As Angye turned to beckon the two leaders at the head of the room, Lei Ting felt a strange sense that the man had been on a completely different wavelength during their conversation.
Though his goal had been to mislead the man, it felt as if Angye’s imagination had wandered off to some very peculiar places...
Regardless, the focus wasn't Angye, but the Speaker.
...
Twenty minutes later, Lei Ting followed the "decision-makers" to an ordinary lounge tucked away in a corner of the Parliament complex.
The lounge was truly unremarkable, identical to any other lounge in the vicinity, even down to its low-level access requirements.
However, Lei Ting sensed a massive amount of metal from a distance. It was concentrated within the walls and floor of the room, with an entire small-scale field generator situated beneath it. As he stood there in person, a surreal sense of "isolation from the world" became particularly pronounced.
"Make yourself at home." Mila, the Speaker’s assistant, smiled and flopped into a sofa—being here seemed to put her at ease. "We’ve submitted the application. The Speaker will be with us shortly."
Lei Ting did not decline, sitting directly on a sofa, as did Angye and Yongdai’er.
"I didn't expect to see the Speaker again so soon," Yongdai’er said softly. "The last time was over a decade ago..."
"Spoken like a man who’s only a hundred and fifty years old," Angye remarked with mock admiration. "By ordinary standards, you’d already be considered elderly, wouldn't you?"
"..." Lei Ting glanced at the speechless Yongdai’er, sensing that the man had likely wanted to punch Angye for a long time.
Speaking of which, Angye had been discovered and mentored by Yongdai’er, yet he had later joined a different faction and now spent his days seemingly dedicated to aggravating his former teacher to death. He was truly a disciple of iron-willed rebellion.
Given the philosophy of "a teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime," this scene was a riot of "filial" irony.
"He does count as 'elderly'..." Mila said. "...by the standards of an ordinary human lifespan."
Lei Ting’s eyes snapped toward her. Her sentence was split into two parts: the first half was her own cheerful, young female voice; the second half... was a surreal, ethereal, and tranquil voice, impossible to distinguish as male or female, young or old. Furthermore, she was speaking the first-generation Universal Orion Human language from the "New Solar System" era.
Aside from the language being archaic in both grammar and accent, Lei Ting had sensed this type of voice from one other person—
The "Principal."
However, the Principal’s voice was clearly a layering of many people, whereas "Mila’s" current voice made it impossible to tell if it was a fusion of many or if it truly belonged to a single individual.
But he did not see Mila. Sitting in her place was a white-robed figure wearing a golden laurel crown, just like in the archival footage. The moment he saw the figure, a realization dawned in Lei Ting’s heart: this was the Speaker.
The "Speaker of the Human Federation."
"Good evening..." The Speaker’s ethereal voice greeted them, carrying a strange sense of detachment from reality.
At that moment, the field generator buried beneath the room began to hum. The metallic instruments embedded in all directions projected a force field. Even the ceiling, which lacked buried instruments, was not without its seals—as a faint blue light emerged from the walls and floor, the ceiling suddenly turned pitch black, masking the glow.
In an instant, night fell.
A faint scent of tea permeated the air—bitter, fragrant, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. It carried an ancient quality, as if from a time before repeated selective breeding and iteration. Amidst this aroma, Lei Ting saw a lounge belonging to the era before 3000 AD.
Or rather, the ruins of a lounge.
There was no ceiling; one could see the starry sky by looking up. Yet the ruined walls still retained intact doors and windows, made of cold, rusted iron or warm-textured wood... Mottled marks on the red carpet told of what had once transpired here. The window frames rattled as a great wind blew outside, and heavy snow pelted the glass, spreading a pervasive chill.
Everything had changed. They were no longer in the Human Federation Parliament lounge four thousand years in the future, but...
But in a reception room for the New Solar System Security Zone administrators between 2908 and 2990 AD, just like the photos in history books.
One that didn't look particularly secure.
Lei Ting was confused for a split second as to why he could see the stars while it was snowing outside, then he suddenly realized: this wasn't an illusion, but a physical reality.
Through his self-exploration over the past few years, Lei Ting had determined that the essence of "Stillness" was a neutralizing force that could take effect on all levels. It could isolate space and block all external interference, whether energy, matter, or spirit.
However... while called a "neutralizing force," it wasn't actually a defense. It was an aggression so extremely powerful that it could counter anything, epitomizing the phrase "the best defense is a good offense."
