Morgan felt himself spiraling into a state of utter panic.
The most powerful psionic individual in the entire galaxy—labeled as ‘non-friendly’ or even ‘hostile’—had just poured him a cup of tea, discussed a matter of grave importance, and dropped a piece of information with the impact of a supernova...
...And then, without waiting for a response, this man had drifted into his own thoughts, pacing the room in silent contemplation.
If Morgan didn't know better, he would have thought the Milky Way was scheduled for destruction tomorrow!
“So... what happened?” Morgan asked, his voice cautious.
“...Hm? No, it’s nothing,” Lei Ting snapped back to reality. “There is no need to be nervous.”
He had no intention of sharing his recent deductions. Instead, he abruptly changed the subject. “I need a biological tissue sample from Kang Li.”
Morgan’s expression instantly shifted to one of suspicion and alarm. “...What do you want that for?”
“That is not your concern.”
Lei Ting shook his head slightly. While he didn't intend to keep it a strict secret, he wasn't about to personally narrate his plan to craft a new body for Ivanheller to this man. The former was because Ivanheller’s eventual return to life could never be hidden from this group anyway; the latter was because...
...Well, even though no one could stop him, it was a hassle. If he didn't want to say it, he wouldn't. Why were there so many questions?
Besides, this question allowed him to test another piece of intelligence.
“...” Morgan remained silent for a moment, his eyes flickering.
After a short pause, he said softly, “Very well.”
Within the mental space, the resting Ivanheller suddenly opened his eyes. He felt a heavy, thick sense of oppression.
In the physical world, Lei Ting suddenly let out a cold sneer.
“As I thought, you can peer into my world.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You know he still exists...”
He walked slowly toward Morgan, who kept his head lowered.
“The power of ‘The Lovers,’ is it?” Amidst the shifting light and shadow, the ‘Solar Star’ wore a false smile, his expression icy. “Knowing of his existence, you wouldn't just let it go... You must have done something. Let me guess, what was it?”
A terrifying pressure spread through the air. Within a few breaths, the entire United Starport trembled for a moment. Alarms blared, their sharp, prolonged tones piercing the darkness.
Outside, the people who had been on high alert jumped to their feet. Every one of them was a mature, powerful psionic warrior—
—But the all-metal structure, reinforced by wandering golden light, left them utterly powerless.
“You, or perhaps your group, tried to contact him, didn't you?” Lei Ting said softly. “The method of practice... there is likely only one choice: through the ‘Spirit’s Depths.’”
“Yes, so what?” Morgan looked up, a crimson glint in his eyes. He spread his hands and smiled at Lei Ting. “How does His Excellency the ‘Solar Star’ intend to solve this problem?”
“No,” Lei Ting said. “I don't intend to solve it... Rest assured, I don't intend to ‘solve’ you either. On the contrary, I should thank you.”
His bluntness caught Morgan off guard, leaving him momentarily unable to react. “...”
“Let it be. Go collect the sample I need. Then, tell the biological computers that make up ‘Eternity’ that I am aware of their existence.”
—If the fact that he had once traveled through time held true, it was very likely someone within ‘Eternity’ had seen him.
In that case, he could attempt to cooperate with them...
Lei Ting’s state of mind remained excessively calm. He looked down at Morgan from a physically superior height and casually patted the shoulder of the man who was roughly the same age as Ivanheller.
“There is nothing left for you to do here,” he said, pushing the other man toward the door. The metal of the unopened door seemed to ‘spit’ him out.
Morgan stumbled as he was thrown out, looking up in a daze.
Before him stood a group of his companions in combat stances, who were now staring back at him with equal confusion. It was a picture of mutual bewilderment.
Kang Li was among them, holding a long blade forged of golden light. Upon seeing Morgan, his stern expression softened. “What happened?”
“Nothing. No need to be nervous...” Morgan paused as he spoke, then clicked his tongue. *Tsk, I’ve actually been infected by the Solar Star’s way of speaking.*
But truly, the feeling that man gave off in word and deed was quite... ‘retro.’
Shortly after, Morgan led the group away in a hurry. Once outside the building, the group dispersed. This time, Kang Li didn't try to wander off. Instead, he stayed by Morgan’s side. After watching the others leave, he tugged on Morgan’s sleeve and whispered, “Wait a moment.”
“Hmm?” Morgan stopped, thinking to himself that the kid finally couldn't hold it in.
“That person,” Kang Li gestured cautiously toward the upper floors behind them. Everyone knew who he meant. “He is...?”
“...”
Morgan grinned.
“It’s a secret!” He clapped Kang Li heartily on the shoulder and walked away quickly, ignoring the younger man’s suddenly sharp gaze.
—As for the biological tissue, let the ‘Solar Star’ collect it himself!
He wondered how Ivanheller would react if he found out about this.
Morgan laughed loudly and disappeared around the corner of the street. Kang Li watched him go, his gaze gradually becoming heavy.
Then, he turned and strode back toward the high-rise they had just exited.
...
Inside the reception room, Lei Ting had just sunk a portion of his consciousness into his mental domain when he sensed an aura of rising fury charging toward him—from bottom to top, from far to near.
“...”
He rubbed his brow. Facing Ivanheller, whose eyes held a hint of worry, he said, “A small problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Ivanheller asked with a frown.
