Exclusive Possession – CH 069

Chapter 69.

The night breeze was cool. I lay on my back on the top of Yu Mountain, the sky above me was murky, and my consciousness had already sunk.

I didn’t know how much time passed.

“Are you using your mental powers to create illusions?” a curious voice asked.

I opened my eyes and saw a round, flat metal head sticking out from the side, its narrow red eyes blinking and shining brightly.

I smiled slightly and sat up. “Professor Dan An, is something the matter?”

But An seemed to habitually ruffle his already wrinkled suit before sitting down next to me: “Ahem, Ms. Hua Yao, I have a personal matter I’d like to ask you about.”

“Please speak.”

“His Majesty the Radiant King, that is, your husband—what kind of person was he?” He looked a little shy and a little excited.

I was stunned and speechless.

After the meeting that day, Gu Min and I stayed in the palace. But An, leading the scientists, began their intensive work. I was frequently called to the meeting room to answer their various questions and assist with calculations and experiments.

A large number of troops were stationed throughout Stan Star, under Dan An’s command, to carry out various excavation, transportation, and instrument manufacturing operations—this was a very ambitious plan, far beyond my imagination.

But An had been so busy he’d been spinning like a top, and he’d never said a word to me. In a few days, it would be the scheduled implementation date for the “Cosmic Rebirth” project, and I never expected him to suddenly come to talk to me today.

Perhaps seeing my silence, he seemed a little embarrassed, scratched his head, and said, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’ve admired the Radiant King since I was a child, so I want to understand him better.”

I paused for a moment, my eyes welling up with tears. “But An, do you know a robot named ‘Morin’?”

He shook his head: “I don’t know him. Your friend?”

“Yes. A very good friend.” I lowered my head, watching my tears fall to the ground, blurring into a small, faint puddle.

For some reason, he also fell silent.

After a while, his slender metal fingers seemed to be unconsciously pulling at the dry grass on the ground. He grinned and said as if talking to himself, “In order to better understand the disaster on Planet Stan, I also installed an ancient energy chip in my brain, which is said to have been taken from the brain of a robot that died in battle during the Empire era.”

He tilted his head to look at me, blinked, and said, “Maybe you knew the original owner of the chip before?”

The image of Morin dying, with half his head buried in the wreckage of the plane, flashed through my mind. My throat tightened, and my vision blurred.

I hugged Dan An tightly.

Is it you? My dear Morin? Was it all preordained by fate?

His body stiffened abruptly, and a trembling voice rang out: “Ms. Hua Yao… this… are you very sad?”

But I choked up and couldn’t speak. I hugged him even tighter, burying my head in his cold, wrinkled military uniform, and tears quickly soaked a large area of ​​it.

After a while, I felt his hand gently patting my back, the movement awkward and stiff. My heart warmed, I released him, and I couldn’t help but smile through my tears. He glanced at me quickly, then immediately turned to look aside: “This…that…”

“He’s a very domineering person,” I said softly. “…Morin was very afraid of him.”

But An immediately turned to look at me, her eyes bright and large: “Really?”

This was the best night I’d had since returning to this era. On the mountaintop, where the night breeze was slightly cool, I told Dan An everything about Mu Xian, and he was as excited as a fan, asking all sorts of questions.

He didn’t know that even the smallest detail about Mu Xian could break my heart. But seeing him smile, I kept talking and talking.

Until midnight, Dan An escorted me back to the palace where I was staying.

I smiled and said goodbye to him, walking alone toward the dark palace gate, when he suddenly called out to me.

“Hua Yao, we will succeed. You will definitely see him again.”

I turned my head, and his mouth was wide open in a very sincere smile.

“Yes.” I smiled at him. “I will tell him about you.”

He paused for a moment, then his smile widened: “That’s great!”

I waved to him and turned to walk into the shadows.

As soon as I entered the garden, I saw Gu Min sitting in an old wicker chair, gazing up at the sky. I walked slowly over, knelt down in front of him, took his hand, and said nothing.

He looked down at me, his gaze filled with sorrow.

“After all this calculation, the success rate is still less than 30%. Hua Yao, you’re more likely to become a speck of dust in a black hole.”

“You know, even if it’s only a 1% chance, I will go,” I whispered. “Right now, I’m living a life worse than death.”

He grabbed my hand tightly and said, “Don’t say that.”

We were silent for a while. He looked at the vast night sky, his voice as cold and desolate as an ancient well: “Hua Yao, the Stan people haven’t realized this yet: if history remains unchangeable, the universe is destined to end… After time is reversed, do your best to make yourself, the people you love, and the people of that era live better lives while they are alive.”

***

The day the universe was born.

Stan had been separated from its original star system by external forces and had become a dead planet again, gliding through the universe—this was also part of our plan.

Its surface was devoid of sunlight and temperature, like a living hell. Only the blazing military searchlights illuminated the capital as if it were daytime. On the ground, a dark mass of troops surrounded the palace; in the sky, a dense fleet almost filled the atmosphere, the deep rumble of engines sounding like thunder.

