The words "natural disaster" left King Cain expressionless. Natural disaster... asteroid impact... triggering volcanic eruptions, which would soon turn the entire Arctic Ocean region into a sea of magma. The coldest Arctic Ocean would quickly become the hottest place on Earth.

"King Cain, please send us up," Longya said indifferently.

Cain remained stunned. Kester placed his hand on the elevator's sensor area, and the elevator once again began to ascend slowly.

Upon reaching the ground floor, Jin Wenbing hurried off to the camp to gather the warriors and prepare for departure. At the Kingdom of Ice and Snow's airport, five planes, vehicles sent from Jade Country to aid, were lined up one by one.

At the entrance to the palace, Longya felt a pang of reluctance. "King Cain, I am very sorry, but this is where we part ways. We hope the International Astronomical Observatory's estimate is wrong. If this asteroid does not cause severe consequences, we will return as soon as possible."

"Mr. Longya, could you take my daughter with you?"

"If Princess Aier is willing, we would be glad to."

"I don't want to." Princess Aier's voice suddenly rang out as she walked over with light steps. Then, she suddenly ran towards Wang Lan and, to everyone's astonishment, flung herself into his arms.

Wang Lan felt a chill on his lips as Princess Aier's pressed against his.

The scene left King Cain and the others astonished. Yu Ruoyun's face changed drastically, and Wang Lan was utterly befuddled.

"Wang Lan, whether I live or not, you must remember that in the Kingdom of Ice and Snow, there was a girl who fell in love with you, and that love never changed, even until the last moment of her life."

Princess Aier whispered into Wang Lan's ear, then slowly stepped away from his chest as if nothing had happened, returning to her father's side.

"I will not leave. I am the Princess of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow, and I should share its fate."

"Aier, this is different. Human effort cannot change a natural disaster. There's no point in you staying."

"My purpose is... to ensure that the people of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow are not afraid when disaster strikes, because I am facing it with them." Princess Aier said with a tender smile, "I am known as the Goddess of War by my people, but this 'Goddess of War' has hardly ever won a battle.

"It is not because my strength truly makes me a Goddess of War, but because... they need a Goddess of War. They need the protection of a Goddess of War."

"Then... Mr. Longya, could you take some of the people of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow with you? Not many, just a thousand."

"We should be able to..."

BEEP BEEP BEEP— Longya's phone rang again. His expression changed dramatically as he hurriedly took it out to answer.

"What? Okay, I understand! I'm leaving immediately."

After hanging up, Longya said to Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun, "We have to go now. The asteroid has begun its descent, and it's expected to hit the Ice Volcano in forty minutes."

Wang Lan took a deep look at Princess Aier, the coolness still lingering on his lips.

"Wang Lan, this is an order!" Longya barked again.

"Yes!"

In the end, Wang Lan still followed Longya to the camp. No matter how unwilling he felt, all reluctance and pity crumbled in the face of reality.

One might have the benevolence to aid the world, but one can't risk one's own life and fortune for it, can one? Wang Lan was an ordinary person, not a great man, nor a saint; he wasn't that noble.

As for Princess Aier, Wang Lan admitted she was beautiful, but he didn't lust after her. He certainly wasn't going to fly into a passionate rage and champion her cause just because of her confession.

By the time he returned to the camp, a thousand Black Tiger Army soldiers and over a hundred members of the academy support group were already prepared to depart. The proposal to take some people from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow with them was not brought up again.

Dozens of buses quickly drove out after Wang Lan's arrival. The atmosphere inside was very oppressive. Aside from the roaring engines, not another sound could be heard.

Suddenly, a commotion arose from within the bus. Wang Lan looked up to see that, at some point, a group of civilians from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow had appeared along the sides of the road.

They stood silently, just as before, watching the vehicles pass one by one. Many civilians from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow held banners.

Written in Chinese, they bore messages such as, "Wishing you a triumphant return," and others.

"The civilians of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow still don't know that an asteroid is about to fall and strike the Ice Volcano... They think we're going to fight in a Different Dimensional Space..." a choked, sorrowful voice said.

As the person spoke, the sound of sobbing began to rise and fall within the bus. Even the hardened warriors, faced with those hopeful gazes, couldn't imagine the despair the civilians would feel upon learning that the support team wasn't going out to fight for them but was instead leaving the Kingdom of Ice and Snow.

Wang Lan stared blankly out the window, his mind a whirl of confused thoughts and emotions.

For the first time, Wang Lan faced such powerless despair. He truly recognized how insignificant humans were in the face of natural disasters.

"Director Long, can't we just blast the asteroid to bits mid-air?" a student suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Blast it apart? Do you know how fast an asteroid falls? At the very least, it's twenty times the speed of sound, and the greater its mass, the faster it falls. The fastest missile we have today is only Mach 6.

