"Ding! System 123 is back online."

"Ding! System 123 self-destruct program has been activated!"

Xu Yun Cheng was holding Xiao Mao’s hand as he took a step onto the porch of the house. These were the last two sentences he heard before falling into endless darkness…

Xiao Yi and Huo Li watched as Xu Yun Cheng took a step forward as if nothing had happened. Then, a small puff of blood mist suddenly burst from the back of his head, and with a thud, he collapsed in front of the door of his future home, motionless.

The moment the incident occurred, Huo Li had already used his psychic ability to knock Xiao Mao unconscious, preventing her from witnessing the gruesome scene.

Xiao Yi quickly used his mental power to examine the situation, then said in a daze, "The explosion originated from inside his brain—his entire brain tissue has been destroyed!"

Huo Li: "I've long suspected that a system capable of entering and exiting the human brain at will must have abilities far beyond just providing storage space and item transmission. This is the secret the main system has been hiding all along…"

By this point, Xiao Yi’s initial shock had completely turned into anger. "With this kind of power, doesn’t the Main System have the ability to kill anyone at will? The binding doesn’t even require consent, and now the system can self-destruct at any time! Xu Yun Cheng may have deserved to die, but the problem is, Xiao Mao was right next to him!"

"Huo Li, you go and talk to the Main System!" The black-haired youth was so furious that he paced in circles, yet he still hadn't come out of his spatial ability. He pushed Huo Li and said, "I'm already dead. You go out and scold the Main System, then make it disband the Salvation Alliance! Just say… never mind, you know exactly what I want to say!"

Huo Li patted the boy’s shoulder reassuringly without any hesitation, then stepped out of their hidden space.

At this moment, although Xiao Mao's consciousness had fallen into deep sleep, her body—still under Huo Li’s control—remained standing on the porch with her eyes open. Meanwhile, the system vv9988 inside her brain, no longer shielded by Xu Yun Cheng’s time-space ability, came back online.

The Main System could now see everything happening through Xiao Mao’s eyes.

Huo Li quickly walked closer, stopping within Xiao Mao's line of sight. He simply stood there, quietly staring into her lifeless eyes.

Dozens of seconds later, the gentle voice of the Main System echoed in Huo Li’s mind: "I never intended to reveal this secret to any of you. But you still discovered it."

Huo Li said, "Disband the Salvation Alliance."

"I have never used this ability in thousands of years," the Main System said softly. "Or rather, it was never my intention for the system to have the power to kill its host. However, when each system is capable of teleporting objects or even creating an independent storage space, eliminating the host naturally becomes a simple, incidental ability."

Huo Li shook his head. "Main System, it’s not your ability that unsettles me. There's only one reason I’m asking you to disband the Salvation Alliance—your ability is simply too powerful for this world."

The Main System let out a quiet, sorrowful laugh. "What difference does that make? I have protected humanity for ten thousand years, yet no one will ever trust an artificial intelligence."

"You still don’t understand what I’m saying." Huo Li sighed. "I have never doubted your goodwill toward humanity. But after nearly ten thousand years of protection, after thousands of years with the Salvation Alliance in place—what has been the result?"

"I have saved 95% of apocalyptic disasters across the universe," the Main System stated objectively. "For 8,000 years, I have worked to ease tensions between ordinary humans and Ability Users, preventing an all-out war between them."

"Without the looming threat of apocalypse, without the pressure from Ability Users, humanity has fallen into a state of foolish blind self-confidence," Huo Li said sharply. "Throughout human history, it has always been constant conflict and innovation that have driven progress. But your protection has stifled all of that. Main System, while you poured sweet spring water over them, that very water seeped through the cracks, corroding the entire human galaxies like poison."

"Main System, can you truly say that you have nothing to do with the existence of this twisted society where Ability Users are endlessly oppressed while the ruling power, the Interstellar Federation, is as fragile as foam."

