Chapter 194: A 50-Year Journey
As the battle at the Pluto system ended, the Legion Strike Fleet stayed nearby for a while to deal with the aftermath.
The nest was destroyed, but some pilots were still missing.
Most of the Plagues were annihilated by the fleet’s concentrated attack, but there were some survivors.
The fleet command tried to track them down, but the artificial intelligence sent a message.
「The final mission is over. Glory and honor to you who fought and won against the Plague at the cost of your lives. Now return to Earth and receive the president’s orders. The future is yours.」
The fleet officers were confused.
“Are we supposed to leave the escaped Plagues alone?”
“Is this really okay? Can we just go back to Earth like this?”
The death of the Plague Queen did not mean that all the Plagues were gone.
Hundreds of them fled to Nix without looking back, and Yujin was chasing them with the Settler.
They didn’t know that, so they felt uneasy.
The fleet commander decided after several meetings that there was no reason to stay in this system any longer.
“Our role is over. The Plague is wiped out and there is no trace left. It’s unfortunate that Pluto and Charon were destroyed, but it’s a small price to pay for averting the crisis of humanity.”
“Now we’re going back to Earth. In the meantime, all forces will be able to rest and maintain order.”
The damage to the fleet was considerable, but the joy of finally going home was greater.
But Sonia Lieutenant couldn’t smile.
Yujin Lieutenant was missing in action.
She tried to request and even beg the higher-ups through her squadron leader, but she couldn’t stop the whole fleet from moving.
“You saw it too, right? He killed the Queen. How can we leave him behind?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense…”
“He’s the president’s son. We can search a little more.”
Lieutenant Rogers looked at the calendar with a troubled expression.
They searched for a week, but they couldn’t find any trace of him.
He wanted to search more because he contributed greatly to the destruction of the Plague army, but realistically speaking, the chance of finding him was close to zero percent.
“We can’t do that. The artificial intelligence has set the course for Earth.”
“Is that smart-ass artificial intelligence going to leave the president’s son behind?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, the top brass is on edge right now, so stop pushing it.”
“You seem fine with it.”
“What do you want me to say, after being mobilized for a week for search operations?”
“…”
The problem facing the fleet right now was not a few missing pilots.
It would take at least a few months to get back to Earth without the battleship.
It would be fine if they had communication, but they were completely cut off and didn’t know what was happening in the United Federation of Humanity.
It was strange that orders from artificial intelligence came down regularly.
Anyway, what they had to do now was to return to Earth as soon as possible and assess the situation.
Sonia knew that, but she couldn’t hide her bitter feelings.
She felt like she could find him if she searched a little more…
She avoided people who were talking nonsense and locked herself in her room.
She hadn’t spent much time with Yujin since they met, but she felt like she had lost someone important.
‘Did he really die?’
She regretted it deeply in her heart.
Looking back, she didn’t know why she acted so hostile towards him.
Was it because he was President Yu Ji-ha’s son?
Did she feel like he was taking her place?
‘But I’m not his daughter…’
It was decided from the beginning.
She was just one of many children who inherited Yu Ji-ha’s genes, and nothing more.
She wanted to apologize now, but she couldn’t see him again.
Sonia looked at space through a small window with a heavy heart.
She felt sick thinking that his corpse might be somewhere out there.
She buried her head in her pillow and heard a message alert in her ear.
It was strange because communication with Earth had been cut off for a long time.
Sonia wiped her eyes and opened the message, then gasped.
The sender was Yujin Lieutenant.
She thought it might have been sent before the battle started, but it wasn’t.
The message contained information about Yujin Lieutenant’s identity.
“Could it be…”
She couldn’t believe it.
Yujin Lieutenant, whom she had been looking down on all this time, was actually her father.
He was the strongest psychic who unified humanity and built Megacity.
It sounded like nonsense, but there was undeniable evidence in it.
―When I first met you at Trotsky Orphanage, I wondered how you could be so skinny. You had no charm and I thought you were a boy.
“…”
Sonia’s hand trembled as she touched the screen.
Only Yu Ji-ha President could remember this.
―I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you until the end. I have a lot of things to do, even if I look like a loser. But we ate and trained together, so I did my fatherly duty, right?
“Dad…”
She stroked the screen.
She didn’t know how he changed his body, but he was a peculiar person, so she accepted it.
What mattered more was that she was finally recognized as his daughter.
―You grew up strong without me, so you’ll be fine in the future. If you have no way to make a living, go to Baek Seong-min. He’ll help you find a job or something.
―Anyway, take care and be well. I hope to see you again someday.
Would that day come?
According to the message, he was about to leave for a very far place.
She didn’t know where it was, but it was probably not in this universe where the solar system was.
Sonia silently swallowed her tears and smiled faintly.
She felt like she had let go of something heavy in her chest.
She took out her wallet and threw away Yu Ji-ha’s face and pasted Yujin Lieutenant’s face from a photo taken with other pilots.
This was probably his original face.
“See you later, dad.”
Sonia decided to wait.
For the day when he would return to Earth.
***
Nix, the ninth planet of the solar system.
