He stood over two meters tall, truly built like a fortress—broad in the shoulders and thick in the waist. The school uniform strained against the coiled, bunched muscles across his body, which, while not as exaggerated as the bodybuilders seen in his former life in the West, appeared far more balanced.

Standing there, he resembled a mountain, and standing near him, one could feel an oppressive pressure emanating from him.

Zhong Yun smiled kindly at him and looked away.

"Hmph," he scoffed through his nose, "Laugh, laugh my ass." Just then, a tall, stunning young woman stepped out from the group of girls Zhong Yun had been staring at, linking her arm around the **'s, speaking intimately.

Chu Tiange's face instantly darkened upon hearing the last sentence. He had already considered himself Zhong Yun's guard; how could he tolerate Zhong Yun being humiliated like this? Just as he was about to erupt, Zhong Yun’s voice drifted over, "Don't stir up trouble."

He suppressed his fury, glaring fiercely at the ** before following Zhong Yun into the school.

This minor episode caused no ripples. Zhong Yun remained eagerly touring the grounds, finally arriving at the library to examine the materials within.

Zhong Yun became completely absorbed; once he started reading, he didn't stop.

The library did not contain advanced technology; most books were on fundamental sciences, with a small selection of literary works and some history texts.

The Aier Nation had been established for nearly a thousand years. Due to a relatively stable environment, the Aier Nation had developed rapidly, even in fields unrelated to science, such as arts and history.

The Star Sea had been plagued by frequent warfare, making the development of literature and arts extremely difficult. Only the most powerful nations with long, sustained inheritances possessed such accumulated knowledge.

Zhong Yun had little interest in the local art; he focused on the historical texts, hoping to find a way to leave this place through the recorded history.

He spent an entire day there without making any significant discoveries. All the local history books recorded events since the founding of the Aier Nation: which king ascended, what achievements he made, and similar matters.

Only a few volumes occasionally mentioned the great catastrophe seven thousand years ago that almost destroyed the entire Star Sea, offering no mention of what the world was like before that disaster.

Disappointed, Zhong Yun moved to the interstellar section to pick up some books introducing the Star Sea.

It wasn't until the library announced closing time that Zhong Yun and the others left.

After spending four or five days in the library, he had gained very little. The books mostly spoke only of the situation near the Aier Nation. Further away, besides mentioning the nearest powerful nation, there was no introduction to other regions.

The questions Zhong Yun most wanted answered—such as the true size of the entire Star Sea, or how many nations like the Aier Nation existed—remained unanswered.

However, a storybook he found by chance brought a small surprise: a book titled The Book of Genesis, which contained myths, rather resembling the Bible from his former life.

According to The Book of Genesis, the Star Sea was created by a Dark God. Initially, there was no life here; it was dead and silent, so the Star Sea was formerly called the Dead Sea.

Hearing this, a thought struck Zhong Yun: Dead Sea, Dead Domain—was there a connection between the two? He continued reading.

Up until fifty thousand years ago, the Omnipotent God arrived in the Star Sea. Seeing the desolation, He took pity and created the spirit of all things—humanity—modeled after Himself.

This was not very different from the story in the Bible, but the key lay in what followed. The Book of Genesis described in detail the manner in which the Omnipotent God arrived: He descended upon the Dead Sea, piloting a sun radiating dazzling golden light, piercing the perpetual darkness and bringing a ray of light to the world...

Seeing the words "sun radiating golden light," Zhong Yun felt a subtle strangeness. Was this pure exaggeration, or did it have a factual basis?

It was normal for ancient peoples to worship the sun, but there was one issue: If the Star Sea lacked natural stars, then the humans here were certainly not products of natural evolution.

Fifty thousand years ago, a massive fleet was lost in this lifeless Dead Domain. Faced with no hope of leaving, they used the most advanced technology to forcibly establish a sanctuary for humanity in this stagnant place, overcoming countless difficulties to eventually nurture this unique civilization.

The leader was that "sun" radiating dazzling golden light...

Zhong Yun had reason to believe this lost fleet originated from the Lansen Empire, and the "sun" radiating dazzling golden light was the Jupiter.

His speculation was not without basis: the energy shields of a "Quasi-Stellar" class warship were golden yellow, looking like a brilliant sun from a distance.

But this idea did not excite Zhong Yun; instead, his mood grew heavier. Even the Lansen Empire, possessing a "Quasi-Stellar" class warship, had failed to find a way out of the Star Sea. The hope of leaving grew increasingly slim.

