After returning to East Asia, Zhou Tianming endured considerable pressure to first send the Black Tortoise to the shipyard.
Upon arriving home, his grandmother Gao Jing immediately pulled him aside for questioning and examination, only relaxing after confirming he was unharmed.
Meanwhile, Zhou Junguo summoned him privately to the study for a detailed debriefing.
After careful consideration, Tianming chose not to mention the alien encounter.
The existence of mental suppression meant revealing it would be pointless and only cause unnecessary suffering.
Without concrete evidence to support his claims, he merely mentioned wanting to collect research information about Mental Power for reference. Zhou Junguo studied him intently before saying, "I know you're withholding something, but you're old enough to have your own considerations. I won't press further."
"Remember!" Zhou Junguo declared proudly, "You have the world's most powerful nation behind you. There's nothing we can't handle." This...
Tianming's expression turned peculiar.
Human affairs, maybe. But aliens? We'd better level up first.
"Don't believe me?"
He shook his head rapidly: "I do!"
In the following days, Tianming stayed quietly at home. His mother Zhou Hanxiang made a brief visit before leaving again soon after.
The woman who brought her back, named Lainesse, glared at him fiercely as if he'd stolen her man.
The intense stare made Tianming uncomfortable.
Is she a lesbian?
Trying to make moves on Mom? Not on my watch!
He glared back defiantly.
Lainesse' face darkened, but instantly brightened into a radiant smile when Hanxiang looked over.
This Jekyll-and-Hyde act made Tianming suspicious, and he frowned as he watched them leave.
Later inquiries with Zhou Junguo yielded an unexpected answer.
"That girl is the granddaughter of Professor Keller from Mendel Colony. She's using an alias to investigate past events by getting close to Hanxiang. We considered further investigation, but Hanxiang insisted there was no danger, so we dropped it."
Understanding dawned on Tianming.
No wonder she glared at me—probably blaming me for what happened back then.
Well, Mom can handle it.
Then Zhou Junguo added, "She came through an introduction from Blue Cosmos within the Atlantic Federation."
"Is that... safe?"
"Ideologically sound, otherwise we wouldn't have permitted it."
After a pause, Tianming suggested, "Still, better stay cautious."
Zhou Junguo rolled his eyes. "Of course I care about my own daughter. We've had people watching all along. Last time we slipped up, it caused major trouble."
"Heh..." Tianming laughed awkwardly. "I'll take my leave then."
When Zhou Tianming turned around, Zhou Junguo casually picked up the phone, pressed a button, and left it off the hook without hanging up: "Aren't you going to talk about your little girlfriend? Natarle Badgiruel, was it?"
Blushing, Zhou Tianming spun back angrily: "You investigated me!"
"Call it protection," Zhou Junguo said sternly. "None of you kids give me peace of mind. Who knows what trouble you'd get into without supervision? If I hadn't been barred from sending a spaceship to follow you this time, I would've dispatched one long ago. Just look at the mess you've made."
"Natarle and I are innocent!"
What a blatant lie.
Zhou Junguo silently watched his performance.
"Fine." Seeing no way out, Zhou Tianming admitted, "She's my girlfriend."
Then he couldn't help adding, "Grandpa, why are you as nosy as Grandma?"
"Simple. Because I'm not the nosy one."
Creak.
Outside the door, Gao Jing covered her mouth with a hand, eyes twinkling with amusement: "Seems I heard something interesting. Tianming, care to share with Grandma?" Helpless.
For the rest of the day until bedtime, Zhou Tianming endured an East Asian traditional torture—relentless marriage pressure.
"I'm only 17..."
"What does age matter for a boy?"
"Hehe~"
Gao Jing even pried into their private life: "You two were alone together for so long... Did you...?"
Zhou Junguo, sitting nearby, couldn't take it anymore and coughed repeatedly, each cough louder than the last.
Gao Jing shot him a glare, her voice icy: "If your throat's bothering you, go to the hospital. One more noise and I'll have it surgically removed."
Zhou Junguo gave Zhou Tianming a helpless look.
Zhou Tianming's face was pure despair.
At 4 a.m. the next day, Zhou Tianming sneaked out in the dark, fleeing home without a backward glance.
Shortly after arriving at the shipyard where the Black Tortoise was docked, he received bad news.
Old Man Long Ye, who had modified the Black Tortoise for him years ago, had passed away months earlier.
Zhou Tianming fell into a long silence upon hearing this.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the way of life. Old Man Long Ye had died peacefully of old age, free from illness or suffering.
Li Chuang, who delivered the news, was now over sixty himself. Seeing his graying hair, Zhou Tianming felt a pang in his heart.
Li Chuang, however, wore a carefree smile: "Haha, don't look so grim. Everyone meets this end eventually. The old man went peacefully, and he couldn't stop praising the reputation you built with the Black Tortoise. For us old-timers, that's the greatest gift."
"Let us handle the Black Tortoise this time too. This might be our last chance—in a few more years, even if we're alive, we won't have the strength for this work."
Though saddened, Zhou Tianming sniffed and forced a smile: "Then I leave it to you. Make the Black Tortoise even stronger for me."
"Of course!"
Soon, they gathered around the Black Tortoise again, chatting and working busily.
For a fleeting moment, it seemed the old man was among them once more, roaring orders just as he had over a decade ago.
The Black Tortoise was severely damaged this time, with half its keel missing. Repairing it would compromise its structural integrity, so a complete rebuild was necessary.
Since major modifications were underway, Zhou Tianming considered using Psycommu alloy for the entire frame.
His current stock of 10 tons was insufficient—he needed a professional company for mass production.
This wasn't his area of expertise, but as the head of the Junk Guild, he delegated the task and waited for responses.
Berlin, inside the Federal Secret Intelligence Building of the Ouyang Federation...
In an office, Mattias glared coldly at her subordinate across the desk, her tone sharp. "Zhou Tianming has returned safely, and the Black Tortoise is severely damaged. This was our perfect opportunity, yet you're telling me the deployment orders were forgotten?"
The subordinate hung his head, trembling. "Yes..."
Mattias suddenly stood up, grabbed a metal bookend from the desk, and hurled it with a swift motion.
Files scattered like petals in the wind as the bookend struck the subordinate's head with a heavy thud. Its sharp corner pierced his forehead, leaving a bloody gash that immediately stained his face crimson.
"Hand over your duties," she ordered.
The subordinate dropped to his knees, pressing his bloodied forehead to the floor, leaving a dark red imprint. "Thank you, ma'am."
After he left, Mattias sat back down and exhaled. "We may never get another chance like this. What a waste."
Reluctantly, she set the matter aside. As the head of the Eurasian Federation's Secret Intelligence Division, she couldn't afford to focus solely on one issue. Time flew by, and soon it was late at night. Rubbing her eyes, Mattias sighed and reached to shut down her computer.
Suddenly, she noticed two files regarding military supply allocations.
Her expression turned grave. Sitting upright, she swiftly typed on the keyboard, pulling up several related documents for comparison.
After a moment, she pressed the comm button and spoke sternly, "Send agents to the Supply Department and the Space Force fleet base. I need the last 100 inventory records and their current spaceship counts."
An hour later, a call came in—her subordinate had transmitted the data to her computer.
As she opened and scrutinized the files, a chill crept up her spine.
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