NOVPUBMartin stood at the door.
Inside, the table was laden with an array of dishes that were both visually appealing and aromatic.
Vivian was dressed in a tailored white blouse paired with a silver-grey pleated miniskirt, accentuating her shapely figure and showcasing her fair, long legs.
Her beautiful eyes brightened as she saw Martin return.
Although she doubted her physical appearance would attract his attention, she had still made an effort to dress up, exuding a girlish charm.
After all, if it couldn’t be a plus, at least it shouldn’t be a minus.
"You’re back? I had the day off and just whipped up a few dishes. Would you like to try some?" Vivian’s voice carried a hint of hope.
Her hands behind her back were clenched with nervousness.
She feared being rejected outright, worried that Martin might be put off by her intentions.
Seeing Martin’s expression go from calm to silent as he entered, Vivian’s heart was in her throat.
Does he... not like it?
Vivian bit her lip.
Martin stood still for a moment at the doorway, said nothing, closed the door, changed his shoes, and entered, placing the plain noodles he was carrying on the dining table.
A lonely bowl of simple noodles contrasted sharply with the rich variety of dishes on the table.
Looking at the uneasy Vivian, Martin let out a sigh,
"Vivian, I think we need to have a serious talk. You might have misunderstood me."
"I didn’t add you on WhatsApp so you would feel compelled to please me cautiously."
"There are some things I was going to tell you later, but it seems better to say them now."
"I belong to a superhuman organization; we are short-staffed. Joining us could indeed give you superpowers, but with it comes dangers beyond your imagination."
"Living under the same roof is fate, and knowing that you’re a decent person, plus the fact that you’ve witnessed super events, I was planning to ask if you wanted to join."
"Do you understand now?"
After he finished speaking, Martin saw a complex expression on Vivian’s face.
She laughed at herself for a moment and then pursed her red lips, bowing her head, "I know it’s not about my pleasing you... it’s just that..."
Once Martin revealed his superhuman abilities, the lack of money seemed trivial.
Thus, in Vivian’s eyes, or in the eyes of most women, he was almost the perfect matrimonial candidate.
Handsome, easy to get along with, devoid of any vices, and a superhuman at that.
’It’s just that I had some unrealistic hopes, that’s all.’ Vivian thought to herself.
She was that kind of woman – shrewd, pragmatic, yet with a touch of stubbornness.
Martin sensed the awkwardness in the air and glanced at the table full of dishes to change the subject. "It must have taken quite some time to prepare all these dishes."
He served some rice and handed it to Vivian, saying, "Let’s eat, it would be a shame if the food got cold." After speaking, he sat down at the table.
The intention was merely to lighten the mood, but upon tasting the food, Martin was immediately taken aback. To his knowledge, contemporary girls often learned to prepare dishes that looked appealing but were mediocre in taste. He assumed Vivian was the same, but to his surprise, the food was exceptionally delicious!
"Wow, this is really good," Martin praised sincerely. He had been skeptical when he saw the high rating for Vivian’s domestic skills on her character panel, but now he had no doubts left.
Vivian smoothed the skirt behind her as she sat down, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a brighter light upon hearing his compliment.
...
Meanwhile, over three hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface, in space, a massive structure sped by at eight kilometers per second. This was the United Space Station.
Below, the Earth’s white clouds, the grayish-yellow continents, and the deep blue oceans were distinctly visible. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
Two astronauts, secured by safety tethers, were outside conducting a routine inspection, their spacesuits bearing the flag of Eldoria.
"Robert, what do you think of that Verisalian woman?" Douglas asked with a laugh as they communicated over the radio.
"Of course she’s nice, but, Douglas, save the flirting for later. Right now, we’re staying in the Verisalian module," Robert cautioned.
The Eldorian module in the United Space Station had recently developed a leak, and they had been forced to move to the Verisalian module temporarily.
"No, it’s just regular communication, normal communication, you know?" Douglas chuckled.
Robert, noncommittal, replied, "Save those words for the Verisalian men. Let’s finish up here and get back."
"You’re such a buzzkill," Douglas sighed, lifting his head to move the safety tether.
His gaze shifted elsewhere at that moment, and he froze in place, motionless.
"Next spot," Robert called.
No reply came.
"Douglas?" Robert looked over in confusion, only to see him staring blankly at a particular point: "What’s wrong?"
After a long pause, Douglas’s hoarse voice, filled with disbelief, came over the radio: "Over there..."
"What?"
Robert followed Douglas’s gaze.
The sun cast a strong glare on his visor.
