Hong, You Are Greedy! Trembling Yaorao

"Oh? He actually came..." Zhou Ze felt a surge of joy inside, but his face showed confusion and vigilance as he looked over.

Streams of light converged, quickly forming a blurry, towering figure, then solidified into the bald crystal man Zhou Ze had been expecting.

"%!@￥#%..." The bald crystal man spoke a sentence with a smile, his features extremely delicate—if he were human, he'd be either very handsome or very beautiful.

Zhou Ze glanced at his communication watch: "Hello, Zhou Ze."

The bald crystal man looked at the communication watch, and a beam of light shot into it.

Zhou Ze knew this was deleting the translation data from his watch.

He put on a deliberately tense expression.

"Don't be nervous." A slightly metallic Chinese voice came from the bald crystal man's mouth, which Zhou Ze found somewhat astonishing.

"No need to be surprised. The development of humans on this planet has been under my monitoring all along—your script changes, cultural history, all within my surveillance. Naturally, I understand your language..."

Zhou Ze grumbled inwardly: He says that, but he knows I don't understand the universal language. Why not just speak Chinese from the start? Had to show off right away.

Could it be that he's been showing off too much and now karma's caught up?

No, he's just stating plain facts—how is that showing off...

"Our Fallen Ink Star focuses on psychokinesis masters, but there's also a martial artist lineage. Since you've comprehended a domain at the apprentice level, you're qualified to become a member of Fallen Ink Star..."

As Zhou Ze listened to the crystal man, his mind churned.

It seems that when Hong first entered here, he hadn't comprehended a domain yet, or he'd have joined the Fallen Ink Star martial artist lineage long ago.

And their force techniques, blade arts, and movement skills—though top-notch on Earth—are nothing to Fallen Ink Star.

"These are the rewards for passing your assessment and joining Fallen Ink Star..."

The crystal man waved his hand, and from deep within the palace, several items flew over, carried by a beam of colored light.

A black vest, a silver armguard, and a hexagonal metal token.

"The first item is the force underwear you call the 'Black God Suit.'" The crystal man pointed at the black vest.

"The second, this silver armguard, is an auxiliary optical computer."

"The third is the Fallen Ink Star token."

Zhou Ze's eyes widened. To the crystal man, it probably looked like shock, but inside, Zhou Ze was furiously complaining:

What about the techniques? The manuals? Where's my big manual? Luo Feng got an attack method, 'Escape Heaven,' and I get nothing—clearly not the favored child...

The crystal man stroked the last hexagonal metal token and sighed: "I'm following the procedures set by my master. But even if you get the Fallen Ink Star token, I can't have Fallen Ink Star come to pick you up..."

"Why..."

Zhou Ze followed the crystal man's lead, chatting back and forth, and took the chance to ask some questions about the universe.

Meanwhile, Luo Feng, still waiting in the Black Hall, was dumbfounded.

Wasn't it said my brain domain width was 21, greater than 18?

Wasn't it said I qualified for the 'Elite Passage'?

Wasn't it supposed to be just a 15-minute wait? It's been half an hour now...

"You are the first Fallen Ink Star member on Earth in five thousand years."

The bald crystal man said: "But you must not be arrogant. Though you've grasped a domain at the apprentice level, your talent in both primal energy cultivation and psychokinesis training is less than ideal."

"If you get the chance, enter the universe as soon as possible. Only in the universe can you truly shine..."

"If possible, I hope you can help me find information about Fallen Ink Star..."

Something's off—a thousand things are off!

This bald crystal man is definitely not the emotionless, ordinary-thinking AI Babata described.

This tone and emotion—Zhou Ze could clearly tell it wasn't a cold, mechanical intelligence. He even felt this AI core already possessed some traits of an intelligent lifeform.

If so, that seemed like a good thing for him...

Zhou Ze asked with slight respect: "Senior, I'm now part of Fallen Ink Star too. More than anyone, I want to contact Fallen Ink Star—after all, Earth is too small..."

Zhou Ze paused, then put on a sincere, pleading look, speaking cautiously:

"But as you said, my talent in cultivation is very poor—you know that..."

"Still, I have some confidence in my comprehension. Could you give me a manual for training psychokinesis?"

"Since I'm also a psychokinesis master, my telekinesis has always held me back, making it hard to break through to the planetary level."

"That way, I can better engage with the universe in the future..."

The bald crystal man's peculiar eyes stared at Zhou Ze, seeming somewhat conflicted, but he quickly replied:

"The inheritance of Fallen Ink Star must be unlocked by going to Fallen Ink Star itself. I don't know..."

"However, what you say makes sense. How about this..."

No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins, underground base.

Clank, clank, clank~

The sound of the passage opening rang out, leaving nearly a hundred members of the entire base utterly bewildered.

"What's going on?"

"Is the ruins malfunctioning?"

"It's been less than three hours..."

While everyone was stunned, the passage opened, and Zhou Ze walked out, looking exactly the same as when he had entered.

"Welcome back, War God Zhou Ze!"

Unlike the future Luo Feng's "death" and return, which would have been met with fervent surprise and welcome, everyone present was frozen in place. Some even rubbed their eyes, unable to believe it.

Zhou Ze nodded slightly in acknowledgment and sent a message to Hong.

Before long, a blood-red Smart Fighter appeared in the sky above.

"Hong, I didn't expect you to come in person."

Zhou Ze's opening words nearly scared the life out of Yaorao, who was brewing tea not far away.

In this world, no one addressed the Hall Master by his name to his face. Even Thunder God would call him "Brother Hong," while others either said "Hall Master" or "First Speaker."

"Mm." A faint smile appeared on Hong's cold face.

"Coming out so soon, any gains?" Hong got straight to the point.

"Useless for you, it's related to spiritual thought power." Zhou Ze didn't beat around the bush. "As for the rest, I can't say."

"Alright." Hong was slightly disappointed, but he didn't think Zhou Ze would lie to him.

Both were men who had walked far on the path of the mind, with broad perspectives. They never feared being surpassed by anyone, always full of confidence in themselves.

"Hong, you're being greedy..." Zhou Ze said with a slight smile.

"The force output I've created has already reached ten times, but you haven't even reached Thunder God's original seven times. Your talent in force output is no worse than Thunder God's; you've just been too focused on the domain..."

"You should know that improving force output also increases the power of the domain. If you're stuck on the domain, consider it from the perspective of essence, energy, and spirit, rather than the domain itself."

Hong's expression tightened slightly, and a thousand words condensed into one: "Mm."

After a moment of silence, he added, "Thank you, I understand."

Yaorao, standing nearby, poured tea with trembling hands, her mind racing with countless thoughts.

Heavens, was this something she was meant to hear?