My portable grandfather refreshes every week

Only one starship remains that can be contacted...

Today is a sacred day, commemorating the founding of the Global United Front, and also a day to remember them for uniting, working together, and jointly addressing the Great Void.

But now, on this sacred day, not a single one of the higher-ups can smile.

Tens of thousands of starships were launched a few days ago, but so far, only one can still be contacted.

They had made preparations for the most saturated support, but the mortality rate far exceeded anyone's expectations.

"Chief, we've just received news..."

The intelligence officer was covered in sweat, his hands were trembling involuntarily, and sweat had already run into his eyes, but he dared not blink.

"Tell me..."

"The last ship we could contact, the Fireseed..."

"Out of contact..."

Silence, a deathly silence. The entire high command of the United Front seemed to have had their last strength drained away as they stared at the visibly expanding void, utterly speechless.

Tens of thousands of expedition members have all gone missing so far.

For those frontline personnel who risked their lives to pave a path around the Great Hollow, losing contact meant death!

They weren't the kind of people who would utter nonsensical statements like, "All you have to do on the front lines is bravely advance, while there's a lot more to consider at the rear." They understood that whether it was the expeditionary force or the pioneering group that left coordinates in billions of star systems, they all genuinely wanted to risk their lives for a future.

A vague and uncertain future that may never even exist.

Perhaps many people share this mentality: since the vast void of the universe is destined to destroy us, then we will not allow it!
Over the centuries, expeditions have sailed their starships toward the Great Void, and genius after genius have devoted all their knowledge, even allowing themselves to be corrupted by magic, to bring the United Front one step closer to the truth of magic in their final moments before death.

Everyone is having a dream, a vague and unreal dream of conquering the vast emptiness of the universe...

In the dreamlike future, no one needs to face the threat of the vast void of the universe or the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. All races help each other, show compassion for the weak, and no one will be troubled by race; everyone can become friends.

But now, the dream is over.

Tens of thousands of starships, none survived.

“Let’s continue the holy day prayers.” The leader spoke quietly, as if he had let go of everything. “If any of the lost teams succeed, then our prayers will be their last. If everyone fails…”

"That was the final swan song of all our civilizations..."

"Starting today, everyone is on holiday, everyone..."

"Let us pray for those who are lost in the great void!"

……

At the site of the 11th Expedition's crash, Ishan painstakingly found the last spark of life.

However, that is enough. The martyrs didn't have many embers left, and if nothing unexpected happened, these embers would be enough for the ship to finally reach its destination.

Even this time, Ishan couldn't find the logbook of Expedition 11. Their starship had been decomposed by the frozen alkylhydrogen, and if the spark hadn't been well protected, the last spark might have been melted as well.

“Let’s set off,” his voice was hoarse but left no room for argument, “only the final step remains…”

"Beyond the wreckage of Expedition 12, we've reached our destination..."

Most of the starship was left forever near the Pantheon of Expedition 9. Now, the three of them could only carry the tree seed, whose success was uncertain, and sail towards the unknown future by the bow of the ship.

I wonder if it's because time loses its meaning here.

Soon, they arrived at the wreckage of Expedition 12, but this time they didn't intend to linger, because the Fireseed had already reached its destination, and...

Just one last step...

No matter who it was, even the most carefree orc engineer, he gripped the clay amulet tightly in his hand and began performing a primitive ritual belonging to his tribe.

Or perhaps it's an ancient form of blessing...

The last transport plane had also been scrapped earlier, so their final step could only rely on the bow of the ship itself.

There were also a few emergency ejection pods, but those things were jokingly referred to as ejection coffins during their previous training.

They either have to rely on luck, or they will traverse unknown areas, leaving behind their remains. If later travelers see their remains, they will bypass them and go on to a more distant path.

If there are successors...

Perhaps they all have this thought in their minds now.

Although they don't know the truth, in this despair, perhaps this kind of Ah Q-like thinking can bring them a glimmer of hope.

"There seems to be a problem with the turbine at the bow. I'll go check it out. After all, the seeds of our predecessors aren't perfectly compatible with our ship's hull," Engineer Locke said, heading towards the turbine to inspect it.

