Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Sangonomiya Kokomi’s Fear

"Do you hear that buzzing sound?"

Kitsune Saiguu, who had been chatting with Mikoshi Chiyo, suddenly twitched her fox ears.

She seemed to catch an unusual sound.

It sounded like the buzzing of insect wings.

But this was outer space.

Outside was vacuum—where would insects even come from?

And this place certainly didn’t look like somewhere insects could exist.

"What buzzing sound?"

Chiyo looked confused as well.

She stared into the pitch-black outer space but couldn’t imagine any insects being there.

Wasn’t the environment outside supposed to be something even gods couldn’t survive in?

How could insects possibly exist out there?

Yet soon—

The sound became clearer and clearer.

Even Chiyo, who hadn’t sensed anything earlier, could now distinctly hear the buzzing wings.

Before they could even prepare themselves—

A massive swarm suddenly appeared.

The overwhelming sea of insects instantly startled both of them.

Looking outside the space station—

The countless insects formed a dense, terrifying mass.

Their bodies were enormous.

Their numbers were staggering.

For a moment—

It even made the calamity they once faced seem less frightening.

Part of it was because they were insects.

But the greater terror came from their sheer numbers.

Without any weapons in hand, Chiyo even bared her fangs at them instinctively, as if ready to fight.

Just as they thought they would be thrown into a desperate battle right after reviving—

Something enormous appeared.

A gigantic ring with a diameter of nearly 500 kilometers gradually materialized in space not far from the station.

Such a colossal structure immediately stunned the two of them.

The disturbance also attracted many others from inside the station.

Everyone stared in curiosity at the immense construct.

Only Ningguang, who had heard about it before, remained relatively calm.

Still—

Looking at the gigantic structure left her puzzled.

If the Star Gate was meant for transportation...

What kind of object required something this enormous?

It seemed even larger than Liyue Harbor.

What kind of cargo required such a massive structure?

She had once thought the Jade Chamber—and now even the space station—were extravagant constructions.

But now Ningguang suddenly felt that this Star Gate might be excessively luxurious.

Even if one had to build it—

Was it really necessary to make it this huge?

"...What is that?"

Sangonomiya Kokomi, who had only started working here a few days ago, stared at the structure in shock.

She thought coming here had already shattered her worldview.

But now another unbelievable thing appeared—

And it was even bigger.

How was she supposed to understand this?

"It’s said to be a road connecting different worlds. As for how it works, I still haven’t figured that out."

Even Ningguang couldn’t truly comprehend it yet.

She couldn’t even claim to fully understand the space station they were currently on.

Let alone this new device Su Ran had just created.

For now—

She simply chose to accept it.

Although it looked extravagantly wasteful...

At least it wasn’t coming out of her own money.

So she didn’t feel too distressed.

"A road? Does it really need to be that large? That’s bigger than the entire area of Watatsumi Island..."

Kokomi found it incredibly exaggerated.

What kind of being would need a road that big?

"The outside universe is strange beyond imagination. Even my understanding is only superficial. Perhaps there really are beings who require something like that."

Ningguang couldn’t say for sure. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

After all—

She had spent her whole life on Teyvat.

She wasn’t born into an interstellar civilization.

So she didn’t truly understand other races.

Maybe creatures that large really did exist.

"Miss Ningguang must have met quite a few people from other worlds, then?"

Kokomi had heard rumors of visitors from other worlds coming to Teyvat.

For example—

The Traveler.

But those were only isolated cases.

She had never seen the broader universe.

"The outside universe? Countless civilizations. Just one world I briefly learned about had a population exceeding ten billion. Compared to that, Teyvat is the rare exception."

When Ningguang first learned that Azure Blue Planet had more than ten billion people—

She had been deeply shocked.

Because the entire population of Teyvat combined probably didn’t reach even one percent of that.

And worlds like that were common throughout the universe.

Aside from rare anomalies like Herta—

Many such civilizations existed.

The scale of the Interastral Peace Corporation was already beyond her imagination.

With so many civilizations—

If Teyvat appeared before them...

She had no doubt it would be completely exploited.

The world would be squeezed for every resource.

Fortunately—

Su Ran existed.

Because of him—

Teyvat’s fate had changed.

At least they didn’t need to worry about being ruthlessly exploited.

Out of respect for Su Ran—

Even a giant like the Interastral Peace Corporation would act cautiously.

And other civilizations would be even more careful.

As long as Su Ran still held goodwill toward Teyvat—

The outside universe posed little threat.

Unless...

Some truly malicious force appeared.

"The outside universe... is really that vast?"

Hearing this made Kokomi nervous.

Ningguang had told her earlier that this place would serve as a bridge between Teyvat and outside civilizations.

Didn’t that mean—

She would eventually have to deal with countless alien civilizations?

Just thinking about it made Kokomi feel her energy draining away.

With her naturally introverted personality—

If she had to do this job for fifty years...

She might completely break down.

"Just think of Teyvat as a drop of water in the ocean. And there’s no need to be nervous—because it won’t change anything."

Ningguang was far more experienced than Kokomi.

She immediately noticed her anxiety and fear.

But she didn’t think anything was wrong with that.

Because—

When Ningguang first learned about the universe...

She had reacted the exact same way.

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