Chapter 708: Chapter 399, An Ordinary Journey
Shang Yanwen ultimately embarked on the journey back to Korolya alone.
Of course, he wouldn’t let Lu Shaoyu come along.
Just as he had said upon parting, they were not people from the same world.
He had resolved to dedicate his life to a great cause. There was no need for Lu Shaoyu to do the same; her life would be more splendid and leisurely. She shouldn’t accompany him to that dark, backward place.
He knew Lu Shaoyu’s intentions, but perhaps love was just a momentary impulse, how far could it endure?
Changing his hometown was his duty, he knew the road ahead was long and fraught with difficulties; he didn’t even know how many years he would sacrifice for it. He shouldn’t drag a fine young woman along.
…
His challenging path was even reflected in his journey home.
It took him two days just to get to the ground segment of the Flying Wing Star Starport using public transport; then, waiting in line to board the Starport and for a ship took another three days.
The Alliance had now established its own interstellar transport system within the Alliance framework, with the “Traveler II” and the “Flying Pig” ships being the main workhorses. The former carried two thousand passengers at a time, while the latter could carry about eighty thousand.
The Rage Owl Star Shipyard and the Flying Wing Star Shipyard both received massive orders from the Alliance’s Public Transportation Department to produce these two types of ships for constructing public flight routes within the star sector.
In the past, if people from different star sectors wanted to travel—to say nothing of regular folks, including many wealthy individuals, tycoons, and high officials—often didn’t have the opportunity.
Inter-government business relied on star sector government ships; for commercial affairs, it depended on whether companies had the connections to contact a capable interstellar firm like the Gu Commercial Firm, and even then, they had to be fortunate enough to find a ship heading to the desired destination for a hitched ride.
However, a year and a half ago, the Alliance’s circum-star sector interstellar flights had officially commenced. Although tickets were still very expensive, beyond what ordinary people could afford, the fact that this route now existed marked a significant step forward. If one really needed to travel to another planet for some reason, at least there was now a way to get there.
Not to mention, if travel was for official business or commerce, the government or company would pay for the trip.
Shang Yanwen certainly didn’t have the money to afford the trip between Korolya and Flying Wing Star on a ship. In fact, he hadn’t returned home for the past three or four years of study.
This time he was returning home with a government authorization, which gave him a free ticket for the journey.
Lately, there had been an increase in people heading back to Korolya. He had waited three days before boarding flight B-1733, which was a Flying Pig transport ship.
The conditions on board weren’t great. A compartment of about six square meters contained two rows of four-tier bunks, separated by an aisle, and each bunk could sleep one person.
Such compartments were numerous and stacked layer upon layer within the ship’s hold.
Shang Yanwen was relatively accustomed to this. Although his living conditions during university were quite good, most of his life spent in Korolya was not much better than this.
After placing his luggage in one of the four public lockers beneath the bed, he laid down on the second layer from the top.
The space was cramped, just barely large enough for Shang Yanwen to sit upright without hitting his head.
He took out the books he had brought with him and began to read.
He had prepared several books to get through the lengthy journey from Flying Wing Star to Korolya.
The total trip would take six days at the speed of the Flying Pig, and he planned to spend the time reading.
Unfortunately, there were strict regulations on carrying various items on interstellar flights, and books were on the restricted list. One couldn’t bring many, and before making the jump through the Star Realm Tunnel, all books had to be stored in a designated place for special preservation, which was quite troublesome.
But Shang Yanwen still brought the maximum number of books allowed by regulations, so as not to waste any time.
The ship left the Starport and drifted in the void for two days.
Shang Yanwen estimated in his mind that they should be approaching the Star Realm Tunnel node soon.
A “node” might seem like a single point on the grand scale of the universe, but it was actually a large area. As the starship moved closer to this area, the signal received by the Jump Recognition System would strengthen until the signal intensity surpassed a critical point, indicating that the starship’s location met the standard for a jump. With the activation of the Warp Engine, the entire starship would jump into the Star Realm Tunnel, disappearing from the physical universe in an instant to outside observers.
These were facts Shang Yanwen had learned from books, including that the ship should now be near the jump point—a deduction he made using his knowledge. Locked up in a box-like compartment, he couldn’t see or hear anything, so he could only guess.
However, the Warp Engine of the starship never activated.
He was puzzled, wondering if he had guessed wrong.
But he soon learned that wasn’t the case.
An alarm sounded within the ship:
“We regret to inform all passengers that our journey may be delayed. Pirate activity has been detected recently in the vicinity of our route, and the Alliance Navy started pursuing a group of pirates two hours ago. A battle is occurring near the jump point of the Korolya Star System. We may have to wait here for two hours due to this situation. We apologize for the inconvenience this delay may cause to your travel plans…”