"Moreover, an asteroid's trajectory is extremely unstable, changing direction every second. To hit an asteroid with a missile, human technology would need to advance for several hundred more years."

When Wang Lan heard this, his whole body jolted. Sensing his change, Yu Ruoyun gripped his arm with concern. "What's wrong?"

Wang Lan's body was rigid, as if carved from stone. Yu Ruoyun gently patted his shoulder. "You don't have to blame yourself. This is beyond our capabilities; it's a natural disaster, not our fault."

Wang Lan didn't blame himself. Even if the Kingdom of Ice and Snow were destroyed by the asteroid, he would feel regret at most, not guilt. But now, several key phrases kept surfacing in his mind:

Too fast... missile can't lock on... shoot down...

Platinum-level Star Martial Skill, a derivative of the Star Sky God Arrow: Void Purple Eyes. Locks onto a visible target. Regardless of how the target evades, an activated Star Sky God Arrow skill will ultimately hit the locked target. Heart-Piercing Shot: gather all Star Power into one lethal arrow, delivering the strongest attack. Could this skill lock onto the asteroid? Could it prevent this disaster?

BEEP BEEP BEEP— Longya's phone rang again. Each time it rang, his heart pounded. No matter how many times it happened, it still filled him with trepidation.

"Hello, this is Longya. I'm on the bus right now, heading to the airport. Estimated time? About fifteen minutes. What?"

That "What?" instantly plunged the entire bus into silence. Longya suddenly stood up, banging his head against the bus's luggage rack without even feeling it.

"Half an hour? How is half an hour enough? We still need to board the planes, don't we?"

After a long silence, Longya hung up. "Speed up! The asteroid will impact in half an hour! We must take off before then! Hurry!"

「Far Across the Ocean」

The International Astronomical Observatory had brought together the world's top astronomers and the most advanced astronomical observation equipment. In the control room, a dozen elderly, grey-haired scientists intently stared at the data on the monitoring screens.

"How is this possible? What on earth is this asteroid made of?" an old man suddenly roared. "Entering the combined gravitational field of Sky Blue Star and the Moon, it can withstand the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies? Even if it were pure metal—no, even a chunk of rock—it should have been ground to dust!

"To pass through the gravitational field unscathed, still following its original trajectory as it falls... but why is it burning so slowly in the atmosphere? At this rate, when it impacts, its size will only have been reduced by a third at most. A nearly twenty-meter asteroid impact is enough to destroy everything in the Arctic Ocean!"

"Our only hope now is that the asteroid's impact point shifts a bit. Please don't let it actually hit the Ice Volcano range! If it triggers the eruption of the Ice Volcano range, the entire world will be affected."

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK— Suddenly, a new detection report printed out. Several scientists grabbed the freshly printed report like hungry tigers pouncing on prey.

The moment they saw the report's conclusion, despair etched itself onto everyone's faces.

The probability of hitting the Ice Volcano range was 97.8%.

"This is bad!" one of the technicians exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"The asteroid has begun to spin violently at high speed! The intense air pressure is increasing its rotational speed. The asteroid's descent speed has increased by a quarter, the impact force will double, and the time to impact is now... less than twenty minutes!"

"It's over!" a scientist from Jade Country cried out in shock. "Will planes still be able to take off after the asteroid hits?"

"If there's a build-up delay before the Ice Volcano erupts, there might be a window of about twenty minutes. But if the Ice Volcano was already on the verge of erupting, it could explode immediately."

Dozens of buses arrived at Ice City's open-air airport, all skidding to a halt, almost drifting as they stopped.

"Quick, stop dawdling! Forget the luggage! Hurry up and board! We only have a few minutes left! Hurry and get on board!" Longya and the other instructors bellowed, their voices like booming bells.

"What's that...?" Suddenly, a student glanced up inadvertently and froze completely.

In the western sky, a bright, miniature sun had abruptly appeared, its brilliance illuminating the entire sky. This "sun" grew larger and closer by the moment.

"Fuck! Weren't we supposed to have more than ten minutes?"

"Hey, Heze? The asteroid is going to hit early? Board immediately? Don't bother telling me now, I can fucking see it already! We're boarding, but this asteroid... it looks like it's headed right for us—"

In just a minute, the asteroid's brightness surpassed the sun. Even though it was night, its light illuminated the land as if it were day.

And its trajectory was taking it directly over Ice City's airport.

It's a gamble. There's nothing to lose by trying. If I don't try, and the Kingdom of Ice and Snow is destroyed because of it, I might regret it for the rest of my life. To try or not to try? The question swayed in Wang Lan's mind for only a second.

Fuck it! I'm going all in! Star Sky God Arrow, add points!

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