At the highest point of Rustbone City, a former abandoned barge platform used to dock heavy transport ships, was now transformed into a **"holographic sky garden"** for only two people.
Seventeen kept his promise.
Although this was a desolate, garbage-strewn asteroid belt, devoid of soil, water, and even filtered sunlight,
he used a top-tier holographic projector he had seized from pirates to cover the rusted steel.
Thus, scrap iron became white marble railings, and grease became flowing springs.
Countless data roses composed of photons bloomed wildly on the edge of the vacuum. They needed no photosynthesis, only energy, to remain perpetually green.
Shen Qingqiu stood at the edge of the platform.
She wore a form-fitting nanospacesuit. It wasn't a bulky, traditional spacesuit, but a layer of fluid fabric as thin as a second skin, pure white, outlining her graceful curves.
The helmet was folded behind her neck, a pale blue bio-field enveloping her, isolating her from the cold and vacuum of the outside world.
"Is this the surprise you wanted for me?" Shen Qingqiu turned around, looking at Seventeen, who was adjusting the gravity generator behind her.
Seventeen was also wearing the same spacesuit, only a deep black one. His right star-shaped arm wasn't covered; instead, in the vacuum environment, the starlight on its surface shone even brighter.
"The garden is just a backdrop." Seventeen finished adjusting the generator, stood up, and walked towards her.
His steps were light, an elegance born from adjusting the gravity parameters.
"The real stage is outside."
He pointed to the unobstructed, deep, and magnificent starry sky above.
At this moment, it was the famous "Double Star and Moon" moment in the "Chaotic Starfield."
Two enormous stars of contrasting colors (one ice-blue, one crimson) intertwined in the sky, their gravitational fields pulling the surrounding nebulae together, forming a rainbow bridge spanning billions of kilometers.
"There's gravity here, dancing is too tiring." Seventeen walked up to her, extending his right hand, which shimmered with starlight.
His voice, transmitted through bone conduction headphones, resonated directly in Shen Qingqiu's mind, so clear it seemed to whisper in her ear.
"I want to invite you… to the heavens."
"To a place without constraints, without weight, where it's just the two of us."
Shen Qingqiu looked at him.
In this perilous, blood-soaked universe, only this fool would go to such lengths just to dance with her.
She smiled.
That smile was brighter than the Twin Stars.
"Okay."
She placed her hand in his palm.
"Take me flying."
…
[Gravity System: Off.]
[Anti-Gravity Engine: Activated.]
Their toes lightly touched the ground.
Like two birds freed from the earth's shackles, they slowly ascended.
Passing through the cloak of the Holographic Garden, passing through the dome of Rusty Bone City.
They entered the true universe.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
All noise was swallowed by the vacuum. Only the steady breathing of the two of them and the faint hum of their life support systems filled the air.
Shen Qingqiu felt as if she had become a feather.
The weightlessness brought a strange dizziness and a sense of freedom.
"Don't be afraid." Seventeen's hands gripped her waist tightly.
In the weightless environment, he was her only support, her only source of gravity.
"Look at me."
His voice was gentle and deep.
On this grand stage against the backdrop of billions of stars,
they began that unfinished waltz.
There was no music.
Or rather, the rhythm of the universe itself was the music.
The pulsations of pulsars were the drumbeats, the flow of nebulae were the strings.
Seventeen spun her around.
Not the flat spinning of the ground.
But a three-dimensional, three-dimensional, all-encompassing rotation.
They tumbled, chased, and entangled in the sea of stars.
The black and white figures intertwined, like the yin and yang of a tai chi symbol, or the twin stars of Gemini.
With each rotation, the background shifted.
One moment a burning red giant, the next a cold blue nebula.
Shen Qingqiu looked at Seventeen, so close to him.
His purple eyes reflected the starry sky, but his focus remained fixed solely on her face.
"Seventeen."
"Hmm?"
"Don't you think we're like two wandering satellites?"
Shen Qingqiu reached out, stroking his cheek through the force field shield.
"No." Seventeen shook his head.
With a slight adjustment to the thrusters, he pulled her into a slow, graceful backward lean.
