Exclusive Possession – CH 078

Chapter 78.

I pulled the last surviving child out of the rubble.

The baby in my arms was deathly pale, breathing weakly. Immediately, someone rushed over, snatched the child, and wept uncontrollably. I looked up and saw many faces behind me, filled with bewilderment and anguish. No one cheered for the rescue of the survivor, because so many had died.

Beyond their figures, I saw the devastation of the entire world.

Streaks of fire fell to the ground like blood flowing from the sky; the city was a gray-black wasteland, littered with ruins. Cries echoed in every corner.

The red giant was slowly expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye. The air temperature was decreasing every minute.

My legs felt weak, and I swayed, but Morin caught me quickly: “Miss, you can’t continue! You’ve been using your mental power for over 20 hours straight!”

I hadn’t noticed it at first, but after he mentioned it, I realized that my throat was dry and painful, my ears were aching, and my muscles were sore and weak all over.

Looking at the endless ruins and scattered corpses before me, I let out a long breath and whispered, “Let’s go back.”

I went back to Mu Xian’s side. I wondered how he was doing. He might need me.

The thought of his pale and tense face when the disaster struck made my heart sink.

The sky was gray, and Morin and I hurried through the chaotic streets. Buildings were crumbling, and the ground was broken into pieces. It was a long road, dusty and gloomy, and we couldn’t see a single person. We didn’t know if they were all dead or hiding.

After yesterday’s disaster, the entire capital was almost instantly destroyed. The rest of Stan must be in even worse shape.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Worst of all, this disaster wasn’t a simple repetition of the one in the previous life.

Last time, the sunspot erupted briefly for about ten minutes before entering a slow and protracted red giant transformation. The Stan people had several months left to survive. The main casualties also occurred during the period of the sunspot eruption, caused by tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes.

This time, the sunspot had been erupting continuously for a full day and night.

Stan Star and its inhabitants had been suffering in hell for over 30 hours.

From afar, the brightly lit Space Harbor looks like the last glimmer of hope in this city.

My eyes welled up with tears as I followed Morin through the military passage into the spaceport. But not far away, outside the main gate, the cacophony of voices and the dense, dark crowd were so noisy and conspicuous.

“Nuo’er! We want to see Prince Nuo’er!”

“Liar! This is a conspiracy by the Time Clan!”

“A useless government! A useless royal family!”

…

I was silent for a moment, then turned and walked into the spaceport. Morin quickly followed, whispering, “Don’t be sad. The disaster was too sudden. We will explain to them later.”

I stopped and said softly, “There’s no need to explain.”

There’s absolutely no need for it, because there’s no future.

Stan was destined to fall into darkness, and your race would suffer a fate worse than death for thousands of years in bitter cold and darkness until you were reborn.

And thousands of years later, your race would still remember that it was a Time Clan member named Hua Yao who deceived Prince Nuo’er and brought disaster upon you.

Sure enough, when we tried again, we arrived at the same destination by different paths.

Thinking about this, it felt like a part of my heart had sunk in.

I daren’t think about it; I daren’t touch it.

But that terrible question had always lingered in my mind.

Will Mu Xian die?

During the day, the spaceport was bustling and full of hope. But now, it wasn’t much better than outside. The ground was littered with the wreckage of fighter planes and corpses. Adop’s first flight squadron was wiped out in a sudden, powerful atmospheric convective storm. However, a small fraction of the spacecraft carrying scientists and teenagers returned safely to the planet—it was said that Adop ordered the fighter jets to block the attack of the powerful electric current, allowing them to make an emergency landing.

Meanwhile, the atmospheric storm continues. Although some fighter jets on the ground remained undamaged, once the faster-than-light engines were activated, they would be pierced by the particle streams in the atmosphere due to their excessive energy. We couldn’t get out, and the two fleets of Mu Xian anchored outside the atmosphere couldn’t get in either. At the same time, all network-based systems had failed—telephones, the internet, command systems… Now, communication was only possible through the most primitive form of radio.

…

In the center of the tarmac stood several makeshift metal buildings, serving as a temporary command center. Light shone through the windows, revealing many people sitting inside: Mu Xian, Yi Pucheng, Ta Rui, the president of the Academy of Sciences, the prime minister… Their expressions ranged from solemn to excited, and heated debates could be heard. Mu Xian sat in the very center, his fair, jade-like face as cold as ice, remaining silent.

I stood in the dark corner outside the window, gazing at him from afar, and I was somewhat lost in thought.

Mu Xian, you had worked tirelessly for so many days, without sleep or rest, all to save the lives of your people and change the fate of the universe.

But today, our hopes had finally been dashed.

What were you thinking about? Were you very sad?

In a daze, I heard a fierce voice.

“Two days? Just two more days until we are all done for?” It was Yi Pucheng. He wore the face of an emperor, but his expression was sinister. “Old man, I know your computers are broken. Do you really think hand-calculated results are reliable? Or are you just getting old and your eyesight’s failing you?”

Everyone around him stared in astonishment, but he had clearly gone all out, coldly staring at the dean of the Academy of Sciences. Mu Xian, however, remained silent, his eyes dark, seemingly lost in thought.

The white-haired dean of the Academy of Sciences, his face flushed red, replied in a trembling voice, “Your Majesty… I’m not sure.”

Everyone’s expression shifted, Yi Pucheng’s eyes also changed slightly, and Mu Xian looked up as well. The Dean of the Academy of Sciences said tremblingly, “Two days is a conservative estimate. It may be even shorter than two days before Stan Star is thrown out of its orbit by the impact of the stellar energy waves and becomes a rogue planet. Before that, we estimate that the death toll will exceed one-half to two-thirds of the total population of the country.”

Two days, only two days left. And in these two days, more than half of the Stan people would die. My heart was already numb with heaviness.

“What does that mean?” someone asked in a trembling voice.

“There’s no light, no warmth, no source of energy,” came the reply from Tarui, his voice sounding dry.

A moment of silence fell over everyone.

Then Yi Pucheng spoke, a forced smile on his face, as if mocking himself, yet also questioning everyone present: “So what do we do now? Wait to die?”

Tare spoke first: “I suggest that we use the remaining energy and all our forces to excavate underground facilities.”

I was taken aback, then heard the Dean of the Academy echo, “I agree with Prince Tarui. We can send as many people as possible underground as quickly as possible. The planet’s core is very hot, and the cooling process is very long, which can provide us with a certain amount of warmth for a period of time.”

Living underground?

Is this why the ancient Stan people survived and evolved in the darkness for thousands of years?

“Isn’t there any other way?” the Prime Minister asked. “I remember the Academy of Sciences once developed a ‘Stan Rebirth’ plan as a contingency plan for red giant changes in stars.”

Hearing the words “Stanford New Students” made my heart clench.

I’d rather live with Mu Xian in the darkness underground for the rest of my life than let him try this plan again! I heard my breathing quicken instantly, and Mu Xian inside the room seemed to sense it, slowly raising his head to look in my direction. His face was as clear as thin jade under the light, his dark eyes unfathomable.

The white-haired dean of the Academy shook his head: “The ‘Stan Rebirth Project’ can alter the orbit of Stan Star, delaying its ejection into space. However, this project is still in the experimental stage, and failure would have even more devastating consequences for the planet. Furthermore, the project requires 2,400 mentally capable individuals nationwide as intermediaries. But given the current situation…”

Before he could finish speaking, Prince Tarui interrupted, “Currently, only the military possesses wireless communication equipment; psychics are scattered throughout the country. I’ve tried, but it’s impossible to contact them.”