"To journey into the stars..."
"To become the King of the Universe..."
The King of the Universe steadied his tumbling form, standing unharmed, and in an exceptionally rare moment, spoke, casting a clear voice towards Master Fuli:
"Our will... indomitable, my journey unstoppable. Returning to the stars is our long-held wish..."
"No difficulty can hinder us, we will inevitably return to the stars above..."
The King of the Universe evidently realized that the energies floating in the air were being isolated by some unknown force, unable to reach him. He had been weakened to an extreme degree, unable to continue breaking through.
The King of the Universe spoke, advising Master Fuli not to obstruct him further, as hindrance was meaningless; his return to the stars was destined.
"Nothing is destined. Once upon a time, you should have died in the hospital, yet you banded together at the final moment to survive till now..."
Master Fuli glanced at Professor Wu, ensuring she was far enough that she couldn't hear, then slowly replied to the King of the Universe's anger.
There was no emotion in his words, nor did his body show any emotion.
But Master Fuli could feel it, the King was furious with his obstruction, cursing him.
Yet.
In reality, the King of the Universe was not wrong, alone, he couldn't prevent the King's return.
Ansheng had trapped its true form, but the blood-red matter sprawling through the ravine cliffs, in a sense, was also part of the King of the Universe.
Ansheng could trap it, but couldn't trap the blood-red matter embodying the King's will and obsession.
They would devour cities in the Outer regions, transforming countless humans into their kin, constructing super biological battleships.
However.....
It was the information age now, as Ansheng tangled with the King of the Universe, he heard Professor Wu applying for air support at the temporary command camp.
With the Xia Country's firepower coverage capability, it was enough to erase any residue of the King's will left on Earth.
"......"
As if hearing Master Fuli's unspoken words, the helmet of the King of the Universe gradually dissolved, he said nothing, silently gazing at the sun in the 5:30 sky, its brilliance overwhelming.
Yet, a membrane formed over his eyelids, shielding his pupils from the direct sunlight.
The armor on the King of the Universe began to dissolve, his very form collapsing and withering, unable to sustain itself.
Heavily wounded and deprived of energy replenishment, his body cells disregarded his will, reaching a consensus to forcibly enter a famine state to conserve energy.
Under Master Fuli's gaze, the Lord of the Universe's body collapsed into a grayish-white elliptical sphere.
The gray-white eggshell surface shimmered with a metallic luster, lying silently on the desert ground.
Master Fuli lifted the Gravity Hammer in his hand, striking with full force at one of the remnants of the King of the Universe.
"Crack..."
The gray-white eggshell gradually split, breaking into two solid semicircles, falling onto the subsided desert land.
Master Fuli paused, his mouth twitching, side-glanced at the approaching Professor Wu and shouted:
"Professor Wu! Do you have a container that can fully isolate Spiritual Particles over there?"
"This thing's hardness is ridiculous, I feel like it could even be brought back to forge iron!"
"I have one here..."
Before Professor Wu could respond, the voice of Unos, who had disappeared earlier, slowly came.
Unos descended from the sky carrying a large backpack, holding a light blue glass jar, and gently landed on the ground, tossing the container forward.
The light blue glass jar stood 2.3 meters high, approximately 1.5 meters wide, with a tall metal base and an illuminated status indicator showing its operational state.
Master Fuli caught the glass container, gazing oddly at Unos, he headed towards the grayish-white egg:
"Where did you run off to earlier? I was thinking of asking you to help block the First Epoch survivor, that guy's body is a bit weak, but he runs fast..."
"I went to the camp to pack up materials and get the Spiritual Particle suppressant as auxiliary support." Unos said: "It's just that Master Fuli's punching speed far exceeded my expectations."
Professor Wu glanced at Unos but didn't say anything further.
Unos, at first, hadn't returned to the camp.
In reality, he was truly providing support, eliminating all the Long Life Club's minions.
Because they weren't fast enough to escape, they might fall into the blood-red matter, becoming nutrients for the King of the Universe.
Unos was rational to the point of coldness.
After the King of the Universe awakened, he hadn't consumed even a single Spiritualized Creature, nor gained their genes.
"Excavating ruins is work, while the research materials and data in the camp are tangible personal assets." Unos, seeing Master Fuli look spiteful, spoke openly about his reason for carrying the backpack:
"In a 'capital' driven work environment, when necessary, we must understand that what we love isn't the sponsor or the work, but his funding."
"I cannot watch my hard work possibly fall into the hands of a First Epoch survivor."
"Nonsense."
Master Fuli retorted, and simultaneously, placed the devolved egg of the King of the Universe into the glass container, letting out a sigh of relief.
In Ansheng's mind, the King of the Universe represented the epitome of a dangerous and terrifying creature, without equal.
The transformations displayed by the King, and the polluting assimilation through will were powerful, but not the most powerful.
In a sense.
The King of the Universe was a premature infant.
Those ascended 'perfections' were lifeforms resulting from the merging of countless First Epoch life.
Even if you count all the medical staff and patients in a mental hospital, a total of ten thousand is hard to say for sure.
Naturally premature and deprived of sustenance postnatally.
If Master Fuli were to describe the King of the Universe.
Then.
The only adverbs he could conceive of were: Undeserving of the title of the pinnacle of First Epoch's technological crystallization, a perfect creature capable of traversing the stars in flesh.
Only it's a pity....
At this point, Master Fuli froze for a moment, glanced at the gray egg in the glass jar, and murmured inwardly: "If we tell the King of the Universe that its entire family is doing well..."
"What expression will the King of the Universe have?"
A curiosity arose in Master Fuli's mind, yet he had no intention of verifying it.
As a fox, the future path is to embrace the global intangible cute cultural heritage route.
The matters of the North American Red Fox, Ansheng couldn't manage.
"Now that the King of the Universe is locked up, then..." Master Fuli looked at Unos and nodded with full confidence:
"I, Ansheng, will start guarding our heritage, you bastards from the Longevity Club! Don't even think about touching our national treasure 'egg'!"
"Don't ask why it's a national treasure either."
"Really need to ask, well, it's always been that way....."
The rapid topic shift by Master Fuli left Unos momentarily stunned, looking at Master Fuli with a questioning expression.
"You needn't worry I will demand from you......" Unos revealed an amused expression and said:
"The Longevity Club is driven by 'capital', and when capital is the driver, naturally interest reigns supreme, prioritizing cost reduction and efficiency."
"Just like the assault team you encountered before, their daily salary was two thousand USD per day; during the exploration of the site, they supplied their weapons and gas masks."
"Our offer was very high, ordinary mercenary prices are only three to five thousand USD per day, but the financial department's budget approval of twenty thousand per day was actually to save money..."
Unos laughed, shaking his head: "Whether produced by DuPont or 3M, the highest-grade biochemical protective suits, after rigorous testing, along with accessories and a drone set cost between $160,000 and $300,000."
"For twenty-seven people, the full set of biochemical protective suits would be over four hundred thousand; even if they all died, including their wages, it wouldn't cost more than three hundred thousand."
Driven by capital.
If they obtained the King of the Universe, then, inevitably, the Longevity Club would pressure the researchers to study it.
Even knowing there's a definite risk of losing control.
Still, they would choose to research, as high risk equals high reward - a tenet of reality.
Unos didn't want to invite trouble for himself or experience the chilling feeling of being tapped on the shoulder by the King of the Universe in the lab at night, too haunting.
"Even if you gave it to me, I wouldn't want it, I would even turn around and send it to the sea trench."
"Because..... I fear dying without knowing why." Unos nodded with determination, again complaining about his harsh work environment and unreasonable patrons.