An hour later, Lucian and the exploration team encountered another mory Zone that tried to ambush them, but just as he was about to crush it, Mikhail suddenly grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"Wait! Don't kill her! Please... Please don't kill her..."
"Her?"
Lucian turned back and glanced at Mikhail, seeing the shock and sorrow on his face.
In that instant, Lucian roughly guessed the reason, then glanced back toward the mory Zone and noticed a yellow ribbon hanging around it.
Evidently, from Mikhail's reaction and the yellow ribbon, this mory Zone must be the lost Naless—Razalina Jane Estella.
"She... She was my friend..." Mikhail said sorrowfully as tears welled in the corners of his eyes. "She's Razalina Jane Estella... a Naless, like ..."
If not for that familiar yellow ribbon, he wouldn't have recognized her.
Seeing his friend turned into a monster tore his heart apart.
If he had to kill her with his own hands, that would truly drive him mad.
"A talented scholar and a surveyor of the Astral Express, huh..." Lucian remarked calmly. "At the end of the War of Independence, she piloted a shuttle alone into the mory Zone to study the secrets of the Primordial Dreamscape, but sadly, she vanished suddenly, never coming back. Looks like she has beco a mory Zone ..."
"How... do you know all that?" Mikhail asked, frowning.
"Nah, don't worry about the details." Lucian replied, looking nonchalant. "All you need to know is—when you follow , you won't have to suffer from loss again."
Hearing this, Mikhail couldn't comprehend it for a mont.
'What's that supposed to an?'
As Mikhail stood there in a daze, pondering Lucian's aning, Lucian suddenly moved, grabbing the mory Zone in one swift motion.
*ROAAARRR—!!!*
Suddenly grasped, the mory Zone struggled and howled, but no matter how hard it resisted, it couldn't escape Lucian's grasp.
"Guess you're lucky you ran into ..." Lucian said with a faint smirk. "You'll have to repay with the rest of your life."
In the next mont, he created a white bandage using the Godly Bandage, then tightly wrapped the mory Zone with it.
"Why are you wrapping her with a bandage?"
Mikhail asked in confusion, having never seen Lucian use such a thod before.
Lucian didn't explain.
He just casually yanked a massive chunk of moria from the ground and turned it into a wall, blocking Mikhail and the others on the other side.
"Don't co over." Lucian ordered calmly.
No one knew why, but they all obeyed his order without question.
Lucian then created a set of clothes while waiting for the Godly Bandage to complete its work.
Soon enough, the twisted form of the mory Zone began to change—its monstrous body gradually shrinking and reshaping into that of an adult woman.
*Rip—*
A mont later, the bandage unraveled, showing a graceful, delicate woman with long dark-brown hair.
Her body was slender and well-proportioned, neither too tall nor too short, and her looks weren't otherworldly, but she had a soft, pleasant kind of beauty.
Needless to say, the woman was indeed the Naless known as Razalina Jane Estella.
Lucian imdiately covered her bare body with the clothes he had prepared, but just as he released his hand, Razalina suddenly stirred awake.
"Ugh... Who... Who are—"
When Razalina opened her eyes and saw Lucian's handso face hovering above hers, her heart skipped a beat before she asked instinctively—but then paused as she realized she was actually wearing nothing.
Her face instantly flushed red as she curled up in embarrassnt, ready to scream, but fortunately, Lucian's hand shot out quickly, covering her mouth before the sound could escape.
"Mmm! Mmmph—!"
"Shut up..." Lucian said indifferently in a low voice. "You don't want everyone out there to see you naked, do you?"
Such a sudden, devilish threat made Razalina tremble all over before she frantically nodded to show her understanding.
As Lucian let her go, Razalina's hands moved quickly to dress herself, wrapping herself in the clothes he gave her.
"Wh-Who are you? What happened to ?"
Razalina, finally dressed properly, asked again, her face blushing and her voice flustered.
She rembered that she had gotten lost in the mory Zone, wandering aimlessly and unable to find an exit, when her vision suddenly dimd, before her body began to twist—and after that, everything went blank.
"You were dead." Lucian replied calmly, his eyes fixed on her body, moving up and down before settling on her face. "You turned into a mory Zone and attacked my people, but I brought you back. What do you think that makes ?"
"You... saved ...?" Razalina's eyes widened for a mont, then she imdiately bowed her head. "You're my lifesaver then! Thank you very much!"
Seeing this, Lucian couldn't help but chuckle.
"Razalina, is that you?!"
Apparently, Razalina's voice as she thanked Lucian was so loud that everyone behind the wall heard it, and Mikhail, who heard it, froze for a mont before shouting frantically toward the wall.
He wanted to rush over but didn't dare disobey Lucian's order, so he could only shout from behind the wall.
Instead of a reply, a familiar figure soon appeared.