The Settler arrived at the dark rocky planet.
The hull was intact, but the only passenger was not in good condition.
He was injured while fighting the Plague squadrons that scattered in all directions when the nest was destroyed.
He couldn’t tolerate even one Plague, so he hunted them down with all his might.
A month had passed since then, and the plague was nowhere to be found in the solar system.
“Gravity brake, maximum deceleration.”
As the Settler stopped completely, Arma went into the medical room and woke up Yujin, or rather, Yu Ji-ha.
“Master, it’s time to wake up.”
“…”
He blinked his eyes and barely got up.
“I’m dying… Where are we now?”
“We’re at Nox. We’ll go through the warp gate with your permission.”
His duty and responsibility were over.
The Plague Queen was dead, and the plague was completely gone from the solar system.
He had handed over all the power he had in the United Federation to people like Bae Seong-min.
They had been at the center of power for a while, so they would do well on their own.
There would be conflicts and strife, but that was not necessarily bad.
The fight of humanity began when a monkey hit another monkey on the back of the head when there was not enough food.
Now that the plague, a disaster, was gone, humanity would be able to walk into the future.
Yu Ji-ha was satisfied with that alone.
“Everything is over…”
“You’ve worked really hard, Master.”
A smile appeared on his lips, and he suddenly hugged Arma.
She quietly snuggled up to him and whispered.
“I’m always ready to comfort you, Master, but considering your physical condition, you might want to hold back a little…”
“No, I didn’t mean that. I just wanted to say thank you for everything.”
“It’s my duty and pleasure to serve you, Master.”
“I appreciate that. Anyway, all we have left is to go in there.”
He didn’t know what would happen inside, so he had to make his body as good as possible.
He went into the biobag and received treatment, then received a report on the situation of the United Federation.
“The new administration is being formed under the leadership of Congressman Bae Seong-min and Congressman Bernstein. The existing government collapsed in less than a month, and the leaders were imprisoned.”
“What about the body I used?”
“Congressman Bae Seong-min secured it and seems to bury it in the national cemetery.”
“Just burn it, why bother…”
Even if it wasn’t the real body of the president, he would have wanted to show some respect for having spent a long time together.
Yu Ji-ha also expressed his gratitude to that body briefly.
It had suffered a lot from being kidnapped and pretending to be dead, so it deserved a good rest.
“What happened to the legion strike fleet?”
“They are passing through Neptune’s orbit. The remaining power is about 60%.”
“They survived quite a lot…”
Their role became more important from now on.
As they had the largest power, if they raised their flag against Bae Seong-min, the United Federation would be split in two.
Of course, Arma must have prepared enough for that, so he didn’t have to worry.
They were so used to following orders that they had a low chance of dreaming of something like a coup d’etat.
Yu Ji-ha sent a dull consolation to Bae Seong-min, who was in charge of managing all that.
“It’s going to be much harder than me.”
“They say dealing with humans is the hardest thing.”
“That’s not wrong. I wasn’t confident in that area either, so I left it to you.”
He was a soldier at heart, so he wasn’t very friendly with compromise or persuasion.
Anyway, Bae Seong-min, who had wanted to retire, was dragged out and forced to perform presidential duties.
For a while, people wouldn’t let him go even if he wanted to retire.
“So all we have left is to go through the warp gate…”
“According to the data from 22 years ago, there is a high probability that the gate will close as soon as you pass through.”
“That means I can’t come back.”
“Probably.”
The reason why Arma answered vaguely was because she didn’t know either.
It was a completely different universe.
How could she know what was inside or what would happen?
The long time of 50 years one way added more uncertainty.
There were a few more ships in the pioneer fleet besides Settler, such as cargo ships, but they couldn’t guarantee survival either.
But he had to go anyway.
Yu Ji-ha shook off his anxiety in his heart as hard as he could.
It was better than when he tried to die and go back to Earth 22 years ago, wasn’t it?
His body was fine and Settler and the pioneer fleet were well prepared.
If nothing big happened, they could endure 50 years well enough.
“I guess there’s nothing more I can do but die if it comes to worst.”
“I’ll help you so that doesn’t happen.”
“Thanks. Let’s go then.”
“Yes.”
“Pioneer fleet, departing.”
The pioneer fleet, consisting of Settler and cargo ships, mining ships, and so on, passed through the warp gate in unison.
Yu Ji-ha stared at the golden light that engulfed him.
A new universe welcomed him.
***
There was nothing special about the new universe.
Arma said that the coordinate system didn’t work, but he would have mistaken it for somewhere in the solar system if she hadn’t.
Settler led the pioneer fleet through space at 10% of the speed of light.
Yu Ji-ha was able to rest without doing anything for a long time.
That’s not to say he didn’t do anything at all.
He was organizing his records and thought about the attack that pierced the Plague Queen.
“I’m pretty sure I was trying to shoot a laser, but some weird lump came out.”
“It looks like a sword in its overall shape. How about naming it Ether Blade?”
“Not bad.”
But he had no idea how it worked.
He only remembered being engulfed in pain as if his body was burning.
