Chapter 754: Galactic Tide

The more prosperous the city, the less you can see the starry sky.

The glow of neon dispels the moonlight, and thick exhaust fumes obscure the stars... In this city where no one looks up to search for stars, only those eyes were filled with a sea of stars.

Bang—!

A dull, loud noise came from outside the private room.

Immediately following it was a flurry of chaotic exclamations... Numerous footsteps thundered down the hallway, running straight toward this direction!

Inside the room,

Lu Xun's expression didn't change in the slightest. As if he hadn't heard the commotion, he remained standing quietly by the window, gazing up at the starry sky.

The starry sky swirled in his eyes; infinite celestial bodies in his pupils seemed to come alive, flickering constantly as if responding to his gaze!

Lu Xun took a deep breath, his hands slowly rising as if to embrace something...

A whisper sounded:

"...Receive me."

In the starry sky, a galaxy rotated silently. In the darkness, some force seemed to cross time and space, like an invisible hand, gently tugging at the hem of Lu Xun's clothes.

And so, Lu Xun began to dissolve;

His body turned into specks of starlight, melting into the air. The stardust scattering from him was like stars shrunk to the extreme, merging with the galaxies in the universe,

Then, as if attracted by an invisible force, he ignored the obstruction of walls and windows, dragged into the night sky.

This was a waltz between him and the starry sky.

As the last wisp of starlight drifted out the window, the door to the private room was kicked open. The white man with the hiking backpack rushed into the room, ready to strike, but the room was empty.

He froze on the spot.

The Director and the others rushed in right after. Seeing this scene, he immediately flew into a rage!

"Where is he?!! Didn't you say he was right here?! Where is he now!!"

"I... Director, this... he was clearly just here..."

The young woman walked in from the door. Seeing the steaming teacup, she reached out and touched the side of the cup. "The tea is still hot. It shouldn't have been more than two minutes since he left..."

The Director raised an eyebrow. "Miss Li knows how to investigate?"

"I've watched 800 episodes of Detective Conan."

“……”

"That won't be enough to catch him."

The white man sniffed the air in the room and said in broken Chinese, "He has already mastered some kind of ability. Although it's different from the Divine Path, his aura has already reached the second-tier level...

His ability allows him to cross long distances invisibly. If you don't have a way to precisely track his path or seal his skills, searching like this is futile."

Hearing this, the Director's fists tightened.

He looked at the empty room, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath, as if having made a decision.

"Go contact Master Meng... Ask him to calculate Lu Xun's trajectory. No matter what, we must bring him back to the lab before dawn."

"Yes."

……

Open-air café.

As the elevator doors opened, a rooftop garden appeared before Chen Ling's eyes.

A cobblestone path extended forward, with lush greenery carefully placed on both sides, various colors complementing each other. Further back was a minimalist coffee counter and a viewing area that overlooked most of the district.

"Shanghai cafés are indeed quite bourgeois."

Chen Ling scanned the surroundings. Not seeing Lu Xun, he walked straight toward the nearest viewing table.

The two sat down, and a waiter handed them an exquisite menu. After flipping through a few pages, Yang Xiao found he couldn't understand the minimalist pictures and abstract names, so he simply asked:

"Do you have an Americano with bubbles here?"

"Certainly, one [Cow-Horse Sparkling Water]. And for this gentleman?"

"..." Chen Ling waved his hand. "Never mind, I won't have anything."

"Very well, please wait a moment."

The waiter turned and left.

Yang Xiao looked around and realized there were no other guests besides them. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this really the place Old Lu mentioned?"

"It can't be wrong." Chen Ling said with certainty. "Now, we just have to see when he appears."

Yang Xiao was about to say something else when Chen Ling suddenly frowned, his gaze locking onto a point of nothingness beside him.

Under the pitch-black night sky, the light of the stars suddenly brightened for an instant. This light pierced through a corner of the clouds and shone onto the open-air café... The next moment, a figure condensed out of the starlight.

It was a young man the same age as Yang Xiao. He was wearing a simple black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and he stepped from the high air outside the building onto the edge of the rooftop.

"Old Lu?!" Seeing this, Yang Xiao was incredibly surprised.

He never expected Lu Xun to appear in this form... In his impression, Lu Xun was still that ordinary person, who should be just as confused about everything happening to him as he was initially.

But thinking about it carefully, several days had passed since the exploration of the Red Star fragments. Both he and Su Zhiwei had already mastered some theoretical power. Since Lu Xun was so smart, it wasn't strange for him to possess abilities now.

Chen Ling was also very surprised. He sensed the aura on Lu Xun and the starlight gradually dissipating from his body, murmuring to himself in his heart:

"Is this the power of 'Astrophysics'..."

"Director Chen, Yang Xiao, sorry to keep you waiting." Lu Xun walked to the coffee table and sat down, smiling slightly. "What would you like to drink? My treat... I'm very familiar with the owner here, I can just put it on my tab."

"I already ordered something." Yang Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Old Lu, what was that just now?"

"That?"

Lu Xun pondered for a moment, as if thinking about how to explain it to the two. "In technical terms, it's called a galactic tide. When two galaxies in the universe are close to each other, they trigger powerful tidal forces. I can turn myself into a galaxy and borrow the tidal forces of other galaxies in the universe to move..."

"No... I mean, have you already learned to control your power?"

"I only learned it last night..."

Lu Xun looked seriously into Yang Xiao's eyes. "Yang Xiao, you've also discovered your own uniqueness... haven't you?"

Yang Xiao was silent for a long time, then nodded.

"Dr. Lu, your rate of progress is even faster than I imagined." Chen Ling felt the aura fluctuations on Lu Xun and spoke slowly. "Among the nine... nine exploration team members I've encountered so far, your current tier is the highest."

"Besides me and Yang Xiao, who else have you met?" Lu Xun asked curiously.

Before Chen Ling could speak, Yang Xiao answered for him,

"Also Dr. Su Zhiwei... If it weren't for Director Chen's intervention, Dr. Su would likely have been killed."

"Killed??"

Lu Xun stood frozen.