The Captain instinctively looked left and right, then grabbed Xu Qing and directed the severed hand to leave the area.2

Xu Qing already had a lot of questions, but given the Captain’s behavior, he held his tongue. Eventually, when they were far away in a safe location, the two of them squatted across from each other in the severed hand. The Captain was breathing heavily, and his eyes shone with brilliant light.0

“Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing asked, “what exactly is a timescape bottle?”4

The Captain exhaled slowly, then once again looked around. Upon confirming they were alone, he performed an incantation gesture to seal the surroundings.0

Seemingly overwhelmed with excitement, he said, “This is a major windfall, little Ah Qing!! A timescape bottle! I’ve seen them described in certain ancient records. Back in the era of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, only the imperial clan had these things. Even then, they were very rare. If a new one popped up, it would become the sole focus of the imperial clan. And any group outside of the imperial clan who got one and hid it would eventually be exterminated. Doing so was considered a major crime.11

“Supposedly, when Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity took the imperial clan and various other humans out of this world, they took all the timescape bottles with them. Yet right here we have one. An actual timescape bottle!”5

Lowering his voice, the Captain continued, “Nobody really knows where timescape bottles come from. From ancient times until now, not one person has been able to identify their true history. However, one known fact is that whenever Ancient Emperors conquered...17