At the same time, he made a brief mental calculation, worrying for a moment about Morgan and the others who were supposed to approach Lei Ting according to previous reports. He quickly suppressed these thoughts to prevent Lei Ting from sensing them.
Lei Ting watched him. For a moment, he couldn't tell if Morgan had used some means to awaken Ivanheller’s memories—Ivanheller’s acting skills had always surpassed his own. After all, this man’s life experience was far greater than that of a poor soul like himself, who had spent more than half his life at war.
“A...” Lei Ting weighed his words. “...person is here.”
‘A person’...
Ivanheller’s brow twitched. He knew this person must be important; otherwise, the current Lei Ting wouldn't be so starved for adjectives.
“I need to go see him,” Lei Ting said.
He felt the aura approaching rapidly—fortunately, Kang Li was a normal kid after all; he knew how to use his legs instead of jumping fifty stories and crashing through the window. Lei Ting stood up, preparing to withdraw this portion of his mental energy.
Ivanheller stood up as well. He didn't just watch the other leave.
“Come back soon.” There was no forced expression on the blonde man’s face, only a genuine softness and a touch of melancholy.
He stepped forward and gave Lei Ting a light hug. The latter seemed even more tranquil than a piece of iron that ‘simply existed.’
“Also, staying here is truly too boring,” he said through gritted teeth. “Even low-level offenders in the Human Federation prisons get to watch specific programs periodically. You could at least let me play some games, couldn't you?”
“...”
Lei Ting blinked, realizing he might indeed be a bit lacking in human understanding. He himself didn't need entertainment, but that didn't mean others were the same...
“Alright.” He readily agreed to this reasonable request. “Is there anything else you want?”
“?”
Ivanheller raised an eyebrow and laughed. He suddenly reached up, hooked his arm firmly around Lei Ting’s neck, pulled him down, and kissed him on the lips.
Lei Ting was stunned. Just as he was about to wrap his arms around the other’s waist, he felt a force against his chest. That body composedly pulled away from his embrace and stretched, turning its back to him.
“Fine, now get lost,” he heard the other say in a lazy voice.
Truly... something ‘Ivanheller Kang’ would do.
Lei Ting tilted his head to look at the man’s back before vanishing from the spot.
The next second, he heard a loud *Boom!* An aura, so sharp and aggressive it made one’s skin crawl, drew near.
The youth lunged forward, trailing the chill of the wind and shards of broken metal, and grabbed Lei Ting by the collar of his uniform.
Sitting on the sofa, Lei Ting looked up. His deep black eyes reflected two small specks of azure blue.
Having just seen a similar shade of blue, his gaze wavered for a fraction of a second. This caused the scales in the newcomer’s heart to tip even further toward a certain outrageous suspicion.
“Is something the matter?” Lei Ting asked.
His current expressionless face was enough to make even Ivanheller want to punch him.
But Kang Li’s lips trembled slightly.
Until this very moment, he finally realized. This man—whose face wasn't peerlessly handsome but was enough to draw all eyes—shared so many similarities with himself.
Furthermore...
...Would such a man, a man whose slight energy fluctuations could shake the entire starport, an Alpha so powerful he made Kang Li want to submit... would he repeatedly tolerate the blatant offense of a stranger?
Especially now, when his actions could clearly be called a provocation.
A severe provocation that, in the eyes of any normal psionic, would be more than enough to start a fight.
Kang Li abruptly let go and took two steps back.
Explosive emotions surged within him, but he didn't know how to express them. Questions—countless questions piled up in his heart. Questions from his childhood, questions he asked himself every time he faced a hardship but never received an answer to—they burned in his soul.
They burned like the similar golden flames the two of them shared.
—*Are you my father?*
—*You recognized me, didn't you?*
—*Where is my other father?*
—*Why didn't you just tell me who you were, yet you chose to guide me?*
—*Why haven't you been by my side all these years?*
Even today, he still wanted the answers to those questions.
But not only did he fail to get answers, he gained even more doubts.
Moreover, he didn't know how this would end if he received an answer that wasn't good enough.
He also didn't know...
Kang Li stared into Lei Ting’s eyes. He didn't know what terrifying weapons of destruction those eyes were when facing others; he only knew they looked cold to the point of being inhuman. Inopportunely, he remembered that hand.
That powerful, large hand that had hovered over his head, appearing somewhat clumsy for a moment.
Finally, he said in a low voice, “...Sorry, I might have mistaken you for someone else.”
He turned to leave, but Lei Ting called out to him: “Wait.”
“Hmm?” Kang Li turned back quickly, a faint, imperceptible trace of expectation in his eyes.
“Leave some tissue samples—hair, blood, that sort of thing.” He heard the man say to him in a calm, indifferent tone. “Morgan agreed to this.”
“...” Kang Li gritted his teeth, slowly pursing his lips. His brow twitched, and his fists clenched tight.
Lei Ting produced a sample collection kit from somewhere and walked toward him with steady steps. He clipped a bit of hair and drew a small amount of blood from a prominent blue vein on the back of Kang Li’s clenched hand.
Kang Li did not move. He simply stared at him—at the front of his uniform, at the silver-and-black speckled crown of his head.
—*This is my father.*
The young man, who by Orion standards was only considered a ‘youth,’ thought to himself.
—*This is my father.*
He thought sadly.
***
