Chapter 23

Only dead love is immortal.

The area where the Philosopher's Stone is located is a vast, uninhabited desert. Unlike ordinary yellow sand, the sand in this desert is grayish-white, just like the Philosopher's Stone itself. Perhaps due to some characteristic of the Philosopher's Stone, even the most advanced vehicles malfunction here. Consequently, starship weapons, the main combat force in interstellar warfare, are also useless here.

"If we used a starship equipped with a photon cannon, destroying the Philosopher's Stone would be much easier and faster than it is now," Lan Hua remarked, watching the stone's destruction process.

Shipborne artillery turrets offer far greater convenience and mobility than ground-based weapons. Ground-based systems are primarily used for planetary defense and counter-attack, and have long been excluded from active attack systems. In their universe, it seems there's no longer any concern about how to continue the battle if a starship becomes completely destroyed and malfunctions mid-battle. This is because there will be reinforcements or accompanying ship repair crews to repair the starship at any time. Lan Hua thought that in the future, by studying the Philosopher's Stone, she could see if she could develop a jamming device for battleships that have been destroyed on the battlefield.

Although lacking the support of ships, Regas's progress was actually quite smooth. Besides being inherently difficult to destroy, the Philosopher's Stone was also surrounded by a protective mechanism. This mechanism would form a protective layer, similar to a barrier, when the Philosopher's Stone was attacked, protecting it. However, this protective mechanism would not manifest itself when the Philosopher's Stone was not under external attack.

Now, that protective mechanism has been destroyed, leaving only the Philosopher's Stone itself. The Philosopher's Stone, which was originally smooth and without cracks, is now covered with various huge cracks under the attack of the Silver Empire's most advanced offensive weapons. Especially the central cracks, which are from the inside out due to severe internal damage.

The more severely the Philosopher's Stone is damaged, the less interference it causes to Lan Hua. The magnetic storm that previously nearly drove Lan Hua mad still exists, but it can no longer be called a magnetic storm; it's merely a magnetic field disturbance. While it still affects Lan Hua, she is no longer subject to its influence.

Looking at the Philosopher's Stone, which was covered in cracks, Lan Hua thought that with the current intensity of the attack, it would collapse after a few more hits.

At this moment, the sky, which was originally hot and bright, was now covered with dark clouds, with blue lightning flashing in the clouds and muffled thunder rumbling in the distance.

Lan Hua thought for a moment, then sat up and said to the guards left behind and Luo Ying, whom he had casually dismissed earlier, "Something will be coming later. You'd better stay within 100 meters of me. Hmm... don't get too close either, it'll strain my eyes." He then lay back down. Whether they listened or not was none of his concern; after all, he wasn't someone with an overflowing sense of compassion.

Those who remained were also members of Regas's trusted guard. Except for Luo Ying, they had all served Regas for a long time, including witnessing his time with Lan Hua. They had no doubts about Lan Hua's words and consciously moved into the area she had described. Luo Ying, who was already not far from Lan Hua, was closer to her than the guards, even without moving.

The dark clouds were thick and heavy, constantly increasing and pressing down, as if they contained something, so dense that it was impossible to see anything clearly. The muffled thunder had now turned into loud claps and booms, the explosive thunder accompanied by lightning that ripped through the sky.

"What...what is that?" Luo Ying looked at the churning dark clouds in the sky, instinctively glancing at Lan Hua, her voice trembling as she asked. Although weather changes are normal, this kind of weather was clearly abnormal. Even if their universe used advanced technology to create artificial weather, it would be impossible to produce such an effect in a short time.

"I don't know, maybe there's a monster hiding there." Unlike Luo Ying's fear and tension, Lan Hua was relaxed as if she were on a beach vacation, only the lack of the ocean prop made the fake scene seem less than perfect.

The lighting was poor, and the sunglasses were obstructing her vision. Lan Hua pressed a touch button on the front of the temple, and the lenses of the sunglasses instantly turned light brown.

Luo Ying: "..." Why does this person seem so annoying? Although Luo Ying no longer dared to show his dissatisfaction and resentment in front of Lan Hua, seeing Lan Hua's indifferent and even spectator attitude, he still couldn't help but feel sorry for His Highness.

"Shh—" Lan Hua put her right index finger to her lips and smiled, "It's coming."

"What?" Luo Ying, disregarding his own thoughts, followed Lan Hua's gaze. Then, he saw a scene he would never forget—

The dark clouds that had gathered were gradually dispersing, and the light that had been obscured by the clouds pierced through the clouds and fell on the earth. The earth began to tremble, from light to heavy. The desert cracked open with countless fissures, like a series of narrow and winding rift valleys, and sand cascaded down these narrow rift valleys like white sand waterfalls.

The thunder and lightning did not cease. Accompanying the flashes and thunder was countless figures clad in toga robes, piercing through the clouds and slowly descending towards the ground. They looked no different from ordinary people, but were generally taller, with cold and disdainful expressions, gazing expressionlessly down at the earth as they landed.

