Silence filled the cave.
Maine's crew, despite coming from a harsher world where life was cheap, could now feel the profound grief emanating from Kirk over the loss of a dear friend.
Valerie maintained a respectful silence, and Jackie also put away his usual cynical expression.
They might not fully comprehend such deep friendship, but respecting the genuine emotions shown by a strong individual was a common rule that transcended world boundaries.
Lieutenant Saavik, as a fellow Vulcan, although she suppressed her emotions with powerful logic, her pointed ears twitched almost imperceptibly. She slightly lowered her head, expressing her silent mourning for the passing of an outstanding colleague in the Vulcan way.
Carol stepped forward and gently took Kirk's arm, offering silent comfort.
She knew that any words at this moment would be pale.
Kirk shook off his brief daze and looked up again, his gaze regaining some of the Commander's resolve. He looked at Maine and Valerie: "It seems your portal has not yet opened?"
Valerie nodded: "Yes, Captain. We are still awaiting the Explorer Magos' instructions and coordinate calibration."
Kirk pondered for a moment, seemingly making a decision.
He glanced at this vibrant cavern, then at the group of visitors from another dimension.
"Since that's the case, until I pick up Dr. Marcus and Lieutenant Saavik, this place will temporarily be shared by all of you. But I need your assurance that you will not cause any damage to the facilities, nor will you attempt to enter the core restricted area." His tone carried an unquestionable bottom line, but it also revealed a subtle trust in these 'otherworlders' based on their shared experience after this incident.
A cross-dimensional crisis was temporarily resolved, but new thoughts about life, sacrifice, and the delicate relationship between different civilizations quietly planted seeds in everyone's hearts.
Kirk, burdened by the loss of a dear friend and relieved by the completion of his mission, prepared to leave with his companions; while Maine's crew continued their wait, in this strange world that had just witnessed a miracle of life and the fall of a hero, awaiting the signal to return.
---
After several days of waiting, the dormant dimensional portal finally showed signs of activity again.
A ghostly blue light slowly illuminated the Creation Cave, and the energy flow gradually stabilized from turbulence, forming a rotating vortex of light.
"The portal is active!" Pilar, who had been monitoring the equipment, immediately warned.
Maine's crew members, Valerie, and Jackie quickly gathered in front of the portal. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—the path back had finally opened.
According to the established procedure, Valerie immediately sent a prepared brief through the encrypted data link to the other side of the dimension, outlining the situation of this accidental contact, the current environmental assessment, and the existence of the Starfleet, and finally requested.
"...The mission team has completed preliminary reconnaissance and contact. The current environment is relatively stable. Requesting instructions: Should we return immediately?"
After the message was sent, the ghostly blue light vortex continued to rotate steadily. Everyone held their breath, waiting for instructions from the Explorer Magos.
However, the expected return permission or further instructions did not arrive.
Under everyone's puzzled gaze, the light of the recently stabilized portal began to rapidly dim, and the rotating vortex of light suddenly extinguished as if powered off. The huge annular structure returned to dead silence, as if everything just now was merely an illusion.
"What's going on? Is the energy unstable?" Jackie couldn't help but exclaim, his face filled with bewilderment.
Maine frowned, and Valerie also looked puzzled, quickly checking the local monitoring equipment, confirming that the signal had been successfully sent and that the portal had not closed due to energy overload or malfunction, but rather... the other side had actively interrupted the connection.
Just as a sense of unease and doubt began to spread, after only a ten-minute interval, the dimensional portal restarted without warning!
The ghostly blue light instantly flared, and the energy flow surged violently, its intensity far exceeding before, even causing the entire cave to tremble slightly.
Immediately after, to everyone's astonishment, a massive, dark red mechanical silhouette rapidly materialized from virtual to Real in the center of the light vortex—Osiris had actually crossed over in person!
His extremely oppressive metallic body fully solidified, and his metallic lower limbs stepped onto the floor of the Creation Cave, emitting a heavy sound.
Crimson optical lenses scanned the entire scene, taking in Maine's crew, Valerie, Jackie, as well as the ready-for-anything Saavik and the surprised Carol and her son.
"Lord Explorer Magos!" Valerie and Maine exclaimed almost simultaneously, their voices filled with surprise.
Osiris did not immediately respond to their astonishment.
His data processing core was running at maximum speed. The keywords—"Starfleet," "Enterprise," "James T. Kirk"—extracted from the brief just transmitted by Maine's crew were instantly activated, compared, and confirmed in his vast database.
As a transmigrator, how could he not know the meaning represented by these names?
That golden age legend that depicted humanity exploring the sea of stars, encountering countless alien civilizations, and full of idealism!
He clearly remembered that while this world's Starfleet possessed technologies far beyond his current understanding, such as warp travel, matter transportation, and holodecks, its main purpose was exploration and peace, not war and conquest.
The Enterprise was even a starship whose primary mission was scientific exploration.
Such a universe, containing an almost infinite treasure trove of technology and a generally peaceful atmosphere for humanity, held a fatal attraction for an Explorer Magos.
The moment he received the information and confirmed the stability of the coordinates, a long-lost, almost "impulsive" emotional current broke through his usual absolutely rational thought barriers.
To personally set foot in this world that only existed in "stories," to witness firsthand, and even acquire those legendary technologies...
This intense desire for knowledge and possession made him almost without hesitation forcibly interrupt the continuous energy output maintaining the portal.
On the other side, he quickly adjusted and injected a huge amount of energy sufficient to support his main body for a one-way crossing, seizing the window before the coordinates dissipated, and personally descended here.
"I have received the brief." Osiris' synthesized voice finally sounded, seemingly with a trace of an almost imperceptible fluctuation named "excitement" than usual.
His optical lenses passed over his subordinates and directly locked onto Saavik and Carol, especially the still-operating tricorder in Saavik's hand, and the aura of a top scientist emanating from Carol.
"This world... the Starfleet..." Osiris' mechanical head rotated slightly, as if "breathing" the air of this unfamiliar dimension, sensing the technological atmosphere contained within it, which was distinctly different from the warhammer and Cyberpunk World, "...contains an extremely valuable knowledge system."
His massive body turned to Maine and Valerie, issuing new instructions: "Exploration mission changed. Priority elevated to highest. I will personally lead the initial contact and technical evaluation of this dimension."
He clearly knew that dealing with a civilization that valued rational exploration was far "safer" and more potentially profitable than dealing with the chaos or the Empire of the warhammer.
He absolutely could not miss this opportunity.
The Explorer Magos' instinct overrode all cautious considerations, prompting him to make this seemingly impulsive, yet instantly weighed decision—to venture in person, solely to seize those golden technological treasures.