Chapter 3: Accident: All the Cabin Lights Went Out Simultaneously

December 21st. The weather was clear.

After bidding farewell to his family, Luo Fei embarked on his journey alone.

Xize was somewhat uneasy. After all, Luo Fei was a prince. If something happened to him while traveling alone, the consequences would be unthinkable. But Lin Yuan felt their son was intelligent, cool-headed, and skilled in combat. With the S-Class intelligent mecha Chongming protecting him at all times, and since no civilian had ever seen the First Prince’s true face—nobody would recognize him—he wouldn’t be in danger even alone.

Xize had considered sending the Royal Guard to secretly follow and protect Luo Fei, but after hearing Lin Yuan’s reasoning, he relented. “Let’s hope he returns safely.”

Lin Yuan smiled. “Relax. Aren’t our son’s mecha and our communicators connected? If he really runs into something troublesome, we’ll know immediately.”

Only then did Xize finally set his mind at ease.

It was rather strange. As his Alpha father, he was full of worry for his son, yet the Omega Dad beside him seemed perfectly calm. Wasn’t that the opposite of how it should be?

By the time Luo Fei arrived at the Capital Star Space Station in an electric hovercar, there was still over an hour until the spaceship’s departure time.

He wore a simple set of casual clothes and carried a black pack on his back. Walking among the crowd, aside from his handsome appearance drawing attention, he didn’t look much different from any ordinary young man. His intelligent mecha, Chongming, was tucked inside the spatial button on his chest pendant, currently in standby mode.

Feeling thirsty, Luo Fei went to a vending machine and bought a bottle of water.

The crystal card he took out had a pale blue protective film wrapped around it. But, in reality, if you peeled off that blue casing, the card’s face was of the most rare platinum color, inscribed with a glowing Cepheus Galaxy star map—the unique symbol of the Imperial Royal Family’s crystal card. To maintain a low profile, Luo Fei had deliberately masked it.

Returning to his seat, he drank some water. Watching the unfamiliar crowds flowing around him, the corners of his mouth lifted in a good mood.

At eight o’clock sharp, a boarding announcement echoed through the hall speakers. Luo Fei joined the crowd and queued up at the security checkpoint.

Interstellar security checks were incredibly strict, especially on the Capital Star of the Cepheus Galaxy. All passengers had to enter sealed scanning chambers for full-body checks to prevent any dangerous items from being carried in or out. The space station’s detection of intelligent mecha was also highly prioritized. Mecha could be concealed in spatial buttons; if someone managed to smuggle a combat mecha to the Capital Star, it could easily spark a riot.

Luo Fei didn’t have much luggage and naturally passed the check quickly.

As for his mecha, it was one of fewer than ten S-Class mecha in the entire Empire, equipped with the most advanced anti-detection system. Such an ordinary interstellar checkpoint… couldn’t even detect Chongming’s existence.

Following the crowd onto the ship, Luo Fei navigated to the second deck and entered cabin 2089.

Standard tickets meant four people to a cabin. Four safety chairs were arranged side-by-side, with two small dining tables for food. The space was slightly cramped, but economical and practical, which was why most civilians chose standard cabins for travel. The luxury cabins, on the other hand, were as spacious and comfortable as hotel suites, complete with private bathrooms and showers, and even beds for sleeping during the flight. However, the price was ten times that of a standard ticket.

Chongming really couldn’t understand why its master hadn’t booked a luxury cabin. But human thought processes were complex; as a simple mecha, it couldn’t quite grasp the master’s reasoning.

Once settled, Luo Fei sat down in his designated seat.

Besides him, the cabin was occupied by a family of three—a young Beta couple with a little girl around seven.

The little girl kept blinking her eyes, staring at him. When Luo Fei caught her looking, she curved her eyes into crescents. “Big brother, you’re so handsome!”

Luo Fei gave a small smile. “Really?”

The little girl excitedly ran over to him. “Brother, are you also going to the Lyra Constellation for fun?”

