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As Kyle placed his hand on the surface of the ice, Vis's intelligent wristwatch emitted a beam of blue X-ray, conducting a preliminary scan and analysis of the iceberg, which was nearly the size of a five-story building.
Vis quickly provided relevant feedback, "Master, the texture of this iceberg is not ordinary. It seems to be made of permafrost frozen for thousands of years. However, even such an iceberg within the high-temperature magma of the volcano should gradually melt over time. Yet, this iceberg seems immune to the high-temperature corrosion of the magma— this is quite strange."
"Can you detect any signs of Lucy's life?" Kyle spoke, this being his utmost concern.
"This..." Vis hesitated slightly, saying, "The ice layer is too thick, blocking the laser scans layer by layer, making it impossible to detect the lifeform inside the mountain."
Just then, with a cry of astonishment from the maid, a mass of black mist surged forward, and respectfully addressed Kyle, "Master, maybe I can try."
Kyle nodded, and Pride immediately flew up and collided with the outer layer of the iceberg. Its spiritual form passed directly through the icy substance and swam to Lucy's side within the iceberg. After circling around her several times, Pride returned to Kyle.
Pride explained, "Master, the human woman inside is definitely still alive. She's just in a state of dormancy. Instinctively, her body is emitting a cold energy under the defense mechanism. This entire iceberg is probably the result of her body's emergency response."
"Ice elemental energy?" Kyle murmured to himself, then shook his head with a smile. It seemed that not only he but even Lucy had encountered opportunities to advance on the path of evolution after leaving Earth.
The rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation.
This phrase also implied another meaning, that anyone could become a superhero. The Marvel Universe was indeed a world full of miracles and wonders.
"Master, do you want me to transform into Transformers mode, open the iceberg, and rescue Miss Lucy?" Seeing Pride stealing its thunder, Vis couldn't help but suggest proactively.
"No, your Transformers mode might accidentally harm Lucy." Kyle shook his head decisively, and Pride chimed in, "Exactly, that method is too brutal."
"..." Vis was speechless for a moment. As an intelligent mechanical lifeform, its thoughts and logic were based on rational programming, and it was the first time someone had called it brutal.
"Alright, both of you step back a bit and let me handle it myself."
Kyle waved his hand and said. Vis immediately transformed back into a small robot, and together with Pride, stepped back and stood with the maid, maintaining a safe distance of about ten meters from the iceberg.
Kyle took a deep breath and activated the fire elemental energy derived from his godly genes. His entire body was surrounded by a faint golden flame. The palm of his left hand, pressed against the surface of the iceberg, became as hot as a red-hot iron!
The snail maid, Vis, Pride, and even the chilling air that was originally bone-chilling, all began to reverse to a scorching summer trend.
Hiss!
The permafrost that couldn't be shaken by magma melted rapidly in Kyle's hands and it was as if he had opened up a passage leading to the belly of the iceberg.
With extreme heat generated by his left hand, Kyle melted the ice and began to step forward, slowly entering the iceberg.
Ten seconds later.
Kyle approached within about a meter of where Lucy lay. From up close, Lucy, dressed in white, looked like Sleeping Beauty in her ice coffin, with long eyelashes, golden hair, and snow-white skin... everything frozen in time from five years ago.
"It's time to wake up, Lucy," Kyle murmured softly. Using his fire elemental energy controlled by his left hand, he melted the last meter of ice barrier.
As the ice melted, Lucy's suspended body fell forward, and Kyle, restraining his fire energy, opened his arms just in time to embrace her. He buried his face in her golden hair and a familiar fragrance wafting into his nostrils.
Long time no see...
Kyle smiled contentedly, holding Lucy quietly, smelling the scent on her body, as if willing time to stop at this moment, forever.
"Hmm?"
Lucy's eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her beautiful blue eyes. Sensing that she was being held by a tall man, she instinctively wanted to break free, but her resistance stopped in the next moment.
"Kyle, is it really you...?" Lucy's voice trembled with emotion. Even though she couldn't see his face, the strength of the embrace and the gestures were unmistakably reminiscent of someone from a distant memory.
"Who else could it be but me?" Kyle responded with a gentle laugh.
Upon confirmation, Lucy hugged him tightly with tears glistening in her eyes. Overwhelmed with excitement, she choked out, "Kyle, the universe is vast and dangerous. I was afraid I'd never return to Earth in this lifetime, even more so that I'd never see you again."
"It's okay now, I'm here. Everything is okay," Kyle reassured, patting Lucy's back gently. Rarely did Kyle reveal this tender side of himself. Faced with too much killing and fighting, it was only in the presence of his beloved that he could rediscover the preciousness of emotions.
The two remained in each other's embrace for a brief moment.
Suddenly, Lucy remembered something and hurriedly broke free from Kyle's embrace, exclaiming, "Oh, Kyle, how long have I been sleeping in the ice?"
Kyle blinked and replied, "As far as I know, it's been five years."
"Five years?" Lucy was taken aback, covering her mouth in shock. She fretted, "Oh no! Logan was captured by the celestial being Ego, and it's been so long now. I don't know if he's still alive."
Indeed, Kyle had not found any trace of Logan in the ice. He said solemnly, "Take your time and explain everything to me. What happened between you and Logan five years ago, after Howard escaped from this planet? And why were you frozen in ice and then submerged in the lava of the volcano?"
Lucy took a few deep breaths and, once her emotions had settled, began to answer Kyle's questions one by one.
As it turned out, when Lucy left Earth initially, she vaguely felt energy awakening within her body. In order to avoid worrying Howard and Logan, she didn't disclose this information to them.
This latent ice elemental energy had been rarely used by Lucy until five years ago, when she was forced to battle Ego intercepting them after escaping from the celestial planet.
Only then did this ice elemental energy come into full play. Otherwise, with Logan's power alone, neither he nor Howard would have had a chance to escape from Ego's planet.
Despite the buff from the ice elemental energy, Lucy and Logan were still no match for the celestial being Ego. Logan was the first to be defeated and fell into a coma. In order to avoid falling into Ego's hands herself, Lucy used her ice elemental energy to its fullest extent to freeze herself.
Lucy wrinkled her delicate nose and shrugged, "That's how it happened. As for why I was frozen in ice and why I ended up in the volcanic magma created by Ego, I'm not entirely sure."
"I might have an idea," Kyle chuckled, looking at the Blue Ability Card floating above Lucy— a card that looked like a talisman of safety.
Perhaps even Ego hadn't anticipated it.
It turned out that there was a kind of passive card ability in the world that could immunize its user against natural disasters—a guardian spirit.
Once considered a useless card, it was casually given out by Kyle during World War II, but it turned out to be Lucy's lifesaving means.
(End of Chapter)