"Gone to the universe? You guys?"
The words the old woman said made it hard for Lin mind to process for a moment.
One must know that for a civilization to go from budding to its childhood takes at least a hundred Cosmic Eras, and to graduate from childhood to go to the universe requires even more time.
But she said humanity on Earth took only a short fifty years from fighting the Honkai to going to the universe?
This was no longer a legendary level of evolution; it simply didn't even have the possibility of existing in theory.
"Haha... it seems even an... alien can be surprised..." The old woman's spirited appearance when she laughed did show Lin a bit of the confidence she had when she rejected him back then.
"I already said before, I'm not an omnipotent being, so naturally I'd be surprised."
After hearing what the old woman said, some of the doubts Lin had after coming to Earth instantly vanished. However, what followed was an interest in how humanity on this Earth had defeated the Honkai and stepped out of their mother planet.
"Hmm... although I'd like to personally hear you say what happened, I'll keep some suspense and deduce it myself; it's more interesting." Lin rubbed his chin. His mind became active. After living for more than half a cosmic century, his experience was different from before. Although his personality hadn't changed much, he was actually more mature internally.
"At that time, you were just struggling under the Honkai with only tens of thousands of people. Logically, even if you barely won against the Honkai, it would be impossible to develop to the level of going to the universe in such a short time. So you must have already been researching how to leave in the middle of the fight."
"That was also your strategy—to mimic the second strategy I provided and escape Earth, except you chose for everyone to leave together."
"A technological explosion in a short time. You couldn't have built starships or spaceships that could support tens of thousands of people living away from Earth on your own. After that, someone helped you, and they were also biological beings from another planet."
"I see. I sent the coordinates to the Interstellar Alliance back then, and after they came, they actually provided you with aid, breaking the rules."
The old woman didn't say anything for a long time after listening to Lin, but her face was filled with a kind smile until Lin looked at her in confusion. Only then did she say somewhat weakly: "What a pity... most of it is right... but only a part is wrong..."
A part?
Lin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered this was the spacetime after Quantum Disturbance. But the old woman said fifty years had passed, and the passage of time was the same as the time he was originally in...
Could it be...
Lin asked hesitantly: "Do you... know what Cosmic Era year it is now?"
The old woman stated a year.
"..."
"What's wrong?" This time it was the old woman's turn to ask the silent Lin.
"I see... I see... no wonder I lost contact with the Interstellar Alliance back then..." Lin murmured in a low voice, then stared at the old woman with a complex gaze. "Was it also a Quantum Disturbance back then...?"
When Lin came to Earth fifty years ago, he couldn't contact the Interstellar Alliance. At the time, he thought it was because the star system Earth was in didn't have super long-distance communication signals.
But in reality, the super long-distance communication signals back then couldn't match the Interstellar Alliance.
The reason was that the Interstellar Alliance updated its communication signals every ten Cosmic Eras, and back then, Lin had actually entered a Quantum Disturbance and came to an Earth that didn't belong to his current time.
Combining the year the old woman gave with the environment he investigated back then, he had a bold guess.
This was actually his ancestors' mother planet, Earth. He had actually come to the Earth where his ancestors once lived, and the old woman before him was one of his ancestors.
After humanity moved to the universe, Earth gradually drifted away from its original course during various events. Over time, its coordinates became far removed from its former ones, which was also why the Interstellar Alliance didn't find anything.
"This is truly... the wonder of the universe." Lin felt sentimental from the bottom of his heart. "I think you guys built ships belonging to humanity after studying my ship, right?"
"Hehe... you guessed it..." The old woman nodded without any concealment.
"After all, humanity is a standout in the universe in terms of learning ability..." Lin curled his lips. "Still, to be able to bridge a vast amount of time and a terrifying technological gap to seek a path of survival for yourselves—should I say 'as expected of human ancestors'..."
Humanity rejected his two solutions back then because they had already quietly studied Lin ship. He had specifically warned humanity not to have ill intentions toward his ship, but to let all of humanity live, they took a gamble. Even if they were destroyed by Lin because of it, it was their own choice.
As it turned out, they gambled correctly. Not only did they not trigger the ship's auto-counterattack system, but they also researched a part of the ship's technology. Even if it was just a very, very tiny part, it was enough for their technological level to have a qualitative leap.
"Back then, they all left, but I chose to stay." A memory surfaced in the old woman's clouded eyes. "Honkai recedes as civilization recedes. So I lived alone on Earth. Because you helped us, I had to stay to apologize for stealing your technology..."
"Apologize? Hahahaha..." Hearing this word, Lin couldn't help but laugh out loud. "No, no, no. I didn't plan to help you. This is something you earned yourselves. Why thank me or apologize? Furthermore..."
Furthermore, that was technology that should have belonged to humanity in the first place.
"Do you know? I left my race to drift alone in the universe to see the myriad strange species, events, and phenomena in the universe. Although I've witnessed many in these decades, none of them were ones I participated in myself."
Lin stopped laughing and met the old woman's eyes. "Now, I've personally experienced a cosmic miracle. Perhaps I have already seen the greatest miracle for me."
Is there anything more peculiar than guiding one's own ancestors onto the right path?
"You're right. What I said back then was also right. I have indeed already seen your descendants, and this piece of history will also become a fine story in the universe."
"In any case, this is a result obtained through humanity's own efforts. I used to think the Honkai of a civilization was just that, but for humanity to leave its childhood indeed counts as a case of achieving success through courage."
Perhaps that was fate. Humanity bypassed the auto-counterattack system their own descendants had set hundreds of years later and obtained a chance at life.
And that chance at life created Lin and let him come to this place.
"I think I should go home too."
Lin smiled and reached out his hand to the old woman.
"Do you want to go and see humanity's grandeur in the universe?"