The dinner invitation was rejected.
Luke took it calmly. Well, women! They always have a few days a month when their temper isn't great.
If she didn't come, he'd eat alone.
After dinner, he once again threw himself into the ocean of knowledge. During this time, Luke had returned to his college entrance exam days: a routine of three points—eating, sleeping, and reading. As for entertainment and women, those were things for adults and had nothing to do with a high school student.
After a few days of study, he felt like a new person. The vast knowledge system of Krypton, crammed into his little brain, gave his thinking, perspective, and understanding a milestone-like leap forward.
And this was only the beginning.
The nine-level education system had already broken through the third level and was advancing toward the fourth.
Level four education taught cutting-edge technology that only top scientists would study, including elements of quantum theory and fundamental spatial introductory theory. The mass-energy conversion equation also began its ascent to a more profound level starting from this stage.
The knowledge points were abstruse, difficult to understand, and hard to digest.
Even though Luke had consumed the souls of three top scientists, giving him a massive knowledge foundation, he still felt waves of exhaustion.
As the level increased, his learning speed began to drop.
It took only five days to get from Level one to Level three, but it took six days to get from Level three to Level four.
Anything above Level four was outside the scope of Earth's technology, whether it was the in-depth analysis of space theory or the laws governing genetic inheritance—it was all knowledge that did not belong to this era.
Luke was struggling with the learning, but his mood was surprisingly good.
With these technologies, the Ghost Armor could take a giant step forward, the concept of a bio-armor could be put on the agenda, as well as the plans for artificial intelligence.
Kryptonian information technology gave him a lot of inspiration. He felt he needed to meticulously plan the central processor for Ghost-1. If possible, he wanted the processor to have the ability to self-evolve.
And the prerequisite for self-evolution was liquid metal.
Kryptonian liquid metal was practically tailor-made for artificial intelligence. A tiny piece could store the entire world's information flow. The problem was that this metal was an extremely rare high-grade resource, only used in the databases of Kryptonian spacecraft, large corporations, and military enterprises.
The control center of the Fortress of Solitude was an eleven-kilogram piece of liquid metal, and it was also the core of the intelligent butler.
"If only I could cut off a piece."
Luke muttered to himself, his eyes rolling around. After thinking for a long time, he could only sigh and shake his head.
The Fortress of Solitude's defense mechanism was extremely complete. Trying to cut off a piece of its flesh right under the nose of the Butler would be like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth.
Forget it, it's better to first understand the operating principle. Without understanding the principle, even if he got the metal, he wouldn't know how to use it.
Luke abandoned his improper thoughts and continued to immerse himself in study.
Learning makes me happy!
Studying hard makes me doubly happy!
Work hard, work hard, for the future of humanity, for tens of thousands of long-legged, slender-waisted beauties, I, Luke...
BOOM!
The spacecraft suddenly shuddered, the amplitude extremely violent.
Luke's face changed slightly, and he quickly gripped a handrail.
The shaking lasted for half a minute before stopping. He didn't know what they had encountered.
Luke sensed something was wrong. He quickly left the room and went along the corridor to the main control room.
"What caused the shaking just now?"
Linda stood in front of the moon-window, her expression extremely complex.
"Krypton. We've arrived."
A gigantic star, reflecting a deep red light, appeared at the distant edge of the viewport. This was the star in the Kryptonian star system, a red dwarf named LHS 2520.
Looking out through the window, the LHS 2520 red dwarf was like a gigantic fireball hanging in the sky. The red light filled the entire view, possessing an extreme, melancholic beauty—like a bloody sunset or the lingering afterglow of twilight.
Luke stared blankly, and gradually, a strange look flashed across his face.
He realized his eyes didn't feel any strain or soreness.
On Earth, few people dared to look directly at the sun; the sunlight was too fierce and would burn the retina. Here, it was different. The LHS 2520 red dwarf was like a remnant flame about to burn out—it had light, but no heat.
No wonder the Kryptonians developed the planet's core energy without restraint—the root cause was here.
The intelligent butler appeared on the virtual screen and began to report the damage.
"Damage to the outer shield of the spacecraft: 0.92%. Repaired!"
"Power loss: 7.31%!"
"Other areas: no abnormalities!"
Linda took a deep breath and began to issue instructions.
"Transfer to the fourth planetary orbit line. Send out the emergency contact signal. Send any suspicious information gathered to the main screen. I want to check it personally."
"As you command."
From the signal tower atop the Fortress of Solitude, a high-frequency information stream began to spread across the entire star system in the form of light waves.
Soon, a series of mysterious and complex information streams appeared on the screen, some in Kryptonian text, and some in a secret code.
Luke secretly glanced at it a few times, but he couldn't understand any of it. He simply stood aside, continuing in his role as an observer.
Linda checked the information while simultaneously deciphering the code. She sat there for half an hour. The screen was dense with information, but none of it was what she was looking for.
Unknowingly, tears were streaming down her face like broken strings of pearls, pooling into two small puddles on the console.
Luke sighed softly, unsure how to comfort her.
A survivor of a civilization!
It sounded awesome, but the loneliness and bitterness involved were beyond what an ordinary person could understand.
Imagine: if, someday in the future, Earth was destroyed, and you became the only remaining offspring, facing an uncertain future, what would you feel?
"Try to stay positive. Krypton had billions of people. There must be survivors. Take your time searching, and you will find them."
Linda wiped away her tears and said nothing, her eyes glued to the screen, unwilling to let any clue slip by.
Perhaps divine providence intervened, but the emergency contact signal sent out by the Fortress of Solitude actually received a response.
The signal source was a space station five hundred million kilometers away.
Linda's expression turned ecstatic. After locating the coordinates, she flew toward it at full speed.
Half an hour later, the Fortress of Solitude docked outside a space station that looked very rundown. According to the signal, the source was here.
The fact that someone responded to the emergency contact signal meant there were likely Kryptonian survivors inside.
Linda didn't want to wait another second. She changed into her battlesuit and headed for the space station.
"Wait a moment!"
Luke frowned. "Before you go, you should at least try to communicate. What if the signal was sent by enemies?"
"There can't be any enemies."
Linda asserted confidently, "The space station has Kryptonian markings. It is the home of Kryptonians. Only Kryptonians would be living inside."
"They need me. I must find them!"
The girl said no more. She opened the hatch and took a small flying craft toward the space station.
Luke stood in front of the moon-window, feeling that something was definitely wrong.
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