30: Two choices

The flames of war in the Western Hemisphere burned like a scorching purgatory. The thunderous roars of energy explosions were deafening, and the radiance of various interwoven Divine Powers tore through the sky. The fanatical shouts of religious Believers echoed throughout the battlefield.

However, this chaos was firmly confined to the Western Hemisphere by Xiang Yan's will.

In the peaceful Eastern Hemisphere, under the swift and resolute actions of the Nightmare Immortal Cult, new buildings rose rapidly from the ruins in an orderly fashion.

Led by Kleid, the Believers of the Nightmare Immortal Cult displayed incredibly powerful efficiency.

Like industrious worker bees, they worked tirelessly to rebuild homes for the people, supplemented by Nelson's occasional displays of miracles.

They continuously impacted the people of the Eastern Hemisphere on both physical and spiritual levels.

The Nightmare Immortal Cult naturally took over various government departments at an astonishing speed, becoming a new government.

The "Mutual Aid Society," specially established by the Night Goddess, took the opportunity to follow behind the Nightmare Immortal Cult and pick up the scraps. Through some small maneuvers, she successfully allowed Carter to gain a significant amount of prestige.

These small maneuvers naturally did not escape the notice of the Nightmare Immortal Cult. However, since their master wanted to see some entertainment, they could only pretend not to see it.

Among them, some clever individuals, in order to please their master, discreetly opened backdoors for the Night Goddess, making her endeavors go a bit more smoothly.

Even with the Nightmare Immortal Cult opening backdoors for her, the Night Goddess still encountered setbacks. The setback was that her 'simp' did not ascend to godhood as planned. This caused the Night Goddess's mindset to become unstable, and she even considered abandoning the plan and creating a new one.

Could Xiang Yan agree to this?

Of course not!

After all, the Night Goddess's Simp-Raising Diary was so entertaining; how could he let her stop updating?

Thus, out of necessity, Xiang Yan had to cross-dress and take the field again, playing the role of the Old Mother to summon the Night Goddess and begin to PUA her.

He told the Night Goddess that she was his most beloved child and that he had seen all her efforts. The reason her simp hadn't ascended to godhood yet was that the faith of all living beings in her simp was not yet sufficient.

He then cited a large amount of data regarding the President's ascension, successfully making the Night Goddess believe his nonsense. She thought the plan hadn't succeeded entirely because she hadn't worked hard enough.

With an affectionate call of "My child, I have always loved you," Xiang Yan threw the Night Goddess's will back into her body before running off to the side to smooth out the goosebumps all over his body.

However, many years later, Xiang Yan would hang up and beat a group of historians who specialized in recording the history of the gods. The reason was that these bastards not only recorded the forbidden divine words that should not have been noted but also used them as proof of their god's loving nature, spreading them all over the world.

Back to the present, when the Night Goddess's Divine Soul returned to her body, she was once again convinced that she was her Old Mother's most beloved child. To ensure her Mother's successful descent and an early reunion between mother and daughter...

The Night Goddess decided to increase her workload even further and then offer a bit more 'benefits' to her simp, making him work even harder.

Speaking of the simp, Xiang Yan was also very interested in this Carter. After all, this guy was the ultimate simp who had fought his way out from among countless others.

His level of awesomeness was simply beyond words. Time and again, he used practical actions to redefine Xiang Yan's understanding of the lower limits of a creature like a simp.

If it weren't for the Night Goddess and Xiang Yan watching over him and giving him a hand every now and then, this guy would have gotten himself killed long ago.

Of course, it wasn't because he was seeking death, but because he worked so hard for his goddess that he nearly exhausted himself to death.

For example, once the Night Goddess took the initiative to hold Carter's hand and told him there was a newly formed small organization. They thought the Mutual Aid Society was there to snatch territory and were very resistant, and she didn't know what to do.

Upon hearing this, Carter's blood boiled on the spot. He ran over to find the leader of that organization and told him that the Mutual Aid Society wasn't there to snatch territory but to help the refugees.

The other party naturally didn't believe him and simply beat Carter out with sticks.

Even after being beaten out, Carter didn't leave. He knelt directly in front of their door, kowtowing while begging them to be kind and let them in to provide relief to the refugees.

He knelt and kowtowed for five days and five nights. Finally, that organization finally agreed to let the Mutual Aid Society move in.

Of course, this wasn't because the organization had a change of heart. At first, everyone might have thought Carter's behavior was just a publicity stunt, but over time, it achieved a qualitative change.

Anyone with a brain knew that if you refused at a time like this, not to mention whether external public opinion would kill them directly, anyone with even a shred of conscience within the organization would be moved by this sincerity. This would lead to internal instability, causing their newly formed organization to be knocked out immediately.

After all, he was truly kowtowing. Those thumping sounds and the blood on the ground were the best proof.

If the Night Goddess hadn't been sustaining him from behind, this guy would have been gone long ago.

Seeing this, Xiang Yan didn't know whether to call this guy strong or weak. Therefore, Xiang Yan was still very interested in Carter's history of struggle.

On the other side, in the silent Universe, Ketela's spaceship floated quietly, like an abandoned pebble suspended alone in the infinite darkness.

The 'scars' covering the hull appeared particularly glaring at this moment.

The ship's outer shell was pitted and bumpy, like a weather-beaten old man recounting his past. Some parts were even scorched black, revealing the base metal, as if silently accusing the former fires of war.

Through the porthole, one could see distant nebulae spreading like ink in the darkness, colorful yet carrying a hint of eerie silence.

