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The Taklamakan Desert, China's largest desert, covers a total area of 337,600 square kilometers and is known as the Sea of Death. It is extremely arid, with yellow sand filling the sky. Only the Populus euphratica, known as the Tree of Heroes, can struggle to survive here. But even in such a desert, oases exist.

This is a rather small oasis, and it looks like it will soon disappear. In the center of the oasis is a small pond, only a few dozen meters across, with the deepest part about six or seven meters deep. The water inside is very turbid, but not to the point of being unbearable. Around the pond, a few drought-resistant desert plants are scattered. It seems that if the groundwater level continues to drop, even such a small oasis will vanish.

The reason I am going to the trouble of describing this inconspicuous little oasis in detail is because I am currently soaking in this damned pond!

Why could Lin Xue and Pandora land smoothly, but I had to be teleported into a pond?!

It took a great deal of effort for me to swim to the shore, and then I climbed out of the water in a sorry state under Lin Xue's expression, which was on the verge of internal injury from holding back laughter.

"Don't hold back, just laugh if you want to!" I said to Lin Xue irritably.

Lin Xue was quite cooperative: "Pfft—"

I shook the water droplets from my hair and looked around—of course, there was no way I could see anything...

I turned my head to Pandora, who was standing quietly to the side, and asked, "Pandora, where are we now?"

"Approximately one hundred and twenty-two kilometers from the base. We have already notified the Esper Team via 'Mind Communication' to come and meet us."

"Okay," I nodded.

Being soaking wet is really uncomfortable...

"Pandora," I called the little Loli who was bored and looking around, "help me dry my clothes."

"Okay." The little girl responded and then took out a giant cannon that looked like a main support beam.

I broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Never mind... I'll just wait for them to air dry naturally."

At this moment, I noticed Lin Xue staring intently at me. I couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you looking at?"

"Oh—nothing," Lin Xue suddenly snapped back to reality and answered somewhat flustered. Then she muttered to herself, "Why does it feel like a dream..."

"It is quite hard to accept," I said. "As long as you remember to keep it a secret."

"Of course," Lin Xue immediately replied, then mumbled softly, "I don't want to be hunted down by your Alien army later."

I said helplessly, "I told you they don't have any ill intentions. Just think of them as Alien friends who came to Earth for sightseeing and tourism—by the way, I didn't see you at Sandora's base. Where did you go?"

"Of course, I went to have a good look around. An Alien military base, not everyone gets this opportunity! Speaking of which, you still haven't told me why you became their Emperor. How about it? Can you tell me now?"

"You ask me, who should I ask? One day I woke up and became the Shilin Emperor, and incidentally gained a little Loli—speaking of which, it seems I made a profit, right?"

Lin Xue did not hide her contempt: "As a weird uncle, you've really struck it rich!"

"Brother," Pandora tugged at my sleeve, "what is a Loli?"

Based on my understanding of Pandora, she was purely messing with me right now—from this perspective, the little girl was becoming more and more human-like.

Time passed slowly as we chatted idly. Just as I was starting to get impatient, the low roar of the Esper Team's specially made desert off-road vehicle finally came from the distance.

After the car stopped steadily, a small figure immediately rushed out of the open car door and threw herself into my arms. Qian Qian's tearful voice reached my ears: "A Jun! Woo woo woo... It's great... You're okay... You just disappeared, I thought..."

"Alright, alright," I patted Qian Qian's back comfortingly, while glaring viciously at Lin Xue, who was watching with an expression of enjoying the show. "Aren't I fine? You forgot, I'm a very powerful Esper!"

Qian Qian sobbed and said, "I know, I know you're amazing, but I was still worried..."

Just as I was about to say something else, a "cough cough" sound suddenly came from the side.

I turned my head and saw a middle-aged man with a full beard standing in front of me, looking at me and Qian Qian with ambiguous eyes.

"Ah, Uncle Xu!" I exclaimed and quickly released Qian Qian from my embrace.

"It's okay, it's okay," Uncle Xu waved his hands repeatedly. "You two continue, continue, I've already agreed to your matter..."

"Dad!" Qian Qian also calmed down at this point. Hearing her father's teasing words, her face immediately turned red. "What do you mean agreed or not agreed! A Jun and I... Um..."

Seeing Qian Qian stammering and unable to speak, Uncle Xu laughed heartily and cheerfully: "Alright, can't I see what's going on between you two? Don't worry, just for Little Jun risking his life to save me this time, I'll recognize this son-in-law!"

I immediately went along with it and bowed: "Greetings, Father-in-law, may you be prosperous!"

"You two..." Qian Qian pointed between me and Uncle Xu, both annoyed and amused, then stomped her foot and turned back into the off-road vehicle.

"Little Jun," Uncle Xu suddenly leaned over, "I heard them say you're also some kind of Esper?"

I nodded: "Yes."

"I really didn't expect it," Uncle Xu said with emotion. "I originally thought it was all pseudo-science made up by people, but it actually exists. The events of the past few days have been like a movie to me. I still can't quite accept it. This incident is also a lesson for me. I should start using my brain more in the future..."

I nodded in response, but in my heart, I was thinking: You can't accept this? There are many more things on my side that will make you unable to accept!

Although there were many twists and turns in this operation, being able to find Uncle Xu and the others means the matter has been successfully concluded. Lin Xue knowing my secret was an accident. I originally thought the only people in this world who could know my secret were Qian Qian and my sister. I didn't expect this guy, who is naturally incompatible with me, to get there first.

Besides successfully rescuing Uncle Xu and his group, unexpectedly meeting the Shilin Emperor Sandora was also a huge gain from this operation. Not only did I rescue a large number of soldiers, but I also finally confirmed that my inexplicably acquired Emperor status is universally applicable internally. This finally resolved a worry of mine—at least I don't have to worry about being humanely destroyed by another Shilin Emperor in the future.

Speaking of Sandora, she should be leading her warriors in battle right now, right? I wonder how they will integrate into human society? With the agreement I made with Sandora, they will not harm humans or disrupt the normal order of human society, but to be honest, I am not at all at ease with these Shilin Apostles, who are each more troublesome than the last.

"A Jun, why are you spacing out again?" My sister's concerned voice suddenly came, making me snap back to attention. "Are you sick? You've been spacing out like this almost every so often lately."

"Oh, I'm fine." I shook my head and replied.

It seems I need to change this habit of always spacing out, otherwise, it will always make my sister worry.

"A few days ago, your school teacher suddenly called me and said that you and Qian Qian went to participate in some exchange meeting, which gave me a scare," my sister said, seeing me back to my senses, talking about the "exchange meeting" that Qian Qian and I attended a few days ago. "I thought, you live so close to home, why couldn't you come home and say hello in advance? What kind of exchange meeting could be so urgent? At that time, I thought something had happened to you two at school, and it scared me to death. Fortunately, your homeroom teacher came over in person that evening to explain..."

Looking at my sister's beautiful face, filled with relief, and listening to her nagging, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in my heart.

"Sister," I suddenly interrupted my sister, "I'm sorry for making you worry..."

"What are you talking about," my sister smiled sweetly, then gently flicked my forehead like she used to when I was a child. "You don't need to feel sorry, as long as you're safe..."