The vast universe, dark and cold.
Light-years away, brilliant starlight surges like an ocean, turning blood-red as it passes by a certain star system, painting half of the system crimson with the spectacular and bewitching phenomenon of interstellar reddening.
Lu Chen awakens with the interstellar reddening.
"Hey, why does my vision seem so strange?"
Upon awakening, Lu Chen finds that he can see in all directions: up, down, left, right, front, and back, with no blind spots!
This is a 720-degree panoramic view!
But before Lu Chen could get too excited, his heart went cold.
With his panoramic view, he discovered that he had transformed into an interstellar meteorite!
Indeed, a gray-black meteorite, oval-shaped, just larger than a head.
The craziest part is, there are hairs growing on one side of the meteorite, fluttering in the interstellar void. Was this a rhythm to keep rocking even after death?
Lu Chen suddenly remembers.
He was supposed to be long dead, so why has he been resurrected?
And turned into a hairy interstellar meteorite of all things?
Speaking of which, Lu Chen was an astronaut who, during a space station repair, had his safety tether cut by a meteorite, suit breached, and ended up dying alone in space.
Why didn't anybody come to save me?
Where were my work colleagues?
Did you give up on me? Why give up on me?
I just got married; I don't want to die yet, please, someone, save me!
This was the plea that Lu Chen had been repeating until his death.
Now, he has been resurrected.
But it seemed more like a cruel joke played by God.
He turned into a hairy meteorite in space; could someone explain this to him?
Silent and empty, without explanation, he could only explore by himself.
Looking around with his panoramic vision, the vast universe was filled with darkness and cold, and even the recent interstellar reddening was nothing more than a line in the vast ocean. His immediate surrounding hundred miles was completely empty.
Only his meteorite self was forlornly drifting.
The empty universe, the lonely meteorite; this was an indescribable sorrow.
Thinking back, he was alone before death, and he remained alone after death, the taste of solitude and despair brought tears to Lu Chen's eyes!
Of course, if he still had eyes to cry with, he would surely have hysterically cried like a child, silently chanting in his heart that it's okay for a man to cry...
There is no concept of time in the universe.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Lu Chen's emotions gradually stabilized, and he slowly regained his fighting spirit.
Although he didn't rebirth spectacularly like the characters in novels, having only become an ordinary interstellar meteorite, he was still alive. And as long as he's alive, there's hope.
He decided to fly back to Earth; maybe the scientists there could save him!
Holding on to that sole hope, he began to try to control his meteorite body and started flying in the direction of Earth.
As an astronaut, he naturally learned a lot of astrophysical knowledge; at a glance, he recognized the planet with the yellowish ring as Saturn.
That is to say, he was near Saturn currently, at least 1.27734 billion kilometers from Earth.
He thought about calculating how long it would take to fly back to Earth, but he eventually restrained himself. The astronaut training included a course on avoiding despair.
He was afraid the calculated time would crush him!
He began to think about other things.
Such as, why did he resurrect?
Why was he reborn on a Growth Stone in the universe?
And how could there be such a thing as a Growth Stone in the universe?
Suddenly, Lu Chen figured it all out.
Perhaps he was not reborn, but merely awakened!
This interstellar meteorite wasn't a Growth Stone, but his own head!
It must have been that his corpse drifted in the vast universe, his limbs and body gradually decomposed by meteorites, leaving only his head. The head's surface gathered a large amount of interstellar dust, making it look like a meteorite, but the interstellar dust hadn't completely covered his hair, creating his current appearance!
The universe is almost entirely a vacuum, with temperatures nearing absolute zero. Perhaps it was a large number of interstellar water molecules that froze this remaining head, thus preserving the brain from death.
This is really too wonderful, once he returns to Earth, the chances of his recovery are even higher!
However, with his current speed of flight, it must be the second cosmic velocity, this long journey home is destined to take an immense amount of time!
Lu Chen is very clear about this.
But at this point, it no longer seems to matter at all.
What matters is, after enduring countless hardships, he has finally returned to Earth's orbit.
With his firm belief and tenacious will, he has truly crossed 1.277434 billion kilometers to return to the embrace of Mother Earth!
He couldn't help but cry tears of extreme joy!
This damned interstellar Long March was a contest of endless loneliness and willpower, and in the end, he triumphed!
He actually completed this seemingly impossible miracle. Once back on Earth, it would surely cause a sensation; perhaps it would even be written about in books, making history, haha...
Lu Chen's laughter suddenly ceased inside his heart!
Damn it! Where is Earth?
Lu Chen hurriedly surveyed his surroundings, but there was no trace of Earth to be found!
Could it be that at this moment, Earth had just revolved to the other side of the Solar System?
But then, why is the Moon still floating in its original place?
As Earth's satellite, the Moon had always revolved around Earth, shielding it from countless meteorite impacts. Could it have been abandoned by Earth?
You despicable humans!
Why are you so heartless?
It's bad enough to abandon me, but why abandon the Moon as well?
You are committing a crime!
Looking at the desolate Moon, Lu Chen felt a pang of emotion, as if seeing another version of himself, filling his heart with grievances and torment.
To endure so much hardship, travel through endless time and space to return, only to witness hope turn into despair, the level of despair and breakdown in one's heart is unimaginable!
He has experienced death, but this is a taste even worse than death!
As if to comfort this lost soul at the edge of the world, the Moon shifted slightly at that moment.
At first, Lu Chen truly thought it was a miracle, but then he realized it was the Moon being captured by Mars' gravity due to its proximity, becoming one of Mars' satellites.
As the Moon drifted away, it revealed a long meteorite hiding behind it.
Lu Chen recognized it, that was a part of Earth, there was no way he could mistake his own "mother," especially with traces of houses and railways on it!
What on earth was happening?
That piece of meteorite was almost the size of Japan.
It's impossible for Earth's gravity to lose such a large piece of land.
Could it be that Earth had suffered an attack from a higher civilization and was destroyed?
However, Lu Chen faintly felt that things weren't so simple. If Earth was destroyed, why weren't there other debris visible?
Whether you executed the Wandering Earth project or were destroyed by a higher civilization, can you at least give me a sign? It's been so hard waiting!
As endless eons passed, Lu Chen's heart was filled with uncertainty without him even realizing it.
It dawned on him that, as he had been drifting just past Mars with the Moon circling him several times, he might have been lingering in the same spot for many years!
Snapping back to reality, he unexpectedly discovered that his head had grown five or six times larger than before.
This must be due to the absorption of countless interstellar dust particles; as long as he stays in this condition, he will continue to attract interstellar dust and eventually become a giant meteorite, a Star Stone, an asteroid...
"Wait, if this continues, could I possibly grow into a planet?"
A grand blueprint suddenly emerged in Lu Chen's mind, filling his heart with excitement!
He could explore the universe, search for Earth's whereabouts, and grow himself at the same time – a win-win situation!
"If the Wandering Earth plan was executed, I will find you; if you were destroyed by a higher civilization, I will avenge you and then become another Earth!"
"Goodbye Moon, goodbye Mars, goodbye Sun!"
In the end, Lu Chen set off on his Wandering Universe journey, carrying with him the remembrance of his loved ones and the Earth.