Why didn't you tell me earlier that my little sister is still waiting for me?

Lin Bufan's rapid-fire explanation almost convinced even himself. He looked at everyone with a wronged expression, as if saying, "You've wronged an innocent person."

The air was silent for a few seconds. Just when Lin Bufan thought he had won everyone over with his charm and made them completely believe in him, Chen Nanxing spoke up!

Chen Nanxing muttered to himself, "If someone else did this, I definitely wouldn't believe it. But it happened to you... well, I think it's pretty normal."

Lin Bufan immediately turned to Chen Nanxing, pointed at her, and his face showed a mixture of shock, hurt, and grievance, as if "the person closest to me doesn't trust me." His eyes widened slightly.

"You...!" Lin Bufan was about to say something when Xu Hongdou spoke softly, her voice gentle and calm, yet carrying an undeniable certainty: "Nanxing is right. It wouldn't be surprising if you did something."

Lin Bufan turned his head to Xu Hongdou again, his face showing even more grievance. Just as he was about to defend himself, he saw that Nana, Hu Youyu, and even Xie Zhiyao and Bai Manjun next to him all nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with what Xu Hongdou and Chen Nanxing said.

Lin Bufan: “…”

Has my image really collapsed to this extent?

Just as Lin Bufan was about to make a last-ditch effort, Da Mai timidly raised his hand and interjected in a low but clear voice: "Um... Mr. Lin, if it wasn't you... how could it be such a coincidence? Wherever you pointed, a star slowly lit up? Isn't the probability... a bit too low?"

These words seemed to express everyone's thoughts. Xu Hongdou, Nana, Hu Youyu, Xie Zhiyao, and even Bai Manjun all nodded silently, their gazes refocusing on Lin Bufan, the meaning in their eyes was crystal clear—this matter is definitely related to you.

Looking at those faces that screamed "You're the mastermind," Lin Bufan felt his temples throbbing. He took a deep breath, trying to make his expression look even more "heartbroken" and "disappointed."

"Dear neighbors! It's the 21st century, can't we just trust science?"

Stop being so superstitious and always associating things with the supernatural or me, okay?

As everyone knows, I, Lin Bufan, have a wide range of interests, so it's easy to understand why I know a little about astronomy, right?

Lin Bufan scanned everyone's faces, and without waiting for their answers, he continued, "Qinan Star—well, now the whole world calls it Death Planet—its appearance is not a supernatural event at all, nor is it because I, Lin Bufan, have any superpowers! It was an extremely rare astronomical phenomenon that perfectly conforms to the laws of celestial motion!"

I had already calculated, through some… well, private channels and observational data, that this planet would soon be relatively close to Earth, and due to its unique composition and orbital angle, it would be illuminated by the sun at a specific time, thus becoming visible to the naked eye from Earth. Last night, at that time and in that direction, it happened to be at its peak brightness, the most suitable moment for observation! That's why I pointed there with such certainty! I didn't make it light up; it simply reached its time to shine, and I was cooperating with it! Do you understand?”

Lin Bufan's words were delivered with conviction, and his expression that seemed to say, "How can you not even understand this basic common sense?" caused everyone to pause for a moment, their initial certainty wavering slightly, turning into doubt.

Chen Nanxing frowned, carefully considering Lin Bufan's words. After a long while, he shook his head and muttered, "Although what you said seems to make a lot of sense... I just feel like something is not right."

Lin Bufan immediately looked at Chen Nanxing, raised an eyebrow, and asked with a hint of self-deprecation and helplessness, "What's wrong with me? Do you think I'm some kind of alien? Did I just fly an entire planet to Earth to pick up girls?"

Lin Bufan originally just wanted to use this exaggerated rhetorical question to reinforce his "ordinary person" stance and ease the atmosphere.

However, as soon as he finished speaking—

In an instant, everyone's eyes lit up several degrees, fixed intently on him! The inquiry, excitement, and a sense of "I see!" in their eyes were almost tangible!

Lin Bufan was startled by the sudden, unified gaze, a chill running down his spine. He instinctively took a small step back, his voice trembling slightly: "Why...why are you all looking at me like that? Do you...do you really think I'm an alien?!"

Chen Nanxing's eyes widened, and she suddenly clapped her hands, pointing at Lin Bufan. Her voice rose with excitement: "I remember now! Isn't there a Korean drama called 'My Love from the Star'? The male lead is an alien who has lived on Earth for hundreds of years! Lin Bufan! Confess! Were you the screenwriter of that drama? Or... was it based on your real experiences?! Are you Do Min-joon?!"

