Chapter 27: Manor Level 27

Ai Ling, having encountered information about the Blue Star’s star lord twice, felt that the star lord was truly a good person. She had been concerned about his fate, and now, upon seeing the diary page, she hurried over to pick it up and read.

It read:

October 9th, Era of Cosmos 4890

The zerg tribe has been burning, killing, and plundering on Blue Star, and recently, their actions have become even more frenzied. The queen issued an order, instructing the zerg people to drain the important elements from Blue Star.

Currently, the zerg tribe has secretly built a laboratory in the primitive jungle of the Southern Second-Level Platform. The laboratory contains a device that extracts planetary elements. The device has been operating for more than a month, causing Blue Star to lose elements such as ethylene, which promotes fruit ripening. Now, Blue Star has no crops left that can be consumed.

It is reported that the device is controlled by a Sea Crystal Sapphire, and the captain of the Blue Star Self-Defense Force’s Second-Level Platform, Mang Chong, led the remaining soldiers to the jungle to secretly retrieve the sapphire. As a result, the zerg tribe carried out another massacre on Blue Star, and the entire Second-Level Platform guard unit was annihilated. The Sea Crystal Sapphire was also lost.

This massacre on Blue Star was extremely brutal. The star lord, who had been fighting in the Nine Heavens Star System, finally returned to provide aid. Just as the Blue Star people were about to be slaughtered to the last, the star lord wiped out the zerg tribe’s base on Blue Star in one fell swoop.

However, the device in the forest, which was meant to absorb the elements, could not be activated due to the lack of a key, and the extracted elements could not be returned to the land.

The star lord’s return was a private action, leading to a minor defeat on the frontlines. As a result, the star lord was punished by the Federation according to military regulations.

We saw the star lord, covered in wounds, still smiling as he encouraged everyone to keep going, saying that victory would surely belong to us.

We were heartbroken, helpless, and could only hold on to Blue Star, hoping to survive and wait for a better day.

Written by: Lin Jie.

—

Ai Ling finished reading the contents of the diary, and her heart was shaken beyond words.

Especially the part about the Blue Star’s trace elements being extracted, causing the fruit to be unable to ripen.

She finally understood why her fruits had never ripened. If that’s the case, did that mean all the crops she planted were a waste of effort?

A deep sense of loss weighed heavily on her heart, and Ai Ling nearly collapsed.

No, no, no. There must be a way to fix this.

She carefully re-read the diary and noticed that it mentioned the element-extraction device was in the southern forest, activated by a sapphire.

After the star lord wiped out the zerg tribe’s base, he must have intended to return the elements to the land, but he failed to find the sapphire.

Ai Ling thought to herself: if she could find the sapphire to activate the device, then after the elements returned to the land, her fruits still had a chance to ripen.

Speaking of sapphires, Ai Ling suddenly had a thought.

She remembered that when she discovered the second diary, she had found a sapphire beneath some scattered boxes.

At the time, she had thought the sapphire was unusually blue, and now, thinking about it, it was highly likely to be the Sea Crystal Sapphire mentioned in the diary.

Ai Ling picked up the diary page and showed it to He Xi, but He Xi immediately turned his head away, not even glancing at the page.

Ai Ling was puzzled. “Aren’t you from Blue Star? How come you’re not interested in your planet’s history at all? These were written by your predecessors who risked their lives and poured their hearts out.”

He Xi still did not look at the paper and coldly said, “It’s just the blood and gore from the past, it’s already history. I can’t change it, so what’s there to look at?”

Ai Ling couldn’t help but comment, “You’re really cold-blooded. I, an outsider, feel my heart racing and my blood boiling just from reading this, yet you, a local from Blue Star, are completely unmoved. I really don’t understand, is your heart made of ice?”

She thought for a moment and then, feeling a bit down, said, “Forget it, if you don’t care about Blue Star’s history, that’s one thing, but the Sea Crystal Sapphire is critical to the success or failure of our crop cultivation plan. Do you know that if we can’t find this gemstone, our crops won’t be able to ripen?”

He Xi, with his back to Ai Ling, slowly clenched his fist, “I thought that crops from other timelines, like yours, would be unaffected by the elements… but… they’re not!”

This was the first time Ai Ling had heard such deep helplessness and pain in He Xi’s voice.

But Ai Ling didn’t probe further. She immediately said, “Don’t be so disappointed. I actually have a sapphire that looks very similar to the Sea Crystal Sapphire mentioned in the diary. I think we can try it in the southern forest.”

He Xi visibly stiffened and quickly turned around. “Is that true? Where did you get this sapphire?”

Ai Ling then explained how she had fallen off a cliff, found a cave in mid-air, discovered some treasures inside, and found the sapphire in one of the treasure chests.

At the end, she added with gratitude, “If it weren’t for you saving me that time, I’d probably be a puddle of flesh at the bottom of the cliff by now.”

He Xi shook his head. “You’ve saved me too, so no need to thank me. Where is the sapphire now?”

“Uh…”

Ai Ling looked a bit embarrassed. “I didn’t think the sapphire was very useful, but it was beautiful, so I tied it together with the glowing branch you gave me and used it to decorate my room a little bit. Hehe.”

She then leaned in mysteriously and said, “Haven’t you noticed that the light in my room gives off a soft sea-blue glow? It looks beautiful!”

He Xi’s face darkened, and he glared at Ai Ling fiercely. “You took such an important thing and turned it into a light decoration? What if something goes wrong? I’ll tie you to the roof and use you as a lamp.”

Ai Ling became nervous after hearing that. It was true—her room didn’t have a lock, and anyone could walk in and steal the sapphire.

But after thinking about it, the only person who had appeared near the manor was Yuan Muchen.

As for Yuan Muchen, that big gorilla definitely wouldn’t barge into her room or take her things, so she felt reassured about that.

However, if by chance, while they were gone, other Xi Slayer broke in… that would be a problem.

Ai Ling thought it over and felt a bit worried. She cautiously asked, “What if… what if we go back now?”

He Xi thought for a moment and then shook his head. “We’ve come this far, we can’t turn back now. The weather is important too. If we let the sun keep scorching like this, the water supply on the second-level platform will dry up sooner or later. Even if we retrieve the elements, it won’t help with crop cultivation. Given the situation, let’s solve the weather problem first.”

Ai Ling thought about it and agreed with his reasoning. She nodded firmly. “Alright, I’ll listen to you. Let’s hurry up and go.”

He Xi didn’t want to waste time either. After briefly scanning the cave and finding nothing important, the two of them left.

Standing at the edge of the forest, they looked toward the city. The zerg people were packed on rooftops, by windows, or on the ground, all staring at them with wide eyes.

The scene was awe-inspiring but truly unsettling.

Ai Ling shuddered, feeling a chill run down her spine, and was relieved that they had escaped the city.

She then asked He Xi, “Is there something strange about this forest? Why don’t they dare cross the boundary?”

He Xi turned and walked into the dense forest. He said, “If we pass through this forest, we’ll reach the stairs to the fourth-level platform. There’s a very powerful person guarding it, someone who is their nemesis. They don’t dare approach.”

A powerful person?

Ai Ling asked curiously, “Is he more powerful than you? I don’t see them afraid of you at all.”

“They obviously don’t fear me. I’m not their nemesis. They only hate me,” He Xi replied flatly.

“Hate you?” Ai Ling was confused again. “Why would they hate you?”

He Xi didn’t answer.

Ai Ling suddenly thought of something and, with fear, chased after him, asking, “He Xi, do you think those monsters are the zerg race mentioned in the diary? They look so terrifying, completely like a mix of insects and humans…”

He Xi suddenly stopped. Ai Ling didn’t notice and bumped into his back.

“Ow!” Ai Ling cried out in pain and complained, “Why did you stop suddenly? You knocked me over!”

He Xi slowly turned around, his face cold as ice. “From now on, don’t ever mention the zerg race in front of me. If you do, I’ll turn you into one of them.”

“Oh…”

Ai Ling stuck out her tongue, muttering in her heart, This person is way too quick to turn hostile, I really don’t know who spoiled him with such a bad temper.

【There’s actually someone who is the nemesis of the zerg race on the fourth-level platform?】

【How come I’ve never heard of the zerg race having a nemesis?】

【If there’s really a nemesis, it should be He Xi, since he was the main force that defeated the zerg race back then.】

【So there’s someone even more powerful than He Xi? Who could it be? I’m really curious, I want to see.】

【Looks like we won’t get to see this time. They’ll probably complete their mission and head back soon.】

【Are you the scriptwriter? How do you know everything?】

【Friend, think more and talk less.】