Chapter 13

Vast Expanse of the Starry Sea.

The black night is always the dominant color of the universe, and the shining stars are the exceptions.

Beside the desolate Star Port, two colossal entities are docked. One of them is the famous Luminous Temple Starship. The other, though equally massive in size, is a military starship with a matte black texture, understated and luxurious. However, it lacks any insignia that would reveal its organizational affiliation, making it exceedingly mysterious.

In the endless expanse of the starry sky, the black starship hovers quietly, resembling a sleeping behemoth. Its exterior gives no hint of any issues.

Only those who have been on the battlefield understand the true capabilities of a starship of this tonnage, how many gifted individuals it can carry, and the terrifying blade it will become once unleashed, made from top-tier enhancement materials.

Yin Longjing stood on the deck of the Luminous Temple Starship, gazing into the distance, his heart heavy.

This is madness. The Federation does not restrict monoliths like the Black Tower; they even assist their development, all for the sake of contending with the Xiyu Xia Empire?

“Your Excellency.”

After a moment, he immediately stood at attention and lowered his head upon hearing the communication sound.

The Star Net projected a blue ripple in the air, forming a screen, and the gentle voice of the Luminous Son came from the other side: “As I expected, the Black Prince has indeed arrived.”

The actual ruler of the Black Tower is codenamed the “Black Emperor,” incredibly mysterious and rarely seen in public. It is his appointed heir, the “Black Prince,” who is often seen outside. Although young in age, the Black Prince is ruthless in mind and methods, with astonishing talent that cannot be underestimated. Lou Jia treats him with increasing caution, understanding that he is, in fact, his own Counterpart.

“Your Excellency, do you need me to go and provide support?”

“No need,” Lou Jia pondered for a moment. “The Black Prince did not bring any subordinates with him. They arrived in a high-profile manner, so there should be some hidden cards on their ship. You continue to stay in place and keep a close eye on the starship. If I’m not mistaken…”

Before he could finish speaking, Yin Longjing heard a violent earthquake-like sound coming from the other side.

“Your Excellency?!” He gazed at the trembling desolate star, his brow furrowed.

“No worries.” After a moment, a voice, much colder and more detached than before, resounded again.

At the most critical moment, Lou Jia synchronized his form with his own Archangel Gabriel, successfully leaving the most dangerous central area and flying into mid-air.

The Luminous Son was dressed in a pristine white robe untouched by dust, with closed eyes, disheveled silver hair. A pair of immaculate angelic wings emerged from his back, surrounded by a faint halo of holy light. The tips of the wings generated dozens of golden specks of light. Not only did he protect himself, but he also activated his skill at a crucial moment.

The pale golden circular specks of light instantly landed on the Temple Knights below, forming protective shields, with intricate and mysterious light patterns engraved on top.

“Thank you, Your Excellency!”

The knights who hadn’t managed to leave in time were spared from harm, expressing their gratitude.

“No need to be polite.”

Flapping his wings behind him, Lou Jia floated in mid-air, a small golden halo appearing above his head, spreading his spiritual power to “observe” what was happening below.

Being blind, he could only rely on this method.

Although it was far from the naked eye, he could still roughly understand what was going on.

Below Lou Jia, in an instant, the previously intact mountains and rocks

The entire mountain collapsed, and the sky was filled with swirling dust. In the distance, as if a row of dominoes had fallen, a long mountain range collapsed starting from the location marked on the ancient civilization stone map, revealing its true form.

Beneath the dark cracks in the earth, a massive hole slowly sank, several tens of meters deep.

The entire forest was affected, extending even beyond the polluted star, causing ripples in the night sky.

Seeing this scene, Lou Jia furrowed his brow.

The Luminous Temple has always had a tradition of protecting ordinary people.

Perhaps due to the enveloping light, the smile on his face, which had always been there, faded, revealing a god-like compassion. “Captain Yin, please have the knights who are staying behind on the starship leave, issue a notice to keep all adventurers on this polluted star away, block the surrounding routes, and ensure the safety of the people.”

“What do you mean?” Yin Longjing had a bad feeling in his heart.

If it weren’t for the Luminous Temple obtaining a crucial ancient civilization stone tablet from their informant, it would have been difficult to imagine that the legendary last silver apple, which only existed in myths, would be hidden in this remote, resource-scarce, and unremarkable barren star.

You should know that this is the long-sought treasure of the  Luminous Temple, something they were sure to obtain.

“The ruins have awakened prematurely,” the Luminous Son’s words confirmed his suspicion.

According to their initial conjecture, the ruins had been abandoned for tens of thousands of years, and their activation should not have caused much commotion. Unexpectedly, the central energy of the ruins had not been completely depleted, causing earthquakes on the polluted star and attracting another force.

“I will comply with your orders.”

Yin Longjing’s expression turned serious, and he immediately responded, “Then, about the Black Tower?”

“Since the ruins have already been activated, they will come. Obviously, their goal is the same as ours.”

The young master left, leaving the black-suited individuals behind, who dutifully followed behind.

….

Officially, Gu was still a branch family young master, and besides, the situation of the main family was urgent and couldn’t be delayed. Any branch family member who was of suitable age and had awakened the fiery tiger had to be protected  like precious jewels, fearing that something might happen to them.

