slowly.”
“And some low grade rubbish spacecraft generate such enormous acceleration during takeoff that passengers have to enter safety chambers. Otherwise, they might die.”
Luo Feng suddenly understood.
Acceleration.
That’s right.
To accelerate to light speed, even increasing velocity by only 500 kilometres per second every second would produce fifty thousand times Earth’s gravity.
Yet he felt absolutely nothing inside the spacecraft.
“That’s one of the advantages of a high grade spacecraft. It contains an automatic gravity adjustment system. It automatically regulates gravity and keeps the interior at a constant level. Right now, the gravity inside the spacecraft is exactly one Earth gravity.”
Babata explained.
“That’s true.”
Luo Feng suddenly realised.
He had been walking normally inside the spacecraft just as he did on Earth. The gravity felt identical.
He had not even noticed it until Babata mentioned it.
Only then did he realise that maintaining Earth normal gravity in outer space was already an impressive feat.
“Haha, I’ve lived on Earth for too long. I’m so used to this gravity that I didn’t notice.”
Luo Feng laughed.
“Twelve seconds until light speed!”
Babata shouted.
“Ten!”
“Nine!”
Babata’s face on the screen looked unusually serious as he counted down.
“Eight!”
“Seven!”
…
Luo Feng stared outside.
He could no longer clearly see the planets.
The surrounding stars had become completely blurred.
Gradually, everything even began turning dark.
“How strange.”
Luo Feng held his breath.
“Three… Two… One!”
Babata shouted.
In the vast starry sky, the black spacecraft, already blurred beyond recognition, suddenly…
The surrounding space rippled slightly.
Then the spacecraft disappeared.
It had not vanished because it reached light speed and could no longer be seen.
It had truly disappeared from this universe.
Boom!
Luo Feng felt the spacecraft tremble slightly.
The vibration lasted around ten seconds.
Everything outside was completely dark.
Then it stabilised.
“Universe traversal successful. We have entered the Dark Universe.”
Babata announced.
“Disable external simulation.”
“The Dark Universe?”
Luo Feng was extremely curious.
“Babata, what does the Dark Universe look like?”
“At light speed, the spacecraft cannot capture external scenery.”
Babata explained.
“We’d have to slow down first. But acceleration and deceleration consume a great deal of energy. Luo Feng, I’ll simply simulate some Dark Universe scenery for you.”
A screen appeared before Luo Feng.
On it was a magnificent scene.
A vast expanse of space filled with countless glowing points like fireflies.
It was an ocean of light points.
Apart from these beautiful lights, nothing else existed in that endless space.
Well, except for spacecraft.
“The Dark Universe corresponds directly to the coordinates of the Original Universe.”
“However, if you travel thirty light seconds in the Dark Universe and then return to the Original Universe, you’ll find that you’ve actually moved a distance equal to thirty light seconds multiplied by 10.081 million.”
Babata continued.
“The ratio between the Dark Universe and the Original Universe is one to 10.081 million.”
Luo Feng was secretly astonished.
Travelling at light speed in the Dark Universe for one year would still only cover one light year.
But once one returned to the Original Universe, that same journey would correspond to over ten million light years.
“In the Original Universe, matter cannot exceed light speed. Once light speed is reached, it automatically enters universe traversal and arrives in the Dark Universe. In the Dark Universe, however, surpassing light speed is possible.”
Babata said.
“The spacecraft is currently accelerating slowly. The maximum speed of this Black Dragon spacecraft is 1.5 times light speed. However, for energy efficiency, 1.2 times light speed is ideal.”
“Estimated arrival at Qiu Long Star is just under ten days. During that time, you can rest or cultivate.”
…
Life aboard a spacecraft travelling through the Dark Universe was incredibly dull and monotonous.
Nine days later.
“Luo Feng, we’ll exit universe traversal and arrive at Qiu Long Star in twenty minutes.”
Babata said.
“By the way, Babata, travelling from the Original Universe to the Dark Universe requires reaching light speed. What about the return trip? How do you travel back from the Dark Universe?”
Luo Feng was curious.
The universe was simply too mysterious.
How could ordinary Earth people ever have imagined what would happen at light speed?
As for the theory that reaching light speed allowed time travel into the past, Luo Feng had never agreed with it.
Suppose a distant planet was one million light years from Earth.
What Earth observers saw would be the image of that planet from one million years ago.
Some people argued that travelling faster than light towards that planet would allow one to witness its history unfolding in reverse.
But in Luo Feng’s view…
That was ridiculous.
The apparent reversal of time existed only in what one saw.
In reality, that planet was continuously ageing.
“It’s simple. Decelerate.”
Babata replied.
“Slow down all the way to a complete stop, and you’ll automatically return to the Original Universe. The Dark Universe contains no stationary matter.”
“Oh?”
Luo Feng was surprised.
The spacecraft gradually slowed down.
From 1.2 times light speed.
Down and down.
Until it reached complete stillness.
Luo Feng felt the spacecraft tremble slightly beneath his feet.
The vibration lasted around ten seconds.
Then everything became calm.
“Universe traversal successful. We’ve returned to the Original Universe.”
Babata announced.
“External simulation, one hundred percent.”
Luo Feng immediately ordered.
Whoosh!
The vast starry sky appeared around him.
Most striking of all was a distant planet glowing with multicoloured radiance.
Two satellites could vaguely be seen orbiting it.
“That planet is Qiu Long Star.”
Babata said.
“Luo Feng, follow our plan once you enter the planet.”
“Babata, you said even entering the planet requires money. But I don’t have any currency.”
Luo Feng said.
No matter how wealthy he was on Earth, neither the Silver Blue Empire nor the Black Dragon Mountain Empire would recognise Earth currency.
To them, it was nothing more than printed paper with pictures on it.
“I don’t have any? I do.”
Babata shouted.
“Although my master’s bank account is useless to you because it’s linked to his spiritual imprint, he did leave behind some coins. They were the spare change he carried with him. Sometimes even loose change can be useful.”
“Coins?”
Luo Feng blinked.
“That’s right. I searched every corner of the storage space and found 932 Ganwu Coins.”
Babata said.
“Nine hundred and thirty two units?”
Luo Feng blinked twice.
That’s poor.
“These are Ganwu Coins, not Black Dragon Coins, and certainly not those cheap Silver Blue Coins.”
Babata quickly corrected him.
“They’ll be more than enough for you to get by on Qiu Long Star for quite some time!”