Done dealing with the Stellaron, Lucian, under Serfina's guidance, led everyone out of Penacony's Dreamscape and back into Reality.
At this moment, Penacony's Reality was nothing compared to what it would become in the future, since it was still in development—there were no neon lights and no indulgence in pleasures.
After returning to Penacony's Reality, he initially thought he had arrived at a colossal space station, but unlike a normal space station, metal cages were everywhere, as if every room had been built by modifying the spherical prison cells that had been left behind.
'Hard to imagine, this is the prototype of the Reverie Hotel...'
From what he remembered, the entire planet—or rather, the entire space station—was actually a massive prison for the IPC's prisoners, one large enough to rival a planet in scale.
Each prison cell would eventually become a future hotel room, and, fortunately, after some renovation, the prison would no longer look as oppressive.
However, right now, countless small buildings had been flattened, and a gaping hole hovered above Penacony, since the upper level had been demolished by the Stellaron, which could actually affect both the Dreamscape and Reality.
Lucian had clearly arrived just in time.
Had he been any later, Penacony would have been reduced to rubble.
At this moment, a large group of people followed behind him—they were all people he had saved and brought along during their escape from the Dreamscape, hailing from different races.
Lucian held Robin in his arms, visibly doting on the child, while Serfina, holding Sunday, walked half a step behind him.
Along the way, he asked Serfina about Penacony and soon learned about its current situation.
It was now Year 2150 of the Amber Era, and the War of Independence had ended over a decade ago.
Now, every lineage of Penacony was in a period of civil war—seemingly unified on the surface, but each was acting on its own, fighting for power and resources, with endless infighting.
Mikhail had gone to the frontier to pioneer, and because of this, his political enemies seized the opportunity to launch an internal rebellion, steal the Stellaron, and then activate it.
Apparently, they had sought to use the power of the Stellaron to control Penacony and gain more power, but unfortunately, they had underestimated its danger, nearly destroying Penacony instead.
A while later, while discussing the heads of various lineages with Serfina, Lucian soon spotted a familiar figure in the distance.
It was a man who looked like he was in his twenties, frantically shouting for help through his phone.
"Hurry! Penacony can't hold out much longer!"
Just as the man grew increasingly anxious, he suddenly saw a group of people walking toward him.
He immediately ended his call, then rushed over to ask about the situation.
"How's the Dreamscape? How many are still alive? To what extent has the Stellaron grown?"
As he asked the same question over and over, the man's expression was anxious, his brow tightly furrowed, and his tone sharp with urgency.
He was a handsome man with light blue hair, clad in a well-tailored white shirt beneath a deep blue vest accented with gold trim, black pants, and black gloves on both hands.
Now that Lucian saw the man's appearance clearly, he confirmed his guess—the man was none other than Mikhail Char Legwork, the famous Watchmaker of Penacony.
"If you're asking about the Stellaron, it has grown to this extent."
Lucian spoke nonchalantly and pulled the Stellaron out of his pocket before casually tossing it over.
Mikhail jumped back in shock when he saw the Stellaron, scrambling to catch it as he was afraid it might fall and explode.
'Good god!'
Mikhail thought in shock, the corner of his lips twitching.
A Stellaron was literally no different from a nuclear bomb that could easily explode with just the slightest movement!
How could this young man just throw it around so casually?
However, when Mikhail finally caught the Stellaron, he soon realized that it had actually calmed down, looking like an ordinary glowing stone.
"It… has been sealed? How? No, who did this?"
In fact, he had been out looking for someone to deal with the Stellaron, and luckily, The Family from the Montour system had agreed to help.
He had called them earlier, and they should be on the way, but now, the Stellaron had actually been sealed?
"It's all thanks to the Savior."
"Mr. Savior did it."
"He's the one—our savior."
Facing Mikhail's question, the large group behind Lucian was all gazing at him, speaking one after another.
Hearing their words, Mikhail had no choice but to take a closer look at the young man in front of him.
Needless to say, anyone who could seal the so-called Cancer of All Worlds had extraordinary power and was clearly not an ordinary person.
