It did not take long to reach the target location.
Lei Ting traveled through space at an incredible speed. Within a few days, he found the boundary of the star system inhabited by the 'Star' civilization.
"Can you let me go back now...?" Jiu-350 asked, looking like he was on the verge of tears.
"If I let you go, can you even get back on your own?" Lei Ting countered.
Jiu-350 truly looked ready to cry this time. "We are experimental subjects. Trackers are automatically implanted into us from the moment we are embryos. If we leave the testing grounds for too long, a weapon network spanning half the universe will search for us. Once locked on, we are usually destroyed on the spot."
"I took that thing out and threw it near Andromeda half a month ago," Lei Ting said. "They were metal constructs."
"Huh? Wait, let me check—oh, never mind."
After realizing the tracker was indeed gone, and having witnessed Lei Ting's abilities over the past few days, Jiu-350 suddenly perked up. "Wait, let me change my appearance... I’ll just change into one of your kin! What was that name you gave me? 'Kotales'?"
As he spoke, his form began to shift. Before long, the 'Kotales' that Lei Ting had seen in ancient Greece appeared before him.
Silver-white tissue rippled as different structures and colors emerged. A red gel clung to the hair-like structures, carefully dyeing them the same shade of crimson.
"Let's go! What were you planning to do again?" The other man tugged at his silver-white reflective uniform, which was still in the 'Silver Star' style, and transformed it into a different design. "Since you did me a huge favor, I'll help you sneak in!"
The fellow acted with practiced ease; he had likely visited this place no fewer than ten times, despite any claims to the contrary.
Lei Ting watched him silently, somewhat speechless.
"Hey, don't give me that look. I only used to drop by occasionally. They have many Unbound ones, and I couldn't beat them... Wait, you look like an Unbound one too?"
Lei Ting gave a non-committal shrug.
Kotales's eyes lit up.
"But I won't be doing anything out of line," Lei Ting added, cutting off the suggestion that was about to burst from the other's mouth—he suspected it would likely be something outrageous. "I have important business here... I can build a ship to send you back."
"So, what exactly are you here for?"
"Depends on the situation," Lei Ting said calmly. "It could be a discussion, it could be a negotiation..."
As he spoke, he felt the energy within his body and his manipulation skills, which had been improving day by day for certain reasons.
"...Or it could be a massacre," he said.
"?"
Kotales was shocked. He pointed toward the distant star system where massive constructs were visible. "That is the territory of the 'Star' civilization."
"Mhm." Lei Ting nodded slightly.
"The 'Star' controls the celestial bodies. If they wanted to, they could likely tear the physical universe apart."
"Mhm," Lei Ting replied as before.
"In 'Star' territory, every sector has at least three 'Unbound' guardians, and some of their abilities are extremely difficult to deal with. Even more terrifying are their war machines. They have weaponized everything in their controlled zones. Even a civilian travel planet can be deployed into a kinetic cannon at any moment."
"I know." Lei Ting’s expression remained composed. "My race does the same thing. I must say, it is indeed effective. Ever since we established that we might relocate our entire home onto their doorstep at any moment during a war to engage in a long-term mutual destruction, our enemies have become much more polite when speaking to us."
"What kind of lunatics..." Kotales's pupils shook.
"It's called conviction," Lei Ting said.
He patted the other man and casually gave him a push, tossing him into an all-metal starship that formed in an instant, projecting him toward the distance.
"Apologies, I have my work to do. I won't keep you."
He shrugged and turned back toward the several streaks of light flying from the direction of the giant alloy constructs. He told himself internally: *Don't be impulsive, Lei Ting. Even without 'Immovable,' you must be better at staying calm than almost anyone else...*
*...After all, you only need to prove that you can destroy their civilization from its foundations at any time, and they will know what they ought to do.*
He was thinking this when he suddenly paused.
He had sensed a certain aura—an aura that, like his own, should not exist in this era—appearing at the place he had just come from.
***
The ripples of space-time fluctuated. *Crater 990* pierced through the barrier.
The Solar Star's gaze immediately turned toward a certain direction in the distance. "He is there. It seems that is the direction of the 'Star'..."
"'Star'... the giant civilization you mentioned?" Lei Li was startled. "Wait, you trust him that much... or rather, are you that confident?"
"Perhaps," the Solar Star replied casually.
He was not prepared to dwell on that question. Just as he was not prepared to dwell on "who exactly told Lei Li about the retro-traditionalist thing."
But this time, Lei Li did not press him as he had with the previous topic.
After a long silence, he gently poked the sun-like mental entity, whose boundaries were difficult to even discern.
"Uh... 'Solar Star'?"
