The sudden exclamation from the command area left everyone on the officer platform stunned, including Sandora, who was rendered speechless. However, our shock did not last long; Bingdisi, this female hooligan, with her strong nerve, was the first to react to the shockingly huge news. She rushed to the edge of the officer platform’s protective wall, exclaiming, "What!? Who’s joking here!?"

"It’s not a joke!" Taville suddenly spoke, her tone excited and equally unable to conceal her amazement, "It’s indeed the Mother Star! Or rather... it’s very likely the Mother Star, the celestial body appearing here can’t be anything else."

Sandora finally snapped back, her tone urgent as she issued the order, "Switch the image over, let me see what is happening."

The image from the external monitor was quickly transferred to the officer platform, and we finally saw that unbelievable scene: a seemingly lifeless dark brown planet hovering alone in the desolate, silent darkness of outer space. Its surface was pitted and completely devoid of any signs of life, but the straight ravines and massive terrifying crustal cracks that spread across the planet seemed to hold an awe-inspiring secret. This planet was twice the size of Earth, possibly even larger, but we couldn’t be certain — because the planet had suffered a terrible and apparent stellar disaster: it was nearly shattered. Vast rifts seemed to cut straight to the Earth’s core, and some planet-piercing voids were frightfully sinister. These scars had entirely altered the planet’s form, to the extent we couldn’t determine whether it had "loosened" or collapsed somewhat. But no matter what, the planet remained intact, and it had visually stayed that way for countless years.

In the sky above this dark brown and nearly disintegrated planet, mass amounts of floating black fragments could be seen. Some of these pieces were likely the planet’s lithosphere fragments blown apart, yet some appeared too systematically shaped; I suspected they were some kind of artificial product. But probably because of that disastrous event long ago, it was impossible to see their original appearance anymore.

Time cannot change the form of this universe, so it could only be the doomsday impact that rendered the shapes of those artificial structures indistinguishable.

I reviewed the data sent back by the probe, confirming the planet was positioned at one of the "sharp corners" of the Abyss Gate’s major crack. Do you remember the peculiar shape of the Abyss Gate? An elongated eye shape, hence it has two "sharp corners," and the planet was about half a light-year from the closest point to the Abyss Gate. Compared to the five-light-year total length of the crack, this is indeed in close proximity.

The probe also scanned the vicinity of this dark brown planet, attempting to locate the old sun or other planets in the Mother Star constant star system. The ancient records mentioned that the Mother Star constant star system had a massive gaseous planet, which was an important energy source when the Xyrin People first ventured into the universe, but it seemed like all these significant pieces were gone. The probe only found a pile of fully cooled heavy element embers less than thirty astronomical units from the dark brown planet, which once might have been the sun of the Xyrin People, but now was just a heap of extinguished mineral residue. Perhaps following this world’s weird "stasis state," these mineral residues might suddenly ignite again and continue their eternal cycle. However, we know very little about this world’s "stasis state" and can only speculate in this manner.

At least in the foreseeable near period, we won’t see the sun of the Xyrin People burn again.

"Is this really the Mother Star? Are you sure?" Bingdisi looked incredibly at the planet, which was close to shattering but barely held together, "You’ve never seen it yourselves — and the positions of the stars aren’t fixed; it might have drifted from elsewhere."

"This universe is in a stasis state, celestial bodies won’t have much positional change," Sandora, subconsciously grasping my hand, spoke calmly, yet by her gripping force, I judged Her Majesty the Queen was far from calm now, "There are no other celestial bodies within a few light-years around here, and the ancient records left by our ancestors mentioned that the Mother Star and the Abyss Gate were adjacent, so this must be the Mother Star. Oh yes, the ancestors left us some records about the final moments of the Mother Star, I remember... Taville, scan the internal structure of this planet, quickly!"

Without hesitation, Taville got to work, and shortly the scan results of the dark brown celestial body were presented before everyone. I unsurprisingly discovered something sufficient to prove its identity: large-scale artificial reconstruction traces.

The entire planet, as visibly apparent on its surface, had cracks all over, with massive rifts and voids indeed extending to the Earth’s core. The Abyss Power nearly tore the planet apart, yet it ultimately remained whole: because throughout the planet were astonishingly massive alloy beams!

Huge support beams, super alloy cables, shells of unknown composition, colossal rock pillars, and noticeably different filling material from the surrounding geological components forcibly restrained the planet together. They were like the earth pillars that supported all after a land collapse, the godly chains that held together a world after it cracked. Using primitive, crude yet grand methods, they "stitched" the planet. Virtually a third of the planet’s structure had completely detached from its surroundings, yet those incredible artificial repair measures forcefully tied it all together.

Additionally, we found large voids inside the planet, possibly naturally formed but evidently modified artificially. Every void contained solid shell layers, turning them into massive alloy chambers, with hollow beams connecting between the voids. The dense webs of pipes in those alloy structures and shell layers immediately revealed their meaning: fortress, a post-doomsday fortress!

