The conduit leading out from the Nightmare Space was immensely long; Fang Senyan was now actually over three kilometers from its actual origin point. It was estimated that the spacious tunnel opening he slid into from his private quarters was already far beyond the core structure of the Nightmare Space itself.

Yet, this fact in no way diminished the intense feeling of oppression Fang Senyan felt as he glanced back!

To offer a crude comparison, it was akin to how Fang Senyan, at twelve or thirteen, stood in the Central Plaza and looked up at the imposing pressure exerted by the 373-meter Central Tower.

That dizzying vastness seemed, in an instant, to consume all his senses, making him feel utterly minuscule, while what stood before him, in a posture of absolute dominion, was the entire world!

Fang Senyan stared at the Nightmare Space in a daze, completely awestruck at this moment.

In reality, the Nightmare Space did not reveal its entirety before his eyes; instead, it floated in the void of space like a colossal mountain range or a vast ocean. Much like a photograph from Shenzhou-6, where the background was entirely composed of a portion of Earth's blue ocean and white clouds.

Dense crimson mist enveloped its main body, carrying a hazy, heavy presence. The entire Nightmare Space clearly possessed a life of its own, even trembling with a discernible rhythm—the rhythm of breath could be clearly identified.

Occasionally, when the thick red mist dispersed to reveal a sliver of the interior, one could glimpse huge masses of pliable, flesh-red tissue. Across the surface and deep within this tissue were innumerable conduits, intertwined like a human vascular network, varying in thickness. These pipes appeared to have the texture of metal yet retained the suppleness of soft biological matter.

Fang Senyan could clearly see large quantities of unknown **fluids or gases surging within the conduits. It was evident that most of these vessels were caught in a process of expansion and contraction. With the exception of a few darkened pipes that remained static, virtually no part of the living structure was free from this continuous process.

Just as Fang Senyan was about to shift his gaze away from the Nightmare Space to board his vessel, one more thing left a profound impression on him:

On the flesh-red tissue of the Nightmare Space, strange eyes would periodically emerge, blinking as if snapping a shutter, surveying the surroundings before instantly vanishing. When subjected to the gaze of these eyes, he had the startling illusion that even the remnants of his digested food churning in his stomach were being clearly recorded.

Across the surface of the Nightmare Space, streaks of blood-red lightning could be seen intermittently flashing by. To Fang Senyan, this lightning felt intensely dangerous; contact meant certain death! Absolutely certain death!

It was the kind of swift annihilation where one is reduced to ash in an instant, like a moth drawn to a flame.

That sensation was not unfamiliar; it was like the spacetime turbulence witnessed in the Terminator world, but ten, a hundred, a thousand times more potent!

But on second thought, this was entirely normal. Since the Nightmare Space frequently traversed between different times and spaces, its greatest threat must be spacetime turbulence. These red lightning bolts on its surface were undoubtedly the energy storms designed to neutralize that turbulence.

Based on his current observations, there was no doubt that when the Nightmare Space was created, it utilized extremely advanced technology. Perhaps there was machinery within, but the vast majority of its components were biological.

This offered a massive advantage: saving 99% of maintenance time. Because the self-healing capability of biological organisms is exceptionally powerful. Furthermore, the Nightmare Space possessed a high degree of authority and mysterious power. Fang Senyan honestly found it hard to imagine how future humans could engineer such a terrifying bio-mechanical entity.

Of course, he was unaware of the colossal secret hidden beneath it all—a secret concerning the origins of humanity, and the self-destructive path humanity had once taken...

Although in terms of outward appearance, the Nightmare Space could hardly be described as pleasing to the eye—any normal person seeing it would undoubtedly think it a vision from a nightmare—Fang Senyan felt an indescribable emotion looking at it, akin to leaving one's homeland and nation. There was a relationship of shared flesh and blood, much like a child would never find their own mother ugly.

As Fang Senyan stepped into the transport craft, the docking umbilical began to sever. This immediately confirmed Fang Senyan's suspicion: the structure that had delivered him to the transport craft was itself a subsidiary tentacle branching off from the Nightmare Space, although its interior resembled the corridors of a starship. After severing the connection, it retracted swiftly.

Following the Lieutenant's instruction, Fang Senyan changed into a brand-new Lieutenant Colonel uniform hanging nearby, then sat down and fastened his seatbelt.

The ship had no visible pilot, but its thrusters began spewing an orange-red flame. A powerful acceleration pressed against Fang Senyan's body. However, to Fang Senyan, this level of pressure was negligible. If the regulations scrolling across the LCD screen on the wall hadn't explicitly forbidden it, he genuinely would have stood up to walk around.

