By the time that sharp 'stellar stream' pierced through the starry sky to reach the location where faint spatial fluctuations still lingered, a long time had passed since Lei Ting entered the Ethereal Plane.
There was no helping it; the scales of time and space in the physical universe were simply too vast.
Yvanheiler could no longer use the Ethereal Plane to fold space or utilize the time dilation between the two dimensions to travel. If he did, he would exceed the strict time limit he was allowed to spend within the Ethereal Plane for that period.
Every superpowered individual who had established a link with the Ethereal Plane faced a rigorous restriction on how long they could remain inside within a given timeframe. This limit was measured solely by the individual's level of mobilizable energy.
Within the time limit, entering Ethereal space allowed one to be protected by the projections of the superpowered entities with whom they had established a connection, shielding them from external mental pollution and harm.
But if one exceeded this time... the superpowered entities would no longer respond to that person's summons. Those massive collectives or powerful individual projections, acting as the 'Order' side of the Ethereal Plane, bore the heavy burden of continuously battling the 'Chaos' side to maintain balance. They did not always have the spare energy or leisure to extend a helping hand to others.
Although Yvanheiler’s own superpowered entity projection was formidable, if he entered that space again now, he would have to face the mountain-toppling, ocean-swelling waves of monsters filling that world entirely on his own.
Thus, he briefly considered the feasibility of 'tearing a spatial rift to pull Lei Ting back,' but he ultimately rejected the possibility.
It was impossible; it couldn't be done. Simple transit and opening a spatial rift were entirely different matters. Cross-spatial transit could be limited to oneself and a carried target, but as long as a spatial rift existed, those Aether-beasts could pass through it just as easily.
Given the density of Aether-beasts within that pocket of the universe, one might be fine for three to five minutes with good luck. But if luck was poor and the door opened in the middle of a swarm, he would become an eternal sinner of the Ordered Universe.
And Lei Ting had clearly been targeted. The place where he was trapped was undoubtedly swarming with enemies... Even if he could fish the boy back, so what? Yvanheiler would never allow himself to plunge the civilization of the reality into an Aether-beast crisis for any reason!
One had to understand that those things were not only extremely dangerous in themselves but would also continuously awaken new abominations. Furthermore, the range of this influence... would expand rapidly through 'informational infection.'
Indeed, anyone who knew information related to Ethereal space, or anyone who had dealt with Aether-beasts, would automatically establish a connection with that world. They would then be polluted by an unseen power, entering a nearly irreversible state of 'Aether-corruption.'
Superpowered individuals fared better, but ordinary people were almost guaranteed to turn instantly, and they could easily spread this pollution. Areas where Aether-corruption spread would suffer various issues, such as large-scale malignant emotional instability and widespread genetic collapse or physical and mental mutations in sentient beings.
Consequently, superpowered individuals or administrators of various civilizations who knew this information generally did not let it spread. If too many people knew, it truly could invite an extinction-level catastrophe upon a civilization.
Thus, Yvanheiler was currently in a complete dilemma.
He couldn't just enter Ethereal space on a whim because his perception was too powerful and sensitive. While this prevented him from losing his way in that space, it also meant that if he went to that gods-forsaken place without isolation, he might as well be tired of living and looking for an Aether-corruption infection.
Yet, he couldn't just leave Lei Ting trapped inside and watch from the sidelines. If he did, regardless of whether Lei Ting was injured, polluted, or even... dead, he would never, ever forgive himself.
Yvanheiler’s face was grim with worry. He stood with his arms crossed, staring fixedly at the spatial fluctuations, countless thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.
Finally, he reached into his starlight and pulled out a personal terminal. Enan Valen’s terminal.
—He couldn't go in himself, but he could surely contact someone capable of influencing the superpowered entities of the Ethereal Plane to intervene, couldn't he?
But before activating it, his movements suddenly paused. He was already exposed now; if he activated it and connected to the Star Network, the Federation’s central AI would surely automatically search for and lock onto its location, controlling its information flow.
Although he had already destroyed all important information within this terminal belonging to 'Valen,' it... only had one last chance to be activated if he didn't want to be pursued by regular Federation forces. After this, it would have to be physically destroyed.
...
As he pressed the power button and quickly opened the communication link to the 'Principal,' Yvanheiler sighed.
From the moment he flew away from the Federation’s Capital Star System, the identity of 'Enan Valen' was completely dead. Both his side and the Federation’s side would ensure that 'Supervisor Valen' vanished from the stars forever.
Aside from a few high-ranking Federation officials, Yvanheiler himself, some high-ranking members of the Resistance, and Lei Ting, no one else would know that Enan Valen was actually Yvanheiler Kang.
Neither side’s high command would let this news spread. The Federation did it to save face, and the Resistance did it to protect those related to him. He himself wouldn't tell anyone else either...
As for Lei Ting, a young man so promising, well-capitalized, and with such a grand future, he had an infinite future ahead of him that had nothing to do with Yvanheiler.
And... the promises of young people were not to be trusted. Or rather, that was true of all people. Everything is wonderful when a promise is made, but everything is difficult when it comes time to fulfill it; this is a common human trait.
Does that mean the 'goodness' was all fake? No, it’s just that people change.
People always change. The oaths of the mortal world always drift with the tide. Therefore, even if Lei Ting was clearly different from others, even if his clean, focused gaze made one's heart soften, it could not change Yvanheiler’s will.
Or rather... regarding the private relationship established between himself and that young man, Yvanheiler felt no joy or passion.
He felt only guilt. A heavy, crushing guilt.
Restricted by reasons that went beyond mere political stance, there was never a future for their relationship. Thus, it was merely a larger mistake composed of a series of smaller ones. And he—the one who was older, more experienced, who held more initiative in their initial dealings, and who had contributed less while receiving more tolerance and help in this relationship—was naturally the origin of all errors and the party solely responsible.
