The emergence of a Giant of Light left Jingliu momentarily speechless.
But as the Giant of Light synchronized with the Harmonization, a warm radiance enveloped Jingliu, following its rhythm. Her frenzied expression noticeably softened, becoming more peaceful.
'Jingliu' watched this scene unfold.
As the crimson sphere of light dissipated, a familiar figure appeared before her.
"Zero? Is that you?"
"Mother, I am overjoyed to see you again, but our primary target right now is him—Dr. Primitive. I must apprehend him and bring him before the Interstellar Union for judgment!"
Compared to her initial memories of her, Zero's appearance hadn't changed much. But her tone was more mature, gentler now.
"You've grown, Zero. Let me help you."
'Jingliu' glanced at the now-calm Jingliu, who had fallen completely silent, and decided to assist Zero in capturing Dr. Primitive.
That last slash seemed to have destroyed some escape tool Dr. Primitive had tried to use.
Why not press the advantage while he's vulnerable?
But Zero, looking thoughtful, observed her mother's current form and the presence of Jingliu beside her.
"No need, Mother. You came for Miss Jingliu, didn't you? We've long wished to help her, but she resisted our efforts. If you intervene, I'm certain you can save her."
"Furthermore, Dr. Primitive is dangerous. It would be terrible if Miss Jingliu were caught in the crossfire."
Zero flew directly in front of her mother, positioning herself between her and Dr. Primitive, who had crash-landed on the satellite, and assumed a guarded stance.
Dr. Primitive—a notorious genius. His life's goal was to devolve the entire universe back into primitives, forcing a fresh cycle of evolution, all in pursuit of some new, ultimate possibility for the cosmos's future.
The Giants of Light had targeted him on multiple occasions. Partnering with the Galaxy Rangers, they had dismantled numerous experimental bases and thwarted several of his experiments.
However, as was well known, Dr. Primitive possessed the ability to devolve a person into a mere ape. Many among the Galaxy Rangers had fallen victim to this. Even the Giants of Light—largely evolved from carbon-based lifeforms themselves—were susceptible to this devolution in their untransformed states.
But! The Giants of Light had a rather… idle Aeon watching over them. Noa practically kept Their gaze fixed on every single Giant.
Dr. Primitive's devolution methods targeted both body and will simultaneously.
Yet, with Noa's guardianship, the mental corruption was almost entirely ineffective.
Even if a Giant was hit while untransformed, the moment they transformed, Noa would 'come online' and purge the consciousness-targeting pollution. And devolving just the Giant's physical form was pointless—their bodies were the least of their concerns.
As long as their will remained intact, they could evolve back from any state of devolution, again and again.
After several probing encounters, the primary organization hunting Dr. Primitive gradually shifted from the Galaxy Rangers to the Land of Light itself, while the Rangers focused more on pursuing his followers.
But even for the Land of Light, capturing a genius of his caliber proved exceedingly difficult.
They had managed to apprehend him a few times, yet he always escaped, as if some unseen force was meddling behind the scenes.
As for Dr. Primitive? He was utterly fed up with being hounded by the Land of Light.
Seriously. He'd mentally cursed the creators of those Giants countless times. These artificial beings were an insult to his aesthetics!
He'd try to devolve them. But—could anyone understand the sheer frustration he felt, watching a Giant he'd just devolved into a ball of light simply evolve back right before his eyes?
And with no apparent change from the process? It was enough to make him livid.
He'd tried ambushing them in their untransformed states.
Sure enough, they'd devolve into apes. But their comrades would just take them back, and soon enough, they'd return as Giants, ready for a rematch. Where was the justice in that?
And! These Giants could all perform individual space jumps! He needed tools and preparations for that, but they?
They'd just clasp their hands together, turn into a big red sphere, and fly over at superluminal speeds.
If not for the covert assistance of Polka Kakamond, he'd have been captured and judged by the Land of Light long ago.
This time, however, he felt set up.
Dr. Primitive pulled himself from the wreckage.
He looked at the two identical Stellaron Hunter Jinglius, at Zero who was here to capture him, and the Stellaron—the culprit with the overwhelming presence that had intercepted him.
For such a low-probability event to occur, if this wasn't a trap, he wouldn't believe it. He even suspected Polka Kakamond might have secretly dealt him a severe blow.
BOOM—!
Zero landed on the barren satellite like a mighty hammer. Her expression was cold and stern as she stared down Dr. Primitive.
"Dr. Primitive, surrender. Unlike others, I have no qualms about removing your limbs, stuffing you into a cage, and hauling you back to the Land of Light."
Within the Land of Light, Zero was considered a representative of the hawkish faction.
Leaning towards the Path of The Hunt, her methods for dealing with enemies were notably forceful—though not quite as extreme as the Galaxy Rangers, who'd just as soon put a bullet in him. Zero still wanted him alive for trial.
The observing 'Jingliu,' hearing Zero's words, initially thought she meant to kill him outright. So just crippling him, huh? That was a relief.
Dr. Primitive, naturally, had no intention of surrendering quietly. While being knocked out of the sky had temporarily stranded him, he still had plenty of clever gadgets on hand. A fight wasn't impossible, and he could still find a chance to escape.
Seeing Dr. Primitive remain unmoved, Zero decisively launched her attack.
How was Dr. Primitive's personal combat ability? Passable, but nothing special. However, geniuses fight with tools, so it wasn't that simple.
In terms of pure strength, 'Jingliu' could tell Zero far surpassed the average Pathstrider; her energy readings were very close to a standard Emanator's.
It seemed Noa had been 'watering' her quite diligently these past few centuries.
But Zero was clearly holding back, wary of damaging the satellite and affecting the nearby life-bearing planet. Combined with Dr. Primitive's array of gadgets, a stalemate ensued.
But let's not forget 'Jingliu' was still on the sidelines. She had to hold back against Jingliu herself, but against Dr. Primitive? No such restraint was needed.
Just as 'Jingliu' prepared to strike, the game board she carried with her sprang out on its own. It was as if it had detected her intent and activated a tutorial program.
The board settled into her hand, urging her to channel Imaginary energy into it.
Instantly, a phantom chessboard projected across the battlefield. A figure, nearly identical to Dr. Primitive, materialized before everyone, accompanied by a powerful Imaginary energy signature.
Dr. Primitive and Zero both halted, instantly on guard.
But the phantom Dr. Primitive, without a word, produced an identical set of gadgets and charged straight at the real one.
As for 'Jingliu,' the instigator of it all? She hadn't even processed what happened yet.
The game board can be used like this??
Just what kind of spectacle would it be if that Arbitrator really got into a fight with someone??
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