And just like that, the year 1100 came to an end.
Time passed so quickly.
Too many things had happened in that single year. With the arrival of 1101, however, everything gradually quieted down. Players enjoyed the final stretch of version 3.0 while eagerly looking forward to what the next version might bring.
Felix spent most of his time at the base on Talos-II.
Fortunately, although Kazdel had become the center of Terra and the orbital routes connecting the major cities were nearly complete, fewer and fewer matters still required Felix's personal intervention. Only a handful of leaders from the nations of Terra knew what Felix was truly planning. When they crossed the Stargate and saw the space warship, hundreds of meters long, resting on the Arc Light One platform, every one of them fell into silence. Afterward, they quietly departed and continued maintaining good diplomatic relations with Kazdel.
Talos-II had Originium. It also had day and night.
Here, Felix's mechanical legion had expanded dramatically. He had built dozens of factories, using automated production lines to continuously manufacture all kinds of warships and armored equipment, the factories must grow.
The Rainbow Squad, who had once traveled from Earth to Terra, now also lived on Talos-II. Because of their special and sensitive identities, they had no contact with the players. Although they were all soldiers, each of them demonstrated remarkable skill in their own field, so Felix hired them as consultants and kept them by his side.
From time to time, they would stand before a telescope and look at the distant Earth, as if they wanted to say something, yet held back.
"I never imagined we would actually cross both space and dimensions."
It was Doc who said this.
After arriving on Terra in the same way the Rainbow Squad had, and later reuniting with them, they had all traveled across the land for a time as operators of Tomorrow's Development. During the war against the demons, they returned to Kazdel to assist with supplies and logistics. After the war ended, Felix found them again and invited them to Talos-II.
This unknown planet was full of unknowns.
But when Felix deliberately brought them to the observatory and guided them to look through the telescope, they saw the distant starry sky and, beyond it, the Earth that filled them with longing and brought tears to their eyes.
In the end, the members of Rainbow Squad chose to remain on the second planet.
They refused to leave.
They wanted to continue exploring this familiar starry sky together with the scientists of Tomorrow's Development.
Naturally, they also knew that Tomorrow's Development was building a massive spaceship, and they had even seen it up close. All they could do was marvel at Terra's technology. Earth's own science might be advanced, but it was impossible for it to produce fighter craft capable of entering space, much less construct colossal vessels that could cross the stars.
So they decided to stay and do what they could.
"Terra isn't actually that far from Earth… Although it lies outside the solar system, according to Chief Scientist Kristen, with the newest engines, it would only take a few years to get there. Maybe even less."
Ela chewed on a chocolate bar as she spoke.
"When that day comes… I wonder what will happen. I just hope it won't lead to war."
"Ela, you also play Ark, don't you? What do you think the chances are that Felix would want to conquer Earth?"
Ela did indeed enjoy games. She played them after work whenever she got home. But because of her busy schedule, she never played for very long.
In-game, her account was a Sarkaz character who used firearms and specialized in ranged combat. However, because of work and other obligations, she rarely logged in herself. To keep up with the rest of the player base, she even hired power-leveling services to farm equipment and materials for her.
She shook her head.
"Felix is a very strange person."
Ash raised her eyes.
"On that point, I agree with Ela. Felix is a very strange king."
"What strikes me as strangest is that he had been quietly supporting the players since version 1.0. Back when players were low-level and only qualified to do simple work like farming, Felix was already giving them weapons and guns, encouraging them to grow stronger, and even making friends with them."
She paused, then continued.
"Looking back now, it feels almost intentional."
"You mean he knew about the players' potential from the beginning and deliberately chose to befriend them?" Blitz scratched at his short blond hair. "That sounds way too conspiratorial. How could Felix have known the players had such terrifying potential? Why not just accept that he was genuinely kind?"
He noticed the Rainbow Squad members casting strange looks at him, while others fell into thought.
