Chapter Seventeen: The God of Battle and the God of Research

Chapter Seventeen: The God of War and the God of Science

After Angel Yan consumed the pill, Pan Zhen suddenly approached her, his words laden with meaning.

“If you master the power of the Milky Way, I will support you as queen.”

Angel Yan gave no reply, soaring into the sky to reestablish the angelic internal dark communication network. Pan Zhen paid her actions no mind; after all, the pride of angels was innate. He was about to ascend when Du Qiangwei unexpectedly spoke.

“Excuse me, you are Lena’s guardian, correct? According to the stories of cultivation?”

“Yes, I am the guardian deity of the Sunstar and Lena’s protector. Is there something you need?” Considering his old acquaintance with Ducao, now that his niece called upon him, he couldn’t ignore her.

After a moment’s silence, Qiangwei asked cautiously, “Do you still have that little pill? I’d like to buy one.”

Though she knew it was unlikely, she couldn’t help herself—Yunyang still needed saving.

Pan Zhen fell silent at her words. Did this girl think the pill was as common as cabbage? Even the Sunstar had precious few.

“It is a top-secret item, exceedingly rare,” he replied, succinctly refusing her request.

“I can trade with you. I—I have something quite remarkable,” Qiangwei said, removing her watch from her wrist.

“A watch? You truly take our Sunstar for an ancient civilization.”

Pan Zhen burst out laughing at the sight, finding the girl amusing; the Sunstar was a civilization that transcended even the interstellar level.

Realizing he misunderstood, Qiangwei hurried to explain, “No, no, that’s not what I meant. This watch has special abilities—I think you’d be interested.”

“Oh?” His interest piqued. “What sort of abilities? Show me.”

She glanced around, finding no one else nearby, and said, “I need someone to cooperate with. If you don’t mind…”

After a brief consideration, Pan Zhen judged that even if the girl’s abilities were unique, she posed no threat, especially since the four guardians could arrive at any moment. He decided to cooperate.

“My apologies; please forgive me.” Qiangwei found conversing with the elder somewhat exhausting—his manner made her want to speak in archaic language, which she wasn’t adept at.

With a thought, she activated the watch, issuing a command to envelop Pan Zhen. Instantly, a transparent sphere surrounded him.

Pan Zhen felt no danger and made no move to resist, but when he tried to speak, he realized something was amiss—he couldn’t utter a word.

He attempted to activate his genetic engine, but there was no response. He couldn’t even blink to signal Qiangwei.

Seeing Qiangwei dare to attack their general, three of the four guardians arrived at once. Before Qiangwei could explain, they subdued her—it was her carelessness; otherwise, she could have escaped some distance.

The guardians would not be careless, seeing their general incapacitated. They acted decisively and with full force, for even the mighty Sunstar guardian had been restrained.

Had they not feared Qiangwei might have hidden tricks, they would have killed her on the spot.

The guardian wielding a steel whip barked, “Who are you to endanger our general? Do you wish to wage war against the Sunstar?!”

“No, no, you misunderstand—I mean no harm. Your general agreed to this. Wait a minute; let him explain himself.”

Qiangwei dared not move, resignedly offering her explanation.

They stared at each other, waiting. A minute later, Pan Zhen was freed. He gazed at the watch in astonishment, thinking to himself: What kind of black technology is this? Mind and body separated—I could only think, not act.

A veteran god, regardless of power, had experience far surpassing these youngsters. Moreover, there were few weak veteran gods.

After explaining the situation to the guardians and dismissing them, Pan Zhen felt a surge of pride—such elite subordinates would delight any general.

Though tempted, he was shrewd; even with benefits in hand, he wanted others to feel indebted to him.

With a troubled expression and a pause to build suspense, just as Qiangwei was about to inquire, Pan Zhen decided the moment was ripe and spoke.

“I’ve known your father, Ducao, for over ten thousand years. By rights, when my niece asks for a gift, I ought to oblige.” He paused deliberately before continuing.

“However, though I share a long friendship with your father, this pill is an asset of the Sunstar civilization.”

“Well, I suppose—I have one left. I’ll give you mine. With my strength, few could injure me as Angel Yan was.”

He solemnly handed her the pill, taking the watch in exchange.

