Buzz—The screen flashes. 1985.
December, London. Snow drifts down as Sophia, wearing a trench coat, visits her teacher's home alone.
"Professor Orland, we've made a tremendous discovery. This will forever change humanity's understanding of the nature of life. I hope you'll help me complete this project."
Same old sofa. Sophia sits across from Orland. Back in her student days, her mind worked in mysterious ways, but now, this confident and elegant young woman hardly seems different from anyone else.
Honestly, Orland found it a bit unsettling.
She gently slid her proposal across to the upright old man: "This is the first step, just prep work. Not much, but absolutely essential. Please take a look."
Orland put on his glasses and glanced at the proposal—Complete mapping of the human genome.
"This—! Prep work? Not much?!" Sophia's signature move left Orland stunned. He stared blankly at the student who now seemed a little unfamiliar: "What exactly is this project?"
"Adam's leading it. I agreed—a brand new initiative. Details are classified for now, but I can tell you the name." Sophia softly said, "Project-X."
[Project-X]
With the mention of that name, memories surged like waves, growing larger and larger, and then the scene suddenly jumped forward.
From January 1985 onward, the port at Tomorrow Bay was bustling, and developments started happening at a jaw-dropping pace. The number of explorers grew rapidly, and the frequency of expeditions increased. From that point on, Sophia felt Adam was busy every single day, barely touching the ground. He stopped attending banquets and gave up all entertainment—he was all in on work, quickly becoming the squad leader who always charged at the front.
This made Sophia genuinely proud. Adam’s drive and dedication moved her deeply. As Sophia herself became more like a regular person, she gradually understood how ordinary people think. Someone as powerful as Adam, giving her such wholehearted support, warmed her heart.
But Adam’s sense of responsibility was almost overwhelming. If he wasn’t out exploring, he was preparing for the next expedition. Their chances to talk and connect dropped sharply, which made Sophia a little unhappy.
Still, overall, Tiberius Laboratory was entering its golden age from that moment on.
The era of hyperspace exploration was like the great age of sea voyages—a brand new wave was rising. Every staff member dreamed of joining the explorer team, because once you made it, you’d not only get bragging rights, but also enjoy top-notch perks.
As team leader, Adam never skimped on material rewards for his crew.
But those perks sometimes felt a bit like hazard pay. Hyperspace exploration was truly dangerous—stories often circulated about people vanishing into the depths, never to be seen again, alive or dead. Especially in those unknown regions even Sophia couldn’t see, the disappearance rate shot straight up.
In just four months, from January to April, every single member of the first batch of explorers had been swapped out. Most disappeared, a few just went missing—old faces were all gone.
But since these explorers all came from the lowest ranks of the lab, no big shot really cared. So everything just kept rolling along.
May 12, 1985, Adam finally kept his long-overdue dinner date with Sophia.
That day, he was unusually energetic, unusually happy, his eyes unusually bright, and also unusually... mischievous. He looked just like a starving hound finally getting a bite of a giant meat pie he’d been howling at for ages—tasting the flavor he’d dreamed of.
Seeing Adam so happy, Sophia was delighted too. But Adam’s unusual look in his eyes, and the way every sentence seemed to carry a hidden meaning, made Sophia secretly uneasy. Still, she chalked it up to Adam being excited or maybe tipsy, and didn’t dwell on it.
The next day, Adam was back to normal—still suave, still charming. Actually, from that day on, his aura grew even stronger. But it wasn’t just warmth and brilliance anymore; there was a hint of something scorching, maybe even painful. He used to be like a noble king, but now he was more like an extraordinary, domineering pope.
He started acting larger than life.
But all his grand gestures were well-contained in front of Sophia. He just pushed the exploration plan even harder, challenging the deepest, darkest reaches of hyperspace. Every time he went out, he’d circle the furthest edge of the unknown, sometimes coming back with more, sometimes losing even bigger.
Explorer turnover got even faster. Even with the team tripling in size, everyone was swapped out again within three months. This time, the change was so dramatic that even Sophia, who usually lost track of the seasons, noticed and wondered, "Where did all the old explorers go?"
"Rotated out," Adam said, his face full of benevolent, boss-like glow. "Hyperspace exploration is even riskier than deep-sea diving or ocean voyages. I can’t let them stay in that kind of environment too long, so I set up a convalescent home for them to rest."
Sophia peered through hyperspace and saw that, yes, there really was a convalescent home, and yes, quite a few people were recovering there—including some familiar old faces. Adam had handled everything nicely, with plenty of human touch, so Sophia was satisfied and stopped worrying about it.
"You should watch out for yourself, too," Sophia said earnestly. "Even though you can control hyperspace in a small area now, the deep void is still way too dangerous. Be careful out there."
"You—" At that moment, Adam’s expression changed, but he quickly suppressed it, showing a mix of embarrassment and defeat: "So you figured it out, huh? I was hoping to surprise you. Ha ha ha ha! How did you know?"
"Easy," Sophia said. "I outrank you, so it was a piece of cake."
"Oh, I thought I could give you a scare…" Adam’s gaze grew deep, then softened. "By the way, it’s been ages since we checked on the lunar base. Want to go to the moon together today?"
"Maybe later, I’ve got another project. Let’s find time after I’m done."
"Alright, I’ve got stuff to do too. The spaceflight system’s been upgraded to the fourth generation, and the exploration gear got a huge boost. I’m going to check it out."
Starting from that day, Adam did take a short break and checked on the progress of the lunar telescope project. But after a few days, the explorer team began massive recruitment. Adam launched a "Grand Hyperspace Expedition" plan, and together with the old folks and rookies, built a super-sized explorer team of more than six hundred and forty people.