The Almighty Ring

“The f*ck?”

According to 0541’s best assumption, the Core of Time was not on the ship and neither was it on Earth or the moon. The best speculation was it being in the 10th Dimension. Yet… the 10th Dimension was as empty as the void of space.

“Oh no… Oh no. Oh no! OH F*CK NO!” Jiang Fei cried, panicking.

Jiang Fei’s plan was to take on the Valsalrians. He would fight all of them until he determined an inevitable loss. In that case, the contingency plan would be to show the Core of Time to the Valsalrians. With the coveted Core in his hands, the Valsalrians would hold their attack and listen to Jiang Fei’s demands; which would be to cease all attacks in the solar system and to leave Earth alone. As such, the Core of Time was vital for any of that to work! What could Jiang Fei offer to the Valsalrians to make them stop the attack? Was he supposed to just knock on their door politely and inform them about how he misplaced the Core of Time?

How would the band of space bandits believe Jiang Fei? Without the Core of Time itself presented before them, they would proceed with the attack! Jiang Fei would never be able to stop the fleet of space bandits!

“What to do?! What to do?! What can I f*cking do?!” Jiang Fei yelled before giving up and exiting the 10th Dimension.

As soon as he returned to the bridge, Isabella came to him and held his hands.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“A mysterious place,” Jiang Fei answered vaguely. He had no intention to explain his ability to anyone. Someday, perhaps, but not now.

“0541, proceed with the backup plan,” Jiang Fei ordered. The Core of Time was missing and the Valsalrians were coming. Jiang Fei had to follow the backup plan that 0541 had devised—to evacuate everyone important and transport them to the ship before leaving Earth for good.

Back on Earth, Jiang Fei explained about the current dire situation to his parents and had them prepare to stay on the ship. He had wanted nothing more than to have them live peacefully on Earth. But right now, the threat was so large and real that they could not even stay on the moon!

“Darling, someone’s here,” Ariel ran toward Jiang Fei and reported. It was right after Jiang Fei was done packing things with his parents.

“I’ll be with you in a moment,” said Jiang Fei to his parents before he turned to Ariel.

“Who is it?”

“Your long forgotten friend, Han Tianyu,” Ariel answered with a nostalgic smile.

“Oh dang! What a time! I should have him join us,” Jiang Fei said. He had wanted to bring him along. Since he had come to him first, it saved him the hassle of finding him.

“Ah Fei! It’s been a while! How are you?” said Han Tianyu as he reached out his hands.

Before Jiang Fei greeted Han Tianyu, he turned to Arel and openly said, “Be a dear and fetch Isabella for me.”

“Oh…? Alright.” Curious, but Ariel did not probe further. Thirty seconds or so later, Bella came to Jiang Fei with Ariel by her side.

“Did you call for me?” Isabella asked curiously. Han Tianyu was an outsider and it was odd that Jiang Fei wanted to make a scene.

Jiang Fei smiled and turned to Han Tianyu.

“Isn’t it time for you to reveal yourself?” he said with a straight face.

“Huh? What on Earth do you mean?” Han Tianyu asked.

“Enough with the charade. I don’t know who you really are or why you possessed Han Tianyu, but I know very well that Isabella here would be more than willing to draw you out,” said Jiang Fei. He had sensed that everything was off as soon as Han Tianyu had entered his house. His vitals and appearance were fine but his mental thoughts, his unique brainwave was different.

“I see…” Han Tianyu chuckled. His facial tics changed immediately and with the most calm composure, he said, “You’ve passed my test, Jiang Fei. Not bad. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Velon.”

“Velon. Continue,” said Jiang Fei as he glared at Velon with monstrous hostility. The name was nothing but a name. The fact that he was possessing Han Tianyu’s body was enough reason for Jiang Fei to bear enmity toward him or it.

“I am a Spectre. I am without a physical body. The only way I can talk to you is by possessing another living being. However, do put away your killing intent. Your friend is safe for I do not wish to have conflict.”

As soon as Velon paused, 0541 quickly chimed in to explain about the entity.

“Captain, a Spectre is a mysterious being in the cosmos. They are known to be Watchers. As he said, Spectres are without a physical form. Under normal conditions, they are always in spectral form. They are undetectable, untraceable. They cannot be attacked. As far as the records show, no one has ever succeeded in detecting or even killing a Spectre. They can only interact with others via possessing a lower energy life form for only a short period of time. Besides observing, they cannot do anything.”

“So, Velon the Spectre. What do you want with me?” Jiang Fei asked.

“I have been drifting across space for thousands of years. I have seen many things that none could explain yet the one thing that has piqued my interest is you, Terran Jiang Fei. I am here to watch you,” said Velon.

“To watch me?”

At this point, Jiang Fei felt somewhat violated. If Spectres weren’t possessing someone, they could be around you, right beside you even without being noticed.

“This guy can become the greatest spy ever!” Jiang Fei thought. He was not the only one that had that thought yet no one across the cosmic had ever struck a bargain with a Spectre. They were without form and could never be influenced by anything. As such, they were without greed and without threat. That was what they had always been, the Watcher of the Universe, a true neutral entity.

“Correct. I have always been watching you and I know that you can enter that… special place,” Velon said with a frail smile. He knew well that Jiang Fei didn’t want to let anyone know about the 10th Dimension yet. As such, he did not break it to everyone then.

“You knew…” Jiang Fei gasped.

“I am all-knowing,” Velon stated.

“If you are all-knowing, why do you reveal yourself to me? What do you wish to accomplish here?”

“You ask the most interesting question, Terran. And that is what I want to watch. You are a unique life form… Always doing things that goes against conformity. Nevertheless, I wish to continue watching over you. However, I am aware of the recent events and I am here to give you guidance,” said Velon.

“Guidance, you say?” Jiang Fei said. He crossed fingers and rested his chin on his hands.

“Captain, listen to the Spectre. Not many have had the chance of ever conversing with a Spectre and fewer had received their help. There are no record shown that a Spectre had ever harmed anyone,” 0541 chimed in.

“Alright. I’ll accept your guidance,” Jiang Fei accepted. At this point, there was no reason to deny anyone’s help as he had no other means to protect Earth from imminent destruction.