The entire palace was almost completely demolished. Only Yu Mountain remained, lying prostrate on the bare ground.

Beside Yu Mountain, there was a large hole with a diameter of ten meters. The underground cave walls were two hundred meters thick, entirely made of ultra-hard, high-temperature-resistant metal.

This hole leads directly to the planet’s core and connects to the end of the Yu stone energy vein.

That was the place I needed to go.

The human body couldn’t directly absorb energy from a black hole; it needed energy minerals as a medium.

This time, our medium was the abundant lifeblood of the entire planet Stan.

I would stand at the planet’s core, within the Yu stone energy, and follow the entire planet as it was pushed into a black hole, thereby absorbing energy and reversing time and space.

A few days ago, when I first saw Dan An’s plans, I remained silent for a long time.

I thought this must be destiny—how much like what Mu Xian once did? Only last time, he stood at the top of Yu Mountain, while this time, I would be standing at the planet’s core, enveloped by Yu.

Just like how we always cared about each other, we were never separated.

This enormous energy field was dominated by my mental power. In other words, my mental power would permeate the entire time reversal process. Therefore, after time reversal, I would be able to maintain my current consciousness, mental power, and memories—otherwise, our time reversal would be meaningless.

***

Wearing thick protective suits, I walked towards the elevator beside the cavern, surrounded by scientists. Zhuo Wu, Gu Min, Dan An, and many others, also in protective suits, stood waiting for me beside the cavern. Searchlights shone overhead, blindingly white, making it feel unreal, like a dream.

“Once the flow is successfully reversed, you must persuade His Highness the Radiant King to relocate the entire empire as soon as possible.” Zhuo Wu remained indifferent and dignified, seemingly unconcerned about the 70% chance of failure.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Goodbye, Hua Yao,” Gu Min said softly. “I wish you happiness.”

“Goodbye.” My eyes welled up with tears. Only I understood what he meant: if history couldn’t be changed, then they wouldn’t live much longer. This departure was my final farewell to him.

But An stepped forward and led me towards the elevator, repeating various precautions as he spoke, and I nodded repeatedly.

“To give you ample time, we will do our best to turn back time to the day you met the Radiant King when you were 18.”

“During the process of absorbing energy from a black hole, your body will experience extreme discomfort and pain. It will exceed any pain you have ever endured before, so be prepared.”

“Only by absorbing a large enough amount of energy can time be reversed. The timeframe is unpredictable; you might stay inside for a year, or ten years, or… even longer.”

…

I boarded the elevator and began to slowly descend. Outside the cave entrance, the faces of Dan An and the others receded into the distance, gradually swallowed by the darkness. In a few minutes, everyone on the planet would evacuate by plane, leaving only me behind at the Earth’s core, sinking into the black hole.

I sat quietly in the darkness for a while, then turned on the light on my hood, took the biography out of my pocket, turned to that page, and stood next to him; his face was blurred and gentle.

***

“Miss, Miss!”

The sound was indistinct, as if it came from a very far place.

My consciousness seemed to gradually become clearer along with this sound.

Slowly, I recalled the nightmarish, bottomless black hole; I recalled the endless pain in my body. I remembered the agony of my muscles peeling away inch by inch, the terrifying sensation of my brains boiling and scorching inside me, I remembered Stan and Yu burning to ashes beside me, and my eyeballs bursting, then my limbs… I thought I finally couldn’t hold on any longer; the plan was going to fail. Then I hallucinated. I saw Mu Xian; he was holding me, silently looking down at me…

I opened my eyes abruptly and saw the dark gray metal dome. In the soft light, a round metal head stood in front of me, its bright red eyes wide open, staring blankly at me.

A sharp pain shot through my temples, and my breath caught in my throat: “You are… Morin?”

His expression was one of shock: “Miss, don’t you even recognize me?”

I felt a heavy jolt in my chest, and a surge of tears welled up in my eyes.

“Morin!” I hugged him tightly, his metal frame digging into me with a dull ache. “Morin…Morin…” My throat tightened, and I sobbed uncontrollably.

Great, I was back. My Morin, my Mop, my…

Mu Xian!

I pushed him away, crying, “Where is Mu Xian? Where is he?”

Morin stared blankly at me, then suddenly turned away, covered her face, and began to sob: “They said… we must retrieve the wreckage at all costs.”

I stared at him blankly: “Wreckage? What wreckage?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I was startled. I looked up and around. Outside the window, the space was deep and the starlight was bright—we were on a spaceship.

No, that’s not right! But didn’t An say she was going to send me back to when I was 18? Then why did I see Morin when I woke up?

I wasn’t 18 years old.

“Where is this?” I asked again.

Morin choked back tears as he replied, “This is a space fortress above the wasteland. You’re safe now. Captain Adop suddenly coughed up blood and fainted while performing the jump.”

The Wasteland? Adop? The war in which the mercenaries of Yi Pucheng invaded the Wasteland? Six months before we fell into the spatial black hole?

