The universe.
Within the dark universe.
A comet was moving slowly.
It trailed a long tail, growing somewhat dim as it moved away from a star.
Suddenly.
As though drawn by some force, the entire comet gradually veered off course, compressing into a white, reflective sphere that hurtled straight above the observation point.
And that was not all-
Even the solar wind and radiant light energy emitted by the nearest star all turned vertical.
The star began moving slowly.
-Upward.
Everything in the universe seemed drawn by that immense force.
Above that observation point-
Something resembling a cocoon was pulling in, absorbing, and destroying everything in the universe with all its might.
A moment later.
A stiff, vacant-eyed Professional appeared outside the cocoon.
He pressed his hand against it and sent a telepathic message:
"Reporting."
"We found a suspect."
"He is at-"
"The core of the universe, the Primordial Ruins on Death Planet."
As his words fell.
An all-sweeping surge of power radiated from the cocoon, becoming a command filled with rage and murderous intent.
"Go. Go there immediately!"
"I will take a look at him myself, then refine him into an eternal puppet!"
Elsewhere.
The Primordial Ruins.
Shen Ye and "Xu Xingke" stared at each other.
This guy...
Was an impostor?
Shen Ye thought silently.
The effects of truth suppression were terrifying.
Not only had he seen the man's Gate Ability, he had even seen a phantom scene.
Within that scene-
A man with an indistinct face extended his hand and, just as Shen Ye did, uttered in a low voice:
"Gate."
A gate opened in response.
This gate, named "Friendship," looked somewhat narrow, but it was tall, roughly two meters high.
-It looked more like the door of a changing room.
Inside the gate sat a glass