Chapter 498 - 496: Gifting You a Door

"Impossible. I can’t possibly leave," Lan Yuyan said, his tone firm.

Cang Hong, who had also been chosen to leave, had red-rimmed eyes. "Qinqin, you’re actually giving up on me!!"

Jiang Qin: "...I just don’t want you to take the risk."

"No, you just think I’m weak!!"

"Zhaozhao..."

"I’ll entrust Zhaozhao to my mother," Lan Yuyan said rapidly.

No matter what Jiang Qin said, he wouldn’t agree to leave, and the others were even more out of the question.

"Anyway, if we go, we go together. If we stay, we stay together. Zhaozhao has his grandmother and grandfather; he won’t be mistreated."

’I’d like to leave, but it’s useless no matter where I go.’

’It’s better to stay here than to go somewhere else and bring disaster to more people, so I’m not leaving.’

In the end, they left Zhaozhao in Lan Yidan’s care. None of her partners left.

Even when high-ranking officials from the Federation sent people to persuade her, she refused, moving the envoys to the brink of tears.

Jiang Qin could guess what they were imagining, but she didn’t bother to explain.

She even had the majority of the warriors aboard the spaceship leave.

It sounded like a lot had happened, but not much time had actually passed.

In just fifty minutes, less than an hour, the great tree returned.

The ships that had already left were safe, but those that hadn’t made it out yet received a message telling them not to act rashly.

"I told you all to hurry up! What were you dawdling for???"

"Dammit, we can’t get out again!! Let’s all just wait here to die."

"If I’d known, I would’ve left on my sister’s ship! And now look, I’m stuck here with you bunch of losers!!"

"Don’t panic, there’s still a chance. I heard that Miss Jiang didn’t leave either. She’s still in the northern hemisphere, dealing with the Cosmic Beast."

"What??? She actually didn’t leave?"

"That’s right. I heard she’s the only one who can keep the Cosmic Beast stable because it likes to hear her sing, and she can even make it leave for a short while.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had a chance to leave the Main Star in the first place."

For the past few days, all the news they received was about the Main Star being targeted by the Cosmic Beast. You can’t imagine how scared everyone was.

Only the ordinary citizens were able to live their lives peacefully in ignorance.

Those like them, who got the news early, were constantly on edge, terrified that they would close their eyes and open them to the sight of the Cosmic Beast’s bloody maw.

And now, after finally getting a chance to leave, they had missed it.

The frustrated people felt a little more at ease the moment they heard Jiang Qin was still there.

After all, with her status, she definitely wouldn’t stay on the Main Star just to die. So, chances were, things weren’t at their absolute worst yet.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin was dumbfounded by what the great tree had dragged back.

It was the shell of a giant creature.

The shell was pitch-black and looked extraordinary. It was also exceptionally massive—as big as a planet!!!

Just looking at it on the monitor, you could feel the intimidating power it radiated.

"Wh-what is this?"

Jiang Qin tried asking in her mind. Just as she’d suspected, the returned tree had reconnected to her Spirit Sea.

’This is also why I’m so wary of it. If this tree got the least bit irritable, it could probably destroy my Spirit Sea.’

"This is a door I brought for you. This door is better than the one you’re using now."

"Is... is it also a Cosmic Beast?"

"Cosmic Beast??" The tree was confused. It didn’t know the name humans had for it.

"Creatures that live in Deep Space."

"Yes, it also lives in the darkness. But it was always drifting. I hadn’t seen it in a long time, and then I discovered it had already died.

Its body was just drifting around. Your people seem to be very interested in these things. I’ve seen them collect some of the remains.

So I thought you would also like a door made from a shell like this.

Do you need me to change it for you?"

"H-how would you change it?"

The tree said matter-of-factly, "I can stuff your home into this shell. From now on, you’ll go out through the mouth."

Jiang Qin: "..."

"No, thank you. Could you please put this shell aside for now? I’ll have someone come get it."

"Okay."

"So, may I come in now?"

After hesitating, Jiang Qin gritted her teeth and said, "Please, come in. You’re welcome here. But please, make yourself smaller and don’t destroy my home."

’I can’t refuse again. If I don’t agree this time, this very reasonable tree will probably lose its patience.’

’After all, it’s been polite enough.’

’It didn’t just knock, it even brought a gift.’

As soon as she agreed, Jiang Qin immediately contacted the military, telling them to take the opportunity to continue the evacuation.

’I can’t guarantee I can calm this tree down.’

’So I have to prepare for the worst.’

...

Soon, the great tree on the monitor disappeared from the screen, taking the behemoth with it.

No one saw that the instant the barrier opened, a small sapling had fallen onto the Main Star and was heading directly for the spaceship.

Yuan Ling, who was in charge of piloting the ship, immediately detected the small sapling outside.

"Qinqin, it’s here."

"Open the door," Jiang Qin said, her voice heavy.

But the tree seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere. After entering, it immediately took root in the spaceship’s cabin and grew until it was too tall to grow any further.

Soon, a pair of emerald-green eyes and a mouth appeared on the tree’s trunk.

It stared at Jiang Qin with intense curiosity.

Then, it opened its mouth and spoke in a raspy voice, "Hello, little thing. I want to hear your voice."

"Hello. I’m not called ’little thing’. You can call me Jiang Qin."

"Jiang Qin? Is that the name of your species?"

Jiang Qin shook her head. "No, our species is collectively known as humans. Jiang Qin is my name. It only represents me."

"Oh. I don’t have a name. My species is called Exotic Tree Demon."

Everyone fell silent. ’That name doesn’t sound like something to mess with.’

"That’s a very commanding name. It sounds very powerful."

The tree didn’t understand compliments, but it could tell Jiang Qin was praising its species’ name, so its mood improved considerably.

In fact, its mood had been much better ever since it met Jiang Qin. It no longer felt angry about her people attacking it.

’For the sake of that beautiful voice, I’ll forgive those unreasonable and somewhat irritable crawlers.’

"Jiang Qin, why isn’t your speaking voice that beautiful sound?"

"Because that’s singing."

"Then can you sing for me?"

Jiang Qin agreed.

"Let’s go somewhere else to sing. It’s too cramped here. I’ll take you to a more spacious place."

"Okay."

Seeing that the tree had no objections, she quickly had Yuan Ling pilot the spaceship to a large hall.

This place had everything needed for a concert, but the entire hall had already been cleared out.

Now, there were only the few of them and a tree.

The tree didn’t object and was curiously seated in the front row below the stage.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin went backstage to prepare the necessary equipment.

Since it wasn’t a real concert, there wasn’t much to prepare—just turning on all the machines.