In the interstellar battleship group, a flash of light appeared.
A human-like lifeform dressed in a full black uniform appeared before everyone.
This person was unarmed, raising his hands as if showing no malice.
He slowly flew to the Grass Hut Academy and immediately said in perfect Mandarin, "Prophet, please hear my explanation!"
"That was just a coincidence just now, definitely not intentional!"
This voice wasnât familiar, but Su Qiangwei was certain she had heard it before.
Before she could think deeply, the other person removed his helmet, revealing shoulder-length blue hair and pitch-black eyes with no whites.
Adam, the Third Prince of the Chuanke Civilization!
"After leaving Earth, I didnât immediately return to the Chuanke Star System but chose to hunt down Chuan Qi in the Milky Way Galaxy to prevent him from leaking important intelligence to the Emperor."
Adam said with a bitter smile, "Chuan Qi was smart, playing a trick of hiding under the lamp. I almost searched the entire Milky Way Galaxy and finally discovered he was staying on the outskirts of the Solar System."
"After spotting the target, I immediately pursued him all the way here to Neptune, intercepting him and using the Star Destroyer Cannon to completely kill him."
Third Prince Adam was only at the surface level peak; honestly, in a 1V1, he would most likely be overpowered by Chuan Qi, so he had to rely on external aid.
"Unexpectedly, everyone from the Grass Hut Academy was on a âstudy tourâ over here at Neptune."
Upon saying this, Adam approached Ma Ran, slightly bent over, and said earnestly, "This was an issue with my intelligence gathering."
"Iâm willing to accept any punishment."
He had no choice.
Using the Star Destroyer Cannon indeed could kill Ma Ran, but there was still a conditional trigger mental bomb left in his brain.
If something happened to Ma Ran, Adam reckoned he wouldnât last two days either.
Ignorance absolves guilt? Nonsense!
Adam absolutely didnât believe the conditional trigger mental bomb within his soul was as simple as Ma Ran claimed.
Ha! As long as thereâs no malice, that thing wonât explode? Even if an unintended mistake led to Earthâs destruction and Ma Ranâs death, there would be no punishment?
No way!
Adam wasnât that naive.
He was certain, if Ma Ran died, he would definitely accompany him to the grave!
So now, Adam himself was somewhat apprehensive.
Ma Ran scrutinized this Third Prince of Chuanke for a while, and said quietly, "You didnât lie."
"Alright, no need to explain further."
"Go and do what you should do."
Unlike Su Qiangwei, he didnât possess grand superpowers or act as a human lie detector, unable to ensure that others were truthful with absolute certainty.
But the conditional trigger mental bomb was real.
As long as Adam couldnât control malicious thoughts towards Earth or Ma Ran, that thing would show him what "the deepest pain of the soul" meant.
The conditional trigger mental bomb was a remarkably intricate creation, even with Ma Ranâs current capabilities, it required cooperation of 98,725 to manufacture, naturally not as simple as previously stated.
When Adam harbored malice, it wouldnât directly blow him up; instead, it would split into two parts, the first severely harming Adamâs soul, the other slowly absorbing brainwaves emitted during Adamâs thought process, gradually growing.
In other words...
The conditional trigger mental bomb would grow progressively stronger each time.
Judging by Adamâs soul strength, by the third time, he would be entirely annihilated, completely deceased.
Now it seemed, although Adam was somewhat uneasy, his soul was intact and undamaged, so those previous statements were indeed the truth.
The truth was this simple.
Adam received the command to hunt down Chuan Qi and, with the aid of the battleship-mounted Star Destroyer Cannon, had completely annihilated Chuan Qi.
Grass Hut Academy was just caught in the crossfire.
After the energy connection with Ma Ran broke, Su Qiangwei felt somewhat lost, yet she summoned the Healing Scalpel glowing with white light to start healing the newly blind individuals, helping them regain their sight.
After their vision returned to normal, the members of the academic society instinctively distanced themselves from Li Xing, watching him from afar with complex expressions.
"Brother Xing, it truly is you! Your bad luck canât even be suppressed by a Martial God and a Prophet!"
"Youâre just a little unlucky one."
"Been at the Grass Hut Academy for so long without encountering any unfortunate events. I thought Li Xingâs bad luck was just a myth, but seems like it was holding back a big one here..."
"Oh my gosh! Is this a causality weapon already?"
These words were not malicious, mostly tinged with teasing.
