I immediately slapped his face angrily, asking, “Who doesn’t want to go home?! Do you think I don’t want to go home?! I miss Earth too! But I wouldn’t destroy a planet just to be able to go home!”

“It’s impossible for you humans to evolve without the cosmic energy from our Deity Universe. Every single planet has to go through multiple cycles of destruction and rebirth. This is the natural life and death of a planet!”

“Very well then! You wouldn’t have any objections if I destroy your planet, right?! Because your planet is going to be destroyed!”

“No one can destroy our universe. We are the center of all universes. We are the rulers of existence!”

“I’ll destroy you then, so you can no longer rule over other universes!”

I seized his neck, just as he seized mine. Our anger collided vigorously, releasing our rampant energy!

“Hong!” We were suddenly blown apart from each other by a huge explosion. The spinning blue world vanished and our surroundings returned to normal. The robot that had seemed frozen in time fell from the sky, landing on the ground, while the so-called ‘universe ruler’ and I hit the walls hard.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Cough! Pfft!” I spat a mouthful of blood, feeling nauseated, my body aching all over. He slammed into the wall and slid down like a flattened mud doll.

The surrounding blue crystal energy began to gather around me and my body slowly regenerated. I realized I’d broken a few rib bones, because I couldn’t stand up due to the pain. I could only wait for the blue crystal energy to soothe my pain and repair my injuries.

The so-called ‘universe ruler’ wasn’t in good shape. He lay on the ground without moving an inch. His body heaved up and down, as if his body were being inflated, but he also looked like a pierced balloon that leaked air just as quickly. Soon, he was flattened out; he seemed to have lost a lot of energy from our clash.

No doubt he was in a worse condition than I was, because my body could still absorb the blue crystal energy we’d released, but he couldn’t. He could only lie there, clearly on his last legs.

Plus, I felt as if something had used up part of our blue crystal energy, because there was a lot less energy left in the air than we’d had. That was strange. When the energy had been cycling between us, there had been no energy loss. Where had all that energy gone? What had used it up?

I could tell that my bones weren’t healing much, and I slowly sat up. I opened my first aid kit and took out a recovery syringe. I stabbed it into my thigh and threw the empty syringe to the side. The recovery shot could help me repair my injuries quickly. Although the blue crystal energy could help me recover, it wasn’t very fast on its own. I wouldn’t be able to get up and fight immediately.

The thing panted, struggling to support his body so he could lean against the wall.

The escape capsule somehow felt still. Kansa Star’s gravity must have been pulling it, but it clearly felt immobile to me.

I looked at the open hangar door, seeing the black expanse of space outside. The twelve blue energy crystals had stopped spinning. One huge crystal had stopped right outside, and I could clearly see an ancient yet mysterious pattern on its body. They were really machines!

In the split second when I’d connected with the thing, I’d found out that these energy crystals could absorb any other energy, turning it into blue crystal energy. In other words, the energy stones had been the ones consuming Kansa Star’s energy. He had been recharging himself using Kansa Star. When he had consumed the entire Kansa Star, the thing could travel across universes and return to his so-called Deity Universe.

“You lied to Hagrid! The final stage of human evolution is destruction!” I roared at him. Kansa Star would have been destroyed in the end no matter how hard Raffles and the others work. As long as the energy stones from the Deity Universe were on the planet, the planet’s lifespan would be consumed. He’d been burning up Kansa Star’s vitality!

He stumbled and stood up, leaning against the wall. “So what… Before that, Silver Moon City would have transported the fully evolved humans that Hagrid wanted to a new planet using my Universe Door. I would have given you a new planet!”

“You can finally speak!” I stared at him angrily. He seemed as if he had no strength to extend his tentacles anymore.

He panted strenuously as he said, “Our people are the wisest creatures in the universe. We aren’t living things, but rather eternal energy bodies. We can merge with any living thing and communicate with it. The homeworld you value so much, those planets…” He paused, pointing at the stars outside. “...We planted them, the same way you plant flowers, trees, crops! You eat crops, and I eat planets! It’s just that… something went wrong with my cosmic rail, and I landed on Kansa Star. I can only recharge myself using Kansa Star. I didn’t do it on purpose!” He yelled at me, waving his arms. He sobbed, his head hanging low. “We normally feed on planets without living creatures… Do you think I want to eat your planet…? This is a great sin in our Deity Universe. I’ll be imprisoned for tens of thousands of years when I return…” He began sobbing innocently. 

“You’re a ridiculous child. You deserve to be imprisoned for tens of thousands of years!” I roared at him. In truth, he was really a child.

He sobbed for quite a while before he suddenly collapsed and wailed tearfully, “I just want to go home! Ah! I want to go home! It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have left home! It’s all my fault! Father, King of the Universe! I was wrong! Hurry up and save me! I’m willing to be imprisoned! I don’t want to stay outside anymore! Everyone outside bullies me! They’re so fierce!”

I was dumbfounded. The corners of my lips twitched. We bullied him?! He nearly destroyed our planet and wiped out tens of billions of living things! He was innocent?! He complained that I was fierce?! This child deserves a beating!

I stood up furiously, stomping towards him to give him a good beating. Suddenly, something drifted past my sight. I looked at it, and I was astonished.

I saw an American flag drifting past me.

Stars and stripes?! America!

I ran to the hatch. I was dumbfounded when I saw the scene outside. It was Earth’s moon!

It’s the Moon! It’s the Moon!

We’d probably crashed into the lunar outpost Americans had built upon arrival, so their American flag was drifting away. It wasn’t just the American flag, but also the spare parts of their base.

The Moon… An American flag…

“Open all external viewports!” I shouted. There was a loud buzz in my head.

Have I… returned home?!