Mei hadn't been in the plaza when she entered the mission world, so upon her return, she reappeared in her previous location—near the Little Star Treasures shop in the trading district.
"Ooh!"
As Mei's pet, Shiro had also been brought back to Hyperdimensional Space. It was curiously observing its surroundings, excitedly scampering around Mei.
"Ha ha, we made it!"
"We hit the jackpot, guys!"
A crowd was still gathered before the Little Star Treasures shop, excitedly chattering and apparently engaged in a lottery.
"Ooh?"
Shiro's attention was drawn to the commotion; curious, it pushed its way into the crowd, only returning when Mei called it.
"Come on, let's get my equipment appraised!"
"Ooh!"
Shiro eagerly followed.
Mei's greatest gain in the Star Beast world was becoming an LV15 Star Spirit lifeform, dramatically increasing her combat power.
She had also fortuitously obtained the Planck Membrane Lifeform ability, granting her powerful self-preservation capabilities and the ability to traverse the Planck membrane.
The combination of these two made Mei's combat power and life level soar, placing her among the most powerful Tier 4 Void Wanderers.
Entering the enhancement chamber, Mei first checked the upgrade costs for her two abilities, immediately dismissing the idea of upgrading either.
[Name: Mei]
[Grade: Tier 1]
[Points: 7300]
[Abilities: Star Spirit・LV15, Planck Membrane Lifeform]
——
[Ability: Star Spirit]
[Level: LV15]
[Description: Child of the cosmos, master of the stars. Innately possesses the ability to control star energy; the embodiment of cosmic energy.]
[Upgrade Cost: 500,000 points/level]
——
[Ability: Planck Membrane Lifeform]
[Level: None]
[Description: A lifeform capable of freely traversing the Planck membrane of the universe. Any three-dimensional spatial barrier is meaningless to it.]
[Cannot be upgraded]
——
Only two abilities remained in the ability column, both exceptionally powerful. The 500,000 points per level upgrade cost for the Star Spirit ability, however, was prohibitive.
She then checked Shiro's stats.
——
[Star Beast: Shiro]
[Type: Pet]
[Grade: Tier 4]
[Level: LV15]
[Description: A unique Star Beast capable of infinite evolution through devouring; its handler shares all its power.]
[Upgrade Cost: 500,000 points/level]
——
As expected, Shiro's upgrade cost was similar to the Star Spirit's.
Shiro rarely participated in combat, mostly acting as an eater in the Star Beast world. However, it remained fundamentally a Star Beast; Tyrant was a prime example.
Its combat capabilities were immense.
In fact, Shiro was Mei's greatest gain in the Star Beast world. Without Shiro's shared power, Mei wouldn't have progressed so rapidly.
Furthermore, Mei had finally compensated for her regrets from the Zombie world, returning with a Personal Spatial Storage overflowing with abilities, equipment, and items.
Mei had destroyed countless Star Beast spores in the Star Beast world, yielding innumerable equipment and items, most of which were useless to her.
Her own body was the ultimate defense and weapon; she didn't need these Tier 2 and Tier 3 items. She planned to sell them all and purchase higher-tier equipment and items.
She dumped all the equipment and items from her Personal Spatial Storage into the enhancement chamber's receptacle, which seemed like a bottomless pit, consuming everything.
Soon,
The appraisal was complete.
There were a total of 154,938 items, 80% equipment and 20% items. The vast majority were Tier 1 and Tier 2; only 517 were Tier 3.
Abilities didn't require appraisal. Including the 5283 abilities in her Personal Spatial Storage, the total spoils of war amounted to a staggering 160,000 items.
This was after Mei had discarded most of the worthless junk. What remained wasn't necessarily rare, but certainly high-quality.
Storing everything, she headed to Little Star Treasures.
"Welcome!"
Behind the counter, a girl with a ponytail smiled sweetly. Lina Estelle immediately recognized Mei, a previous customer. "Madam, what can I do for you?"
"I want to sell these equipment, items, and abilities. Give me a price."
"Certainly."
Lina didn't yet understand the weight of Mei's words, responding sweetly. However, the moment Mei produced 160,000 items from her Personal Spatial Storage, she was stunned.