"Satellites are passive, prisoners captured by gravity."
"And we…"
He lowered his head, forehead to forehead.
The force fields merged, their breaths mingling.
"We are binary stars."
"Attracting each other, entwined, burning together."
"Even if the universe is destroyed, we will only… collapse together into a black hole."
Shen Qingqiu's heart skipped a beat.
This AI, ever since reading those human poetry collections and databases, has practically maxed out its romantic skills.
"Smooth-tongued."
She chuckled, but her eyes were slightly moist.
Just then.
Seventeen suddenly released his grip on her waist.
But he didn't let her drift away.
His right stellar arm swung gently.
[Starry Sky · Xing Tian – Gravity Capture.]
In the chaotic space debris around them, a faint light was suddenly detected.
It was a crystal, no bigger than a fingernail, crystal clear.
It had floated in the vacuum for countless years, still pure and untouched by a speck of dust.
Seventeen controlled the gravity, letting the crystal slowly drift between them.
"What is this?" Shen Qingqiu asked curiously.
"Carbon." Seventeen answered with the most science-oriented thinking, but his tone was incredibly romantic.
"This is a pure carbon crystal formed in the core of a star after its explosion, under high pressure."
"What mortals call…a diamond." But this diamond was different.
It absorbed a special kind of cosmic ray, its interior flowing with colors like the aurora borealis.
It was a **"Tear of the Star"**.
Seventeen extended his black-gold mechanical finger and gently pinched the crystal.
Then, he did something that Shen Qingqiu never expected.
He knelt down on one knee in the void (though there was no ground, he adjusted his posture to make this gesture).
Like a knight pledging allegiance to a queen, or a gentleman proposing marriage.
"Qingqiu." His voice trembled slightly, a fluctuation caused by nervousness.
"In Earth's customs, this thing…represents eternity."
"Although I know that, according to the second law of thermodynamics, there is no true eternity in the universe, and entropy increase is irreversible."
He raised his head, his purple eyes filled with seriousness and determination.
"But I'm willing to be… Maxwell's demon, resisting entropy."
"As long as there's a sliver of energy left in my core, I will maintain this 'order' for you."
"This star…"
He handed her the Tear of the Star.
"It's not a ring, nor a gift."
"It's… a betrothal gift."
"Later, when we conquer this galaxy, I will pluck those two real twin stars and hang them above your bed."
"For now, use this… for now, okay?"
Shen Qingqiu looked at him.
Looking at this vast, boundless universe, looking at this clumsy yet deeply affectionate man.
In this cold, dark space, filled with the threat of death.
He gave her the grandest romance.
"Silly girl."
Shen Qingqiu reached out and took the Tear of the Star.
She didn't wear it on her wrist, but instead placed it close to her heart pocket.
"Who asked you to pluck stars?"
"Those stars are too hot, too far away."
She reached out and pulled Seventeen up.
Then, in a state of weightlessness, like a bird returning to its nest, she flew into his arms.
"I only want you."
"You are my...destiny." Seventeen held her tightly.
At that moment, the core reactor within him reached its peak output power.
[Happiness: 100%.]
[System Status: Overload.]
He lowered his head, and through the thin bio-field, kissed her lips.
This kiss felt as long as it spanned light-years.
The surrounding twin stars were burning, the nebula was swirling.
And they, in this ancient silence, became the sole focus at the center of the universe.
For a long time.
They separated.
Shen Qingqiu's cheeks were flushed, her eyes glazed.
"Let's go back."
She whispered in Seventeen's ear, "The oxygen here is running low."
"And..." Her hand slid down his back, her fingertips carrying a suggestive pressure.
"Spacewalking is romantic, but I prefer... some 'vigorous exercise' on the ground." Seventeen's eyes darkened instantly.
That dangerous, primal possessiveness resurfaced.
"Yes, Commander."
"Now... return to the capsule."
Boom— Thrusters at full power.
The two transformed into streaks of light, rushing towards the shimmering, illuminated sky garden below.
Entering the stardust, treading the void.
This chaotic galaxy ultimately became the backdrop for their love.
And that tear of starlight hidden in her heart would witness this interstellar...immortal vow.