Ulysses was scorched by flames, bearing numerous burns across his body, yet, for a Master of the Phoenix level, the natural regenerative capabilities of his body would rapidly heal such wounds.

Yang Ying finally gave him a serious look! Feng secretly nodded; judging by his movements, it was certain that Ulysses had shaken off the influence of the mind-control technique and regained his normal senses.

Suddenly, a thought stirred in Yang Ying’s mind: perhaps a Nuern Master had coincidentally appeared in the city and seized the opportunity to break the mind-control on Ulysses. Yang Ying secretly contacted the Observer, but the intelligence returned denied this possibility.

"How did you recover? When you first arrived in Hammer City, the mind control should not have been lifted. There is no one in the city capable of performing a mind-control reversal. What happened while I was locked in battle with Hlas?" Unable to figure it out, Yang Ying stopped thinking about it and directly asked Ulysses.

Ulysses was silent for a moment, slowly dusting himself off, seeming to deliberate on what to tell Yang Ying. Once the dust was gone, he looked up, having made his decision. He then slowly recounted how his father, Agon, had bound and hidden the Resonance Technique and the Mind-Control Reversal Technique within his mind, along with the prophecies and warnings his mother, Katherine, had delivered through dreams.

Upon learning all this, Yang Ying was greatly impressed by Agon's painstaking effort and Katherine's precise prophecies. However, a new question arose: "If you believed your mother's words, you should have known about the nuclear bomb here. At that time, for a Master of your caliber, leaving the city would not have been difficult. But why did you still come to the lakeside, risking exposure?"

Ulysses looked up, gazing at the starry sky, and after a long pause, he said, "Because what my mother dreamed of was me fighting. She was here, watching the same starry sky as me. How could I leave? Furthermore, my mother could never harm me, leading me into a situation where death was certain."

"That makes sense," Yang Ying nodded. "What are your plans now? Are you going to the Nuern Temple, or somewhere else?"

Ulysses smiled faintly, glancing at the nuclear device nearby, which remained in a ready-to-activate state. His gaze seemed remarkably clear: "Commander Yang Ying, what you are truly concerned about is likely not where I am going, but the series of classified abilities you demonstrated today in this city, both before Hlas and in front of me."

Yang Ying shrugged. "That accounts for part of the reason."

In truth, even if the entire process of this battle were revealed, there was nothing to worry about. He had now become a Hengfeng Master. At least within this solar system, whether the secrets reached Earth or the Ancient Legion, they could do nothing to him.

And even if the information reached the ears of extraterrestrials, it wouldn't matter. The galaxy was vast. Technologies far more advanced than what he displayed today were commonplace. A small place like Earth, located on the fringe of the galaxy, would attract no attention whatsoever.

However, Yang Ying still disliked unnecessary trouble, which is why he sought a solution that pleased both parties.

Ulysses raised his right hand. "Actually, regarding this matter, I have already considered it just now, and there is an excellent solution."

A ball of white light gradually illuminated his right hand, held in his grip, seeming to leap about energetically.

"This is," Yang Ying thought sharply, "the Mind Control technique of the Ape Worship Cult."

Ulysses nodded. "I have used the mind control technique many times and am quite familiar with it. Now that I have reached the Master realm, the technique can no longer control me, but if I volunteer, it can still be used to erase certain memories. I care little for the secrets of the Tran Mercenary Group. That segment of memory is superfluous to me."

Yang Ying nodded. Ulysses's method was indeed effective, but there was one crucial question: "The one using the mind control technique is you. How can I trust that you will erase all information related to the intelligence?"

Ulysses pointed upward with his left hand. "I will use this starry sky. Under this very expanse of stars that my mother and I gazed upon together, I swear that I will forget the classified methods you employed throughout this great battle. There is only one thing I wish to retain: the scene where the nuclear bomb appeared. This is the vision my mother saw in her dream and told me about. If I forget that, I would be failing my filial duty," he stated solemnly. "I voluntarily swear an additional oath to preserve this memory permanently and never speak of it."

Yang Ying considered it for a moment. His instincts told him that Ulysses was sincere and not fabricating anything. He replied, "Very well, I agree."

"Thank you." Ulysses clapped the ball of light from his left hand onto his own head, while saying, "Commander Yang Ying, please revert to your normal form. In my memory, I will alter your current beast-form into that of a normal human. But seeing it again after the modification would be problematic."

"You have thought of everything," Yang Ying remarked. Saying this, he retracted the exoskeleton, bio-armor, bone wings, and bone spurs covering his body back beneath his skin, leaving almost nothing visible. Yang—

With a slight movement of his leg, he manifested an outfit using True Illusion, clothing himself. Though seemingly intangible, it was more practical than physical attire. Some powerful Nuern practitioners could see through clothing with their sight, but they could not penetrate Yang Ying's True Illusion.