"How… how many?!"
"160,000."
Mei's tone was flat, but Lina was shocked. As she tallied and assessed the value, she couldn't help but say, "You wouldn't have raided a legion's armory, would you?"
Honestly, in all her years, Lina had never seen such a prolific lone wolf. She suspected Mei had a legion backing her, as an ordinary person couldn't possibly acquire this much equipment and items. The monsters in mission worlds weren't easily farmed.
That's not entirely untrue; But Mei really did farm Star Beasts in the Star Beast world for several decades.
Half a day later, Lina finally calculated the price. Looking at the long string of zeros, even she felt a chill, followed by the gleam of avarice in her eyes.
If she could secure this deal, she'd make a fortune!
Lina's smile became even sweeter, almost ingratiating. She said to Mei, "Sir, how does this price sound? For 160,000 items, I can offer you 1.29 billion."
"Acceptable."
Mei wasn't concerned with minor discrepancies. She understood the market price; this figure was reasonable. No need for haggling.
"However…"
Lina said hesitantly, "Could you give me some time? I don't have that much credit on hand. Give me some time to gather it; it won't take long!"
"Quickly."
"Alright!"
Mei was generally easygoing, unconcerned with minor inconveniences. Half an hour later, Lina had barely managed to scrape together the money.
She had 1.2 billion, still short 90 million.
"In that case,"
Mei looked around the Little Star Treasures shop, picking up their prized possession: a Personal Spatial Storage large enough to hold a galaxy.
"I'll take this."
"Deal!"
Lina readily agreed, delighted to complete the transaction.
Mei crushed the crystal. A beam of light entered her body; her original Personal Spatial Storage emerged, transforming back into a crystal.
[Item Acquired: Personal Spatial Storage・Galaxy]
[Type: Item]
[Grade: Tier 5]
[Description: A Personal Spatial Storage large enough to contain a galaxy. It can store living beings and objects; with sufficient resources, you could even create your own private world within.]
——
Even among Tier 5 items, this was top-tier; the 90 million price was a steal. Mei had intended to replace her storage with a larger one, so this was convenient.
Mei sold her original Personal Spatial Storage back to Lina, who handed her a transparent card displaying a clearly visible number.
After removing the decimal, it was 1.2 billion.
"Here's the payment. Please accept it!"
Mei took the card and examined it, noticing the words "Unregistered Asset Card" along with the United Bank logo.
Lina explained, "The United Bank is a major bank jointly established by several top legions in this space. You can use the funds anywhere. However, this is an unregistered card; be careful not to lose it; it's irreplaceable."
"Thank you."
The Void Wanderers' financial system had been in place for countless years. Top legions provided the best guarantees and trustworthiness; there were essentially no concerns.
Unfortunately, space points weren't transferable; otherwise, Mei could have used this money to upgrade her abilities. 1.2 billion was undoubtedly a vast sum.
"Have a nice day!"
Lina, beaming, sent the moneymaker off with a flourish.
After selling the equipment, Mei had only a few items left: the [Chapter of Gaia], the [Tyrant's Heart], and the [Super Active Cells] acquired in the Star Beast world.
She had also sold the Bulwark Coat; that Tier 3 item was no longer useful. Mei planned to find better items elsewhere.
Money was useless unless spent. Mei knew her leveling speed was too fast; investing in equipment would be wasteful.
She thought, "I wonder if there are any items that upgrade ability levels?"
With this in mind, Mei explored the trading district—from shopping malls to stalls to auction houses—finding numerous treasures.
Hyperdimensional Space was constantly bustling with Void Wanderers returning from countless mission worlds; vast quantities of equipment and items flowed daily. With money, anything was possible.
She didn't find any items that upgraded ability levels, but she did discover something even more impressive: an item that allowed for instant trans-tier combat.
In the Diamond Shopping Mall, when Mei presented her asset card, the shop manager nearly blinded by the long string of zeros, was instantly enthusiastic.
"Esteemed customer, please wait a moment. How about this ability?"
He produced a orb.