Luo Fei nodded. “Mm, traveling during my break.”

The girl said, “The Lyra Constellation has lots of big farms! You can go to a farm and pick fruit yourself! The fruit in the greenhouses is all ripe right now. Big brother, what fruits do you like to eat?”

This little kid was quite talkative, reminding Luo Fei of that mischievous little trouble-maker back at the Royal Palace.

Her mother looked a bit embarrassed and pulled the girl back. “Don’t bother the big brother.”

Luo Fei replied good-naturedly, “It’s fine. Your daughter is very cute.”

The woman smiled, lifting her daughter into one of the safety chairs. As she buckled the safety straps, she said, “She’s always been naughty. When she meets someone new, she just has to go up and start talking. As long as you don’t find her annoying, it’s fine.”

“Not at all,” Luo Fei said.

This was a perfectly ordinary Imperial family.

The girl’s father and mother were both Betas. It was the holiday season now, and the family of three was likely also heading to the Lyra Constellation for a trip.

From the moment he began his journey, most of the travelers Luo Fei encountered were Betas. It was a stark difference from life in the Royal Palace.

In his physiology class at school, the teacher had explained that the Empire’s Omega, Alpha, and Beta gender ratios were roughly 5:20:75. Omegas, at only 5%, were the rarest. Alphas weren’t much more common. Over 75% of the Empire’s billions of citizens were Betas.

But because Luo Fei was born in the Imperial Palace and attended elite schools, his classmates were mostly pure-blooded descendants from military, political, and royal families. Two-thirds of his class were Alphas, one-third were Omegas, and he couldn’t find a single Beta—completely the opposite of what the teacher described.

So, concepts like “Omega are extremely rare” and “Betas are the majority” had never quite crystallized for Luo Fei.

But now, he finally understood firsthand. Almost everyone on this spaceship was Beta. Alphas were few and far between. He hadn’t even glimpsed a single Omega.

This is the actual population distribution, isn’t it?

Luo Fei chuckled to himself, rubbing his chin as he turned his head to look out the porthole.

Queues were still forming outside. This ship was a large interstellar passenger ship belonging to KM Airlines. There were three levels, the two below for standard economy, the third floor for first class. It could hold over a thousand guests, and passengers boarded in batches, so the wait was longer than usual. Luo Fei was lucky today; his ticket was in the first boarding group.

He was idly watching the long queues when he spotted a group hurriedly bypassing the main line, entering through the side VIP passage.

Guests holding premium tickets could use the VIP passage; Luo Fei knew this. But what surprised him was the sheer scale of this entourage. Eight men in matching black suits, tall and powerfully built—clearly professional bodyguards trained in advanced combat. The person encircled by the bodyguards in the center was impossible to make out… they were too well protected.

It wasn’t until they passed through the VIP passage, just about to board the ship, that Luo Fei caught a brief, obscured glimpse of the person’s side profile through a gap in the phalanx.

The figure had a slender build, wore a simple white collared shirt and well-fitted trousers, along with oversized sunglasses and a mask, concealing their face completely.

Could it be some high-profile celebrity?

Recently, the Empire’s entertainment industry had boomed, producing countless megastars. Such stars often traveled with bodyguards.

Luo Fei didn’t follow the entertainment world closely. He pulled his gaze back and thought no more of it.

Soon, the final group of passengers boarded. A gentle female voice echoed through the cabin. “Dear passengers, good morning. This is KM Airlines flight K-1314, an interstellar passenger ship departing from the Cepheus Galaxy for the Lyra Space Station. We are scheduled to depart promptly at 9:00 AM. Please quickly buckle up in your safety chairs…”

A long list of safety briefings followed. Luo Fei sat in his safety chair, half-listening.

The clock ticked over to nine o’clock. Green indicator lights lit inside the safety cabins. With a whirring hum and a series of jolts, the spaceship slowly lifted off, leaving the space station’s gravity field.

