“We did it. We finally did it!” Watching the jubilant Luka scientists in the grand hall, Xiao Yu also felt a deep sense of satisfaction in his heart.

“What comes next will be much easier. Now that we’ve successfully completed the first trial, constructing another Klein bottle won’t be nearly as difficult. Still, due to the larger scale required this time, it will take at least three more years.”

“I’ll leave it for tomorrow. It’s time for the Luka scientists to rest. After all, they can’t match me in endurance.” Thinking this, Xiao Yu vacated the grand hall for the Luka scientists and quietly withdrew his consciousness.

While the Luka scientists were still celebrating, Xiao Yu had already resumed his work. Massive calculations, modeling, design blueprints in three and four dimensions, all of these filled his mind completely. At the same time, he was remotely commanding billions of robots, steadily building the components of his vision. These included gravitational bombs to manipulate Four-Dimensional Space, specially designed elemental decay engines, space curvature instruments, and more.

To gather the materials needed for the project, Xiao Yu dismantled several thousand Village-Class and Town-Class starships, even scrapping dozens of County-Class vessels, throwing all of their components into the engineering effort.

“So long as I escape this prison and find a single star system with a planet, I’ll have access to near-infinite resources. Wasting this little now is nothing to worry about,” Xiao Yu thought.

After three days of celebration and rest, the Luka scientists returned to work. By then, Xiao Yu had already completed the initial blueprint for the entire project.

Through strict peer review, sleepless research by the Luka scientists, and Xiao Yu’s own hundreds of billions of modeling runs, the initial blueprint was revised tens of thousands of times. Only after every potential risk was eliminated did the final version take shape.

Once the design was finalized, the intense construction process began. This part required no further intellectual contribution from the Luka scientists, Xiao Yu could handle it entirely on his own.

Even with billions of robots working around the clock, it still took Xiao Yu a full four years to complete all the necessary components. By that time, he had only one year’s worth of fuel remaining.

After a final inspection and one last round of calculations to confirm everything was within expectations, Xiao Yu turned to the more than two thousand Luka scientists and said, “Then let’s begin the prison break.”

This star system, enclosed within the Four-Dimensional Barrier, was truly a massive prison. To escape it, calling the operation a prison break couldn’t be more fitting.

Under Xiao Yu’s control, more space curvature instruments activated, and more gravitational bombs began exerting force on the Four-Dimensional Barrier. Through exquisitely precise coordination, everything proceeded flawlessly.

Just as expected, a larger Klein bottle took shape. Before Xiao Yu’s monitoring instruments, a massive, pitch-black opening appeared.

“First group: one thousand starships. Enter the mouth of the bottle,” Xiao Yu commanded. Then, addressing two Luka scientists aboard one of the ships, he added, “Good luck to you both.”

The two scientists had volunteered as test pilots. Upon hearing Xiao Yu’s words, they immediately bowed. “It is our honor to serve you, Master.”

After this brief exchange, the thousand ships drifted toward the opening. The pitch-black void, like the gaping maw of a cosmic beast, devoured them one by one.

Because of the Klein bottle’s unique nature, once the ships entered, all contact with Xiao Yu was severed.

It took a full thirty minutes for all one thousand vessels to pass through. After that, the onboard autonomous systems would continue guiding them forward.

“The time has come. Shut down the space curvature instruments. Disconnect.” Xiao Yu issued the final command.

With the instruments deactivated, the massive dark entrance vanished, along with the thousand starships that had belonged to Xiao Yu.

Now, he waited, waited for the signal from the two volunteer scientists.

Thirty seconds later, the message came through.

“Master! Master! We made it! We really made it! The stars are beautiful! It’s incredible! You must all come out too!”

Their voices brimmed with uncontrollable excitement. Reflexively, Xiao Yu prepared to reply, only to remember that the Four-Dimensional Barrier allowed signals to enter but not exit. Meaning, he could receive messages from outside, but could not send any back.

Realizing this, he chuckled and shook his head, abandoning the idea.

“I’ve received the signal from the two volunteers. The first wave of one thousand ships has safely reached the outside of the Four-Dimensional Barrier. It’s time for the full fleet operation.”

With this announcement, the grand hall erupted in cheers once more.

With two successful Klein bottle constructions behind him, the third went even more smoothly. No issues arose at all. Using even more gravitational bombs and space curvature instruments, Xiao Yu created a Klein bottle large enough to accommodate the massive Hebei.

Looking at the enormous black opening before him, Xiao Yu was full of emotion.

“Sixty years of struggle… finally paid off. In the end, I really did find a way out of here. Farewell, central star.”

He cast one final glance at the enormous red giant. After bidding it farewell in his heart, Xiao Yu decisively piloted the Hebei and tens of thousands of escort ships into the Klein bottle.

Inside the Four-Dimensional Barrier, all the space curvature instruments would be left behind. Following preset instructions, they would shut down one minute later. Once they shut down, space would return to its normal state. If nothing went wrong, Xiao Yu would be free of the Four-Dimensional Barrier.

The interior of the Klein bottle was strange, strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely four-dimensional. It was more of a half-three, half-four-dimensional object. Within this paradoxical structure, Xiao Yu’s fleet slowly advanced.

If he had to describe it, Xiao Yu would say the inside of the Klein bottle resembled a kaleidoscope, bizarre, dazzling, and filled with phenomena he couldn’t explain.

Then, one minute passed.

The bizarre sights before him vanished all at once. Xiao Yu’s vision was once again swallowed by darkness. But amid the darkness, he detected pinpricks of starlight, tiny gems embedded in the black velvet of space.

He knew what they were: stars.

“We made it… we really made it.” At that moment, Xiao Yu was overwhelmed with emotion.

He used his instruments to look back, but all he saw was blackness. It was as if there had never been any matter behind him. The aging red giant was simply… gone.

He knew why. The Four-Dimensional Barrier’s one-way property allowed nothing to exit, not even light. So once he passed through, the star vanished from view.

But Xiao Yu knew that if he piloted the ship backward by just a hundred kilometers, he would reenter the barrier and once again see that dying red giant.

“I wonder what fate awaits that star,” Xiao Yu thought. “If the Four-Dimensional Barrier continues contracting, one day it will reach the star’s surface. At that point, the material will be continuously transmitted inward. The shrinking space will increase its density. Perhaps… it’ll eventually be crushed into a black hole.”

“The Four-Dimensional Barrier doesn’t allow a single bit of mass to escape. That means, if it becomes a black hole, it will do so without producing any external effects. It will become the quietest black hole in the universe.”

The birth of a black hole usually involved spectacular cosmic phenomena, neutron star collisions, supernova explosions. But this black hole defied that pattern.

“It’s time to leave,” Xiao Yu murmured. “I’ve nearly exhausted all my fuel. In the next stage of travel, I’ll need to dismantle some ships for fuel. Also, while I’ve mastered Faster-Than-Light Travel, I don’t have the resources to retrofit all ships. So, we’ll proceed with conventional propulsion. Target: a mid-aged star three hundred light-years ahead.”

Xiao Yu was confident that star had at least one planet. One planet, whether gas or rocky, would be enough for him.

Just as he was preparing to depart, a new message suddenly appeared in his mind.

“This is Taihao. This message was left here in advance. You’re seeing it because you’ve fulfilled the trigger condition.”

“I’m glad you’ve finally found a way to escape the Four-Dimensional Barrier. Your potential far exceeded my expectations. As a reward, I now grant you the method for constructing the Four-Dimensional Shield. I hope that once you receive this technology, you will not forget your promise…”