115: Starting again

No sooner had the words left his mouth.

The brilliant artificial galaxy overhead suddenly began to rotate.

A deep blue beam of light descended from the dome, converging directly in front of Jiang Yuan into a massive holographic projection screen.

There was no so-called "searching" or "loading" process.

This was a detection method from a god-level civilization, ignoring Earth's physical barriers and directly locking onto the target's life signs through a quantum field.

Shua.

An incredibly clear image instantly appeared on the screen.

It was a heavily guarded private estate in Southeast Asia, thousands of kilometers away.

The image zoomed in rapidly, penetrating thick concrete walls and locking directly onto Mrs. Lin, who was sitting in a luxurious bedroom.

It wasn't just images.

A series of startling real-time data scrolled beside the screen:

[Target: Lin Man (Mrs. Lin)]

[Location: Singapore, Sentosa Cove Private Villa, Underground Safe House]

[Status: Extremely Anxious]

[Heart Rate: 112 bpm (Abnormal)]

[Respiration Rate: 24 breaths/min]

[Dopamine Level: Low]

In the image, Mrs. Lin was wearing a dressing gown, pacing restlessly around the room.

A lady's cigarette, unlit, was held between her fingers; her expression was terrified, and she seemed to be roaring into the phone, arranging for more bodyguards to protect her.

On her retinas, the reflection of her still-vibrant life was mirrored.

But in Jiang Yuan's eyes, she was already a dead woman.

"Found you."

Jiang Yuan looked at the hysterical woman on the screen, his lips curling into an indifferent arc.

He raised his hand and lightly tapped the void with his index finger.

"Go."

Buzz—

At the spire of the Star Throne, the air trembled slightly.

There was no roar like that of a missile launch.

Only an imperceptible speck of silver light instantly broke free from the magnetic field's restraint at the spire.

It was a needle.

A simplified version of the Droplet probe made of strong-interaction material, it was only the size of an embroidery needle, yet it possessed the terrifying piercing power to ignore the hardness of any substance on Earth.

Xiu!

The silver needle accelerated instantly.

It did not fly into the atmosphere but instead dove directly into a miniature folded space rift.

For it, a distance of thousands of kilometers was but a stone's throw away.

At the same time, Singapore.

Sentosa Cove, underground safe house.

Mrs. Lin hung up the phone, her hands still shaking violently.

"These useless trash! So many people and they can't even kill one person!"

She gasped for air, that ominous premonition coiling around her heart like a venomous snake.

She had to hide.

This was ten meters underground, the walls lined with half-meter-thick lead and steel plates, guarded by two hundred of the most elite mercenaries outside.

Even if the Ross Family wanted to break in, they would at least have to deploy an army.

"It's fine... it's fine..."

Mrs. Lin trembled as she tried to light her cigarette, comforting herself:

"As long as I don't go out, even a god couldn't kill me."

Just at the moment the flame flickered from the lighter at her fingertips.

There was no alarm.

There was no sound.

The space in front of her suddenly cracked open like a mirror.

A speck of silver light appeared out of thin air without warning.

It was too fast.

So fast that her retinas couldn't capture the image, so fast that her nerve endings didn't have time to transmit pain signals.

Pu.

An extremely faint sound.

Like a finger poking through a layer of window paper.

Mrs. Lin's movements froze.

At the center of her brow, a small red hole the size of a needle's eye appeared.

The moment the silver needle penetrated her skull, the high-frequency shockwaves it released instantly turned her brain tissue into mush, then immediately pierced through the back of her head and embedded itself deep into the blast-proof steel plate behind her.

Clang.

The lighter fell onto the carpet.

The light in Mrs. Lin's eyes instantly extinguished.

She didn't even have time to feel pain, nor did she have time to show a final trace of fear.

The consciousness of "self" was completely erased in that instant.

Thud.

That body, which once held sway over the Southeast Asian underworld, fell straight back onto the expensive Persian carpet, never to make a sound again.