Lin Bufan: “…”

He opened his mouth, looking at Chen Nanxing's excited expression as if he had "discovered a shocking secret," and then at the others around him who, although they didn't say anything, were clearly influenced and their eyes were shifting. He felt a deep sense of powerlessness welling up in his heart.

What does this even mean?!

There's simply no reasoning with these guys who have such bizarre thought processes!

Forget it, destroy it!

"Think what you want, go back to the village!"

After saying that, Lin Bufan walked down the mountain without looking back, his back view showing a desolate air of "I am the only one sober in a world of drunks".

But he only took a few steps—

"Teacher Lin!" Hu Youyu shouted from behind, "There's a car! Let's take a car back! It'll take more than an hour to walk back!"

Lin Bufan paused, his back stiffening noticeably for a moment. Then, his shoulders slumped, and he turned around resignedly, slinking back to the car. He opened the car door and got in, not glancing at anyone the entire time.

……

As soon as he returned to Youfeng Courtyard, Lin Bufan went straight into his room number five without saying a word, and locked the door from the inside, blocking all the inquiring, curious, and teasing gazes from outside.

Don't misunderstand, Lin Bufan wasn't really angry or flustered, but rather he wanted to calm down and think about the next solution for the Morning Star, or rather, the Death Planet!

Lin Bufan threw himself into a chair, took out his phone, and unlocked the screen. Sure enough, major social media platforms and news apps were already dominated by "Planet of Death".

The top ten trending topics are all related to it:

Planet Death accelerates and then suddenly stops

Global observatories remain silent.

Is it a blessing or a curse?

Panic buying occurs in many places

Is this solid evidence of extraterrestrial signals?

Underground shelters on the West Coast were sold out.

……

Clicking in reveals an overwhelming flood of discussions, speculations, and panic, occasionally interspersed with faint voices attempting to explain that "it might be a special celestial body or optical phenomenon," but these are quickly drowned out by more sensational statements.

The video shows chaotic scenes of supermarket shelves being emptied abroad, terrified faces of citizens in street interviews, and so-called "experts" talking about the "possibility of interstellar colonization" on a program!

Lin Bufan's brows furrowed more and more as he looked at it.

This is a huge mistake; they've really messed things up this time.

If things continue to be chaotic like this, how can he feel at ease chasing girls? In the end, won't he be forced to become the world's leader prematurely, working 007 every day and carrying the burden of the entire world on his shoulders?

"We need to think of a way... at least to calm the panic down."

Lin Bufan rubbed his chin, his gaze falling on the still bright sky outside the window—although he couldn't see it with the naked eye, he could clearly sense that TX-817 (or "Qinan Star") was obediently staying in orbit near Earth.

After ten minutes of deliberation, going back and forth, Lin Bufan finally made a decision: he would control Qi Nanxing to write a few large characters in the sky, telling everyone, "I am not a bad ball, I am a good ball," so that everyone would not panic.

However, what troubled Lin Bufan was whether to write it in Chinese or English.

Will writing in Chinese reveal my identity?

Will writing in English get me accused of being a Western worshipper?

Or is it a combination of Chinese and Western elements?

Won't it look out of place?

Just as Lin Bufan was getting more and more of a headache, for some reason, his phone suddenly made a "TIMI" sound!

Then, Lin Bufan lost his way!

……

When the failure message popped up on the screen for the nth time, Lin Bufan finally couldn't suppress his anger any longer!

Upon opening the team voice chat, Lin Bufan's voice was hoarse from lack of rest and clearly annoyed: "Stone, tell me first, you, who vowed to take the postgraduate entrance exam, have been online almost as much as a professional gamer today? Have you finished your 'Xiao Xiurong 1000 Questions'? Has your English reading comprehension accuracy improved? How many times have you reviewed your major courses? Huh? I don't think you're here to relax, you've come to settle down in the Rift, have you?"

Luo Yan's guilty and slightly aggrieved voice came through the earphones: "I... I'm not feeling well today, I can't concentrate on reading... so I wanted to play a couple of games to clear my head..."

"Adjust?" Lin Bufan interrupted without any politeness: "Adjust by losing eight games in a row? Your method of adjustment is quite unique, isn't it? The more you adjust, the worse it gets, right? I think you should just give up on the graduate school study room and come to the e-sports youth training camp instead!"

