Lei Ting fell into a brief silence, offering no immediate reply. Even though the "transcoding" of his thought patterns was somewhat arduous, he could sense that ‘Ghost’ was telling the truth. This entity did not possess the temperament to risk its life lying after being exposed; it simply wasn't that brave.
Moreover, truth be told, while the revelation that "everyone's genes have been regulated" was unexpected, it didn't particularly shock him.
In this era, which race that had entered interstellar society hadn't undergone its own unique brand of genetic adjustment? Back when they were still primitive civilizations confined to their home planets, they had no way of preventing those who had taken the first steps into the stars from meddling with them.
It was just that, with this revelation...
Well, following "identify the true nature of the power targeting Carbon-Type I bloodlines," "protect the Human Federation from extinction," "guard against and eliminate all currently visible enemies," and "ensure Ewan Heiler does not die," his to-do list had grown once again.
Determining whether the human genetic sequence contained any hidden traps left by the Star Civilization was now a major priority.
Thinking about it, the work he had to do was indeed substantial—so much so that an ordinary person might not achieve even one of these tasks in a lifetime.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Lei Ting asked casually, "So, it was the 'Ascension' plan that brought individual superhumans to the galaxy? Then... where did this power come from?"
"The 'Awakening'," Ghost replied. "I don't know the specifics. I only know it was a plan to use 'cosmic tides' to trigger a certain type of radiation and activate genes. Its success wiped out more than half of the galactic races at the time; only those who could adapt to that power earned the right to survive... or something like that."
"Why did they do it?" Lei Ting asked.
"Would you explain to a cell in a petri dish why you are peeling it open? From your perspective as a human, is it like explaining why you do what you do in a war?" Ghost couldn't resist a sharp jab at Lei Ting.
"Very well, it seems you don't know," Lei Ting said flatly. "By the way, I'm not very good at peeling cells, so I don't quite understand your metaphor. Next time, we can replace it with crushing a planet or evaporating a spiritual entity, regardless of how many years it has lived."
Simultaneously, one-sixtieth of Ghost's energy vanished. Forever.
"I'm sorry," Ghost said, dropping into a metaphorical kneel with lightning speed.
"I accept your apology. Tell me something else," Lei Ting said. "Besides 'Awakening' and 'Ascension,' do you know of any other plans?"
"I remember a researcher mentioning a 'Boiling' plan... something like those viruses," Ghost said hesitantly. "Aside from that, there was actually..."
"What?"
"...'Degeneration'," Ghost said, gesturing toward the swirling sea directly below. "The 'Repair Solution' stored in my base is a byproduct of the 'Degeneration' plan."
"..."
'Degeneration'? That name didn't sound auspicious at all...
Lei Ting’s brow furrowed deeply. For some reason, the word inexplicably reminded him of the appearance of certain 'Abominations'—their high degree of similarity to normal organic life—and the transparent yet blood-red color of the 'Repair Solution,' so like the blood of carbon-based organisms.
"Degeneration," he repeated. "What is it?"
"That..." Ghost said, its voice slowing down. "I think..."
"Still don't know?" Lei Ting sighed softly and beckoned with his hand.
In an instant, two streaks of golden light—one large, one small—pierced the surface of the sea and flew into the sky. They contained a palm-sized, peculiar instrument and a five-to-six-meter-tall sealed storage tank. The former was likely some ancient but well-preserved data reader, while the latter held the 'Repair Solution.'
During this brief conversation, Lei Ting had already used his standard sensory methods to completely map the internal structure of the entire planet. His superhuman perception locked onto the positions of metallic elements, while his mental strength filtered and distinguished the properties of other substances. Through this, he constructed a three-dimensional model of the planet directly in his mind, composed of black, white, and gray imaging, with gold representing metallic elements.
With this near-total understanding, he could do as he pleased—whether he wanted to act, take something, control something, or destroy something.
