Legendary Person: I brought my skills back to reality!

The gaze of Oboro's cold, giant eyes, like a tangible searchlight, slowly swept across the giant tree below, which was covered with billions of cocoons of light. Every inch of the branches and every dormant point of light was illuminated by the huge vertical pupil.

Xu Hao felt that voice echoing again in the depths of his mind, plain and straightforward, yet carrying a sense of heaviness and indifference on a cosmic scale.

"These..." Long's voice was flat, yet it seemed to resonate with the surrounding space. "Within the cocoon of light are my compatriots. Individuals of the Fama civilization, exhausted in endless war, had no choice but to choose this way to preserve their last spark of life, falling into a long slumber."

Each of them was once a vibrant warrior, scholar, artist… Now, they merely maintain a minimal existence.

The giant eye turned slightly, its focus seemingly falling on one of the particularly bright cocoons of light, before quickly shifting away, as if unwilling to linger.

“Only when all our compatriots here, every single one of them, have fully awakened from their slumber and replenished everything plundered by the war, will our civilization, Fama, be truly…resurrected.”

"To awaken them and restore them to their complete state requires unimaginable spiritual energy as vast as the starry sky."

Long paused, as if stating an objective fact, "That fragment of memory allowed you to glimpse a corner. You should understand that, according to our inherent nature, the Fama are not a race that is keen on conquest and killing."

We are more inclined to explore the mysteries of the universe and create than to destroy.

“But…” His tone suddenly turned even colder, carrying an unquestionable logic.

"In your human civilization, there is a widely celebrated thinker who expounded a fundamental axiom—"

Survival is the first priority of civilization. This statement, though uttered by a less advanced civilization, unexpectedly touches upon a fundamental law of the universe.

“So, as that saying reveals,” Oboro’s voice was like a final verdict.

"There is no 'hatred' between us and you humans, and between us and the worlds that we have traversed, as you understand it."

That was an inefficient and meaningless emotion. Everything we did, from beginning to end, had only one purpose—to obtain enough spiritual energy to awaken our fellow human beings and to allow our entire civilization to continue to exist.

This has nothing to do with right or wrong, good or evil; it's simply about...survival!

The last two words fell with an unwavering resolve, as if they were the most irrefutable truth in the universe.

Xu Hao listened quietly, the gray-purple light casting flickering shadows on his face. He squinted slightly, his pupils reflecting the giant tree, the billions of light cocoons, and the cold, giant eye hanging in the sky.

His fingers unconsciously rubbed against the tree trunk, feeling the slight coolness emanating from it. His mind raced, but he didn't speak, only his eyes were slightly narrowed.

Something is wrong!

Xu Hao's fingertips unconsciously traced the cold, strangely textured bark of the giant tree beside him. Long's straightforward voice, as if reciting the laws of the universe, still echoed in his mind, each syllable carrying a chilling coldness.

However, beneath this chill, an extremely faint, almost absurd sense of unease, like an undercurrent beneath the ice, quietly surged. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his pupils reflecting the enormous, indifferent vertical pupil above him, and the branches behind it, covered with billions of cocoons of light, like a sea of ​​stars.

The brain works at breakneck speed under extreme pressure, comparing the present moment with previous experiences.

How condescending and indifferent to everything was Oboro before?

Those two cold-blooded choices were like two guillotines hanging over the neck of human civilization, leaving no room for doubt or explanation, only a pure display of power and an ultimatum.

It views humans as "ants," and even the three humans who caused it great trouble are nothing more than slightly stronger ants in its eyes.

His words were always filled with an absolute sense of control and contempt for inferior life.

But now?

Long's words, though still cold, contained far more... "content".

It explains, elaborates on the "unavoidable circumstances" of the Fama civilization, describes the significance of this "land of eternal rest," and even subtly mentions that they were not inherently warlike. This explanation itself exudes a sense of incongruity.

For someone who sees others as mere dust, explanations are superfluous, and patience is a luxury.

Xu Hao's gaze unconsciously swept over the cocoons that emitted a soft glow, feeling their synchronized, faint life rhythms.

He recalled how, just moments ago, Long's gaze, amidst the countless points of light, seemed to have briefly focused on a particular cocoon of light before shifting away. It wasn't a deliberate emphasis; it was more like… a subconscious attention, an instinctive outpouring?

Where is he now? Right beneath this giant tree that carries all the hopes of the Fama civilization, within reach. And Oboro, this awakened "spark," this being who theoretically possesses absolute power, is here, patiently recounting the secrets concerning the survival of civilization to what it sees as an "outsider," an unexpected intruder.

Is there a "person" who is very important to it inside that cocoon of light? Or is the entire tree important to it?

Is this "patience" really patience?

Or is it... a concern?

A kind of caution that he had to exercise because he was in this absolutely central place?

A startling thought cleaved through Xu Hao's chaotic thoughts like lightning:

It's afraid!

It's not that we're afraid of Xu Hao as a person, but rather that we're afraid of his current position and that he might cause even the slightest damage to this giant tree or to these sleeping compatriots!

This place, this tree, these cocoons of light are of paramount importance to it, so important that even its eternally unchanging, icy demeanor has shown a barely perceptible wavering!

That so-called "politeness" is nothing but a disguise for fear!

Xu Hao's fingers clenched tightly, the cold bark digging painfully into his knuckles, but a strange power rose from the depths of his heart. He understood; he had grasped Long's only weakness.

We need to think of a solution!

The cold, giant eye hanging in the sky seemed to slightly narrow the light in its enormous vertical pupil, as if the most sophisticated detection instrument had captured the subtle yet clear change in Xu Hao.

Almost the instant that astonishing thought settled in Xu Hao's mind, Long's voice rang out again from the depths of his mind.

This time, the voice seemed to deliberately slow down, each syllable as if carefully considered, trying to erase the previous unquestionable sense of judgment and add a touch of...rational discussion?

"Your reaction..." Oboro's voice still lacked warmth, but within that cosmic indifference, there seemed to be a very subtle intention to try to close the distance. "Perhaps, your human understanding has been flawed from the very beginning."

It paused for a moment, its enormous pupils seemingly observing Xu Hao's every reaction, along with the slightest energy fluctuations in the space around him.

“We are not ‘enslaving’ you, if you define it with your narrow vocabulary,” Oboro continued.

"Gathering spiritual energy here to nourish our sleeping compatriots is not a one-way plunder."

From a broader perspective, the future of our two civilizations seems more like... fusion.