As the wall crumbled, Mikhail stared blankly at the approaching figure, hardly daring to believe his own eyes.
It really was her—his fellow Naless companion, Razalina Jane Estella!
'R-Razalina is alive!'
Shock instantly filled Mikhail's heart.
He hadn't imagined that Lucian possessed such incredible and miraculous power, to the point that he could even restore soone who had beco a mory Zone .
Now, he was one hundred percent convinced—backing Lucian as Penacony's true leader had been the right choice.
Only Lucian could make Penacony shine brighter!
"Hey, Legwork, you're still alive~?" Razalina teased lightly, smiling sweetly. "By the way, where's Tiernan? Why didn't he co to welco ?"
At this, Mikhail only gave a bitter smile.
"Tiernan... He... He sacrificed himself..."
He explained how Tiernan had led the Lampmoth Family to expand outward, only for him and the entire Lampmoth Family to be wiped out by the Swarm.
Because no corpse was ever found, they were likely devoured by the Swarm.
As the two mourned for their friend, Lucian interjected.
"As far as I know, Tiernan isn't dead yet. He should have joined the Galaxy Rangers, and a few years from now, he'll die while fighting a Lord Ravager."
Lucian's sudden words hit Mikhail like a thunderbolt.
"A-Are you sure? You're not lying?" Mikhail asked skeptically, yet his heart was telling him it was not a lie.
"What would I gain from lying to you?" Lucian asked back, raising his eyebrows.
"No gain..." Mikhail muttered, speechless. "If that's the case, does that an we can see him again?"
"Yeah. When he returns to Penacony, you'll see him."
Lucian soothed Mikhail's shaken emotions, considering it a reward for being a reliable underling.
If tragedy in reality could be anded in the script, so be it.
In the original story, when Tiernan returned to Penacony, the five great lineages had stopped him from eting Mikhail, but not this ti. He would make sure every lineage knew that, if a man nad Tiernan appeared, he was to be welcod warmly.
No one dared bar a guest personally nad by the Dreammaster and the Uncrowned King of Penacony, after all.
===
So ti later, the exploration team finally completed its pioneering effort.
Thanks to Lucian's protection, not only was the efficiency high, but there were also zero casualties.
Now, Penacony's Dreamscape had expanded by a wide margin.
"For future pioneering, rember to contact to set the music. As for the rest, Mikhail, you'll handle it. Alright, I'm going."
As always, Lucian tossed every troubleso thing onto Mikhail, then vanished on the spot, going back to enjoy life.
"Has he always been this carefree?"
Razalina glanced at Mikhail and asked with a blank expression.
"Yeah, you'll get used to it." Mikhail smiled helplessly. "As long as you don't cross his bottom line, he's easy to talk to. You can even call him by na directly."
"And if I do cross it?"
"Well, even calling him 'daddy' won't save you. You're dead."
Hearing this, Razalina flinched, then let out a helpless sigh.
"Hey, do you think... Tiernan will really co back?"
Razalina asked softly, changing the topic.
"I don't know..." Mikhail replied with a complicated expression. "But since I t Lucian, he's never lied to , so if he said Tiernan would co back, he will definitely co back."
===
One year later, within one of Penacony's ports, a Galaxy Ranger wearing a brown robe with a hood that concealed his appearance stepped off his spaceship and approached the entrance gate.
"Halt! Who are you? What business do you have in Penacony?"
One of the mbers of the Bloodhound Family guarding the gate inquired with a stern expression and tone upon noticing the suspicious-looking Galaxy Ranger.
"Are they new recruits? Has the Bloodhound Family forgotten ?"
Muttering in wonder, the Galaxy Ranger glanced around at the surroundings, which now looked more prosperous than he rembered, then looked at the mbers of the Bloodhound Family guarding the gate one by one before pulling down his hood.
"I'm Tiernan, Breukelen Tiernan—the Naless who helped you build Penacony with Mikhail and Razalina. You don't know ?"
Indeed, he was none other than Breukelen Tiernan, the Naless companion of Mikhail and Razalina.
"Tiernan? Wait, you're Mr. Tiernan?! Please, co with ! Every lineage head ordered that you be given the warst welco!"
"Welco, welco!"
"Mr. Tiernan, this way, please. I'll escort you."
Seeing all the mbers of the Bloodhound Family suddenly beco respectful and even give him a grand and warm reception, Tiernan couldn't help but feel bewildered.
"Mikhail, you really went all out with this awkward fanfare..." Tiernan muttered, speechless, while looking around. "Seeing the current Penacony, plus his skills, he must be living a good life now..."
===
At the sa ti, sowhere in Penacony, inside a classical-looking office, the weary-looking Mikhail suddenly sneezed mid-work.
"Is soone talking behind my back...?"
Mikhail muttered tiredly while massaging his temple.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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