What Makoto Fuuma didn't know was that Ding Meng's current cultivation focus wasn't Origin Energy, because according to Xiao Ai's calculations, there wasn't enough energy for him to construct the ninth point. In Makoto Fuuma's mind, Ding Meng had practically been sitting on the ground for two years, but in Ding Meng's world, five years had already passed since he was using Origin Energy to support the anti-gravity force field.
During this period of time, what he had truly made great progress in was his general Telekinesis, because Ding Meng had discovered that the pearl imprint Little Rascal had left behind had many wonderful uses. In the past, he had been able to cultivate Telekinesis dots, but now, through the imprint, he could release Telekinesis in the form of "strings". Not only could these Telekinesis strings extend and contract at will, but they could also pass through the starship, attaching themselves to the wave-particle duality "strings" in the universe to achieve the effect of conducting Telekinesis. To put it bluntly, Ding Meng had already grasped the method to infect Telekinesis, and he could also clearly see all sorts of strings in the universe.
This was undoubtedly an even longer process. When the time approached 700 days, Makoto Fuuma and Xue Yue Mountain woke up from their hibernation mode. The command center was still bright, and the main control panel was still working. The quantum radar was still operating, but the vertical screen was still black.
Makoto Fuuma said helplessly, "What do we do?"
Xue Yue Mountain shrugged. "You didn't ask the right person."
Makoto Fuuma said, "I feel like dying might be a good thing. Living like this is actually painful."
Xue Yue Mountain couldn't help but laugh. "If this was in the past, I would have thought that someone who said something like this was crazy."
Makoto Fuuma also laughed. "I'd rather be crazy myself. Being crazy is good. It'll be carefree."
Xue Yue Mountain laughed. "Unfortunately, you can't go crazy even if you want to."
Makoto Fuuma laughed. "Don't worry. If this continues, I might go crazy … …"
Although the two of them were laughing, their voices sounded like they were crying. This was because the starship's energy source was about to run out, but the artificial bodies' energy source was still enough to last for 20 to 30 years. However, after spending 20 to 30 years in the dark space, no matter how normal a person was, they would still go crazy.
"Have you turned off the energy source?" Ding Meng had already exited his meditation state at some point and was standing next to the main control panel.
"Did you discover something new?" Makoto Fuuma was surprised.
Ding Meng shook his head and pointed at the light screen. "Same old. Even my quantum probe couldn't find anything. What can I find?"
Fujen Zhen was greatly disappointed: "You look good."
Ding Meng also laughed. "Do you think I'm crazy too?"
Makoto Fuuma laughed: "To be honest, you do look like a madman right now."
Two years ago, Ding Meng basically didn't care about his image, but now, Ding Meng didn't care about his image at all. His clothes and accessories, except for those that covered his private parts, were all naked. His skin was covered in all kinds of dirt that had already formed scabs. His face was full of whiskers, and his hair was dirty and long. He looked like a savage.
Ding Meng said, "Let's save some energy. We'll just continue drifting at this speed. It looks like there's no way out even if we run out of energy. I just checked the radar, and there's still nothing new. It's better to save some energy just in case."
Makoto Fuuma thought about it and felt that it made sense. The starship had turned off its energy source, so it wouldn't affect the three of them anyway.
The command center quickly fell into darkness. Makoto Fuuma and Xue Yue Mountain continued to hibernate, while Ding Meng continued to meditate and cultivate.
Xiao Ai was also silently counting the time. Perhaps for Makoto Fuuma and Xue Yue Mountain, the days on the starship felt like years, but Ding Meng's world wasn't boring at all. He had more or less finished constructing the ninth point's enormous map of the universe over the past few years.
Ding Meng's speed of progress once again overturned Xiao Ai's understanding of him. This guy's telekinesis and memory were too powerful. Xiao Ai didn't know what kind of power drove him to work so hard to construct the origin.
"How much time has passed?" Ding Meng suddenly asked in the darkness.
Xiao Ai sighed. "You've spent a total of 3,470 days, which should be 1,158 days in the real world. Three years have passed, but in reality, you've been cultivating for close to ten years."
"Ten years?" Ding Meng was a little confused. "This ninth point is too tiring."
Xiao Ai said calmly, "You're not bad."
Ding Meng had a look of realization.
Xiao Ai naturally understood him. "Are you thinking about Little Rascal?"
Ding Meng nodded. "A little."
Xiao Ai said, "Don't you miss Dai Yi, Lan Bing, and the others at all?"
Ding Meng said, "Do you know what's different about Little Rascal?"
Xiao Ai said, "What's different?"
Ding Meng said, "She talks a lot, which keeps me from getting bored."
Xiao Ai said, "It seems like you think I talk too little?"
Ding Meng said, "You haven't talked as much in the past few years as you did just now."
"That's different." Xiao Ai was still very cold. "She's a spirit, after all, while I'm a genuine AI program."
Ding Meng said, "Xiao Ai, have you ever thought that maybe you're also a spirit?"