"I'll be taking the spoils of war," Lei Ting said, rising into the air. He reached out toward the space beyond the atmosphere and, in an instant, pulled back over a thousand pale, drifting souls that were attempting to scatter. Each one carried a fragment of Ghost, serving as the foundation for its rebirth. "Keep your things safe."
He casually tossed the clumped souls back into the sea. They emitted a faint, murky silver light, bobbing on the surface with the rhythmic waves.
Ghost remained silent. It knew its secret maneuvers would surely be intercepted, but in truth, it clearly hadn't expected everything to begin and end so quickly.
"Did you know? These souls are actually purer than you. This purity has nothing to do with thought... and beneath that purity, I saw that although you are all Carbon-Type I, you are not the same species." Lei Ting gazed at them, and at the dense clusters of pale light in the distance. "Their average height is about two meters. They possess powers that change with the environment, and their life form is more advanced than yours... Why?"
The similar average height proved that these were experimental subjects carefully selected after they had finished developing. A height of around two meters suggested that their original living environment—at least in terms of oxygen levels—wasn't much higher than Earth's.
Ghost trembled. It didn't understand how Lei Ting could see all this. Was this the power of a 'Limit-Breaker'? Unlimited perception, unlimited execution... Did the power that brought madness and despair, the power that ensured every wielder met a miserable end, truly have such limitless applications?
Inexplicably, it suddenly remembered the 'Limit-Breakers' it had encountered over the years. Those powerful beings were now called 'Double-S,' 'Transcendent,' or 'Infinite Individuals,' but almost every one of them had lost their precious rationality and their desire for life during their fragile growth process.
Even the Star Civilization had been forced to admit back then that 'Limit-Breakers' could not be regulated or utilized. No external means could truly control them. Even if the brain tissue managing emotions was excised at the moment of awakening, it would completely regenerate one day... and then disaster would strike, just as it had in every experiment.
But now, a 'Limit-Breaker' was watching it.
And his spirit, in its perception...
Ghost slowly raised its head. This was the first time in countless years it had made such a gesture—a movement like that of an 'organic life' that sees with eyes.
It could feel Lei Ting watching it.
That gaze was so peaceful. As a spirit-specialized esper, it couldn't perceive even a flicker of emotion from this young life, which stood in stark contrast to its own violent emotional activity.
That soul was as steady as a sun, silently shining upon this world that had been frozen for countless years.
But how could a sun be peaceful?
Before vanishing into the golden sunlight, Ghost's mind was a chaotic mess.
The bewildered stray thoughts scattered away, while that small amount of pure, refined power transformed into a speck of light. Like a spark of spiritual light beside the distant superhuman sun, it flew toward Lei Ting... only to be casually flicked away by him.
At the same time, in the starless deep space far away, a massive change occurred. But it failed to draw Lei Ting's gaze, for such changes happened every moment beneath the void of the 'Spiritual Depths,' occurring infinitely.
He knew that before long, a powerful Abyssal Horror codenamed 'Ghost' would likely be born from this darkness.
Just as every powerful Abyssal Horror was born.
***
Several days later, in the central control room of the New Solar System's third planet, Lei Ting stared fixedly at the scene before him.
In a row of culture tanks of various sizes, from embryos to elderly specimens, a series of 'He-mice'—the most common experimental animals in interstellar society—had all undergone different malignant transformations.
Extra appendages, writhing tentacles, occasionally contracting flesh cysts, and strange, sightless eyeballs...
The experiment didn't even need to run for long. These monstrous things began sprouting from the He-mice on the very first day, spreading and gradually assimilating and consuming them. This was the side effect of the 'Repair Solution': it removed the physical limits of the user in a destructive manner, allowing the user to freely shape new physical traits while maintaining a state where the body perceived everything as 'perfectly healthy.'
Theoretically, such a change could be controlled if applied to an intelligent being, as intellect is life's greatest weapon and its greatest shackle.
However, Lei Ting remembered the strange growths on the 'Recorder's' physical body.
And what the 'Logistics Minister' personality had said about finding 'Abominations beautiful and full of temptation.'