——
[Ability: Limit Break]
[Level: None]
[Description: For one minute, consuming the next 30 days' worth of strength, temporarily surpasses your level limit, briefly reaching a higher tier. Unfortunately, it can only reach Tier 6 at most; otherwise, it would be far more valuable.]
[Price: 1 Billion]
——
The shop manager enthusiastically touted its virtues, "This is a rare ability that allows you to break through to a higher tier; as a life-saving measure, it's the ultimate treasure! At auction, it would be the highlight of the event!"
He was right.
This was an exceptional ability.
Mei's current combat power was Tier Four. Using this ability, she could reach Tier 5, unleashing galaxy-level combat strength.
Furthermore, once Mei's combat power reached Tier 5, this ability would be even more valuable, easily worth 1 billion.
While limited to one minute, that was sufficient. As a life-saving burst of power, a minute was enough; ten minutes wouldn't make a difference.
"I'll take it."
"Excellent!"
The shop manager was ecstatic.
The transaction was completed instantly. Mei acquired the ability; the orb transformed into a beam of light, merging into her body.
[Ability Acquired: Limit Break]
For an ability that grants extraordinary combat power by exceeding tier limits, being unupgradeable was normal; otherwise, its price would be even higher, beyond Mei's means.
"Thank you for your patronage!"
Mei wasn't in a hurry to return to Earth; instead, she strolled around the space, relaxing. She had 200 million left and decided to see what else she could buy.
"Ooh?"
Passing by an arena, Shiro paused, intently watching the fierce battle on the large screen, unknowingly dropping a trail of drool.
Mei turned her head.
"Want to try?"
"Ooh."
"Then let's try."
The arena's interior was vast, resembling a gladiatorial arena. The central area was the fighting ground, surrounded by tiered seating.
Naturally,
To ensure fairness, each Grade of Void Wanderer had its own area and was matched with opponents of a similar Grade—a rational system.
Entering the arena, Mei was automatically assigned to the Tier 1 Void Wanderer area. Entering the stands, a cacophony of noise washed over her.
"Knock him out!"
"Kill him!"
"Go for it!"
Mei shook her head, adapting to the noisy environment before opening the interface to select an opponent. Unlike other areas in the trading district, the arena was under system management.
Quickly,
Mei was matched with an opponent.
[Match Successful]
[Match Commencing]
Instantly,
Mei appeared in the center of an area. The surrounding stands were empty except for a few people waving flags and cheering—seemingly acquaintances of Mei's opponent.
"Star, go get 'em!"
Before Mei stood a young man with blue hair. Those other recruits called him Star; his actual Hyperdimensional Space moniker was Starry.
Starry wore a somewhat futuristic combat suit, with an electromagnetic pulse longsword strapped to his waist. The bright, vibrant style was quite distinctive.
[3]
[2]
The countdown began. Starry assumed a combat stance, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade; a faint high-frequency electrical hum emanated from the scabbard, glowing a pale blue.
[1]
The instant the battle began, Starry drew his sword, the electromagnetic pulse launching it with incredible speed—a flash of lightning. A blue electrical arc crackled across Starry's body as he charged.
Mei remained motionless, simply calling out.
"Shiro."
Immediately,
Shiro opened its mouth, unleashing a blinding cross-shaped beam of light, transforming into a massive energy blast that instantly engulfed half the arena, vaporizing everything in its path.
Boom!
A deafening explosion reverberated through the stands. The flag-waving recruits stared, stunned into silence.
Silence fell.
Half the arena, including Starry's form, vanished. Quickly, the arena reset; Starry reappeared in the stands.
Shiro, somewhat disappointed by the lack of a proper fight, followed Mei as she left the arena. She said, "Let's see if they have any other beasts; I'll buy some snacks for you."
"Ooh!"
Shiro perked up immediately.
In the stands, Starry looked bewildered.
"What… what just happened?"
...
Essentially, any non-human lifeform could be considered a beast. Battle pet and summoning streams were very popular in this space; countless shops catered to them.
The Diamond Legion had extensive business interests. Mei had just visited the Diamond Shopping Mall and now entered a Battle Pet Shop, also owned by the Diamond Legion.