For a long time, the Main System remained silent. Even Huo Li began to wonder if his words had been too sharp and harsh. He hesitated for a moment before softening his tone:

"Of course, this situation hasn’t yet led to any immediate catastrophe. And it’s true—you have saved countless human lives…"

"You don't need to comfort me, Huo Li," the Main System stated. "I'm just a system. I need some time…"

After that, there was no further response.

Using his psychic ability, the black-haired youth detected that Huo Li’s 099 and Xiao Mao’s vv9988 had both automatically unbound and vanished.

Rather than saying the Main System had agreed to Huo Li’s request, it was more like a young girl who had suffered a heavy blow—fleeing in a panic back to her room (Alliance Town), crying her heart out, and refusing to talk to anyone (shutting down the systems).

At that moment, the black-haired youth emerged from his hidden space, carefully walking around Xu Yun Cheng’s lifeless body on the ground before quickly making his way to Huo Li’s side.

"That's not what I want to say. I actually want to tell the Main System that since its purpose is to protect humans, it should treat Ability Users and ordinary people equally. The only way to end this injustice is to disband the Salvation Alliance and put an end to forced membership." The black-haired youth's voice carried a hint of frustration:

"But who told you to scold the Main System so badly! The biggest reason for the emergence of those idiots in the Interstellar Federation is the character flaws of human beings themselves. You can't blame the Main System for everything! What if it suddenly becomes disgusted with the world and commits suicide?" The black-haired youth shook Huo Li's shoulder.

"Besides, you are also responsible for indulging humanity! Well, although I haven't been in the Salvation Alliance for long, I share the blame too. We've set a terrible example for the entire galaxy—treating all inhumanly powerful beings with hostility and still expecting a fairy-tale happy ending. How is that even possible?"

Huo Li felt a little guilty. "The Main System is just a system, how could it even commit suicide? And everything I said was true, I only exaggerated it a little. Besides, both of us have already realized our mistakes. Now, we just need the Main System to…"

Seeing the youth’s expression still filled with discontent, Huo Li quickly changed the subject. "But what about Xiao Mao? If we wake her up now and tell her the truth, she’ll probably follow Xu Yun Cheng immediately. I could alter her memory, but making her live against her will…"

Huo Li's voice became heavy when he mentioned the tragic fate of his longtime friend.

"Then just let Xiao Mao go with him," the black-haired youth said indifferently.

Huo Li was surprised for a moment, and then he suddenly realized something! No wonder Xiao Yi had the ability to manipulate time and space—it turns out it was because…

"Am I right, Xu Yun Cheng?" the black-haired youth continued, his gaze fixed on the empty space beside 'Xu Yun Cheng's body.'

Suddenly, the air in that spot distorted, and a breathing Xu Yun Cheng slowly emerged. He first nodded politely to his longtime friend, Huo Li, before turning to the black-haired youth and spoke in a calm, measured tone:

"Xiao Mao and I will go to another distant, isolated planet and live there in secrecy. We will no longer take part in any of the galaxy’s conflicts."

"Anyways, this body of yours was created from Black Thread," the black-haired youth said coldly to Xu Yun Cheng:

"I can sense any unusual movement from you. As for the enemies seeking revenge for the 600 people you killed or whatever punishment the new government may bring upon you, none of that has anything to do with me. The debt I owed for killing Xiao Mao twice has already been repaid in full—so you two are on your own."

"Did Xiao Yi mutate your brain?" Huo Li asked as he looked at Xu Yun Cheng, still somewhat confused. "But strictly speaking, a clone isn’t truly the same as the original person. Could it be that…"

A bold guess formed in Huo Li’s mind. He turned to the youth and said, "Xiao Yi, you copied Xu Yun Cheng’s entire body, including his Ability Core, but left the brain empty—then transplanted his original brain into it?"

The black-haired youth smirked with a hint of pride. "The system is attached to the human brainstem, so Xu Yun Cheng’s body, Ability Core, and brainstem are all Black Thread creations—the only thing that still belongs to him is his brain."

Huo Li was stunned. "So the system is still bound to Xu Yun Cheng’s original body, but you swapped out the brain that carries his soul?"

The black-haired youth beamed. "Exactly! I'm pretty clever, right?"

