Kevin felt he shouldn't have expected Raven 12345 to arrange a reliable interstellar journey from the start. However, Nangong Wuyue and Y'zaks clearly didn't care about such details. The Great Demon and the Siren quickly chose their rooms and dumped their luggage inside. Then, they approached Kevin to discuss their plans. Y'zaks suggested playing Landlord, a game he'd just learned...
Kevin really didn't want to spend his first interstellar journey playing Landlord, and Nangong Wuyue didn't want to either. So, the two of them stared at the data terminal: "What's there to do now?"
The data terminal connected itself to the cabin's data port, and a series of holographic projections popped up: "Before entering superluminal mode, you can take a look at the scenery outside the ship. We haven't left the asteroid belt yet. Once we pass this area, the ship will turn towards the open area, and then there will be only darkness."
Kevin discovered that the holographic projection was showing the exterior of the spaceship. The viewing angle was likely a monitor mounted somewhere on the hull. He could see a vast expanse of alloy armor plates, like a vast expanse of steel, stretching out before his eyes. The Fourth Connection Port and the space station facilities beyond were rapidly receding from the edge of that vast expanse. Two massive beams of light emanated from the spire-like structure atop the Fourth Connection Port, extending parallel to either side of the spaceship. The data terminal informed him that these were the navigation beams used to guide the ship's course. "...I thought the asteroid belt would be dense," Kevin said, looking at the empty, dark area at the edge of the screen. "Why can't I see any meteorites outside the space station?"
"The universe is vast, and the so-called dense asteroid belt is only relative to the vastness of the universe," the data terminal explained. "Typically, the distance between two asteroids is between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Unless you're flying through a swarm of fragments left by a large celestial body, you won't see those scenes in science fiction movies where space fighters pose amidst a rain of asteroids. Kuiper Station is built right in the middle of a shard left by a large celestial body, which is why you see so many meteorites clustered together inside the station as building foundations. But outside the station, there's definitely nothing. And even if an asteroid drifts in, it has to be cleared away. With so many spacecraft coming and going, what if one of them gets damaged?"
Kevin knew this was all knowledge he'd need in the future, even common sense, so he nodded as he listened. Nangong Wuyue, curiously observing the exterior view for a moment, then asked, "Why didn't I feel anything during acceleration?"
"It's because the internal space is constant," the data terminal said, this time with unusual patience. "Every spacecraft capable of briefly entering superluminal state must have corresponding space-constancy technology to maintain the internal space as a constant system independent of the external coordinates. Or some other method can be used to offset inertia. Simply put, it keeps your position relative to the spacecraft, isolated from the relative motion of everything in the universe. That way, during acceleration, your position won't be reflected on the cabin, turning into a mosaic. Think about it. This thing is accelerating to the speed of light..."
Nangong Wuyue nodded happily. "Oh, I didn't understand."
What's so exciting about that!
Just then, Kevin suddenly saw another bright light at the edge of the spacecraft's exterior view. The entire surveillance camera immediately shifted to reveal another wedge-shaped spacecraft floating out of a nearby dock. The heat dissipation grilles surrounding the spacecraft were slowly turning red, indicating that it was about to enter acceleration. Before Kevin could even marvel at the station's frequent passenger traffic, Captain 883's booming voice echoed from the cabin: "Boys and girls aboard, and passengers in the VIP cabin, please transfer to C-15's exterior observation channel. You are looking at the high-speed cargo ship KN-03 from the Fiali Void Consortium. For the past seven years, it has been a formidable competitor to our ship on this route. KN-03 has now opened its radiator grilles and entered engine recharge mode. It's clearly planning a short acceleration and using its hypersonic engines to completely obliterate our ship. Please grab your speed boosters and hold your children after the announcement. Yes, this ship is going to get serious!"
Kevin: "...Shit!"
As soon as the "Shit" uttered, the entire cabin shook violently. It wasn't the inertial tremor of acceleration, but a tremor like an earthquake. It was clear that the entire ship's structure was trembling. Kevin didn't even dare to imagine what the burly Captain 883, who resembled the Governor of California, had activated. All he saw was a sudden burst of intense light on the holographic projection before him. The modified cooling grilles hidden beneath the ship's hull suddenly erupted in a fiery, almost pale flame. In the distance, the high-speed cargo ship KN-03 was rapidly retreating across the screen. The cabin vibrated more and more violently, and the fiery flames erupting from various parts of the screen gradually became blurred by the violent vibrations of the hull. Soon, the distant starlight was stretched into strange strips. The stars at the top of the exterior side screen began to appear distinctly blue, while the lower part shifted towards red at the same rate. The ship was rapidly approaching the speed of light, so that the observed starlight had already shown a clear red-blue shift.
Finally. With a resounding roar, the entire ship's hull erupted, and the external observation screen faded to black. The ship's warp drive took over the acceleration engine's duties, and the entire ship entered a closed space bubble and began moving at superluminal speed. By the time it next emerged from the bubble, it should have reached its destination.
Captain 883's voice rang out again: "Young men and women, and passengers in the VIP cabin, this acceleration has been successfully completed. We have proven the exceptional performance of Ship 883. Command of this ship is now temporarily transferred to the main engine. I wish you all a safe voyage. Now, as required, I must spend the next 24 hours in confinement and apply for a fine from the Imperial Waterway Management Team. Farewell."
Kevin, Y'zaks, and Nangong Wuyue exchanged glances. After a ten-second silence, they each began to chuckle dryly. The data terminal muttered faintly, "Why hasn't this machine encountered a normal person since I met you?"
Kevin was speechless and followed Nangong Wuyue to examine the strange equipment in the cabin. But after studying it for a short while, he found it boring: the advancement of technology inevitably tends to simplify operation, just as his incredibly powerful data terminal was so simple that even Lily could operate it with her mind. Everything in this cabin was designed with extreme intelligence and simplicity in mind. Most equipment supported telepathy, and the few things that were difficult to understand could be understood with just a brief explanation from the data terminal. This greatly reduced the fun of exploration. "This is a civilian cabin, after all," Y'zaks said with the air of a seasoned veteran. "I've heard that every universe has countless intelligent races, and the void is infinite. Each intelligent race has its own unique understanding and level of civilization. Therefore, those experts who research daily equipment are always trying to make their creations easier to use. Some devices even teach their users how to turn them on, not with a manual, but with a hands-on tutorial. Some civilian equipment even has advanced intelligence built in, asking you directly what you want to do and then operating it on its own."
The data terminal immediately popped up to make its presence known: "Yes, that's what this device does. However, this only applies to civilian applications and downgraded military equipment. More advanced equipment isn't so simple."
The group was bored in the cabin, with nothing to do. Nangong Wuyue suggested going outside to see what the alien spacecraft looked like, but she was politely sent back within thirty minutes. It's not that passengers are prohibited from leaving the cabin, but the girl got lost the moment she did. The corridors inside the spacecraft are intricately structured, and the corner markings are bizarre. If there weren't guards at key locations, the siren girl would have almost walked into the heat duct and turned into a dried fish in a matter of seconds.
Could this be considered a natural skill for travelers?
So Kevin's first interstellar journey unfolded in the usual way: at Y'zaks's second suggestion, the three of them started playing Landlord...
Until the spacecraft came to a stop above an Earth-like planet.