As the voice fell, the lens of the Anime switched.
Within the grayish-white belt of Meteorites, the impact formed by Chicha detonating his body earlier had ceased.
However, the massive Zhi Kong formed within the belt by the explosion still existed. It would likely take countless years for the movement of the Meteorites to fill it.
At this moment, a blue-haired girl shrouded in a dim white light was floating quietly at the Periphery of this Zhi Kong.
She wore a tattered Starforce Battlesuit, her face as pale as paper, and her body was covered in wounds.
There were cuts, gunshot wounds, and even physical collapse injuries caused by outputting too much star energy at once.
In the current shot, Yun Ruoxi—who was once invincible and capable of overcoming any hardship—looked like a piece of exquisite porcelain covered in cracks. A single breeze would shatter her completely.
Yet, the corners of her mouth were still turned up, carrying a faint, reassuring smile.
She was at her limit; she had already given it her all.
After sending Lin Zhen, Zi Jiu, and Aili—her friends and her family—away from that hell, she no longer had any concerns.
She was calmly prepared to welcome her death!
Every member of the Audience who saw this scene couldn’t help but think the same thing.
*Sizzle!*
Because her star energy output was insufficient, the telekinetic shield maintaining her survival in space began to flicker intermittently.
In 5 seconds, or perhaps just 1 second, the telekinetic shield—which she wasn’t even consciously aware of and was only maintaining through survival instinct—might dissipate.
When that happened, under the radiation of high-energy rays in the Star Sea, this girl would surely die.
Just before the telekinetic shield was about to vanish—
A streak of colored light flew in from among the Meteorites.
Xia Guang gently caught the girl in her arms, her face carrying a hint of sentimentality that even she hadn’t noticed.
“You… are amazing,” she whispered.
Xia Guang held Yun Ruoxi in a princess carry, slowly flying toward the spaceship anchored nearby.
But just as she reached the side of the spaceship—
A terrifying pressure, the strongest she had felt since her Star Awakening, suddenly descended upon her.
Xia Guang froze.
It was as if she had been forcibly pinned down by a supernatural power; under this horrific pressure, her body chose to submit.
“Heh, heh.”
A faint laugh crossed the vast distance. Ignoring the limitations of the Zhi Kong through some unknown means, it transmitted directly into Xia Guang’s mind.
“What a pity. She listened to my words and didn’t run. The contract is still protecting her.”
The lens followed the voice and switched to a location 1 light-year away.
On a small satellite several times smaller than the moon.
Upon a throne forged from top-tier star energy metal, a 3-meter-tall giant sat imperiously.
He wore an iron mask that revealed only his eyes. Within those pitch-black pupils was a hint of playfulness as he quietly watched the direction where Xia Guang and Yun Ruoxi were.
To him, a distance of 1 light-year meant nothing.
He had just witnessed everything!
“Remember this, Yun Ruoxi. I’ll let you win this time!”
“Trading one life for companions you were willing to die to save… I saw it all.”
“However—”
The giant suddenly burst into laughter.
“It seems there won’t be a commotion this time. I suppose I’ll let you live a little longer.”
“Even after your Bloodline was stripped, you still have such Gifted Talent. As expected, you still have that thing on you.”
He stood up, donned his cloak, and strode forward with a roar.
“Boys, it’s time to go!”
Behind the Iron Throne stood dozens of equally menacing dark shadows.
Hearing the giant’s words, they all raised their right hands simultaneously and shouted wildly, “Understood, Boss!”
As their voices fell, the progress bar reached its end, and the anime screen on the monitor completely froze.
The observation between the Anime world and the real world was interrupted.
But that didn’t mean the two worlds had stopped; they simply continued to operate under different flows of time.
“The mastermind has appeared!”
“That Iron Throne is clearly a tribute, right?”
“This mastermind doesn’t really look like someone from the Empire’s high-ups; he’s more like a pirate from One Piece.”
“Wait, Ruoxi’s Bloodline was stolen?”
“My god, Ruoxi is this strong even after being nerfed once? If her Bloodline was intact, wouldn’t she be unstoppable?”
“So Ruoxi had her Supreme Bone dug out too!”
“She seems to have more secrets. ‘That thing’ and the ‘contract’ are probably the main plot of the second season.”
***
While the observation between the two worlds was interrupted, the conversation taking place in Dr. Forefinger’s room continued.
“What did you delete?” Behemoth asked without looking up.
“Xinglan’s mental seal key,” Dr. Forefinger said softly.
“What did you say?!” Behemoth snapped his head up.
Starting or stopping forced mind control was no joke. It required a specific frequency signal from when the Mental Brand was first implanted. This signal was known as the mental seal key.
Dr. Forefinger had personally spearheaded the mind control of Xinglan, so her mental seal key had always been in his hands.
However, the key was certainly still backed up in the headquarters’ database.
As long as he contacted them immediately to apply…
“To apply for a new key now… it’s already too late.”
Dr. Forefinger spread his arms, the corners of his mouth turning up in a gentle smile that held no kindness whatsoever.
He had indeed promised Lin Zhen that he would lift the forced mind control—but that was under the premise that everything he had done would not be discovered.
If someone backed him into a corner, he wouldn’t just take it lying down.
No one could stop him from continuing his unfinished research!
“What exactly do you want to do?!” Behemoth suddenly turned and grabbed Dr. Forefinger’s collar.
Dr. Forefinger allowed himself to be grabbed, his smile remaining unchanged.
“Even if you lift Xinglan’s forced mind control, the fact remains that she helped A Zhen and the others escape. Do you think the Shengcai will allow such an unstable factor to exist?”
He slowly raised his right hand, placing it over Behemoth’s large hand that was gripping his collar, and looked at him calmly.
“All I want is to help you and Xinglan, Behemoth.”
Though Behemoth was furious, he knew the other man was right.
The current situation was that if the forced mind control continued, Xinglan would be completely destroyed.
But if the mind control was stopped, they wouldn’t be able to get past the Shengcai.
As for the possibility of slowly cultivating the Mental Brand after lifting the forced mind control—
The forced activation of the Mental Brand was equivalent to cashing in that future possibility in advance.
Once the forced mind control was lifted, the Mental Brand would automatically decay.
Furthermore, after the first experience of being brainwashed, even if a new Mental Brand were implanted, the effect would be greatly diminished because the subject would have developed resistance.
This was even more true for someone like Xinglan, who already possessed methods to resist mind control.
Behemoth let out a cold snort and released Dr. Forefinger.