I'm utterly frustrated. My condition relapsed a bit today, leaving me mentally drained. This chapter will have to suffice for today. Combined with the previous eight thousand characters, I now owe ten thousand in total, but I promise to make it up. I’ve taken my medicine, my head feels a little fuzzy, and I’m going to rest now.

The first thing Zhong Yun did upon entering the escape pod was to inventory the supplies. The space was large, but the contents were sparse—only high-energy compressed rations. He quickly calculated that this supply could sustain one person for about a year.

Later, he and Zhang Xiao checked together, realizing that even when conserving strictly, this high-energy food would only last the two of them four or five months. Strangely, the escape pod’s computer indicated a standard passenger capacity of fifty people.

If fifty people had boarded, the space would have been sufficient, but the food wouldn't have lasted more than a few days. After much discussion, Zhong Yun and Zhang Xiao devised a possible explanation: advanced civilizations could produce far more efficient compressed food, meaning the same quantity could sustain fifty people for several months. However, Dawa could not.

Everything aboard the Tongguang Star was manufactured to the standards of an advanced civilization, yet it was being operated by Dawa, a newly ascended intermediate civilization. Such discrepancies were bound to cause coordination issues.

While taking inventory, Zhong Yun and Zhang Xiao also discovered over a dozen electromagnetic pulse (EMP) guns hidden within the hull panels, presumably provisioned for a crew of fifty.

Since their immediate needs were energy and food, not weapons, this discovery was immediately shelved. It wasn't until they joined the battle between the natives and the monsters that it abruptly came back to them.

Zhong Yun grabbed two of the pulse guns and a few supplemental energy blocks. He closed the compartment door hiding the rest and hurried toward the site of the fighting, leaving the powerless escape pod behind.

Holding the two pulse guns, Zhong Yun felt a surge of confidence; with these things, his life in this desolate place had gained a significant degree of security.

When he reached the perimeter wall, the battle had devolved into its most brutal phase. The pink monsters had already breached the interior defenses, and nearly a third of the native warriors had fallen.

The situation was critical. Too many monsters had leaped inside the wall, and the native warriors simply couldn't kill them all fast enough. The ground inside the enclosure was rapidly filling up with the corpses of the pink creatures.

Yu Daoqing rose to her feet once more, looking as if she was preparing to intervene again.

Without any warning, a pink monster halfway down the ten-meter wall suddenly lost its balance and plummeted straight to the ground below, clearly not surviving the impact.

Then, one after another, enemies were struck down as if by lightning, tumbling over the wall like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

Seeing a swath of their foes mysteriously annihilated, the native warriors’ morale soared. They began shouting incomprehensible exclamations.

The monsters, however, were confused and deeply unsettled by the inexplicable deaths of their comrades. This shift in momentum allowed the native warriors to regain the upper hand once more.

Yu Daoqing turned in astonishment and saw Zhong Yun standing a dozen meters away, aiming an EMP gun and systematically taking down the monsters on the wall.

He hadn't fled when things looked grim. Relief washed over Yu Daoqing’s heart, mingled with surprise and joy. With the electromagnetic pulse guns, these monsters were no longer an insurmountable threat. Judging by Zhong Yun’s stance, he must have practiced marksmanship before.

The only lingering concern was: how many reserve energy blocks did Zhong Yun possess?

Yet, Yu Daoqing worried unnecessarily. By the time the monsters finally lost heart and retreated, Zhong Yun had not even exhausted the spare energy cells he brought along.

The natives suffered heavy losses in the engagement. Though Zhong Yun didn’t conduct a formal count, the number of native bodies lying on the ground was not significantly smaller than the number of those still standing.

Had Zhong Yun not arrived with the EMP guns to provide support, the native casualties would surely have been far greater.

The battle subsided temporarily, and Zhong Yun received heroic treatment, being escorted back to the village. There, they encountered another scouting party returning from a different direction. This team, however, consisted of only three-quarters of their original number, and every survivor was injured.

That night, the village began the rites to mourn the fallen natives. The elder who had given the pre-battle mobilization speech officiated, but Zhong Yun felt no interest. After spending a brief time in Zhang Xiao’s room, he retired to his own quarters.

Zhong Yun began formulating plans for his future existence. It seemed unlikely he could return to Dawa anytime soon. Though this was vexing, it was unavoidable. He could only wait for Xiao Ling to find him. He possessed an unshakable feeling that no matter how many light-years separated him and Xiao Ling, she would always find a way.

Until then, his mission was simply to survive well. By all accounts, he was managing decently so far. Despite several close calls where he nearly died, he had managed to pull through each time, and now he was enjoying a temporary period of stability.

That evening, Zhong Yun drifted off to sleep contemplating how best to live on this alien planet.

The mourning ritual outside had concluded at some unknown hour. In the center of the village, the Umbrella Trees had been felled, creating an open-air space where pinpricks of silvery starlight illuminated the ground. The entire village exuded a profound sense of peace and stillness.

Suddenly, a spectral figure drifted out from among the dwellings. She paused in the cleared area, gazing upward at the star-dusted expanse above.

After a long silence, she let out a soft sigh. Five years. She had been stranded on this planet for exactly five years. Every night, she came here to look up at the sky.

She hoped that one day a miracle would occur—a spaceship from a cosmic civilization descending upon them.

Just a few days ago, she almost believed her wish had come true, only to realize it was a moment of false hope; the newcomers were just two other unfortunate souls like her.

Recalling that she would now have two fellow castaways from the galactic civilizations for company on this planet, a wave of warmth spread through Yu Daoqing. To be stranded on the same natural planet, adrift in the vastness of the cosmos, was surely an extraordinary destiny.

Suddenly, her expression froze. She stared blankly at the "shooting star" blazing across the celestial sphere. The "meteor" trailed a long, luminous tail as it plummeted earthward.

Yu Daoqing dared not blink her amber eyes, watching the "meteor" draw closer, and closer still, feeling as if all the strength had drained from her body.

It was not a meteor. It was a spaceship—the very vessel that haunted her dreams, capable of taking her home.

Was this real?

The sudden arrival of such happiness was overwhelming; she couldn't possibly believe it. Her mind went utterly blank, fixed only on the enormous craft hurtling toward her.

The ship flew nearer and nearer until it finally halted directly above Yu Daoqing. Only then did she grasp its true scale; it was nearly as large as the entire village.

A pillar of light ignited, illuminating the open central area of the village until it shone as bright as day.

This spectacular event immediately drew the attention of the natives. Those who witnessed it assumed a deity had descended and immediately prostrated themselves. In a short time, nearly everyone in the village was awake.

In one of the huts, Zhong Yun, jolted from his sleep by an unaccountable premonition, shot upright from his cot, bolted out the door, and instantly caught sight of the pillar of light in the open ground, and Yu Daoqing standing beneath it, transfixed.

Xiao Ling, you’ve finally arrived.

Zhong Yun was instantly overwhelmed by ecstatic joy.