"What is it?"
"Um... if you two merge, will you disappear?"
"...?"
Faced with such a question that seemed purely born of emotion, the Solar Star did not show confusion or any other reaction.
He simply said, "I am him, and he is me. We are both 'Lei Ting'."
"I don't quite understand." Lei Li's mental fluctuations were minimal.
He truly did not understand such a concept—tearing one's self apart and then becoming one again? For someone like him, it was only natural not to understand.
Even though he was also a powerful individual, his childhood conditions had been poor, and the years of continuous war after reaching adulthood had left him in a state that, while powerful, was still weaker than it should have been. His thinking was not as agile—at the very least, if he were to travel through time alone, he would not be able to deduce the time period based on stellar trajectories.
For the first time, the Solar Star felt a bit at a loss: he was a purely rational sub-body, yet he fully understood that this current parent-child situation could not be resolved through 'rationality' alone.
To that end, the emotionless Lord of Metals spent three seconds recalling the first half of his life before slowly speaking: "I know you cannot understand right now, child. But believe me..."
"Believe you in what?" Lei Li asked. He seemed somewhat anxious.
"...Believe me, and your other father, Evenheller Kang." At this moment, within the mental realm and upon the starship, the soul that should be called Lei Ting spoke softly: "We love each other, and we both love you."
Lei Li suddenly lost his ability to speak.
The Solar Star did not pry into his thoughts. He simply gazed into the distance, calculating his future plans.
Truthfully, he did not want to take Lei Li along for what came next—the killing, the sabotage, the destruction. Although he had mastered such things by Lei Li's age and had decided back then that he would one day actively seek judgment...
...Call it the emotional double standard of the person known as 'Lei Ting.'
He did not want Lei Li to be exposed to too much slaughter, and he certainly did not want to do it in front of him.
Yet, it was the only option. It was the fastest and most appropriate way to solve the problem.
"You only mentioned yourself just now... but you said my Dad is with you. So, where is my Dad?" Lei Li asked suddenly. He seemed to be trying to understand the 'two becoming one' concept, starting with how to address them.
"Evenheller?"
"Who else?"
"True," the Solar Star said. "He is not in this space-time, but he is not dead."
"You can perceive across space-time...?" Lei Li was stunned. But then he added, "If you really can, I wouldn't be too surprised..."
Solar Star: "..."
He choked on his words for a moment, sounding somewhere between a laugh and a cry as he said, "Of course I can't. You're making me sound a bit too omnipotent... I only say that because I know myself: if he were dead, or forced apart from me by some irresistible force, my state of mind would certainly not be this peaceful. I also know Even: to this day, as long as he is alive, he will do everything in his power to meet me."
*‘As long as he is alive, he will do everything in his power to meet me.’*
Such blatant, open trust...
Lei Li stopped dwelling on these questions.
After all, when things had reached this point, forcing his own father to tell him that the two of them were true love and he was just an accident would be somewhat impolite...
***
"It seems the 'Star' wants to give all outsiders an intimidating welcome," Lei Ting remarked on the current situation.
He was facing a field of radiance, filled with cross-shaped starships as numerous as the stars themselves. The weapon ports pointed directly at him were flashing with a piercing red light.
The opponent had mobilized one-tenth... no, one-fifth of a sector's joint defense garrison to deal with him, and reinforcements were still on the way.
But it didn't matter. He would have a chat with them.
Lei Ting raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers in a silent gesture.
The entire fleet and all the warships in the distance simultaneously lost all fire control system connections.
At the same time, Lei Ting lowered his head slightly and gave them a formal Human Federation salute.
Thirty minutes later, he arrived in a massive, ornate reception room that resembled a chapel. Seated before him was a smiling 'human.'
The people of the 'Star' civilization, aside from having an average height of about fifty meters, were highly similar in appearance to the people of Orion... no, to humans.
They only needed to use certain technical means to shrink their bodies to speak with Lei Ting on equal terms.
After all, they had no choice but to be equal.
Any civilization in the physical universe, regardless of which technology tree they developed, would inevitably utilize metal.
And the 'Star' was especially so—how could a civilization capable of building silver-core weapons with almost entirely metallic structures use less metal elsewhere?
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
星文明 | 'Star' Civilization | A giant ancient civilization.
环形山990 | Crater 990 | A starship (previously mentioned as 900, but 990 in this chapter).
解限体 | Unbound | A high-level superpowered individual who has broken their limits.
人联礼 | Human Federation salute | A formal salute of the Human Federation (Renlian).
银核武器 | Silver-core weapons | A specific type of advanced weaponry used by the 'Star' civilization.