I’ve actually traveled back to this point in time?

But since the time reversal was successful, how could there be a mistake at the precisely calculated time point?

I remembered that around this time, he was trapped in a mercenary space station after the crash. This crash was the first time his mental power had been unleashed, and he couldn’t use it for six months afterward.

His mental power had already erupted once. This realization made me vaguely uneasy. Our original plan was to completely prevent his mental power from erupting, thus reducing the likelihood of the superpowered era arriving.

I didn’t have time to think about it anymore. Right now, all I wanted to do was see Mu Xian.

“Take me to the fleet vice-commander.” I grabbed Morin’s arm. “I can find Mu Xian.”

***

Two days later.

Space was like a vast black river, with countless stars like shimmering ripples on its surface. Our fighter jets were situated within it, surrounded by silence and coldness.

I gazed at the mercenary space station, which was slowly rotating like an iron barrel in the void not far away, and my thoughts paused for a moment.

It seemed like just a second ago, I was living in a universe on the verge of destruction, but now, the universe was dazzling and prosperous before me.

I felt like I was dreaming.

“I’m going to distract the enemy aircraft outside the space station. Please give my regards to the commander.” Adop’s deep voice came through the communication channel.

Upon hearing the word “Commander,” tears completely blurred my vision. I covered my mouth to stifle a sound, but sobs still escaped clearly.

No one spoke on the communication channel; they probably all thought I was too excited. After a while, Mop said softly to me, “Miss, please rest assured, the Commander is definitely safe and sound.”

I nodded, choking back tears, but my body was still trembling slightly.

Closer, even closer.

The hatch opened, and I stepped into the space station. It was dark inside, as if no one was there. Mop and Morin, with two soldiers, were about to conduct a floor-by-floor inspection; I couldn’t wait any longer.

“The third layer,” I whispered. “I can feel it precisely.”

They had no doubts because they already knew that I possessed Mu Xian’s residual spiritual power and could sense his location.

As we stood at the entrance to the third-level armory, memories flooded back to us more clearly.

“Close the bottom layer, the bottom layer…” Was my face flushed red with embarrassment at that moment?

“Shut down the underlying turbines.” He sat among a group of wounded mercenaries, raised his handsome face to look at me, and spoke in a deep, husky voice, filled with a doting affection that only I could understand.

It’s okay, Mu Xian. Although you’ve lost your memories of what happened later, we would find them together.

This time, I would never let you die in my arms again.

I closed my eyes and opened them again. The cabin in front of me was dark and gloomy, with extremely dim lights that seemed to fill the air like mist. A tall iron frame stood in the corner, and behind the frame were Mu Xian and a dozen or so wounded mercenaries.

Mop and the other two walked forward, then stopped. I could no longer contain myself and rushed forward, even though the sound of my footsteps would alert the other mercenaries. I even shoved Mop aside and rushed behind the metal frame, startling Morin into a low gasp.

I froze, and my breath caught in my throat.

In the dim light, a tall man stood silently with his back to us. More than a dozen mercenaries lay on the ground, their eyes closed; whether dead or unconscious, it was unclear.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly turning around and looking at us.

Tears instantly blurred my vision. I heard a buzzing in my ears, followed by a heart pounding in my chest, so fierce it felt like it might explode at any moment. I covered my face with my hands, tears streaming down my face, afraid that this scene was just a dream, a dream that I would eventually wake up from.

It was him; it was him. The situation seemed a little different from last time, but it really was him!

He wore a tattered black mercenary uniform, his tall, imposing figure resembling a cold, sculpted statue. His fair, jade-like face was stained with blood, and his short black hair was terribly disheveled. He looked somewhat weary, but his dark eyes remained fixed on me.

I trembled, even staggered, as I walked towards him. As I drew closer, I saw his eyes clearly, and that look sent a jolt through my heart.

His eyes were as dark as the night, seemingly containing many emotions I couldn’t fathom, only making me feel pain and heartache.

Then I saw tears welling up in his eyes, clear tears.

My mind was already a blur, and all I could see was him. Seeing his tears, I felt like my heart was breaking, and I opened my arms and hugged his waist tightly.

“Mu Xian! Mu Xian!” I cried, tears streaming down my face.

A warm body, a strong chest, a familiar scent… It’s my Mu Xian! I hugged him even tighter, so tight that I could hardly breathe.

“Miss, Commander, I suggest we leave here first.” Mop’s deep voice came from behind.

I snapped out of my daze and was about to let go of him when I suddenly realized that he was still standing stiffly in my arms.

His hands remained at his sides the whole time; he didn’t hug me back.

It suddenly dawned on me—it must had been my overreaction that surprised him? Yes, I probably hadn’t fallen in love with him yet! I thought sadly.

Just as I was about to look up at him, I suddenly felt a sharp pain around my waist. With a “thud,” I was pinned to the wall by him.

Before I could speak, my chin was gripped tightly, rendering me immobile. He lowered his head, his dark eyes unreadable, and his dry, cold lips pressed down towards me for a fierce kiss.