[When that brat was young, besides cards, his favorite things were antiques, especially after discovering the existence of alien races. He became obsessed with collecting information about them—] Xing Yucheng's voice unconsciously carried a hint of amusement. [Once, he disappeared during class, and the professor couldn't find him, so he contacted me. We found him in a pile of antiques. We practically hung him up and beat him to a pulp that day.]

Lian Han: ...I really didn't realize Jing Li had this kind of experience.

[So Jingli knows about the Nor people?]

[His collection of exotic antiques includes Norl, so he must know something. Perhaps you could also ask the other tribes, like—that Qianya.]

[Let's wait until we get back to the capital star.] Lian Han flipped through the pages of the book and finally found the content she wanted to see—the Nor system.

"Found it."

"Hmm?" Ning Jue sat down next to Lian Han. "Let's take a look together."

Lian Han didn't stop him and quickly turned to the corresponding page.

The introduction to Noel is about three pages long, covering the origins of Noel in reality, its development, and its eventual demise.

That was a magical race, or rather, no alien race was anything but magical, like the Ice Clan's control over ice, or the Nor people's star power.

The Norns are born from their home planet. Upon birth, they are chosen by a planet in the Norn system. The planet provides them with energy to help them grow. They become the masters of that planet and can freely mobilize its power, making every Norn extremely powerful.

But power comes at a price. The Noel system contains over a hundred planets of varying sizes, so the corresponding Noel population is only a little over a hundred. Planets grant the Noels power, but if a planet is damaged, the Noels will also be injured, sometimes even dying. When a Noel dies, their power is returned to the planet that chose them, and new life will be born.

That's truly amazing. Lian Han read the origin story and turned to the next page. It described how the Norl people embarked on their journey beyond their territory and discovered the Human Federation. The Norl population was extremely small, which led them to value life and cherish peace. Therefore, the two sides established diplomatic relations very smoothly. It was also mentioned that the Norl had sent envoys to learn and exchange ideas with China on several occasions.

This does match Zi Yan's dream. In one part, she was kicked out by Noel for always causing trouble and then causing trouble for others. The location was the Imperial Capital Star, or even Di Luo.

If Jingli went to the trouble of researching in order to create a dream, then Lian Han could only call her a "madwoman" again.

The girl was lost in thought and did not notice Ning Jue's gradual approach and the doting gaze that fell upon her—General Ning knew about the Nor people and knew that the "Tales of the Strange" should be in the Imperial Library, which could only be because he had read it.

Then comes the fall of Noel. Unlike the lengthy account of its origins and development, the fall of Noel is described in just a few sentences.

The title was "Divine Punishment," and Lian Han was speechless at the mention of it.

The content is even simpler:

"In July of the 4689th year of the Federation calendar, the Nor system lost contact. The Federation dispatched troops to search for it, and only one planet remained at the interstellar coordinates of the Nor system—a charred planet. Silently, the entire Nor system was wiped out from the interstellar space. This is simply the power of a god."

Lian Han frowned, looked up at Ning Jue, and said, "I think this..."

A soft touch came over her lips, and the girl's voice stopped abruptly. For a moment, she felt her brain short-circuit.

The kiss was unexpected and even sweeter than their last encounter on Skynet. Although Ning Jue wanted to deepen the kiss, he knew that would frighten the girl.

So he quickly straightened up and coughed lightly, "I was watching too."

Lian Han snapped out of her daze, "You...I...I didn't know you were next to me."

As soon as Lian Han finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself. The other person had just said that he had also seen it.

"No, I meant I didn't know you were so close to me, I didn't mean to..."

Seemingly finding it difficult to talk about, the girl quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks burning hot.

The girl had a stunningly beautiful face that could bring ruin to a country, but she was quite naive when it came to matters of the heart. Looking at her flushed cheeks, Ning Jue found her extremely adorable.

After observing her flustered state, Ning Jue smiled and said, "I know you didn't mean it."

Hearing this, Lian Han breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear the other party continue, "However, I can take responsibility."

Lian Han: ?

Realizing what he meant by "responsible," Lian Han's lips twitched, and without thinking, he refused, "No need."

If Ling Xin, An He, and Xiao Mei found out she had a boyfriend in his thirties, they'd probably tear her apart. Besides, is she the kind of person who needs a boyfriend?

Ning Jue was once again certain that the girl had no other feelings for him.

Xing Yucheng: ...

He was too embarrassed to remind Lian Han. Almost a year ago, General Ning also said she would take responsibility, and her main complaint at the time was her age.

"What were you trying to say?"

"Just now, uh, just now—" Lian Han regained his composure and pointed to the text below the divine punishment, "Did the gods do this?"

"That's just one theory. The reason for the disappearance of the Nor people has never been determined."

Lian Han curled his lip, "I thought this kind of book should be more serious. There are no gods in this world..."

Lian Han suddenly paused, as if there was something but not nothing—wasn't there also a guy who proclaimed himself a god?

With his thoughts wandering, Lian Han asked, "[Old man, do you think it could be Cangming who did it?]"

[Note the time: 4689, almost a hundred years have passed.]

[I don't know who said that guy had achieved immortality.]

Xing Yucheng: ...

Okay. That's what he said. That guy's lifespan is indeed ridiculously long; calling him immortal wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration.

[But what reason would he have to make a galaxy disappear? Who would do something so thankless and exhausting? You should stop overthinking.]

Lian·RandomThoughts·Han: [I know. I was just saying it offhand.]

"Now that you're sure Noel exists, what's next?"

"Let's talk about it later." Lian Han was still quite intelligent and didn't tell him that he still needed to ask Jing Li.

Ning Jue paused for a moment, then said, "Perhaps you could tell me about your dreams?"

"Um, this—aren't you busy right now?"

"I'm not busy right now. Go ahead and tell me."

"[Yeah, tell me. I also want to know why you said it was a past life.]" Xing Yucheng urged.

Lian Han remained silent. Although those dreams might have been about her past life, they mainly revolved around her romantic history, and she genuinely didn't think there was anything worth discussing about them.

However, seeing Ning Jue's curious gaze and remembering how much mental energy he had exhausted for her yesterday—she ultimately didn't refuse. "It's boring. It's all just lovey-dovey stories. You can listen if you want..."

In the endless darkness, a shadow knelt on the ground, his attitude extremely humble.

However, his humility did not earn him a chance to live. A cold voice suddenly rang out, "Useless!"

As the sound faded, the figure exploded with a "bang" and completely disappeared into the darkness.

The man's voice carried an eerie yet certain tone, "Next time, you won't have another chance to escape."

...