"The records recount that after the disaster erupted, our ancestors resiliently resisted for a long time, and a portion of them vowed not to abandon the Mother Star — even with the Abyss Gate beside the Mother Star, they refused to give up this place. The Abyss Power, shining onto the Mother Star, caused the land to crack, with rifts deepening hundreds of meters daily as the planet neared disintegration. Thus, the ancestors used huge alloy beams and other materials to repair their planet. The Abyss could even damage the repairs themselves, so the ancestors repeatedly repaired everything. Ultimately, the Mother Star was nearly transformed into a Planet Fortress: splintered planet fragments bound with alloy cables, warriors with no fear residing in voids beneath the lithosphere, and land covered repeatedly with cracking yet repeatedly repaired alloy armor. The garrison on the Mother Star never retreated, and during the Ark’s launch, they desperately intercepted the streams flowing through the Abyss Gate into the universe, buying precious time for the Ark Fleet, until the force here perished completely. Anses once described it: "The Mother Star was unrecognizable until the last moment, yet it remained our Mother Star."

Sandora silently recited the records the ancestors left about the Mother Star, then gently released my hand, "Sorry, I got a bit emotional."

I didn’t mind, merely gazing at the planet in the vast space. Its surface alloy armor had been entirely stripped away, and perhaps those black fragments floating above were the remnants of this armor, while the colossal beams and cables inside the planet also bore marks of damage everywhere. The entire planet was indeed unrecognizable, even to the extent of no longer being a natural celestial body, but it still stood firm in the boundless outer space, staunchly guarding the nearest pass to the Abyss Gate, still seemingly glaring at that rift.

As the ancestors’ words: the Mother Star was unrecognizable, but until the last moment, it was our Mother Star.

The ancestors eventually evacuated this world, even this fragmented Mother Star couldn’t be preserved, but I believe... they indeed held it, for until today, until the New Empire’s fleet moored in this universe, this planetary position still remained, it still was the Mother Star of the Xyrin Civilization!

"No one can take away a Xyrin Apostle’s position from him when he’s alive," Bingdisi suddenly murmured, then slightly lowered her gaze, "You guys have been so stubborn since the mortal era; it’s really... speechless."

"So it can be determined that this is indeed the Mother Star," Abyss Xyrin gazed thoughtfully at the old, battered planet, "How did it survive? Despite the constant destruction, in the end... it seems to have lived to the point when the entire planet was completely transformed by the Inactive Abyss?"

"It can only be called a miracle, anything is possible," Bingdisi clicked her tongue, "Moreover, the resistance of the Xyrin Ancestors also allowed the planet to last much longer. After all, the Inactive Abyss isn’t purely an Abyss; it has a softening aspect. Since the whole universe adhered till the transformation completed, why can’t a planet? Although, admittedly, this transformation appears quite painful..."

"The other celestial bodies here don’t seem to have held out," Lin Xue looked at the report transmitted back by the probe, "Nearby, there’s only the remnants of a star and some thin material unidentifiable as stellar debris or space air group; only this lone planet remains."

I thought for a moment and offered a suggestion: "Perhaps we should build a memorial or some other commemorative landmark here. This is the origin of the Xyrin Civilization, there is no place more special than this."

"There does indeed need to be special commemoration, but there is no need to construct anything additional," Sandora shook her head. "The Mother Star itself is a monument. We just need to reinforce its structure and let it endure forever, that’s enough. Of course, if the ancestors have other plans upon their return, we will go by their wishes. No one has more right to decide the fate of this planet than they do."

Everyone on the scene had no objections, so this matter was temporarily settled.

The engineering team was still collecting data from the Abyss Gate to determine if it could immediately serve as a "bridge pier" for the loading bridge. The terminal, currently in a dormant state, also needed some time to activate and inspect (after all, it had been dragged far, and it’s the only terminal, so it cannot be handled carelessly). Thus, we decided to take a look at the Mother Star first.

A shuttle was launched from the Imperial Admiral, and all commanders of the Royal Fleet, including Harlan, who was originally commanding the engineering corps, and Bellavilla, who was resting in hibernation, prepared to land on the Mother Star together. The silver craft made a complete orbit around this ancient planet, which is twice the size of Earth, before landing, hoping to find some traces of civilization on the surface. After all, the planet was in a state of stasis, where many things would not perish, and the last impact back then should not have entirely stripped the planet’s surface away. Our assumption proved correct: indeed, there were artificial traces on its surface, although there seemed to be only this one surface ruin on this seemingly apocalyptically razed planet. Despite its dilapidated state, which made it almost indistinguishable from the charred earth surrounding it, we still found it.

This place is located on the edge of an elevated alluvial zone on the planetary surface. Judging by the surrounding topography, it probably used to be part of a coastline. It is now impossible to verify who once resided here; we can only ascertain that there was once a base here.

