153: I am a human being

The reconstruction of the Imperial Homeworld, the Cradle, was proceeding in full swing.

Although the atmosphere's temperature had recovered and the deadly radiation was blocked by the temporary Planetary Shield, the scars left by the war were still shocking. Amira Radiance, the princess who held the heavy responsibilities of both Imperial Regent and Prime Minister, had to spend at least eighteen hours a day dealing with mountains of official documents and endless reporting meetings.

Only late at night, when she stood on the Imperial Palace's half-repaired terrace overlooking the slowly recovering city, could she find a moment of respite.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Major General Trier requests an audience."

The Aide-de-camp's voice interrupted Amira's brief rest. She tidied her slightly messy hair, took a deep breath, and let the mask of a ruler's dignity return to her face.

"Please show him in."

Major General Trier was still wearing his immaculate silver-gray Faleim Military Uniform, his steps as precise as a programmed robot. As the Head of the Observation Group, he currently controlled the resource allocation vital to the Angel Empire's reconstruction, making him the person Amira most needed to rely on and most needed to be wary of.

"It's late, General Trier. Have some emergency aid supplies arrived?" Amira asked politely.

"No, Your Highness. Resource deployment is handled by the AI; I don't need to personally oversee it." Trier shook his head, his expression more solemn than usual.

He pulled a palm-sized metal box from his jacket pocket.

The box was entirely a deep matte black, with no seams or buttons on the surface, only a faint, ethereal blue halo slowly circulating around the edges.

Trier held the box in both hands and slowly presented it to Amira.

"What is this?" Amira asked instinctively.

"This is a Communication Terminal," Trier's voice became exceptionally solemn. "One that uses the highest level of High-dimensional Quantum Entanglement Encryption Technology, connecting directly to The Guide's Private Communication Device."

"The Guide?"

Amira's heart suddenly constricted.

During this time, as her understanding of the Faleim Civilization grew and her ideology was subtly influenced, the title "the guide" in Amira's heart was no longer just the leader of a powerful alien civilization, but a figure similar to a deity who could guide the progress of tens of thousands of years of civilization.

Moreover, in many newly compiled doctrines after the Religious Reform, the guide had been subtly described as the True God's representative in the material universe, an existence closer to the truth than the Pope.

Now, Trier was telling her this box could directly contact that "God"?

"As long as you carry this device with you, you will have the qualification to listen to the guide's teachings at any time." Trier placed the box in Amira's hands.

"Then how should I use it?" Amira asked eagerly, her fingers stroking the box's smooth surface as if caressing the Bible of salvation. "Do I need to input a code? Or perform some specific Psionic Resonance Ritual?"

"No, Your Highness." Trier shook his head, a meaningful curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. "You do not need to, nor can you actively use it."

"This is a one-way Communication Anchor."

"All you need to do is keep it with you at all times, remain respectful, and wait."

"Wait for The Guide's inquiry."

"One-way..." A trace of regret flashed in Amira's eyes. She had initially thought she had acquired a "hotline" to contact the guide at any time.

But on second thought, this was normal.

How could a deity be available on call? Mortals could only wait for divine favor, not disturb the deity's peace.

"I understand." Amira solemnly put the box into her inner pocket. "Please inform The Guide that Amira Radiance is always ready to listen to his teachings and will never slack off for a moment."

Trier nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave, leaving Amira alone in the spacious office, feeling the cold yet fervent touch emanating from her chest... Over the next few days, whether eating, sleeping, or attending meetings, Amira kept the black metal box with her, even placing it within arm's reach while bathing.

She became somewhat neurotic, instinctively touching the box at the slightest disturbance, afraid of missing the deity's summons.

Finally, on the afternoon of the fifth day after receiving the box.

Amira was reviewing a tedious report on the Post-war Census in her office, the depressing statistics making her dizzy.

Just then, an extremely faint vibration came from her chest.

Immediately after, the black box hanging on her chest suddenly lit up. The previously ethereal blue halo instantly turned into bright white light, projecting into the air and forming a stable Holographic Projection Field.

It's here!

Amira sprang up from her chair as if electrocuted. She tidied her collar and hair at the fastest speed of her life, then quickly circled the desk, sitting bolt upright three meters in front of the projection field, hands clasped on her knees, her expression solemn as if awaiting the Final Judgment.

Zzz—

With a soft sound, the light and shadow converged, and a figure appeared before her.

It was a young human male.

He was not wearing a crisp uniform like the Faleim People, nor was he draped in the complicated robes of Angel nobility. He was simply wearing a dark, casual outfit that looked very comfortable, even somewhat informal, with one button undone at the collar and his sleeves casually rolled up.

He sat in what appeared to be a comfortable chair, his posture relaxed, even slightly languid.

But this did not diminish his authority; instead, it intensified the sense of composure he possessed, indicating he was in control of everything.

That was Lei Wen.

"Greetings to you! Great Guide!"

Amira immediately bowed the moment she saw the image.

"Ah, Amira."

Lei Wen's voice sounded gentle. He pressed his hand down, making a "relax" gesture.

"Don't be so reserved. This is just a... well, a casual chat. I just wanted to see how the little one we saved is doing now."

"Yes, Sire." Amira stood up nervously and sat back down, but only daring to perch on the edge of the seat, her wings tightly retracted, not daring to make any unwarranted move.

Lei Wen looked at the Imperial Prime Minister before him, who was as nervous as a quail. He found it amusing, but also felt a hint of satisfaction.