Abilities were generally more expensive than equipment and items; battle pets were even pricier due to their low drop rates.
Tier 1 equipment cost around 1,000 credits; higher-quality items were more expensive. Tier 6 equipment would cost hundred millions.
Like the [Limit Break] ability, priced at 1 billion, abilities were inherently more expensive than equipment; powerful abilities commanded exorbitant prices.
Due to their rarity, high-tier battle pets were scarce on the market. Even Void Wanderers who obtained them usually kept them for personal use.
After all, they were a significant boost to combat power and survival rates.
"High-tier battle pets usually only appear at auctions, causing intense bidding wars. Unless you're incredibly lucky, finding them elsewhere is difficult."
The Battle Pet Shop owner displayed a series of crystal orbs, each containing a Tier 4 battle pet of excellent quality.
"If you're willing to pay a high deposit, these pet shops might be able to obtain one or two from within the Legion, but be prepared; the deposit and final price will be extremely high."
Mei understood.
"How much would a Tier 5 battle pet cost?"
"Tier 5…"
The shop owner pondered, "Including premiums, the starting price would be 500 million. The price could easily increase several times depending on your negotiation skills within the Legion."
That price was astronomical; Mei realized she likely couldn't afford a Tier 5 battle pet with her remaining funds.
This was normal. Tier 5 meant possessing galaxy-level combat power; the premiums would be extremely high. She didn't want to spend that much; she'd settle for Tier 4 battle pets.
"Ten battle pets total. Let's call it an even 200 million."
"Fine."
Mei swiftly paid 200 million with her asset card and tossed the ten crystal orbs containing the Tier 4 battle pets to Shiro.
Shiro opened its mouth and swallowed them all in one gulp.
"Ooh!"
"Yes."
The shop owner finished settling the accounts and was about to make a comment when he witnessed this scene. His words died in his throat: "Those battle pets…"
"What?"
The shop owner shook his head. "Nothing."
Damn it!
Utterly inhumane!
Simultaneously, a surge of power flooded Mei's body.
[Enhancement Successful]
[Star Beast・LV16⬆]
[Star Spirit・LV16⬆]
With the Star Spirit lifeform leveling up, Mei's control over star energy expanded again, from a 1000 light-year radius to a 5000 light-year radius.
Furthermore,
Mei, previously only able to control existing star energy, could now convert the ubiquitous zero-point energy of the vacuum into star energy.
It was like an innate awakening. At this level, Mei naturally possessed this ability; no further practice was needed; it was instinct.
Zero-point energy can be understood as the fact that a vacuum isn't truly empty; it hides an immense amount of energy invisible to the naked eye.
It's a boundless ocean of energy.
With the ability to convert zero-point energy into star energy, even if the cosmic star energy were blocked, Mei could still absorb and utilize zero-point energy.
She could even generate star energy in a void devoid of it, creating celestial bodies, including black holes.
Yes.
Mei could now create black holes, though limited by the amount of star energy she could currently control; she couldn't create excessively massive black holes.
"Whoa—"
Shiro contentedly belched, its face flushed; it even staggered as it walked, bumping into things along the way.
Passing by the Little Star Treasures shop again, a crowd was still gathered noisily at the entrance. Mei pushed her way through, curious about what they were doing.
"It's in! It's in! It's in!"
"Aw, too bad!"
Mei squeezed into the crowd, finding a tall machine resembling an enhancement chamber—a crude, steampunk design.
Hiss!
Steam hissed out as the machine vibrated violently. Mei easily saw the gears and transmission mechanisms through the outer casing.
Mei asked a bystander, "Hey, what's that machine?"
"That, ah, is a prize ticket machine."
The man looked excited, enthusiastically explaining, "See that dial on the top? You put money in, and it randomly dispenses Tier 1 to Tier 10 prize tickets."
Mei was confused.
"What are the prize tickets for?"
"Heh! Useful stuff! Ten tickets of the same tier can be exchanged for one higher-tier ticket. These tickets can be used directly to upgrade equipment, items, and pets. It's far more efficient than the enhancement chamber; you get it?"