Ishan nodded. He now seemed to have completely taken over the responsibilities of the captain, and carried the Domini tree seed with him at all times.

Every time she looked at the tree seedlings, Ishan would talk to herself.

"Domini, I'm already feeling noticeably unwell. It seems your ability to absorb magic essence isn't very good either. This tree seed is emitting magic essence almost every moment..."

"But it seems to be absorbing magical energy from the void as well, so there's actually no loss in the process..."

Ishan was probably talking to herself again.

"With this much magic power, I don't think I'll live much longer..." Ishan continued to mutter to herself as she looked at the tree seed.

“Yes, you can only live for one more day at most. For races that have never come into contact with spirit particles, even spirit particles, which are precious to humans, are highly poisonous,” Xue Dinglu said.

“So that’s how it is. From now on, you will call the magic element ‘spirit child’... I understand, I’m gradually understanding everything…” Ishan hugged the tree seed, seemingly talking to herself, saying things that left the navigator completely baffled.

"Ishan, Vice-Captain?" The navigator looked at the vice-captain, who seemed to be delirious, but for some reason, she felt that Ishan was not crazy. On the contrary, he seemed to be communicating with the tree seed left by Captain Domini in his hand.

Perhaps, I'm going crazy...

She thought so.

The bow of the ship was incredibly close to the final planet. They didn't need to do anything now; they just needed to be captured by the gravity of this final planet, land safely, plant the trees on the ground, and that would complete their final mission.

All three of them knew that they could not go back. The ship's bow, which relied on the fire of their predecessors to fly, was riddled with holes and had been burned to ashes.

They had no chance of returning.

So now, only the final goal remains: to reach the final destination, the planet codenamed "Altar".

It is also the planet closest to the Great Hollow.

"Buzz!"

The turbine's propulsion seemed to have slowed down considerably; all they had to do now was be captured by gravity, and once they were captured, their mission would essentially be complete.

They could easily sit in this observation room, open champagne and wine, and watch the flames ignited on the planet's surface by friction against the bow of the ship, as it drew ever closer to the earth until it made complete contact with it.

They can then become one with the land here.

Then we await the Magic Beacon, which will unleash its brilliance here, capable of resolving the vast void of the universe.

But they will never see that moment.

Even now, the orc engineers had taken out their last bottles of wine, opened them, and started drinking them one after another, gazing at the seemingly approaching planet covered in extreme ice.

"We succeeded!" he laughed, downing his drink in one gulp.

"It's no longer dawn is approaching, it's dawn has arrived!" He laughed wildly and cried as he downed bottle after bottle of liquor, watching as the starship seemed to begin to rub against each other, and the temperature of the hull gradually rose.

Perhaps he had been suppressing it for a long time, and it's just erupting now.

"No, wait, something's wrong!" The navigator had just downed half a glass of wine when, to her horror, she discovered that although the starship appeared to have been captured by gravity, for some reason, the bow, having lost speed, wasn't plummeting straight down; instead…

Gradually move away!

"You were not captured by the planet, but rather, at this distance, you have entered the gravitational pull of the Great Void, and you have been captured by the Great Void..." Xue's words rang out.

Ishan jerked to her feet, clutching the tree seed tightly, and roared, "We weren't captured by the altar, we were drawn to the Great Void!" The next moment, the engine emitted a mournful wail of overload, the data on the dashboard jumped wildly, and the ship's structure began to groan.

The orc engineer sobered up immediately and rushed to the control panel. However, no matter how he tried to restart the turbine, the extinguished flames could not provide much power. Despite smashing sparks on the control panel with his hands, it was to no avail.

At that moment, the orc engineer roared, "Vice-Captain, Avril! Run! Run with the beacon! And the last emergency ejection pod!"

"you……"

"There's no time to explain. Get into the ejection pods now, and I'll take control and launch you onto the altar!"

"Come on!"

The enraged orc ripped open the hatch and went up to the last ejection pod.

This was originally intended as a device for people on a starship to eject and escape in an emergency, but now they have lost all their vehicles.

The starship was destroyed, all the transport planes were lost, and even the last embers on the bow had burned out. The only thing he could think of was the ejection pod used for escape.

