“Earth is on the 3rd galaxy?” Ning asked with surprise.𝑂𝒱𝐥xt.𝔠𝒪𝗆

Ning had never thought about going back to Earth, but… it seemed it was on the way to Kumia. Would he want to go back now?

“No,” Ning said resolutely. “I can’t go to Earth right now. I will visit later after I go back and find everyone in Kumia.”

“It’s not like I have anyth—”

His parents… or at least, their grave. He wanted to visit that at least if he could. He wanted to meet his parents.

His parents… who were they again? Vague silhouettes of faces appeared on his mind but nothing specific. It had been way too long for him to remember what they looked like.

If anything, he had likely forgotten their faces back when he was on Earth itself.

Ning shook his head. He couldn’t think about that for now. “System, put my Memories of Earth into the auto-buy behind Talent,” he said.

He could get them immediately as it wouldn’t cost much, but he didn’t want to deal with that at the moment.

He thought about something the system mentioned for a while and asked, “how long has it been since I left earth? In terms of Earth time.”

<6 years, 2 months, and 10 days>

“What the… HUH?” Ning couldn’t help but shout out loud. It had been almost 3000 years since he left earth… and it had only been 6 years? He found it a little hard to believe.

“What was the time difference again? 1:365?” he asked.

<1:387 at the moment and increasing>

“Why the hell is there such a difference?” Ning asked. “Is the galaxy Earth is in that massive?”

“Then why?” Ning asked. If the mass was smaller, shouldn’t time have moved faster there? The system was somehow contradicting its own words.

“… something else? What is something else?” Ning asked curiously.

Ning didn’t think for a while. Universes colliding with each other… what was there to think about?

He nodded to himself for a few seconds and finally said, “wait what?”

“What the **? Universes colliding? If that happens, won’t we all die?” Ning asked.

“I know! I meant we, as in the entire population of the universe,” Ning shouted.

“Huh? So they are colliding, but just a bit?” Ning asked.

“How does that work?” Ning asked.

“Alright, never mind then,” Ning said. ‘Damn, Universe colliding, what sort of catastrophic event is that?’ he wondered.

“Oh right, do you know when it will happen?” Ning asked.

“Oh,” Ning said. That…was a lot of time. Humanity would all die by then for sure or move on to the stars and hopefully the other galaxies.

“100,000 years is a lot of time any—” he stopped speaking. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. The system didn’t specify the location of the time.

“System,” he asked. “When you say 100,000 years, what galaxy are you basing that time off of?”

Ning sighed. “In other words, how long before this other universe collides with earth in Earth’s time?” Ning asked.

‘That’s so close,’ Ning thought to himself.

“Well, **,” Ning thought. He didn’t know what else to think. The system was right. Just learning about these things was hard enough to absorb, learning how universes worked in a multiverse would surely be worse for him.

He closed his eyes and slumped back on the sofa for a bit as the wind and thunder raged in the storm outside. Rain continuously hit the window in his room, reminding him of what was happening outside.

After a bit of contemplation, he finally opened his eyes. “I would love to visit Earth, but I can’t wait around to watch the universe collide. I need to go visit my people first and foremost,” He thought.

“That’s right. After I rejoin with them, I am free to do whatever I want,” he thought.

Thinking about Kumia and the others there, Ning felt happy. No, he felt excited. He couldn’t wait to get back to them, and then go roam the stars as he pleased.

Until then, they would have to wait a bit. Not long, just a bit.

A smile appeared on Ning’s face as he saw the rain and thunder stop outside.

He had been lost in his mind for a long while, learning about all these things had been straining, but now, he felt relieved.

So, he smiled.

He turned around to look at the clock near his bed. It was about the same time as when the schedule told him to wake up.

‘Right,’ he thought. ‘Let’s forget about everything not related to Vilmore for now.’

“I should go get something to eat before I go train,” he said out loud. “It’s going to be a long day.”