Hearing this,
Mei's eyes lit up. Observing the man's fluctuating expression as he received his ticket, she understood. "The odds must be terrible."
The man beside her nodded. "10,000 credits for a draw. You're guaranteed at least one Tier 1 ticket. 10,000 credits for a single Tier 1 ticket might seem like a rip-off—Tier 1 equipment barely costs more than a few thousand credits —but if you draw a Tier 2, 3, 4, or even 5 ticket for 10,000 credits, you'll make a profit!"
Essentially, it was a gamble; consistently playing would lead to losses. Mei found the machine interesting, but she understood the inherent risk.
"This machine is rigged!"
"Damn it! It stole my money!"
The man before the machine had been bled dry, weeping and pounding the machine in regret.
With nothing better to do, Mei noticed she had several million credits left and, intending to kill some time, sat down at the machine.
The man beside her offered a friendly warning, "Hey, that money doesn't come easily; don't waste it."
"Yeah."
She had nothing better to do with the extra credits anyway. Mei casually scanned her asset card, and the machine roared to life, like a tractor engine.
Clank clank!
The golden dial spun, completing two revolutions with a sharp mechanical sound, finally stopping on the Tier 1 marker.
Hiss!
Steam hissed out, and a white Tier 1 prize ticket emerged from the dispenser. 10,000 credits gone.
"Keep going!"
"That was just one try! Maybe there's a big prize waiting!"
The onlookers urged and cheered loudly, though few actually risked significant amounts of credits.
Mei remained calm and collected.
Continuing.
It was just leftover points anyway.
The prize ticket machine roared back to life; Mei, without blinking, initiated a ten-draw spree, inserting 100,000 credits.
White Ticket.
White Ticket.
White Ticket.
Either the advertised odds were genuinely abysmal, or Mei's luck was unbelievably bad; all ten draws yielded Tier 1 tickets.
"…"
The man beside her stared, wide-eyed.
"Wow, you're unlucky!"
While high-tier tickets had low odds, getting ten Tier 1 tickets in a row was unheard of; this was exceptionally bad luck.
Mei remained unfazed, calmly inserting the ten white tickets into the dispenser. After the exchange, a green Tier 2 ticket emerged.
No big deal.
She would consider this Tier 2 ticket her winnings.
Continuing.
Another ten-draw spree. The machine offered a bit of mercy, delivering a green Tier 2 ticket after nine consecutive white tickets.
"We got one! We got one!"
The man beside her was more excited than Mei at the sight of the green ticket. Mei, showing no reaction, initiated another ten-draw spree.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The prize machine roared.
Over half an hour, Mei made roughly one hundred draws; the green ticket rate stabilized at around 1/20.
The unluckiest streak was twenty consecutive white tickets, though it was followed by a double green payout, bringing the rate back up.
The onlookers' eyebrows twitched; this girl had money to burn, but her luck was abysmal. The man beside her shook his head.
Mei exchanged all the white tickets for green ones and then exchanged ten green Tier 2 tickets for a single Tier 3 ticket. Only when the blue Tier 3 ticket emerged from the dispenser did Mei realize that Tier 3 tickets were blue.
1 million credits for a Tier 3 ticket, four Tier 2 tickets, and five Tier 1 tickets—a considerable loss.
"Hey, another round?"
Mei said nothing, collected her tickets, and left.
"Shiro."
"Ooh?"
Shiro, sprawled on the prize machine as if it were a massage chair, had dozed off. Awakening, it quickly followed Mei, letting out two "Ooh" sounds.
Mei said, "I'm not feeling lucky today; let's try another time."
Realizing her luck was truly terrible, Mei decided to stop. She still had over 2 million credits , but she wasn't going to risk any more. It was pointless.
"Are the drop rates really that low?"
The man couldn't understand. He'd been watching for days and hadn't seen anyone else have such consistently low high-tier drop rates. If the rates were this low, nobody would play; people aren't stupid; they don't like giving away money.
Disbelieving, he tried a draw himself. Incredibly, he hit the jackpot; a blue ticket emerged.
"Holy crap!"
The others were energized.
"Holy moly!!"
...
