"The Visionary survived."
"He actually survived."
Ether, who had been watching Burner's situation, collapsed into his chair in astonishment.
He had watched The Visionary be reduced to a pile of dust, then watched him be remade, his lips moving as if he were communicating with something.
Neither Ether nor Xin Ning had heard what Burner said. They still did not know why The Visionary had survived, nor could they easily guess the reason.
But one thing was now certain: The Visionary had survived. They could no longer count on that flaming monster to kill the traitor who might bring about civil war within the Tau Empire.
"Ambassador, a communication." The Gou Weisa following Xin Ning stepped forward with a communicator and gave him a quiet reminder.
Xin Ning glanced over.
The palm-sized device capable of faster-than-light communication was not a creation of the Tau Empire. It had been a gift He Chou gave Xin Ning during their second contact with humanity.
It was merely a one-way receiving handset, a technological black box for communication. It could not be analyzed, but it was easy to use.
Xin Ning's gaze shifted from the communicator to Ether. Only after seeing him nod did he answer the call.
A holographic projection appeared before them.
It was He Chou. He was clearly standing on the bridge of a warship.
"Why didn't you reject the call this time?" He Chou looked coldly at Xin Ning. "Did Burner teach you a lesson and scare you so badly that you wanted our help dealing with that uninvited guest?"
"No... wait..." An expression of shock that humans could understand appeared on Xin Ning's face as he asked tremblingly, "You know what that flaming monster is? You know its name? Was its arrival connected to you?"
The instant he finished