CH 160

We’re almost there guys~

Qing Mengxing seemed to notice the subtle expressions of the crowd but didn’t appear offended. He just chuckled and said, “You’ve met Mang Ya before, haven’t you?”

The group was surprised by Qing Mengxing’s frankness but remained cautious.

Yu Jin asked straightforwardly, “Why were you near the Cangyu Mountains?”

Qing Mengxing turned to his backpack, which was nearby and had been cleared of snow, appearing dry and warm. It wasn’t just the backpack; he felt warm all over.

Nan Ge gestured towards the backpack. “Sorry, it’s already been checked.” After all, the Shui Jing Gong’s habit of finding Mang Yas on a daily basis was somewhat mysterious, especially considering that the last two times, they had turned out to be impostors.

Qing Mengxing nodded in understanding. Regardless of the base, it was necessary to conduct checks when receiving strangers. He calmly took out a simulator from his backpack. “I came here to extend the lifespan of the simulator.”

The others looked at him with puzzled expressions, wondering if this explanation was a bit too long.

Seeing their confusion, Qing Mengxing continued to explain, “There have been surveillance teams near the Cangyu Mountains all along. The surveillance only ceased when the freezing season arrived, and the external temperature no longer supported prolonged outdoor activities.”

These surveillance teams outside the Cangyu Mountains were not from a single faction, and the bases in the Cangyu Mountains were well aware of this. Otherwise, the news of the simulator modification wouldn’t have spread so quickly. These surveillance teams were cautious on one hand and eager to obtain firsthand information about the miracles created by the Crystal Palace on the other.

But what was the connection between this surveillance and Qing Mengxing? Was he trying to avoid something?

“It’s looking for me. After the Dream Star River was destroyed, my presence was exposed,” Qing Mengxing explained, his eyes drooping slightly, displaying a mix of emotions including sadness and fear.

“Is it Mang Ya?” Liu Po asked.

Qing Mengxing looked at the people in the room and hesitated. Liu Po and Nan Ge quickly understood and signaled the others to temporarily leave the room.

After everyone had left, the room became quiet. Liu Po and Nan Ge found chairs to sit down and didn’t rush the conversation. Whether this Qing Mengxing was real or not, it was worth hearing more.

“Oh, by the way,” Nan Ge suddenly spoke up during the silence. “There’s someone in the base that you might be interested in meeting. You should know each other.”

Qing Mengxing was momentarily puzzled but nodded without refusing.

Nan Ge went to the door and asked someone to notify Cheng Que, who had also heard about the recent discovery of another Mang Ya. He quickly arrived.

As soon as Cheng Que entered the room, their gazes met. Cheng Que saw this familiar face once again and couldn’t help but feel a complex mix of emotions. However, it was too complicated to put into words, so he remained silent.

Qing Mengxing looked at him for a moment and then maintained his composure. “May I ask who you are?”

The three people in the room were slightly surprised, and Cheng Que carefully observed Qing Mengxing for a moment, furrowing his brow. “You’re not the Mang Ya on the operating table! Your gaze is different, and you don’t look like a clone.” That gaze was too unique, and over the years, he had not forgotten it; it had only become clearer in his memory.

Nan Ge and Liu Po remained silent, watching the situation unfold.

Qing Mengxing smiled knowingly. “You mean Mang Ya, right? I’m neither him nor a clone. In this world, apart from clones, there’s another group of people with the same DNA. Although the environment can lead to differences, ultimately, we share the same origin.”

Cheng Que was surprised. “Twins!” And they were identical twins. Nan Ge and Liu Po were also taken aback, realizing that their previous assumptions had been wrong. Qing Mengxing wasn’t a clone, and they had been misled by Mang Ya’s cryptic words.

“Qing Mengxing, he looks so much like us, guess what his relationship is with us.” This was a recount of Mang Ya’s exact words to Shu Shuishui. At this moment, they realized that what Mang Ya had said was all true, but once it came out of Mang Ya’s mouth, the truth could easily be mistaken for falsehood.

The three of them couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. This Mang Ya was truly unpredictable!

Qing Mengxing, seeing their expressions, could guess the reason and smiled helplessly. “He’s my younger brother, very clever, and well-behaved.”

The three of them: “…” Clever, they could accept that, especially since he managed to manipulate everyone so skillfully. But well-behaved?

“Although we are twins, we didn’t live together due to family reasons until we both entered the space station as members of the space exploration team. That’s when we truly got to know each other. He’s a bit quiet and introverted, even a bit awkward around strangers. When we first met, he was cautious around me…”

As Qing Mengxing spoke of the Mang Ya in his memories, his eyes lit up, and a smile played on his lips. However, the Mangya in his words seemed completely different from the one they knew, as if they were two unrelated individuals, even polar opposites.

Inside the room, the three of them didn’t interrupt Qing Mengxing’s recollection. He spoke calmly and slowly about that period of life on the space station. It was evident that he cherished those moments. They say that twins have a telepathic connection, so the happiness they felt was doubled. This was probably an experience that others could never fully comprehend.

