Chapter 165 158 Living Planets
Bai Zhongqi felt somewhat at a loss as to how to face Han Jiaxue, despite being the Chancellor of Iridium Star and wielding unlimited power and energy, he had twice involved her in crises and even brought her close to death, which left his spirits extremely low.
Sitting on the bed, Han Jiaxue could see the self-reproach in Bai Zhongqi's eyes. She stood up but wobbled a bit, as these legs were not her original ones. Even if they were made with her own DNA, getting used to them would take a little time.
Han Jiaxue walked with a bit of a wobble, and Bai Zhongqi hurried to support her. However, she grabbed his hand and sat down next to him.
She smiled and said, "Look, I think my legs seem a little slimmer, and doesn't the skin look a bit better too?"
The clever Bai Zhongqi of course understood Han Jiaxue's intention in saying this, she wanted to ease his guilt. The more she did so, the more indebted Bai Zhongqi felt to her.
Becoming the Chancellor of Iridium Star had not brought any benefits to Han Jiaxue; it had only exposed her to danger. Bai Zhongqi even questioned himself, wondering if she would have been happier if she were not with him, this beautiful and understanding girl.
But Bai Zhongqi was not the kind to indulge in self-pity, nor would he do something as melodramatic as in a romance novel. What he grasped, he would not let go. And although he felt sorry for Han Jiaxue, Bai Zhongqi was willing to make it up to her a hundredfold.
Bai Zhongqi embraced Han Jiaxue, and she willingly nestled in the man's arms. He said, "Trust me, I will make sure something like this never happens again. I will do everything possible to protect you from getting hurt."
Han Jiaxue shook her head, "It's not like we've lost anything, don't be so hard on yourself. I think I have come to terms with it; you might really be my jinx, attracting trouble everywhere, but it seems I can't shake you off either."
With a face that could be coy or cheerful, Han Jiaxue looked up at Bai Zhongqi and said with feigned anger, "Besides, you as the Chancellor of Iridium Star, might lock me up somewhere on a whim. You won't let me run off to another place, to someone else, right?"
Bai Zhongqi smiled as well, holding her tighter, and said, "That's right, I am that unreasonable."
Han Jiaxue gently rubbed her cheek against his chest and sighed, "Then it seems I don't have much choice but to accept it, just like this."
The two exchanged some tender words of love. Han Jiaxue felt tired, and Bai Zhongqi put her back to bed and watched over her as she fell asleep. His fondness for the girl grew with each passing day. Her cleverness, her soft exterior belying a tough interior, as well as her beauty, all deepened Bai Zhongqi's fascination with her.
Even Han Jiaxue didn't understand why she had initially just been willing to give Bai Zhongqi a chance, but inexplicably, she had guarded his secret and didn't want to see him hurt when danger loomed.
Even though it seemed that the man didn't have much time for her, every time she saw the look in his eyes when he gazed at her, Han Jiaxue felt a sweet affection and realized she really had fallen for him.
After leaving Han Jiaxue's cabin on the Sacred Falcon, Bai Zhongqi received a communication from Linyin and went to her laboratory on board the ship.
As soon as he entered, he said, "I've heard that you may have a lead on the method that the Six Towers used to attack Infia."
All the research personnel saluted him, and with excitement, Linyin said, "Yes, Chancellor, this is a significant discovery."
But then she slightly complained, "If you hadn't ordered the destruction of the six Magic Towers, turning that area into a glass plain, maybe we could have gotten more information from the mages of Emerald Sea Star."
Bai Zhongqi felt no shame about this; given another chance, he assumed he might use even more inhumane weapons to eliminate the mages. He simply said, "Tell me about your discovery."
Not daring to delay, Linyin opened a holographic map of Emerald Sea Star and started explaining, "This discovery is extraordinary. We've been trying to figure out why Emerald Sea Star can produce a large number of Star Warriors. We approached this from many angles, but we were at a dead-end. However, the scalar wave attack on Infia led us to trace back to the source.
We turned our attention to the core of this planet and found the key there."
The star map immediately turned into a cross-section, showing a huge eye that seemed rather frightening, occupying the entire core of the planet.
Bai Zhongqi exclaimed in surprise, "What is this thing?"
"Strictly speaking, this is Emerald Sea Star," he said.
Bai Zhongqi looked at Linyin, puzzled.
"We used to regard Emerald Sea Star as an ordinary planet, but in fact, we were vastly mistaken. This planet is unlike any we've seen before; it's a 'living planet.'"
"What do you mean, are you saying this planet is alive?"
