For Bai Xiaozhi.
Even the scene of Earth’s explosion wasn’t as shocking and intense as Wu Xiaomi’s words.
——I could never like boys.
This was, of course, something said without thinking, Bai Xiaozhi could tell.
But the things said without thinking are the truest feelings buried deep in one’s heart.
Without hesitation, skipping all the twists and turns of self-restraint, it revealed the most sincere feelings of a young girl.
“?”
Why did it suddenly get so quiet?
Wu Xiaomi had no idea what was happening.
Wait, why isn’t Xiaozhi letting go yet?
And she’s grabbing even tighter—it hurts!
“So that’s how it is…”
Bai Xiaozhi’s body trembled slightly.
So the greatest surprise was right in front of her.
She had thought she would spend her whole life alone, suppressing the hopes and secrets in her heart, all the way to the end.
Afraid to face it, afraid to reveal it, worried that if anyone found out, she would even lose the dignity of being human. Then girls would guard against her, treating her like a monster.
But never could she have imagined—
She actually…
But, wait.
Bai Xiaozhi forced herself to stay calm.
That mysterious woman who guided her earlier had said: there was someone, someone who had been with Wu Xiaomi since childhood, and for that person, Wu Xiaomi was even willing to risk her life, to break into the Nest of Dragons and Tigers and steal the Resonator.
Everything Wu Xiaomi did tonight was for “them.”
Before, Bai Xiaozhi thought that person was Kang Jie.
After all, the first thing the girl did after getting the Resonator was come back to save him.
But judging from her words, it didn’t seem quite right.
Does she really not like men?
Then who could it be, who is it, the one that haunts her dreams… that bastard!
“Um… can you… let go now?”
Wu Xiaomi asked timidly.
Her eyelids were obviously starting to droop.
After fighting all night, all she felt now was exhaustion, and her whole body ached terribly.
Her tightly strung nerves finally relaxed, and her consciousness grew fuzzy.
“Ha~ah—”
She yawned, burying her head in Bai Xiaozhi’s shoulder.
Mmm~ even Xiaozhi’s sweat smells sweet~
It’s a comforting scent, carrying the warmth of her skin, like a quilt freshly taken from the line on a sunny afternoon—so warm, it makes you want to curl up inside.
Even sleepier now… Zzz…
“……”
Bai Xiaozhi slowly loosened her grip.
——She actually leaned on her like this, willingly letting down her guard.
Even though she was still being restrained, Bai Xiaozhi could do whatever she wanted to her.
What trust this was.
“Idiot…”
This idiot.
Aren’t you afraid of trusting the wrong person?
Sigh…
…
It’s decided.
Carrying the girl to the bed and sitting at her pillow, Bai Xiaozhi made a silent decision.
A very big decision.
……/
She didn’t know how long she slept.
In the morning, Wu Xiaomi was woken by a clanging noise outside.
It was the sound of construction, but why would anyone be renovating here?
“So noisy…”
Forced to get up, she was full of morning grumpiness.
She left the house, following the sound, dragging her bad mood toward the culprit.
It was the Firekindle’s base.
What were these noisy guys up to?
“Xiaomi, you came at just the right time!”
Kang Jie, face flushed with excitement, pointed at the iron framework behind him.
A steel tower was being hammered into shape, and from the foundation, it looked like the tower was meant to reach the clouds.
Its interwoven lattice structure looked a lot like the Zhujian Xiaomanyao Tower by the Pearl River, with a spacious passageway inside.
“Thanks to you, I achieved the Knight Target on the last mission—over 60% of the Manggu Mountains explorers survived. I got a ton of Points as a reward, so, I’m announcing this.
Project Gaia, also known as the Earth Reconstruction Project, is officially starting—!”
Huh? It’s starting just like that?
“Of course, this is just the initial preparation stage. To be honest, I’ve thought about this for a long time, and finally made a decision that would make my ancestors roll in their graves.” Kang Jie rambled on.
…What?
“Well, to put it simply, according to the Earth Expansion Theory, every celestial body in the Solar System is just a product of a sneeze from the Sun. The Earth is just a fireball sneezed out by the Sun, which later clumped together, cooled, and solidified to become the land we live on.
Of course, we can’t simulate the birth of the Solar System again, and we definitely don’t have trillions of years to wait for molten matter to cool and for orbital gravity to balance. So, we have to give up on that primitive method.
Assuming we have enough Points in the future, the only thing we can do is build Earth bit by bit, just like constructing a building.
This way, we can decide the element ratios ourselves, skip over the entire evolution of life from the Cambrian till now, and we don’t even need cyanobacteria to make oxygen for us.
Of course, this is way harder than building a house.”
“……”
What a naive plan, it’s like a kid playing with building blocks.
“That’s so you—always coming up with wild ideas. Do you think you’re playing a sandbox game or something?” Ah Lei rolled his eyes and poured cold water on the idea.
“Never mind how we’d stack up a ball with a diameter of 12,742 kilometers…
How are you going to solve the orbital revolution problem? Are you going to tie two ropes to it and run around in front?
And how are you going to get the Moon back to restore the tides and Earth’s rotation?
Not to mention the very first step—how are you going to work in space?”
“Haha, I have no idea.” Kang Jie scratched his head and answered confidently, “Maybe we should just build a Dyson Sphere first, that would solve the electricity problem.”
“I think you ate too much crap—your brain is full of unrealistic sci-fi fantasies.” Ah Lei scolded.
…
So…
Wu Xiaomi blinked, pointing at the tower in front of her.
I don’t get it, but what’s this noisy thing for?
“I want to build a tower crane first—a type of crane, but much taller, tall enough to break free of the Milky White World’s gravity. That way, we can work in space.” Kang Jie said proudly.
Sorry, I thought you only had ten years of brain hemorrhage, but now I see I underestimated you.
“Then why don’t you just… hmm…” Ah Lei suggested, “Build a cannon and shoot the materials for Earth into low orbit and let them collide and merge on their own.”
Kang Jie’s eyes lit up: “Great idea! There’s gravity here, so we can make a prototype Earth act as a satellite of the Milky White World—basically, the Moon here. Once the Earth gets big enough, we can break it out of orbit and have it revolve around the Sun…”
“Go for it!”
“Go for it!”
Nope, can’t listen anymore.
Without a real scientist present, these two amateurs were coming up with such naive plans on a whim. Wu Xiaomi didn’t really understand, but still felt… inexplicably annoyed.
She covered her face and hurried away.
Whatever.
At least, they’re not making that tower crane anymore. It was really noisy!
But if they start building a cannon, wouldn’t that be even more…
Hiss——
Better move farther away after all.
……
When she got home, she found Bai Xiaozhi, fully dressed, standing at the door.
Going out?
Where to?
“Go wash up, then come with me to descend.”
“Wha…?”
“I have something to tell you.”
After speaking, Bai Xiaozhi added another sentence.
“It’s very important.”