Chapter 000: The Return of the Extraordinary

Above the vast ocean, the boundless and dazzling sea of stars stretched endlessly. A fierce spindle-shaped beam pierced through the night sky like a blazing spear, tearing open a tiny hole in the cosmos and sending ripples across the stellar tapestry.

Amber liquid, thick and crystalline as honey, began to seep from the breach carved by the light. Upon contact with the omnipresent dark matter of space, it swiftly coalesced into a mass of writhing orange luminescence. Subjected to the intricate gravitational fields between planets, the blue glow spun and diffused, painting a counterclockwise spiral vortex upon the black canvas of the universe—a brilliant portal to time and space blossoming among the stars.

This sudden astronomical anomaly startled the civilization of Earth below. Wrapped in amber fluid, a humanoid shadow was pressed from the core of the blue spiral, transforming into a meteor that hurtled toward the planet.

As the amber substance dissipated, the falling figure slowed upon breaching the atmosphere, eventually hovering high above the ocean. Nearly translucent, the humanoid phantom flickered in magma-like amber flames, teetering between corporeal form and imminent vanishing.

[Is this... Earth?]

It gazed down at the blue planet beneath its feet, then looked up at the swirling blue spiral in the heavens, a hint of delight in its voice: [I've come back again?]

[Is this... rejection from the will of the plane?]

Raising its flickering hands for inspection, the flame-shrouded and indistinct face furrowed in thought: [No, that's not right! There must be interference and suppression from laws of different crystal-wall realms!]

[Have I become an unwelcome 'outsider'? This is troublesome!]

[After so much effort failing to find a way home, finally stumbling back, I can't allow myself to be cast out again!]

[To bar a returning wanderer from home is not the act of a kind 'mother'... Let me see, just where am I now?]

Sensing the subtle resistance from the blue planet below and an unusually heavy repulsion emanating from the depths of the cosmos, the humanoid shadow chuckled to itself, uttering a series of strange syllables. An obscure, intangible wave, like a tidal surge, instantly swept across the globe.

[Hmm?]

As vast information reverberated back like sound waves, the figure was surprised: [I've returned 'early'?]

In a flash of light, the shadow appeared at longitude 114°30′ east, latitude 30°60′ north. Looking down at the sprawling city and its ant-like populace, it mused: [No wonder the plane's will is so strongly repulsive. What should I do now?]

Noticing the amber fluid enveloping it evaporating ever faster under mounting invisible pressure, the figure felt a faint threat and muttered with furrowed brow: [It seems this is the only option for now...]

As it spoke, the amber liquid contracted and surged, shrinking the humanoid shadow within until it became a crystal sphere no larger than a longan, which plummeted to the earth and vanished in a blink.

With the disappearance of the uncanny shadow, the accumulating invisible pressure in the void dispersed in a thunderous rumble, prompting bewildered onlookers to raise their heads. Muttering curses about "thunder without rain," they hurried on their way.

The following day, rumors of a "Star Gate" began to circulate online.

Meanwhile, nations of the world assembled a vast joint fleet of aircraft carriers, steaming toward a certain gulf to carry out a strike against "ferocious" pirates...