Ning's mind came into focus as he started waking up again. His drowsy head soon became clear and he could hear the swishing and smashing of the waves.
"Where am I?" he wondered and slowly looked around. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was water.
Fortunately, it seemed like he was in shallow water as he could clearly see the surface just a few meters above him.
"I… went into a coma again, didn't I?" he asked himself. "How long did I sleep for this time, system?"
<You were in a coma for 30 years, 6 months, 12 days, and 44 seconds>
"Hey, that's not too bad. I thought I would've been gone for 165 years like last time," Ning said.
<Your mental strength has improved a lot since that time, so you recovered faster than last time>
"I see," Ning said. He flew up from the water and burst out of the surface. When he looked around, he could see the ocean on one side, and the beach just a few dozen meters away.
He once again flew towards the beach and landed on it. Surprisingly, the sands felt cool to the touch, despite being in the clear sun.
"That's unusual," Ning thought. He sent out his body from his inventory and quickly switched over. Finally, he stood up in his new body, in these unfamiliar lands, all alone.
"Hmm…" he thought and looked down. "The sands are indeed very hot. Why did I not feel it in the stone?"
He had just wondered that when he remembered that he hadn't absorbed energy in a long time, so he must've been absorbing all of the heat without letting a single bit of energy remain.
"That should end quickly," Ning thought as he could already feel a Sea of Aether forming inside of his body. His automatic Aether absorption skill he had bought over two millennia ago was doing it's work.
He ignored it for now and simply sat on the incredibly hot sand, looking into the distance of the ocean.
"I need to go back, somehow," he thought. "I don't even know where Kumia is in the first place, do I?"
"System, can I get a map of the universe?" he asked.
<You do not have enough energy for that>
"Yeah, I thought that would be the case. Then, how far away is Kumia? I should have energy for that information, right?" he asked.
<Planet Kumia is 34 Million light-years away>
"Light Years?" Ning was shocked. "That's… that's very far away. Is it in a different Galaxy by any chance?"
<Yes. Planet Kumia is about 3 galaxies away from where you are>
"3… Galaxies? Geez, what am I supposed to do with that information? How do you suggest I go back there quickly?" Ning asked.
<There are a few ways>
<You can find a portal that leads close to Kumia and travel normally from there>
<You can focus on unlocking the next few Energies so that you can increase the cap and get a lot of energy at once so that you can open a temporary portal of your own>
<You can also find an advanced planet that has learned how to perform intergalactic space travel. However, these planets are very rare.>
"Hmm," Ning thought when presented the options. "Are there any portals on this planet that can lead me to the Galaxy where Kumia is in?" Ning asked.
<No, there are no such portals in this galaxy.>
"Okay, that's one option out. I will require 1 quadrillion energy for my next energy, don't I? That's a little annoying, but whatever. I will see what I can do. Although, how much energy would I require to open a portal from here to Kumia?" Ning asked.
<Approximately, 3.6 Sextillion>
Ning was surprised at first because of how large the number was and almost even started to calculate how long it would take him to open the portal, but then he stopped.
"Wait… that's too little, right?" Ning asked. He had calculated something similar before and he had learned that if he wanted to teleport exactly 1 Light Year away, it would cost him a little less than 20 Quadrillion Energy.
If he could travel millions of Lightyears with about a 10th of the energy, then it was definitely cheap.
"Is there a reason, system?" Ning asked.
<Opening portals is cheaper if the travel distance is very far away. Since you are squeezing space and not moving matter through space, it costs cheaper by comparison>
<it is suggested that you use Teleportation for until 2000 Light-years of distance, and open portal for after that>
"Is there a calculation for the opening portal as well? Similar to the one for teleportations?" Ning asked.
<…>
The system gave him a bit of information that was so confusing that even after having been told what it was, he was still confused. The math being used in this case was something he hadn't seen before, and likely wouldn't ever see from anywhere else.
"So, all I need to know is that if the distance is less than 2000 Lightyears, it's better if I use Teleportations, but if it's longer, I should make a portal. Alright, got it," Ning said.
"I guess that too is not a possibility for now since I don't have much energy. Finally, as for finding humans that have learned Intergalactic space travel, are there such advanced societies in this galaxy?" Ning asked.
<No, not in this one or the next one>
<there is however life on the 2nd galaxy that can use space travel and consistently travels to and from the 3rd Galaxy>
"Oh, that's nice," Ning said. "So… let's see, there really is just one way then. Gather enough energy and hop through galaxies. Hopefully, on one of those, I will find a portal back to Kumia or somewhere close by."
Ning's eyes shined with determination as he stood up and looked up into the sky with a smile.
"Just wait a little longer, you guys.. I promise I will be back very soon."