Inside the cabin, Ketela's brow furrowed as he listened to the cold, indifferent electronic voice reporting to him, "All dungang in the propulsion System is damaged. Continued navigation is not recommended. If navigation continues, it will cause further damage to the propulsion System."

Ketela slammed a fist onto the control console with a muffled 'thud.' An energy barrier appeared above the console, with ripples on the barrier blocking the heavy punch.

"Warning, please do not vent personal emotions randomly. This will cause secondary damage to the ship. Please remain calm, Master."

Ketela closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

However, scenes from a while ago surfaced in his mind.

At that time, he was still in the underground base of the planet, preparing to flee. The preliminary work had gone very smoothly. He successfully piloted the spaceship out of the ground.

Just as he piloted the ship out of the ground and was about to fly into the Universe, the cold voice of the AI Brain suddenly rang out: "Warning! Warning! Unknown target detected locking onto the ship! Anti-tracking program initiated, locating coordinates of the unknown target..."

"Target area confirmed!"

"Through data analysis and comparison, there is a 95% probability that this target is the will of the stars."

"Based on existing data analysis, the probability that the will of the stars has completed its descent from virtual to real is over ninety percent..."

When Ketela heard this report, his head suddenly buzzed.

He felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to his forehead. The reason he dared to set off the big fireworks before escaping was simply relying on the fact that the 'will of the stars' was still young. He had bullied It for being powerless and unable to personally beat him, only able to use indirect means to deal with him.

But now, the AI Brain was telling him that the thing was already fully developed and was already watching him. Just thinking about a being at the level of at least Lv.200 (Self-Star) potentially coming to kill him at any time...

Having lost his bodyguards and with his ship crippled, Ketela was terrified!

But fear was useless. To save his life, Ketela had to use some external items to force himself to calm down, and then ordered the AI Brain: "Maximum power! At all costs! Run! Run as fast as possible!"

At the same time, he had the AI Brain deploy the few remaining weapons on the ship to create a show of force, making himself look like he wasn't someone to be trifled with.

He tried to use this bluffing act to buy some time for his escape.

Fortunately, it seemed his bluff had worked, or perhaps the will of the stars didn't care much about his previous actions.

In short, the ship sped away quickly. It went unexpectedly smoothly, without encountering any obstacles.

However, the consequences of accelerating to flee at all costs also arrived.

The consumption of dungang far exceeded expectations. The ship was stranded before even reaching 1/3 of the planned route.

Now calmed down, Ketela could only curse his bad luck. After all, the turn of events had been too sudden; being able to successfully save his life was already quite good.

But thinking about how the fruits of his thousands of years of struggle didn't have much sweetness, he felt another wave of resentment.

After a while, Ketela ordered the AI Brain again: "AI Brain, analyze the current situation and list some solutions."

After a moment of silence, the AI Brain's voice rang out again, "Master, based on existing data analysis, we currently provide you with two options: First, enter hibernation and start the automatic repair program, waiting for the ship to repair itself..."

Before the AI Brain could finish, Ketela interrupted, "Wait, you said the automatic repair program can already be started?"

"Yes, Master."

"When was that thing fixed?"

"Seven cosmic hours ago."

"Seven cosmic hours ago? Isn't that 700 years ago on that previous planet?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You did not ask!"

"I... (◣_◢)" Ketela took a few breaths, finally calmed down, and continued to ask, "How long will it take to complete the propulsion System repair?"

"8 to 9 cosmic months."

"And for a complete repair?"

"Eleven cosmic years."

Hearing this number, Ketela fell silent. After all, this time span was too long. Even as outstanding as he was, his lifespan was only around 40 cosmic years.

Although this was undoubtedly a safe choice...

It meant he had to leave his fate to time and endure the uncertainty brought by a long wait.

In the Void Realm of the Universe, anything could happen. He couldn't guarantee that he would be safe in hibernation. After all, he had just learned a lesson about the uncertainty produced over a long period of time.

At this point, Ketela suddenly remembered the AI Brain said there were two solutions and quickly asked, "AI Brain, what is the second option?"

The AI Brain's answer followed immediately, "The second option: through a comparison of existing data, it was found that a Level 5 Transcendent Civilization with a cooperative relationship with our civilization—the Magical Girl World—is shown in its publicly released world cruise route map to arrive at a position three Star Domains away from here in some time. You can attempt to send a distress signal to them."

"However, this option is not recommended. The probability of the other party performing a rescue is one in a million."

Hearing this number, Ketela became even more silent. After all, the difference between this and a probability of zero was just a few more zeros after the decimal point.

What 'two choices'? Isn't there only one?! Damn it, if it weren't for a will of the stars suddenly popping up, would I be in this mess?

Eh? Wait! will of the stars!

"AI Brain! If information about a newborn 'will of the stars' is added to the distress message, what would be the rescue probability?"

About half a minute later, the AI Brain's answer appeared, "Through calculation, the other party's rescue probability is over 85%."

"Good! Let's do that. AI Brain, send a rescue message to the Magical Girl World, but in the sent message, delete all information regarding the coordinates of the 'will of the stars'."

As for why Ketela was only afraid that the other party wouldn't come to save him, rather than harbor malice towards him—was it a joke? His own civilization had an embassy stationed in that world.

If they could receive the signal, his own embassy would definitely receive it. Given the importance of a will of the stars, his civilization would certainly follow up closely. In such a situation, if they dared to try anything funny, did they really think his civilization's development didn't come with sharp swords?!