Ringo boarded a small but fast ship from the Floating Dragon, he didn't say goodbye to anyone else, instead simply leaving without looking back.
The farther he went, the more the sense of security that Ames gave him faded.
There were no more clones, no more backups, it was just him.
How long had it been? How long had it been since he felt that sense of security?
It was unsettling, he almost gave up. There had to be another way, but no, he wouldn't allow himself to give up now.
He used his evolutionary energy for something he hadn't done in a long time: changing his mindset.
He changed that to become completely ruthless, he let go of everything, longings, attachments, desires.
He became hollow, his eyes cold and indifferent.
That was the mindset he needed, a mindset that would accept death head-on.
He wouldn't stay like this forever, he just needed this now. If he wanted to go through this, he needed to have the mindset of someone who could accept that he might never come back.
In any case, Ringo's objective is clear.
A stellar field in the central galaxy, the Abyss of Stars, was all he could foresee when he tried, he felt his opportunity for advancement lay there.
At the center of the known universe were the Star Fields of the three Universal Civilizations, which formed a triangle. These were the most advanced and active Star Fields in the entire galaxy. This place was called the Central Galaxy. It was the center of the universe for the strong, powerful, and rich.
The Abyss of Stars was one of the three Star Fields of the Central Galaxy, the central territory of the Federation of Light.
The distance from the Shattered Star Ring to the Abyss of Stars is ridiculously large. They are separated by immense, desolate universe belts and require the use of Stargates or years of hyperdrive travel to traverse between the distant star fields of the Central Galaxy.
In other words, Ringo would have needed to spend years traveling there, which he certainly wouldn't do, so he needed to go through Stargates. Fortunately, these Stargates could be used by any free citizen, as long as they paid fees, very different from the situation of pirates who take years to move around. Now he would only need a few months.
That's because although the Stargates significantly shorten the journey, there's still a journey through various desolate universe belts, which would take several months to traverse.
There was still plenty of time left, Ringo even considered asking Austin for a ride, but in the end he gave up, since this was a journey he needed to make alone.
Traveling to the central galaxy would normally leave Ringo on edge, but luckily he was in an emotionless state, or his anxiety would only have grown as he progressed.
The central galaxy is incredibly dangerous for Ringo. Currently in a rural area, the number of Grade A and S Supers is still extremely low, but the further 'inside' you go, the more the number of Supers increases, and so does their strength.
Even the Grade S, although theoretically there are only four of them, are, in reality, just the neutral ones or allies. The Federation of Light itself has more than that, not to mention those who are just passing through.
Although Ringo is a peak Grade A, subordinate to a Grade S, he can only be considered a 'mid-to-high echelon' in the galaxy, even Ames can only walk sideways when he gets there, so Ringo's concern was not without reason.
He didn't know why his 'instinct' pointed there, but he would follow it, it had never failed him before.
Sighing, Ringo went to a small training room on the ship. He assigned a clone to pilot the ship, as long as the clones were still with him, using them was not a problem.
He sat down and began practicing Chi, he still had many advancements available in this area, but it was while practicing that he noticed something interesting.
The MCs reacted to Chi!
In Ringo's small spaceship, in the training field, Ringo frowned as his body was enveloped in Chi. He opened his evolutionary field and began to observe what was happening.
In his cells, he saw something that intrigued him, the MCs were actively absorbing Chi!
It wasn't like they normally could absorb psychic energy to proliferate and 'eat', no, they were actually improving, even if minimally.
Ringo was completely confused, he already knew that MCs weren't living creatures, even though they emitted fields of spiritual energy, which didn't characterize them as living beings.
However, as Ringo observed for several hours, he came to a surprising conclusion.
The energy created a natural psychic field, the natural psychic field attracted Chi, and the Chi was then merged into the main energy.
It was slow, incredibly slow, and there seemed to be a lot of wasted energy if it depended on the amount of power the MCs emitted right afterward.
Ringo also absorbed this emitted energy and isolated it while studying it.
It wasn't purely the energy of the MCs.
If the energy of MCs is neutral with a spiritual characteristic, the energy that Ringo observed now seemed more like that of a living being, part spiritual, part 'vital'.
The proportion wasn't equal, most of it was still spiritual energy, but there was still a weak, lingering 'vitality'.
Ringo was even more confused, but also excited.
He tried to fuse this energy and discovered that although it dissipated shortly afterward, it could remain fused for much longer, however, when the energy lost its fusion, it became completely spiritual again, without a single drop of vitality.
So Ringo came to the simple conclusion, the vitality in the energy was used as glue, but the lack of stability caused the energy to 'loosen' soon after, and the glue itself was also lost.
Interesting.
Very, very interesting.