Once the snowflakes stopped falling, the snowball had already soared fifty or sixty meters, and the small stones inside it then shot up another ten meters or so, before arcing down just as we could barely make them out. Visually estimating, the stones were already very close to the sphere of light.

Everyone present was utterly astonished by Xiong’s monstrous strength, especially Tine, who stared at the sky with her little mouth agape, perfectly embodying the look of friends utterly dumbfounded. I thought to myself that if this fellow went into shot put, he’d surely win a world championship.

But then, considering it again, my own right hand possessed a strange power too; I wondered how it would stack up against Xiong’s. So, I also scraped away the snow layer, picked up a stone the size of a goose egg from the ground, swung my arm around, spun once on the spot, and whoosh, sent the stone flying.

All I heard was a swoosh past my ear; the stone cut through the swirling snow, actually pushing the flakes aside, rocketing upward with the speed of a bullet. A second later, we all clearly heard a sharp, metallic clang in the air.

Then the white sphere above flickered, actually stopping its ascent. The three people around me nearly had their jaws on the floor, especially Tine; not only was her mouth wide open, but her lower eyelids had drooped, giving her an almost breathless appearance.

I didn't have time to gloat. I looked up at the sphere of light; it had only paused momentarily, then with a sizzle, it dissolved into a white streak and vanished—the speed was terrifyingly fast.

We stared blankly at the sky for quite a while before we came back to our senses. It was then that Liang Qian said to me, "It seems that with the two of you around in the future, we might not need to carry guns anymore." She paused, then asked, "By the way, Xiaochuan, when did you get so strong, and why do you always wear a glove on your right hand?" I touched my right hand and replied, "It’s nothing; now isn't the time to discuss that.

What do you think that sphere of light was, and why did it appear in the water?" Xiong knew the story behind my right hand, so he didn't press the issue. He just said, "I once heard people talk about a 'Rolling Thunder,' and I thought that’s what this was, but I didn’t expect it to have a physical form, especially since I heard that clang sound." I nodded.

"I know about the Rolling Thunder; it actually refers to ball lightning. That strange lightning often moves rapidly along the ground, hence the nickname.

And ball lightning can indeed move at speeds approaching the speed of light, so hovering or submerging in water isn't impossible for it. But if it had a solid form, it definitely wasn't that." Xiong’s eyes widened.

"Could it really be what most people think—an alien spaceship?" I shook my head. "Unlikely.

The Candle Gods of Wei Kingdom can also fly and emit light, but we looked, and there was only Kulong inside, no people. Are you suggesting Kulong are aliens?" Xiong countered, "We only saw a small one.

Who knows what’s inside the bigger ones!" I couldn't be bothered arguing with him. I certainly didn't believe aliens had come to Earth.

Because up until now, every Unidentified Flying Object people had seen simply hovered in the sky and vanished in a blink; no one had ever witnessed a craft landing to conduct experiments or cause destruction. Imagine a spaceship traversing the vastness of space to reach Earth, only to hover briefly and leave.

That would be a colossal waste of energy. Traveling such a vast distance requires immense power; if it wasn't for some significant purpose, the journey simply wouldn't make sense.

Einstein once proposed the theory of wormholes, suggesting alien ships could use them to instantly reach another part of the universe—perhaps tens or thousands of light-years away. Let’s assume that theory is viable for a moment.

Scientists have long determined that traversing a wormhole requires a massive amount of antimatter, otherwise the wormhole would instantly collapse, reducing the ship inside to cosmic dust forever. Antimatter is extremely rare in the universe, and no one would be bored enough to waste such precious resource just to play a trick on humanity.

Therefore, I believe there are no alien spacecraft on Earth; all UFOs can be analyzed using scientific theory. With that thought, I told Xiong, "I’m done with this debate.

Anyway, the lead is cold now; we still don’t know anything." We fell silent for a moment. Then Liang Qian pointed at the lake surface and said, "Look, the ice layer has completely melted..." Only then did we look down.

Indeed, not a single shard of ice remained on the lake; it had clearly been melted by intense heat. The massive waves earlier had flung our fishing nets and mining lamps into the trees, and several large fish lay dead along the bank.

I truly couldn't imagine what would have happened if we had still been on the ice surface just moments ago; we surely wouldn't have survived. So, this means...

I couldn’t help turning to look at Lauren beside me. It was sniffing at the water and debris splashed onto the shore from the lake, seemingly searching for something.

