Ben10: A Romantic Adventure with a Gender-Swapped Class

The dust remaining in the basement seemed to be slowly settling due to the previous tremors.

Dr. Contradictory ignored the mess around him; his gaze, sharp as a hawk's, was fixed on the compass lying quietly in the corner, emitting an ominous glow.

He walked over with steady steps, his palm hovering above the compass, as if sensing the chaotic energy surging within it.

He turned his head to the side, his voice carrying a solemnity that seemed to penetrate the dust.

"We need to take this with us first, because it's the culprit behind this crisis."

Upon hearing this, Mo Bai frowned deeply.

Take it away? How? This thing looks heavy, and it has a sinister feel to it.

He subconsciously touched the Ultimatrix on his wrist, and the image of the giant bat wings in the form of a ray flashed through his mind—grab it and fly away? It seemed like a simple and crude method.

"How about I transform into a ray and take it away?" Mo Bai tentatively suggested, her gaze shifting between the compass and Dr. Contradiction. "The problem is, where to take it?" The empty basement was clearly not the end point. Where in the universe would it be safe to throw this hot potato?

Dr. Contradictory's hand finally gently landed on the cold compass surface, and a barely perceptible ripple of energy spread from his fingertips.

He shook his head, his tone carrying an unquestionable caution.

“The farther the better.” He paused, his aged eyes turning to Mo Bai, filled with unfathomable worry. “However, I don’t recommend you transform into a ray and take him away, because I’m not sure what might happen.” He emphasized, as if tapping on a fragile piece of glass, “It’s best to choose a safer method.”

"Safe?" Mo Bai couldn't help but mutter to himself. This thing was a ticking time bomb no matter where it was placed. How could it be "safe"? He was about to refute this almost demanding requirement when a voice with a lazy smile cut in first.

"I have a good idea."

It's Mo Ge (the future Mo Bai).

A confident smile played on his lips as he casually raised his right hand, his thumb and middle finger lightly rubbing together under the questioning gazes of the crowd—

"Snapped!"

A crisp snap of the fingers, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

In an instant, space seemed to be kneaded and folded by an invisible giant hand! The light distorted, vision was swallowed by blinding purple light, and a strong sense of weightlessness suddenly gripped everyone.

Mo Bai felt dizzy and disoriented, as if her internal organs had shifted.

In the blink of an eye, before you could even gasp, the feeling of solid ground returned, but the surrounding scenery had been completely transformed.

The dark and oppressive basement was gone, replaced by familiar metal walls, flashing indicator lights, and the air filled with the unique smell of engine oil and energy fluid—they were now inside the cargo hold of the "Old Broken Car Two" spaceship.

The enormous compass lay quietly at their feet.

"This..." Mo Bai looked around abruptly, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets, staring incredulously at Mo Ge who looked completely relaxed in front of her. "How did you do that?! I really can learn it in the future?!" This was even more outrageous than teleportation; it was practically a spatial jump.

Looking at his past self, who had been so utterly astonished, Mo Ge couldn't help but chuckle.

He reached up and touched his smooth chin, his eyes darting around as if recalling that long and tedious period, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.

"Hmm... I guess I've learned a little bit?" He deliberately dragged out the words before throwing out an answer that instantly petrified Mo Bai and Xiao Ban, "It will probably take... a few thousand years?"

"Several thousand years???" Mo Bai and Xiao Ban's voices rose simultaneously, echoing in the empty cargo hold.

Mo Bai stared intently at Mo Ge's face, trying to find a trace of a joke in those eyes that were exactly the same as her own—but there was none.

Those eyes held only calmness and a hint of the irony of someone who's been there all along.

After all, the possibility of deceiving oneself is extremely low.

An indescribable sense of absurdity and awe of the future instantly overwhelmed Mo Bai.

Mo Ge seemed to have anticipated their reaction, and simply shrugged indifferently, his smile deepening as if he were lost in some distant memory.

"Heh, I still remember Mo Li back then..." He had barely started speaking when his gaze inadvertently swept over the silent Dr. Contradiction beside him.

The doctor was slightly raising one eyebrow, his gaze calm and serene, yet it held a silent, authoritative authority.

Mo Ge immediately felt as if she had been choked, swallowing the rest of her words back, a barely perceptible hint of embarrassment flashing across her face.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, quickly changing the subject, and said to Mo Bai in the tone of someone sharing valuable (and painful) experience, "You'll have to experience that for yourself later." He patted Mo Bai's shoulder, the pressure neither too light nor too heavy, with a hint of schadenfreude and sympathy, "Anyway, there will definitely be a period in your life when you absolutely don't want to see her," he emphasized, his eyes filled with a knowing look, "the kind that makes you physically uncomfortable just seeing her."

As if that wasn't enough, Mo Ge suddenly seemed to remember something important, her eyes widened slightly, revealing a light that was a mixture of nostalgia and mischief.

He bent down, leaned close to Mo Bai's ear, and lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret that only the two of them could understand.

"Please give her my regards if you have the chance," he said, his voice as soft as a sigh, tinged with a barely perceptible melancholy. "It's been several years since I last saw her."

A warm breath brushed against her ear, and those words, carrying the weight of time, sent a jolt through Mo Bai's heart.

He opened his mouth, as if trying to grasp the complex emotions that flowed through him in that instant, wanting to ask why they hadn't seen each other for so many years.

But Mo Ge's movements were as fast as the wind.

The moment he finished speaking, he had already hung the heavy compass on a specially made bracket on the cargo hold wall without anyone noticing. His movements were fluid and graceful, as if he had practiced it a thousand times.

Then, without looking back, he turned around and strode towards the cockpit, his back view clean and decisive.

"Wait!" Mo Bai blurted out, her voice carrying a hint of urgency that she herself didn't realize.

Mo Ge stopped in his tracks. He turned slightly to the side, the lines of his shoulders clearly outlined by the cabin lights.

He didn't turn his head completely, but just turned his face to the side, his gaze calmly falling on Mo Bai, as if patiently and silently asking: Is there anything else?

The only sound in the cargo hold was the low hum of the spaceship's engines.

Mo Bai looked into those familiar yet unfamiliar eyes, a thousand thoughts choking her throat—about "her," about the teleportation that takes thousands of years to learn, about why her future self would have such eyes.

In the end, all the doubts and all the impulses turned into a sigh of weariness and resignation, which dissipated into the cold air.

"Never mind, it's nothing." He lowered his eyes, his fingers unconsciously picking at the seam of his pants.

Just when Mo Bai thought the conversation was over, Mo Ge, who had his back to him, seemed to see through all the turbulent thoughts in his heart.

He didn't turn around, but spoke clearly in his usual lazy yet penetrating voice.

"You still have a chance"—the tone was as certain as stating a predetermined future.