"Do you really think Felix is an ordinary person, given that he became the Liberation King?" Tachanka said in his deep, rough voice. "But from Blitz's perspective, I also don't think Felix deliberately tried to befriend the players. When he first came to this land, he was a merchant. Merchants need buyers. They need customers. And at that time, the players were the best customers he could have."
Doc thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Let's put aside for now whether Felix intentionally befriended the players. Go on with what else you find strange."
"He had the ambition and the ability to conquer Terra, but he didn't."
Ash spoke slowly.
"What I mean is, if he just took a few of the fighters currently being researched here on Talos-II and sent them down to Terra, he could crush every country on the continent."
Ela shook her head. "Even Columbia, with its advanced technology inherited from a previous civilization, could never have reached this level. Kazdel could have won easily, but Felix chose not to do that. He restrained both his ambition and his power and instead chose to explore the future of civilization."
"That should reassure you, shouldn't it?"
"No… On the contrary, I find Felix far more profound, and far more terrifying, because of it. His way of thinking is beyond my understanding. Perhaps what he seeks is not the kind of war-driven domination I described, but a far more peaceful unification of Terra."
"War… war never changes. To be able to avoid it is the greatest blessing." Doc smiled faintly. "If I didn't have this job, I'd feel nothing but relief. I think Felix is someone we can trust."
"You really believe that once he reaches Earth, he won't choose to rule it?"
"Oh my God, after hearing that, I really want to kick your smelly ass with my grandma's boots." Iana shot Fuze a glance, pursed her lips, and said, "The reason we have such convenient identities here is because of Felix. He doesn't owe us anything. If anything, we owe him."
Doc smiled helplessly.
In his eyes, Rainbow Squad and Felix had no reason for conflict. On the contrary, if they ever hoped to return to Earth, they would need Felix's protection to do it.
From his perspective, the fact that Felix had chosen not to militarily dominate Terra was an encouraging sign. He could not imagine what Earth would look like in an interstellar age, but through Terra, he could already glimpse part of that future.
Every month, Terra held a conference attended remotely by leaders of every nation. They discussed diplomacy, trade, imports, exports, and the countless problems between countries. No one truly knew what they thought in their hearts, but at the very least, they maintained the appearance of peace.
Perhaps one day Terra would speak with fewer voices.
Perhaps Kazdel would eventually unify the whole Terra.
But if that happened, it would come gradually and through willing acceptance, not through brute military conquest.
That thought reassured Doc.
If Felix ever truly crossed the stars and reached Earth, then the one future he least wanted to see was one that might never come to pass.
"I'm heading out."
"Where to?"
"Clever just sent me a message. The exploration team ran into a monster codenamed [Angel], and some of them were injured. I'm going to help."
Doc spoke and immediately left. The remaining Rainbow Squad members looked at each other and quickly followed.
These people from Earth had finally managed to gather together here, so naturally they wanted to move as one team.
___
Time passed like a gear spinning ever faster.
Spring on Terra arrived with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers. Summer brought sudden downpours that left everyone soaked through. Before August arrived, and before the final traces of summer faded away, Ines's preparations for the wedding were finally nearing completion.
Felix had many possible brides, and every one of them was extraordinary.
Time had left no mark on their faces. They remained youthful and beautiful. Once, they had all been girls who had formed bonds with Felix, or quietly pledged themselves to him in secret. Now, they wished to tell Felix of their love through a ceremony.
Every bride invited to the wedding received Ines's letter of notice.
Their hearts pounded with excitement. At last, it felt as though their long wait was finally coming to an end.
Those attending the wedding included Mostima, Muelsyse, Cellinia, Lemuen, Lemuel, Lappland, Senomi, Mandragora, Susie, Degenbrecher, Carnelian, Ch'en Hui-chieh, Lin Yühsia, Theresa, Ines, Wiš'adel, Ulšulah, Luna, Qalaiša, Mudrock, Nymph, Qui'saršinnag, Margaret Nearl, Maria Nearl, Natalya, Nian, Ling, Shu, Vina Victoria, Eblana, Loughshinny, YIrene, Angelina…
When they received the news, all of them were both surprised and delighted. None had expected Felix's promise of a wedding to be fulfilled so soon.
