Ning was helpless. There really was nothing he could do. Not even the system knew what to do in the situation.
So, he had no choice but to give in.
"Fine, do what you want with me, let them go," Ning said.
"Haha, of course, of course," Bayrus said. "I get the Energy system in return, so here. Have them back."
The bubble that was keeping Ely and the rest suddenly opened up to be large enough to cover Ning as well. Air flowed inside the bubble, and everyone started waking up slowly.
Even the ones that didn't sleep had fallen unconscious somehow.
Ning sent everyone but his clone and Ely back into his world immediately. Ely looked around, slightly freaking out that she was in space.
"What's going on? What's happening? Where is the earth?" she couldn't help but shout in surprise.
The clone instead just looked around and smiled slightly. "You did it?" he asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "But another trouble has come."
Both the clone and Ely turned around to look at the man standing inside the bubble with them. They slowly backed off.
"Who is that?" Clone Ning asked.
"A Galactic will," Ning said solemnly.
Ely looked surprised. "What is it doing here?" she asked.
"It is here for my system," Ning said.
Bayrus looked at them with an indifferent look. "Hurry up, I don't want to stay away from my galaxy for too long," he said.
"What does he mean?" Ely asked.
"I'm being taken away," Ning said. "I have nowhere to run."
"What? No! Let's fight him. We can—"
Ning put his hands on her mouth to stop her from talking. "Don't worry, I won't die," he said. "I'm immortal, remember?"
Ely didn't know what to say anymore. She could only cry.
Ning instead smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you in a minute. Go back to Earth for now," he said and sent her into his world as well.
Only the Clone Ning, the real Ning, and Bayrus remained in space.
'System, can you tell me exactly what will happen to me once I get captured? You can at least tell me that right?' Ning asked.
<Once you are captured by the Galactic will, you will be experimented on.>
<the energy in you will be ripped off and put back into you. They will try their best to learn how the system works, so in that process, they will all but destroy the energy that you inhabit in your core.>
<It is most likely everything you have ever worked for will be destroyed as well. Including everything from skills to knowledge that you have received. You will even lose most, if not all of your memories.>
<Not that any of that would be necessary as the Galactic Will will never let you gain enough energy to make use of them in the first place.>
<it is likely that starting now, you will not be free for a very, very long time.>
'Can you tell me if other hosts have been captured and how they managed to get free?' Ning asked.
<The most common way of escape for most hosts has been only when the Galactic Will they were under was killed due to the galaxy itself disappearing. Other than that, unless another host comes to save you, there is no method of escape.>
Ning was starting to feel worse and worse as he heard. So many years he would have to be away from Ely and the others, and he had only just gotten back together with everyone.
'What about the world inside of me? Will it be destroyed? Or will it remain safe?' he asked.
<The space itself will remain safe, but it can't be answered whether you will still remain its owner or not.>
Ning sighed in relief a little. "As long as it is safe, that's all I want," he said.
"Are you done?" Bayrus asked.
Ning looked towards him and shook his head. "Almost, I have one more thing to do," he said and turned around towards the Clone, which was now fully connected with him.
"Well, that's it then," the clone said as he slowly took off his ring and tossed it to the real Ning.
Ning caught the ring and wore it. Then, he asked the system to create 9 more rings, each of which he wore on his other fingers.
Then, he poured as much energy as he could into those rings. With that, he should be able to use a few of the skills that were inside each of these rings.
"Oh right, one last thing," he remembered at the last second.
He asked the system to give himself the strongest bloodline out there and finally made it so that his seeds were fertile.
Ely had been asking for a baby for the longest time, so it was about time for him to fulfill her wishes. Besides, seeing how uneventful his life was going to be for a very long time starting now, he decided that he wanted to have some children himself as well.
Once he was done, he looked toward the clone, and the clone smiled back. "Just do it already," he said.
Ning transferred over to the clone, while his real body became the clone now. He quickly took the stronger body into his world and sighed.
'Make sure I have a large family to get back to when I finally get out of his clutches,' he said softly and looked toward Bayrus.
"Well, I'm ready to go, but I don't think I want to give you the satisfaction of victory here at all," Ning said.
"Hmm?" Bayrus was confused.
"System, shut down."
<Are you sure?>
"Yes."
<Understood.>
<Shutting down the Energy System.>
<All Energy functions have been disabled.>
<The System will be enabled only when the host demands it to.>
"There you go," Ning said. "That's my ultimate fuck you to you. I hope you like it."
Bayrus smiled. "That is barely an obstacle at all," he said. "I will get it back online in no time at all."
He grabbed Ning with his energy, who failed to remain conscious due to how weak his current body was.
"Now then, let us leave."
They flew up to a wormhole some thousand light-years away and disappeared through it, making their way to the Bayrus Galaxy.