Perhaps the process of 'Degeneration' was real. And it likely affected more than just the physical body.
Though he appeared benevolent and gentle, was the Recorder's spirit... truly normal?
This hidden worry made it difficult for Lei Ting to decide. He could only destroy these experimental subjects, setting aside an amount of 'Repair Solution' that was absolutely sufficient for Ewan Heiler's use—with some extra to spare—and sealing it within his 'Solar City.'
Then, he looked at the storage tank before him, about a meter tall, and the faint red light emanating from within. That light reflected the entire layout of the control room.
Lei Ting turned his head to look at the very center of the room.
There stood a dry fountain. The waterless basin was filled with dust, and atop it sat a grand, ancient statue.
It was the figure of an old-fashioned superhuman mecha with sharp, defined angles, its head bowed. One arm was wrapped around a solid steel planet while the other hand supported it from beneath, cradling it. The appearance of that planet was very familiar to Lei Ting...
It was Earth.
Beneath the statue, a large plaque had been nailed on with crude force, engraved with the words:
【The Ceaseless Gaze】.
Lei Ting looked at it, and at a crack on its visor where an occasional spark of electricity jumped, remaining silent for a long time.
The moment he saw this statue, he knew it was yet another secret, and it had been entrusted to him... He felt as though everything was caught in a massive vortex—no, the stars, the nebulae, and even the entire universe were one giant vortex. Every life was naturally born into the currents following that initial eruption, emerging from the surge and heading toward final extinction.
He knew people were dying—dying because of his unmentionable plans and his hateful, forced inaction—but he could not fight for them at every moment, even though he had sworn to protect every compatriot when he donned this golden crown.
Lei Ting raised the transparent storage tank and, through the dizzying, vivid red liquid, gazed at the statue belonging to the 'Gazer.'
Even with power that could be called invincible in the current galaxy, when faced with invisible threats and responsibilities, this young man in his mid-twenties could only allow a sense of lost melancholy to arise within his heart in this silent space, before that jumping spark.
He knew that some unknown existence was playing a grand game of chess against humanity, and they had taken the first move with the black pieces.
In the current starry sky, besides him—the so-called 'Limit-Breaker'—there was likely no one else who could catch that white piece. And if he were to take it and place it where it needed to be, he would have to give up some things right in front of him.
He didn't want to give those things up. But if he didn't, once this game—in which humanity was already at a disadvantage—ended in total defeat, both he and everyone else would lose more, and more, and more.
It was terrifying, wasn't it? He was a soldier, a general, but he was not a chess player, nor was he a ruler with a heart of stone...
He didn't know how to trace the greatest threat back to its source and eliminate it.
He didn't know how the remembered hatreds could be completely settled.
He didn't know when widespread peace would come to the stars, as in his ideals...
He didn't even know how to save his compatriots, his home, his mentors, his friends, and his lover.
...
But he had to make a choice.
He had already made his choice.
Lei Ting closed his eyes slightly and vanished into a flash of light.
He still had much work to do.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 觉醒计划 | 'Awakening' Plan | A plan by the Star Civilization to trigger genetic evolution via cosmic radiation. |
| 沸腾计划 | 'Boiling' Plan | A virus-related plan mentioned by Ghost. |
| 堕变计划 | 'Degeneration' Plan | A plan involving the removal of physical limits, leading to mutations. |
| 修复溶液 | Repair Solution | A byproduct of the Degeneration plan; used for healing but causes mutations. |
| 赫鼠 | He-mouse | A common interstellar experimental rodent. |
| 不息的凝望 | The Ceaseless Gaze | The title of the statue of the 'Gazer' holding Earth. |
| 太阳之城 | Solar City | Lei Ting's base or a specific location he controls. |
| 异魔 | Abyssal Horror | A powerful, monstrous entity born from the 'Spiritual Depths'. |
| 凝望者 | Gazer | The figure represented by the mecha statue; likely a predecessor or title. |
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