“Hmm? Disappointed?”

After receiving this message, Xiao Yu was slightly stunned. He could not comprehend the meaning behind these words. Disappointment was relative to hope. Without hope, how could there be disappointment?

“You have hopes for me? Between us, there is only a relationship of mutual exploitation. I used you to avoid the pursuit of the Molian Civilization, and you used me to lure out my Specter companion. That’s all. What hopes could you possibly have for me?”

At this moment, Xiao Yu’s mind instead became calm. He knew that, in the end, he had not been able to escape. The overwhelming power of this aging Specter had left too deep an impression on him. Even now, with less than ten years left in its life, Xiao Yu still did not believe he could slip out from its grasp.

“Not even a stellar catastrophe could kill this aging Specter? Just how powerful is it, really?” Xiao Yu thought with some despair. “Decades of struggle, decades of painstaking research, I exhausted all my efforts to finally create the Stellar Cannon. And yet, I still can’t escape?”

“Are you afraid? My descendant, you need not fear.” At this moment, the aging Specter actually chuckled, and Xiao Yu received this message filled with amusement.

“Over these past decades, if I were to grade your performance, I would only give you sixty points. Barely a passing score. You’re still far from being excellent.”

“What does that mean?” Xiao Yu grew confused.

“Your deductions fall mainly into three areas. First, under tremendous pressure, you still couldn’t devote yourself entirely to scientific research. Your mental fortitude is still lacking. In such circumstances, you even entertained thoughts of giving up. If I hadn’t threatened you behind the scenes, you likely would have abandoned your efforts altogether. Of course, this first issue is minor. But the second is far more serious. How many times have I warned you? In the universe, you must cast aside all sympathy, moral sensibilities, and any unnecessary thoughts. Survival must be your sole objective. But you? What did you do? Why did you hesitate after completing the Stellar Cannon? Your calculations clearly showed that killing me would give you a higher chance of survival. And yet you hesitated? Was it because of your laughable sense of morality? You needed me to fabricate information about your Specter companion before you could finally make up your mind?”

“W-what?” Xiao Yu was dumbfounded, unable to speak. The meaning hidden in these words was so shocking that for a moment, Xiao Yu didn’t know how to respond.

“If the first two points were still forgivable, then how do you explain the third? The Molian Civilization used your hands to build a planetary bomb. They planned to destroy both this star and the planet. And yet for decades you were completely unaware! If not for your subordinate civilization alerting you at the last moment, you would already be dead! You really believed the Molian Civilization had good intentions toward you? That they would obediently hand over their technology to you? Are you a fool?! Even pigs would know that in such circumstances, they would surely come up with a way to deal with you! And since your only communication channel with them was through the Stellar Cannon, even a pig would suspect there was something wrong with the cannon! But you? Why couldn’t you see it?”

“I… I…” Xiao Yu murmured, unable to form a complete sentence. If he still had a physical body, he would certainly be drenched in cold sweat right now.

“Your major mistakes lie in these three areas. I won’t bother mentioning the smaller ones, such as: when you activated the Stellar Cannon, even though you knew I had already sensed your intentions, why did you still take the risk of fleeing immediately? My descendant, you have truly disappointed me. With someone as immature and incompetent as you, how can you face this dark universe? How can you defeat the Sweepers and the Guardians? How can you explore the secrets hidden behind us?”

“You… you were always acting out of goodwill toward me? All the threats I sensed were things you fabricated on purpose, just to force me to grow faster? My Specter companion never actually arrived? Both of those messages were nothing but your fabrications to scare me?” Xiao Yu murmured.

“No, you’re mistaken. Because I was not familiar with the dictionary between you and your Specter companion, to ensure the credibility of the information, I summoned your Specter companion from the void. Otherwise, do you really think they would have noticed you were in danger? After receiving the message, you didn’t choose to contact your Specter companion, but instead chose to deceive the Molian Civilization to obtain their technology. Although your methods were somewhat clumsy, you still achieved your goal. That is the one action of yours that earned you some credit.” The aging Specter replied lightly.

