Chapter One: An Unusual Change in Ordinary Days

The morning light of 3529 flowed like liquid platinum, snaking down the radiation-shielded coating of the spacecraft's porthole and pooling into fine, shimmering specks on Lin Yu’s console.

His fingers, encased in quantum-interference-proof gloves, tapped rhythmically against the holographic control panel. The familiar chirping sounds resonated subtly with his heartbeat, and the delivery manifest floating on his retina vanished line by line.

As a Class-D courier certified by the Space-Time Administration, the coordinates—interwoven from Greek letters and star map symbols—had long since become as ingrained in his mind as city streets, unfolding into a precise navigation network. Each coordinate point felt like a station in his career, carrying the memories of countless transits.

"Mission 37, cargo locked. Preparing to enter the space-time rift." Lin Yu issued the command to the AI terminal hovering in the center of the cockpit, his metallic Adam's apple bobbing slightly beneath his high-collared uniform. The space-time jump device at the base of the ship began to hum. Outside the porthole, the stars suddenly twisted into the shape of a Klein bottle, and a dark blue vortex opened slowly, like the pupil of a mythical beast.

He instinctively tightened his grip on the neural control stick. The cold sweat seeping from his nano-combat suit evaporated into white mist under the constant-temperature system. At this moment, his gaze was focused and vigilant, as if waiting for an unknown challenge. Images of past missions flashed through his mind; those successful ventures gave him confidence, yet they also made him more cautious, for he knew well that in space-time travel, even the slightest error could lead to catastrophic consequences.

The anomaly occurred in the seventh second of the transit. The stable, dark blue radiance was suddenly disturbed, as if a stone had been dropped into a lake, sending out countless black ripples. Before Lin Yu could react, the entire ship was gripped by an invisible, immense force. Amidst violent tremors, his temple struck the tactical visor hard, and the protective faceplate shattered into a spiderweb of cracks.

"Warning! Warning! Space-time fluctuations exceed safety thresholds! Navigation system core module failure!"

The AI’s shrill electronic voice, mixed with the groaning of twisting metal structures, created a teeth-grinding resonance within the cramped cabin. The lights began to flicker erratically, and various warning indicators pulsed madly, as if portending a disaster.

Lin Yu felt his internal organs churning as if thrown into a blender. Relying on the muscle memory formed from ten years of travel, he fumbled to grab the emergency handrail, his knuckles turning white from the strain. The data stream on the dashboard dissolved into chaotic, leaping gibberish. In the red glow of the backup power activation, he saw his own shadow cast against the cabin wall, twisting into grotesque shapes along with the out-of-control ship.

Torn by the space-time turbulence, the ship was like a withered leaf in a hurricane, its exhaust plume leaving a fragmented trail of light behind it as it plummeted toward the unknown. He could clearly feel the ship struggling against the turbulence, its metal structure emitting agonizing shrieks of failure. He attempted to regain control, but every action was like throwing a stone into the sea—utterly futile.

A sense of unease welled up within him, but years of training allowed him to calm down quickly and begin devising a plan.

When the fluctuations finally subsided, Lin Yu’s bloodshot eyes caught the silhouette of a dark red planet ahead. The flames generated by atmospheric friction licked at the porthole. He tremblingly entered the emergency landing command, digging his fingernails into his palms to stay conscious.

The landscape below magnified rapidly on his retina—jagged, dark red rocks like solidified waves of magma; twisted vegetation radiating an eerie fluorescence, appearing and disappearing in the incessant quantum winds.

The shapes of those plants were bizarre, as if they were creatures not belonging to this universe. As the quantum winds blew, their forms shifted constantly, sending a chill down his spine.

"Boom!" With the sound of tearing metal, the ship plowed a hundred-meter-long trench into the rocky shore. Lin Yu was flung violently against the console by inertia. The sound of his helmet colliding with the metal exploded in his ears, and the world plunged into a brief void. As his consciousness slowly returned, the automatic cabin door rose slowly. A pungent smell of sulfur mixed with ozone rushed in. He stumbled out, clutching the warped door frame. The scene before him made his breath hitch: in the violet sky, two suns of different sizes were performing an eerie revolution, the light they cast cutting the ground into a checkered pattern of light and shadow.

A group of floating rocks suddenly began to move erratically; one of them grazed his hair, leaving behind a fleeting ripple in space-time. Standing on this alien land, feeling the strange environment around him, he was filled with doubt and fear. Everything here exceeded his understanding; he did not know where he was or how to return to the normal space-time track.

Lin Yu tore off his damaged visor, gasping for air as he fumbled for the quantum communicator at his waist, the metal casing feeling cool in his palm. However, the screen remained pitch black. Only the low-frequency humming emitted by the planet in the background—like the heartbeat of some ancient beast—struck his eardrums with every pulse.

He gazed at the shifting, twisted vegetation in the distance and suddenly realized that he had not only deviated from his course but had stumbled into a forbidden land not even recorded on the Space-Time Administration’s star maps. A sense of despair surged in his heart, but it was quickly replaced by the instinct to survive. He knew he had to find a way to leave this place as soon as possible, or unknown dangers would await him. He began to search for clues around the ship, hoping to discover something useful to help him escape his predicament.