Chapter 4: 2. The Alien Who Can't Return
Translator: 549690339
Gu Tao slept in his little ship and rushed out early the next morning.
How should he put it, he really hated this place. Even though it was temperature-controlled with pleasant surroundings all year round, he genuinely felt fear here, and only because he had been frozen for a full 130 years on this ship due to a design error. The life support system for the exploration vessel malfunctioned, and by the time he was revived on Earth, the remaining four teammates had turned into genuine ice popsicles, dead through and through.
Before he left in the morning, he specifically went back to the life support capsule, stood for a very long time looking at his teammates, frozen like ice sculptures. The sight of those lifelike faces tore at his heart as if cut by a knife.
As a social science analyst, Gu Tao's task was to investigate the social systems and relationships of that unknown planet. The complexity of this project exceeded all others, but it didn't seem to be too much of an issue for him. He had mastered most of the language within a year. Afterward, as a genius youth who was the quickest at acquiring various knowledge, even the other scientists in the group valued this young fellow immensely, to the point of treating him like a treasure.
The faces of his teammates were right before him, as if time had been pulled back to a certain moment in the past, as if those who had left were still alive.
"Marsha, come here."
"Don't call me Marsha; my name is Gu Tao now," Gu Tao leaned on the corridor wall of the adaptation training ship, looking at Tifa, the only female in the group and a botanist. "What's the matter, Mrs. Tifa?"
"This is my notebook. You have a strong ability to learn; you should be able to master it quickly."
"Plainly speaking, you just want to slack off!" Gu Tao rolled his eyes. "Stop thinking about your fiancé. By the time you get back, he'll probably have decomposed into nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium."
"Don't mention that person. I wish he would die," Tifa said through clenched teeth. "Do you want this or not?"
"Of course, I do. I love notes and stuff," Gu Tao snatched Tifa's notebook with a swift move. "Everyone's been giving me their notes. Are you plotting something?"
"Of course, it's to cultivate an all-around genius. How about it? I suggested it. What do you think? Handsome boy, is Mrs. Tifa nice to you?" Tifa pinched Gu Tao's cheek. "Do you have any thoughts of marrying Mrs. Tifa when you grow up?"
"Oh, let me go. By the time I'm grown up, your skin will be wrinkling like it's been soaked in water, yikes... that's scary."
"You little brat!" Tifa pretended to strike, but Gu Tao was already long gone.
During the three years after entering the adaptation pod, their lives had maintained this same pattern: learning, training, adapting, every day repeating the same routine. The five team members had become as close as family, and the only downside was perhaps Gu Tao, their common little brother, whose learning ability was a bit too strong—he picked up both the good and the bad.
By the time he was nearly seventeen, he had developed a military temperament like the team leader Luke, a boundless thinking like the science investigator Sammy, the lazy indolence of the botanist Tifa and an obsession for detail like the aggression researcher Hawei.
In any case, they trained a strange guy; he was just very odd. Sometimes when they talked about it together, they all felt it was their fault, having ruined a perfectly good genius.
Of course, apart from his shortcomings, his strengths were equally notable. Gu Tao had almost been trained into an all-round player. Being an excellent graduate from Pan-Human University was already impressive. Now, he was also a mechanical expert, botanist, master of weapons, and a highly talented programmer. If it weren't for the demands of the mission, he could have handled all the investigative work alone.
When his eighteenth birthday arrived, the civilization inspection project finally completed its preparation phase and was ready to set off.
Upon receiving their shuttle ship, Gu Tao was truly ecstatic. He had never imagined that this scientific research ship would actually be a Centaur-class Destroyer modified with the latest technology in the world. This was a battleship worth tens of billions, with firepower strong enough to defeat an entire old-fashioned battleship fleet, shields robust enough to withstand the impact of small asteroids, and a design so cool it could charm a hundred beauty pageant winners at once!
"My goodness!" Gu Tao was the first to dive into the cockpit: "The most advanced, all of it is the most advanced!"
Following close behind, team leader Luke leaned back, grinning as he watched Gu Tao with a cigarette hanging from his lips: "You'll be the captain from now on, okay?"
"Alright, alright, alright!"
