Jessica didn't answer immediately after he asked, but reacted only when he was about to turn away:

"Sorry, I was too absorbed just now... You're right, what we're seeing now are characteristics of the superluminal engine accumulating power. However, this isn't merely a simple optical phenomenon, but rather the space around the ship being distorted by the engine. The principle behind this phenomenon is truly mysterious; we humans have not yet deciphered it..."

Jessica spoke to Wang Zhifan in a lengthy monologue, her tone tinged with regret and longing, making it easy to infer that she had been observing and reasoning the principle of the superluminal engine from an alien civilization.

"Captain, just observing won't help you solve this puzzle, you must propose a brand new theory. The chief has strictly proven that, with our current knowledge, this superluminal phenomenon cannot be explained. It's as baffling as magic..."

A middle-aged Caucasian then joined the conversation. He was a member of Jessica's exploration team, and judging by his words, might be an expert in this field.

"I know... I was just thinking whether the superluminal principle can truly be understood by humans. Perhaps the key to unraveling its mystery lies in first developing and enhancing human cognition."

Upon hearing the middle-aged Caucasian's words, Jessica turned to him and responded.

"Oh... Your approach is indeed innovative... But how exactly should cognitive development be carried out? It requires first establishing a viable theory..."

The two then continued into a serious discussion, soon attracting two other team members, the yellow-skinned young scientist and the dark-skinned girl, who joined the increasingly heated debate, making Wang Zhifan, standing nearby, feel an invisible gap between himself and these people.

"Ultimately not part of the same world; what I excel at now is perhaps just fighting. These scientific issues are beyond my grasp."

Quietly turning away, Wang Zhifan immediately went to check on his clone soldier subordinates, especially having some try on the powered armor provided by the chief, preparing for his subsequent deployments.

Time passed steadily like this until a special vibration suddenly spread throughout the entire ship, prompting Wang Zhifan to realize that the superluminal journey had commenced. The Guangshu reconnaissance ship would travel to specified coordinates 16.5 light-years away in a manner incomprehensible to humans, taking no more than 24 Earth hours.

Meanwhile, during the superluminal journey, they could no longer control the ship's movement nor open any hatches to leave. Research indicated that violating these rules could result in catastrophic consequences.

Wang Zhifan naturally wasn't bored enough to break these rules but would secretly monitor others for similar inclinations, suspecting, for example, someone suffering from depression might not want to live and intentionally break these rules to drag others along, a pitfall he thought might be a trap designed by the simulation.

However, after continuous and meticulous observation, he found no bizarre individuals aboard. Everyone was preparing for the exploration mission diligently, or like him, preserving strength.

Thus, about one Earth day later, Wang Zhifan sensed that the Guangshu had exited the peculiar superluminal state and entered normal velocity mode. Unfortunately, through the porthole, he could hardly notice any difference, as it remained a scene of flickering dots amidst darkness.

Until the next day when an initially inconspicuous dot in his view gradually expanded, the contours became clearer and eventually revealed itself as a gray-green planet suspended in the vast cosmos.

"Captain Wang, we've arrived! Look how beautiful this planet is! Guangshu's scan indicates numerous civilizational artifacts on its surface! Let's quickly land and explore this unknown civilization!"

The blonde, blue-eyed scientist Jessica was as usual, exuberant at this moment, eager to jump off the ship and reach the planet's surface to begin exploration, while Wang Zhifan gazed solemnly at the increasingly large celestial body outside the porthole.

"This planet gives me a sense of impending danger... I seriously suggest utilizing the ship's onboard instruments for preliminary exploration, minimizing or avoiding landing due to considerable risks."

As Wang Zhifan approached the planet, his perception began to react, making him aware that numerous danger factors lurked there. Although not of the spine-chilling type, factoring in his responsibility to protect the relatively weaker team members, maintaining distance and not landing seems a more ideal choice.

Yet evidently, led by Jessica, these scientists would not accept his advice. Their vigorous exploration desires meant they would consciously overlook their safety at such times, even willing to sacrifice precious lives for humanity's exploratory cause.

"No, Captain Wang, the analysts have already sent results—the planet possesses the essential conditions for landing. Its gravity approximates 1.15 times Earth's, the atmosphere is rich in nitrogen and oxygen, the average temperature about 9 degrees, and there's a vast solid surface, making it ideally suited for human colonization! We must conduct field explorations to lay a foundation for subsequent plans!"

The female scientist Jessica expressed elation, directly pointing out that this planet is an excellent choice for human colonization, even though they had only observed it from high above in space without truly understanding its conditions.

"You insist on going; I can't stop you, but please try to cooperate with me and let my squad pave the way for you to ensure basic safety."

Foreseeing this, Wang Zhifan did not argue with the scientists, merely requesting them to not be overly agitated and to cautiously proceed with ground exploration.

"No problem, Captain Wang, I'll have the pilot enter atmospheric flight and choose a suitable landing point."

Jessica, as the true leader of the exploration team, immediately took action, establishing exclusive communication lines and constantly liaising with the ship's pilot, while Wang Zhifan, as the security personnel, patiently waited nearby, simultaneously observing the scenery outside the porthole to gather further information and preparing his clone soldiers with spacesuits or powered armor for the landing.

It's worth mentioning that in the Guangshu, due to its comprehensive systems like oxygen and water circulation, gravity control, the crew typically wore casual attire under normal circumstances, not donning cumbersome spacesuits unnecessarily, hence Wang Zhifan directing his subordinates to prepare in such a scene.

Even he donned a spacesuit shortly thereafter, readying himself for departure, as his excellent eyesight discerned various scenes on the planet's surface, certain that the scientific team couldn't restrain their exploratory fervor.

It was a network of ruined gray mountains difficult to precisely describe, or gray cities, where towering black-gray constructs stood on the surface, gathered into clusters. Their meticulously detailed arc-shaped exteriors alone indicated they were undoubtedly artificial. Additionally, small moving dots surrounding these gigantic entities, along with intermittent sparks, further confirmed the planet's vitality, at least seemingly.

"This must be the planet of that coordinate civilization! It might even be their homeworld! What? Detection shows multiple biological activities on it, including what seem to be human-based carbon life forms?"

Jessica, astounded, received further information garnered by the ship, including reports of humans detected on the surface, which puzzled her greatly. This planet's position is rather obscure; it would be difficult to find it without coordinates, let alone its considerable distance from humanity's home Earth.

And utilizing superluminal travel to reach here is not feasible for everyone. Those individual human explorers currently can't possess such devices, and even the empire controlling all resources has successfully created only a mere eight superluminal engines.

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