INTERSTELLAR ERA: MY MIND IS A LIBRARY

Silas walked into Max’s office calmly.

He saw Max looking out of the window with a smile.

"About time you came," Max said, turning back to face him.

Silas smiled wryly. "I had to eat," he said.

Max nodded.

"Sit down, let’s talk," he said, gesturing for Silas to take one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Silas obliged, settling into one of the chairs.

Max also walked away from the window and sat down in his chair.

"Do you know anything about the Crimson Fang from three thousand years ago?" Max asked calmly, his face serious.

But the seriousness seemed false to Silas, who responded with a confused look.

Three thousand years ago, he was only 18 years old, and even the academy never taught about a planet’s history. They only taught human history itself.

Max smiled. "Yeah, I was just joking," he said.

The smile faded soon after and he spoke again. "The Crimson Fang is a notorious organization whose goal is to seize this planet for themselves," Max said calmly, staring deeply into Silas’s eyes.

He let the words settle before speaking again, watching to see if Silas had any questions.

"Why would they want to control this planet? They were able to create a Monarch-tier warrior. They could easily take control of planets far better than ours," Silas said.

Max smiled. "I knew you would notice the gap. That is what brings us to the main discussion. Why are they after this planet?" Max asked.

Silas looked at Max with furrowed brows. If he knew the answer, would he have asked?

"You don’t know, right?" Max said. "The answer is simple. This planet is far from ordinary."

Silas shook his head. Instead of getting clarity, Max seemed to be leading him deeper into obscurity.

"See it this way. This planet is different from all others."

As Max said this, he looked out of the window, his gaze piercing far beyond what lay beyond the mansion. Then he looked back at Silas.

"First, there is its ability to evolve. Other planets can never go beyond the rank they were born into. But this planet absorbs aether from its surroundings to constantly evolve. Although it might seem like any other low grade planet, have you ever wondered why everyone on this planet who awakens is D rank?"

Max asked calmly, letting the question settle.

It was known that Max was the only C-rank cultivator on the planet, but one thing most people had failed to notice was that every single person who awakened was also D rank.

"So, are you saying the planet’s evolution is what makes everyone awaken at D rank?" Silas asked.

"No. It was not the same five thousand years ago. Back then everyone was at E rank. And I am sure that before that, it would have been F rank," Max said.

The implications of his words were clear. He did not need to say more for Silas to grasp the absurdity.

"So everyone on the planet has a cultivation talent that grows alongside the planet. Does that mean that in the near future, everyone will be walking around with Extraordinary rank talent or above?" Silas asked with a smile that carried more shock than joy.

Max nodded.

"That is what you feel just from hearing this. Here is another shock. The skill you have was granted to you by the planet," Max added.

Silas’s smile faded.

"You know?" he asked.

Max nodded. "Among people of this planet, there is also a chance to receive a skill. Although the chance is currently very low, it is there regardless."

Silas looked at Max. "But that does not necessarily mean I have a skill."

Max smiled. "Your rate of advancement is too fast, especially in knowledge, so I guessed." Max shrugged. "There is nothing to fear. I also have a skill."

"Wait, is that why you are able to defeat people far above your rank?" Silas asked.

Max nodded slowly. "It is quite broken," he said.

Silas knew that without anyone telling him. A skill that allowed someone to fight across ranks was anything but ordinary.

"Does Vice Governor Alfred also have one?" Silas asked with an unsurprised face.

He had been shocked too many times today for Alfred having a skill to do anything further to his psyche.

And as expected, Max nodded.

"I spawned on a cheat planet," Silas thought with a smile.

But his focus snapped back.

"How does the Crimson Fang know about this?" Silas asked.

The reason the Crimson Fang wanted to control the planet was no longer the question. The next was how they had found out.

"I do not know exactly, but it seems like someone on this planet is feeding them information. That is how they knew three thousand years ago. But they left, so I thought they were done. But now..." Max stopped at those words.

"So they are not even from this planet," Silas said.

"Yes. They arrived with a battleship before, but now I do not even know how they got in," Max said, his voice dropping low as if he were cursing under his breath.

Silas looked at Max calmly.

"And they have enough resources to create a monster like Han. They do not seem like a small operation," Silas added.

His words seemed to pierce straight into Max’s chest.

"You could have left those thoughts alone until we sort through what is already on the table," Max said, almost tearing up.

"Oh," Silas muttered.

After a moment, Max finally refocused on Silas.

"Do you know why I called you here?" he asked.

Silas looked at him with a tired face.

"Yeah, sorry," Max said.

"Your skill should be knowledge based, and that is what we need most to catch the Crimson Fang right now," Max said.

"During our attack on their base three days ago, they had already kidnapped most of our officials placed in other cities."

Silas’s eyes widened. "Was that base a diversion?" he muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

"But how did they know we were going to attack that night?"