I wondered if Lauren had deliberately led us away earlier—was it trying to save us? When that sphere of light hadn't yet left the lake surface, Lauren had been barking fiercely at us.

Perhaps it wasn't barking at us, but at the lake itself. Furthermore, before the light sphere rose, all the white wolves had let out long howls toward the sky, clearly foreseeing what was about to happen.

So, in truth, Lauren had just saved our lives. Realizing this, I felt a surge of emotion and instinctively reached out to stroke Lauren’s back.

Just as my hand was halfway there, Lauren sensed the movement, twisted its head, and lunged with a snap of its jaws. I jumped back in fright; luckily, I retracted my hand quickly, or I would have been in trouble.

Lauren glared at me fiercely, then returned to gnawing at a piece of torn cloth on the ground. Seeing its intense interest in that scrap of fabric, I took a closer look at it.

But I quickly realized it was just a very ordinary piece of cloth, faded gray from being soaked in water; I couldn't tell what color it used to be. Just then, Lauren sniffed the cloth piece, then sniffed my trouser leg.

I didn't move, not knowing what it was trying to do. Lauren repeatedly sniffed the cloth, then sniffed my pants, as if comparing something.

Finally, it seemed to confirm something, spun around on the spot, and then leaped up, tackling me to the ground. Everyone nearby was startled, thinking Lauren intended to harm me, and rushed forward to intervene.

But at that moment, I felt something wet on my face—it was Lauren licking me. I looked at Lauren, completely bewildered, but it kept extending its tongue to lick, its gaze much softer than before, and its tail even began to wag.

Xiong scratched his chin and said, "Not bad, Xiaochuan, you refined scoundrel. Now you're not only attracting both sexes, but the alpha wolf is interested in you too." I blocked the unexpectedly affectionate tongue, spat, and said, "Don't talk nonsense, pull it off me quickly, it’s crushing me." Lauren seemed to understand what I was saying; before anyone else could move, it immediately jumped off me and continued wagging its tail beside me.

I wiped my face. "What's wrong with this dog?" Liang Qian and Xiong just shrugged, equally confused.

I looked at the scrap of cloth on the ground, wondering if that was the cause. So I bent down and picked up the piece.

I looked at it, but it seemed ordinary, covered in grime and utterly decayed. I brought it to my nose and smelled a faint, marshy odor from the depths of the pond.

Frowning, I tossed the cloth aside and asked Xiong, "What do we do now?" Xiong sighed, looked up at the sky where the sphere of light had long vanished, then bent down and picked up two relatively large dead fish. He said to me, "What else can we do?

We don't have diving gear, and we can't check the bottom of the lake. We might as well head back and plan there.

Tonight, we’ll have to make do with eating these." Shouldering the dead fish, Xiong swaggered back toward the village. I looked back at the lake surface, then at the ravaged shoreline.

Finding no other clues, I sighed and headed back too. The sky was already darkening.

Although it was only five or six in the afternoon, if we didn't hurry, Mrs. Rabinovich wouldn't have time to cook.

So Liang Qian, carrying the little girl, followed behind us back. What I didn't expect was that Lauren would follow us too, and most importantly, it was trailed by an entire pack of white wolves—the procession was quite grand.

They followed us right up to the entrance of the village. Then Lauren grew restless and began pacing near the gateway.

I knew that even if the villagers no longer actively rejected it, there was still an ingrained barrier in their hearts. So, regardless of whether Lauren could understand me, I addressed it anyway: "Thank you for saving us today.

But you should return now; the pack is waiting for you. Next time, I'll bring more venison to the lake to treat you and your companions." Whether Lauren understood these words or not, it squatted down on the spot.

Just then, Xiong tugged at me. "Let's go, or it will be bad if the villagers see us lingering here." I nodded, made a farewell gesture to Lauren, and walked into the village.

After walking a good distance, I looked back one last time, only to see that dark silhouette still squatting motionlessly in the swirling snow, watching us. Looking at that shadow, I suddenly felt a pang of desolate loneliness.

But I knew I would have another chance to meet it. After dropping Tine back home, we carried the fish back to the Rabinovich residence.

To our surprise, Andre and Mr. and Mrs.

Rabinovich were already waiting for us in the main room. Seeing us return, Andre hurried over and asked, "Are you all right?

I was about to gather people to search for you by the lake. I didn't expect something like this to happen again after all this time."