Though she sensed something was off, Pan Zhen had acted honorably. She thanked him sincerely, explaining the watch’s usage and precautions—a brief instruction.

Taking the pill, she lowered the case containing Yunyang, tenderly touching his face. Rare warmth flashed in her eyes. Without hesitation, she placed the pill in his mouth.

The pill dissolved instantly into a brilliant golden energy, surging throughout his body, deep into his genes. Three minutes later, the energy was depleted, and under Qiangwei’s hopeful gaze, he did not wake.

She glanced back at Pan Zhen, who was also observing Yunyang curiously. The meaning in her eyes was clear to anyone with sense.

“Don’t look at me like that—it’s not fake. From my observation, it’s simply that the energy was insufficient,” Pan Zhen explained awkwardly.

He cursed inwardly—what strange creature was this? The energy that could revive a third-generation body on the spot wasn’t enough—what, does he need to devour a star?

Wait—that’s it. Let him absorb energy from a star. I wasted a pill.

Seeing Qiangwei’s obvious distrust, Pan Zhen felt his dignity slipping. After all, he had received payment to solve a problem.

“If the energy’s insufficient, then we’ll provide more. Step aside; let me take this little fellow to the Red Crow star. Don’t worry, I’ll personally extract the energy for him.” He patted Qiangwei’s head and, amid her bewildered gaze, took Yunyang away.

Meanwhile, Angel Yan had just escaped being swallowed by the sun and was racing against the apocalyptic bombardment unleashed by Demon Wings.

After leaving the atmosphere, Pan Zhen spotted Angel Yan and Morgana locked in battle. He ignored them, silently ferrying Yunyang toward the sun.

The two women likewise ignored him. Angel Yan, having accepted benefits from the Sunstar, couldn’t bring herself to ask Pan Zhen for help.

Morgana, having betrayed Lena, dared not provoke Pan Zhen. If Angel Yan and Pan Zhen teamed up against her, even a fourth-generation divine body could not withstand it.

Dragging the case containing Yunyang, Pan Zhen made no special effort to shield it. In deep space, the case began to freeze, but Yunyang’s unique condition elicited no reaction.

Pan Zhen felt reassured—he had worried the boy might not withstand the star’s raging energy.

Without further ado, he approached the sun, stopping about fifty thousand kilometers from its surface, where the heat was already terrifying. Pan Zhen doubted Yunyang could survive closer, so he halted.

As Pan Zhen began to infuse Yunyang with energy, the sun’s brightness dimmed noticeably. In China, evening descended into night; the light was akin to a full moon.

Some soldiers on patrol, suddenly deprived of sunlight, braked abruptly or failed to react, resulting in several chain-reaction collisions. The culprits—Pan Zhen and Yunyang—were fully responsible.

In the system’s space, Yunyang watched his energy bar soar from two percent to thirty-two percent, then halt, growing frustrated. What was going on? Why couldn’t he receive all the energy at once? It jumped from two percent, then stalled for days.

Now, a sudden thirty percent boost—he thought it would be paid in full, but it stopped again.

After half an hour, the system informed him he was near a star. At first, he didn’t understand; the system reminded him his body had been moved to fifty thousand kilometers from the star. His first thought was, I’m out of the ball; second, would I freeze to death in space’s low temperatures?

At that moment, the system’s energy bar began to move, roughly one percent per minute. He felt his prisoner’s life was finally ending.

After more than an hour of charging, with relentless extraction and transformation of the star’s wild energy, even Pan Zhen—a near fourth-generation superwarrior—was feeling the strain. He massaged his aching head, regretting the transaction. Before him stood a naked figure, flickering in and out of existence, and he couldn’t make sense of it.

As a god of war, Pan Zhen knew that strength was enough; he needed only to master the knowledge relevant to his field. A god of science, however, required both exceptional and broad talents—understanding everything, though unable to apply it as powerfully as a god of war.

In other words, gods of war were top talents in their domain, while gods of science were universal polymaths, versed in all things but less adept in application.

Thus, to become a god required not only resources, but academic prowess. Whether war god or science god, without a store of knowledge, one could only rely on brute strength—unable to unleash a single skill. Reincarnated demons with abilities encoded in their genes didn’t count—they only knew that one move.