"You cheeky kid, wait until I'm dead," Luke moved Gu Tao aside and seated himself in the pilot's seat: "Not bad, good ship!"
In those years, Gu Tao had become the most favored little guy among everyone. He was lively and also polite. Especially for Luke, who was unmarried and childless, his relationship with Gu Tao was both hierarchical and father-son like. As long as Gu Tao didn't go overboard, Luke indulged him in almost everything.
Finally, before the ignition, Luke gathered all the crew members together, holding a manual with a stern expression and coughed twice, "Now that everyone is here, I'll go over the regulations we need to abide by. You must always remember them."
"Yes!"
"First, researchers must not interfere with the civilization process of the civilization being studied in any form. Second, researchers may not use lethal or destructive weapons except in special circumstances (including but not limited to natural disasters, attacks, etc.). Third, researchers must ensure their own safety; this is the primary element. Do you understand? Remember your individual duties, and aside from those, just follow these three rules."
"Yes!"
"Gu Tao, go ignite," Luke said, nodding his chin toward Gu Tao, "Go ahead."
"Long live!" Gu Tao cheered as he rushed into the cockpit.
Meanwhile, the others couldn't help but look at Luke with a mix of laughter and tears. Tifa, with her arms folded, said, "You really spoil that brat too much. Isn't the captain supposed to do the ignition?"
"No big deal." Luke rubbed his bald head, "As long as he's happy."
After pressing the ignition button, the slight tremor from the startup of the Antimatter Engine made Gu Tao's whole body shudder. However, his excitement was suddenly interrupted by an electronic voice, "Hello, captain. I am your intelligent assistant; you may call me Samuel or Satania. I am a military-grade intelligent assistant and can help you with a large amount of work."
"No, no, no, I'm not the captain..." Gu Tao repeatedly waved his hands, "The bald guy over there is."
"Sorry, captain. I don't understand what you are saying; the system has already locked you in as the sole controller."
"This is bad..." Gu Tao paused for a moment, then ran out holding his head, "It's over! Boss, it's over!"
Initially, Luke and the others thought something had happened. When they heard Gu Tao's description, Luke burst into laughter. Then, he took Gu Tao back to the cockpit and used his fingerprint to unlock a small box, "Look here, this is the initialization button. However, we're already in the uniform acceleration phase now. We can initialize when we return."
"Oh..." Gu Tao let out a sigh, "You really do have the experience."
"Kid, no matter how smart you are, you're still far behind in terms of experience," Luke tapped his head, "Get ready. Everyone into cryosleep chambers by tomorrow morning."
Gu Tao responded, then went to study the cryosleep system, which was said to grant immortality. Gu Tao had always found it strange why, with such advanced technology on his planet, humans couldn't stop aging. It wasn't until he read Mrs. Tifa's notes that he realized this technology had long existed, but in reality, once a race unlocked the mystery of life, its extinction wasn't far away.
As he looked on, Gu Tao felt increasingly uncomfortable. Although he didn't know what was wrong, he just felt there was something off about the cryosleep chamber. Acting impulsively, he quietly took tools in the name of resting and began to modify his chamber privately.
This act was strictly prohibited, but as a seventeen-year-old spoiled boy, he truly had become reckless. Although he hadn't dealt with such things before, he still started to modify the machine according to his own ideas.
After a night of tinkering, it was only when he heard Luke's order to gather in the morning that he hastily put down his tools and rushed to the assembly. Only after Luke saw him appear did he cough, "We are about to enter cryosleep. Everyone is clear on the procedure, right? I won't say more. Have sweet dreams, and we'll... see you in the morning."
But when Gu Tao awoke, he never saw the man who had said "see you in the morning" again.
How familiar is this plot? Doesn't it resemble the encounter with the American mom in "Overwatch Butts"? However, no one knows why the American mom survived, but Gu Tao knew how he made it, because he felt there were problems with the design of the life support chamber and took the risk of modifying the circuitry himself.
Such an alteration was risky; he didn't dare to tell the others, but it was this one-time secrecy that had left him with constant remorse over the past six years. After all, they were supposed to stick together through thick and thin, never expecting the team would fall apart so soon.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone