In the spaceship’s viewfinder, a colossal mountain formed from piled bones had risen from the depths of the abyss of death row, breaking through the chasm and towering over the surface.
It stood like a grotesque, twisted pale bone thorn, stabbing straight into the gloomy sky.
The white he had just seen was part of that bone mountain—the foundation of Star Beast skeletons.
And at the very peak of that pale bone thorn, a person was standing.
But because the observation magnification was set too low, Heishui couldn’t make out the person’s specific features. He could only see them lifting their head, silently gazing at the sky.
Their entire aura was as profound and imposing as an abyss or a mountain, making one not dare to underestimate their presence in the slightest.
Hearing Heishui’s exclamation, the unsettled Heart Demon immediately got up and walked over from the cabin.
Looking at everything through the spaceship’s periscope, her pupils contracted sharply.
The moment Heishui aimed the periscope lens at that figure, she subconsciously murmured a name: “Xinglan.”
Hearing this, Heishui frowned slightly, seeming not to have processed it. But the next second, a blue figure violently intruded into his memories.
“Xinglan? That’s—”
The name reminded him of the person it represented.
Heishui had just opened his mouth to refute: “Wait… didn’t Xinglan already—!”
The next moment, the lens finished focusing.
The appearance of that qualified individual, known as the “Blue Death” or called Xinglan, appeared completely before the two of them.
What an utterly breathtaking figure she was!
Though the girl’s face was stained with blood and dust, her features were so exquisite that a single glance could leave one’s mind reeling.
She wore a white greatcoat made from Star Beast fur, with a tattered and ill-fitting Starforce Battlesuit underneath.
Long hair, a mix of blue and grey, cascaded naturally, reflecting silvery light like flowing water in the moonlight, also covering those exquisite jade-like feet.
Her skin was pale as cold jade, smooth as congealed fat.
Her posture was upright, her legs long and slender, with proportions so astonishingly good, her curves as soft and pleasing as water.
The dense scars revealed through the damaged parts of the battlesuit didn’t ruin this beauty. Instead, they added a sense of brokenness, making her seem strangely as if she didn’t belong to this world.
At this moment, her expression was cold and still, looking up at the sky, her ruby-like eyes reflecting the outline of the moon.
In just three short years.
The sixteen-year-old girl had grown to one hundred and seventy centimeters tall.
Not only had her face become more refined and beautiful, but her expression and aura were also completely different from before.
They had become cold and indifferent.
But Heishui and Heart Demon could still vaguely see the shadow of the Xinglan from the past in her face.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the girl standing barefoot on the peak of the pale bone thorn seemed to sense the spaceship’s movement and turned to look.
“She…”
Heishui, who had never imagined Xinglan would appear in such a place, was now completely speechless after making eye contact with Yun Ruoxi through the periscope.
Only three thoughts remained in his mind—
The others at the camp! Must notify them! And… must escape immediately!
Why is Xinglan here? Must tell the battle camp this news!
In that one glance meeting Xinglan’s eyes, Heishui saw a bone-chilling killing intent and frost.
Almost instantly, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, transforming from a Saints’ hand society combatant into a herbivore in the forest awaiting the hunter.
Fear welled up from the depths of his heart; he dared not oppose her.
Heishui couldn’t imagine how many people Xinglan must have killed to cultivate this kind of murderous aura that could terrify someone with just a glance; or what she must have experienced to become so powerful that he, even from such a distance, didn’t dare to harbor any thought of resistance.
Click!
Heishui pressed the control stick, preparing to turn the spaceship around.
To hell with the retrieval mission!
However, the next second, within the viewfinder—
The girl standing atop the pale bone thorn suddenly vanished.
Immediately after, a terrifying sound burst erupted from the distance.
The white bone mountain piled from skeletons instantly shattered, scattering like snowflakes into the fissure below.
Whoosh!
The figure that made Heishui’s heart tremble had, in the span of a single breath, traversed over ten kilometers and appeared in front of the spaceship.
With an indifferent expression, she raised her right hand.
Terrifying telekinesis, like an invisible clamp, tightly bound the entire spaceship, rendering it immobile.
Creak! Creak!
The hard signal shielding alloy armor, capable of withstanding most kinetic weapons, began to deform under the pressure of that terrifying telekinesis.
“Damn it!”
Seeing the spaceship about to be crushed, in her desperation, Heart Demon abruptly activated her supernatural power, [Mind Control].
In three years, she had become a second-level star power user. Combined with Star Technique, she could even forcibly control a third-level star power user for over ten seconds.
Because of this, her status within the Saints’ hand society had risen steadily, her sequence continuously climbing, to the point where even Heishui found it hard to keep up.
So—
After enduring countless hardships, shedding endless sweat and blood… even the Xinglan of the past, surely she had caught up to her by now!
Harboring such belief, Heart Demon pulled Yun Ruoxi into the mental space.
Yet, in less than a second—
“Ah—!”
Heart Demon let out a shrill scream, blood flowing from all seven orifices, and collapsed heavily to the floor, directly falling unconscious.
Outside the spaceship, the blue-haired girl’s expression remained utterly unchanged, as if she had never been pulled into a mental world at all.
She merely blinked slightly, then continued to clench her right hand, pouring out her telekinetic force.
“Hey, hey, hey! This is Heart Demon, who can even trap a third-level star power user for over ten seconds!”
Cold sweat poured down Heishui’s forehead.
Looking at the control console constantly popping up damage alerts, he hurriedly shouted towards the outside:
“Xinglan! It’s us! Heishui and Heart Demon! We were ordered to bring you home!”
The voice transmitted through the speaker was caught by the girl.
She tilted her head slightly, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
Then, she opened her mouth lightly and spoke a few words.
Her voice, however, was wrapped in telekinesis and sent directly into the spaceship’s interior, clearly reaching Heishui’s ears—
“Heishui? Heart Demon? Somewhat familiar names, but I can’t remember who you are anymore.”
“And, I am not Xinglan.”
“You can call me… Blue Death.”
“Or, my name—Ye Lan.”
Hearing this voice that seemed to sound right beside his ear, Heishui shuddered violently.
“The voice came directly into my ears? Even the spaceship’s energy shield couldn’t block it? Then couldn’t she kill me from outside directly?”
“Could it be… she’s already a third-level star power user?”
“And she says she’s not Xinglan, but Ye Lan? What is she talking about? What about A Zhen and Xingkui who were with her? Where are they?”
Heishui was filled with questions, but there was no one to answer them.
But at least—
Judging from her words just now, he was still alive for the moment.
However, right then, the spaceship’s internal comms were suddenly connected.
“Heishui, Heart Demon, when retrieving the qualified individual, you must directly state your purpose. You must be careful not to anger—”
The young man’s voice was exceptionally familiar, carrying a faint trace of laughter.
“Oh?”
He let out a soft, understanding hum.
It seemed he had already seen their encounter with Yun Ruoxi through the spaceship’s camera.
“So you’ve already met. It seems I’m a step late, but it’s good, no lives were lost.”
“Ye Lan, it’s time to come home.”
As these words came through the speaker—
The girl’s expression grew slightly dazed for an instant.
The next second, the killing intent in her eyes instantly dissipated.
Her gaze became docile, and a trace of serenity appeared on her face.
Yes—Doctor.