Ulysses’s mind control technique lasted for half a minute. The white light dimmed, and Ulysses lowered his hand. He then repeated the oath as previously stated, looked towards Yang Ying, and said, "It is done, Commander Yang Ying. I have sworn not to leak the scene of the nuclear bomb's sudden appearance, nor any related circumstances. Can you put the nuclear device away now?"

Yang Ying could see that Ulysses had not only deleted some memories but also modified others, making the deletion less jarring. Judging by his appearance now, the memory modification had not caused him significant distress or thought confusion.

With a flash of golden light, Yang Ying stored the nuclear bomb.

With the nuclear device issue resolved, the two turned their attention to Hlas’s corpse.

Yang Ying’s expression was complex. After all, this ultimate battle with Hlas could be considered a defeat for him. Having just ascended to the peak Master level, he immediately sought out Hlas for a fight. Although he gained much, there was still a significant gap between himself and Hlas himself. The massive battle resulted in trapping a city in a sea of fire, yet there were very few moments where he genuinely threatened Hlas. If Ulysses hadn't intervened from behind, inflicting a fatal wound on Hlas, they likely would still have needed the nuclear device to eliminate him.

However, Yang Ying quickly changed his perspective. Hlas was one of the few supreme experts in the solar system, renowned for decades. Yang Ying had only arrived recently, and his cultivation period spanned just over a year and a half. Only through the shortcut provided by the Zerg was he able to achieve his current status. To have sparred with Hlas for thousands of moves was already quite remarkable.

Today, out of the ten peak Masters among the Human and Ape races in the solar system, two had died in the span of about ten days, and he himself had gained one. He had at least become the ninth strongest expert in the solar system. This progress was undeniably too rapid.

With a soft chuckle, Yang Ying said to Ulysses, "I owe you a great debt this time. Without the fatal sword strike you delivered, defeating Hlas would have been virtually impossible for me. I will state to the outside world that Hlas was killed by both of us."

Ulysses, however, shook his head. "No, I have no use for that fame; in fact, it will create many difficulties for my future actions. You can enjoy the reputation of killing Hlas exclusively."

"Create difficulties for your future actions? What do you intend to do?" Yang Ying inquired.

"I must return to the Ape Worship Cult," Ulysses mused for a moment. "With Hlas dead, the Ape Worship Cult will fall into Yeg’s hands. Yeg is not much stronger than I am currently. My title of 'Ape Emissary One' still holds some sway, allowing me to contend with Yeg and seize control of the Cult. But if the news of my involvement in Hlas's death spreads, my maneuvering will become extremely difficult, as the Ape Worship Cult reveres the Ape-men."

"You want the Ape Worship Cult?" Yang Ying's heart tightened suddenly, and an ominous premonition arose within him, as if a cloud of chaotic mist suddenly swirled around Ulysses, signaling a pitch-black future.

This feeling arrived quickly and departed just as fast, but Yang Ying instinctively understood it as a form of precognition. Peak Masters could glimpse parts of the future, though not with the precision of Ulysses's mother, the prophetess Katherine’s dreams. Still, it clearly indicated some tangible trend.

Should he try to persuade Ulysses to abandon this idea?

While Yang Ying was contemplating, intelligence suddenly arrived from the Observer: several Master-level fighter jets had entered its observation range. Distinguishing by external form, they appeared to be Master Merlin and his entourage, speeding toward Hammer City and due to arrive soon.

"Master Merlin is here. Do you want to meet them?" Yang Ying asked, refraining from voicing his persuasion.

Ulysses shook his head. "Not yet. It's not the right time. I should leave first." He nodded at Yang Ying, preparing to use Shrink Space to depart, but suddenly turned back, reaching down to lift a broken piece of metal rod from the ground.

Yang Ying recognized it as half of Hlas’s light weapon, the damaged portion.

"I will take the golden energy crystal within this. More than that reputation, I need this. Do you agree?" Ulysses inquired.

Yang Ying nodded. "The reputation is yours, and half the crystal is also yours. Take it then."

"Very well. I hope we meet again someday." As Ulysses finished speaking, he flashed and vanished from the spot.

Yang Ying sensed that the temperature inside Hammer City had reached around ninety degrees Celsius, but the oxygen was nearly depleted, and the fires everywhere were beginning to subside.

After a while, led by Master Merlin, several Nuern Masters entered Hammer City. They quickly located Yang Ying by the eastern city lake, along with Hlas's corpse.

And there is the third chapter, which will be late.