Chapter 19: The Interstellar Rift
The cordoning off of Blackwater Street had been done in a hurry; messy shop shelves still lined the street. Muddy ground was piled with uncollected trash.
Saiensi and Lan Ze exchanged a look, and Saiensi began leading the other soldiers to pull out various detection devices to start a street-by-street sweep. Lan Ze stayed by Yan Mo’s side, never leaving him for a moment.
Yan Mo’s gaze was drawn to several Females wearing matching uniforms. They were clustered in a corner of the street. They were also holding various devices that Yan Mo didn’t recognize, taking measurements and occasionally recording data in their Light Brains.
Yan Mo stepped forward, wanting to head toward them.
“Lord…” Lan Ze said softly.
Yan Mo paused, looked at Lan Ze, and after a moment’s thought, held out his hand.
“Hold onto me. If anything happens, you can pull me back in time.”
Lan Ze hesitated for a few seconds before slowly taking Yan Mo’s hand. The Interstellar Rift had a swallowing force; he was afraid Lord Yan Mo would get too close.
Yan Mo held Lan Ze’s hand and walked toward the researchers.
“What are you doing over here? You can’t come near here.” One researcher looked up during his measurements and saw Yan Mo leading Lan Ze over. He first recognized Lan Ze’s uniform and just took him for an inspecting soldier. When he looked closer and saw a Male Lord with the soldier, he was instantly struck with panic.
“A Male Lord? How can there be a Male Lord here? Who brought him in? This is absolute madness!”
His voice alerted the other Females, who all turned their eyes toward Yan Mo.
A Female with silver hair and silver eyes stepped forward. He seemed to be the lead researcher; once he emerged, the murmuring ceased.
“Major General Lan Ze.” The silver-haired, silver-eyed Female gave Lan Ze a nod.
“Professor Bai Ye, it’s been a long time.”
Bai Ye looked at Yan Mo. “I assume this noble Lord is your Male Master?”
“Yes. This is Lord Yan Mo,” Lan Ze introduced him to Bai Ye.
“I only heard that you saved a Male Lord here and later applied for his guardianship. I didn’t expect to have the honor of meeting him here.” Bai Ye gave Yan Mo a smile, but in the next instant, his silver eyes radiated a sharp coldness.
“But Major General Lan Ze, bringing a Male Lord to such a dangerous place without permission… if the Male Protection Association finds out, it won’t be easy to explain.”
“This has nothing to do with Lan Ze. I wanted to come here myself. Besides, I doubt the Male Protection Association has the authority to restrict my freedom, do they?”
Yan Mo pulled Lan Ze behind him protectively and spoke to Bai Ye in a cold voice. He made no attempt to hide his annoyance at Bai Ye’s meddling.
Bai Ye was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “This is the first time I’ve seen a Male defend a Female. Lan Ze, you’re lucky. You’ve found a very good Male Master.”
Lan Ze’s expression softened. He knew very well how good Lord Yan Mo was. Seeing Bai Ye studying Yan Mo with a hint of novelty, Lan Ze glared at him. His cold gaze was a warning to Bai Ye not to look at Lord Yan Mo so disrespectfully.
Bai Ye laughed. His family, the Bai clan, and Lan Ze’s family, the Lan clan, were both Zerg nobility. Having lived on the Capital Star since childhood, they had long been acquainted; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they grew up together. He had never seen Lan Ze act so possessive.
“Cough. Since you’re here, Lord, are you curious about the Interstellar Rift?” Bai Ye changed the subject.
Yan Mo was a bit displeased with Bai Ye’s earlier questioning. At first, he didn’t want to answer, but he wanted to know what these researchers had found out about the rift. He gave a reluctant nod.
Bai Ye turned and pointed toward a spot in mid-air. “That right there is the Interstellar Rift.”
Yan Mo looked up. He saw a dark area in the air. It was already very small, suspended in mid-air like a fracture in a broken mirror. The fracture was still slowly shrinking and was now only about the size of a palm.
“We first used devices to scan the perimeter. But the magnetic field here is unique and the energy is abnormal; we can only scan a void.”
Yan Mo asked urgently, “Since you say it can swallow anything, haven’t you used any devices to explore the inside?”
Bai Ye replied, “We sent in probes, but the magnetic field inside is also unique. The machines lost signal as soon as they entered.”
So they haven’t found out anything at all?
Yan Mo thought for a moment, then asked curiously, “So it only swallows? Does it ever spit anything out?”
Yan Mo thought to himself, If I really did transmigrate through here, the researchers have been guarding this place for so long—have they found any other people or objects that came through the rift?
Bai Ye shot a glance at Yan Mo. “No, not at all. But Lord, why would you think that? In all historical records, Interstellar Rifts have only swallowed planets and the like. We’ve never heard of one spitting anything out.”
Yan Mo remained calm. He shrugged and said casually, “I was just asking.”
At that moment, however, Lan Ze felt the hand Yan Mo was holding tighten. He paused, then asked Bai Ye, “It seems the research center has no new discoveries. When do you plan to evacuate?”
Bai Ye looked at the still-shrinking rift. “Once it vanishes. Based on the data we’ve gathered over the past few days, it will vanish completely tonight.”
After speaking, Bai Ye suddenly turned to Lan Ze and Yan Mo. “The Lord actually just gave me some ideas. I need to go and do some more research. I won’t keep you two any longer.” With that, he turned and left to discuss something with the other researchers.
Yan Mo had no idea what ideas he was talking about. Could he have guessed that I transmigrated through the rift just from a few sentences?
Lan Ze held Yan Mo’s hand. After standing there for a moment, he said in a low voice, “Saiensi and the others will still need some time for their inspection. They can’t report back to the Star Net without finding something, so it will take a while.” After a pause, he continued, “Do you still want to look around here?”
Yan Mo didn’t notice Lan Ze’s somewhat nervous tone. He was looking toward Bai Ye and the researchers. Bai Ye seemed to have convinced the other researchers. They pulled out a special type of rope; one end was wrapped around Bai Ye’s wrist, while the other was held by another Female.
Yan Mo cried out, “What is he doing?”
Lan Ze looked up, his pupils shrinking for a moment. “Bai Ye is obsessed with his research. He probably wants to personally touch the Interstellar Rift to see exactly what’s inside.”
Sure enough, Bai Ye and the researcher holding the other end of the rope walked toward the rift. Yan Mo’s heart skipped a beat as he led Lan Ze toward them.
Bai Ye stood beside the rift, with the long rope connecting him to the other researcher. The researcher gripped the rope tightly, ready to pull Bai Ye back if anything went wrong. Bai Ye reached out his free hand, slowly approaching the fractured edge of the rift.
Yan Mo and Lan Ze approached the circle of researchers and were stopped.
“Lord, it’s very dangerous here. Please do not approach.”
Yan Mo ignored the researcher. He watched Bai Ye with intense nervousness. If Bai Ye really transmigrated through the rift and managed to come back before it closed, that might not be a good thing.
Recommended Reads
![[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/esports.jpg)