In the previous war with the Zhang Heng Civilization, the Grass Hut Academy ended up on the victorious side. Members who had lost limbs or even heads are now back in one piece. With proper rest afterward, theyâll be ready to fight again.
If we win, both parents stay safe; if we lose, the whole family goes down.
The explosion of Neptune and the Grass Hut Academy getting caught in the Star Destroyer Cannonâs aftermath was nothing more than a dessert after dinner.
What fierce storms hasnât the elite of the Academic Society faced?
Getting decapitated a few times was no big deal.
As long as you can win, thereâs nothing to complain about.
But Li Xing has realized once again, clearly and deeply, just how LOW his luck truly is, with a face so dark it would scare people.
Wu Di was clutching his sword, which looked somewhat like a tiny gun, fearfully backing away from Li Xing.
He muttered, "Eternal Civilizationâs technology is truly amazing," and, "Itâs so lucky nothing happened during the last Eternal Expedition," "I probably used up all my lifetimeâs good luck on that one time," and other such things.
After the mishap, seemingly to make up for the mistake, Third Prince Adam, while still fearful, also extended a sincere invitation to everyone in the Academic Society, hoping to give everyone a ride back to Earth.
In such a matter, Ma Ran certainly wouldnât refuse.
To actually use his instant teleportation ability to bring everyone back one by one would take an immense amount of time just to lock onto coordinates, even though the energy reserve could suffice.
By that time, the oxygen enveloping the Grass Hut Academy floating in space would probably be nearly depleted.
...
One hour and forty-five minutes later.
Inside the Chuanke Interstellar Battleship Group.
Eldest Prince Li Tang stared intently at Adam.
After a while, he finally said quietly, "Still thinking about her?"
Adam was taken aback, shook his head: "I havenât thought about her for a long time. The Jin Yina of this timeline is not the Jin Yina I knew. After I ascend to the throne, helping you sever the âEmotional Tribulationâ is only to avoid leaving a flaw in my psyche."
Li Tang squinted his eyes, as if he was looking at something irretrievable, in a peculiar tone he said, "I havenât even said who âsheâ is."
On the other side.
The members of the Academic Society were also touring inside the battleship, discussing.
"Not quite like I imagined, the decorations inside this battleship have quite an artistic touch, not very cold at all..."
"Chuanke Civilization has developed for 160,000 years, after all. Didnât you hear the staff say? Theyâve unified the entire Chuanke Star System. Converted to our side, it would be akin to unifying the Milky Way Galaxy, incredible!"
"This trip was truly a blast! We fought against the Outer Star legion, experienced the explosion of several billion tons of nuclear weapons up close, witnessed the destruction of stars, and danced face to face with Death twice... It was so damn spectacular!"
"My realm didnât change much, but my spiritual will has strengthened significantly. I feel like when I go back, I can use that âmaskâ to test my will again, it should have reached the Superpower Awakening standard."
"Hmph! Only died twice? What a loser! My headâs been cut off three times!"
"Are you proud of that?"
"Speaking of which, isnât anyone worried about Earth? Neptune is a planet in the Solar System too. Its explosion wonât truly affect Earthâs ecology?"
"Neptuneâs disappearance affects the Earthâs orbit and inclination nearly negligibly. Earth remains within the habitable zone, so thereâs no need to worry excessively."
"Whoa! Thatâs amazing?"
"Yes. The three planets that significantly affect Earth are Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Between Mars and Jupiter, thereâs an asteroid belt; the number of asteroids there could be up to billions. Without the gravitational restraint of Jupiter and Mars, well... a crisis akin to the extinction of dinosaurs could play out for human times as well."
"Actually, Mars and Saturn arenât too bad; if theyâre gone, so be it. The formerâs role is similar to Jupiterâs, but not as major. Saturn itself has a ring that can be seen as an asteroid belt. Jupiter... that guy is formidable. As the largest planet in the Solar System, itâs considered Earthâs guardian deity. In the past 4.6 billion years, Jupiter has blocked numerous asteroid impacts for Earth. Without it, humanity wouldnât know how many times it would have followed in the dinosaursâ footsteps."
Lying half-reclined in the refurbishment cabin, Ma Ran took the opportunity to organize the fourth script "Game Main God," adding and removing content appropriately.
Hearing the membersâ discussion, Ma Ran slowly opened his eyes, gazing through the one-way transparent armor of the interstellar battleship, focusing on the blue planet.
"The time is ripe."
"Itâs time for Earth to enter a comprehensive Extraordinary Era."