On the holographic screen, Mrs. Lin's vital signs instantly dropped to zero.

[Heart Rate: 0]

[Status: Deceased]

Jiang Yuan looked at the corpse on the screen; there wasn't a ripple of emotion on his face.

It was as if he had casually swatted a mosquito buzzing in his ear.

"Returning the favor."

He said indifferently, waving his hand.

The holographic screen before him dissipated into countless points of light.

"All right."

Jiang Yuan stood up, stretched, and turned toward the lounge behind him.

"The trash has been cleared."

"Time for a good rest."

He lay in the zero-gravity hibernation pod on the top floor of the Star Throne.

This wasn't an ordinary bed, but a mass of liquid flexible gel restrained by a magnetic field.

The moment he lay down, it perfectly conformed to the curves of his body and released specific bio-electric waves, allowing the user to quickly enter deep sleep while repairing fatigue at the cellular level.

Under the light of the slowly rotating artificial galaxy overhead, this newly ascended "god" peacefully fell asleep.

When Jiang Yuan opened his eyes again.

The artificial star had already risen, its warm but not blinding golden light filtering through the one-way glass into the futuristic bedroom.

"Good morning, Commander."

The system's voice sounded at the right time, "Your bodily functions have returned to their peak state."

Jiang Yuan sat up, and the mass of liquid gel automatically receded.

"Let's go for a walk."

With a thought, his dressing gown instantly liquefied and restructured into a comfortable set of silver-gray casual clothes.

He walked out of his palace to inspect this Eternal Star City.

This was a city that would drive any sci-fi movie concept artist to despair.

The entire base didn't use traditional asphalt; the ground was paved with a white, high-strength polymer material that felt hard yet had a subtle elasticity underfoot.

The sides of the streets were not lined with rigid steel buildings either.

Every building here seemed alive.

As Jiang Yuan passed the ecological recycling zone, he saw a vibrant vertical farm beneath a massive transparent dome.

No sunlight or soil was needed; countless unknown fruits hung from spiral growth media, their roots soaked in a nutrient solution emitting a faint blue glow.

Seeing Jiang Yuan approach, a Future Guard in charge of agriculture immediately plucked a crystal-clear fruit that looked like a ruby and offered it with both hands.

Jiang Yuan took a bite.

Juice overflowed; the taste was a hundred times more delicious than any top-tier fruit on Earth, and upon entering his stomach, it turned into a warm current, instantly replenishing his physical energy.

"Not bad."

Jiang Yuan nodded in appreciation and continued forward.

He then came to the legion's training grounds.

The atmosphere here was completely different, filled with a chilling and iron-blooded aura.

Thousands of Future Guards on duty were conducting daily drills.

They didn't need to shout slogans; everyone was connected through a quantum network, their movements so perfectly synchronized it was hair-raising.

Jiang Yuan saw with his own eyes two guards testing new equipment.

One held a seemingly thin transparent light shield, while the other raised a high-energy particle rifle to fire.

Zi zi zi—!

The blue beam, capable of instantly vaporizing a tank, hit the light shield, yet it didn't leave even a single crack, only causing ripples like those on the surface of water.

This technological gap was not just decades, but centuries.

"With power like this, even ruling the Earth would probably only take a few days."

Standing on a high platform, Jiang Yuan looked down at this city full of rhythm and power, sighing with emotion.

But he didn't have such ambitions.

Ruling the world was too tiring and too boring.

Compared to sitting on a throne reviewing documents, he preferred to experience unknown landscapes and enjoy the pleasures of being human.

He was an ordinary man.

Even with the power of a god, he only wanted to be a free and easy ordinary man.

"That's about enough."

Jiang Yuan glanced at the starry sky overhead; while this place was perfect, it was too silent, lacking the mundane hustle and bustle and the wildness of the world.

"Prepare to set off."

"Target: Tanzania, Africa."