With a violent shudder, the ship broke through the atmosphere and entered the interstellar lane.

Luo Fei turned to look out the porthole. The Cepheus Capital Star shrank rapidly in the distance before vanishing entirely. Outside the porthole, the boundless cosmic panorama unfolded, countless stars studding the vast canopy. Occasional meteors streaked by, trailing long tails of light.

Luo Fei had never left the Capital Star since birth. Seeing such a majestic sight for the first time, a sense of awe filled his heart.

He squinted, enjoying the view outside the porthole. The blue gem on his chest pendant flickered briefly. Chongming’s voice echoed in his mind. “Master, the ship has entered the 301 interstellar lane from Cepheus to Lyra. There will be three spatial jumps during the journey. The first is in five minutes.”

Luo Fei nodded in acknowledgment.

Sure enough, five minutes later, another tremor ran through the ship. The female voice echoed over the broadcast again. “Dear passengers, please do not be alarmed. Our spaceship is about to perform a spatial jump. We will soon be exiting the Cepheus Galaxy…”

The little girl asked curiously, “Mommy, what’s a spatial jump?”

The woman looked flustered, unsure how to explain. But the young man opposite them smiled gently and said, “A spatial jump is when spaceship power is used to forcibly break through a space barrier after extreme compression of cosmic space. This effectively shortens travel time through the universe.”

The girl nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. “Oh!”

The advent of spatial jump technology had indeed vastly shortened human travel times across the cosmos. Such a vast distance from Cepheus to Lyra now only took eight hours.

This jump successfully freed the ship from the Cepheus Galaxy’s gravitational pull.

The next jump would be near the Uninhabited Cosmic Zone, where they’d need to alter course to avoid a perennial cosmic sandstorm.

…

Time passed slowly. The interstellar scenery, after a while, could become monotonous.

But Luo Fei was always patient. Besides, this kind of relaxed freedom was deeply enjoyable to him.

He kept gazing out the window. After some unknown amount of time, a field of pristine, pure white nebula bloomed outside the porthole. They swirled in layers, and at their heart lay a purple planet. Due to the great distance, it looked like a piece of soft cotton wadding wrapped around a brilliant, translucent purple gem.

The little girl excitedly rushed to the window, pointing outside. “That planet is so pretty! It’s purple!”

Luo Fei explained, “That’s Planet Bohr. It has rich natural mineral resources. Unfortunately, it’s freezing cold there, and the environment is extremely harsh. It’s very difficult for humans to survive.”

The girl froze for a moment, then looked at him with starry-eyed admiration. “Big brother, you’re amazing! I’ve never even heard of Planet Bohr!”

Luo Fei gave a slight smile, his eyes gentle as he looked at her. “When you grow up and get to middle school, you’ll take astronomy classes and learn about it then.”

Curiously, the little girl asked, “Is astronomy about that kind of stuff?”

Her mother laughed. “Yes, it is. It’s almost lunchtime. Let’s go check out the dining hall first.”

Just then, the announcement came: “Dear passengers, it is now lunchtime. The dining hall is located in the grand hall on the east side of the second deck. Passengers wishing to dine, please make your way there to purchase your meals. Today’s menu has been updated on the ship’s internal network and is available for viewing at your convenience…”

Hearing this, the woman lifted her daughter from the safety chair and looked back at Luo Fei. “Care to join us for lunch?”

Luo Fei shook his head. “You go ahead. I’ll eat later.”

After the family of three left, the cabin was silent except for Luo Fei.

He had Chongming connect to the ship’s internal network, intending to look at today’s menu before deciding what to eat.

Just as he was studying the menu, the cabin lights abruptly went dark.

Luo Fei frowned, stood up, and opened the door.

The corridor was also completely dark.

The lights in all the cabins on all three decks had, almost simultaneously, gone out.

The massive passenger spaceship, previously lit with a warm glow, now felt like it had suddenly lost all power. Pitch black, deathly still.