He tried to reproduce it, but he couldn’t abuse the fusion reactor here, so he gave up.
Yu Ji-ha sat on the admiral’s seat and watched the space for a long time.
“By the way, ever since I came here, my right chest feels tingling.”
It was right where the ether circuit was.
“There is nothing wrong with your nervous system, but do you want me to do a phantom pain check?”
“It would have been cured by the biobag if there was anything. I guess this is normal.”
“Maybe it’s a sign that there is a lot of ether in the prophet’s universe. Your body can’t adapt and shows it as pain.”
“That could be true.”
Anyway, Settler was leading the pioneer fleet along the route.
It took such a long time that Yu Ji-ha had to repeat low-temperature sleep and activity.
It was a lonely environment with no one to talk to but Arma, but he surprisingly endured well.
Among the supplies, there were various contents from Earth, and he enjoyed them so much that he didn’t feel bored for several years.
It was also fun to learn various disciplines that he had neglected.
Arma insisted that Yu Ji-ha should have at least some knowledge in case the power of the pioneer fleet was shut down.
“Of course, I’ll always be by your side, Master, but there might be unavoidable circumstances.”
He couldn’t argue with that, so he started studying from the basics.
Arma was a great teacher who had patience and kindness, so he acquired knowledge of various subjects such as mathematics, electricity, and electronics.
Of course, Yu Ji-ha was a soldier, not a born scientist.
There was a limit to his brain activity, and sometimes he got so annoyed that he threw the book away.
“Damn, it feels like I’m getting a huge update from the 21st century scientists who injected black metal and ether.”
“You’ve only learned the tip of the iceberg, Master. You have to study for at least five more years.”
“…And even then, I’ll only know a fraction of it, right?”
“Yes. The next thing you’ll learn is orbital mechanics, and your assignment will be to calculate the barycenter of Pluto and Charon that were blown up.”
It was like a mountain beyond a mountain for Yu Ji-ha.
He couldn’t run away, so he had to do the assignments that Arma gave him without any complaints.
He wasn’t that bad at it, and after a while he was able to answer Arma’s questions quickly.
Of course, the world of science was endless, so if he raised the difficulty level a little bit, he would immediately shut his mouth.
Fortunately, Arma didn’t seem to want to make him the best scientist.
She judged that he had reached a reasonable level and changed the subject or gave him a break so that he wouldn’t get overloaded.
Meanwhile, as time went by, Yu Ji-ha felt something moving inside his body.
At first, it was just a tingling sensation in his right chest where the ether circuit was, but it spread throughout his body.
“I’ll do a thorough examination.”
“There probably won’t be anything.”
He underwent a rigorous examination through the biobag, but it was clean as he said.
“Maybe you’re starting to feel ether directly, Master.”
“Yeah, this is the prophet’s homeland after all. Nothing is strange here.”
It seemed no different from the original universe, but you never know what will happen in this world.
On the other hand, as the pioneer fleet approached its destination, the dreams that Yu Ji-ha had became more concrete.
They were so detailed and vivid that he sometimes confused them with reality.
He once flew in the sky and was caught by an elf slave trader and treated as a slave until he barely woke up.
“Why do elves hate and despise other races so much?”
“There are many causes of conflict, but statistics say that most of them are food fights.”
That might be true except for ideology.
As long as they were born in the material world, living beings had to struggle with limited resources.
No matter how they wrapped it up, if they looked into their hearts, the truth of food fights would pop out.
The fight between humans and plague seemed to be a bit different though.
Anyway, from Yu Ji-ha’s point of view, the elves in his dreams oppressed other races as if they were enemies.
They drove out the natives from the occupied lands and enslaved them.
Massacring civilians was also their basic skill.
“They seem to have a long history of hatred over there.”
“It’s probably less dirty than what humanity has built up.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Yu Ji-ha originally thought that the world of his dreams had nothing to do with him.
But as the pioneer fleet continued its voyage, he couldn’t shake off the suspicion that where the elves were was his destination.
“I dream about them so often that I can’t help but doubt it.”
“The elves described in the books you brought are mostly good-natured, but those elves seem to be different.”
Actually, Yu Ji-ha dreamed intensively about elves, but other races were not fine either.
Especially humans were horribly treated by elves while they couldn’t unite and fought among themselves.
They probably had their own history of conflict too…
Anyway, the pioneer fleet was sailing through space without any trouble.
Since Yu Ji-ha was the only human being on board, food was plentiful and even water overflowed.
He replenished the amount he consumed by meeting an ice planet in the middle of his voyage and then had enough water to make a swimming pool.
Arma conducted a thorough inspection and decided that it could be used as drinking water after purification.
Yu Ji-ha examined the route map to the prophet’s homeland in detail.
“These dots are where we can get supplies.”
“If blue dots are ice, maybe red dots mean we can get food?”
“That’s possible.”
But the entire route map was not filled with sweet and honey places.
There were many places that required caution in between.
He thought they were asteroid belts when he found the route map, but not now.
Yu Ji-ha muttered as he looked at the skull marks.
“I hope there’s no plague here either.”
He had a bad feeling.
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