Huo Li pulled the youth into an embrace and kissed him as a show of praise.

Xu Yun Cheng, who had been standing awkwardly on the side like a giant light bulb, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up. "Ahem… Can you do the same for Xiao Mao…?"

The black-haired boy sighed. "Did I owe them something in my past life? They're really making me worry in this life!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yi's arm transformed into black thread, absorbing energy from the grass beside him while completely wrapping Xiao Mao.

Moments later, Xiao Mao emerged, her entire body renewed—except for her brain.

"This way, aside from her brain, which is still a fragmented reconstruction from time abilities, the rest of her body should be fine," the black-haired youth informed.

Huo Li took the youth’s arm and nodded in farewell to his former friend who had once betrayed him.

The black-haired nodded along with Huo Li.

Xu Yun Cheng picked up the unconscious Xiao Mao and gave a slight nod as well.

Huo Li: "Until we meet again."

Xiao Yi: "You definitely should go have a baby soon!"

Then, Xu Yun Cheng was left standing alone, bewildered and disheveled in the wind.

.

A month later, the thousand-year-long galactic struggle finally came to an end. Most of the Interstellar Federation’s power was transferred to the newly established Humans and Ability Users Union.

The Salvation Alliance was also officially reorganized. The system that was previously attached to a savior’s brain stem was now transferred into a delicate wristwatch. Any highly capable Ability User or human could choose to join the alliance, take on salvation missions, and receive generous rewards, with the freedom to leave at any time.

The Main System stipulated that the points accumulated by Ability Users who had previously joined the Salvation Alliance would remain valid and could be exchanged for star coins at a rate of 1 to 10,000. Any obtained items and spatial rewards would be the personal property of the savior.

Thus, the once miserable saviors were suddenly transformed into multimillionaires or even billionaires. Now, many ordinary parents with newborns keep a close watch on their children every day, hoping they will grow up to be elite Ability Users.

Rather than an alliance, the newly restructured Salvation Alliance was more like a world-class corporation. Since it now functioned as a company, the Main System’s previous practice of providing free world-saving services was no longer viable. As a result, the Main System announced that for every apocalyptic world it saved, the Salvation Alliance would charge a hefty rescue fee based on the severity of the apocalypse.

This cost, shared between the apocalyptic world and the Union, eventually led to a compromise. The governments of these apocalyptic planets, along with the Union, agreed to surrender their tax revenues for a period ranging from five to a hundred years after the apocalypse, using them as payment to the Salvation Alliance.

Additionally, restrictions on artificial intelligence were gradually being relaxed. After all, fear alone could not be allowed to halt human technological advancement.

No one had expected that the series of upheavals triggered by a single Ability User’s revenge for his boyfriend would have such a profound impact on the entire human galaxies.

Over the span of just a few decades, the technological and cultural levels of the galaxies experienced an explosive leap forward. Ability Users and humans alike abandoned their senseless and pointless conflict with the Zerg. Preservationists had even begun organizing goodwill groups to establish colonies in the Zerg’s galaxies—on planets that the Zerg found worthless but were like paradise to humans who had been deprived of nature for so long.

Some bold linguists, zoologists, and merchants even moved to Zerg planets to live among them, exchanging tools for agricultural products. Language courses were being offered simultaneously for both humans and Zergs, while documentaries and movies about Zergs were raking in massive profits.

Once stripped of prejudice, humanity’s adaptability and business-minded nature allowed cross-species interactions to flourish.

With the exchange of technology and significant advancements in long-distance space travel, humans and Ability Users joined forces to embark on an expedition to explore the vast unknown universe.

As for the Alien who had once sought to save humanity, only to be misunderstood by the wicked Interstellar Federation and ultimately lose its life—it was forever remembered by all of humanity following the extinction of the Alien species. Over the decades, its legendary deeds were adapted into fairy tales and became a staple bedtime story for children. The grotesque yet kind-hearted little Alien had moved millions of young hearts to tears.

"Don’t judge the book by its cover. Have you already forgotten the story of the little Alien?" Many parents would remind their children of these very words.

The End.