"Those are—" Luo Ying stared in shock at the scene before him. Were those the legendary "gods"? These were the "gods" who wanted to seize their human world, forcing humanity to fight these "gods" countless times for survival, ultimately destroying everything and restarting human civilization to drive these "gods" out of their original universe. And the reason he returned here was to prevent these "gods" from invading a second time.

But understanding is one thing, and actually seeing is another. Previously, in Luo Ying's understanding, these "gods" had long since died because the energy of this universe was insufficient to support their survival, leaving behind only huge humanoid corpses and bio-electric waves of an unwilling soul-like existence. As long as His Highness destroys the Philosopher's Stone, these "gods" will be unable to find their universe, and their mission will be completed.

Luo Ying saw that although these "people" who arrived first were larger than ordinary people, they were much smaller than the actual bodies of those "gods," and their armor plates were blue. In other words, these "people" were not actually "gods," but "god-men."

“Hmm, those are—” Lan Hua thought for a moment and said, “In the words of the ancient Chinese, it’s called being ‘possessed.’ Originally, these bodies belonged to those genetically engineered humans, but they were invaded by the brainwaves of ‘gods.’ The energy was so abundant that the original bodies were several sizes larger, but ultimately they couldn’t compare to the original bodies of these ‘gods.’ It’s like a giant wearing clothes that are too small; the clothes are about to burst, but the person is actually bound inside and cannot move completely freely.” These are also the “demigods” in the legends of ancient Earth, said to be children born from the love between humans and gods, but in fact, they are the “god-human” shells whose bodies have been invaded by “gods.”

Many things, even if Regas only gave a rough outline, Lan Hua was able to piece together the whole picture from those key pieces of information. So, he often asked more questions simply because he had already guessed the answer and had no interest in asking further.

As Lan Hua spoke, he took out a circular compass-like device from his particle space and casually tossed it to his feet as if it were a worthless trinket. After it landed, Lan Hua pressed a few buttons on his quantum computer bracelet to activate the compass device. A transparent hemispherical light screen with a radius of 100 meters rose up from this "compass," perfectly enveloping Lan Hua and the people remaining in place.

"They're heading straight for His Highness!" Luo Ying saw the "divine beings" descending from the sky, clearly aiming towards the Philosopher's Stone, and immediately heading there upon landing. He anxiously said to Lan Hua, "We must go help His Highness!"

"You?" Lan Hua glanced at Luo Ying's small arms and legs. "Going to deliver vegetables? You won't be able to do any damage, and you'll only distract your comrades from protecting you. Besides causing trouble and increasing meaningless casualties, you might just be able to feel a little self-satisfied."

Luo Ying: "..." He can't do it, but Lan Hua's combat power is said to be comparable to His Highness's. His Highness treats him so well, yet Lan Hua doesn't seem to have any intention of going to his aid.

Destroying the last Philosopher's Stone will surely result in the final backlash from "God". Even Lan Hua, who has only recently arrived in this universe and has only just guessed the general truth, could figure this out. If Regas, who has been planning for many years, couldn't figure it out, then Lan Hua thinks that if he's really that stupid, then he might as well leave this decorative head here. It would be shameful to live on and recall this scene.

“Look at those people.” Lan Hua saw Luo Ying looking at him with an expression of condemnation for a heartless man, and pointed to the guards left behind by Regas not far from them. “They are far more loyal than you. Besides, this protective barrier allows entry but not exit. Do you see them making any moves now? So, doing your job well, following your prince’s arrangements and not causing trouble is much better than acting on your own.” Lan Hua was truly exhausted; even the reclining chair couldn’t alleviate his fatigue.

Luo Ying understood that Lan Hua's words, though realistic, were indeed reasonable. However, such realistic and rational words didn't sound like they came from a lover. He truly couldn't understand Lan Hua—how could he, knowing nothing and with everyone believing entering the black hole was certain death, traverse the Hela Black Hole to find His Highness? Such a mad act—a normal person wouldn't do it, nor dare to do it, unless they were deeply in love with someone. Yet, these cold and ruthless words also came from Lan Hua's mouth.

"Aren't you worried about His Highness at all? No matter how powerful His Highness is, he's still just flesh and blood!" Luo Ying pursed her lips and asked, "Are you just going to stand by and watch coldly? If something really happens to His Highness, or even if he dies, won't you be sad?"

He stared at Lan Hua and asked the question that had been on his mind: "Do you really love His Highness?"

"Only dead love is immortal," Lan Hua chuckled. "The Lan family would go mad for immortal love, because it's a frozen moment of perfection. But living love is never so dazzling as to drive people crazy." The selfish Lan family has always only loved to move themselves.

A note from the author:

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:25:53 on August 13, 2022 and 18:59:18 on August 15, 2022!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Luo Miao (1 bottle);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!