Since Ines herself still had to prepare as one of the brides, Felix simply handed the entire plan over to Anthony, Theresis, and the others, instructing them to organize the wedding in a manner worthy of the Liberation King.
An enormous number of guests would need to be invited.
This was a wedding open to the whole of Terra, and it was also Felix's return to the public eye after a long period of absence.
The ceremony had to be grand.
It had to be magnificent.
Leaving aside how many leaders of nations would be invited, the question remained: where could such a wedding even be held? What venue in all of Terra could possibly be vast enough for an event of this scale?
Fortunately, Ines had already thought through part of the problem.
The wedding would be held beneath the statue of the Sarkaz Kings in front of the Capitol Building. There, Felix would receive the blessings of the people and walk hand in hand with his loved ones into the future.
It would also be the final large-scale celebration for the players before patch 3.0 came to an end.
Soon, all the girls who would be attending the wedding began preparing on their own. Since there were no strict rules about what style of wedding dress the brides had to wear, everyone was free to choose according to her own homeland, customs, and preferences.
So the preparations began.
Wiš'adel finished her work for the day and pushed open the door. Even though she had long since moved from the Venus to live in Kazdel, and even though she had more than enough savings to buy a house of her own, she still had not moved out. She continued living with Ines as her roommate.
"What a hassle."
Wiš'adel looked at the notice, which had clearly been written by Ines, and curled her lip.
"Why do we all have to prepare our own wedding dresses?"
"Because everyone comes from a different place, and naturally their understanding of marriage is different as well," Ines replied calmly. "His Highness also thinks it would be better to avoid a direct clash between too many different traditions."
"Tsk, what a pain. Back in the old days, we Sarkaz would just take our clothes off and be done with it. Why go through all this trouble…"
Wiš'adel stopped halfway through her sentence, suddenly feeling awkward.
That had indeed been the way Sarkaz mercenaries used to live. On this miserable land, all they had ever wanted was to survive. They did not care about complicated weddings or pointless ceremonies. In their eyes, those were all meaningless formalities. Sarkaz mercenaries were like the wind itself. If two people took off their clothes and slept together, then that meant they were together.
But Kazdel was different now.
The city now had marriage registration centers for couples who wished to marry formally. Ines knew very well that this was also another way of conducting population registration.
"So," Ines asked, "have you decided what kind of wedding dress you want?"
Wiš'adel walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of chilled beer, took a long drink, then sprawled lazily across the sofa and turned on the television.
"As for you, Ines, you must have already decided, right?"
"I've already tried on the style and size. I'll be picking it up in two days."
Wiš'adel clicked her tongue in disbelief. She pursed her lips and muttered,
"Ines, your taste is… surprisingly good."
"Would you like me to help you choose one?" Ines asked with a smile.
"No, no!"
Wiš'adel's voice rose a little too quickly, then she fell silent.
"His Highness's harem is huge," she said after a while. "If I want to gain enough of his attention… then I can only focus on my wedding dress."
"When I go pick mine up in two days," Ines said, "I'll go with you so you can try yours on too."
"Oh… fine."
Elsewhere, in a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, Nian looked at Shu, whose face was red and whose fingers trembled slightly, with a mischievous expression. In a teasing tone that was sweet to the point of being unbearable, she whispered,
"Big Sister Shu, I really didn't expect that you would also receive an invitation from him."
"I…"
Shu opened her mouth, then glanced resentfully at the woman in the room who was drinking wine in a very good mood.
She knew very well that she and Felix belonged to completely different worlds, and even she herself found it difficult to define the feelings born from that ambiguous relationship. But for the past month, she had dreamed of Felix every single night. In her dreams, they held hands, talked, chatted, and went on dates.
They even did things they should not have done.
So naturally, she had received an invitation.
"What about our wedding dress, then?" Nian asked with a grin. "A qipao?"
"How's your progress?"
"I think this siscon is about to fall completely into darkness…"