Qing Mengxing recounted his and Mang Ya’s journey from being reserve members to becoming full-fledged team members, going on missions together to explore the unsolved mysteries of the universe. He mentioned that it was their dream since childhood to explore the unknown and seek the truth of the universe. He could even recall the scene of their first mission, checking each other’s uniforms for neatness.

After a while, Qing Mengxing’s words suddenly came to a halt. It seemed like he had just realized that he was talking too much, and others might not necessarily want to hear it. “Sorry, I got a bit carried away.”

The three of them reassured him that they didn’t mind. Nan Ge spoke to comfort him, “The selection process for the space exploration team is extremely rigorous. The fact that you both were chosen means you’re both very outstanding.”

After receiving praise, Qing Mengxing showed a faint smile. “Thank you. He would be very happy to hear that.” After saying this, Qing Mengxing fell into a brief silence and then got to the main point. It was clear that he knew what Nan Ge and the others wanted to hear, but he couldn’t help but share how wonderful Mang Ya was. So, he couldn’t resist expressing himself. “The incident happened during one of our exploration missions on the return journey. We encountered a wormhole, and by a twist of fate, we went in.”

In an instant, the expressions on Nan Ge, Liu Po, and Cheng Que’s faces underwent intense fluctuations, and subconsciously, their minds generated a reaction: this person was indeed lying. However, rationality quickly returned, and they realized that stating such an obvious falsehood didn’t make sense. Combined with Mang Ya’s unique characteristics, the three of them came to a terrifying realization: Mang Ya and the person before them, Qing Mengxing, had truly crossed through a wormhole!

In the vastness of the universe, there are many unsolved mysteries, and with the advancement of technology, these mysteries have not decreased but rather multiplied. Among them, wormholes are the most inscrutable mystery to date. Although theories and research results over the past few centuries have all confirmed the existence of wormholes, the tremendous gravitational pull of these wormholes remains an unsolved challenge. No substance has been found that can resist this gravitational force. Anything that enters or approaches a wormhole is torn apart, reduced to such fine particles that even molecular structures cannot be maintained.

Unlike black holes, wormholes are even more complex to verify, but multiple studies indicate that wormholes are tunnels connecting different spacetime dimensions. Alternatively, they may serve as passages connecting black holes and white holes, but either way, it implies that wormholes can traverse spacetime, achieving genuine time travel. There, you can witness the future and the past, observe the true birth of the universe, and witness the ultimate destruction of the cosmos.

Qing Mengxing recounted that fateful mission. He and Mang Ya were piloting two spacecraft on a routine return journey, accompanied by other members of their team. No one realized the impending danger until they crossed a field of asteroids, where an enormous void appeared on their usual flight path. Quickly, they realized it wasn’t a void but an area from which no light could escape—a region of intense gravitational force. In an instant, their spacecraft were caught as if flies in a spider’s web.

“Everything happened so suddenly. Nobody even had time to comprehend whether it was a black hole or something else. Everyone was drawn in. I don’t have many memories of what happened afterward. It felt like my body was being torn apart, but that process was so rapid that even the pain couldn’t fully register. When I regained consciousness, I found myself on a small asteroid. It was a thriving little world known for interstellar tourism. Astonishingly, only a minute had passed since the accident occurred. Soon, the Galactic Alliance located me through a locator.” Qing Mengxing’s eyes suddenly held a hint of coldness.

“Later, I heard that everyone in the exploration team had died. I could actually sense that Mang Ya was still alive, but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure about my own future, and naturally, I didn’t want him to take unnecessary risks. I genuinely believed that colliding with a black hole was an accident. It wasn’t until I realized that there was something wrong with my eyes that I discovered they could see the future! And as time passed, I could see more and more of the future. I didn’t inform the Galactic Alliance about this because my life had been under surveillance since that accident.”

Qing Mengxing suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly. “In fact, I should have realized at that time that as the only person alive to have traversed a wormhole, the Galactic Alliance’s methods were limited to mere surveillance. That must have been because they possessed even more valuable specimens.” Qing Mengxing’s clenched fist was tight but seemed powerless. “Even if I can see the future, what good does it do? I can’t go back in time.”

After calming his emotions for a moment, Qing Mengxing continued, “Through continuous experimentation, I discovered some patterns in my abilities. For example, I can’t see my own future, which also means that the longer I spend with people around me, the less I can see their future. I used my ability to secretly investigate information about Mang Ya and finally learned about the experiment. I also found out that after the accident, Mang Ya was found on a symmetrical planet to the one I was on. Even the latitude and longitude on the planet are symmetrical, but the time his tracker signal appeared was one minute before the accident.”

“In other words, after the accident, he and I are like two sides of a symmetrical scale. My time advanced by one minute, while his time went back one minute. Similarly, I can see the future, and he can see the past. Just like a wormhole, we can see the beginning and the end!”

The profound revelation and silence lingered in the room. Unless heard firsthand, who could have imagined such a truth? Who could have imagined that Mang Ya’s eye secret was so inexplicable!