Mikhail couldn't help but wonder whether Penacony had finally found the perfect leader who could guide it to greatness. He was self-aware enough to know that he wasn't suited to politics or to leading people, since he was more of a pioneer.
"Ah, right! I haven't introduced myself." Mikhail smiled helplessly and extended his hand toward Lucian. "I'm Mikhail Char Legwork. Just call me Mikhail."
Lucian glanced at the hand for a moment, then shook it with his own.
"I'm Lucian, just Lucian. I came here after hearing a bird's call for help." Lucian said while giving Robin in his arms a doting glance.
It was then that everyone finally learned the true name of their savior—especially Serfina, Robin, and Sunday, who firmly etched the name in their memories.
Just then, a large group of people, split into five smaller groups, each of them wearing a different crest on various parts of their clothes, approached Lucian and the others.
Lucian, noticing them, knew instantly who they were.
They were none other than the five great lineages of Penacony—the Oak Family, the Bloodhound Family, the Iris Family, the Alfalfa Family, and the Nightingale Family.
"Mikhail, what's going on?"
Magnoy, the head of the Oak Family, was the first to speak up.
"You should be asking yourself that!" Mikhail responded with anger, and his expression darkened. "Why was the Stellaron activated? Before I left, it was secured!"
He couldn't help it.
No matter how he thought about it, the only logical explanation was that this had something to do with these ambitious former prisoners.
"Everyone, calm down." Asna, the head of the Iris Family, stepped in as the peacemaker. "Now that the disaster is over, we should first understand what happened."
With that, the halovians recounted the entire sequence of events, along with testimonies from the other surviving races.
As a result, all the lineage heads turned to look at the exceptionally handsome young man who had stayed silent since the beginning and appeared composed.
"Everyone, this is the truth—the Stellaron in my hands is the proof. As I said before, we need a strong leader to guide Penacony, so—"
Mikhail raised the Stellaron, but before he could finish his sentence, someone interrupted him.
"Wait, this doesn't prove anything!" Magnoy protested loudly, gazing sharply at Lucian.
He couldn't accept this outcome.
Penacony's power was severely divided right now.
How could he allow anyone else, especially an outsider, to suddenly swoop in and take the spoils of victory?
He had paid a hefty price to activate the Stellaron, and now, an outsider appeared out of nowhere just in time to reap the rewards?
"Maybe he's the one who activated the Stellaron, staged the whole thing, and now he's here to easily take Penacony!" Magnoy accused with an angry expression. "Why else would the so-called savior show up so conveniently? I suspect he was the cause of the Stellaron disaster!"
As soon as these words fell, the other lineage heads seemed to agree.
"Ohoho, I wouldn't rule out that suspicion." Oti Alfalfa, the head of the Alfalfa Family, voiced his agreement.
"I'll reserve my opinion, but I'll remain skeptical." Glaux, the head of the Nightingale Family, chimed in.
"Penacony was conquered by Hanunue, so it can't be handed over to outsiders." Don Wyatt, the head of the Bloodhound Family, said solemnly. "Mikhail, you can't decide this lightly."
Asna stared at Lucian for a while, feeling that he didn't seem like a power-hungry person.
Even though she didn't know the reason clearly, in her experienced eyes, his gaze and demeanor were somewhat different from those who lust for power.
"I think we can trust Mr. Lucian and Mikhail..." Asna said softly, trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, the fact that so many lives were saved because of him is undeniable."
"Heh, look at you..." Magnoy sneered at Asna, a woman who, in his eyes, only knew how to sing and dance. "If everyone were as naïve as you, Penacony would be easily handed to him. Who knows if he's just the puppet of the IPC? Don't you remember how the IPC—"
*BOOM!*
Before Magnoy could finish his words, his entire body exploded without warning, spraying blood and minced meat over everyone nearby.
"Why do I need to scheme in such a needlessly complicated and troublesome way just to rule this place?"
Lucian, who had stayed silent since the beginning, finally spoke—his calm and indifferent voice rang out faintly.
"Hey, don't you all think too highly of yourselves?"
===
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