The highland is a relatively flat area surrounded by almost indistinguishable man-made objects that have nearly merged with the surrounding rocks. They appeared to have melted and completely lost their original properties under the long-term exposure to the final impact and Abyss Power. If not for their very organized distribution, no one would associate this place with relics of civilization. Some melted metals fused with the earth and rocks can still be found on parts of the terrain, and this is all there is to the entirety of the ruins exposed on this planet’s surface, all ancestral relics.

Sandora was the first to step down from the shuttle. Standing on the soil where ancestors once thrived and fought, her face was full of wonder.

"From the day my thought core began functioning, I never imagined that I’d stand on the land of our original Mother Star one day," Sandora looked around at the desolate and worn-out scenery, squatted down somewhat incredulously to grab a handful of coarse sandy soil, and watched it slowly slip through her fingers. "This is the place of our origin... I... a Xyrin Apostle is not adept at emotional thinking, but I feel distinctly peculiar now. It’s just a planet, an ancient battle fortress, yet why does it feel so extraordinary?"

"It isn’t the planet itself that stirs the soul, but rather what you remembered that was birthed from here," Bingdisi professionally analyzed and then looked up into space: The sky was dark and gloomy, the sun of the Mother Star’s constant star system and the gas giant planets on which the Xyrin People survived had long extinguished, and the only thing lighting the sky was the dim distant starlight and the radiance from the Imperial Fleet in orbit. The distant starlight appeared abnormal; it was skewed and twisted, forming bizarre curves in space because we were observing the stars through the warped field at the edge of the Abyss Gate. From here, one could just see a corner of the enormous rift; even such a small part took up a third of the sky, where starry fringes of distortions formed lace-like edges of this corner, evoking awe as one gazed upon it.

Sandora recalled the ancient records once more: "Historical records state that the first anomaly after the Abyss Gate opened was the distortion of the starry sky. The ancestors found that all the starlight in the sky was out of place; shortly after, they detected a massive warped space opening next to their constant star system. It wasn’t long before the Abyss Gate appeared before the people, permanently changing the celestial view when the Mother Star’s people looked up - what we see now is what the ancestors saw then."

"The same view, perceived by future generations after so many years, still looks the same. It’s incredible," Bingdisi blinked in the Spiritual Connection, muttering, "Take a look at that Abyss Gate which once threatened to destroy the heavens and the earth...actually, I could close it myself."

Sandora instantly glared at her, "Don’t joke about that. The fate of the entire Void is resting on this gate."

Just as we were marveling at truly standing on the ancestral Mother Star, Qianqian suddenly pointed upwards and exclaimed in the Spiritual Connection, "Hey, look, what is that!?"

In bewilderment, I followed Qianqian’s direction and saw a cluster of pale blue light approaching the earth from deep in space. It was something strangely jelly-like, emitting far stronger light than the stars. Its shape was nearly elliptical, but its surface fluctuated as if it could change form at any moment. This luminescent entity should have no solid body; however, I could still see some bright spots and lines flowing inside, indicating a complex structure within. I had no idea how far it was from the ground, but instinctively, I felt it was massive. This thing seemed to swim over from space?

"Mother Ship, what is that luminescent thing?" I immediately inquired of the Imperial Admiral, which was stationed in space.

"Your Majesty, we are currently checking. This seems to be a spiritual being...but not a normal life form. It may possess space jump capabilities. It suddenly appeared above the Mother Star just now and is now heading toward your direction. Should we intercept it?"

"No, wait!" Sandora quickly stopped them, subsequently looking shocked, "A life form? Are you sure it’s a life form?"

"Not entirely," this time it was Taville’s voice that came through, "It’s hard to define exactly what it is; it doesn’t match any known life forms, not even spiritual beings. This universe is in a state of stasis; theoretically, new life shouldn’t emerge... but there are local evolutionary phenomena, so it might have generated some peculiar things. The glow looks conscious; it adjusts its flight trajectory and even avoided our deployed orbital stations just now... perhaps it considers the Mother Star a landing point? Theoretically... ah, more space signals are emerging!"

"Don’t block this area; let them approach," Sandora’s tone became inexplicably urgent, "I want to see what exactly this thing is. Right, fleet, conceal and evade; don’t scare these... creatures."

The glow of the fleet in the sky immediately dimmed, and all the ships quickly disappeared entirely in outer space, followed by an astounding sight:

Numerous clusters of pale blue light leaped out from the depths of space, gracefully gliding like swimming fish toward the surface of the Mother Star. When these luminescent entities formed groups, their collective behavioral patterns became evident: moving in formations, chasing each other, carving out a series of complex trajectories during their descent from space to the surface, clearly indicative of conscious behavior.

These fog-like peculiar things did not directly touch the ground; instead, they hovered hundreds of meters high in the sky, initially scattering in small patches but quickly gathering in increasing numbers, eventually enveloping the entire sky! (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)