This kind of reverence was exactly what he needed.

"I've read Trier's report; you've done well," Lei Wen said. "You stabilized the situation in such a short time. Although the methods were somewhat forceful, in a chaotic era, strong authority is necessary."

"This is all thanks to your radiance and the aid of the Faleim Civilization," Amira replied humbly.

"There's no need to be overly modest; your talent is recognized."

Lei Wen paused, then asked, seemingly deliberately yet also reflectively.

"Amira, do you know how the Faleim Civilization reached where it is today?"

Amira shook her head: "That is the Domain of the Gods; mortals dare not speculate rashly."

"No, that is not a Miracle; that is history."

Lei Wen slowly began to speak, recounting the magnificent past to this alien princess.

Of course, it was the "Official Version," enhanced and embellished.

"Forty thousand years ago, the Faleim People were merely primitive creatures confined to their homeworld. They had no sharp fangs or claws, no thick carapaces, and certainly not the Psionic Abilities you pride yourselves on."

"Their only weapons were reason and wisdom."

Lei Wen's voice was deep and magnetic, eloquently narrating the grand epic that spanned from their first gaze at the stars to the construction of the Dyson Sphere, and from fighting the Dimensional Demons to Tearing the Veil and Achieving Ascension.

Amira listened, completely engrossed.

She seemed to see countless Faleim Pioneers piloting rudimentary starships into the unknown deep space; she saw the colossal structure capable of enveloping a star gradually taking shape in the vacuum; and she saw the silver-white fleet repeatedly repelling those unspeakable Cosmic Disasters amid the despair of war.

Forty millennia of glory, countless heroic epics, converged in Lei Wen's words into a ceaseless, surging River of Civilization.

And the figure who always stood at the source of that river, guiding the direction, was the man before her.

This deepened Amira's reverence for Lei Wen by another layer.

If her previous reverence for Lei Wen stemmed from power, this reverence had now sublimated into worship for a Civilizational Guardian, an Eternal Mentor.

This was God.

A living deity, walking through the river of history.

The story was finished.

Lei Wen looked at Amira, who was completely immersed in shock, and suddenly changed the subject.

"Amira, do you feel that I am no different from the Faleim People?"

Amira was stunned for a moment and instinctively replied, "Yes, Sire. You possess a noble form similar to most Faleim People, except... except that your ears are more rounded. This must be a special manifestation of Royal Lineage or High-grade Genes, correct?"

In her perception, the pointed ears of the Faleim People were the standard form, and Lei Wen's rounded ears must be a characteristic of a higher, more fundamental state. Just like the six wings of the Angel Imperial Family compared to the commoners' two wings.

Lei Wen smiled, a meaningful expression in his eyes.

"No, Amira, you are mistaken."

He leaned slightly forward, looking directly into Amira's eyes.

"Did you know? I am actually not Faleim."

This sentence exploded in Amira's mind like a clap of thunder.

Her gaze quickly became dull, and her mind went blank.

Not Faleim?

How could that be? He was the guide of the Faleim Civilization, their Spiritual Leader. How could he not be a member of that race?

"I know this is difficult to comprehend," Lei Wen said calmly. "In your view, a leader must originate from the group."

"But I truly do not belong to them. I come from another race, one completely different from the Faleim People, yet connected by countless threads."

Amira's mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.

She looked at Lei Wen's face, which lacked the Faleim People's signature pointed ears, and suddenly realized that her long-held understanding might be wrong.

Just as the Angel people must all have wings, the Faleim People all had pointed ears.

Then what was he?

"On the edge of the Orion Arm, there is a remote star system called the Solar System."

Lei Wen stretched out his hand, and a Star Map appeared in the holographic projection.

"On the third planet there, lives a group of beings who share the same genetic sequence as me."

"They call themselves Humans."

"The civilization that once gave birth to me has long perished, but now, that place is my home."

"I am a Human."

Amira was completely petrified.

"This current iteration of Humans is still very young, even primitive," Lei Wen's voice carried a hint of tenderness. "They have just learned how to walk in space; they are still squabbling over meager resources; they are as fragile as a candle flame in the wind."

"Compared to the Faleim Civilization and your Angel Empire, Human Civilization is like a newborn baby."

"But..."

Lei Wen's gaze became incredibly resolute.

"They possess infinite potential, just like the Faleim People forty thousand years ago."

"The reason I am telling you this, Amira."

Lei Wen looked at the Imperial Prime Minister, who had temporarily lost the ability to think.

"Is because one day in the future, when the Human fleet crosses the sea of stars and reaches the Perseus Arm."

"I hope you will remember today's conversation."

"If you encounter Humans, if you see the flag bearing the Blue Planet."

"Please do not be arrogant, do not be hostile."

"I hope you will treat them kindly."

"Because they are my kin."

"My true blood relatives in this universe."

Amira Radiance felt utterly dazed, only able to respond mechanically.

"I... I remember, Sire!"

"The Angel Empire will forever remember your teachings!"

"If one day, we are fortunate enough to meet Human Civilization..."

"We shall regard them as brothers and sisters, as dearest kin!"

Lei Wen nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well."

Lei Wen's figure began to blur; the communication was about to end.

"Live well, Amira."

The light dissipated.

Amira remained standing there, motionless for a long time.

Her heart was filled with shock, and also a certain inexplicable expectation.

What kind of existence was that race called "Humans," after all?