Chapter 36: Conjectures

Finally, I am heading out.

Closing her optical computer, Jiang Hui let out a long sigh of relief.

It was true; since arriving in this world, she hadn't officially stepped out even once. She had only caught glimpses of the scenery on the way back from the hospital, and she remained entirely ignorant of the true customs and culture of the interstellar world.

After cramming information and common knowledge for several days, she was no longer the clueless little quail she had been just a few days ago, and she had begun to develop a genuine interest in this new world.

This trip to the Helios Group was the perfect opportunity to see the world outside and help herself integrate further into this society.

Jiang Hui looked at the exclusive invitation for the Helios Group sent by Andy and was quite surprised. The company’s efficiency was impressive; the meeting was set for tomorrow morning, and they had even provided a backup channel to reschedule. If she happened to run into an unexpected situation, she could change the time at the last minute.

As much as this conglomerate could be unscrupulous, they were a major enterprise, after all—there was a certain order to how they did things, and, on the whole, they were quite considerate.

Although Helios had agreed to a compensation plan and adopted a lower profile, their previous aggressive text message still left Jiang Hui with a deeply negative impression. Coupled with Andy’s vaguely worded warnings, she naturally had to be more cautious.

She was now worried about how to find a reliable interstellar lawyer. In her experience, this type of profession belonged to the sort that required a long-term engagement; it wasn't something you could just hire on a whim. Even if she could find one, she was secretly concerned about their professional integrity.

Thinking that searching on her optical computer would likely involve jumping through several hoops, Jiang Hui simply followed the advice Pharmacist Xu Jia had given her earlier and called the Awakened Association’s hotline to ask for help.

The response was remarkably reliable; they immediately recommended several highly experienced interstellar lawyers.

These individuals were all registered on the platform and possessed extensive experience. Jiang Hui browsed their profiles, felt satisfied with what she saw, and ultimately chose a young female lawyer with a kind face, based on her specific needs and the cost-effectiveness.

After understanding her situation, the lawyer enthusiastically stated that she could take the case immediately and set a time to meet at the Helios Group. She even remarked that a case that didn't even qualify as a basic legal dispute was incredibly simple and that she would surely handle it cleanly, telling Jiang Hui to set her mind at ease and not to worry.

Jiang Hui was once again struck by the efficiency of the people in this interstellar society. What an efficient and worry-free world this was. She had only been here for a few days, yet she had hardly encountered any problems when seeking help from social institutions; everything was resolved almost instantly.

The rest was simple. Jiang Hui took a moment to look up the distance to the Helios Group headquarters, noted the necessary transportation, organized the items she needed to bring, and even put together a decent outfit for herself.

That was it—everything was ready. Tomorrow, she just needed to follow the plan and head out to the appointment.

Excellent. Her adaptation to this new world was progressing step by step in an orderly fashion, and she believed she would soon truly become a part of it.

She needed to sleep early tonight to recharge for tomorrow. Jiang Hui hadn't forgotten that she hadn't slept for two nights in a row, and she feared she wouldn't have the mental energy she needed.

Consequently, she was extremely careful when she took her mental stabilizer later. Fortunately, she didn't experience any issues this time, and she could clearly feel her mental strength becoming more active.

However, Jiang Hui soon realized that she had let her guard down a bit too early.

Finding herself once again in that strange space, Jiang Hui couldn't help but feel a sense of "as expected." This was already her third time appearing here.

This space, where time seemed to have stopped, manifesting in the form of her home on Earth, was telling her plainly that there was a massive secret hidden within it.

No matter how carefree she tried to be, Jiang Hui could no longer believe that this place was merely a dream. A space she entered whenever she fell asleep, a space from which she couldn't wake up of her own volition—what exactly was this place? Was it her dream, or perhaps her mental world?

Jiang Hui couldn't be sure. But there was one thing she needed to verify immediately.

As she landed steadily in this space, Jiang Hui looked first at the clock on the wall. Twelve o'clock sharp. That meant she had arrived at exactly twelve.

Jiang Hui turned her gaze back and calmly walked toward the familiar living room; she was no longer anxious. After all, this place was based on her home on Earth—the place she was most familiar with, even more so than her home in the interstellar world—so how could she feel uncomfortable?

Jiang Hui’s hypotheses needed verification, and they required time. So, she decided to attend to her own affairs first. What should she do? She began to wander around the familiar space, looking left and right, just as if she were truly in her own home.

When she walked toward the mutated computer by chance, she was suddenly drawn to something—an object that shouldn't have been there.

It was something very familiar, something she had spent an entire night reading not long ago.

Why was her father’s *Military Records* here? She remembered that she hadn't manifested this item after arriving. How did it get here? Did it just pop up?

Jiang Hui was slightly puzzled. She picked up the leather-bound book, opened it, and her eyes froze the moment they touched the words on the first page.

What... what was going on? How could there be words in this book?

Jiang Hui hurriedly flipped through several pages, and as she read on, she discovered that the pages were filled with text—not gibberish, but logical, meaningful content. Jiang Hui remembered it well; this was the very copy of the *Military Records* she had pored over until she could recite it by heart just yesterday.

No, wait, why was this thing getting special treatment? She thought she couldn't manifest any of her other precious books, yet this one had appeared without her even thinking about it.

Could it be that items from Earth were not allowed to appear here? But then, how could one explain the entire room filled with items from Earth?

Jiang Hui felt truly confused.

A wave of a headache washed over her. There were too many questions—from this space itself to the nature of this space... each one required speculation and investigation. Jiang Hui felt her little brain couldn't handle such a storm of thoughts.

As she thought this, she began to feel sleepy and tired. She hadn't even felt this way after staying up all night with insomnia.

Jiang Hui thought that if someone told her her insomnia was because she was in this space, and that she was getting her fill of sleep here, she might even believe it.

Ugh, that shouldn't be that ridiculous, right? Jiang Hui wasn't entirely sure.