"Eh, Your Majesty," Zero chuckled to Bai Zhongqi, "Speaking of which, it’s been quite some time since you brought this stone back from Taoran Star, yet you seem to have not figured out its purpose."
Bai Zhongqi was unconcerned, cradling the stone which was ostensibly white but was referred to as the Crimson Gemstone.
"The Silver Feather Army has a stone as well, and they haven’t fully understood what’s it about. If I can’t figure out the function of this one, it wouldn’t surprise me."
Zero said with a touch of longing, "It is such a trifle that gave me true life, and the Homeland Titan is its wonderful gift. If there is something remarkable inside, it would definitely be a boon for the Star Alliance."
Bai Zhongqi looked at the Crimson Gemstone with a sense of helplessness; previously, both the Homeland Stone and the Soul Stone had been usable as soon as he touched them. The stone in the possession of the Silver Feather Army displayed a message and then remained still; this one, on the other hand, did not react at all.
"Holding it like this every day, trying to sense it with something profound and mysterious, I’m afraid it won’t yield any results. I might as well just hand it over to the people at the Scientific Research Institute." Bai Zhongqi decided.
Having contacted the Star Alliance Scientific Research Institute, they soon appointed the young doctor Ye Qing, formerly of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to meet Bai Zhongqi and take the Crimson Gemstone for research.
Ye Qing was also a gifted talent. Within just over a year after entering the Institute, he had become the leader of one of its secondary units, and the new type of civilian spacecraft he participated in designing and developing had already been produced in the thousands.
"It’s been a long time since we last met, Doctor Ye," Bai Zhongqi greeted Ye Qing warmly, having known him for a while.
Ye Qing, meeting with Bai Zhongqi, was neither nervous nor overly familiar; he simply saluted Bai Zhongqi and said, "Your Majesty wishes for the Scientific Research Institute to study this Crimson Gemstone, and we will definitely strive to tackle this project."
Bai Zhongqi didn’t hold out much hope for them, but he nodded and handed the white stone to Ye Qing.
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Ye Qing still solemnly donned gloves, ready to receive the gemstone and place it in a fortified specimen box.
But something strange happened. As Bai Zhongqi attempted to place the stone into Ye Qing’s hands, he found that Ye Qing couldn’t catch it at all. The stone seemed glued to his own palm, without the sensation of being sticky.
Ye Qing, watching Bai Zhongqi constantly trying to place the stone in his hand without success, thought that Bai Zhongqi was having a bit of fun with him. But on looking up at Bai Zhongqi’s odd expression, Ye Qing realized something was amiss.
"What’s going on?" Bai Zhongqi exclaimed, moving the stone from one hand to the other without issue, yet for some reason, he couldn’t hand it over to Ye Qing no matter how hard he tried.
Zero approached, equally intrigued, and asked, "Let me try?"
Bai Zhongqi tried to pass the stone to her. Like before, Zero found that regardless of how Bai Zhongqi attempted to let go of the stone, it just remained in his palm.
Bai Zhongqi became interested. He placed the stone on the table and then said to Ye Qing and Zero, "Try to take it away."
Ye Qing and Zero reached out for it, followed by a burst of brilliant light that splashed out from the stone with tremendous force.
Almost at the same time, Zero used her Star Energy to raise a Shield in front of herself and Ye Qing, while the burst of light swept past Bai Zhongqi without causing him any harm whatsoever.
Bai Zhongqi reached out and grasped the Crimson Gemstone once again, an eye-catching red instantly filling the entire stone. Bai Zhongqi felt enveloped in an unparalleled solemnity and authority that made him instinctively tense, or more accurately, it made him brace his own aura.
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Zero and Ye Qing were pushed to the window by the thrust that had erupted from the stone; suddenly, Zero felt that the color of the entire sky seemed different as she looked outside.
Although it was midday, the sky was tinted with a beautiful, pale rose red, as if dusk had fallen. The atmosphere and clouds appeared to be stirred by some indescribable power, moving mystically as though rolling in a watercolor film, a sight that was profoundly affecting.
Swiftly, as the atmospheric clouds gathered, they formed a colossal giant thousands of meters tall, and, more bizarrely, the giant bore the likeness of Bai Zhongqi. It stood at the zenith like a god, and the cloud giant made by Bai Zhongqi let out a ground-shaking roar.
"Earthly creatures, bow and listen well: I am your king upon the Earth, the king of oceans, the king of the boundless Universe. Serve me, worship me, be loyal to me, and I will grant you lands of plenty, long life, and a thriving world!"
As the cloud giant swung its arm, the clouds in the sky changed once more, shimmering like countless stars in the galaxy. Amidst the light rose red, they emitted starry flickers. Various clouds transformed into skyscrapers, pedestrians, vehicles, spaceships—everything imaginable seemed to be represented in the sky.
Bai Zhongqi looked at this spectacle, also momentarily stunned.
Zero had an incredulous expression as well and said to Bai Zhongqi, "I just checked the surveillance cameras everywhere, from Earth to Lingge Star, and this phenomenon has appeared on all of our Administrative Stars. Even on Earth, where it’s currently nighttime, this scene is still visible."
Ye Qing also looked shocked as he said to Bai Zhongqi, "Maybe this is the real function of this stone, to convey what’s in one’s heart to wherever the user desires?"
Bai Zhongqi glanced at Ye Qing, wanting to offer a rebuttal but remained silent. Perhaps the majestic proclamation of the cloud giant seemed a bit much, but since becoming the Iridium Star Chancellor, Bai Zhongqi had indeed harbored ambition—to control everything, even to dominate the Galaxy, was part of his fantasy.
So Bai Zhongqi was not certain what relationship, if any, he had with the spectacle in the sky at that moment, whether it was purely fantasy or coincidence, or if it was just as Ye Qing had said, a manifestation of his own thoughts.
From the beginning, the Crimson Gemstone could only be used by Bai Zhongqi. No one else, not even a Star Warrior master, could unlock the Divine Power of the Crimson Gemstone. And this Gemstone resisted anyone else’s touch after coming into contact with Bai Zhongqi, which was even more baffling.
Zero, however, seemed somewhat pleased. She smiled and said, "If the stone has this kind of purpose, we might as well call it the King’s Stone, don’t you think it’s fitting?"
Bai Zhongqi fiddled with the stone in his hand and said, "We need to continue validating what this thing is for, and, hopefully, the chaos it has caused won’t have any adverse effects on us."