The mecha lost power and when Li Changzhou emerged from the cockpit, he transformed into a stream of light, breaking through the atmosphere of Four Seasons Star. Under the rules of the Value game, he flew towards Cangqiong Star in a corner of the endless universe at a speed that was unimaginable even at light speed.
That perhaps could no longer be called speed.
The shrieking cold wind still whipped at Xiao Wu as he watched Li Changzhou slowly float down from the sky. He felt the wind was like the hands of ghosts—ghosts of millions of ice people—pulling at them, trying to drag them along into the abyss of death.
Soda Crackers shrank his head and tightened his clothes.
The temperature seemed even colder.
Holding Ruyi, Yang Qinglan pondered briefly, then looked up and said, "Are you worried about a dispute in the end?"
"Absolutely!" Turquoise Pool seemed to have foreseen this, her face bearing a look of excitement for the spectacle, "The Special Warfare Bureau won't trust you, no, they won't trust any player, and the other players won't trust any player either—putting on the crown and becoming the ruler of this planet, who could resist that temptation?"
After putting on the crown, there were many choices.
One, do not order the people of Four Seasons Star to submit, thus failing the mission and staying permanently on Four Seasons Star, acting like a deity with the help of the 'Crown.'
Two, use the power of the 'Crown' to kill all other players except oneself, becoming the sole winner of the mission, being the only one able to travel between Four Seasons Star and Earth.
The second choice had risks.
The power of the 'Crown' might only be effective on Four Seasons Star, and if so, the fate upon returning to Earth would be miserable.
Or it might not be, and Earth might be more likely to choose to cooperate with the player who wears the 'Crown.'
But no matter the choice, the player wearing the 'Crown' had the authority to decide the life and death of others—who would want others to decide their own fate?
"Didn't you sign it in 'black and white'?" Crackers asked, puzzled.
"Can you guarantee that 'black and white' can limit the person wearing the 'Crown'?" Yafeiluna countered.
Crackers fell silent.
"So bro, is that why you started a massacre?" Li Qianxia asked Li Changzhou.
Li Changzhou nodded, then took his sister by the shoulders, earnestly sighed in her ear, "You have to understand me, sis, I'm not some demon; I'm not interested in killing."
"... I never said I would blame you." Li Qianxia was speechless at her brother's act, "I understand, this is a war."
"There are two more times; if you don't want to see, you can enter the 'Honeycomb World.'"
"At least spare Qing Shui and them."
"As you wish, next we are heading to autumn, by the time we get there, the Special Warfare Bureau people should have already left, we can proceed without the worry of causing mistaken harm."
Li Changzhou hugged Li Qianxia, their heads together, though speaking audibly, it appeared as if they were whispering secrets.
Yang Qinglan held Ruyi in her left hand, her right hand forming a fist, resting against her cherry-colored lips.
"Ahem." A light cough.
Before Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia could react, Turquoise Pool, somewhat surprised, turned towards her and said, "I didn't expect you to be so jealous."
"Jealous?" Yang Qinglan's voice was even, seriously saying, "I have a cold."
"...You're more interesting than I thought." Turquoise Pool seemed somewhat admiring and amused.
"Otherwise, why would Changzhou like me?"
"Are you provoking me? Nowadays young people all like white hair."
"It's the modern two-dimensional world that likes white hair, not me." Li Changzhou immediately said.
"What are you talking about, bro?" Li Qianxia, holding onto her brother's arm, looked at him innocently, "Have you forgotten? Back in the desert, when you saw the player who said 'this is my escape route' and you even said that they must be a good person, that those who like the two-dimensional are definitely not bad."
"I remember." It was Yang Qinglan who said this.
At the same time, the spring breeze enveloping Li Changzhou disappeared.
The cold air eagerly pounced upon him, filling his jacket as the air he exhaled condensed into a white mist.
"Qian Xia," Li Changzhou moved Li Qianxia's hands away from him, "actually, we are not biological siblings."
Prepared to sever familial ties.
Li Qianxia hugged her own arms, looking at him tremblingly, "Bro, that's not okay."
"..."
"Let's go." Yang Qinglan tapped Li Qianxia on the head with Ruyi.
Li Qianxia clutched her head, "Why hit me?!"
"That's really interesting." Turquoise Pool laughed as she watched the scene unfold.
A gust of cold wind made Li Changzhou feel much more at ease; he threw the corpse of the Frost Queen into the 'Honeycomb World.'
Turquoise Pool searched the clear night sky for several minutes before finding enough cloud to gather two auspicious clouds.
While flying, it seemed as if they were accompanied by the howling cold wind all along the way.
Towards the latter part of the night, a blizzard arose again, quickly reducing visibility. One moment there was nothing ahead, and the next a mountain loomed directly in front of them.
"In every blizzard, ice people are born." Yang Qinglan said, reading from a booklet.
"Even if we win this round, this ice plain might still continue to provide a home for ice people... Perhaps they might even counterattack Earth, seizing the Arctic and Antarctica." Li Qianxia was in good spirits.