Wandering Meteor-Chapter 8: Nebula Outburst

Wandering chose the Metal Ball over its original, rudimentary form after comparing the two.

After all, not only does the Metal Ball look better, but it's also much safer and more stable, a significant upgrade from the crude iron machinery of the past.

Of course, now that Wandering possesses the ability to change Covalent Bonds, it can revert back or transform into any shape at will.

"Wandering, how did you know I recharged you?"

Lu Chen, looking at Wandering, which had turned into a two-meter diameter Dark Gold Metal Ball, asked curiously.

"Because all the information I observed along the way is stored on the Hard Disk, which for me constitutes memories. I know you've been protecting me all along!"

Wandering communicated while getting accustomed to its new form.

It can now produce single nozzles on the surface of the Metal Ball to change directions while flying.

Whoosh!

Wandering excitedly zigzagged through space, sometimes leaving a golden tail due to its high speed!

Seeing Wandering have so much fun like a little kid, Lu Chen also felt cheerful and laughed: "Iron Base people's Wandering is truly magical, able to change its body by altering Covalent Bonds!"

"I should thank you for sharing these amazing Consciousness Particles with me; without them, I couldn't have developed autonomous consciousness!" said Wandering gratefully.

Lu Chen chuckled: "It's my first time using Consciousness Particles this way, I didn't know they had this effect. For now, let's not talk about anything else, you just call me 'big brother' to see how it sounds!"

"Big brother!"

Wandering obediently called out.

Perhaps it was the earlier memories that gave it an inexplicable sense of closeness to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh and said: "Haha, good, from now on I've got your back. Stick with me and you won't miss out!"

Lu Chen paused, then continued, "The elements you absorbed earlier seemed to only work on Metal Elements. Now, go and try absorbing the remains of that battleship!"

Wandering immediately flew to the wreckage of the battleship and slowly began to change its shape with the elements, gradually absorbing it bit by bit.

Lu Chen attentively observed Wandering's absorption process and after a while, Wandering had cleaned out the Metal Elements of the battleship wreckage and grown to a diameter of three hundred meters.

Yet, in front of a small Planet that was a hundred thousand meters in size, it still looked like a cute Metal Ball underling.

"Woohoo~~"

Having grown in size, Wandering excitedly flew around Lu Chen.

Now, it was much faster than before because, while absorbing the battleship wreckage, it had also taken in nuclear fusion engines. Using nuclear fusion as a power source made it significantly more potent than before.

Lu Chen could not help feeling a bit envious of Wandering's fortune in finding an engine, thinking how great it was to have a powerful big brother; whereas he would need to reach the stature of a Constant Star before achieving the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion!

Lu Chen asked, "Why did you voluntarily enter the Consciousness Particles just now?"

"I don't know; I just felt a kind of absorbing force. Besides, I didn't have self-consciousness at the time and didn't think much about it. It was after entering the Consciousness Particles that I started to have active thoughts," Wandering explained truthfully.

Lu Chen, recalling the consciousness of the dying Captain, murmured: "So far it seems that Consciousness Particles might have a mysterious attraction to consciousness, although the specific reasons are still unknown."

Lu Chen continued, "And the reason you now have active thoughts, I guess, is the difference between two dimensions and three dimensions. A Hard Disk uses a two-dimensional plane to store information, which means you could only think linearly. Consciousness Particles, on the other hand, belong to three-dimensional space, which adds a height dimension on top of the plane, allowing your consciousness to jump vertically in arc."

"Big brother, you're really knowledgeable, seems even smarter than the humans who created me!" said Wandering earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen asked, "You remember humans created you, so do you recall when you were launched?"

He wanted to deduce Earth's timeline of losing contact and any clues about Earth now based on Wandering's launch time.

Wandering replied, "I was launched around the 21st century, but I stayed in the Heliosphere for an unknown length of time, so I'm not sure what time it is now."

Sigh, Lu Chen was also a man of the 21st century, and he didn't know how long he had been unconscious in space.

Wandering continued, "Before, whenever I sent back information, I would receive commands from humans, but after waking up this time, I haven't received any commands from them, so I guess they may no longer be in their original location. I think I've been abandoned by them."

"Do you hate them?"

Lu Chen didn't intend to inform Wandering, yet Wandering came to that conclusion on its own.

Wandering asserted, "I believe they must have had special reasons for doing so. Even if they're no longer around, I will still explore the Universe. It's my mission, the reason for my existence!"

"Good, from now on, we brothers will wander the Universe together!"

Lu Chen didn't expect that Wandering would still adhere to its original mission after gaining self-consciousness, which couldn't help but be admirable. After all, the courage to roam the vast loneliness of the Universe is substantial.

Since Wandering gained consciousness, Lu Chen had a companion to chat with, making time pass by much quicker.

Although he still didn't know how much time had elapsed, at least time didn't feel as unbearable any longer.

During the long wandering journey, Lu Chen continued to absorb interstellar material, from dust to meteorites, rejecting none, collecting both coarse and fine.

Gradually, his size grew to two hundred thousand meters.

That was after compression; had he not actively compressed himself, his size would have easily exceeded five hundred thousand meters.

His current Gravity Strength radially spanned fifty thousand meters, and if he concentrated the gravity in one spot, he could increase it to a gravity strength of 1000.

The temperature at Earth's Core had reached one thousand five hundred degrees, and both the crust and the mantle had doubled in thickness, substantially increasing his impact resistance at least twice over!

However, the Planet's surface was still covered with large and small craters, with former craters long filled by later accretions of interstellar material - recent impacts that had served as a testament to the omnipresent dangers of the Universe!

Wandering envied Lu Chen's rapid growth.

How he wished he could absorb all interstellar material, but because of the presence of elements, he could only absorb Metal Elements, only growing a few meters in this period. In comparison to his big brother, it was enough to make him want to bleed inside.

It must be said, a boss is a boss, indeed!

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Boom!

Suddenly, a spectacular nebula exploded a light-year away, ejecting numerous particles of nebula material.

Noticing this, Lu Chen immediately took Wandering and rushed towards it. Nebula explosions were uncommon, and both spheres were eager to witness one.

From afar, the concentric nebula looked like a cat's eye, seemingly the Cat's Eye Nebula previously observed by humans, located within the Milky Way, stunningly beautiful but inexplicably erupting!