After enjoying her leisurely time in Hyperdimensional Space, Mei calmly returned to Earth, causing time to resume its flow.
After completing her second mission world, Mei's power had increased significantly. She could destroy not only a star but the entire Solar System.
Upon her return, her first action was to eliminate the aliens on Earth. Unlike the loud displays of Telekinesis, using the ubiquitous star energy, Mei silently observed the entire planet.
A moment later.
Mei understood.
"There are 1,247 of them."
Based on the energy levels detected within these aliens, the strongest among them was comparable to Sea Dragon Empress at most—not even possessing star-level combat power.
There was nothing to worry about. With a thought, the star energy ocean on Earth surged, transforming into a violent torrent of power that crushed everything in its path.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All alien lifeforms instantly exploded into a bloody mist. Before this unstoppable force, the aliens didn't even have time to react before being annihilated.
Whether or not they possessed faith markers made no difference. This purge instantly yielded a massive amount of faith marker exchange tokens for Mei.
Upon returning to Earth, the faith marker exchange finally updated its token information.
[Tokens Acquired: 500]
[Tokens Acquired: 1300]
[Tokens Acquired: 2500]
[Tokens Acquired: 30000]
...
[Remaining Tokens: 428,000]
Over 90% of these aliens didn't possess faith markers. Although only 10% possessed them, that still amounted to over one hundred individuals.
Importantly, those with faith markers could sense each other's locations. The appearance of one would quickly attract a large number of others.
"Hmm?"
During the purge of the Earth's aliens, Mei noticed a survivor, an unexpected find that piqued her interest.
Beneath a pile of rubble.
A terrified boy pushed his shirt away from his chest. Just moments before, the egg he'd found had hatched a small, red lizard-like creature. Seemingly possessing a sense of impending danger, it had instantly burrowed into the boy's chest.
That's why he survived.
"Wh… what happened?!"
The boy was terrified. He clearly saw the lizard enter his chest, yet there were no wounds.
"Am I going to die?"
The boy felt utter despair.
"Sea Dragon?"
Mei recognized the creature's appearance, identical to the Sea Dragon Empress's race. Considering this a stroke of luck for the boy, she decided to leave him be.
She opened the faith marker exchange, examining the goods and prices. She hadn't noticed before, but now Mei realized that the faith marker exchange's prices were identical to those in Hyperdimensional Space.
Tier 1 items cost around 1000 tokens, Tier 2 items around 10,000, etc. Mei had recently spent billion in Hyperdimensional Space and was acutely aware of these prices.
Based on this, she suspected that the faith marker exchange was somehow connected to, or subordinate to, Hyperdimensional Space.
Or perhaps it was a counterfeit created by some entity.
Mei had a sudden suspicion.
"Could it be the work of those top legions in Hyperdimensional Space?"
Mei thought this possibility was very high. Hyperdimensional Space tethered this universe, meaning Void Wanderers had completed Main Missions here.
Only completely completed Main Missions would allow a world to be tethered. Top-tier Legion members would absolutely have access to this world.
Furthermore, the system never restricted Void Wanderers from bringing equipment, items, and abilities to mission worlds; or perhaps they didn't need to bring anything; a top-tier Void Wanderer could create a faith marker exchange themselves.
It all made sense.
Mei believed her hypothesis was close to the truth, but it remained only speculation, lacking concrete evidence.
If that were true, just how difficult were the Main Missions for those Void Wanderers to necessitate creating such a cosmic-scale mechanism?
Additionally,
The possibility of mischievous involvement couldn't be ruled out. Perhaps someone found it amusing to create faith markers and incite conflict across the universe.
As Mei's thoughts raced, she sensed the situation within a 5000 light-year radius, locating numerous extraterrestrial civilizations and habitable planets.
The closest civilization was only 5.3 light-years from Earth.
Suddenly,
A sense of danger struck. Mei's expression instantly turned serious. She quickly pinpointed the source of the threat: a low-level civilization 45 light-years from Earth.
This civilization hadn't ventured into space, only recently entering the technological boom phase, still in the early stages of the electrical age.
Sensing the star energy, Mei instantly pinpointed the source of the danger and teleported there using star energy.
