232: bid farewell

In the time that followed.

Zhang Huaiyuan gathered Kols, Gore, the two Star Alliance marshals, and others who had once followed him.

"I am giving you two choices."

After a brief moment of reminiscing, Zhang Huaiyuan directly presented his thoughts:

"First, stay in this universe for your retirement. As long as you do not commit any heinous acts, the Intellectual Brain will ensure you enjoy a comfortable life for the rest of your days."

"Second, in a while, the Xuanjian World will be incorporated into my hands. At that time, I will open up permissions; if you wish to go there for training, you can do so through the Intellectual Brain. However..."

Zhang Huaiyuan paused, his tone becoming more solemn:

"Although the Xuanjian World isn't a particularly dangerous place, experts who have reached level 2 rules or even level 3 rules are everywhere. Your strength there would only be considered average."

"Furthermore, once you perish in the Xuanjian World, I will have no way to resurrect you."

After speaking, Zhang Huaiyuan quietly looked at everyone.

"Lord Zhang Huaiyuan, my talent is the poorest. If it weren't for your initial modification, it would have been impossible for me to break through to Class 3S Experts."

Unexpectedly, Gore, who had once followed him as a personal bodyguard, was the first to speak:

"So, I plan to stay in this world."

He smiled and said, "Leading a fleet and establishing a career has always been what I desired most."

"Sir, I want to go and test myself."

Kols followed immediately, saying, "After you modified me, I could vaguely sense the existence of the 'Wind God' and other candidates. I want to pursue the true mysteries of the wind."

"Me too, Sir."

Sailos, the two Star Alliance marshals, and the other Class 3S Experts all made their choices one after another.

"Good."

Zhang Huaiyuan was not surprised.

For these experts to be able to cultivate to 3S under such barren conditions, their hearts for the Dao must be steadfast.

With a thought, he took out some weapons.

Those were pieces of equipment he had crafted while traveling through the Gate of Boundlessness, referencing some materials from the Association; they could barely reach the strength of level 3 rules.

"Take these and use them; they should be more effective than your current weapons."

"Thank you, Sir."

A hint of joy appeared in everyone's eyes. Even if they didn't understand science, they could see these weapons were clearly much better than the ones they were using.

"You're welcome. Actually... never mind."

Zhang Huaiyuan hesitated for a moment.

He had originally intended to say that they should prioritize caution, and once he had established a firm foothold in the Myriad Realms, he could help arrange for them to join the Association's subordinate institutions for better development.

However, in the path of cultivation, if one loses the courage to charge forward because of such things, they are likely destined to never reach godhood.

"This is as much as I can do; the path ahead depends on yourselves."

Thinking of this, Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head, left those words behind, and turned to leave.

The light of the Warp Device flashed.

He soon arrived at Mawei Star in the Watcher Galaxy.

The "Dark Annihilation" mercenary group had settled here after migrating to the Free Star Alliance, cooperating with Mawei Star's Chief Regent, Kolen.

His consciousness swept over the area.

He found that the entirety of Dark Annihilation had undergone a massive transformation.

Under the secret instructions of the Statue of Liberty and Asroth, the Star Alliance's decommissioned warships and weapons were prioritized for them.

Its development speed was increasing almost exponentially.

By now, they already possessed three large full-strength fleets and an elite combat corps of over a million.

And the friends he was familiar with—Lord Dark, Randy, Saide, Reis, and others—were all doing very well for themselves.

"Intellectual Brain, take these potions. Arrange for an 'accident' and secretly inject these potions into them."

Zhang Huaiyuan gazed for a moment, and with a thought, several bottles of potions were quickly constructed.

These were formulated based on their constitutions, capable of raising supernatural abilities below the Transcendence Level by one grade while comprehensively strengthening the physical body.

"Furthermore..."

Zhang Huaiyuan's gaze suddenly paused.

He saw a short-haired woman in a light green combat suit inside one of the Dark Annihilation base's training rooms, rapidly dodging laser attacks from all directions.

"Xiao Yu..."

Looking at that heroic figure, a hint of complex emotion appeared in Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes.

This was the first woman who had been kind to him after he arrived in this world; to say there were no feelings at all would certainly be a lie.

After a long time, he sighed softly.

He reached out and took out the frozen corpse of a Xuanjian Sect expert, extracted the remaining cultivation power from it, added some rare materials, and crafted it into a raindrop-shaped energy source.

"Intellectual Brain."

"I am here, Sir."

"Give this energy source and this improved cultivation secret manual to her."

"Understood."

The Intellectual Brain hesitated for a moment before asking, "Sir, with the things you've left behind, Miss An Yu will surely be able to cultivate to the strength of a level 2 rules expert. If one day in the future she wants to go to the outside world for training, should..."

"Then let her go."

Zhang Huaiyuan smiled faintly, slowly withdrawing his gaze from that beautiful figure with a hint of melancholy.

It was hard to say if it was anticipation or something else.

"I've seen everything I needed to see; there's only one last place left."

After leaving the vicinity of Mawei Star, Zhang Huaiyuan initiated continuous warps again, arriving at the end of the world.

This was originally where the world-prisoning bead was located, but the palace that used to guard it had been leveled, replaced by a massive tombstone.

On it were written the large characters: 'Tomb of a True Sovereign — Lomond'.

"Old Brother Luo, I thank you for the sliver of hope you fought for on behalf of this world. I salute you."

"If I have the ability in the future, I will surely go to the Zerg to reclaim your soul."

Zhang Huaiyuan manifested two cups of wine; he poured one before the grave and drank the other in one gulp.

He rarely drank wine, as it would numb his nerves and make his research prone to errors.

After standing quietly for two hours.

He touched his left and right wrists.

"Lord."

"Master."

"Mm... is everything ready?"

"Of course... by the way, Lord, there is one thing I haven't had time to tell you."

The Statue of Liberty suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly added.

"What is it?"

"There exists a technology-side ruin in this world, also named Ruin No. 1. Its danger level is extremely high."

As the Statue of Liberty spoke, she transmitted the images of those Xuanjian Sect trial takers she had previously deceived into entering to Zhang Huaiyuan.

"Hmm... Spectral Sequence and Number Theory Games..."

"Conceptual Erasure Weapons..."

"Error-finding in one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred volumes of classics..."

"Not simple... not simple at all... I actually can't see through it at all. Where is its location?"

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"I have marked it on the star map for you, Lord."

The Statue of Liberty responded.

"Let's go and have a look."

...