Since they had given their orders, the black-suited individuals couldn’t possibly appear again. They could only follow from a distance, feeling unhappy.

Soon, the results of the investigation were sent back by the assistant department.

The investigation information showed that the golden-haired little girl was a recipient of the Empire’s monthly welfare subsidy, and there was also a disabled person in her family. They were quite ordinary and unremarkable.

“We can basically rule out the possibility of hostile forces planting spies.”

A cold voice came from the other side. “If this young master can successfully adopt her and bring her back to the main family as a maid, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Everything depends on the young master’s decision.” Peng Shi was somewhat absent-minded.

He didn’t know why, but he always felt that the investigation into the golden-haired girl wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

When the Abyssal Bone Dragon flew by earlier, Peng Shi happened to glance over at Yuan Hanshuang. He didn’t notice at the time, but now he felt that something was off. Clearly, even the fiery tiger was trembling under the might of the dragon, but she, an ordinary koi fish, seemed completely unaffected. How could that not be puzzling to anyone?

Of course, anyone with discerning eyes could see that Young Master Gu had an interest in Yuan Hanshuang.

Her extraordinary attention and persistence would later be emphasized in the evaluation records.

Just as Peng Shi was contemplating, an alarm sounded from the communicator.

His expression darkened, and he didn’t have time to think anymore. “Let’s go, the young master is in trouble!”

On the other side, Yuan Hanshuang and Young Master Gu were in a precarious situation.

This time, the vibration was much more severe than before, both in terms of sound and frequency. In the blink of an eye, the walls of the cave collapsed.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom—”

Tens of tons of soil and rocks came crashing down. Even if they were both second-tier close combat Gifted, or even auxiliary talent users with shield-type manifestation skills, they would probably be instantly disabled.

In order to avoid the parasitic insects, they had taken a few more steps into the cave.

It was these few steps that caused them to lose the opportunity to leave.

Yuan Hanshuang reacted much faster than Young Master Gu, but unfortunately, she had just moved deeper into the cave to investigate and couldn’t get out. She could only use her strength to push the young master out of the passage with 30% of her power.

As for her, she used the resulting force to roll into the collapsing cave.

“Young master!”

Fortunately, at the critical moment, several black-suited jurors who were following closely behind arrived and successfully caught Young Master Gu in mid-air.

The evaluation team naturally had defensive gifted. The gifted instantly synchronized their Ironback Turtles, creating a protective shield with a sandy yellow shell that securely protected everyone inside.

“Boom, boom!!!”

The heavy soil and rocks smashed into the shield, creating a deafening noise.

In the swirling dust and debris, Young Master Gu’s expression momentarily blanked. He instinctively wanted to rush towards the golden-haired figure hidden in the dust, but luckily, Peng Shi quickly grabbed his arm and forcibly took him away from this dangerous area.

“Quick! Retreat!”

In that instant of grabbing Young Master Gu, Peng Shi decisively gave the order to retreat along the original path.

The auxiliary Gifted in the team activated their speed-enhancing skills, and the group barely managed to escape.

Almost a second after they escaped, the previously flat ground collapsed, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to split, as if it were doomsday. This continued for several minutes.

“That was close. We finally made it out.”

Looking at the huge pit that collapsed dozens of meters behind them, the black-suited individuals were all filled with lingering fear.

Only Young Master Gu, as if losing strength, knelt on the ground and stared blankly at the collapsed pit in front of him.

Just then, a group of Temple Knights arrived from the sky: “A high-risk SSS-level relic has awakened. Please evacuate the area as soon as possible! Please evacuate the area as soon as possible!”

“What?! An SSS-level relic awakening?!” Now Peng Shi couldn’t sit still, his face turning pale.

The last publicly developed SSS-level relic was hundreds of years ago. It was openly recruited and organized by the Imperial Secretariat, but the end result was a failure. Not only did they lose several eighth-tier Gifted, but even the Saint-tier didn’t gain much advantage. Instead, it triggered the relic’s self-destruction device, causing a huge uproar in the entire galaxy.

Just as they were speaking, molten lava was gradually pouring into the deepest part of the hole.

This polluted star was originally a subterranean fire.

In the abundant mountains, the presence of lava is not surprising. Even the scattered few third-order insect tribes that once ruled this desolate star could not escape unscathed from the lava river, silently turning into blood.

Looking down at the hole below, Peng Shi couldn’t shake off the lingering fear.

He never dreamed that such a remote, low-level polluted star would harbor an SSS-level relic.

Mindful that the mere radiation emanating from such a relic could alter the surrounding stellar environment, its inherent danger was self-evident.

He must immediately take the young master and leave.

Peng Shi made this decision in his mind without hesitation.

Seeing the Temple Knights, Young Master Gu’s eyes lit up. “There’s an eleven-year-old girl with golden hair in a twin ponytails who got caught in there. Can you…”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Go!”

Peng Shi, resolute, delivered a swift chop to Young Master Gu’s neck, and with him in tow, hastily followed the guidance of the Temple Knights, flying away.

The author has something to say:

Our white male lead is an angel!!! I really like angels; they’re so touching for my XP!

In the future, when he and the female lead are doing this and that, he can use his wings to wrap people up (what am I saying).

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This chapter is a regular update, and with enough nutrient solution, there will be an additional chapter later tonight, mwah mwah!