Once upon a time, the ‘New Hope City’ behind Shannuya had been a prosperous metropolis where countless residents had thrived and lived for generations.

But as most of the residents moved to the starships nearby, the town seemed much more spacious and desolate. Right now, only those who were close to Shanuya would live in the town, such as the staff of the ‘Dream Control Bureau’ and the guards.

Yes, the ‘guard’ was a hilarious organization. As soon as Peipei drew close to the town, she saw hundreds of warriors in armor training. They were all waving shining weapons under the command of Lei Qi, her elder brother. They seemed to be ancient cold weapons, but they boasted all kinds of incredible abilities. They could even tear apart space and remotely control the powerful Unmanned Battle Shuttles, which were hovering around them like hundreds of shooting stars. They looked very impressive, but that was all.

To be honest, Peipei had never understood the significance of the ‘guard team’. Theoretically speaking, the so-called ‘guard team’ was an organization that protected everybody, wasn’t it? The real problem was that the golden combination of human beings and the Void Hunters had never met any worthy opponents after thousands of years of travelling in the sea of stars! It was true that some planets and space zones had giants that could compete with the Void Hunters, such as the ‘Mountain Giant Crab’. But the larger the giant, the gentler they were. They minded their own business and would occasionally exchange precious resources and information with each other. They were no threat at all.

As for the predators that were smaller in size, as Shanuya had said, as long as they waved their tentacles casually, they would be so scared that they would run away from hundreds of astronomical units. With the protection of Shanuya, what was the purpose of the guards?

Peipei thought for a long time before she finally understood the question.

Was this some kind of game?

It was like playing house.

It was because life as a vassal species of the Void Hunters was too boring. They had all kinds of resources, including spiritual energy, and no natural enemies that could threaten their safety. Everybody had to try their best to please themselves in such a boring life.

Pepe’s way was to tell stories, and his brother and his companions, who had nowhere to vent their energy, would learn from the stupid ancient people and play ridiculous war games, pretending that they were heroes like ‘Iron Hero’. What else could they do?

At this moment, the guards seemed to have encountered something. The elder brother was shouting loudly to gather his subordinates. He clearly saw that Peipei did not greet her. His eyes and eyebrows were furrowed together, as if he was facing a great enemy. He seemed to have a lot on his mind, just like his father.

“Hehe. If you don’t greet me, I won’t greet you, either!

Peipei made a face at her brother and the young guards from afar and skipped into New Hope City.

Right now, New Hope City was almost half occupied by the ‘Dream Control Bureau’. 3D virtual light beams were everywhere, projecting the pictures retrieved from the wrinkles of Shanuya’s mind. They were like oil paintings that were flowing and yet extremely thick. The experienced experts of psychoanalysis could analyze Shanuya’s most subtle thoughts and emotional reactions from the colorful pictures and draft different control plans so that they could please it better.

Of course, some of the light beams were replaying the story between Peipei and Shanuya. Every micro-expression on Peipei’s face and every synapse of Shanuya had been recorded.

This was a standard operating procedure that had been carried out for hundreds of years. Peipei did not find anything wrong with it.

She was only curious that the staff of the ‘Dream Control Bureau’ today were as anxious as the guards, as if something big had happened.

Some of them were looking at her weirdly, as if she had caused a great disaster. But when she asked them, they all shook their heads and waved their hands, asking her to ask Rennes, the director of the Dream Control Bureau and her father.

“Dad!”

Puzzled, Peipei returned to the mission center of the Dream Control Bureau. The atmosphere here was even more tense and solemn. Her father’s face, which was usually dark, was even gloomier. He pursed his lips and stared at the bouncing crimson runes on the light beam, deep in thought.

Peipei followed her father’s line of sight and discovered that the glyph was: “Special Alert State!”

What was the meaning of this?

Peipei was greatly surprised. She only knew that Shannuya had experienced a very powerful four-dimensional storm when she brought them on a space jump. It was only after Shannuya tore off almost a hundred tentacles that they were able to run away from the danger. At that time, they were merely in the ‘Level 1 Alert State’. What kind of crisis could be called ‘Super Special’?

Pepe had a vague feeling that it had something to do with him.

Was it because he had accepted the ‘Endless Flowers’ from Shanuya? Surely not!

“Dad?”

The girl cautiously shouted again, “What does this mean? Did we do something wrong? Is—is it that flower?”

“No. You didn’t do anything wrong. The flower was not the most critical factor, either.

Her father finally withdrew his gaze and glanced at her casually. “There’s nothing for you to do here. Go back and take a good rest. Ask the professors to help you recover your mental power. There are very important things to do in the coming days. We are going to help Shanuya ‘reborn’.”

Maybe it was because her father had spoken too casually and calmly, but for a moment, Peipei didn’t understand what ‘reborn’ meant. But when she carefully pondered over the meaning of the word, her face turned pale, and there was only anxiety and fear in her eyes.

The method of reproduction of the Void Hunters was different from that of human beings. They adopted a certain method that was similar to ‘split reproduction’. When a Void Hunter reached the end of its life, it would detonate on its own and blow a few tentacles far away. Then, the tentacles might turn into new Void Hunters.

Therefore, ‘rebirth’ meant ‘death’.

However, the normal lifespan of a Void Hunter was very long, if measured by the standard of human beings. Shanuya was still a ‘young man’. No, it was still a ‘child’ who knew nothing. It was far, far from the time when it was going to explode!

They were going to kill it!

Humanity was taking the initiative to kill the Void Hunters!

His father, his father, his brother, and all the people living on the body of Shanuya, his family, friends, and compatriots, were all determined to kill Shanuya!

“Why?”

“Just because of a flower?”

“It’s not about the flowers, but it has finally asked the question.

Her father explained to her peacefully, “It finally asked you why it was ‘Shanuya’.”

Peipei didn’t understand at all. “What—what about it? What does it mean?”

“It means that its mind is gradually maturing, and its self-awareness has reached and surpassed the threshold.

“It began to think of an extremely dangerous question, ‘Who am I’?”