Chapter 349 – Rulers
The light blade aligned perfectly with the “eye” and quickly expanded toward it.
Space was severed.
Like a decapitator, the blade harvested a group of non-human creatures standing between Tu Ran and the “eye” as it moved.
Their dark green blood, as deep in color as their eyes, splattered across the ground. Their blood was slightly thicker than that of normal humans. Tu Ran saw with her own eyes a droplet of green blood stretch into a long, thin thread as it fell between a decapitated head and the ground.
The “eye” had appeared as a product of spatial rifts, and Tu Ran’s [Space Cutting] caused direct spatial damage.
As expected, the “eye” was completely defenseless against the spatial cutting beam. It instantly shifted, splitting into two halves. Unable to sustain the torn space, it collapsed and folded back into its original state.
The “eye” vanished, but Tu Ran worried that the leader might use his sharp claws to carve out another one. Without hesitation, she condensed an energy orb and hurled it at him.
The leader’s dark green pupils contracted. He quickly slashed through the air with his claw, creating a broken spatial rift. The rift exuded immense suction, swallowing the energy orb instantly.
The orb’s power was entirely neutralized.
Tu Ran remained undeterred. She swiftly adjusted her angle, launching energy orbs repeatedly from multiple directions.
Her angles were precise.
She ensured the orbs could hit the leader while avoiding the existing spatial rift’s pull.
The leader was forced to slash through the air from all directions, tearing open space anew. His claws nearly sparked from the repeated motion, yet he maintained an air of elegance. One hand remained gracefully behind his back the entire time.
Despite his efforts, he managed to redirect all the energy orbs into the rifts.
Before he could catch his breath, however, a nearly invisible light blade grew larger in his green pupils. He attempted to react, but his speed was no match for the incoming blade.
A chill spread through his abdomen, followed by excruciating pain. Instinctively, he reached out to feel the wound on his stomach.
Sticky blood clung to his fingers, seeping through the gaps between them as blood flowed from every direction of his waist.
The light blade had flashed through his abdomen and extended its cut to the intricately carved door behind him.
With a resounding crash, the door collapsed, and the lifelike eye sculptures engraved on it crumbled into dust, scattering across the ground.
Tu Ran resumed her invisibility and swiftly dealt with the remaining underlings hiding in the metal box.
The leader’s death was gruesome, and she couldn’t bear to look at him. Keeping her gaze steady, she ran through the broken door without glancing back.
Her shoes inevitably became stained with the blood of those she’d killed, each step producing a sticky, squeaking sound as her soles clung to the floor. Determined to perfect her invisibility, Tu Ran retrieved a pair of replacement boots from her spatial storage and quickly swapped them out.
Once she put on the new boots, she straightened up and was struck by the breathtaking sight before her. Beyond an enormous, full-surround glass viewport lay the vast, boundless expanse of the cosmos.
Tu Ran froze mid-step, staring in disbelief at the space she now stood in.
The room was a cockpit filled with operational systems. Changing data streams flickered across control panels, accompanied by a chorus of beeping alerts. Overhead, warning lights flashed rhythmically.
Finally, Tu Ran realized where she was.
She had entered a small spacecraft.
And now, the “operators” who had gathered for their routine morning meeting onboard were all lying dead in the conference room, slain by her hands.
She was the only one left aboard the ship.
Tu Ran, a complete novice with no knowledge of spacecraft operations, was about to navigate this vessel through the infinite expanse of the universe, utterly alone.
She walked up to the glass, peering out at the scene beyond. The ship had just passed a planet with a purple surface, so close that the vibrant purple backdrop filled most of her view.
The sight made her laugh inexplicably.
After laughing, her lips pressed into a thin line as she turned away and headed for another room on the ship.
She had to find someone—or something—onboard.
Kicking open the doors of the spaceship’s rest chambers one by one, Tu Ran found no one. No one at all. She even checked each room’s bathroom carefully, leaving no corner unsearched, but her efforts were in vain. Afterward, she headed to the dining area, the maintenance room, and the storage bay, yet she still didn’t catch sight of a single moving shadow.
Finally, she returned to the conference room.
The door to the conference room lay in a battered heap on the ground. Tu Ran didn’t enter; she stood just outside, peering in.
Perhaps some of these creatures had survived—an absurd hope she couldn’t quite shake.
But what greeted her was a river of vivid green blood, soaking the once-silver-gray carpet until it resembled a field of freshly sprouted green shoots.
It almost looked… full of life.
Realizing the absurdity of her thoughts, Tu Ran shook her head vigorously.
She must be losing her mind, finding vitality in a pile of corpses.
After confirming once again, Tu Ran finally accepted the reality that she was the only living being aboard the entire spaceship.
Resolving to return to the control platform, she decided to check if there was an autopilot function. If nothing worked, she could always rely on her [Space-Time Manipulation] ability to escape.
But just as she turned to leave, a raspy voice came from behind her.
The sound was rough, like it had been dragged out of an ashtray that hadn’t been touched in a century. Hoarse, unclear, and with poorly enunciated words, it said:
“Outsider… rat… you’ve killed the Ruler’s most… loyal followers. You will… face judgment.”
The moment the voice echoed, Tu Ran spun around, locking her eyes on its source.
It was that eye—the one that had somehow reappeared, though she couldn’t fathom how.
Its dim, shadowy eyeball, set against the dark green carpet, seemed as if it might drip out at any moment. The once-round pupil in the center began to flatten, further and further, until it formed a distinct vertical slit—an eye that could only belong to a sinister specter.
It looked like the eye of a malevolent spirit.
Tu Ran stared at it for a long moment, narrowing her eyes. “Outsider rat? Are you talking about me?”
The spirit’s pinprick-like pupil instantly turned round.
Then, with apparent effort, it forced the shape back into its menacing vertical form.
“You should concern yourself with the enormity of what you’ve provoked—the greatest race in the entire universe! The invincible beings! The ultimate destiny of all existence! The eternal dominators—the Rulers!”
Tu Ran brushed her arm mockingly, as if wiping away goosebumps that weren’t even there. What a ridiculously dramatic declaration.
The “eye” continued its fervent threats: “You’ve been marked. There’s no escape for you. Wherever this spaceship lands, it will become your grave, you miserable rat!”
Though she disliked being called a rat, Tu Ran caught an important piece of information in its words. “So this spaceship will automatically land in the Rulers’ world?”
The eye responded without hesitation, “Yes! Are you frightened now? Even if you try to run, it’s already too late! You’d best end your life here to cleanse your sins. Perhaps the Rulers will grant your corpse some mercy.”
Tu Ran felt a sense of relief at confirming this. At least she didn’t have to worry about figuring out how to land the spaceship. In some strange way, her luck wasn’t all that bad—she’d stumbled upon the Rulers right away, saving herself from aimlessly wandering through different worlds.
The green eye’s sudden appearance seemed solely for delivering these threats. Once its ominous monologue was complete, it closed itself and vanished without a trace.