After sending a message with complete data to the 'Principal,' Yvanheiler took one last look at the terminal.
The game *Galactic Superpower War* in the app list had been updated not long ago. Presumably, after this war, it would receive an even larger update.
—Once this battle was over, every major civilization and power in the Milky Way would likely be busy modifying the construction materials of their spaceships, starships, planetary weapons, and war bases. Especially those geographically close to the Human Union...
He wondered what methods they would use... mixing in plastic? Or ceramics? Or stripping the metallic properties from the metal?
Regardless, none of those tricks would work on Lei Ting. The 'Solar Star' had announced to the world not only his power but also his absolute dominion over metal.
Yvanheiler closed his eyes, letting the terminal dissolve into stardust in his hand.
Then, he turned and vanished among the stars of the galaxy.
***
In the darkness, a battle that could be described as one man against the world was underway.
When Lei Ting discovered that most of these things—which looked like demons or abominations—would not approach the spherical sea of light slowly condensing behind him, the battle became much simpler.
When Lei Ting realized that the monsters incinerated by that spherical sea of light were converted into pure energy, which then radiated outward as an indiscriminate aftershock of 'healing,' 'stabilization,' 'support,' and 'energy transfer,' the battle became simple enough that he had the leisure to search for a possible exit within the monster swarm.
When Lei Ting confirmed that these monsters, large and small, were also biological organisms whose bodily functions could not escape the presence of metallic substances, he even began to take the initiative to seek out certain giant monsters in the deep void, carrying with him that layer of mental entity phantom which shared the same properties as the spherical sea of light.
Of course, even in such a one-sided situation, he did not forget to remain vigilant.
Because he didn't believe the enemy had no follow-up moves—did the opponent really drag him all this way just to help him stretch his muscles, since he hadn't gone all out in years? Surely not. Were they really that charitable?
In fact, this mysterious world was fraught with danger. Lei Ting could sense many targets in the distant deep space that posed a fatal threat to him. The only reason he had fought so easily thus far, with only two broken ribs, was that he hadn't encountered them yet.
But now, they were rapidly approaching his position.
Damn it.
How thrilling.
Metal swirled back like a storm, as kinetic-accelerated sharp blades tore through all fragile matter in the vicinity. Lei Ting cleaved through several hard-shelled enemies that other monsters had used their lives to push forward, then scattered radioactive metal stored in lead boxes into the monster swarm.
At times like this, he felt a bit wistful that his ability didn't possess high enough temperatures—those metal blocks flew into the seemingly endless sea of monsters without causing a single ripple.
But it didn't matter; he knew where they were.
Lei Ting coughed up a mouthful of blood and used metal to forcibly realign the broken ribs that were nearly piercing his liver and lungs, maintaining the acceleration effect on his body's recovery as always.
Within a body cavity without open wounds, a sharp pain capable of breaking any normal person spread. Internal bleeding made him start to feel thirsty, but his expression remained stoic. He used a metal tube to puncture his side, directly draining the accumulated blood from his abdominal cavity.
During this process, he calmly calculated his damage resistance—which had never reached its limit before—his ability to maintain cognitive function under blood loss, and his tolerance for pain.
Of course, regardless of everything, he had to leave this sea of death as quickly as possible before those true 'BOSSes' arrived in groups. By now, he had killed at least a million monsters through various means; if this were a normal war, it should have been over.
But within this darkness, there seemed to be some twisted, chaotic space where the enemies were nearly infinite, with more constantly rushing toward him. If there were only one or two million enemies, he was confident in his victory. But what if there were more than five million? Even if they were five million chickens, no matter how great his skill, it would be impossible to kill them all before those priority targets arrived!
So he had to retreat—fortunately, this space seemed to occasionally show areas with signals during random fluctuations. The spatial barrier between those spots and 'reality' was surely imperfect...
Lei Ting suddenly retracted the countless pieces of metal flying outward with him as the center. This time, he did not summon them for slaughter, but for construction.
—In a brief moment, countless pieces of metal deformed according to the exercises he had practiced for so long. Gears, bearings, transmission devices... components that weren't overly precise were manufactured by him. Before long, a heavy individual mech about ten meters tall was literally hand-crafted by him. Aside from lacking built-in life support, scanning, and fire control systems, it was identical to the Federation’s most classic heavy individual mech, the 'K-109.'
Lei Ting leaped into this thick-armored 'K-109 Hand-Crafted Custom Edition.' His superpowered armor quickly interfaced with it, and the internal systems took direct control.
Retracting all metal—such an act meant he was giving up his conventional physical area-of-effect killing capability. He hadn't done this before, but now, it had become necessary.
And as the eyes of that multi-ton mech lit up with the crimson glow that only appeared upon 'Successful Interface, Entering Combat Status,' the first 'BOSS' officially arrived from the distant darkness.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 虚灵位面 | Ethereal Plane | The chaotic dimension where Lei Ting is trapped. |
| 异魔 | Aether-beast / Aether-demon | The monstrous creatures inhabiting the Ethereal Plane. |
| 异魔化 | Aether-corruption | The process of being corrupted/mutated by the Ethereal Plane. |
| 秩序宇宙 | Ordered Universe | The physical reality/material universe. |
| 信息感染 | Informational Infection | The concept that knowing about the Ethereal Plane can lead to corruption. |
| 精神体 | Mental Entity / Spirit Body | The manifestation of one's consciousness/power in the Ethereal Plane. |
| K-109 | K-109 | A classic model of heavy individual mech in the Federation. |
| 银河超能战争 | Galactic Superpower War | A game mentioned in the text. |
