When Lucy arrived, she paused at the threshold of the study — her gaze immediately drawn to the small, radiant creature perched on Liam’s shoulder.
The newborn Three-Legged Golden Crow shimmered softly, her feathers glowing in hues of molten gold and deep sunrise red. Each delicate movement left faint ripples of heat in the air, like sunlight passing through glass.
For once, Lucy was silent. She simply observed, her expression carrying a rare sense of wonder..
"Her name is Yanxia," Liam said. "She hatched earlier."
Lucy inclined her head respectfully, though her eyes remained fixed on the creature.
"A beautiful companion, Master," she said softly. "But... where did she come from?"
Liam smiled, "A story for another time."
Lucy blinked, processing the words carefully. She had learned long ago not to question things she wasn’t meant to understand.
"I see," she said simply
There were countless things about her master she didn’t know — and she didn’t intend to ask. She preferred to wait until he decided to share them himself. After all, anything he created or summoned was always for a reason, even if that reason lay beyond comprehension.
"Understood, Master. Shall we discuss the starship?"
At that, Liam’s expression sharpened. "Yes. Let’s begin."
The first step in building the ship wasn’t the design; it was the location.
Since he didn’t have to worry about being devoured by a moon-sized space whale, he could take his time to build something simple.
But Liam’s definition of "simple" was unlike anyone else’s. His version of simplicity still meant scale, ambition, and secrecy that would shake the world if discovered.
"The far side is perfect," he said after a moment of quiet thought. "No direct line of sight from Earth. Always hidden, always quiet."
Lucy nodded in agreement. "It is an ideal choice. The Moon’s rotation is tidally locked. The same face always points toward Earth, leaving the opposite side permanently out of view. That area is free from Earth’s electromagnetic interference. No radar, no radio, no thermal scans."
"Exactly," Liam said. "We’ll keep it there — invisible to every telescope and satellite."
"The far side also contains the South Pole–Aitken basin," Lucy continued, her tone practical. "It’s deep and rich in titanium and helium-3. Both are valuable for energy production and construction. The regolith also holds sub-surface ice. Hydrogen, oxygen, and fuel sources are available in abundance. We won’t have to transmutate those."
Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly in approval. "Then we’ll use it all. The base will be built on the surface — under the craters — and the shipyard itself will be stationed a few hundred kilometers above it, synchronized with the Moon’s rotation. It’ll stay hidden behind it at all times."
Lucy nodded. "I’ll make the necessary adjustments to every deep-space telemetry feed that could view that region. If any probe tries to scan, I’ll distort the readings. The area will appear as static radiation."
"Good," Liam said quietly. "No one can know this exists."
He fell silent for a moment, thinking. A project wasn’t just about scale — it was about secrecy.
The last thing he wanted was for the world’s governments to catch even a glimpse of what was going on. This was completely different from Lucid. The shock factor will be severe.
"Start construction on the lunar base first," he said. "We’ll need fabrication sites, storage hangars, and refining units for helium-3 and titanium. Once that’s complete, we’ll begin assembling the ship in orbit above it."
"Yes, Master," Lucy said. "The shipyard’s layout?"
"Let’s take care of the base first."
Liam paused. "One more thing — build me a hybrid exosuit. I’ll need to inspect the progress in person."
"Yes, sir. I’ll start designing it immediately," she said. "It will be resistant to all known forms of radiation and temperature variation."
"That’s what I need," Liam replied.
The exosuit was very important because during the building of the starship, Liam would want to visit the base to check on the progress of things.
Yes, Lucy would send him image and videos along with daily reports on the progress of the project, but Liam wasn’t interested in that. Also, the exosuit will be important for when he wants to give the Voidling the treats, as he would have to leave the spacecraft to do that.
Lucy inclined her head. "Understood. It will be ready soon."
He nodded lightly. "Good. I’ll check on something while you work.
Since Lucy was already working on the exosuit, Liam decided to take a look around the Dimensional Space, looking for where the Qi from the Eternal Qi Vein was concentrated.
If the Qi Vein truly functioned as a living artery, then there should be points where its flow condensed — springs, wells, or pools where Qi liquefied under its own purity.
With Yanxia perched gracefully on his shoulder, he rose into the sky. His figure blurred into motion, gliding effortlessly over mountain-like spires and luminous plains.
The search stretched on endlessly. But after nearly a day, he found what he was looking for. It was actually Yanxia that found it.
She began chirping excitedly, her feathers glowing brighter as she tugged at his sleeve with her beak. Liam followed her lead and soon, his telekinetic sense picked up something within a crater far below.
He descended and when he reached the bottom, he saw a pool of liquified Qi.
It glowed softly, though it had no color. The light seemed alive, like breath made visible. The air was thick with energy, dense enough to make even breathing feel heavy.
Yanxia didn’t hesitate. She jumped from his shoulder and dove straight into the pool.
"Careful—" he began, but she was already gone.
A few seconds later, she burst out again, droplets scattering like stars, and something glittered in her beak. It was a spirit stone and it didn’t look like it was a low grade one either.
Liam caught it as she threw it into his hands, examining its flawless clarity.
"High-grade?" he murmured. "So this is what the Vein’s been producing."
Yanxia chirped proudly, diving again. Each time she surfaced, another stone gleamed in her beak.
Liam smiled, shaking his head. "You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?"
She gave a soft trill, dropping another stone into his palm.
He pocketed the growing collection, still smiling. "Looks like I’ll have no shortage of resources soon. Hopefully, by the time the ship’s complete, we’ll have millions of these. Hopefully..."
Yanxia puffed her feathers in satisfaction. She was perched on a nearby rock, watching Liam with intelligent eyes. When he told her he needed to leave, she chirped in protest, hopping onto his palm.
Liam chuckled. "You don’t want me to go?"
She shook her head, her feathers ruffling indignantly. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
"I can’t take you out yet," he explained gently.
Another sharp chirp — unmistakable refusal.
Liam smiled, an idea forming. "Tell you what — if you can shapeshift into your human form, I’ll take you with me."
Yanxia tilted her head, eyes narrowing suspiciously as though questioning if he meant it.
"I’m serious," Liam said, smiling. "No tricks."
She looked down at her reflection in the pool, then back at him. With a soft trill, she hopped off his hand and dove back into the pool, feathers scattering sparks as she disappeared beneath the glowing surface.
Liam laughed softly. "Alright then. Train hard, little sun. I’ll be back soon."
Yanxia surfaced briefly, chirping once in response.
Liam smiled, as he vanished from the Dimensional Space and appeared back in his study.