This conjecture lacked Xiao Ling's endorsement because it was not based on factual evidence; all deductions must be based on hard data. Zhong Yun’s reliance on intuition was unreliable.

Unfortunately, the data banks of the Jupiter, including the main core, were damaged, making it impossible to confirm his hypothesis.

At the highest and largest structure on Aier Star sat the Administrative Council, the supreme governing body of the nation. In an office within the Council, a thin old man listened to a subordinate’s report.

After finishing official business, the old man rubbed his temples and suddenly asked, "What has the Sovereign of the Galaxy Nation been doing these past few days?" The old man's voice was quiet, yet carried an inherent authority. As the head of the Intelligence Department, he sat at the core of the nation's power, wielding great influence.

"Reporting to the Minister, the Sovereign of the Galaxy Nation has been staying in the library of the Aier Professional Academy with one of his personal guards for the last few days," the subordinate replied respectfully.

"Oh," the old man responded. He had only asked casually; given the Galaxy Nation's low standing, he didn't take it seriously. He was merely preparing in case the Administrative Dean asked about it.

As long as that Sovereign behaved himself and didn't cause trouble, the Minister couldn't care less what he was doing in the library.

Having found nothing useful in the library, Zhong Yun stopped lingering there and started attending classes in various departments.

The Aier Professional School did not have a dedicated History Department, but it did offer the course. With nearly a thousand years since the founding of the Aier Nation, vested interest groups had inevitably formed domestically, evolving into aristocratic families over the years.

Commoners naturally did not have the leisure to study useless knowledge like history or art. However, the aristocratic children did; they didn't need to master professional skills, merely possessing administrative talent was enough.

With abundant free time, it was natural for some to gravitate towards the arts.

To facilitate interaction with these aristocratic classes, some ordinary families with greater wealth would also have their children study some of this knowledge.

Thus, art courses in some professional schools came into being, classes that only aristocratic and wealthy children could afford.

Zhong Yun believed that in time, as societal wealth increased and people’s lives became more prosperous, art would be embraced by more people.

Zhong Yun attended only the history-related classes. Being the only one in plain clothes, he looked quite out of place, and often students pointed and whispered about him.

Zhong Yun paid no mind to their gossip and scrutiny. After classes, he would seek out the teachers for discussion, appearing eager to learn.

After staying at the Aier Academy for about ten days, Zhong Yun finally moved his base of operations to another famous academy to continue his search for clues.

During this period, he maintained an extremely low profile. He had ordered his thousand soldiers to remain confined to their residence, forbidden from stepping outside. Apart from one visit to Fiers, he spent all his time within several schools.

Heaven rewards the diligent. After nearly a month of effort, he finally uncovered a lead.

In the Star Sea, there was a highly mysterious ruin. It was called mysterious because no one had ever reached it, yet it definitively existed there, having stood for an unknown number of years.

Legend had it that this was once the dwelling place of the Omnipotent God and the birthplace of humanity. After the God departed, it became a ruin.

It was rumored that the God’s power was preserved within this ruin, and whoever obtained this power could become the new Omnipotent God.

According to a history teacher at one school, this legend had circulated for untold years, yet no one had ever located the site. Many people believed it to be nothing more than a myth.

But Zhong Yun did not abandon this piece of information. If his speculation was correct—that the so-called Omnipotent God was the fleet from the Lansen Empire—then this ruin was very likely a base established by that fleet upon arrival. There had to be clues there.

Perhaps this was their only chance to leave.

In the Star Sea, they were completely blind. They knew nothing of the entire Star Sea, not even the situation of the nearest powerful nation, Aier. Without space jumps, reaching the next powerful nation would take at least ten years. And even upon arrival, they might not obtain the information he desired.

Therefore, Zhong Yun preferred to take a risk. Even with only a one percent chance, he had to try.

That mysterious ruin lay within the territory of the Aier Nation, reachable in under three months from Aier Star.

Zhong Yun fully gathered information about the ruin, and three days later, he bid farewell to the Aier Nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When Zhong Yun and his party departed, it was the same arrogant Vice Minister who saw them off, exchanging a few perfunctory words as a farewell.

Returning to the Mars, once they had put some distance between themselves and the Aier Nation, Zhong Yun summoned everyone, including those who had remained on the Jupiter, for an all-hands meeting.

P: It seems there’s one more day for double monthly tickets, rush to cast yours if you have any left. There's another chapter tonight.