The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns Chapter 309: The Last Stop Before Moving On

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As we traveled through space, we realized Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were really damn far away. Because the position of the planets tends to vary, they could be on the other side of the solar system. However, by moving at my fastest speed, the distance of several billion kilometers was cut to just a few minutes. After I detected where Uranus was, we arrived at its cold atmosphere in just three minutes of travel. 

This hasn’t been just out of curiosity or a nice educational trip for the kids, but it has also helped me adapt and understand the limits of my own abilities—or how far I can go within the environment of outer space. Quite honestly, it’s pretty easy for me to travel around. Perhaps I could reach another galaxy in just a couple of hours at my maximum speed. But if I use things like space manipulation, I could constantly create shortcuts or literal “leaps through space,” accelerating my maximum speed even further. 

“Wow, it’s so blue! …No, wait, more like a cyan color!” Athena said. “Mama, what is this made of? Water and ice?” 

“It’s called an Ice Giant, so yes, kind of,” I nodded. “Is it still a Gas Planet? Technically. It also has rings, see? And quite a few moons and asteroid satellites.” 

“Oooh…” Orion nodded. “Are those moons like Europa? Do they have life inside?” 

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Europa’s composition is very unique compared to these other icy rock moons.” 

“Huh, that’s a bit interesting…” Rainbow Eyes commented. “Mom, can’t we go there?” 

“Temperatures are even lower than in outer space. It’s called an Ice Giant for a reason,” I explained. “But sure, let’s go check it out.” 

We descended, quickly being greeted by a giant, icy, never-ending storm. Blue and white colors were everywhere, twisting through the entirety of this world’s existence. In the depths, there might be a rocky core.

There was nothing really liquid here; everything was completely frozen. Icy shards of various materials flowed everywhere. Anybody other than us would get frozen and then torn to shreds here. 

“Looks like there’s not much to see here…” Yanisse said, who had been accompanying us in silence. 

“Still nice for some selfies!” Peperina said. “Finding life in two other worlds was already pretty nice. I don’t mind finding more deserted planets anyway.” 

“What’s under the storm?” Hekita asked, wagging her tail as she looked down. 

“Hmm, there’s a rocky core, but the temperatures are high? There might or might not be a sea down there, but, like the ocean of Saturn, it’s not really something where life might appear… or maybe it is. To be honest, after seeing life on Saturn, I’ve begun to realize that life can occur in many ways, not just the way we know of,” I said. “I wonder what other lifeforms we could find…” 

“Let’s go down and find out!” Hekita was too excited, so I let her come with me and the kids as we reached the constantly boiling ocean. It was indeed deserted. There were giant “islands,” though, made of black and gray rock, covered in ice. It was honestly a beautiful place if you ignored the tremendous, ear-piercing sounds of the endless storms. 

“No life,” I said. “But it’s pretty indeed. These things… I always liked to imagine how it would be to visit other planets. Now that I’m finally fulfilling such a childish dream, I feel rather… I don’t know, quite emotional I suppose.” 

“I agree. It’s something almost mystical, to get to know these planets that have accompanied our own home for billions of years…” Yanisse said, admiring the sky. “It’s mesmerizing… I’ll never forget this.” 

After Peperina finished taking selfies and photos, we moved back to space, where we rushed toward Neptune. The planet was almost similar to Uranus but was of a darker blue shade. It also had near-invisible rings and moons of its own.

We went down without further ado, finding quite literally the same atmosphere. It felt like these two planets were twins or something. The weird seas and the atmosphere were also quite amusing, but after a brief experience, we moved on to our last stop. 

“I know that it has been declassified as a planet now, but Pluto will always be in my heart as one of the planets of the solar system and our little planet,” I said as we floated above the icy surface of Pluto, no longer classified as a planet, but it looks just like one, to be honest. 

“Yeah, I still consider it part of the family,” Yanisse smiled. 

We went down with the kids, who were amazed by finally finding another rocky “planet” after so many gas giants. The surface was covered by hard stone and ice everywhere, and it was obviously cold and desolate… There wasn’t any life either.

Though the center was quite warm, probably something was going on in there… But I think we’ve had enough solar system traveling. My wives were looking rather bored, and I think this was more than enough.

I think we had yet to visit Mercury and Venus, though… I wanted to check them too, but I decided to just end it here. 

I opened a gate back to Earth so we wouldn’t have to fly there and left another here, closed and sealed, but that I can access at any time.

I actually did the same with the other planets—just an easy teleportation access in case I want to check on the life of Saturn or Europa again. 

“Alright, everyone, let’s go back home! It’s been a long day, right?” 

We quickly teleported back to Earth, and then, once everyone was back in the Pagoda and comfortable, getting ready to relax, I quickly moved back to Mars with Bloodclaw and Redeye. The Saurians were mostly ready to depart.

We were moving them to Floor 2, as stated before, and once that was done, I would go back home, enjoy the day, and tomorrow, we’re climbing the tower again. 

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