Xiao Ai said, "Why do you say that?"
Ding Meng said, "I remember the second time I went to Black Gold Base's underground warship. You were sealed inside the energy carrier of the K virus."
Xiao Ai said, "Fujen Zhen is right. You guys have been trapped on this starship for too long. You've all become stupid."
Ding Meng sighed and said, "Maybe. I still can't get used to not having Little Rascal around."
Xiao Ai sighed. "It's true that you're nostalgic."
At the mention of Little Rascal, the two of them did not seem to be in a good mood. Little Rascal's departure felt like it was just yesterday. The past was still vivid in their minds, but several years had passed since then.
It was also at this moment that the main control console suddenly activated on its own. A screen quickly appeared, flashing with a red light.
"What's going on?" Ding Meng and the others were startled awake at the same time.
"It's a warning signal!" Fujen Zhen exclaimed. "Someone has locked onto us!"
Ding Meng and Xue Yue Mountain immediately tensed up. In the depths of the vast universe, a signal meant that there was energy, and a lock meant that a flying unit had appeared in the vicinity.
Sure enough, the screen had already tracked the source of the signal. In the depths of the darkness, a brown starship that looked like a cylindrical boiler appeared on the screen. This boiler starship was similar to the Federation's carrier starships. It was surrounded by huge thrusters that formed three large rings around the hull of the starship. There were as many as 20 ion thrusters that were spewing out blue crystal flames as they flew.
Fujen Zhen could only feel his heart pounding. After flying in the darkness for so long, could they finally be saved today?
Just as his hand reached for the main control console, Ding Meng coldly stopped him. "Don't activate the main system."
Fujen Zhen was puzzled. "Why?"
Ding Meng said in a low voice, "Since the other party has already discovered us, if you activate it now, they might immediately become wary."
Fujen Zhen was stunned and sighed. "Why is it that every time you say something, it always makes sense?"
Xue Yue Mountain sneered. "You've forgotten the lesson of the water droplet. Once you're nervous or agitated, you'll be careless."
Fujen Zhen was indeed a little anxious. "Then what should we do?
If we don't send out a distress signal, are we going to wait for death? "
Ding Meng said, "Hurry up and turn off the main control console."
Fujen Zhen was stunned. "This …"
Ding Meng said, "Lie down and play dead. I'm sure it will come over."
Fujen Zhen said, "Where did you get that confidence from?"
Ding Meng said, "If it wanted to fire, it would have already done so. Even if it did, SS Expedition wouldn't be able to withstand it."
"You're right!"
Fujen Zhen also understood. With SS Expedition's battered body, it couldn't even withstand a cannon shell. If the other party really opened fire, SS Expedition would already be smashed to pieces.
Once the main control console was turned off, the other party's communication signal couldn't be transmitted, and they wouldn't be able to spy on SS Expedition's situation.
Sure enough, after about three hours, the boiler starship slowly approached SS Expedition. First, it turned off many of its ion drives to maintain the same speed as SS Expedition. Then, it flew at the same level as SS Expedition. At this time, four huge steel frames extended out from its flanks and pushed the connecting cabin out.
SS Expedition was now in a sealed state. Ding Meng and the other two could only hear a rumbling sound. They guessed that the other party was destroying the starship's outer shell and forcing the connecting cabin in.
Not long after, Ding Meng had an idea. As long as you can get in, I'll be able to see through you.
After waiting patiently for more than half an hour, a large group of fully armed soldiers poured into the command module. Fujen Zhen was delighted. These soldiers were indeed human.
However, these people didn't look like regular soldiers. They looked more like a group of mercenaries because everyone's armor was different. Moreover, it was tattered and the surface metal had many traces of damage. It was obvious that this group of people had been in combat for a long time.
"Boss, there's a living person here!" Someone suddenly said.
As soon as he said that, several positioning lasers landed on Ding Meng. The person who spoke yelled, "Kneel down and put your hands behind your head, or we'll shoot immediately."
Ding Meng did as he was told and kneeled on the ground obediently.
At this time, the group of people spread out. They were very familiar with the starship's operating system and activated SS Expedition's main system in a few seconds. The command module was immediately brightened up.
Ding Meng had already noticed them with his telekinetic vision. This group of people all looked disgusting and were armed with various energy weapons. They didn't look like mercenaries, but more like space pirates.
However, he didn't care. If he really wanted to fight, he could kill a hundred more of these pirates in one breath.
"Hey, there are two artificial bodies here. Looks like they're not dead yet!"
The person who spoke earlier spoke again. This guy was young. He was quite agile and had good eyesight.
As for the guy called boss, he was probably not very old. He was about sixty or seventy years old. He was very large and had a big head and big ears. After making sure that there was enough air in the starship, he even lit a cigar and put it in his mouth. He was completely comparable to the four-eyed man and the Russians.
"What's your name?" The young man walked over and glared at Ding Meng as he asked fiercely.