Xiao Yu once again broke out in a cold sweat. Only now did he realize that every step, every action, and every seemingly ingenious plan of his had actually been under the control of this aging Specter all along.

“I was foolish… utterly foolish…” Xiao Yu murmured, waves of shock surging in his heart.

At this moment, Xiao Yu felt an overwhelming sense of awe toward the aging Specter.

“Several tens of millions of years of lifespan, once having personally fought against a Neutron War Star, countless civilizations annihilated over its lifetime, countless life-or-death crises faced, endless schemes and conspiracies encountered… This… this is who you are, great elder of the Specter Race…”

“Though you have greatly disappointed me, you are still somewhat moldable and have not utterly let me down. You still have room to grow, and me dedicating my remaining lifespan to you has not been in vain. You must grow quickly. In this dark universe, there is no place for light or childishness.” The aging Specter spoke slowly, its voice full of sorrow. “Unfortunately, I will not live to see the day you become strong.”

“R-right! Elder Specter, how are you now? What kind of damage did that Stellar Cannon cause you? How are you holding up?” At this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly thought of this issue and asked anxiously.

“Such a crude Stellar Cannon, how could it possibly destroy a star? You and the Molian Civilization were both too naive. Unless its power was increased a hundredfold, it would only have a slight chance.” The aging Specter spoke with disdain. “However, this shot has indeed caused severe damage to the star. It won’t stabilize for at least several tens of thousands of years. As for me… you needn’t worry. I originally had less than ten years left to live; this stellar catastrophe has merely accelerated my death. I have… about one hour of life remaining.”

“You… you clearly knew the Stellar Cannon’s power, so why didn’t you evade? Why did you choose to die by my hand? Are you trying to make me bear eternal guilt? To make me forever carry the pain of killing my benefactor and elder with my own hands?” Xiao Yu asked bitterly.

The aging Specter’s voice became stern. “My descendant! What have I taught you? Listen to me! Discard those useless emotions in your heart, put away your sympathy and your sense of morality, and throw them all away! You are my only hope. I have little time left to live anyway, so I may as well die at your hand, using my life to teach you what true cold-bloodedness means! Remember this! I, your elder, your benefactor, was killed by your own hand. But you must not feel guilt. You must not feel pain!”

Xiao Yu remained silent, not saying a word, but great waves of emotion surged within his heart. Countless feelings churned, unable to settle.

The aging Specter, with its life, had given Xiao Yu his final lesson.

“In this pitch-black universe, only the coldest, most ruthless being can survive to the end. Now… farewell, my descendant. The road ahead, you must walk it alone. No one will accompany you to the end. The Molian Civilization’s fleet, that is my final test for you. Go and wipe out their fleet completely… plunder their technology, plunder their population, so you may grow stronger…”

“After I die, my body will transform into a Specter Heart, hidden within the asteroid belt formed from the planet’s explosion. After you have eliminated the Molian Civilization, you may come to search for my remains. They may still be of some use to you. My remains are connected in a special way to the corpse of my main civilization, the Micron Civilization. With the Specter Heart, you may locate it. The corpse of the Micron Civilization may be of some help to you in your future war against the Neutron War Star…”

“That’s enough. My energy has been exhausted. I am about to end my tens of millions of years of life and return to eternal nothingness. Farewell… farewell…”

“Elder! Elder!” Xiao Yu called out softly twice, but there was no response. What appeared before Xiao Yu was a brilliant light.

Xiao Yu was currently traveling at Faster-Than-Light speed, and under normal circumstances, should not have been able to observe any light directly. Yet now, he could clearly see it with his own eyes.

From the location of that star, a burst of brilliant light suddenly erupted, like countless glowing specks dancing through the sky, radiating in dazzling colors, drifting and floating, until one by one they extinguished and faded into darkness.

Xiao Yu knew that this great existence, which had lived for tens of millions of years, whose life had been full of epic events and countless experiences, had now passed away.

Xiao Yu knew this was its final funeral, its last glow left behind in this pitch-black universe.

[T/N: Umm wtf? I don’t know who to trust anymore, everyone is scheming lmao.]