Silence blanketed Cambridge in that moment.
Chu Huaizhi’s mind went blank for a few seconds, then he hesitantly typed out a message: 【The real you?】
After sending it, he came to his senses and let out a bitter laugh.
The communication system of the Sui Xing civilization was nothing like human communication. Its core principle wasn’t about transmitting messages, but rather confirming existence and triggering resonance.
When every member of the Sui Xing civilization was born, their life core would generate a unique harmonic with the cosmic background radiation, forming an absolutely one-of-a-kind life spectrum.
This life spectrum was the ultimate proof of their existence—impossible to replicate or tamper with.
During communication, it would manifest as a complex, multi-sensory information package.
It wasn’t a language, but a brief energy signature that contained the very essence of that member—a specific pulsation of light, a sequence of information that only plants could perceive.
The Sui Xing civilization called it the “True Word.”
When one member sent information to another, they were essentially broadcasting their True Word to the universe.
The recipient didn’t decode the message, but instead used their own life spectrum to sense it.
This meant that no one could impersonate a member of the Sui Xing civilization.
Realizing this, Chu Huaizhi’s face darkened with frustration.
He’d have preferred it if they were imposters!!
Those good-for-nothing screw-ups! He never should have counted on them to get anything done right.
To figure out what the hell had happened, Chu Huaizhi and Nüwa accelerated toward the Fourth Star Ring.
Before they even reached the rendezvous point, they spotted the group right at the heart of the Fourth Star Ring.
Out in front were the Giant Sound Whales and the Stardust Humans, with Lin Xiaohe right behind them, followed closely by the six Sui Xing members.
The humans’ battered and broken space fleet limped along at the very rear.
Chu Huaizhi’s temples throbbed with bulging veins as his blood pressure spiked.
These utterly embarrassing fools! They were actually faster than the Giant Sound Whales in interstellar travel, yet they didn’t dare to overtake Lin Xiaohe by a single step!
Look at their standing—they were barely above ordinary humans.
Seeing this spectacle, Chu Huaizhi was so furious he could spit blood, and his tone turned sharp.
“What the hell is going on? Why are you all acting like scared dogs that’ve lost their homes?”
As one of the masterminds pulling the strings behind several epochs of civilizations, where the hell was your dignity?!
Looking this pathetic was nothing but an embarrassment to him, Chu Huaizhi.
The six Sui Xing members took the scolding head-on, their expressions turning sour.
They glanced at Lin Xiaohe’s upright silhouette, and a sudden surge of courage welled up within them as they shot back.
“Whoever’s got the skills can step up. We sure don’t.”
“Exactly. Never mind the ‘Unspeakable Existence’—do you even know how Guan Shan died?”
Guan Shan was dead?
Chu Huaizhi’s brow twitched, his expression unreadable.
He turned to look at Lin Xiaohe, who had remained silent all along.
Lin Xiaohe was clad in dark crimson armor, like congealed blood, or like burning embers.
The black spear in her hand stayed perfectly still, as if it had absorbed all the light and sound around it. Just her very presence made the entire star system feel frozen, as if the universe had hit the mute button for her.
Through her red faceplate, Chu Huaizhi seemed to lock eyes with her.
The last time they’d planned to meet on Haige Star for peace talks, circumstances and unexpected events had kept them apart.
Come to think of it, the most recent time they’d actually met was back on the Tigre satellite, when Chu Huaizhi had insisted on trying spicy crayfish.
Chu Huaizhi softened his expression, his voice gentle, just like that first meeting at the Central Military Academy: “These past days must have been really hard on you.”
Lin Xiaohe studied him with a strange look.
How could he be so utterly at ease? As if he hadn’t been the one scheming against her, trying to have her killed.
“Chu Huaizhi, you’re no longer the Federation’s Marshal, are you? You’re a member of the Sui Xing civilization now. Or should I call you Yanidam?”
Everyone in the Fifth Star Ring held their breath in unison.
The answer to this question mattered immensely to them.
Was Marshal Chu still their Marshal Chu?
Chu Huaizhi was stunned for a moment, then flashed an easy smile. “I am both Chu Huaizhi and Yanidam. If you’d like, I can always just be Chu Huaizhi. I really do have to thank you for those spicy crayfish—otherwise, this body would’ve burst apart from the sheer force of that rampant psychic energy.”
Lin Xiaohe had already suspected as much, so the answer didn’t surprise her in the least.
The human members of the Federation, however, were far more shaken.
The Sixth Star Ring’s Commander patted the Fifth Star Ring’s Commander on the shoulder, glancing at the glint at the corner of his eye, and offered some consolation: “Look on the bright side—Marshal Chu hasn’t really changed; he’s been taken over by an extraterrestrial lifeform.”
The Fifth Star Ring Commander’s eyes darkened, a blazing fire burning fiercely within them, right up to his gaze.
Marshal Chu had once saved his life!
“Baldy, I swear it here and now—one day, I’ll make these arrogant extraterrestrial civilizations taste the humiliation of being toyed with, of being treated like ants!”
The Chief Scientist chimed in lazily from the side: “Just you? That’s a bit of a stretch. You’d be better off pinning your hopes on Lin Xiaohe.”
The Fifth Star Ring Commander snapped in embarrassment: “Shut up! I’ll go be Lin Xiaohe’s lackey, alright?”
Sure, absolutely.
The only question was whether Lin Xiaohe would even want you.
On the other side, having gotten her answer, Lin Xiaohe had no interest in chatting further with Chu Huaizhi: “Move aside!”
Chu Huaizhi glanced at the six cowering Sui Xing members, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
“Nüwa, if you and I join forces, could we take down Lin Xiaohe?”
【Nüwa】replied coldly: “Is your human brain too small to process what you’re saying? Do you even hear yourself? Your main body isn’t here, and I haven’t reached peak computing power—what are we supposed to fight Lin Xiaohe with? If she pulls out that ‘Unspeakable Existence,’ we’re both dead here.”
Chu Huaizhi wasn’t ready to give up: “What if she can’t use it?”
That was the Unspeakable Existence—how easy could it possibly be to control?!
【Nüwa】’s entire system suddenly stuttered, then its code began churning at high speed, ultimately issuing a piercing alarm.
“DANGER!!!! The Fifth Star Ring has been reduced to nothingness.”
Chu Huaizhi’s eyes nearly split open. Lin Xiaohe had actually used the Unspeakable Existence, creating a void in the Fifth Star Ring!
This was a void even more terrifying than a black hole!
It wasn’t empty space, nor was it darkness.
It was the absolute opposite of all existence—matter, energy, information, laws—the ultimate boundary of logic and concept.
Here, even the most basic quantum fluctuations didn’t exist. There was no length, width, height—no past, present, or future. It contained nothing, because it itself lacked the property of a container.
Any form of existence that touched the edge of absolute nothingness would have its very attributes completely erased.
At the same time, it couldn’t be observed, because observation itself was a form of interaction, and nothingness didn’t interact with anything!
That was exactly why 【Nüwa】and Chu Huaizhi hadn’t detected it until they were this close—only through the boundary effects of the void did they finally realize it was there.
“RUN!” Chu Huaizhi’s warship executed a 180-degree emergency turn and bolted at full speed.
