"So this is space?" Luo Shu murmured as he floated weightlessly after passing through the torii gate.
Around him stretched a vast, silver-grey chamber. At its centre, metal tracks formed a circular pattern on the floor, with two extending endlessly towards the exit on his right.
Following the tracks, one could see a passageway stretching endlessly forward.
"Given the weightless environment, this is indeed space."
Natsuki Minamiya, who had appeared beside Luo Shu, floated in the air and frowned at Lacus, who had just teleported in:
"Is this the Copernicus you mentioned?"
"No, this should just be one of the landing bases. Judging by the setup, it's probably the sixth landing port. Strange, why would the exit be placed here?"
Lacus, floating in mid-air, covered her cheeks with her hands and spoke with slight frustration.
Due to her arm movements, her already light body drifted towards Luo Shu, who caught her effortlessly:
"Is there a problem with this landing point?"
Luo Shu asked while holding Lacus, simultaneously adjusting to the weightless conditions of space.
Thanks to his good physical condition, despite some discomfort, he quickly adapted to the zero-gravity environment.
However, Luo Shu could only manage to stand in place for now, far from achieving free movement.
"This is actually the supply transfer port for Copernicus, usually handling deliveries of fruits and vegetables sent up from the surface..."
Leaning against Luo Shu, Lacus glanced at the tracks and continued:
"The supply transfer tracks don't seem to be activated. Well, I think I have an idea who's behind this."
Lacus gave a bitter laugh but didn't elaborate, merely tapping the ground lightly with her toes before floating towards the exit:
"Please follow me."
Hearing this, Luo Shu exchanged a glance with Natsuki Minamiya before following her into the passage.
Unaccustomed to moving in zero gravity, Natsuki used a bit too much force and bumped into Luo Shu's back with a soft thud.
"Sorry."
"Be careful."
The impact was light, so neither was hurt.
After a moment's thought, Luo Shu decided to hold Natsuki's hand to prevent further mishaps, guiding her as they floated down the passage.
Inside the passage, Luo Shu saw Lacus push off the wall, using the recoil to drift towards a handrail on the right side—similar to those on supermarket escalators:
"Please grab the handrail on the right. It's a conveyor belt to assist staff movement."
Following her advice, Luo Shu pushed against the wall, propelling himself towards the handrail. Once secured, the conveyor belt carried him forward.
As they moved, Luo Shu looked at Lacus floating ahead and casually asked:
"Earlier, you said you knew who was behind this? Are you referring to Tabane Shinonono?"
"Hmm?" Lacus turned her head slightly, smiling at Luo Shu. "Do you know her, too?"
She was wondering if Luo Shu's mysterious intelligence network contained any information about Tabane Shinonono.
"I have some basic knowledge."
Luo Shu nodded. His impression of Tabane Shinonono wasn't extensive—just that she was a genius scientist from an anime in his past life, a rather reckless woman.
After all, he'd mostly watched that show for the female characters, barely remembering the plot, let alone minor appearances like Tabane's.
Given that he already knew Tabane was among Copernicus's top brass, it was natural for Luo Shu to guess that the teleportation mishap was her doing.
Only this lawless doctor would have the audacity to deliberately tamper with Lacus's superior's landing location.
Hearing Luo Shu say this, Lacus gave a bitter smile before apologising profusely:
"Dr Shinonono seems to enjoy joking with me, though sometimes she doesn't know when to stop, so..."
Lacus appeared to want to take the blame upon herself. Luo Shu merely glanced at her and said:
"No need to explain. The fact that you didn't explain the Familia's existence to her tells me everything I need to know."
On the SDS's internal investigation list of potential Familia candidates, Tabane Shinonono ranked highly, yet Lacus had circled her name with the word 'restricted'.
Luo Shu had seen this report and understood the reasoning perfectly.
After all, she was a mad scientist!
Having dealt with Verde before, Luo Shu was well acquainted with such personalities.
Had Lacus truly hinted at the Familia's existence to Tabane Shinonono, Luo Shu strongly suspected the woman would have immediately wanted to dissect him for research.
Given these concerns, Lacus's decision to conceal the Familia from Tabane Shinonono seemed perfectly reasonable to Luo Shu.
Seeing his understanding, Lacus fell silent for a moment before murmuring:
"...Actually, I think you might still be underestimating just how reckless the doctor can be."
