After gaining the allegiance of Aurora and the entire Treant race, Bai Ze watched them depart slowly. Only after ensuring that all the creatures on the home planet were properly settled did Bai Ze wave his hand, withdrawing his exhausted consciousness from the starry sky.
When he opened his eyes, a beam of sunlight filtered through the gap in the window, illuminating the room.
Getting up and opening the window, he saw a clear, sunny sky, with gentle clouds drifting in the breeze.
"Morning already? Time flies," Bai Ze muttered to himself.
He got dressed and prepared to head out. However, as soon as he opened the door, a delightful aroma caught his attention.
Not far away, Xia Yinyue was wearing an apron and had her hair styled in a single-sided braided ponytail. She was holding two plates, from which the enticing smell was wafting.
"You're awake?"
"If you're up, wash up first and then come have breakfast," she called out to Bai Ze.
Bai Ze glanced at her hairstyle and paused briefly.
Walking up to her, he reached out and playfully ruffled her ponytail under her wary gaze.
"This hairstyle… heh, it's a bit dangerous," Bai Ze teased.
Xia Yinyue looked puzzled. "What's wrong with my hairstyle? Doesn't it look good?"
"It's fine, it looks great," Bai Ze replied immediately.
"But maybe avoid tying it like this in the future. It's… a little dangerous," he said with a grin before letting go of her ponytail and heading to the bathroom.
Xia Yinyue stood there, staring at her single-sided braid in confusion.
"Doesn't seem bad… Is it really that ugly?"
She couldn't figure it out and decided not to dwell on it. Instead, she headed back to the kitchen to finish setting up breakfast.
After washing up, Bai Ze returned to the dining table, eating as he chatted with Xia Yinyue.
"Yinyue, earlier in my room, I heard knocking outside. Did someone come by?" Bai Ze asked.
Xia Yinyue poured him a cup of soy milk and replied, "A senior came by. He said he was looking for you, something about conducting an investigation."
"But midway through, he got a phone call and seemed surprised. Then he started talking about things I couldn't understand and left."
Bai Ze frowned in confusion.
"What did he say?"
"Um…" Xia Yinyue thought for a moment before answering, "He mentioned something about battles, self-destruction, and imprisonment. I didn't get it at all."
Hearing this, Bai Ze's brows knitted tightly.
"Battles? Self-destruction? Imprisonment?"
"That… sounds familiar," he thought to himself.
"Surely it's not such a coincidence…"
Shaking off the thought, Bai Ze quickly took a bite of his bun to distract himself.
Elsewhere, Ouyang Na drove to the rooftop of a tall building.
Inside, a middle-aged man, previously referred to as the God Lord, sat on a leather sofa, listening to her report.
"Hmm, I understand everything you've said," he said calmly.
"This is indeed a cause for celebration and has caught even me by surprise."
"So, has your team managed to uncover the true identity of this student or his exact location?"
The man stroked his beard, his tone gentle.
Ouyang Na, looking somewhat dejected, shook her head.
"No, not yet," she admitted.
"But!" She quickly added, "We have a rough idea. This student might be an illegitimate child of a wealthy family in the imperial capital or perhaps a scion of a noble house."
"Roughly?" The man chuckled.
He shook his head with a slight smile. "Why don't you come and see this instead?"
The middle-aged man stood up, leading the puzzled Ouyang Na to his office computer.
On the screen was a federal map, with a specific region outlined in red. At its center was a radar marker.
"I've been monitoring the footage you released in real-time."
"Using the emitted energy waves, my instruments managed to roughly pinpoint a province."
"Sulin Province!" Ouyang Na exclaimed in surprise.
The area outlined in red was indeed Sulin Province.
"How is this possible? Since when did Sulin Province produce such a monstrous talent?" she thought, stunned.
The middle-aged man smiled faintly and shook his head, adopting a more serious tone.
"You're still too young. In the end, you've found nothing definitive, have you?"
"Keep in mind, if not for this student single-handedly defeating all the Liches and salvaging your blunder, you might have had to bear full responsibility for this incident."
"If you meet him, you must thank him sincerely," he said.
As a federal Stellar Captain, any mission failure or mishap would indeed fall squarely on her shoulders.
"I understand, Father. If given the chance, I'll be sure to thank him properly," Ouyang Na replied solemnly.
"But if you've managed to pinpoint his location, why not narrow it down to him directly?" she asked curiously.
This question seemed to catch the middle-aged man off guard, and he coughed awkwardly.
"Uh… It's to preserve his mystery!"
"Letting him remain enigmatic is better!"
"After all, the alien races are always watching us like hawks. Exposing such a genius would be dangerous!" he declared, his expression unchanging.
Although initially skeptical, Ouyang Na thought her father's reasoning made sense.
The alien races were a constant threat. If they learned of such a prodigy, wouldn't they send assassins?
"I guess I wasn't thorough enough in my considerations."
"Father, we should at least spread the news within the Federation. They should know that Sulin Province has produced such a talent!"
As long as only Sulin Province was mentioned, she reasoned, there wouldn't be any issues.
The middle-aged man didn't object.
"Alright, alright, as you wish. Now off you go."
He waved her away in a dismissive gesture.
Having confirmed the news, Ouyang Na left the office without further delay.
Left alone, the middle-aged man turned his gaze back to the computer, deep in thought.
Truth be told, he wasn't trying to protect Bai Ze.
The Federation's strength was well-known.
Even if a genius emerged, which alien race would dare to send assassins?
The real reason was that he couldn't locate Bai Ze himself!
Despite his advanced instruments and formidable sensory abilities, he had been blocked by some mysterious power during the investigation.
After exhausting all his efforts, he could only narrow it down to the province level, unable to pinpoint the individual.
"How strange, truly strange."
"I wonder… what kind of power is deliberately shielding him?"
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