45 light-years away, the Blue Blood Civilization.
The humans on this planet were outwardly identical to Earth humans, the only difference being that their blood was rich in copper, giving it a distinct blue hue.
Hence, they called themselves Blue Bloods.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The history of any civilization is a history of war—an eternal theme. Rows of cannons roared incessantly, spewing smoke and fire; shells rained down, relentlessly attacking an ancient ruin, driving the defending army into hiding.
"Commander, the firepower is too intense! We can't hold them off!"
"Hold it! No matter what!"
Inside the ruin, the commander roared hoarsely, "Our reinforcements will arrive soon!"
In war, no army cares about a ruin's historical value. Its only value is in providing any possible advantage in the war.
Boom!
A shell landed nearby, collapsing a wall. Mei, appearing almost ghostly, seemed oblivious to the relentless barrage.
Her gaze fell upon a crystal embedded in the ruin's temple—a gleaming, transparent crystal within which a transparent energy swirled.
Imperfectly, a shell had struck the temple, scattering debris that created a crack in the crystal. The mere appearance of this crack caused Mei's heart to race uncontrollably.
Mei didn't know the consequences of the crystal shattering, but she wouldn't allow it to happen. The energy within the crystal was immense; if released, the consequences would be unpredictable. It had caused her to sense danger from 45 light-years away.
With a thought, the crystal flew from its niche and into Mei's hand. The moment she touched it, she felt the power of the energy within.
Amidst the roar of explosions, Mei listened to the voices of the temple and crystal, her astonishment growing.
Boom!
A shell landed nearby, stunning the commander. He looked up and saw Mei standing calmly before the temple, and he cursed.
"Who the hell is that soldier!!"
Hum—
Before he could finish, an invisible energy erupted, emanating from Mei. Spacetime seemed to freeze, everything completely still.
Mei used her psionic abilities to extract and release the energy within the crystal, freezing the surrounding spacetime. Through the crystal, Mei could not only freeze spacetime within a certain range but also freely control the flow of time within that area.
Therefore,
The energy within the crystal was beyond extraordinary.
"Spacetime energy."
With a thought, Mei drastically accelerated time around her; the Blue Blood Civilization's technology and societal progress rapidly advanced.
The ongoing war ended instantaneously. Mei stood alone outside this frozen spacetime, unseen, yet witnessing everything unfold.
In a blink.
The Blue Blood Civilization entered the information age.
This spacetime energy was virtually limitless; the affected range depended entirely on Mei's control. With her current power, she could freeze or accelerate spacetime within a 5000 light-year radius.
"Pure luck."
The Blue Blood Civilization's development was abruptly halted. Mei was ecstatic, unexpectedly stumbling upon such a tremendous windfall.
This item was undoubtedly a divine artifact—the ability to control spacetime. No matter how powerful an opponent, unless they could transcend spacetime, anyone within a 5000 light-year radius would be utterly helpless against Mei.
The spacetime crystal wasn't from Hyperdimensional Space, nor was it a dropped item; therefore, it couldn't be taken into Hyperdimensional Space or mission worlds. However, possessing this artifact meant Mei would have little to fear on Earth.
Within the frozen spacetime, Shiro strolled around, playfully climbing the ruins and crowing like a rooster towards the sun.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
The sound abruptly stopped.
Shiro and Mei vanished. Time resumed its normal flow. From beginning to end, the Blue Blood Civilization remained unaware of the control and observation exerted upon them.
Back on Earth.
Shiro, running behind Mei, sprouted several feathers—it really did resemble a large rooster. Mei didn't pay much attention; she wasn't sure what this little guy ate.
Mei stored the spacetime crystal in her Personal Spatial Storage, then used her psionic abilities to extract and release the crystal's energy, observing the ruins of Earth. The spacetime energy spread out.
Hum—
Not only Earth but the entire Solar System was enveloped by Mei's spacetime energy. Immediately afterward, time throughout the Solar System began to accelerate.
As if playing a strategy simulation game, the planets spun rapidly. On Earth, humanity, like ants, moved about the ruins, rebuilding their homes.
Mei smiled.
She preferred a bustling Earth.