Although, during their training, this ejection pod was jokingly referred to as the "ejection coffin".

They have no time to hesitate, no time to fuss. At this moment, even a second of fussing could ruin everything.

Ishan and Avril walked toward the ejection pod, a single-person ejection device that could only be used by one person and was often used for targeted ejection from space to Earth.

However, this is now the last bit of kinetic energy they can use.

"Security restrictions have been lifted, and the self-destruct sequence has been initiated..."

"59 seconds remaining until self-destruction..."

"58"

"57"

……

"Wait, Orc Locke, what are you doing!" Ishan, who was secured to the ejection device with a safety rope, frantically pounded on the hatch.

"Vice-captain, don't we still have our last bit of motivation?" The burly orc grinned as he looked at his two teammates who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him until now, both of whom were now completely secured by the safety straps of the ejection device.

"29"

"28"

"27"

"26"

……

"Locke, you can't do this! There's still the last ejection device, hurry!" Ishan pounded her fist on the hatch, but outside, the orc engineer was elegantly pouring herself a glass of wine, instead of gulping it down like before.

He could only see Ishan and Avril banging on the door, but he couldn't hear anything; all he could hear was the countdown to self-destruction.

"I've calculated that if we eject in the last 12 seconds, the impact of the explosion at the bow will generate the final thrust. Perhaps that little bit of thrust is all it takes to escape the suction of the large cavity..."

"18"

"17"

……

He downed the drink in his glass, smiled, and pressed the eject button.

"Buzz!"

The mechanical structure quickly entered the energy storage device, and in the next instant, it burst forth with a force far exceeding what Ishan had imagined during training.

The ejection bay entered the trajectory rapidly, like a cannonball being fired, and began to accelerate sharply.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Farewell, everyone. Our final adventure together was truly enjoyable." This burly orc seemed to utter the most poetic sentence of his life.

It was something he had thought about for so many days, and it was the last thing he wanted to say before he died.

It's a pity that no one can hear it.

"boom!"

The violent explosion engulfed the entire starship, and the blazing fire wave relentlessly chased the ejection pod in orbit, launching it as if it were a cannonball.

"Buzz!"

The ejection's potential energy and the force of the explosion propelled the ejection chamber out in an instant. Amidst the flames, Ishan clung tightly to the tree seed in her hands.

"Bang!" A violent impact slammed into Ishan's ejection pod. In his puzzled gaze, he saw Avril's ejection pod, pressed firmly against his rear.

At the same time, this reasoning from the rear impact pushed the engine power far beyond its design limits.

"Avril—!" Ishan's scream was cut off inside the sealed command cabin.

"Vice Captain, bring the Captain's tree seed..."

Let's move forward one last time!

He could only watch helplessly as Avril's main cabin, like a shooting star against the current, gradually lost its last bit of momentum and drifted away from the journey to the altar.

Finally, in the moment of separation, he seemed to see the woman of his own kind...

She is smiling...

"You can definitely do it..."

That's what she seemed to be lip-syncing to.

Then, the tiny ejection pod gradually disappeared from sight.

Scenes flashed before my eyes.

She was the only person of her own kind in the whole team, and every time her daughter came, she would happily take little Fug to play.

On one occasion, she even asked her daughter, "Does little Fouge still want a mother?"

……

Ishan's ejection pod spun and glided helplessly in space...

The final kinetic energy from the impact completely captured the altar's gravity, and in the limited atmosphere, it rubbed the ship's surface to create intense flames, like fireflies streaking across the night sky.

"boom!"

The ejection pod slammed into the surface of the frozen planet, the hatch shattered, and Ishan stumbled out.

Looking around, he saw only one person on the desolate, frozen land, standing alone on this lonely ice field made up of countless corpses.

He was the only one left in the thirteenth expedition.

He clutched two things tightly in his hands: the last tree seed Domini had left behind, and his daughter's amulet, which was already soaked with his sweat.

He didn't know whether he was crying or laughing. His tears turned into ice crystals as soon as they formed. He walked across the ice field, and the extreme cold and storm seemed to be about to completely engulf him.

"Old friends...and my dear daughter..."

"Let's go home..." (End of Chapter)