Chapter 80 - Chapter 79: Stardust and Shared Silences

The transition from Xianwu's familiar orbit to the sheer, unburdened expanse of hyperspace was seamless, a testament to Aegis's unparalleled engineering and Elias's meticulous optimization. One moment, Xianwu was a vibrant, receding sphere; the next, it was a rapidly diminishing point of light swallowed by a swirling, iridescent tunnel. Elias had ensured their departure was as smooth as possible, the ship's internal grav-plates maintaining perfect equilibrium even as the exterior view dissolved into a maelstrom of stretched stars and flowing nebulae.