Changing the subject abruptly, she continued: "To be honest, there was some element of containment in assigning her to oversee the outer space research base."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's face twitched slightly as he mentally elevated Tabane Shinonono's threat level another notch.
If even someone like Lacus used the word 'containment', just how unhinged was this Tabane Shinonono?
Needing a frame of reference since he'd never met her, Luo Shu asked:
"How does she compare to Verde?"
Unwilling to speak ill of a colleague, Lacus offered only a strained smile:
"Dr Verde is practically a baby by comparison."
Luo Shu's expression flattened completely.
So, compared to Tabane Shinonono's destructive potential, Verde was merely infant-level?
Just then, a brilliant light appeared ahead of the three travellers.
"Hmm?" Luo Shu looked up in surprise.
Before them stretched a transparent glass passageway.
But more arresting than the glass itself was what lay beyond it.
A massive azure celestial body - or rather, artificial construct - composed entirely of opaque blue glass shaped like an hourglass.
It hovered in the Earth-Moon orbit, gleaming under sunlight.
Surrounding it, enormous metallic spheres orbited like satellites, intermittently emitting prismatic light.
Luo Shu's eyes widened slightly, while behind him, Natsuki Minamiya's jaw dropped.
"What is this?"
With a smile, Lacus explained:
"That's Space Colony Copernicus. Though what you see on the glass is actually its holographic projection. Our true position is here at its lower right segment."
She pointed towards the blue hourglass's base. Following her gesture, Luo Shu clearly saw a pipe marked with the number 6 extending from the structure's lower right corner.
Of course, from this perspective, it looked like a pipe, but in reality, based on Luo Shu's grasp of spatial distance, he could vaguely determine that the diameter of this passage exceeded 30 metres—equivalent to the width of an eight-lane highway.
Looking at the pipe, which seemed like mere scraps compared to the hourglass, and realising it was actually over thirty metres wide, even Luo Shu couldn't help but mutter in awe:
"This is... truly impressive..."
Building such a massive structure in space—no wonder even a transnational force like the SDS was strapped for funds.
This wasn't something a single organisation could afford to play with. It required the resources of an entire nation to create such a colossal project.
At this point, Natsuki Minamiya also snapped out of her shock, glancing at Lacus as she remarked:
"I suddenly understand why the SDS Commerce Department people couldn't even stand you, their own Chairwoman."
"This really is a grand spectacle!!"
For an organisation to construct such a marvel in space, the SDS Commerce Department folks must have gone bald, scrambling for funds.
Even with Natsuki's untrained eye, she could tell this space wonder wasn't fully completed yet. At this scale, and still unfinished, the sheer investment was staggering to imagine.
"This is a necessary sacrifice to protect humanity."
"Though admittedly, the expenses are indeed excessive. If not for the Star Gate lowering the cost of transporting critical supplies, I wouldn't have supported such an extravagant proposal either."
Lacus's smile faltered slightly as she spoke.
After all, the Commerce Department members were comrades who shared the same ideals. Being opposed by her own allies weighed on her heart.
But fortunately, far more people supported her actions—and this space city before them was the fruit of that support in full bloom.
At this moment, Luo Shu gazed at the azure celestial body and sighed with emotion:
"No wonder I never received your development proposals after obtaining the Abyss Warring States alternate dimension. So all the funds were being channelled here!"
Hearing this, Lacus replied, somewhat troubled:
"Actually, with the emergence of alternate dimensions, I've been considering whether to delay the construction of Copernicus."
"After all, compared to developing a space city, establishing bases in alternate dimensions far surpasses Copernicus in both cost-effectiveness and convenience."
But before Lacus could finish, a female voice suddenly interjected:
"In that case, I'll have no choice but to terminate our collaboration, Lacus!"
Upon hearing this voice, Lacus immediately turned her head towards the passageway ahead.
There, not far in front at the passage exit, stood a woman with mechanical rabbit ears atop her head, wearing a loose white lab coat with both hands tucked in its pockets, smiling brightly at the group.
The scientific prodigy known as Tabane Shinonono had appeared before the trio.
"First meeting, my surface-dwelling colleague~!"
Tabane Shinonono flashed Luo Shu a charming, playful smile.