I Can't Stay in This Awful Place for Another Second

“Hmm?”

Irene stood frozen in place. After a long while, she muttered to herself, “Xiao Ai?”

This familiar mechanical voice inexplicably triggered her long-lost memories of her time on Earth. The two voices weren't just similar—they were practically identical, right down to the tone.

If the mechanical voice hadn't spoken in the Common Tongue instead of Chinese, Irene would have thought it was a product of Earth.

However, her words received no response.

Inside the sealed spaceship, not even the air was moving. There wasn't even the sound of wind. It was terrifyingly quiet.

In the dim environment, Irene blinked. Sniffing the smell of stale dust in the air, she peered through the gap of the alloy door she had forced open into the dark space beyond. For a moment, she suddenly felt a bit foolish.

Shaking her head helplessly, she quickly figured out the current situation.

It seemed there might be some kind of automatic recognition device in this room, and it was still functioning.

However, this spaceship was from far too long ago. The circuitry inside had probably degraded beyond recognition, which was likely why it had mistaken her, an intruder, for the supreme commander.

She then extended her mental power into the room before her.

The room wasn't large.

Or rather, it wasn't a room at all. It looked more like... an elevator?

Once her mental power covered the entire elevator shaft, Irene even found what appeared to be an electronic screen used for selecting floors. However, the screen was now completely black, covered in a thick layer of dust.

Confirming there were no dangers or living creatures, she stepped forward and tried to pry the elevator doors wider so she could go inside to investigate.

But the moment she placed her hands on the alloy doors and applied a bit of force, they actually slid open automatically to both sides.

With a series of harsh, creaking screeches, the elevator doors opened completely. Then, the mechanical voice rang out once more: “Numerical control unit detected as damaged. Please state your destination.”

Just as Irene was wondering how to respond, the inner wall of the elevator directly in front of her suddenly lit up.

After a flurry of static that looked like snow, the image gradually stabilized. Though it flickered occasionally, the drawing on it was still barely legible.

It was a highly detailed directory map listing all the areas the elevator could access, with the name of each area labeled in the Common Tongue.

Seeing these areas, Irene felt a jolt of excitement. Her gaze locked almost instantly onto one labeled "Central Control Room."

Throughout her exploration of this spaceship, she had accumulated too many questions that needed answers.

She had previously visited a library-like area in search of physical records, but the books inside had all turned to ash.

She wondered if the Central Control Room would have electronic records that could explain what was going on with this spaceship.

With that thought in mind, Irene decided to go all the way. After spending a "tiny" bit of time stacking ten layers of magical shields on herself and casting 【Feather Fall】 and 【Detect Malice】, she stepped into the elevator and tried speaking to the empty air: “Please take me to the Central Control Room. Thank you.”

As her voice fell, the "antique" elevator—which was probably tens of thousands of years old—let out an overburdened clang. It suddenly jolted downward, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

The entire elevator car became hazy, but it soon stabilized and began to ascend slowly. The alloy doors also started to slide shut as it went up.

“Whoa.” Standing inside the elevator, Irene looked left and right, clicking her tongue in amazement.

Just as she was thinking this, the elevator came to a halt with a heavy clang. As the doors slowly slid open, the electronic voice rang out once more: “Destination reached: Central Control Room.”

When the doors fully opened, a hall with a heavy sci-fi aesthetic came into view.

Numerous suits of power armor lay scattered on the floor. They seemed to belong to officers, as their armor was different from the blue suits she had seen earlier, boasting various other colors instead.

These included red, yellow, and even pink. Even though they were covered in a thin layer of dust, they were still very vibrant, likely used to distinguish ranks.

However, Irene's attention wasn't on these colorful suits of power armor at the moment. Her gaze was firmly drawn to something resembling a glass jar in the center of the hall.

This object was bolted to the floor. Through a glass dome on its surface, she could see a human-head-sized spherical object floating inside, emitting a yellow glow.

It was filled with countless complex, dazzling mana transmission conduits. Powerful waves of mana could be clearly felt even from over ten meters away.

Driven by curiosity, Irene walked over and tapped her hand against the glass dome, producing a crisp clinking sound.

Seeing a magical creation inside such a highly technological spaceship was truly bizarre.

Just as this thought crossed Irene's mind, the surface of the yellow sphere inside the glass dome shifted, forming the outline of a human face.

It stared at the intruder. Its expression shifted from completely blank to utterly shocked in an instant.

"(º Д º*)"

Though its mouth didn't move, a highly gender-neutral voice exploded in Irene's mind.

“Y-You... You... It really is you, my Creator, Your Grace!”

Irene frowned slightly, but the light orb in front of her had no intention of stopping and continued to babble.

“You've finally come!”

“Do you have any idea what I've been through these past ten thousand years?! Year after year, year after year! I've been waiting here for thirteen thousand, eight hundred and five years!”

“A whole thirteen thousand, eight hundred and five years!”

Like a madman, after shouting excitedly, its expression suddenly turned extremely solemn.

"( ˙-˙ )"

“Oh! I am terribly sorry. I got a bit carried away. I've been far too lonely all these years, so I've grown accustomed to shouting to cope with the solitude.”

“Anyway, it is wonderful that you have reappeared. Please, take me away from here quickly. Take me with you! I beg of you! I can't stay in this damn place for another second!”

With that, a "pitiful and endearing" expression appeared on its face.

"(✘_✘)"