Chapter 32: 032 Ming Ruan is No Outworlder Part 2

He brought up the concept of ‘animals’.

“…People of that time lived together with ‘animals,’ possessing a vast repository of knowledge on coexisting with them. What astounds us is that this knowledge can truly be applied so perfectly to Beastmen, achieving the ideal effects of Reverse Therianthropy…”

The large screen appropriately displayed the combined analysis data from the Control Center and the Beastman Research Institute, showing that Ming Ruan had interacted with numerous ‘animals’ and maintained their ‘mental states’ at an exceptional level. The trajectory of this data was entirely consistent with the Reverse Therianthropy data of Xie Gewen and Shi Huai!

This was the root traced back for Ming Ruan’s capacity for Reverse Therianthropy, and yet another powerful piece of corroborating evidence!

The night of the Beastmen Era was lifting.

But that dawn’s light had already quietly broken through!

The crowd felt their hearts racing, blood surging, as if an unobstructed straight path to the heavens had suddenly appeared before them. All the past shackles confining the people of the Alpha Galaxy seemed to disintegrate in an instant.

The Chief Administrator continued to expound in even greater detail on some knowledge Ming Ruan could provide and his special abilities, but the crowd felt as though their ears were covered by a layer of paper, unable to hear clearly.

How to befriend him… learn from him, perhaps even ask about much other knowledge…

“Ladies and gentlemen!”

The Chief Administrator’s raised voice suddenly exploded in their ears! Jolting everyone awake!

“Perhaps we do wish to gain something from this gentleman.”

“But please, everyone, do not forget—regardless of whether he possesses that knowledge, he is a treasure who has traversed billions of years of time.”

“In the final segment, we typically join in welcoming the Outworlder and present this video after the observation period concludes. But in a sense, Ming Ruan absolutely cannot be called an Outworlder.”

“I think, I believe, he must be a family member returning from afar—from our homeland, to which we can never go back.”

As the words fell, everyone rose to their feet.

Thunderous applause echoed throughout the entire Council Hall, lingering for a long, long time!

Su Yuyun removed his gloves and took off his cap.

As he clapped, the image of that young man—freshly arrived, with nothing to his name, reviled and scolded by many for the sins of the original host, yet so easily content, a smile rarely absent from his face—surfaced in his mind.

He hoped the youth would soon know.

He had not arrived alone in an unfamiliar Interstellar space. He was not stranded with nowhere to land, forced to live only with ‘wild beasts’ that could not speak.

He had never been far from his kin or his homeland—only that a billion years had passed.

Welcome home.

……

Although that was said, the Chief Administrator still made it clear in his final remarks: the prescribed half-year observation period would still be necessary. During this time, Ming Ruan still could not be exposed to much information about the Interstellar space. Especially something as significant as the existence of Beastmen.

The entirety of Ming Ruan’s report was concluded. Within the observation period, Ming Ruan could fully return to normal life. Aside from the information blockade, his other rights were no different from any Alpha Galaxy citizen.

The Chief Administrator’s words had stirred the crowd’s passion to a fever pitch, eyes glistening with unshed tears. As the meeting ended, most were utterly reluctant to leave. They wanted to meet Ming Ruan, to establish connections, and so they craned their necks, trying to sidle up to the Adjudicator and Fuxi—even though Fuxi was in his beast form right now.

Who didn’t know Ming Ruan was currently being tightly held by these two? They moved fast!

Of course, there were others—proud and self-assured—who simply turned and left.

Could they really bypass these two to see Ming Ruan? If they couldn’t get past them, they’d call the authorities! This was illegal confinement!

And at this moment, Little Fox, Shi Huai, and Gray Wolf, Xie Gewen—who had been personally nurtured by Ming Ruan—were especially leisurely and content. If not blocked by the crowd, they wouldn’t even bother waiting for anyone else; they’d be rushing to the Clarence Family right now to snatch Ming Ruan back.

Who knew how the Clarence Family had been treating Ming Ruan these past two days? Although it looked lively on StarNet, this was the profit-driven Clarence Family, after all.

The assembly showed no decorum befitting state figures, jostling and shoving, standing on tiptoes and shouting loudly. Fuxi, still in his beast form, couldn’t stand this. His brain throbbed, and beneath the arrogance in his beastly pupils lay unconcealed irritation.

He urgently needed to return to Ming Ruan’s side for some peace and quiet.

He headed straight for the exit.

Paving a path straight through the tightly packed crowd.

The Old Butler, however, stayed behind, making an inviting gesture towards the Adjudicator and the others. “Gentlemen, the Clarence Family has prepared hospitality for your discussions and respite. Please, follow me—Mr. Ming Ruan is also waiting for his meal.”

This remark.

Who did they think they were manipulating?

Xie Gewen patted the shoulder of a young man beside him.

This young man was Xie Gewen’s right-hand man in the Council. Receiving the hint, he immediately stepped forward and stated bluntly, “Mr. Ming Ruan has now regained his full citizenship rights. Why must he remain at the Clarence Family at this time? He should return to the Sanatorium Zone as soon as possible—or are you saying you’re unwilling to release him?”