Inside his spacesuit, Robert’s eyes gradually widened:
"Oh... my God!"
In the ancient, icy darkness of space, a gigantic carcass covered with black scales was slowly drifting.
Antonich, the capital city of the Republic of Eldoria.
The lights in the Eldorian Ministry of Defense building were burning bright.
An emergency document from the Eldorian Aerospace and Space Administration (EASA) had just arrived.
After a preliminary assessment, the document was immediately taken to the office of the Minister of Defense on the third floor.
"What’s the matter?" Reynard Toynbee was roused from his sleep.
Glancing at his watch, he saw it was two o’clock in the morning.
His mind instantly cleared. Being woken at this hour meant, without a doubt, that something extremely urgent had happened.
Rubbing his forehead, his mood turned sour.
Verisalia deploying troops to interfere in the Tarlin Civil War?
Or had Solantia disclosed a new type of heavy weapon?
Reynard Toynbee got dressed and went to his office. Several military officers in uniform were already there waiting.
One of them, a colonel with a serious expression, was holding a bulky military laptop. Upon seeing Toynbee, he began, "Minister Toynbee, this is an emergency document transmitted from the United Space Station to EASA, and then forwarded to us."
Reynard Toynbee was immediately puzzled, "The United Space Station? What kind of emergency document could they have sent?"
He remembered that the United Space Station had a leak a while ago, and their request for repairs had not been answered, but Verisalia was preparing to launch a spacecraft to address the issue.
The colonel didn’t answer his question but placed the laptop on the table, opened it, and played a video.
Reynard Toynbee remained composed at first, but gradually, his expression turned to one of shock.
The room fell silent.
Those who hadn’t seen the video before were showing incredulous looks.
When they saw the massive corpse drift past the space station, nearly a third of the station’s length in comparison, Toynbee even covered his mouth, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is simply unbelievable."
If it were not for the Ministry of Defense, if the video had not been presented to him by a group of serious officers, he might have thought it was the beginning of a sci-fi movie.
An enormous creature never seen before, appearing in space, what did that mean?
One term came to everyone’s mind in the office:
Extraterrestrial life!
Reynard Toynbee’s face was grave as he looked at the colonel, "What does EASA say? Do we have more details?"
The colonel shook his head, "No."
Hearing this, Reynard Toynbee stood up, walked a few steps away, and began to ponder with his back to everyone.
In the Eldorian political system, the position of Minister of Defense wasn’t really that of a military man but more of a politician.
And a politician first considers the pros and cons.
That immense object in space seemed lifeless, for now, it could be referred to as a carcass.
Reynard wasn’t a scientist, but he understood that extraterrestrial life could potentially carry microorganisms never before seen by humans.
The risks were enormous.
At the same time, this was an incredibly significant discovery.
That was extraterrestrial life!
In the vast cosmos, amidst the silent void of space, humanity had launched countless probes in search of traces of other life forms in this boundless solitude.
All efforts had ended in failure.
But now, such a presence had appeared right on Earth’s doorstep, in such a remarkable way.
What secrets did that corpse contain? What kind of life structure did it have? Could it bring a breakthrough for Eldorian science?
So, while Reynard was solemn, he was almost exclaiming that this was a gift from God to Eldoria!
As for the possibility that this entity might still be alive and the threat of its weapons, he hadn’t considered that.
After all, this was the real world, a world of science, not some comic book world where issues are resolved by whimsically resetting the timeline.
How strong could a life form be? Could it withstand the might of Eldoria’s eleven active carrier strike groups?
If push came to shove, they could resort to biological weapons or tactical nuclear bombs.
Reynard was confident in Eldoria’s military strength; even if the extraterrestrial life was made of pure titanium alloy, a barrage of artillery fire could melt it into liquid metal.
But the key now was to keep this discovery from other countries.
Especially Solantia!
If this carcass contained tremendous opportunities and Solantia got hold of it, then Eldoria’s position as the dominant power on Earth might really be gone forever.
Thinking of this, Reynard suddenly panicked and quickly turned around, asking, "Do other countries know about this?"
The United Space Station wasn’t just home to Eldorian astronauts.
Astronauts from Eldoria, Verisalia, the Balocia Republic, and the Lutopstanian Kingdom were all present.
The latter two certainly wouldn’t dare to say a word, but Verisalia...
The colonel answered, "They know."
The muscles in Reynard Toynbee’s face tensed up, his expression darkening further. After pondering for a moment, he said:
"Take everything, we’re going to see the President."
...