With such aggression present, his perception could not be influenced by any external force. Any spiritual influence attempted on him would be, to put it simply, like an egg hitting a rock, or a candle trying to outshine the sun.
Therefore, the scent of tea was real, the red carpet was real, and the ancient room was real. Even the starry sky beyond the ceiling was different from what could be seen from the Federation’s capital planet.
But this didn't mean they had returned to the New Solar System of over a thousand years ago—if that were truly possible, the time jump would be equivalent to going from the "modern era" to the Northern Song Dynasty in an instant. The energy required for such a feat would be unimaginably vast.
"You have come. Since nine years ago... or perhaps I should say, you have awakened?" the Speaker said softly. "The slip of paper has finally begun to turn..."
Angye and Yongdai’er quietly stood up and vanished from this physically existing space.
Lei Ting’s brow furrowed beneath his visor. He didn't understand what the Speaker meant—his emotional perception had failed, just as the other party surely couldn't perceive his emotions either.
In his sensing, there was no "Speaker" sitting there. What he perceived couldn't even be called a life form or an intelligent being.
It was a statue.
It contained "Mila" within it; she was the reason it could move.
"Ah, you are silent... My time is short, and it is difficult to explain all of this..." the Speaker murmured. "How many years have passed? I do not know. Do you?"
"It is currently 4005 AD," Lei Ting answered.
"So distant, then." The Speaker’s words were cryptic.
Lei Ting frowned at the figure, sincerely feeling that this person’s mental state was worse than a "Double-S" ranker. "...What do you mean? Can you be a bit clearer?"
The Speaker softly repeated the word: "'Clear'?"
"It is already very clear..." he said. "Solar Star, I have known of you for a long time. Many years ago..."
"..."
Lei Ting’s breath hitched.
"Known of him for a long time"? "Many years ago"?
...What did that mean?
"I saw you ten years ago," the Speaker’s surreal, blurred voice whispered. "We all saw you."
"What exactly does this mean? Please speak plainly," Lei Ting said, no longer wishing to hear riddles. "What do you mean by 'saw me ten years ago'? I don't recall meeting anyone as memorable as you... And do you know about the 'Archaism' trend spreading through the Federation?"
"Ah..."
The Speaker pondered these two questions for a long time. During this period, he—or she? Forget it, he would use "He" as he did for the Principal—He remained silent.
Lei Ting did not rush Him; he rarely rushed anyone. Amidst the starlight, snow, and tea scent, he simply picked up a teacup that had appeared on the table along with this physical space. He didn't try to drink it, but instead carefully observed the color of the clear tea, confirming it was indeed a cup of tea. A tea entirely different from those in interstellar society.
...What was going on? It wasn't that space-type abilities had never appeared in history, but such a bizarre situation was truly rare...
For once, Lei Ting felt a bit apprehensive, but he showed nothing. It wasn't until a long while later that the Speaker, who had remained as still as a statue, finally spoke: "I saw 'Solar Star,' or... Lei Ting, in the year 2930."
Oh, so He really did see—
...
Wait.
What?!
Lei Ting stared sharply at the Speaker—2930 AD?!
That single sentence revealed two pieces of information.
First, to the Speaker, "Solar Star" had appeared at the time point of "2930 AD."
Second, the Speaker believed that the time He was speaking these words was "2940 AD"!
"I have never spoken of this fact to anyone—it is different now. I must tell you, I am indeed conversing with you. You may call me the 'Speaker,' or you may call me 'Mirar.'
"Before you even entered this room, you should have seen 'me'—if nothing has gone wrong, the 'me' of 4000 AD is long dead. The concepts related to the first generation of super-warriors, centered on the spirits of myself and my comrades, have converged into an energy entity within the 'Spirit Depths.' Of course, by your time’s terminology, it should be called a 'Super-Entity' or a 'Guardian.'"
The Speaker spoke a long string of words at once. He seemed to have organized His thoughts just now, so He didn't need to think further.
"The 'Speaker' before you is merely a gramophone—ha, that’s a rather vintage metaphor. In short, everything you hear now is a recording. It is a greeting sent to you by 30th-century humanity from the New Solar System. Aside from me, who is responsible for speaking, there are over a hundred people in this room... Don't read the list? Too much trouble and a waste of time? It doesn't matter if future people remember us, just let me get to the point? Fine... Anyway, sigh, 'Solar Star,' 'Archaism' and all that... don't worry about it.
"Just like the concept of 'humanity,' some things must be passed down into the future so that we, on this side of time, can see the light you emit..."
***