It wasn't until he pulled his gaze away from the starry expanse and saw the Lieutenant accompanying him pinned motionlessly to his seat by the restraint, his face ashen white as paper, that he realized the ship's current acceleration was likely excessive, probably exceeding the limits of his frail body—even the strongest amplifier struggled to affect the internal organs.

Just as Fang Senyan was about to inquire if he was alright, the Lieutenant promptly opened his mouth and began to vomit. A gurgling sound came from his throat, and his eyes rolled back. In this situation, being pinned to his seat made vomiting extremely dangerous, as the expelled matter could be forced back up by the counterforce, blocking his airway and leading directly to asphyxiation.

Seeing this, Fang Senyan immediately wanted to rush over to help, but discovered his seatbelt was locked. For him, however, this was merely a matter of a gentle tug.

He reached the Lieutenant's side without much effort, even under the ship's acceleration. With a quick pull, he tore open the Lieutenant's seatbelt, grabbed his arm, and turned the young man around so his face was toward the ship's stern. Casually, he took off the outer Lieutenant Colonel uniform jacket and used it to thoroughly wrap the mess. Otherwise, once the acceleration ended, the residue would float everywhere like dust in the low-gravity environment.

The counterforce transmitted by the acceleration was now directed consistently with the direction of the vomiting. The Lieutenant started coughing and vomiting violently. By this time, the acceleration was complete. The Lieutenant sank to his knees, gasping on the floor for a long time before he finally managed to catch his breath. He downed a few gulps of clear water and looked at Fang Senyan with gratitude:

"My constitution has always been weak, and I wasn't feeling well today, which made me look so pathetic. Thank you very much, Colonel."

Fang Senyan smiled. The Lieutenant scrutinized Fang Senyan a few times, looking at his physique with envy:

"You are truly strong. I hear that in your era, all Earthlings could easily break the 20-second mark for one hundred meters without any assistive equipment?"

"One hundred meters in twenty seconds..." Fang Senyan felt utterly speechless, unsure how to respond for a moment, so he just vaguely said: "Uh, probably."

However, Fang Senyan noticed something at this point. While the Lieutenant spoke with genuine gratitude in his eyes, his left hand was dipping water onto the nearby bulkhead and writing the Arabic numeral "3." Noticing Fang Senyan's gaze on the number, the Lieutenant immediately wiped it away.

The remainder of the journey was filled with tedium and boredom. The Lieutenant made no move to speak again. Fang Senyan understood that there must be surveillance here, perhaps even direct orders to remain silent, so the only thing he could do was close his eyes and rest.

After flying for two hours, a small dot appeared ahead. As the distance closed, the dot rapidly enlarged until, finally, a truly massive space station filled Fang Senyan's view. Its area was estimated to cover more than that of an average city—and one had to remember that it was three-dimensional, requiring the inclusion of foundations and sewage systems.

The interior of the station also appeared incredibly congested, so it was encircled by rings of large orbital tracks of varying sizes, comparable to bicycle wheels. These were the first and second ring orbits, constructed for convenient and rapid transit, serving roles similar to the Second Ring Road, Third Ring Road, or beltways used to alleviate traffic pressure.

As for teleportation technology, its energy consumption was enormous, and it remained a long way from being applied to daily life.

Of course, such a massive space station could also be considered a starship, since the air in space is thin with minimal wind resistance; therefore, a city-shaped vessel would not suffer any adverse effects while navigating the cosmos.

Fang Senyan's transport craft began to decelerate, finally hovering in the air before cutting its engines. Two other ships first flanked it, one on each side, for a thorough scan before Fang Senyan was permitted to leave the cabin and enter one of the escort vessels.

Fang Senyan even noticed that the people who came to receive him were clad in full spacesuits. Upon seeing him, they exhibited an air of aloofness and disdain, as if his body carried highly toxic pathogens. They were reluctant to even speak to him, resorting instead to roughly shoving him along to move faster—even though Fang Senyan was not moving slowly.

Fang Senyan observed that their reaction was very similar to the Lieutenant's reaction upon seeing his military rank earlier. He frowned slightly but managed to suppress his reaction.

Just as he was about to reach the entrance, Fang Senyan was abruptly called to a halt. The large man who had been pushing him squinted his eyes:

"Right, there's one more thing you haven't done, you foolish barbarian. Strip off all your trousers and clothes—every last thing! Hurry up! Then bend over, spread your legs, and don't waste Major Lekli's valuable time!" To be continued...