Doomsday Roulette

In the image, there was a planet that Ye Zhongming couldn’t describe, as it was neither Earth nor blue, but rather a grayish-white existence.

This color, not just in the eyes of Earthlings but also in the eyes of the All Races of the Universe, represented brokenness, desolation, and barrenness...

Ye Zhongming didn’t understand why he was shown a planet when they were supposedly talking about the slave race.

Could this be the home planet of the slave race?

Or perhaps, their base?

“This was once a vibrant planet, existing for about one hundred fifty million cosmic years.”

Ye Zhongming wasn’t clear on how cosmic years equated to Earth years; he guessed it might be three to four times longer, based on some information Aslan had previously revealed during his teachings.

Even if it were five times the length of Earth years, that would still be less than a billion years, which is indeed very young, considering Earth has existed for four to five billion years.

“This is what it looked like before.”

The light barrier changed, and the planet appeared lively, displaying a very active deep red color even from the outside.

Ye Zhongming nodded; the stark visual contrast of the planet before and after made him realize the drastic changes that could have occurred.

“The reason is… the slave race.”

The projected light barrier changed again, still showing the same planet, but now it appeared to be enclosed in a cage.

No, that wasn’t right.

Ye Zhongming leaned in closer; although he didn’t need to since the light barrier allowed for crystal-clear views from any angle, he felt that doing so made the image seem clearer.

That wasn't a real cage, but rather a flesh-colored structure that wrapped around the entire planet, similar to a cricket cage.

Or a birdcage, given its round shape.

Through the cage-like structure, he could see the planet slowly dimming.

“Let’s look at it from the start.”

Jikesu wanted Ye Zhongming to have a more profound impression.

The image returned to the moment when the planet was full of life. Then, from the depths of the universe, a piece of fabric seemed to fly in slowly, flesh-colored.

This time Ye Zhongming saw clearly that this fabric wasn’t just flesh-colored; it was actually a piece of irregular, soft, thick skin-like life!

It floated in from afar and quickly reached the planet's atmosphere, then began to change shape.

In no time, it transformed into the appearance Ye Zhongming had seen earlier, enveloping the planet and then contracting, expanding, contracting, and expanding again... as if it was breathing.

With each “breath,” the previously vibrant planet began to dim little by little, the breath of life growing weaker. Ye Zhongming even saw some bright spots erupt and then disappear during this process; he believed those must be volcanic eruptions or extensive wildfires.

“A million times.”

Ye Zhongming was stunned for a moment and then could no longer contain his horror, actively closing his eyes.

He understood what Jikesu was saying.

The process he had just witnessed, from the strange life of the slave race wrapping around the planet to the planet becoming desolate and leaving, lasted about five minutes.

Jikesu's mention of a million times referred to the ratio by which the process was shortened. Ye Zhongming quickly calculated and drew an astonishing conclusion.

In reality, this process should have lasted over nine years.

Of course, that was in Earth years.

A planet, in just over nine years, had turned from a vibrant life planet into a dead planet?

Humans have been damaging Earth, with billions doing so collectively, yet they didn't manage to ‘kill’ a planet; this slave race accomplished it in nine years?

With this concept in mind, an uncontrollable fear began to arise within him.

Imagine a life form in the universe that could descend upon you at any moment, then within a few years, turn your world into hell… the progression of life becoming a matter of mere moments… life beginning to descend into chaos and entering a countdown...