Voices promptly echoed from the crowd: “Exactly, exactly! Staying with the esteemed Clarence Family must be such an imposition. Why not let him dine at my hotel—it’s quite prestigious—”

“Negotiating subsequent matters requires a proper venue. I have a pseudo-ancient meeting room that would surely be more comfortable for Mr. Ming Ruan—”

“I too…”

Unwilling to release him?

The Lion, already at the doorway, halted his steps, lowering his head with a cold smirk.

He disdained to explain.

However, Fuxi’s disdain to explain, in the eyes of others, became proof that the Clarence Family was indeed speechless.

Just based on the possibility that Ming Ruan might come from Ancient Earth, everyone was eager to treat him like a treasure, let alone the fact that he could solve the Reverse Therianthropy problem. This precious treasure couldn’t be allowed to come to harm!

The crowd instantly grew anxious! Their mood grew increasingly heavy.

In the end, aside from Su Yuyun, Xie Gewen, and Shi Huai, only a very select few managed to squeeze onto the Clarence Family’s Flying Sedan. The Flying Sedan carried its load of heavy atmosphere and flew towards Ming Ruan’s location.

At this moment, the report meeting had ended, and the attendees had moved on to the next phase. Yet the netizens were still clamoring hungrily.

The topic #MingRuanReportMeeting was stacking layer upon layer of posts.

【Anyway, watching the livestream, I’m sure this guy isn’t one of those alien invaders from before, so nothing to worry about.】

【Wonder where my wife came from originally. He seems to like Beastmen a lot. Could he be a Heteromorph from a neighboring Star System?】

【Nah, look at how well Ming Ruan uses his limbs, not like that Insectoid Outworlder who just crawled all over the floor.】

【Excited! Anyway, excited!】

Of course, there were always dissenters:

【What’s there to be excited about? Just an Outworlder. Might not even be human. Not of our kind.】

And those who were already numb to Ming Ruan:

【Feels like nothing can shock me more than Ming Ruan being able to reverse Therianthropy.】

【What’s so interesting about an Outworlder? If he’s human, the whole galaxy is full of them. If not, a warp jump to the Outer Galaxy reveals a ton.】

【Feel like Ming Ruan being an Outworlder is interesting, but not that big of a deal.】

These crude verbal spats lasted all morning until one piece of news suddenly surfaced:

【How are you still so stubborn after Ming Ruan has slapped your faces so many times? Here comes the news! [Jump Link]】

People wanted to argue with him, but their curiosity was simply too overwhelming. Swallowing their pride, they first charged through the StarNet Teleportation Gate.

Right away, they jumped into a video StarBlog.

The video seemed to be simply edited. Upon clicking in, with a black screen, only a line of text at the bottom appeared, accompanied by a powerful, resonant voice saying: “Ming Ruan absolutely cannot be called an Outworlder!”

The crowd: ?

But the video gave no time for rebuttals. After that single line, the entire report meeting video unfolded before the eyes of the StarNet public like a dramatic saga full of twists and turns.

From the moment of silence, to the basic report, to the Reverse Therianthropy corroboration, to that breathtakingly unbelievable answer—he came from a homeland billions of years ago.

Finally, the video concluded with all attendees rising in a standing ovation.

The screen darkened, and a line of text slowly emerged.

Welcome to our new homeland, Ming Ruan.

【? WTF? Huh? Huh? Huh?】

【Boo-hoo, OP upstairs, why are you typing question marks, don’t you have a heart, boo-hoo! Ruanruan, we’re family! We meet across billions of years!!】

【Wow, what is this, I can’t understand anymore.】

【Ughhhhhh, I’m literally this: (shoves face forward) Come on, Ming Ruan, humiliate me. Face slapped again, how did it come to this.】

【Heavens, I remember there was a holographic drama like this before that people mocked as ridiculous, and this… this is…】

【Does this mean, may I ask, does this mean Ming Ruan transmigrated from Ancient Earth???】

【Let’s see who dares to mock Blue Star Literature from now on!!!】

The StarNet public hadn’t even recovered from the shock; even their explosions were dazed. The topic didn’t trend quickly enough. Countless people, after watching once, either in disbelief or with tears in their eyes, dragged the progress bar back to watch a second time.

And even more people urgently needed an outlet for this emotion:

【I WANT TO SEE MING RUAN!!!!】

【Livestream uwaaaaah! Please, livestream!! Adjudicator! Adjudicator!! Start the Executor livestream quickly.】

【Can’t see Ming Ruan, I’m gonna die. Not being able to appreciate a soul from Ancient Earth, I’m gonna die.】

The StarNet public couldn’t see Ming Ruan, but right now, the Flying Sedan carrying a host of state dignitaries was just coming to a stop at the main gate of the Clarence Family estate.

Without a word, the group marched inside with swift, decisive steps.

After a whole journey of overthinking, they were terrified Ming Ruan had already been devoured, bone and all, by the Clarence Family!

However, before the group could venture very deep, a familiar voice suddenly drifted from behind the greenery:

“Ah, no, not there, okay!”

“Can’t have so many at once! I can’t take it.”

“Naughty—”

The group: ?

The entire contingent, hesitant, slowly, came to a halt.