A fervent expression appeared on Linyin's face as she nodded vigorously, "Exactly, this is a phenomenon we've never witnessed before. Emerald Sea Star is a planetary life form unlike any we've seen, its essence being the massive creature resembling an eye you see before you, and the layers of mantle and crust that encase it form its protective shell.
It revolves around a star just like any ordinary planet and has even fostered life on its surface, but this doesn't change its nature as a living entity."
Bai Zhongqi felt this was completely beyond his understanding, yet he still asked patiently, "Then, the high incidence of Star Warriors on Emerald Sea Star, is that also caused by it? And I'm curious, how did you confirm that it's a living entity?"
"Because it exhibits life signs and faint consciousness waves, which we hadn't detected before. After all, who would have thought that at the heart of a planet lies a true living being. Its biological strength might be incredibly high, but its mental waves are rather chaotic, so we can't yet determine whether it possesses self-awareness.
What's certain, though, is that it's continuously engaging in some form of activity, unknown to us, that influences any intelligent life on this planet and consequently gives rise to Star Energy. We even suspect that this colossal core creature might be composed of Star Energy itself."
Star Energy is a form of matter and can naturally form objects. Bai Zhongqi couldn't fathom the reality that the entire body of this colossal core creature was made from condensed Star Energy. If this Star Energy were to be harnessed, who knew what kind of destructive force it could unleash, or the miracles it could create.
Linyin went on to say, "We've discovered a cave near the Fire Element Mage's Tower on the Northern Continent, with a passage leading directly to the subterranean depths.
Obviously, those fanatics in the Mage Tower have utilized this conduit to tap into an incredibly small portion of this creature's power, a minuscule endeavor that nonetheless destroyed Infia City–the potential threat of this planetary life form is beyond doubt.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
After the failure of the Six Towers, this core life form seems to have entered a dormant phase, and we're not sure how to awaken it or how to harness it. The evidence suggests that the Mages of the Six Towers have consistently tried to access the power of the core life, but in my view, their efforts are sheer folly. Such a marvelous and powerful existence is simply not within their reach."
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Bai Zhongqi frowned and said, "Do you mean that we also have no way of controlling this core life?"
Linyin nodded frankly, "It's beyond our capabilities, but there's no need for worry. Based on our detections, the core life poses no threat to the United Empire, and it is very stable, having done nothing over billions of years. To be optimistic, this creature might never achieve self-awareness in its lifetime, and its energy will persist on Emerald Sea Star, available for our research and study.
By studying this core life, we may gain a deeper understanding of Star Energy. Besides, a significant number of the residents living here have a good chance of becoming Star Warriors, which is also beneficial for the Empire."
Bai Zhongqi couldn't help but ponder deeply. The core life that resembled a gigantic eye, or in other words, the true form of Emerald Sea Star, could either be the most important discovery for Iridium Star in the Second Universe, or it might harbor a tremendous crisis. Linyin's guess that its consciousness was chaotic suggested it lacked a self and the will to act independently.
In simpler terms, it was enduringly dormant, with little interaction with the outside world.
The only effect it had on the outside world was somehow enhancing the production of Star Warriors among the intelligent life residing on Emerald Sea Star.
Any rash action against the core life could result in severe consequences, the least of which might be the entire destruction of Emerald Sea Star, and at worst, it could even threaten the existence of the Star Alliance.
After all, it is not particularly distant from Earth.
Furthermore, Bai Zhongqi did not wish for Star Warriors to linger overmuch on this planet, especially Nan Ma. This Star Warrior master reported honestly after the battle at Cedar Ridge that he had absorbed the dispersed Star Energy of over a thousand Mages, greatly enhancing his strength and contributing to the Empire the techniques for extracting and transferring Star Energy.
Yet the disaster of the Six Towers loomed before them; the deceased Holy Magus of the Six Towers, You Kang, a high-level Star Warrior on the verge of becoming a Star Warrior master, had almost reversed the course of battle with the negligible power borrowed from the all-seeing core life, enough to annihilate Infia.
Bai Zhongqi could not say he totally distrusted Nan Ma, but he would never allow any Star Warrior to casually research the core life, let alone potentially seize control of its power. Because power of that scale could shake the very foundations of the Iridium Star United Empire under Supreme Command.
The existence of the core life would be treated as the Empire's highest secret. The cavern leading to the core would be guarded by bionic humans dispatched by Bai Zhongqi, barring all outsiders.
Iridium Star would continue to study the core life slowly, as long as such an entity was not in the hands of enemies. Even if it couldn't be exploited personally, it represented a form of security.
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