"Hey, bro, don't talk about Shitou like that," Peng Jiahe's voice chimed in, carrying her characteristic, slightly impulsive protectiveness: "Shitou's under a lot of pressure, what's wrong with playing games? Besides, today's loss isn't entirely her fault, the enemy jungler kept ganking her, and I didn't help her much..."

"Peng Jiahe!" Lin Bufan's barrage immediately shifted: "I almost forgot about you if you hadn't said anything! You're a senior in high school! Senior Peng! Shouldn't you have handed in your phone? Do your second uncle and grandma know you're currently playing in the canyon? Haven't they helped you yet? Your positioning and awareness are terrible, even my grandma could play better with her feet! Are you rolling your face on the keyboard? Get offline and do your homework right now! If you fall behind again in the next exam, I'll have Jiang Lai suspend your card!"

Peng Jiahe angrily quit the game!

"And you, Wenwen." Seeing Peng Jiahe run away, Lin Bufan immediately turned his attention to her: "Playing games during work hours? Is your company that idle lately? Have your proposals been approved? Have your KPIs been met? Don't you want your year-end bonus? Don't think you can slack off just because your boss is your sister. You're an adult, can't you have some self-control?"

Wenwen didn't say anything, but soon Lin Bufan's Green Bubble received a photo—a beautiful leg in black stockings!

Don't get me wrong, it's not Xu Wenwen's, it's Xu Li's!

After Lin Bufan finally made up his mind to turn off the photo of the beautiful legs in black stockings, he realized that the three people and the dog had all logged out of the game at some point!

Seeing this, Lin Bufan had no choice but to put down his phone and write down the bill!

Seeing that it was getting dark outside the window, Lin Bufan finally pushed open the door. The slightly cool evening air rushed in, clearing his groggy mind.

In the courtyard, Nana was still carrying her canvas bag, apparently having just returned from get off work at Youfeng Restaurant. Xu Hongdou was sitting on a chair under the eaves, holding a book in her hand. Hearing the noise, she looked up.

"Oh," Xu Hongdou closed the book, her tone unreadable, but a hint of teasing played at the corners of her mouth: "Finally decided to come out of your spider cave? I thought you were planning to hibernate in there."

Lin Bufan stretched his stiff neck, walked over, and deliberately put on a stern face: "Comrade Xu Hongdou, you'd better be more polite when you talk to me. I haven't completely forgiven you for your serious distrust and even suspicion of me before. If you continue like this, believe me, I'll just get on my Qinan Star spaceship and fly away. Then you'll regret it and have nowhere to cry."

Xu Hongdou rolled her eyes at Lin Bufan, too lazy to respond.

Chen Nanxing had just come out of the kitchen with a plate of washed fruit in his hand. His eyes lit up when he heard this, and he came over: "Extraordinary! You finally admitted it! You are an alien, right? From that Qi Nan Star?"

Lin Bufan glared at Chen Nanxing, annoyed: "Chen Nanxing, as a Chinese person, can't you listen to what I'm saying? From which sentence did you get the idea that I admitted I'm an alien?"

"Tch—" Chen Nanxing drawled in disappointment, picked up an apple, and took a bite: "Boring."

Da Mai also carried her laptop out of the room, sat down at the dining table, and looked at Lin Bufan with a hesitant expression.

"What's up?" Lin Bufan glanced at her.

“Mr. Lin…” Da Mai spoke softly, her eyes sparkling with a mix of trepidation and excitement: “I… I have a new idea. About the new book, I was thinking… what do you think if I incorporated alien elements into my current supernatural novel?”

Lin Bufan stared at Da Mai in silence for a few seconds, then slowly asked, "You're not thinking of writing... Ultraman vs. Sadako, are you?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Da Mai nodded vigorously, her face flushed with excitement. "That's pretty much the feeling! But it can be more complex and layered! Don't you also think this idea is novel and interesting? It's sure to attract a lot of readers, right?"

Lin Bufan was silent for a moment, then patted Da Mai on the shoulder and said sincerely, "Da Mai, I think it's a real pity that you're not a screenwriter for 'The Battle of the Forbidden City 2' with your talent."

The excitement on DaMai's face froze instantly. He blinked, slowly deflated, and hugged his computer without saying a word.

Nana put her things down and came over, smiling as she changed the subject: "Speaking of 'The Duel at the Forbidden City,' it's currently showing in theaters. How about we go see it together sometime? It'll be a way of supporting President Lin!"

Lin Bufan was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "It's been released? How come I didn't know?"