When the lights finally came back on, the crew and passengers discovered the corpses of the pirates surrounding them. Everyone knew something had happened to the attackers, yet for a moment, no one dared to move. Soon, led by a few brave crew members, the passengers began to slowly exit the mess hall.

On his way back to his cabin, Yang Ying encountered several passengers whose faces were etched with relief mixed with utter confusion.

In less than half an hour, they had been struck by pirates, only to miraculously escape danger. If they hadn't experienced it firsthand, no one would ever believe their story.

Yang Ying was still cloaked in invisibility at this point; no one could see him.

He reached the corridor outside his stateroom door and watched from the viewport as the skiff docked with the pirate vessel. A moment later, the pirate ship began to move away. Many passengers, still worried the pirates might linger, had also gathered there. Seeing the scene unfold, they erupted into thunderous cheers.

Only then did Yang Ying return to his room, deactivate his cloaking, and change back into his ordinary attire. As for the optical camouflage suit, it was left on the Floating Continent, where someone would recharge its power supply.

A short while later, once the pirate vessel was far out of sight, the Captain announced over the intercom that the emergency was over, urging passengers to relax, and offered condolences for the two crew members and one passenger who had perished.

In his room, Yang Ying lay on the **—the name of the furniture item should be preserved, assuming it’s a specific piece of furniture like a bed or sofa—listening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, "Fate," to calm the surging blood in his veins.

Excluding the ape-men, this was the first time he had personally taken lives, and he had killed quite a few. Although these pirates were desperate outlaws who deserved their fate, if he could have remained completely impassive, he wouldn't have been human.

Yang Ying understood this was a necessary threshold to cross. Sooner or later, he would become someone who killed without batting an eye. This had nothing to do with good or evil; it was simply a matter of becoming accustomed to it after several engagements on the battlefield—it was human nature.

However, the agitation Yang Ying felt at that moment contained no negative emotions. He wasn't afraid or self-loathing; his blood was simply too hot to settle. This constant reflection allowed him to touch his own soul, gaining a deeper understanding of himself. What was there to fear in that? He should be glad.

Yang Ying sighed, “Well, to celebrate this first time, let’s drink that bottle of champagne. I remember missing the chance both previous times I wanted a drink due to other reasons. It’s high time to finally drink it this time.”

He climbed off the **—the name of the furniture item should be preserved—and muttered, “But why do I have a feeling I won’t be able to drink this one either?”

Ding-dong.

It was the sound of the doorbell.

Yang Ying went to open the door and saw the navigator he had met earlier standing there respectfully, holding a bottle of wine.

“What is it?” Yang Ying asked.

The navigator offered a polite smile. “Sir, good day. I am the ship’s navigator. The pirate attack must have frightened you, sir. The Captain sent me to offer you a bottle of wine to settle your nerves. The Captain would have come himself, but he was injured by the pirates, so he couldn't make it.”

He handed over the bottle without noticing that Yang Ying had not been in the mess hall earlier.

“Please convey my regards to the Captain,” Yang Ying said, accepting the bottle. “Are all the guests receiving one?”

“Yes, everyone, though the type of liquor varies,” the navigator replied. “If no one had been lost, we could have held a banquet to ease everyone’s nerves and celebrate surviving the ordeal. But... alas...” He sighed, sounding genuinely regretful that the feast wouldn't happen.

These long-haul passenger liners were generally stocked with ample food and alcoholic beverages, so giving every passenger a bottle of liquor was no issue, though the quality of drinks varied between the first-class section where Yang Ying was and the other cabins.

The navigator heard the music playing inside the room and complimented him, “Sir, you have such refined taste, to have the inclination to listen to Beethoven.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Yang Ying chuckled. “A minor detail, barely worth mentioning.”

“Then I shall take my leave; I still have other cabins to visit,” the navigator smiled and bowed out.

Yang Ying closed the door and looked at the bottle in his hand. It was identical to the bottle of champagne he had on the Floating Continent—the brand, the packaging, even the vintage were exactly the same.

“Should I drink both?” Yang Ying mused, then shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll save the one from the Floating Continent for the next time.”

The journey slowly progressed. Two days later, the passenger vessel exited the asteroid belt and entered Mars orbit.

On the Floating Continent, the Zerg’s tenth branch mine had fully matured, and the sixth light had just illuminated not long ago—all good news that made Yang Ying happy.

Every day, besides meditating and practicing his sword forms in his room, he increased the time spent gazing out the viewport at the universe. The boundless, beautiful scenery outside was a rare sight even five centuries ago.

The oceans and skies of Earth were certainly vast, but compared to the immeasurable depth and mystery of the universe itself, they were on an entirely different level.

Mars orbit was the most developed area after Earth itself, even surpassing the lunar colonies in recent times. Guarded by the Tenth Fleet, it also fell within the operational range of the Space Cities. The passenger ship flew past about ten thousand kilometers from a Space City, and with his keen vision enhanced by mental power, Yang Ying could faintly perceive a tiny speck.

The so-called Space Cities were a technology that emerged only in the last century—gargantuan starships the size of cities, each capable of carrying nearly a million inhabitants through space, representing an experiment in a new form of colonization.

Space Cities could draw energy directly from sunlight, theoretically giving them infinite endurance as long as they remained within the sunlit regions past the asteroid belt. They were a true testament to humanity's technological prowess, equipped with numerous defense forces to guard against marauding pirates.

The vessel passed Mars orbit, and after another two days, they sighted Earth. Yang Ying stood by the viewport observing as Earth was still the size of a sesame seed, staying there until the ship stopped at the orbital port outside Earth’s gravity well.

He had been away from Earth for five hundred years. Although his memory held images of the planet, seeing it with his own eyes was undeniably different.

From space, it was still a blue planet, but five centuries of tectonic shifts and climate change had slightly altered the shape of the seven continents. Yang Ying keenly observed these changes, a direct manifestation of vast eras passing (though the actual displacement wouldn't be enormous, certain localized areas would show striking differences, such as small islands being submerged by rising sea levels...).

Yang Ying packed his belongings and disembarked. Next, he would have to switch to a smaller shuttle to descend to Earth.

This was because massive vessels like the passenger ship could not easily navigate within Earth's gravity well once they entered it. Ships carrying over a hundred people were constructed in the major off-world colonies, and the largest shipbuilding center in the Solar System was the Moon nearby.