Getting a close look at the wormhole felt even more surreal. Right in front of An Rong was the massive wormhole entrance—it really did look like a lake. But she knew the rippling waves were just the result of refracted energy light. She reached out, and her spacesuit passed through with no resistance.
There was no chill like water, no sensation at all. As expected, the "lake" was just a refraction of light. An Rong then unhooked a glass vial from her suit. Even though it was just light, the energy here was real. She wanted to collect a sample to study.
Two other scientists were also busy, one scanning for radiation, the other measuring energy levels. They were fully focused. Meanwhile, most of the others were spinning around helplessly in space, totally out of control. Some of them looked like they were about to throw up. Before they could, Liu A'dou kindly teleported them back to Bunny.
Their first EVA went smoothly—no trouble at all.
"Dr. An, I respect your thorough approach. If you can keep this up, I think our collaboration will go smoothly," Liu A'dou said.
An Rong had no time for small talk. She dove straight into research.
'Total workaholic,' Liu A'dou thought, saying nothing else. He flew back to Earth on his own. He needed to check in with the general—see if China needed him to do anything.
The moment he turned on his phone, a call from Chu Yuxuan came in. He was relaying orders from the general. Two things. First, protect An Rong. Second, they were about to launch a second nuclear-pulse spacecraft through the wormhole and hoped A'dou would join the expedition.
Looks like the United Nations had finally made a decision. They'd already notified Superman. The expedition would begin once the second spacecraft arrived at the wormhole—ETA: 34 days.
In just half a year, China had already built a second, larger, more advanced spacecraft than Wugang-class. It wasn't under the Defense Bureau, though. It was strictly China's. China would lead this mission and had invited a few other countries to join. It was still a state-level operation, and while it wasn't directly tied to the United Nations, UN approval was essential—they couldn't bypass it.
The Defense Bureau wasn't dominated by China, but the Wugang II expedition was.
The U.S. and Russia wanted to object to China's move, but they couldn't. In the end, since China offered them a few seats, they reluctantly agreed. After all, China had taken the lead in space development. The U.S. and Russia gritted their teeth and swore they'd finish building their own Defense Bureau ships by the end of the year. They didn't want to be caught flat-footed again.
Clearly, China had reached the point of: "If others don't have it, I do. If they do, mine's better."
Over the next 34 days, research on the wormhole made little progress. The scientists were growing frustrated.
"Dr. An, we have to send a probe through to the other side," said an American quantum physicist. "Even if the Justice League doesn't approve, we still need to do it. This is uncharted territory for all of humanity. We have to know what's in and beyond the wormhole."
An Rong really wanted to agree, but she couldn't ignore what Kaitou Kid had said either—safety first. Still, with a large-scale expedition about to launch, probing ahead made sense to ensure things would go smoothly.
"Alright, let's do it. We can't just sit on our hands forever," she said.
The scientists got to work right away. Launching the probe didn't require an EVA—they could send it straight from the ship.
"Hello, hello!" One of the scientists tapped on the camera lens.
"Camera's working fine. Mic's good too. Signal's clear—no problem."
"That's good. I wonder if the signal can pass through the wormhole."
"It should be fine. In theory, a wormhole can transmit both material and immaterial things—gravity fields, magnetic fields, all of it. A signal's no issue."
Although the scientists didn't control Bunny's teleportation system, there was a fixed airlock because of the patrol team. The probe launched smoothly and flew toward the wormhole.
The fighter pilots saw it too, but they had no authority to interfere with the scientists' decision. Technically, they were only responsible for things coming out of the wormhole, not anything going in.
"Hope they got proper clearance."
Using inertia, the probe flew straight toward the wormhole. The scientists gathered around, eyes glued to the screen. The wormhole drew closer.
Finally, after a few minutes, the probe plunged into the wormhole. The screen changed—what showed up was hard to describe, like a child's scribbles full of chaotic colors.
"Could this be aether?" someone asked. Aether was a theoretical substance, never proven, but some believed it was a super-dense material that formed the unbreakable barrier limiting light speed.
If aether did exist, its hardness might be enough to support a wormhole. But it was still just a hypothesis.
"Stop admiring the view. Is the signal still stable?"
"Very strong. After entering the wormhole, the distance doesn't seem to have changed, and the signal strength hasn't dropped."
"So it really is a phenomenon where two points in the universe overlap."
This was the most cutting-edge experiment humanity had ever attempted. These scientists weren't just seeking knowledge—they were chasing after the laws of the universe. Though for many, it was just pure curiosity. A lot of scientific theories are useless in practice, but people still devote their lives to them.
"Based on my energy density calculations, it'll take about 10 minutes to pass through the wormhole," said a scientist in his fifties. "Imagine that—in just 10 minutes, you're on the other side of the universe. That speed's way beyond light. Wormholes are the ultimate tool for space travel."
It was true. Light speed was just the beginning. Faster-than-light was entry level. But jumping—instantaneous travel—that was mastery.
For now, Earth could only rely on this natural wormhole to glimpse the vast universe. The scientists stared tensely at the screen, not wanting to miss anything the probe sent back.
On the other side of the wormhole, this would be humanity's first direct contact with an unknown part of the universe. What would it be like?
At 8 minutes and 7 seconds, the glowing light on screen vanished. Darkness returned—it was space.
Nothing. The probe saw absolutely nothing.
"Adjust the angle. Let's see what the exit side of the wormhole looks like."
"Got it!" The camera rotated, revealing the exit. Just like the entrance—massive and beautiful.
Nothing special. "The Justice League really overreacted. There's nothing over here."
That was true. Liu A'dou had already scanned it before. The closest planet to the portal was far above, and while its climate resembled Earth's, A'dou had also detected signs of life. But to confirm, they'd need to land on it.
"Let's take a look around." The boring exploration began. The probe's high-res camera panned across space like a supercharged Hubble Telescope. It soon spotted the same life-bearing planet Liu A'dou had seen before.
"That planet looks just like Earth—blue and everything." There weren't many planets that shared Earth's coloring.