"Please, Your Majesty, give your command!" Upon hearing that Muria had an even more challenging task for her, Dr. Ellen didn't show the slightest hint of reluctance. Instead, she looked delighted.
Due to the vast differences in their power levels and social status, just knowing that Muria needed her to accomplish something for him filled Dr. Ellen with a sense of satisfaction and honor.
"I need you to return to your world and use your connections to approach its ruling class. Tell them of the will of us Ikons: that we are a peace-loving people, yet we do not fear any challenge, nor do we shy away from war or threats of force."
Originally, Muria had planned to be direct about what he wanted from her, but he chose to preface it with a few statements.
"Though a severe conflict has already erupted between our worlds, I still desire peace. I hope that one day my world and yours can coexist harmoniously in a mutually beneficial alliance."
Muria expressed his true thoughts. Between war and peace, he would naturally choose peace. Dragging both his own world and Earth's civilization into a quagmire of endless conflict was not his intention.
If war continued, it would ultimately end with the complete destruction of the ecological systems of both worlds.
Earth, being a technological civilization, would certainly possess the means to drag its enemy into ruin along with itself should it face defeat. Meanwhile, the Ikon world, with Muria's presence, simply couldn't afford to lose.
Thus, one world could not afford defeat, while the other couldn't even fathom the possibility of it. In fact, Earth was in such a deep energy crisis brought on by rapid technological advances that its civilization's collapse was inevitable if the crisis went unresolved.
Upon learning of Earth's impending catastrophe, Muria had a new idea. Earth's civilization had reached a bottleneck in its evolutionary process. If he could help them overcome this crisis, well...
"I hope you can return to your world, seek out its older leaders, and communicate my goodwill to them," Muria said with a smile, emphasizing "older" to make his intentions clear. He trusted this clever woman would understand his meaning.
"I understand, Lord Ural. I will convey your goodwill to the senators within the government," Dr. Ellen replied immediately, picking up on Muria's intentions.
"But, Lord Ural, given that my compatriots, driven by greed, initiated the conflict with your people, the forward base has been destroyed. How should I return to my world?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Your world's desperate need for energy will ensure they won't abandon this one's resources. Just wait a while; soon enough, another vessel will arrive."
…
"Lady Hea, there's a girl outside your residence who wishes to speak with you!" an intelligent assistant informed an elderly woman, face deeply lined with wrinkles, as she worked in a luxurious office on Earth.
"A young girl? Tell her I'm extremely busy with work and won't be available for some time. She should wait to hear from me if I'm ever free to see her."
The woman, exuding the aura of someone in a position of authority, didn't even look up as she responded. She had no interest in dealing with young people for now.
"No, ma'am, our scans suggest this girl resembles Dr. Ellen, who went missing in the Pandora world."
"Dr. Ellen? Girl? You call a middle-aged woman who's gone missing a 'girl'?" Hea chuckled at her assistant's message. "Alin, I don't recall adding a joke-telling function to your program."
"I assure you, ma'am, I am not joking. It's possible there was an error in the machine's readings. If it's not Dr. Ellen herself, then it's a direct relative with an exceptionally high genetic similarity."
"Pull up the surveillance footage from outside my residence. Let's see this girl who looks so much like Dr. Ellen."
The surveillance footage played, and Hea's face shifted in surprise. "This girl is the spitting image of Ellen from twenty years ago. She must be Ellen's daughter, though I hadn't heard of her having one."
"Shall I notify the girl to return another time?"
"No, open the gates and let her in. I'll see her once I finish my work and console the poor child."
That evening, as darkness blanketed the sky, a sleek, silver magnetic levitation car glided down from above, coming to a stop at an extravagant estate. Emerging from the car, Hea, weary after a day's work, entered her home, its doors opening automatically for her.
In her vast living room, she found the girl waiting patiently.
"Oh, poor child. You must be Ellen's daughter. I am deeply sorry for what happened to your mother. We've already sent search teams to the Pandora world to look for her."
"Um, Lady Hea, you can call off those teams. I don't need them," Ellen replied humorously, feeling a bit awkward at the councilwoman's assumption.
"…" Hea's face froze in surprise. She stared at Ellen, then instructed her AI assistant, "Alin, contact the best psychologist immediately."
"Lady Hea, I really am Ellen. You know I've never had any relations, so I don't have any direct descendants."
"Child, I think you need a doctor to assess your mental state. Losing a loved one is heartbreaking, and I understand how you're feeling right now."
"Councilwoman Hea!" Ellen interjected, half-laughing, half-exasperated. It was one thing to be mistaken for her daughter, but being deemed mentally unstable was another.
"If you won't believe I'm Ellen, I'll have to tell you things only you and I would know. You have a spider tattoo on your abdomen, a memento from the heartbreak after your first love. And on your inner thigh, there's a black rose tattoo…"
"Enough, you don't need to say any more." The elderly councilwoman was visibly shocked as Ellen revealed her private tattoos. "Are you really Ellen?"
"Yes, without a doubt, Lady Hea."
"But your face… and it's not just your face; you've completely changed!"
"It's as though I'm twenty years younger, isn't it?" Ellen said, smiling.
"Exactly, that's right! Just like twenty years ago!" A look of amazement crossed the councilwoman's lined face. "Did you find a plant on Pandora capable of producing the elixir of youth?"
"I haven't found the elixir, but I encountered a being with the power to grant us everlasting youth—a godlike existence!" Ellen said, her face alight with unconcealed zeal.
"This being demonstrated his power, restoring my lost youth!"
"So you're saying that on Pandora, you met a god who controls time, and you've now become a follower of this deity?" Hea's face turned cold as she looked at Ellen, who had once been funded lavishly for her research.
"So, what is it that you want to do upon returning to this world? Or, more precisely, what does this so-called god want with our world?"
"I'm here to deliver his message: that he wishes for our worlds to coexist in peace and to grow together."
"Doctor, you've betrayed your world," Hea said, her gaze icy. "Do you think I'll listen to a traitor?"
"I haven't betrayed my world. I seek peace, hoping to make our world a better place."
Ellen had planned her speech carefully. She believed this councilwoman wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to regain her youth, which is why she'd chosen Hea as her first target.
"As peacemakers, we will be rewarded by this great being. You, too, could regain your youth and vitality! Immortality, for him, is a trivial matter."
"Enough! I will never betray my world! I am a councilwoman, and I serve humanity alone!"
"But restoring peace and ending the conflict between our worlds is, in itself, serving humanity!"
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