Extra: Terra's New Year's Eve Feast (A standalone story, not part of the main plot)

Today marked the end of another Terra year; by his calculation, there was just one month left until the ancient Terra New Year. Minerva pondered whether she should prepare a New Year’s Eve feast. The soldiers had been away from home for so long—were they longing for their distant homeland?

Minerva brought this matter to Wang Ming’s attention, hoping he would approve. Upon hearing her idea, Wang Ming gave his immediate consent. He and the other Travelers were all children of Huaxia; it would be a lie to say they did not miss home. They had been stranded in this bleak universe for decades, and he too wished to use this New Year’s Eve dinner to reminisce about their homeland.

Moreover, the mortal auxiliary troops needed such a meaningful meal as well. They had followed the Travelers through the stars to countless worlds, always prepared to lay down their lives on some forgotten battlefield. They deserved a respite from their exhaustion—the wars had grown fiercer lately, and on some battlefields, even the Travelers found it impossible to guarantee the safety of the mortal auxiliaries.

And so, the plan was set in motion. They would enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner after the current mission was complete.

The fleet traversed the warp and arrived in the target star system. The imperial world there had been cut off from the Empire for some time—since the Great Rift, it had slipped beyond the Empire’s control.

Captain Jiang Tao tried to contact the local World Engine imperial government, but received no response. The world seemed lifeless; if not for the city lights visible from orbit, the Travelers would have thought humanity had perished here.

Orders for the deployment of the Travelers and the mortal auxiliary troops were quickly arranged. Reconnaissance revealed little of note—just a planet-wide uprising of cultists, nothing the Travelers hadn't seen before in the Empire’s shadowy corners.

The troops descended to the planet’s surface to fight. Aboard the fleet, Minerva began her preparations. The quantity of each dish was calculated according to the number of auxiliaries and Travelers; everything was stored in stasis fields to keep fresh until their return.

Day by day, the ancient Terra New Year drew nearer.

At last, on New Year’s Eve, the day before the ancient Terra festival, the troops returned to the fleet. The battle had lasted only a few days, but purging the planet and tending to the casualties among the auxiliaries consumed much more time.

Bodies wrapped in banners of the Aquila were transported back to the fleet. The funeral was held in the plaza of the "Fortress of the Sun," and the names of these imperial heroes were recorded in the database—the Empire would remember them forever.

Minerva gazed at the list of the fallen in the database, her heart heavy with sorrow. Those young lives were lost, and it was not the first time she had compiled such a list.

Still, the New Year arrived. The feast was held across the fleet’s mess halls. The Travelers and the mortal auxiliaries celebrated together. Though the auxiliaries did not know what the Spring Festival was, when the Travelers explained, they supposed it must be akin to the Emperor’s Ascension Day on ancient Terra.

After the sumptuous meal, both auxiliaries and Travelers found that the food seemed overly abundant—perhaps even too much.

The Travelers reported this to Wang Ming. By all rights, the artificial intelligence should have calculated the portions precisely, so there should have been no excess. Had Minerva made a mistake?

“She made no mistake. She simply prepared dinner for everyone,” Wang Ming replied.

In the banquet hall, holding a glass of red wine as he watched the mortal auxiliaries dining, Wang Ming pondered for a moment, then spoke quietly to the Travelers around him.